Top Ten Fast Food Moments

There are stories told every day. We live each day one day at a time creating stories anywhere and anytime. Today's blog is sharing stories at fast food restaurants. The food is crap. The memories are good. Here is my top ten fast food moments.

10. Jack In The Box, San Jose, CA (1998). I was depressed as a recent college graduate looking for a job. I splurged on a Jumbo Jack combo upgrading to curly fries. It was the first year Jack In The Box served curly fries. The meal tasted good. I felt hope. I can't believe I'm saying a combo meal cheered me up.

9. McDonalds, Los Gatos, CA (2014). My third shift at the company's second store I ate lunch ordering two McChicken sandwiches and a Chicken McNugget combo.

Side note: My first shift I ate at Chipotle. My second shift I ate at Erik's Deli Cafe.

8. Jack In The Box, Campbell, CA (2000). It was the first time I ordered the Jumbo Jack combo with an ice cream shake. My friends and I played RPGs and watched anime the entire night. It was the closest restaurant opened after midnight.

7. McDonalds, Fremont, CA (2001). I drove from our Pleasanton, CA office to our San Jose office after a meeting. I stopped to eat lunch and play the Monopoly contest. I won a Playstation 2 video game. I didn't redeem because my social security number was required. I didn't own the console at the time.

6. Chipotle, Las Vegas, NV (2006). My friend from Washington and I ate a Chipotle after a night of gambling. It was my first time eating at Chipotle. I heard the hype being a great fast food Mexican restaurant. The mild salsa big sized burrito I ordered was spicy.

5. McDonalds, Saanichton, British Columbia, Canada (2005). My friend from Washington and I took a vacation in Canada. It was the first time I ate a McGriddle. It was the first time I saw a McDonalds which looked like a five star fast food restaurant. It was clean. It was modern. It looked like a high class diner.

4. McDonalds, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (2007). My business trip on my second week in the company. The closest restaurant opened after 9pm was McDonalds less than a block away from the hotel. I worked out at the gym afterwards.

3. Taco Time, Port Orchard, WA (2008). I visited my friend in Washington. We ate at Taco Time after he picked me up from the airport. It was the last time I saw snow as of the blog entry.

2. Boston Market, San Jose, CA (1996). I was hired to work at Blockbuster Video during the summer. I ate at Boston Market for the first time to celebrate my job.

1. McDonalds, San Jose Airport (2000). I booked the first flight from San Jose to Orange County. I didn't eat breakfast at home. I ordered the pancakes combo. It was the only time I ate their pancakes.

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Live For Today And Live For Tomorrow

We hear the common sayings how to live life. Live the present. Live the moment. You're going to die so do it now. You only live once. Don't worry about tomorrow. On the other hand, live for the future. Prepare for tomorrow. Go for the long run. Short-term successes are just short-term; think long-term. Think for a better life tomorrow. Don't be reckless. Don't worry about today.

My 20s was living for the future. I ignored how I should have lived my life in my 20s such as traveling, eating new foods, trying alcohol, meeting new people, expanding my interests . . . seeking new adventures and experiencing new experiences. I saved too much money for which I should have spent some to create young adult stories. I held myself back avoiding more fun. I'm catching up what I missed.
My mid to late 30s was living in the present. I was catching up what I missed in my 20s. I sought new adventures and experienced new experiences. For instance, I backpacked at Zion National Park, rode the San Francisco Cable Card, learned Mahjong, read fiction books, and ballroom danced. I finally drank wine and beer at the age of 39. I let myself go living a life not worrying about tomorrow. I created stories.

Playtime is over. Every day I live for today and I live for tomorrow in 2015. I continue living for today and living for tomorrow for the rest of my life. I discover they're important living the present intelligently and preparing for the future intelligently. What I do today affects me tomorrow positive or negative. Time will tell. A mature adult accepts and follows the life belief live for today and live for tomorrow.

For example, I'm learning new job skills. My current personal project is learning Tableau. The time is now to learn Tableau because some jobs I apply require Tableau. I can't wait for tomorrow learning Tableau. I miss my next job opportunity. Another example is working out at the gym. The time is now to stay physically fit to avoid long-term health problems. I can't wait for tomorrow when my health problems appear. I want to slow down my aging keeping my brain sharp, my bones strong, and my joints flexible. I want to minimize stress, look young, be strong, and stay sexually healthy today. In addition, I continue seeking new adventures and experiencing new experiences today creating stories and preparing opportunities tomorrow.

Find your life path. Find your road straight and winding with bumps. Find your way of living both today and tomorrow. I believe the happiest people and the successful people think today and tomorrow. What can I do today for a better tomorrow? What do I do today I may not do tomorrow?

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I Share My Feeling Snowballing

I felt humans are losing kindness, sincerity, and honesty two days ago. There is more greed, bitterness, and frustration. I share my feeling snowballing in my mind since Tue Nov 3.

Humankind is overwhelmed. There is too much happening in today's information age. I believe humankind is not tired; although, humans need more sleep. I believe the world is going too fast; although, humans must pace themselves. I believe humans must be more selective to tune out and turn off.

We're humans. Part of human beings is helping each other. Humans are reluctantly helping other humans needing help. I believe the top reason is we don't have time. We live rushing most people don't have time helping others. Most people don't want to delay their schedules.

Some people work too hard and too long. These people need to work more intelligently. These people are likely earning high incomes. I tip my hat to the high income people working intelligently. I ask why for the other high income people working too hard and too long stressing out. Following my thinking other high income people: work too many hours, earn high income, health problems result, spend money paying for pills, recover, work too many hours again, die unexpectedly early, too much money in the bank accounts making the people working intelligently earn high incomes. Life is meaningless with too much money doing nothing. The monetary value is worth nothing on the paper printed on.

I find most job openings ironic. The job description states the required experience. How can a job candidate acquire the experience without working a job to gain the experience? It's a catch-22. I'm currently job searching. The jobs I interviewed I wasn't hired because I don't have the experience. There is a flaw. A job candidate with a 100% match is bored months later. There is no challenge. There is nothing new. The job is routine like his or her past jobs. A job candidate with a 75% match is the better hire. The 75% match is motivated to do a good job because there is a challenge. There is something new to learn. The resume is beefed up. The job hiring is messed up. Blame the system. Furthermore, the interviewers are lying when they tell job candidates their departments and teams are unique, special, everyone gets along, and everyone supports each other. All of the companies I worked my departments are the same. There is someone who doesn't do their job like Wally from Dilbert. There is someone with attitudes problems like Alice from Dilbert. There is someone ignorant like the boss from Dilbert. There are some people who don't get along with other people. Companies need balls firing bad employees.

The world didn't come to an end. There is always tomorrow. Slow down. No need to rush. Conversely, live the present. Who knows when we die? We could die tomorrow. Live for today. Make your moment now. I believe all of these statements are true. The lifestyle living the present and preparing for the future are true. The happy people live in a straight line living today and living tomorrow.

From the song "Remember the Name" from Fort Minor, "This is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill, fifteen percent concentrated power of will, five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain, and a hundred percent reason to remember the name!"

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Top Ten Life Advices I Wished Somebody Told Me In My 20s

My 20s were more disappointments and few memorial moments. 5 out of my Top 40 Most Memorable moments were in my 20s. What a waste of my 20s. I was naive. I had too much pride to ask for help; my parents taught me a wrong lesson to do everything ourselves. I played too much role playing games. I shut myself from the world. I complained too much.

On the other hand, I accepted the advice to stop watching TV on weekdays in my Fall Semester 1994 at San Jose State University. My grades went up thereafter. Ironically, higher grades turned out to be overrated which is number 10. Another advice I accepted was finding a part time job. I worked as a part time tutor at the Mathematics Department and a customer service representative at Blockbuster Video.

I blog with 100% confidence I'm grown up. There is still more to learn catching up what I missed. I ask for help when I'm in a jam. I stopped playing role playing games when I turned 27. I'm an open person welcoming the world to me. I stopped complaining.

Here are the top ten life advices I wished somebody told me in my 20s:

10. College grades are overrated. If somebody told me the reality grades are a small factor when it comes to finding a job, then I spend less time studying and more time living a typical 20s college student. Ignore college job placement advice regarding the importance of grades. People skills are more important than grades, and people skills aren't taught in the classroom. The exception is graduate school because grades are important getting in a masters or Ph.D. program. Another way to look at college grades were overrated is applying for a financial loan. Banks don't ask for GPA.

9. Seek new adventures. Experience new experiences. I didn't live the present. I lived for the future. I lived my life in my comfort zone. If I didn't know something, I stay away. I was afraid to leave my comfort shell trying something, anything new.

8. Get stronger. I also include self-confidence—believe in myself. My self-esteem was zero. I was weak. I had little confidence. I was fragile.

7. Be responsible. I failed to take responsibility for my actions. I wasn't professional when the situation called for a professional Raymond Mar to get the job done. I didn't earn my successes. I wanted entitlements with little effort. The world didn't care about me which was justified.

6. Control of my own life. I believed in fate. I believed my life was predetermined. I lived my life believing my life was already set no matter what I did. Life came to me.

5. Don't take life for granted. I lived a careful life believing nothing bad happens to me. The best examples were some of my classes at San Jose State. I took for granted classes I barley pass even though I studied with half effort.

4. Meet new people and make new friends. I created small circle of friends. The failure shows today. Many of my younger friends have many circles of friends. I have very few today. Life could have been better knowing more people.

3. Make mistakes. Making mistakes is one of the best ways to learn anything. I didn't make mistakes. I felt dumb if I make mistakes. I wasn't foolish. I was afraid to try something different. I didn't experiment. I wasn't wild. Obviously, don't break the law. Don't cause harm.

2. Move out of your parent's house as soon as possible. I was saving my money to buy a house when I found my first job. The homes started to get expensive in the late 1990s. I didn't even buy a home during the dot-com bubble burst even though my job was safe. Life could be boring living with your parents as an adult.

1. Embrace change. I resisted change. I wanted my life to be the same. Avoid conflicts. Stay quiet. My life was routine knowing what's going to happen. If it wasn't broken, I didn't fix it. There was no need to improve it. I didn't change myself. I stayed who I was.

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Top Ten Kid Moments

My kindergarten to sixth grade kid years were boring, uninspiring, slow growing, little developing, and being behind. There was little parental involvement. They were inactive, cheap, and overprotective. They took life for granted ignoring problems hoping they fixed themselves. My childhood was too much fun. The child years were too loose with little guidance. Ironically, I admit some children wished they had my parents because they provided shelter, food, and clothing.

I'm happy to share top kid moments. Some of these moments were experienced with good timing, good fortunes, and dumb luck. Sesame Street is a good example. The classic Sesame Street taught me how to be a good child my parents failed to teach me. I'm lucky I was young at the time Sesame Street influenced my childhood development. I was also lucky to watch the Saturday morning cartoons. Bugs Bunny, Richie Rich, A Pup Named Scooby Doo, and The Real Ghostbusters were my favorites. There are no Saturday morning cartoons today. The Saturday morning cartoons are number six in my top ten.

Here are the top ten kid moments:

10. Won $5 Pumpkin Contest (6th Grade). My junior high school held a guess the pumpkins' total weight contest. I won in the 6th grade division. It was the only time I won cash in any contest throughout my life.

9. Captain Of A Train (Kindergarten). My brother, cousin, and I played on a steam locomotive train at Washington Park in Alameda, CA. We played "captain, there's a fire" for which all the kids told me there was a pretend fire. I investigated. I extinguished the fire. My brother and cousin were my lieutenants. We continued the game throughout the entire day.

8. Solo Play (Various). There were times I was responsible keeping myself occupied. I played Puzzletown Set D Mayor Fox's Town Center. I rode my bike around the neighborhood outdoors and used the sofa indoors pretending I was a school bus driver. I pretended selling new cars at my car dealership named "Snoopy Car Dealer". I was a cashier at a grocery store and a BEST department store using a broken calculator, toy money, and a file cabinet as the till. I was a banker using Legos and preschool toys as the computers. And I was a teacher using obsolete primary grade textbooks my parents got at school closures.

7. I'm Bugs Bunny (1st Grade). I broke saltine crackers in half as carrots when I pretended I was Bugs Bunny.

6. Morning Game Shows And Cartoons (Various). My summer vacation mornings were occupied watching game shows. My Saturday mornings were occupied watching network cartoons. I was sad seeing college football games broadcasted during the fall and winter seasons.

5. First Football Touchdown (5th Grade). There was a fumble. A popular fifth grader told me to pick up the ball. I picked up the ball. I ran to the end zone. It was my first touchdown. I scored many more touchdowns in lunch hour football games.

4. Animal Telephone (Kindergarten-2nd Grade). My brother and I collected stuffed animals. We pretended our beds were apartments housing our own stuffed animals. We took turns an animal from one apartment called an animal from another apartment to hang out. Each of us owned toy jeeps big enough to put our animals inside. We used the jeeps to transport some of our animals inside the house; for example, my parent's bed was the grocery store. It was like old school socializing. Call a friend. Think of an activity. Do it.

3. Lunch Hour Run (2nd Grade And 3rd Grade). My elementary school promoted physical fitness. Students ran around the 1/4th mile grass field every Wednesday. We checked-in every 1/4th mile to 5th grade volunteers with clipboards. I started running in the second half of my 2nd grade year. I ran my entire 3rd grade year. I made the special running wall in my 3rd grade year where top runners were recognized. The teacher coordinator added all of the top runners' miles ran on a global map as if one person ran the entire world.

2. Girls I Liked And Liked Me (Various). I was a quiet child. I had my share of girls I liked. I had my share of girls liking me. My first friend was Carolyn Harper in Kindergarten. We telephoned each other. I liked a red haired girl named Meghan who sat on my left in 1st grade. There was a girl who liked me named Joann in 1st grade. A 1st grade girl named Amy liked me when I was in 3rd grade. I liked a girl named Jackie Russell in 5th grade. I wasn't sure she liked me. Deborah Biron sat next to me in 6th grade. We teased each other--friendly bullying. We never expressed liking each other. And there was a girl from another junior high school I befriended in the school bus going home in 6th grade. Her name was Cristina Dugglby. We dated a couple of times in high school.

1. Triple Play (4th Grade-6th Grade). GI Joe, Transformers, and MASK were the toys my brother and I played throughout our youths. We played on Saturdays and during the summers. We created scenarios or plots. What was the evil planning to destroy? The good responded to the evil. We never played randomly. We took turns playing the good guys and the bad guys. We also watched the cartoons.

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Sometimes Any Given Sunday

I'm a football fan. I'm a casual football fan who follows the headlines. I know the teams, the popular players, the all-star professionals, and some NFL history. I know enough NFL knowledge to participate in football conversations. I listen to sports talk shows sometimes. I always watch the Super Bowl. I plan nothing else on Super Bowl Sunday.

Sometimes I watch football games on Sundays during the NFL season. Sometimes I don't watch. Sometimes I don't watch my San Francisco 49ers. I'm not a die-hard football fan who must watch football games. I don't even have cable. Sometimes I watch parts of a football games such as the last minutes of the fourth quarter when the game is close.

I live a balance life. There are some priorities which must be completed on any given Sunday. Some of the priorities include working out at the gym, cooking meals, paying bills, checking emails, playing board games, and catching up on something I'm behind. Sometimes I listen to football games on radio. I stop watching football games when the end result is a blow out. I believe there are some people who fit my football fan profile. There are some any given Sundays I have no priorities. I watch an entire football game. My way I enjoy my NFL football doesn't make me any less of a sincere football fan.

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Top Ten Vacations

Active leisure is part of our lives. We must find time to take an extended break. Pause. Turn off. Tune out. Find a distraction. See something different. Do something different. Be active at something not done in a long time. Take a vacation. Relax, refresh, refocus, and re-energize. Hopefully good stories are shared at the end of the vacation. Sometimes vacations are a catalyst for good fortunes coming soon.

I realized the importance of vacations when I took a staycation in 2015 for the first time in my life. I was unemployed spending hours seven days a week job searching, learning new job skills, and refreshing existing job skills. I took a one week staycation listening to podcasts, watching DVDs, and watching baseball on TV. I ate at an all you can eat sushi restaurant for the first time. My staycation reminded me to pace myself. My staycation reminded me my strengths. Avoid overstressing. Do everything one at a time. I discovered my sense of urgency finding a job must have intelligence.

Here are the top ten vacations:

10. Russian River (2013). The last time I took a vacation prior to the staycation was a weekend trip canoeing along the Russian River. It was my first time visiting Wine Country in Northern California. Very calm.

9. Cal Poly (1998). A friend invited me to visit him during Cal Poly Open House weekend. I helped his club raise money during the event cooking teriyaki chicken. Cal Poly was the first time I walked inside a university in my life. Cal Poly was the last time I walked inside a university after I graduated from San Jose State University.

The Cal Poly weekend vacation was the first time I went on vacation solo. I went shopping at an outlet strip mall purchasing neck ties.

8. Oregon (2005). My parents, uncle, and aunt took a road trip from the Bay Area to Oregon as far north as Portland. We were interested in purchasing real estate. My uncle knew a real estate contact person. It was the first time I purchased goods in a retail store without a sales tax.

7. Santa Barbara Weekend Trip (1998). My mom and I planned a weekend trip at the last minute. We transported our family birds to one of my aunts in Los Angeles. We met at my grandfather's house. The next day we drove my grandfather back to the Bay Area.

The highlight of the trip was a Mustang car driving next to me from Soledad to San Jose. Sometimes I was in front of the Mustang. Sometimes the Mustang was in front of me. We separated when I took another freeway entrance. We drove together at least 2.5 hours.

6. Las Vegas Grand Canyon (1997). My family's first biggest summer vacation. We stayed at a time share during our stay in Las Vegas. We took a two day trip to the Grand Canyon in the middle of the Las Vegas vacation.

The Las Vegas Grand Canyon vacation was all a first time for me. They included first time to Las Vegas, first time I gambled, first time in Arizona, and first time in another time zone even though Arizona doesn't recognize daylight savings.

5. Washington Canada (2005). Another vacation filled with firsts. My friend moved to Washington in 2002. I visited him in Washington for the first time. The first time highlights included visiting the Space Needle, visiting Canada, and riding a ferry.

The life lesson I learned was be patient.

4. Yosemite National Park (1995). 1995 was filled with family vacations. We visited Disneyland, stayed with my grandparents in Santa Barbara, and canoed in the Sacramento River. The best vacation was Yosemite. It was my first time visiting one of the most popular national parks in the USA. Every Californian should visit Yosemite even if it's one day.

3. Las Vegas (2004). Win money in Las Vegas is a shoe-in for a great three day vacation. My Washington friend and I walked away winning money playing craps and playing Camel Races in Luxor. We also played $2-$4 limit poker at Binion's Horseshoe when we visited Fremont Street.

2. Washington Canada (2008). The timing was perfect to visit my Washington friend for the second time. I lost my job because my contact was terminated. I was lost personally. I didn't know who I was. I was a wreck. The Washington Canada trip was my ultimate distraction. The sky was the limit when it came to spending. I discovered I was a beginner again ready to start my life fresh.

1. Zion National Park (2015). My cousin organized a two day backpacking trip to Zion National Park. We backpacked The Narrows Top Bottom. Our GPS recorded 23 miles of hiking down the Virgin River.

A good vacation is when there are a lot of firsts. I checked off lots of first times and checked off items in my bucket list. They included backpacking, camping, multi-day hiking, adjusting my clock to another time zone, and visiting Utah. I also visited Las Vegas where I met my cousin's party for the first time since 2006.

I experienced what it was like feeling I want to quit. I didn't quit because I must finish the hike. There were no alternate short cut routes. I also experienced willpower. The first day was willpower and adrenaline. I learned the importance of willpower.

Email: feedbackininblog@innovateinfinitely.com