Home Sw--uhh... Home

I'm back, for now. I'll definitely have to return to finish my audit. I'll need about 4 more days to complete it.

I tired.

If I don't end up moving to Sacramento, I'm definitely looking into Mo-town. It's just slightly cooler (and I'm not talking the temperature) than Fresno.

Mental note to self for future blog topic: Lost 80's Live concert (that I'm missing) at the State Theatre.

*yawn* going to bed now.

Love, Yvette

Blogging Withdrawals

I really need a laptop with a wireless card.
I really need to move out of Fresno.
I need better music.

From The No to The Mo

I meant to blog this weekend, but I was busy...packing.

Yup, it's that time again, time for my road trips. This week I am in my home away from home, seriously. It's my annual path lab casefinding trip in the scary land of Modesto (you know, the place where people disappear). The only free computer I have access to is in the lobby of the hotel I'm staying in, so I pretty much won't be posting anything until I get back to Fresno, which will be...later. This is only one of many trips in my future. More back to Modesto, and I've added a new land to my adventures: Porterville (may I have a collective "ooooh", please). Well, at least it's not Bakersfield (yet).

Hope everyone had a good Easter. I had to work, but I can count the way it could have been worse, so it all turned out well. See you soon.

Love, Yvette

OUCH!

This is what I woke up to this morning :(

Not good, especially since I have no idea why it happened. At least it doesn't hurt or itch (assuming it's not pink eye).

Love, Yvette

43 Revisited

And one night (or was it day?)
I was awoken from a dream
I was dreaming of someplace like I'd never been
And I heard someone say
Someone's fallen in and they can't swim
So I leaned out and I pulled them in
And he was holding his head
And it was huge and shaped like a fish
And he slid down to the crook of the keel
And when I was sure he'd fallen asleep
I fell back to my reverie
--At the Beginning of Time by Jane Siberry

I've been meaning to get back to this list. My first edition of this list was back in 2006. You can read it HERE if you'd like. It's not required reading. I found it interesting that there were items on that list 2 years ago, that I don't care about anymore. I change. I'm still growing. I bet that 2 years from now, there will be things that drop off this new list. The items that made it on both lists I've bumped to the top, because, I guess they are core things. Things that may never change.

This new list has some new formatting, just for my personal organizing. You know how much I like cataloging ;)

Oh, and technically, I'm still missing one. :) Enjoy!

My 43...er...42 Things:

01. Donate Hair to Locks of Love X 11/17/06
02. Wear a Sari X 10/28/06
03. Learn Taiko Drumming X 12/10/06
04. Participate in a big charity/fund-raising project X 05/05/7 (Relay For Life)
the core list:
05. RIDE- Climb to Kaiser (and finish)
06. GET- My Passport
07. RIDE- A Century (a 100 mile organized bike ride)
08. HIKE- Half Dome
09. VISIT- Kyoto, Japan for the gardens and the blossoms
10. MEET- Lance Armstrong (yes, still)
11. SEE- Peter Gabriel in concert
12. LEARN- How to Play Guitar
13. LEARN- How to Make Sushi
14. VISIT- Deanna in Washington
15. MOVE- To Sacramento (In spite of everything, I still want to go)
16. RIDE- In a Bike Race
17. BE- A Bridesmaid (still hoping)
18. VISIT- The Grand Canyon
19. LEARN- Pointe (again): Take a Pointe Class
20. VISIT- Devil's Postpile
21. BUY- A Condo/Small House
the new additions:
22. SEE- The Aurora Borealis (in person)
23. WEAR- A Kimono
24. CLIMB- To Top of the Climbing Wall, AND GET BACK DOWN (I have serious heights issues)
25. SEE- Mt. Everest (in person)
26. VISIT- Pyramids at Teotichuacan
27. VISIT- Machu Pichu
28. VISIT- Egypt
29. VISIT- Death Valley (really visit, not this drive through at night shit)
30. VISIT- J-Tree
31. LOSE- Weight/Goal: 134 (not unreasonable, it's 20 over my dancing weight)
32. PAY- Off Student Loan (this is the one that feels least possible)
33. VISIT- Auschwitz (some things we should never forget)
34. LEARN- How to Tune-Up My Own Car
35. PET- A Tiger (a real one)
36. SEE- A Ghost (but just once)
37. LEARN- How to Scuba dive
38. VISIT- Take Mom to Yosemite (she's never ever been)
39. LEARN- Ballroom Dance- the Latin Dances
40. WALK- Across the Golden Gate Bridge and Back
41. LEARN- How to Do Cake Decorating.
42. VISIT- The REI Store in Seattle, WA
43. ???????????????????????????????????????????

What dropped off the list? Learning Japanese, Giving up soda, getting a tattoo, spending a weekend at a spa, learning to drive a motorcycle, going skiing, being published, writing a short story, taking a wine-tasting class, catching a fish, inspiring risk, introducing a couple, getting really good at yoga, and going to the chapel Madonna Del Ghisallo in Italy.

Does anyone else do this, or is this just my list fetish gone wild?

Love, Yvette

Hey! It's The Coffee Guy!!!!

I keep telling you, REI is the hub of the universe.

Today I had a customer who recognized me BEFORE I recognized him!

Once upon a time, I used to go to Fresno State (I graduated over 7 years ago). While at Fresno State, I was a business major. Most of my IS classes were at the Peters Building. Inside the Peters Building was a little coffee counter run by Planet Java. I used to stop there daily for my caffeine fix. When I would go, it was always the same guy, day in, day out. His name was Ephiram and he was The Coffee Guy.

Well, Ephiram came through my line today, and he remembered me. He asked me if I went to Fresno State. I told him yes, but with a funny look on my face because it was a long time ago. He said something to me, I wish I could remember what his exact words were, but somewhere in there he said coffee and I said Peters Building. We chatted through the transaction, and then he left.

I was impressed that someone remembered me first, and I was glad to see him again. He was a nice guy back then (I'm sure he still is) and we used to chat between my classes. About an hour later Ephiram came back because he had to exchange something he bought. I told him that I was surprised that he remembered me. He said he was really good at remembering his customers or something to that effect, and then he floored me. He told me that I used to usually order the mocha or get a hot chocolate and ask for extra whipped cream. Damn, he's good.

And as further proof that REI is the hub of the universe, during my sabatical between my old blog and my new blog, I also saw Ms. Fraiser and the "new" Mrs. Erker. I use quotes because they've been married a few years already. Dig that!

Love, Yvette

Turned My Frown Upside Down

Okay, this is going to be a crazy Yvette story that could only come from Yvette.

Yesterday I was really bummed out because it was my colleague Mark's last day working in the Fresno office. I treat him like a big brother, so it was sad to see him leave. We celebrated by going to Incredible John's for lunch and I kicked his ass in a game of DDR (Dance Dance Revolution). We had a great time but the whole experience was bittersweet. So, I came into work at REI in a very less than stellar estatic Yvette mood.

Until something happened. Now, because I'm Yvette, I'm NOT going to tell you what happened. Not because it's a secret, but because in relation to the world, it was a very insignificant event.

In my universe within the real universe, it was a VERY significant moment. Reminds me of the time my sister met Steve Perry (Journey) when she was in high school.

All that happened was that someone "poked their head into my universe, looked around briefly, and made eye contact with me before leaving". That is the best way I can think of how to describe it.

For me, it made my day! It turned my frown upside down! I was on cloud 9 for the rest of my day, and maybe a little bit still. Just for something as simple as an acknowledgement of existence.

Lame? Yeah, I know. But like I said, I'm Yvette. I make the corny, extraordinary.

Love, Yvette

Life Is Good!

Isn't it? :)

First off, I just want to say a big thanks for my friends showing love and support in my moment of weakness. Jenny, John, Steve, mucho kudos to all of you. And no, I did not have a crush on Ramiro in high school, but I will confess, had he been single and asked me out for coffee, I would not have said no!

I'm still working on resizing my photos from the bike race. I had a great time and loved running into my REI co-workers. Mike, Richard, Brandon, Nancy, Kevin. I really enjoyed watching Brandon and Richard race. Races are cool regardless, but it's extra cool when you know some of the racers in real life. Now there were some racers there that I knew of, but did not know them in person. I read their blogs and visit their team websites. It's too cool to be able to see these people in real life. I tried to see the Lance man himself in San Francisco a few years ago before he retired, but he pulled out due to some lame-ass injury. Okay, maybe it wasn't really lame, but since I missed out on seeing him I felt really really denied, especially since that race day was on my friggin BIRTHDAY!!!!! Tell me that would not have been too cool for school?

I've been very busy this week, but life is good. Working lots of evenings so I haven't had time this week for much blogging. The day job is getting challenging too. We're losing another two colleagues this month. No, not the budget cuts again, one is retiring and the other one is making the jump from regional to state. My Marky Mark is leaving me to go play with the big kids up in Sacramento. The guys *I* report to. Unfortunately, because of the budget crisis we're in, they won't be replaced. Yup, more work for me!!! This is the time I don't mind sharing. Bummer dude.

Oh, and I've recovered from my Ramiro incident. Tonight, Robert Baber came into the store. Dude, I run into all sorts of people from my past in this place. I have a theory that REI is the hub of the universe. Actually, it was Robert and Kim- he married Kim Wheeler, they have two kids. Robert and I chatted for a bit, and it was a natural progression into the occupation subject. He works for a pharmacutical company, so I asked him about drug stuff since part of my job requires knowledge about chemotherapy agents. We had a brief conversation about DVT- deep vein thrombosis. It's funny what people who work in medical-related fields talk about.

Okay, that's it for now. It's WAY past my bedtime, and I have to go work in Porterville tomorrow. I'm being introduced to a new hospital and treatment facility. I'm kinda excited, because honestly, I've never even been to Porterville before. Peace out.

Love, Yvette

A Day At the Races

Today was the Central Valley Classic down in the Tower District. It was good, I'll write about it soon and post a link to my flickr account, but first I want to show you the important pictures:

Me with the fabulous Michael Hernandez. (man, would I love to get my hands on those quads)

And this is the lovely Miss Taitt Sato. She took 3rd in the Pro/Elite Womens race. She's tiny (look, shorter than me!) but she is hardcore and a firecracker!!! She kicked ass! My hero!This is Rich. He's the Master Tech (read: he takes good care of my bike) at REI. He came out to race today too.
Keep an eye out for this guy. He's Brandon Trafton- a young one working his way up the peleton. He works part-time at REI while racing Cat 3 and finishing up high school. If I could pick someone to be my baby brother, he would be the one. I can't remember but I think he finished either 5th or 6th in his race today.

I'll post actual race photos as soon as I am done resizing and uploading. Hope your Sunday was as awesome as mine was.

Love, Yvette

Today I Failed

This is one of those posts that wouldn't make it into Blossoms in the Sun, but must be spoken of regardless.

Today I failed. I failed REI, and most importantly I failed myself.

While at work today, one of my customers was a guy I went to high-school with and had a PE AC class with at Fresno State. To my fellow Pate alumns, it was Ramiro. You guys remember him, right? For reference, I haven't seen him in about 10 years.

Anyways, as usual, I recognized him right off the bat. I smiled and said Ramiro! He looked at me in recognition, but couldn't quite place me. Yeah, I'm like 75lbs heavier than I was back then, but that is neither here nor there. We weren't close, so that's the real reason he couldn't place me. It's only my smile that stays in people's memories. Not bad really, I like it. Back to the story, of course, I had to tell him I'm Yvette, we went to high school together, we had English with Mr. Shirey together and possibly History, but we also had Fencing together at Fresno State.

For the record, I sucked at fencing and Ramiro was a wunderkind like Malachi (aka Chris) who was a beginner for the first semester only and ever since was kicking ass. I'm pretty sure the handle on his foil was a pistol grip too....

So I asked Ramiro what he was up to. The usual, he's married, has a son who is just over a year old, and is a software engineer. We spoke briefly about our 10 year class reunion back in 2001. I went, he didn't. He was on his honeymoon.

So here is where the massive failure occurred:

He asked about me. The first words out of my mouth- actually the only words about myself out of my mouth were: This is my second job. My real job is in Cancer Information Management, I do data collection for cancer research.

Okay, everything I said was absolutely 100% true. But did you see what I did?

Sigh....

With the California state budget in the position it's in, I may very well find myself unemployed at the end of this fiscal year. So, with that looming over our heads every second of our 40 hour work week, the registry isn't quite the happiest place on Earth.

For me, right now, the happiest place on Earth is at REI. I absofuckinlutely love it there. I love my co-workers, I love my bosses, I love what we sell, I love what we stand for. Most of the customers are fantastic and I enjoy chatting with them. I love that I am learning so much about new activites (ie rock climbing, mountaineering, backpacking) and I have deep well of experience and knowledge to draw from for the activities I do partake in. Not to mention the shoes. THE SHOES!!!

So what happened? What did I do? At that moment I was utterly embarassed that he might think of me as "just a cashier". That being a cashier was "all that I had amounted to". Yeah, I lost my head and I freaked. Of course this was all garbage that *I* was putting into my head. He wasn't judging me. Why would he even care? And what is wrong with being a cashier at a kick-ass store like REI?

I feel like I have denied knowing my best friend, and I am ashamed :( I feel like I have just slapped all my wonderful co-workers in the face and told them that they are not good enough. I'm sorry. You are all wonderful people and I am so glad to be working with you.

A negative thought, and apprently a big insecurity that I just couldn't let myself sweep under the rug.

Love, Yvette