I'm just a guy with a pension of occasional insanity and the occasion for misadventures in airplanes. I also seem to be an aspiring writer, if I can ever get myself to sit down and write, which, by the way, makes it interesting as to how I'm an aspiring writer considering that I'm also an aspiring engineer. The two aren't supposed to be together.

But please enjoy whatever it is that I ramble about whether it be sports, news, or just anything that I decide to blog about.

• 28Apr 13

  A Tale of Two Rabbits

  Once upon a time, in the fields of Mississippi were two rabbits. Their names were Sergio and Pierre. They were brothers from Quebec here in Mississippi for the flight of the monarchs. Unbeknownst to them, the monarchs actually migrate south of their position.
  
  Turning to his brother, Pierre said: "Merrere mereaf blpppt."
  
  Which as we all know is rabbit for: "Da **** are we?"
  
  End
  
  
  • Posted Apr 28, 2013 1:41 am GMT
  • Category: Humor
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• 23Apr 13

  Adventure Time! Baseball Edition

  Yesterday I decided to head out with my girl on an adventure! We decided to spend the day watching the Giants at AT&T Park. To get there, we debated a little bit on our travel options. We could drive up there, encounter the terrible parking situation that surrounds the ballpark and the traffic that ensues after the game. We could take Bart on up. Or we could take the Caltrain. Seeing as though I haven't taken Caltrain before, I suggested it as our mode of transport, especially since it was close by for the two of us to meet.
  
  Mountain View was our meeting location and after meeting her after work, we got onto the 6:35 train northbound. This was my first time not only on Caltrain but also on a train. So that was rather momentous. It took us about 45 minutes to get up there and we entered the ballpark during the bottom of the 1st inning, just in time to hear the sellout crowd roar as back-to-back doubles by Sandoval and Posey tied the game up at 2-2.
  
  Now, I did see my girl the day before and asked her who the Giants were playing. She responded with: "Oh. Uh... I think they start with a C."
  
  "Cubs?"
  
  "No."
  
  "Cardinals?"
  
  "No. Actually I think it was the name of where they're from."
  
  "So the Colorado Rockies?"
  
  "Yes! That's definitely them."
  
  Flash forward to the game and the Giants tied the Arizona Diamondbacks.
  
  "Th-there's a C in the name. I got that part right!"
  
  Nodding and grinning, we picked up a few expensive hotdogs and adult beverages and made our way to our seats along the 3rd base line. The game went by rather quickly as both starters pitched relatively well through to the fifth inning. During that time, we became acquainted with our neighbors. The man sitting to my right in particular started up a conversation with me after I had made comments about what was happening on field, trying to better explain the game to my girl. Such as why the batters are getting out on lazy fly balls and explained a little of the strategy. The man was a season ticket holder who had been in the same seat for 13 years now, and he enjoyed trying to trash talk the opposing team with the volume of someone politely shouting to someone across a small room. A few other people around him were making more noise, such as one large man who kept shouting "Heeeey Pitcher pitcher pitcher!" to everyone's delight during the bottom of the fourth, and another man who was inebriated by the top of the fourth and decided it was a great time to grab some more beers. This same man walked right by his seat, looked around lost, and took an open seat more than ten rows down, again to everyone's delight. He later came back a few innings later, red-faced with two bottles of Coors Light in hand.
  
  As to the game itself, the starters were each pitching relatively well. Both had given up two-run first innings and had settled down. The only difference being that the Arizona pitcher, Wade Miley, had used about 20 less pitchers than the Giant's Ryan Voglesong. Wade Miley by the way had a number of catcalls aimed toward him under "Miley Cyrus!" The pitcher hit a 400+ homerun in the fifth inning. I don't think it worked, considering the hit was his first of the season and the homerun was the guy's first of his career, and let's not forget he almost hit it into McCovey Cove. The guy's a pitcher. Arizona would add a fourth run in the top of the 6th to go ahead 4-2.
  
  Around the 7th inning, Don't Stop Believing by Journey was played during a pitching change. I noted how the entire voice of the stadium was all women, and that the place went quiet as no one could hit the high notes of the song's chorus.
  
  Anyway, the Giants tied the game in bottom of the 8th with a two-run blast by Buster Posey, who slammed it to dead center, a little over 400 feet from home plate against the Arizona closer, and in the bottom of the 9th, Brandon Belt, who entered the game late, hit the game winning RBI double giving the Giants a 5-4 victory. Somewhere between that, a now drunk season-ticket holding neighbor asked me about earlier on in the game to which I replied "Yes. I totally remember that," despite having missed the 1st inning. My girl would later tell me that was the most unconvincing statement I've ever told, to which I replied the guy was too drunk to notice.
  
  Heading back home, we had to wait a good forty minutes to get on the last southbound Caltrain, and took the time walking around the stadium, doing a good long circuit, before getting in line. As the last train, everyone was predictably drunk and we had some entertainment as a group of girls tried to convince each other to sit next to each other in our compartment. This was followed by another compartment trying to get our compartment to sing Happy Birthday, which failed about four times. Then we got moving. We were supposed to leave around 10:40 and instead left closer to 11:00, most likely trying to make sure everyone got on that needed to get on.
  
  It was a slower ride than the one coming up as we had to make every stop. So I spent the time reading The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson on my phone while my girl napped. We got to our cars just after 12:30 and I got home just before 1:00 and quickly called it a night.
  
  So in short, Adventure Time was a blast. Can't wait to do it again and no you can't come with me unless you have something to offer.
  • Posted Apr 23, 2013 2:05 pm GMT
  • Category: Humor
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• 11Apr 13

  You Can't Write This Better

  So this past week I managed to get a call from a company who wished for me to take a tour of their plant to get a good grasp as to what they do and what I would potentially be doing. In other words, it was an interview without it actually being an interview.
  
  I went over to the plant this past Thursday and not knowing exactly what I'd be doing, spent the first thirty minutes with the manager conversing about the job and asking questions about a few particulars such as pay, contract length, and benefits. From there, I was left to shadow a current employee, who happened to have graduated from the same university as me. Not fully knowing what I was to do, I spent the next two and a half hours following this guy through his process, which didn't take nearly as long as that, all the while getting rather hungry as I didn't fully expect to be inside that place for a full three hours. Upon leaving, I had another discussion with the manager who said that I'd be hearing from HR about payment in a couple of days. Feeling pretty good about the whole ordeal, except for my growling stomach, I headed back home.
  
  Before I get into the aftermath I do want to point out that I was approached about this job, a simple repair technician, a week before during the annual Bay Area Biomedical Device Conference that my engineering society helps host. We typically get around 200 students and industry professionals to show up each year. Near the end of the conference, I was approached by a few people who mentioned they were looking for people to fill their positions, one of them being an upper manager for this company in particular. We had a nice chat and he gave me his business card. I emailed the guy a few days later, making sure that I was cognitive enough after a night of heavy drinking and I was soon introduced to the repair facility manager who helped set up the tour date.
  
  Fast forward to two days ago and I receive an email from the manager stating that they are no longer looking to employ me. Confused and slightly angry I shot back an email wondering why the quick 180 after being offered the job in the first place, with nothing more than a very simple one sentence email. Of course this came after my dad told me I should ask for details and that I should also get into contact with the upper manager that I met during the conference. I did. Well I tried. For you see, the upper manager no longer works at the company.
  
  I know what a few of you are thinking, that I probably wasn't offered a job in the first place, but typically when you're told you're going to be contacted shortly for payment, that's practically a job offer in and of itself. A "We'll contact you if we think you're a good fit" is not an offer and it also what wasn't said to me. In between the date of the tour and the fateful first email, I spent time planning out what my finances would look like including a search into what apartment I could rent. So, I kind of wanted a more specific answer as to why I was offered the job in the first place and discarded so quickly.
  
  The email reply that I got was just as simplistic as before. One sentence and stated the exact same reason as before, albeit with more periods and less wordage. Well that was that I guess. Nothing more I can do. If you're wondering the upper manager sent an email just last week asking other students to send their resumes to him. His email address no longer works, having fallen into the mailer daemon nest, and he currently works for a company, get this, that helps women in obtaining a better education. I'm not joking. After working for three biomedical companies, he's now working for a company that helps women in obtaining a better education. Not that I'm judging the guy for his choice of work, but I am wondering why he failed to mention that he was leaving so soon while asking for people to send them their resumes, even without naming his replacement.
  
  So yes. I don't think you could plan anything better for what eventually occurred.
  
  Back to the drawing board it is.
  • Posted Apr 11, 2013 3:42 pm GMT
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