Author: Josh

Last night El and I went to Bruckbauer’s for pizza, beer and to watch the NBA semifinals… what a combo!

This past weekend we went up to Ft. Worth to visit John & Christine. It was really good to get away for a while. I think we were really avoiding unpacking.

While in Ft. Worth, we went to the stockyards, did some window shopping and ate bbq. Johnny and I looked like a couple hillbillies eating the $9.99 all-you-can-eat beef ribs. Then we went back to their house and played PS2 for most of the night.

Sunday we all got up late and at kolaches. Then we tried to go to the Mayfest, but they wouldn’t let us in because we brought Wesley along (Engler’s dog).

And, I would like to take this space to apologize to anyone who has been offended by what I write on my site – I’ll try to censor myself better next time…

Today I started (more like restarted) teaching myself php and mysql. I’m thinking about dumping janicek.com into a database. Hmmmmm… I have to figure out why my home network isn’t working (again). El’s computer can see my computer, but her computer can’t get online. Man, it never ends.

Tomorrow El and I are going to Ft. Worth to visit John & Christine. I’m sure Johnny and I will be geeking out in front of a computer or the PS2. We used to be cool!

I talked to John a few times on the phone today – he’s helping me figure out all this database-driven website stuff. He told me he had to go so he could clean house. They’re cleaning house for us! I think that’s funny. They should see our place!

Back in high school, John and I would hang out on his mom’s porch. We’d sit there for hours and hours and hours, just talking about life. I really miss those days.

Elise and I just got back from Applebee’s. Now I think I’m sick – seriously.

I’ve been to Applebee’s three times now – Once in Brenham, once in Austin, and now in Temple. The first time I went, I was with Philip and Amanda and I got nachos. Can’t really screw up nachos.

Second time I went, it was El, Cody, Victor and myself. I had fajitas – not really good. Bland and dry.

Today we went to the Applebee’s in Temple. I had a hamburger, thinking: “You can’t really screw up a hamburger.” This hamburger was fubar – completely burnt to a crisp. I didn’t take visual notice – I had to find out by nearly cracking a tooth. I’m not kidding when I say burnt to a crisp. I don’t know how the hell my plate made it out of the kitchen.

I immediately sent it back. I’m not usually like that. I’m usually quiet and non-confrontational. If my food sucks, I’ll eat the crap, pay and never go back. I had to say something this time though. The waiter was cool and apologetic. He said he’d get me a new burger immediately. Half and hour later, the manager came and kneeled beside me. I told him to get our check. He said he’d go back to the kitchen and personally get my burger and he’d comp both of our meals.

I got another burger long after El was done with her chicken fajita wraps. My burger was dry as a bone. We should have just gotten our check and ran. Anyway, we got a free lunch out of it. Kinda funny though… you get to eat at a place for free to determine that you’ll never go there again.

I need to go lay down… I don’t feel so hot.

I have the best wife in the world. I came home from work and just went and laid on the bed. El came and laid over me with her arm across my body. She went on to tell me about a blanket she used to have when she was a little girl. She would suck her thumb and run her finger back and forth across the bridge of her nose with a little frayed and balled up piece of blanket in between.

She said she felt content with that blanket – she had everything she needed at that time. She told me tonight that she felt the same way with me. I don’t think she’ll ever understand how much that means to me. I just looked at her and smiled and told her that I loved her.

Happy May Day. As of today, El is done moving us up from Austin. I can tell she’s exhausted. AND – she’s getting even skinnier! She called yesterday and told me she’s lost even more weight. I’m really proud of her!

So, to celebrate we went to an all-you-can-eat Chinese food buffet. Usually I frown upon buffets, but this food was awesome. And they had EVERYTHING. Too bad I can’t remember the name of the place. They have four huge buffet lines with everything you could imagine. They even had raw oysters, mussels, king crab legs, pizza, crawfish, and your normal Chinese fare. It was awesome. We’re going to have to avoid that place if we want to stay healthy.

Now everyone has an excuse to visit!

I did my first fire marshal inspection today – such a rewarding job – I just wish they’d get me my fireman’s hat!

Not a whole lot else going on – I need to watch some basketball.

Oh yeah… I get to drive (more like race [wink]) a BMW Z3 3.0i Roadster. I’m driving on May 15th at 4pm to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. I’m looking forward to testing this baby out, but more importantly, I’m excited that I get to help out such a great foundation. Look for the video later this month!

Today went by really quickly, much to my surprise. Elise is in Austin (again) cleaning the old apartment. I really appreciate her doing that for us. I think I’ll take her on a date this weekend.

My friend and coworker, Luciana has been going through the same thing as me. Her and her husband moved to Killeen from Los Angeles because he (Will) is in the Army. He was sent to Colorado earlier this month for training and support. So she’s been spouseless for a month. She told me that he got back today. She said they were going to go do something special tonight.

I had a really good conversation with my boss today. I just needed to let off some steam and talk to someone. My boss is a really cool woman – it’s good to have someone like that in a professional environment – someone you can trust and confide in.

I’ve been playing this putt-putt game… a good time killer. Thank you everybody for sending me your scores – yes, I know, I stink. I think Victor, Jenni, and El can back me on that! Last summer, us four would go play putt putt and consume raspas on Sunday afternoons. My friend Victor is too funny. Most of the time, he would treat. He would write an $8 check for all of us to play putt putt. Then, when we were done, he would always want another raspa, so he would write a $1 check for a stupid sno-cone!

I went through Fire Marshal training today. Yes, your humble narrator is the official fire marshal for the Scott & White Marcom department. I have to regularly check our area and observe a ton of state and national regulations. That will probably take a good chunk out of my day tomorrow. I have to arrange fire drills, inspect alarms and fire extinguishers and report to our safety department. The lady who trained me is also a skydiving instructor. She gave me a discount on lessons…. hmmmm. That could make for a good streaming video, eh?

Riley is definitely at home now – he’s back to his normal ways of sitting on my lap and licking my face while I’m at the computer. Our cat is weird. I think he takes after Elise. He eats Jell-O.

115-102 Dallas. The Mavs lead the series against Minnesota 3-0. Yeah!

El and I are finally moved in in Temple. We had movers move us yesterday. That’s made life so much easier. It took them 2 hours to load our stuff. It would have taken El and I at least 2 days. I have Scott & White to thank for the moving allowance!

Our apartment is actually cozy with most of our stuff. I thought I was going to be a big cluster. El and I decided to just start throwing stuff away or giving it to Goodwill. So now we don’t have as much junk!

I’m pretty much settled in… I’ve gotten to know Temple a little and feel pretty comfortable around here. I’m sure Elise will have to endure a small acclimation. The funniest thing is Riley. I’m sitting here in the new home office and I can see Riley sleeping on the patio. He was really stressed when we were tearing the Austin apartment apart. El brought him up last night and set him down in the living room. He sniffed around for a couple minutes, then just made this place home. He has all of his ‘stuff’ here, so I guess he doesn’t need much more.

I wonder if he’s going to miss his friends. In Austin, he had all of the neighborhood strays that he would talk to when he was on the patio. I haven’t seen many loose cats around here.

Mom and Dad called me tonight – It’s good to hear from them every once in a while and get a voice of reason. Sometimes I start thinking and get some preconceived notion in my head, then my parents call and put things into perspective. It’s those little, simple words of advice that make things seem not-so-bad. I’m lucky to have the parents that I have. I owe them a lot too. Between my wife and my parents, I’ll be in debt for the rest of my life!

I remember one time, when I was really little, I was asking my dad about his job. I think it was one of those days when I went to work with him. I don’t remember exactly how everything transpired, but I just remember my dad saying to me: “Josh, I just want you to do better than me.” Now that I think about that, I don’t know if that’s possible. My parents raised me to be a good person. I try my hardest to do the best that I can. I really hope I can live up to their expectations – more importantly, my own. I never did without as a child… but I still remember my dad saying what he did to me, and that pushes me that much harder… to provide for myself and my wife. I would love to be my dad. He’s my all-time hero.

Well, the countdown is pretty much up. El is coming up here tomorrow. She’s hauling a truckload in. I’m going to ride back to Austin with her tomorrow night and help pack. We have the movers coming in early Saturday morning. After the week that I’ve had, I’m really not looking forward to moving.

At least I’ll have El up here with me now. That will make life nicer for me. It’s kind of weird… I’ve gotten used to being up here alone – I have everything setup my way – I’ve gotten used to having no furniture, sleeping 1″ from the floor and eating Romen noodles. It’s going to be weird getting back to ‘normal’ life.

Well, it’s getting late… I have big day ahead of me tomorrow. I have to prepare for a ‘Retreat’ on Monday. Then I have to be prepped for moving this weekend. I’ll need an immediate weekend after this weekend! A good, long, mind clearing motorcycle ride is what I’ll need.

Woohoo… Go Mavericks. 2-0! I was kind of upset because the Mavs didn’t go further last year. Looks like they might have a chance this go-around. Sorry, the b-ball in me will start rearing its head now – tis that time of year. Of course, I’ll always be wearing my purple and yellow (Lakers). I really wish Houston would do something again. My interest in b-ball really started again in ’94 when Houston did so well. Now, as I grow older and ‘move on’, I get further and further away from Houston. First it was Cat Spring (an hour from Houston), then Austin (two hours from Houston), now Temple (don’t know how far – haven’t driven it yet), but I’ll still bleed red for the Rockets (assuming they’re still red… now I think it’s purple and black or something like that)

I finally hung out with one of my neighbors tonight. His name is Brian. He’s a huge Japanese-American military guy. He’s really nice. He came up to use my phone this evening. We wound up hanging around the balcony most of the night. He’s a tank commander – has to be at ‘work’ (he calls it playing) at 5 a.m. everyday. I finally had the opportunity to tell someone in the military that I appreciate what they do. It was good to be able to express that.

Brian always calls me ‘sir’. I’ve said ‘Hi’ in passing many times in the past 6 weeks that I’ve been here – and he always says “Hello Sir”. I appreciate that because I understand respect. I’m not saying that I’m better than him, I’d be willing to call him ‘sir’ as well. Hell, if anything, he’s probably more worthy of the title than I am. That’s just the TKD coming out in me.

I feel a lot better knowing that I now know someone in the building. Maybe now I can exercise my idea of sharing one Road Runner connection. I don’t know if Brian has a computer, but I’ve always thought that it would be so easy to run 100′ of Cat5 cable from my router to someone else’s apartment and split the broadband bill. Guess I’ll have to bring that up in our next meeting. Sorry Time Warner, but I own stock in you guys and it’s about time I get something back! – or just a less-expensive cable bill!

I really need sleep – I stayed up too late watching basketball. Elise called me early tonight. Today was her last day at Circle C. I told her she could take (needs) a little hiatus. She deserves it. I hope she can find a good job that will make her really happy and give her the opportunity to contribute her knowledge. I sometimes wish that I had everything in the world – I would give it all to my wife… just for being the person that she is. Actually, you couldn’t put a price on my wife… she’s the best thing in the world.

Today was the longest, most miserable day of my life. Don’t ask me why – it just went on and on and on and on. Plus, work just sucked.

I forgot to mention… Last Thursday, El and I drove down to San Antonio to hear Dave Ramsey speak. I’ve already read two of his books, so I didn’t get much from his 5 hour lecture, but I think El did, which is good. I’m not much into motivational/self help stuff, but my mom turned me on to this dude and I’m kind of addicted to his prophecies.

I made some really good spaghetti and meatballs last night. The secret to good meatballs: fennel seeds. I caught the stove on fire too. Some chef I’ll make, huh? I was boiling the pasta in plenty of water and it foamed up, rolled down to the burner and started a fire. Oh well – it’s not my kitchen unless there’s been a fire!

El just called. She’s on her Jeep trip again. She’s wanted a Jeep since she was 12. Every once in a while she brings it up. Guess we’ll have to figure that one out later. I really don’t have a leg to stand on considering I want a ZX7R. We’re not very practical, I know.

Tomorrow is El’s last day at Circle C. She says she’s looking forward to moving on. I can’t blame her. She’s been doing the same thing for four years.

Well, it’s off to read my book. I’m going to finish it tonight. Then I’ll be able to do something productive in the evenings. I’m not sure what that is just yet, so I’m open to suggestions.

A good day, a bad day. Let me start on a good note. My friend Johnny sent me this link today – I think we can all relate in some form or fashion. If you don’t feel like clicking through, it’s about a guy named Carlos who has a rich redneck neighbor who’s really into home improvement.

Now the bad news. This is a double-dunk in the depression pond, so grab a hanky. First, another music mentor of mine passed away. Layne Staley of Alice In Chains was found dead on Friday at the age of 34. Supposedly he died of a heroin overdose and his body lay in his house for quite a while before someone found him. It sucks because I respected him as a singer, and it sucks more because he was stupid enough to let heroin get the best of him. It kind of tugs at your heart strings… if he were a personal friend of mine, I’d want him back for one more day so I could knock him around and tell him how stupid he is. I would also want the opportunity to say goodbye. I guess I’ll listen to some AIC tonight and have my own little vigil.

I always wanted to name a child after him. I just like the name Layne – so I guess it really wouldn’t be naming a child after him. I don’t know. Elise doesn’t like that name anyway (we’ve already talked about it). She says she wants to name our kid Mumbjabar or something like that. Really, she likes the name Jacob. It’s growing on me. But it will be a while before we have kids.

And the other sad note. I just received an email from my mom: A good friend of my dad’s (and a friend of the family) son-in-law has testicular cancer and it is spreading. His wife (Dad’s friend’s daughter) has a small business and is really trying hard to make ends meet for her family. If any of you have some extra money coming in from our friends at the IRS, I’m sure the Gutierrez family would really appreciate any help you could give them! I think her product would make a great Mom’s day present (hint hint). I wish them all the best.

Well, that’s news for today. El will be here in 6 days. That’s all I have left of my bachelor lifestyle. Heh – what bachelor lifestyle. Since I’ve been here alone, I’ve managed to read the longest book of my life! I’m such a dork (shut up Evelyn).

“And We Die Young” – Layne Staley, 1967-2002

Just got in from Austin. It was kind of sad leaving. This past weekend was my ‘last’ weekend in Austin – next weekend we’re moving El up here.

I got in around 7 on Friday. El came home from work, Victor came over, we went and ate at the Hula Hut. On Saturday I washed and waxed the Shadow, went to the motorcycle shop and bought a part that I needed. I sat on a ZX7R… I want that bike. While I’m thinking about it, I’m going to sell my bike. If anyone knows anybody who wants to buy a damn good motorcycle, give them my email address – or 254-899-1164. It’s a black 1998 Honda Shadow ACE VT750. It has almost 13,000 miles. I’m asking $3600 for it. I’ve kept good care of it and have all records and paperwork. What am I going to do you ask? Walk. Or ride my mountain bike. I only live 2 miles from Scott & White.

Saturday night we went and saw Cody’s ‘rave’. He and 3 other DJ’s let loose at the Daiquiri Factory. It was a last minute deal. They were supposed to have the party in San Marcos, but the venue’s manager backed out or something. I felt sorry for Cody. He put a lot of time and energy into promoting this thing, then nobody showed up.

I saw Bo Anderson. I haven’t seen him since we graduated from high school.

I found out that my friend Evelyn has a crush on me and is now stalking me. It’s pretty flattering.

Another friend of mine, Whitney, is in Hawaii swimming with the dolphins. I’m jealous. She’s been there for a really long time. I think she’s just avoiding doing her taxes.

Well, it’s off to wire the office (cat 5) and then watch some basketball. I’ve been pretty bad this year – haven’t been watching basketball at all – and now the playoffs are on!