Chase credit card commercial = Queen - I Want It All
My Name Is Earl (Hector and Jamal episode) = Montrose - Rock Candy
Nissan commercial = Stevie Ray Vaughn - Pride and Joy
Carnival Cruise commercial = Queen - Best Friend
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Life Lessons
Life Lessons
1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.
17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.
18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion.
Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words:
'In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will.
Stay in touch.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
36. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful, or joyful.
43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
45. The best is yet to come.
46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, and show up.
47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
48. If you don't ask, you don't get.
49. Yield.
50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.
1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.
17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.
18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion.
Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words:
'In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will.
Stay in touch.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
36. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful, or joyful.
43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
45. The best is yet to come.
46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, and show up.
47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
48. If you don't ask, you don't get.
49. Yield.
50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Windy and Warm
If you weren't cognisant of the fact that today was still in the first half of January, you' think it was a nice warm spring day with the Santa Ana winds blowing the cold wintry air away.
Weeks like this are the one's that bring snowbirds from the frigged northeast to live in California permanently. It will be 70ish all week.
Weeks like this are the one's that bring snowbirds from the frigged northeast to live in California permanently. It will be 70ish all week.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Local Pop God
(Click above for full page)
My friend Kenny Howes was in the Orange County Register today. Woohoo! He's performing with his new band, The Fridge, as well as part of The Pop Dudes tonight, January 11, 2008, at Fitzgerald's Pub, Huntington Beach, during John Borack's "Shake Some Action" book release party.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
$25 Off H&R Block
On and off, I get into the habit of clipping coupons and today was one of those moments. Yahoo Mail was telling me to "go get coupons". O.K., I'll indulge them and see what it's all about. I rather get something like that online then be sent to a site to buy something I don't really need with money I don't have to spend right now. So I click onto the coupons site and and near the very end of this pretty good coupon list which is mostly for food - thank you, is a $25 coupon for tax services with H&R Block. If you going to be using them anyway to sort all of your grocery bags full of receipts and file your 1040 at their office, why not use a freakin coupon and get some money off their fee, right?
Click here for $25 off H&R Block Tax Services
The coupon list. Input your zip code and you may get even more coupons targeted to your location.
Click here for $25 off H&R Block Tax Services
The coupon list. Input your zip code and you may get even more coupons targeted to your location.
Monday, January 7, 2008
The Invasion of the Starbucks
Dear Starbucks,
I live in a town located in the heart of Orange County, California. I believe my hometown has close to 100,000 residents, and even though I don't live in the most desirable place around, your company has chosen to invade it like a plague. I have no less than 8 of your shops within the confines of my fair city, many even within walking distance of eachother. The worst offense is the two shops that flank each end of the block on the street of our local high school. "Hook 'um young and they'll be a customer for life!", is the words I can hear echoing all the way from your offices in Washington state from inside your boardroom right before the evil laughter begins again and you throw the fees collected from all of the carmello mocha lates in the air.
I live in a town located in the heart of Orange County, California. I believe my hometown has close to 100,000 residents, and even though I don't live in the most desirable place around, your company has chosen to invade it like a plague. I have no less than 8 of your shops within the confines of my fair city, many even within walking distance of eachother. The worst offense is the two shops that flank each end of the block on the street of our local high school. "Hook 'um young and they'll be a customer for life!", is the words I can hear echoing all the way from your offices in Washington state from inside your boardroom right before the evil laughter begins again and you throw the fees collected from all of the carmello mocha lates in the air.
Specimens:
1. Red Hill x Edinger "new"
2. Red Hill x El Camino Real "east side of high school"
3. El Camino Real x Newport "west side of high school" "newner"
4. Newport Ave "old Ditrick's site"
5. Newport Ave "original site at Larwin Sq. on 1st St."
6. Barnes & Noble "Irvine Marketplace"
7. Park Ave "Inside Target @ Tustin Legacy"
8. 17th St. "French Quarter"
In conclusion:
disposable income = your extra $ Starbucks wants
snack money = your extra $ Starbucks wants
breakfast beverage = your extra $ Starbucks wants
coffee break = your extra $ Starbucks wants
Monday, December 17, 2007
A Gemini's Mind
I usually have a ton of things I'm thinking about all at once during the day. I try to keep my thoughts organized into lists. Things I like, things I don't like, thinks I want to do, things I need to do, things I'd like to do, things I rather be doing when I'm doing things that I have to do... etc. So today, my mind is really in about 6 different places at once.
1)Due to my recent lack of employment because I was laid-off, needless to say I've been looking for a new job. I sent my resume to an unlikely place for me to be employed at and I did a telephone interview with the owner, but he was too busy to interview me in person during the week last week, so he said maybe Saturday. We'll, when I say 'maybe' that means to be "I'll work you into my schedule or I'll call". Neither did of these actions happened over my wasted Saturday waiting for the interview. I'm not sure if I now want to pursue this job any further because if the owner is not considerate and I have to depend on him for my pay, maybe that's not such a good place to work after all.
2)I need to finish those pillows for my mom. I'm going to visit on Wednesday and that would be nice for her to get those items back in a finished state as well as relieve my closet of the space these projects are taking up.
3) I think I may need to rework my resume because although prospective employers are reviewing it, they are not compelled to respond. I'm a seasoned, honest, hard-working professional and I am good damn it; reply-reply-reply! already. And if the revamping of my resume fails to get anymore attention than it already has, then I am also considering retraining because of my lay-off situation, but that is a scary proposition because I'm not sure if I can survive on less than half of my regular income during the training period. On the other hand, it's exciting to know that the opportunity to acquire new skills exists and maybe I can somehow get back to drafting, drawing or computer aided drafting, which I think would make me a happier person in the long run than just doing office work.
5)Circular saw acquired. What to do: I do not want the recycling to take over my patio area again, so I have to build a containment/collection unit to satisfy this need. I have a bathroom door that I intend on trimming to put up in my bathroom. I could cut wood for shelving in the main bathroom, too, but I think I'm going to use surplus shelving left over from my Ikea Husar collection.
6)I never realized how much Christmas sucks when you're an adult out of work. I want to give gifts, but with no serious money to buy anything, what the hell do you do? Banana bread. I think that's my answer for 2007. If you get a loaf from me, consider yourself 'special' because I don't make this stuff for just anyone.
1)Due to my recent lack of employment because I was laid-off, needless to say I've been looking for a new job. I sent my resume to an unlikely place for me to be employed at and I did a telephone interview with the owner, but he was too busy to interview me in person during the week last week, so he said maybe Saturday. We'll, when I say 'maybe' that means to be "I'll work you into my schedule or I'll call". Neither did of these actions happened over my wasted Saturday waiting for the interview. I'm not sure if I now want to pursue this job any further because if the owner is not considerate and I have to depend on him for my pay, maybe that's not such a good place to work after all.
2)I need to finish those pillows for my mom. I'm going to visit on Wednesday and that would be nice for her to get those items back in a finished state as well as relieve my closet of the space these projects are taking up.
3) I think I may need to rework my resume because although prospective employers are reviewing it, they are not compelled to respond. I'm a seasoned, honest, hard-working professional and I am good damn it; reply-reply-reply! already. And if the revamping of my resume fails to get anymore attention than it already has, then I am also considering retraining because of my lay-off situation, but that is a scary proposition because I'm not sure if I can survive on less than half of my regular income during the training period. On the other hand, it's exciting to know that the opportunity to acquire new skills exists and maybe I can somehow get back to drafting, drawing or computer aided drafting, which I think would make me a happier person in the long run than just doing office work.
5)Circular saw acquired. What to do: I do not want the recycling to take over my patio area again, so I have to build a containment/collection unit to satisfy this need. I have a bathroom door that I intend on trimming to put up in my bathroom. I could cut wood for shelving in the main bathroom, too, but I think I'm going to use surplus shelving left over from my Ikea Husar collection.
6)I never realized how much Christmas sucks when you're an adult out of work. I want to give gifts, but with no serious money to buy anything, what the hell do you do? Banana bread. I think that's my answer for 2007. If you get a loaf from me, consider yourself 'special' because I don't make this stuff for just anyone.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Riding the orange spiral slide down
O.K., so I was laid off on November 6th and my company is going out of business on March 30th. Generally speaking, greed and fraud killed subprime lending. Wall Street investment banks put the brakes on all of their loan purchases because they wanted value from their investment and the ensuing credit squeeze is making everyone that's still sitting on an adjustable rate mortgage quite nervous. I am also one of those in that group of people, too.
Now, I read today in the OC Register that not only is greed and fraud prevalent in mortgage lending, but also in corporate real estate. O.C. Billionaire Igor Olenicoff, ironically the owner of the building I worked in for over four and a half years pleaded guilty to tax felony, has been convinced of lying on his taxes and paid 52 million in back taxes. He could face up to three years in prison when he's sentenced on April
14th. Link to the news article
I've been in the position before where I made a career decision in an economic stressful time. Actually, it's what lead me to move to Orange County in 1992. My step-sister(at the time) needed help with the rent, so I moved to Fullerton and rented a room from her for a little over a year. At that time, I was a bank teller and I moved right after Bank of America bought out Security Pacific National Bank, so many branches were consolidated and closed. There were banking professionals laid off all over the place. I chose to quit my Merchant Teller job in Rialto because I did not feel safe in that branch. I thought if I could work somewhere, anywhere but there, I'd feel better about being a Teller and working with money on a daily basis.
After being unemployed for almost two months, I was running out of money and getting nervous about Christmas which was about four weeks away when landed a temp to perm job the day after Thanksgiving thanks to BankForce. They called me up and asked if I could file, not realizing that I used to manually pay checks, and I replied, "Alpha or numeric?" Ninety days later, I was employed at my first real job with a salary and not just an hourly wage, decent benefits and... taadaa... chickenpox! My son brought them home from kindergarten while attending school in Fullerton.
That job turned into a ten year career and my last title there was "Custody Account Manager". That job forced me to gain a big picture view of and terminology related to investment banking, something I never even thought about before I got that job. After ten years and a change in ownership, I felt I hit a ceiling and the working environment was more about the numbers than the people, so I looked for my next job. I found it in a clients account and networked to get a position as the "Collateral Control Manager" of the mortgage company that I am laid off from.
I kind of had to laugh that the National Mortgage News reported a decline in mortgage job losses. Welp, if your industry killed off over 400,000 jobs, are there that many left to even take away? Just this week, Option One, Washington Mutual and Lending Tree announced job losses if not right out closures.
How low can we go?
Now, I read today in the OC Register that not only is greed and fraud prevalent in mortgage lending, but also in corporate real estate. O.C. Billionaire Igor Olenicoff, ironically the owner of the building I worked in for over four and a half years pleaded guilty to tax felony, has been convinced of lying on his taxes and paid 52 million in back taxes. He could face up to three years in prison when he's sentenced on April
14th. Link to the news article
I've been in the position before where I made a career decision in an economic stressful time. Actually, it's what lead me to move to Orange County in 1992. My step-sister(at the time) needed help with the rent, so I moved to Fullerton and rented a room from her for a little over a year. At that time, I was a bank teller and I moved right after Bank of America bought out Security Pacific National Bank, so many branches were consolidated and closed. There were banking professionals laid off all over the place. I chose to quit my Merchant Teller job in Rialto because I did not feel safe in that branch. I thought if I could work somewhere, anywhere but there, I'd feel better about being a Teller and working with money on a daily basis.
After being unemployed for almost two months, I was running out of money and getting nervous about Christmas which was about four weeks away when landed a temp to perm job the day after Thanksgiving thanks to BankForce. They called me up and asked if I could file, not realizing that I used to manually pay checks, and I replied, "Alpha or numeric?" Ninety days later, I was employed at my first real job with a salary and not just an hourly wage, decent benefits and... taadaa... chickenpox! My son brought them home from kindergarten while attending school in Fullerton.
That job turned into a ten year career and my last title there was "Custody Account Manager". That job forced me to gain a big picture view of and terminology related to investment banking, something I never even thought about before I got that job. After ten years and a change in ownership, I felt I hit a ceiling and the working environment was more about the numbers than the people, so I looked for my next job. I found it in a clients account and networked to get a position as the "Collateral Control Manager" of the mortgage company that I am laid off from.
I kind of had to laugh that the National Mortgage News reported a decline in mortgage job losses. Welp, if your industry killed off over 400,000 jobs, are there that many left to even take away? Just this week, Option One, Washington Mutual and Lending Tree announced job losses if not right out closures.
How low can we go?
Sunday, December 9, 2007
I hate winter.
I was born and raised in Southern California. I have lived here all my life, so anytime the temperature drops below 70 degrees, I'm cold. Don't laugh. A lot of other native Californians I know feel the same way.
Today was a day to dress like a psycho. As I left the house this moring to take my son to work, I was wearing Levi's, a shirt, a sweater, and my wool coat and gloves with sneakers. If the cold wind stopped blowing for a minute, you would have thought it was a warm spring day. I could feel the sun on my face warming my cheeks. The moment the wind started up again, I was chilled. I threw my hood up over my head and hustled over to the carport.
I decided I needed a drive down the coast to help clear my head after I dropped off my son. Down meaning south of where I live. I drove west to Jamboree and then south on PCH until Crown Valley Parkway. Along the way I saw that there were people in shorts, there were people in sweats. There were people bundled up like me in wool pea coats and sneakers and then some just walking around in a t-shirt and running shorts like it was any other day for them regardless of the drop in temperature. I saw shorts and sweat tops, I saw typical beach attire at newpoert for those playing volley ball at 10AM in the morning. As I made the left turn onto Crown Valley and climbed up the hill, I could clearly see the remnants of last nights storm deposited in white all over the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains. Just looking at it made me cold. I would say at this time, the snow is at about the 6000 ft level after the first good rain we've had maybe since August.
The sad thing is that it's only December 9th and it isn't truly winter until December 21st.
Today was a day to dress like a psycho. As I left the house this moring to take my son to work, I was wearing Levi's, a shirt, a sweater, and my wool coat and gloves with sneakers. If the cold wind stopped blowing for a minute, you would have thought it was a warm spring day. I could feel the sun on my face warming my cheeks. The moment the wind started up again, I was chilled. I threw my hood up over my head and hustled over to the carport.
I decided I needed a drive down the coast to help clear my head after I dropped off my son. Down meaning south of where I live. I drove west to Jamboree and then south on PCH until Crown Valley Parkway. Along the way I saw that there were people in shorts, there were people in sweats. There were people bundled up like me in wool pea coats and sneakers and then some just walking around in a t-shirt and running shorts like it was any other day for them regardless of the drop in temperature. I saw shorts and sweat tops, I saw typical beach attire at newpoert for those playing volley ball at 10AM in the morning. As I made the left turn onto Crown Valley and climbed up the hill, I could clearly see the remnants of last nights storm deposited in white all over the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains. Just looking at it made me cold. I would say at this time, the snow is at about the 6000 ft level after the first good rain we've had maybe since August.
The sad thing is that it's only December 9th and it isn't truly winter until December 21st.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Mere Mortals 12/04/07
I went to the Silver Lake Lounge last night in support of my friend Mimi who plays bass for the Los Angeles-based indie band Mere Mortals. I got to catch-up with my friend about work, Thanksgiving, met the new guitarist and comment on the christmas lights they like to use for set decoration. Mimi said the new guys were probably nervous because this was their first show after joining. There were rehearshing almost everyday for six weeks to get up to speed.
I must say the new band members were sounding impressive. We treated to the old staples such as Reverberation (they always open theie shows with this one), 13th Floor, and Dr. South and new songs, too. I even saw Axel pick up an acoustic guitar once for this set - nice.
I sold one CD. You see, Mimi usually does this when she's not on stage, but since I'm there and want to sit down during the performance, working the merch table allows me to do that and allows her to perform and then help load out including her amp which is almost bigger than she is.
I must say the new band members were sounding impressive. We treated to the old staples such as Reverberation (they always open theie shows with this one), 13th Floor, and Dr. South and new songs, too. I even saw Axel pick up an acoustic guitar once for this set - nice.
I sold one CD. You see, Mimi usually does this when she's not on stage, but since I'm there and want to sit down during the performance, working the merch table allows me to do that and allows her to perform and then help load out including her amp which is almost bigger than she is.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
