A Radical Change

Back in 1.993, when Laura was still my girlfriend, she used to bug me to shave more often. After breaking up, as a posthumous act of rebelry, I started letting my beard grow, and soon after it became a goatee.

To this point, almos everyone who knows me have always seen me with some kind of facial hair, be it beard or goatee; In the Sábanas, people who still didn't know my nickname used to call me "the goatee dude"...

...And today, October 31, 2006, after more than 11 years of a facial hair that was already a sign of identity, I have shaved my face completely. And that's what I've seen:





Such a change in my look responds to a job imperative I am forced to take due to the situation I explained in the previous entry. Anyways It's not a final change and as soon as I have the chance the goatee will grow back. I feel weird without my goatee, I feel as if it wasn't me, but it's a sacrifice I must make now, as many other I will have to make pretty soon.

Good and Bad News

Good news, those always too brief, are that I finally got the job at Shield Security; A night shift 4 days a week that I will make 5 if I have the chance so I can get to $1600 at the end of the month. I already have the uniforms.

Bad news are that things with darleen are going so, so bad, that it looks like splitting up and have each other head on their own way is going to be the only option. Arguments are getting worse, because they pile up with the unsolved issues of the other arguments, and we are so apart from each other that we practically ignore each other and mind only our own businesses. At least she has it a bit better than me; her family and friends are around, and if one does't take her under their roof, the other will... But that's not my case: The moment we split up, I am on my own. That's because I have started to ask my mother in law, my only minimally decent support in this side of the ocean, about the possibility of renting something small, maybe a studio or even a trailer, and stay there until I save enough money to recover what I lost in this damned adventure, send home the stuff I can't take with me, get a plane back to Spain and forget america for a long, long time.

I don't know what are Darleen's plans, but I'm already making my mind to the idea that she won't be in mine; I don't know what's gonna happen, I don't know how am I gonna get out of this, but whatever it is, it's gonna be me, myself and I.

Darleen said she was going to spend the night at her buddie's apartment. That was last Sunday. It's Tuesday morning right now and still to hear a word from her. Gives a pretty clear Idea of how the situation is. At least she has a place to go where everything is cool and funny and can forget what's going on in her home. Meanwhile, I'm either out solving work stuff or in bed, away from the world as much as I can.

By the way, Maumau's eye is dripping more than usual and I don't even have the money to take him to a vet.

Guard Card

Yesterday I went through the training to obtain the Guard Card... Not bad, I went there and I was the only one, so the treatment I got was literally personal. I could take notes, read the book at my own rhythm and at the end the test was almost flawless.

The video was pretty much the same: The lady attending me had to come a couple times to start the new chapter in the DVD, but by the third chaper I already got the hold of the DVD and was handling it on my own, of course after telling her she didnt have to bother to come and press the little button for me.

At the end, I did great at the tests and my guard card, and I suppose my first job in the US, are just a background check away.

By the afternoon we went to Patty's Birthday party. Not really my kind of party and not really my kind of people, but the party wasn't all that bad; First, we got lost trying to find the goddamn place and were nearly one hour late, but we finally found the place. There were a few of Patty's friends which I don't know; Daniel, her boyfriend, her brother Joe, her dad, some of Daniel's family and one Megan, a long-lost cousin of Darleen. We ate some pizza, had some Ice cream, chatted around a bit, then Patty opened the presents and that was it. As I say, it wasn't too awesome, but at least we did something we don't usually do.

I think there's a Bowling event the 501st does in Riverside the Nov 4th. See if I can drag Darleen in and take some pics.

Starwolf, "Pallet Jack" forklifter

Hell yeah, today I arranged an appointment and in less than an hour I filled the forms, got my pictures taken, watched a video, made a test and walked out of the USA Forklift offices as a certified forklifter. And tomorrow, if everything goes okay, I will go do the security training and will come back home with my unarmed Guard Card. And if everything goes really good, I may even come back home with a job.

Wish me luck.

Legion 501

Since I watched The Return of the Jedi when I was just a kid, I’ve always felt the Star Wars pull, specially for the Empire and two characters within: The Scout Troopers and the TIE Fighter Pilots.

Yesterday, going through one of many boring moments, I dedided to make a search for pictures of those two characters, of which I never have enough, and roaming about I decided to make a stop at a site I knew from previous surfing, but never paid too much attention.

The site is the so-called The 501st Legion, an imperial Star Wars fan-based association that has reached so much relevance that it counts among its Honorary Members with George Lucas himself along with other cast members such as Kenny Baker (R2-D2), Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett), Hayden Chistiansen (Anakin Skywalker adulto), Anthony Daniels (C3-Po) and several more. Although it’s not directly linked to Star Wars as a subsidiary, it´s very well considered by the Lucasfilm team.

As a Fan Club, The 501st Legion has expanded its influence worldwide and counts with several branches that, respecting the Imperial army slang, have been divided in smaller units, called Garrisons. These garrisons gather the members in a specific area, be it a small area within a state, a whole state or a foreigner country. So, you can find garrisons located, for example, in Spain, with 88 members, or in Southern California. Of course there are more, but I’m mentioning these two because these are the ones I have checked upon my personal interest.

The two main features of the 501st are that, in order to become a member, one must have at least one imperial costume, and it has to be a nice costume: Lame stuff is not valido ver there, and the costume has to look as much as posible to the original ones. Second, and it’s part of the first one being a requirement to be a member, is that he 501st is taking active part in the social activities in the zones close to a garrison in form of appearances, parades or as event attraction, even when the activity itself has nothing to do with the Star Wars universe. This way, they organize to attend charity activities, visit children hospitals, etc., and by what I’ve read, they are a hit wherever they show up.

Since I haven’t had much of a social life lately, I’ve seen the light in the 501st: They’re Star Wars fans, they organize public activities, and best of all, they know how to have fun! Let’s see if I can finally find a damn job, settle a bit, buy a uniform on ebay and join the gang…