A Dust Devil, The Countdown Begins

While looking at an unusual dust devil in the Monterrey metro area, this reminded me that summer is on its way, or perhaps it is already here. Due to our geographical location, continuous days with hot weather usually occur between April and September, but this will not be for long. I look forward to this new place that promises hotter, but shorter summers, as well as cooler weather during spring, fall, and winter. This would be more like having four different seasons throughout the year. The countdown begins, and just like the dust devil, time will spin faster and faster.

Dog Days part 3

The second summit is almost here, after traveling to the first one I am now finishing my joruney to the second one. My commitment to get the ticket for a new adventure has not changed, except for more desire, passion, and preparation. The red haired lady that I met on my first summit was standing and looking to the other side. Even though I could clearly notice her back from where I was, she seemed to be talking to someone else, someone I could not see. I had no idea who she was talking to because I could not see anything in front of her.

"I'll get her, I'll get her... I will NOT die with my music still on, I'll get what I really really really really want. He, she, or it who gives me the chance will get more from me than what I am given. Life is about service, but the best service that can be given is what I know how to do and what I really enjoy doing."

I thought about these things as I remembered Wayne Dyer, but more importantly, common sense. I somehow knew that the red haired girl was reading my mind and I felt her looking just as anxious to meet me again as I was looking forward to meet her.

I got to the second summit, the red haired lady was still looking back, and all I saw was white light behind her. I started to run to get next to her, but as soon as I moved I fell over a sword that was partly buried upside down. It crossed from my stomach all the way to my back. I had no strength to yell in pain, but I was able to get up. The red haired lady looked at me as though nothing had happened and she said: "Welcome!"

I noticed that here was no blood in my body, not a scar, not even torn clothes. The pain was gone. "Congratulations, you did it, now we need to get your stuff ready. You will be moving here in July. This is your fast pass, so you will not need to climb this mountain again. We'll keep in touch, you've got my information in case you have any further questions." Just like the first time I met her, I was unable to say a word.

I took a look from above, to the place that I will be missing. With a fast pass, I will be able to move easily from time to time back to my hometown.

Can Procrastination be justified?

I had just begun to take more time to do what I really like to do during my free time. Part of this time includes doing homework anytime I feel like it, as long as it's done by the due date and hour. Photography has been the main distraction, or perhaps cooking. Walking up and down the mountain usually takes one hour.

This has been one of my few successful recipes that tasted perfectly well since I did it for the first time:

I've found the right amount of ingredients to make Chinese rice with COMMON ingredients, there was no green onion on the market this time:

Taste is first, appearance is worked later

The reason why I've been delaying my assignment is an error on the online course, in which we cannot see what the third activity is asking us to do. It's due the day after tomorrow, right before midnight. The teacher, (or perhaps I should call her grader, as she only grades) has simply asked us to contact the administrator, who works Monday through Friday only... I've had no other choice so far but to postpone this. As I'll be doing so until further resolution is given, maybe this is not called procrastination but resignation.

Talking directly to the administrator on Monday before it's too late will be something minor or irrelevant compared to the important choices I will be doing next week as well. I would compare these decisions to marriage arrangements or life or death situations.

What a Judge should do

I took a call the other day from (lets call her Ashley, in order to protect her privacy), calling to get cable boxes for the judges' tv, she worked for five of them. Once she verified the account to me (in order for me to give her information), I gave her all possible options, but told her that only Judge Q, whose name is on the account, is the ONLY authorized person to do this, so I advised her to have him call us and put her as an authorized person.

"WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT! I'M THE ONE WHO HANDLES THE ACCOUNT, THE ONE IN CHARGE OF PAYING THE BILLS... YOU DON'T EXPECT ME TO CALL THE JUDGE OUT OF COURT FOR THIS? THIS IS RIDICULOUS! CAN I SPEAK WITH A MANAGER PLEASE?

"Sure! I can let you talk to a manager, but let me tell you this first: Judge Q can call anytime he wants in order to put you as an authorized person, as we're here for you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We do this in order to comply with a federal law for the account holder's protection, as you work for judges, I hope you understand that we ought to comply with the law, we do not do this to cause any inconvenience"

Ashley was still angry, but I believe she understood, despite threatening to go to another company, as she did not insist in speaking with a manager. The judges must know by now what happened. What will the judges think about? I don't know. I hope they feel glad we did this, as Ashley could've done this without working for them anymore, and that is why we do this.

This made me think about a judge's role. Unfortunately, a judge's role IS NOT to do what is right, but to comply with the law and make sure that people don't go against it, or at least not without having appropriate consequences. If we take a look into controversial issues such as abortion, if it is permitted, well, despite being conservative, a judge will not punish these actions. Laws are written in such a way, that all judges can understand, but the problem is that judges DO NOT ALWAYS abide to them. I'm not a lawyer, but could it be as simple as saying that abortion is unconstitutional as it is a murder to kill a human life? Perhaps the fact that some judges will say yes, and others will say no is the reason why there are multiple disputes, lawsuits, attorneys defending in favor or against many cases...

The day in which we have ALL AND NOT MOST of our laws that are morally right, and all judges that act honestly and WITHOUT subjectivity, that is when we will truely say that a perfect justice system is what we have. This will include, without limiting to the fact that cases will be resolved in a timely manner. If you have not watched it, I advise you to check "Presumed Guilty" documentary.

Seeking Equilibrium

Working full-time for six days a week and taking your day off to do homework eventually drives you mad. This is not because of any difficulties encountered, but because of the lack of days off.

I'm no exercise fan, but a brisk walk twice or thrice a week used to be part of my schedule. Initially, I needed the money to pay some debt and continue paying my masters degree, but now that my debt has gone down and now that I'm more than halfway done with my classes, it's time to slow down a bit. I'm going to be working five days a week now, I expect to have two days to do homework, take a walk, go to church without being on a rush and dedicate some time to those who will not be here indefinitely. I want to see my friends more often, just as I used to.

Cooking and photography will be a must. I'm thinking about trying marbled brownies with M&M Almonds... or with peanuts, as I've eaten those already. I'm still developing my own Chinese rice recipe. I've been unable to match Chef Boyardee's pizza sauce. The good thing about creating and/or seeking to make better/healthier recipes as a scientist is the fact that no failed experiment is done twice, and the learning process is fun.

The Woodlands, a Place where the Fall Foliage peaks in Winter

This place cannot be described with pictures or words, but I'll do my best. In the outskirts of Houston, a soon to be suburb has the ammenities of a big city, but with a REAL small town environment. In order to take many of these pictures, I had to park in a middle school. Fortunately, all streets seemed to have a sidewalk, for people to walk, and in some others, there was place for people riding a bicycle.

This small town was built in the middle of a forest, but contrary to a typical US city, except for the freeway, all businesses have NO big ads, so you really have to know where you're going, because everything is hidden beneath the evergreen pine trees and decidious trees (those that stay without leaves in the winter, and replace them every spring). Talking about trees, this was the time of the year in which most of the trees had their best fall color.

There is a lake with HUGE houses around. I did not take pictures there because the only place where this was visible was on a busy street. A golf course surrounded by houses can also be found along The Woodlands Parkway.

This is the St. Simon and Jude Catholic Church, but other christian churches are also found nearby in the same area.

The mall is located right next to the I-45, and there is a riverwalk (which I was not able to walk through because it rained later on) with hotels and restaurants around.

This is definitely a good place to live, work, and take a walk through the forest anytime you want, but frequent visits back home would be a must do.

It's been such a long time...

It's been such a long time since I took the last picture, such a long time since I cooked, such a long time since I took a day off... I remember those days in which I could take an evening walk, take time to simply look at the city from above, or simply do nothing at all. Killing time all day "for inspirational purposes" leads to depression, but one or two days a week might be healthy for any living person. I don't mean by this to kill time for a full day, but taking a stroll, going somewhere else to take pictures (or taking the type of pictures that you've never taken), hanging out with friends or the yet to meet girl is good. Playing with food ingredients attempting to get (and often getting) a new delicious recipe without rushing is fun to do.

Going out for a big butterfinger blizzard or stopping by the new Krispy Kreme which will be less than ten minutes away from home would be cool.

Once I'm done with my master's, I will NOT study while I work ever again. Just as in college, as much as there has been useful knowledge, some things are just a waste of time.

Traveling through the World of Comcast

Working at Comcast has brought me all types of experiences, but certainly on a positive balance (hey, i get paid for this!). Sometimes a customer wants to make you feel like crap, but others make your day as well.

Other than greeting, saying goodbye, or repeating the things that we MUST remind to everyone, we are SUPPOSED to talk about the customer's issue and/or concern only. When we need to wait about a minute or so, we usually ask about the weather or something that will not require a long answer ONLY while we work on something else or when we need to wait a few minutes. That's ok, but what about if someone wants to talk to you about something else?

An old woman was talking to me about her weight loss and illnesses while I worked on fixing her cable:

"I'm sorry to hear this, if I knew about this, I'd be happy to assist you, but as I don't know about medicine..."

I really don't wish this to anyone, but I guess that anyone who is not made up of rock would at least try to say something similar. We were almost done with the call, as I was about to transfer her to another department when she told me that her AC was not working, and that added to her illnesses, and her loss of weight which doctors cannot explain...

"I'm sorry to hear that ma'am, are you eating well?"

"Oh yes! I love food, especially Italian food"

And that was when the story began, for more than half an hour I was given a trip to bed, sort of. Her stories about her trips to Italy, her like of wine in moderation, hotels she visited, nice waiters she had, among other things were really interesting. Her voice was the voice that my mom never had for bedtime stories, as it made me want to go to sleep. When she paused for a moment, I took time to say:

"Yeah, I've been to Rome once, but not Tuscany... No, I've never been there... Yeah, we should drink in moderation..."

I felt this woman like a source of positive energy flowing through the phone and relaxing my whole body. I felt that this was a woman you could trust, was alone and needed to be listened. The fact that she seemed to have her dogs as her only companions made me feel sorry for her. I wish I could've contacted her and have her try our Omnilife products which I know she desperately needs, and not for the business, but for the satisfaction of being able to help someone. I've visited old people in asylums, and she would've definitely been the best so far, I wish I could listen to her stories again, they remind me about peace.

My only concern was about what to do, should I let her continue talking indefinitely? Later on in the day I was told yes.

When I was about to transfer her, she asked me if I was on the Memphis office, then told her that I was in Monterrey, Mexico, and gave an honest thank you along with compliments. I never expect compliments or anything more than an ordinary thank you, but they do make me feel useful, especially when a few people don't just want for you to be American, they want for you to be in their local office and sometimes even the last person they talked to.

Most calls are quite ordinary and I forget them all, but there are a few people that I'll never forget.

And on the seventh day... we cook a delicious Pizza!

Having a job keeps you busy, it might not be the one that you expected but except for the fact of having to work six days a week, it's ok. When you work full time and study at the same time, the day you rest is the perfect time to do homework and give undivided attention to the assignments that must be completed (despite my frequent regular distractions and breaks).

Working on a routine is boring, so that is why I took some time to cook a pizza recipe that I developed (by comparing and contrasting other recipes) by simply mixing the best of the best in quality and flavor. The next pictured pizza will have black olives, dried mushrooms, pepperoni and perhaps a few green olives to make it look artistic.

As time goes on, there will be more money for traveling, and by doing so, taking more different pictures, but in the meantime, creativity will present itself spontaneously on the right place and at the right time.

Dreams are becoming increasingly realistic

I've already tasted avocado while hiding on a fast food restaurant from dinosaur who was chasing me on first grade. I tasted ice pops aound two years ago, I've flown hundreds of times, now I've smelled in my dreams. I'm talking about a smell that was not present in my room. This smell was not a pleasant one. I usually remember only nice dreams though.

The most beautiful snow covered mountain with a green scenery or a beautiful city right below is what my brain has shown to me. I wish that I could record those beautiful places, knowing that I'd win a prize for best video scenery. I would definitely have the best wallpapers if I could take pictures in my dreams and have them as picture files on my computer... they'd get first prize on every contest and architects would get cool ideas if they saw the buildings and huge mansions that I've visited. I just don't understand how can my brain create images of cool places, better than any similar place that I've ever seen.

The coolest buildings and shopping centers are a product of my own unconscious imagination. I must say that I don't like to go shopping for more than two or three hours more than twice or thrice each year, and the places I visit are good enough for me to see even though I usually only stop by candy and ice cream stores. Whenever I stop to by something to eat, it should always be to take it for later or some other day. "Eating" in my dreams usually makes me regret it even before I begin doing it. I must add that I've never tasted anything but the semi-realistic avocados and delicious ice pops with Mexican chili, and I even tried another one on that dream.

So far, all I've felt while dreaming has had something to do with reality. Flying has become an ordinary activity, and I believe more in it in every dream, thinking that all previous flights have been a dream but not this one.

Dog Days part 2

The journey now continues. After what just happened a while ago I can't tell for sure if the next summit will be the last one, but I've determined to get there even if it is the last thing I ever do. Actually I must say that I'm used to getting what I want, even if it is not when I expect it.

The new job makes me feel much better now. Even though it is still hot, the shade has been and will continue to be there for the forseeable future. Food and water come by every time I need them, but the need for them has actually been reduced, especially the one for food. The loss of anxiety helped me lose the extra pounds that I gained because of desperation.