No More Driving Half Asleep

I drove tired or half asleep three times in my life. I share the three times once in July 2006 and twice in July 2007. All three times were either late night after midnight or early morning before sunrise. I was lucky all three times. The July 2006 happened from Anaheim, CA to Watsonville, CA driving with three friends starting at 7pm. I ate potato chips on Interstate 5 to stay awake. I reached from the driver's seat to the driver's side rear to eat one potato chip every five seconds. The third friend drove from San Jose to Hayward while I slept. I was fully awake driving myself home from Hayward to San Jose.

The first July 2007 happened from San Jose to Long Beach, CA driving with two friends starting around midnight. I drove half-asleep and dozing off on Interstate 5 after the Grapevine. My eyes closed briefly. Then my eyes opened wide. Repeated multiple times. Very scary. I took a nap after I refueled in Newhall, CA. One of my two friends who rode with me should have drove before the Grapevine. The third friend didn't have a driver's license.

The second July 2007 happened from Long Beach to San Jose driving solo starting around 10pm. I drove half-asleep without dozing off. My eyes never closed. It must have been adrenaline. I drove 90mph on Interstate 5 to arrive home faster. It must have been the speed rush, too. I drove dangerously fast on Highway 152 with its hills and two-lane curves. I never thought of taking a nap at a rest stop. My focus was arriving home fast. The biggest mistake was poor snacking. I stopped at a 24-hour gas station in Gilroy, CA for food. I had bottle water. I purchased sugary cake snacks. I thought eating sugar kept me awake. The snacks somewhat kept me awake. My stomach grumbled in Morgan Hill, CA. The correct snacks should have been beef jerky, trail mix, or peanuts and a healthier starch with less sugar such as bread or a roll. A Snickers candy bar was better than a Twinkie.

A lifetime promise is never drive fatigued. Never drive half asleep. Drive intelligently. Eat healthy. Bring healthy snacks. Minimize sugar on the road. Eat sugar foods away from the car.

Instant Bullets Blog Aug 24, 2020

*This is an open question. I don't have an answer.

*Educators teach ABC's and 123's well in the classroom. Otherwise, educators teach poorly outside the classroom.

*People Pleaser? There was one or more than one person in your life you got along. You stopped getting along or you became enemies all of a sudden. If it never happened to you, then you're not true to yourself. You're a people pleaser. Agree or disagree?

*Albert Einstein Quotes: A person who never made a mistakes never tried anything new. It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer. Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.

*Some Life Hacks. Use a GameBoy cartridge case to carry a condom safely. Use a colander to separate cereal dust and cereal. Use a muffin tin to serve condiments at a barbeque party. Check the fingernails of any person in a senior center because if the fingernails are uncut, then it's a sign of poor care. Take several pictures before the final posing picture when you help a stranger take a picture of himself, herself, or the party because candid pictures may be better than the final posing picture. "Fair enough" may be a statement to defuse a tension or a conflict situation. "Familiar with" may calm or relax the other person instead of saying "know it." Visit a potential apartment or house at night to research deeper.

*What's worse than failing? What's worse than I don't want to make mistakes? My answer is not trying. My answer is no attempt. Learn from errors. Learn from trial and error. Learn from doing. Make intelligent mistakes. Failure and quitting are two separate conversations.

*Reduce Golf Tee Times By 20%. If President Donald Trump reduces his weekend tee times by 20%, then he can increase his chances of reelection by 20% working as the President Of The United States.

*I failed, failed, failed, failed, and failed. I was depressed. I was frustrated. I was angry. I was bored or I was boring. These are why I'm successful. Depression, frustration, anger, and boredom were temporarily.

*A Sign Your Life Sucks. You play too much video games. You have trouble sleeping. You have weak physical endurance. Finally, you deny all of the above.

*The self-made man or woman is a myth. Watch Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2017 commencement speech at the University Of Houston. Link: Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2017 University of Houston Commencement Address.

*Some Must Have Items For All Households: A Shop Vac, a step ladder, and one size greater for blankets; e.g., a king size blanket for a queen size bed. Some female bare necessities brands are better for males than the male counterparts bare necessities.

*We Do Judge A Book By Its Cover. Or Beauty Is Important To Be Happy. Kurzgesagt – In a Nutshell released a YouTube video explaining beauty. Why Beautiful Things Make us Happy -- Beauty Explained.

*A Global Casino. "That's all the market is--one giant casino." --Nick Leeson, Rouge Trader (1999)

Three Years Later Scanners For Bar Codes

I worked at a retail start-up from Nov 2013 to Sep 2014. The start-up opened for business in 2011. My primary responsibilities were researching products, creating purchase orders, updating the webpage, and maintaining the inventory. My secondary responsibilities were providing customer service and ringing up customer purchases. The first day of training I noticed there were no barcode scanners. I asked, "How do I enter new inventory in the database? I don't scan barcodes?" My manager said no barcodes. I said inside the back of my head, "Are you kidding." I play the to-be-fair card. 99% of all inventory received there are no barcodes. The producers and importers don't provide barcodes on their products.

I connected the dots starting from Nov 2013. The back-end of the store was disorganized. Finding products took too much time. The front-end of the store was inefficient finding products for customers. Ownership never did monthly inventory audits. Computers were outdated. Ownership played the cheap card. Ownership solved problems the easy way. Life goes full circle. One day ignoring problems comes back.

Today's blog reminds me and reminds my readers make changes now when problems are clear and present. Not tomorrow. Not after breakfast. Now. Solve problems today. Ignore problems hoping they go away can happen. On the other hand, ignoring problems can become bigger problems requiring bigger solutions. Fix problems now when they're small.

Ownership made the business decision to invest in a barcode system in Jun 2014. I wasn't around to see if the store went 100% bar codes to ring up customers and to maintain inventory.

The Green Steno Notebook 6

The picture above is the notebook I acquired on the first day of my new white collar job. I wrote notes during my job training. I wrote other notes, reminders, and knowledge thereafter. I share many of them. Here is the sixth blog.

*Jan 5, 2018. I donated shoes at a textile recycling company. The building was closed on Dec 29, 2017 for the Christmas holiday. The building was open on Jan 5, 2018. Shoes were donated. I arrived home. I checked the trunk. One slipper remained. It fell off the box. Two lessons. The first lesson was double check the trunk. The second lesson was get a bigger box.

Remark: I connected the dots backwards. The Jan 5, 2018 moment started 2018 as the year of bad luck, bad timing, and bad moments.

*Jan 13, 2018. Dream last night titled "You're smarter than you think." Took place in the Southern United States. I was in a house like a Coraline amusement park roller-coaster ride. Two people and I robbed the ride. We tricked the three female ride operators and the riders to exit. We were the repair crew. One of my partners tried to beat up a kid. I supposedly shot him. In the end, he was alive, we robbed the money on the upper floor. We got away after the police questioned us. It was like a comedy movie.

*Jan 17, 2018. Bad luck January. More bad than good.

*Feb 2, 2018. Purchased stamps at the post office. I used the APC self-service machine. I received 20 stamps for the price of 10.

*Feb 21, 2018. Accidentally spilled Listerine on the bathroom surface. I used a squeegee to remove the mouthwash to the bathroom sink. My sleeve knocked the Listerine bottle spilling mouthwash in the bathroom sink. Good luck and bad luck. I could have spilled more mouthwash in the bathroom sink if I didn't catch the bottle quickly.

My car's outside temperature gauge stated 41 degrees which was the lowest I saw.

*Feb 23, 2018. My car's outside temperature gauge stated 40 degrees which was the lowest I saw.

*Mar 11, 2018. Updated my YouTube Channel ININvideos

*Mar 22, 2018. Called local garbage company for partial recycling bin repair.

*Mar 27, 2018. An idea to defrost frozen chicken faster. Another way to cook chicken thawed from the freezer. Add salt. Wait 30 minutes. Add olive oil and seasonings. Wait 30 minutes. Broil.

*Apr 6, 2018. Used air compressor to blow air below the refrigerator to remove dust. Used ShopVac two gallon to vacuum the dust on the kitchen floor.

*Apr 18, 2018. I learned there are mouse pads made for gaming.

*Apr 24, 2018. I had Angular Cheilitis on both sides of my mouth. I minimized food and drink touching my sides. Cut food small. Ate small bits of food. Didn't brush my teeth. No toothpaste on the corners of my mouth when I resumed brushing my teeth.

*Apr 25, 2018. I needed a straw. We had straws. Hoarding straws. Good.

*Apr 28, 2018 for Apr 15, 2018. The voltage for 18650 batteries is between 4.1-4.2 volts.

*May 3, 2018. Replaced back scrubber and bath sponge. They both smelled bad.

*May 4, 2018. Recent sickness resulted in three bad weeks of gym workouts.

*May 6, 2018. Solved the cause for Angular Cheilitis and cuts and blisters on my gums. I'm allergic to Arm & Hammer toothpaste. The toothpaste was the least suspected.

*May 14, 2018. I saw the most customers and most workers at my local Lucky supermarket. Cashiers, florist, baggers, stockers, and managers. An assistant manager was price checking including the Colgate toothpaste I purchased. The workers' ages ranged from young to old.

*May 19, 2018. I achieved 100% gold for Bloons Supermonkey 2.

*May 24, 2018. If my baked potato was too big, then I didn't finish it.

*May 25, 2018. Maintain short length toe nails. Likely my long length toe nails ripped my fitted bed sheet. Or the cause was wear and tear ripped my fitted bed sheet.

*Jun 3, 2018. I dreamed last night I resigned from my job at a retail start-up. I went back to my data entry contract position. It was December. I was a breath of fresh air. The department experienced low morale. Few talking. Many working. 149 Christmas sweaters gone. Who got the 150th? My engineer I supported pushed my temp desk chair to the sweater. Everyone cheered. Few people happy I'm back. Email was sent communicating I'm back. The graphics manager at my former commercial real estate company talked about anti-viruses. The research analyst at another location of my former commercial real estate company worked in the department. The male vice president of the department was no longer working. The female vice president back in charge 100%.

*Jun 8, 2018. I dreamed last night I was a linebacker in my football team. I mentored a young boy. Practice for linebackers and defensive ends was cancelled. I was mad. I needed to go to the gym. There was no gym at the football facility. The gym I worked out didn't have a bench press. My teammates pulled a prank to the football player's locker causing the cancellation.

My second dream last night I was a Golden State Warriors basketball player. Our opponent was the Cleveland Cavaliers. I was a role player. Coach Steve Kerr didn't pull me out. My shots didn't go through the basket. LeBron James block my shots multiple times. I was one for two on the free throw line at one point in the game. I played like Draymond Green focusing on defense and good passing. I attempted a baseline two pointer left side jumper uncontested. Swish. I said finally when the swish sound was made. Cavaliers called timeout. The fans cheered me. Kerr came up to me. He put his arm around my shoulder. My teammates gathered in front of me.

*Jun 10, 2018. Tires with cracks are like dry skin on a human hand.

Remark: I purchased four new tires on Nov 2019.

*Jun 26, 2018. Family stopped eating the cheap brown rice.

*Jun 27, 2018. I stopped eating blueberries.

*Jul 4, 2018. Coke and lemonade are a mismatch for my taste.

*Jul 8, 2018. Joypads worked for the arcade emulator. Enable joysticks in emulator options.

*Jul 19, 2018. Applied antiperspirant between my lower arms and my upper arms opposite my elbows.

*Jul 30, 2018. My Logitech 2.1 subwoofer stopped working. Then the subwoofer worked. The solution was loosen the wires.

*Jul 31, 2018. Avoid lemonade on gym days.

Update On A Past Blog

I want to look at the 1999 blog I wrote on Jul 10, 2016. I questioned my happiness in 1999. The economy was booming. I got a better job in the same industry. My hobbies were at my peak. Was it real or was it honest? My happiness was real. My happiness wasn't honest. I took the year 1999 for granted.

I knew people back in 2016 experiencing the 1999. Unfortunately, all of them I keep touch on social media and word of mouth are still 1999. Fortunately, I'm not longer 1999. I continue working to become happy sincerely.

A Sane Person Can Be A Loser

A partial weird dream last night. I was at a medium sized party organized by my dad. The party took place at a banquet hall. Round dinner tables. Most of the party attendees were middle aged. One man in his 60s shaved my right leg with a buck knife. Clean shave. There was no pain. The man worked at the company where I got my first job after I graduated at San Jose State University. He was a Senior Associate commercial real estate broker employed for ten years. He started working in commercial real estate in his 50s. I asked the man his prior jobs. The man replied he worked at five jobs in five different industries. I said, "Oh okay," or something like that. The man explained his five previous jobs he lost interest. I thought in the back of my mind he was a loser.

I woke up. I thought about the dream lying in my bed for minutes. Was the man in his 60s a loser? The man couldn't keep a job. He worked. He hated the job. He quit. He worked another job in another industry. He hated the job. He quit. Repeated three more times. On the other hand, was the man sane? I refer the sane question to my last blog Steve Jobs Compilation Blog on Aug 12, 2020. Jobs said people must find what they love. If people don't find what they love, they quit because they're sane. The partial quote, "So if you don't love it, if you're not having fun doing it, you don't really love it, you're gonna give up. And that's what happens to most people actually. If you really look at the ones that ended up being successful *in air quotes* in the eyes of society, and the ones that didn't, oftentimes, it's the ones that are successful loved what they did so they can persevere when it got really tough, and the ones that didn't love it quit cause they're sane."

Can a sane person be a loser? Is the question valid? Is quitting five jobs because he or she doesn't love their jobs a definition of a loser?

Steve Jobs Compilation Blog

Here is a blog compilation which talked about Steve Jobs.

Bye. I have to go. (Dec 7, 2015). A page from the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson. Jobs shared his feelings leaving Apple.

Top Ten Steve Jobs Quotes (Aug 3, 2016). I read the biography which is my all-time favorite book in all genres. I listened to his Stanford commencement address in 2005. I watched the 60 Minutes interview with Isaacson. I watched a documentary on PBS. The quotes are from the book, commencement address, the interview, and the documentary.

Top Ten Advice I Reference In My Life (Feb 26, 2017). I share some of my favorite quotes I reference and I follow daily. There is additional advice indirectly reference Jobs.

My Personal Circle Of Trust (Nov 18, 2017). I must trust everything about myself to live a good life. Trust my intuition is part of my circle of trust.

Raymond Mar One Liners (Jun 17, 2018). I mention Jobs is my most respected person. I mention I read his biography twice.

Life Is Xs and Os (Jul 21, 2018). Life finds a way to connect people--the X's. Life goes full circle--the O's. Everything we do today affects everyone tomorrow. I reference the connecting the dots, "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards."

Where Is The Intelligence? (Aug 24, 2019). Jobs was a genius. I discover I'm self-training to become a self-trained genius. To quote Steve Jobs, "Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact, and that is everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you, and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. Um, once you learn that, you'll never be the same again." I admit the feeling is scary.

Physical Appearance (Oct 31, 2019). Jobs said we do judge a book by its cover. All of Apple products are beautiful. Don't deceive everyone and don't deceive yourself physically appearing as somebody else.

Do Your Sets And Do Your Reps (Jan 19, 2020). The late Steve Jobs said, "The journey is the reward." Practice, drill, make mistakes, learn from the mistakes, do the reps, and repeat all.

My Self-Help Books Recommendations (Jun 28, 2020). I recommend his biography book as a self-help book outside the self-help book genre.

Finally, I watched the Steve Jobs and Bill Gates interview at the D5 Conference in 2007 after I read his biography years later. Jobs answered a question from the audience about legacy:

"I sort of look at us as two of the luckiest guys (Steve Jobs and Bill Gates) on the planet cause we found what we loved to do. And we were at the right place at the right time. We gotten to go to work every day with super bright people for 30 years, and do what we love doing. It's hard to be happier than that. Your family and that. What more can you ask for? So, I don't think about legacy that much. I just think about being able to get up every day and go in and hang around these great people and hopefully create something that other people will love as much as we do. And if we can do that, that's great.

"People say you have to have a lot of passion for what you're doing. And it's totally true. And the reason is because it's so hard that if you don't, any rational person would give up. It's really hard. And you have to do it over a sustained period of time. So if you don't love it, if you're not having fun doing it, you don't really love it, you're gonna give up. And that's what happens to most people actually. If you really look at the ones that ended up being successful *in air quotes* in the eyes of society, and the ones that didn't, oftentimes, it's the ones that are successful loved what they did so they can persevere when it got really tough, and the ones that didn't love it quit cause they're sane. Right? Who want to put up with this stuff if you don't love it. So, it's a lot of hard work. And it's a lot of worrying constantly. And if you don't love it, you're going to fail. So you gotta love it. You got to have passion. And I think that's the high order albeit.

"The second thing is you got be a really good talent scout. No matter how smart you are you need a team of great people. And you got to figure out how to size people up fairly quickly, make decisions without knowing people too well, and hire them, and see how you do and refine your intuition and be able to help build an organization that can eventually just build itself cause you need great people around you."

My Four Mount Rushmore Greatest Moments In My Life

95.7 FM The Game KGMZ selected four Mount Rushmore greatest moments in Bay Area sports history in May 2020. The four moments are "The Catch" San Francisco 49ers Joe Montana touchdown pass to Dwight Clark against the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship game in Jan 1982, "The Play" Stanford Cardinals kicked off to California Golden Bears with five lateral passes to score the game winning touchdown on the final play of the game in Nov 1982, the 2014 World Series Game 7 San Francisco Giants Madison Bumgarner pitched the last five innings of shutout baseball out of the bullpen to earn the series clinching save against the Kansas City Royals in Oct 2014, and the Golden State Warriors Steph Curry scored 37 points in Game 5 of the 2015 NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Jun 2015.

The Game selecting four greatest Bay Area sports moments inspire me to select my four greatest life moments. Creating the list is easy. Eliminating the obvious not Mount Rushmore moments are easy. Selecting the four life moments are hard. Finalizing my official Mount Rushmore life moments are easy when I connect the dots from creating the list to my official list in the end.

I mention my one honorable mention. Steve Jobs is my honorable mention. I read his biography twice written by Walter Isaacson. God knows when and who he or she was the last biography I read. I adapt Jobs' wisdom. I model Jobs' successes and failures. The end of the day I'm one step closer to becoming a self-trained genius. I'm learning a lesson people are no smarter than me. I influence them to become better people.

Here are my Mount Rushmore life moments in order of date earliest to latest:

1. My First Day Cosplaying (Sat Sep 11, 2004). I thank my mom for making my anime costumes or cosplays. I thought about retiring from anime in May 2004. I watched 17 episodes of Full Metal Alchemist at Fanime Con 2004 Midnight Marathon. The end of episode eight I said to myself, "I'm going to cosplay [the main character] Edward Elric." I wore my cosplay at Japantown Anime Faire 2 on Sep 11, 2004. I made my choice to continue being an anime fan on Dec 2004. I retired from anime on Sep 2014. I made a lot of new friends. I experienced my good moments and bad moments. I watched my share of good anime series and bad anime series.

2. Grow Up (Sat Oct 4, 2008). Aug-Sep 2008 were the worse months of my life at the time. I was weak. I was lost. I was a wimp.

My life changed forever on Sat Oct 4, 2008 in Los Altos, CA. I met with a friend at a board game gathering at the public library to return DVDs. He had to leave early because of a medical appointment. I walked across the street to the arts and crafts fair. I made an observation eating lunch and listening to a live band. The observation was I'm the only single person. 99.9% of the people were together as friends, couples, and families. I walked back to the library parking lot. I stood next to the parking lot driveway. I said to myself, "I have to grow up."

I tried anything new. My behavior started to mature. My wisdom grew. I stopped taking anything and anyone for granted. The changes paid off immediately. Some of the changes included a new desktop PC, new clothes, new gym workouts, started to listen to classic jazz, and read more fiction books. I learned more about life reading fiction books than non-fiction books such as self-help, leadership, and business books.

3. Self Job Training (Aug 2014). I failed an interview for a contract Data Analyst position because I failed the Excel tests. It was an example of use it or lose it. I started to relearn and refresh my Excel skills. I added Access, SQL, VBA, and PowerPoint. The job training inspired me to redesign my webpage using Sublime Text relearning HTML and learning JavaScript and CSS. My new webpage Innovate Infinitely debuted on Jun 29, 2016. My self job training today are learning and reviewing Excel, Power Pivot, Power Query, Power BI, SQL, Python, Linux, and Git. Learn, practice, drill, and repeat.

Furthermore, I add self-training outside my career. I learn how to tie knots, make paper airplanes, communicate with Morse Code, and basic land navigation.

4. The Shawshank Redemption (Sat Sep 21, 2019). I tell the background story why it took me decades to watch the movie. A friend in college watched The Shawshank Redemption in the theater. He told me the movie was boring. He didn't understand the point. My friend was a smart student. I didn't question his opinion. I believed the movie was boring.

I watched the movie for the first time on Sep 21, 2019. The movie saved my soul. The movie saved my life. The movie released everything holding me back. The movie gave me hope. The movie made me tell myself I can control more of my life. My feelings and my intuitions are trusted and strengthen. There are some situations I don't care what other people think. Geology is the study of pressure and time. Success is coming because I'm a mature adult applying heavy or deep training daily.

Side note one: My next blog is a Steve Jobs compilation blog. I combine past Steve Jobs blogs. I add additional quotes from the D5 Conference in 2007 where Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were interviewed.

Side note two: There was a chance I couldn't attend the Japantown Anime Faire 2 because my family cars were broken except the 1984 Toyota truck. Driving the manual transmission and no power steering truck in San Francisco wasn't hard as I expected.

Shelter In-Place COVID-19 Blog July 2020

California issued shelter in-place orders on Tue Mar 17, 2020. I have been logging the highlights and lowlights. The Jul month slowed down compared to Jun. There were more bad moments than good moments. The pandemic daily life is unprecedented, uncharted, new, unknown, and untested.

Wed Jul 1. The State Of California rollbacked the state reopening. Outdoor bars and many indoor businesses closed for three weeks. Parking lots at state beaches closed. Beaches remained open.

Fri Jul 3. One of the two N95 mask straps broke while I drove.

Shopped at my local Target since Mar 14, 2020. One entrance opened. Second entrance closed. The fitness equipment aisle was sold-out. I tried to use a coupon for buy one, get one free Dove Body Wash. The coupon was invalid when the cashier scanned the coupon. I returned to Target minutes later to buy two Dove Body Wash bottles. I paid for the two body wash bottles at the self-checkout. The coupon was valid.

I headlight restored my dad's truck.

Local governments discouraged fireworks and gatherings for the Fourth Of July.

Sat Jul 4. Independence Day. Neighborhood fireworks went off in the evening and after midnight.

Sun Jul 5. Neighborhood fireworks continued in the evening.

Wed Jul 8. Removed dust from my desktop and laptop. Spot vacuumed main walk areas.

Thur Jul 9. I took a nap because last night was the worse sleep during the COVID-19 pandemic.

I shopped at Nob Hill in the evening. It was the first time since Mar 2020 I turned out my car's headlights. The supermarket disclosed temporary price increases for their meats. I purchased a Digiorno frozen pizza using a $1.00 manufacturer coupon on the box and purchased a box of It's It ice cream.

The main street through Nob Hill was repaved. It was the first time I drove on the main street repaved since Mar 2020.

Fri Jul 10. I watched MLS Is Back on ESPN Seattle Sounders Vs. San Jose Earthquakes at the 78th minute. It was my first sports event I watched during the COVID-19 pandemic. I heard the players speak.

Sun Jul 12. Another poor sleep. I woke up around 5:30am. I watched a sports replay Klay Thompson scored an NBA record 37 points in one quarter in 2015 against the Sacramento Kings.

Mild allergies with mild runny nose. I took a Zyrtec at 4:20pm.

Mon Jul 13. I took a Zyrtec at 4:30pm. The State Of California announced sweeping new closures because COVID-19 cases increases. All counties were ordered to close indoor operations including restaurants, wineries, movie theaters, fitness centers, worship centers, nail and hair salons, and barbershops. Bars and breweries were closed indoors and outdoors.

The State Of California announced 329,000 cases and 7,000 deaths.

Sat Jul 18. Minor injuries during the week. Lower back pain for half of a day. The left side of my body on my waist hurt for two days. A dental floss cut on my gum lower left. Gum irritation on my gum lower middle.

Tue Jul 21. All books in my library are read. My next book is a re-read.

Wed Jul 22. Spot vacuumed upstairs and the family room.

Thur Jul 23. Purchased Colgate toothpaste from a Target promotion.

Multiple aisles and multiple inventory shelves at Costco were empty. I saw five delivery trucks. They must be new inventory.

Gas prices increased.

Multiple news media reported California is the highest number of COVID-19 cases surpassing New York in the United States.

Watched my first MLB baseball game of the 2020 season. I listened to the San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers on KNBR 680 from the fifth inning to the eighth inning. Then I watched the baseball game on ESPN from the eighth inning to the ninth inning.

Fri Jul 24. I took a nap because I was fatigued. The daily temperature was under 80 degrees which was the first time in three weeks.

Mon Jul 27. I backed up my files on my desktop and laptop. I jogged for the first time during COVID-19. I jogged for one mile in the neighborhood practicing social distancing.

Wed Jul 29. Ordered take out at Mizu Restaurant. It was the first time we ate at the Japanese restaurant.

The United States deaths were 150,034 which led globally.

I took a diarrhea pill.

Thur Jul 30. Multiple aisles and multiple inventory shelves at Costco were empty. I continued shopping at Costco during the first hour of opening.

Road construction at one entrance backed up traffic like a normal weekday afternoon. The same entrance was closed for exiting later.

I slept poorly sleep last night.

Fri Jul 31. Shopped at Safeway, Target, and Lucky. Target issued limits on selected household paper products, over the counter drugs, soaps, and all hand sanitizers. Registers didn't enforce limits.

Update On A Past Blog

I add more answers to the question Why Do I Write Blogs? on Dec 29, 2013. My initial answers included sharing my thoughts, sharing my opinions, and keeping my writing skills sharp.

Another initial answer was documenting my life as I improve my life. I want to elaborate. My documentation includes my maturity and my fortunate changes for the better. My past blogs I took life for granted. I was naive. I was an idiot. I was weak. I complained. I was arrogant. I didn't practice what I preached.

I'm not a psychologist. There are two types of depression. There is normal depression and there is chronic depression. A normal depression is a crabby day. Nothing went as planned. There was no flow. Bad luck. Bad timing. Feeling dreadful was short. No excuses. Desire and motivation remain strong.

A chronic depression is a person feels better without solving personal problems. The person doesn't solve problems. The person feels better forgetting personal problems. The person smiles when there is sympathy solicited or unsolicited. The unsolved personal problems cause depression again. There are excuses. There is no motivation. The rest is temporary. The recovery is incomplete.

Motivation is more important than knowledge. I'm cured from chronic depression. My blogs document the permanent recovery. I make intelligent mistakes. I don't live the past. The recovery deal is a person solves problems when he or she feels better.