job hunt begins

Even though mid-October is 5 months away, I officially began the hunt for my next employer. I've been looking for the past year, but now have ramped up the search. Last month, I sent my resumé to 2 well-known cosmetic retailers (names and job titles withheld) headquartered in San Francisco. If you're a Bay Area resident that's worked in retail, you'll probably already know who these companies are. Over the weekend, I sent applications out to a former employer and to a division within the City and County of San Francisco.

One of the cosmetic retailers took a month to reply back to me, only with a very short sentence asking me what my salary requirements were. I replied back, asking for $5 to $10K more than what I currently make. I've heard nothing since. The other retailer, I haven't heard anything back. Both retailers have since reposted the positions and changed the job titles. I'm guessing they haven't called me because I am too senior for the positions. This could be very well the same case with my former employer.

Which leads me to thinking that I need to look away from retail. I am also looking at financial service companies or those companies looking for internal audit type positions. I started putting the word out to friends, family and co-workers that I'm looking. If I get offered a position before October, it would have to be one attractive enough for me to forfeit my retention package.

And awaaaaay we go....

Old Reliables - Eagle Creek & Tevas

This past Friday, REI is holding their anniversary sale. As an REI member, I am eligible for 20% off one full-priced item. For most of yesterday, I looked up and down the REI site to see if there was anything.

Plenty to like, but nothing I really needed or wanted. The closest items were a pair of Tevas and an Eagle Creek women's mini-backpack to replace the one seen in this photo.

Currently, REI offers the Eagle Creek mini-backpack for $35. It comes in 2 colors, tomato and graphite. I decided not to get it because it's smaller and lacks the versatility my current Eagle Creek Matrix pack provides me. The Matrix is smaller and lighter than a standard daypack. But it's large enough to hold my wallet, cell phone, tissues, travel itinerary, prescription meds, toiletries (for weekend/short trips), and most importantly, it's been my carry-on for the past 7-8 years. It's gone with me to London, Seattle, Columbus, Mendocino, Vancouver, San Diego and New York. There is an updated version of the Eagle Creek Matrix at TravelGear.com, but my current pack is holding up just fine.

As for the Tevas, they're really old. I bought them at an independent sporting goods store in Marin county sometime in 1992. REI sells several different kinds. The ones that caught my interest are $70. Not a bad price with the 20% discount, but Sierra Trading Post sells a similar pair in the same color for $24.95, still less than REI's even with the discount. But the 15-year old Tevas I currently have are still in decent shape. Most of the bottom tread is still intact. I could replace them, but really don't need to.

Wish I could say the same about my work clothes. I stained my French Blue wrinkle-resistant 3/4 sleeve shirt from Eddie Bauer. It's been one my favorite shirts to wear to work since getting it 3 years ago. After 4 washings and countless pre-soaks, I still can't get the stains completely out. I've since reordered another shirt (using my Eddie Bauer Friends 20% limited time discount). It's backordered until the end of June.

Davey Concepcion

image source: ESPN

Today, the Cincinnati Reds announced they will retire shortstop legend Dave Concepcion's number 13.

As mentioned in previous blogs, I grew up a HUGE Cincinnati Reds fan. I was in high school when the Big Red Machine won back-to-back World Series titles in 1975 and 1976. The 1975 Series versus the Boston Red Sox was for me the greatest World Series ever played.

While I admired Davey a lot, my brother Sherman probably admired him even more. He played shortstop all but 2 seasons from 2nd grade through high school. Sherman's first year on the high school varsity team, he chose number 13 because of Concepcion.

Immediately after Sherman's first game, Dad made him choose another number because like many people, Dad thought the number "13" would bring bad luck.

Like the Giants' Omar Vizquel, Dave played baseball with joyous enthusiasm. I can't recall a game where I didn't see a smile on his face. Both men hail from Venezuela and chose number 13 in honor of their homeland idol, Luis Aparicio, who played for the Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox.

Davey's number will be officially retired on July 28, when the Chicago Cubs will be in town to play Cincinnati. Thanks for the memories, Dave.

very high pollen count

To some of us, it was a lovely, sunny spring day in the San Francisco Bay Area. For me, a year-round allergy sufferer, this past week has been hell, especially when it gets windy.

I saw last night's weather forecast showed high tree and weed pollen counts. My sinuses have a tendency to go berserk with high grass pollen count, which today in San Mateo/Foster City was very high.

This is the worst I've had in sometime. I left the office early yesterday because I couldn't stop sneezing and blowing my nose. When I got home, I crashed on the couch for about 2 hours, which helped, because it made me stop sneezing.

My oversized mesh wastebasket, which sits in my quasi-office in the dining room, is usually never more than 1/3 full before our cleaning person Isaurina empties it every other week. Today, it is almost 1/2 full because I've been discarding tissue wads into it constantly.

Sneezing is still rampant, but not nearly as bad as yesterday or the day before that. My eyelids and cheeks look a bit red and bumpy, which I attribute to how bad my allergies are right now. I've been hearing "bless you" said so much that I'm beginning to think I found religion.

Oh, God I hope not.

image courtesy of scalzi.com

Skybus Airlines

Just found out in tomorrow's New York Times, Skybus Airlines, a new low-fare airlines makes their debut. This caught my attention because Skybus is based from my birthplace, Columbus, Ohio. In the 23+ years I've lived in San Francisco, I have never been able to fly directly to Columbus.

Over the years, I've flown America West (connect in Phoenix), United (Chicago O'Hare or Denver), TWA (St. Louis), U.S. Airways (Indianapolis), Delta (Cincinnati) to get to Columbus. Delta was usually the most painless because Cincinnati is only about 100 miles from Columbus. Chicago and Phoenix for me have been the worst because of the vast walking distance within the terminal to catch the connection. We haven't been to Columbus in almost 2 years because our last trip on United during Christmas 2005 was one of the worst experiences we've ever had.

Fares on Skybus start out EXTREMELY low, at $10. But charges are incurred for checking-in luggage, purchasing soda, etc. And while not a big deal, flights are from Oakland. What Skybus has done is fulfill 2 extremely important reason why to fly with them:

1. DIRECT flight to Columbus from SF Bay Area
2. PRICE

We really don't have an excuse not to visit Cindy anymore. I hope they stick around.

image courtesy of answers.com

Generation 1.5 (a different kind of generation gap)

For those who aren't sure and afraid to ask, I am second-generation Asian-American. Specifically, American-born Chinese (ABC). Both my parents were born in Guangzhou (Canton) in Guangdong province, which is the ancestral province to many of the first Chinese to settle in the United States.

As broadcasted across the media prominently last week, Seung-Hui Cho was identified as the lone gunman in the Virginia Tech University shooting. Cho was a Korean-American who came to United States with his family in 1992. What also has been noted not so prominently is that Cho was considered among Koreans-Americans as someone who was "Generation 1.5", a person who arrived in the United States during school age (Cho was 8).

Up until the Virginia Tech shooting, I'd only known of generations in whole numbers. Japanese have specific names of generations (Issei, Nisei, Sansei, and Yonsei). I think "Generation 1.5" is a far more accurate description of those who arrive at school age. Because they didn't arrive as adults, many successfully integrate into American society and we often forget their birthplace wasn't in the United States.

But as I think about friends and family, Generation 1.5 probably has the largest gap of how much integration immigrants have in American society. The younger the age, the more integrated the person becomes. For example, my mom arrived in her teens, but Cantonese (Toisan) is still her first language. My cousin David arrived at the age of 4 and speaks limited Cantonese.

The lack of integration for Generation 1.5'ers is what can make life difficult. Culture and lifestyle at home versus school or work can be vastly different. It's difficult to know where you do or don't fit in. And this is where I think Seung-Hui Cho failed miserably. Fortunately, the vast majority who suffer as he did don't go on shooting rampages and kill innocent people.

Richie's return

Baseball season is officially underway. As a former Cincinnati Reds now San Francisco Giants fan, I was bummed 4 years ago when shortstop Rich Aurilia's contract wasn't renewed after 9 seasons. He went on to play with the Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres and Cincinnati Reds. Before the season began, I was excited to hear Richie was rejoining the Giants.

The past 2 nights, Rich had key hits in the Giants' win versus the St. Louis Cardinals. Last night after 12 innings, he hit a single that enabled Randy Winn to score the winning run. This afternoon, Mr. Aurilia hit a double that became the go-ahead runs to win 6-2. He has also proved his fielding versatility, playing mostly first and third base. He is also the backup shortstop to Omar Vizquel.

While the season hasn't started well for the Giants, Rich has made big contributions toward San Francisco's victories both offensively and defensively. But it's a long season and hope the Giants do well. We missed you, Richie. Welcome home.

image courtesy of sfgate.com

To Live and Fly to L.A.

Yesterday afternoon, I left the office early to catch a flight to LAX. The District Attorney's office of Los Angeles County issued me a subpoena earlier this month to appear at a hearing at 8:30 a.m this morning. There were a lot of cases on the court's calendar, and the case where I was to provide testimony for didn't convene well until 11:30.

At 11:40 or so, I was the second witness called. I remained in the witness box the longest among three of us that testified today. I testified for about 20 minutes before the court recessed for lunch. Then after lunch, I testified for another 40 minutes or so. I had a 3:05 p.m. flight back to San Francisco. Even though the courthouse was only 10 minutes from LAX, I didn't leave the courthouse until 2:40 p.m.

Because I thought I would miss my flight, I was on a cell phone with the company travel agency to see if they could get me on a later flight. Luckily, my 3:05 flight didn't board until 3:35 p.m., so I made it to the gate in time and actually left LAX around 4, as it was a completely full flight. I already packed my gym bag Sunday night, so I was more than ready to head to the gym once I got back to San Francisco.

While I can't comment on specifics about the case, I found the entire court process tedious and fascinating at the same time. This was my first time ever to testify in court. The last time I was called as a witness to testify was in 1984, where the District Attorney's office in Chickasha, Oklahoma (near Norman) flew me out to testify for a credit card fraud case. The case settled just before trial proceedings began, so I didn't go through the "raise-your-right-hand-do-you-solemnly-swear-that-the-testimony-provided-today-is-the-truth..." I don't think "so-help-you-God" is recited anymore.

The parts that I found fascinating was that my testimony actually had the TV stuff we've seen on shows like "Law & Order", "Perry Mason" and "L.A. Law". There were things said in my testimony where the defense issued objections, or asked to be stricken from the court records. Prior to the hearing, I was brought to a very small room next to the entryway of the courtroom with the A.D.A. and the arresting detective preparing me for my testimony.

I won't yet know the outcome, and I don't know how well or poorly I did. But in my line of work, I may do it again and will be better prepared. It will be something I won't forget anytime soon (not that I forget much anyway).

---

image courtesy of CNN

ahhhh....choo!!!

As usual for this time of year, my allergies are acting up. Sneezing, sore nose from too much tissue wiping, and my right eye consistently itchy and red. For the first time in over a year, I didn't wear my contact lenses to work. Because I can't exercise without wearing contacts, I wear my glasses most of the day and put in my contacts just before heading to my workout.

While I like the look of spectacles, they're not comfortable for me to wear outside the house. I fog them up when I'm warm, the nose pieces pinch after prolonged wearing, and I don't see as well out of them compared to contact lenses. I've thought about getting LASIK but find it expensive and not sure it would completely correct my extreme myopia (it's about 20/200).

Windy days aggravates the sneezing. While my allergies are year round, spring season is the worst for me. It usually subsides around May, sometimes into June. Cold compresses and eye drops will be a frequent companion for the next few weeks.

Taxing taxes

This past week, my tax accountant informed me I owe a total of almost $3K in taxes for 2006. With the condo purchase last July, I thought I would be seeing a refund, but also knew in the back of my mind I may end up owing because of stocks and cash I liquidated toward the down payment.

To pay the taxes, I had 2 options. First, write checks (ugh!) payable to the IRS and Franchise Tax board of "Coli-for-nee-uh". The second option, put it on a credit card and pay it off in about 6 months. I initially decided to put it on my credit card, but then found out the company the Federal & State uses to process the charge issues a 2.49% (percentage based on amount owed) fee, which was about $75.

Then I realized not only would I have to pay $75 for the processing fee, I'll have interest accrued against any unpaid balance (for me, about 1% a month). My next thought was to tap into my Roth IRA. Not something I wanted to do, but after being nearly credit card debt-free for 7+ years, I was determined not to start another balance, albeit small, compared to the average credit card debt of $8K or so.

I called Ester, my financial planner, and told her I wanted to move money from my Roth IRA into my checking account. Since my account was over 5 years old, I wouldn't incur fees there, but she told me it could have tax implications. Geez Louise, taxed on income to pay my friggin' taxes. Any wonder why Wesley Snipes left the country. My initial internet research tells me I'll still have to pay a 10% early withdrawal fee because I'm not 59 1/2 yet. If I had tapped into the Roth as part of my down payment (up to $10K) on the condo, I would have been exempt. (AARRGGGHH!)

Either way, the fees are about the same. I decided to tap into the Roth because I pay everything off in one shot. If I paid it with my credit card, my cash flow is a lot tighter and my debt lingers on for the remainder of the year. On the brighter side, I got my review at work today and got a small raise. A comfort to know since there was a wage freeze last year.

Despite all of this, I don't regret our condo purchase whatsoever. I've been hit over the head too many times about how much one can save in taxes from a buying a house. But I don't feel like I'm going to see any real relief for another 2 years.

image courtesy of un.org

New colors

Tonight I played around with my blog template and changed a few colors. I found too many other blogs were using the same template (Sand Dollar) as mine. While I like the format and colors, I wanted to make it look a bit different than the standard template. Depending on my mood, there might a few more modifications before I finally leave it alone.

Gators rule, Buckeyes drool

OK, Ohio State lost in the championship game of the NCAA's Men Basketball tonight. My alma mater also lost the BCS (football) game in January to the same team, the Florida Gators. One could say that it takes a lot for a team to make it to the championship game. But that's what losers say to make themselves feel better.

I am not a loser.
I am not a loser.
I am not a loser.
I am not a loser.
I am not a loser.

D'oh!!!

Congratulations AGAIN, Florida.

Stats & trivia

I've always found statistics and trivia fascinating. As a kid growing up in central Ohio, I often found myself immersed a bit too long in the Vital Statistics and Sports sections of the Columbus Dispatch. When I didn't make the cut in my 6th grade class in parallel bars for an upcoming gymnastics meet, they asked me if I would help out as a scorekeeper.

As a teenager, my trusty clipboard was at my bedside ready to record or jot down the latest stats. This included the Top 10 Countdown from American Top 40 and volunteering to keep score at softball games when my team didn't play. When the Cincinnati Reds weren't on TV, I used to listen to the game on radio (with Marty Brennamen and Joe Nuxhall), keep my own box score and then look up the actual box score in next day's paper and to see how accurate I was. Or wasn't.

In high school, I was a huge fan of a local quiz show, "In The Know". It was the equivalent in the U.K. as "University Challenge" and in the U.S. as "College Bowl". All of the local high schools had teams. Lisa was a member of our high school team. I wanted so much to be on the team, but lacked the nerve to try out. I developed huge crushes on some of the geeky male stars, not because they were good looking, but at how fast and accurate these guys were with their answers. Last weekend, we saw "Starter for 10", a film about a first-year student's dream to make the University Challenge team, which is the main reason why we wanted to see this movie.

It didn't end there. When I first moved to San Francisco, I was a scorekeeper at Fourth of July tournaments for the church I played basketball with on Saturdays. I kept score and helped manage an Asian men's softball team. As a player, I was often given the scorebook to help keep score when the manager couldn't.

Keeping score and tracking statistics was my way of staying involved, especially after I couldn't make it as a participant. It's like taking notes in lecture, only that I'm retaining information that interests me. This is likely the reason why I have such an excellent memory.

Sneaker fetish

CAUTION: My sneaker obsession dates back to grade school, so ignore this entry if you consider sneakers just "another shoe".

Yesterday, my Nike Air 360's came in. As soon as I got them, I took them out of the box, laced them up and put them on. The fit wasn't as comfortable as my Nike Shox TL IV, but figured maybe they'd stretch a bit. After having them on for about 5 minutes, I went out to my car and put them in my gym bag. It was gym night and this would be an excellent opportunity to try out the shoes.

This was the first pair of running shoes I bought online without trying them on in a store first. Most higher end Nikes are made for wider feet and my fit was so comfortable with the Shox, I figured the Air 360's would fit the same way. Like most major online retailers, the shipment includes a return shipping label, so I figured I had nothing to lose. I was anxious to see how they'd feel once I got to the gym.

Once at the gym, I put the shoes on and took a quick look in the mirror to see how I looked. The shoes looked very cool, but as the evening progressed, that's all they were. I began the workout on the elliptical, which lasted about 20 minutes. Then proceeded to the rowing machine, another 12 minutes. Shoes felt fine. Not cushy comfy, but acceptable.

Now it was on to the real test, running on the treadmill. I ran the first mile feeling a bit of tightness in my right foot. I ran another 1/2 mile and now the tightness was irritating my instep. If I had run any more than my usual 2 miles (every once in awhile I'll run up to 3 miles), I would have gotten a nasty blister.

When I finished my workout, I knew immediately I had to return the shoes. Knowing this, I hurried my cooldown, changed, and headed to the Sports Authority store near work. The purple Shox I tried last October were still on display when I was there last week to buy waterproof spray. I figured my chances were good that my size was still available.

Because the Air 360's were a bust and I already had a pair of Shox in black, I should suck it up and buy the purple ones. They were now $50 less than any of the current colors and already knew they fit great. At worst, I'd buy the latest pair of Shox TL IV in white (dirt magnet). Most importantly, my feet would be happy. At that moment, I didn't have the patience to re-order shoes online. I knew exactly what I wanted.

Before I got to Sports Authority, I re-read my shipping label just to see if I could exchange my online order at the store. I couldn't. When I got to the store, they still had the purple in my size. I tried them on again, immediately took them off, put them back in the box and proceeded to the checkout counter. They're now in my gym bag ready for tomorrow night's workout.

I returned the Air 360's this morning. Learned my lesson about buying running shoes. Always try them on at a store first. Non-running shoes are usually not an issue because I buy them at REI or Nordstrom's, and they allow me to exchange or return them at a store if they don't fit.

The Chan Sisters

I've been spending a lot of time of Wikipedia reading countless biographies. While watching KQED's "The Josh Kornbluth Show" tonight, Josh interviews Asian-American playwright Philip Kan Gotanda. So I typed Mr. Gotanda's name into Wikipedia. While he has no biography details listed in Wikipedia, his name is among a list of prominent Japanese-Americans.

This led me to look up the list of prominent Chinese-Americans. Of course there's Connie Chung, Bruce Lee, and Yo-Yo Ma. Further down the list, I was surprised to see sisters I've only known as actors. What surprised me was to find their ethnicity is half-Chinese, half-Caucasian.

Their birthnames are Jennifer and Margaret Chan. We know them as Jennifer and Meg Tilly. Their father is Chinese-American and mother is Irish-Canadian. Tilly is their mother's maiden name. Neither Tilly has been in any recent films. Jennifer has recently been seen on the poker circuit, while Meg is no longer acting.

According to Wikipedia (accuracy not reliable), Jennifer has 2 cats named Corky and Violet. How cool. Corky and Violet were the lesbian lovers/heroines in the excellent Wachowski film, "Bound".

Ohio State alumni

Tonight, the men's basketball team of my alma mater, Ohio State, just scraped by Tennessee in the "Sweet 16" round of the NCAA tournament. Just as they were this past season in football, the Buckeyes were the top ranked team at the end of the regular season. I can't remember a time Ohio State ever being top ranked in both football and basketball in the same year.

At the time I was an Ohio State student, guys like Art Schlichter and John Frank were the huge football stars. In basketball, we had Clark Kellogg and Herbie Williams. Clark is now an analyst with CBS Sports. John went on to play for the San Francisco 49ers and is now a practicing ophthamologist in SF. As for Mr. Schlichter, he didn't do as well. He spent much of his post-college life behind bars for fraud and forgery. A real shame, because he had a very promising career in the NFL.

Getting back to the hoops tournament, Ohio State will face Memphis State this Saturday for the South regional final. If Ohio State wins, then they head to the Final Four. The last time Ohio State had a team this highly ranked was in 1961. Some of the players included John Havlicek, Jerry Lucas, Larry Siegfried and a reserve named Bob Knight.

image courtesy of The Ohio State University

system lock up

Last night I was in the middle of writing a blog posting about my latest beverage kick, metromint. But as I bent over my laptop to reach for a sip of my lemon mint flavored metromint, my laptop locked up on me. It was stuck on the page and absolutely nothing moved except the cursor on my mouse. Then as I was moving it to try to get my laptop working again, it landed in the area to page up and down, and then it too, got sucked into the vortex of doom.

I tried Control+Alt+Delete, powering off and closing the lid, which for my laptop usually will cause it to hibernate. Still no luck. I unplugged the battery knowing it would have to die due to lack of juice. Which is where I am now. I woke up this morning, found power off. I plugged back the battery into the power outlet, and everything came up as if nothing happened. I have no idea what I did to lock it up in the first place. I hope it doesn't happen again.

Now on to what I tried to write about last night!

Retirement account update

About 2 weeks ago, I met with Ester, my financial planner through Ameriprise. She was a former co-worker from Gymboree and I sought her services shortly after she became a financial planner. I had always wanted a financial planner, but was turned off my the cold calls I used to get at work from places such as Merrill Lynch and Smith Barney. I wanted a planner that I could be comfortable with, and Ester fits the (pardon the pun) bill perfectly.

Ester reviewed the numbers with me as to how much my account has progressed. I was rather surprised to see the amount I gained from the time the account was first established. But what really became the eye opener for me was to compare my balance from last year to this year. As I am now officially "middle-aged", it's comforting to see that my investments are doing well. I hope I can say that when I'm ready to retire.

Last May, I jotted down my current balances in my retirement accounts. I have 2 retirement accounts (regular and Roth IRA) and my 401K from work. I established the regular IRA as the account where I rollover 401K distributions whenever I changed jobs. I could kick myself for cashing out my 401K when I was with Charles Schwab in the late 80's. But being young and poor, I didn't know any better. Many of us at that age think of this as rent money. I ended up having to pay hefty penalty fees for the early cashout. If I knew then what I know now, it would be a big chunk of change on top of what is already there.

Getting back to the last year versus this year comparison, my Ameriprise account balance today is about $1K less than what it was 10 months ago. This is excellent considering I withdrew $5K to pay closing costs for our condo purchase last July. My 401K balance has gained almost $10K, a gain of nearly $1K each month.

To me, enrolling in a 401K is a no-brainer. It's something that goes into an account every pay period. If you budget accordingly, then you won't miss the money. Plus, whatever is leftover in your pay is taxed anyway. I wouldn't have been able to do this without a financial planner. Yes, they're not cheap, but the best ones will make your money work for you.

I will never be Bill Gates or Larry Ellison, nor is this my wish. I just want enough to be comfortable.

--i

image courtesy of buyusa.gov

Daylight Savings, 3 weeks early

In San Francisco, the first day of daylight savings brought us a wonderful, sunny and warm day. It's currently in the low 70's and just about everyone is or has been outside. It was too warm to go the gym, so it was off to Costco to get new tires (the left front tire was getting dangerously bald) and a stroll through Golden Gate Park.

The installation wait was almost 3 hours. Generally, I don't spend more than an hour at Costco, but I made good use of the time. I went up and down the appliance and apparel sections several times. Ate samples of their albacore tuna and ham. Amazed at the number of people who stand in the middle of aisles without any clue that people can't go around them because the shopping carts are so huge.

I also ran into Fernando, Anna and Sean. Fernando is a former co-worker. He, his wife Anna and I are all longtime retail hacks. Fernando was with Sunglass Hut and Grain D'or and is now at Mervyn's. Anna worked at Old Navy, Discovery Channel, and an import distributor. She is now with Levi Strauss.

Since I knew I was going to be around awhile, I picked up a copy of Real Simple magazine. When I got to the checkout line, I also added a Polish sausage and soda (both for $1.50 plus refill) to my bill. I usually avoid getting any food because the lines are always so long. But this afternoon I had time. I got outside, planted my shopping cart in front of the cement ledges, pulled out my magazine and munched on my Polish until the time my car was ready.

Today flew by. It's just about 7 now and I'll be preparing a salad for dinner.

--

image courtesy of timebooth.com

Pointless observations

I went to Armadillo Willy's at the Bridgepointe Mall after my workout tonight. I tried to be good and ordered the turkey burger on a multi-grain bun. Balanced (?!?) it off with potato salad and iced tea. Noticed a family of 6 sat near the front and was finishing up their dinner. I know it sounds cruel, but my first thought was that the family parked themselves there because it was the shortest distance to walk to pick up the food. At least 3 of the family members were overweight and their idea of exercise is walking to their car in the parking lot.
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After leaving Willy's, I got on Highway 101 to head home. When I got near the 380-280 entrance, a car about 100 yards behind me had one front headlight out. The opposite and only working headlight was on high beam. Do you think driving on high beam really compensates for not replacing your burned out lamp?
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As they almost always do every night, Che and Jawa sit on the couch next to me while I'm on the laptop. Che often snores, and quite loudly. About 10 minutes ago, Jawa moved his face and pressed it against Che's. Che stopped snoring, for about 3 minutes. It appeared to me Jawa did this intentionally. Jawa then curled up his face into his chest, away from Che's face so the top of his head is now against Che's stomach. They're entwined now in a semi yin-yang position.
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This past Tuesday night, I switched from "Law & Order: SVU" to watch ABC's "To Iraq and Back", the story of former anchor Bob Woodruff's traumatic brain injury from an explosion in Iraq while on assignment and his long road to recovery.

I am always moved by these kinds of stories because of my own experience with a serious knee injury in 1991 due to a skiing accident. Even though my recovery seemed slow and painful (3 months on crutches, 2 months off work, 6 months physical therapy, no softball for a year), my injury was a walk in the park compared to Mr. Woodruff's. He is still undergoing therapy a year after the incident, and is not likely to work in the same capacity as he did previously. He was in a coma for 36 days and had part of his skull removed.

I caught tonight while at the gym Bob & Lee Woodruff's interview on CNN with Larry King. I spent an extra 10 minutes on the elliptical and 10 minutes cooldown so I could catch as much of the interview (closed captioned) as possible. Another reason to stick around was seeing Bob's brother Dave being interviewed on camera. Dave Woodruff is one handsome dude.
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OK, my pointless rambling must now end. It's nearing midnight and I still have to shower and brush my teeth to get ready for work in the morning. Nighty-night.