Locked Out

I was down at the postal place Fedexing package when I'm about ready to go and I can't find my keys. I look in all my pockets and then back into the store but nothing. After letting out a sigh, I notice that they are in the back seat.

My friend was nearby and I could have asked for a lift home to get the spare, but I decided that I would use my car insurance "road assistance." I paid for it right? They show up 30 minutes later and use the little air door separator to pry the door. He then stuck the metal claw to unlock and sure enough the alarm went off. The guy had me sign and I was outta there.

Have you ever used your Broken Glass, Lock Out, Out of Gas features from your insurance?

Snapple Real Fact #184

The most used letters in the English language are E, T, A, O, I and N.

Are these the same letters people pick on Wheel of Fortune?

Sister Marie

We had a meeting today to discuss some of the two thousand charities that we can contribute to this year, and four representatives came to give their pleas. Each one was a good cause and I can imagine how much money they need to run all of them. It was dissappointing to see that about 20 people showed up, though.

It's Halloween and many went dressed up but the one that got the most votes was "Sister Marie with Child." The Cardinal that was responsible for Sister Marie's condition didn't want to be photographed. Don't get mad at me, I just took the picture! At lunch they are having a contest so let's see who wins the grand prize.

Is your work a fun place to work?

No Power

Well, I forgot my power cord. Some how in the dark, I missed packing it up this morning so I'm without use of my laptop! That means I'm not ignoring you guys, just not hooked in, and almost everything is blocked here at work.

Slides are fun

Snapple Real Fact #114

The oldest known animal was a tortoise, which lived to be 152 years old.

I wonder who verified this, and do they normally live this long?

Irritable

It might be one of those days when things just don't go well. First, I forgot my badge but luckily I was only half a mile away. I had left a little early to get gas on the way and I find that 5 of the 8 pumps are out of order because they are taking the little TV monitors off.

Then, I pull into the first available spot and the hose won't extend. Since I put my credit card and it authorized, I quickly did a u-turn but somebody pulled in. He backed up and gave me that "you're a moron" look. But, I wasn't paying for his gas! After filling up, the prompt, "Want a car wash?" appears but the NO button is not working. I can just imagine the guy I just pissed off press "YES" and selecting deluxe everything after I leave.

I get downtown and somebody parked in the morning rush hour lane even though the sign says, "NO PARKING 5:00 a.m.-9:00 a.m." and the tow truck is there. A lady is trying to parallel park with one hand while talking on her phone moving 1 inch at a time. We have to wait for her since the other lanes are coned off.

It's okay...I left early enough that I had plenty of "Pharting around time" and got to work on time. :) (:

You ever start your day like this?

Charger -v- Texan Pre-Game Prediction

35

10

Well, the game ended just like that! I bet I won't guess another exact one in a bazillion years. It was a big victory but if the Chargers couldn't score after the 1st half of the game, then that says a lot.

Trojans defeated by Ducks

What has happened to the USC Trojans? They lose 24-17 to the Oregon Ducks! I know at least one person that will be happy about that.

Full Moon

Another Full Moon on the 25th.

Sun Block

I took this picture on Monday as I was walked out my door. Something told me that it wasn't going to be a good day. That isn't fog lingering over my house that's smoke from the east.

Snapple Real Fact #54

The average smell weighs 760 nanograms.

I wonder how they measure this and then it also makes you wonder about bathroom smells. Maybe I shouldn't have gone there, huh?

Sitting in the Parking Lot

I think it's funny when I drive in to the parking lot and people are sitting in their cars listening to the radio. You can tell that they just have to finish listening to the end of a particular radio gig, or song, etc...I was guilty of it today when I was listening to "War of the Roses" with Jagger & Kristi on 92.5 FM @ 7:10 a.m. here in San Diego. Normally I'm sitting at my desk but was running a little late. If you want, you can listen to the last five episodes.

The segment is where the radio show calls a suspected cheating partner and offers them free roses with a card with no strings attached and they can give it to anybody they want. The other partner is on the line with the radio station just listening and hoping that the "suspected" cheater is going to give the roses to them instead of the other girl/guy, or confirm what they suspected and move on.

It's rare that the suspect gives them to the accuser, but that was the case today. The lady was so happy. This was just a case of a guy finding it difficult to say "I love you."

Do you ever stay in the parking lot listening to the radio?

Snapple Real Fact #27

A ball of glass will bounce higher than a ball of rubber.

Do you believe this?

Un expected Call

I received a call from someone that I didn't expect and answered. I had wondered how it would go if we did talk and found out that it was not as bad as I had thought. They were concerned with everything happening with the fires over here and such, plus it was my birthday. It was a good call.

Out with My Daughter

Heather's been a little stir-crazy so I called her and asked if she wanted to go out to dinner with me. After tossing out a bazillion suggestions we ended up at Islands. A boy that looked exactly like The Grudge boy was in the table behind Heather. She got so freaked out. As she says, "that was scarier than the haunted Hotel." I wasn't able to get a photo because he was told to sit down. We accidentally ALMOST did a dine and dash. I tried to pay the hostess. :)

We couldn't get her friend to go shopping with us so Heather and I went to Barnes and Noble Bookstore. Heather loves to listen to the music and gets ideas on new songs she wants. We ran into some friends while we hunted down a book for Heather to read while she's out of school.

Of course we can't forget about stopping at the Apple Store. We looked all the new toys they have and I glanced at the "Lamp Clocks." But, the most fun was taking photos on the demo machines. Here's Heather's favorite.

We e-mailed all the photos that we took to our personal accounts to that she could put them on her page. :)

My favorite is the one on the right. I couldn't stop laughing and I thought we were gonna get kicked out. :)

We had to make sure we got a sunset photo even if it was not as scenic as we would have liked. I didn't have my camera but the cell phone would do :)

Although things are bad around San Diego County at the moment, we're glad that we're safe and our loved one are too.

We're still thinking of you guys...and to everyone that contacted us - Thank You! :)

I'm still here!

We are under voluntary evacuation orders but I'm staying put until they say, "Go!!!" I'm ready though. I'm home watching the news and looking at the maps on-line. I want to thank everyone that called to see how I was doing. :) We'll be fine!

I just checked on my neighbors to make sure everyone was okay. The people on my right are elderly and I saw that someone was taking them out early. Everyone is still packing their cars and I hosed down my car to get rid of all the ashes.

CHULA VISTA MANDATORY EVACUATIONS

Very close by to me...Something tells me I have to watch the news all night! Call me if you hear something. Well, if you know my number or instant message me. Wake my booty up...

Got My Stuff Ready

I got my suitcase packed and all my "important" papers all tucked in a fedex bag. A friend fedex'd a gift to me and it's the perfect size for the gift and papers. It's coming with me! My mom called and made sure that I didn't forget this or that. My Hard Disks are ready, and some other general stuff but that's it really. Some of you might know the Eastlake area and other parts of Chula Vista are evacuating. AND what's up with the fire about a mile from my house not even related? Did someone just want to get it on the map or something?

I called Heather's mom and made sure we had plans in case the word came out to "Move it!" No school tomorrow. So let's see if the weather will help. :)

Happy Birthday to Me!

It's my birthday. I'm an "ol' Phart" as my daughter says. And no, I ain't tellin' you how old I am. LOL. I just got asked how it feels and I responded that it feels the same. I've been lucky so far that I don't have any medical conditions, no cavities, don't get sick, etc...I'm wearing my new casual dress shirt that I bought for myself (Yes, I went shopping).

So, overall I'm happy! :)

San Diego is on Fire

This fire is worse than the one several years ago. No planes, or helicopters are in the air and there is ZERO percent containment and add Santa Ana winds and you have a an unstoppable firestorm. It seems like a wall of fire rolling in and tons of smoke. We've been ordered to stay off our cell phones.

San Diego County employees have been ordered to stay home to keep freeways open. Many schools closed today. The air quality is BAD! Evacuate to Qualcomm Stadium. You got your family, pets, and important papers/pictures? Then move it!!! Here at work, we did a roll call to make sure everyone was safe.

Yes, there is a fire east of my house but it's still "far away." A map of the fires.

[Update 10:50 a.m.] The San Diego Emergeny website is down and many of the radio stations went dead. My office handed out face masks in case we need them. People are teasing and calling me "Dr. Sam!" We are on voluntary leave at the moment. If you have to go...just go.

[Update 3:20 p.m.] Parts of Chula Vista are under voluntary evacs...Here's my local cbs link for most of the updates. The 905 and 805 near my house are shutdown because of a fire in San Ysidro by the high school.

What do you want for you birthday?

After the softball games, Heather and I went to dinner and I asked her what she wanted for her birthday since it's coming up real quick. With the radio on, and all the noise this is what I heard:

Heather: "lam Wah wau oowa cloc.
me: You want a lamp clock?
Heather: Yes that's what I want.
me: hmmm. So you want a lamp clock, huh? I've never seen one of those.
Heather: Dad!!! A laptop! A good one but also a purty one.
me: OH!!! A LAPTOP! LOL

My Home Office

One of my friends asked me what my "workspace" looks like. Well, here it is! I have home office that I do work for my customers and volunteer stuff. The government stuff I drive in and support them there or any of the other sites where they need me.

They've needed me in Hawaii before so, I'm hoping that they offer me a contract :) Wanna go with me?

I was going to put little arrows and such to identify the stuff but you can pretty much tell what's on the table (my mom's). The monitor that is turned off is saving energy, okay!? A little to the right of the monitor, I can see the TV in the family room, so that's why the remote control is there.

I bet my future significant other is not gonna be happy with this set-up. What do you think?

My Dad's Birthday

Today would've been my dad's birthday. He passed away back in 1983 due to complications after his stroke. It was interesting having our birthdays so close (mine is on the 22nd) and we celebrated them on the 21st, if at all.

One thing I remember the most is him never helping me, but making me find the answer myself. "Go to the library, or bookstore...Figure it out. You'll find the answer there." Uh okay.

Today, I was out and about and decided that I just needed to go to a bookstore. Since I was in the area, I decided at the last second to visit Borders instead of the Barnes and Noble! We now have one down in the Eastlake area and I was spotted by a friend. I got a hug and was wished an early happy birthday, they remembered! I think I got my answer... :)

Come Down For Lunch

I'm already thinking of lunch! Come and join me since it's a nice day in San Diego and we can eat at one of the benches on the bay...

Out to Eat

I had a board meeting for our league tonight that didn't last long so I took my friend out to dinner and he chose a relatively new place "Via Lago." It's not open yet but he was excited that it should open up soon. We had something quick to eat at "Los Primos," and found a spot to eat outside of the Golden Spoon. I liked the little mall. It had a bookstore, little waterfall with fish. :) We're supposed to go back when the Italian place opens up

End of Fiscal Year Party

It was a "business meeting" and end of year party at Joe's Crab Shack. I showed up early because with 100 people showing up, parking was going to be an issue.

Everyone had to hold up tickets to help out the servers so that they would know what to give you. The color coding thing helped a lot, except I think they needed more than three servers.

We did discuss business then played bingo and trivia games. Our team won the department competition so we got cool pins.

I figured out why I had to go...because I was getting an award! Wooohooo. One of those "official" seal kind. :) Overall, a good time even the parking meter guy was festive and ripped up a ticket. We all cheered for him when he gave the person a break.

E-mail Wars

I rarely log in to my MSN e-mail and notice that I have 5gb of space free. When I first got it, I had a whopping 2mb limit. I chuckle because as you know, Yahoo has said, "Goodbye to email meter." Unlimited capacity...Uh huh! I read the fine print. They'll monitor your account and if it appears you're abusing it then they'll bring out the e-mail police on you. I think aol still has the 1gb limit.

What is Google going to do in response? They started al lof this with their 1GB gmail account and now it's up to almost 3gb. I've had a gmail account for several years and I'm only using 10% I guess in reality they could go unlimited because only the "few" people would fill it up. But the again, the fine print, they reserve the right to remove other e-mail accounts you create.

[10/19/07] Seems like GMail gave us another gig of space.

How many e-mail accounts do you have (including spam accounts)?

Elevator Prank

I felt devious this morning for some reason as I got on the freight elevator. I saw a lady get on that I'd never seen and she kept pressing the buttons but they weren't lighting up. I got this grin on my face.

The lights don't work. But the lights at the very top of the elevator do AND you can press them. The guy behind me was zoning out so he had no clue what I was doing but started to smile as I started to talk.

her: Nice tie. [Referring to my pink "Are you Aware" tie.]
me: Thank You. I'm sorry Miss, but on this elevator you have to press the buttons up there!
her: OMG, are you serious?
me: The pad doesn't work. They are supposed to fix it sometime next week.

Since its a freight elevator it doesn't start to move instantly and she crinkles her forehead.

me: [I step all the way back]
her: [She stares at the buttons.]
me: Would you like one of us to give you a boost?

The other guy starts laughing.

her: hahha very funny. Can you press 5 for me, please?
me: [I press the 5 on the panel up top]
her: Thank You.
me: You're welcome.
her: Is it really broken? BTW, what's your name?
me: No...heh heh. My name is ... uh ... Chang Lee.

What Do You Collect?

People collect some pretty interesting things. I took this from someone's can of bottle caps. I just found out that a lady at work collects the snapple facts. I write them down first and then give her the caps now! :)

What do you collect?

No Sunshine Right Now

I'm looking out my window and all I see are dark grey clouds and the rain hitting my window. Wouldn't it be nice if all you had to do was pick up the phone and call a number and the sun would come out?

Sit Ubu Sit

What do you think he did to feel ashamed? You can just see that he doesn't even want to look up at all...

Do your pets show their emotions?

Joe's Crab Shack

I received an e-mail that we had a mandatory department meeting at Joe's Crab Shack. The deadline to order lunch for the "meeting" was noon. Well, I looked at it and thought that it didn't apply to me since I'm a contractor and not an "employee" - WRONG!

Luckily I knew the lady that was collecting the orders/money. She put my last name wrong on the list. I don't know if she did it on purpose or that's how she thinks it's spelled. But, at least I have something to eat on Thursday. :)

So, I paid back the $20 I borrowed yesterday, and then didn't have enough to pay for the meeting. Oh well. :)

Speed Quiz

Take this Quiz. You have one minute and a half to take the test. You either know it instantly or you don't. Afterwards, let me know how you did! There is another quiz there too - at the bottom. Remember, it's just for fun. :)

I like the last summary paragraph after you take the test:

"Better yet, combine your mental workout with the benefits of social interaction and set up a card game with friends."

Monday Night Football

We usually go to the little mini-mart downstairs. So, I'm on my way when I reach into my pocket and nada. I'd forgotten my cash, credit cards, license, etc...Ugh. I borrowed $20 from a friend and I was on my merry little way.

So, on my way home, I got a call from my buddy about going to La Belle's for Monday Night Football (Giants -v- Falcons) and watch Boston versus Cleveland in the ALCS. We decided to go straight from work and met up. As we sat down, we both realized that we were cashless! We sat down at the bar and ordered anyway. No, we didn't plan on bailing on the bill! :)

The lady asked what I'd like and I responded that I was going to be a heavy drinker tonight "gimme a coke, please!" She smiles. We got a pizza caught up on stuff and my friend went and got some cash while I watched both games. We paid the bill, and chatted up a bit. Yes, I finally confirmed what he had suspected. We have plans for Thursday after the "bored" meeting. This time I'll be sure to have money! :) Plus, his wife will be happy to get him out of the house!

Has it ever been your turn to pay and you have no mula?

Chargers -v- Raiders Pre-Game Prediction

Chargers 35
Raiders 24

[7:40 pm]...and the Chargers win 28-14. "LT" gets four rushing touchdowns and ALMOST gets 200 yards on the ground! As you see I predicted at least an 11 pt win, and yes, I beat the spread. I listened to the game since I was out of town (HEMET).

An Actual Fake Bill

Here it is folks! The real fake...Come on, you know you'd accept this. It has the little threads and everything. :)

I was told that I couldn't reveal the location where this bill was accepted, but if you ask and you promise not to tell, I'll let you know. Shhhh.

Is this bill good enough to fool you?

Comfort And Convenience

What is the first thing you think when someone says "Comfort and Convenience?"

After several hours in a focus group they came up with this sign! That's right, security cameras are the ultimate in comfort and convenience! didn't you know that?

My Song

Weird happenings...I call my friend on the way home, and she immediately says, "Your song is on the radio!" What a coincidence. See, but I was "yelling" at her about her having the same song on her verizon "Enjoy the music while we locate you" feature. She says I'm mean, but maybe not to my "other" girlfriends.

There I posted it. Happy now?! LOL. You have to wait until Monday to read it.

How long for lunch?

How long do you get for lunch? 30 minutes or an hour? Some departments are cracking down on those extended lunches and naming names, or is there an office snitch? Hmmm.

When does lunch break start? Is it the second you walk out of your cubicle? Or when you get your food? I think an employee would say it's when you sit down and start eating it, while a boss would say as soon as you leave that cubicle.

I come in 30 minutes earlier so that I can ENJOY my lunch and not have to inhale the remaining bits that I would've normally have had to scarf down. Most of the time I eat in the lunchroom with friends, but I like to eat outside on the bay sometimes. Some eat their home lunch at their desk and surf the web but that is maybe not a good idea either...

BTW, If you're going to the lunch truck, I'd stay away from anything that has meat in it for the next couple of days. :)

Do you have to worry about time during your lunch?

Passed Out

I got home last night and my mom called as I walked in the door. We talked for only a little bit and I barely remember that she wanted to fill out some legal papers and asked me some questions but I wasn't making much sense, so I asked if we could just fill them out later.

I was a "little" sleepy and I unmuted the TV to watch my first episode of "Survivor" and it's been on for a month? I don't know what's going on or the characters so I might just skip this season. Couldn't keep my eyes open so I crawled in bed and passed out!

CSI will have to wait until later on ... You guys better not tell me what happened or Dexter for that matter!

All Night

I just got off the phone with my friend and decided to just stay up and get ready for work instead of getting 30 minutes of sleep. The main thing is that my friend feels better about what she is going through. We both are going to be zombies at work today but that's okay!

So, in a nutshell: Don't just wait for things to happen, make them happen. None of this "it wasn't meant to be stuff", make it be! "Whatcha gonna do about it?" It comes down to you!

You ever talk on the phone (not gf/bf) all night?

One Million Dollar Bill

Okay! What do you do when you have a million dollar bill? You go to the supermarket and try to get change! You can read the MSNBC article Man trying to pass $1,000,000 bill. But, this isn't the first time that someone has been busted trying to pass the phony bills. Here's a bright one trying to sneak one by a Walmart employee: Busted at Walmart (nice mugshot!)

Not to be outdone, someone has even tried the ONE BILLION dollar treasury notes. But you can look that up on your own! :)

Would you laugh in their face?

Fire Alarm

Now I know what happens when the fire alarm goes off; all the doors are electronically released and close - lights flashing everywhere. I felt like I was in a submarine and the Captain had just ordered all hatches to be closed.

Catch me if you can!

I originally started this off as a Polaroid size, and I wanted to have Heather's image popping off the picture. Even though I didn't get the end result, I still like it.

It's interesting to see her on another team that's not Bonita Valley (6 years), and I guess she'll probably be on more so I should get used it to it, right?

Softball Sunday

Today Heather had three games up in Mission Viejo. The first game starting at 9:00 a.m. which means that our coach wants them there 1.5 hours before game time, along with the 1.5 hour drive up there and you end up having an extra early Sunday!

I liked the playing fields and this is where we had the second game. Don't ya like the seats? I'm playing around with google maps and decided to give you the exact location that I shot this photo from. So now you know where I was at exactly 10:24 a.m. PDT. We ended up winning two of the three games.

What were you doing?

Fortune Cookies

Several of us went to eat Chinese food, and the lady gave me two fortune cookies by mistake so I opened them. But it seems that they do go together. Everyone else read theirs and these were mine and I noticed something interesting about the numbers! [You'll have to click on the photo to read them. :)]

When you get a fortune cookie, what do you want it to say? That you'll find money, love, happiness, motivation? What?

Most Poll Participants

Just noticed that the "Who said, 'I love you' first" poll had the most activity. Just an interesting observation... Results: "I did" - 7, "He/She did" - 4, "Not yet" - 2.

Elevator Behavior

This was taken at Nationals when the elevator guy was trying to fix the button. I found the plastic washer dangling in the elevator and gave it to the repair guy. It appeared as someone got impatient and kicked the button and the whole button went inside the wall. Which leads me to some "observations" I have made about elevator behavior in general. Let me know what I have left out.

Do you do any of the following things in relation to elevators, if so, how many?

1. Press the button even though it's already lit.
2. Rush in before the people have gotten out.
3. Head to a corner.
4. Head to the control panel.
5. Look up at the "floor" display the whole trip.
6. Reach over and press the button instead of saying, "6 please."
7. Avoid eye contact, or other people.
8. Miss your floor because of someone in the elevator.
9. Release "toxic" fumes as you get out on your floor.
10. Press the "close" buton if you see someone.
11. Pretend to press the "open" button, along with the acting.
12. Go to the opposite corner of the pad so you can't press the "open" button.
13. Go UP on purpose even though going down.
14. Check out the other people in the elevator.
15. Pretend to be "sick" to get more room. Cough, cough, Sneeze, clear out!
16. Make plans for the day with someone on a different floor.
17. Mumble "Why the heck are you using the elavator to go up 1 floor?"
18. Hold your breath because someone is wearing too much colgne/perfume.
19. Not get on because you don't want to be in the center being stared at.
20. Not get on so you can be in the "empty" one that is next.
21. Hanky Panky.
22. Do nothing but hope the day goes by fast.

59 Minutes

Since it's a holiday on Monday, they're giving us 59 minutes of leave today, not one hour mind you! But, 59. So be careful. Woohooo...

How To Think

I just read this MSN Article About Happy People and wondered how many of you agreed with the findings...

Basically, the article summaries that happy people are: Social, thankful/grateful, kind/generous, and record their history...

What do you think?

Run Heather Run!

This was taken way back...uh 5 years is a lot to a kid, right? We'd go to Balboa Park and throw the football around and we had to try out the new Peyton Manning Football.

Throwing the softball/baseball was also on the menu along with taking photos, running, scootering, biking, rollerblading, etc... Just a glimpse of the speed that she'd show later on in softball.

But, I can still run faster - maybe not for long though! :)

Think you can catch her?

M&M Drop

I take the stairs at work most of the time and as I was waiting for a guy to move his boxes in the door, I looked down the little gap between the stairs. It reminded me of when I was a little boy going to church at the El Cortez Hotel downtown San Diego.

I liked the glass elevator, but I loved going up the stairs before Sunday school, and dropping M&M's down the stair well gap. To see if it would make it all the way to the bottom! Spit didn't work to well, btw.

Have you ever done something similar?

Lunch Downtown

The girls are trying to get me to eat healthier so they had me try one of these crackers with some stuff on it. I called it stuff because they just handed it to me and said, "Eat!"

It tasted pretty good and held me over while my carne asada burrito and grilled chicken taco arrived :)

I did eat 14 raw spinach leaves so does that count?

10 Years Ago

I got picked up at the E-Street Trolley Station, and got a an unpleasant surprise when I got home. I saw that my stuff was already packed up for me in the driveway and I had to find a place to stay real quick; luckily, a person that I had helped out with their housing situation several years earlier responds with "sure thing, bro!" to my call. Thanks!

Too Sleep or Not To Sleep

It's 3:22 a.m. and I just got off the phone (stupid I know). I'm debating whether I should crawl in bed or not since I only have less than two hours before I have to get up. If I do, will the alarm even wake me up? Wonder when the crash will hit...YAWN! Good Night...uh, Good Morning. :)

Have you ever slept through the alarm?

[5:00 a.m.]
What's that annoying sound?
Oh, it's the phone. Who's calling? It's the alarm ringing - doh.

Choose Conflict?

I was heading up to work today and need to changing lanes. I looked to the right and the lane was free, so I blink and start over. Just then I hear someone do one of those LONG honks where they hold down the horn. I quickly look and see that a car is moving into the lane from the other side but into my blind spot. I clear out no biggie. But then the guy moves up to me and starts pointing and glaring/yelling at me. Easy to read his lips on those.

It's decision time...I put my hand on my chest and mouth, "Sorry..." and wave with the open hand. He has a choice: accept the apology, and go on our merry way, or build up some stress/drama/tension, etc...He chooses to continue. WHY? What's the point? What is there to win?

He's now in my way to move over to the 94, I slow down and move over to the right going behind him. Now he glares at me from the other side. No accident, no nothing....just a lot of stress at high speed when he could have just nodded and acknowledged that he accepted the apology. I wonder if he feels better now?

What would you have done?