Remember When

Two years ago I blogged about the â€œSeven Stages of Mourning the Demise of Your Beloved but Shitty Vehicle.” Well, guess what. I finally got a new car!

Sunny is still with us. Brian will be driving her for now. Until she dies. Then he will get his Yaris. Or whatever car catches his eye when the time comes. But for now he will be driving Sunny.

We figured it would be best to trade the Rodeo in instead of mine so that we will continue to have only one car payment. I really don’t like having a car payment but after driving the same car for ten years I figured that I was entitled to a new car.

Anyway, remember how you all helped me name Sunny way back when? Well, it’s time to name the new the car. I am open to suggestions. Leave them in the comments. =)

June 27, 2006 | Posted by Ching under Life, Toys

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Weekend Woes and the Love of my Life.

Man, what a weekend!

And itâ€™s not over yet either. We bought a new car this weekend, a Toyota Corolla. I’m happy that my wife is getting a new car and the one that she wants to boot. But I hate car dealers and the whole experience has just left a foul taste in my mouth. I have run into more people that I have known for a long time that either had an abundance of car dealer experience and had their 2 cents to put in or actually worked for a car dealer and tried to tell me ways around the system. I just want to get the car and be done with it. Itâ€™s being delivered on Wednesday and then we should only have to see the dealer for scheduled maintenance.

Â Ok, enough about that now on to the love of my life.

My wife and I had a really nice talk yesterday on the way we have changed and what is important to us and things like that. I told her that before I lost my job I was always wanting everything, every little gadget, every little gizmo, I didnâ€™t care I wanted it. Weather I needed it or not if it was cool and I could afford it (hell sometimes even if I couldnâ€™t afford it) I bought it. Then I lost my job and left T-Mobile (good reddens). And thatâ€™s when everything changed; I realized that none of that was important. One of the reasons that I realized that it was not important was due to the fact that we had no money and we were in debt up to our eyeballs. As we talked about that time period I explained to my wife that the other thing that opened my eyes to what was important and what was not is that the last couple of months before I got another job I had realized that I was really (REALLY) close to loosing my wife. The stress of finance and the burden of me were too much, and on top of that she was in school as well. She confirmed (in not so many words) that she was indeed stressed and that she had entertained the thought for a brief period. Since then I have done everything in my power to show her the appreciation that she deserves for sticking it out, staying with me thru thick and thin and holding on to those bonds of marriage that we vowed to on August 10th 2002. I told her that I realized that nothing is more important to me than her and that I wish that I could express the feelings that I had for her more than I do right now. She says that she knows how I feel and that she is never going to leave me. However, I wish that their was a way that I could bottle my feelings and then give it to her to drink likeÂ her fruitÂ beer or glass of wine or something like that. Then she could feel the intoxication that she brings over me and the flood of emotion that I have every day. She is the most important thing to me and every day I thank the lord that I found her. We had not really had a talk like that. I told my parents when they asked me why we were getting a new car that Ching deserved it. She is the one that worked hard to graduate from college, she is the one that contributed the most to getting us out of debt, and she is the one that works the hardest at everything she does. I told them that if any one deserved a new car it was her. They saw my point and agreed. I donâ€™t deserve a new car, the only reason I bought that Rodeo was because I was trying to help out my brother who was fixing to have a family and needed a 4 door car. I told my dad that if it wasnâ€™t for that I would still have my Neon and Ching would have gotten a new car long ago because I would have had the Neon paid off already. With all the events that happened with my brother, I regret ever making that offer and giving him that car. Â Well I guess thatâ€™s enough for now. I started this post on Monday and its now Tuesday. Oh, and an update that you will probably be reading next from my wife. We received the car and on top of that itâ€™s the car that we test drove on Thursday. But thatâ€™s another story for another time.

June 27, 2006 | Posted by Brian under Life

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Reminiscing

This August 8, 1999 journal entry is being republished here in honor of Eli. (If asked for a password, please us reader as the username and oldstuff as the password.)

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I forced Jen to play in front of the webcam with me last Thursday. As promised, here are the archived still shots..

The pictures above were taken during the afternoon. Later that night we played a little game of charades with Eli. He was chatting with Jen via AIM and he would tell her words which we would in turn act out.

The images below have been brought to you courtesy of Eli, who has conscientiously taken it upon himself to save the funnier still shots. Many thanks, E.

The following photos are of Jen and I, being goofy. They are still courtsey of Eli.

That’s all for now. Check back later.

June 24, 2006 | Posted by Ching under Games, Life

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Favorite Football Movies

Since I haven’t blogged in a while I figured I would list my favorite football movies of all-time. Here they are in no particular order:

I really felt of Mike Winchell. I thought his situation was so sad. Besides that, Billy Bob is a pretty good actor. I like him. Other thoughts were posted on this blog entry that I posted shortly after watching the movie.

This movie speaks about the importance of diversity. It teaches a good lesson and actually succeeds at entertaining. These days movies are either entertaining or profound. They’re hardly ever both. That’s what I love about this movie.

What can you say about Jerry Maguire? Tom Cruise may be really kooky but he makes damn good movies.

This was actually pretty funny. It’s one of the few movies that Keanu Reeves was good in. Brian said that. Actually, I agree. I’m not much of a Keanu fan but I will watch this movie… which actually says a lot. This movie overcomes two major hurdles: I don’t much care for football or Keanu Reaves. For me to actually like it despite these is an amazing accomplishment.

This has got to be the funniest football movie ever. I never saw the original but I would wager this one’s better. Adam Sandler rocks.

June 22, 2006 | Posted by Ching under Movies

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Devastation, Desperation and Great Customer Service

What a crazy day this has been! The day began with an early waxing appointment. I had to reschedule it from yesterday because I had a one o’clock meeting that I couldn’t miss. So anyway, after my waxing I noticed that my left earring is missing. I lingered around the room, carefully inspecting the floor and the bed to no avail. I peeked in the trash, carefully sifting through the less icky stuff on the surface – nothing.

So I told Patricia what happened and I showed her what my earring looked like and pleaded for them to call me if it is ever found. I told Brian what happened and he was really upset. It would have been different if these were just regular el cheapo earrings from Express or Target or something, but these were my Zales diamond earrings. We purchased them almost four years ago back when we were irrationally spending money like there was no tomorrow. They cost almost as much our 32″ TV in the bedroom.

I was totally devastated. I wasn’t going to start crying in front of strangers though, so we paid and returned home. We actually had errands to run but we were hoping that maybe the earrings fell in the house and we will find it on the floor somewhere. So we searched and searched. No such luck.

Brian was convinced that my earring came off during the waxing and maybe it’s in the trash. So we decided to return to Individually Yours to look through the trash in that room. I felt totally ridiculous asking for the trash but we were desperate, and desperate times call for desperate measures. Read more

June 17, 2006 | Posted by Ching under Life

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I Won First Place Last Night

So I finally win first place at poker after being in a rut for so long. I didn’t do too well at first session. I was hoping to place in the top 16 and qualify in the ten o’clock invite session. Brian had qualified for it at Heroes last week so he was already in. I usually don’t like having to play in the open side so whenever one of us doesn’t qualify we just go home. Brian doesn’t care either way because if we go home, he has WOW waiting for him.

Neither of us did well. I think my only consolation was I outlasted Brian after having been the one to get knocked out first the last few times we’ve played. My knockout hand was actually pretty exciting. Blinds were at 2K and 4K. I am sitting in the small blind position with a total of 7K in chips after posting my 2K blind. Sandy is sitting across from me. It goes fold, fold, call, fold, fold, fold, back to me. I should’ve known better than to try and steal the pot with Sandy calling but I was feeling pretty ballsy right then. I had a feeling I could get big blind to fold if I pushed all in and I could sense Sandy had a mediocre hand and she just wanted to see the flop for 4K.

I decided to push in my remaining 7K in chips for a total of 9K all in. It is only 5K more to call for big blind. He thinks for a moment and he folds just as I predicted. Now the action returns back to Sandy. She thinks about it for a long time which confirms my guess. She has a mediocre hand. If she had a strong hand like A K or A Q or even pockets she would’ve called much quicker. She reluctantly calls and, before even seeing her A 2, I knew I was beat. I wanted her to fold because I knew that my puny 9 10 would not hold up. I just wanted to steal the pot.

The first card of the flop is a 9 which gives me hope because that puts me in the lead. The other cards come and they’re 9 and A. Set! Nice! The A makes me uncomfortable because that gives her 2 pair and the tides could turn very quickly. I chant, “No ace! No ace!” as the dealer reveals the turn card. It’s an A. Slap! I get a set and she boats over the top of it. Incidentally, the second A gave me a boat too but it was a smaller one.

Anyway, I didn’t mind getting knocked out because I put myself in that position. Besides that Sandy is a great sport. She doesn’t gloat like other people tend to do. She is super nice and she went in with the best hand so it’s not like she called my all in with 7 2. Anyway, what a rollercoaster ride! That was probably the most exciting hand I’ve had in a while.

After I got knocked out and went over to Brian and proceeded to tell everyone about my “exciting” knockout hand. We stayed for the late game this time because Brian was on the invite. He and Dill, who is always on the invite because he plays poker a lot and places a lot, were assigned to the same table. Bill just happened to be on the open side last night, too. We were assigned to the same table. Alan (aka, “The Professor”) sat between us.

The second session was actually a lot of fun. Brian didn’t get a chance to switch to the open side because he didn’t get knocked out of the invite game until after break. He had to sit and wait for me. I went all in a few times after he got knocked out. As luck would have it, I ended up prevailing each time instead of losing and actually started to build a hefty stack. Once I had the chips I decided to start playing to win instead of trying to leave. I felt bad for Brian because he had to wait for me. Having been knocked out before him a few times, I know how boring it can be. Specially if you don’t bring anything to do.

Our table was actually a lot of fun. They were all good sports about it. I actually bluffed a guy out of a pot by going all in with 6 7. What was worse was he wanted to play really badly because he had his favorite cards, 8 9, and they were suited to boot! Bill was laughing because whenever we’d play together he’d always hear other people say, “She never bluffs. If she bets, she’ll usually have something good.” He would just shake his head because he knows better. He’s busted me on some bluffs before.

For instance last night, I raised pre-flop with A J. It’s a decent starting hand and if it’s fold, fold, fold, with only one other person in the pot, why not try to steal it? My mistake was that I was trying to steal the pot from Bill. Flop came Q 2 3. Bill checks and I immediately go all in. The key to winning hands is if you raise pre-flop, you have to continue the aggressive play.

Bill initially put me on a decent pocket pair because the Q didn’t scare me off. That is what I wanted him to believe. I only had A J. I missed the flop completely. I wanted him to think I had something and fold. Bill thought about it and after much scrutiny his gut told him to call. It was a good call because we all know I had nothing. As soon as he called, I knew I was beat. My mind told me that he would not have called if he didn’t get a piece of that flop. If he got a piece of it, no matter how small, he’s got me. Much to my relief, he reveals an A J which is the same hand I have. It was a split pot.

My point is, Bill has witnessed me try to steal pots many a time. He knows I can play pretty wreckless and pretty aggressive if the mood strikes. It’s important to shake it up a bit sometimes. You don’t want to be predictable. Of course, if you’ve played with me a few times I can’t help if you know my style of play no matter how spontaneous I try to be.

Anyway, the semi-aggressive semi-tight play worked for me last night. It took me all the way to the final table and helped me win first place. But don’t feel bad for the guy I bluffed into folding his favorite hand. He took second. =)

June 17, 2006 | Posted by Ching under Poker

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The Case of the Missing Drivers License

I seem to have lost my drivers license. We’ve searched all over the house and rummaged through my purse and everything. There is no sign of it anywhere.

I have no idea when or how I lost it. However, I remember seeing it the last time at Abuelo’s. I had to show it to our waitress. I think may have lost it sometime after drinking almost an entire carafe of sangria. Brian just came back from Abuelo’s, though, and they do not have my drivers license. This irks me beyond anything you can imagine!

You want to know the crazy thing? I’ve been driving all week without it. It just dawned on me today to check. This is nuts! So anyway, I have to get to the DMV tomorrow before they close so I can get another one. How aggravating!

June 15, 2006 | Posted by Ching under Life

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It’s Official

It’s official! I’ve been accepted to Wichita State’s MBA program. I’m so happy!

Mom never doubted that I would get in, but after a week of waiting I was beginning to wonder. Anyway, I’m thrilled to be in grad school. I can’t wait to start. Go me!

P.S. Brian told me that we could do whatever I wanted tonight to celebrate my acceptance to grad school. So you know what I said? “Let’s go play poker!” LOL.

June 14, 2006 | Posted by Ching under School

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Itâ€™s my Birthdayâ€¦â€¦ Yippy-Fucking-Do!

This will be an account of my Birthday. This is the first time that I have ever kept a record like this so it should be pretty amusing.

6:30am

Got up this morning and was greeted by my cat (Oscar) trying to see how far he could shove his head down my throat. That drives me nuts, great way to start the morning in a pissy mood with a mouth full of hair. I normally get greeted by my wife telling me Happy Birthday and giving me a Kiss but that didnâ€™t happen. Hell I didnâ€™t even get a kiss this morning. Sheâ€™s probably still mad at me because Care One took $300.00 and applied it to a credit card that we paid off after they told us that it would not be applied. Oh well, I guess itâ€™s just another day for me. 32 is starting to look crappy but what can you do but move on.

7:15am

At work now and still having a shitty day. Set up the board and was told after I had it all set up that three people were not going to be here today. It would be nice if the TSE supervisor would update the vacation calendar (I just think to myself that it was a last min thing and he didnâ€™t have time. That way I done get too upset and make an ass out of myself).

7:48am

Sent an e-mail to my wife telling her to not worry about the auditors and asking her if sheâ€™s still mad at me. Iâ€™m so sensitive, I donâ€™t know why. If she gets mad then I guess Iâ€™ll just try to suck it up and take it for pestering her on a busy day.

8:50am

So far my wife has e-mailed me and told me Happy Birthday. She said that she was sorry for forgetting and would make it up to me tonight. As for anyone else, I wasnâ€™t told happy birthday by anyone but I told someone that it was my birthday and he told me â€œIâ€™m Sorryâ€. Wow, what a great way to start the day. As for work, this is the first time in 8 years that I have had to work my birthday and it sucks. I woke up this morning and new that today was going to be crappy and it is busy as hell here, it sucks.

9:00am

Cheez-itâ€™s, Breakfast of champions! NOT!

June 14, 2006 | Posted by Brian under Life

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Brian Was Pooped

Brian was pooped after the garage sale today. Mostly there was a lot of waiting around. We didn’t get much business and sold very few items, but getting rid of all of our junk (which the DAV will pick up from mom’s house on Monday) was well worth it.

We actually had fun after Dawn and her girls showed up. Amber and Haley came to sell soda and water to the customers. We all thought it would be a good idea specially on a hot summer day. Very few sodas and waters got sold, though.

Anyway, there was still a lot of waiting around with a bit of horsing around in between. Amber played chess with me. It was her first time playing, so I had to show her how the various pieces move, and she won! She was really excited about that. She learned the moves really quickly. She seems to be really sharp.

After that she taught me how to play Go Fish and Speed. We had a long discussion of how people are wrong to refer to “sugargliders” as “sugar gliders” because it is a compound noun. After all, it’s “firehouse” not “fire house” and “fireman” not “fire man” and “doghouse” not “dog house” and “superman” not “super man” and “butterfly” not “butter fly” and “watermelon” not “water melon” and… I could keep going, but you get the point.

Try searching for “sugargliders” on Google, though and you won’t get very many hits. However, if you use “sugar gliders” as the search term then you’ll get lots of hits. We both agreed that it should not have a space in between the two words.

Anyway, I realize that there compound nouns can exist in the open form but I don’t like them. I think compound nouns should consist of words stuck together like Siamese twins or at least be hyphenated. But that’s just me. =P

So that’s about the extent of my garage sale experience. It was my first one ever and I have to say, I refuse to participate in any kind of garage or yard sale ever again! It was so hot outside that we finally gave up and packed up early. I swear there were ten drivebys after our garage sale officially closed for the day. I kind of feel bad for closing early, but Brian and them insisted that we do because it had been almost two hours since the last victim (err, customer). It was Ching against everyone else so I was out-voted. It was actually good that we closed early because that gave Brian and I time to shower before dinner. It was a necessity because Brian and I were both really grody for being out in the heat all day. After our shower, he promptly passed out on our favorite sleeping couch (see the photo above).