Teej's Secret Box

Being angry at someone, that is good.

Being angry to the point where one go out and try to convince every single person that may have any possible contact with this person, and telling them in an incredibly skewed and inaccurate way how bad of a person he might be…

Not as good.

At least I know who my true friends are.

Special Note:  Please take some time to read the following posts before reading this one, they are all posted immediately below this post:  Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

* * *

We all make choices out of many different reasons.

Some are rational.  Some are not quite as rational.

Some are planned.  Some are not quite as planned.

When it comes to love, far too many people would gladly tell you that they knew from the moment they met a person that they would marry him/her.  A dear friend of mine who had sex with hundreds of women, and is known as a playboy suddenly found himself very monogamous, and very faithful to a wonderful wife he just married a couple months ago, simply because he knew from the first night that she will be his wife.

I saw Heather in person.  I fell in love with Heather.  It is still early, so I am still being a bit cautious.  However, unlike any other women, I have felt that I could trust her completely.  No, not like the other women I’ve loved — completely.  Does it matter that she has a different person in her life too?  Yes, it does matter to a great deal that we must work with each other.  It is a difficult challenge, and not one that would work on many people.

But I do not follow any cultural norms of my society.  I follow the beat to my own drummer, just as those nijab-wearing American women.  I realize that life is not skewed like those “religious” people would like you to believe.

And most importantly of all, I will NOT hold the details back; especially with people I love and care about, even though it may not be something they want to hear.

Heed my words well:  Do not lie on my behalf.  I am open because I feel true with my situation at this time.  If it does not work out, it would suck — but that is all part of life.  Do not lie and cover the fact that we are all different.  Work toward an openness, acceptance, and love for your fellow people, especially your own family.

To those that have accepted this — thank you.  You are indeed friends I am blessed of knowing.

Yesterday Wii Fit - 40 years, 50 minutes.

Today Wii Fit - 31 years, no play for today.

As an aside, there’s one game I absolutely adores, and is taking quite seriously — Rhythm Boxing.  It is well paced, pretty diverse, and long enough for me to not have to “Press A if you understand that you will not stand on an edge of a cliff holding a cat on the leach surrounded by mice while playing this game.”

I can understand the need for Nintendo to protect their business interest by inserting disclaimers, but I think that lawyers are being overzealous here.  “Watch out!  You may lose your balance!”  Well, duh.  It’s Wii Fit!  You will lose your balance here or there.  Don’t tell me that every single time I ask you for an exercise that involves lifting a leg.  In fact, tell me the first time, and then just go direct to the exercise afterward (maybe with a little window saying, “Careful with your balance!”)  It disrupt the playing experience after the first few times.

* * *

I got my Video Phone (VP) working!  Woot!  The TV was just delivered yesterday, and I spent the evening setting up my router for it, and got it going by chatting with a friend all night long.  That’s why there’s no blog posting — I was seriously chatting like a little teenager girl for hours.  That phone will be the death of me.

Do contact me if you want my number.  Also please do warn me ahead of time when you plans on calling — it’s in my office, and I would not be able to see the flashing lights here in the kitchen.  And please, do not sue the VP companies.

Wii Fit - Age 32 - 34 minutes.

* * *

This past week, I had the great luck in meeting up with my old classmates.  Donnie was two years behind me, and Heather was 4 years below in grade school.  It turns out that Donnie lives in Salt Lake City, and Heather was heading there for the weekend to work at her company’s headquarters.  Since I have never been to Salt Lake City, what better time to pay the city a visit than this past weekend?

I am so glad I went, for many different reasons.  I learned so much more about the history behind the Church of the Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints.  I reformed wonderful friendships with Heather and Donnie.  I got to meet Shelly again, a classmate whom I have not seen since I was a kid as she was several years ahead.  I also got to appreciate two awesome restaurants, and explore a new city of my own.

* * *

I met up with Donnie, Heather, and Shelly for dinner at the Tuscany Italian restaurant out near the mountains.  Donnie was joined by his wife, TC, and their beautiful daughter who is just starting to take her first few steps at 9 months of age.  The restaurant was top-notched.  Granted, it was not a luxury experience on par with the five stars restaurants, but it held its own against the competition.  Service was excellent, and the conversation flowed like unimpeded water.  Catching up on the years, it was a great experience.

* * *

I also met up with Donnie the following day, and have him give me a tour of his church’s sacred grounds - the Temple Square. This location is home to the infamous Salt Lake Temple.  Lesser known for its location, but well known for its choir, Tabernacle is located next to the Temple.  Tucked to a corner, the Assembly Hall is a very lovely small church building built with the leftover stones from the Salt Lake Temple.

Donnie and I met up with several missionaries, including two Sisters (a female equivalent to the male’s Elders), some who knew ASL, and one knowing British Sign Language.  Whatever they may not know, they made it up with their eagerness to answer my history questions, including the purpose of having three sacred buildings on the same site.

It turns out that the Temple is meant for an individual or small group worship toward their God, not as a big temple auditorium like Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano.  Instead, that role is assigned to the Tabernacle, and the Assembly Hall’s gatherings are conducted by volunteers rather than ministers.  All three buildings serve unique purposes for LDS faithful.

There were several enlightening moments like that, and so much worth the exposure to understand this religion.  The rest of Salt Lake City was nice, including the Trax, something I know a certain friend would drool over if she is in town.

* * *

Heather and I went to the Bohemian Brewery, a wonderful Deutsch pub.  It was so nice to eat traditional brats, although by Heather’s claims, it was not quite as traditional, as the appropriate mustard, Lowensenf, was not served.  Instead, the restaurant opted to use the close cousin’s version - Grey Poupon - due to its availability.  Considering how much I like Grey Poupon, I am quite curious about this particular mustard.

I had the unfiltered white ale called Bavarian wier.  Despite the label, it is not all that cloudy, which separate it from its peers.  It was extremely tasty, and I was only limited by the knowledge that I had to drive afterward.

Altogether, the brewery is an amazing find, and something I would strongly recommend to anyone who is seeking some traditional Deutsch fare.

* * *

It is so much worth it to catch with your friends, as some of them may alter your previous naive opinion about them.  To be able to gain new respect and a few wonderful friendships are so wonderful.  I thank them all from the bottom of my heart for meeting up with me.

Note, you can see the complete photo album here.

Man, I went to bed way too late, and got up with only 6 hours of sleep.  That happens when you meet your old friends.  Hence, I only did the Wii Fit test, and it noticed that I was tired; giving me a Wii Age that was much older than it was (46 compared to 38 the previous day.)

However, I did complete uploading my Utah trip pictures.  You can see them here.  It was a wonderful weekend.  Speaking of which, I will actually be in Utah again this weekend, meeting with old classmates from high school in Salt Lake City.  It will be fun seeing them again after a decade and half.

Please note:  If you want to have a print of the pictures, please do not use the ones here.  Just contact me with the name of the file you want printed, the location you want me to forward it to (CVS/Walgreen/Costco/et cetera), and the name you want it to be printed for.  Just pay for it and you’ll get a nice edited image for your frames.

* * *

Speaking of Maribeth, we had a great dinner at this restaurant, Pink Pepper Thai Cuisine.  The food was very fresh, and well made, and the waitress were very respectful — willing to use what limited sign language skills she had, and was open to learning more.  With enough deaf folks, perhaps she will become a pro at serving us.

* * *

I made some major progress on the testing part for my project, but I still have a long road to go.  I wish my tool does not chatter so much on the internet, because with my client, it goes from their laptop to their VPN server somewhere in San Diego, and then to the actual server in New Jersey.  With so much chatter, the tool slows down in a major way.

So I downloaded a new Oracle database program, and hopefully will find the time to install it tomorrow.

* * *

Overall, it was a very good day for me, but not the best for my work productivity.  Just need to keep plugging at it, and hopefully will have a database set up, and several new tables populated tomorrow.  With a massage that was sorely overdue, a great dinner, chatting with old classmates and friends; it definitely was a good day.