I was reflecting on that tsunami that happened yesterday in Asia. Phi Phi island, Phuckett island in Thailand were pretty much levelled. I saw this article on yahoo.com about this pro golfer who was there on his honeymoon, they heard something coming, they hid in a concrete bunker that was washed out around them... they were both swept out to sea, 150 yards, nearly died, the guy lost most of his right ear, both have broken... everythings. When Orie and I went to our honeymoon in Thailand, at the exact same time, 5 years ago, we thought that the "coldest weather in 30 years", coupled with the fact that we both got diahrrea for 3 weeks each, made it the worst honeymoon ever. Thank God we weren't there this year, it could have been much worse.
Knowing what Phi Phi island is like, relatively flat with tons of tourist bungalos facing the beach, I can't imagine that much is still standing there. Nature, as always, wins.
Other news: I'm getting a little tired of RPG.net these days- used to be my "home on the internet" in the forums section. I made a lot of friends there and all, but these days I don't get much out of it. Plus, reading about folks throw crap on of the some games that I dig... ah, well, gotta grow a thicker skin, I guess. That's "Teh Intarweb!!!" for ya. I'll probably take a rest from it for a while, while I work on Tenra Bansho Zero and other stuff.
Today I dug back into Japanese again. It's almost crazy how my level of speaking dropped. Like a bomb. I need to practice more, but it's hard when you're not constantly surrounded by it. Also, my writing skills suck. I can barely write by hand anymore, although writing via computer is no problem. Thing is, I can read a lot of Kanji- I can see one and know what it is, what it means, how to say it, etc... but when I go to write it by hand, I totally forget how it goes. But when I spell it phonetically on the computer, and it appears, it's like "Oh, that's it!" and I can write it fine.
I'm getting things at home organized- only about a month until The Move to the New House (see the entries on that below). Thing is, when you know you're going to be moving soon it's hard to get in gear to clean up around your desk, living room, etc. So my place is getting kinda messy.
Finally, putting a plan together for a diet... more of a lifestyle change, that involves exercise where currently I'm doing none. I used to work out an hour a day last year, but lately have become tired and listless... and thus, fat. So I'm going to get back into a regular routine, going to try to lose a pound a week or so for the next 40 weeks. At least a pound a week for the next 20 weeks, then keep it off for the following 20, that would be a start. But without the time for martial arts and the like, it's going to be hard. As soon as I move, though, I'm buying myself a punching back, a critical piece of workout equipment for myself that I've been wanting for some 4-5 years now but never had the space for. That will help.
I think I've just about hit my limit. I've been loading up on the overtime lately, recognizing:
1) Need the money to cover the downpayment of the new house next month. At least, having more in the bank means more to spend for new furniture, etc.
2) That the holiday season is extremely slow, where you can go for an hour with only having to do a little bit of work. Usually starting a week before Christmas, etc.
Unfortunately, item 2, which was true the past two years, is not true this year. We're getting just as much traffic and work on December 23rd (today) that we do any given day. So there's been no repreive from the heavy work. Which means I'm slowly, slowly burning out.
Luckily, I just grind through the holidays, working XMas Eve, XMas Day, the Day After XMas, New Year's Eve, and January 3rd. All holidays, all doubletime, with 2 days (the Eves) of crazy time: 8 AM to 9 PM, one hour lunch.
The only things keeping me going is Orie's cheering me up, and the thought that I've got a big, fat week of vacation at the very end of January. Man, that's gonna be so good.
Dilemma:
1) I like having comments available on my site. Allows my friends and family to chime in with cute comments.
2) Unfortunately, it also allows spammers to chime in with comments about making my d*** bigger or M0r.tG4ge 1NF0 !!
So I may be moving my weblog to another service than the one I have installed... but it'll be on the same site and all. Hmm.
TODAY I, ANDY KITKOWSKI, ATE A QUIZNOS CHICKEN-SOMETHING SANDWICH!!!
So, was joking around with my friends that these livejournal things tend to be filled with posts of either philosophical or political improtance, or they tend to be:
just ate lunch
it was macaroni and cheese
but i didnt have cheese so i used my tears at losing my boyfriend!!!!1111ONE!!!11!!!
Current Mood: More Intensity
Currently Listening To: My insides ... all weepy. Damn my boyfriend!!!
So, today I had a sandwich.
I also started tying up lose ends with the house aquisition (see below), and thinking about the future. Some of my buddies at work are interviewing at local new businesses, and I've just made a conscious decision not to jump ship at Cisco. Well, not unless something awesome comes along that blows my mind (read: Expat package). Also, I felt really awake and alive today. I decided that I'm going to:
1) Next month, shoot for my CCNA. Get that over and done with. Schedule the test by February. Time to knock that out.
2) Next year, being preparations for the PMP. Ever since Boy Scouts, I've loved the project management/teamwork/resource allocation stuff.
3) The two years after that, put $5K off to the side each year to complete (in 2 years) the two major blocks of the CCNP Exam. Computer stuff.
Meanwhile, at the same time:
1) Continue my Japanese learning. I've been so slack on this, though I do read (Japanese manga, some short stories) daily, I feel like I need to really get in there and tackle that Kanji. Make up a plan, like at least 5 Kanji a week or something. Actually, I've been saying that since 1998. But this time, it's for real! yeah, right ;-)
2) Continue learning PHP, web programming. Helping Orie with her design business.
3) Finish my RPG-related projects, namely at this point Tenra Bansho Zero. Orie did the design for that site, BTW.
4) Exercising, so I don't remain as fat as I've recently gotten myself (yuck). Haven't been doing martial arts or even DDR recently, so I've been getting bigger. One of the big pulls of buying the new house is that I've been waiting to set up my own personal gym: Punching bag, weight rack, etc.
Oh, yeah, the other reason I don't update this blog so much: Once I start writing, it's really, REALLY hard to stop.
Current Mood: BNORX!
Currently Listening to: ACO. As always, at work.
We scored the house. We'll be moving at the end of January. Now for 5 weeks of finance horror!! :-)
So, apparently the listing agent screwed up. Big time. Listed some totally incorrect info or something. Not a deal-breaker or anything, it was more of a cosmetic thing- Like going to sign a contract and accidentally spilling coffee all over the document sort of thing (but with figures and services).
But the offer still stands as accepted, and the listing agent and our agent, Thomas Wohl aka SUPEREALTOR, have straightened everything out. The contracts will be signed by the sellers tomorrow morning, first thing. So I'm told.
Which is great, cause the Mortgage rate is still slowly climing, and we need to get that 60-day lock in. All will be clear tomorrow AM.
So, Super Thomas says it's pretty much 100% certain (who knows, though, maybe the seller will spontaneously combust tonight). Other than freak act of God, the place is ours!
More, with congratulations and all, when the contract is actually signed.
BTW, here's pics of the house:
PICS of the House
Offers, counter-offers, confusion, another party also making offers at the same time. Won't know the final result until 6:00 PM. Blah.
Plus, I'm going to an office offsite in 30 minutes for the rest of the night. Stress/excitement = Wanting to relax and enjoy one'sself do not mix particularly well.
Hopefully I'll know by the time I get home at 9:00. On one hand, it sounds like it's in the bag (our realtor is an awesome guy and totally sounds confident about the deal, considering he knows the seller agent). On the other hand, with that second party offer out there... that just leaves an unsettling question mark in the air. Who knows, maybe they'll go crazy and add an extra 10K to the offer. Hmmm.
Add to that that, as of this afternoon, THIS AFTERNOON, the Mortgage rates are VISIBLY CLIMBING to the point that I've got my mortgage man calling me to get my confirmation on a bunch of stuff... sigh.
Oh well. One way or another, we'll know for sure tonight.
Sorry about the lack of updates, gonna post a little something for everyone in a minute.
Yesterday, we went home shopping. We found a gorgeous house, reasonably priced. Within 6 hours we were making offers on that. Counter-offer is in. We're going for it. We'll know within 90 minutes if it was accepted or not (they're getting an offer from an alternate source, we're hoping to edge them out and confirm now, asap, before the other family responds). In Japanese, this feeling of excitement and tension is called "waku waku".
87 minutes...
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