dpark's weblog

I went to work today for 2 hours. Then I drove all the way to Ed's place because he asked me to help him move to his new house. BUT THAT PUNK WASN'T THERE!!! I was pretty upset because he wasn't picking up his phone either. Last time I help him out. So anyway I called up Carolyn instead and hung out with her at King of Prussia mall. We shopped around and bought a Hello Kitty wallet for her...and also a Hello Kitty pillow for a friend.

OMG...I can't believe I'm actually watching Extreme Dodgeball on TV. ha ha ha.

Posted 8:17 PM by Donald Park

Yesterday, I missed small group meeting. I just needed time to relax...since pretty soon we'll be starting up a new season. I also received 3 Korean DVDs and we ended up watching one of them called Oh! Brothers. I'm going to have to watch it again because I was just so confused, even with the subtitles on...but it seemed like a funny movie. I think one review I read about the movie had likened the movie to Rain Man.

What happened to the days where you could really punish criminals? There should be more of this kind of punishment, although they should have probably made her stand out there ALL DAY especially since she came late, and seems to be enjoying a COKE! What the heck is up with that.

SALISBURY, Maryland (AP) -- A woman who stole $4.52 worth of fuel was ordered to stand outside the gas station Friday wearing a sandwich board sign that declared: "I was caught stealing gas."
Sherelle Purnell obeyed the court order, although by the time she arrived 90 minutes late to her noon sentence, the crowd of people that gathered to watch her had dispersed.
"There were parents who came with their children, wanting to teach them a lesson," said Jan Phipps, manager of Gordy's Tiger Mart, which pushed for the unorthodox punishment.
Purnell, 18, who was caught on surveillance tape speeding away from the gas pump, walked along the convenience shop's grassy storefront as passing drivers honked horns and made catcalls.
Andrew Black, who stopped by on his lunch break, was critical of the punishment and converted an old beer poster into a sign protesting high gas prices.
"What is this, the Middle Ages?" said Black.
Purnell declined to comment.
Some passers-by considered the punishment to be a good deterrent.
"Embarrassment is the best way to deal with these things," Randy Jedlicka said.

Posted 12:45 PM by Donald Park

Thursday, July 29, 2004

For dinner I cooked some spaghetti with salmon sauce. Canned Salmon mixed in with the tomato sauce. Then Yujin and Lynnette came home. I thought maybe they went to a game or something and wasn't going to have dinner at home. He told me that he had gotten into a fender bender with Lynnette's Nissan Sentra. So he was not in a good mood. I decided to cook dinner for them since he was so bummed. I made sausage stir-fry. Just as I was setting the table, Paul walked in too with his dinner from Boston Market. So we ended up sharing. I cooked the sausage stir-fry with a secret ingredient. A few weeks ago I was wondering what I can do with the extra sauce packets. I added the spicy mustard sauce to my stir-fry and boy did that take it up a notch.

Here are the pics of Lynnette's car.

Posted 11:32 PM by Donald Park

Monday, July 26, 2004

Nothing to report today. Just a long work day.

Posted 11:35 PM by Donald Park

Sunday, July 25, 2004

Today after church, I stuck around until the afternoon prayer meeting. Literally it felt like as soon as we knelt to pray, it was time to get up and leave. Seriously one hour prayer sessions is a cake walk now. ha ha ha. PRAISE GOD for changing my heart toward prayer. After the prayer meeting, we went to Pho Hou in New Jersey. I guess it had just opened up. Previously it was a restaurant called Saigon. The food and price wasn't too bad. I'd definitely go there again. After that we come to my place and had a meeting for the multimedia team. We talked about powerpoint and other display things.

I think I'm falling in love.

Posted 9:43 PM by Donald Park

Saturday, July 24, 2004

Last night's prayer vigil at church I would say was a HUGE success. PRAISE GOD. 4 hours went by like that. At night's end there were still more than 50 of us still there. Just amazing. I've never prayed for that long in my life before.

For all of you who missed it, boy did you ever. You missed the the boat on God's blessings.

Posted 3:30 PM by Donald Park

Thursday, July 22, 2004

I wrote about this on Tuesday but my stupid computer wouldn't save my post for some stupid reason. But anyway I sat down on Paul's black Ikea chair complete with an ottoman. Just as I sit down I feel something crawling up my left arm. Instincts take over and I instantly look down and brush off a small spider. SPIDERS FREAK ME OUT. I HATE THEM, I HATE THEM, I HATE THEM!!!

It's kind of a warm day, but not HOT, so I'm wearing my white wife beaters. I go into the kitchen and start to talk to Paul who's cooking his late dinner. All of a sudden he casually asks me if I'm growing spiders from under my arms? I'm thinking? How the heck did he know a spider was crawling on me earlier? He was in the kitchen the whole time. Then he tells me a spider is hanging from my armpits. Ha ha ha. Pretty gross huh? So anyway that freaks me out even more and I kill the darn bugger and feed him to my goldfish.

Yesterday I had a small prayer meeting. I was very discouraged when 3 people bailed out at the last minute. There was only 4 of us that met, but even so I was very blessed. I want to do it again, but I realized I'm not able to lead very well. Mad props to Yujin.

Debby this one is for you. You can tell me what the song is about now :)
Dream - Lee Jung Hyun (.wma file)

Posted 11:49 PM by Donald Park

Tuesday, July 20, 2004

Man oh man. I slept in this morning. Didn't get into work until 11am.

These days you can hear cicadas, in the trees around here. Two months ago marked the beginning of Brood X cidadas which I was able to catch a glimpse of when I visited my brother in Northern Virginia. We haven't seen ANY of them here in New Jersey. I was a bit disappointed since there was this huge hype about Brood X being one of the largest broods yet. So anyway, in the last week or so, you can finally hear some cicadas around here but I don't think they are the periodic cicadas that everyone's been talking about. I like the sound of cicadas because it reminds me of my childhood in Georgia. I'm also a little confused because I read an article that said cicadas are only found in North America...however I remember as a little kid, when I was visiting Korea, we found a cicada in a tree, and another little boy climbed up and captured it. It made the same noise and I think looked like a cicada. Hmmm...

Posted 1:22 PM by Donald Park

Friday, July 16, 2004

Went to bed last night probably around 2:30 in the morning but I was still able to wake up at 7:45 this morning. But I didn't get into work until 10am since I was burning movies and stuff on my computer.

So anyway yesterday I got pulled over by a cop because my front license plate is not properly displayed. It's there, but apparently cops in Moorestown have nothing better to do. When I tried to suggest to the cop that he was wasting his time pulling me over for something so stupid as that, he threated to issue me a ticket. I told him my license plate holder was broken but in truth, it's somewhere in the apartment and I don't like it since it's so flimsy.

Lately I've been stuck on this Korean song called Dream - Lee Jung Hyun. I can't figure out what it means. WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Posted 5:22 PM by Donald Park

Thursday, July 15, 2004

Last night after work, I went home to cook a quick dinner. I cut up some sausages, onions, potatos, carrots, and added some black pepper and sesame seeds. It actually smelled more delicious than it tasted. I overcooked the potatoes and onions, but the guys still liked it a lot. Charles, Edwin, Paul, and Shao were home for dinner. I didn't really have enough food because I was really only expecting to cook dinner for me and Charles, so I ate my left-over from the night before Wendy's Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger. After dinner we went to the Ritz to watch Anchorman. It was kind of funny, but I think if I watched it by myself I would have thought it was a stupid movie. After the movie we went back to our apartment and played Texas Hold'em. I went ALL IN with a King and a 3. I knew no one else really had anything else because of the way they were betting. With a pair of 3's already showing and one in my hand I knew I had a strong hand (I was betting strong from the very beginning. Then when Paul matched my bet and showed my cards. HE HAD THE OTHER 3, and an ACE!!! He beat me but barely!!! ARGH!!! So that took me out of the game pretty early.

This morning I went to CSEDS at 8:30am. Was able to verify a few things which made for a relatively productive morning. Then I had to go to CSC which is 10 minutes down the road. On my way a cop pulled me over. And can you guess why he pulled me over? I'll give you choices. (1) Speeding (2) Running a yellow/red (3) Expired registration/inspection sticker (4) No front license plate (5) My car looks fast and therefore I must have been speeding (6) The cop has Prelude envy, and wanted to stop me to check out my ride close-up.

What do you think?

Posted 2:02 PM by Donald Park

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

I thought I'd wear my contacts today at work. Man they are bugging the crap out of me. I brought my glasses just in case, but I want to see how long I can keep the contacts in.

Last night I went to a Congregational Team meeting. It's a meeting for committee heads and stuff. Pastor Paul wants me to spearhead a separate committee focused specifically on display related needs of our church, i.e.-powerpoint. It was a long meeting and we didn't finish until before midnight. I left with a lot of good ideas though. One thing I feel led to do is trying to start a small prayer group. I'm reminded back in the days when my parents used to lead weekly prayer meetings and people's houses. Pastor Paul has been trying to rebuke our church for living complacent, even sedentary lives without prayer, but my heart has largely dismissed the thought...that is until yesterday. I'm going to try and revive my prayer life.

Wow...I just realized, I'm approaching my 2 years anniversary of blogging. Man...that's a lot of blogging. Here's a comic of something I posted way back when I started. It's about prayer, and even though it's recycled material from 2 years ago, I still think it's appropriate.

Posted 3:12 PM by Donald Park

Tuesday, July 13, 2004

Hi readers. Thanks for your continuous support and encouragement that has kept me updating this site. Now I ask for your ideas on something. Everytime I order chinese food, they always give me handfuls of soy sauce, mustard sauce, and duck sauce. The soy sauce is great because I just take that home and use it there. However I don't really use much of the mustard or duck sauce. Does anyone have any ideas what you can do with that? Maybe some kind of recipe that I can use it in? I would love to hear all your great ideas. Thanks,

Posted 3:00 PM by Donald Park

I think this announcement is important. Office Depot will recycle computer equipment for free this summer. Read on...

Office Depot will recycle old PCs free in 'fabulous' offer
By Michelle Kessler, USA TODAY
Consumers can take old computers and other electronics to Office Depot (ODP) stores for free recycling this summer, the retailer and its partner Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) are expected to announce Tuesday. H-P already offers PC recycling via mail. But it charges about $35 for shipping and processing. Most of its rivals charge as well. That's why the free offer is "fabulous," says Kate Krebs of the non-profit National Recycling Coalition.
The offer includes all brands, not just those made by H-P. From Sunday to Sept. 6, Office Depot will accept computers, monitors and most other peripherals, digital cameras, copiers, fax machines, cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and TVs 27 inches or smaller. Customers can recycle one product per day. A PC and its peripherals count as a single item.
H-P and Office Depot won't say how much their program will cost, or how they're splitting the bill.
The program comes as computer and electronics makers are increasingly pressured to recycle. Most electronics contain lead, mercury or other substances that can be harmful if dumped in landfills. Recycling solves that problem. But it's costly: about $20 per PC.
The high cost has led H-P and its rivals to resist many recycling initiatives, says Mark Murray of Californians Against Waste, an environmental group.
But electronics makers may soon have no choice. California and Maine recently passed laws requiring manufacturers to take some responsibility for recycling. Other states are considering measures. "They see the writing on the wall," says Sheila Davis, a director with the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition.
Dell this month expanded its recycling program. Best Buy, Staples and other retailers also have hosted recycling events. But many environmentalists say electronics firms haven't done enough. Less than 10% of electronics are recycled, Davis says. "We're seeing a very minuscule number of devices," Murray says.
"Clearly, (environmental groups) want us and everyone else to do more," says H-P Vice President Walt Rosenberg. "But we've been really working (on the problem)."
Rosenberg says the Office Depot program could be extended if it is successful

Posted 12:38 PM by Donald Park

Monday, July 12, 2004

OMG...what a day!!! We almost got flooded. At work you could hear the rain beat down on the roof all day. When it was time to leave I stayed at work a little bit longer because I didn't want to get rained on. I don't know where my umbrella is anymore. I really am losing my memory. I haven't lost an umbrella since college. So anyway I get home and I hit some pretty big puddles. Then when I get to my parking lot I almost get stuck because the water is too high (keep in mind my car is lowered a few inches as well). Water was hitting my hood. I'm still a little worried that my car might have damage. I hope not. Anyway check out the pictures at http://photos.yahoo.com/dpark76

Posted 10:46 PM by Donald Park

Wow...that rain is REALLY coming down out there.

Posted 5:42 PM by Donald Park

Last night really sucked. I had nightmare after nightmare. My first one was about me laying in bed and just as I woke up, I saw a man looming over me with a pick ax raised above his head about to kill me. I woke up moaning and groaning, "No No No". That dream freaked me out pretty bad, because even though my eyes were heavy, I didn't want to fall back asleep in case that scary man came back. Maybe that scary man was actually Shao's brother who came to stay with us last night. So anyway time passes and I finally fall back to sleep in my sweat drenched sheets. Then I start to dream about being abducted by aliens. When I woke up, my body was paralyzed. In my dream, I could hardly move my limbs. Trying to escape was futile, but when I really woke up, my body still felt the same way. I think that's how people really think they were abducted by aliens...because when they wake up, their body is still paralyzed, and they think the aliens did it. So anyway that really sucked too...but I could kind of see a tiny bit of light coming through the window which meant morning wasn't too far away. That slight bit of comfort helped lull me back to sleep, because we all know the boogie man doesn't like the bright light.

This morning I had a dentist appointment. My teeth are in pretty good shape...not a lot of hard plaque, but he didn't like my upper right wisdom tooth. He said there was signs of a little bit of decay and suggested MAYBE extracting it. I told him, I'll take better care of that tooth...and that no extraction was necessary.

Posted 3:12 PM by Donald Park

Thursday, July 8, 2004

For the fourth of July weekend, I went down to Williamsburg, VA with my family (minus Eugene) plus Debby's family. It was a nice relaxing time. It was also Debby's mom's birthday. We took her out to a Chinese restaurant called Peking. It was listed in tourist guide as the best Chinese in the area 12 years running. We got there and were NOT impressed. It was actually really bad, but for the price, $6.99...well what do you expect. The next day still stumped that the best Chinese in the area could be that bad, my brother did a little bit of research and we found out what the problem was. WE WENT TO THE WRONG PEKING RESTAURANT!!! Brian was so excited to use his Garmin iQue handheld, and he picked the first Peking restaurant in the list without confirming the street address. The next day we were all in riding in the van, trying to decide where to eat lunch. Sarcastically I suggested the same chinese place and Debby's mom says, "No Chinese...No Chinese". Just then, my brother turns our attention to a Chinese restaurant called "No.1 Chinese"...but all you could really see was "No Chinese". We all died laughing. I'll write more about the vacation later.

I've been really busy since I got back. I'm at work right now working a midnight-4am shot. Yesterday I did the same but left at 2am. Just a few hours ago I watched "Fahrenheit 9/11". This is a MUST SEE MOVIE. Leaving aside all the propaganda, this film is worth watching based on the comedy. It was just hilarious. I don't often laugh out loud watching TV or movies...but I was laughing through a good part of the film.

Posted 12:55 AM by Donald Park

Friday, July 2, 2004

So after work yesterday, I went to Copperfields for happy hour. Met a hand full of coworkers there. Had a few drinks and went home. We had a good time. I'll post pictures later.

So anyway, yesterday for lunch I went to the grocery store to pick up some lunch and also a bouquet of flowers and a get well card. I thought it'd be funny to tease him more. Have all the guys sign the card like he was really sick or something. Well I find out that he was very embarrassed about the whole situation and didn't want us to rag on him anymore. So I had second thoughts about the whole gag...but since I bought the flowers I gave them to him anyway. My other co-workers, not keen on the whole thing thought it a bit odd that I would get another coworker flowers, then started to rag on me for being so gay. One co-worker snapped a picture on his camera-phone of the ambulance on its way out, and so they printed that picture with a personalized note from ME, obviously as a joke. "Get Well Soon Ty. - Love always, Donald P." I'm just amazed that some people have NO SHAME!!! So what would have been a gag, actually turned around to be a gag on me!!!

I got next weeks schedule, and it just plain SUCKS. I have two midnight to 4am test shots, then I get 4 hours of sleep before having to be back at work at 8am!!! ARGH that is going to suck big time.

BTW...just so you know. Now it's illegal to drive with your hand on the phone in NEW YORK and NEW JERSEY.

NJ Governor McGreevy signed a new law that bans the use of hand-held cellular telephones while operating a motor vehicle. The law allows drivers to use cell phones equipped with hands-free apparatus, provided the placement of the hands-free telephone does not interfere with the operation of any required safety equipment on a vehicle such as an air-bag. The law includes exceptions as to when a driver may use a hand-held telephone while operating a moving vehicle. These exceptions are limited to situations when the driver:
- has reason to fear for his/her life or safety;
- believes that a criminal act may be committed against him/her or another person;
- is reporting a fire, traffic accident or a medical condition; or
- is reporting a reckless, careless or an unsafe driver who appears to be driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
New Jersey's new law, which takes effect on Thursday, banning the use of hand-held cell phones for drivers, except for emergency calls. Beginning on Thursday, motorists talking on hand-held cell phones while behind the wheel could be fined up to $250, but only if they are stopped for another driving infraction, since it is a secondary offense. Violations also carry no points against a driver's license.

Posted 2:27 PM by Donald Park

Thursday, July 1, 2004

So interesting day at work today. I'm at the test site doing some stuff. My friend is at his computer terminal, and all of a sudden, I hear the squeaky wheels of his chair start to creak, and then a loud thud on the ground. We all look around and see my co-worker lying on the floor. Even after hitting the floor really hard, he didn't move. He just dropped dead...or so we thought. We run over to him at which he's starting to come to. He looked very dazed and confused. He didn't remember how he got there. We call the guard and ask them to call for some help. The guard calls on the PA system for medical assistance up at the lab. My team leader heard this over the PA and concerned it was me, immediately called the lab to see if I was okay. My friend is thoroughly embarrassed and refused to get into the stretcher. The medics informed him that he would have to ride the gurney, nolens volens, for liability reasons. They took him to the hospital to get him all checked out. They couldn't find anything wrong.

Posted 2:57 PM by Donald Park