Wow...I had one heck of a time last night. After leaving work (around 8:45pm) I went straight to Philly where a bunch of co-workers were getting together to celebrate someone's birthday and also just to hang out. We went to Top Dog's near Penn campus and they had a costume party there as well. Some people went all out!!! They had $1 bottles and I met a lot of new people. It was a lot of fun. They even had a dance floor there and people started to shake their thang. The DJ played some very interesting music and made for a very festive atmosphere I think. Anyway I went out to dance and one of my co-workers started to dance with me...like dirty dancing kind of stuff. I felt really uncomfortable and so I stepped off the dance floor and then my other co-workers started to make fun of me. Plus I felt really stupid dancing because I was still in my work clothes...which looked kind of tacky. The good thing is that I met lots of new people that worked at Lockheed Martin, and two of those people were graduates of Carnegie Mellon. How cool is that! They would have been freshmen when I was a senior. I left around midnight. Got home and crashed.

So now today is Halloween. After work I have to run to the supermarket and buy some candy...and hand it out to kids. Last year I only have 1 group of kids come to my door, and they were freaking teenagers and not even dressed either...and when I tossed them some candy, they just stood there like I didn't give them enough. I knew it and they knew that no one was going trick or treating, so everyone still had a ton of candy left to give out. And so I succumbed and gave them a bunch more candy.

This year I'm only giving to kids in costumes.

It's the day before Halloween...and I still don't have candy although I do plan on handing out candy. Actually I still have like a bag of snickers from last year...but candybars don't go bad right. After all it's all sugar. Maybe that'll be my trick and treat. I really should get more candy though. I guess I'll do that tonight...but I'll be here until late...since I came into work close to 1pm again. Last night I must have conked out or something. I was trying to watch a movie I think and the next thing I see is the morning light coming through the blinds, my halogen lamp and TV still on. I turn off the TV and go into the bedroom to sleep more.

Dang...this has got to be the latest I've been here. It's already 9:30pm. Tuesdays are especially cool because usually there is some kind of meeting for managers or something and food is ordered for lunch. After the meeting there is usually left-overs and so it's a free for all after the meetings. Usually pizza, penne pasta, and salad. Usually the salad is the only thing left. You'd figure the person ordering would get smart and NOT order the salad, but then again if she was smart, there wouldn't be any left-overs.

It's raining outside which is another reason why I'm not so excited to leave work just yet. Since I usually get in late, I end up parking way out in the back of the lot (except around noon when people drive out to get lunch).

Over the weekend I was in VA. On my way to pick up my parents from a friends house, I stopped by the gas station to pump some gas. Earlier in the day me and Debby (sis-in-law) were talking about nuts and stuff. I told her my favorite is Cashews and she told me she thinks Pistachios are better. So while I was at the gas station I went in to pick up a soda and I saw some pistachio nuts, so I picked those up for her. Guess what she gives me in return.
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No not cashews...but a picture of cashews. Wow...what a wonderful sister in law I have. he he he j/k Debby :)

Yesterday after work I stopped by KFC and picked up 10 pieces for $8.99 and had three pieces before heading out to my friends place to watch the Eagles vs. Giants game. There were 4 Giants fans and just me and one other person who were Eagles fans. Steelers are my favorite team, but this year they suck, and Eagles is my 2nd favorite team. McNabb is an awesome quarterback always running out of the pocket to gain yards, even a touch down. Anyway Eagles won. I left my friends place around 12:30am and got home only to find Top Gun playing. So I tried to stay up to watch that, but fell asleep during the movie. I got up at like 11:30 this morning. Got into work at 1:00pm. Stopped into Subways before work for some lunch. I'm going to try to start doing foot long sandwiches and eating one half for lunch and the other half for dinner.

This morning I had to wake up at 6am to drive my parents from VA to Baltimore airport. It was so good to see them especially in such a way as not to leave them worrying about me anymore. I wanted to cry except with tears of joy instead of pain. I drove back to NJ stopping by McDonald's on the way for a Hotcakes Breakfast (hotcakes, eggs, and sausage). That was the first time in a long time when I was eating the sausage that I could really taste and enjoy all that fatty grease in the sausage. MMmmmm....Goooood.

I got to work around 10:30am. Had half a sweet potato, a super moist chocolate muffin, and some Fritos corn chips. Washed it down with some green tea and some coke. I think I'm going to stop doing the food reports for a while, now that my health is getting better.

I'm going to go home now, but later I'm going to a co-workers place to watch Monday night football.

Weekend Update:
Friday - After work I went home to eat dinner and quickly made some Miso Tofu soup (had to use up the rest of the tofu before it went bad). Filled up on gas and left for Baltimore. Got there kind of late which left mom and dad waiting for about 40 mins. I don't think they were too upset about me being so late. It rained like cats and dogs on the way there too but that didn't keep me from averaging like 90mph the whole way down, and surprisingly everyone was going about that fast too. We went directly to Brian and Debby's place in VA.
Saturday - My mom made omelets in the morning. Mmmm...they were good. After Brian came back from praise practice, we went to eat a late lunch of Jja-jang-myun at the Lotte shopping center and did some shopping after that. Went back home to prepare some dinner and then left again to go to Leesburgh Outlet stores. I got a nice pair of brown shoes for $30. Originally like $80. I can't wait to wear them. This weekend I'll see if the girls notice or not. I'll try and dress up more since some of my friends think I don't care too much about my appearance. Ha!
Sunday - Brian and Debby left early for church since they serve on committees and such. My parents wanted to go to this one Korean church I think in large part, because they were giving away these free thermos bottles and traveling mugs for new people. But I wasn't too sure how to get there and we were running kind of late so we just went to the one my brother goes to. I pretty much missed the English service and my parents went to the Korean service, meanwhile Brian, Debby, and I went to someone's house for a newcomer's welcoming lunch kind of thing. We picked up two 3-foot subway sandwiches at Subways which cost about $70. Insane rip off if you ask me. Brian's funniest line of the day was when we were getting ready to eat, Brian was holding a baby, and the guy after saying grace, said "Ladies first" and Brian cuts up in front and says, "Huh?...what?...babies first?" Drove back to church to drop my parents off at my dad's friend's place, Dr. Paik's house (his wife passed away last week). Then I met back up with Brian and we went to his work place where we played War Craft III. It wasn't all that bad. Went back home and had curry rice for dinner. Oh it was so good. Tried to fix my computer without success. Debby's parents stopped by the house and I went to get mom and dad so they could meet them. Later on me and Brian played some poker for money. Two hands I thought I had him and bet high, both times losing. Then we played that indian poker (where you put the card on your head so only the other player can see, and you basically guess if your card is higher or lower than his. Again when he had a low card I'd bet high, but all the time I had an even lower card...and what sucks is I'd fold when I saw he had a high card...and I had an even higher card!!! How annoying. Definitely a sign from God to stay away from gambling. I ended up paying my brother $20.

Well end of another day and time for me to go home, pack up and leave to Baltimore to pick up my parents and then go down to VA. Area is much safer now that they got that loon that was shooting at everyone.

He he he...yesterday was an interesting day. As you can read below all I could think about was food that day. So after work (around 7:45pm) I left work and on my way I decided I would stop by Circuit City (kind of on the way to Han-ah-reum and the Korean restaurant) because I wanted to buy a small handheld TV. Last week I tried to record FRIENDS, but it didn't work for some reason. The week before that I accidently recorded the wrong channel. All the mishaps preventing me from watching my favorite show, and on Thursday morning my cable TV wasn't working. So I figured instead of taking a chance and missing another episode of FRIENDS, I'd buy a small portable TV (I was thinking of buying one anyway, but this was reason enough to get it now). I buy the color TV, and batteries as well. Run into my car, rip open the packaging, put in the batteries, and turn on the TV, and guess what. IT'S A STINKING RERUN!!! So now I feel like an idiot for making what amounted to an impulse buy. But I like the TV and I think it'll serve me well. I'm looking to get a flexible antenna I can hook up to put into my car. I depart for the Korean restaurant and order soon-doo-boo at Korea Garden in Cherry Hill, NJ. This place sucks, but it could make non-spicy soon-doo-boo. I walk into Han-ah-reum just next-door. I can't resist and get an order of sushi (6 piece rolls, and 6 piece sushi) for like 7 bucks. I also get some miso soup mix (so I can use with my expired tofu) and a package of green tea...the real Japanese green tea I think. Not like the American crap they call green tea, but when you brew it turns brown. Damn it, I want GREEN tea, not BROWN tea. Anyway the picture on the box showed GREEN tea, and had all this japanese writing so I think it's green. I'll let you know next week.

I went to bed late again last night watching movies and buffing my shoes. This time 3:30am. This morning I woke up to the cable guy pounding at my door to replace my cable modem around 10am. I haven't had such a rude awakening in a while, but that's the kind of thing I need to get my sorry butt out of bed.

Brought my left-overs from last night for lunch but when I got here I found out the cafeteria was serving Chicken Stew over rice. I LOVE that stuff so I got it.

Food Report: Chicken stew over rice w/biscuit, Cherry Coke, vit.B, green tea w/honey, Centrum, Ensure, Coke, Fritos, yesterday's left-over soon-doo-boo and ban-chan.

Today I feel like I have this voracious appetite. On my way to work all I could think about was chinese food, but somehow I ended up at Subways (which is inside a gas station) because I also wanted to buy a bag of Fritos. Even after eating my sandwich I felt like eating Chinese. For dinner I want to go to KFC to get another 10-piece chicken, but I have tofu in the fridge that's going to go bad if I don't eat it soon, so I was thinking of going to the Korean restaurant to buy some soon-doo-boo (and go to Han-ah-reum next-door to get some sushi), and all at the same time I want to eat chinese food, but also I have jap-ah-ghetti at home which I wouldn't mind eating as well. This is what a pregnant woman must feel like. This is really great. I have my appetite back.

The thalidomide so far isn't causing the side effects I was having before, or at least not to the same extent. My right side of my tongue still is a little sensitive though...but I'm eating stuff like granola bars and hard chips and stuff. I'm thankful to God he has restored my health...or at least still in the process. This morning when I looked into the mirror, I saw my sides weren't staight up and down, but that they were bulging just a tiny bit!!! I've got to be gaining my weight back.

I was talking to my friend on the phone just now and he pointed out that I need to keep myself well groomed. Dress a little better, get rid of my "old man" clothes, stop wearing corduroys in the summer, get a decent hair cut, shave, and all that other stuff. I don't understand why everyone is so hung up on me wearing cords in the summer. They are actually much lighter and breathe much easier than jeans, but no one complains about jeans in the summer. That's messed up. A man should be able to wear cords in the summer without drawing attention.

What else is on my mind. Today on my way to work, there was road construction which narrowed two way traffic into one lane. As I passed the guy who turns the sign from "slow" to "stop" I waved and he waved back. It felt good to let them know my appreciation for their work, but imagine if I just waved to some random person on the street, would that person wave back? Probably not. That's just messed up. A person should be able to wave to someone and expect a response back.

Well I finally finished off the KFC that I've had in my fridge for...get this...for like 10 days. After that long it comes out tasting a little dry but all that fat surrounding it keeps it from spoiling. Anyway I think I'm going back to KFC today to get some more chicken before the 10-piece for $8.99 deal goes away. That way I'll have chicken for like another week or two...ha ha ha.

Last night I stayed up until like 3am watching cable TV. I realized yesterday that my cable modem wasn't working because I left it unplugged for a long time (which I think clears it's memory buffer or something). So I called in and tomorrow they are going to send a guy out to my apartment to replace my "old" cable modem. I also tried to fix my computer yesterday and for some reason my new hard drive won't take. I tried several different kinds of configurations but none of it worked with the new hard drive. I hope it's not defective, I'll be pretty peeved if it is.

This morning I woke up without the alarm and I actually got into work at 11:30am. Stopped by Subways along the way.

Food Report: Vit.B, can of Pepsi, turkey/ham sub sandwich, Centrum, Fritos, green tea w/honey, granola bar, vit.C, coke, soon-doo-boo, rice, kimchee, and some other kinds of ban-chan, oh...and I also had some sushi.

I forgot to mention that yesterday I started taking Thalidomide again...except only 50mg a day (one pill), and today I can tell I already feel itchy. I'm really beginning to think this is the miracle drug THAT I'M ALLERGIC TO!!!! ARGH!!!!!!!! Anyway I'm hoping the lower dose will alleviate the side effects.

It's already 9pm, and I've spent the better part of the day working on the church website. I keep trying to justify my work as glorifying to God, although maybe that's a stretch since I'm supposed to be doing my "real" work instead...he he he.

Time to go home.

Holy Smokes I was at work late yesterday. I stayed until 9:30pm. Reason being is because I woke up late, had a 2:15pm doctors appointment, and then went to CGI programming class. Got home and wanted to fix my computer and clean up but that didn't happen.

Tuesdays and Thursday I usually record prime time shows. Recently I got cable, and so my recording routine has changed a little. Yesterday I set the recorder to record on channel 2 of my TV (which is the channel that receives the cable channels), but I forgot to set the stinking channel for the cable TV, so I ended up recording some random crap, instead of the shows I wanted to watch. This is like the 3rd recording mishap in a month.

I thought a great way to wake up this morning would be the natural way. Just get out of bed as soon as I woke up. I was thinking that I had conditioned myself to shut off the alarm and sleep more as soon as I heard the alarm, and by not using the alarm I could just wake up when I wanted without the obligatory alarm. Well that didn't happen either. I woke up and felt I still wasn't as rested as I wanted, and then the next time I woke up it was like 11am. Dang I suck.

Food Report: Taco bell soft tacos, Dr. Pepper, vit.B, green tea w/honey, bag of Cracker Jack, vit.E, KFC chicken, Sprite, crackers, one Thalidomide.

This whole sniper thing has really gotten out of hand. It just amazes me how stinking easy it is for people to get away with murder. I realize most of the time it's easy to catch the perp because of motives. So if you ever want to commit a murder, I guess the way to do it is to act out randomly, so that there is no motive...except that you are one crazed loon killing people. I think we need to revise the constitution or institute some kind of policy to control gun use. If only the stupid NRA would realize they are doing more harm than good.

Anyway today I could have woke up early again, but it's the stepping out of bed into the cold air that's the hardest part of getting up. I came into work at 11am. I have an appointment I have to go to at UPenn in a few minutes. I'll have a chat with the doc on what I should do about taking Thalidomide. Today the ulcer on the right side of my tongue kind of hurts. I'm thinking the drug really does help, but I really don't like the side effects. My head is still a little sore for all the itching I was doing the previous days.

Food Report: Cherry Coke, 6" tuna subway sandwich, green tea w/honey, vit.B, Fritos corn chips, Ensure, Centrum, KFC chicken, Reeses ice cream.

Today just feels like one of those days where you don't want to do anything. Today I called my doctor and told her about the side effects and basically told me to take a smaller dose. I have to go see her tomorrow. The pain in my right foot and left calf basically went away after stop taking the drug. My head doesn't itch anymore either. My mouth still feels great. Best ever in a long time. I'm eating normally now. I'm not so sure I'ma gaining any weight though since I'm still on my 4th belt hole. Normally I'm on my 2nd or 1st hole.

This morning I woke up to someone banging on my door. It turned out to be the exterminators. I don't really have a problem with pests, especially now that it's getting cold. That's what I like most about winter. No insects to bug you.

Food Report: 6" Chix Teriyaki sub sandwich w/cheese and olives, coke, vit.B., green tea w/honey, ice cream cone, Fritos corn chips, KFC chicken.

Weekend Update:
After being at work on Saturday I went to pick up some KFC, picked up Connie as well and headed over to Tae's where we had dinner and worked on his site a little. Then he kicked us out of his house. What a friend huh? Well at least I got to play a little bit of CS.
On Sunday I woke up early and made it to church. I ended up being a little unprepared and late on projecting the song slides. After service I worked on doing the sermons while eating my $1 noodles. Meanwhile everyone else went to Tae's. I finally finished the sermon stuff after 2nd service ended and Yujin, Lynnette and I decided to go to all you can eat sushi, only we got there too late, and so we went to the Liberty tower Food Court in Center City where I had bad cajun food. After that we drove over to Cathy's place and watched "Windtalkers" which was sort of interesting and had pizza for dinner, and vanilla ice cream for dessert. On the way back home from Cathy's I got so tired behind the wheel and at one point I guess I thought I saw something and flinched. I freaked myself out so bad, I was wide awake for the rest of the way home. I have this ominous feeling that one of these days I won't be so lucky, and the sad part about it is that Cathy's place is only like 30 mins drive from home.

Last night I went to small group meeting at Sarah's house (my small group co-leader). We met another small group there as well. We had dinner and played a game of Taboo. After that I headed out to PC Bang and met Ted there. We played for about 3 hours. Came home late at night and slept until late this morning. Now I'm here at work finishing off some hours.

Today I found out some bad news I think. For the last 3 days my right foot has kind of been hurting. A pain at the base of my 2nd and 3rd toe, as though I had a bruise there. I thought at first it was just a bruise but now that I think about it, I think it's a side effect of the Thalidomide that I'm taking. At first I thought that the side effect was tingling or loss of sensation in your hands or feet, but I read it today and it said the hands or feet may also "hurt". Also today my scalp is still very itchy, probably another side effect. So for now I think I'm going to stop taking the drug. Have you ever had the poison ivy itch? It feels kind of like that on my head. Argh...this itch just won't go away.

I'm going to head over to Tae's and hang out there...and work on his website a little.

Food Report: 6" Chicken Teriyaki sub sandwich w/cheese and olives, Fritos corn chips, coke, vit.B, Centrum.

Last night I went out to dinner with my small group leader Paul. We went to this restaurant called Rangoon. It's a Burmese restaurant. I had Chicken coconut curry which was pretty good. After chatting for a while we decided to watch a movie. We caught the 9:45 showing of Red Dragon. This movie I think is supposed to be the prequil to Hannibal. It's a very disturbing movie. Not so scary, just very disturbing. After that I went home and fell asleep watching cable TV. I had the timer set to record FRIENDS, but again for some reason the recording didn't work...so I missed the 1st and now the 3rd (or is it the 4th) show of FRIENDS. This is getting me rather upset that I can't watch my favorite show.

Today I got up rather late again. I took a shower but yet my head is so itchy. It was that way yesterday too. Today my right foot hurts as well. It was hurting yesterday too, but today the area got bigger. I kind of walk with a limp now. I really hope it isn't related to the drug I'm taking. If it is then this really sucks for me, because I don't want to stop taking the drug. I don't think it's the drug taking effect yet but I feel great. Ulcers aren't bothering me although I do have one on my lip that is recent. Other than that swallowing isn't that difficult, ulcers don't really bleed and the one on top of my tongue has almost disappeared.

Food Report: Coke, 6" Chicken Teriyaki sub sandwich w/cheese and olives, Fritos Honey BBQ Twists, vit.B, green tea w/honey, chinese food for dinner, cake and ice cream for dessert, and a cherry coke.

Wow, last night was fun. Hung out with my friends. I had kong-na-moo-gook-bap which apparently isn't just kong-na-moo soup with rice. Gook-bap I guess means it comes mixed with a bunch of other crap. I didn't enjoy it all that much because it had kimchee in it, but it wasn't extremely spicy and I was able to eat it. We had some soju as well. I got home around midnight and watched a little bit of cable TV. I tried to stay up watching Lethal Weapon, but I fell asleep.

This morning I woke up kind of late. My eyes feel kind of puffy. If I look to the periphery my eyes kind of hurt. I have an ulcer growing on my lip, which isn't all that bad because normally they go away kind of quickly, and also the one on the tip of my tongue hasn't gotten any bigger which is good. Swallowing isn't a problem, and all in all I think I'm doing pretty good. Thanks be to God. I don't think the Thalidomide is supposed to work this quickly, but I hope it will get totally rid of them. Food Report: Pepsi, 6" Chicken Teriyaki sub sandwich w/cheese and olives, vit.B, Centrum, Green tea w/honey, Pez candy, Fritos Honey BBQ twists, a piece of root beer candy, and another piece of grape gummy candy, vit.E, some mixed nuts, can of Ensure, Chicken coconut curry with rice.

Well finally the work day is over, I get to hang out with some friends for dinner and then I get to go home and enjoy CABLE TV and maybe some KFC as well. God must be very pleased. he he he j/k.

Food Report: Green tea w/honey, Tuna Subway sandwich w/olives and cheese, vit.B, Centrum, chocolate soy milk (from a while ago, but amazingly didn't go bad), a few pieces of RUNTS candy, Pepsi, Fritos Honey BBQ twists, vit.C, Ensure, rice, kong-na-moo gook-bap.

It's raining again today, but I don't mind. Washes all the crap off my car and alleviates the drought situation. Today wasn't as cold as it was yesterday either.

This morning the cable guy came in to set me up with cable TV. I only have the basic channels, but at least it's free. Paying for Internet cable is more expensive than paying both Internet and TV cable. How messed up is that. There goes another monopolistic bully like MSFT and AOL trying to flex their power over users. DOWN WITH COMCAST!!! Now I'm going to have like 100 more reasons why not to turn off the TV and exercise. On a more positive note, at least my parents will have something to watch while they are at my place in two weekends.

Ulcers aren't really bothering me today which is good. They still do bleed though, especially the one on top of my tongue. The one at the tip of my tongue is still very small and hasn't really grown...knock on wood.

Well CGI class was interesting, but it's still so confusing. That's what I hate about PERL the most. There's more than one way to do it. Which makes it so hard to learn I think.

Anyway I'm about to leave for home, but I'm going to stop by KFC to pick up 10 pieces for $8.99. Not bad I think...and Mmmmm is it good. Going to take my Thalidomide much earlier tonight. See ya later.

Well today I actually did some "real" work. Feels good...that sense of accomplishment. I don't get a lot of "real", "influential" work, maybe because I'm at the very end of the pecking order. I just realized today that teams usually have a board set up with people's names and something to indicate if and when they will be in or out. I'm not on anyones board, because I think it doesn't really matter if I'm in or out. Now days I get like 1 or 2 "real" emails (not the mass mailings to the whole department).

Well I'm off to a CGI class. I'll be coming back to work though. See ya in a bit.

Yesterday after work I went over to Best Buy to buy some paper cd sleeves for our sermon CD's at church. I got caught up playing "Medal of Honor" again. It's such a fun game. After that I drove home stopping by Taco Bell and picked up some soft tacos. I watched some TV including Fear Factor. The asian dude won, which I later found out that my friend from church knows the guy. I also watched Star Trek: Insurrection, but since it was edited for TV, I think a lot of the movie got cut out because the plot jumped around too much.

I started taking Thalidomide last night at 11pm. The side effects include drowsiness, but it didn't seem to do anything for me. I fell asleep around 1am, but boy did I have a heck of a time getting up this morning. I slept like a baby last night. I think I'll need to start taking this drug a little earlier, because I didn't wake up until 11am.

Food Report: 2 soft tacos from Taco Bell, vit.B, zinc, Centrum, Pepsi, Fritos corn chips, green tea w/honey, Ensure, some pretzels, 2 pieces of KFC.

I forgot to mention earlier this morning, when I went to the grocery store, on my way out, I was looking for my car. I looked at the area where my car should have been, eyes fixed on this redish car. I'm looking at the emblem on the back, thinking...could that be a Honda emblem. As I walk closer and closer I realize it's a Cadillac. I was convinced I parked it in this one row. Now I'm really confused and start looking at other rows for my car. I walk a little further, and still can't find my car. I turn back and like out of nowhere my car appears before my eyes. It was right beside the red Cadillac. I don't know how the heck I passed it but there it was. Talk about "Twilight Zone" stuff.

Weekend Update:
Friday I went to Phileo fellowship at my church. Afterward me and some folks went to Han-chon to have a late dinner. I had Sul-lung-tang as usual. They seriously make it the best there. After that we went to SoHo and knocked back a few drinks.
Saturday I woke up and tried to clean up my place. My brother and Debby drove up from VA and stopped my place so we could all proceed to a friends wedding in northern NJ, just outside of NYC. Bethany United Methodist Church is where the wedding and reception was held. It's big and looks pretty nice for a Korean church. After the reception which wasn't so exciting, we went to the post-reception, which was on a cruise boat. It was pretty nice, and best of all they had open bar, food, and dance floor. Made for a great time. Look at my brother Brian's weblog for pictures. Drove home and got back like at 4am.
Sunday I woke up at 8:45am to go to church. Had to prepare the slides for service. Brian and Debby went to the 12pm service. After doing sermon stuff, we went for a late lunch at this Jja-jang-myun place. Then headed over to PC Bang where I played for a couple of hours. Brian and Debby decided to leave for VA. After PC Bang, the guys went out to Hollihans for dinner all I had was a mudslide. After that we headed over to Cathy's place and just watched TV and chatted.

Food Report: Green tea w/honey, Ensure, Vit.B, Centrum, Tuna salad subway sandwich, a blueberry cereal bar, pepsi, mushed pumpkin/rice, one soft taco from Taco Bell, more Pepsi, New England Clam Chowder and some Corn-Nuts.

My ulcers don't really hurt today that much. Swallowing isn't all that bad, and my mouth is generally clear. Although I did notice today the tip of my tongue hurts so I think it could be the onset of another ulcer...which could be bad news. On a positive note, I get to start using Thalidomide today. Doc confirmed my blood work came back normal.

This morning I woke up all on my own. I was dreaming I was with some of my church friends. We were eating at this restaurant, and I had this really really delicious cup of Sprite or 7-Up. It has this sweetness you could only appreciate in a dream...no wait a minute. I just realized it tasted like "cider" the Korean version of Sprite or 7-Up. It's sweeter and less bubbly. It's almost exactly how I remembered it when I was at "The World of Coca-Cola" in Atlanta a few weeks back. So anyway it was really good. My friends had finished and had left to another part of the building where there was a lounge. I asked if I could get a refill, but the guy said no. The fountain machines were out in the open though, so I thought I'd get some water. I filled up and when I finished, I realized it wasn't water, but it was more soda. Instead of just pouring it out, or paying for another soda, I decided it was no big deal...and walked to where my friends were. I sat down, and I told my friend sitting next to me (Tim) that I mistakenly took another cup of soda and I kind of laughed like I was sneaky enough to get away with it. Then two of the workers (hispanic or middle-eastern men) walked around me and one put his arm around me. Meanwhile I'm stirring my soda with my straw and the dude just sticks his hands into my soda and tastes it. Then they say something to each other in a different language. At that point I'm really embarrassed and scared I might get in trouble. I had this overwhelming feeling of guilt and this sickness in my stomach. Then I woke up and it was like 8am. My alarm hadn't even rung yet. I turned on the TV and watched the news a little. On the way to work I stop by the grocery store to pick up a sqeeze bottle of honey for drinking tea at work. Honey is supposed to be much better for you than sugar.

Well about time to go to church. Today I haven't been all that productive except for doing some website stuff. Doing something you really don't enjoy really takes a lot out of you. Right now I wouldn't mind just going home and vegging out. Standing up and walking around even feels a bit exhausting. When it's raining I walk fast rather than run, because running makes me feel all weird...I guess that weird feeling is just being out of shape...he he he. I seriously feel like my body is falling apart. It's quite scarey, and to think when I was in high school I seriously thought I was invincible from physical problems. Man oh man was I wrong.

Tonight I'm going to church for Phileo fellowship. I can't wait for small group. It's usually fun and there are still a lot of folks I have yet to meet.

This whole sniper thing is getting way out of control. We need to just give this guy the reward money (which is more than $300,000) and a one way ticket to Afghanistan, and let him snipe away at Al-Queda. I've done my own profile analysis, and this is what I came up with. Favorite Computer Game: Counter-Strike, Favorite Movie: Enemy at the Gates, Role Model: Vasilli Zaitsev. Just flag anyone that has check out the movie lately and you'll find your man.

Yesterday I had Chicken Curry Ramen noodles with an egg and went to bed kind of early and thought I'd be able to wake up early as well, but that didn't really happen. I love sleeping in too much to get out of bed. And dang...something is wrong with the hot water heater, because during the shower the water will turn cold. The other day I had to just turn on the hot water, to get warm water coming out of the shower head.

The whole east coast is kind of going through a drought of sorts. I was reading an article about this one place that had to shut off it's water fountain, and the kids at the school, adopted the fish, until the water got turned back on. he he he. That's kind of neat. I've got to remember to use less water too.

Lunch I had two hot dogs, and a 32oz. coke, some green tea, Vit.B, Zinc, and Centrum. Ulcers are bothering me probably as much as yesterday, its making my mouth all thick with mucous.

I pray God will restore my health for His glory, and also put away this sniper...and also to give Bush "real" direction on his decisions, so we don't have to go through another 9/11 in another 10 years.

Today my ulcers are hurting again. It's kind of difficult to swallow and talk, and I have another new ulcer on my tongue, not to mention the one already on the right side of my tongue is beginning to hurt again.

So far I've had a little bit of the pumpkin/rice thing, vit.B, a can of Pepsi and another of Coke. Also had a cup of green tea. I'm hungry but I don't really feel like eating. The only thing I can think to eat is noodles. I think I'll have Ramen or Jjap-ah-ghetti when I get home.

Earlier I was feeling sooooo tired and exhausted, that I went into my car to take a quick 1-hr nap. :) So now I gotta stay an extra hour at work. I'm beginning to think the weather is responsible for this (since it's drizzling outside). I wanna go home :(

Argh...had to run to a meeting really quickly, because my project leader across my cube yelled over to call a quick meeting. I got enough sleep this morning, but I was fighting yawns, and battling to keep my eyes focused and wide-open. Uhg...I need some caffeine in my system. I haven't had a soda yet, so I think that's the problem.

Well time for lunch and all I've had so far was a can of Ensure. For lunch I brought that pumpkin/rice thing that my mom made.

Dang...time really flies. Already Oct. 10th. Anyway yesterday I went over to Tae's to try and help him build a website. We had sul-lung-tang for dinner which was pretty good. Clara came over as well. We all talked about how he wanted his new website. After that we played a little bit of counter-strike. I did pretty badly, but it didn't matter since I was playing under his name...he he he.

Let's see...I've had 2 cans of Pepsi, a 6" Sweet Onion Chix Teriyaki subway sandwich with a 22 oz. root beer. Vit.B & C, Zinc, a Blueberry Cake Dunkin Donut from a couple of days ago, the rest of the fruit drink that my mom made for me 5 days ago (it was starting to get bad I think), can of Ensure, a tootsie roll, and a piece of grape gummy candy. Wow that sounds like a lot. Surely I've got to be gaining back some of my weight.

A couple of hours ago I went to Quest Diagnostics (a clinic) that drew my blood, to test if I'm okay before I start taking Thalidomide. I was going to start taking it yesterday, but I decided to be sure if the blood test was for before or after taking the drug. I'm glad I waited.

While I was there, I saw a mom and her two kids walk in, as soon as the kids came in they saw the vending machines and with excitement in their voices they cried out "Ooooo...snack machines!!!" It was so funny...and so cute. They kept begging their mom for some, but she kept refusing. And so I turned around and smiled offering the mother if I could buy them something because they were so cute. She politely declined but I wanted to so bad. I wouldn't want to undermind a mom's authority in front of her kids though, that might piss the mom off. Next time I'm in that situation I think I'm going to insist to the mom that I buy the kids something. It was so cute...it really was!!! I guess you had to be there.

Tonight I'll be going to my friends place to help him build a website for his real-estate business. He's going to treat me to dinner. And hopefully I'll get a chance to work out on his crappy, dusty, weight bench...that I helped put together. **Let me clarify, it's not crappy because I helped build it, but because the bar and weights that he got for his setup were too small for the bench. So the bar doesn't rest on the bench correctly.** So anyway I guess I'll help wipe off the dust and make it feel loved...he he he. And maybe afterward teach him how to play Counter Strike again. j/k Tae! ;)

Got into work at 10:30am. I think I need to set my alarm earlier, and try to only get 8 hours of sleep instead of 9 or 10 sometimes. I also need to get into an exercise routine. My mom talked my ear of yesterday about doing so.

Anyway yesterday I had another can of ensure, vit.C, some kind of pumpkin and rice blended together to form a thick paste like baby food. It was actually quite good, and then had half a can of Progresso's New England Clam Chowder. I was some what disappointed with it.

Yesterday night was very productive. I picked up my Thalidomide prescription, and did all my laundry (a trunk load of clothes) I'm actually wearing clean clothes now ;) But I used those Maytag front-loading high-efficiency washers so I really wonder how clean my clothes are. It uses way less water than conventional cleaners, and if that's the case during the rinse cycle then your clothes definitely won't get rid of all the detergent. Well at least it smells clean. That's really all that matters right?

One can of Ensure, slice of cheese pizza, can of diet pepsi, Vit.B, Zinc, 1 French Cruller donut, and can of Cherry Coke so far.

I know it seems confusing, but I'm not really pissed at Kevin. I've only said those things so I'd have a reason to start my own "new" blog. He called quits on his blog...which I don't understand. I'll say more on this subject later...because it's really frustrating.

Work sucks, because they gave me something to do which makes absolutely no sense and I don't feel like running around asking people why this doesn't make sense.

Okay...I'm pissed off. Mr. Doopler kicked me off his silly blog, because I didn't like his new template. So who cares about Mr. Doopler anyway. I've created my own blog (aside from this one) which is all about revenge. It's called "Avenge Doopler". Check it out. It's going to be the coolest, hippest, funniest thing, since the Doopler Effect.

Well I forgot to mention what I did on Sunday. I was too busy detailing my trip. Sunday I wake up early to go to Sunday morning service. I'm running a little late, but was able to prepare everything on time. And then during the sermon, P.Paul was expecting a slide show on our new parking lot and where or where not to park. I totally forgot to do it...but I don't feel too bad, since I've had an exhausting weekend. A man's got to give himself some breaks right?

After service I start working on making a sermon CD (meanwhile I have a bowl of $1 noodles) and a can of coke. Then after a few hours I finally get it done and also begin to work on a CD label design, which no one liked. After a while we go to Cosi. I get an Double O Arctic Mocha drink. Crushed ice, Oreo, some kind of syrup and cream on top. It's good. Later we go back to church to prepare for the Welcoming Dinner. I work on the label a little more and finally print it out and affixed it to the CD. It's so nice to have something to listen to now while I'm driving. I go downstairs to have some dinner (korean food). The night's activities include a game for pastoral staff. They had to do crazy things like who could do the most push-ups, balancing water while holding breath as long as you could, eating as many salted crackers in a minute as you could, and drinking a concoction of raw eggs, spam, hot sause, ketchup, lemon juice, etc. The winner (P. Dwight) got the prize ($30 gift certificate to some kind of restaurant). It was hilarious.

After the dinner I meet up with Ted at PC Bang and we played for a couple of hours, had a bottle of coke there. I go home and sleep.

This morning I take my time getting up. Go to my fridge and am troubled to see a few fruit flies flying around. I have no open perishable food lying around...then I realize it's the trash. I forgot to throw it out over the weekend and when I take out the trash a dark cloud rises from the trash and it's all fruit flies. Argh...I shudder to think about going home today. Those that managed to escape into the air will eventually die somewhere. Yuck. But then again my apartment is no stranger to bugs...he he he. Usually it's tiny spiders and stuff.

Stopped by Dunkin Donuts this morning and had 1 blueberry cake donut, and 2 French Crullers. Mmmmm. Today I also had a can of Diet Dr. Pepper (nastiest soda I had, but it was free, there are more, but I don't think I can handle another one), a 6" Sweet Onion Chix Teriyaki Subway Sandwich with rootbeer, Vit.B, Zinc, Centrum, and a can of Ensure.

I get up super early Saturday morning. A whopping 6:30am. I hate waking up when the sun isn't shining. I get ready and my mom gets up too and prepares some stuff. She makes this fruit juice by blending peaches, bananas, and some kinds of berries with honey, which I had a cup of. She also makes some kind of pumpkin soup, which I'm kind of eager to try. I met up with Doug (who just kind of moved to Boston), and we had Hot Cakes at McDonald's before leaving for the wedding. Along the way, because of traffic, even though he's leading, I get ahead of him and almost end up missing the exit. We get there in 2.5 hours. The wedding was great, even though the message seemed a little "strange". The pastor seemed to be fixated on the "being naked" in front of one another as being not shameful.

Anyway the reception was pretty nice. At first we though the appetizers was lunch, and so we stuffed ourselves on the greesy finger foods, only to find out later that we had a buffet style lunch on the way. Most of the guys that were with me were too full to eat lunch, since I told them to eat up on the appetizers or "lunch". he he he...my mistake ;) I mean it's not a stretch to believe that Mark could be cheap and just serve finger foods.

Anyway me and the guys get stuck way out into this corner table with no lights and directly in front of a door across from the bathrooms. On top of that he sticks all of us guys together...no girls. Other than that the reception was great. Real alcohol for the toast, dancing, and cash bar. I was pretty surprised to see all that. I had a great time, although some of the music was probably a little before my time, so I couldn't really appreciate it.

After the reception a bunch of us head off to NYC. Along the way I'm traveling on the left side of the highway and my friend in front of me stops abruptly and so I slam on my breaks. The guy behind me does too, but unfortunately the SUV behind that car didn't stop in time, and neither did a few cars after him too causing a fender bender pile-up. Ted was among the casualties. I thought it was kind of funny that I almost started a pile-up, but then now I don't want that distinction because Ted blames me for starting the whole thing...when it was actually the car behind me that did.

Traffic was terrible and we get into NYC after like 2 hours, ~7pm I think. Dan checks into a pent-house suit in a hotel in K-town. We all go up while deciding what to do. We finally go to Baden-baden, which is kind of like a bar/restaurant...after that we go to Cafe Metro to kill some time, and then head off to Camel only to find out our reservation was not honored...so we didn't get to party. We decide to go home. I get home around 3am after a very very tiring drive. Close to home I almost fall asleep and crash into the medium. Thank God he was watching over me.

So yesterday night I drive up to Boston. Started to rain when I got into NY and CT, and was hard to drive, but I made it okay. Only took about 5.5 hours. My parents where here with my brother. They took my brother's bed and me and my bro took the futon in the living area.

I dreamed that I was driving, and I got into an accident with another car as I was backing out of a driveway. Very minor, and there was a cop right there too. So we both get out and this guy keeps annoying me putting his hand in front of my face and such, and so I get annoyed and I went to kick him as hard as I could. Then I woke up and realized that I had actually kicked my brother who was sleeping peacefully beside me. He didn't really make any noise so I thought he slept through it even though I kicked him pretty hard. In the morning when I mentioned it he though I kicked him because he was snoring...he he he. I remember once at home I was dreaming that i was going to punch a guy, and then I ended up really punching the wall beside me. My hand really hurt after that.

Anyway we get up kind of early in the morning today and go to the Oral Surgeons department. I saw a plethora of medical students, oral pathologists, medical doctors and professors. Their diagnosis was Sutton's Disease, which is basically a fancy way to say "severe apthous ulcers". That was kind of a relief to hear, and they also concurred that Thalidomide was a good drug to take to treat my condition.

After that we had dinner altogether at the mall, which was near my dad's medical conference. After that we did some shopping at Filene's Basement, and then picked my dad back up and went to one of his pastor friend's house in CT. Boy was traffic terrible the whole way there.

Tomorrow I'm supposed to go to my friend's wedding in CT, but my mom doesn't want me to go.

For breakfast I had 2 French Crullers, and can of coke. Lunch chinese food - Egg drop soup, Pork Fried rice, Chicken w/ snow pea pods and vegs. Also had 2 more French Cruller donuts, some kind of Tasty Kake snack (they gave them away for free yesterday at work), and then my vit.B and Centrum. and another can of coke. What else...that's about it I think. For dinner I'll have the rest of my chinese food. Gotta drive up to Boston now. Will take me 6 hours I think. See ya later. More updates to come when I'm in Boston.

Yesterday left work around 8pm and for dinner I had two slices of cheese pizza I got free from work, and a bag of Fritos.

This morning I had to pack up for this weekend. After work I'm going to drive up to Boston to see my parents and hopefully a doctor too. I'm taking Friday off of work. On my way to work I stopped by Dunkin Donuts and picked up 6 French Cruller donuts.

Yesterday was kind of an unintersting TV day. I actually watched Law & Order because one of my friends really likes that show and is going to law school too. I watched just enough to get me hooked and once I was hooked I had to watch how it ended. The progression was actually very interesting, about a murder investigation that appeared to motivated by one thing, only to find out later in the investigation it was because of other motives that tied in Islam. I was thinking this'll be interesting...but then the motive changes from militant muslim activism to just a kid was is afraid of women, because he was hurt and rejected by a girl he had a crush on...so now he had a vendetta against all women. TALK ABOUT STUPID. I totally thought this show was going to have this awesome, mind-bending, controversial ending, but it fell flat on it's face with a stupid, stupid ending. Sorry Doug but I've lost a little respect for you. Ha ha ha.

So yesterday I leave work around 10pm. Dang was it late. I head over to McDonald's to get a McChicken sandwich (which was dry as leather) and a Chicken Fajita. Also had the rest of my Korean roll cake. Watched some TV and fell asleep. These days I think I'm getting better sleep. In the last few days I've only been getting up once during the night. It's so nice to be able to get good rest. This morning I let the radio stay on for a little while, got up to see the time and was shocked to see almost an hour go by even though it only felt like a few minutes. I hate that feeling.

Drove to McDonald's on my way to work to pick up 2 orders of Hotcakes...one for me and my cubemate. Took my vit.B and also had a can of coke.

Stuff like this just makes me laugh...he he he
Almost time to go home and as you can tell I'm hard at work.

MIAMI, Florida (Reuters) -- A man dubbed by authorities as the "bumbling bank robber" had his two gold teeth knocked out as he ran into traffic and was hit by a van while fleeing a heist, FBI agents in Miami said Tuesday. The suspect, who also may have shot himself accidentally, escaped in a waiting get-away car but police recovered his teeth from the street and held them as evidence, the FBI said. The suspect walked into a Wachovia Bank branch in North Miami Beach Monday, pulled a gun from his pocket as he approached a teller and demanded that she fill a bag with money, the FBI said. The teller gave him an undisclosed sum of money and he turned to flee, discharging the gun as he stuffed it back into his pocket, the FBI said. "It is unknown at this time if the robber shot himself when the gun discharged," the FBI said in a statement headlined "update on bumbling bank robber." The suspect ran out of the bank into the street and was hit by a white van and dragged under it, authorities said. He managed to get up and run to a waiting car that sped away, leaving his teeth behind, the investigators said. Police and the FBI were looking for him at hospital emergency rooms and medical centers. The suspect was described as a tall, thin black man in his late 20s to early 30s.

I'm at work, but all I can think about is this stupid disease the doctors think I might have. I had my doctors appointment today and they prescribed me Thalidomide. Reading the side-effects has got me concerned a little. This drug is highly controlled, and can not be dispensed by just any Pharmacy. They have to be registered with some kind of agency first. Written prescriptions are only good for 14 days before they are void. Additionally I'm not supposed to let anyone touch the pills even...and I had to sign a consent form and stuff like that. I'm not sure what to do. The more I read up on Behcet's Syndrome or Behcet's Disease, the more I think I have it. I'll finally be glad once they diagnose me with something other than apthous ulcers.

Dang...still got two more hours at work.

Here's the continuation of my recap of the weekend.
So after the church service, still not hungry from the breakfast, we decide to go into downtown Atlanta to check it out. Our destination, The World of Coca-Cola. Admission was $6 to learn about the great secret formula for making Coke. Okay so I'm lying, like they would ever divulge that secret...but the recipe is locked away in one of the banks in Atlanta. We sort of learned about how stuff was done, but more than anything it was basically a strole down Coke's memory lane of ad campaigns. Pretty boring stuff, and not enough of the historical information. Anyway past all the stupid stuff, was the cool part. There was like this Coke cafe where you could sample several of Coke's products, here in the US, and also Coke products from abroad...and you could drink as much as you wanted. Pretty cool, but realistically, there is only so much you can drink, and mixing so many flavors, especially with some really strange tasting flavors doesn't settle well in your stomach. The other guys all came out complaining of stomach aches. ha ha ha. After that we drove to Jason's Deli for lunch. Wasn't too bad and they serve free ice cream as well. I had just a bowl of okay Broccoli Cheddar soup...and of course some ice cream. After that we dropped our friend off at the Hotel and left for the airport. Getting to the airport only 1 hour before departure, I was daunted when I looked at the LOOOOOOOOONG line...then I realized it was for international flights. I kept walking and could see a short first-class domestic line, and a bit further another long line...probably for economy domestic flights...but to my rescue was a self-check in booth (for those with not check-on luggage) and so I quickly checked myself in, ran to the not to long security line. Within a few minutes I was at the gate...only to find my flight was delayed for like an hour. So that kind of sucked. So finally I get on and the flight is PACKED. I mean you couldn't even fit a sardine on the flight we were all crammed in so tight! Finally land and I get to my car, paying for my $32 mistake of parking in the short-term lot. As I'm going home debating what to do, I realized I could go to PC Bang. I call up my friend and sure enough he was already there, so I joined him. Ran next door to the Korean restaurant and ordered some Sul-lung-tang and ate it after I got home.

Monday was kind of busy day. Got to work kind of late, had the rest of the sul-lung-tang for lunch. After work I got the washer machine out of storage and (crap...I just realized I didn't call in and tell them I didn't need it for another month) my friend took it off in his van. Went home and cooked up some Jjap-ah-ghetti and went to sleep.

Woke up super early today to go into downtown Philly, pick up a referal from my PCP and drove into West Philly for my doctor's appointment. The appointment lasted until 12pm. After that I went to church to help Mark out with burning sermon CDs. Had a slice of pizza and coke for lunch. Left church for work, getting in at 5pm...now I'm stuck here until about 10pm. And I still have to write my employee self-evaluation that was due yesterday. I guess that won't look good during my employee review process.

Well that's about all I got for now.