And I would like to say to all my friends out there in cyberspace that I am sorry for having lived like such a recluse these last few years. This blog is an attempt to partly remedy that discrepancy. I hope that through this blog I can reconnect with friends, and share our most current news, photos, and videos with all of you, and vice-versa.
So without further adieu I want to provide everyone with a summary of what we have been up to lately. As some of you may know, Carol and I were married on June 25, 2005 (or as I like to call it, Christmas in June). Shortly after getting married we had the pleasure of attending the Lindhurst High School Class of 1985 20 year reunion. This event was the last time I saw or spoke with many of you, for which I am deeply sorry. We have so much catching up to do! The reunion was a blast, and it was really great to see everyone from my old school. I think we had (and still have) a really great class.
I've had some ups and downs over the years, during which time my life took some circuitous and unexpected turns. But I look back on those times and I am thankful that, for the most part, things have turned out OK anyway. When I turned 30, after working at a bunch of deadend jobs, I decided to go back to college. I did the community college gig for two years, then I was accepted at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in the computer science program. About a year before going back to college I had picked up some books at the bookstore, just out of sheer boredom and curiousity, and tried to learn computer programming on my own. To my surprise I found that I had some aptitude for it! So I went off to college to make it my career. Things were going pretty good at college for a while, and then after a couple years at Cal Poly I started to feel depressed. I began to reflect on all the time required to spend before a computer monitor and it started to bum me out. And I thought that when I started working in my field it would only get worse. I began to feel that maybe this wasn't the career for me after all. Also I began to have doubts about certain priorites of the university administration and the curriculum, and suddenly it seemed to me like I was buying into an enormous welfare program instead of getting the best education that I could buy. Well, that was maybe 10% of it. So I quit the program and never looked back. I still carry a student loan to remind me of those precious moments spent in beautiful San Luis Obispo. While on the one hand it may seem like a waste, yet I still have the self-confidence that propelled me in that direction in the first place; I learned enough to know that I don't need a degree to make a living as a programmer. It was fun as a hobby, but doing it all the time just became a drag.
In November 2003 I got a job with a major global shipping company as a courier (I don't mention their name here because probably a team of bored lawyers from the company will get litigious if I ever say something offensive on this blog; but their color is purple). I've been there over 6 years now. It's been a lot of work and a lot of BS, but at least it's a steady job. It has helped me to provide myself and Carol with a decent living. We lived in a tiny apartment in Redwood City for about 4 years, then about 3 months ago we moved from there to little bigger apartment in Burlingame. While in Redwood City we got a little dog, a chihuahua mix, that we named Chiquito (or Chico). He wasn't legal though. We had to hide him from the landlord, and did so for about 16 months before finally we found our current place. He has been such a source of joy to us, but especially to Carol. Her adjustment to the pace of life here in the U.S. has been difficult at times. She was accustomed to living with her mother and brothers, and aunts and cousins her entire life, in a strong, supportive social environment. And when she came here... well, things were just a lot different. But I give Carol a lot of credit; I believe that she has adjusted here much better than most people would.
I first was introduced to my wife, Carol, through a website called amigos.com. It's one of those all latina/latino dating sites. When I had earned my first vacation at my new job I began to plan a vacation to visit Machu Picchu, the ancient Inca ruins, near Cuzco, Peru. While there I hoped to connect with some hot ladies and have some fun. I certainly wasn't planning on finding a wife. In fact, during that phase of my life I was content to remain single. I was ready to just have fun --- there was no way that I would marry anybody, so I thought. But Carol and I struck up a friendship, and before long we were talking on the phone a lot. By the time my vacation finally came we had already learned a lot about each other, and there was some mutual interest between us. But I didn't expect it to come to much; I still was not interested in getting tied down. However, we did decide to hang out together while visiting Machu Picchu together.
We had a terrific time. I found that Carol was adventurous, full of laughter, carefree, open-minded, honest, and much more. And it turned out that she liked me a lot; she really took me by surprise one evening as we were dining together, and she opened up her heart to tell me quite plainly how she could picture us together in the future, and how she would like to be with me. She was genuine and open in a way that I hadn't experienced in women back in the states.
It was refreshing, but still I was a little wary. I don't remember what I said in response, I think I said something kind of neutral so that I could stall for time. But the clincher for me came when we finally parted at the airport, after spending more than a week touring Cuzco and Lima together. Her eyes were filled with tears and she could barely speak. I think we both had the feeling that we may never see each other again. She didn't beg, or press me for answers. She didn't need to because that image stuck in my mind more firmly than anything she could have possibly said. I was really touched in a way that I didn't think I could be anymore. It remained with me for weeks; I couldn't get her out of my mind. Well, we did keep in touch, and now you know the rest of the story.
Fast-forward now to the present. Lately I've been busy working a lot, and spending time with Carol and relaxing whenever I can. When we first married we agreed (by an arm-wrestling competition) to wait 4 years before having children. I figured that would provide us with plenty of time to travel and grow close before the little ones came to ruin everything and run our entire lives. (Carol is going to kill me when she reads this). Actually what happened is we spent 4 years honing our rhetorical skills debating about when we would really have children. So, after four plus years of marriage I have an announcement to make... drum roll please... we don't have any children right now but maybe pretty soon we will. But I will be very happy to finally announce the birth of our child when it does happen.
We have been fortunate enough to travel a bit during the last four years. In the near future, and as time allows, I hope to include some pictures and videos here to catalog our adventures great and small. And from time to time I hope to include a much more concise update (than this one) to let everyone know how things are going with us. Please leave your comments and pictures, or links, so that we may keep in touch. Thanks for reading; there's more to come.
