A second career

In the late 80's and early 90's...this face was more recognizable world-wide than Mickey Mouse. This celebrity had it all. A cereal, a cartoon show, loads of endorsement, the love of a beautiful princess... and one other thing... he had proper PLUMBING!!!!

Shigeru Miyamato was no also-ran when he came up with the Mario Brothers concept. Mario and Luigi could've had any occupation: firefighter, policeman, cable installation guy, PG&E worker.... no no and NO!! They were plumbers. (There was a Dr. Mario spin off that did very well though...so doctors are cool also.)

Why all this?? Why envy the occupation of a cartoon/video game character? Cuz, yet again, we have plumbing problems. This time the kitchen sink.

It started during finals week when Joycie noticed a small leak under the sink. She thought it was the trap pipe (aka goose neck.) Throughout finals week, we would turn the main valve off when not using the sink. After finals, we finally had time to go buy a replacement. Here's where the fun begins...

Ever see a Charlie Chaplain movie, where he's in a basement, and there's a leak in one of the pipes? He goes over to cover it up with his finger...only to force a leak somewhere else?? Then he sticks another finger to cover up the second hole, leading to yet another series of leaks springing up everywhere?

To make a long story short... we're still fighting through this problem. We now know, more than we've ever wanted to know, about kitchen and shower faucets.

Several months ago, Pastor Ted talked about heaven; about how we can't really bring anything from this life, into eternal life. He goes on to say that it's the relationships we build now that will matter in eternity. Pastor Ted specifically mentioned that he'll be of no use in heaven, they don't need a pastor there, or a lawyer, or an engineer. But I firmly believe, regardless of what heaven is like, we'll need a plumber.

Maybe that's why it's till raining in late March, early April. There's a leak up in the sky.........

An excellent wife is the crown of her husband. Proverbs 12:4

So exhausted, I couldn't even sleep...

Ever been in a realm where you're so exhausted you can't fall asleep? Your mind tells you, "Dude, get some rest!!" but your body says "Yo...you can't rest, keep on chugging."

Last Thursday after flying back from Philly and as the broken pieces of my life slowly came back together, I lied in bed around 1AM in the morning (3AM Eastern Time) with my eyes wide opened. Geez Louise....I sleep an average of 5 hours for the past two weeks and now that I can rest, I CAN'T!!! It's not like the other 19 hours were spent surfing the net or lounging on a couch watching the NCAA Tourney... I was either at work, getting into heated arguments with my boss or at the computer lab churning away at my stinken project.

Highlights of the past several weeks:

• Those very special moments I get to spend with Him.
  
• Thursday night tutoring where I felt most alive and recharged after spending 1.5 hrs with my buddy Poncho.
  
• One night when Joyce made me cook dinner. I was a little appalled she would do that, knowing full well I needed every single minute to study/work. Turns out that those 45 minutes were the most time I spent with her consecutively for the past 2 weeks.
  
• The moment my schematic checked out against my layout!
  
• Being able to fly cross country, and for once, not have to read a textbook on the plane
  

Lowlights of the past several weeks:

• Those very special moments I don't get to spend with Him.
  
• Missing out on two consecutive Friday gatherings and a Fondue night
  
• Spending only 45 minutes with my wife
  
• Kitchen sink starting to leak
  
• Semiconductor Device Physics and all that jazz
  
• Having to fly cross country and turn around in less than 24 hours (UGH!)
  

Alls wells that ends well...

Friday night, my body officially collapsed.

Saturday morning, I had a company picnic at Great America. Was gonna take Poncho and Isaac but they called me early in the morning saying they can't make it. So Joyce and I just slowly mosey our way over there, grab our free BBQ lunch, play a round of bumper cars, ride ONE roller coaster ride and head home.

Saturday night was one of my best bud's bachelor party. My first go around in organizing a Bachelor's Party and it turned out pretty well. I got a chance to speed through a go-kart track, tackle a 20oz ribeye (which I STILL claim to this day is overcooked) and ended the night chitchatting with my other best bud about nothing for an hour. And I walked away like it was the best conversation I've had in ages.

Sunday morning was SOOOOOOO AWESOME!!! I've been running on EMPTY for a while and it was the perfect remedy. I acutally lost count of how many times people hinted to us to starting popping out little Henrys and Joyces. For the first time in a long while, I got to go out to lunch with my bros/sis. Physically I was still aching, but spiritually I was on Cloud 9!!

And here we are.... end of the worst quarter of my Post Baccaleureate career. I get one week off before heading into the the next quarter, which I know..I KNOW will be even worse than this quarter.

Ooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yyyyyyyyyyyyeaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Uh oh...

Went 21 days without coffee. Now that I've reintroduced my palette to coffee, I don't like it!!!! Uh oh... Can it be?!?

The time will come...

Carol and Simon celebrated Solomon 's One Month Old Party by bringing him to the So's home away from home. Carol's Xanga's makes Solomon look much bigger than he really is. Guess the camera truly adds 10 lbs? The little angel was as small as a 10" club sandwich at Subway. Without proper training, I did NOT want to come near that precious angel. He looked so frail yet peaceful...if I even breathed a little harder than usual, I'll blow him away.


My "prize" for guessing Solomon's birthday. It was suppose to be Solomon's Third Kiss. I think Simon and Carol jipped me.


Joyce struggled with initially. But I guess motherhood comes natural to some people... And perhaps fatherhood for me shortly. The time will come...

Then we went out to lunch with Patti, Mark and baby Hannah. Haven't seen the Haberstrohs since Hannah was 8 months in the tummy. Any time I got near to Hannah she'd start crying!! Must be my cologne...ah well, the time will come.

18-2
10-1
12-3

The score for Team China in the World Baseball Classic. Don't even have to guess...China was on the losing end of all three games. Sigh...the time will come.

Brokeback Mountain did NOT win the award for Best Movie despite winning the Golden Globe and all other major awards leading up to the Oscars. This morning on KLOVE, the DJ read the major winners of the Oscars, including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Movie, but strategically avoided announcing Ang Lee winning Best Director for Brokeback. Is it cuz of the movie topic? Will America ever accept homosexuality? Will the time come?

Been catching episodes of the critically acclaimed TV Series "LOST." And it makes me wonder why the show never show any of the castaways praying? It wasn't till maybe 9-10 episodes into Season 1 did the Iraqi character, Sayid, finally pray to Allah. And a couple episodes later, a black lady finally said the words, "Heavenly Father..." Are TV networks trying to remain secular? Or is the TV series a vivid lifelike portrayal of human life -- where prayer no longer exists in society? I believe God definitely heard our prayers this past Friday...and revival time will come.

Agony of defeat

Japan hammers China 18-2 in WBC

TOKYO (AP) -- Japan didn't have to worry about run production after all.

Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Kosuke Fukudome hit back-to-back homers in the fifth inning Friday to lead Japan to an 18-2 rout of China in the World Baseball Classic.

The game was called after eight innings under the tournament's mercy rule.

Not only did China lose...but we lost by the mercy rule. That's the absolute worst way to lose! But it's okay, I held my head high 4 years ago when China didn't even score a goal in the World Cup. We've made a 200% improvement by scoring 2 runs in the World Baseball Classic. WOOHOO!!

In other news...Spring Training officially went under way. Giants beat the Brewers 10-5. Randy Winn leads off with a HR. Durham had a 3 run double. Things are sure looking good. Come July...no one will remember ANY of this but it's fun relishing the fact we're UNDEFEATED!!!

Welcome back Giants baseball... I've been waiting for you.