I am still sitting in the jury pool area awaiting a possible case. I just had a very agreeable lunch consisting of mashed potatoes, rice and green beans. There is a female person chatting with someone in the middle of the room and she's laughing in what I first thought of as a cute giggle... it has become a maniacle cackle from hell!!! Please let either her or me get on a case before I use the straw in my coke to puncture my ear drums!!! Agggghhhh!!!!

I'm sitting in the Santa Ana court house right now waiting to be selected for jury duty. This is one heck of a nice facility. They have work carrels for laptop users with wireless internet access for a nominal fee.

I'm able to get some web work done and keep in touch with folks in a very pleasant environment.

Things are going pretty well all in all. The job situation is definitely ok until January and there's talk of some possible extensions beyond that. But regardless I'll be ready to get a new assignment.

The boss that I've grown to really love is still leaving at the end of June though :-( I'll still be feeling the impact of losing her.

Elders meeting tonight so this is going to be a busy yet productive day for the Bugster.

I’ve been working for the same boss for 9 years now but pretty soon I’ll be needing to look for a new position. All good things must come to an end I suppose.

Over the last few weeks I’ve been dealing with all the normal feelings that accompany pending change. At first I simply had to grieve the loss of such good friends I’ve made. I had to evaluate what I can do and perhaps more importantly what I want to do next. And now I’ll have to adjust to a new boss and prove my worth all over again.

Basically I understand how the process works from here and I’m doing the right things to make the adjustment, but the emotional impact is far from over. That’s where I need the prayers and support of my friends and family. As long as I can keep my head on straight and not let my passions overpower my rational side I’ll make it through this intact.

One of the ways I’ve found so far to keep me stable is to focus on the day to day living. Fretting about the future can be a serious pitfall. I try to think about what needs to be done each day and focus on doing that well and in accordance with God’s will. I continue to serve at church, I continue to do quality work while updating my résumé and I strive to be a good husband and father to my wife and little girl.

I am extremely thankful for all my friends and family for their prayers because support like that is very powerful. One of the best passages from God’s word that was shared with me recently was this one from Paul’s letter to the Philippians:

Several years back I purchased a few shirts from Hilo Hatti, a Hawaiian specialty store. I loved the quality of the shirts but was perplexed by the logo.

About a year after wearing the shirts around town a lady noticed the and asked if I was from Hawaii. I said no but since she was from there I asked her what the heck a buffalo and the word "nalu" had to do with one another. She said "nalu" was a Hawaiian word that meant "strength" and could also be used to describe a buffalo. I was so happy to finally have the mystery solved although it still seemed odd to even have a buffalo on the shirt. How could such an unlikely animal end up associated with Hawaiian culture in the first place?

Since then I told inquiring people that "nalu" was the Hawaiian word for strength or buffalo. One day I was wearing the shirt while visiting with my friend and cousin-in-law, Stanielsan. Thankfully, he was much more knowledgeable about this and informed me that "nalu" meant "wave". He assured me that the lady who told me it meant strength was mistaken. So I sat there corrected but was back to my original confusion of what the connection was!

So I decided to start googling the matter determined to lay this mystery to rest once and for all.

That's when I became aware of Richard "Buffalo" Keaulana one of Hawaii's legendary surfers. So it began to come together... nalu means wave, surfers ride waves, and a surfer from Hawaii is nicknamed "Buffalo". Cool!

So has the mystery finally been laid to rest? I can't be certain this is the exact connection, but it sure makes a lot more sense than anything I've come across so far. Here is a write up about the "Buffalo":

I was thinking about the multiculturalism movement that is prevalent right now in the U.S. While many of its intentions are noble I feel that it is fundamentally flawed. In an attempt to summarize my thoughts about it I came up with this:

Multiculturalism is flawed because it elevates that which separates us to a higher level than that which unites us.

There is nothing wrong with celebrating our heritage and differences one with another. But it seems there are too many people who have either given up on or never embraced the idea that our common values are where we can draw upon our greatest source of strength as a society.

Learn more about Multiculturalism from Wikipedia...

I like to drink coffee. I like to drink coffee a lot. I really *really* enjoy the coffee I drink.

I used to frequent a local coffee house until Starbucks opened up near by. I make no excuses and I have no shame to admit that I love Starbucks coffee. It is consistently full-bodied, dark and tasty just like I like it.

I go there a lot. I have my own Starbucks card that automatically reloads from my credit card because I never want to be walking into a Starbucks without money on my card for that quick swipe and swig action.

Here is a picture of my Starbucks coffee card:

Now that you know where my loyalty (read weakness) lies, let me tell you a funny story I witnessed the other day. I walked into the local Starbucks and got in line. There was one guy in front of me and one guy that got in line behind me.

Guy #1 nonchalantly orders a venti half-caff latte.

Guy #2 (that would be me) rattles off a desire for a triple tall breve mocha.

Guy #3 sheepishly approaches the counter and apologetically mutters, "I would, uh, I... I just want a medium coffee"

I really felt his pain and pitied that poor man. The barristas also showed pity and assumed he had to have meant a grande drip. I can only hope that he doesn't have to go through the rest of his life hanging his head shamed by the knowledge of how he just couldn't measure up that fateful day.