October First Time Not The Only Time

The first times: backpacking in Utah Eastern Standard Time, eating in a five star buffet, playing Mahjong on an automatic table, and entering a haunted house on Halloween. The 49ers playing at Levi’s Stadium was the second time I saw the team played live. It was the third time I played Mahjong (Riichi) in costume, first time during Halloween.





















Email: feedbackininblog@innovateinfinitely.com

Throwback Blog: My Thoughts On Game 7 Of The 2014 World Series

Blogger’s Note: Throwback blogs are blogs from my past. I start posting past blogs reflecting what I wrote. It's like my "A Second Look" blogs for which I give myself feedback.

Today's throwback blog is titled My Thoughts On Game 7 Of The 2014 World Series in Oct 2014. The 2016 baseball season begins on Mon Apr 4. San Francisco Giants fans are hyped for an even year baseball season. I wrote my thoughts the best way Giants fan supported the 2014 team was to believe, to hope for the best, to have faith, and good timing. These also apply to real life today.

The Baltimore Orioles was the last road team to win Game 7 in a best of seven World Series defeating the home team Pittsburg Pirates 4-1 in the 1979 World Series. The 1982 St. Louis Cardinals, 1985 Kansas City Royals, 1986 New York Mets, 1987 and 1991 Minnesota Twins, 1997 Florida Marlins, 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks, 2002 Anaheim Angels, and the 2011 Cardinals won Game 6 and their clinching Game 7 at their home stadium since 1979. The road team Cleveland Indians tied the series 3-3 in Game 6 of the 1997 World Series against the home team Marlins; in other words, the Marlins could have clinched the World Series in six games.

The road team San Francisco Giants were shutout by the home team Royals on Game 6 10-0 yesterday. I have mixed feelings and confused emotions today. There is a sense of urgency. Giants fans want the Giants to win the World Series. We remember past Game 7 World Series; in particular the 2002 World Series when the Giants were up 3-2 in the series against the Angels. History is against the Giants. The best Giants fans do is hope for the best. Stay positive. We believe the Giants change history. Support the team. Giants fans cheer for them. Have faith timing and luck are in favor of the Giants.

The 2014 baseball season ends today. One team wins and another team loses. Tomorrow is back to normal life.

Side note: I remember starting pitcher Josh Beckett of the Florida Marlins pitching Game 6 of the 2003 World Series on three days rest. The road team Marlins clinched the 2003 World Series against the home team New York Yankees. I understand the reason Marlins manager Jack McKeon made the choice to start Beckett because he didn't want to play a game 7.

Email: feedbackininblog@innovateinfinitely.com

My Miracle Is In Progress

I believe in miracles after I write today's blog. I could've been a loser. I could've been socially awkward. I could've been a stereotypical anime fan watching Japanese anime, playing video games, collecting female figurines, playing card games, and reading comic books. I could've not cared about my life. I could've taken life for granted. Keep quiet. Stay away from conflict. Lay low. I let life pass by.

I could've been a loser started in my childhood. I had learning difficulties. My concentration was poor. I daydreamed too much losing focus when the teacher taught lessons. I was a slow reader with poor comprehension. I read a paragraph. My brain didn't process the content. Further, there was little parent involvement. My parents were overprotective shielding me from life's bad times. My parents avoided serious discussions. My parents ignored my problems hoping they disappear. My childhood was too much fun. I watched too much television. Ironically, my too much fun involved a small amount of friends. One of the reasons most people avoided me was my weirdness. The bottom line was my childhood development was slow. It wasn't my fault to be honest.

Catching up what I missed in my childhood and my 20s started on Sat Oct 4, 2008. It was time to grow up. It was time to correct my mistakes. It was time for forgiveness. It was time to take charge. I became responsible for myself. The changes were immediate. I started reading fiction books for which I learned more about life compared to nonfiction books such as self-help. I visited my friend in Washington for our Washington Canada 2008 vacation which was a perfect timing distraction. I built my own PC. I purchased new clothes and a new mattress. I improved my workouts at the gym. I took advantage of the Great Recession going back to college to experience the college life I missed the first time. I made new friends. I found new hobbies such as Mahjong, hiking, and ballroom dancing. My life philosophy is, "Get up a do something, anything." Seek new adventures. Experience new experiences.

I'm working intelligently hard to be independent. I feel the miracle is completed soon. I'm going to be a professional mature adult. I'm learning new job skills such as VBA, Python, and Oracle. I'm reviewing existing job skills such as Excel, SQL, and PowerPoint. I workout at the gym four or five days a week. I pace myself. My five senses are aware for anything new. I'm open to try anything new.

It's All In The Brain

I believe when I was young my brain lacked growth. There was little stimulation at home which explained another reason I had learning problems. I'm fortunate. I'm lucky. My brain is growing to continue catching up what I missed. My working intelligently hard is growing my brain. I'm getting stronger. I'm staying physically fit. I'm watching my finances ready to spend when I reach independence. I'm a calm person. I sleep eight hours a night. Use the brain or lose the brain.

A coward statement is the following: our body from top to bottom, inside and outside is what our body is. We can't change our body. Everything is in the genes. I call bull-crap. We can change our bodies. We can change our attitudes. We can change our life paths.

I could've been a below average intelligent person working in retail. I could've been living in my parent's house in my 40s and 50s. Easily doable. Not going to happen. My rewards are earned soon. Be patient. The miracle is completed soon.

Email: feedbackininblog@innovateinfinitely.com

40 For 40: My Dot Com Stock Bust Story

Introduction: I start a new blog series titled "40 For 40." I share moments and experiences I lived in my 40 years. The ESPN 30 For 30 inspired me to create my 40 For 40 blogs. The sport documentary series detailed people, sport teams, moments, events, and controversial situations. The same ideas apply to my 40 For 40.

My fifth 40 For 40 blog is one of my memories during the economic dot com boom.

My first investment education was at San Jose State University. Principles Of Investment was a required Economics class. The professor taught us investments including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and metals. We also learned the investment principles from the book "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" by Burton Malkiel. And we learned the buy and hold stock investment method.

One of my first purchases when I started working full time was buying stocks. My first stock I purchased was my company's stock via my company's stock purchasing program in 1998. I opened my online stock account in 1999. I bought stocks from startups dot com to blue chips. Some of the companies included Starbucks, Ask Jeeves, Abgenix, barnesandnoble.com, Disney, Broadcom, Cisco, and Wal-Mart. I doubled my money. All my stocks went up regardless of their quarterly financial reports. All my dot com stocks went up. I was happy. Everyone was happy everyone made money on the stock market--on paper of course.

I lost everything beginning in March 2000. The stock market crashed. I didn't sell any of my stocks. I continued believing in the buy and hold method. I lost more money the longer I hold. Bad move. I sold my entire portfolio for tax write-offs. I should have followed the common investment advice buy low and sell high.

A co-worker told me to sell when the NASDAQ reached 5,000 for the first time. He listened to an investment advisor on a radio interview. He said the stock market reached the peak. I should have taken my doubled money and run. Paying the capital gains tax was lower than losing my entire stock portfolio value.

I read two investment books written by Peter Lynch in 2003 and 2004. They were "One Up On Wall Street" and "Beating The Street". I learned research is important when considering buying stocks. I purchased three stocks in 2005. They were Toll Brothers, Florida Rock, and Patriot Coal. I sold Toll Brothers and Florida Rock at losses in 2007.

To Be Honest

I own a small portfolio of stocks today. I choose not to disclose my stock portfolio and not to disclose my stock wish list. The reason is I follow an out of the ordinary stock strategy. My stock buying plan and selling plan are unorthodox. I learned my stock investment lessons in 1999-2000. I don't want to be sued if someone loses money following my advice. I'm not a certified financial planner. I'm not a licensed stock broker. However, I agree with Peter Lynch regarding advice from the stock professionals. His advice is don't listen to them.

Email: feedbackininblog@innovateinfinitely.com

Life Lessons Learned Playing Mahjong Riichi

Playing board games or tabletop games is one of my favorite hobbies. One of my all time favorite games is Mahjong. I play Hong Kong, Classic Chinese, and Japanese Riichi. I started playing Riichi in Summer 2007 which I quit months later. I'm happy I played again in Fall 2009 when a friend challenged me and another friend to learn the rules in one week. One of the reasons I enjoy playing board games is the social aspect. I play with people. I meet people. I make new friends.

Riichi is an example playing with people. Riichi is a social game. Riichi is also a game I learned life lessons. I know some of my life lessons for which Riichi reinforce them. Riichi taught me new life lessons. I share all life lessons below:

Off Days. Nobody lives a perfect life 24/7. There are days everything goes wrong. There are Riichi game players are in a streak placing third place out of fourth or last place being fourth place.

Welcome The Losing Streak. Moreover, everyone experience bad moments, bad timing, and bad luck. There are days bad choices are made. Nobody places first 100% of the time. Welcome the bad and the good. Continue on. Move forward. There's always the next game. There's always tomorrow.

Riichi players experience good games and bad games. There are bad luck starting hands and bad luck draws. Nobody is perfect. According to the experienced Riichi players, a 25% winning hand is considered professional. In other words, professional Riichi players lose 75% of hands played. Similarly, professional baseball players batting average .300 is considered an all-star. In other words, all-star baseball players hit into an out an average .700.

Go With The Flow. If the drawn tiles are in favor, make big hands. If the drawn tiles are not in favor, make small hands or play defensive keeping potential winning tiles. Remember stay calm. Welcome the good flow and the bad flow. Do the best with the tiles being drawn. Do the best with each day in life.

At Least Meet The Minimum. If nobody wins a hand, then players can earn the minimum 1,000 points with their hand one tile away from winning or needing one tile to win. Achieve the minimum when nothing is happening during a hand.

Never Stop Learning. Never stop training. Never stop improving. Never stop innovating. There's always something to new to learn. I still have more Riichi to learn. I consider myself at the line separating beginner and intermediate. I'm reading a book on Mahjong strategy which applies to other Mahjong versions. The never stop learning attitude applies to all skills and knowledge from professional, personal, and leisure.

Be Calm. Criticizing the tiles never changes the game. Be calm. Act calm. Losing temper means losing focus. Losing focus means making stupid mistakes. The Be Calm is rule number 3 in my daily life rules.

Slow Down. There is a common saying thinking before speaking. Think before discarding. Look at the discards. Make intelligent discards. Haste makes waste.

Be Consistent. Sports fan should know about consistency. We see players in sports play consistently. They follow their game plan. They play their strengths. There is no desperation even when a team is down in points. Playing in desperate mode rarely is rewarded. The Be Consistent mindset also applies to individual player sports such as tennis and golf.

Eye Contact. I'm working hard to improve a weakness. I must make eye contact with the other players even when they look at their tiles. Looking at my tiles and the discards 100% of the time is a bad habit. I must lower the percentage to 60%. I must make eye contact or look at their faces 40% of the time. I'm confident my concentration is unchanged looking at the players. The Eye Contact is rule number 5 in my daily life rules.

Risk-Reward Choice. There are situations I make a risk-reward choice. I have a good hand. I have a potential tile a player may call to complete their hand. Do I discard the potential tile while I have a good hand? Maybe. It depends on my good hand's potential winning score. Do I discard the potential tile while I have a bad hand? No. I discard a safer tile lowering the chance I pay the winner. We make risk-reward choices daily in life.

Concede Because The Game Is Out Of Reach. The most straightforward situation. It's the last round. First place is 60,000 points. Second place is 25,000 points. Third place and fourth place points are lower. The game is over. Play normal to officially finish. Play consistently. There's always another game. It's like a NFL football game. It's the fourth quarter with five minutes remaining. The winning team is ahead by three touchdowns. Play the game out in the five minute garbage time.

Of course, there's always a chance of a miracle like the NFL Hail Mary last play touchdown scores at the end of regulation.

Riichi Video Games No Replacement For The Realty. Many Riichi players play a video game version to practice their skills. Beginning Riichi players play a video game version to learn the rules. The bottom line is a video game version is a false indicator how skilled is a player playing with real people. Real people and computer programs are different thinking. Likewise for any video game or simulation learning anything new.

Luck. Luck is part of the game. Players experience unlucky draws. There are factors in Riichi beyond the player's control. Likewise in life.

Email: feedbackininblog@innovateinfinitely.com

A Job Search Story Staying Foolish Worked

Some people say rejecting job openings is stupid. A job is a job. It's better to work than not working. It's better to be working while job searching. The last two jobs I worked my job title was Data Entry. No more data entry positions. I refuse recruiters to submit my resume to data entry positions.

My foolish choice is the correct choice. I completed a contract position entering data in a database for a consultant. Entering data was a waste of my time. My intelligence is higher than data entry. My job experience is overqualified. I lost my motivation entering data during the final packets. I paid my dues. I did my time in my last two positions. I'm applying for positions that match my analytical, detailing, and reporting skills.

I disagree with a job is a job. I believe sometimes it's better to be unemployed than be employed at a dead-end or unenthusiastic position. The free time being unemployed is used to learn new jobs skills and refresh existing job skills.

Email: feedbackininblog@innovateinfinitely.com

Top Ten My Life Mulligans

It's normal to think about our past mistakes. We think about our past mistakes to learn from them. We think about our past mistakes to avoid repeating them. What if we can turn back time to correct the mistakes? Life mulligans. Thinking about life mulligans is one way to learn from our mistakes.

I wished I made more mistakes when I was young. I should have been more foolish. We grow stronger, smarter, and wiser making mistakes. I continue making more than my fair share of mistakes at my age because I'm catching up what I failed to make mistakes in my youth.

One reason why I made too few mistakes was stubbornness. I felt I was on top of the world knowing everything. I ignored people correcting my errors. I believed I knew everything. Another reason was I took life for granted. Nothing bad happened to me which really happened. I snuck in between the cracks no bad moments. And a third reason was I grew up too late. I realized I must grow up on Sat Oct 4, 2008. I became a mature adult. I became more responsible. I must earn my successes. There are much more life experiences I'm catching up.

Here are the top ten mulligans:

10. Better Gym Workouts. The mistake was corrected immediately after Sat Oct 4, 2008. I wished I knew the website Bodybuilding.com earlier. The website contained great information from the beginners to the experienced. My workouts before the date were ineffective.

9. 2007. 2007 should have been a good year. I started working at Cisco in Mar 2007. It should have been a wakeup call to be professional. I was never professional. Another mistake was attending Anime Expo 2007 for which I shouldn't. The signs of a disaster convention weeks before the event were clear. I didn't learn new job skills during my downtime at Cisco. I didn't take advantage of working out at the Cisco gym to avoid driving during the afternoon commute. I read business and self-help books which were a waste of time.

2007 was the year I took for granted because I said to myself anything that happened after March 2007 was irrelevant because 2007 was a good year regardless. 2007 was the worse year in my entire life.

8. Dropping Out Classes At De Anza College. I should have dropped two classes. The first class was Cost Accounting. The class was overfilled. The textbook was awful. The instructor was terrible. I believe some people agree my reasons to drop out were justified.

The second class was Beginning Singing. It was a leisure class which didn't matter in my transcript. I drove at night for one class. The class didn't meet my expectations. Waste of time.

The additional free time not taking the two classes could have been spent on my other classes, learning new job skills, more sleep, more time in the gym, and/or spending time with friends.

7. Dot Com Boom. I failed to sell my stock investments when the NASDAQ reached 5,000. My stock portfolio doubled at the moment. I should have sold my stocks, take my profits, and ran away.

6. The Cisco Interview In July 2014. I was interviewed for a contract job which strengthen my resume if I was hired. I failed the Excel test. I was disappointed. I was embarrassed.

I passed Excel tests I was administered in interviews after July 2014.

5. Accountemps Online Classes. I enrolled in online classes to refresh my Access and Excel skills. I also enrolled in Business Analyst classes. All were a waste of time. I put some blame on the Accountemps classes for failing the Cisco Interview in July 2014.

The best way to refresh my Access and Excel skills was watching YouTube videos. I should have watched YouTube videos instead of Accountemps Online Classes.

4. Learn The Little Stuff. I avoided learning the little stuff because they were irrelevant for my success. I avoided trivia because it was trivia. Trivia could be common knowledge and could be an ice breaker in social situations. I wished I learned cooking earlier in my life. I wished I learned first aid. I wish I learned basic electronics. Everything is in my bucket list. Learning the little stuff indefinitely is an example of experiencing new experiences. Never stop learning. Never stop innovating.

3. Read Fiction Books. Another immediate change when I grew up on Sat Oct 4, 2008. I started to read fiction books. I used to read nonfiction books only when I started reading regularly in 2002. I wished I included read fiction books. I learned more about life reading fiction books than nonfiction books such as self-help.

2. Part Time Job As A College Student. I should have found part time work when I attended San Jose State University in my freshmen year. It took me 3.5 years to find a part-time job. I discovered I needed a job in my resume in additional to tutoring math students.

1. Majored In Accounting. I started my college life as a math major to teach high school math. I wanted to change majors. Accounting, economics, and geology were my choices. I choose economics. I should have changed my major to accounting and doubled minor economics and mathematics. The Economics department gave us Economics majors false information we can find a job anywhere. There's always demand for accounting, finance, and marketing majors in the business sector.

Email: feedbackininblog@innovateinfinitely.com

Work On Good Moments Happen To Good People

There is a saying good things happen to good people or good moments happen to good people. Good people never take for granted good things or good moments. Good people work hard intelligently to earn their successes.

I'm responsible for my life. I'm responsible to keep in good physical condition. I'm responsible to learn new skills. I'm responsible to be calm. I'm responsible to keep my finances in order. I'm responsible to rest.

Specifically speaking, I job search six days a week. A retired banker hired me to assist him on his consulting business being an independent contractor. I'm reviewing my job skills including Excel, Access, SQL, SalesForce, and PowerPoint. I'm learning new skills such as Oracle, Tableau, and VBA. I workout at the gym four days a week. I sleep eight hours a night. I watch my spending avoiding the urge to splurge. Hoarding or unnecessary spending is prohibited.

I want to live independently. I want to meet new people. I want to create new circle of friends. I want to acquire new knowledge. I want my life to move forward again. I continue seeking new adventures. I continue experiencing new experiences. I hope a company hires me. I'm correcting my past mistakes. I expect to make more mistakes. I expect to learn from my mistakes faster. Stay strong. Be courageous. I have nothing to lose.

I have a better understanding the more work I put in myself, the more chances I earn good moments. I reap what I sow. I hope to reach a point to attract good moments. Good fortunes, good timing, and good luck come to me. I have the feeling they're coming to me soon. The rewards are coming soon. The journey is the reward in the meantime.

Email: feedbackininblog@innovateinfinitely.com

Why Do We Have Hobbies?

One common answer is leisure. Hobbies are a way to relax. Hobbies help people take a break. My answer is better. We have hobbies to meet new people. Like hobbies bring people together. Sometimes friendships are formed. The internet makes finding new people easier searching for groups with the same hobbies.

One warning regarding friendships based on hobbies. I'm blogging from my experience. Sometimes these formed friendships are long-term. There are times the friendships stall. The friendships become stale. There's nothing new. The honeymoon period is over. A group of friends continue doing the same activities when they're together. The hobbies which brought them together lost the excitement. My advice is being dynamic. It's time to leave the comfort zone. Find the courage doing something new. Every person knows each other well. Take the next step. Find new adventures. Seek new experiences. The friendships become closer, stronger, and more exciting.

Email: feedbackininblog@innovateinfinitely.com