Happy Cinco de Mayo
I am not a holiday person. However I was thinking... we never had a party at our house. So I made the call... Cinco de Mayo party at the Rich Street Duplex. I started inviting people. Good thing the roomies were down for it, and tonight the party is on. Ask your friendly neighborhood Beta for directions.

We cleaned the house, threw crap out, shoved stuff under beds, crammed it in closests... we are ready.

Tonight will be a full moon... I took this last night... what will we shoot tonight at the party?

Of course we cleaned out the fridge. Made room for some choice beverages.

On this fine Mexican holiday we will have plenty of cheap American beer.

We tossed everything in the fridge... I had to eat Hermen's ribs to make room. I felt bad... actaully no... no I didn't.

There will be nutrious fruit for the health conscience folks as well and safe rides to whoever needs one.

Everyone will be safe, everyone will have fun, and the Rich Street Duplex will never be the same. Maybe we are starting a proud GVSU tradition... Cinco de Mayo with the Betas!

Car time and interviews
The only productive things I have done the last few days is work on my car and look for a job. GVSU posted a position doing recruitment in the Chicago area, which might become a good back up plan to DePaul (I interview on May 10th & 11th). I am going to Dallas to interview with Southern Methodist University. They want to pay all my travel expenses so I can't say no to that...

The car. She is getting some much needed attention now. She does have a small rust spot coming back which I am not happy about. I have gotten some new parts for her and working on the final audio set up. Unfortunately I ran out of money... today I had to roll change I am so broke!

Today my new valve cover came in that I am trying to polish it. It is much more work then I thought it would be... but it will be worth it. A little elbow grease never hurt anyone. Also the other day I took some pictures of Becky driving the car to get some shots of the rims spinning. A guy on my forum had one and it looked great so I wanted to try it.

Becky wanted to practice driving stick, and I want a cool shot.

I love having the rims back on, she looks so much better with them.

She has never been cleaner and I am finally getting to the small details.

Packages from the UPS man and car parts on the kitchen table are a common site lately.

Tomorrow is the car show in Holland and I am excited to go and see some cars. I am not taking the NX, but I hope to see some hot cars and get some ideas for my car. I hope we have nice weather....

50 seconds
I had a busy weekend. Trip to Kalamazoo to party with the guys (pics coming soon), I graduated from GVSU, worked on the car a lot... and had the first race of the 2004 season with the Furrin Group (my car club).

Team Parking Lot Performance was defunct. Hermen was not able to go, but it was cool cause Becky and Heather went from GV. It was nice to have some friends out there who wanted to ride and learn a little about AutoX. I think Becky plans to get an old VW GTI and race it around someday... the adrenaline rush is addictive. The next race is supposed to be on the GV campus and I hope to have more friends swing over to that and watch.

I race as number 86. I need nicer numbers for the side of my car, but this hood one looks good.

None of the Nissan guys from my Forum went, but some Nissans were out from the Z club.

This Sentra SpecV really showed the guys what Nissan power is about.

Some other cars from the field, the Eclipse (far back) and VW were in my heat.

Ready to hit the track...I need to get my own helmet the loaner ones are a little gross...

TJ from SpeedWise and some guys checking out the NX.

Waiting in the Grid for my run... that Grand Prix GT... was gonna get beat by this little Nissan...

Waiting for the Green Flag at the starting line for my first run of the year.

This turn haunted me all day... I was generally able to control the slide but pulling out of it was tough on the little NX.

Running through the finish line after my second run.

The run day was great. The Nissan held up awesome... still need to fix that steering though. I have finished second to last in my previous races. I knew I would beat the PT and the Grand Prix GT... and I did. I made a goal of breaking 50 seconds. I bounced between 10th and 9th place all day. On my final run I got my time... 49.652 seconds... what I wanted! I ended in 9th meaning I also beat a Ford Focus. I beat all the American cars in my class.

The final highlight was this little video clip Becky took. Please click on the video to watch it. The MOV file is in a Quick time format. If you need you can download the player but most newer computers (and all Macs) will have it already. The AVI file is a bigger file but should work on even older PCs. Allow time for the video to download when you click on it.

Race Video MOV(smaller file) | Race Video AVI(larger file if other does not work)

Now I have to get the numbers washed off the windows, replace my sun visor, and get the audio stuff put back into the car. May 15th is the next race, can't wait...

Repairs...
Alright... so I am racing this weekend. First one of the year. I am pretty excited. It feels like forever since I last raced.
At an AutoCross last summer.

Since the end of winter my car has had a little knocking in the front steering. I was thinking a tie rod end was bad or something. Well... as usual my estimation of the problem is wrong. I headed to Tollman Auto to hoisted up and have a look see. The left CV Boot has a little hole in there, and the right CV boot... ripped completely around. Cost... a whopping 420 bucks.

The knocking will get worse... and eventually not be able to drive it. Buying a suit to interview at DePaul in is more important right now. I just worry that I blow it out this weekend at the race... more battle stories... (at my first race I blew my exhaust apart. Archive Scroll to June 8th, 2003)

Options are: wait and just let the things blow and then get them replaced, hope Team PLP has some time soon to do it, or I go and sell my left kidney on the black market for the money to fix this. Which option do you think I can go with? Hermen where is team PLP? I wish I had a FASFA sponsorship check coming in...

Weekend
Last week was rough... too many things due... too little time. So Friday I relaxed. Well not really, I worked hard on my car, but to me that equals relaxation.

I have been meaning to get a lot done on my car and I finally had some time, or I made some time, to get it done. I bough my neon lights for my car and got the audio work done I have been wanting to do. For now I just test fit the audio using the box we built for Ramiro's Honda. I will be making my custom box in the next few weeks.

Hermen was not around so I recruited Ramon into team PLP. Ramon has been a reluctant member of the team until now. His 2004 Honda is a little too new for the team to start tearing apart, but he got a nice Geo Prism beater and we got to work on that, and he helped with ideas on the Nissan. Heather swung by after work and watched me get a good shock while playing with some wires before she went out with some CMU friends.

They took a picture of my all flipped over under the dash mounting the lights.

On Saturday I ripped the door panels off and put passive crossovers on all the smaller speakers.

Saturday was another show at one of the shops I work with in Holland. SpeedWise is a sweet shop and they had another awesome show. Not many Nissan guys showed up for this one (it was kinda late notice) but they had a lot of hot rides come out. Ramon came with me and we rolled in the Nissan. Some of the Central girls swung by and I saw Chrissie again and took her for a ride in the Nissan... she likes to go fast, and so do I.

The show was fun and afterwards Ramon and I shopped for some speaker bargains for him and we got a steal of deal from ABC. Haggle... haggle... haggle... Now his Prism is bumpin'!

I wore my ImportCulture Shirt and it was so nice I wore shorts!

Lots of guys with Nissan 240s that want to swap to my motor were there so we got to chat a little.

I posted a link to the pics on the car website, check it out NX 2000. Scroll down on the page and see the links to the pictures. I am excited for the work coming up on the car and the race this Saturday. I do not have the money to complete my suspension job yet and fix my steering joints for the race, but it will be fun either way. Its not about winning... its about enjoying the sport.

That To-do-List
That long list I call my to-do-list is doing alright.
SCHOOL: I think I got some good stuff ready for my group presentation tonight (I never actually met with the group...). Yesterday I finally got my practicum folder turned in, now just waiting for my supervisor evaluation. Thesis is moving along well, got some tables made today and Becky is editing my work on the last chapter and then it will be down hill. Papers for Career Guidance... not so good... but I am working with professor and everything is cool.

CAR: Yesterday the rims went back on the car. I took some time out of the morning and scrubbed them inside and out before rolling to the shop to get them slapped on. I forgot how much stiffer the ride is with these bigger wheels.

This Saturday is a car show at SpeedWise and I want to get my audio stuff in for it. Well at least the Subs and Amp. The NX 2000 is getting into summer mode.

Now the not so good part of the to-do-list... Taxes. Not done. I am gonna try to call and get an extension. I have no time as a busy college student, and I hope they understand. This is what I get for putting that off. Laundry... well the machine at the house seems to finally be working (the roommates successfully flooded my bedroom not once... but twice!) so maybe I can get some done at home now!

And to end with some good news. I got my call back from DePaul. They liked my phone interview and are asking me for an on campus interview. I have made it to the final stage. So on May 10th and 11th I will be interviewing with them for the Program Coordinator for Greek Life job. Wish me luck...

More Birthdays
Edit: I posted a full gallery of pics. Novalí
April is a big birthday month for the Centellas family. My older Brother Miguel had his on the 7th, and my father and Novali had theirs on the 10th. There are many other Centellas birthdays this month as well.

My parents went to Florida for a much needed vacation, and I drove to Chicago to spend the day with Novali. Tamara planned a great birthday party at Chucky Cheese and tons of her family and came out for the party. We called my dad from there and Novali chatted with my parents and wished my dad a happy birthday. The party was great, I wish I could stick around all day for Easter with her but I need to get back to Allendale and get working on all my school work I have yet to get done...

All dressed up and ready to head to her big party.

With her great grandma enjoying the party.

Not as many candles as grandpa Centellas had... but getting there.

Opening all of her great gifts. Dora dolls, belts, more sun glasses, dancing outfits, and a huge talking Sully from Monsters Inc...

On a car ride with Chucky himself.

Assessories. She has everything... fake liptstick, watch, pink sunglasses, backpack, etc.

This week is going to be brutal. Thesis due on Friday, presentation on Wednesday, paper due on Tuesday, practicum needs to get finished, not to mention laundry....

Happy Birthday
I am not much for sappy moments, well okay maybe I am. Today is Miguel's birthday, my older Brother. We have been through some interesting things. Moving to America together (him and I were left with my grandparents while my parents went with Andres to sell all our belongings) and learning a new strange language. Having a cool big Brother in a band at college I used to visit and pretend I was in college. Living with him when I started college (I know I would never have graduated Cum Laude had it not been for Miguel) and learning to eat pasta 8 days a week. Most recently being able to travel to Bolivia and see my older Brother living down there, on some one else's dime. Truly an inspiration.

Happy Birthday Miguel.

Shows over folks
Well the 56th annual Western Regional Greek Leadership Conference went off without a hitch. The Western Region Greek Association did an excellent job of hosting this event and making it better then ever in many ways. We had nearly 700 in attendance and received kudos on our hard work and improvements to the conference.

I had a great time and am glad I took this professional development opportunity. As I mentioned before I also got Becky a grad staff position and she was awesome in her role as well. The WRGA was not very organized this year and Becky did a great job of finding things to do, and keeping the rest of their staff on their toes. Thanks Becky!

Our main stage this year was much better looking and our staff really pulled off increasing the quality of our presentations.

I managed the AV Booth and ran all the lights, powerpoints, and audio. And yes... I ran it all from two Apple Powerbooks...

Two other Betas were at the conference. Nick and Carlos who attend San Jose State. Last year one Beta, this year two... next year?

One of our added changes was a party themed opening night. It was awesome, our staff pumped up the crowd (yes with the YMCA...) and students actaully had fun with no alcohol... who would of figured?

It was an awesome conference because the current Executive Director, Michael Deen, was leaving the board. He had been on the board for 10 years and really made the association great. It was touching to have him recognized for all his years of hard work.

The famous David Stollman was late for one of his presentations... so I stepped up and filled in for him. The students liked me so much now he is asking me to help facilitate his program Recruitment Boot Camp...

I did some new things for the final banquet. A slide show of pictures from that years conference, and all the powerpoints I think looked great.

NALFO was well represented. We went from 7 Latino Greeks last year... to over 22 this year... better things to come.

the final night Mini Dance Marathon to raise money for Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

The conference was a huge success. I am excited for the planning for next year and the great things to come. I hope to stay on the board for many years. We will see what happens.

After the conference Becky and I stayed out here for a few days. You all know how I always stay extra after a conference to have fun, and this time Becky was with me. Sunday and Monday morning we relaxed and got homework done, and Monday afternoon into the evening we spent in San Francisco. I was surprised at how well I remembered the city. We had fun touring around.

Of course we walked through Chinatown and checked out stores.

I love street performers. This guy, called Bush Man hid behind some branches and scared people. It was hilarious... well not to us. He made Becky jump out of her skin!

Right on the wharf we stopped for some typical clam chowder and a beer. Since it was Becky's birthday the guy kept giving us free drinks.

We walked all over the city and checked out sites, street vendors, and shopped.

After my trip last year to Frisco I think I posted a million pictures of the city. It is such a cool city for architecture and other sites.

We ended the night with dinner at a Japanese place in the famous Castro district.

The trip was awesome. It was highlighted by a call from Gary, one of my Brothers from Western Michigan. He also happens to be my little Brother in the fraternity. He called to say he won Greek Man of the Year! I am so proud. The guys have struggled but managed to stay on top of things despite the low numbers. Good work Brothers! I hope you all have some pictures!

Well this week and next will be crazy. Tomorrow Becky and I have our Thesis presentation, and next Friday the final paper is due. It will be a long two weeks but I know it is going to get exciting. Our thesis is looking really good and I am excited to get all this school work out of the way so I can relax and get some other personal projects started... like my sound system for the NX and upgrades to my websites.

Last call on my flight... see you all soon!

Calm before the Storm...
As most of you know, I am on the Board of Directors of the Western Region Greek Association (WRGA). We host the annual Western Regional Greek Leadership Conference (WRGLC) which is here in San Francisco in early April. This year is the 55th Annual conference and we are the longest running regional association.

It has been a ton of working getting ready for the conference. It is my first year on the board and we are in a transition year to a new executive director. We are ready though, and I am excited. This year there are some new things going on for the conference.

For the weekend I am in charge of all the AV set ups, powerpoints, music before and after presentations, and anything that goes on the big screens during the general sessions. I am excited to have creative control over all of that (I also designed the logos and booklets for this year as part of my job). Last year I handled it all as well... but I was given the job about 2 hours before the conference started. This year we are trying some new things since I had more prep time.

Tomorrow starts with board meetings and lunch with the hotel managers. Then our graduate, professional and student staff arrive. It is cool cause Becky got on grad staff. She will get to see me in super Greek mode.

Alright I need some sleep. The mint they left on my pillow is making me hungry... wonder if I can still get room service?

Lip Sync
This weekend it was a work weekend for me. Becky got back from Germany so we got to work on thesis and really made some good ground. I also got a lot done on my pile of other projects as well. Got everything ready for WRGA and the conference I got this weekend in San Francisco. Much more work then I thought, but I am excited for the conference.

This weekend also ended Greek Week and last night was Lip Sync, the big stage performance. I want to give an ultra shot out to The Betas. They competed in Greek Week, all the events. As the smallest group that participated they gave everyone a run for their money. On Friday they were in third place over all! They did not end the week ranked but gave everyone a spectacular show. And reminded everyone that it is quality over quantity.

Lip Sync here is a 6 minute performance. It included an intro involving an MC and then dancing and skits which are all judged for theme relation and quality. The Betas only had four guys that could perform, and I helped with the MC part and skit. They were picked to go first and lite the room up!

It started to the song Lowrider. Hermen rode out in his chromed out award winning lowrider bike, Ramiro rode out on Novali's Barbie trike which they added some chrome spinners to. Santi and Max were shooting dice on stage and chillin. Then an explosion and a voiceover (done by me) introduced them and their assigned Greek god for the week. And then the Betas got hot...

The Lip Sync Crew

Santi and Max shooting dice

Max, Hermen and Ramiro danced while Santi lip synced and they looked good. Just the four of them... doing their thing. They did a little hip hop, and then got everyone excited with some Kumbia Kings followed by a Merengue in which the pulled some random girls from the crowd to dance with them. Everyone got into it!

Busting some Cumbia skills.

Sweaty and tired... they finished.

They got awesome applause and got Lip Sync off to a fabulous start. I am so proud of the guys. They worked hard from start to finish. Next year if they remember to bring their flag to all the events, and teach Santi how to dance... they will win this thing!

Always remember the five most important words. "You Did A Good Job."