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Sunday, December 30, 2012

My 30s Timeline I self taught myself Microsoft Visio. The pic above is a timeline highlighting and lowlighting some of my events and moments since I turned 30 years old on Aug 2008. The timeline is my first project to practice Visio. Not too bad. Enjoy!

Posted by Raymond Mar at 1:57 PM No comments: Labels: Active, Age Positive 30s, Appreciation, Celebrating, Cherish, Goals, Growing Up, Happy, Wisdom

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas From The Most Interesting Man In The World

A Xmas meme of The Most Interesting Man In The World. Merry Christmas! Posted by Raymond Mar at 11:03 AM No comments: Labels: Celebrating, Laughing, Most Interesting Man In The World


Most Interesting Man In The World Dec 2012

The Christmas Most Interesting Man In The World radio commercial was released a few days ago. I'm not sure if these quotes are repeats. Jonathan Goldsmith is the actor who portrays The Most Interesting Man In The World for the Dos Equis beer commercials. The narrator is Will Lyman from Frontline.

*He received more than 40 partridge in a pear trees last year alone.

*The star that tops his tree is recognized by NASA.

*Women have been known to keep mistletoe up until Aug, just in case he drops by.

*If he were to re-gift, it would be a much, much better gift.

*His gingerbread house is equipped with central air.

*He speaks reindeer.
Posted by Raymond Mar at 1:08 PM No comments: 


My Black Friday 2012

I want to review and share my Black Friday 2012. There is something for everyone on every Black Friday. I find some money to take advantage of the once a year deals even though I'm unemployed. Like past Black Friday's, I choose whether to buy a good based on a combination of convenience, necessity, must have, and long overdue. None of my purchases are on impulse. Here are the items I purchased:

Breaking Bad and Burn Notice Season 1. I hear positive and favorite reviews and opinions on Breaking Bad. I watched one episode of Burn Notice in Los Angeles on July 2009. I was addicted. Best Buy sold them for $10 each.

Amazon sold Breaking Bad and Burn Notice box sets for $10 on Cyber Monday. I missed the $10 when I logged on Amazon Monday evening. I was interested in purchasing the second seasons for both of those series.

The Expendables, The Terminator, and Gone With The Wind. Two action movies and a classic movie for $4 each at Best Buy. I have the opportunity to watch The Terminator unedited. I watched it on television edited obviously.

External Storage. I missed Amazon selling a Seagate Barracuda 2TB, 7200rpm 3.5 inch HD for $70 and NewEgg selling a Seagate 3TB, 7200rpm 3.5 inch HD for $90. I have an empty HD enclosure. I ended up purchasing a Western Digital 2TB My Book Essential for $70 at Fry's Electronics.

Compact Flash. I purchased a SanDisk 16GB, 60MB/s for my camera at Amazon for $50.

Flash Memory Sticks. Costco sold a three pack of 16GB for $20 or $6.67 each. Toys R Us was the cheapest selling for $5 each.

T-shirts. Threadless' Black Friday sale included $10 tees. This year, there was no free shipping. I purchased one t-shirt. However, on Tue Nov 27, the day after Cyber Monday, the store offered free shipping. I emailed a complaint they should offered free shipping between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. I received a $5 store credit. A few days later, Threadless sold $8 tees.

I was satisfied with my Black Friday 2012. I saved lots of money. There were lots of great deals on TV series and movies. Black Friday 2012 convinced me that if I can wait for Black Friday 2013 to purchase TV series, movies, external storage HD, flash memory sticks, and t-shirts, then I wait. For example, The Dark Knight Rises was recently released. I'm confident I can purchase the movie in BD under $10 next year. I don't need the movie now. I have other movies and TV shows to watch.
Posted by Raymond Mar at 12:27 AM No comments: 

Sunday, December 09, 2012

My All De Anza Review Blog

Blogger's note: I wanted to blog my all De Anza review when I found a job. Unfortunately, I haven't found a job. The timing is appropriate to post my review. I use a Q&A interview format pretending 60 Minutes' correspondent Steve Kroft is interviewing me. My favorite articles were the financial crisis and real estate bubble.


60M: It's been 18 months since Raymond Mar attended De Anza College. Mr. Mar earned an AA degree in Accounting. His contract job at a telecommunications company was terminated in 2008. The financial crisis and real estate bubble bursted at that time. "I knew family and friends who lost their jobs," said Mar. He chose to go back to school rather than look for a job in a bleak job market.

We sit down and ask whether going back to De Anza was worth his time from Mar. 2009 to June 2011.


60M: What inspired you to go back to school?

RM: Actually, my first classes were ballroom dancing, strength training, and beginning Japanese. I dropped Japanese because the instructor, the sensei, taught too fast. I asked my friends who took Japanese at other colleges. All of them agreed I must drop Japanese. I saw a classmate in another class the next quarter. She said half of the class dropped before finals.

60M: What about ballroom dancing and strength training?

RM: My sister encouraged me to take ballroom dancing. She competed in amateur ballroom dancing competitions. She also went to school, and she didn't have time to teach me. As for strength training, I wanted to take a class to learn how to lift weights properly.

Ballroom dancing was fun. I met lots of people and made lots of friends. I met my girlfriend, too.

60M: In Fall '09, you choose to take an accounting class.

RM: Accounting was one of my majors I wanted to change after quitting majoring in Mathematics at San Jose State. I choose Economics. I thought I take the first accounting class and see what happens. If I liked it, I continue and work my way to earn an AA degree. After all, nobody was hiring during the financial meltdown. I had lots of free time.

As it turned out, I liked accounting and continued taking accounting classes, as well as taking ballroom dancing.

60M: You were a little careless taking your accounting classes.

RM: I admit I was a little careless. I took a couple of classes I didn't need to take. It turned out those couple of classes were taught by terrible instructors. One class was a complete waste of time. I should have dropped it when that class had too many students. That Spring '10 quarter I took that overcrowded class was the busiest quarter in terms of homework and studying.

Yeah, I should have planned out what classes to take. On the other hand, I wanted to take that overcrowded class when the first opportunity came to me because I never know when the next time the class was offered considering budget cuts.

60M: What were the biggest mistakes you made?

RM: I start with two mistakes I corrected. The first mistake was taking Japanese. Fortunately, I dropped the class. The second mistake was taking Advanced Accounting, a class I didn't need to take.

60M: It sounds like Advanced Accounting was required.

RM: It wasn't. I took the class out of self interest after I earned my AA degree. The professor was the worse professor ever, and that includes San Jose State. He couldn't lecture and couldn't explain the concepts just to save his life. We played games.

60M: Games?

RM: Yeah, games. Once a week, he brought these buzzers. All the students were divided in teams. The professor asked questions and the students answered them correctly to earn extra credit. You don't need extra credit because his grading was easier than high school exams.

Another game was the professor show an image he took in campus. Located and identify the image and you earned extra credit. Likewise for movies. The professor showed a clip from a movie related to accounting. Identify the movie and you earned extra credit.

Anyways, the third mistake that I failed to correct was taking a singing class. I took singing after playing Beatles Rock Band. I was inspired to learn how to sing better because I was the singer in the video game. There was nothing wrong with the instructor. It was just that the class didn't meet my expectations and I wasted gas and time driving to campus for just one evening.

The lesson was sometimes its okay to quit. There were more important priorities and better uses for my time.

60M: What were the lessons you learned? Of course you learned accounting.

RM: The lessons were everyone is human, go with the flow, timing is everything, and use it or lose it.

60M: Those four are life lessons.

RM: Yup, life lessons. Going back to De Anza was a second chance in my life. It was my mulligan card. I wanted to correct my mistakes or don't repeat my mistakes I did at San Jose State. I wanted to experience life as a college student again. I wanted to be a college student the right way.

60M: What was the right way?

RM: I wanted to meet new people and make new friends. (Thank you Facebook.) I wanted to experience new experiences and seek new adventures. For example, there was ballroom dancing I mentioned earlier. Others included hiking, visiting the Charles Schulz museum, playing Starcraft 2, visiting Monterey and Carmel, and much more. I didn't want to take college seriously like I did at San Jose State. Have fun, relax. Complete homework and projects last minute. Don't study too hard. Open myself up to something new from the simple try new foods to the first time moments riding a San Francisco cable car, and dating.

60M: Fall '10 was your best quarter. Why?

RM: That quarter I met the most people and made the most friends. One class everyone worked in teams for in-class work and for group presentation. I was lucky my group was the best in teamwork and presentation. The rest of the other groups experienced problems. The downside was the instructor was a bitch.

60M: Lol

RM: The downside of Fall '10 was I had to attend classes four days a week instead of two days for all of the other quarters.

Another best was the movie of the week checking out a DVD from the library. All of the DVDs I checked out must be from the American Film Institute Top 100 list in 1997, not 2007. *looking at the list* Some of the movies I watched were Midnight Cowboy, Citizen Kane, On The Waterfront, Singin' In The Rain, Some Like It Hot, Chinatown, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Philadelphia Story, Vertigo, The French Connection, and Yankee Doodle Dandy. I also watched Rosemary's Baby.

60M: Some people say you should not have gone back to school. Instead you either find another job despite the bad economy or take a class on a specialty skill such as a software program. Further, even though you have an AA degree in Accounting and a BS in Economics from San Jose State, you're having problems finding a job now since many jobs want relevant and/or recent job experience. How do you respond?

RM: If I went back in time to Mar 2009, I still go back to De Anza, or at least Sept 2009 when I took my first accounting class. The experiences, the people, the memories, the lessons on life, everything from Mar 2009 to June 2011 made me a better person who I am today. I mentioned earlier about the mulligan. Everyone deserves a mulligan. I used my mulligan on going back to school.

Going back to De Anza was like a time out in my life, a long time out. Going back to De Anza was a life refresher, to rediscover who I am, to find who I wasn't. Slow down, relax, don't repeat my past mistakes again. It was a time to be a grown up, a mature person. Everything, everything I experienced I apply for all my present and future relationships, my careers, and my daily living life.

I'm optimistic I find a job. I was interviewed seven times this year. I received calls from recruiters and hiring managers. It's a matter of when I find a job and start my life after college part 2. I need a little luck and timing in my favor.

60M: What was your worse quarter?

RM: I say Winter '11, technically my last quarter. I got sick and missed a week. The instructor for my Intro to Business was boring. Oh, BTW, I still remember the videos we watched and that opening theme song.

Spring '10 came in second. Listening to Beatles, classical music, classic jazz, and Vocaloid music helped me study well.

60M: You choose to continue taking an accounting class in Spring '11, the quarter after you graduated. Why?

RM: I enrolled in Auditing and Advanced Accounting. I dropped Advanced Accounting as mentioned earlier. Auditing was a hard class. I actually learned a few things I apply when I hear business news about disclaimers, security breaches, fraud, and embezzlement. It wasn't a waste of time. I was in survival mode for most of Spring '11, yet I didn't take the class too seriously such that I spent hours and hours studying. I had a life.

Auditing was a class to complete the full circle of all the accounting classes I took.

60M: In the Auditing class, you met a classmate who graduated at a CSU school with a business degree. Tell me what information she gave you.

RM: That recent graduate was smart and a quick learner. I remember one class meeting she arrived late. We had an in-class assignment. She opened the chapter, read a few pages, and then answered the questions correctly. She never took auditing as an undergraduate.

The information she told me was clarifying graduating with a BA in accounting. There was no such thing as an accounting degree, at least at the CSU schools. Business majors graduated with a business degree with an emphasis in accounting, or finance, or marketing. We went to the library, went online to compare an AA degree in Accounting and a BA in Business-Accounting. There was little difference. Most of the classes for an AA degree were the same classes for a BA. The major difference was two or three classes not taught at junior college. Further, if I were to transfer, I had to retake at least my two quarters of Intermediate Accounting because those credits were non-transferrable.

The bottom line was I could have a BA in Business-Accounting should I count my GE classes at San Jose State. It's those two or three classes that made the difference between an AA and a BA. How about that. Something to think about. I bet most BA or BS majors don't know just a couple of classes makes the difference between another BA or BS and an AA degree.

60M: How were the instructors overall?

RM: Overall, the instructors were good. Most of the part time instructors were good. Some of them really cared and some took time to share life experiences. The full time instructors were so-so. Having said that, students going to community colleges, I suggest you favor part timers.

60M: Timing was in your favor. You got all your classes at favorable times, with the exception of Fall '10 when you attended school four days a week. The friends who still attend De Anza said it's worse now.

RM: It's one of my life lessons I learned. Timing is everything. All my friends told me overcrowding is at the worse and classes are harder to get. They're seeing older age people unemployed going back to school.

60M: Share some little tid bits.

RM: I remember World Cup '10 was huge. The cafeteria had big screen projectors. I remember a group of card gamers moving all the tables together and playing card games. They're a perfect example of geek gamers. Do I want to meet them? No.

The cooks who worked the grill gave lots and lots of fries when people ordered the burger combos. Even their breakfast menu was decent. Prices were all reasonable. No refills on fountain drinks.

The only time I cut class was when I was sick. I never cut class just for the heck of it. To be honest, there was no reason to cut just for the heck of it.

There were three rooms I attended classes two or more times. Two of the three rooms I earned A grades all the time. Moreover, all my classes took place in two buildings and the computer lab, with the exception of the singing and ballroom dancing.

I ate lunch outside De Anza two times, and they were all on the first day of school for the two quarters.

60M: Compare the students at De Anza to when you were a student attending San Jose State.

RM: De Anza students had cell phones and smart phones. San Jose State students a few had cell phones, and you needed either a land line or pager to communicate. Email was spreading slowly. De Anza students could buy books on the web or at the bookstore, or buy a cheaper .pdf copy. San Jose State students bought at the bookstores only. The short answer was technology and communicating.

De Anza students could take tests and submit homework online. San Jose State students all work were done in class. And De Anza students had portable mp3 players for music. San Jose State students had walkmans.

De Anza students registered online. San Jose State students register by phone using a class scheduled printed hardcopy.

60M: Raymond Mar continues to think about De Anza occasionally, much more than San Jose State. He believes college students today have an easier time than when he attended San Jose State. Students today use technology to help with their assignments, keep in touch with friends and instructors, register for classes, and get their final grades. On the other hand, he fears that the technology today can make more people being alone and too independent.

The biggest mistake when he attended San Jose State was meeting very little people. That should be life lesson number #5: always meet new people.

Mar has experienced recruiters and hiring managers not considering him because of his lack of recent job experience and going back to school. What you do being unemployed can be just as important as what you did at your recent job. Right now is the best time to hire Mr. Mar because he's a better person who's more professional and more mature than ever.
Posted by Raymond Mar at 2:52 AM No comments: Labels: De Anza Fall 2009, De Anza Fall 2010, De Anza Spring 2009, De Anza Spring 2010, De Anza Spring 2011, De Anza Winter 2010, De Anza Winter 2011, Learning, School, Wisdom

Saturday, December 08, 2012

Top Ten Favorite Beatles Songs

The Beatles are my favorite band. Many of their songs and messages are relevant today. I listen to The Beatles when I work out at the gym, cook, browse the web, and for background music. The Beatles are a good cheer-me-up music. I played Beatles Rock Band at a friend's house in 2009. I was the singer, hehe. I attended a Paul McCartney concert at AT&T Park in San Francisco, CA in 2010. The last time McCartney visited San Francisco was their last concert as The Beatles.

I admit I started listening to The Beatles in 2004. My parents didn't introduce me to The Beatles and even 1960s-70s rock when I was a child. Contemporary music became unappealing to me in late 2003 to early 2004. I started listening to classic rock, especially The Beatles. I continue listening to classic rock as one of my favorite music.

Here are my top ten favorite Beatles songs:

10. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds. This song is a top favorite when I sang playing Beatles Rock Band. The song is about the drug LSD--Lucy Sky Diamonds. BTW, "Got To Get You Into My Life" is about marijuana and "Day Tripper" is about acid.

9. Yesterday. McCartney thought of the melody in a dream. He talked to people in the music business to make sure nobody else wrote a song similar to "Yesterday" before writing the lyrics.

8. Get Back. The song was performed three times as part of the rooftop performance on top of Apple Studios in Savile Row, London. Police interrupted their performance because of noise complaints from office workers.

I heard the song for the first time in 1991, and, sadly speaking, I didn't know The Beatles sang it. It was good.

7. Here Comes The Sun. George Harrison wrote the song when he visited Eric Clapton's house. John Lennon was not present during the recording because he was recovering from a car accident.

6. Ticket To Ride. The song reminds me to take care of my girl and never take her for granted.

5. Two Of Us. I like the acoustic guitars which McCartney reworked after an early performance in a guitar-driven rock style. The original title was "On Our Way Home", which was dedicated to his fiance at the time Linda Eastman.

4. Lady Madonna. I like the piano which was inspired by rock/blues pianist Fats Domino.

3. Hello, Goodbye. The single was released in Nov 1967. McCartney was interviewed explaining the song was "The answer to everything is simple. It's a song about everything and nothing. If you have black, you have to have white. That's the amazing thing about life."

2. Hey Jude. The first single released under Apple Records. The song was about John Lennon's son, Julian, during his parents' divorce. It was written to comfort Julian from the stress of divorce.

I enjoyed the McCartney live version when the audience sang at AT&T Park. I sang it, too.

1. Let It Be. I realized the wisdom in 2008, weeks before I realized I must grow up. I found the answers I needed.

Honorable mentions: Something, I Feel Fine, Getting Better, and Blackbird.
Posted by Raymond Mar at 1:43 PM No comments: Labels: Happy, Music, Top Ten

Friday, December 07, 2012

Me Versus My Sinus Infection IV

I blogged "The Best Life Time Out Or Distraction Is Being Sick" when I got sick starting with a sore throat on Thur Nov 15. I post a follow up blog if my sickness became the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). I didn't get the RSV; however, I did get sick with common cold symptoms sore throat, runny nose, stuffy nose, and congestion. The coughing was mild as phlegm dripped down my throat. Phlegm is good because it removes toxins from your body.

I choose to title my latest sickness "Me Versus My Sinus Infection IV" for consistency in blogging my sickness. I'm happy I got sick twice this year compared to three times last year. I hope the rest of Dec is a healthy and strong me. Here's the timeline:

Wed Nov 14. I woke up with a sore throat. I took three sore throat lozenges. I had a runny nose in the afternoon. I ate frozen yogurt.

Thur Nov 15. I made Jell-o. My runny nose became stuffy. I ate frozen yogurt ordering a small size instead of a child size. I went to bed applying expired vapor rub on my throat and chest.

Fri Nov 16. I purchased a new bottle of vapor rub (and new first aid items). My sore throat was gone. I had congestion. I applied Vanicream moisturizer on my nose and new vapor rub before I went to bed.

Sat Nov 17. Best sleep of the week. I turned on the humidifier between 4am-7am. My phlegm caused minimal coughing. There was minor stiffness. I was very hungry in the early morning because Fri night's dinner wasn't healthy; moreover, I had a big pimple below my chin.

Sun Nov 18. Woke up sweaty at 3am. I was too hot. The humidifier seemed to not work. I think it aggravated my phlegm with coughing. My body was confused whether it was too cold or too hot. My right leg felt weak. I ate snacks at 3:15am. I applied vapor rub. I fell asleep at 5am and woke up at 10:45am.

I had mild coughing and stuffy nose throughout the day. I blew my nose fewer times. My ears started to open up. I opened the window for fresh air. I felt better going out. We had an impromptu game night. I went to bed wearing a Breath Right strip.

Mon Nov 19. Nine hours of sleep last night. I wore a Breath Right strip for the second night.

Tue Nov 20. Minor stuffy nose. The coughing with phlegm was occasional. I ate frozen yogurt.

Wed Nov 21. Lots of rest, drank lots of fluids. Coughing and stuffy nose was random and occasional.

Thur Nov 22. I vacuumed the entire house. I could breathe again. I even vacuumed the edges behind my bed to remove the dust.

Fri Nov 23. I started drinking warm water to soothe my coughing.

I continued to cough with phlegm occasionally. I was still sensitive to the cold and the dust. I knew the recovery was slowly and surly. The keys to recovery were vacuuming the house and drinking warm water. I didn't take any over-the-counter drugs and I didn't see a doctor. My body welcomed Jell-o, Coke, and frozen yogurt. Vapor rub and the Breath Right stripes assisted my sleep very well.
Posted by Raymond Mar at 1:47 PM No comments: 

Thursday, December 06, 2012

Growing Up Part 2

I realized I must grow up on Sat Oct 4, 2008. I was in Los Altos walking to my car from an arts festival. The lessons I learned and the changes I completed were immediate and impacted my life. Some of the big lessons I learned included:

*Grow up. I'm an adult. Stop acting naive and being a child.
*Don't take life for granted. I did take life for granted. Nothing bad was going to happen in my life. I was an all-star. I was successful and I didn't need to work hard.
*Earn it. I learned this lesson the hard way. Schools didn't teach it to me. I must earn it to get it.

Here are some of the changes:

*Read fiction books. I read non-fiction books including business, self-help, and investments. I learned more about life reading fiction books than non-fiction.
*New clothes. Goodbye to polo shirts and sweaters. I purchased new sports shirts, jackets, and outdoor clothing for hiking.
*New gym workout. I downloaded workout schedules from Bodybuilding.com.

I experienced another grow up moment on Wed Nov 7, 2012. I was in Mountain View interviewing for a contract analyst position. The employees inside the building were loose, joking around, having fun, smiling, socializing, yet there were professional and mature. Nobody complained. Nobody was a jerk, a bitch, and an asshole.

The employees were friendly everywhere I walked including the outside entrance, lunch tables, and the bathroom. A few greeted me and asked how I was doing. It was like everyone was interviewing me to see how I acted and behaved. They were asking the question, "Is this an employee I'm comfortable having a beer with?" The beer test never fails.

The lesson I learned is personality. Begin in a friendly way. Smile. Shake hands when greeting new people and congratulating people. Look at their cute faces when communicating. The employees all had positive, cheerful, kindness, joyful personalities. I believe a good person has a good personality who socializes and communicates. The employees set the bar for me to achieve.

I have been improving my personality since Nov 7 which has been paying off. For instance, my girlfriend and I were shopping at Best Buy. I small talked with an assistant manager for 10 minutes as he prepared for Black Friday. We had a good conversation about Black Friday, movies, and television shows. I ended saying I let him get back to work, said my name, and shook his hand. That's a good example of meeting new people.

There is a new change in my life following the personality lesson. The change is business on Mon-Fri and pleasure on Sat and Sun. I'm approaching the chapter in my life when my playtime is over*. I concentrate on job searching, learning new job skills, working out at the gym, doing the house chores more often, cooking more delicious and healthy foods . . . essentially my weekdays are like working at a job. My weekends are pleasure days.

I elaborate more about my Growing Up Part 2 blog at my Finding Raymond Mar blog The State Of Raymond Mar.

*Read my blog "Chapter N: Playtime Is Over" here.
Posted by Raymond Mar at 1:15 PM No comments: Labels: Active, Change, Good Guy, Growing Up, Influence People, Laughing, Meet People, People, Self Improvement, Taking Action, Wisdom, Work, Workplace

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

SOMT: When A Supermarket Was Just Buying Family Groceries

I was inspired to write the supermarket SOMT when Raley's and Nob Hill union workers went on strike for the first time in the supermarket's 77 year history against the parent company Raley's Supermarkets. I didn't shop at Nob Hill during the strike. Fortunately, the strike lasted a little over a week.

I remember shopping at retail stores for their primary goods when I was in elementary school. My family and I shopped at a retail store to specifically buy their primary goods. We bought groceries, milk, meat, and produce at a supermarket. We bought toilet paper, toothpaste, over-the-counter medicine, tissue, and soap at a drug store. We bought hammers, nails, glue, soil, plants, and wood at a hardware store. We bought oil, oil filters, and car batteries at an auto store. We bought clothes, bed sheets, ties, and shoes at a department store. We bought cakes, donuts, and pastries at a bakery. We bought pens, paper, and erasers at a stationary store. We bought footballs, basketballs, tennis balls, bats, gloves, and fishing supplies at a sports store.

There were overlaps sometimes. We bought school supplies at a drug store's back to school sale. We bought diapers at a grocery store when my mom didn't buy enough at the drug store. My brother and I bought toys at a department store because of their sales instead of a toy store. And I bought tennis shoes at a department store instead of a sports store. We rarely shopped at nurseries, meat stores, outdoor equipment stores, and hobby stores.

I didn't have a Target, Wal-Mart, Price Club, and Costco. I was in junior high when I entered a big box store for the first time. It was Price Club in San Leandro, CA. We got our first Price Club membership in my freshmen year in high school.

Forget The Drug Store

Today, some retail stores have a huge overlap in goods and services. Safeway is the best example. I could shop at Safeway for groceries, order a birthday cake in their bakery, deposit checks in their sponsored bank, fill up gas at the gas station located in their parking lot, eat a sandwich for lunch in their deli, drink hot chocolate in their sponsored coffee shop, buy roses for my girlfriend in the florist, buy fresh seafood for dinner in their full service meat department, get my prescription drugs in the pharmacy, rent a movie in the DVD machines. If I drink alcohol, Safeway has a section devoted to fine wines. I don't need to visit a bakery, bank, gas station, fast food restaurant, florist, and drug store. Shopping and errands are completed in one stop.

I have no opinion on big box stores, comparable medium size stores, and ma and pa stores. I still shop around and I still shop at multiple retail stores for their goods and services. There is no one stop shop for my errands, bare necessities, entertainment, desires, and wants. I spread my consumer spending around because the best goods and services are from different stores.

To end the blog, raise your hands if you remember the check out registers without scanners. The cashier manually entered the price and looked at the tax table to enter the tax. In particular, grocery cash registers entered the price and press the tendered button as grocery, meat, dairy, or produce, etc.
Posted by Raymond Mar at 12:53 PM No comments: Labels: Consumer, Family, Money, Retail, Shopping, Sign Of My Times SOMT

Sunday, December 02, 2012

The Philosophies Of Raymond Mar

Today is a good day to share my life philosophies. The timing is good because I need a reminder to refocus and reset. I'm still recovering from being sick the week before Thanksgiving. The recovery is slowly and surly. I live a consistent day of job searching, cooking, workout out at the gym, and taking advantage of the extra time being unemployed soon.

I refer to my philosophies as a loose term. I share my daily rules, my Innovate Infinitely philosophy, how everyone should live, and more. Don't expect deep thoughts, long essays, conversations, and quotes from famous philosophers such as Plato or psychologists such as Sigmund Freud. Enjoy.

Innovate Infinitely. Never stop innovating life. The theme of my webpage is Innovate Infinitely. Always find ways to do something better. When you achieve it, innovate it again and again infinitely. There is always another way to do something better. Never stop changing. Never stop innovating.

Get up and do something, anything. There is always something to do. Seek new adventures. Experience new experiences. Meet new people. Make new friends. Open your eyes, listen carefully, taste new foods, smell new scents, and feel a new thing.

Relationships. I believe everyone can find love. The odds increase the better person you are; in other words, men are gentlemen and women are ladies. Strong, intelligent, wise, communicative, kindness, tenderness, and embracing life.

I believe timing and luck are part of life. Everyone including myself has experience being in the right place at the right time and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The jobs I was hired, the classes I got in college, the friends I met, and the good deals in stores are some of my good timing and luck. I haven't experience any significant wrong place at the wrong time, and I hope I never experience those.

Never stop meeting new people. People are important to be successful. People are necessary to live a good life. People help other people. I know this person and he can help me. I know that person and she can get you in. We live in the information age where it's easier to keep in touch with family, friends, acquaintances, and professional relationships.

My six daily rules of life:

Everyone must have a cell phone. Communication is important. I like to communicate and talk. Cell phones are necessary to communicate with people especially for events, finding people, and emergencies.

Growing up. Everyone has a chance to grow up regardless of age. There is a time and place the person pause and says, "I must grow up." Congratulate yourself if you already have.

Steve Jobs' Connect The Dots Backwards. The late Steve Jobs delivered the 2005 commencement address at Stanford University. One of his stories was connecting the dots. If it wasn't for Jobs taking a calligraphy class after dropping out of college, computers might not have the typography today. In Jobs' words:

The three day weekend. I prefer the Saturday, Sunday, and Monday three day weekend compared to the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The reason is I can stay up late on the Sunday weekend day instead of going to sleep at a normal Sunday weekend day to go back to work on Monday.

Finally, my top 30 blogs from my first 300 blogs:

01. Never take anything and anyone for granted.
02. Trust my gut feeling.
03. My [earlier] daily top five rules for living: (1) Don't criticize, condemn, and complain, and don't compare with others. (2) Don't act like a jerk or bitch. (3) Always speak calmly and be calm. (4) Don't daydream when driving. (5) Keep your head up high . . . look at [their] cute face when talking.
04. Continue to live life finding what you want to do.
05. Never judge a person by their appearance.
06. Remember to learn from you failures as well as your successes.
07. It takes patience to learn who a person is for long-term family, friend, business, and romantic relationships.
08. Do something else to take your mind off something you hate.
09. Meet new people and make new friends continuously.
10. It's OK to be alone.

11. You must earn what you want in life.
12. You are responsible for yourself.
13. Schools have summer vacations; life doesn't have summer vacations.
14. Age is just a number.
15. Have courage to say goodbye to anything precious.
16. First years, first impressions, first go-around, and first successes are equally important as second years, second impressions, second go-around, and second successes.
17. Everyone has the right to find happiness.
18. Be patient. Never rush.
19. Take life one day at a time. Have fun, learn, and enjoy.
20. If you talk the talk, you must stand by your talk.

21. Do something to receive something.
22. Money is a way to help people, create action, and show appreciation.
23. Fight the pain, the suffering, and the struggles to keep living.
24. Use your mind to see.
25. Time is the ultimate judge.
26. Live the present. Live the moment.
27. Wait 24 hours for goods or services less than $100 and 48 hours for greater than $100 to avoid the urge to splurge.
28. Do the little things and they add up in time.
29. Life is a marathon, not a sprint.
30. When you in a jam, go back to the basics.
Posted by Raymond Mar at 3:27 PM No comments: Labels: Good Idea, Human, Learning, Moving Forward, Philosophy, Self Improvement, Taking Action, Wisdom
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