It Sure Has Been A Long Time...

Since I've done a real post to this blog. In my defense, I was busy making my website:

http://web.me.com/dperez82

Check it out!

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New website

So, I have been working on my new website, check it out!

Dan's World

I'm almost done with the Spain portion, so stay tuned!

First International Post!

Hey all,

Just wishing everyone well all the way from Spain! There is an internet cafe near the apartment we were staying in Madrid, and since we are killing some time before we head off to Granada, I thought I would pop in and say hi.

Trip has been awesome so far. Been able to see so much, as well as learn quite a bit about Spain. I´ve taken loads of pictures so far (about 450), and we still have Granda + Barcelona to go. Once I get back home, I´ll start sorting the pictures and make a website simliar to what I did for my Montana trip to the Crazy Mountain Ranch.

Well, my internet time is almost up, so I´ll end it here. See you all when I get back!

Four Day Weekends...

Are always fun :). Tomorrow is my SDO, and of no work Monday bc of Labor Day.

Things have been going well, a little less hectic now that I'm not doing back to back travel. This weekend should be a blast, as I'll be going to both days of Revelation Generation (www.revelationgeneration.org). Best of all will be Friday with Chris Tomlin, which I can't wait for. I'm bringing my camera, so I'll be sure to post some pics of the event. I'm also volunteering for STAR 99.1 so look for me at their table from 11-1 and 3-5!

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Click on the link to...

See pics from my Crazy Mountain Ranch Adventure!

At The Airport In...

Minneapolis/St. Paul waiting for my flight to Bozeman Airport in Montana. They say cell phones won't work there, so I'll update you guys when I get back!

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As Usual, When You Go To The Mall...

You end up spending 3x the amount you were planning on, heh. Since I've been busy with work and travel, I usually don't go to the mall that much anymore, so I guess it's ok.

I actually have to pack when I get home, as I'm heading off with my cousin Zasha tomorrow to Crazy Mountain Ranch in Montana. She won a all expense paid trip for her and 1 guest, and she invited me to come along. On the agenda is whitewater rafting, hiking in Yosemite, offroading, and other events. Sounds like a lot of fun, I'll report back and post some pics (which my blog desperately needs, according to some ppl).

See you all when I get back!

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Airlines Suck

Airlines really need to stop delaying flights for 6hrs without giving any sort of food/drink/compensation. UGH

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Being Stranded In Airports...

Sucks... A lot. I "involuntairly" (i.e got booted) gave up my seat bc they overbooked, so they switched me to another airline flight 3.5hrs later. Finally on board that one. Should reach Ontario, CA by 6:15pm. Here's hoping...

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Live Action Shot

On My Way To Ironbound

Well, I downloaded this Lifecast app, and I wanted to check it out. I also synced it with my blogger, so this might be a way to update my blog on a more consistent basis.

For my 1st entry, I'm on my way to Newark, NJ to what is known as the Ironbound section, which is where there are loads of Portugese restaurants. My cousin Amado is visiting, so we're heading out to eat + nightly activities. Haven't gone out in a while because I've been traveling so much, so should be cool.

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I'm so tired...

...it is not even funny. Between scratching up my knees/legs playing softball, going to Great Adventure today sore and hurting, and just a long week in general, I'm ready to just drop. Heading off to Wildwood tomorrow for the weekend (Sat.-Sun.), so hopefully I can relax a bit there before the week starts up again. :\

Happy July 4th...

Well, almost July 4th anyways. :P Took the day off to see the doctor...looks like things are finally coming to a close. Doing a blood test tomorrow, but he thinks that I won't have to go on antibotics. :D

I have the rest of the week off (normally have this Friday off, but since it is a holiday, it gets pushed back to Thursday). The rest of this week is pretty packed though:

Thursday - going to Ocean Grove tomorrow to hang out on the beach
Friday - BBQ at my house, which means loads of pre-setup and post cleanup duty.
Saturday - Going to the beach again with my brother and my sister-in-law
Sunday - Going over a friend's house for a BBQ

Then Monday I will be going to San Bernardino, CA on a business trip, and won't be back till late Friday.

Prayers that my trip goes well are always greatly appreciated. :)

I'll keep you guys posted best I can. Gotta go now, technically at church now and I need to be paying attention to the sound. ;)

Good News!

Well, finally after 3 long months, I can finally stop wearing my post op shoe and wear regular sneakers/shoes. :)

My stitches from my surgery were removed on Wednesday, and all looks well. The swelling has decreased significantly, and really the only pending issue now is to determine the course of action for the mild bone infection that was listed in the pathology report. I am taking the day off next Wednesday to go to an infection expert and find out what needs to be done, if anything at all. At worst, I'll go on antibiotics for 42days, which isn't really all that bad.

Other than that, things are going well. Work is going well, gonna have a few trips coming up, which I'll keep you guys informed of. Looks like on July 7th I'll be heading out west to San Bernadino, CA to witness some testing. More details once I finalize the plans on Monday.

Ok, time to practice. Catch you all later.

FISA and Telecom Amnesty

Normally, I just read and skim the news for what is happening in our government/politics, but what I've been reading lately about Congress and the new FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) amendment has left me incredulous. Back in 2005, Bush was caught illegally spying on US Americans w/o a warrant (clear violation of the 4th Amendment) through the telecoms (Comcast, AT&T, etc.). What's even more sad is that even though Congress and the Senate are in democratic control, they are touting that the new amendment is a "compromise", when in fact is basically legalizes the spying and gives amnesty + immunity to the telecoms.

Very sad state of affairs, and doesn't bode well at all for what can come in the future. Probably the most revealing quote to describe this debacle (from Sen. Bond) is:

"I'm not here to say that the government is always right, but when the government tells you to do something, I'm sure you would all agree that I think you all recognize that is something you need to do."

So yea... whatever the government tells you, you should do, regardless if it is legal or not? Obviously has never read the Army values, nor follows them:

Loyalty is the faithful adherence to a person, unit, or Army. It is the thread that binds our actions together and causes us to support each other, our superiors, our family, and our country. Open criticism and being disloyal to leaders, soldiers, and the Army destroys the foundation of the organization and results in diminished mission accomplishment. However, loyalty should not be confused with blind obedience to illegal orders. We all take the oath to obey the orders of superiors appointed over us "according to law and regulations".

Sigh, we'll see what happens and if this Amendment gets passed...

P.S. I guess my blog became political for the day. :P

Update on Things

Hey all,

Long time no see. :) Things have been going ok for the most part, just been busy with life and my still ailing toe. I had an MRI done, since it was still swollen after 7-8 weeks. Results couldn't confirm if it was infectious or not, so the podiatrist wanted to do surgery to verify, as if it is infected, it could have lasting effects.

Good news is that the fluid wasn't infectious. :) Thank you for all the prayers.

The diagnosis is that in addition to the fluid that was in the joint, there was also gout. They removed it, cleaned it all up, and sent the fluids plus a tiny piece of my bone for analysis. The analysis determined that I have a mild Osteomyelitis. The results show that it isn't too serious, but undetermined if I have to go on antibiotics or not. The doctor was goign to speak with an expert about it, and I'll probably find out what I need to do in my appointment next Wednesday.

Besides my what seems forever foot problem, everything else is going well. Work has been busy, but it is going well, and the people seem to appreciate my work, which is always nice. I also added Twitter to my blog (shamelessly copying Aaron Shust), but since he's pretty cool, it's ok. :P

Talk to you all later.

New Laptop!

I was tired of dealing with my old laptop, which has had so many problems I can't even count (at one point my laptop would just shut off if you tapped it too hard). Now that I am a member of the workforce with an income, decided to treat myself to a Macbook Pro! :) It came in today and was only able to fool around with it for a bit before heading go choir, but so far it is pretty cool. Just gotta spend some time setting it up.

Work is going well, just been busy with work. I was on TDY the last 2 weeks, which resulted in about 500 emails to check when I got back to work :p. I think I'm all caught up, though next week will probably be quite busy.

Well let me get back to singing!

See ya!

Hey, sorry for the lack of...

posts, but things have been quite hectic lately. I was on TDY all last week in Graham, KY, and this upcoming week I will be gone on another TDY, so basically haven't been home at all. :P

I'm of to a wedding, so I have to keep this short and sweet, but I promise this time I will update on a more frequent basis. :P

See ya!

Just did my 1st...

Sunday School class ever. :p. I've taught before for Youth Group, and I was a TA for a semester at MIT, but it is always a little unerving teaching.

The class was about how to honor and please God during conflicts. I'll post the details and major points I made when I get home.

Celebrating Naomi's 1st Birthday

Naomi, my cousin, turned 1 year old yesterday. The big party is next Sunday but Alex + Veronica invited us over for a little party.  As you can see, she is adorable.  :D

Hard at work doing...

The sound system at church for choir practice. I usually sing, but the guy who normally does it couldn't be here today.

On the plus side it lets me work on modernizing my church by putting all our songs in iTunes so we can finally stop having 100's of CD's lol. :)

So it turns out that...

that when I stubbed my toe last week, I fractured the bone. =( =(

To be honest, this weekend was filled with pain, and honestly, I don't know how I did what I did with my toe in the condition it was in. I still went to Youth Group on Saturday (although I did take 2 painkillers before going, which was a mistake to begin with as I didn't realize how drowsy it makes you and I drove myself there), and on Sunday, I went to the Steven Curtis Chapman at the Nokia Theathre in NY. When I wasn't praising God (concert was awesome btw), I was sitting in my chair wincing at the pain. :P I thought my leg was going to give while I was walking to the threater lol.

Monday was also horrendous, as I worked a full 10hr day, and basically just dropped when I got home. Ate dinner, took my meds, and just lied in bed.

Sorry to bog you all down with my pain. :P On the bright side, today I'm doing much better, and even though it still hurts with every step, the pain is much less, and when I came home today I wasn't nearly as tired as yesterday. :)

Thanks for the prayers! :D

Pain Sucks

Hey all,

Well, the last couple of days have been sucky. I sprained my toe on Tuesday while helping to move around some furniture to pain the room, and lo and behold on Wednesday it was swollen and pretty nasty looking (I'll spare you by not taking a picture of it... lol). Hurts to even walk, and forget wearing sneakers for more than 15minutes before the throbbing pain is unbearable. I have an appointment tomorrow, so hopefully he'll be able to fix it so I can walk and not limp with every step. :\

Pray for me that it will get better. :)

Just in case you thought I forgot about this blog....

I didn't. :P Just been really busy with work and such (always happens when you go away on trips.). Also been trying to get things more organized, especially my finances. I hired a financial planner yesterday, so looking forward to working with him to try and plan for the future.

Last Saturday, I went to the first youth group service in about 4 years. For those that have known me for a while, I was a youth leader for about 6-7 years, and led my church's youth group until I moved to MA for school. While I was gone, due to some circumstances and other youth moving for college, the group dwindled down and died. I toyed with the idea of starting back up the youth group when I came back in summer of 2007, but it just isn't feasible right now, as we really have only like 4 youth in the 13-20 range. There are quite a bit of younger kids (5-9), so maybe down the line the group can be resurrected.

The youth group was in our sister church, Central Baptist Church, who we used to do join youth group events back in the day. It is a decent size group (about 12-13), and during the service, I felt a sense of nostalgia. Youth group used to be a big part of my life, and there are so many memories from that time.

This upcoming Sunday is kind of exciting. One of my "projects" for church has been to introduce contemporary Christian Music into the worship service to try and break the mold of singing the same old songs over and over. However, the caveat to it is that my church service is in Spanish, so any song I bring I have to translate, and boy, is it difficult to make the lyrics simliar to the original artist while making it sound decent with the melody. The first song I introduced was Christ Tomlin's How Great Is Our God, which turned out to be a huge success. I had people asking me to make copies of the song so they could hear it at home.

This Sunday we will be introducing Aaron Shust's My Savior, My God, personally one of my favorite songs. Pray that all goes well! :)

Posting from...

The airport in Houston, and I'm so tired. Looking forward to sleeping
on the flight home (hopefully), as I am sure tomorrow at work will be
busy. Luckily, Friday is my SDO so I can relax then.

This is my 1st "e-mail" post, so hope it goes through ok. More updates
on my trip later, as writing a lot on the cell is annoying.

See you all later!

- Dan

Sent from my iPhone

First "On-The-Road" Blog

Yo,

Well, I really meant to write a new entry over the weekend, but with it being Easter weekend, my good friend Carla being in town, and getting ready for a trip for work, didn't leave too much free time.

Speaking of which, I am posting this from LA...

Well, not LA the city, but LA the state. :P I'm here in Leesville, LA for work stuff, and while waiting for my friend Nish to get ready so we can go eat, I figured I'd toss an update on here.

I have some pictures from the weekend to put up once I get back to NJ. Most of the pics are from Easter Sunday, where our church choir did a concert that turned out very well. In the near future, maybe I'll be able to put up some audio/video, once I finish working on my church website so I can host the files from there.

So much stuff to do, not enough time to do it. :(

- Dan

EDIT: Apparently you can upload videos to blogger. Go figure. Maybe I'll post the Choir Christmas Concert video montage I made for your enjoyment. :)

Yo!

Well, I guess this is the 1st post in my blog. I've had blogs in the past, but I seem to never keep up with it. However, I'm going to blame that on my crazy hours I used to pull while in school. Now that I have a full-time job, my vision is that I will be able to keep this at least moderately updated. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

I guess for those that happen to stumble upon my blog and don't know who I am (if anyone ever does actually read this post), let me do a quick introduction. Hi, my name is Dan. I graduated from NJIT in 2004 with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering, and went on to MIT to get my MS CEP in Chemical Engineering, graduating in May 2007. I took the summer off to relax, and let me tell you it was so good to do nothing for about 2months, lol. Did the whole job search, and I took a position as a Quality Engineer working for the US Army. Pretty cool job, I get to see stuff blow up, so not much more I can ask for.

That's basically where I'm at currently, and I really enjoy what I'm doing. :)

Well, now that I actually got this thing off the ground, let's see if I can keep it afloat.

- Dan