Went on a business trip to the Grand Canyon. Although i'm not totally sure how much business we did. We had one meeting the whole time we were there, and it only lasted 90 mins. Otherwise, we just went out and took pictures and just enjoyed ourselves. I didn't do too much though, just some hanging around and taking in the sights. We drove to this place, so it took about 8-9 hrs to get there from here. Let's just say, i'm tired of cars right now....

Here's a pic for your viewing pleasure...

Man, am I pooped. I just got back from tahoe. You're probably thinking "lucky bum" or "what the heck!!" or something along those lines. Truth is, this trip was more draining and exhausting than any other trip to tahoe i've taken. No, i didn't bail boarding or not sleep or not eat. This time, i was playing tour guide. Big deal, huh? This time, oooooohhh yaaaa.... To make the description short, I took this couple that moved from korea to SF 6 months ago. The guy is the son of my dad's best friend from korea. They've been married for a little over a year (i think), and they've never left the bay area since they moved here. So, without thinking too much, i said i'd take them to tahoe on wed when me and my parents met up with them monday afternoon. Sounds like a ideal situation, huh? I get out of work for 2 days, and get to go boarding while i'm at it. It's not quite that simple as it turned out. I forgot the part about them being korean, and my korean sucks, so whenever i have to speak korean, well....uh.... let's just say i get really tired and my korean sucks (ask janet if you don't believe me). So we left early wed morning, and head out to tahoe. So far, so good. My korean is choppy at best, but at least they understand. I'm really lucky that the guy is pretty good with english, so my english/korean switching is going okay. So when we get to Heavenly, i get out of the car, and instead of freezing weather, it's stinkin' WARM!!! I was wearing just my boarding-pants and a sweatshirt, and that was almost more than enough. And to make it even better, the snow is disappearing and turning into slush. I guess the best way to describe it is to think of those Icee machines at 7-11. That was the consistency of the snow. Ick...

So, in any case, we go to the hotel after a long day of boarding. I was trying to get them to learn how to ski and go down the moutain on a snowboard. Where's the irony in that? Dude, if albert was there, i would have never heard the end of it. So we go to the buffet, and the three of us there sitting, eating, and (oh dear) talking. I guess my korean isn't beyond repair, because the girl understood what i was saying (she's not very good with english). So after about 30-40 mins, i'm totally drained. You don't understand how much brain power it took to speak korean for that long. I dunno how i'm going to survive if i ever go to korea (last time i was there, i think i was about 8? 9? long time ago). So this morning, I was driving them around lake tahoe, showing them the sights, and trying to explain things to them. Unfortunately for them, i didn't recover completely from the previous day's language session, so my korean was broken and pretty crappy. Let's just say i'm glad to be home, and free to speak english... sheesh.. i'm pooped... Now i just have to recover before saturday, when i take them to Ikea. Yay... more korean =/ (stop laughing janet... i know you're laughing right now!!! =D ) *sigh* I need to work on my korean... but not like this...

What a day today. Yesterday, one of the servers at work decided it's had enough. One of the hard-drives started making crazy noises, almost as if it were eating itself inside out. So, all day today, I've been at this OLD machine, beating it senseless in the hopes that it'll come back to life and start "serving" again. So, after about 5 hrs, 5 nasty dustballs, 1 pooped print server, and raw fingers, the server is finally up and running. All this for what? Just because one little harddrive decided that it's had enough. Fun stuff i tell you. Oh well. At least i got cheesecake out of it. =D I love it when it's people's b-day. Good food always arrives...

Post-graduate life... It's an interesting term, and even more to be living it. It's the time to fully realize what you've learned and toiled over for the last 20 some-odd years of your life and make an "impact" on society. I remember that growing up, all my teachers would say "go to college... you guys are the future of america", as if they were some propaganda machine. But 6+ months after graduating, this whole "go out and do good" is nothing more than old rhetoric now. Right now, I'm probably having the most fun I've had in a while. It's really hard to believe, and in some ways, i don't believe it either. But truth be told, right here, right now, this is really fun. The whole "life begins after college" thing really hasn't hit yet. In some ways, I'm still waiting for that dose of reality, that huge brick wall to come and slam into my face. But then i look at where i am right now, what i'm doing and just the current state of things. This IS life. I'm in the midst of a huge wave of change, whether I like it or not. My little side job, as dumb and inconsequential as it may seem, is somehow preparing me for other things in life. And believe it or not, I'm really having a good time. There's this excitement not knowing what's going to happen tomorrow, if i'm going to get a call for an interview, or, perhaps, another rejection letter telling me that they wanted someone "who is a stronger background" in whatever position i interviewed for. But in every aspect of my life right now, I can honestly tell you that I'm enjoying life. In some ways, just having everything up in the air, not knowing what's going to happen tomorrow, let alone in the next few hours is really fun. Granted, it hasn't been that easy. Nothing in life is truly that simple and easy, but just being where I am right now, at home, working with people that I enjoy to be around, being in a relationship with a truly amazing person whom I care deeply about, and just living one day at a time, I'm really happy.

Moral? Be content with what you have. Try to make the most of the situation you're given. And don't wait for life to start... this IS life. THIS is the real world. Live it up!

I went up to tahoe this past weekend to Heavenly. It's so amazing what a difference a few days make. On tuesday (new year's eve), a monster snowstorm roared through the Tahoe region and dumped almost 1-2 feet of snow. We went up friday afternoon and hit the slopes on saturday. Not only was it crowded beyond belief, but it was stinkin' WARM. Snowboarding in just a sweatshirt was almost too much. By the end of the day, the snow was getting mushy and slushy. Not a good thing. But all-in-all, a much better day than when i went last time. No crazy fall this time, no faceplant, no sore spots. I went up with my small group and stayed at a cabin. Let me tell you, there's nothing better than spending time in a cabin that isn't crowded. Enough beds for everyone. What a novel idea. No fighting for who sleeps where, especially since all the girls claim the beds first, leaving the guys to vie for whatever space is left on the floor. Yup, this weekend was very nice. Granted, the people i went with were a little... um.... eccentric, but overall, I had a really good time. But in any case, i think it spoiled me for this coming weekend, when I head up there again with my class friends from church. That's going to be a nut-house. Most likely the guys will be sleeping in the floor, there'll be no hot water for showers, and someone's gonna make a total doofus of themselves and make everyone uncomfortable. Yup, the typical class activity in a non-church environment. What fun =)

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