Everybody Wears A Mask

I don't know if it's that I am getting old or that I had just found a new way to keep me occupied...

I put together a power point about my family, our life and I added music, it's just so nice. So the thought came to my mind to collect and take pictures from everywhere and throughout the year so that I can put them into a super Power Point at the end of the year and enjoy it during Christmas...Now I had made a promise to myself to walk around with my dig cam and collect as many pics as I can.

Another thing, we bought ourselves a web cam. My wife's brother lives in Fort Worth and I have a brother who lives in San Antonio, this is the best way to communicate with them and see them. I've had it for two days now and we are enjoying it. Hey, I even get in touch cyber way with my family here in EP.

I have lost yet another family member, this is my mom's cousin. She passed away last night, I am wondering when this is going to end.

Other than that, things are going well here. I am glad.

I turned 36 on Monday. Several years ago I was wondering how it would be if I were this age. I guess now I wonder why I spent some time of my early youth wondering about this stupidity! hehehe

Mom had a "surprise" dinner for me (Sunday night), invited her side of the family over, my brothers were there (but my youngest, he's in SA) We had a good time.

One of my nieces, my late Cousin Mike's niece (only 5) gave me a decorated heart, full of paper roses (red, white, rose) and in the middle she included a picture of her with my cousin Mike. I cried. Mike was like a brother to me and I can't believe she did this, it was beautiful.

I came home late at night. Monday, I had to go to the doctor and when I came back, my wife took me for a brunch. Good food! Been a while since I enjoyed a nice breakfast. Then she took me shopping, I got the video games I was wishing for...Yes, I am an old dewd who still plays video games. I don't think I'll ever give this up. I don't know.

I showed up for work on Tuesday and my office was decorated...I got candies, balloons and hugs everywhere...

I was happy..Yet on the back of my mind, my father was present.

Well, my friends...I am still around. I still read your posts...Forgive me for being gone...

Take care.

I have been reading all of your postings...DancingBull, ye' seem like a great guy, tell off your teacher for not doing his job, get a tat...Or if you want that boat. My Brother Yaqui, I do feel bad for the loss of your friend/Former Boss. I have been there.

I have been away, I moved out of the apartments I used to live in and got a house, not a new house but a nice house...I love every single place of it. I hadn't had DSL, Satellite TV, and other things for a while...But now I do. So I am back.

Back with sad news, on Friday 13th, at 0145, my cousin Miguel Martinez crashed against a Semi. I wish I could say he's alive and next to me. But my eyes fill with sadness and tears as I type this. He was like a brother to me, we grew up together, played together, grew up in teenage years and went out on dates together...He cried like a baby the day I left for San Diego. And now, I cry like man knowing I will not see my cousin again in this life.

Everything is fine...I am just mourning my cousin whom I miss a lot.

These past seventy two hours have been too much...

Two nights ago, my oldest kid complained of abdominal pain, I thought he had pulled a muscle or something. Next day, during visiting hours at my late boss's funeral, my wife calls me saying he has fever and thinks he might have appendicitis.

I rushed from the east side of town to the north east side of town, picked him up and took him to the hospital where we spent several hours in there. Thanks to God, he's okay and didn't suffer from that illness. Today, my boss was buried and I was absent.

As my kid was released from the hospital, I went to my mother's. My kid brother was saying goodbye, he's headed to San Antonio where he will get his Masters in Psychology.

These past few days have been stressful and sad...Being the second year since my father's departure. I have so much in my heart and mind I am afraid I will explode...I'm doing my best at keeping my cool.

Work will be different with my boss not being around...Let's see what happens tomorrow.

Today adds another sad event in my life. Not only was he my boss, he was also a good friend.

I had known him for six years and during the first years of our relationship as boss and subordinate, our relationship was not that good. For the last year, we grew as good friends.

Alex was a good man with a good heart. Misunderstood, perhaps...But I knew him and I knew what he was all about. I miss my friend already.

Two years ago yesterday, my father passed away and this has awaken memories I don't want to feel, remember.

This is all for now.

To all of you who haven't watched this movie...Don't worry, I am not going to post anything about it until a month from now...

I am just letting you know that I like Superman, although I am a Batman loyal fan/reader, etc.

But we went to see this movie today...But the theater had so much technical difficulties, they ended up giving us a refund. I am giving these two tickets to the boys since they were with their grandma...Good movie!

The screen went black 3 times...Nothing but audio, it sucked. What kind of customer service, so (we)a bunch of people created a mob and demanded refunds...Theater handed over 100 tickets...It was ridiculous! Hey once again, good movie.

This story is about my childhood, an experience I had...I love animals...And I am not too happy about this memory, however...I was just a kid.

I remember being an 8 yr old kid, my older brother had gotten a BB gun for his birthday and I wanted to use it...

So one day, I got the rifle and walked down the street (BTW this memory is from Sonora, MX). So after about few blocks down the street, I see a bunch of crows hanging out on a wire, probably about 10 to 15 of them. Me, being the cool kid I was, decided to shoot at them...

I did.

I recall this incident is slow motion, I see the bird falling off after being shot...Hitting the floor...I was shocked. First time I had done such a thing...Then this memory goes in fast motion, I remember the rest of the gang (flock) flying over me, as if they were upset I had shot their fellow bird.

I ran so fast towards my house and the birds were still chasing me. Since then, during my childhood, early teens, I never shot at any other animal.

This has been recently de-classified from my dark files. "The Chanate Incident".

When I recall it, I just laugh so much because I was so scared of those birds.

As we approach my father's 2nd anniversary after his death...Thoughts ramble in my head. I can't believe it's been two years (almost), I miss my Father.

Anyways...

I decided to stop my services with Verizon...I called them to ask what it would take to stop their services, the lady at the other end was not happy. Demanded to know why I wanted to cancel, interrupted me, etc. Poor service! Same day, I contacted a different company and got a GREAT deal. My wife and I have Razors, and I got one for my oldest kid (14 yr old) since he's starting HS.

It's nice.. I love the features and everything and I like the customer service, although it's too early, they've won the JD Powers 5 yrs in a row. I used to have them before I switched to Verizon...GOODBYE Verizon!

I gave my kid this present, because he's going to high school and because he's a great student, and he's been a good kid. However, lately he's been acting up, gangster attitude, denies his faults, etc...So I wonder, was it a good thing to give him a cell phone? Or did I do a wrong thing?

The boy needs to learn responsabilities and to be mature. I will take that phone away if I have to.

4th of July just around the corner...I'll make our Nation's Fathers happy!

Your results:
You are Batman

Batman 100% Green Lantern 80% Superman 60% Hulk 60% Catwoman 60% Iron Man 60% Supergirl 50% Wonder Woman 50% Robin 50% The Flash 40% Spider-Man 10%

You are dark, love gadgets and have vowed to help the innocent not suffer the pain you have endured.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...

I don't know what to say...

Just like every other year...My heart goes out to those families who lost a love one in the line of duty for this Country and our freedom.

And I think about those I served with that no longer live...I thank them all.

Memorial Day...To some it's just a long "party" weekend, cook outs and everything else...And even though I do the same, cook outs, etc...I always remember them.

To most of us, this date means...Remembrance.

I will never forget.

Dads always take care of their own...Always have...

My friend Mike, who's been deployed to Iraq, has sent 85% of his earnings home for his kids, every month for the past 24 months...He's been living out of 15% of his income (For the past two years) He's got a 8 year old daughter and a 10 year old son. Awesome! I say hi to them whenever I can.

Father's day is soon to be here. I thought of him and I'd like to give him a great present. He's not my dad but he's an inspiration. Always there for his kids, the man only has money for his hygene and few snacks but HE'S there for his kids..What a father.

I miss my dad and since he's not here with me, the best gift I can give him is to be an example for my "step" kids and BE here for them, as I've always have.

It's just awesome...What can I say? I don't ask for much, never have...

Now Memorial Day is coming...I thought about that guy who CLAIMED he had done time in the Military...Poor soul...Grow up! I found this quote:

A young man who does not have what it takes to perform military
service is not likely to have what it takes to make a living.
--John F. Kennedy

Loyalty and Integrity are the key for a better life, GET WITH IT.

Makes me laugh...I guess I can drive all day and night and think about this...

But I won't. I have a life and kids.

Lately I haven't been the Christian I should be...

But come on, there are too many morons out there to make your life impossible. Whether on the freeway cleaning their pipes, or just morons trying to make us believe an idiotic idea. Then they blame us for their shortcomings...WTF?

If the MAN says, no freaking cell phones while driving or make up while driving, or be on time with whatever it is YOU HAVE TO DO. DO IT!

Then there are those who live life on the loose. Not worrying about anything but pleasure. Those that get fired from being late to work, those that don't pay their bills on time and then they get subpoena, those that don't worry about anything and at the end, they're crying over your shoulder. It pisses me off.

I get up early each morning and drive to work an hour early to make it on time, I usually am there 30 minutes before time. I pay my bills online a month ahead and try to spend as much time with these 3 kids I love so much and they are my step kids and sometimes I am at ends because I want to please them and buy them whatever they need.

So what's so wrong about following rules? And this is where I fail on being a Christian, I question...Did our Lord put these morons on Earth to balance us out? Or just to make our lives hard as it is?

If you have the answer, please let me know.

Last night I was so pissed off...Argh, last night I almost did my deed for the world and was short to kill an infamous.

I was showing pictures of my youth (when in the Corps)to my employees, when a man from another team, glances at the picture and asks if I served. Obviously I said I did years back. With a stupid look on his face, smiles and says "whatever". I felt so disrespected and my agents just looked at me.

I found out that this guy didn't even quite make it in National Guard bootcamp. Poor soul.

On another note (from work), I spent two days on training learning something that I was never going to use or apply at work. I wonder why the company I work for decides to waste money on this. At the middle of the second day of training, my manager asks another manager if we were ever going to use this new software, this manager states "no". I just looked around the room, scratched my head, and continue to dose off in my head. It was just too funny.

Last night while laying in bed, I thought of my dad. How he missed my kid brother's wedding, the birth of my younger brother's kid. I wondered about a lot of stuff. This man never gave up on us, anything we needed, he was there for us. When his kids were poor, he worked double to clothe and feed us. And this is what I live by. I don't make a lot of money, but I am there for these kids, good or bad. It'd be such a disgrace on my part if I didn't provide for them, I wouldn't even call me a man. I thank my old man for these great principles and morals he gave me. I wish he were here so I could tell him.

It's funny how most of my LJ friends are from other cities. Yaqui bro, from Kansas...DancingBull from AZ, TinyLoko from TX but in AZ as well...I still read your posts, sorry I don't leave comments, but I enjoy them.

So whatever happened to this Immigration Movement? Did the Immigrants win or was anything achieved?

Oh well, la Raza just don't give up.

I went night fishing again on Saturday, took Derek (loves night fishing), Serge decided to stay home...It's the change of Teens, I suppose. My two brothers, the kid and me...5 fishes. It was a good night, my kid brother is getting married next Saturday.

We got home around 8:00 am, woke up around 10:00 to attend church! I wanted to be there, don't want to show kids that I am weak and my beliefs aren't there. I came back and snoozed for couple of hours, got up and took Mandy out to eat. I spend so much time with the boys, I realize I need to spend some time with girl too! So we went to this Mexican restaurant, she loves cheese enchiladas...We had a good meal, she talked to me about her school, friends, brothers and her world at 8 years old. It is amazing, believe it or not.

So we headed out to a store and got her a little present, she takes care of it a lot. I asked her if she liked what I got for her, she just said "I love everything you give me!"

Came home, relaxed, took a drive with the wife later in the evening...Life is good.

So there I was...hehehehe I was waiting in my truck for my wife right in front of a local store, when I notice a Black woman packing lots of items into a huge party bag...The employees were just checking her out, this lady was dressed in a skanky cheerleader skirt that everytime she bent over, you could see her under shorts, had a small blouse and a huge gut hanging out...Then it happened! I couldn't believe it! She stormed out of the store with the items without paying. One of the employees followed but I don't think she wanted to catch her, then an older white lady popped out of the store, chasing the black lady! It was unbelievable! As I reflected on that moment, I couldn't believe how some people don't have remorse. How can someone live with oneself after doing these acts? I believe that everything you do wrong comes around...Everyone gets caught at one point or another... I believe in honesty, one of my best traits, one of the best traits in life! I try teaching this to my kids, nephews and nieces. It was funny and unbelievable. I had never experience one of these moments before in my life. Weird for a guy like me. It's unbelievable, from watching another black lady leaving her baby inside an SUV while she went into convenience store to buy whatever...To another black lady committing a crime? Sistahs? What's going on here? Makes me wonder at times... Goodnight.

So there I was...(don't you hate when your single friends start their adventures like this?)

I went to the convenience store to buy some soft drinks, I was on the phone with my wife, when out of the blue a EPPD Tahoe truck parks next to me, a police sargeant gets off the truck, walks towards the entrance...An ambulance parks behind me, all lights going crazy! A fire truck arrives and parks on the other side of the ambulance...Hell breaks loose...Here I am talking to my wife...And I am watching the action...Better than Cops (TV Show)...Guys, this is live!

So as I see the action un-fold, I see the fire department trying to open an Xterra (Nissan SUV), I look for the police sargeant and he's on the other side, overlooking at the firemen...EMS is talking to Xterra's owner (a black lady). I am asking myself "all this comotion just to open a truck?".

I tell my wife I must get the cokes, so I get off my truck. As I make myself to the store entrance, I see that inside the SUV, there is a baby in his carseat!! Oh My LORD! Me being nosy, I witnessed the whole ordeal for about 5 minutes, our brave men finally opened the SUV...The lady thanked them. I bought my cokes, as I am walking out of the store, I noticed the sergeant talking to the lady...Again being nosy, I noticed she had a pack of Camels...I wondered for a second or two...Nah...Cigarrettes weren't that important to leave a baby locked inside the vehicle...Or would they?

I've witnessed so much throughout my life (war, death, etc...) This one, beats all of them.

So the day came...Yup, I am officially 35 yrs old.

We had a family gathering last night to celebrate my birthday. My boss showed up, my two peers, Manny's wife...My wife. We had a blast, we played poker, these birthdays are getting old.

It'll be awkward going back to work tomorrow...After partying with the boss and friends...Let's see what happens...

Happy Birhtday to me.