|
|
|
May 1st, 2012
10:10 pm - Staten Island Nights
While still recovering from whatever bug it was that hit me this past weekend, I realized I couldn't stay home all day with several thoughts spinning in my head all at once, so I ended up going out.
I know and have mentioned how I've written several of my last journal entries while on the ferry to/from Staten Island, but as I returned from this brief trip there...I began to realize how my life there is done.
I don't want to get into it for now and the relationship is still in limbo. The one thing I can admit lately is that Katrina and I have spent more time fighting in the last few weeks than really talking. I guess I can say I had a better deal of the fault for that due to my own frustrations and unanswered questions. In the end though...and also due to her mistakes as well...this is how things are going.
Anyway...the one thing that saddens me are the very similar feelings I would have to Michigan nights...walking or biking out late at night, whether it's to pick up a few groceries, some takeout, white castle, or even just beer lol, for us.
Used to let this song play off my phone while doing it too. Staten Island really is a piece of NYC hardly anyone gets to see like I have: Half NYC/Half Everywhere Else.
Song would sometimes help me sleep too...lol...though not lately.
(this song loops btw...that's why it's 30 minutes)
Current Location: Queens, NY...looking 15 miles south
Current Music: Final Fantasy XIII - Battle Results
|
April 18th, 2012
11:40 am - Just Me This Month
My co-worker Gilbert officially went on vacation this past weekend for four weeks, taking a trip back to the Philippines and leaving me on my own here as well. It's all good, though work will be somewhat hectic here n there, handling all the things on my own. This week alone is already showing those hours and I'm finding myself working this weekend a bit as well. I'll be taking my own vacation when he comes back, but still don't know what or where I'll be going. Being I'm taking off the day or two after he arrives back, I won't be seeing him till I return. Kinda funny lol.
Speaking of trips, my cousin Flor went back to Peru this past Monday after spending about 10 days here in NYC, bringing some extra luggage with her and also visiting Philly where her new school will be. I chatted with her family...well...our family...over in Peru and was glad to see how happy they were about how things have gone. Flor again thanked me for how things went in San Francisco. She didn't go sightseeing too much here in NYC and instead her and I spent some time watching movies, particularly scary ones. I showed her some zombie flicks lol.
I really need a vacation and just some time away from everything. The bad thing is being such a workaholic, I can already see myself remoting into my computer at work from wherever I plan to go and doing some work. Ack, guess you can't really change that about me. For now, think I'll treat myself to a nice meal this weekend.
I wanna talk about other things but will hold off for now. I want to spend more time catching up to everyone here. I miss a lot of people who have sadly left this site for elsewhere, since I always enjoyed reading about everyone and them too.
Speak to everyone later!
Current Location: NYC
Current Music: Eminem - Fast Lane
|
April 10th, 2012
11:11 pm - Wharton!
I'm posting this maybe a week and a half late, but still something I think about now and something that made me happy to find out when I got her email about it =).
Seems like that trip to San Francisco was a success and served it's purpose (besides sightseeing of course). My cousin Flor, who I met up with in SF about a month ago, got accepted into Wharton business school! I got her email around 5pm, just as I was about to start work for that evening and was so happy to read about it. I know how nervous she was before the interview and I was glad I was able to show her around, practice with her some, make suggestions, then wait outside while she did her thing. She actually was about to make a wrong turn and end up in Oakland on the BART lol.
While cheesy, I actually shed a few tears when I read that. One of my cousins from Peru is going to be moving to the US to attend one of (if not the) best business schools in this country...even Donald Trump went there. The school is in Philly and being that she already visiting NYC this month (she's actually here now lol), she brought some clothes in two suitcases for us to hang onto. She plans to move here sometime in July/August. It really made me happy that I was able to make a difference with this, just by being there. I know she could have managed on her own, she has the same adventurous spirit I have, but it made me glad to know I made things some easier, and also helped her out with some questions they may ask her and also offered suggestions.
So besides all the neat places I got to show her in San Francisco, taking her to cool places to eat, and also getting to know her better...I also aided her in something that is going to change her life.
Not to mention having a family member in the US who isn't a sister or a parent lol. Don't forget guys...99% of my family are all in Peru. I'm the only generation of my family here in the US. Guess that's about to change ^^.
Current Location: NYC
Current Music: Silent Hill 2 OST - Overdose Desilusion
|
March 17th, 2012
01:26 am - Treats
No rest for the weary and already a been a busy week, with some rest coming next week though. After coming back from San Francisco a week and a half ago, I got word from my manager that I need to travel to Washington DC and do a survey for a move coming up in two weeks. I knew about the move, but not that I was going to do the survey. I honestly don't mind, and on last Wednesday I ended up taking the Acela train to DC and doing a survey in preparation for people moving from one location to another for the bank's DC location. It's under 50 people so shouldn't be difficult at all and gave me some time to go sightseeing a little.
It's been real warm the last few days but has def gotten colder now. Could be these late solar flares that I've been hearing about. It was mentioned something like this could go on this year, and how cell signals may be disrupted along with other things like the power grid. Just what NYC needs...a blackout lol. The last one was back in 2003, and that was a real crazy day.
With some little extra moola made from Baltimore and also getting some sweet moola back from the tax refund, been thinking of finally treating myself to a couple of things. It's really been ages since I went to a store and actually picked out something I'd like (besides s ticket to SF lol). When I was in San Francisco, my cousin Flor def did her large share of shopping once we went by any pair of stores, particularly in the downtown area. It made me want to go out and get a few things for myself, and so I did. Seeing my old Deutsche Bank backpack about to fall apart eventually, I picked up two sweet looking Samsonite backpacks off ebags, which were kinda cheap. They're perfect for carrying laptops and safe too. I also picked up a 15.6 laptop case from the same brand. I'm hoping to get myself a new laptop sometime within the next few days from the same place I bought my current one back in late 2007. Yup, she still works just fine and still faster than most if not all than the Lenovo laptops they recently deploy at my job (besides the CPU). Portable gaming is a need for me, especially with a planned trip to Peru soon, so want to pick up one up. Custom built to my pleasure too with a 3 year warranty. Can't wait.
I'm going to be relaxing somewhat this weekend, being I didn't have to do any late night moves on Friday. My cousin is back in Peru now, so I'll be making such a trip like always, on my alone. I was thinking about Seattle, but when thinking of that...kinda reminds me of a wish I had for myself and Katrina to rent a car and drive all the way there with the kids. Being how things are...I doubt we could take such a trip together and it saddens me to think about it, so probably may just stay at home and relax, catch up on some things, and decide what I'm going to be doing the rest of this year...living-wise. I've been thinking of finding a place for some time now and it's unlikely to be in Staten Island.
As for work, there might me a project to do sometime in the next few weeks in North Carolina, just near the capital, which makes me excited. There's also another one going on in Boston too, something I'd like to avoid doing and going to though, after the last disastrous one almost 2 years ago.
For now...I'll enjoy the little rewards from working crazy hours these last few months for myself. I already got one of my backpacks today and def love it a lot.
Current Location: NYC
Current Music: None
|
01:22 am - Looking Back On Some Relaxation
After a very interesting 4 days in early March, I'm back in NYC. Like my last trip out, I took an 11pm flight back to NYC, getting back into town around 7:30am. It was a calm flight, def nicer than before. I never flown with Virgin America before, but have to say I may continue to do so as much as possible as long as rates are reasonable. My cousin Flor took an early morning flight the next day at 6am back to Miami, then a small transfer and on to Peru. She'll prob be back in Lima around 10pm. It def is better than her trip to San Francisco, where she had a 6 hour layover between flights, but being the independent adventurer she is, she hopped into a Taxi and went to a nearby mall lol. It was nice to see her there, especially since I've been in talks with her a couple of times over the past year about showing her San Fran one day, so when she told me she was going for an interview there, and after a long trip in Baltimore and a badly needed time-off, I flew out to run into her there. I think I made her have a good time showing her around all the sites I've been to and more this time.
I got to know the present-day Flor a lot more during this trip. I'm older than her by two years and when we were kids, we actually got along really well and could relate to each other quite a lot, something I never took a step back from and thought about when I was 11-14 years old. Sometimes we'd wake up early in the morning to play Monopoly, watch a VHS movie, or just talk about random stuff while everyone else was still asleep and the electric was out (back then...Peru was still siege from guerrillas/terrorists known as Shining Path). It's been 14 years and when I last saw her she was about 12-13 years old, so all I remember is the young her. When she came here to NYC last year, I only really got to spend one day with her, and most of it was chat about NYC and few about anything else, so this time out we were able to talk about a lot more things.
I def have to say I admire how far she's progressed at her job. Before her interview, she practiced her answers to potential questions with me, so I could give her suggestions and fix any grammar. Listening to her talk about how things have been the last 5-6 years at her job and elsewhere was really amazing, and again...a lot I can relate. She pretty much works crazy hours like I do, and remember once her father once called her, wondering where she was, thinking she got robbed or something lol. But she was just still at work. Peru, despite the high interest tourism over the years, still has common petty crimes everywhere and still isn't safe to just casually "walk around". It's something she noted while walking around in San Fran, as we both walked up n down hills everywhere and was a totally new thing to her, lol. I'm glad she had fun though.
Hopefully with some good luck I'll be going back to Peru in May with my mother again...just don't know when. My last visit out was mostly for seeing family with little sightseeing, but this time I'm def going to be sightseeing a lot and with some luck, I'll be going to Machu Piccu. I don't know if my mom will go, but def don't mind just going with some of my cousins. The last time I was there was when I was 7 years old. I remember I had to spend a day indoors doing nothing just to get used to the atmosphere there, due to less oxygen.
Flor and I sure did a lot of walking the last two days. I took her t her interview for the Wharton business school on Friday and she seemed really confident. I waited around the building, grabbing a quick burger for the hour or so she was there, and did a little sightseeing in an area just near and under the Bay Bridge. She felt like she did better than the last interview she had which is always good, and both of us went walking back to the financial district area, where we ran into my former co-worker again and he took us back up for the view from the 47th of the building where my bank uses 2-3 floors. It was a really nice day, def less windy than the one before, so the view was nice again...not a single cloud or bit of fog either. We took my pictures, then grabbed a cab to head to the Golden Gate bridge. I was really glad how Reza was really cool with us stopping by, including his boss. It may have been after-hours, but my cousin sure felt welcomed (besides them thinking how cute she is too lol). Both of us walked across the bridge towards the mid-way and took several shots from there. It's amazing to view the sundown from there. We started heading back and caught a bus to an area I stopped by before and grabbed dinner at this really cool Chicago-style pizza place I went to last time. Def was good once again...she really liked it.
One thing that def catches her eye a lot are the stores lol. She def did a lot of shopping while there. It was cool though, she def deserves some stuff, and also bought some for her family as well. We did a lot of walking that day...I think a little too much for her taste. My flight was later that night around 11pm, so we got back to the hotel around 7pm and just watched a movie and ate leftover pizza. I headed out and said goodbye to her. She was a little worried how to pack all the stuff she bought, so I helped her out with how to pack stuff up in a second suitcase she had to buy. It was a 3-piece set, so I had to end up taking one piece back with me to NY, so she can pick up when she comes back in April. It was nice to spend time again with family besides my parents and sisters. 99% of my family are all in Peru, so spending times with cousins, aunts, n uncles is totally unknown to me besides the few weeks I spend in Peru.
I really hope I showed her a good time...guess I'll write her an email and ask lol. No rest for the weary though, as both of us are heading back to work Monday morning (I'm actually on the ferry going there now lol).
Can't wait to go back to Peru. Things may have been hard these last few months involving a couple of things, but def some time off is coming. In the meantime, the memories of sweet San Francisco still on my mind. Def saved me this time...once again.
Current Location: NYC
|
March 2nd, 2012
01:17 am - And I Saw That Bridge In The Distance...Once Again
So as planned, I arrived in San Francisco yesterday morning around 11am, CA time. While somewhat long flights don't bother me much, I hardly slept on this one which kinda was a buzzkill to start the day since I hardly slept the night before. It's all good though, I don't mind. I was freaking tired all day, but had some good strength to go out and go sightseeing for a while. The room wasn't ready yet, so wasn't able to take a nap before going on a little walking trip, which involved steep climbs on streets while walking to Chinatown from the Fisherman's Whalf. Awesome sight, and retracing my footsteps of my last trip out here 2 years ago.
I went ahead and stopped by Deutsche Bank's SF office, and ran into a former co-worker of mine who used to work in NYC, but moved out here to work here for the bank instead. Cool guy and really glad he got a chance to work here since he always wanted to live in CA for some reason. I also met his boss...cool guy too, and they took me up to their 47th floor and showed me the view. Even people who have been here before will be amazed by the shots I took, and def will be posting them soon. Afterwards I headed back into Fishie's Wharf and made my way past the Alcatraz Ferry and just hung around the area, grabbing myself some yummy In n Out burgers. Seriously...some of the best damn burgers I ever had...freaking shitty Five Guys doesn't stand a chance ^^.
Shot From the 47th floor of the SF Office
I didn't visit every single site I went through last time and the area wasn't as busy as it was the last time I was here, but I still enjoyed it a lot, making my long walk past Chinatown, climbing up hills, and reaching the downtown area. I caught the Bart back to my hotel, took a nap, and went to pick my cousin up from the airport. It's still amazing that she actually came here, and more so that I could meet up with her. Her flight did come in a little later but whatever. We both went directly to sleep afterwards...both of us def were tired. She's been in n out (LOL) of planes for around 20 hours, being stuck in Florida for about a 6 hour layover...sheesh =P.
I'll write more about these next few days as well. I'll probably be showing my cousin the Wharf. I have some ideas up my sleeve. Hopefully not too windy tomorrow lol.
Still really glad to finally have some time off. I seriously feel this was mad overdue.
Current Location: San Francisco, CA
|
February 28th, 2012
12:07 am - Save Me San Francisco
So some exciting news. I'm finally taking some time off and getting away from the city for a few days, and taking a long delayed trip back to San Francisco, CA. Been meaning to go there since around this time last year, and then also around the holidays. But there's also an extra reasons besides just sightseeing.
My cousin Flor, from Peru, is actually going there for some interview, and will be there for about 3-4 days. With that in mind, and being it would be her second time in the US, I thought it'd be cool to go out there and meet and show her around another city I really fell in love with my last trip out. I also can take a badly needed R&R too.
We been talking through email and decided to book a room together at my fav hotel in South San Francisco, near the airport. I'll be leaving this coming Wednesday morning. I feel bad for her though being that she's leaving the same time I am...around 7am in the morning but won't be getting to CA till like 11pm CA time. Sheesh...the layover in FL she has is like 5 hours long. I know she'll be hella tired when she gets here.
LOL...hella. Guess I still have some habits I picked up from my old buddy Patty. Really looking fwd to this trip, so def will be posting pics from there. Never really went sightseeing with someone before to be honest.
Current Location: NYC
Current Music: Train - Save Me San Francisco
|
February 27th, 2012
11:51 pm - The Baltimore Project
I slept throughout almost the whole weekend. And if I wasn't sleeping, I was likely working.
I didn't mention it and wish I did sooner being that it would have been an interesting topic to write about while I was away. I recently traveled to Baltimore to do a move there, a pretty big one too. I traveled with Gilbert, Fizz, and pretty much the whole crew here in NYC, a total of about 14 guys to relocate about 220 people to different floors and even a different location in the bank's Baltimore location. This was delayed twice for two weekends which really did bother a lot of people, especially since it took place over President's Day weekend, a weekend my mom wanted to get together with everyone being she was away for the holidays. Bleh...I had to work.
We all drove there in 3-4 cars. It was originally supposed to be mini-vans, but being how scarce rentals were and also expensive during the holiday weekend, it ended up being cars. That kinda bugged me, being I couldn't take a piece of luggage I wanted to...something that turned out to be a bit of a pain in the ass later on lol. All and all, we all got there safetly, with the 4 guys in our car depending on me for meals, since I'll expense them later. Yay for free food lol.
Friday we started out work around 4pm and worked all the way until around midnight. There def was a bit more than we anticipated and also our leadership is nearly non-existant. My manager was away on vacation in Boston, another dude away to see his son in Texas. Can't blame them, people made plans and then this project got pushed back twice. Gilbert was going to go to Atlantic City, but we both stayed behind and took up the project. My manager for some reason also let a dude from his team on the 12th floor be the "Project Manager" of this move, though he's never 1. done a move and 2. never done disposal/recycling of any bank hardware. I've done both, and Gilbert's a master move coordinator, so it kinda made us blink twice...WTF?
Saturday we went back to work again and started feeling the sweet feeling of overtime kicking in...who can complain about $35/hour lol. The only shitty thing is we found ourselves doing some labor we really shouldn't be doing...picking up 20" 50 lb CRT monitors isn't cool. But we did find some useful things that some people were tossing out. I was thinking of sending some of it back to out location in NYC, while one or two other dudes wondered how much they'd be worth on ebay. That took me by surprise, something again...Gilbert and I wasn't expecting to hear from our "Project Manager". All in all, Gilbert and I ran the show, with Fizz running the show in the other location. Myself and two other guys all paid for meals for the guys, taking turns and expensing them later. I didn't mind using my personal credit card...can't imagine how many bonus points I racked up from the $250 lunches I paid for lol. Good thing I have good credit. We also had people come in on Saturday for their testing and whatnot. Things seemed to go ok. I also looked out for people who still remember me from my last trip to Baltimore, where I stayed for a week covering for the onsite tech there. Katrina came with me on that trip. Besides the one really loud argument she threw on me...it def was a week to remember...first time I ever took someone with me on a business trip.
Sunday was a pretty slow day, and Gilbert and I were not expecting to work at all, but we decided to help out the guys who were doing the disposal of old stuff. Afterward, one of the higher ups told us all that he was going to treat us all to a nice Irish place. While everyone else went, I decided to stay behind and catch up on some rest and also did a quick workout. Dunno if that's really my kind of atmosphere anyway. After the guys came back though, I was able to get everyone to get together and go out for Walmart for the night. You guys may not know but there's no Walmart here in NYC lol, so the idea of getting things pretty mad cheap is always appealing to us (plus the tax is cheaper). I really didn;t get to buy much, just picked up some Legos for myself lol. I did find a funny sounding squishy pig that Fizz took from me and teased Gilbert with, saying that's how he sounds he snores lol.
Monday was a day off and I woke up around 9am. Most everyone else went about their own thing and I decided to do a little sightseeing around the harbor area. Obviously the one thing that really caught my eye was the submarine and I ended up running into one of the guys working for us. I hung out with me, and also took pictures of me on the submarine as I came out lol. I ended up buying us some food and also brought some food Gil and Fizz as well. Sheesh...3-4 chicken burrito bowls from Chipoltes lol. While walking up to the rooms, I saw the "Project Manager" walk by, and he looked upset. When I walked into Fizz's room, I found out that there was a small ruckus that had gone on, involving someone playing really loud music. Dunno how it all ended, but could guess whose room it was coming from. What an idiot.
Shots of me on the submarine:
Tuesday was a busy day and all of us were there around 7:30am to do support for the people who relocated. The "Project Manager" showed up around 10:30am...nice. For the most part, things went pretty well...with Gilbert and myself having done this over 200 times now. Everyone else was going to head out around 2pm and get driving back to NYC while I stayed behind till around 5pm, and catch the Acela Amtrak train back to NYC on my own, when the lady in charge asked if we could do another day of support as well, due to all the issues going on with the new VOIP phones. She did tell us that compared to the phone guys, we were "rock stars" lol. Guess we did something right. I didn't mind making some more overtime, but was really looking fwd to going home.
My last day there was fine. I ended up staying there another night with one of the temps, who I treated to a nice Japanese place near the hotel. Sheesh...$90 tab lol. I really love Japanese food and Katrina and I loved the food from this place during out stay. We also got hooked up with a really expensive hotel from the higher ups, though expensive hotel don't really impress me much, missing things like microwave and small fridges...bleh.
Was glad to be home after almost a week of being out of town. Wish I did have the extra company too being I had my own room, but considering how rough things are between myself and Katrina...better leave it the way it was. We did talk quite a bit while I was away, and sadly argued some too. We did miss each other when I got back. Love honestly isn't a problem between...just everything else and despite what John Lennon says...it's not all I need in a relationship.
So that pretty much sums up Baltimore. No rest for the weary though, had support the day after I got back and a big midtown move on Friday. Bleh...but again...Overtime =P
Stay coolz everyone.
Current Location: Baltimore, MD
Current Music: Final Fantasy XIII - Promised Eternity
|
February 23rd, 2012
11:40 pm - Time So Far
I know it's been a while, yet again and still meaning to keep up on here. Work def has been busy since the new year began, and this past week/weekend def is an example of it. I ended up taking a trip to Baltimore for a few days with several of the temps to do a move. I'll get into that later though.
I finally found some time to sit down and write an entry on here. I def will be making more time to write about a lot of things going on and def things that have been on my mind as well. The thirty minute ride on the ferry sometimes gives me a moment to actually type up some words.
I'll probably jump into particular topics a little later. For now, still working at the same place...duh. Family is doing alright, my dad is still in Peru and will be for another few months. Sometimes it's weird realizing I haven't seen him in weeks. Since my parents are separated, I didn't see my dad too too much while I was growing up since he lived two blocks away with my aunt, but I didn't see him regularly. Now I def won't see him at all for a while, but I realize why he'd want to spend some time away after retiring from working for the MTA...the NYC subway system after some years. My mom still lives with me and things are moving along ok, though the idea to finally get out of the projects still looms over our heads. My sister Amy recently got into a car accident and wrecked the car. She's fine, and it was probably due to rain and oil on the road making things slippy for her early when it began. The car is wrecked now though, so giving my mom a lift for groceries is out. I'll probably be taking that up myself. My other sister Evelyn is still working as a doctor and living in her Manhattan apt with her boyfriend Ian. Things are moving along well for them I guess...no arguments or other wacky stuff I would witness between her and her ex-husband.
I'm still with Katrina, though the relationship is still rocky and sadly showing some bad signs for the future. I'll write more deeply about that later on. Lately though, we really have trouble talking about almost anything without having an argument of some sort, and it def gets frustrating on both of us. What starts as a nice funny convo ends up being a yelling battle over the phone and with one of us hanging up. It's not the kind of relationship I want to keep and thing it may eventually come to an end. Several things have been done and said between us that either her or me have trouble forgetting. I know I do...everyone here knows how seriously I take Words.
Her kids have grown up quite more than really noticed lol. I guess sometimes you stop for a moment and look and realize "wow...I can have a phone convo with him" or "he can walk now...even chase me". Her kids are always adorable and they adore me back. Us breaking up def may impact them...I know it'll impact me being I may not see them much anymore.
For only two months, a lot of events have happened, more than I anticipated, even starting from the very first day of the year. While that being so, I def don't plan to let things keep me down or make me lose hope for the future. I want to continue striving for what I know is right, things I want, and halt anything holding me back...or anyone. It's been years since I returned to New York from Michigan, and I def learned and thought about a lot of things while living on my own for almost a year. I tossed out my anger, depression, and any other negative bullshit from my life. Only thing left is to find more reasons to keep it all away.
Like Suzie Orman says: "Keep what you have, create what you deserve".
Current Location: NYC
Current Music: Final Fantasy XIII - Sulyya Springs
|
January 3rd, 2012
01:19 pm - Song Of The Day/Week
HAPPY NEW YEARS everyone!
This is a pretty catchy song I listened to a couple of times that was included in a game I kinda been getting a little hooked on lately...maybe only cuz I have some actual time on my hands besides work lol. Thought I'd share it on here. Really don't know what to say about it, other than I love the beat and could totally see myself dancing to this at the bar Saturday night around 1:30am =P
Yes, that game was the Sims 3. I started it off with a character that looked like me, but instead made a game that are my future children: boy and girl young adult twins named Vos (son), and Sieka (girl). Put them together: Vosieka lol. Don't mind me...I'm just into unique names lol. If anyone wants the game, let me know =P
Ladytron - Ghosts (Radio Mix)
I'm going to be posting my annual "songs of the year" posts soon. Being I didn't do that last year, I'm gonna post songs for the years 2010 & 2011.
Current Location: NYC
Current Music: Ladytron - Ghosts (Radio Mix)
|
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1){kind=small}
silent157's journal