Theravada

Unsurprisingly, being 20 feels no different than being 19. Who woulda thunk it? Anyway, my team has moved into the Chu Buu Mon Buddhist temple in downtown Port Arthur. It's quite cool; we're living in the social hall/residence wing of the temple, and not only is it air-conditioned, but unlike the YMCA, our hosts do not hate us and want us gone. The monks are all very nice and welcoming, and gave us an open invitation to sit in on a Buddhist service at some point. I have never seen one before, so I will take them up on it.

This week has not gone especially well. It began with the confirmation that I would not be able to make it back home over Memorial Day break; the only airline that flies out of the Southeast Texas Airport, Hair Care and Tire Center (thank you, Ron White...it's a dinky little airport) is Continental Airlines, and fares back to Pittsburgh were just too high. Lousy fuel costs. Anyway, after that slight disappointment, things went downhill. Texas is hot and humid as hell; you know the weather sucks when it's 8:30 in the morning and your shirt is sticking to your back. Not at all pleasant. Not only that, but we had some problems with our site supervisor. He spends most of the day sitting in his truck on his cellphone, while we're out working. This is annoying, but what really gets me is that he tends to get mad when we, as AMATEURS at construction, make a mistake and end up wasting time and materials...as if we were deliberately screwing up to make him look bad. He gives us little in the way of support, then blames us for our occasional errors. It seems as if the first step to improving our performance would be for him to get his ass out of his truck and actually supervise...but that's just one man's opinion.

There is a three-day weekend coming up, and that does tend to help. I've learned that I will be coming home June 28th and staying until July 6th, and that will be nice to get back home.

Anyway. As I predicted, my Penguins made quick work of Game 5 against Philadelphia to send the Flyers back to their crappy city and propel themselves into the Stanley Cup. Unfortunately, Dallas was unable to pull off the upset against Detroit, and thus it will be the Penguins and the Red Wings playing for the Cup. This is a struggle of experience against momentum; the Penguins have barreled through the Playoffs, losing only two games in the process. They are a team of young stars such as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, and Marc-Andre Fleury with the energy and spirit to win. The Red Wings, on the other hand, have many experienced playoff and championship veterans to bring to bear, and have been the dominant team in the league all season. It will be a hell of a series, and I dearly wish I was in Pittsburgh to cheer on my Penguins.

My prediction: The Penguins will win in six games. LET'S GO PENS!