Its Friday!!!

What up!? What up!? Today is Friday the end of the work week, the start of a short but much needed weekend. So where to begin?

Today is the 29th, the day of the official iPhone release. Many people have begun lining up at stores already. There has been one incident of a fail mugging attempt. I guess there was a TV crew filming outside of an Apple store and one of the four top tech commentators was about to pull out his iphone to demo to the film crew. Then some guy goes and jumps the camera man and the tech guy. From what I heard, the police and the people in line helped to detain the would be mugger. Stupid! But a nice try!!

**edit** There is now a video of this scene circulating throughout the net. It looks as if the guy was trying to grab the mic. I couldnt hear the audio, but if he was really trying to grab the iphone he has bad aim!! But again it was a good attempt!

Another report has Steve Jobs, the big man at Apple, saying that edge is kind of slow and buggy. For those of you that dont know, edge, is a the wireless over the air network used by ATT. This is slow technology being the fact that ATT has a 3G network that Apple did not take put on the phone. The reason being that their 3G network doesnt encompass the entire US States. EVDO, the 3G equivalent, by Verizon covers the whole US states. Too bad Verizon and Apple couldn't get along!! So Steve says, edge is slow and buggy and is not good for webbrowsing. NO SHIT!! Next time you make a phone do your damn research!!


Our company just moved their email system to an outlook server. That means more spam? I dont know. But from the spam I get from outlook and my gmail I can do the following:

1. I can have a bigger Penis
2. I can lose weight faster
3. I can win A free Ipod
4. Something in Chinese or some language using characters
5. I get free Kmart Gift Cards
6. I can meet Attractive Singles
7. I won lots of cool Prizes
8. I can get gift cards to all these places
9. I can view Photos of people in my area.

The only thing Spam is good for is in my mouth!! haha

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

Stuff....

WARNING: This may or may not be a long post or may or may not make sense. So bare with me. This is my stream of consciousness.

This week has some what gone fast. I used to dread going into work because there wouldn't be a whole lot for me to do. But this week somehow, was better. I've been emailing that girl I told you about last Friday. We have been talking mostly everyday this week, except for last night because I fell asleep. Wait, I talked to her for about 3 mins last night. But when she called back I was dead asleep. I woke up at 3am and found my lights and tv still on. Haha. If I was a smoker I would have probably fallen asleep with a lit cigarette and burned the whole house down!! blah. Speaking of smoking, I found this thing this morning on my gadget site that I always look at. It is a all in one, lighter / pipe for smoking the herbs..haha Its pretty cool, the lighter pop up, light the bowl and the other end is the pipe. Very ingenious.

Ok, so back to work. They let me update the careers page of our company's website. Actually it was 2 pages that I edited. Nothing much, just some text changes and deletions. But I was happy to go about and do this. It broke up the routine of me not doing any work and actually allowed me to work. I am happy that I finished this in a reasonable amount of time. Now I get to blog about what I did.

On the way to work this week, there is this one spot on the street where I always pass and the people who are driving there always seem to go in slow motion. It was weird. It is a 3 lane street and I am in the lane on the far right side. The cars in the middle and left lanes are the ones that go in slow mo. I don't know why. At that very spot everyone drives slow and it backs up for about a block. And this week was/is all about drivers changing / pulling in my lane and driving slow. Come On. If you are going to cut me off or come into my lane as you see me coming at you like a rocket, the common thing to do is flipping drive faster. But no. That isn't the case. OH well. I am glad that I got new brakes and my oil changed yesterday. Now I won't have to worry about not being able to stop!! haha.

I have noticed that since I have been talking to this girl, I am happier, ( I typed...more happy..haha) and I find myself laughing more than I used to. For instance, today on the way to work, I brought my big ipod, the one that has all my music, and I was jamming to all sorts of stuff. From Queen, to Frankie J, to The stylistics. I had my window open and just singing and drinking my coffee. I guess sometimes we all need a little variety in our lives. Thanks goodness for the big ipod. Also, I found myself jamming down the road, both hands cupping my coffee, going 50 in a 45, singing and watching the world pass around me. It was a good feeling. I had to slow down because I was arriving at the job site earlier than expected. Once I got to the parking lot, I finished my coffee and the song I was listening too and merrily went up to work. Strange how the little things makes us happy. Well makes me happy. Right at this very moment in my head, that damn chevrolet song is in my head, "buy you a chevrolet, buy me a chevrolet." I am just giddy. It may be the coffee or the fact that it is so close to Friday!

Ok, Speaking of Friday, that is when the new iphone comes out. I was thinking of getting it. but why? All or most of the people I talk with are on Verizon and the offerings of the iPhone do not really justify me spending $600 on a phone + a 2 year contract + $175 for an early termination fee from The Network. If the iPhone came to Verizon, I would be on that like white on rice. I just want to see how much mayhem this Friday at 6pm will bring. Get your riot gear on. It may be a war to get the iPhone.

Well, I guess that is all I have to say for now. I may have emptied my mind of all these random thoughts. BTW, how do you like the cat picture on the right? haha Its cool eh? A cat playing 360 and losing my man!! I hate when that Happens!!! haha

WWE and Relationships

So this morning my friend IM's me asking if I heard about Chris Benoit. I said No. He sent me the link to yahoo sports and also told me that he passed away over the weekend/Monday. I read the post on yahoo. I guess they said it was a murder-suicide. He killed his wife and seven year old son then killed himself. For those of you who do not know, Benoit was a professional wrestler for the WWE and the other wrestling franchises. It is pretty surreal to see people you grew up watching passing away. I grew up watching him wrestle and a few other wrestlers that a since passed away. I, not looked up to them, but admired them for what they did. They put their bodies on the line just to entertain the fans. You can say wrestling is fake, well hell, it is fake, but there are moves that go on that you really can not fake. Like going through a table or jumping off a 10ft ladder and landing on something/someone. Or getting hit with a steel chair hard enough that the people in the first few rows hears the impact. Its fake but damn, its gotta hurt! I do not condone what ever happened to Benoit and his family but it just goes to show that these are real people too. Things that happen to real people also happen to them regardless of how unfortunate the circumstances are. I know I felt this way when I heard that two body building stars were arrested for murder a year or so back. I also grew up reading about them and how they sculpted their bodies to become one of the elite body builders of the sport. But again, they are just human and also have to deal with everyday events and good / bad choices.

Last night I spent another few hours talking to this girl. She is really cool. I really enjoy talking to her. I think she laughs at things more than I do. She also makes those same comments I do, where we just add crazy situations to events that would probably not happen but would be funny. Lets see, for instance we were talking about how I had to over come some obstacles to get to know her, like her father or her older brother or her friends. So we were talking about making a t-shirt that said, "Climbing Mt. Everest with my bare feet." Sure it may not sound funny but it is one of those, "you had to be there" moments. We are very similar I have found out. Things that she does or wants to do, I find myself doing it or wanting to do it. Its very very crazy. I think I am falling for her, but again like I said, I have to take it slow. It is in my nature to fall fast for girls so I want to take it slow to make things go right. She is definitely worth getting to know. I just don't want to say anything to crazy to make her think I am crazy and drive her away. So we shall see what happens! Wish me luck!!

What a Weekend

For those of you who read this blog, I would like to say, sorry for the horizontal looking photos. Those were sent from my phone and I really didnt/dont know how to flip them around. So just deal with em!! haha

My weekend was pretty cool. Friday after work I went out with my family for my Parents' anniversary at the Universal Hilton. I guess there is this all you can eat buffet with lobster, steak, shark fin soup, sushi, and all this other stuff. It is a high class buffet compared to the ones at Hometown buffet or the ones in Las Vegas. After that we went to my sister's house and my dad played the Wii with my nephews. I slept over there because on Sat we were going to Knotts Berry farm.

Sat: Knotts Berry Farm. For those of you that don't know, Knotts is an amusement park in Ca. It has roller coaster rides and some small rides for the kiddies. Usually all amusement parks have themes for the kids. This park's theme was Snoopy and the Peanuts gang. You know, Charlie Brown, Peppermint Patty, Lucy, Snoopy and Woodstock. The reason we went was because my sister's work had a company appreciation day there with all you can eat chicken and what not. Knotts is famous for their fried chicken and homemade Jam. So we were there from opening until closing. Lots of walking and eating and having fun. We played games. The dog from 3 pics down is what I won at this one game. This game had playing cards laid out on this table. the object of the game was to throw your poker chips on the cards to make poker hands. You get 5 chips. I only got a pair of 7's so that was my prize. It was ok. After the park we went and slept over my brother in law's parents house, since my other nephew was having a movie party in that city.

Sun: After waking up, my back started to hurt. It has been hurting for a while now, only on the left side of my lower back. Then Sat, while playing with my nephews, I lifted one of them up and hurt the other side of my back. And I guess going on a Wooden roller coaster that is bone jarring as it is, didn't help the situation. So after we got ready, we went to the movies. We watched The Fantastic Four: The rise of the Silver Surfer! I liked it. It kind of explained in limited detail how the silver surfer came to be known. After that, I stayed behind and my friend picked me up. That night we were going to go to a concert. We had lunch at L & L which is a nice Hawaiian fast food place. It was good. I haven't had that since I moved out of the apt!! So we arrive at the Hollywood Bowl later that day. Hollywood Bowl is this open concert stadium where people bring picnic stuff and just hang out. It was my first time there and I wouldn't mind going back. Before the concert, we had a picnic with about 40 people who were sitting with us. It was a good time since most of the people who went were old high school buddies. It was fun. Inside the venue, like I said before, people can bring picnic stuff and alcohol. Everyone was just chilling eating drinking and enjoying some great music.

In the row in front of us, there was this one group of people, with a girl and her date sitting in the middle of this long bench. Then this other group of people come and sit at the other side of the bench. As the music was playing, some real old slow song, the guy who was on a date, starting rubbing up on the girl that just came in. They were grinding and she was lifting up her skirt and stuff. It was crazy. If I get pics I'll post them..maybe.haha Any way, so it was a good time had by all. I got a ride to the venue with one friend but going home, I had to go get a ride with someone else. But to get to the car, we had to walk about a mile or so to get to the condo. This walk took us through the freeway where we had to walk on the side of the road with no sidewalk. I was just thinking to myself, please no car hit me!! haha Of course we got there safely and I caught a ride with a high school friend who lives 5 mins from my sister's house. That is where I left my car on Friday, the beginning of this long ass weekend. Once I got home, I took a shower and crashed on my bed. I was so tired I actually slept right up till my alarm went off. Even then I had to hit the snooze button a couple of times. And now I sit here, Monday morning just staring blankly at this screen!! haha I can't wait to go HOME!!!

my earing

blinky
Ryan

Ryan

the dog

the dog i won at knotts berry farm
Ryan

Look into my Soul

One thing that I have noticed about myself this week is that I tend to fall for girls in an instant. I'll talk with a girl, get to know her and BAMM!! Feelings come up and thats all I can think about is her. I am in that mood right now. I starting talking to this girl yesterday via emails. Then last night we started to talk. It was a good talk. Just about who we were, what we like and dislike. It was a good 4 hour convo. Im paying for it now since I cant keep my flippin eyes open but that is ok. Any way, so yah, in those 4 hours I realized that she was a person that was worth getting to know. I wouldnt mind. I dont know how she feels. Hopefully the same. I dont want to rush into anything, but I guess my feelings already have a head start. I just have to chill and see where things go. But its hard. She caught my attention from the start and it is hard to not think about it. So wish me luck. Let us see how far the rabbit hole really goes.

Nees 2 Go Home

time to go home yet??
Ryan

This is how much I carry in my Pockets!!

My i phone

With out the phone part ha ha

Ranting

Wow, I didn't realize that I titled 2 of my last blogs the same thing. Thats crazy.

Any way, I am just writing to vent. Ive been in a somewhat "blah" mood today. I have been so motivated to getting healthy, watching what I eat, and doing work as Big Black would say, and it seems for what? For nothing? To attract the girl of my dreams whom I haven't found? I feel very low right now. Just grab that sledgehammer from the corner and knock me the crap out. I am a shell of my self right now. More today than other days I am feeling lonely. It looks like all the people I know are all in relationships and I am the only one here who is single. I know I probably won't feel like this for long, but today seems appropriate. Its a Monday and I really do not want to be here right now. I just want to go to bed and close my eyes. Why can't I find that one girl that I can love and be with for ever. Where is my story book ending? Where is my girl I save just as the end credits start rolling? I really doubt that this will happen in my lifetime. I just dont feel really positive right now. I am just blah right now. It sucks and I dont want to talk it anymore. This day is zapping my energy. I don't want to try anything. Just point me to the end of the road and I'll be happy. Life is a up and down ride and I am definitely on the down side. Sorry if you read this and feel bad for me. Don't! I am just venting. Something has to change for my life to get better. Someone asked me if I was happy. I was but who knows now. If I close my eyes I can see her right next to me but I can not make out who she is or what she looks like. I deserve to be happy right? I've done my part. I have helped people. I am a good person. DO i deserve some type of happiness??

Random-ness

Do we really need a title for this blog? I am not sure. I really don't know what I want to say. But here is it. My top 3 qualities in a girlfriend.
1. Eyes
2. Smile
3. Personality


She has to have eyes!! haha j/k. I mean she has to have that something in her eyes. That sparkle every time I look into them. A reflection of who she is. The color of the eyes once the sun shines its rays upon it.

Her smile. She has to love to smile. I have gotten among other things, my dad's sense of humor. He always seems to make people laugh. I tend to do that also, especially if I am really comfortable with other people. I know most of the times, the jokes are dumb, but again, that is what I got from my dad!! haha

She has to have a great personality. Since mine is kind of crazy, her personality must fill in the empty spaces of my own sick personality. Granted I am not crazy or anything, but I sometimes need that balance of sane and insane.

So there it is, my top 3.

Random-ness

So its Friday..here is a video you may enjoy, especially if you like TETRIS!!! *cue tetris music now*

And click this link:

http://www.glumbert.com/media/japtetris



Also, 14 more days unitl the iPhone Launches!!! WOHOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Friday!!

Happy Friday to all those out there who are stuck at work. I feel your pain! Naked Thursday was ok. The boss left for the afternoon, so you know what they say, "when the cat is out the mice play." Well we really didn't play, but we didnt do a lot of work. After work I got my hair cut and had some dinner with my dad. After settling some bills! (BOOO!!!) I watched the last half of the CAVS / SPURS Game on the TV. Too bad the Spurs won and they are the new NBA Champions. Oh well, there is always next year. After the game I went and did my circuit weight lifting training. That was fun. After a movie and shower it was off to bed.

Today was not that different. Im at work right now just chilliln. Ok well I just came back from lunch. We went to a Sushi place right near work. It was good.

I had the bento box : Not all that stuff, just Pork cutlet (breaded strips of pork), tempura, rice and 4 California Rolls. I also got 2 spicy tuna hand rolls but that pic doesn't do it justice. This was the spiciest thing I have ever eaten. I took one bite and I literally started to sweat. Of course I had to finish it, so after I ate it my head was one big sweat ball. It was crazy. I had to take the other one home or in a box. One day I will list the sushi places in So. Cal where I have eaten and rank them by how good the sushi was for me.

One thing to note when going out for Sushi. Never go out and have sushi on a Monday. If you notice that the hole in the wall sushi places are not open on Mondays. From what I have heard, Monday is when the sushi places get their shipment of fresh fish. So Monday will be the 7 day old fish and rice while Tuesdays are the freshest sushi has ever been. This is from experience. I actually went to a Sushi place open on Monday and the there was a distinct taste to the fish and the hardness of the rice. So be forewarned!!

For those of you who are turned off on sushi, let me tell you I was also. But then I tried a California Roll. From then on I was hooked. Well let me clarify. Sushi is defined as this. Mainly though, when I think about sushi for the first time I thought of it as fish that was uncooked. I still can not eat that. I just do not like the consistency of the fish. However, I can eat other types of rolls that they have. I have tried a teriyaki Chicken roll. That was good. My favorite is the soft shell crab roll or the spider roll. I would eat the middle and save the ends, the ones with the legs, for last. That would be my Eleanore. For those of you who do not know what I mean, you might have to watch "Gone in 60 Seconds"

Now, I am here in the office, just messing around. Can't wait to start my Friday!! WOHOO!!

HAPPY HUMP DAY!!!

Happy Hump Day!!

What is hump day? It is that little day right smack dab in the middle of the work week. For those of us who work the Monday - Friday shifts, that little day would be Wed!! YAY!! That means that it is almost Friday and the weekend!! Friday can not come any faster! In my calender, Hump Day is followed by Naked Thursdays!! I love my weeks. Too bad no one else participates in them! haha.

Not much going on on the home front. Same ish different day. But I did wash my car yesterday! That was fun. My car has been collecting some nice Grade A dirt over several months. Sure, I could have taken it to the car wash but I did not have any money to spend on a car wash. And by the time I get home, the sun would still be up, but the weather would be cooler. I live in a canyon and about 10 miles over this canyon is the ocean. So this brings in the fog and the cool coastal air. It is pretty cool to look up at the top of the canyon and see fog making its way down to my street. I love scary movies, so I always imagine Zombies or some dreadful creature coming down the hill with the fog. Ok so the weather has not been good for car washing. Yesterday on the other hand was perfect. I came home, ate dinner, then went to wash the car. The sun was still up and it was still warm. It took me about 30mins to wash the car. But boy did my car need it. Then today before work I filled up my car with gas and put more air in my tires. On the way to work I kept looking at my side view mirrors. They were so clean. If i wasn't the good drive that I am, I surely would have taken out a few parked cars while looking at my very clean mirrors. So today after work, I will do the inside of the car! YAY! I don't know about the rest of the world, but I know I feel much better with a clean car. It boosts my self image because my car is clean. No I don't have an expensive car or SUV, but at least it is clean!!

After I cleaned the car, I went and worked out for a bit. I tried to do some minutes on the elliptical machine, but I was too tired. So I went to the back yard and did some high stepping. I don't know what you call it, but it is when you face a step that is higher than usually and you just step up and down for a certain amount of reps. I did 10-15 reps which equaled to 3-4 sets. So it was good. I felt good. Then I sat down and enjoyed the nice breeze of the summer with my dog!

I watched Alpha Dog last night for my relaxation bit before I go to bed. It was really good. I didn't know that it was based on real life events. It kept my attention and it didn't make me fall asleep. That right there is a good indicator that it was a good movie!! haha. Well I am sending this movie back and getting a new one. I think the next Netflix on my list is EPIC MOVIE!! haha I love those types of movies. It a parody on all the blockbuster hit movies from last year. I know it will be dumb, but hey, thats why I like em.

Ok, well I guess it is time for me to go and do some work or find work to do. So Happy Hump Day to all!! And Remember,

NAKED THURSDAYS!!!

Research and Weight-loss

I am not sure what is going on with me. I think I am losing my gadget-fondness. Is that even a word? Any way, since I have limited my spending, I find myself not wanting to buy anything cool. Is it because I want to not spend? Or is it because of the fact that there are no cool things to buy? I am not sure? I know for one thing, my cell phone cravings have subsided. You may ask yourself "How hard is it to stop cell phone cravings?" or "what is the big deal with his cell phone cravings?" What a freak! I Know I know! Well my obsession with cell phones could be similar to someone's obsession with shoes. How each week or every two weeks you would HAVE to buy shoes because it felt good. And if you didn't buy the shoes you would feel bad or you were determined to get those NEW Shoes regardless of what it takes. If you can relate to the shoes obsession, that is how I felt with cell phones. I NEEDED the newest model regardless of the fact that my current cell phone is in great condition. I just had to have it. So anyways, it has been a couple of weeks since I bought my last phone and I am not feeling that anxiety of getting a new phone. But then again, like the gadgets, there aren't any "cool" phones coming out. Until the iPhone rears its ugly head at the end of this month. So let us cross our fingers and hope that this obsession doesn't come back at the end of this month.

In regards to this blog, I was thinking that my overall Internet viewing has been expanding. I would limit myself everyday I get to work, to view only a couple of sites religiously. Those would be my Gmail, and 3 technology sites, and any interesting facts found on Digg. Now, I would like to thank those who comment on my blog since you give me an opportunity to read your blogs. I love reading blogs, I have always loved reading them, it was just a matter of finding blogs to read. Now that I joined the google groups, blogs are plentiful. I get to know fill my mind with other people's insight to different matters.

I was reading someone's blog and at the bottom they posted a link to this site: http://sparkpeople.com This is a site that is devoted to people who would like to lose weight and don't know how. Or they do know how, they just need the support and motivation that this site provides. Last Friday I recently joined this site. I for one, fall into the group of people who need to lose weight. All my life, maybe not when I was a baby, I have been overweight. The scale that doctors use that matches a person's height to an ideal weight MUST be changed. I think it was based off a Caucasian average male and the ideal weight. Because it says that I need to be in the 170lbs range for my height. Well, I am 5'11 and weight 257.5lbs. I weighed myself this morning! :) So by this chart, I am considered morbid or morbidly obese. I am not sure what my body fat % is, but I know that I am not all fat. I played basketball in high school and I work out 3-4 days a week with cardio mixed in. I know I have fat to lose, but I have also gained muscle. So does this chart take into account a person's build or muscle mass? I don't think so. And if someone were to say, well that this chart is just a "ruler" to see where you fall into, but I am not Caucasian, so this chart would not apply to me, correct? I am not sure who made up this chart, but I know I do need to lose weight. But to say I am morbidly obese, is that right to assume? Any ways, I have joined this website, and I am looking forward to shedding all those unwanted pounds off of this frame. Wish me Luck. and if you want to join this site too, I would recommend it. Even if you want to lose 5lbs, the people on this site are nice and supportive. Most likely because we are all in the same boat. So Good luck and eat right.

Spending my Life Away

Now that I have had a couple cups of coffee to wake me up, I decided that I would bare my soul in this entry about the events that lead up to this morning. What Happened this morning? My bankruptcy case was reviewed and approved. I am 29 years old and I filed for bankruptcy.


I graduated college in 2000 and after a month of looking for a job, I found one. I was a computer purchaser for the same college that I graduated from. I still lived at home, commuted to work, and had several student loans to pay off. I just started my first job out of college and making money that I had never seen before. The money I was making was enough to pay more than the minimum on my student loans, while paying for my cell phone and car insurance. Mind you I was living at home so I didn't have to pay rent. From a financial stand point I had a lot of disposable income.


I have always liked jewelry since I was a kid. I'm a guy but I still like things that shine. At the same time I started my job, hip hop / rap music, was promoting the "bling bling" theme to their lyrics. If these guys can have "bling bling" so can I. One day I was walking with my ex gf / one of my best friends now, through the mall. I stopped inside a Kevin Jewelers to have a look around. I had not intention of buying anything just window shopping. Then this cross struck my eye. It was a beautiful piece to behold. The sales people gave me a good price, knocked off the tax and added "their special discounts." I chose this cross and the chain it was on. I figured that I can make payments on this item and pay it off in no time. So, that's $4000 I just added to my debt. I loved this piece. I'd wear it all the time and I would actually get compliments on it. I didn't feel rich or anything, I was just happy that I bought this item.

Then on another visit to the mall with the same girl that was with me when I got the cross, we stopped by again. This time the sales people kind of remember me and they showed me other items as well. What is a cross without a ring right? Well without much persuasion I left the mall that day with a ring similar to this one. Cool, I just added $2500 more to my "jewelry" debt. No problem I said to myself. I can pay this off. I have a job and making good money! No problem!

A month or so later, cruising the mall with said friend, (maybe my friend is to blame!! haha j/k) we stop by the same Kevin Jewelers. This time the sales people know me by name. Hell I think I just paid for their kids tuition. They show me this bracelet that just came in that matches the same setting that was on my cross and ring. This time I had the mind set to say "not right now, maybe next time." My friend and I went and ate at the food court. While eating I was contemplating the bracelet. See, they let me try it on and I got a glimpse of what it would look like on me. I asked said friend what she thought. She said, "It looks good on you." Hell, thats all the motivation I needed. After eating, we went back to the store and I went ahead and purchased the bracelet. (sorry no pics of this but just think of a tennis bracelet but bigger and longer for guys). So after adding another $4000 to my debt I went home happy.

Times got a little shaky when I had to pay for the student loans and the jewelry payments every month. I could still pay more than the said amount my student loans but not on my jewelry. Once I did some configuring, I had little money left over for spending cash. I got caught it in this "bling bling" hype that on several occasions, I visited Kevin Jewelers and purchased more items. I purchased some earings, traded in my ring for another "bigger" ring, purchased 2 more diamond pendants, a watch, a bracelet for a friend, a dolphin pendant for a friend, and a bracelet for my mom. I am not sure about the grand total, but I'll just say that it was enough to put me over the top. I hate Kevin Jewelers!! haha but I bet they loved me!

It was time to ask for help. In my family, there is one parent who will say yes to everything and another one that you are just plain scared off because they are strict and you do not want to evoke the wrath of said parent. My dad is the say yes type, or the sure you can do that type. My mom on the other hand is the one to be scared of. I think it is that strict Chinese side of her. Any way, if I were to ask for help, I would have to go through her. I picked a good day to talk to her about it. I told her that I need help paying my bills, that I am $9000 in the hole (this was actually less than what I needed). After much yelling and lecturing she said she would help and she wrote me a check for the $9000. The next day I deposited the check and paid off a majority of the loans. However, once you have that spending bug, you unfortunately can not stop. Or so I thought.

A couple years later (2005-2006) I have been jewelry free and still paying my loans. During this time, I got so desperate for money that I had the said friend help me pawn off the jewelry I had worked so hard to purchase. She got me about 10-15% of the price that I had paid for the jewelry. Hell, any money right now would be helpful. Once I had the money, I put majority of it in my checking account. I should have put all of it in there, but when you see an envelope full of money, you have to spend it. To this day I don't know what I spent it on. Some thing trivial that lost its value after a few days and placed on my shelf never to be used again.

After being 60% out of debt, the gadget side of me took over. I moved from buying jewelry to buying unlocked cell phones. If anyone knows about unlocked cell phones it is the fact that they are expensive. Since they are not associated with any carrier, prices for these phones can start at the low $800s. The first real unlocked phone that I purchased with my newly created spending cash, was the Motorola Razr. I paid $700 + for this phone. Why so much? Because it was unlocked and it wasn't available in the US at the time. At the time, I would only use my debit card, so whatever money I had was the money I spent. Then came the Discover card, which was supposed to be used for emergencies only. I would use that card to help me purchase new phones. I would purchase phones every three weeks or as often as they were released. I used my discover card for those purchases. Then, I signed up for PayPal and found out that they gave me a line of credit. Good I thought. Another way to spend money. I used the PayPal and the Discover card up to its max. Then on tigerdirect.com, they have the ability to "billmelater" which is a line of credit. I used that to its max. So after being down to about 40% in debt after the help of my mom, the rise in cell phone purchases bumped my debt back up to about 80% of my income. Again, I needed help but I didn't ask my mom this time.

I decided that I would stop spending money and focus on paying of this debt that kept rising because of the interest rates. At the time, I was still at my college job, moved into an apt, and still paying off my debt. Now I had to worry about credit card debt, rent, utilities and every month expenses. But did that stop me from spending? Nope. Somehow, I found the way to get money and spend it on things I didn't need. I bought furniture for my room in the apt, an XBOX 360, guitar hero for my PS2, a DS lite, DVDs, and of course more cell phones. I just had enough spending cash, after paying my bills, to buy food for lunch and dinner. I was fine or so I thought. Sure I was only paying the minimum on some bills but I was getting by. Then that pervervial rock bottom found its way into my life.

Then Nov 2006 right before the Thanksgiving holiday here in the States, I was served my last paycheck and told to clean out my office. There were issues at work where they, suits, couldn't trust me any more and some job title changes were going into effect. Right before Thanksgiving, I lost my job. Nothing could have been done. I had no money coming in, and the way I was spending cash, I had no savings. I applied for unemployment but was denied. I was looking for jobs, but at the time, no one was hiring especially during the holiday season and the new year. I spent 3 1/2 months without a job. There was no way I could pay off my debt now. In Feb, still looking for a job, my dad suggested that I file for bankruptcy. What else could I do? We both went to a bankruptcy lawyer and paid for his help. We filed in Feb and I finally found a job in March.

The new job doesn't pay as much as my old job but at least there was money to be made. I am still at the new job and today my hearing for the bankruptcy was put through. All those creditors who were calling me every day have stopped. I don't owe anyone any money. I recently sat my butt down and finally made a budget for my monthly expenses and my savings. I have 2 savings accounts now. I look back at all the times I have spent money, on things that I don't use anymore. How could I have been so foolish? But thanks to the support of my parents and family, I have finally learned that saving money is a good thing and spending money on useless things is a trap that I do not want to fall into again. I pledge to whoever reads this and to myself, that from today on, the money I spend will be for things that need to be spent on, and that I will save more than I spend. The real American dream is to live life without having to worry about debt. I hope I can do this without disappointing anyone else again.

My Habit

I have a bad habit and I hope that one day I will kick this habit. What is it? It is an addiction to cell phones. For me, I want the latest and greatest phones. New technology is the way to go. I have used all of the major carriers here in the U.S. and I have yet to settle down with one particular phone. Have you ever had that gnawing feeling where you have everything but it still isn't enough? That is how I am with cell phones. And this addiction has gotten me into some bad financial issues.

Like I said before, I need to have the latest and greatest technology. Before anyone else. Well I had to have the Motorola Razr when it was first introduced. When I say introduced, I dont mean in the US, but introduced overseas. I think I paid about $700 for an unlocked version of this phone. I had this phone for about a month or so, before I saw rumors that the Razr was coming to Cingular. Once a phone reaches stateside, it will be old tech. So onto new and better phones.

I started this obsession in the late 2001 and I havent stopped. Ive been a majority of all the headset makers, LG, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, Palm, Rim, Samsung, Pantech, and HP. Yet nothing has really quenched my appitie so to speak. I recently purchased a Blackberry 8830 from Verizon. So far this phone has done what I wanted it to. But as the end of the month comes up the new iPhone will be released. I have told myself of all the flaws with this phone, but the hype and the pros are starting to outweigh the cons. In only a matter of a few weeks the iPhone will be available for purchase. Now, I ask myself, should I switch to ATT and grab the phone that everyone else is waiting to get or stop with my current phone? I do not know. I guess, as the cliche goes, Only time will tell.

Another Monday

Its Monday again, which means, the weekend went by too quick and Friday can not come soon enough. The weekend was good. Friday, went to dinner at my sister's house and hung out for a bit. Played some Mario party 8 on the Wii. That was fun. Sat, I slept in till about 11am, thank goodness for a nice soft warm bed! Got ready and went to the swap meet to see Melissa. She just opened a new store there. Hung out there for a while, and had lunch with her and her husband and baby, well not baby, cause she is hella big now. Sat night, came home after church and got ready for my cousin's graduation party. Went along with my sister to the party and hung out for a while. We played poker, and I won $10 WOHOO!! Sunday, went to my nephew's track picnic. Stayed there from 11am to about 4pm. Play catch with my nephews, sat in the sun for most of the time. Now Im read in the face and on my arms! After that, we went to my niece's dance recital. That was cool. It was better than the winter dance recital because the summer's version is a lot more fast paced and with more variety. I got home last night about 9:30pm, got ready for bed and just vegged on my bed till I fell asleep. Next thing I knew, my alarm was going off! Man, we need a 3 day weekend or something like that. I can not stand these short, event filled weekends. I have to go to court this Thursday. I am kind of scared or nervous, but hopefully everything will go ok and I'll be set for a while. Other than that, not a lot is going on. Oh, my grandma is coming from the PI on Wed, so thats good. I haven't seen her for a while. Then Friday is payday!! and then the weekend. So wish me luck this week. Hopefully I will make it till Friday!! haha.

Have a good Monday and rest of the week.

Happy June 1st!!



Well another week has come to a close. This week however, was a wonderful four day week, since Monday was memorial day. So yay for the holiday. It always seems that the week goes so very slow, especially on a four day week. Why is that? I would like to know, but not so much that I'd investigate what makes it so.

I called my doctor's office today since I have an appointment on Monday. I asked them if they accepted HMO since this is what the office offers. Unfortunately they only accept PPO's so I had to cancel the appointment. What a shame too because I really liked that doctor. And the nurses were hella hot!! damn!! So I am off to find another doctor. I might just go back to the doctor I had before since they accept HMO. Stupid HMOs!! blah.

Last night was the premiere of Pirate something or some crap like that. It is a survivor like show, where the contestants do pirate stuff and look for buried treasure. It look pretty good. Kind of cheesy but I wouldn't mind watching it again. They already voted or "cut off" one of the people. So, in this episode, the contestants are split up into two teams, a red and black team. Both teams received a map and a compass. Then they both paddled off to a near by island in search of their first treasure. The black team won and returned to the ship. The host told the black team the worth of the gold coins. It was based on size. The amounts were $100, $50, and $25. In total they received $40,000. The team was asked to nominate a Captain. They nominated the captain and he received half of the $40k. Then he nominated two co-captains or something like that. They split whatever was left. Any way, at the end, the Captain had to nominate 3 people to be voted off the ship. The twist here is the crew can vote off one of the three people, or they can gang up and vote the captain off. Sorry for not using the proper terms, they have escaped me at the moment. But the crew went ahead and voted off one of the guys, who was kind of cocky any way so I guess that was a good thing. So it was a good premiere IMO.
Also last night was the National spelling bee contest. Some 8th grader won. It was pretty amazing, especially how the try and decipher how the words are spelled from its origin, or the definition. So Congrats to that kid.