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Coyote Ugly

Posted by Ronald Huereca

The following was my first (and probably last) experience at Coyote Ugly in Austin, Texas.

“You, in the glasses.” a lady said into a microphone pointing into my direction.

It wasn’t everyday that a lady on top of a bar was pointing at me and announcing my presence to the slew of drunkards and bar-hoppers. I wasn’t annoyed or embarrassed, just wondering why my glasses were my prominent figure.

“That’s right. You. Front and center.” she used her index finger to lure me close to the bar.

I looked at my dad, who was laughing at me, and he signaled me to get off my stool and make my way to the bar.

I approached and stood at the bar next to another gentleman.

“It’s her birthday.” she said pointing at another lady. “I want you to pay for a body shot.”

I stood confused. I had never given anyone a body shot, much less a complete stranger in a strange bar in a foreign city.

“Twenty bucks.” she said.

Even a three drink buzz couldn’t talk me into paying up. I shook my head, “I don’t think so.”

“You and him”, she said pointing to the guy next to me, “You guys split it at ten a piece.”

I couldn’t imagine sharing the wealth when it came to body shots. The guy chipped in, “I’ll get it. Don’t worry about it.”

I made my way back to my stool, twenty dollars richer than the other guy.

Turned out it was the Coyote Ugly staff that gave the birthday girl her body shot. I was relieved and silently calling the gentleman at the bar a sucker for thinking he might get lucky.

When I came back, my dad was talking to a fairly attractive Asian lady.

“Where do they get these girls at?” she complained pointing at the bar, “Because not one is good looking. Which one is the best up there?”

My dad shrugged.

“I could out dance any of those girls on that bar.” she said.

“Then do it.” I responded. “Get up there and show those girls what you got.” Several other people assisted in persuading and eventually helping the lady onto the bar.

When she got on the bar, a fast jam came on. And she put all of the other girls to shame.

When she got down, I bought her a drink.

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UPS - Don’t Leave Stuff by My Door

Posted by Ronald Huereca

It was only just a week and a half ago that I was basking in the glory of Austin, Texas. And during my stay in Austin, I ordered a package and had it sent to my dad’s place. Why, you ask? Well, let’s just say I didn’t want it delivered to my apartment and left on my door step for anyone to snatch.

My dad called me and said, “Ron, the package is on its way. I sent it so that it would be sent to your apartment office so they won’t leave it at your door.”

“Good.” I replied. And then I waited.

My dad calls again a few days later, “Ron, you should’ve received the package today. Did you get it?”

I looked at my watch, “That’s a negative dad. The UPS site says that the address was incorrect and that the delivery was re-scheduled.”

“Shit.” my dad said. “I left off your apartment address hoping it would be sent to your office.”

“Well, it says the address was corrected and that they will try to re-deliver it.”

“So what time will USP come by tomorrow?”

I thought about it for a second and said, “Dad, it’s Friday. UPS doesn’t deliver on Saturdays. So I guess it’ll have to wait until Monday.”

“Shit.” he said again, “Well, let me know when you’ve received it.”

So Monday came around and I looked up the tracking number on the UPS site. There was no change in status. I hunted around the Internet and found a support number.

“Your tracking number?” a lady asked in a strong New York accent.

I gave her my tracking number and asked about the status.

“Your package will be delivered today. There was a wrong address on the box.”

“Oh, okay. Well my dad didn’t include the full address because he wanted the package delivered to my apartment office instead of my door.”

The lady scoffed, “I can assure you that UPS doesn’t leave packages at doors. Especially at apartments.”

“Okay, but can you just leave a note for the driver to not leave it at the door?”

“Sure, I can do that.” the lady replied.

I hung up.

After work, I raced home to intercept the package. And there, neatly “hidden” under my welcome mat (at my door) was my package.

What was the contents of the package? Only “Adobe Creative Suite 3″. And to think that the same apartment was broken into only 3 months earlier.

Shame, shame UPS.

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Blogging Goals for 2008

Posted by Ronald Huereca

To be honest, I don’t see how I can outdo myself in 2008 for the blogging accomplishments I’ve accomplished in 2007. In no particular order, here are some of my major blogging accomplishments in 2007:

• Release of popular WordPress Plugin Ajax Edit Comments
• Successful group project for Peeve Week 2
• Wrote a popular series/e-book: How to Write a WordPress Plugin
• Started contributing to WeblogToolsCollection
• Launched RAProject.com with a friend to much fanfare.

With all that accomplished, let’s hope I can do something perhaps a little better for 2008. Here are my goals:

Start a Spanish Blog

I’ve been thinking about starting a blog with the Spanish language for a while now. I have had trouble thinking of a niche though. I hope to get over my fears and plunge into this project and improve my Spanish at the same time.

Re-design and Modernization of Madison Bible Church Website

I’m one of the project leads for MadisonBibleChurch.org. One of my goals for the site is to modernize it and make posting and finding information a lot easier.

Re-design of RA Project

I did the initial re-design of RA Project, but it’s become apparent that the website is due for a new theme that is not from my own hand. Let’s just say that I don’t want to attempt another redesign with me being spread so thin.

A Peeve Week 3

I have to admit that after Peeve Week 2, I kinda just stopped posting to this blog as much as I used to. I have a bunch of excuses, but none of them matter. I hope to start posting to this blog regularly again and hopefully have a Peeve Week 3 in June (the one year anniversary of Peeve Week 2). A lot of the articles have become extremely popular and hopefully continue to drive traffic to the websites of everyone that participated.

If anything, I’ll host Peeve Week 3 on another blog, which will save me the admin headache

Attend WordPress Related Meetups

I plan to attend my first WordPress related meetup in two weeks in Nashville, Tennessee. I also will try to make it to WordCamp Dallas in March.

Jeff (from Jeffro2pt0) has also invited me to be part of his podcast called WordPress Weekly. I’ve already done a few shows.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading my blogging goals. I just hope I can accomplish some of them. Thank you for reading

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Feliz Navidad

Posted by Ronald Huereca

Feliz Navidad a todos y Feliz Año Nuevo.

Merry Christmas to all of you readers out there, and have a Happy New Year as well.

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Personal Goals for 2008

Posted by Ronald Huereca

My friend Vivien has once again inspired me, so I am going to list several personal goals I’d like to accomplish next year. Perhaps not all of the goals can be accomplished, but I’m sure willing to take a stab at it.

Intermediate Fluency in Spanish

I’ve been studying Spanish off and on for a year now. I got really serious about it back in July and have made great strides. I hope by this time next year I will have a very good grasp on the Spanish language.

Visit Mexico

I’d like to visit Mexico once this year and put my Spanish into action.

Pay Down 1/3 of my Student Loans

I’d like to pay a third of my student loans off in my quest to become debt free.

See More of Family

This year was a big year of firsts for me. I visited my dad in Austin out of the blue in June, and then visited some extended family for the first time in Thanksgiving. I’d like to see more of my family, learn more of my roots, and continue the Huereca heritage.

Quit Smoking for Good

I’ve struggled this past year with quitting smoking, and I’ve been somewhat successful with only a few relapses for a week or more. I’d like to declare 2008 a smoke-free year for me.

Grow More Christ-Like

I’ve struggled in this area, especially after my separation and divorce from my wife. Sometimes I wake up and think, “Why bother?” I want to get out of this rut and continue my journey to becoming more Christ-like and just being downright happy to be alive.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading my goals, and thank you Vivien for posting yours. I’ll post my blogging goals in a separate post soon.

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The Dollar and the Iraq War

Posted by Ronald Huereca

Reader Amy Quinn over at CurrencyTrading.net brought an article to my attention that suggested twenty ways the war in Iraq has affected the U.S. dollar either positively or negatively.

One point that I want to bring up here is the potential for countries and organizations to switch to the euro. The article mentions that Syria started using the euro in 2006 to avoid funds being frozen in the U.S. Other countries could follow suit, and the result would be an even weaker dollar.

And if you think gasoline prices are bad now, just wait until OPEC decides to use the euro instead of the dollar. This move will further weaken the dollar.

For even more points, please check out the article, which I think provides an objective view on how the war in Iraq (and GWOT) are affecting the dollar.

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Am I Weird For Not Spending Christmas With Family?

Posted by Ronald Huereca

Unless you count my cat, I’m spending Christmas by myself in Huntsville this year. It was my choice. I decided I’d rather spend the New Year with my family instead, especially when I looked at the calendar and my limited vacation time.

When I told a lady at my small group that I was spending Christmas “alone”, she asked, “Are you going to be okay?” I responded, “It’s not others who make my Christmas. I make my Christmas.”

Last Christmas was rather rough, I have to admit. I did spend it with family, but I was still separated (from my now ex-wife) and was less sure about a lot of things. This Christmas I am confident and optimistic.

So am I weird for not spending Christmas with family? A benefit of visiting family after Christmas is to buy presents after Christmas and profit off the secular commercialization of Christmas (ironic, no?). After all, Christmas isn’t about presents. And it isn’t really about family. It’s about whatever you make of it, whether it be religious, secular, or otherwise.

I’m going to enjoy myself this Christmas. Just you wait and see.

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An Officer Gunned Down in Huntsville

Posted by Ronald Huereca

In the scary news department, I learned that this weekend a Huntsville Police Department Officer had been killed from being shot in the face. Officer William Eric Freeman was shot Friday night (December 14). Officer Freeman died the next day.

53-year-old Kenneth Shipp is the suspect and has been charged with capital murder.

What’s scary about this whole thing is there was a shooting incident several months back that involved Shipp and his son. The apartment wasn’t too far away from mine and the police locked down the whole area.

And today I learned that Kenneth Shipp worked in the same building as me (although I do not know him at all).

The tragic thing is that Officer Freeman left behind a wife and five kids with Christmas less than two weeks away. Collections for the family are being taken up, but I can’t imagine the amount of heartache and grief surrounding the Freeman family right now.

My sincere respect and gratitude goes out to Officer Freeman, his widow, his children, and his family.

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Let’s Just Say I’m Glad I’m Not in Kansas Anymore

Posted by Ronald Huereca

The entire three weeks I was in Kansas/Missouri, the temperature was about 20 degrees Fahrenheit the whole time. I’m glad I’m back in a place where I don’t have to wear four layers just to keep warm.

And since I have users here who use the metric system, this is for you:

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My Personal Values and Mission Statement

Posted by Ronald Huereca

I had the privilege of taking a leadership class that asked me to list out what values were important to me. I thought I’d share some of the things I wrote down and finish off with my personal mission statement. This post will give you a unique insight into how I think.

What is important to me?

Loyalty and objectivity are very important to me. Loyalty increases the longevity of a relationship, and objectivity allows one to make decisions based on facts rather than politics and emotion.

What do I value?

I value loyalty, honesty, open mindedness, self-discipline, creativity, innovation, and the willingness to continue learning.

Creative/Innovative: Being creative/innovative is thinking outside the box on a lot of issues. It’s challenging authority and figuring out why things are done a certain way. It’s being pro-active about fixing problems and finding solutions.

Intelligence: Intelligence is willing to learn and continue learning new things each and every day. It’s not afraid to ask questions and figure out the “in the mud” details.

Loyalty: Loyalty is staying on the ship no matter how violent the storm. When one is loyal, the person never leaves and never questions the integrity of his higher up.

Open Minded/Independent: Being open minded/independent is important in order to be objective to be a better decision maker. It’s realizing why one is making decisions and being able to see a broader picture.

Self Disciplined: Being self-disciplined is running in the 100-degree heat when nobody else is out there with you. It’s quitting the filthy habit that consumes you. It’s getting up for work when there is noone to hold you accountable. It’s being true to the God you will never see in this lifetime.

Self Aware: Being able to analyze one’s decisions and beliefs. It’s knowing why you made the decision and why you believe what you believe.

What are my personal goals?

Pay off my student loans, become fluent in Spanish, become a voice in online publishing, and start an online business.

What are my strengths and talents?

I’m very technical. I do a lot of programming on the side. I have an eye for color and love doing graphic design jobs. I am a proficient web programmer and writer for multiple blogs. I can speak well, and can usually communicate my thoughts and concerns. I’m opinionated and do not let politics/emotion get in my way of making a decision.

At the end of my life, what do I want my legacy to be?

I want to be known as a good Christian man who helped out his community. One of the reasons I’m learning Spanish is to continue my Hispanic heritage and help those who do not speak English. I’d like to be known as a writer, and someone who loves and would die for his country.

My personal mission statement

I am a man focused on my faith, my family, my country, and my Hispanic heritage. Along with continuing my Hispanic heritage, I strive to excel technically and academically.

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