San Diego

Time for a different look to this space, and I like the XBox colors :).

I got into San Diego last night and stayed with one of the other interns who lives down here, but since he has kids, they get up at the ungodly hour of 8am. Well... I guess that is a normal hour... but I have not gotten up that early on a weekend in a while. After driving into downtown (which is amazingly similar to San Fransico's downtown pier area) and walking around for a bit, I did the thing that I was really excited for in San Diego: Charger's training camp. But you may be asking "Didn't you just go to a training camp and do all of that?". And I would answer you, "Yes, but that was the Cowboys... you can never have too much football". And that is the truth. I got a few pictures at this camp, but the problem was that I was moving around to get the best views so I was never close enough to the field to get a good picture. But I will post the good ones I have.

There was a great place that I went to that is a cliff over the ocean that faces the sunset. Awesome view... so romantic... except for that piece that I am missing. Hmm... I will have to work on that.

I am going to Sea World tomorrow and maybe the famous San Diego Zoo, and then I am off to Las Vegas to see Kacy! Or maybe I will just skip him because after seeing so many big names at the training camps... he just doesn't see so hot.

Damn... I shouldn't say that... he might read it and then not go to Boise... or worse... not let me stay at his place.

Speaking of a place to stay, I need to find a hostel or something for tonight. Or a good place to park my car. Ciao.

Dallas Cowboys and Poker

My internship ended yesterday at 11:15, and it finished at an awesome time. I just finished my project, and the code ended up being about 2000 lines. The really challenging part was that I was given about 1000 lines of C style code to start with, and I had to expand that. I can handle C style code, but it is just that he used a lot of functions that I am not used it. And he never used the string class, which I use in almost everyone of my programs. But never the less, I finished.

It was just in time because exactly three hours after I finished work, the Dallas Cowboys came to town. Granted, the Cowboys are not exactly high on my list of favorite teams (they rank well about the Oakland Raiders though), but I love love love the NFL, so I am not going to pass on the opportunity to see an NFL team, when they are flying into the airfield that is a tenth of a mile from the building I work in. I was standing on the tarmac waiting for the plane, when I heard one of the reporters that was getting ready to cover the story yell to his cameraman that T.O. was here. Sure enough, T.O. had gotten in separately and was walking across the tarmac towards the plane that had just landed. I was not sure whether we were supposed to approach the plane or not, but everyone started running out there and huddling around T.O. to interview him. I stayed to the side to see if I could recognize any of the players as they got off the plane, but the NFL has their player's faces covered during the game, and give them numbers. If those guys had numbers on, I would have known if there were any of the big names (Bledsoe: 11; Williams: 31; Jones: 21; Witten: 82), but I did not have the numbers to cheat with. I walked over to T.O. and there was just enough of a gap between the camera people that I got within five feet of him. Now, say what you want about his character and everything, but when you are five feet away from one of the biggest names in the game, you have to respect that! It was awesome.

After that, they had an autograph signing session for everyone on base. Since it was during work hours, there were really not that many people there (there were a lot, but a lot less than there otherwise would have been if it were open to the public). I had a few trading cards and got Jason Witten, Roy Williams, Julius Jones, Drew Henson, and Terrell Owens to sign the cards. Yeah... that T.O. card could be worth some serious money. But I will hang on to it for now. Doesn't get much more exciting than that.

I have uploaded some of the pictures that I took. Unfortunately, no one wanted to or could go to the autograph session with me, so I don't have many pictures of me with the players. I almost had a great one with the cheerleaders, but the guy didn't press the button to take the picture. Oh well. Check them out!

Last night a few of the long term interns (3 years) and I got together to have dinner. Kind of a going away dinner for me. We ended up deciding to play poker with a $5 buy in, and I won! Well... kinda. I played myself and ended up losing, but a few minutes after I was out, a guy who was starting to get short stacked got a call from his girl friend and asked me to play for him. Well, I was in for three hands and finished the game. All I needed was two straights, and an amazing bluff and I won the game. I wish I understood what I did differently, but I can't say that I changed anything. So I made off with half of the $40 pot. Not bad...

Tomorrow I will go to the Cowboy's training camp, and then to a BBQ with the other interns. Then, I am off to San Diego for a few days, and then Las Vegas to hook up with Kacy! This will be fun... :)

I guess I was feeling a little bit homesick for Idaho this weekend because I decided that I did not want to go to any more cities. I was thinking about going camping, but I found out that the camping that I have in my mind is not anything like the camping they have here in California. So I just went for a couple day hikes in the state park just north of here. Two day hikes in three days... I might just be turning into my dad! Actually, I kinda felt like riding a horse this weekend.

Its ironic, but the more I explore, it seems the more that I appreciate what I have. For instance, last summer I went to be a counselor at the bible camp in Alaska. You may not know the difference, but Catholics and Fundamentalist Protestants (AKA non denominational Christians) differ on quite a few things, and it wasn't until after that that my Catholic faith really took off. This summer, I leave Idaho and Amaris, and I realize two things. One, that I really like Idaho, even though it is podunk and all. Two, is that I really love Amaris. I guess you don't know what you got until it is gone. Lucky for me is that I get to have it all back soon :).

Even though I love Idaho and everything, I still love traveling all over. After my internship, I will take my time getting back to Idaho, and probably even get to go to a wedding of a friend from Auggie's (and she is getting married the week after I get done here, and she is doing it on the California-Mexico border... perfect). But I guess I am doing the roadtrip solo. My brother can't come, all of my friends are working, a few of my church friends who were considering it are also working, and Amaris is already taking time off from work to see her family (and more later to see me at home). Damn you and your summer jobs *shakes fist*.

I am feeling really antsy right now. I want to go to Europe all of a sudden, and I was so close on Friday to buying a ticket to Hawaii that same day. Sigh.

Do you smell that? Smells good. No, I am not talking about the beautiful Southern Californian air, or the summer BBQ's. Nope, I mean football season, and I guarantee that it is closer than you think. The first training camp starts with the Philadelphia Eagles on the 20th of this month (and all of the camps start by the 30th). Then, a short week later is the Hall of Fame game that kicks off the preseason. So start that countdown, because the first football action is on August 6 which is only 23 days away. After that, we only have to wait a month and a day for the real stuff to start. Oh man I am excited!

Well, mostly excited. After the Packers went 4-12 last year, I expected them to pick up the pieces and rebuild this year because I honestly believe that they are a playoff contender if they would just make some key pickups in a few positions, and not lose half of the team to injuries again. But after seeing the off-season moves, I am going to get ready for another pathetic year. I project that the Packers will go 6-10. Here is my position by position break down of why.

Coach: I am not sure why General Manager Ted Thompson got rid of Mike Sherman, who had one of the better win-loss percentages in the league. Even more mind boggling is why he hired Mike McCarthy who was the offensive coordinators for the 49ers, who had one of the most impotent offenses in the league. The Packers had one of the best defensive coordinators in Jim Bates, but McCarthy got rid of him because they didn't get alone. Boo McCarthy. You were a loser in San Francisco so whatever comes to mind, do the opposite and maybe the Packers can do well.

Quarterback: Favre is back, but is 36 years old now. As much crap as people give him for the season last year, he really did have to take the team on his back. He threw for a career high 607 attempts, while keeping a very respectable 61.3% completion rate. Favre hasn't lost it at all, and as long as he stays healthy (which he has for the past 16 years) the Packers will not have to worry about that position. However, if he goes down then there will be hell to pay. Of the other four QB's on the roster, only Aaron Rodgers has had any time in a regular season game, and that was mop up duty when the game was either already won or lost.

Running Backs: This position was hit hard last year with injuries, but that just means that the Packers are deeper there now. We got rid of Tony Fisher, and got Samkon Gado. Ahmad Green and William Henderson are starting and are rock solid.

Offensive Line: This position used to rock for the Packers, but then they decided to trade everyone away. Now it sucks. Favre was only sacked 12 times in 2004, and that jumped to 24 in 2005 after Marco Rivera and Mike Wahle were traded. This year they traded Mike Flanagan. Yeah... way to protect the 36 year old guy.

Tight Ends: Well... Bubba Franks is Functional. He... uh... gets the job done. And he is better than the other tight ends that they have. The problem is that Franks is good enough that they don't worry about the tight end position, but is bad enough that he is really not a play maker.

Wide Receivers: This is the part of the team that really makes me cry. There are 12 receivers on the Packers roster, and I can't say that any of them are that great. Quantity or quality? Of the twelve, only four have more than a year of experience, and only two of those have had a 1000 yard year - Donald Driver and Rod Gardener. It is a sad year, but hey, maybe a rookie, like second round draft pick Greg Jennings, will blow us away.

Defensive Line: After looking at the depressing state of the receivers, at least I feel confident about the D-Line. New defensive tackle Ryan Pickett was one of the only good pickups that the Packers made. Either Cullen Jenkins or Grady Jackson can take the other tackle position. On the ends are Aaron Kampman, who is really up and coming, and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila (KGB) who is one of the best ends in the game. Maybe the Packers will trade these guys.

Linebackers: The Packer's first round draft pick, AJ Hawk will probably start on the outside this year, which is encouraging. Nick Barnett will probably keep his starting job in the middle, which will leave the other outside spot up for grabs. There is some good talent in the pool with Ben Taylor (over 100 tackles last year) and Brady Poppinga who is a young up and comer. I think there is enough depth here to keep the Packers fairly safe, as this was a hard hit spot for injuries last year.

Safeties: Nick Collins was a rookie that started all 16 games last year and was pretty amazing. I hope to see a lot more great stuff out of him. In addition, Mark Roman was a contributor and each should get their starting spots back without much contest.

Cornerbacks: The other big free agent pickup of the off-season was Rod Woodson who will challenge Al Harris for the starting cornerback position. As long as he stays healthy, Woodson is a great corner who will really allow the packers some depth. Harris is good, but not good enough to be a number one corner, and now Ahmad Carroll will have some time to mature into a starting cornerback. But Woodson has not played a full year since 2001 because he is always getting injured, so I am not counting on him to be a factor for very long into the season.

Kicker/ Punter: They traded Ryan Longwell to the Vikings (who they have to play twice a year) and picked up Billy Cundiff who has very little real experience. He was cut from the Cowboys last year after he only hit 62.5% of his field goal tries, including 2-5 between 30-40 yards out (which should almost be a given for an NFL kicker). BJ Sander is starting his second year of actual NFL play, so I hope that he will mature a bit, and not get injured again.

The Packers have hope, but I think that the inadequacies of the coaching staff might kill the Packers. If that doesn't do it, then the lack luster offensive line and wide receiving core will do it. Go Packers!

Hmm... I guess I am not portraying myself very well on this blog. So far, most people who I have talked to seem to think that I have turned into an irresponsible alcoholic or something. So it is time for a bit of clarification.

Since I have been down in California (May 22), I have gotten drunk twice, and drank alcohol a total of four times. I got drunk when I went to Universal and on the Fourth of July. In addition, I had one White Russian on the night before I went to San Fran, and I had a White Russian and a Beer the night that I got into the bar in my hostel. That is it for the past seven plus weeks. I have never, never drank so much that I could not remember it, or to the point where I puked (which is more than most people can say). I am a responsible drinker.

As for my driving, I am still driving safely. Sure, I was driving fast on the highway to Las Vegas, but for the most part I was driving with traffic. The times that I hit or surpassed 100 mph was when it was almost 1:30 in the morning, and I was alone on a five lane highway. If anything, that is the best place to do it.

I am not a slacker at work either. As much as I might talk about the things I do outside of work, I am getting a lot done during my internship. I am rapidly finishing the project that I have been working on during these 10 weeks, and I have really broadened my horizons here.

So am I really all that much different? No... at least I don't think so.

Anyway, on to more exciting things. With less than three weeks to go in my internship, I am looking to make a big sweep up through the states and see some of the sights that are around here, like the Grand Canyon, Death Valley, the Sierras, Yosemite, and maybe even Mexico. My brother and I have always been close, but never all that close, so I was thinking that it would be a great time for us to have some good time together. But my own mother does not trust me with him. I guess she thinks that I am going to drive drunk with him, or give him alcohol or something.

My mother doesn't trust me. Ouch.

Scratch him off my list. Ammy will be in Alaska then, Johann, Chris and Kevin are working, and Kacy is already down here. Well... I guess I will get some more alone time.

I went to three movies this weekend, and I got to see two good ones, and a real crappy one. My favorite of the weekend was Superman, because it was a really well done movie, and the new Superman had me completely forgetting that it wasn't Christopher Reeves. I don't think it was terribly predicable, and the plot was very good. You have to see it.

I also saw Pirates of the Caribbean. Great sequel to the first, but you have to start remembering where the last one left off before you get to the movies because they dive right in very quickly. Overall, it is just as good as the first one and does not feel repetitive. It is exactly what I want in an action movie: explosions, good acting, a plot, and a little bit of humor mixed in.

I also saw what I don't like in an action movie in Mission Impossible 3. The plot was so predicable that I would swear that a five year old wrote it. There would be situations that seem like there is no way to get out of (which is good in action movies), but then the plot just breaks down and details get fuzzy. I honestly was about to walk out of that movie because I could feel myself getting dumber. If you weren't wild about MI2, then stay away from this, because it only gets worse. And if you liked MI2, then stay away so that you will keep a good taste in your mouth for the Mission Impossible series.

I just got back from my six day vacation in San Francisco, and got back to work for my two day work week. There is nothing better than having a good vacation followed by an amazingly short week.

Anyway, three of the other interns and I got there last Friday afternoon and drove up to Twin Peaks to see an amazing view of the city. The crazy thing about it is that the city is on a penisula that is only 47 square miles, and the city of SF only has 800,000 people (although the Bay area has about 6.5 million). We got the Go San Francisco Card (www.gosanfranciscocard.com) before hand, which allowed us to do almost everything in the city for $100 for five days. I went to almost every measeum in town, wine tasting in Napa Valley, a day long bike rental, a bay cruise, a city tour, entry to a wax measeum and a few dozen other things all included with the card. In addition, we went to "The Rock" (which doesn't seem quite so ominous with 500 tourists walking through it, posing for pictures). Also, we drove over the Golden Gate bridge to the the Muir Woods, which has some of the tallest trees in the world.

However, one of the high points of my trip was at the Hostel that we stayed at. In the same building as the Hostel is one of the more happening clubs in the Mission district. The two buildings are connected, and they normally card people at the door to get in, but anyone who is in the hostel has to have an automatic pass through to get to their room. So, taking advantage of the situation, we went down to the local liquor store, bought our alcohol, and went to the bar. So there... I have been to my first bar.

Even more amazing was earlier in the evening when one of the interns, who is following the World cup like a crazed dog, wanted to watch the game, we went to a bar. There was no one IDing at the door, so I pulled up a seat at the bar to watch the game. I was then offered a drink by the bartender. Granted, I don't know if she would have IDed me before giving me the drink, she sure seemed like she was ready to serve me. That is how loose SF is!

Finally, the Fireworks show that we stayed an extra day to see was amazing. There is nothing like a big city fireworks show over the bay. It is made just a little better by the little bit of Jack Daniels that I had in my system. After the fireworks show, I guess either the busses were not running or they were severly delayed, so after waiting 50 minutes for a bus, we decided to walk home. Now, if you have ever been in a big city, you know that there are bums atleast every five blocks no matter where you go, and with the alcohol imparing my judgement just a bit, I ended up talking to each and every one that we passed (and we passed some pretty shady guys). But hey, they were friendly!

Anyway, I bought a digital camera so I have tons of pictures to post from my trip, which I will post the next time I get on a computer. Until then, Happy 4th!

I really need to keep on this thing. Right now I am in San Francisco, but I have not even talked about my trip to Vegas yet. So I will talk about Vegas now, and then SF later. Deal?

Right now, I am 20 years and 8 months old, but that will not allow me to legally drink or play in casinos (obviously). So my trip was a little bit lower key than most trips to Sin City. However, I can honestly say that I spent about 14 hours just walking around the Strip. I did not gamble, I only spent $10 during my whole trip there (see previous entry on my credit card bill), I did not drink, and I did not leave the Strip during that time. That is how much there is to do there. I was going to hit the Manhattan Express with Kacy's mom, but I completely forgot about it... I was having that much fun. A few weeks ago I went to Hollywood Boulevard and was blown away by that area and the atmosphere. Vegas was so much better. It is so flashy and so energetic and so much fun.
On Sunday I decided to give my feet a rest and kick back in the pool by Sue's house. I heard that it was 120 degrees that weekend, but the pool was so nice. Oh yeah... and I am getting a killer tan (good luck catching up to me Amaris).

*NOTE: The following paragraph is not to be read by anyone who would worry about me like Amaris or my mom.
But I seriously hate drivers around here. Driving to Las Vegas was nice because traffic was averaging 90 mph and I topped out at 100 mph. However on the way back, it seemed like everyone was either crashing into people, or rubbernecking at the people who did crash. There was one stretch where I was crawling along for about 5 miles that took an hour, and when I got to the crash it turned out that the whole delay was because people wanted to take a look. No lanes blocked or anything. The five hour trip there took eight coming back. But after that it really opened up and I hit my personal speed record: 113 mph.
*NOTE: Caring individuals may begin reading again.

So it was a short weekend, but it was fun. Right now I am sitting in San Francisco wearing a sweatshirt. That’s right, it is about half of the temperature of last week (60 degrees) and I am so loving it. So if you are reading this from Idaho, enjoy the heat. I am going to warm up now.

Ciao.