I asked Jennifer to marry me. She said yes.

:)

-N

My dad’s bike caught fire this past week. They say it may have been the battery. He usually eats at the office or out somewhere. For whatever reason he came home and smelled smoke. He opened the garage door and was met with thick black smoke. As I said, they’re not exactly sure what happened with the bike, they just know that it seems to have originated from the battery on his old harley. It’s pretty beat up (see pics), but it will ride again - just need to clean it up. What was bad was there was TONS of soot that thickly covered everything in the garage. All the instruments, the sound stuff….etc.Here are a few pics:

We moved everything out to try and wipe down as much as we could.

My nephews came over to help out along with Pete and my Uncle Jerry.

My gas-mask that a good friend of mine gave me in High-School. It worked like a charm. None of that black stuff in my lungs!

The Aftermath of cleaning up. I was covered in black soot. I can’t imagine being a fireman and having to deal with this crap daily!

On another note, the 4th of July parade is coming up, that will be really fun. It is every year. All the stuff I got for my car is put in and now it just needs to be tuned up. Pedro will take care of that in time.

-N

My car was recently vandalized…yay.

They scratched it and tried to pop the lock in. I just got the car back and everything seems to be okay.

I also ran into a GREAT deal on some exhaust. A full cat-back for 400 shipped. That’s not bad considering the condition these are in. The mufflers and tips are still mirror finish. A Magnaflow exhaust typically costs well over 500 new PLUS shipping.

On a side note, Jen took me out to go see Iron Man. Definitely one of the better movies of the past year or so. I enjoyed it very much. I will admit, I was a bit skeptical when I hear Robert Downey was playing Tony Stark. BUT, after having seen it, he fit the role to a T!

This weekend was the scavenger hunt for the mustang club. Everything went well. Jen slaved over the oven for hours baking cookies and they came out scrumptious!! *thanks*

My Uncle from Phleugerville (spelling, whatever…it’s North of Austin) moved down and it’s always nice to have another family member down around the “clan”. I wish him luck in selling his house and hope that he finds a replacement soon.

Work has been going good. My supervisor has been including me in more things and being in the loop is nice even if you don’t participate right away. A lot of times, things happen and I don’t know the first detail about what’s going on. He’s a great guy - I try my hardest to make him look good.

-N

Well, it’s been almost a month since my last update.  The house nightmare is over.  Well, most of it.  Now comes the “hard” part of the house nightmare - the shitty credit for 7 years, or til I go to court over the divorce decree - whichever comes first.

Jennifer is off on training an the house is so quiet/lonely without her.  Seems like the kitties and the dog behave much differently without her there.  They are much more calm and seem to obey more. I guess they know that if they don’t stay in line, I’ll be forced to beat them with a stick.

I ordered some new parts for my car: Billetflow Pulleys (just top 2) and a JLT RAI kit.  Pete was nice enough to install the “boost a pump”.   The pulleys and JLT RAI haven’t been put on yet, but they will be soon enough.

My sister treated me to some bad-ass lasagna yesterday, I don’t blog about many things.  If and when I do, it’s seldom about food.  Let me tell you, this stuff was GOooooood.  Wish Jen could have had some, she’d have loved it.  Cheesy as all hell.

That’s it for now?

Well, it’s official, the house is out of my hands.

I tried to keep it floating along til it sold but I just couldn’t afford it. The way in which I found out was quite interesting…

I get an IM from Jon saying “hey, Mel (his wife, they live the next street down) said there is a big black guy and 2 white girls at your front door with tools trying to get in”. I dialed 911 and hauled ass out the door.

I ran from my office to the car (about 1/4 mile…easy), flipped on my hazards and flew down to my house. I slide round the corner and get down to my house. I get there to see two cruisers with a third pulling up behind me and eventually a fourth.

The door knob and dead-bolt were completely obliterated.

The officers were taking information from the suspects and it turns out they were from the “property preservation” company that the mortgage company contracted to secure the house after foreclosure.

What made everything fishy besides their “work attire” was that they didn’t have any company id, no work order (they said it “flew out of their pocket), and just didnt’ have an overall good vibe. The girl in the halter top was really mouthy and was getting on my nerves. Remember, I had been broken into 2 times before. I told her “Why didn’t you all just call the realty company, myself or the police?”. They said “Uh sir, we don’t have any of that information, how are we supposed to call *you*?” I said “easy, see that big red sign in the yard in front of you - there’s a big phone number there” She went on to bitch about how I didn’t have to worry about anything because “Technically the house isn’t mine anymore….it’s not my problem”. I told her that “Until I can verify they are who they said they were and they were authorized to be doing what they were, it *IS* my problem.”. She had a real attitude, like I was some typical dead-beat not paying on a house or whatever. Well, I wasn’t but there was a good reason for it - those of you who know me already know that

Anyway, here are more pics: they really did a number on the door.

Here are the suspects:

The officers asked them to put a knob/lock back on and come back after everything was verified. It turns out (after multiple calls to wells-fargo and some attorney’s office) that everything was seemingly okay. I guess this closes this chapter in my life - no more house.

For a nutshell version of how I got here:
I wanted a divorce. Part of the “deal” my x wanted was to keep living in the house and have 1 year to buy, re-finance (under her/someone else’s name other than mine), or sell the house and keep any profit. I told her I didn’t feel comfortable because my name was on the line and that things happen to where you can’t afford to pay your payments - emergencies or whatever. I wanted have EVERYONE move out and sell the house then and there. She didn’t want to and wouldn’t sign/agree to the decree unless she got what she stipulated. Her mom assured me that the payments “would be made” that “I won’t have to worry about it”. (even after I reminded them both about extenuating circumstances).
I agreed to all that so long as she kept making payments. If she missed a payment (went past 30 days) OR went past the 1 year mark, she’d have to move out and *I* would sell the house for whatever *I* wanted (though any profits would still go to her).

She stopped making payments after 9 or so months. She did not tell me that she stopped making payments. I found out through the mortgage company calling me. I called her to inquire and she lied about sending in payments.

I reminded her that it was her duty to pay and she told me about how her family had a medical emergency and she couldn’t afford to pay…etc. I told her to remember the day we were all discussing this very thing and she said she felt justified. I’ll just leave it at that. If you want more, call her up and get her side of that whole story.

Meanwhile, I told her she needed to move out so I can sell the house. She agreed to a date and it came and went. She promised that I could get in the house with the Realtor to take pictures and list the house. We had an “appointment” and hours before we were supposed to go, she cancels - 2x’s even.

I finally get her to move out WEEKS after she “agreed to”. I even went so far as to have her sign a little paper I drew up saying she’d move out by x date…blah blah. She missed that date too. Part of her move was to leave the house as we bought it.

When the Realtor (Joyce Smithers - great realtor and even better person) and I went to the house, she was taking the last load out. We get in and inspect the house, not bad. She had promised to replace all the fans she took out (they were installed after we moved in) with the light fixtures we saved. Part of that agreement was that the stove was supposed to stay (came with house) along with MY fan (I had bought a nice fan with a remote and magnetic drive…etc). Well, the stove was gone, the light fixtures were on the floor, bare wires were left on the ceiling, and my fan was partially disassembled on the floor.

As per the decree, she was supposed to be keeping up on payments on the house no matter what happened. She didn’t.  After 10 months, I had already established myself financially elsewhere.  I could not afford to make the payments.  I took out a loan and floated the house for 2 months.  As you well know, the slumping economy and the huge crash in mortgage situation both contributed to no one buying the house.  I tried my best to sell it.  All this in spite of my engine blowing up due to some dipshit.  I had to take out a loan to fix that too.
On a side note, the AC units were mysteriously “stolen” shortly after she moved out and my bbq pit (she knew how much I loved it) was gone too - someone had taken it one day according to her.

There you have it.
-N

Things have been smooth for a bit.  No problems other than a few things.  I had to replace the brakes on my car, they were almost down to the metal.

I found that the braking system on a Cobra (and I’m sure many others…) has a brake-pad checking mechanism.  As your pads wear down, the fluid in the master cylinder lowers.  At the point in which your brake pads are getting low, you’ll start to see a “brake” icon light up on the dash - the same as the “parking brake is on” light.  If you see it while driving or applying brakes and you’re parking brake isn’t on, you know it’s time to check your pads.  Neat!

I’ve been trying to learn more and more here at work about my field.  I’ve finally managed to get a MUCH better grasp of some stuff that had been kind of confusing.  I now know it well enough to where I feel I could teach someone else about it.  To me THAT is the point at which you know something somewhat well.  The hard part isn’t learning the theory, it’s applying it in real-world applications.  Factor all the little things that go wrong along the way with the fact that each equipment manufacturer does things slightly/majorly different and it provides for a real fun time. hahah

I could have cheated and asked for help from others.  In fact, I did.  I asked my supervisor but the solution eluded us both.  Its when you research and try/fail on your own that things stick to you.  I’m glad I didn’t give up.

The iphone continues to be the best phone I’ve bought so far.  From the threaded SMS’s to the easy, snappy OS it runs. (Springboard?).  The battery life is pretty good and the web-browsing is great (for the most part). I’ve added TONS of new ringtones to my website, feel free to check them out HERE!!
This month will be a busy one with the Mustang club.   There are events every weekend this month, including two car shows!  I doubt I’ll place, but I’m going just to have some fun and see some faces I haven’t seen in quite some time.

-N

Yep, I bought myself an Iphone. Jen, my sis and Pete all helped make it possible (in one way or another). I had been lusting after one of these since I had one in my paws a while back.

I wanted one, but didn’t want to use the Cingular/AT&T network. It sucks for coverage here at work. Also, I wanted to install apps that *I* wanted. I also wanted to put whatever ringers *I* wanted.

Well, I waited until they wrote a nice program to do all that for me. I could have done it the hard-way, but why bother if someone else did? I even donated to the cause ZIPHONE!!

Anyway, the first step was to get my hands on a phone without having to subscribe to the Cingular/AT&T service. I tried the “pre-paid” method, but they don’t offer the phone pre-paid. I also tried the “gift” angle and the only way I could get one was to go to APPLE.COM or Ebay. I would save little to no money doing it that way so I got crafty…

I remember reading that the phone was useless until you “activated” it online through itunes. My plan was simple, go to the Cingular/AT&T store and come out with a phone, but no contract or even service. I figured if they try to make me sign a contract, I could tell them to go jump in a lake and tell them I don’t want the phone.

I showed up, they took my information for credit check purposes. I passed with NO deposit. Depending on your credit, you may or may not have to leave a deposit - this was another factor on whether or not I’d be having an Iphone or not. If I had to leave a deposit, I’d be out that money unless I activated the phone on Cingular/AT&T’s network.

The plans were explained to me and he wanted to make sure everything I had was spelled right so that when I go online to activate the phone, I could with no problems. I never signed anything, never said what plan I wanted (officially) or any of that. I was charged and given a reciept with a “pre-approval code” which you are supposed to plug-into Itunes when activating your phone.

I got home and went through the motions of the Itunes setup - sure enough, there it was - the contract. You choose your service and “agree” to the 2 year commitment through Itunes. Needless to say, I exited the program and promptly proceeded to unlock and jail-break my phone.

In less than 10 minutes, I was on the Tmobile Phone *AND* data (edge) network. Another 10 mins later I had already loaded up my phone with a few custom apps and of course my own ringtones.
There you have it, my story.

My current “home” screen

Now, about the phone - the phone is everything everyone says it is. Just in holding it, you can tell that like with most Mac stuff, the fit and finish is amazing. Same goes for the OS. Everything is fluid, you don’t have to wait for anything and there is no stuttering what so ever!

It automatically senses when you shift the phone and lights it up automatically for you (like if you take phone from ear and look at it for example). It also automatically senses the orientation of how you’re holding it (portrait or landscape), blah blah, I could go on for ever.

I’m happy with this phone….

Until the 3g enabled one comes out in the “2nd quarter of 08″ according to predictions

-N

Well, some time back I had applied for a position in the Labs. “Assistant Director of Academic Service Labs” or something like that.

The job would entail almost 90% of what I used to do - oversee Academic Computing Labs operations. Talking to people, managing the area, purchases, advancements in technology, hiring/firing…etc

Well, even though I was told that “We feel you could do the job”, since I didn’t have a degree, I wasn’t qualified enough. The position has a degree requirement.

Never mind that I had four years of experience doing most of the work and that I did it well according to my evaluations, employees and co-workers.

The reason that I got when I asked “What does a degree’d person offer that I couldn’t” the answers were:

1. You won’t be taken as seriously/respected in meetings with higher ups (Deans, chairs, professors…etc).
What a crock of shit. I can’t remember the last time someone asked me about my education or experience while at a meeting. “Nino, you just won’t have the same power”. Give me a fuckin break, that’s so bunk it’s not even funny. Anyone worth a shit knows it’s about how you handle yourself and your experience.
2. We’re a university, we’re in the business of selling degrees - how will it look if we hire a bunch of non-degreed people for degreed positions and start waiving degree requirements?
First off, I’m not just anyone. I’ve given 8 years of my life to this place. I may not be the best, but I SURE as hell was better than average overall. I was liked and respected by my employees and co-workers (with a few notable exceptions). I did the job, I led the Labs into many new things and kept things flowing. I was always trying to find ways to be more efficient and most of all, more beneficial to the students.

3. No amount of experience will replace a degree for this position.
That’s one of the most ignorant statements I’ve heard come out of a supervisor’s mouth.  Anyone with 1 eye and 1/2 sense knows that’s a load.
I had the experience, the proven track record and 3 GLEAMING recommendations from very well respected people at the University. I was encouraged and supported by the Lab staff.  The whole point - bottom line is to get a job done as efficiently as possible.
Oh well, at the end of the day, I can quit or stay.

I choose to stay.

But that doesn’t mean that this half-assed mentality of UTPA is right. That’s why UTPA will always be half-ass - because of this very method of thinking.

-N

The weekend before this, I attended the “Hidalgo Borderfest” parade.  It was fun!!  I got to snap some great photos!  Well, Jen did anyway.  This year the parade was long and a lot of people showed up to participate.

My laptop order got pushed back another 2 weeks.  How annoying!!  I hate it when that happens.  I ordered it on the 9th of February and up until today, it showed an “expected delivery date” of the 10th.  Today, I get an email saying “sorry, it could ship as late as the 28th…”  Bullshit man.  That’s just gay.

This past weekend was busy.  We were in San Benito all day visiting Jen’s familia on Saturday and Sunday I was scheduled to shoot a camaro but the model never showed.  That sucked.  Just about every time I’ve shot a car with a model, the model was late.  It’s getting real old.

That’s about it.
Oh, I added a “wishlist” link on the left since my burf-day is comin up