winter break is almost over.

well, winter break is almost over. this time of year i am very thankful for the week off from work that our company gives us for holiday shutdown. although this is the second Christmas (the first one being 1999) that I didn't go home for Christmas, it was all good. My cousins Alice and Christine hosted Christmas dinner for the socal family. It was great, good food and another good time for the cousins to hang out. During the time of, I was able to do some stuff, like clean up and ogranize the kitchen a bit; catch up with some work (still more work to do, but its okay); work on my friend's wedding video, this I need to get done before the break is over; and do alot of sleep.

I think I have a bit of a cold, and it doesn't help that my sleeping hours are all wierd, but its all good.

long island.

well, for lunch today i shared part of my companions long island ('ice tea'). it was quite tasty. got to remember that, "i like long islands." its the day before Christmas Eve, today was a very very short day in the office, only an hour. No worries, i didn't charge any time to my time card for my time spent in the office, or rather the lack of time spent in the office. the primary reason i went into the office was to be able to eat lunch with a friend. it was a great lunch. with a great view of manhattan beach on a great typical sunny socal day.

now i am home, let the break from work begin. (though i will be working next week while most folks in the company won't be, today, i am going to think and feel as if i won't be). time for year long neglected chores to be taken care of like, putting together the pile of goodwill clothes and such; organzing room, and filing/dumping files, etc.

time to be productive.

random occurences of coolness at work.

occasionally there is a random act of coolness at work that i get to participate in. tonight was one of them. though most weeks are tough, and i sometimes wonder, is it worth the stress... though this may not answer is it worth the stress, it sure makes the job fun. so, the past few days, the regional managers i work with have been, well, to put it bluntly, stressed out. that's because they have had to host all their customers in this biennial conference. the conference can be a bit intense, as they are talks and sessions about how our products are serving our customers. and this conference usually ends with an event, i mean, like a super fun amazing event. the fact i was invited was very cool, means that i am appreciated for what i do. and they can't just invite all the folks that they do appreciate, since the guest list is slim, it is an honor and privelage to be a guest to their end of conference event. i also had the opportunity to invite a guest, so i invited Jordan to accompany me. this year it was at the WB studios. which was just plain AWESOME! i mean, words can't describe the feeling of seeing things that you have only seen on tv. the WB studios in LA film quite a bit of stuff, like Gilmore Girls, ER, Joey, and the West Wing. Amazingly, they have also filmed Friends -- which they still have quite a bit of the set hanging out to be shown to special guests (like us). We got to see the Central Perk set, including everything from the couch, to the bar stools, i mean it was the full Central Perk set. Later on in the museum we got to see other artifacts from Friends like Monica's kitchen and front door. Of course a ton of movies have also found their streets to coincide with those streets on the lot. normaly photos aren't allowed (and i was told, don't bring a camera), but i guess we got elite treatment as there were certain areas in which our guides allowed still photography, mostly the non-active set stuff... like the Central Perk set ... but no camera, Jordan and I were so bummed we didn't have a camera. i am hoping that someone that i know can get me photos from our tour ... which would be awesome.

So, after being rolled around the backlot and sets, we got to go to their museum and hang about after taking a huge "family" picture in front of this theater looking building. it had our name in lights, which was cool. in the museum, there was an open bar upstairs with the Harry Potter exhibit, massive exhibit i must say, pretty freaky, and downstairs it was a bunch of costumes and set stuff from shows like Dukes of Hazards, Eight is Enough, Bablyon 5, West Wing, Third Watch, Charmed, along with posters of the typical WB shows. Jordan and I had a discussion regarding if Chad Michael Murray from One Tree Hill was the main guy in A Walk to Remember.... I said no, but couldn't remember the name of the guy, (rum and coke was, well, um, not helping my memory). we got to take a souvenir picture with a green screen that put us under the orange 01 car from Dukes of Hazards, which was pretty cool. since i failed to decide to buy anything at the gift shop, that is my token to remember the tour.

anyhow, so that was the WB museum then it was dinner. Jordan estimates that the dinner (either beef or salmon, with salad appetizer, wine, dessert, coffee) would be say 80 bucks for two people in a nice resturant in the real world where dining guests pay for their own meal. (i don't think my salmon was all the way cooked, but that is another story...) dinner was nice, and the i enjoyed the white wine (though Jordan said his red wine was a bit bitter).

after dinner, we walked to a special viewing theater where we got the pleasure of watching a screening of "the Aviator". This was very cool, as our company's beginnings starts with Hughes Aircraft. Howard Hughes was smart, but eccentric and i thought the movie was well done (though since i don't know much about Howard Hughes, I am not sure how much of it is true and how much is poetic license -- guess its time to read about Howard). the movie is some three hours, worth it, because i enjoyed the story, but glad it was over when it was, as three hours is quite long.

so, yeah, there can be some coolness with work... thanks goes to Chris, Dan, Greg and Dean for noticing the work i do. thanks for inviting me to hang out with your crew and our customers for a wonderful evening. (and yeah, like these guys will ever read my blog, in case they do, i am super appreciative for the awesome opportunity to work with them and learn from them).

is being tired from this sweet event worth missing out on snowboarding yet again this month, i would say yep it is. i think being tired from this event also helped me realize that although i'd like to run away and have a bit of fun, there is some house stuff that i need to start getting a handle on. and, i will try my darndest not to work on work stuff, we'll see how that works out.

(after some internet searching, Shane West was the main guy in A Walk - duh i should've known that - ... not sure, but I don't think Chad was in A Walk).

Cooked carrots…

[food – airline dinner]
Normally I avoid eating cook carrots, not sure why. I mean, I enjoy eating raw carrots, but I guess my palate doesn’t like cook carrots, normally. But tonight, while flying back from d.c., I got the “chicken” (versus the “pasta”). And in the chicken dish, which was quite yummy for airline food, there were small slices of carrots, amongst corn kernels and string beans. And I ate them all. I think part of the reasoning is when I am hungry; I won’t pick out foods, like cooked carrots, bell peppers, onions, etc. Weird, I know I should be less picky about my foods; just the taste and texture of cook carrots don’t make sense to me.

[work frustrations]
I thought I was pretty clear on my instructions for creating this project status report. One of the most important points was not to change format, as for this program I have been using the same format for months now. But because I was on company travel, I could not produce the report. So, I sent instructions, fairly specific instructions. Bottom line, I just reviewed the report that was generated by my coworker and everything about format (except maybe text type) changed. I am so frustrated. Could it be I am being too hard on the coworker? Maybe I didn’t convey my direction well enough, but I had a feeling something might strike a chord with me. I had called him the day after I sent the instructions, and he said, he was working on the status report, but he was doing it “a bit differently” than I wrote. Oh well. A bit more work for me when I get off the plane tonight. This is why I know what I can do, but there are only a select few that I have confidence that can do what I do after I instruct them to do it, scary – is it a curse or a blessing to have such a job like I do, I do have job security, but come on, working 50-60 hour weeks for weeks at a time can’t be good.

[d.c. walk]
so, I finally got to go back to see the White House. I have been back in d.c. thrice now, the first two times I wanted to see the White House, but just never got there. Today, since my flight was later in the afternoon, I slept in (what a good feeling to sleep in after days of walking anywhere between 3am – 7am EST!), had breakfast sent to the room (another nice perk of traveling for work), packed my luggage (didn’t realize how heavy my luggage can get while on travel – too much clothes!), checked out, checked baggage with the baggage folks at the hotel and walked from Ninth and I to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Christmas in Washington, I got to take pictures of the East Lawn, the White House Christmas Tree, and Freedom park images. I almost went ice skating, but I was a bit beat from the past few days and hungry again, it was near past lunch time. Walked back into Chinatown and went to a so-so place for dim sum. First day out eating in a restaurant since Ottawa, it was a lot of cafeteria and In-room dining. Though I ordered too much food, its okay, at least I had time to relax and enjoy a good meal.

[winter break – places to go]
death valley camping. Giff says its very nice out there, and shouldn’t be crowded this time of year.
Snow shoeing near Gorman on I-5.
Disneyland.

[time -- 20:15 PST]sometimes when I fly, I don’t feel well. This is one of those moments. We have about another 1 hour 15 minutes in flight and I want to be on the ground, fresh air, and cooler temps. I think when the temp gets warm, I get really dried out and nauseas. Or maybe I am just worn out and when I am worn out I really dread flying. Most likely it’s a combination of both.

Done.

We are finally done here in d.c. departing date from d.c. has been a big question mark until today around lunch time. We knew we’d finish today. What a great feeling to accomplish something, in a team environment too. I know that everyone was very elated and relieved we finished today. Also, seeing “Umphrey’s McGee” (www.umphreysmcgee.com) play live in the XM Radio recording studio for a bit isn’t too shabby for an afternoon break.
Ironically, tomorrow I leave for the west coast and tomorrow my bro, Giff, comes back to d.c. he went home to sac for about a week and a half for an annual visit to see family and friends. Well, I was supposed to spend time with him, mom and dad – work had other plans unfortunately. Then the hope was since I was going to d.c. for work, I’d be able to hang with him for a bit… unfortunately, work also needs me home in LA, so I booked a flight as soon as I could reasonably fly. Crazy, the things I do.

14 hours.

Didn’t think it was possible to work two 14 hour days back to back, but it is amazing what you can do when motivated to just plain get done. Things started a bit frustrating, but, hey, that happens when the team is tired and stressed. We accomplished quite a bit today, and I hope we get back tomorrow and the simulation acquires what it needs to, so we can continue with the testing, if it doesn’t, we have to repeat some of what we did today. If things go well tomorrow, we can leave Sunday, if things don’t go as hoped, we will be here for a few more days.

3 a.m.

There are a select few things that I can imagine doing at 3 a.m. Staying up with friends, getting ready to drive to Mammoth, waking up to catch a flight for work was not really one of them though. This has happened to me twice now, in two weeks. The first time I stayed up the entire night before to catch my 6am flight to Ottawa. This time it was to get up and catch a 6am flight from Ottawa to d.c. Urg, I mean, I like traveling, but I think I also enjoy sleep too. My sleep is all whacked out. And to top this early flight, we are going straight into the customer facility to work right away, no rest for the weary. Can’t wait until winter break!

super early morning.

[travel]
so, onto another plane 8 hours, leaving for the airport at like 4am. wow! anyways, it has been an event trip to ottawa and i must say, if i don't come back for work relating reasons, i can see myself spending a week of holiday here =).

[food]
i got my vietamese dinner today, but unfortunately no Beaver Tail. so, i got some fresh caramel popcorn for my stay in d.c. also got a sponge bob Christmas tree pail for Tricia and Shelley.

[job]
so, i got surprise job kudos from the project manager i am working with right now. although the kudos weren't directed at me, he talked to my function manager and his function manager and my manager said that he praised me multiple times in their conversation. wow, that's pretty cool. good to hear that i am doing a good job.

below zero.

[travel] (6:55 EST)
so, i am in ottawa canada. i really like it here. i haven't been here for over three years, but it has a character that is quite and quaint. the temp has been floating around 0 degrees celcius (yep, metric -- i like metric, it makes sense, and yes i am an engineerd!). this is the third morning here in ottawa. yesterday weather (i love the fact that ottawa actually has weather) had freezing rain. what is freezing rain? not sure the meteroogical reasons, but i guess its not quite the conditions for snow, so it rains and the rain drops freeze before they hit the ground. sometimes its a mix of water rain and freezing rain, so of course, ice builds up on the car. so, scrapping the car is necessary -- though it was cold outside, it was interesting having to scrap the windows... at one moment i thought it was actually fun (but i am very glad i only have to do it once in a while and not for days - weeks - months for my lifetime.

[travel - eating]
funny thing. when i travel for work, work pays for my meals. but the past few nights i've been getting so hungry after being at the customer site that instead of going out to a decent resturant, i've been eating fast food - not really good fast food i might add. tonight i hope that will be different, and go to a local vietamese resturant in the Byward Market area right near the hotel.
I hope I have time to get a Beaver Tail, which is a yummy, warm, melts-in-your-mouth, covered in maple syrup, pastry. Yum! they are great, either summer or winter, but especially in winter.

[fun]
i am so excited for next week, looks like i am going up to mammoth again, woohoo! before the mammoth trip it will be a nice work-sponsored party on the 17th. finally a work-sponsored party that i am excited to go to. it is an elite invite event, with a special screening of The Aviator, which is the story of Howard Hughes.

i knew i would.

okay, i knew i was going to forget something. and the something i forgot is a big deal, means that i can't access my work network. ugh. of all the things, i forget that. i mean, if i forgot my toothbrush, hair brush, lotion, PJs... but no, i forget that thing. oh well.

other things, i don't like small planes, i always seem to order too much food for room service, and laptops are a pain to carry around all day *back is sore*.

finally, all packed.

well, it took me a while to pack, as it always does. usually interruptions are caused by myself procrastinating or finding out that i need to do something before i leave the city for a while. the other part is my house and stuff needs to be organized. i definitely need to trim down some of the excess paper stuff i have as well as figure out a good method to keep stuff organized, like travel stuff relating to particular destinations. for instance, d.c. stuff, like maps, guides - which i am realizing now as i write this, i need to pull my d.c. guide.

okay, now i think i am set. i have my d.c. guide. i have my d.c. maps for the metro. just need a few maps for ottawa, like how to get to mountain equipment coop and the westin from the airport.

gee, i can't wait to get on the plane, maybe i can actually sleep some. i always wait to the last minute to pack and it always takes me way longer than i anticipate.

i am stoked that i am taking a smaller digital camera i am borrowing from my cousin jen. its a sony, but its a bit smaller than my dsc-70. i hope the pics come out. i was thinking of taking the SLR, but these two trips are somewhat slammed together, i really don't want to bother with the SLR and tripod. oh well. i am sure the digital "sure shots" pics will be good enough.

[random] i have been noticing that some folks have blogs which have "tags" of sorts, to organize their blog for that moment. i like to organize my blog that way, tags like 'random', 'sports and excercise', 'rabblings', or something like that. we'll see if i'll get a bit of time to work on my blog style.

[praise] i am glad i have the friends i have, and that i am continuing to meet new folks. i am pleasantly surprised at times how the Lord places people in my life and how they influence and encourage me. i hope i am similiar, encouraging my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

[prayer] a friend of mine ran into a bit of financial trouble with a possible impulse buy. i think i know impulse buys all too familiar. my prayer for my friend, and myself, is that we be more diligent with our finances. When we come to a dilemna regarding a purchase, i pray we seek the Lord for guidence in deciding if the purchase would benefit His kingdom. i know all too well error in one's ways with regards to finances, i hope that i will grow out of my errors to be better with the wealth that the Lord has granted me.

i also pray for health and safety as i begin my journey east bound, to a more frigid region of north america. i know my health and immune system isn't 100% as i have been fairly stressed out at work. i pray that the Lord will grant me strength and protection. i also pray that i may be able to rest and not stress out over these projects upcoming, taking things one at a time, not rushing to the next task before finishing the current one at hand.

packing.

so, i am off for another work trip, in like 12 hours. where to, ottawa canada then washington d.c. i mean, its pretty cold in los angeles right now, but OH MY, its freezing, literally, in ottawa. so, i am procrastinating a bit on the packing. partly because i am going to be traveling for 10 days and not sure exactly how to pack for such cold weather. i guess if i run into any "i'm too cold" situations, there is Moutain Equipment Coop in ottawa (which is Canadian's version of REI), and they there is REI in d.c.

the other reason i am not packing yet, i am enjoying watching "the replacements". its a football movie, about the washington d.c. sentinels and how a replacement team was picked to play the last five games... anyhow, its cool. i'll finish eating dinner, the movie, and then pack.

in 30 hours...

well, in about thirty hours i'll be heading to the airport to hop onto a plan to take me to beautiful, yet extremely cold, ottawa canada. its for work. and speaking of work, its been such a bear lately. i will be very glad when i get to come home in about a week and half and hopefully relax some (maybe make it to a mammoth trip on the 18th), clean the house and prepare for the company's year end shutdown. (i love the year end shutdown, we get off between Christmas and new year's day -- its great. it feels like i am still in school sorta, because i get a continuous break away from work.)

so, i am not packed, in fact, i have to do some work related preparation tomorrow, as well as run some errands. i hope i don't forget anything. well, actually, i probably won't forget anything, just that i wish i could remotely work on my website or my church's website while i am gone. see, that's why i need to create a website portal with the capabilities for remote access and page updates from the web itself. is that even possible? i am sure it is, just have to make sure its secure.

the basic packing needs are tunes, laptop and warm clothes (and my gortex boots -- its snowing in ottawa right now). anything else would be bonus i guess... like my slr camera... there is suppose to be downtown holiday lights, so i may bring the tripod and slr. never have taken night shots so this might be a good opportunity (though it will be mighty chilly standing out in the cold!, the shots might be worth it).

after ottawa is d.c. i wonder if the company will pay for laundry services... since i'll be away from home for almost two weeks. after d.c., home. there is a special event on friday the 17th that i am totally stoked about. special invite to a fairly elite event for work. i could use a bit of fun and relaxation after what work has put me through the last week, assigning me to this project that needed serious help and scrambling to get it done because of a tight (nearly impossible) schedule to meet. i told my functional manager, it can be done, it will be tough and i'd probably start to get cranky as the days go by, but i'll get it done. so, this elite event is private tour of the warner bros. studios, dinner, and private viewing of "the aviator", the story of Howard Hughes. the movie should be pretty fun to watch as my work exists because of that man. afterwards, my hope is to join my new found snowboarding friend and his friends at mammoth -- if it works out.

other realizations this week, God has a purpose for everything, every task that is given, there is a purpose. I didn't realize the purpose of some things that happened at work lately, but in perspective, some of those things happened because i had to speak up (i am a bit passive when it comes to work sometimes). i can't really explain it, but a huge growth spurt occured because of what was happening around me and to me, work related, but i think it is all in God's plan -- i was to learn something from those events and draw from them. now God just has to help me realize what He wants me to do with these learned traits. help me Lord understand where i am suppose to go with these skills you've gifted me or help me accept that for right now, i am where you want me to be.

okay, done writing now... night night, tomorrow will be a full day.