Big Catchup Post

Wow, the last time I wrote anything it was back in June. Ok. 6 month post, incoming.

Work:
Since LA I've been on the road to Knoxville, Seattle, and now I'm in Lansing. Knoxville was pretty awesome, albeit a little hot. I got some great food down there, went trout fishing with the client (didn't catch anything), and got the project done under time and under budget. Great success! Seattle was also awesome. I got to see some sights including Pike's Place, The Space Needle, and went to a lot of local bars and restaurants. I had the best salmon I've ever got at Pike's Pub, I had the best catfish I've ever got at Matts in the Market, and I had the best Clam Chowder I've ever got at The Brooklyn (downtown). I had some fantastic beers with the client, although they wore me out with their nightly drinking! The project was completed on time and the client was happy. Great success! I'm now in Lansing Michigan, on my second week of this project. It's been good thus far, although it's been very very cold. Damn Michigan. I'm working with a co-worker of mine from my company, and we've gotten some great suggestions for food thus far from the client. My favorite was definitely the traditional Hungarian meal I got from the Tuba Museum (yes, it's a restaurant first, and a museum second!). I also had some great chicken schwarma from a place called Sahara. Great start!

Growing Up:
So, other than that. I've a new bed (queen size) with a sleigh bed frame and sateen sheets (not silky like you may be thinking, just very comfortable to sleep on). Just this past weekend, I also bought furniture for my living room, a couch and a loveseat. They will be delivered this Thursday, much to April's chagrin. I guess I'm growing up a little bit. The bed I bought because I felt like I was still a kid with a twin sized mattress and no frame even just sitting on my floor. I thought it was kind of pathetic for someone who has a good full time job like I do. The couch and loveseat were actually triggered by me seeing into the apartment of my neighbors one night (I know, that sounds creepier than it actually is). I saw they had an xmas tree up, stockings up, and generally a nice homey atmosphere. I then walked into my house which just felt kind of cold. So I resolved to fix that. A grand later and I've got a new living room. April will bring up her rug, so it's a start. I also wouldn't mind getting a flat screen TV and nice stand to put in the living room, but that may be a little ways down the road. I dunno, I figure it's time to be more of an adult than I've been up until this point.

Life:
I don't know, I go back and forth on this. One side of me says I should find someone, settle down, maybe start thinking about children. I do get jealous of my friends who have children. The other side of me says: Focus on yourself. There's plenty that I can do to improve myself still. One of the primary things I want to do is lose the rest of this weight. I've been stuck at 180ish for a while now, I want to get down below 165. It's so difficult to do though. So often I find myself just saying "screw the diet" when delicious food is sitting in front of me. Drinking doesn't help either. It's not like I do it that often, and usually it's only on the weekends, but that's a ton of uneccessary calories. Some goals in terms of fitness: December is my 60 mile month! I want to run 60 miles this month, 9 are done so far. 51 to go. It's an average of 3 miles a day, 5 times a week with a couple of extra rest days thrown in here and there. Secondly, the Arnold Pump and Run is coming up in March. You have to bench press your own body weight, so I want to lose some weight for that, and also continue to increase my bench press. I do lift but probably not as regularly as I should. I did a little lifting this morning, but time is always the biggest constraint. I might try to get a little more in tonight.

Goals:
So that's pretty much my life right now. Aside from the Arnold Pump and Run and my continued weight loss goal, I'm working to aggressively pay down my debt, and it should be completely gone in under 3 years. From there I want to take the first of my five one-year sabbaticals and travel. I'll have no debt, I'll have some money saved up, and I should be a good position to get out of the country. It's all just a waiting game right now.

In the meantime, in the immortal words of reddit:
1) Lawyer Up
2) Hit the Gym
3) Disregard females, acquire currency

Apple to apples

Reading a recent post about the Apple iPad, which is a ridiculously over glorified computer with a touch screen (or, alternatively, a ridiculously over glorified iPhone on steroids), it struck me that I've been very unfair to Apple in the past. Oftentimes I've thought to myself what an evil corporation they are, and how they overcharge for the most basic of things. Sure, there's a market out there, and they are exploiting it (and I use the word exploiting in the least derogatory manner as possible- if I was running a company I'd exploit every opportunity available). However, for folks like me who are technically savvy and don't need to do much media editing, a PC is the better choice. In any case, I'd like to rescind my disdain for Apple, based on the iPad, the least innovative piece of junk to come out of Steve Jobs' head in years.

"But why?", you ask.

Well, we've had touch screen computers for years, which is initially why I hated the iPad. "This isn't new or exciting!", I screamed. "Stop throwing your money at that man! This is 10 year old technology!". However, as we've seen with the iPod and iPhone, Apple doesn't just make a copy of whatever is out there and add a few features. No, they take what is out there and blow it out of the water in terms of usability. Is it overpriced when they do it? Hell yes it is. But more importantly, it pushes the competitors to make cheaper versions of it, thereby advancing tech-society as a whole. To that end I say, kudos to you Apple. I still won't buy your stuff, but I'm glad you're making it.

Now then, the second half of the title of this post refers to the delectable red fruit we've known since we first handed our kindergarten teacher one. More specifically, I'm going to be starting a little experiment on Sunday. Inspired by my hippie friends who are vegetarians, I'm going to try it out for a couple of weeks as something interesting to do (and, OK, I won't lie, it's also a little bit for the health reasons). What I'm most worried about is the dreaded "return to meat" sickness. I don't think it will have a huge impact over only two weeks, but I'm not looking forward to it nonetheless (the meat sickness, not the vegetarianism itself). I figure at the very least, I'll learn some new cooking techniques, which really isn't a bad thing at all.  Here goes nothing.

Hard work pays off (Day 4 in LA)

Today was a long day 4 in LA, but it all ended well :) We successfully made the server transfer and finished around 8pm (another 11 hour day!) but I had L&L (Hawaian) for lunch and authentic Japanese for dinner (Horon). I went out with a couple of japanese guys from work and just had a great time! It felt good to get some strong work done and then get rewarded for it too.

Most importantly, I have the weekend off!!!! Can you say LA vacay!? I'm gonna try to get a lot done this weekend in terms of sightseeing. Hard work does pay off :)

Day 3 in LA

Day 3 in LA, and it was a long one! I woke up at 6:20 on my own (not sure how I didn't get jet lag), worked out, ate breakfast, and ... went to work. That's all I did today. It was an 11 hour day at work :( The good news is we got SO much done today that (if things go well tomorrow) I might have the whole weekend off, which would be amazing!

I got multiple compliments today on my good work, so there's at least a bit of silver lining to this lengthy day. Additionally, I had El Pollo Loco for lunch (muy delicioso!) and Burger Habit for dinner (also great!).

Still on the to-do list: beaches!!!!!!!!!! Hollywood sign, walk of fame. Tomorrow I hope I can do at least one.

Here's to a wonderful friday everyone!

Los Angeles

Today is day 2 of 9 in LA (on work) and I'm having a blast! There's so much I want to do! Venice Beach, Hollywood Sign, Walk of Fame, Santa Monica Beach just to name a few. Then there's all the food I want to eat! Cozymel's, Habit, and the Steakhouse just around the corner are all on the list. I'm currently eat Stuft Pizza (there are SO many toppings on this thing!) from downtown El Segundo, after having Versailles (Cuban) for lunch.

My hotel room is like an apartment! It's got a full kitchen with microwave, refrigerator, and even a stove! What can I say, I'm having a great time :)

Never forsake the day

I got up this morning and started going through my usual routine: workout, eat breakfast, shower, check email, iron clothes, get ready for work. Somewhere along the way I wondered to myself what day it was. "Tuesday? Wednesday? No, it's Tuesday. Damn, it can't only be Tuesday. Blast." But then I stopped myself, and thought about it.

I should be happy it's only Tuesday.

As we get older we tend to only look forward or backwards. Forwards to five o' clock, or to the weekend, or our vacation that's coming up. Or backwards to the errors we've made in our day, in our year, in our life. And then, forwards comes. And we look back and go: wasn't I just there? How did I get here so fast? I know I don't feel 26, it seems like this just happened overnight. So often we forget to enjoy what's happening RIGHT NOW. Enjoy life for the moment you're in it, and for every moment, because every moment is precious.

So, I'm glad it's only Tuesday. I haven't let the week pass me by, there's still time for life, and enjoying the small things in it. Take time today to appreciate your own Tuesday :)

Single

I've been single for just about a year now. Looking back on every girl I've had a crush on in the past year but didn't act on, and I feel like I've dodged a bullet every damn time. I'm still single, but also probably the happiest I've ever been. I'm thinking I might go another year like this. I've got money and time to do whatever it is I want, whenever I want, without reporting to anyone. Here's to going stag!