Monday, April 25, 2011

My Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing

I finished reading Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume. I choose to read it because I didn’t read the book in grade school. I believe it is okay for adults to read young adult books. These books “turn back the clock” to when they were a child. I turned back my clock to my fourth grade.

The story centered on fourth grader Peter Hatcher and his two year old younger brother Fudge. Fudge caused many problems for Peter and his family including breaking his teeth, playing with his food, harassing his father’s clients, and ruining Peter’s homework. Peter felt unappreciated, angry, and frustrated. There were times he felt unrecognized because his parents focused their time on Fudge.

My tales of a fourth grade was nothing. Peter was my favorite character because he showed maturity and wisdom of a fourth grader. I didn’t have his maturity and wisdom. On the positive side, I had a mature and smart younger brother we played toys and watched television. We had many common interests. On the negative side, I watched too much television. I didn’t read books. I didn’t have friends visit my house and I didn’t have friends to visit their house. There were no moments that made me grow up, tested my maturity, and gained wisdom. I worried too much. I feared asking people anything including water in a sit down restaurant and ordering a Big Mac. My home life was easy going, free for all, and avoiding conflicts.

I didn’t go to the park with friends and hung around the secret rock. I didn’t have any birthday parties with friends. I didn’t go to the movies (I’m 99% sure I didn’t go to a movie theater in fourth grade.) I didn’t have a pet. I didn’t have a group project with classmates. I knew nothing about drugs and dope. My grades were terrible. I didn’t play after school recreational sports.

I was a fourth grader who depended on family, classmates, and the teacher to think for me and tell me what to do. I never was angry at my parents such that I ran to my room and locked the door. I never made jokes. I had trouble concentrating. I was a quiet person in social situations.

I’m reading Superfudge, the sequel to Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing. I’m looking forward to see how Peter handles Fudge who is now four years old.

The Personal Side Of Me Finding Raymond Mar

Sunday, April 24, 2011

De Anza Week Apr 18, 2011

Mon Apr 18

I officially dropped Advanced Accounting. I felt relieved. I have more free time. I submitted my application last quarter for an Accounting AA degree. Advanced Accounting was unnecessary. One may think more students take Advanced Accounting to take the CPA exam. The class was small. I wonder if students who took more accounting classes lost interest in earning a CPA. Time will tell if I made the correct choice.

The professor finished Chapter 2 lecture. I write lecture notes on the textbook just like his Intermediate Accounting class lectures. The number of students has been decreasing. This week is the last week to drop classes with no record of withdrawal.

Tue Apr 19

I was busy having fun last weekend I’m behind in Auditing homework. I wanted to finish my Chapter 2 reading on Sunday night. I was too tired. I wanted to finish my reading on Monday night. I was too tired. I finished the reading after Quickbooks. I emailed the pre-lecture homework that was due on Sun Apr 17. I started on the homework due Friday April 22 I finish tomorrow morning.

I arrived at Mission College running a few minutes late. A student gave me her day parking pass. Thank you! She walked away as I was about to give her $2.

Tonight’s class started with instructor evaluation surveys. This was the first time I completed a survey in a junior college and first time in the middle of a semester. I gave my instructor an above average review. There are no surveys at De Anza. That’s terrible. The rest of the class we finished Chapter 5. No homework is due next week.

Wed Apr 20

I completed the Chapter 2 homework before I drove to De Anza. I need to leave the house earlier because I allowed myself 25 minutes of drive time and walk time. I still arrived late.

A representative from Becker, a subsidiary of Kaplan, spoke to the class about CPA preparation courses. He talked about the CPA exams and how Becker helps students pass the CPA exams. I submitted a form to receive more information. I didn’t win the $10 Starbucks card raffle.

The professor spoke to the class about the CPA and shared a few of his experiences after the Becker presentation. Then he told the class he extended the due dates for all Chapter 3 homework. Finally, he gave us an introduction to the Chapter 3. Next week’s lectures are all Chapter 3. He said that chapter is difficult.

The Personal Side Of Me Finding Raymond Mar

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Auditing Life Objectively

I got this blog idea on the first week of auditing classes. Auditors must work objectively when auditing financial statements—free from bias with professional skepticism. The very few people who read my blogs know some blogs I promote living better, always finding ways to be better, change, never stop innovating life, and continue learning something new. I also promote exercising, cooking, meeting new people and making new friends, seeking new interests and hobbies, and visiting new places for the first time. And there is learning from your mistakes, taking something negative and making it positive, and much more.

Today’s blog I promote nothing. I’m not blogging a man must learn how to change oil, parents should encourage their children to learn sports, or fiction books are better than self-help books to learn how to be a better person. (Wait a minutes, I just did, lol.) Instead, I’m going to audit life—just life. I blog my objective view on life.

My lifestyle is not the best: seeking new adventures, being with friends, eating new foods, listening to classical music, not sitting on the couch watching television for extended periods of a day, wearing costumes at anime conventions. Neither are my classmates, my neighbors, my extended family, my friends, and strangers. I believe if a person is happy with the way he or she is living, then the world is happy. The person can agree, disagree, or partially agree with my lifestyle. The person may adapt part of my lifestyle to be happier. I may adapt part of the person’s lifestyle to be happier. It goes both ways.

Any lifestyle you choose including drinking six beers a day, living alone, watching television for the entire day, standing in one place watching people for a long time, playing video games day and night, attending college classes throughout an adult life, basket weaving, staying at home and chatting with online friends, working in retail at age 65, picky eater, eat fast food daily, sleep 12 hours a day, play with Barbie dolls, your residence decorated all in gothic, collect bottle caps, take showers every three days, and so on . . . as long as you’re happy, nobody is harmed, I’m happy for you. My audit on life is complete. The world is happy because people’s lives are happy.

The Personal Side Of Me Finding Raymond Mar

Friday, April 15, 2011

De Anza Week Apr 11, 2011

Mon Apr 11

My Auditing professor hinted there’s going to be negative changes for the Fall ’11 quarter at De Anza in terms of classes, staff, instructors, and student support. Timing has been in my favor since I started taking accounting classes in Fall ’09. I submitted my application for my AA degree last quarter. The classes I’m taking in Spring ’11 are for personal learning.

I talked to one of my classmates. He has a masters degree in civil engineering and works part time. I asked him why he’s taking accounting classes. He said he wants to earn a CPA.

I went home after class to eat lunch and rest. I arrived at De Anza in time for Advanced Accounting. I missed last Wed’s class because I had the stomach flu. I missed the extra credit opportunities and the first in class assignment. I experience those on Wed’s class.

Tonight’s lecture was my worse lecture I sat. It wasn’t the most boring which went to Intro to Business in Winter ’11. My Advanced Accounting professor couldn’t teach to save his life. I considered dropping the class and go back to my original plan. My original plan was taking Intermediate Accounting and Introduction to Business at De Anza and Quickbooks at Mission in Winter ’11. In Spring ’11, I take Auditing and continue Quickbooks. The month of June I have Auditing only.

I didn’t want to make the same mistake twice with Advanced Accounting. The mistake was continuing taking Beginning Singing in Winter ’10 which didn’t meet my expectations and I should have dropped. Moreover, I dropped Japanese because the instructor went too fast. I wanted to attend Wednesday’s class because I want to experience the extra credit opportunities. Sat Apr 16 is the last day to drop and receive a refund.

Tue Apr 12

The signal lights were in my favor as I drove to Mission College late. The instructor was writing the homework assignment as I entered the classroom. I received my take home mid-term. I received a 97%. Tonight’s lecture was another kickback standard lecture such that I followed the instructor and completed next week’s homework assignment.

The instructor passed out the solution to the take home mid-term that included the trial balance and journal entries.

Wed Apr 13

The Auditing professor was slow and unfocused during the lecture. He came to the classroom and took a long time settling in. He went into many tangents most of his lecture. We reviewed auditing CPA questions.

I talked to another classmate who graduated with California State University-East Bay last quarter. She earned a bachelors degree in accounting-finance. She wanted to take additional accounting classes. Obviously she takes the classes at De Anza instead of CSU-East Bay because De Anza is cheaper. She chose Auditing and considered Advanced Accounting. I told her I thought about dropping Advanced Accounting. She replied saying she’s not going to add Advanced Accounting. She said CSU-East Bay teaches Auditing for one quarter. The Auditing professor said De Anza is one of the very few colleges teaching Auditing for one quarter. My classmate says CSU-East Bay teaches Auditing for one quarter only.

I attended Advanced Accounting to experience the extra credit movie and clicker questions. The lecture was terrible. The professor can’t teach. The professor showed the extra credit movie after the break. The extra credit movies were related to accounting and business. We completed the in class assignment after the movie.

Finally, we played the clicker game. The professor has hardware from www.iclicker.com. The students were divided into teams of three. Each team had a clicker connected to his laptop. Each clicker has buttons A-D and power on/off. The professor displayed a question on the projector and the team answered the question pressing A, B, C, or D. The team with the most corrected answers receives extra credit points. Each student who participates receives extra credit points. My team placed first. They did all the work and I thank them for covering me.

The extra credit points are micropoints. Students received a small piece of paper. The students must write his or her name and tonight’s date on the back to claim the extra credit micropoint ticket. I don’t know the micropoint conversion into extra credit. My guess is the top students with the most micropoints receive extra credit towards their final grade.

The probability was high I drop Advanced Accounting after tonight’s class meeting.

I walked to the Visual and Performance Arts building to visit my social dance class. I talked to a few classmates and friends after class was over. The Wednesday’s night intermediate class dance demonstration is the Hustle. I danced with one of my friends after class while learning quickly the routine.

The Personal Side Of Me Finding Raymond Mar

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Me Versus My Stomach Flu

I have been recovering from my sinus infection. I got a minor stomach flu last week. I was fortunate I missed one class and it took place during the first week of classes. I want to document what happened and how I recovered like I documented my sinus infection.

Wed Apr 6. I woke up with a stomach ache very early in the morning. I ignored it and went back to sleep. My stomach ache woke me up two hours later. I went to the bathroom with diarrhea. I threw up minutes later in the toilet. I felt lightheaded and weak. I skipped breakfast and went to school.

I purchased saltine crackers and Tums at the De Anza convenience store. It was the first time I took Tums. Saltine crackers definitely helped me avoid throwing up again and Tums probably helped me survive Auditing class. Regardless, I felt lightheaded and fatigued. I coughed a few times because I didn’t drink water as I continued recovering from my sinus infection.

I went home and skipped Advanced Accounting. I slept the entire afternoon. I ate a light dinner consisting of rice, a piece of chicken, and two pieces of cauliflower and drank a small class of 7-UP. I made jello afterwards.

Thur Apr 7. I woke up in the middle of the night because I was hungry. That was a good sign. I ate jello and crackers. I went back to sleep. My health was good as long as I slept. All of my dreams were my body recovering. My dreams were I was awake and I consciously felt my body recovering as I lied down in bed. It was like my body putting together pieces of a puzzle to find the best way to recover, and there was more than one way.

I drank water in sips. There was a pot next to my bed in case I threw up again. My meals were jello, plain toast, saltine crackers, and drinking ginger ale.

Fri Apr 8. My breakfast and lunch were jello, plain toast, and saltine crackers. I ate a small dinner consisting of steak, rice, and zucchini. My stomach felt good. There were no aches and sensitivity. My hunger felt like normal hunger.

Sat Apr 9-Sun Apr 10. I ate lunch and dinner in small portions. For instance, I went out for lunch on Sat Apr 9. I ate half of the lunch in the restaurant and finished at home. My meals at home were smaller than normal. I continued to drink more water gradually. I ate bread and cereal for breakfast. I skipped eating nuts and fruit.

Currently. I believe last week’s stomach ache was a minor stomach flu. It was not an upset stomach. I can’t think of a definite cause. The food I ate days before were home cooked except for the roast pork my mom purchased on Sunday. My mom heated up the roast pork well. Having said that, my guess is the roast pork.

I feel better now and I eat three meals a day. My sinus infection continues to improve as well. The key is drinking water.

The Personal Side Of Me Finding Raymond Mar

Thursday, April 07, 2011

De Anza Week Apr 4, 2011

Mon Apr 4

I enrolled in two classes for Spring ’11 quarter which are Auditing and Advanced Accounting. Auditing is the hardest accounting class De Anza offers in the Accounting Department. Advanced Accounting is easier than Intermediate Accounting.

I arrived at De Anza around 11:40am. I parked at Flint Center parking garage. I was lucky to find a space on the third floor. I found a seat outside the campus center to read Hogfather by Terry Pratchett. I wanted to finish the book at the end of the week. A DJ started to play music that forced me to find another spot near the math and science buildings. I read Hogfather before Auditing and between Auditing and Advanced Accounting.

Auditing was held in the same room I took Payroll Taxes. I hated that room. We received information before 12:30pm classes began Auditing switched rooms with another class. Auditing’s new classroom is where I took Intermediate Accounting. Excellent! I recognized faces from my past accounting classes taking Auditing. The professor is the same professor who taught Intermediate Accounting. I got my same seat from Intermediate Accounting classes.

I went to the campus center to eat lunch. This week was the only time I stay on campus all day because of the first week rush and parking concerns. I went to the library to read Hogfather.

Advanced Accounting is in the same room I took Accounting 1A, 1B, and 1C. That is still my favorite classroom. I got my same seat. The professor taught at University of California-Santa Cruz and works for the city of Santa Cruz. His initial major was bio-chemistry. I liked his powerpoint slides that included a comic between lectures. We have a ten minute break at the half way point I really liked. The class is a night class and the break is good to keep us awake.

Tue Apr 5

I scored a 42 out of 50 for the Quickbooks mid-term. That was not too bad considering I didn’t study. I also submitted the take home mid-term. Tonight’s lecture was typical. I followed the instructor lecture on my laptop and I finished the homework assignment.

I went to a coffee shop inside campus to buy a Snickers candy bar because I ate a light lunch. I paid $1.25 for the candy bar. Damn.

Wed Apr 6

I had a bad morning. I had a stomach ache and I threw up. Another sickness. Timing is everything. It was better to have a stomach flu on the first week of classes instead of the last week of classes.

I skipped breakfast and went to school. I purchased saltine crackers and Tums. I ate some crackers and took two Tums before Auditing. It helped little. I was lightheaded, nauseous, I coughed because I didn’t drink water and I’m still recovering from my sinus infection, and my stomach felt uneasy. I choose to drive home after Auditing, take a nap, and then choose whether to attend Advanced Accounting.

I choose to skip Advanced Accounting. I email a classmate to check if I missed anything. It appeared I have the stomach flu. Almost all of my sicknesses are either a sinus infection or the stomach flu.

The Personal Side Of Me Finding Raymond Mar

Sunday, April 03, 2011

Me Versus My Sinus Infection

The month of March I battled a sinus infection. I want to document the days I got infected and how I treated myself. I continue to fight my sinus infection as of the time I posted the blog. This sinus infection is one of the worse I can remember. I document the events by date:

February 2011. I experienced many days of fatigue. I took many naps in the afternoon. There were days I fought fatigue by avoiding afternoon naps or sleeping early and skipping homework.

Mon Feb 28 to Sat March 5. Sickness developed. I felt really tired on Sat Mar 5. I should have went home after an event in the afternoon. I took NyQuil and drank Whole Foods orange juice in the evening.

Fri Mar 4. Purchased Trader Joe’s orange juice and milk chocolate.

Sun Mar 6. Cough developed.

Mon Mar 7 to Fri Mar 11. Full sickness. I had trouble sleeping most of the week. I skipped my De Anza classes.

Mon Mar 7. Stopped taking NyQuil and DayQuil.

Tue Mar 8. Sickness got worse. I forgot to drink water. I applied Visine because I had red watery eyes.

Wed Mar 9. Took 1,000mg vitamin C, drank more coke, drank green tea, and drank 100% ocean spray cranberry/pomegranate juice once. I resumed drinking water. I applied Visine again because I had red watery eyes. I coughed mucus that included blood. The mucus cough went away at night time.

Thur Mar 10. Stopped drinking green tea. Drank more coke. Best night sleep of the week.

Fri Mar 11. Got worse. I got a bump below my right ear and above my jaw line. I researched online. Some websites stated my lymph node was swollen because it fought a foreign substance. My guess was I ate a piece of sausage partially cooked. The sausage looked cooked from the outside. I took a few bites and my bump appeared immediately. I made the choice to visit my doctor on Saturday. He has office hours in the morning all Saturdays except the last Saturday of the month.

Sat Mar 12. My doctor was closed on Saturday. I went to the San Jose Medical Center Urgent Care. The doctor diagnosed me I had a sinus infection. He prescribed me an anti-biotic. He also told me to take Mucinix D and use a saline solution.

I went to Costco to purchase my anti-biotic and a three pack of saline solution in aerosol cans.

Sat Mar 12 to Fri Mar 18. Significant improvement. I slept well all days. My cough was in control. I attended classes. I returned the saline solution to Costco because my second can failed to spray the solution up my nose. I used a squeeze bottle solution my dad had for a total of 5-7 times throughout the week. The last two times I used plain warm water.

Mon Mar 21. Post nasal drip acted up again. My guess was the cold temperatures when I was out of the house on Fri Mar 18 and Sun Mar 20 affected me. I was sensitive to the cold. I’m sensitive to hot weather when I’m healthy.

Tue Mar 22. I visited my primary care physician. He prescribed me five extra days of anti-biotic, codeine, and Nasonex. My doctor said the doctor at the urgent care center prescribed me a “powerful” anti-biotic. My doctor said sinus infection takes a long time to recover. I don’t have bronchitis.

I went to Costco to get codeine and Nasonex. I took codeine and Nasonex before I went to sleep. I went to sleep hours later.

Wed Mar 23. I chewed gum to help control my cough in the afternoon. The gum failed to control my cough when I went to bed. I started to drink warm water. I took codeine and Nasonex before I went to sleep. The cough was the worse when I was lying in bed trying to sleep.

Thur Mar 24. I stopped taking codeine. I continued Nasonex and drank warm water.

Fri Mar 25. I turned on the heater in the house to 62 degrees in the morning. I never turn on the heat in the mornings. I wore a heavier jacket and a scarf to keep warm when I’m outdoors.

Sat Mar 26. I stopped taking all medications. I started to drink Trader Joe’s hot cocoa. I continued drinking green tea and took 1,000mg of vitamin C.

Mon Mar 28. I went back to the gym for a light workout. I was still cold sensitive.

Tue Mar 29. I started my stretches before I workout at the gym. No gym, just stretches. I did 75 sit-ups.

Wed Mar 30. I slept late because I drank tea late. I coughed a lot; however, the coughing stopped immediately when I slept with blankets. I continued drinking warm water and Coke when I ate lunch and dinner.

Thur Mar 31. I stopped drinking Coke. Today was unseasonably warm. I was still cold sensitive such that the morning and the evening I wore long sleeve shirt and pants. I coughed when I wore short sleeve shirt and shorts. I went to the gym for a light workout. I coughed a little. I felt mucus dripping down my throat causing mild irritation. I was able to sleep regardless.

Fri Apr 1. I took 500mg of vitamin C instead of 1,000mg. Coughing and mucus dripping down my throat continued infrequently. Weather was unseasonably warm I brought warmer clothes in case I get cold when I’m out of the house.

Currently. Mild cough and mucus dripping down my throat continues infrequently. I have two or three major coughs lasting at least five seconds. The mucus drippings are good because mucus is moving the foreign substances away from my body. It’s treating me from my sinus infection. I can still sleep. I drink plenty of water. I maintain my thinking I’m cold sensitive.

Q&A

I ask myself questions to understand and to prepare myself the next time I have a sinus infection.

What is Respiratory Syncytial Virus or RSV? I blogged RSV in March 2008. March 2008 was the last time I had to visit the doctor for a sinus infection. I heard about RSV in the news. Now that I think about it, I have RSV which is my sinus infection. My recovery took me weeks three years ago. The same is happening now. There is no cure. I had to battle and tough it out gradually going back to my normal routine just like what I’m doing now.

What was your treatment if you didn’t need anti-biotics from a doctor? I took 1,000mg of vitamin C, drank green tea, ate Trader Joe’s chocolate because it controlled my cough, drank Simply Orange, ate lots of fruit, took Ricola to control my cough or Chloraseptic throat lozenges to relief itchy throat when I slept, and drank Coke.

Ricola stopped working after the next sickness. I suspected store bought orange juice I drank this time contributed to making my sickness worse. I avoid drinking store bought orange juice for the rest of my life.

My personal treatment worked in 2009 and 2010.

What sickness do you usually get? Stomach flu or coughing with post nasal drip sinus infection or not.

Why do you blog your sinus infection? I want to reference how I recovered my sinus infection or RSV and share to everyone how I recovered.

There were days you showed improvement. Then you got worse. What do you think happened? I ate partially cooked sausage on Fri Mar 11 which I think gave me an infection that lead to a sinus infection. I failed to keep warm that happened on Fri Mar 18 and Sun Mar 20 which I think gave me the RSV. It was a double whammy.

Could you have prevented the sickness? Take naps when I was tired. Eat when I’m hungry. I remember my family and I visited Monterey. I ate little during the one day trip and I got sick days later. The symptoms were the same as my sinus infection; fortunately, my personal treatment was enough for a full recovery.

My eat when I’m hungry attitude saved my Fall ’10 quarter. I ate lots of Pop Tarts and candy bars. I believed I managed to avoid getting sick despite eating all that junk food.

Sleep off the fatigue instead of fight it.

I believe another contributing factor was my personal haircut lady at my salon. She was sneezing and had a stuffy nose when she cut my hair.

What could you have done differently? The sleepless nights coughing should have told me my sickness was serious and I needed a doctor to examine me. The doctor might need to prescribed me prescription drugs.

The Personal Side Of Me Finding Raymond Mar

Saturday, April 02, 2011

The Bad March Was Back

The month of March has been bad months in my life. I don’t know why. Anything unfortunate beyond my control and bad luck have taken place in March. I can’t remember any specific incidents or moments. March has been depressing months.

I thought I broke bad month March in 2009 and 2010. Those years were good March months. March 2009 should not count to be honest because I neither worked nor went to school. I lost my job in November 2008. March 2010 actually broke the long streak. The last week of March 2010 reassured a good March because it was my spring vacation when I hiked at Pinnacles National Park and Point Lobos State Park for the first time.

Bad month March came back in 2011. On February 27, I took a monthly calendar and wrote my tests, finals, and appointments. There was too much going on it was stressful. Further, I got sick on Sunday March 6. I had trouble sleeping from Tuesday March 8 to Friday March 11. I went to an urgent care clinic on Saturday March 12. My primary care physician closed his office on Saturday. He used to be open on Saturdays. I was diagnosed with a sinus infection. I had to see him again on Tuesday March 22 because my infection got worse on Sunday March 20. The last week of March my health improved. The last time I got a sinus infection was in March 2008, the last time I saw my primary care physician.

There were positive moments. I ate lunch or dinner at new restaurants. I watched classic movies such as A Streetcar Named Desire, King Kong, and Singin’ In The Rain. And I purchased a new San Francisco Giants baseball cap.

I’m looking forward to April and the rest of 2011. I want to make 2011 another good year with new experiences, new adventures, meeting new friends, and learning new things.

The Personal Side Of Me Finding Raymond Mar