The official blog of Justin Mar

THE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS ARE THE 2010 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS!!!

2010-11-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

Photo: Michael Macor / San Francisco Chronicle

It's been a long time since I posted here on my blog. A lot has happened indeed and a lot to celebrate for!

I am so excited and happy for the San Francisco Giants! Today they made history! Their first World Championship Baseball win for the franchise for the 50 years they've been in San Francisco! Their victory even brought a tear to my eye!

Fear the Beard, Torture, The Freak, Kung Fu Panda, Buster Posey, the Misfits, the names go on. The Giants were listed as the underdogs of this series. They are a team of hard working players who had the perseverance to obtain what they wanted; A WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP! Who said you need a multi-million dollar player roster to win a World Championship? The Texas Rangers did a great job in putting up a good fight, but in all honestly, the Giants really deserved the Title! They are such a humble team. Especially Edgar Renteria, who received the World Series MVP. He struggled a bit during the season, but who would have known that he led the Giants to a Championship win with his three run HOME RUN?!

Go Giants!

By the way, I'm writing on this blog now as a married man. Yes, I got hitched on 10/10/10!

Even More Dell Stuff

2010-04-19T21:09:00.000-07:00

OK...call me a Dell whore. Since we have a wedding planned in October, I decided on researching color laser printers so we could print various color printouts for necessary wedding items (invitations, name cards, etc.) Wanted something inexpensive, fast, reliable, and good print quality. I did a few google searches and surprisingly, Dell printers got decent reviews aside from being expensive to replace toner. All printers will cost you an arm and leg for toner. Printer companies should give printers away for free and charge you for toner/ink for the lifespan of owning the printer.

I started my quest searching online for the best color laser printer deals. Luckily, I was browsing through craigslist, and spotted "BRAND NEW DELL 3130cn COLOR LASER PRINTER FOR SALE - $200." I know these printers sell for around $325 and up! So it sounded like a great deal. The seller explained in the ad that it was won as raffle prize and they didn't need the printer. I emailed the seller and offered $150 cash. The seller emailed me the next morning accepting my offer and I arranged to pick it up. Done deal! I couldn't believe how much of a bargain this was after inspecting this printer fresh out of the box!

Considering the size of this printer, I had a feeling it was going to be a challenge transporting it in my Chevy Cobalt. Unfortunately, due to poor timing, I let my cousin borrow my Pontiac Vibe so he could practice driving a stick shift car. Transporting a printer of this size would have been easy in the Vibe. In the Cobalt; totally different story. The box barely fit in the passenger side seat (with seat tilted back) and I had to lean my body weight into the door to close it. When I got inside, the box was right up against my gear shifter.

This printer is a beast! It weights at least 65 pounds! It's a printing workhorse!

Just look at how tall this printer is versus my SIGG 32oz water bottle. It takes up a good amount of space on my desk, but that's ok. I love how it plugs into our network router for instant network printing capabilities!

Overall. Sweet deal on a sweet printer. This printer is probably an overkill in terms of the amount of use it will get as a home printer. But overkill is ok in my books! Thanks Claudia!

Another post about Hail in Castro Valley

2010-04-05T16:56:00.000-07:00

Ok. This seems to be an ongoing theme on my blog about the crazy weather we've been experiencing. Yes, it's spring time! April showers bring May flowers. Now April hail showers bring us wet icy roads!

We live on a rather steep hill. The icy hail has visited us. Icy thick hail = out of control cars coming down the hill! Cars trying to go up the hill have problems too!

I'll let all the pictures do the talking.

Crazy weather!

2010-03-09T11:39:00.000-08:00

First posting for the month of March! Seven more months until our big wedding day. Ok, back to the main subject.

The Bay Area has been having off and on rain since the beginning of this year. Sometimes HAIL too! You basically have to constantly check the weather everyday (or hour by hour) and also carry an umbrella since the weather has been so unpredictable. There are days when it'll be sunny outside, then a minute later POURING rain, and then sunshine again.

Hail on 2010 March 8 @ 16:30 from Justin Mar on Vimeo.

Just to give you an example, I took some video footage of the hail as it pattered down on our patio. I caught a few seconds of the downpour of hail, and then in a quick moment it stopped in an instantly!

Today, the weather is sunny outside! It's crazy!

Adventures in Mouse catching

2010-02-22T22:59:00.000-08:00

**DISCLAIMER** if you are offended by sight of rodents or the killing of these cute little creatures; then do not continue on reading. Yes, a rodent was harmed in this process! These are pests that created damage to my house and jeopardized our attempts at sanitation. The rodent was killed instantly in the best humane manner (by electrical shock). Again, if you are offended or a PETA activist, do not read this. I apologize in advance and I am giving advance warning.

We have been blessed with the company of mice at our residence. They are a pain and there are reason's why we call them "pests."

It all started when Sherry noticed that there were tiny holes in our bag of raw rice that we kept in the bottom cabinet next to our sink. As I looked deeper with a flashlight inside the cabinet, I noticed little droppings all over the place. Our sink drainage pipe runs into the wall and through the same cabinet. It appears that the mouse was able to squeeze through a small opening in the sheet rock of the wall because the people who constructed our place did not do a good job at sealing the area where the pipe goes into the wall. The mouse took advantage of this and opened the hole bigger so it can eat into our food storage cabinet.

I empty the cabinet out and vacuum up all the mouse droppings. Drove down to our local Home Depot and purchased some glue traps. Placed the glue traps by the hole opening where the mouse is coming through and along the walls of the cabinet. Then I baited the glue traps with peanut butter. Closed the cabinet doors and waited overnight.

The next morning, the mouse ate the peanut butter and flipped the traps upside down! I couldn't believe it! The mouse is smart! This worried me a bit because if the mouse was strong enough to flip the glue trap upside down, then it must not be a little one! Plus the pest pooped all over the place again!

I was indeed frustrated at this point and I remember that my Dad was dealing with a similar mouse issue at their house. My dad had the best mouse trap ever!

The Victor Electronic Mouse Trap!

This trap works by using shock technology to quickly kill rodents in seconds. It runs off four "C" batteries and makes a tenacious buzzing sound when you turn this trap on. I'm scared to death of accidentially touching this thing when it's live because I'm afraid it'll give me a nice little jolt.

So I followed the instructions of baiting it with peanut butter.

Left the house and this was the end result!!!

I don't give a RAT'S ASS!

I would like to call this a success! This rodent was a little guy. About the same length as a dollar bill!

MacDell Mini (the poor man's MacBook)

2010-02-20T18:09:00.000-08:00

Alas! I now present to you my Hackintoshed Dell Mini 10v running on Apple's Snow Leopard Mac OS! Yes, I will remove the Windows 7 sticker that you see at the lower right hand corner. So long to the Windows 7 operating system that use to exisit on this computer.

This was a rather easy task to accomplish. Not really complicated. Simple enough for someone who has some computer knowledge and can follow directions. It took about two hours to install. I wanted to give special thanks to mechdrew's guide on how to accomplish the installation process.

As a disclaimer, I want to inform you that you will most likely void your Dell warranty and somewhat piss off Apple at the same time if you decided to take on this project. It's not illegal, but it is alterating the overall use of the peripheral.

It took me awhile to adjust to Apple's user interface since I've been a PC Windows user for many years. The principals are virtually the same, but just in a different layout. It's safe to say that Mac OS layout is a bit easier to learn, especially if you're new to using a computer.

Again, this was just a novelty idea. A very inexpensive way of having a simple, portable, and easy to use netbook to carry to the cafe.

I'm CONFUSED....Smart Phone Use May Correlate to Political Party

2010-02-06T18:20:00.001-08:00

I was listening to KCBS radio the other day and they reported that Democrats use the iPhone and Republicans have a Blackberry. Coincidence?

Here's a link to their report: KCBS - Smart Phone Use May Correlate to Political Party Yes, this is good statistical information when using this type of data to promote directly to your campaign audience. Although, I don't find this correlation to be very accurate.

President Obama is a Democrat and he is known to be a huge Blackberry fan. Does this mean he is a closet Republican since he loves his Blackberry?

What are they going to say next? Democrats are more likely to drive a Toyota Prius and Republicans are more likely to drive a Ford F-150 pickup with a gun rack?

What you own or use is not a strong determining factor of your political party ties. There are some close or similar trends or coincidences, but not a strong argument to determine a correlation.

I guess you can call me bi-partisan since I have both the iPhone and a Blackberry.:)

Joined the "DARK SIDE" today

2010-01-20T22:05:00.000-08:00

Today was a dark, rainy, and stormy day. For those of you in California, you've probably had enough of all the thunder storms we've been having the past few days. Flooding, power outages, sandbags, auto accidents, broken umbrellas, and all the other annoyances that come along with wet weather. With that being said, I've been trying to stay cozy inside and avoiding going outdoors unless necessary. Until TODAY! I risked my life driving in the pouring rain, down to my local Apple retail store.

The Blackberry gods are shaking their heads with disgust that I purchased an Apple iPhone 3GS today. Being a loyal Crackberry user for several years now; I really had trouble making the decision to switch to one of the most popular smart phones on the market. This purchase was more of an impulsive purchase, rather than really needing a phone because I cracked the screen from dropping it on hard cement. Which reminds me, I made a blog post several years ago when I purchased a Blackberry Curve 8300 where I referenced in my blog title, "Screw the iPhone." Now I'm literally eating my words!

The justification for this purchase is really stupid. My company is giving us new Blackberries. The Blackberry they are sending us happens to be the same model as my now previous Blackberry. I didn't want to look like a dork carrying two phones that are exactly the same. Looks much cooler to sport a iPhone as my personal phone and use the work Blackberry strictly for business. The other justification was to avoid the confusion of which phone to grab when it rings. Yeah, make a distinctive ringtone to separate the difference or put some sticker to identify the phone from the other; too complicated!!

The other justification for this purchase was the "coolness" factor. There are tons of "apps" being developed for the iPhone and plenty of apps to keep me occupied. Purely portable connectivity to the web, email, and social networks. All in the palm of your hand.

Most importantly, I want to talk about my whole Apple store experience considering the fact that I've been a PC guy since high school. Overall, the Apple Store experience was probably the fastest transaction I've ever made at any retail store. To put it simply, I walked in, asked for the specific phone I wanted, stood still in one place of the store for five minutes, and walked out with an activated phone. They probably asked me four questions, asked for my credit card, signed this little PDA device, activated the phone on a Mac, and it was DONE! They didn't waste any time. Even better, the person who helped me was very enthusiastic and very pleasant.

There you have it! I'm a converted iPhone user. Don't even get me started on Google's Andriod phone.

In the meantime....take a look at the new addition to our kitchen.

It's a Boos Block....a chopping board

No more Comcastic!

2010-01-05T21:01:00.000-08:00

After a long well thought out decision, we decided to cancel our Comcast Cable subscription. For the past five years we just had basic cable with the addition of High Definition channels. Over the years we never flinched when Comcast kept on increasing their rates. We just paid the bill over the years. Our last bill was $80 a month. So if you do the yearly math, it equals out to nearly $960 a year!

I must admit that Comcast's pricing is rather high in comparison to the many offers from satellite providers or even AT&T's U-Verse. Just like the mobile phone industry, you have many choices of limited time promotional rate packages with the addition of premium channels. Some of these are locked into contract terms. Also, once the promo is over, then that's when the subscription rates go through the roof!

Cancelling the service was a fiasco in itself. I tried calling yesterday only to be on hold for nearly 45 minutes! I even tried going through the new account route to speak to a live person faster, only to be transferred, and put on hold forever. I got so fed up listening to their "music on hold" that I practically gave up and hung up. Today, I tried again and was only on hold for a few minutes. So I tried the tactic of getting a rate reduction to see if it actually works. I read somewhere that the secret code word was to mention "DirectTV" or "DishNetwork" and the reason for cancellation was due to their lower promotion rates. The customer service rep from what I read probably gets a little "spiff" for customer retention. So without hesistation, the customer service rep I had on the phone said, "Let me see what I can do." So the CS rep reduces the rate from $80 a month to $48 + tax a month with a few taps on his keyboard...no contract...and for one year. So in a few seconds and barely any fuss; they knock off 40%!!! So the article I read about calling for a rate reduction does work. Ironically, my intention was to cancel and I didn't follow through with their rate reduction offer.

Now I must resort to the just the local HD channels that can be pulled from the old fashion "bunny ears" antennas. I have an older PC with internet access hooked up to my TV and I can watch from Hulu in almost HD quality. Not as sharp, but close enough. Quality is sacrificed a bit probably due to bandwidth issues. We also have a Netflix account that can also stream movies with their Watch Instantly feature.

Reflecting on what I liked the most was watching television in high definition. It is simply amazing if you are a Comcast subscriber. The sporting events, On-Demand, celebrity gossip, and many countless hours of vegging out in front of the TV will be over! It was a nice luxury while it lasted! With a wedding ahead, it was a smart choice to trim back some of the unnecessary expenditures.

Starting 2010 with Crap (pun intended)

2010-01-05T00:05:00.000-08:00

*DISCLAIMER*
If you have a very weak stomach or easily offended by disgusting "bodily waste material", then I advise you not to continue reading or viewing the images below. Beware of PUNS.

As we are now a few days into 2010, I cannot refrain myself from talking about what showed up on the pathway entrance of our residence. It's big, it's huge, it's enormous, it's massive, it's organic, and it's all natural! Not something to eat!

For those of you who know me very well, I have a very sick sense of toilet humor or anything that has a relationship to fecal matter, farts, vomit, boogers, etc. Anything and everything gross will get a chuckle out of me! I'll admit it. I'm a guy. I laugh at this stuff. Oddly, my parents don't find much humor in these disgusting bodily functions, but I have a wonderful uncle that guided me to the path of bodily function humor. You either laugh or frown in disgust.

I now present to you, "HOLY CRAP!" A one dollar bill was used to emphasize how big this piece of crap is. Had to hold my breath to take this shot and I'm glad I have a zoom lens to shoot this. There is no way I'm getting my nose close this crap!

Good thing I didn't step in it! I am still trying to find out if it was a dog or some large animal. I know we have deer that roam in our area, but I want to say that deer poop would be more vegi looking. This is indeed the poop of a carnivore. Bigfoot perhaps? It can't be human. If it was human, that person must have one big @$$hole (pun intended again)!

I know that there is a Japanese charm out there resembles golden poop since the Japanese pronunciation for "lucky" sounds very similar to the Japanese pronunciation of "poop".

Some Chinese have mentioned that poop symbolizes "wealth!" Heck. I can live with that! Am I wealthy? No! Wishful thinking.

I guess you can stay that my year is starting off crappy! I'm just hoping this is a sign of wealth in the future! I should go buy a lottery ticket.

So Long 2009!!!!

2009-12-31T23:47:00.000-08:00

You were a terrible year for me. My only good highlight was my engagement to Sherry. Other than that, I don't want to remember the crummy economy that really hurt my sales numbers and my ability to put bread on the table. I must say it was the worst year I've ever had in my career in sales.

Another sad note was the realization that I graduated 10 years ago from college in 2009. I can say that I am another year old and another year wiser! 2009 will also be the last year of me being a single man. I don't see that as something sad, but something I am very excited and happy about.

2010 will be awesome! It will probably be on of the most memorable years of my life! Just wait and see!

Survived Christmas!!!

2009-12-25T23:03:00.000-08:00

After driving all over San Francisco and eating at every household we visited; we survived! So much for trying to diet!

Here was the agenda:

Baked a ham in the morning.
Visit my aunt's house (Mom's side) in the Richmond district of SF.
Visited Sherry's family side in the Excelsior district.
Visited my uncle's house (Dad's side) in Bernal Heights.

Each home visited consisted of eating, eating, and more eating! It was a great time of catching up with family and enjoying great food. I've noticed that all I've been talking about is food and eating.

All I can say is that I'm exhausted. Exhausted to the point where I've decided to stay at my parents for one more night. It's probably safer to drive home the day after Christmas rather than share the road with all the idiot drunk drivers on the road on Christmas evening.

Speaking of the day after Christmas. Will you see in the crowds? NO! It's probably a good idea for me to hit the gym for a workout to get rid of some of the extra pounds I've added from eating mass consumption of food.

Sadly, Christmas does not have the same excitement as does when you are a child. I think as we get older or mature, Christmas time becomes a big ball of extra stress. Yes, the stress of shopping, cooking, traffic, etc. Other than that, you just have to cover up that stress. Put on your game face and get in the spirit of sharing. Most importantly is being able to spend valuable time with loved ones. The more I think of it, Christmas is not all that bad. What's worse is getting your credit card bill in the mail!

Lastly, as I mentioned a few days ago. Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas from Justin and Sherry!!!

2009-12-23T22:08:00.000-08:00

Photo by TT with JM's Camera/Piazza Market - North Beach - San Francisco, CA

Yes, this posting is a tad bit early, but as I look at the clock; I'm only a few hours away from Christmas Eve! This December has been hectic as usual. Here is just a quick highlight:

As everyone is hustling and bustling through the shopping malls until the late hours for last minute gifts; I'm relaxing from my living room! I did in fact do the majority of my shopping online. Which is way much easier than dealing with traffic, crowded parking lots, and crazy shoppers. I did notice that the shopping malls are not as hectic or chaotic as they have been in the past. Not sure if it's the bad economy to blame, or everyone is just shopping online. Probably the busiest companies during this time is UPS, FedEx, and the US Postal Service.

This year we've decided to keep a low profile and not spend that much on wasteful gifts for everyone. To many of our close ones, we've decided to offer a more practical gift. That is the gift of, "to dos." With my parents, I've decided to wash their windows and paint their stairways. A few other friends were the recipients of other practical services from Sherry and myself. You have to be a rather important individual in our lives to be a recipient of our practical gifts, since our time is very limited!

It's the season of giving and the season to reflect again on the importance of family. It's during these tough times that we must all count our blessing and not dwell on the negative factors that make our lives difficult. Most of all, (though I'm not super religious), we must always remember that this season should be remember for the birth of Christ. Obviously not Santa Claus!

Lastly, I wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy holidays and look forward to a wonderful 2010. Merry Christmas!

Another DELL to add to the Family

2009-12-14T23:02:00.000-08:00

The Dell Mini 10v Netbook is the new addition to my collection of Dell Computers. Despite the fact that I already have portable laptop given to me from work and my own personal laptop; I wanted something even smaller, lighter, and practical. Since netbooks are so affordable and inexpensive; you wouldn't see me really cry over the fact if it got stolen or broken. Yes, I would be upset, but it's not that harsh on the wallet if anything were to happen. Portability was my main objective. I wanted something compact that gave me to ability to toss into my "man purse" messenger bag (my small Timbuk2 bag) and small enough to also fit into my camera backpack as well with ease. Since we have been doing a lot of travelling lately, this small compact netbook is so much easier to carry around.

One of the big selling points for me was the fact that I could "Hackintosh" this netbook. Hackintoshing is basically taking a PC computer and running Apple Computer's Operating System (currently Snow Leopard) on it. I've been doing a lot of research on this and many people are running Apple's OS on this specific netbook with success. Yes, this does piss Apple off and it will ultimately void the Dell warranty. So that is the only risk involved. In many ways, this is a great way to run Apple's OS on a portable device that costs much less than an Apple MacBook. It's portable, though not as fast, and will save you hundreds! Stay tuned. I have not done the hack yet because I wanted to play around with Windows 7 Starter version and I find that it is an upgrade from Vista with a bit of wannabe Apple OS with the big ICONS.

Overall, I'm liking this netbook a lot. It takes a bit getting used to the smaller keyboard. My only gripe is the fact that it does not have a locking clamshell or a magnet to keep it closed like the MacBook. Due to the inexpensive price tag, I did not have the expectations of this netbook being fast machine. Since I'm not using this computer for gaming or other heavy processor use software, this netbook is more than adequate for simple web surfing.

Will an APPLE logo be seen here in the future?

I'm really happy with how sturdy this Mini 10v is built. Yes, it probably won't survive getting thrown of a one story building, but the plastic casing it's built is strong enough that it feels sturdy. My older Gateway laptop, the plastic casing is so flimsy, that when you move the screen, you can see that the plastic is flexing and causing the screen to squish. This does not happen with the 10v.

I will keep everyone posted on my decision if I do decide to hackintosh this netbook. Until then I'm going to play around with it as it came out of the box from Dell.

My Family of Dell Computers (even the monitors)

Mickey reaches another milestone!

2009-12-06T18:57:00.000-08:00

Mickey's 10th Birthday Celebration from Justin Mar on Vimeo.

Mickey is 10 years old today! It has been tradition in the past where we would get Mickey a Hamburger Happy Meal from McDonald's. I also have a previous post from several years ago of the same celebration. This time Mickey took his time eating. I only give him half of the burger in tiny minced up pieces because sometimes he tends to throw up human food. I assuming that as Mickey gets older, he wants to savor eat bite!

Unfortunately Sherry is away on a business trip and didn't get a chance to celebrate with us (hence the reason for the video). I also just wanted to make use of my Canon Rebel T1i that has the HD video option. Just keep on forgetting that I have the HD video option at my disposal.

I know, in the video I mentioned that I dressed up for this celebration, but in reality, I was dressed up after playing in a trombone quartet on the sidewalk in front of Mrs. Dalloway's Books.

So there you have it! Mickey celebrates another birthday at 10 years! Not to forget, we also celebrated my sister Serena's birthday a few days earlier. Serena turned 30!

Mickey Eating his Hamburger and Fries from Justin Mar on Vimeo.

Early Christmas Toys

2009-12-01T19:24:00.000-08:00

The above photo says it all! Photography has been a little hobby that I've been tinkering with the past few months. It's definitely very fun and a bit expensive when you start building your lens collection. I been having tons of fun using my Rebel T1i. Take shots of friend's weddings, my random outings, etc.

The Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM Lens is regarded as one of the best general purpose lenses available and for the same reasons, it is one of the most-professionally-used Canon lenses. The "L" Series is by far Canon's top cream of the crop. If you see the signature red ring around the lens, you know it's Canon's best.

I'm no pro, but who says you can't have quality toys? This lens definitely puts a nice dent in my wallet. One positive factor about quality lenses is the fact that they hold their resale value very well. You'll still spend over $1000 for this exact lens used.

A crummy test shot of a famous coffee company logo that I'm not very fond of.
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On a side note, my gout has improved without an attack in over a month (knock on wood). Literally changed my diet. Off the gout medication too. Cut out all meats aside from a little serving of chicken at most. Been eating mainly vegetables. Lost well over 20 lbs and continuing to lose more with exercise. Overall, I don't miss meat at all. It's a good thing because the positive factor result is having a heathier body. I'll also admit that SLee and I signed up with Weight Watchers, and are able to successfully lose weight on the program.

I'm happy that gout forced me to change my eating lifestyle. It was basically my body telling me to stop ingesting rich foods and crappy food into my body. Do I miss eating Steak? Honestly, no.

Thanksgiving was not bad. Had a little bit of turkey, in fact our family had Turducken this year. Though I did not try all three birds, I can say that it looked and smelled awesome!

Hopefully, I can find time to blog a little bit more. A hectic December makes it difficult at times. No promises.

Gout Sucks!

2009-10-25T18:57:00.000-07:00

Despite all the time extra free time I have lately, I still have not been disciplined enough to sit down in front of computer to blog about a specific topic. I’m not sure if I lack the motivation to type something, or just can’t come up with ideas to write about. Since I have some time to spare, why not write about something that’s going on with me currently at the moment.

Gout. It’s painful, it’s annoying, and it flat out sucks! For those who do not know what gout is, and without too much scientific or medical jargon; it’s basically a condition similar to arthritis that attacks your joints due to high levels of uric acid in your bloodsteam. Gout is caused when you consume food with too much purines. It’s also knows as “rich man’s disease.” The purines are broken down in you body and then turns in to uric acid. The uric acid levels settle in your joint and then being to crystallize. As they crystallize, it caused pain and swelling in the joints. In my case, it attacks my toes.

There are numerous articles online and I’ve done tons of research. Unfortunately, there are no cures for gout at the moment. The only way to prevent another attack is to change your diet. Changing your diet involves not consuming food that has high purine content and maintaining a healthy diet with exercise. Also drinking a lot of water.

This is definitely a HUGE impact on my eating lifestyle. I’m your typical carnivore, especially when it comes to eating beef. Love beef! Love steak! But now that I have gout, I have to think twice before I consider consuming foods that will cause a gout attack.

It wasn’t until this summer that the doctor diagnosed me with gout. They thought I just had some joint inflammation from being flat footed. A podiatrist made custom foot orthotics for me, and somehow I was getting foot swelling to often. It’s probably safe to say that I probably had about five swelling attacks within the past year. My doctor really didn’t rule out that I had gout from her first diagnosis, but it wasn’t until after several attacks that they decide to do some blood tests. Sure enough, blood tests proved that my uric acid levels were high.

Gout suffers are usually prescribed Allopurinol which is a drug that helps reduce the uric acid levels in your body. I was told that people who watch their diet along with taking this drug usually have a less chance of having another gout attack. With me, I changed my diet, cut out high purine food items, and surprisingly still had another attack! I’ll be honest, I did have a slice of prime rib only once, then within a few weeks later, I had another incident. It’s really hard to determine which foods I consumed because even some vegetables have high purine content! Who would think that vegetables can be dangerous to gout suffers.

There have been numerous natural cures for gout that I’ve found on the internet. Natural remedies are regarded as better alternatives to taking prescribed medication that do have any long term side effects. I have tried some of these natural alternatives (none FDA approved), but it’s really hard to find out if they are effective considering the fact that I’m still taking the prescribed meds. One of the most interesting is consuming cherries or cherry concentrate juice. The 100% cherry concentrate is hard to find and it’s usually found at specialty grocery stores or heath stores. There are tons of success stories from other gout suffers that consume cherry juice in their diet.

The other remedy while I had an attack was consuming ½ teaspoon of baking soda mixed with 8 ounces of water taken every 2 hours. I tried this alternative cautiously since I have high blood pressure and I’m being medically treated for it. The sodium content in the baking soda does elevate your blood pressure, and in this case, it increased mine. So I decided to forget this self test and just took some pain killers prescribed by my doctor instead.

So I’ve decided to try a test. I’m going to try turning semi-vegetarian. Turning 100% vegetarian will be a bit extreme for me, so I’m going to add a small amount of chicken and eggs to get some protein in my system. That should be efficient enough to hopefully prevent another attack.

Over, I think this change in diet will help me have an overall better healthy lifestyle. I am a bit bummer out when I see my peers eating a succulent steak or burger, but I have to remind myself of the consequences I have to face later.

Wish me luck!

Back

2009-10-13T18:36:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know. It's been a few months since my last blog post. I can say that a lot has happened over the span of a few months. Here is what took place in short.

Went on a trip to Los Angeles the first week of June to visit co-workers and to add an extra ten pounds to my body just from eating.
I was diagnosed with Gout. There was a previous post about my foot pain, wearing a walking cast boot, etc. Turns out that being flatfooted was not the problem. Gout was the reason for foot pain and swelling. Blood tests confirmed that my uric acid levels were really high. I'm on medication and basically cut out beef from my diet.
Mary and Nelson got hitched on 8/8/2009. Mary is Sherry's cousin.
Pat and Stephanie got hitched on 10/3/2009 and I officiated their wedding. It was the first time I ever officiated a wedding. It was a lot of fun!
Since my engagement to Sherry, we have already locked in a wedding venue and date. It will be on October 10, 2010. (Operation 10/10/10 as I would like to call it)
Just returned from a week vacation in Boston. It was a family trip with my parents, sister, and Sherry. Visited my dad's older brother and their family. Haven't seen them in over 24 years! It was great to see them and they were so nice to drive us around MA to sightsee!

Haven't done a good job in keeping this blog up to date. I'm trying!

Amazon Prime.....I LOVE YOU!

2009-07-02T19:00:00.001-07:00

For those of you who purchase merchandise through Amazon.com, you should really consider getting an Amazon Prime shipping membership! It's worth every single penny!

For only $79 a year, you get the following:

Unlimited Free 2 day shipping with no purchase minimum,(I sometimes get it in one day)
$3.99 fee if you want 1 day shipping for each item.
Add up to four family members to one subscription.
No minimum order size.

One of the great benefits of having a Prime account is the fact that you are sales tax free! Yes, California is in a deficit, but cheating sales tax is just a small amount of revenue that my county is not missing out on. I live in Alameda County and our current tax rate is 9.75% as of July 1, 2009. Pricing on Amazon is rather competitive to local walk-in store retailers, so if I don't need the item immediately, it's better for me to buy through Amazon.com, and get it in a few days. Plus I save myself almost 10% in not having to pay sales tax, and Prime shipping is FREE. Sales tax free saves on the wallet!

The other plus is the fact that it generates business for UPS . My dad retired from UPS and UPS was the generous employer that help put food on the table at the Mar household.

There is one disadvantage about Prime. It's very dangerous for shopaholics. If you're a crazed internet shopper like myself, it's really easy to rack the credit card up with purchases. I buy everything from my electronic toys, houseware, my Blackberry, books, cds, DVDs, etc.

Honestly, I purchase enough stuff on Amazon to offset the cost of the yearly membership fee

Other than needing self control when browsing through Amazon.com, having a Prime account just makes me want to spread the word that it's the next best thing to having a credit card!

Hello DSLR World!

2009-06-30T21:19:00.000-07:00

Yes, envy me! So many great things happened this week! I'm engaged, had a great sales month, and now I end the month with a new toy! A great way to end the month of June 2009!

The new toy is a Canon EOS Rebel T1i DSLR camera. It's a replacement camera and a step up for me to explore the greater flexibility into digital SLR camera technology. I somewhat got fed up with the limitations of a point and shoot camera, and it's just another excuse for me to keep up with the Jones'.

This is a great camera; especially considering it's price tag in comparison to other cameras in it's class. It's priced just below $850, which is a bargain considering what this camera can pump out. One of the selling features for me was the capability to capture HD video.

Here are a few general specs:

	New 15.1 Megapixel CMOS sensor with DIGIC 4 Image Processor for faster processing of fine detail and natural color reproduction, 14-bit A/D conversion for smooth color tones and gradations.
	Full HD video capture at 1920 x 1080 resolution with HDMI output for HD viewing of stills and video.
	Live View Function for stills (Quick, Live and Face Detection AF modes) and video.
	3.0-inch Clear View LCD (920,000 dots/VGA) monitor with anti-reflective and scratch-resistant coatings for improved viewing and smudge protection.
	Auto Lighting Optimizer for superior highlight-shadow control.
	Wide range ISO setting 100-3200 (ISO expansion: 6400, 12800).

Come to think of it, my second blog post on this blog was about the point and shoot camera listed below (the Canon PowerShot SD550. Going to pass the PowerShot SD550 down to Sherry to use since her digital camera is broken.

Taken with the T1i

Now it's time to save up money for lenses that will most likely exceed the cost of the camera. Cameras are very similar to printers. Printers are inexpensive, but they get you on ink and toner later!

Marriage Proposal....with a "YES!"

2009-06-28T22:57:00.000-07:00

I told you there was going to be some change!

Today I proposed to a very special person that I love dearly; Sherry Lee. It was a special day with lovely summer weather (which isn't very often in San Francisco). In fact, the weather was very HOT, but it did not spoil for what I had planned for the day.

Here's a little history. On May 15, 2004, Sherry and I went on our first date. Back then, I wanted to impress her by having a nice little picnic at the Palace of Fine Arts. This is a beautiful area that is common place for taking wedding photos, with ponds, swans, ducks, and not to mention the famous "dome" structure that was made for the World's Faire in the 1920's. It's a really nice place.

For our first date picnic, I made a box lunch. It included a nice croissant sandwich, a fruit salad, and some chips. It really impressed Sherry because it was nicely packaged, with decorative paper napkins, lime green colored plastic utensils, and with a lovely flower arrangement.

So in preparation for todays surprise proposal, I thought it was be appropriate to have another picnic at the same location where we had our first date. This time making it even more impressive! I decided to make the same croissant sandwich, fruit salad, and chips. Then I added an Italian Chicken Salad, an organic fruit salad, and an Acme Bread Company's Rustic Baguette with an artichoke dip. The food, (aside from the bread) was all purchased from Whole Food Markets.

To make things even more impressive, I plated the food on nice porcelain dishes from Crate and Barrel. It was also accompanied by silverware (instead of plastic utensils) and I even had linen napkins!

Sherry was really impressed again! She just figured this was just a nice ordinary picnic on a lovely day in San Francisco.

We reflected on the last time we had picnic at the same location. I told her that I had another surprise for her. I pulled out a poem that I wrote the day before. It took my only five minutes to write (I have an amazing talent for rhyming sentences), and I pre-rehearsed it to assure that I would not get nervous reading it. As I recited the poem to Sherry, she started tearing. As I was on one knee, I asked her the "FOUR WORD" question. I too, even got choked up at the end!

In classic Sherry Lee fashion, she quietly said, "Yes."

As she said yes, I pulled out the engagement ring that had for her and placed on her left ring finger.

That was Sherry's surprise for the day. The both of us are happy and excited. Now we have to start planning! A wedding won't be this year, but definitely in 2010.

Overall, I am very excited and impressed with the ring that I purchased from a jeweler that my aunt highly recommended.

I'll also have some surprise news for my parents whom are traveling at the moment. The didn't know I was planning on proposing this soon. More to come....

The New "Simple" Look

2009-06-26T18:19:00.000-07:00

Decided to change the layout of my blog today. Also wanted a different look after noticing that the previous layout had some problems. Since I am not a html guru, I'm stuck to these cookie cutter templates that Blogger offers. They don't look that bad at all. It's better to keep things simple. Plus there's a little bit of "orange" accents!

I know I haven't been blogging that often. When I do take some time away from Facebook or Twitter; I sometimes remember that I still have this blog to maintain. This shouldn't be a chore.

Other than my shortness for words at the moment, I wanted to prepare myself in this blog about the "change" that I have ahead of me very soon.

Stay tuned.

Light at the end of the tunnel!

2009-05-21T17:00:00.000-07:00

Photo Credit (http://photofill.com/archives/2006/04/light_at_the_en.html)

Yes, it's been three months since I've made a post here. So I'll just dive right in to stay on topic.

The above photo is very symbolic in two ways. First, I do a lot of driving on the road. When I say a lot, I'll usually spend an average of four hours of just driving to my destinations. That's nearly half a work day. So this picture symbolizes the road I always have ahead of me. Secondly, the photo shows a tiny light at the end of the tunnel. With the current state of the economy lately, my sales numbers have dropped dramatically. I am ashamed to say that I was in a bit of a "sales slump" for a few months. So by definition to this photo; I HAVE FINALLY APPROACHED CLOSE TO THE END OF THE TUNNEL! I can see the light! Sales are picking up for me!

It's not all fine and dandy just yet. An uphill battle is still ahead. For those who know me, don't even ask me about the automotive industry. It's depressing. It personally craps me out and it makes me feel negative in general. I just try to think of it as simply a road bump that will pass. (no pun intended).

Overall, I'm happy and proud of myself for working hard and being able to achieve some of my work goals during times that are not so good for the automotive industry.

SFGate and their Comment Section

2009-02-03T12:28:00.000-08:00

For the past few months, I applaud the San Francisco Chronicle because they've been doing a GREAT job in assuring that my paper is delivered on my scheduled delivery date. Perhaps they saw my blog posting rant about my constant mis-deliveries. :)

Aside from reading the regular print news, I also read all the latest news stories from their online publication on SFGate.com. What I love the most (aside from reading the article itself) is reading all the comments that people post in reference to the article. I know that the comment section is moderated giving users the option to report "abuse." Usually the comments are full of posts from users who are comedians probably as their second job. I'll sit in from of my monitor, laughing my a$$ off at some of the comments posed. Here's an example of comments about the recent "Free Grand Slam Meal" from Denny's offered today.

What's also very cool is the fact that you can give a "thumbs up" or a "thumbs down" which basically sets the popularity ranking of the comment posted. I usually take pleasure in giving a thumbs up on a comment that I feel is commendable.

Some comments are very harsh; yet funny. A few comments are very inconsiderate or it's just some wise-ass making fun of some serious issues. Those I usually don't care to read, and in most cases they eventually get wiped off for abuse.

I'm sure the editors of the San Francisco Chronicle get some great feedback from the reader's comments.

I have yet to sign up as a user to make comments myself. For now, I'm having enough pleasure just reading the comments that people post. Thanks for the laughs!

New Year with a New Dell PC

2009-01-06T15:09:00.000-08:00

I told you that 2009 is going to be "sunshine!"

I'm really excited at what FedEx delivered this morning! FedEx was nice enough to call me early this morning just to make sure that I was available for them to deliver my new Dell computer. There was a little mishap that left me puzzled because the monitor showed up before the CPU box. Common sense would make one think that both boxes come together in one delivery. Turns out the CPU box arrives 15 minutes later from another delivery person.

I was in need of a new computer. My previous Dell Dimension 8200 Pentium 4 was purchased back in 2001. It's outdated, slow, and I'm surprised it lasted me this long without any problems. I know that many people have complained about problems with Dell computers, but I have to honestly say that I had eight years of "trouble-free" usage. Definitely got my money's worth and more (since it still works fine). This computer is not going into retirement just yet. I'm planning on turning it into a network drive/printer server. Maybe perhaps a media center computer if it can handle it. Enough with the old computer!

New computer has the following:

Intel Core2 processor Q9400(2.66Ghz, 1333FSB) w/QuadCore Tech and 6MB cache 375W Power Supply

4GB DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz

Dell USB Keyboard

Dell S2409W 24 inch WidescreenFlat Panel Monitor

AMD Radeon HD3450 256MB PCI-Express x16 RV620

500GB NCQ Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM) w/ 16MB DataBurst Cache

6X Blu-ray and 16X DVD+/-RW

Power DVD 8.0, Blue-Ray Disk Playback

8 Channel,Dolby,PDVD,7.0,Blue Ray Disk

McAfee SecurityCenter 15-month

Microsoft Office 2007 Small Business Edition

S and P Drop-in-Box Marcom forDHS Desktops

375 W Power Supply

Windows Vista Premium System

So there you have it! It's not the most "Bad Ass" but good enough for what I plan to use the computer for.

I was so excited about getting this computer out of the box that I just set it up on my desk. Didn't even bother to tuck or clean up any of the cords yet. In fact, until I back everything up from my old computer, this computer will have to sit at it's temporary location. The next project is migrating all my computer files.

Time for some fun! Especially with a Widescreen 24" monitor!

Farewell 2008

2008-12-31T20:33:00.000-08:00

It has been yet another year that flew by faster than a "New York Minute." I can only say that 2008 was another year of life lessons, happiness, and good eating.

I can only look forward to 2009 and what it has to offer. Stay posted. I think this year has some "sunshine" ahead.

Merry Christmas!!!

2008-12-26T17:13:00.000-08:00

I know I'm a day late! Yesterday was Christmas Day. My excuse was the fact that I was too busy to make a blog post. :)

Christmas Day was spent with my immediate family. My sister roasted crab with garlic and butter. I made jambalaya and brussel sprouts. My aunt made pork adobo. Plenty of food and no leftovers! For dessert, we had a coffee crumb cake from the famous Eastern Bakery in San Francisco's Chinatown. Yes, we are family of big eaters.

Opened gifts and had a wonderful time. As usual, I got a new stock of orange shirts/sweaters to add to my large existing collection of everything "orange".

The gift that was the most meaningful to me was a Remote Controlled Helicopter. Here's a background information about the helicopter and the meaning behind it. When I was very little, my dad happened to purchase a Spiderman toy helicopter. My sister, who was a toddler at the time was the recipient of this toy. When you think of toy helicopters, you would think it's a toy that a boy would like. I was a sad and you can say "jealous" that my sister got this toy helicopter. I sat there with nothing, just watching my sister enjoying this toy. As a child, I had a small amount of resentment against my dad for his decision.

It wasn't until in college that I wrote about a life changing/sad moment, and the "spiderman helicopter" story came to my mind. Until this day, my dad remembers how upset I was when I was a little kid.

Thirty years later, he wanted to make it up to me by getting me this helicopter. Thanks Dad! It means a lot to me!

My Love/Hate Relationship with Chinese Food

2008-12-20T18:09:00.000-08:00

Growing up as an American Born Chinese (ABC), I was obviously exposed to Chinese food. My parents whom are also ABC were fortunate enough to expose my sister and I to various different cultural cuisines as we were growing up. My girlfriend on the other hand only ate Chinese food as she was growing up, and still to this day, her parents cook only Chinese food. She also mentioned to me that she really was not exposed to different types of food until she entered college.

Most Americans have a liking to Chinese food. It's filling, inexpensive, different, somewhat healthy, and is well known as the default "take out" delivery food.

So you ask why the love/hate I have with Chinese Food?

It all started in the year 2000 when I went on a trip to China. For two weeks, we ate Chinese food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Aside from breakfast (dim sum), each meal was your typical 10 course+ banquet style dinner. In China, what else is there to eat (especially in the village areas)? In the big cities, a few western fast food places were available such as KFC, McDonalds, and Pizza Hut. I was so sick of eating Chinese food that I never had such a strong craving for good ol' American fast food in the big cities that we Americans are so accustom to. I'm sure there is more western food available now after the Beijing Olympics.

So ever since that trip to China, I didn't want to eat Chinese food ever again in the States. Guess what? I looked in the mirror. I'm Chinese! It hard for me to get away from this food. Aside from home cooked Chinese food, I didn't eat at a Chinese restaurant for awhile. If you asked me where to eat, and someone would mention "Chinese;" I would pass.

Now in today's economy, I find myself eating more Chinese food. It's cheap! It's fulfilling. So it's more of a survival staple. I've learned to re-love Chinese food temporarily again until I get sick of it again.

For now, I'm just waiting for someone to call for a burrito run.

Another Birthday

2008-12-17T13:45:00.000-08:00

Today is my 32nd Birthday. Another year older, fatter, and wiser.

Thanks to those who wished me Birthday wishes on Facebook, email, or phone calls.

No big party. Just a simple dinner with family. Simple and relaxing. Oh yeah, forgot to mention cake.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T12:48:00.000-08:00

Yet another year to give thanks! Despite all the mess that's going on in today's economy, we should all be grateful and thankful for all the current blessings we all have. Thankful for life, family, love, pets, jobs, electronics, transportation, football, turkey, good food, and BLACK FRIDAY!

After perusing the Black Friday ads, nothing really captured my attention. All the items such as cameras, GPS, and flat panel TVs exist with some at killer deal prices. A new flat panel TV would be a nice addition to my home office also doubled as a computer monitor, but NAH! I consider myself very fortunate that I have all these items already. So why go out to buy things on sale for items I already have? That's just from my own personal perspective. I'm the gadget guy with too many toys.

Black Friday enthusiasts are just plain crazy! Early birds definitely catch the worm, but at the same time freeze their asses off standing or camping in line.

With everything going on with the economy; I'm just going to take a bit of a conservative approach. Saving a little more for a sunny day is probably the smarter way to go. I'm sure you all will agree!

Hope everyone out there has an enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday! Be safe out there if you are travelling. Eat well and don't get too overwhelmed with the Black Friday deals.

My Frustrations with the San Francisco Chronicle

2008-11-20T09:45:00.000-08:00

Getting the morning San Francisco Chronicle newspaper delivered every morning to my residence is completely frustrating! Especially when I'm a paying subscriber! As more and more print publications are going under due to online readership, you would think delivery subscriptions would do a better job. Call me old fashioned, but I still like to read the morning paper while I drink my cup of coffee.

I've been a subscriber since I got a random phone "cold call" about a promotion the San Francisco Chronicle where I can subscribe to the paper for six months on Wednesday through Sunday only. It was an inexpensive promotion for under $15. It was mentioned that the subscription was discounted because advertisers were subsidizing the subscription costs. Plus the added value was getting all the coupon savings from the Sunday paper. Blah blah blah. I'm sold. Send me the paper.

If I recall correctly, the phone sales rep mentioned that I would get the paper within approximately two weeks. Two weeks passed. No sign of the paper. Then they send me a bill. I think to myself, no newspaper; no payment. I call customer service. Inform them that they sent me a bill, but I have yet to see the paper delivered to my residence. The CS rep apologizes that the subscription wasn't delivered, offered me a credit, and said to please send the payment. I think to myself. No way! Send me the paper first and then I'll consider sending the payment.

The next following day the paper shows up and then after. So I feel more comfortable sending the payment in. Then all of a sudden the paper stops after I send the payment. WTF?! I gave the delivery person the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he/she forgot to deliver to my house. A few days pass and I notice the Chronicle cashed my check and delivery stopped. So I call customer service again to find out what's going on. I get the usual apologies and they offer me credit.

Paper arrives the next day and then it stops the following day. I'm fuming!

I call the customer service department again. They inform me that if I call within a specific time frame (6:30AM-9:30AM) to requested a re-delivery, the paper will be delivered. I can also request this online as well (which is great). I just so happen to call after the alloted time frame, so all they can do is offer me a credit. The next following day; no sign of the paper.

I call within the timeframe and the paper gets re-delivered. The paper comes sporadically now. Time passes and I give up.

What pisses me off the most. I know both the names of the delivery managers. They call to make sure I got the paper re-delivered, yet they still cannot be consistent with their delivery. As a customer, I should not have to request a re-delivery of the paper to my residence!

Honestly, I cannot recall how many times I called or requested a re-delivery of the paper online (at least over 50 times). I've wrote numerous letters to the feedback portion online to complain. At one point, I told the customer service department that I would call and bitch to them everyday until they can deliver the paper as promised on the days of my subscription. It still has not happened.

I guess when I want to read the paper; I have to ask for it to be delivered. It's just terrible that the San Francisco Chronicle can't deliver to a willing paying customer! Maybe I'll just resort to reading SFGate for free (their online version of certain headlines).

It's November already?!

2008-11-11T14:15:00.000-08:00

First of all, "HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY!!!" To all those veterans out there who served past and present for our Country, "THANK YOU!" I think all Americans should give way more support to those who are currently serving for us despite our opposition to the current war we are in. People are dying out there to protect the freedom and rights that we have here in America. Let's have a moment a silence for them.

Time sure does fly by fast and it's really hard for me to keep up with blogging. I still haven't had the discipline to blog faithfully about anything or everything that goes on in my little world. I am for one, very happy that we elected the first African American as President of the United States. Go Obama! I strongly believe that he will do a good job at moving our country in the right direction for the CHANGE that we need.

Aside from the recent election, I've been also entertaining myself with the controversial California Prop 8 discussion. Without mentioning my stand on this proposition; it's obvious to say that Californians have spoken. End of discussion.

I'm a bit short on words for this blog posting, so until I crawl out of my cave again; Thanks for reading.

Get Starbucks at Home

2008-10-03T17:36:00.000-07:00

Coffee? Espresso? Latte? Mocha?

Yes, call me the new coffee fiend. I simply got tired of spending $4 or more for some type of specialty coffee drink at Starbucks. Slee usually contributes more to Starbucks franchise than I do. So to save a little more money during these tough economic times, I've been brewing and making my own cups of Joe.

I do agree that I can't come close to Starbucks, when it comes to all the fancy flavors, but I can get the potency of caffeine. Plus I get my coffee from an inside corporate source at Starbucks for free! Thanks Big Al! Many will say, "It's not the same." Who cares? During these economic times, over the long run, it's a better investment to buy a good coffee maker/espresso maker that won't break your daily budget. Save money and still get the caffeine buzz!

I started off by purchasing a good burr grinder. Good coffee grinders are not cheap. Don't even bother with those $20 spinning blade grinders. Those grinders to not grind the coffee consistently, and they heat the beans. When beans get hot, they lose flavor. So if you're serious about coffee, invest in a decent conical burr grinder.

I purchased off Amazon the KitchenAid Pro Line Grinder. I would say that it's not the top of the line (in respect to other much more expensive grinders out there), but it's decent, especially when it comes to quality. You won't find much plastic on this baby. It's solid! Obviously, KitchenAid has built itself a name in the professional culinary industry, hence the reason why I went with this grinder. It does the job for what I'm looking for in a grinder and it's not very noisy.

When I feel like drinking regular drip coffee, I purchased the Cuisinart DC-1200 Brew Central. Good looking coffee maker that produces a decent cup of coffee. Has a built in water filter for water smoothness to enhance flavor. I Brita filter all my water, so it's basically double filtered water!

The latest aquisition is the Breville 800ESXL Espresso/Cappuchino machine. Got a killer deal off Woot.com. It was $150 + $5 shipping. It normally retails for $400. Since this unit is a factory refurb, it's still worth the price! Now I'm just playing around with it. Still need to find the perfect taste. It's all about temperature, proper grounds, tamper, milk temperature. It's a complete artform or science in making a perfect cup. Going to read some books and watch some YouTube videos.

So, there you have it. My little amature coffee station.

A Septemeber Not to Remember

2008-09-30T23:49:00.000-07:00

My head hangs in shame. I let my sales team down, my company down, let God down, and my country down. That sounds way too dramatic.

Why do I hang my head in shame? I didn't sell a single contract the entire month of September 2008. Blanked! I had a few contracts pending, but they didn't happen to close within the month.

I can sit here writing on and on blaming the poor economy. It's not going to change anything. I just have to be patient and wait until things get a little better. Eventually within time, all that hard work, patience, putting up with cold shoulders, having doors slammed in my face will pay off. All I can say is that I tried my best and just have to work even harder for the next month. We all have bad months. I am just reflecting on what I did or attempted and started making a strategic plan for the months ahead.

It was definitely a hard month for everyone in my industry. A lot of the dealership in my market area closed their doors. There is a good amount of unemployed dealership employees out in the market seeking jobs. I can only count my blessings that still have a job and a salary. Amen.

It's not the end of the world! Just going to dust myself off and keep my head up. I plan on starting a whole new positive attitude and not let this poor economy get me down. There is light at the end of the tunnel!

Bail US Out!

2008-09-29T15:03:00.001-07:00

With all the hiatus going on in regards to the upcoming election and the economic crisis we are currently facing; I can't help but keep my eyes peeled to watching CNN. When I was younger (not much younger), I used to think that CNN was the most boring cable news channel to watch. Who wants to watch news 24/7 of national and international new events? CNN is everywhere! It's the most watched news channel internationally! CNN is broadcasted at the airports, at hospitals, and even some sports bars. Call me a late bloomer or it a personal sign of maturity; but why haven't I tuned in earlier? Perhaps, everyone should be informed. It's really scary to realize what we have ahead of us.

CNN has been pure entertainment (for now) and I love how the media is still very careful on how they present the news. Lately, it doesn't surprise that they are trying to inform the Nation rather than scare the Nation shitless. Yes, the financial institutions are failing. Banks are buying out banks. There is a credit hold/freeze. Large businesses cannot borrow money for operating expenses. The Dow fell 778 point in one day. The S&P 500 lost 7% in one day! It's a total mess!

The bailout plan did not pass today. Now the House will not come revisit the bailout plan until Thursday, which leaves the financial markets in a panic until a decision is made! I understand that there is a Jewish holiday, but with all respect to the Jewish religion; CAN THE US ECONOMY AFFORD TO BE IN LIMBO FOR A FEW DAYS TO OBSERVE A JEWISH HOLIDAY? Action must be taken yesterday!!

This entire bailout is a "Catch 22!" Should we bailout the companies that made poor business decisions at the expense of the taxpayers? Or not bailout the companies and let the American citizens fall into a serious recession? Either decision, we need to do something!

At the same time, I heard an example from a CNN news correspondant say that. "Should the hardworking individual who pays their mortgage on time pay higher taxes to help the foolish individual who put nothing down on their house and cannot afford their mortgage?" Is it fair?

Now is not a good time to buy into any stocks. I highly recommend moving into Bonds or the very safe and secure Treasury Bills.

To sum everything up, something needs to happen. It needs to happen fast! For the sake of People and the entire Country of United States!

Hold on America! It's going to be a rough ride!

Losing my mind....

2008-08-29T20:30:00.000-07:00

I've been known to have a keen sense of memory. People are always amazed at how well I can remember experiences, names, faces, places, processes, and even smells. Lately, I've been careless with an important item that many people hold onto with extreme care. It's not my house keys. It's not my car keys! It's not my social security number. It's not even money (although close enough)!

I've been careless with my CREDIT CARD! Al thought, not careless with my spending.

Let me explain:

I order food from a restaurant.
I pay the bill with my credit card.
I sign the credit card receipt.
Then I somehow forget to put my credit card back into my wallet!!!!

Turns out that I happened to leave my credit card behind at a local restaurant we visit often and they were honest to keep it safe for me. I called them the next day and then had to suffer the embarrassment of walking in with a big stamp on my forehead that says, "DUMMY."

The panic of opening my wallet and noticing that my credit card is not there is what freaks me out the most. I have to go through the process of retracing my steps/tracks to determine where I left my credit card behind. Followed by going online and checking to see if some dishonest person is having a shopping spree with my credit card.

Then just a few days ago, I go to the ATM. Guess what? I leave my ATM card in the machine!! It's a good thing that the ATM machine sucks the card back in. Unfortunately, I didn't notice my ATM card missing until four days later. I go back to my bank and they told me they destroyed the card after 48 hours if it's not claimed. The bank is going to re-issue a new credit card.

So far, (knock on wood) I've been lucky! I really can't understand what would cause me to be so careless. I'm sure it the pure factor of me simply not paying attention. My mind is somewhat preoccupied at times, but it shouldn't be that preoccupied in two occasions of me leaving behind my credit card or ATM card. Shame on me.

Quoting the famous American Express slogan, "Don't leave home without it." They should make a slogan for me, "Don't leave the store without it!"

Mickey's Overdue Grooming

2008-08-26T14:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks Twitpic for hosting these photos

These are your typical before and after photos. Call me a bad owner. I usually let Mickey's hair grow out to the point where his hair gets knatted and tangled. This time it wasn't so bad. Obviously in the first photo, his hair was so long that he couldn't see. I felt really bad because when I was walking him; he walked right into a pole.

Underneath all that fur is a skinny little dog. Just from observation, people would think it's a totally different dog.

Aside from Mickey's haircut/grooming, it has been definately an eventful summer for me. Been keeping busy at work and also enjoying this somewhat beautiful weather here in the Bay Area.

Hope to blog a little bit more. With summer nearly over, it's back to school with my full schedule of various music classes/rehearsals on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night.

Until the next post, enjoy the rest of summer while it lasts!

Lost some Wisdom today.

2008-07-11T12:12:00.000-07:00

The tooth fairy better give me $100 for this tooth. It's not just an ordinary tooth. It's a tooth of WISDOM!

It's been two hours since I've had just my one and "only" wisdom tooth extracted. The tooth was on the right hand side upper jaw. It surfaced out but was growing sideways. Being way in the back, my dentist recommended removing it for hygenic reasons since it's really difficult to clean or brush.

I arrived at the dentist nice and calm. Wasn't anxious or worried at all. Opened my mouth, and took the wonderful shot of Novocaine. No need for the nitrous. Nitrous should be saved to make your car faster! Waited for the numbing to kick in and took some x-rays.

My dentist walks in with this long metal instrument that looks like an ice pick. He said I'll feel a little bit of a push. I swear, in about ten seconds the tooth was OUT! His assistant didn't even notice that the tooth was out too. I seriously thought my dentist was kidding until he showed me the bloody tooth. 20 years of dental experience definitely shows!

This was an in and out procedure! I'm surprised that it doesn't even hurt (knock on wood). My mouth is just a little sore but that's it. No swelling half chipmunk face yet.

Just excited about my ice cream/milkshake diet for a few days!

Back in Business! With a new Plasma!

2008-07-08T16:01:00.001-07:00

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Fourth of July weekend!

After spending nearly over a month without a television, I'm happy to announce that I can finally return to my usual couch potato habits. Circuit City replaced my Philips plasma with a Panasonic TH-50PZ85U.

FYI...I'm not a Jeter fan. He just happened to be on the ESPN screen.

It was a nice time of reflection living without a TV. I can't say that I was more productive without a television, but I did notice that it was something I could live without. Spent more time surfing online more than anything else and I'm surprised I decided not to take the time to blog. Some of the noticeable difference was a decrease in our electricity bill.

Some of the downfalls:

We're still paying for our cable bill.
Our Netflix movies just sat for a month.
Our GameFly games sat for a month.
No Wii
Need to catch up with all the shows we missed. Thank God for Hulu!

Other than that, it wasn't too bad. We survived!

If we needed a TV fix, we do have a tiny little 13" tv connected to cable in the bedroom. Oh, I forgot to mention that!

This is my farewell to the Philips Plasma with the Ambilight feature. It was cool while it lasted and served us well for the short span that we owned it. I hate to admit that I probably would not purchase a Philips again. I've had three warranty problems with it for the two years and eight months that we've owned it. Thank goodness for the protection plan!

Farewell Philps!

The CURSE is OVER!!

2008-06-02T23:46:00.000-07:00

In previous posts, I blogged about how I'm a curse to the San Francisco Giants. I am happy to announce that today, June 2, 2008, I attended a game and the Giants won! THE CURSE IS FINALLY OVER! My record for attending games where the Giants lose goes all the way back to games back when they were playing at Candlestick. This is the fifth home game I've attended this season, and the Giants win with me attending in attendance. A total shocker. Plus it was a blood bath win over the New York Mets. Giants 10 - Mets 2.

It's not like I go to each game hoping that the Giants lose. I want them to win and it makes me somewhat upset that I've never attended a winning home game.

The other great highlight, caro2660 was able to score us $8.00 tickets for upper reserve seats with a deal online! These are seats that normally sell for $22!

I couldn't ask for anything better in a game: cheap tickets along with a winning game! I think I'm going to "frame" the ticket of the first game I attended where the Giants won!

GO GIANTS!

Life without a Flat Panel Plasma Television

2008-05-28T21:31:00.000-07:00

I am a huge advocate for the purchasing of Protection Plans or Extended Service Plans. People usually think they are a total waste of money. Especially when you never use it. The reason why I'm such a huge advocate of protection plans; I used to sell them when I was automotive sales business. If you're going to sell these products, you should be a strong believer in them. I'm one of those strong believers in these products. Why? It saved my ass countless times.

Protection Plans are just another form of insurance. It's just like auto insurance or homeowners insurance. It protects your investments! You may never use it, but you can sleep at night knowing that you're protected. When you have problems or situations, you're covered with peace of mind. It saves you money as well.

For any large ticket items I usually purchase a protection plan. My 50" Philips Plasma with Ambi-light is one of those items. I've had about two major incidents where my TV broke after the one year factory warranty and I was covered by my protection plan. The first time, I had a "white screen" from a control module that went bad. Now I have a black vertical line that appears on the lower left hand of the screen.

It turns out they have to replace the entire plasma panel. The panel alone costs roughly $1000 not including labor. This is a two man installation....so I can only imagine the hourly labor costs!

The protection plan did cost $899, but the two incidents already paid for itself. Plus I'm covered for many other unexpected malfunctions until October 2010. Once I'm out of warranty, I'll probably trash this plasma for something newer.

So here we are. Waiting for the repair man to return to fix the tv.

In the meantime, feel free to enjoy this video of Sherry playing the Wii.

Sherry playing the Wii from Justin Mar on Vimeo.

My new toy....BlueAnt Z9 Bluetooth Headset

2008-05-05T22:48:00.000-07:00

Instead of calling this Justin's Blogger Spot, I should call it, "Justin's Electronic Toy Spot." Especially with all these gadgets I've been acquiring.

With the new California law prohibiting the use of holding your cell phone while driving going into effect July 1, 2008; I've decided to invest into a decent bluetooth device.

The BlueAnt Z9 is perfect for my needs. Especially with the Voice Isolation Technology option it has. Since I drive two cars that both have loud exhausts, the noise cancellation works like a charm. I also like the fact that you can pair and switch between multiple devices. I carry two cell phones (one personal and one work), so this enables me to switch between phones.

Only downfall, the earpiece is rather large and it gets uncomfortable to wear at time. In fact, my ear is a bit sore after I take it off. I hope this will go away or hopefully my ear can slowly adapt to it.

Also...Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Adios!

2008-04-01T12:56:00.001-07:00

After thinking long and hard; I've made the decision to take this blog down. Too lazy to update it and it just occupies too much of my time.

I've also decided to scrap all my computer electronics and send it off to an e-waste facility. Who needs all these high tech gadgets that keep you preoccupied all day?

Stomped on my Blackberry too. I hate that annoying piece of crap that alerts me when I get a new email from work. You won't see me checking my blackberry anymore. If you want to contact me, send me something through the US Postal Service....or a telegram via Morse code.

Swung a sledge-hammer through my 50" flat screen and cranked my Vienna Acoustic speakers so loud that they blew out. Great....more e-waste.

Lastly, I'm selling both my cars. Donating the Vibe GT to charity and the Cobalt SS is sitting on the street with a FOR SALE sign in it. I've decided to spend my money on bicycle. This will be my new form of transportation.

Condo is for sale too. Everything must GO!

Guess what?

APRIL FOOLS!!!

Lights OUT! Earth Hour

2008-03-29T17:33:00.000-07:00

I'm not that big on being an environmentalist, but this worldwide event call Earth Hour is a really cool aspect to consider.

Turn your lights out at 8PM tonight. It'll be cool to see everything outside with the lights out. That's only if people are aware and participate. They had a similar event in San Francisco last year, and we did a stroll through the city. Probably only 25% of people participated.

Do it for the environment or do it for the coolness factor.

Mickey's new haircut

2008-03-14T23:39:00.000-07:00

Poor Mickey. I've been a bad owner. I let his hair grow out too long and he had some serious poodle "dreadlocks". For better words, "knatted" hair or "hair knots". The worse damage was around his ears, so the groomer at PetSmart had to completely cut the hair off his ears. No more cute floppy poodle ears. It looks funny, but it'll grow back. Next time I'm going to a better job at getting him groomed earlier.

Here's how Mickey looks now after his grooming. His ears are really short! Especially in comparison to the stuff animal look-alike.

Who you looking at?

Mac & Cheese for the Rich $$$

2008-03-13T23:18:00.000-07:00

Went to a Whole Foods Market today for the first time. I tend to stay far away from yuppie stores like these (no offense to yuppies). I keep my distance especially when this grocery store is classified/nicknamed as the "Whole Paycheck". Yes, they do serve quality, wholesome, non trans fat items, organic foods, fresh local farmed produce; but at a high price! At high prices that only a few Americans can afford......aaahhemmm....just the healthy and wealthy!

Everyone knows that Mac & Cheese is what Americans call good ole' American comfort food. It's also an inexpensive staple of some low income families. I am in no way making fun of low income families that eat Mac & Cheese, but you can automatically ask anyone who grew up on government issued foods, they will tell you they ate Mac & Cheese. Made from the box or from the blocks of government cheese given out. Why, because it's cheap and hearty.

Now back to the topic of Whole Foods. Here is what I found in their hot food deli area.

$13.13!!!!!! This photo was not edited or doctored in any way shape or form. You can go to Whole Foods and look for it yourself if you don't believe me; along with an entire store full of other overpriced items. Who in the right mind spends $13 dollars on Mac & Cheese! Is this made of some kind of rare cheese or prepared by some famous gourmet chef? Sure, it's ready to eat, it's nice and warm, and it's also $13!!! I couldn't believe it!

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind paying more for quality, but at the same time. I know when to draw the line. This is flat out robbery! What's worse, there are wealthy individuals that spend their hard earned money on stuff like this for their spoiled little kids!

Be smart with your money. Don't overpay if you don't have to. It's not my business to tell people how to spend their money, but let's get real here! I can just sit here for hours venting at some of the outrageous prices for specific items.

It's perhaps just another placebo effect to consumers who are paying out of their ass to think they are getting quality, healthy food. Honestly, they are not getting what they are paying for. Guess what people! The CEO of Whole Foods is just laughing to the bank...not to mention that he makes $350K+ annually.

Just by walking through this store, I can spot a weathly individual just by measuring their FULL cart.

It's just one of those things as a budget conservative individual myself cannot understand. I'll make it simple for myself. Just shut up and never spend a dime at this place. Sure I can afford to shop here, but who in the right mind likes to waste their money.

Carbon Fiber Under my Feet

2008-03-10T15:38:00.000-07:00

Yeah Baby! Carbon Fiber !!!

Lightweight, strong, and stiff! When I think carbon fiber; I think automotive! It is a very versitile compound that is super strong and looks cool too. The demand for it is high and it's generally used in aircrafts and performance automobiles. In fact, a lot of aircraft companies are buying up all the raw carbon fiber compounds, making the demand for carbon fiber really high.

I'm happy that I have these custom carbon fiber orthotics under my feet. They are light as a feather, but can withstand the weight and abuse of my 205 pound fat ass. The hard part is trying to get used to wearing these suckers. It takes time for your foot to conform to the new mold and support it offers. Since I'm flat footed, this will help my develop an arch, and also protect the metatarsal joint issues I've had in the past. The painful part is getting my foot to conform to these inserts.

Carbon Fiber is faster. Not sure in my case!

Shopping for Pot

2008-02-26T16:47:00.000-08:00

I guess you can say that I'm on a spending spree! The good thing, I'm buying items that are functional and useful. Not just something that going to sit and collect dust (like my cars).

My latest and greatest purchase is the Le Cruset Cast Iron Round Oven. It's a 5.5 quart pot that is capable for making soups, stews, or any other dishes you can make out of a pot. What makes this oven/pot so special and so expensive? Because it's French?

The cast iron material helps for the retention and distribution of heat with very easy clean up; especially with it's enamel coating. There are no cold spots (even heat distribution), you can sear, saute, fry, braise, roast...and just about anything else. It just can't do the cooking for you.

I've been shopping around for deals online, at retail stores, and finally purchased this round oven (in FLAME color) from the Le Cruset Factory Outlet in Vacaville, CA. I was in perfect time for this deal because the sales person told me that they were increasing the price for their products due to the high exchange rate of the Euro. The factory outlet sells the products with the blemishes, irregularities, scratches, etc. Nothing that will really affect the performance of the oven. They are just "cosmetic" blemishes. I can live with that, especially when you save a lot of $$$!

I went directly to the flame color because it's close to my favorite color. ORANGE

I'm really happy with this purchase and cannot wait to cook some delicious dinners with it. Plus I just love the color!

Get yours today!

Another toy....the Garmin nuvi 360

2008-02-21T13:48:00.000-08:00

Yes, another expensive toy purchase. To many who know me, this purchase would sound like just another implusive Justin purchase. Honestly, I waited and did a little bit of shopping beforehand. I even waited for the deal.

This is the Garmin nuvi 360. It's rather popular for it's small size (=stack of playing cards) and it's bluetooth capabilities. For the longest time, I've been borrowing my dad's Garmin nuvi 350, and I've always found it handy; especially when travelling. I figured why spend the money when I could always borrow it from my dad? Sure enough, I have a job that requires me to be on the road. There are countless times where this tiny little device saved my ass from getting lost or calling around frustrated trying to get directions. So for peace of mind and it's purpose for work, it's money well spent!

Now, there's no excuse for me getting lost or relying on my sometimes inaccurate human navigator with AAA maps. :)

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T17:54:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day! A special day to express your love with the people you love. In reality, you can make Valentine's Day on any day of the year.

Again, it's just a commercial holiday for retailers and florist to start their earnings off strong for the year. I must admit that I was with the rest of the last minute "guys" standing in line buying a dozen long stemed roses at Costco. Costco has the best bargain in town! Don't call me cheap! It's the thought that counts!

Tonight we're heading over a friend's house for filipino style BBQ. No fancy dinner. Just enjoying the evening with friends and eating lots of protein. mmmm.

Da BOOT and Bigfoot!

2008-02-01T17:49:00.000-08:00

My left foot has been giving me some serious problems. For better words, "serious pain!" It's my typical male mentality to just ignore going to the doctor when I have some sort of health issue, but this time the pain was bad enough for me to actually get checked out by a doctor.

Honestly, I don't know how I managed to mess my left foot up. My right foot is fine and dandy. In fact I'm almost embarassed to tell everyone how I developed this pain that causes me to limp around. Ok....I'll tell.

A few Sundays ago, S wanted me go for a nice walk around the neighborhood. As much as I dread walking; wait, I'm just plain lazy! She convinced me to walk down the street to the coffee shop. What was planned out as a 45 minute walk turned into a 15 minute walk because we decided to head back home because of some last minute plans with friends to eat out. So much for exercise when your stomach overruled the walking agenda.

I really didn't notice the pain until a few days later. In the past, I did get a little bit of foot pain in my left foot, but that's from doing long ten mile hike. Plus the last time, the pain was only for a few days, and it then went away. For only 15 minutes of walking, I can't believe I was able to do this much painful damage to my foot. It's rather sad if you ask me. This time; Holy Shit! The pain was so bad that I was ready to walk myself into the ER.

Luckly enough, I was able to see my primary care physician. She noticed that I was flatfooted in my left foot and it was probably the cause of why I have pain at the ball of my foot (the metatarsal area). My foot is swollen red and my second toe (next to big toe) hurts at the joints and even by touch. When I walk, it feels as if I'm walking right on the bone. Trust me, the pain is unbearable to stand on or walk on. So my doctor refers me to a podiatrist.

I finally get an appointment with the foot doctor. They did the whole evaluation, took x-rays, prescribed some pain killers, and sent me off to a orthopedic group to get a boot (see below). It turns out that my toe joints are inflamed and swollen. I have a followup appointment in two weeks to see how the healing process goes.

Thank God for this boot (walking cast). It makes standing and walking so much easier. Less pain as well. Walking barefoot on a hard surface is completly unbearable. This boot is the same boot that people wear when they have broken ankles, broken foot, etc. It's very comfortable and even has a pump in it to inflate areas for cushion and fitting.

Now I just need to have this foot heal so I don't have to wear this monsterous contraption on my foot. Keeping my walking down to a minimum.

BIG FOOT SIGHTING!

Now I too can be cool like Tom Brady....

Mmm.....Sausage

2008-01-21T18:15:00.000-08:00

Happy MLK day! May we all have "a dream."

Just wanted to share one of my new discoveries. It's probably not very new, but very new to my tastes buds.

Allow me to introduce...

Han's All Natural Goumet Sausages

Costco carries their Chicken Sausage: Spinach, fontina cheese, and roasted garlic in a 3 pound pack. What's great is the fact that the chicken used was raised with no antibiotics, no added growth hormones, no nitrates, nitrites or MSG added....not much artificial stuff either.

My intentions were to pop these babies on the BBQ grill, but it is so cold and rainy here in the bay area....I was forced to use the George Foreman grill instead.

Tasty with every bite. Not oily and filled with fat pockets. You can taste the flavors of the spinach and garlic. Fontina Cheese is almost like a mozzarella....so I can barely taste the cheese. A damn good sausage! Don't get me wrong, these aren't the most healthiest sausages you can eat, but it's good to know that chicken came for a good sourced diet of vegetables.

Give these a try!

Happy New Year!!!! Welcome 2008

2008-01-01T15:43:00.000-08:00

I'm still in shock that it's 2008. Time sures does fly by fast! Our NYE celebration was a blast. We invited friends over for food, games, drinking, and celebration. It was fun!

Tons of great food. T made lion's head soup, and zha jian mein. S made her yummy chicken wings, and I made korean style bbq short ribs. Plus we prepared some frozen dumplings. Our guests deep fried some various goodies like nuggets, tater tots, and shrimp chips. Again, plenty of food to consume before we start our resolutions. Our guest also brought plenty of alcohol and bubbly to add to the celebration.

We played this game called "Apples for Apples." It's a really fast paced and totally hilarious to place. Rather than explain the game, our friends at Wikipedia explain it the best...so click the link. Super fun game to play at parties, and there are also different variations on how you can play the game.

We also played Risk 2210 A.D is a futuristic version of the original board game, "Risk" A game of strategy and lucky dice roll. Hours of fun and also watching the season finale of "Survivor China" at the same time; thanks to Comcast's On-Demand feature.

Watched the Dick Clark's NYE Special. Dick Clark, poor guy, still hanging in there despite his physical appearance from a stoke. I'd rather see Dick Clark than the super annoying Ryan Seacrest. The New Year's Eve countdown isn't New Year's Eve without Dick Clark.

So rather than go on with my list of resolutions....I'll just keep it brief.
1. Work on home projects....(painting my office, building some storage organizers.)
2. Diet and Exercise
3. Stop procrastinating.
4. Start a new hobby or recreational sport.

That's enough for now. Why make a long list of resolutions that you'll break after the first month of January. At least try to make resolutions that are achievable.

Happy New Year and good luck with your resolutions!

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T23:25:00.000-08:00

At last, we approach the most awaited day of the year! The time gift exchanging, over eating, and spending time with loved ones! Also let's not to forget the celebration of the birth of Christ. Yes, it's a hectic time, but we suffer through it anyways to remain in the spirit of giving.

I was able to spend a good amount valuable time with my parents. They decided to come over to our place to spend the holidays since our families decided have their own individual celebrations rather than a huge family gathering. It was a different change because we're so used to the huge gathering, but it was also nice to have this small intimate immediate family gathering.

As with all traditions, we always open our gifts at the strike of midnight on Christmas day (Christmas Eve to Christmas Day). We exchanged and opened gifts. The tearing, crunching, and crumbling of wrapping paper fills the room with echos of cacophony. Smells of chocolate fill the air with an aromatic sweetness that is nearly heavenly. We are all excited with the surprises as we each open our gifts. Everyone is definately happy with the spirit of Christmas!

This year I decided to make a Roasted Prime Rib. This was my first attempt and it was a success! My late grandfather used this seasoning that is distributed locally in the bay area called Carl's Prime Rib & Roast Seasoning. He always cooked up a mean Prime Rib and I decided to season a Prime Rib myself the same way he cooks his. I like my prime rib a bit on the rare side, but I learned that the meat itself cooks more while it's out of the oven. If I would have known, I would have pulled the meat out a little earlier. It turned out a little more on the medium well side. Overall, the tenderness was there. Almost perfect!

Now looking forward to the New Year!

It's my birthday today!!!

2007-12-17T12:02:00.000-08:00

Yes, another year to mark on the tally. Can't believe I turn 31 today. Geez, I'm getting old. Older, wiser, and fatter. No big celebration bash like last year. This year, I just want something simple. Just a small dinner. Sure the big celebrations are fun, but as I get older...simplicity is just easier and better.

As I reflect back on the year as being 30, I can honestly say that it was the year of change. So many dramatic changes have been made. Just recently I made a career change. I spent nearly half the year trying to find myself and planning out my career goals. Luckly, I found a career that is less stressful, more flexible (time wise), and I work from home! Can't ask for a better job! This is the secret I was hiding in my last post.

Other than that, I just looking forward to the holidays and new years! Just less than eight more days until Christmas!

Happy Birthday Serena!

2007-12-03T17:17:00.000-08:00

Today is my little sister's birthday. As we get older and the numbers get higher, I still see her as my little sister despite our three year age difference (plus she's shorter than me). It's sad how we're getting older, but at the same time I can remember all the birthday parties we've shared since both of our birthdays land in December. Birthdays are special not only for the cake, but also the gathering we have as a family.

Sure, no more huge parties celebrated at home with classmates and mom's homemade cupcakes with candles. Or a party at the local McDonalds with Ronald McDonald and an appearance of Santa Claus! My sister and I were fortunate that our parents always made a wonderful effort of having a fun celebration on our birthdays. Awaiting all the toys and gifts to open. Ahhh...to be a child again!

The reality now is just a small gathering with family with a simple dinner and the traditional cake.

As I get older, I'm slowly appreciating life a lot more than when I was younger. When you're young, all you think about is fun. Now as you mature, you look forward to marriage, family, health, career, etc. All the challenging steps that are sometimes far from the a child's interpretation of "fun." Don't get me wrong, growing up can be fun as well, it just depends on how you define your idea of fun.

Today also embarks a happy day for me to remember as well. A lot of it has to do with my JustinMAR 2.0 project. People who are close to me know what I'm happy and excited about, but I'll make the official announcement later. In the meantime, you'll just have to be patient. No, I'm not getting married!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-22T11:47:00.000-08:00

Ahhh....the day that many Americans celebrate family togetherness to celebrate their thanks followed by the beginning of holiday shopping!

Like many holidays, it's good to remind yourself of true meaning of these holidays. Thanksgiving Day just isn't about the turkey, all the fixings, food, and football. Sure it's a day to celebrate eating, travel, and family togetherness as well. These are all important factors, but I think we should always reflect on the small and large things that we are thankful for.

Enjoy this day of eating and prepare yourself for the crazy crowds of shopping on Black Friday. Take advantage of all the DOORBUSTER sales and spend all that hard earned money on your loved ones.

I am specifically thankful for my health, my life, my loving family, my loving girlfriend, and the ability to live with freedom under the American dream. The list can go on and on. I'm happy that we can reflect on this special day all the special things we are thankful for!

Be safe out there on the road or in the air.

Thanks Johnny!!!

2007-11-01T18:20:00.000-07:00

Free stuff and "hand me downs" are always great if you can put them to use. They can also generate more clutter in your household as well. A few weeks ago, my girlfriend (aka "S") brought home a messenger bag that resembles a medium sized Timbuk2 messenger bag that her co-worker Johnny gave to her. Me being a big fan of "orange"; S knew this bag had my name written all over it. In reality, it had a Rare Medium logo on the part that is orange.

We received the bag, with signs of usage, and black dirt/oil spots on it. All it needed was a little TLC. So I brought out the "oil eater" and sprayed the rest of the bag with "Shout." Threw the bag in the washing machine with a few pair of jeans and "Voila!" NEW BAG AGAIN!

Since I already have two Timbuk2 bags in my collection, I had to find a good use for the newly acquired bag. So what did I use it for?

A Bass Trombone Mute Bag!

As you can see, it can hold my Cup Mute, my trombone stand, my plunger mute, and other misc accessories! It's not padded like a traditional mute bag that can offer protection, but serves enough purpose for what I need it for. Just need to be a little bit careful so that I don't put anymore dents or bends in my metal/aluminum mute.

Once again, THANKS JOHNNY!

Happy Halloween!!!

2007-10-31T14:01:00.000-07:00

Trick or Treat! Yes, it's that day where we dress up in costumes and settle that sweet tooth fixation. I used to remember going door to door back in the days when the grass was green and it was a little more safe. Today, FORGET IT! There are way too many psychos out there!

It's good that I live in an area that rarely gets any trick or treaters. In fact, it's hard to find our place when it's not even Halloween. I guess that's good in some ways.

For all those die hards that still go door to door; BE SAFE OUT THERE!

Tired of Telemarketers!!!

2007-10-18T16:06:00.000-07:00

Every morning, I'm awaken by annoying telemarketers calling about free cell phone promotions, mortgage refinancing, carpet cleaning, newspaper subscriptions, and satellite dishes promotions. I get enough calls to the point where I'm tempted to buy caller id. Since I get so many calls on our home telephone, I've decided to have a little fun with the people who call. Too bad it's illegal to record the conversations, because some of the phone calls I reply to are hilarious. I know that they record on their side.

This morning I got a call that I know is out sourced from India. You obviously can tell because of the long distance "echo" and the strong accents of the caller. The promotion was for a free Sprint Cell Phone. You could totally tell that a lot of these telemarketers read off a script. The fun part is distracting them from reading and asking them questions where they actually have to think and attempt to sell you the product. I'll ask random questions, such as,

"Why do I need this product?" "What are some of the benefits?" "What is the catch?" "Where are you calling from?"

It's funny, in fact hilarious, to hear these telemarketers stumble, stutter, and give you the Uhh. Sometimes they just tell you to hold and transfer you to their "Closer" who is just as stupid.

Back to the phone call this morning from India....

I asked the telemarketer, "Where are you from?"
His reply, "I'm calling from Tampa, Florida."
Then I ask him, "Are you sure? Your accent sounds like you're in India. Don't lie to me"
He chuckles and replies, "The US company is based in Florida, I'm calling from India."
I ask, "Then why did you say you are calling from Tampa?"

He refused to answer and then resumed reading off his phone script.

I interrupted him again and told him to tell me some info about the free phone to me in his native language. He laughs again.

I asked him if he's Hindi. He said..."Yes sir."

I still wasn't sold on this free phone promotion and I told him to sell me this phone without reading the script. He couldn't!

I told the guy, "I know you're trying to make a living, but you really need to do a better job in selling me this promotion rather than just reading a script. Anyone can read."

That comment offended the guy and he said, "I don't think you need this cell phone, thank you for your time."

My only drawback, I didn't get a chance to tell the guy to remove me from his list. I was more focused on giving the caller a hard time, rather than telling them to remove my phone number from their list. Coming from a sales background, I think they need to do a better job. I know that if I had to make some phone calls, I'd be very creative in trying to keep the recipient interested in some way or form. Perhaps talk casually, in a comforting way....easier said than done.

Here is some useful information to have if you get a lot of telemarketer calls.

National Do Not Call Registry

By the way, I already registered but it hasn't been 30 days. After the 30 days, it's time to report them if they call again!

Interesting Items at an Asian Market

2007-10-03T22:26:00.000-07:00

Wow! Time flies by too fast. It's October already!

In any case, I was walking around a new asian market that just recently opened up in South San Francisco on El Camino Real. The name of the store is Pacific Supermarket which is an independent asian food store chain similar to Ranch 99. Since their opening for only a week, I've been to this place twice. I just wanted to share some of the interesting products sold in the market. There was just one item there that caught my eye.

For those who understand Spanish slang, the word "Puto" is the Spanish word for B*tch. Just thought it was the funniest thing to see. The other ironic thing is the company name..."White King" Is there some hidden message I'm missing here?

This product is made in the Phillipines and I'm not sure of "puto" has a different meaning in Tagalog. I'm sure there is some close relation since the Phillipines does have a Spanish influence. Other than the funny product name, it's just your simple White Cake Mix.

Enjoy the laugh!

Blackberry Curve (8300) - Screw the iPhone

2007-09-28T12:27:00.000-07:00

Yes folks, I just couldn't resist the temptation of not having a smartphone! In my previous post about the death of my Palm Treo 650, I decided to get the somewhat newly released Blackberry Curve offered through ATT. I've been loyal to ATT way back when it was Cellular One, then ATT, then Cingular, and then ATT again. A loyal customer for over ten years! Purchased this phone through Amazon.com, because they offered a great deal in comparison to other offers out there! The retail ATT stores sell this phone for $199 and I only paid $74.99! Score! I can also trust Amazon as well.

My friend of mine who works for ATT Wireless suggested the Blackberry Curve to me as a replacement for the Palm. He said, "screw getting the iPhone, it'll be outdated with a replacement by January 2008." Ooops...did I spill out a secret? This could also be just a rumor as well. Don't rely on me as the source.

I love the Palm Treo devices but they are so big, heavy, and I get numerous comments, "That's a huge phone!" So with my quest for something smaller, this phone is the perfect compromise.

I have access to all my email accounts via Blackberry's Personal Email application. Now I can check and compose emails from any of my personal email accounts. I could do the same from my Palm Treo, but it wasn't as simple. Now I find myself checking and replying back to emails more promptly.

My gripes, just wish this phone had 3G internet speed or Wifi integration. The EDGE network almost feels like having a 56K modem when loading images, but it's adequate for simple texts. I was so used to a touchscreen with the Palm Treo, and now with the Blackberry; I'm limited to using the little "trackball or pearl" as my navigation control. Like I said, it's a little getting used to.

The camera on this phone is great! It's a 2.0 megapixel with flash that take some decent photos for a camera. Here's an example:

Tons of other goodies with this phone, but it does cost a little more $$. A nice feature is XMRadio...($8.99 a month). If I want XM, I'll listen to it in my car..not worth it on the phone.

I'm looking forward to many reliable years of service from this new phone and I hope not to destroy it anytime soon. Very happy with this phone! You should get one too!

Thank You PALM TREO 650! I'll miss you!

2007-09-14T11:50:00.000-07:00

My trusty Palm Treo 650 is finally being laid down to rest. No, it's not being replace by a fancy hyped up Apple iPhone (even though I would like to entertain that idea). Palm Treo 650 just had a little mishap that made it jump to retirement a little earlier than expected.

Unfortunately yesterday morning, my Palm Treo 650 fell out of bed (bed being my pocket). It wasn't my Treo's fault, it was mine. As I was walking, my clumsy hands just couldn't hold on to her as she fell onto the concrete of a hospital parking lot. I could have rushed her to the emergency room since I was already there on location...BUT WAIT...REALITY CHECK! It's a damn smartphone!

As I dropped the phone, I shouted to myself, "Son of a B**ch!"

The battery case popped off, the battery bounced out, and the phone fell face down. With a worried expression on my face, I picked her up. Turned her over. Then I couldn't help but notice the huge crack across the screen! DOH! I can live with the newly cosmetic cracks, until I tried using the screen. The touch screen is totally out of commission! The touch screen is about 90% of the navigation and functionality of the phone; without it the phone is useless. , I can manually navigate with the QWERTY buttons and the phone part...the most important button (the answer button) only works when it feels like it!

Notice the cracks?

My Treo has gone through a really abusive relationship with me. She was dropped numerous times. She has battle scars all over. Her antenna was broken and then replaced (thank God). This time she finally gave up on me after over three solid years of service. I must admit that I'm brutal on my phones.

Here's a little history on how I derived to the Palm Treo 650. For the longest time, I would rely on a Traditional Palm Pilot PDA as my Contact List, my Calendar, my task list, etc. I try to fancy myself as an organized person with a taste for high tech gadgets. So for years, I would carry a cell phone and a Palm organizer. So Palm finally came out with a smartphone series that combined the PDA and cell phone all in one. Since the Treo 650 was not Palm's first generation smartphone, I decided to give it a try to consolidate having to carry a phone and a PDA. I must say, a great decision!

I will miss all the applications and tools I've used with the Treo 650. It was my mp3 player, my blood pressure log, my tip calculator, my email, my Vindigo (food/movie guide), my slow yet accessible Internet, and my PDA. The list can continue on and on.

For now, I'm just going to stick with a back up "beater" cell phone. I'm tempted to buy the iPhone, but at the same time I know I'll break it within a week. AT&T does not offer phone insurance on the iPhone. Bummer!! Let's see how long I can last without a PDA/phone. Will I get another smartphone in the future? Yes, but not sure when.

Lastly, I thank you Palm Treo 650 for all the good things you have provided for me. I'm taking donations for a replacement!!!

I'M A CURSE TO THE GIANTS AGAIN!

2007-09-10T23:46:00.000-07:00

Yet again, when I attend a Giants game; THEY LOSE!!! This time the Giants hosted the Western Division leaders, the Arizona Diamond Backs. Until the ninth inning, I thought I broke the curse on the Giants when they were leading the D'Backs by 3-2. Then all of the sudden at the top of the ninth, the D'Backs with two men on base, outfielder Jeff Salazar hits a homer to make the score 5 to 3 D'Backs.

Final score Diamondbacks 5, Giants 3. Yes, another disappointment! Perhaps I should just stay away from attending Giants games. It sucks that they are last in their division. Hopefully they can do better next season as long as I don't attend their games.

Scored free tickets again! Thanks Larry!

Lower Box Section 130

Mmm....GARLIC FRIES Eww...Stinky Breath!

We brought our own Hot Dogs instead of paying $4 for just one!

Hang Up and Drive

2007-09-07T16:17:00.000-07:00

Despite my need for speed, I consider myself a very safe driver. Especially when I'm driving with passengers in the car. I've been driving since my sixteenth birthday and have a flawless driving record. I've been in a few fender benders, but all of them were not my fault.

Since the popularity of cell phones existed, there are so many countless accidents and sometimes fatalities because some people are distracted from talking on the phone. What's to blame is the distraction the phone causes. It bad enough that you have to be alert while driving. It's even worse when you have one hand on the wheel and the other hand with a cell phone.

I can't wait until California passes the law (effective July 1, 2008) which makes the use of cell phones illegal while driving your car. Obviously, you can only operate your phone if utilizing a hands-free device. There are countless times where I've been on the road and some moron would swerve into my lane and as I pass them they have a cell phone to their ear. It pisses me off all the time. I sometimes get road rage which is caused by an idiot on the phone. I'll get pissed off and slowly/safely swerve into their lane just to get even. I've also encountered these morons on while walking on the street too.

Many people do no value the importance of keeping both hands on the wheel. I'm not sure if anyone has experience a high speed front tire blow out.....but you nearly need both hands on your steering wheel to gain control of your car. One hand on the wheel is not going to cut it.

This example is a bit extreme, but it'll give you an idea.

I was watching Champ Car Racing on ESPN the other night and saw this commercial with a good campaign. Handsonthewheel.org is a site that informs young drivers about the importance of driving with BOTH HANDS on the wheel.

I use a bluetooth device when talking on the phone while driving. It's bad enough that I drive stick shift..because I'll have to take my hand off the wheel to shift gears while my other hand is occupied with the phone. I can drive fine, but it's not safe at all.

Be safe on the road. Buy a handfrees device and be safe out there on the road.

I'm a curse to the SF Giants!

2007-08-31T14:14:00.000-07:00

As everyone knows, I'm not big on spectator sports. My father wasn't big into sports either, so the tradition just passed down to me. Perhaps the only thing we'll watch is the Superbowl, Baseball's World Series, NBA Finals, the Daytona 500, etc. Only the final games that make world champion history is what we watch. Other than that, we can only name the professional sports stars that we hear in news media....from either good or bad news. Honestly, it's probably better that I don't get into watching sports, because I get really into watching the game. I start screaming, cheering, booing, etc....all the important qualities of being a fan. People have told me, I'm a bit too loud.

Ever since the San Francisco Giants started at their new ballpark, I've yet to see a game there until a few days ago. I've driven by the ballpark, cursed the traffic near the ballpark, but never watched an actual game since the Giants played back at Candlestick Park (now known as Monster Park).

Since the weather has been great and the Giants have been on a nice winning streak....why not take myself out to the ballgame! So I decided to browse through Craigslist in search of some good last minute tickets to purchase. It was just my luck that some posted "FREE GIANTS TICKETS!" The poster stated they thought they could attend, but plans changed. The tickets were for pick up only and were located just one city away from my parent's residence (I was in the area). So I decided what the heck...I have nothing to lose. I emailed the individual and then received a phone call within a few hours. SCORE! FREE TICKETS! Thank you SONYA!

These seats were great! I was expecting bleacher tickets, but they were decent View Reserve tickets towards the right of homeplate. I couldn't have asked for a better day game to watch a game on Wednesday, August 29th, 2007! The weather was BEAUTIFUL! A nice 82 degrees farenheit along with a cool bay breeze. Also, you can't go to an all American Baseball game without having a Hot Dog and a refreshing Coke.

The Giants were on a winning streak series against the Colorado Rockies until I showed up to the game. I'm a curse to the Giants! All the games that I've attended in my lifetime, the Giants alway lose when I'm in presence.

My presence doesn't help Barry!

To top the day off with the continuance of FREE stuff; I was able to ride BART for free because it was a Spare the Air Day.

Despite the 8 to ZERO loss to the Rockies, it was a pleasant day for me. I couldn't have asked for anything better. Beautiful weather, free tickets, free transportation, and a nice smile on my face. For those who don't know, the ballpark offers FREE wifi! Yes, I am one of the geeks who watches the game with my laptop on my lap.

Go Giants!

Some inspiration for us all....

2007-08-06T19:44:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, we did some window shopping/browsing on Union Street in San Francisco and found some great words for wisdom inside a store entitled, "lululemon athletica." This store sells apparel for yoga enthusiasts. I'm not into yoga, but I did admire some of the quality "sport-like" apparel they had to offer. Some serious quality apparel, but too expensive for my taste.

Getting back to the poster. Lululemon has this poster inside in which they call entitle it as their, "MANIFESTO." The poster is in red and white and has random facts to live by. Here's the list in text if you are too lazy to click the manifesto link:

Drink FRESH water and as much water as you can. Water flushes unwanted toxins and keeps your brain sharp.
Observe a plant before and after watering and relate the benefits to your body and brain.
Coke, Pepsi and all other pops will be known as the cigarettes of the future. Colas are NOT a substitute for water. Colas are just another cheap drug made to look great by advertising.
Be yoga. Breathing has you live in the moment and stretching releases toxins from your muscles.
Do yoga so you can remain active in physical sports as you age.
Listen, listen, listen, and then ask strategic questions.
SWEAT once a day to regenerate your skin.
Compliments from the heart elevate another person’s spirit and will often result in an encouraging word for someone else ... a domino effect.
Your outlook on life is a direct reflection of how much you like yourself.
Life is full of setbacks. Success is determined by how you handle setbacks.
Write down your short and long term GOALS four times a year. 2 personal, 2 business and one health goal. A university found only 3 percent of the students had written goals. 20 years later, the same 3 percent were wealthier than the other 97% combined.
You ALWAYS have choice and the conscious brain can only hold one thought at a time. Choose a positive thought.
Communication is COMPLICATED. Each person is raised in a different family with a different definition of each word.
Love.
Jealousy works the opposite way you want it to.
Nature wants us to be mediocre because we have a greater chance to survive and reproduce. Mediocre is as close to the bottom as it is to the top. Be creative. Do one thing a day that scares you.
Take various vitamins. You never know what small mineral can eliminate the bottleneck to everlasting health.
Dance, sing, floss and travel.
Do not use cleaning chemicals on your kitchen counters. Try vinegar and lemon. Someone will inevitably make a sandwich on your counter.
Just like you did not know what an orgasm was before you had one, nature does not let you know how great children are until you have them. Children are the orgasm of life.
Friends are more important than money. Don’t trust that an old age pension will be sufficient.
Live near the ocean and inhale the pure salt air that flows over the water. Vancouver will do nicely. Stress is related to 99% of all illnesses.
One hour of aerobic exercise will release endorphins to regenerate cells and offset stress.
A daily hit of athletic induced endorphins will give you the power to make better decisions and help you be at peace with yourself.
Wake up and realize you are surrounded by amazing friends.
lululemon athletica was formed to provide people with components to live a longer, healthier and more fun life. If we can produce products to keep people active and stress free, we believe the world will be a better place.
Do it now. The world is changing AT SUCH A RAPID rate that waiting to implement changes will leave you two steps behind. DO IT NOW, DO IT NOW!

Lululemon has some great words to live by in their manifesto. I really like how they use these powerful words to share with everyone so everyone can empower themselves. We purchased this poster and we're planning on placing it somewhere to remind us to think with these thoughts in mind. It's easy to forget a lot of these things with our busy lifestyles, but if we stop to reflect on these quotes; I'm sure you'll live a happy lifestyle.

JustinMAR 2.0

2007-08-02T14:31:00.000-07:00

I've come to a point in my life where I finally took action to make some changes in my life. Talk is cheap. Taking action is what counts. Change is always good and I'm at a opportunity in my life where I can have the ability to make these specific changes. Everyone has their own individual challenges such as a children, debt, relationships, health, work, and taxes. I'm fortunate that I only have a few challenges and oddly look forward to other challenges ahead.

I've taken the liberty to change myself in several ways and here is my list of changes I'm currently working on:
1. Health (eat better, exercise, etc)
2. Career (Enough said)
3. Social (Talk to people, meet new people, network)
4. Economical (less spending and more saving)
5. Enjoy life in form of a "POSITIVE" outlook. (Life is Good)

With all the new craze of web innovations and new generations of communities; I've been seeing a lot of "2.0" going around lately (i.e. Web 2.0). So I took the liberty of making my own new generation of myself by calling it, "JustinMAR 2.0"

Blogging more with a new outlook on life! I now pronounce to you: JustinMAR 2.0!!!

Moving and Shaking!

2007-07-20T08:39:00.000-07:00

Did you feel it this morning? Apparently, the greater East Bay, specifically Oakland had a minor earthquake with the magnitude 4.2 at 4:42AM. I slept all the way through it. A friend of ours woke us up terrified and asking us if we felt it. She happens to live very close to the epicenter. I turned on the local news and they were already covering it and taking calls from all over the bay area.

Here's what the USGS has to say.

No injuries reported. Just a bit of damage at local businesses such as broken glass and windows. There was also some reports of power outages affecting some residents and businesses. Nothing major.

Again, this is just another awakening that we live in earthquake terriorty. Are you prepared?

Some new goodies to your Right --->>>

2007-05-31T17:38:00.000-07:00

Let us say "farewell" to the month May. This year is just flying by way to fast and it's hard to believe that we're almost halfway through this year already. What ever happened to those years that nearly seemed forever? I think the years seem longer when you're in school perhaps. I guess time flies when your having fun!

Let me bring your attention to the badges that I have to my right:

Meebo Chat Screen
Here's a little explanation from their website:
Meebo.com - is a website for instant messaging from absolutely anywhere. Whether you’re at home, on campus, at work, or traveling foreign lands, hop over to meebo.com on any computer to access all of your buddies (AIM, Yahoo!, MSN, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber) and chat with them, no downloads or installs required, for free!

If I happen to be online, you can chat with me as a guest from the screen to your right.

The other cool badge is from Twitter.com.

Twitter.com - is a global community of friends and strangers answering one simple question: What are you doing? Answer on your phone, IM, or right here on the web!

Basically you can post what you are doing....it answers a lot of questions. The cool aspect; you can post what you are doing by texting from your cell phone.

Here's a random grill shot:

Fire Up Your Grills!!!

2007-05-29T18:04:00.000-07:00

Yes, summer is near! The weather has been nice and nothing else beats a great meal with the BBQ grill. I've been contemplating about purchasing a propane grill and finally decided to purchase one over the Memorial weekend. Sears had one of their Kenmore line grills on sale and I just couldn't beat the price! $189.99 with the normal price of $249.00.

What's great about this grill, it's the perfect size for our balcony. Since we have a balcony, our Homeowners Association does not allow charcoal still grills, so we have to use the propane style grill. It doesn't take up too much space, and believe it or not...I was able to fit the entire assembled grill inside the back of my Pontiac Vibe.

Now it's time for me to look up some delicious BBQ grill receipies and get this baby fired up! I'm so excited!

Cinco de Mayo!

2007-05-05T13:15:00.000-07:00

What's Wrong with this picture?

In the United States we respect all cultures and celebrations. Cinco de Mayo is the celebration of 4,000 Mexican soldiers smashing the French and traitor Mexican army of 8,000 at Puebla, Mexico, 100 miles east of Mexico City on the morning of May 5, 1862. Hence the celebration. People are mis-informed that it's Mexican Independence Day; when in fact Mexico declared its independence from mother Spain on midnight, the 15th of September, 1810. All in all, it's a day to celebrate...no matter what culture background you come from.

Now back to the Photograph. I happened to looking out the window from work and saw this flying in the air. A few of my co-workers were very upset at what we see above, especially working at an "ALL AMERICAN" automobile dealership. I'm not going to name the business, but we did give them a friendly call about flag etiquette. About five minutes later it was taken down. I was able to take a shot of it before they made the change.

Here are some rules of flag etiquette from The Besty Ross Homepage:
When flags of two or more nations are displayed, they are to be flown from separate staffs of the same height. The flags should be of approximately equal size. International usage forbids the display of the flag of one nation above that of another nation in time of peace. The order of precedence for flags generally is National flags (US first, then others in alphabetical order in English), State (host state first, then others in the order of admission) and territories (Washington DC, Puerto Rico, etc.), Military (in order of establishment: Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard), then other.

I can only imagine the result if this were to be flown in a very patriotic city or town. It would be nasty!

This innocent display doesn't bother me much because it was a innocent mistake. The business owner was informed and made a quick adjustment. Although if this display was done on purpose to make a statement, then it would really bother me. We should respect our own country and other countries with equal respect; hence the reason why each country's flag should be flown on it's one pole at Equal level height.

A little history and some facts in this post.

Drink a shot tequila and down a few Coronas. Ole!

Ever have one of these days?

2007-05-03T22:18:00.001-07:00

I'm sure that everyone has a bad day once in awhile. Some have them more than others. Some have bad days everyday (sucks to be you). Some have worse bad days than others. My bad day was more like a day of physical and mental frustration!

The day starts off waking up in the morning with a vice-sqeezing migraine headache and a stomach ache like someone just punched you in the gut. No, it's not a hangover. So to cure the headache, S gives me some Tylenol to take the edge off. As I get out of bed, I run quickly to the toilet. As it sit on the toilet, an explosion of fecal matter exits my anus like an upside down geyser. I'm hating life. A killer headache and drippy @$$hole. I spend some valuable time on the throne only to return to make another drippy deposit. Guess what, we're out of Immodium AD too!

I have some prescription medication ready for pickup at the Hayward Kaiser Hospital Pharmacy. The trek is about 15 minutes away from my residential location. The prescription is for my regular blood pressure and cholesterol medication that I'm on at the early age of 30. I arrive at the Hayward Kaiser only to find that there is no parking available in their garage. After driving around the parking lot garage until I got dizzy; I had another idea. There is a shopping plaza mall across the street. I park across the street and pretend to walk inside one of the shops only to sneak out to cross over to Kaiser.

I wait in line for about 15 minutes in the pharmacy only to find out that my online prescription order did not get placed! The clerk tells me that if I wait another 15 minutes, they can have it ready for me. I wait the 15 minutes and my prescription is ready. As I pay for my medication, my stomach starts to gurgle and I have this urge to release again. I quickly race around in search of public restroom. I didn't have an success. I start to panic.

Then I start walking quickly outside pinching hard. My brisk walk turns into a jog, the jog turns into a sprint. I'm sprinting and pinching across the street again. I see a McDonalds at the corner. Then I literally ran inside the McD's and find the men's restroom. It was dirty and messy in the stall. I didn't care. My concern was to not make a mess inside my pants. As soon as a pulled my pants down and squatted.....it all came out again! I was hating life again! Although I was happy that it was a close call.

After all this action in the bathroom, I decide to clean up and head back home. As I was driving home, I had a craving for a hamburger. Nation's was on my mind....so I head to Nation's Giant Burgers. Placed my order and decide to eat in. I noticed there was only two people working, a cashier and a cook. I sit down and patiently wait for my order to be called. I wait and wait. 20 minutes pass by, and still my order did not get called. I see people picking up their orders.

So I get up and ask..."Where's my order?"
Nation replies, "Oh you picked your order up right?"
I sarcastically reply, "NO! I've been waiting 20 minutes!"
Nations, "Oh, we're sorry, we must have given your order to someone else. Wait another ten minutes."
I reply, "Can I have some sort of discount? Or a coupon?"
Nations, "Sorry, we can't offer that."
I reply, "You should hire more staff!"

So I decide to spend almost nearly 45 minutes at Nation's just for a simple hamburger and order of fries. Talk about quick service for fast food!

I decided to head back home. Just wasn't having a great day. I had terrible service at all the businesses I visited and to top it off; some bowel problems too.

Traffic Nightmare for the East Bay Ahead

2007-04-29T14:56:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday morning around 6:30am and my co-worker calls me up asking if I heard about an explosion near Emeryville. The reason why he's concerned so early is the fact that I have to commute on highway 580 to come into work. I turn on the local news station, and here's what I see:

Thanks to SFGate.com for this photo

Apparently, a fuel tanker truck carrying approximately 8600 gallons of unleaded fuel was speeding and the driver lost control of the truck ~4:30AM. The tanker caught fire and basically melted the metal support structure that holds the overpass together; causing a section of the freeway to collapse. The driver of the truck survived and was able to walk down to a gas station to catch cab to drive him to the Oakland Kaiser Hospital. Luckly there were no fatalaties, and only the driver of the rig has servere burns to his body.

What is the end result of this? TRAFFIC NIGHTMARE until the freeway structure is fixed. If you're coming from San Francisco....taking 580 East towards Oakland/Hayward; take another route!

My travel route will be affected by this, and it will definately create more gridlock in an already congested area that we call the McArthur Maze. I'm already trying to plan out my route now.

I'm happy no one was seriously hurt. Good luck to the commuters tomorrow!

Hello?!

2007-04-28T12:44:00.000-07:00

I'm terribly sorry that I've been out of blogging scene for awhile. In fact it seems like ages since I've last posted something here. Just been busy with the regular rituals of everyday life. Still trying to balance out work with enough fun and enjoyment.

Since my last post, we've watched a Broadway musical and some local ACT plays in San Francisco. In February we saw Jersey Boys. I must say it's probably the best musical I've seen in a long time. The star that played Franky Valli totally "whaled" with authority in the high falsetto.

The other plays were at the ACT theatre and we saw Hedda Gabler and After the War.

I also took a nice week off the beginning of April just for some relaxation. Also hiked and backpacked in the beautiful hills of Sunol. That was fun and challenging!

I'll try to stay more up to date. I've been eating out a lot and adding the the spare tire I'm carrying around. Check out my Yelp reviews here.

Until then, enjoy this wonderful weather we have in spring!

YOU can be a ROCK STAR

2007-02-25T14:18:00.000-08:00

I'm sure this is old news to the serious console gamers out there, but Guitar Hero II (sequel to Guitar Hero) is a really fun game to play! Our friends T&T brought their PS2 to our place and they showed us this fun phenomenon.

T&T connected their PS2 to our TV and the fun was about to begin. For those who don't know, your controller is a mini version of a guitar that looks similar to this:

This game turns your into an instant rock star and you don't have to have any music talent to sound like a pro. Here's how it works. You choose a song, you set your skill level, and then you select the tempo (speed). As the song starts, there will be a long "fret" line with five colors (green, red, yellow, blue, and orange). As the colors scroll down the screen towards you on the fret, you have to press down the color on the control guitar and strum the guitar with the tempo as the color passes down the screen. As you hit the colors and strum the guitar correctly; the end result is the melody. If you miss the color...you hear a "thump" and the melody does not come out.

Obviously there is no musical talent required. It's more of a test of your hand eye coordination. Having a little rhythm also helps.

It took me awhile to get used to it a bit, but after a few tries I was able to get the hang of it. Also it's entertaining to watch others play it because it does get frustrating when the songs get complicated.

As I've grown in age, I quicky grew out of the video game addiction. Video games don't interest me anymore, although I'm still amazed at how realistic the game graphics are advancing. Gaming can be very time consuming, hence the reason why I stay away from these toys. If I had this game, I'd be playing it all night long. It can be addicting at times!

Try this game out. Totally fun! Some of the songs are cool too! ROCK ON!

Happy Valentine's Day

2007-02-14T19:05:00.000-08:00

Yes, we dwell upon this day of love. I'm sure there is a historical and mysterious religious background behind the purpose of this day. But it all boils down to a huge profit generator for florists and candy stores. I hate to say it, but it's us MEN who fall into this sucker scam on this day. People get caught up with the cards, the chocolate, the long stem roses, and sometimes lavish jewelry or other nice gifts. This day should be the sharing of gifts between loved ones, but it seems like it's always a one way street. The male is the one who is in the dog house if this day is forgotten.

Love can be interpreted and shown in many different ways. It doesn't have to be shown with candy, roses, and all those common gifts that women expect. I think men fall victim to this and women take advantage of it. Call me cheap, but I would rather do something nice for my woman (that doesn't cost money) rather than wait in the crowded lines for flowers and candy....just so I'm not in the dog house! This can happen on any day of the year.

I'm sure there are plenty of women out there who cater to their man on this day. But us guys won't get upset if we didn't get anything. Am I wrong? Believe it or not, but statistics say that women are largest consumers to Valentine's Day. The ironic observation that I noticed, was the bustling isles of men buying cards and roses at the stores. So who's right?

Honestly, Valentine's Day can be on any day of the year. Why make it a special day so that we can cater to the retailers who mark up their flowers and candies because they can get away with the high demand for it on this day.

I did my loving deed by getting S a dozen roses, candy, and a nice card. Again, I found a bargain at Costco for roses $13.99. WOW! Again, this could have been given on any day besides today.

For all the loved ones out there! Happy Valentine's Day! Celebrate this day of love.

More power to the wheels!!!!

2007-02-07T02:09:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, my name is Justin and I'm a car tweaker. The orange American Rice Rocket (aka Clare the Cobalt) gets a few new upgrades for the new year. TAG Racecraft, a car performance tuning company in Ontario Canada developed this nice little kit to compliment the GM Stage 2 upgrade which I already have installed. Here's the list of items in the kit:

2.79" supercharger pulley made of 6061 Billet Aluminum (previous size 3.00")
60 lbs./hr Flow Matched Injectors to spray more fuel (previous size 42lbs.)
Custom Power Control Module Tune to optimize upgrades
Colder Spark Plugs

This upgrade gives the car increased POWER throughout the entire RPM range.

Click image for larger view

This is a dyno sheet of the horsepower and torque that was done. Keep in mind the dyno reflects WHEEL horsepower....which means: 248.25 horsepower and 238.55 ft-lbs of torque. This is definately an aggressive amount of horsepower for such a little 4 cylinder engine.

I got a little help from my coworkers to install these goodies. Overall, I'm very pleased with the extra power this adds to the car. It just makes this car very fun to drive and also it's peace of mind knowing that you have the extra power when your foot feels a little heavy. Watch out if you see me flying down the road with a huge smile on my face!

Say goodbye to my tires and probably a clutch soon too.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHERRY!!!

2007-01-28T14:52:00.000-08:00

Her birthday was yesterday, and I know this posting is a day late. My excuse for posting the following day? I was busy making sure she was having an enjoyable day. I wanted to dedicate this post to Sherry's Birthday!

Here is a list of what we did for the day...including pictures!

Breakfast made by me. Yes, rice with breakfast.

Dinner at Bacar

Sherry has Striped Bass

The horns....I was eating deer.

Christmas colors?

I drink too much coffee.

Birthday Clapping...Sherry is 3

Again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHERRY!

You should "DINE ABOUT TOWN"

2007-01-24T18:05:00.000-08:00

It's safe to assume that for the whole month of January you can eat at some of San Francisco's finest restaurants for reasonable price under the Dine About Town Program. The participating restaurants offer a prix-fixe meal that usually consists of a appetizer, main course, and dessert for only $31.95 a person for dinner and $21.95 for lunch.

So far, I've tried the Tablespoon Bistro on Polk Street. Good ol' American style food. Read my review that I posted on YELP.

There are a few more places that we're going to visit before the month ends. I recommend that you try this great offer before the month ends. Make your reservations online too with OpenTable.com.

Happy eating!!!

There goes the diet!

2007-01-11T21:53:00.000-08:00

I hate to say it...."I'm a fat ass!" Eleven days into the new year and I already broke the diet resolution. For those who know me; I'm a meat and potato type of guy. People usually think I'm big into Chinese food or other type of Asian cuisines because I'm Chinese. WRONG! Standing six feet two inches tall doesn't come from eating Chinese food all my life....maybe for the exception of living off Texas Long Grain Rice. If I had a choice between asian food or american food....I'd most likely choose American food.

The restaurant that broke my diet plan was Harry's Hofbrau. When people think of "hofbrau" they think of German food. When I think of hofbrau; I think open faced sandwiches with meat piled high, smothered with gravy! From what I'm told, hofbraus were places where you can grab a beer and a hearty meal to eat all under one roof. This place is definately the fix for any hungry man.

Just from visiting the website, I made the assumption that this was a franchise. Apparently there are only four locations throughout the Bay Area under the same owner. I've only been to Foster City location and currently the San Leandro location since it's only minutes away from home.

This place is not like your traditional sit down restaurant. To basically put it; it's cafeteria style. You tell the person behind the counter what your want, they carve the meat in front of you, and you bus your own tray. Simple enough for me. I would not consider this a place to impress a date, but better off a place to satisfy a hungry appetite.

So you ask....what's on the menu? Let the picture do the talking.

Yes, the special of my choice was the "Corned Beef and Cabbage with Potatoes and Carrots." Believe it or not, there's one more potato under all that meat and almost one half of a cabbage under there too covered in au jus. I would normally call the this St. Patrick's day special, but it doesn't hurt to celebrate a few months earlier! The corned beef was tender! Tender enough to cut with the just the touch of your fork. It was not fatty at all and was full of flavor. I was able to conquer this plate and the roll in one sitting! I was struggling till the last bite.

On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest), I'd rate Harry's Hofbrau at a SOLID 9. You can't get a better meal with nearly every meat you can think of and walk out with a smile of satisfaction on your face!

Until then, happy eating! Time to go back on the diet.

HELLO 2007

2007-01-03T22:28:00.000-08:00

This is my official first post for the new year and I'm already three days late. So much for making a resolution to keep up to date with this blog. Despite my reputation for not being blogger punctual, I want to take this opportunity to give everyone a sample of my top ten resolutions.

Lose weight and eat healthier. No more AYCE (ALL YOU CAN EAT)
Blog at least everyday or every other day.
Exercise everyday.
FIND A NEW JOB!!!
Spend more time with slee.
Reduce spending on car modifications.
Monitor blood pressure more often.
Decorate and paint the interior of the house.
Take the written exam for a motorcycle license.
Take more vacation time off.

That sums everything up for now. The list continues, although I usually try to make resolutions that you can live up to. I find it amazing that the gyms are so crowded during the beginning of the year and then the crowds go back to normal after three weeks. So much for keeping the resolutions!

I hope that 2007 will return some good fortune as well. It seems that as years go by, inflation and the cost of living increases. It basically throws your budgeting out the window. Sometimes I wish it was automatic for your income to adjust to the increasing expenses. So much savings.

Overall, I know that I have some challenges to try to stick to. As I've said, resolutions seem to only last for weeks. I guess resolutions at least gives you some type of goal to work towards.

Good luck with keeping your resolutions for 2007!

2006 is almost over

2006-12-30T15:28:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to squeeze in a short post before the year of 2006 comes to an end. There were many events that happened within this year. Some good and some bad. Overall, it always feels like every year passes faster and faster. 2006 sure did fly by fast.

The biggest personal milestone that I can say that happened in 2006 is the fact that I turned 30 years old. I feel the same, I look the same, but only a year older. I had a spectacualar birthday celebration with family and friends. It was good to see people I seldom see often; so seeing everyonewas a huge gift in itself. We played games, ate until we were stuffed and had a merry time.

I hate to say this, but 2006 was not a good year for some friends and family that I know. A lot serious health issues derived and some almost close to life threatening. Not a good year, but at least we survived through it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed with wishes that 2007 turns out better.

Hopefully 2007 will be starting year of a new career for myself. I want to retire out of the car business and start to focus on my health. As I've mentioned in previous posts, the car business is tiring me out and it's not helping my already bad health. Hopefully, I'll find a new career that will enable me to have a little more free time to myself and my family. Time and time again....living life and enjoying it is more valuable than a paycheck. It's better to work smarter than working harder.

As I said before, we survived through 2006 and I hope there are better outcomes within the approaching year. I want to wish everyone in the blogger world a prosperous 2007! Be safe and have good health. Start the resolutions! See y'all next year!

Got Tapeworms???

2006-12-09T12:37:00.000-08:00

Mickey the innocent little dog with dominance aggression has a little problem with his intestines. He has Tapeworms!!! We're unsure how he contracted this problem, but it's obviously not from eating McDonald's Hamburgers. Mickey possibly contracted the tapeworm problem from eating a flea that hosted the tapeworm larvae. I also noticed that he also licks plants and grass, which can be another way he contracted it.

Tapeworms can be contagious to humans, but only contracted if we too eat the larvae from fleas or his stools.

I noticed that Mickey had this issue when I was taking him out for his routine walk around the neighborhood. As I picked up his poop, I noticed a white object about the size of grain of rice on his poop. Holding my breath and observing it a little more, I noticed that this grain of rice started moving!!

This discovery now gives me a solution as to why he has an increased appetite. Mickey is usually in the ballpark of seven pounds. He feels much heavier now. Mickey has been feeding the tapeworm in his intestines.

Yesterday, I decided to take Mickey to our local Banfield Pet Hospital in San Leandro for an evaluation. I also brought along with me a fresh stool sample with the little white friends crawling around. Gross huh?

We're waiting for the veterinarian and Mickey is very nervous as usual. He wants me to hold him. The assistant does a few tests to check his vitals and he's very docile. Mickey believe it or not is a very smart dog. He knows good and bad. He also tends to show aggression towards people he doesn't like. That person he didn't like was the veterinarian! The veterinarian wants to observe him, and Mickey was being very uncooperative. He kept twisting, turning, and making every attempt to push himself away. As the vet got closer, he tried to bite. This made the vet uncomfortable and the vet asked to muzzle him. Here's the result.

Notice his tongue hanging out! He is auditioning for the leading roll of Hannibal the Cannibal.

The vet gave him a shot that will kill the tapeworms and I have to treat Mickey with Advantage which is a topical medication that is applied to the skin of his neck to rid away fleas. We'll also follow up in two weeks for Mickey to have another tapeworm shot to assure total annihilation.

They also updated Mickey with all his routine vaccination. He had a total of three shots and one oral injection for Heartworms.

Mickey is at home recovering. His overall personality is the same.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICKEY!!!

2006-12-06T19:34:00.000-08:00

Today embarked the sad announcement of the death of James Kim, a CNET senior editor that died in the Oregon forests from a family roadtrip that went bad. It's been all over the news since his family and himself were announced missing. The fortunate news was that his wife and two children survived and found in good health. It's just very sad that he wasn't able to survive the cold weather, with limited food, and with very limited resources. My deepest sympathy goes out to his lovely family that he left behind. He is a man that gave his life basically to assure the lives of his family. I don't know Kim personally, but I did read his reviews on MP3 media players on CNET. May he rest in peace.

To turn this subject into a happier moment, I wanted to announce Mickey's 7th birthday! Mickey is my dog that has a loveable innocent demeanor, yet can quickly change into an attack dog that bites. His personality is unpredictable, but lately he has been a good dog. So it's a Mar family tradition to get our dog a McDonald's Happy Meal for a birthday treat. This is probably the only human meal that Mickey will get all year (beside the food scraps that fall on the floor). It's not healthy for dogs to eat human food, but this once a year meal definately turns out to be a great treat.

The infamous "HAPPY MEAL"

Homemade Birthday Hat

Family Portrait
(Notice his new sweater)

The BURGER cake with candle.

Blow out the candle.

Make a wish!

CHOMP! One bite!
(Actually we gave him half and cut it up into small pieces)

I don't recommend giving your pets fast food. It's bad enough that fast food is bad for us humans. Rest assure that we give Mickey his usual portions of dry food made especially for dogs.

There are many more birthdays to come. My sister just had her birthday on December 3rd, and I have 30th birthday coming up on December 17th.

Avoid the crowds....SHOP ONLINE!!!

2006-11-27T19:15:00.000-08:00

I can't believe that people still camp outside in the wee hours of the morning for all the deals offered on Black Friday. Yes, there are good deals, but is it worth the headache? You basically have to camp out in the cold, sometimes rain, fight with other consumers, whord as many items, and then stand in line for hours to pay for the money saving deals. Again I ask....is it worth it? I honestly think black Friday is just the retailer's form of creating chaos to get the consumers in the spirit of spending money. What spirit does this create when you basically view the store as a battleground!

Have you ever thought of this from another perspective? All the savings you are gaining actually turns into wasted money later? Getting a great deal is just a state of mind. A good deal from someone's perspective can honestly be different from another person's perspective. Saavy buyers know a good deal when they see one, but in reality they end up buying some useless object for the personal gratification that they got a good deal on it. Is that a way to spend your hard earned money? That's when you fall into the retail trap. The retailer suckered you to buy the item...based on a great deal....when it's usually an item that is not a needed. The whole concept is to get the buyer to buy on impluse because they think they are mentally getting a great deal! Why fall into this trap!

Some of these deals are outrageous! I see laptops selling for under $300 after rebate, 42" LCD flatpanel TV selling for $800; the list goes on and on. Sure from the retail aspect, you're clearing out old inventory, but look at what you have to deal with. Black Friday brings out all the mooches in the world looking for a good deal. Good deals come and go, but I think tradition makes the bargains start before the Christmas season. Hence BLACK FRIDAY.

Good deals happen year round. Take the time to study your purchase. Read about the options. Use various internet deal searches. Make informative decisions before you buy, read other people's opinions on the product, and above all...shop around. I use a few of these sites to make my purchase decisions:

Spoofee - Coupons, online deals
http://www.spoofee.com

Got Apex - For computer deals, electronics, etc
http://www.gotapex.com

Price Scan
http://www.pricescan.com

Price Grabber
http://www.pricegrabber.com

Bottom line....do your HOMEWORK. Never buy on impluse! You end up spending more and the savings ends up being used for you to spend more on useless things you DON'T need.

I personally find greater deals online. If I do go to a store, I'm not afraid to ask for a discount. You'd be surprised on what you can get for asking a simple polite question. Some retailers are willing to wheel and deal. Above all, be fair. Don't lowball. It makes you look like an ass.

To sum everthing up. Time is money. If you measured what your time is worth versus the savings you're getting from standing hours in line. Who knows? I think my time is worth more. It's all a "WASH" in my mind (it comes out equal).

Happy Shopping!

You will be missed!!!

2006-11-26T15:26:00.000-08:00

Don't worry! No one died. A wonderful friend/neighbor to S and myself moved away. This person will be named, "T" for the sake of confidentiality. T now lives about a 15 minutes away from us. We'll miss her companionship, the late night food runs, eating ice cream while watching movies, more eating, tapioca/milk tea drives to San Mateo, watching channel 728 in HD, picking on S, and above all......FARTING. Having a great friend to hang out everyday made coming home more entertaining and enjoyable.

It was convenient that T lived next door to us and it was one of the main reasons why we decided to purchase the condo (to live next door to her). Now that she's gone, things will be a bit different. I'm sure that S will be taking it hard because T was her friend since Jr. High. We will still see T, but not as often. Our condo will be a little quieter, a little less active, and I hate to say.....more boring. I guess the change will also help S and I concentrate on things around the house. We have some inspiration to decorate, paint the walls, and add some organization to our place.

In life we must enable ourselves to accept change. We take a lot for granted when everything is convenient to us. When change does happen, we have to learn to adjust. Adjusting to the change is what makes you grow as a individual. The bottom line is wanting to adjust to the change and the only person that can do it is SELF.

We'll miss you T! Come by as often as you want and remember that our home is always open to you!

A bad that turned good?

2006-11-05T21:12:00.000-08:00

The Cobalt (aka Clare) has been out of commission for awhile. It's been awhile since I've blogged and I wanted to update everyone on what's going on. In my previous blog, I raved about the POM tea and now we have plenty of empty bottles. It was good as it lasted. Ok, back to the subject.

On Sunday, October I was driving to work and just so happened to run over a bouncing SUV tire on the westbound section of highway 580 in Oakland. Avoiding debis on the road always causes havoc and it can also potentially cause an accident. The car in front of me ran over the tire and kicked the tire into my drive path. As I see the tire bouncing in front of me, I had four choices to make in a matter of seconds.
1) Hit the center divide to my left,
2) Hit the person to my right pacing at the same speed,
3) Slam on my brakes and have the tailgater butt ram me, or
4) Hit the tire head on.

I chose option 4.

I cringed as the tire goes under the car and listening to the loud "thump". I could only image the damage this tire is going cause. I was in a rush to head into work because I had to open the dealership, and I didn't have the time to pull over to inspect the damage. Worried about the damage on the remaining way to work, I inspected the car after I open the dealership.

A little worried as I walk back to my car, I look to inspect the damage. It didn't look bad at all. As I looked more closely, I see that the lower bumper fascia is cracked and I see a little bit of coolant dripping from the radiator. NOT GOOD! MUI MALO!

We have a bodyshop at our dealership and decided to leave the car behind for them to do an estimate of the damage. Here's the damage:
-Replace the front bumper and paint match
-Replace the A/C condensor, the supercharger heat exchanger, and the radiator. The first two items got smashed into the radiator.
-My exhaust system also too was banged up.

I have eSurance, and they were very prompt with sending out an estimator and sending out the check for the repairs. The nice aspect about working for a dealership and knowing the bodyshop manager gives me the extra edge that other customer don't have.....I get work and parts at employee costs. The GM original parts actually cost more than aftermarket parts, and I've decided to make a few changes with better GO FAST PARTS. This is great! I get to upgrade a few items basically at the expense of my insurance company! Here is the list of new parts:
-Larger heat exchanger
-GM Performance Parts Extrude Honed Manifold Header
-Random Technology 2.75" Downpipe with High Flow Catlytic Converter
-Random Technology 2.75" Cat Back Exhaust
-New Bumper

I'm happy that these modifcations were able to come out of the insurance claim. This is over $2000 in parts alone, not including labor for installation.

Got POM?

2006-09-28T12:58:00.000-07:00

POM TEA (they have a cool website) is the greatest tea that you can buy at your local grocery store. Not only do you get the antioxidants that you need for good health, you also get a nice glass for a keepsake! I'm sounding like an advertisement for them!
In any case, I love this tea! Especially their Pomegranate Peach Passion White Tea. It's sweet to the taste and smooth as goes down your throat. It also happens to be on sale at SAFEWAY. Their promotion is 10 for $10 (yes, a dollar each). The normal price is close to $2.50 to $3.00 a glass. Since they are on sale, we've decided to stock up on this great drink.

Yes, call it overkill, but it's too good of a beverage to pass up and again, you get the nice glass to keep afterwards. The lids are resealable too! Now that we have a fridge full of these teas, who needs beer? At least it won't make you fat.

We purchased 25 bottles, although two did not make it home. Ahhhh! Join the POM revolution! Try one today! Especially while it's on sale!

HOLD YOUR BREATH FOR THIS ONE!

2006-09-22T17:20:00.000-07:00

From the title of this blog post, please be informed that you should not read this after eating a full meal. I somewhat wish I can transmit smells over the internet for this story. It's probably the worst I've ever had to deal with in a long time. I also hope that the customers that I dealt with don't have access to the internet. They don't seem like the tech type. In any case, here's the story.

The customer calls the dealership early in the morning. They explain to the sales manager that they are without a vehicle and they are really interested in buying two vehicles. So my sales manager sends a salesperson out to their residence to pick them up from their residence. The customers arrive to the dealership and the salesperson walks back to the sales desk with a big smirk. It's a husband a wife and their look like they are in the mid-forties. The wife was disabled and she walked with a cane. So they look like a normal couple ready to buy two cars. So the salesperson shows them two vehicles they were intersted in. The first car being a 1998 Saturn and the second vehicle being a 2002 Dodge Dakota Pickup. The salesperson demos the Saturn and comes back into the showroom informing the rest of the staff that the customers smell terrible. He mentioned that he had to open the window just to get fresh air. Imaging an offensive odor and being trapped in a small sedan! eekk! So the customers look at the truck and they agree on a price for both vehicles. Now the customers are sitting in the showroom. Keep in mind our showroom is rather large. Their smell was strong enough to fill the showroom with their odor.

To describle the odor, it was the smell of unwashed dogs coupled with poor hygene. Very offensive if you ask me. The salesperson is a better man than myself. I think it didn't bother him as much because he saw them as money in his pocket (a sale) as well as taking one for the team. It appears that the salesperson closed the deal and the customers are ready for me to sign them up and collect their money. While I was gathering the paperwork, the customers ask to get a test drive in the new 2006 Pontiac GTO. Again, the salesperson takes one for the team. He drives them around the block in the GTO, and get this.....he driving them around with the windows up the whole time. Today was a rather warm day! It's insane to be driving with the windows up. The salesperson tells me later that he had the windows up, but blasted the Air Conditioner vent right into his face.

So the time comes around and I have to "paper*" the customer up. (*Papering basically getting the customer to sign all the necessary documents for the sale). They are buying two cars, so I have to sign them up twice! I was a bit aprehensive because I know I have to deal with along with have a weak stomach. With the smell lingering in the showroom, I had to get myself prepared for what I have ahead.

So before the customer enter my small 12' x 12' square office with just a door, I spray tons of disinfectant spray to neutralize the air a bit. It smelled nice a fresh in my office! The customers enter and I can smell them over the spray just before they enter my office. I'm getting worried and trying hard to not make any facial expressions. I hold my breath and smile. They finally enter and sit down at my desk. At this point I'm very close to them. Again, I'm trying to sustain a straight face. I'm thinking of nice smells to overcome their pungent odor. I wanted to get this done and over with as soon as possible. Just my luck the gentleman was a talker. He wanted to talk about God, his past personal life, his job as a nurse, stories of his ex-wife, etc. Then as he's talking, his wife wants to read each document with a fine tooth comb, and consults her husband for approval while he's yapping off about life. This was torture and I was getting impatient quickly. So the best solution I could do to speed things up was to basically get pushy with them to sign. They end up signing the paperwork for the first vehicle and I had to rush them quickly on the second contract signing. After 30 minutes of pain and suffering; they finally leave my office. I can finally breathe! They go outside with the salesperson so he can suffer a bit. While they are outside, I'm trying to get clean air on the opposite side of the building. As I re-enter my office, the smell is still there and I gag in disgust. I spray disinfectant all over the place and remove the chair they were sitting in. The chairs are sitting outside to air out. I wipe my desktop off, and purell my hands.

It turns out they paid cash for both cars. Despite their awful odor, we sold them a car. It wasn't as bad as I expected, but it was the worst smell I had to deal with for 30 minutes. I feel like sending the customers a gift of soap and perfume. That's so mean. Overall, you have to deal with all people and treat them with equal amounts of respect without offending them.

Still Alive and Well

2006-09-21T11:30:00.000-07:00

It's been over a month since my last post and I feel really bad that I haven't been able to consistantly blog something everyday. There shouldn't be an excuse (i'm so harsh on myself)!

I know this is a bit premature since we're not close to end of the year, but I've noticed that 2006 has not been a good year for some of us; especially for a lot of people I know. First of all for myself, 2006 embarks the year that I turn 30 years old! My health has not been the greatest this year. After my Peru trip in September 2005, I had to see the doctor to get checked out because I fractured my tailbone. So my doctor suggested that I have complete physical. Then from that point on, my health has gone downhill because I have high blood pressure, very high cholesterol, and a fatty liver. I find that it's good that I'm aware of these conditions at a young age, but it involves a lot of discipline to adapt your body to the changes for a healthier lifestyle. Now that I'm aware of these conditions, I have to really adjust my body with exercise, proper diet, and plenty of rest. The only major drawback, is the fact that I can tell that my health has been holding me back. I'm not as strong and energetic as I used to be. It could be that my energy is absorbed by work, but I've noticed that I don't have the endurance I used to have when I was younger. Could this be a sign that my age is finally catching up to me? Everyone tells me that once you hit 30, you lose that energetic youth.

As I've mentioned in prior postings, the job that I have is very demanding of my time. People in the car business will agree that the hours are long, you diet on fast food, and everything is fast paced when it's busy. I have come to realization that in order for me to enjoy the rest of my life is for me to make a change and take care of my health. Since the demands are greater in the car business, I've come to the decision to finally move on. Basically to move on to preserve my health. Some people aren't cut out for this business, and I'm one of them. So my days are short in the car business. I have to now push really hard to find a new career in something else. A job that isn't so demanding of you personal time and has normal work hours. Perhaps weekends off as well. So here's to the new future and career path that I have ahead of myself. Wish me the best of luck!

BTW...check out the changes to my personal website. CLICK HERE It's all in orange and the photo gallery has been updated.

Random Stuff....

2006-08-16T22:33:00.000-07:00

I have my first weekend off approaching within a few days. Looking forward to a little R&R whenever these days approach. Especially when we are shorted handed staff wise. It's been nice that I have rotating days where I can sleep in and not show up to work until noon. So I feel at least a little bit more rested with the late start rotation.

Yesterday, (Tuesday, August 15) I made a really good dinner with the ingredients we had in the fridge. We had some red potatoes. So I boiled them, mashed them up, added fresh chopped garlic, butter, and some milk...to make some good MASHERS. For vegetables, we had some zucchini provided from one of Sherry's co-worker's uncle. The zucchini was compliemented with red onion strips stir fried with butter and a zest of fresh lemon juice. For the main dish, I prepared BBQ Breaded Chicken breast strips. There was plenty of leftovers available. My sister made some fresh sourdough rolls....and we made chicken sandwiches out of them for lunch.

WE CAN WATCH TV!!!! I'm not sure if I posted in previous blogs that my TV's motherboard took a dump. So after one month of waiting for the replacement part, they finally installed it and we can now watch MOVIES! We did notice that there was a $20 decrease in our PG&E bill from the lack of having a TV. It doesn't surprise me that a 50" plasma can use that much power.

Today the Cobalt is in the shop for modifications. For those of you who don't know already, I named my car "Claire." I chose the name Claire because I usually name the car with the same beginning letter of the car model name. Plus at Novato Chevrolet...where the car was purchased from, the business manager's name is Claire as well......just named out of coincidence...and it's easier to remember. I'm having the GM Performance Stage 2 upgrade done to my car. The kit contains the following:

3" pulley for the supercharger. The smaller the diameter of the pulley, the more boost the supercharger generates. At stock, the car produces 12psi of boost. The new pulley should produce up to 14-15psi of boost.
New fuel injectors from 4.3gms/second to 5.3gms/second....basically more fuel spray!
ECM reflash to increase the rev limiter to 7000K RPMS.

All these upgrades should produce up to 40+ more horsepower. Now after this upgrade, I'm going to shop for a full exhaust system....from the header, to the downpipe, to the cat back exhaust. More pollution into the air!

On a closing note....with the weekend approaching.....I have time to enjoy time with friends and family. Life cannot be better.

Change is near!

2006-08-06T11:54:00.000-07:00

First post in the month of August. I have a very busy work schedule ahead due to the fact that we are short handed. We used to have a management staff of four which is not currently down to two managers. We used to have a sales staff of seven and now down to four. It's nice to have a full staff, although if just makes work more tiresome since we have to work longer hours to compensate the slimmer staff. Change does happen fast without notice. Being able to adapt to these changes is what makes you a better employee. Wait a minute, a foolish employee.

The result of the reduction of staff has to do with people moving on in their career or in a different career direction. One is working in the oil business, one just couldn't come to terms with upper management, one had to relocate to another store to fill in, and one will just follow the other. It's basically a ripple effect.

There is some change in my work schedule. Now I have to work six out of the seven days in a week. It's a bit rough. At least now between myself and another manager, we rotate morning and evening shift. The morning shift is from 9am to 5pm and the evening shift is from 12PM to 8pm. Obviously, if there is customer, we do have to stay later. I think this is at least feasible and gives us time to rest. Rather than the usual 72 hour a week stretch.

Who knows. There might me change for me ahead. I've actually sat down and forced myself to realize that living and enjoying life is more important than work. Yes, work does pay the bills, but the job that I'm currently at will not permit it. It's been putting a toll on my health, my relationship, and my own personal time. I'm just waiting for that day for that new company to rescue me away from working on the weekends. I'll take a pay cut, just for the time that I can have to myself and with loved ones. It's so worth it!

Whoa! An update!

2006-07-24T23:49:00.000-07:00

OK folks. I know I've been slacking again big time! Been busy with a lot of events. Spent a weekend in Yosemite, had a long work week, and dealing with the hot weather. I'll post pictures of the Yosemite trip in my next posting. Just haven't had time to publish the photos on my official website.

Here's just a few things that have happened when I should have been blogging.
1. My 50" Plasma TV broke. It's under warranty, but it hasn't been in operation for two weeks because the replacement part is on order.

2. Visited Yosemite on the weekend of July 14-16th. Hiked up to Half Dome, but didn't climb up to the ropes. I dehydrated and ended up with some painful leg cramps. Was able to make it at least to the base of the dome and back down to curry village.

3. Installed a STRUT TOWER BAR on the Colbalt. The strut tower bar eliminates a small amount of body flex when making hard turns.

Other than that, my days/weeks have been like any other day in the life of Justin. Just work and a little play. Until I post again...consider yourself updated. It's pretty sad that I only have three topics to share. I guess the other stuff is too personal.

Saved a life today.

2006-07-08T21:38:00.000-07:00

Today embarks a day where I was able to help someone from committing suicide. I will not go into detail about the end result just for the sake of confidentiality. We had a customer come in who suffers from post traumatic war syndrome. He was a Vietnam Vet who earned purple hearts and told me about the casualties he experienced. He even shared the detail of himself killing young children, helpless people, and families of all sorts. He wanted to buy a truck from us. His credit did not permit him to purchase the truck we had in the showroom that he fell in love with. He went into begging on his knees that he would not leave without this truck. So explained to him all the reason why he doesn't qualify. The bank simply will not finance the truck that he wants due to his poor credit. This obviously was not the answer that he wanted to hear. So he says, "If I can't have this truck, I minus well grab a gun and shoot myself in the head." I was shocked and thought he was joking. As I made eye contact, I could tell that he was serious. So I quickly replied to calm him down from doing something drastic. I thought to myself, "what if this guy really has a gun?" So I remain calm. I kept a calm demeanor. I validated the gentleman by telling him...he survived a war and you want to end your life this quickly over a measly $30,000 truck? I reminded him that he has a family, grandchildren, etc, and he wants to take his life over something he cannot have? So he proceed towards his personal vehicle....

Sorry for the cliffhanger. I'll tell you this much. The guy did not kill himself. The police were informed. There was a lot more detail.

So much drama for today. All in a day's work. The other bummer. WE DIDN'T SELL A CAR!

I BOUGHT A NEW CAR!!!

2006-07-03T23:36:00.000-07:00

Been slacking again. This time I have some good news. Since GM is having this 72 hour 0% financing, only for a limited time, and just for a few days; I've decided to purchase a new car. I know, I go through cars faster than I change my underware. I had my 1996 Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo, my souped up 1997 Nissan Sentra, and my Pontiac Vibe GT. Now I've added the 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt SS Supercharged Coupe to my family. This is probably one of the best little sport compact car that GM has developed. It has plenty of get up and go, european tested suspension, and still saves me on gas. It has a nice little 2.0 Ecotec Engine with a Eaton M62 supercharger that produces 12psi of pure BOOST. GM rates this car You won't believe the color. It's ORANGE! Actually GM calls it "Sunburst Orange." It does stand out. Just hope it doesn't stand out to where I'll be noticed more by cops.

Everything is stock at the moment, but good ol' Justin never leaves it that way. I have some plans of installing a Cold Air Intake, exhaust, GM Stage 1 and 2 performance upgrades, and some minor tuning here and there.

Now that I have a little American Rice Rocket, I really cannot get stereotyped into driving an Asian Import. I'm not into the asian imports as much anymore and I like the competitive change that American manufacturers are open. It was the true American Cars that made the history of hot rodding.

In regards to my Pontiac Vibe GT....I've decided to pass that trusty wagon for my sister to use.
Now she has to learn how to drive a manual transmission. Good Luck!

SLACKER!!!

2006-06-26T17:55:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know. I've been slacking these past few days. It's really hard to keep up with blogging everyday when you have a busy lifestyle. Also, I also have to show that I'm still human and have a life other than sitting in front of a computer blogging all day. =)

The past few days have been slow at work but eventful back at home. We've been occupied with a lot of important issues to be addressed. Nothing bad in particular to my life, but to a friend that is close to us. So we're just trying to offer some mental support to this specific person who is dear to us ("us" being my anonymous girlfriend and I). We're just trying to help her piece back her life together. For those who know who this person is, then you can understand.

On Saturday night, we and a few friends decided to meet up in San Francisco's North Beach for coffee and conversation. It was nice to be out in the crowds enjoying the company with friends. We had coffee and delicious desserts at Cafe Greco. Walked around and called it a night. It finally occured to me that I really miss wandering the streets of San Francisco. Back in my college days, my roommates and I would hop on the MUNI to a new destination for us to explore. One day we decided to walk from our USF campus down into the North Beach, and we started walking in the alleys and backyards of people who live out there. You'd be surprised at how much you can explore just on foot.

What I miss most is going out to hang out. Work has prevented me from having the ability to stay out late on the weekends because I know I would have to get up early the next morning. Once in awhile I'll push the envelope and stay out late. The opportunity of being out, enjoying the time with friends, people watching, and absorbing the atmosphere is really gratifying. I should enjoy it now before my life get even more hectic. So on an ending note, enjoy every moment that you have in life. You never know when that moment can be taken away from you or when you won't have enough time in your life to enjoy it.

Bored to death!

2006-06-22T18:08:00.000-07:00

The weather is nice and there's nothing worse than being at work. In the car business, we're not busy until we have customers. We just sit here and wait. Gas prices, rising interest rates, and the beautiful weather somehow scared all the customers away. The life of a salesperson is not the greatest. You only make money when there are sales. If there are no sales, then you don't make any money. In my case, I keep myself busy with projects to work on just to pass time. As much as I hate to say this, the heat does make you rather lethargic.

I thrive on being busy. It makes the day go by much faster and there's more gratification that you have purpose in your job. Although, it's good to have slow days once in awhile. I would like to cherish these slow days, because it gives you time to relax. It's just unfortunate that we have to sit here waisting the day away when the weather is so nice.

A reoccuring thought of wanting out of the car business comes up whenever it's slow. Again, this business is, "Feast or Famine." I think it's because I have the time to think about the disadvantages of this business. I would like to find that "ideal" job, but the reality is that no one has the ideal job. There's always a flaw or disadvantage.

I know that actions speak louder than words. I have to bite the bullet soon, and make a strong effort to find a way out. Especially if I'm not happy with the crazy work schedule.

It's getting HOT in here....

2006-06-21T17:09:00.000-07:00

so take off all your clothes. Whenever it's hot (weather wise), I think of the hip hop song by Nelly. The weather here in Richmond, CA is averaging in the range of 86 degrees. I'm so glad I can sit in an air conditioned office. I feel really bad for those who have to do labor in this intense heat. Honestly, I enjoy the hot weather, but hate working in it. The key is to hydrate and put on heaps of sunblock. The air quality has been terrible too. Tomorrow is a "Spare the Air" day so I believe that BART runs free all day.

Not much going on in the life of Justin. No big events and just need to work on a few personal goals. The continuing goal of getting healthier is a big feat. I'm surrounded by co-workers who live off fast food. I shouldn't wait until my health escalates to something catastrophic in order for me to have my wake up call. A prime example should be learned from my father. He has a heart attack in his early forties, and it took a heart attack for him to realize that he better change his eating habits. In my case, I'm not that big of a junkie when it comes to junk food. I just tend to overeat, and I'm a big meat, potato, and rice kind of guy. Plus the lack of exercise doesn't help out. I don't consider myself too overweight...I do have a small case of man boobage, and a little buddah belly, but it's nothing new that the average American has. It's definately the diet. When I visited China, everyone is skinny there. Meats over these is somewhat of a luxury, and vegetables are the main staple. I found that their meats are not as "meaty" as the meat that's available here in the states. Maybe I should perhaps move to China and adopt their eating habits. Although I did get sick of eating Chinese food after visiting China. When I returned back to Hong Kong from the mainland, the first meal I wanted was from McDonald's.

I'm really off topic, but that's all I can write about while sweating here at home with just shorts on. Ok...too much information. Stay cool for you Bay Area Folks!

Baby Back Ribs!!!!

2006-06-20T23:07:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day of my "four day" long vacation from work. I definately needed the time off and I'm really sad that it has already come to an end. It was nice to have the ability to sleep in, relax, veg out, surf online, do laundy, run errands, and ponder about what I want to do with my life. I surprisingly was able to accomplish all the items I had on my to do list and still have time to relax and rest. Life is great.

It was a rather unproductive day. I slept in until 11am, shaved my head, showered up, watched television, and met up with my parents for dinner. Since it was my last final day off, I really just wanted to relax. There's a lot going on. For example my great aunt just passed away on Father's Day. I just saw her on June 6th and she looked in good health for her ripe age of 87. She wasn't in tip top good health, had to take everything slow, and she did have the braveness to do her routine walk around Clement Street with a walker. A very strong woman indeed. Whenever someone I know passes, I always like to reflect and save a happy thought about that person. My aunt was a very saavy stock investor, and I know I'll miss her calling me about what's a good stock to purchase. The good memory that I can remember is spending good quality time talking to her and enjoying her company. Since my paternal and fraternal grandparents passed away in the 1990's, she was the closest person to me that I can look up to as a family elder. May she rest in peace.

Back to the events of today.....my parents came over in celebration of my dad's late "father's day" dinner. My dad hates dealing with the father's day crowd so we to Claim Jumper in Concord for dinner. When you think LARGE portions, you think Claim Jumper. My mom had liver, onion, and bacon over mashers. My sister had Chicken Fried Steak (half portion) that looked like a regular sized portion anywhere else. My dad had Braised Short Ribs over mashed potatoes. If you don't know my dad, he hates anything with mayonaise, ketchup, mustard, horserasdish, sour cream...etc. The mashed potatoes did have a questionable cream sauce on it that he wanted my sister to taste. He also asked the waiter about the ingredients. The waiter came back to tell him that the cream sauce had sour cream and horseradish in it. So my dad asked for just plain mashed. The waiter returned with his dish stating, "here's your meal with extra mayo." It was a great joke to pull on my dad, because he had this worried look on his face when he mentioned it. I had the full slab baby back ribs. I'm sure the rack was nearly a foot long. I couldn't finish it. Way too much food! We had no room for dessert.

For those who don't know me. I'm not a glutton. I just love to eat. Being an avid eater like myself, it's doesn't help me at all when I have a few health issues to take into consideration. Once in awhile is ok to eat...but I've been eating out a lot. So for all you eaters out there, enjoy one on me.