Work Dec 30, 2013

There was no full day kickback on Mon Dec 23. The first two hours were boring. The rest of the day was busy. The owner purchased Chinese food.

I learned more history about the company. The store opened for the first time on June 2009 at another location.

I wished my commute was easy on Tue Dec 24. I stopped at one red light on my final leg after the freeway. I was reminded when I worked at Cisco. I commuted on the expressway such that my morning commute I could drive through green lighted intersections between my entrance and my exit. Tue Dec 24 was also the first time I ate breakfast on the road. I purchased bagels at Safeway.

The store closed at 4pm for Christmas Eve. I clocked out at 4:43pm because pricing must be completed.

My attitude working on Thur Dec 26 was be professional. There were people who worked the day after Christmas. I didn't feel good the entire day. I felt bloated and I had gas such that I gained weight. I went to the bathroom multiple times. I didn't eat lunch. I requested my manager to clock out early because I felt worse.

My choice going home early was a good choice. I threw up minutes after I arrived home. I got the stomach flu. It was the first time I got sick since Nov 2012. I called in sick for Fri Dec 27.

I worked on Sat Dec 28 because of Christmas Day. There was chaos and stress throughout the store; for instance, an in-store event for invited guests only. Nobody took their lunch break. I ate my light lunch on my desk catching up what I missed on my sick day.

I went to the second store located in Los Gatos, CA for another invited only event on Sun Dec 29. There was confusion and workers untrained. The untrained workers included me. Everyone did their best. I was supposed to be at the Los Gatos location for 30 minutes. I ended up staying for 1.5 hours. It was good experience to see how the opening event went.

It was another easy commute today as the holiday continues. My feelings were I wanted to be alone; however, I'm not alone. There was something inside me that wants to reset my entire life. I didn't want to reflect my life. I didn't want to think about 2013. I wanted nobody else present. The last time I experienced wanting to be alone was in Dec 2004. Interesting and unusual. Further, these personal feelings have been experienced driving to and from work.

The store is closed on New Year's Day. I asked my manager earlier today. I'm scheduled to work Sat Jan 4, 2014.

Why Do I Write Blogs?

The answer is simple. Writing blogs saves me. My written communication is better than my verbal communication. I write my feelings, my thoughts, my opinions, my experiences, my mistakes, and my life observations. I believe I go crazy and insane without expressing myself. Sometimes I feel better sharing myself to the world in writing instead of sharing with people. I'm happy when a small amount of people read my blogs even though they are a few.

Writing blogs keeps my writing skills sharp. Writing is an important skill in life from professional to personal. I don't have a boring life. There is always something to blog. I'm grateful. I don't take an unboring life for granted. I'm neither an author, an English major, nor an editor. I believe I have good writing skills.

My indefinite goals writing blogs are recording the history of my life as I continue getting better, sharing my accomplishments and my failures, being honest, and making sure I live life to the best of my ability. Thank you for reading my blogs. I've been blogging since Aug 2005. I hope I satisfy your time. And I hope I convince the world I'm doing the best I can.

Top Ten Life Ironies

Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you
When you think everything's okay and everything's going right
And life has a funny way of helping you out when
You think everything's gone wrong and everything blows up
In your face --"Ironic" by Alanis Morissette

I remember listening to an Alanis Morissette song going home from college. I purchased her Jagged Little Pill CD the next day. One of my college friends described life as being ironic. He had a point. Life can be and is ironic. Everyone experience irony for better or for worse and for good or for bad. There are opposite moments beyond our control that just happens. It's life.

My current job is a good example. My company is in the wine, beer, and sake business. I never drank any alcoholic beverage in my entire life before being hired. How ironic. I drank my first wine on my second day of work. Here are my top ten ironies:

10. Less than ten ironies. I need to live more life. I thought of nine ironic moments in my life to make the top ten.

9. Curry food. I like to eat Japanese curry. I don't like to eat Indian curry.

8. I can't float. I took swimming classes when I was a kid. I could swim. I couldn't float because my body has a buoyancy flaw. 10% of human beings can't float.

7. One or two events made or broke a calendar year. 2004 was a good year except for Fanime Con and Anime Expo anime conventions. I had a bad time at those conventions. 2007 was a bad year except for getting a job at Cisco and purchasing my first car.

6. Thank you (insert blank) for an A at the following college classes. I never thought what I knew before taking the class significantly helped me get an A. I took piano lessons when I was a child that helped me earned an A in Music 10B. My Math 30 Calculus helped me get an A in Economics 103 Mathematical Methods for Economics. My work experience with Excel and Accounting 86 helped me earned a B in the midterm for Accounting 88. Most of the students failed the midterm.

5. Back to work at Blockbuster Video. I quit my part time job at Blockbuster at the beginning of the Fall Semester 1996. I needed money. I went back to Blockbuster in Nov. I worked for one entire year before quitting permanently in Nov 2007.

4. Cold person guy. I have great tolerance for cold weather and cold temperatures. Natural outdoor air blowing inside is okay. I can't stay under an indoor draft from an air conditioning system. I get sick.

3. Retiring from my favorite hobbies. My favorite hobbies are supposed to make me happy. I realized I'm happier after retiring from most of my favorite hobbies. They included baseball cards, role playing games, anime, and video games.

2. Fiction books and non-fiction books. I read non-fiction books to improve my life. The books included self-help and leadership. Reading fiction books was once in a blue moon. I started reading fiction books regularly in Oct 2008. I have learned more about life reading fiction books than non-fiction. I read about 75% fiction and 25% non-fiction.

1. The classic music. I hated anything music classics for a long time. I slowly became interested in the classics starting with classical music in 1998, classic rock in 2004, and classic jazz in 2008.

Work Dec 21, 2013

Everyone started late on Mon Dec 9. I drove a new route to work avoiding bottleneck traffic on the second highway, fewer signal lights, and more city driving. I was informed a co-worker found a full time job back where she grew up. She was at the company for two weeks.

The commute is different every day. Something different happens such as accidents. An accident on a freeway changes my commute time because other drivers took alternate routes. Signal lights are another example because a string of green lights or red lights makes a difference. The minutes waiting for a red light or the minutes save driving pass an intersection on a green light adds up.

I had a mild stomach ache on Wed Dec 11. I felt better after the morning. I learned from another worker the office was supposed to be an office for the owner with no inventory. There is too much inventory today. The entire day was stressful. The back-end employees felt the stress from the front-end employees.

I worked at the front end for the first time on Thur Dec 12. I answered calls. I need more training learning the POS system and handling various situations from the customers. I was really tired last night. I experienced fatigue. Sometimes the best way to learn is intentionally make mistakes because my manager sometimes teaches me confusingly. I talked to the other manager for five minutes at the break room. We talked about Starbucks, food, stress, and board games.

I worked on Sat Dec 14 because we were shorthanded. I updated prices and audited inventory for the new store opening on Mon Dec 23.

The best commute happened on Mon Dec 16. No traffic accidents throughout the South Bay. I realized I make every effort to avoid fatigue on Thur Dec 12 to the best of my ability going forward. If I have to buy dinner, I buy it. If I need extra sleep, I go to bed early. No more B.S. frustrations. Be proactive to stay focused and stay energized.

The fatigue continued on Tue Dec 17. I had a headache and neck pains. The holiday rush and holiday stress made them worse. The rest of the week was rest, rest, and more rest. I recovered from my headache on Wed Dec 18. The neck pain disappeared on Thur Dec 19.

There was a meeting for all employees who are employed at the second store on Wed Dec 18. I'm employed at the second store even though I work at the first store. I wasted 1.5 hours on a conference call phone. There was nothing worth noting. I felt stiff. I experienced lack of physical activity. I plan to go back to the gym starting Sat Dec 21. I continued resting.

Thur Dec 19 was a calm day except for the last 1.5 hours of my shift. My manager was behind in shipping. I helped him by packing products inside boxes and applying the labels on top of the boxes. My manager said corporate or business purchasing our products tripled in 2013 compared to 2012.

Fri Dec 20 was my one month anniversary. I thought I could drive more freeway and less city because it was a Friday before Christmas. I checked the traffic report before leaving the house. No accidents. I was wrong. There was a backup on the onramp to my second freeway. I said to myself, "What the heck is going on?" The traffic report said an accident just happened. Thank goodness I avoided the onramp. I never drive on the rightmost lane to enter the onramp ever again.

The entire morning I priced products. My manager gave me a new wireless mouse. I was almost caught up at the end of the day. There's next week.

Welcome My HTC One Phone

My first pics from my new smart phone I acquired on Aug 2013. Enjoy!

Work Dec 8, 2013

Last week was my first Mon to Fri work week and my second five day work week. I worked Sat Nov 30 to make up for Thanksgiving Day on Thur Nov 28. The adjustment to working full time continues. I have been getting between six to seven hours of sleep a night which includes weekends.

There were two traffic accidents. The first was on Fri Nov 29 I forgot to mention. The second was on Mon Dec 2. I was late to work as a result. Some of the employees arrived late because of accidents. It appeared management has an understanding such that other people could cover when the store opens.

Speaking of covering shifts, one of our full time workers was sick. We were short handed on Wed Dec 4 and Thur Dec 5. I received inventory at the receiving area on Fri Dec 6. It was my second time accepting boxes from the distributors and vendors. The full time warehouse clerk gave me suggestions on pushing and turning the dolly.

There was stress inside the building on Wed. I felt it from the other co-workers and management. Everyone was stressed. I was the last person to stress out. I found an error in one product. The error was a couple of employees sold a product without getting it priced from the owner. Holiday stress.

I priced inventory and entered new inventory in the database 95% of the work week. The other 5% was preparing the webpage for the opening of the second store. Researching and finding information were time consuming because there are multiple sources for information and I work on a laptop. The 15.4 inch screen made work much longer. Fortunately, I created templates on Excel and Word to make researching more efficient.

Some of the male employees their wives are the breadwinners in their residence. Interesting. It was the first time I met men who were mostly dependent on their woman.

There were moments I felt lonely. It was a lonely feeling such that months or years later all my friends want to end my friendship and I'm not going to meet new people. Feeling lonely sucks.

My manager commented the store needs more fun. It reminded me of my first job after college. My manager at my first job commented on the office being too quiet. I wish I knew how to promote fun in a workplace. If I knew how, then I have a different profession.

The latest Google Maps app update included entering my home address and my work address. I checked my commute when I eat breakfast. The Google Maps included multiple routes and estimated times.

The second store opening day is scheduled for Fri Dec 20. The permits and licenses are approved. I'm looking forward to work in Los Gatos soon. The commute is shorter.

The lighter side of the work week was new "Employees Only" signs for the back area instead of a piece of white paper with "Employees Only" written in black marker. It looked more professional.

Finally, the U.S. Labor Department released the latest unemployment report. 203,000 jobs were added in Nov and the unemployment rate dropped from 7.3% to 7.0%. The rate is the lowest in five years. The job market is still weak.

1996

The year was 1996. It was a good year. I was a junior at San Jose State University. I changed majors from Mathematics to Economics in the Fall Semester 1995. On the one hand, the change of major started my rise to the best semesters and best life as a college student. On the other hand, I failed to realize I was learning life lessons outside the textbooks and outside the classrooms. I continued to act like a sixteen year old high school student. The lessons were there. The experiences were there. I failed to learn from them.

The good life was given to me on a silver platter. I took everything for granted. What could I have done? I was naive. I still had the wisdom of a high school student.

Let's take a look at my top moments with feedback. Today's blog is an example to learn from the past to prevent repeating the mistakes for the future.

I started the Spring Semester in a good and bad way. One of my required Economic classes was cancelled last minute. I added Mathematical Methods for Economics to replace the cancelled class on the first day of instruction. I just found the class that worked with my class schedule. The class involved calculus which I learned from my lower division math classes. I earned an easy A.

The three other classes I enrolled were Religion In America, Economic Statistics, and Modern Geometry. My moment in Religion In America was I crammed on the day of the final. The final was during the evening. I woke up early, drove to school, and crammed everything in the library. My final grade was a B+. I called that final "The Miracle Final". The professor who taught Economic Statistics was a good professor. I heard rumors he was a terrible professor. My grade proved otherwise which was an A-.

The best life lesson I failed to learn happened in my Modern Geometry class. The class was the first time I experienced a person after high school who disliked me. The person was the professor. He had a conflict against me. The professor didn't hate me. He wasn't out to get me. It was a relationship where there was no connection. It was minimal respect, at best, between a professor and a student. Nothing more. Nothing special. The lesson I should had learned was some people can't get along with others. There were people who don't like me for whatever reason.

For instance, all students gave a 15 minute presentation. My presentation was one of the best. I knew my material and I communicated well. My presentation grade was a C. There were some students who did worse than me. They earned higher grades. My final grade was a C+.

The semester was my final semester as a math tutor. All of the tutors moved furniture around the old Mathematics & Computer Science office which was the new location for math tutoring. The department office moved upstairs. The pay was a little bit above minimal wage. It was easy money because very few students asked for help.

My summer was very active. I started working at Blockbuster Video. It was my first retail job. I got the job because the store manager went to my high school. Working in retail was a great experience for better and for worse. I learned a lot about human relations I didn't learn in school from a customer and from a coworker points of view. I also learned there are many types of people observing all the customers. Some customers were friendly. Some customers were understanding. Some customers were rude. Some customers were irrational. And there were a few with short tempers. I always thought I never experience weird, crazy, and moronic people. I was wrong. I encountered many different types of people.

My Blockbuster Video store was pro-employee. If an employee had a problem, then management fixed it quickly. On the contrary, I heard stories from my friends today their management didn't care in their retail jobs. My friends were surprised when I tell them my positive retail stories. My retail experience was rare. Employees were treated terrible and management didn't care in most retail stores.

Furthermore, all Blockbuster Video stores were managed differently. One might think all the stores were the same such as New Releases at the back of the store and food in front of the cashier. Every store I substituted when shorthanded was managed differently; for example, closing procedures, cash drops, and priorities when helping customers.

I was introduced to new hobbies during the summer. I became a Japanese anime fan. I was hooked on Sailor Moon. I woke up hearing Sailor Moon on TV in the afternoon because I had a closing shift the night before. And I started rollerblading. I purchased a pair of rollerblades, wrist guards, knee pads, and elbow pads at Big 5. I wore my bike helmet.

Japanese anime and rollerblading were my new hobbies and interests throughout the 1990s. (Gym was the third hobby that happened in 1999.) Board games, reading fiction books, hiking, ballroom dancing, and much more new interests and hobbies started happening in the late 2000s. I failed to learn that living a good life involved seeking new adventures and experiencing new experiences. Japanese anime and rollerblading were two great examples.

I quit my Blockbuster Video summer job to focus on my Fall Semester. Best semester ever. My classes were Macroeconomic Analysis, Writing Workshop for Economists, Human Sexuality, and Environmental Economic & Policy. All four classes were taken continuously on Tues and Thurs. There were no breaks. I had a natural four day weekend. Thanksgiving holiday was the best since I had no school on Wed before Thanksgiving and the following Mon.

I called the professor who taught Macroeconomic Analysis "The Marine". He was a person with a strong upper body, buzz cut haircut, and a firm voice. Open book and open note exams graded on a curve. My Writing Workshop for Economists professor taught me how to write. All my English professors failed to teach me. Human Sexuality class was kickback easy. We finished early for some classes. I used the free time to play the shooting video game Area 51 with an art major in the Student Union arcade. It was a miracle I stayed awake during Environmental Economic & Policy class. I earned a B+ on Macroeconomic Analysis and an A- on the other three classes.

I should have introduced myself with the art major. We could have been friends. Another lesson I failed to learn. Always meet new people and make new friends.

I went back to Blockbuster Video after Halloween because I needed income. The store manager agreed to my requested part-time schedule since I was a full time student. Blockbuster was more fun during the Christmas holiday compared to the summer. One reason was I met new coworkers who were more sociable. We were on the same level working in retail providing customer service to every type of behavior from friendly to rude. We watched each other's back well. Another reason was great movies to rent from the summer blockbusters including Independence Day, Mission: Impossible, Twister, and The Rock.

Other events that happened include my first Animerica anime magazine purchase; I attended Slug-A-Thon, my first gaming convention; visited Japantown in San Jose for the first time; and purchased Ranma 1/2 VHS tapes on clearance at a closing comic book store. These events were more examples of experiencing new experiences which was a lesson I failed to learn.

Work Dec 2, 2013

I have two concerns outside work. The first is lack of exercise. I have been going to the gym fewer days since I started working. I'm still adjusting to working full time. I fear I lose my physical fitness. My health has been improving for the past two months.

My second concern is lack of eating healthy. I bring healthy and complete lunch meals from home. I fear there is less time and effort to continue preparing healthy lunches and dinners at home. I have less free time to proactively grocery shop.

I forgot to mention I experienced my first accident during my commute on Fri Nov 22. I was 15 minutes late. I started listening to the news radio and checking Google Maps to view the traffic map. I have backup routes to avoid traffic jams.

I started to create templates to update the products on the company's webpage. I continue learning pricing inventory and entering new products into the database. Researching new products for information takes time. I even signed off on a receiving shipment. And I started to update the webpage for our new store.

I have a better understanding of the database each day helping me become more efficient and processing inventory faster. My work habits and strengths from my past jobs are coming back to me. I'm looking forward to be a better worker than my past jobs.

I started to know some of my co-workers. One worker works one day a week and comes to the store one day a month. She worked between March 2012 and August 2013. She found a full time job as an administrative assistant at a restaurant start-up. She came back on Oct 2013 for her Mon work schedule because her full time job is Tue to Sat. Another worker worked for 1.5 years. He told me the company has been on a hiring frenzy because of the new store opening up. He has seen waves of people being hired and people quitting. It's typical retail.

The other workers I know have been on the job from a few days to two months. One person who works the front and back of the store used to be in the restaurant business. He was tired coming home at 2am in the mornings. No more restaurants he said. Another worker with similar job responsibilities as me has an education background similar to our business. And I met a part-time worker married with two kids.

I had to work in the tasting room on my first Mon workday Nov 25. There was no room in the back end of the store. It was terrible because I had a TV size table tray as my work area. Work productivity was slow and inefficient because I had little room to move my mouse. The distractions and noise from the customers were not a problem.

There was a moment the owner gave an assignment later in the day. I was nervous and I sweated. She talked fast I didn't have time writing her instructions down. I must write because I have poor short-term memory. It was like I was her personal secretary.

Thanksgiving was on Thur Nov 28. The store closed. I worked Sat Nov 30 to make up for Thanksgiving Day. I didn't complain. I'm professional. I work in the retail business. I work five days a week.

Inventory must be moved around because of customers wanting products not in the front, fulfilling online orders, and completing phone orders. The workers who get products from the back commonly say "the inventory we need is always on the bottom of the pile".

I brought a mouse from home, hand lotion, and my USB cable to charge my smart phone to improve my working environment. I also listen to music from my smart phone.

I have a better understanding exhausted parents coming home from work. Parenting is tough. Parenting is another job. I have a better understanding their children wants immediate attention from their working parents. It's hard because they must act and put on a smile to keep their children happy. I have a better understanding working dads and moms need time to settle in and let off steam coming home to become parents. We're humans.

Black Friday 2013

My Black Friday was simple. My list included Breaking Bad, a new pair of shoes, $3 DVD movies, and either a Family Guy or The Simpsons DVD box set. I added a wireless mouse and a BD-ROM drive for my gaming PC. The simple Black Friday helped me browse the ads since I avoided stores that didn't sell items on my list.

My purchases were Breaking Bad Seasons 3-5 on DVD, Charlie Brown Holiday Hits CD soundtrack, Dragon Shields Transparent Counters in red color, and an air filter for my car at Amazon. I also purchased The Simpsons Season 10 at Target. And I purchased a new pair of shoes at Spot Skate Shop. I want to thank my dad for purchasing motor oil and a red CFL light bulb during his Black Friday shopping.

There were no $3 DVD movies this year because Amazon's price sorting didn't work. It was frustrating. There were cheap movies on my movie wish list. Browsing Amazon's Black Friday DVD movies took too much time. That's okay. I need to watch all of Breaking Bad.

My BD-ROM drive waits for next year. There were no computer hardware, no clothes, and no foods.

Top Ten Looking Forward To Do

My life is really good because I have a full time job. I'm meeting new people, learning new skills, and filling the missing skills and experiences I lack. My future is looking bright. Life is not on pause anymore. Life is on play and life is on record because I'm experiencing new experiences.

Today's top ten is my first top ten looking forward to my future. I'm fortunate I have good self-awareness such that I realize what I'm missing to live a better life. I want to live the best life. Working and earning income is a start for a brighter future. I continue the good luck and good fortune streak going for a long time. Here are the top ten I'm looking forward to do:

10. Play more board games. I have lots of board games. I have little opportunities playing. I want to create my own opportunities to play board games. Board games bring people together. And I want to organize an all night Mahjong (Riichi) tournament.

9. A new look. I want to wear new glasses that is black in color and thick frames. I have a big head. The glasses need to be wide. And I want a bald Bruce Willis look. No more hair.

8. Cooking delicious food. I want to learn more about cooking good food. I'm looking forward to cook my own tasting meals. I'm looking forward to try cooking new foods I never cooked before.

7. Live in a cleaner residence. Shoes inside the residence is prohibited. No dishes in the sink. No clutter. All the rooms are organized.

6. Influence others. I believe I can help people become better people. I want to influence others to be better. I have good ideas, good suggestions, good opinions, and good knowledge other people can learn from me.

5. Consistent gym workouts. My gym workouts have been inconsistent too long. I value physical activity important for me. I look forward to consistent gym workouts when I complete settling back into a five day work week.

4. More adventures and experiences. My life enters an accelerated and geometric upward rate learning new things. I meet more new people and make more new friends. And, of course, seeking new adventures and experiencing new experiences. Get up and do something, anything.

3. Getting people together. I want to host and/or organize gatherings, hangouts, meet-ups, and get-togethers. Some of my ideas include board games, TV shows and movies marathons, food pot lucks, hiking, intelligence conversations, and candy sampling.

2. Freedom. I want to and I need to move out and live on my own.

1. No holding back. This is it. It's time to world see the real Raymond Mar. There is going to be a moment I'm going to be a champion. And there are going to be more championship moments.

Blogs Coming Soon

My last blog I posted, Work Nov 23, 2013, was my first days at my new job. I found a job at a retail start-up doing data entry and bookkeeping. My work blogs is one type of blog I write frequently. I anticipate the blogs are written when I feel it's worth my reader's time. For instance, work blogs can be written daily, weekly, three days straight, or once every two weeks. It depends.

The second type of blogs coming soon is sharing my experiences job searching. The experiences include past interviews, suggestions from my friends, mistakes, lessons learned, websites I visited, and my opinions. There is a timeline documenting my job searching moments. The reason why I want to share my job searching experiences is to remember how I job searched such that if I have to search for a job again, then I have my experiences blogged. Another reason is to share my job searching experiences so good people looking for a job may learn a lesson or acquire a job searching tip.

Work Nov 23, 2013

I found a job. I'm a data entry/bookkeeper at a retail start-up. My first day was on Wed Nov 20. The job is my first since graduating with an AA degree in Accounting at De Anza College. The job market continues to be tough. The market is still an employer's market. It took me almost two years and five months to find a job.

I blog my work experiences and moments here titled "Work" followed by the posted date. The working blog is written frequently which includes my highlights, lowlights, discoveries, and conflicts. No work place is 100% perfect. I regrettably never blogged my working days at my prior jobs. My first work blog follows:

My first day at work was a long day. All my first days at work were the longest. Even my first day at Blockbuster Video was the longest because I worked overtime putting VHS tapes back on the shelves after Memorial Day weekend.

The training started the first minute clocking in. I met some my co-workers which continued each day. One of the managers is training me in their cloud database. The database is okay. I worked with unfriendly databases in the past. The processes and researching take time to establish a procedure. There is still more to learn.

My body and mind were focused unconsciously to I learn as quickly as I could. I came home exhausted. One concern regarding the working environment is the back end of the store covered up the windows with paper. There are too much inventory boxes such that it's like a maze. I take advantage when the roll up door opens to take a breath of fresh air and to see the outside.

The adjustment continues today as my mind and body change to working full time with weekends off. I had been staying home seven days a week job searching and relaxing as an unemployed worker. I need to establish a routine sleep pattern and adjust my priorities, errands, and leisure time. I need to reschedule my dentist appointment for my routine checkup.

The first three days working gave me a better understanding why some people quit. There were frustrations, confusions, information overloading, and making mistakes. Management is not rushing my training; although, it feels like a cram course. Some people don't want to change their lives. I'm making changes in my life; for example, commuting, fewer hours of sleep, and less personal time. These quitters can't adapt and compromise. Quitters avoid challenges.

The end of each of the three days I felt I wanted to quit. I even questioned myself why I accepted working here. I had doubts whether I made the correct choice working here. I believe most new employees ask themselves the same question. I did when I worked at my first job after graduating San Jose State and at Cisco. Everything went okay weeks later. I believe everything is going to be okay.

Top Ten Favorite Brand Cookies

Cookie Monster was my favorite monster when I was a kid watching Sesame Street. His life philosophy was, "you can never have too much of a good thing!" I agree. I'm fortunate I have great control eating cookies. I never ate an entire bag of cookies in a day. Perhaps, I should experience a life moment eating an entire bag of cookies in a day.

I exclude home baked cookies because anyone can follow a recipe or the directions printed on a cookie mix box. I favorite homemade cookies are chocolate chip, sugar, oatmeal, and vanilla. I dislike raisins and walnuts. Sprinkles are okay. I prefer soft and chewy instead of hard and crunchy.

Narrowing ten cookies was hard. I included discontinued cookies. I cheated combining all animal cookies to number ten and sandwich cookies to number nine. Here are the top ten cookies:

10. Animal Cookies (Various). Circus Animal, Barnum's Animals, Bugs Bunny, and Safeway are the brands I remember eating when I was little. I believe adults can eat animal cookies without embarrassment.

9. All Sandwich Cookies (Various). Oreo, Keebler's E.F. Fudge and Vienna Fingers, Snackwell's Vanilla Sandwich, and Mother's Taffy are good examples, I eat both chocolate and vanilla fillings; however, I prefer vanilla.

8. Bordeaux (Pepperidge Farm). The crunchy cookie has a taste I like to eat slowly. I'm the only person who eats Bordeaux in my family.

7. Major League Baseball Cookies (Mother's). Mother's produced two boxes of the honey graham cookies in the early 1990s. The blue box was the National League baseball teams and the red box was the American League baseball teams. Each graham cookie was the logo of the baseball teams.

6. Sugar Cookies (Mother's). I remember the packaging as I write the list. The sugar cookies hold a special place in my childhood memory because my mom always purchased a package when my brother or I asked.

5. Nilla Wafers (Nabisco). There was a long time period I never ate a Nilla Wafer. I believe my mom didn't buy the wafers because she was afraid I choke when I was a kid. Obviously, Nilla Wafers are in the top ten because it's vanilla.

4. Almost Home (Nabisco). Another childhood cookie memory. The cookies were soft and delicious. I cared for chocolate chip only. Forget the rest.

3. Striped Shortbread (Nabisco). I remember the first time I ate a striped shortbread cookie. The brand was Nabisco. My parents, brother, and I visited an open house home for sale. The sales agent had a plate of cookies next to her papers and business cards. She gave a cookie to me and my brother. I thought it was the most beautiful and most sophisticated cookie ever.

2. Lorna Doone (Nabisco). I also remember the first time I ate Lorna Doone. I was four or five years old visiting my grandparents in Santa Barbara, CA. I entered the kitchen. My grandmother gave me Lorna Doone cookies inside a cookie jar. The look and design of the cookie made me felt like I was living in the 1950s.

1. Milano (Pepperidge Farm). No cookie can top a Milano. I believe everyone in the world ate a Milano in their life. The cookie is strong such that it can't break easily. There's just enough chocolate between the cookies. Milano is simple and eloquent.

I Did It Right

We experience bad days, bad moments, and bad luck. We can't control everything 24 hours a day. We're human. There are times in our lives we experience a downturn. We make the best every day. There's always tomorrow. It's life.

I can't control the economy. I can't control employers and recruiters rejecting my resume. I'm doing my best to find employment. I have been improving my job search to include spending additional time joining a job networking group, learning new job skills, and reviewing my job knowledge. I'm spending more time working out at the gym to improve my health when I'm taking a break from applying for jobs.

I'm happy and fortunate I have good self-awareness. I'm learning from my mistakes. I realize most of my faults and correcting them. I'm stronger, smarter, and wiser. I'm making good choices. I'm not repeating my mistakes. There's going to be more mistakes to correct. There's going to be more faults I realize that must be corrected. I'm not perfect.

I realized how powerful forgiveness affects people. Forgiveness removes hate. I hated the world and my life years ago. I have no more hate. No hate relieves and cleanses a person. I must earn everything I want in my life. I'm responsible for my actions and thoughts. I don't take life for granted. Patience is important. My successes and my dreams are coming soon. They're coming to my life. I believe in myself.

My life is in the present time. I continue to meet new people and make new friends. There are more adventures to seek and new experiences to experience. I never stop learning. I never stop innovating my life. I always be a good person.

I'm happy and grateful for my life as of today. I appreciate the people who helped me become a better person. I'm proud for what I have done from my head to my toes and my physical, mental, and emotional states; in particular, since Oct 4, 2008, the day I realized I must grow up. I have time to think and to reflect what happened throughout my past whether it was good or bad. In the meantime, think, plan, prioritize, and execute my next course of action.

My Final Pics From My Droid X2 Phone

I'm almost done wrapping up summer with these last pics from my first smart phone I owned. The next pics are from my HTC One. Enjoy!

Entering The Summer Months

My last picture at an anime convention. Classic toys from my childhood. A reminder on good marriages. A big android with jelly beans. And more. Enjoy the pics!

I Got This Feeling

I got this feeling that's hard to explain. I explain the best I can. The feeling is very similar to Oct 2008. The feeling is bringing back my gentleman side. I'm attracting people again. I believe in myself. I have faith. I'm finding Raymond Mar again. I remember the strong Raymond Mar. I'm always getting stronger, smarter, kinder, and wiser because I never stop learning and I never stop innovating.

I got this feeling I'm friendly again. No more shutting the door from the world. My sincerity is back. My sincere smile is back. I'm more proactive than ever. I welcome and greet all my friends. I greet friendly people and spread cheer. I small talk the bank teller and cashier. I want to meet more people and make new friends.

I got this feeling of being independent. It's time to stop carrying the weight around my life. It's time to focus and concentrate on me. My time is coming soon. I must prepare and be ready. It's my turn to step in front of the spotlight and shine.

The big question is what happened to all these feelings? These feeling were missing for a long time. My answer is I don't know. All these feelings were forgotten or I turned them off without realization.

I got this feeling of hope. My curses are broken. Everything is going to be okay. I'm a good guy. Good moments are coming.

Two New Daily Life Rules

My daily life rules help me and remind me to be the best person. These daily life rules keep me strong, help me get along with people, and give me confidence.

I looked back at my past blogs. The last time I added a new rule was on Thur May 13, 2010 when I wrote my weekly De Anza College blog. The rule was number 6: Breath with your nose and stand up straight. I'm shocked I didn't create any new rules since. I'm overdue to add more wisdom to my daily life.

I recently discovered my leap of faith on Wed Oct 9 and a personal problem regarding being discrete on Sun Oct 26. These two moments inspired me to add two new daily life rules.

Rule #7 is "Have faith. Believe in yourself". I stopped believing in myself since I finished taking classes at De Anza College. My lack of faith is delaying my life from going forward; for example, my long-term unemployment. I don't know why I stopped believing in myself. My initial answers are I took life for granted and I was overconfident I find a job immediately after I graduated. Rule #7 is self-explanatory. Believe in myself and all my dreams, desires, and goals come true.

Rule #8 is "Let me think. Be discrete". There is a downside to being an open person. I communicate too much information sometimes. There are situations where something doesn't need to be discussed in a conversation. There are some thoughts, ideas, opinions, and events that shouldn't be mentioned. Rule #8 tells me to pause for a few seconds to think before I speak. Saying the words "let me think" is a good pause for me in conversations.

Here are the previous rules:

1. Don't criticize, condemn, and complain, and don't compare with others.
2. Don't act like a jerk or bitch.
3. Always speak calmly and be calm.
4. Don't daydream when driving.
5. Keep your head up high . . . look at their cute face when talking.
6. Breath with your nose and stand up straight.

And here are the updated rules:

1. Don't criticize, condemn, and complain, and don't compare with others.
2. Don't act like a jerk or bitch.
3. Always speak calmly and be calm.
4. Don't daydream when driving.
5. Keep your head up high . . . look at their cute face when talking.
6. Breath with your nose and stand up straight.
7. Have faith. Believe in yourself.
8. Let me think. Be discrete.

The Correct Growing Up Part 2

There was a second growing up moment on Wed Nov 7, 2012. I interviewed for a contract position at Google. I observed the employees were having fun, getting along with each other, and being loose. The lesson I learned was personality. A good personality was important in interacting with people. Positive, cheerful, kindness, and joy were inside the building.

I followed up the next day creating my standard itinerary job searching on weekdays and relaxing on weekends; in other words, business on Mon-Fri and pleasure on Sat-Sun. I was approaching my life to begin another chapter to end playtime and to get serious. I wanted a balance life to find new adventures and experience new experiences taking advantage of being unemployed.

I take the second growing up moment back. I was wrong. The lessons I learned were misunderstood. I made the wrong changes in my life.

My life since Wed Nov 7, 2012 was too much fun and not enough job preparedness. There was pleasure every weekday when I should have delayed pleasure to weekends. I lost my focus on the most important priorities including working out at the gym, job searching, and keeping my job skills refreshed. However, I refreshed my accounting, Crystal Reports, Excel, and Access taking online classes in 2013. They were not enough. I'm still looking for a job. I needed more effort and more focus to learn new skills. I needed to spend more time job searching, improving my resume, and seeking advice.

The bottom line is I took life too lightly. I blew the good personality lesson out of proportion. I lived life with too much fun. There was no balance being serious, professional, relaxing, and loose. Playtime is now over.

What Is Your Growing Up Part 2 Moment?

The answer is multiple moments. The growing up part 2 has been going on since Wed Sept 18 when I reset my priorities. I needed to reorganize my life. My first priorities include job searching, learning or refreshing job skills, going to the gym, and listening to music. Watching TV and reading books are some of my second priorities. My third priorities are watching anime and playing video games; moreover, I'm retiring from anime.

Another growing up moment took place on Wed Oct 9. I discovered my own personal leap of faith. I never believed in myself. I had no faith. I needed to believe for my future successes. I needed faith. I have hope I have a bright future.

I'm correcting my current biggest personal problem I discovered on Sat Oct 26. Sometimes being an open person has adverse effects. I realized there were moments I lacked discretion when I communicated with people. I said too much or said something that was unnecessary. I hope the three words, "let me think", help me pause and think before I speak.

And I created short term goals for the first time since 2008 on Sun Oct 27. The four short term goals are review my job skills, find a job, find a permanent job, and move out of my parent's house. These four goals prove to me and to the world I continue my life journey to work hard and focus to act, behave, and think my age.

There is no end to growing up part 2 soon. There are more self-discoveries and lessons from my mistakes I blog soon. Stay tuned. I feel good and hopeful I'm going to have a good life I'm patiently waiting.

Side note 1: I believe I didn't get the job at Google because I made a mistake completing my background check application. I remember writing incorrect information. It's important to provide accurate references. Contractor companies must be mentioned in resumes and job application because of legal concerns. I knew I did a good job in the interview.

Side note 2: Here are the complete blogs I referenced:

*Reset Priorities

*This Is My Leap Of Faith

*"Let Me Think", A New Social Problem I Must Fix

*My New Short Term Goals

My New Short Term Goals

The title is correct. I have goals. I stopped believing in goals for a long time. The last time I created goals was in 2008. I stopped creating goals in 2009 because I didn't know what I was doing and I didn't know how I wanted to live my future. I have been living the present life one day at a time. I know how I want to live my future. The four short term goals are the following:

1. Relearn and refresh job skills and knowledge. I relearn and refresh SQL, PowerPoint, and Visio since Mon Oct 7. I reviewed my accounting, Excel, Access, Crystal Reports, and business analyst concepts earlier this year.

The first goal also includes learning new job skills. For example, I'm self teaching myself Salesforce because I see Salesforce experience in many analyst positions. I don't know my next skill after I learn Salesforce at the moment. I continue learning new job skills because I'm still looking for a job. I must keep learning to stay competitive.

2. Find a job. I know the hard work focusing on job skills and knowledge from the first goal pays off when I find a job. Most of the jobs I applied are temporary positions or contractor positions. The job market is tough.

I continue to find time improving my job skills when I work. I learn anything new if it's related to my job or not. I choose what I feel is best taking into account my abilities, my strengths, and my future job prospects.

3. Find a permanent job. I have hope the economy strengthens significantly such that more people are working soon. I have hope and faith I find a permanent job to begin another career. The experience from my temporary or contractor job opens doors to new permanent opportunities.

4. Move out. I'm ready to move out of the house. It's time for me to live on my own. It's time to take responsibility for myself and my entire life. I'm going to be 100% independent. Freedom is coming soon.

"Let Me Think", A New Social Problem I Must Fix

Laughing out too loud and laughing out too much were a social problem I corrected earlier this year. I believe I laughed too loud because I have partial tone deaf which I can't control. Another reason I laughed too loud was I wanted to be noticed. I felt ignored. I wanted people to recognize I'm in the room even though I'm bad a telling jokes and making people laugh. I even laughed at stupid jokes that should not have a laughable response.

I'm happy laughing too loud was corrected. I'm calm. I think a few more seconds before reacting to a joke. I listen more carefully. I laugh at an appropriate volume which is laughing quieter than the noise level. I have more control laughing.

My new social problem is being discrete. I'm an open person. I talk about almost anything about my life. I say about 98% of who, what, where, why, and how of Raymond Mar is open when I communicate with many people. The downside to being open is being too open sometimes.

I have a problem saying too much. I have a problem what I'm saying and how I'm saying with no control. I speak quickly because I feel dumb if I don't speak immediately in a conversation. Speaking quickly can be dumb. Errors and lapse statements are the results. I don't think ahead in a conversation. I don't think deeply enough. "Let me think" should be three words I must say more frequently. Pausing in a conversation is better than a too quick response.

I'm not a person who communicates my mind or a person who "always speaks his or her mind" regardless of being good, bad, a criticism, or a complement anytime, anywhere, and anyone. I'm not a person who communicates to create a loud and rowdy argument. I'm not a person who wants to start a confrontation. I'm very good at avoiding a scene publicly or at another person's house. And I'm very good at keeping confidential information and secrets.

I must strengthen my discretion. I must learn to speak more maturely with a trustworthy and a controllable tone. I must learn to choose my words wisely. There are some situations where sharing something is ill-advised. I succeed at learning how to control all my communication aspects in time.

Most Interesting Man In The World Halloween 2013

The latest radio commercial I heard from my local sports station. Jonathan Goldsmith is the actor who portrays The Most Interesting Man In The World for the Dos Equis beer commercials. The narrator is Will Lyman from Frontline.

*Even out of costume, he's still the most mysterious person at the masquerade ball.

*He has successfully grown candy corn.

*His scarecrow also works on tax collectors and traveling salesmen.

*The last time he bobbed for apples, he got a three pound lobster.

*He can also scare the pants back on to you.

*When he watches the cauldron, it boils faster.

*His tricks are also treats.

I'm 39 And I'm Lonely

Blogger's Note: My job activity is stronger in the past 10 days. I have a request for employers and recruiters who found my blog doing my background check. Please read the blog objectively and with an open heart.

I'm a human being. Humans have feelings and desires. Humans are meant to be with other people. Human interaction is important to live a good life. I feel lonely. I fear I live a life with nobody to be a part of. I feel depressed. Today is a good time to use my lonely card.

I see other people having lots of their people in their lives when I'm out of the house. These people have common interests, personalities, and behaviors. These people have close and strong connections everyone in their circles accepts each other. There is tolerance for differences. People enter and leave in our lives. I feel afraid I'm not going to find a group of people with close and strong connections in the years to come.

I do have friends. I'm not alone. I'm experiencing more life changes. I'm experiencing another growing up moment. I'm experiencing new perspectives and new thoughts. I'm losing interest in some of my long term hobbies. I'm getting smarter and wiser. I'm goofing off less and taking life a little bit more seriously.*

I believe I'm too unique to find new people and make new friends. I want to be with people with a balance between being serious and having a sense of fun. I'm not the best joke teller. I have a good sense of humor. I want to meet new people who are active with a sense of new adventures and new experiences. I'm open to do new things. I want to become interested in others. I want to learn something new to improve my life, and I hope other people improve their lives with my influence. I like to be with honest people doing their best. I desire intelligent conversations, sharing feelings, exchanging ideas, expressing thoughts, and open communications. I believe good conversation skills are important for a social life. My favorite hobbies include hiking, playing board games, reading books, ballroom dancing, listening to music, and cooking.

I believe age is just a number. However, age is a factor for today's blog. I believe age is a factor from the viewpoint of behaviors, actions, states of mind, and attitudes. I'm happy there are some people in their 20s who're more mature, wiser, and more responsible than people I know in their 40s. I do my best to relate to people in their 20s. It's getting harder being with people in their 20s. It's harder to live a life like I'm in my 20s. Almost all of my closest friends are in their 20s. I'm afraid they're going to pursue new adventures and experiences I can't be a part of.

Everyone is going to feel depressed, sad, lonely, and despair. Those feelings show we're human. Humans never give up. There is hope. We need to believe. I had experienced these feelings in the past. I found strength and wisdom to overcome. I can do it again. I'm optimistic I find ways to expand my circle of friends. I need to look extra hard and extra smart to continue adding people and friends.

Tomorrow is another day and another opportunity to get better. I'm going to be proactive.

*Side note: I write another blog discussing being more my age in another blog. I realized I goofed off too much in the past year. I had too much fun. I should have taken life a little more seriously.

Top Ten Deals

We have experienced good purchases and bad purchases. We remember those purchases reminding us to take advantage of huge savings and avoiding too expensive prices. I looked back at my purchases. There were lots of good deals.

The best place to find consistent deals is at Daiso, a Japanese store selling most items at $1.50. I purchased light bulbs for $.25, snacks for $1.00, and a mouse pad for $1.50. I even created a Daiso wish list when I move out of the house. Daiso is number eight in my top ten list.

I like to share my top ten deals.

10. Wheat Thins (2009). Safeway sold Wheat Thins for $.99 the week before the Super Bowl. I have never seen $.99 Wheat Thins thereafter.

9. Ramnue (2007). The cashier scanned the wrong bar code. She scanned the individual bottle bar code instead of the six pack bar code. I paid six Ramnue for the price of one.

8. Daiso (Multiple Times). The list is endless buying items at Daiso. 500 toothpicks for $1.50 is a great example. Stationary, cups, electronics, batteries, bare necessities, etc. The quality of some items is not good. Be prepared for disappointment sometimes.

7. Betrayal At The House On The Hill (2007). The first edition board game was out of print because there were too many errors. People were selling the game on eBay for over $100.00. I found the game at a game store unopened and selling at full retail $49.99. I was lucky.

6. Ranma 1/2 Season 1 on VHS (1996). A comic book store was going out of business. The owner sold five of the six VHS tapes in stock for $5 each. The retail price is $30 each.

5. Anime Expo '99 (1999). Many sellers in the dealer's room sold goods from 25% to 40%. I purchased two VHS box sets at 40% off and a plushie at 25% off.

4. The Orange Box (2007). Valve released The Orange Box which contains five video games for the price of one. IGN.com was quoted "The best deal in videogame history" at the time. The video games included Team Fortress 2, Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode 1, Half-Life 2: Episode 2, and Portal. We paid $10 for each game.

3. Black Friday (Multiple Times). I purchased a 2TB Western Digital External hard drive for $75 on Black Friday 2012. There were multiple Black Friday's I purchased $3 DVDs and $10 TV box sets. I purchased a 19" flat panel for $130 on Black Friday 2006.

2. Gas (Dec 2008). The financial and real estate bubble recession that started in late 2008 gave us cheap gas. I paid $1.73 a gallon for gas.

1. Dell Inspiron 8600 (2005). I purchased my first laptop at closeout price. The regular price was over $2000. I paid $1,250.

A Life Reminder From Costco's Pizza

My sister in-law ordered Costco pizzas for her children's birthday party. Her children were born 11 days apart in different years. My parents and I helped her by picking up the pizzas she pre-ordered days ago. We were running late. We didn't check the order.

We should have checked the order. She pre-ordered four pepperoni pizzas and four combination pizzas. We opened the pizzas at the party. We received four pepperoni pizzas and four cheese pizzas. My sister in-law took two of the four boxes of uneaten cheese pizzas back to Costco for a refund.

I believe customers have some responsibility to check their orders. Moreover, I believe double checking takeout orders, final presentation preparations, safety procedures, etc. are worth the extra time. The next time I see a Costco takeout pizza, I'm reminded to double check. We're human. We make mistakes.

This Is My Leap Of Faith

Wikipedia defines Leap of Faith as, in its most commonly used meaning, is the act of believing in or accepting something intangible or unprovable, or without empirical evidence. It is an act commonly associated with religious belief as many religions consider faith to be an essential element of piety. Here's the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_of_faith

I wrote a blog yesterday at my personal blog Finding Raymond Mar titled "Fear". I shared my four fears. I realized I discovered something that was missing in my life since 2007. I rediscovered faith. My Leap Of Faith is faith itself.

One common theme I blog is getting better and never stop innovating--innovate infinitely. Change with a purpose or a reason. I have been a better person. I'm getting stronger, wiser, and smarter. I have been experiencing new experiences and seeking new adventures. I meet lots of new people and make new friends. I never stop learning. I'm responsible for my actions. I earn my successes.

The paragraph above is a good description for people who need to know how to be a mature and a good person. It summarizes and gets to the point he or she must grow up to be a good person. There are millions of people who acts and behaves immaturely. Unfortunately, I missed an important attribute to be a good person and succeed at everything. The attribute is faith.

I didn't have faith. I couldn't explain how and why faith was missing in my daily life. I didn't believe in myself. Faith is back in my life. I convince myself I believe I find a job soon. I believe I move out of my parent's house and start a new life soon. I believe life is going to be much, much better soon. I'm going to focus and prepare to start a new career today. I already revised my resume on Mon Oct 7. The next few days I start reviewing SQL and learning Salesforce. I have faith I earn my successes.

Also Hope

Hope was a feeling I lacked during my job search. I do my best and I hope for the best starting today. I have more respect and appreciation for hope. Hope gives me additional motivation to find a job, move out, and begin a new life. Hope is giving me strength. I think about hope when I press send to submit my resume to a job opening.

I looked at my 2013 blogs. I mentioned "hope" nine times before my "This Is My Leap Of Faith" entry. One of the instances was the title of a blog for which I never mentioned "hope" in the text. I had been feeling unhopeful. I have hope now.

Faith. Hope. Believe. I feel better.

Pictures In May

May these pics inspired you in something. Enjoy!

Five Years Ago Today I Grew Up

Today is the five year anniversary I realized I must grow up. An immediate sigh of relief happened. I felt loose. I felt relaxed. All of the hate in my life disappeared. I forgave everything and everyone bad that happened in the past. It was the first time I took responsibility for myself. It was the day I made immediate life changes.

Living a mature life is great. I see a new life perspective. I live a better life with more wisdom, strength, and intelligence. I stopped complaining. I stopped carrying my entire world on my shoulders. I’m responsible for my actions, my thinking, and my relationships. I’m responsible to earn, to learn, to grow, and to innovate. There is no magic pill for success. I must earn my success.

The downside today is I don't have a job. I'm optimistic I find a job soon. The next company I work I avoid repeating the same mistakes at my past jobs. I take more responsibility for my career. I act, behave, and think professionally. I continue to stay active job searching, taking online classes to keep my skills sharp, working out at the gym . . . living my life one day at a time regardless of my unemployment.

The most important lesson I learned is never taking life for granted. My life was handed to me on a silver platter before Oct 4, 2008. Everything went my way. I didn't even try 100%. My life went downhill months before Oct 4, 2008. I didn't know what to do. I was naive. I was lost. I was a wimp.

I started going uphill on Oct 4, 2008. There is no more taking my life for granted. I consider myself lucky I self-discovered growing up. There are millions of people older than me who haven't grown up. They still live a life complaining and hating. They still live a life waiting and praying for something good to happen. They still live a life believing they're immune to bad events and situations. They still life a life believing they're on top of the world, and the world must revolve around them. The immature and naive life is no longer me. Cheers for living as a strong man and a mature adult. The sky's the limit as I continue going upwards.

My First Vblog

I found my first video blog I recorded on Dec 15, 2006. I never recorded another vblog thereafter. I lost interest days later. I posted the video on Youtube yesterday. Feel free to laugh at my hilarity. Enjoy!

Bring Back Emotional Thinking

I realized thinking emotionally was missing in my life. I turned off emotional thinking when I grew up on Sat Oct 4, 2008. I believed emotionally thinking was immature, naive, and an idiot thought process. I know I thought emotionally rarely from time to time. I believe it's time to bring back a part of my past since I'm conscious and fully aware I thought emotionally. I'm getting back to who I was before. I'm bringing back my emotionally thinking for better uses.

My emotional thinking definition is thinking with my feelings. My best examples include happy thoughts, sad moments, cheering people up, acting immature in a mature way, sharing depression, expressing anger, fearing something, crazy timing, being the inner-child young at heart, and being fatigued. Go with the flow with your feelings. Go with the flow with the social atmosphere. There's no logic. There's no wisdom. There's no intelligence. There's no intuition.

One reason I'm bringing back my emotional thinking is that thought process brought out my funny side, my comedian side, and my ability to make other people laugh in my past. Emotional thinking was my stronger side of being funny. I feel stronger and more open I can think emotionally again in any situation with people.

Another reason is saving myself in troubled situations. The common sense is think clearly and smart when in trouble. Avoid emotional thinking in a life or death situation. Avoid emotional thinking when a contract negotiation is falling apart. Emotional thinking is better sometimes. Unfortunately, I don't remember any past situations thinking emotionally saved me. However, I have another thought process option to find a solution the next time I'm in trouble.

Find your emotional thinking from your heart to your brain. Then use both your heart and brain. I believe you have a new perspective on life.

My Professional Dream Work Environment

If I'm an executive responsible for my company's workplace environment, culture, perks, and workspaces, then the following is my dream workplace:

*The Work Facilities. I believe in open workspaces and private offices. Everyone either has private offices or everyone works in open workspaces. There are no cubicles. Demolish the cubicle walls just like Peter Gibbons in the movie "Office Space."

Conference rooms, break rooms, kitchens, network printers, and outside areas should be named with a common theme. For example, one of my past companies named their network printers from Looney Tunes characters. Another example is one of the buildings I worked at named their conference rooms from famous classical music composers.

I want white boards placed randomly for workers to write anything or draw anything. Bulletin boards are used to post pictures, information, and even jokes. I want colors. I want art and paintings. I want indoor plants. The common areas and lounge areas include couches, countertops, and comfy chairs for informal meetings and on-the-fly collaborations.

*Telecommuting. I support telecommuting under certain conditions. Some of the conditions include sick children, unreliable transportation, expectant mothers, and family emergencies. I disapprove long-term telecommuting. I'm old school when it comes to worker interaction. Workers must be physically at work or they're not at work.

*Food And Drinks. Free snacks and subsidized meals. The breakfast and lunch meals must be hearty, healthy, and filling. The value must be great for the price the workers pay. A variety of meals each day is important.

Filter water from the faucet or water from the cooler is good. I disapprove bottled water and sodas. Sodas are unhealthy. Brand name coffee is mandatory. I stop buying no-name coffee brands.

*Physical Activity. On-site gyms, basketball courts, volleyball courts, running tracks, bicycle paths, etc. I allow workers to submit their off-site gym memberships for reimbursements as long as the workers prove they check-in at their gyms.

*Innovate Infinitely. Workers are given an allowance to enroll in classes. Take a class in Photoshop. Improve Excel. Learn marketing. Be a better cook.

Never stop learning. Never stop innovating.

*Onsite Services. Child care, auto repairs, bike tune-ups, banking, and dry cleaning. Workers, please submit more ideas.

*Flexible hours. I approve. A worker can't work Monday. He or she can work Saturday instead. No problem.

*I Need A Break. Pool tables, foosball tables, tabletop board games and puzzles, and video games. I establish a Blu-Ray movie of the week on Friday's. I promote off-site activities and gatherings for workers and their families.

My goals are to promote open communicating, provide free flow thinking and collaboration, lower worker's stress, help workers focus more on their work, create a loose and fun environment, and socialize easier. More goals are low complaints, workers getting along with as many other co-workers as possible, and promoting a friendly environment clients and visitors feel welcome. I'm an executive. I must accomplish my goals professionally.

Reset Priorities

I went to bed at 4am today because I finished reading a book on my laptop. The event inspired me to reset my priorities. I fell behind in my weekday priorities. I have been waking up in the late mornings throughout the summer. I want a sleeping schedule as if I work an 8-5 job.

My two goals resetting are consistent weekdays & weekends activities and going to sleep earlier. Here are my three priority tiers:

First Priority

*Job Search. Searching for a job is top priority. I search online using multiple sources. They include Careerbuilder, Monster, Indeed, Dice, and some local companies posting their own jobs.

*Online Classes. There are days I take a break from job searching. I take online classes to keep my job skills and knowledge sharp. Online classes are just as important as job searching.

*Home Care. Cooking, vacuuming the house, washing dishes, laundry, moping, cleaning toilets, and taking out the trash.

*Email. Sending and replying email to my family, friends, and job prospects.

*Errands. I want to spend a couple hours outdoors. I can't stay indoors every morning and afternoon. I visit the bank, shop at grocery stores, fill my car with gas, and mail letters at the post office.

There are indoor errands such as paying bills and organizing my desk.

*Gym. Physical activity is important. I workout in the evenings.

*Social Life. Interacting with people is important. We can't live a lonely life.

*Blog. You're reading my blog. I appreciate it. Writing blogs is another way to keep my job skills sharp. Written communication is important in many careers.

*Music. Music helps me concentrate. I listen to music when I search for a job and when I'm in the kitchen. I listen to classical rock, classical music, classic jazz, and Japanese music.

Second Priority

*Books. I read 75% fiction and 25% non-fiction. Reading relaxes me.

*TV Shows. I watch selected television shows. I'm picky what I watch. I can't and I don't watch TV hours and hours a day. However, I select a Sat or a Sun night for a marathon.

*TV Sports. I separate sports because I don't have cable. If I see a sports game on networking television, it gets a higher priority.

*Board Games. I like board games because it's a way to get people together for an activity. Board game gatherings are important socially and leisurely.

Third Priority

*Anime. I've been an anime fan since 1996. My anime interest is very casual today because of new interests and priorities. I still receive good entertainment value from the series I currently watch. I'm picky what I watch just like TV shows.

*Video Games. I'm a very casual video gamer. I don't make time to play video games. Team Fortress 2 is the only game I played for many hours in 2013.

*TV Sports. I mention sports again because there are some games I can watch. I have better uses for my time sometimes. The best example is a football game blowout.

I Can't Do It

There were quite a few one time activities, events, and requests for help that occupied multiple days in 2013; thereby, falling behind in my priorities. They were selling on Ebay, a family from Los Angeles visiting, helping my family with tech problems, attending Fanime Con, editing costume photos from Fanime, and researching new smart phones.

I'm going to say no to more one time activities, events, and requests for help. I either have no time or no interest. I say yes to emergencies and urgencies obviously. I still find time for new adventures and new experiences. They're fewer in the short-term. I continue to stay loose and have fun. I must find a job to move forward. My life has been on pause or moving in slow motion at best.

SOMT: Transitional Kindergarten

Blogger’s Note: SOMT stands for Sign Of My Times, an occasional blog sharing my thoughts how time changes life from when I was young to today.

My parents enrolled me in kindergarten at the age of five. I was born on August 3, 1974. I started kindergarten in September 1979. I just turned five years old. They didn't delay my enrollment one year later.

My nephew was delayed kindergarten one year and my niece is being delayed kindergarten during the 2013-2014 school year. My brother and his wife made the choice to delay their children. Their school district has a delay kindergarten one year program called Transitional Kindergarten (TK). TK is not pre-school. TK is popular according to my brother. Many of my nephew's friends started TK. They stay together in subsequent grades. The school doesn't separate students to different teachers for their next school year; in other words, my nephew's classmates stay together for each progressing grade.

TK starts early and ends the school day at the same time as grade level students. TK students are assigned homework. Parents are required to be involved. Communication between the teacher and the parents are emphasized. Today's technology makes communicating easier with emails and information posted on the school's website.

I didn't have TK when I was a child. My kindergarten started the same time as all grade levels; however, we went home at noon. I didn't have homework when I was in kindergarten. My homework in my grades 1-3 were memorizing words for spelling tests. Recreational reading was optional. My fourth grade was the first time I experienced homework every school night. The only communication was information printed on official school letterhead the teacher gave us for our parents. There was no telephone tree or automated phone message system.

A Million Dollars Or Your Life

My smart younger brother asked me a question when I was in fourth grade and he was in second grade. The question was the following: "What do you want? A million dollars or your life?" I answered a million dollars. He said how could you spend a million dollars if you didn't have a life. I was speechless.

I realized there is no right or wrong answer being a wiser person today. How can I live a good life without a million dollars? I must have money to support myself. I rather die than live in poverty. On the other hand, living life is more important than a million dollars. There are millions and millions of people who live a good life without experiencing a million dollars. There is more to life than money.

My answer to the question is my life. I have been living a good life today despite being unemployed. Life has been really good because I find the joy everyday and make lemonade out of lemons. I know life is going to be better which starts with finding a job. My job is not going to pay me a million bucks. My life is worth more than a million dollars when my life moves forward again.