Fear the Crab

Typically today is the deadline for filing IRS tax returns, so despite this year’s extension I still consider it the penultimate life-changing moment that can make or break a person’s financial standing.

It’s all that and more for me at this point, because if all goes well, come late October I will be able to claim a dependent in my household. This cranky crab is going to welcome a broodling.
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I managed to finish the Great Aloha Run without collapsing into a fluid pile of twitching muscles and blistered feet. The official time recorded was 1:51:37, which averages into a 13:43 mile. I placed 9453 overall out of over 27,000+ entrants, 5528/10903 in my gender group, and 644/1125 in my age bracket.
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I meant to write this on Christmas Day, but I had battled a cold that kept me out of sorts for most of the week leading up to the holiday. That’s the one thing being sick does to you; it makes you miss out on all the festivities. I had to forgo attendance at many Christmas dinner parties and content myself with cold leftovers and hot tea.

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I mentioned to The Galbraith that I try not to cut my nails at night. I have heard many stories as to why I should not, the first and foremost being that I will not be with my parents when they pass away. The roots of said reason is Japanese, but whether or not it’s a distinctive superstition is unknown to me. Perhaps other people could elaborate.

Other superstitions I have include not sleeping with my feet towards the door, not sleeping with my head pointed north, and sticking my chopsticks into my food and leaving it there.  I follow a lot more Japanese superstitions, but they have become such a habit that I can’t remember which ones they are.  It is no longer a conscious effort and many times the circumstances do not allow for such activities.  For example, passing food from chopstick to chopstick is a no-no, but no one does it so it never comes up.

I figure, why take chances?

Superstitions are funky!

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The second bathroom in the house needs to be repaired, specifically the wall the separates the bathroom from the adjoining bedroom.  Said wall has suffered some water damage, rotting the base away and it is probably much much worse inside.  In order to get to the damaged wall, we have to go through the shower tile, so we all figured that it’s best the bathroom get a makeover.

It’s about time, I suppose.  The bathroom is over 40 years old, and everyone seems to agree that a remodel is in order.  Everyone also agrees that it’s going to cost me two arms and one leg and probably three fingers.

Maile and I purchased a near-complete set of bathroom fixtures and trim for the upcoming remodel, which totaled over two grand.  I say near-complete because I’m not sure if I’m forgetting something.  We have the faucets, shower valves and trim, toilet, tub, and accessories like towel rods.

We’re looking at Corian for our countertop and shower walls, and that process is still in estimation, but I’m pretty certain it will be more, if not much more, than the same price for the fixtures.  Could be double.

Then Maile and I will need new cabinets, some bypass shower doors, and new flooring.  Add in the catch-all of labor and I think I can expect to pay over 10k.

I have enough to pay for the whole thing.  I’ll just have to eat ketchup packets for sustenance for the next 33 years.

* * *

I listen to this at work.  On repeat.  For eight hours!

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Forgot to post Thursday. Nothing much happened, though. I spent a good portion of my morning trying to fix my homework assignment, and even went so far as to ask the professor for help. Not that it’s a bad thing to ask the prof for help, after all, that’s what they’re there for. But it was the first time I had to ask the professor for help, and it seemed her answer to my problem was something I had already figured out; I just didn’t know it was the answer until then. Still, it took me until later in the afternoon to fix my homework, but it was very satisfying to get it over with.

Friday started off as an okay day, then it turned lousy, and then it turned better. The lousy part began when I went to work, and there was a major traffic jam on the highway. I left the house at 1715 hours and didn’t get to work until 1900. I spent an hour and 45 minutes on the road in stop-and-go traffic. What sucked is that I was supposed to start at 1830, so I ended up being late and getting into trouble. I found out later that a good portion of Waikiki’s roads were closed because of some silly block party they were having to celebrate the grand opening of a shopping complex. Add to that a traffic accident on one of the freeway off-ramps, a concert at the Waikiki Shell, and the first round of the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament, and that’s plenty of reason for me to stress out at work.

Thankfully, hanging out with friends and talking on the phone with Maile helped make the day end gracefully. I went to Zippy’s with some co-workers and ate breakfast food. I also drank a lot of coffee, so I’ll probably stay awake for the next four hours. I could use this time to help Maile with her homework, but she wants to do it herself, so she didn’t send me stuff to look at. Her homework is not due until Tuesday, but then she has another assignment due the next day. This is all for the same class. I don’t know what the professor was thinking, or perhaps the professor wasn’t thinking, because I’ve never heard of anyone giving two assignments one after the other and expect them due within a few hours of each other. Hopefully tomorrow or Sunday I can help Maile alleviate some of that work.

I got my Eddie Izzard “Dress to Kill” DVD, and was pleasantly surprised to find some extra material that wasn’t included in the HBO showing. I also got Robin Williams’ Live on Broadway DVD, and I hope that, too, contains extra stuff.

Today was an ordinary day at work. Finally was able to give George his Kikaida DVD, and now we both can’t wait for the 2nd disc to be released.

My cough has gotten better, though I am still prone to fits now and then. I don’t cough very well and it always feels terrible in my chest and my throat. Sometimes I even bring myself to tears when I cough like this.

UH athletics had a big day today. The volleyball Wahine swept Fresno State in 3 games, and the football Warriors went into the 4th quarter against Fresno State down 21 to 9, and came back to win it 31 to 21. A very big game for the football team, since they played in Fresno, probably one of the most hostile environments to play in. The Warriors showed great poise and concentration, stringing together some fantastic plays and never giving up. This game was televised nationally on ESPN2, so it’s great exposure for the program, especially with a win on the road. Not to take away from the volleyball game, who haven’t lost a single set since September (I forget the number of consecutive sets), but everyone already knows how good the volleyball team is. They’re number 2 in the country! So the football team proved themselves to many critics tonight.

I talked with Maile a bit tonight, casual conversation like we are wont to do on those days when we don’t get to see each other. It’s been over a week since I last saw her, and Maile mentioned that it almost feels like we’re in a long-distance relationship. I don’t like long-distance relationships. Still, our daily schedules hardly match nowadays, and since I was sick this past week, it’s easy to see why we’re hardly around. I hope to change that soon.

I didn’t post yesterday because I fell asleep early. I guess I was just that tired. I woke up 11 hours later and had a nasty cotton-mouth, which is odd because I never drank anything. I think it’s all the vog in the air with the Kona winds blowing in.

Yesterday was a bit eventful, too. On my way in to work I nearly got into a traffic accident as a truck got a flat tire. Unfortunately, the driver decided to slow to a stop as he tried to move to the shoulder, and nearly caused a chain reaction as we all tried desperately to avoid him. Given the heavy rain earlier in the evening, the roads were still slick. It’s a miracle nobody hit anything.

I bought the Kikaida DVD as promised. Not much else to say about that.

Last night Maile and her mom gave Keoni an choice. He could either stay at the house under strict rules (no stealing, lying, or drugs), or he could go out on the street and face whatever consequences there. He chose the street. He explained this choice by saying that since he was eventually going to jail, he might as well do what he likes before then. Unfortunately, his likes involve stealing Maile’s jewelry and trying to swindle the other family members out of money. And he likes crack.

Discovered today that he came back to the house. His excuse was that he wanted to do laundry, and he wanted money. He also gave some sob story about how it’s so hard on the street, but Maile just reminded him that it was his choice. Tonight he’s going to return and the mom is going to have a “chat” with him.

I’ve decided that I will drop my math class, or at the very least, talk to my professor about it. I’m so borderline it’s scary. I’m really worried that the exams will sink me below the level of passing, so I figure I will drop the class now and get a W (for withdrawal), but still attend the rest of the classes so I can get the material. I’m going to ask if I can also continue to turn in the assignments and take the exams, just to get an idea of whether or not I understand this shit. It’s too bad I can’t get my money back, but it’s better than getting a D or F in the class.

Ate dinner at Assagio’s in Mililani. I had a chicken and shrimp special with a spinach garlic wine sauce over a bed of linguine. Maile had the chicken linguine anchovy olio, or something along those lines. Not bad.

I went on a DVD buying spree today, which I shouldn’t have done really, since I have that truck coming in. However, I can justify these purchases by thinking that these are things I would watch over and over again. What did I get?

Forrest Gump
Joy Luck Club, The
Monsters, Inc.
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death and Rebirth
Pulp Fiction
Reservoir Dogs
Rurouni Kenshin: Soulless Knights
Rurouni Kenshin: A Shinobi’s Love
Tenchi the Movie 2

Actually, Pulp Fiction and Soulless Knights I bought a couple days ago, but I thought to put them in here since it’s still so new and all.

I must remember to also buy The End of Evangelion, the so-called “sad” ending of the series. Death and Rebirth is merely an elaborated end in the series, sort of like a drawn-out and detailed rendition of what was shown on TV. End of Evangelion is supposed to be released on the 24th, so I’ll be waiting for that eagerly.

Tonight’s an early night; gotta wake up and get to school, where I’ll no doubt fuzzy my brain with gobble