Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place

It's an age old saying. When forced to make a tough decision people say they are "stuck between a rock and a hard place." It has probably applied to you at least once in your lifetime. Today it applies to me.

Sometimes life doesn't always go the way you planned. You make decisions based on the information that you have and hope for the best. But when things change, you have to change with them. Sometimes those changes are simple, and sometimes they aren't. I'm being vague for a reason. I know nobody reads my blog, but I'm still not about to drag anyone through the mud on here. All I will say is that a change happened today and it has me in the middle. The bad part is that I don't have a decision to make. I can't choose one option or the other. I have to take both. And to quote Swingers, "there's the rub."

Not to worry though. I'm adept at making adjustments and small changes to make things work. I have no problem adjusting to new situations and I'm sure that I'll be able to do just that with this situation. I'll make a couple calls, change a couple plans, and everything will be just fine. It helps that I don't plan too far in advance because it means that I have less changes to make. Life is so much easier and manageable when you're an optimist like me. =)

The Year in Review

It's New Year's Eve! Today means a lot of different things to different people. To some, it signifies the end of a year they'd like to forget. To others, it's the end of a year that they wish would never end. I'm somewhere in the middle.

2009 had a lot to offer to me. For starters, I was single for the entire year. And some people look at this as a bad thing, but I don't. It allowed me to do a lot of things I probably wouldn't have been able to do if I had a demanding girlfriend. I started working out and running to help get myself into better shape (beer belly gone). I was able to spend lots of time with my friends as well as reconnect with friends I hadn't seen since high school. Most of the friends I reconnected with were girls which might not have been as easy to do with a girlfriend.

This past year was also a good year for me at work. For the most part my job is pretty easy, but it's going to get much more difficult with the start of the new year. It will be more difficult because I was challenged by my boss to take on new responsibilities. As mentioned before in this blog, I will be studying for my CCNA certification. This means that I will be doing a lot of reading and might have to skip a few nights out with friends. We'll see about that though. I was also asked by the owner of the company if I would be willing to track our trademarks. To be honest, when I was asked if I could do this I said yes because some training would be involved. Also, I can't tell the owner of the company that I am not willing to learn something new. That would be career suicide! So with some training, that will be another responsibility that I'll be taking on next year.

Another great part about this past year was the fact that I finally moved out again. I had been living at home ever since I graduated college in 2004. There are certain reasons that I didn't move out before now (condo, car, etc.) but I wouldn't change my purchasing decisions given the chance. I love my car and I love being able to roll out to Vegas and not have to worry about a room whenever I want. Being single is good for that too because it's usually a last minute decision to head out to Sin City. And you all know how much I hate to plan in advance. The roomies have been loads of fun and our house is looking great. We've only got a one year lease but if things go well, I'm sure we'll try to extend it. Hopefully next year I won't be talking about moving at the end of the year because that would just be way too stressful during holiday season.

Even though I know this blog is does not have hundreds of readers (or even ten for that matter) I'd like to take a moment to thank all my friends, new and old, for helping me enjoy a great year. Thanks to all my Rowland Heights friends. You guys have been there from the start and I'll never forget it. Thanks to my new Upland, Rancho, and La Verne friends for always providing loads of fun no matter what. Thanks to all my old high school friends who I reconnected with this year either through another friend, or at the reunion. Seeing you guys again was one of the highlights of my year. Thanks to all my OC friends down in Newport and the ones who have moved away up north. I really need to get down there more often. Someone needs to start the happy hour thing up again. Thanks to my old college friends from San Diego. Even if I haven't seen you in a while, you still influenced me in some way this year (i.e. facebook and aim).

Finally, I hope everyone has a great time tonight at their New Year's Eve parties. Be safe, and ring in the new year with style! Cheers!

I've Moved

During this past year I had been looking to buy a condo and take on a roommate. I searched lots of different areas only to find that nothing nice was in my price range. Finally, some friends of mine decided that they wanted a bigger place and so the 4 of us decided to move in together.

We found a house in La Verne that we all liked and so we jumped on the application process and got accepted. We moved in last Saturday when it was raining on and off all day long. That made it a big adventure. Covering couches and dressers and beds with giant blankets to save them from rain was tough. Even more difficult was the fact that I couldn't help move all day long. I had my company Christmas party to go to that night. At the party I got pretty drunk, won a $10 iTunes gift card, and danced with two beautiful girls. So it was a good time.

Back to the house now. We've been here for a full week now and the house is pretty much all put together. We have a Christmas tree fully decorated, lights outside of the house, and a nice living room where we can all relax together. For now, we are all perfect roommates. Nobody has pissed anyone else off, but it's early. I'm hoping we can keep this streak alive for a long time to come. If anything changes, you can bet I'll be writing about it here.

One Full Year

Hi again all! No, I didn't forget about this blog. Ok, maybe I did for a little while. But I'm back again.

November 8th just recently passed and that date holds special meaning for me. It's the one year anniversary of my good friends Jeff and Beth. I had a great time being a part of their wedding down in San Diego last year. We all had a lot of fun! I'm not sure what they did for their first anniversary but I did manage to send them my best wishes. I'm sure they had fun.

That date also marks the one year anniversary of me being single again. Bittersweet day don't you think? Since that day I've been working out and running on a regular basis. Being single gave me a lot of extra time and I've put it to good use. In that time I managed to work off most of my beer belly and I'm now able to run 4 miles without stopping at a pretty good pace. Losing 10 pounds in one year has got my weight down to a svelt 147! That's very close to what I weighed my senior year of high school which was over 10 years ago.

Speaking of one full year, 2009 is almost at an end. It's about time to start working on those new year's resolutions right? I had three resolutions that I made this year and I'm proud to say that 2 of the 3 will be completed.

1. Run a 5K

On December 5th I will be in Las Vegas for the Great Santa Run which is a 5K for charity. I was a part of this run a couple years back, but I didn't actually run the race. I jogged/walked with my mom, but had a great time. How could you not have fun when you're surrounded by close to 10,000 other people in santa suits? Visit http://www.lasvegassantarun.org/ for more info.

2. Move to the beach

This one is a partial completion. I am in the process of moving out with a few friends right now, but I don't think we are going to end up near the beach. The beach is expensive and pretty far from all of our jobs. I wouldn't mind the commute because you always get to come home to the beach! But I'm alone on this one. Oh well.

3. Get my CCNA certification

This is the one that isn't completed but I have started the process, finally! CCNA stands for Cisco Certified Network Associate. It's a certification that applies to working on Cisco networking equipment like switches and routers. I've bought a couple thick books that are guides to everything I need to learn to pass the test. I'm on chapter 5 of 36 total. I hope to have the certification by the end of next year.

How are you guys coming on your new year's resolutions? To be honest, I think this is the first year that I've actually worked on one of my resolutions. That's why I'm kinda proud of it and writing about it here in the blog. If you haven't started, the year isn't finished yet. Still a month and a half to get working. If you at least start one, it'll feel great I promise!

10 Years Goes by Fast

My title isn't talking about how long it's been since I wrote here, but it has been a while. This past weekend I had my 10 year high school reunion. The class of 1999 had dinner, drinks, a little dancing, and a nice slideshow at Angelo & Vinci's in downtown Fullerton Saturday night. There were about 100 people who showed up which was more than the past 2 reunions combined.

The organized reunion only lasted until 10pm but a lot of the group went to The Matador Cantina just down the street for some more fun. At the bar, there was also another seperate group who didn't go to the actual reunion. The bar was so super packed full of people from my high school that I was a little lost.

I talked to plenty of people I hadn't seen in years, exchanged a couple phone numbers, and had a few drinks with the rowdy crowd. When the night started I felt a little out of place because I didn't have a date to bring. Most people showed up with their spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, fiance or whatever and I went stag. I felt better about myself when all those people went home at 10pm to take care of their kids. HA!

Anyone who didn't go to the reunion missed out on a lot of fun. If you haven't had yours yet and are thinking of not going, I'd advise against that. Go. Have some drinks. Have fun! It's much better to have gone and hated it, then to sit at home and wonder how much fun you could have had. When everyone is posting pictures and talking about the fun they had, you'll be sorry if you passed up the chance to go.

Staycation Lunch Day 5: The Backyard

This week I went to a bunch of new places. I spent some time in the heart of OC, Hollywood, Huntington Beach, Venice, and Santa Monica. Doing all of this in the span of four days left me pretty tired. For today's lunch, I decided to stay local and actually stuck to the plan. I made myself a DiGiorno pizza and had a few Heinekens in the backyard by the pool. Relaxing by the pool never gets old.

As far as vacations go, this has probably been one of the most enjoyable I've ever had. It went exactly the way that I planned, which is to say that I planned absolutely nothing and it was great! I probably spent less money this week than I have on any other vacation. Aside from lunch I also bought myself a couple new shirts, some dvds, and a new cd. I got to visit with a couple friends who I haven't talked to in a long time and hopefully will get to see them again in the near future.

Getting back to the money issue, my vacation really didn't cost me anything. For the past couple years I've been a big poker fan. I don't play much anymore, but when I did I would go to the casino every weekend to play some low limit holdem. Between that, and some low buy-in tourneys I made a good amount of money. This vacation is the newest item on the list of things paid for by poker. I might have to start playing more so that I can do this again.

Staycation Lunch Day 4: Subway???

Yeah, Subway. Lunch today wasn't spectacular, but the day in general was a lot of fun. I wasn't planning on doing much today because I was pretty worn out after yesterday's fun in the sun. But I ended up being invited out to Venice Beach by Natalie, so I went! We picked up her friend Matt and stopped for Subway sandwiches before heading out to Venice. I had never been to Venice Beach before today and really didn't know what to expect but I knew that it would be an adventure

We got lucky and found great free parking about 20 paces from the beach. After that it was straight to the boardwalk to check out all that VB had to offer. We passed by muscle beach and saw some guys working out. They really need to wear more clothes. Some outfits leave nothing to the imagination. Then we passed by the basketball courts from the classic movie White Men Can't Jump. I was then asked to sample 3 different hip hop cds by unknown artists, but refused.


There were some rather interesting "performers" on the boardwalk. There was the Worlds Best Wine-O who had a shirt that said "Jingle Bells! Jingle Bells! Help me get drunk today!" He also sang it. There were some homeless people with funny signs like "At least I'm not your kid" and "Kick my ass for $1." Then there was a guy playing guitar on roller skates with a portable amp who would follow people around as they were trying to make phone calls. He made for some great entertainment while I enjoyed a strawberry banana smoothie.


From Venice, we headed up to the Santa Monica Pier to check out things there. Again, I'd never been to the Santa Monica Pier before, so I was stoked to check it out. I snagged a slice of pizza and a soda for a quick bit of energy (very healthy, I know) then we cruised down the pier to check things out. I fought the urge to pay $6 for a picture of me with a wood cut out of Van Damme and watched some kids at the trapeze school on the pier. We saw a band playing a concert and a couple break dancing crews then headed back to the car.


It was prime traffic time, so we decided to not go straight home yet and stopped at Amoeba Music in Hollywood first. This place was the third first for me today! As I walked into Amoeba, I was just in awe of the massive selection in front of me. Racks and racks and racks of new and used music, dvds, and even VHS tapes! (For anyone under the age of 20, those are movies) There was even a free live concert in the store. The Sa-Ra and Creative Partner gave a 25 minute performance that was being filmed by MTV2.


After spending an hour in Amoeba Music and picking up 6 or 7 cds and dvds I ended up buying only 3. I bought used dvds of Fight Club and The Prestige as well as a cd by The Faint. All three for under $30. That's one great deal! I'll definitely have to go back there when I have an actual shopping list so I'm not so overwhelmed. Maybe tomorrow I'll stick to my plan of staying local. We'll see.


Since I didn't really eat anything worth taking a picture of, I'll show you guys the sign we saw while walking back to our car in Venice Beach. I can't decide if it's a clever way to meet a girl or just a pathetic attempt. You decide.

Staycation Lunch Day 3: Fred's in Huntington Beach

Originally I intended my lunch tour to be me visiting places I'd never been before. But when the weather is so nice and I'm on vacation, how can I not go to Huntington Beach for a day?

Today I went down to a familiar place called Fred's on Main Street. Fred's has great mexican food and margaritas which I've had in the past. Today I felt like a big mug of Shock Top. It's a great tasting beer which has become a new favorite for me. I'm not sure if that's because it tastes so good, or because I discovered it at Dodger Stadium. Either way, I like it and I'll keep ordering it whenver I can.

After my huge caloric intake yesterday at Pink's Hot Dog stand, I decided I'd better run. So when I arrived at Fred's with my stomach growling I wasn't surprised. I ordered some chicken taquitos to go with my giant beer. Not a huge meal, but I knew that the beer would fill me up. The taquitos had some melted shredded cheese on them as well as a good helping of guacamole. My stomach was thankful and stopped growling.

After lunch, I cruised around Main Street and bought a couple new RVCA tshirts. One was on sale, the other just looked to good to pass up. Then I rented a bike and apparently thought I was Lance Armstrong because I went on an 8.8 mile ride. The bike that I rented was a beach cruiser which means riding home against the wind is hard as hell! My legs were burning for the last couple miles.

The workout was good preparation for the night though. I met up with Michelle, who lives in HB, and I got to hang out with her and some of her friends for the night. We had a few drinks, talked about her birthday celebrations, and laughed it up at a cool dive bar called Suds. It was good being able to catch up some since we hadn't hung out in over a year.

Today took a lot out of me. So I'm probably going to stay closer to home tomorrow and just relax by the pool. Gotta work on my tan some more, you know?

Staycation Lunch Day 2: Pink's Hot Dog Stand

Today I decided to throw caution to the wind and calories too! Pink's Hot Dog stand in Hollywood has been around for 70 years. I've only been around for 28, but I still had never visited. This iconic eatery needed to be visited this week.

I gathered a few friends to head out there with me today which was nice. Thanks again Jeff, Brandon, and Tracie. Like Jeff said, "There's nobody I'd rather be stuck in traffic with than you guys." It's a good thing we like each other, because getting home from this place took about 2 hours. The long car ride home was worth it because the hot dogs were amazing!

Every different hot dog on the menu sounds amazing! We all had a tough time trying to pick just one to order. I bounced around between the Mulholland Drive Dog, LA Philharmonic Dog, the Bacon Chili Cheese Dog, and the Planet Hollywood Dog. You will have plenty of time to study the menu and flip flop orders because there is always a line. We waited in line for about 45 minutes before placing our orders.

I finally settled on the Planet Hollywood Dog. It's a polish sausage (mild or hot) with grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, 3 strips of bacon, and nacho cheese sauce (pictured above). Pair that up with an Orange Crush and you've got a meal!

The rest of the gang ordered the Mulholland Drive dog (10" stretch dog with grilled onions, grilled mushrooms, 3 strips of bacon, and nacho cheese), the Bacon Chili Cheese dog, and the America The Beautiful Dog (12" jalepeno dog, bacon, pastrami, lettuce, and chopped tomatos). Everyone was full after finishing their hot dogs but I'm ready for dessert. If you're going to eat bad, you might as well go all out. I need some ice cream now!

Staycation!

It's been another long time since I last posted anything here. This week I am on vacation. I'm not going anywhere, so it's a staycation. My goal for this week, to cure my boredom, is to take a lunch tour around Southern Cali. Yesterday it began and I wrote about it on my facebook page. Just thought I'd share it here now as well.

My SoCal lunch tour has begun. Today I woke up not really knowing where I wanted to go for lunch but for some reason prime rib popped into my mind. Not wanting to break the bank on the first day of my staycation I decided to go to the Carvery.

I head down to South Coast Plaza a little after lunch time and start wandering around the mall in search of some prime rib. I don't usually come to this mall and I'm starting to remember why. On my way to lunch I see the following stores: Rolex, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Coach, D&G, Versace, Cartier, and Prada. Needless to say, I don't stop in any stores while visiting for lunch.

Arriving at Lawry's Carvery, the restaurant is fairly empty. I order the Lawry's Prime Rib Original sandwich. It's 6 oz. of prime rib with au jus, horseradish and Carvery potato chips served on ciabatta bread. It was prepared very quickly. I didn't have to wait more than about 3 minutes. There's not much to say about the sandwich, it's pretty much amazing! The sandwich tasted great dipped in the au jus sauce or with a dab of horseradish. Even the chips were good with a little horseradish on them.

I finished my lunch faster than I had anticipated. But then again, it was prime rib and I'm not a vegetarian. I'd definitely recommend this place to anyone up for a good prime rib sandwich with a side of eye candy (you too girls, I saw a few metro looking guys there today). But I would suggest leaving your ATM and credit cards at home, just in case you decide to browse around the mall.