I figured I should go to sleep at a "reasonable" hour today since I stayed up until about midnight last night. Anywho, 2 more days until I see Laura and the dogs! Can't wait. Decided I will be parking my car at the parking garage and taking the shuttle from downtown to the airport. It's only $14, so that's cool. I'll leave work a bit early at like 4pm or so, just to make sure I account for enough time considering there could be traffic and such. The shuttle leaves every half hour so I'll take the 4:30 on I suppose. I have to walk down to the river to the Marriott since it leaves from there.

I thought of taping the entire drive from Laramie > Seattle > Portland. Figured why not. I'll try and use the power inverter...well, actually, I definitely need to use it anyway since the battery will only last like a couple of hours at most. The card in the camera at the lowest setting will only record about 5 hours, so I'll need to download it to my netbook every 5 hours. There will be a few minutes of "blank" in between, but that's okay.

I cleaned the cabinets and put together the bed more securely and put the sheets on today. Everything else is ready to go, pretty much. When they arrive, I want to mop the hardwood floors since it smells weird and vacuum up a few places, mainly the corner where all the dead ants are. I can't quite get them with the small vacuum I have and there's no hose attachment. I mowed the lawn on Thursday and it looks good. Although, now I wish I had mowed it tomorrow, so it'll stay nice when everyone arrives. I'll probably have to mow it again next weekend, like Saturday. The cool thing was that after I mowed the lawn, I wasn't tired at all. Just sweaty. It was weird because the last time I mowed it, which was just about 2 weeks ago, I almost died. I haven't really done anything special since then. I have been walking a lot during lunch to find places to eat. Maybe that's why.

We're going to try and hit the beach when Chris and Alicia visit. Tillamook and a spot up north maybe and then back. I keep forgetting that it's the weekend of the 4th, so it will probably be crowded-ish everywhere anyway. Tomorrow I may look for "places" to watch fireworks. I did see a few fireworks stands around town, so it seems as though it's not prohibited to use like Laramie. Dunno for sure, though.

I'm not looking forward to this drive, though. The side trip to Seattle kinda sucks, because without it, we can easily get into Portland/our house by early afternoon on Thursday, but it's going to be the evening...perhaps even later because we just might hit rush hour in Portland. And on top of that, I need to work the next day early. It is just going to be a crappy few days.

Well, gonna head to bed.

Been into more blogging as of late. Probably because of the lack of stuff to do. My WoW subscription ran out, but not renewing it for a while (ever?) since the next couple of weeks/months are going to be busy in terms of guests, work, unpacking, etc. The expansion will probably come out this Winter again, but who knows...maybe I won't get it. StarCraft 2 is coming out at the end of July and that seems pretty cool too.

In other news, I can't believe it's already time for Laura to move out. It has been over 1 month, 5 weeks in fact. Not looking forward to the drive again, but it will be good to have her here. I'm pretty sure there are gophers in our yard...I've been hesitant to buy gopher killer just yet. Maybe the dogs will get them out of here. Laura called to tell me that Kip did a stupid thing today...that dog is dumb.

But, like I told Laura, I'm starting to like working downtown. I think it is because it's just a "better" downtown than Denver is. I dunno, I suppose I only saw the 16th Street area of Denver, really, but since that area sucked in my mind, the entire city did...and I'm sure I'm right. Walking around Portland is pretty cool because of all the 1-block large "parks" that are scattered all over. So far I've eaten lunch at a couple of locations. Weird eating by myself, so hopefully Laura can start eating lunch with me soon. Different areas have these water sculptures and architecture that some person did for all the parks or something.

Anyway, gonna go. The day's been "full", to say the least. I wake up at around 7am, leave around 7:40am, come back at like 5:30pm. It's like, I'm a working man...or something. The dogs are going to hate being left alone for that long. I wish we could leave the doggie door open, but I have a feeling they could possibly get out somehow or bark a lot.

First day of work tomorrow!

So, I figured this would be a worthy topic, if any, for a blog. Recently, I had received a call from a guy in LA regarding something. Actually, let me back up. He had originally called Steve (of all people) to relay the message to me about something. I got an e-mail from my sister and also from my Mom. Anyway, this guy was an old friend of my Dad 15+ years ago. Obviously, they still are, but anyway, he called me to let me know that my Dad was in critically condition at the hospital, unconscious. I'm not totally sure what the prognosis was, but fairly serious. After a couple of awkward calls back and forth trying to find out the condition, where he was, etc., (all this in 50/50 Japanese and English, mind you), I let my Mom know about it because he had not called her yet. After she talked to him, she assumed that it was another 'panic attack' or something. A few days later, she had received a call from the guy again saying my Dad had passed away. my Mom called me crying a little bit to let me know. Although she had a grudge and all, she was glad that he passed away without any pain. This was a couple of weeks ago...god, I should remember the day he died, at least.

This brings me to a strange point. I'm not sure whether to consider this a common/uncommon scenario, probably an uncommon one, but I don't know the facts to back that up. The issue is that I'm not sure whether to be sad or not. Honestly, I didn't really see or remember my Dad growing up. I'm not sure what he was doing all the time, but I just think something is wrong there. I'm sure most people remember growing up with their parents, minus the ones who had family issues and what not. I guess I fall somewhere in between. I can only remember a handful of memories with my Dad, few enough that I can mention them briefly here:

1. I remember going to his work once (well, a few times, as we would stop by there in our trips to LA to go grocery shopping and after my Japanese school and stuff) at Nevada Bob's. Never knew the reason behind that naming. I can't remember how old I was, but I can vaguely remember the shop layout. I'm still not sure what he did.

2. I remember him buying me a Gameboy when it first came out. Not the color version, not the smaller version, but the first one ever. It was the morning of my birthday and I woke up and he gave me the Gameboy. Wow, actually, now I can't remember if it was a Gameboy or the new Donkey Kong video game. Pretty sure it was the Gameboy, because now I remember being with my Dad at the store buying a Donkey Kong game. I remember talking about how my Mom wouldn't be happy if he got that and to keep it a secret or something.

3. I remember him working on the little closed off area he made at the Fontana house one night. I was playing outside and riding my bike and I came home to it. Not sure why I remember that.

4. A few times I remember my Mom and Dad fighting downstairs and this one distinct time I remember yelling "Stop yelling (or fighting?)!" at the top of my lungs at the top of the stairs. And then I went back to my room. It was weird to say the least. I probably skipped a lot of it, them fighting that is, since I tended to just stay in my room and keep myself occupied, playing video games and watching Doraemon movies.

5. I played 9 holes of golf with him at the course I took 2 golf lessons at. It was him and his friend and me. I really can't remember it well, but I remember him impressed that I was getting good. I don't even know how it got scheduled.

6. The last memory I had of him was after my parents separated and he was living in an apartment a couple of cities over from Fontana. We visited for some reason, I can't remember why, but I remember walking in and just taking a look around. We weren't there long. I do remember my Mom and I making fun of him because he was wearing jeans, which he never did and which was something he said he'd never do.

7. When my Dad and his friends were playing Mahjong one night at the Fontana house, they were playing until really late and I actually fell asleep in the dining room and sort of half awake when he picked me up to put me in bed.

There you go...the only times I can remember...I'm sure I can think of a few more if I really tried, but it's not worth it to do so.

So, put yourself in that situation...would you be sad for losing someone that you didn't really know? Sure, it's my Dad, but it just seemed that way because a piece of paper said so. I never talked to him since that time at the apartment and that was close to 15+ years ago. It's just hard to feel sad for someone, despite being your father, you never hung out with, talked with, learned from, and so forth.

Anyway, my Mom and I will probably visit the grave sometime soon once she finds out where it is. There was a funeral not too long ago, but decided not to go because it would have just been awkward. The guy calling was weird too. He was asking if I was going to come out to see him and stuff, but I was like, um...yeah, I can try (knowing that I wouldn't). I figured it wasn't the time or place to let him know that I didn't really care at this point. I guess this guy used to play Mahjong a lot at the Fontana house...I can remember a couple of times when they played in the kitchen until late at night. Oh, I remember one other memory (added #7).

So, whether or not I should feel sad or upset, I'll never know, I guess. Figured I should put this before I forget.

Oh, and this is my 500th post!

So, it seems a lot can happen in one week! After having an interview at Portland State University for an office support/data support position last Thursday, I was offered the position Tuesday at the end of the day. They are still trying to get the paperwork squared away and are going to call me back Monday, but they said I will probably start sometime next week. Wow, am I relieved. I thought I only did okay on the interview...I'm such a bad interviewee, so I'm glad that, hopefully, they were able to see past some of that and look at my credentials. It was weird because when I got there, they handed me a packet with all the job info, health stuff, as well as the questions that were going to be asked during the interview. I was like, hmmm, weird, never hard that before. So, I skimmed through and tried to think of some answers before hand. I think it was a bad thing to do, because it kind of conflicted with the answers I had planned originally, but, it's hard to pretend not to know and answer from scratch. Anyway, I started out kind of rough, but by the end, I think I was doing better, less "ums" and what not. Oh, so from that, you can probably assume I accepted the job. I was actually in a weird dilemma. I had gotten another interview for a non-profit in town for a webmaster position, that, honestly, I probably would have really liked. Of course, I wouldn't know for sure, but anyway, the interview was set for next week, so it was hard to decline the 'for sure offer' for a chance at a 'possible offer'. In the end, I think I did the right thing for the situation. Laura and I are both glad that I found a job, though, for sure. Now, only if the moving date would get here sooner!

Well, I'm back. A little later than I wanted, but, I just got carried away with surfing. Actually, I did a little bit of work on my clients' websites today.

Anywho. Portland. I got here May 12th. I *can not* believe it's already June 5th. We've got all the utilities taken care of. My typical day is pretty much:

1. Wake up around 9 or 10am. I do set the alarm for 8:30 everyday, but, really, I don't know why I do that. I wake up and turn it off and go right back to bed. The clock is at the foot of the mattress, so I even have to get out of the covers and such, but, I still get back.

2. Look for jobs as much as I can, which, unfortunately just means opening up all the links I have in my browser favorites folder called "jobs" and looking through them. It's usually very slim pickings. I only average an application once every 1.5 days. There really just isn't much around here.

3. Eat lunch, consisting of PB&J sandwiches and/or cereal. Everyday is a combination of one of those two. Lately, I've been trying to get more "solids" into my system. This week was frozen burritos. Still, it's crazy how much money I see saving in not going out to eat. I have eaten fast food a few times while I've been in the house, but the majority has been what I mentioned above. It gets boring real quick.

4. Surfing/WoW/watching movies. The first couple of weeks, it was WoW. I leveled a new character to level 80 in 2 weeks...probably my fastest ever. I played way too much. I think I'm on "break" now. The last week or so, I've been helping this new client for a blog he wanted on his website. He's been in some notable TV shows and movies, as well.

5. Dinner. Mostly repeat lunch.

6. Back to step 4 until late and to sleep.

It's a real boring schedule. Frankly, I don't wish that I ever NOT have a job, but I can't do this for much longer. Laura and the dogs being here would be much better on the schedule and my outlook of boredom, however. Like I said, the house is completely empty and it saps any energy I have. Mowing the lawn has been an exercise. I always seems to be out of breath after I do it. I think this coming week, I'm going to actually raise the cutting level 1 notch, because right now, I think it's too short. That'll help with not filling up the trash too fast as well.

What else. Nothing, really, because I've been doing nothing!

I can't wait for the 25th. 20 days away. I've already been here that long and it seemed to go by quick, so, hopefully this will be the same. The move will be hard, though, I think. The drive was long and that was without any house stuff. But then again, this time there will be friends involved, so maybe it won't be as bad.

Anyway, I just registered for all our utilities and already the electric and gas are ready for payment. The electric was like $14, but the gas was $41! Hopefully I don't have to heat it during the summer. I dunno why, but I'm just cold in this house. Either the townhouse was kept warm because it was nestled in between two other houses that stayed warm, so it just felt like I didn't need to run the heat or the thermostat was off in the townhouse, because I have this place set at 72 and that's about right, for me at least. I think I can go to 71 or 70 maybe, but, we'll see. The difference between 71 and 72 on thermostat is big. Like 71 is too cold, but 72 is too hot. Oh well.

Well, it's almost been 3 weeks since my last post, so it's probably time to update this thing. I'll do it tomorrow, as it's almost midnight now. I know I'm not really going to be able to sleep anytime soon; I've been staying up rather late since I moved into this house and waking up later than I'd like. I'm not sure why. I'm not even tired most of the time. Perhaps I'm just trying to pass time by sleeping it away? I don't know. I know that I miss Laura A LOT right now. I can't believe it's already been 3 weeks since the time we were looking for houses, driving around Portland, and living out of the Homestead Suites. Time flew by, but, I'm not exactly sure how, if that makes sense. One thing's for sure that it's a lot of wasted time gone. I need to do more productive stuff during this time.

Anyway, I'll write again tomorrow.