MarFon’s Blog. - BOLDER. And more Italic.

Requiem for a love.

Posted on May 15th, 2008 by MarFon.
Categories: General, Cryptic.

I have to admit there was a tiny spot left in my heart full of hope, love, and other goodness.Sure, I could cover it up easily if I wanted to but it was still there. I thought it was best to take it slowly and mend it little by little or simply pop it with a needle carefully until it went away.Well, It turns out that I was basically IMPALED Mortal Kombat’s Fatality style with Leonidas’ spear. OUCH. It actually hurt. I could literally feel something going through that tiny spot in my chest.I think it was the only way though. I basically asked what I had to, no more beating around the bush, and got my response. I’m convinced that after I popped the question the red and yellow flashing words of FINISH HIM appeared over my head.

0 comments.

0 comments.

There is no knowing where you might be swept off to.

Posted on May 9th, 2008 by MarFon.
Categories: General, Movies, Rant / Review, Travel, Cryptic.

It’s been two weeks since my return from South Carolina and as it is common when I leave off to somewhere, many things have changed, including me.

Things here aren’t as how I left them; it happens most of the time I depart. I’m not going to go into a rant about them because the important thing is that I believe I have changed utlimately for the good.

The trip to SC wasn’t the least how I planned it but very much how I expected it, because I was pretty much expecting the unexpected. It taught me many things, such as that you can find amazing people in the places you least expect to. In a way, the trip also caused for another break-up in my life (“I got a little woman but she won’t be true”). Once again, I was expecting it (although it didn’t make it easier per se) and it made me determine that it was about time to put an end to the seemingly never-ending circle and to seek help.

Help was sought and found, new things have been learned and old things have been reinforced. Collateral damage was done, but it was necessary. Finally, I gave closure came for a couple of situations with Walkiria and Sofia that were having great weight on me. Most won’t understand, most won’t consider it fair, and many will complain but I will not apologize this time as I do not see I should.

I feel at peace now, lonely in a way but it isn’t affecting me as it used to. I feel free.

I gained and lost a few things while I was away. It is time once again to start over. It is time to find a new candidate in my romantic life as I “lost” it while I was away. It is time again to lose weight as I gained some since the menu was very limited. It is time to find a best friend, as she was also lost in the war (not the one in Iraq). It’s ok though, as I have found more of myself. That is good enough. Let us not forget that I have been here before, in this situation, many times. I feel almost as this is my playground and the time I find romantic happiness is only time borrowed. That is how I am starting to perceive it. Perhaps one day will change, hopefully soon.

The trip also made me remember that you can find support and help when and where you least expect to; it happens to me all the time. The last day in SC, I stumbled upon a message on a screen saver. The message read “Never allow someone to be your Priority while allowing yourself to be their Option”. It is quite true and very similar to one of my philosophies in life that I’ve learned with time and  which I sometimes suck terribly at upholding it: “Never tear your heart apart for someone who doesn’t really want it”. It is time to take those philosophies and put them to good use, and I am.

I also re-gained my strongest supporter in life. I had kept her away recently, likely out of shame or ego. My mom who lately has been reading my blog my blog, recently discovered she can SMS me from Mexico, and now she does it every night before going to bed. She has sent me some of the best messages I’ve had in a while. My favourite one so far reads: “Eres maravilloso. Cada atomo de tu ser contiene a Dios. Te amo. Tu mom.” which translates into “You are wonderful. God is within every atom of your being. I love you. Your mom.” With things like that, how can someone feel bad or down?

I recently had a visit from someone very special and we had lots of fun. I laughed muchly, like a little boy. It was good to see her and spend time with her.

It’s all good

—————————————–

Lastly, to finish this and as some kind of side note because I don’t want to dedicate a whole entry for this review or wait for another one whenever that comes (even though it breaks the mood of everything before this), I went to see Iron Man during the weekend (and then again when Daniel wanted to see it). It’s a good movie. I haven’t liked a movie of that kind maybe since Spidey 2 or Batman Begins.

I believe the casting was excellent, the SFX were really good and the overall feeling of the movie was great. Downey Jr. may have issues but he is a great actor and did a superb job as a cocky Tony Start. Bridges is just outstanding in his role, the best I’ve seen from him in a while and Howard is good as well. Although he has a smaller role he’ll proably return with a more important role in the second movie. I’ve never really been into Gwyneth Paltrow, quite the contrary in fact, but as Pepper Potts she demonstrated that I’m a huge sucker for witty and cute redheads.

I can’t wait for The Happenning, The Dark Knight (The Joker will be awesome) and Indiana Jones.

——————————–

Oh, oh. Before I actually post this (I was just about to). (I guess speaking of cute and witty redheads) Renate should be getting married in a few hours now so yay my sincere and absolute beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeest wishes for her and Tor (fine, he wins :P).  

End of transmission.

2 comments.

2 comments.

Preguntas

Posted on April 29th, 2008 by MarFon.
Categories: General.

Este dia,
en el que todo ha terminado,
que mis esperanzas han acabado,
que mis intentos han fallado,
que mis paciencia se ha colmado,
me pregunto:

Que diras?,
cuando te pregunten porque termino lo nuestro.
Contaras la verdad?
Diras que fueron las cadenas de tus miedos,
la encrucijada de tus indecisiones,
las que finalmente me ahuyentaron?
U ocultaras la verdad
y solo relataras historias casuales
como sueles hacerlo actualmente.

Que sentiras?,
cuando ya no te besen de la forma que te hace soñar,
cuando ya no te toquen de la forma que te hace vibrar,
cuando ya no te cuiden como lo necesitas,
cuando ya no te mimen como lo mereces.

Que pensaras?,
ese dia que te levantes
sola y abandonada,
en tu cama fria y solitaria,
porque nuevamente te han dejado
entre maltratos y desprecios,
engaños y humillaciones
como lo han hecho hasta ahora.

Que haras?,
el momento que te des cuenta
que tus decisiones fueron erroneas.
Que te empeñaste en ignorar una verdad mas clara
que el agua cristalina de los glaciares,
y que por lo cual dejaste ir,
lo que siempre habiamos anhelado.

Probablemente estas preguntas,
nunca tendran respuesta,
pero de algo si estoy seguro.
Se que algun dia comprenderas
cuan te has equivocado.
Pero de antemano he sabido,
que ese dia sera demasiado tarde,
para rescatar lo perdido.

0 comments.

0 comments.

Help. I need somebody. Not just anybody.

Posted on April 23rd, 2008 by MarFon.
Categories: General, Cryptic.

I have a serious issue. I’ve assumed that I did for a while but now it couldn’t be more obvious. Also, I’ve tried to solve it myself through best efforts but the results couldn’t be clearer. I need help because I’ve run out of ideas, and believe me, I have years trying to overcome it, but I just can’t. I need help.

In part I believe it has to do a lot with karma. Yes, payback is a bitch. Perhaps it’s from my previous lives but I know for a fact that this life I do have things to pay for, and I am doing so. Some other part I believe is because I seem to have a thing for “complicated” situations; that I don’t like it “easy”. There might be other factors in play as well.

I am tired of it, and I’m tired of talking about it with myself and my blog. I’m tired of trying to solve it just by myself and it’s very clear that I am just unable to, so I have recruited one of the best in the world to help me. She recently has a busy schedule but I am confident she’ll be able to find some time for me.

What is more ironic of it all, the person who probably would have worked… that’s the only one I let go. But yet again, I had firm reasons to do it, and I still do.

——

I’ve been sittin’ here Tryin’ to find myself
I get behind myself I need to rewind myself

I said it too many times and I still stand firm:
you get what you put in, and people get what deserve.

I’ve been giving just ain’t been gettin’,
I’ve been walking down that line.
So I think I’ll keep walking with my head held high
I’ll keep moving on and only God knows why.

—

End of transmission.

2 comments.

2 comments.

We interrupt this programme…

Posted on April 22nd, 2008 by MarFon.
Categories: General, WTH?!, Cryptic, Special Day / Event.

Sometimes I think I might be crazy. I ask myself if I am not reading too much into things, believing into things that I want to believe but they actually don’t exist. Thankfully, life has a funny way of proving me that yep, I have some sort of attunement to feel these things, especially when they revolve around certain people, and also, life has proven to be ironic and estrangely simutaneously coincidental.

I am really not going to talk about what happened, only that it did. I knew since Saturday, but as with most hunches, you aren’t absolutely sure so you dismiss it. Sunday I felt a little depressed for some strange reason. Again, my feelings were right. But what I find absolutely strange (and ironic and amusing to the point of laughter) about all of this is the following:

In my parallel side, things happened in Mexico. Let’s side that the opposite side of the triangle formed. Now, here, I went out with some people from work to a night club. One of them has some sort of not triangle but square or pentagon going on that I don’t really want to find out much about. That night, also one of his sides formed while risking problems with his other side. It is also worth noting that his birthday is only two days after mine and that he strangely likes the same type of girl that I do. I have met two so far and they are quite similar in many respects.

Anyhow, on Monday the universe exploded into similar events all over. On my side, people that have to know about already know. For those who don’t: I’m cool. If you don’t believe me, ask those who know. Now, on the other guy’s side, two of the people involved in the square/pentagon did not attend work on Monday. Obviously something happened (the guy somehow foreshadowed he would be missing Monday if problems presented). But obviously, all of this would just be coincidence for many and perhaps me as well (although I have come to the conclusion that coincidences do not exist), but what really made this absolutely phenomenal was the next bit I’m going to present you.

Most of you know about her. I’ve talked criptically about her in this blog (I used the letter “R” to refer to her). Honestly, she has been MIA for a couple of years now and she had to show up EXACTLY on this day, when something very similar to my situation with her unraveled (only with a different person). I found this bit sitting on my MSN messages the next morning when I woke up:

R.:
hi mario are u there?
R:
sorry i know that u might not want to know anything about me and i understand….ive been wanting to say sorry for a long time now but i just couldent find the words to say it …just hope you ok …take care

Truly, I don’t know what is going on in a layer of life that is beyond what meets the eye but I am convinced that it is there. Out of all the days she could have left a message for me she had to do it on that EXACT same night when two other similar events happened. She is referring to a triangle event that took place some time ago and she is saying sorry for it.

It’s just weird. Very weird.

Once again, I give up. Renate, save that room we talked about for me. I’m moving to Norway.

End of transmission.

4 comments.

4 comments.

Of mice and men.

Posted on April 17th, 2008 by MarFon.
Categories: General, Travel, Special Day / Event.

This is a very special entry for me because it is dedicated to a very special group of people.

Before coming to the prison I truly did not know what to expect, but as I tend to do in those type of situations, I just had my mind open and expected the unexpected. I didn’t not form an opinion about anyone or anything and just decided I would until I was actually there.

For most people it would be terrifying to go into a place like this, especially when they have an opinion based on the fear of the unknown or what the media and the general population tells us. For me, I do admit that I got a bit nervous at some point, especially after reading some of the stupid SCDC rules such as: be firm and professional (show no fear), you have the right to use force to defend yourself and defend others, any kind of contact is not tolerated especially in a sexual behaviour, do not wrap your food in aluminum foil because inmates can create weapons out of it, do not share a pen with inmates, if you are provided with a toolbox do not let anything go missing as the inmates could use it as a weapon, etc. Honestly, those rules make you think like you will be dealing with people with a continuous desire to murder or rape someone and that might be true for many SCDC inmates but it doesn’t apply to the people inside Prison Industries (PI).

PI personnel is scanned and interviewed thoroughly before being accepted as a labourer. Not all inmates are allowed to work at PI, so most of the people working in the company are very nice and helpful. Also, the company has been here for many years, and civilians have worked here for as long as the company has, including women. Now, it can’t really be such a terrible place if others have been able to do it right?

I had been told tales about the walk from the entrance to the actual factory. They told me that it consisted of walking through a corridor / yard while people yelled nasty things at you for a period of about 7-9 minutes. I instantly imagined the scene in Tango and Cash where they are first walking into prison with all the inmates yelling and throwing all kinds of things at them. They also told me that when the gates closed you realized where you were and you just felt like turning around and going back, but there was just no way back until the day was over. All of this turned out to be far from the truth. I’ve been here for about 3 and a half weeks now and while I’ve only had to walk the yard alone twice in the same day, I guess I have been lucky because the worst thing I’ve heard is “faggot”. Come to think of it that is the only bad thing I’ve really heard. Heck, some of the inmates (that aren’t even in PI) greet you very politely and one of them even complimented me on my jacket.

When I arrived to the Kwalu offices I was asked or invited to join a meeting that was about to begin. There I was introduced to a group of people that I would be mostly working with. The inmates sitting there (with a couple more that weren’t there) is who I dedicate this entry to. I am going to refrain from posting their names because I don’t consider it appropriate in many different levels.

J.S.:

He is the brains of the team. He is very very smart and like many smart people has little patience for the not so smart. He reminds me of myself in certain things like when people make mistakes he thinks the best solution is to do everything himself but personality-wise he is incredibly similar to my friend Manolo (most of you won’t know who that is). His gestures, the way he says things and acts is just like seeing Manolo in a different body. I admire him and I’ve grown close to him but yet we never really discuss personal things. I think we really feel respect and admiration for each other as we have matched in a mental level quite well. He has been a vegetarian for longer than I have and I’ve heard that he has amazing skills for the stock market.

T.B.:

Also known as Butch; he is the leader. He has tremendous personality and knows how to handle a team quite well. He has a very deep voice, like I believe those who are born to lead would. He has an incredibly professional attitude and very good business oriented managerial skills. He makes jokes quite often in a witty way, which fits my style. The few moments that I was able to hang out with him were pretty fun.

D.S.:

Also known as Big D or B.D. This gigantic fella’ is the one with a laid-back-coolness factor. During the time he was training me the thought “I’m being trained by Shaquille O’Neil” crossed my mind several times. He can carry big chunks of wood with relative ease and he could probably crush my skull single-handedly.

D.A.:

Also known as Red, is the comic relief. He is a big-and-loud mouth who is constantly making jokes and boasting. His talk is full of funk and he has even danced the “Humpety Hump” during one one the daily meetings.

A.B.:

Also known as Turtle. He is pretty smart but he is also shy. I didn’t get to spend much time with him but he is more like the geek of the group. He is a convenience enthusiast just like me.

—-

One of my fondest memory of the time I spent here is the following. One day I was being trained by Turtle at my cubicle and I was paying attention to the computer. He was observing on how I did the things he had shown me to do when he instantly remarked “You know there is a mouse under your desk right?”. Honestly, I had seen a mouse trap under my desk ever since I arrived but never really paid much attention to it. I looked under the desk and there it was: a dead mouse in the mouse trap. I continued as if nothing had happened because honestly it didn’t bother me but then he asked me if I wasn’t going to remove it because he said “I don’t touch dead mice. I touch the live ones but not dead.” to which I replied “It’s just a mouse.” He proceeded to call J.S. and he approached my desk thinking we had a question about something, Turtle asked J.S to see under my desk and when he did he jolted and said “No man! C’mon! Don’t be showing me no dead mouse!”. Turtle asked him to take it out from under the desk to which he replied “I ain’t getting no mouse man”.

After that, the plant manager, who happens to be a wonderful lady, came and started complaining why we had killed a mouse. She started saying “what did that poor little mouse do to you?”. Her assistant told her “Well, they are bad because they spread disease and infection” and the plant manager replied “humans spread disease faster than a poor little mouse. Don’t kill any more mice.”. Since everyone refused to get the mouse to the garbage I just went under the desk and got the mouse off the trap and threw it away and J.S. told me “Throw the trap away too!” which I did.

Everyone would think that people in prison are rugged, tough, scary people but a little mouse showed me the contrary.

To finish this entry I would like to share with you what D.S. has written on a couple of sheets and taped to the machine he operates. I don’t know if he wrote this or if he got it from another source but what is important is that this applies to everyone, not just inmates, in many stages of our lives.

“I accept full responsibility for both the successes and failures in my life. If I am not what I desire to be at this point, what I am is my compromise. I choose no longer to compromise with my underdeveloped potential. I am the sum total of the choices I have made, and I continue to choose daily. What I now put under close scrutiny s the value of each upcoming choice. Therein lies the value of my future lifestyle.

Will my future belong to the “old me” or the “new me”? That answer depends on my attitude towards personal growth at this very moment. What time is left is all that counts and this remaining time is my responsibility. With a new found maturity, I accept the responsibility for how great I can become at that which is most important to me.”

End of transmission.

6 comments.

6 comments.

…You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet…

Posted on April 3rd, 2008 by MarFon.
Categories: General, Games, Travel.

It has been a week and a half now since I arrived to this region. The trip so far hasn’t been as expected in some ways as I still don’t have a car and I don’t know if I’m ever going to get one but I will elaborate on that in a moment.

Also, the weather hasn’t been very forgiving for walking and photo shooting so I have had to stay indoors most of the time, which isn’t completely terrible considering that I am a geek and my species excels at staying indoors

I was going to devote a part of this entry to some particular situations I’ve gone through with Sofia recently but honestly I think it’s pointless, plus I believe I’ve departed from the idea of making sulk comments in a blog, and especially not allowing comments to be posted. I don’t know, it feels just wrong now. I believe my relationship with Walkiria has showed me that being direct is the correct way to communicate and I realized that I hate when people think that writing on a blog or being indirect or giving hints about a subject is some fucking form of conversation that should be taken into account. It is funny that every time something happens I know I’m going to find a blog entry about it the next day, instead of talking about it like normal people, but hey, anyone can do with their space what they want and I always have the decision not to read a blog, like I’ve done before.

Now after this I’m sure people will go thinking and saying that I’ve changed, maybe for the worst, and perhaps I have. I like to think it is for the best though. Also, people have complained that I no longer tell them things but that they have found out through my blog. Well, that is basically due to different reasons, one of them being that they can’t really take being told things without any sugar coating so I’ll just keep them to myself and occasionally post them here. Second, it occurred that in a couple of situations they either took me by surprise as well, or I was tired of crying wolf. For example, I never expected the bed to sell, it was only when I found out it did that I posted it on my blog. Also, my trip to South Carolina was postponed so many times that I even came to think that it wasn’t going to happen. It was only when my ticket was actually purchased that I decided to post it on my blog. I grew tired of people asking me when I was going to leave and responding I didn’t know, some came to think I had problems with the company and that I had been demoted or something, especially my parents. It was because all of this that I decided not to talk about it until I was certain about them.

But once again I’m dedicating this entry to things I shouldn’t, so let us proceed with the good stuff.

On how idiocy can affect others.
As I was mentioned earlier, I still don’t have a car, and I’ve come to think that it is because of a massive chain of idiocy has prevented me from doing so. I will probably sound derogatory on this subject but everything is probably true. The main problem with me not being able to rent a car is that because apparently in the state of South Carolina it is illegal to drive with a Mexican Driver’s License. Now this may be true but I think it’s a big load of bullshit.

It all dates back to a couple of people from the plant in Mexico that came a couple months ago to be trained on machine. They rented a car as everyone from Mexico has done before and they drove every day to SCDC. One day, the brilliant police from Ridgeland (also known as Shitland by me) were doing a license search and they got stopped. Now, to be honest, they don’t have the best looks (to put it nicely), and they can’t speak English very well, and they probably also got nervous. So when the brilliant Shitland police asked them for their papers, they correctly showed their papers. Now, it is well documented that many police officers don’t know crap about many laws and they don’t know what to do when they are presented with a foreign document. Taking into consideration that they live in a red state, in a small red-neck town full of racism, they aren’t really used to this kind of thing, so the brilliant officer decided that he wouldn’t take the license as official and handcuffed the driver (idiot number 1). Now, this has happened before to me, when a police officer has not wanted to take my license as official, but I do know my rights and I know they can’t handcuff me if I show that I’m legally visiting the United States and show my proper papers but knowing the driver, he probably got scared shitless and couldn’t explain the situation so he didn’t know what the heck to do (idiot number 2). The company had to bail out the driver and was told by Shitland police that it was illegal to drive in SC with a Mexican License.

Now, before coming here they asked me to give some papers so I could get an “International Driver’s License”. I didn’t buy into it but I cooperated. I investigated and found out that there is no such thing in Mexico. That it is a scam by companies trying to take advantage of it and that Mexico and the US among other countries are in a treaty to accept each other’s documents. My papers were sent and the people at the IDL issuing company just lost them (another example of idiocy) so among all this mayhem I did what the HR people should have done. I contacted the SC Department of Motor Vehicles and asked them if it was legal to drive with a Mexican License. They replied saying that I could drive legally for 90 days. At the same time, the HR manager emailed the chief of (idiotic) police in Shitland and he replied that it was illegal. Now, I think that it is either two things, either he is just a moron or he is just covering his arse so he doesn’t have to accept that arresting the driver was wrong and illegal. Or perhaps it is both.

I resubmitted my papers to the idiotic IDL company and hopefully they won’t get lost. I am not holding my breath on this one though.

On how WoW has kept me sane (mostly).
Without a car and with not very nice weather I was forced to stay indoors most of the time, especially on the weekend. What I decided my only salvation was is to download WoW and play it. This may sound easy but considering there is only one bar of WLAN signal in my room and that with clients and upgrades it can go as high as 7GB, downloading it was absolutely annoying. Thankfully I was able to finish downloading on Saturday morning so it wasn’t all that terrible. The problem is that since the hotel has a very crappy signal (no UTP) and I share it with pretty much everyone else, there are times when I get disconnected as much as 7 times in a row and my latency is absolutely horrendous. That combined with playing on a non-gaming laptop, with its crappy keyboard (laptop keyboards aren’t very good to play games), the crappy mouse and the not so very good screen have made me hit the desk a couple of times, but the rest of the time, which thankfully is about 70%, it has kept me from someone finding me in my room lying dead on the bed from boredom.

My botany knowledge stinks.
There is a really nice tree at the hotel that I can see when I look out my window or open the door. It’s tall and full of white flowers and looked gorgeous when I arrived so I thought: I will take a photo of it soon. Well, that moment never came and now most of the white petals are gone and being replaced by green ones that eventually will turn into another colour I assume. I realized I am very ignorant when it comes to any kind of plant, or tree or flower. I rarely know any names or looks of them and their characteristics. I hope I have learned my lesson of taking a photo when I can and not leave it for later.

I was going to dedicate most if not of this entry to talk about the people I’ve been working with, but since I’ve rambled long enough I think they deserve an entry of their own. I don’t know why I write such long entries, I know I don’t read long entries myself.

End of transmission.

2 comments.

2 comments.

It’s a dangerous business going out your door.

Posted on April 1st, 2008 by MarFon.
Categories: General, Travel.

Note: This entry should have been posted on Thursday March 27, but I took a bit of time finishing it until today, April 1st. I will timestamp it with the date it was supposed to be published on. More to come really soon (hopefully).

Only two days and a half have passed since my arrival at South Carolina and already a few remarkable things have occurred. I don’t foresee accounting for every day of the month that I’ll be staying in this region but I think the last two days are worth telling.

My flight, thankfully, was uneventful. It was a short trip, shorter than most of the trips I’ve taken as the HR manager made sure my waiting in Houston was short and so it was. In roughly 4 to 5 hours I was setting foot in the state of Georgia. I didn’t know who was going to pick me up at the airport, I only knew someone was (hopefully). I also didn’t know if my checked baggage was going to arrive for it was heavy since I packed for a month’s stay but thankfully it did. It is funny that many people were surprised about my lack of “preparation” for the trip and how I still remained confident. I didn’t pack my bags until the night before, even though I had 2 days off work plus the weekend to do it, I didn’t know if someone was going to pick me up or if I was going to get a rental car until the night before, and I didn’t know where I was going to stay until I actually arrived at the company. A few people were concerned and insinuated that I was irresponsible, yet I like to think that I’m carefree. Everything was resolved wasn’t it? And just as I knew it would be. I guess I’m not much of a worrier about travels anymore as I’ve done my good share now, just like when I thought the decision to wait 4 hours in Houston for our trip to Japan was absolutely ridiculous but hey, if it was peace of mind for them then I can adapt.

So I arrived at around 3:30 pm at the corporate offices and the time remaining was just used for introductions and to get settled. I couldn’t go into SCDC (South Carolina Department of Corrections) until I got approved to enter and I couldn’t drive my own rental car yet because I didn’t have my international driver’s license (which I see as double bullshit) yet so I had to hang around the corporate offices for the next day or two and ride with someone to and from every day.

The reason I need an International Driver’s License is because supposedly the state of South Carolina doesn’t recognize of Mexican Driver’s License which I think it’s absolute rubbish since the whole United States does and several countries are in a pact of recognizing each other’s Driver’s License, among which are the US and Mexico. The funny thing is that in order to drive in that state they require an International Driver’s License. What is so funny about that? Well, that Mexico’s government doesn’t issue such credentials, and they have published a warning stating that 3rd party companies are issuing said Licenses and that they are not officially recognized. Basically all of that means that if I get pulled over in South Carolina I have to show them an unrecognized, unofficial, illegal License so they are happy because they don’t accept the internationally recognized, official, and legal License. The US can be like that sometimes and I think it’s just plain idiotic.

Due to the lack of a vehicle I have stayed every single day inside my hotel after work hours. It’s not a tragedy, mind you, as I have internet and TV and it’s basically what I’m used to do back at home, but during travel I like to get around and know the place, as probably any person would. It sucks that I’m far from Savannah, if my hotel was there I’d walk around everywhere but there is basically nothing in Ridgeland. Just so you get an idea of how bad it is, I’m staying at one of the best hotels in town, which happens to be a Days Inn. Yep, it’s that bad.

The second day, after South Carolina greeting me with a Frost Advisory, I had to start my training and since I still wasn’t approved to go to SCDC I was told to meet with someone so she could start training me (I’ll omit her name for “security” / “crawler” purposes although most people close to me already know it). Little did I know that she would turn out to be one of the sweetest girls I’ve ever met. She is a redhead (I bet no one saw that one coming huh?) and she is quite pretty but what attracted me the most (as usual) is her personality. She is absolutely adorable and her sense of humour is fantastic. I’d say that sense-of-humour-wise she reminds me of a mix between Renate and Laura. During the small training periods we laughed a lot and made silly jokes a lot so it was really fun. She is also incredibly smart, once again, another trait that I love, and I feel that she is also very perceptive of emotions and feelings. There was instant chemistry. I’m really glad I had the chance to meet her.

At the end of the day I was informed that I had been approved to enter SCDC so I’d be going the next day (although no car yet) so the time had finally come. The following day I was awakened by a loud bird who wouldn’t shut the fuck up but it was alright. The warden of the prison wanted to see me first for some crazy reason, and I had to go through an overview of the SCDC rules with the HR Manager first before going to the prison so after reviewing the rules for like a million times: the cute girl told me some as she worked at the prison before, the HR Manager sent me the rules which I printed and took with me to the hotel, the HR Manager went through the same exact document the next morning and then I took a small training course after seeing the warden. I was never nervous or scared, since I knew that although civilians aren’t common, well, they do go every day so it’s not like I was going to be a total stranger. I went through the infamous “yard” and then into the factory and was greeted by everyone. I have to admit, as the cute girl had told me, that everyone is really nice (or everyone I’ve met) and that there are some really intelligent, capable inmate. I am very surprised to be honest. Not because I ever doubted or minimized them but because I didn’t know exactly how smart and capable they would be. Heck, to be honest these people are some of the best I’ve ever worked with. I think the hardest rule for me is that I have to avoid any physical contact with the inmates, and that includes hand-shaking. I think it’s a very stupid rule but heck, after hearing the “you can’t drive with a Mexican driver’s license in South Carolina” nothing really surprises me. Everyone I’ve met has been so nice to me that I wish I could shake their hands at least or give them a friendly pat on the back but meh, sadly I can’t. The day went on by without any trouble.

This morning I was awakened by the alarm clock with the song Eternal Flame by The Bangles. When the alarm went off the song was actually starting as well so it was an slightly surreal moment. I guess I prefer that than to wake up to Rob Zombie.

I am very fortunate.

End of transmission.

0 comments.

0 comments.

Off I go again.

Posted on March 24th, 2008 by MarFon.
Categories: General, Photo, Special Day / Event.

As it is quickly becoming custom, I am writing an entry just before travel. In a couple of hours I’ll be on a plane heading to Savannah, GA and staying there for a month’s training in a prison. Yep, you read right, the factory is located inside a prison. I really don’t know what to expect about all of it, staying who knows where for a month, getting trained for a very important position and then the whole company depending on me, etc; I only know that I am doing it with an open mind and open arms. What is the worst that can happen anyway?

Previously I was going to write a pissed-off post on my birthday about how mundane it is, how it is like any other day for me, and this year at least nothing happened that made me change my mind. My party, on the other hand, was very nice. For the first time I knew exactly who was going to come and who wasn’t, and I didn’t stay “depressed” or “disappointed” by those who didn’t. Many people came and it was fun, that is what matters. I know that a few people that aren’t or weren’t, had they been able to, would have come, they know who they are, the rest well, I don’t really care. The ones who did showed me something special, in their own different way. Heck, even someone whose mother’s birthday and party was on the same day as my party found some time to come. I don’t know if I would have done the same, well, maybe for my best friends, and that is exactly what impressed me.

Besides those things that I treasure the most (including happy birthday wishes from people I didn’t expect them from, even 10 days before my birthday), I got some very special material gifts like the one you see below. Why do I include a photo of this particular one? Because it is a great example of what I treasure in life. See, I previously knew that the Yoda card on the box had taken some time to “get right”. The sole fact that someone took a long time to make something special for me is something I truly value, therefore when I received it I considered that box and card as the gift and I was truly thankful for it, only to realize later that there was something else, a bonus per se, and a gawddamn nice one, inside it.

I am very fortunate. Thank you all.

End of transmission.

0 comments.

0 comments.

Whatever… among other stuff.

Posted on March 9th, 2008 by MarFon.
Categories: General.

I’m not feeling very well at the moment but much better than I was a few minutes ago. The reason for feeling better is that I vented on an alternate blog I created some months ago for a specific situation and that I’ve forgotten to mention here for ages now. Not that mentioning it would be any help since in order to read it you’d need to know the address and in order to do that you’d need to know a combination of secret words known by a few unaware people. Even if you miraculously managed to gather said passwords I think I’ve only displayed the entries for myself, so I encourage you not to try and even more, not to ask me about it.

Apparently I’m leaving in two weeks, finally, for a month, to South Carolina. I’m very much looking forward to it, especially because I see it as the time to finally rid myself of this shit. Hopefully it’ll be like that.

On different news, I’ve been playing Assassin’s Creed. It’s very cool on many levels although it becomes very repetitive. If it wasn’t so cool I would have been bored with it long ago.

My birthday is this week. I’m not really in the mood for it at the moment. It’s just another day among the other 365 in this year.

End of transmission.

5 comments.

5 comments.

Older »