Cigars and Afterthoughts

After a busy day at work, I grabbed a pitcher of ice tea and a cigar out of my humidor and went outside. There is nothing like a cirgar and a drink after work. When you are in a state of relaxation you cant help but think of things. Thoughts run through your head like a swarm of bees looking for a flower. I looked at the cigar, admiring its craftmenship, wondering where in Mexico it was made, who made it, and where the tobacco was grown. Looking into my humidor now, I have 18 left. Of those I count seven host countries: US, Mexico, Cuba (I brought back from Mexico, I'll smoke that one when I graduate), Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Brazil, and El Salvador. What stories could they tell? What was the person thinking when they rolled them? Do they take pride in their product? Do they even know what a cigar is?

Then I start to thing about the future. I have 2 years left in Chico. Time is racing by. In that time I need to find a new roommate (Panda is graduating Spring 2006), boost my GPA, start applying to colleges for my masters, and then find a place on earth to settle down on. It's amazing how time can just pass you by, and when you notice all you have to show for it is emotions and images of the past. For me that past had some tough times, but I would never change a thing. The past was astonishing, but I'm sure the future will be breathtaking.

A Look Back

Spur of the Moment LAN Party
Aug 4 2002
Location: My House
Event: My 19th Birthday Party

Nothing but a BBQ

Yesterday was a relaxing day. You know there is nothing like sleeping in on a day that you have nothing to do. After waking up at 11, I slowly started my day. I guess you could say my day started around 2, before then all I did was eat leftovers from last night and walked across the street for the paper.

It was a beautiful day, so I brought out my chair, grabbed a cold beer, and settled with the paper. After reading an article on the possibility of the Dam road being reopen during commute hours, Stephanie returned from her orientation. Its been tough on her to find a new job since she quit Target. For those of you that are not familiar with Chico the job market is very tight. Since Chico is out in the middle of nowhere with the nearest cities being an hour in every direction, you can't go outside the city for work. Luckily for her she found a job, as an inventory counter, you know those companies that a store hires once a year to count everything. I guess it is not as bad as we all think, they get paid $1 more than the average for Chico (the average is a monstrous $6.75), and they get to pick when they want to work. How it works is they get there schedule mailed to them with a list of dates/times/locations, after which you call the company and tell them the jobs you want to work. Not bad, it beats fast food.

After gallivanting around Chico we returned back to my house. Dinner time. When I woke up I took two steaks and two chicken breasts out of the freezer. I placed the chicken and steaks in ziplock bags and filled the bags with half spicy pineapple marinade and the rest beer. After sitting in that mixture for a good chunk of the day the meat was just to the point of falling apart, time for the grill. All I could say about dinner: perfect.

A Trip to Enloe

What can I say about yesterday, it sucked. The day started out like any other Saturday. I was off to work my eight hour shift like I usual (2:15P to 11:00P). Everything was fine up until one hour into my shift. All of the sudden my stomach started to hurt, nothing major, kind of like the feeling that you get when you have bad gas. But then it got worse, I broke out with really bad cold sweats. The pain became unbearable, like my stomach was going to explode. Heidi (the ETL-HR) took one look at me and told me to go home.

Thank god for health insurance. Straight from work I headed to the Enloe Prompt Care Clinic at California Park. Walked right and asked to see a doctor. They took me to the side and took down all my information: name, age, race, contact information, ext. Now I have Kaiser Insurance, which is no good up here in Chico because the closest Kaiser is in Roseville. The great thing is they have to cover me; they are required to cover me. So there was no out of cost to me, as a matter of fact they will bill Kaiser the total cost, and then Kaiser will bill me later.

After giving them all the information I was off to see the doctor. Here is where the fun began. After taking my blood pressure, pulse, and having me describe how I feel, I puked, all over the place. I puked, a lot, more than normal. So they took me to another room, gave me scrubs to change into, and a shot for the nausea and then they put me on oxygen. 10 minutes past and then they came in with a tool kit. They were putting me on an IV. The one thing a nurse should not say when she sits next to you with a needle, "I'm sloppy when I do IVs, so bare with me."

On oxygen, anti nausea medication, and an IV, I was now starting to feel better. After being on the IV for an hour I was released, they told me they would call me if my blood work came back abnormal. Drove home and passed out. Stephanie came over and took care of me. What a girlfriend, she stayed by my side all night, fixed me breakfast this morning, and is still there for me.

I'm feeling better. Drinking a lot of water and Pedialyte is keeping my hydrated. I'm still not 100%, but we will see how I do tomorrow.

Well, I'm going to go broke this fall

I saw my doom today, they just put up the sign: Starbucks Coming Soon. Come this fall I will be able to walk out my front door, and in under 5 minutes be drinking my primo coffee. The end is near for me, and I am ready to accept my fate.

Me and my big fat glass

It Takes Two to Tahoe Recap

Just over the Horizon, there we were. . .

What a relaxing trip. We left Chico around 10AM for Tahoe on Monday. After getting to I80 we stopped in Truckee for some lunch. Stephanie loves Port of Subs, so she was excited when we found one. My how Truckee has grown. If there is one thing that driving around this summer has shown me is how much Northern California has grown.

After lunch we proceeded down CA89 to South Lake Tahoe, stopping along the was to admire the scenery. The one thing I love about South Lake Tahoe is the border. On the California side you have most of the hotels and all the restaurants. Yet right on the border, and I mean right on the border, you have the big four casinos (Harvey's, Harris, Caesars, and the Horizon). We stayed at the Horizon because after an hour searching the web last week it had the cheapest rate ($65 tax included) for a standard room with two double beds. Once we settled in (@ 4PM) we explored the area, but first I had to gamble.

While walking to the car we passed a roulette table. I looked at Stephanie and said "I feel like I want to put $20 on red and walk away." She shocked me when she said ok. So I went to the table, showed them my ID (since Stephanie is only 20 they made her leave the floor), and around the ball went. After a minute of my heart racing (I hate making big bets, and to me $20 is big) the ball dropped: . . .12. . .RED!

So with an extra $20 in my pocketed we hopped in my car and were off to Safeway to get some gatoraide. The one thing I find neat about Nevada is there is gambling everywhere, EVEN IN SAFEWAY! I could not resist, I mean come on, who could turn down the urge to play slots in safeway. That had to be the best $4 I've ever spent there.

From there we proceeded to the lake shore to watch the sun set over the mountains. There is something about a setting sun that makes you love the one your with even more, there really are no words to describe that moment.

After sunset it was off to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. To be honest the only reason I wanted to go was for a good bear (Hefeweizen) and for their logoed pilsner glasses. After the poor service and crappy food we had at the Honolulu HRC I decided to give them one more shot. I'm glad I did, the service was great and the food was the best we have ever had at an HRC. Another pilsner glass to add to my collection.

We returned to the room and I waited for Stephanie to fall asleep. Once that happened I was going downstairs to gamble. A half an hour later I returned, down $35, yet happy. I like playing the games, they're fun. In 30 minutes I played single deck black jack, roulette, even slots.

The next day was just as fun as the first. Woke up and we were off. Checked out, got in the car, and were off to Emerald Bay. I thought the tour of the Vikingsholm would be fun.

After the tour and the hike back up to the car we stopped at Richardson's Camp for some ice cream. I love it, there "child" size is the equal to the size of a three scoop ice cream at Basken Robbens.

Ah what a trip! I wonder what next week holds instore.

We Made It!

Almost There!

It Takes Two to Tahoe

During this summer I want to get away from Chico on my days off. Last year my summer life was just work at Target and a big vacation here and there. This summer there are still the big trips, yet some small ones sprinkled in here and there. This is one of them. My girlfriend and I are off to South Lake Tahoe for the night. I'm not looking forward to the drive from Chico (99 to 65 to 193 to 46 to 50). During my stay for the night I will be posting audio notes. Enjoy!

Changing the world, one person at a time!

The First of Many

Hello world! I have finally created a blog! It is liberating having a forum where the hole world can read my posting and supply feed back!