11 September 2005 2258 EDT
Anyway, yesterday was flag football and then karaoke night over at Patriots. We didn't stay for long, but it was fun. Then we came back to my place to watch a movie. Of course, I was still tired from the day because my post-football nap of just under two hours was interrupted twice by phone calls. So after we got into the movie, I must've fallen asleep a half-dozen times. Then after everyone left, I couldn't figure out how to turn my thermostat off of weekend mode. So with it being slightly warm inside, I opened a couple of windows in my living room and fell asleep on my papason. Exciting story, huh?
Anyhoo...no more late nights for me now. School starts for me tomorrow and the alarm clock is set for 0500h. We'll see how long that lasts. MTF
10 September 2005 1732 EDT
Anyway, I won't dwell too much on that. The only other note that I'll make to myself here is that co-ed sports are fun...both the sports part of it and the co-ed part, if you know what I mean. I'll probably end up playing with that team for the rest of the fall if I have anything to say about it. But yeah...it's time to hit the showers and then I'll take a short nap before heading out again with the boys tonight. I've got no idea what we'll be doing, but I can guarantee that fun will be had by all.
10 September 2005 0653 EDT
Anyway, after nearly three hours of sleep, I am refreshed and ready to play some football. I'm sure with the all-star Jefferson cast we've assembled, we will no doubt win the championship. I'll keep you posted.
09 September 2005 1902 EDT
08 September 2005 1027 EDT
Anyway...the good news is that I have a job now and it only took me 20 minutes to drive home today. I will be a Seahawk, which isn't too bad because I have more blue colored shirts and ties than I did maroon and gray...though I did love it there at Mt.Vernon and I'll definitely miss those kids. Oh well...now that I actually have a job, I should probably spend less time doing Fantasy Football research and blogging and actually do some work around here. MTF
08 September 2005 0146 EDT
After that, I came back home to find that everything was done...but the living room didn't look quite right anymore. I had this sudden urge to rearrange furniture and re-organize my kitchen cabinets. Jane, if you're wondering what I did with all of your stuff, I consolidated so that you could have one shelf for all of your cookie-baking stuff. It was starting to look like grandma organized the cabinets with the sugar wrapped up in a bag which was then wrapped up in a bag which was wrapped up in another bag for protection. So anyway, I spent two or three hours working on that before calling it quits for the night. In the end, I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out. I got rid of a little bit of junk and also cleared out some room in the living room. There's a lot of extra space now, and the seating is much cozier too. Earlier today, I mentioned converting my living room into my movie room, but I'm not sure how much money I want to sink into it right now. I did do a little online window-shopping though. My three options are here: (1) (2) (3). I already put my money into my projector and a replacement bulb, so a few hundred dollars isn't too much more for a ten foot screen, is it? Alright, I know I'm not really going to spend any more money. I just paid off last month's credit card bill which added up to a little over $3000, and I'm not quite sure what my next paycheck is going to look like right now. I honestly didn't think I'd spent that much money, but a half dozen trips to Wal-mart, Circuit City, and Best Buy each, along with tuition for school will add up quickly.
Anyway, I got a call back from South Lakes this afternoon and that's where I'll be seeing again tomorrow morning. What that means for me? Who knows...but either way, I'm going to need some sleep. Hopefully, I'll have more to report tomorrow.
07 September 2005 0158 EDT
Anyway, that was exciting while it lasted. I also watched Due South Season Three today. Surprisingly enough, I ran across two or three episodes that I hadn't seen before. That was a pleasant surprise.
Jane also called me up this afternoon to tell me about the window people coming tomorrow. Once those are installed, I can get started on cleaning up the living room and re-arranging furniture so that the house'll be ready for company again. I'm kinda excited about that. Something about the house being all pretty again makes me feel good. But yeah, that's tomorrow. Until then...
06 September 2005 0142 EDT
I was AIMing with a friend and we were talking about fuel prices. I noted that I worry about how much it costs to drive across the city now. Like it costs me five dollars every time I visit my parents. I never used to think about that kind of stuff, but gas prices these days, you know? So parents, grandma....you should feel so privileged that I visit as often as I do. I'm such a good son...hehe. That's like 15-20 dollars a week I'm spending, you know? But it's worth every penny. Moving on...
Other interesting developments include bachelor party preparations for my brother. We talked about it today and I think we're going to find a gym or a cellar or an empty dojo somewhere to host a fight club with him and his friends. We'll probably have to stick to one pound (maybe even two pound) gloves to make sure that he won't look all beat up come wedding day. But I don't know. It seems promising...something to get in shape for, at least. I'll need to do a little research before this is all said and done though...getting a little excited though.
What else is going on? I spent this morning doing some research for Fantasy football. I haven't been a big stats guy since I stopped collecting baseball cards back in grade school, but I got into it when I joined my family's fantasy draft a few weeks ago. Of course, all of my football knowledge is from years and years ago, so I ended picking a lot of old guys who used to be good. Anyway, I did some research and ended up talking to Thuy online for a little bit. I was asking him for some advice before we decided to just do a random draft with 14 other random people on Yahoo. That was fun for the few hours that it lasted. Then I moved from there to join Ben at the batting cage with one of his female friends from martial arts. I think that's where he met her. Anyway, that was fun for a little bit. I practiced batting left-handed, but I didn't do so well. I even managed to rip a small patch of skin off of my right hand from the way I gripped the bat. It was about the size of a dime. I don't know. I have an awkward left handed swing because I keep my right elbow locked too much, I think. So that contributed to the "injury." Anyway, after putting some purrell on the wound and crying like a little girl, I was off to spend some QT at my parents' and ate dinner before heading back home to fall asleep on my couch.
And that's pretty much it. That and I decided to improve my RSS feed ever so slightly after speaking to my sister and finding out that someone actually reads it. MTF
05 September 2005 0144 EDT
Anyway, I had a good time and the hokies won tonight. So what's there to complain or worry about? Nothing, absolutely nothing.
04 September 2005 0157 EDT
Oh, I went out to lunch with a girl today. That was really nice. It's been (counting fingers) almost two years since the last time I did that. It was really nice. I think it went well. We didn't go out rock climbing or anything too exciting. We just sat and talked over lunch at Panera. I had a good time though...just good conversation...very natural and not awkward or anything.
Anyway, that's it for now. I'm kinda tired and it's late. I'll have more tomorrow.
02 September 2005 2100 EDT
For the last week, I'd been calling schools myself and looking for a job like some outsider. You see, it's not like I am not employed by Fairfax County. They hired me five years ago. I went on leave and now I've returned. So yeah...I've returned from leave. Depending on your job, returning from leave can mean a number of different things. With teaching, it's a little complicated because there are really only two times in the year that are good for transitioning in and out of jobs. For me, the ideal time would have been a few weeks ago, but the stars just didn't seem to be on my side. We'll see how things work out though. Tuesday is the first day of school and there is nothing I can do to change that. If and when I find a school to teach at, we'll just take it one step at a time from there.
Anyway, until that situation fixes itself up, I'll continue to hang out in my basement watching DVDs and pretending to work on school stuff. I don't know what's sadder - the fact that my life is becoming so pathetic or that people are still reading this page. Oh...good news...I've kinda got a date tomorrow. It's my first one in almost two years. Wish me luck. And last thing...happy birthday, sis!
01 September 2005 2056 EDT
Yeah, that's right. Yours truly was passed over. I honestly didn't see that one coming, so now I am starting to go into slight panic mode with the first day of school being (counting fingers) less than five days away. I've got a few leads tomorrow. But if I don't have a job by then, I'm sure you will be the first to hear about it.
Anyway, after reading my rejection letter, I did a little more shopping at Staples before heading over to the parents for dinner. I talked to brother while I was there and then ran into the Ruths as well. I talked to them for a little while, with topics of conversation ranging from preparations for Lenny's wedding to getting ready for school (both of the Ruths are/were teachers as well). Then after that, I stopped by Sheetz to pick up a birthday present for Yenny. She's always been hard to shop for because she tends to buy all of the cool stuff for herself.
Oh well...that's pretty much all I've got for right now. I should be working on more lesson plans and stuff, but I think I'll probably end up watching another movie or two tonight. MTF
31 August 2005 2330 EDT
Anyway, other than that, today has been relatively busy. No, still no job yet, but I'm feeling good about tomorrow. I did a little bit of work from home, but I really didn't get as much accomplished as I wanted. I did some shopping, though, and got a whole bunch of office supplies for class. Then I napped for a little while before heading over to Mason to wait in line for about an hour for my parking permit. It was a little better than the DMV, though, because the crowd was a lot younger and more scantily clad. After that little ordeal, I stopped by the parents' to eat dinner and take a short nap before my three-hour class. Class went well...professor is cool and everything. There is a lot of reading, but I didn't see any reason why I wouldn't be able to pull off an A in the class.
During class, I got to thinking though. A lot of time has passed since I was last here. It's been over two years since I took my last class and nearly two years since I'd last taught. Then suddenly, two very uneasy feelings came over me. One, I started worrying about all of the things that I haven't taken care of yet for the first day of school...all of the course syllabus stuff, grading policies, warm-up assignments, handouts. Heck, I don't even have a school to teach at yet. So there's the issue of getting all of the necessary things together. I started to write a list of additional office supplies I'd have to pick up tomorrow for the classroom...inboxes for homework and stuff like that. The second feeling that I was getting had more to do with feeling old. Seeing all of these kids who'd just completed their undergrad and starting their first year teaching or interning...it reminded me of how long ago it's been for me. Okay, it's not really a long time, but 2000 was five years ago. My first students have already started to graduate from college. That's wild, isn't it? Yesterday, I even got an e-mail from another one of my students who ended up at Tech. That always brings a smile to my face knowing that a little piece of me is back in Blacksburg with those students. Anyway, I won't get too mushy here. It's just been an interesting day. I hope tomorrow will be just as interesting, with a job on top.
30 August 2005 2319 EDT
I woke up early to start my first of many errands. The inspection of the car only ran through August, so I had to take that in this morning since there are only two days left in the month. I remember the old Amoco on Route 50 used to start inspections around 0700h, so I woke up a little after 0600h and left the house to get there early. I stopped at the Citgo across the street from the Amoco, and it said that inspections wouldn't start until 0800h. So I drove a little farther down the street to the Merchants, which opened at 0700h. I waited for about 20-30 minutes before they opened and then the guy tells me that the shop opens at 0700h, but the inspection guy doesn't get in until 0800h. Well, considering that the other place opened at the same time, I stayed around there and walked over to Panera to get some coffee. I get back around 0745h and plop myself down with the morning paper to read about the hurricane and the conflict in the chaplaincy in the Army and two local JROTC classmates who died weeks apart in separate battles overseas. It was a little depressing, but informative nonetheless. Anyway, 0830h rolls around and my car is still parked where I left it. I am then informed that the inspection guy is running late. 0900h...no update. 0930h...still no update. I start getting a little upset at this point since I've been waiting for nearly three hours. The guy in the shop hasn't even once offered an apology or any details regarding the inspector, so I ask for my keys back and head back up to the Citgo where I started the morning.
The line there wasn't bad, and I was done after waiting for about 30-45 minutes. While waiting, though, I saw that the car in front of me had a yellow ribbon on it with a 29th patch. It just so happens that she was the mother-in-law of one of my fellow lieutenants. So I chatted it up with her for the majority of the wait and that was pretty fun. She also recommended a movie about Hitler that I must've missed while I was overseas...Downfall I think it was called. I forget how that came up in conversation. I think we were talking about travelling or learning foreign languages.
Anyway, after finishing up there, I hang out around the house a little more and watch some movies before covering down on a laundry list full of errands. I went to the bank and requested a new ATM card since I forgot the PIN to my other one after a year of not using it. I stopped by the house to say hi to the parents and grab my missing USB cable before going off to Staples to get some random office supplies for my classes which start tomorrow. That's classes (learning) as opposed to classes (teaching). Anyway, since there was a Cingular store in the area, I stopped by there to see if they could help me with my account. You see, I've been trying to register the account with cingular.com so that I can check my bill and pay it online and stuff. Unfortunately, after trying to register a few dozen times and even calling the customer service, I still keep getting this error message that says that their system is down. When I get to the store, though, the guy there ends up getting the real story. Apparently, I have too many "dots" in my e-mail address...sonny.louie@us.army.mil. Yeah, it turns out that their web-site can't handle all of the dots, so it spits out an error. How stupid is that? I wish I could talk to the guy who programmed this thing. Anyway, they take care of that, and I'm all set. I pick up a little bit of Rain-X and a cool Nalgene bottle while I'm still in the Fairfax Circle shopping center before I head back home to my movies and tuna helper.
Let's see...today I ended up watching Napoleon for the second time, The Girl Next Door, and Kill Bill, volumes one and two. And that's pretty much it. Any questions?
28 August 2005 1147 EDT
So I ended up crashing at my parents' place again last night after hanging out with my brother for most of the evening. I wake up pretty early, around 0500h or so, and then I head back over to my house to see how much progress that lady has made. To my surprise, I show up and she meets me at the door, all of her things packed up and everything. Anyway, the day before I offered to pay for three nights at a local hotel, and she ended up leaving a message on my voice mail yesterday asking for a nicer hotel. Again, I'm speechless, but I figure I'll just give her a check for 300 dollars (which I know she won't use for a hotel room) just to make her leave. Honestly, I would be willing to pay her a lot more just to get out of my life, but 300 dollars seemed fair enough at this point...considering she has done absolutely nothing to deserve anything from me. So I show up and she meets me at the door. Hmm...that's interesting. That shirt she's wearing sure looks a lot like mine. Oh, wait. That is my shirt. At that point, I'm thinking to myself how big of a deal I should make out of this. I know she's doing it on purpose, and there is no way in hell I'm ever going to wear that shirt again...so I just let it go.
Ahh...this story is too long to recount completely. Fast forward a little bit and my dad shows up to provide back-up and another witness to the day's events. She just putters around the house for an hour or two pretending like she is getting things together to mail back to Germany. Why she thinks we're stupid enough to believe that she is still heading out of the country is beyond me...well, she probably thinks I'm stupid because I actually gave her money, but we're not talking about me here. Anyway, I eventually head out to my car so that I could take a trip to Home Depot and pick up a new lock for the front door. She catches me as I'm on my way to my car, probably thinking that I'm heading over to the police station or something, and I say that I'll probably be back before she leaves. And then she says that she's not leaving today...at which point I probably raised the volume of my voice from a four to a seven. She says that she's going to leave when my check clears...which is going to be a long time considering that today is Sunday. So I blow up a little and tell her that she is leaving now...at which point my dad steps in and starts playing good cop. If you ever told me that I would be playing good cop, bad cop with my dad with me being the bad cop and my dad being the good cop, I would have told you that you were out your mind. But it happened today. Anyway, long story short, we dropped her and all of her stuff at a hotel, and left it at that.
After changing the locks on the door, my dad was gone and I was left with this very dirty feeling. Before anything else, I took everything down in the bathrooms and stuck them in the washer. After that, I sprayed down and cleaned both my bathroom and my sister's bathroom. I've been home for two days and didn't even shower in my house because I couldn't get myself to step into my shower knowing that she'd been there. So yeah, that's all done now and hopefully behind us.
As horrible as this experience has been, I think there have been some positives and some lessons learned. Number one on the list...I am stupid. Yes, I know. I don't know if I can ever live this down, but I will try to. I think my biggest mistake was even hesitating to kick her out after my family spoke to me. Or maybe it was trusting someone to move into the house with me and my sister without really thinking about my sister's welfare in case this thing went sour. I don't know. I think a lot of my family was upset because they got the feeling that I was choosing this random lady over my own family...which I can see from their point of view. In my mind, I think it was even more selfish and I was really picking myself over my family...my pride and my optimism. I just couldn't believe that someone could be so openly not good. But yeah, that was the biggest lesson learned, I think. I did end up getting closer to my dad today though...he gave his fatherly advice today over breakfast in a way that I'd never seen him act before. It was good though. I wish I could have had a picture of it.
Anyway, I think I've written enough for now. With the laundry done for the most part, I think I'm finally going to head upstairs to take a shower now. I'll keep you posted.
28 August 2005 0451 EDT
Anyway, through him, my father met one of his neighbors who also happens to be a friend and fellow attorney. That's the person we ended up speaking to yesterday morning. He sat me down and spoke to me very bluntly about my rights as the owner of the house and told me how he would deal with this roommate situation. I know that I haven't gone into much detail about it here, but I think my sister has gone into enough detail for the two of us on her page. After those events and after an exchange of e-mails and a review of what she said to my parents about myself and my fellow baby-killers-in-arms, I decided that the best thing to do was to give her notice to vacate my house. It was a first for me, so I invited my brother to come along and even gave Ben a quick call since he expressed interest when he spoke to my sister the other day. Anyway, things ended up going smoother than I had hoped and the place will hopefully be safe for me and my sister by the time she returns from her business trip in San Diego.
Other than that, I just wanted to thank Thuy because I've now got tickets to Weezer and the Foo Fighters when they come to Fairfax. That's right, baby. Things are starting to look up already. Oh...that reminds me. I need to pay my tuition because classes start at Mason next week. I'll get right on that. Until next time...