Wednesday night I slept at 5, got up around 5... I really don't like sleeping when it gets too warm. I get uncomfortable when I wake up sweating under the comforter and plus it's hard to fall asleep when it's too warm. I checked my voicemail, and find out my UCI people want to go dress up and eat somewhere. I persuaded them to eat in Brea around 9 so it would be a little bit closer to Chino Hills. I asked my mom first and she starts by telling me to abstain from hanging out with friends for Lent... interesting sacrifice, no? On top of that, she also took it as a good time to drill me about my future. And what the hell exactly happened about my valet job. It's hard enough asking them things, but answering a barrage of questions? They're not the types to take disappointment well, which makes my relationship with them a little strained, at best. I think at times I'm their #1 disappointment out of all my siblings. I'm not bummed about it though because I know that it's all part of growing up. First she asked, when are you taking the MCAT? I haven't really told them that I haven't been studying for it, even though it's in April. I didn't even know the exact test date until last night, when I looked it up online while she was talking to me. It could have been April 1st... Then she went into what happened to my old job. I haven't worked since last April, when I was (unfairly) terminated (fired) from my valet job. Since then, I've been telling my parents that I still worked, as an excuse to get back to Costa Mesa and also so they wouldn't worry about me. If they knew how hard up I was during the summer, they would have demanded that I move back home or something. I didn't want them paying my rent either, because they have my brother's expenses to worry about. I only told them I stopped working a couple of weeks ago. I only told them I was fired last night. She told me that she had this idea that I was taking things from customers' cars while I worked. How sad is that? Then I went downstairs to eat and my dad starting getting into the whole interrogation. By this time it's 9:15 and I was itching to leave, but the questions kept coming. What are your plans? When are you taking the MCAT? (they tend to repeat questions very often). What is the best med school? Is UCSF a good med school? What do you want to specialize in? I told them about OD schools (osteopathy) which David told me about. They kept thinking it was all acupuncture and herbal stuff and got a nice laugh out of it. How's that for parental support? More questions... Do you have a girlfriend? I think I would have answered that truthfully if I did actually have a girlfriend, even though I know they wouldn't support my decision. It sucks having to hide the fact you're with someone from your parents just to maintain your sanity. Is it better to keep it a secret or to tell them and have all sorts of conflict? Is it more important for your parents to know and be disapproving, even if you know your heart is in the right place? They joked that if I did have a girlfriend, I should introduce her to them, because she would probably end up not liking them. Parents can be so hilarious at times. Then they asked about my car, and ended up trying to schedule the 90k mile service, which took another 15 or 30 minutes. I didn't want to be rude and just leave, but it was almost 10:30 at that point. Then my dad asked me to help him install some program on the computer for taxes. Meanwhile, I started changing and making phone calls to see if everyone was still eating. My dad figured out that I wanted to go somewhere when I put on a different shirt and didn't even ask where I was going. Since I've left for college he's gotten pretty chill about the things I do, even when I'm at home. My mom is another story. By the time I got out the door, my brother's friend pulled up to drop off my bro and I asked him if he wanted to join me. It took a little persuading in the form of free food to get him to go. I waited another five minutes, thinking about how wierd it is that I was leaving the house at 11 pm and my parents weren't asking what time I'd be home, especially since my brother was tagging along. 11:10, and we rolled out...
The drive there seemed to take longer than it should have. My brother doesn't really talk that much to me, and I brought him along so he could see a little bit of my world. I wonder if he'd every go on the Days retreat, but I think I'll need to work on him some more before I suggest anything. I don't think he's into his faith enough, but I know it's going to really help him, especially in his relationship with our parents. His short autobiography on his website isn't very positive at all. In fact, it's downright depressing. So after drving around all of Brea Mall, we arrive, 2 1/2 hours late. Sorry guys! G-Nat, Dave, Geeps, Regi, Fran, Jeremy, Ashley, Nhutron, Mark Anthony, Nim, and Em where there, and I tried to introduce everyone to my brother, but it didn't quite work out. We grubbed on leftovers for about a half hour, when everyone decided to leave. My bro stayed pretty damn quiet the whole time, but I didn't expect much to come out of his mouth anyway. I hope he doesn't think my friends are alkies... 20 minute drive... 30 minutes of chill time... I guess I needed to get out of the house anyway. We had the usual parking lot talk and loitering, and I followed Em home, except that she took the 57 north, the long way around to our house.
Feeling adventurous on the 71 (one of my favorite freeways), I took my car (I haven't named it yet) up to maybe 110, then some cars got in the way, only to exit a few seconds later. There's a mile stretch of road right before my exit and I decided to open up the throttle again. I sat at 80 until the overpass was behind me (for fear of cops) and dropped it into fourth, except I should have gone into third. Down to third, shift at 90, hit 110 or so, shift to fifth, feeling the rush, gripping the wheel tight, I squeezed out 120 right before a car got into my lane and the exit came up. Not bad for only my second top speed test ever in my car. After that I wanted to loosen up the rear tires, so I pulled the hand brake on the left turn into my neighborhood at 45, and nothing happened at first, and then the back slipped way out to the right, and now I was looking at the curb, watching it get closer in slow motion, thinking that my front left wheel would snap completely off if it hit... all that while I was yanking the wheel right to countersteer, now my car angling to the opposite curb and a nice storm drain. I hit the brakes and came to a nice stop, then rolled on. There was a guy on the corner maybe 100 feet away from where I stopped, watching tv in his garage. He must have thought I was crazy. For the time being I was. I should probably try that in a parking lot before I do it anyplace else. It could have gotten ugly. I haven't done anything like that since high school in my old accord. I hit 108 in that car, but it was a 1987 4-banger automatic... I wasn't going to go much faster. I think if I had more road ahead of me last night, I think I could have hit 125, but 120 is good enough for me. For now. I'm not much of a speed demon anyway. I get too paranoid about cops to do stuff like that just anywhere. I have done some crazy things though. 100 with 7 (yes seven) people in the car on the way home from Magic Mountain... 75 down the twisties in Carbon Canyon... Maybe not too crazy in retrospect... I never go that fast unless I know the road is nice and straight, no bumps or anything. My friend Louis rode shotgun while his friend took his S2000 to 135 at 9 pm... my brother took his civic to 118 on the 60 in the carpool lane at daylight! That's insane. I told him not to do that anymore. Not around other cars, and not during the daytime. He even tried the whole handbrake thing on Rancho Hills Drive, one of the longest residential streets in Chino Hills, and was barreling sideways toward a ford taurus before traction kicked in and he stopped right next to it. That's hella crazy. I hope he learned his lesson. Not around other cars!
It's interesting how those experiences make you feel after the fact. My heart rate was up for a good hour after my top speed test and fishtailing incident last night. Then you start thinking... what if my brakes failed at that moment? what if I was going 5 miles an hour faster? what if that car swerved in front of me and stopped all of a sudden? what if there was a recliner in the middle of my lane? (that's from personal experience, my first and hopefully only major collision---my driving has become a lot safer since then). That rush of fear and anxiety is so quick, you'd think it might stop your heart. But I guess we all like it, otherwise Magic Mountain would be out of business. Reminds me of the time I went tubing at Lake Folsom in Sacramento with two of my roommates... 30 miles an hour just a few inches above the water, and swim about as well as a 155 pound rock. Thank God for life jackets. I wouldn't have experienced anything like that without one. It was scary enough letting go of the boat and just sitting there in the water with only the little floatation device holding me afloat. My roommate said I did a spectacular flip and went airborne before I ate it, but all I remember was hitting the water. I surprised myself and didn't panic... floating with your life-vest isn't as scary as the water is when you're skimming adn bouncing right over it. But what if the straps to my vest broke?.... All those experiences that make your heart race... sitting on top of a long planck 25 feet in the air while it's bouncing up and down right above a pipe sticking right up at you, all to paste some cranberries onto spiderman's head for a rose parade float... watching the concrete center divider come closer and closer while you have no control your car... flipping your raft and being pulled downstream in whitewater... getting electrocuted... riding your scooter down the driveway when one of the rubber handles on the handlebar comes off... running through 6 lanes of bumper to bumper traffic just to beat your sister to the car... not trusting the rope 30 feet up on the rockclimbing wall... hiking on the side of a mountain on a trail less than a foot wide with rocks slipping under your feet... jumping off the top of the stairs as a kid...
I enjoy life, but sometimes it gets a little crazy. Stay safe kids!
The drive there seemed to take longer than it should have. My brother doesn't really talk that much to me, and I brought him along so he could see a little bit of my world. I wonder if he'd every go on the Days retreat, but I think I'll need to work on him some more before I suggest anything. I don't think he's into his faith enough, but I know it's going to really help him, especially in his relationship with our parents. His short autobiography on his website isn't very positive at all. In fact, it's downright depressing. So after drving around all of Brea Mall, we arrive, 2 1/2 hours late. Sorry guys! G-Nat, Dave, Geeps, Regi, Fran, Jeremy, Ashley, Nhutron, Mark Anthony, Nim, and Em where there, and I tried to introduce everyone to my brother, but it didn't quite work out. We grubbed on leftovers for about a half hour, when everyone decided to leave. My bro stayed pretty damn quiet the whole time, but I didn't expect much to come out of his mouth anyway. I hope he doesn't think my friends are alkies... 20 minute drive... 30 minutes of chill time... I guess I needed to get out of the house anyway. We had the usual parking lot talk and loitering, and I followed Em home, except that she took the 57 north, the long way around to our house.
Feeling adventurous on the 71 (one of my favorite freeways), I took my car (I haven't named it yet) up to maybe 110, then some cars got in the way, only to exit a few seconds later. There's a mile stretch of road right before my exit and I decided to open up the throttle again. I sat at 80 until the overpass was behind me (for fear of cops) and dropped it into fourth, except I should have gone into third. Down to third, shift at 90, hit 110 or so, shift to fifth, feeling the rush, gripping the wheel tight, I squeezed out 120 right before a car got into my lane and the exit came up. Not bad for only my second top speed test ever in my car. After that I wanted to loosen up the rear tires, so I pulled the hand brake on the left turn into my neighborhood at 45, and nothing happened at first, and then the back slipped way out to the right, and now I was looking at the curb, watching it get closer in slow motion, thinking that my front left wheel would snap completely off if it hit... all that while I was yanking the wheel right to countersteer, now my car angling to the opposite curb and a nice storm drain. I hit the brakes and came to a nice stop, then rolled on. There was a guy on the corner maybe 100 feet away from where I stopped, watching tv in his garage. He must have thought I was crazy. For the time being I was. I should probably try that in a parking lot before I do it anyplace else. It could have gotten ugly. I haven't done anything like that since high school in my old accord. I hit 108 in that car, but it was a 1987 4-banger automatic... I wasn't going to go much faster. I think if I had more road ahead of me last night, I think I could have hit 125, but 120 is good enough for me. For now. I'm not much of a speed demon anyway. I get too paranoid about cops to do stuff like that just anywhere. I have done some crazy things though. 100 with 7 (yes seven) people in the car on the way home from Magic Mountain... 75 down the twisties in Carbon Canyon... Maybe not too crazy in retrospect... I never go that fast unless I know the road is nice and straight, no bumps or anything. My friend Louis rode shotgun while his friend took his S2000 to 135 at 9 pm... my brother took his civic to 118 on the 60 in the carpool lane at daylight! That's insane. I told him not to do that anymore. Not around other cars, and not during the daytime. He even tried the whole handbrake thing on Rancho Hills Drive, one of the longest residential streets in Chino Hills, and was barreling sideways toward a ford taurus before traction kicked in and he stopped right next to it. That's hella crazy. I hope he learned his lesson. Not around other cars!
It's interesting how those experiences make you feel after the fact. My heart rate was up for a good hour after my top speed test and fishtailing incident last night. Then you start thinking... what if my brakes failed at that moment? what if I was going 5 miles an hour faster? what if that car swerved in front of me and stopped all of a sudden? what if there was a recliner in the middle of my lane? (that's from personal experience, my first and hopefully only major collision---my driving has become a lot safer since then). That rush of fear and anxiety is so quick, you'd think it might stop your heart. But I guess we all like it, otherwise Magic Mountain would be out of business. Reminds me of the time I went tubing at Lake Folsom in Sacramento with two of my roommates... 30 miles an hour just a few inches above the water, and swim about as well as a 155 pound rock. Thank God for life jackets. I wouldn't have experienced anything like that without one. It was scary enough letting go of the boat and just sitting there in the water with only the little floatation device holding me afloat. My roommate said I did a spectacular flip and went airborne before I ate it, but all I remember was hitting the water. I surprised myself and didn't panic... floating with your life-vest isn't as scary as the water is when you're skimming adn bouncing right over it. But what if the straps to my vest broke?.... All those experiences that make your heart race... sitting on top of a long planck 25 feet in the air while it's bouncing up and down right above a pipe sticking right up at you, all to paste some cranberries onto spiderman's head for a rose parade float... watching the concrete center divider come closer and closer while you have no control your car... flipping your raft and being pulled downstream in whitewater... getting electrocuted... riding your scooter down the driveway when one of the rubber handles on the handlebar comes off... running through 6 lanes of bumper to bumper traffic just to beat your sister to the car... not trusting the rope 30 feet up on the rockclimbing wall... hiking on the side of a mountain on a trail less than a foot wide with rocks slipping under your feet... jumping off the top of the stairs as a kid...
I enjoy life, but sometimes it gets a little crazy. Stay safe kids!
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