California Fruit Wine

So, two weeks in a row I've gone down to California Fruit Wine on Wednesday. I'm a big fan of the EpicEatz food truck and they've been over at the winery every Wednesday, so I figured..."Why not give it a shot?"

Well, friends...I'm here to tell you that it was worth it. The first week, I stopped by in there by myself. Last night, I was able to talk Paola into joining me. We went up there with Heidi so we didn't have to concern ourselves with trying to find a babysitter.

We ordered from EpicEatz. They have the best damn fish tacos around. He also managed to get

Whenever you think of fruit wine...the tendency is to expect something ultra sweet. Not true at all. I'm lobbying to get more people down there. Vista has its own little winery and it's a nice place.

I'll probably be going up there this Sunday. They do sangria on Sunday, so we're trying to get our family to come by. Things are looking good and with my new school schedule...it sounds like I'll be spending a lot of Wednesdays up there for the next 9 weeks. :)

If you're around, you should come join me!

Raid Night 6/26/2012

Another Tuesday, another raid! Last night, Insane Horde Posse tackled Dragon Soul 10-man on normal mode. We were short one of our tanks, so one of our tin can rogues...erm....Arms Warriors (Beefmaster) stepped in and tanked with Otuel.

Mocknu made a fantastic decision and decided to bring his warlock, Amijade. I think this is a good move because he runs a blog over at warlockery.com. If you're going to talk the talk...you might as well walk the walk. I sincerely hope he'll continue to focus on that character (even though it means one less healer and will cause me to keep having to heal instead of doing what I want...)

Raid night was fun. It was typical IHP asshattery at it's best...in fact...I even got to throw a few jabs at my good buddy Grindo. That was nice. I missed teasing him. Everyone else has been doing it, but I'm not sure they are doing it with the appropriate amount of love. (I love you Grindo...and your pet tiger...) We didn't push through as far as we normally do. We got up to Ultraxion and were having all kinds of different troubles. I even DCed once! That never happens.

He died though.

I think some nice tanking stuff dropped, so Beefy was able to upgrade his tanking set.

Asaphiry and Ashella were "mysteriously" absent (I'm on to you two!) Ashella with "work" and Asa needed some "kitty time". (MEOW-ZAHS!)

Not entirely sure what the plan for the coming weeks is going to be, but I am for smashing through Dragon Soul until Smeghead gets his legendary weapons. The fact that we're already looking to other content to "fill the void" tells me that Suhli isn't probably going to get the runs he needs with this team to finish that quest line. Dragon Soul burnout is taking place and we've been more interested in Heroic fights than just getting Smeg through his quest line. The gathering portion of that quest is pretty ridiculous, the legendaries always are. Too bad because until then, the quest line was really good and story like...figures it would break down into some kind of grind.

Either way, I'm behind you, Smeg....I want to at least see one pair of those suckers in IHP.

At a Crossroad

I guess I've acted mostly neutral about the situation. It seems like that's what everyone else wanted. I was mad about it at first, but that never took away how sad it makes me. Jimmi IV is officially going to be moving to Maryland on August 1st.

I struggled with the concept of not having him in my life anymore. I thought about ways that I could still keep myself semi-active in his. I thought about ways I could try to salvage my relationship with him. Everyone had an opinion on the matter. It was easy to displace the blame that should be solely on his mother onto him. At first, it was easier on me to focus on the things he supposedly said to the CPS worker and be mad........but logic and reason overtook me. At some point I realized that what was said (or not said) probably wasn't really what a 10 year old meant to say. Especially Jimmi.....

I haven't talked to him since February. I remember the last time I saw him. We went to Stater Bros. that morning to get him something for lunch. I walked with my arm around him the entire time. We laughed and joked and then listened to The Morning Stream on the way to school. It was the most unsuspecting, heartbreaking thing to find out he had said what he had said to CPS.

What makes me even more sad about it is the timing. I documented several things with Jimmi. (Don't let anyone fool you into thinking the California Courts give two shits about that stuff, they do NOT...especially if the other derptard has a lawyer and you don't...) and I had specifically written about a day when he was crying because his mother supposedly told him he had to say bad things about my house in therapy (with her own handpicked therapist). Conveniently, the report was made to CPS from his therapist a few days prior to that entry. This was consistent with the fact that it had happened during the weekend she had him. All of the timing was perfect.

I wasn't willing to continue the battle. It's not worth fighting with his mom. She lies to get her way. She lied to my family to get out of her parent's house. She's lying to everyone to get back into it....and her parents are aware of her lies. I'm sad about that. I'm sad that her dad will never know (or care) about the horrible things she said about him. I'm sad that her mom can live with (but not surprised, she's equally as deceitful) the fact that some of the things that were said about her were said. One thing to Jamie's credit, she obviously kept her lies about them to a small group, that way...they were controlled and once her ties to us were cut, the lies no longer existed.

Anyways..the point of that was that I'm sure she's lying to Jimmi too. That makes me sad. He should know that I love him and that this was what I considered to be the most appropriate decision....he never will....and that wouldn't make it any easier on me.

So, let's recount how the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012 affected me...because the emotional side of me is not over ANY of it.

1. The wonderful relationship between my family and my parents was severely damaged. Damaged to the point that we all hardly talk and I don't even remember the last time they saw their grand-daughter. (At least THAT situation will heal itself in time)

2. My dog. My precious dog died in December. That doesn't seem like a big deal..but I was VERY close with my dog. We had her since 1998. I grew up with that dog. That dog was there the first time I kissed Tia Clark, through my next two serious relationships, through my time in the army, through the rise and fall of my relationship with Jamie, and through my marriage to Paola and the growth of our family (Heidi). Ya, Sandra going was hard on me....and not a day goes by where I don't think about her and miss her. In my less sober moments, I sometimes look to where her bed was next to the TV before I remember what's happened....ya...that crap is sad...I'm getting a little emotional just writing about it.

3. Jimmi is gone. (See the prelude to this list)

Basically, things haven't been so spiffy. I wasn't emotionally sound. I acted like it, but no part of me ever felt whole.............until I went to Florida. My grandfather gave me plenty of sage advice, but the comment that may have turned things for me didn't come during one of these moments.

He said, (something to the effect of) "You have a decision to make every morning when you wake up. I'm going to have a good day or I'm going to have a crappy day..."

It's true. We're not around long enough to constantly be miserable. The people around me are good people. My wife is a wonderful (WONDERFUL) lady. My daughter is one of the best things to ever happen to me....I have no control over what everyone else is doing. I can't make Jamie stop trying to torture us. I can't make Jimmi come back. The people I work with are still going to do 100 retarded things to their computers a day. My employer isn't going to pay me what I'm worth.

I'm going to look down at this crossroad and walk on the side of the road that makes me happy.

Derpy Lameass Syndrome

First thing this morning, I received a ticket at 8:30 AM about a printer that's jamming.

At 8:33 AM I assign the ticket to myself and walk over to find the guy sitting next to it trying to print to the thing repeatedly. It probably would have been more acceptable if he just didn't know, but he was commenting on how it "jammed again" as I walked up. Still, whatever, no big deal. I mean...if your car was stalling every time you started it, you wouldn't probably continue to drive it as if nothing was wrong, but these guys don't own the equipment, so they have utterly no respect.

I simply said, "So....you decided to keep printing to it knowing it was broken??" Well, his response, in the typical immature fashion I've come to expect from that group, was to completely ignore the question I asked, not give a reason for why he was doing what he was doing, fabricate "attitude" on my part, and displace the blame by playing the victim role.

His cohort decided she'd throw in: "Well, I need a #%@&ing printer to print to."

At that point, I had to walk away. I had to walk away and breathe deep. See, I work for a company who doesn't believe that the rainforest matters. We have 33 networked printers. One is at the end of each row of cubicles (some even have two) and there are four copiers that can be used as network printers in the interim. Furthermore, one of the networked copiers is less than 15 feet away from the lady who made that comment.

Let me let you take that in. Mr. Derp PMSed on me..then Mrs. Pottymouth went all unfounded argument seconds later.....yep..that really happened.

So, in my efforts to not completely despise them all, I swapped out the toner cartridge (suspected the remanufactured drum was a problem) then explained to Mr. Derp why you shouldn't continuously try to make a broken printer try to print. (Still no explanation for why he was doing what he was doing...) I just left it at that. Seriously, 3 minute response time into a world of derptitude far beyond what any person coming off a Rebif night deserves (let alone anyone in general...)

I left it there. I was done with it. What brought it back up was the fact that the people in that row were asking my partner what was wrong with ME today.

See, this is where complaints of my demeanor obviously stemmed from. I'm a pretty relaxed guy and (especially since my vacation) nice to the people I work with. It makes my life easier if they can't see how bad I rage at their ignorance........yet even when I'm calm you get PMSing fatmen bitching about my attitude toward them.

I sure wish I had the words to say that more eloquently....I just don't. I despise cancerous tumors on the face of an organization that are constantly trying to make themselves look better than others when they are really insignificant and immature.

Ya....that...

Raid Night 6/19/2012

The night started like most raid nights. Elmrick was sitting alone in the Raid 8 ventrilo channel, waiting for any of us to show up. It didn't take us long to pile in. This night saw the triumphant return of our glass canon, Asaphiry. Also, I got a chance to dust off Suhli. That was real nice because I was severely struggling last night. Roguey stuff is easier to do than healy stuff.....

We started the night off in Icecrown Citadel to finish off Glory of the Icecrown Raider for the people that still needed Once Bitten, Twice Shy. It's fun to be able to faceroll ICC these days. I remember a time (not long ago) when Insane Horde Posse really got beat up in there.

Next we went to Black Temple. It was another faceroll job, but it's worth mentioning

that the Reliquary of Souls is still a little troublesome. Either way, we walked right through it and murdered Illidan Stormrage. (He gets no link because he didn't drop the leather helm OR a Warglaive...bastard.)

Then we went into Tempest Keep (The Eye). We made quick work of that raid and picked up the achievement for it. No phoenix mount dropped....so there's that....

Finally, we decided to go clear out The Ruby Sanctum. I remember this coming out at a very weird time and being slightly more difficult than my guild was capable of farming. In fact, most people just avoided it. I was one of those people. Not really by choice...but the opportunity never came up and I felt like the risk/reward ration was terrible. It was not an easy fight (at the time) and the loot wasn't THAT much better than what I already had. I assume this was fairly universal because nearly no one in Insane Horde Posse knew what was going on...we just kinda (once again) facerolled it.

It's been good to go back and see some of this older content. I just enjoy the killfest. I missed out on Ulduar week, I've never finished that.....not sure what we have on the agenda, I bailed a little fast because I was just barely still alive. Either way, expect another post next week.

Rebif = sucky.....

I finally went ahead and took one my Rebif injections.

What is rebif?

It's the drug I'm supposed to take to help control my multiple sclerosis. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that every MRI to date shows improvement, so the drug is clearly doing something. The biggest problem I have with it is that it makes me feel like crud. I never really get used to it. No matter how much I take it, there's always some side effect.

The most recent one was a massive swollen lump on the injection site. It gave me so much trouble that I had issues walking for weeks. Eventually, the swelling went down (somewhat) and I was left with a hardened mass on my right hip that looks like someone chewed a wad of bubble gum and stuck it to my hip. I spent a good while OFF of Rebif after that. The experience was so horrible, I had problems taking the shot again because I feared a repeat.

I'm not exactly sure how long I went without taking it. It was a good while, but I decided I ought to start it up again. It feels good, because I know I'm doing what I should be doing. It feels like I am taking responsible steps toward trying to keep myself healthy for my family, but oh MAN, it feels terrible. I don't know the best way to even describe it; it's as though every muscle in my body suddenly weighs more.

/shrug....small price to pay to curb the ol' brainrot.

The pictures uploaded on this post were from our time at the beach in Florida. My lovely wife, Paola and my daughter Heidi. :) The reason I thought about the beach over there today was someone talking about how cold the water was this morning when they went surfing. The first thing I noticed about the water over there was how warm it was! Unlike the frigid beach water of San Diego, the water in that area was lukewarm and nice. I splashed a bit on my face to wash off some sand and noticed that it is decidedly more salty as well.

No real point to that, just random thoughts. I sure miss it there.

Finally, Mother Earth Brew Co. opened up a new homebrew store in downtown Vista at 204 Main Street. I sure like beer, but I can drink at home. What's really attracted me to the local microbreweries (Mother Earth, especially) is the sense of community that is forged. I like that there are groups of people I can usually anticipate on seeing there. I enjoy the friendships that have been forged over pints of beer and I really appreciate the way that the employees foster an environment that makes you feel like we're all just one big happy family. Couple that with the fact that their beers are outstanding....you've got yourself a nice little watering hole. :)

So, if you're in the area, go checkout the new place. The tap room is (apparently) going to open Saturday from 12 - 9 right next door (206 Main Street), you can probably place good money on the fact that I'll be there. :)

Florida Trip!

Greetings, friends! Happy belated Father's Day to all the dad's out there. :)

On May 30th, my family and I took a trip to Deltona, Florida to visit my grandparents. It was superb. My body really loves the humidity. It makes my skin feel alive (or maybe that was the thin layer of mosquitoes I wore every time I stepped outside....). It had been several years since I had been on that side of the country and even longer since my wife had been out that way. My grandparents had never had the opportunity to meet Paola nor Heidi, so it was an exciting excursion for us. Needless to say, I loved every minute of it and had the hardest time coming home.

I got a phone call at 1:30 AM PST to tell me that our flight on American Airlines from San Diego to LAX had been delayed by 2 hours. That would have had the plane landing in LAX at 8:30 AM. That was the time that our connecting flight from LAX was departing toward Orlando. I tried to call American Airlines to find out if the delay was also affecting the connecting flight (so we'd have time) but they couldn't give me a decisive answer. In the end, we ended up switching to a flight that had a layover in Dallas.

We got to the airport well before the flight was to take off (like good little non-terrorists) but due to violent thunderstorms in Dallas the flight was delayed. In the end, our flight was delayed 4 hours. The airport was cool though....not sure if I ever truly got to sleep, but sitting around doing nothing was relaxing. I was really, really anxious. Not only was I ready to see my grandparents, but I am not partial to traveling by airplane. I pretty much completely hate the idea of being so far off the ground. I'm not afraid of heights but 35,000 feet seems a little bit higher than my definition of "heights".

When we got into Orlando, the Budget car rental didn't have the rental I reserved any more. They had other four door cars, but they would have to charge me more because of the size. We settled on a free upgrade to a 2010 Ford Mustang. It was fun to drive around, but not fun to drive a family around in.

I don't have the words to express all of the wonderful emotions I felt when we were visiting my grandparents. It was a really good time. The best time. I felt so loved and accepted. I felt so proud of the fact that they approved so greatly of my wife and that they'd finally gotten a chance to meet both her and Heidi. My grandma is an incredible cook and my grandpa is one of the wisest men I've ever known. Bottom line: I come from a darn good pedigree.

We saw some neat things while we were out there. We took a day to do the parkhopper thing over at Disney World...that was neat. It poured on us. That was amazing. If you've never seen a soaking wet Peruvian woman, I highly recommend it. It was adorable.

We also took a day to go down to Blue Spring. I always make a point of trying to at least see one alligator when I'm in Florida....a great big sucker decided to oblige as soon as we walked in. That was nice. I tried to upload it onto this post, I guess we'll find out if it worked. We also took a riverboat cruise on the St. John's river and saw about 12 more gators. That was the tourism highlight of the trip for me. :)

All in all, we had a good time. It's nice to be back in California, but I sure do miss my grandma and grandpa (AND the humidity). I should have some news coming down the pipe about WoW soon (fingers crossed) and more posts pretty soon.

Take care all!