Keep Fun In Check

In December 2004, my friend Steve and I went to Las Vegas. The mini vacation was fun. We stayed at Paris Las Vegas and Bellagio. When we stayed at the Bellagio, the hotel was nice to upgrade us a room with the lakeview. (The lakeview rooms have to view of the lake to watch the water shows.) The Bellagio hotel room was the best hotel room I stayed. The room kicked butt!!!

During the three day, two night trip, we gambled mostly $-) We played craps and the camel races at Luxor and $2-$4 limit Texas Hold'Em at Binions. Steve played craps, blackjack, and the slot machines at other casinos. We also shopped at the mall in Cesar's Place and The Venetian and walked around Historic Fremont Street. And we visited the Bellagio's Christmas theme indoor garden.

Big time fun for three days? Absolutely. Unfortunately, I lost my sunglasses. What happened was I wanted to get an outdoor shot. I placed my sunglasses on a bench. I took the picture. I forgot my sunglasses :-( After the horrible incident, I went to the Cesar's Place mall and purchased a new pair of sunglasses. The cost was $140.00, and that was one of the cheapest models. Gaaaa!

Lesson learned. Never have too much fun. For me, if I have too much fun, I loose my sense of awareness. Sure, I forgot the sunglasses. Everyone forgets. For me, I have an above average sense of awareness and it was a simple situation: put sunglasses down, take picture, pick up my sunglasses. Any bad event could ruin fun. Keep fun in check and keep the sense of awareness focused. I think people could both have fun and have senses active.

I admit, though, the loss of my sunglasses was a blessing in disguise. The sunglasses I lost was a pair of Vuarnet I purchased in 1997. Yeah, outdated glasses ;3 The $140.00 pair I purchased looks really great and much, much better than my Vuarnet. After purchasing my new pair, people tell me I looked great with the new pair XD

Side Note: Anyone planning a trip to Las Vegas, sign up at various casino websites to receive discounts by email. Also, visit coupon websites such as fatwallet.com. The coupon websites contain online coupons for a vast amount of businesses including travel, casino, and online stores. As of the Blog, I receive email coupons from Bellagio, Paris Las Vegas, and Circus Circus.

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Resume? I don't need a resume. Here is my resume: Innovator. I'm available to innovate for hire.

The Greatest Fear Is Fear Itself. Nonsense!

I remember one break period while I was in 8th grade I feared being an adult. I avoided the thought of growing up and living on my own . . . something many 8th graders were thinking. Not me. In 6th grade, however, I thought of living single throughout my life, working as a design engineer, living in an apartment, eating TV dinners, and playing video games at the arcade every night after work. The 6th grade was a silly dream and didn't count.

I never worried about being adult. I said to myself I shouldn't worry because I had at least four years remaining in junior high and high school. What did I know about being an adult? School taught me academic education.

Although in 8th grade I experienced a small preview of adulthood. In April 1988, my family and my uncle's family visited an open house in Cal Poly. Cal Poly is known as California Polytechnical Institute located in San Luis Obispo and it's about 3.5 hours south of San Jose. (I visited Cal Poly in 1998 when a friend invited me to visit.) I remembered getting sick either by food poisoning or eating too much ice cream. The one instance I clearly remember a glance at adulthood was Cal Poly's student union. In the student union, I saw college kids playing video games, eating at the cafeteria, and shopping for groceries. I was scared for a while thinking about the grocery store. Soon, one day I shop for myself in a grocery store, and I couldn't buy TV dinners all the time XD

Today, I don't fear fear itself; rather, I fear not getting fear. Without fear, without being scared, I don't motivate myself. I say it differently and personally: I am scared if I stay at my crappy job forever. I use the fear of being employed at my current job forever to motivate myself to learn how to start a part time business. I'm taking a night class at a local junior college on how to write a business class. I'm learning as much as I can on small businesses.

I never admit I'm going to stay in the same place forever. Innovators never do.

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Resume? I don't need a resume. Here is my resume: Innovator. I'm available to innovate for hire.

Favorable Pet Peeves

Everyone has pet peeves—something that annoys the heck out of us. There are good pet peeves, and to be a better person, use the good pet peeves to live a better life. Here are a few pet peeves I consider good pet peeves,

*I hate liars who want attention. Personally, I suck at lying. Hang around me and you are going to hang around with an honest guy.
*I hate to waste food. Depending on where you live, the cost of living is expensive. Food is a big expense especially families with limited incomes and children to take care of. I never waste food. I purchase what I want to eat in the grocery store and order what I can eat in a restaurant.
*I hate to waste time. Life is short. Make the best of living today and prepare for tomorrow. Do as much as you can everyday, and I don't mean working 12 hours a day =__= Tomorrow is another day. Don't waste time, yet take your time. Goals are not meant to be achieved overnight.
*Yak, Yak, Yak. People who criticize and complain too much because the more one person criticize and complains, the less credible the person becomes.


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Resume? I don't need a resume. Here is my resume: Innovator. I'm available to innovate for hire.

Don't See With Your Eyes, See With Your Mind

Obi-Wan: I suggest you try it again, Luke. That time, let go your conscious self . . . and act on instinct.

[Obi-Wan places helmet with blast shield on Luke.]

Luke: With the blast shield down, I can't even see. How am I supposed to fight?

Obi-Wan: Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them.

The above scene was from Star Wars IV: A New Hope. Luke was getting light saber training in the Millennium Falcon. (I hope I spelled correctly. Steve, my Star Wars expert, can verify my Star Wars knowledge. *Hee, hee*) The scene is my all-time favorite scene. Why?

For many of us, we are told to use our instincts or our gut feelings. Learn to trust gut feelings. Our instincts tend to be the correct choices.

I'm going to take the scene above and expand it which answers the question why the scene is my all-time favorite. When Obi-Wan said eyes can be deceiving, he is correct big time. Think about it. Many people depend on their eyes too much. They fail to think carefully whether what is seen is the truth. To correct the error, they must think with their minds. See with their minds and the truth is exposed.

One example is the 401(k). Almost all financial advisors say to contribute the maximum to the 401(k). The money going to the 401(k) is pre-taxed. Your yearly taxable income goes down. Sounds good. Is it? Well, when you take money out of your 401(k) and you are at a higher tax bracket, you are going to pay more in taxes when the money comes out rather than paying taxes on the money going in. Doesn't make sense?

Many financial advisors say put money in the 401(k). They show charts, show examples, and tell you the facts money goes up. Yes, you see the information with your eyes. Are you seeing the information with your mind?

Using the mind to see, more can be seen and thought through. There are many scams, many deceptions, many fine-prints, many advertisements . . . many stuff to see. See everything with your mind and you see through any scams, deceptions, fine print, (false or misleading) advertisements--and do it everyday.

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Resume? I don't need a resume. Here is my resume: Innovator. I'm available to innovate for hire.

Now I’m A Victim Of A Crime :-(

There is a saying that love comes to you when you least expected. Today, the saying applies to me criminally. I’m a victim of a crime when I least expected. What happened? My Dad’s pick up truck was stolen. No way!!!

Description of the truck: 1984 model year, 5 speed manual, 150,000 plus miles . . . fair condition for an old truck. What doesn’t make sense is the truck’s paint is chipping away, the plastic interiors and dashboard are breaking apart, no air condition, the cassette deck doesn’t work properly, gets crappy gas mileage, and the manual transmission needs a checkup. Furthermore, the truck has more of its share of crimes. The truck was vandalized twice, money stolen in the ash tray, and gas stolen by siphoning using the front yard garden hose.

I suspect the criminals saw the driver side door unlocked. I’m sorry to say I forgot to lock the door last night (and I’m still pissed). The criminals saw tools and equipment in the extended cab compartment and choose to take both tools and equipment and the truck. How did the thieves start the truck? One possibility is the criminals open the hood and started the car from the engine. I’m getting the impression the criminals know their cars. An amateur probably doesn’t know how to start a car without a key.

As of the Blog entry, my parents are taking it pretty well. Don’t know what’s going to happen tonight. Don’t worry everyone. They are not the type of people who yells at their kids. The necessary police report filed and insurance claim submitted. My Dad called earlier and the insurance is going to provide $15.00 a day for a rental car.

My Dad really liked the truck even in its fair condition. To make up for the mistake, I’m going to offer to pay for a new truck. My dad can choose the truck and I pay for it 100%.

After the theft, I am never going to understand the minds of criminals.

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Resume? I don't need a resume. Here is my resume: Innovator. I'm available to innovate for hire.

Respect The Minimum Wage Workers

Yes. Respect them. These people are the fast food workers, grocery clerks, waiters and waitresses, busboys, bell hops, customer service representatives, and anyone else working minimal wage. What do these minimum wage workers, blue collar workers, and white collar workers have in common? We are human. Yes, the answer is close. The correct answer is dignity.

Everyone must work to make a living. They include doctors, lawyers, brokers, police officers, maids, grocery clerks, computer analyst, wedding planner, etc. Some of us like our jobs and some of us hate our jobs. No matter the job occupation, we are humans with dignity trying to make a living. We have homes and apartments, likes and dislikes, and other interests outside work. Many of us have families to take care, and many families struggle paycheck to paycheck. The only difference is some of us earn more money. That’s it. There is no other difference. Again, minimum wage workers are humans with dignity just like you and me.

White collar families, the next time you take your kids to McDonalds or Burger King, make sure you smile and say thank you. Don’t give the fast food workers hell. While you take your kids to the all-you-can-drink soda fountain, the disgruntled worker that heard your useless yelling and criticizing is going to spit at your combo meal :-P

For people who need to call customer service, try to solve the problem yourself. Take extra time and use the brain we have to think about the problem and think about the solution. A little extra time doing it yourself goes a long way instead of waiting a long time for the next available customer service representative who may be in a bad mood from the last caller :-( If you solve it, you save yourself and the customer service representative time and possible grief ^_^

Don’t treat or think of minimum wage workers differently that other service workers. Many people are struggling in today’s tough times. It’s anyone guess what’s going to happen.

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Resume? I don't need a resume. Here is my resume: Innovator. I'm available to innovate for hire.

31 Going On 21

One common saying to immature people is “Act Your Age.” We know people or heard of people who don’t act their age. I admit I’m one of them. Fortunately, I’m a gentleman and I’m going to be a better gentleman XD

O.K. What the heck am I talking about? I’m 31 years old according to my birth record. I’m 21 years old in terms of life experience. I feel I wasted 10 years of my life and I’m catching up big time today. I started in late 2002 reading financial books and learning new ideas and concepts. I really got into catching up in 2005 expanding my reading subjects, traveling, opening myself up to others, and doing new stuff. What did I do? Click http://www.innovateinfinitely.com/aboutinin.html and scroll down to How do I ININ? under the subheading 2005. (For the record, the 2005 subheading is missing the Washington Canada Trip, Oregon Trip, cosplaying as a second character, and finished reading three books. I didn’t have enough time to update. Thank you.)

What did I do to waste 10 years of my life? Half of the 10 years were in college. When I attended San Jose State University (SJSU), I didn’t make any friends. Major mistake. SJSU was known as a commuter school. Most students attended school for classes only. After their classes, they went home or went to work. I was one of them. Another mistake while at SJSU was I never worked part-time job during my entire college career. I started working in Summer 1996, four years since I started as a freshman. And the last big mistake was I never learned anything new outside SJSU. When I graduated SJSU, I learned academic knowledge; in other words, knowledge from a textbook. I didn’t learn anything outside of the textbook. I felt dumb when I started my life in the real world.

The other half of the 10 years was spread out between my childhood and high school years and during my early years after I graduated SJSU. The three mistakes I mentioned above are enough to prove my point *__* Although, I did experience my first love when I was in junior high ^__^

Since 2005, I experienced new experiences I should have done while in my early 20s, not my early 30s. In 2006 so far, I’m meeting more new people, taking a night class, reading more books, and planning new adventures. I feel I’m 21 because I act like a 21 year old—I have the experience and wisdom of a 21 year old. I have 10 years of catch up. Better keep my mind open at all times to suck in the knowledge and experience *pumps fist in the air*

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Resume? I don't need a resume. Here is my resume: Innovator. I'm available to innovate for hire.

Deja Vu At Jack In The Box

Yesterday, I attended my company’s office in Pleasanton for a half-day meeting. The meeting ended early and everyone went home.

With extra time between leaving the meeting and my night class, I stopped by a Jack In The Box and ordered a Jumbo Jack Combo with curly fries upgrade. When I sat down to eat my meal, I remembered a similar event in February 1998.

It was February 1998. I just graduated at San Jose State University. I was doing errands and I stopped by a Jack In The Box and I ordered the Spicy Chicken Sandwich combo with curly fries upgrade. I was also searching for a job. It could be any entry-level job. Nobody wanted me :-( I felt depressed yet upbeat that everything was going to be O.K.

I felt the same way yesterday. I felt depressed yet upbeat that everything was going to be O.K. I don’t like my job. My company stinks. I’m going to create a new future, and I hope after I finish taking the business plan class, new opportunities open up.

I believe everyone experiences Deja Vu. For me, I experience much, much more in my dreams. It sounds weird. It’s true XD I remember a few repeated dreams such as living in an apartment complex, going back to grade school and choosing teams in P.E., and driving in the streets of Los Angeles in my Dad’s pickup.

I take Deja Vu as another opportunity to correct the mistake or another chance to accomplish the goal. In the movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray and Andie McDowell, Murray’s day repeated and repeated. To end the repetition, Murray and McDowell must fall in love. Murray had to figure it out and did a trial and error to fall in love with McDowell.

The next time there is Deja Vu, think whether the event or situation is a repeat and do it differently. Chances are it may be the correct move. Good luck!

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Resume? I don't need a resume. Here is my resume: Innovator. I'm available to innovate for hire.

Congratulations To The Pittsburg Steelers

Earlier today, I watched Super Bowl XL. Congrats to the Pittsburg Steelers. Seattle Seahawks, you should be proud. I saw the game and you guys played hard and played like champions which explain why you earned the trip to the Super Bowl.

Yeah, the officials screwed up on calls against you Seahawks; however, I’m really not going to give an opinion on the screwed up calls. Everyone makes mistakes which proves we are humans :-) A team blaming screwed up calls for losing a game is a lame excuse. The best teams overcome botched calls, forget the botched calls, and play on.

On an inspiration note, I like for you Seahawks to learn what failed because I want to see you Seahawks again for Super Bowl XLI. (I hope Roman Numeral 41 is XLI.) Yeah, I’m a San Francisco 49ers fan. It’s just I want another west coast city to be in the Super Bowl, and the 49ers is still rebuilding. And I visited Seattle last year and I love the city ^_^

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Resume? I don't need a resume. Here is my resume: Innovator. I'm available to innovate for hire.

A U Is Worst Than An F

In case I forgot mention, I’m taking a night class at a junior college for Winter Quarter 2006. The class is How To Write A Business Plan. So far, the class is so-so. I’m learning new ideas and concepts. It’s just I’m not really learning how to write a business plan. Perhaps the instructor is making the students learn on their own. Nothing new for me =__=

Anyway, while I was a student at San Jose State University and a current student at the junior college, there is a grade worst than an F. It’s a U. U grades are worst than an F. Basically, a U grade is the student never attends class, doesn’t do the work and take the exams, and doesn’t care. The student didn’t drop the class before the official drop date.

Failure is good as long as the failure is turned to success. There is a lesson to learn from the failure. A person fails, the person thinks what failed, the person learns from the failure, and tries again. If the person fails again, repeat the procedure.

Expect failure when learning something new from riding a bicycle, learning how to drive a manual transmission, first date with another person, cooking, and any new activity, hobby, or skill.

There are stupid failures and perfect failures. Make sure the failures are perfect failures. Not doing anything is worst than failing. And be honest with failures. Never use failure as an excuse such that “Oops, I failed. Sorry. I didn’t put enough effort.”

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Resume? I don't need a resume. Here is my resume: Innovator. I'm available to innovate for hire.

Green Tea and Coke Don’t Mix

On Thursday February 2, 2006, I was invited to a going away dinner gathering with a soon-to-be ex-co-worker, her boyfriend, and her closest friends. I had a blast. Thank you for the invite. I had a lot of fun XD

I ordered the Fish and Chips and a Coke soft drink. The food tasted good. I had two glasses of Coke. After dinner, the group went to the bar. I went with them. I didn’t drink. I did some talking and listening. I gave a DVD gift to her as a going away and a thank you gift. I left the restaurant at 10:00 P.M.

What happened after the dinner was a mistake I never repeat. I drink green tea before I go to sleep. Green tea and Coke don’t mix. Caffeine was all in me during the night. I was wide awake as if I could have gone to work in the early, early next morning. I had trouble sleeping. Trouble, man :-| I did everything to get myself to sleep. I listened to anime music, listened to classical rock, watched the action scenes of For Your Eyes Only, and played video games. I opened the window to cool the room down while I watched the movie in the family room. Nothing worked. I felt really warm.

I slept around 4:30 A.M. On Friday morning, I slept extra and choose to eat donuts for breakfast to eat at work. Go with the flow. The night was screwed up, and I might as well do something different for breakfast.

Thank goodness I’m not a coffee drinker ^__^


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Resume? I don't need a resume. Here is my resume: Innovator. I'm available to innovate for hire.