March 2004

Happy April Fool's Day

March 32, 2004: It's the holiday that was custom-made for me. I'm not a good prankster, but damn am I fool! <side note time>: I just looked at my site and I just hit the 6000 visitor mark. I think having the Shooting Gallery up has definitely accelerated my hit count. Sweet.

So this last weekend, I had no visitors! I know, can you believe it? So while floundering around for something to do, I decided it was finally time to go spring clothes shopping. And did I ever! I ended up right around the $500 mark in terms of just CLOTHES. That is very unlike me, but I went to the Galleria mall here in Henderson, which is a very nice lux mall. And I ended up stores that I really like - Gap, Anchor Blue, and a new store I didn't know existed, called ExpressMen. It is the male version of the chick store Express. And the clothes in that place were awesome, and they were having a sale. Even better. So I stocked up on some cool shirts (polo, button up, t-shirts), pants, and shorts. $500 is a crazy number, but my closet is a lot fuller with the new threads.

This week the planning stages have begun for a mega-blowout on Memorial Day weekend. It looks like a significant portion of the Lajes crew will be descending upon Vegas to have a good time drinkin' it up. So far it looks like Kasey, Jason, Wendy, Byron, Scott and I are definites. I guess saying I'm a definite is obvious. That's me! Possibilities still include Dani, Connie, Sunday, Juan, and Boris, and if Tracy ever responds, maybe Tracy too! It'll be a good time though, and we're going to get some rooms down at a casino so we can ALL just pass out there. I'm so not having to come back to my place after serious drinking. Seriously. I'm sure there will be interesting photos and stories after that weekend. Guaranteed!

In more educational aspects, I am finally returning to my University of Phoenix education. I got the nerve to call my Academic Counselor, and she set me up with almost a perfect way to get back into the program. I will basically take the one class I had to skip (starting 10 May), and then right after that class ends, I'll be basically picking up right where I left off, which is awesome. Hopefully that means I can get done with this by the end of the year, after which I'll finally have my Masters degree. Sweet.

Oh yeah, BTW, I PASSED my USAF physical fitness test with a brilliant score of 80.5! Not exactly awe-inspiring, but it passes me without any restrictions. Kick ass. That ergo test can kiss my ass!!!

Well, if you've been reading the Gallery, you know pretty much everything else that has been going on with me. I encourage you to join in the fun - we're all good people on there, somewhat sarcastic, but hey, that's a good thing. Just register, and give us your opinions on stuff. So JOIN UP NOW!
What's New? No new pictures yet. Come to the Shooting Gallery.

Time to pass the USAF Physical Fitness Test

March 25, 2004: Yes, it's time. Tomorrow morning, I will endeavor to take the new and improved Air Force test that is NOT the ERGO. That god-forsaken test no longer has any power over me! Hahahahaha. You know what? I haven't taken that test in so long now. The last couple of times I've been scheduled to take it, I would go to the testing center, and the monitor didn't show up. Awwwhh... And I did NOT Tonya Harding him or her. I swear. So I have been lucky enough to not have to fail the test and get put on a program. Now I get to do pushups, situps, waist measurement, and 1.5 miles. That, I can do. My waist isn't as slim as I'd like, but I get enough points for it. What's stupid is how MANY points you get just for your waist. That is only one of the hardest areas to minimize, especially if it's big already. Oh well. 34 inches is still somewhat okay. I just need to do the same or better as my last pretest, which was 40 pushups, 60 (only needed to do 55 - oops) situps, 34 waist, and a 13:15 1.5 mile run. That passed, and I have no doubt I can beat that runtime tomorrow. I guess we'll see.

In other news, I KNOW there are more than 7 people who read my site (including me). So why aren't you registering in the forum and finding a new way to waste time? Why why why? And with that, I have completed my last pressure tactic. I now will just enjoy the forum as it develops, and I hope you do too.

I bought some more DVDs this past weekend, including a real downer, Arlington Road. Great movie, but sick and twisted. So here's the updated list.
What's New? Just the DVD section, and my Shooting Gallery. Enjoy!

No Excuses!

March 23, 2004: No excuses for not partaking in the message board. You don't have to meet a quota of posts or anything, but dropping in and saying hi, giving your two cents, slamming me, or talking about Survivor won't kill you. There's even an entertaining section run by Sgt Jenny. And if anybody else out there thinks they have what it takes to moderate their own forum, let me know. I'll put you in for it. We'll see if the board admin likes you or not. I've heard he's kind of a dick. Fingers crossed. Anyways, here's a link to the message board. You don't have to register to look at the board, but you do in order to post. And I promise you, there is NO spam that will come to you from doing this. It's all going to my server, and the only spam you might get is from me playing with the "Mass Email" option as the admin. So you have nothing to lose, and everything to gain by playing. Also, I've fixed the major bugs I talked about yesterday. There's no worries about logging in or out, and registering. It all works. I have found that the first time you log in, you may get a pause or slow reaction. Just be patient!

I'm going to be transitioning my movie and music stuff over to the forum, as I would like to have discussions on the movies out right now as opposed to just lecturing like I do in my current sections. My DVD section isn't going anywhere though, and I still have ideas for things to do with that part. I just found out from my web provider that I get a GIGABYTE of storage. A gig! I currently use just over 59 MB. I have 940 MB to fill up, so I've got a lot of work to do. Hostsave.com is pretty awesome! Tell 'em Hobie sent ya, if you decide to go with them as a provider.

So if you can't tell, I'm excited about this new part of the site. So far, there's been four of us posting away, and it's been fun and quite funny. Don't be afraid to join in.

As for what else is going on, work is hard to focus on, but it's getting done. Sgt Jenny is back, which helps tremendously. This past weekend, I didn't end up getting to see Jason or Wendy, as on Saturday, I was being an anti-social ass, and I just didn't want to leave the house. I am tired of going to the strip, as I've been doing nothing but lately. Especially because I'm having to drive as well. So, Jason and Wendy are more than likely pissed at me. Hopefully that will pass, but if not, I guess I have apologies to make soon.

Oh, if you like DVD buying as much as I do, The Digital Bits has put up a new feature on their website that talks about all the latest releases that came out this week. Here's a link to this week. Of course, my base exchange didn't have any of these, except for the Rundown. I guess I'll be heading to Best Buy this weekend.
What's New? Just the fact I have a very cool message board up and running. I am endeavoring to change the style this weekend, into possibly a craps table-ish layout, with green felt, dice, chips and more all layed out. This may take longer than I think. But that is the goal!

Major Changes Are Here

March 22, 2004: Alright, I'm not going to stay up for too much longer, but if you saw "What's New" on the front page, you'd see that I've added a forum feature to this website. I've actually wanted to put this up for a long time, but the version I'd seen, using CGI and Perl scripts, was way hokey. But Sgt Jenny showed me a fantastic site today while at work, and the damn forum thing is free!!!! So I downloaded it, tweaked it, and worked on installing and configuring the bastard for the last 3 hours. And it's now done. Is it perfect or just how I want it? Not at all. As a heads up: You may/will encounter difficulties when creating a log in, logging in, logging out, and other stuff. I don't think my server is too spiffy. But here are some hints, which I've also posted on the forum. After creating an account and getting that email from admin@hobiebarnes.com, you will probably try clicking on that link to activate your account. Well, it didn't work for me, so it may not work for you just yet. Shoot me an email at work or home though, and I'll activate your account. Also, when logging in (after creating an account), you will probably get a "Page Not Found" error. Ignore that. Just retype in your browser: "http://www.hobiebarnes.com/forum/" and you'll find the forum page and you'll be logged in. Sweet! If you run into any other flaky-type buttons, press refresh or back and try again. It should work.

The design of the forum is not yet how I want it - it's just the default style until I get my design style done. But I think it rocks, and it's sweet that it's free. So, please join, and perhaps our guestbook conversations will now take place in a more organized fashion. And we can wish Carolyn the bestest birthday ever!!!!
What's New? The major new section of my website: The Shooting Gallery! Check it out - you never know, we may be talking about YOU.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

March 17, 2004: Well, it has definitely NOT been a slow week. By a long shot. So, let's start off with Monday. Busy. Monday night, I spent with Ryan and Jennifer. First we had dinner at Boulder Station, then I proceeded to lose plenty of money to the casino to ensure they could pay their bills. I know, I'm a generous soul. We left the Station around 11:00PM, and then I took the Conks back to the Strip, and I decided to go with them to the Eiffel Tower tower at the Paris hotel. It was incredible... incredibly scary going up that damn elevator, and an incredible view. Ryan had the camera this night, so I don't have pics of the view yet, but he said he'd send them to me. Here's hoping! It was a great way to end the night and the visit with Ryan, and it was a bummer to say bye. Don't worry, I didn't get all weepy like a bitch. That's for things like sappy movies and stuff. I mean, honestly, you just can't cry for any ol' thing now, can you? ;-) (BTW, yes you can). The only drawback was that I didn't get to bed till about 1am, and I got to go to work the next day. NOT FUN. I was so freakin' tired the entire Tuesday. When I got home from work (I didn't do my Tuesday run as planned - no f'in way I could have made it around the track without passing out on the gravel), I changed to shorts and passed out for three hours. When I woke up once at 6:30pm, I honestly could not tell what 6:30 it was, and if it was morning and I was already late for work. I hate when I take naps after work, because I ALWAYS get confused when I first wake up from them. Anyways, I got some more sleep that night after taking some dinner, and today was not nearly as bad as yesterday. I even went back to the gym after work. And I got some happy news from Mom - Harv made the qualifying round for the million dollar slot tournament (I mistakenly thought it was this one - my bad), and Mom made out like a bandit at Pachanga down in California. Good for her!!! I even get a Benjamin out of it when she comes up in a few weeks. I can live with that! Oh yeah, I was bitching about how busy I am at work. I'm busy. I was barely in the office today. That sucks. Especially with the weather here turning rapidly hot. I've even heard that this weekend will be in the 90s. Aw, fuck. That really bites. It is just like last year though. We had about a WEEK of beautiful nice 70 degree weather between the cold spell and the beginning of our 6-month summer. Blech. So, the heat is on. Joy. Anyways, I'm sleepy again, so I'm going to bed.
What's New? Survivor page is up and ready for your perusal and comments. Bring 'em on!

It should be a slow week

March 14, 2004: Why? Well Sgt Jenny is out of town, and she's really my partner in crime in helping me stay sane and obnoxious to my coworkers. I've been told that when one of us is gone, the other is much nicer to get along with. What the hell does that mean? So work will be slow, but Ryan & Jennifer are still in town till Wednesday, so I'll be able to spend the evenings with them. Hopefully gambling will go a little bit better than last time we tried it. I just need some good ol' fashioned luck at the craps tables this time. C'mon dice, daddy needs a new pair of shoes! (seriously). Well, today I went with Ryan & Jennifer and Harv to the Hofbrauhaus, which is rapidly becoming my favorite place in Las Vegas. All they need to do is put in some blackjack or craps tables, and I'd never go anywhere else. It really is a fun place with the music, the tons of beer, and the rich but extremely good and filling German food. I even ate sauerkraut today, and I never do that. It was just perfect though in the Riesebratwurst sandwich I had. Yummm....... It was good to see Harv too, and tomorrow he is going to win us a million dollars. It's about time, that's all I gotta say. Here's hoping!

In other news, I talked to my Dad on the phone today, and he's hinting that he may be visiting the fair states of Nevada and California sometime this year. That would be fun! So I'll keep you updated on that.
What's New? Well, I have put together my Mar 04 visit pictures. There will probably be some more additions later this week, but for the time being, this page covers the Jason & Wendy visit from last week and this week's visit by Ryan. Like I said, there should be more pictures from hanging out this week with Ryan & Jennifer, and then next weekend when Jason & Wendy come back for March Madness. Madness I tell you!!

Sleepy sleep

March 11, 2004: Okay, I'm still tired, considering that the Boot Camp class this afternoon was freakin' intense and insane. I'm getting such good workouts, but I'm getting so damn tired afterwards. I was very tempted to do my Survivor page later, but alas, it happened. Yay! So, tomorrow is Friday, thank God, and then Sgt Jenny is departing to Philly to go surprise her folks for a week. So next week should be pretty slow. Make sure to send me lots of email so I'm not too bored. Oh, Connie reminded me that I hadn't talked too much about the ski trip! I totally forgot - that seems like so long ago now. But it was a great trip, I had a lot of fun skiing, lots of fun hanging out with friends, but I will go into it in more detail once I create a picture page of the trip.
What's New? The Survivor Episode 7 page is up! B-bye Colby!

Goodbye Saccharine

March 10, 2004: I can't assume you know who Gilda Radner is, but if you don't, you're missing out on a freakin' comic legend. I have mp3'd a few of her comedy tracks, and right now the Goodbye Saccharine track is playing, and in it she's Rhonda Weiss, who has the biggest yenta accent ever, and I'd kill to have that accent. I have always endeavored and practiced it, back from the days of high school with Mila, Sveta, and Roni, all the way until now, with Marian. In fact, I need to bring this track in for Marian to hear. SOOOOOO...... look, I started off with a tangent. Isn't that fantabulous?

Anyways, so I've got some complaints from various sources that I haven't updated my site in a while. You would be correct. So Good night. I have nothing else to say. Hahahahahahaha. Just fuc...I mean, just joshin' ya! I am going to use the f-word less frequently. No more than once an entry, I swear. It's just so much fun to say!

So let's think about what's happened since I last wrote. All of last week and half of this one. Well, last week was uneventful up until Friday. I mean, Survivor didn't impress me all that much - I just hope the game gets back on track tomorrow. But if you've been to my Survivor page, you know what my thoughts were on that, even if I didn't put up a link to the updated page before. On Friday night, Wendy & Jason drove on up, and actually didn't arrive here till Saturday am, like around 1 or so. I thought I was tired, but they brought snacks and Wahrsteiner beer, which believe you me is some good shit. Ah damn, the s-word now. What the fuck is this site coming to? Shit, there I go again!!! heheheheheheh. Anyways, Jason & I finished off that 6-pack like it was going out of style, and amazingly I wasn't tired any more. We ended up chillin' and then breaking out the deck of cards to play the ultimate card game, California Speed. I had really forgotten about this modern day classic since the Azores, as I hadn't played it with anyone since Jason. (aw, how special). But the game can get vicious and catty and evil, which suits me JUST FINE. Anyways, I think Jason ended up beating me in overall rounds, but whatever. He cheats.

So the next day was just a few hours away when we went to sleep at 4am, so after getting up around 9:30, I made pancakes!!!! Yes, I made pancakes. Craziness! Slowly but surely, we got out of the house and killed some serious time at El Pollo Loco (I LOVE that place), and then Wendy went to the Venetian's $30 gym to work out (that's craziness, but apparently you can have as many health snacks and waters as you want), while Jason & I went to the Outlet mall so he could get shoes and then we went over to the Venetian to walk around and I took some pictures. I'll put those pictures up probably this weekend. I"m just too tired right now to work on that mess. Anyways.....

That night, we split up so that Jason & Wendy could go have dinner with his parents, and I went to my boss' house where he was having all of the office over for dinner - guess what we were having? Yes, PRIME RIB. Homemade prime rib. Fuckin' OUTSTANDING. I didn't even think you could make prime rib outside of a restaurant. Does that make sense? Of course not. But I don't even have the first clue as to what you'd have to do to make it. But apparently throw some meat in some cooking thing for 2 hours at 375 degrees, and voila!, you get Prime Rib. I'll have to try that out. But was my evening done? Oh no. For after about 2 hours there, I met back up with W & J at my apartment, them with Jason's cousin Frank in tow. And we were then off to my newest favorite place in Vegas: The Hofbrauhaus, Las Vegas. Now, if you don't know what the heck I'm talking about, well, click here to see my pictures of our time in the REAL Hofbrauhaus. Go ahead, click now. I'll be waiting. ........... Now that you see that, you can see why I wanted to go back. Look at those beers! Complete un-sobriety in two glasses of German beer - mind you, those are big big big glasses. Anyways, I had two glasses of HB beer, and I was feeling fantastic! We stayed a little past closing, and then we walked over to the Hard Rock Hotel, which was packed with the young and the beautiful (what the hell was I doing there?), and tables with minimums of $15! So no gambling occurred there, although we did have some more drinks. There, we decided to try the Stardust, as the tables were probably going to be cheaper there - and so we got in a cab which had one of the funniest cab drivers ever, because half of the time, I had no idea what my Asian friend was saying. I'm not even sure he wasn't drunk. But anyways! I do remember him asking us if we wanted to go to Jaguar's or Cheetah's, and then something about $300 blowjobs. Well, that's gotta be one helluva blowjob! We didn't take up that offer, but it made for a very fun and quick cab ride. At the Stardust, we headed to the craps table, and Frank and I ended up doing not so bad at the table, which was a first for me in a long time. I even rolled pretty good, which started the table off to a good run, with the next few players rolling well. After that though, the table got cool, and Wendy got kicked out of the lounge for sleeping (it was 4 am, so she's excused). Anyways, we then headed home.

Just to wake back up at 9. Wendy & Jason stuck around for the day, which was awesome. We watched movies (Final Destination and the Professional), the Laker game against the Nets, and then they left. But was my fun over? Nope. Ryan Conk then flew in that evening, and I went to dinner with him that night at Outback. It was great to see him, and despite my nervousness of seeing him, it really was like no time had passed. Over the last few days, we've been hanging out at lunch and after work, catching up on stuff and playing video games like before, and gambling as well. The gambling wasn't so good, but it was still fun.

And that brings me to now. Nothing was going on for me tonight, so I had some time to clean up the kitchen, do laundry, and update the site. Yay! I've been working out like a demon too. I've been running on Tuesday afternoon and Friday mornings, and then doing aerobic classes on Monday, Wednesday & Thursday. Now mind you, only Monday is a typical aerobics session. Wednesday is power something, which is weights and abs for the most part, which is tought, but Thursday is a veritable nightmare called Boot Camp. It's circuit training with nightmarish high-intensity activities in between, like sprints, jumping jacks, push ups, etc. It's one helluva workout. So that all has contributed to my sleepiness. But I wonder - I still can't sleep until 5:45 when my alarm goes off. I somehow love to wake up earlier than that now. SUCKS!

And that's that. I've updated the site. I bet you wish I never had did that now, did you?
What's New? A few more links and thoughts in the Survivor page. As hinted at, I will get some picture pages up this weekend.

Needed to update the site, right?

March 1, 2004: So I finally updated my site. There's so little going on right now that I just haven't had the motivation to put up any new stuff. But I do have some updates on the Survivor section (thanks to Robbie for this), plus I have some more DVDs that I recently acquired. I am stoked about this upcoming weekend, as Wendy & Jason are heading on up again. Yay! I probably should return the favor and drive to LA, but you know, I haven't been for over 2 months, and I don't miss that drive. I'm very skittish about doing that one again, as I just don't seem to have the great luck in getting there in about 3.5 hours like I used to. See my Christmas drive to LA for why I am the way I am. Anyways, I'm hoping I can convince J&W to go to the new Hofbrauhaus they have opened up here in Vegas across the street from the Hard Rock Hotel. It seems to be a very close replica of the Hofbrauhaus in Munich, and it's run by the same company, as there is a large HB on the building. I don't think it'll take toooooo much persuasion on my part to get them to drink, in fact, I know it won't take too much persuasion. I'll even spring for the cab, because I want us all to relive our authentic Hofbrauhaus experience we had in Munich back in 2002. <sigh> I can't believe that trip was nearly 2 years ago. WTF? <-- For those who don't know, WTF=WHAT THE FUCK? Just wanted to make you all aware. I am also tentatively planning a visit to San Antonio again, sometime near the beginning of May? I want to be able to see my buddy Carolyn again before she leaves, in addition to seeing the many others out there in one of my favorite cities. As I've said before, perhaps not in this forum, I totally could see myself finally buying a home and living there. But, I think I might be a tad dramatic in that all I really have are San Antonio, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas as American cities I've resided in, and SA definitely outshines the others. Sure, LA has pretty much everything and anything, but the driving commute sucks the life out of you and you don't even realize how badly until you've been away. I mean, you get used to an hour and a half one-way commute while living there. I know I did. I definitely do miss the ocean though - funny, that thought, especially considering the fact I spent 15 months on an island surrounded by nothing but. But living out here in the middle of the desert definitely deprives you of the view. Aw hell, I don't know where I want to end up. Thinking about the beach made me all reminiscent and shit. (Okay, I didn't have to shit, that part could easily have been replaced with the word 'stuff'). I know I don't want to settle in Vegas. That's a definite. DEFINITE. Casinos are great and all, but who likes to have no water. I mean, Lake Mead is becoming a puddle. Seriously. No thank you. For my next base, I think I would like Alaska. Something different, you know? And in the winter, while I'm freezing my balls off, I can go skiing. Yay! Oh, I forgot to mention another special guest that is coming into town next week - Ryan Conk! Did I already mention that in another post? It's possible. Anyways, that will be cool - I haven't seen Ryan in about....... let's see..... thinking about it....... Perhaps 2000? So about 4 years..... That sounds right. I think we're friends still, but by the end of my college time (he was one year behind me), I am fairly certain he didn't want to be my friend. I know, how can that be? Who wouldn't want to be MY friend? Seriously. I guess I have to be somewhat self-aware and realize that too much of me can be a bad thing. Just ask Sgt Jenny. I think she's ready for a new boss. She keeps telling me she hates her job.... Hmmm..... I think she's kidding! What a joker! So lesson to all of you potential Hobie-friends - limit me to a one-year lease, and you won't want to kill me. It works out for you, it DEFINITELY works out for me, and all is good. I am GREAT at long-distance friendships though, as it is harder for me to get on your nerves. So think about it. I honestly think I have nothing else to say tonight. I think I managed to kill at least 10 minutes of your time, if you read all this. And that is winning half the battle.

What's New? Survivor Episode 5 updates. Yay! New DVDs. Yay! An annoyingly long rant. Yay! What's that you say? Yay!

Shoot me an email if you want to. I may respond. (okay, you know I will - what else have I got to do?)