This is my Costume

Halloween 2006

Joe Cool

My Scary Story... True Story -- I Swear

It's not that I don't like them but they are kinda dumb and I hate to be scared therefore horror movies usually don't make it into my DVD, mi chica just flat out refuses to see them so that makes two of us. However every so often a horror movie will get pass us. Such was the case of the movie "Sleepy Hollow". I remember watching it one night by myself at full surround sound volume. I'm sure that by now everybody knows how awesome movie sound can be when if you plug your stereo sorround system properly. Yeah, sounds were coming from every corner of the room, and bouncing front to back and side to side.

So I remember actually falling asleep while watching "Sleepy Hollow" all of a sudden I woke up screaming, my heart was pounding fast and I actually felt agitated. I remember I was dreaming (which is rare because I never remember my dreams) that these kids were being mischivious in the back alley by my ex-house, and because I was fed up with their loud screaming I started screaming even louder that they were, except I was not the one screaming in the dream but a sort of monster, some sort of weird troll of some kind, and I the troll was ready to teach these kids a lesson.

I must have been screaming pretty loud, in fact so loud that I woke myself up. When I realized that it was all a dream I decided to not go to sleep again for that night, so I changed the channel on the TV and watched some very boring not scary at all show.

The funny thing is that the boring show was so boring that in about ten minutes I was asleep again. Luckily for me I did not pick up the same dream again and was able to sleep for the rest of the night.

Love Disco Style

It's past midnight and my friend and I are almost ready to go home, we have been dancing the night away -- No, let me re-phrase that I have been dancing the night away, he was the shyest of the group and it would take a crane to lift him and take him to the dance floor.

Yeah, I know that a lot of people back then used to say Disco Sucks! But by gosh I loved being a Disco Kid, I loved the dancing, the music, the atmosphere, and the loud pounding never ending beat of the music. Some people used to say that if you heard one song you herd them all, but us Disco Kids knew different, each song was danced differently and we knew all the required steps to apply to each song. We prided ourselves on being on top of what was new; our dancing steps were always current.

Those were the Disco days; I started in the mid 70's with the New York Hustle and ended in the late 80's with High Energy. To say "ended" is just a word because to this day I still dance and I can still do the hustle, like riding a bike I never forgot. So a decade of going out every Saturday night to the Disco was bound to leave many memories in the memory bank of life.

So on this particular night we were tired and almost ready to go home when my favorite song starts playing and my feet start moving, however I tell my friend to go and ask this cute girl standing by the door to dance with him, but as usual he shyly declined which made me get up and say, well if you won't dance I will.

"Excuse me, would you like to dance with me" I asked, the girl stretching her neck as to look into the dance floor looks at me, then looks at the dance floor, then looks at me again and as I'm getting ready to be rejected she says "sure, let's go". The song coming from the speakers was "Love Disco Style" and I loved the song so I started busting the latest moves, I had to impress her and I knew I had about 30 minutes to do it (most Disco songs back then were over 20 minutes each), before she would say "Thanks for the dance" and left the dance floor.

Well later on in life I came to find out that the only reason she accepted to dance with me on that late night or early morning as it was past midnight was because she was looking for her friend which went with her on that night and she didn't want to leave her stranded, and by her going to the dance floor would be easier to spot her in case she was there. And here I am thinking she danced with me because I was irresistible.

So since she didn't find her friend she decided to wait for her to show up and I was happy to keep her company while she waited, her friend never came back that night but we kept dancing until the Disco closed for the night.

Last week "mi chica" and I celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary. We went out to eat Japanese food at her favorite restaurant and after we finished, we stopped by my mom's house because "mi chica" is in charge of organizing all of her medicines in one of those weekly medicine holders. As we walked in the house my brother came out and congratulated both us on our anniversary, he did not know we were going to stop by as we decided that in the last minute but after he gave us a hug he casually walked to the stereo pressed the play button for the CD player and the song "Love Disco Style" started playing.

Yeah, I asked her to dance on that night and to this day we continue to dance. Disco singles back then may have been over 20 minutes long, but our dance has not seen a time limit as of yet.

And so, this coming Saturday we will gladly renew our vows.

Life is a dance.

Look! It's Bozette in the Co-pilot Seat

If you go to the circus you can see the clowns drive their little car and get into all kinds of trouble, that's why today I am placing a clown, a female clown at that in the co-pilot seat, so if any of you are in our way you better stay off the road just to be on the safe side, because together we are going to get into all sorts of trouble.

So Bozette, weather you get the top of the line Garmin navigator or a good ol' fashion map, it won't matter because I'm sure I'll manage to get lost in this here freeway of blogs anyway.

And now, without further ado, please join me in welcoming someone that won't need an introduction because you all know her, she's Bozette form "Pictures From My World" in the co-pilot seat, it will be a wild ride all week long. So do me a big favor and when you come to visit me just click on her thumbnail and visit her as well, even if she is in your side bar.

Pieces and Bits

Good day for me today, finally I am no longer a loser, today I am a contender. Let me explain, when I first came to BE and started battling I won the first three battles in a row and then I started losing, I had a deficit of 25 battles at one point but today at around noon my I had the same amount of wins as I had loses and as a good omen it read like this 111 - 111. Then an hour later it read 112 - 111, yepper finally 220 battles later I had more wins than loses.

Also, today my blog's counter saw the 10,000 hit mark, not bad for a ESL Blogger, at least that's the way I see it, considering that I only discovered blogging back in June. I think it's a pretty decent record for a so-so blog that so far has already given me lots of good friends.

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Today we started decorating our pumkin for the contest to be held on Halloween Day. It was decided that we were going to paint it black as to set it appart from the rest, however as my brother-in-law opened the can of paint, the paint splattered all over him and it was oil based paint, I'll take that as an omen and I hope it's a good one, because it took him a long time to remove all the paint from his body and face.

Last week we decorated our piece of wall in the company's dinning room and we started a full blown competition as after we presented our display all the other departments including the ones that already had their displays up used the next day to go and buy more stuff, no way they wanted us warehouse guys to out do them, judging will take place on Tuesday so I don't know how we'll fare, but it was fun setting the standard. The dinning room looks pretty spooky but in a fun way.

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Finally I have a picture to show you on the display, it only took us about two hours to put it together, the skeleton head sings and the witch plastered to the coffin pleads for help to come down, and the R.I.P. headstone lights up.

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Sunrise

And after all is said and done the sun rises one more time. I just had to stop pull off the road and take this shot.

Happy Anniversary Baby!

Our Silver Anniversay

"Life's a dance, that's how we met and today we continue to dance."

Don't ever leave the one you love for the one you like
Because the one you like will leave you for the one they love
Tonight your true love will realize
How much they love between 1 and 4 in the morning
Tomorrow the shock of your life will occur
Remember, you have only one life to live
So live it with the one you love

Mi chica sent me this some time ago and have embraced it's meaning as my mantra. We live in a time where commitment and loyalty are not at the top of the list. We live in an age where things are disposable, and so is marriage.

What ever happened to "Until Death Do Us Part"? It certainly was the way of our ancestors, but now it seems that "Until Death Do Us Part... or until I get fed up with you" is the new vow. Mi chica and I are trying to prove that staying together and having a happy life together is not bad, or antiquated and I'm sure we will succeed.

I was going through my CD collection and a song by Clint Black and Lisa Hartman started playing and it reminded me of the vow I made 25 years ago, the lyrics are as follows:

These times are troubled, and these times are good
And they're always going to be, they rise and they fall.
We take them all the way that we should.
Together you and me, forsaking them all.
Deep in the night and by the light of day.
It always looks the same, true love always does.
Here by your side, or a million miles away.
Nothing's ever gonna change the way I feel,
The way it is, is the way that it was.

When I said I do, I meant that I will, 'til the end of all time.
Be faithful and true, devoted to you. That's what I had in mind.
When I said I do.

This old world keeps changin'
And the world stays the same. For all who came before,
And it goes hand in hand.
Only you and I can undo all that we became,
That makes us so much more, (so much more),
Than a woman and a man.
And after everything that comes and goes around.
Has only passed us by, here alone in our dreams.
I know there's a lonely heart in every lost and found.
But forever you and I will be the ones,
Who found out what forever means.

When I said I do, I meant that I will, 'til the end of all time.
Be faithful and true, devoted to you.
That's what I had in mind. When I said I do.

Truer than true
You know that I will always be there for you
That's what I had in mind.
That's what I had in mind.
When I said, I do.

Yes my friends today (October 24, 2006) mark our 25th Wedding Anniversary. It has been 25 years of ups and downs just like a roller coaster ride, and like a roller coaster it requires for the adrenaline to flow fast and hard so as to keep the excitement in our lives fresh and alive.

No body is perfect and neither are we, but in our little world we continue to strive for perfection and though we know we may never reach it, it sure as hell is fun trying to achieve it. I am fortunate to have found such a fabulous person that has willingly put up with me and my never ending BS for this long, and I hope she knows that I don't take her for granted either. I just hope that she has no doubt in her mind that my love for her is true.

So today we celebrate and you are all invited to be a part of our celebration. And may God grant us the joy of keeping us together for many years to come. I am certain now that "One life, one love" is what the future holds for us.

Mi Chica, I love you very much.

Yours forever

Jose

It Wasn't my Surround System

It was an absolutely gorgeous day outside but I'm inside instead watching "Batman the Beginning". The surround system as usual gives you that sense of being in the actual movie and not just being an spectator, sounds travel from one speaker to the other and the subwoofer is tirelessly going boom, boom, boom and as I'm watching the scene where Batman is running from the cops in a long cop chase the sounds somehow got louder and more pronounced and I'm thinking damn my over ten year old system still kicks ass.

But then my wife comes into the den and goes did you see them? "See what baby?" I asked, the planes they passed flying over our house twice already and those suckers were loud. Ahh! And here I am thinking my surround system still kicks ass and then I realized that my surround was disconnected when my wife complained about it since the speakers rest by the wall that is directly behind our bed's headboard.

Needless to say we all run out to see what was going on, and to my amazement there was some sort of an aerial show going on a couple of miles away from us and we could see all the aerial maneuvers and low flying passes right from the comfort of our back yard. I don't know if it was the Blue Angels or just the Air Force planes from Luke Air Force Base but these pilots are awesome and the planes were loud.

You can't help but wonder how those pilots do what they do, to fly with such presission and to make it look as easy as they do. Ballet in the sky is what it is, their engines are the music, the sky their stage. And when they finally stopped flying over my house, I got up from the chair I sat on, bowed my head, prayed for the soldiers in harms way, and then gave them a standing ovation.

I took out the camera but the sun was against me, I doubt I took one good shot but I tried. I have not seen them yet but I hope that at least one came out.

Its My Life! - Co-pilot Of the Week

To be fair I chose my new co-pilot on a first come first served basis because I liked my bidders the same. I figure they have to be crazy to wanna ride with me because truth be told the amount of traffic I'll bring to them is going to be almost non existant as they get more traffic on their own.

But anyway, I am honored to have Erin of Its My Life! on the co-pilot seat for a week.

I met Erin via BE a couple of months ago and started to follow her blog, to say there's drama in this blog is an understatement. I enjoyed reading it so much that she has been on my side bar for a while and is now one of my daily reads.

Oh yes, Its Her Life! indeed, the trials and tribulations of a single mom that has so much to say, and trust me on this one, when she "talks" we listen. If you don't believe me just take a look at the amount of comments that she collects from her loyal readers.

New Tricks and Old Dogs

The old saying goes, "How do you teach new tricks to an old dog?" so for today that's my dilemma. I have been working for the same company for 16 years and in all those years with the exception of last year we were never encouraged to dress up for Halloween, but all of a sudden a "Fun Squad" was created and now not only do they want us to dress up but we were also asked to decorate a portion of the lunch room with a Halloween motif.

This all sounds like lots of fun but to this day no portions of the wall are decorated and some of the old timers (like me) sometimes fight this new ways, as we are just not used to them. Prizes will be given away to the best costumes and best wall. My department (the warehouse) has been chosen to be the judges for the costume parade, which will take place during lunch on Halloween Day and lunch, will be provided by the company, that in itself should be an incentive. The idea is to mock the judges from "American Idol" so we would have to pretend that we are Randy, Paula, and Simon. Ummm! There are four of us in my department, I wonder who would want to be Paula.

As for the wall, upper management will chose the best decorated area and will award that department with a prize.

So here's the challenge, how do I encourage my team (two of which are my brother in laws and kinda don't like me a whole lot... I think!) to participate? The only one that will follow me on this is my newest employee, who is somewhat younger than us and has a different outlook on things since he has only been working here for the past two years, the rest of us in the warehouse have been here 15 years or more.

Anyone out there that has motivational ideas as to what can I do to have my staff join in the fun will be appreciated. Also ideas on how to decorate the wall are needed, we are a bunch of old timers that lack imagination and to a certain degree motivation, but I think that we can pull it off and actually come up with something great.

What do you think? Help me and my staff win some prizes, send ideas

Peaceful Sunset

In a place where the water meets the sky and the sun says goodbye with it's array of colors and shades, I'll be there to bid him good night, and to ask him to come again to warm us up.

The Bears at Cardinals

Chicago Bears At Arizona Cardinals Monday Night Football October 16th!!

With only 1 win and four loses, will my Arizona Cardinals win tonight? There's nothing more exciting that to see the underdogs give the top dogs a hard time and tonight could be one of those nights. The unbeaten Chicago Bears could and hopefully will be beaten by the struggling Cardinals.

Living only 5 minutes away from the new Cardinal Stadium in Glendale it's going to be interesting to see what kind of I-10 traffic I get going home. Traffic is heavy as it is and a Monday game will add a lot of cars that will most likely make my commute a nightmare. The game is expected to draw more than 60,000 fans to the stadium, but it will all be worth it because my Cardinals will win tonight. (Wishful thinking)

Loyalty starts at home -- That's why I am a Cardinal fan. I live in Phoenix and therefore I support all of our home teams weather they are good or bad. Bad teams have their mission too, and it is to be the top dogs nightmare. If the Cardinals beat the Cowboys I'm a happy camper, I don't expect much from them but that doesn't mean that I don't wish they win, sure it would be nice if they won every game they played but for now I am just content to have a home team to root for.

While I'm not a huge sports fan, I like what the new football stadium and hockey arena have brought to my neighborhood. And with the soon to be finished Stadium Walk, there will be plenty of exciting things for all to see and do.

Strenght in Numbers

Click on Image

My comment was as follows:

Jose said...
"I'll be praying for you and your son. He's quite the little hero".
10/12/2006 7:19 PM

Her reply to me was:

CP said...
"Jose - Oy, you don't know the half of it. Today, he had to give a urine sample. He couldn't do the clean catch sample on his own (he's only 10) and he wouldn't hear of the nurse helping him, nor his stepdaddy. So, I got the job. I faced away from him, held the cup for him over the bowl while he did the iodine wipe and then...he proceeded to pee all over my hand...ON PURPOSE! He thought it was the funniest thing ever. He said "whoops! bad aim! i missed!". He's a little shit...and the love of my life".

If you are wondering what this is all about "Click Here" read the post entitled "Here We Go Again" and then show her your support. You'll feel good if you do.

R.I.P.

An out of the blue, one of my six Queen Palm Trees died. I happened to walk out and saw all the palms hanging there. I have no idea what caused it as it had been a happy palm tree for the past eight years.

Dancing With the Stars

OK, so my sister kept telling me how great the show "Dancing With the Stars" is but I just don't see it. Being an avid "American Idol" fan nothing comes close, so right there my mind set is already half closed to accepting more shows of this kind, they do get old quick. But I have for the most part watched this season's competition. One of the things I didn't like right away is that they perform dances like the Rumba and the Paso Doble and even Samba to popular music such as hip hop, that in my eyes take away from the beauty of the dance... but that's just me.

Mario Lopez and Karina are by far the best couple, if Mario would train 8-hour days as professional dancers do he could probably win real competitions, the fact that he is an actor and dances that good should tell you something, the Latin rhythm comes out naturally for him. Last week they made so much noise because Eva Longoria was at the show wearing a t-shirt that said "Vote for Mario" that this week he decided to deviate the public attention from that by dancing a red hot Rumba that had sex written all over it... Shish Mario! Get a room already.He needs to show some more humility and get rid of that "I'm gonna kick your ass face" he puts every time he is waiting for the judges comments.

Last night I was most impressed with Monique Coleman and Louis Van Amstel's performance. In contrast to Mario "sexual" Rumba, theirs was more of a "sexy and sensual" performance. Even though this week they were in the bottom two, next week they should be safe.

Vivica A Fox and Nick Kosovich should not have been eliminated, people may not like Vivica that much but she was a better dancer than Jerry is. As for Jerry! Jerry!, Jerry!, Jerry!, you have been likable in a different way and your partner Kym is a real good sport but in all honesty your turn has come. I truly believe Jerry's turn is up.

Joey is a favorite of mine but I hope his Rumba is better than his Samba.

So there Chely that's my take on your favorite show... so far.

Is It That Time Again?

Sitting here battling what seems to be the beginning of the flu and thinking what am I doing here? I should be home in bed under the warm covers and under the spell of a "medicinal" shot of tequila with a twist of lemon and a splash of honey. But that is not to be; unfortunately my receiving clerk had a day off which means I have to cover his position, so I'm stuck here for the duration. With a little luck it will be one of those busy days that somehow make the day seem shorter, as we have been in a slow slump the days just drag, cross your fingers so that is not the case today.

It never fails, in Arizona we go straight from summer to winter and as soon as an indication of weather change happens everybody starts getting sick. The flu shot is heavily promoted here but I choose not to take it, when I get sick I'm usually OK within two days although I haven't gotten the flu in two years, I have been lucky that way. I will self prescribe the miracle medicine also known as aspirin. It seem that aspirin cures whatever ails me, and so together with a warm bowl of chicken soup I should be good as new in no time.

Fortunately I can tuck myself in my office as to stay away from everyone since I don't want to start an epidemic, the last think I need more people calling in sick because I passed it to them. So if anyone out there has a remedy that will rival my tequila shot and that I can take while at work please let me know, I'm all ears and open to suggestions.

In the meantime, stay healthy and don't catch the bug yourself.

Congratulations!

A new sets of emotions and feelings, a new outlook on life. Although this is a repeat event it still feels new and fresh and once again it fools you into believing that it is the first time. In all honesty it was, not for me or many of my relatives and friends but for two very special people that in a way struggled a bit but in the end achieved one of the miracles of life.

On Friday my brother and his long time girl friend had a beautiful baby girl, and we couldn't be happier for them. The little bundle of joy came without instructions which will make things both exciting and challenging for both of them, but will also give them a chance to discover what many of us already had.

After having 5 grandchildren it is nice to add another niece to our already huge family. Isn't it funny that this three-day-old baby is already an aunt to so many? Yeah, one of those funny things in life. She came complete with a head full of hair and a smile that will set you at peace with your surroundings just by looking at her.

Pretty soon her presence will be felt in full force, but for now the introduction of baby cries and dirty diapers will keep them busy and entertained and will create that bond between the new parents and the new baby. So here's my wish for them. "My wish for you is that this baby give you many years of love and happiness and a new purpose to your lives".

Congratulation to the both of you and a big welcome to Dana.

The Sea and I

As hectic as a cruise can be some times there is time to just stand, take a deep breath and thank God for allowing us enjoy times like these.

Cell Phone? No Thanks

I am probably the only man on earth left that refuses to own a cell phone. Back in 1990 "mi chica" started working for a cellular company called Metro Mobil, which eventually became Cellular One, and the Atlantic Bell and now currently Alltel Wireless. My first phone resembled a brick, a gray brick to be exact, then I had one of those funny looking gray flip phones, then I changed it for a more compact one that I could clip on my belt.

By the year 2000 I decided I have had enough of cellular phones, so when my contract was up I did not renew it. Now I see 10-year olds having their own phones and it boggles my mind as to why a child would need one. I know I'll hear the "Just in case of an emergency" answer more than once, but I rather don't wish for something to happen so they can use their phones.

I have seen people pay $700.00 phone bills, and they still justify having a phone because it may come handy in the event of an emergency, but while we wait for that emergency to happen and since there's nothing better to do, let's text the world in the meantime.

When I went to Las Vegas a couple of years ago, I kept saying "Can you hear me now?" every time I passed someone talking on the phone while walking the streets. I think it's safe to say I said the phrase hundreds of times. I couldn't help but imagine that conversations went something like this:

Guy in Vegas: Hello honey
Wife at home: Hello
Guy in Vegas: I just gambled our life savings and lost
Wife at home: What did you say?
Guy in Vegas: Hold on let me get a better signal, Can you hear me now? I said I lost our money

Now everybody owns a cell phone, and I have to put up with everyone's conversations. While at the bank the guy in front of me was talking on the phone and I had to listen to every single word he said, and to top it off he was a loud talker, and all I wanted to do was to take his phone and shove it where the sun won't shine. And don't get me started with the near calls I had while driving because people are on their phones, that to me it's just plain unsafe.

I heard California will start giving fines for using your cell phone while driving. Hurray for California!

So last night I was wondering if I am the last American without a cell phone?

Catalina Island

I really wanted to explore Catalina Island but every activity seemed to be out of my budget. However walking along the coast and visiting the small shops was lots of fun.

Karaoke to Go!

One of the activities that we were looking forward to on our cruise was to karaoke. We found out that the first karaoke night was the same Monday we boarded and it would start at around 9:30 p.m. My sister and I decided to give it a shot and so we hit the song lists and soon I found the song that I wanted to sing to "mi chica". "I Love the Way You Love Me" by John Michel Montgomery was my only choice for the night.

Both my sister and I must had sung pretty decent because they asked us to come back Thursday night for karaoke with a twist dubbed "Rock e-okie". Eight of us were going to be the show as we performed a pre-selected song to be backed by the band. I thought it would be fun but must admit I felt a little nervous, when I qualified on Tuesday night, that was only my second public karaoke appearance and now I was going to sing with a band and all.

Thursday night I was awesome... ok maybe not awesome but good... ok maybe good is not the word, how was I supposed to know that I missed my queue to start singing, shit, miss one little tiny note and the whole first verse vanished in front of me. Luckily my supporters sang loud enough for me to find my way and redeem myself. See I chose a song that I had never sang before so I didn't know half the lyrics, but I pretended pretty good. The crowd was roaring while I was singing "I have friends in low places, where the whiskey drowns and the beer chases my blues away, and I'll be OK", I'm pretty smart because I chose a song that I knew half or more than half the audience was going to sing along and it worked... At least that's what I have been telling myself.

All said and done, the show came out pretty good, the eight of us sang our songs, shared our 15 minutes of glory and came home with an extra shirt and key chain, yes that's what we won for our efforts, the nice thing about the show is that it was not a competition but a performance so there were not winners or losers. As a show closer we all sang our rendition of "Hey Jude" by The Beatles, the crowd really loved it.

So Saturday night we are driving back to Phoenix and as we made our last gas stop in Quartzite we saw that there were more people than usual, we heard loud music and even saw people dancing. As I'm pumping gas my daughter comes back and tells me that they are having karaoke. I finished with the gas and parked the van, went into the store to use the men's room and when I came out the first thing I hear is "And our next performer is from Phoenix and is traveling so please forgive us for letting him sing first". Wow that guy must have some pull I thought, and then the voice in the microphone said, "Please give it up for Jose". My jaw must have dropped about 5 inches or so, I turned around looked at my daughter and she said, "We found your song so please sing it for my mom". So once again I sang my rendition or "I Love the Way You Love Me" by John Michael Montgomery to a crowd that was mostly country and that really appreciated my singing... or at least that's what I keep telling myself.

That was kind of a charmin ending to a great vacation week.

Sailboat - Port of San Diego

I don't know if this is just there for looks or if it actually sails, right beside it there is a submarine and another sailboat open for tours.