Entry:

My parents being the older adults that they are awoke far too early for a Saturday morning.  They were up and about, finished with showering, and ready to go by 7:00a.  As for me, I didn't quite roll myself out of bed for another hour and a half because you're not supposed to get up that early on weekends.  Let's just say that by the time I actually got up, my parents had already gone out to pick up breakfast and picked up a few things like o.j. for me at the supermarket. 

The days events we quite light in comparison to my rather hectic day on Thursday.  The big event of the day was my parents taking Hao and Josh out to lunch.  Shana was invited as well, but she wasn't able to attend.  We were scheduled to meet Hao and Josh at a Chinese restaurant at noon. However, my father being the person who always takes the longest to get ready caused us to be a tad late for our lunch appointment.  I'm sure it would have been easier had he listened to my advice on where to drive and park, but the ever-stuborn man refused to heed my words.

The most notable thing from lunch had to be when my mom met Hao and Josh face to face.  She greeted each of them with big hugs and thanked them for coming to my rescue.  Lunch was decent, but the portions were not particularly large.  However, the cute and patient waitress, in my opinion, helped compensate for the lack of food.  All in all, it was a pleasant meal.  Of course, my parents had to take pictures to show everyone that their little boy was alright after we finished with our meal.  With our lunch complete and pictures taken, my mom gave departing hugs to my friends. 

The rest of the afternoon was supposed to have been spent at the Robert Austin Computer Show at the Oakland Convention Center, but we ran into some logistical problems along the way.   I left for B of A to deposit a check, while Hao was supposed to have gone home to pick something up.  We were to have met up at a computer store but Hao was a little to slow. While waiting for my friend to appear, I casually walked up and down Shattuck to pass the time.  I passed by Mailboxes Etc. a few times during the course of my walks.  Eventually, I decided to rent some videos at Blockbuster and make the long trek home.

I must say that I definitely took things for granted when I had a car.  It must have been over a year since I made the long walk from 1G back to apartment.  I reflected on how much things have changed since then.  Thoughts of how much I've changed and how much my friends had changed filled my mind as I slowly walked up the street.  The differences between what I had thought I wanted to do with my life back then and what I plan to do with my life now slowly entered my mind.  I was saddened when I thought of everyone who had already left Berkeley to continue with the rest of their lives.  I was happy for everyone's success, but I felt a sense of loss because I didn't know if and when I ever have a chance to see any of them again.  Lastly, I thought about the phone conversations I had with my friends the previous and thought to myself that if I made enough effort to keep in touch then things would be turn out fine in the end.

The vibrations from my pager finally woke me from my reverie.  It was Hao paging me.  I called him back to inform him of my plans to just return home. Then as I turned the last corner before reaching my apartment, I ran into a man wearing sunglasses and a light gray sweatsuit. I recognized the man as being Robert, my landlord.  I immediately sensed that the recognition process wasn't being reciprocated by him.  So I called out his name and went up to shake his hand.  After a brief pause, he finally remembered who I was.  We proceeded to have a short converstaion in which I told him about my accident and told him that my parents were in town.

I don't know Robert's exact job, but from our previous conversations I knew that he was working in a similar field as my father.  Knowing that fact and knowing how much my father likes chatting, I invited Robert in to meet my parents.  It wasn't a blind match because in the past, both men had expressed their interest in meeting the other, but little did I know what I was getting myself into... 

When I first opened the door to my apartment, I found it unusally quiet and dark.  I soon found my father napping on my futon, while my mom was somewhere in bathroom washing up and getting ready for a nap as well.  Robert seeing the scene told me that he would be back after running a few laps up at the Clark Kerr track, which in turn explained his casual attire. 

After Robert left us to run around in circles for a while, my father slowly broke out of his hibernation.  When I explained who was just here, he sat up and I could see the excitement in his eyes.  For the next forty minutes, my father waited around in eager anticipation for the return of my landlord.  I'd have to say that both of my parents were very amusing to watch at this time.  My mom was debating whether or not she needed to change into more formal attire given that she had been preparing for a nap.  Well, let's just say that her debate was short-lived once my father changed into his business suit.  My parents and I began watching "Kiss the Girls" until my landlord returned.

I had mentioned earlier that I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I introduced my landlord to my father.  You see, I knew that they were both in fairly closely related fields of work, but I didn't realize how closely they were related.  I soon found out becuase they we yapping with each other for the next three hours -- thirty minutes of  which I was partially paying attention, one and half hours of which of I was napping, and another hour of which I escaped to my friend Joyce's apartment.  I felt a little sorry for my mom, because she sat there the whole time fulfilling her role as the dutiful wife.  I would imagine that most of the conversation was over her head because those two guys were incessantly talking about ICs and semi-conductors.  She ocassionally had the opportunity to make a point here and there, but a great majority of the time she was just sitting there doing absolutely nothing.  I felt guilty for leaving her there but I knew she wouldn't have left because that would have looked bad.

I just have to say how amazing it is to see how things worked out.  For example, had I not been in an accident and had Hao and I not lost each other, then my father wouldn't have been able to make a new buddy.  An incredible set of seemingly random events occurred to bring these two men together.  I've been told by many people that all things happen for a reason.  Ever since my accident, I've been trying to find meaning and reason for the events that occurred on the 5th of August.  So with that in mind, I would have to say that this is one positive thing that has arisen from my unfortunate accident.  I've been very impressed to see how tragedy or a potential tragedy really brings people together.  As a result of my experience with the people trying to save my life to my dear friends coming to my rescue, I've been lucky enough to see the very best side of people.

Did all of these events happen simply by chance?  Is there order to be found within chaos?  Does everything happen for a reason?  Are there deeper meanings to be found when we run into things that just appear to coincidences?  To tell you the truth, I'm not qualified to answer these questions, because I've only lived a short time.  I probably don't have enough experience to intelligently answer any of the questions. 

However, I have to admit that it would make me feel better if I knew that there was a grand plan.  It would give me a greater sense of direction and make me feel less lost or alone as I continue with my life.  My friend Max also brought up a less comfortable alternative, although no less valid.  I'll paraphrase by saying that sh_t happens.  It just does and you can't do anything about it.  This viewpoint is rather difficult to refute, because people do try to rationalize things to themselves in order to feel more comfortable.  For now, I'll just try assume that there was meaning and purpose for what happened because it gives me answers to the questions that have been weighing on my mind.

After abandoning my mom to another hour of boring chit-chat between two engineers, I strolled over to my friend Joyce's apartment.  There, one of the biggest ironies thus far occurred.  I received a page from my friend Larry.  When I checked my voice mail, I found out that Larry suffered quite a traumatic ordeal getting to a AAJA conference.  He was exhausted after a very long trip and requested that I pick him up from SFO.  Oh, I would have been more than happy to pick him up from the airport if I could, but little did Larry know of my travel woes.  In the end, Joyce went to pick Larry up as I went home to spend one final evening with my parents before they left for SoCal.

When I returned home, I found that no one was really eager to go out to dinner.  Therefore, I cooked a rather unglamorous meal of spaghetti in Prego sauce for my mom who is a vegetarian.  My father who is proud of his independence prepared his own dinner, Ramen noodles.  The three of us finished watching "Kiss the Girls" (a very "Seven"-ish movie by the way) and then I sent the parents to bed.  I set the alarm for 4:30a and sent them to bed.

When my parents were tucked in, I headed back to Joyce's apartment where Larry and Max were currently located.  There really wasn't a plan for the rest of the evening so we watch one of the greatest movies of all time "Betrayed."  Please don't get me started on this movie, because I won't dignify it with a review.  Since everyone seemed to be tired after the conclusion of the gripping movie, we broke up our little party and went home.  I watched over my parents for a bit before I dozed  off to ponder the mysteries of the universe.

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