It’s been too long for me not to write….
Wow. Over a month and I haven’t updated my blog yet. I am completely sorry for those that read my blog. It won’t happen again. But at least this time around I have a lot to say. Oh boy do I have a lot to talk about. I might separate my topics on this one because its been way to dam long. Right now is the best time for me to do this because I got so much shit I got to get off my chest. Anyway, come along for the ride as I talk about over a month’s time.
A visit from my Mom!
On the 17th of May, my mom made a special trip out here to visit me. She arrived Saturday morning and stayed until early Tuesday morning. During that time I had a cool visit with here. I was really excited to see here because after 10 months of being out here in New Windsor, to finally see some family felt great. I needed it. If I was to do one year in BVS, I wouldn’t of mind it so much. But I am here for a lot longer than a year so to see my mom was great. Even though she only spent three days here, it was cool. When she arrived on Saturday, I took her up to the apartment for a few minutes to chill. Then after that, we went out for breakfast at Denny here in Westminster. She had rented a car and we made use of it. After breakfast, we went to Target and did a little shopping. From there we did something that I wanted to so since I got here and never had got a chance to go. We went to the movies and seen “Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian”. The movie was ok until the end. I will just say that for those who haven’t watched it yet. From there we went grocery shopping because I had to pick up a few things for the crib. That was Saturday.
The next day, we had planned to go to Virginia and visit our cousin Frank and his wife. When my mom told me that Frank wanted up to go and visit him, I was kind of excited about it because I haven’t seen Frank in like 12 or 13 years or so. Before we were on our way to Franks, we stopped and had breakfast at Denny’s again. As we were about to leave, it started pouring. My mom was real scarred to drive when it started to come down. It was understandable because we were going to be driving for a long distance. We finally made it to Frank’s around I think 2pm. When we got there, we just chilled a talked for a while, had a beer and listen to some music. Frank and I went out to the local store to get more brew and a few other things. We came back and Frank started to cook some good ass grub. He made some chili verde that was off the charts. From there we just chilled. The next day on Monday, we got up, had some bomb ass breakfast that Frank cooked up, got ready and headed to DC. Now DC was just 10 minutes away from his place in VA. It was good to have mom come to DC because she never been there before. She seemed like she really enjoyed the trip. We went to see where Frank works. He is a musician and plays in the Navy band. It was cool to see where he works and also meet some of the people he works with. After that we went out to a Native American museum. It was cool I guess for people that are interest in the history of Native Americans. We came back to Franks and chilled for a while before heading out to this Tai restaurant for dinner. I thought it was good food, but not better than the one in Elgin where IS went for lunch one of those days. It was getting late and my mom didn’t want to drive in the dark back to New Windsor. But she did anyway. We almost got lost a couple of times, and almost got into a car accident on the way. I’m glad to be alive right about now. We finally made it back to New Windsor around 10pm and I went to my room and went to bed for work the next day. That was the weekend with my Mom. I look forward to seeing her when I get back to Cali in December.
Father’s Day
Last Sunday that just passed was Father’s Day. This was the first Father’s Day that I haven’t seen my pops, although I did call and leave a message on the answering machine. I think for me being here on the east coast and not being able to come home anytime I want, I get emotional about holidays and special recognition days such as this. Especially this one because this is special day for all fathers out there that handle their business. I heard the expression “Anyone can be a father, but it takes a man to be a Dad”. I think this day should be called happy Dad’s (or Pop’s) day for all real dads out there that need to be recognized. This description fits my Pops. Other than God, my dad is the most influential person in my life. He may not realize that but he is. He has done so much in my life for me that other dad’s would have gone so far. As of matter of fact, if it wasn’t for my Dad, it wouldn’t be here in BVS right now, doing what I am doing. I wouldn’t have done so much in my life without him and I think he needs to know that. It’s everything, from trying to motivate me (another words chewing my behind out) anytime I need to get going about something. Making it possible for me to go to school, being there for my car issues, but my favorite moments are the times we are laying around or driving some where and talking about things. As of matter of fact, my favorite thing to do here in New Windsor, ever two weeks is giving my pops a phone call and just talking with him. He is my favorite person in the world to talk to. The one thing about my dad is that he is not just the best Dad in the world to me; he is one of the best people in this world. All the people that he knows in his life, I believe would vouch for me on that statement. He does a lot for so many people and he is just a blessing to have in our lives. I know this is going to sound funny coming from me, but even all the women that he has been with, still have love for me. That is just the type of person my dad is. I’m writing this because I want pay tribute to the man who is most important person and the best person in my life. I find it real hard for me to express this out loud, but as I mentioned before in my previous blogs, when I write, it makes it easier for to me get things out in the open. I love my dad with all my heart and I want him to know that I appreciate what he has done for my in my life, and look forward to being a great Dad, using him as my influence, in the future.
Next Up: The NBA Finals
Now this is a subject that I will get a little aggressive about because this is something that is in my blood. This year in the NBA Finals, it was a treat to renew one of the greatest rivalry is sports history. Yes folks, I am talking about the LA Lakers taking on the Boston Celtics. This goes back to the Russell vs. Chamberlain days. Then the 80’s rivalry between two of the greatest players to ever play this game: Bird vs. Magic. Now after 20+ years later, to me it is KG vs. Kobe like it should be. To me there was so much at stake here, not just playing another NBA finals. In 2008, the Lakers were the number one seed in the West; the Celtics were the number seed in the East. Two coaches tied with 9 NBA Championships apiece, Red Auerbach who is the heart and soul of the Boston Celtics; and Phil Jackson, who coached two of the greatest players to play this game in MJ and Kobe, who is looking to surpass Red to capture his 10th NBA Crown. The last thing that stood about this rivalry is you have this years league MVP Kobe Bryant taking on the Defensive Player of the Year Kevin Garnett. Last time the league MVP took on the Defensive Player of the Year for the same year in the finals was when Michael Jordan, MVP took on Gary Payton, DPOY in the 1996 Finals. Kobe is looking to win his first championship without Shaquille Oneal. KG is looking to win his first ever championship. So much is at stake and just a short about of time to do it in.
Because Boston had the better record in the regular season, they had home court advantage throughout the playoffs including the finals. Game one was in Boston. The game went back and fourth but in the end Boston prevailed 98-88 against LA. I felt that the Lakers had to win one of these two games in Boston and clean house at home to take it because this series is the only series in the playoffs with a 2-3-2 format (2 home, 3 road, 2 home). In game two, Boston clearly had the advantage until the Lakers cut a 24 point lead by the Celtics to two points in the forth. The Celtics manages to squeeze by and took a 2-0 lead heading to LA for games 3 and 4 with the possibility of 5.
When they got to LA for game 3, the Lakers started off great and came back with a win to make the series 2-1 in the best of 7. In game 4, things went from great to worse the Lakers. The Lakers had a 24 point lead in the game and came back in the fourth quarter and won the fuckin’ game. How the hell did the Lakers let them come back and beat them. To me that set the tempo for what was about to happen. That told me right then and there that the series was over. The only thing I wanted to see now that I accepted the fact that Boston was going to win this series and take the championship was LA winning game 5 so that Boston could celebrate on their own home court and not in LA. Well that is exactly what happened. The Lakers again had a huge lead in the game and blew it, just to barely win the game.
Now they head back to Boston for game 6 of the finals with Boston up 3-2. If LA had any kind of chance at all, they would have to win both games in Boston. Well that didn’t happen. I predicted that the Lakers would fall in game 6 and that is exactly what happened. But what I didn’t expect was the Lakers would self destruct like they did. Not only did the Celtics kill them, but the LA just killed themselves. Boston destroyed the LA 131-92 to win its 17th NBA world championship. Paul Pierce was named Finals MVP because he just ripped shit up. He played good defensive against Kobe and scored pretty much whenever he wanted to. Pierce was the man in this series. My congrats goes out to Boston for their win. A special congrats goes out to Kevin Garnett (KG) for finally capturing is first NBA championship in 13 years. He is too good of a player not have a ring and now that he has one, KG can get that dam monkey off his back. I recognized Boston’s game, their championship run, but I hated the fact that they did it against the Lakers.
As far as the Lakers go from here, they got a great future ahead of them. I think they need to take the off-season and get healthy. Most of those guys that are on the Lakers never played in the finals before and now they got experience. Once training camp begins, they should get Andrew Bynum back from injury and will be stronger next year. I expect the Lakers to be back into the finals again next year, only this time things will be different. They will win the championship and Kobe will have is Finals MVP trophy and will be recognized as the second best player that has ever played this game under Michael Jordan. I see that happening for the 2008-2009 NBA season.
My Work – Information Services (IS)
As with the above topics, I do have something to talk about regarding my job. Such as I love my job always and for most. It has been 10 months since I started working here in the IS department here at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, and just like day one I still love it. Ever since coming back from retreat in March it has been really busy, especially for the last month. Francie and I have been working very hard at adding all the users computers to the new server that we had purchased at the beginning of the year. This process has been a major learning experience for me because it is teaching me how to be patient during difficult situations. Not say there were a lot of difficult situations but there were a few and I had worked through them so far. There was a time when we thought we were going to the next big step, but realized that we had to go back and recheck all the PC’s we had done. Most people would have flipped out and quit if they had to go back and redo all the things Francie and I done the last few weeks, but I accepted the challenge and a positive outlook on things and a positive attitude. That is what makes our department great at times. When we can work through obstacles and complete our goals. I love this with a passion. Ain’t going to lie, I do get a little frustrated, but let me ask a question: who doesn’t at times at their job. I believe that you can love your job with your heart and soul and if it doesn’t at times get you a little irritated, there’s something wrong. So we are working on this project of getting the new server up and going. I was excited knowing that I was going to be a factor of getting this thing up and going and I am happy to say that I am still excited about the whole process. When I look at the big picture of things and this everyone is on the server with all their files and programs that are working right, I can look back at this and say, “Dam, I was apart of this amazing accomplishment”. Now I don’t know what Francie will say, maybe just relieved, but for me to come here out of West Coast and accomplish something that I haven’t accomplish before, it says a lot. During this process, I had the opportunity to work with different people and I believe they are confident in my ability to come in and make an impact here in the IS department. The year isn’t over yet. I know I will have a lot more challenges ahead of me and I look forward to it because that is what I do.
The Taylors:
Right now I thought I would introduce everyone back home to two new friends of mine and fellow BVSer’s, Phil and Joan Taylor. Phil and Joan are an older BVS couple who have spent the last six years in BVS working different places like DC and New Orleans and also here at the center. They have been back here for a few weeks and are looking to stay for a few more. They work in the Brethren Disaster Ministries. Before coming back to New Windsor, which they worked here before, they are in New Orleans working on the Brethren disaster project over there and now they wanted to come back at the center and do some work over here. I enjoy the fact that they computer literate and I was helped them pick out their new laptop they just purchased a couple of weeks ago. They have some exciting stories to tell and I look forward to creating some stories with them to tell before they leave.
My Upcoming Website
I guess this is the part of my latest blog entry to explain where I have been the past month or so. After over a year, I have finally got my motivation back to finish something I wanted to do for a long time, and that is creating my personal website for myself. This is not just another blog, or a church website. This is what I call my personal scrapbook, or diary of who I am. It does however contain my blogs, and my church website that I created but it also contains so much more. Photos, IT experience, volunteer experience, future video clips, education background, sports, BVS and so much more. This is something that I have wanted to create for the longest time and haven’t got the motivation to do it. I thank the Annual Conference staff for the motivation and I will make it the best that I can possibly make it. My website would be one of those projects that will never be complete because it will constantly need to be updated always. However, I am hoping before I finish up my first year in BVS it will be up on web so everyone can view it. I have spent a lot of my free time, nights and weekends and even some time at work to get this where it’s at right now. It’s the reason I haven’t wrote on my blog for the past month, but that is no excuse. I should be writing anyway to keep people informed. And also when people read my blog, they won’t be reading pages and pages like this particular blog, where I had a lot to talk about. I am going to continue my blog writing for a long time to come, but after I get my website up and going, I am going to let my website do most of my talking for me. I want people to understand where I have been and where I plan on going in the future.
10 Months and Counting
Well it has been 10 months since I started my project here in New Windsor. I must say it has been awesome so far. Everything from my job in Information Services, to hanging out with the staff and other volunteers, to living in my own apartment. This is one of those times its great to be single with no kids. BVS had been great to me and the Brethren Service Center has shown nothing but love and welcomed me in the family so to say. Where do I go from here? Well I will be going for another year hear in BVS, hoping that one day I will land a full-time job doing what I am doing and working with Francie, who’s without a doubt the best supervisor I have ever had before. We have developed such a good relationship here that it makes it hard to leave. I love the job itself. I am proud to be apart of the Brethren Service Center’s Information Services department. I enjoy helping others out with computer issues. And at the same time continue to learn about things here that I am haven’t been familiar with back home. I welcome another 10 more months.
JCI
BVSer; Unit 275
