The Sweet Taste of Victory

It has been well documented that I am addicted to the game of table tennis. It is my refuge from the mental onslaught that is my medical education. My friends and I take our Ping Pong very seriously. We record statistics (at 51-70, I present a paltry .428 winning percentage, but boast and impressive 17 aces). We name our paddles (Thor's Hammer is my weapon of choice, but I have been known to wield The Widowmaker). We have even named our shots and serves (Cobra Strike and the Blue Moon). Like I said, we take our ping-pong very seriously.

The other day, a minor disagreement broke out between our group about which doubles pairing was the superior team. I insisted that Sean and I were consistently better than Joe and Fernando. To settle the dispute, we decided to hold a Best of Seven tournament, where the winner could claim rights to the title of "Better Doubles Team." As is evident, a lot was at stake. We posted a scorecard on the door to our miserable excuse for a student lounge and proceeded each day to play a small set of three games. The first team to four set victories would be the champion. It truly was a clash of the titans as Ondine's Curse battled Shiga Toxin for Ping-Pong Supremecy (did I mention we named our doubles' teams too?).

Without going into too much detail (Cami dislikes my ping-pong stories, as is evident in this photo during the final match... she wasn't too excited about her husband winning such a prestigious title), the games quickly became very intense. Each game exponentially more meaningful than the previous. Winning was pure elation and losing left a lump in your throat all day. After being tied 2-2, Sean and I decided to take control and we finished of Shiga Toxin once and for all by winning the series 4-2. It was a crushing blow for Joe and Fernie (Joe had to go running to blow off some steam and Fernie almost started crying), but it was pure elation for Sean and me. We were the victors. I kept waiting for the cameras to appear and say "Tim, you and Sean just won the Ping Pong Tournament, what are you going to do next?" I guess no one told Disney that we were holding the championship game, because I am sure they would have wanted to be there.

Anyway, Sean and I are the champions. I gotta admit it feels pretty good, but I've got the nagging suspicion that if I put half the effort into my education that I put into my Ping Pong, I would have my MD, a MPH, 2 PhDs and cure for cancer. I really gotta stay away from that stupid Ping Pong table.

-Tim, "The Champion"

Three Magical Years

Yesterday marked three years of wedded bliss for Cami and me. As three years is such a significant accomplishment (it is, afterall, the "leather anniversary"), we decided to celebrate by having Cami go off to Rancho Cordova and I stayed in Woodland and played video games with Sean until 11:00 pm. I know, pretty romantic right? But when you've been married as long as we have, anniversaries just aren't such a big deal because we've had so many of them.

Actually, Cami had to volunteer at the Temple Open House from 5:00 until 10:00 last night, and, just as importantly, Sean and I had to play Splinter Cell until 10:00. With such pressing demands, we decided to celebrate our union by going out to eat at Cafe Bernardo in Davis for breakfast, instead of doing something for dinner. Since Cami loves breakfast so much, it was actually a great way to celebrate. She had french toast and I had a waffle with berries and we just chatted for a nice half hour before running off to work and school. I really had a good time.

During a Ping-Pong Game yesterday, Joe asked me what the secret was to my blissful marriage. I rattled off some answer about compromise and commitment or something, I can't quite remember. However, the more I think about it, the more I realize that the true key to a great marriage is this:

Be married to a smokin' hot girl like Cami.

Sacramento Temple

Mike and Laurel Blair came and visited us yesterday. It was a very last minute arrangement. They were coming to Sacramento to go to the Sacramento Temple Open House and invited us to come along with them. Mike and Laurel were in our apartment complex when we moved to Woodland, but they've since moved to Redding. Mike's a firefighter and Laurel is... um, I don't really remember, but I think she does something in the hospital (she changes jobs so often it's hard to keep track). Anyway, Mike & Laurel used to be our bestest friends in Woodland until Mike got a better firefighting job in Redding and they moved away a built a house. Now they are our bestest friends formerly of Woodland. We wished they lived closer, 'cause we just get along so darn well.

Anyway, they came to visit us at our apartment and then we drove over to the Sacramento Temple on the other side of Sacramento. The temple is actually located in Rancho Cordova on the east side of Sacramento about 30 minutes from our apartment. I found out recently that my grandpa actually had a lot to do with the Church buying the land where the Temple now stands from Aerojet back in the 1970's. The Church owns the whole hill around the Temple and it makes for a really pretty place. The whole experience was great, especially with good friends around. It was also neat to see so many people coming to visit. It was also great that they had really good cookies afterwards. All in all, it was a great day and we're excited to have a Temple so close.

After visiting the open house, Mike and Laurel treated us to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory (which they really didn't have to do). We had fun talking and eating good food. After dinner, they had to leave to buy some things for their new house and we had to sit at home in our little apartment and not buy things for our new house. Before they left we agreed to meet them up in Redding for a non-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving dinner and take a look at the new home that they built all by themselves. It's good to have friends like the Blairs.

Cami will be going back to the Temple on Wednesday to volunteer at the Open House. I was suggesting that I could go and paint myself gold like the Angel Moroni and pose for pictures with people waiting in line and stuff. Cami thought it was a great idea, but I get the impression that our Bishop wouldn't quite think so.

Yolo County Fair

Cami and I didn't have anything to do last night. Instead of just bumming around at home, we decided to go to the Yolo County Fair. Word on the street is that the Yolo County Fair is one of the few remaining fairs in California that has free admission. So we drove down to the county fairgrounds, parked about a half mile away and took part in the experience that is the Yolo County Fair. Oh, what an experience it was! There were all sorts of different people there: Future Farmers of America, Goths, Latinos, Gangstas, Giddy Teenage Girls, Clowns, Carnies, lots of little kiddies and just about everything in between (ex: Giddy Teenage Goth Carnies). I am glad that County Fairs exist. Otherwise: What would bring these different groups of people together?

There were also all sorts of different smells. You know that smell that you find at petting zoos? It's kind of a mix of hay, urine, pet and stink and it was everywhere. Only, it wasn't just that smell, there was a conglomeration of cigarette smoke, cheap concessions, BBQ'd beef products, sweat and cotton candy. Oh, yes, there was also love. Love was also in the air. Add all that to the other sights and sounds and it was quite the assault on the senses.

Cami and I made our way around the place and kind of took everything in. It was actually a lot of fun. We were pretty hungry when we got there, so we had to decide just exactly what greasy food-like substance we were willing to overpay for. I ended up buying a BBQ chicken sandwhich and Cami opted for a hotdog. I have to admit, it was a little better than I was expecting. After we had our fill, we perused the various attractions that the fair had to offer.

There were numerous "rides" available for $4 a trip, which was a little more than we could afford to shell out. However, before we could get too disappointed, we realized that those rides were the exact same rides we've ridden at every other fair/carnival we've ever been to. I don't think carnival technology has made any advancements--at least not significant ones--in the past 15 years. Cami and I then discussed carnival technology and Cami posed the query: "Have carnival rides not changed for 50 years or were the rides as out-of-date 50 years ago as they are today?" An interesting question, indeed!

We looked around for a treat, but couldn't find anything affordable. I really wanted a Caramel Apple, but when I saw a couple I sort of changed my mind. So we left the Yolo County Fair, hiked back to our car and bought some Ben & Jerry's at Bel Air before heading home. Unlike the Yolo County Fair, you really can't complain much about Ben & Jerry, those two guys really know how to make some ice cream. It was a fun evening, but I am glad I haven't missed anything by not having to a fair for about a decade or so.

I Heart My Friends!

Last weekend was full of weddings and friends. Tim and I left for Merced right after work on Friday, just in time to hit the weekend traffic. But traffic isn't that bad when you get to drive a new car. We arrived in Merced just in time to go to the last little bit of Randi's wedding reception. Randi & Mike had their reception on Friday night, even though they didn't get married until Saturday afternoon. Which just seemed really strange (sorry Randi). However, it was fun to see Randi in a wedding dress and pink Converse shoes. I'm glad to know that even though she is growing up and getting married, she is still Randi. Here's a picture of all the girls that Tim says makes us all look super hot.

After the reception we got to hang out with Camille & Micah, who we never get to see. They stayed at my parents house since Camille no longer has a home in Merced. That is still so weird to me. One of my favorite things to do is hang out with friends from home. It was kind of funny though, we haven't really "hung-out" with each other in a long time but we all knew what everyone else was doing because of our blogs. It is nice to have a way to stay connected with all of your good friends all the time. In fact, when we first showed up at Randi's reception, one of the first things Camille said to us was how much she and Micah love to read our blog. She even told Tim that she thought Tim's blogs were funnier than Todd's, which made him pretty happy (sorry Todd).

On Saturday we went up to the Oakland Temple for Randi's wedding. We got to see Jenny & Todd and meet Ryder, who is really little and very good-looking. They are a really cute family. We went to a session during Becca's wedding in the morning and then waited around for Randi's wedding to start. While we were waiting we watched the Joseph Smith movie at the visitor's center. It was the second time that we've seen it. It is a great film, even if Tim says there are three things he would change about it.

We drove home from Oakland with our awesome friend Kim Weed. It was fun to chat with her. However, it was in her car that my wallet was last seen. I have no idea where it could have gone and it is driving me crazy! It has to be somewhere either:

A) At my parents' house
B) At Tim's parents' house
C) In Kim's car
D) At the Oakland Temple
E) None of the above

I am hoping that the correct answer is not E, because I would feel much more comfortable if it was sitting somewhere at some relative's house. I guess, as far as public places go, losing a wallet at the Temple has to be a pretty safe choice. Tim suggested I wait until Wednesday to cancel all my credit cards and get a new license. What a hassle! And of course, I just know that as soon as I do all that stuff, my wallet is going to pop up somewhere just to be annoying.

P.S. For all those of you with nothing better to do, type "timandcami.blogspot.com" into gizoogle.com for a better idea of how T-Bone and K-Dawg are keepin' it real in Sac-Town.

Sold!

Disclaimer: The following post is quite lengthy. Cami has informed me that I need to post an abbreviated version of the events of last week. Here it goes: We officially sold our old car and bought a new one. That pretty much sums it up. If you don't like that version, read the following which I wrote in the car while driving home for Randi's and Becca's weddings (respective weddings, that is, they didn't marry each other), but Cami will post about that shortly. Anyway, on with the story...

I am currently sitting in our new car, driving somewhere past Elk Grove on the I-5 en route to Merced. The I-5 gets pretty congested and things are moving slow, so I decided that this would be the perfect time for me to go ahead and write this entry on the purchase of our new 2006 Honda CR-V EX. We are very pleased with our purchase, but it was no cake walk getting here. In fact the past week has been quite an experience. Allow me to explain.

Last Saturday, Jorge and his family came to our apartment complex to take a look at our Passat. From the get-go I could tell he was interested in actually buying our car. I say this, not because of my keen instincts as an entrepreneur, but rather because he hadn’t been there four and a half minutes when he made an offer on the car. To avoid boring you with some of the details, we agreed on a price that was reasonable for the both of us. The money from the VW gave us plenty to make a sizeable down payment our new car. Sadly, after spending $55 on an internet advertisement, we sold our car to someone who saw the ¢99 For Sale sign in our car window. I could have saved $54 if I had a crystal ball. Man, I gotta get me one of those things!

We agreed to accept their payment and hand over the car the following Thursday, which would give us enough time to locate a reasonably priced car. Of course, all that really did was force us to play out every possible situation and outcome for the next couple days as we worried about affording a new car. Fortunately, Cami did some internet soliciting, and got several quotes from local dealerships, so we were able to find the best offer without ever really leaving the house.

Long story less long, we decided to go ahead on Wednesday to the car dealership and broker a deal with the understanding that our purchase of said automobile was conditional upon our selling our old one. The last thing we wanted was to have two cars. However, the last thing the car dealers wanted was for us to leave without signing anything. I guess they won, because before we knew it they had worked their voodoo magic on us and we signed all the paperwork. Car dealers are a lot like sharks. I drove home our new car, happy that nothing went wrong (that last statement is a little something we in the literary world call "foreshadowing").

On Thursday, I drove home from school to meet Jorge at Yolo Federal Credit Union because Jorge was taking out a loan to buy our car and the YFCU needed some information from me in order to give him the loan. This is where the story turns into a nightmare. Apparently, YFCU had a problem with me having an out of state title (we bought the VW in Provo). They also took issue with the fact that our car registration showed Deseret First as the lien holder on our car, even though we had paid off our loan on the car a few months previous (the DMV had said it shouldn’t be a problem). They said they couldn’t offer the loan and that we should go to the DMV to straighten things out. I have to be honest, it was one one of those "uh-oh" moments where you realize that everything could get really bad really quickly.

Jorge and I went to the DMV and begged and pleaded (in both English and Español) for them to help us out. Which I guess just proves that some DMV employees actually do have souls. One of the ladies there figured out a way to please YFCU by registering the car in Jorge’s name with YFCU as the new lien holder, effectively satisfying their bizarre requests. However, the registration came with a hefty price-tag of $400. Jorge couldn’t believe it, but the gal said he didn’t have to pay until all the other paperwork was finalized.

We drove back to YCFU and they seemed to accept all of the amendments we made to the title and registration. Things seemed to be going well until I was asked to turn in proof of a smog check. I gave her our receipt and she made that “tsk tsk” noise which drives me crazy and informed me that the check had to be done within the last 60 days. Are you kidding me?! I think I said "Are you kidding me?" about 10 times that day.

I hopped in my car and drove to some dirty smog shop and asked Pedro how long it would take to get my car checked. “20 minutes,” was his reply. I told him it was a deal. Of course, the first question he asked was “Do you have the registration?” No! I did not have the registration because those Sadists over at YFCU had confiscated it. Pedro just kind of looked at me and said, “Hmmm… I don’t think that should be a problem.” I started to get the impression that even if we failed the smog check, Pedro could have been “persuaded” to give us a certification anyway. 20 nerve-wracking minutes later Pedro collected his $70 and handed me a smog check certificate, which I gratefully took and ran back to YFCU, ready to finally have the whole ordeal over (foreshadowing again).

When I arrived, Jorge was waiting for me in the lobby. He told me that YFCU wouldn’t finish the deal until he had paid the $400 for the registration. So we had to drive back to the DMV and he threw four Benjamins on the table and we grabbed our receipt and went back to YFCU: Official Credit Union of the Devil himself. By this time it was 4:45 and we had been going back and forth for over three hours. Finally, they decided that we had been tortured enough and agreed to actually finish the whole process. They gave me my check and I gave Jorge the keys to the car. As a token of my appreciation for his patience, I bought Jorge a tank of gas. Fittingly, the first gas station we stopped at didn’t take ATM cards, so we had to go somewhere else.

So, now it is all over and we have our new car. I was really worried there for awhile that Jorge was just going to throw up his hands and say “¡No Mas!” and walk out, leaving me with a brand new car and and old car and no money for either one. Cami was even more worried than I was. I think she broke out into cold sweats every half hour when I called her at work and gave her updates. However, she needn’t worry anymore, as all the dust has finally settled and the whole ordeal is over. We love our new car even more now that we know we'll be able to pay for it.

The End.

Fondues And Don'ts

It is Monday morning and I am about to fall asleep at work because I am so exhausted from such a fun weekend with our good friends, Sean and Ashley. We really like them. And word on the street is that they are going to be joining our married people club next summer (though that information is still oficially unofficial). We are really excited for them and we are trying desperately to get them to live in Woodland, cause we could always use more married friends.

In order to convince Ashley to come visit this weekend, we promised to have a fondue treat. So, on Saturday night, after Sean and Ashley barely beat us in tennis, we dipped anything we could find in our chocolate fondue. My favorites were the raspberries and strawberries with a piece of brownie. It was very good. Ashley said it was the best fondue she's ever had.

Ashley had planned to leave on Sunday morning, but at 3:00 on Sunday afternoon we were awakened from our Sunday nap by a phone call from Sean. He was begging us to let them come over for dinner. Basically, we are so amazing that the two of them just can't stay away from us. So we decided to let them come.

The low point of the weekend was what happened after dinner. It started out with Tim and Sean trying to see who could throw a ball the closest to ceiling, without the ball actually touching the ceiling. Before you knew it, the four of us spent almost an hour creating and playing a game that involves lying on the floor playing catch with three juggling balls. Tim set the timer on his watch for one minute and we would pass the balls in a specific order: Sean to Cami, Cami to Ashley, Ashley to Tim, and Tim to Sean. Our record was 12 cycles in one minute. Which may not sound that impressive, but believe me it was.


So now life is back to normal and I have to go to work everyday. It is actually nice to have a routine again, even if it does mean waking up at 5:30 every morning. This week looks like it is going to be pretty crazy with car selling and buying. We are also looking forward to Randi's wedding this weekend where we will be seeing lots of our favorite people. I am so happy for Randi & Mike, being married is the best!

Car 4 Sale

After much debate and consternation Cami and I have decided that it's about time for us to sell our beloved automobile in favor of something that is going to last us about another decade or so. The wonderful VW that we've been parading around the past three years is about to hit the 100K mark. We took it in for a tune-up at around 90K and realized that our Passat will require a little more financial support in the next couple years than we would like. We thought about trading the car in at a dealership, but found out pretty quickly that we could get much more out of it if we tried to sell it ourselves. So, we posted our car for sale on Kelly Blue Book to entice new buyers. We even bought one of those "For Sale" signs to stick in our windows. Now every time our phone rings we shoot each other one of those "could this be a potential car-buyer?" looks and are disappointed when it's some stupid telemarketer trying to get us to refinance the mortgage payments on the home we do not own.

As of last night, our efforts have not been in vain. "Jorge" wants to come take a look at our car on Saturday. I am a little nervous, not so much because I am worried about botching the sale, rather, Jorge's English wasn't all that great on the phone, which should make for some interesting conversation. "This is the, um, acondicionador de aire?" Suffice it to say, it should be an interesting learning experience, even if we don't sell the car. However, to be completely honest, I am going to be sad to see the VW go. It was a first car and it was fun being a Passat owner. Our new car will be new, but it probably won't be as nice. It was a good three years, ol' pal.

A few weeks ago when we decided we were in the market for a new car, we decided to stop at the Honda dealership just to get a feel for what was available. What was originally supposed to be a quick 30 minute tour, turned into a 2 hour ordeal. The guys on the floor could smell fresh meat and did just about everything they could to keep us on the lot. We had expressed interest in Accords and CR-Vs and before you could say 黒い車があるか。* we were behind the wheel of one. After the short trip around the block, we made the mistake of asking about financing. The salesman led us into the interrogation room and handed us over to The Closer who then really turned the screws. The guy was a professional, throwing numbers all over the place and who kept asking "What do I have to do to get you guys to buy a car today?" We weren't even considering buying a car that day, but that wasn't going to stop the guy. The price just kept dropping and dropping. I admit, a lesser man may have cracked and just agreed to the sale to end the barrage of numbers, figures and term-agreements. However, to our credit, we stood strong.

When the realized that they weren't going to seal the deal, the Closer stepped outside to allow The Reconsiliator to smooth out the edges and convince us that the whole ordeal wasn't all that painful. All in all, it was a learning experience. Note to self: When we actually do want to go into a dealership and buy a car, it is imperative that we do not go into the dealership actually wanting to buy a car. Cami and I have already detailed secret hand gestures and outlined character roles so that we could try and recreate the experience again. That is to say, we want the next Closer to continually drop the price until we feel like we are getting a deal. It remains to be seen whether or not we can pull it off, but we'll keep you posted.

In other news, Cami's summer vacation is over and she went back to work on Thursday. Her co-workers were so happy to have her back that they voted her the winner of the "Quarterly Incentive Prize." Gift certificates for Cami! Hooray! School is going well for me. I am taking a Microbio lab and found out that my throat is a veritable breeding ground for Streptococcus Pneumoniae. That's just as prestigious as the Quarterly Incentive Prize... but without the gift certificates.

*Cut and paste this phrase into the Japanese/English translator