How do I quit?

05.04.05 (3:59 pm)

Ok, I am about to quit tblog. Many reasons but major ones are that this site is slow and buggy. Also, there is absolutely no support at all. So, I looked everywhere on the site on information on how to quit. I can't find it. I mean there is no information, no email, no phone, no address and even the forums are ignored. This is definitely no way to run business. I guess I can stop posting and let it collect dust but I am afraid they will charge me for another year of pro level when the renewal date comes up. What do I do now? - eben

3 Comments

Too busy

04.19.05 (2:34 pm)

It's been a long time since I blogged. I know it's bad but my life has been turned upside down. Because of that, I am actively looking for a new job. It's a long story and may be I will post something but bottom line is that my mind is somewhere else right now. I will see if I can post more once my life gets more calm but it may be a while. - eben

0 Comments

Netflix tactics?

02.04.05 (8:58 am)

Ok, I have had Netflix for a long time. So long that I have been grandfathered in for the 4 movie option. The turn around time has been very good in the past. One complaint I had was that many of the movies had waiting periods on them and I complained to them in the past. Recently, the movies in stock has been excellent. I have about 75 to 100 movies in queue all the time and only a few are on waiting list and rest are avaialble immediately. So kudos for them. BTW, did I say I love watching moveis? :) However, the turn around has been a bit laggy lately. I don't know if this is intentional or not. I could say it is since I don't think USPS service has been reduced by that much. It used to be that if I watched a movie over the weekend and I put them in mail on Monday, I would get notification of reciept on Tueday via email like clockwork. Then they would send out the next selection on Tuesday and I would get them on Wednesday. I sent them out Thursday then receive confirmation on Frieday then get another selection on Saturday. I could turn over movies twice a week consistently. However, now days, I sent them in on Monday, it would be typically Wednesday before I get notification. Sometimes movies don't get sent to on Wednesday but Thursday and I get them Friday. So, only one turn over per week. This is ok since my new job schedule allows no more than 4 movies a week, usually. However, is this a new tactic on Netflix's part to slow down the turn over so they don't have to have as many movies in stock? Just curious. - eben

1 Comments

Greed versus Health

01.27.05 (5:06 pm)

So, few days a week, due to time constraints, I buy breakfast on the fly and eat it while commuting. I usually stop by my local Burger King and buy a breakfast sandwich and a diet Coke, not the full meal deal including their version of potatoes.  I never got used to drinking coffee. So, I pay $3.44 for the deal including tax. Today, I thought I would try for a full meal and paid $3.35. Huh? I get more food for less money? How did that happen? I mean, how can I turn down that kind of offer? That got me thinking. If I get the full meals, I would actually save money and my thrift side seem to support this argument. However, if I buy the full meal, I would be consuming more calories and it would not be good for my health. Even if I don't eat the potatoes, that would mean I would be wasting the precious resources of our Mother Earth. The guilt would be tremendous. Well, at least it would make me think about it before I throw them out. As I was thinking, it seems to me that this is the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for many US based corporations. I mean, they just want you to consume more and pay less, as long as the products you buy are theirs. Another good example if the local cable company. I have been a customer of DirecTV for number of years. I just love the Tivo system it comes with and can not live without it. Since I am just outside of the phone company's DSL radius, I can not get the broadband services from them. So I signed up for the cable modem serivce from my local cable company and was paying about $65 for it. Then I found out that they give discount for more services you buy from them. So, for another $2, I can get the basic cable TV service with HDTV. So, I took up on their offer. I know have the basic services from both the cable company and DirecTV and HDTV plus the broadband for only $2 more per month. I will never give up my Tivo. I just love it. So, now I am wasting all that resources by getting duplicate channels plus HDTV which I did not have before for only just more than what I was paying. There are so many other examples of this. If you really think about it, we are definitely the most wasteful nation in the world. With our corporation providing all the incentives to motivate our thrifty side, it will be hard to change this any time soon. Should we continue to abuse our resources or continue to take up on these great bargains. What is your thought? - eben

0 Comments

Million Dollar Baby

01.14.05 (3:20 pm)

What a great movie. I was a bit skeptic, despite the winning formula of Hilary Swank/Clint Eastwood/Moran Freeman. However, I was not disappointed at all. This definitely is one of the best movies of the year. What I was impressed about most was the screenplay. It was crisp, funny and lacked the cliches that seems to be filling up these kind of movies. I would definitely recommend it. 5/5 stars. - eben

3 Comments

Random thoughts

12.28.04 (8:35 am)

Wow, it's been a month since I posted. Life has been busy and focused. Holidays have not been meaningful. I have spent very little time with my family. I have been resting up a lot. We only got a day off last week and only two this week. I hope to see some friends this week. Life has been on an even keel. Nothing dramatic but not exciting either. Love life has been up and down. I met a woman that I liked but not sure where she is. She is 10 years older than me and I think that is bothering her. She's been backing out, rather than going forward. She has a grown daughter and a teenager son. I don't mind that at all but she is not willing to spend much time with me. I have hard time with that. I don't think this is working out. I did meet another woman through a friend and she is my age. She is interested in going out, according to my friend. We met at my friend's birthday part and danced and had some great conversation. She has 3 kids, 2 of them living with her. I like her. However, some concerns from my part. She is stunningly beautiful. One of those woman who is out of my league. She's been a trophy wife for some rich guy in the past. What would she find intersted in me? It's not like I have lack of self confidence, otherwise I would not have asked her out, although it's purely platonic for now. However, I am a pragmatist. I never had luck with women like that in the past. They have had the the world delivered to them. After that, normal life seem too boring. Well, that's it for now. Hopefully I have more time to write after the new year. - eben

0 Comments

Alexander the average

11.29.04 (1:11 pm)

Well, I went to the Alexander the Great with high anticipation. It was suppose to be a epic movie equalling Troy, which was released a few months ago. What a disappointment it was. The movie was flat from the beginning to the end. Even the battle scenes were pretty lame and seen it before feel to it. I would have thought with an all star cast like that, it would turn out better but I think the weak point started with the script. The dialog was pretty stale, nothing seem to work. I would not recommend this movie except on cable. 2 out of 5 stars. - eben

1 Comments

What to expect when you get old...

11.15.04 (4:52 pm)

So, I have been thinking about turning 43 in a few months. I have noticed that my body has gone through a few changes. If you are not at this age, you may find this blog to be what to expect when you get to my age. 1. Food tolerance: I used to have a stomach of cast iron. I could eat as much of whatever I wanted and I had no problems. Eat a pizza at midnight and go to bed, no problems. Over eat Indian food, no problem. However, last few years, my stomach has been not so dependable. I get a heartburn after eating a pizza late at night. If I am eating Indian food, I'd better be careful on how much I eat or I pay for it later (can be a painful experience). I find myself avoiding really spicy, sour or salty food. 2. Metabolism: Well, the days of eating whatever and how every much is gone. I use to have decent metabolism and if I wanted to lose weight, I could lose 10-20 lbs in few weeks with sensible diet and exercise. Now, I can eat as half as much and exercise twice as much and I won't get the similar results. I almost gave up about weight, just trying to be healthy by eating reasonable and excercise to keep my heart and muscles health. 3. Recovery time: I used to be able to over do exercising or playing and be sore for a day and that was it. Now days, it takes me 3-4 days to recover from over doing it, whatever it may be. Soreness stays on, they don't go away as fast as before. Advil is my best friend. I get a great deal from Costco buying the industrial size bottle. 4. Noise factor: I miss the days when I crank up the volume and rock to the music. Now days, I find myself turning down volume while I am driving or just listening. I find myself listening to more mellow music also (not Barry Manilow level but something less than Guns and Roses). 5. Nose hair: What is the deal with the nose hair? I don't remember them growing when I was young. Now days, I have to trim them every couple of weeks or they protrude out. What is that all about? Nose hair? I used to tease older people who didn't trim their nose hair. Now I find myself with the same problem. Sigh, I just gotta keep remember to check the mirror once in a while. Same goes for the eye brow. I gotta trim that to reasonable level once in a while. Now I can empathize with what women have to go through everyday. 6. Groaning: I used to laugh at my father when he sat down. He would groan everytime he sat down. I thought it was funny for some reason. Now, I am making that same noise when I am sitting down. First of all, I am mortified that I am turning in to my father. Second, I don't know why I am doing it. It's sub-conscious. It's not about pain. It doesn't hurt to sit down. It's just comfort factor I guess. It just feels good to sit down. I hope I don't groan doing something else. Can't imagine groaning while be intimate with someone. That would a sure way to end the date quickly. 7. Time factor: I used to be bored when I was much younger. Bored that time didn't go by fast enough. I coudn't wait until the day was over. Now, clock does indeed move faster. I look up and it's already quitting time. I mean, where did all that time do? Did my brain just shut down long enough where I didn't notice the gap in time? Did I fall a sleep and didn't know it? Last 20 years went by twice as fast as my first 20 years, I swear. 8. Lost body parts: I am noticing that some parts of my body will never come back. That is a sad thing. Like a part of a toe nail that never grew back after my surgery for an ingrown toe nail. Like half the tooth I had to lose to accommodate for the new crown. Like some semblence of muscle around my body. Perfect or near perfect skin that had no blemishes. Instead I gained parts like nose hair. 9. Flexibility: I haven't tried to touch my toes in a while because I hate failing simple tests. I used to be very flexible. I was able to reach things that I can never try now days. I try to stretch because I was told that it helps with flexibility. Well, I tried but it didn't help for me. May be if I lose some inches around me that could help. 10. Energy: Well, this part is what I miss the most. I was able to party in to late hours, sleeping for few hours and function fairly well after some caffein. Now days, I don't even bother going out until late. It just leaves me drained the next day. I hope I don't get an active 25 year old girlfriend soon. I think she will leave me dead and inherit almost $25 I have in the bank. - eben

1 Comments

The Incredibles...

11.09.04 (9:16 am)

Just saw this last night and I must say I was impressed. I thought the animation was just superb, specially the way they expressed emotion and movement. It was so real, I don't think any animation I have seen in the past has duplicated something like this, at least not for animation of human. The story line was original and the dialog was very well done. It may have been a bit formulaic, but still very crisp in delivery. I would definitely recommend it. - eben

1 Comments

Nawlins

11.01.04 (11:59 am)

Well, just came back from my trip to New Orleans. It was just fantastic. I would highly recommend going there around Holloween, if not for the Mardi Gras. The town, specially the French Quarter area, is just one party town. It seemed to me. May be it was the Holloween spirit but it certainly was festive. I did get to see some ladie's boobs but not too many. However, the costumes left very little to the imagination. They very revealing indeed. For a dirty old man like myself, it was a night of eye candy parade. Ahhh, what I would give to be in the 20s again.   Enough about that. I took a tour of the city on a bus and learned a lot about the city. They call it the Crescent City because the city was founded around the crest of the Mississippi river. I have learned that most of the graves are above ground crypt type because the land is a swamp and after a bad flooding, most of the corpses under ground would not stay there. I have learned that the only active, large commecial city at the time of the Louisiana Territory purchase was N.O. It was center of the most marine merchant activities of that time. It's still the number 2 port in the US after NYC. Although the gambling is illegal in N.O., a loop hole allowed casinos to exist in the city. They classify them as gaming not gambling, thus blackjack tables, slot machines etc can be operated in the city. Good ol' southern judicial interpretation at work. I would really recommend the place as a vacation spot. The Bourbon street was really jumping on Saturday night, even though it was the night before Holloween. I was surprise to see so many people in costumes and walking around. There were a few strip clubs and even a sex act club on the area but haven't had chance to check them out. I gambled, ate (deep fried alligators were just declicious, not to mention the great Cajun food) drank and generally partied silly. Although I didn't drink as much as I thought I would, one large Hurricane and I was done for the night. I took some pictures but ran out of battery on my camera so I didn't get any good shots. I will see if I can port it sometime. It was a good times for me. - eben

4 Comments

Injury and food

10.25.04 (9:09 pm)

Well, I hosted a night of BBQ and Karaoke on Saturday night it went extremely well. I had prepared some great BBQ stuff as well as a nice Jicama based slaw with a kick. All the food turned out nice to my satisfactions. The Karaoke set up worked out well also. I just bought a mic stand and TV stand to go along with my current set up and everything worked except for a wireless microphone, which was not useable due to intereference. Grrrrr. I suspect my wireless phone is at fault because it shares the same frequency. So my backup was wired microphone which worked fine except for the cords which was a bit shorter than I would have liked. One thing that made it difficult was my ankle injury I suffered Thursday night playing volleyball. I landed on someone's foot while blocking and came down hard and result was a high sprain. I will be off the courts for a bit. This is 3rd time I suffered this type of injury on my right ankle and despite having Active Ankle on, it still was pretty painful. At least with Active Ankle, I was able to walk, gingerly, to my car and drive home. By Saturday morning, some nasty bruises showed up on sides of my foot. It was as comical as it was painful trying to get up for the BBQ. I wasn't sure if I wanted to laugh or cry. I managed to set everything up and the clean up was easy as well so it was not as bad as it could have been. I definitely enjoyed the weekend. Thursday morning, I am off to New Orleans for 3 days. I am looking forward my first vacation in nearly a year. I intend on eating and drinking myself silly. Good thing I am only 3 blocks from the French Quarters. I guess I can walk (or more like stumble) home after late night parties. Will keep you updated on it. - eben

0 Comments

Star Wars

10.18.04 (7:19 pm)

I went and bought the new DVD set of Star Wars episode IV-VI a couple of weeks ago. I finally had a chance to see if over the weekend. Watching it brought back a lot of fond memories from the 70s. I remember in 1977, I was in 8th grade. Star Wars episode IV came out that year and my friend Matt's mom took a bunch of us to the Coronet theater in San Francisco to see it. I have never really seen a Sci-fi movie before, except for the cheesy black and white movies from the 50s (made with a minimum budget and they showed it). I remember sitting in the 2nd row of the theater (Coronet theater had one of those large curvature screens so you were almost surrounded by the movie in the front rows) and just being awed by the movie from the first shot. I never forgot the first line of the movie spoken by C3PO "Did you hear that?" I remember the scene near the end when all of us were leaning to one side in our chairs to the direction of the X-wing fighter as it swooped down in to the trench. It was a truly a magical moment for me. Those were the innocent times I miss now days. I don't remember hardly any crimes in school. We never had metal detectors at the door. No one brought a gun to the school, let along shoot anyone. May be it happened in other schools but not at schools I attended. Maybe we were too innocent and naive. Our idea of good time was getting together on Saturday night to play poker, drinking root beer and eating cookies. Worst things we did was to toiler paper our favorite teacher's house. Well, there was this one time toilet papering Russian Embassy (or was it a consulate) in San Francisco but that's whole another story. If any of you watched the movie Dazed and Confused, you probably can understand what it was like in those days. Althought I rarely took to the vices of those days, others have. Drugs? Yes, there were drugs in those days. Drinking? Yes. Fast cars? Yes. Sex? Yes. Violence? Not much as I remember it. I think that is one of major difference between now and then. Too much violence in schools. Anyways, it was a nostalgic moment about the whole thing and gave me a good, glowing feeling for the rest of the weekend. - eben

2 Comments

Busy

10.14.04 (6:16 pm)

Well, it's been so busy at work, I hardly had time to breath. I like working hard and able to see the results of my work making an impact on the company. However, it's hard to pull several 12 hour days in a row. My body, at my age, really wears out. I have been missing out on regular workout and I have gained weight. I don't feel healthy at all. I hope things will calm down in a few weeks and I can take it easy for a bit. I hope. Another news, I will be going to New Orleans at the end of this month for 3 days. I have never been there. I will be sure to take a lot of pictures but mostly I will be drinking and partying so I am not sure how much of it I can get done. I will be staying a few blocks from the French Quarters. My trip to Los Angeles this weekend was cancelled last night. Kind of close call. I was going down there to help a friend with a video project, working as a camera man. However, something came up and he postponed the shooting. Oh well. I was looking forward to getting out of town but I guess I will have to work instead. Well, meeting is called and I have to get going. Will post more later. - eben

2 Comments

Lessons I have learned

10.04.04 (9:15 pm)

Well, over the last 42 years, I have learned some valuable lessons. I am sure many may disagree or think it's too obvious but I thought I'd share them with you. 1. Carpe diem, carpe nocturn: Live the day, live the night. This is my personal philosophy. I have learned that I can only change my perception of the world, not anyone else's. I used to go to a party, gathering, BBQ, whatever and try way too hard to fit in. I used to be so self conscious about myself and what I look like and try to impress others in to liking me. I have learned that harder I tried to be someone who I thought others wanted me to be, more isolated I made myself. Now, I try to live for the moment, just enjoy where I am, the food, the music, the surroundings, whatever. 2. Don't treat others as you would like to be treated. I used to try to be nice to everyone. Too nice in fact. Once I issued my credit card to a co-worker's name so she can shop with a credit card. She never paid me back on a lot of the money. I used to volunteer lending my cars, books, DVDs, CDs etc., only to see them returned less than the condition they went out. I used to volunteer to do the hardest job in a group because I wanted it get done just right. Well, I learned that all that did not give me the satisfaction I thought it would of helping others. It's good to be selfish sometimes. Matter of fact, you don't have to be nice to everyone all the time. I found that old girlfriends seems to be more interested in me if I treated them indifferently or even sometime not nice. It doesn't feel good sometimes to do that but it help me with my personal psyche. 3. You need to know what you have and what you don't and use your strength to your advantage. I used to be so envious of those men who can pick up any women they want. It's not always the looks or the money, they just seem to have a natural knack of approaching a stranger and taking them home with them. I heard stories from a few who had these talents and used to think why can't I do that? I used to be depressed about it. Well, I learned that that's not who I am. I don't have certain talents but I have some skills that others don't. I learned to use those skills to my advantage and not worry about things I was not borned to do well. 4. If I don't get it done, it won't get done. Being still a single male, I have learned that dishes, clothes and stuff don't get done by itself. I used to be lazy and just leave it until it gets pretty bad, I mean how many times can you wear the same underwear? I learned to do priotize my things to do and get them done in orderly fashion. This is a big step for me since I am world's worst procrastinator. I will put off anything I can to tomorrow. This is one lesson I learned that really helps me in real life. 5. Never stop learning. Even since I was little, I have been a very curious person. I learned to read when I was 4 and never stopped. I enjoy reading new things more so than old things. I won't be able to quote some poetry from Poe but I have pretty good perspective on world events, specially outside the US. I learned to read something before I go to sleep in my bed for at least 15 mins every day. That helps me keep up with many subjects, not in depth but width of knowledge. The benefit of this is that you can connect instantly with just about anyone you meet. Once you have something common to talk about, it's really helps breakdown the barrier. 6. Learn the both sides of the argument. I learned that to know how others are thinking I have to understand their point of view. I mean I love to discuss (read argue) about anything. Any subject will do. I hate admitting that I am wrong about something, although I do often. The best discussion is understanding both sides of the issues and able to counter any possibility the other person may bring up. It's even better if you start up the discussion with their point of view and counter it right away. No response, case close. 7. Try it, not just read about it. Pretty obvious here. Don't just read about something, experience. I hate people who oppose something yet they have never experienced it. Good example of this is when a controversial movie comes out, ie Passion of Christ, some group vehemently oppose it without even seeing the movie. That's exactly what happened to it, people started to protest the movie before even the movie was released. It took a good review from some religious leaders before the controversy died down but come on, seriouly, how can you oppose something you have never seen? Many will argue that you don't have to see/experience since they know in their heart it's the wrong thing. Like pornography, I have heard from many that says that I don't have to see it, it's just wrong because I heard it was. A typical reponse from very closed minded people. I will always try to form an opinion after I have experience it rather than before. Well, I have more but this will do for now. Will post more. - eben

3 Comments

Baseball

09.30.04 (2:42 pm)

Well, baseball season is winding down and I am biting my nails. My team, Oakland A's, is now one game behind Anaheim on divisional race with 4 games to go. I am not sure if they can pull it off. Since the wildcard is already decided for AL, only way A's can get in to the post season is to win the division. I like the excitement of the tight race but only if my team wins. :) Well, I hope they make it. I will have to be patient. - eben

0 Comments

Finally...

09.22.04 (10:27 am)

Ok, I am having problems with the blog so here I try again. I am gainfully employeed finally. It's been a while. I am working for a company that I have consulted in the past for stock only. Now that they have funding, they can afford to pay me. :D Officially, I am consulting until the end of the month and re-evaluate for full time employment after that but I am confident that I will be hired full time. It's been busy since starting last week. I have been going at 100mph so no time for much else. I do like the hustle and bustle of the working world for now. May be I will be sick of it in the future but it's a good therapy for me at this time. The company is a small startup, with less than 15 people. So, I get to do a lot of different things. There is never a shortage of work here. Well, gotta keep it short for now, lunch is almost done. I will keep writing. - eben

5 Comments

Being lazy

09.08.04 (11:38 pm)

Well, it's been a while since my last blog. I have been both lazy and busy. I am just going about doing nothing to keep myself busy, not trying to think about some of the issues in my life. Still nothing on the job front. I have called in all my chips to get an interview somewhere but so far no dice. I am getting a bit desperate but I am trying to stay calm. I haven't panicked yet but it's getting pretty close. Living off loans and credit card is not something I ever want to do again. Since I don't have money, I am staying home and doing nothing. Just watching movies on DVD and working on my computer. I am reading a lot also. I have read 3 books in last 3 weeks, interesting enough all of them by John Grisham. I do like his writing style and story telling. I think I am pretty caught up on all his novels. I have to look to see which ones I have missed, is at all. I have one more novel to read before getting more. It's a Robert Ludlum one. If you don't know him, he's a great spy thriller writer. He wrote the Bourne trilogy, including the recent movie Bourne Supremacy. I am a fan of his novels and probably read about a dozen of them so far. I am also a fan of Crichton, Koontz, Higgins and Mario Puzo. Speaking of Puzo, Godfather series have got to be the best movies ever made. I really like the gangster movies for some reason. I guess it facinates me to know that there is a whole sub section of population that enjoy a different life style. I love watching Goodfellas, Once upon a time in America, Casino or anything that has to do with gansters of the past and present. I am sure much of it is fictionalized but I still enjoy the genre. Well, I am picky on what I am spending money on these days but that doesn't mean I am not spending any. I am playing in a golf tournament this Saturday. It's being hosted by a friend's father. It should be fun. Also, I got a ticket to go to New Orleans at the end of October. I used my mileage for a free ticket so I just have to pay for the room. I have never been there and I intent on partying heavily there. Other than that, not much is going on. Every day is the same since. It facinates me that as I get older and not working, the days just blend in together. One day is the same as other. I am also afraid that I will get too used to this. I need to get back in to the work mode. It's not healthy for me. - eben

3 Comments

Lion King

08.23.04 (12:25 am)

Just went to see the musical in San Fran. It was definitely one of my favorites. The costumes were just amazing and the dancing was exceptional. However, the singing was not up to standard of highest Broadway musicals. It could have been better. That did not take away from the incredible experience that the show is. I highly recommend the show to those who have not seen it yet. Although there were some new songs/music/dialogs, it mostly follows the movie version, which is definitely one of my favorite movies. Knowing the songs/music/dialogs did not detract me from enjoying the show as a whole. - eben

2 Comments

Small hope

08.17.04 (11:33 pm)

Well, it's been a while since my last blog. I finally have some good news on job front, I think. I got an interview scheduled on Thursday at my past manager's company. It probably will pay less than I want but it's a paying job. I really need one at this time. I also went to a company I consulted for just stock and talked to the CEO. I told him I will come back for pay this time plus stock and he said he will think about it. I would say 50/50 chance but it's better than zero at this moment. Rest of my life have been pretty boring. I watched a lot of movies lately thanks to Netflix.com. Nothing really special that I can remember. I am a movie junkie as you probably found out. I will watch anything including some bad "B" movies to foreign films to indies. I did do see Collateral the other day. I really like the movie, I thought Jamie Foxx was just brilliant in his role. I am not much of Tom Cruise fan but I thought he did a good job in the movie as a villian. He should do more of those roles. I would give 9/10. I am about to give up my hope to be a professional poker player. I have been playing on and off online just to learn the game. I did fairly well but not good enough I don't think. These are small time, $10-30 buy in tournaments. I have played single table no limit hold'em tournaments and did ok. Won a couple of them, came in second a couple of times and just out of money, ie 4th place a bunch of times. On big multiple table tournaments, I have came in as high as 21st out of 200. The money spot started out at 20th so I just missed it. So, it seems I am better than average player but I don't think I can make a living at it. I probably give up or play when I am bored. This weekend is "Lion King". I am a fanatic about Broadway musical and I am looking forward to this one. I have seen most of the classic musicals and many of the modern ones. I really enjoy the show at any level, from professional to college production. I have seen over 200 shows in the past and saved all the programs from shows I have seen since high school days. I have them in a scrap book. It's sad that I won't be able to see any more shows due to financial issues. I hope to get a job so I can see more shows in the future. Well, it's late and I have to get up early. I am going to San Fran to a show. It's a Seybold, graphics conference. It should be pretty good. I enjoy doing graphic arts for fun on the side. I have done few things for friends and have thought about doing it for living at one point but I don't have the artistic talents to make it. I will post some of the work I have done in the past. - eben

3 Comments

I give up

08.11.04 (6:11 pm)

Well, I think I just about give up on women and dating in general. i don't know what the deal is but I just can't seem to meet the right woman. I met a woman at a party the other night, the BBQ I posted earlier. We hit off very well. I mean when a woman smiles at you when you look at her, isn't that a good clue that she is interested in? She flirted with me the whole night. I thought things were going well. She gave me her email address. I waited a couple of days and sent her an email asking her if she wants to meet for lunch or something. She sent an email back saying that she's not interested in anything more than just friendship. Not only that, she said she hooked up with someone at the party and going to start dating him. I mean how unlucky do I have to be? I mean, I haven't had a chance to meet someone new for a while and finally I get a chance and things turn out like this. I feel frustrated. If she is turning me down because she is interested in just dating one person, good luck to her. The guy she is interested in is the guy that I posted about before, the one who flirted with someone else while dating someone and got mad at me for mentioning that he was dating someone. When does bad karma kick in here? Oh well, I give up. - eben

3 Comments

Love of songs

08.08.04 (12:14 am)

Well, I went to my friend's BBQ tonight and had a blast. I went with my sister and the pretence was that I was to introduce her to my friend John. Well, bottomline is that I don't think thing went well. I think he like my sister but I don't think my sister like him. Oh well, I tried. Anyways, we ate tons of food and then we did karaoke. I ended singing a bunch of songs really let myself lose. I haven't done that in a while. I just had FUN... I also met someone there. I thought she was terrific. I got her email address and I think I will give send her something in a couple of day. On the job front, I actually got a phone call from a real live recruiter. I was in shock. I am not sure if I match the job perfectly but I did my best to sell myself to that job. I mean, this is the first bite I had in a long time. I will see where it leads to. Well, it's late and I am tire. Maybe when I am awake more, I can be more clever. - eben

2 Comments

What would you do?

08.06.04 (12:15 am)

I am kind of lost at words right now. Someone that I know, not really a friend but an acquantance, approached me today with a shocking news about my bahavior. I don't really know how to take it. He feels that I have a big mouth, basically. What he said was that when he told me some stuff, although he didn't say it was in confidence, I told someone else and it came back to him. This sounds like a high school stuff but he was serious. Once he started to date this woman and told me everything was going great. Next he and others got together with me, I told others that he started to dating someone. He showed up late and when he did, he started to flirt with one of the girls. I kind of not thinking asked him how his girlfriend was. I just thought it was a public knowledge. He brought this up with one other example and said few people thinks that I have a big mouth and should not have told anyone about this. I felt kind of weird after hearing that. My personal philosophy is that unless someone tells me it's in confidence, I will talk about it in a group. I figure if it's not in confidence, it's a fair game when talking to a group of people. If you don't want others to know, you say please do not say anything to others. When told in confidence, I always keep it to myself. Was I wrong to assume that when people tell you things about their relationships, it's public information? Was I that wrong in assuming that? - eben

3 Comments

Movies

08.03.04 (9:11 pm)

First of all, now I know for sure why I love DVDs and my big screen TV. I went to a movie today and some of the teenagers in the back were so annoying and loud, I almost left the theater. It ruined my enjoyment. I would rather watch them at home if I have a choice, althought the I can't see them right after they are released. Did I tell you I love movies? I have a subscriptions to Netflix.com and it's god sent. Since I am not working now, I am watching between 5-10 movies per week. I have a queue of 100 movies almost all the time and watch anything that intrigues me. I do tend to lean toward Sci-fi, Suspence, Foreign and Indie films. I have probably watched over 1200 movies in last 10 years. Back to the movie, it was the Villiage. Although some critics panned it, I enjoyed it. I thought the suspence was there and the twist to the plot left me saying "huh, never suspected that." I won't spoil the ending but it's worth seeing for the ending alone. I would give it a 8/10. - eben

5 Comments

Another chapter

08.03.04 (9:03 pm)

Well, it's been a few days since I posted my last blog. Not that I was lazy but just been busy with a few things. Not having a job can do that for you. It can drive you insane or just give you clear mind to do things. The job situation is getting critical. My unemployment is about to run out in a month. I have enough reserves to last me until end of August. I don't know what I am going to do after that. I guess I can re-finance my house and get some cash out to survive more but I really have to find something very soon. I have been sending out a steady stream of resumes, about 3-5 per day, but I haven't heard a thing so far. I am getting a bit desperate out here. I am finding out that once I am in panic, I do some strange things that I never thought I would do. First of these is that serious consideration of change of career. One of thing I thought about was professional poker player. I mean I saw the World Series of Poker on TV. First time amateurs were winning the big pot. So, instead of writing blogs, I went on the internet to play poker tournaments against other players. The results were mixed. I managed to win a few tournaments, mostly $5-$20 entry fees, but lost a lot more. After losing a few hundred dollars in a couple of weeks, I gave up that idea. Then next thing that came to my mind was to write a book. I always wanted to write a book about something that I know. So, I started the book, wrote the first paragraph and got the writer's block. It's been a couple of days and I haven't gone back to it yet. I will do that soon. I still think the book is worth writing but it won't pay me in next month. So, back to sending out resumes. There is a local job fair tomorrow starting at noon. I have a bunch of resumes printed out and with an optimism, I will hit the floor and hope to get an interview. We will see. I had a lunch with my ex and she is also looking as well. She's in HR so it may take a bit for her to find a job since recovery takes a while for HR to pick up. She is finishing her master's so she will be done in September. I am so proud of her. Another thought is to go for my PhD rather than go back to work. That would mean I need to cut down my life style to student life again, which I don't mind. However, it's a bit difficult living on student budget when I have a big mortgage to pay (welcome to California). My last option is to just chuck everything and go on the road. Sell my house, all my stuff inside, store what is left, get myself a backpack and a laptop. Just travel the US for next 6 month, year or whatever to just see the country. I think I can last about a year traveling if I did that with proceeds from my house. However, the pratical side of me says no. I mean, I am 42 now, after I come back from the trip, what am I going to do? How would I afford to retire later? That is a huge problem I am not sure if I want to face at that time. So, at this time, I have no clue of what I want to do. I guess find a job then contemplate what I want to do. I will keep you posted. - eben

1 Comments

Are you that smart?

07.29.04 (11:49 am)

Well, I took one of those IQ tests online. I thought I was smarter than that. I got a score of 133, when I was younger, my score was higher at 144. Does that mean I got dumber as I got older? What does this prove anyways? Would anyone hire you based on your IQ score? Well, it was a fun way to see if I can solve some puzzles. If you want to take the test, check out this link. IQ Test - eben

3 Comments