The weekend trip contained lots of firsts for each of us. For Punkbuster, it’s the first time she visited many places in San Francisco. Earlier in 2008, she visited Alcatraz only with a group of friends and some of them wanted to visit more places. And she visited an aquarium for the first time. For me, it’s the first time I spent a weekend going to so many places north and south of San Jose and spending time with a girl one on one.
I realized living in Northern California I’m spoiled. There are many activities and places to. Some places require money and some places require no money. Regardless, there is no excuse for staying indoors 100% of the time. There are plenty to see including parks, museums, downtowns shopping, camp yards, and historical sites. Just walking in Pier 39 and enjoying the San Francisco Bay Area is worth the walk with people. Likewise with Santa Cruz walking in the beaches. And I have never visited the Napa area north of San Francisco.
However, there is a difference between sightseeing and random walking. I realized the difference in Downtown Santa Cruz. It was good timing to cut the Downtown Santa Cruz walk short because it was getting boring. My intention was Punkbuster might have liked walking in downtown and visiting any shops she might be interested. Downtown Santa Cruz had a variety of shops. We realized and I agreed walking in Downtown Santa Cruz was more random walking than sightseeing. Think about next time you and your group of friends choose to visit Downtown or even a mall. Is it random walking to waste time or to visit stores and shop for particular goods? If random walking, perhaps it’s better to save money and gas staying at a friend’s house and chat randomly.
The 2008 Nor Cal Vacation is one of my top highlights for the 2008 year. I had a wonderful time. The vacation was like an anime convention such that we did lots of stuff, had fun, got tired, and we ate little food LOL Seriously, it’s a bad idea to skip meals XD Despite the many activities, we never rushed. No rushing. We took our time. We cancelled visiting the Santa Cruz Pier and shorten the Downtown Santa Cruz visit on Sunday which turned out to be huge so we could take our time at the aquarium. We got tired at the aquarium; regardless, we enjoyed the exhibits and our company. Punkbuster, I should have insisted I purchase a meal for you. You never ate anything after the Boardwalk T__T I apologize.
Thank you very much for the weekend vacation. I hope you had a great time and the road trip was worth the vacation in the Northern California Bay Area. We had lots of bright moments ^__^
Notes
* Here’s the song reference for the “Monterey, Monterey, It’s The California Livin’ . . .” from Animaniacs http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=-isXelPoN9M
*Punkbuster and I were on the road for 7 hours and 41 minutes
*If you want to visit an aquarium and have time in the Bay Area, go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and skip the aquarium in Pier 39
*I’m thinking about visiting Downtown Monterey before the end of the year. I anticipate it’s sightseeing because I never visited before; afterwards, I anticipate future visits are random walking *hee, hee*
*Some activities and entertainment we do alone. I mention in the notes because I forgot when we talked about the topic. We agreed sometimes doing activities and entertainment alone is good. There is nothing wrong being alone, and sometimes it’s beneficial to oneself. No fear being alone. (Just make sure you bring a cell phone and tell someone for emergencies.)
*I have been eating smaller meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner since the stomach ache in San Francisco
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
2008 Nor Cal Vacation Day Three
In The Warm California Sun
I woke up at 9:00am to prepare for Day Three activities. I got the sunscreen, ate Saturday’s breakfast, and copied Friday and Saturday pics on a CD. I brought my laptop, change of clothes, and water. I thought about getting gas; unfortunately, I was Asian Late.
I arrived at Punkbuster’s hotel room at 10:15am. Punkbuster texted me checking if I’m OK. Punkbuster choose to wear glasses instead of contacts. Cool 8-) We took off at 11:00am to Santa Cruz. During the drive, Punkbuster told me there are very few green trees and plants in her home town and the area is mostly flat with a few hills here and there. She shared a story I vaguely remember about her friend driving on a hill and the road is so close to the edge she almost got in an accident or something. Regardless, I was scared hearing the story. And she told me the story how roads were built on hills in her home area with residential expansion. Great, residential expansion in today’s residential real estate market. Smart =p We also talked about our longest day of our lives. My longest day took place in August 2004 when my brother and his wife’s family got into a car accident in Barstow, CA going home from Las Vegas. I forgot Punkbuster’s longest day ~~ I told Punkbuster Santa Cruz has a city ban on big named retail stores. The only brand name stores in Santa Cruz as far as I’m concerned are Borders, Longs Drugs, and Circuit City. There are no Wal-Mart and Costco.
We arrived at Downtown Santa Cruz at 11:30am. We found parking in about 5 minutes. The parking garage we went was full and most of the street parking was full, too. We visited Borders, two comic book shops, and a game shop. Downtown Santa Cruz is like Downtown San Francisco. The difference is Downtown Santa Cruz is much smaller and much cleaner. Punkbuster saw a coffee shop Bad Ass Coffee and she took a picture. We walked half of Downtown and Punkbuster suggested we skip the other half of Downtown and go to the Boardwalk. Good call. We skipped the rest of Downtown and drove to the boardwalk.
Yay, Boardwalk
I drove around the other half of Downtown to complete the tour. We arrived at the boardwalk at 12:45pm. We parked across the arcade. Punkbuster saw In the Groove 2 and played one game. Punkbuster commented the games in the Bay Area are expensive to play. Punkbuster’s arcades are much cheaper.
We walked to Neptune’s arcade to play air hockey at 1:00pm. Bad news for me. I hit the puck really hard and the puck hit her left middle finger. Ouch! I was shocked and I immediately apologized. Punkbuster needed ice to reduce the swelling and I got the ice from the nearby food stand. I’m so sorry for hitting you.
After the accident, we took a walk around the Boardwalk. Punkbuster told me about the arcade hours. I said the arcade opened 24/7. Oops. Wrong answer. *takes a deep breath* The correct answer is the arcades are open year around and the rides are open seasonal. I must have been hungry =__= I asked Punkbuster if she wanted to walk on the beach. She said she hates sand. Oops. I misinterpreted her. I thought she wanted to visit the beach. I showed her the Giant Dipper, the roller coaster we planned to ride on later and the Cyclone ride which had an accident a few weeks ago. The weather was really warm, too warm. I expected cooler temperatures. I was sweating.
We ate lunch at 2:00pm with a coupon for a free corn dog with a combo purchase. Punkbuster likes corn dogs. I ordered the chicken sandwich combo. I forgot to tell the cashier to hold the mayonnaise. I asked Punkbuster to split the sandwich for fear my stomach acted up again. She said OK. When I opened my wallet to put the receipt in my wallet, I realized my Hitsugaya keychain broke. *cries* I’m happy I caught the keychain and I put the keychain in my bag.
I told Punkbuster one of my weaknesses is my guilty consciousness; however, I know when somebody takes advantage of my guilty consciousness. And it explained the continuous apologies for hitting her finger with the puck. I apologized too many times throughout our time in the Boardwalk. I realized later I should have shut up because it made me look worst saying sorry too many times ^^
At 2:50pm, we arrived at the Giant Dipper roller coaster. The ride requires six tickets or $4.50 per person. We waited about 15 minutes. Not too bad. We applied lip balm just before we seated. Then we rode the roller coaster. Full of fun. We saw our pictures at the end of the roller coaster. We looked funny, happy, and thrilly =)
Monterey, Monterey, It’s The California Livin’ . . .
We took off Santa Cruz and headed to Monterey to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium at 3:00pm. The first discussion was our physical turn-ons and a person’s outside is important as a person’s inside. For example, you met a person’s inside is adventurous; however, if the person’s outside doesn’t brush his or her teeth, why do you still want to pursue a relationship? The inside is more important than the outside is full of crap. We continued to talk about what size city we want to live. Santa Cruz population is around 52,000 and the size is suitable for me for a small city. We also talked about fate. Does each of us believe in fate? And are there different levels of fate from individual fate to world fate to universal fate? We also said that everyone has bright moments and that crap happens. Tell me about the crap happens ;) The weather was warm in Santa Cruz the air condition was on throughout most of the drive. Punkbuster took a nap towards the end of the trip. Punkbuster got a headache after The Giant Dipper roller coaster. She told me she gets headaches when she rides on a roller coaster ;__;
We arrived at the Monterey Bay Aquarium at 4:20pm after parking in one of the parking garages at Cannery Row. There was a good amount of people. The first exhibit we saw was watching the anchovies swimming in a circle shaped aquarium on the second floor.
At 4:30pm, we visited the jellyfish exhibits. Jellyfish is Punkbuster’s favorite sea animal which explains why she knew lots about jellyfishes. I said the Black Sea Nettle is not a jellyfish and Punkbuster corrected me. Black Sea Nettle is a jellyfish.
Then we visited The Outer Bay containing sea turtles, tunas, sharks, and barracudas. There was an upper section with seating to relax and enjoy the view from the top. I tried to take pictures from the upper section; unfortunately, there were too many people along the bottom for a good wide shot. We walked to the first floor and entered The Jellies: Living Art exhibit. There were more jellyfish and jellyfish art. I received information the Living Art exhibit is in its last year. Lucky! The Warty Comb Jelly aquarium inside the exhibit looked like space and the Warty Comb Jelly were floating aliens, LOL.
We went to the cafeteria at 5:40pm. I was kinda hungry from the light lunch at the Boardwalk. I ordered a hot dog, fries, and soda combo. The catering company providing the food is the same company at my workplace. Punkbuster patiently waited for me to finish eating and she took a rest. Both of us feel crappy when we are hungry. It’s never good to be crappy because misunderstands, miscommunications, and misbehaviors are prone to happen. I felt better and not tired. Energize :-)
The aquarium closed at 8:00pm. We had two hours. Plenty of time. We continued walking around and headed to the Kelp Forest. We stayed briefly and then walked outside and saw the wave exhibit. Then we went to the Touch Pools. We first didn’t want to touch the sea animals. We actually did. I forgot what Punkbuster touched. I touched a manta. Very smooth and slimly like.
The Monterey Bay Habitats and the Octopus were the next exhibits. I noticed a few families were behaving inappropriately. One family the son was cranky. He was tired. And another family the parents were arguing. They were tired and they embarrassed themselves. And then we went back to the Kelp Forest. The Coastal Birds exhibit was closed. I remember the bird exhibit in my 1998 visit. It’s really good. At 7:00pm, we walked to the second floor and visited the penguins and the children’s Splash Zone. The aquarium was almost empty during the last hour. Punkbuster and I saw each other through the display window at the penguins exhibit, LOL We took the stairs to the third floor where there’s nothing. We saw the top of the Kelp Forest exhibit where there’s lighting and the water pumps. We got pictures of the fish from Finding Nemo movie as we exited the children’s Splash Zone.
The last exhibit was watching the Sea Otters. The time was 7:30pm. We talked about skipping dinner because it was getting late and we were getting tired (-,-) Punkbuster had leftovers from dinner at my cousin’s Japanese restaurant. We shopped in the gift shop for souvenirs. I suggested purchasing a stuffed dolphin for Dragonzyez. Dragonzyez favorite sea animal is the dolphin. Punkbuster texted Dragonzyez and she said a stuffed dolphin is cool. I purchased a penguin magnet for the family.
Time To Go Home
Punkbuster and I met at the exit at 8:00pm and we walked back to the parking garage. We took individual pictures of the Monterey Bay near The Fish Hopper restaurant. We arrived at the parking garage and we were looking for the pay ticket machine. We could not find the machine and we walked back to the car. I looked at the map to find Highway 1 from the parking garage. The cashier is located at the exit. I paid the ticket and we headed back to Highway 1. We didn’t get lost *__* I made a comment there was no Monterey Police or Monterey Sheriff cars for me to take pictures. Punkbuster made a joke she take pictures of police cars in her home town.
We entered the freeway entrance approximately 8:15pm. We talked about our driving habits including why people slow down and look at accidents. Coincidently, there was a minor traffic accident on Highway 17 slowing down traffic. We asked each other if we wanted to move out of our home towns. We planned to stay where we live.
We continued talking about different topics. Another topic was how people have personal bubbles and some people stay in their bubbles for security. (Days after the vacation, I thought about my personal bubble. I believe we all have bubbles. Some people have bigger bubbles meaning more secure and personal and some have small bubbles meaning less secure and outgoing. Hmmm, another blog topic here.) One way to meet new people is become interested in others. Ask questions to the other person and learn who he or she is including school or career, hobbies, and favorite food. We talked about our young ages and what we want to do with our lives. Our current careers are not long-term. We asked ourselves what we wanted to do, and we have continued to ask ourselves what we wanted to do. We have time to think about our lives, yet we continue to say we have time to think about what we wanted to do with our lives. *sigh*
We talked about cost of living increasing and raising families are getting more expensive. How can families today raise their children; in particular, lower and middle class families? Oil prices currently are dropping; however, expect prices to go back up. We shared our opinions why oil prices were record highs in late June and early July. I told Punkbuster I enjoyed her music selections she gave me and I told her the times I listen to her CDs. Punkbuster told me about the slang “junk in trunk.” Punkbuster LOL when I thought junk in trunk meant too much junk in a car’s trunk. Wrong. It meant something else which I’m not going to mention *__*
The last topic we talked about was why some drivers ride the breaks when they drive down hills. You’re not supposed to. We made the drive funny on Highway 17 as we drove down the hills. If I braked, we said break, break, break, . . . . If I coasted, we said no break, no break, no break, . . . . If I accelerated, we said gas, gas, gas, . . . . I downshifted to 4th gear or 3rd gear when going downhill. Traffic was heavy on Highway 17. If there was little traffic, I coasted all the way downhill and downshifted when there was a sharp curve ahead.
Good Bye
Punkbuster and I arrived at her hotel room at 10:00pm. I stayed for 20 minutes copying today’s pictures to CD. We were exhausted, yet we had a ton of fun. We said good bye to each other and we thank each other for a fun and wonderful weekend.
Punkbuster drove back home around 10:30am on Monday and arrived home safely around 9:00pm.
I woke up at 9:00am to prepare for Day Three activities. I got the sunscreen, ate Saturday’s breakfast, and copied Friday and Saturday pics on a CD. I brought my laptop, change of clothes, and water. I thought about getting gas; unfortunately, I was Asian Late.
I arrived at Punkbuster’s hotel room at 10:15am. Punkbuster texted me checking if I’m OK. Punkbuster choose to wear glasses instead of contacts. Cool 8-) We took off at 11:00am to Santa Cruz. During the drive, Punkbuster told me there are very few green trees and plants in her home town and the area is mostly flat with a few hills here and there. She shared a story I vaguely remember about her friend driving on a hill and the road is so close to the edge she almost got in an accident or something. Regardless, I was scared hearing the story. And she told me the story how roads were built on hills in her home area with residential expansion. Great, residential expansion in today’s residential real estate market. Smart =p We also talked about our longest day of our lives. My longest day took place in August 2004 when my brother and his wife’s family got into a car accident in Barstow, CA going home from Las Vegas. I forgot Punkbuster’s longest day ~~ I told Punkbuster Santa Cruz has a city ban on big named retail stores. The only brand name stores in Santa Cruz as far as I’m concerned are Borders, Longs Drugs, and Circuit City. There are no Wal-Mart and Costco.
We arrived at Downtown Santa Cruz at 11:30am. We found parking in about 5 minutes. The parking garage we went was full and most of the street parking was full, too. We visited Borders, two comic book shops, and a game shop. Downtown Santa Cruz is like Downtown San Francisco. The difference is Downtown Santa Cruz is much smaller and much cleaner. Punkbuster saw a coffee shop Bad Ass Coffee and she took a picture. We walked half of Downtown and Punkbuster suggested we skip the other half of Downtown and go to the Boardwalk. Good call. We skipped the rest of Downtown and drove to the boardwalk.
Yay, Boardwalk
I drove around the other half of Downtown to complete the tour. We arrived at the boardwalk at 12:45pm. We parked across the arcade. Punkbuster saw In the Groove 2 and played one game. Punkbuster commented the games in the Bay Area are expensive to play. Punkbuster’s arcades are much cheaper.
We walked to Neptune’s arcade to play air hockey at 1:00pm. Bad news for me. I hit the puck really hard and the puck hit her left middle finger. Ouch! I was shocked and I immediately apologized. Punkbuster needed ice to reduce the swelling and I got the ice from the nearby food stand. I’m so sorry for hitting you.
After the accident, we took a walk around the Boardwalk. Punkbuster told me about the arcade hours. I said the arcade opened 24/7. Oops. Wrong answer. *takes a deep breath* The correct answer is the arcades are open year around and the rides are open seasonal. I must have been hungry =__= I asked Punkbuster if she wanted to walk on the beach. She said she hates sand. Oops. I misinterpreted her. I thought she wanted to visit the beach. I showed her the Giant Dipper, the roller coaster we planned to ride on later and the Cyclone ride which had an accident a few weeks ago. The weather was really warm, too warm. I expected cooler temperatures. I was sweating.
We ate lunch at 2:00pm with a coupon for a free corn dog with a combo purchase. Punkbuster likes corn dogs. I ordered the chicken sandwich combo. I forgot to tell the cashier to hold the mayonnaise. I asked Punkbuster to split the sandwich for fear my stomach acted up again. She said OK. When I opened my wallet to put the receipt in my wallet, I realized my Hitsugaya keychain broke. *cries* I’m happy I caught the keychain and I put the keychain in my bag.
I told Punkbuster one of my weaknesses is my guilty consciousness; however, I know when somebody takes advantage of my guilty consciousness. And it explained the continuous apologies for hitting her finger with the puck. I apologized too many times throughout our time in the Boardwalk. I realized later I should have shut up because it made me look worst saying sorry too many times ^^
At 2:50pm, we arrived at the Giant Dipper roller coaster. The ride requires six tickets or $4.50 per person. We waited about 15 minutes. Not too bad. We applied lip balm just before we seated. Then we rode the roller coaster. Full of fun. We saw our pictures at the end of the roller coaster. We looked funny, happy, and thrilly =)
Monterey, Monterey, It’s The California Livin’ . . .
We took off Santa Cruz and headed to Monterey to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium at 3:00pm. The first discussion was our physical turn-ons and a person’s outside is important as a person’s inside. For example, you met a person’s inside is adventurous; however, if the person’s outside doesn’t brush his or her teeth, why do you still want to pursue a relationship? The inside is more important than the outside is full of crap. We continued to talk about what size city we want to live. Santa Cruz population is around 52,000 and the size is suitable for me for a small city. We also talked about fate. Does each of us believe in fate? And are there different levels of fate from individual fate to world fate to universal fate? We also said that everyone has bright moments and that crap happens. Tell me about the crap happens ;) The weather was warm in Santa Cruz the air condition was on throughout most of the drive. Punkbuster took a nap towards the end of the trip. Punkbuster got a headache after The Giant Dipper roller coaster. She told me she gets headaches when she rides on a roller coaster ;__;
We arrived at the Monterey Bay Aquarium at 4:20pm after parking in one of the parking garages at Cannery Row. There was a good amount of people. The first exhibit we saw was watching the anchovies swimming in a circle shaped aquarium on the second floor.
At 4:30pm, we visited the jellyfish exhibits. Jellyfish is Punkbuster’s favorite sea animal which explains why she knew lots about jellyfishes. I said the Black Sea Nettle is not a jellyfish and Punkbuster corrected me. Black Sea Nettle is a jellyfish.
Then we visited The Outer Bay containing sea turtles, tunas, sharks, and barracudas. There was an upper section with seating to relax and enjoy the view from the top. I tried to take pictures from the upper section; unfortunately, there were too many people along the bottom for a good wide shot. We walked to the first floor and entered The Jellies: Living Art exhibit. There were more jellyfish and jellyfish art. I received information the Living Art exhibit is in its last year. Lucky! The Warty Comb Jelly aquarium inside the exhibit looked like space and the Warty Comb Jelly were floating aliens, LOL.
We went to the cafeteria at 5:40pm. I was kinda hungry from the light lunch at the Boardwalk. I ordered a hot dog, fries, and soda combo. The catering company providing the food is the same company at my workplace. Punkbuster patiently waited for me to finish eating and she took a rest. Both of us feel crappy when we are hungry. It’s never good to be crappy because misunderstands, miscommunications, and misbehaviors are prone to happen. I felt better and not tired. Energize :-)
The aquarium closed at 8:00pm. We had two hours. Plenty of time. We continued walking around and headed to the Kelp Forest. We stayed briefly and then walked outside and saw the wave exhibit. Then we went to the Touch Pools. We first didn’t want to touch the sea animals. We actually did. I forgot what Punkbuster touched. I touched a manta. Very smooth and slimly like.
The Monterey Bay Habitats and the Octopus were the next exhibits. I noticed a few families were behaving inappropriately. One family the son was cranky. He was tired. And another family the parents were arguing. They were tired and they embarrassed themselves. And then we went back to the Kelp Forest. The Coastal Birds exhibit was closed. I remember the bird exhibit in my 1998 visit. It’s really good. At 7:00pm, we walked to the second floor and visited the penguins and the children’s Splash Zone. The aquarium was almost empty during the last hour. Punkbuster and I saw each other through the display window at the penguins exhibit, LOL We took the stairs to the third floor where there’s nothing. We saw the top of the Kelp Forest exhibit where there’s lighting and the water pumps. We got pictures of the fish from Finding Nemo movie as we exited the children’s Splash Zone.
The last exhibit was watching the Sea Otters. The time was 7:30pm. We talked about skipping dinner because it was getting late and we were getting tired (-,-) Punkbuster had leftovers from dinner at my cousin’s Japanese restaurant. We shopped in the gift shop for souvenirs. I suggested purchasing a stuffed dolphin for Dragonzyez. Dragonzyez favorite sea animal is the dolphin. Punkbuster texted Dragonzyez and she said a stuffed dolphin is cool. I purchased a penguin magnet for the family.
Time To Go Home
Punkbuster and I met at the exit at 8:00pm and we walked back to the parking garage. We took individual pictures of the Monterey Bay near The Fish Hopper restaurant. We arrived at the parking garage and we were looking for the pay ticket machine. We could not find the machine and we walked back to the car. I looked at the map to find Highway 1 from the parking garage. The cashier is located at the exit. I paid the ticket and we headed back to Highway 1. We didn’t get lost *__* I made a comment there was no Monterey Police or Monterey Sheriff cars for me to take pictures. Punkbuster made a joke she take pictures of police cars in her home town.
We entered the freeway entrance approximately 8:15pm. We talked about our driving habits including why people slow down and look at accidents. Coincidently, there was a minor traffic accident on Highway 17 slowing down traffic. We asked each other if we wanted to move out of our home towns. We planned to stay where we live.
We continued talking about different topics. Another topic was how people have personal bubbles and some people stay in their bubbles for security. (Days after the vacation, I thought about my personal bubble. I believe we all have bubbles. Some people have bigger bubbles meaning more secure and personal and some have small bubbles meaning less secure and outgoing. Hmmm, another blog topic here.) One way to meet new people is become interested in others. Ask questions to the other person and learn who he or she is including school or career, hobbies, and favorite food. We talked about our young ages and what we want to do with our lives. Our current careers are not long-term. We asked ourselves what we wanted to do, and we have continued to ask ourselves what we wanted to do. We have time to think about our lives, yet we continue to say we have time to think about what we wanted to do with our lives. *sigh*
We talked about cost of living increasing and raising families are getting more expensive. How can families today raise their children; in particular, lower and middle class families? Oil prices currently are dropping; however, expect prices to go back up. We shared our opinions why oil prices were record highs in late June and early July. I told Punkbuster I enjoyed her music selections she gave me and I told her the times I listen to her CDs. Punkbuster told me about the slang “junk in trunk.” Punkbuster LOL when I thought junk in trunk meant too much junk in a car’s trunk. Wrong. It meant something else which I’m not going to mention *__*
The last topic we talked about was why some drivers ride the breaks when they drive down hills. You’re not supposed to. We made the drive funny on Highway 17 as we drove down the hills. If I braked, we said break, break, break, . . . . If I coasted, we said no break, no break, no break, . . . . If I accelerated, we said gas, gas, gas, . . . . I downshifted to 4th gear or 3rd gear when going downhill. Traffic was heavy on Highway 17. If there was little traffic, I coasted all the way downhill and downshifted when there was a sharp curve ahead.
Good Bye
Punkbuster and I arrived at her hotel room at 10:00pm. I stayed for 20 minutes copying today’s pictures to CD. We were exhausted, yet we had a ton of fun. We said good bye to each other and we thank each other for a fun and wonderful weekend.
Punkbuster drove back home around 10:30am on Monday and arrived home safely around 9:00pm.
Monday, September 08, 2008
2008 Nor Cal Vacation Day Two
*Yawn* Crabby Sleep (-.-)
I went to sleep at 2:00am. I woke up at 5:45am Saturday morning. I could not go back to sleep. At 6:30am, I woke up fully. I checked the car including the oil and tire pressure. I took my time to avoid arriving at 8:00am and to give Punkbuster additional time to sleep and get ready. I got gas and washed the front windows, rear windows, and headlights at 7:45am. Never neglect keeping the headlines clean >__>
I arrived at the hotel at 8:00am. I said to myself there is no problem because Punkbuster is an early person `__* Oops. Punkbuster was not ready at 8:00am and she expected me at 8:15am. She was surprised and she was OK I arrived early nevertheless. Punkbuster had trouble falling asleep. We headed downstairs at 8:35am for the continental breakfast. Punkbuster saw the line and said forget it. She hated to wait.
I suggested we eat at Stacks in Campbell. She said OK. We talked about comic book stores including a comic book store Punkbuster used to shop where she received discounts because she knew the owner. We arrived at Stacks at 8:50am. The restaurant was full inside and the hostess gave us the option to eat outdoors. We said yes. I ordered the sausage and mushroom skillet and Punkbuster ordered the banana waffle with a side of eggs overeasy. Punkbuster got along with the waitress easily and she initiated small talk from our first orders to getting a take out box :) We talked about the ups and down of our families including our siblings. Most of our families either live in our home state or in nearby cities. Each of us has one family member and their family living out of state. We also talked about our past jobs. One job Punkbuster lasted two weeks because she was trained for a job and was given a different position. And we talked about college.
The breakfast was delicious. I ate half my breakfast because I was not hungry. I don’t know why. Punkbuster ate most of her breakfast.
WTH? No Tickets to Alcatraz
We drove from Campbell to San Francisco at 9:40am. I showed Punkbuster the nearby cities where I live and all the cities minutes away on a map. We arrived at San Francisco Pier 39 parking garage at 10:45am. We missed the parking garage closer to Fisherman’s Warf which has the early bird $10.00 all day parking special. Oh, well. I told Punkbuster the story how my two uncle’s family on my Mom’s side visited my house every Saturday when my Grandfather on my Mom’s side was in a care home. My Mom picked my Grandfather up and he, my family, and my two Uncle’s families spend Saturday evening at my house to keep Grandfather company. We did the Saturday visit from February 2005 to December 2006. I hung out with my cousins watching anime, playing video games, or playing board games. Punkbuster told me about Bug Love :3
The Alcatraz tickets and boat docking are located at Pier 36. We walked to the pier to get tickets. All tickets were sold out today, Sunday, and Monday. No fricken way :< We felt sorry for the foreigners who didn’t know they could purchase advanced tickets on the website. We knew the advanced tickets which we didn’t purchase because of the surcharge and we were not sure what day we visited Alcatraz. The extra time allowed us to visit more places.
We walked back to Pier 39. Punkbuster wanted to visit Candy Baron to purchase candy for her co-workers and friends back home. I noted the Lefty Store along the way. Punkbuster is left handed. I adore left handed people =) We stopped at Hollywood USA briefly to check out any Family Guy memorabilia. There was none. I wanted to see Brian memorabilia. The next stop was Candy Baron. Punkbuster purchased a variety of candy including salt-water. She paid with a credit card and her signature she wrote “See Photo ID.” The cashier looked at her photo ID. Smart :D Candy Baron was at the end of Pier 39. We walked to the end of the pier and took pictures of us with Alcatraz on the background. Then we walked to the left side of the pier to watch the Sea Lions.
We walked to Fisherman’s Warf at 12:15pm. We were not hungry for lunch. We passed by the sourdough bread restaurant. Punkbuster likes sourdough bread and I like the regular or sweet bread. We talked about the Wax Museum a waste of money. All we see are famous people made out of wax. We saw a shinny guy available for pictures taking. Shinny, shinny, shinny XD I made a comment after the picture how could he survive in the sun and the warmer than usual San Francisco temperature. Punkbuster said he smelled :O LOL
We arrived at Musee Mechanique, an arcade museum at the edge of Fisherman’s Warf by the San Francisco Bay. Admission is free. There are classic arcade games from the early 1900s to today including pinball, fortune telling machines, and watching short movies. Punkbuster played the Indian a Jones pinball game. We played Metal Slug 3 together. We needed cheats ~~ And each of us played the old baseball games where you hit a ball at specific areas for either a hit or an out. We tied each other two out of three baseball games we played scoring two runs each on the ties. Punkbuster played softball when she was a kid.
The next place to visit was Ghirardelli Square. We first stopped at Majestic Collection, a store with expensive fine art collections, decorations, and gallery for the home. Does anyone want to pay $56,000 for a monkey statue? We shared our thoughts what if we are rich and do we want to buy these expensive antiques. We also joked what if we became art smugglers. Punkbuster eyed the chandeliers which explains why she likes shinny objects @__@ Next, we found a store selling knock off sunglasses. Punkbuster wore a big frame, white color sunglasses. The sunglasses reminded me of Sir Elton John. Punkbuster likes to make funny faces and she made plenty of funny faces. Funny! We saw the Segway tours, a place to ride Segways and tour San Francisco with a tour guide.
Better Be The Best Damn $3.00 Cupcake
Punkbuster knew a store at Ghirardelli Square selling $3.00 cupcakes. The store is Kara’s Cupcakes. The size of the cupcake is the same size as a supermarket cupcake. Punkbuster ordered the raspberry and I ordered the vanilla. We ate the cupcakes and it was good. My thoughts are the $3.00 is paying for the overhyped, rich frosting and the cake itself tasted like a supermarket cupcake. Punkbuster’s raspberry is really sweet. Both of us can say, “We ate a $3.00 cupcake.” Halfway eating our cupcakes, a bird flew in the store and was trapped. A customer took some napkins to protect her hand, grabbed the bird, and placed the bird on the outside of the store. There’s a hero.
We visited the Ghirardelli Square store where we ate a sample chocolate and peanut better square. Delicious. I purchased a 25 pack of milk chocolate. Most of Ghirardelli Square is being renovated and most of the stores we didn’t care for. We did a quick walk on the other side of the square and then walk back to Pier 39 parking garage. I realized I lost my jacket. We backtracked to Kara’s Cupcakes and Ghirardelli Square store. No luck. No worries. The jacket was an inexpensive wind breaker. We took a break from walking and we settled at Aquatic Park overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge for about 10 minutes. Punkbuster applied more sun screen which she applied several times throughout the day. We saw an old ship from the colonel days.
The time is 2:35pm and we arrived back at Pier 39 parking garage. The next destination is Japantown. Anime and manga FTW. We saw the famous Lombard Street, the most crooked street in the world. We talked about apartment rents in San Francisco. I didn’t know the rent range in San Francisco. I know it’s expensive likely at least $1,000 a month. We also talked about what type of city or country we want to live at. Do we want to live in downtown such as San Francisco, suburb such as Tempe, big city such as Los Angeles, or a small country? We passed by the hotel Punkbuster and her friends stayed at when they visited San Francisco earlier in 2008. And more bug love.
Konnichiwa Japantown
We arrived at Japantown at 3pm. The crowd was average for a quiet and uneventful Saturday. The first shop we visited was I think the name is Japantown Collectibles at the Kinokuniya Building. The toy and hobby shop sold anime figurines, models, board games, and plushies. We were looking for a gift to give to Dragonzyez from me. We found a potential gift which was a Super Mario Brothers 1Up green mushroom. Dragonzyez likes 1Up mushrooms.
Second store we visited was Kinokuniya Bookstore. We continued to look for Dragonzyez’s gift. We found a Naruto art book. Dragonzyez is a Naruto fan. I found a Spirited Away art and story book. We saw the Full Metal Alchemist manga Volume 20 officially announcing there is another TV season. We choose the buy the Naruto art book and Spirited Away books last. We walked to Sophie’s Crepes. I ordered the strawberry and French Vanilla crepe. After eating the crepe, I got a stomach ache. Not good T__T
I went to the car to change my shirt from my polo to a white t-shirt. The weather was unseasonably warm and Japantown was hot inside. Then we crossed the Webster Street Bridge and walked through the Kintetsu building. I showed Punkbuster the 2008 Cherry Blossom Pictures at Japan Video. We saw Lisu in the pictures. I showed her the grand prize winning cosplayers and they won six out of the last seven contests. We arrived at Peace Plaza and we took a brief rest at the Pagoda. I showed Punkbuster the location my first cosplay action pose during Japantown Anime Faire II in September 2004. The rest of the walking around Japantown took five minutes because there was nothing at Buchanan Mall and we took a brief walk through Ichiban Store.
I wanted Punkbuster to try Calpico. We went to Nijiya Market at 4:45pm to purchase a strawberry Calpico. The line was long. Calpico has no carbonation. Punkbuster is sensitive to soda carbonation. Punkbuster wanted me to try Mexican Soda which I never heard of before. Unfortunately, she forgot to bring a can. Next time ^__^ We went back to Kinokuniya Bookstore to purchase the Naruto art book and Spirited Away art and story book. Punkbuster contacted Dragonzyez and she didn’t have the Naruto art book.
The Metreon
We had extra time before dinner and because we didn’t go to Alcatraz, we visited The Metreon. We entered The Metreon at 5:30pm. The place was dead. The first store we entered was the Playstation store. There were lots of Playstation 3 demos and PSP demos. One of the workers said no photography. No big deal *__* Next, we went to the second floor and entered the arcade. Along the way we saw the games making the “walk of fame” including Starcraft and The Legend of Zelda. Punkbuster played two DDR games while I went to the restroom. Damn tummy ache w__w I returned and saw her patiently waiting for me. She said the two DDR games she played were broken.
We walked around the third floor which was the IMAX movie theatres. I saw a classic Aliens shooting game. I played one game. It was hard to see with the glare. My friends are correct. Go to the Metreon to watch IMAX movie theatres only.
Brrrrr . . .
The last stop before dinner was Treasure Island. We arrived at 6:30pm. We visited the location where the Nor Cal Cosplay Picnic took place in June. I told Punkbuster people who live on Treasure Island their utilities are free—at least gas is free because there are no meters. There is a decommissioned naval base. We stayed briefly because it was cold and windy. The weather was my favorite conditions and not Punkbuster’s favorite conditions. We took some good pictures of San Francisco as the background. Brrrr @__@
Finally Real Food
We ate dinner at my cousin’s restaurant Happy Sashimi in Pinole. My cousin is a co-owner and a sushi-chef. First, we stopped at Trader Joe’s to purchase JoeJoe’s and ginger snaps cookies for the T-Shirt gathering later in the evening.
At 7:15pm, we entered Happy Sashimi. We seated at the sushi bar. My cousin in-law came out minutes later and she met Punkbuster. Then we ordered our meals. Punkbuster ordered the Yaki Soba. I ordered the ramen and gyoza appetizer. I ordered the ramen because of my tummy ache. After we ordered, my cousin came out and talked with us. The gyoza arrived minutes later. Punkbuster and my cousin talked about the restaurant business and dumb customers including how waiters and waitresses must work during peak times. My cousin said restaurants have no reason to screw a customer’s meal and give poor service. Punkbuster agreed. Restaurants depend on repeat customers to stay in business. We also talked about broken bones and with the sushi chef, too. Punkbuster was nice to give me the fifth and last piece. Our dinners arrived. Punkbuster enjoyed her Yaki Soba including the good portions of seafood. The ramen was perfect for me and my stomach ache. I saw Punkbuster hold the chopsticks with her left hand. It’s awesome. Punkbuster had trouble with the chopsticks twice. Not awesome. The sushi chef and our waitress joked asking her if she needed a fork.
My cousin didn’t charge me for the soda and the bowl of rice. I added extra on the tip to pay for the soda and the bowl of rice. Punkbuster needed to take her Yaki Soba home. We drove off my cousin’s restaurant and headed to the T-Shirt gathering in San Jose.
T-Shirt Gathering
We arrived at Jerry’s place for the T-Shirt gathering at 9:15pm. Punkbuster had a blast meeting more new people including Felicity, Loktera, Edendreams, kandybar, Steve.Young, Amelia Seyrunn, and the sugars ^__^ She played Scategories and Battle of the Sexes. Battle of the Sexes is biased and favored for the girls to win. Punkbuster did make a t-shirt. She didn’t finish and Jerry offered to mail the shirt to her. She declined. I took a nap and participate in no events and no games. I didn’t make a t-shirt. Sorry, Felicity =(
Punkbuster and I took off at 12:45am. We talked about the time we meet for Santa Cruz and Monterey. We agreed 10:00am. Lesson learned for the day: Never skip a meal on a vacation.
I went to sleep at 2:00am. I woke up at 5:45am Saturday morning. I could not go back to sleep. At 6:30am, I woke up fully. I checked the car including the oil and tire pressure. I took my time to avoid arriving at 8:00am and to give Punkbuster additional time to sleep and get ready. I got gas and washed the front windows, rear windows, and headlights at 7:45am. Never neglect keeping the headlines clean >__>
I arrived at the hotel at 8:00am. I said to myself there is no problem because Punkbuster is an early person `__* Oops. Punkbuster was not ready at 8:00am and she expected me at 8:15am. She was surprised and she was OK I arrived early nevertheless. Punkbuster had trouble falling asleep. We headed downstairs at 8:35am for the continental breakfast. Punkbuster saw the line and said forget it. She hated to wait.
I suggested we eat at Stacks in Campbell. She said OK. We talked about comic book stores including a comic book store Punkbuster used to shop where she received discounts because she knew the owner. We arrived at Stacks at 8:50am. The restaurant was full inside and the hostess gave us the option to eat outdoors. We said yes. I ordered the sausage and mushroom skillet and Punkbuster ordered the banana waffle with a side of eggs overeasy. Punkbuster got along with the waitress easily and she initiated small talk from our first orders to getting a take out box :) We talked about the ups and down of our families including our siblings. Most of our families either live in our home state or in nearby cities. Each of us has one family member and their family living out of state. We also talked about our past jobs. One job Punkbuster lasted two weeks because she was trained for a job and was given a different position. And we talked about college.
The breakfast was delicious. I ate half my breakfast because I was not hungry. I don’t know why. Punkbuster ate most of her breakfast.
WTH? No Tickets to Alcatraz
We drove from Campbell to San Francisco at 9:40am. I showed Punkbuster the nearby cities where I live and all the cities minutes away on a map. We arrived at San Francisco Pier 39 parking garage at 10:45am. We missed the parking garage closer to Fisherman’s Warf which has the early bird $10.00 all day parking special. Oh, well. I told Punkbuster the story how my two uncle’s family on my Mom’s side visited my house every Saturday when my Grandfather on my Mom’s side was in a care home. My Mom picked my Grandfather up and he, my family, and my two Uncle’s families spend Saturday evening at my house to keep Grandfather company. We did the Saturday visit from February 2005 to December 2006. I hung out with my cousins watching anime, playing video games, or playing board games. Punkbuster told me about Bug Love :3
The Alcatraz tickets and boat docking are located at Pier 36. We walked to the pier to get tickets. All tickets were sold out today, Sunday, and Monday. No fricken way :< We felt sorry for the foreigners who didn’t know they could purchase advanced tickets on the website. We knew the advanced tickets which we didn’t purchase because of the surcharge and we were not sure what day we visited Alcatraz. The extra time allowed us to visit more places.
We walked back to Pier 39. Punkbuster wanted to visit Candy Baron to purchase candy for her co-workers and friends back home. I noted the Lefty Store along the way. Punkbuster is left handed. I adore left handed people =) We stopped at Hollywood USA briefly to check out any Family Guy memorabilia. There was none. I wanted to see Brian memorabilia. The next stop was Candy Baron. Punkbuster purchased a variety of candy including salt-water. She paid with a credit card and her signature she wrote “See Photo ID.” The cashier looked at her photo ID. Smart :D Candy Baron was at the end of Pier 39. We walked to the end of the pier and took pictures of us with Alcatraz on the background. Then we walked to the left side of the pier to watch the Sea Lions.
We walked to Fisherman’s Warf at 12:15pm. We were not hungry for lunch. We passed by the sourdough bread restaurant. Punkbuster likes sourdough bread and I like the regular or sweet bread. We talked about the Wax Museum a waste of money. All we see are famous people made out of wax. We saw a shinny guy available for pictures taking. Shinny, shinny, shinny XD I made a comment after the picture how could he survive in the sun and the warmer than usual San Francisco temperature. Punkbuster said he smelled :O LOL
We arrived at Musee Mechanique, an arcade museum at the edge of Fisherman’s Warf by the San Francisco Bay. Admission is free. There are classic arcade games from the early 1900s to today including pinball, fortune telling machines, and watching short movies. Punkbuster played the Indian a Jones pinball game. We played Metal Slug 3 together. We needed cheats ~~ And each of us played the old baseball games where you hit a ball at specific areas for either a hit or an out. We tied each other two out of three baseball games we played scoring two runs each on the ties. Punkbuster played softball when she was a kid.
The next place to visit was Ghirardelli Square. We first stopped at Majestic Collection, a store with expensive fine art collections, decorations, and gallery for the home. Does anyone want to pay $56,000 for a monkey statue? We shared our thoughts what if we are rich and do we want to buy these expensive antiques. We also joked what if we became art smugglers. Punkbuster eyed the chandeliers which explains why she likes shinny objects @__@ Next, we found a store selling knock off sunglasses. Punkbuster wore a big frame, white color sunglasses. The sunglasses reminded me of Sir Elton John. Punkbuster likes to make funny faces and she made plenty of funny faces. Funny! We saw the Segway tours, a place to ride Segways and tour San Francisco with a tour guide.
Better Be The Best Damn $3.00 Cupcake
Punkbuster knew a store at Ghirardelli Square selling $3.00 cupcakes. The store is Kara’s Cupcakes. The size of the cupcake is the same size as a supermarket cupcake. Punkbuster ordered the raspberry and I ordered the vanilla. We ate the cupcakes and it was good. My thoughts are the $3.00 is paying for the overhyped, rich frosting and the cake itself tasted like a supermarket cupcake. Punkbuster’s raspberry is really sweet. Both of us can say, “We ate a $3.00 cupcake.” Halfway eating our cupcakes, a bird flew in the store and was trapped. A customer took some napkins to protect her hand, grabbed the bird, and placed the bird on the outside of the store. There’s a hero.
We visited the Ghirardelli Square store where we ate a sample chocolate and peanut better square. Delicious. I purchased a 25 pack of milk chocolate. Most of Ghirardelli Square is being renovated and most of the stores we didn’t care for. We did a quick walk on the other side of the square and then walk back to Pier 39 parking garage. I realized I lost my jacket. We backtracked to Kara’s Cupcakes and Ghirardelli Square store. No luck. No worries. The jacket was an inexpensive wind breaker. We took a break from walking and we settled at Aquatic Park overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge for about 10 minutes. Punkbuster applied more sun screen which she applied several times throughout the day. We saw an old ship from the colonel days.
The time is 2:35pm and we arrived back at Pier 39 parking garage. The next destination is Japantown. Anime and manga FTW. We saw the famous Lombard Street, the most crooked street in the world. We talked about apartment rents in San Francisco. I didn’t know the rent range in San Francisco. I know it’s expensive likely at least $1,000 a month. We also talked about what type of city or country we want to live at. Do we want to live in downtown such as San Francisco, suburb such as Tempe, big city such as Los Angeles, or a small country? We passed by the hotel Punkbuster and her friends stayed at when they visited San Francisco earlier in 2008. And more bug love.
Konnichiwa Japantown
We arrived at Japantown at 3pm. The crowd was average for a quiet and uneventful Saturday. The first shop we visited was I think the name is Japantown Collectibles at the Kinokuniya Building. The toy and hobby shop sold anime figurines, models, board games, and plushies. We were looking for a gift to give to Dragonzyez from me. We found a potential gift which was a Super Mario Brothers 1Up green mushroom. Dragonzyez likes 1Up mushrooms.
Second store we visited was Kinokuniya Bookstore. We continued to look for Dragonzyez’s gift. We found a Naruto art book. Dragonzyez is a Naruto fan. I found a Spirited Away art and story book. We saw the Full Metal Alchemist manga Volume 20 officially announcing there is another TV season. We choose the buy the Naruto art book and Spirited Away books last. We walked to Sophie’s Crepes. I ordered the strawberry and French Vanilla crepe. After eating the crepe, I got a stomach ache. Not good T__T
I went to the car to change my shirt from my polo to a white t-shirt. The weather was unseasonably warm and Japantown was hot inside. Then we crossed the Webster Street Bridge and walked through the Kintetsu building. I showed Punkbuster the 2008 Cherry Blossom Pictures at Japan Video. We saw Lisu in the pictures. I showed her the grand prize winning cosplayers and they won six out of the last seven contests. We arrived at Peace Plaza and we took a brief rest at the Pagoda. I showed Punkbuster the location my first cosplay action pose during Japantown Anime Faire II in September 2004. The rest of the walking around Japantown took five minutes because there was nothing at Buchanan Mall and we took a brief walk through Ichiban Store.
I wanted Punkbuster to try Calpico. We went to Nijiya Market at 4:45pm to purchase a strawberry Calpico. The line was long. Calpico has no carbonation. Punkbuster is sensitive to soda carbonation. Punkbuster wanted me to try Mexican Soda which I never heard of before. Unfortunately, she forgot to bring a can. Next time ^__^ We went back to Kinokuniya Bookstore to purchase the Naruto art book and Spirited Away art and story book. Punkbuster contacted Dragonzyez and she didn’t have the Naruto art book.
The Metreon
We had extra time before dinner and because we didn’t go to Alcatraz, we visited The Metreon. We entered The Metreon at 5:30pm. The place was dead. The first store we entered was the Playstation store. There were lots of Playstation 3 demos and PSP demos. One of the workers said no photography. No big deal *__* Next, we went to the second floor and entered the arcade. Along the way we saw the games making the “walk of fame” including Starcraft and The Legend of Zelda. Punkbuster played two DDR games while I went to the restroom. Damn tummy ache w__w I returned and saw her patiently waiting for me. She said the two DDR games she played were broken.
We walked around the third floor which was the IMAX movie theatres. I saw a classic Aliens shooting game. I played one game. It was hard to see with the glare. My friends are correct. Go to the Metreon to watch IMAX movie theatres only.
Brrrrr . . .
The last stop before dinner was Treasure Island. We arrived at 6:30pm. We visited the location where the Nor Cal Cosplay Picnic took place in June. I told Punkbuster people who live on Treasure Island their utilities are free—at least gas is free because there are no meters. There is a decommissioned naval base. We stayed briefly because it was cold and windy. The weather was my favorite conditions and not Punkbuster’s favorite conditions. We took some good pictures of San Francisco as the background. Brrrr @__@
Finally Real Food
We ate dinner at my cousin’s restaurant Happy Sashimi in Pinole. My cousin is a co-owner and a sushi-chef. First, we stopped at Trader Joe’s to purchase JoeJoe’s and ginger snaps cookies for the T-Shirt gathering later in the evening.
At 7:15pm, we entered Happy Sashimi. We seated at the sushi bar. My cousin in-law came out minutes later and she met Punkbuster. Then we ordered our meals. Punkbuster ordered the Yaki Soba. I ordered the ramen and gyoza appetizer. I ordered the ramen because of my tummy ache. After we ordered, my cousin came out and talked with us. The gyoza arrived minutes later. Punkbuster and my cousin talked about the restaurant business and dumb customers including how waiters and waitresses must work during peak times. My cousin said restaurants have no reason to screw a customer’s meal and give poor service. Punkbuster agreed. Restaurants depend on repeat customers to stay in business. We also talked about broken bones and with the sushi chef, too. Punkbuster was nice to give me the fifth and last piece. Our dinners arrived. Punkbuster enjoyed her Yaki Soba including the good portions of seafood. The ramen was perfect for me and my stomach ache. I saw Punkbuster hold the chopsticks with her left hand. It’s awesome. Punkbuster had trouble with the chopsticks twice. Not awesome. The sushi chef and our waitress joked asking her if she needed a fork.
My cousin didn’t charge me for the soda and the bowl of rice. I added extra on the tip to pay for the soda and the bowl of rice. Punkbuster needed to take her Yaki Soba home. We drove off my cousin’s restaurant and headed to the T-Shirt gathering in San Jose.
T-Shirt Gathering
We arrived at Jerry’s place for the T-Shirt gathering at 9:15pm. Punkbuster had a blast meeting more new people including Felicity, Loktera, Edendreams, kandybar, Steve.Young, Amelia Seyrunn, and the sugars ^__^ She played Scategories and Battle of the Sexes. Battle of the Sexes is biased and favored for the girls to win. Punkbuster did make a t-shirt. She didn’t finish and Jerry offered to mail the shirt to her. She declined. I took a nap and participate in no events and no games. I didn’t make a t-shirt. Sorry, Felicity =(
Punkbuster and I took off at 12:45am. We talked about the time we meet for Santa Cruz and Monterey. We agreed 10:00am. Lesson learned for the day: Never skip a meal on a vacation.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
2008 Nor Cal Vacation Day One
R for Red and R for Robin
I arrived at Punkbuster’s hotel at 6pm. We were happy to see each other. We exchanged birthday gifts. I gave her a set of DragonBallZ figures and Punkbuster gave me the card game Pit and The Best of Bathroom Reader book. Awesome XD Punkbuster’s friend Dragonzyez gave me a box decorated with Edward Elric from Full Metal Alchemist and Toushiro Hitsugaya from Bleach. Inside the box contained an Edward plushie, Winry Rockbell from Full Metal Alchemist plushie, Toushiro plushie, and Toushiro pins. Dragonzyez also gave me a Full Metal Alchemist art book. The box looked great I want to keep in the closet to prevent damage. I must give Dragonzyez a gift in return.
The next exchange was CDs containing music. Punkbuster gave me her all-time favorite music which included video games, dance, and electric. I gave her my all-time favorite J-Pop and J-Rock music which included songs from my cousin. We listened to the CDs on the road. I also gave her DVDs containing the anime series Lucky Star, Special-A and Beck, J-Drama Crying Out Love In The Center of the World, anime music videos, and more J-Pop and J-Rock music. The time was too early for dinner and we watched Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror III episode which contained “Dial Z For Zombies.” Punkbuster had something with zombies because she had a few zombie dreams and she played the video game Resident Evil.
We took off at 7pm to Red Robin. Red Robin is a restaurant specializing in burgers and all-you-can-eat fries. I parked next to Punkbuster’s car and joke she can’t park. Bad move because she is an effective driver for better or for worse ~n I showed Punkbuster my gym, a middle school which competed with my middle school, AMC theatre, Mervyns department store which is currently in bankruptcy, lots of Japanese restaurants nearby, and lots of trees along the way to Red Robin.
We were seated at Red Robin at 7:35pm after waiting 20 minutes. Punkbuster said my Red Robin, one of her favorite restaurants, is smaller compared to her restaurant in her home town. I forgot what Punkbuster ordered. I asked her and she forgot, too :] I ordered the Chicken. The fries were big and tasted good. Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish the second batch =( What a waste. Wasting food is one of my pet peeves.
The conversations we talked during our wait for our orders included condiments, glasses, sci-fi movies on TV including Firefly, state license plates, whitening teeth, sports, and burgers. Both of us agreed state license plates looks good with a picture or mentioning the state nickname compared to California which says “California” only. Punkbuster has the charisma to chat with waiters and waitresses XD It must be related to her job. I like her charisma and it’s something I must develop.
My Friday Hangouts
I invited Punkbuster to visit Tapioca Express or Tap-X for short in Milpitas. Every Friday, my friends and I hang out at Tap-X. Visiting Tap-X gave Punkbuster an opportunity to meet some of my friends and see how I spend my Fridays. I pointed the minimum security prison and the Great Mall shopping center along Interstate 880. We arrived at 9:15pm and I introduced her to some of my friends. She met mDuo13, Tsubasa, LastExlir, Spiritsnare, Devereaux, Lisu, and Ryuhayabasa who arrived late. Devereaux made a joke towards me how funny I was telling Punkbuster everyone’s biography. Everyone else followed the joke and wanted me to hear my introductions to everyone. In particular, I introduced Tsubasa as someone who liked Final Fantasy which he really wasn’t much of a fan. Devereaux’s joke broke my thought process. It’s OK -__- We talked about Twinkies and hair styles.
Punkbuster and I settled down at an empty table nearby. I purchased my laptop and we watched YouTube videos and viewed past Fanime gathering pics. I ordered my usual Vanilla Snowbubble. Punkbuster saw the best damn commercial ever. (Do a YouTube search for best damn commercial and you see the best damn commercial ever.)
Everyone else went to get dinner around 10:15pm. It took everyone 5 minutes to figure out where to go, LOL. Punkbuster and I stayed at Tap-X to hang out. We left Tap-X at 11:00pm. I got a call minutes later saying everyone was hanging out at Jerry’s home.
We arrived at Jerry’s home at 11:30pm. Punkbuster met Jerry and DemonLordZabusa (DLZ). mDuo13, Tsubasa, LastExlir, and Devereaux played Mahjong. Spiritsnare was on his laptop. Lisu, Jerry, and DLZ were watching TV. Punkbuster and I watched clips of Comic Con 2008. There was talk of playing Rock Band. Spiritsnare went to get Rock Band. The night plan was I play Mahjong and Punkbuster play Rock Band. Jerry showed Punkbuster his room also know as “The Store.” Jerry’s room contained anime and video game figurines and posters decorated throughout his room. DLZ shared his sword props.
Punkbuster and I left Jerry’s home at 12:50am. Spiritsnare never came back with Rock Band. I planned to arrive between 8:00am-8:15am. I told her Asians tend to be late for many appointments and timelines also known as Asian Late =\, and expect me at 8:15am.
I arrived at Punkbuster’s hotel at 6pm. We were happy to see each other. We exchanged birthday gifts. I gave her a set of DragonBallZ figures and Punkbuster gave me the card game Pit and The Best of Bathroom Reader book. Awesome XD Punkbuster’s friend Dragonzyez gave me a box decorated with Edward Elric from Full Metal Alchemist and Toushiro Hitsugaya from Bleach. Inside the box contained an Edward plushie, Winry Rockbell from Full Metal Alchemist plushie, Toushiro plushie, and Toushiro pins. Dragonzyez also gave me a Full Metal Alchemist art book. The box looked great I want to keep in the closet to prevent damage. I must give Dragonzyez a gift in return.
The next exchange was CDs containing music. Punkbuster gave me her all-time favorite music which included video games, dance, and electric. I gave her my all-time favorite J-Pop and J-Rock music which included songs from my cousin. We listened to the CDs on the road. I also gave her DVDs containing the anime series Lucky Star, Special-A and Beck, J-Drama Crying Out Love In The Center of the World, anime music videos, and more J-Pop and J-Rock music. The time was too early for dinner and we watched Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror III episode which contained “Dial Z For Zombies.” Punkbuster had something with zombies because she had a few zombie dreams and she played the video game Resident Evil.
We took off at 7pm to Red Robin. Red Robin is a restaurant specializing in burgers and all-you-can-eat fries. I parked next to Punkbuster’s car and joke she can’t park. Bad move because she is an effective driver for better or for worse ~n I showed Punkbuster my gym, a middle school which competed with my middle school, AMC theatre, Mervyns department store which is currently in bankruptcy, lots of Japanese restaurants nearby, and lots of trees along the way to Red Robin.
We were seated at Red Robin at 7:35pm after waiting 20 minutes. Punkbuster said my Red Robin, one of her favorite restaurants, is smaller compared to her restaurant in her home town. I forgot what Punkbuster ordered. I asked her and she forgot, too :] I ordered the Chicken. The fries were big and tasted good. Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish the second batch =( What a waste. Wasting food is one of my pet peeves.
The conversations we talked during our wait for our orders included condiments, glasses, sci-fi movies on TV including Firefly, state license plates, whitening teeth, sports, and burgers. Both of us agreed state license plates looks good with a picture or mentioning the state nickname compared to California which says “California” only. Punkbuster has the charisma to chat with waiters and waitresses XD It must be related to her job. I like her charisma and it’s something I must develop.
My Friday Hangouts
I invited Punkbuster to visit Tapioca Express or Tap-X for short in Milpitas. Every Friday, my friends and I hang out at Tap-X. Visiting Tap-X gave Punkbuster an opportunity to meet some of my friends and see how I spend my Fridays. I pointed the minimum security prison and the Great Mall shopping center along Interstate 880. We arrived at 9:15pm and I introduced her to some of my friends. She met mDuo13, Tsubasa, LastExlir, Spiritsnare, Devereaux, Lisu, and Ryuhayabasa who arrived late. Devereaux made a joke towards me how funny I was telling Punkbuster everyone’s biography. Everyone else followed the joke and wanted me to hear my introductions to everyone. In particular, I introduced Tsubasa as someone who liked Final Fantasy which he really wasn’t much of a fan. Devereaux’s joke broke my thought process. It’s OK -__- We talked about Twinkies and hair styles.
Punkbuster and I settled down at an empty table nearby. I purchased my laptop and we watched YouTube videos and viewed past Fanime gathering pics. I ordered my usual Vanilla Snowbubble. Punkbuster saw the best damn commercial ever. (Do a YouTube search for best damn commercial and you see the best damn commercial ever.)
Everyone else went to get dinner around 10:15pm. It took everyone 5 minutes to figure out where to go, LOL. Punkbuster and I stayed at Tap-X to hang out. We left Tap-X at 11:00pm. I got a call minutes later saying everyone was hanging out at Jerry’s home.
We arrived at Jerry’s home at 11:30pm. Punkbuster met Jerry and DemonLordZabusa (DLZ). mDuo13, Tsubasa, LastExlir, and Devereaux played Mahjong. Spiritsnare was on his laptop. Lisu, Jerry, and DLZ were watching TV. Punkbuster and I watched clips of Comic Con 2008. There was talk of playing Rock Band. Spiritsnare went to get Rock Band. The night plan was I play Mahjong and Punkbuster play Rock Band. Jerry showed Punkbuster his room also know as “The Store.” Jerry’s room contained anime and video game figurines and posters decorated throughout his room. DLZ shared his sword props.
Punkbuster and I left Jerry’s home at 12:50am. Spiritsnare never came back with Rock Band. I planned to arrive between 8:00am-8:15am. I told her Asians tend to be late for many appointments and timelines also known as Asian Late =\, and expect me at 8:15am.
Saturday, September 06, 2008
2008 Nor Cal Vacation Prologue
Friday August 22 to Sunday August 24 Punkbuster visited me for the weekend Nor Cal Vacation. I named the trip the Nor Cal Vacation, short for Northern California Vacation. She wanted to visit her friend in Fresno and choose to make her vacation a big California road trip. Punkbuster visited Fresno earlier in the week. I wanted to make her vacation full of excitement and visiting some places for the first time. In addition, she met lots of new people.
The timing was favorable in terms of weather and gas prices. The weather was warmer than usual in San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and Monterey. The morning overcast disappeared in the late morning. Punkbuster is cold sensitive. I’m hot sensitive. Both of us are sun sensitive. Lower gas prices helped lower our expenses $-)
We met Friday night after I got off work and hung around San Jose. We traveled from San Jose to San Francisco on Saturday and from San Jose to Santa Cruz and Monterey on Sunday. We tried new foods and visited places which were either new or never visited in a long time. Punkbuster and I met at Fanime Con 2008 in May 2008.
The photos, receipts, and pamphlets assisted me in remembering what we did and helped me typed the Nor Cal Vacation blog just like my blog trips and anime conventions.
The timing was favorable in terms of weather and gas prices. The weather was warmer than usual in San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and Monterey. The morning overcast disappeared in the late morning. Punkbuster is cold sensitive. I’m hot sensitive. Both of us are sun sensitive. Lower gas prices helped lower our expenses $-)
We met Friday night after I got off work and hung around San Jose. We traveled from San Jose to San Francisco on Saturday and from San Jose to Santa Cruz and Monterey on Sunday. We tried new foods and visited places which were either new or never visited in a long time. Punkbuster and I met at Fanime Con 2008 in May 2008.
The photos, receipts, and pamphlets assisted me in remembering what we did and helped me typed the Nor Cal Vacation blog just like my blog trips and anime conventions.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Desire
My fourth cosplay was completed close to Fanime Con 2008. The cosplay is Chrono Harlaown from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. The fourth cosplay was completed by my Mom and I. My Mom taught me how to sew. We started in late 2007 with a goal to finish before the 2008 Cherry Blossom Festival in late April 2008. Delays such as my Mom injuring her finger, fumigating the house, and family events resulted in the cosplay completed just in time before Fanime Con 2008.
I learned what desire meant with the Chrono cosplay. No matter what happened I wanted to finish the cosplay. No matter what. I find time to have my Mom teach me sewing and keep my Mom motivated to teach me sewing and finish ~~
What’s my next desire? I don’t know. Really, I don’t. My desire in me wakes up when I find what I want to do with my life. I’m looking forward to the true desire experience to accomplish my new life, to raise my expectations, and to seek new adventures I’m proud to write home about.
I learned what desire meant with the Chrono cosplay. No matter what happened I wanted to finish the cosplay. No matter what. I find time to have my Mom teach me sewing and keep my Mom motivated to teach me sewing and finish ~~
What’s my next desire? I don’t know. Really, I don’t. My desire in me wakes up when I find what I want to do with my life. I’m looking forward to the true desire experience to accomplish my new life, to raise my expectations, and to seek new adventures I’m proud to write home about.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Cisco One Year Belated Anniversary
March 19, 2008 was my one year anniversary at Cisco Systems, Inc. Life has been much better. Working at Cisco gives me new experiences and knowledge I never experience at my last jobs. I keep in touch with a few coworkers from my last company. The dumbass co-worker is working at a competitor. He was about to be fired around July 2007 for screwing up the quarterly statistics. He was lucky. My company lost additional staff at the local offices and at the corporate offices. I must have started the trend, LOL At least two brokers left the office I worked at. One broker went to a competitor and another broker started an internet start-up. The broker who started the internet start-up his Dad was the first broker hired. And one broker assistant her husband opened a restaurant.
My co-workers in various departments have commercial real estate roots. One co-worker who does webpages and graphics worked at a competitor in Silicon Valley. Two co-workers and friends working in the corporate building John Chambers resides worked in my office. And my contractor company on-site manager worked at a competitor in the Oakland market.
I don’t know if Cisco is my career future. I don’t know if I find another position. I don’t know if I earn a promotion. Time will tell.
The Big Goals
I evaluated my 2007-2008 goals on Monday August 4. I evaluate my goals once a year around my birthday. I learned goals must be evaluated more than once a year -__- I started the yearly goals in August 2004. One major piece missing in my life was goals. I never had goals 2003 and earlier including during college. Fail :<
I admit most of my goals have been small. The big ones I accomplished are finding a new job, meeting new people, and buying a used car. My goals are located at my webpage http://www.innovateinfinitely.com/aboutme.html. The goals are listed in the middle of the page and down to the bottom.
I have two concerns regarding my goals. The first concern is my 2008-2009 goals. I have four goals only as of today. The four goals are learn mahjong, read three books, consistent exercise schedule, and build a new PC which all are easy. In particular, build a new PC is easy because I have my family and friends to assist me and I anticipate great deals on PC hardware during Christmas shopping.
The 2008-2009 goals lead me to my second concern. My second concern is I have no big goals now and I can’t think of any. I don’t know who, what, and where I want to be years later and how to accomplish. If I can’t think who, what, and where I want to be years later and how to accomplish, then I have no big goals, and vice versa. In the meantime, I continue to live my life and learn how to live better—innovate my life.
If you’re living life without goals, set a goal to create personal goals. I believe everyone must have goals big or small regardless of living including a freestyle life or a structured life. Goals give focus to you. Freestyle life has focus when one thinks about ;)
I admit most of my goals have been small. The big ones I accomplished are finding a new job, meeting new people, and buying a used car. My goals are located at my webpage http://www.innovateinfinitely.com/aboutme.html. The goals are listed in the middle of the page and down to the bottom.
I have two concerns regarding my goals. The first concern is my 2008-2009 goals. I have four goals only as of today. The four goals are learn mahjong, read three books, consistent exercise schedule, and build a new PC which all are easy. In particular, build a new PC is easy because I have my family and friends to assist me and I anticipate great deals on PC hardware during Christmas shopping.
The 2008-2009 goals lead me to my second concern. My second concern is I have no big goals now and I can’t think of any. I don’t know who, what, and where I want to be years later and how to accomplish. If I can’t think who, what, and where I want to be years later and how to accomplish, then I have no big goals, and vice versa. In the meantime, I continue to live my life and learn how to live better—innovate my life.
If you’re living life without goals, set a goal to create personal goals. I believe everyone must have goals big or small regardless of living including a freestyle life or a structured life. Goals give focus to you. Freestyle life has focus when one thinks about ;)
10 Hour Therapy
Wednesday night August 13, 2008 I slept for 10 hours. What happened? Since Monday July 28 I felt empty. I neither felt happy nor sad. My attitude was “I’m living life. So what else is new.” I showed up for work, exercised, played Team Fortress 2, and replied to emails work and personal. Whoopiedoo =\ My life was uncommon, or perhaps too common such as go to work, exercise three days a week, and sleep. The days were plain with no joy. I had too many thoughts including the recession and “What If” questions such as what if my contract is terminated and what if I never buy a house. (Yes, the US economy is in a recession.) I was myself and I was not myself.
On Thursday August 14, I felt much better. I was myself again. Wednesday night was my 10 hour free and self-help therapy session ^_^ My mood was happy. My attitude was I’m living life and what’s new. My life was common . . . a positive attitude, looking forward to new adventures, and seeking new opportunities. The day was joy. I continued with too many thoughts positive and negative; however, the negative thoughts were conquered with the positive thoughts. I was ready to finish anything I needed to get done.
Feeling down, feeling depressed, feeling tired, feeling not yourself? Try sleeping 10 hours. Delay your night plans and activities. Go to bed (-,-) I learned sleep is more than resting your body. Sleep also rests your brain and your soul =D
Side note: The week of Monday August 11 I didn’t go to the gym. Physically I felt good. Attitude wise I felt bad. I remember when I have the “I don’t want to workout” feeling tells me I’m tired and I must devote extra hours to sleep. Fortunately, I skipped gym for the week or else I might have been sick >.>
On Thursday August 14, I felt much better. I was myself again. Wednesday night was my 10 hour free and self-help therapy session ^_^ My mood was happy. My attitude was I’m living life and what’s new. My life was common . . . a positive attitude, looking forward to new adventures, and seeking new opportunities. The day was joy. I continued with too many thoughts positive and negative; however, the negative thoughts were conquered with the positive thoughts. I was ready to finish anything I needed to get done.
Feeling down, feeling depressed, feeling tired, feeling not yourself? Try sleeping 10 hours. Delay your night plans and activities. Go to bed (-,-) I learned sleep is more than resting your body. Sleep also rests your brain and your soul =D
Side note: The week of Monday August 11 I didn’t go to the gym. Physically I felt good. Attitude wise I felt bad. I remember when I have the “I don’t want to workout” feeling tells me I’m tired and I must devote extra hours to sleep. Fortunately, I skipped gym for the week or else I might have been sick >.>
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
What Are You Doing For The Rest Of Your Life?
How many times do you ask yourself the question? Some people say anyone who asks the question is lost in their life. These lost people have no goals, no aspirations, no motivation to move to the next level, and no interest in finding a better life. I agree to some extent. These people picture these losers waking up late and sitting in a couch watching cable during lunch time and the afternoon during any given weekday.
I believe the question is a good question. I bet my year’s salary there are some executives, senior managers, and public service leadership position asking the same question. Most likely these people mastered their position, mastered their responsibilities, and mastered their skills they seek a new challenge, seek a new career path, and seek a new road in life.
I believe there is always a better life. One may see a husband, wife, and their two kids walking in the park smiling happily. Most people think they’re having the best time of their lives. Who knows, perhaps, the wife is thinking in the back of her head, “This life stinks and I want more?” I walk around my company campus, I see different people when I shop, I see families when I watch a movie or walk in the park, I think either they’re having a good life or they’re having a good life and want a better life.
I admit I ask myself the question quite a few times. Who did not ask themselves the question? If you have not ask yourself the question, then ask yourself the question and answer honestly? My answers vary. One day I have a different answer. Another day, another different answer. Timing is everything. Perhaps in the future when I find the answer, the timing is in my favor to follow through and work at my new goals, my new focus in life.
One may say I’m wasting my time doing nothing and thinking of different answers. Perhaps, yes. Perhaps, no. I learned a lesson during my Washington Canada trip in 2005. It’s patience. Be patient. Good things can happen to those who wait. Take life one day at a time. When the big moment happens, it’s going to happen to you fast. Good luck. Never stop innovating life.
I believe the question is a good question. I bet my year’s salary there are some executives, senior managers, and public service leadership position asking the same question. Most likely these people mastered their position, mastered their responsibilities, and mastered their skills they seek a new challenge, seek a new career path, and seek a new road in life.
I believe there is always a better life. One may see a husband, wife, and their two kids walking in the park smiling happily. Most people think they’re having the best time of their lives. Who knows, perhaps, the wife is thinking in the back of her head, “This life stinks and I want more?” I walk around my company campus, I see different people when I shop, I see families when I watch a movie or walk in the park, I think either they’re having a good life or they’re having a good life and want a better life.
I admit I ask myself the question quite a few times. Who did not ask themselves the question? If you have not ask yourself the question, then ask yourself the question and answer honestly? My answers vary. One day I have a different answer. Another day, another different answer. Timing is everything. Perhaps in the future when I find the answer, the timing is in my favor to follow through and work at my new goals, my new focus in life.
One may say I’m wasting my time doing nothing and thinking of different answers. Perhaps, yes. Perhaps, no. I learned a lesson during my Washington Canada trip in 2005. It’s patience. Be patient. Good things can happen to those who wait. Take life one day at a time. When the big moment happens, it’s going to happen to you fast. Good luck. Never stop innovating life.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Triple Shot 1 of 3: Full Moon Yesterday
Hello, everyone. I write three Blog entries because I have never been the laziest person ever before yesterday. Award me the Lazy Person Of The Day award, and nobody can’t be lazy at Cisco. My attitude was full of laziness. How did I complete my assignments? It was a miracle. It’s time to eliminate my lazy attitude for the next work week =)
I arrived at work at 9:30am, the earliest for the week. I arrived at 11:00am on Monday. Thank goodness for Cisco’s flexible hours. Get the work done and arrive and leave work anytime. I completed my weekly assignments in the morning. There were no new assignments and new requests. Around 11:30am, I received information the 2:00pm meeting was delayed to next week. Thank goodness. My laziness attitude reached the peak at 11:30am which I never recovered.
I ate lunch around 1:30pm in the cafeteria. My building has a cafeteria. The cafeteria closes 30 minutes early on Friday’s for the summer at 1:30pm. I saw some people trying to order lunch late. The late people purchased packaged to-go food. I watched Vampire Knights episode 5 and episode 6 during lunch.
I arrived at my cubicle around 2:45pm. From 2:45pm to 6:30pm, I did no work. Absolutely nothing =P I wanted to leave early because I wasted my time sitting on my cubicle doing nothing. I stayed in case of emergencies. I surfed the web, checked email, and chatted online with friends. If I received a request for a report, then the report is completed on Monday because I just could not change my attitude sorry to say ;__; Today and tomorrow are recovery days.
Side Note: My department received a new manager on Monday June 9. Since then, I average two hours of real, quality work a day. I surfed the web and kept myself occupied for the average six remaining hours >.>
I arrived at work at 9:30am, the earliest for the week. I arrived at 11:00am on Monday. Thank goodness for Cisco’s flexible hours. Get the work done and arrive and leave work anytime. I completed my weekly assignments in the morning. There were no new assignments and new requests. Around 11:30am, I received information the 2:00pm meeting was delayed to next week. Thank goodness. My laziness attitude reached the peak at 11:30am which I never recovered.
I ate lunch around 1:30pm in the cafeteria. My building has a cafeteria. The cafeteria closes 30 minutes early on Friday’s for the summer at 1:30pm. I saw some people trying to order lunch late. The late people purchased packaged to-go food. I watched Vampire Knights episode 5 and episode 6 during lunch.
I arrived at my cubicle around 2:45pm. From 2:45pm to 6:30pm, I did no work. Absolutely nothing =P I wanted to leave early because I wasted my time sitting on my cubicle doing nothing. I stayed in case of emergencies. I surfed the web, checked email, and chatted online with friends. If I received a request for a report, then the report is completed on Monday because I just could not change my attitude sorry to say ;__; Today and tomorrow are recovery days.
Side Note: My department received a new manager on Monday June 9. Since then, I average two hours of real, quality work a day. I surfed the web and kept myself occupied for the average six remaining hours >.>
Triple Shot 2 of 3: No More Speedy Gonzalez
I paid $4.51 a gallon the last time I filled my car with gas. California is one of the highest states for gas prices. I read an article that surveyed drivers at what price are drivers begin to slow down. The survey found most drivers slow down when the price reaches $5.00.
I drive the expressway to and from work. An expressway is a like a freeway with signal lights and slower speed limits from 45mph to 50mph. I started to slow down around the second week of June. Instead of driving 55mph on the expressway, I drive 45mph-50mph. Instead of driving 75mph-80mph on a 65mph speed limit freeway, I drive 65mph-70mph. I drive 60mph for short distance and no traffic. Moreover, more drivers are slowing down during my commutes which I’m happy. Yay!
Driving slower saves gas and saves money. Do it now. And don’t drive talking on your cell phone. Use hands free devices. On July 1, it’s illegal to drive with a cell phone in California. I noticed more people concentrate on the road including driving at the speed of traffic *__* 9 out of 10 times when I see a car driving as if I’m in danger, the driver is talking on the cell phone.
I drive the expressway to and from work. An expressway is a like a freeway with signal lights and slower speed limits from 45mph to 50mph. I started to slow down around the second week of June. Instead of driving 55mph on the expressway, I drive 45mph-50mph. Instead of driving 75mph-80mph on a 65mph speed limit freeway, I drive 65mph-70mph. I drive 60mph for short distance and no traffic. Moreover, more drivers are slowing down during my commutes which I’m happy. Yay!
Driving slower saves gas and saves money. Do it now. And don’t drive talking on your cell phone. Use hands free devices. On July 1, it’s illegal to drive with a cell phone in California. I noticed more people concentrate on the road including driving at the speed of traffic *__* 9 out of 10 times when I see a car driving as if I’m in danger, the driver is talking on the cell phone.
Triple Shot 3 of 3: Learning Mahjong
Yesterday, I played Mahjong for the first time in 10 years. The last time I played Mahjong was in August 1998 with one of my Uncle’s family in Southern California visiting my house. I read a MahJong book and read an article on Mahjong on Wednesday and Thursday to learn the basic rules and the Japanese rules. The Chinese and Japanese versions are different; however, the basic rules are the same. My friends play the Japanese rules.
I did terrible as expected. My biggest weakness was having no knowledge in the different Japanese hands, kanji or symbols, and terminology. My goal was to make mistakes, to be disappointed, to be depressed, and to experience the play style feeling. The game was also observational seeing how my friends played the game. If I know the NFL football teams, MLB baseball teams, most NBA basketball teams and most NHL hockey teams, then I can know the Japanese hands ^__^
Learn Mahjong is important for me because it is a new game and a new hobby. I learned nothing new in 2008, and even though Mahjong is just a game (with no assistance in my career skills), it’s a game requiring memorization, practice, and thinking just like learning another skill. Mahjong is another way to meet new people. Mahjong is like poker with more options and more critical thinking. I’m not going to be a master . . . it takes two minutes to learn and a lifetime to master. I want to learn to be confident and comfortable I play Mahjong with my friends who are, in my perspective, masters.
I did terrible as expected. My biggest weakness was having no knowledge in the different Japanese hands, kanji or symbols, and terminology. My goal was to make mistakes, to be disappointed, to be depressed, and to experience the play style feeling. The game was also observational seeing how my friends played the game. If I know the NFL football teams, MLB baseball teams, most NBA basketball teams and most NHL hockey teams, then I can know the Japanese hands ^__^
Learn Mahjong is important for me because it is a new game and a new hobby. I learned nothing new in 2008, and even though Mahjong is just a game (with no assistance in my career skills), it’s a game requiring memorization, practice, and thinking just like learning another skill. Mahjong is another way to meet new people. Mahjong is like poker with more options and more critical thinking. I’m not going to be a master . . . it takes two minutes to learn and a lifetime to master. I want to learn to be confident and comfortable I play Mahjong with my friends who are, in my perspective, masters.
What The Heck, Let’s Add Four: If It Can’t Break, It Eventually Is Going To
I have been going to the gym three days a week to increase my physical fitness since Memorial Day. Unfortunately, my combination pad lock I have been using since high school broke. I dropped the padlock after I opened my locker. The combination wheel detached from the padlock immediately on impact at the ground.
I purchased the padlock in 1990 for my high school gym locker. In 1991, I used the padlock for my photography locker. I used the padlock in Fall Semester 1994 at San Jose State University for my locker when I took Beginning Basketball class. And since 1998, the padlock has been used for my locker at the gym. I went to two gyms. The first gym was a small gym at the business park from my first job out of college. The second gym is the gym I’m currently working out.
I purchase a new combination padlock tomorrow.
I purchased the padlock in 1990 for my high school gym locker. In 1991, I used the padlock for my photography locker. I used the padlock in Fall Semester 1994 at San Jose State University for my locker when I took Beginning Basketball class. And since 1998, the padlock has been used for my locker at the gym. I went to two gyms. The first gym was a small gym at the business park from my first job out of college. The second gym is the gym I’m currently working out.
I purchase a new combination padlock tomorrow.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Remembering Your Lost One Everywhere You Drive
I drove to the library on Saturday and I noticed one car has the license plate “Jason Jr.” The top of the license plate frame said “Rest In Peace.” The bottom of the license plate frame stated the dates I’m guessing Jason Jr. lived. He lived for 10 years. Very young =(
There are lots of ways to remember loved ones from carrying pictures, personal memorials, dedicating a website, writing a memoir, visiting the burial, and much, much more. Add to the list personalizing a license plate and personalizing the license plate frames. Rest in peace 0:-)
There are lots of ways to remember loved ones from carrying pictures, personal memorials, dedicating a website, writing a memoir, visiting the burial, and much, much more. Add to the list personalizing a license plate and personalizing the license plate frames. Rest in peace 0:-)
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Underground
Check out the video “Underground”, a short film by Kristen Dehnert & Aimee Lagos. The film is 11 minutes. Continue to watch after the credits for the lesson ^__^ Enjoy. If you choose to watch the video at Yahoo website, click the link
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Open The Jello Box Away From The Boiling Water
Yesterday, I made Jello lime flavor. I finished broiling the water in the pot for three boxes of Jello and I placed the pot on the table. I successfully poured the first bag of Jello in the pot. I was opening the second box on top of the pot and I dropped the second box in the pot. Water spilled on the table and the floor. I immediately cleaned up the floor because the hot water damages the floor. I cleaned up the table next. I was pissed =< After I finished making the Jello, I mopped the floor where water spilled.
Lesson learned for making and cooking food. Open, cut, or tear the ingredient box away from the liquid source to prevent accidental dropping the box inside the liquid source. Open, cut, or tear the ingredient bag on top of the liquid source to prevent spilling the ingredients outside the liquid source.
Lesson learned for making and cooking food. Open, cut, or tear the ingredient box away from the liquid source to prevent accidental dropping the box inside the liquid source. Open, cut, or tear the ingredient bag on top of the liquid source to prevent spilling the ingredients outside the liquid source.
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Go, Go, Go
Here’s a tip for businesses and companies when proofreading, editing, or completing quality checks (QC). When the first draft of a presentation, program, or report is completed, tell your department or team it’s a “Go, Go, Go.” Note somewhere the draft is “Go, Go, Go.” Have three workers look at the draft, give feedback, make corrections and comments, and suggest new ideas. The worker who finishes looking at the draft replaces a “Go” with his or her name. The first draft is completely proofread three times when all three “Gos’” are replaced with a worker’s name.
Thank you Appu for the suggestion.
Thank you Appu for the suggestion.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Last Week Was Faster Than The Flash
The week of June 23 was the fastest week ever in my life as I recall. One blink of an eye and the day was Friday--already ready for the weekend. I was thinking of the picnic in Treasure Island on Saturday June 21. Last week was supersonic fast!!! (I remember October 2007 being my fastest month ever.)
The work week was meh or all right. Nothing too stressful. My department has a new manager and two teams have new management. I completed a few assignments and completed my weekly responsibilities. The past three weeks I’ve been waiting for management to tell everyone the new responsibilities, new goals, and new procedures. I remember one Dilbert comic said there could be weeks of confusion with no work at all when new management works in a department. I’m experience the no work at all--mostly. Furthermore, about 10 workers from my department went to the new department the old manager is in charge. One of the workers has not given me the data I need to complete a report due two weeks ago >__<
Outside work, I played Team Fortress 2 on Monday night. It’s been a long time since my friends and I played Monday Night Team Fortress 2. I call it MNTF2 similar to Monday Night Football (MNF), LOL. There is a good chance I play tonight. On Tuesday, I was super tired after dinner I went to sleep. I slept for 9 hours. *shakes fist* Must be TF2 =P Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I went to the gym.
The week of June 30 is going to be fast, too. Friday is 4th of July holiday. I have no plans for the three day weekend. I think of something.
The work week was meh or all right. Nothing too stressful. My department has a new manager and two teams have new management. I completed a few assignments and completed my weekly responsibilities. The past three weeks I’ve been waiting for management to tell everyone the new responsibilities, new goals, and new procedures. I remember one Dilbert comic said there could be weeks of confusion with no work at all when new management works in a department. I’m experience the no work at all--mostly. Furthermore, about 10 workers from my department went to the new department the old manager is in charge. One of the workers has not given me the data I need to complete a report due two weeks ago >__<
Outside work, I played Team Fortress 2 on Monday night. It’s been a long time since my friends and I played Monday Night Team Fortress 2. I call it MNTF2 similar to Monday Night Football (MNF), LOL. There is a good chance I play tonight. On Tuesday, I was super tired after dinner I went to sleep. I slept for 9 hours. *shakes fist* Must be TF2 =P Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I went to the gym.
The week of June 30 is going to be fast, too. Friday is 4th of July holiday. I have no plans for the three day weekend. I think of something.
Friday, June 27, 2008
The Good Guys And The Bad Guys
Who are the good guys? Who are the bad guys? Are good guys nice? Are bad guys immature? Are good guys boring? Are bad guys wild? Are good guys smart? Are bad guys dumb? Can good guys be dumb? Can bad guys become good guys and vice versa? Can good guys become criminals? Are bad guys criminals? Is there a grey area between good guys and bad guys? Yes. Everyone has a different definition of a good guy and bad guy.
A good guy is a nice, strong, charming, dependable, and courageous individual. The good guy seeks new adventures, learns new skills, gains knowledge, and meets new people. If there are any conflicts, then the good guy has courage to step up and resolve any conflicts. Everyone is comfortable next to the good guy because the good guy makes sure everyone feels good and avoids judging. The good guy is a “there he/she is” person. Please, thank you, your opinion, and sorry are few of the good guy’s favorite vocabulary words.
A bad guy is rude, weak, undependable, and a coward individual. The bad guy seeks living life on the edge. The bad guy begins conflicts for their personal reasons. Almost nobody is comfortable next to the bad guy. Bad guys can be a cheap, passing trill. The bad guy has a negative attitude, negative behavior, and negative influence towards others. Please, thank you, your opinion, and sorry are vocabulary words the bad guy fails to say.
People tell me I’m a nice guy. The common notion nice guys are boring, quiet, and unsocial. I’m more than a nice guy. I’m a good guy. I say to the person who calls me a nice guy politely, “Nah, I’m just a good guy XD”
There are no pure good guys. Nobody is perfect. Thus, every good guy has a bad guy side. Sadly, every good guy has the potential to harm others. On the other hand, every bad guy has a good guy side? We personally define ourselves who is a good guy and who is a bad guy; for example, if a person wants to climb a mountain, then is the person a good guy such that the person is seeking a new experience or a bad guy such that the person is risking death?
Thanks to Punkbuster who contributed to the Blog.
A good guy is a nice, strong, charming, dependable, and courageous individual. The good guy seeks new adventures, learns new skills, gains knowledge, and meets new people. If there are any conflicts, then the good guy has courage to step up and resolve any conflicts. Everyone is comfortable next to the good guy because the good guy makes sure everyone feels good and avoids judging. The good guy is a “there he/she is” person. Please, thank you, your opinion, and sorry are few of the good guy’s favorite vocabulary words.
A bad guy is rude, weak, undependable, and a coward individual. The bad guy seeks living life on the edge. The bad guy begins conflicts for their personal reasons. Almost nobody is comfortable next to the bad guy. Bad guys can be a cheap, passing trill. The bad guy has a negative attitude, negative behavior, and negative influence towards others. Please, thank you, your opinion, and sorry are vocabulary words the bad guy fails to say.
People tell me I’m a nice guy. The common notion nice guys are boring, quiet, and unsocial. I’m more than a nice guy. I’m a good guy. I say to the person who calls me a nice guy politely, “Nah, I’m just a good guy XD”
There are no pure good guys. Nobody is perfect. Thus, every good guy has a bad guy side. Sadly, every good guy has the potential to harm others. On the other hand, every bad guy has a good guy side? We personally define ourselves who is a good guy and who is a bad guy; for example, if a person wants to climb a mountain, then is the person a good guy such that the person is seeking a new experience or a bad guy such that the person is risking death?
Thanks to Punkbuster who contributed to the Blog.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Boston Celtics Wins the 2008-2009 NBA Finals If They Can Do The Following
The Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 131 to 92 in Game 6 on Tuesday June 17 to win the 2007-2008 NBA Finals 4-2. The Celtics dominated Game 6 shooting 49.4 percent and success with screen/rolls and screen/pops offensive the Lakers’ defense failed to contain. Game 6 showed why the Celtics earned the championship.
One can say the Celtics won the championship 5-1 because the Lakers won Game 5 with all luck. In Game 5, the Lakers’ made fewer mistakes than the Celtics. The Celtics missed 10 layups, Ray Allen made 4 out of his 16 shots and fouled out, and Kevin Garnett missed three critical free throws. Both teams played horrible. The bottom line was the Lakers won Game 5. If the Lakers wanted to win the championship, then they must learn their mistakes in Game 5, they must realize the process to win Game 5 was unchampionship like, which they failed. The Celtics corrected their mistakes and made adjustments for the clinching Game 6 win. Congratulations to Paul Pierce for NBA Finals MVP.
The Celtics’ championship process was deserved and earned. Every player made contributions including the Game 6 blowout. Offense, defense, smart plays, key clutch scores, everything a champion team must do to win the Celtics accomplished. The players trusted each other. The Big Three dropped their egos and played as a team. Teamwork and chemistry are keys to win championships. The coaches make great players great and great players make great coaches great. Both sides must work together. The Celtics were 24-58 last year. The turnaround was absolutely fantastic.
I saw no championship desire in the Lakers. There were no defense adjustments, the bench contributed little offensive, and turnovers were costly. NBA MVP Kobe Bryant had no support. Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, and Derik Fisher were garbage. The team needs support players desperately. Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson each had support for their championships.
How can the Celtics win the 2008-2009 NBA Finals? The answer is to innovate. The team must look at their championship process. What were the mistakes? Learn from the mistakes. What was good? Take the good and make it better. Just because they won the championship doesn’t mean the team relaxes and take the championship for granted such as having the attitude, “We won. We are invincible. Let’s party.” While the Celtics may have the false championship attitude, the rest of the NBA teams including the Lakers are figuring out how to beat the Celtics the next NBA season. Innovate their offense, defense, players’ skills, and coaching strategy and the Celtics have a great chance to win next year. The bottom line is the Celtics won the championship. Never evaluate a season on the bottom line. Evaluate the season on the process.
One can say the Celtics won the championship 5-1 because the Lakers won Game 5 with all luck. In Game 5, the Lakers’ made fewer mistakes than the Celtics. The Celtics missed 10 layups, Ray Allen made 4 out of his 16 shots and fouled out, and Kevin Garnett missed three critical free throws. Both teams played horrible. The bottom line was the Lakers won Game 5. If the Lakers wanted to win the championship, then they must learn their mistakes in Game 5, they must realize the process to win Game 5 was unchampionship like, which they failed. The Celtics corrected their mistakes and made adjustments for the clinching Game 6 win. Congratulations to Paul Pierce for NBA Finals MVP.
The Celtics’ championship process was deserved and earned. Every player made contributions including the Game 6 blowout. Offense, defense, smart plays, key clutch scores, everything a champion team must do to win the Celtics accomplished. The players trusted each other. The Big Three dropped their egos and played as a team. Teamwork and chemistry are keys to win championships. The coaches make great players great and great players make great coaches great. Both sides must work together. The Celtics were 24-58 last year. The turnaround was absolutely fantastic.
I saw no championship desire in the Lakers. There were no defense adjustments, the bench contributed little offensive, and turnovers were costly. NBA MVP Kobe Bryant had no support. Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, and Derik Fisher were garbage. The team needs support players desperately. Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson each had support for their championships.
How can the Celtics win the 2008-2009 NBA Finals? The answer is to innovate. The team must look at their championship process. What were the mistakes? Learn from the mistakes. What was good? Take the good and make it better. Just because they won the championship doesn’t mean the team relaxes and take the championship for granted such as having the attitude, “We won. We are invincible. Let’s party.” While the Celtics may have the false championship attitude, the rest of the NBA teams including the Lakers are figuring out how to beat the Celtics the next NBA season. Innovate their offense, defense, players’ skills, and coaching strategy and the Celtics have a great chance to win next year. The bottom line is the Celtics won the championship. Never evaluate a season on the bottom line. Evaluate the season on the process.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Parents, Matchmaking Insults Your Children
What are the fundamentals to raise children? Read books, no spanking, teach patience, teach honestly, teach communication, and explain the who, what, where, why, and how of life. What are the fundamentals for adult children? There are none. Children are adults and must make their own choices. Good adults come from good families :)
I repeat. There are no fundamentals to raise adult children because the children are adults. The no fundamentals include no matchmaking. Parents being matchmakers are unnecessary. Mom and Dads must avoid finding someone special for their children. If the parents become matchmakers, the parents are telling their children they have no ability to find a date or find a boyfriend or girlfriend. The grown up children choose how to live their life including their marital status. The parents can encourage their adult children to find someone special if the adult children are making no effort or can support their adult children to never give up finding their long-term companion after many failures. It depends on the situation. Avoid finding singles with a name and a face only, and introducing the lack of information single person to their adult children.
Give the adult children plenty of time to find a husband or wife. There is trial and error. There is gaining experience, making mistakes, and learning from the mistakes. Parents taught their children patience after all. Some adult children want to remain single because they are still finding who they are and who they are looking for in a spouse. Some young adult children want to remain single because they want to spend their young years being single and free and have goals to accomplish. Any reason the adult children want to remain single, it’s their choice. Parents, stay out of the adult children’s choice of lifestyle.
What if the children are ready to date, ready to go out and tell everyone I’m available? What are the rules to meet people, flirt, and date? I can answer the question. What are the rules? The rules are there are no rules. However, the no rules rules are no excuse for poor personal grooming, hygiene, and personality. For example, gentlemen, ladies avoid men who smell bad and fake their personalities. Ladies have the sense to spot phoniness. Ladies, gentlemen avoid women wearing inappropriate clothing and communicate poorly. Gentlemen must understand the communication straightforward without any doubt to avoid misunderstandings. Good luck!
I repeat. There are no fundamentals to raise adult children because the children are adults. The no fundamentals include no matchmaking. Parents being matchmakers are unnecessary. Mom and Dads must avoid finding someone special for their children. If the parents become matchmakers, the parents are telling their children they have no ability to find a date or find a boyfriend or girlfriend. The grown up children choose how to live their life including their marital status. The parents can encourage their adult children to find someone special if the adult children are making no effort or can support their adult children to never give up finding their long-term companion after many failures. It depends on the situation. Avoid finding singles with a name and a face only, and introducing the lack of information single person to their adult children.
Give the adult children plenty of time to find a husband or wife. There is trial and error. There is gaining experience, making mistakes, and learning from the mistakes. Parents taught their children patience after all. Some adult children want to remain single because they are still finding who they are and who they are looking for in a spouse. Some young adult children want to remain single because they want to spend their young years being single and free and have goals to accomplish. Any reason the adult children want to remain single, it’s their choice. Parents, stay out of the adult children’s choice of lifestyle.
What if the children are ready to date, ready to go out and tell everyone I’m available? What are the rules to meet people, flirt, and date? I can answer the question. What are the rules? The rules are there are no rules. However, the no rules rules are no excuse for poor personal grooming, hygiene, and personality. For example, gentlemen, ladies avoid men who smell bad and fake their personalities. Ladies have the sense to spot phoniness. Ladies, gentlemen avoid women wearing inappropriate clothing and communicate poorly. Gentlemen must understand the communication straightforward without any doubt to avoid misunderstandings. Good luck!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Am I Becoming A Wally?
Going off topic first. There was one accident on Wednesday June 4 and Thursday June 5 driving to work. The accidents were my first accidents on San Tomas Expressway since I started driving there in December 2007. The fire alarm went off in my building on Wednesday. There is a scheduled drill on Tuesday June 10. I received unconfirmed information the alarm was a drill. I find out on Tuesday.
Going on topic ^__^ The past month I have been experiencing the Wally Syndrome. I name the syndrome after Wally, the lazy, carefree engineer from the comic strip Dilbert. The past month I have been lazy. There were many working days I completed no work for hours and hours. The days I worked I completed the assignments and the reports so efficiently and so quickly I gained more free time. There were approximately three or four days I was slammed I never browsed the web, never checked my personal emails, and never pinged anyone.
I’m currently waiting for two co-workers to submit their portions for my department’s quarterly report and the latest monthly report. The last two months my division experienced personnel changes some assignments have been delayed indefinitely. Another co-worker came back to work on Monday June 9 after going on maternity leave since April. The return gives me more free time, LOL as she resumes her responsibilities I have been doing. And on Monday June 9, my department’s new manager starts. I have a meeting with her Monday morning.
If my new manager requests new reports and assignments on a daily basis, then my Wally Syndrome is suppressed. If I receive the final information needed for the quarterly report and the latest monthly report anytime, then I complete each report, finalize it, and email to appropriate people in about two hours. Then I have free time from the time I submitted the reports to the end of June XD Then the Wally Syndrome comes back. Oh, when I have an assignment due days later, sometimes I complete half in one day, become lazy, and complete the second half another day rather than complete the assignment on the same day.
Is my Wally Syndrome continuing? It’s going to take my new manager months to understand the department and what everyone does. I anticipate few assignments from my new manager in the short-term. The daily requests and assignments take me either minutes or hours to complete. I’m really efficient ^__^
The cure to the Wally Syndrome is quitting. The current Economic conditions and the strength of the economy worldwide are questioning whether I still have a job in December. Many companies are nickeling and diming every department to save a buck. Being lazy at home and lazy at work are different.
Going on topic ^__^ The past month I have been experiencing the Wally Syndrome. I name the syndrome after Wally, the lazy, carefree engineer from the comic strip Dilbert. The past month I have been lazy. There were many working days I completed no work for hours and hours. The days I worked I completed the assignments and the reports so efficiently and so quickly I gained more free time. There were approximately three or four days I was slammed I never browsed the web, never checked my personal emails, and never pinged anyone.
I’m currently waiting for two co-workers to submit their portions for my department’s quarterly report and the latest monthly report. The last two months my division experienced personnel changes some assignments have been delayed indefinitely. Another co-worker came back to work on Monday June 9 after going on maternity leave since April. The return gives me more free time, LOL as she resumes her responsibilities I have been doing. And on Monday June 9, my department’s new manager starts. I have a meeting with her Monday morning.
If my new manager requests new reports and assignments on a daily basis, then my Wally Syndrome is suppressed. If I receive the final information needed for the quarterly report and the latest monthly report anytime, then I complete each report, finalize it, and email to appropriate people in about two hours. Then I have free time from the time I submitted the reports to the end of June XD Then the Wally Syndrome comes back. Oh, when I have an assignment due days later, sometimes I complete half in one day, become lazy, and complete the second half another day rather than complete the assignment on the same day.
Is my Wally Syndrome continuing? It’s going to take my new manager months to understand the department and what everyone does. I anticipate few assignments from my new manager in the short-term. The daily requests and assignments take me either minutes or hours to complete. I’m really efficient ^__^
The cure to the Wally Syndrome is quitting. The current Economic conditions and the strength of the economy worldwide are questioning whether I still have a job in December. Many companies are nickeling and diming every department to save a buck. Being lazy at home and lazy at work are different.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Runners Stop And Walk
The following is a list of activities, errands, and daily routine off the top of my head:
*Shine shoes
*Iron
*Cook
*Pay bills
*Watch anime
*Water my plants
*Fill my car with gas
*Read
*Laundry
*Gym
*Meetings
*Deadlines
*Sleep
*Naps
*Check oil and tires in car
*Shopping for groceries and bare necessities
*Appointments
*Bank
*Download mp3
*Write Blogs ^_^
*Cleaning
*Special personal projects such as researching for a new laptop, learning how to sew, and updating my webpage
*Having fun such as going to Santa Cruz, being with family and friends, and playing Team Fortress 2
If I do 20 different activities and errands at the same time, I'm a fool. The reality is today's living there is so much to do, and as we more forward, there are more choices to live our lives—yet, time remains the same with 24 hours in a day.
Take your time. Life is not meant to be rushed, rushed, rushed. I believe we can live an enjoyable life in the Information Age. Let's say you die tomorrow. Life continues to move forward with work, rest, play, and family. There are deaths, crimes, and companies going bankrupt. On the other hand, there are marriages, newborns, and people earning promotions. The daily life never changes including working for income, paying taxes, and getting gas. Find time to enjoy life and have fun. No regrets. A worker's email inbox and desk inbox are never empty.
A person has two choices in life. The first choice is running here and there completing tasks hastily and prone to errors scaring people as you keep going and going and going. The second choice is walking here and there completing one task one at a time and having a conversation with people as you keep going and stopping and going and stopping.
*Shine shoes
*Iron
*Cook
*Pay bills
*Watch anime
*Water my plants
*Fill my car with gas
*Read
*Laundry
*Gym
*Meetings
*Deadlines
*Sleep
*Naps
*Check oil and tires in car
*Shopping for groceries and bare necessities
*Appointments
*Bank
*Download mp3
*Write Blogs ^_^
*Cleaning
*Special personal projects such as researching for a new laptop, learning how to sew, and updating my webpage
*Having fun such as going to Santa Cruz, being with family and friends, and playing Team Fortress 2
If I do 20 different activities and errands at the same time, I'm a fool. The reality is today's living there is so much to do, and as we more forward, there are more choices to live our lives—yet, time remains the same with 24 hours in a day.
Take your time. Life is not meant to be rushed, rushed, rushed. I believe we can live an enjoyable life in the Information Age. Let's say you die tomorrow. Life continues to move forward with work, rest, play, and family. There are deaths, crimes, and companies going bankrupt. On the other hand, there are marriages, newborns, and people earning promotions. The daily life never changes including working for income, paying taxes, and getting gas. Find time to enjoy life and have fun. No regrets. A worker's email inbox and desk inbox are never empty.
A person has two choices in life. The first choice is running here and there completing tasks hastily and prone to errors scaring people as you keep going and going and going. The second choice is walking here and there completing one task one at a time and having a conversation with people as you keep going and stopping and going and stopping.
Monday, May 19, 2008
An Email Marketing Tip
Here's an email marketing tip to promote your company in your industry. My last job I worked in the commercial real estate industry. About once a week, a commercial real estate developer emails to everyone in the commercial real estate brokerage community a prize. The prizes included tickets to sporting events, musicals, concerts, and plays.
For instance, the developer emailed to everyone in their distribution lists four VIP seats with parking passes to the KISS Old School Fiesta concert. Anyone who was interested replies back. The tickets were awarded to the sixth person who replied. The rules including the reply number were included in the email.
I'm no marketing expert. Any company can email prizes to promote themselves ^^
For instance, the developer emailed to everyone in their distribution lists four VIP seats with parking passes to the KISS Old School Fiesta concert. Anyone who was interested replies back. The tickets were awarded to the sixth person who replied. The rules including the reply number were included in the email.
I'm no marketing expert. Any company can email prizes to promote themselves ^^
Friday, May 16, 2008
Meet People On Craigslist
One way to meet people is on the Craigslist freebie section. Do you have anything you want to give away for free? Post an ad on Craigslist in the free section. Chances are high someone wants your item. I gave away baseball cards, college textbooks, and rollerblades with protective gear free.
In particular, I met a firefighter. He received my free baseball cards on October 2007. He has a son who started collecting sports cards. We talked for at least 10 minutes learning what we do for a living. I asked him questions about being a firefighter. He told me his hobbies including his do-it yourself home renovation. I told him stories about my brother and I collecting cards during our youth. We talked about Bay Area sports. As a result, I have a contact person in case he wants to earn extra money on the side if I need a handyman. BTW, firefighters work three 24 hour shifts.
It's true you can meet people in the Craigslist personals section. That's another topic *___*
In particular, I met a firefighter. He received my free baseball cards on October 2007. He has a son who started collecting sports cards. We talked for at least 10 minutes learning what we do for a living. I asked him questions about being a firefighter. He told me his hobbies including his do-it yourself home renovation. I told him stories about my brother and I collecting cards during our youth. We talked about Bay Area sports. As a result, I have a contact person in case he wants to earn extra money on the side if I need a handyman. BTW, firefighters work three 24 hour shifts.
It's true you can meet people in the Craigslist personals section. That's another topic *___*
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Tropical Depression
I'm no meteorologist to define a tropical depression. I know it's a storm with rain and winds. The tropical depression becomes a hurricane by gaining strength with more rain and more winds. Visit Wikipedia and search for tropical depression for a better definition.
My personal tropical depression definition is a person spreading depression to other people. Do you make people depressed when you are with them? Think of a tropical depression person as someone who is the center of the storm and anywhere the tropical depression person goes, the depression storm follows. My alarms activate when a tropical depression person comes to me. The time is now to move away. I become depressed when the depressed person comes near me. I have the "Please go away" attitude.
What is your attitude? What is your behavior? What are your actions when you interact with people? Are all three positive such that people welcome you, people enjoy your company, and people greet you when you enter a room? On the other hand, is your behavior negative such that you act like a jerk, interrupt people, find people and be a nuisance, or never appreciate your friends?
How do you remove your tropical depression? Become a sun =) The short answer is stop being a jack-ass and start being a friend. A friend is a person with a positive attitude. A friend is a person who appreciates others, greets people, and makes sure everyone feels important. A friend proves he or she is a friend by actions such as paying back debts quickly, admitting mistakes, and laughing at friends' jokes. (Don't be like me a laugh too much which I think looks terrible on a person, a habit I continue to improve.) Finally, tropical depression people are the first to leave a company when there are department or company personnel changes.
Side note: On my way to work today, all the signal lights were green expect for the last signal which is a left turn. It's my third perfect commute. The ultra perfect is the last signal is green =P
My personal tropical depression definition is a person spreading depression to other people. Do you make people depressed when you are with them? Think of a tropical depression person as someone who is the center of the storm and anywhere the tropical depression person goes, the depression storm follows. My alarms activate when a tropical depression person comes to me. The time is now to move away. I become depressed when the depressed person comes near me. I have the "Please go away" attitude.
What is your attitude? What is your behavior? What are your actions when you interact with people? Are all three positive such that people welcome you, people enjoy your company, and people greet you when you enter a room? On the other hand, is your behavior negative such that you act like a jerk, interrupt people, find people and be a nuisance, or never appreciate your friends?
How do you remove your tropical depression? Become a sun =) The short answer is stop being a jack-ass and start being a friend. A friend is a person with a positive attitude. A friend is a person who appreciates others, greets people, and makes sure everyone feels important. A friend proves he or she is a friend by actions such as paying back debts quickly, admitting mistakes, and laughing at friends' jokes. (Don't be like me a laugh too much which I think looks terrible on a person, a habit I continue to improve.) Finally, tropical depression people are the first to leave a company when there are department or company personnel changes.
Side note: On my way to work today, all the signal lights were green expect for the last signal which is a left turn. It's my third perfect commute. The ultra perfect is the last signal is green =P
Monday, April 07, 2008
The Recession Is Coming, The Recession Is Coming
For the next X minutes, where X equals the number of minutes you take to finish reading plus the number of minutes of the after effect, you're likely going to hate me. A few people and financial companies believe the US Economy is in a recession. I agree. We are in a recession. A few people think the recession is coming. The government has not official state we are in a recession. I’m looking forward to the recession. Now, you may begin to hate me :-/
Why am I looking forward to the recession? The reason is the economy needs to take a breathier. The economy needs to take a break. The economy has been in a state of uncertainty for a long time. The recession opens the opportunity for the economy and for many people’s lives to stop, to think, and to make new choices when the economy recovers. The recession gives the economy the needed direction sense missing since the dot com era.
Another reason I’m looking forward to the recession is a reality check. It’s the time for people and companies to get out of something they shouldn’t belong. For example, the housing market. If anyone purchased a house and thought they received a great mortgage with subprime interest rates and now can’t afford the monthly payments, then unfortunately, it’s time to move out. Sorry. The recession weeds out homeowners who made a bad choice. The housing bubble is going to burst. Another example is investing in the stock market. Anyone who uses stock trading software which tells the user what to buy, what to sell, when to buy, and when to sell are not stock investors. They are day traders. Day traders have no influence in the stock markets. The major influencers are the money managers and big financial companies with mutual funds.
I work full time. In my company, there are policies and requests to lower costs. My department has been making cuts and plan to make more cuts. I can work 12 hours a day and my smart work ethic have no effect on my job security if a senior executive says my department is now longer needed—the company can’t afford you and your department anymore. If I still have my job, I still have my job. If I get laid off, I get laid off, and it’s an opportunity, a reality check, to think about my current life and to think of new choices and create action for the next economy recovery. Whatever happens, happens.
Now do you still hate me? Control what you can control and don’t control what you can’t control.
Why am I looking forward to the recession? The reason is the economy needs to take a breathier. The economy needs to take a break. The economy has been in a state of uncertainty for a long time. The recession opens the opportunity for the economy and for many people’s lives to stop, to think, and to make new choices when the economy recovers. The recession gives the economy the needed direction sense missing since the dot com era.
Another reason I’m looking forward to the recession is a reality check. It’s the time for people and companies to get out of something they shouldn’t belong. For example, the housing market. If anyone purchased a house and thought they received a great mortgage with subprime interest rates and now can’t afford the monthly payments, then unfortunately, it’s time to move out. Sorry. The recession weeds out homeowners who made a bad choice. The housing bubble is going to burst. Another example is investing in the stock market. Anyone who uses stock trading software which tells the user what to buy, what to sell, when to buy, and when to sell are not stock investors. They are day traders. Day traders have no influence in the stock markets. The major influencers are the money managers and big financial companies with mutual funds.
I work full time. In my company, there are policies and requests to lower costs. My department has been making cuts and plan to make more cuts. I can work 12 hours a day and my smart work ethic have no effect on my job security if a senior executive says my department is now longer needed—the company can’t afford you and your department anymore. If I still have my job, I still have my job. If I get laid off, I get laid off, and it’s an opportunity, a reality check, to think about my current life and to think of new choices and create action for the next economy recovery. Whatever happens, happens.
Now do you still hate me? Control what you can control and don’t control what you can’t control.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
A Bad March
My last Blog post I was sick and dedicated at least eight hours a night to sleep. My sickness got worse with a sore throat last Wednesday. I visited the doctor on Thursday. The doctor examined me and found no physical problems. He said I was never sick. I had allergies. Allergies? The doctor gave me a sample of Claritin and a sample of Naselnx (sp?) allergy nose spray.
On Friday, I took Claritin. No improvement. Friday evening I felt worse. I thought I could have a sinus infection. The last time I got a sinus infection was in July 2000. I went to Walgreens and purchased Tylenol Cold and Allergy medicine. On Saturday, I purchased Tylenol Cold and Allergy medicine night time to take in the evening and before I sleep.
I have good news. The Tylenol is working. Today, I feel better. I cough less and my runny nose and stuffy nose are minimal. I plan to continue taking Tylenol today and tomorrow. On Thursday, if I feel really good, then I stop taking Tylenol.
I tell everyone my March was bad. It’s true I’m recovering and I was never sick. Good news there. On the other hand, the bad news is I experienced four weeks of suffering a sickness I was never sick. I failed to see with my mind. I saw with my eyes my Dad was sick, people I knew were sick, and news reports stated 2008 was a bad flu season. I never got Respiratory Syncytial Virus or RSV. I failed to ask myself “Do I have any other sickness?” And I failed to see a doctor two weeks into my sickness.
I could say March was a not so bad month because I was never sick and I’m recovering now. I’m kidding myself. March was a bad month because I failed to take appropriate action to battle my sickness. Furthermore, by labeling March a bad month I learn a lesson the next time I’m sick, I visit a doctor if I’m sick more than seven days and I think of all sickness I got in the past and take action to recover my next sickness.
*Side Note: After visiting the doctor last Thursday, I cleaned up my entire room including dusting every wall edge and behind the desk, washed my blankets, and removed dust on the ceiling fan. When I vacuumed the dust behind my desk, there was a clock. The clock was my late grandparents. I forgot about the clock. What I think happened was the clock fell down after an earthquake in October 2007. After I placed the clock on the wall, I wrote a message on the bulletin board where I post my favorite comics which said “Clock there? *arrow points toward the clock to the left of the bulletin board*”
I’m looking forward to April to catch up on reading, going back to the gym, working at full capability, and enjoying life before the bad March month ^__^
On Friday, I took Claritin. No improvement. Friday evening I felt worse. I thought I could have a sinus infection. The last time I got a sinus infection was in July 2000. I went to Walgreens and purchased Tylenol Cold and Allergy medicine. On Saturday, I purchased Tylenol Cold and Allergy medicine night time to take in the evening and before I sleep.
I have good news. The Tylenol is working. Today, I feel better. I cough less and my runny nose and stuffy nose are minimal. I plan to continue taking Tylenol today and tomorrow. On Thursday, if I feel really good, then I stop taking Tylenol.
I tell everyone my March was bad. It’s true I’m recovering and I was never sick. Good news there. On the other hand, the bad news is I experienced four weeks of suffering a sickness I was never sick. I failed to see with my mind. I saw with my eyes my Dad was sick, people I knew were sick, and news reports stated 2008 was a bad flu season. I never got Respiratory Syncytial Virus or RSV. I failed to ask myself “Do I have any other sickness?” And I failed to see a doctor two weeks into my sickness.
I could say March was a not so bad month because I was never sick and I’m recovering now. I’m kidding myself. March was a bad month because I failed to take appropriate action to battle my sickness. Furthermore, by labeling March a bad month I learn a lesson the next time I’m sick, I visit a doctor if I’m sick more than seven days and I think of all sickness I got in the past and take action to recover my next sickness.
*Side Note: After visiting the doctor last Thursday, I cleaned up my entire room including dusting every wall edge and behind the desk, washed my blankets, and removed dust on the ceiling fan. When I vacuumed the dust behind my desk, there was a clock. The clock was my late grandparents. I forgot about the clock. What I think happened was the clock fell down after an earthquake in October 2007. After I placed the clock on the wall, I wrote a message on the bulletin board where I post my favorite comics which said “Clock there? *arrow points toward the clock to the left of the bulletin board*”
I’m looking forward to April to catch up on reading, going back to the gym, working at full capability, and enjoying life before the bad March month ^__^
Monday, March 24, 2008
The Week Of Sleep
Since March 4, 2008, I have been sick. I got the Respiratory Syncytial Virus or RSV. Last week, I was careless taking care of myself I believe I got sick again with cough and congestion. Throughout my sickness, I have been tired, tired, and tired. Fatigued, fatigued, and fatigued. I wonder if the Daylight Savings Time three weeks earlier made my sickness worst on Tuesday March 11? I worked at home Monday March 10 to Thursday March 13. I worked half days Wednesday March 19-Friday March 21. Drinking warm water and eating chocolate controlled my cough and helps me sleep.
It’s time for action. Starting yesterday, I did stretches and sit-ups. Tomorrow and Wednesday, I’m going to the gym to do very light workouts walking on the treadmill and stationary bike. I start on weights when I feel better. And I devote extra hours to sleep. I read less and delay any activities and nighttime errands to next week. It’s the week of sleep and anytime I have free time, I’m lying down in bed (-,-)
My goal is to recover and to feel alive. My mood has been empty during my sickness. I’m aware it’s a short-term phase and I’m going to be myself again. And I better because my department’s Q3 FY08 report is coming up and I can’t have a negative attitude.
It’s time for action. Starting yesterday, I did stretches and sit-ups. Tomorrow and Wednesday, I’m going to the gym to do very light workouts walking on the treadmill and stationary bike. I start on weights when I feel better. And I devote extra hours to sleep. I read less and delay any activities and nighttime errands to next week. It’s the week of sleep and anytime I have free time, I’m lying down in bed (-,-)
My goal is to recover and to feel alive. My mood has been empty during my sickness. I’m aware it’s a short-term phase and I’m going to be myself again. And I better because my department’s Q3 FY08 report is coming up and I can’t have a negative attitude.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Wear Pajamas In Your Residence
Pajamas is clothing to wear when going to sleep. For me, I like to wear pajamas when I'm home. In other words, I wear my pajamas in bed or out of bed. Pajamas must be comfortable because people must be comfortable to sleep. I like to relax and be comfortable in my house. Wearing slacks or dress pants feels wrong such that I feel like I'm outdoors or working or shopping. Pajamas is the ultimate clothing to wear in the house or apartment. My house clothing is pajamas pants and a white t-shirt. If the days are cold, I also wear a sweatshirt. If the days are hot, I wear non-dress shorts such as swimming trunks.
What if I have guests? If they're friends, then I wear my pajamas. If they're family and guests, then I wear my outdoor wear. Wearing pajamas in the house is no sign I'm or anybody is a home person who stays at home and rarely goes outside.
Do you want to maximize your comfort level in your house or apartment? Wear pajamas. You feel lose and comfortable when you walk around, sit down, and lie down. Also, in case food or drink accidentally spills on you, it's your pajamas and not your good outdoor clothing.
What if I have guests? If they're friends, then I wear my pajamas. If they're family and guests, then I wear my outdoor wear. Wearing pajamas in the house is no sign I'm or anybody is a home person who stays at home and rarely goes outside.
Do you want to maximize your comfort level in your house or apartment? Wear pajamas. You feel lose and comfortable when you walk around, sit down, and lie down. Also, in case food or drink accidentally spills on you, it's your pajamas and not your good outdoor clothing.
Monday, March 03, 2008
The Reminder Timer
Yesterday morning at 11:10am, my Dad asked me to record a show at 11:30am. My Dad and Mom attended a fair. I was looking over my 2007 taxes checking for errors. I thought I found an error so I looked at my past tax returns. At 1:00pm, I realized I forgot to record the show. I was angry. My mind was focused on my tax returns.
I created The Reminder Timer to prevent me forgetting any short-term favors, activities, or schedules on the same day someone asks or tells me. The Reminder Timer is a kitchen timer, one of those wined up 60 minute timers. Any other timer can be used. Next to the timer is a piece of paper written with what I’m supposed to do. I labeled the kitchen timer “The Reminder Timer” from a post-it note. When the timer goes off, I look at the piece of paper, and stop what I’m doing and I complete what I’m supposed to do. No more forgetting.
I created The Reminder Timer to prevent me forgetting any short-term favors, activities, or schedules on the same day someone asks or tells me. The Reminder Timer is a kitchen timer, one of those wined up 60 minute timers. Any other timer can be used. Next to the timer is a piece of paper written with what I’m supposed to do. I labeled the kitchen timer “The Reminder Timer” from a post-it note. When the timer goes off, I look at the piece of paper, and stop what I’m doing and I complete what I’m supposed to do. No more forgetting.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Wear Pajamas In Your Residence
Pajamas is clothing to wear when going to sleep. For me, I like to wear pajamas when I'm home. In other words, I wear my pajamas in bed or out of bed. Pajamas must be comfortable because people must be comfortable to sleep. I like to relax and be comfortable in my house. Wearing slacks or dress pants feels wrong such that I feel like I'm outdoors or working or shopping. Pajamas is the ultimate clothing to wear in the house or apartment. My house clothing is pajamas pants and a white t-shirt. If the days are cold, I also wear a sweatshirt. If the days are hot, I wear non-dress shorts such as swimming trunks.
What if I have guests? If they're friends, then I wear my pajamas. If they're family and guests, then I wear my outdoor wear. Wearing pajamas in the house is no sign I'm or anybody is a home person who stays at home and rarely goes outside.
Do you want to maximize your comfort level in your house or apartment? Wear pajamas. You feel lose and comfortable when you walk around, sit down, and lie down. Also, in case food or drink accidentally spills on you, it's your pajamas and not your good outdoor clothing.
What if I have guests? If they're friends, then I wear my pajamas. If they're family and guests, then I wear my outdoor wear. Wearing pajamas in the house is no sign I'm or anybody is a home person who stays at home and rarely goes outside.
Do you want to maximize your comfort level in your house or apartment? Wear pajamas. You feel lose and comfortable when you walk around, sit down, and lie down. Also, in case food or drink accidentally spills on you, it's your pajamas and not your good outdoor clothing.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Good Job 1 of 2: An Interview of the 2000 Decade
Today, it's a blog double shot because my department finished our Q2 FY08 report XD The first blog is an interview discussing the 2000 decade. The second blog is being depressed cleaning the house.
I had a dream I was interviewed on the 2000 decade on TV. I'm a novice talking about current events; however, I'm on TV which means I'm an expert and my opinions are strong, LOL
Q. How was the 2000 year decade? Remember or forget.
A. It depends on who you asked. Victims of the dot com bubble and/or the housing market crash are likely to forget the 2000 decade. The recession in 2002 was mild and quick and the recession in late 2008 was longer than anticipated.
On the other hand, the 2000 year decade opened new opportunities and new knowledge for people who recognized and welcomed the beginning of the Information Age. Technology is part of our lives whether one person likes it or not. Unfortunately, there are many people who still stay away from technology; although, at least 1 in 4 people over the age of 50 plays video games, so technology is spreading to more people rather than the just the young generation during the early 2000 decade.
And those who became wealthy with technology remember 2000 and look forward to the 2010 decade with more technology innovations and keeping their eyes open for more opportunities.
Q. Was your 2000 year decade remember or forget?
A. Remember. My bad years were 2000, 2002, and 2004. My good years were 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. It took me years to realize we are living in the Information Age. I failed to adapt to how we live today—I was living like it was the 90s. I had the wisdom of a 21 year old in a 30s year old body. 2004 was the year I woke up and realized I must take control of my life. I had to earn my achievements and my successes. I had to learn from my mistake from failures. The most important lesson I learned in the decade was never stop meeting people.
Q. Speaking of wisdom, do you think we are really taking advantage of the Information Age today?
A. Well, I think of the Internet as a teenager. The Internet started to influence our lives in 1996. Taking 1996 and 2010, the Internet, the Information Age, is 14 years old. Our lives with the Internet and the web are in the teens. Expect more mistakes as we continue to live in the Information Age's adolescence years. At the same time, expect more success as we learn from our increasing failures. The key for the 2010 decade in the Information Age is to keep moving forward and improve technology and use technology to improve our lives in front a computer and not in front of a computer. It's a matter of time when the Information Age matures and we take full advantage.
Q. Is the Middle Class going to disappear?
A. The Middle Class was never doomed. There is always going to be a Middle Class. It's just that the recession in 2008 forced many families to adjust their incomes and spending. As we begin the recovery and people are purchasing homes, we see incomes for the Middle Class go up and spending increase. It's getting more expensive to raise a family and I expect wages to go up, too. I'm optimistic we see more people in the Middle Class than ever before in history.
Moreover, speaking about getting more expensive, the Middle Class has a challenge to keep up with the ever increasing higher costs of living. The true Middle Class must find ways to keep their lifestyle or else make some tough economic choices. The Middle Class that find ways to bring more income has a chance to be Upper Class. Higher wages is one component; however, taxes are the biggest expense.
Thank you for joining us.
I had a dream I was interviewed on the 2000 decade on TV. I'm a novice talking about current events; however, I'm on TV which means I'm an expert and my opinions are strong, LOL
Q. How was the 2000 year decade? Remember or forget.
A. It depends on who you asked. Victims of the dot com bubble and/or the housing market crash are likely to forget the 2000 decade. The recession in 2002 was mild and quick and the recession in late 2008 was longer than anticipated.
On the other hand, the 2000 year decade opened new opportunities and new knowledge for people who recognized and welcomed the beginning of the Information Age. Technology is part of our lives whether one person likes it or not. Unfortunately, there are many people who still stay away from technology; although, at least 1 in 4 people over the age of 50 plays video games, so technology is spreading to more people rather than the just the young generation during the early 2000 decade.
And those who became wealthy with technology remember 2000 and look forward to the 2010 decade with more technology innovations and keeping their eyes open for more opportunities.
Q. Was your 2000 year decade remember or forget?
A. Remember. My bad years were 2000, 2002, and 2004. My good years were 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. It took me years to realize we are living in the Information Age. I failed to adapt to how we live today—I was living like it was the 90s. I had the wisdom of a 21 year old in a 30s year old body. 2004 was the year I woke up and realized I must take control of my life. I had to earn my achievements and my successes. I had to learn from my mistake from failures. The most important lesson I learned in the decade was never stop meeting people.
Q. Speaking of wisdom, do you think we are really taking advantage of the Information Age today?
A. Well, I think of the Internet as a teenager. The Internet started to influence our lives in 1996. Taking 1996 and 2010, the Internet, the Information Age, is 14 years old. Our lives with the Internet and the web are in the teens. Expect more mistakes as we continue to live in the Information Age's adolescence years. At the same time, expect more success as we learn from our increasing failures. The key for the 2010 decade in the Information Age is to keep moving forward and improve technology and use technology to improve our lives in front a computer and not in front of a computer. It's a matter of time when the Information Age matures and we take full advantage.
Q. Is the Middle Class going to disappear?
A. The Middle Class was never doomed. There is always going to be a Middle Class. It's just that the recession in 2008 forced many families to adjust their incomes and spending. As we begin the recovery and people are purchasing homes, we see incomes for the Middle Class go up and spending increase. It's getting more expensive to raise a family and I expect wages to go up, too. I'm optimistic we see more people in the Middle Class than ever before in history.
Moreover, speaking about getting more expensive, the Middle Class has a challenge to keep up with the ever increasing higher costs of living. The true Middle Class must find ways to keep their lifestyle or else make some tough economic choices. The Middle Class that find ways to bring more income has a chance to be Upper Class. Higher wages is one component; however, taxes are the biggest expense.
Thank you for joining us.
Good Job 2 of 2: Cleaning The House Depresses Me
Earlier today, my Mom asked me to clean the house. I vacuumed all the downstairs rooms and cleaned the main bathroom. I don't mind cleaning the house. I like to live clean. Nobody wants to live in a dirty, cluttered home (or apartment).
If I don't mind cleaning the house, then why am I depressed when cleaning the house? The reason is my house has too much junk. Walk around the living room, family room, dining room, and kitchen and there so much junk. My definition of junk is useless items. In my kitchen, there are pots and pans everyone including in the living room and dining room. Why are the pots and pans not in the cupboards? The reason is there is junk inside my family never used to cook *sniff, sniff* There are lots of newspapers in the house my family and I rarely read. I told me Dad to stop the newspaper subscription.
My Mom buys so many useless items the items are everyone in the house, in the garage, and in my room. My Dad has some useless junk; in particular, outdated technology hardware. When I vacuum the house, I think about all of the stuff in the house and how difficult it is to clean the house. I stop cleaning the house now because there is so much stuff. I clean the house when I'm asked only.
In fairness, there are some items which belongs to my deceased Grandmother. However, most of the items not my Grandmother don't belong in my house. LOL, if you want people to not visit your home, make the home messy. One of my life values is to get rid of junk. If you have junk in your residence, get rid of it. Junk is also a waste of money.
If I don't mind cleaning the house, then why am I depressed when cleaning the house? The reason is my house has too much junk. Walk around the living room, family room, dining room, and kitchen and there so much junk. My definition of junk is useless items. In my kitchen, there are pots and pans everyone including in the living room and dining room. Why are the pots and pans not in the cupboards? The reason is there is junk inside my family never used to cook *sniff, sniff* There are lots of newspapers in the house my family and I rarely read. I told me Dad to stop the newspaper subscription.
My Mom buys so many useless items the items are everyone in the house, in the garage, and in my room. My Dad has some useless junk; in particular, outdated technology hardware. When I vacuum the house, I think about all of the stuff in the house and how difficult it is to clean the house. I stop cleaning the house now because there is so much stuff. I clean the house when I'm asked only.
In fairness, there are some items which belongs to my deceased Grandmother. However, most of the items not my Grandmother don't belong in my house. LOL, if you want people to not visit your home, make the home messy. One of my life values is to get rid of junk. If you have junk in your residence, get rid of it. Junk is also a waste of money.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Perfect Drive To Work
Since December 26, 2007, I have been driving the expressways to work instead of driving the freeway. On Friday February 15, I drove from home to my turnoff without stopping. A perfect drive. A perfect commute. I said "Perfect!" after I passed the last intersection. Now the bonus was making the left turn without stopping on a red light. I stopped. The next perfect drive must be all greens. No red lights.
Moreover, the work day was perfect. I took a break from working on my department's quarterly report and I work on my other assignments I delayed completing. I completed most of the assignments and I must finish on Monday. Monday is President's Day, and even though I have to work *sniff, sniff*, I expect a slow day.
Speaking of quarterly report, my department should be happy we should finish in three and a half weeks. The last quarterly report, our first time using a new format, took eight weeks.
Moreover, the work day was perfect. I took a break from working on my department's quarterly report and I work on my other assignments I delayed completing. I completed most of the assignments and I must finish on Monday. Monday is President's Day, and even though I have to work *sniff, sniff*, I expect a slow day.
Speaking of quarterly report, my department should be happy we should finish in three and a half weeks. The last quarterly report, our first time using a new format, took eight weeks.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Raising Children Is Two Full Time Jobs
The week of January 28, 2008 my sister-in-law visited New York for a family emergency. My brother and his 16 month old son stayed at my house for the week for help in watching my nephew. My brother telecommuted to his workplace and my Mom watched my nephew.
My brother was prepared for the week visit. He brought clothing, baby supplies, and food. Someone watched my nephew everywhere and every time. Full attention must be given to my nephew including talking, feeding food, staying away from the cleaning chemicals, and reading. In addition, the extra house work. For example, the dishes. I live with my Mom and Dad. With three people in the house, and my Dad and I work five days a week, dishwashing is minimal. We washed dishes every two to three days. With my brother and nephew, dishes needed to be washed everyday. Another example was walking around the house. My nephew’s toys were everywhere. It was hard walking around and finding table space to eat. And my nephew’s potty training and bathroom bare necessities were all in the bathroom.
The last example was grocery shopping. My Mom and Dad were sick and I had to buy groceries two consecutive days. I spent $80.00 in groceries in the two days. Unbelievable. The grocery bill was higher if my brother has two children. $80.00 was one aspect. The second aspect was finding time after work to go shopping.
Last week gave me experience and knowledge about raising children. Raising children requires knowledge, wisdom, financial resources, and time. I’m not a father. I say for the record at the moment I’m not ready to raise children. I know when a person becomes a parent, life changes permanently.
My brother was prepared for the week visit. He brought clothing, baby supplies, and food. Someone watched my nephew everywhere and every time. Full attention must be given to my nephew including talking, feeding food, staying away from the cleaning chemicals, and reading. In addition, the extra house work. For example, the dishes. I live with my Mom and Dad. With three people in the house, and my Dad and I work five days a week, dishwashing is minimal. We washed dishes every two to three days. With my brother and nephew, dishes needed to be washed everyday. Another example was walking around the house. My nephew’s toys were everywhere. It was hard walking around and finding table space to eat. And my nephew’s potty training and bathroom bare necessities were all in the bathroom.
The last example was grocery shopping. My Mom and Dad were sick and I had to buy groceries two consecutive days. I spent $80.00 in groceries in the two days. Unbelievable. The grocery bill was higher if my brother has two children. $80.00 was one aspect. The second aspect was finding time after work to go shopping.
Last week gave me experience and knowledge about raising children. Raising children requires knowledge, wisdom, financial resources, and time. I’m not a father. I say for the record at the moment I’m not ready to raise children. I know when a person becomes a parent, life changes permanently.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Uncommon Days Require Uncommon Actions
What's a typical or common day? For students, wake up, go to school, work part-time, go home, and study. For full-time workers, wake up, go to work, go home, and go to sleep. There are breakfast, lunch, dinner, breaks, and leisure in between. What if a typical or common day is not? We experience uncommon days many times in our lives. Go with the flow. Break the common daily cycle and do uncommon actions to minimize the additional stress.
For instance, I was driving to Sacramento on Saturday January 12, 2008. My driver side rear tire blew out on Interstate 880 in Milpitas. I changed tires with California Highway Patrol help and arrived in Sacramento no problems at all. Here are pictures of the blown out tire:
Tire 1
Tire 2
Tire 3
Tire 4
On Monday January 14, 2008, I went to work early so I can leave work early to purchase a new tire. I skipped my morning breakfast and arrived at work early. I like to eat breakfast at home to save money eating out. I purchased breakfast at my company's cafeteria. Then I went to my cubicle to eat breakfast and to work. I left work at 4:00pm to purchase my new tire. I arrived home at 5:30pm. Usually, I arrived home before 7:00pm—most of the time around 6:40pm.
At 9:00pm, I worked on assignments. Fortunately, my position I finish my assignments at work. I'm old school such that I work at work and I relax at home. I telecommuted six hours total since I started working in March 2007.
Always expect anything can happen to alter a typical day for good and for bad. I hate an unexpected event which ruins my daily plans to complete assignments. I'm a do it person who likes to finish everything on my to-do list. However, shit happens. When it happens, uncommon actions are a must.
For instance, I was driving to Sacramento on Saturday January 12, 2008. My driver side rear tire blew out on Interstate 880 in Milpitas. I changed tires with California Highway Patrol help and arrived in Sacramento no problems at all. Here are pictures of the blown out tire:
Tire 1
Tire 2
Tire 3
Tire 4
On Monday January 14, 2008, I went to work early so I can leave work early to purchase a new tire. I skipped my morning breakfast and arrived at work early. I like to eat breakfast at home to save money eating out. I purchased breakfast at my company's cafeteria. Then I went to my cubicle to eat breakfast and to work. I left work at 4:00pm to purchase my new tire. I arrived home at 5:30pm. Usually, I arrived home before 7:00pm—most of the time around 6:40pm.
At 9:00pm, I worked on assignments. Fortunately, my position I finish my assignments at work. I'm old school such that I work at work and I relax at home. I telecommuted six hours total since I started working in March 2007.
Always expect anything can happen to alter a typical day for good and for bad. I hate an unexpected event which ruins my daily plans to complete assignments. I'm a do it person who likes to finish everything on my to-do list. However, shit happens. When it happens, uncommon actions are a must.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Essay Exam Or Multiple Choice Exam
What test format do you prefer? Essay or multiple choice? Almost every student choose multiple choice. Am I correct? Multiple choice exams the student reads the question and selects the correct choice(s). I took multiple choice exams there are more than one answer. If the student either forgets the answer or has no idea the answer, then the student makes a guess. Always answer all multiple choice questions. And never change the answers. The probability the student answers correctly the first time is higher than changing the answer from wrong to correct—assuming the student absolutely and positively confident the first answer is wrong.
Essay exams the student writes down the answer to the question. The student must write key concepts in sentences. The more key concepts the student writes, the higher the score. The student need not worry about grammar. The instructor has no time to correct grammar. If the instructor thinks the essay is interesting to read regardless of good or bad grammar, then the student done a good job answering the question proving the instructor the student knows the material.
My suggestion is take the essay exam. Students are penalized in multiple choice exams if they don't know the answer, and the success rate for guessing is small. Conversely, students are rewarded in essay exams when they know the material. Students earn higher scores when they write more concepts. If the student can write the material in basic grammar, then the student earn a good grade.
Essay exams the student writes down the answer to the question. The student must write key concepts in sentences. The more key concepts the student writes, the higher the score. The student need not worry about grammar. The instructor has no time to correct grammar. If the instructor thinks the essay is interesting to read regardless of good or bad grammar, then the student done a good job answering the question proving the instructor the student knows the material.
My suggestion is take the essay exam. Students are penalized in multiple choice exams if they don't know the answer, and the success rate for guessing is small. Conversely, students are rewarded in essay exams when they know the material. Students earn higher scores when they write more concepts. If the student can write the material in basic grammar, then the student earn a good grade.
Saturday, January 05, 2008
I Wake Up, Now What
O.K. I wake up from bed. Now what? I’m 33 years old, work full time, live with my parents, and spend free time on my hobbies including anime, gym, and reading. Is the rest of my life living like this? What am I supposed to do? What are my potentials to reach my maximum achievement, my ultimate happiness, and my future adventures I seek to experience?
In college, my future was set. I wanted to be a business research analyst in Silicon Valley. I never thought about marriage and raising a family, owning a house, where I live, the new people I meet, taxes, owning a car, and finding new hobbies and interests. All I thought about was my career. All I thought about was myself such that I could do everything myself. I could do it alone. Once I worked, then I thought about the rest. After I graduated, I found a job; unfortunately, I never thought about the rest. I was naïve. I was a college student with the wisdom of a grade school student.
Today, I don’t know what to do with my life. Since 2000, I tried many new activities and learn new ideas. I learned VB Basic, XML, JavaScript, ASP.Net, Dreamweaver, SQL, Photoshop, and Illustrator. I succeeded in learning SQL and Photoshop. I worked in two commercial real estate companies in 8 years. Dead end careers. I invested in the stock market which I lost too much money. I sold all my stocks in mid 2007. I didn’t seek to meet new people. I felt lonely. I tried rollerblading which I had little interest to improve. I went to anime cons alone. Cons are fun attending with friends.
However, I do know what to do now. Live life. Move forward. Life is the present. Create action. Keep doing what I’m doing, and find ways to do it better and better. Don’t be afraid to fail. Seek new hobbies and interests. Always meet new people. Keep my senses focused for new opportunities. Never stop innovating. Examples of success since 2000 include working at Cisco, owning a car, cosplaying at anime cons, meeting new people, new website Innovate Infinitely at www.innovateinfinitely.com, trips to Canada, trips to Las Vegas, buying and selling on eBay and half.com, listening to classic rock music, reading books, and running on the treadmill in the gym.
I find what I’m supposed to do with my life in time. Finding what I’m supposed to do with my life are my successes and my failures. What can I do to influence people? Who do I find to make each other happy and tell each other life is good? It’s impossible to live life without a lover in my opinion. Am I going to be a CEO, a federal officer, street sweeper, small business owner, truck driver, house husband, real estate investor, IT technician? I don’t know. I’m lost.
I don’t know what I’m going to do tomorrow. Maybe I die tomorrow and fail to find what I’m supposed to do. Maybe I live life to the end of my time and never find what I’m supposed to do. Whatever happens, I want to live my life continuing to find what I’m supposed to do and find someone to share my life. The reasons we live are to find what we are supposed to do and find someone to share in our life. I wake up everyday because of the two reasons.
In college, my future was set. I wanted to be a business research analyst in Silicon Valley. I never thought about marriage and raising a family, owning a house, where I live, the new people I meet, taxes, owning a car, and finding new hobbies and interests. All I thought about was my career. All I thought about was myself such that I could do everything myself. I could do it alone. Once I worked, then I thought about the rest. After I graduated, I found a job; unfortunately, I never thought about the rest. I was naïve. I was a college student with the wisdom of a grade school student.
Today, I don’t know what to do with my life. Since 2000, I tried many new activities and learn new ideas. I learned VB Basic, XML, JavaScript, ASP.Net, Dreamweaver, SQL, Photoshop, and Illustrator. I succeeded in learning SQL and Photoshop. I worked in two commercial real estate companies in 8 years. Dead end careers. I invested in the stock market which I lost too much money. I sold all my stocks in mid 2007. I didn’t seek to meet new people. I felt lonely. I tried rollerblading which I had little interest to improve. I went to anime cons alone. Cons are fun attending with friends.
However, I do know what to do now. Live life. Move forward. Life is the present. Create action. Keep doing what I’m doing, and find ways to do it better and better. Don’t be afraid to fail. Seek new hobbies and interests. Always meet new people. Keep my senses focused for new opportunities. Never stop innovating. Examples of success since 2000 include working at Cisco, owning a car, cosplaying at anime cons, meeting new people, new website Innovate Infinitely at www.innovateinfinitely.com, trips to Canada, trips to Las Vegas, buying and selling on eBay and half.com, listening to classic rock music, reading books, and running on the treadmill in the gym.
I find what I’m supposed to do with my life in time. Finding what I’m supposed to do with my life are my successes and my failures. What can I do to influence people? Who do I find to make each other happy and tell each other life is good? It’s impossible to live life without a lover in my opinion. Am I going to be a CEO, a federal officer, street sweeper, small business owner, truck driver, house husband, real estate investor, IT technician? I don’t know. I’m lost.
I don’t know what I’m going to do tomorrow. Maybe I die tomorrow and fail to find what I’m supposed to do. Maybe I live life to the end of my time and never find what I’m supposed to do. Whatever happens, I want to live my life continuing to find what I’m supposed to do and find someone to share my life. The reasons we live are to find what we are supposed to do and find someone to share in our life. I wake up everyday because of the two reasons.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
25 Skills Every Man Should Know
I read an article By The Editors of Popular Mechanics on msn.com http://men.msn.com/articlepm.aspx?cp-documentid=5741230. The article lists 25 skills every man should know. IMO, there are some skills every man don't really need to know. I like to mention two of the 25 skills I learned which are car related.
1. Patch a Radiator Hose
Steam hissing from a ruptured radiator hose? Here's a relatively easy, temporary fix with duct tape.
Wait for the engine to cool off. Open the hood and locate the source of the steam — i.e., the rupture. Clean and dry the area around the fissure; the tape won't stick as well on a damp, dirty surface.
Wrap 2 to 3 in. of duct tape around the hose over the hole; press firmly.
Overwrap the patch (the hose will be under intense pressure) from 2 to 3 in. above the original piece to about 2 or 3 in. below, then work your way back. Check your radiator level before cranking the engine. "If it's seriously low and you don't have a can of coolant, use water or, in an emergency, diet soda," says Tony Molla of the National Institute of Automotive Service Excellence and former pro wrench jockey. "Avoid using fruit juice or anything with sugar or acids in it. It'll corrode the radiator and hoses."
15. Get a Car Unstuck
When you're stuck, don't gun the engine to get out — the tires will only dig in deeper. Instead, straighten the steering wheel, then dig out as much sand, snow or mud from around the front or rear of the tires as you can, depending on the direction you want to go. Place a floor mat snugly under a portion of each drive wheel (if your vehicle is 4wd, position a mat under each wheel). Ease the vehicle onto the mats. If there's a passenger, have him push the vehicle in the direction you want to go. Repeat the procedure as needed, slowly progressing in the direction of travel until the vehicle is free.
TIP: "To maximize traction, lower the tires' air pressure by 10 to 15 psi or until the sidewall begins to bulge. This spreads out the footprint of the tire, helping the vehicle float over terrain. Drive slowly and air the tires back up as soon as possible." —Ben Stewart, PM auto editor
Other skills every man should know IMO include protecting a computer from viruses (number 2), perform CPR (12), maneuver a car out of a skid (14), and backup computer data (16).
1. Patch a Radiator Hose
Steam hissing from a ruptured radiator hose? Here's a relatively easy, temporary fix with duct tape.
Wait for the engine to cool off. Open the hood and locate the source of the steam — i.e., the rupture. Clean and dry the area around the fissure; the tape won't stick as well on a damp, dirty surface.
Wrap 2 to 3 in. of duct tape around the hose over the hole; press firmly.
Overwrap the patch (the hose will be under intense pressure) from 2 to 3 in. above the original piece to about 2 or 3 in. below, then work your way back. Check your radiator level before cranking the engine. "If it's seriously low and you don't have a can of coolant, use water or, in an emergency, diet soda," says Tony Molla of the National Institute of Automotive Service Excellence and former pro wrench jockey. "Avoid using fruit juice or anything with sugar or acids in it. It'll corrode the radiator and hoses."
15. Get a Car Unstuck
When you're stuck, don't gun the engine to get out — the tires will only dig in deeper. Instead, straighten the steering wheel, then dig out as much sand, snow or mud from around the front or rear of the tires as you can, depending on the direction you want to go. Place a floor mat snugly under a portion of each drive wheel (if your vehicle is 4wd, position a mat under each wheel). Ease the vehicle onto the mats. If there's a passenger, have him push the vehicle in the direction you want to go. Repeat the procedure as needed, slowly progressing in the direction of travel until the vehicle is free.
TIP: "To maximize traction, lower the tires' air pressure by 10 to 15 psi or until the sidewall begins to bulge. This spreads out the footprint of the tire, helping the vehicle float over terrain. Drive slowly and air the tires back up as soon as possible." —Ben Stewart, PM auto editor
Other skills every man should know IMO include protecting a computer from viruses (number 2), perform CPR (12), maneuver a car out of a skid (14), and backup computer data (16).
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