Simple America

I was tagged with this such a long time ago. So long that I forgot who tagged me. Rats!!! It had to be Huei or Rabbit. I know I read this at both of their blogs. But I am paying my debt ladies. Please don’t hurt me for being sooooooooooooo slow.

This is a tag of many sevens. Oodles of sevens. So many sevens can die. In fact more sevens than the law allows. More sevens than…. What? Shut up and do the meme? *blush* Okay. 

[Seven Things I’m Experiencing Now]
1. Worried because the auditor asked for something I did not do yet.

2. Anxious because this time next week I will be in Columbus.

3. Happy because it is Thursday and I don’t work tomorrow.

4. I’m in pain because my pinched nerve is stabbing me. I need Midol.

5. Sleepy. Because I stayed up late last night playing World of Warcraft with a good group.

6. Hungry. Time to eat my orange.

7. Relieved because I satisfied the auditor after all. Yay!

[Seven Things I’m Thinking About Now]
1. Should I blog?

2. Can I finish the enrollment audut?

3. How soon can I get the firm in operation?

4. Can I peel this orange more quickly?

5. Should I go to the doctor? Pinch nerve really is jabbing me.

6. About sex.

7. Who tagged me with this?

[Seven Things I’m Worrying About]
1. Getting game system rules mixed up while game mastering next week.

2. When can I get the chance to read Chicken in the Mists? I never played or read this adventure before.

3. Will my firm’s marketing plan be effective?

4. Can I time the marketing so money comes in to pay for it quickly? Don’t want go for a loan from the bank.

5. Will I splatter orange juice on my shirt?

6. Can I get more time to visit blogger friends?

7. Will owning a business, screw up my chance to fly over the Pacific? 

[Seven Things I’m Happy About]
1. That I am going to Origins.

2. That the weekend starts in 8 hours.

3. That you are still reading this meme.

4. That I am finally eating the orange and it is sweet.

5. That I made a new friend on World of Warcraft that is an adult and not another teenager.

6. That I got to spend time with Ed and Craig last weekend.

7. That the kids are home and acting giddy instead of evil. 

[Seven People I Treasure]
1. The missus.

2. #1 Daughter.

3. #2 Son.

4. My mother. RIP.

5. My aunt. RIP.

6. My brother. RIP.

7. My readers!!!

[Seven Things I Always Touch or Come In Contact With]
1. My chair at work.

2. My chair at home.

3. The missus when I… Hey watch out there! Hmpf. So tricky lah.

4. Hugs from my daughter.

5. Keyboards.

6. Cell phone.

7. Me. But not like that. See number 3 for that.

[Seven Things I Want to Improve]

1. Conversational skills, especially for business.

2. Writing. I am never happy with my writing.

3. QuickBook skills. Want to be certified by the end of July.

4. Game mastering ability. Want the players to have a fun time before I kill their characters. muahahaha

5. Sexual ability. But I’m not clicking on those stupid spam ads.

6. Want to improve my ability to understand women. Less arguing and more giggling then I would hope.

7. Malaysian/Singapore speak. Want to learn more so I can understand more of the phrases I miss here and there.

[Seven Things I’m Strong In]
1. Geek Factor.

2. Bull shit.

3. Accounting.

4. Gaming.

5. Conservatism.

6. Patriotism.

7. Laid backism.

[Seven Things I’m Weak In]
1. Chatting with strangers. Shy, shy!

2. Covering my butt. Always getting into trouble.

3. Time management.

4. Buying stuff despite the cash flow implications.

5. Almost always late.

6. Price theory.

7. Procrastinate. Will talk about this later.

[Seven Things I Adore Eating]
1. Steak. Thick sizzling beef. Though I limit myself to a portion the size of my hand now.

2. Candy, but I must not.

3. Shrimp. Big thick and juicy with my special sauce. Very spicey.

4. Curry squid. I want some now!!!

5. Whataburger. But only on rare occasions. Like next Wednesday with Ed. It will be my first hamburger in almost three months.

6. Dim sum.

7. Korean barbeque with kimchi.

[Seven Things I Adore Drinking]
1. Water.

2. Beer. Had my first Tiger beer last weekend. Very nice. 

3. Fruit smoothies. My missus makes these so yummy.

4. White coffee. *slurps*

5. Starbucks coffee, once the white coffee is consumed.

6. Ice tea.

7. Hot jasmine tea.

[Seven Things I Detest]
1. Snoopy nosed women that should stay out of my business. Not referring to any bloggers here btw.

2. People that come to my closed door at lunch and ask me questions, when I am obviously at lunch. My door is wide open the rest of the day.

3. People that come stop me as I am leaving work and ask me questions, when I am obviously departing. Where were you all day? I was here ten hours plus an hour for lunch.

4. Loud braggarts.

5. Unoriginal people. Paris Hilton wannabes for example.

6. People that have to one up everything you say.

7. People that abuse children, the weak, or animals.

[Seven Things I Cannot Live Without]
1. Money.

2. Dice.

3. Games.

4. Internet access.

5. Computer software. And not just games. I need MS Office and QuickBooks, as well as other working applications.

6. My bed.

7. My missus. I’m hopeless without her grounding me to reality from time to time.

[Seven Things I Fear to Show]
1. My big belly. Except when wearing a Santa costume.

2. My stories.

3. How I stutter sometimes. It really makes me feel stupid. My mouth cannot keep pace with my brain.

4. Me picking my nose.

5. What a klutz I can be.

6. My shirt after a meal. I need a bib in size XL.

7. Oh just me. I embarrass myself breathing sometimes.

[Seven Things I’ll Never Want to Talk About]
1. My father. Don’t know anything about him. How can I?

2. My stepfather. He was an abusive jerk.

3. My sister. Not another word on her.

4. How much I hate auditing. I will not provide audit services.

5. Third Grade. Not going there.

6. Drugs. That’s all past.

7. How much I enjoyed doing this short meme. Eh, hmmm. 

[Seven Things I Will Want to Do]
1. Go to Southeast Asia.

2. Be YOUR Gigolo. Can I? 

3. Create a successful CPA firm.

4. Have a NY Times Bestseller.

5. Design an award winning game (board or computer).

6. Open a Collectible cafe. A place to drink white coffee while reading your favorite comic book or manga. Maybe play a quick game of Magic the Gathering.

7. See that the Little Shop of Horrors becomes the internet quick stop for Horror gaming amd collections.

[Seven Things I Will Never Play Around When/With]
1. Dynamite.

2. Anudda guy. Yuck! Butt pinches don’t count.

3. The Police. Not the band.

4. Matches. Momma said…

5. Hydrogen bombs.

6. At the airport. Just get me to my destination.

7. Memes. They are just too important! Like this one.

[Seven Things I Wonder About]
1. How will I feel when I stand under the Southeast Asian sun?

2. Can my marketing plan capture a significant client base?

3. When can I leave for Asia?

4. Will I be well behaved or just another Ang Moh?

5. Will bloggers really want to hug me when we meet?

6. Will I embarrass myself and get a woodie while hugging?

7. Will all of these blog buddies run away after that happens?

[Seven Questions I Hope My Friends Would Respond To]
1. Why do you keep coming back to read this junk?

2. Do I ever come off as too self-righteous?

3. Do I seem angry at times?

4. Why are Chinese girls so… haiz? *dreams*

5. Am I half Chinese or just goof ball?

6. Are you tired of reading this long thing?

7. Do you think it is okay to have sex after a long meme? Or rest first, then have sex?

[Seven Things (or People) I Would Love to See]
1. All of the Singapore bloggers in one room.

2. All of the Kay El bloggers in one room.

3. All of the other West Malaysian and Thai bloggers in one room.

4. All of the East Malaysian, Indonesian, and Philipino bloggers in one room.

5. All of the Australian bloggers in one room.

6. All of the European bloggers in one room.

7. All of the American bloggers in one room.

Note. This is where you live at now. Not where you came from. Maybe LB should be allowed at 2, 3, & 6. After all he is Long Lost Bruddah!

[Seven People I Wanna Tag]

Are you nuts. People already want to beat me up for writing such a long meme. I’m not tagging a soul. Yikes!

And the auditors just left until the Fall. Yee Haw!!!!

I’m so glad we have doctors out there like Eve, Chen, and Dr. Bernard Chan. The same is true for researchers like Nicole. They might have a better idea on how to explain what a peptide is.

I googled peptide, and they led me to wikipedia which stated these are the short molecules formed from the linking of amino acids. If I recall correctly amino acids are formed by protein. So I imagine this has to be some raely heady stuff.

For a better understanding go and visit Biosynthesis Inc. They look like they have a firm understanding of this technology. Researchers and doctors can find quality products for their research here. Hats off to you folks that work with this stuff. Leave some enlightening comments for me. I would be interested to better understand these products.

Next week I am going to Columbus, Ohio. Will spend America’s birthday, the fourth of July, flying there. Why? Because I am going to attend the Origins International Game Expo. This event is organized by GAMA, which is the Game Manufacturers Association.

What will I do there? I am going to represent 12 to Midnight along with four of my five partners. Disappointed that all five of us could not meet up, but one has a family commitment. We are going to run a few games for our fans and have a couple of seminars. I am going to run my Weekend Warriors adventure in D20 and Savage Worlds systems. Also will run the d20 version of Chickens in the Mist and 12 Hours to Midnight Episode One. My big seminar is going to be on starting a game business and I will assist my partners with their discussions on how to run a horror game and plot point campaign gaming.

The cool part is getting to meet all of the people. Neal Hyde a free lance writers we have hired in the past is going to be there. In fact, he shall reside with us in the palatial 12 to Midnight suites. I look forward to see some folks I met at Gencon two years ago, Sean Preston and Clint Black. Really excited to see them once more. Really hope I can game with these guys a bit. But the fellow I want to revisit the most is Shane Hensley, the creator of Savage Worlds and Deadlands (and a whole lot more). Shane has helped out our company so much and I can never express my gratefulness enough. Would be awesome to game with him, but his time is always fully booked at these shows. So I’ll just have to settle for dinner and drinks.

Another goal is hitting the dealer room at the show. There will be so many games at this location. I intend to purchase Deadlands Reloaded, Pirates, and the new softcover version of Savage Worlds and get them autographed by Shane. Also want to see the Paizo products. They have been putting out a lot Game Master aids lately and I want to see if they have some on display. Want to see how much bang there is for my buck. And I also want to grab all the cool swag all the vendors have!

This game show should also have a lot of miniatures gaming too. I really look forward to seeing some of the tables that will be displayed. The historical gaming tables at these kind of events can really be elaborate. Must remember my camera so I can show you how cool these things can look! Maybe I can get some time to play. Definitely would like to play some World War 2 stuff or even Ancients.

So excited I might blow up. Hard to sit down. SIT DOWN!. Sorry for yelling. But I keep jumping up and down.

Anybody interested in heading to Hawaii? Speak up now. Or better yet click on this link to learn more about HAWAII VACATION PACKAGES. One website lets you check on air, hotel, and car rental. Want some help preparing for your vacation? Send in your travel time and desired room rate and HAWAII VACATION PACKAGES can help you find a good deal.

Why Hawaii? Why now? The US government has just poured $95 million dollars into cleaning up Hawaii and making sure it stays pristine. Shouldn’t an island vacation be a jaunt away from all of that stressful pollution? Everyone wants a chance to breath clean air and swim in the beautiful clean Pacific?

Make your trip even more enjoyable. Get a villa and you won’t have your vacation spoiled by those college kids blasting loud music at four in the morning. Villas can be found at HAWAII VACATION PACKAGES too. Lets hit the beach folks. And then go for a luau!

Today is Monday. Argh!!!

The auditors are here. Argh!!!

I’m still alive. Argh!!!

Feel so tired and got to answer all of these questions. Blah blah blah! Oh well. That’s the fun part of the job.

But I had a great weekend. Ed and Craig visited me. We had to do our precon work for Origins. Lots of printing, cutting and gluing. Ed brought the toe tags that we are going to give folks that play our games. A toe tag is funny thing we created for con support. It looks like the tag they put on a corpse in the morgue. And since our games are scarey this theme goes hand in hand. Yeah it is little morbid, but good horror is a little morbid. Right?

We stopped to sleep a bit and woke up early Friday for more printing. I had to create some D20 characters. Had the hardest time locating my Metacreator software. Finally, found the software. Hope the players will like what we are giving them to play with.

Friday moved along as slow as my printer. Really slow. But finally got most of the tasks done. Craig wanted to go to Nans, the favorite local game shop. Ed wanted to go to Hooters. And the missus went to retrieve the girl. So I said lets go to both.

We must have spent an hour at Nans. I ogled all of the board games I wanted to purchase and they had some new boat layouts that will come in handy for the pirate games I will be running for the kids soon. But I restrained myself. After all I am going to Origins next week. I might be able to negotiate for a cheaper deal there. Plus I can get my purchases autographed. Will definitely get the new Savage Worlds Pirate campaign and Deadlands Reloaded. Been waiting forever to pick the latter up. Craig is not going, so he bought a board game called Arkham Horror, as well as a couple of the Cheap Ass Game titles.

Then we went to Hooters. I think we had the prettiest waitress in the joint. Blond cutie that just fits the Hooter’s mold (and tight pants) to a tee. Besides the eye feast, I had some Buffalo wings and half a dozen oysters. Food was so so. Wings were really dry. Kinda disappointing.

We went home and played Arkham Horror. This game is based on the H. P. Lovecraft Call of Cthulu stories. He created a Massachusets town called Arkham where a lot of peculiar horrific events took place. The game proved to be quite fun. This is not the kind of game where you have a winner or loser. The game was nice as we had to cooperate with each other to stop the evil Elder God from destroying the world. May have to pick up a copy of this for my own collection. And there are three add ons available too.

Come Saturday we had a little more work to do. But not without a breakfast playing of Arkham Horror. Craig returned to Lufkin, while Ed and I went to Kinkos to make some copies for handouts and to laminate the bennies and action points we provide the players for our games. My son called while we were there. He just returned from camp, so we picked him up. Went home and looked at all of the work that was done. Pretty much believed that all of the prep work is done, so Ed left for his in-laws. I cleaned up the house a bit. Then Ed came back. He discovered a couple of things that were not done. Did not take long to print and he left again. Felt tired from lack of sleep. So just played a little World of Warcraft since that does not require a lot of brain power.

Sunday morning we woke and for the first time ever, the entire family went to the gym. Had a good work out. Took my shower and washed my hair. Went back to my locker to get dressed and realized I forgot my underwear and comb. Cripes. And we were not going home either.

Next stop was dim sum at Fung’s Kitchen. We met SIL#4 and her boyfriend there. They had pictures of their recent cruise from Galveston to Cozumel, Mexico. They had a lot of pictures. I enjoyed looking at the pictures so much that my kids goobled up all the fried squid and ha gao (shrimp balls) before I even had a chance to see ‘em.

They came over to the house after lunch. #4’s boy friend looked at my truck to see why the a/c was not working. I need to get a $20 part and that should put things back in order. He rigged it so it will work for the mean time too.

They also brought over the movie Letters From Iwo Jima. I have been wanting to see this movie for some time. And I liked it a lot better than Flags of Our Fathers. Letters From Iwo Jima tells the Japanese side of the battle. I found it interesting to see how the Japanese forces worked. The interservice rivalries that exist between the navy and army. The conflicts created by the Japanese general’s different view on how to fight the battle. Have to be thankful that there were not a lot of Japanese men with his flexibility or the war could have been a lot deadlier and prolonged.

Great! The auditor’s are back from lunch. Back to work. 

By now everyone has heard about Reno 911! Miami The Movie. There is just so much buzz on this flick how could anyone miss it. Right? The website has a lot of information on the film and now they have added some games. So what are you waiting for? Go play one. There are four titles waiting for you.

The game I selected to play was Calling All Units. In this game you are policeman with a squad car that begins the game in a parking lot. You receive crimes from the dispatcher. Your goal is to then see how safely you can drive to the crime scene. Your success is measured in how little damage you do. I did quite a bit. I did so bad that my end salary was $0. I guess I have to pay to work. My cost to the city was $164,000 in damages. Nothing new there.   There was also a score for Bustin Bonus but I could not read the total as the end game screen covered that score.

I selected this game as I enjoy driving games. Trying to navigate through a city in traffic seemed like it would be a lot of fun. After playing this game I am really interested to seeing the chase scenes in Reno 911! Miami The Movie. I’m betting there is going to be a lot of pyrotechnics and car crashes in this flick.

When I looked further in the Reno 911! Miami The Movie website I found the following synopsis:

“The story centers on a rag-tag team of Reno cops that are called in to save the day after a terrorist attack disrupts a national police convention in Miami Beach during spring break. They’re not the best, but that’s all we got. Based on the successful Comedy Central TV series.”

I do not have Comedy Central so I am unfamiliar with the series. But based on the games and the DVD cover I am really interested in checking this film out. I could use a good laugh right now. Popcorn and Reno 911! Miami The Movie sounds like a good combo. But until I can watch the flick I think I shall play some games. Shhhh!!!! Don’t tell my boss.

Once again I found myself in Galveston this morning and I shall go again tomorrow. This time I am attending the Texas College Business Office Conference. The conference’s loction is close to the college they let a lot more of us attend. I have never been to this conference in the past. There are a lot more vendors supporting this events and they brought lots of swag. Grabbed a whole lot of cool flashing, bell ringing, maybe can write pens. Though the fridge magnet clip I snagged will be most popular at my house. haha All kinds of prize drawings too. Hope I can win the iPod Nano for my daughter.

I attended a session this morning on audit planning. Initially, I dreaded going for just this one hour session. But after all was said and done the trip was worhtwhile. Of course, if I quit in couple of weeks somebody better give me a good exit interview to get these ideas. The college does need to audit some of the programs mentioned in this round table.

I returned to the campus in time for the College President to give a talk on the Governor’s Monday attack against Community Colleges. The Texas Governor, Rick Perry,  vetoed an appropriation for all Texas Community Colleges. He stated that Community Colleges were submitting false records and that was certainly a surprise to all of the Community College folks I spoke with. That would mean that I am failing at my job as Internal Auditor. It is my responsibility to see that the college presents records and reports that are fair, honest, and accurate. Maybe I should use that as the reasoning for me to resign once I do go full time with my firm.

The sad thing is the students are the real losers in this appropriation cut. We are going to lose 1.6 million in funding and the President stated that this is a budget buster. And Governor Perry proclaimed during the election that he was for education. He also stated that he wants to fix property taxes. This veto may cause the college to seek increase an increase in the tax rate of Brazoria County to cover the short fall.

I look at the last two Governors, Perry and Bush, and I believe they have done more to tarnish the Republican Party than any Democrat ever could hope for. Really need some new politicians in America. All we have now are a bunch of scum with no honor or integrity.

Meanwhile I am tidying up for the auditors that will be visiting me next week. I am mostly ready (I hope). If not then I get fired and go full time  with my firm. I bought a couple of books from Amazon that should help me with a few of my marketing gaps too.

I also picked up this book. Because … because…

… force is strong with this book.

I may take my camera with me tomorrow too. So you readers can see what Galveston looks like. I am at Moody Gardens and it is a lovely location for a family vacation. But of course I have no budget to stay in the hotel this time. Rats!

USA Network’s Burn Notice premieres next week. I wonder how Michael Weston, the protagonist of this TV show, got in this situation. Just for fun I have decided to write my version of Weston’s Burn Notice.

The conference room smelled of antiseptic clean. Flourescent ceiling lights painted the room with a harsh glow. Evenly spaced double rows of four laptops sat atop the long table. Government issue chairs covered with synthetic black leather sat in front of each terminal, with a pair capping off the table heads. Dress for success types filled each seat. They read status emails, analyzed New York Times editorials, and scanned CNN video clips to maintain control on the current project.

The field chief stood near the door. As if he guarded the only access in and out of this windowless room. Above his head the second hand of a white faced clock ticked the passing of each second. He focused his attention on the video wall. This huge screen had been partitioned into three screens. Left to right he could see a satellite view of the city, the capital building, and a map of the city. On the map several colored points betrayed the position of the asset and his targets. The asset was a blue circle, while the targets were indicated by red triangles. There was only one asset on this screen and it touched a trio of tangles. Agent Weston followed the schedule precisely.

The emergency phone buzzed in his pocket. The field director’s eyes widened a bit before he regained controll of his face. Quickly he pulled the phone out and saw the Director’s number on the caller ID. “Agent Highsmith,” he spoke into the phone.

“Terminated Red Rider,” demanded the Director.

“Sir, Red Rider is currently go status.”

“Terminate it now!”

Highsmith pulled the phone from his throbbing ear. “Terminate Red Rider,” he yelled to the suits sitting at the table.

“Sir, Red Rider is currently moving to extraction,” a young woman responded. “Target has been acquired.”

The Field Chief felt his stomach tighten in a knot. He turned to the bare wall behind him. He spoke into the phone, “Sir, target is in our possession. Asset is moving to extraction.”

Highsmith counted ten clicks. “Red Rider is disowned,” the Director spoke directly. “We did not execute this op. I repeat. Red Rider has no history with this agency.”

“What do we do with the target when the asset returns, sir”, asked the field chief?

Five seconds ticked. “Burn him.” The line beeped and disconnected.

Highsmith took in a deep breath. He turned back around to face the room’s occupants. Eight pairs of eyes looked at him and he knew there were questions behind those stares.

“Execute burn notice on asset Weston.”

“Burn sir,” inquired the young woman.

“We don’t know him any more. Agent Weston is dead to us. Cancel extraction. Terminate his phone. Remove backup assets. Shred all Red Rider files. This op did not occur.”

It has been a couple of month’s since I watched a podcast produced by the Official XBox Magazine. The topic covered on that episode was Guitar Hero 2 for the XBox 360. At the end of the podcast a contest was announced that would give away 10 copies of the Guitar Hero 2 game. I sent them an email and forgot about it.

Yesterday they contacted me. I won a Guitar Hero 2 game for the XBox 360. I totally cannot believe my luck. My daughter has been saying how much she wants this game. My son would like it too. And of course me, the big kid in the house is ready to wail on the guitar! Rock ‘n’ Roll! *gives sign of the Devil*  0.0 *takes deep breath*

Better calm down. Now I need to get XBox live. That will give access to more songs. hehe Really am excited. I won’t tell my kids. When it arrives they will be surprised and happy for a bit. 

On June the 28th, USA Network’s Burn Notice television show shall debut. This show follows CIA agent, Michael Weston, after he gets a burn notice. What is a burn notice? That is the spy equivalency of being made redundant. You go from living on the James Bond lifestyle to being homeless in the big city.

Thus it is an urban survival situation. How would you survive if you went to having nothing in just an instant.? You have no money, no home, and no car. What will you do for food? Where do you go when it starts to rain?

As I read the challenge of this ad, I recalled how we used to live in Frankfurt, West Germany when I was in the army. During my first tour we would go drinking and trying to meet girls. We were too cheap to get a hotel. My buddies and I would sneak into the main train station and enter the office areas. Once inside we would sleep on the hall floor. We could stay there until the guard chased us off and then we would seek out another quiet hall. Fortunately for us it was a big train station. So that is my advice to Weston. Find a train station.

As for food. If you just lost your job find a job quick before you get smelly. That way at least you can make a little money so you might be able to get in the YMCA and get a shower. If you work at a restaurant you are usually fed too. And if you are a former spy, you are probably smart than the average Joe. Find your way into a better job. Use your resources. You can probably con your way into something that is going to pay decently.

What would you do in this circumstance? Are you going to watch Burn Notice? I think it sounds pretty cool. June 28th is the debut. Don’t forget.