February 2003

Las Vegas does not do rain well

February 28, 2003: Hey, it's the end of the shortest month. Isn't that special? Well, it seems like the rains have finally let up outside, considering it's been raining here almost the entire week. I've been told this is very rare for Vegas to get rain like it is, and it is very obvious, especially with the drivers. Oy. Anyways, it's finally the weekend and I am very happy about that. Survivor was great, Buffy was great (although I'm bummed this is the last season), and I am ready for sleep.
What's New? My Survivor Episode 3 page is up. woo freaking hoo!

I got my Outback

February 24, 2003: And it was gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood. And 2 of those big ol' Fosters beahs. Yes, life can be oh so good, and oh so fattening. Ah well, it was good. In other news, I just finished watching all of Angel Season One on DVD, and I just gotta say, that's a great show. It complements Buffy very well and the first season had Faith in it, which just rocked! Gotta wait till September until Season 2 is due out, but in the meantime I'll get Buffy Season 4 and X-Files Season 7. Yes!
What's New? I made my picks for the upcoming Survivor. I also updated my DVD page.

I'm jonesing for some Outback

February 21, 2003: Just thinking about Outback makes me all Homer Simpson-y. Anyways, if you didn't watch Survivor yesterday - boy did you miss out. This cast is so incredibly better than Africa was, better than Thailand, and I think on par with Marquesas and the Outback. It's unreal that some of these people play the game as if they've never watched the show. Idiots. But it makes for great TV. Alright, other than that, I like school a lot better now that I've been doing this flexnet thing for a week. It's not so bad, as you get in the swing of things. So that's good. Other than that, it's all good.
What's New? The Survivor Episode 2 page and the Team Jelly page have been updated.

ABBA makes all things better

February 16, 2003: Listening to ABBA really does make me feel better. Like in the movie Muriel's Wedding, one day maybe my life can be like an ABBA song. We'll see. Right now I am totally hating school, with this law class that I have to take making me afraid of school. I am really not into the legal world, and all the other students were! I felt like I was definitely in the wrong place. Ah well, once I get past this class, maybe things will turn around. Or maybe I should just plunge headfirst into this class and learn to LOVE it! I need to turn lemons into lemonade! Yeah, that'll happen.
In bummer news, my daytrip to Laughlin was cancelled, as the lame-o folks in the school district where Roni works cancelled the bus. So, no bus, no Roni in Laughlin. I ended up playing that damned Sims game and then watching movies. Yes, my life is officially pathetic. sigh..... :-) One bright note, I don't have to go to work tomorrow, which I am totally thankful for.
I hooked my scanner up just now, which I hadn't touched since I left San Antonio. It still works, and I've been scanning some funny pictures from Casa Ophir. Yikes.
What's New? I went and saw Daredevil today, bought some more DVDs, and added some scores to the Team Jelly page.

Survivor Amazon kicks @$$!

February 13, 2003: I just couldn't write a school paper when I was so stoked by the premiere 90-minute episode of Survivor! What a blast - I won't go too into it again in this section, you can just read what I wrote here. But wow, if you missed it, just kick yourself now. Well, I guess I will be writing my papers at work tomorrow, but you didn't hear that from me. It was funny though, my mom had called right before Survivor started, and I was giving her crap insisting it was a foregone conclusion that the women would lose and the deaf girl was gone. And after the debacle of the women's shelter setup, I had to call again just to rub it in. Well, this wasn't the first time I've been wrong. And no, I was not the bigger person and I did not call back to apologize. But here, in this forum, I will be glad to say I was wrong and she was right. This time.....
What's New? Survivor Episode 1 page is up and running.

Team Jelly is alive!

February 12, 2003: It's official - I just checked on survivornews.net and there were 5 people signed up for Team Jelly! You can click here to read all about the best team around, and I suggest you also check out the other Survivor pages I've made. I must say, I am quite the webmaster! Alright, enough of me stroking my....ego! What, all you dirty perverts thought I was going to write something else,didn't you? Hmmph. :-)
In other news, I got my Air Force Commendation Medal from my time at Lajes today at our commander's call. Now I have an AF Achievement medal and a Commendation medal. Next stop, Purple Heart. But other than that, still feeling no love from the job, and just getting through each day, one at a time.
I finally logged in to my next class' website, and whoooo boy, it's going to be a lot more work than that pansy-ass first class I just took. Yowza! I really should be working on a paper now, but nah! I can do that at work tomorrow! Sssshhhhh........
What's New? I updated all my Survivor pages and I had to put up one of my alltime favorite Azores pictures. That shot just rules.

I ate enough to explode

February 10, 2003: Seriously, I did. I went out to dinner with DC, his girl Berta, and his friend Curtis to the Green Valley Ranch Station Casino, which is a seriously sweet 'local' casino. It looks just as ritzy (if not moreso) as a Strip casino, but this place is way down in the Green Valley area. It's a beautiful casino inside and out, but what we explored tonight was the outstanding buffet for only $16.08 with tax. Yowza! Round 1 included prime rib, country-style ribs, buttered mashed potatoes (YUM), and something else I can't remember. If that wasn't enough, I went back for Round 2, which was a humongous plate full of shrimp scampi and bowtie pasta, made for me as I waited. OMG! This was the shizzniosity, and I ain't lyin'! I couldn't eat all this though, only half. And then after a little bit o' coaxing, I got a scoop of some french vanilla ice cream. I could barely move, but it was so good. I know Jason Rubi would be proud of me. And to top it all off, as we were leaving, I saw a Wheel of Fortune 25 cent machine, put in my $20 bill, and on the first spin I got a SPIN! And I got a 100 quarters from it! I cashed out then and there. Thinking the streak would keep going though, I went to the Megabucks machine (which is up to $31 MILLLLLLION dollars) and put in $20 of the casino's money, alas, not getting anything. But I had to try!
In other news, wise Carolyn of San Antonio has joined Team Jelly of the Virtual Survivor game. If you want to know what Team Jelly is in reference to, you'll have to join the team first. Sorry, rules are rules. So join! The questions are easy, I tell you!
What's New? Exactly what I wrote above. Nothing more, nothing less. But you better join Team Jelly pronto!

Enough already, where are my volunteers?

February 9, 2003: Okay, I know you may be scared and all to do this survivor thing, but don't be. And now that the voting is up, and I've seen the questions, it's not a very hard thing to do. The questions are along the lines of "Who will get voted out first?" and "Which team will win immunity tonight?" and that kind of stuff. There are 9 questions (I think) each week - c'mon people! DO IT!
Alright, in other news: I have finished my first credit hour of my master's degree, and I do believe I will be getting an A. I guess that may jinx it, but I seriously doubt it. Oh, and The Sims is a truly evil game. You can't stop playing this game. Today I finally got a pair of roommates to get along, and the one who works is actually getting promoted. It's so freaking lame but it's highly addictive. Aarrrgghhhh! Must stop playing this game. What else, what else? Work is sorta picking up, I washed my car finally, more boxes have been unpacked and put away, and I keep pining for a big screen widescreen TV. One day, the Toshiba will be mine. I think my plan is this: wait till July, because then I'll get my promotion raise, as well as the CSRB (which I'm definitely taking now, especially considering that I have to stay in a few years more after finishing school, which isn't going to happen till late summer 2004). Oh, the CSRB is a $10K/year bonus for 4 years for comm officers. Sweet, eh? Also, Roni is coming up to Laughlin this Saturday, so I think I'll be going to visit her there. It should be fun!
I also was watching the Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition DVD yesterday, with the Peter Jackson director commentary, and wow, what a great listen. You certainly do learn a lot and you can really get a sense of how much he loved making this movie. It's so obvious. And while watching the DVD, I suddenly realized that the actor who played Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm), is the same guy who's in Fifth Element (the priest). Crazy stuff!
Finally, I will be having to say goodbye to one of my coworkers this week, as he's getting deployed out to the middle east. He's one of the guys who has made my work experience here tolerable and actually fun. I'm not sure when he's actually leaving, but to JD, good luck out there, stay safe, and get back here as soon as possible. I know your family is going to miss you a lot.
What's New? Nothing except for my plea to those who are on the fence about joining the survivor team. Byron, Fran, Carolyn, Connie, hell, even Dorrian (who is a new dad to his baby boy Evan - Congratulations!), I know you're interested! Just do it!

I feel like Buffy tonight!

February 4, 2003: Yay! A new Buffy is on tonight, as well as American Idol. I watched last week's Wednesday episode, and it was unfortunately addicting. I'm slowly but surely returning to enjoying watching network TV again - just this season I've picked up American Idol, Alias, Friends, Scrubs, Will & Grace, & Smallville. Buffy and Survivor are gimmies as well. TV GOOD. ;-) And hey, it's only 9 days till the 90-minute Survivor premiere! Remember to Sign Up at the Piranha Pool so we can win the virtual survivor. Do it, Do it! NOW!
What's New? My Survivor:Amazon page has been updated with some preshow thoughts by my friend Byron. Read it....NOW!

Happy Anniversary Mom & Harv!

February 1, 2003: Well, what a day. I get woken up by a phone call from my Mom telling me about the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy - who knows how long it will take to figure out what caused that. I think I'm in the camp of people that know it's a tragedy and acknowledge that, but also know that all astronauts know that they are signing up for a highly dangerous and risky endeavor. It's still extremely unfortunate and sad that this happened, and if it is due to the fact that the piece of foam hit the wing on takeoff, then they were doomed from the second that happened. I just hope that the space program learns from this, corrects what they can, and moves on. Space is too important a frontier to give up on - hell, it's our descendants future considering eventually we are going to outgrow the planet. WOAH, who gave me that soapbox? Here, you can have it back. Let's get back to trivial and fun stuff!
So, I also had my second class this morning, gave a briefing, and was validated by the professor that I am the bom-diggity in my ability to write. But of course! As anyone who reads this knows, I can paint such visual imagery with just my words alone. It's incredible, isn't it? ;-)
After class, I met up with my Mom, Harv, and Cheryl Bell (a former coworker of my Mom's from LA) at La Cafe in Paris. Paris is such a cool casino. Highly recommended. I got to Paris about 2 hours before we were to meet (class ended early), so I got toasty at the Paris bar right outside La Cafe, watching the news about the shuttle. After a great lunch and getting to see Cheryl again, I promptly lost 40 bucks at the craps table - you know, eventually my luck will turn. I forgot to mention that my Uncle Richard and Aunt Diane had come up about 2 weeks ago and I played craps with them at Orleans (another very fun casino, and a GREAT craps casino, as even during the evening, they have $3 craps tables; also, their craps dealers are all very personable, unlike some casinos). Well, on that outing, I was up and down and up and down, and up and down and up and down. After about 2 hours though, I lost my $100. But it was fun.
I got home after that and had a huge headache (dehydrated from the beer), so I drank a lot of water, passed out on the couch, and then got ready to go to Marian Masur's birthday party. Happy Birthday Marian! This day just wouldn't end! But it was a really fun time and it helped reinforce that I really like the people I work with. They're all a lot of fun - so I have got to admit that in all my assignments so far, I have been blessed with working outstanding folks. KNOCKING HEAVILY ON WOOD!
And now here I am, and it just turned to 2 Feb, but hey, who's counting. By the way, I need 3 more people to sign up for the virtual survivor team! Carolyn, Mom, Fran!!!???? C'mon, me and Robbie can only do so much! Let me know if you want to sign up, soon!
What's New? Nothing really, but I am planning to eventually put up my credit nightmare as a public service so you know what can happen to you if someone gets your SSN. SCARY SHIT!

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