3-31-07 (10:02)
  • biggest game of the year today. ucla vs. florida. rematch. good vs. evil. west vs. south. my happiness for the next month hinges on the outcome of this game.


    • 3-30-07 (12:13)

  • only went to one interview the other day. one was in cupertino for a position in fremont and that's 38 miles from home so i figured that i wouldn't want it even if it was offered. the other interview was for the seneca center in san leandro. i got a second interview for that, but i told them i wasn't interested. it's basically a bigger and more involved version of woodland youth services, the shelter that i worked for in 1999. wys was a level 10 or 11 shelter and this one is a level 14 (which means they have the toughest kids in the state). after thinking about it for a while, i realized i wasn't really up for that kind of commitment and emotional drain. i think i'd be good at it and i think i'd get the job, but i just don't want to deal with it. sadly, if i got as much for doing that type of work as an oakland city meter maid, then i'd probably take the job. that's the fucked up world in which we live. dealing with the most abused and neglected kids in the state yields $12/hr and grooming the baseball fields of oakland city parks gets you as much as $17.80/hr.


    • 3-27-07 (15:44)

  • we're mostly moved in at this point.
  • in the process of selling off stuff i don't need.
  • i have two interviews for tomorrow. interviews are lame.


    • 3-26-07 (09:43)
  • big news of the week is that ucla made it to the final four again. they play florida in a rematch on saturday. that's going to be a huge game. ucla is an exciting team to watch because of their intense defense. afflalo had a big game when he needed. before the game i said that afflalo was going to have to come up big because kansas is the best team ucla has faced this year. this is the most fun to watch since last year's ucla team and that was the most fun team to watch since the 2001-2002 sacramento kings.
  • other big news of the week is that i'm pretty much moved in now. there's still some clutter around the apartment, but i'll take care of most of it today. i have too many dvds and books. there's going to be a culling of the dvds at some point in the near future. there are a lot that i got for free which will probably end up getting the boot.
  • ron jaworski is replacing joe theisman on monday night football. this is such an easy call. jaworski breaks down a game like no other analyst, while theisman is about as insightful as paris hilton in the political arena.
  • have an interview scheduled for wednesday night. it's for some tutoring company in fremont. not real excited about it, but it's an opportunity so i'll see where it leads.

    • how old does this guy look to you? 50? 40? 30? he's 19.

    3-23-07 (13:47)
  • been busy. cleaned and lubed my bike. made a couple trips to the storage facility and brought boxes, dvd cases, cds, tools, etc. to my new place. tomorrow we should be able to get most of the remaining crap, including the tv.
  • ucla is in the elite 8 again. i love it. usc and oregon play tonight. osu is the weakest #1 seed. i think florida is beatable too. noah is overrated.


    • 3-21-07 (23:47)

  • if i titled my posts, this one would be called "the ass raping of chris."
  • got a ticket for the corrado about a month ago because i didn't have current registration. i paid for the registration and title transfer ($109), but couldn't get the sticker because of the smog certification fiasco which i wasn't able to clear up until i got back from ohio. ticket cost: $29.
  • yesterday, my first day living in oakland, i got a ticket for parking on the street without a permit. i had the registration form and was ready to make a copy of my driver's license, utility bill in my name and car registration, but i got a ticket before i was able to get copies and send this off. meryl says she's parked on the street a few times without a permit and she hasn't had any problems. ticket cost: $30.
  • went to rasputin music today to sell some vhs tapes. got $24.50 for the tapes, but also got a ticket because i forgot to add money to the meter. sorry, i have other things on my goddamn mind. ticket cost: $30.
  • on february 12th i got a notice of intent to suspend my registration for the camry from the dmv. i didn't get this notice until i returned from ohio and went to la to tie up loose ends. got this letter in my hand when i met my mom for dinner on march 13th. read it on march 14th. the intent to suspend was received because i didn't have insurance on the camry. called 21st century and got insurance on the 15th, but it wouldn't be effective until 12:01 a.m. on the 16th. coincidentally, the dmv made the 16th the day past which i would have to pay a reinstatement fee. so, the fact that the insurance was in place at 12:01 a.m. on the 16th means that i owe the dmv $14. had i gotten the original notice of intent to suspend before the 16th, i could have filed an affidavit of non-use (on california roadways) and i would have avoided the fee. if my insurance had been activated when i called i also could have saved myself the $14.
  • the corrado is officially in my name now. took the smog certificate to aaa yesterday and got the registration sticker. now that it's actually mine i can name it. because it's fast and constantly needs work, i have decided to call it the millennium falcon. called the old owner and told him that he owed me $106 for the smog check and the work that they needed to do to get it to pass and he said he didn't have any money and that a smog check should only cost $40. i explained everything to him (the stock air filter box needed to be installed, there are fees for the certificate and electronic transmission of the results, the fuse panel was in violation, etc.), but he wasn't really interested in any of that. i got him to agree to pay me $40, but i'm not counting on it. i hate that guy. i've gotten so cornholed over this car.
  • got a bill for $35 from the company that handles my ira. he said "If we do not receive a payment for your annual IRA fee ($35.00) by April 15, I will need to liquidate part of your funds to cover the fee from your retirement account for the current year." i replied:

    • i have no money so go ahead and just liquidate $35 from my paltry ira fund to pay for your "services."
    -chris
  • actually, i didn't put services in quotes, but i wanted to.
  • the only good monetary news is that i shouldn't have to pay taxes from last year since i made about $5,000 all year.
  • actually, i guess it's also good news that my insurance was only $183 for six months. i guess being a good driver has its benefits.


    • 3-20-07 (10:44)

  • while i was in la i saw 300 with james. lars ullrich (the drummer from metallica) sat right behind us. also saw dj qualls in hollywood driving a benz while effeminately holding a cigarette out the window.
  • now i'm in oakland. i need to find a job quickly because i'm truly broke. don't have a working phone here so i can't do a lot of the things i'd like to do. plan on making a run to my storage facility today.


    • 3-18-07 (23:10)

  • biggest news of the week is obviously march madness. it's the best time of the year. the flowers are blooming, the frogs outside are croaking and college basketball is at its best. the pac-10 and sec both have three teams in the sweet 16 which means that the pac-10 is officially worthy of its hype this year. i was worried after two teams lost in the first round and oregon (arguably the second best pac-10 team) won by only 2 against a 14 seed. but now that they have rebounded, ucla pulled out a win, and usc destroyed texas, the pac-10 has earned the hype.
  • the ucla game reminded me of their game against gonzaga last year, only they played like gonzaga. i made this observation to my dad about two minutes before len elmore did. this is one reason i like elmore so much - we think alike. of course ucla has a superior defense and their stars (afflalo and collison) took over, whereas adam morrison threw up a couple bricks and disappeared in the game against ucla last year. the ucla/indiana game last night was great if you like defense. only 33 total points in the first half. i loved it. i no longer am concerned about mata in the middle, but i am concerned about their offensive droughts. afflalo and collison need to be a little quicker to take the initiative when the offense isn't working.
  • so far i've been most impressed by unc at the one seed and usc in the rest of the field. i still think that ucla can win it all as well. florida and ohio state look beatable. oden is great, but i think that if osu comes up against a team that runs a lot, then he'll tire quickly and become a non-factor; especially in the tournament structure which rewards well conditioned teams. men's college basketball is just great.


    • 3-18-07 (22:00)

  • i'm watching a show on fox called "hannity's america" and he ends with the famous speech wherein reagan tells gorbachev to "tear down this wall." after the speech sean hannity says that reagan was a great man and in the next line he says, now stay tuned for "war stories with oliver north." this wasn't a joke. only on fox can a person praise reagan in one sentence and then turn you over to a show hosted by the embodiment of reagan's moral failure. hilarious. it's sorta like hannity ignoring the fact that his boy (gingrich) was having an affair while chiding clinton for his doing the same thing.


    • 3-17-07 (9:37)

  • yesterday was a hectic day. i went and picked up the car from my mom's. had to give it a jump, but it cranked up pretty well considering how long it had been sitting there. took it for a drive after putting in some fuel additive that's supposed to clean out the fuel system and help it pass the smog test. drove it for half and hour on the highway and then got an oil change because that's supposed to help it pass as well. filled up with premium gas because a full tank is supposed to be better as well and because i wanted to balance out the old gas that was in the tank. drove it around for another 10 minutes to get it nice and warmed up and then took it to a smog test center. when i got there they noticed that there was a steady leak under the car. turned out that there was an oil leak. it wasn't a loose oil drain plug, in spite of my hope that the oil change center just neglected to tighten the nut completely. so i had the guys at the smog center take a look at it and it turned out to be a $65 repair, which was lucky considering how many things it could have been. i was also lucky that the part was easily replaced, rather than a special order item. so, they fixed that and then i was set to get the smog check. but when they looked at the engine bay they said that i'd fail the visual inspection. it's funny because i've taken the car to two vw dealers, a smog center, and an independent shop, but none of them told me about the loose vacuum tube that would cause an automatic visual fail. what all this means is that my work in getting the carb # earlier in the week was for naught. turned out that i had to put in the original air filter box after all. so i had them do that ($25) and then i was set for the actual smog test.
  • he did a few small systems tests on the car and they passed. then he turned the key to "acc" to make sure all the lights were working. turns out that the check engine light was non-operational, and that's generally a fail right there. but because i had helped him install the air filter box, and because i think he felt a little sorry for me, he basically looked the other way on that one. so i should get that fixed eventually, but it shouldn't be a big deal. then he hooked it up to the computer and ran it at 15 and 25 mph. ended up passing without too much trouble. on most of the measurements i was above the average for passing cars, but well below the maximum. so, after 4+ months of the car being in limbo, it's finally settled and in my name.


    • 3-13-07 (11:07)

  • got a lot done today. getting a plate with a carb # on it. this will allow the corrado to pass the visual inspection. now it's up to the emissions test.


    • 3-5-07 (14:44)

  • in nashville right now. updates will be located on a separate trip page. here.


    • 3-2-07 (20:38)

  • need to pack the last of my stuff into the car and then i'll be all set on my end. tomorrow morning paul will come by and make sure i didn't destroy the place and then i'll hit the road.
  • looking forward to the road trip, but not the job hunt that will follow it.

    • been watching a lot of the west wing lately. hope to finish the second season before i leave tomorrow. great show with great writing. definitely one of the best written shows ever.