Pray for Mojo

Wow, it has been a long time.

2007-07-02T12:47:00.000-06:00

Well, just the past weekend, I was up at Kirk's wedding (another one bites the dust), and was given hell about not updating my blog.

So how about this bitches? Suck it! It's updated now.

Some new things: I've bought a house (late last year) and it's been pretty fun. Yardwork can be a pain, but I'm looking forward to making some home improvements and the possibility of investing in the house instead of DA MAN.
I'm 31 now. Not much diff than 30 more gray hair, I seem to drive the speed limit on city streets now; weird.

Some old things: still single, but not too worried. It's been great going to all these wedding and seeing my friends so happy. Sure I'd like to be that happy too, but I'm just trying to be patient and bide my time. I did meet two nice girls in Taiwan, so we'll see. Possible updates about the situation as they come in.
Job is going well. Very busy lately and I enjoy it. It's nice to help people immigrate to this country and have them contribute their knowledge and skills to the great melting pot that is the United States.

Other than that, life is life. Peaks and valleys.

Congrats to Kirk & Annie (wedding). Congrats to Rick & Allena (preggers). Congrats to Tracy & Abbey (baby). Congrats to Josh & Deanna (baby, little Lando). Congrats to Jon & Danielle(sp?) (engagement). Congrats to Jon & Cassie (preggers, again).

Guess I'm at that age. I'm falling behind! :)

30's not the end of the world

2006-01-26T21:09:00.000-07:00

Holy crap, it's been 5 months since my last post. Sorry to those who keep looking for updates. I have the standard excuses, lazy, tired, no time, etc. Thanks to those of you who continue to ask me to update. As always, I'll try to be better in the future. We'll just have to see if it holds true.

Well since August, it's been all about the job. I took the LSAT in early October and got my score in late October. Relatively fast turn around really. Unfortunately I didn't do as well as I had hoped. I'm concerned that even if I apply to schools it's not worth it because my score isn't high enough. So I have to keep telling myself that it's worth a shot. I really need to get on my apps though. Here comes that lazy bug again.

At the end of August I did finally get a chance to go to Hawaii and had a GREAT time. I need to make it a regular vacation spot and need to try to make it to the other islands. Most notably, the main island and Maui. Unfortunately it comes down to money and I ain't exactly rolling in it.

The plan is that if law school is on hold for a while, it's time to buy a place. I'm trying to save as much as I can, but I miss buying the gadgets and stuff that I like. In the long run it's better than paying "the Man" though. I got a nice raise at my 6 month mark at the job and I'm hoping I'll get another one at my year mark at the end of April.

The job is still going very well. One of my bosses is on sabbatical and although I'm still not skilled enough to be the point-man on the cases, the temp paralegal they hired is trying to keep me in the loop so that when my boss retires in the next couple years, I'll be geared up to get a promotion. Unless of course if law school intervenes :). It's a tough call though. Law school means lack of money, studying, papers, the bar, and looking for a job after grad and passing the bar. I kinda like where I am in that the people I work with are great and the firm is so accomodating to their staff. The job means money in the bank, sometimes difficult, but definitely fulfilling work, and great benefits.

Speaking of benefits, the firm closes down for the week between Christmas and New Years. I always wondered why more places don't do that. It was really nice to get the batteries recharged for the new year. Anyhow, the holidays were nice. I received some nice gifts from family and just enjoyed the week off. New Years was pretty much uneventful. As per my Modus Operandi, no date. It's a combination of haven't really been looking and lack of prospects.

The firm is out since all the cute girls around my age are already taken, besides I have a rule about dating in the office, not keen on it really. Too many future issues could arise. However, there has been a girl in the office gym that I've asked the number of; and yes I did get it. I guess stay tuned for any updates and hopefully there will be some. I try not to get too excited about it for fear of being crushed if nothing comes from it and of course not seeming too desperate. I do have the goal of bring a date to Dehner's wedding though, if I get started now, it would be a perfect time. As I said, stay tuned, hopefully this story isn't over.

Our firm had the company holiday party last weekend and it was a lot of fun. Yes, it's a little late, but I think it's a great idea since so many people have plans around the holidays, this ensures that you'll get a good turn out. The food was AWESOME, I took the Filet Mignon and Baked Halibut. There were a couple of co-workers who didnt' show and I got to take an entire meal home. They also had karaoke. We have some really good singers in the office. I was too shy to get up there. I'm more than willing to do karaoke with some of you who read this blog, but I didn't feel comfortable enough with the co-workers. Probably next year and hopefully there will be someone I can impress too ;).

Well that's it for this post, I'm exhausted today from a mentally exhausting day and a tough work out. I try to hit the gym at least 2 times a week, but with all the time I have it's been three.

Oh in reference to my post, I turn 30 next month and it doesn't seem so bad, my only complaint is that I haven't found that special girl yet, but I have no one to blame but myself. I can't deny that I've had chances, I've just been too timid to act upon them. But in the same respect, I'm only going to be 30. I have some time to work with. It's not a lot, but it's not the end of the world.

Hope all my peeps are doing okay out there. Congrats to Chris and Maris and we'll miss you guys here on the EAST SIEEEEEDE. Now I can call Chris "counselor" without being completely inaccurate. Good luck in the DAs office. Not where I expected you Chris, but when you go out on your own, there is always plenty of money to be made defending alleged criminals.

The resemblance is uncanny

2005-08-21T20:42:00.000-06:00

I came across this photo a few minutes ago and felt compelled to post it. It came from College Humor, a website devoted to collegeans that post videos, images and games submitted by loyal views of the site. In addition, the owners of the site usually come up with humorous captions for the media they recieve. Yes, I am aware that I am nearly 7 years removed from college, but it sure doesn't feel like it. Still a funny site though. If bored at work or otherwise, it's a fun site to surf for a little while.

Just though you Sawx fans would find humor at the expense of any Yankee to be in good taste. The caption with this picture said "...Also, I think Derek Jeter may resemble one of the rats of NIMH." True enough...

On another note, Tracy and Abbey made their triumphant return to Colorado yesterday and Josh, Deanna, me, Abbey's brother Brian, Abbey's sister Laura, and Abbey's mom were all there to help them out. I woke up this morning the most sore I've been in a long time, even after I started going to the gym again. Guess I'm not working hard enough at the gym :). It's that whole line about how I'm sore in places that I didn't even know I had muscles. If I hadn't been working out for the past month plus, I could have conceivably been useless yesterday. I was happy to help though, I know what a pain it can be to move, especially cross country.

The Keeney's (and their 4 cats) are doing well, and Tracy mentioned that he was glad to be out of that U-haul truck after being it it for 2,300 miles towing a 2 ton car trailer with a 2 ton car on it. I'm as surprised as anyone that one of those car trailers weighs as much as a car, EMPTY. Well I think it was awesome that they had an opportunity to go on a bit of a baseball stadium tour along the way. The only stadium I want to see a game in is Fenway. Anyhow, after helping Tracy and Abbey move in, we went to K's China for dinner and headed over the Betsy and Lee's going away party. A warm welcome back to the Keeneys and a good luck and see you in November to the Hoffmans.

To those of you Bostonian bros, Seattlean bro, and San Franciscan bros (and respective significant others), it's time to come back to Colorado. Oddly enough, if things go well in a month, next year I could be moving out of Colorado for a few years. That is depending of course on who is willing to accept me. I would be more than happy to stay in Colorado though.

Speaking of which, my learnin' classes start again on Tuesday. Fortunately this time it's not mandatory for me to attend every class. However, I will still attend as many as I can just to get a nice refresher and see if I can come up with any additional questions that didn't come up from the first time.

I will be missing a couple classes next, next week because I'm off to Hawaii for a week, for my final wedding of the year. It's my cousin's wedding and he felt that it was best if he found a central location for it since there would be relatives coming from Taiwan. It's my first trip to Hawaii and I'm looking forward to it. I have a few things that I would like to do (Pearl Harbor, USS Arizona as top priority), but wouldn't really mind just relaxing and chillin' on the beach. I will be bringing study materials with me so that I can atleast keep my mind on task. I won't study the whole time, just a little. Of course I'm going stag (making this season 0 for 4), but what can you do? I just haven't been fortunate enough to find that special girl yet; too damn introverted sometimes; check that, most of the time. Keeping my fingers crossed for the rest of this year and especially for next year since there are more weddings, it'd sure be nice to bring a date for once. However, I'm trying to just enjoy life now and hope that luck will turn my way soon.

Lastly, a shout out my friend Aspen, who is moving to San Francisco in a couple days. Congrats on the new job and I wish you the best of luck. Enjoy your time there and remember to always live in the moment.

Slacker...

2005-08-09T21:31:00.000-06:00

Wow, can't believe it's been nearly 2 months since my last post. I'll admit that the lack of posting is partly due to just plain laziness, however, the other part is due to not having much to post about. Life has become pretty standard and nothing too exciting has happened.

Go to work, after work go to gym, after gym go home and eat, after eat watch some TV, after TV go to bed. Wake up the next morning and repeat. Sure I party a little on the weekends, but nothing overly eventful atleast not until Lee and Betsy's wedding. Great time, Betsy looked great, the service was very cool, and the reception, though a little damp was awesome on top of the mountain. Kudos to Lee and Betsy for planning a great time. I regret not eating more crab cakes.

Now, however I can throw a little more into the mix with my test coming up in a little under 2 months. This is the same test I postponed after Tracy and Abbey's wedding. I start classes again at the end of August, but need to start looking at the method of how to answer the questions again as I have nearly forgotten everything; well maybe not everything, but before I take the test I want to make sure the methods from the course are inherent so I can focus on getting the right answer rather than the steps. If I can, I'll try to keep the blog relatively updated, right now I'm having enough trouble getting into the study mode again.

I guess the other bit of big news is that I re-upped on my lease at my current apartment. I really wanted to buy my own place (tired of paying "the man"), but since I waited so long to look, there really wasn't any time to find a place I'd be happy with. So instead, I'll be here for another year and will look in the mean time for a townhome or condo. I'm still not sure what area, but probably closer to work. I was, however, able to get a good deal on the rent and after all the wheeling and dealing, was able to fanagle a 12 month lease rate ~$20/month less than what I had been paying for the past year.

Other than that, I've been looking forward to football season and am glad that the hockey lockout has ended. I will admit that I was ticked when I heard that Forsberg signed with Philly and didn't understand why Lacroix couldn't do anything especially after losing Foote. But I do understand the need to build for the future, and with Forsy's age and being somewhat injury prone (he had a concussion and broken wrist playing for Modo last year), this is probably the best move for the future of the Avalanche, hence their signing of Hejduk for 5 years.

The Av's oddest move so far has to be the signing of Brad May from the Canucks. Although he wasn't involved with Bertuzzi attacking Steve Moore directly, he had made a comment a couple weeks (or days) before that fateful game that there was a bounty on Moore's head. Why the Av's felt the need to sign the guy who possibly instigated the whole thing (May is listed as a defendant in the civil suit that Moore filed against Bertuzzi and the Canucks), who knows? I've been listening to Fan 950 a lot lately and there are a lot of ticked off Av's fans, both for losing Forsberg and for signing May.

On a baseball note, as the season draws nearer to the end (though still over 50 days left in the regular season), I've started following the Sawx games a lot more now. I'm very happy to report that they are 4.5 games up on the Spankies in the AL East (after the game tonight) and the Spankies are 4 games out of the wildcard. I'll admit that I'm not the longest running fan of the Sawx (but I did hop on the bandwagon the year before they finally won the series ;)), but they are now my favorite team by far. In fact, I went to a Rockies game for the first time in 2 years a couple weeks ago and during the 7th inning strech couldn't help but sing, "cause it's root, root, root for the Red Sox".... In addition after the game, there were some Spankie fans screaming about how the Sawx suck, I got pretty riled up. I wasn't wearing any Sox gear at the time, so who knows how they would have acted had I worn my hat or jersey. Anyhow, my friend had to tell me to calm down and let it go. Besides I didn't really have anyone to watch my back had a ruckus started. It was just interesting that I felt the way I did being a fan for a short period of time.

Well as I said, I will try to keep up with the posting (I know I've said that before, it's like saying "I'm never drinking again"), but this isn't a promise, it's more of an "I'll make a more concerted effort".

Fire drill

2005-06-17T17:55:00.000-06:00

So this morning at about 1 am the fire alarm in my apartment went off. Now we are all taught in school to calmly leave the building when the alarm goes off. However, other than waking me up it didn't really respond. I walked around the apartment a bit pondering what to do. I just didn't get the feeling that there was anything going on. I didn't smell smoke and it didn't seem unusually hot. Besides my apartment building has a sprinkler system and it hadn't gone off. I figured things were fine and it was a false alarm. I told myself that if I heard sirens, I'd head outside. Well the fire fighters showed up about 10 minutes later and checked it out. Turns out it was a false alarm and a sensor in the garage has sensed smoke and set it off. I was told that this had happened once before. Regardless, I probably should have left the building and will probably do so in a more timely manner next time. The whole thing has made me consider renter's insurance much more seriously though, I'll probably get some within the next couple weeks.

My rant for this blog entry is: What's up with this sick facination of combining movie star names when they are dating or married? It started out with Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck (Bennifer) and I just saw a headline today with Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes (Tomkat?!?!?!). Other entries include Bennifer 2 (Jennifer Garner & Affleck), I know that there are others (i.e. Brad Pitt & Angelina), but I can seem to find them; feel free to post any that come up.

Tark!

2005-06-15T23:45:00.000-06:00

I went to see Batman Begins tonight with Pilger, Erin and some other band friends. BTW, the movie was really good. If you like the Batman comics, I think you'll enjoy how true it stays to the character in the comics.

Anyhow, Pilger and I swore we saw Trent Tarkenton there with a bunch of his friends. We called his name but he didn't respond. If you happen to have his digits here in CO, please drop me a line and let me know what it is. It'd be cool to get back in touch with him.

Coffee and Red Sox

2005-06-14T22:03:00.000-06:00

So the job has continued to go very well. It's keeping me pretty busy. Sure there are lulls here and there, but I spend the free time reading the immigration law regulations and world news in general (especially news from Africa since a lot of our asylum clients come from that continent).

Anyhow, one of the best perks so far has got to be the coffee machine in the office. Instead of having the standard 2-3 pot machine, the firm has device that makes individual cups and they have a selection of about 15 different types of coffee. What makes it so cool is that you put your mug under the spout, pop in a pre-packaged container, hit start and in about a minute you have a steaming cup of coffee and the little package disappears. Pretty nifty.

Now I've never been a huge coffee drinker (every once in a while a mocha or capucchino from Starbucks, Peaberry, etc.), but since encountering this machine I have consistently had 2-3 cups a week. It may not seem like a lot to some of you, but it's a lot for me.

As for the Red Sox, this past weekend was the first time the Sox have played the Cubs since the 1918 World Series (for those that don't know it was the last time the Sox won the WS before last year). One of my co-workers is from Chicago and a big Cubbies fan (and White Sox fan). As such, I recommended that we wager on the Friday game (it would have made more sense to wager on the series, but that didn't occur to me until after I got home on Friday afternoon). Well the Sox got beat down in game 1 of the series so I owe him lunch at Bull & Bush. No worries, I've already talked to Burrus about getting some sort of discount, LOL. It's too bad the Sox haven't been able to stay consistent, but fortunately neither have the Yankees. The Sox really have to get their pitching back and find their bats (wait, I sound like a sports commentator stating the obvious).

I've added a link on the right to my best friends in LA, Rick & Becky and their kids Logan and Callie. For those that may be curious about the people I hung around during my time there, take a look. BTW, Becky is a graphic and web designer and she programmed the entire site. It's very well done.

I leave you with two t-shirts that I saw in Ithaca when I was there for Tracy's wedding.

T-shirt 1: "Ithaca is Gorges"; who knew that the area is known for their gorges, me apparently.

T-shirt 2: "Vaginas are Gorges"; now it wouldn't surprise me to see that on a dude, but a girl was wearing the shirt, which made it that much more interesting. Before you think too much about it, she was a little, um, big.

Here's to Mr. & Mrs. Keeney

2005-06-07T22:20:00.000-06:00

I left my apartment on Wednesday afternoon with a nice brand new suitcase full of my clothes and I returned to my apartment Sunday evening with the clothes on my back, my fleece, an airplane pillow, two magazines and three bottles of wine. Somehow, Nate, Leanne and I lost our luggage somewhere between Philly and Denver.

The 3 of us bought our tickets from USAir for Tracy's wedding. Our first three legs (to and from Syracuse) were via USAir. We found out the hard way that our final leg was via United (which is in an alliance with USAir).

On Sunday morning we landed in Philly on our way back to CO; since we had a 3 hour layover, Nate and I decided to watch the Bourne Supremacy on Leanne's laptop. We thought we were seated near the right gate to catch the flight. However, when the flight boarded and we got past the ticket taker, we were called back while on the gang-plank and told that there was another flight (the United one) leaving at about the same time and that our tickets were for that one. So, we hauled ass to the other gate and made it just in time. Although we were the last ones to board the plane, there were two other people who had run to the gate that had made the same error. It was weird that neither Nate, Leanne, nor I caught the fact that we were on United instead of USAir (printed clearly on the ticket); I guess that we just assumed that since we had flown USAir on the other legs, the last one would be no different.

Anyhow, we think that because we changed carriers, our luggage was somehow lost in the shuffle. The United agent in Denver admitted that sometimes the luggage personnel get lazy and neglect to get the luggage on the flight because it was from one carrier to another. Well Nate and I filled out lost luggage claim tickets and I finally got mine back last night after fretting the whole day that they lost my nice new upright roller. Mind you I'm not totally pissed, but I am dissatisfied with USAir and the way things were handled.

Besides that glitch though, the weekend was great (ref. Gampp.com for Josh's take). The wine tour was very cool and as Josh said, just when we thought it was going to be boring, things picked up right after lunch. I think for me it was because Coulter and Erin shared their bottle of wine with me (thanks guys!). But I'm sure that the guy at the Knapp Winery had a hand in it with his willingness to give us a taste of any of the wines, all for a dollar! I'm sure those last few wineries were both annoyed and happy with us because we were obnoxious on the one hand, but also was willing to spend more because we were drunk. BTW, Doobie Blues= good stuff.

The rest of the evenings in the condos pretty much included booze, so fun was definitely had by all; and certainly by me.

It was really great to see some old friends (shout out to the brothers and their significant others if applicable, Dehner/Jocelyn, Goodman/Cathy, Budzy, Fouters, Donnelly/Julie, Kendall/Allena, Swank/Kristin, Reagob, Gampp/Deanna, Vielehr/Leanne, Burrus, Youngman, Hoffman, King, Shopenn); new old friends (shout out to Schiff, Coulter, Rut, Davis, Buer, Shamus); and new friends (shout out to Kelly, Erin, Becky, Jim, John, Cassie, JJ). I hope everyone made it back home safely and without incident.

Congratulations to Tracy and Abbey and thank you for hosting a great party. You two sure know how to throw a mean bash. Abbey looked beautiful in her wedding dress and Tracy looked pretty sharp with a good looking sports coat, slacks, tie and shirt. I don't think I can remember the last time I saw him dressed up. The locale of the ceremony was awesome; by the lake, on the beach and with the rolling green hills of upstate New York as the backdrop. The food at the reception was some of the best I've ever had and it was just a really good time over all. Lots of great memories... and now on to Lee's wedding in ~2 months.

Well, trip gave me a little time to reconsider taking the test I've been studying for for the past month. After speaking to a class counselor last week, I decided that if I wanted to take this test seriously I was going to have to postpone it until October. My biggest concern is getting the motivation to study again, hopefully that won't be a problem because not only can I take the course again for free, the counselor said that he would assist me in setting up a study schedule, which I will no doubt need. This was honestly a tough call because I would like to get it over with, but I came to the conclusion that it was better to maximize my score than sputter out of the gate on Monday and forced to work that much harder to take it again in October. I'll probably take the next month plus off from studying, but will be back at it in about July or so.

I've rambled long enough, so last thing. Congratulations to Craig and his fiancee Jocelyn and also to Rob and his fiancee Reagan. You guys did good!

After this weekend it'll be 2 down, 2 to go

2005-05-30T23:05:00.000-06:00

Well I'm off to upper New York this weekend for the wedding of Tracy and Abbey (a link to their site is on the right). As some of you will recall I was in Florida for Tracy's bachelor party in early March. It's amazing how quickly the wedding has come.

It'll be the second one of 4 weddings that I am attending this year and the first one of two where I have to travel out of state. I'm really looking forward to this trip. Aside from the fact that it's always nice to get away once in a while, I really like the East Coast and I've never been to upper New York.

Unfortunately I'll be going stag, but I've come accept things the way they are. Don't get me wrong it would be great to bring a date (preferably a girlfriend as opposed to someone I'm just dating), but things haven't been falling my way in that department. Besides, I have had other things keep me very occupied lately. That'll fall off dramatically after next week, so it'll be interesting to see how things go from there.

My memorial day weekend was pretty mellow over all. My parents traveled to Taiwan last Friday with my sister. Steph is heading over there for a 6 month internship. The initial plan was just for my dad to go to drop her off, but my mom discovered that she needed to go for work and they all headed over there. Anyhow, I stayed in Boulder all weekend to house sit and keep an eye on Isabelle the dog. It was nice to be "home", but strange. I missed my apartment and all my things around here.

Well Coors field is launching fireworks tonight. It's kinda cool to live so close and get a front row seat to the show whenever there are fireworks. Speaking of which, for those in CO, I'll probably be having another party for the 4th this year, but I'll have to see how the Rockies schedule looks around that time. Speaking of which (again), the job gave us July 1st off, so, 4 DAY WEEKEND! Stay tuned those in CO...

I may or may not have time to update the blog before the trip, but I'll be sure to write after I return.

Time flies when you're having fun

2005-05-23T13:13:00.000-06:00

Well it's been nearly a month since my last blog post and I apologize to those who have stuck around, but don't have anything to read. The new job has been keeping me very busy, I only surf during lunch and don't have much time to write anything after I get home due to a class I'm taking.

Basically, everything has been going great. The people I work with now are all nice and very helpful. I've learned a lot from them about the area of immigration law and I know there's a lot more to learn. The class I'm taking is very time consuming, but it has been helpful and I'm definitely learning something from it. Not much other than that for the past month.

I got an iPod (4 Gig mini) and it's been working very good so far. I finally decided to purchase it after the firm gave me a gift certificate to Target for staff appreciation day. What happened was that I started the job and that Thursday they had staff appreciation day. They started recognizing those who had anniversary dates and then said that they had gift certificates for everyone in appreciation. I did expect to get one since I had only been at the firm for for 3 days. Amazingly they gave me one anyway. It wasn't as much as everyone elses', but I totally appreciated the gesture. They really appreciate their staff here. Anyhow, it was enough for me to finally justify an iPod purchase.

Tracy's wedding is coming in two weeks and I'm looking forward to the trip. I'm flying in to Syracuse Wed night with Nate and Leanne and on Thursday we'll drive up to where the wedding is being held. We're heading out early so we can participate in the wine tour. Should be a great weekend.

Other than that, I was able to watch the final installment in the Star Wars saga (I contributed to it's record $160 million 4-day record) and was not disappointed. It's a dark movie, but what do you expect when Anakin is supposed to turn into Vader? I had a few questions about general story inconsistencies, but no biggie it's still a good movie. The dialogue could have used some serious work; it was a little disjointed and Christensen spoke the lines like he was a log. But overall the plot, action and story were all well put together. The reviews have so far been good. There are a few bad/mediocre reviews, but I still recommend it. Sal Paolantonio of ESPN has a good article about how he felt about the tone of the movie and a good idea on how to put the third movie into perspective. There are some minor spoilers in the article, no big revelations, but it does bring up a few scense. I didn't do what he recommended, but it sounds like a good idea, so check it out.

Well at the very least I'm going to try to make weekly updates, so stay tuned and thanks to those who have stuck around.

Lookin' good.

2005-04-25T22:17:00.000-06:00

Today was my first day at the new law firm and I'll tell ya, I'm looking forward to tomorrow. After the seminar last Friday, I had a feeling that I was lucky enough to find a great job with endless possibilities. The seminar was an introduction to immigration law and was extremely informative. There was so much info that I really couldn't process half of it. I was also able to meet a few other paralegals and the managing partners along with an associate. They all made me feel very welcome and I hadn't even started yet!

When I showed up today, the other paralegal and I met the rest of the staff and they were just as nice and welcoming. It was great.

I'll be working with a paralegal who does primarily Asylum work. She's been working at the firm for 10 years and is very knowledgeable. This morning she had me look into the forms a Finn would need to complete to enter the country as an investor. She's going to be going on sabbatical early next year and I think I'm being groomed to take her place while she is gone. Very exciting.

Anyhow, I was able to avoid any extemporaneous surfing today because I was busy and made an effort not to. From now on, because of the lesson learned from the last job, I probably won't be surfing much at all, so any responses to emails or blog updates will have to wait until I get home. Don't worry though, I will continue to update the blog and post not only life happenings, but random observations.

How 'bout dem Nuggies? One of the managing partners has tickets to the home games that are scheduled.

Got lucky!

2005-04-21T22:10:00.000-06:00

Okay, not in that way (dammit!), but for those that don't know, I was fortunate enough to find a new job last week. I interviewed for it last Thursday and they called me the same day to offer me the position. I gave it a day to see if another job I interviewed for was interested in me, but they never called back. Since this was too good a position to pass up (and a job; to put it bluntly), I happily accepted last Friday. It's with an immigration law firm and it doesn't pay as much, but has benes. Because I am completely green to that field of law, I understand that I shouldn't be making as much, so I have absolutely no problem with it.

I told them I could start this past week, but since their other Paralegal is starting next Monday and they are going through employee reviews right now, they thought it would be best if I started next Monday also. So this past week has been pretty mellow.

I am really looking forward to a new area of law. Not that civil litigation was not great, it was and I still have background in it, but this is an area I've been interested in. Tomorrow I'll be going to a seminar to learn about what the firm does, then meeting up with Josh for lunch.

Wen's wedding was last weekend and it went very well. Steve was great as the officiant and Josh did an excellent job as an usher. Grace looked beautiful in her wedding dress and the blue dress she wore during the reception. April, Grace's Maid of Honor, prepared a very funny and instructive (for Wen) speech, that elicited laughs. She was also cute, so I have since asked Wen and Grace for her email; I didn't get a chance to talk to her much during or after the reception ;) (Wen didn't seat me next to her for some reason). Overall a very fun weekend. I'll have to get pictures from others when they become available since I forgot my camera.

Those of you curious about the status of Jen, well there really isn't much to say. We never really had another chance to get together after our "first date". We played phone tag a lot and just couldn't find a time to meet up. I called her the weekend of her birthday (earlier this month) to wish her a "happy birthday" and although we had a nice conversation, I haven't heard from her since. It's too bad really, but okay since we weren't really dating or anything. No biggie.

Well anyhow, I swear I'll be better at updating my blog from here on out. It was tough to write about anything when your days are filled with just applying for jobs and watching endless hours of TV and playing video games.

2 weeks may seem long, but it hasn't felt that way

2005-04-08T13:47:00.000-06:00

I know, I know it's been two weeks since I've written a word. I've been busy to some degree. I apply for about 2 jobs a day and have been helping my parents with some yardwork. I have also been spending some time getting reacquainted with Final Fantasy X by building up my characters. My sister was going to do this for me because I don't particularly enjoy it, but I have been diligently developing the characters and done a few side quests simultaneously. Enough of the geek talk though.

Wen's wedding is coming up next weekend and I picked up a black suit from Men's Warehouse. Although I knew exactly what I wanted when I walked in, the salesmen were pretty pushy. They tried to convince me to get a Men's Warehouse credit card. I kept thinking to myself "when am I going to buy another suit from these guys?", so I declined. I got a decent suit for a decent price and it should last me a few years at least. They were very accomodating by altering my suit while I waited so I won't have to go back to the store.

I also have an interview on Monday with Centrix Financial. I will be working with in-house counsel, which could prove to be interesting. I received a call today from Quiznos to the resume submissions that I've been making. They were considering me for either the underwriter position or the compliance position. After the interviewer asked me what kind of compensation I was looking for she said that the complaince position probably wouldn't fit, so I would only be considered for the underwriter position. I'm not sure if it was because it was over the phone, but it was a very brief and I'm afraid that I sounded a bit arrogant. When she asked why I left my last job (Riggs, Abney in Dec.), I told her because I no longer felt challenged and a change needed to be made. She asked me if I usually left jobs without finding something else in the mean time and I told her not usually. I explained to her that had my internship turned into a job I would have stayed and if things had gone well in LA I would have stayed also. I hope that I didn't sound cocky, but I guess well see if she asks me in for an interview. I have some friends who work there so I'm hoping that maybe they can put a good word in for me if they are able to.

I have received a couple emails back from jobs I applied to to let me know that the positions were filled. I appreciate that because then there is no reason to concern myself any more. I have also applied for a few jobs in LA. This may come as a surprise to some of you, but since I really enjoy working in the entertainment industry (not necessarily with the people), I figured if someone was willing to take a chance, it could be a good thing. No serious responses yet though.

I will try to make more frequent updates, but I can't make any promises.

Well, that's a surprise.

2005-03-28T12:22:00.000-07:00

You'll never guess what happened last Thursday. I was at work for no more than half a day when the managing partner of the firm entered my office, told me that it wasn't working out and let me go. Although it surprised me, I calmly cleaned up my office and left. It took me a while to post it because I am embarassed by it and didn't know what I would say.

The letter he gave me regarding my situation clearly outlined why I was let go. It was primarily for my internet use and for failing to calendar deadlines. He also mentioned that he thought I was talking to the receptionist too much and that it would affect her work. Now I've been fortunate enough to work at jobs that allow me some leeway regarding my internet use. At this latest job, he told to me to keep it to a bare minimum unless it was work related. I admit I had trouble adjusting and got caught way too much with general surfing, email reading and blogger updating. I thought I was still getting a majority of my work done, but evidently he thought I was wasting too much time surfing and should have been able to get more work done.

I defended my failure to calendar deadlines though. In many of the cases that he cited, I had never received the document in the first place so I was unable to calendar them.

Anyhow, I felt/feel just awful about the whole thing (because of what they went through to retain me), so I wrote him an apology email as soon as I got home on Thursday. I owed up to what I thought he was right on and defended other positions. Overall though, the situation just wasn't right.

So now I'm between jobs again and am worried. I really hope I can find something soon. My feelers are out there with some headhunters and my attorney friends, and I've applied for 5-6 jobs today already, but with the job market still depressed, it may not be as quickly as I would like.

If you guys have any advice or possible leads, feel free to let me know. Take care. I guess now I have more time to update my blog.

Lazy...

2005-03-21T14:22:00.000-07:00

Okay, I apologize, I've been slacking on the FL trip stories. Sorry about that, but it is a combination of laziness and being busy. I've also noticed that my entries are kinda long so I'm trying to figure out how to cut the fat. May not be possible.

Anyhow, quick update as to my life. Wen was in town this weekend with the new wife (Grace). It was good to see him. He'll be back on April 12 for the wedding on the 16th. This was just a trip to get some things finalized.

Unfortunately Jen and I weren't able to get together last week. She was busy with CSAP at school and had forgot that she made other plans last Friday. So I wasn't able to take her to the Nuggets game like I wanted to. Besides we played phone tag the entire week. Hopefully we'll get a chance to actually talk this week and make plans for this weekend. Stay tuned...

Everything else is good. There is a change coming into my life soon. I won't be talking about it until it's definite, but I am looking foward to it.

Who else's bracket got smashed this weekend? I should have a small bonfire for mine. Not like it's different any other year.

Shhh... Be cool, be cool... Scatter!

2005-03-14T14:03:00.000-07:00

The title is essentially our tags lines from the trip. Yup, I'm back and basically no worse for wear. I am tired and barely made it into work this morning and I'm sure I killed more than a few brain cells, but I had a GREAT time on the trip and am looking forward to seeing what kind of trouble can be had at Tracy and Abbey's wedding in June ;).

A quick tangent; Jen and I had a very nice time at Il Fornaio last Thursday and I am taking her to a Nuggets game this Friday. I think it's progressing nicely, but hopefully things will make a bit of a jump after Friday. I like her, but am still having trouble gauging her feelings at this point.

On to Sox spring training/Keeney's last blast '05.

I'd like to start off by thanking Shiff, Josh, Coulter and others who helped to put this together by buying game tickets, hotel rooms, etc. Even with the few minor hang-ups (which weren't your fault anyway), everything turned out fine in the end and there are many memories to be had. You guys did a great job sending Tracy off in style.

Since it was a jam packed 3+ days and will make my blogs longer than what is probably appropriate, I will spread out the diary over a period of time. For you readers who were on the trip, feel free to add any details that I may have forgotten or just add links to your own blogs.

Go Big or Go Home

Josh called and emailed me on Thursday afternoon telling me that it had been decided that we would start big on this trip. Each of us (me, Josh, Burrus, and Nate) were to buy 4 shooters to consume before the end of the flight into Tampa. Knowing that I couldn't take shots like I used to and thinking we couldn't mix, I bought a decent selection; Ketel One Citron, Jagermeister, Wild Turkey, and Bacardi. Josh ended up buying 4 more (for a total of 20 shooters) because in an email I sent to him on Thursday, he thought I accused us of being wimps for only having 4 each. In fact, I was just wondering if we were to shoot them before the flight began or during the duration of the flight itself. Prior to the flight didn't sound appealing, especially since I didn't think we could mix them. When I found out that mixing was going to be allowed, we all bought a large coke from the airport McDonalds in preparation.

Distribution was decided by the roll of a die that Burrus found in the shuttle parking lot. We lined up six bottles and what ever number you got was your shooter. I ended up getting Bacardi O, Bacardi, Jagermeister, Ketel One Citron, and a disgusting Rum/Tequila concotion called Kuya. Josh and I started off by shooting the Jager which went down okay. I then mixed the Bacardis and the Kuya into my coke and sipped it while waiting to board. It wasn't too bad and I had the Bacardis to overrule most of the taste of the Kuya. Nate discovered that coke and watermelon vodka was a decent combination. I saved the Ketel One for later in the flight.

When Josh made the reservations a couple months ago, he requested seating that would keep us together. But due to a change in computer programs by Frontier we were scattered throughout the plane. Josh was able to get him and me to sit next to each other, but we were in the last row, meaning we could not lean the chairs back. Fortunately I think we were inebriated enough not to really care. I was able to finish off my coke before we took off, so at that point I had about 4 drinks in an hour/hour and a half.

It was probably one of the fastest 4-hour flights that I've had in a long time probably due to the fact that I had a little to drink. Josh and I spent most of the flight watching DirecTV, mocking the old 80's music videos on VH1 classic and talking about religion and such. We were probably kind of obnoxious, but we had a good time. We were also lucky enough to be attended to by an attractive mid to late 30s flight attendant. When the pilot turned on the fasten seat belt sign because of expected "jiggling", she turned and said that she hoped that he didn't mean the flight attendants. The rest of the crew was great also. When Josh showed another flight attendant the shot that he brought aboard, she noticed that it wasn't something they sold and asked him to hide because she didn't want us to get in trouble and her to get fired. We got a turkey wrap during the flight and I'd say more about it, but all that's worth mentioning is that other than a bag o' mix, it's the first time I've had a meal on a flight in a long time. I finished off the Ketel One with some ginger ale an hour or so before landing. Over all it was 5 drinks in a span of 5 hours so things were good.

We met up with Tracy, Shiff, Davis and Anstine at the airport and rented a 7 person minivan to head to the hotel. It took us an hour to rent the van because for some reason everyone was renting from Budget last weekend. There were no lines at Hertz, Avis or Dollar.

It took us another 2 hours or so just to get to the hotel because of some accident on 19. It should have taken us half an hour at most. We spent the time listening to music and rocking the van back and forth (while stopped in traffic), much to the entertainment of other drivers. The line from the drive came from Davis. While an older gentleman was chatting with us about the traffic, we noticed that he had a Garfield air freshener hanging from the rear view mirror. Davis tactfully and not so quietly said, "Garfield sucks, dude". The other driver never spoke to us again.

Since we had been in traffic for so long, Davis was in dire bathroom straits. He braved 3 lanes of on-coming traffic to hit the head at Dunkin Donuts, just to go. We were travelling just slow enough for him to do it. We finally reached our destination and checked in. Since we were hungry and it was a bachelor party, we headed off to get some grub and booze.

After that we spent the rest of the time drinking beer, talking and laughing. Fortunately the room that we were hanging out in had the stairs to one side, was vacant on the other and vacant above. Regardless, whenever someone knocked on the door we'd all become silent, someone would say "be cool" and we would jokingly be ready to scatter. It was like being underage drinkers again. There were two times we thought we were really in trouble; once when Kirk showed up at the door because we didn't expect him to show at our door (he flew in a day earlier than anticipated); and once when Büer (sp?) showed up totally unexpectedly.

Although there were many great stories told at the expense of everyone else, the highlight had to be drunk Budzy. He and Seamus were at the hotel way before anyone else and had spent the afternoon drinking and hanging by the pool. By the time our group got there Budz was doing pretty good. As the evening progressed he had more to drink. At one point he began to brush his teeth and get into his jammies; as such, it was only appropriate that we heckle him. When we asked if he was brushing his teeth he responded with "Well duuuhh!" then pointed his electric Oral-B at us and claimed that he was tougher than us because he started drinking at 2 that afternoon.

When he went to bed to "lie down", Anstine began flipping pennies at him so Budzy grabbed the Bible from the night stand, not only to protect himself, but in search of the passage quoted from Pulp Fiction. Unfortunately for him it wasn't in that version, but Budzy wouldn't know it because he had trouble focusing on the page. Then as he progressively got more and more drowsy the sharpies that Tracy had provided for autographs on our baseballs came out for their secondary purpose. I gotta give Budzy credit; it got to the point that as soon as someone twisted off the cap to the marker he would react and wake up. We were able to get a couple lines on his arm and stomach, but nothing really on his face since he would wake up as soon as you touched him. I think fun was had by all that first night. Part II tomorrow...

Woohoo, she came back!

2005-03-09T11:01:00.000-07:00

Well the receptionist returned today. Thank God! It wasn't as bad as I am making it out to be and I must admit that my days flew by; but that could be attributed to being anxious for the FL trip to begin. It was a good experience to have though. I feel more comfortable answering phones now.

I'm taking Jen out to dinner tonight at the Il Fornaio restaurant in Flatirons Crossing. I was introduced to this restaurant when I lived in LA and really like it. I'm looking forward to the date, but am nervous. I'll just be myself and hope for not too many awkward silences.

This will probably be my last post for a few days as the long awaited FL trip starts tomorrow. Stories will be forthcoming either Sunday night or Monday, if my brain still works when I get back.

As promised...

2005-03-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest addition to my jersey collection.

Front
&
Back

When I ordered it, MLB.com required that I put a name on the back, but the image on the website didn't have one. So since I had to put one down, I selected "Mojo". Trust me, I'm thankful that they didn't stitch a name on there per the picture on the website.

I selected #13 because it's my lucky number, not because of Doug Mientkiewicz, defensive 1st baseman last year.

Foiled again.

2005-03-08T09:55:00.000-07:00

The jersey pick up plan didn't work out as well as I had hoped. The leasing office is supposed to close at 6; so after work I sped home and was able to get there 10 minutes before 6. Unfortunately the lights were off and no one was around. So I gave them a call and asked them to put it in my apartment. Now I'm all for leaving work early, especially on a Friday, but c'mon it was Monday couldn't you just hang around for 15 more minutes? Well I just received a call from them and they are going to put it in my apartment sometime today. Pictures will be posted tonight for those that are interested.

Well this is now day 4 of Jumin the Receptionist (Under Siege) and I think I have a hang of things. The receptionist left a message last night and said that she was just interviewed yesterday and they wanted her back today. She may get picked yet. If she does and it's a long trial, the firm is going to have to find someone else to answer the phones on Thursday and Friday. No way I'm missing out on the FL trip.

Things went pretty well yesterday. It got a little crazy in the afternoon and I had trouble keeping up with the phones, but one of the attorneys was cool and grabbed a couple for me.

Glad to see the Nuggets are on a 7 game win streak. It's amazing that it's been 16 years since they've had one. I was only 13 at the time.

It's too bad about Betsy Hoffman resigning from CU. Its not like I knew her since she became prez after my time there, but with all the controversy surrounding the school I guess it just seemed appropriate. It's surprising that Barnett and Churchill both came to her defense, especially since they're the cause of all her ills. Good luck to her and hopefully she can find a job with a lot less stress.

The saga continues.

2005-03-07T09:27:00.000-07:00

Well I'm back at it, the receptionist's number was called and she is on jury duty today. So for a third straight day, I'm playing receptionist; and depending on what kind of case she is assigned to and if she is selected, there could be more to come. Been a quiet morning so far...

In other news. I spent the majority of my weekend getting my computer back up. It was only a pain because Comcast's broadband went wacky some time between Saturday night and Sunday morning. At first I thought it was me because I could still telnet into my private account without problems, but some websites weren't coming up and others were slow loading. But when I called they said that the Denver area was having issues and they were working on it. As of this morning, things seemed to be all right. I'm still shy two major programs for installation though. McAfee Virus Scan (or any virus protection software) and Office XP. I'll probably buy McAfee, but not sure what to do about Office.

On the date front, I asked Jen out to dinner yesterday and we're going out Wednesday night. Steve mentioned that I should take her to a Nuggets or Mammoth game, but unfortunately it was too short of time for me to plan something like that. It's good to know that she's into sports though.

I also looked into LSAT courses and was surprised to discover that they are $1,200. I spoke to my parents and agree that since it's an investment on my future, it is a small price to pay. Unfortunately I don't have the patience or fortitude to study on my own. At least not to get the kind of score I'd like. It'll be good to get some guidance and direction.

IT'S HERE, IT'S HERE!!

2005-03-05T19:35:00.000-07:00

Yup, the jersey has arrived. Unfortunately I didn't know that they had delievered it to the main office at around noon. I expected them to drop it off at my front door. I went down to see if it was in the office at 5:30pm and it was. Problem is that the office closes at 4pm and is not open tomorrow. Guess I'll just have to wait until Monday to unveil it.

Well I'm spent this beautiful Saturday watching TV and working on my computer and I think I may have to format and completely reinstall my OS (and other programs). Basically, I tried to copy the entire C: drive to my new harddrive in the hopes that that would become my new C:. Although the copy went through with only a few files unable to be copied, and it has essentially made my new drive the C: drive. It relies on my old C: drive to boot up and the old C: can't be set as the "system" drive. Since I didn't study Comp Sci or IT, looks like my only option is to start from scratch. Hopefully someone will be able to help me out. I will still be around, but it looks like it'll be in a limited capacity for a while.

Jumin the Receptionist day 2 (duhn, duhn, DUH...)

2005-03-04T10:27:00.000-07:00

Well I don't expect to be writing everyday, but because of my current job status and the fact that I had a date last night, it was warranted.

Yesterday ended up decent. It wasn't too hectic or anything. It was just interesting to sit at the front desk and listen to our potential clients family (spouses, siblings, etc.) talking amongst each other. It's not that our waiting room is always really full, but there were two potential clients yesterday that each brought a family member.

When he speaks to a potential client, the managing partner likes to only speak to the person with the legal issue, sending the family member to the waiting room. The two we had yesterday started chatting and ended up on religion. Apparently they were both very religious and had both been "saved". They were telling each other which family members were saved (interesting how they considered that some were and some weren't) and how they became saved themselves. For someone who is agnostic, it was insightful just to listen in. I'll have to see how today goes.

There is a chance I'll have play receptionist for a 3rd day because the normal receptionist may have jury duty. I'll know by Monday.

So the date went just fine last night. Jen is cute, energetic and fun to be around. It was more of an opportunity to meet her, so there was no deep conversation or anything. I asked for (and got) her number and will try to see if we can get together before I head off to FL next weekend. Stay tuned...

On a sports tanget, what's the deal with a Boston firm buying all the NHL teams for $3.5 billion (yes with a B)? I'm an Avs fan and I like what Stan Kroenke has done with and for the team. I don't know how this will benefit the NHL, but some people think this is the shot in the arm that the sport needs. I'd hate to lose Kroenke as an owner, so hopefully this will fall through. This is supposedly a low ball offer since all the teams total somewhere north of $5 billion. That amount may just get just 25 teams, not including the top 5.

Last thing. Happy 39th birthday to Tone-Loc today! Ahhh, I still remember those awkward, formative years at Burbank dancing to the beats of "Wild Thing" and "Funky Cold Medina" not having a clue as to what he was talking about. Oh, and cursing to that one Billy Idol song and feeling like a rebel.

Last, last thing. Apparently Katie Holmes is back on the market; looks like I still got a chance (with about a gazillion other guys).

I Feel for All the Receptionists Out There

2005-03-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

Well today is the first day I've played receptionist since college. Our normal receptionist is in North Carolina attending her brother's graduation and since I'm next on the totem pole, for the next 2 or 3 days, I'm it. So far so good, but not exactly what I imagined when I took this job. I'm hoping it'll make my day go by faster. Not that I don't have anything to do, but when I'm constantly looking at the clock, time crawls.

I also have a date tonight that my bud Steve set me up on. He sent me a list of advice for how to handle myself. Seems pretty straight forward and common knowledge, but I'm sure I need to be reminded.

On a sports related note, I received notification today that my Red Sox jersey is on it's way. It should arrive this weekend (I didn't know FedEx Ground delivered on a Sat.). Just in time for my FL trip next weekend, which I am still very excited about. It's going to be INSANE.

Probing the mind of Mojo

2005-01-20T21:06:00.000-07:00

Here it is, my blog. Maybe I'll gain some insight into my own insanity.