Rule #4: Never make a promise you can't keep

10 April 2006 - 3:36 AM

I watched Transporter 2 sometime after writing my last blog. That line is in there somewhere...

Friday (night)
After texting three divers who were already either there or on their way there, I had to get a hold of Dallas and ask him to take me to the dive meet. He, Brittany, and I had a bit of a time trying to get there because there was an accident on the freeway. We took the exit just before the accident, because that's our luck. The entrance ramp to get back on from that exit happened to be the only one that was being worked on, so we had to take a detour. It was kinda interesting, since we were in the ghetto and Dallas almost hit like, three cars in the span of thirty feet. We eventually found our way back to the freeway and then got off on Las Vegas Blvd. They dropped me off and went on their way to the Fashion Show Mall.

By the time I showed up, the dive meet was already a third of the way done. I watched the rest of the meet and then helped coach the other region's divers until my ride was ready to leave. She drives a pretty nice truck - I think it's an F-150. Ah, now I remember... This is where I started watching Transporter 2. I had to leave before I could finish it, though, because I was supposed to be meeting Nicole, Niki, and Chris at the movie theatre to see Lucky Number Slevin. When I showed up, they hadn't arrived yet. Michelle and Matt were there though - I didn't know they were seeing it with us. The movie was really good. That makes three good movies in a row. Pretty sweet if you ask me. Chris and Nicole had to leave before the conclusion because Nicole had to be home at 11:30. After the movie, I took Niki home, came home myself, and watched the rest of Transporter 2 before falling asleep.

Saturday
It was a pretty busy day. I went to two banks to deposit money for my mom. After I got back, my grandpa picked my mom and me up to go to the cemetary to celebrate what, in my mom's words, is called 'Chinese dead-people day'... Maybe I'll look into the real name for it later. Anyway, we, my sister, her boyfriend, my two maternal uncles, and four of my maternal cousins had a picnic at my grandmother's grave. It may sound odd to you, but the place was really nice during the day, especially since it was clear and bright outside. I caught up a little with some family members who I never talk to and felt that kind of familial love and togetherness that is very much missing from my household.

My mom's friend has started picking her up for work on Fridays and Saturdays, so I didn't have to take my mom to work on this day. This also left my dad with more time to use the car. When he came home, he had bought another item from Goodwill - an oak file cabinet. I got mad at him for spending money on something that the house didn't need, considering our house looks like shit 24/7, especially since my mom is always broke no matter how much she works. Later on, we talked for a bit, discussing his business and the validity of my argument. The conversation was cut short on account of a phone call to him and the need for me to start picking people up to go to SkyMania for the night.

Being on time this time was more important than usual, considering everybody was supposed to be meeting there, instead of me picking everybody up. John was transportation for Mike, Mitch, Sexton, and Cesar (spelling). I also invited my cousin, who was in town for the week, and was interested in the place when I told her about it at lunch earlier in the day. I was left only to pick up Sarah, Chris, and Niki. Soon after departing to our final destination, Mitch called, telling me to steer clear of The Strip, because they had been in traffic for half an hour. I wasn't very happy about it, but I hopped on the 215 in an attempt to make up time. It may have been faster than waiting on Tropicana, but damn, it was a long trip. If you just look at a map, you'll see how far out of the way it was to have gotten on that freeway. We took the 215 to the 515, or the 95, as most usual freeway drivers will call it. I got off the 215 on that exit because it was the only familiar exit I saw. It's a good thing we got off there, because if we had gone farther, we would've gone even more out of the way. We took the 515 to Tropicana and then soon after made it to SkyMania.

Just a few minutes shy of 8:00, our set time, and still wondering where my cousin was, we decided to get on at 8:30. Not too bad considering we usually show up an hour after the time that we set and that there was bad traffic. My cousin showed up with one of her friends, which was pretty cool. They only jumped for half an hour and then left. She's pretty good though, as far as backflips go. Another friend of mine was unexpectedly there, too. He brought quite a few family members and his girlfriend, which I thought was pretty cool, being that I was the one to show him the place.

As far as my jumping goes, it was pretty good. ~ Skip this paragraph if you don't know enough about the place to know what I'm talking about. ~ Most of my jumps onto the crash pad were done with feet together - still trying to get dive practice in wherever I go. I backflipped over the gap, and eventually tried it through the hoop. Apparently, Mike's were better in his and Chris' opinion, because his body was higher up in the hoop. I think mine were better because I actually started the flip backwards and his started sideways, but whatever. The employees stopped us from filming each other because we're not supposed to bring things on the court, and the only video that I thought we had - where Niki was recording - somehow didn't get recorded. I'll bet that it was because the lens got bent. Well, we'll just have to go sometime during the week, when it's not busy, and get some good video. I need to get some kind of lower-leg workout, because when I come down hard from a jump, my right shin almost feels like it's going to snap.

Everybody stopped at Sonic afterward to get something to eat. Then we left to do our thing and meet back up at Mitch's house. My passengers and I stopped at my house to pick up an air splint for Sexton because he rolled his ankle at SkyMania and was having lots of trouble walking on it. We stayed there longer than I thought we were going to, and because I left my phone in the car, I didn't answer a few calls from Davey and Jordan, who I was supposed to be picking up when I dropped Niki off. Finally, we left my house, dropped Niki off, picked them up, dropped Chris off, and went to Mitch's house.

I didn't drink much - only a shot. Half of the reason was that the environment just doesn't fit me that well, being that they were all smoking Black & Milds and smoking hookah, and that I hate smoke. The other half of the reason is... those kids don't know how to mix drinks. I mean fuck, all they had was a fifth of Smirnoff Apple, a fifth of 99 Berries (whatever that was supposed to taste like), some cranberry juice, and a 3-liter of diet cola. I would've been more content drinking half a bottle of Bacardi Limon with nothing else. I need to teach those guys how to drink - that is, if I attempt to drink with them again. I don't know if I will, because that house just doesn't give me the right vibes. They always insist on listening to thumping rap, with nothing else in-between. I like rap, don't get me wrong, but variety is good.

I was falling asleep on the couch, with more than 6 people around me smoking flavored tobacco. Finally, Mitch told me that I could go sleep in his room. Sexton helped me get set up, and I went back into the living room one last time to get my PSP. I'm not so sure that I got it to listen to music as much as I got it so that it wouldn't get stolen. With a game and a 2GB memory stick in it, I definitely want to keep an eye on it more often than before.

Sunday
For the first time in a few weeks, my mom needed a ride home from work. She called at 6:00, and I was able to leave Mitch's house undetected. It was a good thing that I didn't drink last night. After I dropped her off at home, I grabbed a bottle of water to save for later and went through the drive-thru at McDonald's for some breakfast. Not wanting to have to give up parts of my meal or have to go out again to get food for others, I ate my two McGriddles in the car in front of Mitch's house. The door was locked when I walked up - probably by Mitch's roommate, who had work at 6:30. Luckily, Sexton was up, and let me in. I got back to the room, but my place in bed had already been replaced. I was forced to sleep on the floor.

I suppose I'll put in here that while I was sleeping on the floor, I had a dream that I was able to remember. In this dream, I was forced to kill someone - at least I think I killed him. The setup was that this crazed man jumped in the driver seat of my car and started taking off. The car door was still open, so I jumped in and wrestled him to the ground of the car, where he laid his head back on the gas pedal in an attempt to harm everyone in the car. I managed to get my hand down and put on the emergency brake. After I fought him some more, I think I threw his body out of the car. ~ I don't know why I decided to include this. I guess it's just because I thought about it after I left Mitch's house - that I killed someone in my dream...

It was very uncomfortable sleeping on that floor with no pillow and nothing familiar besides my music, so when I woke up for the third time from discomfort, at 9:30, I collected my shit and headed home. I slept soundly in my own bed from then until 3:00 PM. The rest of the day went very slow, with nothing to do. My right ass cheek is more sore than the rest of my body - I'm willing to bet that it's because of all the driving I did yesterday. I realized sometime in the afternoon that it was Dallas' birthday, so I sent him a text. He was going out to dinner with family, so it's not like we were gonna go out and do anything. I guess I fell asleep in the evening sometime from boredom, and woke up around 1:30 AM.

Are you STILL reading!?! Holy shit, you've gotta be more bored than I am, and I just sat here for more than an hour and wrote it all...

Take it easy, but strike hard.
Vaniah Schwenoha