The OC Disorder

So the other day I was driving around my home town and all of a sudden it hit me…

I REALLY HATE A LOT ABOUT ORANGE COUNTY!!!

Don’t get me wrong. There is a lot of redeeming values to Orange County, which is probably why I haven’t abandoned ship quite yet, but as I was sitting at a four-way-stop and almost witnessed four different accidents because of rude or just plain dumb Orange County drivers I got mad. Real Mad. And I started thinking about of the things like dumb drivers that I hate.

Well I decided to start a sort of “series” where I rant about these things and I will try to remember and update you with the things that have caught my attention.

So without further delay here is the first of many THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU (Orange County):

#1 Insane Soccer Moms:

Now maybe this is more of a problem out here where I live in Yorba Linda, but I’m pretty sure we’ve all had the pleasure of witnessing or coming across one of these lovely ladies menacing around in their mini vans, SUVs, or ridiculously lifted trucks wreaking havoc on and off the road just so that they can get little Jimmy and Suzie to soccer practice, tae kwon do, etc.

I’m sure these ladies have a pretty hard life trying to make their children happy, but I’d rather not be disrespected or almost killed on a daily basis by them. I’m also a fond believer of adults acting like adults in situations where there may be a conflict.

You might be reading this thinking “Sean… aren’t you being a little dramatic about these women?”

To which my answer would be…  No. You are stupid and I am of course far superior and right when it comes to this subject matter.

Don’t believe me that these women suck? Well how about these little gems I found:

Lady Calls 911 Over Wrong Burger King Order (Laguna Niguel)

Woman A can’t park her SUV and Woman B confronts her about it. (Google Building, Irvine)

It’s sad to think that these women are raising the future of the world, our country, and this county…

Looks like the Mayans were right… the world is going to end very very soon.

Alright, here are some highlights of this recent weekend that happened to some of us…

Update…Friday afternoon: I went to a general Yelp event in Newport.  Free whale watching!  Saw one whale far out and lots of dolphins up close.  Hung out with a Yelp buddie on the boat.  Result: Cold, but fun!

Friday’s softball game: a group of n’er-do-wells (Damon, Megan, me, Niko, Meghan, Sean, and others) played a classification game to place the team in the right “class” or “division” for the regular season.  We were matched up with a veteran team that has played together for 15 years.  Result: we lost by 19-3.  Good news: we had fun and we’re looking forward to playing teams at our level.  Next week: our first regular season game, hopefully against a comparable team.

Saturday: I got my tuba back from the repair shop.  It got a chemical bath/cleaning, repaired dents, new parts (felts, pads, corks), and new lubricants (hehe).  It feels like new and plays so well now.  Cost: about $300.  Justification: I’ve never brought the instrument in for maintenance ever since my parents bought it used in high school.

Saturday night: Damon, Megan, and I went to two Boomers to practice batting.  The FV Boomers sucks.  It has only 4 cages of slowpitch softball and 2 of them were working when we got there.  Soon after, those 2 broke as well.  Onto to the Irvine Boomers, which featured cages named after Tim Salmon.  These cages were far above and beyond.  Every machine can do both baseball and softball.  Results: Megan improved and got a few good line drives, Damon hits better with a heavier and longer bat, and I almost got killed in the 80 mph baseball cage.

Sunday night at Silky’s: Megan, her mom, and I entered the Silky Sullivan’s Chili Cookoff for the first time.  I didn’t enjoy having to serve my chili to people.  I wanted to eat, dagnamit!  I felt like a lunch lady (no offense).  Result: I left before awards, but I got a free t-shirt and two Silky’s coupons for food.  Note to self: don’t enter cookoff next time.  Just eat.

Sunday night at Blue Cafe: Saw Thought Police perform again.  I took pictures again, but tried to incorporate more instruments with the performers.  Also, tried more wide angle shots.  Results: Really dug some new song arrangements and pictures came out more blurry.  Damn their low lighting.

I wish I was getting paid for this, but here are a few things I’m endorsing.  I’ve been so thouroughly satisfied with these products, I feel like I should give back.  Yes, I know the companies already got my money, but consider this charity.

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I just got a phone call and a woman instantly asked me how to report her Masters degree.  What?

After a few minutes of questioning, this elementary teacher was given my number by her school administrator (Mr. Weir?), for whatever reason.  This teacher wanted to know how to report her recent Masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction so she could move to the next pay scale.  I thought, “Hmm, um I guess that administrator knew me.”  Then, I knew she clearly got the wrong number after learning she was working in Broward County….that’s in Florida.  She was doubtful as well and repeatedly asked if she was talking to the right person.  I said something like, “O…k.  I think you got the wrong number, but I can tell you what we do here in California because I have a Masters too.”

I said, at least here in California, teachers simply filled out paperwork and sent copies of transcripts to the district office after earning credits.  She replied, “Ah, OK.  I’ll try that.”  I wished her luck and that was the end of a freaky coincedence….or was it?

I thought about Tony’s question of favorite movies.  It’s tough to put favorite movies all into one list because of the mixed genres.  So here’s a quick, but not a definitive list of my favorite movies in separate categories.

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So Abel invited a bunch of us to downtown Fullerton on Saturday.  Chris Kawagiwa went to the bar to buy Abel, I, and himself a round of drinks.  I was called up to the bar and what I saw was three flaming shots alongside three pints of beer.  WTF?  In a fast blur, everyone was yelling to drop the shot and drink.  Before I could realize what was in front of me, I dropped the shot, burned by thumb, made a mess on the bar, and chugged.  It turned out to be the infamous Flaming Dr. Pepper–always talked about, but never done.  Not too bad.  Some people at the bar were impressed and/or stupified by our shots.  Two bro’s came up and asked me in bewilderment, “Hey, what was that?”  Next drink: A Flaming Homer (or Moe).

Hi everyone!

I had planned to come home to FV at the end of the month to visit you guys, my family and have my annual BBQ.  Unfortunately,  I had to come home early for a very unhappy reason.  My great grandmother had multiple brain aneurysms and was recovering from surgery 2 weeks ago to repair the blood vessels in her brain.

I flew home on Wednesday afternoon- just left work and didn’t come back- to fly home after my parents had called and told me that her heart rate was less than 50 beats per minute.  As soon as I got to the hospital, her heart rate jumped up to 100 and her breathing stabilized (weird).  Then she started to have long shallow breaths and the doctors stopped her insulin, feeding tube and saline IV on Monday.  She lived for another 6 days without any help from anything other than an oxygen tank.  She died peacfully Saturday morning at 2:40am at the age of 88.  My entire family had already left the hospital and my mom and I were the only two in the room with her when she started her decline and 7 minutes later, she was gone.  The room was quiet and I had my had on her body the whole time and I felt it go from warm to cold.  That was very scary.

I never thought that I would really post this kind of stuff on this thing, but I felt that it might be therapeutic for me.  The viewing is on Tuesday night at Westminster Memorial Park and the funeral is on Wednesday.

I wish I would have called you guys sooner, but I didn’t know how those phone calls would go.  I was afraid that I’d start balling.

I’ll see you on Thursday at Silky’s.  Please keep my great grandma and the rest of my family in your prayers.  Thanks.

So if you didn’t know, I’m on tour with Pacific Crest Drum and Bugle Corps as a tour director.  This is a fucking busy job. It’s shit constantly thrown at you 24/7 (I’ll get awaken when something wrong happens).  At the least, my duty is to get housing confirmed for the corps each day, but sometimes things fall through (like new band directors not knowing a corps of 150 students is arriving to their school the nexy day).  This job is a combination of manager, CEO, soothsayer, and dictator all rolled into one.  I have to schedule when to leave and when to rehearse, figure out how much money to spend, figure what to do the next day, and tell people what to do.  I’ve been very angry at times with all the crap that happens, but the pay off is knowing the students are concentrated on their performance and not the logistics of moving 150+ people everyday.  I’ll be back August 10.

So I’ve completed my first weekend of my Nor Cal vacation and it’s been wonderfully busy. Saturday, Alex and I went into San Fran to see our friend, Monica, before she left to visit hometown Buffalo, NY. We had some happy hour, got some pupusas at an El Salvadorian place for dinner, did a little karaoke (I sang Depeche Mode), and ended up playing drinking games at her neat apartment with Mike, her fiancee. I need to credit Monica for keeping my senses awake even though my mind and body was drained. After a long day of traveling and roaming through the Mission Distrist, I got to Kumar’s apartment at 1am and went to bed an hour later.

On Sunday, Alex, Kumar and I went to Berkeley to visit Christie, another friend from my graduating class. Christie gave us a wonderful adventure through the hills and forests of Berkeley. Through the 2-hour hike, we were able to find some sweet wild plums and berries. I got pictures ready to be posted, but I can’t get my own laptop to work with the school’s internet. I’m using Kumar’s laptop for now.

Tomorrow, I got a luncheon with my former STEP supervisor and then dinner at Armadillo’s Willys with Ben. Monday is All-You-Can-Eat ribs!

Las Vegas 119

Originally uploaded by david403

I just wanted to share a picture from Red Rock Canyon near Las Vegas. It was quite fun doing that one mile hike and almost resorting to cannibalism.