Blog resurrection for Kyle

I haven't updated this blog in a really really long time. I've been working, traveling around, doing this, doing that, but one of my buddies from Taiwan needs a little help.

That guy up there is Kyle Yu. Kyle is rather awesome. I met him doing kickboxing in Taiwan and ended up going on many of my adventures (detailed below) with him.

I left Taiwan in May 2008 but he stuck around and kept being awesome, going on trips all around Asia, learning more Chinese, and figuring his life out.

After his journeys in Asia concluded, he headed back to Plano, Texas to live with his family. He then decided to pursue a career in Naturopathic Medicine. However, before he leaves for school to do that in Portland, he needs to take some prereqs at the local community college. While doing this and working as a lifeguard, he also got into Bikram Yoga and CrossFit.

Earlier this year, while doing CrossFit, he ruptured his Achilles tendon. (Google it if you want, but not if you have a weak stomach.) Unfortunately, Kyle doesn't have health insurance and is likely going to have to foot the bill himself.

He's pretty bummed about the entire situation. In a situation like this, I would want to buy him a drink. Wouldn't you? However, buying him a drink won't really help him out here. Such money would be better spent going towards his surgery. With that in mind, he set up a donation page to help with his surgery, and I would really appreciate if you could throw $5 or $10 his way.

Here's his website: http://repairkylesachilles.blogspot.com/ and you can donate below. Thanks everyone!

Stil alive...

A lot has changed in my life since last February. That's not important though.

I'm thinking about going back to Taiwan next September. If so I think I would use this as my travel blog again, so I'm keeping this alive.

Monthly updates are lame

Here's the issue: whenever there's anything minute that's semi-blogworthy I just update it in my Twitter. I suggest you all get in on that and add me. (Levar Burton also Twitters, and I think that's really awesome.)

I'm passed my 6-month mark which means I'm no longer the FNG (Google it if you don't know what that means). I'm starting to get more customers and being brought into bigger and better projects. Fun!

Kung fu has been taking up a lot more of my time, which I enjoy. Teaching two classes a week has been a great experience. Two weekends ago we visited two masters in Antioch, Illinois and they taught us some really awesome stuff.

So one day two weeks ago it was ridiculously nice out. That inspired me to purchase a bicycle. Of course it got cold again after that, but I still have the bike sitting in my apartment. I'm really excited for it to get warm; I'll probably start biking to work (considering I live less than 2.5 mi away).

That's all. Later!

Certified

I just got done with all the tests I need to do for my role at work. With only eight days to spare! If you ask me, I would say that I perform better under pressure.

I've been tweeting recently. www.twitter.com/TedGlomski

Nothing SUPER exciting going on. I've spent a lot of time recently worrying about my certification exams so now that I have that out of the way it's off to more important things. Like cleaning.

I bought a car

Here are some pictures of my new car:

My car

I really like it.

Other than that life's going pretty well. I'm pretty busy this month at work, with two tests to take and a project that should take up a serious chunk of my time. The weather's been pretty horrible lately, but I've been trying to get outside some and at the very least spend more time at the karate school. I put on some weight over the holidays and would like to get that off.

Other than that, nothing too huge!

Exciting news!

So I was at work the other day and was chatting in the break room when someone brought up that he read my blog. That was quite exciting. He also mentioned that I hadn't updated in a while. Well, considering I have loyal viewers out there, here we go!

Life's been pretty regular. Work all week, karate some evenings, hang out with coworkers on Friday nights. I've been enjoying what I've been doing at work, but I need to start getting some studying for tests done before February, which isn't that far away.

Karate has been a lot of fun, and a good release/workout. I started back up with kickboxing. The kickboxing I do here is a lot like what I was doing in Taiwan (cardio-based with full body workout) but instead of a crazy Danish guy yelling at me it's my classmates from karate (and the classes are one hour instead of two...and indoors). I have been helping out with the kids' class on the weekends which is fun and scary. So far my main goal has been to get them to do the moves without them making goofy faces into the mirrors.

I've been meaning to post these for a while...here are some pics of my apartment! (I took these a while ago)

From My apartment

That's my living room. Note the awesome TV and my karate equipment on the couch.

From My apartment

That's how the kitchen table looks. That was probably its cleanest. It seems to accumulate a lot of random stuff. I got the chairs (along with the desk in the last picture) from the same guy on Craigslist for a pretty good deal.

From My apartment

From My apartment

My kitchen, from two angles.

From My apartment

That's my huge fancy bed. I need stuff to put on the walls.

Seeing all those pictures of my place all clean makes me want to clean again. I think I'll get at that. Thanks for checking in!

Money!

Good news: I got paid this weekend. I went from "I wonder if I'll have enough money when I go to Taste of Madison" to "I wonder where I should start furniture shopping" in a matter of hours.

I just finished up with a week of training. It was tough sitting in class for seven hours five days a week (flashbacks of high school! Aaagh!), but I learned a lot. This coming week I'll have some free time, which I'll dedicate to getting closer to taking certification exams and probably goofing around with a couple of servers.

I'm having a quite low-key Labor Day weekend on the social scale. I was mulling going home but due to my previous lack of funds I scratched that idea. Yesterday I had a pretty fun time. In the early afternoon I went for a bike ride with some co-workers of mine through the Arboretum. I borrowed a bike from a friend of mine and had a nice leisurely bike ride. Afterward we met up again to go to the Taste of Madison at Capitol Square. A lot of restaurants from Madison (some big chains too) have small entrees for $4 or less. I had polish sausage, paad thai, french fries, and an ice cream float. It was delicious. I had a lot of fun showing off to my co-workers (two from Illinois and one from Minnesota) my familiarity with Wisconsin.

Today I did quite a bit. I hit up Craigslist and bought a set of chairs and a desk from a guy about to move to Canada. I saw the chairs about 20 minutes after they went up, called him and checked them out. I bought them and he asked if I wanted anything else at his place. He had a nice looking desk for a decent price so I jumped on that. He even disassembled it for me so I could fit it into my car. I just assembled the desk and am now sitting at it.

I still have quite a bit to do. I'm not sure I want my desk where I have it. I was originally planning on putting it in a more open part of my living room but I decided to put it next to where my cable modem and router are. (Loyal reader: "Well, Ted, we all have no idea what your place looks like!" Me: "Okay, I'll clean up my place relatively soon and take some sweet pictures.")

I also need to furniture shop again tomorrow. I went and scouted out different furniture stores for mattress and bed prices. There wasn't one store that popped out at me as THE store to get my furniture, but at least I know a price range so I can plan it out and attack tomorrow. Here's all of what I need:

• Bed (frame, preferably wood)


• Mattress with box spring


• Dresser


• Coffee table

Steinhafel's is having a pretty good sale and American will throw in a LCD TV if I spend enough money, so I'll check those places out. I'm also considering a place over on East side that a friend recommended. Big day tomorrow!