Month of June, 2005

Tiger Hurts

Tiger hasn't been feeling well for about a month now. The vet and I thought he was getting arthitis, but he hasn't responded very well to medication. He's now so uncomfortable that he limps around avoiding putting weight on his back leg. Seeing him like this is killing me.

So we're off to the vet tomorrow to take xrays and see if we can pinpoint the problem. I know he's an old dog (10 1/2), but he doesn't seem to be that old. Shouldn't have have another couple of good years left? I've already begun looking at wheelchairs if that's what it comes to. I just want him to live without pain.

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Kris Skydiving

Kris went skydiving in February. He sent this picture along with the note, "Just thought I'd share how dumb I am by showing you what I did this weekend..." I don't think he's dumb, but I do think he has more guts than I do!

Isn't it an awesome picture?

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Benny

Mia's dog, Benny, sent me a picture last month. It got buried in my email and I just now dug it out. Isn't he adorable? I can't wait to meet him one of these days in person! I guess that means I'd better start planning a trip to Munich to visit Mia, Chris, and Benny.

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Wall Tatoos

Ever look behind paintings in hotel rooms? No? Me neither. But I might start.

Secret Wall Tatoos

Thanks, Kris, for the link.

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Imperfection

Building relationships is a hard thing. It takes time and a lot of honesty. Time is something we seldom have a lot of. Or at least we act like we don't have a lot of it. Instead we rush into things. I do all too often.

The hardest part of building relationships for me is the honesty. It's hard for me to open up and share the not-so-flattering side of myself. I'd much rather keep my flaws to myself and keep everyone thinking I'm wonderful. I don't know why it's so hard to share because I'm sure people will be accepting of my flaws. After all, I don't want someone who acts like they're flawless. I embrace and love the flaws of others. Shouldn't it be realistic that there's someone out there that can embrace my flaws too? I guess that means that I have to start embracing my flaws, which might be more than I'm capable of.

You know, when I was younger, in elementary school, I was quite a perfectionist. I hated myself whenever I made a mistake. I thought I let go of a lot of my perfectionism as I've grown up. Lately I've been thinking that I haven't let go of it at all; I've just changed the way I apply it to myself. I'm just as hard on myself as I was when I was in elementary school, but I use it to drive myself. I've used it to accomplish all that I have. I'm better at performing up to my standards and when I don't, I keep it to myself. Somehow I've tricked myself into thinking that if I keep it to myself I'm being perfect.

How silly. How imperfect. I'll never be perfect and I know it. I just need to find a way to accept my imperfections. Maybe someday I'll be able to do that. So that maybe someday it won't be so hard for me to be honest as I build a relationship.

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Making Friends

Went out last night by myself and found some interesting people to talk to at the bar. This is a picture of Steve and Mike. The topic of my blog came up so I told them I'd post a picture. They joked their 15 minutes of fame. Heh.

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Customer Service

Michael's experience with Vonage recently made me think about customer service. Well, it made me think about the kind of service I'm receiving. Since I work in tech support, I think about what kind of customer service we're providing all the time. Since I'm moving, I'm in the process of canceling a lot of services at my home. I anticipate in the near future, I will be setting up a lot of new services. Both of these things mean I speak to a lot of customer service people. Here are today's experiences.

DirecTV
DirecTV has a few too many menu options to wade through. I was annoyed that I had to enter my telephone number then my account number. Shouldn't one be enough? The first person I spoke to apologized that I wanted to cancel my service. There's no need to apologize, I'm happy with it, I'm just moving. He transferred me to another person whom I had to wait approximately two minutes for. She was very helpful and explained that I could put my account on hold for any length of time. They would then process turning on service in Arizona like a move (so I'd get a free dish and such). I hesitated, because I'm not entirely sure that I want DirecTV when I move because it's a lot of money. Right now I split it with Kristen and don't really mind, but I don't think I watch enough TV to justify $72 a month. Anyhow, she convinced me to put my account on hold by throwing in an extra free month of service if I do start back up. I figure why not, I won't get billed in the meantime. Interesting model DirecTV is using to get people to stay with them.

SBC
SBC has a wonderful voice recognition system instead of menus. You only have to say a brief sentence of what you need. For example, I said, "I'd like to cancel my service" and the system asked me if I wanted to "Disconnect your phone line?" I confirmed and it transferred me immediately. I waited approximately five minutes for a representative, which is a little longer than I want to wait but such is life. When she answered, she gave me her name and immediately asked what she could do to make me a "very satisfied customer." Wow, that's exciting to know that she wants me to be satisfied even before the call begins! Talk about starting the conversation off right. She took care of everything quickly and efficiently. It was a completely hassle free conversation. I am very satisfied!

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Taxes, Buying a House, & Moving

Why is it so hard to estimate federal and state tax? Heaven forbid the government does anything straightforward! Arizona state tax is straightforward or at least the withholding part makes sense. They withhold a percentage of your federal income tax. Of course, I'm not clear what I'll actually end up paying Arizona for income tax, because I can't find any clear information on it. Shoot, I can't even figure out what the actual withholding amount is because I don't know what my federal taxes will be. All I know is that it's more than I wish it were, but isn't that always the case?

So I'm doing all of this estimating because I want to figure out how badly a mortgage payment is going to hurt. I'm planning on buying a house in Arizona. Yep, I'm joining the land of adulthood and buying a permanent residence. I'm planning on being in Phoenix for awhile. (My definition of "awhile" is over three years, but I suspect it will be more like five.) I've already done some house hunting and have a pretty good idea of what I can afford. I definitely know what I like and surprisingly, I can afford what I like!

So I should fill you in on the move details since everyone is asking these days. On Saturday, July 16th, I am officially moving to Phoenix, Arizona. I'll be living in a furnished apartment for the first month while I look for a house. Sometime in August, I'll come back to Texas for a couple days to supervise the packing of my house and then it will be back to Arizona permanently.

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Kristen & Chris are Engaged

Friday, June 17th Chris asked Kristen to marry him. They were at a Navy ball and he got on his knee in the middle of the dance floor to propose. She said yes! We are all so happy for them, because they are so happy!

They are planning a wedding for November.

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Kristen's Move to San Diego

I dropped Kristen off at the airport this morning. She's on her way to San Diego for the weekend. This is her last trip before she permanently moves to San Diego in the middle of next month. Yes, there are lots of changes happening for the Lucci's. I'm moving to Phoenix and Kristen is moving to San Diego.

Back in October, the family went to Germany to visit Karen and Jason. Kristen, who had recently graduated from college, but did not have full time employment decided to extend her trip and travel around Europe. She met up with Ryan, a friend in the Navy who was stationed in Sicily. Ryan was bringing a coworker, Chris, with him for part of the trip and I remember teasing Kristen that it might lead to romance. How little did I know that it really would!

As fate would have it, Chris and Kristen ended finding romance during the week they traveled across Europe. She came home absolutely beaming. The future was uncertain for their newfound relationship, but Chris started calling from Italy. I don't know how they afforded the hour(s) long phone conversations, but I do know they made Kristen really happy.

In December, Chris, who is a medic in the Navy, was sent back to the States in order to spend a year in training. On his way to San Diego, he stopped in Dallas to visit Kristen. It was a short trip, but it made Kristen really, really happy. Within weeks of Chris's return to the states, Kristen and Chris were spending hours on the phone every day. Before I knew it they got cell phones on the same plan to save money. Then they began visiting each other on a regular basis. They were in love.

I don't know all the details of their relationship, because that's their business. But what I do know is I've never seen Kristen so happy and so in love before. I know that in the times Chris has visited, I have continually been impressed with him as a person and the way he treats my sister. I know my parents feel the same way. Chris and Kristen make each other very happy, which in turn makes us extremely happy.

Next month, she moves to San Diego to live with Chris. I'm excited for her, because I know it's going to make them happy. Kristen has been talking about leaving Arlington for quite awhile and this seems to be the perfect opportunity. She's going to have many new adventures and a special person to share them with. Plus, everything has fallen into place perfectly, like her obtaining a transfer with her current company. While I know I'm going to miss living with Kristen, I'm really, really happy for her. Lucky for me, San Diego is only a six hour drive from Phoenix!

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Help Cameron Graduate!

Do you have a blog? Do you want to do a kind deed? Sure you do!

Then help Cameron graduate.

Cameron is a good friend of mine who is finishing his degree at MIT. He needs bloggers to fill out his survey so he has more data to analyze. It only takes a few minutes, but if you still need some other reasons to fill it out, here you go...

Reasons to fill out Cameron's Survey:
1. You wish you were in school.
2. When you were in school, you never did anything as cool as analyze blogger data.
3. Cameron drinks Sparks.
4. Cameron loves the South.
5. Karma - someday you'll need someone to fill out a survey for you.
6. Filling out a survey (or imploring other people to do it) is way better than doing actual work.
7. You like to give your opinion. (Doesn't everyone?)

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Weekend Pictures - Austin

View the set
Went to Austin for the weekend for SummerBash - Jefe & Kevin's yearly party. Dropped Autumn & Ky off at Eric & April's house. They're living on a friend's land south of Austin. It was absolutely beautiful. Spent Friday & Saturday with Jeff & Kevin and crew. Saturday went toobing down the Guadalupe, but I didn't take any pictures. (I mean, who really wants to see me and my friends in swimsuits anyway?) I enjoyed meeting Jeff's new roommates - Colby and Jaye as well as Cleaveland Dave. Saturday night, I hung out with Jon Sanchez, whom I hadn't seen in years. Catching up with him was very special. Overall, it was a fantastic weekend, but it always is when I go to Austin.

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Consulting

Last night I had my first ever business consulting session and it's only been one and a half months since I completed my MBA. Not a bad sign if you ask me. So the consulting was for my next door neighbors and my fee was the price of dinner. Nothing too big, but it's significant to me. I've always thought that someday I would love to be an independent business consultant and last night confirmed it. It also made me realize that it's more than just a possibility.

A couple weeks ago, in a casual conversation with the neighbors, I mentioned that I completed my MBA. Then Sunday night they asked if they could talk with me about a business idea they have and invited me to dinner. So last night we got together and I learned more about their idea. It sounds like a pretty good idea to me, but that's not really for me to judge. Instead, they just needed some ideas about how to go about selling their product. Basically, I asked a lot of questions to help them think about their options. It was a stimulating conversation for me and I really enjoyed it. I'm a little sad that I'm moving and won't be able to continue helping with the process, but I know it's all for a reason. Just getting my toes wet was enough for now.

This experience was really good for me. It showed me how much I really did learn in school and has given me the confidence to use my knowledge with other people. It's given me excitement for the future!

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Baseball Game

Josh took a group of us to the baseball game on Sunday, May 29th. Leia posted pictures. Thanks, Leia!

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Graduation Party Pictures

View the set.

Here's the set of photos from my graduation party on Saturday. I had a great time, thank you all for coming and celebrating with me! The band, the food, the bar were all perfect. It was a wonderful night and I'm so lucky to have so many good friends around for it.

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