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Sonic Boom

This morning at approximately 5:07am, as I was drying up and grooming myself, I heard a very loud noise, thinking that someone outside my bathroom door needed in and was almost kicking the door for some reason. It was a little strange, especially at five in the morning. So I waited a little to see if anyone was going to talk to me, but no responses. I then slowly opened the door, looked around, and saw no one around.

“Strange,” I thought to myself.

I didn’t think much of it and continued to prepare myself for the work day. At the gym, I was watching one of about five TVs that I usually switch around to see what’s showing on each of them. One of the stories that was played on the news stations was ths shuttle landing. Still no relation to me about the loud noise this morning.

During one of the little projects I was working on this morning, a coworker asked us if we heard the sonic boom.

“Yeah, I did!” I exclaimed, proceeding to tell the story. It hadn’t even dawned on me until right then that what I heard was in fact the sonic boom of the space shuttle landing at Edwards Air Force Base.

Edwards is about, oh, 70 miles to the northeast of the house. This means the shuttle was only a mile or so above the house when it passed. It’s too bad it landed so early, it would have been really neat to watch it land. Then again, I’m sure half of LA county would have been there had they known.

Look, it’s Me!

Finally, after almost a month of absence, I have a website back up. I hope that this jump starts my redesign, but who knows what’ll happen because my schedule is crazy right now. But, it’s nice to be back up and running.

During the month of absence, I have started a new job in Santa Monica. It has been going well, but I’m still not happy about the hours which I sleep, which is usually anywhere between 4-7 depending on the night. I can’t function well on just 4-5. I never have. Thus, everyday that I’ve been to work I feel very tired. Not because work sucks or anything, but because my body is just fighting to stay awake half the time. Everyone tells me I’ll adjust . . . uh huh . . .

I think that my adjustment will only be physical, not mental. I’ve always been a night person. I function so well at night; I’m productive, I’m happier. Nighttime is my time. But not on the weeknights. Not anymore, or at least not while I’m working here. I need to fight my urge to stay up late and go to sleep at a decent time.

My commute.

It sucks.

I spent a few days adjusting and figuring out the best times to drive in the morning. Well, after spending no less than an hour in traffic every morning, I decided to start waking up at 5am so that I can leave at 5:20ish and get to the garage at about 6am. That’s right, I’m up at 5am everyday. I’d much rather drive here in decent time than spend most of it sitting in traffic. Why? Because I can be productive and go to the gym and workout in the morning.

Yes, you heard me! Your vision isn’t going bad.

I’ve actually started a little routine of going to the gym before work and jogging/power walking for 30 minutes with 5 minutes of warm down. Sitting here thinking about it, I feel like 30 minutes is nothing. But, at the time, at the end of my jog, I’m soooo ready to stop. It’s weird, but in a little way it’s very satisfying to know that I’ve exercised my body. Eventually I’m going to do some weight training as well so that I can give my body tone. I don’t believe that I’ll ever get huge. But, as long as I’m in shape and feel good about how I look, nothing else matters.

I think this morning routine is really good for me because it keeps me very accountable for my actions. I am responsible to myself to exercise. Most who know me know that I never work out, hate to plan things and love to be spontaneous. However, in a small way this routine, this plan that I’ve laid out for myself is good for me and I sorta enjoy it. Besides, I might as well take advantage of the opportunities this company gives me so that I come out on top physically and financially. And being responsible for my accountability is the first step.

Hmm… My shirt that I’m wearing has a very distinct aroma, that of what I typically smell from Indians (not Native Americans) which isn’t pleasing to me, nothing against those who do smell like this. Time to rewash this shirt!

So what exactly do I do at this new job? Well, I am working with the web team, and we have been implementing a new internal website since I got here. Because I started on the tail of this project, I have been given tasks that are more like busy work, such as data entry or modification of files. Not typically very fun, but it’s productive work to help further the company (at least I should continue to tell myself that). Also, I do not understand 95% of the material which we I have been modifying. There’s a lot of financial terminology and figures and facts and numbers. It’s all a puzzle to me, and not one that I truly care to solve. All I know is if the website looks good, other people can use it, I’m doing my job. Oh, the joy of being a web designer!

One of the perks of this job is the location. I drive along Ocean Avenue for a few minutes before I turn off, meaning I get to see the Santa Monica beach everyday of my commute. Although, this might change if I begin taking the bus soon, but from my desk, I can turn my head about 45 degrees to the left and see the Ocean. It’s really nice. And we’re also close to just about everything in this location. I’m new to the area, so most everything is my first time.

Am I back?

If you are reading this, it means I’m partially back. I’m not at full speed, but I have reconstructed the critical data that I almost lost. If you don’t see this, that means I have a little more work to do. Either way, you should see something really soon.

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brb

It looks like my webhost is going under. So, I am going to do a little shopping around and get the best deal from another host. There is a lot that I’m afraid to do, such as transfer the bulletin board and php stuff, so if anyone can offer suggestions, I’d appreciate it. I’ll be back soon, because I have to be back soon. I have this huge story about San Francisco that has to be told, one that I think most of you will find so humorous (even though it wasn’t always humorous to me) :o)

See you on the other side.

London

Screw terrorists.

To see some very detailed information on the London attacks, go to the wikipedia entry.

This is not the kind of crap I wanna wake up to again.

new job jitters

I have received lots of positive words from many people and I’m very thankful for everything that has been sent my way! I’m still just as excited and scared as I was, but am looking forward to what will happen. I realize that my evenings of consecutive late nights such as this one are quickly coming to an end. Oh how I’ll miss my evenings!

I’m excited because this next weekend I’m taking a short trip to San Francisco. I must take advantage of this free time while I have it, so it’s only natural that I cram this one last trip in before I start my job. It shall be much fun because I think I’m finally going to do all of the touristy stuff that I haven’t yet done in the city, and besides that I can also hopefully take a lot of time and get some more photos! It’s been way too long since I’ve had a photo shoot of any kind because I’ve just been way too insanely busy with so many things. Hopefully this’ll will be one of my eventual purchases with the new job’s salary.

I think one of the scariest things about taking this job is knowing that in the short run I might actually enjoy being there. I’ll never enjoy waking up early and fighting traffic all of the time, but hopefully I will enjoy going into this job each and every day so it won’t be as big of a deal. I am also happy living where I am (except for the intense heat of the summer!) and don’t really want to have to pick up and move again because I’m way too used to having to make that adjustment. But, I think that if I could find a really good deal like I have here, I’d probably have to really consider it. It’s just way too much of a drive to be making every day every week for most of the year.

Something that sorta scares me is knowing that I can’t skip a few days of work to join a friend who might be coming to town or to Vegas or SF or SD! That’s one of the best things about not having to work full-time that I enjoy doing, deciding at the last minute that I can take a trip to one of these relatively close cities and just have a ton of fun! Working this job just now means that I’ll have to fight traffic along with every other schmo who does the same thing, rather than taking the opportune times of traveling. And I’ll only have two whole days to cram most everything in, including driving or flying. But, I guess one really good thing is that if I REALLY don’t have enough time to drive, I could just hop on a plane at LAX and take off. I’ll actually be right by the airport now, be able to leave my car somewhere for free and not have to worry about too much except the cost of the plane ticket.

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it’s time

Last night, I went to a very unexpected, last minute going away party for a dear friend of mine. She called me up yesterday morning and left a message.

“Hey Micah, guess what? I’m shipping out tomorrow! So you gotta come to the party I’m having tonight. I’m so excited!!”

It was really happening; she is leaving today for the Navy boot camp, something that originally wasn’t supposed to happen until November. But a last minute opening allowed her the option to leave immediately. The decision was a no-brainer for her.

I could tell there was a huge amount of excitement as much as there was some fear. It’s a huge change; nothing will be the same in a few weeks. I’m very excited for her but I will wonder how she’s coping to this change because it’s so much so quickly.

And so as of this very moment, I, too, know the feeling. This morning, just a little while ago, I called up the HR person for a company in Santa Monica and told them I would accept a job offer as a web designer. That’s right, people, I am about to experience a complete change in lifestyle.

I’m really excited for so many reasons, but really afraid for so many others. The corporate lifestyle is not one that I’ve wanted to embrace. I’m just not much of a 9-5 person. I have always enjoyed having my own hours for so many years, doing things as I please. I’ve been blessed enough to travel a lot in the past few years, including back home to Texas to visit with everyone. But, as life’s responsibilities have increasingly continued to nip me in the ass, I realize that this is probably the next best change for me.

I am excited to be working with the web team. They seem like great people, the projects we’ll be working on sound like they’ll be a just my kind of thing, and I’m sure I’ll meet a lot of great people. I’m getting a pretty nice starting salary as well as some great benefits (at least according to many other corporate jobs, this really sounds like it’s a winner). And best of all, the beach is right across the street! :o)

I believe the best is yet to come! I’ve had some fun rides in the past few years, I have been to many wonderful, really fun places around the US and world, but now is time to provide myself the means and opportunity to make the rest of my dreams come true. Don’t be a stranger, because I see a lot of really fun and interesting changes coming my way and you’ll wanna read all about them!

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announcement soon

Something big has happened to me recently. Something life changing. I won’t reveal anything until I make a decision, but it’s likely to impact my immediate and long term future. It’s exciting and scary all at the same time, but I’m still deciding on what to do. Details shall come no later than Thursday.

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Tigger and Piglet

Tigger and PigletA little part of me is sad right now. I just read that the voice of Tigger has died. And now I find out that the voice of Piglet died a day later! Winnie the Pooh has always been one of those consistently good cartoons, quality programs that Disney has given children for so many years. Now, the voices of Tigger and Piglet are gone! I wonder if this means they’ll revoice them or what? Or, are they even still making new Winnie the Pooh cartoons? If they do revoice them, there better be almost no difference between the old and new. Either way, that voice will be missed by many!

Back, Front, Side to Side

I wish I weren’t so bad about writing in this thing, but sometimes I’m just waiting for something special to happen. Other times I can’t think of what to say. And much of the time, it has to do with laziness. I just can’t motivate myself to sit myself here and write. It’s not like this a diary for me and only me cause I’m sure I could just sit and write a lot more. In fact, I sorta had a personal journal in high school (others might call it a diary… whatever). I kept up with it for I think three years or so before I just got sick of writing, which is sorta tragic because I know it improved my thought process. Hopefully I can continue on a semi-regular basis with this blog because I see a really busy time heading my way with what’s on the horizon!

It’s been just over a day since I left Houston and made my way back to LA. It was initially weird to go into the house and go into my room. I felt like I was back to another, completely different life. But, I eventually felt more comfortable. I guess the worst part was starving last night and today because I had no food except oatmeal and Ramen noodles left. So I went out a little today to get some groceries and plan to do the same the next few days. I also have some important phone calls to make regarding jobs as well as finishing up some projects I’ve been delaying. All by the end of the week if I can.

So anyway, Houston was a very nice time. It was such a pleasure seeing all the friends and family once again, if only I could make my visits a regular 6 month thing. I don’t, however, think this trend is going to be able to continue much longer for so many reasons I won’t go into. But, I’m sure I’ll be back before I know it!

And to all you ladies at CLFP, I had a great time as usual playing with you when I “was working”. Well, I shouldn’t put that in quotes because I swear that I really was working, it just seemed like all I did was go to the back with the computers, type and stare at a computer for a few minutes, then make my way to another room. Almost pseudo-work looking like I kept busy. But, little do all of you ladies know exactly what I did, which is exactly the point of my job there! The only thing that I must do sometime in the next few months, hopefully before summer ends, is to send a postcard to you, Dawn. You asked for it, I delivered once and failed once. I shall not fail again! Oh, and if any of the rest of you have any more computer questions and problems, I do have some info on my website that would be very valuable to you, and I also have e-mail so drop me a line. I won’t actually write it on here, but it’s my first name at asuh dot com. Comment me all you want, but if you decide to e-mail me, DO NOT E-MAIL ME from your normal PC at work. Get your ass up, walk over to the Mail PC, and do it from there. When I come back, I’ll check the logs to make sure you listened to me or I’ll bust your ass down so fast…

Okay, enough of my message to all those crazy people (not literally, you crazy people, figuratively). I had a great time meeting up with everyone else I was able to get ahold of and always look forward to seeing other Houstonian peoples. And if you read this, are from the Houston area and didn’t know I was in town or didn’t hear from me, it’s because I was way too busy or don’t like you, whichever is more convenient. :o)

Oh, one last thing, I’m gonna know the location of any new comments to this thread, so no one is safe! I know how to trace everything. MWAHAHAHAHAHA!

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