Chicago Weekend
In a few minutes Hermen and I leave to get Becky, and then off to Chicago! Hermen made the last trip with me and we had a blast. This time we are going to hangout downtown, take Becky to the airport, and then bring Novalí to Michigan to spend Thanksgiving with the Centellas family.

Sunday Hermen and I will roll over to Kalamazoo for the 6th annual Thanksgiving dinner with the sisters of Sigma Lambda Gamma. This has been the longest standing tradition with my chapter. Novalí will get to see all my chapter Brothers again, who I am sure she will not remember. But I know she will get aquatinted with them again quickly. As long as no Gammas put Novi's feet in their mouths I am sure she will be fine... Don't laugh, that happened before and I think she is still tramatized.

New but not perfect
I got my new laptop yesterday. It is the new 15 inch Powerbook G4 from Apple. It is twice the speed of my old laptop, 6 times bigger hard drive, better wireless internet, built in Bluetooth, more USB and Firewire ports, and cool sleek new look.




But guess what? I don't have the backlit keyboard! One of the benefits of these new machines is the backlit keyboard, I was excited to get it. However, it only comes standard on the models with the Superdrive. On my model it is a 69 dollar option! 69 bucks! If I had known I would of added it, but I didn't (thinking they all came with it) and now I am not sure I can upgrade my keyboard now. So as happy as I was before... now I am bummed cause one of the coolest features is missing. I am looking into what parts I would need to order to add the lit keyboard... hopefully I can make it happen.

69 bucks! If it had been a 200 option I might not be as mad, but it was only 69 bucks to add it... I am so sad right now. I wish one of our sales people had told me about that. Oh well, at least the screen works on this one!

Bad Haircut, broken laptop and no McChicken
As you might remember from my last post I was looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend with nothing but some paper writing and cleaning the house. I was going to catch up on somethings, and just get ready for a long week of big assignments due. Well things did not go as planned.

Friday after getting out of work from CompuCraft I headed off to get my haircut. It turned out terrible. First I only wanted a trim, and the lady cut it super short and now you can barely see my highlights. Then she cut the back of the neck wrong, and each time I asked her to fix it... it got worse. So I smiled and said that is fine. Then my bangs were all messed up. I ask her to make them the same length as the rest of my hair and she argued that the bangs need to be longer for my style to look right. I am not rave kid... i like my hair the same length. Either way she cut it wrong again and I did not have the patience to continue having her redo my hair. So I complained some more, got the bad haircut for free, and I left.

Saturday started with a trip to the Speedway station to do laundry. Many of you might recall that I love Speedway. Anyways, while we were loading up the car I set my laptop bag on the side of the car and Hermen and I loaded the clothes into the car. Then while I backed up out of my parking space... bump... what did I hit? As I continued to back up, I see my Apple Saddlebag sitting on the pavement with tire tracks on it. Needless to say I freaked out. While I sat at Speedway, Hermen kept making fun of me. That did not help, but he was trying to get me to smile and it worked. I even got chili on my hot dog this time... and even that did not cheer me up. But you want to know what really amazed me and kept me from completely losing it. The laptop still works! I mean the screen is broken, but I can still use about 1/5 of the screen. So when I got home I backed up my files and went to campus.

I sulked all afternoon at GVSU. I still managed to get some work done with Becky on our Thesis which was good. Then a great thought came to me... I can hook up a monitor to my laptop. I stopped everything we were working on (Becky was annoyed) and I saw my screen on that tiny office monitor GVSU considers a work computer. I felt good, the Mac sustained much damage, but as a testament to Apple... she still lives! However, as happy as I am about the fact that she is still alive, I still need a new computer. I can not continue to use this for too long. Maybe my parents home owners will cover this... Mom... Dad... a little help please.

Alright so the weekend was rough. It ended on more bad luck. On my way home on Sunday from campus (another class project) I called the house to see what they wanted from McD's. They gave me their orders. A #9 with extra sauce and HiC, three double cheeseburgers (they are only $1 now!) and for me a McChicken. Get home... get all excited to eat... and bam! No McChicken. Can't I cut one break this weekend? Just one. Nope. Everyone else got their food. I ate some left over rice, proof read a paper, thought about going to complain getting my sandwich but instead I just went to bed.

Hope this week gets better.

8am Sam
This week was insane. I had a lot to get done in a short amount of time. For the past three weeks I have been coming into the office at GVSU at 8am or sooner. I am generally the first one into my office. It is strange because when I worked at Johnson Controls as an engineer I would normally get into the office at 7am and everyone else would generally be there already. This is a nice change of pace though. I like getting in early, I get a great parking spot (nice end spot to avoid door dings) and no one is in the office to distract me from getting work done.

This week I got a lot done. Tuesday I was in the office from 7:30am to 11:30pm... long day. Then Wednesday I was in from 8am to 10:30pm... almost as long. Thursday my schedule ramped down a little more... I was only at GVSU from 8am to 7pm, not even 12 hours... easy. So I worked a lot, got my survey instrument almost completed for my practicum research, more articles read for my thesis, meetings with the IFC guys about the upcoming elections, Greek conference planning, 2nd year grad student meeting, professional development, lunch with Dean Merkle, and the list goes on. Today is much slower, just working at CompuCraft and looking forward to a weekend of reading for my thesis and starting on the research proposal with Becky.

So what happens after a long week? You go out of course! Last week it was the typical BFE trip with the Betas for some pool and then for Heather's birthday us grads hit up Taps and Gardellas. This week us Betas got to BFE kinda late and both pool tables were taken so we just chilled and Ramiro explained his fear of not getting free refills on pop (hence why he asks for only a little ice). I was paying so why did he care? And anyways, who worries about that?

Then I headed downtown with the grads. It was was Ken's birthday. We hit up this place called Z's Sports Bar. It was my first time there, and we made up more then half of the crowd. The place was not too bad, the juke box had much better music then the one in the basement of Gardellas. The bar tender was not very good, but our waitress was awesome. She was fast, funny and very creative. When Jody mentioned that pitchers of beer tend to get warm, she came by with a glass full of ice and floated it in the pitcher. This way the ice does not water down the beer, and it stays cold. I never saw that before... what a great idea!

Throughout the night I for some reason managed to get into several discussions about GVSU's grad program. Talking with Heather about class discussions, Jen about practicum and internship ideas, Carissa about setting up a meeting to give background information for a case study project and Kacy about the ethic fest. There was some non-program talk though. Oscar was there with his wife and we talked about Novali and his daughter hanging out when I have Novali here, that will be fun! Then did some soccer talk with Pablo's friend, I miss Futbol. I also learned that I no longer know how to yo-yo. Which of course is a very important skill.

Back to today... I am hoping to get my haircut, then do some laundry and clean my place up a little. Tomorrow will be thesis day... got a lot of work to get done. Going to be a busy weekend working on school projects. Ah.

Two Post Day
I am aware that I already posted today, but I wanted to also include a recap of the events from my weekend. It was a fun one, relaxed one, and I still got a lot of work done. I was very productive, and fun at the same time.

Saturday was IFC's Fraternity games. It was cold, but we had a good time. We modified the originally planned games and played Kickball in stead of Softball, football still went on as scheduled, the water balloon WAR turned into "see who can hit Gaff's car" from 20 feet, the food... don't get me started on the food, and the final event was the chicken breast toss (everyone sucked equally).




If you click on the link above or right here you can go to IFC's pictures and see all the great shots from the day. Cooking never seems so hard until you have 10 fraternity men, trying to figure out how to defrost, cook, and eat frozen chicken breasts and brats. Whose ideas was chicken and brats anyways... Cobb.. Cobb... It was fun throwing the meat though and counting how many tongs we managed to drop on the floor. Man Down! I had a good time, can't wait for the one next semester.

Sunday was my day with Novalí(Click here to see more pictures). This trip was special cause Hermen joined me on the voyage. The trip started with the traditional stop at Speedway for gas, coffee, and hot dogs. This time it was two coffees, and four hot dogs. When we arrived Novalí wanted to watch a movie, so we sat and watched Finding Nemo. I never saw it before, so it was good. The entire movie, when Hermen would laugh, Novalí would look at him like, "who are you? why are you here? stop laughing at my movie."




Then we ran to one of my favorite Mexican food places in Chicago. Really I just like it cause they have Menudo and Pozole on the weekends. Hermen got a burrito and pozole, I got menudo, and Novalí ate rice and chips. It was a feast, after we finished I felt like sleeping... but instead the three of us rolled downtown.

We had a nice trip downtown. Novalí was good the entire time and really started warming up to Hermen. Every store we would go into if she lost Hermen she would tell me we had to look for him now. She walked, ran, and had a good time just enjoying all the people. We saw some kids playing plastic buckets downtown until they got chased away by the cops. Novali got excited over the horses. Hermen and I got excited in the Apple Store. You know...

Thanks Hermen for rolling with me. I had a good time, lets do it again soon. Alright I got to get to work now... Later.

Mom and Dad
Today is my parent's 30th wedding anniversary. Wow. This summer their present to themselves was a trip out west. They saw the Grand Canyon and took a great train trip around some different places out west. This whole year they have been doing cool trips. Several times they have been to Stratford to see plays, weekends in Chicago with Novalí, and just time for themselves with all the kids out of the house. Must be nice.

So I wanted to wish them my best on my blog. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! I don't know what else to say. What me? With not much to say? Yes... it happens on occasion and this is one of them. They are the worlds best parents.

My dad let me learn lessons on my own (remember when I bought that second Camaro... what was I thinking? And better yet, why'd you let me do it?), taught me that usually the hardest decision is the right one (something I still have trouble with), and that I can do what I want if I apply myself. My mom always ate breakfast with me on Saturday and Sunday mornings after I finished my paper route (got me addicted to coffee), reminds me to go to church, showed me what true strength is (when she had cancer), taught me how to be a parent (I learned from the best), and she stood her ground when she knows she needed to (even though I hated her for it at the time). I have great parents, and my goal in life is to make them proud. Cheezy I know, but if you had parents like mine you would to.

Birthday Parties
It seems like Birthday season is in full swing. Had a fun outing with the grads from GVSU last night, next week Ken turns older and then after that little Ramiro will get his wings (turns 21). It was a good end to a blah week. I never had so many meetings and conference calls in my life. Got a lot done though. But back to the fun... last night.

Started the night with the Betas. Santi, Hermen, Ramon and I went to BFE. We started what is becoming a tradition for us, Thursday night pool night. Last week I cleaned the table and went 5-1 (this old guy sharked me), this week it changed. I lost my first game to Hermen, I scratched on the 8 ball. So I consider that I lost, not that Hermen won, there is a difference in my opinion. Then Ramon lost to me (he scratched the 8 in his second shot). Santi was running the table last night... must of learned some tricks in the pool halls of SagiNAW. We stopped playing pool and just sat and chilled.

From there the grad outing started. I was picked up by the crew, Andrea's boyfriend was driving a two door Sundance and we managed to get 6 people in it (The guys up front, Shawna, Heather D, Andrea and Amanda in the back)... I almost felt like I was back in High School packing the car and running to lunch from school. We arrived at Taps and had to wait in line to get upstairs. After an hour of waiting (the birthday girl was already upstairs) the rest of us were getting bored. They came down, realizing we were never getting in and we all decided to leave.

We got all geeked to go to MargaritaGrill, but then remembered it closed down. So off to Gardella's we went. Dena and her husband took off at this time and wished Heather a happy birthday. The rest of the gang made it down to the basement, were we played with the jukebox all night long. The music selection was shoddy at best, but we made a good time of it. Heather D busted out the happy birthday camera, Von showed some mean dance moves, Amanda was droppin' game, Kacy and Carrissa danced on their chairs, Ken was low key, Andrea played the instruments Heather D brought, and her boyfriend walked Heather N to her car. I just kept requesting something from Cake, which when it finally played we were all leaving... so I only heard the first half of "Going the Distance..." I wanted to hear it all.
- Late Edit: I left off Shawna and her seduction of the metal iBeam on the dance floor and Paul leaving cause he was not feeling well (maybe he went and puked in the river).

Now I am at CompuCraft working and waiting for the rest of the weekend to kick off. On Sunday I am going to see Novali. Hermen might come with me, so I am excited about that. Hopefully the pictures from Halloween will be developed already and I will post them when I get back.

Have a fun weekend everyone!

Forced Vacation
It caught up with me. Last week I was fighting the flu that was going around the office. My ears were plugged, nose was stuffy, and I was working extra hard. Yesterday was a crazy day, at the Office of Student Life around 8am, then off to CompuCraft and had a lot to do. Then a conference call for my Executive Director position with the Western Region Greek Association, followed by a GVSU Beta colony meeting. Long day.

To top that off I had to drop the NX in the shop again. Some of you might remember over the summer, at one of my races, when I was driving her so hard that on an upshift I blew apart one of the welds in my exhaust? (For those interested, check the archives, 6.8.2003~"The Fast and Exhaustless...") Well it came back. Mark over at Tolman Auto who has gotten to know the NX had to reweld it for me. So I had to bum rides yesterday as well.

So right now I am sitting at the kitchen table, drinking tea, and watching CNN. After some rest I plan to get up to campus tonight for some meetings. Nothing like a mini unplanned vacation, even if I am not feeling well.

Zeta Lounge
Friday night, Halloween, we rolled to the University of Michigan (Zeta Chapter of Sigma Lambda Beta) for a little costume party. Becky, Hermen, Ramiro and I rolled from GVSU. We got a little lost on the way, Mapquest said to take exit #3, there was no exit #3... but after much arguing in the car, we made it.

The party was great! Zeta Brothers were excellent hosts. Good turnout, Brothers from all over came, MSU, CMU, GVSU, WSU, EMU, my chapter bros Vic and Rudy from WMU, and lots of Gammas. Most everyone was dressed up: Rudy was Zorro the only Latino super hero, Hermen was a priest (I thought he looked like a nun), Becky was easy street, Colleen was a witch, Maria had an afro and real crutches (but she still got down on the dance floor), Liz had on a purple wig (got to love purple), Marcie had on a cowboy hat (I was not sure if it was an actual costume or not), Vic was wearing swim trunks and a leather watch, he was the guy at the beach wearing a leather watch (cause I mean there is always that guy...), Ramiro took the show with his boxer costume (nice abs), and I was a fireman.

I am posting some more pictures at the GVSU Betas website tomorrow, check it out: GVSU Betas.




The funny part about Ramiro's and my costume is that they were made for little kids. His barely fit and his boxer abs were in his chest and his pecs around his neck and had no nipples, and my fireman pants were ultra tight. Yes, not just tight, ultra tight. I was betting they would rip, and they did. By the end of the night I was wearing two separate pant legs being held together with the velcro fly and suspenders. Not a good sight, so I put some jeans on when helping to clean up. An experienced road-tripper always has backup pants in the car.

Speaking of experienced road-trippers, Vic and I realized that we have now been road tripping together for over 5 years. That is a long time. We have been to almost 30 different schools together, traveled through the corn fields of several states, craziness in Buffalo, spring break in Chicago, Canoeing in Mio, hung out in DC, drove through Canada, Greek Town eating at Plaka Cafe, Canada Retreats, (always got hassled at the border), got crazy at Purdue, Beta Olympics, Greek Weeks, hanging out in the Peer Room, and many many nights at Club Soda. Good times.




So... like any good road trip with Vic, we ate at Big Boy. Ramiro was not in a greatest mood and very sleepy, too much partying will do that to you. Of course I got the breakfast buffet. It was cool to have the GVSU group and what was left of the WMU gang (the rest left all early last night... wack) eating together. The first meal Vic and I had as Brothers (the day we crossed) was at Big Boy. April 17th, 1999... it was a cold rainy day in Toledo, it was Saturday, and I got a ticket on the way home.

All good road trippers remember one thing: What happens on the road trip, stays on the road trip.

Happy Halloween
Tamara sent my family an email this morning, got to love little Novali! It brightened up my morning, can't wait to see the pictures! For the non-Spanish readers who check out my blog I will put translations in parentheses( ).

Email from Tamara:
Novali wore her 50s Barbie costume to daycare.  She was so excited.  Even though she ripped one of the dice off of her belt, "Mira, es una bola"(Look, it's a ball) and threw it across the room.  My brother managed to fix it though.  At daycare she was telling everyone that she is Barbie.  "Mira, tengo un traje, soy Barbie"(Hey look at the outfit I have, I am Barbie) as she stroked her dress.

I'm dressing up as Snow White tonight.  However, according to Novali, I am Dora the Explorer.  My short black wig seemed to cause some confusion last night.  "Eres Dora Mami?"(Are you Dora Mom?),  "No baby, soy Snow White"(No Novali I am Snow White), "oh no, eres Dora!" (No no, you are Dora) At least she understood the concept that I was trying to be someone else.  Oh well...

Happy Halloween!

My Desk
I have been writing a paper and I need a break. So today I write about my desk at GVSU, I spend a lot of time here and I thought I would introduce the world to my little piece of GVSU, my cube.


There is it. My desk. Let me describe. In the lower right corner are generally boxes of junk. Sometimes useful junk, there you see Sigma Pi boxes, I was their storage area while they were expanding. Now there is boxes of the old recruitment booklets left over from rush, it is trash, but I don't feel like hauling it out. I just wrote trash and them and hoped someone would move them for me. No luck yet.

Then you can see I have two computers. My office computer is a piece of junk, seriously. So I use my laptop for all real work. My trusty laptop, with wireless, is what gets me through all my work. I do not know what I would do with out it. I have many odd things on my cube walls, brochures for GVSU Greek life, a flyer from Greek Week 2003 I have yet to take down, lots of post it notes, thank you cards from people, my coffee mug, and the wax hand doing the Beta hand symbol.


Here is a close up picture of the right side of my desk. The piñata was left on my desk from Lisa, the grad who had my desk before me. I added the Mardi Gras beads to it, and lined up some Mt. Dew cans by the side. I need caffeine all day long... Mt. Dew is what I drink after the coffee is out. And yes, those are liter bottles not regular 20 oz. Next to that is the Case Study plaque, I was asked to help a Case Study group this week, which is cool that someone respects the 2003 Case Study winners (Becky and I won, we rock and will win again for 2004).

Then I have the Presidents Council composite, Betas don't make composites, so it is cool to finally be on one. I also look very republican in my picture, not that I don't want to look republican, but I generally do not wear a navy blazer and red tie. Next to it you see a stack of shirts. Some of those I designed, some were gifts. Once in a while it comes in handy to have something I can throw in of I spill coffee on myself cause of my shaky hands, but I doubt I will wear any of those any time soon.


Directly in front of my laptop are most of my pictures. I have some smaller pictures of Novali above my phone. These ones are random pictures I print out at work. I have a few of me in California, a few car races in the NX 2000, in Philly with Andres, and tons of Novalí. This week I plan to put some new pictures. To the right you see my NIC program flyers. I really push their educational programs for the IFC men here.

Next to my desk sits Becky, we have a big pole between us and a small table where Hermen sits when he comes to bug me at work. Right now he is there telling Bob Stoll, our director, that we need to have raft races during Greek Week in the Zumberg pond. And right now, guess what Becky is doing... yes twirling her hair. I am waiting for her to complain about my junk boxes, I know I need to move them.

That is my home away from home, my desk. I don't put anything up at my CompuCraft desk, so nothing exciting there. All my flare is on my GVSU desk. Hope you enjoyed this tour my small Cube at GVSU.

Good Weekend
Lots of driving. But then what's new? Friday went to Saginaw to see my family. Picked up Andres on the way from MSU and finally dropped off that iMac I fixed. Then the two of us headed to Saginaw to our parents house. From there we went to pick up Raquel and off to a family dinner at Red Lobster. Yum Yum. I had the admiral feast and the rolls there are still the best. Good family conversation.

Saturday, slept in! That felt great. Then a nice lunch with mom and dad. Talked about life, how my classes are going, mom's perm, and more importantly little Novali. Then off to MSU with dad. We met Andres at BW3s, I have not been to one since I left Kalamazoo. The spicey garlic wings were awesome, and makes me wish I lived closer to a BDubs now.

We went to the mall, I got my hair cut and highlighted. Turned out alright. Then from MSU back to Allendale. Relaxing night, got some rest for more driving.

Sunday got up early and drove to Chicago. Novali was jumping off the walls when I got there and we played for a few hours. Then it was off to go shopping. "Vamos a comprar un video." Novali really wanted a new video, she needed diapers and a winter coat, and for sure a halloween costume. So after a run to Old Navy, Target and Osco we finished. Novali got the Lion King new DVD, a cute little fifties girl costume (big pink skirt, white blouse, black belt, hair bows) and we headed home.

Novali did not follow the movie, but she kept asking what the names of all the animals were. She loved saying Mufasa and got scared by the Hienas. Then I headed home, back to Michigan.

All in all I drove a little over 750 miles all weekend. That equals about 11 hours in the car. Wow. It was some good quality time with the Nissan that's for sure! Speaking of the Nissan, I posted all new pictures on that page. NX 2000

This week will be hectic. Lots of meetings and some classwork due. Got to buckle down.

Missed Calls
Yes I know, I have not returned your calls. I forgot my phone yesterday. So I was phoneless. It is sad that it was so hard to go without it for a whole day. It was a relaxing break though from pestering calls about nothing, or wondering if Hermen called and I missed a chance to run to Burger King to get a whopper with cheese, diet coke (cause it offsets the fat in the burger), and onion rings. Don't forget the zesty sauce, extra zesty sauce... yum.

This morning I was at work bright and early again. I get so much done early in the morning, but I drink so much coffee my hands shake uncontrollably. Either way I like being here and I am starting to get all caught up with everything. Feels good. Back to work with my shaky hands.

Question
I am going to start doing some new things on this blog to get people to discuss a little. So today I pose some questions, these are from Hermen. He came by my desk to take a mint from the jar on my desk. I told them those are mad old and they are no good. So...

Do mints, the red (or green) and white ones in wrappers, ever go bad? Do they loose their mintiness? Will it still make your breath nice and fresh? How long do you think they last?

Saturday Night Live.
My younger brother Andres and Saloumeh came to visit on Saturday. I had a busy morning of running around Holland getting some stuff for my car. I cleaned the house and waited to see what was up for the night. I decided I would meet them downtown at my friend Heather's apartment... it is the first left, not the second left. No really, the first left comes right away, you went too far.

The group headed to my favorite place in Grand Rapids, the San Chez Bistro. It is a Tapas restaurant, which means you order lots of small sides and everyone picks from different things and tastes everything. A family style meal, very Spanish. The place has a calm atmosphere, great sangria, close to other nightlife and beautiful art inside. They have art from Jose Narezo, some awesome paintings on walls and some very authentic Spanish tile work around the walls. We had a great time, Andres got all excited over the Paella, I ate most of the Yucca Frita, Heather was brave and ate some calamari tentacles.




We ate for hours, and talked all night. References to TV shows, discussions about school, stories about being a server, and the age old question; When you go on a date, and sit in a booth, do you sit on the same side or across? For me, across. It just makes sense.

It was great, and we made it through everything we ordered. Calamari, yucca, paelle, patatas bravas, banderillas de pollo, and some bistec. Everything was awesome, even the bread and lemony butter. Then we took a walk.

The next stop was Bar Divani on Ionia Street. This is a classy place to relax, talk and try some great wines and drinks. There some more friends joined us, Andrea, Amanda and Paul. This place has a great wine list, and as Paul learned a beer list that was three pages long. When he asked if they had Molson, the waitress politely said, "No but we have some 'fancy' Canadian beers." He ended up with a Samuel Smiths, nothing like a beer with gold foil on the top. Then he found his beer, the McEwan. We had a great smooth bottle of Pinot Grigio.




At this point Andres and Saloumeh took off, they had to drive back to East Lansing. Thanks again you two for coming, it was a lot of fun. Paul walked home as well. The final four (three CMU grads, and one from WMU) decided to stay out a little longer. A short stop at Taps Sports Bar ran us into some people from GVSU. We lost the football game to SVSU that day, our rival school. So some talk about football ensued. We danced a little, Heather got picked up by some super stud with the, "You have nice hair" pick up line, come on guys we need to be more original than that.

Fun night. Glad to see my brother. Nice to chill with some GVSU folks. Today, got to catch up on school work and fix Ramiro's honda. Adios.

Just doing my thing.
It has been a typical last few days. My car was at SpeedWise getting work done, and something went wrong; meaning I need to cough up more money, that I don't have, so comprises had to be made. So I am still riding on my cheap coils, and will have to wait until spring to get the money to buy the parts I need to install the better springs I bought. I hate spending money on a part, and then not being able to afford to get it put in properly. But the Nissan is drivable, looking good (despite the back bumper), and bringing me joy.

Last night the Betas and Gammas had a great program. They brought the independent film Urban Poet. It was great, based in a Puerto Rican neighborhood in Chicago (Humbolt Park), it spoke to the issues of stereotypes and methods of expression for Latin communities. We had a packed house, and the students who came loved the event and many stayed to talk afterwards with the director. I want to tell Ramiro, Lydia, Santiago and Melva that they did a great job! For information on the film visit: New Film Productions

Tomorrow, my younger Brother Andres is coming from Michigan State to visit. I think we are going to San Chez, this great Tapas place, and then hangout downtown. Awesome Spanish food, the best. It is just like Cafe Iberico the place I like to eat in Chicago.

This weekend will be nice and relaxing. I will get to chill and catch up on some things I have been putting off. Like putting away my laundry and cleaning my room.

Rear ended, fighting in the homeland, and "When Santi met Stupid."
It has been an interesting last few days. Some drama (my car got dented), some funny times with the brothers, and suspense over the Bolivian political situation. So here is a quick recap.

The NX is injured, call 911!
Yes folks, the NX, which I love so much, has been dented. On Monday I was driving back from CompuCraft when I was rear-ended! This dumb guy in a Ford Explorer decided that watching my brake lights was not that important, so BAM! He hit me. I hate Lake Michigan Drive, it is the worst road and there was no turn lane. We pulled over and there was very little damage to my car, and none to his truck. My insurance rates are high enough, and no matter whose fault the accident is my rates would go up, so I did not call the police. The damage is not bad, just some paint rubbed off and a small dent in my rear panel. Hopefully I can get a warm day to buff it out and pull that dent out a little. Just when she was finally getting all done, she gets hurt. Just my luck. But I still love my baby, even dented.


The NX is in the shop right now as well. Getting new shocks put on her. She was riding really rough with the coils I put on, I was going to switch the coils for springs but not anymore. When I got the coils put in, they removed the spring mounting brackets, and now when I want to put springs back in I do not have the mounting brackets cause they got tossed out. Ah! I can not afford to spend much more money on the car right now, so I am just leaving the coils in there and just putting the new shocks on her. Will I ever start having good luck? I also am getting all my logos made right now for the car, and getting her ready for the winter. I painted my original rims and once snow starts to fall put those winter tires on. I hope my baby makes it through the winter without getting hit, or hitting anything! No more dents on the NX!



Bolivia, Mi Patria!
My homeland is in turmoil, and my brother Miguel is right in the middle of it all. He is there on a Fullbright Fellowship working on his dissertation. The country was and kinda still is being threatened to fall into civil war. I got some pictures from the BBC and Miguel's blog. American media sources still have not covered the stories very well, surprise surprise... CNN posted one or two articles, but not much. Miguel is having a hard time getting food and bread right now, but at least he still is able to find a 56k internet connection. Us Centellas boys know what the essentials in life are for survival. "Who needs bread? Give me internet, or give me death." Well maybe it is not that important... Living in the USA we can not understand what it can be like to be in such a situation, I hope things get better for the country's sake, my brother and family down there, and so I can travel down there this December.




Stupid and Stupider
This morning I felt like I was watching some movie, or comedy routine. Santiago came over early to pick up Ramiro and finish off the paperwork for Sigma Lambda Beta. Maybe cause we all got up before 7am, or maybe cause they waited until today to do it (paperwork must be postmarked the 15th), or maybe just cause they are still Neos. I don't know. But it was funny. They have to send 4 copies of tons of papers, they did not have a big envelop. So Santi said they could just put it in multiple small envelops and mail it all separately. What? I had an envelop so I saved them from that brilliant idea. Then Ramiro got mad and threatened to mess up all the papers (they were in neat stacks of four), but then he realized that it was his job to send the paperwork so he would be the one to reorganize them. Kinda like getting mad and kicking your own car, mess up someone else's stuff, not yours. Finally Ramiro forget the Dues Check (dune buggy?), he needs to get his hearing and vision checked. It was a funny thing to wake up; Ramiro tripping down the steps, Santi looking homeless, Hermen complaining about all the ink on his printer they were using, my sitting there feeling like I was watching the three stoogies in action. Good times. These guys crack me up.

Novalí
Sunday I spent with Novalí. I got up early and drove to Chicago. The drive has become so comfortable to me now. This year alone I must have driven to Chicago close to 20 times. Wow. Every trip is worth it.

When I got there she was eating. Well, mostly playing with her food and feeding it to her baby and minnie mouse. Once she was done we played with her blocks. I was amazed at how she is able to stack them now. It was just a few weeks before that I showed her how to stack them. She made a stack nearly her height, and then it fell. She also is learning her numbers visually now. When I showed her the block with the #1 on it, she held up one finger. She did that for 2 and 3, but no more. I was still impressed.

We played all afternoon, which meant I tossed her around cause she always wants to fly and I pretended to eat with her and the baby. We watched the Cubs game, her Tio Angel got her to say "Go Cubs". She slept through most of the game, and so did I.



When we woke up, we had some Chinese food I ordered, and played some more. Once her mom and abuela got home she took a bath and got ready for bed. And then her papi (thats me) had to drive back to Michigan. Long day. Fun day.

Check out her pictures on her website. Novalí.

Catching Up
It is Saturday night, and I had a fun last few days, and tomorrow I get to see Novalí. Life is great for me right now. This blog is playing some catchup on the last few days.

Thursday
We chilled. Becky came over and Hermen help her wash her car and peel some stickers off of the back window. I finally started on doing my custom taillights for my NX. I think the NX will like the new lights. Now while we are talking about the NX, I want to clear something up. Yes the NX is female. Many of you have asked me (not commented on my blog about it) why I call the car a "she". Well there are a few reasons for that. The NX is tempermental, she gives me headaches, causes me trouble, costs a lot, high maintenance, I like showing her off to my friends, and no matter what happens I still love her. The NX is a woman, and we are in a committed relationship. My life is sad, I know.

Back to my story... We ended the night with a trip to my favorite eating place in Allendale, the Country Cupboard. Yes, I know mostly retired people go there, and the food is mediocre at best, but I like it. I feel at home, like a regular customer. As many of you have noticed I now have started to like that country feel. So I had the smelt dinner, some great homemade desert and got punches on my Country Cupboard diner card. Yes, I am a "regular".



Friday
Homecoming at WMU! This year WMU honored a Latino as one of the Distinguished Alumni. So of course I had to score some tickets to the dinner, the Betas and Gammas also scored tickets and got a shot out from the MC during the program. Nice to see Vic and Colleen representing. I love knowing the school thinks highly enough about our fraternity and sorority that we get free tickets to such a high profile event.

Then we went to the Firehouse. This was one of my usual hangouts when I was living in Kalamazoo. The place was packed, we had to park on a curb, wait in line for too long, and heard the same music from the same DJs who worked when I was there. The fun part was seeing all the old faces from WMU. Of course I saw Megan, and my Brothers Vic, Geo and Rey were there as well. It was great, running into old friends from campus and saying hi, asking what they are up to, and exchanging short stories in a loud bar. It was fun.

The night ended with a trip to Big Burrito for fatty Mexican food late at night. I felt at home again.

Saturday
I slept in. I should of gone to the parade with the Betas and Gammas, but I was tired. I deserve one day that I can sleep. So I slept.

Around 2pm I finally decided to do something. I was thinking of heading to the game, but I never went as an undergrad when the tickets were free, why would I go when I have to pay as an alum? So instead I made the trip to Waldo's to see Megan. I drug Colleen with me (all my Brothers were in the game) and it was great. While in line we made friends with some drunk Irish guy, he needed a lighter and he thought it was hilarious I was in a Latino fraternity and that I did not have a lighter. Once inside I saw tons of friendly faces, and was reminded of how many people I miss from Kalamazoo. I still never ran into Doogie, but I am sure I will catch up with him soon.




I then headed home to Allendale. The Latino Student Union was having a program, and between the dinner and dance portion the gang decided to swing over to the house. It was fun hanging out and relaxing. I was trying to get some homework done tonight, but they were a good distraction. They cracked me up, and Ramiro as usual admitted to crap most people would not admit to, like having overeaten reeses pieces and puking. Who does that? The other Neo, Santiago was dressed like an Old Cuban pimp, the light green polyester pants were great, he said it was for the island theme of the dance... no else was dressed up, so I think Santi just like the pants and did not want to admit it.

So now they left, I am going to try to study a little and then get some sleep. I am getting up early to go and spend the day with Novalí.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
For those who like old Western movies you get the title. Nothing like Clint Eastwood shooting up people. No shootings here, or dirty saloons, I just thought the title was fitting for todays post.

The Good:

My trip to Bolivia is official. I got my confirmation today, and I will be home bound in December. I will fly out of the Chicago-Ohare airport at 5:26 PM CST on December 15th. I will arrive in Bolivia the following day at 9:02 AM. Long trip, and this time I will do it alone. I can not wait to get there and see myfamily. It has been over three years since my last trip.

The Bad:

I got the NX running this morning. Took a few more tried to dry it out, and then I ran to Tolman Auto and had them shoot air in and spray some silcone sealer in there. She works now. But it looks like I will more then likely need new spark plugs now. The pic above is of the body kit I want to get... anyone want to sponsor me getting that body kit? I will put your name on the front of the car. I had to try.

The Ugly:

The Centellas family has bad luck with cars. Andy's luck ran out last week when he totaled his Civic. That is some impact there! Glad he was not at all hurt, and able to laugh (and cry) about it later. My sister Raquel totaled a car, Miguel totaled one in high school, and I totaled two so far. When it comes to cars, the Centellas kids have a bad record...

Go Team PLP!