CELEBRATING NOEL'S BIRTHDAY

We didn't celebrate my brother's birthday yesterday, so we went over to his place today instead. We were going to go out for lunch, but for some reason K. Noel wanted to go out for dinner. So I tanned a little and Kylie and I played card games until it was time for dinner.

K. Noel wanted to eat at a Japanese restaurant called Ricky's, but when we got there, it was full and they couldn't seat us. Instead, we went to Niko Niko sushi and we found out they had a happy hour special where you would buy one roll for full price and get the second for half off. It sounds like a good deal until you figure out that the rolls are pretty small and that you're not really getting that great of a deal.

After dinner we had dessert at my brother's and we ended up chilling until it was time to go home.

CALIFORNICATION #6

My call time was 5:30AM and when I got to LAX, the transportation department and the rest of the crew were in chaos. It turns out that the lot we were supposed to be parking in was closed, so we had to move to a different parking location. Once there, I hung out in the car for a while until the wardrobe department was ready to see us.

The main costumer was kind of pissy because she was expecting all of us to look like we'd just come from New York. There weren't enough dark clothing and not enough warmer jackets. So they had me change to my jeans and plaid shirt and added a beanie and a tight fitting denim jacket. The look was so trendy, but I actually liked it so I plan to buy a denim jacket in the future as well as a beanie.

We wrapped just before noon so I called Rachelle up to see if she was down for lunch. She was and we met at Outlaws, a restaurant in Playa Del Rey. It was the usual beach town burgers and other fast foods so we split a burger and some fries since the portions were pretty large. Even at the split, it cost me $12 and that's just too much for a split meal. I think paying for a drink is such a rip off, especially when it's iced tea. I'm a cheap bastard though, but at least I'm not in debt. Then again, I live with my mom so something is still wrong with me.

I got back home but still got caught in rush hour. It was a bitch and when I got home, I was sleepy as hell. So I took a really long nap and woke up about 8PM for some dinner. Then it was just the usual of watching tv until I fell asleep.

(written 5/2/11)

GOLF IN CERRITOS

Tyler texted me yesterday to see if I'd be down to play some golf. Jansen was in too, so I couldn't resist. I picked Jansen up and we drove to Cerritos' Ironwood and met-up with Ron and Tyler.

It was a typical par-3 course except that it had some par-4s so you could actually break out your driver and blast it. I did reasonably well since the greens were so slow. It wasn't too difficult to make putts and I ended-up saving a lot of pars. I noticed that my shorter swing is making golf a lot more fun and much easier too. I think if I practice my chipping and putting and my approaches, I can really get close to breaking 80 consistently. But is it worth all the practice and money? I'm not sure, but golf is getting fun again.

(written 5/2/11)

UB IS ONLINE

Although UltimateBet has a notice that US players are no longer allowed to play on the site, I read an article on CardPlayer.com that said it was up and running. I checked it out and sure enough, it worked! So I can still play my beloved online poker albeit there are much fewer tables and the interface sucks. As I always say, it's better than nothing.

I did a lot of nothing today. Just a lot of television and a lot of entering old golf scorecards into Golfshot, an app for the iPhone/iPad. My bro said he paid $30 for it, but I got it free since I jailbroke the iPad. Do I feel bad about this? A little, but not enough to stop me from doing it.

My adventure in software piracy began at a pretty young age. The Commodore 64 was the first PC I ever got, and all I wanted it for was to play games. Atari and Intellivison were relics of the past at the time, and PC gaming was the next platform.

I had a friend who lived up the street who knew a lot about software. He knew how to copy games illegally and hooked me up with copies. Before I knew it, I learned how to copy my own games though it was much more difficult back then because you actually needed to know someone who had a copy of the game before you could actually copy it.

Jailbreaking is different. All the cracked software is available for you and all you have to do is search for it through Installous, another app/interface that allows you to do this. I saw Golfshot and it was a no brainer to download that baby. I was a little worried it might not work, but it worked just fine and now I've got over a dozen scores logged into it.

Oddly, my handicap is just below 12 at 11.8. I know as I enter more scores, it might change, but I'm shocked that it's that low. I guess I haven't lost much talent even though I've pretty much divorced myself from golf. Now and again, I always feel like we should get back together, but we still haven't figured out the money problems we have. I always tell everyone, she keeps taking my money and not giving anything back. But when I get those birdies or hit great drives and have a good day, I always wonder if I made a mistake.

Other than that, I watched some basketball games and more tv. I think I'm finally getting confident enough to start working out again as my back isn't giving me the kind of pain I was having a few weeks ago. Maybe all I needed to do was rest it and allow it to heal? I really hope it doesn't come back. Today I began wondering if it wasn't the bed that messed up my back but that maybe my back has always had issues all along.

LOTS OF TV

I wanted to bike out to the Korean store to purchase some carrots, ginger and celery for my juice, but then I realized there isn't much room in the refrigerator because of all the food from last weekend. I also got pretty sleepy in the afternoon for some reason, but I was able to shake it off.

I recorded some of the episodes from Disney's Pair of Kings and realized that they must have re-recorded the pilot I was on. I didn't see any zebra and I didn't see me. The costumes looked so much better and more colorful and the people looked different than the ones I saw while I was there. I don't know? Maybe I just didn't make the cut, but I think it was re-shot. Heck, maybe they saw my mustache and said, we have to re-shoot this!

I read a few articles about online poker today and it seems that UltimateBet is still live! We'll see if that's for real.

(written 4/27/11)

LOLA #21

I'm not sure why I was singled-out to come in at 6:30AM instead of 5:18AM but I was. All it meant was that I would get an extra hour of sleep. As usual, I fell asleep late and woke up dragging my feet. I'm not sleepy on the way to LA Center Studios, but once I start chilling in the holding area, I get really, really sleepy.

I had breakfast first, then headed to Stage 6 to hold. It was freezing cold inside, and once I got my jacket out, I tried to nap. It was hard though, because it was so cold. But I was able to, and felt pretty rested when it was time to shoot.

Chris was there again and we hung out during lunch. It was really interesting talking to him about the business. He's so experienced but willing to share what's happened to him. It's inspiring to hear about people's experiences, yet I feel like I lack the personality to succeed. But as I learned, you shouldn't be afraid to fail.

I kicked it with Ashley after work and it was fun catching up with her. It's nice to have a friend out in the city to hang out with when I'm out there.

(written 4/27/11)

CAMELOT IN ANAHEIM

Moms and T. Menchu played bingo, Paolo was picked-up by her cousins to go to downtown LA, and Mayah was dropped off at the Brea mall. That left me and K. Paul and the kids to play miniature golf at Camelot in Anaheim. There were four 18 hole courses we could choose from. We had fun playing golf though Kyle and Ethan can get really frustrated when they have difficulty getting the ball in the hole.

Then we played laser tag or at least their version of it. We had to wear these vests that were pretty heavy. It got pretty warm in the room, but I think my training in Call of Duty helped me get first place.

We got back and had a huge dinner with crab, shrimp, tamales, chicken from El Pollo Loco and potstickers. The crab was pretty fatty but the legs had a lot of meat in them. The meat in the body was present, but difficult to extract.

Mayah's family, me and K. Paul spent the late night drinking what was left of the Jack Daniels I had in the bar. We had fun just hanging out. I love hearing them speak in Tagalog since it reminds me of the nights out in the Philippines.

(written 4/23/11)

MISSED UNIVERSAL TRIP

My back has been troubling me, but it seems like it is probably as good as it's going to get. I was a little worried about golf yesterday, but my back is doing fine. I guess the real test is when I do a jog because the last time I did a run, my back was messed-up the next day.

Poor little Ethan begged me to go to Universal Studios with them today, but I passed since there wasn't room in the car for me and moms wasn't going either. So we both stayed at home and chilled. I spent most of the day trying to upload some torrents to Cheggit. I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong because by the time they all got back, I was still having issues.

The good news with the torrents is that I know how to make a post. I can fill it with screenshots and descriptions and upload the initial torrent info. The bad news is that I can't seem to activate it.

What I'd eventually like to do is share all my old shit and give back. That will take some time, but to know that all my content is out there and being seeded gives me such a good feeling.

Moms and I went to Ranch 99 to buy some crabs and other seafood for the feast tomorrow. We tried to figure out if the stone crabs were good over the dungenes and it was a Filipino guy buying the stone crab was a pretty good deal.

(written 4/23/11)

GOLF AT ROYAL VISTA

K. Francis called and said he would be able to make the foursome with me, T. Eddie and K. Paul. It seems like this is the group that always plays together when K. Paul is in town.

Our time was at 12 noon and K. Francis got there pretty much on time, though we could have played a little earlier if he had shown up earlier. Unfortunately, my special $19 rate wasn't available at the clubhouse for K. Francis, so we had to pay $32 for him. K. Paul treated everyone since he is generous and is winning on the stock market.

I had a good time out there since I was driving well and my irons were pretty solid. The short backswing seems to have made a difference. It feels short, but I bet if I shot some video, it would look normal. The shorter backswing feels so much more solid. The only mistakes I made were playing a sand iron at 100 yards. I kept hitting it shorter than that, so either I've got to swing harder or just play a soft pitching wedge. I should also consider purchasing a 52 degree gap wedge.

When we got back, we showered then went to the Pirates dinner adventure show. I was snoozing a little on the way there and passed the exit. We had to turn around and it's a good thing we left a little early so that we didn't miss a thing.

It's similar to Medieval Times but a little smaller and with more story and song. It was fun and the food was decent. Once again, K. Paul hooked up the tickets for all of us and moms paid the tip.

(written 4/23/11)

DISNEYLAND WITH PAUL AND FAMS

K. Noel's kids had school, so that meant it would only be moms and I who would go to Disneyland with Paul's fams. We got there around 11AM and I finally used Emily's ticket. She gave me two of them but I got to keep one since K. Paul bought seven tickets but was sent eight accidentally.

We rode It's a Small World first then hopped on the line to Roger Rabbit. The line was incredibly long and it took an hour to finally get on the ride. It was fun, but no way was it worth an hour wait.

Since K. Paul's kids are still pretty young, we couldn't ride a lot of the exciting rides. The best I could hope for was Indiana Jones and the poor group had to wait for us to ride it. At least Paola was able to ride with us and even Ethan was brave enough to go. However, he just shut his eyes the entire time. I thought it was cute.

We were able to watch the fireworks and all in all it was a fun time. Every time I go there, I seem to always buy a caramel apple for $5.00. This time, I got it with the nuts and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. I think the next time I make it, I will try putting some nuts on it (or at least half of it).

(written 4/23/11)

KICK IT DAY

K. Paul and fams went to UCLA, Beverly Hills and our old apartment on Wilten Place. Moms and I just chilled and waited for them to get home.

(written 4/26/11)

K. PAUL AND FAMS COME INTO TOWN

K. Noel dropped off the girls before taking Jared and Amanda to the tournament at Griffith Park. Jared shot a 75 yesterday and was hoping to make the cut. He didn't. He shot another 75 and left before they found out what the cut was.

Karina and I were at Green Hills when Kylie called to say K. Paul and fams had arrived. It was nice to finally see Paola (Mayah's sister) because I hadn't seen her since we were in Boracay so long ago (about 9 years).

Then we had a feast and even though I wanted to just keep eating, I stopped. I feel like such a fat ass now that I haven't been working out due to my messed-up back. It doesn't feel fully healed, but I think I'm just going to have to work through it and hope it gets better over time. It's not like it was before, but I definitely still have twinges of pain.

We just hung out and played video games most of the afternoon. That and snack and play and waste time and eat and drink and get hot and sweaty because it was hot as hell today. Then the girls and K. Noel had to go since Kimi expected them home and they have school tomorrow.

So K. Paul's kids and I stayed up a little to play card games and just hang out. After my shower, I decided to play UltimateBet poker and discovered sadly that it too was banned. I guess there's going to be no online poker for me for some time. K. Noel told me to move over to horse racing, but I need some time to get into it because 1) I'm not really into it and 2) I don't have much cash since most of my play money is tied into the poker sites. What will happen to my money?!

ONLINE POKER KILLED

Well, nearly. Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars and AbsolutePoker were shut-down by the Feds for basically money laundering and other illegal activities. Although they are off-shore, the sites were still shutdown. What's going to happen to my money? The good thing was that I still had UltimateBet to play on.

I began wondering what I'd do with all my time? I spent the day vacuuming and cleaning getting ready for K. Paul and his family to come in. Dusting and vacuuming is nice once and awhile because you really feel like the house is finally getting a good cleaning. I always love the idea of Spring cleaning, but hate doing it. So it takes a reason for me to get off my arse and get going.

I just watched tv in the evening after K. Noel and Amanda came over for dinner. We had blue crabs for dinner and they were delicious. They were fresh and they were still alive and kickin' before moms plunged them to their deaths in some vinegar and a very hot pot. She too feels sorry for them, but we're not sorry when we're eating them.

The NBA Playoffs started today and some of the underdog seeds are making it pretty exciting to watch.

(written 4/17/11)

NEW ROUTER

I finally killed my router. It actually coincides with finally killing the virus (knock on wood) or malware that had infected my PC. One of the suggestions in some of the forums was to reset the router to its original state. When I did that, I lost the connection and could no longer get into the router. All lights were on, except the test light. When I unplugged the connections, all the lights were still on. It was fucked and Netgear support confirmed this.

So I went to Best Buy after I mopped the hardwood floor and kitchen tiles. I purchased an N router which is what K. Paul recommended. It was on sale and I got a 10% off coupon from K. Paul so that essentially covered the tax. It came out to like $55.

I didn't install it as I needed to qualify for my poker stats to earn the 5 of 10 Take 2 promotion. But when I went to the FTP site to see where my points were, I found out the Feds had taken over the domain! Holy shit! Is this the end of Full Tilt and PokerStars? Should I withdraw my funds?

It didn't matter to me. I still played because if the Law is going to bust me for playing, then so shall it be.

MORE ANTI-VIRUS/ANTI-MALWARE FUN

The day was spent running all the applications to find something I might be missing. Well, I kept these running while I went to the local DB dispent Farm Assist to get some goodies. It was a simple operation and was much faster than the one in Torrance. The set-up was the same, with two cute girls behind the counter. I got a free chocolate bar for my first time visit.

Then I went to Jansen's to help him with his taxes. But I really didn't help much since he spent a lot of time on the computer himself. So I got to play with Jude a little. We also had steak and I got to see Tam and Ate Joy.

After he finished with the Federal portion, we watched The Two Escobars which was excellent and haunting. It's amazing how life can be so different in other countries. We take so much granted here in the States.

(written 4/15/11)

FAUCET INSTALLED

I put the new brushed nickel faucet into the upstairs bathroom today. Again, it wasn't that difficult, but it is time consuming. I'd done a faucet before, so that's pretty easy. The new part for me was replacing the drain. The old one had been there for a really long time, so some of the rubber gasket had disintegrated into a black mush. So it got pretty dirty pretty fast.

Since it was my first time, I couldn't really figure out if I'd put things together correctly. I wasn't missing any pieces, but there's a straight drain that connects to the u-drain that didn't have any kind of fitted connection. I think there's something missing there, so I'll probably go to Ace sometime to get some advice on what I need.

Then I started working on the computer again. I had downloaded several anti-virus and anti-malware applications and began running them. One of the forums basically said that you have to use multiple programs because no one can catch everything you might have. The one program I could not install was Ad-Aware. It just would not allow me to load it. That's when I knew I had a virus or malware.

The biggest tip I got was to try turning off the system restore. You go to Systems and go to the system restore tab and turn it off. When I did this, Malwarebytes actually found a threat. It was a trojan.agent in the temp folder. Then AvastFree also found a few threats and finally, the best of them all Spybot found a shitload.

I ran more applications that didn't find anything and I'm hoping I got it all.

(written 4/15/11)

TOWEL BARS INSTALLED

I'm a little worried because I have to re-write this entry. When I published the post, it took me to the sign-up page to put my password in. Is my PC hacked and someone now has my username and password? Fuck! I hope not. I noticed the google-analytics.com tab does appear occasionally and re-directs to some random website. I've tried all kinds of anti-spyware/malware programs with no success. What could it be?

I installed the towel bars which wasn't hard but did take some time. I still need to fill-in the holes in the drywall from the old bars. I also installed the toilet paper holder and the holes from the cabinet are pretty obvious. Not sure what to fill that with.

All the bathroom needs is the faucet. I didn't feel like doing that today because I wanted to rest my back completely. So I just cleaned the downstairs bathroom. That urine detecting flashlight saw some soap or urine spots on the wall, so I got that cleaned-up. I noticed that room smells of urine at times so I hopefully cleaned it all up.

With a new vanity, cabinet, pain job and toilet, that bathroom will have been fully upgraded. I don't think I'd be able to install those things, so I guess we'll have to get a pro to do it. Then again, we can save money if I went to some classes to learn how to do those things.

After dinner, I rolled to Aussie Shawn's place then we headed to James. Pretty unassuming night though I did meet Adam Auburn without knowing he is the promoter for a lot of house events we go to. Hopefully he'll get to know us so we won't ever have to pay for the events he throws.

LOLA #20

For some reason, I've missed working on a few episodes of LOLA, but today's episode was number 20 of the first (interrupted) season. I guess there's just two more episodes before the season wraps.

Chris was around again today and coughing as usual. I swear, if I get sick again from him, I'm going to yell at him.

I was a little late when I checked-in this morning at 8AM. There was more traffic than I expected and I left a little later than I planned. It took about an hour and 10 minutes to get to LA Center Studios.

It was the usual workday although it was a bigger call than usual. We did a gallery scene and I was nearly falling asleep. That's what happens when you only get four hours of sleep. So I napped when I could but it was so cold it was difficult.

I also had gas and I think it's caused by the breakfast I eat. I usually don't eat breakfast so to scarf it down so early in the morning probably generates a lot of gas.

I wrapped at about 8:20PM but both Ashley and Janet were unavailable so I couldn't hang out with them. Maybe next time.

When I got home, I played some online poker. I also noticed that the google-analytics pop-up is back! I'm going to run the malwarebytes again and also reset my router to see if that is the cause.

MORE BATHROOM WORK

Strange how some things seem like they never end. After lunch and a little Masters watching (Rory eventually choked), I went to HD Supply & Design to purchase some towel bars, a faucet and plumbers putty for the upstairs bathroom. I looked for a bathroom vent, but could not find one the right size.

So I went to Home Depot and it turns out Broan is a Lowes brand or only Lowes carries the vent fan. But Home Depot had a nicer set of towel bars I thought would look good, so I purchased some there. I had to go back to HD though to return the ones I bought there. I thought they had good prices, but it turns out they really don't. I think they're better for larger type items like doors and windows and that sort of thing.

Then off to Lowes to buy the vent fans. To purchase the new super quiet ones, you need to make a larger hole in the ceiling so that the new box can fit. That's not something I would know how to do, so I just went with purchasing a new fan motor. It wasn't difficult to replace, but a little time consuming because when you open a vent that hasn't been touched for some time, there is a lot of dusty stuff inside that thing. It took some time vacuuming all that debris, but after all was said and done, no more squeaky vents! They run smooth, but are still pretty noisy at 3.0 sones.

I watched Secret Millionaire and then played some poker before getting some rest for tomorrow's LOLA work at 8AM.

SHOPPIN WITH MOMS

After lunch, moms and I went on the hunt for a California King comforter set. The bed inside the master is a Cal King and the sheets are pretty old. First stop was Walmart. No luck there as they didn't sell Cal King. So then to Nordstrom Rack. No luck there since they didn't sell bed sheets. We ended up at Kohls who had some, but they were expensive, over a hundred dollars. Since moms wanted to get a queen sized mattress for that room, we decided it wouldn't make sense to buy a Cal King set if it was going bye bye anyway.

We got back and I watched a little Masters. It looks like Rory McIlroy is going to be the leader going into the final round. I thought he'd choke today, but he's done very well. We'll see how he does tomorrow.

I finally got the PC to work. After a bunch of scans using SuperAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes, I got everything cleaned. But I couldn't get online. I didn't know what to do so I did more research to figure out how I could get back on. I found this on a thread:

Click Start =>Run, type in CMD, press OK.
Copy and paste this into the Command prompt:
netsh winsock reset catalog
Press Enter
Then copy and paste this in:
netsh int ip reset reset.log
Press Enter.
When finished restart your computer.

So what do you know? It worked! I'm back online without knowing what exactly a winsock reset does. I did notice that I could not get an ip address, so maybe this code resets something that allows you to get a new ip address. All I know is that it's so gratifying and fulfilling to finally get something resolved. It's like not having running water for awhile, and when you get it back, it's just so awesome even though it's something we always take for granted.

I also did a full MyBookLive factory restore. It worked ok except when it tried to reboot and got stuck. I had to press the reset button to get it out of that stuck mode. Then it was all good. It began to recognize all the media files and my PS3 finally connects once again to it. Hell yeah!

At night I went to watch Source Code with Jansen. It was a very good movie and a lot better than I expected.

(written 4/10/11)

HANDYMAN RETURNS

Scott came back to install the shower door. He seems like a cool guy and we talked a little about how he trains as a bodybuilder semi-professionally. We talked about how much time it takes to train, but the most interesting thing he said was that he discovered that diet is about 80% of looking ripped. That seems to be the secret to really looking good and it makes sense because you are what you eat.

Then I went to Walmart to purchase some things for the house. I bought a cover for the fulton since the white futon was getting kind of dirty. It's a bitch to clean so I figured a cover would be so much easier in case anything gets on it. It feels good too so that was a plus.

I also purchased some fluorescent compact bulbs to fill-in some of the lights that we had that were out. What I don't like too much about them is that they take some time to warm-up before they get to full power.

Bought a brushed nickel shower head. It has two heads. One stationary and one with a handle you can use. The best thing about it - a pause button so you can save water while you soap.

I couldn't find any fitted tablecloths. I wonder why? Bought some AAA batteries for the urine flashlight and other devices that might need them. Bought Tapatio flavored corn twists.

All-in-all it was over a hundred bucks. That's a lot of money and it seems to go pretty fast when you're at Walmart.

When I got back, I spent more time working on the malware issue. All kinds of scans all night long.

(written 4/9/11)

TUB REGLAZE

The tub and shower combo upstairs was reglazed some time ago, but it developed some chipping so it was time to get it reglazed. We got DL Reglazing to do it this time. Jose was a nice Mexican guy who seemed to know what he was doing and had a decent price.

He and his partner Daniel came in on time and got started right away. The first step is sanding and removing all the crap that was on the fiberglass before. Then they cleaned it up and broke out the spray gun. Unfortunately, the bathroom doesn't have a window and not much ventilation. So they just had to open the doors to try to get as much of the spray out of the house as possible. They use some kind of polyurethane and boy did it leave some vapors.

I opened all the windows to try to vent out the smell. It took some time and I was glad to hear it was non-toxic. By the early evening, there was still a smell, but it was diffusing pretty well.

In the evening, I noticed that the PC was starting to have some issues. Sometimes I would need to click twice on a link to get it active. Then, new tabs would pop-up with some kind of google-analytics webpage. I did some research and found out it was some kind of malware. I knew Karina had to be behind this because she's the only one who surfs the Internet with abandon.

Before I knew it, the PC could no longer go online. All this happened about the same time as I was getting ready to do a full factory restore on the WD Network Drive. Could these issues have something to do with each other?

So I got to work on removing the malware. Before I lost the connection, I was able to download Malwarebytes. But it required an update and because I didn't have a connection, I couldn't update it. I ran it anyway and it found some things. I deleted them but I still could not get online. This was going to be another one of those technical issue days.

(written 4/9/11)

HANDYMAN DOES SOME WORK

Scott from Across the Board Services came by to change all the Mixet parts that are in the upstairs bathroom. He also switched out the light fixture. He seems to do good work but I noticed the knob for the water stuck out a little too much so I'm going to see if he can fix that when he returns to install the shower door.

My back feels a little better, but it is still a little tweaky. I feel some tinges now and again, but Rachelle sent me an article from the LA Times that basically said most back pain goes away and it's only chronic when it keeps coming back at least three months.

COUCH RIDDEN

I'm scared because my back has never been this bad for this long. It seized a few times during my sleep and I'm beginning to think it's my damn bed that has caused this. Probably time to get rid of it.

I spent some time with my brother Paul trying to figure out what was wrong with my damn network server again. Something happened over the weekend. When I re-scan the thing, it doesn't seem to recognize all the files that are on it. Oddly, I can access the files on my pc but the drive itself doesn't recognize the number of the files. This is important since the drive needs to recognize these files before it can be played on a system that accesses it wirelessly.

Then it was some poker and more watching of the tv.

(written 4/6/11)

UNDRESSED

Undressed was a tv series on MTV long ago. I remember catching once and hearing this guy give blowjob tips that I thought were the best I'd ever heard. Here's the video (scroll to about 10:30), but here are the basics as well as memory associations to help you remember:

• No teeth (vampire)
• Don't squeeze - massage (toothpaste)
• Nothing grows without water (desert storm)
• There are other parts - use them (fruit cup)
• Listen for the sounds you like (saxophone)

BACK ACHE RETURNS

I think it must be the bed. Because when I woke-up this morning, my back was messed-up. It could also have been the run, but I doubt that much damage happens in such a delayed way. I suspect when I sleep on my side, I end up twisting so much it puts my back in a strange shape.

Anyway, Jared was over and we did some errands today. Jansen says I get people to help me with my errands and that's probably true. But first, I made some calls to schedule the tub refinish and I went with DL Reglazing. They were cheaper than Franklin Interiors, but since they never called back, I needed to move ahead with the project. I also called the handyman guy who never returned my call either. They must be busy.

Next, we went to John the accountant's house in San Dimas to drop off mom's tax returns. Then lunch at In-N-Out. It's amazing how satisfying they are and we really enjoyed our lunch.

Then we went to Walmart to return the air filter for my car that was the wrong one. We also purchased some pillows and other non-essential items. It's true what they say about Walmart - you always purchase more than you really need.

I rested my back when I got back. Then watched the NCAA Championship game and bet on Butler with 3.5. They lost and didn't cover the spread. Oh well, it was fun to root for them.

Then I had some aces cracked in a 3-way pot on Rush Poker. But I came back when I won a domination Ax hand. But then I lost it all when my QQ lost to AA. Cest la vie.

CELEBRATING AMANDA'S BIRTHDAY

I'm glad I'm not hungover and I'm not that surprised since I didn't really drink too much. Well, that and the anti-venom. Anyway, I woke-up feeling ok. I heard Bill was hangin' though and that made me laugh.

Oh what a fun party. I love re-living the highlights of the party the next day. It's always so fun, but it's usually because I had great conversation with someone or I ended-up meeting some really cool people.

We ate leftovers and I also cooked some steaks so we could feast. We did. Then K. Noel called and said we were supposed to eat dinner at 5PM. We were all so full when we got to Wood Ranch where we decided to celebrate Amanda's birthday.

We didn't eat much since we were all still pretty full. But the food is still solid and the cost isn't so bad when you think about what you're getting.

Then moms and I went to Lowes to purchase some light bulbs and a light fixture for the bathroom.

(written April 4, 2011)

TINA'S 65TH BIRTHDAY

Jared was getting buff and working out when I woke-up this morning. My back was still a little sketchy, but I think the ice treatment really worked. I have to remember to use it more often.

We decided to finally get lunch at Quiznos since we had a bunch of coupons. Their sandwiches are too small but they are actually very good.

I did some lightbulb switching in the afternoon, but before I knew it, it was time to leave for Tina's party in the Valley. But first, I stopped by Forest Lawn to visit pops and T. Apin. Then I went to Ikea to return the bulbs. They just took too long to warm-up to full strength.

When I got to Zita's, I worked on Bill's PC to get his anti-virus updated. Then we waited a little bit for Kimi, Juliette and Jerry to arrive. When they did, we all took the mini-van to Tina and Ron's.

These guys know how to party. They had a little red carpet set-up and Tina was dressed-up in a tiara with a little crown. It looked like her bat mitzvah or something. They had the entire backyard set-up like a little wedding ceremony. But basically, it was a drink fest. It was like all you can drink booze and beer all night long.

But first came the hors d'oeuvres. I didn't like the Greek grape leaves that wrapped around some kind of rice. I did like the shrimp, the skewered olive/feta/tomato and Juliette's caramelized onions on top of feta inside a little pastry. I knew if I wasn't careful, all that drinking would spoil the dinner.

Thankfully, dinner came and it was steak, lobster, roasted green beans, mashed potatoes, rice pilaf and some other things that were all delicious. I met some fun chicks at my table and one of them, Lori, was already cut-off. I'm not sure why Tina cut her off, but she wasn't allowed to drink any longer. I could see that her eyes were pretty glazed, but she was coherent enough to have some fun conversation.

Then there was her married and quite beautiful friend Jennifer. We got along great because she had actually done a little background acting in her past so we had some things to bitch and talk about. As the night progressed, we found ourselves alone since everyone moved their way inside because of the cool night air.

I sneaked some puffs and snorts throughout the evening and always tried to find an excuse to get people to drink more shots. Bill was pretty trashed and it was great that Aunt Pat didn't drink so she could drive us all home safely.

What a fun, fun night. I hope there will be more in the future.

(written 4/3/11)

BAD BUSINESS

We were supposed to get our tub reglazed by this guy Chris who works for Socal Refinishing. So after a late night of poker, it was a bitch to get up. He was supposed to be here at 9:30AM and he never showed up. No phone call, no nothing. He did ask yesterday if there was any way he could do the reglaze on Saturday, but I said no. So maybe he just had stuff to do and decided to flake. That's what I call bad business.

But it may have been for the best since I ended up talking to other reglazers who sounded much more professional. You probably end up getting what you pay for, so I decided to go with Franklin Interiors. John Franklin runs the place and he talked me through some of the things I should look out for. So hopefully he calls back and decides to work with me on the price.

Since I didn't have anything else to do, I spent the afternoon playing poker again. I'm definitely on a losing streak since I keep getting unlucky. Well, it's actually more of other people getting lucky and me getting second best which will always make you a loser. I didn't win a single hand for a long time, and that's when you know you're in trouble. As soon as I went broke on one of the tables, I quit without wanting to re-buy.

Then I ran two miles. It was hot outside and I think that's what made the run tougher than it really was. My back still feels a little funky, but at least I felt like I hadn't lost all my running endurance.

BACK TO THE WORKOUT GRIND

As I've frequently stated, the P90x workout program is 90 days long, but since I lag, it has become P270x for me. Since I was ill last week, I was worried that getting back into the program would mess me up and get me feeling nauseous since I felt out of shape. But surprisingly, my endurance and stamina levels were still very good and I didn't feel ill at all after the workout. Also, my back wasn't killing me anymore and actually felt ok, though not fully healed.

After dinner, I went to Contractor's Warehouse in Pomona to find a bathtub door. There wasn't much of a selection, but it was nice to know that there's another option other than Lowes and Home Depot.

Then I went to Home Depot because I wondered if I had actually looked at all their options. I had. So off to Lowes again, but this time I went to the one that's further south in Chino Hills. They had the door that the other location didn't have, but it wouldn't fit in moms car. So I had to call Jansen for help.

I waited at the lot until he came with his dad's truck. We loaded it in and headed back. Lola pooped on the front lawn and I picked her poop up. Jansen said I should feel honored. haha I actually kind of did.

When I got back, I decided to play poker even though it wasn't happy hour. I'm kind of obsessed about beating the game again and breaking 500. I was up early and could have taken a small 2 dollar profit, but I decided I wanted more. It was a mistake. I have to remember to always take the profit because the usual thing happened. I ended up playing way longer than I really wanted and lost instead of won. I'm officially on somewhat of a losing streak.