Before I left Sac to go back to Vallejo for the weekend, I put my HP TouchPad on it’s wireless charging base, cause it’s battery was getting low. As it’s charging on the base, it automatically displays a nice big clock, which is always displayed as long as it’s on the base. When I came back Sunday evening, the TouchPad was completely turned off, which was completely out of the ordinary (clock should’ve been displayed).  It couldn’t be a dead battery because it’s still sitting on the charging base. I tried doing a hard reset (holding down the power & home button for 30 secs), which usually fixes things, but this time it didn’t do anything. I even tried plugging it directly to the wall charger, but that didn’t do anything either. It seemed like the whole thing was just dead.

And that made me sad. I used that thing a lot, not for much, though, just to check my kpop site, check the upcoming weather, and to read my twitter feed. I thought, “damn, now it’s a $150 paperweight”. But then, I got to thinking a little bit. I don’t need to, but I think I’m going to want to replace it with something else. Then I got a little excited. Do I finally have a legitimate reason to buy the new iPad? It’d be a new nice toy, but I couldn’t justify the price plus the fact that I already had  perfectly good, albeit app-deprived, tablet. But now with the TouchPad out of commish, I’d only have to justify the price, which I would probably BS any old reason.

But as a last ditch effort, I googled “dead TouchPad”, and tried some things to revive it. Nothing worked, but then I plugged it into my desktop and the light on the home button started to flash. It still didn’t turn on, but at least something lit up. So I left it plugged in for maybe 2 hours, and the screen finally turned on with the red dead battery icon. So it was a dead battery. I guess my wireless charging base is busted, or I didn’t it align it properly, or whatever.

Although I was happy that my TouchPad wasn’t dead after all, I was still kind of sad that I could no longer justify buying the new iPad. Rollercoaster of emotion!

This will most likely be a running list. I've probably learned some other stuff, which doesn't come to mind right now, but there are some that currently embedded in my head:

1. Be a ninja about everything you do.

2. Have a backup car.

to be continued.....

I'm sure if it's a good thing or not, but I don't think I get phased much anymore. I like to think that I don't let bad/negative situations get to me, no matter how stupid or unlucky or inconvenient it may be. Like the saying goes, "Shit Happens". I get that. I also get that it doesn't just happen to me, it happens to pretty much everyone. I've also come to realize that the quicker I get over the whole "why is this happening to me?!?!" phase or even the more demoralizing "why is this happening to me AGAIN?!?!" phase, and not dwelling on it, like forever, the quicker I can actually resolve the problem. So now, it's more like "Oh, something shitty happened?! Ok, how do I fix this?"

Here are some examples from this past couple of weeks:
1. The X5's check engine light turned on while driving to Reno a couple weeks back. I checked it with my obd-2 scanner, and it was a p0369 code, which is a bad exhaust cam shaft sensor. Not too major, just a simple part replacement. So I ordered the part, replaced it, and now everything's a-ok.

2. While doing a simple air filter cleaning on the mini, I noticed some kind of oily/greasy substance that seemed to be sprayed all over the engine bay. After some investigation, it looks like a torn/busted cv boot on the passenger-side front axle. Again, not too major, still drivable, but it will need to be repaired/replaced soon. My mechanic's in Dublin, and my dad works one city over (in Pleasanton), like 2 exits over, maybe 10 miles away. It would be soo incredibly convenient for me if he could just take it in, but for whatever reason, he can't. Since my mechanic's not open on weekends, I'm going to have to schedule an appointment during the week, only after conferring with the my boss (who more or less likes me, so I shouldn't have a problem with getting the time off. I could also telecommute since I can remote in with with laptop). The mini's got almost 150K miles on it, with the original front axles & cv joints, so they're bound to go sooner or later. Still on the original clutch, too, and I'm expecting that to be the next major service. But yeah, no biggie.

3. At my apartment in Sac, I have a sound bar that sits in front of my tv. The base of the tv stand isn't too tall, so the sound bar kind of covers the bottom of the tv. When watching anything with subtitles, sometimes the sound bar with block the bottom lines of the subtitles. I could live with it, but it's kind of annoying cause I watch a bunch of stuff with subtitles. I tried free options, such as putting thick text books or phone books underneath the tv stand, but the base of the tv stand is wider than the phone books, so it wasn't stable. I happened to stumble across a MacGyver'd solution on the internets, and it didn't cost too much since its was just putting some (non-associated) Ikea parts together. I bought an extra shelf (that's originally supposed to be used on a bookshelf) and put 4" legs on the bottom to make a custom tv riser, so now the tv sits above the sound bar. Easy peasy.

All this is kind of awesome. I like to think that being patient, prepared, and knowledgeable helps, but it also makes me wonder what exactly will phase me, and if I'll be able to keep my shit together long enough to get through it. I hope I never have to find out (Of course, I'm just talking about material things breaking, bad luck, breaks not going your way,and things of that nature, and not things like family issues or health problems).

edit:
After posting this, I realized that this can be construed to look like I don't feel or convey emotions, which may or may not be true according to the situation. Crap, does this mean that I'm a robot?

I try my best to not lie. I guess it depends on the situation, but I’ve learned that in most cases, lies will end up hurting someone when eventually found out. Well, in this last case, not lying ended up hurting my chances of getting a promotion.

Maybe two or three months ago, my boss just casually asked me in passing if I was “on the list” (the ‘staff’ classification promotion list. you can’t even think about a promotion if you’re not on the list, and even if you are on the list, you have to rank in the top 3 ranks to be considered or even apply). I told him I wasn’t yet, but that I’d take the test to get on the list soon. Then a couple of weeks ago, he pulls me into his office and asks again. I told him I hadn’t, and he kind of gets mad and says that I should get on the list ASAP, kind of hinting that there may or may not be a staff position opening up in the near future. He also gives me subtle hints on how to take the test. His words were something like, “you should maximize your chances for success with this opportunity” and saying “you shouldn’t let the exam deter you from being considered for a position, you should let the interview do that”.

Reading between the lines, he was basically telling me to fudge the hell out of the test (lie out my ass) and get as high of a score as possible, so that I could get within the top 3 ranks and be eligible to apply for the promotions. Well, luckily I got 2 shots at this. There are 2 different exams that I can take to get on 2 lists. They’re both in IT and involve doing almost the same stuff. So the first test, I was more or less honest and didn’t fudge anything. I got a 85% and thought that was pretty good, until I looked at everyone else on the list. I ended up in rank 6, since there was some assholes with scores of 110 & 105 (due to veterans and former state workers, who automatically get extra points), and a bunch of lying liars with a score of 100. So for that classification, I gots NO chance. When I told my boss of my score & low rank, he gave me another schpeel on “maximizing” my chances blah, blah, blah. Whatever.

So then I take the 2nd test, thinking in the back of head that I have to fudge it a little to get a better score. So I take the test, and I’m reading the questions, and it turns out that I really didn’t have to fudge anything, that my answers (mostly high ratings) were truthful. I got a 95% but even that’s still a rank 4, because of a-holes with 110, 105, & 100 scores, but at least I’m closer, only 1 rank off. Once they hire all the people out of a certain scoring range (like if they hire all the 110s, 105s, etc.), then the ranks will change and I’ll move up to rank 3, making me eligible.

I can retake each test every 6 months, so I guess I’ll either have to wait till then or wait till they hire people and wait for my rank to go up, whichever comes first. I swear, this testing system is all kinds of shady, and I can’t do anything about it. I gotta play it like everyone else, which means sooner or later I’m going to have set my pants on fire if I want to ever move on up.

I'll write more later, but for now....

The "Welcome to Reno" shot......the first of many.

(chocolate milk for the preggo Patchi, of course)

My very 1st (official) bet on sports

Elway, Jaymi, & I all bet on the under (6.5 runs) on the A's / Mariners game, which is basically betting on the a pitcher's duel and/or no offense. A's won the game, 4-0, and we all won our bet. Unfortunately, that was THE only sports bet that we won the whole weekend. Damn you, sportsbook!!

April 13-15 (this weekend)
Reno w/ Jaymi, Elway, & Patchi - just to gamble, chill, & hopefully win!

April 27-29
LA w/ Chris, Shann, Jayr - Korean Music Festival 2012
no longer going to this because of the concert next month & the performers this year are pretty weak

May 19-21
Anaheim w/ Chris, Shann, Jayr, Ricky - SM Town Live Tour III (omg, gonna see my girls!)

June 8-10
Las Vegas w/ the cousins - Pacquiao fight / Tj & Shann's 1st time in Vegas

July 4-8
San Diego & LA w/ the cousins - Legoland, Pirate’s Dinner Adventure, Universal Studios

Pretty juiced for all of them! I would've liked to go to Comic-Con in San Diego on July 12-15, (cause I've never been to one and just want to go at least once), but I was late to volunteer (to get in for free) and the general admission tickets are sold out. I'll just try again next year. And I have no idea what I'm doing for my birthday yet. That's kind of far away still, so I have lots of time to come up with something.

So I'm kind of pissed at the moment (slight understatement). I was trying to get tickets to the SM Town Live Tour III, to see my girls live in concert again (it's on May 20 at the Honda Center in Anaheim). I was signed in to the website, Powerhouselive.net (cause their convenience fee was $30 less than Ticketmasters), I had the tickets in my cart, entered all my billing information, and was all ready to go. Here's  screenshot as proof:

So then I hit the "Process Order" at the bottom of the page, and it takes a really long time for this piece of shit error message to pop up:

I scrolled through the stupid message, and it basically said that the server took a massive dump and kicked me out of the transaction. Their stupid servers couldn't handle all the traffic they were getting, cause shit to timeout. I tried refreshing, but to avail. The tickets in my cart were gone

We were going for the floor tickets, the closest & most expensive. Last time, back in September 2010, we had floor tickets, but they were only $180.

This time, it's way more cause I guess the venue is smaller, but at least this one comes with access to dress rehearsal before the concert starts. And since we had good tickets last time, we had to get the same one this time.

I'm really, really hoping it turns out exactly like last time. Last time, the floor tickets sold super quick, and we were initially left with the cheap nosebleed seats. And we were fine with that, and thought we were lucky just to get in. So day of the concert comes, and we're at Staples Center waiting for them to open the doors, and Chris just randomly decided to ask the box office if they had any floor tickets. And son of bitch, they fucking had some available! We swooped on that soo fast.

So tomorrow or this weekend, since Chris is already going to be down in SoCal visiting his girlfriend, he's gonna swing by the Honda Center box office and check if they have any floor tickets. I'm really hoping they do. If not, we'll just have to settle for the mid-range seats. I wouldn't mind, it's just that we're really spoiled from last time. We were this close, and it's not even at full zoom:

Only downside to any of this is that Chris' friend Jayr is most likely going. I wrote about him after our Korean Music Festival trip last May. He will not ruin this trip.

edit:
Of course, as always, thing's worked out in the end. Chris wasn't able to get any good seats at the box office. When he texted me that, I went back on Ticketmaster.com, and they had some decent lower level tickets available, not floor seats like we wanted, but to the side and 4 rows up, so it was close enough. It's almost exactly where we sat at the last concert, but we'll be in rows 4 & 5 instead of row 1, so it shouldn't be that bad. I couldn't get 6 seats together, only in groups of 2, but we're kind of close together. And these tickets also give us access to the dress rehearsal.

It was my cousin Jayden's 3rd birthday yesterday, so they had a party at his grandma's house. Usually, with family parties, there's hella food and the house is hella packed. But this time, I want to say only 1/4 of the fam showed up. It was kind of last minute, the evite sent out on Tuesday, and I guess everyone already had other plans for the weekend. Out of all the older cousins, it was only Gabe, Mel, and I, so I got to play with the kids for a while. Cyrus, Jayden, and Crimson are 2, 3, & 4 years old, and seem to have unlimited amounts of energy. And it's always something else when trying to talk to them. Cryus can speak but doesn't really make any sense yet, and he's just too cute. Jayden seems kind of moody all the time, always doing what he wants to do and not listen to anyone, and I think his favorite word is "NO!!". And Crimson can finally fully pronounce "Kuya Eric" instead of just "Keric". And it was fun. Good times with the little ones.