My Knowledge of Spanish paid off

Yesterday, my cousin received a wrong number call from this Latino person who spoke spanish and kept calling him. So when that person called my cousin's phone again, I picked up. He said something in Spanish fast that I couldn't understand. I responded "Lo siento. No hablo espanol." It meant "I'm sorry, I don't speak spanish." That person then started speaking english and I told him that he got the wrong number. All was fine afterwards as it was settled.

It is ironic that we just finished learning the telephone chapter of Spanish just last week. So my knowledge of spanish had its use yesterday. I am proud of myself.

6-1

Today, we played Downey at Los Amigos. We won 234-250 as everyone from our team shot pretty well. The five us us that scored all shot under 50 (44, 45, 47, 49, 49). We are 6-1 now, with our only loss still from that heartbreaking 2 stroke loss to Long Beach Poly a few weeks ago. Personally, I shot a 47. I think that might be my PR. Have to double check that.

When I played at Los Amigos a few weeks ago, I shot a 53. So it feels real good improving by 6 strokes from last time. I hit most fairways with my driver as for most holes, it traveled at least 200 yards straight down the fairway, not to the side. After one month with my new 9.5 stiff shaft driver, I have finally figured it out. I parred one hole and bogeyed many others. I putted really well as I 2 putted every hole except one, in which I three putted. My irons though were not consistent today. Those par 3's, I got a 5 on both of them as it is not my irons that I need to work on.

6-1 now and we have no more matches until after spring break. We're gonna play Downey one more time.

Earthquake!!

This morning, a magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck in Pico Rivera, just miles from my home. The quake struck at 4:04 AM, when everyone was asleep. I felt it as I heard a rumbling noise and felt the house shaking. It jolted me a bit as I opened my eyes for one second but then instantly fell back asleep. I think now I'm a bit tramuatized from the quake as I'm sensitive to movements. 4.4, its not that big of a quake.

What happens if the "big one" comes when I'm asleep. I try not to think that way but it might become reality. I remember that earthquake back in July 2008. I was in backyard and ran through the house to the front yard. Like today, I am extremely sensitive to movements.

I hope the "big one" won't come!!! Just have to be prepared and ready if in fact it does arrive one day.

Hit by a Golf Ball

We had a match today vs. Long Beach Poly at Big Rec today. That match was offered to us Wednesday and we took it. We lost 244-246 as every stroke mattered. I was part of the scoring and shot a 55, but could've done better. I had a total of 3 penalty strokes today. On hole 3, I drove my ball to the right but lost it so I had to take a drop, in thus resulting in a 1 stroke penalty. Then hole 6, I chunked and completely missed my drive, and it went onto the street. 2 stroke penalty for me on that hole. Man, if I did not lose any balls today, we would've won. Tuesday, we go at it again. Same place, same team, same time. Hopefully, we can avenge this heartbreaking loss.


ANNDDDD, I got hit by a golf ball. What are the odds in getting hit by a golf ball??? Hole 3, I drove my ball to the right and it landed under the trees. I went over there to look for my ball. And since hole 4 goes back the reverse way, the group in front of us teed off. And Richard sliced his shot and went to the right. Meanwhile, I was under the trees searching for my ball. I did not know a ball was coming at me and heard no "Fore". And then a ball bounced once and came at me, hitting me smack in my lower left thigh, just above the knee. And it hurt for a few seconds as I shook it off. I was ok for the rest of the round as it didn't really hurt. But now, at 10:30 PM, I'm starting to feel it. It is starting to hurt know. It's gonna become a bruise. Getting hit by a golf ball is scary. The ball is traveling fast at a fast speed right at you. I definitely was shaken up today by that experience. Luckily, it was only my leg..

just 3 more months

I passed my drivers permit test on December 10, 2009. So today marks exactly three months of me holding that permit. In 3 months, June 10, 2010, I'll be eligible to take my drivers license test. This last three months driving has been a really cool experience. I have learned a lot from my dad on driving skills and techniques. I've been driving home from school and driving to school on late start Wednesdays. I remember the first time I operated a car. I was driving a toyota corolla and it was the day after i got my permit, at my driving school. That day, it rained so I drove in the rain on my first time. IT was a pretty cool experience. I recall not being able to control the car going straight. But now its better. I am more familiar to the steering wheel now. In addition, I am getting more comfortable with lane changes.

I still haven't driven freeway though. Haven't found enough time to go on freeway. I really want to experience freeway driving. It should be easier cause of no intersections on the freeway. It's basically just a constant ride along the freeway.

A lot rides with me the next 3 months. I will learn something new everytime I drive. I can't wait til June something when I take and pass my drivers test. It will make things a whole heck a lot easier.

3-0

1st league match of the season. We played Mayfair today at Lakewood Golf Course. We won 242-272 as we are currently undefeated at 3-0. So thats that. I shot a 58, same exact score as last Monday. My scorecard was 7-9-6-8-4-7-7-5-5. Boy my driver killed me. On every hole, it faded to the right. And that affected me most of the time. I had to play out of the trees from many occasions. In fact, it got so bad that on hole 8, I said to myself "Screw the driver." Instead I hit with my 2 hybrid. My 2 hybrid was the savior as it bailed me out on a few occasions. I was able to swing that club pretty smooth and straight. I parred hole 9 which was nice. So I gotta work on my driver. Another issue was my putting. The putter felt real heavy for some strange reason. That 9 and 8 was inexcusable for me. Thank goodness for my 2 hybrid, which rescued me and help save me on many occasion.

3-0 now (1-0 in league), so far so good. No more matches for this week but on Wednesday, we have this Varsity/JV Team Challenge. It's gonna be fun!!!

2-0

Match number 2 of the season today. We played St. John Bosco at Los Amigos Golf Course, which is right next to a juvenile hall. We got to leave class at 1 for our match today which was pleasant. Anyways, we won 225-228 in another close thrilling match to improve to 2-0 on the season. This course is different from Lakewood for many reasons. The greens are a lot slower and sometimes, there are breaks that will prevent the ball from going where you want to go, while putting. Also, its a par 35 and a lot easier.

I shot a 53 today, a improvement from Monday. My putting was better as I 3-putted one hole and 4-putted one hole. I started out with a 8 on the par 5 hole 1 as my ball went into the trees. I tried playing from the tree and lost. Next time when I'm under trees, I'll punch the ball out into the fairway to give me a better shot. I parred the par 4 hole 4 as everything was perfect on that hole. In addition, I parred the par 5 hole 8 once as once again, everything was clicking and going well. But I had a double par on hole 4 that cost me strokes. I chipped my ball and it went next to the fence, resulting in a one stroke penalty to move it. Chipping wise, I improved a lot as MOST of my chips landed perfectly on the green. What really haunted me was the last hole, par 3 222 yards hole 9. My drive was absolutely perfect as it landed smack right on the green but I 4 putted. Just couldn't read the putt well enough.

But a win is a win and I'll take that. Biggest thing I have to work on is consistency and getting myself more familiarized with my new driver and hybrids.

Next Monday we match up against Mayfair. It's our first league match and in order to win league, we must win every league match, starting from Monday.

2-0 on the season now.

Paying for incentives

Today, we started simulation 4 on defining humanitarian intervention. And it was also the beginning of Pennies for Patients, a drive that benefits a leukemia foundation. Well Mr. Mustard is really affected by leukemia. He has friends whose sons died months apart from leukemia. So Mr. Mustard wants to raise a lot of money for Pennies for Patients. We 5th period are representing his homeroom class.

Mustard offered these deals if we bring in a certain amount of money.
$.25 - Cost of a "um". In this SIM, we are permitted one "um" per speech and we can buy extra credits for that speech. However, if we say extra "um"s during our speech, then we will have to pay double per um.
$1.00 - We can eat food for a day in class.
$2.00 - 2 bucks can let us bring something up with us while doing our speech.
$5.00 - Postpone our speech to the next day.
$10.00 - Be an IA for a day.

Now these deals are interesting. Today, we got in 30 minutes of SIM and we raised $38. At one point, 4 people in a row paid $5 to push back their speech for a day. This is going to be a interesting next two weeks with SIM and Pennies for Patients. If we keep this up, it'll be a win-win situation for us. We'll probably be one of the top homerooms and get a party and we'll have some relief for SIM.

1-0

First day of March, it was also our first match of the 2010 Golf Season. Today, the varsity and JV teams both played Long Beach Poly. And I played JV and today, was the number 5 guy, meaning I factored into the scoring. Our goal is to win league for JV this year, a goal that can be done. Varsity always win league so its up to us JV.

We barely beat Poly, 244-249. It was a non-league match. It was real close and all strokes mattered. I shot a 58, wasn't what I expected, but ok for the first match. Man the greens were a lot different than Ironwood. They were much faster. I four putted one hole and had a few 3 putts. I have to get that number down to 2 putts. Chipping cost me strokes too. One hole I hit a drive that was positioned in the middle of the fairway but I choked and didn't get the score I desired. And I was still getting accustomed to my new 9.5 stick shaft driver and my 2 new hybrids, a 2 and 4 hybrid that I bought yesterday at the golf show for a bargain price. A win is a win and I'll take that. Come Wednesday against St. John Bosco, it will be a totally environment and match. Last year, we got slaughtered by Bosco so Wednesday will be a interesting match. My mind will be up to the challenge.

1-0 so far this year.