The Quesada Chronicles

Author Archive

So my iPhone 4 went belly up this morning.  All because I was trying to do the right thing and update the firmware just like the Apple “geniuses” tell me to do.  Well, it got stuck in recovery mode and never came back.  I ended up taking it to the Apple store and they decided on giving me a brand new one.  I guess they waved the white flag upon seeing it.  That’s cool.  I’ll take the brand new one. 

So I am now going on hour number 3 of restoring the iPhone.  I didn’t realize I had so much crap on it.  Hopefully everything gets put back on the way it was.  I am less than confident though, since these restores usually don’t go smoothly for me.  Fingers crossed!

For the record, going almost an entire day without a functional iPhone has me miserable.  I didn’t know how much she meant to me!  Baby, come back!  I can’t even take a picture of it being restored because… it’s what I would use to take a picture with.  **face palm**

-Dave Q.

I’m the villain.

Last week at the office, I got a manager requested a second monitor for one of his users.  I told him that I could follow through on his request, but there would be a catch: I only had a 17″ flat screen monitor available.  His user already had a 19″ monitor.  I told him it was going to look a little awkward, but that it would work.  The manager said that he had no issues if the monitor sizes were mismatched.  So I proceeded to make it happen.  Shame on me.

So the guy who got the mismatched monitors apparently made some comments to co-workers regarding me and how I’m the bad guy.  At first, I didn’t give it much thought.  This sort of thing happens where, although you may try, you can’t make everyone happy.  But then I thought, maybe I’ll embrace this.  Maybe I can be the villain.  I would change my default answer on everything to “NO!”.  I could start wearing black all the time.  Maybe even work on an evil laugh.  I mean, why not give the people what they want?

The problem is that the considerate and understanding co-workers out number the drama queens like the guy previously mentioned.  And although I would love to treat the problem children with much more scrutiny than the other co-workers, I have to treat them all the same.  I have to be professional regardless if they chose to do the same.  So I guess I won’t be doing the villain thing after all.  Which sucks because I already have a good villain mustache in mind.

-Dave Q.

At an intersection very close to where I live, there is a strip mall on every corner.  Traffic is pretty bad in that area, especially on the weekends.  So it’s easy to get caught at a red light there.  Now usually that would be a boring experience, except that at this intersection is where a certain someone hangs out.  He is usually talking to himself.  Doing some martial arts moves.  Harassing pedestrians.   And making faces at anyone who makes eye contact with him.  I have dubbed this individual as “Crazy Asian Guy”.  And all of what you just read is 100% true.

I don’t know exactly how long Crazy Asian Guy has been hanging out at that corner.  I first noticed him around a year ago.  He almost always has a camo jacket, blue baseball cap, and sunglasses on.  Dude is really into whatever conversation he is having with himself.  I’ve seen him engage some drivers in conversation.  Or maybe he was talking to the cars.  Not sure.  Anyway, I’m going to make it a goal this summer to get Crazy Asian Guy on video.  Maybe I can get him while he’s talking to a fire hydrant about the weather.

-Dave Q.

It’s time for Lent!  My favorite time of year where I, as a Catholic, get to partake in sacrificing something I enjoy for 6 weeks!  Awesome!!!

So here is what I have come up with to give up this year:

• Watching Sports
• Staying up late
• Internet access
• Driving
• Eating
• Sleep
• Vitamins
• Texting
• Pants
• Eye drops
• Conan O’Brien
• Twitter
• Softball
• Being humorous

Well, after further review, I have come to the conclusion that the above list is largely impossible.  Especially the part about not being humorous.  Seriously?  Can you imagine me not being funny???  Me neither.  So I’m just going to give up red meat.

-Dave Q.

I’m running in the Beach to Bay relay marathon in May.  Should be a fun trip with some good friends to Corpus Christi.  Not exactly white sands and blue water down there, but it is…  um…  I got nothing.  I don’t think much of Corpus Christi.  It just happens to be where the race is, ok?  Get off my back.

Either I'm trying to warm up my hands, or I'm playing the harmonica.

Anyway, I’ve decided to participate in as many 5ks as I can before then in preparation for the run.  The way I figure, since I will do so many of them, I will have no choice but to be ready come May.  A solid plan.  So I decide to begin my string of 5k’s in March, since it would have warmed up significantly in San Antonio by then, and I happen to hate running in the cold.  Hate it!  So this morning when I woke up for my 5k, you could imagine my disgust when I saw that it was 35 degrees outside!  WTF?!?  March in San Antonio and it’s 35 freakin’ degrees?!?  Where is Al Gore when I need him.

I wasn’t a happy camper.  I couldn’t feel my hands while running.  Breathing in cold air sucks.  And I think a little kid passed me by.  But in a strange turn of events, I ended up getting 3rd place in my age group.  Weird.  Maybe I ran faster because I wanted to get it over with?  Or maybe I’m just a bad-ass.  Yeah, I’m guessing on the former, too.  Aside from the frigid temps, it was for a good cause and I’m glad I got to do it.  Even though it was freezing, it made me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside.

So here’s hoping that my next few 5ks are in warmer weather.  All are for good causes, which only serves to motivate.  And then I’ll be doing the Warrior Dash, the Jailbreak, and possibly the Muddy Buddy.  When I’m not traveling this year, I will have plenty to do. 

-Dave Q.

A very good friend of mine has had a very rough 9 months or so. He discovered last summer that his wife of 10 years had been less than faithful. And he went through a tough time, blaming himself for the whole fiasco. I was relieved when he finally came to grips with the fact that it wasn’t his fault. That he needed to let go. And that life goes on. Well, since the beginning of the ordeal to where it stands now, he is a completely different man. He’s got that spring in his step. That twinkle in his eye. And a couple of weeks ago at a friend’s birthday dinner, I found out why.

My friend and I go way back. Back to our high school days. Well, a good high school friend of ours had a birthday in January and a few of us decided to meet for dinner. And at that dinner, he showed up with another high school friend. One that he dated. And that night it looked like they hadn’t missed a beat! A couple of days later he told me how nervous he was to bring her around, worried about how everyone would react, since technically speaking, he was still married. “Seriously?”, I asked him. “You’re the happiest I’ve seen you in a very long time and you’re worried about what your status is technicallly”? I mean, technically speaking, he was right. The divorce had not been finalized. He was married. But, come on. That ship had sailed. I don’t think I would let some court document that I know to be tainted keep me from being with someone who truly makes me happy. Now, I’m not advocating anyone cheating on anyone here. I’m just saying in this particular instance, his marriage, while not in the eyes of the courts, has been over for some time.

After our chat, he felt a lot better about things. After all, we only have one life to live. We should live it as happy as possible. We don’t have as many opportunities to make good on that as you may think. Sometimes it’s ok to be selfish. Do what makes you happy.

As for right now, I think banana pancakes would make me happy.

-Dave Q.

This is unusual…

I’ve watched enough news lately to know that this winter could be described as “somewhat harsh”.  Snowstorms terrorizing the northeast and mid-west!  People getting trapped in their homes!  Car accidents!  Cities being shutdown because they don’t have enough snowplows, blah, blah, blah!  I feel for my fellow citizens going through all that.  But they live in places where the winters can be rough.  Being a tropical guy myself, I know I wouldn’t do well in that environment.  And that is one reason I call San Antonio home.  The climate is to my liking.  Not too hot, and not too… wait a minute…  What the hell??

My dog Murphy. Freezing his balls off.

Let me say it never snows in San Antonio.  Never!  And in the past when people would get all excited because the forecast called for a couple of snow flurries, nothing would happen.  Nada.  Zip. Zilch.  And I’m cool with that, because I don’t like to be cold!  Anyway, It’s gotten to the point whenever someone even hinted at snow in SA I would automatically tune them out.  I even told a few people this time around that there was no way it was going to snow this time around.  I was wrong.

I know it’s nothing compared to what, say, the New England area gets, but an inch of snow in San Antonio is a big deal.  It’s even a bigger deal because people here don’t know how to drive in the white stuff.  So tow-truck drivers had a field day today picking up cars and collision centers across the city are no doubt licking their chops with all the business about to head there way.  I think I heard something in the neighborhood of 200 car accidents?  Who knows what the final tally was.

So I guess Al Gore was right about Global Warming.  Or at least I heard that is what’s responsible for all this snow.  Makes sense, right?  NOT.  Go to hell, Al Gore.  It’s one of the coldest winters in recent history!  I’m definitely not a believer.  I wonder how much money this guy has reeled in from convincing people of this crap?

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some hot cocoa that needs heating.

-Dave Q.

Check out this beauty I got in my email inbox today.  Come on, Gmail!  Shouldn’t your spam filter be picking this stuff up?  Anyway, not only am I annoyed with receiving this authentic email from the one and only Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, but I’m also somewhat insulted.  If you’re going to try and scam me, at least have the decency to use proper grammar!  That’s just plain laziness.  It’s not just incorrect grammar, it’s flat out horrendous.  I had a hard time trying to piece a couple of their sentences together.  How are you supposed to fool anyone when it’s so poorly worded?  If someone falls for this crap, I think they deserve it.

So I’m guessing they used some kind of translation software before sending out the mass spam.  With Gmail’s spam filter doing such a knock-out job, my guess is they used Google Translator.  But I can forgive this, Google, since your Google Contacts app is pretty awesome.

But back to this Mr. Ban Ki-moon and his attempt to give me money.  After I got over the annoyance of the spam, I read this beauty of a letter.  I love how it warns me of other fake spammers out there and this one is actually legit.  And they must be on the up and up if the CC’d the friggin’ FBI!  Oh yeah, and he copied Attorney General Eric Holder.  And of course, nice touch with the header including a pic of the UN.  That’s enough for me, where do I sign?

Go to hell, spammers.

-Dave Q.