Atlanta Is A Go

I'm going to Atlanta September 21-23 to meet Paul and Kiki for the AWA anime convention. I'm excited about going and I think the money is worth it for a fun weekend with them.

We had game night again at Alex's apartment. We played a game called "Ticket to Ride, European Edition". You basically built train tracks all around Europe and it was a lot of fun. We had dinner and desert there too. I enjoy doing that on Wednesday nights.

Today must have been douchebag day at work, but that's all I'm going to say about that. Hearing a loud F*ck! being screamed in a conference call was enough to make me want to go home before 5:00.

Atlanta, yes, no, maybe?

I REALLY want to go to Atlanta the weekend of September 21-23 for AWA...an anime convention that is going to host a Smash Brothers tournament. Most importantly to see Paul and Kiki. I am going to be in Georgia September 18-20 for work...it's too bad I can't just STAY. But, I can come back here to Michigan for work Friday, and fly out Friday evening and spend the weekend in Atlanta for $218 airfare. It's crazy, I know but I'm single, I have no commitments to make me stay here for a weekend, and I have the money to use if I want to, so why not? It would be a lot of fun.

I'm thinking!

Lunar Eclipse

According to the meteorologist, there is supposed to be a full lunar eclipse starting at 4:51 am until 6:00 am. I don't think I will get up to see it though, sleep is much more precious since I have a busy day ahead of me at work tomorrow.

I Got "Pwned" Or So They Say

Saturday I went to a Smash Brothers competition held at Gamestop here in Novi. It was a LOT of fun. I expected something small scale since it was inside a tiny store, but I got there 30 minutes early and there were already 30 people waiting to be registered. By 2:00 it was packed with a lot of people waiting. They had 2 TV sets, so 2 competitions going at a time to narrow down brackets. There were kids there that were 6 or 7, to people in their mid 20's. I'm not ashamed at all, because this game is amazing and I love it.

All of the older people stayed together and the bratty little kids did their competition. When it was my turn, this 13 or 14 year old said I had to battle him, and he said "oh great, I'm going to loose". Actually, he beat me and it was very hard. So, I got eliminated the first round by someone much younger but it was a lot of fun. The overall grand prize was a paid copy of Smash Brothers Brawl when it comes out December 3rd. I had a really good time though.

Today Erica and I went to the Detroit Science Center to see the Human Body exhibit. They had 20 dead bodies on display for science, some with all the skin taken off so you could see the muscles, and some with the skin still on. They were all Chinese people at one time. There was also a small room with a warning on the outside that the displays were graphic. We walked in and they had fetuses in jars on display. I guess they died? They had about 5 during different stages of preganacy so you could see what is formed at what point in the pregnancy. It was really intersting and educational to see (even though it sounds gross).

Now I'm just relaxing, thinking about putting together a nightstand I bought at IKEA earlier today. I need to go ahead and get it put together.

Auntie Em!

I just got home from work. On the way home, the radio was cut short by a tornado warning for Livingston County, the county west of me. Now I can hear tornado sirens going off here, and there is a tornado warning for Oakland, my county. I just turned on the TV, and I see a BRIGHT RED circle over Novi on the weather radar with a rotation symbol. Then, the TV went black and an emergency message came on. This is happening now, by the way. I was told to get in a low area and seek shelter. I live on the 2nd floor of my apartment. I hope I'll be ok!

This is fun weater to see though.

V4 Nightmares

I really don't want to complain about work, but today was probably the most frustrating day I've had so far. Let me just lay it out on the table. I was trained in CATIA V5 which is a Windows based CAD software used for modeling. I feel comfortable with it. I can model, make drawings, and I like it. Well, my program is in CATIA V4, a Unix based CAD software you would have thought came from the 1960's. CATIA V4 is "on it's way out" or so they keep saying. Well, Subaru is doing this entire project in CATIA V4. Did I mention this project lasts until 2010? On it's way out in 3 years maybe...

I do have some positive things to say though. I like the people and they're willing to help, I just feel very unproductive compared to others because of this CAD language barrier and I hate constantly asking people to "do this" and "do that" for me. I need to to do it myself to understand it. I'm ready for the weekend, I need a break.

Tonight was really nice though because there was a HUGE storm with blinding rain and lightning and a tornado warning. It was fun to watch the storm after today.

I do like my job though, I do. We all just have "one of those days" and today was one of them. Tomorrow is a new one.

Game Night

I think Wednesday's from this point on are going to be "game night" at Alex's. He had his first one tonight and it was a LOT of fun. There were 6 other people there from work. He has a 2 bedroom apartment, so he sleeps in the little bedroom and has made the master into a gameroom. He made these really neat pictures on the wall of games, framed. He bought games like Scrabble, Clue, and Risk and laid them out like a game, then framed them, and hung them on the wall. We had pizza and played 3 games so it was a good time.

Now to weather. Since Saturday it has been rainy, in the low 60's, and windy. Well today it was like BAM HOT! It was in the high 80's and VERY humid from all the rain. I still don't think it's as hot as it's been in South Carolina, but it feels hot.

Maybe you know this, maybe you don't, but this weekend I'm going to see 20 dead Chinese bodies at a museum. I'll post more on that later.

Competition Time

I bought my Nintendo Wii tonight, and I found out the place I bought it from has a Smash Brothers tournament this Saturday...for free! I'm going to be there so I should practice this week. It sounds like a lot of fun.

Today was also Becky's 23rd birthday, so Happy Birthday Becky! I found out her birthday present was a plane ticket to come visit me in October. I'm excited she's coming to visit!

Work today was a little slow, not because I didn't have things to do but I couldn't do them because it required using the other CAD language I don't have. So, I had to wait for someone to help me and it's annoying not being able to do the work myself.

Robert Game-And-Watch

Men's bathrooms are a very strange place, and you hear very awkward conversations. For example, today I was in the bathroom going about my business, when I heard someone flush, and come out of the stall. Another guy walks in and says "Hey, did you warm it up for me" and the guy who was leaving the stall said "Yep, smells a little too". I was thinking to myself "WHAT!?" We do not talk to each other like this in the bathroom, it's too weird.

Tonight Alex came over and we played Smash Bros. Oh. My. Gosh. I miss that game so much. I have decided that this is the week I am going to buy my Wii. Hopefully I can find one out there somewhere.

I also found out today at work I will be taking a business trip to Gainesville, GA September 18-20 for Six Sigma training. It's a shame, because the weekend of the 20th in Atlanta there is an anime convention that Paul and others will be attending to be in a Smash Bros. contest and I wish I could somehow extend my business trip into the weekend, even though training ends Thursday. I don't think it's possible, but I would love to attend. I could fly BACK to Atlanta Saturday for $160 to watch the tournament. Is it worth it? Mayyybe.

Goodbye Dazed Raccoon

Last night it was rainy, and I got to fall asleep listening to the rain hit the tree leaves outside my window. Those make for the best night's sleep. In the morning I woke up, and it was still raining and dark outside. I did not want to get out of bed, but Jesus died for my sins so the least I can do is get out of bed on a rainy Sunday and go to church. I'm happy to do that. Well, it was cold outside, for August atleast! Today it stayed 63 degrees and overcast and rainy all day. It doesn't feel like August at all.

When I came home from church I saw this little raccoon walking in cirles in the road in front of my apartment. He looked very confused and scared. I bet he was spooked about the weather because this is weird. So when I left my apartment again today, he was dead in the road. I looked on Wikipedia for information about raccoons, because I figured I don't know enough about them. Well they're nocturnal, so I wonder what he was doing out in the road, in the middle of the day?

Tomorrow starts a new week of work. I'm in full swing now, and there's not really anymore "find stuff to do" time. I have stuff to do and it takes the full 8 hrs each day, usually more. I'm not complaining though, I like it.

I'm thinking (I have to make a decision this week) of taking German 101 at a community college this fall. It meets twice a week and I think it would be a good way to meet people my age, have something fun and new to learn, and it's free! My work will pay for all tuition, I think up to $5000/yr. It includes all books too, so I might as well take advantage of that. I wish I still got to use Spanish because I really love that language. German sounds so mean and demanding.

I'll go to Schoolcraft College tomorrow and see what I need to do to enroll. Then Alex and I are supposed to play some Smash Bros. which I have been dying to play.

Awkward!

Today the weather was really weird, almost like fall or winter. Right now it's 63 degrees and raining. This morning I woke up at 9:30 then fell back asleep until 11:30. I decided to take my bicycle to the bike shop I bought it from because they do a free "tune up" for the first time, after everything gets broken in. So I dropped it off, went to a Christian bookstore to get a daily devotional book, and then went back and picked it up.

Carmela invited some people over to her house for dinner and I went, then we all went to church. Katey and Erica were there. After church we were talking and I found out that Erica is pregnant. That's a whole other story. They said something though that made me feel very awkward, and I a little annoyed. I had told Erica I could babysit if she ever needed someone (not that I necessarily wanted to, but I thought it was something nice to offer). Apparantly that must be something her and Katey feel strongly about because they told me how it's NEVER a good idea to leave your child with anyone but a relative, because you never know about people and you can't trust them. Basically I felt like I was being told I was not trustworthy enough...and it just felt weird. I wanted to leave because it just felt too strange to even be around them after what they said. I really wasn't even that serious about my offer...I pretty much just said it to be nice...and it was made into such a big deal about how it's "not a good idea". I just felt like saying "Can we just stop talking about it, because I didn't even mean it...I don't want to watch your kid, ok?"

Anyway, that annoyed me because I think I'm one of the more trustworthy people out there personally, and even though those things weren't said to me directly, they were implied and I didn't like that.

Mama Winfrey

Friday Laugh

Brought to you by Ms. Debra Wilson who is a great Oprah Winfrey.

Read This Steve Jobs...

You did not invent anything new. And stop showing your commercials every 10 seconds. We all know your over-advertised over-priced phone is the best thing ever, but some of us don't want it and those that do surely know about it by now, so stop it. You asked "how did we live without it". Simple, I have a phone, I have a computer, and I have an MP3 player. I don't need all in one sacrificing the feasibility of one to use the other, so I'm fine. Leave me alone with your commercials already.

This week at work has been very busy with deadlines approaching Friday that I can't really do anything about, because I don't know the CAD language and I'm depending on other people to help me with my drawings and models. Hopefully they'll pull through.

I went over to Alex's apartment and played a board game. I don't remember the name of it, but these board games are called "Euro games". They're unline any other board game. They have themes and can be complex to play, but this one was really fun and I liked it a lot. He has an entire closet full of these games.

Tomorrow after work we have a softball game between our testing department and components department, and then a cook-out afterwards. It's at a guy's house who lives on a lake, and supposedly someone is supposed to get thrown in the lake. I'll let you know if it's me.

Uneventful

Not a lot got done at work today. My program is using a different CAD language than I know how to use, so I'm having to get other people to make changes for me and it's not going so well. I wish I could use the language I learned in my training, but the customer requires the other language be used...so I can't.

I'm just going to have to make it happen, and maybe be a little more proactive. I bought a guy I work with 2 beers Friday because he said he'd help me, and it was suggested I do that by our accounts manager...as a reward if you will. So, I went to this restaurant/bar with him Friday after work, and just drank water while he drank 2 beers, and that was supposed to be for helping me. Well I didn't really get much out of him today, atleast for what I put in, hopefully tomororow is better.

I'm pretty tired now too, Mondays are always a tiring day.

Grapes of Wrath

Those are frozen grapes. I ate that entire tub in 1 day. Is that bad? I got them on sale at Walmart for $0.77 per pound, so I think that makes it ok. And it's a fruit, not sweets. Frozen grapes are the best. Luckily I have one more of those tubs in the freezer, for Monday...maybe Tuesday if I'm full.

Speaking of Walmart, a Walmart Supercenter opened last week in Livonia. I thought that would be good, because Walmart does have cheap groceries, and Meijer can be expensive at times. So Saturday afternoon, I decided to go to this Walmart Supercenter and get some groceries. Big mistake. I think of the 5.5 million people in the Detroit Metro area, around 5.4 million were in this Walmart, maybe more. All I know is I couldn't move in the aisles, but I saved money! Really saving the money just isn't worth putting up with those people, it was like a cattle herd. The lines suprisingly moved faster though than they do at Meijer, which I can't explain.

Today I went to church with Carmela, and we went to lunch at a Greek place afterwards with her mom and dad. I did my 2 loads of laundry I do every week, then went for a bike-ride tonight. When I was at a crosswalk, I saw this Nissan with a missing rear hubcap pull up next to this tiny little Indian lady struggling to see over the wheel. She looked so sweet, like a little munchkin in her car minding her own business. There were two young kids in the Nissan, and they pulled up and revved their engine really loud, and then held the brake, and started to lurch the car, while looking over at her. They wanted to race her. When the light turned, they floored the gas and took off, and she just putted forward, struggling to see over the dash. You get to see all of these things while bike riding, which is fun.

I'm Game

Tonight I helped the guy I work with move into his apartment. He's going to be fun, I can tell. I can tell because I helped him carry around 50 games or so in, and he has a Wii and he likes a lot of the same stuff I do. This will be interesting. He has a 2 bedroom apartment and has dedicated the large master bedroom for a "game room". He's going to start hosting game nights once a week for people he knows at work, so that should be interesting.

I felt like a slushi tonight, so I drove to 7/11 to get one. They have an amazing selection. A wall is dedicated to slushi's which is really great. I got some peanute M&M's too for good measure.

Responsibility is My Name

You know, coming up with titles are so hard. So, what I will do is type what I want, then pick a title that I think matches. That's better. Tonight I went to dinner with Bill, Mary Kay, and their son Eric who lives in Atlanta and is visiting. He's a computer programmer. We went to Olive Garden and it was fun. Ofcourse we talked about the EV1 but other stuff too. They're really nice people.

You would not believe how busy work is getting, and I feel very responsible now. I had my weekly meeting with my manager and actually told him what my project was missing (from before I started) and what I needed to get organized and documented. It was neat having someone take me seriously. I feel like I'm contributing to the team which is nice. It's also a little stressful, but not too bad because I learned that stress is stupid and there's no need for that in a person's life.

And...the cat's out of the bag. I am coming back to South Carolina from August 31-September 1. It was going to be a suprise, but my dad couldn't wait any longer and was going to come HERE if I didn't come home, so I had to tell.

Ashamed to say...

I'm ashamed to say that I have re-instated my facebook profile. I wanted to get in touch with some people from school that I no longer knew how to...so I did it.

I got a haircut today. I can't believe how fast my hair grew in 2 months. It was already getting annoying and growing around my ears, so I went ahead and got it cut. The woman who cut my hair was interesting. She said she was a "meat and potatoes" type woman, whatever that meant. She found out I was from South Carolina and started asking me all these questions. "What do you think about it?". "The girls wear short skirts here, don't they?". Then she said I had to go "kabobbing" down a snow hill. She was a lively one.

Tomorrow I'm going to dinner with Bill and Mary Kay and their son since I didn't get to go to their house Sunday. They're coming to my apartment and then we're going to go to dinner. I'm really tired already, so I think I'm going to get ready for bed.

Dentist...not the actual visit, that's later this month

"I see these care commercials on TV, you know, the ones with the African children with the big bellies, and the flies buzzing around their heads. And uh, these are one and two year old babies, who are 9 months pregnant...and it just breaks my heart. And I don't give money, because I don't want them to spend it on drugs. But I give."
Sarah Silverman makes me laugh.

I have a dentist appointment on August 30th, at 4:00. I'm expecting the worst, hoping for the best. Worst would be having my jaw removed, and best would be that my teeth are perfect. Hopefully it will be on the better end of that spectrum. This dentist is supposed to be really good though, from what people at work say. We'll see.

Nunya

There's a a TV channel I've caught in the morning sometimes, and I'm not sure what it's called, but it's a Nun channel. It's nothing but a camera panning around an old nun praying and reading The Bible. It's the strangest thing. Yesterday when my TV alarm went off, I got a suprise because it was her and a whole sanctuary full of nuns, praying in Latin. It's pretty weird.