Never a dull moment...

here's some exitement for the day. i was driving on the freeway to work today. a truck was behind me on my left and a semi-truck was in front of me on my right. we were all doing around 65 mph. suddenly some smoke came out from the semi's rear left tire and bang!...the tire exploded. pieces of the tire sidewall flew through the air. the semi started to swerve a bit. a large piece of the steel belted tire tread flew into the air right towards me. i swerved to my left a bit to avoid the tire, but the truck was in the next lane to me. luckly the tire tread flew right over my car, without touching.

it was almost like the car stunt in the movie "the bad boys 2", where the bad guys are pushing cars off a car carrier and the good guy's car just barely sneaks under a flying car.

or like in the movie "driven", where 2 indy cars are racing on the city streets and a manhole cover flys up and over the car behind it.

after missing the tire, i looked to my left at the driver of the truck and we both shook our heads with amazement that i didn't get hit. whew, talk about close calls.

well thats it for today. again it was pinche hot, and wearing dark colors and lifting boxes doesn't help. its supposed to cool down this week, i just hope sooner than later. also, i hope my cousin and his family are okay during this katrina storm, cuz they live in louisiana.

good luck ya all on the weather and the rest of this week, and peace out.

hey all,

i haven't blogged since that last huge blog that took 2 days to write.
not much been going on. trying to rest after this past weeks excitement. its so pinche hot down here that its hard to sleep. i wake up with headaches and its hard to do things since the very effort of sitting here makes me sweat. i thought the heat was over but now its struck again, and harder than before. and we have no wind cuz we're in the pinche valley. dang it sucks here. west LA, here i come.

well not much has been happening. got back to work and things are a bit mixed up there. see what happens when i go on vacation. if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it.

today we went to the mall just to cool down. had some quick lunch at ikea with a ice cream cone to top it. walked around the mall, just to do something in some place cool. then grabbed a berry smoothie at costco (very cheap and yummy) and did 3 loads of laundry at the hot laundry mat. i actually baked chicken (i must get my head examined) in this crazy heat for dinner. and we watched 'densha otoko' over dinner.

'densha otoko' is a japanese mini series about a geeky guy (who loves anime) who accidently helps this young attractive woman from a drunk old man. in exchange, the young woman sends the geeky guy a gift. this starts a relationship between the geeky guy and the young woman. but the geeky guy doesn't know how to talk to the young woman, so he asks for advice from an internet chat room. with the advice from the chat room, the geeky guy tries to become 'normal' and tries to lead his relationship with the woman towards romance. its very heart warming as you really feel for the geeky guy and hope he can finally win the heart of the young woman. other subplots emerge but this is the main plot of the series.

i would recommend this series if you know japanese. but if you don't, sit next to someone who can help you translate, like my wife. she's probably annoyed of me saying 'what did he say, what did he say'. i think its only 10 or 11 episodes long, and so its a quick one. its actually based on a true story, which was made into a book, and then made into a movie, now made into a tv mini series. i just wished it had subtitles. but its still one of my favs right now.

well thats about it. i'm just sweating here typing this thing. have a good week and please comment below. thanks and peace out.

The Man and the Blue Suitcase
(aka...Help me get off this rock!!!)

Once upon a time, there was a man who worked at company that offers jumpseat flights (jumpseat is when an employee can travel free on any of the company's airplanes where ever the airplanes go). The man was going to take his vacation from work and decided he would try it out and go to Hawaii for a day. The man did not like traveling by himself but he thought the experience would be exciting and the day would go by quickly. The company also decided to cancel the jumpseating the week after the man's vacation, so the man thought it would be his last chance to try jumpseating before he would quit the company. So the man made his reservation and prepared for his day trip.

One of the qualifications for jumpseating is that the man must dress up for the trip. The company may have visitors, so for its image, the company would like its employees to have a professional look. So the man had to dress up for the jumpseat, but he also packed a bag with casual clothes for his travels in hawaii.

On the early morning of his trip, the man woke up early, packed his bag, dressed, and kissed his wife goodbye. He arrived at the airport, parked his car in a paid parking lot, and checked in at the airport station. The man went through the airport security and was escorted to the man who would check him in. As he was being checked in, there was missing information in the computer. But after talking to someone on the phone, the problem was soon straightened out. The man waited an hour until the plane was ready and he was escorted to the plane.

When the man entered the airplane, he was told that there would be other passengers on the plane. The other passengers were two other men who were trainers for race horses. The plane would be carrying two race horses in the cargo area and the two men were responsible for the horses. The only problem would be the smell of the horses as there was no air-tight wall between the seating area and the cargo area. The man had no problem with this as he was just happy to go on the trip for free. The co-pilot came back to the seating area and demonstrated all the emergency devices. The co-pilot even put on the safety goggles and the oxygen on the mask on the man, which made the man happy as he thought he looked like a military jet pilot. All the passengers strapped themselves down to their seats and the plane was ready to take off.

During the flight, the man was very sleepy and fell asleep a few times. The flight had food for the pilots and the passengers but the man was not hungry and too sleepy to eat. The man did notice the plane became very cold. So cold that the man had to use two blankets, but he was still cold. Later the man found out that horses can become sick if they are warm or hot. So the trainers prefer the horses to be cold rather than to become sick and die. That is the reason why the plane was so cold. Also the plane is a normal passenger plane but with all the passengers seating and insides (including insulation) taken out and replaced with holding brackets for the cargo bins. The man was still able to fall asleep at times. One time, the man was awaken when he heard one of the trainers, who went back to check on the horses, was accidentally pee'd on by one of the horses. The man assumed horses get scared by flying too. After several hours, the plane landed in Hawaii and it was a bright morning start of the man's day.

The man exited the plane but did not know where to go. His plan was to catch a bus and go to the Aloha Stadium for the swap meet. But he did not know where the bus stop was. The pilots helped the man and talked to their shuttle driver and asked if the shuttle driver could drop off the man at a bus stop. The shuttle driver said yes and they all boarded the shuttle. After a long drive down a deserted road, the shuttle driver stopped the shuttle and told the man the bus stop was just down the road. The man thanked the driver and the pilots for their help and walked towards the bus stop.

While waiting for the bus, the man met a young gay Hawaiian man, who was also waiting for the bus. The man had small talk with the nice gay man while they waited for the bus. The bus soon arrived and they both boarded the bus. After a while, the bus arrived at the Aloha Stadium and the man exited the bus.


The man paid the admission fee of 50 cents and entered the swap meet. The man's first goal was to find a bathroom and change his clothes to his casual clothes of a t-shirt and shorts. The man finally found a bathroom and changed in one of the stalls. The man felt better as the weather was getting hot and the sun was shining. The man had came to the swap meet a few times before and he knew what he wanted to buy. So the man walked around, looking at the booths of t-shirts, fruits, and gifts. But the man was there so early that some of the vendors were still sitting up their booths. The man continued to walk around until he decided on what he wanted to buy.


The man stopped at a luggage booth and decided he wanted to buy a Hawaiian print luggage, he had seen before on one of his previous trips. But the man did not know what size he wanted and called his wife for her suggestion. As his wife was not able to see the sizes, she could not help the man, but she suggested it not be too big. The vendors approached the man several times to 'help' the man with his decision but the man still was not sure on what he wanted to buy. After what seemed like 30 minutes, the man finally decided on a size and color of the suitcase. The man paid the vendor for the suitcase and this begins the relationship of the man and the blue suitcase.

The man then put his bag in the blue suitcase and dragged the suitcase, on its wheels, around the swap meet. The man continued to walk around the swap meet, looking at the many booths and trying to decide on what to buy next. Several times, the man would find a place to sit, eat his trail mix, and think about what to buy. But also the man was beginning to miss his wife and wished she was there to share this experience with him. The man decided to find a ukulele to buy for his mother-in-law, as she was interested in learning to play one. The man finally found one at a reasonable price, purchased it, and put it in his blue suitcase. The man decided that he wanted to buy some t-shirts for himself and one for his wife. After looking through several booths, the man bought some t-shirts and put them in his blue suitcase. The man was becoming tired of walking around and he decided to leave the swap meet and visit the Waikiki area.

On his way to the bus stop, the man was approached by a shuttle driver who offered the man a trip to Waikiki for 3 dollars. But the man wanted to see the sights of Oahu, and politely declined. Later, the man wished he took the offer as the bus ride took over 1 1/2 hours to reach Waikiki. But the man was able to see Chinatown, but was slightly disappointed as Chinatown only had restaurant and grocery shops. The bus was so packed with people that the man stood for the whole bus ride, with his blue suitcase next to him. Finally, the bus approached Waikiki and the man stepped off the bus. By this time, the man was very hungry and he decided to go to a ramen shop, that was suggested by his friend Lisa.


The man found a ramen shop, but he wasn't sure if it was the one his friend had recommended. The man was so hungry that he decided he would try out the restaurant. The man ordered miso ramen and slurped up the noodles as fast as he could. When the bill arrived, the man noticed the tip was already added to the bill. The man figured out that some Japanese tourist might not know about tipping, and would not tip the restaurants. So the restaurants decided to add the tip into the bill to 'help' the confused tourists.


Then the man walked down the main street of Waikiki, dragging along his blue suitcase. This reminded him of a previous trip to Japan and his experience with "stoopid kim's joysticks" (a story for another time). The man decided to get some money from an ATM, as he was starting to run out of money. After getting some money, the man continued to walk down the street towards the main beach of Waikiki. The man had planned to lay on the beach and think about his life. While walking to the beach, the man tried to go to some stores and 'window shop' but dragging the blue suitcase through the stores became too troublesome.


When the man reached the beach, he was surprised on how many people were at the beach. The beach was so packed that there was no place for the man to sit quietly on the sand and think about his life. So the man found a bench and sat down.


The man sat quietly, with his blue suitcase, and watched as kids played in the water, and surfers ride the waves. The man began to miss his wife again and wished he was at home with her at that moment. The man had thought, as even though Hawaii was a beautiful place, it was not fun being by himself. Suddenly the wind started to pick up and become very strong. The man decided to find some shelter and call his wife.


The man found some shelter inside the courtyard of a nearby hotel, pulled out his cell phone, and called his wife. By this time, his wife was shopping for some groceries. They had talked for a bit but since his wife was busy, the man made his call short.


After the phone call, the man sat and thought if his trip was worth the effort. All he had experienced and seen, was it worth being alone and far from the one he loved? He decided that his trip was almost over and he should start to focus on returning back to the airport. He decided with all the free time he had, he would take a bus ride back to the bus stop where he first arrived and take the long walk back to the station.


Before leaving for the bus, the man decided to pick up some dinner for the long walk to the station. He had visited a musubi snack shop on a previous trip and decided to pick up something that he can eat later.


The man purchased a spam musubi, which was made fresh in front of his own eyes. He then put the the musubi in his blue suitcase and waited at the bus stop. The bus arrived and the man boarded the bus. While on the bus, a Chinese couple asked the man where Chinatown was. The Chinese couple told the man that they had just come off the plane and wanted to eat some Chinese food. The man advised the couple that he had read on the internet that at night, Chinatown was filled with drug dealers and prostitutes and they should be careful. The man told the couple what stop to get off on, but the couple got off a couple of stops before Chinatown. At the Chinatown stop, the bus driver yelled at the couple "Chinatown stop", but the man replied "they got off too soon". A few stops later, an old couple boarded the bus and the man politely offered them his seat. The couple thanked the man, as the man stood with his blue suitcase.

At the man's stop, the man exited the bus, as well as the old couple. They all were walking in the same direction, on a road with very little buildings. The man asked the couple where they were going. The couple replied that they were visiting Hawaii for the day and needed to store their scuba diving equipment. So the couple had rented a room at a cheap hotel, just so they wouldn't have to carry their stuff around Hawaii. The man wished he had some where to put his blue suitcase at while he was walking around hawaii. After a few blocks, the man and the couple parted ways, giving each other wishes of good luck.


While walking on the partially deserted road, the man wondered if he chosen the right decision on walking to the station. The sky was becoming dark and the road was very long. But with no other options available at the moment, the man continued on his walk.


While walking, the man came upon a 'no parking' sign. This amused the man as right next to the sign, an airport baggage stroller was laying next to the sign. The area was no where close to the main airport and the man wondered how the stroller had gotten there. The man assumed a foreign tourist had left it there, as the person could not read the 'no parking' sign.


As the man continued to walk down the road, he could see buildings in the distance. This assured the man that he was getting close and in the right direction. Occasionally, a car would pass the man along the long empty road. As the car passed the man, the driver and/or the passenger would stare at the man pulling his blue suitcase along the lose gravel road. The man thought to himself that they were probably thinking 'why would anyone be pulling a suitcase down this long empty road?'. The man wished someone would stop and ask him this question as it would give him a chance to ask for a ride. No such luck.


While walking towards the buildings, the man would stop at times and enjoy the beautiful view of Waikiki during the sunset, while heavy clouds hover above. The man wished his wife was there to share in these moments, where no words can truly describe the colors and emotions that nature has to offer. The man called his wife to hear her voice, but pulling the blue suitcase over the lose gravel road and holding a cell phone was more than the man can handle. So the man wished his wife a good night and told her he would see her in the morning upon his return.

Finally, what seemed more than an hour, the man arrived at the station. The clouds grew heavy and started to rain on the man. The man did not mind as the weather was warm and the cool rain felt refreshing upon the man's face. The man entered the station and asked a worker if he could use the bathroom to change into his clothes for the airplane. After changing his clothes, the man made his way to be checked in for the flight back.

Upon checking in, the man was notified that the type of airplane had been changed and he could no longer fly back home. The new airplane only had seats for the pilots and none for the jumpseats. The man became very worried and called the jumpseat department. The man talked to a rude woman whose only response was to buy a flight home on a regular plane. This made the man sad as he did not have a lot of money and would not have gone on the trip if it was not for free. The workers at the station over heard the conversation and advised the man that this has occurred before and to try his call again in the morning, hopefully getting another person on the phone. The man decided he would stay the night and try again in the morning.

The man called his wife with the bad news. His wife was almost asleep, as hawaii is three hours behind pacific time. His wife became worried as the man thought about other options to get home. The man also called his friends if they can contact any of their friends in hawaii for some help. Unfortunately, no one could be contacted. So the man asked his wife for some information on a hostel he had read earlier on the internet. A hostel is a dormitory type hotel, where the price is very cheap but you share a room with other people. At this moment, the man did not have very much money and thought this was his only option, as he would only be sleeping there for a few hours. So the man called a cab and was taken to the hostel.

The hostel was very far from the station, which made the cab ride very expensive. But since the hostel is very cheap, the total price of the cab ride and room would still be cheaper than a single room at a regular hotel. After the long cab ride, the man finally made it to the hostel.

(photo courtesy of www.hawaiihostelreview.com)

The man entered the hostel's office and asked the young woman at the desk for a room. The hostel was very packed that night and there was only one bed left in the complex. The man gladly took the bed and offered his credit card. The young woman advised the man that their credit card machine wasn't 'working' and things would be much easier if it was in cash. The man understood what the young woman was saying and paid the woman 22 dollars for the room, and 20 dollars for a returnable deposit.

The man had never stayed in a hostel and asked the woman how it works. The young woman explained that hostels are usually for young traveling backpackers who are on a limited budget. They offer a shared bathroom, a shared kitchen, and a bed to sleep in. This did not bother the man as he only wanted to sleep for a few hours before trying to arrange another flight home. The young woman gave the man some bed sheets, a pillow case, a room card key, and sent him on his way. The man carried his blue suitcase up four flights of stairs, and walked down an outdoor corridor until he reached his room.

(photo courtesy of www.waikikibeachsidehostel.com)

When the man reached an open door, to what he believed was his room, he noticed 2 young women in the room. The man checked the door number and the next door number but the first door was his room. This surprised the man as he did not know the room was coed and he would be sleeping in the same room with women. The man greeted the two English young women, who were lying in their bed watching TV. One of the women told the man he would be sleeping in the top bunk bed, next to the front door. The man felt a bit weird as he was much older than the two women but the man decided it was just for the night and he would be sleeping for most of the time.

(photo courtesy of www.waikikibeachsidehostel.com)

Just then, a young Asian woman walked out of the bathroom in her robe. The man greeted the Asian woman and thought to himself 'this is how porn movies start'. A young French man came out from the other room and the man made small talk with the young French man. It appears that the man and the young French man were the only men sharing the room with 6 other young women. The man then noticed how dirty the room was, and how it was not clean as from the pictures on the internet. The kitchen had dirty dishes in the sink, food was laying around the counter, and the chairs were stained and old. The man thought to himself that the pictures on the internet were probably taken 10 years ago and that normal wear and tear has taken its toll on the room. This made the man a bit uneasy as he did not want to touch anything dirty in the room.

So the man decided to wash up and get ready for bed. The man went to the bathroom and also noticed how dirty and smelly it was. Other people's items were laying around, the shower was dirty, and the man was afraid to touch the toilet. When the man closed the bathroom door, he noticed that the door was hanging on one hinge and was about to fall apart. The man made the best of what he had and washed his face and freshened up. When the man exited the bathroom, the two English women were already falling to sleep, while the young Asian women was getting ready to go out. The man carefully climbed up into his bed, trying not to awaken the young English woman who was sleeping below him.

The man laid on the bed and tried to fall asleep, but the noise from the people partying outside and the bright ceiling light made it difficult for the man to drift away. Also, the night was very hot and there was only one fan in the room so the people had left the front door open. This worried the man as he was afraid someone might come into the room and rob him. So the man slept with his wallet in his pocket. After many attempts to try to fall asleep, the man stared at the ceiling and thought about his wife. He prayed that he wish he could be at home with his wife and he asked for help to get back home.

After a while, the man overheard a conversation between a black man and a black woman outside his window. It appears the black man has made the hostel his permanent resident, while the black woman disagreed with his opinion and told him this hostel is not a real home. This conversation lasted for quite a bit and became quite loud as the man believed both people were drunk. It was so loud that the young English woman, who was sleeping below the man, opened the window blinds to let the couple know their voices were too loud. The couple noticed the English woman and moved their conversation downstairs. This conversation made the man wonder, some people who are not fortunate in their life must try to make the best from all that they have. They must pay 20 dollars a day, to live in a hostel, share a room with strangers, and call it home. This made the man wonder why the black man would chose to live this way, as the black man was wearing nice clothes and drinking a 40 of beer. Maybe the black man likes to live this way and enjoys the company of strangers.

The man decided he would turn off the ceiling light as most of the people in the room was trying to sleep. So the man carefully climbed out of bed and turned off the light and closed the door. The man returned back to bed and fell asleep for a while. A few hours later, the man woke up and decided to try again to make his jumpseat reservation. So once again, the man carefully climbed down from his bed, put on his flipflops, and walked outside. By this time (4 am), everybody had gone to their rooms to sleep and the outdoor patio was empty. The man decided to go the internet computer room, as he would not disturb any of the sleeping guest.

(photo courtesy of www.waikikibeachsidehostel.com)

When the man entered the internet computer room, he was refreshed by a gush of cool air. The room was air conditioned and was a pleasant escape from the hot night. The man noticed two other men in the room, working on the computers. The man sat down at a desk and made his call. As he was waiting for someone to pick up his call, the man noticed one of the other men looking at gay porn on the internet. The man did not want to embarrass the gay porn man, so the man turned his back to the gay porn man and gave him his privacy. After a few rings, a woman from the jumpseat department picked up the man's call. The man explained his situation and the woman gladly offered her assistance. Within minutes, the woman booked the man on the earliest flight back home, with one stop in Hilo. The man was so happy and relieved that he almost started to cry. The man happily thanked the woman and hung up his cell phone. The man was so excited upon the good news that he decided to sit in the outdoor lounge and think about what to do next.

(photo courtesy of www.waikikibeachsidehostel.com)

The man went to the outdoor lounge, picked a clean chair, and quietly sat and thought. A Hawaiian man, who looked very sleepy, was walking around and sat by the man. The man and the Hawaiian man made small talk about where they came from and how crowded their cities were. Then the Hawaiian man asked the man if he knew anyone who would like to buy some marijuana. The man politely declined and told the Hawaiian man that everyone in the hostel would probably be asleep already. The Hawaiian man then made a cell phone call but no had answered his call. The man and Hawaiian man made their kind goodbyes and the Hawaiian man drifted into the night.

By this time, the man's wife would be going to work, so the man went back to the internet computer room to call her and tell her the good news. The man's wife was happy to hear the news and the man told her she should expect to see him tonight and he would call if anything else would go wrong.

The man was so excited to go home, that he decided he would start to get ready for his trip to the station. Luckily, the man had brought a towel with him to lay on the beach, but since the beach was so crowded and the man did not lay on the sand, the man's towel was still clean. So the man decided to take a shower. The man carefully climbed into the shower with his flipflops on, and used the other people's soap and shampoo, which were all laying around the bathroom. He dried himself off, put on a new t-shirt, which he bought from the swap meet, and dressed for the hot trip back to the station.

The man gathered all his belongings in the room and packed his blue suitcase. The man noticed the young Asian woman's bed was not slept in and he wondered what had happened to the woman. He hoped she was okay and she knew how to take care of herself. After packing his blue suitcase, the man took all the bed sheets and pillow case, his blue suitcase, and carried them down to the front office to check out. The manager at the front office gave back the man his 20 dollar deposit and asked the man to fill out a survey of the hostel. The man did not want to be rude, so the man lied on the survey and thanked the manager for his service and went on his way.

The man was in search of an ATM to get more money out, as the man did not know how much he would need for his travel to get back to the station. The man decided he would take the bus ride to the airport, then a cab ride to the station to save on cost. While searching for a ATM, the man noticed how empty the beach was and decided to take one last view of the coast.


There were a few people at the beach. Some morning surfers, trying to catch a few waves before the mounds of tourists crowd the shores. The view of the beach was so beautiful, that it again reminded the man that his wife was not there and how much he wanted to go home. The man spent a few minutes on the beach then continued his search for a ATM. The man found a ATM, pulled out more money, and decided to get something to eat for the travel back home.

The man decided he would go back to the musubi shop and grab a few more musubi for his travel. Upon entering the shop, the shop owner told the man that they had not opened for business yet. The man left the shop and decided to go to a local store where they also sold musubi. The man bought a chicken teriyaki musubi and a spam musubi and put them in his blue suitcase. Then the man made his way to the the bus stop to wait for the bus.


While waiting for the bus, the man was worried about his jumpseat flight back home. He had hoped that there would be no more confusion about his reservation and everything would go smoothly. After a few minutes, the bus arrived and the man boarded the bus. During the bus ride, the bus became packed with people and the man gave his seat to a old woman. The man stood on the bus, with his blue suitcase, until he got off at the airport.

The man got off at the airport departure stop and made his way to the arrival terminal to catch a cab. A young woman, who worked at the airport, called a cab for the man and he waited patiently for its arrival. When the cab arrived, the man was surprised because the cab was a limousine cab. This excited the man as he thought his luck had changed and the rest of this trip would be smooth.

While traveling to the station, the man noticed thick black smoke coming from the area where the station was. The man became worried as he thought the station might be on fire and the planes would be grounded that day. But as the cab got closer to the station, the man could see that the fire was beyond the station and his flight was not in danger. The cab arrived at the station, the man paid for the ride, and dragged his blue suitcase towards the doors of the station.

The man asked the station worker if he could again use the bathroom to change his clothes for his jumpseat trip. This time, the man wore 2 shirts as he did not want to be cold on the return flight home. After changing his clothes, the man made his way to be checked in and security checked. The checking in process went smoothly and the man felt relaxed as he thought he would be home soon. On one occasion, one of the station's worker made a comment about taking the man to the backroom and giving him a full security check, with rubber gloves on. This made the man laugh and eased the man's tension about the trip.

After a while, the pilots of the plane entered the check-in room to prepare for the trip. This surprised the man as it was the same pilots who flew the plane to Hawaii the day before. The man explained to the pilots what had happened and the pilots assured the man that he would be able to go home. The pilots were ready for the flight, and the man and the pilots were escorted to the plane. The man buckled himself in and prepared for the long ride home.


Before going back home, the plane had to land in Hilo to exchange cargo. This would last an hour but during the hour, the man was able to watch how the workers unloaded and loaded the cargo. The man was advised not to leave the plane, as he would have to go through another security check. This did not bother the man as he enjoyed the view for the plane and had no where to go.


After an hour, the plane was ready to leave. The man bucked himself in again and the plane left the ground. When the plane was leveled and the auto pilot was enabled, the co-pilot came in the back area and offered the man some food. The man politely accepted as he was quite hungry by now. The man's mean consisted of cold fried chicken,which was a bit too oily for the man's taste, a small salad, and a chicken salad sandwich. The man spent most of the flight napping, and thinking of seeing his wife. He had also pondered about his experience and all the things that had happened to him.

The plane soon landed and the man thanked the pilots for all their help with his trip. The man dragged his blue suitcase from the station to the airport paid parking, paid for the parking, and drove his car home.

When the man arrived home, he carried the blue suitcase to his door, opened the door, and hugged his wife so hard that her eyes almost popped out of her head. After a long deep kiss, the wife asked the man if he would ever do that trip again. The man replied 'not without you'.

...the end.


(total price of trip, including meals, transportation, and gifts = $178 dollars)
please leave a comment below. i would love to hear from you.
thanks and i hope this was worth the wait. peace out.

hey all, how ya doing...
right now i'm kinda nervous/scared cuz tomorrow morn i'm gonna do my first jumpseat to hawaii. i'm not quite sure where to go and what to do but i'm sure after the first time, i'll know what to do. i also don't like to travel by myself so that's kinda on my nerves. i know i'm gonna hit up the aloha bowl swap meet. then maybe waikiki beach, and maybe chinatown (since i've never been there). the only thing that sucks is that i have to dress for the jumpseat, so i have to carry a duffle bag with my casual clothes in. but if i want to go surfing, there's no place that i can put my stuff at. since 9/11, the airport doesn't have lockers. so the whole day i have to carry my clothes and what i bought. i was planning to buy a hawaiian design luggage but if i have to carry it the whole day, maybe i'll pass. i'll try to take some pics to put up. it'll probably be scenery since i'm alone =( and theres no one to take my picture. ah wells, what can u do.

also i called to check up on the flight and i got a recording that said 'starting aug 29, all personal jumpseat will be suspended'. so i'm kinda glad that i'm going tomorrow since it'll probably be my last chance to do this before i quit. if all comes to worse, i'll probably just sit on the beach the whole day till my flight is ready, but i'll have the experience of doing a jumpseat.

maybe i'll play some video games to calm my nerves. i'll write more later if i'm not so jitterey. lates...

okay, i got a few minutes to blog while i wait for the lasagne to bake.
so here's the much anticipated blog of the past weekend...

friday...
it was the start of my vacation. i had to drop off 'the misses' at the subway station, jet to little tokyo and get a haircut, go home and pack, go pick up 'the misses' at her work, park in the airport parking lot, and try to get on a standby flight.
well we got bumped off 2 flights. it was so over booked that they were bumping standbys to later flights, which means we get bumped down the list. we were listed on the 6:35 flight but we got bumped off 2 flights and ended up on the 9:30 flight (which was the last flight out of lax). i suppose if we couldn't get out of lax that night, we would just try on saturday morning but we would have to pay for parking and wake up early to catch a flight. not a good start of the weekend. =$

saturday...
we woke up and had some breakfast. we were going to stop by the gilroy outlets before heading up to vince's house. so kenny and lisa picked us up and we finally got to see lil hannah and 'not-so-little-anymore spencer'. lil hannah is so small that you really can't do much with her (just like how spencer was). you can try to put your finger in her hand and have her squeeze it. but besides that, she pretty much just sleeps and make noises. on the other hand, i can play with spencer now. he loves cars and we were playing outside of the nike outlet. 'the misses' bought some shoes and i finally spent my fossil gift certificate (which i had for 3 years) on a watch. i already have watches but i needed to use the GC so i picked one out and bought it. the blue rings in the background turns on and off to make designs (something for me to stare at when i'm bored. so if you're talking to me and i'm staring at my watch, its a hint). =P

then we headed to vince's house, picked him up and went to the grocery store to grab some supplies. but the grocery store was so old that it didn't furikake or a bakery department (come on, step into the 90's). so we went to 'whole foods' and kenny came out with this beautiful strawberry cake (i didn't know 'whole foods' had a bakery). when we got to vince's, ricky and nathan already had the bbq going. then one after another, people started to trickle in. i jumped into the huge smorgasbord of 'king eggroll' (my fav), meats, pasta, soups, and rice (can't forget rice). i think i have stretch marks from eating too much. then some peeps started to leave, so i wanted to get a shot of da old skool guys (sorry the pic is so dark. i tried to fix it but this is the best i can do on a short notice). its been since college years that we've all been together. jeff hasn't aged a bit. he still looks just like he did in college.

then there's mr.O. word on the street is ms.J got a new thang goin and was bringin him to da party. he's a nice guy. talked to him a bit. he was surprised when he found out i knew spanish and when i yelled out 'pinche haponess'. =P
and then vince's x-co-workers came, a whole truck load of phreaky hinas came through the door. it would have brought tears to a club bouncer. they all went to the kitchen and the 2 guys that came with them probably didn't watch the tv in the room. i'm sure their eyes just glanced back and forth through the room, watching the room full of breasts and butts. =)_ .

well after hours of eating, talking, and cake eating, it was time to go to the club. vince's x-co-workers went before us to the club but one of them didn't get in since she was underaged, so most of them went to an under 18 club in san jo. so just ms.j, mr.o, rick and linda, vince, 3 volleyball girls (kristen, tiffany, kairlin), and me and the misses, went to the club. the club was actually good. i've been there before and it was pretty much empty, but since there were events going on in monte, i think more peeps decided to go clubin. the music was good. the dance floor was a bit crowded. there was this one blonde tall hakugene chick that was so drunk, i thought she was going to spill her drink on us. another time, she actually grabbed the misses while doing her drunk dance. i was ready to elbow her or call a bouncer on her and bounce her drunk ass out. i think she did get booted after a while cuz i didnt see her the rest of the night.
well we danced and at one point, we did some drinks. we did a shot of purple hooter (which was way weak. it tasted like only fruit juice.) and then we did a shot of tequila (which went down like gasolina). the main dance floor closed at 2, but the smaller dance floor close at 3 (no alcohol). but the music got so loud that me and the misses went back to vince's place to crash. vince and the 3 volley girls stayed till the end. sad to say, vince didn't get what he wished for during his candle blowout (at least i think i know what he wished for). maybe next year.

sunday...
woke up early to jet to watsonville and have lunch with the fam, rick and linda, and vince. we had lunch at applebees. my father tried to pay for the lunch (as japanese men do) a couple of times during the lunch. i guess this amused the waitress cuz she never saw anyone so eager to pay for a meal. she later commented on how our party 'made her day' and made her laugh (if she only grew up with our family. its a barrel of monkeys).

after lunch, we ran over to da big K (kmart) cuz my mom wanted to get a family photo in before we had to jet back down to LA. the girl that worked there, i swear, looked like she was in high school. but i noticed a framed certificate on the wall, with her name on it, saying she was a 'qualified photographer'. maybe da big K has a school for the peeps who work in the photo department. go figure.

after photos, we headed to the airport early so we can get on a plane (its not fun to get bumped). we got there early but still got bumped off of 2 flights (who knew flights between sj and lax was so popular). but we finally go on our targeted flight (even thought we had to sit apart. i had to sit next to an old filipino lady who violated my 'personal space'. step da back off lady! i can smell your breath). we got in around 8, got our car, grabbed a meal at wendy's (i didn't order the finger special), came home, ate and crashed.

monday...
well since i'm on vacation, i don't have to do anything. i slept in late (only to be woken by the blistering heat), played some video games, went grocery shopping, made dinner while writting this blog (took breaks between). ate dinner, washed dishes and here i am. i probably left out tons of details in this entry (like telling my gay pick up experience in front of mrs. uyeda. or vince's booty rubbing/flesh sandwich dance). but since this is so long, i'll save that for another day.

whew, my fingers are tired from all this typing.
please throw down a shout out in the comment section. i would love to hear from you. tanks n lates....

its finally here...the start of my vacation!

its gonna be a bit of a quickie. jet to norcal for vince's/ricky's birthday parties. come back for a few days, then jump on a plane to hawaii for a day. yep, thats right, i said a day. i'm going alone and i don't like traveling alone. so i'm doing it just to do it before i quit. otherwise, i'll just sit at home the whole week and play video games...in my underwear (which isn't so bad).

so tomorrow (friday) i gotta wake up early, take the little misses to the subway, jet to little tokyo for a haircut, come back home to pack. maybe fit in a bike ride if i have time. then jet to lax, pick up the misses, park in the airport lot, and try to get on a standby seat. whew, it doesn't sound much like a vacation yet.

sorry this is short. nothing much happened today and i've got things to prep for this weekend. but i'll be back on monday with hopefully stories to tell. and maybe some pics.

my petpieves of my work
(which i will not disclose cuz it might follow back to me)

me: (knock knock)...'package'
customer: 'what is it?"

me: 'um a box?' (what does it look like? what did you order fool?)

customer: 'can for you to wait for just a minute?' (when it actually turns out to be 10 minutes. and now i'm late.)

customer: 'don't worry, my dog doesn't bite' (but its humping my leg)

kids: 'icecream man, icecream man!' (i'm not the icecream truck)

customer: 'i just have a few boxes' (more like 20 boxes weighting 30 pounds each. ooo, my back)

box with 'fragile' or 'this way up' sticker on it. yeah right, did you pay me more to handle your package more carefully? slip me a 20 and i'll try not put it in the bottom of the pile. by the way, thanks for making the box 50 lbs.

people who can not merge on the freeway with a huge truck. look buddy, either speed up or get behind me. and get off that damn phone.

hearing how other coworkers got xmas gifts from their customers and i only got one card. and my name is misspelled. i just hope my grip is strong enough this year so i won't drop your package....down 3 flights of stairs.

after delivering a whole computer set to an old woman, computer and monitor, up 3 flights of stairs...no i can't set up your computer for you.

making a second attempt of a delivery on the same day (when requested and i'm feeling nice), and then being yelled at because i didn't knock hard enough on the door the first time. look buddy, i'm doing you a favor. next time, come to the station and pick it up (after i kicked it around in my truck for an hour).

well thats all for now cuz its late and i've got to hit the showers. 1 more day till vacation. =)

sorry for no post on tuesday. nothing much happened...
went to sears to change some watch batteries.
jetted over to fry's to pick up 'sin city' dvd.
ate lunch, went to work, came home, ate dinner, played SC and lost badly.

re: sin city dvd
if you're a fan of frank miller and know about 'sin city' comics, then you'll love the movie. if not, you might not appreciate it as much. its a like those 1930 crime dramas, like 'mike hammer', but much more violent/gory. the whole film is done in black in white with a bit of color to emphasize (just like the comic). its not filled with tons of action, but more drama (which is funny cuz fry's put the dvd in comedy. that's fry's for you =P ). visually, its pretty much frame by frame taken from the comic (that's why frank miller got directing credit on the film). after watching the dvd, i had to go find my old sin city comics to compare. if you're not aware of the comic, i would say rent it to test it out. if you have the comic, its a must buy. i just hope they make another one cuz there's tons more frank miller stories to tell.


now to wednesday...
woke up early to hit up the laundry mat. if you don't get there early, you'll have to fight with the mexican mothers for the cheap machines (there's only 5 of them for 75 cent washes). there was this filipino mother there with her 2 kids (a boy and a girl). the girl talked so much (which didn't bother me as i just played my old skool gameboy) but her voice was so high and whiney. oh my gosh, it started to get on my nerve. i wonder how the parents deal with it. if i was her father, i would probably be thinking all the time "please, just a moment of silence, just a moment" or "please god, take my soul now". maybe his ears have become deaded by her tone and he's used to it by now. or maybe he works a lot, just to stay out of the house. whatever it may be, she probably will get whatever she wants in life cuz all she has to do is whine till your ears bleed.

why is it that the week before i go on my vacation, its has to be the hardest week at work. this week has gone so slowly and it seems work has been harder than normal. but i must say, it has been a bit cooler here. actually so cold that i have to close the window at night when i sleep. and a couple of nights ago, we had a thunder storm and hail. wierd weather.

well i better go make some phone calls. i have to make some dentist appointments and an eye doctor checkup before i quit work. i'll try to update tonight if anything 'exciting' happend during the day (like if i find a penny or i discover the meaning to life). lates

oh by the way....
happy birthday rickster!
may the force be with you. live long and prosper. nano nano.

man, i was half asleep the whole day. when i woke up this morn, it felt like i didn't even sleep. i thought it was still midnight and i was still trying to go to sleep. but i looked at the clock it was 6 am. dang...

here's something odd for the day...
we have lots of homeless peddlers in LA. some of them stand by the onramp with cups in their hands, waiting for handouts. but here's the odd thing...they usually aren't wearing that bad of clothes and...they're wearing watches!!! whats up wid that? why would a homeless man need a watch? do they need to know what time the liquor store closes? do they need to know when their next hit is at? or probably maybe what time the soup kitchen gives out its last meal.
but here's another odd thing...if you're across the street and you wait there for a while, you can watch as the 'homeless guy' walks around the corner from the sight of traffic, go to his backpack, and pull out some drink and grab a quick bite. um, if you were really poor, wouldn't you sell everything you have just to get something to eat? even your watch? or if you're faking that you're homeless, wouldn't you take off your watch, maybe a shoe, and put dirt on your shirt and mess up your hair? maybe they were bad actors who couldn't get any jobs and now they're asking for money...but they're still bad actors. come on, at least play the role. i've seen a guy just receive some change from a car, then when the car left, the homeless man went through the change and threw out the pennies. whats up wid that??? beggars can't be choosers. so i have no pity for the panhandlers. i'm up to their scheme.

sup all,
here's the breakdown of today...
woke up and went to church (west LA holiness). had lunch at church. ran into ross for some shopping. jumped into target for a return. then jetted on home for another bike ride.

like i said before, i was going to put up a pic of my bike. sorry its not a good pic. we were trying to get a ride in before the sun went down. i try to do some tricks on it but i still need lots of practice. i read on the net about tricks and watch a few net videos but i think i need to get a dvd that shows beginners how to really do the tricks. plus i'm kinda scared of falling on my azz since after all, i am a thirt-ish old man. the trick i'm working on right now is the bunny hop. i can kinda do it...i think. i think i can get off the ground about 3 inches. now if i can only get up on a curb.

i'm so excited about going up north next weekend. its been 3 months since the last time we went up. it'll be great to see everybody. and i hope all the guys from 'way back' will show up. i think the last time all of us were together was probably in college. hopefully we'll be able to get a group pic. i think the last group pic we had was the 'disco pic' that we did for the xmas cards. ah good times...

well that's about it for now...unless i can think of anything else. have a good nite and a good week. by the way, if anyone wants to leave a comment below, i would love to read them (i'm just wondering if anyone reads this. there's no way i can tell if someone visits my blog. or am i just wasting my time =P )

well work for saturday was normal. easy day. after work, i tried to get a haircut in little toyko but since nisei week is going on, there were some roads closed and no parking. so i'll have to skip it and maybe get one during the week, before i take my vacation and go up north.

well for the rest of the day, we got vince's birthday gift. we couldn't figure out what to get him but finally i think we made the right choice (otherwise he can always exchange it). and then we "snuck" into costco. we had borrowed a costco card for another japanese girl and we got away with it. and we spent over 100 bucks, which is quite easy as a single item cost around 10 bucks. then we jumped into target for a few things and then went home, just in time to ride bikes.

i love riding my bike. i bought it about a month ago used from craigslist. and i think i got a great deal on it. it was in good condition except the tires had no air so i couldnt test ride it. also the brakes need to be tighten. so with all that, it got it down to $70!!! and thats a deal since i've been searching craigslist for some time and the bike i'm looking for usually goes around $120 (used). and what kind of bike did i get?....

i got a freestyle street bmx bike. just like the one i always wanted when i was a kid. but my dad always bought us used bikes from yard sales when we were young and he always brought home some wierd bikes. we had a big blue bike with these huge handlebars that can nest a kid on it (which we actually did). then he got us this heavy black bike with shocks on it that made it look like a motorcross bike. i think it was made from solid steel. and then there was the girls yellow 10 speed bike (a girls bike top tube is bent so they can ride it with a dress on. why didn't they make men's bikes like this since we have something that can hit that top bar on). but it was okay since the bike was too big for me and it took some effort to reach the seat. and when i jumped down to touch the ground, my crotch didn't hit that top tube. =P

now let me remind you that this was during my late elementary to jr high school era. and all the other kids around the block had bmx bikes....but not us. all the kids were jumping off of curbs and off of ramps. and here's a note, 10 speed bikes were not made for jumping. the tires will pop since they're so skinny. i know this from experience and a long walk home. =( and that heavy black bike couldn't get off the ground even if it was going 50 mph.

so my bmx bike isn't dream perfect. i wanted a chrome one or a black one, but mine is metallic green (kinda like rick's old car). and its a bit heavy cuz i think it was made for jumping rather than flatland (balancing tricks). but for my first dream bmx bike (and at such a cheap price) its not bad. i'll try to post a picture of it tomorrow.

well that's all for now. i think i'm gonna play starcraft with the boys now. lates.

man, last night i either had a dream of it or really had, stomach cramps. so i woke up around 3:30 and i couldn't figure it out. went back to sleep. man, this is gonna be a long day.

we were going to go to nisei week in little tokyo today but after finding out that almost everything cost admission, we scrapped it. i wanted to go check out the car show thats on the street but that cost 10 bucks. whats up wid that? 10 bucks for probably less than 40 cars parked on the street? i went to an hot import night and waited in line for 30 minutes and paid more for it, but that had more than 200 cars at it. there's also a tofu festival but it cost money too. what happend to the free things in life? i guess we'll just hit up costco and maybe do some bike riding. lates...

my first blog

hey all, i decided to make my own blog.
i guess i got tired of waiting for lisa to update hers (j/k), so i thought of making my own. mine will include pictures, games, and magic shows for the kids. so please come and visit my blog often as maybe your name will be included in my daily rantings.

and now for today's update...
at my work (which you'll know what it is if you know me. and i dont want to get in trouble if my work finds out about me dissin it.) a co-worker got robbed. they didn't take any of his packages, they just took his wallet. he was rather picked-pocketed. and usually if you're robbed at work (like some other coworkers had) you get 2 weeks off for mental issues. but since he's a hard worker (and i guess they really need him), they didnt give him any time off. go figure. he's been at the company for many years and i think he's gonna retire from there. yet they still treat him bad. no wonder the worker's moral is so bad. i guess the company figures that people will get disgruntled and leave, and they'll just hire another person. what can u do?