It's been a hard days night.

So, here I sit.
At work.

On a Sunday.

At 9pm.

During Thanksgiving weekend.

Wow.

I've been at work since 8am.

I've been at work on Friday, the day AFTER Thanksgiving.
I worked on the following Saturday.

And I worked all day today up until this point.

I think I haven't been told to leave yet... because those who would tell me are too entrenched in their own last minute emergencies.

Ah. I stopped blogging because of another assignment.

Moving on, our company is in a bind because we have a deadline of Midnight Tonight, to submit digitally some type of report that somehow validates the way we do things.

I'm the guy that has to take the data they've been coming up with, so I can organize it in a way that other people can put it in pretty boxes to show we're legit.

So until that document goes flying, the data is still live, which means I'm on queue to go on air if/when the time comes.

But boy do I have to go to the bathroom.

If they end up not using my abilities after this 9:30pm mark, it's just more comp hours to tack on.

It will be weird to have left for work, no later than 8am this morning, and to not return until perhaps midnight. I'm sure other people have done this shift, but seeing as that it is not common for me, it exists as a curious anomaly.

I really want to go to the bathroom, but I fear what kind of person lurks in a Public Bathroom at 9:30 in the evening.

And so I wait.

I wait, bladder full.

I wait, wondering when we shall be released.

I wait, not having an assignment at this juncture and kind of glad not to.

Any other time consuming task that could be thrown on me could only mean a weightier sentence in the off chance I should make a mistake.

And having worked since Thanksgiving weekend up until this point means a mistake is easier to make, than not.

I just want to be here as moral support.

Who the hell knows what's going to happen.

I'll write later... if I need to.

---

Mood: Worn
Food: Junk
Exercise: Typing?
Condition: TIRED AS HELL.

---

Birthday Breakdown

Turned 28.  

Had Lunch.

Dinner.

Lunch.

Overall, enjoyed thoroughly. 

This officially kicks off the 'Awesome String of Holidays'.

These include but are not limited to:

Halloween.

Thanksgiving.

Christmas. 

Somewhere in the middle we have...

• Visual Basic for Applications Class coming up this Sunday/Mon/Tues
  
• The 2008 U.S. Presidential Election (Nov 11th)
  
• Wrath of the Lich King (Nov 13th)
• The Return of the Parents from the Philippines (Nov 20th)
  
• Ate's magnificent 40th Extravaganza (Dec somethingth) 
  

as well as a myriad of other Birthdays and what not.  

Let's hope the recession doesn't make this suck.

---

Mood: Shmumpy
Food: Spaghetti
Exercise: Rockband... 2?
Condition: Itchy.

---

The Patch

So. The week after Blizzcon. The new patch is out. This is essentially the "Wrath of the Lich King" game, save for the actual Wrath of a Lich King. Or the Wrath of any Lich type character. Basically, it's everything save for Northrend, being able to get to 80, Death Knights, and 15 points of Inscription.

Everyone else seems to be having a happy go lucky time getting in.

Not me.

Currently, I'm sitting at the public library, using their INTARWEB to download the remaining 2% percent of the patch, that I thought I already had. I guess not huh?

Last night, I tried the patch on my Desktop.

No good.

Now, I'm trying on my trusty laptop, and although there is SOME semblance of progress... who the heck knows.

Anyway, when I tried last night, I got this horrific error saying I had to install WOW from the start. Yeah right. I don't know how long it takes exactly to do a full install with all the current patches, but it wouldn't be short. So I was recommended to find out if I can get it updated on my laptop. If that worked, I would simply... copy the game right on top of my folder on my desktop. See? Easy cakes.

So now I'm chilling here, waiting for my monthly San Diego Access Usergroup meeting to happen, staring at 34% of the last 2% to finish downloading, so I can see if I came up with anything decent.

If this works, I'll be pleased.

*UPDATE* It did not work. I'll have to go home and try it later. DAMMIT.

So yeah, Blizzcon was a blast and a half. Long story short, it was a 3 day bacchanalia of game nerdiness. You got to play, "Pick Your Line", and then got to talk with any and everyone who had any and everything to say about WOW. It was unique.

I've had all the swag in the back of the car for a few days, cause I'm waiting to show it to my brother, who is so busy.

"HOW BUSY IS HE?"

He's soooo busy getting crushed under this market, that he doesn't have an hour in the evening to let me swing over and show him all my crap.

Update: He has an hour this Thursday (Oct 16th) evening. So that's nice of him.

I've got Frostmourne hanging at my desk, and the Paladin Bubble sitting amongst the charity water. But as we come down to Halloween, something tells me I'm suppose to ramp up my office.

Oh, in other news. During Blizzcon, we (Lisa and I) attended the panel for the Web Hit Series 'The Guild". LINK HERE

The show is basically a web sitcom that peeks into the twisted world of MMORPG'ing (Multi-Massive Online Role Playing Game) They're 5 minutes a pop, and they make me chuckle.

What I gleaned from attending this is many-fold. I learned that I really really really miss directing and shooting film. I learned that if ever there was a time to participate in independent movie making, this is the golden age. With internet speeds abound, Youtube, inexpensive Camera's and Editing Equipment, the fact that I haven't done it yet when I remember being at the forefront in my High School years, makes me flabbergasted.

My brother said I should take up sailing.

Bro, THIS is really what I should be sailing.

So, I've decided to THINK seriously about trying to put together a close knit group of people in San Diego to make up some type of 'Video Club'. We'll do skits and crap, and then edit them, and post them on a website, and have a stupid amount of fun.

Who cares about being popular.

Who cares about sponsorship.

I want to throw together fake movie trailers, commercials, skits, and what not, regardless of whether or not anyone else cares about it.

I'm gonna start small. I'm going to use my dinky digital cam, and get some editing software, and use my computer, and make a couple edited shorts.

If that works, I'll make a small website.

I'll start posting online.

From there, I'll start throwing together a group.

It doesn't have to start big, but dammit, it has to start somewhere.

---

Mood: Feisty
Food: Chocolate Pah
Exercise: Stairs?
Condition: Intrigued.

---

Blizzcon Day -1-

Busy ass day.

The Con was supposed to start at 10am.
But the line was insanely weaved deep into the back parking lot, like some kind of retarded flesh and nerd colored snake.
People were busting out their Pally Bubble Hearth and knocking them around, only to hiss and boo violently at the one who would let it fall to the floor.

(There's supposed to be a picture of a bubble hearth here, but whatever.)

Anyways, we actually got in at 10:50am. Snagged a spot on the opening ceremonies, where Mike Morsomething (The CEO of Blizzard) awkwardly welcomed us.

After that, we got face painted... visited exhibitor booths...

Grabbed a bite to eat.

Then waited in the longest line in our lives.

The line to purchase exclusive items from Blizzard was eventually a 2 hour wait.
A wait to give them money.

(See updated Pics)

After that, it was on to the contests.

Jay Mohr valiantly returned to take on Blizzcon attendees.

/Silly
/Dance
/Personal Song
/Diorama
/Machinima
/Costume

Long story short, it was fun as hell.

We retired the night by eating at the Downtown Disney Jazz Kitchen.

And now on to DAY -2-

---

Mood: Good
Food: Nothing Yet
Exercise: Walking/Standing
Condition: Sore

---

Blizzcon Day -0-

Alright, here's the skinny.

Badge Pickup - 4pm

We show up around 3:30pm.

It was already busy as snot. Tons of people standing around.
We were queued in a long line... and then around 3:40pm, they let us into the registration area.
The room was large, and the registration setup was separate booths titled alphabetically.
We're not talking about A-C, and D-F, etc...

With a 18k capacity group, we're talking about AAA-ASZ, and ATA-BLD, etc...
That means those booths stretched way down, and there were layers of people already ready to go.

As far as demographics are concerned:
20% Ladies
80% Other

Of those 20% ladies, I'm guessing to bet that same amount (20%) of them, actually showed up here on their own accord. The rest were dragged here by a faction of the fellows who actually combed their hair.

The rest... the rest looked was exactly who I thought it looked like.

I won't delve further than to say, I was not surprised.

Moving on.

At 4:14pm, they started the badge distribution. Little did I know that meant the handing out of massive Swag Bags. This included the Con-Exclusive Polar Bear mount.

But that was just the beginning...

Go Here

We got ALL THAT in one bag.

It's madness.

Pure and simple madness.

That being said, we're ready for tomorrow.

---

Mood: Prepared
Food: HOT DOG
Exercise: Walking/Standing
Condition: Decent

---

:: Stone Group ::

Dear Kuya, 

I would really like to thank you for um... you know, introducing me to CRACK.

Like a CRACK DEALER AT AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.

Our house is rife with Stars and Starlets looking to make a buck, to BUY THEIR OUTFIT.

Yes.  We're a Rock Band House now.  

Anyways, that story is its own thing.  We have it now, and now we can't stop playing.  

It's like somone put a gun to our head.

(Our band is called Mankitten.  Lisa is the drummer.  Steve is our vocalist.) 

Today I had lunch with Ate and Kuya to discuss Ate's 40th, and my Birthday Brunch.  I want to eat at Quero.  But they don't open until 11:30am, so that may not be feasible.  

Who knows.

Tomorrow, Lisa and I head up north to Blizzcon.

I will have to do a play by play.  

Alright, it's already too late to keep going.  

---

Mood: Zausted.
Food: L&L's
Exercise: Rock Band?
Condition: Spent

---

Oh where are you Daylight Savings time?!?!

Stupid Bush.

Why'd he have to go and make Daylight Savings time way the hell down in November...

*Update* 

Okay, so before it was like October 29th, and now it's November 2nd.  So I guess it's not a HUGE deal.  But still.  

Anyways, what am I doing, writing on this blog at 7:25am?  I should leave for work and go buy a water... actually.  

Maybe I will do that.

Oh yeah, what I was going to write was:  I am planning to take a VBA class up in San Juan Capistrano.  If all goes as planned, it will be a 2-day training course that would hopefully see my return as a novice Office Applications Developer.  

I need to take the class SOONER than later, but next month is looking pretty hairy already what with Blizzcon coming down the pipe. 

Anyway, I'll dwell more on this later.

It's about that time of the year when you get into your car, and it's all moisty on your windows + morning sunbeams = pure blindness.  So I better go before that happens. 

Yay it's Friday.

---

Mood: Swell.
Food: KELLOGS CORN POPS
Exercise: Coughing.
Condition: Spiffy.

---

Adobo: Round Three! *Ding Ding!*

So many moons ago, I tried making Adobo without my standard recipe.
THIS ENTAILS THAT STORY

Then, I tried again, WITH my standard recipe.
There was a fatal flaw written into the mix:

I had accidentally written... 1 TABLESPOON of Salt vs. 1 Teaspoon.
If you didn't know... A tablespoon is stupidly more salt than a teaspoon.

So when the time came to try the sauce, it was saltier than the dead sea.

I mean, it wasn't like I threw it away. I kept adding water and stuff till the saltiness left.
But by then it was an epic failure.

So today, I was feeling Adobic Thoughts. I felt that it had been long since I put that recipe to the test and tried to redeem myself.

So I did.

(<- Image is not actual adobo I made)

This time. This time it wasn't bad at all. It's not completely traditional abobo either.
I break all the rules. I cook it in a deep sabaw (sauce). I make it very very heavy in vinegar and garlic. I then eat it usually with a LITTLE side of ketchup and bananas.

So judge me. I don't give a fuck.

I like my adobo that way. And if you hate it, you don't have to eat it.

Anyway, I redeemed myself on the third try, and I have safely updated the recipe to make sure I'm not in Salt Lake City next time I make it.

Alright. LATER. It MUST be Tuesday night.

---

Mood: Victorious
Food: DOBO
Exercise: Running to Vons...
Condition: Filled.

---

The Morning Post

It's like 7:31 am.  By all means, I should be getting ready. (For work)  And for the most part, I am.  But for some reason, there's something intrisically valuable about writing in the morning.  It's not like I did something so spectacular last night, that I rushed to scribe it.  I simply felt like writing.

My parent's personal assistant/property manager's daughter... her name is Ed Rose, she contacted me on Facebook today, wondering if I would Emcee at a potential future wedding of her, and her boyfriend/soon-to-be fiancee.  To this request, I said yes.  I'm not sure how the short month I stayed over in the Philippines with Lisa had any lasting effects, but it does appear that it was sufficient enough for her to determine I would 'master the ceremony' of their post-wedding party.  I was honored.

Tonight the San Diego Chargers will be playing on Monday Night Football.  Their current record is indeed 0-2, and a win for them tonight would not only be fortuitous, but it would show the world we actually DO have a talented team.  I will root for them.  (So as I mentioned this, I suddenly remembered that I own a Powder Blue Jersey... for the NOW non-Charger... Eric Parker.  So i'm going to wear it to work.  Nix that.  It had a stain on it.) 

Fuck, it's 7:43am.  Okay.  I'm leaving.  

---

Mood: Perturbed.
Food: 500 calories -> PB&J + O.J.
Exercise: Does changing clothes count?
Condition: Critical.

---

Onward Fast Driver, Onward Fast Driver, ONWARD!

So, uh.  1:19am.  We just finished watching the Wachowski Bros. take on Speed Racer.  This monumentously expensive movie cost 120 million dollars to make, but only raked in 86 million.  YEOWCH.  Truth be told, I really liked it.  I think some critic was like 'Young People, or people into Anime will like it.'  So I was half in the former, and mostly in the latter group.  

No.  I'm not going to do a review.  I just liked it. 

Anyway, tonight Lisa and I, along with Mr. Jarold went to this South American Restaurant in Encinitas that I had gone to before... 

Q'ero Restaurant

I wanted to go back because they do a DANGEROUS sangria.  We randomly stopped by for brunch some weeks ago and were smitten by the badassedness of the food.  We came again tonight to take a whack at dinner.

And dinner we doth whacketh. 

Without getting too reviewy, dinner was freakin' amazing, but came with a price.  

Something tells me South Americans either don't eat THAT well.  Or if they do, they pay too much.

Anyhow, if you're looking for phenomenally delicious sangria, check out Q'ero, get the red, not the white, and you'll do fine.

Anyway, I'm going to sleep.  

Speed Racer: B+ 

Q'ero: A+

Price of eating at Q'ero: D- 

---

Mood: Weary
Food: South American Rack of Lamb
Exercise: Drunk wandering.
Condition: Placid.  

---

Father's Day DEENUR

I blew the diet like an ex celebrity blows for coke.

My cousins came over today and passed down clothes that are 'too big' for him. So in his slimming process, I've been blessed with an extra wardrobe.

Hopefully I can pass off this wardrobe for narrower gear.

Time will tell.

Anyway, I told my current diet to suck it and die. There was no way I was going to stay under my calorie count with the amount of cookies/brownies/fried seafood that I ingested this evening.

SOO, I'm going to add these overflow calories into the rest of the week, spread 'em around, and hope to GOD this idea works.

On a side note, Summer Institute starts today, and what a good first day it was.

Two words:

Dr. Pepper Girls

Three words. I mean.

---

Mood: Full.
Food: Too much.
Exercise: Walking back and forth.
Condition: Mean.

---

gmail shall unify the world.

As I re-sign up for stuff, I notice that everything is getting mashed together into one uniform blorb of information. Every different account online that you have, be it a social networking one, or an XBOX account, or a Blockbuster.Com account are all coalescing into one mega account with all your information.

Is it safe?

Is it volatile?

Since I'm diving in headfirst, I'll let you know how shallow the pool really is.

---

Mood: Anticipatory
Food: Planning on Frosted Cheerios.
Exercise: Lots of walking and standing.
Condition: A little disappointed.

---

Return of the Mel

From WAYYYYYYYYYY out of left field... I find myself sitting at my ol' blog. It's been like 'how long?' since i've actually found a chance to do this?

Let's take a look at the last posted date...

January 11th?

Holy ass cakes.

We're way OVER halfway through the year, and way too many things have happened. But now, now I suddenly find myself having a situation where I can write this shiet down.

Hmmm, lemme think...

I gotta job.




Sucked at the job.

Changed positions at the job.

Liked my position.

:)

Hated my position.

:(

Parents returned.

Realized I have to stay in my position if i'm going to move UP in position in the future. :)

So that's the jist of it.

Next month, i'm on my way to beautiful Kauai... with my lady love.

We have no money, but we do have a tropical island.

I've lost about 13 lbs and i'm NOT taking emotion-mauling medications.

Jarold's long gone.
Anthony's stuck in his digital world.
Steve's building a dream.
Christine's found her niche.
Diederick is married.
John is hopeful, but in Bahrain
Bill will SOON be married, but I haven't RSVP'ed.
Sunshine and Zikarra are new.
Tom Curtis has come and gone.
Irina is manless.
Myra is uncitizenship less (soon)
Mel is back in his tiny room.

Yup. Mel is back in his teency tiny little room.

But he's got a mean ass Laptop.

He's got a 60th level Rogue.

He's got a nifty glass desk.

He's got an overpriced bed, in a cramped space...

A fan on HIGH, but he's still sweating.

He's hoping that even though life is hard, he'll still qualify for a home loan.

He's hoping that someone moves in by next January.

He's hoping that some people make it WAY past 100.

He's wondering how to get ALL the Cobalt's together.

He's making money, but realizing it's not enough... and in this sense may never be.

He's watched every major movie, and shed a tear for the one with Donkey Sex.

He's seen the man of steel, twice, and once in 3D.

He's not scared of the future...

He is not looking for higher education right now.

He doesn't particularly care.

He's calling 11:43pm 'late'.

He's calling a plumber.

He's calling a brother in law.

He was calling it quits, and thought otherwise.

He's not afraid to be Boy Boy.

And he's thinking he might have Pretty Horses.

---

Mood: sleepish.
Food: Malt o meal/Chick Sand/Grits/
Exercise: 20 minutes hard jog
Condition: Dr. Peppered up.

---

Sky's the limit...

Okay, it's retardedly late.

I haven't posted in forever and a half...

But I have to say this...

I WANT A PLATINUM AMEX!

Mostly because I want to earn enough money, (and spend it all) to get the American Express Centurion Black Card.

http://www.geocities.jp/ctwxg845/centurioncard2.html

That website basically has an UNBELIEVABLE amount of information about it. An exclusive look into the prestigious website, plus the simple rules for getting "in".

• 1. Have a Platinum Amex for OVER a year.
• 2. Spend about 250k annually.

If you fulfill those requirements, you're good to go.

Anyways, I need to sleep. Peace.

On the way back home.

Well... Technically I'm not actually flying because I can't have the phone on during the flight, but we're currently waiting at the gate on my incoming from sioux falls to minneapolis. Here's a pic I took on the plane during sunrise...



On the flight between minneapolis and san diego, I officially knee-d a toddler in the head. Sitting down, enjoying my music, I feel a child's face plant into my knee, and before I could react, he was floored.

Thankfully, he was alright. As of right now I have no idea what time it is... But my clock says "1:43pm". So in san diego it's probably 11:43am. Thus meaning i'll land in about an hour.

How's the flight so far? For the most part it's been pretty smooth, however we've been hitting some horrendous turbulence. We're talking earthquake type shaking. Oh well, we're passed it and hopefully we'll cruise in the rest of the way without incident .

Time: 1:55pm.
The captain just announced that we're passing over the grand canyon on the side of the plane that I'm not on. It's good to know that we've been alerted of the large earth butt crack. Back to sleep. 50 more minutes to go.

*UPDATE*

I'm home. Safely... happily. And now i've got a SHITLOAD to do. Till then!

~Return of the King~

Ya goddamn right.

My three weeks have come to an end, and as I stare at the clock, I know that in 10 minutes, Lisa's taking me to the Airport where i'm dumping my luggage.

We're going to eat breakfast at McDonalds.

Then i'm flying home to San Diego.

I'll be back by lunch.

I had a wonderful time here.

But it's time.

I must return.

Wish me a very safe voyage.

Let's roll.

Adobo Arigato Mr. Roboto? or Bad to the Adobone?

Last night was adobo.

And I followed the directions as best I could from Myra... but she's not a woman who takes notice of things like measurement, so I wasn't sure what I was up against.

Here's the short and skinny:

I took 6 pieces of boneless pork ribeye, cubed them, took one whole garlic, pressed it, then manually meshed them together. I threw in a whole bottle of white vinegar and added soy sauce periodically, while setting up for a boil...



To my perspective, it looked... like it was drowning.

But I knew better. Too much liquid just meant to boil it down to a reduction.

The problem... was the soup. It tasted TOO vinegar-ry. After adding black pepper and oregano, it STILL tasted too much of vinegar... so my next task to keep adding soy sauce.

This SORTA worked... but even after all had cooked, and all was said and done... I still had a problem with it... here's what it looked like...



So, I don't know exactly what the problem could be. It looked right, the meat was tender, and the sauce had everything it was SUPPOSED to have... but there was just something about it. Anyway, Lisa's parents came over, and tasted it, and THEY liked it... but I just didn't quite... you know... feel I did a perfect job. I have a more exact recipe in my computer at home, and i'm now interested in trying again.

So i'm done with cooking... well, other than curry, but tonight Lisa wants to drag me to this gay bar called 'Touche's'. I know, I know. It's a gay bar. But you have to remember, this is SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota. All the 'clubs' here are redneck and backwater, and probably play nothing but country or top 40. At least the 'gay bar' will have decent music, and some kind of exitement in lieu of new years. (Okay, i'm just making excuses for myself to feel better.)

Alright, i'll report after New Years.

Everyone... have a safe and fun New Years.

Peace out 2005.

Sinigang with the wind

Well,

It's done. The act of creating sinigang. There was a lot of worry and preparation involved... but in the end... "I'm a sinigangsta".

At first, I was worried... I had added the basic elements:

• boneless pork ribeye cubes
• two tomatoes (quartered)
• one sliced onion
• salt
• water

and got a unique concoction that looked like this...



As far as my experience with eating sinigang is concerned... i ain't NEVER seen something like that. Seriously though. But I persisted, and cooked it for 45 minutes, until the pork was super tender.

With that said and done, I went to the next phase... Tamarind Base, Patis, Veggies and Chile...
(Would you believe they ACTUALLY had Tamarind base here? Not to mention patis.)

So then it looked like this~



So now I was really worried... mostly because I'd never seen sinigang with that much... eggplant. Usually we (the filipino people) would use sili (pronounced sea-lee) instead of that honkingly large anaheim chili pepper. Sili looks like a small yellowish/green pepper that simmers with the soup, and then is removed later to create a spicy dip. But regardless of HOW huge it looked, I persisted by letting it simmer for an hour...

Until it became this~



Yup. I don't know how it looks to you, but it tasted like home-sweet-home. Even though I was stuck in the middle of frozen middle America, Lisa and I managed to procure the right ingredients to make Filipino Magic.

Tonight's adventure?

Her parents are coming over, and I'm charged with making : Pork Adobo.

Until then!

(By the way, I know I mentioned talking about Donna Watts... but i'll save that for another day!)

Cabin Fever

Two days before the end of the year, and i'm sitting at Lisa's computer posting a blog about my personal lethargy from being cooped up in a pet populated shelter known as 'her place'. Now, mind you, i'm not trying to say that i'm unhappy here... it's just, I'm a San Diego plant.

My breed is native to the balmy climate of the Philippines.

I happen to thrive in interactivity and socialization. Being alone for 10 hours a day, and sleeping for 8 of those hours only leave me 6 hours to be with her on a typical work day.

But I do miss my friends and family. (Not to say I have many of them waiting for me in San Diego.)

When I went to Egypt/Greece/London for a month, I had my dad, and everyone on tour to accompany me.

When I went to the Japan, I had my host family and all my friends from the language school.

But when I went to the Philippines with my parents, I was also cooped up in a small room, forced to just draw comics.

I couldn't go out there, because I didn't speak the language very well, and I wouldn't know where to go.

I kind of feel the same way here, but for different reasons.

I can't really leave anywhere with the car because it's super cold, and I really don't have anywhere to go.

The good news is, tomorrow is her last day of work, and then she's off until I get onto the plane to San Diego. So it will be nice to upgrade from being alone for 10 hours a day, to not being alone at all.

But if this trip has taught me anything... it has taught me to appreciate where I live, and to take advantage of my days there in San Diego. Be it working, or playing, or hanging out with friends, I should really leave computer time for things like blogging and watching anime, and have the rest of the time outside of my house enjoying life.

So in honor of the end of the year, i've decided to make a bold manuever and contact old contacts that I thought I wouldn't ever call back. I think when someone decides to go forward in their life, they have to make amends with the unfinished business of the past. There's this story, about a girl named Donna Watts, and I think the next time I post... i'll go into that deeper... but this sense of 'reconnection' is really important if I plan to be stronger going into 2007.

Wish me luck.

A Picture Share!

Hi