Diet Tip #7

Find motivation.

Be it a picture, or maybe someone you want to impress. Maybe you just want to look good for yourself. In any case, you will need a motivation to stick through it. It's hard not being able to eat junk food - or sleeping in.

My current motivation is something I encountered at 24 Fitness sauna. Two Asian guys walked in, and they were ripped. Probably 5% or less body fat. They were talking about food and sharing each other's diet tips - when one of them said:

"Doesn't your gf love Italian pasta? You should take her to this place downtown, they have awesome pasta."

"No, I'm never eating carbs and killing my diet. Not even for my GF."

Harsh? Maybe a little extreme. Cheating once in a while wont' kill you. But it was his determination and discipline that impressed me. He knows what he wants. He wants to stay ripped like a mother, so he won't eat carbs - or go to restaurants that will tempt him even for his GF.

When I feel like eating my Drunken Noodles from Thai BBQ - I always remember this guy and get the Chicken breasts out of the freezer. :)

Happy Dieting.

Walmart Employees..

Decided to start swimming again. It's hot, and the pool is just too enticing.

Went to Walmart today to buy some swimming goggles, since it's literally right next to 24 Fitness. I searched for a good 10 minutes, and could not find the Aquatic section of the store. So I finally grabbed an employee:

Me: "Where are the swimming goggles?"
Employee: "In the sporting goods section right behind you"
Me: I ask him to point, since there are like 5 isles
Employee: "It's behind you"

Then he just leaves. Rude. Oh well, i grab another girl employee standing right behind me.

Me: "Where are the swimming goggles?"
Employee: "Oh we stopped carrying those"
Me: "WTF? Walmart doesn't have swimming goggles?"
Employee: "Yeah, we got our last shipment in a few weeks ago, and we are no long ordering them for our store"
Me: "WTF"
Employee: "But they used to be in the back wall. We are sold out and out of stock now though"

So just to amuse my self, i went to the back wall where they used to be, and lone and behold - I find a bunch of scuba gear on the shelves, and 1 lone swimming goggles. It was basically the very last one. Lucky!

Remember that one scene from Indiana Jones, when he finds a treasure and he holds it in his hand in awe... yeah that was me at Walmart.

Thanks to the clueless employees. For $6.50/hour i guess you can't ask for much.

The goggles are pretty nice, and was only $12. My previous pair had a foam material around the eyes which tore apart from wear. These new ones have rubber around the eyes, and looks like were made with better quality materials. Stoked!

Motorola Droid X dying..

Time for a new phone! Last year, i dropped my phone. It happened in slow motion as I could picture my facial expression as the phone was being pulled towards the rocky asphalt by gravity. My foot reacted in time and blocked the phone from hitting the ground directly, but it bounced off and landed screen first a few feet away.

I thought to myself that i had saved the worst of it, but actually the screen had a complete crack across the lower portion. It's like those hairline cracks you see on car windshields. I was upset, but i could live with it, it didn't break the phone, and was just aesthetics.

About a month ago, I dropped it again, onto a tile floor, maybe 3 feet from the ground. Now it has a very noticeable black line running across the same area that cracked. My guess is that the screen inside the glass is now broke. The phone still works, but it feels like it's going to die any minute now.

I've been able to do my new every 2 upgrade since April but have just been holding off. Now that the iPhone 5 is likely around the corner, i just need to wait another month. Don't die on me PHONE!

Movie Review: 5 Year Engagement

Rating: 6/10.

Corny, yet watchable. One thing that the movie does try to convey is that you should never, EVER, EVER, move across the country for a girl. She will just break your heart and leave you for another guy.

Song of the Day: Hyuna - Oppa is My Style

I was really waiting for this video to come out. It was going to be a Hyuna version of Gangnam Style.

Mix feelings in terms of my expectations. Hyuna was great in the video, and she showed some cute/sexy. But WTF is with that voice. There are like hundreds of comments on YouTube just bashing the voice on this song.. and i agree.. it's annoying. I am going to go on a limb and say that it's not Hyuna's voice, or it was modified.

Still, i vote Hyuna as the best female kpop dancer. I've dubbed this song with the original song, and it's a lot better.

Cheap and Quick Way to Cable Organize

I bet the majority of the people here have desks with cables running behind their desk like this:



I even tied it with some zip ties, and it still looked horrible. After a few years, I got tired of it. Got myself two little items from Staples that cost no more than $10 total.



Velco wraps, and large binder clips. You use them to hold down the wires along side the top edges of your desk like this:



The final result?



All of the power cables, and router/speaker cables should run along together, and velcro'd together. Hopefully you have a 12 plug fused power outlet as well.

I've seen people do some crazy stuff, like use rain gutters, iKea baskets, and screwing binder clips under the desk - and i think that's going a little overboard. Clean desk is a clean desk.

Song of the Day: Norah Jones - Don't Know Why

Was watching "Ted" and reminded me of Norah Jones. Gosh this song reminds me of so many memories. Love this song.

Indian Summer and Life Updates

Summer is on full force right now, thank God for A/C. Love Cali weather.

Some updates on life.

Job

I changed my career path. No more corporate ladders and 8-5. I decided to take charge of my life with something more lucrative and flexible. I am now in the Real Estate Appraisal business. Got hooked up through my cousin and everything looks so promising. Currently I am studying hard to get licensed and learning at a very fast pace from my mentor.

This is quite a big change for me and most people are stunned when I tell them the news because they think appraisals is so different from a computer tech job. However, I am fortunate that my tech field was analytic's. It's almost the same concept when it comes to crunching numbers and justifying why you made certain adjustments. The hard part for me is learning the broad spectrum of Real Estate.

The #1 reason i chose to move to this profession was because I did not want to be stuck in a glass ceiling in the corporate world. There will always be a limit to how far you can climb. It's like a pyramid.. lots of low paying jobs at the bottom, and the good paying ones - only a certain amount of ppl get those. Plus in this economy what i have been noticing is good (smart) workers getting laid off because company's would rather pay a kid straight out of college that can most likely do the same work you do for half the salary. There is no such thing as job security anymore. Your logic of "I'm loyal to this company, so they will take care of me" no longer applies. It's all about numbers. Profit.

Appraisals is a bit different. It's like any other small business. You are an independent contractor and become your own boss. You are the CEO, CFO, CTO, etc. You are your own assistant, making your own schedules - handling priorities, and actually doing the job.

Most 8-5 workers have a linear mentality.

"How can I make the most amount of money, for the least amount of effort (work)."

When you work for yourself, it all changes and you need to think about time management.

"How can I make the most amount of money, with the time available to me."

For those of you that have no clue on what real estate appraisals is, in short, it's someone that tells you how much a house is worth doing comparative analysis in the properties market.

New Car / Traffic

The job requires me to drive a lot. Seriously, a lot. I drive from Cerritos all the way to Valencia where our office is located. Then there is work of actually going to each property and doing inspections. The homes are located all across San Fernando Valley and Santa Clarita which requires lots of driving.

I generally sit in traffic 3 hours a day just going and coming back home. So the Prius was a great investment for me. I love it when the car goes into battery only mode in traffic. Knowing you are saving gas because you ARE in traffic is great. Hybrids actually perform better in stop and go driving conditions.

I purchased my Prius for a very reasonable price. I wanted to trade in my Lexus to avoid the hassles of selling it myself, but i got very lucky. I was at the dealership negotiating the price. I asked them to value my car for a trade in and they offered me $4,000. I was like.. wtf. Hell no. Right at that time, I got a text from a private buyer that saw my craigslist ad and asked if I would sell it for $8,000 which was a fair price. Extra $4,000 for a few extra steps? Yes. So I purchased the car by itself from the dealership and then went to meet the buyer and everything was kosher.

Craigslist

I put my Nikon D3100 for sale on craigslist. I realized it sits in the closet for the majority of the year. I just don't need one right now. It's great to have one for those moments when you really do want to take nice photos - but how often is that? Carrying it around is a total bitch too.

I ended up just picking up a Canon SD630 point and shoot off craigslist for $40. And if i want the bokeh effect I can just photoshop it.

I also picked up a Garmin Nuvi50 for $80 brand new from craigslist. I love craigslist. There are some hidden gem deals if you do the search.

I was thinking about buying another onboard Nav/DVD system/deck for the Prius, but the one I want (Rosin) is $850 - and I can't justify spending that much for something that ads little value to the car.

I am also trying to sell all of my coats hanging in my closet that I never wear because they are too big on me now. However, it's summer.. they probably won't sell.

Diet

My mentor is the one that got me into the whole chicken breast diet - but he has been falling off the wagon recently. During July we drank beers, eating pizza, and just totally stuffing our mouths with food we should have avoided. During August, I am trying to get back into the healthy mentality, just like in June. During June when i was eating chicken breasts - I noticed a significant loss in fat; and i could feel myself getting leaner. It truly does work.

Cousin

My cousin Caroline is engaged. Met the fiance this weekend and had boiling crab together. Nice guy - almost reminds me of myself in certain situations. Hope everything works out for them.

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And.. that is that. Life has been busy - which keeps me focused. I leave the house around 6-7am and get back home around 9pm. Then I study for my appraiser license. Not much time to screw around.

If you have a goal or a plan, stay focused. Let's all stay focused and look towards the rewards.