Just an Update

I waaant a job.

Lost and Found

I'm bad at keeping track of gift cards. In the process of looking for 2 cards I found:
- one of the cards I was looking for
- a starbucks card with $0.15 on it
- an old phone number
- some pictures
- $2
- snowboard wax

Maybe someday the other card will show up.

Mmm... Dirt

Yesterday I rode from a little east of the bluffs out to Enus Ln and back. It's about 41 miles round trip. The first half was great. Cruising at 16.5 mph for twenty miles. And my plan was to keep that pace on the way back, but after a mile I realized it wasn't going to happen. It was slightly cloudy with no breeze and then out of nowhere came winds and dust. Usually I don't mind, but yesterday was pretty bad. From Cal State to Enus ln is eight miles of dirt fields and once the wind/gusts came it kicked up all the dirt. Visibility was pretty bad. I was dodging massive tumble weeds rolling across the bike path. And I was having to lean against the wind to keep from tilting over. By the end of the ride I was covered in a layer of dirt. Exciting...

Oops

I went out to dinner with my parents today. Took out my wallet to get my ID and it wasn't there. I'm a genius and left it in my jersey. Which means I went everywhere this week without my ID this week. It's a good thing I didn't need it (other than driving). And I learned a new lesson: When ordering a drink, I'm not going to get my ID out unless they ask for it.

High Sierra Century

Well... I completed my first century bike ride. It wasn't a race. All the training I did has paid off. The ride was on Saturday (the 6th) just outside of Mammoth. Lets just say 100 miles is kind of difficult. I thought about doing the metric century (64 miles) after nearly giving up on a metric century a week before the ride. Once I got up there though, I signed up for the century.

Here's the ride breakdown: The ride started outside Mammoth at the Whitmore pool. It went up the 395, east along the 120 past Mono Lake, through the mountains, south and more mountains, then around the back side of Crowley. There were 4 main climbs and 5 rest stops. There were a lot of smaller climbs not highlighted in the course profile. Food and drinks were plentiful at rest stops. Actually eating was the hard part. Lunch was at mile 55. My bike is an old Puegeot (made in France), with 12 speeds. In case you know nothing about road bikes these days... my bike is older than me and has 6 gears on the back sprocket, which makes any hill more difficult, especially steep ones.

Deadman Summit was first climb at 8032' and mile 21.4. It wasn't too bad. Mainly because it's only 2 miles long, and was towards the beginning of the ride. Sagehen Summit was the next big climb. At a whopping 8139 feet, it was the highest elevation during the ride. This was somewhat more difficult than Deadmans because it was at mile 47. I don't know how many miles the climb itself was, but it was gradual and lengthy. The reward of making it to the top was well worth it though. The views were amazing. And I felt like I had really accomplished something just making it to the top. And there was a sweet downhill. I broke a spoke on my back wheel during the first of two downhills after Sagehen. It kind of sucked. I ended having to take the sag for about 2 miles (of downhill!) to the lunch stop so I could repair my bike. After lunch there were some nasty whoop-dee-doos. They were rough, but not considered a main climb. Next came Wildrose Summit. This climb blew. The climb was steady and long for the most part, then hiked up to a 12% grade for a very short while. I took the sag for the 12%.. half a mile part 'cause I had already used my easiest gears just to get to the steep part. And I was going to just walk up it, but my mom insisted I not do that. Not to mention it was also around mile 71 and had been sunny all afternoon. Wildrose was a tough one because of its steepness... and I'd already gone 70 miles.. and I didn't have anymore climbing gears on my bike. The last major climb was Watterson Summit at 7496' and mile 81.5. Needless to say I was basically dead by the time I got here. I did make it up though. Unfortunately there was still another short climb to the final rest stop after Watterson. The final rest stop was at mile 83 or so. From thre it was one downhill, some flats, and 2 short climbs to the end. The only problem was the wicked headwind the entire way to the end from the last rest stop. I mean... it was a strong headwind. I had to pedal on the downhills to go forward.

I started around 7:30am. After being out for 9.5 hours and in the saddle for about 7.5 hours I made it. Success!! I was effin hot/tired/sore... There was a bbq afterwards too. I made myself eat a little, but all I really wanted to do was shower and sleep. Needless to say my quads were a bit sore for a day. I'm taking a week off, then it's back to the bike for more epic bike journeys (and possibly a metric century in oct or a full century in jan).

Wildlife

I saw a parrot, turkey vulture, and a rabbit on my bike ride this morning. Wild parrots in Bakersfield.. who would've thought??

Mammoth

I survived a week in Mammoth with my entire family (on my mom's side). It was nice to be able to hang out with everyone. Last week was filled with events. We fished, hiked, did some mountain biking, played cards, stayed up to watch Phelps win gold medals... Everything was good except the fishing. Katie caught 2 fish her six casts (4 made it to the lake and the other 2 found a tree). Neither were keepers, but it was entertaining to watch her reel them in. I wasn't as lucky. Mountain biking was awesome too. It was kinda chilly and really windy at the top. My cousins and I rode off the top and down to the main lodge then too the gondola back up to mid-chalet and took a different path back to the village. It was a solid 3.5 hours on the bikes.

Round Mountain

Here's a picture of my bike ride this morning. Enjoy! and be glad it wasn't you doing it. This shits tough. I had a tire blow out and another flat before I even started. This was my 5th ride this week (3rd morning in a row) and my legs were dead before the last climb of the day, "rattle snake." (a hill that's true to its name)

Not Forgotten

I didn't forget about this. Soon I will share about my week in Novato and my awesome golf game, ping pong skills, and a weeks worth of good times.

Euphoria

I'm f***in done!! And I got a ticket to the US Open for Thursday's round (at Torrey Pines)! Awesomeness! Success!! Woohoo! Victory! and for memories sake "I'm a golden God!!!"

Keeping Busy

Finals week brings out the best in me.... studying and zelda. As long as my zelda time doesn't exceed my study time I should be alright.

All Smiles

My 4.5! day weekend was fantastic. For Friday events, look at my previous post. Saturday I don't remember if I did anything. Sunday I went to Del Mar for lunch, picked up a sandwich and ate it on some cliff I found overlooking the ocean. I ate by myself, but it was nice. (note: if anyone ever visits me in SD I will take you there for lunch. it's super good) Then I watched the padres game on tv. They won in 18 innings! Monday I relaxed and attempted to study, but it didn't work out too well.

And today, I've been in a great mood ever since leaving clinical psych. That class was boring as f*** this morning. But other than that, my day was fantastic. I was actually productive once class finished. Of course tonight was Taco Tuesday in PB, which is always tasty. And I'm still feelin' good. Cool.

No Way!!

I went to PB (pacific beach) tonight with friends. I danced. Miracles happen.

Sungod '08

For those of you who don't know, Sungod is UCSD's one day of outrageous drinking, partying, and concerts/events all day on campus. Extra security and police on campus never stopped anyone (especially minors) from having a good time.

Sungod was ridiculous this year. I made the most of it being my first and last actual sungod (since i didn't go last year). Some of us, including me, starting drinking thursday night since we didnt have class friday. Others.. like me, got all of 3-4 hours of sleep thursday night as well. But friday was lots of fun! There were "jello shots" that tasted like straight up vodka at noon, then Irish carbombs, and a mission to find the bus to take us to the party in la jolla. Once there, it was more drinking. I don't know how I managed to stay awake, but I did. Then a group of us went to campus and stopped at Porter's Pub (for another beer!!) on the way to rimac field. Once we got to the field, there was loud music and dancing (which I'm still allergic to). Then there was more fun and music that I skipped out on because I was exhausted beyond belief. I was also hungry. I got home, opted not to drive to in-n-out at 11, and instead cleaned up from thursday night and crashed.

And I think today has been the most unproductive day in my life... unless you count catching up on desperately needed sleep productive. (Why was me being tired and drinking the theme of sungod week? Because I had 3 midterms last week. Sunday-Wednesday I got no more than 4-5 hours of sleep each night then spent each day studying, going to class, or taking midterms. And then Thursday kicked off the celebrations!)

Procrastination Post

I don't know what it is, but every time I hear the word monster I stop what I'm doing and say "I'm a monster!!" and raise my fist in the air as if I had a hook for a hand... Thank you Arrested Development. I mention this because I was at office hours last week and the prof said the word monster referring to people who act mentally retarded, but don't qualify according to the DSM-IV. And sure enough I mumbled the phrase to myself. I don't think the prof and other students heard me.

It's now week 7. I have 3 midterms this week, 1 midterm and a final during week 10, and then finals week. Soo.. I can see the light at the end of the undergrad tunnel. Woohoo!

This quarter I've also been training for a bike ride (just for fun with my parents) this summer up near Mammoth. I thought I was just going to do the metric century (100km or 62.14 miles) but now I think I may do the normal century (100 miles). I started out just going to RIMAC (our kickass gym) and riding the trainer bikes. But now my aunt and uncle in SD have me actually riding on the weekends, which is extremely different and much more difficult than anything I do at the gym. I rode 25 miles two weekends ago, 30 last weekend, and the plan this weekend is to go about 40 miles. They're fun for the most part, except the steep hills, especially the one at the end of the ride just before their house when my quads are burning and I'm usually hungry (and I have no granny gears on my road bike). It sucks, but I manage.

Procrastination time is over. Clinical psychology treatments here I come!!!

Week 4

After a 100% nonproductive weekend I've been cramming for 3 midterms this week. I spent all of yesterday reading for clinical psych and child disorders. And I'm going to spend most of tonight gong over slides for those 2 classes and reading stuff for my illusions class. Only 7 more weeks of this stuff! So yeah, school is in full gear and sadly I'm still figuring out which class to drop. I'm most likely dropping kid disorders over clinical psych, but I have until this Friday to edit my schedule.

In other news... there isn't too much going on. It was 95° a couple weekends ago and I went to the beach with Chance and Maite and got sunburned. Go figure. The water is also really cold still. This quarter I've been going to RIMAC (our wonderful gym) and attempting to train for my 100k bike ride that I'm planning on doing this summer. That's been keeping me active since I don't have hockey anymore. I'm also slowly getting closer to learning to kiteboard. It's potentially dangerous to learn on your own, but I think I'm going to find an isolated beach area this weekend and try to fly the full size (beginner) kite, which is 6 meters. I'll probably get dragged along the beach.

Hangover Free

Here's the story of my Friday night:
We went happy hour hopping and to the beach for a s'more. I drank a lot!!

Spring Break Recap

My last spring break as an undergrad was quite good. Most of the week was spent in Mammoth with Katie, Robert, and my mom. Three out of four days were good. And the bad day was because of wind. The skies were clear, but it was windy as hell and only 4 lifts were open, which resulted in reallly long lines at the open chairs. My mom and I also went for a drive up to June Lake one afternoon. I hadn't been there for as long as I can remember. It was cool though. After Mammoth I was home for a day. I spent most of the day with friends, which was fun. Saturday's drive back to SD sucked cause there was traffic everywhere due to baseball games/wrecks. But in the end the traffic was worth it because Saturday night was amazingly fun. That was pretty much my spring break.

Classes started today. I'm signed up for 5 but only need 3 to graduate. So in the next two weeks I'll be down to 3 classes. And my goal (other than to graduate and find a job) is to attempt learn how to kiteboard this quarter/summer.

Finals Week

It's finals week and I bought Zelda for the Wii today. I don't actually own a wii, but one of my roommates does. I guess it's time to put my time management skills to the test this week.

Almost There

Hockey season is over. We played regionals in Oakland 2 last weekend, upsetting Cal State Northridge but losing to Northern Arizona University in a close game. Had we won against NAU we'd have made nationals, but we didn't. I'm sorry most of you didn't get to see me play. Oh well, I still had loads of fun playing this year.

I've signed up for my last quarter. I'm taking Psychology of Human Sexuality, which is probably one of the most popular classes offered. 475 person lecture + 200 on the waitlist. Yay for being a senior and getting to register first. I'm also signed up for Illusions and the Brain. I'm really looking forward to this class even though it's a 3 hour lecture. I've already taken Sensation and Perception and covered illusions a little, but I'm excited for a class thats all about them! And I've signed up for two other classes: Cultural Anthropology and Liturature North by South- detective fiction. My plan is to drop whichever of the two has a longer paper assigned. It's too bad the other psych classes I wanted to take for the third spot were all offered at the same time.

For now, I'm just waiting for finals week to arrive.

Fred's Taco Tuesdays

So I went to PB (pacific beach) tonight for tacos and beer with friends. Here's what happened when I handed the bouncer my ID:

(Bouncer stares at my ID. Bends it and whatnot)
Bouncer: How old are you?
Me: 22
Bouncer (looking confused): When did you graduate from high school?
Me: uh.. 2003
Bouncer (still looking hesitant about believing me): Do you have another form of ID I can see? credit/atm card? Anything with your name on it.
(I handed him my visa card. He looks at it and pauses.)
Bouncer: Can you take off your hat?
Me: Sure. (takes off hat)
(He looks at me and I then put my hat back on)
Bouncer (still staring at my ID): What is your zodiac sign?
Me: What was that?
Bouncer: What is your zodiac sign?
Me: I have no idea.
(My thought: seriously?! wtf? why would i know that)
(The bouncer pauses yet again)
Bouncer: I'm having a really hard time believing you weigh 225 lbs.
Me: I don't. I've lost weight since that picture was taken.

He eventually handed me my ID back and stamped my wrist. Then we put our names in and went to the bar next door to get a drink. The bouncer there too closely inspected my card, but instead of being a *bleep*, just said "you've lost some weight haven't you" and let me in. At least the tacos were delicious.

Priceless

I scored my first goal of the season tonight against Fresno State!! It was on the power play in the third period. Yeah!! (we won the game)

School Update

So here's how my quarter is looking. I have adolescent literature. Basically I read young adult books and then have essay quizzes on them and I have to write a couple lit research papers. It's an okay class. The lectures are very disorganized and hard to take notes on, but other than that its fine. Then I have a psych elective about eating disorders. So far I'm not a huge fan. The lectures are so-so and she doesn't post slides, and there's no book. So if you miss a lecture you're screwed. And what kind of quarter would it be if I didn't have some neuro class. My clinical neuropsychology and assessment class is neutral. The prof is really good, but so far all the material has been review from my other 3 neuro classes. It should get better. I have 3 more weeks of hockey left... maybe a few more if we make playoffs.

Food Comology

Some of you might know that I don't cook much down here. However, Sunday's I'm usually fed a large, tasty meal at my aunt's house. Just about every Sunday I leave her house with some food for weeknight dinners and a food coma of some degree. Last weekend I ended up with an unusual food coma. So, because I'm a nerd, this is what I've come up with:

There are 3 types of food comas. (And I have experienced them all.) Here's my definition of a food coma- after eating, you feel like doing nothing but sitting/sleeping off the meal you just finished. In one word, the feeling is something along the lines of "uuugghh."

1. Early Onset Food Coma: This is the kind that hits while you're still eating your meal. You know as a result of finishing the meal that you'll suffer that much more. However, as is usually my case, the food is just too good to let a little fullness stop you from finishing. The main reason this type is separate from (2) is that it occurs before the meal is over. Dessert is included as the "meal" if it is being served.

2. Standard Food Coma: This has to be the most common of the three types. Basically, you eat the meal and sometime shortly after finishing the meal (usually less the 30 minutes and frequently within 5 minutes of finishing) you reach food coma state.

3. Late Onset Food Coma: I experienced this for the first time last weekend. This type refers to finishing a meal and feeling fine, continuing about the night, and then wham! It hits you. You feel like the meal is digested and is in the past, and then the food coma sneaks up on you. (My example- I ate dinner and had a brownie, then I watched a little basketball and an episode of Grey's, then on my drive home I regretted have that extra meatball and spoonful of mashed potatoes.)

So that's that.