Ryce Rod’s birthday is actually suppose to be on 9.9.09 this Wednesday, but obviously a bunch of people wouldn’t be able to make it if we had it on that day.  9.9.09 is actually the last day that will have repeating single digits for another century, which is January 1, 2101. Although the number 9 is lucky in many traditions, the Japanese are the only ones that I know of that think the number 9 is unlucky. They believe it stands for suffering while the number 4 stands for death. This is just a little information for your brain just in case you haven’t done anything educational today. Roaming on facebook and reading blogs around the net isn’t considered educational by the way

Anyways, since one of the guys from the Loma Linda Volleyball Crew is moving and two other people have a birthday, we’re going to be having a little gathering at The Vault in Redlands in about an hour. I heard they have a Tuesday special that everything’s $2 or something. Anyways, if you’re out in the area, stop by and say hi. I don’t know if I’ll be there all night but who knows. With the Ryce Crew, you’ll always have a fun time.

- RYCE Randy

On Saturday we hit up La Jolla beach all day and hang out with friends that we haven’t seen in a long time. Too bad it was pretty crowded because we weren’t able to setup our volleyball net on the grass. There was a lot of people out in the water even though there were strong waves and riptides. Olivier and I had a blast out in the water though. We went to go flip Chris off his boogie board. He knew we were up to something but we’re too sneaky sneaky for him

Then we decided to swim back closer to the shore. This is where it gets interesting. Our friends “Mary” and “Tina” were swimming together the whole time but were a little separated at the time. So Olivier and I went over to Mary, acted like we were drowning, and was splashing water and putting all our weight on her shoulders. Little did we know she actually needed help getting back to shore. So Olivier helped her and I went over to Tina. Since I just met her and she’s a good looking lady, I decided to let her swim around and let the guys check her out or whatever. I guess I was just giving her space. Anyways she didn’t look as happy as she did early and I was TOTALLY oblivious to the fact that she needed help getting back to shore also. So when she asked me for help I was like oh, ok like a dumb dumb, haha. So after I get her closer to the shore, I felt the ground and stood up. Then I told her to stand up also and she tells me,” I can’t reach the ground.” So I’m trying to be serious and help her but couldn’t stop laughing because I forgot that she’s not as tall as me. After O and I get the girls close enough to stand up we see a lifeguard swim past us. Then I realized I knew the person he was saving also. Man, I didn’t know riptides and waves were that serious. I was so oblivious to how far O and I were out there. Not to mention that our friends needed help.

I’m very good in keeping an eye on the girls in our group where ever we go to make sure they’re safe. I just should have been paying more attention this time, especially at the beach. I don’t consider myself a good swimmer but I do consider myself athletic only because I play a lot of sports. But even with that being said, I had no idea how to swim with someone holding onto you. Since people are always at the beach in the Southern California area, I decided to look for a video on how to properly save someone from drowning if you are swimming next to them without a flotation device. No luck. All I could find is information on repeatedly informing the person to calm down and then float on their back. If they are panicking and thrashing in the water, they could potentially pull the rescuer under the water and drown. Well, I didn’t tell her to calm down because I felt that she was, but then again I was pretty oblivious to some things at the moment. She did pull me under the water a few times but because I’m strong-willed and determined to get her back safely, I didn’t say anything.

So from first hand experience, if someone is drowning or scared of drowning, they WILL pull you under the water. It obviously won’t be intentional, but you both have to stay calm in order to get through the situation alive. I know Olivier had a harder time because him and Mary were farther out than Tina and I were. Overall it was an interesting experience. Do not take this the wrong way, but I’m kind of glad that it happened because it taught me how to deal with the situation in the future and hopefully inform you guys before it happens to you. They sun-tanned on the beach when we got back so I’m sure that was a good way for them to relax and calm down. I just hope that the girls won’t be afraid to go out into the beach again. Even though all of this happened, everyone had a good time at our BBQ and can’t wait for another one next year.

Sunday I played volleyball and somehow strained my neck. It was that feeling when you wake up and you have a pain in your neck because you slept wrong in a bad position. Luckily Kat’s friend came into the gym to say hi to her and he was some kind of PT. He did a few traction exercises on my neck to relieve the muscle tension. When I woke up on Monday it felt even worse. I told Ryce Rod that I’d help him move and felt bad if I backed out, so I did it anyways. Starting at 9 AM we didn’t get down till about midnight. Then while we were carrying Rod’s Mom’s heaviest headboard for the bed, I dropped the post on my left foot. I actually didn’t feel much pain until afterwards. Then the pain started getting stronger and stronger as the night went on. So I tried to keep my foot elevated higher than my butt and kept ice on it. So now I’m home with my foot elevated, ice on it, and a warm towel on my neck doing traction exercises. Not only that, I’m suppose to play volleyball tonight and our first Upper division league game in Ontario tomorrow. Despite all these injuries if I still don’t feel good to play … I’ll pop a Vicodin and get on that court. Rod’s roommate asked me how much I like volleyball and I told him I’ll be ready by tonight. He’s right, nothing’s going to stop me from playing volleyball

So far this weekend was packed with events that were not only eye-opening but always educational. Anytime the Ryce Crew can share educational information with the public for the good, we will. Hope all of you guys have a great Labor Day Weekend as Ryce Rod and I will probably do a little BBQ. Hopefully he doesn’t burn his house down and force him to sleep in the alley

- RYCE Randy

- Fruit, water and beer (yes, beer for breakfast too)

This is what Ryce Rod probably looks like right now

So first they start off with Asian food and eat K sandwiches, then they go Mexican with quesadillas. Then back to Asian food, and then American after that. To top it off, there’s beer on the list for every meal including BREAKFAST. Yes Nguyen, you are an alcoholic. I don’t know if you eat your cereal with beer, but it’ll have to stop soon since you’re going to have a kid now I won’t be surprised if one of them comes back with a hook in their cheek or scratch marks from fighting with a small bear for leaving their food out in the open. I totally would have gone with them, it’s just that I’m already getting people to cover 4 of my shifts. My Saturday shift for the summer BBQ that we do every year in San Diego on August 29, on September 19 we have our “Guy’s Night Out” in San Diego Gaslamp rolling in a limo to the club VIP style with bottle service, and then my volleyball tournament in Las Vegas for Westside League on September 26 weekend. This next month is going to be crazy busy for the Ryce Crew especially because Ryce Rodney’s birthday falls on 9.9.09 this year. We’ll be throwing him a birthday party at his place on September 12, so right after work I’ll have to jet over to his place to make sure I didn’t miss anything. I will literally kick him in the face if he’s drunk before I get there which should be around 9 PM.

My parents are going to be in town this weekend and I’ll be able to get the really nice video camera from my dad. Once that happens, the Ryce Crew will be making better quality videos to post up. We already have ideas on some viral videos to make so we’ll see how that goes. Plus Ryce Rod has some boys in San Diego who are film editors to help us out with that if needed.

Regarding the last blog that I made about having a crazy good day, one of my friends decided to have a hissy fit because Kat’s name was mentioned twice and her unknown name was not mentioned at all. Just for entertainment purposes, I’ll show you our text convo.

Michelle: “Wow. Really? Just read ur blog. Kat gets mentioned by name not once, but TWICE, & let’s see, the captain of the ontario league team who graciously asked u to join, is let’s see….. wait a minute….. oh! She is NOT mentioned at all!….. thanks. I know how I rate now.”

Ryce Randy: “Puhahahaha, I did it cuz I wanted to hear ur voice again, oolala :p”

Michelle: “Sure…. nice try. U r out of luck. U won’t be hearing my voice cause i’m no longer talking to u.”

Ok, so after this all happens, Michelle thinks that she can trick me and tells Chris, another guy in our Loma Linda volleyball crew, to  send me a text that says:  “Hey, I just got off phone w/ chelle & she was mad & wouldn’t give details but said it had something to do w/ u & ontario league. What happened?”

So me knowing that Chelle is trying to be funny, I decide to strike back and text Chris saying:  “I told her that I actually don’t like playing on the same team as her, so I won’t play with u guys in the league.” Watching the time, 7 minutes later Chelle decides to text me back saying:  “Sooooo…. now u don’t like playing w/ me. I see how it goes. No, i’m not mad @ u. I’m just really pissed.”

Chelle, here’s a little advice. Next time you try to pull a trick on me, don’t use Chris cuz I know he wouldn’t do it. And like you always said, “When did you ever listen to Chris?” hahaha

1) Kat and Christina asked me about the ontario league before you did. They asked that night while you asked me the next day, so technically you didn’t ask me.

2) At least you know how I rate you. I mean, only a good friend would tell you. See, Chris and Kat are not good friends because they didn’t tell you where you rate to them yet. Tsk tsk, ony a good friend would tell you the truth, PUAHAHAHAHAAHA. j/k

For the record:

Kat’s name mentioned: 4 time

Michelle’s full name: 3 times

Chelle’s name mentioned: 3 times

Chris’s name mentioned: 5 times

Christina’s name mentioned: 1 time … wait

Christina, Christina, Christina

revised list:

Kat’s name mentioned: 4 time

Michelle’s full name: 3 times

Chelle’s name mentioned: 3 times

Chris’s name mentioned: 5 times

Christina’s name mentioned: 4 times

I guess you still are on the bottom Cya Saturday !

- RYCE Randy

After that we went to a Vietnamese coffee shop with Joel to catch up on old times and a few other guys met up there also. While talking with the guys, we found out that two of them have contacts that can help us in the next stage of Ryce. Rod and I were talking about what we need to do next for Ryce to grow bigger and these two guys are our golden ticket. We couldn’t ask for anything better. The whole purpose of Rod going to OC was to see Joel. The whole purpose of me going to OC was to get a massage. You’re thinking, “What’s so good about a massage in OC?” First let me make sure we’re on the same page here. Most massage places cost about $1/min which usually comes out to $60 or more/hr. What’s so good about OC massages? It’s $15 for 1 whole hour!!! It’s a full body massage and they do a good job, at least that’s what I think. My first professional massage was at my friend’s day spa and salon. This was my second massage, so I wouldn’t have many experiences to compare it to.  I would rather have the 1st massage again, but I would definitely take this $15 massage any day. For $15, the quality of the massage is really good and I felt bad for all the work that they did at that price. I felt like I was having a 10 year old Asian child make me a sweater.

After I played volleyball, I found out that one of the girls can play in the Las Vegas volleyball tournament with my UCLA volleyball crew.  We’ll be submitting 3 teams this time and we only need 1 more girl. Since my friend Kat decided to play with us, my team for the Vegas tourney is completed thus securing my spot in the tournament this year. So we’ll be rolling deep to Vegas with 21 people because we’ll have 3 friends that are coming just to hang out. We already booked two 2-bedroom suites at $120 a night. It has 1 King bed, 1 queen bed, and 1 queen size sofa. The whole 2 bedroom suite is 1,262 square feet. Our volleyball crew knows how to hunt for good deals and DAAAAANG this is a really good deal.

So on top of all this, a team asked me to play with them in a volleyball league on Wednesdays in Ontario. YAY, more volleyball. Plus our team is STACKED. So I’m currently trying to move my work schedule around so I can play in the league. More volleyball = more fun = happy Ryce Randy

Summary for today: Ate pho, found two contacts that are very key to Ryce succeeding, $15 hour massage, played volleyball, recruited Kat to play on our Vegas team which in turn secured my spot for the Vegas tourney next month, got invited to play on a stacked vball team for a league, found a co-worker to switch my Wednesday for their Monday so I can play in the league, and noticed that it’s 6:30 AM and I’m still not tired because I’m soooo happy right now. I’m on that high, the same high that you get when you’ve been playing at the craps table for only 20 minutes and you’re already up by $200. Now that I just looked outside and it’s not dark outside is the same feeling that you get when u walk into a Vegas casino at 11 PM and come out when it’s bright outside. Either way, it’s time for me to go to bed.

Remember: “Any day above the ground is a good day”

- RYCE Randy

This past week has been really good for me in terms of work, and Rod had a great day on Saturday for what he needed to get done. So with all of that, we both had a great week so far and it`ll only get better.

- RYCE Randy

Here is an Estate Sale that I found in Murrieta. Name your price can`t get any better. They have some really nice stuff in there like this great dining set. I just don`t have a way of moving it. If you`re in the area, you should definitely check it out.

- RYCE Randy

I’ve always liked Yardhouse. I don’t remember having a bad experience there so far and Rod and I are slowing making our way down the whole beer list that they have. I think we’ve sampled maybe one-fourth of their beer collection so far. I am definitely not a beer drinker either. I started off as a wine person, and then hard liquor, and now slowly getting in the alcohols that are not as widely known. What I mean by that is I found a type of alcohol made from Japan that is SOOOOOO fresh and so clean. It’s so smooth that Rod thought I gave him water on the rocks when I told him to try some. I usually drink Grey Goose on the rocks with 1 lime and have never been able to get anyone to drink it with me. On the other hand, with this Japanese vodka, I was able to get everyone to drink it on the rocks with me without them needing a chaser. On top of that, some of these people were girls who usually want it mixed with oj or cranberry juice. That in itself proves that this drink is so smooth. When I first tasted it, I knew I hit a gold mine. Plus, it’s about $2-$5 cheaper than Grey Goose, obviously depending on where you shop at. Since I love this drink so much … I will not disclose the name of the drink. I think on a big scale. I don’t need people to slowly catch on that this drink is crazy good, then the demand goes up, and then the price goes up too. Plus it’s a good feeling to know this little secret

Anyways, we’re all getting ready for the action-packed movie. Hopefully I will like the movie and I’ll blog about my take on the movie in a few days. Remember: if you ever find the Ryce Crew at our Events, you’ll get a discount on your purchase at our store.

- RYCE Randy

-RYCE Randy

Pet Peeve #1: Bartenders who don’t know how to make the drink, and end up throwing whatever they want into it thinking that you won’t know the difference. Hey dumbass, I ordered the drink, obviously I know what’s in it or at least know that what you made me taste like crap. Don’t worry, if you wanna screw me on the drink I’ll just screw you on the tip.

So later on in the night we go to the bartender next to him. Rodney orders me a Toyko Tea and the first thing the guy pours is Blue Curacao. I told Rod that better not be mine, and then the guy finishes making the drink and gives it to us. Rodney asks him what he made, and the bartender says it’s an Adios. We tell him that we wanted a Toyko Tea and then the dumbass tells us, “it’s the same thing”. If I wanted an Adios, I would have ordered it smart guy. Even if I didn’t know anything about alcohol and saw that a Toyko Tea is green and an Adios is blue, I would know that they aren’t the same thing. I was about to tell him to take a shot of Bacardi 151, I’ll take a shot of Sweet & Sour, and then say that it’s the same thing.

It gets better though. So after he tells us that an Adios and Toyko Tea is the same thing, I tell him, “you know what, n/m, just get me a vodka on the rocks w/ one lime.” I’m thinking hopefully he can’t mess up this drink since there’s no mixing involved, hahaha. He says ok, pours out the Adios into the sink, and then goes and makes a Toyko Tea. Um, hello? wtf? Either he’s deaf or this bartender just doesn’t give a crap about what the customers want.

Here’s the break down of the Dave & Buster’s bartenders: I order a LA Water, he throws some crap together that isn’t an LA Water. I go to a different bartender, order a Toyko Tea, and he makes me an Adios and tells me it’s the same thing. Then I tell him forget it just make me a vodka on the rocks so he goes and makes a Toyko Tea. Leave a comment and let me know if you’ve had any bad experiences at D&B also. I just realized again why I hate going to Dave & Buster’s. Btw, Happy Birthday Jenny, I’ll make it up to you.

- RYCE Randy

As I was recording video of Rodney opening the bottle of champagne, he ended up scaring himself due to the champagne prematurely popping open. Luckily I have it all on tape and we’ll put that video up soon. Then all three of us went downstairs to play some craps and Rodney ended up rolling a hot streak hitting at least 5 numbers. After we were done, collectively Rod, Rod’s mom, and I were up $1000. Thanks Planet Hollywood for paying us to stay with you. Then on Monday I had a streak of bad luck and then gambled hard to try to win back my money fast. Let’s just say I went from +$280 to -$350.

So on Tuesday I took my last $30 and thought I might as well put it all on one number. I ended up winning that and then taking that $30 and putting it on another number. Let’s just say I turned $30 into $300. At the same time Rodney and his mom made lots of money also. We took a 10 minute break and then hopped to the other craps table and I won another $80. I ended up leaving Vegas -$20, which is a really good trip for the amount of gambling that we did. Rodney broke even and his mom was balling with a +$650.

Overall, it was a great trip. We literally played craps for more than 10 hours and to come out even or collectively ahead is really good for Vegas. We couldn’t have had a better time in Vegas for Rod’s mom’s birthday. She had a good time, ended up winning, and we all had a chance to get away. Next time we go to Vegas, we’ll have some videos so you can see the fun times that we have.

- RYCE Randy