For everyone else. . .
Shin Lian Qwai Luh! (Happy New Years!)
Gong Shi Fa Tsai! (Best of fortunes!!)
Hone Bao Na Lie! (Show me the money!!!)

My only regret is that the OVA, is five episodes too short. In between the episodes I always get the feeling that I'm missing something, although a brisk search on the net confirms that there were only 5 episodes made (not counting the "Movie" DVD currently on sale). Maybe I need to watch the Movie DVD to fill in the blanks. Hmm. . .

The meeting went as it usually did, with blurbs of future activities and advertising for new members. I zoned out through most of it, concentrating on why my connection to the CS wireless network was spotty.

After the meeting, I swung by Emily's place, and scared the crap out of her sister (I knocked on the front door, but apparently she didn't hear, and when she opened the door to go to a friend's place she jumped back a few meters). Oh, and I did pick up my stuff before dropping her off to her friend's.

As I settled into a comfortable position in the seat of the car for the long drive home, I noticed something funny. The car in front of me. It looked vaguely familiar. In fact, it was the exact same car as mine (only the 3rd G35C I've seen in Austin to date, but this one had the same exterior paint and interior leather). At first the other driver didn't notice, as she was busy talking with her friend. But as I switched lanes and passed her on the right, she definitely took notice. So began a short impromptu race between us twins down Guadaplupe. We weren't going above the speed limit, just doing some technical racing between lanes and cars. In short, it made my day. I was tempted to follow them to whatever destinaton they were headed and chat with a fellow G35C owner, but thought better since she didn't seem to be too focused on the road (which might lead to dangerous situations later).

Disclaimer:
The videos to watch contains: heavy British humor, George W Bush bashing, Tony Blair bashing, historical reenactments, Saddam Hussein bashing, mild violence, not suitable for people who are not open minded

Well. . . I did accomplish something. . . spent the early afternoon going over and reviewing my resume. Since I haven't gotten any replies (either yea or nay, which I've stated before, is rather frustrating) at all from the inquiries I sent out, I decided maybe there was something wrong in my application materials. After some twiddling and fiddling, I really couldn't find anything amiss. . .

So for several hours I placed myself on Standby Alert (ready for departure, armed and armored, within 15 minutes), waiting for either news of her condition or info on what she might have been doing today. It was rather taxing. . . considering that I hadn't gotten much sleep lately. Damn me and my Paladinic codes of honor. . .

Then went to Fry's because they had some pretty good rebates on a 64MB flash drive (so I can backup stuff) and a 64MB smart media (so I can have more songs on my MP3 player), and I just had to jump on it. Problem is, there is no UPC on the smart media package, so I'm not sure how I get to reclaim my rebate. Guess I'll have to go up there tomorrow and ask. . .

Made myself a huge salmon steak for dinner, and some sauteed onions and mushrooms, and a huge bowl of mashed potatoes (from actual potatoes). Problem is, I made too much food. . . guess I'll save some it for lunch tomorrow. I must be sick. . . usually I can finish all of it in one sitting. No wait. . . I must be getting old. . . :P

So as I came home tonight, I thought to myself, it sure is damn cold. It was cold enough that I actually used the car's seat heater (something I thought I'd never have to do in Texas).

Tried drinking water, no effect. Tried taking medicine, no effect. Tried staying warm, no effect (other than getting sweaty). Can't fall asleep because I can't breathe. *sigh*. . .

Had a very weird dream last night. Somewhat of a continuation of a series of dreams I've been having. The previous dream had me lying in bed, sweating that I had missed two days of class already (I was taking networks with Edmondson-Yurkanon, of all people. . .), and we had a midterm on that day. I was skitterish because I had no idea what the class was about, and was afraid of going in to take the midterm completely and utterly unprepared. Last night's dream placed me back in Hell. The school that butchered what childhood I had. . . and for some ungodly reason I was back in that school, walking those haunting halls, seeing familiar faces and telling them about what has transpired since my evacuation. I remember one moment, I was feeling so weakened, I sat down in the hallway while everyone walked by me, and my shoulder (where the broken collarbone was) hurt incessantly. Shortly after that, I walked out of the school (wearing the god-awful uniforms), called Ni-Lie up (who happened to live around the school for some reason), and asked for a ride home.

I think that dream was prompted by a gender/racial relations discussion taking place on the ACM Officer's list that brought back some unpleasant memories. Worse yet, one of my responses to the discussion resulted in a mostly unacquainted officer to attack my character and accuse me of being racist (names left out to protect. . . well. . . not necessarily innoncent, but still. . .).

To those who know me, there should not be any need for explanation of my point of view. To those who do not, I consider myself to be pretty open-minded about most things.

Frankly, I have never been truly incensed before, but this was quite unacceptable. For a person who does not know me, to judge my character based on one single statement (I'm tempted to say that it was taken completely out of context), which was formed due to my previous experiences, is most certainly a murder of character. The injustice of her accusations (without proper evidence) is exactly why the world is in the sorry shape it is in today. *sigh*. . . and this generation is to carry on the human race? I fear at the thought. . .

So for the next few days I get to work with him in painting the house. We started bright and early today, and managed to finish the kitchen, breakfast room, and half the living room. Unfortunately I spent myself completely today (back is complaining loudly, and the cold weather has frozen my sinuses), and would require some time to recuperate. The plan is for me to rest tonight and tomorrow morning, go in for a half-day of light-duties (retouch the wallpaper in the master bath), and then resume painting on Thursday.

Essentially the piece was about the hardships and difficulties a parent would experience, and hopefully overcome, in the course of rearing their child. It began with the definition of what unconditional love is, how it could be applied, and what the child should do in return. Even though the cast consisted of volunteers, it seemed that they did a fair job in performing the piece. The core of the piece was the music and lyrics though, and the acting merely complemented it.

As I hinted above, the entire piece was in chinese (Tzu-Chi is a quasi-buddhist organization). So the profound effects of this performance would be lost on a non-chinese speaker. However, those of us with an asian background (and more importantly can identify with the scenarios depicted in the play) should be able to appreciate the significance of what was being said.

To me, it showed from a 3rd person's point of view of what my parents went through during my upbringing (and even now, while my sister stretches their patience). While it was a very emotional perspective, it also brought about greater understanding of their thoughts and sacrifices. In all likelihood, it also gave me a glance at my future, on what I might be facing in the coming decades (we should all fear at the thought of my descendants turned loose on the world :) ).

Only good news I have is I managed to figure out what was wrong with the Perl/CGI interpreter, so the message boards are working once again. I still can't figure out why the Chinese-English dictionary isn't finding the resource files though. Guess I could always ask someone who is already hosting it. . .

After lunch I swung by Design Edge to see what was going on over there. I was intercepted at the front door by Pearce, who proceeded to show me an email I had sent to him earlier, apologizing for not responding to it (it was all folded up and dog-eared, as if it had been carried around for a while). Blandy showed up shortly afterwards, and some catching up was done. Word spread of the arrival of the new ship, and soon most of the Industrial Design people were oogling at the vessel as well. Turns out Mannie also has one on order, and Pip was seriously considering one for a while. Even though everyone was jealous of my good fortune, it felt good to be in their humorous company again.

After that, Best Buy earned my good graces again by honoring a price match on a purchase I made in the beginning of December. The Customer Service Representative took one look at the reciept, and listened to maybe half of what I was saying, then proceeded to do what I had hoped she would do. Too bad not all CSRs are like her. :P

Managed to get in a little Linux studying today. Guess I'll wind up the night with a little GTA3 before I head to bed.

The only productive thing I did today was fix Ni-Lie's computer (his sound card decided to go on strike for some reason). Since neither of us has seen Star Trek Nemesis, we agreed to figure out a time to go see it. Which should happen sometime before the end of the world.

Ni-Lie swung by earlier so I could install a new hard drive for him. We catched up on each other while I wrestled with the stubborn hard drive (I do not recommend anyone getting a hard drive bigger than 137GB, its too much hassle). He hasn't changed much, and stuck in the same rut I am (recent grad with poor job prospectus).

So ends my fairly enjoyable vacation. Tomorrow I shall resume my Linux studies, and maybe some SEAL training too. . . my back willing.

The Bad: My allergies are still acting up, although not as bad as it used to be several days ago. As of this point I really don't think I'm allergic to any type of pollen or dust. . . just the damn cold tempertures (I'm fine during the day, basking in the sun, and I'm completely incapcitated at night, withering in the freezing winds). I am running out of funding, so I will have to survive on Ramen noodles until I secure employment.

The (unspeakable): Nothing really. Just that this current state of job-less-ness is REALLY getting on my nerves.

Spent the entire day with her again today, but mainly to look at her misbehaving cell phone and finish decommissioning Quincy Pro so she can take it home to her parents. Unfortunately for some reason Quincy Pro is complaining when a sound card is installed, and until this road block is removed, I'm not willing to let it go.

Other than that, Quincy IV has been completely decommissioned, and as I said above, Quincy Pro is putting up a fight. :P Obviously, until I am done with Quincy Pro, I won't be able to resolve the minor problems on Quincy X that is preventing the message boards on this site to work. But the FTP site is up and running! :)

Beyond that. . . my allergies are still plaguing me. I still can't figure out what is causing this, and have been completely unsuccessful in even trying to identify a pattern or a common element. Bonnie's dad has been very helpful these past few days in suggesting remedies, even though we have yet to find one that works. :P

However, they managed to teach me how to play mahjong (Hong Kong style) after dinner, and with beginner's luck I somehow won after 8 rounds. I think I was able to grasp most of the rules, although I'm sure there are still a few I'm missing.

The switchover from port 6000 to 8080 has occured, or you would not be reading this right now. The switchover from Quincy Pro to Quincy X has also occured, with some minor glitches being worked out ASAP. All you techies interested in the specs can check out the updated Quincy X page.