I am MacGuyver

Friday, April 18, I locked my keys in the car while making a routine, work-related bank run. I came out of the bank, reached into my pocket for my keys, and then saw them sitting on the seat in my locked car. I tried to squeeze my forearm through the crack in the window but it just wasn't physically possible without causing injury to my forearm or elbow. I couldn't think of anything at first. I knew no one in my family has a key to my car right now, so I knew I was in trouble. I took stock. All I had was my clothes, credit cards and change. I needed to reach this latch:



And I needed to reach it through this gap in the window:



Then I realized I had a chance. I was wearing these shoes, which were luckily untied,



because that gave me an idea.



It only took a minute or two. And that is how I became MacGuyver. Congratulations, now you and the whole internet can better break into my car and steal my empty coffee cups.

Week Off, Week On

The week of April Fools' Day I had off from school. There were no April Follies. I got back my grades, which amounted to another 4.0.

Thursday, April 3, I had the day off work, so I crashed at Trent's house the night before and we set out on the road after breakfast. We decided to go north, try out Highway 1 and see how far we could go in a day. Ate lunch in a tiny town on Hwy 1 called Point Reyes Station (which Trent kept mispronouncing RAH-yez). We ended up continuing north, and disembarking at a beach for a bit. (Check out these maps. I labeled everything and included pictures. Linking to the larger version might be easier.)

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That was good, but we hadn't even gotten as far as Jenner before we decided we ought to head back. Well, that didn't take long. Heading south on Hwy 101, we made up most of the afternoon's distance in about 15-20 minutes. Crossing the Golden Gates again, we arranged to meet up with my old friend JP and his girl Christine. Ate at an Italian restaurant, and it was good.

Friday, April 4 was relatively uneventful other than the fact that two of my new classes were canceled so I had to reshuffle my schedule. This quarter I will be working for P. Svalya, Inc.(my old boss), on MWF, and my new job in the Marketing Department at the college will occupy my Tuesdays and Thursdays. I will be carrying 11 college units and working roughly 40 hours. Woo.

Over the first weekend of April we saw this movie called Stop Loss, which was pretty much depressing. Went with Aundrea, Katie, Bethany, Chris and Peter. Katie wanted to see it because she thought it was going to be a chick flick. After all, it had a bunch of boy-toy non-actors in it, like Channing Tatum and Ryan Philippe. But in the end it just made Bethany scared that David's going to get stop-lossed once he's deployed. Note to Self: No more war movies with significant others or members of the military. I felt bad, it really messed with her head. It's gotta suck being a military spouse.

On Sunday, April 6, I gave a lecture during middle hour, about being a good witness. Pretty difficult topic to teach, considering I've never been that successful, that I know of. (Witnessing, that is; sharing Jesus with people...proselytizing.)

The first week of classes was rather boring, although it did make the quarter look like it's going to be challenging. I managed to say the wrong thing a couple times at my new job already. Note to self: I am going to need some remedial training in distinguishing how to talk to different races. I am just not used to treating people differently depending on their skin color. To me it seems backwards, but if it makes people feel respected that I acknowledge that they look different, then I guess it's worthwhile. I am so post-race in my Silicon Valley mindset, it's really odd to think in terms of tiptoeing around potentially racially charged situations.

Thursday, April 10, I had an unusual day in that about five times in one day (which is about five times more than usual) some random but very cute girl made eyes at me or flirted with me in some overt way. Must have been wearing the right clothing or something.

Saturday, April 12, I spent the morning at a conference for church elders and "interested men" in San Leandro, at Fairhaven Bible Chapel. It was hot and I got a free book and some homemade salsa, and talked with an inspiring church elder from San Diego. Note to self: I like driving to San Leandro. Perfect driving distance. Long enough to think or talk something through. Saw the Fairhaven guys. They're awesome dudes.


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My Aunt Karin and cousin Kim came into town for the day, so we saw them over pizza and beers in the evening. They're visiting California from Alabama, where they live now. Also saw most of the other cousins including Jessi, Adam and Ange, and even Josh. I talked to cousin Chris on the phone, so if only I'd talked with TJ that would have been all the Ballard-side cousins in one shot.


Sunday, April 13, I saw Run, Fat Boy, Run with Trent, Peter and Brett. Was a pretty good flick. Brett didn't not like it, Pete liked it alright, Trent was disappointed that it wasn't a Hot Fuzz paced comedy. I liked a lot of things about it, especially his rock band tee shirts. That's an old Siouxsie & The Banshees tee in the pic, people, which is instant cred in my book.