Ordinary Haps – Page 2

Confessions of a Shopaholic

Just saw the movie. Nice movie. Fashion industry. Clothes. Girls wearing clothes that they claim are fashionable. No idea about those clothes. To me a girl either looks cute/hot/good or not. No idea about super fashion clothes to that extent.

The movie has the laughs, the annoying but good friend, the love interest, the love spark, the breakup, the re-love-spark, the mandatory gay guy, the pink rose ending, and good music.

It was a fun watch. I saw a new movie after a long while. So it was nice to break from the routine of watching old movies or shows.

Cute girl!

Weekend

So after a week of work and boring stuff, the weekend arrived with some work to be done. It’s ok to have some work for the weekend sometimes. Normally, I just like to chill out on the weekend and not do anything. I like to just watch some shows and spend time relaxing. Lately, it has become apparent that doing that is not really productive. I’ve been working on a new project and I’d like to finish that soon. I’d also like to spend more time with people at the church.

I went to wash the car today, too. Noticed many new scratches on the car. This new apartment complex is really nice but it has one issue and that is small parking spaces. I’m just not a big fan of the parking situation. People always throw their doors open and that’s fine if they don’t care about their car. But I care about mine to stay shiny longer so I hope people will be nice towards other cars.

Anyway, time to go to sleep. It’s Sunday and I have to wake up for Church in a few hours. :)

Uncomfortable Night

So last night was an uncomfortable night. My heel has been hurting and it hurt all night long. It hurt more when it was cold. This whole thing started Sunday night when I start jogging on the treadmill. I don’t have a pair of sneakers. So I used my Converse like Walmart shoes to run. I normally don’t untie and tie the laces. I just force my foot in. It’s either that or the actual running that caused my heel to be sore. Feels bruised. Last night, I was feeling feverish. The foot just kept thumping.

At one point, it was so touchy I could only sleep on one side. I couldn’t put the foot down on the other side. Can’t wait for this to get fine again. I bruise my heel many times. Sometimes just sitting on the computer chair with one foot under the other leg. Sometimes doing other things. It always hurts for a couple of days then gets fine. But in the meantime it is annoying.

Anyhoo, after not enough sleep and restlessness, it’s seeming like a long day at work. Just can’t wait for it to be done. Can’t wait to go home and just relax.

Christmas is Here!

Well, it’s not here yet…. However, the season is here. :D.

It’s nice to take a break. Been on vacation the last week. It’s been nice. To just not have to worry about going to work for a while. Of course, it’s also good to go to work and get out of the house. Going out also helps with social interaction. It’s nice to just get out and see people. It also helps stay more active. But it’s also nice to stay home for a while and not have to worry about getting out in the cold.

It’s been cold the last week. Very nice! It is the right kind of Christmas season. Just very very cold. Iced over a little. Enjoying the Christmas and the time off. Then back to work. One positive thing about work is that it makes one appreciate the vacation.

Well Some Slow Days

It’s been a few days since I had stepped outside the apt. Today I went outside after 2 days. In the last few days, I’ve just sat around and played online and socialized online. Logging into irc channels (technical channels for help and helping), watching Star Trek and Chuck on the computer. I finally have the firewall issues fixed on the Windows XP computer so I can VNC into it. Using the laptop running xubuntu, for web surfing and occasional logging into the XP computer for remote control.

It’s been a nice reflection on the past habits of just staying home and doing online activities. But I have also increasingly seen the need to get out more and socialize with “real” people. Soon, I will take care of that, God Willing!

A friend called today to ask if I wanted to hang out. But today just hasn’t been an active day. I told him sorry I couldn’t hang out today. Will talk during the week.

Chasing a Dream?

Got tired of going to work and doing nothing all day. Well, it’s not nothing. But it’s meaningless work.

It’s not work you’d think of later and feel satisfaction of knowing that you spent your time, time out of your life, doing something that meant something. Something that contributed to society in some meaningful way. Or something that was enjoyable to do. It’s all politics with the internal customer and games. Tell something here and tell something there.

On the other hand, the super markets have reduced my 401k by a good 30%. Last checking showed about 30% down. Good thing I don’t have to retire in the next five years. Although, that would be nice. I’d like to work towards retiring early and then doing something more fun. Some like playing videos games on the computer…. No just kidding. Something like travelling the world or so.

Until then, I’ll try to think of something else I can do.

On a yet another note, I have been watching Team Knight Rider on Hulu. Fun times in college when late night, I used to watch that show. Along with the many other Nick At Nite shows. Never worried about mid terms or finals or what have you…

More Breakaway Ideas?

It was pointed to me that the trip is over and the “little breakaway” is over. And now breakaway must be explained again and a new meaning must be assigned to it.

This whole time, I have been just wanting to catalog ideas and implement some of those ideas in the breakaway sense. So a little breakaway here and a little there. Just something to make a little break from the regular 9 to 5 rut. Something fun to do. I have quite a few ideas to work on. The biggest ones are:

Bike – Buy a motorbike. The summer is almost over so it will have to be next spring. However, the winter time might give good opportunities to buy a bike.
Music – Find a band to play with. Currently, looking for an apartment and then will try to find more musicians to hang out with.

More ideas as I think of them will be listed here. I’ll try to do some of these things on the list so that I’ll get a little chance to think in different directions and to focus on some of my goals.

It’s the DEGAS Tank!

So WTH is a degas tank? They said it holds coolant for the engine when the engine is turned off. And that where the engine uses it from when it needs coolant…. Sure, whatever to the explanation.

I have a question!

“Could I install a horse under the hood?” I just needs pulling. The car is getting so complicated! What happend to the good old days of 20 wires and a motor. Now, it’s a computer this and computer that!

Anyhoo, the oil change is done. Check! The tire rotation done. Check! The clutch issue while releasing is kind of still noticeable. Less now but still. Maybe I’ve adjusted to the crappy road of Kaliforney by now. Or maybe the issue was with an oil change. Although, it makes me cringe to think something was wrong due to an overdue oil change. I only went 3500 miles (but with a long trip on the same oil). I’ve never gone over 3000 much before. maybe less than 100 miles. Normally around 2900, I’m there to get things worked on.

One other possibility is the CV joints. Maybe one of teh boots cracked and leaked enough grease…. This could be visually inspected as well. Next time, I’m at the dealership, I will ask them to run a check. For now, its seems it’s fine to punch the car, push it, drive long drives, etc.

Your Water Pump is Going Bad

“Your water pump is leaking!,” he said interrupting my thoughts as I intently listened to Obama and McCain on the TV saying the other was a liar. Yeah, right! Politicians? Liars? Can’t be!

But I digress. 28K miles on a 2 year old mustang. It was just there for an oil change and tire rotation. But they do more inspection as well. It’s “The Works” package, after all! Back to the story, first there was an issue with the transmission 8K miles into it or so. Don’t remeber the exact mileage.

Anyway, it’s under warranty. They’ll fix it for free. But a thought occurred to me last night. That’s right folks, I do all the important thinking at night. Anyhoo, the thought was that maybe they see people with cars under warranty and tell them to replace stuff. What does the owner care! They are happy it will be fixed for free. And maybe the dealership tags on other things and presents back to Ford to get more money. At home, I know the sales people and feel better trusting them. Out here, on the road any random dealership sounds like a vulture. So I drove to another dealership to have them do the water pump test (for free since it’s under warranty). They’d take 3-4 hours just to run the test and didn’t have a shuttle to drive customers back. Neither a loaner. Only a Hertz desk. Sure it’s under warranty but you don’t really wanna get things done for free!

Drove back to the first dealer and gave the car to them for replacing the water pump. Even if it does need replacing better to replace it now than wait. “The motor could blow,” he said, if it wasn’t fixed. Ok Mr., sign me up for this water pump change program!

I Really Really Don’t Like Mooching

I really don’t like mooching at all. It’s such a different existence. You don’t have a say in anything. Living with relatives is absolutely a difficult task. It’s a project. You must learn to ignore all the oddities that drive you insane. You must ignore things you would not put up with for a second. Most of all you are in a different home, and living with their rules. You don’t have a personal restreat. When the day has you down, you can’t do anything.

Well, you could always take to the streets. Just drive around. Just part in random parking lots and kill stime. And that is just what I did today. I was having a down day. After one too many unmet expectations from family, I needed time and space to sort things out. To let the feeling air out. To let the emotions breathe a little and to just let off some steam doing anything that would help. At home, this means close the door and play guitar, listen to some bands, watch some show, watch some movie, sutf the web, sleep or anything else…. But here, there’s not such freedom.

So I just drove around for a while. Then went to Jack in the Box. Then went to Barnes and Noble. Browsed thru books. Then thru the Music section. Then thru DVDs. Saw the boxsets of all the “I Love Lucy” seasons. Then went to the financial section. Found an investing book. Sat down and read the book. Kept the phone on silent. Expected more calls from some, but didn’t get those. It’s definitely a good feeling to not have anyone want to look for you when you go AWOL. Oh, well, we don’t all need support.

Looking at the last few posts, and judging by my own feeling the last few days, it’s just been a long rant. That’s to say, I gotta jet. Leave this place. It’s not the cool fun, I had expected it to be. Santa Monica has apartments for $1400 for studios and higher. Most studios are starting at $2000 and go to $5000 or higher. I don’t make that much per month! The $1400 sounded reasonable for one month, but they don’t do less than a 12 month lease. And they don’t have any vacancies. Los Angeles, is also it’s little world. I don’t know what to do. Maybe need to look for families renting rooms….

Most probably will bail on this entire area. Probably even Cali. The time… she will tell