Hey there! Thought I'd actually write something today instead of post a video of how crappy the economy is or of grown men throwing hay makers at each whilst keeping there balance on a large sheet of ice.

So what to write about? I could write about my amazing poker streak of late where I've placed in the last 4 tournaments I've played in (home games and the "real" stuff in Vegas):



Or I could talk about how much fun I had at the bi-annual Ed Newhart (and now Lockheed) Primm Golf trip at the CA/NV state line:




I could also tell you it snowed in the high desert (about 12" of snow) stranding hundreds thousands of motorists in the SCV for over 24 hours:



Instead I'll talk about the Metallica concert I went to at the Fabulous Forum on 12/18. 8 friends piled into an Excursion limo stocked with Crown, Kettle, Corona & various mixers and headed off to the show. Our first stop was the Cabo Cantina somewhere off Sunset Blvd. I say somewhere because I wasn't driving and was sipping on whiskey during the trip down.



We enjoyed our 2-for-1 drink specials along with some DAMN SPICY hot wings to compliment our DAMN SPICY waitress (actually, I don't know if she was literally spicy but she did go well with the wings). After most of us were thoroughly intoxicated we made our way to the concert. Blasting Sad But True from the windows while we all sang along had everything nothing to do with the fact that we were polishing off the crown by taking shot directly from the bottle.

We arrived and drove ALL THE WAY AROUND the Forum since apparently the driver didn't know where the limo drop-off was, but that gave us time to finish our beers before stepping out into the frigid night. We made it inside just as the band began to play. I made a quick stop at the horse troughs (those who have had the pleasure of visiting the men's rooms at the Forum know what I'm talking about) grabbed a $10 beer and headed off to our seats. I was relieved that after climbing every single step to reach our seats there was a wall to lean against (see cause we were in the very last row).



The concert was pretty good. I enjoy Metallica but am not a huge fan so I wasn't dissapointed that they didn't play more songs from Kill'em All or Ride the Lightning.

After about 30 mins I decided to get a little closer to the action. From my days watching Kings games at the Forum I knew about little door along the concourse with a sign that reads The Whistle Stop. The door takes you down to the tunnels under the seats which is also floor level. Unfortunately for me the Whistle Stop was closed.



I was able to get in the door by being all slick and spy like and waiting for someone to come out and grabbing the door right before it locked (how cool am I?) but was stopped 3/4 of the way down by a yellow-jacket-wearing-event-staff-dude who wouldn't let me pass without a wristband. All was not lost as I went back up and walked around the concourse until I found a section where an usher was not and made it down to about the 4th row.



After about five songs in the good seats my beer was empty I decided to go back to my real seats. When I got back I was greeted with an agitated group, apparently some words were exchanged with another member of the audience. As one of my friends put it "this guy want to suck all of our [male genitalia]'s", which was really funny since the gentleman in question could totally hear what was said. Later the same guy got his ass kicked by his girlfriend so everything worked out.

When the concert ended we picked up a couple people off the floor and walked ALL THE WAY AROUND the Forum to find the limo (cause apparently the driver couldn't get back to where he dropped us off) and headed home. For some reason the ride home was much more quiet than the ride down.

All in all a good night...

On another note I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and here's to 2009 (cause 2008 SUCKED)!

Hockey fights are cool....

Just finished watching this video and all I can say is WOW. I need to find out how I can give this guy every penny I own to invest. A little long but worth it...

Worth 1,000 words...

On Saturday November 1st I attended the 2nd Annual "Help'm not Hassel'm" charity poker tournament. I helped with last year's event (giving secrets on how I've run my own charity tournament for the past 4 years). This year there were a few celebs in attendance. One of those celebrities was Tiffany Michelle, a professional poker player and Santa Clarita native (well maybe not native but home town anyway). Tiffany placed 17th at the 2008 World Series of Poker, placing higher than 6,827 other players and was the last woman standing. Her nickname is "Hot Chips" because, well, she's kinda hot....

During a break in the action I introduced myself to her and asked to take a picture. She was very approachable and just plain nice to chat with. Unfortunately I didn't get to play with her at the tables, guess I'll have to wait until I make it to the WSOP myself.



Anyway, thanks for the pic Tiff!

Normally I wouldn't interject my political views in this space, but in this case I feel the need...

On the way in to work this morning I saw some signs for Yes on Prop 8. One says "Yes on Prop 8 = Free Speech". The other said "Yes on 8 = Less Government".

To quote Tim the Tool-Man Taylor..."Uuuuuugggggghhh?!"

Let's look at the first sign. "Yes on 8 = Free Speech"....for who? How does not allowing a group of people legal rights (I'm not going to get into a religious debate) equate free speech? Free speech to me would be allowing any two humans who want to express their love by creating a legal union in the state of California the ability and legal right to do so. Telling anyone they can not do so is the EXACT OPPOSITE of free speech. I could go on and on but I'd just be repeating that same argument in various forms.

Now let's take a look at sign #2. "Yes on 8 = Less Government"....ummm....WTF? So let's have less government involvement by having the government tell a group of people that they can't do something that other people can?? I don't care who you are or what you're beliefs are if by carrying out those beliefs you:

a) do not cause physical or emotional harm on those you come in contact with (obligatory murderer/crazy-ass compound leader argument)

&

b) those beliefs do not keep you from being a productive member of society (obligatory crack-head argument)

Please, feel free to do what ever the hell you want...especially if I'm entitled to legal rights for doing the exact same thing. That would be less government.

Again, I'm not talking about religious issues here because there is SUPPOSED to be a separation of Church and State in this country. What I am talking about here are legal rights for legal citizens of the State of California.

I've heard all the B.S. arguments about kids being taught gay marriage in school (just plain untrue) or that Churches MAY lose their charitable status for choosing not to perform same-sex marriages (CA law states "no religion will be required to change its religious policies or practices with regard to same-sex couples, and no religious officiant will be required to solemnize a marriage in contravention of his or her religious beliefs"). And they are just that...B.S. scare tactics.

So tomorrow, November 4th, 2008 (since I live in the great state of California) I will be voting no on prop 8 to NOT "change the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California."

Next up on the Drake Report? Meeting the highest placing female poker player ever in the WSOP (who just so happens to be hot, super nice and who also complimented my attire).

Christmas and my Birthday are both coming up soon, so....



Hook up one of these for the tasty beverage connoisseur in your household at UniqueDaily.com.

I Can't Believe It's Been a Whole Year!

One year ago today, the Buckweed fire raced through the Santa Clarita area. I began the day watching football with friends and ended it taking pictures like the one below:



If memory serves the fire was started by a 10 year old boy playing with matches on a very windy day. Those matches ended up burning close to 40,000 acres, 15 homes, 17 outbuildings and 40 vehicles. A total of 15,000 residents were evacuated over the course of two days (myself included - although I didn't actually leave but did send the family on their way once open flames were visible directly across the street).

See more images here.

Hey there. Yeah I know it's been a while....whatever.

Anyway I'm excited today. And I probably shouldn't be this excited about this, but I am. Last night, on the side of a box of graham crackers, I saw a thing of beauty. A product a long time coming. What is this miraculous product? Why, it's cream cheese in a can...and not just any can, an EASY CHEESE CAN!!! No more knives, no more messy fingers at the office. Simply crack open one of these babys and let the easy-cheesin' begin!

Note: I have no idea what this stuff tastes like, but I intend to...



UPDATE: They also have Easy "Cheese" Penut Butter!!! What will they think of next?!?!?

A friend sent me a link to some amazing pictures. They were taken at the Singapore Grand Prix in..well...Singapore which happened to be the first Formula One race held at night. Here are a couple to peak your interest:




The rest are here

Yesterday on the way back from Thai food for lunch, a Land Cruiser on the road in front of us was acting strangely. She stopped at a red light...half way into the intersection. After a pause she begin to back up and almost ran into the car I was riding in. Once the light turned green she took WAY too long to take off again....something was clearly wrong.

Over the next 1/4 mile her vehicle swerved from side to side. We were thinking she was either drunk or having some other medical issues. When it was safe to pass we did so and all turned around to see what her deal was. As we proceeded through the next intersection we watched her slowly veer to the right and run smack into an very large tree, pop a wheelie (quite a feat in a Land Cruiser) and come to rest on the driver's side.

We immediately turned around and went back to help (with quite a few other witnesses). The SCV Sheriffs arrived extremely fast (within 2 minutes) and informed us they had been looking for her. When they pulled her out of the car we noticed that she had what appeared to be a hospital bracelet on her wrist. wtf? comes to mind.

At any rate, she seemed to be OK...

My favorite photo of the day:


He Pingping from Inner Mongolia, China's autonomous region, the world's smallest man sits underneath Svetlana Pankratova from Russia, the Queen of Longest Legs, as they pose at Trafalgar Square in London, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008.

Holly crap, two posts in one day!?!? Yup, I couldn't let this one slip through the cracks.

For all of you Santa Clarita residents, it's time to help out one of your own. Tara Rice of Valencia (a former Miss Teen California All American, is an actress and model who has appeared in magazines such as Maxim and films including "Austin Powers in Goldmember.") is currently engaged in an epic battle to the death, an extremely important national security matter, a promising experiment that may reverse the effects of global warming a truly historic event - the first online search for the iconic St. Paulie Girl!

St. Paulie Girl beer has partnered with Maxim Magazine to let you (yes you!) vote on the 2009 St. Pauli Girl, um, girl.

So make Valencia proud and go to maxim.com/stpauligirl and vote for Tara!

It's been a while...again...

Well, here we are again. It's been a couple weeks since I've updated this bad boy so I guess I should write something.

Things are a little better after Fez being gone for two weeks. I can finally fall asleep at night even though he isn't by my side, and my last memories of him are fading to those of happier times. Although, I still expect him to bark when someone knocks on the front door or when people walk by outside. I think that is just going to take some time.

The kids are doing great. J.T. is really starting to communicate now. Seems like every time I'm with him he's picked up a new word or a series of grunts that constitute words. And of course Taylor is just ridiculous with her ability to carry on conversations.

In other news, I will be traveling to fabulous Las Vegas this week for two days of gambling and libations. Seems everyone is getting away to Vegas these days. We will be staying in a great suite at the Venetian.

Fez "Pie Pie" Drake
March 30, 2000 - August 30, 2008
Good bye my friend, we will miss you.

Not too much to talk about today, except 8 DAYS TIL VEGAS...can't get here soon enough.

Dear 36-38 Kenneth Cole Reversible Belt,

I hate to do this this way, but I just can't pretend any longer.

We've been together for a long time. You always supported me when I needed you the most. You've been there for me when I was wearing black shoes, and you were there when I wore brown shoes. No matter how much pressure I put on you, you've always strong. You've even been there when I forgot a less dressy belt for a change of clothes the next day, after a wedding maybe, and when that happened you didn't mind hiding under a baggy t-shirt. We've had some good times, you and I. When we first met, I really enjoyed how you looked and fit. It felt good knowing that I had some wiggle room, not needing that last notch.

But now I've lost some weight, I'm feeling pretty good about myself, and don't get me wrong, I still wish we could be together, but you and I...we just... we're not a good fit anymore.

I didn't want to have to do this, but I wanted you to hear it from me...there is another belt. I met it last week at Macy's. It's a 32-34 and it fits really good, looks nice too, and I think we will be really happy. I hope that you don't take this the wrong way. I'm sure that you will make someone at the Goodwill very happy someday.

If only I wasn't lazy, and had the tools to make another notch so that we could continue on...but that would just be delaying the inevitable.

Take care my friend...and good luck, I will miss you.

It's Monday!

I had a nice weekend with the kids....actually I watched them pretty much exclusively since last Thursday night. Taylor really enjoyed the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. "Ohhhh, that's sooooo beautiful" was heard a few times as was "I love the Olympics...there is swimming, and gymanstics and....swimming", and "China!".

On Saturday I took J.T. to Gymboree again. He really enjoys it, too bad it's $70/mo. We don't have time to take him every week, but if they offered a per-per-class option we would totally go for it.


Mowed the lawn and even managed to work in enjoy a few beers by the pool on Sunday (Thanks Dean & Denise).

This week should be pretty busy. I have two softball games slated for the week (which will both likely be followed by happy hours), my buddy who is currently living in North Carolina is in town (will also require a happy hour), I have a business lunch on Wednesday and will be watching the kids on Friday.

AND the count down to vegas begins...10 days and counting!

Katsuya = F'n good.

We had an amazing dinner at Katsuya last night. First of all the decor was amazing. Very stark, very linear and open. The bar had 20 clear lighted acrylic columns about 12" square with chef knives etched inside the tops, perfectly spaced throughout the bar.


The music was at a good level to enjoy but still have a nice conversation. Ironically, we sat exactly where the picture in my previous post was taken which had a great view of the entrance of the restaurant so we could make fun of look at everyone that came in.

Another interesting aspect of the evening was the fact that there were Paparazzi milling about outside the entire time we were there, didn't see any fabulous people other than ourselves though.

Here is what we ordered:

Halibut wrapped in Crab and Avocado
Spicy Yellow tail Roll
Salmon Sushi (my first time and I liked it)
"Crack" Roll (Baked crab hand roll in rice paper)
Baked Miso Marinated Black Cod in Hoba Leaf (holy crap this was good!)

I believe the dish below is the Spicy Grilled Prawns, which we did not have but it gives you an idea of the presentation of the rest of the dishes.


I also found a new favorite drink called the Burning Mandarin. It's made with Madarin Absolut, a hand crushed Serrano Chili and hand squeezed lemon and orange juice with a splash of cranberry. Sweet with a spicy bite with no hint of alcohol. Could have easily consumed a pitcher.

All this (and a couple few drinks) and the bill was under $150

So, next time you are in Hollywood (or Brentwood or Glendale) stop in to Katsuya.

Danger.

There are things in this world that are dangerous. Traversing the 405 on foot, poking a cougar with a short stick and listening to Coldplay are all dangerous activities, goes without saying really. But what about the dangers you don't know about? Here is a list of some I was unaware of until today:

Huashan Trail in China
Stealing from Batman
Chinese Snackbars
Messing with Circuit City

That's all for today...Japanese fusion awaits, Katsuya here I come!

I know I know, I'm being lazy and not updating this. And if I expect people to actually read this I need to provide you all with some content. These things I know, but I'm still lazy.

Anyway, had a nice couple days with the kids on Friday and Saturday. They are both getting so big and are just way too smart. Taylor's newest phrase is "In fact..." e.g. "Daddy, I think I need a snack. In fact....I'm going to eat these Dora snacks right here!" She's not even 3 yet...

Saturday night I went out to dinner with some friends at the ever popular Le Chene. If you've never been and you live in the area you should go. French Cuisine with a nice atmosphere. It is kind of out there, located on Sierra Highway about 5 minutes from Agua Dulce. It was a little weird being the "7th wheel" but the food was excellent, the conversation was nice and the company, as always, did not disappoint. After that we closed down All Corked Up, my favorite local wine bar (and there are at least three that I know of) and then it was off to "sleepy".

Sunday was spent helping my Dad move furniture and install base boards for their new carpet installation. After that it was home to see the kiddies and then off to the gym. The night was capped off with a 2-pack in the spa to relax my achin' bones.

As for my plans this week, I'm excited for dinner plans on Wednesday night with the wife. We will be going to Katsuya in Hollywood. Supposed to be a pretty cool place and the menu looks great.



I'll be sure to let you know how it is...

The tournament was a success!

We had 79 players (two short of being full) and it took ~5 hours to get to one player standing. We grossed about $17,000 so our net will be around $11,000. About $6,000 short of last year but not too bad considering the economy is in a recession the shitter. It was a good turnout and people had fun, can't ask for much more than that.

In other news, we had a 5.8 earthquake in So. Cal. today. It felt like two separate quakes, one right after the other. Both were "rollers", the fun kind where nothing actually breaks or falls off the walls. No pictures for you today, sorry.

It's Poker Time!

Tomorrow is the 4th Annual Debbie Templeton Charity Poker Tournament. This year was the first year that I did not produce the entire tournament myself. In previous years I have planned and executed the entire event. Don't get me wrong, I've had help from friends and family, but for the most part I ran the show.

I scoured the earth for prizes; I went door-to-door to businesses to get sponsorships; I set up the Dealers & Tables; I researched and applied for the CA DOJ gaming license; I secured the location; I set up the caterer. I did it all.

So this year, the Santa Clarita Valley Jaycees formed a committee to help out. After all they are receiving 10% of the proceeds. And after all that is going on in my personal life right now, what better time to have a committee help out? Heck, I'm not even listed as the Event Chairperson this year. So let's see what I did this year:

I scoured the earth for prizes; I set up the Dealers & Tables; I researched and applied for the CA DOJ gaming license; I secured the location.

Sweet! I didn't have to go door-to-door for sponsorships and I didn't have to get the caterer. Problem is, I still had to get all the sponsors and we are having to pay for a caterer (which has been free or included in the location costs previously).

I think this will be the last year of the tournament as it stands. Next year, if we do it, it will be much smaller and have a different format. We will donate the proceeds straight to the charity we want without having to give up anything to other organizations.

If you'd like to play, visit www.bmcf.net/poker.

Do Not Use 1800Flowers.com.

I used to love 1800flowers.com. Their flowers were fresh, always arrived on time and the price was comparable to going to a local florist, maybe a little less.

No More. I ordered some Martha Stewart roses for someone's birthday on Tuesday. I have ordered flowers on many different occasions through 1800flowers and never had an issue. This is what I ordered:



On Tuesday, they were not delivered. I checked the status and found a UPS tracking number. Yup. U-P-S was delivering my wife's birthday flowers. In July. In Southern California. Problem is they didn't deliver them. Something about needing more info for the address, which is bull shit. So they sat in the truck to be delivered today.

Guess what? Not delivered today. "They will be delivered tomorrow". After sitting in the back of a 100+ degree UPS truck for THREE DAYS? Really?!?

Actually, no they wont. They've been canceled, give me my money back, customer lost. F-U.

What busy weekend!

Friday night was my monthly poker league. Had a horrible turnout, only 13 players. Kinda makes me wonder if it's still worth it for all the work it takes for me to put it on. Maybe I'll start taking a rake for lugging all that crap back and forth each week. And I was doing OK but got busted by a bad beat, on the river, again. Arrgghh.

Then Saturday I hung out with the kiddies. It's neat to watch them becoming friends and playing together. Saturday night I went to a concert in the park by "No Duh" an No Doubt tribute band. They were great, except in between songs when they really tried just way too hard to be funny. Although, it was a 1:30 long set so I know they were just trying to kill time, but using the same joke 10 times gets old fast. As always, a couple pics below and more on my flickr account...

Time to catch up....

It's been a busy couple weeks. We had J.T.'s (and Aiden's) birthday and the 4th of July. First time in my life I think I didn't go to a BBQ or something on the 4th, but I did get to see fireworks for the first time in about 4 years. Enough of that. Here are some pictures, as always, visit my Flickr for more!

Had a nice morning with J.T. on Monday. It was his 1st birthday (I know, already?!) and I took the little guy to Gymboree. He loved it. Crawling all over the place, interacting with the other kids, it was really nice to see him enjoy it. We may need to look into having go to some more classes.

The rest of the day was a disaster for various reasons (including the lightning speed of the employees at the local Sprint store and a Sam's Club trip from hell) but the time we got to spend with him and seeing him so happy made the day.



J.T. also had his first taste of cake. I think he likes it.




More of both at Flickr

Let's talk about crickets, bugs in general actually.

Over the last week I've killed 7 crickets. I've actually come in contact with more of them, but some I let live. Along with the crickets, our house has become a mecca for all kinds of bugs. And they are staring to get inside.



Cockroaches, crickets and ants have all invaded our humble home, and I'm sick of it. So today I will call the Orkin man. Although I have thoroughly enjoyed administering the death penalty to these crickets with my snazzy electric fly-swatter (thanks Bracken) I do believe it's time to call in a professional.

This weekend I had the kids Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. I must say they are truly amazing. Apparently J.T. can walk just fine, he just favors crawling since he has turbo speed. Add to that a nice grunt and an occasional ear piercing scream and I might start crawling too. Oh, and he can now scale chairs and couches.

Taylor is just too smart for her own good. She continuously amazes me with the words that come out of her mouth. The fact that I can carry on a conversation with a two year that some 30 year olds would have problems with blows my mind.

And now a gratuitous picture of them both (about a month old):

The cyst continues to be a pain in my leg. I guess the doctor didn't get it all the first time, so I got to enjoy some more mid evil style punishment last night. Hopefully it is gone now and I can start to heal. Enough about that.

I haven't had much to write about lately, so I decided I would start posting old photos. Today's photo isn't that old (a couple weeks) but is too darn cute to to share. My Parents went to Hawaii to visit "Auntie Karen" and brought back a little hula outfit for Taylor. She loved it.

Infected Cyst. Sounds gross right? Well it is. I've had a pea sized cyst on the inside of my thigh for about 5 years. Doctor said it wasn't big deal, unless it got infected, which it probably wont. It did.

Thursday it was a little sore and tender. I noticed it was a little bigger on Friday, then on Saturday it started to change colors. Went to urgent care and they gave me some antibiotics and said come back if it doesn't get better.

I woke up this morning to a bump the size of a grape just under the skin that looked like it wanted out.

I went back to urgent care this morning (after taking a vicodin; thank God I did) and they opened it up and got rid of all the unpleasantness. Man does this hurt, and it's just plain nasty.

On a happier note, had a great father's day yesterday. Spent the day with family at a local park and had dinner with the wife and kids and my parents & sister. Hope to have pictures later.

And if you really want to see what that thing looked like, email me and I'll send you the picture.

I had the kids for two days straight. It was exhausting but fun. They are were both asleep, at the same time, on Friday which meant I was bored. Found these videos on Digg. The first one is a little freaky but cool. It's about mini robots that can link up and connect to form larger objects and do simple tasks. It was cool at first but then I started thinking about them attacking me and it stopped being neat.



These two links take you to two videos of the same incident. They show some guy in an office completely lose his mind. Like seriously lose his shit. The best part though is that someone actually had a taser, although I think they had to run out to the car to get it:

Surveillance version
Co-Worker Cell Phone version (with sound)

Went to the park over the weekend. Pretty cool park. It's called O'Melveny Park and is located on Sesnon (off Balboa) in the SFV. Huge park, lots of hiking trail and signs that warn of Mountain Lions and Snakes. Couple pictures of the kiddies below.




View more pictures on my Flickr account.

My guess is that ALL of these people lost bets...

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20202195,00.html

Insomnia: inability to sleep or to remain asleep throughout the night.

I haven't been able to sleep for the last two nights. Not really sure why. I'm freaking tired, seems like I could fall asleep at any minute. But when it's time to "hit the hay" I'm wide awake. And I really enjoy sleeping.

Anyway, enjoy this video of Taylor running circles around J.T. from about a month ago...

After interviewing for three weeks straight, with 13 different people, and not getting the job, I needed a project. I needed to feel a sense of accomplishment. Not that there was nothing good to come out of the interview process, but it was pretty anti-climatic.

So, I decided to work on the front yard. There were a few things I've been wanting to do, so I thought yesterday would be the perfect day to get it done. In 105 degree heat. It's a dry heat though...

Below are the before and after pics. Enjoy...

Since it was 100 degrees outside today, and this made me laugh out loud (I'm no longer using lol), I thought I'd share.

WARNING: The following clip contains graphic violence and adult language. Viewer discretion is advised...

Didn't get the job. They gave it to someone who has been working at the City for 11 years, I've been here for 18 months. She has way more project experience but I was told that I interviewed well, no doubt I could have done the job and that my time will come.

Guess I need to listen to some NOFX on the way home....

Been two days since my 3rd round interview and we still don't know who got the job. HOPEFULLY we will find out today cause I can't take weekend of not knowing.

And now for something completely different...

I love NOFX. Every time I hear one of their songs it puts me in a good mood. Take this morning. I had a little too much to drink last night (whilst my wife and I caught up with a couple of high school friends) and I was dragging ass this morning. On comes NOFX's Johnny Appleseed, and viola, I'm ready to face the day. It was either that or my warm white-cake-sprinkled doughnut.

Guess I need to update this.

Got a third round interview for the ITBA tomorrow with my current boss, his boss and the director of public works for the city. The four of us in a room with things like, "Why do you want this job?" and "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" I think I'll do pretty well. I know I can do the job, hopefully they do too.

Got a second round interview for the new IT Business Analyst position. It's down to me and one other coworker. Not to be too cocky but I think I've got a really goos shot at the position. 2nd round is this Thursday. Should know by Friday. w00t!

Speaking of Friday, I will be playing 36 holes of golf followed by my monthly poker tournament. Then I have a 9:30am meeting on Saturday. Then Mother's day on Sunday. Weekends no longer exist for me.

Oh, one more thing. For some reason I've created a twitter account. Twitter, for those of you who don't know, is like a mini blog that can be updated from cell phones and IM clients. In other words, instant access so I can tell the whole world what I'm doing right now? The more I think about it, the more conceded it sounds. Why the hell would anyone care what I'm doing all the time? Me thinks I won't use it that much, if at all.

Until next time...

So, I didn't get the Econ Dev A.A. job. I actually didn't even get a second round interview. There were other "highly qualified candidates from other local municipalities" that were passed on to the next round. And one of those candidates received the nomination and will take (my) office on this coming Monday.

Good. Now I can focus on the IT Analyst position that pays about 13% more than I'm making now. I enjoy the work and will receive a sizable increase if I do get the job. I think I have an excellent shot at it, but I'm not taking anything for granted.

By the way, I don't think I've shared this picture of my beautiful family, I am a lucky man...

“I’m an experienced professional with an extensive background in marketing and technology. I’ve developed and implemented business and marketing plans for companies that range from 2 – over 1,000 employees, as well as major public events. I’ve written press releases and articles that have been published in both the Daily News and the Magazine of Santa Clarita. I am always eager to learn new methods and procedures and have implemented improvement techniques in my past positions that have saved time and money. I like working with people and enjoy group projects, but am also a self starter who doesn’t mind working on my own. I’m the Templeton Memorial manager for the Brenda Mehling Cancer Fund and a card carrying member of the Santa Clarita Jaycees. My short term goals are to complete my Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of La Verne and broaden my experience with the City.”

That's what I'm going to say when they ask "tell us about yourself" at my interview today. I'm interviewing for an Admin Analyst position in the Economic Development division here at the City. The only issue is that there will be an internal recruitment for an IT Analyst opeing in the next three days. There is a sizable difference in salary between the two (the IT position being much higher) and I'm very confident I would get that position. So what to do?

Today I will interview for the Econ Dev position, but in the back of my mind I hope the three person panel (Andree, Kristi and someone from the Chamber) make the decision for me easy for me.

From the Onion:

JPMorgan Chase Acquires Bear Stearns In Tedious-To-Read News Article

NEW YORK—As a volatile market reacts to news of the Bear Stearns fire-sale deal with a surge in stock prices but reduced bond yield, officers from JPMorgan Chase announced Monday that they were close to finalizing plans to purchase the securities giant in an incredibly complex series of financial maneuvers and obscure legal jargon that can only be described in the most mind-numbingly dense and unreadable way. Successfully adding yet another infuriating block of text to an already indecipherable paragraph, some investors said they hoped to stave off bankruptcy for Bear Stearns, which, during last year's impossible-to-write-about mortgage crisis, saw its value depreciate almost as quickly as readers' interest in this story. "Critics on the equity side have no economic standing because the deal valuation is based on intrinsic pricing models," said analyst Jack Pinard, only further bogging down the news for anyone who might be remotely interested in grasping what the fuck is going on. While speculation spread on Wall Street that shareholders might angle to boost the selling price beyond JP Morgan's very low but federally guaranteed bid, others claimed to be absolutely amazed that you even made it to the end of this sentence.

Do you play World of Warcraft? Are you a Male Virgin?

This is so cool. It's called Mapjack and it is a hi-res version of Google's Street view. It's only available in two cities (one of which is my old stomping grounds of S.F.). Here are some of my favorite views:

PacBell Park
NBCi Office Building
XOOM.com Office Building
Lombard St.
My Alameda Apartment
Best Cheese Steaks Ever
Site of the S.F. X Games

Wow, it's been a really long time since I've posted anything, almost a year. I guess it goes without saying that a lot has happened since then. INstead of try and recap it all, I'm making a pledge to do at least two posts a week. Maybe they won't always be very exciting. Sometimes they might just be links to cool stuff I find.

I am going to try and post more about the family and what's going on im my life. Why? Because some day I'm going to want to know what was going in our lives right about now. I guess I could say it will be a diary, but that makes me sound like a 10 year old girl. I could say it is a journal, but that sounds to artsy to me. So I guess I'll call it what it is, web log, a blog if you will.

See you next post...