I Die An Incomplete Life

I realized I must grow up on Sat Oct 4, 2008. An indefinite goal since the day is catching up what I failed to accomplish at my ages between 21 and 34. There are people like me who missed opportunities during their young years. There are people like me who wasted their young years. It's okay. All is forgiven. Life moves forward.

I feel better telling everyone. Any miracle is required to speed up what I missed while I age older. There is more to catch up. There is more to experience. Here is a sample of accomplishments below in no particular order. I'm late to the party. Better late than never.

*Read Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling from Sep 2019 to Mar 2020.
*Walked on the Golden Gate Bridge in Aug 2011.
*Camped in a campground in Oct 2015.
*Learned how to whistle in 2017.
*Dated a woman between Jan 2011 and Sep 2013.
*Sold a stock option in Jan 2022.
*Watched The Shawshank Redemption movie on Sep 21, 2019.
*Rode a cable car in San Francisco in Dec 2010.
*Went inside the San Jose arena for the first time in decades in Apr 2011. I also watched my live first professional sports postseason game. It was a National Hockey League Los Angeles Kings at San Jose Sharks. It was my first hockey game I watched live.
*Worked at a startup between Nov 2013 and Sep 2014.
*Built my first desktop gamin PC in Dec 2008.
*Completed Final Fantasy 7 (FFVII) in Aug 2021.
*Earned an unofficial Self Job Training Graduation Analytics Research Technology degree in Apr 2024.
*Ran a 5K run for a school fundraiser in Mar 2026.

The COVID-19 pandemic is both an excuse and not an excuse I accomplished little from 2020 to today. More must be accomplished. Time will tell what I'm doing today opens opportunities to catch up more tomorrow. Repeat.

Update On A Past Blog

I remind customers and clients to Respect The Minimum Wage Workers. I wrote the blog on Feb 12, 2006. These workers are paid too low in today's Information Age economy. These workers are humans like you and me. They have problems like you and me. Most struggle like you and me. For instance, try to solve your problems before asking for customer service assistance.

I add technicians, maintenance staff, security guards, assistants, cleaners, and associates--the underpaid, overworked, and underappreciated to the list of workers. Be friendly because they know everything. Be friendly because they may give you something extra.

Don't ruin retail customer service workers' days. Corporations intentionally understaff to reduce costs. The Snitch Economy equips customers with apps, websites, and surveys to provide feedback or "snitch" being middle management.

No College Summer School Excel Class

I blogged My Four Times At Summer School on Oct 28, 2026 about summer school in grade school and high school. Today's blog is I could have taken an Excel summer school when I went back to college after the 2008 Great Recession. The class title was Accounting For Excel.

Two failures. The first failure was no research. Accounting For Excel was not 100% pure Excel. I thought the Excel class teaches the basics such as rows, columns, cells, formulas, pivot tables, and charts. I was incorrect. The Excel class was learning Excel while learning business such as accounting and finance. There were lectures and there were laboratory exercises.

I explain the second failure soon. I enrolled Accounting For Excel in the fall academic quarter. The instructor was my self-taught Peachtree Software instructor in my previous spring academic quarter. Although, if I took the Accounting For Excel summer school class, then I attend campus for one class on Tues and Thurs during the fall academic quarter for which I attended classes Mon to Thur. Tues and Thurs were Accounting For Excel and Computer Accounting Systems classes. I could have replaced Accounting For Excel with another required class such as Introduction to Business.

The second failure was I should have enrolled in the summer. I knew the expectations after taking the Accounting For Excel class in the fall academic quarter. The class was easy mostly because I used Excel in my previous jobs. If I did my research by looking at the Accounting For Excel course description and/or asking classmates, then I knew the expectations. I attended the first day of class. The classroom was packed with students. The summer school instructor was my Accounting 1A instructor for whom I liked.

Update On A Past Blog

The instructor for the Computer Accounting Systems taught the periodic inventory system. Her lesson helped me passed the Accounting For Excel midterm exam. The midterm exam involved the periodic inventory system. Nobody uses the periodic inventory system. All core accounting instructors concentrated on the perpetual inventory system only. The exception was the Computer Accounting Systems instructor who taught both perpetual inventory system and periodic inventory system when she taught her core accounting classes. I earned a B in the midterm. Almost all of the students failed the midterm because the midterm focused on the periodic inventory system.

I thank Miss Breen in the blog Top Ten Thank Yous written on Nov 22, 2014. Breen is number ten.

Shelter In-Place COVID-19 Blog October 2026

California issued shelter in-place orders on Tue Mar 17, 2020. I have been logging the highlights and lowlights. Hot days and warm nights from Thur Oct 1 to Thur Oct 8 for which the bedroom windows were opened all night. Oct was the slowest month of 2026. First Shelter In-Place COVID-19 Blog no COVID-19 current event news. On the other hand, strong El Nino weather predictions were Bay Area headlines.

Fri Oct 2. Visited a family friend in Alameda. Got gas at Chevron. Went to Kaiser.

Sun Oct 4. Watched Denver Broncos at San Francisco 49ers.

Tue Oct 6. Shopped at Safeway and Lucky first thing in the morning.

Fri Oct 9. Went to Kaiser and Target at night time.

Sat Oct 10. Shopped at Costco at the 10am hour for the first time other than a Super Bowl weekend. It was busy.

Sun Oct 11. Shopped at Safeway in the morning. Purchased a quick lunch at Nijiya.

Mon Oct 12. Shopped at Costco and Smart & Final.

Wed Oct 14. Morning errands at the West Valley Library, Target, Safeway, The Home Depot, and Nob Hill.

Sat Oct 17. Family event at the World Gourmet Buffett.

Sun Oct 18. Shopped at Nob Hill.

Thur Oct 22. First day of measurable rain. Shopped at Costco and Smart & Final first thing in the morning.

Sat Oct 24. Watched World Series Game 2 Tampa Bay Rays at Milwaukee Brewers from the bottom of the 6th inning to the end.

Tue Oct 27. Went to Chase Bank and Target.

Fri Oct 30. Shopped at Costco first thing in the morning. Too many cars for a Fri morning. The explanation must be Halloween.

Throwback Blog: Doing The Same Routine Boredom

Blogger's Note: Throwback blogs are blogs from my past. I start posting past blogs reflecting what I wrote. It's like my "A Second Look" blogs for which I give myself feedback.

Today's throwback blog is titled Doing The Same Routine Boredom written on Feb 12, 2018. Living the same routine life is boring. However, in today's Information Age, today's Artificial Intelligence, and living the post COVID-19 global pandemic, a routine boring life may be a person's best life choice.

I changed my opinion routines are boring. Routines can be boring from an awesome attitude point of view. If Bert from Sesame Street can make boring awesome, then real people can make their boring life awesome. A boring is life is not 100% defined, not 100% ironclad, or not 100% narrowed. Variety, changes, seeking new adventures, and experiencing new experiences must be incorporated in a routine boring life. Boring people can mix life up.

Routines can be good. The person knows what to do. The person expects the outcome. The responsibilities are completed. The tasks are satisfied. There are times routines are routines. He or she does the same over and over again. They become boring. The person becomes bored. Many people think being bored is nothing to do. True. The routines are another type of boredom.

The same routines boredom is a signal to take action. Getting the signal is easy. How to take action is hard. Is their desire to change something different? Yes. Find something, anything new? Yes. Keep the eyes open. Keep the ears listening. There may be a new interest. There may be a new hobby. Find a distraction. Go back in time. Go front and present doing something, anything new. Maybe a self-discovery is a new long-term activity. Doing something different even half-ass is better than doing nothing; for example, mix-up the daily routines. The goal is eliminate the boredom feeling. Hope for the best.

My Four Times At Summer School

I went to summer school four times. I took a summer school class either after first grade or second grade. I took a reading class after fourth grade. I took reading, English, and math classes after fifth grade. I took a geometry class after tenth grade.

My memory is poor for the summer school class either after first grade or second grade.

The reading, English, and math classes after fourth grade and after fifth grade were a waste of time. I learned nothing. I cared about the fun afterwards. My mind was concentrated elsewhere. Although, the teacher who taught math was too easy. Students passed the class with less than 50% effort. I remember the math teacher's flash cards on math concepts. I aced those cards just by memorization. Memorize by drills and repetitions. No comprehension. I desired GI Joe, Transformers, MASK, and cartoons.

Fortunately, geometry class was worth the time. I needed geometry to enroll in Trigonometry and Pre-Calculus in twelfth grade because of college admissions. Each class session represented one week of a regular high school year; for instance, the first day of class was student and teacher introductions we learned no geometry. Each class was four hours long with one break in between. Six weeks of geometry summer school is one year of geometry regular school year. High school summer school is a cram school like college summer school.

I was focused. I learned something. I concentrated. I cared for the class because college admissions motivated me. I did the homework. I comprehended. There was a difference in maturity between a grade school student and a high school student.

I remember my Algebra I teacher recommending students not take geometry in summer school. It wasn't worth it. He suggested learning "basket weaving." His opinion was learning something outside the high school classroom.

Connect The Dots Backwards

The summer schools I remembered came back to me in any form. The after fourth grade reading class instructor was my brother's second grade teacher. The after fifth grade reading class instructor was my sixth grade English class instructor. The after fifth grade English class instructor was my eighth grade English class instructor. The after fifth grade school summer location was my junior high sixth grade to eighth grade school. The geometry class summer school location was my twelfth grade school. My high school ninth grade to eleventh grade closed due to budget cuts.

Taking Trigonometry and Pre-Calculus in twelfth grade helped me pass the calculus entrance exam in college. It was the only entrance exam I passed. I failed all other entrance exams resulting in required remedial courses. Fast forward decades later. The media reported more colleges offer more remedial courses because more students need remedial courses.

Summer school must be worth the effort for school districts. There must be a minimum percentage of success in their guidelines to offer summer classes. Summer school offers jobs for teachers and for school staff needing extra money. Summer school offers children something to do. Summer school offers some parents free babysitting for the mornings. Summer school gives school districts reasons for government funding.

Side note: I remember the first time my neighborhood streets were repaved during summer school after fourth grade. The city applied loose gravel. The theory was cars drove slow following posted signs of loose gravel. The cars push the gravel on the streets creating a permanent gravel payment.

Update On A Past Blog

The comprehension problem in the grade school summer schools reminded me of two blogs both titled I Wasn't A Dumb Child. The first blog I Wasn't A Dumb Child After All was written on Aug 3, 2013. I blamed my parents for being bad teachers. I couldn't learn from them. It affected my self-esteem because I believed I couldn't learn anything. All is forgiven.

The second blog I Wasn't A Dumb Child After All was written on Apr 17, 2019. The second blog is 100% accurate. My learning problem was poor short-term memory. I learn it. I forget it. I must learn by practice, by drills, and by repetition. I remember afterwards. I become a master.

Be As Honest As You Can Be

The minimum to live a good life is don't be a jerk or a bitch. There is another minimum. Don't be a faker or a phony. Be as honest as you can be. Nobody is 100% honest. Everyone tells white lies. There are situations we can't tell the whole truth. There are situations we twist the facts. Take the least resistance path. Discretion is required for serious truths. Be tactical for bombshell truths. Choose the best opportunity to say world shattering truths. Be careful.

I digress. Don't be an Elizabeth Holmes, Bernie Madoff, Sam "SBF" Bankman-Fried, James Frey, Morgan Spurlock, and Milli Vanilli.

Update On A Past Blog

I blogged The COVID-19 Pandemic Is Harder To Fake It on Jun 15, 2020. Some truths were disclosed. My personal experience was the disclosures happened later. The honestly couldn't be hidden anymore. Give it time. Be patient. The people who kept the lies during the global pandemic the truths are exposed.

One Complaint About Life Which Is Bullshit

I took a week vacation from Mon Oct 5 to Fri Oct 9. I titled the week vacation, "Recover From Fatigue, Catch Up, And Smell The Roses." No self job training. No exercise. Rest. Recover. Don't get sick. The last time I took a vacation excluding the Christmas holidays was the Summer Sabbatical October 2021 from Wed Oct 13, 2021 to Thur Nov 4, 2021. There was a Moby-Dick Vacation where self job training days were halved due to reading Moby-Dick by Herman Melville from Oct 2023 to Feb 2024.

In addition, the unseasonably hot days and warm nights convinced me no physical workouts. The destiny, life, karma, go with the flow, and intuition said take a week off. It was time to catch up on unfinished tasks.

Finishing tasks and closing outstanding personal assignments were unsuccessful. There was a serious family situation which altered my vacation plans. I accepted both the altering plans and the distracting losing my concentration. I couldn't control it. I got little done.

Physical Priority Over Mental

My takeaway from last week was equally balance the physical with the mental. The takeaway could be logical or illogical. Emotion, financial, and spiritual were important, too. The days I plan cardio or strength training physical activity is prioritize over mental activity. I anticipate some days the priority is cancelled for whatever reason. A life bullshit is today's Information Age the mental is overprioritized over physical. Today's typical daily work, family, commute, and/or education require the most dedicated time in human history. Most days the person is legitimately too fatigued for physical exercise. Physical fitness is important. Good physical fitness helps mental sharpness. The converse good mental sharpness makes the body move is false; the knees and elbows don't move when working on a desk. Is construction a legitimate physical activity?

I'm lucky my current life gives me free time to workout four days a week. If I'm working, then I prioritize physical workouts over reading books on weekdays and weekends.