Reboot

I have deliberately taken a whole year off this blog because of a few reasons. I wasn't really happy with my life at the end of 2010. Sure I had a boyfriend that I adore but after two years of unemployment starting at the end of 2008, I was met with the end of my unemployment compensation and I had to borrow money to keep up with all my bills and expenses and all I could find as a job with my work experience and my Master's degree is to be a manager in training at a Dunkin Donuts in a sketchy neighborhood catering to addicts and drug dealers, working 55 hours, 6 days a week for near minimum wage.

It was physical labor for a boss who was undereducated and all she knows about managing is to act loud and bossy. It wasn't her fault and at the end of her training, I did learn loud in my head on what is what in a store like hers. The business model of the company is to lower expenses and make everyone replaceable disregarding experience, so employees are treated like dirt. I think that may reign true in any fast food restaurants. You don't have to offer anyone raises since there will be tons of high-schoolers lining down the door waiting to replace you. I had done my damnest to be the best employee possible. Working almost 10 hours a day for 6 days unfortunately doesn't leave me enough time to blog.

I was very afraid that my boyfriend would leave me because I didn't have time for him and when I do, I'm thoroughly tired. Physically and mentally. Most days I have to go to bed at 8pm so I can wake up at 3am in the morning to make it to work by 4am, all the while having an unreasonably demanding boss on my back. I was transferred to a better neighborhood after 3-month of work and doing less hours which means that I get paid less but still enough to survive. To my boyfriend's credit, he didn't leave me, not until after I found a decent job.

I guess I cannot fault him. After being put in the bottom of the pit, I was determined to come back up, so I did not exactly quit the Donuts but move it to the weekend. With both the equally demanding new job and the Donuts, I think I have failed to shown as much passion to the boyfriend as before and it broke. That or it had long been broken and the now ex-boyfriend had just stayed with me until I got back on my feet. In my head, I thought I was working hard for our future together, I want to be an equal partner and not lagging behind. I guess that was foolish. Either way, that's the end of that. What's ironic is that after a few more months I quit the Donuts, I just don't see the point of working so hard any more. It doesn't seem that I have anything to work for anymore.

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Job Woes

I've been pounding the pavements for months, checking job listings in about 20 sites everyday, applying for things that I think I was qualified for but at most I get an email weeks later saying that they are considering "candidates that more closely match their needs" or other more polite ways of rejection. Others doesn't even bother to make a sound.

From all the applications, I've seen a trend that mostly 90 percent of all posting on the online job boards are from placement companies that post positions that may or may not exist. They are mostly fishing for information of where the candidates might have interviewed or applied before and their former employment information, so they can contact those people and ask if they have any employment needs so the employer can hire through them and they will pay job seeker's 50% to 75% of what the employers are paying them. With one of such company, I have gone through a lengthy employment process including a drug screening just so I can work for 3 days and get $200, then never heard from them again.

So more vulture-like companies post fake job ads and then call you to say that I should pay them for trainings to increase my chances of employment, which is not guaranteed. When I tell them that I don't have any money to give them, they say that unemployment will generally compensate for the trainings and I should really invest in myself. Of course, they don't care whether I do learn or not, they are only interested in money. They don't really care if I'm desperately in need or a job and don't have time to entertain them.

I thought the retail stores would need some holiday help, because it's the case for past years and so I applied for a job at a clothing store and despite being a minimum wage job, it's some income. But after going a questionnaire, a phone interview and a face-to-face interview, the person told me that all the holiday position had been filled a while back, she's just doing it for protocol and the next day she has a job fair to hold that was scheduled months back even though she doesn't need people anymore. Well, thanks for nothing. I've considered taking a loan from the bank but I have nothing for them for collateral. Friends did offer to loan me money but while not having much, I do have my pride.

Through it all, I did learn some lessons. I used to spend everything that I earn and itching to find an excuse to spend and treat people to meals when my bank account grows. Now I know the importance to plan for a future. At the same way, I understand my importance to invest and be strategic in my professional development. I didn't know better to set a goal or to plan a career path for myself. I was comfortable in a moderately well-paid job that didn't go anywhere. I confess my sins.

Now, the clothing store has contacted me for a full-time position that pays next to nothing and another friend has called me about working temporarily in a coffee shop that pays even less but the friend told me that I can take off anytime when a job interview comes up. It's a good thing I have considerate friend that understand my situation and my needs. I reckon, I can perhaps work both jobs to get a passable income. It would mean working 65 hours a week and not getting paid nearly as much as before or the unemployment that I've been getting but I'm trying to shoulder the responsibility of being self-reliant and becoming an adult. At least I can be doing while keep on applying for a steadier job.

Between all this, I'm worried that the relationship between me and the boyfriend will strain because of the hours I'll be keeping. During the two years that we are dating I have been largely available because of my unemployment. If I'm working 65 hours a week like I'm planning to, I will be missing out on a lot of quality time between us and if I'm ever off, I'll probably be exhausted. I probably won't be much of a boyfriend and it could be quite unfair to him. I'm worried that we might grow distant. I know that it's probably me and my own anxiety and at this cloudy point of my life, I don't know what kind of future is available to me and the ones I love and for that I'm saddened. I guess I have to remain optimistic, persistent and take things one day at a time. It's part of growing up, even though it takes me all these years to realize and get started.

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From One Scam To Another

I've been very actively looking for work for the past 2 weeks. Last week, I happened to get calls from 2 staffing agencies who enthusiastically scheduled me for interviews. Wearing my one good suit, I traveled 3 hours roundtrip out to the suburbs by bus in the rain, walked across a major highway to a non-descript building to a medium size office where two gentlemen tried hard to sell me to join their staffing agency where they will find me employment with major companies for short term contracts. They will help me with training, they even have insurance available for purchase. It all seems too good to be true, so when they asked me if I have any questions, I asked "What's the catch?"

They told me that they get commission from companies for handling their HR process, but after getting home and searching for these company, it turns out the way it works is that these staffing agencies create fake job postings to lure candidates to apply and interview with them. They request the candidates to bring professional references with them which the staffing company will use them to identify potential staffing opportunities.

If there are really jobs out there, the staffing company will only pay the candidates half of what they are charging the companies, which I find ironic since one of the interview I went to is for a staffing agency called Robert Half. On average, they are only paying workers about $14-16 an hour and they don't pay any benefits, the health insurance is pretty much a scam. For that kind of money, I could be an administrative assistant and get more from it. And if the company I work for happen to see me as an asset and wants to hire me, I could be sued for jumping ship. I guess the company will have to pay a premium fee to the staffing agency before I could be released. The reality is that in order for a staffing agency to survive they will have to contact more candidates than they have jobs and most candidates will be ignored after they got enough information from them.

All the job boards online is filled with fake positions created by these staffing companies and it's more than unethical in my books. Why would any companies buy into these scams? If people are willing to work for $14-16/hour while the companies are paying $30/hour to staffing companies to locate candidates, don't they know that they will be able to find cheaper labors? Too bad I'm at a time where I need the work and can't choose who I'm selling my soul to.

Cross my fingers that I'll get something soon.

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In An Attempt To Scam The Scammer

Business first, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has put an indefinitely stay on its DADT ruling yesterday, which timing-wise is decidedly suspicious. Were they throwing the fight for the Democrats? I'm still a bit dismayed by the situation where us gays have to be loyal to Democrats and in turn they get to be wishy-washy about us. If we keep on supporting the bunch no matter what, when will they ever learn to support us back? But I guess a tease is better than a definite no, so vote Democrats!

Speaking of scams, about a month ago I went to our biggest mall around the area in the suburb and saw a pretty nice car in the middle of it given away in a drawing. So I signed up in hopes of getting a car that I don't know how to drive. Resale value, right? Anyhow, about 2 weeks ago I received a call from the Wyndham Resorts group telling me that because I signed up, I can join them in Atlantic City for a 2-hour presentation and at the end of the presentation I will get a $25 casino cash certificate and 2 3-night stays at any Ramada in the country other than North Dakota. "But who wants to go to Fargo, right?" says the charming lady.

I didn't see any harm in that and I'm also tempted by the potential hotel stays so I can go somewhere with the boyfriend. So instead of going to DC supporting the Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear like any good liberal should on Saturday, I scheduled to go to Atlantic City and see what's up. I have talked to a friend who had gone through similar stuff and while he swore that he'll never do something like that again, he did say he got what he was promised at the end so how bad can it be?



It wasn't at the nearby Wyndham Towers but a nearby office building which I thought it was a tiny bit suspicious. I arrive 15 minutes early and brought my credit card as requested, signed up and waited for the presentation. I see a lot of families or couples attending and soon, they are all scooped up by sales agent in their late 30s to 40s. I was the last one to be swept away to another room where they socialized waiting for the actual presentation. A high-energy, enigmatic presenter comes out to present to about a dozen of families. He started by asking why people goes on vacation and where they'd like to go, starting to built up our travel fantasies. At the same time, he tells us how traveling relief stress hence reduce our chances of stroke and heart attacks. Mmm, okay...

The presentation goes on describing how Wyndham Resorts is one of the Fortune 100 companies and it's in the top 10 most ethical companies. I'm always highly skeptical with claims like these. Turns out, they are selling an inheritable timeshare that you accumulate points in exchange for nights in their resorts around the world, the points can also be changed into flights and other accommodations. After sitting through a 15 minutes commercial with boring sleepy music with their CEO and consumers talking about how great the resorts and the program are.

The presenter told us about a little anecdote about a huge football player who was there with his wife and twin daughters investing in the timeshare. His daughters were thrilled about the opportunity to go to Disneyland. A year or two later, the football player came back to the office and showed our presenter his travel pictures and afterwards, he told him that the wife and daughters had died in a car accident and in a shaky voice our presenter told us the moral of the story is to treasure the ones near us because they could be gone one day and the time share is a commitment to those near us that you will spend quality time with them. Hello, single here! And are you telling me the poor sob invested on your program and is reminded that his family is gone everyday by a vacation program that he's still paying for and won't get to use it anymore?

After that brilliant end of the presentation 75 minutes in, my dedicated salesperson came over for an one-on-one which he took me on a tour of some room models. "It's not your traditional two beds, a bath and a bible" Dan says. "There's a kitchen, a living room with a sofa bed, a small jacuzzi in the bathroom." At this point, I'm curious on why the cost of the program were still unmentioned. After leading me to a huge touchscreen TV and showing me how the resorts around the country look like, Dan took me to the cold patio to tell me how great the value of the program is and then back to a table to seat me down. Retrospectively I guess I needed to seat down, because as he revealed the price, he asked me for a $67,000 down payment for 30-40 days a year of resort time. Seriously Dan? For the price of 4 cars?



Of course, I refused the outrageous notion that anyone would have that much vacation time and for a single person renting an apartment, I would rather use that money to pay for a down payment for a condo somewhere. I started to see Dan's wise guy edge as he pressure me into giving him reasons why I can't do it and all the reasons I give him seems to be not good enough for him. After refusing again, he called over the sales manager who is obviously playing for my team. Let's call him Scott. Scott seems to be your regular car salesman says he's going to find me some better deals while Dan tries to pressure me some more. A second deal of $15,000 for 10 nights a year which I rejected and a third deal of $2000 for 5 nights a year, which I said I'll have to go back and research some more before I can respond because I'm not an impulse buyer. They told me the offers are only valid if I bought into it right there and refused to give me copies of their information. Just as well.

Dan further pressure me to give him some contacts in order to get into another raffle for something else and then he past me off to another guy who asked me questions about the performance of the salespeople and again, my reason for not participating. Then, it's prize time. I got a $25 cash voucher that I successfully cashed in at a Trump Casino. The vacation package that I was set to receive including some dinner compensations from an entity called Spirit Incentives turned out to have very weird and scammy rules.

1) You have to send them $100 good faith deposit. They will give it back to you 30 days after travel is done, but if you don't show up, they will keep it.

2) You have to mail in your dates to them within 45 days and 45 days before departures to see availability. The dates have to be Sunday through Wednesday and you have to pay $25 if you want them changed. Not valid for 7 days before or after any major holidays.

After researching online, it turns out tons of sites equate Spirit Incentives with the word scam. You will never get the time you want to travel and the cost of it will end up surpassing your expectation even though it was meant to be a free gift. You either have to complain to the Better Business Bureau or purchase the timeshare for it to work, and good luck getting a refund.

At the end, I did sorta got a free trip to Atlantic City and a free lunch. Assuming they didn't trick me into signing up for anything I didn't want. It wasn't too bad and a little interesting. I was conscious of not giving out information too sensitive, though it makes me question businesses like Wyndham and Trump Casinos now.

I left Atlantic City slightly disappointed but unscathed. I wonder if anyone had really put out $67,000 that day to a company they barely knew was legit.

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35

So I'm turning 35 today, older but none the wiser. I guess wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age, you certainly don't wake up with it. Other than money and a job, I pretty much have everything. Good friends, a cute and thoughtful boyfriend, I have my health and, for now, a place to live. I should be happy but I'm worried and a little depressed. I guess being a human being means that I'll always feel the need for more even when I should be content.

My birthday wish should be apparent. No matter what happens, this year will be a turning point in my life. I just hope it'll be for the better.

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Who The Hell Does That?

Yesterday right before 5, I was seating in my living room watching TV and all the sudden I heard sounds of water dripping coming from my bathroom. I first thought it's my faucet and I haven't closed it tight enough, but when I go see there was water leaking from my ceiling. After calling maintenance to notify them, part of the bathroom ceiling came crashing down and now the water is coming down in a full brown rain. Now I'm panicking.

The 5-minutes wait for the maintenance person turns to be an eternity and I'm pacing up and down the block looking for that person hoping he didn't just blow me off and went home instead and after he looked around the building, he told me that it wasn't a pipe burst. My upstairs neighbor decided to turn on his faucet in the bathroom sink and go to sleep. Who does that?

Later he called to apologize and clarified that he was talking on the phone with a friend with suicidal thoughts. Still, now my bathroom is flooded, and so is the person living under me. There's massive clean up, laundry, throwing out stuff that has been broken and unusable. There are still things falling from upstairs. What have I done to deserve this?

Most curious of all is that along with some rocks and some chunks of wood falling down, I found a couple of bullet shaped metals with a market in the back saying Super-X. After looking around online, it turns out they are indeed... bullets. I wonder what they are doing between the walls. Maybe there's a piece on top of my ceiling somewhere, I wish there is also a duffel bag full of cash up there as well. That would definitely make the story a lot better than someone forgot to turn off their faucet and ruined my bathroom.

Anyway, I'm in the mood of Bambi's mom right here:



---

Here's another thing where common sense dictate people shouldn't do - Resisting arrest.

One female subject turned and began to walk away. The officer again instructed her to step over to his car. She continued to walk away and appeared to raise her hand in a dismissive gesture. The officer contacted the female subject and began escorting her back toward his car. The female subject began to tense up her arm and pull away from the officer while yelling at him. Once at the patrol car the female subject refused to obey the officer's commands to place her hands on the car. When the officer again tried to gain control of her, she pulled away and twisted, breaking free of the officer's grip several times.

At this time a large crowd gathered around the officer. When the officer tried to handcuff the female subject, another female subject intervened. The second female subject placed her hands on the officer's arm, causing the officer to believe she was attempting to physically affect the first subject's escape. The officer pushed the second subject back, but she again came at the officer, at which time he punched her. The second subject moved away and the officer was able to handcuff the first subject and place her in the back seat of his patrol car. As the officer contacted and subsequently escorted the second subject over to his patrol car, she too tried to pull and twist away from him. The officer restrained her until backup officers arrived, at which time the second subject was handcuffed.

The Internet has been abuzzed about a 17 year-old girl getting punched in the face by a Seattle policeman over a jaywalking incident but after watching and reading what it is all about, I tend to side with the cop. Getting pulled over for jaywalking is inherently stupid, but the girls should have followed the cop's order, it is just common sense. Maybe the cop just wanted to give the girls a warning, but when they're brushing him off like he's not important, of course he will make sure that they learn a lesson. The cop is not a creepy old guy at the bar who wants their phone numbers, they can't curse at him and wrestle him out. It's good that he isn't using his taser or draw his gun. At the same time, it could have easily gone more out of hand if he wasn't surrounded and filmed. The girls should consider themselves lucky for just having gotten a punch in the face. If they have had more common sense, none of this would have to happen.

Sorry for ranting.

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Happy Belated Easter!

This weekend has been quite exhausting for me. First on Friday I was invited to an Easter party, so the night before I've started making pastries - lemon tarts and strawberry tarts. Strawberries are right now $1 a pound, apparently the harvest is so great that it drove the price way down. Some farmers decided that they need to burn the crops in order to save the price line. So I try to take advantage of that. The supermarket I went to also gave out a free ham for their loyal customers, so with tarts and ham in hand, I got to the Easter Party around noon and didn't go home until the next morning at 8. We stayed up all night playing mahjong. It was a rare occasion.

Saturday I was supposed to go to Atlantic City with some of the very same friends for some shopping at the outlets during the day a concert at night. But after a long day of play and not having enough sleep, none of us were up to it. The mother of one of the girls is doing PR in one of the casino and she had reserved a room and tickets for us so we'd be expected to be treated like VIPs. But none of us have heard of the singer who's going to perform or any of his songs for that matter and ended up going to the burbs and had Japanese buffet having a great time complaining how much food we ate and how full we all are.

Other than it being Easter Sunday, this is also Children's Day in part of Asia and coincidentally, a Chinese festival called Ching Ming - which is a day where people visit graves to commemorate our dead relatives and ancestors. In Philly, we also had a zombie pub crawl where lots of folks dressed and made up like zombies while drinking from bar to bar on South Street. The amount of people this year is minimal, but it's still fun seeing people made up and screeching at passing traffic. There was a zombie Jesus, a zombie Hulk, a zombie Spiderman, a bride, ghostbusters and a completely unrelated puddle of blood two blocks away with some bare footprints.

I have a friend who's going to New York visiting her family grave plot and an 7.6 earthquake in Baja California which none of my friends living in the West Coast felt. No doubt it's the marking of the second coming of Jesus Christ returned as a zombie. Hopefully everyone had a good time eating. The boyfriend brought back a large amount of leftovers from his family gathering, no doubt we'll be eating that for days to come.

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The Fighting Shirt

Quite a few years ago, I was obsessed about the Victorinox (Swiss Army) brand of clothing. Maybe I like the plain white cross logo or the little shield resembles my old catholic school emblem, I don't know. The clothes were less sporty and more preppy back then and I liked preppy. Other than a grey sweater with a white cross that everybody seemed to have, I have a sweatshirt and a long sleeve white tee and a short sleeve green tee with a black shield and a white cross in the middle. Even with its hard collar, I wear the green tee occasionally as an undershirt, but lately I've been seeing some odd occurrences.

I'm generally a pretty laid back guy and only go out drinks every once in a while. Though ever since I've met the boyfriend, I've been going out a lot more to escort and to enjoy his company. A few months ago, wearing the green tee shirt I've gotten into the second bar fight in my life. The first one was when I just broken up with an ex and he harassed me when he saw me out drinking. This time, the guy was drunk and elbowing me in the dance floor, and when the boyfriend press him away, he threw his beer on my back. I tried to reason with the guy but he turned out to be an asshole and pretend he can't hear me because I'm not Chinese. So I pour my entire drink on his head. We didn't get into a fight per se, but I got mighty upset that I was prompted to do what I did. I was probably more upset of my inability to let things go.

Last week, wearing the same t-shirt under my sweater I ventured out with the boyfriend to the once a month Asian night in a neighborhood gay bar. We were meeting up with a few friends to have a few drinks. Hanging out with about 6 of my friends around a table near a pool table, we were doing the usual chatting, checking things out when a few people started playing pool near us. All the sudden a guy stepped behind my friend and start ordering them to move aside because he needed space to make his shot. He didn't ask politely and he just kinda commanded us to move. There weren't much space to go anywhere and being confronted with such rude behavior had us in shock. The bar and tables are arranged in such a way that we just plain not knowing where to go. Words were exchanged because we didn't get out of the way fast enough.

I was furious standing in the side eyeing this guy and when his set was over and about to play again, I told him there's another table 6 feet away with no tables surrounding him. Quickly, he stepped into my space while putting his large size belly on me and told me that he wasn't gonna move. It was quite the wrong move to be aggressive with me, because I dislike to back down. So we start yelling at each other, I ask him to back off and he refused and start pointing his finger on my face. It could quickly turn into a bad situation since I have empty beer bottles nearby. Good thing another patron or maybe he was hired to maintain peace stepped between us. Of course, for the rest of the night I was fully aware of the location of this guy and his friends, I don't let up easily. I was ready for physical confrontation and since a friend had been jumped before I like to get myself ready for anything.

So that's my third almost bar fights in my life, other than punching the exboyfriend that harassed me, I have never been asked to leave a bar and I haven't really have other physical altercations. It's just weird that both times I was wearing that green tee shirt and hearing Black Eye Peas "I've Got a Feeling", though I think I'm gonna rule the song out. Maybe it's the cross on the shirt made me more self-righteous than usual, maybe both times I was drinking harder drinks, maybe the shirt was possessed, but I think I'm still gonna keep it around just in case I need to fight purposefully.

Last night, the boyfriend and I had a small fight. He was taking his tone with me after drinking a few beers. I asked him to leave because he was making me upset. Then I realized that I was wearing my fighting shirt.

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Creepy, Sinister Looking, Senile Religious Men

It's tragic over in Haiti's. It's hard to predict earthquake and even if you know it's coming, what can you do and how much time do you have to do anything about it? Haiti is already the poorest country in South America. The capital city Port-au-Prince is where it got hit, with a population of about 1 Million, it would mean 10% of the people living there are now dead. Very devastating.

Imagine my surprise when I see this:



Old kook Pat Robertson coming out to say Haiti sorta deserves it, so we shouldn't be too sad about. "They made a pact with the devil, true story!" Wow, how does it make you feel that your fellow countryman is the first one coming out to kick a country when it's down? Reverend, my ass. Truly, my ass might have more Christian values. The so-called Christian values in this country are so severely distort that people are proud to be god-fearing. Fred Phelps and him seems to be grumpy old folks that got a bit respect when they were younger and now has gone to the extreme.

When Strom Thurmond died, a lot of people were criticized for being cheery and for speaking ill of the dead. Personally I have no problems with that, Pat Robertson's comments were definitely speaking ill of the dead and by tens of thousands at a time. I think I'll cherish the day when Pat Robertson and Fred Phelps pass so I can have the opportunity to return the favor.



I wonder if these people are still alive in their old age because neither heaven nor hell want them.



Haitians are in fact 80% Catholics with only less than 1% of voodoo practitioners. So the making a pact with the devil thing is of course bullcrap. It's just a racist misguided observation. We all seek out information to add conviction on what we believe in, no matter how nonfactual the information may be, but to say it out loud on national TV is quite something else. Pat Robertson is senile and should really not be on TV to express his confused point of views anymore, maybe the television channel should not have him stir up controversy to make itself remain relevant. At the same time, maybe the fellow Christians should come out denouncing Pat's point of view to distance themselves from him. Though the Catholics are keeping busy hating gays and molesting kids.



Is it me or are these three men creepy and sinister looking to the max? The monstrous old lady in the Legion trailer has nothing on them.



Text the word "Haiti" to 90999 to donate $10 via your cell phone company to Red Cross to help Haiti. If I have learned anything from the last earthquake in China is that people are very resilient, we can pull through from any natural disasters, depressions, terrorist attack or anything else that get put on us. I just sorry for the loss and any emotional or physical harm that they have suffered and all these crazy nuts are not helping.

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Life in Other Dimensions

Japan's unemployment has reached 5.2 percent and a lot of the newly unemployed who loses their housing benefits could not make rent and are forced to look for other means of living and somehow capsule hotels have become the appropriate solutions.

Capsule hotels were first established as a business to house drunk businessmen who have missed their last train home. And now one-third of these 6.5 feet long and 5 feet wide capsules are rented out monthly at the cost of 59,000 yen (approximately US$640). Each one of the capsules has a light, a coat hook, a thin blanket, a rice husk pillow and a small TV with earphones on one end. There's also a locker for you to store all your other belongings. There is a communal bath, a cafeteria and fresh linen, so it's not really that bad. "You'll get used to the space." The occupants says. Since the capsules have no doors but a screen, there's very little privacy and it is said that every shoulder bump and muffled cough is echoed throughout the row. I'm a little bit of a claustrophobe and I don't think that can ever be one of my housing solutions.

In the alternate universe that is New York, freelance event planner Eddie Rabon pays $800 for a 55 squared feet space in Hell's Kitchen, but you'd find Eddie not only not complaining but defending it. Weird.



Sounds like Eddie's rarely home and utilizes his friend's apartment as his own living room. Here are some of the other smaller NYC apartments in a New York Post article.


90 Square Ft. on Upper West Side (>$700 a month)


105 Sq. Ft. at Greenwich Village, no kitchen ($780 a month)

After looking at these apartment and their costs, my little 250+ sq ft studio apartment in the middle of everything with a functional half kitchen, a full bath and a walk in closet seems like a palace.

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Dettol, Darkie and Lead Poisoning

As I'm typing this, I'm trembling under my comforter as a sign that I must be having a fever and not long after, I'll be popping two pills of Nyquil so I can get a good night sleep. My throat is in pain whenever I swallow, hopefully it's not strep throat but I'm pretty good at self-diagnosing, so it probably is.



In this haze of throbbing pain, it got me missing a tormenting element of my childhood that is Dettol. Dettol was a greenish yellow antiseptic liquid that were sold widely in Asia. It's draw was a distinctive smell much like Pine-Sol and the burning sensation that proves it's working much like iodine. With the tag-line like kills 99.9% of germs, it was used as a household cleaning solution when diluted and when I was little, my grandma amongst other housewives put some in the water while bathing children.

I don't think I liked bathing too much when I was a child and the chemical burns that come along with Dettol didn't make it better. Yes, you feel clean after getting burned by Dettol and leave you a tingly sensation but it wasn't pleasant in any case. I'm pretty sure the company advertised that their product can be used for bathing but I couldn't find proof on YouTube that such an ad existed and after all these years they have widened their product line to include bathing solutions and hand soaps, probably with lighter effects than it used to. Though since I'm germy, I kinda missed that a little.

Another odd Asian hygiene product that was a toothpaste with an unfortunate name of Darkie. It was unfortunate because we didn't understand how racist it was and kept using the product. The Chinese name for it wasn't as offensive, it just meant "black person's toothpaste", using the stereotypical skin contrast that black people has that made their teeth seems whiter. It's a backhanded compliment, really. Since the English level of general Chinese wasn't that good, we didn't know the name brand would offend anyone. Though the logo that featured a black man wasn't exactly complimentary, some might even call it creepy. Years later, when Colgate-Palmolive bought the company in 1989, they have changed the name to "Darlie" and the logo also changed his skin color, though the Chinese name remained the same. Apparently Aunt Jemima has gone through some similar but not as drastic measures.



Other than that I remember getting lead poisoning after playing with a pack of questionable metallic colored crayons. It was made in China and after drawing with gold, bronze and silver for a while, I got nauseous and wanted to puke, my uncle just told me to lay off the crayon for a while and I turned back to normal. It's not until now that I understood what had happened to me. Oh memories, good thing I've survived. I'm not happy about getting sick in the beginning of a new year, though there is a single job prospect in sight, wish me luck!

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Cooking Expectations

This month had gone by pretty fast and Thanksgiving is coming up soon. Being in a "foreign" land with no family around, it can get pretty lonely during a celebration holiday where everyone left to be with family. Good thing I know how to cook. Last year, I've been invited by my Straizian friends to cook for friends and Mahjong buddies alike. This year, I got invited by a former colleague to attend her early afternoon dinner, an early evening gathering with a gay Asian friend and a few of the single "orphans" in the city. Then Saturday, it's all day Straizian Thanksgiving BBQ and Mahjong.

I've learned my lesson last year that cooking for 20 by myself is no easy task, it takes hours of preparation and then hours more of cooking. I'm thankful that this year I just need to make one dish for each party. For my excolleague's party, I've got assigned a vegetable dish. She and her family and friends are pretty much all vegetarians, even though she will accommodate me and another guest by having a turkey breast waiting. The whole menu is already set up and I got assigned with bringing a vegetable side dish with the rule of no reds, no mushroom, no asparagus and no brussels sprouts. I find it highly amusing that some vegetarians would be picky about what kind of vegetables they would eat as if they haven't denied themselves enough. At the same time, I feel like I'm not being trusted to make anything fancier since the Turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, desserts and any big dishes had already been assigned. To counter that, I'm going to make a zucchini & squash fettucine. Pretty much just shredding the squash and zucchini down to the shape of fettucine, saute them with garlic onion and pesto. It quite flavorful and it's one of my staples when I'm on my low carb diet. If I'm Rachel Ray who loves to make up words, I might call it Squasta.


Note to self: Get a shredder!

For the evening party, I've resigned myself to make a cheesecake. Since last time I made a caramel, banana cheesecake with moderate success. I'm thinking about making another even though I've lost my recipe along with my old computer. I only need to decide what flavor I want to make. A simple raspberry might be good, or Oreo, or maybe a pumpkin cheesecake. The boyfriend will probably appreciate the leftovers.

I have been wanted to make a Mont Blanc cake for years but always thought the skill level required is beyond me. I like to bake but I'm certainly no cake decorator and every cooking or baking I ever did are all self-taught. So for the Straizian party on Saturday, I will try to attempt the challenge that is Mont Blanc. How difficult could it be, right? It's just genoise, chestnut mousse, whipped cream and marrons glacés. Maybe infuse the whipped cream with a bit of rum and fold in some chestnut meat and decorate the cake with some chocolate designs. Something manageable and nothing too fancy. It's one of my favorite pastries growing up, somehow French pastries got very popular in Asia and it took hold.


Something like this but less tart like and more birthday cake like

I've been to the farmer's markets yesterday and it was quite insane. A lot of stressed individuals filling up the aisle fighting for poultry and produce. Though since it's a turkey holiday, the steaks are half-priced. Even the supermarkets were mobbed and you can hardly find a bag of sugar left. Hope I can find a can of chestnut puree somewhere.

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People We Love To Hate

1. Fox News

There's no secret that Fox News is a joke and everyone watching that network is dumb as a post. Yes, I'm going to social boycott all their viewers. If you watch that network, we can't be friends and I don't want to talk to you. It is beyond being a Democrat, a Republican or an elitist, it is the difference between being able to think logically and being a plain racist dumbfuck. Sorry.

It is always nice to see them get caught with facts fabrication.



When a supposed news channel starts organizing political campaign, it has gone too far. And to swap footage to make it look like there's a whole lot more supporter than it does, well, there's nothing more to say about it. Of course, the butt of the network has gone from Bill O'Reilly to the root of dumbfuck Glenn Beck himself. Interesting to see how John Stewart and South Park had decided to mock him on the very same week. Even Sesame Street is making fun of Fox News.

2. Peter LaBarbera

It's baffling to me that someone would dedicate their life to go against homosexuality. Peter LaBarbera is such a person. He founded a group called Americans For Truth Against Homosexuality. Apparently that's his job, homosexuality bugs him so much that the primary meaning and value of his life is to go against it. It sounds like the same old story that had been told too often, doesn't it?

It's one thing to go to the length of exposing every gay and leather invent and call to boycott the hotels who host them. It's another thing to go to a leather street fair and taping the ongoings in order to condemn it later. But to go to the length of reading comments on gay blogs and then use it to call alarm is getting to be a Nazi petty level.

On Joe.My.God, a reader commented on the vote to reverse gay marriage in Maine. Stating that once the gays give up hope on non-violent means to achieve equal rights, some zealous might kill for the cause while another commenting said that maybe organized terrorism/civil disobedient might just be what the country needs. Ten days later, Peter LaBarbera or Porno Pete, claimed that he is calling the FBI for terrorism threats from Joe. I think someone have too much time and hate on their hands.

I have to say, I was never a big fan of non-violent means. Playing nice had never gotten us anywhere. We are still being stereotypes as weak or sissies. I'm always on the side of the Pink Panthers, I believe that they won't stop until we bash back. Send a few gay bashers in the hospital, then maybe it'll stop. Though, I didn't want to add troubles to Joe's website by adding my 2 cents.

3. Carrie Prejean

Rude girl who thinks that she's the Virgin Mary or something. Give me a break. She has convinced herself that she didn't get her crown because she her answer was homophobic. Um... if she has heard what she said, she'll know her answer was self-contradictory. She has the gall to write a book to teach young girls how to behave and then having a boob job, some example she is and that's before her 9 sex tapes and 30+ nudie shots. Please. It's always okay for someone to condemn others so they can feel superior themselves.

While on her book tour, she threatened to walk out Larry King's set because Larry was being "inappropriate".



She "threatened", all she did was detaching the mic and posed but never walked out. Obviously, she needed camera time and will do anything to create controversy to keep herself interesting. No one will buy her book otherwise, but no one will buy her book still. "Book me on, but I'm not gonna tell you anything about myself and you're an ass for asking." Get over yourself, you are famous because you answered a question like a stupid bigot and now you are famous because you are a homophobic, hypocritical slut. Your 3 minutes are more than over. Maybe you can take the deal of filming a porn and extend it, but I don't really want to see your cunt face again, much like that of Kate Gosselin.


Phew... feel much better now.

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Quiet Times Ahead

Now that the Phillies had lost the World Series, Philadelphians can feel relax about not having a riot on the streets. No excuse to loot for extra income in this down time, no flipping of cars or better yet buses to express the general public's anger towards the unreasonable strike. I think the drivers might not be really looking for a raise or benefits as much as getting the benefit of having a few days off during World Series and maybe a few extra for a mini-vacation. Maybe things will go back to normal. I wonder how the streets of New York would fare.

Since the election is over, there's no need for nasty political TV ads. There's not much voting going on in Pennsylvania but New Jersey being so close to us, we constantly get ads from Chris Christie and Jon Corzine. According to Corzine, Christie caters to pharmaceuticals and insurance company, he's corrupt, disingenuous and fat, while according to Christie, Corzine is a liar, incompetent with a bad political record and bald. I wonder after all this bad publicity, how they expect people to feel good about electing either of them. It's sad that they don't want to get elected base on their views and direction but base on who sounds less horrible. No matter, it's not my state and I'm just glad not having to seat through another slew of smear campaigns for another 7 months or so.

It's interesting that one year after electing Obama, now republicans are gaining grounds. Sure the economy is pretty bad and people are stressed and unhappy but they don't see the roots of their problems are started from republicans. At least that's how I feel. On the other hand, we haven't seen big progress from the Democrats side. We still don't have equal rights, we still don't have universal health care, we are still at war in the middle east and we are back teaching kids to abstain from having sex. There are no wide strokes of brilliance, no bullheadedness to counter the one way downfall of the previous administration. Like the public option on universal health care, I believe you can't argue with the stupids. The best way to have it done is just go for it, instead of slicing and dicing a brilliant idea into something trivial and unrecognizable. At the same time, there are politicians at both sides that receive huge amount of lobbying and campaign money and wouldn't vote for it. Although they would pretend to support it just so they can make the insurance companies squirm and gain more profit from them. It's all a terrible act and that's the reason I hate politics.

Gay marriage is now repealed in Maine, which is a huge bummer. It seems like whenever we are making progress for equal rights, we are always kicked back two steps. I still don't understand why they are still using the Proposition 8 formula when saying Yes actually means No. There seems to be a formula used on the opposition side to get what they want. Get funding by anti-gay religious groups, collect signatures by the means of fraud, scary commercials and the yes means no voting scheme. At the very least we can still tell ourselves that the margin turns out to be quite small and maybe next time, we'll win it back. I just don't understand why the majority gets to decide the fate of a minority group.

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Blog Intro: People of Walmart (Swimsuit Edition)

As I was entering my building yesterday after shopping for groceries, a bunch of people got in the building along with me and one of the 20-something girls touched my sleeve and says "Well, you're cute. What do you think about giving me your number?" I appreciate her compliment and thanked her then blurted out that I'm not interested in girls. She proceed to jokingly refer her male companion to me but by then I'm already out of sight.

At night I went to watch the World Series at a neighborhood gay bar. It was a lot of fun with loud fans huffing and hawing about the game. High-fiving with strangers, a young gentleman rubbed his face against mine right after the 8th inning, he's probably high or drunk that's the only explanation to reason his behavior. I take this sudden act of friendliness to be a compliment.

It's great to be at a place with so many excited people when our team, The Phillies, are winning, I doubt that it'd be fun if "we" are losing. Since the only leather/bear bar in town is rumored to be closing soon with a notice at the front door for proof. This neighborhood sports bar could be a replacement, people seems friendly enough.

These pictures are from People of Walmart. If you haven't check them out yet, do!


Looks like an over-sexified extra on MadMen.


Apparently no one is eating Gilbert's grape or any other fruits or vegetables.


Pregnant stripper?! Do you have to pay extra?


Looks like one of those toys that won't fall.


The silhouette of the body is so altered that it has become inspiring.


My gay brother needs some help.


I hope there's blood circulation somehow.


Laundry Day?


I like a hairy guy but not Sasquatch here trying be normal around humans.


Um, this is attractive, how? Just because it looks funny in a souvenir shop doesn't mean you HAVE to buy it.


Now for some rare eye candy:


Hot!!!

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Business as Usual

Finally got a new computer. Sorry folks, but it's a PC laptop. After reading your comments, I was tempted to get a mac. But I'm not very familiar with macs and after an unsatisfactory test drive and seeing that $400 hike on the price tag for the lowest cost Macbook, I settled for an Asus laptop instead. Knock on wood but everything seems pretty good for my first day on it. No screaming fan noise after 5 minutes of usage, no crash, everything seems pretty fast. It's a bit bulkier than I expected. a 15.6" screen. The scroll button is a bit awkward plus I'm not very used to Windows 7 but it'll do. I just have to suffer not being able to move as smoothly and as fast playing Bejeweled Blitz but it'll have to do. I swear my next computer purchase will be a Mac, unless Windows 7 is every bit as good as they say it is which is doubtful.

Phew... feel like I'm free again.

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Digital Blues

It is really some bad juju. My laptop of 5~6 years is going down fast. It's been crashing on and off from yesterday morning. Not good. It tends to crash whenever I do anything that requires a lot of flash memory. Like playing games or just plain browsing online. It hangs to a blue screen saying cache problems and physical dumping memory... etc. I can't usually reboot it until resting it for a few hours.

Actually it kinda happens randomly, even when I put the laptop down for a sec, so it could be hardware and not software. Uninstalled Firefox, did a disc cleanup. I was gonna take it apart and blow the dust off since it's been heating up a bit anyway but then I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to put it back together. It's too bad, I guess I'll have to get a new one.

So maybe I won't be posting anything online for a few days until I decide on a new candidate and acquire it from an online store. If you have any ideas how I can fix or a recommendation of a relatively inexpensive and reliable laptop, please send leave me a message. Thanks.

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Halloween Abound

I always thought I like wintry weathers but these few days of drizzly rains and with temperatures around 30s and 40s are really off-putting. Leaving the window a tad open for fresh air turned out to be a bad idea, but then closing it make the whole apartment a sound box, everything my neighbors are doing upstairs pass midnight are emphasized like they are moving furniture or something, every time they walk around makes it sounds like they are playing basketball with their feet squishing against the floor. Maybe my ceiling will one day crumble down and be done with it.

I hope the weather will warm up a bit in the following two weeks, especially for Halloween. The boyfriend with his new muttonchops are planning to go out for drinks in a Logan costume, we've gotten a flannel shirt and some claws. He's going to look real cute, which he already does in or out of costume anyhow. Me on the hand is another entirely different story. I thought about doing Frankenstein, since I do regard my forehead as a little large, almost a five-head, so it could be fitting.


I've also thought about dressing up as one of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. I have a friend who was very much into the convent. I do believe wearing a bra (wimple) on my head, painting my face white, wearing a black low-cut tutu with my chest hair sticking out with gender-freak out quite a bit of folks. It should be quite fitting for Halloween and afterwards I can say that I've done drag. On the downside though, I might get harassed by homophobes and it might freak out the boyfriend too much and never get sexed again. Besides, the acquired girl's clothes are probably not refundable and picture me going to Victoria's Secret trying on bras on my head.

So to match up the Boyfriend a little bit without going all matchy-matchy, I've chosen to be Colossus this year. Colossus is tall, he has black hair and a larger forehead too, I might be able to pull it off. I went to a major costume store in NYC but it turned out they don't have much X-men costumes, so it is going to be a duct-tape costume. It's a bit ambitious I know, but we do sorta have a DIY spirit and it seems like a fun thing to do. I have already bought a pair of super hero red boots from Target. Since Colossus has a silver body, I'm going to wear an old white long sleeve t-shirt and long johns and use the silver duct tape to wrap all around mimicking the silver stripe pattern of Colossus. Red and yellow duct tape for the torso, the belt and I'll use red duct tape to wrap around a pair of boxer-shorts, with some card board and silver face paint, it just might work. Maybe next year I can reuse some stuff and be Omega Red.

Maybe I can pad some duct tape up to imitate muscles? lol.

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Because I'm Such a Nice Guy...

Last week when A&Y threw a party, the one that I happened to have made a cheesecake, helped move and won some money at the mahjong table, they had also given me an industrial mouse trap. We have mice in our building, not fierce huge rats, but little bratty mice. Since I cook so much at my place, they like to come to hang from time to time. They don't do much harm but it's just annoying, really, and I'm not much for uninvited guests.

So late last night after I went to bed, I heard a loud clank like a robot had stepped on the ground and then a lot of lighter metal clinking sounds followed. Somehow I've forgotten that I've set out the metal trap and apparently one of the mice got caught. It's one of the humane trap that doesn't kill the mice and it's designed as a little metal tunnel where the mice see the other end and thinks that it's a passageway but in the middle of the tunnel there's a trigger where it'd turn and flip them to the other side of the box with a little glass window so the user can see what's in there. It is also recurring where it will keep catching mice until it's full. I try to ignore the noise as much as I can until I wake up in the morning.

My friends had instructed me that I could perhaps starve the mice to death or submerge the whole contraption in water to drown the caught creatures, but I know it's not something that I can do. So here I am with the cage in my hand walking two blocks away and release the mouse near a park. The mouse leap out two foot away, if there was ever a record for the furthest leaping mouse, it could have broke it. Here's to hope it doesn't run back to my building and make a habit of being my roommate. And if he does, maybe he can tell his little friends (assuming that he has any) to leave me alone too.



Gone to my barber yesterday afternoon to get a cut this afternoon in Chinatown. The guy had been cutting my hair for the past 8~10 years, followed him around 3 different barbershop until he got his own, I guess I can call him a friend. I've known him before he knew his wife when I thought he might be gay and now he's expecting his third child. Time flies. In the past, he had me helped him repairing his computer. Yesterday, he asked me to see if I can go to his lawyer's office to help translate something to him. Apparently 2 years ago someone fell down in front of his barbershop and now the person is attempting to get some compensation out of it.

My barber has insurance just for these kinds of occasions, so everything is taken care of. The person who fell, didn't fell because of there were merchandise in the way or because of the street is badly repaired, so I don't think it'll stick. Since he is sorta a friend and I don't want people to take advantage of him just because he doesn't speak much English, I guess I'll go help him even though the meeting is three weeks from now at 9:15am and I haven't woken up that early for anything for a while. At least, it'll give me a sense of belonging and usefulness.

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Disturbing The Peace

At midnight Sunday night, the fire alarm in the building right next to me started beeping, there was a smell in the air that resembles fresh baked cake and the alarm went on and on. It's not the first time that there's a fire around my neighborhood so I watched closely for a while to see if it was anything serious. Nope, no smoke, no strange blazes of flame, the family downstairs were sitting on in their "yard" and had no intention of fleeing, everything seems fine. After what it seems to be an hour later, the sirens of a fire truck came by, stopped, and left 15 minutes after, but the fire alarm just keep beeping and beeping with no end in sight (or should I say earshot?). I guess no one living in the building knows how to turn the fire alarm off. I couldn't sleep and the beeping was more than annoying, it drove me wild until I was absolutely exhausted at 5 am.

Around 8am, the voices of kids from the same building came out yelling while they go to school. Twelve o'clock the father coughing while talking on the cell phone. Seven o'clock through ten o'clock, the father and a friend yelling and screaming possibly to a ball game. It really gets on our nerves sometimes. It haven't been like this before until last summer. It's especially getting on my nerve since the lack of sleep. I started wondering if it would have been a good thing if the building had burned down before or after the fire alarm went on since if it's after the firemen had gone, they won't come back thinking it was a false alarm, but then I don't have any control who would have moved in afterwards and the construction of a new building would be even noisier and since it was just next door, there's no telling whether a rundown building like the one I lived in won't caught on fire and leave me homeless, so I've kept my urge inside my arsonous mind.

Other than that my weekend had been quite excellent. Spent two nights sleeping next to the Boyfriend, which always make me very happy being able to wake up next to him. Saturday, I went to a Moving/BBQ/mahjong party with friends. One of our friends is moving from a $300 all inclusive place to a $900 one-bedroom 45 minutes away the city and he had to change 3 different public transports to get to work from now on. We helped him move his furniture and belongings to his new place. His mattress was tied on top of my friend's van and we had to hurry and made it in before the rain. I feel very good helping a friend and having the rare endorphin release.



The other accomplishment that I was proud of was my creation of a caramel banana coconut cheesecake, my friends told me it was better than any shop bought cheesecake they have ever tasted and even I'm quite bad of accepting compliments, I still took it hook, line and sinker. And to top of the cake, other than the caramel sauce and bananas and the delicious BBQ food, I also had an incredible run in Mahjong this week and won like $40. Yippee!

You win some, you lose some, right?

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