The New Year

The last time I felt promise entering a new year was in 2006. Everything was hitting its stride in my life as I loved my job and my girlfriend was finally out of school and we could be planning for a life together.

Then 2007 began with the destruction of that relationship. In 2008 I hoped for something better and didn’t get it. Hanging on was the hope for 2009. By 2010 I started to feel better and the rolled into 2011.

Now for 2012, I see the economy picking up and for the first time since I was a freshman in college, I can see the light at the end of the credit card debt tunnel – the first paycheck in March hopefully.

I’m also going to begin a project real soon that could help pave the way towards something new.

So, it’s with this promise that 2012 will finally help me reach a place that I hadn’t seen in six years. I can’t believe it has been that long.

Then again, the world is supposed to end this year. It’s just my luck.

Five years later

Time is a strange thing.

You can look at the clock and swear it is not moving. You can look again and realize that a year has gone by since something memorable happened.

Think back to a time when you witnessed something in history and count up the years since that time.

I’m almost 34 and I’ve witnessed so much and haven’t seen as much as someone that is just a few years older than me.

These dates seem to fly by since we hardly remember what happened in between. Days for the most part are forgettable. This is my 119th blog and I don’t recall what I was doing on those days despite the timestamp on those days.

Five years in the future seems like a long time away. Five years ago doesn’t seem that long ago when it was a life changing moment.

Moments, however, can be as positive as they are negative. Eventually things balance out. That is what is always forgotten.

Been saying it for years

I haven’t been much of an NBA fan since my hopes and dreams of becoming a professional basketball player died when I was on the freshman basketball team at Tracy High.

It was around the point that I realized how dumb the professional game is. I like college basketball, but the professional game was lacking in my opinion.

I grew up a NBA fan, the second professional sports I followed behind the NFL. The reason was simple: The Lakers, with Magic Johnson, were fun to watch.

As I got older and I saw more and more NBA games I realized that many had a similar pattern to them, 40-44 game minutes of sheer boredom followed by the final minutes of the game being extended to 30 minutes of actual time because both teams still have what seemed like four time outs each. Then there is that time out to defend an inbounds play that follows a time out that set up that inbounds play with zero time off the clock.

And there are 82 games a season like that followed by another two months of playoffs where games are stretched out for as long as humanly possible.

Then the game became awful to watch offensively as scoring went down.

But I think what settled it all for me was the fact that I moved to Southern California and into the heart of Lakers country, a team I now despise due to all the Laker fans. (I’ve never seen a more spoiled group of fans before in my life. Your team won three straight titles to start the new century; they are allowed to have a couple of non championship seasons. Relax.)

For years I’d been saying how awful the league was and everything from the game to the season just seemed to drag on with only the real excitement at the end of both.

I was hoping with the lockout the league would be shown for what it really was: something to do to pass the time. And it did.

NFL fans didn’t want to see their sport shortened by any means and it wasn’t. There wasn’t any fan backlash either. The reason why is simple since the NFL is the most important league in the United States.

Meanwhile, the NBA lockout wasn’t a big deal in the media landscape. Then the players folded and the league is set to start on Christmas Day and a season was shortened to 66 games over four months and every team will have at least one back-to-back-to-back stretch. Did I mention the players caved?

However, the NBA decided to show its ignorance in another way. The Lakers traded two of its best frontcourt players in Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom for the best point guard in the league, Chris Paul. On that trade alone, the Lakers gave up a lot in the frontcourt to gain a Paul. Of course the Lakers would then try and land one of the best centers in the league in Dwight Howard which would balance out its losses.

Unbelievably the trade was cancelled with the main reason being that Chris Paul’s current team, the New Orleans Hornets, is owned by the NBA. Commissioner David Stern felt it was best to keep the Hornets best player in New Orleans.

The NBA went about being fun and exciting to when I started watching to the opposite. It’s as predictable as setting your watch by it. “Hey the Lakers are beating Dallas by one with two minutes to play. That must mean it is 10:08 p.m. in Los Angeles.”

Leadership needs to change. It’s time for a new commissioner with new ideas to breathe new excitement into a league that takes forever to get to the point.

Then again, what do I care?

Where did I leave off?

To the dedicated few, I’m sorry.

So why now am I beginning to write being again after taking off the last 20 months off, give or take a few days?

It’s simple; I needed to do something constructive with my down time. I’ve been wasting a lot of it to be honest, so let’s be constructive.

I also need to get my writing creativity flowing again. I have bigger plans that I’m going to get started next year.

But before I run a marathon, I need to get in shape – I’m speaking from experience there. Hopefully I can write when I get inspiration which would be more often. And most of these might be sports related, but I got to write what I know.

With that in mind, here we go:

Today, my first love repaid my loyalty to them by winning. Now if you didn’t know by now, the first thing I ever loved other than family was the San Francisco 49ers. Football in general was my first love, but the 49ers were above and beyond my favorite thing to watch.

Of course it was easy to watch them growing up in Northern California during the 1980s, they won almost every week and won five Super Bowls – all in my lifetime and before my 17th birthday.

I took it all for granted. Before the last Super Bowl in 1995 win, I just figured it was a given. I, of course, ignored the franchise history of it never winning a title in its 32-year history prior to my birth.

After the first three Super Bowls I saw the 49ers win (’84, ’89 and ’90, I was under four when they won in ’82) I never thought it would be their last one.

That was until that last one.

I remember rejoicing the 49ers crush San Diego. My father wanted to change the channel during the game but I refused and even made him watch the post-game show. I remember telling him “You can’t change it. This might be the last time I see them win.” It was sadly prophetic. Well so far anyway.

After that loss, the 49ers still won and made the playoffs, but never got close to the Super Bowl. They have not even made the playoffs on a regular basis as they used to.

Division titles used to be a given. What happened on Sunday is something to celebrate; funny how it works after all this time.

I’ve only been a San Francisco Giants fan since 1989 as baseball was the last sport I got into. I’ve learned humility from being a Giants fan since the franchise had not won since 1954.

Baseball is a long season with 162 games and a team could out of contention after May which means you’ll have to wait another 10 month to see if your team can be a contender. And if your team makes the playoffs, it’s a lot more nerve wracking since you watched them for six months. Three bad games can end their playoff run and made you feel you’ve wasted all this time.

So when the Giants won the World Series in 2010, all the frustration I ever had about the team went away. If only you could do that with people you know.

At the same time, I appreciated this accomplishment more than any Super Bowl the 49ers, my beloved team, won.

The bigger lesson in all this is: Things and people are taken for granted all the time and you might not know until it is gone. Sometimes it’s easy to fix and sometimes you just move on.

I’m not saying give everyone you know a daily affirmation but I will say is be careful on how you leave things.

Sports teams get a chance next year to make it up to you while you may not.

I still love my 49ers; I’m loyal since they gave me so much growing up so I deserve to sit though all their bad years.

With time, however, I’ve learned that it’s just a game. There are more important things.

The end of starting over

The concept of picking up and starting over is one of those American notions like baseball and apple pie.

This is not one of those stories. By definition, I didn’t do that. When I moved to my apartment on Second Street near Redondo Avenue, I had no new job or started out alone in the world. I, especially, did not have to make a new set of friends.

My life was the same in almost every sense except I had to find a new center. Months after the only relationship I had been in ended, I had been able to get on with my life.

This apartment was the first step since it represented a new starting point for my day.

The only real truth about me living the American idea of starting over was that I had no real possessions with me except for a laptop, clothes and stuff. I had no furniture, hardly any type of kitchen ware and no television.

I was fortunate to have a roommate who had all this and was willing to share. I had a bed, dresser and a place to start again.

And it did just that. This white apartment building was a crutch to help me until I got my life in a new order.

So when I got the eviction notice, just after four years and a few weeks after I moved in, it was hard. This place was my shelter through many tough times.

Alas, I have to go. It’s the law after all.

I’ll never forget what this apartment gave me, however.

Goodbye, for the last time, from apartment #1.

Five Years

Five years ago today, I thought I had everything I ever wanted.

Five years ago I was happy and moving forward.

Five years ago I never knew the pain and heartache of losing someone close to you.

Five years ago I never knew what it was like to lose someone you thought you were going to spend the rest of your life with.

Five years ago I never knew what it was like to say goodbye to a friend or member of your family.

Five years ago, I could have been called naive.

In those five years since, I've learned that when certain things change in the blink of an eye.

In five years, I've learned more definitions of the word finality that I would care to know.

What I failed to realize five years ago is that what started off as a trail to pain and heartache was a rebirth.

Five years ago I was given a new life at the end of an old one.

I am stronger now than I was five years ago.

Five years is not a long time, but enough time to change you for the better.

My family is all alike

We left for Puebla kind of late on Monday. Puebla is about an hour and a half away. Getting there you drive through a mountain range.

Driving through there reminded me of the Grapevine that separates Northern and Southern California on Interstate 5. The only real difference is you see nothing but lush greens in Mexico.

I feel asleep after that but woke up in Puebla, not far from my cousin Lupe’s house. She’s very friendly and very humorous. She reminded me of my sisters with the way she carried herself and the way she spoke; always going for a laugh.

She fed us then we went into the historical part of Puebla. It’s a city that was founded in the 16th century and has much of the architecture intact. The streets are cobblestone and are tight for more than one car. The streets are jam packed with cars at intersections.

Lupe was proud to show off her town, and why not? Puebla is the home of Cinco de Mayo. In the downtown area, there was plenty to look at and that included churches. The Cathedral of Puebla takes the appearance of a castle with a gate. On top of the gates were angels. Lupe told me the full name of Puebla is “La Puebla del Los Angeles.” Sound familiar? The cathedral, as you might have guessed, is spectacular inside. There was an altar and behind it was a tribute to the kings of Spain.

We walked to another church, Templo Conventual de San Miguel Archangel. The real beauty of the church was the chapel inside. It outshined the church with gold. The chapel had a functional purpose. If you didn’t have a rosary, you could walk around the church and at each angel, say a Hail Mary, just like the beads of a rosary. At the top of the altar were angels looking down. There were also angels in the back of the chapel where the music is played. Each angel held an instrument to appear as if they were playing along.

We left Puebla at about 7 p.m. Lupe, like all my relatives that I meet on the trip, said I was welcomed back anytime, with or without my dad.

I slept again on the drive back. I woke up on one of the bumpiest roads. Most of the roads in Mexico make potholes in the United States seem like simple cracks in the road. My cousin is a pretty aggressive driver, but he’s also very cautious. This time he was caught off guard and one of the bumps knocked off his rear view mirror.

When we got closer to his home, he called his son and told him to order some pizzas, then said that I requested it. They were thin crust pizzas and his son told me it was the preferred way.

The next morning, Tuesday, we went to my tia Amalia’s – Alejandro’s mother – house in northern Mexico City. My tia Chuy went with us as well.

From the moment I entered her house, my cousins Patti and Angelica made me feel like I was at home and with my sisters the way they talked to each other. They served us a late lunch and my dad talked with his sister Chuy and sister-in-law Amalia. When we left I was told that I was welcomed whenever I returned to Mexico City.

It was nice to see my Tia Chuy out again. She was so happy to be out with family she hardly sees because she’s always doing house work.

I started packing for home Tuesday night and finished on Wednesday after we got back from running errands with Alejandro. I bought some more Mexican candy, mostly Mazapan.

After a late breakfast, we headed out to the airport with a quick stop to see my tia Chuy one last time. She was sad to see us go as we were too. She told us she looked forward to us returning.

Alejandro, with his wife and daughter, took us to the airport and for the first time we didn’t have a surprise waiting for us by our airline.

On the flight home I had some thoughts about my 13 days in Mexico. I meet a lot of family and had the same prevailing thought, “If I only had more time here …” I wish I did have more time, I know my dad did.

He rushed a lot of family into 13 days in Mexico. The first couple of days were hard for me since I was waking up at 6 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time, 8 a.m. Guadalajara and Mexico City time. It’s about three and a half hours earlier than I would have liked. But there really wasn’t time to spare.

I was more at ease in Mexico City because I had been there before and knew everyone. Plus, I had adjusted to the time a little better by then. My hope is when I go back to Guadalajara I’ll be more at ease with everyone. Hopefully, my Spanish will get better too.

So when will I go back? That’s a question asked of me several times. I know if it was just my dad, he’d go back as often as he could. My siblings, however, think it is best to have one of us with him, so it kind of limits how often he goes back.

I know when I book a flight again I’ll make sure I look into the company’s recent economic performance to make sure they won’t go out of business midway through my trip. I will say the distractions with Mexicana Airlines didn’t really hamper the trip at all. They added new elements, but never once did it cripple us. The funny thing is I was going to originally book everything a few days earlier. Had I done that, Mexicana would have suspended operations the day we would have flown back to Los Angeles.

But getting back to the question; it’s hard to say for any degree of certainty when I would go back and for how long. There is so many and so much I want to see. But I have to be in two places too. That’s what makes it so hard, trying to find a balance. Maybe one year I’ll be bold enough to take more than two weeks off and see all that I can.

I’d also be willing to go on my own too; however, I think my dad would want to come along too.

What I can say for sure is I can’t wait to go back and see everyone again. I know no matter where I go I’ll be welcomed in their home, just like with my family here.

The final weekend

I’m in the final turn for home on this vacation. It looks like it really cooled off back in Long Beach.

On Saturday morning my dad and I headed to Tia Chuy’s house for a while. I left my dad behind with his sisters and ran an errand with my cousin Alejandro before we headed out his almost all of his family to National Autonomous University of Mexico. The university is located on the other side of the city. It is sort of like driving from Hollywood to Irvine.

UNAM is huge. I think it is even bigger than UCLA. We parked next to the Estadio Olympico, the site of the opening/closing ceremonies as well as other events of the 1968 Summer Olympics. I took some picture and walked on the campus.

We only had time to walk around a portion of the campus. It is spacious with plenty of yards and athletic courts for its students and the public. I also discovered the school has an American football team that plays in a league with other universities in Mexico.

We headed back and I had lunch with Alejandro’s family before catching up with my dad at my tia’s house. We stayed for a little bit then walked to Alejandro’s job so he could take us back to his place for the night.

On Sunday the original plan was to go to a museum with my cousin Rigo. That didn’t happen but at the same time it didn’t matter.

My father and I went to my aunt’s house. He waited around and talked with family. My cousin Felipe asked if I wanted to go with him to the local open air market with him to pick up chicken for dinner that night. It’s more like a flea market combined with a farmers market where stuff is sold along side with fruits, vegetables and meats. The other thing is they close down several street blocks; busy streets too.

When we got back, my dad and I waited for my cousin. We got antsy and walked to another flea market down the road. We walked up a few blocks before we walked back. We were gone for more than an hour.

When we returned we found out that our cousin and his mother, my Tia Irene, went to the museum. My father and I didn’t mind. We stayed around and my dad talked to Chuy and others.

More family showed up, my cousin Betty and her husband Simon from Puebla. I met her last year and at first I shut the door on her. I heard the door knock and opened the door and saw no one was there and closed it. I guess I should have popped my head out and looked around.

I got my computer from Alejandro’s house, which wasn’t easy because of a flea market. I located one of my sisters and they talked to her on Skype. I also got a hold of my cousin, who is Chuy’s daughter, and her children in Canada. A lot of family members reunited over the computer on Sunday.

We talked some more and people slowly left. When my dad and I finally left, we walked out with Irene and Rigo as they were going back home to Guadalajara. Chuy was sad to see them go but my dad and his sister comforted her.

All four of us walked towards Alejandro’s restaurant. We actually saw Alejandro driving towards us. We stopped him and we went back to his business. Chuy and Rigo said goodbyes there too and we tried our best to hail a cab. Once we did, they loaded in and took went to the bus station.

We returned home and, after a while, my dad went to bed once Alejandro got back from work. After my dad went to bed, I asked them if they wanted to see any of my DVDs. They looked through and picked ‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.’ It’s almost three hours long and they started it right after midnight.

Tomorrow we are going on a day trip to Puebla, the home of more family and Cinco de Mayo.

The worst nap of my life

Well Mexicana Airlines will not be causing me anymore problems.

I woke up more tired than usual as my dad kept me up at night with his snoring. I don’t remember it being that bad when we went to Las Vegas.

Once we got going we went to my Tia Chuy’s house where Tia Irene was waiting for us with her son Rigo. After talking, we headed out to La Basilica de Guadalupe in a full van joined by Alejandro and his wife and daughter.

It was nice to see my Tia Chuy outside of her house. When I was here last year, she stayed home the entire time. My father is trying to get her to go to Puebla on Monday.

My Tia Irene loves churches and especially this one. She watched a mass with almost everyone in our group; Rigo, Alejandro and I looked around. When we left there was a Native dance troop performing in the Basilica’s square. They were well choreographed.

We had lunch at Alejandro’s restaurant: Pozoleria Jalisco, Las Planchas. I had chicken enchiladas and they were great. My family had a good time talking.

Alejandro took everyone back to his place to show our aunts around since they had never been there. Later we all went back to Tia Chuy’s house.

As Alejandro was preparing to leave he asked if I wanted to go back to his place to rest. I said sure, I could use a nap while my father talks to his sisters.

I was really looking forward to that nap.

I barely got out the door when I got a text message from a co-worker asking me what airline I used. I thought he was just joking until I got a message on facebook when another friend asked me if I had heard what happened with Mexicana.

So after a brief inquiry I learned Mexicana would cease operations the next day, Saturday. I knew at that point I needed to make some calls while at the same time trying to limit international ones. My first thought was to call the Mexicana office in Mexico City. I had my cousin do that and he was directed to the website for a refund.

I texted one of my brother-in-laws for help and instant messaged one of my sisters. I even got help from one of my friends to make calls.

After thinking it over I decided to contact the company I purchased my tickets from, Orbitz. Unfortunately they didn’t have a toll-free international number. They did have an online chat to help out. So I gave it a shot.

The person on the other end didn’t know that Mexicana had folded but after looking into it he told me what I needed to do to get a refund. He told me to call Orbitz directly and gave me the international number that was not toll free. Beggars can’t be choosers.

So I called them up and of course they didn’t know what was going on. After getting caught up to speed she helped me get a refund for the cancelled flight. I won’t see it for two billing cycles by the earliest, but I’ll get it back.

The next part was finding a new flight home that was both cost and time efficient. The original journey home was supposed to be a two-part layover departing from Mexico City at 1 p.m. (11 a.m. PDT) and arriving in Los Angeles at 8 p.m. (PDT).

It was too expensive for a direct flight so I needed to do a two-parter. There were several candidates, one included flying into an airport where a dying tropical depression was projected to hit. I decided to go with an hour and a half layover in Phoenix. It’s a good thing my dad and I will have our papers with us.

After I get the refund, it is projected to cost $150 more but now we have a secure flight on an airline, U.S. Airways, which made money last quarter.

I spent almost three hours looking for a solution so for the rest of the night I was just burned out. I couldn’t sleep either. I just stayed up with my cousin’s children as they watched television and played with my PSP.

Saturday morning I’m setting up a Skype video call for my Tia Chuy so she can talk to her daughter that lives in Canada. After that, maybe we’ll go to a museum.

I just know I don’t have to worry about my flight home anymore.

Mexico Trip, Part II

Have I mentioned to you not to fly Mexicana Airlines?

On my last full day in Guadalajara, I went with my cousin Luz and her daughter Daphne to the U.S. Embassy to get information. Daphne was born in the United States 19 years ago; Long Beach, Calif. to be exact. They both moved back to Mexico before Daphne was a year old.

We arrived at the gate where two guards helped us, fortunately for me, one spoke English. They both gave us information and directed us to the website to where she needs to fill out forms and make an appointment. The guards said as long as she has the proper documents, it shouldn’t be a problem for her to get a U.S. passport. But also, bring in all documents supporting her proof that she was born in the U.S.

After a trip to the embassy, we walked nearby to the University of Guadalajara. Inside one of the lecture halls was another mural of Jose Clemente Orozco. He was the same artist that painted the old statehouse of Jalisco. He did the wall and the top of the dome.

On another side of the building was an art exhibit of Filemon Santiago. The first artwork you saw walking in was titled ‘Beyond Madness’ and it was aptly titled. All his artwork was visually stunning. Some of his artwork was humorous; some of it was a bit frightening. Overall, it captured your attention. I loved the Beyond Madness piece.

We visited a church nearby with beautiful architecture then took a taxi to the historical center of Guadalajara. We entered another building with more murals of Orozco. He was very proficient, not only in Guadalajara but also all of Mexico. I’m just amazed of all the work he did on the ceilings of the buildings.

We went back home and I met up with my dad once again. After lunch, my cousin’s wife Laura took us to visit a new and expensive mall completed about three years ago. It felt like I was walking in an outdoor mall in the ritzy parts of Southern California so I felt at home at the Cinnabon.

It was also the most modern parking garage too. Not only did it tell you how many spots were open on any given level, but it also told you if a spot was open at a glance down an aisle. There were red and green light above a group of spots to let you know, instead of driving down an aisle for nothing. Well, I think it’s cool.

Laura’s daughter Laurita picked us up from there with her son as well. We drove through the city talking. She pointed to the building where her sister Nina works then asked if we wanted to look at the view from her company on the 20th floor?

My dad and I said we’d like a view. It reminded me of when I worked on the 14th floor in Long Beach. The offices had less of an obstructed view than the ARCO Center. I took some wonderful shots of Guadalajara from there.

We got back from our excursion and picked up my Tia Irene and went to my father’s favorite church, La Basilica de Zapopan. We met Laurita’s husband there and talked for a bit and took pictures. We had dinner at a taco stand then took one last tour of Guadalajara as we went by Estadio Jalisco.

I’ve never been to Wrigley Field, but I’d like to say it had that feel to it. When we drove down a residential street, I was told there was the stadium on the right. I looked and, at first, wasn’t impressed. It was too dark to see anything. Then I started to notice this huge stadium just appear in the middle of this neighborhood.

We came home and packed.

The next morning we said some goodbyes and headed out to the airport. I’ll see Tia Irene again this weekend as she is coming with her son Rigo to Mexico City.

Before I left I made sure there were going to be no surprises from Mexicana airlines online and there wasn’t.

When I got there, it was another story.

I looked at the departure board it said our connecting flight to Acapulco was cancelled. We walked to the ticket booth and, after a few minutes, were rescheduled to a direct flight to Mexico City.

Our original flight out was due out by 11:45 a.m. We were pushed back to 3 p.m., but it was good news for my dad. Not only did we get placed on a direct flight, but we had time to see more family quickly.

We got to the airport almost two hours early for our flight, but we were not going to take any chances. There were no problems and we were on our way.

When we arrived at Mexico City, we were easily defeated by another obstacle, the Mexico City Airport. Trying to find where to pick up your luggage was a pain. There were signs pointing one way and other signs contradicting that. I may take a bus to Mexico City next time.

My cousin Alejandro picked me and my dad up and took us to his house. When my dad and I stayed in Mexico City last year we were with my Tia Chuy. We had dinner at his house then visited my Tia Chuy. My father gave her some gifts and to his nieces and nephews.

They caught up with what was going on with each other and the family. I walked outside to see what my cousin was doing on the roof. Turns out he is raising chickens up there. It is a nice set up.

We came back home and my father talked with Alejandro’s family as he had to go to his restaurant nearby to finish up. My father waited up until he got back home and we walked up to our room and saw a tremendous view of the city from there.

Today we will head out to another church, La Basilica de Guadalupe. In case you didn’t read about it last year, it is the most visited Catholic Church in North America. Tia Irene should be in town by there and maybe Tia Chuy will go with us too. From there, we’ll see where the day takes us.

The family I never met

Sorry for the delay in writing. My father has worn me out.

On Saturday morning my dad and I headed out with my cousin Rigo to visit more churches and museums around Guadalajara before we drove out to Sahuayo where we would meet, you guessed it, more family.

We went to the historical center of Guadalajara to visit more churches that surrounded the main cathedral. In case you had forgotten, Mexico is strong Catholic nation.

The next stop was the old statehouse of Jalisco. The beauty of this building is the artwork. Walking up to the second floor of the statehouse there is a huge mural covering the stairwell. There was also a mural inside the statehouse. Both were visually stunning, dramatic and passionate and if I were to describe it beyond that with detail it would not do it justice. Let's just say it served as a reminder to legislators where Mexico came from and to always be fair.

We later walked to the Regional Museum of Jalisco. The first level is archeological finds within the state. The second level is art work created by artists from the state of Jalisco. Many of the artists whose work was in the museum were enshrined at the nearby Rotunda of Illustrious, a sort of walk of fame except here people’s accomplishments aren’t stepped on.

We left for Sahuayo in the afternoon. Unlike the United States, there is no true freeway system in Mexico. They are more like traditional highways, think Route 66. To prevent people from speeding through town, there are speed bumps right before you enter to slow you down.

After a few stops we arrived in Sahuayo at 8 p.m. There I met my half-brother’s family.

Only a handful of my friends knew that I had half-siblings – a total of four. When my childhood friend saw pictures I posted on Facebook he wondered if I had made a mistake. For the longest time I never knew I had half-siblings. It’s one of the things I didn’t find out until later.

What I also never thought about that I had more nieces and nephews than I thought, 14 more. Add that to the 13 I always talk about and I have 27 now.

Family welcomed me with open arms. As I walked into the house where the dinner was, they looked at me and were surprised about how tall I was. A nephew would tell me later that I looked like a baseball player then followed that up by saying I had the size of Fernando Valenzuela.

Later that night I was in the back of my nephew’s house and found a Rubik’s Cube. He saw me pick it up and said, “No one ever solves these things.” In about two minutes I finished it. He grabbed it from my hand and showed the family. The first thing one of them said was, “He took it apart.” My nephew said, “No I saw him.” So I did it again while another nephew was recording me on his cell phone. I got a round of applause.

The next morning (Sunday) I woke up and we went down to the market to see where my family works. My nephew has a shop where they sell varieties of chilies and other produce. One of my brothers has a jewelry store outside of the marketplace. We thanked them for their hospitality and headed out.

On the way to my mother’s hometown of Mazamitla we drove through some of the greenest hills I’d ever seen. I’ve never been to Ireland, known for its greenery, but this was a very beautiful drive.

Mazamitla is located in the mountains of Jalisco, south of Lake Chapala. From what my relatives were telling me, it has become sort of a tourist town. I had the feeling that I was in Gold Rush country of California to be honest.

My father doesn’t remember too much of where my mom grew up. He pointed me over to a general direction, but that is all he knew. We walked over to the town’s square and checked out the sites before we moved on to my father’s home town of Conception of Buenos Aires.

We arrived to see my father’s cousin who is a few years younger than my dad, who is 80. We met his family and moved on to the cemetery where my grandparents are buried. It was picturesque and very holy place as most things are that revolve around religion in Mexico. In case you are wondering, my mother’s parents are buried in Tracy.

The next stop was a store run by one of my cousins. Unlike the United States, your next door neighbor in Mexico could be a mom and pop type convenience store denoted usually by the Coca-Cola sign. We stopped in for a bit but we knew we’d see them again at the family get together nearby.

We got to the gathering and I meet plenty of people that only knew of my by word of mouth thanks to my parents when they would visit. They were all happy to see and meet me finally. My Tia Porfidia was there, I hadn’t seen her since I graduated from 8th grade. She saw me and was glad to see me. My father talked to his nephews and nieces and had a good time catching up with everyone.

We arrived back in Guadalajara at about 9 that night. We were all so tired.

On Monday, my father took me to one of his favorite churches, La Basilica de Zapopan. After that we headed to the church where my cousin is a priest at. He’s been at that church for several years and has remodeled it since then. After we had lunch with him, he showed us not only around there and to an almost completed chapel nearby. Everything was carefully planned and he couldn’t have asked for more from the results.

We then when to see more family nearby and went home.

Tuesday was my mother’s birthday. My original hope was to go to my mother’s hometown that day, but due to limitations, we couldn’t. Instead we went to see her cousins that live in Guadalajara. We picked up one of her cousins, Antonio, and drove to where her cousin Rafael lived with his wife. Two of the children also greeted us: Gustavo, nicknamed Goose, and Mari. I hadn’t seen them in years. I think the last time I saw them was my first trip to Disneyland when I was 8 I think. They lived in El Monte at the time. They recognized me and were amazed how tall I was.

My father and I came back to my Tia Irene’s house and for the rest of the day we stayed at home for the most part. We had a quick trip to a tourist trap. It was beautiful however and had two more churches; surprise, surprise.

On our last full day in Guadalajara, there are only a few things planned. I also need to get souvenirs.

Placer de encontrarle

I’m out of the dry heat of Southern California and into the humidity of Guadalajara.

One of the worst fears I had with all the schedule changes was another one at the last minute. I was scared too when the counter agent could find me and my dad in the computer.

After a few minutes, she was able to locate us. The one thing I did notice with all the schedule changes was they bumped us up to business class on the flight out. When she took our checked luggage, she also gave us passes to the business class lounge telling us there would be no meal on the flight so eat there.

Business class is an experience everyone should have at least once. The lounge comfortable and clean with all the food and drinks you want.

Part of the reason why our flights were moved was the airline was doing its best to fill up their flights. Our flight was under half full with just three total people in business. I could only imagine how full they were before.

We stretched out in our wider seats and I played the movie ‘Blazing Saddles’ with the audio in Spanish so my dad could enjoy the genius of Mel Brooks. During the flight I was noticing something outside, flashes of lighting. I told my dad and he said it’s the summer storms in the mountains and get used to it. It was a beautiful sight and frightening at the same time. The closer we got, but not directly through it, the more we saw. My father told me, if you look at the other side you’ll notice it is clear.

We arrived at the airport and were greeted by my cousins who were happy to see us. As we walked to the car, there was a huge flash followed by the loudest roar of thunder less I’d ever heard a second later. They turned to me and said: “Bienvenido a Guadalajara.”

After a tour of my cousin Rigo’s house, he took me to my Tia Irene’s house. It had been a long day and I just wanted to sleep. It was a little difficult since it was a bit humid but my exhaustion was overpowering.

I woke up to the sound of church bells. I got up and there was family already at the house. It was the start of me meeting a whole lot of family in a short amount of time. Watching them interact with each other and my father made me feel like home. They like to make fun of each other reminded me of my siblings.

My father gets the open arms treatment from the family with everyone coming over wanting to know how he’s been. It’s pretty cool to see that.

While my father and I were left alone for a few minutes as my aunt and others walked to pick up some menudo for breakfast. During that time he reminded me that this was the house my mother died in. He relived what happened and told me a lot in a short amount of time.

After a while, my father and I left with my cousin Daphne for a quick tour of the city’s cathedral and surrounding area. I remembered from the night before I was no longer in the United States because everyone didn’t buckle up in the car. The taxi we took had no seat belts in the back of the car.

We walked around the cathedral and went to the business district nearby as my father needed to change dollars into pesos. After a trip down to the shopping district, we headed back home.

I took a nap since I only had a total of 10 hours of sleep the past two nights. When I woke up, the house was full. I met a lot of people and tried to keep up with them the best I could over the next few hours.

After dinner, I walked to the nearby convenience store with Daphne for some ice cream. Not long after we got back there was a roving bakery that stopped off and everyone from the neighborhood came out for some baked goods. Roving sales are common. Earlier in the day my Tia bought a kilo of tortillas from a salesman who rode up on his bike.

Rigo will return in the morning and take me and my dad around Guadalajara during the early part of the day then we are heading to Sahuayo and spending the night there. On Sunday, we are heading to my hometowns of my parents before an impromptu family reunion before returning to Guadalajara.

I don’t think I’ll have an Internet connection until I get back Sunday night.

Leaving on a jet plane …

Oh yeah, after a long break, I’m back. Sorry to the handful of people that read this on a consistent basis.

I’m heading back to Mexico for the second time in less than 11 months tonight. I’ll be there until Sept. 1. My father and I will arrive first in Guadalajara then on to Mexico City.

My trip has already had a huge stumbling block, Mexicana Airlines.

If there is anything I’ve learned about travel, without actually traveling, it is for the rest of my life I’ll always research the financial stability of an airline before I book with them, especially an international flight.

Since I purchased the tickets in June, I’ve had a stopover added and have had my flight out moved back from 11:30 a.m. to 7:45 p.m.

Of course, if I was a wise traveler, I would have checked to see if the company was fit to travel with. I’ve learned it really isn’t.

Mexicana Airlines filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection and briefly stopped booking new flights earlier this month. Since then, they have been able to move flights or straight up cancel them. If you’ve already booked with them, you have no choice but to accept it.

No matter how much trouble the airline has given me over the past month, it will be small and trivial compared to the wonderful time I’m about to experience.

I promised my parents, long ago, I would always visit my family in Mexico. I began that promise last year by going to Mexico City and seeing my cousins and my aunts there. However, not all my family is located within the Federal District.

Now I’ll be completing the second half of that promise as I fly into Guadalajara tonight at 1 a.m. local time.

I’ve meet many family members over the years, most of them I’ve never seen in person – the wonders of Facebook. It’ll be wonderful to see many in 3-D and hear their voice as opposed to an IM.

I’ll also be going to my parents’ home pueblos and see where they grew up this coming weekend. My mother’s birthday is August 24 and she would have been 70 this year so it makes this pilgrimage special to me.

I’m nervous in a way because of the unknown, which also makes it exciting. I don’t know what to expect for the most part.

I had a wonderful time last year and look for an equally terrific time over the next 12 days. You can follow along too; meet who I meet and experience what I experience.

Except for any change of plans by Mexicana Airlines, those are mine.

I’m shocked, but not surprised

February and March are almost over.

… With the 2010 census comes the responsibility to filling out 10 questions and mailing it back to the government so they can make the appropriate appropriations.

I answered my questions then came to a question of my own. One question asked about Latino heritage; that was simple enough. The next question was race and that is what got me as there was no Latino/Hispanic box.

Perplexed I messaged one of my sisters and asked her what the deal was. She said, “I hate to break it to you, but you’re white.”

For a moment I felt my credit score go up.

She told me that technically there are only three races: White, Black and Asian. It made sense to me later on as I thought about it. I’ve filled out questionnaires before and there were options saying “White/non-Hispanic; White/Hispanic.”

I just find the whole thing interesting.

… I recently have been enjoying a Yahoo! blog titled “Dirty Tackle” which is mainly about soccer around the world. What I’ve enjoyed about it is it shows another side of soccer I ordinarily don’t see as much.

I’ve always been told things about it, but seeing is believing.

Amazing goals are all over that site. There are bloopers too. What struck me the most is the amount of violence. A friend of mine always told me there was plenty of passion in the sport. It’s shown with hard fouls and retaliatory attacks on the pitch.

Now, I’ve been slowly watching more soccer as I’ve gotten older, this site just gives me a better view of everything.

... My next blog might not come out on the usual fashion since I’ll be in Northern California and on the farm without Internet connection in two weeks.

I’m going home to spend time with family, go to a Giants game and be with my dad to commemorate the funeral of my mother.

In fact, Easter weekend will be a reminder of my mother’s passing which will be a year on Saturday.

Not quite as mad

It’s pretty sad not getting into the CBI and CIT if you’re a Big West team with a plus-.500 record.

… I had been looking forward to going to the Big West Conference final to see Long Beach State play in it since the end of the 2008-09 college basketball season. I just knew they would get there.

Then the new Big West Conference season happened.

LBSU didn’t get off to a good start to conference. They would lose their first two games and struggled to get to a .500 league record and a No. 3 seed in the tournament.

Since they struggled, I did not ask for the conference finals day off. Then I saw the 49ers advance to the finals.

For a while I wondered if I was going to miss the second Big West title in three years in person.

So from work, I watched the finals. Sure enough, I made the right decision. LBSU lost and did not get the NCAA automatic bid.

I did, however, hold out hope they would get some sort of post season bid.

Well they couldn’t get one of those either. So it looks like I’ll ask for next year’s final off.

… Speaking about the tournament, the NCAA is considering adding 31 more teams to the tournament. Personally, I think it is a bad idea, however, there has to be some sort of expansion.

My solution is simple, three more play-in games so three more at-large teams can get in. Most of the No. 15 and No. 16 seeds are first round fodder; it would be better if they cannibalized each other rather than take up a bracket spot for truly deserving teams.

… Recently two celebrities passed away: Peter Graves and Merlin Olsen.

People will remember Peter Graves as the lead actor from the TV show “Mission Impossible” the pilot in the movie “Airplane!” and narrator from A&E’s show “Biography.”

Merlin Olsen will be remembered as a NFL Hall of Famer, actor on the show “Little House on the Prairie” and NFL color commentator on NBC.

For me, it wasn’t any of those reasons I thought of first. The first thing I remembered was movies they acted in that were featured on the TV show “Mystery Science Theater 3000.”

Olsen was in the movie “Mitchell” that featured Joe Don Baker as a shabby police investigator. Graves was in “Parts: The Clonus Horror” and stared as a presidential candidate who hid the secret about a clone farm.

Both movies were trashed by the main characters from the show. I don’t know if it is a good thing the first thing I thought of when I heard their passing, but it shows the lasting impression of MST3K.

Better than usual

Did you know there have been three sequels to the “Free Willy” movie? Dumbass whale.

… The Winter Olympics just ended and what looked to be unforgettable games turned interesting rather quick. Sure there were problems at the start, but there were some memorable moments. The men’s hockey gold medal game between the United States and Canada was very entertaining. The game ended 3-2 Canada winning in a 4-on-4 overtime period.

There were other memorable moments. Unfortunately for me, I’ll remember the games for the extra amount of work that had to be done. To top it off, one of my co-workers took his vacation and it made some shifts impossible to make deadline. It’s been a long time I’ve worked a shift that made me want to quit at the end of it.

I survived and I’ll become a better person for it.

… I went to my first Ash Wednesday since high school probably. It was one of the most unorganized masses I’ve been to, but it will go down as one of the most memorable.

At first, the priest asked if someone from the congregation could lead in singing. The mass went relatively fast than a regular mass. After the ashes, the gifts still needed to be presented. The problem, no one was assigned that. The priest asked that it needed to happen and had to ask again for someone to bring down the gifts.

All in all, it was a memorable mass. And in case you’re wondering, I gave up red meat and soda for Lent.

… February ended and that means I just need to survive the next 31 days of March. I’ve had some let downs during this time, but not too bad. In fact, I’ve done my best to try and not let things bring me down. I’m hoping I can continue the trend for the next month.

The Modem Day Massacre

I started my laundry at 1 a.m. that makes me a winner.

… For a while there, I was worried; but it’s nothing major. I had this feeling that my home phone was giving me problems like it did last year. I was afraid that if Verizon came back they would need to come back into my apartment to fix it which would cost me.

I could see on my modem that it would lose and gain connection to the DSL. I picked up my phone and discovered there was no static like last time so I was even more afraid since that was the problem last time.

As a last ditch effort, I decided to leave the modem on to see what would happen. Sure enough it seemed to fix itself. Since then, the modem connection hasn’t always been perfect, but I think it is the problem.

Just how much longer I can keep going like this, I don’t know.

… The Winter Olympics began with tragedy before the opening ceremonies. Luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died during a training run. The accident was horrific.

To say the games have not gone according to plan is an understatement. The opening ceremonies had a malfunction with the torch lighting.

In fact, I don’t think there was much build up for these games; as almost they just showed up one day. Unfortunately it took a tragedy to get my attention.

… I’ve seen five of the 10, yes 10, movies nominated for best picture by the Academy Awards. The last movie I saw was Avatar.

Visually, it’s stunning especially in IMAX 3D. It’s a wonderful story too. But if you were to ask me to say a line from that movie, I couldn’t. So of the five movies I’ve seen – The Blind Side, District 9, Inglourious Basterds and Up in the Air – I would consider it worthy of the nomination. Is it better than those four other movies? No. Can I pick my favorite one of the group, probably not. So this should be a close race.

More respect for Ringo Starr

With January gone, what am I to do?

… The heaviest rainfall I’ve ever seen since I moved to Southern California fell recently and I missed most of it being in Las Vegas.

The day before I left it felt like the movie “The Day After Tomorrow” was coming true. As it rained the city’s drains failed to do their job. I needed to get a haircut and went to where I go and the owner wasn’t worried about it until I got there and the water began to enter under her door. We did our best to prevent water getting in, but there is only so much a towel could do.

She cut my hair and the water kept coming in. When she finished the water had made it easy to see where the low points of the salon was as the water pooled there, then it crept back up to where we were. By the time she finished, the rain had stopped and the water finally started to recede.

For the next hour I helped her get the water out of her shop by first mopping until the water went down enough to open the door to sweep out the water. Luckily for us, two plumbers came by with brooms to help get the water out.

… The next day my friend and I left for Las Vegas ahead of the next storm. By the time we got to Las Vegas it was a light rain. It continued to rain off and on for the next 30 hours. The good thing about the rain was that the workers passing out cards for strippers scattered from the Strip.

For the trip I managed to break about even – not including money for all things not gambling. I actually won $74 from a nice old lady that avoided the 7 like nobody’s business on the craps table.

The only real problem I had was the night before we left as I couldn’t go to sleep. The problem was probably due to the fact I was so worried about getting to work that day. So with no sleep and up at 6 a.m. I told my friend we needed to go and so we left at 7:30. I drove to as far as Baker when my friend took over. I fell asleep for a little bit, but was up for a while then after dropping him off; I drove home in the rain. I got home and rested for another hour before going into work.

Still, it was an excellent trip.

… A little more than a week after going to Las Vegas, I went to Fresno to visit family. Their youngest daughter always wanted to play with me; at times it was a bit much. My father was also there and I talked to him for a while. Later on that first night my sister, her husband and I played Beatles Rockband for about two hours. It’s a fun game. I played drums and sang. Needless to say playing the drums was harder.

The next morning I took my dad to Turlock to watch my niece, then later my nephew, play basketball at a church league. My sister from the Bay Area met us later. I was finally able to give away all my Christmas presents. I also made lunch for the family with the help of one of my sisters.

After the last game, my dad and I rushed back to Fresno to attend Saturday Night mass that was being done in my mother’s honor. When we got to the church, my brother in law told me that we would be bringing up the bread, wine, holy water and donations up. I was in the back with my sister’s youngest daughter bringing up the donations. Knowing my niece, I knew she wanted to carry up the basket of donations on her own so I stood behind her. When they gave her the basket the person in charge of giving the gifts said that the basket was bigger than her. My niece did a good job of carrying the basket and I only helped a little. When we got to the front the priest took the basket from her and commented, “The basket is bigger than her.”

We went out to dinner then later Beatles Rockband.

It was a fun trip all in all. So yes, I can’t wait to go back – and not just because of Beatles Rockband.

… With January over, it is finally upon me. The traditional worst two months of the year begin with 59 days to go until April. I hope that this year it’s not so bad, but I’m not really holding out hope. I can only imagine what could happen. January was a good way to start 2010 as nothing really uneventful in a bad way happened to me. By this time last year, I had a friend laid off and was told about the transfer to West Covina.

The good news is that friend that was laid off has a new job that he’s starting on the first of the month. Hopefully the job freeze is melting. So maybe the next two months won’t be so bad … maybe.

Think about it

Hey, is anyone out there?

… Mark McGuire has come out and admitted he used steroids.

There he said it. Although no one is shocked, not many former major league ball players are happy.

Hall of Fame player Goose Gossage said he should not be in the Hall of Fame because the Hall stands for “Integrity.”

Former major league player Jack Clark went a step further saying he should be banned from baseball altogether and not be allowed to take his new job as hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals. Clark also said players like McGuire should be inducted into a Hall of shame.

I think people just need to calm down. If you’re going to say that your era, or even your game’s shrine, was better you need to think again.

Performance enhancing drugs have been around since the 60s when the season was stretched to 162 games and teams were all over the United States. It’s been documented players took amphetamines to help boost energy. Why is that ok? If you’re naturally tired and take something for it, isn’t that giving you an edge?

I wonder how many players back then would have taken some kind of steroid back in the 60s if they were told it would do what it did for players today. How honest could some players have been? I’m sure of one thing; the numbers would probably be comparable to what we have today.

As for shame, Clark once put up in the Padres dugout an effigy of teammate Tony Gywnn so I really don’t think he should be talking.

As for integrity, the Hall of Fame has Ty Cobb in it; a man that once went into the stands to beat up a man in a wheelchair with only one hand. Sure the man said something about his mother, but really, it is no excuse. If that is not enough there are many in Hall that did not want to ever see the color line broken.

As for Gossage, he was the pitcher that gave up the “Pine Tar” home run to George Brett. When asked to sign the ball later in life he did writing, “… I threw the (bleeping) thing.”

There’s your integrity.

… It’s easy to say I’m a big fan of Conan O’Brien and it sad to see he may leave “The Tonight Show” due to poor management at NBC.

It’s easy to paint Jay Leno as the villain as he is being brought back to his old spot of 11:35 p.m. However it really isn’t his fault, for the most part.

He’s under contract with NBC and is going where they put him. I’m sure he didn’t ask for it, but the company is doing what they think is best. If that means giving him back his old show, then he’s going.

At the same time, he should also know if he does do it, “The Tonight Show” will never be what it was when he had it. He will be given a broken product, not by Conan’s doing, but NBC’s. The public backlash will be tremendous.

Leno also needs to look back at what he said in 2004 when he announced he’d be leaving the Tonight Show in 2009. He didn’t a replay of the early 90s when he and David Letterman battled for Johnny Carson’s seat.

Well, that’s what he has now.

… As for me, well the new year and decade has been much calmer than 2009. The annual trip to Las Vegas is a few days away so that’s nice. I’m also going up North the week after to see family again and drop of the final Christmas presents I have yet to give. I’m also going to a mass said in the honor of my mother at my sister’s church in Fresno.

The time has been good, however, I forgot until now January is half way done and soon it will be February and March upon me. I can only hope for the best.

Where did I leave off?

2010 is so far off to a good start, but I have my eye on it.

… I went Christmas shopping later than usual mainly because my work schedule had me work nine straight days during the shopping rush. The good news is that from the 13 nieces and nephews I buy for, six can now receive gift cards since they are old enough to decide what they want. Since more of them are getting gift cards, I can spend less time in the store.

The tricky part was what to get my dad. Usually I got him something he can share with my mom. What I ended up doing is was buying a photo album and printed out some of the photos I took with him on our trip to Las Vegas and Mexico City, this way he has copies to show friends around the farm.

… As for my Christmas, it was the usual holiday with my family and watching my nieces and nephews down here open the gifts I gave them. As always, I went to work for the holiday.

For New Year’s I went back to my sister’s house in Pasadena and celebrated there as one of my sisters from Northern California came down with her family and they brought my dad as well.

In all, it was a nice way the end a horrible year. The last weeks of the 2009 were uneventful to say the least. After a year of much turmoil it went out without much of a bang.

… So what do I have in store for 2010? Well, I failed in all four of my goals: I got down to 206 pounds instead of 200; I’m still working for LANG; I’m still in my apartment; and I’m still single. Well I guess I’ll have to try again.

Do I come into this year with more hope? Yes, but I’m weary on the worst still being around the corner.

However, I am starting the year with some promise.