Thoroughbred Dreaming. You know how sometimes when you wake up in the middle of doing something in a dream, you'll keep doing whatever you were doing even as you're half awake? Yea, I had one of those kindsa dreams last night. And whereas it usually just causes a lot of sleeptalking, but this time was kinda different...

So the dream I guess was about this futuristic horse race, where instead of racing side-by-side, they raced in these tubes on top of one another, and where you couldn't see the other horses. And I think was the jockey for one of the racehorses... or maybe I was the horse. All I know is that I woke up in the middle of the race and I was doing this furious running in place (except lying down) thing reminiscent of that track & field game for the NES powerpad, hahaha. And like even as I was half awake, I kept running & running, thinking yea, man, I bet I totally SMOKED those suckas, heh. And I was probably at it for like a good 20 or 30 seconds, and I was getting pretty tired and getting minor friction burns on my heels from my feet rubbing back & forth on the sheets thinking shoot, I wonder when they're gonna call this race. I wonder if I won it yet. And when I finally stopped, my first thought was actually man, shoot, I totally blew it. I coulda kept going for a few more seconds, I shoulda kept pushing it. And it took me probably like another 15 seconds to realize where I was and that there was no race at all, and then I just felt completely silly and sat there laughing at myself for awhile, haha. I think I hurt my neck from straining too hard though, it's been aching like hell all day. =/

*So after 2+ years of loyal service, my laptop finally died on me over the 4th of July holiday. I think the fan had broken or something cuz it started overheating a lot, and it would auto power itself off a lot. Well, then I decided to try using the restore partition to reset the software and everything to factory settings, and it kept dying half way through the restore. And it was all just downhill from there. So after eating up like 10 gigs on my hard drive for forever, it didn't even do what it was supposed to... how worthless, hah.

I ended up ordering a new laptop from Lenovo, and it's been pretty meh. I think my main complaint about it is really that I don't like Windows Vista, hah. Like seriously, I didn't freaking buy a near top-of-the-line system to have it run slower than my old computer- it's just plain frustrating. I turned off the much-touted Aero interface, and it sped the system up a bit, but it's still not fast by any means. And they rearranged all the menus, so if you're used to XP, it'll take you awhile to find stuff (or maybe u won't find it at all, hah). (...though I think I said like half of this about XP too right when it came out, hah.) And a lot of programs designed for older versions of Windows behave kinda quirky on Vista. Oh, and you get a bajillion system popups, like to install a file, rename a file, when a program wants to start new processes, etc... yea, I guess it's keeping the computer "safe" or whatever, but you get treated with the n00b gloves.

So yea, I've pretty much been awol from IM ever since, cuz I'm used to AIMing (& MSNing... do they even still call it that? Windows Live?) on my laptop, and well, I guess subconsciously, I haven't "accepted" this laptop yet. I think I gotta put it through some form of hazing first, hahaha. On the plus side though, I tripped over a cord and pulled the laptop off a table like the second day I had it, and it was fine. Good to know it can take a lickin', hah (can't have a laptop with a glass jaw). =P Yea, that earned it a few points in my book.

*After many years of saying they were going to, and half a year of actually trying, my parents are very close to selling our house in Plano. I guess a part of me just never thought that this would actually happen. (I'm pretty sure I've written about these feelings before, during one of their past periods of "we're gonna sell" tough talk, but I feel I oughta vent again.)

And yea, I guess part of me has to admit that it IS kinda too big for just two people and all, but it still doesn't make saying goodbye any easier. And granted I haven't lived in it continuously for an extended period of time since before college (like 5 years ago), part of me will still always think of it as "home." It's just one of those holdovers from your childhood that you have a hard time letting go of.

And it's kinda saddening to think about, cuz if my parents aren't there, I don't have a whole lotta reason to go back to Plano. A few friends there still, but... it would just be different- not so much "returning to my hometown" as "going to that place I used to live". And where would I even stay if I went back? Acchh, man, it's saddening just to think about. =/ I took a bunch of pictures of the house before I left, cuz I'm real sentimental like that. But yea, it was tough hopping into the car and pulling out of the driveway to go to the airport, realizing that I may have stepped foot for the last time in the house I called home for ~14 years. =(

And yea, my parents haven't really figured out what they're gonna do or where they're gonna go after they sell. I think their immediate plan is to live the nomadic life for awhile. (I personally think their most viable options are either moving back to Taiwan or moving closer to a golf course back in the Dallas area.) I think they're wanting to come out to Vegas and crash at my place for awhile, which is another headache in and of itself. >_< Ugghhh, I'll think about it when it happens.

**As of 7/29/07, I no longer have a home in Plano, TX. =*(

Going Home, to the Place Where I Belong. I went back to Plano this past week for the 4th of July holiday. It was the first time I've been back to Plano since I moved to Vegas back in January. I had Wednesday off for the holiday, and it was my Friday off, so I took off Thursday and part of Tuesday to make like a 5 day vacation.

Tuesday. I got in late at night and went to watch Transformers with Irene and her new posse- the movie exceeded my expectations.

Wednesday. Went golfing with the parents in the morning; bleh, the first time I'd played since I left Plano- played horribly. Met up with James, Sammy, and Wannie for Spring Creek BBQ, then went out to Lake Lavon to shoot off fireworks. We drove around for awhile trying to find a place that where we wouldn't get run off by the cops. Eventually, we met up with Cali, Michael H., and my brother at the spot where everyone goes to shoot. It wasn't as fun as I had remembered, but I still had a couple brushes with death that made it exciting and worthwhile.

Thursday. We were supposed to go golfing as a family in the morning but it was raining too hard. So we went and had pho for lunch and ran into Eddie & his mom. Later, I went and had crepes with Irene & Erika at the new(ish) chinatown plaza on 75 & Legacy- they were real tasty & hoity-toity, but they took foreeeever to make. Went and got a haircut at the Mimi Salon down in real chinatown like I always used to back in the day. Grabbed dinner at Osaka with the family, then met up with Tony, Terry, Elizabeth, and Erika at Java, then to watch Blades of Steel at the dollar theater, followed by Dunkin Donuts.

Friday. Played golf with the family, and played much better- probably my first entire 18 holes that I managed to enjoy (i.e. that I didn't suck so bad that I wanted to stop playing, hah). Met up with Kevin at Escape after dinner to catch up on old times. Later, I went to Chaucers (and later to IHOP) to meet up with with my brother, Cali, Tuffy, Michael H., and some of their friends.

Saturday. Went and had Korean bbq with the family, then later met up with Irene and her friends for some k-town fun. We started off with a little food at Goshen, then over to Bar [A] for some of their delicious yogurt soju, then over to karaoke, where we met up with Sammy, James, and their friends- was a lot of fun.

Sunday. Went for brunch at the Hotel Intercontinental with the family- it's been steadily declining over the years, but it's still pretty good by any measure. Scoured the house a bit for items I wanted to bring to Vegas, and then it was off to the airport.

Reflections. Things change, that's the nature of this world, of this life. But it's kinda saddening how fast you can drift apart from friends you're separated from. Like we were joking recently about how Irene had found a new posse to watch movies with since me & Michael moved out of town. And I jokingly accused her of being callous and lamented how easily we had been replaced. But deep down, there WAS a little bit of hurt at realizing how the world moves on without you once you're gone. =/ But that's life, huh? C'est la vie.