Happy New Year!

Saturday. I've spent the last 12 hours at work...with 2.5 more to go--This is how the Japanese must feel on a "regular" day! It's the end of the fiscal year here at the US Government, where the amount of work done in one day is approx. equal to 1 month (ha, it sure feels like it)! Sept 30 is the magic date where Fiscal Year 06 money (there are different "colors" of money, all with different "expiration" dates) must be obligated by midnight tonight, or the money is pulled back by DC, budgets are slashed, and projects go unfunded. In the private sector it's all about profit, in the Government it's all about spending your budget (just one of the many reasons why the Government, were it a private enterprise, wouldn't last a month ).

With all the great discussion about Ramadan occuring on nomadlife, I'll just say that Ramadan this is not. Save last Thanksgiving, I can't remember the last time I've eaten so much in a 24 hour period..on the menu: every kind of Filipino cuisine imaginable (lumpia is AWESOME), ribs, fried chicken, spaghetti, cocktail wieners, chocolate covered pretzels, carmel covered apples, honey roasted peanuts, licorice, all the energy drinks and soda you consume (rockstar, redbull, etc), fruit, pizza, pudding, and it goes on and on..kudos to these people who bring all this stuff in! On top of that, Jam brought me 2 subs from the best deli on earth..Rinaldis! AND yesterday we had a taco-potluck thing..I swear I've gained 5 pounds in the last 2 days...but it's not ALL that bad;)! Besides, we have like 4 projection screen TVs broadcasting all the college football games (go Blue!) and I'm getting some much needed comp time:) for my move to Atlanta.

Ah, still, my head is starting to hurt..if I see another contract, powerpoint briefing, or excel spreadsheet, I think I'm gonna lose it..

1.25 hours until the "witching hour"!

Bye Bye LA

Me in 20 years, somewhere in Africa, working for the CDC


Well, I had a long, drawn-out post about how I slaved for 3 years to get the call I got last week, but I thought nobody would want to read it, and the Government, in TRUE Government style, has sucked some of the enthusiasm out of me with it's, "well, we've put in all the paperwork and we're 95% certain, but you have to wait until you're contacted by HR next week" I hate that! But, more honestly, it's hard to write this because I still can't believe it's actually happening...all so fast, too...ah, such is life.

At any rate, long story short, I was accepted for a job (still waiting "final" confirmation sometime next week) at the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention--think "Outbreak") in Atlanta, GA--not my first place of choices, but I really didn't have much of a choice as I've been eyeing one of these jobs now for a couple of years.

The job itself will be similar to what I have been doing for the past 3 years, except now with the twist of working in the international acquisitions and grants office. An ex-colleague from Detroit who works there put in a good word for me, and thought I'd be interested because of the international traveling required for the job. She'll be traveling to Ethiopia (red passports and all) next month and visiting the US embassy to work on some projects -I'm not quite sure exactly what kind of projects they do. The office itself provides contracting support to CDC projects in 25 countries, often working out of embassies and hand-in-hand with US AID and the Dept of State.

Leaving Southern California isn't easy for many reasons, thus even the thought of moving is bittersweet. It's amazing how difficult change can be, and it's true, you certainly have to be careful what you wish for. But, I always knew that living out here was only temporary and that if I got the call to jump, I had to jump. So much of life is determined by stepping up to the plate when it's your turn to bat. And with that, I expect to negotiate a start date with the CDC to be sometime at the end of October or the beginning of November.
Here’s the countries that my future office will work with, let's see where I'll be able to go…




Head East on a heart of Gold (Thanks for calling, Digs! Happy Bday, buddy, let's see if the avian flu kicks up, maybe I'll be over to see you faster than you think:)

A dedication...

whoops, little too early on that..

Finishing my coffee.

Saturday afternoon Jam and I hit up the famous Dinah's Family Restaurant on Sepulveda for a nice cup of coffee. Don't know it? It was a location for a certain movie. Maybe this will ring a bell:

            WAITRESS
                        Could you please keep your voices
                        down--this is a family restaurant.

                      WALTER
                        Oh, please dear!  I've got news for
                        you: the Supreme Court has roundly
                        rejected prior restraint!

                       DUDE
                        Walter, this isn't a First Amendment
                        thing.

                       WAITRESS
                        Sir, if you don't calm down I'm going
                        to have to ask you to leave.

                       WALTER
                        Lady, I got buddies who died face-
                        down in the muck so you and I could
                        enjoy this family restaurant!

It had to be done. Good ole, Lebowski. And speaking of basic rights (this affects us all!), I have to post a little link to a mildy irratated Clinton on the esteemed FoxNews network. The Republicans sure are lucky we have the 25th Amendment, otherwise this guy would be President again.

Way to Go, Bill.
Finish your coffee.

Everything flows. Nothing stands still.

Herakleitos of Ephesus, c. 500 bc

If you're older than 25...

YOU'RE OLDER THAN BELIZE!

Today marks the 25th year of Belizean Independence! Jam will celebrate her country's birthday by wearing a shirt, and me by drinking as much "one-barrel" rum as I can get my hands on!

Happy Birthday, Belize! Keep on Shinin'!

The Dude Abides in Antartica..

Got this off a link from Katie's blog, currently in Antartica (awesome blog, btw!)...

Life is beautiful around the world.

Groundhog's Day

Sunny. Highs near 80 at the beaches to the upper 80s inland. Tonight..Clear. Expect a mild sunburn by evening and a slight hangover early tomorrow morning.

Plays, Festivals, Camps..

Some weekends are more packed than others.. twas a great weekend @ home..


Friday night started off with our neighbor Christine hookin Jam and I us up with front row tickets to see the play "Nighthawks", a drama/comedy whose set is based in the 1942 painting "Nighthawks" by Edward Hopper. Can't say that I cared too much for the play, in fact I think the ratings were quite bad:), but it was free and it took place in the Culver City Kirk Douglas Theatre. The best part was the chef guy was played by Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson..;) D'OH!



Saturday we rolled over to the Greek festival to eat the [AMENDED] 2nd best food on earth [AMENDED] (after Turkish) and get all stupidly Greek. The best part was making a retarded wreath and spilling Ouzo all over myself when I saw Tom Hanks/Rita Wilson with MAYOR VILLARAIGOSA!



Of course, who cares about being 5 feet from Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson when Mayor Villaraigosa is there! Way to go, mayor!

Next off, Jam and I attended "Sunday School"/Wine Camp on Sunday. Dios mio, there is a lot to learn about wine, so much so that I could have sat there for another 3 hours and drank another 6 glasses:) I can begin to see how people turn into Paul Giamatti's character in the classic "Sideways". Wine is like traveling, there is so much misinformation out there, and everybody thinks its for the "elite" class. It's really all a bunch of BS (or grapejuice;), and it's good to hear that from the experts. Anyway, Ian Blackburn, was a pretty good instructor, and I'm quite jealous that this man gets to drink wine for a living:). Sauvignon Blancs, Chardanoys, Pinot Noirs, Cabernets, Merlots, Burgundys, Meritages, Zinfindels, all of it is good stuff (are my days of 2 buck chuck done)? The best part was learning about all the different wine industries throughout the world, and not just in Europe, but Mexico, NZ, OZ, South America, etc. Time to put this knowledge into action! Look out, wine countries!



The best cheese I've had in a long time:


Caved Aged Gouda. Check it out. It's so old, it's orange. Cutting it was like trying to cut a rock. The French have a right to be crazy about their cheeses. This stuff was out of this world.

Baja California, Mexico

Mini Drake being "fabulous" in his convertible on our way down to Baja!



Mexico's Highway 1. Clouds from Hurricane John, well, a little bit further south, maybe;)



Hot, dry, loud, Ensenada. Excellent tequila.



San Diego, Tijuana border, the busiest in the world, with some 800,000 people crossing each day. The US is on the left, Mexico on the right. You can see a modern day "Great wall" on the left, running alongside the road, as well. Mexico and the US have the largest income disparity between any two neighboring countries in the world.



3 hours in line at the border. Hint: walk across if you can:)