Here's the deal: I'll show you Obama's birth certificate, if you show me Sarah Palin's High School Diploma"

I watched Bill Maher tonight and that happened to be the closing line. It was a very good closing to the episode. It was a response to those billboard ads that say "Where's the birth certificate?" conjured up by a group of retards called The Birthers.

Here is the transcript of the episode, if you need more musings.

"Never underestimate the ability of a tiny fringe group of losers to ruin everything." - Bill Maher, July 31, 2009.

Here is a photo of the ads on the side of some interstates:

Since I mentioned Sarah Palin, I guess I'll have to jump back on my stupid soapbox again. I hate making fun of her. I just really dislike the woman and everything she stands for.

Ok, so I googled Sarah Palin and her SarahPAC.com website comes up. I immediately dissected the site link by link, however, to my surprise, there are a total of 8 links on the site. Let me break this down for you -

• Contact Us - ok, so you can contact her "office" by email, phone, and/or a letter to SarahPAC to a a PO Box in VA. Ok, modest, I won't hate on her for that.
• Frequently asked questions - hmm...so it's supposed to explain how the money will be spent....by Sarah Palin?? - I'm still not completely certain what SarahPAC.com is for.
• Privacy policy - yadda yadda legal stuff, until at the bottom, it says "Use of Information: If you choose to provide any personal information, such as your mailing address or phone number, we may use that information to contact you." Eek, don't want to do that!
• Facebook SarahPAC - I'm just going to roll my eyes at this.
• "News Update: Palin announces no second term" - so she's a quitter. We all figured that. I mean, she did attend 5 different colleges in a span of 6 years.
• Visit The Alaska Fund Trust at www.thealaskafundtrust.com, the official legal defense fund for Governor Sarah Palin and family. - What??! The "Official legal defense fund for Palin and her family"? So she wants people to make donations to pay for her legal bills that she's racked up?
• About Sarah - A short list of some things she's done for society.
• Donate now - Donate to what?

This site doesn't state how she will use the money. It was just a barrage of ideas without any indication of what, why and how much. What if she decides to quit SarahPAC? She'd just blow that money on herself. This is just a ploy to get other people to pay her bills.

Facebook

Does anyone else get curious about who runs Facebook? Hmm...guess that's just me. Anyway, if I find a company that I like, generally information-ridden sites - I tend to want to know everything about them.

For example, BustedTees.com - I love their stuff, quality of shirts is great, and shipping arrives within 3 days. Well, I visit almost every link on the website that pertains to privacy, terms of use, about, faq, and so forth. On their "about" page, I learn that they are a sub-company for CollegeHumor.com which is a tastelessly funny website that has now turned into a TV show on MTV or something. So that kind of information is sort of neat.

Another example, Woot.com - this site to me has the simplicity of purchasing a product that more than likely I will not need or want at a great price with great shipping rates, yet all the flare of an information engrossing site. I learned from my brief research on Search Engine Optimization that sites/pages with more literature tend to be organically searched than sites with more pictures and less keywords. So Woot.com makes it simple to buy a product off their site, gives me more reason to stay on their pages longer with an amusing vignette of the product, and tons of useless information provided by their obsessed cult fans. They must be doing something right.

Finally, Facebook.com - great scott, this site is the abyss of wasting time. Whoever designed this website must have had lots of aquaintences and no friends - because, folks with lots of friends don't need a website to keep in touch with them all. Who sits there and thinks to him/herself, "Hmm, how can I keep in touch with my not-so-close friends? Gee, they don't talk to me very much, in fact, I only see them once every other year in the mall parking lot. Hmm...?? Well, there is already Myspace - wait! I could make a better, less creepy Myspace! In fact, I'll only allow my friends at Harvard to join. Yea, that's a great idea. It'll be a social club only for the Ivy Leaguers." Then they realized they could actually make advertising money by allowing other colleges to join their "super secret social club". Like other schools - MTSU came on board a year after Facebook began. I joined in March of 2005. Since it's inception, other no-name schools have also been "allowed" to join. So now, it's not even a "super secret social club" anymore. Just another freakin' Myspace for normal people.

Anyway, Facebook is still kinda cool. Of course I checked out their about pages and so forth. I really enjoyed their "Facebook" page. It was neat to see all of the new developments, "2009 Intern Photos (reminds me of my intern days :P)", "Before&After Photos of their new office", general blogs the employees produce, and I remember stumbling onto a blog on their website when they were reaching their one hundred millionth "social networker". They provided a funny little video showing off their new office (which is now their old office), a mini drink fridge full of Red Bulls for the programmers, and stupid lunchbreak tricks they were doing with food.

Here's a video of one of their "Hackathons" - the end kinda makes me feel like I've achieved nothing at 25.

OMG! you pushed my face in!

mmm...a tasty shingle photog and more...

Drywalled the fireplace area - on to sanding trim next.

The fireplace will be painted high-gloss white, screen will be replaced with a black something, and trim/molding work will be done like way later. I'm going to hire someone for the crown job. Unfortunately, I'm really crappy at it. It pains me to pay someone to do it.

Oh paint brushes, oh paint brushes...and Big Red.

Nice and neatly drying.

Fashion Packaging?

The DieLine - Fashion Packaging at it's best! - TheDieLine.com

I love this website - it has alot of really good ideas for packaging products. Here's a post about "Redesign" Before& After - here's a few pictures to show you what I'm talking about.

Before (up) & After (below)

Now is the time to start saving for Christmas!

If you want to stay on top of Christmas this year you should consider squirreling away about $20 a week and for the next 26 weeks, you'll have over $500. That's enough to buy quite a few people some decent gifts.

It's really easy to do - if you have a bank account that has a checking and a savings account - just start an autodraft of $20 to go to your savings account each week. I'd do it weekly than monthly, because $80 a month sounds like a lot and so it's a bit of a deterrent to save. But this is super easy, and you'll have $500+ to spend for Christmas before you know it.

If you want to really get fancy, you can consider online bank accounts offered by ING Direct, or HSBC Direct. You can do the same thing with them - just set an autodraft to those accounts, and they gain interest without a minimum balance. I personally have an HSBCDirect account and love it. It's great for savings goals. Best of all, they are FREE, and really easy to start up.

If you ever need to take money out, you can just draft a transfer into your regular checking account. Really easy, and takes about 24 hours.

43 weird things said in job interviews - CNN.com

43 weird things said in job interviews - CNN.com

Here are a few of my favorites -

Why did you leave your last job?
"I have a problem with authority." - Carrie Rocha, COO of HousingLink

Tell us about a problem you had with a co-worker and how you resolved it
"The resolution was we were both fired."- Jason Shindler, CEO, Curvine Web Solutions

What kind of computer software have you used?
"Computers? Are those the black boxes that sit on the floor next to the desks? My boss has one of those. He uses it. I don't have one. He just gives me my schedule and I follow it." - Greg Szymanski, director of human resources, Geonerco Management, Inc

What are your hobbies and interests?
"[He said] 'Well, as you can see, I'm a young, virile man and I'm single -- if you ladies know what I'm saying.' Then he looked at one of the fair-haired board members and said, 'I particularly like blondes.'" - Petri R.J. Darby, president, darbyDarnit Public Relations

Why should we hire you?
"I would be a great asset to the events team because I party all the time." - Bill McGowan, founder, Clarity Media Group

Here's a funny video of a man singing his resume, supposedly because he's so desparate for a job.

"Hire Me"

As Cash for Clunkers Starts, Dealers Hope to Clear Lots

As Cash for Clunkers Starts, Dealers Hope to Clear Lots - CNN.com

Check this out if you have a car or truck that gets 18gallons or less per mile. You can get up to $4500 towards a new car if it meets the requirements to the CARS Act (Cars Allowance Rebate System). Visit CARS.gov for more info.

Sailing & The Doglings

We went sailing the other day and had a great time! I really enjoyed it. It seems like a really fun thing Scott and I could get into.



We're dogsitting for a couple of friends who are in Europe for the next few weeks. Their dog Penny is a Vischla (sp?) and Pita can't get enough of her.

I think Pita wants a sibling really bad. But aint no way are we going to go through puppy life again. I like having a dog.

This is just wrong - and unnecessary

"I need a hair cut, if you ain't too busy, you old Italian sob prick barber"

I saw Gran Torino the other day - probably the best film I've seen this year. Yea it's racist, but I'm asian too, and I'm not offended at all. I'd say I learned a few things from it. Great story, but geez, I still hate asians.

Clint Eastwood is probably the epitome of masculinity.

This video is one of the best scenes in the movie. It's supposed to be Clint Eastwood showing Toad - a directionless Hmong teenager - "how men talk". Be prepared to get offended, if you are easily offended.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXD8yOxIPB0

This video is also a great scene - but funny because of a few choices of words.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT0WSs_aqyY

Craftsman Bungalows

When I started in Real Estate, I always thought I wanted a newish built house because I was always afraid of older homes with their "problems". Needless to say, when we were searching for our first home, I was captivated by the Bungalow charm - especially in the historic neighborhoods. We began our search for homes with character, typically older homes that have been fully renovated. We ended up finding one that was beyond perfect - it was the perfect size, the renovations were fantastic, new windows, new almost everything without losing the charm and character we wanted. I had even said at one point that I wanted a yellow house on Poplar St. We waited long enough and a listing came up that didn't even fall in our radar, because we were looking for a house that was at least 1200sqft, and this one came in a little under - so we never even saw the listing online. However, the house was listed on the day we saw the sign (Sat) and the earliest appointment was on Monday. So we went there to see this "doll house" that the realtor describe, at this point we lost all hope of finding the house we want anyway, and I was ready to just "settle" for a house, any house.

When someone tells me, "Oh, it's such a Doll House! You will just love it!" I literally think of "Dolls" everywhere. That may be partially from my lack of "abstract thinking," but I generally think of pink walls, glass encased porcelain dolls with the horrific facial expressions that I had nightmares about as a kid, country wooden doll benches with a heart cut out, off-white doilies everywhere, framed pictures of dolls, big nasty pink afghan thrown neatly over a 1970's brown sofa, and last but not least dusty fake foliage draped down the coffee table, book cases, dining table, and various other accent tables.

Although we loved this Poplar St house, it wasn't quite a bungalow - the style said Ranch on the listing. When we sold it, we searched all over town for a Bungalow and after 6 weeks - 6 days before we closed on our Poplar St house, we found one through a guy who also happens to be a Real Estate Agent who needed to get rid of this Bungalow with "ugly wood siding". We were only looking to rent, and he offered us a reduced rent if we helped fix up the house - I thought this was a ridiculous idea because the house need work in every single room, and almost every single thing needed to be done. We asked him if he would be interested in selling it and he said, "yes" reluctantly, however he explained how he didn't have the time to renovate it and that the home would be better off if someone was interested in bringing it up to date. Of course, I chimed in and asked for a price. Mind you, this guy owned this house for about a year and eight months - he did nothing to the house. It sat empty for over two years without running water. He bought it for $64,000 from a guy who had dementia and had to sell to go to a nursing home. He wasn't going to let it go for nothing - so we had this "offer" in mind, that he can make some money off the house, but he can't try to sell us this diamond in the rough for twice the price he paid for it. We had a threshold to offset how much money we would have to put into it. After a pause, and some consideration, he started exactly the amount that I would have offered if he had me make an offer.

So it all worked out, we got the house for the price we wanted, about $56 a squarefeet, and we'll bring the home up to $110 a squarefeet when we resell.

I started looking up some Craftsman Bungalow styles, because we are really into older antique homes - and I came across some really good information from http://www.antiquehomestyle.com/styles/bungalow.htm.

Bungalow Characteristics

• Usually 1 – 1 1/2 stories usually (occasionally 2-story)
• Low pitched roof
• Entry typically opens directly into living room
• Often has a large front porch that creates an outdoor room
• Easy access to outdoor spaces like verandas, porches, and patios
• Open floor plan maximized for efficiency and flow from room to room with minimal space wasted on hallways
• Often small with reliance on built-ins for organization
• Siding varies. Stucco is the siding of choice for many California-style Craftsman bungalows. Western-style are typically more rustic with shingle or lapped siding, and Chicago-style bungalows are frequently brick.

What is a bungalow?
Bungalow style means different things to different people and is therefore not a particularly precise term. It generally connotes a Craftsman-style house, and is widely used by most people that way.
Blurring the definition are some who describe any small house built from 1900 to about 1950 as a bungalow. They may call them Spanish or English bungalows regardless of whether or not they have any true bungalow characteristics.

Some of these pictures are Modern Bungalows.

I'm so motivated now!

Scott came across these "Demotivational" poster things at work yesterday and we decided to look them up. The idea was "Raising morale, by lowering expectations."

You know those "motivational" posters usually plastered in offices to "motivate" employees to do their job better, but it usually looks like a cheap piece of art intentionally meant to intensify bitterness against the shmucks in the office. Or at least that's the way I see it.

Instead, these "demotivational" posters provide you with a chuckle to get through your day.

Scott's favorite -

Aliens really do exist

I just filed my naturalization forms today. I'm gonna be an American. The processing times are running about 6 months, so hopefully, if all goes well, I'll swear an oath to be a good American, to not be an habitual drunkard, to promise to pay my taxes, and to fight for the country if it needs me. I think I can handle that.

For the last 25 years of my life, I thought it was kinda cool to be a "Resident Alien". There was even a point in my life during elementary school where I argued with friends and teachers that I really am an alien, and I would flash my green card at them as proof that aliens really do exist and that I was one of them. Of course, I began to realize that I "wasn't" an alien, but I still thought it was cool to tell people I was and flash my green card.

Unfortunately, I will miss my green card, and the fact that I won't be an alien anymore when this naturalization thing kicks in. My primary reason for getting my U.S. citizenship is to get a long-term passport. It's more difficult to travel abroad with just a travel document, which is the "passport" for permanent residents/green card holders/asylums/etc. It lasts for 12 months, and costs 3 times as much. I had to get one to visit Japan a few years back for school and it was a pain in the ass to obtain.

I'm planning on going out of the country next summer so hopefully my citizenship will roll in by the end of this year, and then immediately apply for a passport.

The government is requiring everyone to have a passport to travel even within the US. I'm not sure how true it is but that's what I saw at Walgreen's when I was getting my photos done.

I'm so over it...

Dining room is about 99.9% completed. I just need to go back and scrape off some stray paint here and there. I won't be satisfied until it has no flaws. Har har.

A few tips when painting:
1. Use regular latex primer on everything first - walls and wood trimwork.
2. Whatever stains that show, go back with oil-based primer.
3. Your paintbrushes used for the oil-based primer is now ruined. Throw them away. Make sure you use cheap throwawayable brushes.
4. DuckTape Clean Release painter's tape is a joke - your walls will be ruined if you put the tape on the walls just like they do in the commercials. Call the company and ask for your money back.
5. Although painter's tape sucks, tape the hell out of the room anyway.
6. If an entire room has to be painted from ceiling to the baseboards, start with the ceiling first, then walls, then trim work. Don't forget to to primer the hell out of the room. You'll be glad you did.
7. Not all whites are white. Try everything, even ceiling paint on a conspicuous area, next to something that is supposed to be white, and see if its the white you want.
8. Clean all the walls and trim work with TSP, Mineral Spirits, or diluted Awesome. It'll get rid of the dirt, grime, and other gunk settled from years and years of living.
9. Walls need at least two top coats. Bare wood, 3 dried coats of primer, 2 top coats.
10. Don't settle for "uh, that looks good enough". IT DOESN'T. It probably looks like crap if you are thinking that.

Starting on the living room now - tearing out some rough sawn wood on the fireplace wall. Much more of a pain in the ass than you can imagine. We're going at it with a power drill and drilling numerous holes so that we could break it off. Our Dremel is a piece of crap that would set the wood on fire if we used it more than twice in a row.

Just say no...

My bun is upside down because I dripped some Sweet Baby Ray's on the other side.

twice as long, twice as much

A wise man told me that. And how true it is.

It's about a week and a half into it, and we are still not completely done with that room. I had planned on having that room completely done by the weekend, and started on the living room by the beginning of this week, and having this one completely done by this weekend. Looks like it will be an extra week for the dining room.

Scott keeps telling me we have 52 weeks to get them done - and we do not have 52 projects, so we shouldn't feel the need to rush to have something done each week. I feel completely the opposite. I think we should spend every waking moment trying to get them done so that we will have a chance to enjoy all our hard work, and live in a construction free zone. I can't stand living in this pigsty. So I'm pretty anxious to get it all done and see our plans materialize.

Our chandelier is on its way to us - should arrive by early next week if not by Friday. I'm excited!!

No Reservations

It's about 10pm on a Monday night, and I was trying to get some work done but my home wifi decided to take an extended break, although this is the first time I have actually needed to use it since we've lived in this new house.

So now, I'm flipping through the channels trying to see whats on TV - I only watch a few channels anyway so I'm going through the list of my favorites... HGTV has a couple-a gay dudes looking for a place in Costa Rica, I think I've already seen that episode...um, then on TLC was the Cake Boss show, and that is usually pretty good, but I wasn't in the mood for cakes.... ah ha! then I come across one of my favorites on the Travel Channel - and this guy kind of reminds me of, well, me.

I think this show combines all of my cravings for adventure, purpose, and fulfillment. The slogan of the show is, "I'm Anthony Bourdain. I write, eat, and am hungry for more." I don't think there is anything else that would best describe me. There's more to life than work, family and friends. How amazing would life be if your job was to travel, experience new things, new cultures, see the different ways people live, and meet incredibly different people AND THEN document it? I'm drooling just thinking about it.

By the way, I ate at a chinese buffet for dinner, and I feel AWFUL. I feel greasy poison just running through my veins clogging up my arteries. Absolutely toxic.

Ah, I forgot to elude you to our July 4th weekend. Well, we went to Nashville, spent some good ole family time. We celebrated Scott's birthday on Friday, shot fireworks at night, and had barbeque and desserts. I ate like a pig. Like a real big pig. Ronnie-Q, what my little nephew DJ calls it, was so freakin' delicious that night, and normally I'm about 90% anti-barbeque. Then on Saturday and Sunday - I spent most of that time at my parents house praying for the ancestors. We had monks, old ladies, the whole gamut. It was interesting because I have went to these things before, and didn't understand a lick of it. This time, my mom actually hosted the bash, and I still didn't really understand what I was being forced to do. Scott was quite a spectacle at this event. The old folks kept trying to help him as though he was in the most uncomfortable state possible. They kept moving each other out of his way, and giving him more space to sit praying style.

Anyway, the weekend was fun, and it was great to see family.

Here are some photos from the weekend:

Looks like they enjoyed this as much as I did.

Now, on to the American style of celebrating.

Scott's cousin's little baby Lilly.

dining - 50% finished

As for the exterior - had that guy that did our retaining wall come in and take a look, said he'd give us an estimate on Monday. We're expecting him to come in extremely high - but I like his ideas and vision. And, I'm confident with his quality of work. We'll see what happens there.

We started on the dining room first, because it has the least amount of work needed. Mostly it needed alot of sanding, puttying, and painting. The walls had a tremendous number of holes, and gashes. I puttied the hell out of those walls, and with a dark sage color - it hid all of my patches really well. We are done with painting the walls - now the trimwork needs to be started. That will require lots of sanding, wood-filling (they installed the rod fixtures over the trim - ridiculous), and more sanding. Then of course, primering, and painted white.

I ordered a chandelier today for the dining room. I figure I'll be done with the rest of the stuff by the time it gets here. Here's the link - Restoration Hardware Round Shade Chandelier

And, of course, I didn't pay that much money for it. I spent 66% less by purchasing it from Ebay.
Another thing we're doing today is getting a really cool ceiling fan from Lowe's. They are having a sale on ceiling fans that ends today - If you buy a ceiling fan $99 or more, you will get a $20 rebate. The particular one we're getting is the Caribbean Brass Baja. I can't seem to get a good picture of it with the light kit, but it's one of those with big palm leaf blades. We are going for a Charleston style design in the master bedroom with light blue walls and tall curtains. But, we have not yet started on the bedrooms - perhaps after the dining, living, and hallways are done first.

the exterior....

Looks like its taking longer for me to get estimates on the exterior. I'm waiting on this guy that did our retaining wall at the other house to come in for an estimate. I guess he forgot about us.

Guess we'll contact some of the other folks that gave us estimates earlier.