I have a 4 year old son!
So much has passed in what feels like short time. Today was Andres' birthday and since we're throwing him a party on saturday, the family just went to applebee's to eat and share some time together. He's such a smart little boy, surprising us everyday with his antics. Although he loves to do his own thing sometimes and not listen to mommy and daddy, he's very respectful most of the time. He almost always says thank you and in a sincere kind of way. I've always hoped he doesn't feel like it's a chore to say that. I'm glad that he has the love and support all around him. I'm looking forward to the next 4 years and seeing what little mischief he'll find himself in.
It's all about me
I've been in training the past couple of days at my new job, sitting with the person that I'll be replacing. She's buying a home in Colorado, trying to get away from all of the hustle and bustle of the Bay Area. (Sure wish I could do that!) Her last day was supposed to be this friday but after a meeting we had today, she and my manager (actually she's not technically my manager) had it out and decided that it would be best if she just stepped aside. Which now means that tomorrow when I get to the office I will be running the show. I'm excited but nervous. I'm up to the challenge as I've learned a lot so far but it's never enough. I know there's a lot more material to go through but I'll face it head on. I've got resources to help me, in and out of the bank. I've got the power of the internet. Lastly, she's got no one to replace me so I'm all she's got! Kinda cool, huh?
I'm done shopping
I got my metro-sexual fix taken care of and can go to work in style now. I've spent a good amount of scrills but I found the store to do it. If you want to know ask, but I'm not gonna post it. My materialistic side is a little too proud but my realist side (homeowner, father of two, mortgage) knows that you gotta keep it real. Anyways, shopping with UPSer is cool because usually you can get him to ring up a pretty large bill. He almost bought a suit at Calvin Klein but passed on it. We went to my store and saw a similar suit for 1/2 the price. Let's just say that the Chinese economy must be booming considering they make almost everything these days. I'll still pick up some accessories along the way but for the most part I'm done. At least I did find my grey flat fronts. And a couple more items along the way.
Amazing B-day, especially for a seven year old...
I was in South City for a gig of an old friend. It was for her daughter's 7th b-day which is supposed to be a good luck b-day. Basically, it was like a debut but without the dancing court. The restaurant was huge with two levels. The 2nd level overlooks the 1st but we were on the 1st level. A nice thing was that the manager let me patch into their system. They had a pair of JBL Eon 2s. I wanted to steal em! They're bad-ass. I just had to bring down my rack to play music and it was all good. I saw a lot of old friends, the Albano-Galicha clan, Cha, Bev and Gary, as well as some friends from my SF State days. Barangay performed and I saw Eric who remembered me from Likha. I took care of their music for them as well. They dance really well, considering there were only 4 total performers. As the dinner went on, and on, and on, we stuffed our pie-holes: stuffed crab shells, honey walnut prawns, lobster, honey baked sea bass, etc... It just kept coming, amazing. And of course the rice was last. That was a little tough, being pinoy I eat rice with all the dishes. When the dancing began the b-day girl asked for Gwen Stefani, Holla Back Girl. After I played it they came up to me again and requested for it one more time so I played it back to back. Cute. It's also the edited version, thank God. The rest of the party was ballroom. They had a lot of folks that wanted to get their line dancing on and I obliged. Sometimes they are tougher audiences than the younguns, asking for this and that. Oh yeah, they had a fondue fountain the size of those wedding punch bowls that just pours chocolate. I'll let Bev explain that one. She got some for herself and for me, dipped poundcake, strawberries and rice crispy treats, mmm....
The Pink was rocked, at least kinda...
I made it to Ed's b-day shindig in Fremont on friday. The wife and kids went to Disneyland but since I had a gig on saturday I had to stay behind. (It's tough being home alone when you're used to the company and the noise.) Before the party I had to work at the Oakland Arena for a Warriors event so knowing that I'd be there, I had to dress up to work at the bank. I wore pink. I think it worked out ok. I really like the tie, but like I said, I think grey front flats would look better with the outfit. I got a lot of complements, at the bank, at the arena and even at Ed's. UPSer even said it was all good. (Apparently he has a pink shirt too and is waiting for his chance to unvail it. I'm looking for a darker pink shirt this time. We'll see what I can come up with. Ed, 35 is not bad at all, especially when you've got another one on the way. It just feels right.
Rockin' the pink
On my first two days I wore collared shirts, one button down and the other a polo style. Apparently I was not in the required dress code. My manager told me that I had to wear a shirt and tie but it was no big deal since I didn't go to orientation and no one told me the first day I was there. Basically, since the president of the bank has an office in my building the rule is that men must wear a shirt and tie. My first instinct is to bust out with the Mormon look, white, short sleeve shirt with the black tie, just to mock the dress code. I have a little more respect for myself and the position so I'm gonna play the part and pull a VirtualErn. I went out and bought about 5 different ties, and four different shirts. And with the advice of Ask Randy, I went out and bought a pink shirt and a pink tie to match. We'll see how it goes because since I didn't ask the Queer Eye's to take a gander at me as I kinda did it on instinct. I think I did ok, but the metrosexual in me is still not as satisfied. I also got some nice green combinations but I'd like to get a pair of some light grey front-flat slacks to go with some of the lighter color shirts. I really like the ties I got though. (No, you have not been linked to a Ms. Luzon blog.) I just need to pickup some sweater vests to complete the outfits since I'm not wearing a sport coat. Ok UPSer, go ahead and add your smart comments, I deserve them.
Finally, DJ Bolo has come back to...
I made my way back to my old employer and I can sum it up just like this: no one here will be reading my blog while at work. This bank has stayed so far behind in technology, on purpose I might add, that we don't have email, at least the majority. Not many have internet access. In fact we mostly communicate by voicemail. Yes, voicemail. The president is so worried about productivity that he won't get email and internet access but all that is about to change. Because you cannot deny the power of the internet and the new millenium for that matter, we're going to be getting access to both email and the internet. I'll be part of the staff that assists with that change so that's exciting but let's just say that I'm a little embarrassed that this company is so far behind on things like that. Let me just give you a little quip of what I had to do. I work with HR and have to build reports. I'm learning to use the program that does it and so when we were done we had to upload it to a site and send the report over. Here goes: I built the report using excel, no biggie. When I completed it, I had to put the file on a floppy disk. Yes, they still have those things. I then had to walk over to another machine that did have internet access, a stand alone machine that also houses the email for the department. Once I pulled the file from the disk, I logged onto the site, uploaded the file, and sent it on it's way. I also sent an email to the vendor of who I sent the file to so they would know that it was on it's way. So yes, I know that sounds so 1995ish but it's what I had to do. I'll say this though, I'm spending less than 20 minutes on the road. Costco is down the street ($1.50 polish sausage), as well as every fast food you can think of and Mio's babysitter is on the other side of the freeway. Yes I miss my daily routine that I had at BofA but there are a lot of things that I don't miss. And I got a pay increase.
Happy B-day Tin and OJ
Just had to wish my cousin-in-law and his beautiful girlfriend, a happy birthday. It was great to get together with you all on friday nite and hang out. The wife and I don't get to do that much but it's nice to take advantage any time you can. I have to say I was pretty toasted. The scotch did the trick. But if you had a conversation with me I remembered all of it. Also, I'm serious about the business opportunity. I know that you guys have access to every piece of the puzzle to make it happen so if you consider it, let's get it on... Oh yeah, thanks to the wife for driving home that night. Sorry I didn't stay up on the ride home but it was close to 4:00am. Love you for that!
Congrats on the new space
Finally... Likha... has come back... to Oakland.... It's about time, after more than a decade, a group that's had half of it's members from the east bay has made it to the east bay. The studio is amazing, and as many people were saying, it just has a more professional feel to it. There are so many other groups and dancers roaming around the different floors, trying to get a flavor of each others styles in dance and music. It's exciting to be in a studio where you can really stretch out and do so many things all at once. Another plus is that instead of paying six bucks for toll we only have to cover 1 bridge which cuts our trip time and expenses. Come on ya'll, share the hurt. And although I know I fell asleep towards the end, there's no way I was going to go out there and dance with ya'll just yet. I am not in shape by any means so my journey back is still a ways to go. I do plan on it though. I really miss dancing and being a part of something as special as Likha.
Another gig tonite
Moe and I had a gig in SF at the Argent Hotel on 3rd. It was a beautiful reception in the Metropolitan ballroom. The couple was around our age so we were able to play the old school stuff that we like. The bride hired a wedding coordinator who was pretty much on top of things but the more we do weddings the more I see that we could be great reception coordinators as well. Not like I would wear a dress and walk around and give orders but since we're the "go to" guys when it comes to different events during the reception it just makes sense. Plus with two of us we've got it all covered. Anyways, I played my "Celebration" mix with that and YMCA. When it gets to the end of the mix I get a little worried because I threw in "Hoochie Mama". It's not the edited version either. Everyone kept dancing. I didn't get funny looks, in fact, people seemed to get pumped up when it came on. Do you think I should add "Me So Horny" to it as well? That song has a bad-ass beat, but it sure does have some bad-ass lyrics. I also put together a little New Wave cd, courtesy of Mr. Cruz's music that he put on my 250gig ext drive. I've been aching to play some ABC's "Poison Arrow" but I don't think I had the right crowd so I didn't do it. We did bust out with the Cure's "Just Like Heaven" and General Public's "Tenderness". We also used "Tenderness" for when the bride and groom did their main entrance. I thought that went over well. Good move, Moe. With this gig money, we're gonna try to trade in our CDJ 800s for the CDJ 1000s so wish us luck. Thanks to Da Factor for the advice.
Last times at BofA
I'm gone from the bank. My last day was last friday. They threw me a nice going-away lunch with cake and pizza. I'll miss the people and I'll kind of miss the work. I spoke with people all over the country, training them on how to use our website. I liked being able to speak in my "white" voice. I'm sure that when I gave people my email address at the end of the calls they were like, "What kind of name is that?" Also, I had a pretty good reputation in my group as a hard working fellow who could be counted on but now I have to regain that reputation all over again. Plus, I was able to do my work and browse the internet throughout the day. At my new place I won't even have email. I'll explain that one later. Anyways, I'm getting together with my BofA coworkers next friday for someone else who is leaving as well. Should be fun.
Give it up for the DeeJay!
I had a gig inbetween playing softball this weekend in Novato. I had to drive from Sunnyvale, go to Hercules and get the van and gear, and head out to Novato. (tongue-in-cheek racist joke here: Name the only town in California that doesn't want Mexicans... answer: "No-Vato". you know I got much love for my latino peeps, joke lang.) Anyways, the wedding was at
Stone Tree golf course right off of highway 37 which was nice because the whole time I was thinking it's in Santa Rosa or Rohnert Park which woulda been pretty far. I had to do the gig by myself since Moe had one in Daly City. I got to the place at about 4:30 but the reception was supposed to start at 5:00. Luckily, the reception cocktails was not in the dining hall but outside on the deck and people weren't to be coming into the dining hall until about 5:45, plenty of time to setup. Unfortunately the hall was not the biggest and I had to setupin a little area in front of the dance floor, blocking the waitstaffs exit out of the kitchen. One nice thing was that I didn't have to overdo it with the setup as space did not permit me to do so.
The dinner went well. I played a cd that I put together of jazz standards like Nat, Frank, Tony, Norah Jones and the like. It plays for 70 minutes so I got to chill and work on my music for the rest of the night. (Quick note: the theme music for the bride and groom entrance was the theme for Monday Night Football, not the Hank Williams one but the one with the trumpet and symphony. I got a kick out of that one.) I ended up being the wed coordinator, making sure we were on schedule, letting the bride know what's next.
When it came time for dancing, the crowd was read to go. I busted out the standard, "Achey Breaky" slide dance. That still gets them to the floor, believe it or not. It worked at Bev & Gary's. I speed the song up a little, knowing that it'll get the song over a little earlier and it just sounds better. We did the cha cha thing, played some disco, a little hip hop and some 80s New Wave. I even got in David Bowie's "Modern Love" which I used to love back in high school. I need more opportunities to play New Wave like Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, OMD or UPSers favorite, Erasure. I was going to do a gig this weekend for my old high school buddy but it was cancelled. I coulda played that stuff at that event.
The bride and groom got a little drunk but kept on partying. By the end of the night they were all dancing and thanking me for playing all of their requests. Someone even wanted to hear "Funkytown". It's funny, ever since Gary put out that link with people's comments about DJs and replacing them with iPods, I've been conscious of it. I don't want to be the DJ that needs props to try and make the party fun. The bride grabbed the mic and yelled out "Give it up for the deejay!" That's all I needed to hear.
Hotel California
On Tuesday nite, I worked at the arena. I forgot about the event and was reminded of it when I spoke with my buddy who also works there with me. The event was the Eagles concert. I was pretty excited knowing that I'd hear a lot of songs that I liked as well as seeing a crazy crowd. When they came on stage and started the show the crowd was into it from the get-go. Hardly anyone left their seat, there was little foot traffic around the arena but you did see people with tons of drinks in their hands. There were no bad drunks but people really wanted to get their drink on. I saw a couple sneak off into one of our hallway closets. The guy was as big as any bodybuilder I've seen and his woman had some serious you-know-whats. I wanted to interrupt them but I really didn't care. The tunes kept coming, Tequilla Sunrise, Lying Eyes, Life in the Fast Lane, etc. It really reminded me of those days when my dad would pick me up from grammar school and have KFRC on the radio with Dr. Don Rose. That's where I got my classic rock schooling. If you're old school Bay Area you know what I'm talking about.
Last week at the big bank on the block
I'm down to my last days here at BofA. I've been here since Sept 2001. I came in on Sept 16th, a couple days after the Sept 11th event. That was a little weird but since then I've made some great friends. I'll be going back to my old employer before BofA. They had a position, I interviewed, she loved me and offered me the job. That was nice because I made sure that I didn't burn any bridges when I was there. I made sure to do that here as well but I don't know that I'll be coming back here anyways. I'll still keep my account here since it's our first joint checking account, besides our savings. Plus there are just so many BofA ATMs around that it's very convenient. I'm kinda making my own schedule here in my last days, showing up a little late, leaving a little early, but not overdoing it. They are making changes around here which would have made it a little harder to stay so i'm probably leaving at the right time.
Softball Whores or "We're going to the ship, what?"
We have a name for guys who can't turn down an invitation to play softball, softball whore. My buddy Ray is one as well as Alex. These guys drive up and down the Bay Area anytime they're invited to play. Fortunately, we were able to play all together at the Smash tournament at Twin Creeks in Sunnyvale. This was similar to the Asian tournament I played in a couple weeks ago where we won ZERO games! The Smash tournament was also Asian but you can have 3 non-Asians (that's neat to say, non-Asian, instead of always saying non-white). Our D.O.M team (Dirty Ol' Men) has a majority of Asians so at least for this tourney we were able to bring up the majority of our team, those who had the time. The family came up as well. We encourage all of the families of our D.O.M team to come out and spend time together. Oh yeah, we left the house at about 5:45am. That was tough.
On Saturday we played 3 games. Our first game we ripped the other team. They were big boys, some samoans from Hunter's Point/Bayview, but they were really cool, laughing at each other when they made errors. I took a ball right off of my foot in this game which is still affecting me to this day. I even got a couple of hits which was encouraging since I've been kinda messing around with my swing. The second game we played another team which I kind of sat out. I batted but I also played a little outfield. This was another blow out which is kind of fun since guys get to play other positions than what they're used to. I can still flag down a fly ball or two. The third game I was unable to play in being that it was at 3:00pm and I had to get to Novato for a gig. The guys were going to be playing a tough team so it was tough leaving them like I did. I called them later and found out that the sun was shining so hard that it made it hard to see the ball when you are batting. They ended up winning that game by a decent margin which put us as the 2nd seed in the tourney come Sunday.
On Sunday we had to be there for a 9:00am game. I got home the night before a little after 12am so I got some rest. The family stayed home and then attended parties the whole day and I planned to meet them as soon as we were done. It turned out that we weren't even ready to be done. Our fourth game of the tourney we played a tough team but put them out of reach by the 4th inning. The fifth game was a little tougher against a group of guys who said they came in 2nd last year. They were from Alameda and were good players but we just had the bats rolling up to this point. The sixth game was against the host team of the tournament. They made it this far and were actually ahead of us at one point in the game. It was even getting a little heated with the talking but cooler heads prevailed, they crumbled in the 5th inning and we were setup for the championship game.
In the championship we played a team called Shaka. They were some big boys who had a large following. They were beating their teams left and right by an average of 15 runs a game. We went up 4-0 on them but they answered right back. We kept it close but eventually they pulled ahead at 11-4. They were also hitting the ball up the middle on me and my fellow pitcher Ron who replaced me to mix it up. In softball, although there's no rule of not hitting the pitcher, out of courtesy, we try not to do it. They don't follow that rule. I made a couple of plays on them while pitching but other times the ball is hit just too hard to do anything. All good though. In our last at bat, down 11-4 with 2 outs, we scored 5 runs and brought it to 11-9 with a runner on and our big boy, Jason aka Chief up to try and tie the game. They walked him, kind of an obvious move, but cheap nonetheless and the next guy hit a sharp ground ball that they made a play on to end the game. Although we lost the championship and are bitter knowing we coulda shoulda woulda won the game it was a great time playing 7 games and winning 6 of them. But it sucks knowing the 1 loss is for the championship.
Dancing is still fun
On friday night I met up with the wife and we went out to Concord to work with Likha CoCo. I taught, or tried to teach, Tinikling. I am so out of shape. I mean, I was able to do the dance but I could feel the burn from the movements. The kids did great and they started to pick it up. The music didn't quite match our choreography but we worked with it. I'll need Likha Rondeezy's music for that. I still remember my fingering for that song on the octavina, but knowing and doing are definitely 2 different things. I've always loved dancing tiniks. I remember the first time Rudi had us dance it in Vallejo at the Solano County Fair. Pehnee and I were partners and I guess Rudi didn't trust us so the music was sloooowwww...... We got through the dance and eventually when we got better we flew right through it. Can you believe that I was one of the bonsu boys? With my fat ass? It was before I started taking all my steroids so I guess so. J/K! Anyways, I look forward to the day that Likha CoCo is running through that dance with the greatest of ease and I see that I had a hand it that.
I'm slacking
Ok, I'm slacking so it's time to play catch up. We got the water up and running first thing in the morning on friday. I stayed out of work, thinking I'd go back after lunch, after taking care of the water bill with City of Vacavile. It turns out they forgot to mark one little thing on our payment setup which in turn prevented the payment from being made. They are now going to credit us back any charges that may have occurred during the whole time period. The water was up and running by 9 am when I made it back home. Mio stayed with my mom in Vallejo so I was hoping to run errands all day. When I got to the house, I checked everything out. The water worked fine, the sprinklers were operating and I was able to take a shower. It took all of about 10 minutes to run around and check it. Go to work now? Hell no! Why? It's my last week anyways. I stayed home for awhile, tried to fix the antenna on the Celica (radio still doesn't work, but I have a better looking antenna on it now), cleaned up the house, vaccumed, wash dishes. I put on a movie from On Demand about a female prison with corruption up and down the place. There were a lot of hip hop stars: MC Lyte and Da Brat, LisaRaye from the Players Club, even Lisa Turtle from SBTB was on there. By the time lunch rolled around I made up my mind not to go to work and just take the day off. With such a busy weekend coming it really helped. I don't like leaving my coworkers with my work but sometimes you just gotta do what ya gotta do.
Ok, this sucks...
There are so many responsibilities in owning a home that some things are bound to fall through the cracks. We thought we had our water bill set to be paid automatically through our checking account but apparently not. I hadn't checked the mail in about 2 days and because of that, we missed a notice that the water was going to be shut off on 10/4. It's now 10/6 and the water is off. We're staying at my parents house so we can at least do the little things to get through the day. You really take advantage of running water when you're here in the states. This is no real comparison but our problem sure is miniscule compared to those affected by Hurricane Katrina. That water wasn't and still isn't available in so many areas for weeks on end. I can't imagine having to go through that. How about my Pilipinos in the PI? Now there are some people who don't get water. Anyways, I'm gonna take a half day so I can get this resolved. I'm down to my last days at BofA so no big deal.
And it's only wednesday...
I'm already looking towards this weekend which is going to be huge. So many things, so little time. On saturday I have a softball tournament, again in Sunnyvale. The tournament is a two day deal so depending on how we do will determine how long we'll be out there. On saturday nite I have a gig on the other side of the state (at least it feels like it) in Rohnert Park. So I'll have to make plans to load up the dj gear, load up the family, who is planning on coming to the tourney, come back somewhere in between Sunnyvale and Rohnert Park and get the car, probably at the Atendido's house in Hercules, go out to Rohnert Park by myself (Moe also has a gig that night), finish the gig, go back to Vacaville (probably, unless it's Concord at the in-laws) to sleep, then get up in the morning to go back to Sunnyvale and finish the tourney, go to other kid's b-day parties (I know of 3 that we're invited to) then go home, finally. Thank God monday is a holiday (for some of us, hahaha!) The wife and I are going to hang out, just the two of us, and we'll leave the boys somewhere. Anyone wanna get their babysittin' on?
Tuesdays can lag
I'm chillin at work today, not much on my calendar to do, but I'm nodding off here at my desk. I've only got 7 full business days left here but I'm trying to not look like I've got my other foot out the door. In the past 2 days I've been late to work, yesterday 15 min, today 1 hr and a half. If you heard, this morning there was a bad accident on 80, near the wife's work, so we stayed in bed until we heard the traffic was going to get cleared up. Since I just had her drop me off here in Concord I don't have a car to go to lunch off campus. I could walk but I'm just not in that kind of mood. I did get some Krispy Kreme before I got into work so maybe that's just what's slowing me down.
On a funny note, last nite we went to Kohl's to find Andres a belt for his pants. The wife and I went shopping for awhile without the boys while my mom watched them both. I found some dress pants that I'd like to wear to my new job and at 27.99 a pair I said why not. I brought 3 pants to the counter, some boardshorts that I'll wear for softball and the 2 for 1 belts we got for Andres. There was hardly anyone in the store so when the girl took our stuff to ring up she started putting them together. The belt didn't have the price on it so that stalled the purchase while someone went up to find out how much they were. She rang everything else up and I saw 72 bucks as the total. You can do the math and see that something was not right. While she waited for the price on the belt I told her to go ahead and close up this sale and I'll just pay the belt separately, which she did. I went to the car and put the clothes away and went back in where I had the wife pay for it. Afterwards we walked out and I let he know that I think she didn't ring up one of the pants. After looking at the receipt it seems as though the one of the pants rang up as 5 bucks. Not bad, eh? We need those little victories once in awhile. I hope karma doesn't strike back and I'm knocking on wood. My co-worker said Kohl's did the same thing to her, ringing up a 45 dollar tab for 200 dollars worth of clothes. That would be pretty sweet.
