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| News of the Day Archive- December 10-12 |
| December 10- My plan was to wake up early, head over to Mt. SAC to pay my fees, come home and work on my Sports Management project, then be at the Bustos' at 1:00 to collaborate. That didn't happen. Instead I woke up at 12:50 and started working on my portion of the project. I had some trouble coming up with information to write, so as a result my part was extremely short in comparison to the work that Robert, and AJ did. I worked on that for a little while until I was told that AJ would be leaving for a little while so we wouldn't be meeting until around 3:00, which gave me some more time. I only worked for a short while until I got distracted by the lure of the tv and AOL, whos Siren song was too much for me to overcome. At about 2:30 I finally decided to get dressed because I was tired of just sitting around in what I slept in. When I was done with that I pretty much just sat around some more, until at about 4:00 I received word that AJ was home so I went over to the Bustos' to work on the group project. Once I got there the three of us sort of went over what we had, then went to the computer where the picture I drew of the Kangaroo was scanned into the computer. Using the paint program we were able to add some color, but because the paper wasn't completely white, the colors sort of filled in as if they were airbrushed, making a pretty good effect. So I spent a little time working on that, which we decided would go on the back of a t-shirt, leaving a round logo for the front breast. I had a pretty hard time with that one because I couldn't get circles that were perfectly round on the computer, they were all sort of oval. I got wise and figured out a way I could do it and it worked without any problems. At around 5:30 AJ left for work, so it was just Robert and I working on the shirts, since the rest of the project was pretty much done. It took me a while, but eventually I was able to finish the logo, and it came out alright. After that we started ironing the designs onto the shirts, which I was a little hesitant because I didn't want to ruin someone else's shirt. I've always made them just for myself. Luckily they seemed to come out alright, though I did have a couple minor defects in them, but they only needed to last one day so it wasn't too big of a problem. I was finished with that at around 6:45 so I came home where I only spent a couple of minutes before heading out to get something to eat. I made a stop at SpeedZone for no particular reason, and went out to Slick Track where I was talking to Gabe and Paul. I talked with them for a few minutes before leaving at about 7:30. I chatted with the workers inside (Daylo, Jenine, and a new hire) before heading off to Carl's Jr. Once I had my food I wasn't sure where to eat it. I didn't want to sit in Carl's Jr., I didn't want to go back to SpeedZone, and I didn't want to go all the way home because Steve had mentioned he wanted to do something. So I drove around for about five minutes and finally decided just to sit in the parking lot near Barnes and Noble where I enjoyed my Spicy Chicken Sandwich, and Famous Star. I drove up to Steve's house at about 8:00 and was shortly followed by Sean. We weren't sure what to do, and ended up just standing out in front of his house for a few minutes in the cold before deciding to go inside to call up Shay (and I just realized that we never did). We ended up sitting at the dining room table watching cartoons and looking through the junk mail before eventually ending up in the computer room to try and find information about haunted places that were local. I couldn't find very much online, and ended up giving up at about 9:30, at which point I took a seat on his couch that I found to be quite comfortable. It was so comfortable that at about 10:00, while Sean and Steve were looking up things on the internet like the 18th St. Gang webpage, I dozed off for about twenty minutes. After waking up I felt a little more awake than prior to my nap which is sort of unusual for me. Steve got the idea of making hot cocoa, so he made a futile attempt at doing so, but it ended up just tasting really dilluted. At about 11:30 or so we headed over to 7-11 where we met up with Gabe who had just gotten off of work. I wasn't sure what to get, so I opted for a Canada Dry, and chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich. Even though it was really cold outside, I felt like eating it, and it was pretty good, though it was about three or four bites too big. We stood around the back of my truck just talking about various things. A guy wearing a Finch shirt walked into 7-11 so when he came out Sean and Steve gave him a copy of the CD demo which was sort of amusing to watch. The four of us stayed out there until about 12:15 when we parted ways, and I came home where I sat at the computer after taking care of some things. Other than washing some clothes, and changing the sheets on my bed, I didn't do anything of significance before going to sleep. I ended up falling asleep at about 3:30. December 11- I woke up at around 8:00 and proceeded to make my Kangaroo t-shirt for my Sports Management final in a couple of hours. WIth the exception of putting the logo on the front a little too close to the armpit, I think mine came out the best of the three I made. When I was done with that I made a couple minor corrections to the written part of the project, and at around 9:00 I started getting dressed. I shaved, showered, and got dressed before sitting in front of the tv for a couple minutes eating a Pop Tart and watching I Love Lucy. I met at the Bustos' where we sort of walked through the project just to give us an idea when we actualy did it. That took a few minutes, during which Robert kept talking about his shoes that had come in the mail, but they looked very similar to the shoes AJ was already wearing. At 10:00 we piled into my truck and I drove the three of us to school, where on the way we saw Nick driving, though it took driving next to him for about a mile before he noticed. We got to class about ten minutes early so I took the time to put all my handouts, assignments, and notes into a folder that AJ had given me, before we went to class at 10:30. After about five minutes of waiting for some late people, one of the groups gave their presentation and it was not that great. However it did give us an idea what we were competing against because while waiting in the parking lot we started to worry a little when we saw everyone else with what looked like potentially good projects. When the first group was finished Robert took the opportunity to volunteer us, which I didn't mind. Everybody noticed that we were wearing the same shirts, and I think it scored us some points since we all matched. I then wrote the name of our mascot on the white board, which was the "KangaRuhs" since it incorporated the teacher's name. That definitely scored us some points because he even joked saying we didn't even have to go on. Our presentation started, and even though it didn't have a lot of substance, we spoke pretty much in rhythm with eachother, and didn't have any awkward moments like other groups would have. Another plus for ours was that the total time was only about seven minutes when I looked at my watch, which was another plus. After us there were about three or four more groups and none of them were that great. Some of the highlights of their presentations were of a guy Paul, that looks like he have a mild form of Down Syndrome, had some trouble speaking (it sounded like he was choking), and one presentation where there were three guys, but only one of them spoke significantly, leaving the tall basketball player to just stand there and hold the poster board. There were a couple other funny moments like the group of guys that didn't get dressd up because they forgot about the presentation, and had handouts for the class but not enough for the teacher, but those were the most memorable, and when it was all said and done I think ours was the best presentation in the class. When the presentations were done the teacher gave us back a couple assignments, and checked our folders to make sure we had everything, but it seemed more likt he honor system because he basically just asked us if we had it. By about 11:30 we were finished with Sports Management, so we drove over to the parking lot nearest the Student Services building so that AJ could pay his fees. While he was there I drove around a litle bit looking for a parking spot, and eventually found one in the thirty minute parking lot. By about 11:45 AJ was done and we drove home, and by a little after noon I dropped off the Bustos brothers. I came home where I sat at the computer and watched some tv. My mom offered to make me a couple ham sandwiches for lunch, so I took the offer which was good as usual. While at the computer I decided to write the News of the Day for the day before. I finished that at about 1:30 or so, and spent the rest of my time before work at 2:00 watching tv and even trying to take a little nap. I showed up at work where I found a lot of little kids playing games, which I did not like at all. Shortly after I got my drawer from Wendy is when the kids started coming up with their tickets, some of which were a little more rude than others. I had to deal with a constant stream of them for about fifteen minutes which really got my day off to a bad start, and subsequently put me temporarily in a less than pleasant mood. Fortunetely I really didn't have anyone around me so it didn't really affect anyone else. Things were sort of busy since ordinarily I would only get a handful of customers dispersed throughout the shift, but today I had a pretty steady trickle of customers. It did eventually die down, but I had enough to make me resent each and every one since it took away from me doing nothing. When I didn't have any customers I tried to keep busy which included replacing some shirts at operations that a customer had bought. At one point the group in Monte Carlo needed some things so I helped Taylor with that, but other than that there wasn't too much to be done. Phillip was the gametech so I talked with him for a little while when neither of us were busy. Time actually seemed to pass pretty quickly for me which is somewhat rare for a shift like that. I talked to John the bartender when he showed up to work, so that passed some of the time until one of the new girls showed up at a little after 6:00. It was at about that time I got a little busy looking for some applications in the back office, getting some notes and things left for me about groups, and helping out someone in the gameroom. When I was done with those things I started talking to the new girl, Amanda, and found out she hadn't learned too much about working the drawer so I showed her a little. She helped out a couple customers before Kellee showed up at about 6:30 or so, but it wasn't until about 6:45 that my drawer was cashed out. Once I was finished I clocked out and ran into Shay who was at SpeedZone for employee night, so I joined him. But after playing a couple games he wanted to go outside, and I opted to just stay inside and play the games. I played a few games before deciding to try out Silent Scope, because Paul had said he tried it a while ago and said it was pretty fun. With the time play card I was able to just pay my way to victory, and I must agree that it is a pretty fun game to play, though I'm not very good at it. In the middle of my playing Gabe showed up, but after watching for a couple of minutes he made his way outside. I continued to play, having started at about 7:15 and not finishing until just before 8:00 when I completed the storyline. When I was done with that I went outside where met up with Shay and Gabe, at which point we decided that we would head over to Starbucks. We got to Starbucks where I opted to get a sandwich at Togo's since I hadn't really eaten since around noon. I got a ham and turkey sandwich which was pretty good, though a little pricey, but worth the money because I was hungry. When I was done eating Sean had arrived at Starbucks so I went inside to get something to drink, so I ordered a caramel mocchiatto (sp?), though the guy didn't take my name. After a few minutes of waiting there were a couple caramel mocchiattos handed out, but they were taken, so I figured the next one I would take. So I tried to on one but someone beat me to it, though one was dispensed immediately after that and I managed to get it. Someone else went for it too, but it was mine, and I walked out only to hear the guy making them say to the workers to put names on the cups. Once outside the four of us continued discussing the usual: art, literature, and politics. It was really cold outside so things were a little uncomfortable while we sat out there, and we sat out there for a little while before seeking refuge in Gabe's car. It was a little after 10:00 when we did that and the four of us sat in there just listening to music, and it was much warmer than outside. Shay, during the entire night, seemed like he was always on the phone which was sort of annoying because I don't see the point in hanging out with people if you're just going to be on the phone? At about 10:30 or so Lindsay stopped by and chatted for a few minutes before she went on her way, and at around 11:00 Shay left as well. Sean, Gabe, and myself sat in the car for a little while longer, though at about 11:15 we parted ways. I came home where I spent the rest of my night pretty much just sitting at the computer, not really accomplishing anything. I watched some tv which included the always funny Conan O'brien, and eventually went to sleep at about 2:30 or 3:00. December 12- Today I woke up at about 6:40, got dressed, and was out the door by about 6:50 heading to Mt. SAC. I got into the parking lot at about 7:05, and sat in the car for a couple of minutes before walking with Robert to class since he was only about two parking spaces from me. We showed up to class where we didn't wait long before being let into the room by Craig Petersen, and spent a few minutes trying to cram for the ensuing "beginning exam". At 7:30 we had a brief review of the exam, and mocked the people that showed up late by saying "ahhh you overslept" instead of "ahhh you're late". Finally at a little after 8:00 we got the test, which at first looked as though he was going to read us every question, but then told us he was joking around. The first half was vocabulary matching and I spent about an hour on that, which had me a little worried since I hadn't anticipated spending that much time, but at 9:00 or so I started on the second half. The principles were surprisingly not that difficult and it only took me about fifteen minutes to go through them all. There was one last section of multiple choice questions about a chapter in the book which I didn't read so most of my answers were just guesses. But since I was pretty firmly locked into a C grade I didn't dedicate too much time to studying for the class. I was finished with the test at about 9:30, a few minutes after Robert did, so when I met up with him outside the class he tried to sell his books back. However the line was too long at the Express Stop and at the bookstore, so he decided not to, and dropped his books off at his car. I on the otherhand went to my car as well, but to leave because I was finished with school for the semester. I drove to my house and arrived at about 10:00 where I naturally sat at the computer and watched some tv. I finally got to see a little of the 10:00 episode of E.R. as well as the 11:00 as well. When that was finished I decided it was about time to take a nap because I didn't get a lot of sleep the night before. I slept until about 2:00, having only been woken up once when my mother brought in a package that I was expecting today. When I awoke I opened up my delivery to find my new black, Sonics fitted cap. I was happy to say the least. It was about that time that I started to write the News of the Day for the day prior, and that occupied a couple hours, and at around 4:30 or so I started getting dressed for work. I clocked in at 5:00 but before I could start helping out with the groups Mike Khieu asked me if I could make him another nametag, but the one he wanted had his name written in Chinese (not the characters). As it was printing Ryan Shaefer came by and noticed that it wasn't his normal name on the tag and we got in a little bit of trouble. He said to make sure to print one out with the real name and walked away. When I was done with that I started helping Rachel out with the couple of groups of the night, along with a girl Tameka. We pretty much just set up Daytona, and Indy rooms for the two groups that would be in there. Rachel was showing us some things, though much of it was sort of review and as a result I was getting a little frustrated at how slow things were progressing. When the rooms were set up we started putting some pie slices onto plates, but they had been sitting out for a while and as a result were pretty soft. Because of that my plate came out sort of messy. At around 6:30 or so the first group, which was of 41, started showing up so we put the food in Indy room for them. A little after 7:00 the group for Daytona room had arrived, so about the time we were finished with Indy, we had to start putting the food in Daytona which took some time to do. By the time we were finished giving them their food, the group in Indy was finished so we were able to start cleaning up their room, and they had a lot to clean up so that took us quite a while. David, who was cash control, kept helping us out because he looked pretty bored. Around the time we were finished with that, it was time to clean up Daytona because everybody had left, all the while the people were still using Monte Carlo, and had been there since 4:30. At around 9:00, when we were finishing up cleaning Daytona, Rachel left since all we really had to do was clean up the rooms. When we were finished cleaning up that room, we had a lot of food leftover (hamburgers and hot dogs) and plenty of time to kill. David had wanted us to save him the food, so he started eating once we took it to the back. I was sort of hungry too, and decided to finally end my streak of not eating at SpeedZone by eating a hot dog. David had given me the phone to walk around with during the night, so I actually got to answer it after working there for over a year. Insignificant to some, pretty cool to me. After the waiting around for the group to finish in Monte Carlo, I went in and cleaned up most of the room by myself because Tameka was helping out at redemption. That didn't take too long to do, and when that was finished, so was I. We took one last look into the rooms to make sure that they were completely clean, and realized there was a little to take care of in Indy room. When that was finished I clocked out and went to the parking lot where I tried calling Sean, Steve, and Little Chris, who was with AJ. They all ended up meeting in the parking lot of SpeedZone at about 10:15 and we sat there trying to think of where we should go investigate for the night. After soem deliberating we decided that we would take a look at Turnbull Canyon Road to investigate the alleged happenings that take place there. So we all went home to get prepared, and met up at Sean's house at 11:00. So by around 11:15 Sean, Steve, and myself went in my truck, while AJ went in Little Chris' car. We drove over to Turnbull Canyon Road, and we drove up sort of slowly to try and find potential places to look at, but up the east side of the hill is pretty much just houses (which I already knew). It wasn't until we got to the top that we turned down a road hoping maybe to find something, but instead we just found more houses, so we turned around and went down the western slope. There were a couple fire roads that we though might be potential places, and continued to the bottom of the hill where we found another fire road and decided to get out to take a look. When we got out of the car it was really cold outside. So we started walking up the road. It was a little weird because we didn't see any cars driving but once we parked and our cars looked suspicious parked on the side, we saw about four or five cars within a few minutes of eachother. The five of us walked up the road about 150 yards or so, constantly bringing up the fact it was cold, and that there really wasn't anything there. So we turned around and went back to the cars. Little Chris and AJ decided to meet up with the group at Ricardo's house, so the three of us remaining wanted to take a look at the other fire roads. We drove back towards the top, and after briefly looking we realized it wouldn't take us anywhere interesting. Figuring we still wanted to look for things, we decided to try and head over to Chino to maybe find the infamous Cooper House. So I made a stop at the gas station and filled up my tank, before heading over there at about 12:45 or so. I made a wrong turn off of Grand which took us a little out of the way, but I figured out where it was located, and ended up on English Road like we had been before. We slowly drove up trying to decipher anything that could have been an abandoned house, and passed by the couple of other sites that we had looked at before. We drove to the end of the road where there was a gate and road which we suspected could be where the house was. I turned around and we slowly drove back down the road and out onto Peyton Dr. before turning around and heading back up English, this time stopping to take a closer look at various things. We went to the end of the road again, this time getting out to walk up past the gate, but we realized it was just the edge of another section of homes. It was a little frustrating to keep looking in such a confined area and not find anything that could even remotely be the location of the Cooper House, so we left after finding nothing yet again. As we left we realized that we were pretty hungry, and decided to stop by Denny's to get something to eat, but since we were closer to the one in Diamond Bar that's where we decided to go. The three of us sat there, pretty tired from the night's escapades, and were actually just sort of rambling to eachother about various things like dreams, and hobos. We sat there for a little over an hour having some pretty varied conversation before deciding it was about time to leave at about 3:00. I dropped off Steve and Sean, before coming home where I briefly sat at the computer and watched some tv before calling it a night. |