Nothing on Purpose

Jeremy's Purpose-Driven Blog

Archive for September, 2009

Something Fishy

Sep 30

Posted by Jer in Heart | No Comments

One rainy Wednesday night back in February, instead of driving home from a church fellowship, I exited early and stopped in the parking lot at PetSmart in San Leandro. April was a little confused at first but once we got into the store, she was delighted to know that I wanted to get a Betta fish for the apartment.

As much as we love living at Villa Marina, the No. 1 complaint we have about the place is that we’re not allowed to have a dog there. Of course, to add insult to injury, we are indeed allowed to have cats if we agree to put down a $500 deposit and assume financial responsibility for any and all damages potentially caused by said feline. Not only do April and I not care much for cats, we’re also terribly allergic to their dander.

The solution? Fish. While browsing the shelves at PetSmart, we learned that male Betta fish are much more elegant looking than their female counterparts. The males are usually red in color and are the ones with the large, flowing fins. The female on the other hand looks like any other blue fish. Of course, that made the decision easy; go with the beautiful red Betta. So we bought the fish and a tank with a couple of accessories to jazz it up a little. On the way home, we decided to name our new pet, Troy. What better name for an April and Jeremy pet than Troy, right?

Since February, he’s been swimming around in the tank, enjoying life. We feed him his fish food and he comes up to the surface to create his bubble nests. Every now and then, I’ll prepare a pea for him because we’ve heard it’s good for the digestive track of a fish and also because it’s kind of fun to watch him swim around with a green pea in his mouth. I love watching animals of any kind–so there are times when I’ll just sit in front of the tank and stare for 15-30 minutes. We’ll even put up a mirror for him once in a while so that he can get some aggression out. Apparently, fish don’t know that they’re looking at themselves when they see a reflection. Even though he can’t come greet us at the door or jump up and down and luck us when he’s happy, it’s a nice thing to come home to. April and I are almost positive we’ll get a dog whenever we move to our next home but for now, Troy is plenty enough.

Lately, we’ve noticed that Troy is less active in the tank and I was worried for a time that he might be dying or dead. Oddly enough, when we’d disturb the tank, he would get up and swim around as if nothing was wrong. Recently, we’ve found him nestled into the crevice of the plastic plant we put in the water or with his head on one of the rocks we decorated the tank with. If those positions don’t scream “dead fish”, I’m not sure what will. We were worried for a while but then he would get up and start swimming again. I’m not fish expert but it certainly doesn’t look like normal activity so I did some research and learned a couple of things about keeping the water warm and clean so we’ll try those tactics when we get home.

I remember thinking I wouldn’t care quite so much if and when my fish died, but when April thought he was dead one night, I felt devastated until she told me he was up and swimming around again. Either way, I think that having a fish or a pet of any other kind brings with it a great deal of life lessons. Nothing will prepare us for having a child but it’s nice to know that our Troy is taking care of us as much as we are taking care of him.

Here's Troy nestled in one of his latest favorite sleeping spaces.

Troy in one of his latest favorite sleeping spaces.

Troy, on his plastic plant leaf this morning.

Troy on his plastic plant leaf this morning.

Parking Preposterosity

Sep 29

Posted by Jer in Fire | No Comments

I think sometimes, I expect too much out of other motorists. I suppose I should dial my expectations back a little and just let people drive–but it’s not easy when everywhere, I am surrounded by excruciatingly terrible driving. Today, I am afflicted by the unabashed inconsideration that comes with the whole parking game. Yes, this so-called game might only be taking place in my own head, but I’ve already posted the disclaimer on my expectations. So here we go with my most recent experience.

I arrived at work this morning at around 9 a.m., which is most assuredly too late for me to be able to park in one of the prime spots. I have no issue with having to walk further to get to the elevator or to have to park in some remote area of our underground lot but today, I was not satisfied with the selection of vacant stalls on my first go-round so I went around again. As I neared the prime parking spots, I noticed a middle-aged woman in a pantsuit approaching her Toyota Rav4 so I slowed down and idled my car nearby.

The lady noticed I was waiting and looking around. Of course, there was an empty spot next to her, so I’ll allow her that as an excuse but she must have noticed that that spot was quite small–I don’t know why but the parking stalls in the University’s RSF parking lot are quite randomly sized from one to another. I waited there and watched the woman as she stood outside her door and put things away in the front seat. My “percentage chance that she is actually leaving” meter was slowly declining and my brain was already preparing to fire the synapses that would order my right foot to move from my brake pedal to the gas. I had just about decided that this lady was indeed not leaving at all; and was simply putting things away in her car. It was then that another car showed up behind me and it didn’t matter. I had to move.

No worries, I thought to myself. I drove towards the entrance/exit of the parking garage and parked in a rather large stall with my hood facing the exit for my planned easy escape this evening. I had parked at perhaps the furthest possible distance from the elevator and was ready to make the walk. I finished off my coffee, made sure my permit was clearly showing and gathered my belongings out of the back seat. Just as I looked up to make sure I wouldn’t be run over by any oncoming vehicles and stopped to let one pass, I noticed that it was the Rav4 I had been waiting for. The silly lady had finally gotten her act together and driven off; five minutes later. I thought, well, at least by now, someone has taken that vacated spot and began to walk.

I couldn’t help but take a glance at where the Rav4 had been parked only to notice that the stall was still open. How petty of me to be upset at all about such a slow-moving lady. But I didn’t care–I was still upset. Between the idea of leaving in a timely fashion just out of the sheer natural course of human bodily movement and noticing that other cars were waiting nearby, I couldn’t come to grips with how it was that she had managed to take five minutes to get out of there. Of course, now, I can think of any number of hundreds of reasons why she didn’t move any faster. But I still don’t want to credit her with a single one.

The events of this morning were simply preposterous. I just can’t decide whether to tab her actions or my emotions with the adjective of the day.

Weight Wait

Sep 24

Posted by Jer in Water | No Comments

I have no idea what I weight right now. I do know that I’m not eating as strictly as I had been for the past year but I certainly am not eating as loosely as I used to prior to losing all the weight I lost. I’m probably maintaining or more likely, gaining slowly. Either way, I’ve been too afraid to weight myself mostly because I haven’t been able to get any sort of regular exercise or exercise at all. I’ll probably put myself on the scale whenever I can get in a good week’s worth of workouts. Until then, I will wait.

Tipping Point

Sep 22

Posted by Jer in Fire, Water | No Comments

Calling today a long day wouldn’t do it justice. April and I woke up at 7 a.m. in Cerritos and headed straight to LAX to fly back to Oakland where we went straight to work. Of course, I flew straight into one of the heaviest work-weeks of the fall with the volleyball team playing Stanford this weekend. Needless to say, when I picked her up from the BART station after work, we each didn’t want to have to wait for dinner and we certainly didn’t want to have to cook our meal. So we decided to order dinner from Sushi House.

When we arrived at the restaurant to pick up the food, it was all set for us at the front counter and the hostess was courteous and thrifty as they usually are. It was when she asked for my signature on the credit card receipt that I was revisited by that old thought: is it necessary to tip for take-out orders? I always feel like restaurants expect a tip whenever there is a tip line on the receipt. It took some extra fortitude, but I signed the bottom of the receipt and left the tip section blank. April always advises me not to do that in case the restaurant decides to write in their own tip. I’ve never worried about that but it sits in the back of my mind. Personally, I don’t think it ought to be necessary to tip for take-out orders. While those in the service industry might still argue that tips are a large part of their livelihood, I just can’t reconcile that idea in my head.

Follow me here. I understand full well that the hostess was providing us a service when she handed us the food and slid my credit card to charge me. And while my tip might also go towards those who prepared my food in the kitchen, I still feel like tips should be reserved for table service. I mean, in all reality, I’m in the service industry as well but no one tips me when I do my job. Should I tip the hostess when she walks me to my table? Should I tip the manager when he comes out to ask me how everything is? That would just be ridiculous.

My biggest pet peeve has to be about tip jars. It’s almost downright appalling that those exist. It makes me feel bad when I don’t throw all of my change into that jar. It makes me feel even more cheap when I take my change and drop some of it and put the rest in my pocket. The worst culprit has to be Yogurtland. I’m a master at keeping my total low so if I spend $2.04, should I end up paying $3 for my yogurt? That’s absurd! I serve myself the yogurt and then I walk up to a place where the Yogurtlandian reads me my total and they expect a tip? I can read the total myself. I can even slide a debit or credit card myself. They should just hire a bouncer to make sure people pay before they leave. The next time I’m there, I’m going to pull a couple of coins out of the tip jar if I do a good job of serving myself yogurt. Either that or I’ll pay with a credit card to avoid the whole embarrassment of not tipping.

Score Spoiler

Sep 13

Posted by Jer in Fire, Water | No Comments

It’s not easy to avoid hearing the scores of major sporting events when you work in the collegiate athletic world. However, over the years, I’ve managed to be pretty successful at maintaining the suspense that comes with watching a pre-recorded game or match by taking different preventative measures. Yesterday, USC played Ohio State in possibly one of the most important college football games of the year. Of course, the game had to take place right smack in the middle of a scheduled volleyball match that I had to be at.

Initially, I figured I wouldn’t bother trying to avoid hearing the score but I gave in and decided I would make a mild attempt at closing myself off with the caveat that I wouldn’t be at all upset if I ended up hearing the score. The football game started at 5 p.m. and my Cal versus San Jose State volleyball match was set to go at 6 p.m. I managed to avoid all human interaction for most of the first hour of the football game while I was setting up for volleyball. But while sitting at the scorers table at about 5:40, I got a text message from my friend Elson which read “Ooooohhhhhhhhh!” I didn’t even bother thinking too much about it and started to head towards my perch up at press row.

The volleyball director of operations stopped me to ask where I was running to so fast and all I said was, “I’m going off line for the next five hours!” Of course, she knew why. When I got up to press row, she proceeded to mock me by putting up a touchdown sign. I couldn’t help but smile as I assumed it meant that USC had scored. No worries. I was now safe–away from any potential score slips.

Perhaps the worst thing about the whole situation was that we could have avoided it all along if the volleyball coach had decided to set his match at 11 a.m. like I had suggested. Nonetheless, it was supposed to be a quick match against the Spartans, who were 0-7 heading into the match. Somehow, in typical 2009 Cal volleyball fashion, the team dropped a set and spent two hours getting a 3-1 victory. Somehow, even though my statistician was from USC and the Pac-10 intern in charge of football, she was kind enough not to mention anything. My statistics inputer also managed to avoid telling me anything even though I knew she had been checking her phone once in a while.

By the end of the volleyball match, I knew the football game was over or at least quite close to being over and I hadn’t heard anything so I relieved that I hadn’t heard anything yet. I coordinated interviews for the student newspaper and began to write my recap. It was then that I noticed the Daily California beat writer was staying up on press row when she usually has been long gone. When I walked over to drop off the final box score, I noticed she was watching the USC football game on ESPN360. I realized then that I hadn’t bothered to tell her not to talk to me about the football game. No sooner than I had thought that thought, she blurted out, “your Trojans are down 15-10!”

Of course! I forgot how much of a know it all and a rub-it-in-your-face type she can be sometimes. As much as I had told myself that I wouldn’t care, I couldn’t help but be upset at that point. I started acting all weird. I was handing her box scores she didn’t ask for and ran a complete stat report she normally doesn’t even get from me; anything to get her to go away. Too late. The damage had been done. It really wasn’t her fault but I couldn’t help but be upset with her in particular but only because she takes a particular joy in razzing me when the Trojans lose.

Thankfully, she kept staying in her spot until the game was over and I overheard her and her friend talk about how the Trojans had pulled of the victory. I sat and completed my story and went home. Luckily, I was in a good enough mood to watch the game in its entirety anyway. All I really want to do is watch it with April but she had already seen the outcome anyway so my night wasn’t completely ruined. Either way, I will be more aware the next time I try not to spoil a score for myself.

Back and Forth

Sep 8

Posted by Jer in Earth | No Comments

It’s nice to be back in the Bay Area for more than two days for a change. I returned from my trip to Hawai’i with the volleyball team yesterday night at around 9 p.m. PT. We had been there for a six-day trip for a three-match tournament. While it was beautiful and the weather was nice, it wasn’t easy living out of a small suitcase for six days. It felt like such a haul because of the fact that we left for Hawai’i after just having returned to the Bay Area after another four-day trip. I was only home for two days before flying out again.

The team hosts its first home matches this weekend in Berkeley so I’ll finally have a Saturday and a Sunday with April for the first time since mid August. Although, the following weekend, we fly down to Los Angeles to attend Kenny and Leslie’s wedding on Sept. 19. The volleyball team is home that weekend as well, but I have someone covering me for the one match that I’m missing this year.

I’ll be flying back to the Bay Area on Monday, Sept. 21; just in time for the week of Cal’s match against Stanford. Not that it would have made a difference, but that match is in Berkeley as well. I love the fact that it’s on a Friday night because that means I will have Saturday to watch football or do something fun. Of course, it also means that the rest of my weekends until Thanksgiving will not be like that. Every other weekend from there on out features two matches against a pair of Pac-10 opponents. Like the one immediately following the Stanford weekend as a matter of fact. I’ll be heading down to Los Angeles once more on Oct. 1 as Cal plays at USC and at UCLA on successive nights.

While it is exciting that the places we’re going are places I like to be, it’s just always a little bit overwhelming to continually have to pack and unpack my bags. Sadly, after that trip to Southern California, the rest of my trips are to Oregon, Washington and Arizona. After that, we’ll likely have two more trips for NCAA tournament matches. Then, all of a sudden, it’s Christmas time. Time really flies when you’re typing it all out.

Either way, as if it weren’t true enough, the opening of this volleyball season has me in more of a back-and-forth daze than ever. Nonetheless, I’m having fun and I look forward to heading to L.A. for a couple of different weekends.

Aloha

Sep 2

Posted by Jer in Earth | No Comments

The view from my 19th-floor room at the Aston Waikiki in Honolulu is amazing. I haven’t been to the Hawaiian Islands in over 10 years; last visiting with the South Pasadena High School band during the spring of my senior year. I woke up at 6:30 a.m. PT this morning and headed to Oakland International with April. I was on a flight with another support-staff member and two of our coaches. The rest of the team flew out of SFO and we all met up in Honolulu to go straight to practice. It is now 5:30 p.m. HT and we’re about to go out for dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. I know–CPK in Honolulu–but at least it’s good food. The weather here is beautiful and I have a good feeling about the team’s chances at probably what is the toughest tournament of the year. Of course, it’s not the same being in such a beautiful place without my beautiful wife April. For now, it’s just business as usual. I’ll try to find some time to post some photos of what we’re up to out here. Aloha!