Commuting

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I don’t think commuting and I will get along too well.  I’ve got about 3-4 hours to drive each day to get to and from work now that I’m back at home and I don’t know how long I can keep it up.  The past two days I’ve already felt like an oldie because both nights I had to retire “early” and cut the festivities short.  Granted, I was still getting to bed around 1, but those still in college and summer mode were still going strong at that time.  Meanwhile, I’ve been exhausted at night once it gets close to midnight.  At least my body is forcing me to sleep so that I’m not too tired for work.

Now that I’ll be spending even more time driving, I’m only going to be more tired.  I’m going to have to go to bed before midnight (gasp!) just to get enough rest to make it through the day.  Even then I get tired driving and will need to test out a variety of techniques I’ve been pondering.  Today I tried the first one – getting a Jamba Juice for my drive.  It worked pretty well in the beginning as I had something to sip on that also kept me quite cold, but once it was gone, I still had a good 45 minutes to go.  And that was getting it already 45 minutes into the drive!  Perhaps I’ll have to find one that’s an hour into the drive and stop by there.

Other options are to drive to a certain point, then find a nice spot to park the car for a quick snooze.  That also allows the traffic to clear up a bit and the sun to set more so it’s not glaring in my eyes or heating up my car and making me tired.  I can also see if I can find a tea that actually keeps me awake.  Or maybe I can do what I do when I study – drink so much water that I’m either drinking water or going to the bathroom the entire time.  Of course, that would mean I’d probably have to make at least one pit stop along the way and find a bathroom to use.  I’ve also contemplated resting before even leaving, so we’ll see if that makes it any better.

Busy weekend!

laelene Posted in general blog,Tags: , ,
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Ok, I totally cheated since I didn’t post yesterday, but I can’t help but keep up an entry per day (even if it’s a little late).  Friday night I was pretty tired and crashed really early.  What started off as a nap became sleep and by the time I got up this morning, I had too much stuff to do.  First I spent about an hour setting up my new phone, then I took a shower and it was off to my microdermabrasion appointment.  It was a pretty interesting experience and though I can’t be sure for another day or two, I think it changed my skin enough for it to be worth another treatment.

After that, it was off to the Hacienda Heights/Rowland Heights/Walnut/Diamond Bar area to have lunch with friends, which was quite yummy and filling.  The rest of the afternoon was spent at SpeedZone, where we a good three hours putting through an 18-hole mini golf course.  The last time I had gone mini golfing was in 2nd grade and I don’t have a knack for this particular sport, so I didn’t do so well.  But we had a lot of fun nonetheless!

From there, it was back to Westwood to pick up Houdini for dinner.  We had a nice meal, then went to visit another friend and had a good chat for about 2 hours.  Back in the room, we ended up chatting with The Legend and his friend for quite awhile before getting called away at midnight for a friend’s birthday surprise.  Maybe half an hour later, Panda finally got around to starting to pack up the room, which we had meant to start on about 4 hours earlier.  Oh well, it was a good day with a lot of friends!  Then tomorrow we’re rounding up the troops for a massive dim sum get-together, which will be pretty epic.  🙂

Emoticons :) <3

laelene Posted in general blog,Tags: ,
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Oh emoticons, where would I be without you?  You are an easy way for me to let the people I’m emailing and IMing that I’m just joking/teasing.  I use you to lighten up the mood with smiles, tongue-sticking-outs, and winks.  I even entertain and amuse people when I use my disgruntled face: -____-

Yup, you’re a great way for me to express myself when typing and probably crucial to setting the right tone.  I love to “say” things without words, like how much I <3 you.  Although, I must admit, sometimes it is difficult to interpret you.  What do you mean when you 8), exactly?  Or are you happy or sad when you ^__^;?

Well, whatever the case, I wouldn’t be as expressive typing if it weren’t for you.  Though you sometimes leave room for interpretation and allow for misunderstandings, I still feel I’m better off with you than without.  🙂

Daddy’s birthday

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Today was my dad’s birthday and the first one where my parents and I have been united in awhile.  To celebrate, we went out to an Asian buffet, which we discovered actually offers you a free meal for your birthday!  Even better.  🙂  It was nice to spend a quiet weekend with them and spend some time just hanging out at home.  Days like that are few and far between now.  Though we don’t really do much, it’s comforting just to have them sitting in the next room.  And there’s something about being in the house that makes me want to move around, which is great for my health!

Nape

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One of my greatest pet peeves is having dry hair on the back of my neck.  I dislike dry, static-y hair as it, but when that’s sticking to the nape of my neck, I can’t stand it.  There’s something about that area that is very sensitive and I wish it was easier to reach.  I like to give it a nice cleaning in the shower and try to keep my hair off it as much as possible.  Unfortunately, I don’t like to tie my hair up, so I end up pushing my hair over my shoulders to keep it off my back.  I also love to run my fingers through my hair so that it will get my hair off my neck (and my ears, which is another area I like to keep clear).

When I first moved to California, I hated the feeling of my hair because it got so dried out from the arid climate.  I began to put my hair up and take showers in the morning to keep my hair as wet as possible for as long as possible into each day.  After two years, my body finally adjusted and my hair was no longer as dry.  I also began school at UCLA, which has a more humid climate than the Santa Clarita Valley.  I got used to having my hair down again, but I still like the feeling of getting the hair off the back of my neck.  It’s like lifting all these things weighing down on me and getting a little more freedom, a little more breathing room.

I’ve dreamt of shaving my head, but I haven’t dared do it since I don’t have a feminine enough face to pull off that kind of look.  I’d love to know how it feels to have nothing lying on your neck or shoulders though.  Perhaps someday I can get a wig and give it a try.  It’d be an interesting experience, I’m sure.  For now I’ll just have to keep pulling my hair back.

The dirty underwear analogy

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I have a bad habit of wearing my contacts all the time.  I rarely take them out at night and when it’s time to use a fresh pair, I just take out the old ones and put in the new ones.  My poor eyes hardly ever get a break from having a foreign object in them.  I also am not very good at keeping track of how long I’ve used a pair, so they end up getting way more mileage than they ever were meant to.  It’s a testament to the hardiness of a pair of contacts, this way that I abuse them.  You’d think I would have had some sort of problem by now, but my eyes are perfectly healthy (except for the nearsightedness and astigmatism, of course).

Last time I went to the optometrist, I remember her saying that leaving my contacts in like that is like wearing a dirty pair of underwear for a couple of days.  It was one of those things that created a terrible image and got me to start taking out my contacts at night for awhile.  But alas, as time goes by, old habits creep back and I am doing the same old thing again.  Tonight I took my contacts out for the first time in a looong time and it feels good.  After all, my eyes need to breathe and having a plastic cover prevents that from happening as effectively as it could.  It’s nice to feel air on my pupils again and not have a strange piece of plastic between my eyeball and eyelid.  Though I’ve long since gotten used to the feel of contacts, my eyes still appreciate when they’re bare again.

I really need to try to stop “wearing dirty underwear” on my eyes, lest it damage my eyes later on.

Vegas weekend

laelene Posted in general blog,Tags: , ,
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Panda and I are spending the weekend in Vegas with a bunch of friends, so there’s not much time for a post right now! We have spent a lot of time eating, watching people gamble, and walking around a looot. My legs are sore and my wallet is light, but my stomach is full and I am happy. 🙂 It’s been quite a weekend, so now I just want to rest up for the drive home.

The good life

laelene Posted in general blog,Tags: , , , ,
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I really enjoy the way my life is going right now.  At this moment, I’m saving the most money I ever will – I don’t need to pay rent (staying at Panda’s for free), don’t need to pay for my brand new car or this year’s insurance for it (present from parents), don’t need to pay for parking (Westwood streets aren’t crazy crowded over the summer so street parking gets me by), don’t need to pay for my phone bill (covered with the company plan), and now I don’t even need to pay for health insurance anymore (payment was lowered to be completely covered by the company)!  Now how great is that?  All I need to worry about is food and gas.

Plus, Panda is still here and hasn’t left to work far away so I get to see him.  I am independent and don’t have any kids or pets to think about and take care of.  It’s pretty great, this sort of freedom that allows me to save up money in my 401k and still have plenty to spend each month.  Now if I could just get an intern to help me alleviate some of my workload, I could be pretty stress-free too!

I’m not looking forward to next month, when things will change as Panda moves back home and so do I.  We’ll get to see each other less and my commute time will double and can nearly triple.  So while it’s still August, I will enjoy it as best I can.  Work has been making me tired though!  However, I do at least quite enjoy what I do and want to go in each day.  In fact, I haven’t taken a vacation day (and I’m the only one in this time period not to take time off).  Next month I’d like to attend the Opportunity Green conference, so maybe I’ll my first days off for that.  Until then, I’ll be making the best of the good life I’m living.  🙂

The trap of logins

laelene Posted in general blog,Tags: , , , ,
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There are so many sites that require signing up for an account and creating a login that I have a spreadsheet just to keep track of them all.  It kind of sucks to get stuck in this trap of login after login, especially when you’re not on your personal computer and can’t always remember the usernames and passwords you use.  It’s hard to create a standard set to use too, since each site has different requirements on length and complexity of the username and/or password.  Plus, if you always use the same one, if someone hacks into one, that could compromise all your accounts.  It’s a bit of a lose-lose situation.

I’ve also found that people are very averse to creating accounts, which is why it often comes with an enticing prize, like a chance to win a cool gadget.  I suppose the nice thing is that many tap into Facebook, so you can sign in using that account, but then comes the issue of compromised privacy.  Now the company knows your Facebook account and can find out more information about you, since you have to agree to share some of your personal information with them to connect using Facebook.  It’s a battle of convenience vs. privacy.

It can get overwhelming because SO MANY sites want you to sign up with them and unfortunately, it’s often unavoidable if you want their service.  Can’t they just use that fingerprint scanner some computers have and send the scan to the site so I can be let in without typing out all possible passwords I use?  In the future, I expect someone to invent a faster way for our identity to be confirmed and access to be granted to these sites (in a quick, painless, electronic way).  For now, I guess we’ll all just have to put up with creating a slew of usernames and passwords.

Outdated: receipts

laelene Posted in general blog,Tags: , ,
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I hate receipts.  They take up space in my purse, clutter up my wallet, and rarely get looked at afterward.  I have more than I’d ever like of ones I’ll never use and never can find the one I need when I want it.  Why bother?  I mean, initially they were a good idea, but now that technology has developed so far, it’s time for an electronic receipt to automatically send to your credit card and/or email account.  No waste of paper, still keeps a record, and it’s so quick and easy to keep them on file electronically!

Plus, the benefit of being able to organize them better and make them searchable will make retrieving that receipt you wanted so much more convenient.  You can file by company name, by price, by date, by category… the possibilities are aplenty!  I can’t believe we’re still relying on paper sheets that get lost, turn black with heat, and generally are never put to the good use they were designed for.  It’s time to update this habit and digitize the entire process.  So one of these days I am going to start a company to take care of just that.  Until then, don’t steal my idea!  😛

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