Review on Tempur-pedic Mattress

Seeing how the odds of this being seen is actually pretty good with today's search technology, I think I should do a review on the Tempur-pedic mattress that I've tried a few months ago.

A few months ago I started having persistent backpain. It all started when the last pillow top mattress we owned started to give after a measly three years and became too soft for my back. Then, refusing to get a mattress so soon in time after we've spent so much on that mattress, we tried to flip the mattress upside down (never was intended for that, by the way) and it was too hard. Every morning the back pain just got worse. Finally we caved and decided to purchase a new mattress.

When you think about the best mattress for backpain, the first thing that pops into mind is, of course, a tempur-pedic mattress. And I know I wasn't the only one who thought that because I read someone's comment on Amazon.com soliciting information (review) on tempur-pedic mattresses. Interesting enough, of all the researches that I've done on tempur-pedic, nothing mentioned that it's great for back pain/support. Regardless, I already had the pre-conception that this is what I need. So we purchased the cheapest tempur-pedic (about $1,600 when all is said and done) they have at Sleep Train.

Here goes:

Pro (might as well start from the good): absolute zero motion transfer. Sometimes I get in and out of bed some 15 times before settling in, and that used to disturb hubby's sleep. Well, that never happened again. A few times, even a light sleeper like me didn't detect him crawling into bed. Perk: your next door/ downstair neighbor no longer need to know when and how long each time you have an intimate moment.

Con: It did not do a lick of what I thought it was supposed to do -- give my back ultimate support. In fact, it failed in that area entirely. It was too soft to provide any kind of real back support whether I was on my back (I heard that's bad posture for the back) or on my side. If I sleep on my back, my entire lumbar region will curve downward, which was not comfortable at night and gave me severe ache in the mornings. If I sleep on my side (and I don't want to feel that I HAVE to sleep on my side for the next 15 years), my side that touches the bed will be completely flat, and causing over curvature on the upper side. The longest time I can spend in the mattress (any position, awake or asleep) is seven hours. And I don't mean the ache begins after seven hours. I mean the ache became absolutely intorable after seven hours. Forget about sleeping in on the weekends!

Neutral: Do know that a Tempur-pedic is warmer than a regular mattress. You know that nice cool feeling when you first get into bed? Forget about that. I've already read reviews that about 50% of Tempur-pedic owners complainted that it was like sleeping on wet sand. Frankly, I don't feel that way at all and ABSOLUTELY love the no motion tranfer "feature."

In conclusion: if the problem you are trying to solve is that one person tosses and turns too much and/or the other is a light sleeper AND you DON'T have a bad back, this is a great buy. If you do have a bad back, I suggest you try this out for yourself. Be sure there's a return policy where you buy it from.

Flip or Flop

So Hubby went away to his Navy reserve duty this weekend. If I have never mentioned before, I absolutely could not sleep or even summon up enough energy to do anything without him around. (And recently I've learned that a few girls that I work with are the same way [not sleeping] when their husbands aren't around, that makes me feel better.) Anyways, to kill time, literally, I am just playing every little stupid computer games there are out there. And alternating between a hand full, because otherwise I'm afraid my brain will explode.

So lately I'm playing this one called "Flip or Flop." The idea behind it is simple, you want to flip houses and help grandma buy back her $3 million house. Frankly, I think that's an unreasonable request from a family member, but that's not the point here. So you start out with cheap houses, $10,000 - $30,000 and by the time you get up to the "filthily rich" area, you are seeing houses in the $2 million plus range. Why am I blogging about this stupid game, you may ask (and I'm sorry that you are reading my blog, really, there are better things to do out there than reading my mindless rambling)? Because while I'm quite sure the game developer meant to set it at an outrageous (yet achievable?) prices, $2 - $3 million houses aren't uncommon around this area. Unless, of course, the developer is a bitter person living in the Silicon Valley like me, in that case, he/she is just being sarcastic. And mind you, these $2 - $3 million houses aren't even that extravagant... just your regular 2 - 3K sq ft houses everywhere else... Like I said, tragic...

Robotics

Lately I found myself following closely to the newest and latest development in the field of robotics. I acquired the latest article in Popular Science while waiting for my flight to Seattle. Quite frankly, the development of robotics is beginning to get disturbing.

Anyone who are remotely interested in science fiction and have watched a few episodes of Twilight zone or Issac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine have probably seen stories about the origin of mankind. The basic premise goes something like this:

Humans went to a different planet/aliens visited our planets/we travelled back in time to prehistoric earth and tweaked with the genetics of local organisms/taught them how to use their opposible thumbs/tools/start fire and wah lah, we have our humans today. There are many versions but the underlying idea was the same: "devine intervention" wasn't really from the devine, it's from somebody just like us.

So do you see where I am going with this? The Bible says, "God created men in his own image." And us human beings, at least those in the robotics field, have an unexplainable obssession to create humanoid robots. Forget about a ball or wheels for locomotion, after millions of years of evolution, we already know that bipedalism is the way to go -- for obvious reasons, we don't have to clear a track or path for the robots (or ideally, for them to clear a path for themselves), bipeds can simple choose to walk around the objects, walk over the objects, or just jump over it. Did you know there are "purist" not only in religions but also in robotics?? They believe that robots should not possess abilities above and beyond that of humans, i.e. no lasers to assist them in gaging distances between them and an object, they should simply use binocular vision like us. What do we have here, robotic fanatics? O.o

Back to bipedalism. A bipedal robot has already been created, but it simply consumes too much energy and the battery lasts for about half an hour, not the best way to go. Next alternative, actuators that imitate muscles, positioning like muscles. When you only contract those muscles that's necessary for the motion, the rest aren't consuming any energy at all.

So do you see where I am going now? When technology permits, and technology has been improving in leaps and bounds in the last couple decades, why not replace actuators with real human muscles, perhaps developed from stem cells obtained in a moral way. Next, the wires would be replaced with nerves, and tubes that carry fuels can be replaced with blood vessels. Why not go all organics? And next thing you know, God has created men in his own image.

What is the purpose of creating these humanoid robots? Gill Pratt, the inventor of the actuators, said because he wanted a robot maid (sexist? or shall we cut him the slack that his desire was inspired by sci fi back from the male-centered era?). Sure I want a robot maid (let's just go with the flow here), but let's just stick with that. I'd like my robot to be no different than a vacuum cleaner, or better yet, a PC, which allows me to download the newest and latest programs. If a part broke, I replace it. If the robot broke, I replace it. There's not guilt in leaving my PC on 24/7 if I so choose.

But we are humans, will we ever settle for glorified humanoid vacuum cleaner/butler/chef? No. There are always those who'd want to temper with "analytical ability." After all, wouldn't it be better if your machine can learn progressively from his/her newest experience and assimilate information and, better yet, formulate his/her own opinions? Perhaps someone wants more of a companion than a maid!

Now let's be serious here. It's not maids that we are looking for, it's slaves -- we want them to do all the hardwork (household chores and more) for us at close to no cost and preferrably at our beckons. So let's ask ourselves again, do you really want to equip said mechanical slaves with a mind of their own? Perhaps analytical ability cannot equate a hundred percent to a "soul," but since we really don't know what a soul is and how to define one, where do we draw this line? If a machine has a mind of their own, shouldn't they be then given rights? After all, animals have rights. Just ask any of your local animal activists chapter. Now if we are talking about machines that have cognitive ability higher than that of your pets, don't they deserve to have rights?

Even if we drop that whole civil discussion for the time being. Once the machine can think for themselves, how long is it going to be before we hear, "why do I have to work here days and nights for little or no returns?" or for those who seeks companion ship, will the machines have preferences for their own partners?

Regardless, these wild speculations of mind are still pretty down the line. Or, are they just around the corner, but we just don't know yet? It doesn't matter. We can't stop progress, right or wrong, good or bad. The evitable is doomed to come. Perhaps there are fate afterall, perhaps the universe (a.k.a. God) does have it's own plans, and we are just humanoid dummies following scripts in this gigantic book that we have never seen.

Emails

At this date and age, I believe everyone will have at least one webbased emailed account (Yahoo, Gmail, hotmail). Afterall, it's very difficult to maintain a loyal relationship with your ISP provider (earthlink, AOL) and it's a hassle to update your email address with all your friends, families, and acquaintenances each time you switch an ISP.

I have three of these webbased email accounts that I use on a regular basis -- one for when I sign up to questionable websites that I suspect they'll spam me to death; one for casual usage that I give out to friends; and the last one is the official business one that I only use for work (goes on resume) and school. Now that I've secured a job and that school is out, I rarely remember to check that one.

Interestingly enough, the last two times when I remembered to check that email account, I received emails that wasn't intended for me. I would like to mention that I used my real name for my official business email account. Receiving others' personal email is an eerie experience. It's like a quick peek into a stranger's personal life. A stranger that has the same, or very similar name, as you. Sure, we've all have mail sent to our houses that didn't belong to us. But these are not the same. These are names that you've never seen before, and will never remember once you've disposed of the mail. It's in an envelope. Very few people (at least I don't) will open them and read the content. An email is different. It's content so readily reviewing themselves to you and it's just that much more personal.

Whilst I almost never remember to mark "moved" or "wrong address" on the physical mails, I always make a point to email these strangers back to tell them that I've received their emails on accident. "Hello, your mail did not get to the person it was intended for," I'd say.

Personal Race Simulator

Wow! So we went to MicroCenter last week, and they have these two units of personal race simulators there to demonstrate Intel's newest chip. Everybody LOVED the simulator and wanted to buy that instead. And the store employees have to explain repeatedly that the units were not there for sale. I'm like, heck, might as well. If many people ask about a product (although most of us can't afford it), why not just sell them? Afterall, it's a capitalistic society, you can pretty much buy anything with money.

So I did a little search on the internet and found this:

 

And you too can have it for the low, low price of $20,000. And that comes with a 42" HD plasma. :D It's practically a steal. I just hope I hit the next lottery jackpot. I hope. I hope. I hope. 

My Hightech Home Life

So today was the first time (ever) Hubby and I sat down and talked about our finance. I guess with my beta personality (as opposed to alpha?), I tend to trust that "he" (whoever I was with at the time) will naturally know how to make the right decisions and take care of finance. But lately I've been wanting to agree on doing things a bit differently. And in all honesty, Hubby was never the his-way-or-the-highway kind of guy. So we were having this conversation that's SO like any other married couple I was scaring myself. I mean, afterall, we've NEVER really discussed about money before and that money IS the leading cause of all divorces.

But I digressed, the way we were doing things. We each sat in front of our laptop, logging onto credit card accounts and bank accounts, and sharing the excel files that created. I don't think it can get any geekier...

Oh, and after we finished with our finance planning. I made him logged onto my Gmail calender to block out all the days that he is going to be gone. We have separate email address so I had given him access to view AND change my calender events. We get any more high tech, we are going to have to use virtual simulators to hug each other. :D

Love to Cook?

My friend E thinks I like to cook. She couldn't be more wrong. It's not cooking that I like, it's the eating. I only cook when I don't want to go to a particular restaurant just for my one little craving, or when I can't find a place that serves it well. But every once in a while, I do like to challenge something different.

Remember that one time when I made the blooming onion? I even bought the blooming onion making afterward, which has yet to be used. Then I challenged P.F. Chang's lettuce wrap and that was a success. Next on my list are deviled egg, cheese fries (hardly can be called cooking, don't you think?), and Outback's honey wheat bushman's bread. Yum. :D Lucky Hubby brought a breadmaker into the marriage. ^_^

Money Has Nothing To Do With Happiness

http://finance.yahoo.com/columnist/article/moneymatters/7858

 

Of COURSE money has nothing to do with happiness. Sheesh. What were people thinking?

 

And a 600 lb obese woman is about as attractive as a Victoria Secret model, as long as you are not a super superficial person.

 

And obesity is just another horrible disease, like leukemia. It has absolutely nothing to do with fast food and an utter lack of exercise.

Extreme Commuter = The New American Dream?

A couple of days ago I read this article about Extreme Commuter on Yahoo. It was very funny because just the day before, I was toying with the idea of buying a house in Tracy, CA. For my non-California friend, Mike, who reads my blog, Tracy is only a measly 60 miles from San Jose, where I work. To put things into perspective for my non-US resident friend, Helen (if she ever come around to reading my blog again), the average speed limit on a US freeway is 60 miles per hour; meaning, if my driveway IS the entrance of the freeway and I travel at exactly the speed limit and my company locates right NEXT to the freeway exit, it'll still take me a solid hour to work. But that's just not realistic expectation when so many Siliconians has figured out the same thing that I did – the only way to afford a house AND to go to work in the Silicon Valley is to move to Tracy, or any other nearby area. To put things into perspective for all, I've been advised that the commute from Tracy to San Jose is 2 hours, 1.5 if you are VERY lucky.

 

And I am almost willing to do that. It's the American dream, right? To have a REAL house? A small to minimal backyard, no conjoining walls with your neighbors. Heck, that's not even a choosing criteria anymore. I'd be more than happy to have one of those gorgeous condos right next to my apartment complex. Went browsing for the "fun" of it, $1.2 million. Ugh. This is not even about if its WORTH the money. This is about, we DON'T have $1.2 million. As my realist husband had put it, I don't think we even make enough a month to cover that mortgage. Speaking of being realistic.

 

Ah, but I missed those days when Hubby and I could just shop around (houses) for the fun of it. Knowing that if we saw something we really like, we can *realistically* afford it. A real house. A brand NEW house. Get to choose all the options – fireplace in living room, island in kitchen, separate bath and shower, room for a pool table and exercise equipment… and most importantly, don't have to worry about "that's just more stuff to lug next time we move" when we purchase additional furnitures.

Minimalistic?

My cousin said he's a minimalist. Since I don't know any other person who claims to be a minimal, I'll let you decide. I guess it wasn't as noticeable when he was living in the Silicon Valley and renting a room from his friend. I just thought he doesn't need a lot of amenities, but then he moved to LA a couple of months ago, so get this: He go a 300 sq ft bachelor. A bachelor is an apartment *without* a kitchen. I guess kitchen is not really a necessity for a single guy who never cooks.

 

My cousin asked me to send him a video clip. So to me the best sensible way of sending a video clip over 400 miles is via the internet. Sure, it might takes a while, but who sits there and watches for upload/download anyway? So I asked him. He said he preferred to have a DVD instead. I was shocked that he doesn't have high speed internet. To which his respond was, "You were only half right, I don't have internet, period." His logic was that since he was online from work all day long, he doesn't need to have internet at home. Okay....

 

The DVD posted a second problem. I can either dump the video clip onto a DVD in it original format so it's only viewable via a computer, or spend more time figuring out how to convert it so he can just pop it into a DVD player and watches it on TV. Again, the latter sounds like a better option to me. He said watching it on the computer is "perfect" because "I don't own a DVD player." O.o Now if you remember, only a few months ago, materialistic me was telling hubby how DVD players are just disposable nowadays, because a $70 generic one and a $200 name brand one will both break down at exactly one year's point. My cousin said, "My TV is only 19", what's the point?" And here I have a 43" TV in the living room, a 27" in the bedroom, and still a 27" extra one lying around in the computer room....

 

Then he proceeded to tell me, "I've also unplugged the fridge to keep the apartment cool. Having cold water is not worth the electricity bill.".....

 

So, you tell me, would you call that minimalistic or just extreme frugalness?

 

 

My Nester Hubby

It's strange, even after he left the military, we are still moving around a lot. We've moved 6 times in the last 4 years, that's less than 1 year at each place. Two things happen each time we move: (1) I become very domesticated and will start making home cooked meals for the first few months, then it evitably slip to Hamburger Helper or Dining Out for one reason or another, (2) Hubby also becomes very domesticated. He expresses it by furnishing and decorating the place.

To be honest, neither one of us are all gunhole about this new apartment. It's third floor with no elevator (what's the big deal? YOU try getting a few buddies of yours to help move your bed, couch, and TV up 3 floors), its kinda dingy because we moved from our 1500 sf house to a 1400 sf house to this 1000 sf apartment, and it has this dingy WALL A/C that keeps the kitchen cool when you cook. Then again, it's all a matter of perspective. In light of most bay area folks with no A/Cs and rolling black out during last week's heat wave and 164 heat related death, the little dingy A/C is a blessing.

So anyways, I have been counting down to the day the lease end the day we moved in -- 242 more days to go -- and, frankly, I have no interest in unboxing any more than what I need to get by. And after the nightmarish move, I am extremely reluctant to buy any additional furniture, OF ANY SORT!

Saturday, Hubby wanted to go to Ikea, a place which we visit an average of every nine months. You got it, every time I give birth to a baby. No! Every time we MOVE. He was very insistent about buying a coffee table. A COFFEE table! What the hell for? We've been using these TV trays and they are doing just fine. On top of that, he also wanted to get a RUG to put under the couch and coffee table (yeah, if you actually remember my blog from San Diego, I had pictures of the rug that we bought back then, from Ikea...). It was a very colorful rug, because "we need some colors in our life." I have no guts to figure out if he really meant that. But because of the very colorful rug, I had to buy a very colorful lamp shade to go with the rug. All of a sudden, our dingy, not-too-great apartment actually became COZY!!

In addition to that, I came home to this SPOTLESS living room, dining room, and kitchen today. Our little apartment is actually WELCOMING. Wow! I was utterly amazed. Still am. Not that he's usually a messy person, but, where DID he put all the JUNK that were lying around ALL OVER the place?!?! LUCKY simply doesn't begin to describe how I feel. :)

On Marriage

Up until yesterday, I don't believe that marriage takes work. I truly believed that all evils in a marriage stem from the fact that people marry the wrong person. Well, I was wrong. I think the biggest problem is laziness. When you are dating all is hot and heavy. And you try to do a lot (or just some) to surprise/please the other person. But one you get settled, it's easy to slip into a routine: get up, go to work, home from work, dinner, watch some tv, maybe kids, going to bed. Day after day after day. Slight variations on the weekend, but weekend to weekend are still the same. I didn't even realize this till Hubby mentioned a few times "We have done such-and-such (activities, good quality time together) in [period of time]." And that's when I realized perhaps I should make a conscious effort to do things together on the weekends, to actually get out of the house instead of slumping in front of the TV/computer all day long. It never hurt to put some work into a relationship. :D

Wisdom

Wisdom comes in many ways and forms. Here are a couple example. It took me all these years to realize the wisdom that lies beneath.

Long long time ago I knew this girl. It took me all these years to realize her wisdom. Whenever she has a different opinion with someone else, she always went with the other party's suggestion/opinion. Why? In her own words, "so I can tell you 'I told you so' later on."

Another girl, if anyone ever told her, "I'll tell you something, but you can't tell a single soul." Her immediately response would be, "I have a big mouth. If you don't want anyone to know, don't tell me."

In this day and age when most big companies expect their employees (at least so says the employee handbook) to act morally and to report any activities that is illegal, borderline illegal, or just grossly morally wrong, that's the best way to defend oneself. I can't report what I don't know. As long as I don't know what's going on, it will never be my responsibiity to report the iffy activities.

Arthritis

July 10. Second day in Florida. First time to MGM Studio. Also the day I was officially diagnosed with arthritis at my whopping age of 35. Talking to my 90-year old, and other than age related condition is otherwise healthy grandmother, I had no heart to tell her about my recently diagnosed condition.

Of course nothing beats your cousins sympathetic, "It's about time." Man, if he already has arthritic, he could have at least given me some headsup!

Embracing the Prescription Medications

They (studies) say that Americans use the most prescribed drugs and now I finally have first-hand experience to testify for that. A week or so ago I went to my doctor for my persistent back pain. It really wasn't that bad, but it's been a couple of months so I really just wanted to have it checked out.

Doc, "So what have you been taking for the pain?"
Me, shocked that she would ask such a thing, "Nothing. Why did you ask?"
Doc, shocked that I wasn't taking anything for my minor backpain, "Cuz some people pop pills for the most minor discomfort."

Doc sent me to radiology with prescriptions for TWO different types of meds.
"I'm really not in that much pain that I need medication." I reassured her.
"Oh, just in case you need them," she reassured me.

I got myself muscle relaxant and SIX HUNDRED MILIGRAM (that's right, 600 mg) ibuprofen from Target pharmacy. Saturday, I figured what the heck, might as well give it a shot since I already have the prescriptions on hand. I popped the muscle relaxant whose side effect include but not limited to drowsiness, dizzyness, and ? Twelve hours later I woke up from my coma feeling very dizzy and in more pain than the previous day. When I crawled back into back again an hour later, even Hubby poked his head in and wondered if I was feeling okay. I popped a 600 mg ibuprofen basing on the same what-the-heck-I-might-as-well-give-it-a-shot mentality. Nope. Did not ease the pain at all. I was totally zoned out for the rest of the day. The pills did everything but what they were supposed to do. Ugh, I didn't think I could even drive safely that Sunday.

A few days later, doc office called me back about my back. Arthritis. That was their diagnosis.

"Just keep taking those pills she prescribed you," said the nurse.

Ugh. I don't think I can even continue to be a part of the functioning society if I continue to take those pills.

Lessons

Everytime Hubby and I go on vacation, we learn a valuable lesson. By "lesson" I mean "Let's not do this again."

The valuable lesson learned in Australia was, "Let's not take a tour bus tour again." Sitting on the tour bus for the 6 hours bus ride to and from the tourisy spot was just not worth it.

The valuable lesson learned from our trips to HK/China (well, not sure Hubby has really learned that lesson yet) is to bring TWO suitcases PER person, half full. So we can comfortably fill them all up on our way back, instead of stuffing the ones we have (one each) and paying extra $$$ for overlimit weight.

The valuable lesson to Orlando, Florida? We are swearing off Disney premises (except for Downtown Disney, Los Angeles and the gift shop in the Disney Hotel, of course) for the next 10 years, if not 15.

Random Thoughts of the Day

This quarter has been unrealistic. Yes, I used quarter because I am taking (online) classes from a local community college. I got ambitious and decided to take THREE classes, a full load, trying to finish my AA sooner. The quarter started out with 15 hours overtime week and went downhill from that point on. Everytime I thought I was all caught up some other ch*t happened and I was back to struggling to keep abreast again. Grrrrrr. The eviciton, hubby's job situation, his Navy reserve military training... how does that concern me? I'm a VERY dependent wife, so where he goes, I go.

Ever since the bad news about Hubby's job, he has been sending out feelers to a few other places. For some reason, he seems to be hot commodity wherever he goes. Grrrrr. Not that it's a bad thing. I mean, I certain don't want him to be unemployed, I'm just envious.

"Why do everybody like you (work-wise)?" I asked, pouting and stomping feet.

"Because I am knowledgeable," said him, clinically and rationally.

"Because you are lovable?"

"Because I am knowledgeable," he repeated.

"Because you are lovable?"

"Because I am knowledgeable and hard working."

"Because you are loveable and hot looking?"

Hubby said my mind was in the gutter. =.= My mind was in the gutter because I think my own husband is hot looking? :P

Apartment II

So it was really painful for Hubby and I to give up on the fancy apartment in downtown SJ but we've agreed that as soon as the lease is up on our next apartment, which we'll be moving into this coming weekend, and that both of us have stable job situations, we are going to move to the downtown apartment. :D The moving is, of course, going to be a pain. But by now we are already expert in moving. So, rest be sured, I'll be counting down till the end of lease.... Speaking of which, I wonder what's the penalty is breaching the lease. :D

 

Days left as of June 17, move in date: 288 days

Me Estupido Espouso

The first thing I asked my Spanish speaking coworker to teach me was "my stupid husband." At first she thought we were those type who were married for 10 years and were bitter at each other and called each other names constantly. At time went on, she realized that the real reason behind "me estupido espouso." Me estupido espouso just does funny things from time to time. In his defense, it really isn't his fault. It's that damned Y-chromosome. Yes, here comes the truth, behind the whole liberal front, I'm just another sexist. I believe that the two genders are not equal. We females are just the better of the two. Men, men are just talented in doing certain stupid things. Like I've said, they can't help it. (Mike: I am not having this discussion with you. We'll just have to agree to disagree. :P)

For example, Hubby insisted to have his coworkers help us move instead of hiring a moving company. Failing to convince him otherwise, I figured it really doesn't matter either way. I couldn't lift much heavy boxes anyway. :D So I thought to make life easier, we might as well plan out where we'll be putting the big furnitures in our apartment using the floor plan. That way we don't have to randomly throw things into the apartment during the move, and ended up having to rearrange everything after the big, burly White boys left. (Yes, I am racist too. :P I like them White boys.) Upon hearing my suggestion, Hubby happily started planning the interior layout of our new apartment and showed them to me.

"What are these two squares on both side of the desk?" I asked.

"Bookshelves."

Um... not exactly big furnitures, but okay.

"And what are these two smaller squares next to them?"

"Trash can and the shredder."

Trash can and shredder??? Who draws in such details? (Answer: my husband.)

Upon further inspection, there were also his two monitors, keyboard, and mouse right that goes right on his desk.

I laughed so hard he finally disgrudgingly erased his trash can and shredder from his master piece.

Honey, you really didn't have to do that. XD

The $300 Cat Litter Box

Last week was arguably the most stressful week in my adult life. "Adult" subject to definition. Nothing major really went wrong since the bad news about Hubby's job, but it just seemed that things kept happened one after another. We got the bad news about Hubby's job on Monday, he then turned in his resume to another job the same day. It's very conveniently now in this electronic age. He accessed his online resume; sent a copy to his friend; his friend handed it to HR directly. We figured since layoff could potentially be around the problem, it never hurt to have options. He heard back from the place the very next day, Tuesday. How was that negative, you ask. Well, the HOURS sucked. As if his hours right now is not bad enough. The company loved his resume, having the same background as his friend who works there and told him he could choose (to interview for) either the entry level or the supervisor level. Get this, the supervisory level has worse hours than entry level. Ugh. The wonderful world of blue collar workers. Even though it was just talk, it stressed me out big time. I guess at any point in life, I needed something, anything positive to look forward to -- nice place to live, more disposable income, more time with Hubby. I guess the crappy hours will give us significantly more disposable income, but I'm not sure I want the lifestyle of a widow. Is money really worth that?

So the apartment, compounded with the job situation (have I mentioned that I am waiting to hear back from this job I've interviewed for also?), compounded with the fact that I was having the worse PMS ever, compounded with the fact that I was slept poorly the entire week (which hasn't happened for the longest time), further compounded by the fact that I was carrying a full college class loads and that we had to go to Sacramento for the weekend, combined made the worse week for me. I never even knew I could be stressed to a point that I sleep poorly.

The trip to Sacramento was uneventful, barring the fact that I was exhausted the entire time and had to take two midterms. When we finally got home Sunday night, I heard Kitty meowing nonstop as soon as I walked into the door. Right away I knew she was stuck somewhere. Sure enough, she was locked in the walk-in closet the entire weekend. You can't ask the best behaved cat to not pee for two days. And you got it, she peed on the most expensive thing possible -- my newly purchased down feather comforter and Calvin Klein comforter cover, totalling USD$300.

The bright side? At least it wasn't on the carpet. And for everything else, there's always MasterCard, and ebay.

Hurdles

As life (fate?) unfolds itself, we (Hubby and I) came to realize that being evicted by our landlady wasn't the only hurdle that life (God?) placed in front of it. Before we've decided on the cute and cozy downtown townhome apartment, Hubby and I debated long and hard -- whether we should indulge ourselves and get a nice but expensive place, or just get a cheaper (but not cruddy) place and save up money for our next house. As I've said, after a long and hard debate (very, very hard, especially for me, emotionally), we've decided on the downtown one unanimously. We even put down our deposit, which subsequently gives us three-days time to change our minds. Low and behold, on exactly the third day, Hubby called with more bad news (bad, not worse) -- he could no longer work overtime freely, all overtime in the future must be approved explicitly. Being a skilled knowledge blue-collar worker, the overtime makes up a significant portion of Hubby's pay. Another round of debate thus took place. Shall we cancel the apartment that we loved so much while we still could. It wasn't easy. But sometimes in life you realize that the difference between those who are financially sound and those who are up to their eyeballs in debt is not necessarily their income, although that plays a big role also, but their philosophy and self-restraint regarding spending. Before we bought our first house, Hubby and I had agreed that we should not live beyond our means, so hard as it might be, we had no choice but to cancel the townhouse.

 

Nobody said life is fair. But to focus on the bright side, things could definitely be worse: Hubby could have gotten the news a day later, and we would have lost our $100 deposit, or worse, he could have gotten the news *after* we moved in and were stuck with the 8-months lease, or even worse, he could have gotten the news *after* we bought our next house.... I guess sometimes in life we should just continue to count our blessings. We both still have our health, AND our jobs, things could definitely be a lot worse.

Apartment

There! We did it. Finally found ourselves an apartment. Actually, I spoke too soon, we are still waiting for them to conduct the background check and give us the confirmation before we can start switching over our services and such.

We (hope we) got this cozy little two-story townhouse in downtown San Jose. I am abiding to my friend E's philosophy: Since we are just renting, might as well go for some unique experience. I've never lived in downtown. There's certain draw to that modern, stylelish lifestyle (key cards! tendom parking! pet rent!), walking distance to work, BlockBuster across the street, walking distance to many fine restaurants, a block from the university, and walking distance to performance art theaters etc. Right in the heart of everything.

Having something at the new place to look forward to is definitely helping to lighten to mood of being evicted. It's a nice 8-month experience (when lease end), then perhaps we, like many forefathers before us, will also take the big plunge and buy or own property in the god forsaken Silicon Valley.

Nest II

Today my friend E told me that birds, like humans, lay eggs regardless
and will always sit on them to see if they'll hatch. It doesn't
necessarily mean that those are fertilized eggs and that they will
necessarily hatch. :(( I hope they do.

She also said that doves are monogamous. I've never seen a second
(male) bird around the nest. This is not looking good. :(

Perspective

Cat from animal shelter: $27
Cat rent for apartment downtown: $25/month
The joy of living in downtown apartment with cat and hubby: priceless
For everything else, there's my biweekly paycheck $$$

Eviction II

For some odd reasons, everytime I tell someone we are being evicted, they act as though our landlord (landlady) is commiting this heinous crime towards us. I mean, a lease is a contract between two parties. Our 1 year least was up so we've gone to month to month, and in all honesty, while she didn't mention about renewing the lease, we didn't bring it up either, mainly because Hubby has been looking for jobs outside of this area.

After all, a contract has to be cancelled by one of the two parties. Why is it that it's okay for a tenant to "screw over" the landlord, but not the other way round? I don't even see this as a bad thing necessarily. Her husband passed, she decided to sell the house. It's not like she saw it coming. And heck, it's her house, she can choose to sell us regardless of whether her husband passed away or not. It's an inconvenience to have to look for a new place and move FOR THE SIXTH TIME IN FOUR YEARS, but definitely not heinous. And now that I've gotten into the mind set, I am kinda looking forward to moving to a new place, assuming it's a nice place. :)

A Thousand Words

They say a picture equals 1,000 words. I guess this is a 2,000 words+ blog entry then. :D The following bird had built a nest on the fence right outside our door. And it has TWO eggs in it! :) Hopefully we'll be able to see the chicklets hatch before we move. :D

 
  

Eviction

Wow. So today Hubby and I found out that we are getting evicted. Why? Cuz we were running a meth lab and caused a small explosion accidentally. I mean, it's just a small explosion. Geez-wheez.

Okay, just kidding. We are being forced to move cause the landlady decided to sell her property. :( No harsh feeling. Just came very sudden. Should have seen it coming when she didn't press to renew the lease when it expired back in February. =.= Funny thing was, when I saw the enveloped addressed to Hubby and I (oddly enough, after 3 years of marriage, not a lot of mail goes to both of us), I was kidding about it's an eviction notice. Had to open my big mouth.

My only reaction was giggled all night long over the ludicrousness of this. This will be the SIXTH times in FOUR years. Even my online friend from Singapore asked me: aren't you tired of moving yet?

Interesting enough. The friends I told freaked out more than I did. "So what are you going to do?!" they asked. "Move," I told them, like I have another option? It's alright. Other than my full time job and full load at college, Hubby and I (and even Kitty) are already experts in moving.

A Successful Blog

What makes a successful blog? Well, I suppose interesting matarial will be a good first bet.

I started blogging about 2 years ago. Yeah, I know, this blog does not go back two years. I started Banana Tree House blog when I moved to San Diego and it was sunny and I had a low stress job so everyday all I want to do is blog, blog, blog. Then I moved to bloody bay area (silicon valley) a year ago and life sucked out here and all I could think of was bitter thoughts. At least I had the sense to realize that no strangers out there would care about sitting in front of their computer and read pages and pages about me bitching about my work and my coworkers so I stopped wriing altogehter. But, alas, one cannot deny the writing bug. I itch to write again. So Banana Tree House turned into Banana Bread Pudding. Interestingly enough, I don't even like banana all that much.

But I digressed (surprise). The article I read about blogging have 10 tips to make a great blog. I only remember 2 now: have a theme and post regularly. Ugh. Does my random thoughts count as a theme? I hope it can, cause I am a very random person. :) As to regularly... those of you who know me would know how long I can sustain my attention span. Doing something persistently is almost impossible to me. XD My friend M said, "Everything to you is a fling." hahahahaha

Super DVD Thing

And per Hubby's request, the "Super DVD Thingie" is also known as Home Theater PC. :P

***

So a couple of days ago our DVD player died. Prior to this one, we own an el cheapo made in China (what's not made a China nowadays? Oh yeah, those that are made in India instead), which died promptly after a year. Okay, afterall, what could one expect out of the cheapest DVD you can find at Fry's? So we bought a $200 LG one, which also promptly died after exactly one year (probably to the exact day after the warranty expired). As a man, Hubby wanted to attempt fixing the broken DVDs (yeah, he still has the dead boy of the el cheapo). As a woman, I kindly informed him that DVD players are obviously disposable now and to just buy another el cheapo one. After all, the blue ray ones will be coming soon. (Coming soon as in affordable customer prices.)

Again, as a man, Hubby still want a solution to the problem. So he is going to build his own Super DVD Thing by hooker up a super computer to the TV!! It'll have your regular DVR function, super capacity (dual 300 GB harddrives which I just bought yesterday! From FRY's!), and best of all, I'll be able to burn programs onto DVD directly! :D Of course, when all is said and done it'll come out to about $1,000, but who's counting? I'll try and track the progress as this SDT is being constructed.

Components so far:

Maxtor 300 GB Harddrives x 2 = $160

For everything else, there's MasterCard.

My Home Theater :D

Again, I've exercised my excellent shopping skill at FRY'S and found the following items that'd look absolutely adorable in my future home theater. I can't wait to just line them all up in a row. XD Check out the Old Fashion Nostalgia line of hot dog roller, cotton candy maker, ice cone dispenser, and the indispensable popcorn maker. :D (And I don't even eat popcorn. hahaha)

 
 
 
  

Teddy Bear Eating Car!

I saw this car in San Francisco, and I just have to take a picture of it. :) I didn't know anyone can hate a poor, innocent teddy bear that much! O.o

  

House Warming Gift Idea :D

So I saw this Santa Fe quesadilla maker n margarita sunrise set at Fry's the other day. I know, what a strange place to find kitchen stuff. For those of you who has no idea what Fry's is, I believe it's whole name is "Fry's Electronics," folks usually go there for computers and accessories. It takes a true shopaholics to find something they want at virtually any shops. Don't be jealous, it's a gift.

I think I need a new house (at the very minimum move out of this dinky little place in the bay area) to go with the quesadilla and margarita set. :D I think that'll be my housewarming gift for myself after Hubby and I move to Palmdale. BUT, if anyone wants to buy that for me as a gift, please don't let me stop you. :D

Mickey Kitchen

As I have mentioned before. I'm not a big Disney fan, but definitely like the Mickey series of kitchen ware. I went browing on their website today and found these following interesting items:

 
 
 

My fav is the Mickey fruit rack, but Hubby obviously thinks I'm out of my mind. :P 

Movie: Derailed

I've got to stop signing up for month plans only to keep the first two movies that we rented for two months. =.= At this rate, we are better off just BUYING the movies up front. *sighs*

Anyways, before I digress too much, which I do a lot (see what I mean?), back to the movie. I went to Hollywood video to nab the movie the first day it came out, only so I can watch it today. Story of my life.

The movie was, WOW. Yet another example of why you don't need Hollywood big budget explosion or special effect to make a good movie. Don't get me wrong, I like those too, Harry Potter, Terminator, Jurassic Park. All I am saying is: it's not the ONLY thing. Just like we have more than just Kung Fu genre in Asian movies. Yes, I know it's very hard be believe. But why WOULD the Asians make anything OTHER than Kung Fu? An Asian movie based on the MODERN time? Huh?

I like the movie a lot, has it's twists at a thriller. And I particular like movies that tie in all the lose ends at the end. Everything that seemed out of place at the time, and including those little hints that you overlooked all made sense. They were foreshadows, they were clues that suggest the big twists in the end.

Again, great movie. Definitely worth the time to watch it.

Movie: Memoirs of a Geisha

So I finally got around to watching this wonderful movie. I've loved the book. I can't recall off the top of my head a lot of books that I can say I loved, but this is one of them. The movie sticked to the book as much as it could, except for the end they didn't go to New York, but in all honesty, that'll just make the movie seemed more fragmented. The ending was just fine. It was true to the original.

I am baffled why critics didn't give this movie a higher rating. Everybody said it wasn't a very good movie. I had refused to read the critics before watching the movie. I didn't want them to ruin it for me. I remembered there were complaints about using Chinese actors for the Japanese females roles. Okay, I can see that. But this is primarily an US movie. It's even done in English. How many Americans can really tell Japanese and Chinese apart?! As to how the actresses have heavy accent. Well, get over it. Especially those who can only speak one language.

I think it just get a low rating because (1) it's not based on US pop culture (there's a world exist outside of US? Nooooo!) (2) the plot is not simple enough. God forbid, no good v. evil and the good prevails in the end? Blasphemy! and (3) where's all the hollywood big budget explosions?! Oh, and I almost forgot, (4) a "foreign film" thats NOT kung fu? What is this world coming to??

In short, Geisha is an excellent movie. It was olso beautifully choregraphed but not so deliberate like the usual Asian films made for the US market with stupid plots. It's worth your time and your money.

Ethics

Got to love those self-reporting work ethics questions. Seriously, if
I have embezzled $1 million from work before, would I admit to it? My
favorites are the ones that ask whether you "believe" in certain
behaviors, not whether you have committed them, or wether you will,
but wether you believes <em>others</em> do. For example:

"Do you believe that people steal from work?"

Why, of course! I've seen it with my own eyes. Wouldn't that make me
stupidly naive if I don't believe in something that I have witnessed
with my own eyes? And just how does that relate to <em>my</em> ethic?

"Do you believe that people call in sick when they are not really sick?"

Oh, c'mon. I didn't see that one with my own eyes, but have heard with
my own ears management complainting that some workers will just use up
their one sick day a month quota by randomly calling in sick once a
month, usually a Monday or Friday. How can I not believe that someone
somewhere will have no qualms about doing that?

Why don't they just ask, "Will you do that?" It doesn't matter how you
phrase the stupid questions, we still know what you are trying to get
at.

In fact, those who would commit such a thing probably would be
<em>less</em> likely to give an honesty answer. Perhaps they should
just reverse the grading system and test for honesty and integrity,
huh? How about that?

Not Enough Love?

I listened to a radio show with Ho-Sun Chan, the director of Perhaps Love. And it was, to say the least, very thought provoking. He said, as far as Chinese movies go, Hong Kong and Taiwan are very small markets, so it's either mainland China, or the US. And whilst folks in mainland China might actually watch more foreign films than US folks, they prefer the pirated versions of them. And it's not just the cost, but the censorship. Therefore, the better the movie, the more one has to watch a pirated version of it. And the only movies that people will pay to watch in a theater has to be considered "big." He said he doesn't want to do a regular kung fu film with romance. That's just like a West Side Story (yes, he said that in English, this *is* a radio show in the bay area :P). In stories like that people don't question about whether they really want (love) or not, they just want it because others tell them they can't have it. On the other hand, his movies are about not enough love. He said in modern days, there are not such thing is forbidden love anymore. Anyone is free to love anyone else. That's when people actually question whether they really want it or not. And that's why his movies are not about too much love, but not enough love.

Wow, I never thought of it that way. "Not enough love." I've always thought romance = A loves B, B doesn't love A, B loves C, C doesnt' love B, and so on and so forth. OR it can be like "Grey's Anatomy," just have sex with the next available man/woman. Not enough love is definitely a brand new concept for me.

The SCS

I've been told by multiple coworkers at multiple jobs that I am infected with the SCS. The SCS, short for Single Child Syndrome infects those who are, well, single children, and can also infect those who has such a big age difference with their siblings that they are practically raised like a single child. Symptoms include: selfishness, self-centerness, and an unwillingness to share.

 

Luckily, Hubby is also a SCS infectee, so we feel that it's perfectly normal to have two separate sets of various items at home, i.e. personal computers, laptops (yes, we each has one of each!), etc.

Wow! Biscuit City.

http://www.nicecupofteaandasitdown.com/theWife/biscuitcity/

 

And the best picture collection is here:

 

http://flickr.com/photos/38144568@N00/sets/72057594068201128/

 

Thank you, Paula Joan for sharing! ^_^

 

 

14 Years of Marriage

Yesterday a friend of mine was telling me (bragging) about how she and her husband still kiss and hold hands in public after 14 years of marriage. Oh, and he still folds when she pouts. :) I don't mind her bragging because I am still very much in love with my husband of 4 years. But amidst all the divorces and separations, it's nice and refreshing to hear somebody saying how they are still happily married after 14 years. I sure hope my pouting will still do the trick after 14 years of marriage. XD

When I was first married, I went through an insecure stage when I was convinced that one day hubby will cheat on me and go for a younger and hotter girl. (That's what 5.5 years difference can do to your psyche :D) As time goes on that fear went away on its own. I've came to realize that, there are always going to be hot young things out there (more and more as you get older and older too! hahaha), but as years go by, you develop a bond with your spouse that does not exist between him and the "hot young thing."

And I have also went through a state when I hope that we are the "best" couple among our couple friends. "Best" being measured by compatibility and harmony. Now that I've grown more mature, I just wish everybody is in a harmonious relationship like us. ^_^

The trick to a successful marriage is (too soon to say that after merely 4 years?): PICK THE RIGHT PERSON TO BEING WITH! DON'T GET MARRIED FOR ALL KINDS OF WRONG REASONS!

Game: Ciao Bella

So I've discovered this interesting game Ciao Bella. You can play it for free by going to this Canadian radio site. It's a not-too-complicated flash games with approximately 15 levels. The purpose of the game is to balance the elements of Bella life, in particular to keep her relationship while handling other crisis in her life. Some of the conversations are kinda interesting, but my gripe throughout the entire game was this: she was practically bending over backward to keep her relationship with this guy, jumping through hoops and running around town like a mad woman to ensure she date go on a date with him, buying expensive leather coat for his mother, expensive dress to go to a dance with him, hiring a private chef for their date.... And I totally fail to see WHY this guy is worthy of all that? Oh, and you need $ to work, and it deduct your health points when you work, and many points if you try to work an eight-hour shift. I think that's a bit iffy of a concept. :P

Friday, April 14

Today is a happy Friday because I dragged hubby to shopping at Kohl's nightowl sale after work. :) I intend to buy pretty clothes, pretty shoes, and pretty purse. We ended up buying, get this: a uber soft blanket for the couch, two uber soft pillows, also for the couch, some towels, and a bra. Yeah, I dragged hubby into the bra section. God forbid. Yes, yes, poor guy. I got the point.

I've also mastered the idea of "speed shopping." As a female, I am really not that into shopping. If I can just have what I like appear in my closet (after I paid for them, of course), that'd be idea. I lose my attention span shopping almost as quick as Hubby. Yes, I said almost, but not quite. Now I just careen down the isles real quick and move on if nothing screams me. Maybe continuing to adopt this method will allow me to build up my closet painlessly. :D

Um....

<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/03/29/walmat.spring.break.ap/index.html"> College student lives in Wal-Mart for 41 hours</a>

Um..... Okay. Why would someone ever want to do something like that is just beyond me. I mean, I considered "Supersize Me" a stupid movie. Do you really need to eat McDonald's for a straight month to proof your point? Isn't there better ways to proof it? If people can't understand empirical data about fat and calories. Well, sucks to be them. Perhaps they should just weight themselves and try to recall where they have dined in the last month. Regardless, at least there was a <em>point</em> to the movie, albeit a stupid point.

But this? And his associate professor of English thought it was a good idea? I swear, the mentality of an artistic, right-brained individual will forever elude me. Okay, perhaps he could do it just to say he has done it. For experience points for his future writing career. (Frankly, Fear Factor seems a better option.) But a movie deal and a book contract??

What is going to be <em>IN</em> this said book and movie? A 22-year old college kid wondered around Wal-Mart, watching DVDs on display and reading magazines in the magazine section... And I want to spend 2 hours watching this because? What is the point and the substance of this movie?

And, by the way, it has already been done. Funnier even, in "My Name is Earl." I don't even like the show, but the part where they thought it was the end of the world and they decided to live in Wal-Mart was funny. Maybe that's where the 22-year old got the idea to begin with? O.O

 

Kevin's Site in the Hot Zone

Was mindlessly browsing at work (yeah, busy day) and came across the Child Bride article on the Kevin's Site in the Hot Zone. It is a very powerful and disturbing article at the same time, so I thought I'd put the link here.

Because I don't ever see myself abandoning the comfort life in a modern city and becoming a solo travelling journalist, there are a lot of admiration for what he does. Travelling with a backpack of portable digital technology to shoot, write, edit, and transmit multimedia reports will, for me, always be a wild fantasy that'd never come true.

All of Kevin's cool gear can be find here.

The World's Best Blooming Onion Cutter?

So yesterday all of a sudden the image of a blooming onion enter into my head (see attached picture) and I, therefore, decided that I absolutely have to make one that very night, in my own house.

 

I proceeded to looking up recipes online (what can't you find online nowadays, huh?). Hubby came home from work and saw the floating onion that I soaked in ice water to get it to "bloom" and exclaimed, "do you know how to make it?" Oh man of little faith.

The experience, to my own surprise, though not successful, turned out to be much better than I had anticipated. :D So I decided that all I need is a better onion cutter to perfect my onion making skill. I went online and found this:

 

Wow! Isn't that the mother of all onion cutters or what? :D

And you too can have this state of the art onion cutter for the low, low price of $489 at amazon.com sold by kegworks.com. 

Case in Point v Point in Case

So I was trying to make a post to my online class today and wanted to sound impressive and use the term "case in point" as if I actually know what that means and how that is use. So, like any diligent students, I googled the term and followed the link to this website:

Points in Case

And I quote:


Point in case: an arrowhead displayed in a glass case in the Museum of Natural History. (practical)

Case in point: a glass case in the Museum of Natural History jammed into the tip of an arrowhead. (practical...if you've just dropped acid for the first time)


Go ahead, follow the link, there's a picture of point in case on the site... As I live and learn each day...

Funny Pic

I was blog surfing and came into this picture. So sorry I forgot to bookmark the page this was originally posted. My apologies if the original photographer happens to stumble onto this page. XD

I think this picture is hilarious. And the original guy's illustration to the pic: "What the... hell?"

Australia's Emblem

Credit for picture: Australian Government, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Over Christmas time hubby and I went on a vacation to Australia and learned about Australia's unofficial emblem with the kangaroo and emu on it. There was an interesting reason that these two birds were chosen among all the exotic species found only in Australia -- neither kangaroo nor emu are capable of walking backward. The Australian has chosen these two animals to signify Australia will be a country that will always go forward.

It sounds like a no-brainer, huh? Always going forward. Well, wrong. Our country, the United States of America, on the other hand, strive to go backward all the time. Todate we are still struggling as a country to outlaw aborption. Sure, it's barbaric to kill a new life, but sometimes aborption (from rape, incest) is necessary. A woman should be allowed a choice. Regardless, the solution should be education: how women get pregnant and how to prevent pregnancy. And no, abstinence only sex education that sometimes goes as far as giving incorrect information to deter teens from engaging in sexual behavior is not education, far from it. Trying to ban gay marriage and put discrimination is certainly a BIG step backward. A progressive mind set should teach people to be more tolerant of those different than themselves, not less. And to make it legal to discriminate... And these are just a few examples... Perhaps we can learn a few things from them and add some non-backward walking animals onto our flag also. :D

What I found interesting is: you can easily find both kangaroo and emu on restaurant menus. Um.... isn't it a bit... wrong to eat the unofficial national faunas?

A True Blogger

When I used to blog surf a lot, I've noticed that whenever I start checking a blog regularly, it almost always die (owner stop posting) after about 3 - 5 months. At first I thought it was me (Egocentric - the world naturally revolve arounds me. No questions asked.) but then I realize that's just the average life span of a blog.

Only those who can pass the true test of blogging (more than 5 months) can attain the title of a True Blogger.

That said, since this blogger is trying to post a blog a day, I am seriously considering tempering with the date and pre-blog a few entries whenever I am on a roll. :D This is so against the unspoken and unwritten golden rules of blogging. :D

The Ten Commandments

Once I tried to look up what exactly are the ten commandments on line. To my surprise, there are really more than 10 commendments in the "Ten Commandments." It actually varies from 13-15 or more depending. Speaking of book 5 of the trilogy of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.....

In my humble opinion, the ten commandments, much like our constitution, can use some amendments from time to time. If I were to write the 10 commandments for my make-believe religion, it'll be something like this:

(1) Don't break the law (which is what the original 10 commandments pretty much boil down to (no stealing, no killing, don't commit adultery, you get the idea)); act within the moral standards of the society.

(2) Be tolerant of those of different race, religion believes, and sexual orientation. Discrimination of any sort is a HORRIBLE crime.

(3) Don't be a jackass. Treat people the way you want to be treated.

(4) Learn to speak, write, and read fluently in at least one language.

(5) Education is VERY important. Earn thy college degree. Sky is the limit.

(6) Think very hard before giving away your first time (yes, I am talking about sex here).

(7) Think very, very, VERY hard before having a kid. Ask yourself repeatedly whether you are ready financially and emotionally. Never use a kid as a tool to save a relationship. Don't have more kids than you can afford. Enough is enough. Birth control is a-okay.

(8) Take marriage seriously. Don't get married for the wrong reasons. Ask yourself if you are truly ready to spend the rest of your life with the individual in question.

(9) Be an independent and self-sufficient person; don't leech off of others or the society. Be a constructive part of the society. Get a job; keep a job. Spend some of the money you earned but don't live beyond your means. Save some for rainy days and old age.

(10) Exercise your common sense.

Rambling 1-17

Lucky I pre-blogged today's content. Really wasn't in much of a mood to blog today. More family issues. That's always joyous.

Been having some trouble loading Gmail from work. Wonder if that Microsoft newest way to sabatoge Google or my work place trying to sabatoge me from checking email from work. :P

Wanted to change the skin to my favorite "Thisaway," but there must be something wrong with blogger's coding cuz the nav bar insisted on showing under the title and effectively blocking the date and making the page look ugly. *sighs* Such is my luck, maybe the code will fix itself the way it broke itself in a few days. Had to revert back to the Simple skin. :((

The Blogging Groove

Oh wow, I blogged TWO days in a row!! That hasn't happened since I've left our little love nest in San Diego. Am I back into my blogging groove again? Even so, I am not committing to one post a day.. and let's be honest, who am I committing to? ^_^ Lately even Hubby forgot to check my blog, I've been blogging so infrequently. Hehe.

Anyways, surfed to a random blog and heard this song. I liked it a log and the lyrics are pretty, and seems everybody and their uncle is putting it on their blog, so why not me too?

***

Breathe Again

Have you wondered how it feels when it's all over
Wondered how it feels when you just have to start anew
Never knowing where you're going
When you face a brand new day
It used to be that way
Now I just close my eyes and say

I just wanna breathe again
Learn to face the joy and pain
Discover how to laugh a little, cry a little
Live a little more

I just wanna face the day
Forget about the woes of yesterday
Maybe if I hope a little, try a little more
I'll breathe again

Starting out again is never easy
Disappointments come and go, but life still moves on
With a bit of luck, it's a brand new start
That might just work my way
No need to walk away
Don't wanna live on life's replay

I just wanna breathe again
Learn to face the joy and pain
Discover how to laugh a little, cry a little
Live a little more

I just wanna face the day
Forget about the woes of yesterday
Maybe if I hope a little, try a little more
I'll breathe again

Things will work out fine
If you can find the courage to look past the night
To see the break of dawn

I just wanna breathe again
Learn to face the joy and pain
Discover how to laugh a little, cry a little
Live a little more

I just wanna face the day
Forget about the woes of yesterday
Maybe if I hope a little, try a little more
I'll breathe again

Annulment v. Divorce

Last quarter I took Macroeconomics and I must admit, it has forever changed the way I look at things. So this quarter I've decided to challenge Income Tax. Okay, I'll be honest here: I am neither taking this class for the challenge, or to try to do my own income tax. I am taking this class because I have applied for a position within the company that knowledge in this particular area will be very useful. 'cause let's face it, income tax is not remotely as interesting as financial accounting. I'll equate income tax to chewing on a phone book....

But I have digressed, as usual. Reading about what goes under the "income tax" category just get me upset... and I am digressing again. I came across annulment while reading my tax, which sparked my interest in the difference between an annulment and a divorce. A quick search on the internet produced the following amusing results.

First, I came across the Intelligent Discontent website, in which I found this entry:

I would like to thank the voters of the state of Texas for annulling my marriage.

The joint resolution passed as a constitutional amendment yesterday reads:

Sec. 32. (a) Marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman.
(b) This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage.

Now, I see that (a) point saying that marriage shall only consist of a union of a man and a woman; but the (b) point clearly says there can be nothing identical or similar to marriage. And since my marriage licence is from McLennan County, TX, I recognize that my marriage is annulled. Because, of course, no “strict constructionalist” could read that passage in any other way right?

Therefore, I will inform my wife tonight that I am a bachelor. And she can blame Rick Perry et al. for the return of my lifesize Jar Jar Binks, the Guns N’ Roses poster that will surely be on the wall, the pizza boxes strewn about the floor, ramen noodles and the use of the entire bedroom as a clothes hamper. Oh yeah, I can spend all my spare time blogging now.

TX, you rule.

(To the dude, Joe, who writes Intelligent Discontent: I apologize in advance for copying your entire entry over to my blog. I am not doing this to attract more readership to myself because I really don't have any. :D I did this because from past experience, fellos are simply too lazy to click on a link. =.= BUT if you are reading this, somebody must have followed the link to your block. *wink wink*)

Joe also had a response to his entry, which says, "Congratulations, Joe." It's nice to know somebody out there still have their heads on their shoulders. :D

After I navigated away from Joe's blog and back to my search result list, I went to a website that talks about Florida Annulment of Marriage. It's written in much legal mumbo jumbo so I won't bore you with the details, and frankly, I don't get all of them myself. But since I don't (1) live in Florida, (2) want an annulment, or (3) am a law major, it really doesn't matter much now, does it?

What I wanted to point out for the purpose of this entry is this blurb:

A marriage induced by fraud and deceit can be annulled where the marriage has not been consummated. Misrepresentation of pregnancy, alone, has been held an insufficient reason for annulment. It appears, however, that sexual intercourse
operates as a complete ratification of a marriage otherwise voidable.

Um... I'm sorry to say this as a woman, but YES! misrepresentation of pregnancy IS fraud! It's a marriage based on a LIE! Like hell that should be ground for an annulment. That is such an awful act that it should really be illegal in the first place! I've always feel that it's grossly unfair to be the male in this situation: if the girl doesn't want to keep the baby, the guy really doesn't have much say in it, no matter how much he'd want his kid. On the other hand, if the girl insists on having the baby, the guy will automatically be jibbed with child support for the next 18 years to come. In this case, men are entirely helpless. Or are they? Perhaps if the guy really, REALLY, strongly wants to eliminate the possibility of this happening, they should take matters into their own hand, literally and metaphorically (use a condom, have a vesectomy, you name it). Now if an accident still happens, that's just the price you've paid for tempting fate while consummating your love.

Atheism

For the longest time, I've always referred to myself as an atheist. And for the most part, I was (or still am?). You see, when you are young, it's easy to accep that there is simply nothing after death. Now, I do not claim that I know the truth and that nothing after death is, indeed, the truth. It was, however, the idea that I found the least disturbing.

I was raised Catholic (and to date I pretty much lump all Bible-oriented religions into one big category) and the idea of heaven and hell and all eternity is simply disturbing to me. Never mind whether a person on earth can truly commit a crime so heinous that he/she deserve eternity in hell, let's just examine the idea of being in heaven forever. Of course, some say that you'll be with God. Well, that's certainly a hard concept for me to grasp, but let's just say you are with your loved ones. But all eternity? Aren't you familiar with the concept that there can be too much of something, good or bad?

I love my husband dearly, but spending 7 days straight 24 hours a day with him is simply too much. When we moved to San Diego for his last 10 months in the Navy, I relocated with him because we didn't want to be apart. We were just going to rent a nice, small place for a year but he decided on a one bedroom apartment. And he was right, sometimes even escaping into the next room for a while is healthier than not at all.

And the whole Buddhism idea of reincarnation -- even worse of a nightmare. What? One time is not enough? I am going to have to do this over and over and over and over again? I didn't even sign up to this. Or perhaps I did and will, but I just don't have that knowledge at my current state. I suppose depending on who you talk to, some would say you'd reincarnate till you've become a Buddha, but judging from what I know about being a Buddha (again, not much), I'm not exactly ga-ga over that life style and to spend live timeS to attain that?

But now that I am in my 30's, my view point is changing. I heard this early 20 something guy said matter-of-factly one time, "there's nothing after death." And although it had been my belief for the last couple decades, it struck me as cold, almost cruel. "There's got to be more, right?"

When I was in my 20's, and am not emotionally attached to any one or anything, that belief was enough for me. To believe that we are just the "gene machine." We are merely here on earth to procreate and ensure the survival of our species and that there's nothing beyond that. Now that I'm in my 30's, met the love of my life, and decided to not procreate, that idea is no longer comforting to me.

People became greedy when they became emotionally attached to another individual. First you see each other once or twice a week. Then that's no longer enough, and you see each other more frequently, say 3-5 times a week; when that's no longer enough, you move in together. Then people get married, which is essentially promising each other that you want to spend the rest of your life with him/her, all legal mumbo jumbo aside (unless, of course, you have ulterior motive such as an unborn baby. I do not claim that all folks get married for the right reason). Now that I am 3 years into my marriage and still madly enough, I am starting to wonder perhaps one life time is simply not enough time to spend with him. I am starting to WISH there is more after death, not because I am afraid of the unknown, but because I want more time with him.

Could love truly be nothing but an evolutionary byproduct to ensure the survival of the species because in the society today, a nuclear family between two heterosexual, monogamous partners provide the best environment for our offsprings? But the feeling of love is SO strong. Shouldn't there be more to it? Oh, I sure hope there is. But for the time being, I am going to have to go with half atheism and half "perhaps there are something bigger out there that's yet to be found out."

Got Screwed?

So, what's the moral of this story:

I am taking online classes in winter quarter. Being an studious student, I bought my text ahead of time during the winter break. School started and guess what? Yup, you got it. The prof announced that the required text is the NEWEST (2006) edition! But of COURSE I've bought the 2005 edition. New! From Amazon.com! And of COURSE I was so eagerly waiting for school to start I've started reading my text ahead of time and already highlighted the first few pages. Regardless of that, hubby probably threw away the box it came in and the invoice etc. So now I had to buy ANOTHER text book for the same class. The two books combined cost more than tuition for the entire quarter. Go figure.

The moral of this story:

Early birds get the worms; late worms don't get eaten by birds. (And I am, in this analogy, the early worms.)

Or maybe the moral of this story is just that:

Buy textbooks at outrageous marked up prices from local college bookstore!

Curious Squirrel