Filed under: Chico
I really don’t have a rant for the week, so I’ll just share my weekend. It was a pretty enjoyable time with lots going on. I’m formally on my summer schedule. I sleep in until 9a and I stay up until 1a screwing around. The one thing I learned about my house this summer is that my house does NOT stay cool at all. If I want to keep my house at 78, I have to run the AC. We have been pretty lucky so far this summer and not have many 100 plus degree days yet. I actually think that it’s cooler outside of my house than inside. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to waste money on the AC.
Saturday I got up earlyish to make it to my club’s board meeting. I got made fun of for eating so much food. The lovely thing about being me is that I work out consistently and I get to eat pretty much whatever I want. I work out to eat. There really isn’t another motivation for me to workout other than my love of cheese and fried foods. But the meeting was productive and we got a bunch of things accomplished. Then I came home and started chopping up fruit for the sangria for the party I was hosting that night. I really must work on my portion controls when I host things. I made over 6 gallons of sangria. We barely made it through three gallons. I had about 15 people come to the party and I think most people had a good time. Although sangria is a sneaker drink… I didn’t realize how drunk I was until it was too late. So instead of going to bed after we played some wii, I rode my bike downtown to go to the bars. I met up with my buddy Aaron and we closed the Bear. But I had no concept of time. We walked down to Frankies to get some pizza where I tried to help a guy get some. The girl I was talking to was having nothing of it. But it still entertained me. We rode our bikes back to my house to watch some TV before passing out at 4a.
I got up this morning around 10:30. Blake has planned a Sunday Funday at his dad’s house. We had Friznock, donkeynuts, bags, boche ball, and a rocking pool. It was just nice to be outside when it wasn’t 100 degrees and enjoying being around some great people. I got home and started to clean up the mess from the night before. Luckily my friends were cool and didn’t make a big mess. I just had to wash some things and I was good to go. Then I was just too tired to really do anything else but eat some fruit and watch tv.
I ended the weekend a bit tanner, raised some money for kids, and my house remains in one piece. A good weekend indeed.
Filed under: Uncategorized
I just got off the phone with my friend Patrick who lives in Arizona. We were talking about a variety of things tonight from timeshares to business. But we got on the topic of women. I was trying to describe to him that this woman I met was cute, but not hot. Yet, it wasn’t a dig at her. It’s a completely different scale of looking at women. After discussion, this is what we decided:
Hot- Hot has a shelf life. Yes, they are very attractive. But as the years pass on, the hottness wears off and then you’re stuck with the Real Housewives of New Jersey. Very unhappy and bored women that take pleasure in emasculating men. They are also very good looking, but rarely bring anything else to the table. T Hot you bring to a wedding to make your friends jealous. hey are not someone who would enjoy a homecooked meal and a movie in. Instead they want the finest dinner and going out–all at your expense of course. It’s not all their fault. Mostly it’s the men who have met her before you. They have treated her like it was their lucky day to be with someone so attractive and you must give her the best or she’ll ditch you. But in the end, they will ditch you if someone else can give them more.
Cute- Cute has long lasting staying power. They are women that grow into their looks like a good wine. Like wine, you can uncork it right now and it will still be pretty good. However, give it some time, and it will be unbelieveable. Cute women also have the equal looks of a hot woman, but bring more than looks with her. Most have ambition, a job, and a brain. They are someone that fights with you over a topic. They are also someone you bring to a bbq and have a great time and your friends like. Cute returns your phone calls or text.
Women get offended when they get called cute because they aren’t puppies. But like puppies, guys (this one in particular) want someone to that brings something to the relationship. Hot just shits on your rug and goes off and does something to make you forget it. Cute hangs out with you when your sad looking for a way to cheer you up. So by my definition and explanation women won’t get pissed when I call them cute next time. It means I actually like you.
Filed under: Uncategorized
That’s what I want to do to my backyard. Bite the pin and launch a grenade. I really hate yards and I have a doozie of a backyard. When I bought the house, the backyard was pathetically done. The previous owners had a garden of some sort and a compost pile. So no grass for the robman in certain areas of the yard. In addition there isn’t an underground sprinkler system. Instead, I have a patchwork of above ground sprinklers on various timers around the house.
Playing with the sprinklers has been a pain in my ass for about the last month when I realized I had to water the lawn daily. Adjusting the range of each sprinkler to make sure it actually watered what was needed instead of the road, fence, or my windows. I have them set to go off around 6a each day so the grass doesn’t burn. With all of them running, it’s going to suck when I have to take a shower that early and not have water pressure. It’s already happened the few times I’ve been up that early since June. Well this morning, I was tired of being woken up (I still had three hours of sleep coming to me) by the sprinkler hitting the window of the mudroom. So I went outside to adjust the sprinkler quickly with plans to go immediately back to bed. Not gonna happen. I also realized that another sprinkler wasn’t working properly. After fiddling with it for 20 minutes with no success, I noticed ANOTHER sprinkler with its hose detached. I went to the front yard and fixed it. Then magically the other sprinkler started to work, annoying sprinkler stopped hit the window, and I was happily climbing back into bed. Sadly, I was wide awake. Damn you backyard… but I fell asleep for a bit longer.
But my efforts with the backyard weren’t complete for the evening. When I got home from softball (another victory) I started to spray the weeds, rake the rotting loquot fruit from the ground, and weeding the flower beds. I wanted to get that all done to do the fun project…hanging lights. I bought some cool icicle lights to hang from my house to my garage for my Sangria party on Saturday. After two hours of messing with them, I realized that these icicle lights were just too heavy to do what I wanted to do. In the process I probably smashed at least 30 lights that I now I have to replace. At around 10:30, after messing with another hose for 20 minutes for yet another sprinkler to water another dead spot on the yard, I came in a broken man. The yard had destroyed my pride and will. People said that I couldn’t get field turf, but I’m second guessing their wisdom because it sounds really good right about now.
Filed under: Uncategorized
I can’t remember the saying exactly, but something about decadence in excess. That’s where I am right now. I’ve been puttering around my house since last Monday when I got back from Cabo. And let me tell you, I’m already hitting my limit on boredom. All of my friends have year round jobs in town. So they can’t really hang out in the middle of the day. As we all know daytime TV sucks and there aren’t really any good movies out. I work out still and that takes up some time, but I’m finding myself figuring out what to do. It’s not that I have NOTHING to do, it’s just that I need the motivation to do it. Last night, I started doing work at like 10p because that’s when I felt like doing it. I worked to until about 12:30 in the morning and went to bed. I just have to wait to feel like doing it because I have all the time in the world to get it done. However, all this time is not good for someone as active as me. I need to motivate myself to finish all the other little projects I have planned for myself. There is plenty to do especially around the house. Maybe tomorrow I’ll weed the backyard and do all the crap. I feel that my day revolves around my computer and it really doesn’t. There’s so much I still need to do. I’m also hosting a party on Saturday so it might be a good idea to get that ready too.
The point is that sometimes you think if you only had more time, you’d get more done. In reality, you need just enough time to get the job done. Any more time and you’ll just push it off until the you get around to it. So don’t wait to the last minute, but give yourself a time frame and you’ll be more productive.
Okay, a few weeks ago I was complaining that it took me an entire week to make a list of things I had to do around the house. Well I OWNED that list today. I knocked everything off on the list today. I painted the doors that just had primer, cleaned the mudroom, hung pictures and mirrors, reorganzied closets, filled the hole in the floor, hung smoke detectors (that was actually an important one), clean and organized the garage, and painted the patch in the bathroom. The funny thing about the bathroom is that I painted it with the a guesstimation color. The previous owners told me they didn’t have the colors for the paint on the inside of the house. So I painted the second coat resigned that the color was going to just a bit off. THEN…. I cleaned the garage. In the corner, behind a bunch of stuff, was the paint they left me. In the box was a small quart of the paint they used in the bathroom! I dragged out all my painting supplies again, retaped, and repainted the patch. But in the end, I was much happier knowing that it blended. The only negative to my painting today is that I tried to touch up one of bedroom doors and now I can see where I put another coat. I think I might have to repaint. We will see.
I also decided to update my pictures in my house. I went to Rite Aid where apparently no one knows how to operate their photo machines. After I figured it out myself, I pulled some frames out of the closest that I’ve been storing for this project and placed some great pictures of friends and family–both old and new– and the adventures that I’ve shared lately. It really does ad some more personality to my house. I like it. I also decided to retire some old friends that I’ve lost contact with and aren’t part of my life. Part of them are from camp and it was sad because I always thought it would be in my heart. But four years later, I have made an emotional disconnection with the people and the place. It’s taken me a long time to do it, but it belongs in the memory box now and not on the living room. I also parted with some other friends that have cut me out of their lives as well. It’s part of life I guess. I am happy with the people still in my life now.
After getting the house in order, I decided to finish the book I had been reading this week–I Love You Beth Cooper. This is totally teeny bopper book. But I got to relax in my hammock and enjoy the summer evening while reading… one my top 3 summer things to do. There’s also a movie coming out next week and I needed a book for Mexico… so there you go. The book wasn’t bad… not as raunchy as the author was trying to play it up to be. Either that or my tolerance for sex humor is too high. I’m guessing the second to be true. The book was cute and of course the nerd gets the girl. Don’t be upset–it’s pretty predictable. But I think the movie will still be pretty funny.
Tomorrow I get to spend the day with my sister, her husband and the nephs. I’m looking forward to taking them swimming and just hanging out. I don’t get to see them that often during the summer because I’m not down where they live as often as during the school year. They will probably wear me out by 3p. I hope a nap is the cards for me.
Oh by the way, I’m back in love with Glee again. I can’t wait for the season to start.
Filed under: Uncategorized
I was running at the gym yesterday, and on my playlist is Fighter by Christina Aguilera. This song not only gets me up pumped up, but I have accepted as my personal anthem. Although the video is a bit odd, the words are pretty darn clear. As people challenge me in life, they aren’t making me worse, they are making me stronger. Everytime I get screwed over by someone, I don’t get weaker, I get stronger. When I’m at work, I don’t lay down and take it when a school doesn’t change over, I try harder. So in my life I guess I am fighter. I don’t wait for things to come my way, I go for them.
Occasionally, I get burned by people. I don’t cry about it. I learn not to do it again. So, when I am down and I’m at the gym, I throw this song on and run it out. This song isn’t going to let me quit. Because just as the song says, You won’t stop me.
As we all get ready for barbecuing, friends, and spirits, I am going to take a moment to reflect on what America is for me. I was reading TIME this week and this week’s focus was what Obama could learn from Franklin D. Roosevelt. First off, I admire FDR more than any American president. He took bold leadership, although at times unilaterally, to try to solve the problems of our country. Not for the 1%, but for the masses. Some of his leadership and ideas are now mainstay American principles. But the fact remains, he wasn’t try to serve special interests or worrying about poll numbers, he was doing what he felt was right for helping the people that needed him the most. That’s America to me. Helping those who needed it the most.
I am fascinated with the Depression era of our history. Our grandparents and great grandparents went through more than we could even imagine. Think about your grandfather or great grandfather standing in line for a soup and bread and that being his only meal for the day. Or imagine going to the bank and having your entire life savings gone with the bank that failed. How about traveling by boxcar or small vehicle, leaving the only place you knew, to travel to California with the hopes of picking fruit. Most Californians would balk at the thought of being an orange grove picking fruit even now with the economy the way that is now. However, their American spirit could not and would not be broken. They made the sacrifices for me today to sit in my beautiful home, enjoying a long holiday, with two degrees sitting on my wall. Their spirit is what America is to me.
So as I spend time with my sister and my nephews, I take a moment to thank all of those people of ”Greatest Generation” for their sacrifices. You have single handily made America what it is today. Your sacrifices will always be a reminder to this nation that no matter how low times fall, we have it in our blood from you to handle anything that comes our way.
Filed under: summer
Notice: If you think this is going to be a tell all about my Mexican adventure, you are sorely mistaken. I am not that stupid.
Well now that my house is clean and I have food again in the house, I can think about what the hell happened to me the last six days. I went down to Sacramento after working with one of my schools all day doing leadership training. I attended our 20-30 national convention in Cabo. There were six of us going from our club. Four guys (one was with his gf) and two girls (one with his bf). To prepare for such a trip, I worked out like a dog to make sure that I had plenty of extra calories to consume. I grossly underestimated how many I was going to consume.
We arrive to Cabo without problem. On the flight there, which was made up mostly of 20-30ers from the region, we got free booze… never a good idea with that many people going to one place. The row in front of me there was a teenager around 17 that was the unfortunate target of my entertainment for the flight. I was actually pretty cool. He talked about his hobbies and then he mentioned he had a girlfriend that was off to college. I proceeded to give him tips on how to meet new “friends” in Cabo. That poor bastard… he never had a chance to avoid me.
We get to the hotel and head straight for the food. We were staying at an RIU that is an all inclusive resort. We get to the room and immediately headed for our first of many plates of nachos. From there we were off for the pool bar. There were a bunch of other people from the other clubs that I knew. We got some drinks and started to work the room. The pool bar closed down for the evening, so we grabbed more nachos. That night, they had a little reception for all of us. I met a girl right off the bat and I was thinking this was going to be a good week. The guys and I were doing tequila poppers which we loving named “Bang, Bangs” the rest of the trip. Those carbonated delights were the death of me. Towards the end of the evening, I got completely c-blocked and then I was a little upset so I decided to just enjoy the rest of the evening.
The next morning, I woke up and decided to go for a run on the beach while Ryan and Blake swam. Being that I’m from a landlocked area of California, the chances to run on the beach rarely present them self to me. So I took and well…. ran. What a bitch. That has to be one of the most difficult exercises out there. The beach in Cabo is pretty corse sand. So in order to really run on it, you have to run along the waves where it is a bit softer or run with shoes. But if I was going to run with shoes, I might as well just run on the treadmill and look at people in the pool. The downside of Cabo’s beach is that it is at an incredible slant. So after 18 minutes my calves were on fire so I creeped back to the hotel after a few breaks. When we went to lunch, I ran into the girl that ditched me the night before. I cracked a joke about c-block and she was like oh no, he’s just a friend. She makes a few jokes and I’m back in the game. Instead of going to phantom workshops I really had no clue where they were, we played this game we picked up the weekend before called Donkey nuts. This game also has many other names including (which everyone had a different name for it): Dangles, Ladderball, washers… whatever… it’s donkey nuts to us. So we played that out near the bar and met some cuties from a bridal party and some other people while I seriously dominated the game.
That evening we went to Cabo Wabo to check it out. I started to hang out with the girl and dancing and everything is going swell… then c-block swoops in again and screws up everything. At this point in the evening, I was so done with it all, I was just moved on. Instead of blowing tons of money getting drunk (which I was well on my way), I decided to dance my face off. I went nuts. I was dancing with tons of girls just loving it all. I was dripping in sweat and had all these girls just dancing it up with me. During the night, they played four songs of Michael Jackson right in the row. Being the insensitive person I could be sometimes, I spouted off about the DJ having a chubby for MJ. This girl who was obviously a HUGE MJ fan told me that he died that day. Jerk of me yet again.. oh well. I danced with a girl I met the night before and hung out with her the rest of the evening. When we headed back to the hotel, I thought of a reason to walk her back–water–which I really needed. I was so tired from dancing my face off that I had no interested in hooking up. However, we sat on the balcony and talked for a bit and then I headed back to my room to crash.
Next day was pretty much the same during the day… eat nachos, play donkey nuts, drink by the pool. Oh wait… that was my fantasy. Instead I was stuck in a meeting for six hours wishing someone would shoot me. That evening we stayed at the resort to have an installment dinner. Afterwards we drank and hung out. I met up with new girl and we were drinking.. while I was getting fed tequila shots. Robman is not very good with tequila shots. But they are good to me. I was quite drunk. We went to the dance club and new girl and I started dancing. I was hot and I suggested that we go swimming. Good idea. The pool was closed, but we kept quiet. We swam and talked a bit then headed back to her room. I was soaked and still very drunk. I climbed into bed and literally passed out. I woke up at 4a and was like crap.
The next day I had no sense of time. The only times I knew was noon, 6p, and midnight. Noon was went I could get soft serve, 6p the pool bar closed, and midnight the front bars closed. I was in absolute bliss. We woke up and went to have some breakfast. I decided I HAD to workout and I wanted to read. My buddies and I made a plan and I went off to work out. I grabbed my ipod and headphones and headed for the gym which was much nicer than I expected. I put the ipod on and put the headphones. However there was only sound coming from one headphone. Crap. My headphones went out. Thankfully I brought two pair. I walked out of the gym and threw away my headphones. So I walked ALL the way back to my room (this place was a compound not a hotel) and grabbed the other pair. I plugged them and guess what? Still only sound from one ear. Crap. So I fished out my headphones from the garbage and starting to fiddle with the ipod. I couldn’t workout without music. What I should learned about how I “fix” things is that I just make them worse. This was no exception. Now I couldn’t hear crap out of either. I bought it at Costco and they’d take back my dead cat if I had a receipt for it. Hell, they’d take it even if I didn’t.
I reconnected with my friends and we went out to the pool area to read. I figured this was going to be a mellow day–finally. That was until we met the Texas girls. These girls were a hurricane on their own. Flash forward to 7p and me yelling at my friend that he better be at the 7:30 dinner reservations. I made it to the dinner with our other club members and they came in towards the end of dinner thinking they were DOA. The explained what happened and it was a legit excuse. I joined them while I had a drink. That night I decided to stay at the hotel again (free booze and food is better than paying) and I met some new friends. My game was off because my friends created a nickname I don’t care to share on my blog. So I was just content on lightly drinking and calling it quits quazi early.
The next day we headed back through Mexico’s version of an airport. Where the lady who searched my bag decided that after I told her it was upside down to dump all my clothes out for everyone to see. So what do I do? Make a joke about it. I told the ladies in line if they were curious about what type of underwear I have, their questions have been answered. But other than that, we got back to Sacramento without a problem. I got home and was just relieved that I didn’t have to work today.
And if you know from your experience, somethings that happen on vacation are best left unsaid.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Today was all about making up for the sins of the past week. I took me a week to make a LIST, not to complete it mind you, just to make it of things that I had to do around the house. In addition, I had a bunch of work that I still needed to finish for last year and to get this year started. Here I thought I was going to be on vacation and I remember all this other crap that I have to get accomplished. So at 11:30 at night I’m making Twitter accounts for all my schools. Linda thinks that I am going to make one for myself, she’s sorely mistaken. I pledge my undying (well until something comes along better) to my stalking site–facebook. But I finally figured out a way to use it for my business. So I guess that’s a start. In addition, I didn’t work out last night and I did a double workout today to make up it. Then I made the smart idea of taking my car in at 7a to have the fuse replaced which I think I can figure out on my own.
On a happier note, my grass is back to being green. So I guess I finally have done something right on the homefront. So tomorrow while I’m up at the buttcrack of summer dawn, I can get a bunch of stuff done… why… cause this guy is going to Cabo on Thursday!
Filed under: Uncategorized
I love Chico. It’s a great city that offers recreation aplenty and is a true community. However, everytime I go down to THE city (San Francisco for you non-Northern Californians), I always want to try to move down there to experience urban living. There’s so much about it that attracts me to it. The locality of everything from groceries to entertainment. The lack of Wal-Mart (which I loathe more and more everyday) and identity to your neighborhood is something that appeals to me. I could also do without a car for the most part too. The only way I see myself doing the city life with the level of comfort I would like is to stay with Herff and move up in management. The downside is that I would be on the road a lot more which I guess is fine for a while. But eventually, I will grow tired of it and want to come back to Chico again. And I have to face the reality that the dating pool in Chico is pretty shallow. So unless I want to be in a walker when my kids graduate from high school, I need to expand that pool.
But for the moment, I had a great moment this weekend. I went down to the city for my buddy Steve’s birthday party. My other buddy Blake and I drove down on Saturday morning made a few pit stops and made it into the city by early afternoon. We checked out Steve’s new place then headed over to another one of his friend’s apartment. We went up on the roof, had some drinks, and watched them play a game called donkey nuts. It looked like a lot of fun, but I was very much content laying in the chair enjoying the view of the Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower, and Alcatraz all in view.
The sun was shining bright and I was with good people. We grabbed some food and headed back to get ready for the party. It was a “wigging” out party and everyone had to wear a wig. Sadly, my first wig went MIA and I borrowed another wig. Apparently, I looked like Andy Dick’s character from Old School that taught how to give bjs. Great….
The party was pretty cool. Kayla, Steve’s girlfriend planned it all for him. We had a pre-party at his house complete with jello shots (yum) and cake (more yum). We then got aboard a party trolley that took us to a few bars around town. I was happily gobbling down jello shots on the back of the bus and by the time we got to the first bar, I was already feeling them. I bounced around and talked to a few ladies and friends. We got back on the trolley and headed to the next bar. When we got to the next bar, I was talking to this guy and he was telling me that he was working on a comedy porn. My drunken self pointed out to him that porn can’t be funny–at least not on purpose. It either has to be funny which would make it a naked comedy or a porn… no gray area. He really didn’t like my answer… so I sought the counsel of other guys in the room who for the most part agreed with me. Meanwhile outside of the bar, Steve was arguing with the bouncer who wouldn’t let his girlfriend in. So in the short 10 minutes or so, we were back on the trolley. It took us forever to get out there and now were leaving. Oh well… I didn’t need another drink, so I was fine.
We went to the last bar and this was one that I have been to before. The guy was still a jerk that was the bartender. Blake, I found out, paid $22 for a drink for Ryan’s girlfriend which is insane. But I had one thing on my mind by then… pizza. I stood in line, got pulled out of line by my friend, and got put back into line again for pizza. I could taste the greasy goodness coming my way.. then… buzz. Shit. Blake is calling me to tell me they are leaving me if I don’t get out of line. Faced with paying for a taxi ride on my own or delicious greasy pizza, I decided it would be best to go with the crowd. I still got pizza–but it wasn’t as good near our hotel.
I finally passed out around 3 this morning sharing a bed with Blake and the great pillow wall. I was about to fall off the double bed all together when I hear the dreaded sound of my alarm on my phone. But it’s not my phone–it’s Ryan’s. I get up and turn his off… but he’s a smart cookie and has a second set for himself during the week which goes off an hour later. Then his girlfriend’s phone goes off at 6. I was so pissed because everytime I would fall asleep, someone’s phone woke me up. The topper was the housekeeper knocking at the door at 9a. Seriously. At a hotel on a SUNDAY, who knocks at 9a. Check out time isn’t until 11… let me the fuck alone. I was ready to pounce when she knocked and I scared the shit out of my friends who thought I was getting a little too worked up. It was the lack of sleep that did it in for me.
We got up and started to move. We had to get cars, help clean up, and try to make the Giants game at 1:05. We managed to get most of it done, have a nice lunch, and make the game. We were WAY up in the nose bleed section. Also everytime I go to ATT Park, I get sunburned… today was not an exception. However, today was too nice to not be out in the sun. We had a nice breeze and just watched a pretty good game. I could just see the players, but not who they were. Zito pitched well and I headed out at the end of the 8th to beat the traffic. I drove Ryan to the BART station and rocked out home. My ipod died on the way home so I just made due with the radio… which really does suck.
But overall it was a great weekend. I’m an easy target for my friends. Today was pick on Robby day. It’s okay because I dish it out just as much as I get it. But today I was getting my weekly serving. I just say stuff that if I wasn’t me, I would make fun of it. Sometimes the filter doesn’t kick in quite fast enough. Oh well, at least we can always laugh about it.
