Update as promised

Dang i was plannign to write this on Monday cause I had the day off - seriously, working for the gov't, you get the wackest days off. I mean Columbus Day? Really?? haha love it - anyway, i was actually back home in SG trying to spend some time with the old man who's been alone and contemplating moving into a nursing/assisted-living facility, which I actually think is a great idea b/c he might be able to make friends and just be around more ppl. Now I'm side tracking. Long story short, I am writing this blog b/c Will made me.

Work has been busy. In a nutshell, my main job is, uh, well basically I'm everyone's bitch when their buildings are broken. Being military, I got a lot of side duties too, like welcoming foreign ships, and being the command duty officer to respond to emergencies, like a crazy ass terrorist attack on the base w/ guns blazing and Hurt Locker stuff. I wish it was that sexy, but it's almost always just dealing with drunk idiots getting DUIs or assaulting people.

I love San Diego though. I feel like I discover a new gem in the city every week: Balboa Park, Old Town, Mission Bay Park, Phil's BBQ and that's it. So yeah, just four gems, but there's a ton out there and I know it! ANd I think a lot of it reminds me of that feeling I had in college, when I felt like Berkeley and the Bay Area had a ton of cool things just waiting for me to stumble upon. That's the refreshing feeling of living in a new city, and so I'm envious yet sincerely happy for all my friends who have lived or are living in those other cool parts of the country: Houston, New York, Boston, Pittsburgh, you name it. You're gonna find all these awesome restaurants, places, events, nooks and crannies and everytime you think back to that city, you'll just have all these great fond memories. San Diego's on track to being that.

On a last note, I started doing Crossfit and I love it! It's cool because you do a lot of unorthodox training, like kettlebell stuff, olympic lifts, and seemingly random ass workouts. It runs like a class, where you go at a certain time, say 6pm, and you're in that class for an hour with other people doing the same workout. And I really like it because it feels like I'm playing a sport, and not working out. You know what I mean? Like how you always wanna play ball or frisbee cause its fun cause its a sport, but if you're just trying to go to the gym daily, you'll slack and start to avoid it eventually? Well anyway, crossfit feels like a sport, so its a lot of fun and I get that competitive rush, whether against my classmates or just against myself. Done! Now I got a lotta blogs to read up on

Music Clouds

I learned about Google Music last week from Diep's Jeff, and its pretty cool as far as I know - you can upload your whole music library to a server and then stream it through ur google account anywhere - ur iPad, Android phone, iphone, any computer, etc... Amazon also has the same thing, I think there's a deal right now to get an unlimited space acct for like a buck or something

But then I came across this http://www.spotify.com/int/coming-to-the-us/
It quotes Mark Zuckerberg: "Spotify is so good." Not exactly elaborate, but wth I believe him. Apparently, its like having every possible song in the world.

Signing up!

BORED

About two weekends ago, I met up with JLau in LA. It's always good to see him and catch up, not just because he's a lot of fun, but because he's always doing something different with his life, and its real interesting to see what his next move is. The typical person might just work the same job day in and day out, take a few vacations, do a few activities and have fun day to day, but Jlau has these bigger plans where he'd move to some other country for a couple years, work in a different industry, travel the world on a whim, I mean, lifestyle changes that seem to only happen in books. But most importantly, I'll have a place to stay in London in 2013. Thanks man!

This past weekend I went skydiving! I remember Cliff was trying to convince me Junior Year to go when they had a groupon for skydiving, and I was too afraid to do it, but when they got back and everyone said it was so much fun, I was like "ah damnit I shoulda went". So I'm glad I finally went, and it's pretty freakin awesome. I'd do it again if I can get it cheaper.

My typical day now is boring as hell. From 8-5, I'm learning the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). Here's a tiny excerpt:

1.000 Scope of part.

This part sets forth basic policies and general information about the Federal Acquisition Regulations System including purpose, authority, applicability, issuance, arrangement, numbering, dissemination, implementation, supplementation,
maintenance, administration, and deviation. Subparts 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4 prescribe administrative procedures for maintaining the FAR System.

Subpart 1.1—Purpose, Authority, Issuance

1.101 Purpose.
The Federal Acquisition Regulations System is established for the codification and publication of uniform policies and procedures for acquisition by all executive agencies. The Federal Acquisition Regulations System consists of the Federal
Acquisition Regulation (FAR), which is the primary document, and agency acquisition regulations that implement or supplement the FAR. The FAR System does not include internal agency guidance of the type described in 1.301(a)(2).

It's 2000 pages, and I have four weeks of it.

CECOS and FTX

I've been kind of busy the last few weeks, moving from SD up to Port Hueneme in Ventura for Civil Engineer Corps Officer School (CECOS) training until the end of August. CECOS is a crash course in understanding how the Civil Engineer Corps fits into the larger picture of the Navy, such as how our operations on base support the fleet. Also, we learn a lot about the Seabees, aka the construction battalions that support our Marines abroad. Most of this training is learning how to do contracting on behalf of the government, because much of my job in the next two years will involve working with contractors to build and maintain my naval base in SD. This is a boring paragraph.

Anyway, one thing I really like about the CEC is that they pretty much make it your job to get as qualified as possible, and they'll support you at it. I think that's probably the greatest perk of being in the Navy, they'll cover tuition for grad school, while paying you your full salary; they require you to get energy and environmental engineering certifications; they'll pay for your books and stuff to take the P.E. exam; other stuff that's kind of boring to discuss. But you get the point. If and when I leave the Navy, I know I'll be qualified to get a job elsewhere in the private sector, and for that reason alone, I feel pretty good about what I'll have going into the future.

Alright, now for the interesting part: FTX! Field Training Exercise, basically the closest I'll ever get to being Hurt Locker status until I go to battalion in two years. In the wee hours of this past Sunday, I went up with my CECOS class (about 50 ppl) up to Fort Hunter Liggett near Monterey to do a field exercise. For most of us, like myself, this was my first time doing any sort of combat training, so I don't mean that office work shit that they have officers do most of the time. I'm talking tactical engagements, patrolling during the day or in the darkness of night wearing your kevlar and flak vest, with an M16 ready to engage the (in this case, fake) enemy. Ride in Humvees, eat Meals-Ready-to-Eat (MREs), and communicate using "Roger" and "Over" like I always imagined GI Joe did. Definitely fun, but I gotta say its also pretty tough too. It's tiring and heavy and pretty grueling on your feet, knees and shoulders to be carrying all that stuff. Not having showered or changed uniform, I got back today smelling literally like a giant ass.

Hopefully I'll get some pics to post up.

Good night guys and gals

Kudos on working with kids

Today I had to go to an elementary school nearby to give out some awards to little kids, and I gotta say that it just looks so crazy working with kids. So for all you who worked with the little guys and girls at schools or tutoring, keep up the good work. Man I would get so mad and frustrated, dunno how ya'll do it.

Also, good job Andrew on making Yelp Elite.

And also, dogs are so cool. They're like little furry people on legs:

See more funny videos and TBT at Todays Big Thing.

When I grow up, I'm definitely gonna get a dog, and then I'm gonna frame him.

San Diego

When you fart, do you lean to the side and raise one of your cheeks so that the air can escape smoothly and without making a sound? I've been sitting in on a lot of meetings and finding myself leaning all over the place. No one's noticed the movement, although I know they can smell the smell.

Anyway, today's blog is about San Diego. Overall, I can't say its much different from LA. Weather's nice, plenty of suburbs and highways, it really is just like LA with a few exceptions. 1) A lot less traffic - my god, this might be the biggest thing I appreciate about SD 2) The water is so close, or at least it feels closer somehow. I guess it's because it seems like no matter where you are in LA, its at least a half hr drive to the beach, or on average like 45 minutes. 3) Tacos. They're big on seafood tacos down here. It's like, "Chicharron? Al pastor? Como es?!?" Instead, they're all about pescador y shrimps. Seafood is awesome, but my heart will always belong to meat.

One thing that I'm really looking forward to is taking advantage of all of the uh dang I can't think of the word. I mean, there's a lot of things to do here: I want to take surfing lessons and get all good, and get certified in scuba diving and get all good, or get into Crossfit cuz there's a ton of Crossfit gyms since SEALs invented it or something right here, and go running on trails on the mountains nearby, and also get good at shooting guns and rifles. I definitely definitely want to learn to kite board. I feel like San Diego is the one place that can accommodate all of that, but I can't really explain why I feel that way.

Lastly, I'm pretty close to San Diego State, so I was thinking of going to a bar near that campus and rootin for their basketball team today. I've never rooted for a team that made it to the sweet sixteen before. And now all the lame UCLA ppl are gonna respond with some dumb response. But I'm glad I didn't. SDSU lost, would've just wasted my time haha

Good weekend

No more putting off the blog, it's time to jump back in.

First off, I read like 40 blog posts yesterday and today, and man I'm always so astounded by how incredlbe everyone's writing is. No matter how detailed or simple, or serious or not everyone's post is, it's always always good. I told Elaine that in one of her letters, I felt like I was her, and that's kind of how I feel with everyone's post - it's like I'm reading your soul or something, or like I dunno, I'm just clicking with what you're thinking, and for that 1 minute or 10 minutes that I'm reading your post, I completely get it. Completely.

And I don't think its just how each and all of you write, but what you put down. Like Andrew only put down that quote and all I can say is, "Damn that is a good quote. Andrew would put down that quote." And that's more or less the way I feel about everyone's blog. I mean, I don't know what you're goign to write of course, but after its written, I'm think that you're the only person who would've chosen to write about that subject and in that specific way with that exact perspective. And damn it was good.

Oh ok, the second part is I had a great weekend this past weekend in LA! I went up to join Emma, Elaine, Herman, Diep and Sandy on Saturday in Santa Monica. We got to go to Sephora and Forever 21 and Nine West and all of these other stores with comfortable chairs to sit in. Each person bought a dress and a pair of shoes, except Herman and myself, but I can live with that because I got gelato, and we all went biking along the beach for a bit. I didn't go clubbing with the rest of em that night, though, cuz I'm lame and I had to wake up early to see Grandma. But havign just read Elaine's post, I really wish I was there to see that fight almost go down between Elaine and that other girl.

BTW I've been really wanting to webcam my blogs now, but the internet here is all slow. Oh, for those who don't know yet, a little bit about what I'm doing here in San Diego:

I'm workign on a base close to Downtown SD helping out with managing facilities, and doing public works stuff. At least, that what I should be doing, but I don't have a certain qualification yet, so my commanders just got me doing kind of random things, like attending someone's retirement ceremony on a carrier, or planning the Seabee Ball, or going to a golf tournament for charity. I was looking for apartments, but I ended up getting a room at an Extended Stay. It's like a hotel mini junior suite, but with month to month rent options that bring down the price a lot. I needa go to Port Hueneme in Ventura for training from May - August, and when I get back that's when I'll get a place for reals.