Update

Hello all who follow, all who have stumbled upon, all who may not be interested to read any further after finding out that I am going to spoil the ending to The Usual Suspects at the end of the post. Quick update on my life so far:

New Car - A week or so ago on my day off, I was driving through the grey streets of Bellingham in my trusty '85 SAAB trying to decide what to do with my day without computers. I had been interested by a 2006 Kia listed by the local credit union as a repossessed vehicle and for a pretty decent price. So I decided to finally get proactive about my car situation and went for a test drive. It was alright, nothing fancy, and though worlds apart safety and reliability-wise from the SAAB it wasn't special enough to validate the extra monthly payments/commitment. You see, my problem with purchasing a new car wasn't that I couldn't afford a hundred or so more dollars a month (especially after canning my iPhone reducing my bills by $100) but that most of the cars I could afford were not appealing enough for me to upgrade and enter into a 5+ year commitment. If I were to buy a new car and decide to commit to monthly payments for that long it would have to be awesome. And the Kia was not awesome, it would have been me settling, and that I cannot abide. So, admittedly because of their enticing advertising, I drove to the nearby Hyundai dealership. I described my desire for a nice car for around $150 a month, and down I went. I was shown the 2004 Mazda 3, IT was awesome. A few hours later, several other car showings later, I was signing the paperwork for my new car. These salesmen are good, they have creepy phrases like "if I can get this car down to $150 for you, is this something you could drive away today?". But I took it for a long drive, I picked Emma up from her dorm in it, she had absolutely no idea, and the look on her face was priceless. I felt better about it talking it over with her, and after driving it around a little more I decided to make it official. So now you can see me (if you're lucky) driving around in a green Mazda 3i 2004, with awesome rims, 0-60 in 11 seconds, it even has this cool anti-theft feature called lo-jack, basically on my key ring is a black box, and if my car starts without that box in the direct vicinity the service notifies me and the police and they can track it. So I'm selling the SAAB, it's been a very firm car for the 2+ years I've had it, taken me many many places, seen many many things, and it'll be sad to see it go, but it's time for reliability, performance, and safety.

New Phone - So as mentioned above I'm getting rid of my iPhone, it costs me $100 a month, and I have the option now to have a plan for $10 dollars a month and get 1,500 minutes unlimited text messaging/nights/weekends/mobile to mobile. Obviously HUGE savings, so I bought a cheap Verizon phone, and started the process of changing over. All was falling into place when yesterday I had a lengthy conversation with the owner of the computer shop I work at, discussing our strategy for selling Verizon phones, and especially the new Droid. Long story short, he offered to buy me one if I committed to head up the phone section of our company and so I could have the hands on experience with the device to really sell it, and demo it. Wow, so I'm excited, I'll have to update on how that goes. Also picture of the car to come.

That's all I can think of for now, thanks for getting to the end, and you're off the hook, I could never reveal the ending to that movie. It would be the douchiest thing in the entire world.

- Man and woman come in with 6 year old computer, expecting trade-in of $200 dollars, informed them we're not taking trade-in's on that old of a computer, got verbally accused of running a bait and switch operation. Stormed out spouting slanders against the company, headed to Best Buy for sure.

- Man in kilt and plaid one-size too small shirt insists on talking my ear off, won't take social cues that I have other things to attend to, ignoring all writing on the wall insists on trapping me in conversation, obviously because others in more ideal situations could simply walk away.

- Man in business suit walks in with girl young enough to be his daughter, girl is approached by coworker and offered sales pitch, several minutes later, man exclaims to salesman working with girl "I see the woman gets the first service". Man then approaches me at the counter, me trying as hard as I can not to deal out a hefty punch across his face greets him, man asks about our trade-in program. After enquiring what computer he's interested in trading in, it being a computer we normally do not accept but it has a few valuable add-ons, I offer $100 dollars, he laughs, looks offended, and walks out scorning our company.

- Man in his late 70's comes in to have me address questions on his computer, including mouse not responding, screen not being aligned, firefox not searching, all with a very sharp and obtrusive stench to his heavy breathing voice.

All in one day? Does fate hold such a grudge as to cast such a heavy shadow over what could be a quite lovely day? On the good side, MMS was a great surprise!

If you've fallen off of your bike, and chosen not to get back on right away, you certainly haven't forgotten how to ride one, and you could still detail with much accuracy how to ride one, or how even to improve ones riding, and even though you're not moving nearly as fast, and may at one point be required to get back on, yet you prefer to walk, I understand.

Customers

Yesterday an interesting thing happened. A customer came in and dropped off a machine for me to look at, I wasn't too thrilled because it dealt with printer software, and it was a very old machine. The customer seemed fine leaving it for me to get around to because we were busy so I put it away. Almost immediately it slowed down so I decided to take a look at it, quickly discovering more work needed to be done. I was feeling bored so I dove in and got it up and running again. I called, let them know it was ready to pick up, and they came in right away. I explained what I did, said the hard drive was probably on its way out, and handed over their computer. As I expected they asked me what the bill came to and I told them not to worry about it, that it wasn't a big deal. Usually I'll do this because I'm lazy, but I think I somehow hope that they'll see my gratuity as an excuse to show a little gratuity towards me with a small recompense compared to the large fee our store would charge them. Well this is rare to say the least, in fact today was the first time it happened. The gentleman said something about not believing in a free lunch, and asked his wife to offer me a tip, she reached in and grabbed a 5er. This was cool, it really wasn't a big deal, I didn't exert too much effort into fixing his machine and you know, everything helps! Well today an even more unexpected thing happened, the customer called me up and immediately asked "honestly how much time did you spend on fixing my computer"? Now this concerned me, because this has happened before, and every time it's an irate customer that feels they've been shorthanded. Well this guy never ceases to surprise me. I covered myself with a basic answer saying I'd only spent half an hour to an hour, thus allowing me an out if he said I didn't do a very good job. Well he then proceeds to ask me what our hourly rate is, still leery I told him $95 an hour for the trained technician labor, and $50 for in-store service. He then begins to tell me that he feels that I deserve more recompense for my time, he said that if they had been carrying more cash they would have given me a larger amount, and that he's going to send a check to me. This knocked me off my feet, finally, a customer who understands what it's about. I don't even care about the money  it's the idea that a customer would see the situation for what it is, and value my services enough to honor them in that way. Very cool experience, and it almost combats the whole swarm of crummy experiences this economy is rearing on the retail environment. Customers thinking that in this economy retail stores are out to get them, trying to cheat them out of their hard earned money more, because we're doomed or something. It's experiences like this that make me keep my job, keep on keeping on, doing services and being rewarded. 

Weather

Finally...

Poem

In the town with no center, in the town with no center.
I can't drive to the theater on main street, I can't find your house.
You'll stop for directions, but who could ever know?
Is it next to the dinner? Is it off past the farms?
In the town with no center, in the town with no center.

Weekend

It's crazy what goes through your mind when it's in shock. This last weekend was unlike any other, any time, any place. Saturday started out overcast, little sun here and there, but mostly clouds. Perfect weather for my family who haven't been in Washington in more than a year to arrive to. Work was long, with the expectation of an almost complete reunion, and the idea of making all my progress in this little town known pressing on my mind. I probably annoyed my little brother calling him every few hours to see where they were and when they planned to arrive. During the last few hours of work the weather started clearing up drastically, finally the sun was out, but the timer was ticking down, would they make it before it set for the night? Turns out they did, my Dad, Sister, and two Brothers pulled into my driveway at around 7:15 in time to motor over Lakeway Drive to a beautiful sunset, on our way to the start of an insane weekend.

My family can be a lot of drama, for anything more than a few weeks it can be too much to bare, but when there's months in between, it's like a breath of fresh air. It's funny when my family was visiting I didn't once get annoyed by Brett and Emeli's bantering, in fact I was noticing how well the two of them seem to interact now, Brett is very kind to her, and she's definitely learned how far she can take Brett before she needs to look for apologies. We had a delicious dinner at this incredible pizza parlor, they cook the pizzas over a wood-fired grill, with really fresh ingredients. Usually it's too expensive for Emma and I to go for casual outings so it's always a treat to go there. I showed them the awesome lemonade they serve, they mix in rosemary and it has the most peculiar bite to it. I can't describe how nice it was to be sitting in a familiar place with faces I've known for so long but seen so little of recently, it was perhaps harder than being in Utah where I feel a visitor. We finished off two large pizzas and everyone seemed very full, very content. It was cool outside, but we decided to walk a few blocks up to the local ice cream shop Mallards, one of Bellingham's pride and joys. Emeli was jeered at by a homeless black man which startled her, unfortunately the homeless choose the popular street to hang out on. I've walked that street probably a hundred times but when you're not just a solitary college student, fending for himself, and you have family around you the whole world can look entirely different. So we get in the car, Freddy insists on riding shotgun, to sweeten the deal for us backriding passengers we get to watch Quantum of Solace in dolby digital surround, and Emma sits captivated oohing and ahing at the stunts. At the turn to my place Dad decides to keep on straight, spying the looming Lake Whatcom on the GPS unit in the dash. Though dark it was fun to see him explore a place I was very familiar with, seeing his gaze fall over sights I could illuminate in my mind having seen it a dozen times in full sunlight. My own curiosity kicked in, I had never driven the road we were on as far as we had gone, I was starting to wonder if it did in fact go all the way around the lake, which would make for a very long car ride... It wasn't long until Emeli and Brett started complaining that they wanted to go back, which I was torn on, I was excited to see if the road went all the way around the lake, but I wanted to interact with my family, yet I was realizing we'd have to drive the distance we had just come, back... Luckily the GPS kicked in and showed a route to the freeway, which would take us a more direct distance at a higher speed. After only a few minutes on the freeway Freddy started asking when we could pull over so he could go to the bathroom, since we were really only 5 or 10 minutes away we pressed on. Just a couple minutes later Freddy asked again almost in the same tone, and Dad told him he should just wait, but Freddy immediately got very serious about pulling over, telling Dad to pull over right now. I'm sure the thought of vomit in the new Land Rover was enough to pull over on the side of two lane freeway. I admit I was watching quite intently, probably with the intent of seeing some vomit, and giving him a hard time about it later. Luckily I was because Dad didn't see him look cautiously around, and then suddenly collapse. Not sure whether he had just keeled over to hurl I asked if anyone else had seen him fall over, Dad didn't seem to realize what had happened so I jumped out of the car and ran over to see where he was. He was lying flat on the pavement, face first, not moving. I started shaking his body trying to see if he'd move, he moved his arms up to his head and started pulling at his hair. My first thought was that he had dirt in his hair he was trying to get out, and by this time Dad was standing by his side helping to pull him up. It was too dark to see everything at first, but I could definitely see the blood, there was a stream forming right above his right eyebrow. Emma was at the scene at this time too so I turned her away, not sure if it'd be any more graphic. As soon as Freddy was on his feet he began pushing involuntarily trying to walk off, which seemed weird to me for two reasons, first he didn't seem to be taking any notice to the large gash on his face, and second he was treating us like strangers. I first noticed my hands were shaking when I tried pressing 9-1-1 on my phone, mistakingly pressing 9-9-1. Immediately I was on the phone with an operator who transfered me to someone in my area, I was trying to describe what had happened, while watching Freddy struggle against Dad trying to get him in the car. Dad called out to me telling me NOT to get an Ambulance, we were going to take him. So I tried explaining to the emergency operator that we were going to take care of the situation, she didn't seem to believe me, she asked "why do I hear shouting in the background?" She heard Dad yelling at Freddy, at this point Freddy was not responding well to Dad trying to get him in the car. I hung up the phone and ran over to help, we were trying to force him into the car but he was acting very strange. Dad was saying to him "Freddy! You've been badly hurt! We are taking you to the Hospital NOW!" But Freddy didn't seem to understand he would push away and say things like "Okayyyy OKAYYY" It was apparent that he wasn't responding well to Dad so I looked him in the eyes and snapped my fingers right in front of him and said calmly but sternly "Freddy. Wake-up. You're hurt. You need to get in the car." His demeanor instantly changed, he went silent, stood very still, and almost in a reluctant mood stepped right into the front seat. Emeli the whole time in the car was really freaking out, it was interesting to me because she was transferring all of her stress about Freddy to her pink bear that she just realized was missing, poor thing! Freddy was sitting in the front seat and so I started massaging his shoulders, at first he flinched and yelled "stop it Brett!" but when I said it was me he said oh ok thanks, and relaxed. Dad took off doing 80 to the Hospital, at one point we were stuck behind this small car in the slow lane, Dad flashed his lights at him, and he slowed down. I've been guilty of that before, but never again, you just never know what people are rushing to, and you can only hope it's something important. Freddy kept pulling down the visor and looking at himself in the mirror, the odd thing is he would see himself and get really pissed, then moments later do the same thing as if he hadn't just been doing it not 10 seconds earlier. On the freeway exit I asked Freddy when he was born, and instantly he responded with the correct date, I asked him what year it was today and he just said "I don't know." I asked him what town we were in and again he said he didn't know. He seemed annoyed with the questions so I stopped, we were approaching the Hospital when he started saying the same thing he'd gone on about before he fell, saying how he needed to stop and go to the bathroom. We arrived and everyone hopped out to go take him in except Emeli, and I got to drive the Land Rover for the first time, a few feet away to find parking. Finding all the appropriate controls for shutting off a car is ten times worse when you're anxious to get somewhere I swear.

Long story short they checked Freddy in really fast which was surprising, and after only a few hours he was out again. Apparently it was just the effects of dehydration, over-consumption of caffeine instead of sustainable food.Emma was a complete doll, she immediately stepped in and helped Emeli and Brett feel ok. She started showing Emeli LOL Cats on my iPhone which was a huge success, Emeli was enraptured, and soon Brett and Emeli were nervously laughing in the waiting room. While we were waiting for word from the Hospital Brett Emeli Emma and I went back to my place and played on the PS3. Brett and Emeli got to play this amazingly fun game Little Big Planet, and they were hooked! It was so fun to watch the two of them interact, it was kind of a hard game to grasp Brett caught it faster than even I had, but Emeli took a little longer. So it was a funny combo, Brett would be up near the end of the screen and he'd have to wait for Emeli to get it, she was a real sport about it, she'd just laugh hysterically the more agitated Brett got. When Emma and I went to get Freddy and my Dad from the hospital Freddy really wanted to sleep at his place, I was nervous about him sleeping there alone in case he passed out again. We decided it'd be best if Brett went and stayed there with him. When we got home Brett and Emeli were dead asleep, Brett reluctantly woke up, but Emeli was out cold in my bed.

The next morning we got donuts at the local shop, it was very sunny, we went and picked Freddy and Brett up. Freddy seemed to be doing a lot better, but his face looked like it was making his life very miserable. I felt SO bad for him, today was the day we were going to explore, it was the last time he'd get to take in the sights and feel the cool Bellingham breeze and he had to see it through a headache, bleeding face, and chipped nerve exposed teeth. We gave him a maple donut and he took a few bites before he realized he had to stop cause it hurt too much. We had breakfast at the dorms, Brett and Emeli seemed to enjoy the buffet style, plus seeing all the college students must have been cool. We took a stroll around campus, and then made our way down to the beach. The beach was definitely the highlight of the weekend, Freddy seemed to leave a lot of the pain and misery in the car and as soon as we started exploring the rocks he seemed at home scurrying over the stones looking at the sea life. Brett and Emeli were eating it up! Dad brought along all of his gear so he was always a few paces behind having to pack up all of the camera and binocular stuff. After exploring a while we headed back to get Freddy packed up. Emeli uncovered a pack of Mambas and started passing them out very generously, she has such a kind heart. She handed one to Freddy who politely accepted, but I noticed him tuck it away not being able to eat it because of his teeth (I assume). Freddy started looking really down from this point out, you could tell it was weighing heavy on his soul all that he was leaving behind in Bellingham. Brett and Emeli wanted to play more of the video game so Emma offered to stay at my house with them so I could help get the car packed at Freddy's. The night before when I was lying in bed it all kind of struck me what had happened and what was about to happen. I realized then how much I'm going to miss having Freddy around town, I really took advantage of the fact that my brother was here in the same city. My whole family is scattered many states apart, I can't just decide to go visit my parents, I have to wait months to see Brett and Emeli, but Freddy was 5 minutes away. I really wish I would have hung out with him more, we had so many good times here. I've always been more emotional than I had to, and to my credit it's been a long time since I've full on cried, but that night I cried, not very long, and not very hard, but it hurt, I really didn't realize what I had and it was leaving the next day. Driving around town with Freddy in the front seat seeing his pained expression, realizing the emotion he must be feeling, I had to swallow a few tears, pressing them back only made it harder a few hours later.

We visited my store, took a look at Whatcom the school I go to, and just showed Dad around town a bit, delaying I suppose the inevitable, the unrelenting fact that things were about to change, this joy would soon be coming to an end. We somehow, don't ask me how, fit all of his stuff into the back of the land rover, it took about an hour, but we did it. Emma came over and we drove to Boomers, the local burger drive in. We had amazing burgers, it was somewhat of a somber lunch, Freddy only got fries, onion rings, and a shake, poor guy. We meandered back out to the cars and said good-byes or tried to, I instantly became a mess, I could barely speak I was just so choked up!! It was a really fun weekend, somewhat more exciting than anyone could expect, but I'm glad it all worked out. Guess they troop didn't end up leaving for another hour or so, they were looking for scattered items they'd left around town haha. They even stopped by my house to pick-up headphones Brett left in my car. The second good-bye was much easier than the first. I still keep replaying all the things that went through my mind as we were driving Freddy to the hospital, how sweet it is that he reacted so well to my voice. I'm not the best personal communicator, so it was really touching to see all the subconscious respect Freddy has for me. I'm feeling very stable now in life, being where I am, being who I am, ready to see my family whenever next I can. I can't wait to see my Mom, and feel like every minute isn't worth a thousand dollars, slipping away, and really enjoy being with my wonderful family.