sorry alaska airlines

i was going up the escalator on my way to security but my shoe got caught in one of the crevices. i gave it a hard yank and heard a loud boom. a chunk of metal flew off and the whole thing stopped. 

this is why i hate not wearing boots. never again. 

long time no see

yesterday while i was looking for a place to eat for dinner, i came across a brazilian steakhouse. so of course i had to try it. now i'm no pro when it comes to eating and critiquing food, but i do love visiting churrascarias (an art i learned from my dad) so i decided to pay the $48 and see what it had to offer.

one of my favorite meat selections at a churrascaria is the chicken heart. while i was waiting to be seated, i asked the maitre d if the restaurant served any (though it wasn't on the advertised menu). he said no. i immediately dropped the highest grade possible from an A to a B. i got seated, and he asked me what i wanted to drink. guarana, fool! he said there was none. C. sigh. $48 dollars and i wasn't going to have chicken hearts nor a can of guarana. not even covi or brazilian collard greens. :(

the picanha wasn't great. the ribeye was better. you can't have your picanha be worse than your other meats! sigh. 

a small but essential detail in cooking brazilian steak is the salt. how and when the salt is applied to the meat makes such a huge difference in the taste of the meat. i was so sad yesterday because it tasted like they used regular old table salt. novilhos wasn't doing well in my books.

their best cuts in my opinion were the beef rib and top sirloin. i stuffed myself with the cuts i did enjoy, ate my fill of feijoada and farofa (which they prepared with weird stuff in it), and left with a very full stomach. then i said goodbye to novilhos. it was still much better than eating fast food for dinner.

it's independence day tomorrow! i'm leaving tonight. whoo four day weekend. 

i've been staying at a hilton the past two weeks. the rooms are huge!

romantic dinner

with gabe. 

@tonytones

this is tony. everyone calls him tonytones or diamondtones.

tony works for diamond supply, co. i think he started working there about five years ago or so, and he's been doing well and moving up the ladder since. he's been going out to church for quite some time now, and he and i are in the same local community group that meets for bible studies during the week. he's super popular, and i think each picture he uploads onto his social network accounts gets a million likes and a thousand comments. the guy is a celebrity.

i've known tony since we were in the sixth grade. back when baggy pants and long spiky hair were still in, tony and i had a rough relationship that was expressed through bullying and crude insults. we were both kids, and neither of us knew much about grace and civility. i can't speak for him, but back then i didn't really care about him and i probably hated his guts. i was messed up.

after i finished college, i came back home and started seeing tony every week at church and at our community group meetings. i had seen him around whenever i was home when i was still in college, but seeing him a couple times throughout the week every week was definitely something i hadn't expected. i remember thinking, "man, this guy is everywhere!"

one night before our community group meeting had started, i sat down at the same table with tony and we started making small talk-things like plans for the week, employment or lack thereof, football, etc. i can't remember exactly, but i think we ran out of things to talk about, and we were still waiting for more people to show up. then tony asked me, "hey do you remember middle school?" flashbacks were flurrying through my mind. i said, "yeah, man. those were tough times." then we started talking about it. he didn't remember all of it at first, but i told him a few stories and after a while he started to say, "oh yeah! i remember that!"

then i remember laughing a little nervously while telling him, "yeah tony, you were a bully, man. i probably hated your guts in middle school and high school." then he said, "hey man! you were a bully too! i remember you made fun of me too and i was like, 'what the heck george!'" haha it's so funny now. that conversation is probably my favorite conversation with tony so far. we apologized that night for acting so childishly and for being immature in our youth, and i remember feeling that night the old wounds starting to close up and heal. after knowing him for almost twelve years, i was finally able to call tony a good friend.

tony is a faithful servant in the church, and he willingly offers his time to help serve the people around him. he's changed so much, and he's a living testimony of Christ's saving grace and power. i've got a lot of love for tony, and i look forward to playing many more church turkeybowl (flag football) tournaments with him as the team's star runningback.

if you don't know him, you should get to know him. if you've never talked to him before, greet him. his shaved head and general attire can make him seem intimidating, but tony is a freaking teddy bear-a teddy bear with gangster friends and monster celebrity hookups. kids love him, and parents love having him at their houses.

thanks tony, for sending me such wonderful gifts while i'm away!

time to rep diamond supply co in washington!

1001

google spammers really helped bump up that number.

flirting

"ive never gotten or seen colored roses though"

"i didn't have enough time to cross-breed the roses and produce the desired colors through genetic manipulation."

"hahahha you dork"

yesterday

a lot of unfortunate things happened yesterday. the laptop my client issued me was having issues so i couldn't take it home with me (to work over the weekend). then i was almost late for my flight because of traffic, and i was so hungry because i hadn't eaten anything since lunch (which was about eight hours before). but all that stuff is manageable, i suppose. sure i was tired, and my stomach wasn't feeling well, and i had other things to worry about, but i was coming home for the weekend and that was my silver lining. then luis pierced me with his treacherous dagger.

luis is a taxi driver whom i've used a few times. he charges me a flat fee from walnut to lax and the other way around. he didn't do so well his first time driving me around, but i used him again thinking that it was a one time deal, but last time he got lost in the airport and on the way home. but, i'm a patient guy and i like giving people more chances. so this past week, he texted me asking if i needed a ride, and i decided to let him redeem himself. let me show you the text. i cut out stuff from our previous conversation.

so i landed yesterday-a little tired and weary, but hey i was home, so it was all going to be good. i got down to baggage claim so i called him and began my soon-to-be-dreadful conversation.

me: "hey luis, this is george. are you at the airport yet?"
luis: "who is this?"
me: "uhhhh george. i texted you yesterday about a ride from lax to walnut."
luis: "george...george...george...i don't remember anything. what's your address?"
*note that i have used him for three weeks now
me: "you gave me a ride from my house (*insert home address here) to lax last week and the week before, and you picked me up last week from the airport."
luis: "oh yeah, i texted you but you didn't respond."
*hmmmmmmm
me: "mmmm i'm pretty sure i texted you because you responded with a 'thank you' after i did."
luis: "oh yes, i see it. you said you didn't need a ride."
*hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
me: "it's all right luis. i mean if you're not here, then you're not here. don't worry about it."
*i genuinely meant that. i don't usually get angry or frustrated easily with other people.
luis: "okay, yeah. i mean, you said you didn't need a ride, so i didn't come."
me: "all right luis. have a good night and be safe."

okay, no problem. cabs run around lax all the time. it's a little more expensive, but i'm not really paying for it, and i didn't really have any other options at 11:30 pm. of all the cabs i could have received, i got an old korean guy who didn't really speak english too well. time to bust out the korean like never before, and well enough to get this man to drive me from the airport to my house. it wasn't bad at all, and he understood how to get to my house. whew! praise the Lord.

we were on the 105, and he was in the carpool lane. i wasn't sure if the carpool lane had an exit to the 605 (i usually drive alone and never use the carpool lane), so i asked him in korean. then he said (in korean) "the carpool lane is only for cars with two or more passengers."

this was probably my real face: 

we got on the 605, no problem. he kept ranting on about the carpool lane and cameras that were all over the freeway to monitor cars. cool stuff.

THEN THE ENTRANCE TO 60 EAST WAS CLOSED. but hey no big deal, it was only around 12:10. plenty of patience left in the tank. he asked me if the 10 was the next fastest way, so i said yes, and around to the 57. i don't think he believed me. so this guy straight up looked down and punched stuff into his ipad gps. i don't think i ever prayed for my life so quickly. but the swerving was over, so i reassured myself by thinking: "nah no problem. we're good."

we finally got home after another 20 minutes or so. whew! i asked him in korean, "so are you taking off some of the miles since we had to go around to the 10 and the 57?" he straight up said, "that's not my fault. if the roads are closed, there's nothing i can do about it." what a tough pill to swallow. i told him i understood. i think he felt bad afterwards, so he told me i didn't have to pay tip. the service industry is tough enough as it is, so i told him not to say that and gave him his due. goodbye old korean man.

i missed california so much.



starting next week, i'm getting a partner to work with me long-term! his name is gabe. we get along well (or at least i think we do), and we're both pretty excited to start working together. we have another guy coming up for a few weeks to work on the UI, so it should be fun. hopefully i'll have more stories to share once these guys get here.

happy friday everyone.