2009 - Hello's and Goodbye's (part 2)

*Opening Night...JOURNEY CONCERT



I was kinda bummed out that I missed opening night for Journey at the Sacramento Concert. There was a HUGE EB there and my problem was getting the time off to go to the event...and I wanted to go so bad cause it was also Beth's Birthday (a friend I respect very much.) I bought her a Starbucks Discount Card (you get 10% off of any purchase for one year) and I told Candy to give it to her as a gift from me. When you work for the Postal Service, getting time off is hard to do. You almost have to plan a year in advance to get the time off unfortunately. The EB event was awesome and from what I've seen through all the pictures, Arnel Pineda serenaded all the women at the event.

*LIGHTS at the Gaslamp
(The House of Blues - San Diego)

This reunion meant a lot to me as I got to hang out with old friends from the Journey Forums. We started off the night having food and drinks at the House of Blues (I had a Turkey Sandwich) and it was the first time I've ever had Sex on the Beach (a drink.) As we all walked into the stage area, we were entertained by the opening act which was a Bruce Springsteen Cover Band
and they were extremely good. We danced and sang a to lot of the Springsteen classics to warm us up for LIGHTS (Journey Cover band). Then came on LIGHTS...they were good mind you, but I was kind of cracking up a little from the new Lead Singer that LIGHTS has because the guy was dressed in Steve Perry type clothes (the spotted leopard shirt and the Tuxedo Jacket with the long tails.) No offense to the guy, but he really needs to lose weight or wear bigger clothing because his gut was hanging out and we all thought it was hilarious watching this guy sing and being in love with himself...Just my opinion.

*I'm not into FACEBOOK
(but in a way I kinda am)

Let me explain this for you in a way. I had a Facebook account for quite awhile...I just never cared too much about it (the same can be said about Myspace .) I got talked into it by an old friend I ran into at the Otay Ranch Mall and the rest was history. It's kinda funny because the first person to try to get in touch with me, actually contacted my son instead. My son brought it to my attention and I've reconnected from there. Kandi was the first to reconnect with me, to be followed by Patty, Aileen, Scott, Richard, Jackie, Ron...the list goes on (too many to list). These are people I grew up with in Junior High and High School. Since then, I've reconnected with old Shipmates of mine when I was in the NAVY and People that I know from the Various Web-Sites I go to...As bad as I've heard of all the problems in Facebook, they do have it's positives and I will never forget that.
(By the way...I'm also into Twitter)

*Steve's Farewell

One of the saddest days of the year came on Steve's Farewell Party at OGGI's Sports Bar and Grill. Steve Suarez is a very good friend to a lot of people. He always rooted for the New England Patriots, The Boston Celtics and the Yankees. Let me tell you what kind of guy Steve is...He loved to make people laugh and smile at OGGI's. If he got under your skin, he read you very well and bought a round of drinks for you...that's just the way he is and when we threw a going away party at OGGI's, it showed how much the guy was loved by everyone. It was a full house that night...we drank our RUSTY NAILS and even spilled a couple of drinks (heck...I remember the glass Claureese knocked over and Deen replaced it for free) Afterwards...we all went to John's house and drank away wishing our friend a safe trip to Seattle. He's moving there because of Economics here in San Diego and it was hard for him to find a good job here...The sign of the times unfortunately.