Day #105 9/21/11: Lo Maximo…

Mountain View wal mart, lots of good memories here

A very good day where I continued trying to solve my dog’s flea crisis but I figured to buy her a flea collar and a shampoo that is very good for getting rid of fleas. I also ended up going to wal mart for the first time in a few months as I bought my Randy Orton DVD which I am dying to see because he has become such a complete wrestler as I have been a huge fan of his since 2004. I also was surprised when my mom called me to let me know that she was getting off at 8 in the evening which meant about 12 hours of work for her this day and I said that this would be perfect so I could go to the gym, which I did where I burned close to 620 calories although the calories are not the most important part, it’s the amount of effort that you felt was right. I waited until 7:30 when I went for my mom and we spent the rest of the night asking dumb questions to each other with funny answers( seriously). I am very proud of all the efforts of Project 365 which I started about 5 months ago as I want to finish this and hopefully I can do it one or two more times. I started playing catch up about two weeks ago with uploading everything and I am very proud of the result. Thanks for everyone who continues to view this blog and remember just like I told my friend a few days ago “friends don’t let friends drive to far away places”.

Day #75 8/22/11: Therapeutic…

My cousin in the middle and my two aunts

It was finally time to head to Mexico and I got up early to help out my old buddy Manuel as he has been on crutches for a little bit now. I noticed once we got to the airport it was very busy as the steps getting on the actual plane are a pain but I can understand why people in higher positions would think that people want to blow up a plane. So the head count was me, my aunt, and my mom and I was feeling like a survivor from my family. Everybody now has kids, works for a living almost killing themselves in the process from so much work, and I thanked myself for taking a vacation due to so much reasoning behind the fact that you work and you have nothing to show for it. But, the best advice I got from watching an interview with a wrestler a couple of years of ago, I realized you save your money and good things will come. Being on the flight, I started watching the best of raw from 2009 as I saw a few segments from the beginning of the year as I got flashbacks when I would go to class in the morning from 10:30-12:30 Tuesdays and Thursdays and I would come home to watch Raw. Once we got there, I saw my beloved uncle Guillermo, who is always willing to lend a hand seeing as how he picked us up and I can’t imagine anybody saying a bad thing about him because he has done so much for my family and I. I caught up with some old family members and after that we headed to a cemetery where both my grandparents are buried and I just noticed the raw emotion that was there from my mom and her sister from seeing there parents. We were there for a little bit until we saw that there was no way in hell that we could get the door open from the door lock being so dry. So, we decided to give a try the next day until we could get it open. The night ended with me, my mom, her sister, Guillermo’s wife, Maria, and Memo visiting an uncle of there’s that they haven’t seen in a while and needless to say it was like therapy. What I mean is that who needs comedians when you have older Mexican folks making us laugh with joy and tears by telling great stories about there adventures, there misfortunes, and as well as there future endeavors. Indeed, what a day!

Day #42 7/20/11: Stories of a 3 day downfall pt.2…

Yeah, I went on another Wednesday escapade to the movies but the day turned into weirdness as I went to the library as I couldn’t find parking at the library and I couldn’t find it till I got underground part. But, getting there I felt strange being there knowing that I had a time limit as my mom wanted me to pick her up by Kiely and Homestead but I misread that I had not said at Homestead and instead she got off on stevens creek. I was upset that once I got home my brother told me that the internet charging cable was no good and it could set off a fire on the carpet as it was now exposed which we couldn’t risk. I sat there thinking now I really have no technology which sucked since my IPOD was almost out of battery. So, going to see Transformers was all shits and giggles and it was a silver lining nonetheless as I sat there thinking… How could it get any worse? I fell asleep early as the day was exhausting. Only a few more challenges laid ahead…

Parents…

las cosas tienen su tiempo y yo
lo lleve temprano,porque querer
tanto a los hijos,algunos padres
fallamos en lugar de darles todo
porqe no los preparamos

-Los Tigres del Norte "Le Compre la muerte a mi hijo"

Parents, what can I say? When you are having a great time with them but when you have your share of differences with them,
you can't stand them. This year, and a little bit after I realized we were struggling financially, my parents started being
more negative about there money situation and I tried my best to not fall into the same trap. I remember when we didn't have
to pay for so many luxuries like a car, car insurance, and utility bills being so high. Yet, I've also seen that growing up
my parents did their best to provide with everything they could. They didn't make the best money nor will they ever but they taught
me a lot about life and also bought in when I wanted to have something. I can make a huge list of all the dumb things I ever asked
my parents for and it still would not justify all the great contributions they made for me. I remember my dad paid for me to go to
science camp in 5th grade up in Saratoga Walden West and we were late on the payments yet he still managed to give the school money. My
mom was also able to make some great sacrifices in my early years as she took me to work with her a few days during summer days.
I didn't do much except help my mom move things in the rooms where she would be working and I would just watch TV most of the
time. I would usually go with her in the morning to take the bus all the way to Palo Alto and I was excited to take those
long bus rides because I saw some cool stuff along the way like some friends that had taken a bus back from where we were
going. My parents were much more active back in the day but now I can see that they are getting old and they prepared me for the
challenges I face today. They taught me to choose my friends wisely and they also acknowledged when and if my friends were
good influences on me. I remember my friend from my old condos would always want to hang out on a Friday or Saturday and
my parents would give their approval if I should go out or not. They would have the money back then to actually give me and
I would spend some money that night on food or going to the mall. I appreciated that a lot and I try my best to give back
to them as best I can. You may always go back to the altar crying and complaining about the money that you are giving your
parents but they didn't complain when they gave it to you. Also, when I didn't drive my mom and myself would go the movies taking
the old #57 bus here in San Jose and going to AMC Saratoga to see a movie I wanted to see and we always enjoyed ourselves.
I miss those times because it was convenient to go to the movies on a weekend and there was never any problem with it either
as she enjoyed the time we spent together. She would take me out to eat and sometimes we would just eat at home. I can honestly
say that seeing that made me realize that my mom did what she did to keep me happy. I didn't keep in close contact with
many of my old friends from before and this is around that time when she would take me to a lot of places even if it was
on the bus. I guess she tried her best to tell me that your friends may leave you but I won't. We don't hang out as much anymore
but I wish we could again someday. Now, she comes home exhausted from working and I can understand that she is tired and
she is trying to pay all the bills we have. Hopefully, once we get all our marbles together maybe this year her and I can go to Mexico and
her native Zacactecas which I always enjoy going to because it's been a while for me but a lot longer for her. Now, my dad
is unique and special to me. He isn't the active, fast paced let's go out animal he was a few years ago and yet I believe
it's because of his age and all the pressures he faces from working so much for so little. I helped him out all I could
when he went on a job search about a year ago and it felt somewhat difficult because he wasn't a native english speaker. I
told him to hang in there and I too paid for food and what not when I could in that time. The reason he is so special to me
is because like my mom he too tried his best his entire life to give me all he could. There have been numerous times where
he has cooked food for me and he didn't have to but he did anyway. He is a big drinker and whenever he drinks he ends up 
pretty wasted but I learned from my dad that drinking to him is a way of escaping and I thought to myself why do it if that's
the only way you'll do it. I understood why he did it but I also learned that being around people like that (my brother and 
his friends and also a few friends of mine) allows you to see that all they want to do is have fun in life and I'm all for
having fun in life. If that's their way of acting out there fun then I say all the power to them because I try my best to make
sure whenever my friends or my brother's friends need a ride home I can be there so that they don't end up doing something 
dumb at the end of the night. My parents have taught me one important lesson as well:Having less money than you did before
allows to bond together and have a common cause. For a while here, I thought we were doing all right with our house payments
and all the other crazy bills we get here at home. However, once we started suffering financially and economically, we had to get our heads
together and figure out solutions for things. In my class yesterday, my professor for History made an interesting point in saying that when 
you're struggling you bond together as a family and when you're having the good times role everyone just goes there own way. 
For a while, I thought that's how I saw it and I could see it when I saw my mom every other four days and I would only see
my dad a little bit every day. Even my brother and myself, who I had been close with for a long time but we drifted apart for 
a while, went our own ways for a bit but this year we have been talking on a more consistent basis because you may not love
your family everyday but when you get older they will be the ones that will be with you in the end. Now, I have a better 
relationship with my parents and with my brother because we have seen each other grow and change as well. I tell my mom that
life is better when you don't have a lot of money and she doesn't believe it but we all have our beliefs. I have a good time
talking to my dad and we share a lot of things in common these days. If it wasn't for my parents, I probably would just be
lost and confused about who I am and I thank them for that. Good day to all and have a good weekend! Here's something that made
makes me think nostalgia:

What we remember…

Life is much different than it was 5 years ago for me. 5 Years ago I was still living in San Jose, CA starting my senior year of high school and I still remember those days and how much has changed since then. Ever since then, I don’t have the same friends as I used to, I have my   own money, I live in a different area, I have a stable job, and most of all I am still the same person but with a different mindset. I remember when I used to hang with my buddies from High School from Homestead I would feel a little different from them because they had a different lifestyle than they did. Even when I hung out with my friends from Cupertino High, I felt that I was different from them as well. I felt a bit more mature and more sophistacated than them. One moment in particular that I felt that I was more mature than my friends from Homestead was when I would hear them talking about their experiences they had getting drunk or smoking which dissapointed me because they always seemed a bit better than that. I never felt any real resentment towards them for doing that but I was still proud of them because my friendships with them were unique. I’ll always remember the fun times when I would see them in those times bt I felt I was lucky to move away from those group of friends of mine that were slowly but surely falling into a path that I was not set for. However, I remember five years ago in high school, I had a group of friends I dubbed the “Magnficent Seven” which was me, Anand, Vinod, Mohammed, Manu, Jason, and Hong. We were a close bunch but what I remember the most was that we were all smart and we never really had any problems with each other. I considered Anand to be a good friend of mine and we always got along well even though we never really agreed on much. We did a lot together in those times including going to the movies, studying, writing papers, and even going to eat out as well. Vinod was someone I considered to be truly awesome at that time cause we never had a disagreement and we seemed to click on all cylinders when it came to certain things (girls, movies, music, and school.) Mohammed was new to Cupertino so I had a difficult time getting to know him at first but after a while we seemed to get along just fine and we were never ran out of things to talk about. Manu, Jason, and Hong were sort of backdrop to my friendships with the other guys but they all had a good sense of humor when the time was right. However, what I remember most about 5 years ago was that I didn’t have to worry about anything. These days, I have to worry about saving money, putting gas in my car, making time for family and friends, finishing school, continuing to remind myself at the Big Red Machine that it’s not about me anymore and I have to enahnce talent rather than putting myself over in my head. It’s difficult to explain but when I was 17 I had no plans to find myself fighting over the fact that maybe life would be different if this happened or if this person never met this person. The truth is life would be different if I got toegther with a girl at the end of my high school tenure, and of course I always the millions upon millions of “what if” questions and some of them are:

What if I never moved to San Jose in the first place?

What if my brother and his girlfriend never stay together?

What if my dad never bought his first car after getting his license?

What if we never bought a car in the first place?

What if I never had found a job at the Big Red Machine? Would my life be better or worse?

What if my mom’s family actually started talking to each other again?

What if my dad’s family didn’t treat him like him like garbage?

OK you get the point life would be much different if all these things had happened in this time frame. If I didn’t find a job I would probably had never met all the wonderful people that work with me or have worked with me including(but not limited to): Ricardo, JB, John S., Audrey, James K., Dustin, Phillip, Manut, Alex R., and Jimmy. I always wonder what would life be like if we didn’t own a car and the truth is maybe our lives would be different and we would actually be a lot closer as a family. Not to say that we aren’t close it’s just you create a lot more memories when you ride not in a car. It’s also pretty funny how my parent’s relationships with their brothers and sisters have changed over the past few years. My dad has been someone that I’ve admired ever since I saw how he sacrficed for me when I wasn’t working and he would pay for my books and my school. I owe him big time for that and it kills my spirit when I see how his family treats him. He doesn’t get the attention and he never will because the people that do the most get the the least because they aren’t appreciated in the end. My mom has also had a pretty strained relationship with her brothers and sisters but I think that’s mostly because she’s the middle child and she has to take care of the younger siblings. It’s as if they are divided and they will only side with each other if so and so agrees with them. But whatever family conflcit is common and even though I hear it through phone coversations I know one day they will relaize the error of their ways and they’ll reconcile their differences. What we remember most of these days is not if we did things right or whether we did things the wrong way but we remember the reason it happened was because it was meant to be. Yeah sometimes a series of unfortunate events may happen but things happen for a reaon and the reason I’m writing this is to remind people that no matter how bad our lives get always remember there are people that have worse lives than we do and we complain about a bad day or a bad week. I think sometimes we have to be fortunate for what we have and as a good friend of mine used to say “It’s not about having what you want, it’s about wanting what you have”. Things happen for a reaon and at this timein my life I think all the good things are happening for a reason and even though something bad may pop out once in a while we just brush it off to become stronger later on.