Ultimate/My Knee

Sean Ryan in Santa Cruz is coming up. Way excited for that. Wonder how that'll go, hopefully we'll find some places to stay and not end up... sleepless? I don't know, I heard something about sleeping in the gyms... :/

I've been sitting out the past 2 weeks cuz of my knee. I really don't know what's wrong with it, but I do know that I don't want to go through what I went through this summer. So I'm going to be smart about it and not push myself. Cuz my knee's are something that I'll need forever. And ultimate will be over once I'm out of college. But I'm going to start playing again on Tuesday to start getting ready for the tournament. I need to get in better shape. Need to start lifting weights, build up the muscles in my leg so my knee can be a-okay. Also, need to lose the pudginess residing my in stomach and love handle areas. If I can drop a few pounds there, that'll be good. But it'll take willpower, the one thing I don't have. Great. Haha.

I'm really excited about this weekend though. Ultimate tournaments are so much fun. The bonding, the playing, the girls, the games. Man, I love it. But since we have such a huge team right now (let's hope all the girls stay) it'll be lots of sitting out time, at least for the rookies. This time I think there's more crusties, so hopefully I won't die of exhaustion. Especially if I have to sleep on the gym floor that will not be good. I really do need to build up my endurance because I am going to be getting a lot more playing time than last year and it'll be compleletly different and much harder. Time to step it up, kids.

Some predictions about this season. Well, obviously we're not going to win nationals or anything. I don't even think we'll make it to nationals, totally not trying to be a downer or whatever, but seriously, if we didn't make it last year, what are the chances we'll make it this year? But since Danica played a smart card on my competitive factor, and pretty much challanged me, so I don't want to say that we can't because I hold high expectations for myself and my teammates/team. It'll just be hard because we have so many rookies and so few crusties that it's hard to teach it to them all at once. But I see lots of potential, lots of it, we're just lacking.. well, the experience. And it's not just them, me too. This year I'll be handling.. (great, really thought I could get out of that one..) and it's totally new to me. My throws still need a lot of work. A LOT.

Another thing I really want to work on is my defense. I'm getting better than last year, but still not good at it. I need more confidence when I go after the D's. And I need to play smart D. Smart D. Not chasing my player around like a dog or whatever. Something I need to work on. And I really want to get a handblock or something. Don't think I've ever gotten one, at least not in a game.. Well, one thing at a time. It's more important to make sure that I don't get beat to the open side.

And I need to learn how to lay-out. Maybe not layout, but at least not keep landing on my knees. I slide all over the place on my knees, it's bad. And I need to use my fakes more when handling the disk. Use fakes and break their marks!

So a few goals:
1. Get into shape.
2. Better throws
3. Better handler. Wise decisions, fakes, good cuts.
4. Better D.
5. LAY OUT!!

As for the team, just everyone have a kick ass time. By kicking ass, of course. I don't know, I just want to exceed other team's expectations of us, show them that they can't take us as a joke even though we're rebuilding. And hopefully in a year or two, we'll dominate. Pleiades Power. Pleiades Love.

So I guess I'll order from HP again...

So I had called again after my first encounter with HP, I had called again last week and talked to a new case manager. Might I add that this guy was much nicer. And he did say that I couldn't get money compensation, but he was going to send me free ink and paper. And that was totally enough, I didn't want anything extreme, just little things to show that they actually care about my business and that they're sorry that I'm waiting so long.

Anyways, someone had called yesterday (not my case manager) to inform me that my laptop will not be fixed until Nov. 6th. And again, I was slightly frustrated and said that I want some sort of compensation, and he's like you need a case manager for that, which I told him that I already had one. So he told me I should call my case manager cuz he's only the "messenger." Anyways, I was too lazy to call my case manager, and I was like he's already giving me free ink and stuff.

So today, I was studying for my Soc midterm, and my phone rings, and I see that it says it's HP Support. Cuz I have their number in my phonebook. And I was like, "OMG. I don't have to deal with this, I need to study." But I pick up, and it was my case manager. And he apologized for the delay and then proceeded to tell me that he would waive the 428.85 fee that I was going to pay. AND... he was going to get me a brand new laptop!! Same model and everything! At first I was like, "what??" And I didn't want to be like, "Oh a new laptop?" only to be wrong, cuz that'd be embarrassing, and I would seem very greedy. So I was like, "A new what??" So I'm getting a new laptop! I'm gonna have to wait two weeks. But I've waited long enough, and it'd only be one extra week from when they expected to finish my laptop. Plus it's so much better than my old one.

My old one:
CD burner. DVD player
80 G
1G RAM
XP
Webcam/Mic

New One:
CD/DVD burner
160G
2G RAM
Vista
Webcam/Mic
Free Microsoft Office

Woot. This made my day.

Moral of the Story: Complain, complain, and then complain some more.
Don't give up when people tell you that they don't give you compensation. :D

Screw HP

So I've been without a computer for exactly 19 days now and counting. Anyways, today was the third time I've called HP. When I called on the 17th, they told me that it was fixed and they'd be shipping my laptop out by the 18th at the very latest which means I would've gotten it by today. However, that was not the case. And online repair status said that my laptop wasn't even shipped out yet. So I called again. And I turned on BITCH mode. And I was transfer 5 times, each time I repeated my situation and also added that I would like to be compensated for this wait. Because they said I would have gotten my computer back by now. And when I reached the highest person, I thought I was getting somewhere. I could tell I was reaching higher people as their Indian accent got better, and then I was talking to people actually in America. And basically, my computer is still not fixed because there is a part shortage. And so again, I asked for a compensation. Only to be informed that HP does not provide any sort of compensation for down time and data lose.

So by then, I was actually really really pissed. Cuz it's way longer than expected and they can't even compensate me? Like how much money do they make? Seriously. I was arguing with the highest customer service person that actually speaks to the customers (I asked to speak to her supervisor only for her to inform me there's no where else to go). Cuz it's not my fault that they don't have the parts, I shouldn't have to pay and WAIT for them to fix my computer. It's not my fault they don't have the parts. And since they don't, they clearly should compensate me. And I said something along the lines of, "I shouldn't have to pay for your guys' inadequacies." But no matter how I argued, she firmly told me that they do not provide any sort of compensation. And I was like could I get a number for customer service about HP's stupid policies? Only for her to tell me that she would be the person to complain to. So I was like, I'm complaining to you, but you can't do anything about it? So that pretty much puts me in a horrible mood. $428.85 for a computer that is not yet fixed. No compensation. Nothing. Not to mention I've wasted over an hour worths of minute only for today. Not counting the other 2 times I've called.

And then for frisbee we had a pasta night. And they had called me to see if I have any paper plates or whatever, but as they called I was at Wal-Mart, so I was like "Oh, I can buy some right now." So I did. And keep in mind I also haven't been able to check my email regularly because of the above, so I wasn't really sure what time the whole pasta thing was anyways. And I guess the couldn't start eating without me since I had the plates and all. So we had to finish shopping, drive back, which then we stopped at my roommate's coffee shop so she could check her schedule. And as we were doing that, 3 people had called to ask where I was, but I was in the car, I didn't even have a chance to go home. And we had to drop another roommate off on campus. And on the way driving there, someone called me again, but it's not like I was driving, and just cuz they keep calling doesn't make the car go any faster or make the lights turn green. And then I'm totally annoyed and I realize that I'm going to get so much crap about this. Just cuz that's how people are like, and people always think I'm someone they can make fun of and push around. I was in the car and I said, "Omg, I'm gonna get SO much crap over this." And when I got there. Guess what I got? Crap. It wasn't too bad, but it was irritating nonetheless. Sai was nice enough to stand up for me. But still, it was like frustating. Like it was only a block away from Safeway. So seriously.

So what a wonderful day.

blahhhhh..

It's been awhile, but school has start and such that. Great. Anyways, it's been a hard first few weeks, but I'm working through it. Felt like I was losing control of my life, and I'm trying to regain control. Got awesome friends, that's all I can say.

So I broke my computer, and I won't get back it until the 17th, or so they say. Blahh.. It's impossibly inconvenient without a computer. But yeah, I'm coping. Doing work on school computers.

So frisbee started again. Got lots of recruits. Totally awesome. A little effort goes a long way. My knee's kinda weird, like when I play it doesn't hurt, but when I walk around the muscles are pretty tight and hurts a bit. And I realize that I probably should let my knee heal 100% by not playing on it at all, but I feel like it's something so minor compared to how I was feeling last year spring when I was limping around and jogging. I'm just slightly scared that it'll only get worse and to how it was last year. Well, so far seems fine. Ultimate is actually a lot of fun. I guess I'm in the transition to being a handler which is fun cuz you pretty much get to run the offense, but I really like running the disc down. Receiving's a whole lot of fun, but we'll see.

Life is not so fun right now. *sigh* Whatever.

Last Day of Internship

Today's my last day! I've been training a new girl, and other than that, not doing much at all. It's pretty cool, I teach and then let her do as I chill. But I must say she's A LOT slower than me. Like seriously, just watching her do it made me impatient and I wanted to get rush over there and be like, "OMG I'LL DO IT!" Hopefully she'll get faster as time goes on. But whatever, I no longer work there.

I feel bad for the new girl, she has a lot of work to do. I don't think I had this much to do when I first came in. It's just like she's learning a gazillion things at once. I remember my first day, I learned how to do everything except there was actually nothing to do.. Haha.

I will update and upload Japan ASAP. But I must say, I had SO MUCH FUN! I want to go and study there and go for vacay there a lot. What a wonderful place with such nice people. :)

I should get back to work, there's a few things that I need to wrap up before I officially leave. :)

It's hard to find a balance. When I'm at internship, I get annoyed at all the work that I have to do and complain about how the real world sucks and wish that I could be at home doing nothing. After Labor Day, I got Tuesday and Wednesday off. On Tuesday I went out, so it was okay, but when I got home I was pretty bored so I napped. And on Wednesday, absolutely no plans. So I slept it in until the winds picked up and froze me awake. It's pretty cold the last day or two. Like the metals blinds kept clanking against my window, freezing me to death so I had to close most of my window, but it got pretty cold. Anyways, I woke up around 12:30 which seriously is the first time I've slept in this summer. And the latest I've woken up. Ah, how I miss the days when I woke up at 4, and only had dinner because I slept through the first two meals. Anyways, I'm up a little after noon, go make myself some lunch. Went on my computer, got bored, started unpacking/packing for Davis (I mostly left all my stuff in the garage, so just going through to see what I need, and I concluded that I needed everything, fairly fast process.. Haha). And since I managed that so quickly, I decided to do it again, to see if I got rid anything else. I couldn't. So went back on the computer. Was totally bored again. And it was around 5 I think. So I'm totally bored after being up for a few hours, and had nothing else to do. And thus, I took a nap.

So obviously, it's not good idea for me to just stay at home since I was only awake for a few hours. But I get so bored at internship, or so annoyed of the work. So what's a good balance? Part time job?

Going to Japan next week. Hopefully will be fun, heard lots of good stories about it. And the hot spring spas.. Haha, the hot spring spas.. which totally reminds me of something else funny. Me totally flashing Amy on accident. Interesting thought process (Hot spring spa->Naked->like Skinny Dipping->Amy accidently flashing me in swimsuit accident-> Me doing the same->Me flashing her again... not in water this time.. just lifted shirt a little too high). Amy: "Whoa. I just saw your entire breast" Haha. Anywaysssssssssss....

And now I will leave you with this:

"I AM NOW CHOPPING OFF PHYLLIS' HEAD WITH A CHAINSAW"
watch the office, kiddos. [/plug]

Weddings, weddings, weddings!

Wow. I love weddings. And it's something more special when you actually know the people getting married. Like I've been to my cousin's wedding, however I'm not particularly close to any of them, so whenever I go, it's nothing special. But yeah, weddings are awesome! It's such a special day, and it's YOUR day. I realized that I really want a wedding, not marriage (though hopefully that will come one day), but the wedding. When everyone's focused on your, it's your special day, getting ready, excited, that just sounds wonderful.

Anyways, it was a dinner cruise which was pretty cool. Definitely good food. That's what's important obviously, haha. Another aspect I liked was that the wedding was short (in comparison to her sister's at least). And I've decided when I get married, it'll be a half-hour wedding, that way no one will be bored. Short and sweet. And how exciting it must be to plan everything, so live the rest of your life with someone you love. It sounds wonderful.

My friend said she'll have her wedding and have everyone wear Chucks which is an excellent idea. My feet were killing me, not to mention my knee. I'll have like... a beach wedding and have everyone wear flip-flops or go barefoot. Or... a no shoe requirement? Haha. Like Indian traditions (I actually don't know if that's true or not, I just got it from the Office episodes Dwahli). But then I'll need someone outside to guard the shoes, and make sure everyone wears their own shoes home. Haha.

Funny story: A guy at the wedding decided to randomly grab a bouquet just for giggles, and then realized it was the bouquet that the bride intended to throw (he was informed by a second grader girl) and he started to freak out and told the girl to return it to the "bucket on top of the bar."

And a friend had one drink, a Screwdriver (oj+vodka) and was totally not feeling well. LIGHT WEIGHT. I had a sip of a virgin magarita which to me just tasted like salty lemonade..

Weddings are so much fun, and so happy! And filled with love... obviously. <3