Last weekend, we flew down to LA to pick up Edwin's old bed, dresser, and BBQ from his mom's house. At least that was the plan. We were going to pick them up from his mom's garage and then drive them back. The dresser and BBQ made it back, but the mattress is another story. The mattress has been in the garage for the last 5 years and while it was wrapped in plastic, a rat decided to make it his home. You'd be surprised how hard it is to get rid of an old mattress. The dump charges $70. I mean, shouldn't the dump accept everything for free? I mean, isn't that the definition of a dump? They receive all the junk that no one wants?
Well, I should start from the beginning of the weekend. We were flying on Southwest on Friday flight at 5:30PM. We're on the plane, but then for some reason we were sitting at the gate for an extended time. They finally made an announcement saying that someone on the plane was feeling ill and that they were waiting for a paramedic to determine if the passenger would be able to fly. Now, it's not that I didn't care about this passenger, but why didn't they just put this passenger on a later flight so that the rest of the passengers wouldn't be delayed? The person behind gave me one plausible answer, but I'm not sure that I liked their theory- maybe this person is contagious and they didn't want to risk exposing others beyond the people on the plane. So an hour and a half later, we are on our way to LA.
After we arrived, we had dinner with George and then went to see a movie called Cloverfield. It's a post-apocalyptic thriller that was directed by JJ Abrams. He's the same guy that created Alias and Heroes, so I thought it would be entertaining. Unfortunately, the cinematography was so shaky that I couldn't watch 90% of the film. I get motion sickness pretty easily. I just thought that it might be one of those films where it was shaky for part of the film, but it was literally the entire film. Don't they make videocameras with stabilizers nowadays? I managed to actually be in the theatre for most of the movie, but I did have to fight the nausea at the end. Note to self- no more movies that have crappy cinematography.
On Saturday, we had lunch with my grandparents, George, and Edwin's mom. We picked up the truck from Budget (since we hate U-Haul) and then packed the truck. We had dinner with Binh and then she took us to a new Indian ice cream place called Saffron Spot. Now, most of you know that I'm not a fan of Indian food, but she was also the one that introduced me to Pinkberry, so who am I to argue? It was in an Indian Plaza near Cerritos- Sujay's hometown. I still am not a fan of Indian food, but ice cream is hard to turn down.
On Sunday, we drove back in the rain. It was pretty uneventful, but we were happy that it only took about 6.5 hours given that the truck had a governor that basically capped our speed at 70mph. Monday morning, I flew up to Seattle for work. After my meetings, I stopped by Edwin's cousins' house in Issaquah. This house was huge. They just moved from San Bruno and they moved into a newly constructed house. It was about 5000 sq ft. 5000! That's like a mansion! Especially since our house is only 1237 sq ft. Their house is 4x the size of ours. I'm not saying that I want that much space, because my second thought is "how do you keep a house that big clean?" We have enough trouble cleaning our small house.
We had a maid service in the apartment right before we bought the house and I do miss it. The funny this is that I think it kept our apartment more clean because we would clean the apartment before the maid service would come because we didn't want them to think that we were slobs and because while they would clean, they wouldn't organize our things or put them back where they belonged. I used to think it was strange to hear about people cleaning before the maid service came, but I totally get it now.
Anyway, it was great to catch up with those guys. This weekend, we are attending a wedding and attending to house stuff.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Who Cares?
Here's a funny and recent article on a Microsoft product that I have been working on: MS OneCare article.
While the article does not bode well for the product that we are trying to promote, I found something else even more intriguing- the author's bio. I have never seen a bio like this before:
While the article does not bode well for the product that we are trying to promote, I found something else even more intriguing- the author's bio. I have never seen a bio like this before:
During her seven years at CNET News.com, Ina Fried has changed beats
several times, changed genders once and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days most of her attention is focused on Microsoft.
You gotta love the Bay Area. I can't think of any other place where you would see a bio like this. What ever happened to "don't ask, don't tell?"
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Time After Time
You never really mean to lose touch with your friends. I've always prided myself on keeping in touch with my friends. When you are young, you have all the time in the world. When you're single, you are busy, but you make the time. When you become a couple, your time gets split further into time with your significant other and both sets of friends. After you buy a house or have kids (I presume, since we are currently without!), that time dwindles so much that you're trying to plan things weeks sometimes months in advance. Heaven forbid you achieve the house and kids- does that mean that you no longer have any friends? Either because you don't have any more money to spend or you're too exhausted to hang out? Oh- and time for yourself? Is there any time left?
We keep telling ourselves that we'll have more time after XXX. First, it was planning the wedding, then it was buying a house, now it's the kitchen renovation. I think this is why we delayed starting the process for so long. We moved in 4 months ago. We probably could have started the kitchen about 2 months ago. Part of it was getting ourselves mentally prepared for the project. Now that we have started the timer, we find ourselves looking at flooring, counters, knobs, etc. during all of our free time. This is not necessarily something that you can do with your friends. Being single and a homeowner must be easier. There's no one to tell you you're spending too much and you don't have to agree on anything with anyone. You get everything that you want and you get to decorate it however you want. Cons- you got that big old mortgage to yourself too.
Edwin and I actually agree a lot- we estimate that we agree on 70% of what we both like in a kitchen. However, it's that last 30% that's hard. It's true what they saw about planning a wedding- if you can last through planning a wedding together, you should be able to withstand the challenges that come with being married. Decorating a home is a lot like planning a wedding. There's a lot of coordination required, both from an aesthetic perspective as well as a timing perspective. You may like this one tile and these other cabinets, but then they just don't look right together. I just have to keep on telling myself how awesome our wedding day was. It's also similar in that you're spending so much money at once and you don't want to make any mistakes. (I guess we could say the same thing about buying the house in the first place. And again, we're both pretty happy that we moved to Alameda.)
We keep telling ourselves that we'll have more time after XXX. First, it was planning the wedding, then it was buying a house, now it's the kitchen renovation. I think this is why we delayed starting the process for so long. We moved in 4 months ago. We probably could have started the kitchen about 2 months ago. Part of it was getting ourselves mentally prepared for the project. Now that we have started the timer, we find ourselves looking at flooring, counters, knobs, etc. during all of our free time. This is not necessarily something that you can do with your friends. Being single and a homeowner must be easier. There's no one to tell you you're spending too much and you don't have to agree on anything with anyone. You get everything that you want and you get to decorate it however you want. Cons- you got that big old mortgage to yourself too.
Edwin and I actually agree a lot- we estimate that we agree on 70% of what we both like in a kitchen. However, it's that last 30% that's hard. It's true what they saw about planning a wedding- if you can last through planning a wedding together, you should be able to withstand the challenges that come with being married. Decorating a home is a lot like planning a wedding. There's a lot of coordination required, both from an aesthetic perspective as well as a timing perspective. You may like this one tile and these other cabinets, but then they just don't look right together. I just have to keep on telling myself how awesome our wedding day was. It's also similar in that you're spending so much money at once and you don't want to make any mistakes. (I guess we could say the same thing about buying the house in the first place. And again, we're both pretty happy that we moved to Alameda.)
Sunday, January 13, 2008
The Money Pit
We spent this weekend split between hanging out with friends and family and shopping for house stuff. On Friday, we went to dinner at the Park Chalet and to listen to the Pimento Project again. This is the same band we saw a few weeks ago at the tiki bar in Alameda. On Saturday, Edwin went snowboarding while I ran errands and shopped with Matilde. Jon and Jeannette were also visiting here this weekend, so I met up with them for a Cambodian dinner in the Mission. It was my first time eating Cambodian food. It seemed a lot like other Asian food. A cross between Thai and Vietnamese. Not bad, but I'm not sure that I would seek it out again. After dinner, we went to this dive bar to hang out. It was really loud and it would not have been much fun had I not been with good company. Jeannette and I chatted for hours until the wee hours of the morning- 3AM. I can't do that stuff anymore- I'm way too old. It hurts too much the next day. Anyway, it would be really cool if they moved here so that I can stop losing so much sleep!
We also did a lot of research for the house this week. We have been looking for flooring for the kitchen and we think that we have found it. It's a porcelain tile that is made to look like slate: Edilcuoghi Rocks. We are getting the blank for the floor, but the actual tile looks more black than this photo. The photo makes it look like a tan color. We're also going to be using this type of tile for the backsplash as well. We also decided to buy the same dishwasher that Laura and Alex have at their house. It had some cool functionality in that it has 3 racks and 1 of them being adjustable and the price was pretty reasonable. We haven't ordered it yet because we're waiting for it to go on sale at Lowes. It's the Maytag MDB8601AWS. Am I boring you all yet? If not, keep reading. That movie Old School really wasn't that far off when Will Farrell's character said that he was going to the Home Depot as his "plans for the weekend." You can spend a LOT of time looking at this stuff. We're thinking about painting the kitchen walls yellow. I kind of like the idea of having a sunny kitchen. Kind of a Meyer lemon yellow. We have been looking at granite counter tops and will probably go with one called China Black which doesn't really have a lot of specs in it. Wonder why they call it China Black since the granite looks all black- thought the stereotype was that Chinese looked yellow. Sinks, door pulls, and recessed lighting- oh my! It's funny, I feel like we keep going to the same 4 stores- Home Depot, Lowes, Sincere Hardware, and Home Expo. If you don't have these stores in your area, where do you look for this stuff? There's a few stores here that specialize like Lamps Plus and some kind of supply shop in Oakland Chinatown, but then is that it? I can't wait until the remodel begins so that it can end! It's funny, Laura and Alex will be here to help us clear out the kitchen since demolition begins on 2/13 and my parents will be here when they complete a month later.
We also got our washer fixed this week. A few weeks ago, our washer started flooding the kitchen floor with water. It was just spilling out of the detergent drawer like the water was plugged up from the inside. We were lucky on 2 fronts. First, we haven't started our kitchen renovations yet, so I don't care so much if we flood the kitchen. Second, since the washer is still brand new, it was still under warranty, so we called and they came out to fix it without any cost to us. The issue? Edwin's sock got stuck and was blocking the hole where the water fills into the washer. You know how everyone eventually loses a sock in the washer? Well, now we know where to look!
More house stuff- I was dismayed to find that in 2 of the corners of the living room we have these small cracks forming. It's not like we didn't know that they would return, but I just thought it would be longer than 2 months after we just finished painting it! To our friends that are looking for housing right now- we can't wait until you all experience the joys of home ownership! Though maybe they'll be smarter than us and just buy something that is move-in ready rather than a fixer upper.
We also did a lot of research for the house this week. We have been looking for flooring for the kitchen and we think that we have found it. It's a porcelain tile that is made to look like slate: Edilcuoghi Rocks. We are getting the blank for the floor, but the actual tile looks more black than this photo. The photo makes it look like a tan color. We're also going to be using this type of tile for the backsplash as well. We also decided to buy the same dishwasher that Laura and Alex have at their house. It had some cool functionality in that it has 3 racks and 1 of them being adjustable and the price was pretty reasonable. We haven't ordered it yet because we're waiting for it to go on sale at Lowes. It's the Maytag MDB8601AWS. Am I boring you all yet? If not, keep reading. That movie Old School really wasn't that far off when Will Farrell's character said that he was going to the Home Depot as his "plans for the weekend." You can spend a LOT of time looking at this stuff. We're thinking about painting the kitchen walls yellow. I kind of like the idea of having a sunny kitchen. Kind of a Meyer lemon yellow. We have been looking at granite counter tops and will probably go with one called China Black which doesn't really have a lot of specs in it. Wonder why they call it China Black since the granite looks all black- thought the stereotype was that Chinese looked yellow. Sinks, door pulls, and recessed lighting- oh my! It's funny, I feel like we keep going to the same 4 stores- Home Depot, Lowes, Sincere Hardware, and Home Expo. If you don't have these stores in your area, where do you look for this stuff? There's a few stores here that specialize like Lamps Plus and some kind of supply shop in Oakland Chinatown, but then is that it? I can't wait until the remodel begins so that it can end! It's funny, Laura and Alex will be here to help us clear out the kitchen since demolition begins on 2/13 and my parents will be here when they complete a month later.
We also got our washer fixed this week. A few weeks ago, our washer started flooding the kitchen floor with water. It was just spilling out of the detergent drawer like the water was plugged up from the inside. We were lucky on 2 fronts. First, we haven't started our kitchen renovations yet, so I don't care so much if we flood the kitchen. Second, since the washer is still brand new, it was still under warranty, so we called and they came out to fix it without any cost to us. The issue? Edwin's sock got stuck and was blocking the hole where the water fills into the washer. You know how everyone eventually loses a sock in the washer? Well, now we know where to look!
More house stuff- I was dismayed to find that in 2 of the corners of the living room we have these small cracks forming. It's not like we didn't know that they would return, but I just thought it would be longer than 2 months after we just finished painting it! To our friends that are looking for housing right now- we can't wait until you all experience the joys of home ownership! Though maybe they'll be smarter than us and just buy something that is move-in ready rather than a fixer upper.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
It's Raining, It's Pouring!
Last weekend, we had a bad storm out here in the Bay Area. Some of you may have heard about it, but it was our first bad storm in the house. It has rained before, but this was the worst by far. We didn't really have any damage, but our neighbor told us that a tree in his backyard broke. A few of my coworkers didn't fare so well- one had a portion of his fence broken and was without electricity for a day and another had a broken window. In the past, we haven't had any water seepage, but this storm caused a little bit of water to pool up in the basement. The sump pump doesn't seem to be working and probably needs to be replaced, but at least we didn't have any real damage. The weather has been pretty bad lately, so I'm looking forward to a nice, sunny day soon. Guess I shouldn't complain since most of you out there are battling the snow. How soon we forget...
Since the weather was so bad, we didn't really want to go out too much. We ended up spending Saturday night at Sujay and Matilde's for an impromptu sleepover. We also got a chance to hang out with the Schneiders there which was nice. It's been a while since all of us have been able to hang out. Time passes by quickly in the company of good friends.
The next few weeks are going to be busy for us. This weekend, Jeannette and Jon are going to be visiting us because Jon has interviews for residency. The following weekend we have plans for a friend's birthday. The weekend after that, we are going to LA to pick up Edwin's old bed and dresser for the guest room and the BBQ for the backyard. The weekend after that we have a wedding. And then Laura and Alex might come for a visit the weekend after that. Not to mention that we need to pick out all of the stuff that we will need for the kitchen renovation during this time since we are hoping to start construction in mid-February. I really thought that things would slow down after the holidays. I guess maybe in the spring???
Since the weather was so bad, we didn't really want to go out too much. We ended up spending Saturday night at Sujay and Matilde's for an impromptu sleepover. We also got a chance to hang out with the Schneiders there which was nice. It's been a while since all of us have been able to hang out. Time passes by quickly in the company of good friends.
The next few weeks are going to be busy for us. This weekend, Jeannette and Jon are going to be visiting us because Jon has interviews for residency. The following weekend we have plans for a friend's birthday. The weekend after that, we are going to LA to pick up Edwin's old bed and dresser for the guest room and the BBQ for the backyard. The weekend after that we have a wedding. And then Laura and Alex might come for a visit the weekend after that. Not to mention that we need to pick out all of the stuff that we will need for the kitchen renovation during this time since we are hoping to start construction in mid-February. I really thought that things would slow down after the holidays. I guess maybe in the spring???
Friday, January 04, 2008
Happy New Year!
Hope everyone had a good holiday. You would think that since I had 10 days off of work, I would have more time to update the blog. It's been so nice to have the time off. We had a great time in LA with the families. We got to see Grandma and she was looking great. It seems that they will be taking her off of chemo now, so it shouldn't be much longer. It would be easy to be sad about her leaving us, but we've known about her cancer for a year now and I'm thankful that she has not been in any pain. She's been with us longer than we had expected and we have had some time to mentally prepare ourselves for the inevitable. Still, we will probably be going back to LA next month to see her when we go to pick up some furniture from Edwin's mom's house.
While we were in LA we got to spend time with both sides of the family. Unfortunately, Laura, Alex, and Hannah all got sick with some kind of virus. We stayed in a house in Culver City and had some great fried chicken at a local restaurant called Honey's Kettle. It had great fried chicken, but the service was horrible. It was supposed to open at 10:30 AM and I was at the door at 11 which was locked. There were 3 people working inside and they all looked up and then kept working. After about 5 minutes, one of them decided to let me in. If the chicken weren't so tasty, I would probably not recommend it. We took out from there twice and I would go back and recommend it as long as you have the time to wait for it.
We did a lot of stuff around the house this week. We put a deposit for our cabinets which we will receive in mid-February. It's the first step in the kitchen renovations. We also bought a Viking stove off of craigslist. It's now sitting in our garage. We had to unpack some more to make room in the garage to store it and the cabinets that will be coming. We also painted the dining room, hallway, and bathroom closets with some help from my aunt, uncle, and cousins. It was nice to have the time to devote to it. Our bedroom is going to be the last room that gets painted and we still need to paint the trim, but then we should be done with painting. We also took down the Christmas decorations. It took a lot less time to take them down than it did to put them up.
We also hosted a New Years Eve Game Night & Potluck. Show & Derek made a seafood stew (yum!) and the Benerjees made apps, Alfio & Michelle brought pizza, the Tachikis brought a salad, and Michelle brought hummus & veggies, we provided the dessert, lemonade, and cheese. It was a good time. With the new year, it made me think about resolutions. I didn't make any this year. I don't like committing to exercising more or losing weight because I just know I'll break them.
While we were in LA we got to spend time with both sides of the family. Unfortunately, Laura, Alex, and Hannah all got sick with some kind of virus. We stayed in a house in Culver City and had some great fried chicken at a local restaurant called Honey's Kettle. It had great fried chicken, but the service was horrible. It was supposed to open at 10:30 AM and I was at the door at 11 which was locked. There were 3 people working inside and they all looked up and then kept working. After about 5 minutes, one of them decided to let me in. If the chicken weren't so tasty, I would probably not recommend it. We took out from there twice and I would go back and recommend it as long as you have the time to wait for it.
We did a lot of stuff around the house this week. We put a deposit for our cabinets which we will receive in mid-February. It's the first step in the kitchen renovations. We also bought a Viking stove off of craigslist. It's now sitting in our garage. We had to unpack some more to make room in the garage to store it and the cabinets that will be coming. We also painted the dining room, hallway, and bathroom closets with some help from my aunt, uncle, and cousins. It was nice to have the time to devote to it. Our bedroom is going to be the last room that gets painted and we still need to paint the trim, but then we should be done with painting. We also took down the Christmas decorations. It took a lot less time to take them down than it did to put them up.
We also hosted a New Years Eve Game Night & Potluck. Show & Derek made a seafood stew (yum!) and the Benerjees made apps, Alfio & Michelle brought pizza, the Tachikis brought a salad, and Michelle brought hummus & veggies, we provided the dessert, lemonade, and cheese. It was a good time. With the new year, it made me think about resolutions. I didn't make any this year. I don't like committing to exercising more or losing weight because I just know I'll break them.
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