Garnett21k

I'm back

2006-03-02T09:21:00.000-05:00

Wow, it's been awhile. Five months actually. I had an amazing Fall season at Tavern poker where I saw my rankings rise only to see it crash a fall during the Winter season. I blame it all on my nemesis, Alvin "The Great One". I got into a nice run where I knocked him out of tourneys a gew times and he branded me as "The Great One Killer". I thought it was hilarious so I added it to my profile and before I know it, I couldn't hit a flop to save my life. The name does have a mean connotation to it though, but it was more in fun and not mean-spirited. Either way, it threw some major bad poker karma. I'll save the bad beat stories though as nobody ever really likes to listen to them. Yesterday was the official start of Lent. I usually don't do the "I'm giving up..." thing, but this year I'm giving up poker and cussing. The cussing part may end up being more of a curbing instead of a giving up thing though since it's easier said than done. Hopefully I come back energized and have a change of luck. It's 9:33am and it's already 61F outside. Too bad I'm inside working...or rather ought to be working!

Day 12 WRGPT

2005-10-21T09:53:00.000-04:00

So it's Day 12 for WRGPT event. For those of you who don't know: WRGPT stands for World Rec.Gambling Poker Tournament. It is a FREE email-based poker tournament. There are no prizes nor are there any fees. The 15th annual version of this tourney will run from October 2005 to July 2006 or so. WRGPT predates online poker. WRGPT is run by unpaid volunteers on donated equipment and internet bandwidth. With that said, this is the first year in which I entered this tourney. It's a test of patience really. So far we are 10 hands in at my table. I have 12625 from the standard 10000 start. Good enough for 97th out of 1249. 1293 started the tourney so you can see that it's a slow moving tourney for sure.

I'm officially a US Citizen!

2005-03-24T20:19:00.000-05:00

Today I officially became an American Citizen. I moved here when I was 14. According to my math, I'd have been here for 16 years on Dec 17th, 2005. I've spent more than half my life here now, and it trully is my home now. I'm an Asian-American and gladly so.

My dad and I were sworn in around 10:30ish. It was a nice day. There was 100 of us that were sworn in. There was a dark, short man seated to my left and my dad was to my right. We were all very happy and grinning from ear to ear. The big chief that sworn us in was very funny and nice. He kept saying "For a nominal Fee..." It was hilarious. He had us rolling. It's definitely a great day. I just wished my mom was there with my dad and I. Hopefully her interview gets rescheduled soon. Interesting enough, this soldier was talking about how his citizenship got expedited so my mom's spot could have gone to him. Who knows! *lol*

I played Poker today. I dropped $20, but that certainly doesn't damper my day. Just the way things go. That's Poker!

Nice!

2005-03-21T09:46:00.000-05:00

What a good weekend of poker. I built my stake all the way to 134 from 50 bucks. I've been on a great run lately. UNC made it to the round of 16!

GOT IT!

2005-03-18T09:49:00.000-05:00

I GOT IT! My IPOD came today. It's 60GB too! I am so stoked! I dunno what the deal is, but for some reason it won't work. I think my USB is 1.0. It needs 2.0 to run. Bummer. I just have to get a firewire cable tomorrow.

Approved!

2005-03-17T17:26:00.000-05:00

No, I'm not still talking about the Photo Ipod---at least, not right now anyways. More on that later. So we drove to Charlotte today. Dad and I left at 6ish. We got there around 9am. It was snowing in Greensboro. I was thinking we might have to get a hotel and stay the night. Hopefully not. We were planning on going to IHOP for breakfast, but we couldn't find it. We settled on Bojangles. We had the steak biscuit combo with fries. That was ok, I think both of us would have been happier with the chicken biscuit though. We were wondering if Bojangles served lunch at breakfast time. I'm guessing no, but then again what do I know. We get to the INS office around 10 and the guard said we can't go in until 30 mins or so before our interview. I decided that we should drive around towards downtown and look for the Charlotte Colosseum. We got pretty far into downtown, but no Colosseum. We were heading back to Tyvola when my dad saw a sign that said Colosseum Area. Damn if it was on Tyvola Rd!*lol*

We couldn't go inside though. We might could have, but we saw someone at the gate and just figure we couldn't and besides it was time for the appointment. We saw this Filipino guy that was at the same fingerprinting appointment as we had a few months back. His appointment was at 10:30 and didn't go in until 11:40. We were thinking we would be there all afternoon. We weren't. The guy who was interviewing us was sharp and kept his appointments on the dot. We were in and out in 15mins. 12:50am we were driving back. We hauled ass and was back in Raleigh by 3:20pm. So by next Thursday Dad and I are going to be American Citizens! We're both excited! So this coming week will be short cause I work Monday to Wednesday and drive to Charlotte to be sworn in! Sweet!

75-73!!!

2005-03-06T19:01:00.000-05:00

What a game! Just when I thinking, "F***! Not again!", UNC pulled off a great come from behind win in the biggest rivalry in sports. UNC-Dook, it just doesn't get any bigger than that. College basketball's version of the great glory days Lakers-Celtics rivalry. With 3 mins left UNC trailed 64-73. Last year we would have folded, but not these Heels. These Heels have some fight in them. The freshman, Marvin Williams had been schooled all day by Duke senior Shelden Williams. But when it counted most, Marvin won the game with rebound and made the biggest shot of his life. It was one for the ages. Duke had 2 more chances as Reddick and Ewing both narrowly missed game-winning and game-tying shots. UNC 75 Duke 73. To come back and go on a 11-0 run to close the game is awesome! We got lucky, but luck is when preparation meets opportunity and we put ourselves in a position to win. Oh, what I would have given to be back at Dook to payback everyone who gave me grief during our 8-20 season. It's humbling to have to go through that, but even sweeter to make it all the way to the pinnacle of the basketball world.

Waiting...

2005-03-04T11:43:00.000-05:00

So I'm still waiting for my order to be processed. It's processing...processing... and processing still. As you might have been able to figure out, patience is not my strongest attribute. I get overanxious and impatient when it comes to these sort of things. Every chance I get, I log on to see the status and all for naught. I know I'm better off just waiting the 3-5 days and then check, but then again, what's the fun in that?*lol*

Work load today is fairly moderate. Nothing all that interesting going on. How sad is that? I did get an email from Jennifer Harman. I emailed her to request an autograph and she was such a sweetheart emailing back and said she'd be glad to send me one. She's awesome. I'm slowly, but surely building my autograph collection of Poker Pros.

Well, work beckons. More later. Have a great day!

YES!

2005-03-02T20:16:00.000-05:00

So I was being patient waiting for the 5 days for my account to be verified and approved. I was totally expecting it to take longer---into next week perhaps. To my surprise, I checked it a few mins ago and Voila! There it was staring back at me, Approved! I placed my order and so now we wait for 3-5 business days for the order to process and have it sent out. Unreal! Just the news I've been hoping to hear! OMG, I'm getting a Free Photo Ipod! I wanna go Wheeeeeeee!*lol*

Today was a really good day. The only bummer thing is that we applied for citizenship and my parents and I were scheduled for our interviews on March 17th. My mom got a notice today that her interview was descheduled. I find out that this isn't all that uncommon and usually is more to do with the office's workload issue than problems with the case itself. So we'll see what happens. Bummer cause we may have to make 2 trips now instead of one. Six hours back and forth so if you go you're pretty much used up your whole day. Hope that's all it is though.

Well, time to watch Lost, Alias and AI4. Peace out! Wheeee! *lol* =)

Can it be?

2005-02-28T08:12:00.000-05:00

I took another step closer to getting my Free Photo Ipod. I checked yesterday afternoon and saw that I got the 10 referrals and have met all the requirements. I clicked on the Verify button to get them to look at my account and see if everything is in order. My fingers are crossed that in 5 business days I get the good news that I can finally place my order. It's been a little over 5 weeks since I signed up on Jan 19th. Not too bad for getting 10 referrals. We'll see what happens I guess. Hopefully I get to have one and post proof pics and everything. I'm excited, but no doubt anxious because you never know with these things.

The weekend was good. I bought Super System 2 on Friday. I read some of it. It's really well written for all you poker wannabes. I played a lot of online poker over the weekend. So up and down that I pretty much was on even keel for the most part. I did place 1st and 2nd on Sit-and-Gos. Carolina beat Maryland yesterday. Another tough game in the books.

It's raining today. It's cold as freaking heck too. Hope it clears up by the time I head home.

T-minus 1

2005-02-23T07:50:00.000-05:00

I woke up early today. I once again fell asleep in the livingroom. The next thing I know, it was 4:30am. I promised a friend that I would put the latest Bachelorette episode on VHS so I set the tivo to do so. I got on the pute some and headed on to work.

Can it be? I'm one away from my very own Free Photo Ipod? Somebody pinch me! OwwwW! Did you have to pinch that hard? *lol* Anyways, I never got credit for my cousin Melvin signing up, but hopefully one more out of the last 22 that signed up ends up getting credited in the next day or two. Then, I get to place my order. I hope everything goes well. I'm still a bit weary about them coming up with some excuse as to why I can't get it though. Hope not. That would suck considering the time and effort I've spent in trying to get me one.

It's Wednesday. Yey! Not really. Well, sorta, kinda, maybe. I'm playing poker tonight at The Carolina Ale House. I hope I do just as good if not better than I did last time.

Happy Monday? Who are we kidding?

2005-02-21T07:50:00.000-05:00

It's Monday again. I'm hoping that it's a better one compared to last week when all seemed so surreal. I can't believe that was a week ago already. Yesterday was good. My cousins Joe, Jase, Stephen and I ended up going to Hooters for wings. We ordered 50 wings and tore into them. Tiffany was our blond, curly-haired, sweetie of a waitress. She was very nice and was tipped well for it.*lol* After that we took a vote and Shark Tales won over Friday Night Lights. Shark Tales was great and besides, I already had seen Friday Night Lights anyways. That reminds me, that DVD is still in my coat pocket!*lol*

My friend who lost her son called me this morning and said she'll be in tomorrow. Bless her heart. So far we have 4 trays of samples. Hopefully it's not that busy of a day being that it's President's day and all. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Tomorrow is not promised

2005-02-19T20:58:00.000-05:00

Chris' funeral was today. If there was one message to take away from the service, it's that "Tomorrow is not promised." How true, how true. I've always thought it funny, that people are practically talked about like saints when they die. In his case however, it's about right. Many stories like something as sweet as him helping two elderly mother-daughter strangers with their groceries, or one where he would always say, "I love you more!" One can only wish to be so lucky to have lived such a beloved life in which one touched so many. It was the most beautiful funeral services I've witnessed, though it was also one of the saddest. Funerals are about life as much as it is about death. It is both a sunset and a sunrise. If my funeral has just a fraction of the people that cared like they did him, I would be beaming down with a smile on my face. That's one thing that everyone remembered about him---how he always smiled.

UNC won today. I tivo'd it and watched it afterwards knowing that I was going to miss all but the first few minutes. I wouldn't doubt that Chris looked down and said something to the effect of, "Man, You guys are missing the game!" *lol* That's just the kind of person he is though. I'm glad they won today...one more win for him. The streak is alive! Clemson is still 0-fer in Chapel Hill!

What a week! It's still all surreal. When I was at St.Matthews earlier, It felt like I was watching it on TV or that it was a movie.

Roller Coaster

2005-02-17T09:32:00.000-05:00

To say that this week has been crazy would be a huge understatement. Describing it as a roller coaster is fairly accurate. I went to see my friend on Tuesday. As much as it was to be there for her, I came away feeling much better that she seemed in good spirits. That's not to say that it'll take a lot of prayer for her to get through this, but it assured me that she certainly would. The funeral is on Saturday. The sooner that gets here the better. We're still left wondering what in the world could have happened, and it's certain that we'll continue to be troubled by that until there are some answers. Tuesday was a busy day. With work and visiting my friend and the party. The party was great. The cousins and I watched American Idol. We were sitting there figuring out which group stayed and which ones stayed. The last of the guests left around 10:15 and we finished cleaning up around 11:55. I went through the presents and wallets seemed to be the 30th Bday gift as I got 3 of them. I also got 3 Tommy Hilfiger shirts, 16 pairs of socks( my Grandma got me 6 Gold Toe ones!), A big bag of Macadamia nuts, a dark blue dress shirt, a Nike hooded shirt, a bottle of wine, as well as $25 from B&N, 2-$25 Dick's Sporting Goods, 2-$20 Bamboo Asian Bistro gift certificates. So I guess you can say I cleaned up. OMG, my cousin Jason gave me a Bonzai Tree!!! That was sooooo AWESOME! I love it! I told him that I'm afraid I might end up killing it like the other ones. That thing is nice. I need to take a picture of that and post it on here. Around midnight we watched Commited and I slept like a log. Last night, I was still tired that I crashed right after watching UNC win on retro night.

This morning is fairly decent. Sample load isn't too bad. Hopefully it stays that way.

Well, I better be getting back to work. Have a great day!

This is what's wrong with society

2005-02-15T15:01:00.000-05:00

Now, stop me if I'm wrong, but I see NOTHING WRONG WITH THIS WOMAN! I think the whole "Oooo! Look at me! I can't get this skirt on" routine is just an act. I think she can button that up and even have space to inhale(insert Bill Clinton joke here). I can see if she was trying to get the skirt past her chest or something, but I think it would fit her waist just fine. To suggest that maybe she needs to be on the Atkins diet is totally absurd and this is why young women and society in general have this distorted view of what's healthy and attractive. I certainly find her attractive and wouldn't dare suggest for her to go on a diet. I wouldn't suggest any woman to go on a diet for that matter, but in her case she simply doesn't need one! CrAzY PEOPLE, GET A FREAKING CLUE! UGH! :-P

No words

2005-02-14T09:19:00.000-05:00

Certain life stages are more important than others. The theme for today was supposed to be my 30th Birthday and I really wasn't looking that much forward into it. We have to treat these things as blessings in that you only turn 30 once, you only live once. I walked in this morning and saw decorations. I was touched that they remembered, although it was really hard for them not to being that I talked about it a good bit last week on how I wasn't too thrilled to turn 30. That quickly changed as I look at the Black Forest Cake with a note that said, "Happy Birthday, Edwin. Chris is in ICU on life support." That hit me hard in that I was wondering what in the world happened. 5 mins later I get a phone call from my friend Magalene and she said her son was dead. Seemed like she said it like 5 times. All I could say was that I was sorry and I kept asking what had happened. She said they thought it was the flu. I couldn't believe what I was hearing and I didn't know what else to say. I can't believe that this young man around my age was gone just like that. Life is indeed as precious as they come and it definitely put things into perspective. I was weary of turning 30, when someone else was passing away. That really hit like a freight train. We should be thankful of every single breath and moment. And not only that, but the quote rings through, where it's not the number of breaths we take, but it's how many moments that takes our breath away. Death is never easy. I remember when my Grandfather passed away some...is it 8 years or so ago. I don't even know exactly how long ago, but it doesn't feel all that long ago. I'm weird with deaths. I initially don't cry and I feel guilty for being wired that way. I guess I do it on my own time and I let it go that way. It's not that I don't feel the loss, it's just the way I am.

I feel guilty about the thought that from now on I'll think of him on my Birthday and how I'm so selfish for thinking that.

It was so weird cause I had a somewhat odd moment. Yesterday, I had this aftertaste in my mouth that wouldn't go away. I tried brushing and rinsing with mouthwash and even toothpaste with baking sode. It stayed with me till this morning. I just blamed it on bad chewing gum, but now I'm not so sure. I've always thought I had somewhat of a psychic in me. Not the crazy I'll tell you the future thing, but to some degree some kind of heightened connection maybe. After I got the phone call I went to get coffee and it went away. Ok, so it could be the coffee, but then again who knows. Just weird coincidence? I'm not convinced it was. I just can't even imagine how she's doing right now. He was her baby. She asked me to just tell everyone to pray for her. Hope you could do the same.

Cleaning day

2005-02-13T20:30:00.000-05:00

It's now T-minus 5 hours till I turn 30. I just spent the better part of the afternoon cleaning up my room. I got so much junk! I dusted and shredded a bag full of stuff that Enron would have been proud! I found these chewing gum that I test marketed for some company awhile back. I realized a few hours later that at some point I must have spit them out. They were good, but they left me with a nasty after-taste that wouldn't go away. So, I spent my last day as a 29yo cleaning up. How exciting.

Yes!

2005-02-07T18:06:00.000-05:00

Got the check today from UPS! They did right by what happened, so they're back to even keel in my book. I'm just glad the whole ordeal was over. What can Brown do for you? I dunno. For me, they did right by me.

Whoa

2005-02-04T01:30:00.000-05:00

So, I've been putting this away message on my IM where I beg people to help me get my Free Photo Ipod. A friend of mine that I've been talking to online forever signed up for it. Initially, the plan was for me to pay her for whatever cost signing up incurred. She signed up and was like "don't worry about it, let's just say you owe me one" I'm thinking in my head WTF does that mean??? Anyways she then explains how she wants me to hang out with her sometime. First off let's establish the fact that I was never opposed to the idea. It was just something that never came up. I said, that I'm not saying no or promise when. Then I started thinking about it and it started eating at me. Not so much her, it's not about her. It's about the fact that I was merely asking people to help me get to my goal of getting an Ipod and it gets used as ammunition against me.

Granted, I shouldn't look at it that way, but that'd be sugar-coating it. I'm flattered, don't get me wrong. She's a cute gal. Who wouldn't hang out with her, but I just don't like being made to feel like I have to do something.

I even mentioned that I didn't think it was a good idea because of a previous experience, but that didn't seem to sway her any.

I'm definitely going to have to talk to her about it some more and tell her that I don't appreciate being made to feel that way. And again, she probably thinks she's doing me a favor by asking. And I dunno, to her it may not be a big thing. I think it's a big thing though. Cause it really seemed like she signed up with the intention of making me hang out. I know, I sound like a whiner about this, but that's just not cool in my book.

I just remember calling her once and it was the most awkward thing. If that was because of me, or if it was because of her is pretty irrelevant. I just didn't get a good vibe or a spark there. Another thing is that she's just coming off a relationship and I think it's too soon. I mean, I know that she just want to hang out, and not jump my bones, but it's just the way it fell into place. I don't like being backed into a corner and that sort of told me a lot. Not that I don't trust her, but in a way that planted some seeds of doubt there.

Poker Set...Amanda Bynes...Smokin!

2005-02-02T21:24:00.000-05:00

I got a call from Tom from UPS around 6 and he was checking to see if everything arrived ok. I said, "Yes, everything arrived ok." He asked me how much I paid for the Poker Chips. I said $95 and $34.95 for shipping. He said they would like to pay for them by sending me a check for $140. It's actually $130, but I wasn't arguing. I told them I appreciate them doing that. I also said to make sure to apologize to the board members as well as CEO Eskew. I also stressed that my main thing was that the obvious problems have to be addressed. He acknowledged that they will look into it and as naive as it sounds, I believed him. In my book, they really came through. Better late, than never! How ironic! *lol*

So I was feeling good when I left for The Carolina Ale House. Wednesday is World Tavern Poker Night. A lot of states have them. It's free and they got gift certificates, among other things, as prizes. It's really a lot of fun. It was the first time I've been and I played well, I thought. I lasted 20 mins into the 2nd hour, not great, but not bad. I was patient and checked to lure people to bet. I was chip leader when our table got broken up. I really got into a tough table where this guy Jonas was playing every hand and sickly winning every hand. This is what we call a douchebag. When my friends left, I had a stack of about 8000 and I got tired of seeing this guy bully the table around. I was sitting with a QK and I said screw it. I called a pre-Flop bet of 3400. The flop was 3,9 and 8. I went on to push all-in being first to act. He called and the guy in last position also called. The Dick flipped 10,9...the other guy flipped AK. I was sitting there praying for a Q. It was a 6 and the was the end of the night. I had to do it though. First because I was tired of him doing it and I had a great bit vested into the pot already anyways. The guy with AK had every right to stay in, just sucks that not a K or an Ace fell. 33% of the time it does so his chances weren't bad at all. I looked at it and said ok, it's a toss up. I could have lasted another hour or so, but I felt like I had to make a move on him before long. Blinds were up to 400/800 at that point so with 1200 commited every round, It was only a matter of time. The guy with the AK was there with his girlfriend. She was really cute and I noticed her right when I walked in the door. She looked a lot like Amanda Bynes. She saw me and her boyfriend talking with another Dickhead casualty talking about how unreal that whole mess was. She said, "Is this where the 'losers' hang out?" Man she was hot! She was at that table too and got knocked out by the same guy. I would have folded to her, I think! No, I know I would have! Haha! Eh, what do I care, I "won" me a poker chip set tonight as far as I'm concerned! *lol* :-P

YES! Woohoo!!!

2005-02-01T21:59:00.000-05:00

Yes! Woohoo!!! Mark the time, 6:31pm! Finally! After 25 long days of waiting, I got my chips! I was watching The Grudge(which was really good, not to mention scary!) when my buddy dropped my package off. As much as I bitched and complained recently, he's really been great delivering my packages. I made him work around Christmas with my packages arriving from 21st through the 25th and some thereafter. I've never had a problem before the 7th and hopefully today starts a streak that lasts for a long long time with no problems. Tom from UPS must have been waiting by the pute cause he called me at 6:33pm. Too bad I missed his call though cause I was too busy opening the package. As you can see, it's nice and brand new. Steve from Best Bet Limited even threw in a pack of dies. The 2 decks of cards were in great condition as well. It's a huge sigh of relief that's for sure. Tom said he was going to call me in the morning to see what else they can do to keep me as a good customer...we'll see what that means tomorrow. I called him and left a message so I guess I'll talk to him in the morning.

It feels good that they're actually making an effort. It's some sort of vindication that all my efforts and frustrations weren't for naught. It's amazing how a few simple phone calls makes a huge difference.

I met a friend last night. She watches about the same amount of TV that I do---too much! *lol* She and I got into a discussion about relationships. She just broke up with someone after 3 years. I on the other hand remain single partly by choice and partly by chance. Interesting topic, pretty serious between 2 people who barely knew each other 24 hours.

Watching House on Fox. That is such a great show. It's the episode about a trumpet player who had a DNR(Do Not Resucitate) and Dr.House saved him anyways. Great episode. AOL and AIM are both not working. IMs and Buddy Lists are dead in the water. How rude to disrupt millions of convos!

Hot Dog! I got my Poker Chips! I see UPS stock going up tomorrow. They're on the path to forgiveness, but not too fast...we'll see what they tell me tomorrow.

40K in 8mins...

2005-01-30T21:00:00.000-05:00

40K in 8 mins...in play money!*lol* So it's not real money, but it sure was a rush! One hand that started it, I had 7-8 suited clubs. There were 2 clubs that fell on the flop(AK) and I raised it 250. I started with 2000. The game is 5/10 No Limit Texas Hold-em. One guy raises over the top and I call. The turn was a 5 of hearts. I raised another 500. The river was a 10 of clubs. I end up pushing all-in. Four others end up calling and I won 8000. Then I had KJ off-suit. I raise 500 preflop. A couple of people call. Flop comes down KQK. I'm in last position and people started jamming the pot. I had to call a 3500 raise. When the turn came I made a 500 bet. When the river came up with a low card, I move all-in. 2 people call and all of a sudden I'm sitting with around 27000. I won another hand with QJ suited-hearts. I needed one more heart after the flop, it never came, but my pair Hilton sisters held up to push me past 37000. I folded a 9-3 on the next hand. After that I only added another 5K, but the way I did it was beautiful. I was holding TJ spades. I raise 200 preflop. Some raise over the top with 500 and the next guy pushes it to 1500. Normally, I'd stay away. I called just because I had a huge stack. The flop comes down 9K5. I raise 500. two people call and are all-in. The guy who raised 1500 calls. Turn comes down Q. I'm sitting with a straight and I check. He checks. River was a 5 hearts. I check again. He raises 1000. I move all in. He calls. SUCKER! I walk away with 42,775. All this in 8 mins. It was awesome. I'll quit talking about poker now. *lol*

Watched Smallville today. It was a recording from Wed. It's the episode where this girl who can teleport was released from being locked up. She has this bracelet that keeps her from using her powers. She was obsessed with Clark Kent before and tried to kill him and Lana Lang. The interesting thing about the episode is how it touched on the fact that it's so hard for Clark to find someone and he wanted so bad for it to be her. She already knows his secret, not to mention she's cute as heck. Now, if only she was sane! Right, the sane part. She did end up betraying him again by giving him a necklace with red Kryptonite. They ended up going to Vegas and getting married. She takes it off him while they were getting ready to um...consummate their love and he's all like whoa WHOA! The bracelet is off at this point and she uses her powers to teleport outta there. She takes a bullet for him from the crazy psychologist who apparently was in love with her and tries to kill Clark. Clark asks why she did that since she knew he could take the bullet fine. She tells him that she promised to protect him from anyone or anything. She ends up being fine. He visits her and she apologizes...again. They end up hugging at the very end, so who knows where it's headed. I love this show, it's has such a dark cloud of mystery and a dark side to it. Not to mention, Lana Lane is hot. Then again, I wouldn't mind teleporting gal to be in more episodes either. But yea, she would be so perfect since she does adore him and he seems to genuinely care about her---I mean, c'mon, if she was ugly he would so not talk to her anymore after everything she's done! It does have it's perks for sure!*lol* Makes me wonder where Lana fits into all this all of a sudden. Ehhh, what the heck am I talking about, Lana and Clark will have some sexual tension again in the next episode! hehe.

Iron Chef America Now...Ming Tsai V Bobby Flay...gtg watch. :-P

There is hope yet for UPS!

2005-01-29T20:48:00.000-05:00

Just when it seems the bridge will forever be burned between UPS and I, Tom from UPS gives me a call around 7:30pm tonight. He said he just got the message tonight and that he works directly for the CEO and he wanted to hear what happened. I explained to him why I was so frustrated. I also apologized to him about what I have said in some of the emails. I told him that I might have...okay, I have crossed the line in some of the things I said in the email. It was humbling because I think being that I never expected to hear back from them, I had no pause in what I said. I meant 98% of it, but the insults and cheap shots were just a guy pissed off for being screwed in the 3 week long period. I can admit it, when I get on a war path it really is wide open and you best get out of the way.

It was surreal almost. Like I said, I didn't expect them to call or contact me to make things right. Tom told me that he wished he gotten the message sooner. I kinda wished he got the message before 3pm Friday. Being that it was the time I was finally told no way they'd cover Next Day, where they essentially washed their hands of the situation and passed responsibility to the shipper. The shipper had no choice but to send it ground. If I were in his shoes I probably would have sent it Next Day Air anyway, no matter the cost. It's gone on long enough. Not saying I'm better or anything, just that I honestly feel I would have just taken the loss---of course had I been the shipper, I would have never settled on Ground. Of course, I fully understand the shipper's situation though.

I told him that the replacement shipment was sent and is due to arrive on Feb 1st. I knew I wasn't going to get it this month! I just knew it! *lol* I gave Tom the original tracking number and he apologized for what's happened and said he'll get the other managers involved to fix the situation. Vindication! Finally! It felt so good just to have it acknowledged. So, we'll see what happens from here. I was so close to selling my UPS stock yesterday. It was 3:45 and I sad there contemplating. Why I didn't, I really don't know. Impulse was telling me to, but I stopped myself as I started to place the sell order. This may have a happy ending after all. What can Brown do for me? We shall see.

UPS...The saga continues...

2005-01-27T18:13:00.000-05:00

Just when I thought there was a light at the end of the tunnel, the tunnel gets longer and longer still. Ok, last night when I took a 2 hour nap around 5pm, the shipper calls and leaves a voicemail message saying that UPS said they would fax him the claims paperwork about 90 mins from when he was leaving the message. He said he's probably gonna be able to send the package today, next day air. I called him today and asked him the status. He said everything was cool and that it will ship today and I should get it on Friday. Then, he calls around 4 and said that UPS will only reimburse him the original shipping cost---meaning UPS ground. I tell him to hold on and I'll call UPS myself. First of all, he's stupid in that he should have fought harder and not taken no for an answer. Second, UPS in typical UPS only fashion tries their best to screw me over...again...again...again and again. If you've been reading then you know that this has been going on since the 7th! UGH! I hope I never meet that Tammy woman who originally investigated this since she's the root of all this evil mess.

So, I call Leora, one of the supervisors at UPS. She tells me to tell the shipper to hold off sending and she'll try to get approval by tomorrow morning. She didn't promise anything, just that she'll see what she can do. At this point, I got nothing to lose waiting another day since if she does get approval, then I get it shipped tomorrow and I get the package Saturday. If not, then I get it Tuesday instead of Monday. Mind you, at this point, it's more the principle of it because of the compounding comedy of errors(haha...not that I'm really laughing here) that has ensued. They have yet to take the initiative to correct this problem. To Leora's credit, she's one of the few that actually followed up on the matter and seems sincerely trying to fix the problem.

I have yet to hear from any of the UPS "higher-ups" that I emailed yesterday and today. I blasted them again today and posted the question, "If Micheal Dell or Jeff Bezos(Amazon)emailed any of them, would they have done the same and not responded?" Of course the answer would be that they would. Again, me and my measly 20 shares of UPS stock makes me an owner. I know that sounds corny, but it's a fact. If I'm a shareholder and get this treatment, then good luck to everybody else. *lol* And really, I don't really hold myself in higher regard just because I own the stock. As a shareholder though, I am really disappointed. Btw, UPS stock was at $84/share on the 7th...today it closed at $74/share. $10/share drop since the Brown started shitting on me---coincidence? You decide!*lol* I'm telling you, bad karma goes a long way. Cept in my case, that's a double whammy! The CEO Mike Eskew sucks big time for not responding, he's useless as far as I'm concerned.

So, here we are, day 20 of this long twisted journey and still waiting. Instead of asking What can Brown do for you? I'm starting to ask WWFExDo...What Would FedEx Do? Or WWDHLD? What Would DHL Do? Brown is the Shit...no shit! They're SHIT!*lol*

We'll see what happens tomorrow. Hopefully there's a good result in waiting overnight. I just know I'll feel much better the sooner I get this thing resolved.

Oh, and I got 13 referrals so far in my quest to get a Free Photo Ipod. So far only 1 has completed though. 1 down, 9 to go!

I finally soothed my craving of White Castle burgers. I bought a box at Sams. It's so good, omg! I ate 4 of them and I could have eaten another 6 for sure!*lol* I've been craving it since watching Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle.

I'm so glad it's Friday tomorrow. Casual Day! Woohoo! Happy Happy Friday!

UPS...DIE! DIE! DIE!

2005-01-26T09:38:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I said it! But really though, I think at this point I'm entitled to it! I was so frustrated with one of the reps yesterday that I hanged up on her. I don't think I've ever done that before...ok, maybe to a telemarketer who wouldn't shut up. This time though it was more the...yada yada yada...UGH! *CLICK* She was being obnoxious in that she kept insisting that the shipper has to be the one they deal with, and even said ebonics wise, "R U with Best-Bet-Lim-i-ted?" How rude! So I hanged up on her sorry ass. All I was asking for was to have to claims form refaxed to the shipper cause he didn't get it. They're acting like I'm asking for a miracle or something! The shipper at this point it pissing me off too cause he's dragging his feet and not taking the initiative to send me my damn chips. I finally got a return/damaged package label and I packed it yesterday with a ton of tape!

He's pretending to wait for the forms, but he's really stalling to get it out. Either way he has to ship it anyway since I'm sending everything I've gotten back. It's stupid. I just want this thing resolved. You know, I found the email addys of the CEO and a ton of other board members and managers? Didn't do any good emailing them since there has been no progress yet.

Slow day as far as work. Hopefully enough to stay busy. Then again, I'm blogging so it can't be all that busy! At least it's hump day!

Tues-A-Day!

2005-01-25T08:23:00.000-05:00

Happy Tuesday to everyone! I know! I know! I'm a bit too cheerful this morning. Quite the contrary. I'm just sitting here typing and having a cup of coffee (the caffein hasn't even kicked in yet!*lol*) Anyways, have you ever noticed how Meteorologists seem to not know what they're doing? We were supposed to get a good bit over the weekend and came up empty. Don't get me wrong, after my trying trek last Wednesday, the last thing I'm wishing for is more snow! Is it just me, or should we just have people on watch towers all over the city? Just give em all walkie-talkies and if they see anything they can alert us. "SNOW! Coming from the North-East! Do you copy?" "Yes, I'm seeing some dense clouds heading west...It's gonna rain in 5...4...3....[Thunders]...NOW!" *lol*

The poker chip saga has taken a turn for the better hopefully. I'm told that UPS was supposed to fax the paperwork to the guy who sold me the chips by the end of the day yesterday and that I'd have a shipment next day aired then. I'm sure it'll be more like today or tomorrow and it'll be 2nd day air somehow and I'd eventually get it ohhh....say Friday---AGAIN! I hope not though. I'm ready for this thing to be over with. UPS is supposed to pick-up everything I recieved and the seller is sending me a complete new set. Notice I said "supposed", since I don't expect anything to be smooth sailing at this point.

Work has been okay this week. It's a little early still, but hopefully not too bad.

The coffee is luke-warm now. See, what I sacrifice for typing my heart and soul? Ok, I guess it's not that kind of blog, yet still---my coffee will be cold soon is all I'm saying! :-P

Well, don't just sit there all day. Go outside...in the blistering winter cold...or go load up some songs into your new Ipod Shuffle. What do I care? It's your time to waste, right? Go fix you a snack! Strive for world peace! Watch TV while jogging in place. Take a nap...wish I could!

399? WTF?!?

2005-01-22T11:53:00.000-05:00

Ugh!!! I'm FED UP with UPS! I finally get the package at 8:05pm last night and I spent the next 40 mins counting all the chips. The wrappers on them were all gone and they looked like they were swept with a broom into the box. The box was shipped Next day Air from Kansas City MO from UPS corporate. The box was in order and taped properly. One deck of cards were missing and the one that did arrive was a mess. There were 3 dies that came with it. Must have come from some other lost package. When I finished counting I was 101 chips short of 500! I was HOT! It was after hours so the shipper was gone. I called UPS who was not much help in trying to say that they have to investigate and inspect the package on Monday. Mind you they took forever before to investigate and neglected to come by the house the first go round. Now, they want to look at the stupid package that THEY SENT and see that oh...big surprise, it's intact and they wasted everybody's time---this come Monday! I can see it now though. Bottom line the one who processed it obviously didn't do her job. Not gonna mention any names, Tammy, but she was stupid for not making sure. I think it's just a ploy to delay processing the claim.

The thing that bugs me is that the whole correspondence between UPS and I, nobody seems to know what another department is doing or said previously. Last night I spoke to a Supervisor and she told me that they would go ahead and process the claim. I get transfered to a Claims Rep and lo and behold, he had no idea and I had to explain again. I asked him to find out which supervisor I spoke to earlier and he said there's no way to find that out. After cussing him out or venting, I said look we're not getting anywhere, this is BS. I said call the shipper and settle it with him. Just when I was resolved to calling it a night, I called the main UPS number again and asked if they could find out who I spoke to. 5 mins later, I was talking to Bianca and she and I were laughing at the fact that I don't work there and was able to find out and someone who works for them can't seem to manage to find it out internally since it's in the system to begin with.

I called the shipper and he's looking into it. We've agreed that we need to request for them to authorize shipping a Next Day replacement for the missing portion. So the Chip Saga continues! Fun! What Joy! Yey! Oh, BOY! *Sighs* This has gone on for 2 wks as of yesterday. I ordered these on the 30th, mind you! Bad enough that I had to sort through dusty cold Poker Chips last night! Being a UPS stock holder, I think it might just be the right time to sell. To say I'm disappointed would be a gross understatement---more like disgusted at this point! Ah, the weekend. We're expecting freezing rain. More stuff to look forward to! Have a good one! =)

Free Photo Ipod

2005-01-21T09:07:00.000-05:00

I'm sure all of you heard about the free ipods from before but these things are awesome! They are 40gb and hold 10,000 music files and 25,000 pictures! They are great. It's so easy to sign up. I got an instant credit for doing the Blockbuster DVD online rental. It even had 2 in-store rental coupons! You should sign up fast cause quantities are limited. Complete an offer and refer some friends to do the same and they ship you the Photo Ipod for FREE! Here's the link:

FREEE PHOTO IPOD

I don't really feel like working today, isn't that a surprise? *lol* I did get home in 16 mins yesterday! I was excited about that. Much better than the 6 hours the day before!

UPS is still screwing around with shipping my chips! I doubt I'll get it before the weekend is up. Those BASTARDS! I need to call the guy who sold me the chips again and bother him about it. I'm so ready to get this darn thing resolved! Have a good weekend guys!

Flurries my ass!

2005-01-19T23:15:00.000-05:00

Today's forecast called for possible flurries in the afternoon. Boy, to say they were OFF, would be the understatement of the year! We didn't get a great amount of accumulation, but we had a good bit of dusting that turned into solid ice glaze on secondary roads. The beltline(Freeway) conditions were great. Mostly clear, if it weren't for the traffic it'd be an okay drive. The smart folks at work finally decided to close shop at 3:30pm. I left work at 3:45pm. The general consensus was that there would be traffic because of accidents, but I seriously doubt that any of us were prepared for what turned out to be a 3,4,5,6,7,8 hour adventure. In my case, I finally made it some 5 hours and 45 mins later. I was playing with the camera on my Samsung A670 phone, and I took that pic while was sitting in traffic after 2 hours. I thought it was neat that I got it at 5:55. While snapping the pic, I thought to myself that surely the way the day is going it was gonna change to 5:56 and mess it up. Luckily, though irrelevant, it did. Mind you, this is a drive I usually make in 15-20mins---I've made it in 9 mins at 5am before! It's like 9 1/2 miles from the house. It took me an hour and a half just to go up the road from work and to the on-ramp. It was 3hrs, 15mins just to make my exit some 7 miles away! I had to pee really bad so I stopped by CVS. I got some Nutter Butter Bites and Snapple Lemon Iced Tea. I was so thirsty. The Snapple almost came back to haunt me as little did I know I had to sit another 2 1/2 hours in traffic.

The longest drive I've ever taken was 4 1/2 hours to Myrtle Beach and another time from Vegas to Riverside in Cali. Long driving is easy compared to being in traffic. I was resolved paying Texas Hold'em on my phone. It was a trial version that was supposed to only last 10 mins, but for some reason it kept going. Not exactly the safest thing, but it was a good way to pass 30 mins. I only stopped playing for fear of the battery dying. This was some hour after taking my exit. Mostly a slow crawl to dead stop.

Today was a rough day to say the least. I had a rack of 16, black engine oil samples poured out in test tubes drop to the floor right before lunch. It splattered oil on my shoes and pants. I'm getting good at blotting that crap with Heptane these days. Not to mention wiping that crap off the floor. Little did I know, that was the easy part of my day. It's funny how things work out though. One minute I was complaining about how North Carolinians ought to know by now that they will wreck if anyone even spilled a Smoothie on the road. The next, I was just praying to make it home safely.

It was quite pathetic though. When I maneuvered past the last obstacle and saw the last traffic light(turned out to be one more, but then again who's counting), I looked up and saw the open road and said, "Ahhhhhhhhhh....FREEDOM!" *lol* It was a moment one only appreciates after driving foot by foot, if not inch by inch for 9 1/2 miles!

Dinner was good though! Right now I'm gonna just chill back and fall asleep as I'm sure won't be too long from now.

Btw, update on my stolen Poker Chips! The guy who sold em to me was ready to send me a replacement shipment on Monday. Then Monday was MLK day, so that pushed it back to Tuesday. So then UPS had to mess it all up by saying they found em and they will get back with the seller. Well, I called the guy today and UPS has yet to get in touch with him. He was supposed to check with them this afternoon, but never did call me back. Of course with the cell phone signal going in and out he might not have gone through, although I'm sure he'd have left a message though. Well, I guess I'll try again tomorrow. I should just be like, "Dude! I ordered those damn chips last year!" hahaha. It's true though...eventhough it was like Dec 30th. Still, it's been awhile!

Have a good one!

The Village

2005-01-18T08:12:00.000-05:00

The Village.Many people hated this movie. It's not The Sixth Sense, but I think it still showcased M.Night Shyamalan's ability for suspense. As far as the big twist, at first glance, it may not seem the shocker one expects, but the magnitude of what's revealed is very deep. The whole wondering if there are creatures in the woods or not was great in that one minute you think you have it figured out, the next you don't and it comes full circle until your left examining what just happened and how it impacts the lives of the villagers. I watched it when it came out and again on DVD. Both times left me with more questions than I started with. What was Lucius' color? Red? Yellow? Who was skinning the animals? Was it Noah? Is it possible that something is out there? It's a movie that requires a lot of thought, which may be why a lot of people just didn't get it. I think just the fact that there was a "Blair Witch-like" scene got a lot of people up and arms about it. Was I entertained? Yes! And that's what movies are all about. Don't get me wrong though, I'm all for thoughtless movies like Dude Where's My Car also! =)

1,000,000

2005-01-16T13:09:00.000-05:00

It's amazing to me how some 13 months and 2 weeks have passed since we reached our millionth sample at work. It took 22 years, with myself partaking in some 4 years and probably some 300,000+ samples. We're up to 1,114,000 right now so we estimate to reach the next million roughly 6 years from now. We finally took that sign down and I had an idea to get everyone on the current staff to autograph the millionth sign. Mine is the one on the top left, just in case you're wondering. Why do I want to keep it? I think it's something I was proud to be a part of. As corny as it sounds, it's history and I thought that it would be a fun thing to do to get everyone to sign it---which it was! How else could I get all their autographs? If any of us goes postal and end up on the news then I can EBAY that sucker! Just Kidding!*lol*

I've been lazy to post the past 2 days. I think the fact that nobody has yet to leave a comment is making me wonder if anyone out there is reading. If your reading this, please be so kind as to leave me a brief comment.

I spoke to the guy who sold me the poker chips! He said that he hasn't heard from UPS, but he will go ahead and send me a replacement shipment on Monday. I'll be so glad when I finally get them. I'm an avid poker player. I mostly play on FullTiltPoker.com Not for real money though. I have a lot to learn before I earn a seat at the bigger tables. I'm currently reading Phil Hellmuth's book Play Poker Like the Pros It's quite good actually, but I hear it's not as good as Doyle Brunson's Super System.

We had some sleet this morning. It's all gone now, but it is cold as heck. It's ok though since I plan on staying indoors and watching the Vikings-Eagles and the Colts-Patriots. Speaking of which, it's time for the game. Have a great day!

Blogetiquette

2005-01-13T13:04:00.000-05:00

Don't have a cow cause I made up the word, "Blogetiquette". I was thinking last night about the fine line between keeping it real and taking close family and friend's feelings into account. Where do you keep the blogs real and where do you draw the line on what to post and what not to post. Tough call really. Last night I was frustrated about a certain event and I had epiphany regarding this matter. It sounds like a simple enough question, but the answers aren't exactly clear cut, nor is it black and white. Instinct tells you that friends and family comes first---as it should. Then upon careful consideration, you have to ask yourself about the purpose of blogs to begin with. To me it's an avenue to express my feelings whether it be something simple and seemingly mindless or complex and intrinsically deep and personal. One has to proceed with caution since your audience could change from strangers to close friends and relatives in no time. Of course you don't actually have to sacrifice one or the other. You should still share an important thought or event that's sensitive, but you might have to be more discreet and creative in how it's presented without calling out who you're talking about. Like take an event where a friend confides in you about a secret you can still share certain aspects of it without sharing the actual secret to everyone. It's certainly something to ponder and ruminate and if for anything else be aware of. Just a few more hours till I call it a day. I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday! =)

Commited

2005-01-12T08:22:00.000-05:00

I'm really starting to get into this show. I watched last week's episode and this week's was even better. The lead character Nate writes down everything. He has yellow pads like you won't believe all over the place. His Girlfriend, Marni and he, have been dating for months now and she realizes that she's never been to his apartment. He has a good reason for keeping it from her as you can see!*lol* They get intimate and he got her out of there before it got light out, by asking if she wanted to get some pie. She says later that she should have stayed over just to see the apartment, damn her weakness in pie. *lmao* She breaks in with her friend Tess the next day. She said it's almost like they're standing in his brain or something. They had to sneak out cause he called her and said he was on the way home. He finally decides that it's time to show her the apartment, except he cleaned it and she finally asks where's all the stuff? It ended with her saying she didn't care about his baggage and that if he hasn't noticed she was still there. You should check it out sometime, you won't be disappointed.

So, I finally get a call yesterday from the guy who sold me the chips. He said UPS said they'd look around to see if they can find em. I dunno about you, but they ain't finding no chips. Those chips are long gone! He said they would get back with him in 5 days so he said to call him back Friday or Saturday. He acknowleged the fact that he knows I'm anxious to get my chips so as soon as he gets confirmation of the claim he'll send one out to me. That's fair enough, I can't really expect him to ship me out a whole nother set without being assured he gets paid.

It was pretty chilly this morning. The weather has been crazy. Warm, cold, warm, cold. It's supposed to get warm the next to days in the 70s then drop like a rock over the weekend. It's all good though, cause I'll be watching some football anyways. I'm just thankful, I'm not a plant cause with this weather I'd be going out of my mind. Spring? Winter? Summer? WTF! MAKE UP YOUR DAMN MIND ALREADY!

I got my prepaid iTunes cards yesterday. I used half of one $15 card for music till I discovered Bill Cosby, Seinfeld and Lewis Black comedies. Lewis Black is awesome. It's raw uncensored humor! He was talking about IHOP and how they freaking give you a pitcher of coffee regardless of whether your by yourself or not. It's like 15 cups of coffee. You get excited cause maybe just maybe someone would come along and sit with you. So you take your creme and your sugar and you mix it all in and drink the whole gosh darn thing. Before you know it, your yelling, "WHERE'S MY DAMN PANCAKES? BRING ME MY DAMN PANCAKES...WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? THAT'S JUST TOO MUCH F-ING COFFEE!" I was dying laughing.

Stolen by UPS

2005-01-11T09:50:00.000-05:00

So I bought these poker chips on Ebay around Christmas time and it was delivered last friday. It was supposed to be a 26 lbs package and I was surprised when I picked it up and it was 4 lbs, if that. You would think they would notice the missing 22 lbs, but nope! It seems as if the tape on the side was peeled and the chips were removed by lifting the top and pushing down on the side flap of the box and slid it out. All the packing peanuts were gone and all that was left was the case. Crazy stuff, but what can you expect from something shipped out of NY. UPS called yesterday and asked a few questions. They didn't seem to have a problem with the insurance claim by the seller. I'm sitting here waiting to hear from the guy. He said 15 mins, it's been more like 20-25 already. I'm retentive like that though, when someone tells me something I expect them to do it. I guess that's a bad thing cause that leads to a lot of disappointment. I totally made myself sound bitter there. I'm not---quite the opposite really. I'm just hoping this gets resolved soon enough.

First blog

2005-01-10T08:35:00.000-05:00

Hi! This is my first "blogging". I'm supposed to be working, but ehhh. I figure it's a good use to a few minutes. I'm 29...soon to be 30(Valentines day...awww...NOT!*lol*) Yeah, i'm really looking forward to that. Notice I can be quite sarcastic! So this on the 10th day of Jan 2005, I venture into the blogging realm. I feel as if I should say something clever after that, but I'm drawing a blank right now. You? No? Good! Shut up! And no, I didn't have caffein yet. Imagine that, caffein or sugar in my system---scary thought, isn't it? I work as a Lab technician, not quite as exciting as a junior executive analyst at a firm, but it manages to pay the bills nicely...ok adequately...barely. I've been working here since '97. I escaped briefly from 2001-2003, but what can I say, I'm just a glut for punishment I guess. I enjoy it though, but don't tell them that. Well, I really do need to get back to working. Check back soon.