Monday, September 12, 2016

August 2016 Entry

A very eventful month. 

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- Bought The Killing Joke (08.02 08.15) and watched it a couple weeks later. Some parts were a bit blah, but I enjoyed it overall. 



- Had a bit of an altercation with a homeless person on my way home (08.05). I had an extra drink with me and was stopped at a light where a homeless person was asking people for whatever. I rolled down my window, called out to him, and held out the sports drink. He then curses at me that he wanted money and not food. Cursed at me a bit more, yanked the bottle out of my hand, and hit my side view mirror. He continued cursing at me as I was driving away. Not the best way to end the night.  

- The Cruiserweight Classic has been going on for a while now. At first, I wasn't really into it because I wasn't invested in a lot of the contestants. I kept watching though to keep up with it and I'm glad I did. The matches have been highly entertaining. Johnny Gargano VS Tommaso Ciampa is a must see match. Every match thereafter has been incredible. Now I'm invested and want everyone to win, ha. 

- Hung out with a friend I made via the last flash mob I was part of (08.07). We had hung out a few times and she also enjoys escape rooms. Originally we were going to go play DDRA and go to a museum. Unfortunately, neither of those happened. First, DDRA was out of commission. Second, the museum exhibit we wanted to see was sold out. 

She had not seen much of the First Colony/Sugar Land area, so I drove her to see the town center and First Colony Mall before we went to a near by park. After the park, we ate at Jupiter and Ben & Jerry's. Then we went to my place to continue all the talking we were doing. Out of all the times we hung out in the past, we never really got to know each other. So this was a good time learning about one another. 

- Didn't get to see it live (as usual), but NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II was amazing (08.21). There was just so much to like such as a GTS, Bobby Roode's entrance (my new ringtone), the tag team title match, Bayley VS Asuka, and Nakamura's entrance. 

SummerSlam was interesting. Disappointed that Sasha Banks lost the Women's Championship. AJ Styles and John Cena had a great match. And Balor becoming the Universal Champion was awesome.  


- In preparation for a road trip, I let my parents know that we did not have cruise control on our new car. They contacted the car dealership about it (08.22). Turns out that we were not offered it. They were pretty upset about that and other options that they were not told about. I was told they raised some hell over there. In the end, they got their way and ended up with a trade in for the same model car with cruise control and other features thrown in at no extra cost. However, I was yanked around back and forth as I needed to be there to sign for it. Halfway there, I was told to go back home since there needed to be clearance that would have happened the next day. As soon as I got home, I was told to come back out as things could happen now. There was already a lot of chaos going on because of the car and this made me flip out. So much time was being wasted. and a lot of crap was just happening. I got there finally and just wanted to sign papers and go home. My mood was apparent to everyone. It took another 2 hours to get everything done and my mom still kept trying to negotiate. It was so frustrating. In the end, everything was signed and the new car would be ours 2 days later. 

I've been to car dealerships with friends and those always turn out fine and sometimes fun. Every time I go to car dealerships with family, it is horrible. Everyone gets mad and there is just so much time wasted. 

- It had been planned for months now, but I and a high school friend were going to meet another high school friend and her husband in Virginia (08.25). Since I can't fly, this was going to be a road trip; 20 hours going and 20 hours returning. My friend came to Houston around 11AM and we officially started the trip around noon. 

I took the first shift as she works late nights and had not slept since the day before. My shift was a total of 8 hours split into to rounds of 4. Our first stop was in Louisiana to eat at a Chic-Fil-A. Towards the latter part of our meal, a grandmother that was a few tables away from us fell. The table behind us called for help. Myself and one from the table behind us assisted in moving tables around to give room for everyone. A fire truck and medics arrived. We left shortly after to get back on the road. 

When night time fell, that's when we swapped. We did stop for a late night meal at Waffle House at 3AM. During that shift, I attempted to get some sleep. It was shortly disrupted as we got pulled over for going to fast. We were in Alabama at the time. It was an unfortunate thing to happen. 

The sun rose and we decided to swap again at another stop. My stomach wasn't doing too well so I got some Pepto before continuing my drive. I had to wake my friend up within the hour as I really wasn't feeling that good. I pulled over at the closest rest stop (the first one we went to) to take a break, throw up, and calm down before continuing. She took over driving so I could try to recover. This resulted in me asking her to pull over so I could throw up or use the toilet and buy medicine (Dramamine, then Etronol and Sea-bands). We were thinking I was just having an upset stomach or was having motion sickness. Partnered with those was also extreme cold or hot (more hot than cold), hot flashes, dry heaves, numbness, and no energy. We were also contacting our friend in Virginia for medical advice and just to keep her in the loop of what was going on. I was trying to do whatever it took to get better, but nothing was working. The only good thing that happened during this time was stopping at a Sheetz (always saw iJustine going to them and never went to one before). After a couple hours, I just couldn't take it any more. We pulled over at a hotel and asked if I could just lay down for a bit. During that time I asked if we could go to an emergency room/urgent care. Luckily there was one 10 minutes away. 

As we were pulling in, I told her all my symptoms just in case I couldn't speak for some reason. She was helping me walk in to the urgent care and I started crying. It was a mixture off all emotions. I hated that we were there, but I was glad something was finally going to be done to help me. Couldn't walk after getting paper work done so I had to be wheelchaired into the doctor's office. After diagnosis, it was determined that I had food poisoning. They gave me a shot that would help with my nausea and actually help me sleep. The shot itself really hurt. Even with little energy, I was still able to tell everyone that it really hurt. No other shots/injections have ever hurt me that much. After further observation, I was cleared to leave. i was wheelchaired out and our road trip continued again. This was very reminiscent to when I was last at an emergency care. While I was glad it was being taken care of, it made me doubt my body again.  

I was knocked out the whole way. She woke me up hours later to bring me into a CVS to sign for the medicine that was recommended for me (Promethazine). Minutes later, we finally arrived at our friend's place in Virginia. We unloaded our luggage and settled in. Our friend's parents-in-law were also there and offered advice for me (the mother-in-law is a nurse). I called my mom to let her know what happened. Then I joined them downstairs for some soup and water. Unfortunately, we did not continue with our original plans for that day, which included going to an escape room. Although my friend's husband still went since they had other friends that signed up to go as well. I'm glad that our reservation didn't go to waste. After talking for a bit and playing with the baby (as best as I could), I took a much needed shower and then slept for 13 hours. 

The next, I was fine, back to normal. We continued with our normally scheduled plans of going to DC. We ate at Chop't to eat light before walking around and taking in the sights around us. As we were walking, I asked if I could push the kid in the stroller. I just wanted to get as much dad experience as I could. I only tagged out once towards the end of our time in DC. While we were walking towards the monuments, there was a family walking around with posters saying "Free Hugs." At one point, they turned around and asked me to take a photo for them. After doing so (they were impressed with how I was situating the photo), we hugged and took photos together (can't find them online). Very kind family. 

Lots of walking in the heat. The baby boy got to meet a horse up close and play inflatable sports, the girls did some volunteer work, I was pushing the stroller around and catching up with the husband, I enjoyed a slush and ice cream, we enjoyed the monuments, but we were ready to go back hours later. Our friend wasn't feeling that well either unfortunately. We stopped by to get some boba and returned home to rest for a bit before going to dinner. 

Dinner was in Korea town at a place called Iron Age. They had lots of seating and many monitors playing Kpop videos. There were quite a few songs and groups I did not recognize. The first group I recognized was AOA. Eventually Sistar19, Sistar, and f(x) songs played. I was actually dancing a big to Electric Shock "on stage" (tables were elevated off the floor) and got some looks. Only did it for a bit before we left (2 hours after eating all you can eat). After dinner, we went to a nearby trinket shop. I looked at all the Kpop stuff they had. Ended up buying a gift for a friend. I did ask the cashier if they had any BoA stuff. His reply; "she's old." Ouch, ha. Yeah, most of their stuff was recent artists and groups. 

It was back to home base. We were resting up and getting ready to leave and get back on the road. Got to talk with the husband more. Our friend was still recovering a bit, but did make sure to talk to us before we left. Thanked them for their hospitality and left at 10PM. It was fun, but we needed to return home. 

The trip back was better. I took the first shift. We also made sure to make our driving shifts shorter to about 2-4 hours each. While it was still dark out, we made sure to switch and sleep. I think we were again in Alabama when the sun was out. Other than the rest stops for gas, we stopped at a coffee shop called Octane. Everything about the place was great. The decor, the product (coffee and tea), the staff, all great. I even went as far to give them a business card to HER, ha. Highly recommend them for anyone in Alabama or Atlanta. 

We had one other major stop for lunch at Penn's Catfish & Chicken. Very good for fried seafood. It was at that time that I called up Bite Macarons to see if they can do me a favor by staying open late so I can pick up macarons for the next day. I would need them early in the morning before they opened. They said they would ask a few workers to stay a little later if we can guarantee being there between 9 and 9:30PM. Called them hours later into the trip to let them know that our time of arrival had not changed and to confirm pick up. 

Other than rain slowing us down (it rained at some point on our way to Virginia too), it was a smooth ride. There were some nice nature scenes that we passed by as well. We finally got to Houston at 7:30PM. It really put into perspective how big the city is as we did not get to Bite Macaron until a little after 9PM. We even passed by a Tinseltown that I did not know existed. But yeah, finally made it back home. 

The worst part of the trip was getting food poisoning (from the Waffle House food). Otherwise, everything went well. The car ran smoothly and survived the whole way. Shell became our main stop for gas since they had good bathrooms and were usually lit up well at night. Not that we didn't stop at other gas stations if we needed to. And I had a great travel companion the whole time. We talked about everything and grew closer. There were a lot stories to share, music to play, and just memories to be made. I've been on shorter road trips with others, but I knew for this long one, I needed someone that could hang and she was the right person to pick. Thank you for riding along with me and taking care of me. You are a great friend and I'm glad to have known you for 19 years. 



- Went to RAW live in Houston (08.29). Met up with friends there. As I was walking to the entrance, a camera man from KHOU stopped me and asked if he could interview me (stood out because of the NXT title). He just asked some simple questions like what do I think of the belt design, how long have I been watching wrestling, who I thought was going to win the Fatal Four Way, and a few others. As I was being interviewed, one of my friends stood behind the camera man to try to get me to laugh, ha. Our other friend joined us shortly after (great to see and hear he's a fan of Nakamura). 

The show was exciting. We had a lot of being silly and chanting along. The ending with the Fatal Four Way, Triple H showing up, and Kevin Owens winning (my pick)...so damn crazy. The best RAW I have been to that I can remember. 

After the show was over, I spotted a friend that I made from back in my GameStop days. Good to see he's doing well and is now a father of 2. He told me to get ready for the next video game tournament he's going to throw, ha. And you'll read about the promotional event we did at HER later, but a couple of the contestants found me and said what's up and thanks. Cool stuff.   


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- I'm a big fan of the Ace Attorney series. So I thought it was cool to see that the day of Phoenix Wright's first trial (08.03) actually rolled around. Can't wait to play Spirit of Justice soon. 

- I finally got around to playing the original Shantae (08.22). I was hoping to beat it before the release of Half Genie Hero, but I was actually having a lot of trouble playing this game. I died a lot and did not get far with the few hours I played. Tried to beat it in one day like I did the other Shantae games, but it did not happen. But with Half Genie Hero being delayed, I have more time to try and beat it (although most of my gaming time I make will be devoted to Spirit of Justice). 

 

Yeah, not much gaming this month. I did try a few demos if anything. 

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- I tried something bold and reached out to a customer (08.05). When this person came to HER, I was immediately locked on to her as she was really pretty. Even in the room, it seemed like she was flirting as she would move in close to me and made skin contact. I did want to tell her in person that she was really pretty, but there was not a good time since she was there with coworkers. Asked a couple of coworkers how to approach the situation. Unfortunately, nothing came from it.  

- We had been in talks with Radio One about collaborating. As I mentioned last month, we partnered with them (97.9) and the WWE for a contest to win tickets to Monday Night RAW in Houston later in the month. At the beginning of the month was when we officially started promoting the contest (08.08). More on the actual event later in this entry. 



- Got together at Agent Majordomo and PQ's place to play Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes with other coworkers (08.08). A few of us had been wanting to play that for a while now and it was frustrating and fun. 

- We had our first alpha test for our fourth escape room (08.10). It's great that it is in a stage to be tested now.  


- Got sick out of no where. Felt miserable all weekend. Called in sick on the 13th and 17th. Thought I was okay on the 16th and went in, but it got worse.  

- Another month, another meeting (08.16). Our activity this time was to test out the fourth room. My escape room record is now 13 escapes out of 17 rooms.  


- We conducted our second surprise wedding proposal (08.20). It went off really well. Everyone on the team knew what we were doing and the person to be proposed to was extremely concentrated on what she was doing that she did not notice. The proposal was a success. 

- Finally, the day of the contest was here (08.24). Agents Majordomo and Agent Ocean (officially brought on to the team) were to run the sessions. Agents Widdershins and Ca$h were taking photos of the event. Agents Incognito and Obsidian took care of anything extra. I was the liaison between Radio One and ourselves as well as making sure things ran smoothly. 

Radio One came in to set up a small table with merchandise and equipment. Spoke with them a lot. Some of the contestants started to arrive and sign in. Lastly, DJ J-Que arrived. He did some radio spots live on location and also did giveaways for 97.9 merchandise by asking wrestling related questions to the contestants. 

I was a little disappointed with the lack of interaction between the contestants though. Thought that there would at least be some wrestling talk going on, but there really wasn't unless they actually spoke to me. I was also bummed that some of the contestants didn't show up. I don't understand that. It sucks that they took spots that someone else would have been excited to have. Although I was told I can call anyone I knew to fill in some spots. I made a last minute call to a friend I knew was wanting tickets to RAW. Unfortunately, he could not make it, which sucks because even if he were late, he would have been placed in the team that ended up winning.  

Overall, the event was a success. It was good to dip our toes into a promotional event this big. Now we know what to expect for future events we may plan with others. 
  

- It was almost a month later (on purpose), but we celebrated Agent Incognito's 1 Year Anniversary with the company (08.31). We set up a little Pokemon mission for him to do while the others set up a surprise dinner for him. 


It was also the first day for our new Agent In Training. She has been progressing well and is fitting in nicely with the team. 

- Agent Solaire was the writer for this month's blog post. There's a photo of us playing Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. 


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- SNSD - Sailing (MV) 

- Yuri x SeoHyun - Secret (MV) 

- The Ballad of Jessica Blue is the last set of videos that Christina Grimmie made before she passed away. It was great to see new stuff from her. I'm sure all of Team Grimmie enjoyed them and still miss the heck out of her. 


- 16 years of BoA (08.25). It's crazy to think that she has been a major part of my life, almost half my life. Continuous support from me to you.  


- Agent Majordomo was asking me about my latest vacation I had asked time off for. In particular, he wanted to know when I would be back. He was saying how Agent Raynor wanted us to do an activity the early Monday after. I started to decline since I figured I could participate some other time. Later on, he called me in to do a video call with Agent Raynor (08.19). He was also asking if I could come back sooner for the activity. At that point, I said I could try. I also noticed that Agent Majordomo was filming me with his phone so I figured something was going on. It was then that Agent Raynor said that they had been setting up something with Radio One to thank me for the work I've put into the project. They were able to set up for me to meet Sasha Banks. 

When I returned from Virginia on Sunday night, my friend got picked up as I got a late order from Bite Macarons, I went home, showered, ate dinner, and then drove to Agent Majordomo and PQ's place to spend the night there. Were I to stay at home, I would have had to leave at least 2 hours early (5AM) to get through the morning traffic to get to the Radio One studios. Caught up with both of them before heading to bed. 6 hours later, woke up, got ready, and Agent Majordomo drove me to the studio. 

We went up to the studio since we had been there before. Right there waiting outside the door were 2 Toyota Center workers, a WWE person, and Sasha Banks herself. We made eye contact and I immediately went shy and couldn't do/say anything. I rarely get star struck, but I definitely was during this instance. We were all outside for maybe 5 minutes before they had someone let them in. Our contact (gave a box of a dozen macarons to) let us in through another door minutes later and we all met up again outside of the radio booths. During that time, we were catching up with our contact. At some point the Toyota Center workers asked when our radio spot was going to happen. That's when our contact mentioned that I was actually there to meet Sasha because of our collaborative promotion. That's when she and I formally exchanged greetings. I was still shy, but the talk among all of us was about escape rooms. Some of the Toyota Center employees have been to HER and Sasha has done one in Orlando (I knew about that and challenged her via Twitter). 

After minutes of waiting, 97.9 was ready to bring us all in. I got to stand 2-3 feet away behind Sasha as she was being interviewed. It was a good mix of her being in character and being real. I'll admit that I did take that time to check her out more (not that I wasn't sneaking peeks when I could). She was absolutely gorgeous in person and wore a great dress. 

The interview itself wasn't that long, but it was cool to be part of. Afterwards, she took photos with the DJs and then took pictures with me. With her heels on, she was little taller than me. That's why I thought she squatted down. I told her she didn't have to, but she said she was "popping a pose," ha. I requested we take a silly photo by making a heart. It was at that point she called me out for wearing a Bayley wristband and for having an AJ Lee phone cover. We laughed and I said I had her gear as well. Agent Majordomo took photos with her as well even though he wasn't going to originally. Then I gave Sasha a box of 2 dozen macarons before saying the following (as best as I can remember): 

"I have been a wrestling fan for over 30 years and you are actually the first wrestler I have ever met in person. All I ask is that you take care of yourself. Thank you." 

And that was it. While I was hoping I would get more time to just talk to her about wrestling, Kpop, etc, it was an absolutely amazing experience I will never forget. 






That is it. August was eventful. If I'm catching up with anyone, the stories from this month will be what I mainly talk about. Thanks for reading. Be healthy, be safe, be thankful, and be loved. 


"Reprise the theme song and roll the credits." 

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Monday, August 8, 2016

July 2016 Entry

More than half the year is over. More things keep happening. 

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- Ended the night and kicked off a week off work with some karaoke (07.03). I got to meet my friend's fiance for the first time. Had a great time kicking back and talking with friends. But one girl that was part of our group turned to me and a friend and called us party-poopers for not going up on stage and singing. Granted she didn't see us rocking out the whole night from our seats and enjoying ourselves, but that bothered me a lot. She left maybe 10 minutes later...and then the song my friend and I turned in an hour ago finally got called on. We rocked. Yes, that bit with the girl bothered me (and still does). I just don't like people telling others that they aren't having fun "the proper" way. I was enjoying myself until that point. The night was still fun, but that one thing was definitely crappy. 

- A cousin invited me to join some family out in League City for July 4th. Her sister was also in town with her husband and baby boy so that was added incentive to out there. Food, stories, laughing, and rounds of NES Track & Field. So much fun.   

- I asked a friend to hang out on during one of my days off from work (07.05). We did some random stuff. We walked around a cemetery for 30-45 minutes, went to Kung Fu Tea to re-hydrate and talk, went to the bat bridge (her first time, my second after many years), ate at a Japanese restaurant (it was okay), and then finished the night with rolled ice cream (delicious). And of course we were just catching up and learning more about each other the whole time. Lots of random things, but very good day. 

- Picked up and watched the Scott Hall documentary (07.06). Very touching and emotional. That man has gone through tons of struggles and it is great to see him being healthy and happy now. 

- One thing I decided to do during my week off was get a massage (07.09). Ended up going to a place I've never been to, but had decent reviews. It was also out of the way from places I normally go so it was nice to just drive off somewhere else. Booking it was funny since I originally made an email request the night before, called about it since it was getting close to the time I wanted, got it rescheduled to a better time, and had to get it re-rescheduled for a few hours later since my assigned masseuse went into labor, ha. 

The place was nice and the staff was friendly. My masseuse was nice and very talkative. She asked me about Pokemon Go of all things, ha. And when I mentioned working at HER, she was very interested. The massage itself was okay. The cruddy thing afterwards was that I actually was in a lot of pain the next day. That had never happened before whenever I got a massage.    

- I had been putting off getting new glasses for a while now. Finally went to the eye doctor this month. I was worried that something might have been wrong in general as my eyes were getting dry more often and I they were twitching more than normal. But there was nothing wrong. They recommended upgrading my prescription just for improvement and suggested I wear my glasses more often (which I do now). Oddly, my previous glasses broke the day before I picked up my new ones (07.17). I really like these new ones. When I was choosing them, I asked for help getting something similar to my sunglasses. The person helping laughed every time I tried a pair and shook my head around, ha. Just wanted to make sure they don't easily fall off my head like my previous ones. These new ones are great and my eyes have felt better since the change. 

- And I got some new sunglasses shortly after getting new glasses (07.20).  


- 8 months since my last hair cut (07.23). Both times were for weddings. But since those 8 months, my normal place I go to get my hair done closed down. Fortunately, my stylist kept the same number and informed me about where she was now located. We caught up a lot and talked about many things. We realized that I've been going to her for over 10 years now. We tied it back to that I brought a girlfriend to her once and she and I were dating over 10 years ago. Crazy how time flies. It was definitely good to see that she's still doing well. 

As stated previously, the reason for getting the hair cut was for a friend's wedding reception. Another friend met me at my place and we carpooled over. We were early, but we got to talk to the new groom for a bit before the crowd grew larger. Got to see my highschool assistant principal (mom of the groom). While she was greeting other former students, she came to me and couldn't pinpoint who I was exactly and sad that was a good thing, ha. I did let her know that she made me shave once though, ha. Caught up with other friends and their kids that were present before the festivities started. 

Good speeches all around. One friend (brother of the groom) actually mentioned the Houston Escape Room and pointed me out since he was talking about what happened during the bachelor party. Appreciate the shout out. I was also recruited to help with one of the surprises of the night. I was to greet, hide, lead, and unveil a mariachi band when properly cued. And there was just a lot of dancing at the end of the night. 

I enjoy weddings. Congratulations to the newlyweds. 


- NXT came to Houston for the second time (07.30). I invited my younger cousin who I recently reunited with last year at a wedding. He said he had not been to an NXT show. So I bought us pre-sale tickets and got as close as we could (4th row). He had never been that close before. The show was great. 


- Mojo Rawley beat Buddy Murphy 
Fairly good match to open the show. Mojo got everyone hyped.  

- Andrade Cien Almas beat Wesley Blake 
Another fairly good match between the two. 

- Bayley and Carmella beat Mandy Rose and Daria 
Very good outing for all 4 women. The duos started with dueling hugs. The most memorable part of the match was Mandy Rose doing a sit out Pedigree. Everyone gasped and it was great. Mandy and Daria were both pretty decent. With some more seasoning, I would like to see them on NXT broadcasts. 

- Hideo Itami beat Austin Aries 
Incredible contest. I don't think I've ever been part of "welcome back" chants. Hideo Itami seemed genuinely happy to be back. He even laid down in the middle of the ring after winning to soak it all in.  

- The Revival beat Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa 
Match of the night. The Revival were making fun of the crowd a lot, ha. So many false finishes that got me and everyone out of their seats. I can't wait for them to have a title match at a Takeover. 

- Asuka beat Nia Jax 
Finally got to see these 2 in person. Great match. Nia Jax even imitated a People's Elbow with crotch chops as she missed a leg drop, ha. I had my 2 Asuka masks with me that night and held them up during her entrance and after the match. I swear she spotted me and pointed at me after she won. So good.  

- Finn Balor and Shinsuke Nakamura beat Bobby Roode and Samoa Joe 
Prior to the match, the announcer (gorgeous) let us know that it was Finn Balor's last NXT match and they played a nice video package before he came out. Nakamura came out next and it was a blast to sing along to his theme. He actually did his "yeaoh" on our side of the ring. Bobby Roode was next and that was the first time I got to see him in person. His theme song is awesome too. And finally the NXT champ, Samoa Joe, came. Always fun chanting "Joe."  

After the match, Bayley came out while Nakamura and Balor were still in the ring. She said some nice words about Finn and then talked and brought out all the NXT stars that got drafted (Mojo, Carmella, and Nia Jax). Some kinds things were said about all. The locker room came out to the entrance and showed appreciation to all. Finn thanked them all and thanked the crowd to end the night. It was great to be part of Finn Balor's last NXT match.  

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- Friend came to visit and dropped off my Little Mac amiibo a while ago, but I only opened it up in July (07.07). 


- Megaman Legacy Collection (3DS) - Review  

Finally beat all of the 6 NES Megaman games on Legacy Collection. It was great to play through that series again. Every time I always excel at the first 3 and have to look up stuff for the last 3. 





- Shantae: Risky's Revenge Director's Cut (Wii U) - Review  

Normally I don't review older games, but I felt like it. I enjoyed Pirate's Curse more, but that's because it was more refined. Risky's Revenge is good on its own. But yeah, I'm playing the Shantae games in reverse. I did download the GBC Shantae and will need to play and beat it before 1/2 Genie Hero comes out in September. 



- I was doing alright jumping back into Twilight Princess (07.10). Beat another dungeon and some other side quest stuff. I know I'm towards the end, just a few more hours to go. If anything, I'll make it a goal to finish the game before the year is over.  

- I had been following the news of DDRA being available in the US. A dear friend had returned from a month long trip and wanted to catch up so we put the 2 things together (07.31). It was great catching up with him and listening to his crazy stories. There were only a few people at the DDRA machine (6 total including us 2). Other than the girl playing for the first time, they were all Perfect Attack players. When my friend and I went up, I definitely played older songs and was throwing in bits of freestyle when appropriate. The only thing I didn't do were any bar tricks. We ended up only playing 6 songs (2 playthroughs), but it was tiring and fun. I'll try to come back when I can to play some more. 

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- We received a nice card of recognition from Yelp (07.03). Thanks to everyone that helped make this happen.  


- I had a week off I requested a while ago. That time was actually supposed to be for San Antonio that happened last month (wouldn't trade it). Unfortunately, I could not find anyone to do anything with during that week. Other than July 4th and the day after, no one else I contacted was available. Schedules conflicted. If anything, I did get to re-energize that week off from HER.

- 2 years have past since I went to my first escape room (07.12). It's been a crazy ride so far.  

- Another month, another monthly meeting (07.13). There were a lot of us that day including Agents Raynor and Husky Panda. And by this time, our latest trainee has now graduated to being Agent Ca$h. Agent Voxel also got to choose and host the activity for that meeting. We all really got into playing Magic Circles. 


- Agents Raynor, Majordomo, and I were invited to visit the Radio One studios (07.14). As of typing this (08.08), I can actually talk about and promote it. HER + 97.9 + WWE = contest to win tickets to RAW. Yes, things I like are combining. I will go into more detail in next month's entry. For now, click the links to enter to win. 


- Agent Gig has now been with the company for over a year. We surprised him with a special event weeks later (07.16). We deceived him to coming to work as we were closing stating that Agent Ca$h wanted to hang out afterwards. What ended up happening involved decorations, night vision, lasers, and a betrayal virus for him to eradicate. It was crazy fun. After we were done, Agent Ca$h had to go. Myself, Gig, Blue, and Obsidian went to Ninja Ramen for dinner. We had fun singing in the car and just celebrating a great Agent. 

- Agents Majordomo and PQ invited some of us to their new place for a game day (07.18). We played a lot of board games that day. Other than those 2 and myself, Agent Blue was there and Agent Solaire and his wife. Lots of fun. 

- Agents Yeti, Blue, Majordomo, PQ, Widdershins, and I went to a newly opened escape room called Escape Hunt (07.25). It was alright. Can't say I was super impressed or disappointed with the place. My record is now 13 escapes out of 16 escape rooms. 

- Was asked to purchase new chairs at IKEA. Ended up going with my dad since I knew I wouldn't be able to lug everything by myself (07.31). It was my dad's first time in IKEA so I don't think he was ready to walk so much, ha. And the place was under construction so a lot was blocked off. Anyways, found the chairs, went to the service area and picked 12 of them, paid for them, and went to HER to drop them off. At least my dad knows exactly where the HER is now. 

- And our monthly blog was written by Agent Voxel. Take a peek at it. 

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- Got my copy of TaeYeon's Why album (07.11).  



- Whenever I fill up for gas, I always buy a drink and a snack. This time I picked Big Red Vanilla Float (07.22). It was delicious. I then checked online to see if I can purchase it, but it's a limited edition flavor. Did more research and could not find any place that sold it. Looks like I would have to be lucky finding it anywhere. The gas station I originally bought it from does still have it so at least I know it's there for the time being. If anyone ever finds it anywhere, please let me know. 

- It has been 2 years now since Grandma Gina passed away. Didn't do anything out of the ordinary that day, but it just happened to be a rough day at work. It is still unbelievable that she's not here. Although I have to thank her for being where I am now. This ties in with the Houston Escape Room. 

I was actually supposed to have my interview with them the day the funeral happened. I do remember thinking that when I emailed them about her passing that my chances to get hired were gone. It might have been a week or two after that I thought "would she have wanted me to miss out on the opportunity" and I don't think she would have. That's what made me reach back out to them to see if the offer for an interview was still available. And that's where I am now. 

She was a factor in that. I'm glad that I can tie her with HER. Thanks, Grandma Gina. 

And that's it for July. August will have a lot to type about. Thanks for reading. Be healthy, be safe, be thankful, and be loved. 


"Reprise the theme song and roll the credits." 
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Thursday, July 7, 2016

June 2016 Entry

Get ready to read a lot for this month. 

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- A friend had his bachelor party planned out for him (06.04). It was him and 3 others that started things off at HER to challenge Mo's Safehouse and I was their facilitator. One of them had been through Grandma's before, but the rest never did an escape room before. Them and a few strangers were able to escape. 

After work was over, I called them up to see if they were still together. I joined them as they were in the middle of a quiz involving questions about the bachelor (some that I had answered previously). It was just a hilarious time. I think we ended around 2AM.   

- Was feeling sick (or really tired from the bachelor party), but did a little cleaning in my room (06.05). I had done this years prior where I got rid of boxes I would keep from deliveries (in case I needed them). This time it was consolidating posters into fewer tubes and throwing out the rest. Didn't realize how many I actually had collected over the years. 

 

- The Eric Bischoff documentary was really good (06.07). Definitely humanizes the man and also gives closure on a lot of things that happened in his career. Worth the time to watch. 


- NXT TakeOver: The End (06.09) was fantastic just like all their TakeOver shows. The talent always performs to their best. The highlight for me was when the fans were singing along with Nakamura's theme song. Too dang good. 

And speaking of Nakamura, I bought a few new wrestling shirts. 


- Didn't have plans to go originally, but a friend asked me if I wanted to go to Comicpalooza (06.19). I had not been to one in 3 years I believe. At that time, I was working. This time, I got to enjoy it even if it were for one day. Ran into a few friends, but was for the most part enjoying time with my friend as he was in awe of everything and taking lots of photos (had to let him know of some convention etiquette, ha). I also made sure to hand out some business cards when appropriate. 

There weren't that many guests I was interested in seeing, but we did the rounds at the celebrity area a couple times. I walked by Arn Anderson and he looked at me and said "hey." I greeted him back. Classy. And Ric Flair was next to him so being in his presence was awesome. My friend was planning to go see Eliza Dusku, but didn't. We were really close to her at least, ha. And at one point, Kel Mitchell walked by me. But the coolest thing that happened was running into Taeler Hendrix outside of her booth. I wasn't completely sure it was her, but I asked and she confirmed. I brought up that I remember her debuting in TNA and she exclaimed and laughed "my Gut Check!" I then told her to keep up the good work before leaving. Very cool moment. 
 

Then it was home to watch Money In The Bank. Wow, so good. The MITB match itself was full of crazy moments. Then the end with Rollins winning and then Ambrose cashing in to become the new champion, so entertaining.  

- Sistar - I Like That (MV) 

Not my favorite of the summer hits, but I like it enough. If anything, I feel that this is Dasom's season to shine. 


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- Continued playing through Mega Man Legacy Collection. 2 more down, 2 more to go. 



- E3 had a lot of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I'm really excited and a little intimidated by the game right now. I do hope I'll have the time to play through it when it does come out. 


- A friend (and his wife and son) were in for Father's Day weekend. They dropped off a few gaming items he had been holding for me for a while; 2 PS2 games and one amiibo. 



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- With my PC back in working order, it was time crank out some videos for HER. The first was the long awaited trailer for Episode 2: Grandma Codebreaker. I recall Agent Blue actually getting emotional watching it. 


- We were visited by radio personalities from Radio One (06.08). At first I thought they were only from 97.9 (because someone who called the weekend prior mentioned only 97.9), but there were apparently a mix of 3 radio stations. They were a fun group. We also established a small little relationship with them so stay tuned for something in the future with us and them. 
 

- Cranked out a couple of videos from our 2nd Year Anniversary. One of them is viewable by the public. It's actually the short version of us making Rube Goldberg Machine (06.13). 
 

- Had our monthly meeting (06.15). Other than business as usual, I was in charge of the activity. I wasn't sure at first, but then came up with the idea of a quiz about Agent Blue since he was not going to be there. He was cool with the idea and was excited about it. We came up with a few questions and then I made a powerpoint for You Don't Know Blue. I was nervous about it, but it was a success. I also filmed it and edited it fast so Agent Blue could see it himself. 
 

- Much like we did for Mother's Day, we took special photos of dads during Father's Day (06.19). 


- And then we had one of the most draining weeks at HER (06.21-25). It wasn't just me, but almost all of us were feeling it. Some were sick, some got hurt, some of us were pushed to our limits and running on low. To top it off, we had a random act of vandalism (at least we hope it was random). One of our windows got smashed by a large rock. I give props to the whole staff for pulling together to make things run properly and to keep our customers happy. It was rough. While we were able to continue things business-wise, you could tell that the staff was out of it. Sure, we still joked around, but we weren't the same. Things are okay now, but it was a wake up call to beef up our security.   

- Agent Obsidian was chosen (by me) to write June's blog post. Click on the link to read it.  

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- Got my copy of BoA's Nowness concert. While I actually felt sick that day, it did make me feel better and cheer me up. I think I say it every time, but it seems like she has more fun than she did the prior concert. I know I always end up falling in love with her again, ha. This time around, it was a good mix of new songs and songs she never performed before during concerts. Definitely enjoyed singing along the whole time. 


- TaeYeon - Starlight (MV) 

TaeYeon - Why (MV) 

Starlight was alright, but it felt more like a song for the guy featured in it. Why is amazing though. I don't think I've ever been so into and proud of TaeYeon until now. Keep it up. You know you have my support. 

- Christina Grimmie was shot at a fan meeting after a concert (06.11). I woke up to the news that she was in the hospital in critical condition and I was worried. That did not last long as I scrolled down more to see that she actually passed away. I immediately watched the first time I ever saw and heard Christina sing.  


A small tribute I did for her was wear my Christina Grimmie gloves during work. I also called myself Agent 2264 (she was 22 when she died and her YouTube name was ZeldaxLove64). 


I played her songs for at least a day or two straight whenever I was on the road. Sang along and just remembered some good things about her life. I do recall she tweeted me at least once for something silly. There was a moment in time that she was streaming and playing Brawl against her fans and I tried to get in on that, but wasn't able to. I also remembered that she was in Houston not too long ago and I unfortunately did not go see her perform. One thing I knew I wanted to do in the future was ask her to sing at my wedding. While it would have been a long shot, it was something I would have tried to make happen. 

I didn't know Christina personally, but I was there from when she started at 15. The first time I heard her sing, I knew she was an extraordinary talent and knew she would make it big. I was part of Team Grimmie and a Frand. She did a lot of things and I was proud of her. I was bummed that she didn't win The Voice, but knew that that wasn't the end for her. The sky was the limit for her and she was taken away too early.  


Rest In Peace, Christina Grimmie. 

- I got see Alessandra again (06.14). Her mom and I did a few things before coming back to take care of her. It was very stress relieving. Her mom and I said a lot of things the whole time. We knew that what we were doing at the moment was at one time our future. But the fact that we were still friends despite not being together meant a lot to the both of us. In the end, I told her something that I have meant to say for a while and that she is my best friend.  

She texted me to come to San Antonio early to help take care of the baby as she packed. I had requested time off in the beginning of July to visit them, but things had to happen sooner. It fortunately fell in at the same time I had a 3-day weekend. So I left on Sunday (06.26) to go see them. The ride there was probably the easiest I had traveling to San Antonio. I took the new car (couldn't find the cruise control option...) and played DDR songs the whole way. 

I immediately got to take care of Alessandra and it was great. I've never held a baby as much as I have her. Had lunch at a nearby Korean place (pretty good). She's such a good baby in the car and was very tame in the restaurant. Back at the apartment, I got to continue taking care of her and I learned a lot. There were a few times I was left alone with Alessandra and I was calm yet worried. Fortunately, I was able to get her to sleep. Not only that, she slept on my chest. THAT was an incredible feeling. Moments like that are reasons I want to be a father. Ending the night with pho for dinner, so good. 

The second day was more baby care and packing. A familiar face showed up to help take a few things and then my best friend had another friend show up with her 4 kids to help pack and take stuff with her. The familiar face left with his friend and then I was asked to pick up my best friend's step-daughter while her friend took care of the 5 kids (yeah). This was something I was a little worried about as I never had one-on-one time with her step-daughter. I've seen her a couple times and she knew I worked at an escape room, but never really did anything together or talked. When I picked her up, I made sure to properly introduce myself. It was a little quiet in the car, but I knew 2 things I wanted to try. One was ask her how to return to the apartment. Sure, I had a GPS, but I wanted us to talk and I also wanted her to feel important. The other was to talk about the escape room. When she found out I worked at one a few months ago, she was excited since she enjoyed the app games. She was also excited about finally getting to go to one with us and a friend. So I talked to her about what to expect and to come up with a plan (tell everyone what you find, don't be afraid to move things, etc). I could tell she was pumped for it. She even asked questions that we get from normal customers, but it was different hearing it from her. 

After returning and a bit of time for more packing and eventually for the extra kids to leave, the four of us headed out to pick up the step-daughter's friend and then go to the escape room. We were unfortunately told that babies were not allowed. They mentioned that it was on their website that no one 7 or under was allowed (it was not) and they stated reasons why. However, they let us continue as we were the only ones signed up for that session. They even put another lamp inside for the baby as the room we chose was a little dark (not really). Other than making sure the baby was okay, I wanted to make sure that everyone was important to the team. I made sure that the step-daughter and her friend opened up locks when we found answers. I made sure my best friend did important things that i was weaker at than her. All of that was apparent and we were a great team. We were unfortunately one step away from getting out. Everyone had fun, but were bummed out for not getting out. My escape room record is now 12 escapes out of 15 rooms. 

Dinner afterwards was nice. Some strangers gave us coupons for free kids' meals and dessert since they us coming in with a baby. And the step-daughter and her friend were very open to talking with me. The step-daughter went as far as to tell me she tried crank calling me a lot over the past few months, ha (I never picked up). My best friend even asked if she wanted to stay the night at her friend's place again since it would be the last time she could. The looks on their faces lighting up was great. 

Day 3, more alone time with Alessandra. This was also the first time I changed her diaper. Never changed a diaper before. Just to fast forward a bit, I changed her diaper again later in the day, but did not make it snug...so she pooped on me, ha. That girl, such a little gas machine. Another of her friends came by to help take things. He stuck around the whole time and was a cool dude to talk to. But yeah, mainly more time with me and Alessandra. I tried to get her to sleep to Zelda's Lullaby (almost worked) and I played with her a lot while watching the Game Show Network (yay for Family Feud and Deal or No Deal). I was also given a gift to take home with me. She sat in the passenger seat the whole ride back to Houston. 


I actually planned to leave back for Houston at 2PM, but I couldn't leave. I changed the time to 6PM, but it was delayed since it rained. But as it was getting closer to night time, I was feeling down. I knew eventually that I would leave and that soon Alessandra and my best friend would be moving to Buffalo. I was thinking of a speech to say to my best friend and I was getting emotional just thinking about it. When it came time, I hugged both her and the baby together and did not want to let go. She could tell. We had one more hug outside in the rain (felt like out of a movie). I was really emotional at that point and couldn't say anything I wanted to. I left driving away in tears and it took a good while before I stopped crying on the road. I did text everything to her once I got home. I then enjoyed a nice night of rest in my own bed.  

The whole ride back, I kept thinking of what happened the past 3 days. I spent the most time ever in my life taking care of a baby. So many firsts happened like changing a diaper, feeding a baby, doing anything to entertain a baby, putting a baby to sleep, waking up in the middle of the night to calm a crying baby, and so much more. I got to be a dad. It was amazing. To my best friend and Alessandra, I love you so much and I miss you. Can't wait to see you again. 

And that is it for June. It ended with one the most physically (bad) and emotionally (good) draining weeks I can recall ever having. Thanks for reading. Be healthy, be safe, be thankful, and be loved. 


"Reprise the theme song and roll the credits." 
 

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