Musical Subway Chairs

We've all been through this, or seen this where people fight to get a seat on the subway, well not fight, but sometimes we just walk faster than anyone else.  I don't think there's going to be a point to this topic but again this is just me rambling about my daily experiences.

So here we are, paying our $2.00 to get into the subway, well for that amount of money, I better get a seat!  You know about a hundred other people are thinking the same way, and especially the "older" people.

There have been so many times where I've gotten on the train, and after taking it day in and out, I kind of know where the train doors will stop so I can be the first one in, that an older lady (it's usually a lady) will try to squeeze in right next to me or even in front of me to get in that door first.  It doesn't matter if I've been standing there in the same spot for 10 minutes waiting for the train.  It doesn't even matter if there are people who are trying to get out of the train, they will stand there as if no one else exists and try to get into the train car while people are going in. 

The reason for this ... to get that most desired place on the train, the empty seat.

It's not hard to find these seat scavengers, that's right I call them seat scavengers!  They'll fight their way to the seat no matter what, whatever the cost.  Be it elbowing someone or "accidently" stepping on someone's foot, or just standing 2 inches in front of them as the train doors open.  It's survival of the fittest here.

You may think that this battle ends when you have won the seat and are sitting down, but think again!  The battle rages on even passed that, and it is no longer a physical war, but now it's a mental battle and sometimes emotions come into play as well. 

I have bared witness to many older people (again mostly ladies!) stand directly in front of you after you have been able to get a seat.  They will stand directly in front of you, almost in your lap, sometimes even with a leg in between yours, and wait ... and wait ... and wait until you are weakened by their fragile appearance and want to give your seat up to this elderly person who is swinging back and forth on this pole like a flag.

There have been instances where that person would stand in front of me and start to rub their knees or look like they are in pain, all this to get me to give my seat up.  But only the strong survive, and I have to be strong at these times.  The worst part is when there's a very attractive lady sitting next to you (only for an instant) who seems this, and sees that you're not a gentleman willing to give up their seat, then that lady gives their seat to the elderly person posing as someone in pain!  What can you do in that situation?  You can't necessarily get up and offer your seat to that lady ...

Some people who read this and are not from NYC might think that this is all a bunch of hogwash, that it's as simple as getting an empty seat or standing there, well that my friends is just false!  The battle for a seat in the subway is real and I have been on the frontlines day in and day out.

The enemies vary ... the elderly who cut you off for the seat, the elderly who stay watch as close as posslble to you and entice you with their pain and agony, the ghetto people who spread their legs as far apart as possible (maybe to keep their fat balls from sweating ... sorry that was uncalled for but this topic gets me upset!), the people who fake falling asleep while taking up more than one seat, the ones who set their bags in the seat next to them, the people with strollers who think that just because you have a stroller entitles you to have two seats, the ghetto person counting on their look to scare you away from even attempting to fit into that small space they left you to fit part of your butt. 

All these enemies come in differnt shapes and forms, but those above are the most common of them!  This is a battle that I refuse to give up on ... after all I did pay my $2.00.  If there's a seat, regardless if I'm going to race for it, squeeze into it, or wake someone up to get it, I will do what I have to do.

But the game is over when you are faced with the big boss in this game.  It's a battle that you cannot win, when you are facing the pregnant lady.  There is almost no way around this, especially if you're running after one open seat and that lady incorporates the elderly tactic of pain and close contact, how can you not give up that seat. 

I have the answer because I have done it many times before, and you might think of me as a barbarian for this and for not giving up my seat to a pregnant lady, but the secret is to not make any eye contact.  To look in the total opposte direction of this enemy combatant. 

Or you could just be nice and offer that pregnant lady your seat, and sometimes you'll get lucky and they will tell you that it's alright.  So you've come out of the situation as a gentleman and you get to keep your seat!  But remember this my friends, this does not come often, so when the day comes that this comes to you, remember it and cherish it!

+ mon

Warning: Bowl WILL be hot

Usually when there's a warning label, there's a reason for it.  I bought this miso soup at the Christmas Tree Store in Delaware, yes they had miso soup there.  It was cheap too, only $1.99!  I actually ended up buying more of them even though I hadn't tried it out, darn their yummy pictures on the box.

I decided to bring it into work today to "save" some money on lunch, and followed the instructions as directed on the box.  It said that the bowl would be hot once it came out of the microwave.  Yeah, I've read that places before and it can't be that hot.  Well it is that hot!  The bowl isn't those styrofoam bowls, it's a plastic bowl which heats up pretty fast. 

I ended up spilling some of the very hot soup on my hand while carrying it out of the microwave, of course, I couldn't just let go of it or else all the soup would have spilled.  So as I'm there holding the bowl of hot soup with two hands, one of them red from the burn and trembling from the pain, I notice a line start to form behind me for the microwave. 

Of couse I had a little audience that I was unaware of because I was just so focused on the soup.  Cleaned up the spill, then put about 20 - 30 napkins on the top and bottom so that I could hold it and walk back to my desk as fast as I could! 

Had to let my fan blow on the soup for a few minutes to let it cool down, since I already had a burnt hand, I didn't want a burnt mouth either where I wouldn't be able to taste anything.  The soup is pretty good, had some udon noodles too which was a good touch.  It wasn't the dry noodles that I'm used to with "Cup O Noodles" but it was actually in it's own packaging within the bowl. 

Good stuff, but next time I'll go when there's less traffic, so that I won't put on another spill and burn show for the office.

+ mon

Snacking too Early

If you take a look at the time of the posts, you'll see that it's not so far apart from when I ate my breakfast and from when I started to eat these!

I brought these in so I could eat them as a snack for later ... repeat ... later.  Well that didn't happen and I ended up opening it early and eating a few sticks.  Ahhh the temptation of chocolate!

This reminds me of when I bought potato chips at Duane Reade, the big bag to save money from the vending machines.  Needless to say that bag was done in about an hour or two ... I hope this isn't the same with this can of Piroulines.  My coworker is giving it a lifespan of only two days.

+ mon

Update on Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 4:51PM by MONStar

Ummm ... I find myself saying "just one more" about 5, or 10 times today.  I need to duck tape this lid shut so I can't get anymore!  Help!

+ mon

Longsil without the og

I was runing a little bit late this morning and didn't have time to eat breakfast at home.  So I decided to bring it into work instead of buying the $8 sandwich from the "gourmet" deli.  I packed longanisa and fried rice, but not just any old fried rice.  It's the fried rice my dad likes to make every morning that has garlic and patis (fish sauce) in it ... so you know it tastes good!  But the smell ... well people who aren't used to it will have that look on their face like "who just farted."

So I get into work and wanted to eat it right away as that was all I could think about on the train ride in, good thing I didn't eat it on the train.  As I opened the tuperware the wonderful smell of garlic, patis and longanisa fill my nasal passages and what a great smell it was to me.  But I'm not sure how it smelled to the other people in the office and was hoping that they can't smell it!  Sooo to "cover up" the smell, I start to clean my desk with the antibacterial for the hands which smells like watermelon.  I put a good amount where there was a small puddle on my desk and let it sit there so it could fill the office for a little bit with it's familiar smell.

After cleaning up, I went on to eat my breakfast ... damn this is good stuff!  Of course, for those that know me, I had to put some toyo on it.

+ mon

Knocked Out!

I lied, I am going to post now before I forget the topic ...

Ok ... don't deny this happening to you because you know it's happened a few times, well at least once.  So you're in the subway, and you're tired from a long day at work, or just hanging out, or it could even be the morning commute.  You also happen to be one of the lucky ones that get a seat, and you can't just help it but you close your eyes to the music of the train stations going by and the "ding dong" sound of the doors closing. 

You fall into a semi deep sleep, and you start to dream about whatever comes to mind, but it's usually something weird.  Next thing you know you wake up ... you're not sitting straight anymore, but you find yourself at a 45 degree angle almost on top of your neighbor!

Yes this has happened to you before!  Admit it ... please it'll make me feel better!

So today on the train going home, I found my seat and closed my eyes.  I knew I was going to fall asleep, as I do everyday, but I wasn't expecting what was to come.  I woke up about one stop later to a lady trying to sit down, but either I was too far over on her side, or her right butt cheek was too big and fell onto my left leg.  She squeezed in and I went back to sleep, on the right side of me were two high school girls just talking and joking around.  I drifted into dreamland and started to have some really crazy dreams, I think I actually incorporated the things the two high school girls were saying into my dream.  Then I woke up!  I woke up in the 45 degree angle towards the two girls, and to them laughing hysterically at me who was about to fall on the one sitting next to me.  I clearly remember hearing the one standing up saying ... "alright here we go here we go, watch him watch him!" ... then again "he's almost there, awwww" as I woke up. 

To add to the humiliation, I woke up with a cold spot on my chin as the drool came out of my mouth!  So as I apologized to the two girls, I had to take a slurp and quickly wipe my chin.  You'd think I would have learned from that experience ... but no, I was still 4 stops away, that's a good 5-10 minutes left, so I closed my eyes again, but this time making sure the back of my head was against the train.

Well this isn't the first time this has happened.  It seemd that the subway has become my second bedroom.  There was another time where I fell asleep on a crowded train going home, and I woke up to the sound of "if this motherf**ker touches me one more time ..." and again at the famous 45 degree angle.  I look to my left and see two girls staring at me with the most evil of eyes, as I try my best to play it off that I wasn't falling asleep on her, and that I wasn't sleeping at all, but that it was actually the train stopping and going that made my body fall in that direction! 

Ahhh yes, the infamous coverup!  Using the motion of the train to disguise that 45 sleep position ... I've done it many a times.

We can't forget about the sleeping while standing now can we?!  I haven't seen this done as much, but when you're there just standing, either against the door or just holding onto the poles, then you close your eyes for a quick second, next thing you know your knees give out from you falling asleep and you do this little jerking motion as you fall downward and quickly wake back up!  What a wonderful sight that is to see when I do that.  And of course, I try to play it off with the motion of the train, even though we could have been at a stop with the doors open. 

Well those are the quick stories that I had and I'm sure there will be more since it's not 1:30am and I'm going to be sleepy on the train again.  Onto my first bed for a few hours, then I'll be moving onto the second bed on the way to work (actually, that got me remembering that I do have a third bed ... I'll blog about that later, but the third bed is at work!).

Gotta try and stay awake on the train like this guy!

+ mon

Missed a Day

I just realized that I missed a day ... I guess I'm still recovering from that high speed chase of my dad up the turnpike! 

It's past 1am right now so I'm going to knock out and will post more during the day. 

+ mon

It's in the Bag

Everyone knows I'm not a health nut or even close to that, so it comes as no surprise that one of the best foods ever is french fries!  Yes those crunchy, golden yellow, nutritionless sticks that you dip into ketchup ... MmmmmMmmm just blogging about it makes me want some (I actually have some from Burger King that my dad didn't finish in the kitchen!).

But what is better than french fries though?  When you're going either one by one, or a handful of a fries at a time.  Just watching the fries disappear from that carton box they come in ... it's sad when you don't have anymore left.  But ... but but ... one of the greatest feelings in the world is when you look inside the bag and see that there are more fries that had fallen out of that carton box and were just waiting for you to find them! 

Ahhh yes, the fries that are at the bottom of that bag are the best fries ever.  They are like a surprise, I was going to compare them to the prize in the Crackle Jack boxes, but that one is expected.  The fries at the bottom of the bag, are definitely unexpected.  It can either be one fry, sometimes non at all if you get super effecient employee that makes sure there's no spillage, or there could be a ton of fries!  I prefer the latter.

+ mon

The Return of the Red Panther

One of the reasons, well the main reason we went to Delaware this weekend was to pick up my dad's old car.  It's the 91 Camry that has been through a thing or two, at one point it was rockin' a three tone paint job!  Ahhh yes I said THREE.  Sure you've heard of the two tone paint job, but this one was the three tone, pimpin'.  The front drivers side fender was a dark blue, the passenger side door was gray and the rest of the body was maroon.

Now the way it got the multi colors is a whole different entry, but I'll give you a little tid bit.  The front fender, was caused by getting rammed twice by an SUV.  The passenger door was caused by a not so smart man who stepped on the gas when the light turned green, even though there was a car directly in front of him.

I remember when my dad had to get rid of his old car, the white Mitsubishi Galant.  It was the first car that he bought here in the US and he loved that car.  When the non profit org towed it away, he was really sad.  I think the same went when we drove this 91 Camry to Delaware to give it to my sister.

There is definitely sentimental value in it, him and my mom drove in that car a lot.  When we were about to take the car back home today, he was checking it out and opening the door.  I was a little bit aways but I told my sister that he was getting flashbacks, and old memories were coming back.  He then sat in the drivers seat and started the car.  A few minutes went by as he just sat there soaking it all in, it's just like how when we get a new car and we sit there once we had bought it or decided that we're buying it, and take a deep breath to get that "new car smell."  Well he was sitting in there and taking that deep breath to get that old car smell.  My brother in law was telling him to becareful with this and that on the car, and my dad simply replied ... "I know this car."

I told him to go ahead of me since I wasn't sure how fast he'd be driving it, and if it would even make it back to NY!  He went about 20-30 minutes ahead of me ... and I was going to catch up with him.  I was doing about 90-100 on the turnpike, really I was.  Trying to catch up with him as fast as I could just incase there was any problems.  About 45 minutes goes by and nothing!  I thought maybe I had missed him, or he went into the single rest area that I didn't check, I did stop by the other rest area to check if he was there, but to no avail.  I finally caught up to him on exit 8 and pull along side him to let him know that I was there.  He was in the slow lane going about 60-65.  So I pull up in front of him going the same speed, when we reached a rest area.  He followed me in and we parked next to each other, he got out of his car and stood there leaning on the car, sort of posing.  There was a huge smile on his face!  It was a kool-aid smiel for sure!  He didn't say anything and just smiled and I smiled back ... then he said he was hungry and went to get some food. 

My dad is very happy to have his car back, the kids had dubbed it the Red Panther.  So it's returned, and I also have memories with this car, a lot of them.  The youth also have a lot of memories with this car!  This is the car that I hit 117mph with, this is the car where I fit 9 people, this is the car where I got my first speeding ticket after cutting off an undercover cop, this is the car that you had to open the back passenger door just to open the passenger door, this is the car that we took all over the place even though people said it would never make it, this is the car that made my dad smile ear to ear. 

The Red Panther is back. 

+ mon

INear Earphones

I hadn't tried these but then I got a free pair from the new BBerry that I got from work.  So I started to use them for listening to things throughout the day here at my desk.  At first it was a little uncomfortable, it sounded like I had my hands over my ears and could hear everything but in a muffly bassy type of way. 

I guess the only comparison I have to it is when you're underwater and you can still hear the sounds from what's going on above the water. 

Well these things go INSIDE of your ear for the most part and the little rubber bud part is replacable, they also have different sizes, which I actually switched to a smaller one since it didn't fit well with what was originally on the earphone.

As I was taking out the right earphone I noticed that it felt weird.  The thing is when you take them out of your ear, they make this sort of "popping" sound since it's almost a vacuum seal.  I looked at the earphone and saw that the rubber bud was missing ... but it didn't fall on the floor or anything.  It was still stuck in my ear!

I didn't know how to get it out, I was trying to fish it out with my fingers, but there was nothing I could grab onto where I could get a grip and take it out.  My coworker was just looking at me laughing, and I didn't want to ask him for help because I don't think he's stick his fingers in my ear.  So here I am in somewhat of panic mode, thinking this is going to fall in deeper or I might push it deeper.  I was looking for something that I could use as make shift tweezers, but nothing!  So I did the next logical thing to do ... I shook my head on the right side hoping to lossen it or move it just a little bit. 

That's exactly what happened, there was just enough movement where I was able to pinch my fingers to grab a little piece and pull it out.  For all those who were worried about me while reading this story, I'm alright! 

+ mon

Finding those Options, that Hope

So I was talking to a friend of mine today and I was asked "has been ever been a time in your life when you started to lose faith?"

The answer to this question for me, and I think it goes for a lot of people is yes.  But it goes beyond answering the simple question, and goes into finding out why the question was asked in the first place.  Then it comes to how to deal with it and what solutions can be found to deal with the issue.

People sometimes ask me how I do the things I do, meaning how do I deal with things that are tragic, or how I deal with things so lightly.  I think some people only see the times when I'm getting to the point of being alright again, and not at that point where I'm breaking down, but those times of breakdown do exist.

There have been more than a few times where I've almost lost faith, and lost my hope in a better tomorrow.  But as the saying goes, it's not the number of times you fall, but it's the number of times you get up.  That saying has been used from so many different angles, from basketball, to religious views, to just personal matters.  It's everywhere, and the reason it's everywhere is because it's definitely true.

I think as humans, we tend to take things in all at once.  When we have problems we take it all in, and let it envelop us and even sometimes take over our lives.  I've been through that a lot, where it's taken a toll on everything else around me, which is something that's quite dangerous.  Along the way of my tragic moments, I've learned to try to take things one at a time.  It's similar to those fight scenes in movies, you know the ones where there's a group of people against one person.  The group will attack the one person one at a time so that the single person can deal with all the attackers.  That's how I try to deal with problems, and how I think people should deal with them as well.  We will always have issues and problems in our lives, be it from an outside source or something we made happen ourselves is no difference, it's how we react to them is what counts.  As I told my friend you need to focus on the 1st problem before moving onto the 2nd and 3rd problem.  Sure problems don't come one at a time and instead come in packs, but it's up to us to get them on the individual level.  How can we solve the 1st problem, when all we're thinking about the 2nd and 3rd problems we have?  The answer is we don't and can't.  Well some people might be able to, but not as effective as dealing with the problems one at a time.  If we can't find a solution to the 1st problem, then we move onto the 2nd and not worry about the 1st until we know that we have a plan of action against it.  Dealing with one thing at a time makes things so much easier to handle.

I consider myself a pretty religious person, and one of the things that happens when we have problems and issues is we often ask the question "why?"  We wonder why us, why now, we're the "good" people so why are we being "punished" and the list of quetsions goes on and on.  Honestly, we never really know the entire picture of why something is happening, ever.  We might know, or think we know why something is happening, but in reality we can only see it from our point of view.  A lot of friends tend to ask the questions of why it's happening to them, instead of taking that step back to see a bigger picture of the situation.  They focus on the part that involves them, and only them directly, why because that's how we are as humans.  Sometimes we miss the other things that are thrown into the mix because we're so focused on one part.  Then this is where we start to get into conflicts with each other, and even with God.  We start to blame Him for the things that are happening, and we also decide that He's forgotten about us.

I don't think that's the case at all.  He has told us that He gives us trials and tests in our lives to see how strong our faith is in Him.  We need to see that when we're given hardships in our lives, it's our chance to shine through it all and not stick in a corner and complain as to why we were dealt a bad hand.  He gives them to us to see us perceviere through this time, and usually we go through all the crap because He wants us to deal with it at that moment, so that when He does give us the brighter side of things, we'll appreciate it more, and we won't take it for granted.  We are given these things to make us stronger individuals, families and most of the time we miss it.  These aren't bad times, rather these are opportunities for us to come through a better person, come through as a better family.

The reason we don't see all this is that we keep those blinders on and we don't see how far the ripples extend.  We don't see that the ripples we caused in that stagnant pond go into another little lake or pond.

A friend of mine said that when we're at our lowest, those are the times that we can get the closest to God that we ever will.  I am proof of this, as when I was the lowest in my life, when everything seemed over for me, I was able to see Him clearly.  It was strange, but I was able to hear Him better, and I was able to interact with Him in a such a way that I have never been before.

Just to clarify, when I mention Him I'm talking about God, not some male friend, or boyfriend because I'm not gay, not that there's anything wrong with it!

You know that saying, make the best of the situation?  Well that's what should be done in most cases, if we are faced with something that is beyond our control, such as trying to find a new job and getting it.  Trying to find a job nowadays can be really hard given the economy, and people can't get on themselves if they didn't get the position because 9 times out of 10, they didn't get the job for other reasons, for financial reasons - be it someone came in asking for a lower rate, or someone who is just barely qualified being hired as opposted to someone that has everything going for them.  So we can't get down on ourselves about this, and also, remember take it as an opportunity.  If you're unemployed, just do what you can for your parents, for your siginicant other, for yourself.  Moping around and feeling bad for yourself will really get you nowhere, again, it's how many times we stand up and get up from situations that counts.

All that I've said here can really be summed up into a short paragraph.  That when times are hard, handle your issues and problems one by one, instead of everything at once.  In doing so, it will help other things in your life fall into place.   Don't try to figure out the reasons for why things are going badly, or why you deserve or don't deserve this, because we really don't know what the reasons are until we take that step back from the situation.  Trying to understand the reasons and the why's, won't work out too well since you'll now be focusing on the questions rather, than tackling the actual issue(s).  Be strong and know that these trials and tests are simply an opportunity to shine!  There's this song that reminds me of this ... Getting Better by the Beattles ... You've got to admit it's getting better geting better all the time ...

+ mon

Waiting for Gym Class

This was an entry that I put in my old blog (which no one read lol, and I was going to post this yesterday but it slipped my mind, so here I am posting it today).

Back in high school I remember having gym class at most twice a week. The rest of the time you have the "other" classes that just fill up your schedule, like science, math, english, and all those other classes that are just there to fill your day so you don't have idle thoughts. Having that crumpled program card in my pocket and looking at it each day, even though I knew where I was supposed to be and what class it was, then seeing that day that had gym on it. That feeling was awesome, it was a countdown until you were able to go into that gym class again.

I guess going to gym class was different from going to the park and doing things with your friends like playing basketball or baseball. Being in that gym class gave you the opportunity to show off to your fellow alumni your skills, or lack thereof. All our fellow classmates would see us in is sitting at our desks buried in a book (as we fell asleep), or doing projects with them for whatever filler class we might be attending. There was hardly any time to show those other people in the classroom what kind of athlete you were, or there was never any time to show that you weren't just some nerdy kid.

Being able to gym class and show that you are somewhat coordinated and others very well coordinated was a big thing. The circle of friends expanded just because of your abilities! Even if those new "friends" you met in gym class weren't the ones you hung out with all the time, you would now get the head nod in passing in the hallways, or if you were lucky the pound or the high fives. That was what gym class was about.

But there was only that one day or if you were lucky two days you had gym. Each day would just be another countdown until you got to wear the same clothes as the other guys and match with everyone in the PE uniform.

That's how it feels for me again. I'm back at that spot where I sit here day in and day out just waiting for the next volleyball game so I can do my thang and show my coworkers that I'm more than just a suit and tie. It's fun that way, and I like it more because you have a sense of teamwork and accomplishment, even if your team lost all three games. I would rather do that then going out for "drinks" after work.

Well here I sit, one day a week of volleyball is not enough for me. I'm going to check out a new league tonight, and possible another league. So there's a potential to be in three volleyball leagues, so that means three days of gym class ... wish I had done this when I was younger and maybe I would have been in the Olympics or something. But it's funny how you can do this stuff when you're older since you have the cash and nothing else to do.

So now I look at my program card and wait in anticipation for gym class tonight that is in 2 hours and 30 minutes. Then maybe gym class on Sunday as well ... I'm starting to like this program that I got.

Game on!

+ mon

Netflix ... too Expensive!

The only reason I say that is because I make it expensive.  How does that work you ask? 

Well I'm on the 3 dvd at a time plan, I think it's something like $20 or $21 a month.  Not too bad huh?  Well it gets pricey when you don't return the dvd's for 2 or 3 months at a time!  So I'm really paying about $20 a dvd to rent, if I keep the 3 dvds for 3 months at at ime!

Geeze, I could just buy the dvd already.  To make things worse, I have been renting at the local Blockbuster instead of me returning the Netflix movies to get new ones.  This is one of the bad habits that I have to break.

I'm not sure what it is that makes it so hard to just drop the dvds in the mailbox.  I could even just bring it into the office and drop it off at the mailroom, but the thing is, the last time I did that Netflix never received any of the dvds ... so you can figure that one out for yourself!

I need to return these movies and save some money!

+ mon

WTF to my Ears?!

So I just got back from my morning duece here in the office ... in the stall next to me comes in someone who is doing the same as I.

This isn't a problem and is usually fine, until today.  I'm used to hearing all sorts of "regular" sounds that come along with the call from nature, but today had me in disbelief.

As I concentrate on the task at hand, my neighbor positions himself ... and what do I hear?  A big splash!  At first, I thought I was hearing something and let it go, then again a big splash!  Then another big splash!  It was one right after the other.

It's as if someone was throwing rocks into the toilet from about 20 feet away!  Either that, or this person was standing on the seat and dropping his load from about 6 or 7 feet above the seat.

Seriously, it was that loud!  Splash after splash ...

+ mon

Music to my Ears

As I was walking to the subway this morning, a car was backing up into it's parking spot.  In doing so, they had to go over a small mound of snow that had been pilled up from the days before.

I stopped walking as I heard the snow being crushed under the weight and pressure of the car and tires.  There's something about this sound that I love.  I stayed there until the car was done parking and the sound was gone, but this is something that I really like listening to.

Maybe this is one of the reasons why I snowboard, because I hear this sound all the time when I ride.  When I'm there strapping in, or about to go on a run, I heard that snow getting compacted and crushed under the board or my boots.

Ahhh that sound ... too bad I hadn't heard it this season since I didn't have a chance to ride and the only time I did hear it was a car parking along the street.

+ mon

Do you Smell it?

Spring is in the air!  As much as I love the winter ... I love spring too!  Well I actually like all of the seasons because of the different things each one of them brings.

I guess I see spring coming in the next week or two from seeing how it's been in the past few years.  Usually we'll get a snowstorm right before spring comes.  That last (or first) snowstorm will come and drop a ton of snow on the ground, getting icey and cold.  Then in about a week you start to see that all start to melt away, the temperature starts to go up and then the buds start on the trees.

Hmmm two weeks at most is what I'm giving it.  But I think the spring like weather will be coming around this weekend, if not early next week.

+ mon

Age Ain't Nothing but a Number

As I was writing the last entry, it got me thinking about this topic and I wanted to start writing about it now instead of waiting till later.  We all know how that works right ... we read or do something then we tell ourselves, or make a mental note to "reply later" or something similar.  Then a few hours go by, a day, a week and then months and we're still telling ourselves that we will do it later ... so I'm doing it now.

Here I am a 29 year old, who's working and volunteering with this church/youth group.  A lot of the "kids" are just getting into college, so they are 18-20 years old.  It's usually a weekly basis that I see these kids and usually we hang out a lot.  Go to the movies, get some Korean BBQ, play some Rockband2, watch movies at my house or whatever it is ...

Sometimes I wonder to myself when I am with them is if they feel that I'm one of their friends, or if I'm just a chaperone.  Someone who is the driver and isn't really part of the "group."  I can't help but wonder that sometimes just because of the age gap, but I already know that I am part of them and the age isn't an issue. Well at least I hope I'm right about that.

I mean how many people do you know hang out, like really hang out on a regular basis with people who are 10 years younger.  Well you know at least one, and that's me.  It's funny how I can relate and how I can sort of see them at the same age level ... that's one thing I really like about myself, is that I don't ever want to fully grow up! 

I want that childlike feeling of being open to do anything and everything, of being innocent and not being afraid of getting hurt, and seeing what the immediate world around you has to offer.  I like the kid in me that never is afraid to come out.

So as the hang outs continue and we all grow older, I'll probably start to wonder if they don't mind hanging out with a 40 year old when they are all 30.  But then again, it doesn't matter to me because I'll always be a child at heart. 

+ mon

Working for the Weekend

This has been on my mind for a while now, and well it's not that I'm ungrateful for having a job in these "hard economic times" but it's just the anatomy of the job and what it entails and takes you away from.

We'll take the typical office job into consideration, say from 9am till 5pm. 

So here we are at 7am in the morning waking up and getting ready for work, because we also have to factor in the travel time so that we can make it into work ontimat 9am.  The day ticks away and we're here pounding on the keys of this board, going to meetings, meeting clients, reading emails, etc etc.  As the clock ticks, 5pm finally comes around and we're ready to get outta here and head on home.  Given that this is the rush hour and everyone rushes to get home, we get to our front door at about 6:30pm.  Now just because we're at home means that work is behind us, we have to get out of that work mentality and change and get comfortable for our life at home.

7pm is when we're in our house clothes and finally comfortable.  Now it's time to cook, watch tv, spend time with the family.  The clock hits 10pm or 11pm ... uh oh it's time to go to sleep now because we have to wake up at 7am to start the work cycle again.

Now taking a look at that, we spend about 12 hours a day either getting ready for or from work, being at work and traveling to and from work.  That's 12 hours, 7am to 7pm.  Then we have 3 or 4 hours to "relax," watch tv, spend time with the family, or whatever we have in mind before we have to hit the sack to get enough rest for us to make it through the next day.

What is that?  We only have a quarter of the time to spend at home during the week to be with our families, to relax and get away from work???  That's ridiculous, seriously it is. 

My boss always talks to us about quality of life is what's important, and what kind of quality of life is that when you come home at 7pm and spend the smallest amount of time with your kids and family.  I've always said that it's so much better to be working at a job that doesn't pay a lot, but does give you the time to be with your family and friends. 

The ideal job is to work on the beach and sell drinks.  The money probably isn't that great, but you're relaxed and you have time to be with the ones you love. 

Whomever invented the "work week" is an idiot!  Yes I said it!  Why couldn't they come up wtih a more balanced approach, 4 days of work and a 3 day weekend, or vica versa. 

Gotta love working for the weekend, us being behaved little robots for those 5 days gives us the reward of having 2 days to ourselves, awwww isn't that great!  This doesn't even take into account overtime, and those who are tied to their jobs with their ever so wonderful Blackberry's. 

Ahh well, back to work for me, another 9 minutes of regular time and probably some more overtime here.

+ mon

Square Root Day

Today is a square root day (heard it on Z100).

3/3/9

+ mon 

Weather!?

This past "winter" has been a bit of a let down.  There hasn't been much snow, if any at all.  The temperature has been going up and down, and sometimes it feels like spring is already here - that's how it felt at the end of last week.

Until yesterday ... we were blessed with a big amount of snow!  I guess you can tell that I do love the snow.  We've had about only one major snowstorm each year for the past few years, and it's disappointing :( I remember those days when we would have at least two or three snowstorms during the year!

These would be the times when I would be out shoveling and seeing the kids having a snowball fight, and there's just something in me that can't say no to that.  So they'll all of a sudden see a random snowball come from where I was shoveling.

I guess part of it is that it takes me back to the days when I was younger ... oh wow, when you say something like that you know that you're getting old!  But I miss those days when there was a snowday and schools were closed, well sometimes they weren't even closed, but the streets and roads were covered in just enough snow that I was able to convince my parents that it was better that I stay home that day.  During these snowdays, with nothing ever planned it would always come to a point where my cousins and I would all go outside around the same time ... after some shoveling had been done by the neighbors and there were little mountains of snow on random spots.  We would then hide behind these mounds, and the war on 90th street began!

This was never a timed war ... sometimes hours, sometimes a few minutes.  It would depend on if there was an injury on the field of battle.  The quick battles would be the result of someone getting hit in the eye or in the ear with a nicely packed snowball.  That would stop things and depend on if that person was able to recover after using the blowdrying to warm up.

Ahhh those were the days.  The days when the snow was more than a blessing, but a blessing we could play in.  Those were the days when we could play in the snow even though we couldn't feel our fingers anymore.

So with this crazy weather of being in the 50's, then a snowstorm and being in the teens, I can only hope for more snow and maybe have another battle.

+ mon

First of Many

With a title like that, I'd hope that I can follow through with it and have entries daily ... we'll see where this takes us.

I've always been the type of person to create things on my own, and stay away from the "communities" that are already existant online, but this time around I figured that I wouldn't fight it anymore and just jump right in.  For a few years I've had my own blog on my own site, but the thing with that is the feedback from people is limited to those who know of your blog.  It seems that I was quite popular with a lot of people selling those little blue pills, or trying to get me to enlarge certain body parts, but I do hope that I get feedback in this community and this can serve as a jumping off point in my public interweb life.

That's it for this entry, and well I do want to try vlogging, so we'll see if that happens.

+ mon