52 Weeks

knit and purl

2010-09-20T20:01:00.000-07:00

Last week, my friend suggested organizing a social knitting group to meet once a month beginning next week Thursday. I've participated in knitting groups in the past and they are fun for about a year or so and then people drop out after knitting twenty different colored scarves or developing carpal tunnel or finding better things to waste their time on.

It's been a while (last holiday season) since I knitted anything worth wearing in public. I did knit an "alien" motif scarf during a marathon knitting week because the scarf was a Christmas gift and I started a week before Christmas. The scarf turned out okay despite being a tad bit short on the neck wrapping part. I had to cut corners due to limited time and hand cramps.

I'm excited about starting a new knitting circle, especially one where I will be designated "expert knitter extraordinaire" as I am one of two in the group who actually know how to knit.

I've got a shitload of patterns I stole from various knitting books at the local book store or downloaded from the net as well as extra needles (different shapes and sizes) and yarn (mostly acrylic that can be passed for a wool blend) to start everyone off. And I'll provide instructions on eye poking, finger stabbing, hand and wrist numbness...fun stuff like that. And the basics of knit and purl, of course.

This is going to be great!

bike stolen

2010-09-12T21:08:00.000-07:00

Not my bike but my neighbor's bike who lives at the end of the courtyard. I'm on a dead end street and people rarely take leisurely strolls down only to turn around and head back out unless they live on the block or knows someone who does. But a tall, skinny-jean guy starts chatting up with my neighbor about his bike, which is in his garage.

I assume they know each other so I go about my business washing my car and get ready to leave for dinner. As I'm pulling out of my driveway, the skinny guy rides by me on the bike while my neighbor runs after him while throwing his skateboard. Next thing I know, my neighbor's banging on my window and shouting, "That guy stole my bike! Can I get in your car? Could you go after him?"

At this point, the thief and bike are two blocks down the street. I unlock my doors and then realize, what the hell am I doing? I can't run stop signs and red lights following a cyclist. I felt bad for my neighbor but honestly, he shouldn't have let a stranger test ride his bike. Not everyone is a thief but you never know.

cleaning out my system

2010-08-27T08:54:00.000-07:00

On my first, actual day of swim class, the Swim Coach, a salt and peppered haired, medium build man in his 50s, wearing a grungy shirt and jeans, ran down a list of swim drills (freestyle, side kick swim, back stroke, etc) that he had planned for us to do. This is an intermediate swim class and Coach had certain expectations of us, such as having a general idea on how to swim all the strokes and not flail about in the water and drown.

While he walked back and forth along the pool yelling out the strokes like a drill Sargent, the pool filter system turned on and drowned out his voice. My fellow swimmers and I bobbed up and down in the water, clutching onto the pool edge with worry etched on our faces.

Every time Coach turned and walked by, it was difficult to hear what he was saying.
"And when you move your arms in a windmill motion, make sure you...mumble mumble mumble..so pay attention to your form when...mumble mumble mumble...you got that?"

"What did he say?" I asked the woman sharing my lane. She shrugged. "I can barely hear a thing either."

No one had the courage to request repeat instructions.

The coach started us off with the freestyle swim. He began at the deepest end of the pool where we assumed the faster, more experienced swimmers were and yelled out "Go!" as he walked past each lane. Then he walked around to the other side of the pool to meet us and went down the lanes yelling "Go" for us to swim back. This went on for each swim drill we did interspersed with comments on what we did wrong.

During the backstroke drills, I kept starting out with a back flop (opposite of a belly flop) and water kept splashing into my mouth and nose. I failed to exhale it out every time. I tried but my lungs wouldn't work. After 200 yards of backstroke, I could feel the chlorine killing the bacteria inside me. Physically, I wanted to throw up right then and there but I held it in until my burping managed to draw attention. I started breathing deeply which sounded like I was hyperventilating and the coach kept checking to see if I was still alive. "Are you tired? Take a break and rest." I just nodded and worked on keeping the chlorine down.

first day of swim class

2010-08-19T14:12:00.000-07:00

My first day of intermediate swim class at CCSF and I arrived over prepared. It's swim class. I expected the first day would involve jumping in the pool, being tested the basics and go right into learning new swim strokes.

This wasn't the case. I arrived early, changed into swim gear, and showered before entering the pool area. I walked out and stood there dripping wet with a tower over my shoulders staring at my classmates sitting on the bleachers, fully clothed and staring at me. I turned right back into the locker room, quickly dried myself off, changed into street clothes and joined the class on the bleachers.

Unfortunately, I didn't dry off well enough and my pants absorbed the water from my damp swimsuit which left a nice wet spot that appeared as though I failed to make it to the restroom in time. That's two embarrassing strikes against me.

typical client calls

2010-07-20T11:06:00.000-07:00

I received a call from a client asking if the servers are down this morning. Our conversation below:

"No, everything is up and running."

"Well," she says, "I can't get on the internet."

"Where are you? Are you at the airport?" I ask.

"Yeah, how am I supposed to do work if I can't get online?"

Silence on my end while I ponder the stupidity of this call.

"You're at the airport. I don't know why you can't get their wifi. It's out of my hands."

"What's the url to access my mail?" She asks. "I need to at least check my mail."

I tell her the url and add my disclaimer, "You need net access for mail."

She sighs heavily into the phone. "Fine, I'll figure something out." And hangs up on me.

Seriously? These are the types of idiotic calls I receive.

Keep Walking Johnny Walker

2010-04-27T09:46:00.000-07:00

I had the assumption that this tasting would be free. After all, the event was advertised as a publicity/marketing stunt to promote the Johnny Walker label.

We stood in line among a bunch of young 20-30 somethings dressed for a night of drinking. The first thing we are asked is for a $5 donation to RAD (Rockstars, Recording artists, Radio dj's against Drunk Driving or something like that). What the?? That was really slick to have us involuntarily donate $5 to a copy cat MAD cause. None of us had the balls to say no.

There were "Johnny Walker" ladies with handhelds registering us in line. They swiped our id cards and asked us a few questions (eg. How many drinks do you consume a month? I said 20. What do you usually prefer to drink? Bourbon, Scotch. Did you drink Johnny Walker in the last month? Nope. What brands of whiskey do you prefer? Four roses, Macallan, 1792, Woodford Reserve).

They stamped our hands and we were led directly to the top floor, handed one token to exchange for one drink, a small selection of appetizers and told that we have a half hour to consume food and beverage before heading downstairs for a one hour presentation. I'm thinking "oh no, this is going to be like a time share presentation". They give you alcohol in exchange for wasting an hour of your life listening to a salesman sell you their product. We started looking for escape routes.

But then our "host" announced that we were in for a tasting treat of five of the Johnny Walker labels, So, we obligingly followed the masses like obedient lemmings to the presentation room where we were seated in neat rows of eight to 12 with three glasses of two gulps worth of liquor, a business card case, an eye dropper, a glass of water, four strawberries in a bowl, pepper in a dish and a mini Johnny Walker lapel pin. Huge projection screens covered the walls.

Each Johnny Walker label (black, red, gold, green, and blue) had it's own intro video and history told to us by the MC. We tasted all five labels, two of which were presented in different glasses by the "Johnny Walker" ladies complete with with the alcohol sniffing, water dilution, and strawberry with pepper test.

There were about 90+ of us and our photos were taken and will likely be used for their future marketing purposes. Upon leaving, my friend and I got our money's worth. We took the eye dropper and the prettiest glass they served our whiskey in. Johnny, we will keep walking, right out the door.

Fatiqued to Fantastic!

2010-04-23T14:48:00.000-07:00

Doesn't work..probably because the expiration date listed is 12/2007.

the 'loin characters

2010-04-22T14:50:00.000-07:00

I don't like to drive my car in the city and if I could walk, bike or bus it to my destination, I'll do it. Last night, I had plans to see Camera Obscura at GAMH. Biking was an option but GAMH isn't in the nicest part of town and I didn't want to exit a concert and find my lock, bike-less on a parking meter.

So, I bused it on the "Dirty 8", got off one stop past the one I should have gotten off at and found myself in the heart of the Tenderloin. There's nothing "tender" about this neighborhood.

Rather than walk straight up O'Farrell, I went up a block to Geary, a slightly safer street to walk on and where Edinburgh bar is located. Two blocks later, there's police cars lighting flares to cordon off the intersection where a Toyota Prius (no driver to be seen) with a cracked windshield, a bag of bloody groceries spewed by the front bumper, and a blood stain under the left tire sat. No sign of a victim or victims. Just a bunch of rubberneckers watching the police nonchalantly do their job so I assumed the ambulance came and went. I kept walking.

A block later, two bearded hipsters of fixed gear bikes riding the wrong way on Geary (Geary is a one-way street) are honked at by a taxi. And guess what the self-righteous hipsters do? They yelled obcenities at the taxi driver, spat on his vehicle and continued to ride against one way traffic toward the squad of police officers at the next intersection. I hoped they got ticketed. I kept walking.

Another block, a drug deal plain as day was going down while some poor soul was shooting up in a doorway of a boarded up storefront. I just kept walking.

Bruised, battered and biking

2010-04-20T23:50:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, I rode my bike after my return from vacation. Rather than take a leasurly trip along flat, well marked bike paths, I accepted the challenge of riding to the Marin Headlands with my friend as my guide. A trip to the Headlands required clipless pedals to make the hill climbs easier on the legs.

I was excited and nervous about the ride. For one, my balance sucks and two, I haven't ridden with clipless since forever. Because of this, I pretty much set myself up to fall at least once while unclipping to stop.

We rode out that warm afternoon, taking the shortest route to Presidio for the short and narrow climb to the Golden Gate Bridge. Once there, I successfully navigated across, following close behind my friend. Once we got to the other side, he failed to mention the hill climb up to the Headlands. He knew the route and fortunately for me, a section of the roads were closed to cyclists. We weren't sure why but I was relieved. My friend really wanted to ride to the Headlands so we took a different route. There were more cars on the road than usual which made me all the more nervous. Undaunted, we made it to Fort Cronkite and where I had my first fall. I turned on an incline, stopped and failed to unclip fast enough. I fell on my left. It was a soft fall but I managed to bruise my left palm, left shin and thigh.

A little shaken and embarrassed, I laughed it off and we rode up to Battery Mendell. The views are gorgeous from there. It was just after 4p and time to head back. We hustled down the road, through one tunnel and across the bridge. At the end of the bridge, there's a sharp and narrow right turn down a steep path that leads to the Presidio. I didn't take the turn sharp enough, my front tire hit a pipe jutting out of the concrete path and I fell on my right side, hard. There wasn't time to lie there and groan. I unclipped, slid out from under my bike and moved off to the side. I was in a blind turn and I didn't want to be run over by another cyclist and cause a bike pile up. My right side was throbbing and sore. I was hurting too much to be embarrassed when cyclists rounded that corner and asked me if I was ok. I kept saying "oww, oww, oww". My friend suggested I rest to get my bearings before riding off. I must have been shaking. I just wanted to get home. I sucked it up and we rode back as quickly as possible. This time, he rode behind me to keep an eye on me.

I made it back safely and now I have matching bruises on both sides of my body; both palms, both thighs, both shins, both upper arms and a big ol' one on my ass. I look beaten up.

another a-line cut

2010-03-25T09:13:00.000-07:00

In preparation for summer time and my trip to Hawaii next week, I went in for cleaner A-line cut.

Here's the before pics:

And here are the after pics:

Notice a difference? Yeah, I don't either. Looks like I paid $40 for a trim and if you look closely, you'll see that the right side is longer than the left. Now I have to return to the hair salon and have it fixed today.

two large dogs + burbs + rain = migraine

2010-03-02T09:22:00.000-08:00

Because I'm a nice person and I was asked nicely, albeit last minute, I'm dog-sitting Diesel, a German Shepherd with ADHD, for the next three days in the East Bay. I don't usually dog-sit but I figured my dog, Solan, might like the company and a little doggie socialization never hurts.

I arrived late last night, dropped off my things and let the kids out to do their business. Diesel, still a rambunctous teenager, ran circles around Solan. He jumped on him, nipped his face, and was essentially everywhere at once. Solan, with his grandpa like movements, strolled through the grass, leasurely sniffed things and wandered off at a turtle's pace. When I called them back if they traveled out of view, Diesel would come bounding toward me full speed while Solan would stare in my direction but appear to not "see" me and then wander away again.

Solan's an ancient turtle compared to Diesel. It's like pairing a teenager with a 90+ year old grandpa and grandpa wants to take a stick and whack the teenager in submission but is too tired and weak to pick up the stick.

This is the burbs. There's nothing out here but residences, a mini shopping center, and a gas station. The center of town and the nearest bart station is a 15 min. drive away. The nearest large shopping center is in Walnut Creek, about 15 miles away. No one walks around the neighborhood. I didn't see a single soul when I arrived. It was just me watching two German shepherds piss all over the place.

Then it started raining. We were all indoors by that time. I was trying very hard not to organize things and clean up. It's not my apartment but I can't stand staring at clutter. It irked me. Despite being told that the apartment was cleaned up before I arrived, I begged to differ. I look like I took a beating from the waist down from bumping into furniture and tripping up on stuff on the floor. I'm sure a hurricane came through his place. I lived with this person for a number of years and I knew he was messy but comparing his apartment now to when we lived together, I was the housekeeper that kept our home orderly and clean. He had it good.

Back to the rain. I had to let the dogs out before bedtime. They ran amok before I gathered them back inside where they proceeded to shake the water off their coats while I struggled to wipe them down with a towel. Fun. Then the whining started. On and off, all night.

2010 parade

2010-02-28T15:34:00.000-08:00

My friend and I ventured out to the crowded streets of downtown SF to watch the Chinese New Year parade last night. It was a parade viewing first for her and over 15 years since the last time I watched a parade.

A few photos from the parade below:

10 yrs

2010-02-20T15:42:00.000-08:00

With nearly 11 years at one company under my belt, I was rewarded with an anniversary dinner last night with the owner of the company along with several other 10+ yr coworkers, at the Ritz Carlton dining room.

Below was our multi-course meal with wine pairings for each. A very pleasant experience.
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BLUE FIN TUNA SASHIMI
wasabi, ryuhi konbu, ponzu gelée, soy sauce

ABALONE
shiitake mushrooms, baby leeks, dashi broth

TURBOT
black truffles, carrot ravioli, black truffle sauce

STONINGTON MAINE SEA SCALLOPS
savoy cabbage, baby green garlic, prosciutto, black truffles

HOT FOIE GRAS
spiced huckleberry compote, brioche, pineapple reduction with longpepper, vanilla salt

CAULIFLOWER RAVIOLI
baby onions, chard, green garlic, black truffles

KOBE BEEF
chanterelle mushrooms, roasted potatoes, sancho pepper reduction

Fun times on MUNI

2010-01-29T08:53:00.000-08:00

I ride the 33 Stanyan to class every Thursday evening. It's a 40 min ride that cuts through Haight, the Castro, Noe Valley, to Mission. A long loopy ride but it gets me within four blocks to campus.

On my way home last night, there were four guys sitting in the rear of the bus with heavy southern accents and large duffel bags (prob their life possessions) having a conversation about the opening of the first porn shop in some town in Alabama, the heart of the bible belt. "First the porn shop, then the tattoo parlors arrived. Next thing you know, there's a stripper joint!" Funny conversation to ease drop on. Then talk turned to the pot shop opening in Oakland and how one can take classes there and learn how to grow pot. "Everything you need to know from the lights, and the sprinkler system and the chemicals. Everything! Except the plants." And then one of the four started coughing. More people in the back started coughing. I thought this was some prank people were in on where the whole bus starts coughing away except me and then the film crew jumps on board and yells, "You're on Punk'ed!"

That was not the case. The scruffy, bearded guy in the group started cursing, and yelled "why'd you do that?" and "open the windows!" The air was hazy behind me when I turned around and I breathed in and it hits me. It felt like oven cleaner in my lungs but it might have been one of those smoke canisters the swat patrol throws in barricaded buildings to smoke people out. It was awful. You had to cough. Your lungs burned from the fumes. Everyone moved away from the back and a woman told the driver to pull over. He does and we all jumped out, coughing and spitting out saliva into the bushes. It could have been a scene from a film clip about the plague.

I was halfway home so I had to stick around the bus stop. Eventually half of us filed back in and crowded up in the front seats, because the driver told us he had to stay on schedule and he would leave us there if we didn't get on. Muni bus rules, apparently.

Those four stayed on the bus and eventually got off at Haight. Figured they would be heading there with all the talk about porn and pot shops.

Even after I got home, spat a couple times, and drank a glass of soy milk (isn't that what you are supposed to do when poisoned?), it didn't help much. I hope my internal organs aren't permanently damaged.

Apple marketing failed to do their research

2010-01-27T14:03:00.000-08:00

MadTV prediction three years ahead of Apple in product naming..

net access this weekend

2010-01-22T16:24:00.000-08:00

I've been without a Verizon wireless card for some time because the one I originally used on a semi-weekend basis had to be given up to an editor at work for a convention. Convention time has come and gone and where's the f**king card? So, I email the editor I loaned it to requesting it back. Three emails and a couple phone calls later, the editor ignores my requests and essentially goes MIA.

This is irksome. I need that wireless card, dammit. We have another Verizon card but it's a pcmcia one and that doesn't fit in my laptop slot. I know I can just as easily walk several blocks to a cafe w/ my powerbook and get cranking online but it's rainy and cold and I want to surf the web in my pjs in the comfort of my home.

Then I look around and well, I have access to a slew of laptops. I can just take one that works with the pcmcia card and go with that. I install all the software I need on the loaner I plan to use and then it dawns on me, this one doesn't have a built-in video camera. Actually, none of our spare laptops do. *sigh* I can't win.

one word: FAIL

2010-01-14T16:34:00.001-08:00

So, I didn't hit my 52 posts for 2009. It was one of those years. Anyhoo, 2010 is looking better and brighter!

Recap of my Japan winter holiday forthcoming.

puffy face

2009-12-23T13:15:00.001-08:00

I wonder if I'm allergic to squid or mussels. I've eaten both in the past but just moments after having a seafood soup for lunch today at Koh Samui and the Monkey, my face feels numb. It looks like my cheeks are puffy and there's pressure around my eyes.

This is not good.

Cash strapped city looking for money

2009-12-21T11:36:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, I attended the annual Christmas family dinner on my mom's side of the family. Besides the usual potluck meal, family gift exchanging, and catching up on family gossip, the big discussion of the night regarded the notices my grandparents received from the SF Building Permits and Inspections. Apparently, there is an unauthorized 7' x 14' advertising sign plastered with film and concert posters of unknown affiliation on the side of my grandparent's rental/commercial building in the Mission. My grandparents rarely visit their building partly because the renters (immigrants paying very low rent) keep to themselves, and the person running the commercial space (supposedly, a family friend) all send their rent payment by mail.

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Several family members voiced their frustration over the city trying to bilk money from small businesses and landlords wherever they can. We all wondered where the advertising sign came from. None of us put it up. The only thing we remember is the community mural that was painted on the wall back in the early 90s.

My grandparents owned that building since the 60s and that corner store front went through numerous changes from art store to neighborhood grocery/goods store, to finally, a coffee shop.

I just listened in until I heard snippets of what really was going on. I won't go into details about it but my cousin and two uncles plan to get things cleared up today. A hassle for the family but it'll be resolved before year end.

Lindy Hop final

2009-12-14T10:17:00.000-08:00

Tonight is my dance recital final for my Lindy class. I'm a bit nervous about it since I haven't practiced in a week. The song we'll be dancing to is: My Blue Heaven by Norah Jones.

The following are the steps for the performance in 8 count.
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Sing out from closed
Texas Tommy
Wheel into closed
Side dip with extra up/down
Tuck turn to R/R
Rock step, triple step, tuck to closed
Walk forward
Barrel roll to open
Circle
Rock step, pivot (2 cts), pivot, pivot (1 ct), triple step to open
Swing out with outside turn
Leader boogie back 7&8
Follow boogie forward triple step 7&8
Circle
Walk toward audience
Dip
Turn follower behind leader and exit

___________________________

I hope I have a good lead that doesn't forget the steps. This happened last week when we took turns practicing in front of our peers. I had to stand there and wait until he remembered what to do then we rushed the next step only to pause again so he could remember. Very frustrating.

the new guy

2009-12-10T09:40:00.000-08:00

We've been hiring a number of new people to replace the ones who either left on their own accord because they were sick of working in a cut-throat environment or were let go because they couldn't handle a cut-throat environment.

Another new guy started yesterday. He's already made such a wonderful impression on me that I can certainly see how happy everyone else is in his department who think he's shaping up to be their savior.

When most people start a job on their very first day, usually politeness and a touch of easy going manners are in order. One doesn't want to push the wrong buttons with coworkers too soon. So, the new guy arrives, has his boss meeting, hr meeting, accounting meeting, and department introduction meeting. The IT department, (me) is at the bottom of the heap. No one wants to meet the IT department yet we're the ones that receive the most demanding calls in the day. So, shouldn't people be generally polite and easy going with the IT department? IT controls the servers, your link to the outside world, your mail, your printers, and your work system. Yet we receive the least amount of respect.

The new guy calls, wants a better keyboard; something not previously used. Fine, I say. I'll deliver another one. Nope, not good enough. He wants me to bring several different kinds so he can choose the one he likes best. Since we have a huge supply of every type of computer equipment in our larger than Costco warehouse, I bring up three keyboards to him. He fake types on each of them before choosing the best one that "feels good" on his fingers.

This morning, he calls to say the keyboard I delivered doesn't work. It's defective. He needs another keyboard that works. Well, the keyboard did work but the prima donna is not happy.

Honestly, people should know not to upset IT. You want something, you better be nice. You want your system to work, you better be pleasant. Our job is to make sure that your system is working smoothly so you can work efficiently. It's not our job to find you the most comfortable keyboard on the planet.

lit reading a complete wash

2009-12-09T11:10:00.000-08:00

A week ago, I received an email from one of the editors at Forum, a student run, literary mag published through the community college I'm attending. Forum planned to hold two readings for contributors of the mag to read their work to a wider audience. I wasn't able to attend the first reading which which held last Friday at noon. I responded to the email stating I would attend the second reading which was held at Park Branch Library in Haight on Tuesday evening.

I was a little skeptical about the reading events. They didn't seem to be widely publicized and despite being a student run publication, you'd think someone would have done a little marketing legwork to pull in a decent number of participants and peers.

Alas, this was not the case. Thankfully, I only invited a handful of friends to the reading, and only one of which was able to attend. We arrived at the reading a little after the stated 7p start time. I imagined that people would be running late so I didn't think there would be too many there. Lo, there were a total of five, three of which were vagrants off the street. I'm not being judgmental here. Three people really did appear to be bums. One was in a crap shoot wheel chair with a busted right wheel and missing arm rest. he wrapped himself with two grey wool blankets one would find on shelter beds and he rocked in his chair when he rolled about. The other two wore layers of dirty, grey and brown coats of different sizes that matched their dusty looking hair. and it smelled like a musty gym locker in that basement room under the library.

The only two that looked as though they had money to attend a community college sat near the front podium observing the scene before unloading a mishmash of junk food on a side table. I was embarrassed, even more so for bringing my friend. I hate to stereotype but we were dressed like socialites who accidentally walked stumbled into the local rehab shelter. I decided, "screw this" and we walked to Alembic for two rounds of bourbon and three hours of gossip. A much better way to end a Tues evening.

Hair chopping

2009-12-04T15:11:00.000-08:00

It's that time when I'm itching for a change and the first thing that needs to go is my unruly hair. Not all of it, mind you. It's winter time and chilly and I get cold very easily. But between getting my hair cut and having hair singed off my body, I think I'm close to being as bare as I was when I was born. Okay, not quite. I'm just preparing for the new year.

So here's the before pic looking sleepy/tired..

and my after cut pic looking alive and vibrant..

i rode the bus to school

2009-11-24T10:28:00.000-08:00

Last night, I decided to save a little gas money and the ozone by taking local transportation to City last night. It was dark by 6p on the corner of Masonic and Fulton where I waited for no less than ten minutes before the 43 arrived. There were about ten other people waiting with me and a grumpy guy in a wheelchair. I headed straight to the rear of the bus and sat down in one of the left facing side seats. I attempted to look nonchalant and bored while glancing at my fellow passengers without making direct eye contact. Then I got tired and dozed off. Head bobbing and body jerking ensued throughout the bus ride and I think I got side whip lash from the driver pounding on the accelerator and slamming on the break every 20 seconds. Total bus ride to school: 40 minutes.

After gym and dance class, I checked Nextbus for the 43 schedule so I wouldn't be waiting long in the chilly air for the bus. The 43 arrived five minutes later. There were fewer passengers on the bus after 10p, obviously. Of the passengers, several of us looked like we just got out of class; tired, withdrawn and lifeless. Then there are the interesting "others". One man who appeared to be in his mid-40s, with black hair past his shoulders and a puffy, red jacket, wore black shoes with a platform glued to the soles. The guy wasn't that short but I suppose a little extra height doesn't hurt. What was odd was that his left shoe had a higher platform, about 3 inches, than the right shoe, which only had 1.5 inch. Maybe one leg was longer than the other. Then another guy came on board and proceeded to have a one-way conversation about what he ate that day. I didn't dare take a nap on the bus. Everyone kept to themselves and no one encroached on one another's person space. The ride wasn't as jerky but it was pitch black out and I marveled at how well the driver maneuvered through the winding residential streets without sideswiping parked cars. Total time to my stop: 30 minutes.

in search of a drunk, Halloween idiot

2009-11-01T11:08:00.000-08:00

No Halloween costumes nor parties for me this year. But like every year, the neighbors throw their Halloween bash well into the wee hours of the morning. This year, one of those drunken, costumed idiots side swiped the front bumper of my car and drove off. I didn't notice the damage until after I finished Solan's morning walk. I suppose it could have been worse (it isn't) but no one likes to wake up early in the morning to see that. Boo

I'm keeping my eyes peeled for a vehicle with silver paint and damage etched on their front or rear bumper

story publication

2009-10-30T10:56:00.001-07:00

I recently received notification from the Editors at City Lit Journal, a short story and poetry magazine, that one of my submitted stories received a nod for publication pending several suggested edits.

I looked over the editor's edits and made the minor corrections they requested. They also mentioned that the "narrator's purpose is a bit too heavy handed" and thought the twist in the story could be "more subtle when the person on the bike is not telling the story." I read this several times before I realized that the editors wanted something that was less "punchy".

My story, about a bike accident, begins in 2nd person point of view before switching to first person for the story twist. That's my catch, my one-two punch, the "hinge". I'd rather not give away anymore of the story until it's actually published but I asked several people for their respected opinions on what could or could not be changed.

Thoughts about what to do swirled in my mind. I could change the 2nd person point of view to 3rd person, completely detaching the reader and narrator from the action (i.e. bike accident) before switching to 2nd person (i.e. driver reaction). Or start with 1st person (i.e. the narrator as the cyclist) and switching to 3rd person for the driver or remaining in 1st person, now as the driver. There's a number of ways I can change this but the impact in the 3rd half of the story won't carry as much weight if the narrator doesn't tell the reader that he/she is the driver and not the cyclist.

I want the story to send a message to the reader that you can be the cyclist but you can also be the driver who hit the cyclist. Victim vs. Perpetrator. Carefree vs. Impatient. It can go both ways.

I decided not to change the main story line nor the view points. Everyone has their opinions however subjective and I know I won't be able to please everyone. I've made a couple changes regarding the cyclist and left the rest as is.

We'll see what the editors have to say.

Denied?!?

2009-10-21T10:47:00.000-07:00

Well, that was embarrassing. I overcharged my credit card and couldn't pay for my portion of dinner last night. When I called Chase to see what happened, Costco finally charged me for the bedroom set I purchased nearly three weeks ago that I have yet to receive. I went right over my credit limit and got slapped with an overdraft fee.

Today, I paid off my card in full and explained to Chase how I am one of their reliable and responsible customers and if they don't help me out, I'll jump ship. Done. Fee removed.

I do need to curb my plastic card spending habits. It's getting out of hand these days.

legistation for renting to owners w/ pets

2009-10-09T09:52:00.000-07:00

It seems Animal Control and Welfare Commission is trying to pass measures requiring landlords to rent to responsible pet owners.

Currently the live release rate of pets in San Francisco animal shelters in 2008 is at 87%. That's very good considering that SF isn't exactly pet friendly.

I consider myself a responsible pet owner and I completely understand how difficult it is to find a rental apartment that allows dogs, let alone large breed ones. I agree that landlords should have the option to rent to people with pets based on how responsible the pet owner is. But it shouldn't be a legislated measure. Not everyone likes pets and some people are allergic to animals. A measure like this will only cause more grievances between landlords and renters.

why I hate Yahoo

2009-10-07T09:43:00.001-07:00

Yahoo sucks. They used to be a great company that produced quality web services and now they just suck. Some of the idiotic things that Yahoo has done include:

1. Forced installation of a Yahoo browser bar if you install anything Yahoo related like their IM program. I don't want that stupid browser bar sitting right below my firefox navigator, taking up valuable screen space. How many useless search bars do I need?

2. Yahoo IM locks out constantly and every time a Yahoo developer fixes one IM issue, they send out annoying yahoo_admin update messages. So I switched to Trillian but the Yahoo IM plugin found it's way to harass me with their updates.

3. The draft autosave in Yahoo mail doesn't work. If you don't type your email and save As Draft or send it out within 10 minutes, you're logged off. Log back in and lo and behold, your message is gone! I've wasted so much time typing one email over and over again until I got fed up and started typing it in Word just so I could copy and paste it to yahoo. It's ridiculous and annoying.

Yahoo can't seem to get their shit together. Every mail program I know has an autosave program that works. I wish they would just copy the code off google, like everyone else and fix their mail program.

4. Yahoo's search algorithms find obscure and useless information I don't need. Did I say useless? Enough said.

sign me up!

2009-09-22T14:17:00.000-07:00

So, this is where all the hot men are..

Dating Montage
by smithy00101

_______________________________________

A friend of mine invited me to this event but he's not attending because he's not even in the state of CA, but thinks I should go so I would shut up about my non-existent dating life.

Almost as hilarious as the video, following is the invitation with my comments in bold:

Are those old, tired ass lines pickup lines never worked on me from The Game no longer getting you fresh meat or veggies? Your furry hat and ridiculous neck tattoo no longer making the grade as you peacock your way around San Francisco looking for True Love? Does a see through top and mini skirt count as peacocking?

Is every bar seat at your local watering hole occupied by some shameful and regretful drunken make out session, forcing you to drink at home alone until you black out watching your crappy Netflix movies? Yes and Yes

All your friends are married, engaged, with child, old, boring, lame, generally uninterested or have given up on the idea of sex? It's called "Dry Spell"

Have you given up on Match.com? Only when my subscription expired Don’t have the attention span to fill out your profile for eHarmony? Been there, done that Casual Encounters on Craigslist left you afraid and shivering in a corner? The photos did Do you just want to HOOK UP WITH SOME HOT PIECE OF ASS? Yes, please

Well, we’re tired of hearing you guys bitch about getting no ass and not doing a damn thing about it. I'm trying but they leave the country..wait, what does that say about me? We are here to give you a reason to get on the pill again! (or at least a reason to buy some decent condoms well stocked with the Kirkland brand that are not free on the streets of the Castro.)

Here’s the scoop – you’re single. You invite ANOTHER single friend those are few and far between(any sex, any orientation but preferably interesting, friendly, and not insane). Arrive at House of Shields, pick up your complimentary drink free booze! and mingle with other singles that are six degrees apart from you.

You wonder why those ugly people are in a relationship? BECAUSE THEY TRIED OUR TIME-HONORED METHODS. Now you can too -- Either HOOK UP OR GO HOME!

there are alternatives to what I want and patience is not one of them

2009-09-21T13:45:00.001-07:00

Nearly two months have passed since my little hiccup/drunk/empty stomach/falling face first on concrete accident. Okay, more like six weeks and that huge, dime sized scar below my eye has not faded away yet. Every other person who's never attended medical school tells me that it's still healing because it's a bruise or whatever. I don't believe them.

I visited my dermatologist that I haven't seen since 2006 for a medical opinion. She gave me the same prognosis. It's still healing and there's swelling and looks like a bruise but will eventually fade. blah blah. When will it fade? Six months to a year. NOOO! Unacceptable. She would not even sell me any bleaching cream. So, I went to a beauty spa the following week which surprisingly was SPA WEEK! What timing! Discounts abound! I went crazy and signed up for laser hair removal also.

An hour later, I got my Obagi cream and went around telling my friends what I acquired to their harsh disapproval. I'm prone to have skin allergies from certain soaps, perfumes and a particular hairy ex-boyfriend so I thought I'd be careful with bleaching cream and do a tester on a year old shoulder scar.

I read the reviews on Obagi and it's one of the most popular hydroquinine creams out there to fade scars and tone skin with a 90% success rate. The other 10% suffered from skin rashes or scars that darkened.

I'm only on the second day of bleaching cream usage and I think I've got a slight rash on my shoulder. Damn. I might be in the 10% group. It's possible that the rash is from my bra strap so I'll wait a day or two to see if it goes away. If not, that's $90 of hope down the tube.

break my fall

2009-08-21T10:58:00.000-07:00

warm feelings at the DMV

2009-08-20T11:34:00.000-07:00

After carelessly driving and texting while driving for the last two weeks, my bank teller notified me the other day that my license expired. "Really? That's not good." I said and walked away wondering why I never received a DMV notification earlier. One look at my driver license and it dawned on me that I never bothered to change my address. Why didn't I correct this detail? Because if my license was stolen, the thief would not A) know where I live and stalk me, or B) would break into someone else's home and not mine. Yeah, this is my rational thinking at work. My glass is always half empty so I'm vigilantly prepared. You never know if someone attempts to break into your home. I wanted to install these booby trap iron stakes that drop down from our flat entrance in case a burglar manages to bypass the gate but my family would have none of that. We compromised and had pinhole cameras installed instead.

Anyway, I tried to make a DMV appointment but the earliest I could get was a month later. The non-appointment visit would have to do and I spent the day watching the wait-time monitor online for the best window of time to visit.

The next day, I left work early, arrived at the DMV office at the tail end of everyone's lunch break, and was 8th in the non-appt line. I received my form, filled it out, returned to the form monitor for my number and sat in an uncomfortable, plastic school cafeteria chair and waited until my lower back started hurting. Half an hour later, my number was called.

The bored looking young man behind the counter didn't look especially happy to be working there. He was all business in a dark plaid shirt and black framed glasses. His movements were meticulous and routine. He must have been doing this line of work for years. I handed him my paper work and he went about reading it, correcting my bad penmanship, stamping it, reading it some more, requesting I sign it, stamping it again, and having me initial it. Every so often he would glance up at me, probably to make sure I didn't grow bored and wander off or start yelling in broken English for no reason like the older gentleman four booths down from us.

I paid the fee, took the eye test, signed my John Hancock several times before being directed to the photo line. No thank you, or have a nice day. He just looked at me with a "go away now, I'm busy" glare. The photo line took another 15 minutes and the lady taking the photos was rather pleasant. She was cheery and actually conversed with me! It was like meeting a real human being at the DMV. Total time for my visit, 1:25:00. Not as miserable as I thought it would be and because of my spotless driving record, I didn't have to take the written test. The studying I did was all for naught.

lunch time!

2009-08-18T15:33:00.001-07:00

Usual lunch fare when I'm too lazy to leave the office for food.

You don't want to go shop anywhere?

2009-08-07T09:52:00.000-07:00

My mom has the day off work today. I'm taking another sick day off work. We are at home and my mom decides that she doesn't want to waste her day off sitting around. She doesn't know how to drive. What transpires this morning...

Mom: "why don't we see a movie and then go shopping at Tanforan?"

Me: "I don't want to shop. Look at me? I look like someone took a stick to my face."

Mom: "well, you can sit in the car."

Me: "what? I'm not sitting in the car while you shop."

Mom: "what about the movie? People will see you anyway. What's the difference?"

Me: "it's dark in the theater, mom."

Mom: "Fine. We can go to Sports Basement."

Me: "I'm not going there. People I know will see me."

Mom: "Then what do you want to do?"

Me: "Stay home and wallow in self misery."

Mom: "So, we are not having lunch either? Unless you want to find a dark place to eat also."

Me: "you told me this morning that I look awful. Now you want me to walk around in public? I'll have to tell people who ask what happened was that you beat me up."

Mom: "Dont be silly. Say dad did it."

I'm a fall risk

2009-08-06T10:20:00.000-07:00

As I get older, I've realized that I'm either becoming more irresponsible or just plain stupid. Things generally happen for a reason but most things can be avoided. I have lost that knack of avoiding accidents.

Yesterday was my birthday. I had no plans other than to go to work then track practice after. The same thing I do most Wednesdays. But since it was my birthday and my friends wanted to treat me for a drink, I obliged.

At the pub, I had my first shot of Patron and spent the better part of the hour socializing and sipping my Stella slowly. Then another round of shots and I downed my second one. At this point, I already had a good buzz going. It's time to stop but I got caught up in the moment and had one last shot for the night. The last shot gave me the hiccups. On an empty stomach, hiccups are not good to have.

I don't like hiccups. They hurt especially after a core workout that left my stomach muscles sore. And what do I usually do to rid myself of hiccups? I hold my breath. Generally this works for me but I had trouble doing so in the bar so I excused myself and headed outside for a little fresh air.

I sat on the bench outside and held my breath. This is where things are not too clear. I was groggy and awoke on the concrete while several people were asking me questions if I was okay. I don't remember much other than hearing a woman say that I fell off the bench and landed on my head.

I was able to get up and sit on the bench but my head and face was throbbing and I couldn't open my eyes. I kept touching the left side of my face and wondering if I broke the same bones I had surgery on nearly a year ago.

One guy to the right of me kept asking me questions about where I was, what I remember, and if I knew what happened. The conversation went something like this..

"Do you know where you are?" he asked.

"The city", I said.

"Which city?"

"The city", I repeated.

Realizing that the question was going nowhere, he asked, "What's your name? Do you know your name?"

"uh, my head hurts." I said.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Eileen." I mumbled.

"Where did you come from? Were you running and you fell?"

"No, came from the bar." I said.

From there he was able to get names of my friends and went in the bar to let them know I fell down.

Next thing I know, I'm escorted back inside, told to sit down and handed an ice pack for my face. Talk among my friends about taking me to the ER and having my head checked out and realizing I did something incredibly stupid, I started crying and kept apologizing for ruining everyone's evening.

I just wanted to go home and nurse my wounds but my friend took me to the ER anyway. We checked in and sat around for an hour waiting. The nurse came by and took my blood pressure and temperature. The doc took a look at me, asked a couple questions and decided a CT scan was in order since I landed on my face and head. There were no other scrapes other than on my face and knees which means I fell face first onto the concrete. And the left side at that. The one I tend to favor to break my falls.

The nurse returned and handed me a bright yellow wrist band with the words "Fall Risk" and a pair of yellow socks.

Apparently, there's a whole color coded system that hospitals use with patients who are prone to falling in the hospital to reduce error in patient care. They are: white for patient identification, purple for do not resuscitate, red for allergy and yellow for fall risk. I'm glad the nurse didn't give me a pair of purple socks and purple wrist band.

Again, we waited and waited and I took a bathroom break. When I returned, the nurse gave me a cup and asked for a urine sample. What? I told her I just used the restroom and why didn't she ask me earlier. She forgot. So, I drank copious amounts of water and handed her my sample. Then more waiting before finally being wheeled out to the CT room. The CT was completed and I was wheeled back. More waiting around for the results. The nurse took my blood pressure again (90 over 53) and told me that I must either be really fit or suffer from hypertension. I told her my heart rate can drop to 43 when I'm in a deep sleep so I'm likely just very fit. Of course, I didn't mention that I get dizzy and faint sometimes when I stand up too fast or go from light to dark environments and vice versa.

The doc returned with the results, a copy of my CT, and I was allowed to go home. I should receive a Darwin award. Between falling off my bike and landing on my face, tripping up and rolling a computer cart over my ankle, falling off a curb while opening my car door, walking into a pole while walking my dog, banging my shoulder into a door frame I didn't see, falling on my knees down the bart escalators while trying to catch a train, and smacking my face with a tree branch, this incident takes the prize. Not only do I have a hospital wrist band that says "Fall Risk" (which I plan to wear often) but I also have one that lists my DOB and ADM as the same day. Lucky me.

Today, my nose and left cheek is sore and red from the scraped up raw skin and my neck is stiff. And I'm still hungry and dehydrated.

after work run

2009-07-21T22:19:00.000-07:00

After work, I drove to Lake Merced for my second to last run before Sunday’s race. I parked and did my usual 4.61 mile loop as quickly as possible. This was supposed to be a leasurely run but I always end up going faster than I planned. A third of the way around the lake, I passed a dark haired guy in t-shirt and shorts listening to his ipod. When I got to the halfway point, the southern edge of the lake, I saw the same guy that I passed earlier in front of me. Apparently, he cut across the bridge and shortened his running distance by a half mile. Eventually I caught up to him and as I’m about to pass, he kicks it into high gear, huffing and puffing to get ahead. WTF? Was this guy serious? Last I checked this wasn’t a race but I guess he didn’t want me to pass him twice. So, I picked up the pace and we’re running neck and neck except I’m not wheezing. I wasn’t going to exert all my energy just to pass a guy that feels a need to beat me when I ran an extra half mile and still managed to catch up to him. So, I let him sprint to the parking lot where I could just imagine his ego was self inflating. Then he stopped to walk! And I ran past. That guy has no endurance whatsoever.

I don’t know why some men feel a need to do that. It happens during races, on training runs, wherever. My girlfriends all have the same story..so and so didn’t want me to pass so he sprinted ahead only to slow down and then he got all pissed off that I beat him to the finish line. But not without having some excuse for his bad performance like “oh, my leg cramped up” or “I biked 40 miles earlier” or some stupid reason to justify why he was beaten by a girl. So damn annoying…

pains of being too late

2009-07-13T12:53:00.000-07:00

As usual, my timing is way off. This seems to happen to me quite often lately.

Pains of Being Pure at Heart are sold out at Rickshaw and I had sent out an email last week to friends about it. Now I have to tell a bunch of my peeps that it's a no go. Sad face..

chinese medicine goodness

2009-07-11T14:24:00.000-07:00

While perusing through the kitchen cabinet that stores the family drugs, I came across a box of wholesome Chinese medicine. The box looked a bit old ($2.99 price tag on bottom) and unused but when I opened it to see what herbal goodies were inside, I found only two 10ml vials when once there were six. Someone in this family was taking this stuff.

To my surprise, this medicine came from the Guangzhou Pangoushou Pharmaceutical Factory. My grandparents originated from Guangzhou which must mean that we purchased this for a reason. Besides all the chinese characters on the box that I can't read, the English translation on the back read as follows:

"SHEDAN CHUANBEI YE is prepared with Snake's biles and Fritillariae. It is a traditional prescription for the treatment of cough. It has been clinically verified by Guangdong Province Chinese Traditional Hospital, Guangzhou second Hospital and five other hospitals that this preparation has a remarkable effect for the treatment of symptoms such as sputum, cough, panting and chest oppresssion caused by trachitis, bronchitis and chronic bronchitis. The total effective rate is 96.8% with the remarkable effective rate of 76.8%....It was awarded medals of Achievements of Technical Exploitation by Guangdong Province and of Great Technical Progress Contribution by Guangzhou City in 1984 and 1985 as well as the medal of Superior Quality Product by Guangdong Province in 1986."

So I opened a vial and downed one like a liquor shot before proceeding to cough it back up. The snake's bile ended up coating my mouth and I had to wash it down with water. Let's see if I go into a coma in the next 24 hours. At least someone who reads this blog will know exactly what I took and can tell my doctor.

Mission Creek

2009-07-11T11:05:00.000-07:00

Mission Creek Arts and Music Fest is nearly upon us! Why didn't I realize this before? Cause I'm sick and I need someone to teach me how to spit out phlegm. I'm doing a bad job of it and it's grossing me out.

Anyway, back to Mission Creek. I love this festival because they promote local musicians, artists, writers, designers and filmmakers us common folk haven't come across before. The music does lean toward the folksy/jazz side but that's all right. I'm usually more interested in checking out the poetry/readings and short films. Joy! I'll have to figure out how to schedule my lack of free time next week for this.

fatigued

2009-07-06T14:03:00.000-07:00

I'm way behind on my posts but whatever. I think I'm coming down with a cold. I was fine Saturday but now I have this awful, itchy scratchy sore throat and light-headedness that comes and goes in waves. If it goes away in a week, I'll have a very clear idea where I got it from since this has happened before...

ack! what have I been doing?

2009-06-05T12:35:00.001-07:00

okay, I'm a little behind here.

In a nutshell..

1) Finished off the Spring semester @ City in a frazzled rush
2) Left for Europe the following day
3) Explored Paris and attended my friend's wedding
4) Flew to Spain; explored Madrid before overnighting it by train to Barcelona. Night train was an adventure with a screaming baby and middle-aged women yelling at me in Spanish
5) Explored Barcelona off little sleep, no showering and lots of cafe con leches
6) Primavera Fest! Need I say more?
7) Returned home 30 hrs later for work the next day, bug-eyed and just as frazzled
8) Prepping for the start of TNT Summer, dodgeball, and triathlon training.
9) Officially back in the swing of things.

And my flat is still not habitable for another three months..

Child sitting for the busy parent

2009-05-13T20:21:00.000-07:00

Put your kid in a hamster ball then go off and do your own thing.

Apparently, a child care center will soon open in San Mateo with these hamster balls for children. Only the overworked Chinese would think of such a thing.

how cool is this?

2009-04-29T09:55:00.001-07:00

7 HD projectors creating a 3D palate on the Old Mint in SF

i love Solan

2009-04-23T09:27:00.000-07:00

#1 dog site for dogs & bipeds!

Tax Day!

2009-04-15T11:50:00.000-07:00

It's Tax Day and what better way to celebrate the deadline to pay the government more of our hard earned money than arriving to work and walking on squishy carpet down the hallway to my cube only to find out that there was a sewage backup in my building last night.

Joy. I would post photos but A)I don't want to gross anyone out and, B) my gag reflex is not working too well after breathing in the bleach and lysol building management used to "clean" the poop stained carpet this morning.

in case of an earthquake..

2009-04-01T16:01:00.000-07:00

Here's a wonderful Earthquake quiz created by the SF Department of Emergency Management. This is new to me. I didn't even know we had an Emergency Management Dept but I suppose it makes sense given that we leave in EARTHQUAKE County!

So I took this quiz and got all except this one correct. Who remains in bed and puts a pillow over their head as earthquake protection? Not me since I tend to sleep through earthquakes.

See if you can ace this quiz!

contaminated pistachios

2009-03-31T09:33:00.000-07:00

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/31/MN4916PQ9P.DTL

While watching this broadcast on CBS, my family and I were chowing down on a large bag of Costco brand salt and pepper pistachios...

Feeling the crunch

2009-03-20T11:12:00.000-07:00

I'm taking one little hit after another until the ax finally falls...

Selling my time for a good cause

2009-03-13T12:35:00.000-07:00

Last night was the 4th annual TnT Bachelor/Bachelorette auction, which I volunteered my time to help my friends fundraise for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. I was one of the "bachelorettes" auctioned off and fifth in line to stand up on the bar, look pretty, and smile into the surly, drunken crowd below. It was embarrassing, nerve-wracking, and I probably won't do this again.

When my name was called, I made my way to the end of the bar and had trouble getting up there. My dress was a bit too form fitting and I was forced to hike it up. There I stood, making a conscious point to suck in my stomach and not slouch. Starting bid was at $50 and went up in $25 increments. It was over in two minutes. A couple friends bid on me and kept the bidding going but after a point, it died off and I was sold for a solid amount. The date activity I was given was a wine tasting certificate to Beringer's. I'd complain about that but I'll keep my mouth shut and just say the guy that won me with a trip to Beringer's got a very raw deal.

Solan is not "elderly"

2009-03-10T14:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Solan's birthday. He turned 7 years old which I suppose would translate to 49 dog years. In preparation for his big day which consisted of nothing special, I took Solan to PetFoodExpress for his monthly wash. He was not happy about this. If anything, he was displeased with me but did not fight me probably because there were so many dogs getting baths that same day also.

One of the store workers asked me how old Solan is and when I told him, he said Solan just entered the "elderly" stage of life. My dog doesn't look "elderly". He might have a little white hairs on his chin and around his ears, but he's still as fit and full of energy as a young two year old. I mean, look at the picture above! Full of LIFE!

Elderly is not Solan. Far from it. He's an adult dog with premature aging. Solan is like Anderson Cooper, the CNN news anchor..hair turning white prematurely but still very active. And I'm sure Solan is gay also.

friday morning

2009-02-13T10:58:00.000-08:00

numbness

2009-02-11T15:05:00.001-08:00

It is exactly five months to the day of my "reconstructive" surgery and my left cheek STILL feels like someone shot me up with too high a dose of Novocaine. Ugh, nerve damage sucks. My friend thinks I should look on the bright side. If someone slaps me across the left cheek, it won't sting so much as tingle...sort of like a brain freeze after slurping down a large iced mocha frappuchino in five seconds. Wonderful.

oh, drat...

2009-01-29T10:12:00.000-08:00

I'm taking a couple courses at City to get back into student mode and see if I can hack it before I consider applying to grad school. It's only been three weeks and I'm already behind in one class. I completely missed a class exercise deadline because I thought the work wasn't due until next Monday. Oh, well. Only 8 points lost out of 500 to earn.

Where's my priorities? I need to re-organize my social calendar and stop going out so often.. :(

what was that about?

2009-01-27T11:53:00.000-08:00

While riding Bart this morning on my way to work, the train exits the underground tunnel between Balboa and Glen Park and travels along side the 280 freeway. I was standing, facing the freeway when I see this guy in the passenger seat of a pickup truck raise his hand and give us all the finger before speeding along ahead of the train.

I think I was the only one that noticed that guy giving us all the bird. Nice way to start my work day.

my first "reading"

2009-01-12T09:12:00.000-08:00

I've always wanted my future read by a palm reader/fortune teller/prophet/whatever and last night I had my first "reading".

I was at Cafe du Nord to support my friend's band and met several of his friends there. Everyone was pleasant and friendly especially one particular woman. She seemed to know everyone in the group and talked a mile a minute; very high energy and in overdrive..all the time.

Without actually getting to know me or ask me specific questions other than "are you single?" I must have had my "humor me cause I'm a skeptic" game face on because she decided to give me my first reading regarding my future dating life.

She told me that dating is not a numbers game for me (true, only because I exhausted that option last year); that I'm very knowledgeable in a lot of subjects and have a lot of interests hence why I get along with a variety of different people (true); that the reason I get asked out a lot is that I always put myself out there (FALSE! I rarely get asked out despite going out often); that I need to find someone who's quirky (that's just another way of saying "odd, socially inept, and lives in a trailer park with pet rats"); and that I should just enjoy the journey and that person whoever it might be will eventually find me if I stop trying so hard. Did I look desperate?

After her explanation, I suddenly felt like the air was sucked out of my body. It was as though she told me that I'm in a non-categorized group and there's not a single soul out there that would be a decent match and I should look elsewhere like another planet or something but there is hope if I just wait. Oh, and she suggested I spend more time with my girlfriends. Huh? I didn't understand that comment.

I have a "sexy" job

2009-01-07T09:59:00.000-08:00

According to a Careerbuilding.com writer on MSN, my job has more sex appeal than even I imagined..

From 10 Sexy Careers..

"....if power is sexy, then these men and women probably outrank everyone. Whether you're low on the totem pole or an executive, if you can't open your e-mail account or figure out why your monitor is flickering, you call IT. In many offices, IT workers have the most lax dress code of all the departments, so you can't help but envy them."

working in a freezer box

2009-01-06T12:58:00.000-08:00

Wearing my scarf, coat and mittens, I am shivering in my office. It's like working in the freezer of a grocery store. The building AC didn't work yesterday and everyone was cold. Today, building maintenance turned the AC on and it's warm and toasty everywhere else except in the IT room, where cool air is spewing out of the vents. It's as though the AC is taking all the cold air from every floor and every suite and blowing it right into our room.

My coworkers and I complained all morning and maintenance arrived for the fourth time to turn our thermastat to 85. I'm just starting to thaw now.

Happy 2009!

2009-01-01T09:51:00.000-08:00

don't piss my dog off..

2008-12-29T16:17:00.001-08:00

My Top Ten Local Bands of 08

2008-12-29T11:10:00.000-08:00

In no particular order:

Morning Benders
Audrye Sessions
Magic Bullets
Birdmonster
The Hundred Days
Film School
French Disco
Tracing Figures
Lovemakers
Persephones Bees

the curious case of this hollywood film

2008-12-24T09:19:00.000-08:00

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button will be showing in theaters tomorrow, Christmas Day, and when the trailers, advertising/marketing ads came out a couple months ago, I thought, WOW! Hollywood made a movie based off one of my favorite novels, Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer. I got excited and told everyone I knew that this film is from Greer's novel.

But, oddly enough, this Hollywood movie is supposedly based on one of F. Scott Fitzgerald's short stories written back in the 1920s. I went to the library yesterday, found Fitzgerald's short story, which is about 20 or so pages long, and his story doesn't match the film at all. The film is largely based on Greer's novel. Did Hollywood take an idea from Fitzgerald, find Greer's novel, a bestseller since 2004, and write the script to match Greer's storyline?

Here's an interesting podcast of Albom interviewing Greer and you can decide if Hollywood took liberties with Greer's novel and falsely credited Fitzgerald.

Oh, and Happy HOLIDAYS!

last showing of Milk @ Castro theater

2008-12-23T22:10:00.000-08:00

who else is at work today?

2008-12-23T11:03:00.001-08:00

I'm researching for my future trip to Barcelona, shopping for deals, deciding what continuing education courses to take, and eating lots of truffles and holiday cookies lying around the office.

It's quiet and I should take the opportunity to get my work done but honestly, I can finish everything in an hour or two and I still have tomorrow in the office to look forward to.

why I deserve coal on christmas

2008-12-12T12:38:00.001-08:00

Based on what I did today and the lame excuses I have to justify it..

1) Stepped on the back of a woman's heel while getting off Bart this morning and didn't apologize. (I was in a rush)
2) Cut open a chocolate pastry, took all the chocolate out of it and left the bread part. (I was craving chocolate)
3) Carefully sliced the sugary coating off a donut and left the doughy, plain part for someone else. (I needed sugar)
4) Called a friend on my cell by accident and hung up. Friend called back and I didn't answer. (Blamed the iphone)
5) Returned a dress I wore to a party after deciding it wasn't worth keeping. (I had it dry cleaned before the return)
6) Removed someone's lunch from the microwave in mid-cook so I could heat my lunch. Person arrived, took their lunch and I didn't say anything. (I was hungry)

The day is only half over.

port-a-potty problem

2008-12-10T12:02:00.000-08:00

Our remodeling has taken much longer than we expected and the number of contractors we hired over the course of this project requested a port-a-potty in front of the flat so they wouldn't have to make the one block trek to the Starbucks or Lucky's to use the restrooms.

My brother found a portable toilet renting company in the bay area and had one placed next to our front tree several months ago. Other than the student renters on our block who have tossed their cigarette butts, soda cans and other garbage in there, we've been fortunate that toilet vandalism hasn't occurred, until yesterday.

We were notified by the port-a-potty "cleaner" that there was a lock on the door and he wasn't able to clean it. We have never locked it before so my brother called all the contractors who worked for us and asked them about it. No one knew. Was this a prank by one of the student renters in the neighborhood? Who would create such an inconvenience for us? My brother checked it out. The lock was brand new.

My family and I started speculating while watching "Fringe", the sci-fi drama, and ideas about conspiracies filled our heads. Who's against our remodel? Are the neighbors planning to gang up on us? What if they break into the flat by way of the garage doors and set the place on fire? We all got riled up, shouting ensued and I threatened to put a note on every neighbor's front door to sleuth out who put that lock on our port-a-potty.

So, my dad had enough. He woke up early this morning, drove to the flat, and with a hack saw and large pliers since liquid nitrogen wasn't readily available, broke the lock, and found a life's worth of a homeless person's belongings. Piles of stuff in heavy duty garbage bags. He tossed the bags to the side and put our own padlock on the door. Then he called and angrily told me what he did and that I better not "act like some vigilante" and harass the neighbors tonight. Okay, Dad. I won't start gang warfare in my neighborhood now that the port-a-potty problem was solved.

before and after

2008-12-04T12:39:00.001-08:00

Before the chop-chop and hair dye.

The horror after I couldn't style it the way the stylist did it.

Feast for your eyes

2008-11-27T11:45:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

local band snapshot

2008-11-25T09:20:00.000-08:00

Phil Benson fronting Magic Bullets @ Independent last night.

PC Magazine closing doors to print

2008-11-19T14:20:00.000-08:00

It's been circulating for some time and now, the news is out. PC Mag has closed it's doors to print and will pool all their resources into online.

PCWorld, a long time competitor to PC Mag, will still maintain their print magazine but what will become of it in the future? Will PCWorld follow suit and become 100% digital?

O'Reilly dissed my hometown

2008-11-18T18:26:00.001-08:00

I read the Huffington Post weekly and I found this story about SF, besides one sided, rather amusing.

A couple things I wanted to point out:
O'Reilly mentioned that SF was "once a working class town blessed with natural beauty". It still IS! If Fox News only focused on the seedy side of the city, what can you expect? He also said that "almost every city has a tenderloin district...the North Beach in San Francisco is that." Really? Last I checked, they are two distinct neighborhoods. Someone at Fox didn't do their homework. But this last statement from Jesse Watters (the Fox producer), proclaimed "almost every single neighborhood..has a dark underbelly that seeps into the regular society." I wonder where the "dark underbelly" is located in my neighborhood. I should check it out.

And why am I watching Fox News? I want to find out what the enemy is up to..

while I'm chewing my gummi bears...

2008-11-07T16:11:00.001-08:00

I realize that they are of the male species. Gummi = chewy = male.

CA prop 8 voting results

2008-11-07T10:44:00.000-08:00

Although I am disappointed with the final results, we sometimes forget that not everyone living in California are liberal minded. Look how many counties voted "Yes".

The influx of Mormons petitioning for the ban and the excessive amount of money they put into their ad campaign paid off. That was their plan, according to my uncle who is a devout Mormon. Most people don't know that a part of my extended family on my father's side are Mormon. During the rare family visits, my brother and I find ourselves discussing their religious points of view versus ours and we've learned to respect each others' point of view and agree to disagree. Because in the end, change is inevitable and when it's time, it will happen.

"really?"

2008-11-05T09:26:00.000-08:00

OBAMA DAY!

2008-11-04T09:43:00.000-08:00

VOTE!

Rational voting

2008-11-03T11:24:00.000-08:00

Now that election day is right around the corner (tomorrow!), every other political supporter is out there on the streets in full force trying to drum up votes for their nominee. Besides the usual sign bearing, poster holding, brochure passing citizens, there are the anonymous people on the street asking about my political leanings.

While walking down the non-gentrified part of Mission St. (far outer mission) with a friend the other night post dinner, a guy with greying hair and a slight hunch brushed past us before slowing to our pace to ask if we lived in District 11. Yes, there is a District 11 in the city; one that no one's heard of or thinks exists.

"I hope you didn't vote for Ahsha because he's corrupt and will only do harm to our community." he said. My friend just nods at him with the hope he would go away. I, on the other hand, told him I already voted.
"Do you mind me asking who you voted for?"
"I'd rather not say." I said.
"Well, you seem like an intelligent person so I'm going to guess that you didn't vote for Safai."
"right, I didn't actually. I voted for someone else." I replied.
"good, good" he said, before wishing us a nice night and scurried on ahead.

My friend looks at me and announces that she's planning to vote for Safai. Why? I wanted to know. She proceeds to tell me that he seems like a nice person and would make positive changes to our district. She couldn't give me specifics other than he looks like a good person.

Okay, voting based on feelings for a candidate is fine but having nothing to back it up is not the wisest decision. I tend to vote for candidates based on what they have done, not what they say they are going to do. Words hold little weight when there's no action to back it up. In the case of several District 11 candidates, they say what they will do but they lack the credentials or experience to make it happen.

I admit that I make decisions based on feelings, like I did over a week ago, and although the end result was disappointing, I can chalk it up as a lesson learned and never doing it again. But these are candidates we are voting into office for much longer than, say, a four hour period of time on a friday night, but I digress.

Another friend of mine told me he overheard a guy say he wouldn't vote for Obama because he didn't want a black man as President. I was speechless. In this day and age, it's hard for me to realize that there are people still ignorantly racist in the bay area. Maybe I'm sheltered and I don't know what's really going on in the minds of the average American citizen. I suppose everyone has their beliefs, usually based on past experiences and feelings, which they hold onto and vote accordingly. But things change all the time and hard facts remain the same. I wish people would keep an open mind and make sound, rational judgments when voting tomorrow and not go by "gut feelings" or that the candidate appears "nice" in print.

what not to wear on Halloween

2008-10-29T11:52:00.001-07:00

if it was an electric fence..

2008-10-28T10:25:00.000-07:00

remodeling setback

2008-10-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

My brother and I found out a couple days ago that our electrician forgot to wire half my flat to the circuit breaker after the walls have been put up. NO WONDER there's no power in the outlets. Who makes that kind of mistake? Now, he's not returning our calls...

Electrician rating: FAIL

things that make me happy

2008-10-27T15:06:00.000-07:00

This is an ongoing list which my friend and I discussed several years ago when we were both in unfortunate situations that put a damper on our lives. I won't go into details about your situations but we decided to make a list of things that make us happy as a way to get us out of our rut. She made her list, is better because of it and two years later, I still didn't have mine when she requested it today.

"where's your list?" She asked. "this was you homework for the weekend and you didn't do it?" I gave her a blank stare, said I had to get back to work, and rushed back to my office.

My friend even bought me a "Ten things that make me happy" business sized card which you can laminate and carry in your wallet. I still have that sad, little card on my bureau at home, gathering dust. For some reason which I haven't figured out yet, it's more difficult to write up the list than I imagined.

Today, after being scolded for the thousandth time, I thought up 7 out of 10 items in the last ten minutes. Huge progress for me. But now, I have "additional homework" and I'm supposed to be specific about each item on the list. bah. I'm only doing this because it's good for my soul and as my friend stated, "if someone asks what you like to do. you can sincerely answer the question..."

And what's on my list? That is forthcoming once I think about the specifics..

got the iphone

2008-10-22T19:49:00.000-07:00

After little consideration and a lot of patience, I traded in my blackberry for an iphone 3G last week. Getting the phone activated took longer than I had hoped. For one, my blackberry was under my company plan. My cell number needed to be released and placed on an individual plan under my name. This took several calls between my telecom contact and At&T before the number was mine. An hour later, I had my iphone in hand and out the door.

My coworker let me borrow his iphone case because I was still looking for the best deal on the net for a cover. He found my phone pathetic with it's original plastic nicely scotch-taped in place. Well, it worked at the time...

officially on vacation to work manual labor

2008-10-20T21:00:00.000-07:00

I've taken nearly the whole week off work to do manual labor on my flat and get some things completed before the winter season sets in. And first on the list; replacing windows. Ten of them, 5 in each flat by week's end.

My dad, brother and I started removing the first set of windows in my bedroom and we made good progress so we moved into the kitchen and removed that window.

** my brother and dad prepping the window opening

** new windows in master bedroom

** the kitchen window

** kitchen window from the backyard

Three replaced in one day! Not bad considering we never replaced windows and just read up about how to do it on the net last week.

Barack the vote!

2008-10-17T14:32:00.001-07:00

Yes, I already voted and dropped my absentee ballot in the mail. But I felt that wasn't enough. I want Obama in the oval office and how can I help our Democratic party in making that happen? By volunteering and donating, that's how!

I attended a concert fundraiser for Obama at BOTH last night and had a blast. Go OBAMA!

And now I have a new favorite local band.

I'm sticking with my tea

2008-10-16T13:56:00.000-07:00

because coffee does weird shit to me...

Last Presidential Debate tonight!

2008-10-15T12:29:00.000-07:00

WATCH IT, LIVE! 6:00pm PST

another bay area company bankrupt

2008-10-10T13:18:00.000-07:00

Remember Mother's Cookies?

If you grew up in the Bay Area, those little white and pink, artificially flavored, sugar coated with sprinkles, circus animal shaped cookies were a regular treat after dinner at home. I ate many and have filled cavities to prove it. Unfortunately, the company who makes the cookies filed for bankruptcy and are closing their doors for good. Boo

not again

2008-10-09T11:25:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I've been shafted..again. Wow..

when there is nothing left to burn...

2008-10-07T09:32:00.000-07:00

I attended the Stars concert w/ my concert buddy last night at the Fillmore and had a great time despite missing the opening act (my fault). They are now on my favorite band list. :)

****courtesy of "bstrand" on flickr

I read "ALL OF THEM"

2008-10-01T09:05:00.000-07:00

From the few interviews that Sarah Palin has done, this one is a classic..

one word..

2008-09-22T11:48:00.000-07:00

YUM

Surgery completed..

2008-09-13T12:03:00.000-07:00

I had my surgery last Thursday at 2:30ish. My appt was originally scheduled for 12:30p but the docs weren't ready for me until two hours later.

Hospitals are like assembly lines. The hospital coordinator called my name where I sat for two hours in the waiting room. My mom, who was with me, and I were led to the fourth floor surgery pre-op room. There was a white board with a list of surgeries scheduled for that day. I saw my name and was assigned gurney #27. There were 30 gurneys lined up wall to wall with only curtains between each in that one room and most were filled with other patients waiting to go into surgery. We all looked frightened.

A nurse came by, told me to change into a hospital gown, took my stats, and asked me several questions about my health. My anesthesiologist arrived, asked me a dozen more questions, told me they will shove a breathing tube down my throat once I'm knocked out, and he will be in charge of monitoring my vitals during surgery. Another nurse came by, prepared the IV and wasn't too successful in getting the needle inserted because my veins kept collapsing. She finally got it in and started pumping me with anesthesia. Several residents and the head surgeon came by to explain exactly what they will do to me. I asked my questions and voiced my concerns before finally getting a "there's a 50/50 change that the arch won't stay up and in that case, we'll have to consider other options to stabilize the arch which means incisions in your face." Oh, joy..

They asked if I was ready to go, and started wheeling me to the elevator. Then I passed out.

I woke up groggy and my head hurt. My hair was caked with dried blood from the incision they made and there was a splint taped to my face to protect the zygomatic arch. I was still lying on my gurney but in another room with an attending nurse keeping an eye on me. This was the Post Anesthesia Care Unit. The nurse woke me every hour to see how I was doing.

My mom and several friends greeted me and extended their visit until I was fully awake. I kept asking how I looked and everyone said I looked great but no one offered to give me a mirror. Bad sign. I was told the surgery was successful and the actual procedure took about 15 minutes. There were no major complications. My heart rate did drop to 40 which caused some concern while I was on the operating table. I had mentioned to one of the residents earlier that I was going to play dead and see how low my heart rate can go while in a deep sleep. I guess I wasn't completely joking.

I was discharged around 9p and went home to rest. I was still high from the anesthesia and whatever anti-anxiety meds they gave me earlier.

The next morning, I was depressed. I took one look at my face and went into freak mode. It looked liked the arch collapsed and I called the hospital and left a frantic message. My face was swollen so I couldn't really tell if the arch collapsed or not but I thought it did. I refused to get up out of bed and spent the whole day feeling sorry for myself.

I tried to sleep with my head hanging off the side of the bed, hoping gravity will pull the arch back in place but all that did was give me a migraine, swell the left side of my head up, and make my neck ache.

I removed the splint and washed off the dried blood from my hair. My face is still swollen and my head throbs every so often but I'm feeling better today.

what the surgeon will be doing to me tomorrow...

2008-09-10T16:33:00.001-07:00

A 3-cm incision placed 4 cm superior to the zygomatic arch and posterior to the temporal hairline can be fashioned to allow direct access to the arch. This approach (ie, Gillies approach) allows accurate fracture reduction via a bimanual technique. After creating a skin incision, the dissection is carried down through the superficial temporal fascia and the temporalis muscle fascia (deep temporal fascia). A plane is carried forward, superior to the temporalis muscle to the zygomatic arch.

Once this conduit is created, a periosteal elevator is positioned beneath the zygoma. Lateral traction is placed on the elevator while the surgeon's free hand palpates the fracture site during reduction. Once hemostasis is ensured, the fascia and skin are closed in the usual fashion. Take care to close the wound with all layers reanastomosed to their respective anatomic partners. Advantages of the Gillies approach include a scar camouflaged by the patient's hair; accurate, bimanual fracture reduction; and a remote chance of injury to the temporal branch of cranial nerve VII.

if only I ran instead of biked..

2008-09-03T10:44:00.001-07:00

There are days when you look back and think about the decisions you made and all the what ifs that could have changed your current predicament. Today is one of those days.

What if I decided to go for a run instead of a bike ride? What if I chose to walk my dog or hop in my car and drive to the beach instead. What if I wore my bike gloves and kept my sweatshirt on while biking down Illinois St. rather than stop earlier on 3rd St. and resort to wearing my tank top because it was getting warm?

Of course, it's pointless to think about the what ifs because the damage is already done. I had a bike accident.

I left my house that Sunday morning around 10:30a and rode down Geneva to Bayshore to the blocked off streets designated by the Sunday Streets event. Once I arrived, I felt safer and more confident riding without worrying about vehicles. Maybe the false sense of security made me too confident.

I was standing to the left when this photo was taken before I rode ahead ten minutes later. When I reached Illinois St., there were old train tracks criss-crossing the road. I tried to cross perpendicular to the tracks and failed miserably when my front tire fell into the track groove. I fell down on my left and my face managed to break my fall first. My helmet was unscathed and probably saved me from a concussion. I suffered various lacerations to my hands, shoulder, side and wrist as well as bruising along my thigh, hip and arm.

My left side of my face received the worse damage. I fractured my left cheek bone and dented it inward. There's minimal road rash on my face but I'll have a huge black and blue mark around my eye and cheek. There's likely nerve damage because my face is still numb from below the eye socket down to my upper lip.

I can't open my mouth that much without feeling a dull pain. There's a constant smell of dry blood from my left nostril. I have one of those freakish half smiles that looks more like an evil smirk. If I stand up or move my head around too quickly, I can feel the blood flowing through my face. It leaves a tingling sensation like crawling ants and I have to let the feeling subside before I get too lightheaded.

Since the accident, I'm down to 128lbs. That's fairly slight for my frame. I think I lost most of the weight from throwing up all day in the emergency room Sunday. Everything made me nauseous. I'm eating more now but it'll be a while before I can gain the weight back. I can already tell that my body is breaking down muscle mass for energy.

I'm currently taking Augmentin, a penicillin type of antibiotic. And I was also given Phenergan to treat nausea and vomiting as well as Vicodin. Despite the dull pain in my face, I'm not taking Vicodin for the time being. I figure after surgery, I'll need it but right now, I can deal with the discomfort.

we all scream for ice cream!

2008-08-26T13:52:00.001-07:00

The ice cream man is visiting South Park TODAY @ 1:30p passing out a choice of six different ice cream bars until they run out!

all look same..

2008-08-21T11:28:00.000-07:00

There's the Chinese stereotype and then, there's this..

Mine are just as loud..

2008-08-08T15:45:00.000-07:00

why didn't anyone tell me..

2008-08-06T15:53:00.000-07:00

I had pen markings on my face and the few internal clients that visited my office this afternoon pretended that nothing was wrong. Did they really think that those pen markings would magically disappear on it's own? Why doesn't anyone say anything?

Lucky for me I made a trip to the bathroom...

Next time someone has a booger hanging out of their nose, I'm not saying shit.

Lunch in South Park

2008-08-05T13:59:00.001-07:00

Seriously, there are way too many people working near and around South Park. It's like the invasion of 20-something web 2.0 conference members descending on the few worthy, and inexpensive lunch places in the area.

I remember the good ol' days right after the dotcom bust and all those startup companies lacking in real services to sell to the populous ran out of funding and folded. There were no lines in front of Mexico au Park stretching out into the sidewalk. You didn't have to wait 15 min for a table at the Butler and the Chef. Brickhouse actually didn't run out of soy milk. Now, all the kids have returned with new ideas and new funding from well-established companies like Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft.

In any case, I was patient today (cause it's my b-day and old age slows you down) and amused myself with guessing if the 15 or so guys standing in line with me were programmers, analysts, project managers or dba's.

when does "digg" become part of my job?

2008-07-31T15:17:00.000-07:00

About once a month, my company has a mini meeting where the head honchos give us all an update on what's in the pipeline and how we are meeting budget compared to last month.

As always, online is growing and print is holding steady. So, what can we do to bring more traffic to our site and boost revenue? Why not get everyone in the company to create a Digg profile and start "digging"? Honestly, I don't have time to join yet another social networking site let alone read articles and give it a "Digg" or not. I want to get my work done rather than surf the web clicking on articles all day

Social networking sites are time vacuums. I should know, I'm on several social networking sites (facebook, myspace, friendster, flickr, linkedin, orkut, sportsvite, and yelp to name a few). One too many, I think. It's hard enough to keep track of what's going on with my friends and what's worthwhile to read that I find I spent most of my day following someone else's day and reading up on things that aren't currently useful to me now. Next thing I know, the day's over and I forgot to eat and it's time to go home. Bah! Someone else can digg. I don't have time.

the 3rd and final bust up

2008-07-25T16:59:00.000-07:00