The Adventures of Fran

So many of you have been wondering where I have been the last few weeks. Well, as it happens I've been busy. Who knew!

Alas, this is the last post of the summer as this week is the first week of school. In light of such tragic events I will most likely be ending this blog of my adventures with this post. Perhaps I will find the need to write once more here or there, but don't hold your breath. But now, the final entry:

So the final weeks of my internship in California went by relatively fast. My project at Mirapoint quickly came to a close and before I knew it my final days of summer employment were upon me. It was only after I had finished my final assignment that it dawned on me that this is it, and that after this school year it's out to the real world. Where will I be in a year? Who knows...

This is a tortilla I made that finally had the right shape... too bad about the taste though. Maybe in a year it'll finally happen

Before returning to Milwaukee, however, I had one last trip to make. Seattle. There I would meet up with friends Ian and Olivia whom I had not seen since leaving for Spain in January. The trip itself was was quite uneventful, though I must admit, flying along the West coast listening to the Lord of the Rings soundtrack feels quite epic. Once there my hosts and I met up (after some slight confusion) and I was off to their house! Since it was night already there wasn't much to be done apart from catching up on recent news and getting a tour of the house.

Fran vs. Seattle

The following day we made our way to downtown Seattle. It was a weird feeling to be sightseeing here in the States, since this really is my first time "traveling" on my own in this country in the same style as in Europe. On my list of objectives for this trip, my first of three had already been fulfilled: seeing the house. The other two were the Space Needle and Ian's Microsoft office (oh God, nerd puns). Right off we made our way to the Seattle EMP|SFM There we got our fix of Sci Fi exhibits, though the greatest part came in at the entrance to the music area, where one of Michael Jackson's famous jeweled gloves!!! Shortly after we made our way to the Space Needle.

I just bring the good weather everywhere I go

The Space Needle, as a building, is pretty intense. However, the view from the top is amazing. We happened to catch the Seattle skies on a perfect day, it was clear, sunny, and not cold at all. Nothing at all to what I typically hear about the area, you know, the typical shades of gray and rain. Actually, this perfect weather lasted my entire stay. Good on ya Seattle. After the Space Needle Ian and I decided on a great life decision. There was a large water fountain that shot out water from different spots at different times. There were little kids playing around and trying not to get wet. Yes, you can see where this is going.

Both of us are smart... supposedly

We got so wet it wasn't even funny. Well, it was. At least until I had to walk around Seattle for several more hours soaking wet. However, that wasn't the most uncomfortable I would be that day. Actually, that goes for all three of us. After visiting the first ever Starbucks and the famous market we had a chance run in with an egg. That's right. Someone threw an egg at us from above. Baby chicken everywhere! Who gets egged anymore these days?! And in Seattle of all places?! Luckily it was at the end of our day so we only had to suffer a little bit more.

Thanks you two

The next day was relatively simple, but it did see the completion of my checklist. I was able to get a glimpse into the real world once more as we went to visit Ian's office. I can't decide if the highlight of that visit was the view or the chocolate milk. Anyways, the rest of the trip went fairly well, and before I knew it I was heading home to Milwaukee!

So here I am, at the end of one chapter and at the beginning of the next. Here's to a great semester in Spain, a wonderful summer, and amazing friends and family!

Thanks to all the readers (all six billion of you)

Fran out

So, it's been two weeks since that long bike trip and no, I'm no longer sore. I am proud to say that I have walked normally for almost the entire time since then. These past two weeks have been very entertaining in both the working world as well as the rest of my life.

At work it wasn't until this week that one of my bosses returned from her break. Now that she's back we have our entire group up and running and I get a chance to see how we should be functioning. Up until now the pace has been relatively relaxed, although that's not to say that I haven't done anything, as there has been plenty of programming done in the recent days. Last year was interesting as I was sort of isolated and worked on my own project and only needed to work with one other person. This year I get to see a different side of things as I've been working with several people and actually have to check in with more than one person. It's nice to be able to see different sides of the working world. So, I've been a lone wolf, a team player, now I just have to see what it is like to be a project leader or CEO... perhaps next year after graduation???

Fran pictured during one of his recent games

Well, soccer wise the last two weeks have been pretty intense. Last week saw as our team tried to make a hard earned comeback which was unfortunately brought to an early halt by one of our teammates breaking his leg. Had it not been for that we would have finished one of our best played games this season. It was so well played that even I managed to score my first official goal with the team (it was about damned time). The scene was a little awkward as some of Javi's friends had come to watch the game and someone had told them my name and that I too was from Spain, so when I subbed in everyone started chanting my name as well as yelling things about Spain. You'd think I'd be used to having a fanbase, but it was still unexpected. Then, this week, I managed to put in our one and only goal although the good taste was soon washed out with a miserable performance as goalie where I let in 5 our of the 13 or 14 goals scored on us. It was a little humbling to say the least.

Apart from soccer, the last two weeks have also seen some cultural events. Last weekend Javi, Carmen, his sister Mari Censi, and I attended a Mozart concert at Berkeley. This concert featured two piano playing sisters who rocked their parts. It was incredible how the two played and you couldn't tell when only one or both were playing. Then, this past Thursday Javi and I attended a second Mozart concert, this time here in San Jose. This concert featured a really old guy on the piano who was too cool for movement. He looked somewhere between 70 and 150 and when he sat down at his piano he didn't move at all for about five minutes. Finally, when he was ready to play he moved his arms, but for the duration of his playing he didn't move the rest of his body. I had been disappointed that Mozart himself hadn't shown up, but it's quite possible that this guy was Mozart's corpse. For those of you curious enough to want to read more on this, check it out at Midsummer Mozart.

Even though he didn't show, his music was pretty good, I guess

Finally, this weekend held one last cultural event. Skeet shooting. Yup, ain't nothin' more 'Merican than firin' guns on the weekend. Roy, Trevor, Javi, and I went skeet shooting in what amounted to my first time firing a weapon. Roy and the firing range guy were in charge of making the rest of us not look like fools. I don't know who trusted me with a rifle, but they did. After missing the first couple shots I figured I should probably use everything I've learned from Duck Hunt and those games at bowling alleys and decided to finally hit one of the discs. In fact, I ended up hitting a good amount of them towards the end, actually getting three in a row at one point, otherwise known as a Turkey in bowling (or so I think). For the most part, every time It tried doing what I was told I missed. Yet, it was those times that I stopped aiming and pretended that I was aiming at flying communists that I actually hit the targets. Arturo says dedication and hope don't win wars, but they sure do help me shoot flying objects out of the sky better than actual technique does.

It's a bird, it's a plane, no, it's Jospeh Stalin: BANG!

This last week saw its beginning after a well celebrated 4th of July weekend. It was during one of our 4th of July celebrations that this week’s main topic was born. At uncle Roy’s house it was brought up that several of Roy’s friends were going on a bike ride from Menlo Park to Sausalito the following Saturday. Uncle Arturo was invited to come along on the ride, and somehow or another Javi and I were also invited to join. Javi and I looked at each other and decided “why not?” Not only would we be riding on the same trip, we would be sharing a tandem bike, thus making sure that the group would have a comedic relief after all.

Way too excited for a 5am wakeup call

And so began the week. Work picked up the pace a little, but more importantly I began pumping everyone up for the bike ride that was in store for us. Clearly I had no clue what was ahead for us because I was all smiles this week. One of the main contributing factors to my high spirits were all the Michael Jackson tribute shows on television. As a child I had gone through a stage where all I listened to was MJ, and hearing all this music and seeing those dance moves brought back all the memories of my childhood and triggered a newfound obsession with the king of pop. Soon enough Javi, Arturo, and I were all singing along to all the music videos and even going as far as trying out some of the easier dance moves. This attitude continued throughout the week, as I found myself dancing down the office hallways to “A, B, C” and “Bad” and so many more great themes.

If he biffed it I biffed it... now that's trust

And in no time Friday night came along. The Thiele-Sardiña team assembled at Roy’s house in order to get some sleep and be ready for the 5am wakeup the following morning. As it turns out, 5am comes a lot quicker than expected. Luckily I had my dance moves and my motivation ready because by 5:01am I was up and dancing. Saturday I was wearing one of Arturo’s old cycling jerseys: an old school San Fernando jersey to represent the motherland! Some body glide, nipple band aids, and breakfast bars later I was ready to rock and roll. Once the team was assembled we made our way to join with the other 8 or so bikers a few miles down the road. It was somewhere between leaving the house and hitting the first turn that I realized what I had just done. Instantly my legs started to feel the pain and my lungs started struggling for air. “It’s only been thirty seconds; you can do better than this! Besides, only thirty some more miles to go, I think,” I kept telling myself. I really didn’t have a choice though, you can’t spend an entire week talking up your big bike trip and turn around after one block. So Javi and I forged ahead in the early morning sun.

Team TS

My body was still in shock when we met up with the rest of the bikers after two or three miles. Luckily we would take a short break until everyone was ready to go. As it turned out, everyone was ready to go so the only break Javi and I got was when our chain fell off while climbing a hill directly in front of the entire group of cyclists. If they didn’t realize that we were two less-than-amateurs before that, they definitely knew it then and there. The least I could do was take it all in stride, so as soon as our bike was up and running we sped ahead of everyone and showed off our good form. Actually, Javi pedaled as hard as he could while I danced to some MJ tunes as we passed everyone up. We only led the pack for a couple minutes and we soon found ourselves in the back of the group. No big deal, if we were going to make it we were going to do it at our own pace. And that’s when we realized that everything up to this point had been a cakewalk. We went through a series of nerve-wracking turns only to end up at an incredible steep hill… or at least what seemed like a mountain for us two.

We had no clue what was going to be in store for us

We struggled, but we made it up to the hill. It was there, at the top, that we were warned about the downhill in which there was a small gate that we had to be careful going through. No problem. Right? The tandem bike is a force to be reckoned with. It picks up speed like none other and only breaks and steers from the front, making the back driver, in this case me, useful only for pedaling. Going down that hill I realized just how little control I had over my own fate on that bike, and, as Javi failed to brake in time, I also learned just how much it hurts to miss the turn at the bottom of the hill and go over a curb and an outdoor staircase on a speeding bike. No pain, no glory… I guess.

And then the realization that this wasn't a joy ride

After that small mishap the ride continued smoothly for a while as we made our way down a highway. Then the fog started to roll in and soon we could only see a few feet ahead of us. This lasted for a good while until we made it to our turn towards San Francisco. However, due to the high winds and general lack of awareness Javi failed to notice me yelling about the car that was about to run us over until the very last second. Luckily we managed to pull away before becoming road kill and continued on our way to and through San Francisco. Now, if you’ve ever seen a picture of San Francisco you know that it contains many hills. I have been to SF several times and every single time I have thought about how crazy and difficult it would be to go up those hills on a bike. That’s why I was so disturbed when we turned right and saw that we had to go up one of those famous SF hills. Actually three of them. Unfortunately we had technical difficulties for the first one, but after an uplifting rendition of the Rocky theme Javi and I were able to make it to the top, only to barrel down to the bottom and almost die several times in doing so. But we made it to the Golden Gate Bridge! Unfortunately the view from the bridge was null as there was still heavy fog, but it was a great feeling crossing that monument. Well, it was great until we ran the bike straight into the edge and I went crotch first into the handlebars. Apart from that little mishap it was all good. From there it was a short ride, I say short because anything compared to what we had done already was short, to Sausalito for some breakfast.

a well earned break

I thought that the ride to Sausalito had been pretty difficult, but we had made it. As it turns out it was forty some miles to the final place as opposed to the thirty some original miles. And there was still a short batch of cycling left on the return leg which we still had to do. Now, riding forty some miles is pretty tough if you don’t ride normally, and I don’t, but riding a few miles after sitting down for a bit is even more tough. Sitting down on that seat after breakfast was some of the worst torture I could think of, and unfortunately we still had a good amount left to do. Luckily, the trip from the diner to the ferry back to SF was short. Unfortunately, the ride from the docks to the train station featured about a million and a half traffic lights in which we had to stop, get off and wait for the green light, and get back on and ride for each and every one. After the train it was just a short ride back to Roy’s house to finish the grueling ordeal. It was only fitting that I finish the ride listening to some MJ, as it was his music that had kept me dancing throughout the entire trip. The final mile count was 55 miles according to Roy, which amounts to 45 more miles than I’ve ever ridden on a bike.

Dumb and Dumber?

The rest of the weekend consisted of sleeping and trying not to sit down too forcefully. Overall though, it was a great experience and I’m very glad I was able to take part in this ride, especially with the company I had. Never mind that I have never feared for my life so many times in so few hours, this was an awesome adventure.

A job well done

Well, it happened. Tom and Jenny finally got married. Sheesh, it was about damned time! But seriously, I’m very happy that it happened and that I was able to be a part of it. In fact, I was probably the main start of the show, if I may say so myself.

I mean, just look at those eyes!

I arrived at Milwaukee on Wednesday and never had a chance to rest. Thursday we had a big dinner at Kyoto (Chef Ricky!) as well as some festivities for Tom while the rest of the family enjoyed a barbeque at home. Friday was the rehearsal for the ceremony as well as another large dinner at home. It was pretty entertaining at the rehearsal seeing how things were supposed to work and having Eiko not letting go of me (or pinching my butt). Finally the big day came on Saturday.

At no point was this consensual

For the most part the ceremony went without a hitch. Tom didn’t faint and Jenny didn’t run out during the ceremony, so I would say it was pretty successful. As soon as the wedding was over those of us in the wedding party had to ride around in a big limo bus and take pictures (oh the horror!). It was all quite fun actually, though sometimes it felt like being followed by the paparazzi. I don’t think I could ever get used to it. After a few hours of getting my scandal on with the cameras it was time for the celebration.

100% natural beauty right there

My first thought upon entering the hotel where the reception was being held was “wow, so this is what it’s like being on the other side of the catering.” I’m used to catering all the weddings, so it was nice to have the opposite happen for a change. After an awesome video made by Tom it was time for dinner, and, incidentally, the toasts. I was pretty relaxed up until the point I realized that I didn’t have the paper with my toast on it and that I had completely blanked on what it said. I spent the next minutes trying to recapture the genius of my En Fuego toast (don’t worry, it wasn’t actually about En Fuego), though I couldn’t remember it perfectly. So I went up there and pretty much winged my toast, and as far as I can tell no one spit out their drink in disgust, so it couldn’t have been all that bad.

Let me make this toast up for you two

If anything the dancing would make them forget. And dancing there was! There was plenty of music to go around for most people there and the party went on late into the night. I eventually decided to leave the kids to have their fun, and retired from the party fully satisfied. Congratulations to both of you!

Oh yes, we rode that choo choo

As for this week back in California, things have been pretty relaxed. Work has been steady but slow, since a large part of the office has been out and about, not to mention that it’s a holiday week. Ascension was in San Jose until halfway through the week, so it was nice to hang out with the cousins for a bit. Her and I managed to make fools of ourselves in the same manner that Javi and I do, so it was all pretty standard. Javi and I had a soccer game last night, in which we had to forfeit the game due to a general lack of women on the team, though the scrimmage we held went pretty well. It was nice to score my first goal, though, granted, it didn’t mean anything. That’s ok though, the important part is that I looked fantastic while doing so. But then again, what’s new?

This is what the manager of En Fuego does for his one and only mascot

Happy 4th to everyone, and happy anniversary to Grandma and Grandpa… try not to hit each other.

I just get cooler, right?!

Time flies when you’re having fun. Time also comes to a screeching halt when you have thirty minutes to go before it’s time to leave work. This past week has been a mixture of productivity and leisure. It all started out on Monday when at work my project began picking up speed. As it turns out, I learned that the coworker of mine who has been helping me with the software I’m testing is leaving soon and that I need to get everything done. As such, the work pace changed from a steady walk to a quick jog. Yet, as the week progressed I soon began feeling the pressure of the upcoming week’s events (that whole wedding business) and realized I needed to work even harder. Thursday and Friday consisted of trying to get out the final kinks and it appears that I am on the final sprint of this project in terms of the hard part. It’s nice to start seeing some results from the hours I’ve been putting in.

Speaking of hours, as I mentioned at the beginning, there is nothing as mind boggling as those last thirty minutes of the workday. Whether I have spent the last seven and a half hours twiddling my thumbs or I have spent them furiously hacking away at the keyboard, once it reads 4:30PM on the clock time stands still. No amount of sugar and caffeine can make that last stretch any less unbearable than it already is. Luckily it hasn’t been all work and no play down at the office. This week we had the chance to enjoy the office barbeque as well as having the M&M basket refilled. In a sense, it’s sad when the highlights of your work week mainly revolve around food, but then again, I do live in Wisconsin for most of the year, so I should be used to this.

Hey Lopera, shove it!

Apart from work I had the chance to go to the movies with my cousin Javier. Our first stop was to see Star Trek. Now, neither of us are Trekkies, though I have seen my fair share of Star Trek, so we weren’t sure what to expect. As it turns out, Star Trek is a pretty solid movie, and if you’re not a diehard fan of the old movies I think you can appreciate the constant homage that it pays to the older movies/show without feeling ripped off. The other movie I saw was the Hangover. It too was a pretty good movie, though in this case, a completely different genre. It deals with, wait for, the hangover of three friends and their quest to figure out what madness they got into during their best friend’s bachelor party the previous night. Tom, in case you’re wondering, we will be having a party nothing like the one in this movie. Forget Vegas, we are having tea and crumpets, and possibly story time. See you Thursday!

In other news, I did partake in the Yo Voy Betis protest on 15-J for a Betis free of Lopera’s tyranny and stupidity. Hopefully you all did too. Friday Javier and I had a soccer game in which we were viciously mauled by the other team, who clearly did not belong in our league. It was slightly embarrassing how we were trying hard to string passes together while they were too busy scoring goals on us. I also got these luscious locks of hair trimmed, since I couldn’t really go to the wedding next week with a mullet. I mean, I could, but I couldn’t forgive myself for it. Finally, happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there who actually read this blog. To those of you who don’t… better luck next year.

A shout out to any of you who were part of the Madrid 2009 adventure.