Tak's Milestone: July, 2000

July 31, 2000 =Last Day of the Month, July!

Damn... Seino lost... at quarterfinal... gave up too many runs in early innings... No way to catch up thereafter... Too bad we lost like that!
Friend of mine, ChanKen, went to that game to Tokyo Dorm... his voice/support didn't reach the team quite well then...

Visor (Tak's new toy) should be delivered to my home in Japan by now... still no notification from my Dad via email... Hope it's there!

Today was hectic... since my computer, ThinkPad, once again crushed badly... and waited for computer guy's supports almost indefinitely... Office with 300 people and a few support guys... cannot cover... obviously, I think.

Anyway, my computer was up and running eventually around 4pm... then worked a little bit then. Otherwise, I should have considered to leave the office for home to rest or something...

Went to Irving Mall... finally. Didn't like much. It was rather okay. I bought a tie --- gold one in the matter of fact... Even though I grabbed one last week, I thought that it would be better just to keep 2 ties rather than only one.

I wanted to have some tie with shinning color... so picked GOLD. Yes, GOOOOOLD.

Should be looking good on blue shirts, which I brought up with myself.

Haven't figured out yet about another mall in Grapevine area... seems to me, it's quite far from the office/apartment. So I may not go there to look around. Or maybe, this weekend.

Since my car has CD player... this is the only excuse I have and keep buying more and more music CDs... Gloria Estefan, Faith Hill, Dixie Chicks, Brittney Spears, and Spanish singer - Jennifer... they all are pretty good and no regrets buying any of those. This is good...

Only the artist that I haven't got to yet is Christina Aguilera... right? Will get one.

Dixie Chicks... love them. Sound pretty good... may even buy another CD released already.

Movie tapes... "Cruel Intentions," "Tin Cup" --- now one more "Siege" by Denzel Washington... pretty good! I like it.

Should mention... my friends once again throw another party for me as well as tkoich from NYC. He will visit us on the weekend of 19th... He wanted to see us all before my departure. So we have a party on 19th. Hope lots of people show up!

Better go to bed... now late... very late. Way passed my bed time, darn! Oh boy! I will see you tomorrow right here again.

1:20+1

July 30, 2000 =2nd Weekend in Dallas Is Over!

4-1! Won again... City of Ogaki (Seino Co&Ltd.) won the 2nd game in championship and made the quarterfinal. Beating Tokyo Gas with 4-1, just like I said. Great!
Oooops, didn't know Kim was trying to invite me for pizza dinner tonight... Sorry! Well... thanks anyway. Will make it up to you.

Weekend was quite slow... went to "6th Floor Museum" where the JFK assassination took place. It was pretty neat.

I paid $5 as for student... showing my VALID student ID. Price for an adult? Oh, just 6 bucks... saving a dollar... that's it!

Exhibition was excellent... didn't realize how much interest I had about this JFK issue... I really liked it. I had a sort of idea... as the Museum was dealing with only the assassination thing... I was quite wrong. The Museum showed how the American 60's were and how JFK became a symbol of America and what JFK contributed to American within or outside his presidency... like legacy. I really liked it.

I would say, it would be the best place to go in Dallas for sightseeing purpose.

Too bad, photograph was prohibited. No picts from there.

Today... went out with a coworker Christine. We went shopping (mostly for hers) and she wanted to go to Galleria Mall which the other day I bought a tie at. We walked a lot and talked a lot... was quite fun.

Oh you know... I recently chitchat on ICQ a quite bit... Does anyone out there use this? Let me know if you can talk with me online!

I probably should check more malls around... Only Galleria... and know Irving Mall which I am not quite interested in checking out somehow. Heard another mall... Grapevine? I thought so... I will get there sometimes this week for sure.

3rd week... I only have another weekend here... Time really flies.

I want to eat good Chinese or Thai! I miss Buford Hwy.!

See you tomorrow.

0:20+1

July 28, 2000 =Drink in Texas?

Finally Terry (Coker from Atlanta Office) showed up in the office here today... being expected so for a day from yesterday... Currently the management strict all personal visits... so you need to get a permit from it to see me in the office! (Oh, no one knows me in this town anyway...)
Terry showed up and cracked me up... they started talking about business, checking documents, etc. Wow wait a minute! She came here while on vacation... what happened? Look this picture as proof:

Gail and Maria were trying to solve some issue and Michelle and Terry (both on vacation) ended up taking calls, confirming the info in documents, etc.!!! Those on vacation should claim as "worked" today then rather than a day off.

Michelle and Terry don't come in the office together without those:

Remember those babies? On left picture... Terry's daughter - Ashley (left) and Michelle's daughter - Laura (right). How cute! They are best friends missing each other so much since Michelle relocated to Dallas from Atlanta.
You know what? I ended up BABYSITTING! They came around me, begging to take pictures again again again! They liked being taken pictures and loved to see how it turned out instantly (thanks to digital toy!). Man! I've got done so so many times...

I guess, I was okay doing that since client profile database was down; couldn't do much at that time anyway. Plus, you know, I cannot resist charms like that.

They wanted to have snacks... so we went to vending machine. They wanted chocolate and chips, respectively and also got them a can of coke. I told them, "Don't you want to thank me?"

Laura: "Thank you" (very sweet)

Ashley: "Oh, thank you, BOY!"

Mmmmmm, where that came from?!?! I guess I was babysitted by them then. You know, how much I like them... they harassed me so much.

After work... went out to DRINK! Yes, first time for serious drink in Texas in my entire life (not that big deal, though). Greg from the office and I went to a bar newly opened, on McAurther in Irving, called "Champps" ---

Tons of people... actually this place is big... really big.

We were expecting Dan to join us... he ended up with Friday night crisis in the office and didn't make it. Too bad. We kept talking, talking, and talking! Fun talk with personal and business stuff.

Stayed there for a few hours or even longer... Man, good time always passed so quickly! Large glass of beer - Martini - etc. Then after the bar, stopped by Greg's apartment to drink even more! (Brandy) Man, I was quite drunk then. Finally came home like midnight or even later.

Oh, should do laundry... don't have any clothes left to wear.

11:55+1

July 27, 2000 =to Ballpark of Arlington... for Texas Rangers!

Wazaaaaaap? Climate is becoming rather mild... compared to last week with heat... much better here for now, at least. No much rain as expected. In fact, didn't bring any umbrella with me from Atlanta!
Yesterday... to Galleria... today to a ball game! (Yap)

Rangers vs. Detroit Tigers... game time gotta be changed... because I checked and saw that game was 8:35pm... though, the truth was 7:35pm! So missed big part of the game already when getting there!

Well... it wasn't big problem for me. I wanted to come to that place anyway!

It is certainly different from the Park I know... Turner Field for Atlanta Braves! It's actually wierd-shaped stadium... The location of Rangers bullpen is also unique.
When a friend of mine, Moro, from UTA (or Univ. of Texas at Arlington) and I went in... the game was proceeding on top of 6th inning. Game was tied and just made a good move for Rangers... winning run into 4-3.

After that, there was a 3-run homer made the game definite victory for Rangers with 7-3.

Rangers' game isn't as crowded as one for Braves... I guess I may be able to come to see a "COMPLETE" game next time if I find a MATE to come along with! (just if, okay!)

Are you thinking this as in case I got a DATE? Well --- you can say so too.

Wooooooo another weekend is around the corner... don't have any plan yet. What should I do? I did find some cute girls (not necessarily cowgirls!) in the office... though don't have any connecting moment with those ladies. What should I do? You know, I cannot come by and say hi and continue like flirting... (am not like Jonathan Forrester).

Oh, lastly need to make an introduction... Mr. Moro (of course, it's handle name on line) who went to the Game with me:

He used to play baseball like me...

All right... that's it for tonight. Tired. Let me hit sack!

0:11+1

July 26, 2000 =to Galleria (Mall)...

Work was okay... lots of key-in's... getting sick and tired of doing things like that without SOCIALIZING! Haha... how's it going, fellows?
After work, I decided to go to a mall called Galleria... north part of Dallas... I heard that that mall is very nice and expensive... with ice skate place inside... wanted to go somewhere like that because I need some exercise! (why don't I go work out then, lazy!)

Galleria --- almost lost way to go since I have a map doesn't show much details... it took me about 20 - 25 minutes from the office. Before leaving the office when I got direction from Gail Michael... she told me that I would buy something even though I insisted strictly window shopping... only. I guess she knew me better than myself -

Game was... Ogaki (Seino) won by 5-4... They scored 3 runs at the bottom of 8th... so they did it! Did I watch the game completely (on line)??? No way! I just read an email from ChanKen as well as saw the website for the information.

Great!!! They are going to play against Tokyo Gas.

Oh, better finish this up. Don't have much time! See you later, alligator!

7:49+1

July 25, 2000 =Good Food... then Good Work?

Am so full with good sushi... My roommate Dan and I went out for dinner... went to a Japanese restaurant called "Hanasho" on Belt Line (near Irving Mall). Food was pretty good! Oh, I didn't take a look at the check, though (I did it well, didn't I?).
My work wasn't moving forward well as planned... Some hot shipments to deal with, rather than what I need to do for the moment... so I had tough time to concentrate... Sherry - my current boss - came by and asked me how I was doing... unable to give her a good positive answer... Though, she seemed okay with it.

Funny thing... I was talking about Chinese restaurants around here... was looking for place I can eat dim-sum... some reader from UTA - Univ. of Texas at Arlington emailed me with a LIST OF CHINESE RESTAURANTS...(with directions!) Very appreciative, huh! Was surprised so much myself.

Anyway, should print it out and hold on to it... so I can eat dim-sum maybe over this weekend?

What a power of Internet, right?

I told Dan this story and he said, "then you come to find your wife from there too, right?"

Haha --- funny too.

In talking Leigh Ann Boyd (miss her so much, cannot resist the way she treats me!) today... set up my Fritz farewell DRINKS will be held on Tuesday, 8/15/00. Please let me know if you're interested in joining us! Don't know the location yet, though --- probably nearby the office.

My laptop was in better mood today... only some crashes...

Do I bring two laptops to the office? Nope... I only take ThinkPad - Company computer and leave my dear PowerBook home (well, actually apartment). I sometimes miss dictionary and some data out of my PowerBook at work!

Today the climate was rather mild... heard that Atlanta was cool these days... well Dallas isn't far different from Atlanta then. Still humid, though.

Reserved a ticket going back to Japan... my ULTIMATE departure is on Tuesday, 8//22/00. Also made a booking on flights that I would come back for Robyn, my sister's wedding in September.

Ticket price was actually more than my paycheck... damn.

Listening to radio Delilah... you can listen the same via Peach 94.1 in Atlanta...

Since my rental car has equipped a CD player... playing 2 CD's, 2 CD's only... Brittney Spears and Gloria Estefan... I guess I will grab more CD's this Friday or so... like Dixie Chicks, Christina Aguilera, etc.

Probably movie tapes, too!

Oh, welcome back to Fritz, Angie! Too bad that you came back after I left... what were you thinking? Mmmmmm.

Well, I am leaving... hope tomorrow will be just like today in weather. Do we ever get rain here by the way?

0:10+1

July 24, 2000 =New Week... New Environment for Work...

New week... starting working on 3rd floor, rather than 5th floor... then my computer, ThinkPad by IBM, got crashed... severely. Couldn't boot up the system for a few hours!
I don't know what the problem was with that laptop computer... computer support guy, Rickey (not Martin, though) fixed stuff for me. He bitches a lot... though, good thing is that he got things done (haha).

Customer profilings and computer crash... that's all happened today. Don't have much things to talk about today --- sometimes happens like this, right?

Haven't heard from sister Robyn... supposed to let me know when we can try video conference over Internet. I brought my mini cam with me so that we could practice it before going back to Japan... I don't know what the heck she's thinking... Maybe forgot all about me?

Responded lots of emails to many of friends today... Since I got here in Dallas, lots of people started emailing me to talk! I have been so grateful about it. Or I guess people are so curious how I am doing over here?!?!

<MLB> Rangers' game I was watching and they were playing against Anaheim Angeles... (it was on TV) and finally, I saw Hasegawa - pitcher of Angeles - pitching in the extended innings. Cool! I could have ever been able to see him pitch in Atlanta due to deferent leagues, etc. So I was happy to see one of Japanese players in MLB. Hasegawa did well.

Hopefully, I can go to Rangers' game sometime soon. Very eager to make it.

Am so sleepy... let me go for tonight... watched TV too long and lost energy to keep writing hereby. See ya!

July 23, 2000 =Pretty Good Weekend!

Weekend is over... my high school lost the game on Saturday... at quarter final... how sad! I really thought that the team would be able to go all the way... came to a reality, I guess.
Anyway, here's "Tak's Weekend Review!"

Saturday... drove to Fort Worth without seeing things in Dallas... it was only 30 - 40 minutes to drive from the apartment to Fort Worth downtown... it was for an off-line meeting (again). I met 6 new friends from Internet... some of them drove for 4 hours just to meet new people... man, that's so huge deal. I don't know I would be able to do the same... anyway, this meeting was fun... I was the first comer... though, I seemed to have control over everything... as usual, I guess.

^{from left> Goods-USA, Tak, Aquafina, Moro, GoodDay, Bear2Kiss, and Nami}

Total 7 people from all over Texas...

Man, I seem having a big belly... don't you think? I better go to gym to shape up a bit (a bit? Maybe more!).

We had this meeting in restaurant "Razzoo's" - Cajun Cafe and stayed there with such fun talk from 12pm 'til 3pm... it was so great! Talked about this website, Atlanta (because of me), space (because one of them involved in space industry), etc. I was the only Texas beginner, by the way (haha).

After the meeting, I went on a little tour over Fort Worth by myself:
Fort Worth Down Town...

Went to Stock Yard... look-like cow boy town...

Wow, look so Texas... right!

Should buy one of those hats? Look at cowgirl!

And today... Sunday, went out with new friend from the office, Tom. He showed me around in Dallas and found lots of interesting points in town. Maybe I can ask some girl by now and go to some fancy places (hehe).

He showed his apartment complex to me and went out to the pool side... wow, lots of gals... damn it, didn't bring my camera out... actually had it in my car. Though I still don't think that I could face my camera lenses to those ladies with great bodies... agree?

Found another interesting stuff... Japanese restaurants are more often to be located than Chinese ones. Can you imagine that from Atlanta? Nope. Chinese restaurants were everywhere there --- man, I cannot eat Dim-Sum then!

Wow, 2nd week of the trip is around the corner... hope turns out well. Will keep you posted! Bye, ya'll

July 21, 2000 =First Weekend in Dallas!

Starting with such a great great news... like said yesterday of my high school baseball team faced my brother's high... the best of the state... They did it! My team beat shit out of the best team by 2-1 on Saturday in my hometown!!! Wow, that is SO - SO - SO great! I am so happy! Probably they feel more confident to win the whole thing by now! They could go all the way to National Championship in Osaka from August!!! Ogaki Commercial High... my school... so great!
Oh by the way, we usually DO NOT give any nickname, like ya'll do, in Japan... So there is no such Tigers, Blue Devils, etc. Sorry, folks!

My first Friday at COE wasn't that bad... had discussion with Dan about the speculation of the project, etc. Probably next week is gonna be more hectic since I have to key in lots of data.

Anyway, left office for the first weekend in Dallas... didn't hit too heavy traffic and decided to go on a little drive tour around the area... found Irving Mall with lots of shopping complex around it. Stopped by CompUSA to see new Mac computers... too bad that wasn't arrived yet and didn't see anything new in there. Besides MP3 players. Crossed my mind if buying one or not. Definitely cheaper than in Japan... Oooops, they didn't have what I wanted (RIO 600).

Then came to BestBuy... wow, nothing new from Atlanta... all biggies are just same. Anyway, I picked those up:

Very interesting and unique shape. You know me, I ALWAYS like something extraordinary... haha.

How about the work for today? Getting better and I guess it's becoming more productive... obviously better than yesterday because now I get a chance to go down to 3rd and 4th floor to interview people about the problems. Cannot wait to move downstairs next week!

Oh it is my regret... didn't keep up with baseball stuff in my hometown... what a shame! Yes, state championship of high school baseball took place and my high school, Ogaki Commercial High is now facing my brother's high school - best of the state this Saturday. My high school won twice already and should be ready to encounter the highest hurdle to overcome in order to win the Championship plus winning ticket to National Championship.

I am sure that my high school mates who played baseball with me thru those school years show up in the stadium to support the team!

Speaking of baseball... I feel so different that can see some teams of Major League Baseball on TV such as Anaheim Angeles, etc. Usually I cannot see that team while I was in Atlanta! You know, now I can see some Japanese pitchers pitching on the TV if I am lucky! Let's see what team now Japanese pitchers play for... Detroit Tigers = Nomo, Anaheim Angeles = Hasegawa, Seattle Mariners = Sasaki *candidate for rookie of the year!, Kansas City Royals = Suzuki, Colorado Rockies = Yoshii, Toronto Blue Jays = Irabu.

See, from this year, almost all pitchers were gone to different league from the one Atlanta is in. Now here's Texas... yah baby, Rangers!

Heard from Christine in the office about COE Softball... Anne Legere told me the same thing... Christine is supposed to find out if there is any opening in the team... so I may be able to get played... or maybe at least sub? Anyway, I probably need to call my roommate up to send me my tiny glove right away... you know what I am talking about?

Still 10pm tonight? Wow, that's early. Better check some TV station out then. Oops, shouldn't forget to update Japanese page too... maybe another 45 minutes to get done?

See ya.

July 19, 2000 =Power Nap Needed?

Hey, folks! Oh, don't complain of opening picture! Please! I've got some feedback from reader like "Why in the world you switch a picture you were dancing to ordinary landscape one?!?!" I guess suggestion was made so since my page is "fun" --- right?
I am still having an absolute isolation from the rest of world! This is very unlike situation for me to keep doing... I need to get out! Okay, I should give you a better picture. Fritz COE (Center of Excellence) located in 5-story building and occupies from 3rd to 5th floor. 3rd and 4th are operation use and 5th is for admin. and management. You know where I am? On the 5th. My office is temp one... in small conference room. No phone, except conference machine. In other words, I can call... however, I cannot receive any calls because of no extension set.

Wow, no phone calls from anywhere? That's why I call it "absolute isolation."

Good thing... no calls from any customer. No yellings! Well, my current roll isn't anything involving with clients anyway. Bad thing? I don't meet anyone! This is KILLING! I miss Atlanta, I guess. I miss people who were MEAN to me all the times!

Old friend and ex-coworker Missy emailed me today! What a surprise! Wow, since I got here in Dallas, lots of people emailed me! GREAT! I like that part of this trip then.

I felt so tired all afternoon... probably I have been so tired because of last week's chaos in Atlanta as well as weekend, plus this trip... and that absolute isolation... I was definitely tired. Still am. When coming home (apt. I mean), I didn't procrastinate to lay on the bed... fell asleep... POWER NAP! I slept like a few hours. Was good.

Didn't have any energy left for going out to eat. So I ate noodle which I brought from Atlanta. That was smart thing I've done.

Hey, my thumb still hurts from last night's bowling! It's weird that I have pain like this. Hope it will heal soon.

Tomorrow, I am going into next phase of work. Problems finding... per account for Japanese clients. Probably takes me a while to get this done... maybe tomorrow and Friday. Man! I need assistant. If you would like to be a candidate, please email me! Privilege? How about FREE RIDE? Oh, I mean CAR RIDE, of course. I've got a rental car here, so. Okay?

Better cut this night short. Am still needing more sleep. See you tomorrow then, folks.

July 18, 2000 =Crazy Day Two? Lots Of Things To Do ---

Tired. Need to sleep... gee, I am quite ready for a sleep! Tak's Day Two in Dallas was very tiring... truly.
First of all, I get you a picture of view from the office:

You still cannot see downtown Dallas from here yet. It takes about 15 minutes or so from this place...
Today... what did I do? I was researching of Japanese clients, I mean existing clients. Tried to gather who handles in what offices and how much workload needed for each account, etc. I was facing my laptop all day long today! It hurt my eyes!

It's midnight, by the time... Oh, I am still used to Atlanta time... so my body feels like at 1am already... No wonder I was so sleepy and tired!

My research will be accomplished within tomorrow morning... hopefully, I can take everything easy on myself thereafter tomorrow! (Don't underestimate?)

Lunch... Mila (Patterson) came up to me, telling me about going lunch together... with Michelle (McEerchern) and Gail (Michael). So I did. We WALKED out of the building and crossed the road to get to hamburger place. It was pretty juicy and I liked that big hamburger!

Michelle... I finally got to see her... up to yesterday, she never showed up in the office whenver I came to the office.

Over the lunch, was informed of bowling competition would take place tonight after work and Mila and I decided to join the team (at least for supporting!). I gave her a ride and tried to find out the place... We found Applebee's nearby and ate there (food wasn't that great!). Anyway, it was fun since Mila kept me company...

So we finally went in the place around 8:15pm... obviously we made there before everyone else. Since we didn't know almost anyone from the office except several people... placed a paging someone from Fritz. Then, we found out... Mila was eager to play... though, all teams seemed to have all members to compete... She then asked me to play separately from the league. So we played next lane to one of Fritz's teams.

Surely, I met some new people from Fritz, too. Any good outcome of girl hunting? Well, as you know, good ones are always taken...

I beaten her (well, of course!). Scored 121 for the first game and second was finished with 162. Wow, wasn't too bad.

Now my thumb hurts.

I really want to thank you for those who emailed me already... telling me how much those people missed. Some of email messages were very very sweet (NEVER be so on LAB's email). Will reserve the time to write you back soon!

You know, I am such important over here... should make an appointment with me! (haha)

Last thing for today... took another picture of apartment:

View from my bed room is like this.

Should stay home (inside for air conditioning) and see some cute girls wearing bikini, right? May try so.

Fritz's stock at 14 dollars? What's happening?

Temperature... should not have to mention... when coming home tonight... it was about 10:30pm... it was still 89 degrees out there!

July 17, 2000 =Day One in Dallas, Texas!

Adventure over Dallas! Day One was now about to close... Wow... I am already in Dallas... still not quite easy to make myself believe that.
Took 10:35am flight out of Atlanta... roommate yk110 gave me a ride to the airport. Flight schedule was done with no delay. Getting a rent-a-car wasn't troublesome... as usual. Getting to the office by drive? Mmmm a bit hectic since I didn't have a good map.

Arrived in the office around 1:30pm...

Saw and said hello to familiar faces... Anne, Kim (of course, I am talking about ya, Kim Phillips!), Gail, Stan... then Sherry. Michelle? Once again she's out sick. She's always not in the office when I visit the office!

Anyway, from 2:30pm... first meeting! Wow, they really want to put me in work! I've got lots of things to do from tomorrow morning, already! I was thinking that it was sort of vacation for me to come here... right? Maybe I was wrong (so obviously).

Then around 5pm... came and checked in the apartment where I was going to spend next 20-some days. Wow, it was relatively large size! Very nice too. 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, laundry, walk-in closets, etc. Neat!

See? It is very spacious. I liked it. Oh plus, I suddenly got a roommate. It is Dan, manager with whom I am going to work for this project.
Dan, he's got a Japanese wife, from Seattle, WA.

So around 7pm, we went out for eat. Then found a Japanese restaurant nearby... so the dinner was Sushi (yes, raw stuff!) - Restaurant "Midori Sushi." Sushi with beer and lots of talk about biz... yes, I was still working then! (trust me, will ya?!)

Then, grocery shopping... What we encountered there was... where we stay is in the "DRY" county... NO alcohol whatsoever! Not even beer! You cannot find any beer kind of stuff in any shelve!

So we made an extra trip to outside the county (of course!).

Grabbed beer and bottles of wine cooler... everything seems set. Ready for hard work? Hope so by tomorrow morning! (hehe)

Oh, only the problem I've got is... no hair dryer! Should've brought it in! (GEE) I guess, I buy one somewhere out there... something cheap.

That's about it for tonight. Tomorrow is the true Day One, I guess.

July 16, 2000 =Last Accident in Atlanta? Last Day!

Unbelievable! It gotta be kidding... gotta be... My laptop, PowerBook 2400c, got crushed at Friday night... That's why I didn't have any update until today! Man, that was severe crush and took me this long (whole weekend) to fix and finally came to the point that I could work on this website.
Did you worry about me since no update? Sorry... I got struggled with this freaking computer! Now Tak's back!

Yes, as ya'll know, it was my last day at Fritz Atlanta... on 7/14/00. Sales Support Team took me for lunch... last lunch. I guess organizing wasn't quite good?! Some people ended up with wrong location! So I still did have biggest crowd for my leaving. My group who went to Ryan's were... (from left on picture) Jay, Shelly, Dana, Briellen, and Jonathan...

Bamian gave him a shirt from Tommy Hilfiger (he likes this brand, huh... because he gave me a shirt of the same brand, too!).

Oh, it's pretty cool!

The party was from 4pm... then LL was spending a night at house that night. Yk110, LL, Bamian and I got together in talking about many stuff until 4am next morning!

Oh, also Tom2bwu gave me a gift, tape "Runaway Bride" --- one of the tapes on my list! (Thanks)

Finally I went bed at 4:30am... then woke up around 7:30am this morning --- because I HAD NOT SOLVED THE PROBLEM ON MY COMPUTER YET!!! What a weekend!

All day long what I did was... fixing computer, getting haircut, and shopping at Old Navy (for the trip to Dallas from Monday). What a busy day it was... man, I am exhausted.

Now I need to start packing for the trip! It is 11pm... haven't update Japanese page yet. Well... I have Bamian and yk110 besides me, chatting... better make them write something here.

Anyway, what a weekend I had.

Okay, I am REALLY REALLY REALLY going to Dallas tomorrow morning! You can see my update from Dallas tomorrow!

July 13, 2000 =One Day Before My Last Day of Work

Two more days at work in Atlanta... People seemed unable to wait any longer... Many calls from different people asking me about lunch.
Oh, better mention first... happy birthday to Kack! She's 29 years old today! Same time next year... you know... BIG one. Oops, I wasn't supposed to tell ya'll about her age? I know, Karen (Rodriguez) was quite shocking about finding out that she was same age as herself! Oh, I shouldn't go into any more detail about women's age... I get in big trouble.

Anyway, happy birthday, my friend!

Today's lunch then... Leigh-Ann took me out for lunch, regretfully, with some other friends (=coworkers) from Export Dept. including David, Tim, Karen, and ex-Fritz Serena Mason!

Left> Leigh-Ann, David, Tim, and Tak

Wow, Leigh-Ann is in the picture... that's amazing. She never ever wanted me to take her pictures. She always stayed away from me holding my digital camera... Same for Serena. So I didn't get a group pictures from this lunch occasion.

Lunch was Mexican food. Ate what? "Fajita Quesadilla" - pretty good.

Surprisingly, Tim came up to lunch with us... usually he doesn't. Maybe because of me? What a honor!!!

Speaking of Fritz Companies, I was told that Fritz's stock price hit the highest today... somehow somewhat... It was 13 and 1/6! Haven't seen 13 before myself. Always between 9 and 11 as long as I know. I really thought that all situation indicated "sell sell sell!" --- though this stock market showed "buy buy buy!" for Fritz's stock. Why?!

I have another farewell with Brittany Kale. Remember, youngest girl in the office (I called her "the Baby") recently graduated from high school? Now she's ready for college (party time, I guess). She won't be in tomorrow and by the time I get back to Atlanta, she would be gone to college... so it was last time to see her...

Actually, this picture turned out nice... Good work, Koji! (Have I trained him well recently?)
I am currently asking people to circulate my journal after leaving some massages for me in it. If you haven't checked that out, please let me know. I will do make as many friends of mine as possible to sign in for my memory. If done so already, thank you!
Sony's first Palm compatible handheld computer is about to be released --- in September. Didn't look too nifty to me somehow. I will get a good picture of it and will show it to ya'll. Obviously, I made a right decision to buy Visor instead.

Tomorrow, I can see Palm IIIc - Color Palm in my hand! Wow, that wouldn't be mine, though.

Tomorrow is my last day in Atlanta... My lunch report will continue.

July 12, 2000 =Last Day in Atlanta Will Be This Friday...

Suddenly announced... my last day with current job in Atlanta will be this Friday. Too quick announcement? Maybe-
As said before, I am leaving for Dallas on 17th... wow! That's next Monday! Have I packed? Nope. Nothing. This trip is for a complete month... should take lots of stuff... including two (2) laptops, 2 suitcases, a couple of pairs of suits, at least 3 pairs of shoes, etc.

Why 2 laptops? Because one, ThinkPad by IBM for work, and the other, my PowerBook, for this website update!

This weekend, I should go shopping for the trip as well as should be busy packing all kinds of stuff.

Busy day today... no kidding! Many conference calls and tired of having meetings over and over. Well, in order not to lose anymore clients, it must be necessary... don't you think?

Boss went on trip ahead of mine... went to San Francisco and won't be back 'til next Tuesday since he stops by in Vegas for Sales Conference.

Yes, this maybe was last chance to see him... as my boss. Next moment, he won't be the same since I would no longer with the same company. Well while I am in Dallas, I STILL can report to him (or his boss, directly).

Lunch: Burger King (my boss' favorite) --- with almost 9 dollars, we've got 2 Whoppers, 2 Medium Fries, 2 Whopper Jr.'s and 3 Medium Drinks... must be miscalculations.

Unbelievably, boss bought those for us! (Because of my last day?)

Dinner? at Canton Cooks on Rosewell Road. Ate lots of eggplants. Lots of it.

Now 20 minutes 'til midnight... very sleepy. Oh, forgot to mention, I stopped by Burnes and Noble tonight... to get something for someone having birthday tomorrow. I realized that she would have BD tomorrow and thought it wouldn't be too bad that I would nice to her once in life time. Didn't buy anything big. Just a card and mini-book.

Keep forgetting of Jonathan's prize on his 1000th hit... Man! (Will keep the promise)

Very sleepy and tired... my body is soared also. Let me go and rest...

July 11, 2000 =Preston Perretti's Birth

Hello, folks! Sorry for no update during these couple of days... I was hiding in the place called North Side. Now I am back on normal condition.
Preston Peretti's given a birth yesterday... His auntie, Briellen sent me pictures to post here... so that he is officially recognized by public. His name is Preston, Melanie Peretti's first son. Was weighting 8 lbs and 20 inches long... wow big BOY!

Remembering of myself... I was told that I was nearly weighted 8 lbs when coming out to this world... Don't know how tall I was, though.

Congrats, Mommy Mel!!!

I believe that she finally gets in maternity leave... I am sure that this new job on Preston is another big duty to keep up with...

July 8, 2000 =Hamilton Mill Golf Club

Playing golf in early morning... not too hat and nice breeze... all conditions were perfect to enjoy playing golf the best... except mine.
Course was beautiful and it was my bad that I forgot to bring camera. Well-maintained course was really fascinating and I understand people don't mind to pay for big amount of money to play there. Today, I didn't have to pay (thanks God).

Client nicknamed "Hot-Shot" and I ride together and my boss operates the cart on his own. Just three of us. Skill-wise, Hot-Shot was best of all, Boss after him and I follow. Scores for the day really proved that too.

I still cannot figure out hot to swing in order to hit the ball with accuracy. I really lost all of things I used to have. Score, of course, don't come around like used be, either.

I shot 56 for OUT (first 9 holes) and 52 for IN (rest of 9 holes)... total 108.

Boss got just 100 and Hot-Shot showed his skills well with 94.

Our round was done around 1:30pm... then we got snack with some drinks in lounge.

I was very thankful about all comments Hot-Shot made on me... this weekend's trip to Atlanta for him is nothing but just seeing me because I am leaving (for Dallas, first and then for Japan). He was tough businessman for me, of course. Well... this client is the one I spent most of my time for best service... the memory of 3 years here in Atlanta.

Anyway, today ... fun day except the score.

July 7, 2000 =007 ... "I Never Missed!"

Buenas noches! Finalmente el fin de semana enpezo, verdad? Cenado con cliente en restrante japones y comi bastante. Soy gordo otra vez...
Woops, how in the world I started writing things in Spanish? Must be drunk! (not "drink")

Not only my purchase of Visor... today, I've got mini USB Zip drive... finally. It's pretty cool and very small... convenient to carry around with laptop.

Now I have 2 Zip drives... one via SCSI to my desktop and the other for USB connection to laptop. Why do I need 2 drives? Because it's definitely easy to transfer between laptop and desktop, especially data for this website. Zip, as you all know, can take up to 90-some megabytes of information.

For dinner, I was supposed to meet boss and client from North Carolina at Japanese restaurant in Lenox Mall area... arrived quite early... so I went to CompUSA and Tower Record. I ended up with buying tape, "007 World Is Not Enough" --- which was on sale.

It was $9.99... must be not quite popular...

Did I like that movie? It was okay... I prefer "007 Tomorrow Never Dies" over this movie.

The best phrase I like from any movie... is actually from 007 Series... James Bond said, "Not shaken..." not, that's not really it... Rather... "I never missed."

Yes, I love that phrase!

Bob's last day... (Bob Jackson) he called his farewell lunch at Hooters'... I missed it! Well, I had a conference call with Dallas from 10am thru 11:15am and became absolute swamped... Of course, I regret not to be able to go to lunch with Bob... that's first and second... I didn't get to meet those girls in Hooters'. You know how I feel...

Hooters' --- I haven't been to for a quite long time.

Tomorrow morning... got to play with the client at Hamilton Mill... tough course. Will do the best as usual. Gee, starting at 8:44am? Man! I got to get up around 7am... or even earlier. Tomorrow will be one more tough day then.

July 6, 2000 =Lost Client... and Azusa Gets Married?!

Big news came in the morning... really big. Shaking! We lost a big client... Since this account was in jeopardy, I was forced to involve for almost three weeks in order to improve the services... My efforts, all of it, was nothing but just in vain... Damn it!
Business was mostly handled in Los Angeles Office... The guy in charge of this account was really bad. He really sucked. When I requested him to submit something, he gave me wrong stuff. He never ever gave me a return call... Ever! This is only internal issue. How this kind of stuff appears to outsiders? Bad, right? Man...

I was pissed, upset, all kinds of things alike...

We lost a client. Not single client... THE client. Big. Too big.

This customer decided to go with Expeditors International where Beth, Kristi, Carrie and some others work... Should I call them up and beg them to give it up? (maybe not)

Via Email... Azusa emailed me. Friend in NY... used to live in Atlanta. She's going to marry next month!!! Shocked me so bad... everyone around myself started making such moves! What should I do? I will be only one left on the earth (besides my roommate)?!?!

Wooops, I slid my tongue! (be careful)

Azusa --- I know her how long? It's from summer job I had and we worked together for several summers in the past. She moved to NY for grad school and find Mr. Right over there (I believe he's Japanese also) ... being together for several years by now and now they get married!

Congrats, Azusa! I wish I could come up to your wedding... though don't think I can make it.

Last night... when uploading the files for this site, I went on shopping online... for a quite bit of time. You know what I was talking about last night... You can guess what I have done by then... I am sure that it wasn't too difficult to use vivid imagination...

Yes, that's right. I ordered a Visor! Cannot wait!

Since that Palm compatible device is extremely popular and supply doesn't catch up with the demand from the market, my order said that I would get it within 3-4 weeks.

Now I may buy digital camera module so that I can take pictures with Visor... Wait! How many cameras do I need then? hehe...

This weekend, one client flies into Atlanta tomorrow afternoon... to spend Saturday with me playing golf together... Because of my leave from the current position, he wanted to see me... at least so he said. So he makes biz trip to Atlanta from North Carolina... to talk with me! What an incredible client he is!

Where to play golf? It's Hamilton Mill Golf Club. Fred Couples' signature course (as per my boss). Very fast green... I should be very careful.

Tomorrow, I will have an easy day... half day of work. Oh, shouldn't forget that I have a big conference call at 10am... (memo to Palm!)

Bob Jackson's last day tomorrow... Heard that they were going to Hooters for his farewell lunch. I hope I can join. In order to see girls!!! (Bang!)

I received quite good reputations on the movie, "Patriot" by Mel Gibson. Did you see it yet? I will check that out probably Sunday.

All right... that's about it for tonight. Tomorrow's update may be late since I will be that client at night... Will appear in Buckhead area then! (Oh, don't look for me---)

July 5, 2000 =Resume to Normal Mode

Came home late... really late. Darn busy right after the holiday... I didn't feel too well this morning... possible hang over from previous night? Didn't think so.
Sorry that haven't got a chance to write back to those who recently sent me emails regarding to my departure... expected next month. Will write you soon and hope I can see many of you before then.

Today... I found that Japan wanted me to come home quicker than planned... I may not even able to stay in US at the end of August. There will be some conference taking place in Tokyo for the last weekend of August and I need to be there... so I heard. In other words, I would have only a week after Dallas trip until my departure to Japan... Wow, that's too short!

Everything is so tentative and cannot tell for sure at this point... Really. Keep you informed.

Keeping thinking... buying new Palm... actually thinking about buying Visor by Handspring. The Palm compatible handheld computer. My "used" Palm (because I bought it as preowned) has only 2 MB of memory... now I need more. Only the choice I have for that solution is to buy new Palm. New Palm computers have 8 MB of RAM and it seems the way to go for me. Though, Palm is too popular around and now I want something DIFFERENT... as usual. So I think Visor would be the one. I know, Sony now makes and tries to release its first Palm compatible device... though, I don't think I can wait for another several months or so.

I will check Visor more in details...

Washing clothes... currently going on at 11:45pm! Past the bed time for now already... however, I don't have anything to wear to work tomorrow - serious problem, huh? Will finish that up and go to bed thereafter.

Lunch: Anthony's pizza & Supper: Wendy's hamburger

Sounds like typical guy's eat habit... without no girlfriend.

Talking about that, I've got another response against my announcement from Tim like this:
"Checked with my sources on this one at the National Enquirer. Here is the real scoop as to why the trade. Informally, the league requested some type of restraint be put into effect to protect the runners going to first from the wild throws. In addition, there had been inquires made by female players of opposing teams as to your relationship status. Team Atlanta felt to keep your previous four year streak alive in bad throws and no girlfriend, it would be in everyone's best interest to trade you off. The only interest shown was by Team Dallas in order to fill a four week opening due to others being placed on the DL. Unfortunately, all Team Dallas could ante up in trade was a coupon for a McDonald's happy meal. Team Atlanta took the trade primarily for the toy and a future draft pick in the year 2020."
Man! He's mean... so badly! I liked that joke though. You know, this is joke. Joke only. Don't take anything seriously out from here, pleeeeease!

Oh, washer should have done... Let me go downstairs to move clothes from it to dryer! Then, I will work on Japanese version of this website. See you tomorrow!

July 4, 2000 =July 4th... Tak's Farewell Party #1

Happy July 4th!!! Did you see fireworks?!?! I saw it on TV... while we were having a party. Party? Yes, it was about my farewell. That kicked off at 9:30am...
At Sugar Creek Golf and Tennis Club... we had a half course round since there were some female participants who only could stay in the game for that long. Participants: Tak (of course), yk110, Tom, Kirk, Bamian... yes, all regular members for my social life.

You know... I really sucked. I really did. Don't know how to fix all the problems I have in my swing. I am sure it's fixable... sometime. Sometime hopefully soon... I lost number of balls because of that!

So score didn't even look good either... made me very very frustrated. Though, I surely felt so nice to be out there with such great friends of mine.

You know, playing golf on July 4th... yes, not only us... many people were out on green!

Then went to have lunch all together in Chinese restaurant located in Asian Square on Buford Hwy. For lunch one more person, Tama, joined us thereafter.

We decided to have dinner at our new house... And Sushi dinner. Moreover, we have another person, new member to our party in fact, from Montgomery, Alabama... just for this party!

So total... 7 of us... having such tasty dinner with fun talk... Was certainly great! I am definitely very thankful about those people!!! So happy to have people like them.

Since my departure to Dallas is on 17th, we're going to have another party... Party #2 on 15th... Saturday next week.

Man, too many parties? No... "World is not enough" ---

July 3, 2000 =Why Not Holiday Today?

Man! As soon as coming home, my roommate yk110 yelled at me... "What in the hell are you doing (putting up pictures of her table saw) ???" --- Wow, scared me. Hey, I didn't lie anything about her. I just took pictures of what I see and I made my comments out of that... nothing else!
Shit, maybe she raises my rent from this month...

You know what? She continued that anyone (single at her age) had something like that everywhere... I don't think so.

Anyway, I am glad that she came back to my website to check that out! You know, she NEVER be seriously accusing me for anything like that.

Today wasn't that bad day... as expected. In fact, the office itself was shut down around 4pm... of course, my boss wanted to complete all so we stayed up to 5:30pm.

Why didn't we make today holiday?

Ate "PHO" noodle soup (Vietnamese) for lunch... first time for a month or so... I really missed it and had really great taste.

What are you going to do on July 4th? I will be sticking with my Japanese friends who kind throw a party on me who is leaving for Dallas in two weeks. In the morning, we play gold all together and eat lunch together... then go to Malibu for fun afterwards. If you get a chance to go in that place tomorrow afternoon, you will see me in there! (especially in batting gauge)

Vicente Fox - to be Mexico's President... after PRI or Institutional Revolutionary Party's domination in Mexican politics over 70 years, now Mexico goes a different direction... very strong. Finally PAN (National Action Party) acquired the power to preside the government...

Funny thing... still Fox too... graduated from Harvard University... same as 2 last Presidents.

Happy July 4th!

July 2, 2000 =Tak's Announcement Posted HERE!

Nice weather, wasn't it? Hope you had a good day! Me? Unpacking from the move.
Here's finally the joke for my announcement that I will spend a month in Dallas:
"Free Agent 3rd Baseman, Tak Yamada, (BA.794, 1HR, 14 RBIs) has signed a short term contract with Team COE in Dallas, TX. Reliable resource told the media today. Salary amount wasn't leaked at this time. This Free Agent was expected to play in Japan League from the Fall Season... originally from August. Though, Team COE, who is currently eager to win the pennant in Rangers League, approached Tak's agent recently and reached to an agreement with him. At the same time, Tak's last team Suzuyo Duo/Trio in Atlanta stayed out of the talk about this move. Also Fritz Atlanta's GM didn't show any of his interest in this 3rd Baseman. Condition is seemed very tentative so far. Tak is expected to play in the league for at least 4 weeks effective from 7/17/00. COE GM made a comment that she was aware of Tak's wild throw problem (which is not as bad as NY Yankee Chuck Knoblauch's!); thought that GM says that team strongly needs good lead-off player. Japan, Tak's next long-term contractor... sort stepped back in Tak's deal due to internal investigation on how much Tak is worth with such wild arm. Still, his visa in US gets expired on 9/1/00. Also unconfirmed speculation--- between COE and Japan's contracts, Tak may come back to Suzuyo DUO/TRIO as DH for a half month in August."(Please rate this article in 5 star scale!)
And here's comments I got:

I GIVE IT ***** (T.H)
I give it 4 1/2 stars. I think we need to re-negotiate (B.H)

You can always take up pitching and fill in for Rocker on the Braves ! You know that we would really like to keep you here in Atlanta. (A.L)

***** -"Excellent.. Top-notch reporting. It was better than 'Cats', I'll read it again and again!" - J.S, The Virginia Highland Tribune.

Tak -- what a great message! You need to be a writer for the newspapers or magazines! You know we will greatly miss you but look forward to keeping up with you via your website! (J.K)

I would absolutely give this article a 5* rating. The reporter has obviously done his homework in digging deep into the carrer path of one of the greatest 3rd basemen to ever play the game. --- Tak (Wild Man) Yamada has played in the southern conference for several years now, and it is time for him to move on. The author also interviewed sevral of Taks' former team mates, and they say they will miss him sorely. Some of the comments heard during the interview were as follows: "Tak has got to be the sexiest 3rd baseman that we have ever played with, I sure am going to miss those sexy legs"... Karen Rodriguez >>> "If nothing else, Tak sure taught me how to jump higher" ... Cindy (First baseman). (B.J)

Tak, you are funny, however, I cannot imagine anyone would show any interest in your services. You are so full of yourself. (K.M)

Well written Tak. From the sound of this, you are looking forward of going to our COE........I'm sure they can use an extra helping hand. (N.L)

Tak, I rate the article a definate 5. You are a trip!!! (T.T)

Hope you enjoyed my joke with those comments out of my coleagues!!!

Please send me your rating! hehe...

July 1, 2000 =Move to New Home...

Greetings, my fellow Americans... (Am I the President now?!) How's your holiday weekend so far? Hope it goes well.
Mine? Very tiring today, at least. As many of you know, I had to move to new home today... yes, within today. Even though I am leaving for Dallas on the 17th, I still had to move since my roommate's contract with house owner... had no choice.

Moving wasn't smooth as I hoped it would be. yk110 had problem about renting a truck for move and lots of delay... lots of.