Weekend Adventures

It was an interesting weekend. I took the GMAT on Saturday morning and I did not do as well as I had hoped so I decided to go out that night and drown my sorrows.
My test was in Denton so I had to leave my house at 6:30 to get there on time. There was hardly anyone on the road at that time so it was very quiet and peaceful. I turned the radio off and it felt a little weird. I felt very "little" in the grand scheme of things. It was a very good opportunity to think and reflect on decisions I have made and things I want to accomplish. I decided to take more early morning drives to the middle of nowhere more often and just think.  On the way back I decided to call my friend Tomas, we decided to go shopping so I picked him up. We ended up just driving around and going to different places. It was a lot of fun, we have not been hanging out a lot lately. Mostly because he has been out town a lot lately visiting a guy he is kind of dating in Detroit but there has been some friction between us lately. I am not sure what it is but sometimes I feel he is more critical of me than I am of myself. Sometimes I feel judged, but I am sure it is all in my head. He is a great guy and we always have fun together. We ended up going to a few places and we had fun.
 
Later that night my friend Fernando met me at my house to go to Chico's house. We were going to be meeting Ivan, his roommate, Leo, Ashish, and Seyd out at the gay bars. Chico, Fernando, and I went to the Village first because they are going to be closing it for a few months before they re-open as "Our Place" or some other crapy name like that. I ran into my old friend Dwayne and we talked for a bit, as I was getting ready to leave he gives me some good scoop about my friend "Horacio"  and his boyfriend. Apparently his b/f is cheating on him, something we have suspected for a long time and the reason why they broke up the first time, and just with him for the money. It was crazy, now I am debating whether I should tell "Horacio" or keep out of it. Any suggestions? "Horacio" and I have been friends for like 6 years and I don't want to see him get used. But I feel like he already knows what is going on but is turning the blind eye. I don't want to bring it up and him not believe me. Anyway, we will see how this plays out.
 
I ran into Kolon (sp?) at TMC, he is a guy that I use to have in my Spanish classes but we never really talked to much. I always thought he hated me because he use to give me some bad looks so I never made the attempt to be friendly with him. Since we graduated I have seen him out and about a few times here and there but he told me on Saturday that he will be moving to Minnesota (I loose another friend to that damn state!!!). I will definitely miss running into him. The funny thing is that I didn't even know his name until Saturday but every time we run into each other we are very excited to see each other. Strange, I know. I am going to try to get his contact information so that I can keep in touch with him. He is an interesting guy.
 
I didn't drink that much that night but for some reason the alcohol really got to me. Maybe I am just getting older. I felt fine when I woke up on Sunday morning but after about an hour of being awake I started to feel really bad. I ended up staying the whole day asleep which is very unusual for me. I would break out into cold chills and sweats. It was horrible. I don't think it was the alcohol because I didn't drink that much but it was definitely something.
 
When I finally woke up (around 5) I got up and went to my friend Sarah and Willis house. They were grilling hamburgers and invited me over. Their baby has been sick for the last few days so the baby was crying a lot. Hopefully the doctor will be able to give them something tomorrow to help her get over whatever she has.
 
That is it for my weekend.

San Francisco

I have decided to go to San Francisco with my friend Kathy and her brother David. Every year David comes to Texas from Paris and they go on a big trip together. I really like David, he is a pretty cool guy and he is about my age. He is also gay and has a b/f of like 5 years. The boyfriend is not going to be coming to TX with him so it should prove to be an interesting time. We don't really have any set plans but we have already agreed we will be going to the gay bars at night. I am not sure if that is going ot happen b/c he normally doesn't go out so I may have to hit the bars on my own. Which won't be a big deal because I usually do that anyway during the trip I take by myself once a year.
I have already told them I would probably be separating myself from them during one or two of the days we are there so they can do the brother-sister bonding and I can do the stuff that I want to do. Knowing Kathy and David we are going to have plans for every single moment of the trip but we are really not going to do anything. I love Kathy to death but she is not the best planner. And even when she does plan her plans usually get changed by the wind. 

I can't wait, I am very excited about this trip.  There are a few things I have to do to prepare for my trip:
1. I need to find a cool messenger bag
2. I need to buy some cool dress down/t-shirt type of clothes. (I will need Ivan's help for this)
3. I need to loose at least 10 lbs. (David is very skinny and I don't want to be the fat friend). 
I think that is all I need to do.

Have you guys been to San Francisco? Do you have any suggestions on what I should definitely see while I am there?

El Señor Madera

Pienso que estoy enamorado. Lo se, lo se...¿Cesar enamorado? pero creo que al fin me llego el momento para enamorarme. La verdad es que no conosco a este muchacho pero las ultimas semanas lo e visto en el edificio donde trabajo. Siempre lo veo en los pasillos o caminando por el centro. No se nada de el pero si se su nombre. Ayer tuve que ir al centro de producsion y hoy a alguin llamarlo por su nombre. Por el momento lo llamare El Señor Madera.
Que puedo decir del Señor Madera......es alto, guapo, delgado, y tiene una sonrisa que hace a mis rodillas temblar.
 
El Señor Madera.....asta que por fin entro a mi vida.
 

A letter from my Senator - Kay Bailey Hutchison

This email is in regards to an email to Kay Bailey Hutchinson stating my opposition to the Gay Marriage Constitutional Amendment. If Kay Bailey Hutchinson is your senator you can contact her at the following addresses.

284 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20510-4304, Phone: (202) 224-5922, Fax: (202) 224-0776

10440 N. Central Expressway, #1160, Dallas, TX 75231, Phone: (214) 361-3500, Fax: (214) 361-3502


**********************************
Thank you for contacting me regarding same-sex marriages. I welcome your thoughts and comments on this issue.

Marriage laws have historically been the responsibility of state governments, and I generally oppose federal government intrusion into matters of state authority. Periodically, however, one state's action can have serious and far-reaching implications for other states, particularly because our Constitution requires states to give full faith and credit to
the laws of other states.

In 1996, the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) defined marriage as only between a man and a woman. I voted for this federal law, and I continue to support it today because I believe the traditional family unit should remain the foundation of our society. The recent decision by a narrow majority of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court mandating same-sex
marriage threatens to overturn DOMA nationwide and effectively make that single state's marriage policy the law of our entire country.

In response, Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO) has introduced S.J. Res. 30, the Federal Marriage Amendment, of which I am a co-sponsor. This bill would amend the Constitution to define marriage in the United States as consisting only of the union of a man and a woman. Currently, S.J. Res. 30 is under review by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. When this
legislation comes before the full Senate for a vote, I intend to support its passage.

I appreciate hearing from you and hope you will not hesitate to keep in touch on any issue of concern to you.

Sincerely,
Kay Bailey Hutchison

Poor Souls

I don't understand why people insist in getting into relationships that just aren't good for them. Why they would rather be with someone who doesn't make them happy than be alone and happy. I know, I know, they are just afraid of being alone. But that doesn't compute with me because I am not like that or at least I don't think. I am sure there are a few people out there that will think differently.
Why would someone get into a relationship with someone who has all kinds of drama in their life?
I just needed to vent. Some weird stuff has been going on the last few days and I wanted to make a vague comment about it.

Oh, Saturday how wonderful are thee

So far Saturday has been very productive.

I woke up early because Will and I were going to go and get new tires (see post from July 09, 2004). I only had to buy one new tire because my spare tire was a full tire from when I bought my car. So it wasn't to bad. After that we went back to Will's house and he washed my car. It looks so good now, I have not had a chance to get it cleaned in several months but now it looks brand new, well, that is a little exaggeration.

I came to work today because I have a lot to do and next week I will be in the office but not at my desk. I have meetings starting at 8:30 and they don't end until 4:30. I don't think I will be getting a lot done, I am just glad I have great employees who require little to no direction.
There is hardly anyone here today, I think I ran into three people total, so I was able to get a lot done. It is so different up here when there it is quiet and the phone is not ringing off the hook. My boss was up here also so we went and grabbed a quick bite to eat and had a nice little chat.

Now I am just ready to get out of here. Sarah, Will, Eli, and I are going to Oceans, one of my favorite restaurants tonight, and I can't wait to eat.

I hope you guys are having a good weekend so far. Be save!!

Flat Tire

Yesterday evening I was on leaving my house to meet a friend for dinner and as I was pulling out of my driveway I noticed that my car was leaning a little to the left. I turned back and I noticed that my drivers side passenger tire was completely flat. For most people this would not be a big deal but for me it was the end of the world (temporarily) because I don't know how to change a tire. What was a helpless gay man to do? I called my friend Will and he came over and changed my tire for me. I can't say I learned how to change a tire because I just watched while he changed it for me. It didn't take him long, maybe next time I will even give it a try myself.

My question to you is: How many of you know how to change a tire? Have you ever had to change one of your own tires?

4th of July

I had a very productive weekend and I am worn out. I decided to paint the living room and I had to start on Friday night taking down the wallpaper border. It was HELL!! I think it took me like three to four hours to get that accomplished. I was planning on redoing the bathroom next but the whole thing is wallpaper so I am going to put that off for a while and instead move on to my bedroom.
I have chosen a red color for my bedroom, it is not blood red, it is more like a dark wine/brown red. I think it is going to look very nice. I am only going to paint one wall so it won’t be to much work. It took me all day to paint the living room and I was tired.
My friend Chico came over while I was painting and we decided to go out to Gayville that night. I don’t know what I was thinking because I was really tired. I was up until midnight the night before working on the border, and I woke up at eight on Saturday to start painting. Bye the time we were getting ready to go out I was exhausted. Surprisingly I had a good time. We met Seyd and Ash out at JR’s and then we headed over to Kaliente.

On the 4th Sarah and Will invited me to go over to Sarah’s mom’s house for a cookout. Sarah’s mom is the best cook ever. The food was delicious. She has a new puppy, a tea-cup Chihuahua, that is just adorable. He is very small and very active. I briefly considered getting one for me but it is way to small. You would never be able to walk it and if you tried taking it for a walk you would end up carrying it for the most part. On Monday Will called and they guy that was selling them had one dog left, I think it was black and his name was Cesar. Isn’t that a coincidence? I thought it was fate, it was meant to be but then I remembered how I don’t like Chihuahuas and forgot about it.
Had it been a tea-cup poodle I would have considered it.

I also went to a bbq at my friends Bill and Scott (see previous posting). It was fun but I didn’t eat anything since I had already eaten at the other bbq. It was nice to see everyone again and catch up. We went to see Spider Man that night and I was very disappointed. I am not the best person to go to a theater with because I get very antsy sitting down for long periods of time unless the movie is really good and this movie just wasn’t. The only thing that made it tolerable was seeing Tobey. I never noticed he didn’t have any lips, despite that he is still cute.

Couples

I am tired of couples looking at me like I am the last single person on this earth.
I went to a bbq on Sunday for the 4th of July and EVERYONE there is dating someone. All of our conversations seemed to revolve around me being single, if I hear "Oh don't worry, you will find someone" one more time I am going to shoot myself. No, better yet, I will shoot the person who tells me. Yes, that is a much better idea.
I am single because I choose to be single (for the most part), if I wanted to be in an unhealthy relationship I would be in one.

It's a sad, sad day!

I have been working on a pretty big project for the last year and a half here at work. This project takes about 120% of my time and I am learning a lot of things that I would have not otherwise been exposed to. I am not a very technical person but for this project I had to pick up on the language and I had to develop an IT brain in order to survive.
Part of what made this project such a pleasure to work on was the people that are involved from within my company and from the consulting company. One of the guys from the consulting company is extremely smart, really nice, and a good looking guy. During one of my work related trips I had to opportunity to visit his city and we got together and had a nice long conversation. We were notified that he had resigned from his current company and would be going to work for a company based in the West Coast. I am going to miss him, he was a lot of fun to talk to and I still had a lot to learn from him.

Nothing in particular.

It was a very uneventful weekend.
My friend Kerry came back from her Honeymoon today and she came to pick up her bunny (did I mention I was bunny-sitting?). It was kind of sad to see Jax, short for Jacqueline, go back home. She has been keeping me company for the last week and I think I really need a pet. On to other topics.

I started taking a new supplement called Rev and it really screwed me up. All day long I was very jittery and did not feel my best. I was having these crazy thoughts about how little I have accomplished (I know it is not true, it must have been the pills talking) in my short life so I stayed really busy all day. It did make me think about some things I want to work on. I won't write to anything about them b/c I don't want to talk about it to much but hopefully these new ideas will keep me busy for a while. I love projects.

I made it a point to visit with all of my sisters and their families today. It was really nice to see the kids, they bring such a smile to my face. It really makes me want some of my own.

Sarah and Will came over for dinner and we had a nice little chat and now I have left-overs for tomorrow's lunch.

Life is great.

Federal Marriage Amendment

Speak Out Against Injustice. Click on the link below and voice your concerns with you elected officials.

The Federal Marriage Amendment is expected to come to a vote in the US Senate in early July. We must let our Senators know that we do NOT want discrimination written into the constitution!
Even if you’ve already spoken out on this issue before, our Senators need to hear from us often and loudly during the next few weeks! Please, join me in sending a personalized letter from the Human Rights Campaign Action Center at:

Federal Marriage Amendment

The weekend

It was an interesting weekend.
On Friday I was my freinds +1 of 2 to a company thing he had to go to. The even it self was fun, it was like a "Who's Who" of gayville. The event was open bar so that made it even better, I don't think I would have been able to endure this event without the help of alcohol. I really do not like being in a room with that many gay people while they are all judging you and comenting on your hair, clothes, and shoes.
My friend had to go and mingle with the people since it was the company he works for that was putting on this event so I had the opportunity to speak with +2 of 2 (also known as Valley Boy or Nice Ass by others). We had met many times before but we had never had the opportunity to actually have a conversation and I found him to be a decent guy. He is actually a nice guy and is as normal as the rest of us. We had a good conversation about relationships and A LOT to drink.

After the event we decided to hit the bars and I had a blast. We hit a few of our regular bars and we went to all of the bars that we have always wanted to go to but were to afraid to try.
First stop was JR's and on the way there I ran into a girl named Kelly that I use to hang out with years ago. It was very uncomfortable.
Next we went to Havana and the drinks there were expensive so we probably won't be going there again.
Next on our Tour of Gay Dallas was The Metro. Metro is a gay black bar, we have always wanted to go but we were always to afraid so we decided to go tonight. Unfortunately we choose Lady's night so there weren't that many guys there so we have decided to go back another weekend when there are more people there.
Our fourth stop was ast the Eagle. The leather bar. I know what you are thinking but it wasn't as bad as you would have thought. I was actually a bit disapointed. +2 of 2 and I were both wearing business casual clothing since we had come from the company event so we did not fit in as well as we would have liked to so we did get a lot of looks. I did see some assless chaps but other than that it was pretty normal.
Next we headed to the Male Box. The dancers were cute but it was a bit trashy for my taste.
Our last stop on our night out was Kaliente. This is always a great place but that night the music was especially bad. We were only there for about 20 minutes and we went to dinner/breakfast at Victors Taqueria.

My neice got married on Saturday so I did the family thing for a while on Saturday night. Everytime I get around my extended family I feel so uncomfortable. I did get to see my aunt who I have not seen in a few months so that was great.

Ohh, my sister had a baby on Friday so I am an uncle again. He was a huge baby, 8 lbs 7 oz and 21 inches long. He is the cutest little thing.

That is all I have for now.

Alejandra Guzman

So...my friend who always gives me tickets to concerts sent me an email yesterday and asked me if I wanted to go with him to the Alejandra Guzman concert. I am so excited because I like her and I wanted to see her but she was selling her tickets in the $100 price range and I was not about to pay that much for a concert.

Sales

What is it about sales that make you want to buy things you don't need or want?
I just came back from lunch and the Pier 1 store off of Collins and 30 is closing so everything is 75% off. I almost bought three throws because they were really cheap. Luckily I was able to talk myself out of buying three of them and at the end only bought one. I was going to give the other two to my sisters but still did I really need to buy three? I bought a stool and a few other decorative items. At the end I walked out with $38 worth of stuff. Not to bad considering I usually can't contain myself around sales.

Thursday

Thursday was an extremely nerve racking day. I was fine for most of the day until I was asked if I was nervous about meeting up with my ex and that is when the nerves kicked in.
I really thought he was going to cancel on me again and at 5:03 he called to tell me he was running late and would not be there until 6 p.m.
We met up at our old coffee shop and we talked for two hours. There wasn't a moment of awkwardness, for the most part it was just two people having coffee and catching up on what has been going on in their lives for the past year. I felt really comfortable with him and at times it felt as if nothing had changed. But so many things have changed. A lot has been going on in his life and we had a chance to catch up on that.
After our time was up I went home feeling very relaxed and happy. Even if we don't see each other again I am left with a good feeling and I think that is all I needed.

Laredo

My trip to Laredo was very productive. We got a lot accomplished on the first day we were there so we did not have any meetings on Tuesday.
Our meetings were not over until late in the evening on Monday so by the time we crossed the border most of the shops and little markets were already closed. Everything, except the bars, close at 8 p.m. in the Nuevo Laredo side. We were able to find a liquor store and we each bought a bottle of tequila.

The next day we woke up early and left the hotel around 8:30 to start our day of shopping. My co-worker just got a new apartment and she was looking for plates and other kitchen accessories in the bright blues and reds. We went to so many shops looking for these things and finally we found something in the Nuevo Laredo side. We also found another great deal on tequila, we went to this little shop a few blocks from the main street and the tequila was really cheap so we had to buy more bottles. I think I have enough liquor to last me the rest of the year.

Our flight got delayed for almost 4 hours so we were stuck in the airport for all of that time. We were both very tired so we were not the most pleasant people to be around with. At one point I got locked out of the airport, after we were notified of our flight delay I wanted to go downstairs to the ONLY store in the airport and when I tried to come back up I was told they were going to be closing the gates and I would have to wait for 40 minutes until the gate workers came back up. To top it all off the Laredo International Airport did not have running water in the restrooms. It was a crazy few hours. I finally got home and I was so tired that I just wanted to get to bed.

That is all I have...Unfortunately I don't have anything exciting to report.

Weekend Update

This turned out to be a GREAT weekend. I was extremely busy but I had a lot of fun.
On Friday I went to the rehearsal dinner for my friend Kerry's wedding at Reata's and the food was great. She had the rehearsal dinner on the rooftop patio and for this time of the year in TX she got really lucky. The weather was perfect for terrace sitting, the wind was blowing, the birds were chirping, and we had a perfect view of the Oscar de la Hoya promotion fights that were going on in Sundance Square. My friend Ivan agreed to go with me and after the dinner we went to Vivid for a little while. I was very tired so we left the bar kind of early.

On Saturday we had the wedding and again Ivan was my date. Kerry looked beautiful!!! Her dress was amazing and it looked as if she was glowing. I was an usher. After the ceremony I met Ivan at the reception and we hanged out there until around 10:30 until we left to meet up with Chico and his friends and Seyd and Ash and their friends.
Drinking with these folks is always a lot of fun. It was Chico's b-day so he got pretty wasted but we all had a good time. Except maybe Sebastian and Ben, after we went to the second bar they decided to leave b/c it was to hot.

That is really it for the weekend. On Sunday I slept all day and made a miserable attempt to try to get ready for my trip to Laredo. I ended up packing on Monday morning and I was in a rush to get to the airport.

The Ex

There are lots of updates from the last 4 or 5 days but I will have to post them in several different post as I get a chance.
I am back in town and I have so much to catch up on.

THE EX:
The ex and I have been emailing each other back and forth and we have decided to meet for coffee on Thursday after work. He choose "our old coffee shop" because he wanted to "see how it was holding up". I thought that was very sweet.

I am not really expecting anything. I just want to catch up and see how he is doing. He was a BIG part of my life for 7 months and I can't see myself not talking to him for the rest of my life. I don't want to get back together and I don't want to fall in love with him. But who knows, I have not sat down and talked to him in a while so we will see how the conversation goes.

The thing with Ryan is definitely over. We meet up for coffee last week and he was definitely more interesting when I was drunk. He is very cute but not someone who could keep me interested for a long period of time.

Scheduling Problems!!!

I feel like such a retard right now. One of my employees and I are flying down to Laredo for meetings on Monday with our Mexican partners and I created a mess or a "desmadre" like my counterpart told me.
They are under the impression we are meeting all day on Monday and we are under the impression that we are meeting all day on Tuesday. They are going back to Mexico City on Monday night so they won't be able to meet with us on Tuesday and we won't arrive until mid-day on Monday. Anyway, it is a HUGE mess and I am trying to figure things out as I write.
I am going to request that someone else take care of planning from now on.
Maybe I just need a vacation.

Life and the complications it comes with

A few post back I broke about calling my ex seeing how he was doing. Instead I sent him a birthday e-card for his b-day last month and this is the responce I received.

***************************************************************
Cesar,

Thank you so much for remembering the grand 'ol day! Yes, I'm a quarter-of-a-century old now! Can you believe that??

I hope life is treating you well. Everything is just rocking and rolling on this side of the world. Let me know how you're doing. Hey, we never got together for the "catch-up" coffee meet! Are you still interested in doing that sometime soon? Sorry! I'm really bad, you know me!

Hope to hear from you soon.

Take care,
***************************************************************

Ivan and I were talking about him last night while we were at the bar The Library, I am not sure how he came up but it was decided it was a good thing I didn't call him. I am curious to see what has been going on in his life for the past 1 so I may reply to this email and try to plan dinner or coffee to catch up.

Not sure yet. What do you think?

the following has been submitted by a guestwriter.

i enjoy checking this site out regularly. the one thing i think is truly unique is cesar’s restaurant choices on the side bar. one additional recommendation...
today i visited grill 400, a locally owned restaurant in dallas. this was my second visit, and a more enjoyable one. the grill, where most items are grilled, is quite the trendy little place in oak cliff. surprised? dont be. you walk in and you can immediately tell you'll love the place. if youre lucky, youll get to sit in the back section; this will allow you to take a close look at the art pieces along the walls. and go ahead and stop to look at the details in the art. most people do. also, feel free to use the crayons provided. recommended plates: salmon (about $16; lunch specials start at $7.)
with that being said, a friend of mine has decided to get married. this is a good thing. it may be a bit early for him to be doing this (he is currently in med school), but hes intelligent and knows what hes doing. and im sure he realizes it may be tough. i met him, mike, during my first semester of grad school. i had known his brother for a long time, so mike and i quickly became very good friends. hes very smart, athletic, and generous (and straight). it didnt take me long to fall for him. no-he never lead me on, or gave me mixed signals. he was just himself. and a very good friend. it was hard for me to return the friendship because of how i felt. the feelings lasted a while. and some may still linger. but i dont always think with my heart. i know whats there and what isnt. he isnt. and thats okay. ive learned to be a better friend to him during the past two years. and he knows that. ive never held on to the idea of us. but on the same note, ive liked the feelings i had. as shitty as they may have been at times.
when he told me of the ring, i stayed quiet for a couple of seconds. then he asked if i wasnt happy for him. of course i was. i am. shes good to him. still, its a little sad, you know. its hard to explain how you sometimes have to suck it up. sometimes, swallowing that knot in your throat works for the best. doing it tho, made me realize what im looking for. im so ready for something like that. and with time, itll happen. when i was at his brother’s wedding last year, i truly felt like i could be that happy one day. as laid back, and fun, and drunk as the groom was, you could clearly see a feeling of security in him and his wife. i think mike is ready for that. and i know i want to be.
this is more personal than i usually get. i cant write about this on my site, so, thanks cesar, for letting me do this.

No A/C in TX? That is just Crazy!!!

I need sleep!!
As always I have been running around way to much these last few days and I have not had a chance to make an entry. I can't wait to be one of those people who are content sitting at home watching t.v. or doing absolutely nothing. I am way to hyper to do any of that right now.

My a/c broke on Monday night and I have been trying to get someone out to repair it. They won't be able to come out until Thursday between 12 and 3 p.m. I have a seminar in Dallas on this day so I wont be home. Luckily my friend Will volunteered to come over and wait for the repair man. Am I lucky or what? I can't remember who I was talking to the other day about friends, it could have been my sister in CA or it could have been my friend Kim, and how lucky I am to have so many good friends in my life. I very rarely use the words "best friend" to describe a friendship I have with someone because I have so many GREAT friends that it would be hard to pick just one or two or three. Instead I use the words "good friends" to describe those people whom I have a close relationship with. I don't know where I was going with that so I will conclude by saying that I am a very lucky person to have so many wonderful people in my life.

If you are reading this...Thank you for being in my life.

Why Me???

I am so freaking bored I don't know what to do with myself. I have nothing to do today and I have been trying to look busy all day. I would go home but I have a Happy Hour for my friend Kerry who is getting married and moving to Minnesota. Kerry, why didn't you make this happy hour at 2 instead of 4? I can't take this anymore. Part of my boredom is that the program that I need to use to write training materials is down so I have to wait until they bring it back up, since it is not a big priority for them it probably won't be back up until Monday.

I have another busy weekend coming up.
Friday I am going to go see the play

La Lupe!

with my friend Seyd and his b/f Ash.
Saturday morning I am getting together with my friend Amy and her husband Dan who I have not seen in about a year. Later I will be visiting with my friend Kim who sent me an email today informing me she will be visiting DFW from California on Saturday. I love it when she is in town because I get to eat all kinds of great Vietnamese food at her mom's house.
I had to change my plans with Tomas for the weekend because of Kim but I am sure he understands. We have not hanged out together on a weekend in a very long time so I am kind of going through Tomas withdrawals. We did get together for dinner this week. He took the day off because a dog bit him on his butt and he had to go get shots. Isn't that funny? Sarah????? Are you reading this???? Now you know why I always warn you about the dogs in our neighborhood when you go on your afternoon walks. See, I am not crazy...strange dogs do bite.

I am not sure what is going on with Brian, we may get to hang out on Sunday.

Miss Universe

Does anyone else think the Miss Universe pageant is rigged? The Miss Universe pageant took place last night in Quito Ecuador and the winner was Miss Australia with the first runner up Miss USA. Miss Australia was beautiful but there were more beautiful, more graceful, more confident woven there such as Miss Paraguay and Miss India. I don’t normally watch beauty pageants but there was nothing else on last night and the heavy rain and tornado warnings kept me inside.
I am just surprised that the only two blonds in the semi-finalist got the two top positions.

Weekend Update

So much has happened since my last post, I can already tell this is going to be a long one.

Antonio (the ex):
I have decided not to call him after all. I am not saying that I don’t love him all of a sudden, not at all. What I am saying is that I thought about all of the good times we had and I thought about all of the bad times we had and it would be a very unwise choice to try to go back to the situation I had before. Don’t get me wrong, he is a great guy he is just not the best guy for me.

The weekend.
I took Friday off and a couple of friends and I drove to Houston for the long weekend and we had such a great time. We met some really great guys from Dallas while we were in Houston, something that we can’t seem to do when we are in Dallas. The three guys from Dallas (we will call them Rene, Brian, and Max) are absolutely great, they are fun, normal, and exciting. I will definitely be hanging out with them in the near future.
We also met some guy from Houston, Dwayne, James, John, and the OH so beautiful, OH so funny, and OH so HOT Adrian (give me a second while my heart skips a beat).

We got there on Friday around 3 p.m. after I got us lost for almost an hour and a half. It was my duty to print directions to the hotel and I got directions to the wrong place. We ended up driving about 1.5 hours out of the way. I know….It was all my fault and I heard about it ALL weekend. We didn’t want to go out to the bars that night because we had plans to get up around 4:30ish to go see a psychic so we just went to the movies and saw DAY AFTER TOMORROW. This is a must see movie. I liked it a lot.

Saturday we went to the psychic and afterwards we picked up Fernando’s friend Rene and went shopping. At first sight Rene seemed very queeny and very snobby but once you get to know him he is a great guy. I had a small crush on him for a day or so. After shopping we go back to the hotel and take a nap because we are all exhausted. We decide to meet Rene and his friend/boyfriend at the bars. When we get there we meet Max, a slightly more mature (mid 30’s), less outgoing person, but he is still a lot of fun. They introduce us to their friends Brian and Dwayne. Brian now lives in Dallas but is originally from Houston. We had a great time on Saturday night, I drank a lot, we didn’t dance at all, and we all fell in love with Brian. Brian has a great body, he probably works out every day of the week. Not only does he have a great body he also has a great personality and is extremely outgoing. After the clubs Rene, Max, and my group head over to Ruchis for an early breakfast.

On Sunday we were invited to a BBQ at Dwayne’s house so we decide to go and hang out with them for a while. We get there and there and everyone from the night before was there so it was very comfortable. There were a few other people there and they were all very cool and down to earth. About 20 minutes after we get there I hear through the gayvine that Brian thinks I am cute. I don’t really pay to much attention to this rumor because I figured my friend who told me had just misunderstood or was taking his comments out of context. I go about my business and Brian and I end up talking for a while. Not in a romantic sort of way but just talking and getting to know each other. After the bbq we end up going back to the hotel and taking a nap because we are going to be going to the bars around 7. The bars were packed for a Sunday night, I have come to the conclusion that Houstonians are a bunch of DRUNKS!! I love them!!!
We meet up with everyone and after a few drinks I end up talking to Brian again, did I mention he is hot? Again not romantically just talking.
About 20 minutes later the most beautiful black man I have ever seen walks over in my direction, gives me a smile and starts talking to me. His name is Adrian he is 26 and he is just perfect. Absolutely perfect. Great smile, great personality, and beautiful. We talk for a while and then his friend comes over and talks to me. Had I not known that Brian was interested in me I would have left with Adrian and had our own fun somewhere else. Anyway, once Adrian walked away it gave Brian the courage to tell me he was interested in me. All it took was someone else showing an interest but he told me. By this time I don’t even know how many drinks we have had but we have been drinking since 7 and it was probably around 10. The drinks just kept coming, I don’t know who was paying for them but I had a drink in my hand at all times.
We decide to leave the bar we were in and walk across the street to a second bar, once there Brian’s best friend Dwayne pulls me aside and either gives me advice or is trying to scare me away. I still can’t decide which. He told me a lot of interesting things about Brian and what I needed to do to make sure I didn’t scare him away. It was a very awkward conversation. Brian and I had the chance to talk through out the night and get to know each other. I was totally drunk so I probably told him a lot more than he should know. At the end of the night he gave me his number and I was suppose to call him on Monday after 3 p.m. when I got back to Fort Worth.
My friend and I ended up going to eat after the bars and while we were sitting there he called one of my friends to talk to me and he called my friend again the next day to tell me he was home. I finally gave him my cell number and agreed that I would call him when I got home. Anyway, we have talked four times and he seems like a great person. I am not sure that it is going anywhere because I am not normally attracted to guys like him but he is the sweetest, smartest guy ever.

Stay tuned. More news to come and I promise I will keep it short.

Me encuentro con mucho que decir pero las palabras no me salen.

Llamo y cuelgo en cuanto su machina responde. No quiero dejar menseja por que ya que deje mensaje no voy a poder hablar para atraz. Quiero hablar con el pero la verdad es que no se por donde empesar. A pasado tanto tiempo que quizas el ya no sea el mismo, quizas yo ya no se el mismo.

Tantas cosas pasan por mi cabeza que ya no se en que pensar, necesito distraerme un poco pero no tengo la energia para salir de casa.

Intentare hablarle otra vez manana. Ojala este cuento tenga un buen fin.

My Decision

I have decided not to take the job offer I received at 5:30 on Friday afternoon. For many this decision will be a bit shocking considering how much they were offering but I have decided the environment in which I work is more important than making a few extra dollars. Other things that helped me make my decision were
1. I am not a big fan of 10 or 11 hour days.
2. I would not be able to attend school with my work schedule
3. I really like my job

That is my decision.

Traumatic Experience!!

I was stuck in an elevator at work for 40 minutes today. The worse part about it is that I was in there with 12 people. We could not sit, we could not shift, we could not breathe. It was horrible. I think I have been emotionally scared for life. O.K. well, maybe just until the end of the day.
It wasn’t so bad until someone announced they were claustrophobic and started to exaggerate. I know there are a lot of claustrophobic people out there and there were actually 3 in the elevator with us but the two other ones were acting just fine. The one that was loosing control was my boss’s boss. I was on the phone with security people trying to explain to them what was going on and they were having a hard time hearing me so she started to scream. I swear she is psycho. I have never talked about her before on my blog because someone from work may read it one day but right now I don’t care.
When I talk about her with my friends I either refer to her as Crazy or My Psycho Boss. After she stopped screaming she got on the phone with her fiancé, who she met 2 months ago and is now engaged to and will marry in less than 2 weeks, and was all lovey-dovey. It was sick!!!!
Anyway, 40 minutes later we were all HOT, sweaty, and I was getting agitated. Everyone in the elevator was talking and it was getting loud and psycho was back to being her giggly-neurotic self. A few minutes later she said she was feeling sick and was going to throw up, I looked at her and told her “Open your purse because you are not going to throw up on me” she looked at me and got tears in her eyes. It pisses me off because she just likes the attention. She was fine when we were in the elevator and as soon as she got out and there was an audience, it was lunch time and everyone was in the lobby, she started to cry and howl. It was so embarrassing, how can someone so disturbed make it to the ranks of upper management?

We did have some funny conversation in the elevator. One of the ladies on the elevator was wearing her blouse inside out and that sparked some interesting topics about people doing summersaults in their underwear but I will leave that for another time.
We also went back to primitive grooming rituals, a lady that was standing behind me picked something out of my hair, kept touching my ass, and started to blow on my neck. It was all very strange but it was quite funny.

We were finally rescued by the Fire Department and the Otis elevator repair people, I spoke with the firemen and the Otis guys and apparently it was just an elevator malfunction. While we were in there I was speaking with the security guy and they were having a lot of problems, they were considering coming in through the side panels because the doors would not open.

I found I can keep my cool in most situations; it just depends on the people that are in these situations with me. If I know you like attention don’t expect me to be to concerned with your pitiful plights but if I know you are concerned I will do my best to try to consol you.

Enough of me ranting and raving. We did have a wonderful lunch experience, luckily she went back to her office because she was to upset (psycho) and the company and the food was exceptionally good. I don’t know if it was because it was almost 1 and I normally eat around 11:30 but it was good.

Moral of the story: Never, EVER, get stuck in an elevator with Psycho boss!!!!

Tired....

I was out ill yesterday and today I feel exhausted. By ill I mean Ill, wink, wink. I did a lot of running around and I spent a lot of time in Dallas. The full story to be published later once I feel more comfortable about what I did. It wasn't anything bad.

After I ran my errands I picked up my friend Chico for lunch and we went to Mo Mo's Pasta off of Knox. It was an interesting little place, the restaurant is Italian, the waiter was Mexican, and the music playing in the background was Middle Eastern. The food was great and I would definitely go back. After the restaurant we went to the little Italian gelatto place next door and both of my credit cards were declined. It was extremely embarrassing, not b/c they were declined but because the guy was very cute and he had a great accent. I only have two cards, my check card, and a regular credit card and they were both declined. I was very confused because I have money or credit in both of my accounts. I told the guy I was embarrassed and he teased me about it a little. Since I don't carry cash Chico had to pay for me. I love Chico! On the way out he guy behind the counter told they were having problems with their machine and that it wasn't my card. I felt so relieved that he knew I wasn't a dead-beat. If he hadn't told me that I was going to run to the bank and get him a copy of my financial statement...he was cute :)

That is it...nothing new going on since my last post.

Oh, I did start watching Colonial House! on PBS and I am hooked. The series started on Monday night and it continued on Tuesday, this show is better than any reality t.v. show on the other networks. The show has been full of drama and excitement. In the first episode the colonist receive news that the governors daughters fiance has been killed in a car accident and her whole family had to leave. Once they leave the colony starts to fall apart, there is no order and everyone does what they want. In the next episode the governor returns alone and he starts to take control of the colony, he starts handing out punishments like there is no tomorrow, at one point everyone in the colony was wearing a letter on their clothing to signify what wrong they had committed.
On Tuesday night Jonathon Allen, one of the servants, came out of the closet to the whole community during a Sabbath sermon. It was very funny to see the shocked look on the Governor and his family, his family is very conservative and religions from TX.

That is all I have for now. I have to get to work, I will be gone for the majority of the day at a seminar and I have over 200 emails to catch up on. I think I will be able to delete most of them but I still have to read them....damn work...

Free At Last!

I finally have my house all to myself again. Yesterday when I got home from work I noticed that my two spare keys were sitting on top of my counter and I immediately checked the rooms to see if my guest had left. It was so nice to sit down and read and not be disturbed or worry about having the television to loud. Life is great.
I spoke with my parents last night and I think they are developing a gambling habit. It is the third week in a row that they have gone to Vegas for the weekend. The first time they went they won some money but they have been loosing ever since. I never thought of my parents as the gambling type but they both seem to enjoy it and they are spending time together doing what they both like to do so I won't tell them anything about it.

Never Drink with Co-Workers

Song in my head:No me enseñaste by Thalia!


We had a happy hour yesterday at the Roof Top bar at Reata! and it was great. I love to sit outside when the weather permits it. Yesterday the weather was nice and breezy until the thunderstorms and the rain moved in. It was perfect, the sky got dark all of a sudden, the temperature dropped a few degrees, and the wind picked up. It was perfect, it would have been better if I had been there with someone special but that is another story, today I am writing about why you should never drink with co-workers.
I like my most of my co-workers but there are a few that I can’t stand either because of their rudeness, their negativity, or their lack of social skills. The bad thing about drinking with co-workers is that you really can’t drink as much as you want because you don’t want to loose all your inhibitions and make a fool of yourself. You especially don’t want to end up sitting next to the people you like but don’t really want to sit next to because they annoy you….and that is what happened to me and I wasn’t drinking a lot so it made it a even worse.

Moral of the story: Never drink with Co-workers and if you do make sure you sit with the fun people.

Fortune Cookie

This is from my fortune cookie at lunch.

Good Manners and Soft Words Have Brought Many Difficult Things to Pass.

Emotionally Drained

Song in my Head: Beautiful Day by U2!

I had an interesting evening last night, after my GMAT class my friend Tomas and I decided to grab a bite to eat. We ended up at this horrible Q'doba/Mexican restaurant wanna be. The food was horrible but the conversation was priceless. Tomas and I have not really been spending a lot of time together these last few months because we have both been really busy but we try to make time for each other at least once a week to grab a cup of coffee or a bite to eat. Besides the GMAT classes we really haven't seen each other outside the class setting in about 3 week's so it gave us the opportunity to catch up.
As I wrote in one of my previous post he is dating his ex again so that topic came up last night and this is how the conversation went "I love him...but he is not good for me...I like him...but he has no goals...He makes me feel good...but what if he goes back to how he use to be" I don't understand people who stay in a bad relationship simply because they have are more afraid to be alone than being miserable. Another thing I don't understand is why people always bad mouth their ex's. I met Tomas right after they broke up so I heard all of the bad stuff that went on in their relationship, to this day I have not heard a good thing that came out of it or a good thing that happened while they were dating. I really tried not to give my opinion but I am not very good at showing fake emotions, I kept telling him how happy I was that he was happy but he didn't believe me and eventually we had to talk about it. I won't go into all of the details but I really just want Tomas to be happy and I don't think he is going to find happiness with this guy. He is a big boy, he will figure it out on his own.

Who knew that talking about Chris would open up another can of worms!! The conversation moved to how different Tomas and I are. I have always known we are different but it has never bothered me but I didn't realize that it bothered Tomas. I kind of like the fact that we are different and the fact that we have totally different view points on just about everything. Apparently one of his big issues with me is that he feels dumb when he is around me and my friends and I don't understand why because he is very smart himself. He thinks I am really smart and I don't think I am smart at all. To me smart means being like my friend Sarah or Amy, now they are smart. It just seems to come naturally to them but I have to work very hard for the knowledge I have gained. I don't think I am smart, I just think I try harder than some people.

His other issue with me is that he thinks I am a snob. Smart I don't have a problem admitting to but snob, now snob is another story...I AM NOT A SNOB AT ALL. I am pretty friendly, for the most part, and I get along with just about everyone. The difference between us is the he will talk to anyone, and I mean anyone, and I am more selective about who I choose to be friends with or who I strike up a conversation with. I don't think that makes me snob I just think it makes me...Selective.

One of the biggest issues we have had during our friendship is planning. At the beginning when we use to make plans we would always end up canceling on each other because our concept of time is so different. When he says lets spend Saturday together he means we will get together around 3 or 4 p.m. and spend the rest of the day together. When I say lets spend Saturday together I mean from 10 a.m. on. Tomas has been very accommodating and thanks to Tomas we have worked through most of these planning issues.

I love Tomas, in a brotherly way, and I would not give him up for anything. It is going to be really hard for me to get use to his ex boyfriend because I really don't like him. His ex is already talking about getting together with me so I can give him a second chance and I really don't want to do it. If they decided to see each other exclusively I will make an effort but until then I don't want to waste my time.

My biggest issue with Tomas is that he doesn't respect my differences.

His fly by the seem of the pants attitude is very refreshing. I am a planner, I like to plan what I am going to do, I like to plan where I will be and I like to know it is going to happen. Tomas is more of a "lets get this done so we can move on to the next thing" kind of guy. He doesn't plan and just likes to enjoy life one day at a time.

We had to cut our conversation short because my sister called me and her husband who is remodeling their home accidentally ripped the electricity wire out of their wall so they didn't have electricity and they wanted to spend the night at my house.

That was my evening, by the time I went to bed I was very glad my day was over and I was looking forward to my Happy Hour on Thursday. Free drinks and food, who would pass that up?

What is this world coming to?

By now I am sure everyone has heard of the decapitation of the American civilian in Iraq. Watching the footage of his last moments and the footage of his family being interviewed was very emotional even though I didn't know the family. It is a shame that someone so young had to die in such a horrible way.
Yesterday during lunch we talked about the prisoner abuse in Iraq and I have come to the conclusion that I should not discuss the war in Iraq with people at work. My beliefs are usually different but I didn't realize how conservative the people I work with are.

What amazed me about the news coverage was the reports of the "outrage" by the American people. Did we not see something like this coming after all the pictures of how the prisoners were being mistreated and abused in the news these last few days? The American people have the right to be outraged, outraged by the fact we have a president that invaded a country, outraged by the fact of number of soldiers that die every day, and outraged by the fact that an innocent man had to die in such a grewsome way. For those who are truly outraged I hope they make their way to the polls this coming election and show exactly how outraged they are.
How can a country (USA) trample the sovereignty of another (Iraq) and expect the people of that country to bow down and take over. Sure, Sadam was not the best leader in the world. I am quite aware of the human right violations, but have we really improved their lives that much? I don't really think that is something anyone on US soil can answer since we only see and hear what the government wants us to see. Has anyone heard of how many Iraqi people have died since the beginning of the war? I haven't but I have heard of how many US soldier die every day and it makes me wonder why those numbers are not released? Is it because our government wants us to feel sympathetic towards an unjust war?
Life is truly a precious commodity and I don't believe anyone has the right to place a value or take it away.

Having said that, I believe our president has pegged the life of a human being at a barrel of oil.

It just makes your heart tingle!

I am having such a great day today!!! Well, I am actually having a long day but some kiddo’s dropped off a bag of goodies and that just made my day.
I volunteer with a local underprivileged school in the area and today the kids are in my building thanking everyone who volunteers. I read to the kids, my kids are 1st graders and for the most part they are adorable. Sure, most of them are so bad that sometimes I think they are the devils spawn but for the most part they are decent kids. Except for that girl that looks at me raisers her hands towards me and calls me “Daddy”. That is just way to uncomfortable.
Anyway, I digress. The kids are in my office and they came by with a little reminder that today is “Ice Cream Social Day” and they would really enjoy it if we could all make it. Basically what we are going to do is sit around, talk to the kids and make them feel special. Along with their message they delivered a small brown paper bag, kind of like the one used to buy coffee, and on it was a cute little note with a bead that says “TOIT”. The note is a thanks for getting “around to it” and the bag is filled with goodies such as cookies, muffins, and chocolate. All of my favorite stuff, who say’s volunteering doesn’t pay off? Actually, the reward comes around Christmas when you get a HUGE hand made Christmas card with little special notes from the kids. The first year I volunteered I almost cried when the card was delivered to me. I still have that card and it is a good reminder of why I volunteer with these kids.
I recently got a call from another group I use to volunteer a few years ago and they asked me to be a judge in their competitions. I think the competitions are towards the middle of next month and I am really looking forward to doing this. The group is for Hispanic 8th grade students and it helps them build their public speaking skills through debate, acting, impromptu speaking, and one other category that I can’t remember right now. I am thinking about volunteering with this group again this coming school year but I have to consider if I really have the time to get involved. I would have to give up two evenings a week for about 4 or 5 months and train these kids to beat their competitors. The reward here is just as big as with the small kids. I have a note from one of my first students when he was applying as a volunteer with the program and his reason for wanting to volunteer was because he wanted to help other students the way I had helped him. It just makes my heart tingle all over!!

Nothing to Say!!!

People seem to know exactly when to bring up the worst subject. I was over at a friends house and my friend brought up the subject of my ex. It has been over 1 year since we dated, it has been over 1 year since I talked to them about him. It wasn't the best time to bring up that conversation since I was already a little sensitive about the issue. I flew his question off by changing the subject but it made me wonder, why is it that ex's become more interesting after you are no longer together? What is it about them that attracts you and keeps bringing you back to them? I thought about it but I still don't have the answer, it could be that we forget about all of the asinine things they did or the times you were sure he had an evil twin brother.
This brings me to another interesting subject; I found out on Saturday that my friend Tomas is dating his ex-boyfriend again. They broke up about 9 months ago and they were both miserable for a major part of it. I did not know him while they were dating so I only have his side of the story but I did meet his ex about a year and a half ago at a friends party and he is a total and complete ass. The guy is rude, inconsiderate, overly-sensitive....the guy has no personality, wait, that is not true, he has a BAD personality. Anyway, it seems Tomas was going to keep him a secret until he figured out where the whole thing was going. Tomas and I were talking on the phone about our plans for the weekend and when it came down to telling me what he was doing on Saturday he was extremely secretive so I knew something was up. He finally broke down on Saturday and called me to tell me he had a date with his ex. I really don't get it!! But it is not for me to question, I am just here to listen and observe.

Here is a recap of my weekend:
Friday:
My nephew had a birthday party at Main Event and it was AWESOME. I know I was suppose to be there to help chaperone the kids but I had such a great time. The laser tag was definitely the best event, it was a great way to get your heart rate up and a good way to get some aggression out. I decided that if I ever call in sick I want to go and spend a few hours there playing games.

I saw the movie Mean Girls with my friend Ivan and his roommate Jennifer, it was cute, predictable, and funny. I liked it, it is not the kind of movie I usually like to watch but I really enjoyed it.

Saturday:
Shopping, lots of shopping. I am looking for an entertainment center. I found three that I am interested in, one of them was at the Old Home Supply Store but they want way to much. I also found one at Pottery Barn type store but it won't be on sale until August or September. The third one was at the Lemon House, I don't know why I go there...every time I do I end up regretting it. This time the owner followed me around and told me story's of her son and the cult he belongs to. Not exactly pleasant conversations. I may call a guy I talk to every once in a while and see if he has anything, he owns a cabinet making business and he re-finishes antiques. He always has good stuff available...But it is a bit pricey.

I also had the opportunity to see Margaret Cho this weekend. She was so funny, I may have to use some of her material :) Seyd and Ash had an extra ticket so they called and invited me at the last minute. I was already in Arlington so I was able to make it on time. After the show I ran into two guys from the past. It was strange to see them again.

Sunday: My Day!!!
Was very productive, I cooked for the week, worked on the weeds in my yard and planted some flowers. I am not sure what to do about the weeds, they seem to be taking over. I went to Lowe's and bought a weed killer but I woke up this morning and all of my weeds were still there. I bought an extra bottle just in case the first one didn't work. If they are still there on Wednesday I am planning on doing the whole thing over again. Damn those weeds, I will get rid of them. That is my promise!!!

I guess I had a lot more to say than I thought.

So I change my mind

I am not doing it.
They offered me 12k more. But I won't get tuition reimbursement, here i get 5250, if I decide to drive up there I will have to spend $40 more a week on gas which brings it close to 2k, and then there is wear and tear on my car.

If I decide to move up there I will have to pay for my mortgage. Right now I don't have a mortage payment.

I am lost.

Confused...oh so confused

I have pretty much decided I am taking the job but now I just have to tell my boss. I am more afraid of telling him than I am of starting a new position.
I know it is for the best and I am sure I will do great at my new position...but I still have a lot of strong feelings.
This morning I read my inspirational book "Who Moved My Cheese?" and I asked my self a questions:What would I do if I wasn't scared? Well, I would take the money and run, I would be open to new experiences and I would love it there. I would get use to the drive or I would move closer to that area.

I also read the statement that says something like "Keep smelling the cheese, you will know when it gets stale" and I think my current position will be stale once I finish my project. A guy I use to know would say "Anything that is stagnant stinks" and it is true, I think my position has been stagnant with mild periods of activity every now and then.

So here is my decision: I am taking the job. But when I tell my boss I am going to suggest that they make me an associate manager here and I can oversee two departments with a nice pay increase. I don't think they are going to go for that but it is worth a shot.

WOW!!!! What-to-do!!!

I just received an offer for the job I interviewed for on Monday and I am scared. I am very scared. At this time I think I am going to take it and just suck it up and make the drive to Irving every day. I can't turn it down, the money is too good.
I am scared, I am nerovous, I am excited at the same time.
What do I do?

It hit me!!

The funny thing about loneliness is that you never know when it is going to hit you. Sure, if sit down and analyze the events of the past few weeks you would have known it was coming but who actually sits down and analyzes every event in their life? In a way being lonely is similar to being happy, you don’t really know how happy something or someone makes you until they are gone. I believe it is the same with loneliness. Being lonely is just a necessary emotion to help you move on and get you motivated. Sure I am lonely now but what can I do to get over it? Well, for one thing I can stop listening to Norah Jones and the song “Come Away with Me” which reminds me of my ex and makes me a little depressed. I could also be more social, and I could stop thinking of how lonely I would be if I was to move to the Dallas/Irving area. I don’t know anyone up there but I would make friends quick, I am a very friendly guy. I could get involved in group activities, join new organizations. The possibilities are endless. No more sitting around feeling lonely I am done with Norah Jones, I am done with it all (for today).

The Mind Forgets but the Heart Always Remembers

It has been a year since I dialed his number and I was sure I had forgotten it by now but I just picked up the phone and I dialed his number. I got his voice mail and it was great to hear his voice even if it was just a recording.

The mind forgets, but the heart always remembers.

Decisions, Decisions!?!?!?!???????

I had an interview with Michaels Art and Craft Stores today and it went really well. The job is in the bag, as they say, if I want it but I am not sure I am ready to leave my current employer. No wait, that is wrong. I am not sure this position is what I am looking for. The pay is great, it will be a lot more than what I am currently making and they will give me some great benefits but I am not sure it is all worth it.
Pros:
$$$$$$
New Experiences
New Responsibilities
More Aggressive Environment
Opportunity for Growth

Cons:
The job is in Irving, 45-60 minute drive
Does not have any direct reports to the position but it is a management position
Does not offer tuition reimbursement
I would work with an old co-worked that hates me (and I hate her) with a passion.
Did I mention it is really far?


I am going to think about it because I am very confused right now. If I take the job I don’t think I would be willing to commute to Irving every morning so I would probably end up moving closer to that area. If I move, then the money I get will not be enough to cover the extra housing expenses and the tuition cost that I will have to pay out of pocket.

What surprises me the most is how many people are surprised that I am ready to leave my current employer. I have been here for a little over 5 years and I think it is time to go, everyone else thinks I should stick around and see what the future holds. I think I have learned all I can learn from this place and I should probably take my experience and go profit somewhere else.

My other option is to go back to school full time and just enjoy life.

Today during my interview I had a deja vu moment. I was sitting there being interviewed by the vice president and all of a sudden I stopped listening to him because I was trying to remember what happened next. As he kept talking I knew I had already lived through all of it. But I couldn’t remember if I accepted the position or not. Maybe I will dream about it tonight, I wish I didn’t have to make a decision on this. I am working on a big project and I would hate to leave in the middle of it and leave everyone here stuck with what I started but on the other hand I would hate to let an opportunity pass me by. I don’t want to burn any bridges so I am not sure how I am going to approach my boss about this one. I am very confident that he is not going to make me a counter offer to try to keep me here. He has strong feelings about letting people leave if they want to leave, no matter how valuable they are to the organization. His belief is that if they want to leave they will leave no matter how much money they are being offered. So I have a lot of thinking to do, the position has not been formally offered to me but I think it is going to happen on Wednesday. Stay tuned for the next episode of as Cesar’s World Turns.

My Busy/Crazy Weekend

There are times when I am so exhausted by my weekend that I wish I had no friends. This weekend was extremely crazy, and it all comes down to my need to socialize so I over booked myself and I end up running from one corner of the metroplex to the other.

Saturday I had to get up at 6 in order to take a practice GMAT test at 7:30. I did horrible by the way. My friends Sarah and Will ran into my ex on Saturday also, but I won’t write to much about that right now because I am afraid of what I will say. Right now I am referring to him as the “Son of a Bitch”. I have a theory on ex-boyfriends that I will have to write about later.
Anyway, back to my crazy weekend. So after my test I ran over to my favorite bakery to pick up a dessert for my boss’s Cinco De Mayo party. I had to be at home by 11 to change for a baptism I had to go to at 12, at 1:30 I met my sister for lunch, and at 3 I had to be at my boss’s party. My point is that it was a crazy weekend but I had so much fun.

My boss’s party was so much fun, everyone there was extremely nice and they had live entertainment. Their parties are always very exciting.

Sunday I was suppose to go to Canton Trade Days with Chico but he called on Saturday and he was so sick. Luckily Seyd called that afternoon and they went with me. I had a great time at Canton, I am sure it was because Seyd and Ash went with me. J
The main purpose of the trip was to look at dogs and I fell in love about 10 times that day. I saw so many beautiful dogs that I just absolutely loved. I did see a Labradoodle but it was a first generation (F1) and those dogs are more likely to shed than an F2. It was also a full size dog and I was looking for the miniature (20 – 30 lbs) version. I am going to do some research and see if I can find a breeder that has this size available.

I also fell in love with a catouhoud (sp?) that was adorable. There was also a black and white poodle that was adorable, but can you see me walking a poodle? It was very cute though and I might have to consider a full blood poodle.

I learned a thing or two about myself this weekend, and that is that I give my opinion/advice way to freely. I am going to work on that, I realize that most people don’t particularly care what my views or opinions are.

The Things I know

There are some things I know, and these things I know for sure.
1.
2.
3.

Mistake Number 1: Asking Peoples Advice

I made the mistake of calling my friend to get his advice on dogs. He is a vet tech and they have 3 dogs, a ton of fish, and 3 or 4 parrots. Their house is like a zoo, I always tell them they should charge people to go in.

I told him I was thinking about getting a dog and that I was planning on getting a labradoodle, Labradoodles!. After I said those thing I don't think I was able to say another thing during the conversation. He told me about the cost, the responsibility of dog ownership, he basically explained the in's and out's of dog ownership according to Scott. As much as I appreciate it his concern the whole conversation was very negative. It was all about why I should NOT get a dog.
In a way he is right, there are days when I am not home during the whole week but there are days when I just sit at home and do absolutely nothing. If I was to get a dog my habits would have to change and I don't think other people think I am capable of taking care of a pet. My friend Tomas made a comment about me not having the patience for a dog. My family has been very encouraging, it just seems some of my friends don't think I am responsible or patient enough to own a dog.
Scott did give me a lot to think about, and he pointed out my activities this month and how hard it would have been to do everything I did if I had a dog.

My Decision: I am going to think about it some more. Everyone who knows me knows that I don't like to jump into anything before evaluating and analyzing every possible outcome and solution. I am still going to go to Canton this weekend to check it out and if they have the dogs there I will get to see them and play with them. It will also give me the opportunity to look at other dogs and compare the breeds.

Off to sleep I go, what I will decide nobody knows.

Super Star

Yesterday I received a call from US Customs and they are finally presenting me with my U.S. Customs Brokers Certificate. I took and passed the exam on October 7 of 2002 (also my birthday) and I passed the federal background check on June 24, 2003. Why has it taken so you long you ask? Well, they changed their name and they were not issuing licenses until the name change was complete and apparently it took over a year. I don't care, I am just glad to finally be getting my license. The year I took the exam there was a passing rate of less between of 3% to 7%, I cant remember the exact number and I am feeling to lazy to look it up, so this makes it even more special.

I do have a problem, when I spoke with the customs officer she informed me they were going to be presenting me with the certificate which means there will be cameras and other people around. All of my clothes are dirty, all of them, and I have not had a car all week because it was in the shop so I have been relying on the kindness of my friend Kerry to pick me up in the morning and bring me to work. Since I didn't have a car I have not been able to drop off my clothes at the cleaners.
Yesterday afternoon I went shopping with my friend Tomas and I could not find anything. I decided I was not going to wear a suit because it shouldn't be that formal. I am just going to wear a shirt and a tie and that should be good enough. I wanted a shirt I saw at Banana Republic but when I got there they didn't have it. I rushed over to another mall before they closed and they were also out of it. The shirt would have been perfect, it was a dress shirt with vertical orange lines. I can't remember the other colors but the colors weren't to overwhelming.

I had to go home and do laundry and iron late last night to have clothes for today. I went to bed late so this morning I am not a happy camper. When I woke up I noticed I had two noticeable zits and huge bags under my eyes. It is on days like these that I wish my mother was in town so I could borrow her make-up or that I was one of those gay guys that wore make-up. What if my picture makes it on the DFW Port Newsletter? What if everyone in the trade community sees me? What if they all notice my huge bags and my zitz? I should take my own photographer and have them re-touch the pictures :)
Anyway, I am pretty excited. I am leaving the office at 9 and I probably won't be back until around 1 or 2. I am calling this my Super Star Work Free Day!!

Things have been a little crazy lately in my own little corner of the world. I have been considering leaving my current employer and moving on to bigger and better things. At the moment I have two prospects but I am not sure that either of them would be what I need. One of them would actually limit the interaction I have with the trade community and I would have a commute time of 40+ minutes. I have an interview on Monday morning, I am just going to stick with the process and see how much money they end up offering me. From my initial conversations I think it will be a lot more than what I am currently making. I want to leave, but I don’t know if I want to work for this company.

Or I could go to school full time, get my MBA and JD out of the way and get started with that I want to do. What that is exactly will be revealed to me at a later date.

Sometimes I think it would be so much easier if we had a map of our lives set out in front of us. We could look at it every morning or before making any major decisions and that would solve any uncertainty in life.

Day 6 of my DC trip.

I have been sitting at the airport for 3 hours. My flight has been delayed and I am so pissed off. But I had a wonderful day otherwise.

I woke up today and my intentions were to spend the day in Georgetown and do some shopping but after trying to pack my bag I realized I could not fit anything else in it. But I still wanted to go to Georgetown so I took the Metro and it was so packed. All of the people that were here for the protest were going in the same direction I was so the Metro was so crammed with people. While we were waiting at the station the Pro-Choice people and the Pro-Life people had a little word shouting contest. It was a kind of exciting. :)

While I was in the subway I was amazed about how open gay couples are here. There were two Asian boys (no more than 20 years old) and they were hugging and kissing at the station. I thought it was so cute.

Anyway, back to my original story, the Metro police had to come down and push the two groups aside. While I was walking around in Georgetown I decided it would be more interesting to go the protest so I headed back. Once I got there I was amazed at how many people where there. The news reports say there were close to a half a million there. It was amazing, there were so many different groups of people and they were all there to make a difference. I have never been in such a huge crowd of people that feel so strongly about an issue. There were the Feminist, the Pro-Choice, Pro-Life, Gay Rights, etc and they were all in their little groups. I took some great pictures of the different signs that people were holding.
There was a group called Anti-Racist Action and they were amazing. They were a bunch of people in their mid 20's all dressed in black and with black bandanas covering their faces. Part of their group was a group called the Radical Cheerleaders, they were made up of both men and women. The women were wearing some interesting outfits (torn prom dresses, handerchiefs for a shirt) and the men were wearing slips, dresses, shorts. Some of the cheers they used were really funny. There was one that I remember in particular, they were all in a circle and each person in the circle would take a turn and step in the middle, when they stepped in the middle they would deliver their message to the crowd. A sweet little Asian girl who was wearing a golf cap, plaid mini-skirt, and a pink shirt comes out and she does her cheer "My name is ______ and I have a message that is hotter than hot" the rest of the group would yell "How hot is hot?" and she replied something about people putting down prostitution but then they didn't mind when they were the ones being blown. The rest of the group starting yelling "Tip your whore, tip your local whore. Tip your whore, tip your local whore." Each cheer they did was very silly and fun but at the same time it was politically charged. I think this group was by far the most effective and got the most attention from the crowd.

I had a great time at the protest. I had to leave because I still had to go back and get my bags from the hotel and take the Metro to the airport. I thought I was going to be late, boy was I wrong. I got there and I am still here waiting.

I guess the waiting isn't so bad, I got to finish reading the book "How the Garcia Girls lost their accent". But I won't get to see my little brother, he came home this weekend and he was going to wait until 6 p.m. before he left back home. I had to call him and tell him to go home. Who knows when I will be home, they keep pushing the time back more and more each time I look up. I will stop looking up...maybe they won't change it anymore.

Wish me a safe flight home and remember....Tip your whore, tip your local whore!!!

Day 5 of my DC trip:
My feet are killing me. They hurt so much I wish I had a boyfriend to rub them.

I did a lot today!!! And I am to tired to write details about everything I did so I will just summarize for most of them and give details of my favorite ones.
I did the following:
Library of Congress
Supreme Court - Beautiful Building
Capitol
The reflecting Pool by the Capital
Three different squares by the Capitol
Botanical Gardens
Voices of America
Bartholdi Fountain - Great little square, this has a beautiful fountain that was designed by the same guy that designed the Statue of Liberty. I took some pictures, I hope they come out.
National Gallery of Art - All I can say is WOW
The National Gallery of Art Park - WOW
Smithsonian Castle
Freer Gallery
Washington Monument
The Armory - Story to follow

Did I mention that my feet are killing me?

If I had only gone to the National Gallery of Art today I would have been happy. The collection they have and the building are amazing. You can easily get lost in this building.
I loved the Degas, de la Tour, and Cezanne (?) paintings but my favorite thing about this museum is that they had three special collections on display. The first one was called Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya. I took a tour and they had some incredible pieces of art on display. It made me wonder how my people let such a great civilization collapse, but it also made me realize the success that we are capable of. I am glad to have the Mexican Indian line in my blood.
The second exhibit was on Diego Rivera, I have never really been a big Diego fan and I knew I wasn't going to enjoy it. His paintings are to cubist for my taste. There were two paintings that I liked, one of them was En La Fuente de Toledo and the other one was Retrato de Adolfo Best Maugard.
The other special exhibit they had was Milestones in Mexican Cinema from 1898 to 2003. They were showing some of the best Mexican films of the Mexican Golden Age. Most people don't know that Mexico produced some of the best films in the world between the 1930's and 1950's. I got caught up in the excitement and I bought a book titled "Cine Mexicano; Posters from the Golden Age 1936-1956". I haven't looked at it but I will get to it as soon as I get back home.

I think I already mentioned the protest that were going on in DC this week. While I was at the Mall (not the shopping mall but the national mall) every political/environmental/feminist etc was out there trying to get you to sign petitions and stuff. Everyone seemed to have big yellow bags that said Big Gay Bag so I had to get one. I asked one of the ladies where she got it and she sent me to the Armory which was kind of far from where I was. I decided to hop on the Metro and go get a bag, once I got there all the same groups that were out in the Mall were here with booths trying to get you to become a member, sign their petition, or sell you their shirt/button/crap. I did but some really good anti-bush buttons. I also ran into a lady from Fort Worth, she lives in North Richland Hills and works for EDS.

On the way back to the Metro I was walking behind a lady (mid 20's) that was carrying all kind of signs for the protest tomorrow. She looked back and smiled at me so I smiled back. When she went through the Metro gate she looked back at me and smiled again. Me being the dork that I am, was having problems with the gate so I just smiled. When I got down to the platform she was waiting for me and she started talking. I can never tell if people are flirting with me but I really think she was. If I was straight it would have been a compliment, she was very pretty. It turns out she is from Houston and is here to march in the Woman's Right protest on Sunday. The same groups that are holding the protest are having a party at the armory tonight and we might go together. Not quite sure if I will go since my feet hurt so much; besides, I want to go to Dupont Circle.

I changed Metro lines and headed over to the spy museum. Once I got off the Metro I started walking and I walked right into China Town. I debated having Chinese food for dinner b/c it always seems to make me sick and at the end I decided to have dinner at Chipotle. A good safe choice.
I walked through the streets of China Town and thoughts of Antonio came back to me. Last time he was in DC visiting his parents he brought me back a Japanese tea set in China Town and as I walked through the streets it was a little comforting to know he had walked through those same streets before. I walked in some of the stores and I am pretty sure I know where he bought it.
Ultimamente se me a metido en la cabeza y no lo puedo sacar. No se por que lo quiero tanto.

After such a long day....here I am. I am still trying to figure out where I am going tonight. I would love to sleep but it would be a shame to waste my time sleeping while I am here. I just have to make sure I am back here by 3 a.m. b/c that is when the Metro stops running and a taxi would cost me about $23.

I think I am going to go and rub my feet. Good Night.

Day 4 of my DC trip:
Today I realized how boring compliance people are and it got me thinking, do I want to be part of this profesion? After careful consideration I have decided that I don't. I don't want to be part of boring compliance profesionals. What else I will do, I don't know.
The conference went well today. I met some more people and they all seemed fairly nice. I found the only other person in the whole conference that did not deal with high tech items and we had a nice chat. She gave me good suggestions and ideas for what we need to do with our compliance manual. Which I was suppose to finish this year but now that everything has been pushed back I don't think I will even get started.

I had to check out of the Washington Hilton today and move to a more reasonable hotel now that my employer is not paying for it. I checked my bags in and before I left for the conference and I decided that I would just pick them up after dinner when I was ready to head over to the new hotel. After the conference I had to swing by the FedEx office and ship the conference materials back home. I wasn't counting on the ACI people giving me TWO huge binders of information. There is no way I was going to walk around DC in the afternoon and cary those things with me.

Today I decided to keep it low key because I was so tired. I went back to the White House to take pictures in the day time but when I got there they had put up baricades due to the protest against the World Bank and the protest for Pro-Choice/Feminist/Equal Rights people. I don't think I got such good pictures today. I also went to the Federal building, the building I thought was better than the White House and it turns out I don't like it after all. For some reason I was thinking it was a French Rococco building painted in Red. The architecture is French but it is not red and it is not Rococco, after I saw it again today I lost my appreciation for the building.

By now it was close to 7 so I decided to head back to the first hotel and pick up my luggage. As I was hedding back it started pouring. I had 3 blocks to go so I decided to just start running, by the time I got to my hotel I was soaking wet. I hope I don't get sick.
I picked up my bags and went to my new hotel in Ballston (Virginia). I really like this place, it is about 10 minutes from Down Town Washinton by Metro but it has a totally different feel to it. The buildings are new and small..it feels like a down town L.A. with half the people. The hotel I am not to impressed with, when I got here their system was down so I had to wait for over 20 minutes in the lobby while they tried to figure it out. Tonight I am just going to sleep....not to exciting...but I am so tired.

Day 3 of my DC trip:

It turns out my conference is not as interesting as I thought it was going to be. They are covering a bunch of crap that I am not interested in. They did cover some stuff that I had been doing research so I was able to ask questions to a very knowledgeable panel.

EVERYONE at the conference is OLD, WHITE, and HETEROSEXUAL!!!! I am living my worst nightmare. It actually isn't that bad, there is a nice piece of eye candy but he is straight. But everyone there is either a lawyer or they work for the government. About 30% work in the private sector but everyone works in high tech and the seminar is mainly geared towards them.

One of my goals for the year is to learn more about the high tech industry and the rules and regulations that govern the industry, I guess this is a step towards completing that goal.

Today my original plan was to go to China Town and then head over to Dupont Circle but the weather had other plans for me. As I was walking towards China Town it started raining and I didn't want to run the risk of getting drenched so I turned back around and took cover in the nearest restaurant I could find. Besides, Nick told me that it wasn't worth going over there anyway. The first restaurant I found was Cosi Cosi, actually it is just Cosi but I like the way it sounds when you say it twice. You try it...Cosi Cosi. Doesn't that sound better? This restaurant reminded me of a more flavorable version of an Atlanta Bread Company restaurant. Nick mentioned this restaurant on Wednesday so I figured I would give it a try. It wasn't bad. I sat by the window and watched the people run by trying to take cover from the rain. The rain didn't last very long and everything returned back to normal in a matter of minutes. It was interesting to watch all of the people walk by. They all seem to be cut from he same mold, they didn't seem to have their own identity. It was strange...everyone was wearing the same kind of clothing, shoes, hair style, etc.

After dinner I went back to the hotel to relax for a bit. After I was rejuvenated I decided to slip on a pair of shorts and my running shoes and go for a jog. I ran through Dupont Circle up to Adam's Morgan and back down through Dupont Circle. I immediately fell in love with this area of town. The area is so full of character and energy. Everyone there seemed to be in their 20's and 30's and there were so many restaurants with outdoor seating. I loved it. I walked around the neighborhood for a while and and then I joged back to the hotel.

When I got back I had a bit of an uncomfortable moment with the concierge. I was trying to find a bar/club close to the hotel to have a drink later that night. She didn't really help me...she wasn't rude...but you could tell she didn't want to give me information. And she didn't. She pointed me to Dupont Circle....I had to stand there wait for her to give other patrons directions but not me....I am different. I got back to my room and I placed a complaint.

I found a nice little bar in Dupont Circle, everyone was young and professional. I met a guy there named David and he was very nice. He lived close to my hotel so we balked back together....I know what you are thinking...but nothing happened. He went his way and I went mine. I might call him on Saturday and hang out if I decide to go out to the bars. I think I will :) He was cute.

Day two of my DC trip:
I slept like a baby, there was so much construction noises and traffic noises but I still managed to sleep like I don't sleep back home. Maybe it is the sounds of the big city that make me feel comfortable and put me to sleep. Who knows.

I had lunch with Nick before my conference started. He came by my hotel and we went to a sea food restaurant around the corner. He is a great guy, he has this quality about him that makes you trust him and tell him things you normally wouldn't tell other people. We talked about work, people at work, his job, the project etc. He got me thinking about what I need to do with my career/school/personal life. But I think I am more confused now.....I don't know if I should consider the job I was offered....or if I should just go back to school....
and the thing I am more confused about is about his sexuality. He has some of the classic signs of a closet homo...when he talks about people he talks about them as in they....we...us...he never specifies if they are male or female. He lives in an area that is largely gay, and I like him. He needs to be gay ;)
One more thing he said that made me think about how my life is back home. We were talking about the big city noises and the life and he said he liked it b/c it made him feel like he wasn't alone. Maybe that is why I like the city noises....I know there is someone just outside waiting to be discovered. Back home I have to turn on the radio or the Thai to hear any noise.

The conference went really well, I learned a lot and I realized how much I don't know about high tech items. That is one of my personal goals this year, besides taking the GMAT and the LSAT, I need to learn more about high tech controls and requirements.

I took a tour of all of the major monuments tonight and it was awesome. We went to the FDR Memorial and there were some really cool pillars with faces on them. I took a whole bunch of pictures of them and hopefully I will be able to enlarge them and frame them. We also sent to the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam memorial (I found a few Reyna's on the wall), the Jefferson Memorial, the Iwo Jima Memorial, and the Korean Memorial. All of them were crowded and there were kids EVERYWHERE!!!! But it was beautiful, they were all light up and hopefully I will be able to show my pictures to everyone. I really hope they come out, I was trying to use my experimental techniques from my photography classes a few years ago and I have forgotten most of them.

Oh, and update on the food. But first a little background on why I do the things I do:When I go on a trip, especially by myself, I like to walk and explore the city. I love taking trips by myself, it is such a great time to explore the city, explore your self, and learn things about what you are capable of doing. One of the things I learn every time I go on a trip by myself is how friendly I can be. I always think of myself as a shy person but when I am in a different city I make friends wherever I go. I made friends at the conference and at the hotel bar, the hotel bar is always the best place to make friends. Another thing I learned about myself is how much I love the big city life. Walking around in a fast paced environment with everyone walking fast....seeing them walk fast makes me walk fast...not b/c I have somewhere to go but b/c I get so caught up in the moment that I just have to walk. So I walked, and I walked (we are back to the food story) and I found a restaurant that specialized in empanadas, actually, that is all they really had. Well, that and jugos Jumex and soup. I had the vegetarian empanada and the vegan soup....I have been thinking about becoming a vegetarian again but that is another story....and the food was very reasonably priced. I spent under $7 for my dinner and it was so good. I had been craving empanadas for a while and that fixed my craving.

I am going to try to go back before I leave. The restaurant is off of Conneticut Ave and it is called "Julia's Empanadas". They also have 3 other locations in the DC area. The service wasn't great, the guy seemed to be in a bad mood but after trying the food it made me forget about that.

I just arrived in DC and I love it!!!!
The flight was a little long but it was very smooth. I had to sit next to an old lady who fell asleep and kept snoring throughout the flight. Every now and then I would cough and she would wake up. I always get to sit next to old lady's and fat people on plane's....it is my destiny.
As soon as I checked into my hotel I went and checked out the town. I was surprised by the appearance of the city, it is a lot cleaner and a lot safer than what people make it out to be. There are people jogging at all hours of the day and night. I love it here. It makes me feel like I am in a mini-New York. Not as fashionable but still...very sophisticated and cultured.
Tonight I walked around the White House and I wasn't very impressed. It seems a lot smaller than it does on T.V. There are also a lot of homeless people lurking around the area. I liked the Federal Building a lot more, it has a lot more character than the White House.

That's day one of my trip.
Oh, one more thing. Food here is really expensive and things close really early. Around 9 p.m. I was looking for a restaurant for dinner and I could not find anything that was open. I finally found a Chinese place called China Dragon and it was EXPENSIVE. For a plate of food and a drink it was over $20. What kind of Chinese food is that? And it wasn't even that great. The coke itself was over $2. Crazy stuff.