What's the Plan?

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

This weekend was pretty good, thought fairly uneventful. Friday night, after a rough week at work, I went to get some drinks with Bubbles in the Inner Sunset & we enjoyed the fine beers of The Social Club, followed by a stint at Yancy’s. They were pretty nice places. The main part of the evening though… was hanging with Bubbles again. It had been a few weeks with both of us traveling and being so busy with our social calendars… and I’ve missed hanging out with her… even if we’re working together all the time, it’s obviously not the same. We had some catching up to do.

During the conversation, she asked me what my plan was. “Well first, I’m going to finish this beer… and then maybe work on the fries.” Obviously that’s not what she meant. She meant a Plan with a capital P, like my Career Plan… for the long term. See… she said that I seem the most miserable that she has ever seen me be. Granted, there were a few years when we were in different states that she didn’t see me much except when I was on vacations in Vegas or the holidays back in Utah, but I got her point. She meant miserable at work… which I’m not really… but obviously I don’t have the bounce in my step that I used to. I don’t think that anybody does really since the whole recession (and yeah, like everybody else I’m going to talk a bit about 9/11) but again, I see her point. So what is my plan? I honestly wish I knew.

See, you all know that I’m an infinite optimist, fully loaded with abilities & creativity that others would kill for, a charmer, easy on the eyes, hard working, well-educated, healthy & built like a marble sculpture, but I simply have no idea what I want to do with my life. Do I want to keep in my current career? Do I want to go “Into the Wild”? (By the way, Bubbles said that’s a stupid idea… and on a certain level, I have to agree… but then again) Do I want to use my college degree for something other than campfire kindling? Do I want to continue my education? Learn a new trade? New hobbies? Knock up somebody random and do the family thing? Where do I want to do these things? Here in San Francisco? Back home in Utah? The Peace Corps? Germany? China? Start my own business? I mean… I’ve got a bucket list… but as far as an end goal, I am without. Anyway, we chatted about that… and I thought about it a bit when I got home… and the next day… and most of Sunday. The sad thing is… I still don’t really have an answer. There are several paths that I could take in my current career… and I like it here in San Francisco… but it’s not like I’m surrounded by family & friends here, though slowly but surely I’m at least building casual friendships & acquaintances. I don’t want to let my talents go to waste… but I just don’t know how to utilize them. But hey, I’ll keep you posted.

Saturday was a laundry & cleaning day… and it was pretty gloomy and cold outside so I went out for a few walks for fresh air, went to the gym for a few hours, but really not a whole lot else. I watched “Your Highness” and then “Spirited Away” with the roommates. The latter is a Japanese animated movie brought stateside by Disney and it’s about a young girl who travels with her parents… and they stop at some tunnel… and then go on what I can best describe as a magical journey of absolute craziness involving dragons, bouncing heads, witches, giant babies, and… you don’t need to have a good buzz going to watch this movie. It takes care of that for you. I recommend it though for a kid’s flick… but you may be asked some odd questions by your kids that you don’t have answers for them like “What’s going on?” “I… I don’t know… but it’s pretty.”

Sunday, I was told to await the Direct TV guy between the hours of 8 & 12. Now, if you remember my trials with Direct TV in Tahoe, then you know that as long as they show up by Halloween, it’s an improvement. So I waited… and waited… and then finished up laundry… and cooked some bomb low fat white cheddar mac & cheese with chicken sausage… and waited some more… all the while checking my phone for a message from the cable guy & simultaneously seeing my Eagles dominate the Rams statistically… but it’s just not the same as on the big screen… or in person. Well, he got there a little after 2 PM (and a call to Direct TV) and he got it hooked up just in time for me to catch 3 touchdowns in a minute at the end of the 49ers / Seahawks late game. So now I have TV… and it only took a week or so… and get this, less than HALF what it was in Tahoe. Seriously! My share in Tahoe was MORE than the whole bill here in San Francisco. Is that not f**ked up?

Speaking of football, I was talking with my dad… and he’s decided that he wants to go to the Chiefs – Raiders game the weekend that he comes to visit (the Chiefs are his team) in October… and also, my Uncle D will be in town going to BOTH games too!!! So I’ll have plenty of male bonding that weekend… and the tickets are pretty good too. 7th row, 50 yardline, right behind the Chiefs bench (closer to the field) and about $100 each, so about half what the 49ers tickets were last year against the Eagles… and I get to check out the Oakland Coliseum first hand. BOOYAH!!! Just over five weeks away too…

Monday started off with a trip to the dermatologist to ask about my cheek (I have a little pimple-sized growth thing that my mom has really wanted me to check out) and it was pretty standard. Really only took about ten minutes total. They did a little biopsy thing so that they could scan it… but because of that, I have to wear a little band-aid on my left cheek for the next week or so. It’s okay though, I totally pull it off. The best part is… when people ask me about it, I’m responding with “The first rule of Fight Club is… you know what, never mind.” A few people have gotten the reference. “You should see the other guy.” My personal favorite though was when I responded with, “She didn’t tell me about her piercing… until it was too late.” That’s a $teve original. Go forth & spread the word.

After work was the company softball game & BBQ against our rival company. The barbecue was excellent (and free) and the game was absolutely gripping, by far the lowest scoring defensive struggle of a softball game I’ve ever seen. We just weren’t getting any good hits… and through four innings, they had pulled out to a 5-1 lead… and the fans started to leave. “You’re going to miss the comeback!” Long story short, we ended up winning 6-5 thanks to a few walks and finally scoring some runs. Still undefeated… but yeah, we got a little lucky. Why was the game so close? Well… they didn’t play me. That may have had something to do with it. I’m not sure how… but maybe I’m just good luck or something. Every other game I’ve been in, we dominated. I already let the coach know during post-game drinks with a few of the other teams & he liked the idea. Good times.

Tuesday night was my first San Francisco Giants game… and first of several trips I’ll be making to AT&T Park in the next few months (Utah-Cal game & Kraft Hunger Bowl). Bubbles was originally going to the game with me… but earlier in the day, she was having terrible female pains… so I asked around to see if anybody wanted a free last minute ticket. Carmen accepted!!! So we went, had a few $10 beers & some food, and enjoyed 7 innings of a great game (that ended up being 12) but after a long day at work, we just didn’t want to be hanging out until midnight when we’re really not interested in baseball in the first place… but I’ve been to a Giants game now. I’ve also been the only person on a public bus now too. It happened for the last mile or so of my bus back from the game. I may live a little outside of the city officially. Anyway, best thing about AT&T Park… is the view… even from the upper upper decks. Observe!!!

Wednesday night, I just needed to relax after another busy day, so I hung with the roommates and we watched “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” starring Zach Galafinakis. It’s the story of a kid who is under constant pressure to achieve from his parents & friends… so he has suicidal thoughts… so he checks himself into a mental institution for a week for observation… and he meets a colorful collection of crazies… and of course a girl… and you can guess how it goes from there… but it actually IS kind of a funny story. The title was surprisingly fitting. Go check it out if you’d like.

Well, that’ll do it for me today. Lucky you… you don’t get to hear my ramble about how things have changed for me in the last ten years… but maybe I’ll get around to it next time. I’ll put it this way, I still work with the same company, I still have the same family, but basically just about everything else has changed. I’ll elaborate more sometime… if I remember to. Maybe I'll fill you in on The Plan too. You never know. Have a great night everybody!!!