Through the Week

This week is one of the work weeks where I work the five day, 12 hour shifts. So, there isn't as much cool Singapore sites to go over. Nonetheless, there are some stories to tell.

Monday and Tuesday I went to work, came back and just relaxed. Felix has gotten so into HIMYM that he raced through seasons 1-3 and then went out and bought season 4. I haven't seen those in some time, so I've enjoyed watching them this week.

Wednesday, I was very tired the whole day. It was my busiest social networking day though. I woke up and facebook chatted with Kevin Gehl in California. After, I called my Grandma and finally got to chat with her (I hadn't been able to reach her in the month and a half I've been here). Then, I skyped with Steve Chaitman in Chicago, hopped on to talk with Amanda for a little bit, and then called Steve back. After talking about Mark McGwire for what was really too long (just not worth it, the story was old-we all knew he used steroids, this was just the confirmation), my parents skype called me. We talked for about thirty minutes. After that is when I became super lazy. I ordered pizza for lunch and just relaxed all day. Sometimes, doing nothing, watching episode after episode of HIMYM and eating junk food is just what you need. That night, I skyped with Max Samis in Israel and then Jordan in South Korea. I never forget how awesome this is, that we have the ability to talk to and see anyone almost anywhere. It would be much more difficult to live overseas without this ability. If you ever want to skype, just let me know...on the mornings when I don't have work, it'd be great to catchup.

Thusday, Amanda and I had a great chit-chat in the morning. But, then I gave myself a real scare. I finally received the MagicJack card and portable phone my parents sent me. The MagicJack phone gives me a US telephone number and allows me to make telephone calls through the Internet. It'll be great-the call is just like any other call from a cell phone. How cool is that? What wasn't so cool was my insistence to get it working right away. Most of my US electronics have worked fine here. The phone, didn't work as well. I plugged the phone in and boom, I heard a crack and I freaked out. The phone turned off the electricity in the condo. As you might have guessed, I started going through all the worst case scenarios. I thought, oh my goodness, I broke the apartment, Felix is going to be so angry. Add to it, the refrigerator turned off. So, then I'm thinking all the food is going to spoil and that's no good. The issue was that I didn't know where the electric box was. After a good hour of crisis, Felix texted me where the power box was. Luckily, the circuit breaker flipped the necessary switch, I just had to turn it back on and presto, let there be light. It was just new apartment jitters...hopefully that won't happen again.

Later that day, I got my self a pair of swim goggles. I'm very fortunate that there's a beautiful pool at the apartment complex. It's is definitely long enough to swim laps in. One problem, I don't really know how to swim laps. I've been watching youtube videos-hopefully, that's all I'll need. I went swimming with the new goggles (which are generic prescriptions ones, so I can actually see). I did okay, I still don't have the fundamentals correct. The workout felt good though.

It was back to work on Friday. When I got home, I took a nap. That night, I went to the American Club for UHC services. It's definitely a different experience from Chabad. It's not necessarily bad, it just wasn't for me. However, it's still awesome that there are options here. Plus, the goal was to meet more people. And on that front, the night was a success. At dinner I met a handful of new people and the food was very nice (Thanks to the Koch's for setting me up for the night with the congregation). Afterwards, a group of us went downstairs to the Union Bar and I found the Mizzou flag! I had a really nice time, but I had to leave early to make sure I got some sleep before work.

Saturday after work, I was very tired. I took a long nap and woke up with a headache. Luckily, it went away pretty fast. I went out to explore the neighborhood and was pleasantly surprised. There are a couple of cool local shops around the mall and a restaurant I'd like to try.

So, now it's Sunday and I'm ready for the Cowboys game. I saw the Saints just totally dominate Arizona (that's not good for the Vikings or Cowboys). The plan is to take a nap in the afternoon and then tonight, I'll go to the Koch's and watch the Cowboys game with Raye. It should be a fun time. My friend at work told me the Vikings will win...we shall see. Side note, I caught a little bit of the Mizzou game this morning against Oklahoma-not good. They'll get there though, I hope.

Go Cowboys!

Michael