Back to the roots... or leaves and stems... whatever

So, I have been waking up and going to bed earlier and earlier for some weird reason. Maybe I am slipping into my EST time zone. To stay somewhat operational I have resorted to drinking Yerba Mate. Which is this awesome but bitter Argentinian drink made from the stems and leaves of some sort of plant. A good substitute for coffee, since I am way sensitive to that delicious but makes me jittery like mad drink. :)
I am hooked to mate. On the plus side, mate is supposed to lower your blood pressure and has a higher amount of antioxidants when compared to tea.

Really need to get back in shape...

So I went to the gym today after a five month hiatus. It was a harsh reality check. I am really really out of shape. Barely made a 2 mile run without feeling like dieing. Then when I tried to do weights, I could barely push things up. :( Hopefully, I will get in better shape soon. The food at work is too good.

Things have a knack of working out by themselves

Today, I got my new cellphone and it is nice. For one thing the LCD on this one does not bleed like the old one. :D However, I still need to mail back my old broken one and get credit for it. I had to pay 300$ to get it.... Grrr.... Sprint better give that money back to me. :( I have the Samusung Upstage which is one neat little bugger. Except that the constant flipping of the phone to text stuff is starting to get annoying. XD

I also picked up a 17" Sony Trinitron Multiscan e200 CRT that someone was throwing away and it works marvelously. :D It will have to do while I wait for a good sale on those gorgeous 32" LCD screens. It is strange how when I picked the screen up I thought it was a 15". Either I have grown bigger from all the good food I have been eating recently or I forgot how 17" CRT used to look like. I can't believe I am still acting like a student and trying to save up as much as I can. XD hehe... I guess habits are hard to break. Well, granted, I got a big shock from my first paycheck. Half of it disappeared in random taxes. T.T And all the moving expenses are adding up. :( i don't think my first pay check is enough to pay rent. Urgh... Living expenses in California are so expensive. Oh well. I can think of it as doing a good thing. I recycled the CRT. Instead of landing in a dumpster, it sits here on my table, delaying its inevitable fate.

On other notes, I started reading books again. Those low tech method of information transferal. I started reading Fast Food Nation, while I wait for the arrival of my other books from Amazon. I wished there were a better way to buy things online. A centralized Walmart would be cool. :D

What doesn't kill me will make me stronger.

I am 26 now. It is starting to sink in, after 4 days. Despite my age, I feel that I still got so much more to learn, to experience. I will face forward with courage and not stress too much about every little things. I need to review the list of things to do in this lifetime. I need to be more open to new ideas, embrace new experience with enthusiasm, and learn from past mistakes.

I remember writing a list of goals long time ago, but for some reason I can't find it. Time to do an update. :D More of this to come.

Cute quote

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it. -Confucius

Heaven on earth...

or for a geek.

Started work a week ago in sunny California. It is beautiful down here. I can't believe there are no clouds in the sky. I got an awesome road bike from a friend. Well awesome by my standards means better than the 100$ bikes you can get at Walmart or Canadian Tire. :D I spent over 100$ just fixing this bike to make it ridable. Who knew tubes for road bikes were so expensive or that you needed a special pump for them. XD

I also got a small cozy little studio in Mountain View, it is close enough to work that I can bike there under 20 minutes. :D Yay for California weather~

Oh yeah disclaimer here: All thoughts and comments expressed here belong to me and me alone. In no way does this reflect the views and opinions of my employer. yadda yadda. :D

The rumors are true: Work rocks! I can't believe I wake up every morning looking forward to go to work. I just wished living expenses in California weren't so expensive. I forgot a lot of things when I moved, so I ended up buying a lot of things. :(

Road trip complete

My 7 day road trip from Montreal to Santa Clara is finally complete. Some of the major or more memoral stops include:
- Montreal, QC, Canada
- Toronto, ON, Canada
- Waterloo, ON, Canada
- Chicago, IL, US
- Sioux City, IA, US
- Mount Rushmore, ND, US
- Custer, ND, US
- Casper, WY, US
- Salt Lake City, UT,US
- Salt Lake Flats
- Reno, NV, US
- Tahoe Lake, NV, US
- Santa Clara, CA, US