Over the last few weeks, things have just been going a little too well.  It’s definitely been a little bit since a major stretch of bliss, but I’m able to recognize that things are good again.  At least for the most part, the flying has been tremendous and the commuting hasn’t really been all that bad.  I’ve been updating trelijah quite often as it’s really easy to upload / email pictures to the site and the format is actually what I have been looking for in terms of quality.  The photos are almost full resolution!

I’m once again on the commute back to San Diego on AirTran enjoying the exit row eagerly awaiting the dry weather.  I’m about to head out tonight with one of my friends Joe who is back in town for a week vacation prior to starting up his last year at dental school in Boston.  Should make out for good times. 

I watched the Olympic Women’s Beach Volleyball finals match last night which was amazing!  It’s crazy to see that the two-some has won a total of over 100 matches in a row!  I haven’t been on top of the olympics really this year as I’ve been preoccupied with some personal stuff including flying my butt off an going right to bed. 

Life is precious.  The people around you that love you, that do the small things that sometimes you may overlook, really add that extra little spice.  We may not know it (as we probably don’t), but without those little additives, our souffle that our life is would just soften up and sink. 

Over the last couple of days, I’ve spent a lot of time hanging out with one of my buddies who just had his mother pass away.  With enough lamenting and reminiscing, one can’t help but think about an imminent possibility.  It’s truly saddening that it takes something of this magnitude to realize life’s lessons and sort out one’s priorities but I guess, it’s what makes us humans. 

The language of our love varies from one individual to another, but all we can do is take the time to patiently learn, understand and listen.  I have been blessed with a mother that has been selfless throughout her trials in the recent years and I know deep in my heart, she lives on for us.  A mother’s love is stronger than anything known to man and I can attest to that. 

I’ve been flying back and forth quite a bit and of course, after all this, it’s more than worth it.  Now, only if I could just start to organize the family’s move and get going with sorting and throwing things away.  It’ll be a lot of work, but I’m sure by Halloween it’ll be what I’ve been imagining since the beginning of this whole summer mess. 

I love you mom. 

In the next few months, I will be slowly transitioning to being more of a commuter and force myself to always fly home no matter what.  In other words, even if I have two days off, I will be flying back home to San Diego.  You see, the lease on our awesome Loxford Lounge Crashpad is due this up and coming February which leaves just under 7 months to slowly move.  Being that I haven’t been around lately, doesn’t really leave me that much time to pack up and go.  As long as I make it a habit to pack at least one box a week or month, I’ll be all moved out by year’s end making my reliance on the crashpad wither down to zilch. 

It is hard though now that I have been doing it a lot lately, but it really just takes will power.  I’m now able to concentrate on coming home since the fact my parents moved back to San Diego which cuts the drive home by almost 75% and is a lot more convenient all together. 

I was able to catch a flight on Delta Mainline this evening which is actually a rarity since I have been using the competition due to their availability.  Delta has always been full to and from Atlanta so my dependency has risen on Airtran thus enabling my frequent trips back home. 

The necessity for a crashpad in Atlanta would be only for the days that I am stuck in ATL due to weather or the times when I have training, but I guess that doesn’t amount to more than what I would ben spending a year of keeping a place within the airport limits. 

I’m going to do it!  I really am and I feel more confident than ever because of my desire to surf a lot more and just swim and get more physically fit.  I have till end of the year to really achieve what I have been aiming for and that is normalcy. 

Due to the tremendous demand for both Power Support’s “anti-glare / matte film” and Contour Design’s iSee 3G Clear Hardcase, it took two weeks until I was finally able to pick up a set.  So, I headed down to the Apple Store tonight at one of San Diego’s finest shopping malls, Fashion Valley: A Simon Mall and with luck, I quickly snatched up both products.

It was going to be a quick return of the Agent 18, and after much consideration and one letter to Contour asking when the next iteration of their Showcase for the iPhone 3G would come out, I knew that I needed to settle with something that could offer me protection right away.  The glossy screen protector that came packaged with other case solutions offered a clear plastic static cling piece but it’s major flaw was that it attracted too many fingerprints and my oily face didn’t help the problem.  I was plagued, since day one, with a screen that I had to perpetually wipe off every time I put the phone to my ear or played games further oil smudges with my fingerprints.

Both screen protectors offer the benefit of covering the entire face of the iPhone 3G with the exception of the Home button, that are made of a static cling plastic that adheres with ease, stays put and offers an easy, no sticky residue allowing you to remove, cleanr and reapplt at your leisure.  The biggest difference between the two can be easily compared to having a glossy LCD screen vs. a matte LCD screen. (e.g. shipped on the original Apple Powerbook LCD)

You can clearly see that the screen on the left with the protector that came prepackaged with a previous case wasn’t doing so much in the department of cleanliness.  This is not a direct comparison with Power Support’s Crystal film set but it still is indicative of what you will get in terms of overall result.  Over the to the right, you have the Power Support anti-glare film that was newly applied and fondled with finger streaks and face rubs.  Without a doubt, I truly believe that the anti-glare / matte screen protector is the way to go.  It helps the screen in every way possible deflecting scratches, fingerprints, and glare.  I was using the previous protector for 2 weeks now, and I’m more than happy with what I got with Power Support’s product.  It is ridiculous though that 2 pieces of film cost $14.95.  It seems as if everything for these Apple products are being priced way too high!  rating: 9/10

The iSee is self explanatory.  The installation is easy and the clear plastic is beautiful.  I applied the iSee case with no problem but the biggest gripe that I have are that the two soft keys (not pictured) that come packaged and are used to protect the hold key and volume buttons.  Simple put, they are just too hard to press and are frustrating!  I rather almost not have them on at all.  I still love the fit and like the fact that it protects the metal edge of the iPhone 3G well.  Coupled with the anti-glare screen from Power Support, you have one heck of a solution for protection.

For another $10, a holster and clip are made available for the iSee, but if you wait for Contour Design’s Showcase, it comes all prepackaged including a shock absorbing rubber that borders the inside of the clear protective case.  Looks like I’ll be doing a more extensive review of that case at a later date, but for now, I recommend the iSee.  rating: 8/10

update - of course, when I finally settle for a solution, Contour Design’s website shows that the Showcase for the iPhone 3G is set to ship out on the 15th of August.  You can send one over to my address any time and I’ll do a review.  Thanks guys!

So the family is finally moved back (75%) to the house which I loved in Rancho Penasquitos and while that’s all great, my schedule for August has changed dramatically.  I loaded the end of the month with all the trips from the following week giving me another week off in San Diego to help tidy things up.  You have to love the oppurtunity of Open Time that allows you to swap things around.  All of this just means that I won’t be coming back for the rest of the month, or at least might not come back due to the tight squeeze in commuting.  If you are around the SoCal area, hit me up.  I’ll be around till next Sunday, August 10th.  CYA!

Quick notes:  driving back and forth to downtown at around 2200 last night was fun, eating pizza on a curb on 5th with some old friends sure brought back some memories, the padres lost to the giants again, I got two free shirts at the game 1 from from Scripps (thanks Adelle) and the other from the Padres giveaway.  I’ll post pics of a deal-e-o that ended my night rather early thus the driving back and forth multiple times.

Update: Here are the pictures that I promised.  It’s House vs. 26′ U-Haul!  U-Haul won hands down!

If anything can go wrong, it will.  It all started last night while doing my post flight walk around in Harrisburg, PA.  As I was walking down the stairs, the moisture on one of the steps made me lose my footing, and I came close to doing a face plant on the asphalt.  Of course, because of that close call, I sprain and twist my ankle a bit and just continued to limp around the aircraft.  We finally arrived at the hotel and while getting off the shuttle, I hit my head so freaking hard on the van door that I end up seeing stars and falling forward a little, almost, once again catching myself before the concrete sidewalk.  I’m still feeling a bump about 26 hours later. 

I wake up this morning, have a great breakfast and head back to my room.  After my shower, I grab an undershirt out of my luggage bag, head back to the bathroom and slip on some water but caught myself on the sink by holding onto the tile counter.  I’m definitely not that clumsy at all, and over the previous 12 hour period, I find myself already with 3 strikes.  Today was going to be a great day. 

Of course, after a deadhead back to Atlanta, we find out that our flight to Southbend, Indiana is delayed about 1.5 hours.  This has to happen on the last roundtrip of a four day trip.  We finally take off and once we land in Southbend, we find out that the flight back Atlanta is delayed also another hour.  So that means that my connection back home to San Diego edges closer to being a non-reality.  With all the weather in the vicinity of the Atlanta Airport, I luck out and find out that both Delta and AirTran flights to San Diego are going to be delayed.  We fly back, hang out on the taxiways in Atlanta waiting for the ramp to open up and I run to the next gate. 

I’m finally on the AirTran plane Flight 616 that finally ended up leaving around 1:30AM.  The flight was originally scheduled at 9:45PM, but I guess things have a funny way of working out.  I’m going to land in San Diego around 2:30AM, head to the DMV around 10:30AM to take care of some car registration an then finish up some loose ends back at the house.  It’s going to be a good start though.  August is here and so is the last half of the year.  At least most of the little karmic critters are out of the way. 

You ever have the feeling that you should be done with work that day but then you end up at a hotel again?  Well, let me try to put it in another perspective.  It’s the feeling you get after sleeping for 3 hours on a 6 hour plane ride to only wake up with 3 hours left!  It never ends!  I’m lucky that I have a great crew this trip and that the days aren’t that bad.  I’ve also been playing quite a bit on my new toy so that’s occupying quite a bit of time. 

It was a little depressing having to fly on my birthday, but what can you do?  A friend of mine told me that she has birthday leave which is hard to believe because I don’t think we get that here in the US.  I’m definitely jealous. 

I’m heading home once again to San Diego only to be tasked with moving a bit of furniture from one house to the other as well but at least it will all come to an end soon.  Which reminds me…