Carlsbad Village @ dusk.

If in your travels here and there, you find yourself in San Diego in Spring, Summer, or Autumn- on my recommendation, please take a jaunt down the quaint streets of Carlsbad Village.

I've been crashing in Carlsbad lately, though I'm still keeping my residence in Escondido, and I've been so delighted to see the beauty and tranquility that resides here. Sure, PCH and Carlsbad Village Dr may be a bustling intersection at any time of day, but head one block north and east (that'd be away from the beach) and you'll find yourself in sparse company.

Just tonight I had the pleasure of driving home north on PCH into the village (where I saw a co-worker out on a stroll, probably on their way to Coyote's). After leaving the dense crowd of pedestrians in my rear-view, I made a right onto Grand, and lo and behold, it was just me :-). I proceeded east on Grand and as I was driving, relished in the peaceful moment.

I haven't been around too much, and only one other community has this ambiance, this air about itself that reminds you that life is to be savored and enjoyed. I'm speaking of Palo Alto in Northern California. Every street was lined with trees, and all the houses were originals- structures of creativity and craftsmanship. I felt like this town had a depth and a history that seems to be lacking most everywhere else. That's how I'm now beginning to feel about Carlsbad.

I find comfort in pulling up to an intersection and seeing, while I'm waiting for the light to change in my favor, not a street corner with the square edge of building b, and it's neighboring and abutting buildings a & c, but a corner with a grassy yard, or a large garden with a path to the front door of a community shop, or the ubiquitous tall, shady eucalyptus tree.

And so, dear reader, take some time, and leisurely explore this lovely little town.

Good night,
Zach

Ben Freemire, King Pong!!

Congratulations homie!!! You definitely deserved this victory!

Enjoy the table, champ!

Love, peace, and chicken grease,
Zach

P.S. I'm so sorry that I spelled your name wrong in the "champion's" box of the tournament bracket.

Too many edits.

To my fans and readers around the world, I need your help.

If you look over to the right side of your screen, the right side of this blog page, you'll see my "Profile" and my "About Me" write-up. Near the bottom you'll see the paragraph:

• "I also suffer from a slight case of O.C.D.- I've probably edited this About Me section 31 times in the last 74.2 minutes."

As humorous as that may be, and I intended it to be so, it is ultimately very true. Point and case, I've edited the blog directly below this one, Ooooh, is life exciting, or what!?, about 4 times since I initially pushed the 'Publish Post' button of this blog-writing interface.

I am disturbed by this, and on other levels I'm not; and I'm not just referring to the aforementioned post. For the post, The fall of Zach (which wasn't too far, but still hurt), and the rise of Ben (which is currently unchecked), there's actually a gap of one day between the time I first published it and the time when I was finally happy with it and left it as you see it now- and the changes went far beyond cosmetic, I actually had the post in an "unfinished" state with no real closure to my thoughts.

So, my readers, what do you think? Should I just let my mistakes and oversights go "as is", and post amendments, or maybe comment on a post when I realize there are catastrophic mistakes (like using "theres" instead of "theirs", thank you Capt. Chapman)?

I think that I do need to let up a little :)

Thank you for your time and consideration,
Zach

P.S. I just now, finally, decided that my spell checker for these posts should learn the word "blog" :)

That's kinda like the spell checker of the forums pages at apple.com notifying me that it didn't know what the word "iPod" was (which this spell checked doesn't recognize either). Hah!

P.S. Ben won the match with Jason B., so he's in the Finals. WOOOOOO!!!! BENNNNN!!!!!!

Ooooh, is life exciting, or what!?

Found out that I might be going to the desert this weekend. Sounds exciting huh?!

And for some reason, as I'm thinking of what I'm going to write right now... I hear the words in my head with a, sort-a... Texan accent. Don't know why, but I do... Huh... Anywhose

Oh, and I let the manager of the department I was helping out at work (workin' some serious OT) know that I was going to stop volunteering my time and efforts. At first, I was really diggin' that work- software bug & regression testing. Then, I realized that it was simply something that I didn't want to do; that for the same amount of time and energy, I could do things that are more fulfilling to me- like blogging :), playing ping-pong, and reading books and y'all's blogs, to name a few (all of these I was doing anyway, but I was getting seriously burned out in the process). Now, life's just a little more enjoyable... ahhhhhh (that's the feeling I have after my sunset walks along the beach in Carlsbad).

In other news, I do have a review of Black Hawk Down pending, and I'll probably be posting it by Friday- assuming that the deities of the sun and the sky, the waters and the land, and my internet connection show me favor. :)

Y'all have a great little day (cause in Texas, even the "little" things are larger than life)!
-Zach

The fall of Zach (which wasn't too far, but still hurt), and the rise of Ben (which is currently unchecked)

Hello all,

I apologize for not writing sooner- hang-ups in life, hang-ups at work, hang-ups of my internet connection (even now, I’m typing this in MS Word).

Who wants to know about the outcome of my nerve-racking match with Ben?

After my last post, I’d received reports that some of you were hanging onto sanity, and your very lives even, if only by the mere strength of your absolute resolution to fight through the dark times of not knowing what happened that fateful day last week.

Well… I lost.

Well... Actually, I could be more accurate; I was creamed!

Ben took me in a “clean sweep” (he won games 1, 2, and 3), and he looked good doin’ it too (he went as far as to wear some shorts (and I’ve never seen him wear shorts) and a sporty, blue, handsome polo shirt)! Ever the model of grace-under-pressure, his serves were consistent (i.e. irrepressibly lethal- just ask Capt. Chapman), his slams devastating and morale bruising, and, as another co-worker commented, he displayed “un-reasonable control” of the ball throughout the game.

• Game 1: I was feeling strong and mostly confident. I’d spent the last two days thinking about how I was going defend and attack, and was really hoping to give the crowd some great rallies to emotionally get into. We went point for point up until about point 8 or 9, and I think, I saw the end in sight and lost focus on the immediate point to be won. Final score, 11-8.

• Game 2: I looked at a phenomenal opponent and, with one loss behind me, the doubt became a little stronger, a little louder and harder to shut out- Should I return his serve with my forehand or chop?, What am I going to do if he does that tricky zig-zag serve?, etc…. Final score, 11-6.

• Game 3: Well I’ve lost two already, which puts me about par with how I’ve played against Ben in the past, so I’ll probably loose this one… No! You’ve gotta fight for the win! You’ve beat him before, you can do it now!... Why are people making cracks about me needing to breathe more?... Maybe I should try to have more fun… Final score, 11-3.

Ben, I take my most favorite MP hat off to salute you my friend. :)

To date, Ben will play Jason B. either Monday or Tuesday for a shot at the finals.

After my round 3 defeat, I went on to play Dave B. again (the same I guy I beat in round 1) and I lost. Dave’s defense was a lot stronger this time and I’m not sure what happened to me. I won games 1 & 2, and thinking that victory was now certain, lost games 3 & 4, and ended up losing game 5 with a final score of 11-8 (I’d actually been leading in this game up until 8-6 when, maybe I thought it was “in the bag” and blew it). And so, I’m out for good.

This tournament has been a real educational experience. When I got “whipped up on” down at the table tennis club in Balboa that one memorable Thursday night (12 straight loses), I figured “Sure thing. New guys that I’ve never played before and they’re obviously better than me”, and I didn’t give it a third thought (cause I did give it a second thought). But these losses have been wholly different and have disturbed me for a week now. These are guys I know- whose games I know –and I’ve been able to keep up with them to some degree; and I do feel that I have more skill than Dave B.. So why did I lose? I think it’s the “competition” factor. That in the clutch, I fold. Is it that I have some aversion to outright beating someone in competition? This seems cheesy, but I’m starting to think that I have the mentality of the character “Smiley” in the Japanese movie “Ping-Pong” (yeah, I admitted it’s cheesy)

“Smiley” would always play at the level of his opponents- and never realize his full potential in a game -out of fear that he’d humiliate them if he beat them by too badly (i.e. if he made it obvious that his opponents didn’t stand a chance).

I just don't know why "winning" is not that big of a deal when I'm playing. I really do want to give my competitors the best game I have.

-Zach

Oh my gosh! King-Pong

I was so tired last night, I forgot to finish the post and inform y'all about what you really want to know about- me!

Well, so far, so good. I've made it through the two rounds and now I'm waiting for some straggling competitors in my group to get their game on, so that another guy can get his game on, so that I can get my game on again!

My first competitor was a seasoned player who was a bit rusty. Dave put up a great defense and definitely made me work hard for the win. How hard? He won the first two games- which means that if he'd won game 3, I'd have been shut out! I fought back and won games 3 and 4. Game 5 came down to us going to deuce, twice!, and I ended up squeezing out a 13-11 victory (the score sheet at the table actually states that the final score was 12-10, but I think Dustin lost track of the actual score in the tension and excitement of the moment- he obviously was not using the force). I'm looking forward to seeing how Dave does in the following rounds, though I'll more likely hear about it as these games take place during office hours and sadly, I don't get paid to sit around and watch ping-pong. He has tremendous technique and I can easily see him being dangerous once his game is a little more polished. Thank you Dave for the great match. :)

My second competitor played a great game also. The "Wish-meister", with his driving fore-hand slams, played well and in the end I won the set 3 games to 1. It's also worth mentioning that Ben encouraged quite a few people to come down and cheer me on- somewhere between 10 and 15 spectators were standing around watching our game, though not all of them came at Ben's behest. Both I and the "Wish-meister" were flustered by the newfound-- and discomforting --attention, and this definitely affected our game (usually we'd both be laughing at ourselves, each other, and our great rallies, but this game was tense and silent). I know the "Wish-meister" and I will have plenty more opportunities to play and just have a good time :)

And about Ben:

My biggest fan. My greatest adversary (in ping pong).

Ben is the guy who has single-handedly encouraged me to be as good of a player as I am today- and is always talking about some near day in the future when I'll be "un-stoppable". Ben is also one of two guys to whom I consistently lose to (the other being Dustin, when he is using the Force :)); to put this in perspective- in the 75 to 125 odd games we've played in the last 7 or 8 months, I've beaten him three times and two of those times he wasn't playing with his own paddle- which does make a difference. It's my prediction, which I feel is well substantiated, that I'll be playing Ben in round 3. This may sound odd, but to make him proud, I really want to beat him! I've been thinking about the game (D.L. or T.H., please don't take offense to this) and how I'll play. Will I play reserved and defensive? Or, will I go for the gutsy, fantastic, crowd applauding plays? I also want this to be a great game for anyone watching- full of tension, drama, uncertainty, and excitement. Oh! My nerves are killing me! Hahaaaa! :)

Well, I feel a little better about things now that I've gotten it out by writing. That's good.

I'll keep posting all the drama, intrigue, dare I say "scandal"?, and fun of King Pong. Stay tuned! Not that anyone reading this is doing so by means of an electronic device designed to select certain radio frequencies and convert them to sound and/or picture... but still, "Stay tuned" makes sense and you know what I meant.

Oh! Almost forgot. I had such a blast playing ping-pong with Herlindo tonight! He told me, on three separate occasions because I asked on separate occasions, that he'd never played before tonight. He was phenomenal! He had a great a back-spin serve in almost no time, and near the end of our one and a half hour "session" we were doing fore-hand slam drills and he was making them 90% of the time! He also showed a great ability to read my position relative to the table and put the ball where I wasn't. Above all that though, we both had a great time and enjoyed just hittin the ball around. His full name is Herlindo De Jesus, and now I'm calling him "Herlindo De Bomb!"... cause he rocks with a paddle! : ) Watch out for this dude in '06, seriously.

-Zach

It's been a while.

Lot's of stuff happenin right now!

1. Me coche (my car)
   
2. King Pong
3. Work, work, work...

1. Me coche
From all appearances, my car is finally fixed! This has been about a 7 month ordeal- on-off, on-off, ad infinitum (for at least 7 mos :P). Started with... Geez! I can't even remember what it was back in November! Hmmm... Ok. I think what happened is:
In November the 'Check Engine' light came on. Took it to my mechanic for it's oil change, and had them do a diagnostic as well. Problem was a bad O2 sensor- they replaced the sensor and cleared the computer, and off went the light. Around February the car started having idle issues- sitting at a stop-light with the transmission in 'D' (it's an automatic) I could hear the engine reving around, what I estimate to be, 2000 rpm, and could feel the car pulling against the brakes; and by now the light was back on. Then when I'd park the car, and put the gear selector in 'P', the engine would shoot up above 6000 rpm. Also started having issues with the transmission not going into reverse immediately when I put the gear selector in 'R'- it'd take up to 5 seconds some time; which became a concern when trying to do a 3-point with waiting (or on-coming) traffic. Took it in about 4-5 weeks ago to try and resolve this problem and found out that I needed new plugs, wires, and a cap; again they cleared the computer and out went the light.

It ran better except for the high revving idle, then about two weeks later, on comes the light. Took it in two weekends ago and had a faulty Throttle Position Sensor replaced; I was also told that there still might be problems given that the Throttle Body itself was made of plastic. Took it in today to replace the Throttle Body (now it's not plastic) and for the last 20 miles it's been great!

My '01 Ford Focus wagon now has appx 71,000 miles and I'm not sure if this is par for the course, or not- I had some very strong negative emotions in light of the last two problems. In comparison, my friend's Toyota has well over 100,000 miles and has had no issues, save for regular maintenance.

Well, I'm grateful it's running. : )

2. King Pong
We kicked off the tournament Monday at noon with some announcements from the organizers regarding rules of play, how the double-elimination brackets work, and prizes.

• Rules of play:
  
  
  
  • Serves must be tossed/"popped", from a flat palm, at least six inches, and cannot come from below the table.
  
  
  • Serving alternates every two points until a player reaches 11, by two points. In the event of a "deuce" (10-10), serving alternates every point until a player wins by achieving a two point difference from their opponent's score (12-10, 13-11, etc...).
  
  
  • Sets are played as "best 3 out of 5" matches.


• Double elimination: Just cause you lose once, doesn't mean you're a loser! Well, at least not emphatically. Upon losing their first set, a player is placed in the "Loser's Bracket" (no, they're still not a loser). If a player beats all their opponents in the "Loser's Bracket", they go on to play the winner of the "Winner's Bracket". If the "Winner's Bracket" player wins the first set, they are the champion. If the "Loser's Bracket" player wins the first set, they can play one more set for a chance to be champion. I'm not sure how 2nd Place and 3rd Place are determined.


• The prizes:

  1st:	A trophy, a medal, and a ping-pong table.
  2nd:	A trophy, a medal, and 6-star Double Happiness paddle.
  3rd:	A trophy, a medal, and 5-star Double Happiness paddle.

3. Work, work, work....

Ummm..... later. I took too much time on the historical inaccuracy of my car's afflictions.

Good night,
Zach

Today was a better day.

Well, I was more focused at work. Yea. Still need to work on "a lot more focused" though.

Though, I know why focus has been so challenging. I realize that what's really missing, and has been a hindrance in most if not all facets of my life, as of late are goals.

• The purpose toward which an endeavor is directed; an objective.

I haven't set any on goals that will move me forward. Why haven't I done this. Simple; because I haven't wanted to change... yeah... that's it. Well, duh, if you don't want to change, you're obviously not going to do anything, so a goal is a moot point. Definitely. Still, and this is where the inspirational definition of insanity comes in, doing the same thing, yet expecting different results, I have been beating myself senseless over the fact that I'm not where I want to be, or even where think I should be (I won't be explaining this point in this post, another time). To be honest, I still don't want to change- comfort. My job is comfortable. My cozy, little secluded life is comfortable.

Should I push myself to step outside my "comfort zone?" I'll also need to get over my "self-un-acceptance" issues. Hmmm. This will be challenging for me.

Good night all,
Zach

Hey! Here's something really original!

It's a link to Gary Brolsma's Numa Numa video.

Rock. On. Dude!!