Sex and the City
Posted on January 4, 2007 by Ching under Life.
I’ve been watching Sex and the City
Anyway, I’m not sure what episode sparked the conversation but Brian and I got to talking about the things we’ve given up since being together. He asked me the question first. I couldn’t think of anything so I just said “Why?” He said he just wondered because of the show. So I asked him what he misses of all the things he’d given up since we’ve been together. He said smoking. I don’t think that really counts. I never thought he gave up smoking for me. He gave up smoking because he had oral surgery. Brian countered that he gave up smoking because I had said that I would never kiss a smoker. He said he could have returned to smoking after the oral surgey if he chose to. He still misses smoking from time to time but has never reverted back.
Then it was my turn to share. Frankly, I couldn’t really think of anything. Brian and I decided that’s probably what makes our bond so strong. Unlike other couples who have had to make major compromises in order to be together, we really haven’t had to change or give up anything. We just fit. So almost eight years later, we still do.
Of course, not to be outdone, I had to come up with something. I said, “I miss being thin.” Okay, so I wasn’t really thin but I was little. I miss it. Though I don’t think it’s completely fair to say that I gave that up to be with Brian. It’s just something that seems to happen when people are in stable, comfortable relationships.
Why is it that long-term relationships tend to make people gain weight? It seems like we find ourselves in a relationship we tend to become complacent. Is it because we know that no matter how much weight we gain our loved ones will always love us regardless? It takes a lot of self-discipline to maintain your current weight (or lose weight) despite the comforts of unconditional love.
Brian says that people who are heavier are happier. You know the really happy couples because they are comfortable enough not to care about superficial things. I always thought that he was just saying that to make me feel better about having gained thirty pounds since we’ve been together. However, more and more I’m starting to think that he is probably right. I’m seeing more and more women gain weight after a year or so of being in stable relationships. Maybe there is actually something to this heavier equals happier thing?
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Looking Back at 2006
Posted on January 1, 2007 by Ching under Life.
The year 2006 brought us viral marketing campaigns gone wrong, more corporate scandals, new gaming consoles, crazy videos that you emailed to more than a dozen people, The Departed, Google bought YouTube, Ryan cheated on Reese.. This is an attempt to recap the less exciting things that happened to me in the past year (beyond the poker stuff which you have previously read about).
Work was very challenging in more ways than one. It was a trying time for me not only because there was so much work to be done and not enough time but also because people were literally making my life a living a hell. There were a few weeks that I just felt defeated and worn down but I persevered because I knew deep down that good people always prevail. Adversity will always exist. How we respond or overcome it is our choice. I always try to remind myself, that which doesn’t break you will make you stronger. And, of course, there are many lessons to be learned along the way.
School was both stressful and exciting. For my final undergraduate semester I decided to take the the road less traveled. Instead of taking it easy, I decided to challenge myself and try for a Computer Science minor. This would give me three minors instead of just two: Management and Accounting. The Computer Science course was a daytime class. Although I had received permission to attend the class, work commitments (like training seminars and meetings) sometimes prevented me from attending but besides that, I did not have the time to devote to completing the programming assignments. The class progressed really slow but the assignments increased exponentially in scope and difficulty. At first it seemed as though I was going to do alright and pass the course but by the last month it became obvious that I would not make it. By then it was too late.
It was in 2006 that I received my undergraduate degree. It was conferred during the Spring 2006 commencement of the Barton School. My degree is a Bachelor of Business Administration. My major is Management Information Systems and my minors are Management and Accounting. It’s not as impressive as the engineering degree that I had originally set out for out of high school but I am very glad that I decided to go back to school. I feel proud of my accomplishment particularly since I had to it while working forty-plus hour weeks the whole time.
Early in the year I decided that I would remain in school. I decided that I would pursue my MBA through Wichita State University. Having a tight deadline, I had to take my GMAT the week after finals. I wrote my essay, begged for recommendation letters, etc. all before June 1st in order to be accepted for the fall semester. I had to scramble but somehow I managed to pull through. I was one of the 54 accepted into the program. I think 97 had applied. There were many more applying throughout the summer but they would have wait for the next round.
Summer went by pretty quickly. I tried to get my fill of poker. We got a new car. It’s our first brand new car ever. We adopted Molly, the newest addition to our family. I lost a lot of shoes because of her chewing habit but that’s okay. We had our first set of joeys (we had two other sets since; we have our third set of joeys now in case anyone is interested). Yes, Brian and I became grandparents. LOL.
So much has happened this year. I feel that 2006 is significant in that I experienced a lot of personal growth. I took away from my experiences many valuable lessons. We met a lot of new people. All of them interesting and some of them quite impressive. I survived my first semester in graduate school, against all odds so to speak.
I look forward to 2007 and the challenges it brings. I have more knowledge and experience now so hopefully I can use these to make better choices. I made some mistakes in years past but, as with everything, I take it as a learning opportunity. Some of the things to anticipate in 2007 are:
- Doing well in school (that is always a priority).
- Giving my all at work (equally important).
- Getting our passports (we actually have our application completed, we just need to go to the post office for passport photos and to turn it in).
- Working on the house.
- Playing more live, real-money poker (we’ve already made reservations for our first one; our room is booked for Harrah’s NKC during spring break; Brian and I are planning to do two of the $50 tourneys).
- Gradually getting back into shape (hopefully in time for our cruise).
- Cruising in September to celebrate our five year anniversary.
- Indulging in more couples massages (and enjoying more quality time together).
- Stressing out less and spending more time with family.
- Taking up another hobby (maybe golf, but maybe I’ll just start bowling again).
- Eating out less and cooking more (this is where Rouxbe comes in).
This is all I can think of for now. I’m sure this list will expand as things come up and some of the things may not take place. We’ll talk again around this time in 2008.
Happy new year, everyone!
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Poker Flashback
Posted on December 31, 2006 by Ching under Poker.
I wish I had more time to play poker and develop my skill. I really think I have some potential. I just don’t have the time to devote to playing.
Anyway, I will have my runs of ups and downs but the one thing I am truly proud of is that I am a good sport. I don’t blow up over my bad beats. I might be upset for two seconds. I may even come home and blog about it. But then, I am over it. I think it is important to have a positive attitude about poker because it does take some amount of luck. People get lucky sometimes. Bad plays get rewarded. Not just for other people. I’ve seen my bad plays get rewarded also. It works both ways. I try to play smart but sometimes you just want to play crazy. If you get lucky against me, I’m going to call it like it is but I won’t hold it against you. And if I get lucky against you, I’d expect the same. Please don’t whine like a little girl or worse yet, cuss and scream like a jackass. You know you’ve had your lucky breaks too.
I didn’t get to play as much as I wanted in 2006, but when I did play I actually placed decently. Here are a list of my 2006 APL event finishes:
- 1 First Place Finish
- 1 Second Place Finish
- 3 Third Place Finishes
- 2 Fifth Place Finishes
- 2 Eight Place Finishes
- 1 Ninth Place Finish
- 1 Twelfth Place Finish
- 1 Sixteenth Place Finish
Other highlights include qualifying to play in the Big Boys Toy Show poker tourney. I didn’t win. Bill Bird actually won that one. I had some crazy highs and lows playing online poker. I think this was the year I played $1-$2 NL and $10 SNG for the first time. Don’t worry, I haven’t gone nuts or anything. I usually only venture into riskier higher stakes only when I am on an upswing so I’m not actually playing with my own money.
I haven’t done too well on the $10 SNGs but I have a pretty good track record on the $1, $3, and $5 ones. Last night for instance, I did a $10 SNG and got knocked out on the first hand. The minute I saw my pocket aces I knew I was doomed.
Blinds were 5-10 (remember this is the very first hand). It was call, call, call. Then the action turned to me. I wanted to play it agressively because I didn’t want to get sucked out on so I “bet pot” on middle position. When everyone called my bet I was really worried. I was sure I was going to get sucked out on but I could not get away from it.
When it came time for the player to my immediate right to call, he raised to almost 500. I was relieved. I thought this is my chance to make everyone fold so I don’t get sucked out on. So I did the only sensible thing to do. I went all in.
The player to my immediate left called. I was surprised. I really didn’t want any callers. When everyone started folding, I thought this isn’t too bad. I can handle a two-person showdown. I just need my aces to hold up. Then it comes to player on the right and he called too. It turned into a three way pot, much to my dismay.
Player on the left had pocket jacks. Player on the right had pocket queens. I desperately wanted my pocket aces to hold up but no such luck. When player on the right flopped a set of queens I knew I was done for; I need not wait for the turn and river. I knew my other two aces had gotten folded by the other early callers. Blech.
Anyway, you can find my other blog entries about poker here. You can find a full list of my 2006 APL event finishes here. Click here for 2005. And here for 2004.
NOTE: As you can tell I actually did better in 2005. I was able to play a little bit more then. I didn’t have quite as hectic a year. Here are my list of event finishes:
- 2 First Place Finishes
- 2 Second Place Finishes
- 2 Third Place Finishes
- 1 Fifth Place Finish
- 2 Sixth Place Finishes
- 2 Seventh Place Finishes
- 1 Eight Place Finish
- 1 Ninth Place Finish
- 1 Tenth Place Finish
- 2 Eleventh Place Finishes
- 1 Twelfth Place Finish
- 1 Thirteenth Place Finish
- 3 Fourteenth Place Finishes
- 3 Fifteenth Place Finishes
- 1 Sixteenth Place Finish
I didn’t do too badly in 2004 also (I had several second place finishes) but that doesn’t really count because I was only playing at Fingers. It doesn’t have the 160 plus player turn out that the APL ballroom does.
At any rate, I’d like to give a big thank you to APL for making this information available.
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Checkmate
Posted on December 26, 2006 by Ching under Flickr, Games, Movies.
Today was kind of a disappointment but we managed to make the best of it. Today was supposed to be the day Brian and I get to spend to ourselves and enjoy our couples massage together at Healing Waters. The last few days have been really hectic (Christmas eve at my parents’ house in Derby and then Christmas day at Brian’s parents’ house, always an all day event) so we were really looking forward to our relaxing hour and a half massages. I had scheduled it as a surprise for Brian almost a month ago, but I ended up telling him about it shortly after. In the spirit of pragmatism, we agreed that it would just be our Christmas present to each other.
We started our day by having lunch at Chili’s. Our friends the Dills work there so we thought we would pop in on them. Anyway, lunch was good. When Dill found out that we were watching a movie that evening, he gave us a couple of movie passes. In exchange we left him a really good tip (almost as much as our entire bill). I thought it was nice of him to give us the passes. One good deed deserves another, right?
After lunch we hit the nearby Super Target to get some fruits and veggies for the suggies. Then we came home to take care of some last minute stuff and leave dinner in the cage for the suggies because we anticipated being out for the rest of the afternoon and evening. When we arrived home I found a message on my phone. It was Healing Waters calling to reschedule our appointment because one of the massage therapists assigned to us had fallen ill and was sent home. They could not find anyone to fill in. Brian was really mad and threw a fit. I felt really bad because I had scheduled this way in advance and I knew he was really looking forward to it. We ended up rescheduling for Thursday afternoon, but Brian was already upset.
Add to that the fact that we noticed Bebot’s “maintenance required” light lit up and would not go away. Being the worry warts that we are, we figured we’d just go to Eddy’s and have them check it out. Brian called them ahead of time so they would expect us. When we arrived, one of the Eddy’s guys looks at the car and fixes the problem by simply pushing a button. Apparently, the light is set to come on every five thousand miles. They are supposed to reset it each time we come for an oil change but we went at three thousand miles and I think they forgot to reset it or something. Anyway, I’m glad that Bebot is fine.
With that out of the way Brian and I decided to cheer each other up by having a contest. We said we’d give each other a hundred dollars each to spend at the mall and who ever got the most items for their money would be declared the winner. The only rule we had was that we could not buy crap just for the saying of having the most items. It had to be something that we wanted or would use. Naturally, Old Navy was the perfect venue for our competition. Where else can you buy a ton of crap for cheap?
Brian and I ended up getting about the same amount of items but his totalled about $75 and mine came to $99 and change. We declared him Victor but truthfully I think he had an unfair advantage because they usually have more guys stuff on sale. Next time we we have a contest I think we will do it like supermarket sweeps. The winner would be whoever can come closest to the maximum limit without going over. Although, if we do it that way then I’d have an unfair advantage because I’m better at math. LOL. Of course, Brian could always use a calculator. There won’t be a rule against that.
After Old Navy we stopped by the Gap (Brian still had $25 more to spend and I wanted to see if we could get another pair of his-n-hers matching shirts–yes, I like to torture Brian–incidentally, our total came to more than what he had left but that’s ok because we got our matching shirts–LOL). Brian found some cargo pants he liked and I found us some green mens tees on sale for $5 a piece. I got one in XS and Brian got one in XL. He was really hoping I wouldn’t be able to find a shirt that came in the sizes we needed, but I’m pretty resourceful. Now we have four matching shirts! We have our Nerve shirts (I think these were our first), Blogger shirts, red shirts and now our green shirts. I made him promise to wear it to poker on Friday and he agreed. (more…)
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New Discoveries
Posted on December 25, 2006 by Ching under Family, Reviews, Toys, Web.
In keeping with my promise to share with you all the cool things that I come across, this blog entry is more of a “Did you know?” post. These are the things that I discovered recently:
- Kodak has a camera trade-in program. As digital cameras go, I really don’t like Kodak. I am partial to Canon. Most of my digital cameras have been Canons. I also like Nikon cameras because of their excellent reputation among photographers, professionals and amateurs alike.
However, I have to give some props to Kodak for their innovative new marketing approach. They will take any digital camera and give you a cash rebate toward a new Kodak EasyShare digital camera. I think it is a brilliant idea. So brilliant, in fact, that I almost bought myself a Kodak on the spot.
- Rouxbe rocks. Why? Because it is a cutting edge way to learn the culinary arts. This is one of those ideas that you kind of wish you thought of yourself. I predict that this will be the next big thing. Just as I thought MySpace would be great when I joined about three years ago (I was a Friendster user first) and Flickr would be the most popular photo sharing community when I joined it early 2004. I remember getting a month or so of “pro” membership to Flickr by convincing five other people to register. Fun times. Anyway, I actually didn’t know what direction Flickr would take back in those days because it started out as some sort of game. It just kind of evolved into what the members of the community wanted. So anyway, I think Rouxbe is going to be huge! So join today while they still have some 1900 founding memberships left.
If that’s not enough reason to join, you should join because it is a well-designed, user-friendly web site. I know because my friend Ritchie worked on it. He doesn’t do anything crappy. He only does outstanding work. There you go. Check it out. Then send him a message to tell him how awesome you think the new project is.. He will appreciate the positive feedback.
- Blurb will get you published. Self-published, that is. Personally, I think the Blurb way of publishing is actually better than Lulu. There are pros and cons to both, but as far as designing the book I think the software that you use with Blurb is more user-friendly and versatile. For selling, Lulu is probably better. Anyway, try them both and you decide.
- Almost everything at Zazzle is on sale right now. Personalized postage, shirts, hats, mugs and calendars are on sale for $9.99 plus free shipping. You can’t beat that. I actually ordered some personalized stamps for us to use next Christmas. It’s got our picture on it with the words “Happy Holidays from Brian and Ching” printed underneath. I will post a picture when I receive them so you guys can see. Or you could order some yourself and see first hand.
NOTE TO MOM: I think this would be a great idea for your letter campaign. Put your web site URL and phone number on the picture or something. It will surely catch the eye of anyone who comes in contact with the envelope.
These are all the ideas and discoveries I have for now. Until next time.
P.S. Here are some of the photos that we took on Christmas eve and Christmas day. Enjoy!
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