Top Ten Plus Eight Equals Top Eighteen Improved My Quality Of Life I Wished I Did Them Sooner

Anything goes big or small. Never stop improving. Never stop innovating. Innovate infinitely. These improvements changed my life. We experience the "I wish it happened before." Better late than never. Here are the top ten plus eight equals top eighteen improved my quality of life I wished I did them sooner.

18. No More Family Guy. I donated all my Family Guy DVDs. My intelligence improved afterwards. I can't explain it.

I also donate DVDs and books I'm no longer interested. Free shelf space. Less clutter.

17. Cursive Writing. I started to write cursive again on Jul 1, 2017. Writing became faster.

16. Ambient Light. I installed an LED soft white light strip behind my desktop PC and along the wall on Dec 2019. My eyes strained less at night.

15. Harry Potter. I read Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling for the first time in Sep 2019. I read the series three times.

14. Trekking Poles. I backpacked with a rented walking stick for the first time at The Narrows Top To Bottom at Zion National Park on Oct 3-4, 2015. The pole saved my ass. I upgraded all hiking equipment and purchased new camping equipment afterwards. I always hike with trekking poles.

13. No More Sunday Worries. I worried about Mondays on Sundays throughout my childhood and my young adulthood. The worrying stopped when I learned worry about tomorrow--tomorrow. Live the present.

12. The Power Of Goodbye. Be brave to retire. Be courageous to move forward. It's time to move on. People grow apart. It's time to say goodbye. It's life.

11. It's Okay To Quit. Most things don't work. It's okay to quit. Stop when something is not working out. No need to be arrogant.

10 Steve Jobs. I read the Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson on Mar 2016. I promise people change after reading the book. A few examples are the following: Picasso had a saying--"good artists copy, great artists steal"--we have always been shameless . . . stealing great ideas; innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have; quality is much better than quantity; and the journey is the reward. I read the book twice.

9. Run Raymond Run. One example the COVID-19 global pandemic changed my life is I jog more miles. I jogged 1.5 miles and rode the stationary bike for my cardio workouts at the gym before the pandemic. My longest distance is 6.1 miles.

8. Release The Cherish. Number eight is a number twelve extension. I was too sentimental. I was afraid to leave my comfort zone. I failed to say goodbye to people, to places, and to objects. We encountered new people, new places, and new objects. We made a choice to keep an existing cherish or choose a new cherish. Sometimes we said goodbye to a cherish to continue living.

7. Diet And Cooking. One benefit learning how to cook is I minimize eating junk food, eating processed food, and eating at restaurants. No moderation. Yes minimizing. I don't drink milk. I reduce my water intake drinking less than eight glasses of water a day. I drink when I'm thirsty.

6. The Shawshank Redemption. It took me decades to watch the movie. I mention no spoilers. There is a reason the movie is number one in IMDB's Top 250 Movies.

5. Job Training. Never stop learning new job skills. Never stop reviewing existing job skills. Learn, drill, practice, and repeat; likewise, to any and all skills and knowledge.

4. Grow Up. I grew up for the first time on Sat Oct 4, 2008. My life changed forever. It was time to grow up. No more immaturity. No more taking life for granted. I'm responsible for my life. Life is much better from a mature point of view. The changes were immediate. New clothes, new PC, new gym workouts, fiction books, new board games, and new hobbies such as ballroom dancing and hiking.

3. Timing And Luck. Timing and luck are factors to be successful. Opportunities and chances are required to be successful, too. If a person is not at the right place and the right time, then there are no opportunities and no chances.

Chances happen every second. The future is unknown. We take a chance something good or something bad comes tomorrow. We hope we are at the right place at the right time. Timing and luck are in favor. We hope we're not at the wrong place at the wrong time. Timing and luck aren't in favor. Life is unfair.

We control as much as we can to increase the odds. We can't control everything. Sometimes life decreases the odds. Stop counting the bad luck moments. Forget the bad timing instances. Add up the bad luck and bad timing creates frustrations, loses focus, depletes strength, increases stress, and forgets priorities.

2. Personal Boundaries. Set boundaries. If people don't set boundaries, then other people set the boundaries. People's lives are terrible when they worry about making their own choices and don't make their own choices. It's okay to say no without excuses.

1. Motivation. Desire is more important than knowledge. I will is prioritized over I know. Motivation is greater than knowledge.

The Management Job Training Objectives Are Bullshit

The pic above is my objectives for the first six months when I worked at a retail start-up. The store sold high-end wine, beer, and sake at discount prices in the store and online. I worked in the back-end of the store where the inventory was received and stored. My job title was Data Entry/Bookkeeper. The title was misleading. My primary responsibilities were receiving inventory, researching prices, and entering products to the webpage.

The title speaks for itself. The program is self-explanatory. It's bullshit. I share my observations. I share my thoughts.

*Areas of Responsibility (AORs) was mentioned once.

*Nobody received monetary bonuses. Nobody received training for the objectives.

*It was impossible for the front-end workers to enter data. The reason was customer service. The objectives were miscategorized. Financial statements?!? The employees worked in retail.

*I'm not an English major. The writing was terrible. The formatting was inconsistent. Also, management didn't write the sheet. An assistant must have written the objectives. Management approved by a 5 second scan.

*Retail workers earning retail pay were not going to accomplish 80% of the objectives. 20% of the objectives were accomplished naturally such as customer service, knowing the products, and supporting events offsite.

*Management neither encouraged not tracked employee objectives.

*Social media was outdated. Social media rarely marketed upcoming events to their followers. The company didn't employ a marketing specialist.

*Targeted customer e-mails, marketing, web content, artwork, etc.?!? The employees worked in retail.

*Finally, the last bullet point on technical skills not related to webpage. The company was lucky I knew PowerPoint, Excel, Word, SQL, and Access. I used the tools to assist in auditing inventory.

I didn't read the sheet during my employment. If I did, then I probably raise a red flag and begin looking for another job. The store went out of business 6.5 years later. I tip my hat 6.5 years was a long time for a retail business.

My Greatest Favorites Of All Time

I share my greatest favorites of all time.

*Professional Athlete: Michael Jordan

*Musical Band: The Beatles. My favorite song is Let It Be.

*Board Game: Puerto Rico

*Nonfiction Book: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

*Fiction Book: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

*Comic Strip: Peanuts

*Bay Area Sports: Joe Montana from the San Francisco 49ers, Stephen Curry from the Golden State Warriors, Buster Posey from the San Francisco Giants, Joe Pavelski from the San Jose Sharks, and Chris Wondolowski from the San Jose Earthquakes.

*Calendar Year: 2005

*Calendar Month: November

*Calendar Day: Sat Oct 4, 2008

*Semester At San Jose State University: Fall 1996

*TV Series: Breaking Bad

*Anime Series: Full Metal Alchemist

*Video Game: The Legend Of Zelda for console. Gauntlet II for arcade.

*Harry Potter Book: Year Seven

*Movie: The Shawshank Redemption

*Meal: Broccoli beef with rice

*Candy Bar: Milky Way

*Cookie: Sugar

*Cereal: Cheerios

*Number: 40

*Color: White

*Favorite Sesame Street Character: Cookie Monster

*Classical Music: Mozart

*Modern Classical Music: Helen Jane Long

*Soda: 7-UP

*Actor: Cary Grant

*Actress: Meryl Streep

*Innovating Common Knowledge Blog: No answer.

Update On A Past Blog

I forgot another Fry's moment for the blog Top Ten Plus Four Equals Fourteen Fry's Electronics Moments written on Feb 25, 2021. I shopped at Fry's Electronics on Black Friday 2005. I blogged the only store I shopped I Fried Fry's Electronics written on Nov 25, 2005. I didn't purchase a projector screen because the line was too long. I'm glad I didn't because I never pursued watching movies on a projector. Online shopping and the COVID-19 global pandemic changed Black Friday decades later.

Permanent Unemployment

*Charlie composed a message to his LIT 101 online class*
"Dear Fellow Journeymen:
One last lesson:
Fuck these ridiculous essays.
FUCK the readings.
JUST WRITE ME SOMETHING HONEST."

"These assignments--they don't matter. This course doesn't matter. College doesn't matter. These amazing, honest things you wrote--they matter." --Charlie, The Whale (2022)

Today's blog is posted at Innovating Common Knowledge and Finding Raymond Mar. Today's blog or essay is inspired from the two quotes above from the movie The Whale (2022). I choose Permanent Unemployment as the topic.

I speak for some long-term unemployed people. The job market has been rough for years. I experience phone interviews, person-to-person interviews, incorrect position interviews, mismatched skills and mismatched experiences interviews, 11th hour job offers rescinded, and another candidate was hired. The job market is harsh today and tomorrow regardless of a good economy or bad economy. The number of job candidates increases at the end of every academic year. The number increase applies to all education levels and all job openings. There are not enough blue-collar jobs and not enough white-collar jobs for the too many job candidates. The demand is greater than the supply.

Further, artificial intelligence (AI) replaces human jobs. I'm not a software engineer. Give it time. AI never stop innovating. A rational executive saves money replacing human labor with a 90% success rate AI. AI can replace outpatient doctor consultations, accountants, and data analysts. I'm not a robotics engineer. AI may not replace a plumber; although, a robot may.

A rising tide raises all boats. More jobs require additional skills and addition experiences. Education is expensive. Training is expensive. Knowledge is more technical; for instance, a Kohl's employee didn't know how to use its proprietary tablet scanner when I picked up an online order. More time is required to learn. More time is required to train. Higher incomes are earned for people who succeed in acquiring the additional skills and additional experiences. Job security is stronger for people who master their responsibilities.

Timing and luck are part of finding employment. Qualified candidates are subjective. Qualified candidates are relative. A job candidate may be a top five in one position. The same candidate may be in the bottom hundreds in another position. It depends on the hiring manager's expectations. It depends on the company. The qualified candidate found the position immediately. He or she is an early job applicant. Conversely, the qualified candidate found the position days later. He or she may be rejected because too many job applications are submitted. Moreover, networking is overrated. Networking does matter; however, imagine a scenario where a hiring manager receives dozens of qualified resumes for the hiring manager's dozens of networks. I remember a conversation with a friend decades ago. If we were educated in the same field, then why help each other find jobs. We want the job. We need an income. The bottom line is everything matters.

Unemployed Me

I'm doing the best I can. I self-train new skills such as Python, R-Studio, Power BI, and Linux. I review existing skills such as Excel, SQL, and data analysis. I'm catching up what I missed in previous jobs. I'm catching up what I missed in my younger years. Also, I learn life skills such as tying rope knots, folding paper airplanes, and using a navigating compass. Never stop learning. The clique wisdom is emphasized in today's Information Age. Never stop innovating.

When am I going to quit job searching? When am I going to stop learning? The quick answer to the two questions is not today. There's no reason to quit searching. There's no reason to stop learning. I'm unemployed. I live with my parents. I'm the George Costanza in the family. There is too much free time. I learn indefinitely. It's better than watching TV and playing video games eight hours a day. I stay sharp because a miracle can happen. Timing and luck favor me. I found a new job. I read books, exercise, cook for my parents, maintain the household, write blogs, and watch a weekly movie when I'm not being a self-professional. I'm fortunate there is family support.

The long answer to the two questions is I stop when I'm permanently unemployed. Age is a factor. Resume gaps are a factor. Weak working experience is a factor. Missing skills are a factor. A benefit to job searching is knowing what skills are required for my profession. These factors are not excuses to stop searching and stop learning.

The statements, "a rising tide raises all boats," "more skills are required," and "higher expectations" are valid when job candidates read job descriptions. A cash sweepstakes or a prize contest disclaimer "many people enter, few people win" applies to job candidates applying to multiple job positions. I'm not dumb. People are not dumb. Life is too hard.

Update On A Past Blog

There are two more moments for the blog Top Ten Plus Six Equals Top Sixteen Moments Never On A Top Ten Before written on Jan 11, 2024. I add the 1986 Lake Tahoe trip where my family, my cousin's family, and a friend of the family's family stayed at a cabin. I touched snow for the first time. I include a 1987 Lake Tahoe trip for which I remembered reading a self-help book. The last sentence said, "Normalcy will return." My brother, cousin, and I went fishing at a retail fishing pond.

I also add my sister acquired tickets to watch a live Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego? gameshow at a local mall in summer 1994. The game was held at the food court. The host Greg Lee moderated the show with children contestants.

Top Ten Plus Five Equals Top Fifteen Crappy 1990s Best Moments

My biggest life regret as of today's blog is I failed to live the 1990s to the best of my ability. My downs outnumbered the ups. My ups were crappy ups. Many of the ups were unearned like a baseball team scoring an unearned run or the ups were given on a silver platter. I took the ups for granted. Life was unfair in the 1990s. Life is unfair today. Some people had more downs than ups. I was one of them.

In my opinion, the 1990s is best decade in the history of the human race. The economy was fantastic; although, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's monetary policy is another conversation. Fuel injection engines in automobiles. The internet. Email communication. Watch movies on DVDs. Listen to music on CDs. Mobile cell phones. Windows 95 and Windows 98. Nintendo. Playstation. Apple began the comeback when the late Steve Jobs came back. Opportunities were plentiful. Everyone got a piece of the pie. A piece of the pie was given just by participating.

If my courage increased 20%, then I got a bigger piece of the pie. If two people at the minimum, at any place, and at any time introduced me to something, anything positively new, then I live in freedom today. If either the same two people or two different people at the minimum, at any place, and at any time called out my faults, then I live in freedom today.

One high school moment worth mentioning was I attended summer school Geometry after my sophomore year. I made new friends. I was able to take Algebra II in my junior year and Trigonometry & Pre-Calculus in my senior year. I saw most of my friends in the math classes. Moreover, the summer school was a foreshadow because the school district closed my high school after my junior year. I graduated high school at the same school I took my summer school Geometry.

I salvaged the 1990s. I was naive. I received poor support. I didn't know how to make intelligent mistakes. It was not entirely my fault. I accepted my share of responsibility. All is forgiven today. I have been catching up what I missed since I realized I must grow up on Sat Oct 4, 2008. Experiences experienced. Lessons learned. Wisdom acquired. The catching up continues. Here are the top fifteen crappy 1990s best moments.

15. 1993 Bike Ride (Summer 1993). I rode my bike randomly around my neighborhood exploring parts of West San Jose and Campbell, CA. The places included Westmont High School, San Tomas Aquinas Creek, and John D. Morgan park.

14. Working Out At The Gym (Sep 1998, May 1999). My first gym was at my first company's office park. My second gym was at a real gym. I continue physical workouts today.

13. My First Webpage (1998). I created my first webpage at geocities.com Tokyo Bay 9061.

12. The Year Of The Role Playing Game (RPG) (1997). 1997 was the perfect year for RPG. Everyone was in San Jose, everyone adjusted their college and work schedules, everyone participated in the action, and the plots were terrific. The memories are remembered for a long time.

11. Las Vegas Grand Canyon (Jul 1997). My family's first biggest summer vacation. We stayed at a time share during our stay in Las Vegas. We took a two-day trip to the Grand Canyon. The vacation was my first time in Las Vegas, first time I gambled, and my first time in Arizona.

10. Around The State Of California In 90 Days (May-Aug 1995). 1995 was filled with family vacations. We visited Disneyland, visited Yosemite, canoed in the Sacramento River, and visited my grandparents in Santa Barbara. Yosemite was my first time visiting a national park.

9. San Jose State University (1992-1997). I choose San Jose State number nine even though many people think graduating from college should be higher in a person's life. I'm an exception.

*Fall Semester 1993. I earned a C- taking Computer Science 46A despite failing the final. The professor gave me a break. I attended all classes. I completed all the homework. Doing the minimums saved my ass.

*Fall Semester 1994. Physics 60 final. "I studied three hours for that!", said a classmate. Most students completed the four-choice multiple-choice final in 30 minutes. The final was very easy a high school student could earn an A.

*Fall Semester 1995. I changed majors from Mathematics to Economics and changed minors from Economics to Mathematics. My dream of teaching high school math was over. The switch was a good choice looking back. I believe I stopped being a teacher in today's public education environment.

I made a big deal thinking about the change initially. I thought back. The change should have been immediate. My Economic major classes become interesting. I met more classmates. My GPA went up at the end of each semester.

*Fall Semester 1996. My perfect semester. I attended classes on Tue and Thur. I learned how to write. 3.64 was my semester GPA. I mastered the shooting arcade game Area 51. I lost weight. I began listening to music while I studied.

*Fall Semester 1997. My last semester. I attended classes three days a week. I can't explain why I didn't schedule my semesters for at least one day off. Today's college environment most classes meet two days a week instead of some classes meeting either two days a week or three days a week.

8. Music (Various Dates). Yanni, Enya, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Madonna, Shawn Colvin, Sarah McLachlan, LeAnn Rimes, Jewel, No Doubt, Celine Dion, Alanis Morissette, Donna Lewis, Hootie And The Blowfish, Paula Cole, Sixpence None The Richer, The Cranberries, Sting, Wilson Phillips, R.E.M., and Spice Girls.

7. Self-training Job Skills (1998). I taught myself Excel, Access, PowerPoint, and HTML. Learning Access helped me get my second job. I wished I continued the self-training attitude indefinitely.

6. The Snowman And Pinky Show (1994-1995). I played stuffed animals with my younger sister. Snowman was The Snowman from the book written by Raymond Briggs. Pinky was a blue bear with a pink nose. The other animals were bears related to Pinky. There was another snowman who looked like The Snowman named cousin Snow. We were terrible naming the stuffed animals. Most of the bear names were referenced from The Simpsons and favorite family movies.

I was Snowman, cousin Snow, and the extras. My sister was Pinky and his bear family.

5. Blockbuster Video (1996-1997). My first retail job. The store manager and I attended the same high school which was the number one reason he hired me.

4. Weekend Trip To Santa Barbara, CA (Aug 1998). My mom and I picked up my grandfather in Santa Barbara, CA as a last minute trip driving the Mercury Sable 1997 station wagon. We transported our family birds to one of my aunts in Los Angeles to be picked up. We listened to music on my portable CD player connected to the radio cassette deck for the first time.

The next day we drove my grandfather back to the Bay Area. The highlight of the trip was a Ford Mustang driving next to me from Soledad to San Jose. Sometimes I was in front of the Mustang. Sometimes the Mustang was in front of me. We separated at the Junction 85-17 freeway.

3. Weekend Trip To Cal Poly (Apr 1998). A friend invited me to visit him during the annual Cal Poly Open House weekend. I helped his club raise money cooking teriyaki chicken at the food booths. The weekend vacation was the first time I went on vacation solo. I went shopping at an outlet strip mall purchasing neck ties.

2. Japanese Anime (1996). I became an anime fan. I woke up listening to the ending song from Sailor Moon when my sister watched the English anime dub. I watched a variety of anime series when I rented anime at Blockbuster Video. The first anime series I purchased was the first season of Ranma 1/2. I attended my first anime convention Fanime Con in Mar 1997.

1. My First Jobs After College (Jul 1998 And Feb 1999). The commercial real estate industry was my first two jobs. My boss who hired me at my first job also hired me at my second job. I worked in the industry for 8.5 years.

Update On A Past Blog

The C- grade in Computer Science 46A was mentioned in Top Ten Good Breaks And Good Timing written on Jul 8, 2013. Number nine was San Jose State University. I should have elaborated the "Failed final, yet passed the class" bullet point.

Do You Really Care About Other People?

The answer to the question is counterintuitive. You must care about yourself to prove you care about other people. Don't sacrifice yourself to care for other people. If you're not well in all capacities, then you can't care for other people. The capacities are physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and financial. Both parties are negatively affected. Never expect greater than or equal to appreciation in return every time. There are jerks who take advantage of someone's kindness. There is less supply of kindness available for a greater demand requesting help.

Be simple, be effective, and be mindful for good timed caring actions. Motivation or desire is more important than knowledge. Further, a little knowledge is better than a lot of ignorance. Exercise well. Sleep plenty. Eat healthy.

Update On A Past Blog

I remind myself I never fully understand anything in life. I never fully understand *insert noun* or *insert adjective* or *insert verb* or *insert adverb*. I wrote I Never Fully And Truly Understand Someone Else's Feelings on Oct 7, 2006. Anytime I say, "I understand . . .", or another person tells me, "I understand . . .", I or the other person don't fully understand.

I reiterate an action on the day I realized I must grow up on Sat Oct 4, 2008. The action was "I forgave everything and everyone. . . ." I wrote blogs on the day I grew up. I choose Five Years Ago Today I Grew Up on Oct 4, 2013 as the update blog. Forgiving or forgiveness is like the weight I carried on my back lighten. Forgiving or forgiveness crumbles personal walls. Forgiving or forgiveness makes breathing easier. I also reiterate "the most important lesson I learned is never taking life for granted."

Top Ten Plus Six Equals Top Sixteen Moments Never On A Top Ten Before

These sixteen moments were small life values. These sixteen moments were small memories. These sixteen moments are examples of the little things in life. I share two examples. The first example is purchasing a Mickey Mouse baseball cap in Spring Semester 1996 while I attended San Jose State University. The pics are below.

The second example is reading Coraline by Neil Gaiman in 2009. I watched the movie on Mar 14, 2009. Why do I remember the exact date? The reasons are there was a cosplay gathering at a local Japanese garden, a friend organized a 3.14 pie day dinner gathering, and the three of us watched the last evening showing. I gave the book for a birthday gift to a friend out of the Bay Area.

My long-term memory is above average. My confidence is high these moments never appeared before. I provide the moment date if I remember. Here are the top ten plus six equals top sixteen moments never on a top ten before:

16. Country Time Lemonade (early 1980s). The first time I drank Country Time Lemonade I was at a zoo. I don't remember if it was a field trip for preschool or kindergarten. My mom was a chaperone. Maybe, it was a gathering with other friends. Or maybe it was a social gathering with other families.

I remember getting lost. I might have found another parent who found my mom. I also remember opening a gate separating two sections of the zoo.

15. Blue Angels Air Show (Aug 1992). My former neighbors the late The Shermans took my family to an air show to watch airplanes and the Blue Angels performed at the Moffett Field airfield and airport located in Mountain View, CA.

14. Pier 39 Arcade Video Games (1987). I used video game tokens from a mom and pop arcade Galaktican. Galaktican is number seven explaining the better deal on tokens. The Pier 39 arcade was the standard four tokens for $1 and 20 tokens for $5. The Aquarium Of The Bay replaces the arcade.

13. Mopped The Floors (Apr 2013). I cleaned the household floors using a mop for the first time. My parents never cleaned the floors using a mop. I don't know why.

12. Drive-in Movies (1986). My family and one of my cousin's family watched Top Gun and The Karate Kid II movies at a drive-in movie theater.

11. Gilroy Outlet Mall (Dec 1994). I finished a terrible Fall Semester. The shopping day was relaxing.

10. Attended Two Jazz Festivals (Aug-Sep 2009). I became interested in jazz music in Nov 2008. I attended the San Jose Jazz Festival in Aug 2009 and the Monterey Jazz Festival in Sep 2009. I was lucky the late Allen Toussaint appeared as the headliner for the San Jose Jazz Festival.

9. Touched Snow (Nov 1986). I experienced snow for the first time in South Lake Tahoe. The second time was Nov 1987. The last time was Nov 2008 in the state of Washington.

8. Mystery Mansion Board Game (Unknown Dates). My brother, cousin, and I played Mystery Mansion when my cousin stayed over during the summers. We followed most of the rules. Some games were finished the next morning.

7. Galaktican Arcade (1986-1991, 1996). My brother and I were addicted to playing video games in the arcade. Those were the times when parents allowed their children to wonder unsupervised. Players received six tokens for $1 and 36 tokens for $5. Galaktican reduced the $5 bonus because business was too good. Unfortunately, Galaktican went out of business due to the video game consoles. I remember the final years players receive bonus tokens when they exchanged $10.

My final visit was Fall 1996. I rollerbladed to and from my house. I played Area 51 with another player who memorized all the enemies. We unlocked a bonus scene in the mountain cave for the first time.

6. Quell App Games (2012, 2014). I played three of the four Quell games from Fallen Tree Games. I finished Quell in Apr 2012, Quell: Reflect in Oct 2012, and Quell: Memento in Jul 2014 all at 100% unlocked and 100% perfect. I needed help once in Quell, once in Reflect, and none in Memento.

5. Nintendo GameCube (Jul 2004). I purchased the console, four game controllers, backpack, two memory cards, and five video games all used for $217.00 on eBay. The video games included Mario Kart and Super Smash Brothers.

4. Professor Blackerby (Jan-May 1995, Aug-Dec 1997). My favorite economics instructor was Professor Blackerby. He taught my Microeconomics and my Microeconomic Analysis classes. Timing was good because Blackerby taught Microeconomic Analysis on my final semester at San Jose State University.

3. Board Game Night (Various Dates). My family and I played Pictionary on Sat nights. It was the only board game we played together.

2. Japantown San Francisco (Aug 1998). I visited Japantown for the first time in decades. It was the first time I visited as an anime fan. A friend suggested we drive to San Francisco to escape a hot Sunday in San Jose.

1. Movie Night (Mar or Apr 1997). My brother and I watched movies on Laserdiscs and ate take-out Chinese food from a mom and pop Chinese restaurant on a Sat night. I rented the Laserdiscs for free because I worked at Blockbuster Video. I told my brother to screen calls in case Blockbuster called for help. My store had been short staffed on Sat nights. My brother stayed home for the semester because of an internship. One of the movies was Escape From L.A. starring Kurt Russell.

Update On A Past Blog

I remind myself to keep fun in check. The blog is Keep Fun In Check written on Feb 26, 2006. Take a deep breath. Be mature. Fun is not fun when there is any injury including physical and emotional. There's a good way to have fun. There's a bad way to have fun.

Unlearn To Be Better And Unlearn The Incorrect

All parents are not perfect. There are some lessons not taught. There are some lessons taught incorrectly. There are some lessons outdated. Bad nurturing. Incomplete guidance. In addition, the companies provide bad training leading to future dead-end careers or obsolete job skills. And life itself can teach bad lessons. Nobody corrects the incorrect. The person falls through the cracks without anyone calling out the fault. Regardless, self-awareness, personal responsibility, and motivation are required to unlearn. Forgive the past. Unlearn the past. Correct the incorrect. Retrain. Relearn.

I'm a person from the above paragraph. I work years to unlearn the incorrect. I work years to confirm what I knew I was correct. I realize some people didn't want to teach me correctly. Maybe they didn't want me to succeed. Maybe they wanted to hide their ignorance. Maybe they helped me with little effort. All is forgiven.

I used to live life as life must go my way. I got angry when life didn't. I also got angry when I can't control my life; although, I admit life was great when I controlled life and life flowed my way like the late Steve Jobs' reality distortion field. I used to take life for granted. I didn't take life seriously. I lived life with too much fun. Mistakes were ignored. Problems were ignored. I got away with some of the mistakes and some of the problems. The other mistakes and problems affected me later. I was a coward. I was weak.

The past is the past. Chapters are closed. Some of the above are not my fault because support was poor, mentoring was weak, nobody called me out, and nobody helped me. Nothing is forgotten because I learn from these life events. I don't take life for granted. I'm no longer angry when life doesn't go my way. Nobody controls all of life. I take more of my life seriously. Fun is checked. I'm lucky I correct my mistakes myself. There are more mistakes to correct. Problems are solved. I'm courageous. I'm stronger. Never stop learning. Never stop innovating. Innovate infinitely.

Update On A Past Blog

I remind myself I was correct despite many bad lessons, bad teachings, and falling through the cracks. I wrote Top Ten I Was Correct When I Was Young on Jun 9, 2016. Be gritty, no hoarding, exercise, and being a good person are some of the life lessons I have been correct.

Shelter In-Place COVID-19 Blog December 2023

California issued shelter in-place orders on Tue Mar 17, 2020. I have been logging the highlights and lowlights. COVID-19 headlines increased after months of complacency due to the new variant JN.1. I learned more family members tested positive. Unseasonably warmer weather.

Fri Dec 1. China experienced a surge in respiratory illnesses and pneumonia in children. The World Health Organization (WHO) detected no unusual pathogens or novel pathogens. The number of cases was less than the peak in past cold seasons pre-pandemic. The lifting of COVID-19 restrictions during the winter season was the main cause for the surge.

Sun Dec 3. An uncle and an aunt on my dad's side of the family tested positive for COVID-19. They're unvaccinated.

Tue Dec 5. Picked up Black Friday orders at DSW Design Shoe Warehouse and Kinokuniya Bookstore.

Thur Dec 7. Dentist appointment in the morning. Costco shopping afterwards.

Fri Dec 8. Shopped for used books. Christmas shopping at Automobuild toy store. Ate lunch at Chipotle.

Mon Dec 11. The US Supreme Court dismissed three cases against the federal government for vaccine mandates. The mandates affected executive branch employees and the military. The vaccine mandates are defunct. President Joe Biden rescinded the federal employee requirements in May 2023. The Pentagon rescinded the military requirements due to a congressional action in Jan 2023.

Thur Dec 14. The Center For Disease Control (CDC) issued a health alert because fewer people are vaccinated against COVID-19, flu, and RSV. The low vaccination rates could strain the health care system in weeks. Hospitalizations increased 200% for the flu, 60% for RSV, and 51% for COVID-19. 17.2% of adults received the updated COVID-19 vaccine. 40% of adults and children received the flu shot. 15.9% of older adults received the RSV vaccine. These percentages were as of Dec 8, 2023.

A key drug Beyfortus for babies infected with RSV was in short supply.

Fri Dec 15. The CDC tracking system showed the variant JN.1 is increasing. Also, a multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children or MIS-C caused by COVID19 is increasing since the summer. JN.1 is a descendant of BA.2.86. JN.1 is a highly mutated variant. It was estimated JN.1 represented 29% of cases in the US.

Wed Dec 20. Shopped at Costco. I saw more people wearing masks. Got gas for my car.

The WHO announced the JN.1 variant is a variant of interest because of the rapid spread. Several countries in Europe reported exponential growth including Denmark, Spain, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands.

Sun Dec 24. The CDC stated the JN.1 makes up 44.2% of COVID-19 cases in the US. The JN.1 doubled between late Nov and md Dec due to holiday travel and warning immunity.

Wed Dec 27. The JN.1 variant was the most common strain in the US. Experts said JN.1 is not causing severe illness. The symptoms included coughing, fever, body aches, and fatigue. The symptoms typically last between three to four days. Updated vaccines released in Sep 2023 produced antibodies against JN.1.

26,000 people hospitalized as of Dec 10, 2023. However, the number is lower than the Omicron wave peak in Jan 2022.

Fri Dec 29. Morning errands at Smart & Final, Target, and Costco. There was a big crowd at Costco during the 11am hour. Few people wore masks.

The City of Chicago used $95M in COVID-19 relief funds to pay for the costs of 27,000 migrants from the Texas and Mexico border. The costs included shelters, food, and staff support.

Sat Dec 30. Los Angeles County reinstated mask mandates for all healthcare facilities. The facilities included hospitals, nursing facilities, dialysis, and hospice care.

Updated On A Past Blog

The United States deficit is a record $34 trillion on Dec 29, 2023 according to the Treasury Department. The deficit was $15 trillion in 2011 from the blog I Must Declare Bankruptcy If I Was 15 Trillion Dollars In Debt written on Nov 22, 2011. The deficit was $33 trillion in Sep 2023. The debt ceiling suspension ends Jan 2025.