Very quick update

Very quick, since it's 7am and I'm waiting for Asia to wake up for breakfast. So, my camera gave me a fatal "lens error" within 6 hours of arriving to London. Trina, this means I'm going DSLR in the very near future, and Nikon is starting to look better.

In the meantime, Asia's 2MP camera phone will have to do (doh...)

I've almost died a couple of times, rode a bike while intoxicated, and gone to a haunted house type thing under the London bridge. Oh yeah, it is FUCKING COLD. Boo for the Thames being so cold.

Still up is Stonehenge, possibly Loch Ness, def Amsterdam, very likely Paris (which will be the third time I'm there in cold, cold January. But, no complaints from me! :oD

A very merry christmas to all at home, happy new year's as well.

I'm a broken record.

I've recommended it before, and I'll do it again. A movie. 13 (Tzameti). I just watched it again, 2 years after my initial viewing, and it's still great, if not better, than I remember. Probably on of my favorite movies of all time, and I don't see it getting bumped in my lifetime.

2 things:

1) it's subtitled because it's in French
2) it's black and white

It's slow going in the beginning, but give it a chance. There's many "holy shit" moments, and it's very intense and dark. You won't be disappointed to invest your time in this one.

Correlation = ?

So, I'm driving to Vegas a week ago and I see this


Then, I'm driving around in East LA yesterday trying to find a Walmart before my Asian supermarket shopping and I see this


$1.699! I haven't seen these prices since high school, and as I'm filling up my tank (for a measly $25), I realize that I don't really care about the price of gas itself (I've never had a problem paying for my gas). What's more worrysome is that I no longer drive conservatively. I'd rather burn more fuel and pay the same as I ever did, then conserve and save money, fuel, and environment. I'm gettin' while the gettin's good.

EX: When gas was $5/gallon here in CA this summer, I maintained a constant speed, tailgated truck for the slipstream, and coasted more. Now, I'm frequently over 100 on the way to/from Vegas, hard acceleration, braking, and cornering.

Theory: As the price of gas goes down, repair costs inversely increase. Chances of getting a ticket increase. Chances I buy a more powerful, gas-guzzling vehicle increase, which then increases my repair costs and ticketing opportunities exponentially.

Therefore: Lower gas prices increases my likelihood of being killed behind the wheel.

Maybe this is why I don't recycle. I (like Barney) know a dead cause when I see it.

Find me!

I hope I'm not the only person who finds this hilarious!

http://www.guitarpraise.com/ecard/v1.php

"The hottest Christian Rock Bands"

I really need cable TV.

I'd like to point out that I'm currently watching possibly the worst basketball game ever. LA Clippers (1-9) at Oklahoma City Thunder (1-10). No offense or defense on either side, sloppy game overall. I'm sure these teams are glad to see each other as they're getting their asses spanked by ALL other teams. It's like an accident that you can't help but look at. That and I don't have cable, which carries all the good games. Damn.

So, 12/24 I'll be flying into London, and 1/7 I'll be flying back. Don't know exactly what we'll be doing just yet, but there must be Stonehenge at least, maybe a bike tour if it's not too cold and raining. I'm asking around to my coworkers from the UK about what to do and where to stay, and they keep spouting words like "the Ritz" and "Four Seasons." Meanwhile, I'm spouting words like "cheap" and "hostels." Also have yet to figure out if we're to go to other countries as well; 2 weeks of paying in pounds will leave me poor.

Ah, yes, and then there's the fires which are leaving a fine layer of ash on my car everyday. Woohoo.

...Maybe I was TOO ambitious

...either way, I made very little money. The NYT, the prize winner of someone's future collection, sold for $44! And, they've yet to pay me. Second to it was the Japanese Nikkei which went for only $16. Oh well, at least it's something, and they'll boost my eBay feedback to one day screw someone majorly (as soon as I can figure out a way to get away with it 100%).

I'm training this new guy for the night manager position. Me, training. And you know what? I would make a damn good teacher if it wasn't for me being impatient. See, I can show, I can teach, but I get annoyed at the little things. I understand that everyone had their own methods of doing things, but I can't help thinking that mine if the most efficient.

Mine! Do it the way I taught you to! You're a representation of my thorough knowledge of the duties associated with the position, so if you screw up, it'll reflect poorly on me, and I'll have to flog you with something painful!

Only my thoughts, which have not materialized verbally. Yet. Oh well, after letting him do everything for a couple of nights while I nap in the back, we'll see how he fares and soon it'll be his own problem. Man, I'm an awesome teacher.

I'm still in pursuit of a car to meet the CA standard of living. And, so far I'm coming up with either a BMW 3 Series coupe or convertible, Mercedes C Class sedan, or (last resort) a Camry SE, which looks much better after the new facelift. Not new, because even if I could afford it (which I can't), it's just not worth it.

Ooh, I've just bought a crock pot! Time for slooow cooking goodness.

Now, to leave you with a lasting impression:

...ok, I've got nothing.

President-Elect Obama! ...make me some money!

It's taken over all forms of physical and digital media: our 44th President of these US of A. And I'm quite proud that we've made the right choice. Good job, everybody! Historic voter turnout (especially with minorities and young voters) did the job this year, unlike 2004. Damn Kerry, his windsurfing doomed us for the last 4 years.

Now, being the person that I am (I prefer to be called an entrepreneur), I'm attempting to make some money on this here election. You see, I stumbled onto eBay at work while looking for an Obama action figure, and saw that some New York Times from the day after elections to be selling for big money! The max I saw was $400, bot the current average is around $100. So, I brought home all the papers from work that people didn't take and am listing them on eBay. We'll see what I can get for them in the upcoming week or so; I'm hoping for enough to get a new laptop (or at least a co-payment, maybe on a new Macbook). I'll update with the sale prices as the become available.

For the time being, I'm staying in this here LA land. I may look for a nicer apartment when my lease is up, but it seems that working the swing shift will be ok. Plus, I'm training the new night manager right now, which is great since I've taught him almost everything and it's time for me to sit back and let him take care of everything at night will I shop online. Woohoo!

As for the license plate, I'd love to get DKYPNCH as a license plate, but I don't know how to justify it to the DMV. So, unless you guys can help me out with some clever justification, I'm going with YARRGGH.

YAARRGH!

Wangonomics and License Plates

This is Wangonomics:Now, my choices for new CA plates (which are slim, considering all the really good 1st tier plates are taken):

ICUP
PLACNTA
DKYPNCH
YARRGGH

and to a lesser extent:

WANG MD
UNLV 07

What to do, what to do...

I've Failed.

I've failed my attempt at Endless Setlist 2. 84 continuous songs. Goddamnit.

8:40am: I start my journey. I use my wired controller for fear that the batteries in my wireless controller could die.

Song #11: I have to pee.

Song #21: My whammy bar spring breaks and becomes flaccid.

Song #60: I have to pause the game because the mailman delivers a package.

Song #82: Visions.
Song #82: Visions.
Song #82: Visions.
Song #82: Visions.
Song #82: Visions.
Song #82: Visions.
Song #82: Visions.
Song #82: Visions.
Song #82: Visions.

4:40pm: I go to bed, hoping to rest a few hours and tackle this bitch again.

4:26am: I wake up.

Song #82: Visions.
Song #82: Visions.
Song #82: Visions.
Song #82: Visions.
Song #82: Visions.
Song #82: Visions.
Song #82: Visions.

4:38am: I shut off my 360 because I smell plastic melting.

So, in summary: 20 hours later, with 81/84 songs complete, I shut off my 360. Massive FAIL.

I'd like to declare my hatred for Death Metal in a mainstream game. Fuck Abnormality, Slayer, and the whole lot.

OMG WTF LOL (NSFW)

So, I may be going to Korea with Asia for the Christmas/New Years time. Pending quite a few things, but we'll see.










Now, for the best costume I've seen this season by far:











Hahaah!

Part 2: Bayag

Haha! Filipino coworkers are great for learning obscure tagalog words.

It was nice to see Paul last night at the Knott's Halloween Scare thing. However, I do not recommend going! Don't get me wrong; the atmosphere was great (park was dark, fog everywhere, costumed people). However, it was crowded, half the rides were closed, the other half had 2 hour lines, the haunted houses were not very scary, the "talent" was not very good, and I breathed in enough fake fog for my lifetime.

Verdict: No good. Either go on regular days for the rides, or go to Universal Studios for a much better halloween experience.

I also bought my first hardcover graphic novel (of sorts). I bought Heroes Vol. 1, with Vol. 2 being pre-ordered and shipped to me in November. All the comics are available online, but I'm waaaay to lazy to click through all the chapters and download the pdfs to see about 4 pages.

Verdict: Very good. While those who are adverse to Heroes will find this a puzzling purchase, the stories are quite entertaining. My gripe is that none of the chapters have any reference to specific episodes, so I now have to watch season 1 again to see where some parts of the comic interact with the show. Not necessarily a bad thing.

I've also been at conflict in regards to my future: staying here in LA or moving back to LV. I compared the pros and cons of each option. I asked friends of their opinions, and it wasn't what I expected. However, the responses are giving me many points that I haven't thought about as of yet. So, to be honest, I haven't made up my decision, and probably won't for a while. But, while I'm down here, I may as well enjoy what I have. I do know that I want to find a new place when my lease is up, so who wants to help me move again??? I'll lure you down here with gas money and some dinners. Oh, and I'll probably hire some day labor for all the big stuff (bed, desk, etc), so it'll be more of a "come down for fun and help me box some crap up" activity.

Part 1: Blogging Revival

It's blog-tastic.

I'm back to online weblogging, but no longer through Facebook and Myspace. Sure, those sites maybe be on the way down now, but the fact is that I have co-workers infiltrating those social networks. I need a place that is untapped to put down some thoughts. I suppose this is it.

Ahh, the doctor thing. Not a Dr. yet, but it'll be something I'll have to grow into.