Long time no post

Well what has been going on in my life lately? On Thursday, the 6th, Dhaval and I left New Brunswick at 4 am for Philly, to catch a plane to Reno. At our layover in Dallas, we discovered the world's largest vending machine.


When we got to Reno, we basically did cool exploratory stuff until the convention got underway. I decided not to compete this year, mostly because I did not feel obligated to compete like in the past, and because I believe the competition is mostly political and only partly based on skill. The pool and hot tub were fantastic,


as was the view off the pool terrace.


Other than the mountains, Reno has nothing much for a non-gambler to look at or do. Basically, when Johnny Cash sings he shot a man in Reno just to watch him die, it is exactly right. That’s what happens when people with guns get bored out of their minds. Doing jujitsu in a high-elevation desert is interesting. You drink constantly, and pee even more constantly, and then wonder why your body still feels dehydrated.


All in all though, it was a good convention. I picked up by observation a few things that are going to take me years to fully understand, and found a mildly renewed interest in not only the martial arts, but also in massage. I got up early to use the hot tub, went to meditation, massage, chi gong, lua, and Philippine martial arts, in addition to regular jujitsu classes. I even survived getting up early the first day of daylight saving time for a sunrise class.


I also attempted to make a video, my first ever, we'll see how it turns out... hope this embed code works...

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Landing in Dallas for our connecting flight, the attendant announced what gate to go to for all connecting flights. Ours was not mentioned. Since Jake and Ben were subjected to 24 hours of travel/waiting in airports due to a cancelled flight, Dhaval and I feared the worst. We taxied to terminal C, and found a screen telling us our flight was delayed but leaving from A15. So we took the skyrail train to terminal A. Upon arriving, we discovered that in transit, our plane schedule had changed. We were now leaving from C4. So we got back on the skyrail thing. When we got there, we ate and then discovered that our plane was now leaving from A26. So we went to A26, and Dhaval suggested we go back to the T.G.I.Friday’s in C and get a beer. We got there but changed our minds and went back to A. The flight by this time was two hours after it was scheduled to leave, but still at A26. I was still hungry and searched all the convenience stores for cheese spread that I could put on the bread I had in my carry-on. Alas, no convenience store in the Dallas Airport carries cheese dip. And for all the massive vending machines, none of them had cheesey anything. Still, it was an adventure getting home, so that was the fun part.

On Wednesday I started my first day working at the bookstore near my house. It has an excellent atmosphere, pays well, and I seem to be picking up the computer system fairly easily. Hopefully this is a good thing.

It is striking to me that almost two weeks ago, I bumped into a friend I have not seen in a long time, who has spent the greater part of two years looking for a job in his field. We talked about our situations and he said “Ok, I’ll pray for you, you pray for me, and then we’ll both be covered.” Not two weeks later, we are both employed in what I would like to call not a dream job, but a “God-job.”

So, that is what I have been doing lately. If I kind of fall out of the loop in the next few days, it is because I am still adjusting to this new schedule, and don't have much time to blog. Don't be worried or offended, I will be back.