[concord]

a la playa to the beach
After spending an hour at a super intense spinning class, I hurried home to pack for Santa Cruz. At the last minute, I invited RP and Yvette to join me and Alex D. The more the merrier indeed.
When we left Concord, it was a comfy 80 degrees and we headed to a 55 degree Santa Cruz. It was good times nonetheless.

Highlights:
Creating and later lounging on couch o' sand. I think i got a little carried away with making sure my brother used wet sand instead of dry sand. *Sigh* sibling sniping and therefore embarassing myself a little in front of Alex i'm sure.

Reading Korn shell instructional manual. The Korn shell is an interface for communicating with Unix.

Walking along beach and having leaping contests.

Observing families swimming in very dirty river water. Stick to the ocean, people.

In n' Out. #3 with a small lemonade.

Austin Power 3. Awesome cameos. Yeah baby.

Going to bed at 1am and waking up at 10. I set my alarm for 8 to go to 9:00 mass, but I decided not to get up.

[san ramon]

"It's better than sitting in an office typing all day." -- AVRIL LAVIGNE on stardom

Say it ain't so. I'm becoming average.

[san ramon, cubicle 10-3]
>> waiting for scripts to finish processing

yeah so then
This week's cover article in Time magazine investigates the effect of the poor economy on retirement age. Indeed, the booming behavior of the market over the past decade should be noted as an anomaly rather than a trendsetter. Prior to the bear market, Americans projected retirement at 65. With the onset of negative growth, however, we'll have to restrategize. Much to my dismay, the article stated that some may continue working well into their 70s.

So with all the sobering news, I still sit in denial. They might retire at 75, but definitely not me. I can't imagine how i'll be able to beat the trend. Well, considering Warren Buffet has been investing in blue chips and weathered the bear market of the 80's and is still one of the richest men, I think I can get away with retiring early.

And so, ladies and gentlemen, I have stated my goal. I have no idea how i'm going to create a plan to reach that goal.

[san ramon]

Oh what a blogslacker I am
Last weekend was spent at an Inroads conference that was 2 days long. Lots of fun but also lots of boredom. Good times altogether.

friday night
That evening was spent with Trissie and some other Inroads interns. We were all given $30 worth of credits at the Metreon arcade. I must say the arcade is pretty fun when you're spending someone else's money.

Tris and I met up with Sean and Jess to have dinner. The Cheesecake Factory had a 2.5 hour wait, so we settled on a Thai place near Union Square.
Afterwards, we visited Lindsay's new apartment in the city. Super cute. She and Keith are great together.

and finally
I've joined the cell phone bandwagon. I got Samsung's newest phone (A460) for $50 at Best Buy. yay.

[concord]

Thursday July 4th
0800-0900 Strength training: bi's and back
0900-1000 Spinning class
1100-1200 Packed up and drove to Victor's house in Berkeley
1200-1300 Bart to SF
1300-1600 Biking in SF using clipless pedals, and across Golden Gate bridge
1603 Fell off bike while standing completely still due to clipless pedals/shoes
1708 Fell off bike while standing completely still due to clipless pedals/shoes
1909 Victor runs into an old friend (Kelly) on Golden Gate bridge...talk about magical world. We sit and talk at top of a hill near Bridge on Marin Side
2000 Tackle mad hills going back to Kelly's place in the Richmond district. We got lost and had to climb endless stairs carrying our bikes. I walked some of the hills. I don't care what you all say, my legs were shot. I didn't know i was going to be on a marathon "leisure" bike ride when i took that crazy spinning class.
2030 Drive back to Berkeley to watch 5 simulatneous fireworks shows on Grizzly Peak Blvd.
2130 Watch fireworks with Victor, Andre (victor's roommate), + Kelly
2300 Dinner at sushi place with fireworks crew. Victor's treat. thank you.
2400 Return to Victor's. Set alarm for 4:30am to drive him to OAK for his 10 day trip to the east coast.

Friday July 5th
0430 Hit snooze.
0445 Okay really now. Wakeup time.
0500 Stopped at Wamu so Victor could get some loot.
0600 Driving back to concord.
0630-1000 Went back to bed.
1000 - 2400 Chilled in the suburbs. Went shopping for paper lanterns with Mom. Ate Togo's with Mom and Brother. Ate dinner at Pasta Primavera with full immediate family. Awww just the six of us. Also roasted corn in the oven.

Saturday July 6th
1030 Drove to Woodside to hang with Yosh and his peeps in Monterery for the day.
1130 After a beautiful drive, arrived in Woodside.
1132-1300 Hung out and ate microwave kettle corn at Yosh's + corn on the cob.
1300-1630 Period of time when 11 people gathered and organized themselves to drive to Monterey.
1632-1700 Driving range. I never thought I'd go near a golf club unless it was at MiniGolf. But it turns out golfing is actually pretty fun. Yosh and his friend Jeff helped me learn how to swing a golf club. hurrah.
1800-1900 Mad eating fest at Yosh's friend Mike's Uncle's Restaurant "Koto". Still with me? Superb sushi. awesome service. huge servings for the cost.
1900-2230 Walking around the wharf. Ate freshly made caramel corn.
2230-2400 Return to Koto. It's closing time for the restaurant and we want to ask Uncle Chef for good places to dance or sing karaoke. Aunt Waitress suggests we stay and sing at restaurant after it closes. Hence, private party in closed down Japanese Restaurant with Aunt Waitress (complete with Korean/Japanese accent forcing me to drink Hot Sake, else she pour it on my head, knowing full well i'm underage. It's odd. It's like your Tita telling you to drink or else). She had the most amazing voice too.
2400-0300 Yosh drives us back to Woodside. I stay over at Yosh's.

Sunday July 7th
1000 Yosh throws a pillow on my head. wakeup time.
1220 Lilo & Stitch with movie theater fake kettle corn.
1400 Coldstone Creamery
1430-1600 Drive back to Concord.
1800 Church
2336 Set alarm for Monday.

[concord]

click
I bought clipless pedals today. I am the hot shit now...

boom
But then, after trying to clip into and out of the pedals with my new road shoes, I couldn't clip out in time and fell over.

This reminds me of my unforgettable experience of learning to skateboard last summer. I'm wearing knee pads and elbow pads next time, no matter how dumb it looks. At least I can avoid scars.

go Dad go!
I was installing my new pedals and had a lot of trouble trying to unscrew them from the crank. I asked my dad for help, and he took them off in 2.3 seconds. Yay for Dad.

Weekend recap
Saturday :: from 9am to 6pm I was in an Inroads workshop learning about negotiating my first job offer. Cool stuff. The workshop is a necessary evil. I'd really much rather be somewhere else, but I've gotta learn this stuff sooner or later.

Saturday evening was a mini high school reunion.
Lindsay's back from Arizona/Utah.
Sean's back from his two year mission in Mexico. I hung out with Trissie and her friend David, who also went to CV but graduated a year before me. The three of us went to Pasta Pomodoro (i'd never eaten there before). Trissie showed me the new Coldstone Creamery in Pleasant Hill.

David, Trissie, and I, not having much else to do in a sleepy suburb on a Saturday night, found concrete islands and drove around them until we got dizzy. sheesh. Kids.

Sunday
Was spent with family. Vanessa had her 1st birthday, so Mom, Yvette, Isabella, and I drove to San Mateo to celebrate. I was messing around trying to look hardcore ghetto with the birthday baby...