WHOCARESWGD

The blogs have been weak this year, there's no getting around it. But then again there hasn't been very much to write about since it's been a fairly uneventful year for me so far. Not this last week however. Finally. Please excuse the fact that I'm super rusty also.

First Nate AND Martin were back in town, the former for a day and the latter permanently. Although Nate was only able to hang out for one night, we watched the Chargers get big win number one against Denver at Hooley's and caught up on the life of a seaman. That was also when talk of going to a game in December started, so look out for that. Then, word got out that Martin was back permanently so I figured I'd probably see him later in the week and maybe live a little of the good days again. But first Thanksgiving...

I was originally excited to spend a long relaxing weekend hanging out at my aunt and uncle's new place, playing DS and swimming and stuff. So Wednesday night I drove up with Yimmit and my brothers for what was supposed to be a huge Thanksgiving bash. Which it was, but cut short and not as fun as we had hoped. Since nearly the entire family was staying at the house, all 11 cousins were sleeping on the floor of the movie theater. It was actually a cool set-up, but we got blamed for breaking the projector somehow, so everything we did was supervised with caution the rest of the time. In the midst of this giant mansion, with no internet or cell service, we could only talk about getting the hell out of there. Eventually, we had no choice anyway. We were going to stay until Sunday, but my Grandma became pretty sick post-surgery and everyone had to emergency-boogie back to Tucson, including my mom. The vibe there It was a pretty emotional, hectic mess but we decided to just get out of their hair and take care of ourselves back in San Diego, so we left Friday night. Black Friday.

I had contemplated having a party since I knew my family would be out of town, but I didn't really want to miss Thanksgiving or trash the house I don't live in anymore. But after the first couple days of vacation, I needed some redemption. I woke up Saturday morning and realized I really wanted to do it. For old time's sake. Step one, call up Martin. Immediately, I felt like everything was back to normal. Especially when I kicked his ass at beer pong. Tiffany coming unexpectedly, yes! And thanks to Pops for providing rain coverage. It wasn't a true Black Friday party, for those who were expecting it, but it was pretty good for a last minute put-together. 2011 will out-do everything, promised.

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I'm picking Texas, Philadelphia, Atlanta and New York.

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What's wrong with the weather in San Diego this year? We came home after a dejecting Sunday welcomed by rain and grey skies. It's almost exactly like the day the Chargers lost to the Jets last year in the first game of the playoffs, as if the city knows and is crying over the loss. Sucky.

However bad Sunday's finale was, it was a great weekend none the less. A weekend of ups and downs to be more accurate, but they were some damn good ups.

We listened to Friday's game on the radio as we drove up after work with hopes that Saturday's game would have some meaning. One loss that night and the rest of our weekend would be a bust. But sure enough, the Padres from 3 months ago were back and hungry again as they got to Cain early in the game. It really set the tone for the remaining drive and into Saturday morning. We all had this feeling like something big could possibly happen, something we would be a part of.

We finally hit South San Francisco around 2:30 AM. Even though we were excited and anxious for the game, a good night's sleep was going to be nice. Too bad the hotel would not let us check in to our room early, so instead we slept in the car and/or the lobby chairs. Not the most comfortable night I've spent. After about 7 hours, we finally got a smoking room around 8:30 AM. No time now to get real rest since we wanted an early start. So we showered, got our Padres gear on and taxied to ATT Park on essentially zero sleep. No one was tired though, this game was too important and too much fun.

We found a nice Irish pub right outside the stadium with food and beers, which we tried to get our fill of before breaking the bank on ballpark concessions. After building a decent buzz, we went in for some BP and pictures before game time. Ruben even got a ball (more on that later).

The weather at the stadium was sunny but cool and we found out that the standing room seats in right field are where the party is at. We were completely surrounded by Giants fans, mostly young and drunk, who turned out to be disappointed fans as the Zito gave up early runs on multiple walks. We were soaking it up, and a few people didn't take it too well. But for the most part, it was good clean baseball rivalry. The rest of the afternoon and night was complimented by the excitement of another win.

After visiting China Town for some Sam Wo, we walked all around town, often running into other Padres fans and cheering or other Giants fans and getting yelled at. We even ran into a group of cops in Little Italy and talked about baseball in San Diego vs. San Francisco. They were surprised that whenever they visited Petco the stadium was always half empty. At ATT it's a struggle to walk through the mobs of people. Too true.

We still had the rest of the night to enjoy in the city. And there are so many options! Movie at the Metreon? Sports bar downtown? Bar in the Mission? Nope. Despite my best efforts to avoid it, Chris and Ruben ended up dragging me to a strip club near North Beach. I was surprised how small it was, and it wasn't too dirty like the ones in the Tenderloin which was a plus. I guess it was cool for my first time and everything, but I had never planned on going to one before and I probably won't go again. We all agreed it was a bad (and expensive) idea which in the end cost us the series. I know it. As we were walking back to the BART, we ran into a few more Padres fans, one of which was mentally handicapped and in a wheel chair. Ruben gave him the foul ball he had gotten that day, which helped atone for some of our sins but not completely. At least we had a decent night's sleep to look forward to.

The next day, I could just tell there was a different feeling in the air. Our Padres attire was marred with stripper juices, rendering them unwearable (except Ruben who didn't care). It didn't feel like we had the same spirit as the rest of the weekend, and it didn't feel to good to spend $100 on scalped tickets just to get in the stadium. After the Giants scored two early, I knew it was over. The Padres were back to playing the way they had in September: just enough pitching, spotty defense, leaving runners on base but really no bats at all. The three game series ended up being a mini version of 2010. It was the only game all year I left early for. None of us wanted to be there for that celebration and probably get heckled out of the stadium.

It was a long, lonely drive out of San Francisco. We stopped by Darick's in Santa Cruz and had some dinner before hitting the road. Too bad Chris didn't know it was still too early to speed on the 101 and got pulled over. Add another $300 or so to the bill. We made it home around 4:00 AM and could tell that it was going to be an ugly day on Monday.

It's hard to say whether it was a great season or not. I love the playoffs and will surely watch them, but I had my heart set on the Padres being a part of it. More than anything though, I had gotten into a good routine of watching them win almost every night after work. At some point this summer it was really the only good thing I had going. I can't wait to see what this team looks like next year. I'll be counting down the days.

Well, it all comes down to toady. One more loss and the Padres are done in this division for the year, which as a whole was a good one but will a disappointing end to say the least.

If they can pull a win off tonight, we'll at least have the opportunity to be at the game tomorrow with some small amount of hope to cheer for. Otherwise, by the time we enter Burlingame exhausted from the drive, we'll have to turn on Sports Center and realize that Saturday's game will be nothing but an exhibition.

Of course, there may still be hope that the Phillies can beat Atlanta twice, or maybe even sweep them. At this point, the Wild Card seems more realistic, but in a way it's not because you're depending on another team to lose. I'd rather have control solely in our hands. And that means winning three games against the Giants in San Francisco, plus a one game playoff.

Crazier things have happened (a la 2004 Red Sox). And the Padres are able to beat the Giants if both the pitching is good (which it has been) and they hit (which they haven't). It's a lot to hope for, but it'll be a story to tell.

At the very worst, it's the first trip to San Francisco in a long time. We'll see what happens. Either way I'm ready for October baseball.

What a great morning it's been. Hell, what a great week.

I accidentally threw away my registration renewal from the DMV, which had the PIN code, or RIN as they call it, to pay online. Without that, I would have to go into the DMV and pay in person. What a pain, and I can't believe that RIN is even necessary when they have so many other unique identifiers available: social, VIN, license plate number, drivers license number, etc. Anyway, of course I put this off and racked up $60 in late fees. After waiting two hours and reading an entire issue of WIRED, I told them that they had never sent me the form with the RIN and they waived my fees. Cha-ching.

THEN, when I got back to work my new Zune HD was sitting on my desk. So were the books I ordered from Amazon. They weren't supposed to be here until tomorrow at the earliest! I got the Zune because my good old iPod II is totally full now and I want something solely for new music. Also the video is gorgeous.

So tonight I'm going to load it up, give it a listen and read about HTML 5 and Java Script.

This is what happens when you try to remote control the computer you're already on:



Cool!

It's always nice having the whole family back together under one roof. Since Darick's been back, we've all been hanging out and cooking like crazy at the house which I love! He's making Tika Masala tonight I think, which I've never had but I know will be good because he's making it. Although everyone in the family cooks except Everett, Darick is the biggest foodie stickler. He always makes ambitious dishes and doesn't fail because he sticks to the recipe. Something my mom can't force herself to do. We already made some vegetarian spaghetti on Wednesday, and I plan on doing pizza Sunday night, possibly at my place. I like being at the house too much though and getting that fuzzy feeling of having a family again. I have mastered three pizzas: thai chicken, BBQ chicken and spinach, tomato and goat cheese. I'm telling you, they're good.

Other than that, we'll probably be at the stadiums the next two weekends for Aztecs and Padres, gonna be sweet. But it's all just anticipation for the Chargers on Monday night. Can't wait.

P.S. New look for Fall, yaya!

http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/

There's a slight chill this week, can you feel it? Fall is coming. And the Padres BETTER pick it up, I've been looking forward to October all summer long. Losing three to Philadelphia is painful, but losing to Arizona just shouldn't happen. I don't want to lose my faith in all SD sports and have them join the Chargers in the choke hall of fame : (

Grossmont just cancelled and eliminated the class I was enrolled in. Didn't notify me about it, just deleted it from their bulletin and confused the hell out of me when I went to check my schedule for Wednesday. So much for school this Fall.

What a long, relaxing disconnect this weekend was. I boarded up my apartment on Friday (not literally, but I did close all the blinds and windows) and drove to Phoenix to spend a couple days at some resort my family had. All the pools and slides were nice, but the heat was just brutal if you were anywhere but inside with the AC. Surprisingly though, the sunscreen I used worked really well for once and I didn't get a bit of sunburn. Having no internet was inconvenient though. Hotels that charge you for Wi-Fi are impeding technological advancement.

It's also interesting to try different regions' version of Mexican food, because it seems the further east you go, the closer you get to ''Tex-Mex''. We went to a place called ''Some Burros'' (I guess a clever play on ''sombreros''), which I think caused my family out here to start calling burritos ''burros''. WTF!? Anyway, they had a ''Fundido Burrito'' with chicken and spicy cream cheese. I really wish I had gotten it, but I was too hungry to risk disappointment so I just had two tacos. They really weren't any different than what you would get here, actually pretty good.

Maybe if I had had said internet in our room I would have looked a little closer at the schedule and not sped home to watch the first game against the Dodgers on Monday when the Padres were actually off. I had to miss a big family Ikea trip because of that. Oh well. I'm ready to settle in and watch Sand Diego take this second half.

Back at work now, caught up, and having a mini Christmas in my office because all my stuff arrived yesterday and was waiting on my desk: sake set, graduation watch, wireless network card, and Lost Season 03. Good to be home.

I finally decided to upgrade my desktop computer after putting it off for 6 years. My old one is still a decent machine but it has weak RAM and the video card is crapping out I think. I didn't spend as much as I should on the new one, but I found a good deal and only got what I really needed and use:

Gateway DX4300-11

8 GB DDR2 SDRAM
1 TB Hard Drive
2.50 GHz AMD Phenom II X4

8 USB Ports
1 HDMI Port
TV Tuner
Windows 7 64-Bit

I put my old 1 TB hard drive in there too so it's 2 TB total. It didn't come with a wireless card, and I found out that the one in my old computer doesn't work well on 64-bit machines. I'll have to play around with it and hopefully get it all set up again. I wish I had the TV tuner and HDMI in the living room as a DVR, but I'll have to sacrifice. This thing's gonna run all of Office 2010 and Adobe CS5 for some serious GSD.

After drinking an entire bottle of Sweet Tea Vodka Friday night, needless to say I was out of it most of Saturday. Not really hungover, just tired. Nothing a little bacon log couldn't fix:



Step One: Weave the Bacon







Step Two: Bake the Weave





Step Three: Wrap with Ingredients, Enjoy

This thing tastes great, but you really shouldn't eat it all at once. I immediately felt crappy after, and Sunday I think I was more shitty than Saturday as a result of these splurges. Good times!

I ALWAYS feel good on full moon days! Can't explain it.

Finally! The man had everyone down this weekend though, so we gotta redeem. When are we going to the fair? And when's the pool gonna be done? Slacking...

Also, huge series this week against Tampa Bay. True Test. Luckily they're off today while I go to church after work. Otherwise, I'm gonna be glued the rest of the week.

Oh and I joined Lockerz so I can get a Wii cheap. It's actually fairly legit, so if I can invite you let me know. Even if you don't want to do it, I'll get points.

I found this awesome bracket for the World Cup this year. And even though I don't have ESPN, they're streaming the whole thing for free so I can still watch it on my TV.

I forgot to pay my rent last week, mostly because it's the only thing that I don't pay online. So I have to go through the hassle of getting a cashier's check from the bank and paying a $35 dollar late fee. Which I did. Then last night, there's a note on my door about how to sign up for online bill pay. WTF?

Every current year seems so crappy. Then I miss it like crazy. 2009 was the worst yet. I miss it so much...

By the way, this last weekend was awesome and we pretty much accomplished everything we set out to do. Kind of exhausting though, so I'm looking forward to relaxing this weekend, making some fried rice, watching the Padres beat the Phillies and starting season 02 of Lost. Yup, that's how lame I am.

Maybe this is kind of lame, but you asked for it. At least it gives us something tentative to go off of so we don't miss anything:

Friday, May 28th

    5:00 PM - 7:00 PM      Starbucks

  7:30 PM - 10:00 PM      Watch Game, Get Dinner

  10:30 PM - 2:00 AM      Party at my Place



Saturday, May 29th

    11:00 AM - 1:00 PM      OTL

      1:30 PM - 3:30 PM      Santee Street Fair

     4:00 PM - 5:00 PM      Trolley Downtown

      5:30 PM - 8:30 PM      Nationals vs. Padres @ Petco

    9:00 PM - 10:00 PM      Trolley Home

    10:30 PM - 2:00 AM      Party at my Place, Ryder, etc.




Sunday, May 30th

    11:00 AM - 11:30 AM       Starbucks

     12:00 PM - 5:00 PM       BBQ @ the Beach or Woodglen

       5:30 PM - 6:30 PM       Rest...?

     7:00 PM - 10:00 PM       Lost

     10:30 PM - 2:00 PM       Party at my Place



Monday, May 31st

    11:00 AM - 11:30 AM       Starbucks

     12:00 PM - 1:00 PM       Chinese Buffet

       1:30 PM - 3:30 PM       Mall

            4:00 PM - ? PM       Lost

Finally...

1. Going to the game tonight for the first time in a while. And going Saturday to get Chase Headley's bobblehead.
2. Started watching Lost. Am I late?
3. Played guitar again. Rusty.
4. Able to download music and TV shows again. I'm missing out on too much, that new Minus The Bear album sounds great.
5. My TV and internet are all setup. Not watching the game on it tonight though (see 1).

Just never seems to be a good Sunday night. Strangely, I think I miss my old life. Never thought I would.

Coming today: Cox Installation

Coming tomorrow: modem, router, new TV

Weekend: Hi-Def Padres

Things are too crazy right now!

By the way, here's the new stuff that's on its way to my place right now. You may think the red border on the TV is weird, but I kind of like it. It's unique. And the speakers aren't the greatest set-up, but I went for convenience and just got it at Best Buy. Can't wait to get it all set up:

Samsung LN46A650



Sony 450W 5.1-Ch. A/V Home Theater Receiver



2x Polk Audio-Dual 5-1/4" 2-Way Floor Speakers



Polk Audio-5-1/4" Center-Channel Speaker



Polk Audio-10" 200W Powered Subwoofer



Polk Audio-5-1/4" Bookshelf Speakers (Pair)

Still no word on my missing $40. Why did I lose it? I have no idea how it happened but I'm still waiting on this Wells Fargo claim to at least shed some light on what happened, even if I don't get the money back. I think I had a dream last night that I found it actually; it was dirty and in an unlikely place. If only I could remember where that was I would check in real life.

*POSTPONED*

Party at my new place this Saturday, 10:00 PM.

8727 Fletcher Pkwy. #558

Finally, all our pictures are here!

Bud Black



Glenn Hoffman



Rick Renteria



Everth Cabrera



David Eckstein



Adrian Gonzales



Chase Headley



Scott Hairston



Kyle Blanks



Will Venable



Nick Hundley



Mat Latos



Joe Thatcher



Edward Mujica



Mike Adams



Heath Bell



Red Ruff

Another big win for the Padres last night...April's been a blast so far. I was at my place last night listening to the game with MLB Gameday Audio when I finally realized how much better it would be to watch the games on TV. Since we hadn't had Cox at home for about a year and I still don't have it at my place, it's been a REALLY long time since I've watched a game outside of a bar or restaurant. Man it's gonna be nice.

If all goes well, I could get all the basics for my living room this weekend. I think I know which entertainment center and couch I want, and I may even check out some new TVs.

I already got this awesome bar table and bar stools so we can drink good beer. It's actually a pretty sweet setup if I do say so myself.

Work was long on Thursday in anticipation for the weekend at Coachella. After filling our coolers with ice and our stomachs with one last burrito (and ice cream), we hit the road for Indio. We took the 79, which was a little too windy for our liking but probably steered us away from some heavy traffic. However, it wouldn't be long before we finally caught up to it:



After we set up our own camp that night, we got a shot of the vast space littered with tents:



We spent most of the days getting free shit, checking out new music and trying to stay cool and hydrated. First big act on Friday was Them Crooked Vultures, followed by Jay Z. Both really good:



The Legend:



Jay Z:



Saturday, RX Bandits:



I had to suffer through Faith No More and the beginning of Muse's act as the crowd got more and more tight. Too bad my shitty G1 camera doesn't do the spot justice:



Sunday, Yo Gabba Gabba!



Wet T-Shirt Dance Stage:



Julian Casablancas:



Thom Yorke:



Gorillaz:



Overall, a pretty good weekend. The crowds were enormous and there were too many druggies, but we survived and saw some pretty good stuff.