Day 3 at Twi*****e

I finished day 3 at this new job. Now I understand why I always compose a post on day 3 at a new job even though I wanted to post about it since day 1.

It was very stressful on day 1 because there were so many information to swallow, metting new people, learning new technologies, trying to understand new systems... I thought I couldn't do most of the things that I was supposed to do. That night was also a stressful night. I couldn't even smile after work... hehe

The second day was better. I was stressed on the way to work but I could finish a project which had a due date in at least 2 days! I finished it in a day and reported to the development team. I felt much better

The hunt for an apartment

Well, it's not really for an apartment but a cottage would be ideal. It's very limited for us to find a nice place since most of the nice places do check for my credit score. As you may guess, my credit score is not high. I didn't find out until the day I bought a car and the dealer showed me my score. There was a T-mobile bill of $88 that I didn't even remember exists. An $124 AT&T bill since 2006. All these bills came after I moved or changed to different number. I'm not rambling away from it's my fault not paying the bills. They even sent them to the collection services. Jesus.

I am working on paying them off and building up my score. With a stable job and a higher-than-average salary (in my industry and my skill level), I believe I can easily finish this task in about a year or at most two.

Anyways, I've been finishing my last weeks here at Gam**** and getting ready to move our stuff to the Bay Area while my wife was driving around the bay and looking for places for us to live. I admit it's a tough job for her since she's been struggling with communicating with people since the day she came here. She's getting much much better. Sometimes she even takes over my 'talk' duty. She loves to control but that's another long story. All in all, she did a very good job and found us a place to live! I gave her a super good massage today and when I say good, I mean it because she was moaning then she felt into a deep sleep while I was working on her back and legs. I couldn't wake her up to brush teeth...

This apartment (no, not a cottage - maybe next year or next next year) does allow pets. So we are very excited to look for a dog and a kitten.

not the new apartment - our family's house - but i wanna give
our new living room a warm atmosphere like this...

About my job, I've been reading the material for the new job but with my busy schedule these weeks, seriously I am not that committed even though I am very very excited to learn about the new computer language that I will be using.

Tomorrow is my last day at Gama***. There will be another post for that.

I'm going to try hard to wake my wife up again to brush teeth so that I can sleep..

Got a new job in San Francisco!

I have been looking for jobs for a while and got rejected by many companies until I got an offer from the 'first' company by which I was interviewed last trip to SF. Wow. I thought they wouldn't even call me back. They indeed contacted me back a week later and offered me a job with a decent starting salary and benefits plus 3 weeks paid vacation a year, plus an annual salary review!

So I will start working there starting on the 22nd this month. I talked to my current boss and asked for a flexible notice duration so I could leave the job on the 19th.

The next step is to find a place to live. I'm driving north this weekend to look for it.

Everything seems to fall into place. What else could I ask for?

Thank you, Holy spirits to whom I pray!!

Nam Mo Dai Tu Dai Bi Cuu Kho Cuu Nan Quan The Am Bo Tat.

The pursuit of happiness

I'm taking 2 days off from Ga***ia to come to SF taking 2 interviews from 2 different companies. The beauty of it is that I could combine 2 interviews into only one trip - even though one of them might ask me to come up at least another time for the follow up interview. :(

The interviews went kind of well despite a few here and there small mistakes and awkwardness. After some rejections and the last 2 months full of phone interviews, I feel more confident talking to interviewers. I also learned from the mistakes I made in the previous interviews and needless to mention how much it helped me in the following interviews. Maybe it was a good thing to fail.

I'm still waiting for the results but I don't feel like the first company is going to take me. I am not sure about the second one since there might be another following interview sometimes next week or so.

I am enjoying the best past of this trip, is to spend time with my lovely wife.

EDIT: I got the job! The first interview which I didn't think I would pass. They called me back and offered me a position there. Read here.

Zucchini "egg-soup"

I decided to cook this after coming home from work today.

my home grown tomato. looks how meaty it is. and it was really sweet too.

I saute the sliced zucchini with butter. my backyard grown corn, tomatos. onion, garlic and cheese.

I added water, let it boiled then left it simmer while adding ingredients. sugar, nuoc mam, dried herbs, cajun seasoning..

The last step is to add eggs. I added 3 eggs in the pan.

The final product. Very healthy and delicious. My asked my mama to try and she loved it too. I wish my wife was here to taste it.

My second night flying

This was my second night flight with my Skywalker RC last weekend. 

I bought the fuselage extension from Crist. It makes a HUGE lot of difference! The plane flies much more smoother even better than the original design!!

My favorite uncle video-ed this.

I had a great time!

Hybrid Humans

This is just my theory after reading some books and watching some history channel series (plus some good old ufo series from National geographic as well). I strongly believe that humans are hybrid of God (maybe aliens who knows) and animals.

"So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created; male and female He created them"


There are animal traces in humans that everyone can tell from a human: sexual desires, power hunger, the desire to dominate others, kill other humans for own benefit, etc... with a somewhat balanced and common sensuality, this is what we called "human world" and it is normal that these are happening around the world as you read this. But if it passes over the so-called balance of our common sensuality, they become traces we see in rapists, murderers, cold blood dictators, kids who kill their parents for game money, humans who kill other humans out of hatred... And don't we agree this is animalistic.


However, as we are judging that, there is a part in us saying it is bad. There is a part in us crying and feeling the pain in other humans. There is always a part in us that tells us to stop doing what we think might hurt others... you know what part I am talking about. Or it has another name: conscience. Humans help other humans who are in pain. Humans love and laugh with each other while sharing peace and happiness. Humans think and solve problem logically..... Don't we agree this is what our generation calls humanitarian.


Now is the hard part. It is about the holiness of man. It is hard because we have never met a saint. We know from stories, from the bibles, from the sacred texts about the saintliness of saints. "What would Jesus do?" "What would Buddha do?" "What would Muhammad do?". I believe it is doing the the best for others, scarifying self, spreading the love of God, find life, love, stillness, balance and peace in all things....etc Of course these are just my personal interpretation of the holiness. And this, I call godliness.

I guess there is no "real" conclusion for this post since there is no physical evidence proving relation of humans DNA and God, angel DNAs.. since we can't even physically prove that there are angels. These are simply my thoughts.

You are already dead

Once upon a time, in old time Japan, there were two samurai clans fighting each other for their own right and wrong ideas. Right before the battle, there was a young samurai who was very scared of what was going to happen. He came to his master and seek for advice knowing that showing his fear right before battle was considered to be a coward action and that might bring him to a lot of troubles. The young samurai went into the cottage where his master was sitting with several other high ranking samurais and said:

- Master, I know what I am going to say now will lead me to trouble and shame for years to come. But I want to get myself ready for this battle. Yes, I am scared. I really want to fight, to die for our clan, for our ideas but at the same time I am so afraid of death.

- So have you ever been wounded in battles? - The master asked.

- Yes, sir I have, many times indeed.

- Then I bet you are not much afraid of being slashed anymore lately? - The master continued.

- No sir, I am not. I got used to it.

The master then laughed and said: 

- Good, you are already dead!!

The young samurai paused for a second and said thank to the master; then he asked for permission to dismiss and get ready for the battle. To everyone surprise, he fought vigorously in that battle as if he is not afraid of dying and in many more battles after that.

The young samurai's name was Sakamoto Ryōma (坂本 龍馬?, January 3, 1836 – December 10, 1867) who "was a leader of the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate during the Bakumatsu period in Japan".

A photograph of Sakamoto Ryoma
Property of Miyoshi Harutaka (Ueda City)

Handling rejection with job interviews

I had many interviews and got rejected several times. I tried hard. I know I'm good but they still fail me. They fail my application but they can't fail me. I never fail. Thanks for giving me chances. Thanks for giving me a change to fight hard. I enjoyed the fights and I don't regret. I learned much from the interviews.

What's next?

Keep applying, wish me luck

Below are companies that actually looked at my resume and call among 20-30 companies that I sent my resume to. The position I am applying to is Software Developer

• Yelp: called by HR, no offer - failed hardware questions - aced software questions
• Tagged: called by HR, no offer - FHQ-ASQ
• X****te: 2 phone interviews, 1 project. Maybe there were better projects.
• L*** E****: 4 phone interviews, no project. Aced all interviews. Don't know why they failed me.
• Kabam: actually didn't call, but at least polite enough to email me back
• Coupons.com:  emailed back saying no.
• Twista***: screening call. Asked for face-to-face interview next week. I'm flying North on Thursday.

My July garden

Patio tomatoes

One of my last beets of the season

Harvested tomatoes

Skin viral infection

[EDIT 7/8/2011] After taking medication from my awesome allergist. All is well. The best allergist I have ever been to. Very detail oriented and all about patient. There are a few negative reviews about this doctor but my office visit was a pleasant one. He also discussed with me about what is/is not covered by my insurance. He talks kinda low so sometimes he tried to talk louder and I understand that it might sounds like yelling at the patients.

My palm looks fine, no more bump, as of today.

I was diagnosed with Herpes zoster. Not the STD Herpes, please calm down.

I thought I had skin cancer or something... man, 

Good thing I have my medical insurance covers.

And this is my regular skin hives from my chronic allergy. I do live with it peacefully now. It's alright, as long as it's not viral infection like what I am having right now.

Please pray for me, dear reader, yes you. Or else I will hack your facebook.

My New Car

You could tell i'm a Lost fan, right? 

I lerve it

Day 307 at the new company

It has been 307 days since the day I got officially hired here at GUS. Time has indeed flown damn fast.

The work here is great. It's what I want to do. It's my field of work. I have no complaint about that. I enjoy building and fixing stuff, especially stuff that I build from scratch.

On day 3, I wrote a post about how I felt working there for 3 days. Now let's compare that with my feelings on day 307.

On day 3, I wrote:

I love this company already.

On day 307, I feel: - I like this company. From love to like. Kinda like this digital duplicator line in this graph:

I enjoy the everyday lunch part. We go out to get food everyday. With this payment, my lunch costs less than half an hour working... and maybe it will cost less soon :)

- Poor little "past" me, I didn't know that the verbal "promise" of being given a raise after probation was only a promise. I should've considered other offers at the time. That's why I stopped going out for lunch everyday and bringing my own. I am thankful though for I have a job that pays for my family's rent, bills and gives my working experience which money can't buy.

Y is an very interesting person

- She still is.

A is sooo funny. He keeps me laughing all the time.

- From being "funny", became an ass after a while. Always wants to be some body's boss. A graphic designer who wants to be not only the software developers' boss but also the product managers and PRs... I've been having a hard time with him but I know the rest of the company is with me so I'm not scared but in fact, playing some little mind games with him. It's fun actually.

K is a cool boss I've ever had

- It turned out he's not even my boss. He just came to America to help out GUS to hire people and do some other important work. However, he's still one of the cool co-workers I've had. He went back to Japan.

Kvin has a Vietnamese wife

- He left 2 weeks after I got in. Didn't have much chance talking to him besides that time on the first day I worked there.

R is shy but caring

- R has been working from home for almost a year now. I heard she's coming back to the office on the 7th next month.

J is quiet and just like me, she talks slow haha

- J is a very cool person. I met her at the AX last Sunday. She also complains about A

Jr looks so young but he's 34 and married.

- Jr is in the cool list.

Tm is a awesome guy who doesn't speak much even in his own language

- He can speak a lot of English now and making great sentences. I'm very glad for him. He's also in the cool list.

 S 

- S got a car accident right before I got hired. He got better and came back to the office in September last year. He's a kind soul. Always gentle and smile. You could feel love from and around him all the time. Of course this human being has his bad days and all but compared to others, I say he's the kindest co-worker I've ever had.

About the work:
Mostly ASP.NET in C# and SQL Server now. I love it. It is very addictive. I should give myself more breaks though. I feel bad to do so on these first days. Hey, I'm the only programmer in this branch right now. I'll take K advice and be the future IT colonel. ganbaru

- I still do the same job. I like the job. It's not too challenging but it keeps me awake the whole time. I always find some different advanced ways to improve my programs and I like that part.

Here is my rating: x/5

• Working environment: 4/5 (-1 for everyone can see my monitors)
• The Work itself: 5/5
• Salary & benefit: 2/5 (-4 for not keep the "promise", +1 for full benefits)
• Co-workers: 4/5 (-1 for A, +4 for cool and supportive other folks)

Would I recommend this position to a CS friend? maybe if he/she really needs a CS job with full benefits to earn experience and look for a next one. Yes. Other than that. No.

"Don't mistake coincidences for fates" - Eko

I got this when I was driving home on Wednesday night from work.

What if every event in the universe is acting like a loop. Each loop has a circle, or a period. Yes, remember in Physics, a wave has a period T or wavelength lambda which measures the time from one point on the x or y axis to the moment the wave comes back to that same point on the same axis ("the distance over which the wave's shape repeats").

What I want to get to is: an event always repeats itself at some point. For some events we could live long enough to see how it repeats itself, but for some events we don't. And even when we see that happens, we take it for "coincidence".

Let's put it this way. How many events are there in the universe, well let's have it smaller, in this world, on this earth? Small events like you start you car in the morning going to work, you do your laundry, you stroke on the "u" key on your keyboard, you hug goodbye this friend after one party, you drop your phone,.... bigger events like you start a new job, you transfer to another school, you move to another area, you emigrate to another country... bigger events can be anything like an earthquake, war, disaster, ...

Some loops are predictable. Some are obviously not. The diagram above is the sine wave - a very simple wave we all learned in school. But how about more complex waves where the wavelength is much more complicated to be measured or predicted?

The answer to that is: All waves have a wavelength. All waves have a frequency. If we could "zoom out" the graph far enough until we could see the repetition pattern. If events are like waves then all events must have a time span until it repeats again - in a different form. (in a different form because "you can't be in two places at the same time in a river"). 

That also means there is no coincidence. And there is coincidence at the same time. For example, if you meet a new co-worker today and start to work with him/her for a few years. That's no coincidence. But it also is! Why you? why him/her? why this company? why this period of a few years? why this project? Our human minds could only accept logics, but is that real logic? Or a tiny part of a bigger logic that we can not understand, well, not yet.

Another example, how did you meet your spouse / boy friend / girl friend / fiance? What were you guys to each other before that point? Friends perhaps? Before that? Friends of a mutual friend maybe? before that? Strangers. But all the events, small and big, happen to you two in your whole lives, just calculate themselves so accurately and efficiently that you will meet each other at some point where the the final loops intersect. But do all those calculations result in when, where and how you guys will meet? I believe that will depends on how you exercise your free-will in creating events in your lives before the the last two events intersect. If only we could have the ability 'zoom-out' the loops far enough, we could see where they meet. That's when some people have a glimpse of the future, I guess? Nostradamus? Baba Vanga in Bulgaria?  

Fate v.s. Freewill

So is there freewill? Is there fate? Or are there both? It is for you to decide. Until one day science will come to prove this. Science said the earth was flat. It also said time was constant everywhere...

Thank you