Note to self: When doing the handshake of peace at church, DO NOT use your business handshake. I have to remember that little old Polish ladies have very frail hands!

So yesterday I went to Dave's family party, and let me tell you, I don't think I'll EVER remember anyone's name. It's bad enough that I have a horrible memory, but he's got like 1,000 relatives! But they're all really nice, but I feel bad that I don't remember if I've met them or not. I just use the generic, 'Hello, Tita!'. The party was ok. I think the highlight was watching this chubby little three year old girls dance to 'Mambo #5', she was dancing pretty sexy for a 3 year old. I was trying not to bust out laughing. And I also won $3 from Dave's dad playing blackjack. I was in the hole $4, but I got myself out.

Today, I shall clean my room. I will not log on to the internet. I will not play Jeopardy online. I will not log onto the internet. I will not blog. I will not log onto the internet. I will not check any forums. I will not log onto the internet. I will not check email. I will not log onto the internet. I MUST CLEAN MY ROOM!. Chances are, I will be logging on to the internet within the next hour. But I wil try to restrain myself!

Well, to those who commented on my venting yesterday, thank you! Linda, Bernadette and Kathy, you feel my pain! And Kathy, I'm not even talking about clients! I'm fine with helping clients, as unappreciative as they they can be sometimes. I'm talking about people I work with! My so-called peers! They're getting paid to ask me questions. Thankfully, though, not everyone I work with is this bad. I actually get along with most people I work with (right Dan?) it's just sometimes, some people drive me up the wall!

And Rod, I'd be happy to help you out with your page. Only if you help me with the graphics for this new site I'm making - www.rodisadork.com. Thanks!

Saw 'Insomnia' with Al Pacino, Robin Williams, and Hillary Swank yesterday. I liked the movie a lot. It was directed by the same guy that did Memento. Great story, and great acting. And it's set in Alaska, so the scenes are breathtaking. Check it out. I don't think many people are watching it. There were seriously 8 other people in the theater when we watched it. It's great to have Dave back in town again. I can see movies andhave fun dancing stupid in the car to tunes (when he's not listening to SportsRadio)

Hmm...I don't think I've vented on this blog yet, but let's start today. You know what's really annoying? When someone asks for your help, and you totally go out of your way to help them out, or give them a suggestion, and then right after you're done explaining everything, they're like 'Oh, yeah, that's what I thought it was. I just wanted to ask you to make sure.' And I KNOW they had NO CLUE when they were asking me. I mean, come on, just say 'Thanks', or 'Hey, I didn't know that'. It's OK not to know things. When you're doing support, you can't know everything.
Another thing that annoys me is people who always ask other people for help, before even trying to solve the problem themselves. You're not going to get anywhere if you don't take the time to learn. People aren't going to be there to hand hold you through life. And you can't expect to move up the corporate ladder by not applying the knowledge you have to gain more knowledge. Yeah, so we're busy at work, but there's always lulls where we're just fucking around, doing nothing. It's fun at all, but don't ever complain that you don't have time to learn new things if you're standing around playing with a yo-yo for half an hour. It drives me batty when I have to go over all the same things over and over again, or when people try to push things that they would be capable of doing themselves with just a little initiative. But half the time I'm just tired of listening to their whining and crying that they're so busy or that they hadn't had the proper training that I just end up taking care of it myself.
Argh! OK.....venting over.

So I passed by the little market and I am very proud to say that I did not buy anything. Yay me!

Uh-oh. There's a street market next to my building. I'm debating. Do I go and spend loads of money on little trinkets and pieces of art that catch my eye, but will just add to the disaster of a mess that I call my room? Hmm....after putting it that way. No! I will not go! I will control myself! OK, maybe I'll stop by for a little after work. heh heh.

Taste of Chicago starts today. Hooray! This is my favorite time of year in Chicago. Anytime anyone out of town asks me about Chicago, I always tell them to come when the Taste is going on. That way, you can sample the best of what Chicago has to offer - which, of course, is the food. But we've also got a whole bunch of performers in town, there's street markets everywhere, the weather is sunny and warm, the lake looks beautiful, and fireworks on the 3rd, with a million of your closest friends packed right next to you on the lakefront. Ahh...I love this time of the year! How sucky it is that I have to watch if from my window! But that's ok. I'll prolly head out to the Taste on Monday. Yay fun!

FYI - Pics from my Canada trip are now on the pictures page.

Oh...something I totally forgot to mention yesterday. My friend Jeanette had her baby! It was only two weeks ago that we were yelling at her belly 'Get outta there!' And now he's out. Little Justin Tyler. I think his middle name is Tyler. Anyway, me and Jen had stopped by the hospital yesterday to visit, and he's adorable! And Jeanette and Virgil totally have the glow of parenthood upon them. But then again, it could just be the fact that whey each only had about an hour of sleep. But congratulations to both of them! No more hobbit feet for Jeanette!

Well, my training class went surprisingly well yesterday. I was able to condense a 2 day class into a 7 hour class. It was a really good, livey group that asked a lot of questions. I'd rather have a group that asks a lot of questions, then a group that just sits there like zombies. I'm pretty happy, they commented that I did a great job and I really knew what I was talking about. Hmm...maybe I don't have to take those acting lessons...

Anyway, I'm super tired today. I've got tons of testing to do, and my deadline is tomorrow. I gave myself a deadline of 5pm today. However, I'm extremely unmotivated, and for some reason, I can't concentrate on testing. But I must! I must! And my belly is so full of chicken pesto sandwich, that I can just take a nap here and now. But NO! Must test workflow!

So I was 30 feet away from Tom Hanks yesterday. Didn't know that he was in town for the 'Road to Perdition' premier. I was walking to the train station, and there was this big crowd in front of the Chicago Theater. At first I thought there was a show there, but then I saw everyone looking at one place, and the cameras. The TOM! But then the cops made me move out of the way. HMPH!

Today I'll be training some people on something that I have NO idea how to train on. It's crazy! We'll see how much BS I can pull out of my ass. Should be quite interesting!

Just got back from a Cubs game. I love watching the Cubs with Dave. He turns into a little kid. Unfortunately, this time we didn't catch a ball. But we still won the game against the Cincinnati Reds, and I got to watch the 12 fingered wonder, Antonio Alfonseco pitch. It was humid as hell by the end of the game, but it was still really fun!

So I was totally going to post this thing, talking about how I'm going to change my life around, improve my posture, exercise 3 times a week, and eat real healthy, be a better person. It was going to be amazingly profound. I was going to have a healthy lunch, like a salad, or a low fat pasta salad. But then I passed my that bastard McDonald's and they're advertising their chocolate-banana triple thick milkshake, and everything went down the drain. I think I was born to clog my arteries. Oh, and I also discovered that Brach's makes White Fudge Covered Caramel Popcorn. Ahh. I can feel my arteries clogging as we speak. At least I'm bringing the guys here at work down with me. If I'm going to have a heart attack, they are, too! Oh, food, how much I love to hate you.

What a lazy Sunday! I'm still sick, so I'm just lounging around making backups of crap on my computer. Claudine is gonna be taking this one to med school, and I've got a newer, faster one waiting in the basement for me to bring up here.

Watched a skateboarding tourney on TV. Bucky Lasek won the vert competition. Whoo hoo Bucky! He had an awesome run, didn't miss a thing and threw in some extra stuff just for fun. It's pretty cool to watch it, since I know the names of all the moves. One day, that will be me! (ok, not really)

Maybe I'll work on my Canada pics tonight..

Here's a pretty fun, time-wasting website. The best thing to do when you're home sick, blowing your nose every five minutes: www.dollzmania.com. You can make up these cute little dolls. They've got some really cute outfits and accessories to choose from. It's almost like playing dress-up in the store. Or playing with Barbie. A great waste of time for me. But now, I must go and wash the dog. You know, there is absolutely NOTHING on TV on Saturday nights.

Will my nose ever be empty? It's raw from all the sniffling and tissue. Wahhhh!!!!

Just watched the replay of the US vs Germany World Cup game. What a shame! It really looked like they dominated the game, but they lost. Well, it just takes one goal. But as the commentator said, 'The US game won the game, but lost the match.' But it's really great to see the US soccer team make it that far. I don't really think that anyone thought that they would beat anyone. Hopefully the soccer bug catches on for US boys, like it has for the girls.

So I'm watching the game, and there's this awesome commercial on. It's a Disney commercial where this dad is packing, and his little boy is like 'Daddy, where are you going?' and he says 'A business trip'. And the dad gets to his hotel, notices that his bag is a little bulky, opens it up, and sees that his son has put his Winnie the Pooh teddy in there. Awwwwww...

Hey...I got 11 hours of sleep today, and I didn't even know. It's a wonderful thing, yet I also feel that I've totally wasted the day away!

Well, the shots of Jack didn't help at all with my coughing or cold, but at least I slept with a smile on my face. :)

I didn't drive in to work today, and DAMN it was humid when I was walking to work from the station. But it was so nice during lunchtime. A great breeze off the lake. Got reprimanded again for yet another bad move. What happened!? How are they all of the sudden catching all my wrongdoings? There was actually so much more that I wanted to post, but I forgot what it was.

Oh yeah...I actually have a fansite now. I mean, there's a Yano fan site out there! I'll give the webmasters some time to get it up and running smoothly, then I'll give out the link. Isn't that awesome? I know Claudine and Fatima are gagging right now.

All right...have a good weekend!

So I'm still sick, as I've said, and my manager told me that a couple shots of Jack Daniels before going to sleep will ease my coughing. Hey, I'm not gonna complain with that homemade remedy. I'll update y'all on if it works or not. At the very least, hopefully I'll have a nice lil buzz when I go to sleep. :)

I have been sick now been for 6 days, and it doesn't look I'm going to get any better. I think I may die. OK, I'm being overly dramatic. But it's really hard to work when you're hacking and coughing. But I do think that the sickness is subsiding. Once again, I drove into work. In my feverish delirium, I had convinced myself that I didn't have to wake up, so I ended up leaving home pretty late. I had even talked to Claudine in my delirium. Luckily, traffic was suspiciously light and I was able to grab one of the last parking spaces. Being sick is not fun. Dave thinks that it could be bronchitis. I just think that it's a cold. We'll see what happens.

CD for the Commute: New Edition's Greatest Hits by New Edition - How nostalgic! Such classics like 'If it isn't Love','Cool it now', and 'Mr. Telephone Man' and arguably the most romantic love song ever, 'Popcorn Love'.

CD for the Commute to Work: U of I Dance! by DJ Enna - OK, it's just a CD I made of the songs that we had choreographed dances for in college, like Janet's 'If', 'Brass Monkey', 'Ditty', etc. Great fun...

I've been driving too much to work. I pledge that next week I will not drive in to work at all. Chances are, I'll break. Oh well!

Regarding Christine meeting Apolo Anton Ohno:

And okay, so I lost the bet. No tangible evidence, but Christine, you're lucky 1) that Fatima was there to see it, and 2) that I fear Fatima and her fist and believe whatever she tells me regarding this matter. But I'll always remember that the first time Christine met him and had the opportunity to shake his hand, she was a bumbling mute. That's worth 5 bucks. Well, maybe not the full 5 bucks, but it'll do.

Still sick. But thanks to Orlando for his Sudafed, and Sammy for his honey-lemon cough drops, I'm surviving. I love these guys!

Here's the link of the day, courtesy of Dan Check out his site. He actually has the pic that Rusty signed that said that he hates Pledge Jones, too...anyway, here's the link:
www.fightingwhites.org This is a team that kinda pokes fun at racial stereotypes...anyone who has issues with the Illini chief should check this one out...

I am sick today. Yuck! And I couldn't really take off, because I called in sick on Friday, because I felt sick on Friday, but today I'm much worse! Ahh well, life goes on. I've just gotta suck it up and be a trooper. There's much to do since I haven't been in the office for a whole week. Expense reports! Consulting reports! Blah! I want a nap!

CD for the morning commute - J to tha L-O: Remixes - Jennifer Lopez - Definitely a head bopper. Great way to start out the week. Not the greatest singer, but her tunes are damn catchy!

Meeting Apolo Anton Ohno at the Chicago Sportsfest
Well, I'm not that good at telling stories, but here it is. I was supposed to go with Dave, but he bowed out, so I ended up taking Fatima. So she was a sweetheart, and she came with me to be my camera girl (she doesn't understand the fascination with Apolo, and has no idea why he's so popular - I think she actually despises him, not him, but his popularity). We got there, and there was actually a lot of cool sports memorabilia. So we browsed around, and bought some stuff. Then we met a couple other fans, who were all really nice. I know that Fatima was dying with all our Apolo talk. So Apolo came out, and he signed autographs and talked to fans. His father, Yuki, was there, too. So my turn came up, and the first thing I did was shake his hand, because I made a bet with Claudine right after the Winter Olympics that I was gonna shake Apolo's hand before the next Olympics. Then I asked him if he was tired, and he shyly said 'No, I'm doing ok' and other things, which I really don't remember. It was all kind of a daze. But at least I said something this time! Fatima took some good pics, and she said the funniest thing - 'I wonder if he could feel the hatred eminating from my body.' Well, not everyone could be a fan. She was just tired from waiting around. She was actually going to go up to him and say 'You did a great job at the Olympics - I love you, Rusty!' What a dork. But I love her for suffering through this with me! All in all, it was a great time.

So the whole experience was SO different from the Rusty dinner last week. I mean, I said a total of about 15 words to Apolo, and me and Rusty actually had conversations. I'd have to honestly say that I had a much better time hanging out with Rusty, but then again, the circumstances were way different. Personalities, too. Apolo was pretty shy and bashful when I was talking to him, but Rusty is outgoing and confident. But they're both cute, and they're both great!

But don't get jealous, Dave, you're still my #1. As if he's even going to read this. He doesn't know how to use the internet. :)

New pics in the picture page. Saw Apolo Anton Ohno again today. Check it out here. OK, gotta go party. More to come later!

Hello, and welcome to my DSL! Yay!

So anyway, tonight I'm going to go and watch 'Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood'. It was a great book, but I'm not expecting too much from the movie.

So I heard today that potato chips may cause cancer. What's up with that? Well, that's ok. I really don't eat chips.

This may be the last blog I make on this slow-ass bastard AOL connection. I've got my DSL! Whoo hoo! *tears in my eyes* Hooray!

I'm in my bad luck place right now, Denver, waiting for my flight to Tulsa. Hopefully things go well. It still sucks, though, because my flight doesn't get in til 11:30. YUK!

CD for the Long Drive to the Airport Full Moon by Brandy - Damn, this is a great CD! She has matured so much with her image and her music, and this CD has some really inventive sounds and great beats! I especially love jamming to 'Blue Moon' in the car. Brandy has grown up! And fat. But pregnant fat. heh....

Day two at the military base. My client had pointed out some antelope hopping around the base. Pretty happy hoppy antelope! But then I had found out that they have the antelope there because they are more sensitive to humans when there are chemicals in the air. If they find dead antelope, it's time to throw on your gas mask and run. And I was told a couple stories of people getting bitten by brown spiders, and your arm will totally turn red and swell up. And this doesn't happen outside. This is inside, baby - while you're at your desk! How crazy is that!?!?

Ok, I've changed the formatting of the page. What do you think? The last version took a while to load. Give me your opinions. If you liked it the old way, I'll change it back.

This has gotta be one of the strangest clients I've been to. It's actually a kind of military base, and this is the first place that I've gone to that I've actually had to watch a video about evacuation procedures in case of a chemical spill. I also have to carry an oxygen tank and mask around with me and had training on how to use it. Isn't that crazy! Not to mention that I also have to be wary of the black widow spiders, scorpions and rattlenakes that I might run into on the site. I guess that's what you get for being in the desert. How scary!

Anyway, this hotel is SO much better than the Comfort Inn. But then again, anything would have been better than that hellhole!

CD for the Long Drive to the Middle of Nowhere - No More Drama - Mary J. Blige. Great CD. Miss Mary is definitely a master. I especially like the song called 'PMS'. Every woman should hear that song!

I HATE TRAVELING!

So I'm SUPPOSED to be in Oregon, but I'm still in Denver, at this crappy Comfort Inn. What happened was my 5:39 flight ended up leaving at 7:45 due to mechanical problems on the plane. We were in the plane at the time they were fixing it, so they at least let us watch a movie. So of course, I miss my connecting flight to Pasco, WA. And so I get a hotel and breakfast voucher, and my flight isn't until noon tomorrow. BAH! I hate this! And to make matters worse, the courtesy shuttle came after waiting for an hour. There were so many people waiting that I had to ride in the trunk. It was probably the worst 20 minute car ride of my life, trapped amongst all that luggage with my legs cramping up! Then at the hotel, my damn remote control doesn't work. And tomorrow my clients are expecting me to be there at 7am, but i won't be getting there til 2pm. Damn! This sucks! And I don't have any clean clothes or anything, because it's still at the airport. ArgH! Welcome to hell!

So I'll be heading out on my 'States beginning with O' tour today. First I'm off to Oregon, then on Wednesday I fly out to Oklahoma. Exciting! Not realy. I just got home, and now I have to fly away again! This sucks!

So I went to my friend Arnez' wedding today (well, yesterday) and it was a blast! I was expecting to see a lot more U of I people there, but there was only a small group there. But nonetheless, it was a great time! They played a lot of old house music, so we all danced our asses off. It's prett weird to think that Arnez is now a married man. Crazy! But Joanne is a great girl, and she looked absolutely stunning today. Nez is a very lucky man to have her as his wife!

I got to hang out with Olympic Bronze Medalist, Rusty Smith yesterday. We had a dinner for his fans at Navy Pier, and we all had a great time. He was so nice and sweet and he signed autographs and let everyone hold his medal. It was really an awesome time. Claudine, Dan and Tina were there too, and to my surprise, Dan behaved very well, and actually got along pretty well with Rusty. Unfortunately, I got to meet Rod, too. Yuck. Just kidding. I finally met my nemesis, Rod, and we surprisingly did not kill each other. ;) Really, though, Rod is great guy. (You can give me my $10 now, Rod) Yay! I've eaten dinner with an Olympian! Next up on my list of things to do is to actually GO to the Olympics! I'll have the rest of my pics up as soon as I get my DSL up and running. Same thing goes for the Canada trip.

Dave is finally home from New Jersey. Whoo hoo! No more long distance relationship! Yay! Yay!

CD for the Morning Commute: Pop! The First 20 hits - Erasure - Ahh...sweet memories of high school and college in that CD. The ride to work was especially awful and slow today. But that's ok, I had some great tunes!

Yesterday, I watched the Lakers/Nets game at Maui's. I almost gave up on the Nets in the first quarter. I mean, that was a painful quarter to watch! But I didn't give up on the Nets, and although they lost, Jason Kidd led the Nets to a valiant comeback. It became a pretty exciting game to watch. I have one criticism, though - the LA crowd sucked ASS! I mean, your team has this huge lead, and the other team bounces back, the game is close in the final minutes, and it looked like the whole stadium was just sitting down. I would be on my feet screaming! And people actually left before the game ended. I know parking can get really crazy, but hey, these are the NBA finals! Geez! Can't wait to see what happens Friday!

You forgot one... how your parents forgot your birthday, but how all our relatives not only remembered, but got you a birthday cake to boot.

Back from vacation! Don't have much to say now, just a couple key phrases to sum up my weeklong vacation...it will mean nothing to you, but I guess you had to be there. It was lots of fun....most of the time!

Killjoy!, auto-locking "the club", dropping the kids off at the pool, the Harrison "hot spring" in a cage, rhodedendrons, full serve gas stations, rats at burger king, jumping off logs, chipped teeth, "hug the bear!", playing cards, sleeping on hardwood floors, whale watching in the gift shop, classic cars, skating movie & eating bugs, the Kings-Lakers series, brown mojitos, the Canadian-US exchange rate, rain at Whistler, the 'salmon enhancement program' - boot camp for sushi, bad luck birthmarks, Evette the Corvette, Wunderbars and Aeros, the "honour" roll, stray eyebrow hairs, homemade bubble tea, seaweed strips, Tony Hawks Canada level, "it's getting hot in here...", three ducks on the $20, leather gimp outfits & men on leashes, the Spice Girls & Alicia Silverstone, roots berets, scary shadows at Elsje Point, black squirrels, rolling offertory bread, exploding crab legs, parts of the body with three letters, "can you spare a square?", www.gaymart.com, the pocky van container, three sisters pond, pictures up Marilyn Monroe's dress, rats at Burger King, "eat the crab fat!", giant pocky's, make your own hotdog, the amazingly entertaining "The Ladies' Man", Kokonee beer, "eat the salmon, it's sockeye", Loft 6, missing and switched underwear, three and a half hours in Dallas, taste testing slurpees at Mack's, lines = lineups, parking lots = parkades, "I'll have an iced tea, no ice, with a cup of ice on the side", the quadruple shot americano, Fear Factor's beetles, tongue trick, pros and cons of the male thong, "Who's older, Christine or Claudine?", the Fluffer, wandering Jews, "blazing", the empty Vancouver airport, the tastiest barbeque skewers ever, fighting over the bill, dancing on stage, eh?