Digital Impulses

Isa Operated: Day 1

My sister Isa entered the hospital today to have major surgery.  This is something that we are all really, really happy about, since it is something that she has been putting off for years and something that she really needed to do.

I arrived at TMMC in Torrance at 1300 and left the hospital at 2130.  The operation was from 1745 to 1930 and it was a 2 hour success.

After the surgery was done, We got good all around positive news from the doctor.  Mom, Dad, Pete, Patricia, Tori, Daniel, Reyna, AJ and Cindi were there also.

We were only able to see a glimpse of her as she was wheeled into her room, so we will be returning tomorrow afternoon to see how she is doing.

Yay!  I am so glad my sister's surgery is something we can all put behind us now.  Whew!  What a relief.

Pre-42nd Birthday drama

Days like these live in your memory for years and years...

This evening we met up with my family at the Cheesecake Factory in Redondo Beach to celebrate my birthday a day early since it falls on a Sunday this year.

The dinner at TCF was OK for the most part, save for a few uncomfortable moments discussing politics with my younger brother.  He was his usual bombastic self and it was all taken for the most part in good humor.

Towards the end of the dinner, the spousal unit got a little emotional and started telling my wife that she was dealing with some unusual bouts of depression, blah, blah.

That was a harbinger of things to come that night.

After dinner, I drove home and dropped off the wife and took off in my car to go to PV to play Scrabble.  I won't go into the gritty details but suffice it to say that the Drama that ensued with multiple phone calls locating the teenager and a trip to Mexico that was on and off about 5 different times was absoultely jaw-dropping.

I didn't leave PV early, but in the end, the wife stayed put and we decided to deal with the aftermath in the morning.  The morning of my 42nd birthday, of course.  Special.  Yay Me.

Not.

Reyna returns home from *rushed* Colima trip

Just a quick entry to note the fact that my wife returned home today from a quick 4-day trip to Colima, Mexico to take her mom home for the death, wake and eventual funeral of Margarito, my mother-in-law's husband.

She arrived at LAX at 1730 and my son, his GF and I picked her up and then went to dinner without incident.

An iPod for iSa

This afternoon after work, my sister came by the house and we drove to Verizon to have her exchange her ear piece for her cell phone.  She bought another one and HATED IT immediately.  She decided to return it right then and there and we ended up spending more time on it than she wanted.  Isa left the Verizon store very frustrated.

Dinner at Islands
After Verizon, we drove over to Islands to have dinner.  The food was OK, but the service was so,so, with my sister's chicken sandwich not being cooked to her specifications.  The ensuing complaints and mini drama was par for the course.

A visit to the Apple Store: Isa get a Nano
After dinner at Islands, we walked over to the Apple Store to look at the iPod Nanos. After a little shopping , my sister decided on the green 8 GB iPod Nano and I took it up to the front to pay for it.  Now it's a matter of setting up the iPod for my sister and introducing her to the world of iTunes, the iTunes music store, rented movies, tv shows and other media.

STILL SICK: Reyna and & Feliz leave for Mexico

In what turned out to be an absolutely *crazy*, angst and stress-filled day, the wife and her mother have left on an ill-advised, by-the-seat-of-the-pants, hurried, ill-planned flight to Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, where they will be met by family members and driven to the city of Colima.

All of this because they finally decided to act on the notice that my mother-in-law's elderly husband is very, very ill and has been sent home to pass away by his local doctors.

I spent the entire day, hastily trying to arrange for tickets for them and finally found them a flight on Expedia that was to leave at 0030 and would arrive in Guadalajara at 0530 Monday morning.  The wife is set to return on Thursday 8/14/08 and her mom is tentatively set to stay home in Colima for at least a few months.

My son, his girlfriend and I drove them to the airport (LAX) this evening and saw them off successfully. 

What a nightmare of a day.  I *HATE* doing shit rushed and under the gun.  GOD.

Grand Drama Fizzle with Isa

Minding my own business, on my way home from work at noon, I get a phone call, telling me that my sister had gotten an urgent call from the hospital related to some test she had done earlier.

The amount of drama laid thick in the voice of the caller was unbelieveable.

I then proceeded to have an incredibly shitty afternoon, worried out of my head, until I got the 1600 phone call from my sister, telling me that there was nothing wrong with her and that they "just wanted to make sure" at the hospital.

All of that angst and teeth gnashing for NOTHING.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I am EVER SO RELIEVED that there is nothing wrong with my sister, but jeeeze... could we lay off off the unnecessary drama just a little bit?  My god!

After the call, I met up with my sister at Piggies for an early dinner and then we drove over to her house for me to take a look at her malfunctioning internet connection.  It turns out that her router was inadvertently unplugged and that was killing her connection.

I took care of that and thgen left her house to come home and relax in my office for a while before calling it a night.

El Cubano Grande kicking ass in Call of Duty 4

My cousin Alex @ Cyber Lab in Torrance, CA.

Tia Romelia is 75 today.

My aunt Romelia, whom I have seen exactly one time in the last year, turns 75 today. It's unbelievable, really, how quickly time is just flying by.

Today is also the 12th anniversary of the passing of her husband, my uncle Manolo, who died on the afternoon of her 63rd birthday, when he was just 68 years old.  That was one of truly saddest days of my life,

She is 75.

God almighty.

Bit of a stressful Wednesday

As if the ugly phone call and news I got from Alex at WF this morning was not enough, I have to deal with a tremendous amount of FUD and angst at my workplace, as there has been quite a shakeup in staff and there is a lot of whispering and muttering amongst my colleagues reagarding what might happen next... This sucks, I tell ya.

Rescuing the Teenager
In the middle of all of this, I get a call from the teenager to tell me that he blew out a tire on the 405 san Diego freeway in Long Beach and that he needed help paying for a replacement tire.  He was lucky that the exit he took from the freeway was one that just happened to have a Good Year tire replacement store and he was able to get the car there without having to call AAA for a tow truck.

I took off immediately to where he was and by the time I got there, the repairs were almost done.  We waited in the lobby of the store for a few minutes and then eventually we went and paid for the repairs and he was on his way to his girlfriend's house in the O.C.

FICO discussions with Bert
After rescuing my son, I came home for lunch and had an interesting conversation with Bert regarding FICO scores, credit reports, how to care and maintain them and such.  It was one of those rare instances in which a conversation with Bert did not end up on a bad note or with him dumping a bucket of cold water on whatever happy news or project I am working on, as he usually does.

Never Prouder!: My son has graduated from High School

Tonight was a night I really thought might never get here.  This long journey started back in September of 2003 and has led through some rough patches.

But!  He did it.  The Teenager has GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL!!!

Tonight his mom, girlfriend, another good friend, his aunt and I drove over to Gardena High to watch the ceremony where the teenager and his classmates went through the traditional Graduation ceremony with all of the pomp and circumstance befitting such a monumental life event.

The ceremony was loud, boisterous, crowded and yet ultimately, very fun.  I shot a bunch of pictures and got some video also.  After the graduation ceremony we drove home and had my mom stop by for some pizza, cake and shooting of even more pictures.

Wow, what a relief.  No more stressing out about uncompleted homework assignments and all the other trials and tribulations associated with guiding a kid  and then a teenager through their school years.

We did it A.J.  Actually, YOU DID IT.

I am more proud of you than you can ever imagine. Rock on, A.J!