I've owned a Pontiac Grand Am (a.k.a. The Dam) for about 5 years. During that time I have driven over 130,000 miles behind the wheel. That's equivalent to circling the Earth's Equator 5 times. It's not a very sexy looking car, but it's been through alot with me and I hate to see it go.
The Dam has been plagued with problems lately, ranging from oil leaks to coolant system failures. The paint is beginning to chip and there's a crack in the windshield from 3 rocks hitting the exact same spot on 3 different occaisons while driving on the freeway. I'm very sentimental toward this car, but I'm going to have to start looking for a new one if the Dam gives me any more problems after I fully fix the oil leak and coolant system. I need reliable transportation next semester, but no matter what replacement car I buy, it will have big shoes to fill.
In Memory of The Beloved Dam, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Friday, October 19, 2007
McDonalds & Phillip Morris
This week's blog will be about two companies which might have more in common than one might initially believe.
Approximately 18 months ago, after a nasty case of food poisoning, I decided to stop eating at McDonalds forever. Today I can say with confidence that I have not touched their food since starting the ban, though I have driven-through several times for other people in my car. Sometimes I miss all the salty treats at the golden arches. Recently McDonalds brought back their Monopoly promotion, which I loved as a kid, and includes a surge in commercials on TV. Of course, the only burger in their ads is my favorite, the Big Mac. I had a nightmare two days ago where I relapsed on McDonalds and stuffed my face with Big Macs. I woke up feeling guilty the rest of the day for no reason, except from the shame of how lucid and pleasurable the dream really was.
I live in a small town called Belmont, which borders San Mateo and has 2 McDonalds to serve a population of 25,000. I found out today that Belmont has recently become the first city in the country to completely ban smoking cigarettes within city limits. It is illegal to smoke in your car, in your home, on the sidewalk, in a parking lot, and anywhere else. While not a criminal offense, a smoker such as myself can be fined up to $1000 for enjoying themselves within view of the bored and over-funded Belmont police. My afinity for cigarettes is no longer welcome here, but I don't plan on changing my habits any time soon.
The fast food industry in Belmont is stronger than ever, but can be just as deadly as smoking. Both cigarettes and fast food are addictive, cheap, widely-available, and kill people by the millions. One can further argue that McDonalds promotes chronic usage of their product to the fullest extent, made famous in the documentary Super Size Me. McDonalds and Phillip Morris share a history of almost identical product promotion. It would only seem logical to ban the consumption of fast food in Belmont as well. Perhaps I should point this out at the next City Council meeting.
Approximately 18 months ago, after a nasty case of food poisoning, I decided to stop eating at McDonalds forever. Today I can say with confidence that I have not touched their food since starting the ban, though I have driven-through several times for other people in my car. Sometimes I miss all the salty treats at the golden arches. Recently McDonalds brought back their Monopoly promotion, which I loved as a kid, and includes a surge in commercials on TV. Of course, the only burger in their ads is my favorite, the Big Mac. I had a nightmare two days ago where I relapsed on McDonalds and stuffed my face with Big Macs. I woke up feeling guilty the rest of the day for no reason, except from the shame of how lucid and pleasurable the dream really was.
I live in a small town called Belmont, which borders San Mateo and has 2 McDonalds to serve a population of 25,000. I found out today that Belmont has recently become the first city in the country to completely ban smoking cigarettes within city limits. It is illegal to smoke in your car, in your home, on the sidewalk, in a parking lot, and anywhere else. While not a criminal offense, a smoker such as myself can be fined up to $1000 for enjoying themselves within view of the bored and over-funded Belmont police. My afinity for cigarettes is no longer welcome here, but I don't plan on changing my habits any time soon.
The fast food industry in Belmont is stronger than ever, but can be just as deadly as smoking. Both cigarettes and fast food are addictive, cheap, widely-available, and kill people by the millions. One can further argue that McDonalds promotes chronic usage of their product to the fullest extent, made famous in the documentary Super Size Me. McDonalds and Phillip Morris share a history of almost identical product promotion. It would only seem logical to ban the consumption of fast food in Belmont as well. Perhaps I should point this out at the next City Council meeting.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Over The Counter
From what I can remember, I've had a grueling week. My battle with a nasty seasonal bug culminated last night when I passed-out some time around 10pm. 13 hours later, I woke up with all my clothes on, but feeling great for the first time in 8 days. It seems as though my body has conquered whatever germs had been occupying it this past week.
Now that I am somewhat sober, I want to warn you about over the counter drugs. Consistent use of nasal decongestants and antihistamines can severely impair you, diminishing alertness and general functionality. If you find yourself sick, your main defense should be water and plenty of rest. Don't use these drugs as crutch like I did, you might end up passed-out in a compromising position.
Now that I am somewhat sober, I want to warn you about over the counter drugs. Consistent use of nasal decongestants and antihistamines can severely impair you, diminishing alertness and general functionality. If you find yourself sick, your main defense should be water and plenty of rest. Don't use these drugs as crutch like I did, you might end up passed-out in a compromising position.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Detour Off Highway 92
Tonight, after dropping my friend off in Alameda, I was on my way back to San Mateo and realized I didn't have enough cash to pay the bridge toll. I stopped at a Burger King right before the toll plaza to use their ATM and bought some fries to break my 20. I noticed an old bum sitting at a table with a push-basket full of various papers and books. He noticed me right away and mumbled something I couldn't hear, so I sat down near him to talk while I ate my fries.
The man introduced himself as the original Pink Cloud, and immediately began talking about music. He asked me if I play any instruments, which I don't, but I said I played the Sax when I was younger. He began talking about various artists and how he used to teach music. There was a Neil Young song playing on the Burger King sound system, so he fumbled through his cart and pulled out a notebook and flipped to the particular song. Impressed, I watched as he guided me through the various guitar notes to the song.
Pink Cloud then started talking about his life. His wife divorced him 13 years ago, which he said is how long it has been since he's seen his son. I felt sorry for the guy, but Pink Cloud is a term often used in Alcoholics Anonymous to describe someone who is over-confident in their recovery and on the verge of relapse. I'm sure his estranged wife would have plenty of reasons to give for kicking him out of the family, but she nor her son can be located, according to Pink Cloud.
Before leaving, I purchased a back-issue of The Onion from Mr. Cloud for 78 cents and wished him good luck on finding his son. If Cal-Trans hadn't raised the toll fee from $3 to $4 this year, I would have never met Pink Cloud, but I didn't mind taking a detour tonight.
The man introduced himself as the original Pink Cloud, and immediately began talking about music. He asked me if I play any instruments, which I don't, but I said I played the Sax when I was younger. He began talking about various artists and how he used to teach music. There was a Neil Young song playing on the Burger King sound system, so he fumbled through his cart and pulled out a notebook and flipped to the particular song. Impressed, I watched as he guided me through the various guitar notes to the song.
Pink Cloud then started talking about his life. His wife divorced him 13 years ago, which he said is how long it has been since he's seen his son. I felt sorry for the guy, but Pink Cloud is a term often used in Alcoholics Anonymous to describe someone who is over-confident in their recovery and on the verge of relapse. I'm sure his estranged wife would have plenty of reasons to give for kicking him out of the family, but she nor her son can be located, according to Pink Cloud.
Before leaving, I purchased a back-issue of The Onion from Mr. Cloud for 78 cents and wished him good luck on finding his son. If Cal-Trans hadn't raised the toll fee from $3 to $4 this year, I would have never met Pink Cloud, but I didn't mind taking a detour tonight.
Friday, September 28, 2007
I'm Jealous of My Dad
My dad is living the easy life. He's been retired for over 3 years now and seems to get better at it each year. Now a full-time golfer, he has a year-round golfer's tan and raccoon eyes from sunglasses. He even gets rewards for having such a laid-back lifestyle. He has been in Mexico all week, soaking up the nice weather with my mom, which happened to be a trip he won in a golf raffle. I'm totally jealous how easy he has it, but the man has worked for decades to be able to do what he's doing now.
There are things about my dad's lifestyle which I find questionable. He has a big SUV, which is nice, but sucks an incredible amount of gas. The other problem I have with my dad is that he owns shares in Wal-Mart! When he first mentioned this to me, I rattled-off several reasons why he shouldn't buy in to such an evil empire, but then I realized his portfolio had more influence than my cheap facts. I'll tell this to my dad and any other holders of Wal-Mart stock: I hope you can sleep at night! My dad chuckled and said "Very comfortably."
There are things about my dad's lifestyle which I find questionable. He has a big SUV, which is nice, but sucks an incredible amount of gas. The other problem I have with my dad is that he owns shares in Wal-Mart! When he first mentioned this to me, I rattled-off several reasons why he shouldn't buy in to such an evil empire, but then I realized his portfolio had more influence than my cheap facts. I'll tell this to my dad and any other holders of Wal-Mart stock: I hope you can sleep at night! My dad chuckled and said "Very comfortably."
Friday, September 14, 2007
El Nino
Damn you El Nino!
Why did you have to revisit us this year? Don't get me wrong, I love sunny skies, but heat waves and dry spells cause me trouble. When I'm driving to San Jose on Highway 280, I notice the waterline is considerably lower than usual this year. While I haven't heard of any local droughts as a result of the extremely dry year, I know the native plant life has been affected.
The most annoying part of El Nino, for me personally, is the horrid allergies I've had all year. I'm literally writing sentences of this blog between sneezing fits. My trusty 24-hour Claritin lost its effectiveness months ago and I haven't had the budget to try out new kinds of allergy medications. I heard somewhere that our air is coming from China. If this is true, we can add air to the list of defective product recalls. Don't ask me how.
Why did you have to revisit us this year? Don't get me wrong, I love sunny skies, but heat waves and dry spells cause me trouble. When I'm driving to San Jose on Highway 280, I notice the waterline is considerably lower than usual this year. While I haven't heard of any local droughts as a result of the extremely dry year, I know the native plant life has been affected.
The most annoying part of El Nino, for me personally, is the horrid allergies I've had all year. I'm literally writing sentences of this blog between sneezing fits. My trusty 24-hour Claritin lost its effectiveness months ago and I haven't had the budget to try out new kinds of allergy medications. I heard somewhere that our air is coming from China. If this is true, we can add air to the list of defective product recalls. Don't ask me how.
Friday, September 7, 2007
My Dear Younger Sister
Emily has always been the most energetic and eccentric sibling in the family. Her voice projects across the room quite easily, especially when she's excited during a conversation in a restaurant. Irregardless of any public embarrassment, I love my sister very much.
It's tough when I see Emily struggle with her health problem. Last year, on the morning of Thanksgiving, she had her first seizure while staying at my parent's house. My mom was the first person to hear disturbing noises from my sister's room. Because it was locked, they had to break the door down to help her. The doctors at the emergency room couldn't figure out why it happened. She never had a major health problem until now. For all we knew, it could have been an isolated incident triggered by stress. This proved to be more than a random occurrence.
My sister had another seizure a couple weeks after Thanksgiving. Over the past 10 months she has had 11 seizures. This has been extremely frustrating for everyone in my family. Each time she has a seizure, she is sore for several days afterward. Seizure patients often look like they just had a stroke. They took her license away for obvious reasons. She lives in San Francisco, so thankfully she can walk around everywhere she needs to go. Unfortunately, this also means she is far from family in Gilroy if she needs our help. I am the closest family member, so I'm usually the one in the emergency room with her when there's a problem.
I will refrain from going over most of the medical details surrounding her treatment, but they have run quite a few tests on Emily over the months. The doctors at Kaiser have been mystified as to why she continues having episodes when she is on medication that's supposed to prevent it. My parents decided to send her to Stanford which is where they found a growth in her brain. Thankfully it wasn't a malignant brain tumor, but nonetheless troubling that there is something abnormal there. This week, Emily has been in the hospital for a sleep-study. They wanted to monitor her while inducing a seizure (by taking her off the anticonvulsants and manipulating her sleep patterns). She had a seizure while they were monitoring her. The source of the seizure came from the abnormal part of her brain. Now they are likely going to perform brain surgery and remove the defective area.
I'm worried about what will happen to my sister. At the same time, I'm relieved that there is now a tangible problem for the doctors to work on. All I can hope for is that she has a successful surgery with minimal side-effects and her seizures go away. Toward the end of the semester, I will write another blog with an update on her status.
It's tough when I see Emily struggle with her health problem. Last year, on the morning of Thanksgiving, she had her first seizure while staying at my parent's house. My mom was the first person to hear disturbing noises from my sister's room. Because it was locked, they had to break the door down to help her. The doctors at the emergency room couldn't figure out why it happened. She never had a major health problem until now. For all we knew, it could have been an isolated incident triggered by stress. This proved to be more than a random occurrence.
My sister had another seizure a couple weeks after Thanksgiving. Over the past 10 months she has had 11 seizures. This has been extremely frustrating for everyone in my family. Each time she has a seizure, she is sore for several days afterward. Seizure patients often look like they just had a stroke. They took her license away for obvious reasons. She lives in San Francisco, so thankfully she can walk around everywhere she needs to go. Unfortunately, this also means she is far from family in Gilroy if she needs our help. I am the closest family member, so I'm usually the one in the emergency room with her when there's a problem.
I will refrain from going over most of the medical details surrounding her treatment, but they have run quite a few tests on Emily over the months. The doctors at Kaiser have been mystified as to why she continues having episodes when she is on medication that's supposed to prevent it. My parents decided to send her to Stanford which is where they found a growth in her brain. Thankfully it wasn't a malignant brain tumor, but nonetheless troubling that there is something abnormal there. This week, Emily has been in the hospital for a sleep-study. They wanted to monitor her while inducing a seizure (by taking her off the anticonvulsants and manipulating her sleep patterns). She had a seizure while they were monitoring her. The source of the seizure came from the abnormal part of her brain. Now they are likely going to perform brain surgery and remove the defective area.
I'm worried about what will happen to my sister. At the same time, I'm relieved that there is now a tangible problem for the doctors to work on. All I can hope for is that she has a successful surgery with minimal side-effects and her seizures go away. Toward the end of the semester, I will write another blog with an update on her status.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
