personal update

November 18, 2005 (FRI) -

Leaving for Minneapolis in about 20 minutes! Going to go visit my short and sassy friend up there - she's such a very sweet girl!

October

Went to Las Vegas with Josh. Met Zoey (she wants to become the Donald Trump of medical scrubs!)

September

Became an at-large member of the DNC. August

Helped Patricia with several projects.

July

Left Fednet, went to work for a small IT company in Rosslyn that punishes people for being late at Fortune 100 companies.

June

Left the IADB, went to work for at Fednet.

May 11, 2005 (WED) -

This afternoon at 5:30, I have to go and "filibuster" in front of the Union Station building... its part of a protest by GWU Law students to enhance awareness of the Republicans move to exercise the "nuclear option" as they call it and end filibusters in the Senate. I guess I'm getting a bit of stage fright, but oh, well.

I'm getting to know more and more people at the Inter-American Development Bank.

On the Empanada Factory front, I called Ultra Designs today and got a quote from Miki Fernandez for a logo. This project might actually work! Exciting!

May 8, 2005 (SUN) -

PERMANENCE

Permanence has been such an important subconscious component of my life for so many years, and I've never really recognized that until this week. I've been a bit depressed, and have taken the time to reflect on a lot of things.

When the priest and the rabbi talk, in the movie "Keeping the Faith" with Ben Stiller and Ed Norton, the rabbi wants to modernize things, he wants to use a young and new and energetic approach to his sermons. The older rabbi that is training him tells him how many of the older members of the church need tradition.

How the church is the one place where things don't change, and they find that comforting in their lives.

I have held several jobs in the past eight years since leaving college. Rotary Lift in 1996, Eli Lilly in 1998, ININ in 2000, TechData in 2001, Systems Integration in 2002, EDS in 2003 and now the IDB in 2005. At each of those places, I made some friends, learned the culture and made a little bit of a community for myself.

After all, you spend a third of your life at work (8 hours), and over half of your waking hours, including commute times, happy hours, trips, etc. And when I think back about some of the places I've left... I wonder how many of the same people are still there, minus me? I know for a fact that in some places, several people have left, and a lot of changes have ocurred. And it makes me a little bit sad. That the fragile "community" that existed for a few weeks or months or even a couple of years, is now gone, never to exist again.

Sure, the cubicles are still there, the company name is still the same, ... and yet, the Latin America Department, for example, in Tech Data, is no longer the same, a fun place where Jerome, Babur, Roland, Lautaro, Jose, Steve, Ozzie and Eric all worked together and had created a bit of a community for ourselves.

And the same concept, I think, extends for certain intangible qualities about our global society. When I read CNN online, or another major online publication, and see not one, but several spelling mistakes... it makes me think that there is a general decline in the society as a whole, that a younger generation has been entering the workforce for years now, with poorer vocabulary, less reading, less discipline. I could be wrong, I haven't done a systematic study, but that is the impression I get. The kids have inherited the parents' dry cleaning shop and they're not running it very well.

May 4, 2005 (WED) -

This morning I got an e-mail from my cousin Diana that my uncle Victor passed away (not her dad, another uncle), in Paraguay. It makes me really sad, because I wish I could have visited with him and his family in the last couple of years. These are the moments when you really feel the pain and anguish of being "of two cultures"... having one foot in one country and the other foot in another... Yes, there are many benefits, you travel the world, you meet so many people, you have an expanded world view, great job opportunities. But at the end of the day, you spend little or no time with loved ones and family, and you have to find a way to deal with the regret.

My uncle Victor was a very kind, quiet fellow. He owned a large ceramics factory outside Asuncion (maybe an hour and a half away by car), in a small dusty town called Aregua. I have fond memories of his house, as we were usually there for the festive occasion of his birthday, which would draw a huge crowd of friends, family members, his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, cousins...

I always knew him as a much older man, maybe starting in his 70's; I'm sure my mother and some of my older cousins remember him as a young man and know a lot more about him and how he lived and was and some of the anecdotes that surely exist about events in his life.

I'm thinking I should really plan for the end of this year, 2005, to travel to Asuncion and meet with as many cousins as I can and my uncle Juan and friends that are there.

May 3, 2005 (TUE) -

Today was a very long day! I'm still recovering from a particularly nasty cold/flu virus that I got over the weekend. This afternoon, I met with K, a very cute girl that is moving out to Wisconsin to stay with a new friend of hers. They have quite an interesting arrangement. She might need a place for her 9 month old kitten during July, so I'm going to ask Juanita what she thinks about that.

Then I spent a few hours with Rodney M. and the gang from Paraguay. I also met Lindsey, a teacher from ACA that was in town to look at graduate programs and meet a family friend that is a senior adviser at the Department of Homeland Security. As I observed her and Rodney, it made me remember how teachers used to dress and act back when I was a student at dear old ACA.

I suppose its the natural thing to do, to miss the way things used to be back when, and to feel a bit sad that things are different now, but things continually change... I suppose my grandfather would miss the way things were back in the 1800's, when kids had to wear all black clothes, and there was no indoor plumbing...

I hope that Jane had a good time today, meeting with Eva and getting a tour of the Capitol. I'll have to call her at some point so see how it went.

May 2, 2005 (MON) -

Yesterday, while struggling to work at the Hostel with a super bad flu, I met a charming British girl called Jane. She asked for help in getting a tour of the Capitol, the White House. I called a friend of mine called Eva to help me out, and she agreed to meet with Jane and have coffee and maybe run over to the Capitol building for a quick mini-tour.

Later I started worrrying that maybe Eva would be upset with me for sending her a "random" person, although I felt that Jane was a really nice, charming girl, traveling around the US, that if I had the chance, I would give her the tour myself, but of course, I don't have that kind of access.

April 27, 2005 (WED) -

Today is my third day at my evening job... I'm working at Hostelling International of Washington, DC now! I'll be working there from midnight - 7 a.m., and then at the bank from 8 until 4:30 pm. For the next two weeks, though, I'll be working from 5-9 pm during my initial training.

April 24, 2005 (SUN) -

Went to have ice cream with my mom, Juanita, Matt Rosenberg and his girlfriend Katie. Afterwards we went down to 8th Street on Capitol Hill (Barracks Row) and had a bite to eat at the Ugly Mugg. Overall it was a nice evening!

The group

Juanita Jerome

January 26, 2005

First day at the Inter-American Development Bank in their IT department. I accepted an offer to work through a contractor, COMTRON. I have to wear a suit and tie every day!

December 29, 2004 (TUE) -

Ok, so I'm a bit uncomfortable right now... well, maybe a lot: I'm wearing a too-tight suit for some interviews today, back on the job search! I hadn't tried on my suits recently, and apparently I've put on a few pounds!

My first interview was this morning... I know that it's probably not going to pay enough, but something about working at a hotel is just fun! My interview was with Emma, the HR person at Sofitel DC. Sofitel is a high-end French-owned luxury hotel about a block away from the White House. Emma was very nice and professional, also met Kader, a French-speaking fellow that was working the front door (bell hop?) As well as a very nice-looking young lady working at the Front Desk, although I did not get her name.

From there I got back on the Orange line then switched to the Red line to get to work at iapps (my last week!) I am now less the tie and jacket, but still barely breathing in my too-tight pants. I have another interview at 12:30 at Premium Staffing, Inc. downtown.

Also today, I'm hoping to organize a tsunami survivors benefit concert for next week. We'll see what pans out.

Not much other news.

December 21, 2004 (TUE) -

Last night went to a celebratory dinner for iapps, the company where I'm working. They have recently been bought by another company (Bridgeline). The food at Maggiano's was incredible. I wasn't even that hungry (usually, the hungrier you are, the tastier the food is), but the mushroom ravioli, fried zuchini and gnocchi were delish!

I'm trying to get started on our family website -- I'm thinking I might buy the domain today and set up the initial blog, and then do some testing... the domain name might be LifeIsARiver.com... what do you think?

I need to update the Moofy more often! Urg!

Sent a couple of nice little gifts to my snuggle bunny rabbit down in P.R., Nadira! She got a little bottle of "Light Blue" (Dolce and Gabbana), some amethyst earrings and a little "sugarloaf" purse (whatever that is!)

November 12, 2004 (MON) -

This morning I was in a huge hurry. Woke up early enough (around 7 a.m.), but then I realized that I had several conflicting "things" happening:

1. Had not finished watching Shrek 2
2. Needed to return it to Blockbuster
3. Wanted to ride the bus instead of driving today
4. Had to get on the metro by 8:10 - 8:15 at the latest

So, I ended up watching part of the movie, not returning it, and just driving up to the metro quickly (got there about 8:30), and found a parking spot this time! Turns out that if its a Friday, AND it's raining, there are less people that go in to work! We must be in the first world... I keep forgetting! :)

Also, I met a nice young woman on the metro who was going to a job fair... turns out it was right across the street from where I'm working. So I printed out a copy of my resume and ran across the street, into the McDonald's, then out the back door and across another street to the job fair (didn't want anyone at my company to know where I was going). Well, turns out it was a job fair for disabled people!!!

Well, I had dinner last night with a nice lady that I used to work with in the DC for Dean campaign (let's call her Cathy). Very nice.

This Sunday I have a date with Michele (an attorney!) ... let's see how that goes.

October 25, 2004 (MON) -

I have decided I definitely want to go to Law School. These are the tasks I will have to complete in order to achieve that goal:

* Research next LSAT open date and cost

* Research three schools and average entrance GPA

* Obtain application forms

* Fill out and submit FAFSA forms

July 28, 2004 (WED) -

This is my last week in Silver Spring. This Sunday I will be moving to an apartment on Capitol Hill, about 12 blocks from the Capitol. I will be sharing an apartment with Jacobino Ferreira -- Deputy Chief of Staff for a US Congressman.

I am also thinking quite a bit these days about Mailita Mendez... the cutie from Rio Piedras (Cupey?), Puerto Rico. She is such a serene, mature, gorgeous girl.

Nadira e-mailed me last night to thank me for a gift I sent her. She's cute, too, but a bit too "naughty" for her own good. We'll see what happens with her.

So much has happened in the last several months!!! The brief interlude with Paloma, the interesting time with Kira T., the time in Boston, and Dialma... my first weeks back in Silver Spring...

February 16, 2004 (MON) -

I must confess I'm a bit down. Many good friends I've made in the past two months I will not see again in a long time (coworkers in the Dean campaign). Also, I'm 3000 miles away from home and family! I predict this will take me about 10 days to travel, hopefully mixed in with some quick visits to Josh, Tanya and Christy (Indiana), Lilian and Worrell (Texas) and then to Boston (Juanita, mother and two cats) and then on to DC.

I also am missing Nadira quite a bit, my little snuggle-bunny in Puerto Rico. She is valiantly pushing through her first year Optometry courses.

I will also be job-searching in the very near future, as I hope to find something in the DC area either in the tech industry or in my new-found career: public service! :)

Tomorrow is the all-important Wisconsin primary!

November 25, 2003 (TUE) -

I am seriously considering moving to Iowa for 45 days to help Howard Dean win that state. Stay tuned! All I need is to have someone move into my room at the group house!

November 22, 2003 (SAT) -

Went on a first date with Miriam. We went to the Brazilian yearly party -- met with Suzi and Barry (hedge fund manager from New York) and then went for a nice walk in Georgetown. Turns out Miriam has decided (for now) that she's only going to marry a Jewish man, although she's dated non-Jews in the past. We're thinking about going to see a Congressional session soon.

November 20, 2003 (THU) -

Attended the DC Grassroots Summit for Dean. Joe Trippi was there and Pat Johnson surprised me by having me come up to the stage and give a 10 minute impromptu speech! I wish someone had recorded it!

November 17, 2003 (MON) -

Volunteered at Governor Dean's birthday party at the National Museum for Women in the Arts. I'll see if I can find a picture of this to post here. Met Don Beyer and his wife, as well as Maria Echaveste.

November 16, 2003 (SUN) -

Met Miriam -- she is a cutie that works at Holy Cross Hospital. I was back from New York after shooting some Dean testimonials. Saw her in traffic on sixteenth street and winked at her. She winked back, I yelled for her phone number, she asked me if I was single or married, to which I replied "single!" and so she gave me her number!

November 8, 2003 (SAT) -

I had the wonderful opportunity of participating in the Signing of the Declaration of Independence from Special Interests -- the campaign chose seven grassroots leaders to stand with the Governor at this event. I even had the opportunity to make some brief remarks to live CNN, C-Span, MSNBC and FOX network cameras!

October 21, 2003 (TUE) -

Wow, an incredible five months have gone by!!!

JULY : began helping out with DC for Dean. Met Pat Johnson, Paul Metcalfe, Robin Kelley, Mike Shor, Matt Ching, Nigel Gragg, Kathie Boettrich, Kirstin Fearnley, Rudi Riet among many, many others. Also, on July 6, we organized a $5,000 bus trip/stadium block purchase and got over 80 people over to the Paraguay - USA soccer game in Columbus, OH. Paraguay lost 4-1.

AUGUST : through Rachel Gurvich in Burlington, VT at Dean For America, I met Lorenzo Lebrija by phone and we began putting Latinos For Dean together.

SEPTEMBER : Another incredible Dean month. Beginning with the joint Latinos/Minority outreach Meetup at Zanzibar, the Dean music video, the Dean Car Wash on Georgia Avenue, and ending with an amazing four days up in the center of it all: Burlington, Vermont! The people at Dean For America are incredible! We are making history here.

OCTOBER : Another great month. My Explorer (covered in Dean signs) is featured in a Comedy Central skit (scroll to find), continued success with Latinos For Dean, including having Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) at one of our events, and this week, the big push for producing a Spanish-language testimonial video for outreach.

June 23, 2003 (MON) -

Nothing like a little War in Iraq to get you sidelined for a few months! I will be attending the Howard Dean rally tonight to see if I like him as a candidate. Will definitely keep you posted.

Still working on the final details for the Albirroja vs. USA game on July 6.

Met Lourdes Sacomonti yesterday at the Friends of Paraguay picnic. She is a sweet, cute Paraguayita!

February 27, 2003 (THU) -

Snowed again last night! TOO MUCH DAMNED SNOW!

I can't believe I'm updating this thing almost daily! Wow.

I am now weighing 248. More progress... yay!

Michelle's web site has been updated.

I can't believe two of my high school friends' parents are both have cabinet level jobs in the Paraguayan government (Diego Moreno's dad is Foreign Minister and Nestor Loizaga's dad is Ambassador to the UN).

February 26, 2003 (WED) -

Nia Vardalos is starring in her own sitcom, "Greek Life"! That's great. She deserves it. The success of their "Wedding" movie, I think, is a great American Story about a hardworking person that makes it to the top!

Sundays on CBS at 8 pm.

I am going to a Brazilian party this Friday with Suzete Navarro. She is a hard working girl. She deserves to make it big also.

Mom is looking for her 1998 Tax return... she has turned the house inside out looking for it. I hope we find it soon! :D

It snowed again this morning, only a light dusting fortunately!

My weight is down to 250, so that is approximately 11 pounds. My next step is to tighten down on the carbs, have ONLY beef and chicken for the next couple of days and see if I can hit 245.

February 21, 2003 (FRI) -

I am losing weight! I started the month with 261 pounds, can you believe that? My goal is 180; really, my goal is to feel slim and toned.

I am not sure about going to Florida on March 8. I am scared of the trip, for one.

Here is a picture of the week Taro was here.

(L to R) Jerome     Suzi     Taro

February 18, 2003 (TUE) -

I am sitting here at work (no one else is here) with a stuffy nose, an aching head and sore muscles. I just finished shoveling out of 25 inches of snow that fell this weekend in the Washington area.

I am once again suspecting the girlie of cheaty-cheaty, but what can I do?

I feel smart for having bought a 4x4 truck! Even though it only snows over 12 inches once every 10 years here in DC!

Went to a Brazilian party this weekend, it was great! I took Josh Chov and Michelle (the Dominican Demon) and they embarrassed me by doing the "thong grind" at the dance!

My mom has got the entire house up in arms, after making a big deal out of "who eat such-and-such out of the refrigerator?" Omar and his wife Paula have decided to leave and go find somewhere else to live. I will offer them March for free, see what they say.

December 4, 2002 (WED) -

Props to Tony Zizac who gave me a kick in the pants to update the site!!! :D

It is about to snow here in DC, we're supposed to have a snowstorm and our work is going to shut down tomorrow.

November 17, 2002 (SUN) -

Spent the weekend in Dallas, TX in the company of several high school friends from Paraguay! Met up with Martin, Izzy, Tony Bergen, Tony Lin, and Robert Lin. My mom also went! She made a bunch of Paraguayan dish-goodies for us! :D

Also, by PURE COINCIDENCE, Wai-Yin and Pu-Peter were in town to visit Ying! I called Pu just for fun, "hey do you want to go to Dallas this weekend?" and he laughed and asked if I was kidding, thinking that I knew about their plans... then he told me they were going to be there too!

September (?) -

Took Juanita up to Boston for the beginning of her first semester at her Harvard U. master's program! She must be the smaht one in the family.

August 15, 2002 (?) -

Moved into a 4BR/2BA house at 909 Laredo Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20901. We are renting two of the rooms out (one to a Uruguayan professor, the other to an IT guy!)

July 10, 2002 (WED) -

Started my new job with EDS on June 24. The place is great, friendly professional folks. This is located in Silver Spring, Maryland, which is right about the 12 noon mark on the clock of the beltway around DC.

My sister and mom are coming up on July 20! Yay!

Things are going good at "home" with the Siles. They may sue a contractor that came by and made a huge mess in their house. Just sue for the down payment on a job that he never completed.

I am in the process of completing a loan application for a $160,000 line of pre-qualification. It is a LOOOONG process! Gosh. Especially with the 38 negative 'dings' on my credit! Ha ha.

July 4, 2002 (THU) -

Went to see the fireworks downtown. Very nice. It was hot (about 95) and humid and we almost collapsed on the way back to the car. Talking about car, I've been giving Koralia (the Nicaraguan cutie) some driving lessons. She drives really well, it's about time she got her license.

June 14, 2002 (FRI) -

Paraguay and USA both qualified for the second round of the world cup! Paraguay plays Germany tonight and the US plays Mexico on Sunday night.

I am starting my new job with EDS on June 24! Finally got out from under my evil boss!

April 25, 2002 (MON) -

Birthday! I feel old. 28 is old. Don't you think? Meow.

April 22, 2002 (MON) -

Went to a super nice dinner with some Congressional interns. Pork chops, asparagus and empanadas! Jenny's car is still in New Jersey, Sandra and Kat are leaving for Graduation in Utah and then returning in May. We ended up watching a little Malcolm in the Middle, Simpsons and Alias after I got to wash all the dishes!

Found a picture of Sandra on the internet...

April 21, 2002 (SUN) -

Well, I've been battling this existential angst for several weeks now (first in December with rough moments in February and March). This morning was quite rough and then leveling off in the afternoon with a higher outlook for evening (dinner with some Congressional interns).

My soccer injury from last Saturday (4/13) is still bothering me, especially when reclining. Hopefully I will continue to recover from it.

Received a wonderful call from Naddie today, where she said she was getting me the Pink CD. She is adorable and I suppose really thinking about me.

Arsalan is in trouble. He apparently has been sentenced to 18 months for battery, and has a pending deportation order due to invalid documentation for working in the US.

Arsalan in 1994

Arsalan in 2001

Have made contact again with Tony and Angie! They have a baby boy Matthew. I am waiting for pictures of the trio. Apparently they work in Indy. I'm glad to be back in touch with them! (Saludos, if you are reading this.)

Andy Schornick is also concerned for Arsalan's welfare. Here is a picture of Andy fishing somewhere in the midwest.

Evan Tanner wrote me a glowing letter of recommendation! Thanks Evan. Hopefully I will live up to that letter someday! Here is Evan with son Elijah!

Asuncion

Asuncion is changing pretty fast...I've been here for the past 6 months and will be here for a few more before returning to the US. I hope to be able to come back for a few more years at some point.

The city seems bigger now. Residential areas have become commercial and the surrounding cities (San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora, Lambare...are the new residential areas). Avenida Espanha, which you might remember as a row of rather luxurious homes from the American School to the downtown area, is now a row of glitzy businesses: software, clothing, and furniture stores. The buildings were left pretty much the same, though, which makes for very attractive and unique store fronts.

The Villamorra area is pretty much where the action is now, with two shopping malls, restaurants, and movie theaters. That area looks a little like the Georgetown area of DC now.

Unfortunately, the area we used to think of as the "centro", now called the "microcentro" is a little less lively than it used to be. On weekends and and at night it is deserted.

Asuncion is not so big that you dont run into people you know every time you go out though. In that way, it still is the good old Asuncion.

by Juanita

April 10, 2002 (WED) -

Trying to get myself organized. Have sent about 50 checks today to pay bills, El Minuto del Futbol, recording prompts, etc. Going nuts!

Trying to get some recommendations from Lilly folks for a job in Indy!

March 20, 2002 (WED) -

It's 8:12 am and I've been at work waiting for Alan since 7:49 am. We're taking a huge, expensive, heavy server up to the City of Baltimore (our customer) today.

Saw COPENHAGEN, which was a very well acted play/Broadway show at the Kennedy Center. Advertisements for it are all over the metro and buses. The actors were extremely good, the play itself was maybe a 6.5 out of 10 as far as entertaining, but the theme was actually interesting... nuclear weapons, how WWII could have ended differently, and of course it makes you think about the Bush Administration's recent announcements on nuclear policy.

Have recently found out some very interesting things about the Mormon Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS). They believe that a prophet Lehi traveled to South America 600 years before Christ. Then Christ visited them after his resurrection. Eventually all of Lehi's descendants perished, but left a record of (must have been hundreds) golden tablets, which were found by Joseph Smith in upstate New York in 1820. This became the 580 page Book of Mormon. They also believe that men become "as God" after death, and I've even found reference to a belief in "Lunarians", that people lived on the moon!?

I hope to find a better place to live in the next several weeks, or at the latest by August/September when Mom comes back from Paraguay. The $400 per month rent is nice, but the neighborhood is sucking away my life-energy!

I am thinking about beginning to attend the Unitarian Universalist church on 16th Street. It seems very God/Christian bent, but it may be rewarding on some level.

March 6, 2002 (WED) -

It's 10:30 pm and I'm still at work. I just talked to my girl in FL. I think of all the women that I've met in the last couple of years, she's actually near the top of the list. In terms of respecting me, caring about me.

I'm a little worried about Mom. She's leaving Monday for Paraguay for six months. I hope her trip goes OK, but I hope she feels more comfortable down there, and I hope we can organize something good for everyone when she gets back.

February 22, 2002 (FRI) -

Researching anti-SPAM efforts at the FTC and Congressional level. Obtained the name and number of Jennifer Mandigo (sp?). Will follow up with her Monday to see what information I can find out.

January 7, 2002 (MON) -

Well, I suppose I am officially at war with whoever dumb twits wrote that book "The Rules." My new friend Stephanie is apparently going by this book in terms of making sure that I am a good match for her.

Harry Potter: predictable and geared towards our nation's insipid youth, unfortunately. Looking forward to seeing "The Lord of The Rings" instead.

What else. I have a new friend called Katy Ortiz who is an announcer on Paraguay Contigo.

December 24, 2001 (MON) -

1. I am excited about working with Babur on a new project he is doing: ArribaParaguay.com

I think it might be interesting to draw from resources at Noticias.Com.Py. It always is chock full of at least 10+ DAILY news and feature items about Paraguay, which will help us "keep in touch" with Paraguay, even though we live far away.

2. I have an interesting friend called Stephanie that I met recently. We are going out to dinner some time this week. She is cute.

3. I am interested in losing 35 pounds (to reach 192 lbs), running 1.5 miles in 11 minutes and getting Lasix surgery done. We'll see how hard it is to reach each goal.

4. I want to go to Georgetown or Harvard Law, but with my GPA it might be impossible to get into ANY law program(?). Worst case, I would have to re-enroll at Hanover College and re-take 8+ classes in which I received poor grades (C-, D, D- or F) and get As in each, to bring my GPA up to 3.0+. That would be ONE FULL ACADEMIC YEAR!?!?! Wow.

Tonight is dinner at Tio Tono's. BRB! :)

December 14, 2001 (FRI) -

Hey people! I found a nice roommate. I will be moving to Greenbelt, Maryland the first week of January.

Currently I am working on a large telephony project for the city of Baltimore, which will probably occupy most of my weekend and first couple of days of next week.

Tonight I'm going to stop by a place called "Bullfeathers" which is supposed to be a relatively famous DC bar; a friend invited me to a goodbye party for a colleague of hers.

December 10, 2001 (MON) -

Well, I guess I was wrong. She doesn't have a soft spot. At least not for Jerome Gump.

What else? It is two weeks until graduation and the trophy is still up for grabs. I have to find an apartment or room for about $500 per month... quickly!

December 6, 2001 (THU) -

I found out from the bank that I won't be able to get a loan for 24 months (assuming complete cleaning of my entire record within the next 30 days). I will call Uncle Tono and give him the bad news.

Yesterday I spent 3 hours talking with MRB, the cutest Princesa in the world. She is intelligent, cute, independent, strong-minded, capable and yet, I feel she must have a soft spot somewhere for a guy like me.

I went over to their place at 6:30 and talked with her in their living room. She looks just like Demi Moore. I'll have to get her picture and put it up here.

December 5, 2001 (WED) -

Breaking news

We have reports that Mike Johnson along with 149 others have been laid off at Tech Data corporation. That would be a huge blow to many of us who know Mike... he has always been a fair, understanding manager.

I suppose it only goes to underscore the troubled times we are going through right now.

Not much else to report... my boss is upset with me, so I guess I am under unofficial probation for a while. I am having a HUGE hassle with NIHFCU to untangle my sister's car documents, and also awaiting patiently for the Bureau of Records of the State of Florida sends me my driving record so that I can apply for a VA or MD license up here.

December 3, 2001 (MON) -

Hey people. I feel like I am dug into a trench here, under heavy fire. I just finished watching "The Lost Battalion". They are looping it apparently, so I ended up watching it twice without realizing. Oops.

The E-mail Fun is still going on, for those who are following that.

What else... I met a gorgeous cutie from Paraguay who is looking for a job because her visa to stay in the US has ended now. I feel bad for her, but the situation is tough for a lot of friends I know. The funny part is that none of these women feel it is important enough to stay in the US that they would consider marrying someone. How times change. Then again, many of these modern women don't consider marrying a guy until they're in their 40's? 50's? And then they regret it later. Oh, well.

I guess I'll have to go to Paraguay to find me a nice family-thinking woman. Ha ha.

The Venezuelan factor is getting more annoying by the day.

My sleeping is getting worse. Today I am writing this at 3:03 a.m. Not good.

Went to look at homes with Richard on Saturday. Found one on the internet for $66,000 that has 2 BR. I am guessing it would be roughly $350 per month for the payment. Can you believe that? Wow!

More later!

November 20, 2001 (TUE) -

Check out a new story idea that I'm working on.

November 20, 2001 (TUE) -

Nine days till payday! I will have to tell you guys one of these days about the mess I got into with these doctors who not only prescribe contacts but also sell them. In fact, they REQUIRE you buy the lenses from them or they will not hand over the prescription. What a bunch of crap.

I found the Melissa Tuttle fan club page. That is just too hilarious.

Doing some really neat Cold Fusion stuff at work. I am tutoring five people on how to set up Cold Fusion applications.

November 16, 2001 (FRI) -

Just saw ZERO EFFECT. It was pretty good. Ben Stiller had a strong role, and surprisingly, Bill Pullman also did really well. Very clever movie, just on this side of self-deprecating, very original somehow.

I swear to God. If I see another serious looking slender woman with a long coat, walking briskly to her Jetta... I don't know what I'm going to do! I have HAD IT with this crazy city full of uptight people and the primness and the anger people have inside for some reason. People that actually stop and listen are so rare. People who don't automatically judge you out of the gates.

Well, I'm off work today, so I decided to tackle the car/insurance/title problem. I know this is going to take at LEAST a month to figure out.

November 14, 2001 (WED) -

I was over in Baltimore today. Gail is a really nice person, she's the manager in charge of our project at the customer site. She is a very nice looking 40-ish, medium height, slender blonde lady, with "New Englander" looks, whatever that might mean (like the older sister in Jerry McGuire).

I am going to the gym in about 2 minutes. I know. I have to keep that up.

Jack is doing better. He is in a "normal room" now. No more intensive care for now.

Not much other news... ?

November 13, 2001 (TUE) -

Jack is a little better. They are going to try to move him from the Intensive Care room he's been in, to a "regular" hospital room with nurses and Telemetry, where they monitor his heartbeat and other functions remotely.

Work is ok so far.

November 9, 2001 (FRI) -

Well, I am heading home in about 10 minutes. I am going to come back at 5 pm to go walking with Kathy. No news yet about Jack. He is about the same. Last night we were in his ICU room with John, Karen, Jennifer, Matthew and Catherine.

Jack had the tubes taken out so he can talk now. His amnesia has returned, and he couldn't remember having seen any of us this past week. On the other hand, his blood pressure numbers were better.

November 8, 2001 (THU) -

I am worried about my brother, Jack. He suffered cardiac arrest yesterday, and was only barely brought back to life by the doctors. He is barely hanging on right now, and it seems they don't expect him to make it past the weekend (although this has not been officially told to us).

Also, on the home front, I am learning a lot about relationships ... and I guess I'll leave it at that.

Just returned from a day-long trip at Baltimore to go over some new work that we will be doing for the Department of Education.

More soon, unfortunately...

November 5, 2001 (MON) -

My brother is not doing well. His health was deteriorating all week, until the point that he went to the ER last Thursday night and was admitted to Arlington Hospital. I spent most of the day with him Friday, and he would dip in and out of consciousness every few minutes. Quite scary.

Saturday he improved 100%. He was awake and alert for hours at a time, although still very weak. Sunday he was a little more tired, but still better than Friday. A doctor came by and told Catherine that he may surprise all of us, "and live another two years." I suppose the implication is, he may only be with us a few more months.

Last night I also stopped by Tono's house and helped him fix his printer and also retrieved several pounds of mail for Juanita and mother.

Not much other news.

Can't seem to find the "Keeping the Faith" DVD from Netflix. I shall have to look everywhere for it.

October 30, 2001 (TUE) -

I am SO tired. I haven't slept properly, or done any exercise worth mentioning since the beginning of the month. I am always either going out with Ana until after midnight, or spending time in the morning cleaning the kitchen and arranging the living room, in the apartment I share with my half-brother Jack.

At lunch I usually get suckered into going somewhere expensive with someone. After work, I am worried about catching the bus, so I skip exercise then.

I am going to have to go to bed early tonight and then worry about exercising tomorrow.

October 20, 2001 (SAT) -

Well, here I am in idyllic Arlington, VA on a Saturday waiting for Verizon DSL to pick up the phone. The equipment arrived Wednesday night and then I got an e-mail this afternoon that the service was finally activated. Somehow, the verification process failed, however. We'll see.

Well, I got a nice e-mail from Nadira saying she hopes "everything is the same between us" -- I guess she means "we're still dating", but then something funny happened. 20 minutes later, I get another e-mail from "Daina Valdivia". The spanish was bad enough I knew it was not really from Diana, but from Nadira. She is testing me to see if I have something going on with Diana or not, I guess.

To say the least, it gave me an upset sort of feeling. I can't believe Nadira would treat our relationship this way, sending me an e-mail pretending to be someone else. And she'll probably deny having done or laugh about it. I have very nearly had enough of this situation.

I do have a trip coming up to Indiana on October 25 (THU) until Sunday. I hope to see Tanya, Tre, Josh, Barb, Christy and Jack. I have a feeling it's going to be fun. Then I have another trip to Tampa on November 8. I am not sure right now if I will be able to make it up to Josh's for Thanksgiving, though, because Southwest looks like it's getting booked up for the night-before flights. I'll have to check when my next paycheck comes in!

October 17, 2001 (WED) -

You stop paying attention and suddenly, BAM, over a week has passed and not a thing on the web site. Well, this week has certainly been interesting. Starting with a "warning" from Sammy to Nadira, and ending with a series of ridiculous and insulting accusations from Mrs. Talib on the phone last night. All in all, not worth it.

My brother sure is helping me out a ton, as he is not charing me rent until January, when I'll have to move to Beltsville, MD with the company.

October 9, 2001 (TUE) -

I've been jogging for four straight days (Fri, Sat, Sun and yesterday), so I feel good, although I still have a way to go to catch up to my 3 mile run that I had been doing in Clearwater. Babur, I have to admit that it is harder to run in cold, chilly 44 degree weather, even though I don't mind the chilliness the rest of the time.

I went and bought some sweat pants and shirts at Target. $7 apiece... can't beat that!

I don't know what got into me to start up the Moofy again. Sorry I had let it sit there for two months with no updates. I also decided to "clean up" and archive some of the old moofy material.

September 11, 2001 (TUE) -

This was the incredible day that changed the world. A day that has caused millions to think deeply about our lives, our security, and a way of finding out about future terrorist attacks.

Smart people of the world, unite and think up clever ideas to be able to infiltrate terrorist groups and foil plots before they have a chance to destroy our world.

Personally? I was working in Cristal City Park 5 building, mere blocks from the Pentagon, when the first plane hit the World Trade Center in New York. A co-worker came running in the room, smiling, excited. "A plane hit the World Trade Center!" he commented sitting down and trying to pull up CNN on the computer.

I acknowledged him, but then turned away and continued to help another person, not wanting to appear to be a curious slacker (it was only my second day at my new job!) After about a half hour, some more people came in the room, and gave us a dirty look. "These guys are still working, can you believe it?"

AA 77 had hit the Pentagon and a tower of thick, black smoke was funneling up into the sky, beyond a line of buildings right outside our window and I had not even seen it, for concentrating on our project.

The rest of the day was spent looking at blurry images on a 1980's TV that someone found in our building. We couldn't go home the rest of the day, for all the roads had been closed to allow the emergency vehicles to operate.

I think the will of millions will be heard and technology and intelligence will eventually help prevent major attacks, but there will always be vulnerability, especially in a country so prosperous and open as ours.

What a pity.

September 8, 2001 (SAT) -

Moved up to DC. Jack was really nice, and put me up in his second bedroom. Didn't get much of a chance to do anything, as the flight up arrived pretty late.

August 16, 2001 (THU) -

Of course, this has to be my first entry for the "new moofy." This is the day that I got my first kiss from Nadira (the cutie). Hopefully I will have some more pictures of her soon. She is twenty years old, we've been dating since the 16th, so that would make October 16th our two month mark.

Nadira is such a sweet, sensitive young lady. She is looking at getting a degree in Optometry after finishing her Bachelor's at Eckerd College in May of 2002.

My favorite thing about Nadira is her little, round, nose. It's so cute. And her eyes are so inviting and "seem" innocent...

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This is a great source for high-level opinion and analysis of Internet and technology related products and services. Bob has also put out 2 GREAT video documentaries on the Internet and the PC.

Brian is a good friend of mine that has recently been offered an incredible job at Virtual Financial (ViFi) in Indianapolis. See what this talented young man is doing in his off-work time!

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