Married man!

Well I took the plunge and life is great. Our pet is happy. The wedding was everything we could have ever dreamed it to be. There was a lot of work and planning and help from everyone in our circles and it turned out to be the best wedding I've ever been to (of course I'd say that!!!). Sarah and I got a bit of downtime prior to the festivities and we just took a time out and talked an ate soup and laughed and relaxed. Then it was off in our crazy (no I mean actual lunatic, like drinking non-existent coffee kinda crazy) taxi ride which we were fortunate enough to survive and barely pay for. The bath house was beautifully set up and friends and family trickled in throughout the first hour. The meal was delicious (as Sarah and I found out later, since we could barely handle 3 bites BETWEEN US) and everyone was talkative and friendly with one another. The MC (Josh) and DJ (Aaron) got on the same page and organized the everyone outside while the rabbi, Sarah's dad, and I hung back. When everyone was out, the rabbi and I went to the Huppah outside (which was surprisingly warm for the 4:30 start time) and we waited. From here till the end of the ceremony I can't really describe in words, it is a blur of beauty and grace and dreamcometrue-ness. Sarah came out of the bathhouse and looked amazing, just stunning in every capacity of the word. Her dress was a brilliant white, she was all smiley and just jaw-dropping. I kinda lost track of the bridesmaids and just stared at her as she approached, trying not to lose it this early in the ceremony. Once she got close enough I extended my arm and walked her to the huppah. The rabbi said the kindest most heartfelt things throughout the ceremony, focusing on our love for one another and caring mentality. I just stared into her eyes and held Sarah's hands the whole time, relishing in this moment of complete perfection. There was nothing else in the world except her in that time and it was wonderful. The huppah holders all had at least a tear in their eye the whole time and I could feel the support from them all as I gazed at Sarah. My vows (which had me nerve-racked all day) came out nicely and Sarah's were so genuine and beautiful. Then we did the ring thing, no hiccups there and we topped it off with the breaking of the glass (easier than I thought), an nice kiss between us, and a quickly shared moment with each of our parents. then we scampered off into the woods and beach to just relax and take it all in (as well as get some kickass pictures, I will post them one day but they are literally works of art!). The party was fun and we had a nice and special first dance. Of course Hava nagila is always a fun time, Sarah really loved it and I think it'll make for some great pictures. I did my obligatory shmoozing and got a chance to talk to almost everyone there. The dancing later at night was an all-out fun-fest (combined with the joyous drinking of family and friends). Then it was off in my bro's borrowed comvertible to the downtown hotel spot we picked. The day will be my new standard for measuring good days for the rest of my life, besides a dangerous taxi ride and a busted cake topper, there is nothing that could have improved my wedding day. And now I get to be a married man :).

New Toys and New Fun

We are now down to under 50 days till the wedding and things are going great. We have all the important pieces in place (venue, guests, someone to marry us, food) and everything else we're on top of enough to not freak out about (ok, maybe freak out once in a while). Gamara is getting used to his home and we've noticed he is much more aware of his surroundings, he looks up (at us) more, lets us touch his head without freaking out and hiding in his shell, we knows when to sleep and he eats as soon as the food drops in his dish. We've been spoiling him a bit with rose petals, but he's still in very good health. We keep him clean and happy and give him exercise every other day. He's not so frightened of the ground now and makes his way around the apartment with ease. Sarah cut out part of a shoebox so that he would have a nice place to chill out of the rays of the heat lamp.
Last weekend Sarah and I got iPods. I have held out since they first came out and finally took the plunge: I got a 80gig iPod classic. Its partly because I've always wanted one but never could rationalize price (in my pre-job days) and partly because we have a playlist ready for the wedding and.... need a way to play the music there! In fact we've got numerous playlists which we are stoked on so it will be a really fun party! After getting it and throwing all my music on it, I could tell Sarah really liked it (actually she REALLY liked the black nano at the store) so the next day after work (my first Saturday I had to work, WEAK!) I surprised her with a nano of her own. Its rare that I can just make a spontaneous moment out of nowhere, so it was great times. Now we each have music and video at our fingertips (even though she has vowed to ignore the video option... for now). I put some video on my iPod and am using a certain program that does a certain something with a you know what so that I am able to watch thingamajigs on my iPod. Hope that wasn't too incriminating! If any of you iPod video owners need clarification just let me know I can help ya out. So its fun times at the house and especially on the road for me.
Work is really rough these days, helping others while trying to handle my own work. Its interesting to see what 15 years younger really means in the workplace: better computer skills, more flexibility and adjustability, and much faster execution. Experience means nothing if the tools are foreign to the user. I am definitely the guy with zero experience who can handle the tools and make a much bigger impact on a project than the experienced members. I like being here, but its frustrating, I can't wait for 15 years from now when I can go at a snails pace and let the newbie come in and do my job.... or take my job...hmmmm. It is simply nice to be appreciated, so all is well in the woooorkplaaaaaace.
Poder hit 66 over the weekend, my hope is to take 2 more weekends to hit 67. My sights are strictly set on getting to 70 and getting to run instances and heroics with the guild. Who knows exactly how things will pan out, but my hope is to get geared enough to run a raid at some point. Regardless I am excited to reach the beginning of the peak and establish myself enough before the new expansion. To seventy and beyond!!! lol, peace for now.

Good on all fronts!

Wow I'm getting bad at this! Well, at least it looks like I can hold down a monthly blog. Lots and lots has happened recently, and I've been quite the busy bunny. For starters the wedding is coming along and Sarah and I had a bit of an "OH SHIT!" moment earlier this week when we realized that we are 6 weeks away from the two week relax pre-wedding day. So we've cracked down a bit and are getting stuff done. Everything is planned in a basic sense and now its up to us to put the pieces together in time. Sarah recently got into the Crisis Clinic (those phone people who keep people from jumping of buildings) and now she's training and being constantly evaluated. i'm really proud of her and her drive never ceases to amaze me. After completing some online psych courses she's gonna apply to the Antioch Social Counselor/Therapist grad school program and she'll be on her way to full certification and being able to help people and have her own practice and everything. It's great being in a relationship where we both have our strengths and we are both professionals... and goofballs at the same time.
On the goofball front, Sarah stayed up till some ungodly hour playing WoW because it was finally the day she could gather enough friends into a group to complete her elite ground mount quest. This means that she gets to ride around on a flaming horse, so that's pretty sick. As for me I got my mount as soon as I hit 60, shelled out the 900 gold and I've been cruising ever since. We're both lvl 63 now and loving the Outlands, its really a sweet place!
With all the money we're making going to the wedding and honeymoon we're saving while drooling over things that would make life easier/funner. Easier: Sarah is really interested in a scooter (Vespa, Honda, or any other 49cc badboy) and it would solve some of our transportation issues we've come across recently. With her training and work, the bus is only so good and once we can rationalize it and work the numbers out we'll prolly spring for a little one-seater. On the fun side we're ready to make the jump to have separate computers, especailly with school starting up for sarah after the wedding. For now we just want to be able to game together, so if anyone out there has a loaner computer they're not using, we'd jump on it and us it probably thru february until we go for a mac. So anyone with a tower (already got a monitor) or a laptop that is outta commision hit me up, we'd loooove to work something out.
We bought a toroise two weeks ago and we've been revamping his house recently. He's a little guy, full name is Gamara Darwin and he is really adventurous. At only 4 months old, Gamara looks like your run of the mill reptile pet, but he will grow tons and tons in the coming years. His species (the Sulcata Tortoise) is the 3rd largest in the world and they reach 2 feet in length and anywhere from 80 to 150 lbs!!! Which is really really cool! We're tryign to train him at a young age and he is really active. He eats grass and some other greens but mostly various grasses to keep him eating a healthy diet. We are really pumped about having Gamara as part of the family and we will definitely be planning out future housing needs based on what the little guy needs to live comfortably.
Work has been one adventure after another. We had family day yesterday so I showed Sarah my cubicle and some of the projects they have out on the slab. Last Friday they successfully installed 35k lbs of test fixture and product ONTO a cradle I designed and drew. It took 2 full size cranes to pull it off and I was sick to my stomache nervous about it not matching up. But it turns out I am competent and since then i've gotten more than one pat on the back for my design. This week figures to be a lot more chill, so I can stay up to date on my sonics (and all the efforts to keep 'em here) and get ideas for which mac to go with for Sarah. Oh and one quick note: the owner of Firehouse Coffee in Ballard is a really really great guy leading the charge in keeping the sonics at home, support his business and sign the petition he has at the cafe. And don't forget to vote tomorrow (whcih reminds me i better fill out my absentee ballot tonight). Peace.

Not daily anymore but things are good!

Well my blog has gone from semi-daily to bi-monthly quite quickly. Work has kept me pretty busy these days, I am really getting into the thick of it here at the undisclosed plane factory. I've got plenty more responsibility, they are trusting me with all sorts of stuff and so far I have responded well. My speed at designing, modeling, and drafting is what makes me feel like a lock here as long as I want. I learn quickly and am flying by all my superiors in that regard, but the paperwork can be tedious and I am constantly working on the social interactions (why can't I just email everything?!). So work life is fine, and my time management is improving to the point where I can rebound or play tennis or play WoW after work and still have a good dinner and kick it with Sarah.

A new category I will throw into the mix is LOST. Skip this paragraph if you don't want secrets and spoilers revealed. NOW! Ok, so basically the show is really sweet and they did a good job of getting me to have conflicted feelings about characters and history. Last week Sarah and I finished season 3 so now the brutal wait till season 4 begins. My theories include that the island is at a different time (perhaps time loop) because of the fancy-ass phone that Naomi has and the story she said about how Driveshaft released a greatest hits album. That means that in 92 days the outside world: found the plane crash, determined Charlie was dead, the record producers compiled the album, released it, and the general public who is not a Driveshaft fan has knowledge of the album. Either there is a time discrepancy or she is just plain lying, which could very well be the case. They aren't leaving the island in season 4 and things will only get more complicated. I can't wait.

In WoW news i have hit 57 and am now grinding in the Outlands. Once I hit 58 the game changes from old to new and I will abandon all my current quests in order to accept all the new spiffy Burning Crusade quests. The grinding XP in the Outlands can't be beat but its boring and slow-going. I'm probably 90 kills away from 58 so I will hopefully get in down in 1-2 hours whenever I can get that much gaming on. My gear that I worked so hard and spent so much gold to ramp up will soon be obsolete, so I'll try to focus on good quest rewards to make me powerful all over again. My gold situation is still sweet, I'm around 900g and hope to hit 1k before 60 (when I get my next mount). Apparently there's lots of $ in OL just from kills and quest rewards so here's hoping!

On the Sonics front the changes keep coming. Goodbye Ray and Ra, hello Durant, Green, Kurt Thomas, WallyZ, DWest and a bunch of future picks. Presti has taken control of this team's wheeling and dealing and honestly he's impressing the crap outta me. The verdict is still out on this team as a whole, but I'm hoping we can at least make some waves this season. The arena issue is still grim, but as of this week Brian Robinson over at Sonicscentral.com started the "A Deal is a Deal" PAC. Which means that as long as Mayor Nickles does the right thing, the Sonics will be bound to their KeyArena lease till 2010, and in that time we may find the private investors we're hoping for. Even anti-arena-ist Chris Van Dyke is on board with this because if the lease is bought out it will screw over the city and more importantly the Seattle Center. It may seem like a mess now but if everything pans out just right the sonics could stick around after all.

Last weekend I got my suit for the wedding and its pretty spiffy. Looks really good and I'm pumped that some of my clothing is finally nailed down. Still gotta get some little things along the way like shoes and stuff but its nice knowing the suit is set. The registry is gradually growing, but Sarah and I keep putting on $5-$20 items on the list and the Macy's and Target people point it out to us all the time. Oh well I'm sure there will be enough super expensive gifts to meet some people's appetite. Playing tennis with Sarah recently has been great, we're actually getting some great rallies in and while neither of us is ready for the Open yet, we give each other a pretty solid workout and have fun. We've also gotten into a DVD some friends let us of Freaks and Geeks. Its a pretty funny show and its nice having something (like LOST) where we can enjoy at the end of the day and kick back together.

Well that's most of whats been going on, everything is pretty smooth, my weekends are packed but fun (like helping Bec et al move into their new place) and work is do-able and I'm feelin pretty up-beat about everything. Plus its a nice day out.

Return from Hiatus

Well its been a while since my last update so here is a everything you need to get you all up to date:

Life and vacations: The Banff/Jasper trip with my dad went great, got video footage and when I start having weekends to relax I plan to make a nice, short video of the trip, nature and fun etc. I missed Sarah but returning home was great, its so nice to reconnect with someone that knows you so well. Then we had a relaxed weekend followed by ANOTHER camping excursion with Bec and the gang in fill-in-the-blank-sylvania, near Olympia. Upon Bec's request I am separating out sections of my blog, so there! We returned home last night and have been taking it easy (except for worky) ever since.

Work: Work is keeping me really really busy these days, I have authority (to some extent) and slowly I'm learning to use it. Its crazy seeing the fruits of my labor, and I was recently invited to the 787 unveiling which should be a really fun time. The 4th is on Wednesday so that'll give me just the break I need in my work week. :)

WoW: I know no one reads this section but the update is: lvl 54, 730g (after getting Sarah a present and twinking Poder's gear a bit) and alchemy and herbalism are nearing the topped out stage but they progress very slowly. I have tried to do a 5-man instance called blackrock depths (BRD for short) about 7 times and it has never progressed significantly in each trial. But I'll keep at it and maybe land that perfect group. Grinding really is the way to level a character, I made 100X the leveling speed just killing undead and skeletons in the plaguelands compared to trying to get a group together for BRD. Making progress.

Sonics: Well now we got something! About 30 minutes after drafting Kevin-the-savior-Durant I found myself contemplating jumping off the balcony of the 4th story apartment. Turns out we traded Ray-jesus-shuttlesworth-Allen for the #5 pick (some green guy I didn't know), Wally Szcerbiak (I think I'm gonna toss my cookies), and Delonte West (huh?!). Well since that impulsive moment I have stepped away from the ledge and gotten to know (read) more about the theory behind these picks. Its true Allen is playing on bum ankles but he probably had 3 good years left in him, but the bond between Durant and Green (who played in Wash DC together when they were kids) sounds very Pippen-Jordanesque. Delonte West is the starter everyone is crying for at the PG or SG position and we may or may not be done with our dealings. For a bit we were a team with 6 small forwards but since then it looks like Durant or Green can cover the 2 and 4 while we keep Shard at the 3. So maybe this is the beginning of a new sonics era, and the sun is shinning just a little bit here in Sonicland, lets get out there and see what these kids can do! I'm crossing my fingers that a Watson/Wilcox trade for Rip Hamilton goes thru, I will personally guarantee the playoffs if this team starts the season with Durant, Green, Lewis, and Hamilton. Here's hoping!

Misc: This 4th of July I'm debating not doing the chaos fireworks at gasworks, its fun for a bit but ultimately a long stretch of time for all the hassle we have to go thru. Now that we live in Ravenna the commute is even rougher, so there's a possiblity we will pass this year. A friend of ours is going to watch the Transformers movie so maybe we'll do that instead. Interesting news article today: there are 12 7-elevens that over the weekend turned themselves into kwik-e-marts! One is in Seattle so I'll be on the hunt for that place which will sell buzz cola and other fake-turned-real simpson products. Should be fun! The wedding preparations are well underway and I've scoped out the hotels in NY for our honeymoon, this trip will be amazing and I'm pumped to have that sort of a relaxing time just me and Sarah. We have been brainstorming "recuerdos" (things to give each wedding guest at the wedding to remember it by) and we are slowly closing in on the top secret selection. Sarah and I are lost in LOST, the show is amazing but I won't ruin it for anyone (I am halfway thru season 3) so I will not discuss anything lost related on this blog. Just know that the show is GREAT! I posted on Sonicscentral a couple times last week and had some heated debates over there about our team, there's a good set of guys over there, I wish that Supersonicsoul would get as much discussion as the "central" does but I assume that both sites are viewed by all true fans. Good luck ray I will wear your jersey with pride. Next time I promise to update more often so that posts like this one don't have to happen. peace

Back from the dead

Well I took a bit of a hiatus over the last couple weeks because things really picked up at work and Sarah returned from the land down under. Since then I've become steadily happier and things have returned to normal. Fran is living with us which is fun, we have a good laugh everyday and its nice just kickin it with her. In Sonic coverage much has transpired since winning the Durant sweepstakes: that same day the uber-weak Clay Benett "explored" the possibilities of have OKC and KC as new destinations for my beloved team, the sonicscentral.com crew found a clause in the arena contract that may keep the team here till 2010, and the rest of the NBA is coming to the sonics for a wide variety of trade proposals. I don't think anyone needs informing on my stance of the sonics staying vs. leaving, so I will briefly address trade proposals. 'Shard is in a tough position that may persuade him to cut and run, the Sonics have an uncertain future and the guy we're about to draft plays Lewis' position. So if we HAVE to lose #7 (although I would love to see a high scoring trio I would refer to as: RayRaRant) then it better be a step sideways if not forward for this team. The only rumored trades I feel good about so far are Rashard+Watson for Pau Gasol or Jermaine Oneal. Both of these guys would significantly beef up our bigs and I feel like it would instantly propel us into a playoff guarantee. Think of Ray getting his 24pts/3reb/4as, Durant getting 19pts/6reb/2as, and Oneal getting 20pts/11reb each and every game!!! Throw in Luky Luke and his improved self as well as the ever-unpredictable double-dragon of Wilcox and Collison with of course the young towers Petro and Swift and I'm feeling really good about this sonic team. One thing we CAN'T do is let Ra go and not get anything in return. In other aspects of life, I hit 775g the other day in WoW and its just getting ridiculously easy for me to exploit the auction house. I spent 75g of that on new gear, recipes, materials for further alchemy and I didn't even have to bat an eyelid. In fact word got around about my success and a couple guildies came knocking on my door for my secret... so they could make 10k g for their epic flyings!!! So that was a boost. Screw soccer news, its time to find a new team, but at least they are decent enough to reimburse my money. The wedding planning continues steady, in about a week or so things will probably kick up again so that we can finalize the necessary expenses. This week I will be off and away in a far of land.... ok, its just Alberta but still its mystical to me. Dad and I are gonna take the Westfalia thru the Canadian Rockies to Jasper and Banff national parks. Do some van-camping, hot springing, maybe fishing, relaxing, tons and tons of driving, hiking, animal watching, and lots of other -ings. I will miss Sarah as usual since she's been home all of 1.5 weeks, but the time chillin with tad will be coo. hopefully I'm gonna get to borrow my moms laptop for interneting on the fly (where available) and I'll do my best to keep a log of what we do and where we go. I don't have a digital camera that is guaranteed to work... but it occurs to me I DO have my video camera and have been meaning to do more with it so maybe I'll bring THAT along for the trip. Then later road trippings with Sarah we could have tons of goofy fun taping stuff. Well lunch is calling me. "See you in anotha life brotha" "Namaste, and thank you"

Finally a bit of luck

After an excrutiating 82 games marred with injury and blown leads, the Sonics finally got a ball to bounce their way. Not a basketball, but a ping pong ball. Last nights NBA draft lottery saw the Sups get the 2nd pick in this very promising NBA draft. With the damn Blazers snagging #1 the Pacific Northwest never looked so promising. Greg Oden is supposed to go #1 and Kevin Durant #2, which is fine by me. The Sonics will get a mutli-talented college freshmen that could turn this club around. I don't want to put too much pressure on him, but this could save the Sonics (btw, props to Chunk at Supersonicsoul.com for the drawing, it is great and musta been done in a matter of hours, wow... thanks for letting me use it Chunk ;). My sources have confirmed that ticket sales last night had Sonic reps staying late into the wee hours. While I don't 100% support the new ownership (alright I support them 0%) keeping the hype and support of the Sonics is jsut what this city needs. The youngster is already selling tickets before he's stepped on the court and I can't wait to see how he does once he gets out there. My internal debate about supporting a selfish businessman vs. seeing the games live is at it again and I have no idea which will win out. I will most likely break down and see about 10 games (10 game package perhaps?!) but there are tempting offers about a potential 25 game package with really reduced pricing... I'll have to sleep on it. In other news I ahve a mere 4 days left of true bachelorism with a lot to do. All the things I needed to get done a while ago have piled up and now I will be spending my days trying to organize everything I can. Also there to eat up my time is WoW, with the new patch and Children's Week starting simultaneously I am scamperring around the world... of warcraft taking a little orphan to see the sights. Very funny how this is pretty much exactly what my parents do in real life: show orphans their surroundings because they don't have anyone to take them around. I like this aspect of the game and the cute comments from the kid "gee wiz, is there a ghost in that light house?" easily canceled out the hassle of traveling to every corner of the world........of warcraft. I got speedy the turtle and now its on to Sarah's characters so that she has something to look forward to when she gets back. Work has been steady and thats why the abrupt ending, till next time: godspeed.

The Bachelor Season 1

Well now that Sarah has left me here to my own devices I am running wild. Yep running wild..... hungry, in dirty clothes, and confused. Well while most of it sucks there are some good things that always arise when I am abandoned by the one I care about: I know exactly when the dishes are getting dirtied and thus tend to clean them on the fly, I get to do the laundry with only my clothes (6 loads maybe?), when picking where to eat I have the say (also get to order no tomatoes for that matter!), and when the TV's on I can skip right past Dr Phil and Sex in the City and go directly to the NBA Playoffs. Speaking of which here's a quick run down from my view: Golden State pretty much blew their Cinderella story by dropping game 4 last night, that whole section of the west bracket is a mess with my predictions (seriously UTAH?!?!) the east is going according to script, although I think the nets-cavs series may get rather interesting soon, Phoenix has to lock down and take care of business, the Spurs are such an easy team to hate, those bastards! In other news I jumped on the opportunity to get a massage Saturday, thank you Stan, you may have saved my soccer career and I recommend an epsom salt bath for those with achy muscles. Speaking of soccer aches, we lost 2-0 in a rough one yesterday, we played a great second half and overall a pretty good game, just some defensive collapses (not when I was in) cost us the match. News from the team organizer is that he plans on making cuts to slim down the team by this summer. And while I am not the worst player on the team this news does not bode well for me, I'll just play my game and see where it lands me. As a pre-emptive strike anyone out there have a soccer team that needs a defender? In the end abandoning (or rather behind pushed off) this sinking ship may not be such an awful thing. As the summer nears I'm hoping to play more tennis once my new roommate is established and buys her own racket. there is also running, rebounding and hiking to stay in shape as the weather gets better, but something about a competitive game makes it soooo much easier to push it to the limit. With Sarah gone I am also forced to play more WoW, and after reaching 49 last night I feel a wee bit bad because I've gotten to Sarah's level. Granted she has other characters and is away on vacation at the moment, but still I don't mean to surpass her and for that I'm sorry. I did get a pretty hardcore mask yesterday, with my draenei rocking the Bad Mojo Mask, I look that much more intimidating. The hardest struggle is finding a way to dispose of a box spring (I craigslisted the mattress in a matter of hours), so if anyone has a suggestions let me know, otherwise I'll have to track down someone with a truck and haul it do the dump. Well one thing remains during the bachelor days, I have to work so catch ya later.

True Warriors

Last night I witnessed the 6th best NBA team EVER get outplayed, outclassed and completely manhandled by an overachieving bunch of role players. As the Golden State Warriors blew by the Mavs in the third quarter I was filled with pride as well as sympathy.

Pride: The 8th seeded Warriors shouldn't have had a chance in this series (as I noted in my predictions before the start of the playoffs) yet they beat the odds and left it all out on the floor to come away with a 4-2 series win. This team had a record that this year's sonics could have easily equaled had we not sustained some of the injuries and underachieving we did this year. So from one lottery bound team to a nearly lottery bound team, congratulations.

Sympathy: This, like every NBA playoff since it happened, showed the clip with Dikembe Mutombo grasping the ball in his meaty paws as the #1 Sonics were ousted by the #8 Nuggets in 1994. I feel for the Mavs and know that the sudden end to their season feels more like the end of the world. They will rebound from this in years to come and while I rooted for Golden State to shock the world, I am regretful that it had the happen against Avery Johnson, Dirk, and the rest of the supporting crew. Let this be a lesson to the all too cocky Mark Cuban: you can be on top of the world, but once you are content to be there and no longer fight for it, you may find yourself in the deepest of dungeons.

As for the rest of the playoffs, my predictions are holding nicely for now. Except for the Warriors my bracket winners are the same as the actual winners, and while I was obviously hoping for more neck-and-neck action (see Spurs and Suns each needing 7 games to advance) I will stick by my predictions. More than even before I feel like this is the Suns year: having home court against San Antonio is HUGE as well as "getting" to face winners of the Warriors, Jazz, and Rockets. The Pistons still hold the honors in the east although I feel like a perfect combination of a long series with the Bulls and the possibility of the Cavs quickly taking care of business may set Lebron up for his first Finals appearance. As of now if I have to refine my west picks I say Rockets over Jazz, Rockets over Warriors, Suns to win the conference. Until another day this is your local prospective sports beat writer signing off, later.

Complete weekend and full monday

I basically powered thru this Monday as well as the weekend. Here's a list of highlights since my last check-in:
-Hot Fuzz is hilarious, worth the theatre price easily
-I learned how to cycle @ Banya 5 and only hyperventilated on the freezing plunge once
-Even though I had only had it recommended to me once (by a jerk) it turns out Boondock Saints is a good movie, enjoyable and strangely rather funny
-Junto 4 life
-We won yesterday 4-2 and the soccer team is gelling a bit more, I had a key header to clear a threatening cross in the box...but had a hand in the two goals against us (one of which was a horrendous no-call of offsides!!!!!!)
-Gonna finally break down and shell out the $20 for a mini DVI to VGA cable in order to dual-monitor it up.
-Red Mill still has the best burgers
-STILL love the list
-Homemade pizza with Sarah last night was awesome
-The Warriors are doing awesome, I am all about this team... until the second round, haha.
-I didn't see the Chicago sweep coming, but I did have them going on, looks like I'm staying solid with my picks, except for that unlikely Golden State team...
-Guys at work are whining about the PCs, finally everyone is realizing how great Macs are!
-I made it thru 1 extra overtime hour, put that in your bank and spend it!!
Peace.

Coastin'

Well I am 7.5 hours away from finishing the work week and I am pumped for the weekend. It's gonna be a full one with pizza+movie with friends and family, a junto overnight event and even a Sunday mornin soccer game. On Wednesday Sarah took me out for birthday dinner at Il Bistro in pike place market. I had the fish of the day (Halibut) and they gave us the works: champagne, rose petals on the table, and great service. A fine dining experience (should have worn something better) that is great for a date. Yesterday I got a much-needed haircut at Rudy's on Phinney and I am so pleased with the results and the short wait list and the price that I think I'm gonna stick to that one. The U-district Rudy's just doesn't do it for me anymore(crappy parking, long wait list, and a staff that doesn't care). Also I had a Red Mill burger for the first time and I have NO IDEA why I never tried them before! It was soooo good and well flavored that I literally did a chew-double-take, that is gonna be my new burger place (as I resolve to eat less meat). I caught up with the junto at Red Mill for a sec and I'm really looking forward to the event this weekend. I think we're going to a spa, eating @ 13 coins, and goofing off all night at Josh's place. My birthday celebration today should be fun, pizza and watching Hot Fuzz at the Neptune. I really like that theatre and from the looks of it, the movie is really quite good. Not sure if anyone noticed but I fixed up the youtube section using html so that it shows a single clip rather than the array of junk. I've lost track of Poder a little bit throughout the week, but I think I'll be at 250g soon and my goal for the weekend is to get to about level 47.5. The more I play WoW the more I realize ANYONE can get to 70, it's just a matter of time and effort. If you follow some of the online guides they literally will show you every step to take (or ignore) until you are 70. But most of the fun is getting there your own way and kickin it with friends online anyway, so that comes naturally. Well time to try to nail down exactly what I need to do before my boss splits for his half-day. Peace

Enter year 24

That's right folks, today I turn 24 years old. Pretty nice to get that separation from the teen crowd but still seem like I'm young and full of hope. Yesterdays playoff games went according to plan, and it seems like my predictions are on par for the most part, although the Lakers-Suns series won't be what it was last year (feels like a near-sweep this time around). Last night I got a birthday prezzy from Sarah, a much needed work bag (so I can bring my Ritz crackers to work in style) and a memory foam mouse pad (probably gonna keep it at home since some co-workers are extra shifty). Only new WoW news is that Poder reached 200 gold and I think he's slowly on the way to an epic elekk. OH, big news yesterday as the Sonics finally unloaded Bob Hill and demoted Rick Sund. It needed to happen about 6 months ago, but if nothing else these guys' awful decisions and questionable tactics got us to the #5 pick in the lottery, so they at least accomplished something. I'm hoping Hill gets replaced with a coach that can embrace rather than criticize his players (see: playing time for Luke Ridnour) and won't sacrifice players for the success of himself (see: 40 min of PT for Allen's bum ankle). I'm looking at Adleman or Carlisle to step into this role once we address some of these leadership issues. Lenny Wilkens is a great guy, but on the decline since his coaching glory days and out of touch with the current generation of players in the L. Yesterday's lunch was at Chang's Mongolian grill since one of my coworkers has worked a total of 10 years here, it was great food and a fun time, it's nice to see when co-workers have more personality than they display in the 5 words/8 hrs I usually interact with them. I think I'm going to revamp the youtube video of the week section to only include a single video (even though this will cause it to open a youtube window and leave the blog, but I'm confident most users have mastered the tricky "back" button found in the upper left of their browser). The soccer team remains in last place in the league, but its only a matter of time, we have practice today against a polish team, but I can't make it. Hope they do well and we can come together better during the games. I am looking forward to the weekend, lots of things planned, all of them fun. But it being Wednesday I better try to relax that enthusiasm. That's all for now, maybe I'll celebrate my Birthday by double blogging on the same day!!! ....maybe..............

Goin Public

Today the blog went officially live as I emailed people (some of which I actually know!) about it. I also realized that I can't write as much as I did yesterday without risking the blog looking sloppy and long-winded, so my bad. Lets quicken it up huh?
-Soccer team lost 4-1
-Had a fun time at my graduation celebration
-Poder reached lvl 45 thanks to some burly grinding (I own you jade ooze's!)
-Playoffs are panning out even better than I hoped: Go Nets, Nugs, Warriors, and of course Suns.
-Started reading The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand), stay updated I should finish it by 2013!
-Suuuweeeet weather = case of the mondays
-Wedding invitations are coming along nicely and Sarah continues to impress me with her artistic abilities ("opposites attract 'n you know!" -the cool cat that struts around w/ Paula Abdul)
-After years of engineering classes, I love love LOVE writing text in list form!
-A buddy of mine got engaged Sunday, YEHA!
-Think I got my first design released, big step in the Boeing world.
-Counting down the hours (34ish) till my birthday.
So that's the quick no fuss no muss summary of whats goin on. With all the great weather I am gettin ready for a trip to "The Dep" (Home Depot) sometime this next week for hooks to mount up my El Sal hammock. Stay tuned because if the rest of the week is as boring and dull as today I may be updating on an hourly basis. Later

The 2nd coming

Well day 1 worked out soo well I couldn't help coming back for more. I have been looking at all the sweet stuff that Sarah and I (see mom, I can speak good Engrish) can do in NY for our honeymoon. It should be pretty sweet since tickets for the Daily Show and Conan are a call away. Also there are tons of shows that sound pretty good, so whittling them down to those select 2-3 will be tough. The accommodations will rock and so will all the street corner (and maybe even a non-street corner) eats. In other news I joined a soccer team last week, played in a game on Sunday and have another one coming up this weekend. The guys are pretty skilled and friendly so this should be a good fit. We're in the GSSL open division and there's plenty of room for improvement. I'm confident we'll come together over the season. Also I've kept up my rebounding to about 30 mins a day which should help my fatigue issues. The work week blew by and I'm getting into the groove of doing work when I have it and occupying my time when there's nothing to do. My lunches are also getting better (left over fish and chips, banana, juice box, savory muffin, and homemade trail mix today), which is encouraging. I have avoided my standard groundbeef-a-thon lifestyle which is a good thing. I've had a lot of fish and chicken and turkey recently so I'm not exactly on my way to being vegan. But everything in moderation right? My WoW character (Poder) is well on his way to success he is (as his name implies) quite powerful and interesting enough quite crafty. I reached herbalism 300 and alchemy 298 yesterday which is bit of a milestone I think. Tomorrow I'm getting a graduation celebration thrown for me at Sarah's parents house, so that should be a good time with good food and stuff. I never really made a huge deal of my graduation but it is an accomplishment (even better than my herbalism and alchemy skills!) and its worth having a bit of a party for. Speaking of parties my birthday is coming up and this year it really did sneak up on me. I feel like being 24 is about right for me. I no longer wanna be lumped in with college kids, but I'm not exactly on my way to being 30 so its a pretty comfortable age for me. As usual, the Sonics are on vacation during my birthday, whereas 16 other (more successful) teams are playing on the nationally televised game. I am really hoping that the team can find a way to stay in the NW for selfish reasons, but will understand if they leave because on a global, socio-economic and political scale it is the right decision. Damn Howard Schultz and his greedy, near-sighted illusions of fame and fortune. And a special shout-out to Nate Mac for giving us the shaft right when we needed him. But for this fan the chants remain the same: "Stay Sonics, Stay!" I have included my playoff predictions and hope you enjoy seeing how wrong I was as the postseason unfolds. Well, as I near lunchtime TGIF... which always reminds me of 'Step by Step', 'Family Matters', and 'Perfect Strangers'.

Welcome to the Interwebernet!

Hi all I thought I'd try my hand at this whole interwebernet business, its like having a telephone conversation with the world thru a series of interconnected pipes. Very Jetsons!!! So yeah, this is my first posting at my first blog. Most of you reading this should know me, so no use explaining who I am. I just thought there has GOT to be something a little more sophisticated than myspace to be connected to the outside world with. I hope to expand this blog to include various sections that I will semi-regularly update such as: home life/wedding preparations, work life (the lazy B), Sonics beat (as long as they are in town), soccer team analysis, WoW commentary and much much more. So stay tuned and be sure to comment if you've got something to say.