*Yawn* Fly home little bird
The last time I flew it was from New York City to Oakland. That was one of my most memorable vacations. Actually, it was a last minute spontaneous 5-day romp to the Big Apple. It ranks number 3 in my all time greatest excursions even though it was a relatively short time span. Only my Europe and Asia trips trump it due to obvious monetary reasons. More money = more exotic locations and events. I don't like flying. My ears pop like crazy. I can't handle the pressure gradient. Just pop already! I'd rather drive 13 hours to Vancouver than fly.
I like this Burbank airport. It's very calm and quiet with not too many people. No lines or anything although it is the middle of the week. I didn't know you have to take your laptop out and set it down in its own basket to go through the X-ray machine. They now have ticketless travel which isn't new to me. What is new that there is now self-baggage. Just type your confirmation number on the screen and you're good to go. I feel like a hick. The attendant had to sternly inform that I had to take my laptop out of my bag. And a Southwest employee had to come out and help me get my boarding pass out of the self-baggage machine.
My boarding pass said I had to go to gate A6. "Please don't be the last gate, please don't be the last gate," I whispered to myself as my shoulder burdens the weight of duffle bag. But of course at the end of this long hall is my gate A6. So how am I taking a picture of it now? Well, a kind passenger informed me that our gate has been moved to A1. Great, now I have to lug it back the other way. Nothing really interesting to report this time. I'm just trying to while away the time. See you on the other side of Cali.
Snow Day in L.A.
What an odd occurence. Snowing in LA. Actual snow. Not ice frozen on the ground that looks white. That is morning frost. This is actual snow coming from the sky. Open your mouth and drink it in snow. Highway 5 over Grapevine was actually closed. It wasn't all that much snow either, nothing like you would get in a typical Lake Tahoe snowstorm. But I think it was because of the lack of snow plows in LA. Who would've thought you needed snow plows in LA? According to the weather man, the last time it snowed was in 1987 in Santa Clarita which is much higher in elevation than where it snowed yesterday as far down as Malibu. I was in class during that short burst of snow so I missed it. It didn't actually snow where I live anyway but West LA was blanketed a bit.
Melting of the polar ice caps anyone?
Persistant pessimism
I can donate platelets and get $25 gift certificates from Olive Garden. Food is much better than t-shirts. Still I decided to go ahead with this USC donation because isn't this t-shirt cool!?!?!? No? Well, I think it is. Anyway, I don't have a car for the next couple of weeks. To donate platelets, you have to go to the medical center. Best of all, I get to donate platelets every 2 weeks instead of 2 months. Sweet, I get good dinner every other week. I don't like Olive Garden but it is still world's better than my burnt chicken. Damm I am cheap. While I was leaking blood, I thought of this Christmas when I went shopping with my friend at IKEA. We were again discussing our cheapness. I was mesmerized by her frugality. She seemed to reach a new level of savings I've never seen before. I was quite impressed. But I take the lead here because now I am literally giving up my blood for food. You know, it's what bums should have done with the money back in the early days of donation. Instead they wasted it on booze and drugs. Damm them, now we don't get money for donations anymore. Blood for Olive Garden is hardly worth it.
I knew it. I just knew it because I am a pessimist. My birthday party was going to be an outdoor picnic in a picturesque lake setting. There would be an early morning hike to warm up my body and then maybe some kite flying and BBQ. Maybe some water sports... ok a little cold for that. Anyway, it's been relegated to a standard indoor celebration. Not that I am complaining. I am just indifferent towards the whole affair. Still, karaoke is fun. But not when half the people don't join in. Then it's just them being bored holding their hands over their ears while the 4-5 people who do sing enjoy themselves. Then again, it is my day. Eh whatever. Texas hold-em is fun. But I don't gamble. Ok, now I am complaining. I'm not really. I have silly traditions. I don't celebrate my birthday normally. The only time I ever did anything turned out awful in my opinion. So I'd just like to keep it another normal day. It's tough to be a sheep when you are the center of attention. So it feels weird to break my tradition of just another day. But then, I do have something to celebrate for. Ehhhh... I'm thinking too much. I'll just stop here.
iPhone her room
My new phone. Too bad I have to switch carriers. But no matter. This is my new phone. I don't need to tell you about it. You will know all about it soon. I'll have to wait until my current contract ends 11 months from now. Now I know what I can do with that bestbuy gift certificate.
I was at my friend's apartment the other day. I sat in her room and looked around scanning her room. She really has it good here. Everything is clean and warm. She's curled up in her bed watching TV. She has her health. She has a great relationship with her boyfriend. She has a stable job. Family is good. All that she has here is paid by herself so she also has a sense of accomplishment. If she wanted to get just about anything, she could go out and buy it. I just thought, it's so nice here. I could live the rest of my life here like this. Of course, I'm naive. I think modest material wealth and social well-being is all I need to be happy. Things could always be better but this is nice enough already. I just hope when I reach her level of accomplishment, I can be content with myself. People can't seem to value what they have and lust after lofty aspirations. But who am I to say anything. I have it pretty good right now but I am envious of her.
The other side of the looking glass
Gotta look good when you're boarding.
My brother told me about all these nice new smooth roads in Japan. I thought about it and yeah, they have a lot of construction projects in Japan. I just watched a documentary about the world's largest bridge to connect northern and southern Japan in a single connection. My brother told me the toll is $80. Crazy stuff. I watch a show a show called Extreme Engineering and a lot of the constructions are in Japan. Why is that? My brother told me that Japanese politicians are corrupt. They accept bribes from construction companies. They do it out in the open too not like US politicians. Because of that there are crazy mountain roads to serve a village of 200 people. State-of-the-art bus stations and train terminals to serve small towns that only get one train or bus a week.
Zoom zoom from my mouth
Jack's world at his fingertips.
Helped my Aunt pick up a 1999 Mazda Protege this Christmas. So that puts me at car number 4 for this 365 day period. This is one of the better deals because the price is so attractive. I hope the car holds up. I'm no mechanic but it seems to be a little more burdened than its age suggests.
Got my teeth cleaning appointment from the dental student cutie I've been crushing for the last 6 months. Y-Y said that if I wanted to get to know her, I should ask her about doing some dental work. I racked my brain to think of a good reason why I shouldn't. Luckily sanity pushed out shyness as I realized there really are none. So I approached her last night. Too bad her studies are not currently in my line of dental work. She's working on crowns. So I might not have her lovely fingers in my drooling mouth. I was able to carry on a short 10 minute conversation about teeth cleaning. Dental hygiene never sounded so cute.
Scheduling blood
2 minutes later, the mountain wiped that smirk off my face as it twisted my leg into some unnatural knot sliding down a double-black-diamond widow-maker.
First week of school has yielded a pleasant if difficult quarter ahead of me. Schedule wise, it's one of the easiest schedules I've ever had since the perfect 8 to noon Mon-Thurs schedule I had at Foothill. Why can't all schools make a simple 4 hour morning block of classes? I understand people have a hard time waking up that early but it could be like training for a real job. Anyway, Mon and Wed, I am busy 9-4. Tues and Thurs, I am up at noon for an hour only. I don't like the discrepancy in time but 'll find a way to get used to it.
I got a call from the USC blood donation clinic last month. Someone needs to write new material for the phone solicitors.
Thank you for your recent blood donation. Upon testing of your blood, we found that...
COME ON MAN!!!! Do you people have any idea how morbid that sounds? Made my heart jump a beat.
... you have a high platelet count. Would you like to be a platelet donor?
There has got to be a better way to say this. At least it's good news. Means I have been taking care of myself. Eating right and all that.
Revelation Part 2
"Yikes, I need to get out of the way," says Jack.
"So you're just a half-assed friend." My brother said this to me on our drive down to L.A. talking about friendship. Damm straight. He hit it right on the mark. Which is why I feel weird when people hold me to higher regards. I treat people the way I want to be treated. Anything more than half-assed is too much to waste on me.
The Facts of Life
"You take the good, you take the bad. You take them both..."
It's only $60 to fly home on the 24th this month. Not too shabby at all. I let my bro borrow my car for the remainder of his stay in the states. I don't think it will be too much trouble to be without a car. I wonder how much I can bother Michael to chauffeur me around for the next 3 weeks.
No more Asia trip for me this summer. Scheduling conflicts was a big factor but money ultimately doomed me. I have $2400 in the bank which is enough rent for the rest of my stay here. I still need to somehow come up with $1000 next month to pay for tuition. Here's the kicker. My school account says I was paid in full on 10/30/06. On 11/29/06 I was charged a $20 late fee. Now I can understand it takes a while to process things but how in the world can I be late one month after everything is paid? My records indicate everything was paid on time. But I know Housing will have some strange way to stick it further up my rear end. Let's see how unhelpful the front desk is tomorrow morning.
A professor offered one of his textbooks in electronic format for the class. What a nice guy. He wrote the book too so he would get royalties from the sale. Another professor wasn't able to requisition her book on time so she is using an older book that I already have. So my money problem is slightly buffered by these helpful events.
The roommate with the internet has been evicted due to his lack of financial aid. Guy could have fixed the problem a long time ago but he lagged and now the money came too late. Since he goes, my internet goes as well. Luckily, I got my cell phone set up to do some slow internet. That's how I am typing. It only uses minutes so I can at least get on after 9PM.
Speaking of cell phones, my sister got 3 identical "Happy New Year's" text messages from the same person. I'm so glad I took care of the text messaging block on my phone last month. I might have lost 30 cents as well from said person.
Came back to apartment to find incredible mess. I bit my tongue and cleaned up everything. Bastards. 6 more months to go.
Revelation
While the theme for Thanksgiving break was efficiency, the theme for Christmas break is definitely revelation. Specifically, it was revealing my interaction among friends and family and what mattered most to me. I read on a Dear Abby one time about a girl who was unable to contact her good friend. For some reason, all of a sudden her friend was not returning her phone calls or emails. She later learns from others that her friend was upset at something she did. She was asking how she could patch things up with her friend. Abby replied quite bluntly that if the person is unwilling to communicate then they are not a real friend and she should move on. I thought that was quite blunt. I completely agree to the advice. What is the point in wasting time with someone who's not going to speak with you. Of course, you give them the requisite amount of time to calm down first before you come to this conclusion.
Hiking calmed my head as it always does last Sunday and I was able to think a bit more clearly on how I handle social situations. It's interesting to see that people can find (in my opinion) big flaws in my personality but is still willing to put up with me. It's interesting also to see how people can find (in my opinion) small flaws in my personality and never speak to me again. Equally mesmerizing is how well I can accept criticism in my erratic behavior. I think it's because I find confidence in dealing with people on a one-to-one basis. While I may put on masks in more public settings, I know they accept me for the way I am. I find that if one person can like me for the way I am, maybe I am not such a bad person after all. Thank you, Y-Y.
