Community Yard Sale

On Saturday, September 8, 2007, I went to the community yard sale in my town. I sold our stuff for supercheap. I was getting tired due to lack of sleep and I didn't want to stand around in the hot sun any longer. I sold some of my books, junk, and clothes for $1.00; many times for only a few cents. Sometimes, I sold a bundle of clothes for only a buck. We had to make room for newer clothes and stuff in our apartment.

I'm not sure that the yard sale was worth the effort and time. Next time, I'm just going to donate all my junk to a charity.

I think I only made around $20 or less for a few hours of work. Other people seemed like yard sale pros. They had tables, chairs, tents, and lots of merchandise set up.

Earlier in the day, I almost got a speeding ticket around 4:00 a.m. after dropping my parents off at the airport for their Alaska cruise. I saw this car speeding up to me and thought it was a cop. It turned out it was. He followed me and then pulled up to the left side of me. Then he went behind me again and followed me for a long time. Finally, after seeing that I'm a nice guy (maybe), the cop took off somewhere else. I lucked out this time, but this is the reason that I should not get a very fast sports car. If I had a Ferrari or something, I'd be getting tickets all the time. With every car I get, I like to see what the car can do.

I'm so tired these days, because of lack of sleep from doing too many things. I should have gotten some rest this weekend, but I love cars so much that I just went to the BMW Ultimate Drive event this weekend anyway. The adrenaline from driving these cars hard kept me awake.

Mikey Afraid of the Water

Here's a short clip of me trying to show Mikey that there's no need to be afraid of the ocean water. He's kinda of a scaredy cat right now.

Jet Skis

On Labor Day, September 3, 2007, Sarah, Mikey, and Whoony (Mikey's Dad), and I went to Dana Point to go jetskiing. It was a heck of a lot of fun! The acceleration on those babies were incredible. I just felt pure speed and adrenaline when I squeezed the throttle. It felt like they accelerated from 0-50 in 2 seconds. I guess they're the motorcycles of the sea. With their light weight and low friction since they skim across the water, they go very fast. Even Sarah had fun, although she screamed with terror when I put it in full throttle. I almost lost my wife in the ocean, because it got very bumpy going across the choppy waves at top speed and she almost fell off. Every time, I felt her bumping up and down and losing her grip on me, I had to slow down, because it wouldn't be good if she fell off.

Mikey and Whoony were on their own jet ski, but Mikey was really scared. So, unfortunately, Whoony couldn't go that fast either.

Afterwards, we went swimming in one of the beaches in Laguna Beach. The weather there was very nice. It was much cooler than in L.A. Mikey was scared of the waves. He didn't even want to touch the water.

When we got home, we all played with Mikey's Nintendo Wii that his dad bought for him. Mikey beat me up in Wii Sports Boxing. He also kicked my butt in Bowling. His average is 180. He's also good at Tennis and Baseball. He's really good for a 5 year old kid. He might be the next video game champion when he grows up and enters those tournaments. He's had a lot of practice with the V Tech video game system for kids. We also played Wii Play, but that is a bunch of mini-games, which I felt was kinda cheesy. The Duck Hunt game felt just like the original Nintendo Duck-Hunt with the light gun back in the 1980's. Hasn't technology vastly improved in over 20 years?!

Sarah also liked playing with the Wii. Hopefully, she'll let me get one. I have to keep opening her eyes to the fun world of videogames so that she'll let me play them and buy a system. I totally regret selling my modded Xbox and PS2.

Sarah liked jetskiing so much that she wants to buy a couple when we buy a house with a big garage.

Now, I'm planning on other fun activities and adventures for us to go on. It's going to be tough getting her to go skydiving with me....

Sam and Deborah's Wedding

On Sunday, September 1, 2007, we went to Sam Oh and Deborah Lee's Wedding. It was at Centennial Heritage Museum in Santa Ana. Sam said it was the best birthday he ever had, since the wedding was on his birthday.

It was broiling over Labor Day weekend. Temperatures were over 110 all weekend in the valleys. I'm hoping it cools down soon. My wife and I had a hard time sleeping because it was so hot. I had 2 fans blowing on me while I was sleeping. The thermostat gauge was off the hook. It was so hot in my "penthouse" (top story) apartment, that you couldn't even see the needle, because it was all the way down and to the left, which must have meant that it was over 110 degrees inside.

That's why I didn't wear a suit to the wedding. It was not out of disrespect for Sam and Deb. I only wear suits when I absolutely have to like when I go to court. I can't believe attorneys have to wear suits in this type of heat. As an aside, I remember when I went to Korea for the Law School Summer Abroad Program. I had to wear a suit all the time, because I interned at a law firm in Seoul. I had to walk a mile to the bus stop or subway station in hot and humid conditions and walk another mile or so to the office. I was drenched in sweat. Wouldn't it look more professional if I was in a t-shirt and shorts instead of looking like I just got out of a sauna in my suit?

Sorry for going off on a tangent, but I hate summer heat. Sam and Deb's wedding was very nice. It was cooler in the evening. The wedding and dinner were held outside. I saw a bunch of my friends from UC San Diego. The only time I see some of them is at friends' weddings now. Some people in the pictures are: Chris, Jane, Max, Nick, Bill, and Phil.

On Sunday, Sarah and I went to the mall to try to stay cool. The mall wasn't even that cool because there were so many people inside.

World's Strangest Birth Defects

Very interesting.....

The Simpsons Star Wars

Do you like The Simpsons? Do you like Star Wars? Well, have we got a treat for you. Now, you can get both of your favorite flavors combined in this parody. It's The Simpsons Intro with Star Wars characters.

More Cycling Misery

I've had 4 bicycle flats in the past 2 days. I got a flat tire before I started riding my bike on Monday morning. Then, I got 3 flats on my way home Tuesday evening. I think they're pinch flats. I also had to fix my aero bar, because the metal part supporting the armrests broke off. A while ago, the left side broke off, and I had to get it welded. Now, the right side broke off, and I went back to the welders again. This time, one of the guys didn't do a good job of welding. He didn't leave the metal smooth, but he left it with these bumps on it from the molten metal. Now, my armrests are a tiny bit uneven. I can't even put my cycle computer there anymore but have to put it the right of my right armrest, which is an awkward position.

I'm going to have to pass on the triathlon for this year, because of all the bad luck I've been having with my bike. The L.A. Triathlon is on September 9. I was going to enter it, but after all the flats and aero bars breaking, I'm going to hold off for now. I plan on training more to get ready for next year's batch of triathlons.

Now, I'm hearing squeaking sounds coming from my crank or rear gears. I think the rough L.A. roads and potholes are taking its toll on my bike.

Hopefully, getting new heavy duty tires will help prevent getting all these flats. I'm still riding on the original Continental Ultra Sport tires that came with the bike. I put about 2,500 miles on it in my estimation and it looks pretty worn already. I have to estimate my mileage because my wireless Topeak cycle computer doesn't always work. It's weird. Well, I plan on getting a new cycle computer with a heart rate monitor and a cadence monitor to help me even more with my training, but those are very expensive.

The problem with getting heavy duty tires and tubes is that they're heavier than my superlight tires. My Motobecane Nemesis triathlon bike is very light, about 15.5 to 17 lbs. With more weight comes slower speeds, because I would need more energy to pedal the heavier weight. And slower speeds suck. I would need to increase my leg's horsepower a lot more to overcome the weight disadvantage.

Japanese Nisei Week

We went to see the festival in Little Tokyo for Nisei Week. We saw a bunch of taiko drummers. It was fun to see and hear them play those huge drums. You can feel the beating of the taikos reverberating in your chest. I just hope that we weren't celebrating the drumming Japan used in their battles, especially against Korea.

Overall, though, we had a good time there, and there was plenty of stuff to see. Mikey played in the kid's jumping area. There were also some fixed up import cars on display. An anime convention was also held a couple blocks away in the mall.