Sunday, September 29, 2013

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!


Wednesday, September 25, 2013

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.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

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.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

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.

Monday, September 16, 2013

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.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

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.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

My Favorite Quotes

Here are some of my favorite quotes from movies and TV shows. Enjoy!

One shall stand. One shall fall. --Optimus Prime, Transformers: The Movie


Game Over, Man. Game Over . . . . --Hudson, Aliens


No soup for you! --The Soup Nazi, Seinfeld


All good things must come to an end. --Q, Star Trek: The Next Generation final episode All Good Things . . .


Nothing can happen until you swing the bat. --Haruko Haruhara, Fooly Cooly (FLCL)


Grandpa: Happy Birthday, Bart.
*Bart Opens Gift Full Of Money*
Bart: Thanks, Grandpa.
Marge: Where'd you get all the money?
Grandpa: The government. I didn't earn it. I don't need it. But if they miss one payment, I'll raise hell!
--The Simpsons Halloween Special III Clown Without Pity



It's not that I'm lazy, I just don't care. --Peter Gibbons, Office Space


Earn this, earn it. --Captain John H. Miller, Saving Private Ryan


As you wish. --Westley, The Princess Bride


Frankly My Dear I Don't Give A Damn, --Rhett Butler, Gone With The Wind


Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you? --Benjamin Braddock, The Graduate

Monday, September 09, 2013

Maybe Going Back To College Was Worth It

My Cisco contract was terminated on Nov 2008. I choose to go back to college on Mar 2009. I graduated with an AA degree in Accounting on Mar 2011. I hoped my BS in Economics and AA in Accounting degrees are a good combination to help me find a job when I graduated. I'm still looking for a job as of today.

Going back to college was a second chance in my life. I started college as a weak, naive, and confused person. I ended college as a strong, more mature, and grown up person. Even though I could have searched for a job and hit a jackpot finding employment during the real estate and financial crisis recession, I experienced new experiences, learned life lessons, and sought new adventures in college. These awoke who I really am. Everything changed for the better.

What Happened Back In College?

The best part was meeting new people, making new friends, and meeting my girlfriend. I estimate 20% of my Facebook friends I met in my classes. I add approximately 10% additional friends I met through my college friends. This is an example of how people should always meet new people and make new friends. The circle of friends grows and new circles are created.

I was exposed to new interests and hobbies. I started ballroom dancing, reading fiction books, watching classic movies, and playing Mahjong (Riichi). Ballroom dance class was where I met my girlfriend. I learned more about living a better life reading fiction books than non-fiction books such as self-help and leadership books. I took advantage of the library checking out classic movies on DVD for my personal movie of the week. And I developed more appreciation playing Mahjong and, in general, board games because they bring people together.

There were many new first time adventures. I took a class on ice skating. I visited the Charles M. Schulz museum. I hiked many new trails. I attended the San Jose and Monterey Jazz Festivals. I rode the San Francisco Cable Car for the first time in my life. I watched a San Jose Sharks hockey game inside their arena for the first time. I watched a Paul McCartney concert. I enrolled in another college to take a class. And there were much, much more.

I changed myself physically. My orthodontic treatment was completed. I have a new smile. I completed my Accutane treatment to stop my acne. I followed new gym workout plans I downloaded at Bodybuilding.com. And I wore new clothes. For example, no more plain white t-shirts and pleated pants.

I made daily life changes and improvements. I'm active with social networking such as Facebook and Twitter. I shave with a razor blade instead of an electric razor. I shower with body wash instead of soap. I eat breakfast every day that includes taking vitamins. And I change my bedsheets once a month.

And there were life lessons I learned. Never take life for granted. Always meet new people. Never stop learning. Use it or lose it. Stop complaining about life. Earn your successes. Get up and do something, anything. Take life one day at a time; have fun, learn, and enjoy. Be professional at your job.

I must believe going back to college and creating a gap in my professional resume were worth pausing my life. I must believe I'm going to be a better worker when I start working again. I must believe I'm ready to live on my own as a wiser adult who makes better choices. Time will tell whether going back to college was worth it.

Sunday, September 01, 2013

A Couple Of Two Parts

A posh parking garage and cheaper cookies highlights today's blog post. 10 more pics. Enjoy!