Looong week

I had to work last Saturday, and my boss and I had to drive 4 hours to see the president of the company to report the profitability of our plant on Sunday. We had to drive back on the same day. That's 8 hours of driving on Sunday, and right back to work on Monday.

Today is Saturday. Since last night, we have been experiencing a problem, and I have been on the phone all day to get things worked out. It's 7:00PM, and I'm typing this at work. My weekend has been non-existent for a while, and I'm getting pretty exhausted. During the week, I have not been getting much sleep either. My face is breaking out probably because of my irregular life cycle and stress. I was really looking forward to resting this weekend, but seems like it's a lost cause now.

Hopefully, things will settle tonight and I will be able to sleep in on Sunday. Then again, I shouldn't get my hopes up. Disappointment is a cruel thing...

Slick & Smooooth

I have been keeping my hair very short since last Summer. I use an electric hair clipper to just buzz my head until I have a headful of stubs. I feels like a sand paper when you run your hand on my head.

Lately, I have been wanting to shave my head smooth, and today was the day that I decided to be slick.I used Gillette Mach3 Power razor and Edge shaving gel that I bought specifically for this occasion. I clipped my hair short first, then applied the blade on my head. Head shaving takes more getting used to that I imagined. It took me a while before I felt satisfied that my head is smooth all over. I swear, you would think that the hair keeps growing back while you are still shaving because you keep finding the missed spots.

To have a smooth-shaven head feels not much different from having the "buzzed" head until you run your hand across your head. Ooh, what a sensation! I don't even know how to describe it, but it is akin to a sense of liberation. When I slap my head, it sounds like a bare butt being slapped!! HeHe! I really can't tell you how different I look. I was hoping that I would get the Vin-Diesel look, but I don't think I was successful. When I go to work tomorrow, I would know.

I don't know if I will keep this shaven head. It seems more trouble than worth it. I would have to shave my head everyday, and shaving head takes too much time in the morning. My sleep time is really valuable, you know... I will give it a test run this week, and see how it will turn out.

Canada Picture

It's kind of belated, but I wanted to post a picture from my Canada trip.



It's just me in front of the Niagara Falls. It's not even a good picture, but it's one of the only few pictures that my boss took. You can kinda see the portion of the fall behind me.

From the Great White North...

Yeah, I'm in Canada right now typing this entry in the hotel room. This marks a few interesting milestones for me:

1. This is the first time I have ever connected to the Internet through a WiFi Hotspot.
2. This is my first entry that I write away from home (other than the very first entry: that was written at my parents' house).

My impression on WiFi Hotspot: it's way too expensive. I'm paying $11 for the right to connect for the next 24 hours with 500 MB data transfer limit. This barely lets you do much. Especially, if I'm connected in the hotel room, I would rather have a free, wired internet connection. I will have to watch my usage, really.

Anyway, I'm in Canada for a business. I'm staying at the Waterloo Inn in Kitchener, Ontario. Because I'm traveling with my boss (a VP of the company), we are getting a pampering VIP treatment from the host plant. They would drive us around, take us out to dine and wine, and they even arranged the hotel accommodation for us. The last time I was here, I had to do all that myself.

I wish I had a digital camera. My camera was lost during my last trip to Mexico. I am currently looking at getting one. One from Panasonic looks damn good, but expensive. Sony cameras' prices are coming down. I need a really portable good quality camera. I want to be able to post a picture on my blog sites wherever I am so that the millions of my potential readers will be able to keep up with my latest adventure.

Yes, it's cold here... The locals are telling me that it's gotten warm. I don't know how anybody gets used to this severe winter climate. I don't really like hot weather, but I guess I would take hot over cold any day.

You know I brought this notebook computer from work: the bigger, heavier one because I thought I needed this particular program for this trip. I found out that the program doesn't even work outside my office. They screwed up when they installed it, I guess. I'm mad because now I have to tote around this damn heavy computer all over the place for nothing! I could have brought my small Sony Vaio in the stylish Booq bag, and save some pain! Oh, well...

I'm gonna wrap up this entry before I end up yapping about nothing all night. I got an early morning tomorrow. Maybe I get a free connection tomorrow, then I will be able to post more, otherwise, you'll have to wait until Saturday night.

Electric Toothbrush

I use an electric toothbrush. I started using it a several months ago, and the result has been remarkable. The toothbrush is made by Oral-B and I paid about $20 at Wal-Mart. I can't find the exact model that I use anymore in the store or in the website, so they may have stopped producing it, but similar models still exist.

• The brush head should be small: it allows you to maneuver it better in your mouth so you are more likely to reach all surfaces of your teeth.
• The bristles should be soft: it actually brushes your teeth better (according to my hygienist). I used to use medium to hard bristles because the stimulation in my mouth felt better, but you can get used to the soft kind pretty quickly. With an electric brush, it's plenty stimulating anyway.
• The chargeable unit eliminates hassles: I guess it's not a requirement, but it IS convenient.

I use Crest Dual-action Whitening toothpaste. With toothpaste applied on the brush head, I turn the brush on in my mouth. I run the brush on each tooth briefly. I don't have to spend more time on each tooth than a few seconds, but I make sure that the outside bristles get into between the teeth as deep as possible by orienting the brush appropriately. It takes me about 3 minutes usually. The brush has a 2-minute timer (it vibrates intermittently for a second at the 2-minute mark), so I know if I'm on a right pace.

The visits to the dentist have been much more pleasant as my hygienist now commends me for my excellent oral hygiene. I only brush once a day in the morning and I swish with Listerine before I go to bed at night. I don't normally floss, but my hygienist doesn't even nag me about flossing anymore. I would like to think that the use of the electric brush is as effective as using the floss.

I've been lucky with oral health as I have never had a cavity in my life. I didn't go to the dentist for 7 years until a few years ago, but I only had the mild case of gingivitis which cured right after the visit to Dr. Whaley in Vincennes. With the electric brush, Plax and Listerine, my teeth now are whiter and healthier than ever. People actually comment on them! I definitely recommend my oral care method to anybody.

Pens

Ok, so I got lazy a little while... but I'm back.
I'm on a quest for a good pen. I have a pretty strict set of criteria in qualifying a pen as a good pen. Now, I'm not really one of those serious collectors of pens. These guys prefer expensive fountain pens (I think). I'm more practical in my taste. Here is my list of criteria:

• Multi-function ball-point pen including a PDA stylus
• Large diameter
• Heftiness
• Good balance
• Smooth mechanical feel
• Good craftmanship

I have not found a perfect one yet. A few came close. The one that I bought from www.styluscentral.com is pretty good, but I dropped it on the floor and it crushed the tip of the ball-point pen. I should get the replacement cartridge, but I have temporarily retired the pen. I have purchased a few more pens from the same vendor. One is a small pen which I though was supposed to be much bigger. The other one had a laser pointer and a flashlight in it. Really neat, and it's a great conversation piece, but it's too big, too top heavy and the battery ran out too quickly.

I recently got another pen from Levenger for $24. The appearance is almost perfect. It seems a little too light than my taste, but the balance is good. The craftmanship seems pretty good. When you click, it OFTEN gives me a smooth, addictive feel. I say OFTEN, because sometimes it gives me the metal-to-metal grinding feel. And the sophisticated mechanism (it's a 4-in-1 gravity-utilizing pen) seems too fragile. It's my favorite pen for now.

I will continue with my search for the perfect pen. I wonder if it's out there...

Dreams

Andre was talking about opening a recording studio in Vincennes. I was pretty excited for the prospect that I would have a studio connection in the vicinity. A recording studio is one thing, but what I don't find around here is a good live house where you can enjoy a good live music of all kinds. Since Andre talked me about the studio, I've been fancying the idea of opening a live house.

Then, last weekend, I was talking to Miho about this fantasy while I was trying to fix her computer, and somehow the idea merged with my long-time dream of running a coffee shop: why not a coffee shop-live house? This is great! I'm now imagining a comfortable sitdown place where you can enjoy a coffee and a conversation while a rather quiet live music is played on a small stage.

Now, Naomi tells me about this place in Evansville called "Seekers" which is very similar to this concept. I was at first happy that I would be able to check the place out before I am to open my place (help me materialize my fantasy). I was reading their website, then I realized that this is a Christian-emphasized place... Well, the concept is still good, I just have to make sure that my music does not include Christian music.

Goro joins my grand master plan, and says that I should make this an internet cafe. I do not have a first-hand experience with any internet cafe, but I figure that it's a place with bunch of computers lined up with a broadband connection. OK, so that's a little bit off from my concept, but I guess I could make the place a "Wi-Fi Hot Spot" where a paying member can bring his notebook computer or a PDA and connect to the Internet while he enjoys the coffee and music. Goro wants to make the place really modern and hi-tech, but I really don't know about that. I was thinking of wooden-motif rather dim place... but perhaps, I should consider all possibilities, anyway.

So, my own coffee shop-live house plan is kind of shaping up. Getting close to reality? mmm... Not really. But I would like to continue planning in case the 'right time' comes pretty soon.

First week survived

So a week has passed since 2005 has started. I don't mean to make this blog my new year resolution tracking log, but I want to summarize how I am doing:

Workout

Monday, Wednesday, Friday

• Crunch: 20 straight reps, 10 each side reps
• dumbbell Butterfly: 25 lbs each, 10 reps, 1 set
• dumbbell Curl: 25 lbs each, 10 reps, 1 set
• Tricep Pushdown: 50 lbs, 10 reps, 1 set
• Lat Pull Down: 80 lbs, 10 reps, 1 set
• dumbbell Military Press: 30 lbs each, 10 reps, 1 set

Tuesday, Thursday

• Crunch: 20 straight reps, 10 each side reps
• Squat: 95 lbs, 10 reps, 1 set
• Leg Curl: 50 lbs, 10 reps, 1 set
• Toe Press: 60 lbs + body weight, 20 reps, 1 set

The first week was supposed to be the warm-up week, and I think it served its purpose. I feel that my body has adjusted to the actual physical work and is ready for more strenuous training. I am taking creatine and amino acid to help me build muscles effectively. I wonder if these things are actually working...

traveling

I started looking around on the Net for options. I'm currently considering a train trip through Europe. Target timing: Spring. I need to look more seriously.

Spanish

I have a text book at the bedside, but I have not been able to pick it up all week long... I really need to create a daily or weekly schedule to allocate specific time for Spanish (and everything else) so that I will make a point to pick up the book.

CODE 58

Plagued by the computer troubles, no progress has been made this year. Hopefully, the hardware issues will resolve next week, and we will finish up our long over-due project.

Blog

Hey, I am keeping this up, aren't I? CODE 58 blog is also kept up. So, I think this has been OK.

Not too bad, I think. I just have to organize my life a little better so that I can achieve/maintain all these goal during this year. I will do that this week.

So Far So So

4 days into the new year, I guess I'm feeling OK with what's going on. I worked out on yesterday and today. Sure, I'm getting pretty sore (and I didn't lift that much), but this was expected. I can actually see me continuing for a while.

My musical activities have not been as well because the studio computer has decided to fall ill. Nothing seems to be working right. I have ordered some parts and perhaps things will improve when I receive them, but until then, CODE 58 project has been put on hold.

This is my 3rd entry in this blog, and I have made 2 entries into CODE 58 blog, so I'm keeping up with my blog resolution.

I have not started on the rest of the resolutions, but hey, it's only 1/4 (1/5 technically, I guess), so I have plenty of time to catch up. No sweat.

I did it!

Hey, how about that, the second entry!!

I'm waiting for the dryer to finish its thing so that I can start ironing. Yeah, I'm going back to work tomorrow. I must say I had a pretty good rest over the break. I pretty much spent all my time at my parents tinkering over their computers. I took my spanking brand new notebook computer (Sony TR3AP1), and I enjoyed using it anywhere in the house browsing the Internet, chatting/video conferencing with Naomi (until the morning hours...), and just simply feeling cool being wireless! (...Yeah, I'm a hopeless geek...).

So I'm back to the grind tomorrow. My resolutions are effective tomorrow as well. Let's see how things will turn out.