National Volunteer Week 2009

National Volunteer Week 2009 was this past week, Sunday, April 19, 2009 - Saturday, April 25, 2009.

I helped put together disaster preparedness kits. Helped for one hour. I put together about 100 kits. Wish I would have had time to put more together.

So what did you do?

If you are looking to volunteer, find something that you are passionate about and look for volunteer opportunities in those areas. I myself like volunteering for most anything.
If you are having trouble finding opportunities or figuring out where or what to volunteer for, go to http://www.volunteermatch.org/ it is a great resource that I just recently started using.

Happy Volunteering all!!

Childsplay Brief... Sunday, April 19, 2009

- Childsplay is a theatre company for kids, their website says, "Arizona's Professional Theatre for young Audiences and Families"
- I volunteered to help them stamp and pass out a book, Junie B., First grader: Shipwrecked.
- The book was given free of charge as the families came in to watch a preview of the play, The Neverending Story that is playing through May 17, 2009 at the Tempe Center for the Arts.
- The book that was given is one of three books of which the play Junie B. in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells is based from.
- That play will be part of Childsplay's 2009-2010 Season. I believe it will run from Nov/Dec 2009. The play not the season :)
- After passing the books and the house being full, I was able to stay and watch the play that was showing, The Neverending Story.
- I have seen the movie, but never a play adaptation. It was great.
- This is the second play that I have seen from Childsplay.
- The first one was when the 2008-2009 season was to begin. October 19, 2009.
- It was actually a preview showing of their season and that night they previewed a play called Getting Near to Baby. It was also really good.

Not so brief, brief... Saturday, April 18, 2009

If you read my post, Brief... Friday, April 17, 2009 then you know I volunteered to help with the Phoenix Pride setup. The parade was on 4/18/09 with the festival on both Saturday and Sunday, 4/18-19/2009. I am kind of liking posting with bullets, so here's how the day went.

- I wanted to use public transportation to get to the parade
- Walked to the bus stop that's just around the corner, $1.25
- Valley Metro is the name of the local bus and light rail transit systems, picked up a transit book.
- Normally the fare for 1-ride is $1.25 and an All Day Pass is $2.50, however on this day the $1.25 got us an all day local pass. They call it Reduced Local Bus/Rail Fare.
- Got off the bus on a stop that is near the Arizona Center
- Walked a few blocks to the Phoenix Public Market to have breakfast
- Breakfast burrito and coffee
- I really like this market. Locally grown produce, meat, etc. It's all either organic or natural
- After breakfast, walked a couple of blocks down to the light rail stop, $1.25 for the ride as the bus pass not valid for the light rail, no special reduced rates for the light rail ride.
- Got off the light rail at the Indian School/Central stop and walked towards Steele Indian Park where the Parade would end and the festival would be held.
- After the parade, walked to the park for the festival. Free entry as I had volunteered the previous day.
- Walked the festival grounds once.
- Then headed back home. Same route just reversed. Walked to the light rail stop, got off at the downtown stop, walked to the bus stop, and got off at the stop around the corner from where I live then, walked home the remaining half block.
- All the walking and the sun, even though there was a cool breeze in the air, did me in.
- Took a nap that went all the way to the next day, Sunday morning.

Several posts

I have several posts that I have been wanting to get to, but just haven't found the time to just sit and write them out. So hopefully after this sort of just random post I'll get caught up. So in the meantime I'll just leave one this post a random photo. It's a Rhinoceros Iguana

Brief... Friday, April 17, 2009

- Took the day off, volunteered to help with Phoenix Pride setup
- I have never really tracked my volunteer hours or events, the only tracking I have are of those events in which I took a camera and took photos.
- So I enrolled at http://target.volunteermatch.org/ so I can start tracking,beginning the this event.
- It does not however interlace/link with http://www.volunteermatch.org/ so I am probably going to enroll there too.
- 2pm - 5:30pm was the volunteer time slot.
- Finished the tasks early, so was able to leave early, therefore arriving Early at Lux.
- Forgot to view the gallery at the coffee shop, immersed in the stories of co-workers who had also volunteered
- Late night movie was the plan, but the movie was a special engagement and the movies passes I have said not valid for special engagements
- Went to Applebee's for dinner, with a couple people... Yes finally using those coupons they had given me.
- Our waitress was nice, the manager was the same one as last time and still as weird as before
- This time although the service was fair, the steak that was ordered medium rare arrived medium well, actually it was almost well done. The coleslaw was dry. Moral of the story is. This Applebee's just sucks. if it is not the service then it is the food..
- After dinner, desert. 2 apple pies and a hot fudge sundae from McDonald's
- Afterwards watched the first half of Confessions of a Superhero on the PS3 via Hulu.
- Went to sleep at around 2am

Weekend brief... 4/11-12/09

Saturday, April 11, 2009

- Woke up, early enough (good thing right)
- Made coffee, had a cup
- A coupon for a free set of serving dishes from Harrah's Ak-Chin Casino, Aaron had
- Drove to Harrah's
- Picked up the free gift, Aaron did.
- Played slots for about 10 minutes
- Put the gift in the car
- Lunch at the buffet, $9.99
- Cheap price equals cheap buffet(didn't care much for it, can't compare to Vegas)
- More slots after lunch(2 cent Playboy themed slots are fun, fun)
- Drove back home
- Laundry, mail, etc...
- Later, movies at home
- Dinner (don't remember)
- Switched off all power strips and cell phones in my room, wanted to sleep in on Sunday...

Sunday, April 12, 2009

- Woke up late, 10:3ish am
- Made coffee, had it with soy milk, Silk brand, very vanilla kind...
- Laundry
- Played Wheel of Fortune on the PS3
- Lunch and a movie(The Spitfire Grill)
- More Laundry
- Picked up food at Fresh and Easy
- Watched The Celebrity Apprentice
- Prepared lunch for the week(this week will be short as taking Friday off)
- Dinner, was not really hungry so just grapes and a cupcake, ok 2 cupcakes, also from Fresh and Easy

just a post...

It's almost a month since I posted... have mostly been twittering, http://twitter.com/elkirbster So I thought I should post something... nothing really planned so I'll just ramble on... Yesterday's Hawaiian party at Pedro's for the celebration of Rocio's, Lorena's, and Alex's birthdays was really fun. Lots of food, drinking, music, dancing. Pride is coming up. I volunteered to help with setting up the day before. Can't wait to read about Amy's trip... Need to do the taxes, purge, clean, tidy, etc...

---2025 Update---

Twitter is now X, however the referenced link still works/redirects. However just in case it is https://x.com/elkirbster

Removed the link to Pedro and Rocio because they are no longer valid and instead linked to the updated Hawaiian Party video that I recently uploaded. 

Removed the link to Amy's trip as that is also no longer in existence.

somehow this year...

The past couple of years I made it a point to participate in volunteer events and diversity events as well as to toke photos throughout the year of most of these events plus parties, gatherings, etc of other things I was part of... Somehow this year I haven't been able to focus to do this... I haven't yet participated in any volunteer events, even though I have had the opportunity. Diversity events I have attended have been more on the speakers/networking but no "actual" events. On the parties,gatherings, etc. I have skipped some and the couple I have attended no photos.... Like Zander from Drawn Together (Season 1, Episode 7)would say, "What is going on!" Is there a big twist to come?

Next week is my b-day... Maybe that's when I officially give a boost to what I like doing volunteering, diversity, photos of as much as possible.

I also want to keep up with blogging about the events I participate in. I think I also want to add or continue to put my own personal reviews of stuff. I have always like reviewing stuff, even if i'm not necessarily a subejct matter expert, so more of my opinion reviews. Last year throughout June and July I posted a series of Consumer Reports tips that came with an offer to subscribe to their magazine, but I think I'll just stick to my own opinion reviews.

I think I may also post random stuff. Things that do not necessarily have anything to do with the stuff(volunteering, parties, etc) I'm currently doing. Maybe recipes that I have tried/tested and the outcome, perhaps a random photo or photos, and/or something to do with crafts. We'll see what time allows... :)

Hope everyone is having a good weekend, and hope you have a good week.

Moviecube vs Redbox

Several weekends ago I wanted to rent a movie NOW! The fastest way to do that would have been to rent it from the PS3, but the rentals there start at $2.99, or from Amazon.com, but I don't know yet how to stream it the TV.

Then I remembered seeing the Redbox at several locations just down the street. After signing up at their site, I headed out. First a stop at the store to get popcorn. So I went in the store and there is this Moviecube so I figured it must be similar to the other one, so I just rented a movie through it. I get home and watch the movie. A couple hours later I checked that redbox had sent me a code for one free rental. Hell yeah! So I decided I would return the Moviecube one early. I get to the store where the Moviecube is and the screen shows it "clocking", and someone in the store said that the machine was being restarted. I went to the redbox, rented a movie and decided to return the movicube one the next day.

Next day comes and the movicube machine is in still "clocking", so I return the redbox one and for the movicube one I had to call the customer service so they could verify and then I returned it into a black drop box on the side of the machine.

I didn't want to write this much on this... anyways the point really is My first Movicube rental experience not so good. My first Redbox movie rental experience good.

I checked their websites today and it seems Moviecube has updated their site, they have a signup section now and took a page out of redbox's playbook by offering one free movie rental for signing up.

I wonder which one of these will end up being the winner, or is there room for two ala Blockbuster and Hollywood Video?

hmmm... maybe I should just sign up for netflix or the blockbuster online...

Ya'll have a good weekend...!!!

Best wishes, farewell, good luck...

Best wishes, farewell, good luck... to my co-workers that were let go today...

I won't say too much just that it was a gloomy day at work today. Hope this becomes an opportunity for better things to come.

Update... for prev post

Quick update for the prev post on the movie and dinner... so I ended up sending a complaint via their website.... several days later one of my roommates said someone from that place had called and that they would call back... So I got a call back this past week, I am guessing their guest relations, and the person apologized and wanted to do something to make up for it so that I would continue to go to that location. so.. she sent me 2 entree vouchers.... not sure when or if i'll use them. but meh wahtever I am over it...

Movie and Dinner... from Jan 1st

With my cousin, I went to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button on Jan 1st... loved the movie.. movies like this one make me want to read. Aside from video game magazines and celebrity magazines, I don't read a whole lot. Not because I don't want to, I just fall asleep after reading a few pages of any book. I have to really focus when I am reading 'cause my mind always wanders when I read something that reminds me of something else and then I loose track of what I was reading. then I have to start all over. Amistead Maupin's novels are the only ones that I can read and re-read without putting them down. :)

After the movie, we picked up Aaron and went to dinner. We went to an Applebee's on Baseline by 24th st. Their address is 2180 E. Baseline Road, Phoenix, AZ 85042.

Now I am listing their location, address found on their site, not so you can go to it, but so that you don't. So sure it was New Year's Day so those working on that day may not have wanted to be working, but it is no excuse to start slacking off. It was not packed, but obviously low on staff so we waited for a couple minutes while they cleaned a table to sit us down. Once we were seated, we browsed through their menu,sticky with food residue, as we waited for our waiter. It took a while before our waiter came by to introduce himself, Mark, and ask for out order.

We ordered our drinks, as I was not ready to order food just yet. I couldn't decide what I wanted. Another long wait and our drinks made it. Jerry and Aaron ordered and I asked for more time. He came by a few minutes later and I placed my order. Our appetizer was brought to us by a waitress, obviously not our waiter, and I asked her for individual plates(for the appetizer), extra lemons(they had given me a joke for lemon slice for my iced tea), and extra napkins. She brought them right away. Aaron and Jerry's orders came out. Jerry's was just fine. Aaron's looked like it had been siting for a bit, I'm sure it was so that they both came out at the same time since they were ordered at the same time. My order came a few minutes later.

So we were eating, chatting and then this fat woman comes and stands by our table and comments on Aaron's tea, "letting your tea get dark" or something like that, in an unpleasant sarcastic like tone, he had ordered hot tea. We were like, who the hell is this bitch. She then asks us how our meals were. We said fine. Then she left. We assumed after she left that she was the manager. Her approach wasn't very managerial like.

After we were done eating our check arrives, I decide to pay with my card. Mark takes my card and the check. He comes back a few minutes later, dropping off the receipts to be signed. So as I review the receipt I notice the amount is not what the original receipt said, and my card was not brought back.

I first figured he had given me the wrong receipts, but then I see that the last four of the card used for that were the ones on my card. I was like hell no motherfucker you did not just keep my card and charge me for someone else's food check.

So I get up to try and find a manager. I head towards the kitchen with receipts on hand. As I was going to enter the kitchen, and there is Mark, so I tell him you charged me for someone else's check and kept my card. He reaches for his shirt pocket and out comes his Applebee's card along with my card. As soon as i see it I aggressively take it out of his hand and demand to speak to his manager. He starts walking off in the opposite direction. Not sure what he said, but he was not apologetic, did not direct me towards a manager, nor did he try to explain what happened. So I head back towards our table. Aaron and Jerry assumed it was done. I said no we are waiting for the manager.

The manager, jackpot is was the fat woman that had come by earlier, walking several step behind Mark. I head towards the manager, explained what happened. She apologized and wanted my card to fix it. I was like hell no. So I said I'll go with you to see what you are doing. So she voided the other charge. I asked her for a void receipt. She said she could not give me one, so I asked her to sign and initial the original receipt, so I could keep it as reference/evidence that it was voided. She then processed the amount for my table. I signed it leaving no tip. She kept apologizing and asking me if there was anything else she could do. Obviously she was hinting at me asking to have the meal comped, but I am not that kind of person. The kitchen did nothing wrong, however if she had offered to comp the meal I probably would have accepted. She kept saying that it was an honest error. I didn't buy that. I can understand an honest error if he had given me my card with the wrong receipt, but he kept my card in his shirt pocket. That's a fucking different story.

So anyways, I may suggest to you that you do not go to this Applebee's, but if you do go beware of waiter Mark. He may be keeping cards "in and honest error" kind of way. Who knows how many cards he kept that night.

Now I am just watching my account every day to make sure the void goes through. Not going to go to that Applebee's location again. Let's hope this is a fluke and not the beginning of what my dining experiences will be this year.

Hope everyone's first movie and dinner experience in 2009 is a good one!!! :)

Welcome 2009!

Welcome 2009! Let's hope this year is a good year for everyone... So what's the first thing you did when you woke up? Did you party hardy last night? Did you wake up with a hangover, headache, a person sleeping next to you who's name you don't know?

First thing I did was go pee(tmi maybe). Then made a pot of coffee. Drank coffee as I wished a Happy New Year to my online friends. If I forgot you, then happy new year to you! :)

My mom called to wish happy new year. Back home they are getting together, like every year, for breakfast. I think she said it's menudo or posole this year. After breakfast is the loteria and piñatas. Wish I was there.

Then to pay bills. I'm usually ahead of the game and have all the bills for the month paid by the mid to end of the month previous to it. Not this time. All done now. Yay! Those of you who leave bills unpaid to the last minute or past their time... well I won't get into it, but for a short period my previous position included collecting on past due accounts, so I have heard just about every reason and excuse for not paying.

Anyways, hope your 2009 is a good one!

The photo on this post is from x-mas 2007 with family.

Goodbye 2008, Welcome to the new year!!

What a year two-thousand eight has been. From mourning the passing of my grandma the previous x-mas to Reventon Superestrella to Memphis(follow link for one post of various) and volunteering(follow link for one post of various throughout the year), diversity events(follow link for one post of various throughout the year), LGBT issues, moving/not moving, the economy, the election, a new job position, and everything in between. What a year!!! is all I can say. Let's hope I have learned from my mistakes.

New year's resolutions: save money, better diet/exercise, get organized, move, go green, visit family, at least one vacation, love, purge, and so many more... really I'm just listing things I would like to do that are not necessarily going to happen.


Here's some photos of this past year:




To the coming two-thousand nine, you be good now!

Happy Holidays Y'all !!!

Happy Holidays Y'all !!!... So now to catch up.... PBS day. 12/6/08, went good. I thought it would drag, but the fours hours went by really fast... Later that day went to the Parade of Lights, my first time. Next time I should take a chair. It was a looong parade, and it got cold by the end of it. It was pretty.

Holiday Party 2008... This year it was at a friend's house on 12/20/08, with maybe only a week of planning. Food, drinks, Singstar, and more drinks, it was great. Woke up with a headache the next day, too much wine I think.

...On a (long) side note... this year I didn't feel any holiday cheer, even though I have been signing loudly for all to hear. I haven't been really all that festive this year, I sort of have immersed myself in work, volunteer events, and diversity events. Also, because I was going to be moving by the end of September, I had packed all my Fall and Winter Holiday stuff, and then I didn't move, but didn't feel like unpacking since moving would be in six months(maybe). I think that maybe I am still mourning my grandma's passing last year. I think maybe the prices going up on everything just made me not want to shop. Usually I shop for my roommates(Jerry, Aaron), mom, a couple of aunts, a couple of friends and give cards to almost all work friends, old friends, new friends, and family. So this year all I got out were 3 cards, my mom and 2 aunts. Not sure what's going on with me, maybe it's the over commercialized holidays or a combination of all the above, and somehow I need to cheer up. Although, today as my roommates gave me gifts and they gave gifts to each other and I had no gifts, not even a card to give them I felt that little x-mas spark lighting back up. It's not about the gift is about the giver.

My family back home, Texas/Mexico are very catholic, not crazy catholic, just very, and they do a traditional x-mas. Traditional of course is different to every family.

My family's traditional is to pray a rosary, then a classic posada, then dinner, then some fireworks, then to midnight mass. We wear corsages that are usually made by one of my aunts. This is all done on the 24th. On the 25th they all get together for breakfast, usually barbacoa, then a couple of pinatas. Both kids and adults get in the action. Then we play loteria(similar but not congruent to bingo) for wrapped prizes/gifts that several of us have brought. The prizes are varied from a box of cherry cordials, kitchen towels, sopas, avon items, etc. Then after this there is a raffle of a basket that consists of mostly pantry items. Everyone's names goes in a bowl, someone draws a name and that person wins it. This was something that we have done as long as I can remember. The person who wins the basket will fill it up the next year, if they can't, my grandma or my mom or another aunt would help fill it. My grandma, as far as I know, is the one who made the basket raffle tradition.

New Year's Eve and Day are similar except no posada. We also try to celebrate El Dia de Reyes(I think it's what they call Epiphany in English?), but that day already everyone is back to work, family, etc. so usually their is a Rosca De Reyes(a circular bread like cake) and whoever drops by can have a piece. There is a baby baked into the bread and whoever gets the slice with the baby in it is supposed to throw a celebration later in the year on El Dia de la Candelaria, but I'm not sure when that is as there usually isn't a celebration made. I think maybe once or twice it was done, that I can remember. All these celebrations, xmas, new year's, dia de reyes, etc, are all done at my grandma's house in Mexico.

Anyways, the point of this I think maybe that I should start spending x-mas holiday back home.


Hope you are all having a Happy holiday Season! :)