Merry Christmas to ... ME.

The above is a handwritten invoice for some MAJOR repairs on the pick-up truck I drive. A celebration is in order ... NOT! Ugh, what a major bummer to have to go through during this time of year. This is something I was totally not prepared for. Oh well -- there's a long back story on why I'm driving this particular vehicle when it isn't actually mine. I won't bore you with the details, but suffice to say, since I'm using it, I need to take care of it, right? God bless my parents for giving me some money to help pay this off. Sad, but true. Is anyone 'really' too old to get handouts from your parents???

Proud to be...

I found this funny little tidbit somewhere on the interwebs ... great logic going on here:

If you purchased $1000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you have $49.00 today. If you had purchased $1000 of shares in AIG one year ago you would have $33.00 today. If you purchased $1000 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago you have $0.00 today.

But if you had purchased $1000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer then turned in the aluminum cans for recycling refund you will have received $214.00. Based on the above, the best current investment plan is to drink heavily & recycle. It is called the 401-Keg.

A recent study found that the average American walks about 900 miles a year. Another study found that Americans drink on average 22 gallons of alcohol a year. That means that on average, Americans get about 41 miles to the gallon! Makes you proud to be an American!

AIDS WALK LA 2008.

 

We did it! I walked with a group of coworkers today for AIDS WALK LA - a 10K walkathon through West Hollywood. It was a great day in Los Angeles (sunny and in the low 70's) too! Although I wasn't able to reach my personal goal for donations, my team raised over $5000 total! Thank you to everyone who donated for this worthwhile cause.

Aidswalk Los Angeles 2008 [reposted from 13 Sept].

Hey there!

I just wanted you all to know that I have registered with my fellow coworkers at Crate & Barrel for AIDS Walk Los Angeles and am very excited about the event. Back in 2001, I set out to do the AIDS Run (with the Marine Corp Marathon) in Washington, DC. I unfortunately was not able to finish my training due to the fact I was not able to make the minimum donation amount(s) to qualify for a slot in the run. As a result, I was only able to train to run up to 11 miles! This is a very important issue to me so I have set a modest fund raising goal this time around. I will definitely be able to finish the 10K walk regardless, but I want to do as much as I can to make a difference in the lives of men, women, and children affected by HIV and AIDS. Even though there has been a lot of publicity about drug treatments which are prolonging some people's lives, they don't work for everyone and there is still no cure in sight. Moreover, young people are still getting infected at alarmingly high rates.

I want your help. My company is matching the efforts of our local team. Will you please sponsor me for the AIDS Walk? Just click on the link below to enter my personalized web page and charge your donation. Thank you, in advance, for supporting this important cause and for showing that you join me in wanting to end this epidemic.

- mike


Click Here to Donate

Traveling.

Yeah, if only my luggage were as 'glamorous'. I don't remember if I wrote previously but my 'presence was requested' to be back home for an impromptu family reunion back home in the east. This time back it's going to be during the Thanksgiving holiday. Of course the 'request' wasn't REALLY a request, right? (read: YOU BETTER BE THERE OR ELSE!) To make a long story short, my mom is retiring in the beginning of the next year and will be going back to the Philippines for an extended stay of sorts (at least 6 months I think). With the advent of my newborn niece and my other younger brother just graduating from college in Toronto (and now living there), she wants a new family portrait. Yayyyy!?! Mind you, I actually savor my time back home. I miss my family and friends. I just HATE traveling nowadays. Back when I used to work for the airlines, it wasn't so much of a hassle. Actually the real hassle of traveling standby was just part of the experience. Now that I actually have to PAY for it ... eh, not so much. That's also during during the height of the travel season here in the US. The flights ar expensive. The planes are going to be crowded. Weather issues are likely to be abound as well! Oh yeah, I need not forget how that particular weekend is THE BUSIEST weekend of all in the retail calendar for work. They say the sales on the Friday after Thanksgiving are the key indicators for the overall Christmas holiday shopping season. It took some effort to persuade my manager to allow me some time off that weekend. We settled on me working that actual Friday and then finding a red-eye flight out that night. Ugh. Does anyone want to contribute to the 'Mike's Holiday Travel Fund' ? I take PayPal! lol.

Gas.

Yesterday at the Thrifty Gas Station closest to my house I noticed that the price for unleaded was up to $4.08/gallon. Ummmm --- that's where I normally went to for the 'cheap' gas in the area. Tonight on the way home (at the same gas station) it was up even further to $4.16/gallon. Not so LOL, but OMG, WTF indeed!

The cost of convenience.

Call me cheap or just not with the times, but since when did fast food value meals come to cost more than $7.00? I went to Carl's Jr. today for lunch and had a crispy bacon swiss chicken combo with a small fry and small drink. It cost a total of $6.48 + $.75 ATM surcharge. The final total was $7.23!!! I was in a hurry and the food was good and all, but that's a little much, right??? The ATM service charges are totally killing me. They do that at some gas stations here in LA too. I think the cheapest I saw for regular gas this week was like $1.49. The surcharges there are generally $.45. Wow.