So yeah, I edit my last post to remove some of the stuff that you all thought may have been to bitchy or whatever. I do agree with you “Anonymous”, that it is unbecoming, however, remember that you are looking at my thoughts at a particular moment in time where I may be particularly stressed out. This is supposed to be an outlet.

Yeah, I realize that I am not the only one that does not particular love everything about my currently 9–5 activities. Turns out I am not oblivious to this fact. However, THIS IS MY BLOG. Not yours. I am not writing for you. I am writing for me.

If you would like for me to write about your pain as well, I would be happy to do so. If you are tired of reading about mine, stop reading. No one is forcing you to come here.

At any rate. I will take the criticism to heart and work on not being so damn bitchy. I will keep my stresses to myself or pursue other avenues of expression.

I am pretty tired right about now.

Work has been tough lately. We have been dealing with a lot of the same problem over and over and over again. I am hoping that things get better soon.

I spoke to a friend of mine the other day that moved over to another area of the company. He is doing really well and is much happier. It is really good to see. It is like night and day from the way that he used to be. On top of that, he is doing what he wants to be doing which is coincientally what I would like to be doing as well.

In other news, I am getting excited about my testing next week. I know that I am ready for it, but still, it is going to be tough. I suppose that is why it is so satisfying when it’s over.

Andy Rooney said on “60 Minutes” a few weeks back. This is absolutely awesome and what all Americans should be thinking about as we go through this crazy time in our history:

I don’t think being a minority makes you a victim of anything except numbers. The only things I can think of that are truly discriminatory are things like the United Negro College Fund, Jet Magazine, Black Entertainment Television, and Miss Black America. Try to have things like the UnitedCaucasianCollege Fund, Cloud Magazine, White Entertainment Television, or Miss White America; and see what happens…Jesse Jackson will be knocking down your door.

Guns do not make you a killer. I think killing makes you a killer. You can kill someone with a baseball bat or a car, but no one is trying to ban you from driving to the ball game.

I believe they are called the Boy Scouts for a reason, that is why there are no girls allowed. Girls belong in the Girl Scouts! ARE YOU LISTENING MARTHA BURKE?

I think that if you feel homosexuality is wrong, it is not a phobia, it is an opinion.

I have the right “NOT” to be tolerant of others because they are different, weird, or tick me off.

When 70% of the people who get arrested are black, in cities where 70% of the population is black, that is not racial profiling, it is the Law of Probability.

I believe that if you are selling me a milkshake, a pack of cigarettes, a newspaper or a hotel room, you must do it in English! As a matter of fact, if you want to be an American citizen, you should have to speak English!

My father and grandfather didn’t die in vain so you can leave the countries you were born in to come over and disrespect ours.

I think the police should have every right to shoot your sorry ass if you threaten them after they tell you to stop. If you can’t understand the word “freeze” or “stop” in English, see the above lines.

I don’t think just because you were not born in this country, you are qualified for any special loan programs, government sponsored bank loans or tax breaks, etc., so you can open a hotel, coffee shop, trinket store, or any other business.

We did not go to the aid of certain foreign countries and risk our lives in wars to defend their freedoms, so that decades later they could come over here and tell us our constitution is a living document; and open to their interpretations.

I don’t hate the rich I don’t pity the poor.

I know pro wrestling is fake, but so are movies and television. That doesn’t stop you from watching them.

I think Bill Gates has every right to keep every penny he made and continue to make more. If it ticks you off, go and invent the next operating system that’s better, and put your name on the building.

It doesn’t take a whole village to raise a child right, but it does take a parent to stand up to the kid; and smack their little behinds when necessary, and say “NO!”

I think tattoos and piercing are fine if you want them, but please don’t pretend they are a political statement. And, please, stay home until that new lip ring heals. I don’t want to look at your ugly infected mouth as you serve me French fries!

I am sick of “Political Correctness.” I know a lot of black people, and not a single one of them was born in Africa ; so how can they be “African-Americans”? Besides, Africa is a continent. I don’t go around saying I am a European-American because my great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather was from Europe . I am proud to be from America and nowhere else

And if you don’t like my point of view, tough…

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG, OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA , AND TO THE REPUBLIC, FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!!

So, with my day off, I have installed Windows Vista. I am very impressed so far. It is really easy to use and really nice looking. Formatting and reinstalling is always a somewhat tedious task, but… sometimes it’s needed… this can correlate to many things in life I suppose.

I am off today and tomorrow, which is really good. I am happy to get a few days off. I do have some stuff that I have to do today thought, but for the most part, I can relax.

I think I may hit up a few extra kung fu or tai chi classes, or just practice at home. For sure, I need to take my tuxedo to the dry cleaners, but that really is about it.

Last night, we hung out with Nik, at pizza, and played with the new Nintento Wii. It’s awesome and I want one. Bah… things…

I feel very accomplished tonight.

After work, I came home, got my stuff and went to the school. I did my iron palm stuff ( which I haven’t done in a long time ) and then did the conditioning class ( which was awesome ), then… after that… when I was really tired, I practiced Chen Tai Chi… whoa….

What a good way to start the weekend. The long weekend to be exact b/c I have Monday and Tuesday off… wwoohhhaaa!!!

To was a pretty good day at work too. I had a really good conversation with my manager regarding how things will play out in the future for me. Without getting too specific ( this is a blog after all ), things are looking good.

Anyway, I am tired and ready to eat dinner, so I am out… later all…

I have pretty much been sitting around my apartment since I got out of work. I have done absolutly nothing but watch TV. I have to say, it is nice to relax.

I installed this cool application called BlogJet. It’s a client for Blogger that lets your write blog entries offline. I like it. Maybe I’ll buy it .

Today was a very tough day…

It started, I guess with going to sleep late last night, which made me tired when I woke up at 650 this morning. I volunteered for the early shift on Tuesdays and Wednesdays… mistake? Not sure yet, but it is nice at 3pm when I am done.

Anyway… work has been very busy lately. We are seeing lots of issues because of the government mandated DST ( daylight savings time ) changes that are coming up in March of this year. On top of that, I think that I have probably the most annoying set of issues that I think that I have ever had in this job. My patience at work has been extremely short lately.

I think that I am sick of waiting for things. I know that the end is finally in sight and I think that that is what is making it worse. It’s close enough for me to smell ( not taste… yet ), and… it smells good… to make a really extreme analogy, it’s like being in prison, with 2 weeks left on your sentence and you see the guards eating steaks and talking about what they did on the weekend.

It’s funny… I am not nearly this impatient when it comes to other things like my martial arts training. I think that it has something to do with the fact that I enjoy that journey. I love where I am and love practicing to get to the next level because there really is no “destination”. With work, it’s a little different. The part about enjoying the journey… not so much…

I am sure that I will feel better later after class, but… I needed to rant. Thanks for reading…

I am done… DUN DONE with my Christmas shopping. I finally stopped by a few places and finished up getting Steph some stuff for her stocking. I think that she will like it.

I am so god damn tired. I went to four different places tonight trying to find two god damn things. Nutella and wonton skins. One store ( HEB ) had ONE (1) jar of Nutella. I guess 50% isn’t that bad. I can go to the Asian market tomorrow for some wonton skins. This is for Steph to make chocolate wontons to being over to Carina’s house on Christmas. Sounds delicious and well worth the running around.

While I was out, I also bought another Dan Millman book. I read “The Path of the Peaceful Warrior” and I absolutely loved it. I have been wanting to read another one of his books for quite some time now. I also got a book of shots of NYC from the air for like $6… very cool.

Other than that, I know that I am supposed to be happy and all but I just feel kinda sad lately. Don’t get me wrong, I am very excited for Christmas and spending it with Steph and her family. I think it’s just that I miss my family a lot. The realization that this is my first Christmas in 26 years ever away from them is saddening, but I guess it had to happen at some point.

I have also been tired and sorta burnt from working. I have been going through training for DB2 and Domino. That has been exhausting due to all of the waiting around that I have to due during exercises. If you have dealt with these products before, you will know what I am talking about.

At any rate, Steph should be home in a bit and I have to go finish up dinner. Happy holidays to all!

Today was…

…a long ass day…

I woke up at 730am to get to work by 9. I made breakfast, got ready and left. I worked on my issues from home. When I got to work, I went to my training from 9am until about 12pm. Then, I had to send the packages with the presents home for Christmas. But … god damnit, I forgot my badge for my discount. So, I went home, got the badge and went to DHL. When I got there, I was told that I could not use my debit card ( despite that every single time before I have ). So I ran to the bank, pulled out the EXACT freaking amount of money, then went back and did the damn thing. Basically, it went like this… Work -> Home -> DHL -> Bank -> DHL. Argh… needless to say, I was late back to my training.

After that, I had some more training, then a certification test at 3pm. I am happy to say that I am now a Double CLP for R6 and R7 Lotus Notes/Domino. Sweet…

After that, I was planning on going home, but my manager asked me to work the 5pm-7pm shift b/c some ppl were out sick. I agreed b/c I am nice. I stayed at work until about 710pm and then left to go to Costco. I picked up what I needed, got gas for my car, and then FINALLY went home.

One nice thing that happened today was that a very nice woman that I work with sent me a really nice gift basket to say “Thank You” for working so hard on one of the issues that I had with her. It was really nice to see and very unexpected.

When I got home, I started getting dinner ready, did a little work out and even found time to remote in to my parents computer and update/fix a few things for them. All I have to do now is take a show and crawl into bed. I hope that tomorrow will not be so hectic.