May « 2010 « ((little fat notebook))

Financial intelligence

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: advice, finances, future, mommy, money, work

21 May 2010

My mom lectured me about smart financial moves today and though I was tired and didn’t really want to think about it, she makes a good point. I can save a lot of money if I take advantage of tax breaks, save and invest wisely, and limit my spending. At this point, I don’t really want to think about it and plan for it, but it really is the time to start as I get a steady paycheck. Unfortunately (and despite one of my majors being Economics), I’m not really interested in the financial field and have little patience for all the complexities of it. At the same time, I can save a lot of money by knowing how to handle my money smartly and not pay a financial advisor to figure that out for me.

It’s a bit of a dilemma because I just don’t have the interest, but the stakes are pretty high and the ultimate benefits do warrant a closer look. As of now I’ve been letting my Roth IRA money sit there, whiling away, but what I need to do is invest it in a somewhat aggressive mutual fund or index or something. There are many other things to do, such as figure what areas of tax avoidance I can take advantage of (note that that’s not the same as tax evasion, which is illegal). I need to put in a lot of time and effort into this area, but I just don’t have the interest. I wish I could just let someone else handle it, but why spend good money on something I can learn myself?

At least if I start early in my working life (like now), I’ll be setting myself up for a better future that will be able to ride out the periodic financial downs. I just wish it wasn’t so complicated.

How much is that doggy in the window?

laelene Posted in photo blog，Tags: animals, pictures

20 May 2010

I can’t quite tell if she’s a Pek A Poo or a Shih Poo. What fun names though! If she’s the Pek A Poo, she shares my birth date! 🙂

Wow, check out that near right angle her forehead and nose make.

Aww, a quiet little one laying down to rest.

Sickness

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: observation, opinion, panda, work

19 May 2010

It’s the time again, when people’s sinuses get the best of them and somehow spring brings with it no shortage of colds. I got sick last week and coughed my way through many days before the temperature of the office was thankfully brought up to less than freezing. Interestingly, the guy sitting next to me was out sick the second day I was ill, then when he returned the following day, the guy next to him was out! Must have been passed on between us. 😛 One of the guys at a company we work with told me he got sick and was out yesterday too. Yeesh, the bug is getting around. Have you gotten it?

Now this week I’m not sick, but my nasal cavity is still not at its best. This morning I lost my voice a bit and this week Panda has been borderline sick as well. I joked that since I probably gave it to him, I’m not going to get it back from him – no tag-backs, right? So I’m not afraid of getting sick again, but I do need my throat to cooperate before I’ll be back to normal again. It sucks when you sound like you’ve just woken up throughout the entire work day. I’ve been drinking warm water and wearing two jackets all week, but obviously that hasn’t worked as quickly or effectively as I had hoped.

So all you healthy people out there, beware! Eat some extra fruit, drink some extra water, and stay warm. Before we know it, this will all be over and summer will be in full swing. I can’t wait!

Late night commotion

laelene Posted in video blog，Tags: events, experiences, helicopter, police, ucla, videos

18 May 2010

In the wee hours today, just past midnight, this helo just wouldn’t leave the area. In fact, I’d even say it was circling frantically. Or maybe it just felt so because it was traveling in tight, fast circles as its spotlight pointed straight at the Strathmore Regency. A friend who lives there told me that the police had their guns pointed at a guy and they were told to stay away from the balcony. The noise above lasted for about 15-20 minutes before I presume they apprehended the man and the police presence subsided.

helo circling westwood from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

And the view from our porch:

helo overhead from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

Bird observing traffic signals

laelene Posted in photo blog，Tags: animals, behavior, observation, pictures

17 May 2010

Stop...

...and go!

Haha, I was amused that the bird was following the signal, staying still with the red light and moving with the green. 😛

Avatar algorithm

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: amusing, observation, opinion

16 May 2010

I am greatly amused by how fitting the avatars generated for my commentators tend to be. The girls get “prettier” ones and the guys get more bold ones (not to gender stereotype, but personality-wise these people tend to fit those profiles). If you want to see what yours is, just comment on my blog and the little square picture that shows up is your avatar. If you see a picture, that means you created a Gravatar, so you’d either have to comment using an email different from your Gravatar, or go deactivate your picture for a bit to see what would have been generated for you.

I don’t know what type of algorithm is used to translate an email address into an avatar and it’s probably completely random, but I do feel that you’ll like get an image that you like and/or seems fitting for you. Perhaps it’s all my imagination, but I can’t help but think that! If you don’t believe me, try it for yourself and see what you think! The style I chose is called “Identicon” and all images are single-colored geometric patterns. There’s also a set called “Wavatar” and another called “MonsterID” – the former I’m not very familiar with and seems to be little geometric creatures, while the latter is a bunch of fun little monster cartoons.

Go ahead, give it a try and let me know if you like what you get! 🙂

Preserving little lives

laelene Posted in video blog，Tags: animals, experiences, thailand, travel, travel tales, videos

15 May 2010

I had noticed a plank of wood floating in the waves at Nai Harn Beach, so I decided to pull it out. But once I saw that these mussels had made it a home, I couldn’t let them die! And thus I released them back to the wild ocean currents.

the mussels are aliiive! from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

Old times

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: experiences, friends, houdini, los angeles, panda, performance, ucla

14 May 2010

Tonight was my first time going to Spring Sing in Pauley Pavilion and it was a really fun experience. The one thing I love about being indoors is that I won’t get cold! So tonight I could really focus on the performances at hand. Also, I went with Panda and Houdini and some other friends I haven’t seen in a long time, which made it very enjoyable too. Now what really struck me about the night, as I was watching all the great entertainment that Company (the crew that does the comedic skits between all the acts) does, was how much I will miss some of my Bruin moments.

A lot of what they do is inspired by making parodies of what life on campus is like for students and there are more than your fair share of inside jokes. I haven’t been away long enough to really miss college, but hearing about swiping into the dining halls and the crazy squirrels reminded me of the fond memories I’d created along the way. There was one joke about passing out a book called “Wild Animals” on Bruinwalk that I didn’t get because it came about after I left. I’m going to be sad when more and more of those references begin to slip by me as I get outdated. Thankfully, there will always be our staple jokes about Trojans and North vs. South campus and Bruinwalk. I’m starting to miss the good old times, when I was one of those “in” students who understood everything.