2007 Year In Review

Hello, everyone. Was 2007 a fast year? 2007 is the fastest year ever for me. It's like I visited Las Vegas last week. (I visited Las Vegas in December 11-13, 2006.) I keep the year in review short because I don't want to jinx 2008 *__* 2007 is another good year. It's the first time I have three good years in a row. The 2007 highlights include my new job at Cisco, my first car, and my dermatitis is gone after I switched hand lotions. The 2007 lowlights include the month of July, attending fewer anime cons, and creating only one video blog. My job at Cisco has been ups and downs. The ups are meeting new people, learning new skills, and gaining experience working a multi-billion dollar company. The downs are inconsistent workloads such that sometimes I'm really busy and sometimes I'm bored, projects completed after due dates, and miscommunication. The 2007 theme is The Year I Prepare For The Big Break. Arguably, working at Cisco is the Big Break. To me, Cisco is a parallel career move. Most of my responsibilities at Cisco are the same at Colliers. My 2008 theme is The Year I Prepare For The Big Break Part II. The Big Break is coming. I don't know when, I don't what, and I don't know where. I must prepare. And for 2008 I need to keep my laughing in check. It's OK to be enthusiastic. It's not OK to be too enthusiastic because I look terrible being too enthusiastic. Thank you for reading my Blogs (and there are a few of you, LOL).

Double Xmas Gift: Just Living Life Today

I want to share my thoughts about living life. I have been writing Blogs about living life. I continue to write about living life to remind myself and my readers living life is living life today—live the present. Live the present to make moments and memories. Collect the moments and memories and you live a great life. Continue to find moments and memories. Never stop living. Seek your next great moment and next adventure. Always meet new people.

We live life today. We have good days and we have bad days. If we have bad days, bad moments, bad time, or experiencing a bad slump, don't give up. Never give up. Keep going. Keep moving forward. As you live life today and another day is tomorrow, keep fighting, gain strength and acquire knowledge to turn the bad days to good days tomorrow.

Learn from your mistakes. It's OK to be depressed. Don't complain about life being bad to you. Life is not going to be good if you sit around doing nothing. Create action. Stop complaining. The only person to determine a good life and a bad life is you.

If you have a bad day, then stay strong and finish the day. Try to get something positive from a bad day. If you have the focus and the knowledge good days are ahead and you work for good days ahead, then the bad days are just another day, the bad day is temporary. Move forward after a bad day.

If your Christmas holiday is bad, then move forward. Let the bad Christmas holiday pass by you and do something to prepare for a good 2008 Christmas holiday. Do something to create 2008 Christmas good moments and memories.

Double Xmas Gift: My Extended Vacation

Merry Christmas and happy holidays. I hope everyone is having a great holiday. My week off work was terrific. I took vacation Monday December 17 to Friday December 21 and the Christmas holiday December 24-25. I got lots of stuff done and did lots of activities. I'm caught up reading my Bleach and Full Metal Alchemist anime manga. I went to Santa Cruz with my friend from Washington. I purchased The Simpsons Movie DVD and Family Guy volume 3. I wrote three Blogs entries including this one. I uploaded 39 more songs to my mp3 player. I backed up, defragged, and performed a system wide virus scan on my laptop. I sewed my fourth cosplay thanks to my Mom teaching me to sew. (BTW, the costume is still incomplete.) I went Christmas shopping. I watched The Nutcracker ballet. I hung out with my friends. I watch episodes 119-125 in Bleach which I'm still behind =( And I celebrated Christmas with my family.

Wow, I did so much during my week off and extended Christmas vacation. The week went by just right. Not too fast and not too slow. There was one downside, unfortunately, which was playing Team Fortress 2. Most of the melees I played were terrible. Some of the games were stalemate such that both sides played defense and little offense or we traded control of capture points. A few games my team sucked and many of them don't know how to play.

Tomorrow, I go back to work. Honestly, I'm looking forward to go back to work. It's time to get back to my weekly schedule. It's time to get stuff done and catch up at work. I hope to catch up. Before I went on vacation, I was behind in lots of responsibilities. Vacation is over. Furthermore, I hope to get back to a routine schedule outside work at home such as going to the gym two days a week, cooking fresh dinner at home, and continue doing stuff to prevent from getting behind.

The Need For Speed

I remember one dream I played for the San Francisco 49ers football team. Bill Walsh was the head coach. Joe Montana was the quarterback. I was a running back. It was late in the 4th quarter and the 49ers were down seven points to the opposition. I don't remember the opposition team name.

Montana called the play in the huddle. I was at Montana's left side and he was in shot gun formation. My route was to bump a defensive pass rusher and run a slant to the right side. Montana said immediately after the huddle if I'm open, expect at pass at the 20 yard line. We were in the opposition 40 yard line.

The play began. I bumped a defensive pass rusher and ran my route. I was open at the 25 yard line. I knew the ball was in the air and when I turn around before I arrived at the 20 yard line, the ball was there for me to catch. Unfortunately, the ball was intercepted. Montana threw a perfect pass. I was slow to reach the 20 yard line. The defensive back who intercepted read the play and arrived at the 20 faster than me.

The 49ers lost the game. Coach Walsh and Montana said nothing. My teammates gave me the look that I failed. I failed. Yes, I failed. The team walked to the locker room. I was thinking what I did wrong. I figured it out. I needed speed. I was too slow. If I was faster, I arrived at the 20 yard line to catch the ball.

I worked to increase my speed the next day. And then I woke up =)

Top 10 Most Memorable Moments Since I Graduated San Jose State University

December 1997. It was my last month in college, turning in homework, taking exams, and writing term papers . . . anything a professor requires in his or her class. 10 years passed with a degree in Economics. Here I am. I'm currently work at Cisco as a contractor, drive own my car, play Team Fortress 2 online, work out at the gym, watch anime, hang out with friends, accomplish my goals, and find who I am. Honestly, I still consider myself lost ^^^ Between December 1997 and today, lots of events, moments, and incidents happened to me. Most of those happened since September 2004. I'm going to be honest. I want to share those events, moments, and incidents. I want to share now instead of when I'm 40 years old and creating my Top 40 Most Memorable Moments. (My Top 30 Most Memorable Moments when I turned 30 years old can be viewed at www.innovateinfinitely.com/topten.html. Scroll down or click the link Top 30 Most Memorable Moments.) Celebrating my 10 years out of college, here is the Top 10 Most Memorable Moments Since I Graduated San Jose State University. 10 Las Vegas Trip (December 2004). My friend Steve and I took a mini vacation to Las Vegas. We stayed one night at Paris Las Vegas and the second night at the Bellagio. Both of us agreed the Bellagio is the best hotel room we stayed. It was worth the price. We also went to Fremont Street and played $2-$4 limit Texas Hold'em. Unfortunately, we both lost money. Our best event was playing the camel race game Chariots (something) and playing craps at Luxor. Monday Night Football, gambling, and complementary bottle water were great Monday night entertainment. 09 Oregon Trip (November 2005). My Dad, Mom, Uncle, Aunt, and I took a road trip to Oregon to buy real estate. We drove from the Bay Area to Oregon, a 14 hour drive. During the trip to and from Oregon, we gambled in the Indian casinos. I won $100.00 $-) We also shopped in outlet stores and visited Multnomah Falls and downtown Portland. We stayed in the Salem area. We talked to a real estate agent who gave us a list of homes for sale. We did a self-tour. In the end, the timing was not right to buy. Glad we didn't buy any homes. My favorite parts were no sales tax and when you buy gas, the gas attendant must fill your gas. 08 Innovate Infinitely Was Created (November 2000). There is no innovateinfinitely.com without Innovate Infinitely. Innovate Infinitely was created when I was driving to Japantown-San Jose. Initially, I needed a web page theme because my family, friends, and acquaintances' web pages have a theme. I wanted a never stop learning theme. Always find ways to be a better person. And when you accomplished something, find another way to improve it. At a stop light, the words Innovate and Infinitely came to my mind. I said the words together, "Innovate Infinitely . . . Never Stop Innovating Life." Today, I'm innovating infinitely--always finding something new to learn, always improving what I know, always creating, and always becoming a better person professionally and personally. 07 www.innovateinfinitely.com Is Online (May 1, 2004). On June 2003, I choose to create a new web site with a new design to promote Innovate Infinitely. Everything I learned in the 30 years at work, in leisure, at San Jose State, reading books, and living life everyday can be summarized in two words-Innovate Infinitely. It took 10 months finding a web hosting company, learning how to register a domain name, how the Domain Name Servers work, and learning the basics of web pages and the Internet. The experience and journey were worth the adventure. I admit I have lots more to learn. www.innovateinfinitley.com is a start. I hope the people who visit my web site are satisfied and come back to visit again. 06 Anime Expo 2006 (July 2006). What a happy vacation and happy time: CLAMP panel, meeting new people, took lots of cosplay pics, Vic Mignogna panel, Full Metal Alchemist movie, Full Metal Alchemist mini gathering, meeting new people, . . . . the list goes on. I rarely stayed in my hotel room. 05 The Next Rich Dad, Poor Dad (2002)? The first time I heard of Robert Kiyosaki was a late night infomercial. The infomercial was the only infomercial I watched from beginning to end. The information made perfect sense. L.M, a friend and former co-worker, introduced Kiyosaki with greater detailed. She told me about Kiyosaki's books, tapes, seminars, and the web page. I went to Costco the same week and I saw Kiyosaki's first book Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I purchased the book, read the book, and became more aware about my financials and my future. I read books by Peter Lynch, learned how to read a financial statement, attended seminars, read more Kiyosaki books, and, in short, started to learn more about businesses and expand my skills and knowledge professionally and personally. In 1999 when I was out of college, I never had a five year plan. Today, I have a five year plan. I want to innovate myself with knowledge and skills in technology, web pages, stock market, and whatever else I'm interested in learning. Also, I want to meet and know more people-expand my circle of friends, family, and acquaintances. Ms. L.M., we do keep in touch from time to time and it's hard with our busy schedules. When I make my first million dollars, I'm going to make sure you are appreciated. Update: Ms L.M. is currently working at Cisco. We do have lunch together and chat. 04 My First Car (May 2007). My neighbor and his wife moved to Virginia (or was it West Virginia?) and they sold their second car to me. The car is a 2005 Toyota Camry V6. The car runs great. I look forward to future adventures. And the car has air condition. I mention air condition because there was no air condition in my Dad's older cars I drove. 03 My Job At Cisco Systems, Inc. (March 19, 2007). I paid $100.00 at careerbuilder.com to increase my chances of my resume appearing on employers search for 30 days. I got a call for an interview at Cisco for a contractor position eight days after I paid. I was hired. No more Colliers International. No more working on their crappy databases they have failed since 1997. No more working with my dumb-ass co-worker. No complaints working at Cisco ;-) My department had an off-site meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on my second week at Cisco. And speaking of Canada . . . 02 Washington Canada Trip (August 2005). Lots of first visiting Steve who lives in Washington. First time: visiting Washington including Seattle, visiting Victoria and Vancouver British Columbia in Canada, visiting a foreign country, visiting Steve at his home, gambling in an Indian casino, riding a ferry, Steve doing all the driving ^__^, heck, the entire trip was a first, first, first. Excellent and full of fun, fun, fun. Thank you Steve for organizing the trip XD Oh, and no potholes in the Washington roads. 01 First Cosplay (September 2004). In Fanime Con 2004, I watched 17 episodes of Full Metal Alchemist. I stayed awake during the entire marathon. The series was that goddamn good. I loved the series. Edward Elric rocked. After watching the series, I said to myself, "I'm going to cosplay as Edward Elric." I want to thank my Mom for making my Edward Elric (and my Syaoran and Hitsugaya) cosplays. My Mom is teaching me how to sew while making my fourth cosplay. I cosplayed for the first time at Japan Town Anime Faire 2 (JTAF 2). I remember people taking pictures of me and meeting new people especially other cosplayers in Full Metal Alchemist. Cosplaying at JTAF 2 opened my eyes as an anime fan. Being an anime fan is more than watching anime and attending anime conventions. Just like any hobby and interest, being an anime fan is meeting new people. If I didn't cosplay, I quit being an anime fan. Once you cosplay, you can't stop ^__^

24 Hours In Two Days

Since Thanksgiving holiday, work has been bad timing, mis-communication, lack of information, and bad luck. I finished my assignments too late because of my boss and department manager's emergency, priority, last minute assignments. My team finished our 1st Quarter Fiscal Year 2008 report one month in the 2nd Quarter and it took us eight weeks to finish. In fairness, the 1st Quarter report was the first time using a new template the department manager hired someone to create.

In particular, Thursday December 13 and Friday December 14, I worked 12 hours each day. I wonder if the two days foreshadows my future in my company or somewhere else . . . I'm at a higher position with more responsibilities and manage people :-P I hope to find ways to complete more work at less time. I innovate infinitely.

I worked my ass off the two days because I'm on vacation Monday December 17 to Friday December 21. I must take vacation or I lose my vacation. I tried to do all my assignments and set up unfinished assignments for my co-workers to complete easily. I wanted to finish all my assignments only I can complete so I have nothing to worry about during my vacation. On Wednesday December 13 and most of Thursday, there were no new assignments and I worked on outstanding assignments.

On Friday around 3pm, I received an assignment due Monday afternoon. I told them I was on vacation. I completed the same assignment two times before. The difference was the senior executives who read the assignment wanted updates every two weeks. I forgot completing the assignment before because I didn't know people wanted updates. So I had to remember how I completed it, and the miscommunication made the assignment worse :( I managed to finish at 7pm, and I know I did something wrong, likely miscommunication. Then I went back to my earlier assignments only I can complete. At 8:45pm, I couldn't work anymore. My hands were shaking and I caught too many mistakes. I was like being high on caffeine, and I never drank coffee.

It was bad timing I got the 3pm assignment when I was going on vacation next week. Also, earlier in the week, I was testing our department database. I spent at least eight hour testing an upgrade. On Friday around 6pm, I got a call on my work number, call on my cell number, and an email from the Project Manager to inspect the final upgrade and sign off. Man, so much. Why can't people do their assignments themselves, LOL~~ And I failed to finish all my assignments. I couldn't finish with the incoming, unexpected, priority assignments given to me at the last minute. *cries*

An Inspiring CEO

CEOs and establish successful people have a list of successful tips they share. If I'm CEO, here is my list to inspire and to innovate people, and to share my knowledge, my experience, and my wisdom. I'm in my early 30s, so I'm a junior executive at best, LOL!

Here are the Top 14 Successful Tips:

1. Never stop meeting people. You should have a three inch binder with business cards and a three inch binder full of contacts, friends, families, and acquaintances.

2. E is for Earn. If you want life in a silver platter, you must earn it.

3. Become a "There he/she is" instead of "Here I am" person. If you know the difference, you are my friend.

4. Sincerity, trust, and creditability. Establish yourself anything you say people believe you. Your name is your trust. When you speak, people listen.

5. In today's fast pace lifestyle, patience is a virtue still holds true today.

6. The inside is more important than the outside. The statement is half true. If you're a good person and dress like a slob and don't smile, your outside sends the wrong signal.

7. Schools teach academic education. Schools don't teach how to find who you are and don't teach how to life your life. You do the latter.

8. Life can be thought of as driving through speed bumps. The successful people either drive through, drive around, or find another path. They don't turn around and go backwards.

9. "Life is not fair." --Bill Gates (Quoted for emphasis.)

10. Establish your system of life values and follow them.

11. Throw away junk.

12. Learn from the people who are smarter than you and more successful than you. Model from them. Use the examples and create action.

13. Forget anything that doesn't matter a year from now.

14. Learn how to cook and find time to exercise. Great stress busters and take time away from work.