Spent today packing and cleaning up my room.  I'm going to Rhode Island for Thanksgiving so I won't be online till I get back on Saturday.  It's supposed to snow tomorrow morning!  I'll try and get pictures if it does.

November 25th, 2002

So I've been playing the Sims Online player test recently.  It's pretty the what the title says - The Sims... Online.  Amazing huh?  Anyway, it's an ok game.  It's pretty much a glorified chatroom.  You have to build up skills and make money to buy things in the game.  It isn't really much fun unless you know the people you are playing with.  So I've been playing it with Katsu and Valerie lately, which has been fun. Unfortunately, when the game actually comes out in December they're going to charge $10 / month to play.  I don't think I can pay that much just for a game.  $50 intially plus $10 / month = $170 / 1st year.  Too rich for my blood.

November 23rd-24th, 2002

52-21.  UCLA lost 52-21 to USC.  Even that score belies just how much UCLA sucked this weekend.  So sad, it pains me to just type about it... so I'll stop...

November 22nd, 2002

Tomorrow is the big UCLA/USC football game.  Well, we've lost three years straight to SC so hopefully this will be the year that we break the streak.  Unfortunately it's not playing on regular broadcast or even cable here so I am going to try and order it on Pay-Per-View.  Can you believe that?  I have to PAY to watch the UCLA/USC game.  Sigh, oh well, I guess that's what I get for being on the East Coast.

November 21st, 2002

Had my midterm/final today.  I attempted to make tonkatsu today, but I don't think it turned out very well.  I think I over-fried it and the tonkatsu sauce didn't taste quite right.  Oh well, live and learn.

November 20th, 2002

Studying for midterm/final tomorrow.

November 19th, 2002

Pretty busy day today.  I went to campus early for the internship interview that I think went ok.  Afterwards I went to the Air & Space Museum to hang out for a little bit.  I watched the new IMAX movie Straight Up!, which is about helicopters.  I love watching IMAX movies, but they are always so short.  I guess that is so they can milk more money out of the customers.  Anyway, I found out that they play Apollo 13 and Star Wars: Episode II on the weekends!  Can you imagine how awesome that would be?  I will definitely have to check it out one of these days.  After class, I went to yet another Red Cross class.  This time it was a Community Disaster Education class.  Pretty cool stuff.  One interesting point - the Red Cross no longer advocates standing in doorways during an earthquake.  I guess they didn't want a room full of people trying to cram into one doorway.

November 18th, 2002

Sorry, nothing to report today.

November 15th-17th, 2002

Ok, so I spent the entire weekend taking Red Cross classes in Disaster Services.  I took Intro to Disaster Services, Mass Care, Damage Assessment, and Family Services.  The whole weekend was basically a comprehensive overview of what Disaster Services offers to people impacted by a "disaster."  A disaster in Red Cross terms is significantly different than what it means in Emergency Management.  Pretty much any natural or technological (read "man made") occurrence that affects a person's or family's ability to have fulfill their basic needs (food, shelter, clothing, etc.) no matter the scale qualifies as a disaster.  In Emergency Management, a disaster is an emergency that taxes local and state authorities to the point that they are unable to handle the situation with outside help.  So I guess you would say that they are similar definitions, but on different levels.  A fire would be considered a minor emergency in EM whereas it would be considered a disaster by the Red Cross.  I suppose the people affected would consider it a disaster so that is probably why the Red Cross calls it that.  Well, overall, I felt I learned a lot this weekend, and I am eager to apply it.

November 14th, 2002

I have been experimenting with the Blogger program to see if I can integrate well into my website.  I have been thinking about adding a commenting system to my page and was looking into the different alternatives available.  Here is what it may look like - check it out.  There are several limitations to this, however.  It will be more difficult to customize and add images to it and I will not be able to archive the logs that I have written so far into it without paying for the Pro version of Blogger.  Let me know what you think about it - should I stick with what I have now or move to Blogger?

November 13th, 2002

I woke up early today to go to campus and play squash with some friends in my department.  We were going to play doubles, but one of the guys didn't show up so we just took turns.  Squash is kind of like racquetball, but it uses different rackets and a different ball.  The ball needs to be "warmed up" by hitting it a lot, otherwise it doesn't bounce very well.  Anyway, it was my first time playing and I think I got used it fairly quickly.  It was a lot of fun, but I think I should have stretched beforehand because I am really sore now.  You use a lot of muscles that you don't usually use in daily activities.  Plus it didn't help that I haven't been running lately because of the weather.  Speaking of which, there is supposed to be a huge storm coming in this weekend with rain, sleet, and a high temperature of 45 degrees.  

I went to a Red Cross Volunteer Orientation today since I don't have a job and I want to do something positive with the all the free time I have.  It was a very good experience - they have a Disaster Action Team contingent that I am very interested in.  Basically, you are on call for a week during the nights and you would respond to "disasters" - usually fires and help people who were affected by it.  I think this means giving them blankets and finding them food and a place to stay for the night.  However, this goes for larger disasters like floods, hurricanes, tornados, etc. as well.  I will have to take some classes that will take up this weekend entirely however - if I can get in.  I don't do much during the weekends anyway, so it will be a good break from the routine.

November 12th, 2002

Today went pretty well.  First, I got an email from a department staff member that has been helping me find a job and he got me an interview with a business continuity consulting firm for an internship.  I'm not really going to get my hopes up over it, but it's still pretty nice for him to get me the interview.  Also, I got my paper back that I was working on forever a couple weeks back.   I was a little worried about it, because a lot of other people had really technical subjects and I was afraid mine was too broad.  Fortunately, however, I got an A-!  Woohoo!  What a relief.  I had been afraid that I wouldn't be able to do well in grad school, but I guess things are going pretty well so far.  

November 11th, 2002

Today was Veteran's Day and the 20th Anniversary of the opening of the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial.  I went to visit the Marine Corps Iwo Jima Memorial today and took a picture to better represent the changing of the seasons here.  I also reduced the size of the image so it doe not take up as much space on the screen.  I also visited the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial.  Since it is the 20th Anniversary, there were many people there paying their respects.  As you can see, many people visited and left mementos for the family and friends lost to the Vietnam War.  Although, these pictures are just of the Vietnam memorial, please do not forget the hundreds of thousands of veterans of all wars and conflicts who have fought, bled, and died for our country.  Heroes they all are - especially those who gave their lives so that we may live ours in freedom.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Pictures

November 10th, 2002

Happy 227th Birthday to the United States Marine Corps!  It's been unseasonably warm today - getting up to 70 degrees at night!  Well, I wore a T-shirt and shorts the whole day and I still was hot.  You would think 70 degrees would be great weather, but when you are used to 40-50 degree temperatures, it is sweltering.

November 9th, 2002

Ok, this is going to really amaze everyone.  I actually went out and did something tonight!  Wowsers!!! I went out with Dave and Jimmy and some of Dave's law school buddies to see 8 Mile starring Eminem.  Although I am not a big fan of Eminem, I actually enjoyed this film.  I was fairly surprised that I liked it myself.  Anyway, go watch it if rap doesn't make you cringe.  And if it does... well, you should probably avoid it.  We also went to this restaurant bar called Ireland's Four Courts in Arlington.  It was pretty fun.  They had an Irish singer performing and everyone was pretty into it, so it made for a lively evening.

November 8th, 2002

I bought some filet mignon today and tried to cook it.  It was pre-marinated so I broiled a bit and then grilled it some, but it turned out really salty.  I guess I won't be buying that package anymore.  Not much else really to write about.  Oh, I've been reading the Pulitzer prize winning biography of John Adams by David McCullough.  It's actually a pretty interesting read, it follows his life through the beginnings of the Revolutionary War, so it offers a very unique perspective to history that normal history books just cannot simulate.  It's out in paperback now, but it's still a pretty hefty book.  I totally recommend it.

November 7th, 2002

Well, I didn't want to post this earlier, in case someone was lurking the site.  The interview last week was not a very good experience.  The person I had the appointment with did not show up until an hour afterwards.  So I sat there in the lobby waiting for him.  When he finally did show up, he did not even apologize for being late.  This is completely unprofessional in my opinion.  This tells me that he values his time more than mine.  This also made me 45 minutes late for my class.  He was also supposedly to contact me last Friday regarding the position, but he didn't.  I had to keep calling all this week, and he finally called me back today - SIX days after he was supposed to.  Now, I don't know if it was because I was irritated during the meeting or if I simply was not qualified that led to me not getting the job.  Needless to say, however, I was not pleased with the process.  It is probably better off that I won't be working there anyway (got to rationalize it somehow right?).  Just had to gripe.

November 6th, 2002

I got Grand Theft Auto - Vice City today.  It is a very impressive game.  It's a more interactive city than the last game.  You can go to restaurants and eat there or rob them.  You can change your clothes.  You can buy different properties and make money off them.  If you have a PS2, get this game... if you can find it.

I ate buffalo wings with some cabernet sauvignon today.  It is a very good combination.  I think everyone should try it some time.  Actually, I think cabernet goes well with anything, so I guess it's not that big of a deal.

November 5th, 2002

It rained late in the day today, but I was lucky (smart) enough to have my umbrella in my backpack.  Other people were not so fortunate (smart) and got soaked.  Hehe.  Well, it was a fairly uneventful day besides the rain.  I think I am actually getting used to this weather.  The cold doesn't really bother me as much anymore.  I didn't even use my beanie or gloves today.

I've been watching the series 24 starring Kiefer Sutherland and am getting into the show.  This season, the series is about terrorists who are planning on detonating a nuclear device in Los Angeles.  It's supposed to take place in real time, but I see Kiefer Sutherland driving on the freeways and getting to his destination in seconds!  That is not the Los Angeles I know and love!  But I guess it wouldn't work too well if it followed reality too much - the entire show would be spent on the 405 stuck in traffic.

Oh yeah, I hope everyone voted today.  I did!

November 4th, 2002

Well, I broke down and ordered a copy of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City for the Playstation2 today.  They are sold out in stores everywhere so I just bought it online.  What I lose on the shipping, I make up in not paying sales tax, so it's not a bad deal.  For those of you that don't know what Grand Theft Auto is, you basically play a criminal and you are let lose to wreak havoc across the city.  The city is made to be as real as possible, meaning people walking around, cars driving down streets, buildings you can enter, etc.  There are many critics in the game that say it is too violent, but it really is how violent you make it.  

November 1st-3rd, 2002

Valerie came to visit me this weekend and had tons of fun!  We went to the Adams Morgan area on Friday and ate a place called Sushi Taro, which Katsu helped me find (thanks Katsu).  I had the tonkatsu and Valerie had teriyaki steak.  Both of which were extremely yummy.  It was some kind of sushi festival night so we got to pick these pieces of paper from a basket, which had different things punched out of them representing different items.  I got a B, which stood for free beer (Budweiser) and Valerie got a P, which stood for a free pen.  All in all, it was a very good dinner and we left nice and stuffed.

The Marine Corps Birthday Ball was on Saturday night and it was quite an experience.  Now remember mind you that I am used to attending the ball with my old unit which was much smaller and closely knit and which also had a significant Latino/Hispanic majority.  We had the ball at an Air Force Base's Officers Club and let me tell you, the Air Force is known for having extremely nice accommodations and this place was no exception.  Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera so I have no pictures to show, but it was a very beautiful hall.  Everything was beautifully decorated and they actually had a coat check!  A few members of the Marine Corps Band even played during the ceremony.  The food was only so-so and they closed the bar during dinner, which angered many a Marine.  These guys must only be used to Air Force guys - they really should have known better than close a bar to Marines.  Our Guest of Honor was a three-star general who is the Commanding Officer of Marine Forces Reserve.  Pretty impressive.  Well, we had a good time even though it was not as raucous as we are used to.  At least the DJ didn't just play Spanish music all night long.

On Sunday we went to visit Georgetown.  It's a pretty typical college town - lots of traffic, no parking, rude drivers and lots of small "hip" stores.  We also visited Dean & Delucas, which is a up-scale grocery store / coffee bar that Keri Russell worked in the show Felicity.  We ate some chicken and mashed potatoes, which were really good.  I still have some of the leftovers which I will probably eat for lunch Monday.

So, I had a lot of fun this weekend.  I'm glad Valerie got to come visit so we could spend some time together.