Thursday, May 26, 2005

Early Birthday SURPRISE!


product_12001_l1
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Welp the cowerks got me this year. I'm usually pretty stealthy about birthdays these past few years. I'd rather just keep it on the "D.L." and not "floss". For lunch the standard Lunch Bunch (Scotty, Tommy and Paulie) went out to Ale House to grab some eats. I axed some of the other officemates if they wanted to go, but they totally "fronted" and were like "naaah". So we went and a few minutes later a few more people showed up - Amy, Ed, Higgins, AGlen and Dan dropped in for lunch as well - the same hooligans that said "naaah". Doh!

Afterwards, they totally made me "trip" by asking me to come to the conference room to go over another concept for an Affiliate Kit and catching me off guard - "SURPRISE!" Cake, birthday card, gift and the entire building were there. They got me some Mango Margarita Mix and the topper, Slang FlashCards. Hilarious! Now I can brush up on my lingo and up my street cred. Thanks guys!

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Out With The Old...


IMG_0132
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.

...And In With The New


IMG_0133
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Welp it was time to retire our old trusty 1995 Ford Explorer Sport. El bought this as her own graduation gift and it's served us well. It's seen us move countless times hauling furniture to different homes and travelled near and far to see friends and family. From DC to Key West this baby kept on truckin'! But alas all good things must come to an end. The A/C died a few months ago, the brakes are shot, the engine cuts out every now and then while you're driving and stayed alive past 200,000 miles. That's a lot of drive time.

El wasn't too sad to see it go. Not after she found out I bought her an Acura MDX Touring Edition. In the color she wanted with ALL the features we both wanted. I got a fantastic deal from CarMatch Auto and Les Segal, a dealer who is in the same type of business as Cherilyn and her husband, Kevin.

Sorry Kevin and Cher! Thanks for trying to locate one for us! This was a deal I couldn't pass up.

I originally was about to buy a charcoal grey one that had almost the same features and luck had it that it was sold the day I went to take a gander. Nevertheless, Les found EXACTLY what I was looking for and $2000 under what I was willing to pay. Who says patience isn't a virtue?

Funny El has been extra nice to me lately. Hmmm...I wonder what that's about? Kidding. She works hard and she deserves it so I wanted to do something really exceptional for her. Wait a minute. Isn't it MY birthday this month???

IMG_0137
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
A few of the nice features include:
A leather interior with burlwood accents
6 CD changer with 7 speakers
full color GPS navigation and voice alerts
4x4 traction control
moonroof
running boards
towing package
power seats & mirrors with heat & memory settings

AND Still under factory warranty!

IMG_0144
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
El loves her new ride. She thinks it's pretty "t-ssss!" HOT.

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

The Internet Is An Interesting Animal


Pictures I Like
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
I'm still amazed with technology such as instant Messaging and the Web. Just recently I was able to see photos of Clark Air Base and the high school I went to overseas in the Philippines (including my goofy ass sophomore photo); reconnect with my two cousins, Lester and Mark Parulan, in the PI whom I haven't seen since they were 4 and 5 and I was 16; and gems of websites such as this site, Pictures I Like For A Variety of Reasons. Hilarious! Definitely go through the archives of the site to see previous postings...

PostSecret
Originally uploaded by erickpineda527.
Ed also sent me this great site, PostSecret. Definitely makes you think twice about the things important to you. Some sad, some funny, some !!!

The weekend in a nutshell...

FRIDAY

Going away Happy Hour for Joel Andres and Nicci Fry at Blue Martini. Amazing. A "high end" bar complete with neons lights, hoochie looking 40+ females and 20+ guys, retro kitsch band in white suits, large breasted wait staff and bartenders at THE MALL. Most Interesting Event at this bar: You actually get to "meet" the hot bartender if you open a tab. Paul paid with cash and barely got a glance. I guess you are allowed an introduction if you hint a dropping more than a round's cash. Service with a smile, even if they don't mean it.

Afterwards. me and El had dinner at Dan Marino's (pleh!) before watching Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy (pleh!). It had some funny parts, but I tell ya what - I had to FIGHT to stay awake during parts of it. Great cast, but crammed story even to those who know Douglas Adams' books.

SATURDAY

Went shopping around for plants for our landscaping project. This is actually quite alot of work. I can't wait to finish this damn thing up. I like working outside, but it's hard to finish something when the sun goes down before you make it home in time. I'm trying to discourage El from going all over the board with this as she creates more side projects before she actually finishes them. She's gotta focus more. I decided to start my own small project I felt I could finish in a day (foolish me). I decided to redo my aquarium of Shubunkins, Orandas and Koi by getting rid of all coral with live plants and driftwood. Much more work than I anticipated. Gak!

Later in the early evening we went to Paul's for a small get together cookout that he and Scotty threw together. Good time for sure. Nothing wrong with a little male bonding/networking. El seemed to enjoy herself. Damn Paul's got a nice neighborhood! Everyone has that "hurricane money" so everyone's casa looks sharp. A few drinks here and there, some good company, tasty eats and watching the sun dip down by the pool surely unwound me. Slept pretty soundly.

SUNDAY

Got up fairly early to get a move on our landscaping project again. We actually were able to go to the Farmer's Market, get more plants and finish my aquarium project. Geezus it's hot out today. I've been nonstop sweating today. The humidity has been almost unbearable while we (I) dig out errant Oleander and stick in Japanese Maple and Bamboo. The only saving grace was later in the day it looked like it wanted to rain, but didn't. Stil it was crazy hot and sticky even with the respite of the sun going down. I stink. Just glad I was able to yank out those two eyesores (Oleander) from our fence.

That's it in a nutshell! No pictures, no fluff. Skrate up blog. Peace.