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.

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.

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.

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 ;)

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 >.>

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.