Birthday Vacation 10.21 to 10.29.2023
Trip 1 Start: Drive to Fresno, CA in 2000 Celica GT, from Los Angeles. Return vehicle to my mother.
Trip 2: Fly to Las Vegas, Nevada from Fresno. Pick up new vehicle purchased from William, 2004 Infiniti FX35.
Trip 3: Drive to Los Angeles with the FX35, from Las Vegas.
Trip 4: Fly to Portland, Oregon. Drove to LAX airport and parked the car in a long-term parking garage.
Trip 5 Return: Fly to Los Angeles, CA. Pray no damages and hope FX35 is still inside the long-term parking lot. Drive back home from the LAX Economy lot at midnight, getting home probably after 0100 AM. Having to wake up at 0600 AM for work and start the work grind all over again. Called off instead haha :) Vacation End.

• 10.21 (Saturday) Part 1 - I stayed up pretty late the night before to plan everything and get an idea of what to pack for all travel destinations. The first trip was to prepare my mother's car for the drop off. The second trip was upgrading my nephew Joshuas desktop CPU cooler and pick up the FX35 for myself and be able to drive it back to Los Angeles. The Third was to ship a desktop GPU to Oregon and pick it up during my time there. Returned my mother's 2000 Celica GT to her in Fresno, after washing it, checking the tire pressure and topping off the fluids the day before. I still have to order some seat covers for her and a steering wheel cover.

• 10.21 Part 2 - Next, the second travel with driving to the airport by my mother in her returned Celica and Fly to Vegas from Fresno. Since I stayed up planning and getting an idea of the overall vacation, I didn't sleep much. Waking up pretty late... so started driving from Los Angeles to get to Fresno with an arrival time of about 2pm. Once I got to Fresno, met up with my mother and little brother at her home. Used the restroom and talked for a bit, then my mom drove me to the Fresno Airport and flew to Vegas.

• 10.21 Part 3 - Arrive in Vegas via flight from Fresno. Sister picked me up from Airport, was able to see the FX35 right away when we got to their home. There was a lot more scuff marks on it, mostly small cosmetic fixes needed. No error lights besides the Tire Pressure light on from the flat. It was a very nice deal and in great running condition. It had a full set of very worn tires on it, on top of that 1 of them had a nail and was losing air. I felt no issues in driving it to Los Angeles besides the tires. I would go the next day to fix the flat tire. Before the day ended, I installed the new CPU cooler onto Joshua's desktop on this night. We got around a 10-degree Celsius improvement from the previous CPU cooler and it looks better and moves more air. The new CPU cooler is a 280mm AIO, which has bigger fans on it and in turn moves more air as desired. Josh's 3060Ti gets really hot 85-96 degrees Celsius, so it was a big help to at least move more air through the case with the 280mm fans... which in turn also cooled the CPU better.

• 10.22 (Sunday) - I drove around to 5 tire shops to ask for tire repair, but they all said they couldn't touch the very worn-out tires. It was concluded that I get a used tire in place of the flat. I paid $80 for a used Wrangler tire which goes for around $280 brand new. I was then concerned about all the other tires being worn out so bad, so I went tire shopping the next day. Before this day ended, I went to get a 2-hour massage to relax, I was pretty frustrated, not sure if I could get tires before my next flight on Tuesday morning. I could have acted nicer to my sister and brother-in-law when I got back to their home. I just said I was going to bed when I got back there from the massage.

• 10.23 (Monday) - Went to Discount Tires, which is what America's Tire is called in Nevada. I like this place a lot, they seem to be pretty honest normally at all the locations I've visited. This FX35 takes 265/60R18 tires, unfortunately there were no deals on this tire size and none in stock. Thankfully enough, the salesman told me of an alternative tire size for my vehicle, which I later looked up as correct information and it could be delivered from the warehouse same day. I went with the alternative tire size and they were very good tires being both All-Weather and Touring. Apparently most All-Weather tires are just that, not also being a Touring tire as well. So, from reading about the meanings a "Touring" is supposed to be a longer lasting tread rubber. Not sure how true all this is, but there were MANY positive reviews and the Falken tire had amazing tire qualities for an affordable price. On top of that, the Salesman Edward gave me a $100 discount on the set of 4. So, I got a nice set of 4 tires at $186 each for a good install price and used the Wrangler tire as a spare in the trunk. The Tires were actually ordered in the morning and I went to my sisters waiting for them to come in for the install. Almost at the end of the day, they called to notify me about the tires arrival and to come install the tires. I went to get the tires installed and called around to find someone to remove the front window tint, it was chipping and bubbling. I ended up not finding someone to remove the front window tint, so I have to find someone to do it later in Los Angeles. I went back to my sisters and we had a Chinese dinner before I left back home to Los Angeles in the FX35. The drive went smooth, besides the tire pressure light coming back on without cause...I just ignored it since the tires were still good. It was a smooth trip back to Los Angeles, arriving around 1200-0100 AM.

• 10.24 (Tuesday) - After driving home from Vegas to Los Angeles arriving at 12-1AM, I ended up staying awake all night until my flight at 9AM. I had to figure out what to do with my FX35, since I had my vehicle holder cancel the day before without warning. I messaged a friend who could possibly do it but didn't seem thrilled about it. I ended up researching LAX long-term parking, thanks to another friend "Jan" who enlightened me on the subject. I researched all the Long-term parking lots around the LAX airport and found that outside of the airport, reviews were poor. Therefor using the LAX economy long-term parking lot was the safest and still affordable choice. I needed parking from the 24th to the 31st. The prices ranged from $60 to $200+ for Terminal parking. Terminal parking is the best, but is the most pricey if not in advance. If not in advance, the LAX Economy parking lot is the best option. If in advanced, the Terminal lots are the best option since they are given huge discounts and have the most secure feeling. Parking lots outside of LAX have reputations of very poor customer service scenarios and/or returning to vehicle damage. LAX parking lots do not have that kind of reputation from the research conducted in this short timespan before my flight. I was able to book the LAX economy lot for 6 days at a total of $99. This was the safest option and not a terrible price to pay. Also compared to Uber price from Monrovia to LAX two times ($60 without any surge pricing 1-way). $99 beat 2 trips with ridesharing and don't have to find someone to watch my vehicle either. After booking the long-term parking, it was around 0400 AM, so I just stayed up until my 0900 AM flight.
  I began getting packed for my Oregon trip, ate some leftover Chinese soup for breakfast, shaved and showered. I then planned the driving route to LAX from Monrovia, little did I remember it was a regular business day and to expect morning traffic HAHA! So, I started my long-term parking reservation at 0630 AM until around 1245 AM on the 31st. I left around 0530-0600 and was expecting a quick drive. Traffic ended up being typical heavy traffic and I was like "Oh shi*" haha. Anyways, I had 2 delays and still made the flight in time. The first delay was the traffic, the second was finding the shuttle from LAX Economy Lot to LAX Alaska Terminal. I ended up asking a construction worker who led me to the wrong shuttle area. I got tired of busses passing me and went back to the parking lot. The construction worker pointed next to the parking lot, while the busses outside the lot would not stop for me. I went back into the Economy lot about 0745 AM to look for the shuttle area and sure enough found it. It was on the opposite end of where I parked and the signs are not very clear for sleep deprived people hahaaha. I made it to Alaska terminal just in time around 0800 AM, with 1 hour until take-off beginning at TSA security... which was quick and getting on the plane almost exactly 30 minutes before take-off. There was an elderly woman who was scared that she would miss her flight in the TSA line, I assured her that we would make it and she happened to be on the exact same flight. My bag was even checked by a TSA agent taking me longer then her and again, I made it almost exactly 30 minutes before take-off. I made it to the flight with no sleep, mission accomplished. I slept on the entire flight, was great. Held me over not to fall asleep during the day with the Chai family. After the flight, Jody picked me up from the Airport. We went to check on the Chai store and then went to the Chai Home to greet the rest of the Chai Family. We just chilled for the rest of the day and night. It's always really noticeable once you get off the plane in Oregon, how much calmer the environment and people are and just being able to breathe more. There are so much more trees in Oregon and everywhere you look is going to be a wall of green somewhere. The oxygen is a lot fresher/clearer, compared to the smoggy and chemical atmosphere of California. Taking a deep breath feels and is just overall much better in Oregon.

• 10.25 (Wednesday) - I was playing World of Warcraft on the laptop after midnight for my birthday. I went to sleep a bit late. Waking up around 1000 after a great night of sleep. I learned after sleeping on the Chai family's guest bed, which is very firm... that I now need a firm mattress because I have not once woken up with back pain/stiffness here. I am writing this blog on the 27th, so I have slept on this firm mattress for 3 nights now and all nights have had zero back pain/stiffness waking up. Anyway, we started the day with a trip to Benihanas, which was quite an amazing experience. The chef was Chinese, with Japanese humor and cooked very well. Last time I went to Benihana in Los Angeles, the chef didn't cook the food as good as remembered. The chef here in Portland did an excellent job with entertainment and cooked the food deliciously, just like I remembered. The reason I go to Benihana is the garlic-buttered fried rice and this chef said he likes to put a little extra in his cooking. Makes sense that it tasted really good after hearing that generous tip; add more garlic butter hehe. After eating we headed back to the Chai Home, where me and Jody got ready for a sparring class at American Top Team gym to practice Muay Thai. I finally got to spar with Jody and a lot of his gym buddies. It was so fun; I learned a lot too. I was asking for tips on how to improve myself and was given this: Stop charging forward with my head down, work on my posture for bobbing and weaving (as in bend knees and move body up and down or side to side... instead of leaning forward), Muay Thai also adds knees and better at sidekicks than Krav sparring... so I had a taste of my first side-kick to the ribs by Jody haha (knocked the wind out of me for a few seconds). I did some boxing dodging with another partner; I dodged his punch by leaning back and then he did the same to me haha fun. We had a full hour of light sparring and that was really great, since Krav Maga only has about 15 minutes of sparring on average in a fight class of sparring. This was a very nice experience to spar for a full class as 3-minute rounds and 1-minute rests. Went to the grocery store to buy some steaks for dinner and had steak dinner with the Chai family to end the birthday evening.

• 10.26 (Thursday) - This was a chill day at the Chai Home, hanging with the kids and playing on my laptop here and there. 

• 10.27 (Friday) - Woke up and still shocked that a firm mattress has cured my back pain/stiffness haha. Saw Jody had started a home project he told me about earlier, fixing a wooden fence post. I went upstairs to get my dental hygiene done and dressed quickly to help out. Jody had already taken the fence boards off, surrounding the broken post. By the time I got outside to help, we had to figure out what to do. We both had no clue what to do with fence posts, haha. I asked Google how far a fence post should be and it said 1/3 of the post length should be in the ground as reference. We dug as much of the dirt out and found a cement base, with a hole for the post in the center of the cement base. We had to break the wood up and take it out of the cement base, piece by piece. I was able to use a small hand bar and hammer to clear it really good. We reached the bottom of the post base and were ready to install the new post, all of the old wood had been cleared out and any other debris. The new post was put over the hole and didn't fit the tight base, we had to chip away the top of the cement a bit. Once that was done, the new post slid in pretty good but still needed to be banged down. Jody had found a big rock and we used it as a hammer, with a ladder to reach the top of the post. Using the big rock to bang the post down, I saw it was deforming the top of the post and remembered that a lot of construction guys use other boards on top of the one you're banging to keep it looking good. So, I got a board to lay over the new post and we banged on that to get it the rest of the way down. Minimizing the damage to the top of the post, Jody just has to re-seal the top for the weather treatment. Then after that we put on the fence framework surrounding the post and then nailed up each board on the fence frame. It wasn't that hard to figure out. There is 2 long studs going parallel that you connect the posts with. Then, you have the fence boards that nail/screw onto the studs/posts and thats how this fence was held up. We were able to get the post about 3 ft into the ground, standing at about 8 ft tall, should be good for a long time. Amy had made me a really good coffee during this and I got a splinter because no gloves haha. Amy was able to get the small splinter out with a sewing needle. Amy was also making a SopKho Cambodian beef soup. It was the first time in 2 years that I ate food cooked by Amy, I was really happy and enjoyed it all. Delicious. At around 2 PM Jody went to pick up his daughter from school and I made sure that all the framework with 16 points had a screw or nail in it before putting on the fence boards. It was a beautiful day with sunshine in Oregon, nice and cool in October and getting that natural vitamin D. I noted that It was a beautiful day to skydive, but I was happy to stay and work on the fence with Jody. Helping friends is more important than something that I can do on my own at a later time. I had got hung up on one nail that was a bit crooked, not familiar with nailing at all...so I didn't know that nails are very finicky at going in once they are bent haha. Once I saw that it wasn't going in after trying every angle, I stopped with that nail haha. Jody came back and said it was in good enough so we left it at that. I finished one last frame screw and then got all the boards on the frame. By around 3 PM we finished and the open area that I woke up to, was now a complete fence again. We then got to eat Amy's amazing cooking, the amazing beef Cambodian soup. Anything Amy cooks is really amazing though, no joke and very serious.
  Later after cleaning up from the dirt of muddy fence re-building, we ate more of Amy's soup. Chilling at the Chai Home until Cassandra came over to help watch the kids. Amy and Jody had already planned a double date event for themselves before my vacation announcement. I told them not to cancel and go enjoy themselves. Now in the evening of the day, watching the kids with Cassandra. The son was upstairs watching tv, while the daughter was downstairs in the living room playing and watching tv with me. Cassandra was sitting in the kitchen on her phone most of the time. I was just starting to begin this blog entry but decided to play and observe with the kids. The son is very distant with me, so I leave him alone. The daughter remembers me and is very open to playing and picking shows to watch on tv. We played with toys and watched Transylvania. I had a little break when the daughter went upstairs to watch tv with her brother. I started writing more on this blog entry, stopping when I heard some commotion upstairs haha. There was a little sibling fight and crackers spilled all over the couch there. I got a vacuum and with the daughter's help was able to clean up the mess pretty quickly. The son become more aware and noticed his parents were out at this time and had a short tantrum. After his tantrum he became really mellow and went back to watching tv. Later coming downstairs with the rest of us and falling asleep on the couch. Meanwhile, the daughter still full of energy bouncing all over the living room haha. Trying to keep her picking shows to put on tv and playing with toys. Amy and Jody came home around 1030-1100 PM. The son had been sick since my arrival on the 24th, tonight on the 27th was the first time his fever broke down so that was nice to see. Amy and Jody were updated on how they were while we watched them and Amy's older son came by around 1130 PM to pick up his girlfriend Cassandra who was here watching the kids with me. The son was still asleep and Jody carried him off to bed. The daughter was sent upstairs to go to bed and then I was able to continue writing this blog entry. We continued to all chill and talk a bit more downstairs before everyone left or went to bed. I continued to finish this blog entry before playing a little World of Warcraft and then going to bed.

• 10.28 (Saturday) - 

• 10.29 (Sunday) - 

9.23.2023 - Completed and passed Krav Maga Yellow Belt test. Instructor Kevin at Krav Maga Unleashed, Pasadena.

7/23 Sunday (Only 2 days of Krav Maga this week)

• Errand Day. Laundry + put laundry away, Grocery shopping + organizing groceries and compacting supplies, PC full virus scan for 35 minutes, PC offline virus scan was just a few minutes with no detections for both, OLED settings changed under Game Optimizer and "Fine tune Dark Areas set from 0 to -20", OLED used to have dark pixelated boxes in heavy black scenes which is no longer visible "Fixed". Noted that the 32" Monitor has a buzzing sound when Gsync is disabled and 1ms Motion Blur Reduction is enabled. Turned that feature off and went back to Gsync and the buzzing sound went back to being hardly noticeable.

• Anime Watching. 7 Deadly Sins today, sped up through to the last season trying to see where I have left off a few years ago.

7/21 - 7/22 Friday, Saturday

• 0600-1700 Armed Security, normal day. Typical company forcing overtime last minute, I had to stay until 1700 instead of 1630.

• 1730-1930 Vehicle Errands, for a long night of driving with a client. Filled up the tank with gas, car wash, vacuum inside, head home to shower and take off uniform and put on regular clothes for the night.

• 1930-0500 Friday Pickup to Saturday drop-off in Pasadena and drive to Griffith Observatory. On the way to Griffith Observatory, I became aware that the real destination was Mt Wilson Observatory. We arrived at Mt Wilson Observatory around 2040, which they were just starting to view and look through the giant telescope. We didn't miss much at all, they had a worker wait for us at the gate. So, we drove in and parked at the telescope area. We went in and walked up the stairs to find the 2 bathrooms, 1 break area and the telescope on the top floor. Basically all night until 0100 they were changing the path of the telescope to view different parts of the night sky. We were told that these are distant stars, nebulas and such that we were looking at. I felt like it was just like looking up at the sky in the mountains with no light pollution. Not really my thing, I was more fascinated with the way the giant telescope moving. The entire telescope platform spins or rotates, with the giant telescope being able to also move up or down and diagonally. The dome opening would move as the platform did and they would position the opening for the new telescope view, quite a magnificent view to see such huge machinery move in such a fake world with forceful un-advanced crappy technology. So, after the viewing at 0100 we were all leaving. There was an accident on the Angeles Crest Highway on the way back and we sat for nearly 2 hours. Took nap. Upon road opening, we were met with another road accident closure that was going to be a much longer duration. The Highway Patrol told us to turn back and find another way out, which we did. This added a total of around 3 hours extra drive time. I got home at 0500.

• Saturday was a mess with all that extra driving, I had skipped Sparring at Krav Maga for the second weekend now.  Sleeping in was very much a great feeling. I got a massage and just relaxed for the entire day. Later read my email that the Bodyguard company had declined me for recruitment.

7/19 Wednesday

• 0600-1630 Armed Security, Normal day. No incidents.

• 1830-1930 Krav Maga Bag Class with BP vest. This class was very fun, I had a lot of energy and noticed an improvement in stamina.

• 1930-2030 Krav Maga Beginners without BP vest. We did some front kicks and choke defense.

7/17 Monday

• Called off Armed Security to sleep-in. Just got home at around 0200 in the morning from Fresno.

• Think I finished up my taxes for HowtoCalmLife LLC on this day, not completely sure oops.

• 1830-1930 Krav Maga Bag Class. Felt really low on energy, I also had a smoothie right before class that didnt help with a full stomach haha. I wanted to stay for Jiu-Jitsu but had to go grocery shopping since I was in Fresno over the weekend.

• 1930-2100 Grocery Shopping and compacting space as normal.

7/15 - 7/16 Saturday, Sunday

• I was supposed to get the 96' Civic from Chris this weekend and register it on Monday to drive home with it. However, it's still not restored and not worked on. We spent the entire weekend organizing his tasks and moving stuff not related to the Civic. I was there when he purchased all the paint supplies, this is going to be a nice paint job woooo. What we planned to do was wash and vacuum it, carpet clean all seats, install the cabin carpet, Fix/Replace A/C, Replace Struts, Body work before painting, Painting before Monday. Sunday night came and we had yet to start any of that list, so I just drove home around 2030 and got home around 0200. There was a traffic blockage before passing Six Flags for some unknown reason they closed all the lanes with no noticeable reason. I called Chris the next day to go over the tasks again and give him more time to complete them. He wanted help with the body work and paint prep, so I told him to let me know when we are ready for that and I'll come back on another weekend. We'll see how it goes, waiting on this car for 8 months now. It does run but the progress of this is going very slow haha.

7/14 Friday (no Krav this week, only 1 day in the weights gym. Need to pick it up again next week. Handled a lot of business things and personal matters.)

• Went to Pasadena Courthouse for a ticket that I got from the 2021 Hyundai Sonata accident. The police cited me for an unsafe turn, even though the driver who slammed into me did not make any attempts to stop and was on their phone going at a high speed in a residential area. I was very busy at the time of defending myself for the accident and 100% fault was declared on me as a result, plus the police cited this on me. I went to ask for a reduced fee and possible dismissal due to those circumstances, plus my huge loss of investment on the vehicle. I was in no way compensated for another vehicle after the accident. It turns out that all I could do today was make an appointment for a court date, which I have scheduled in August. I will plead guilty but explain my case and ask for a dismissal or reduced fine. As long as the point is not added to my license, I'm good.

• Finish Business Taxes by finally reconciling QuickBooks. To do that, you have to look at your business bank statements and input your ending balance with the ending date. QuickBooks then tells you if there are any discrepancies and if everything matches, your total should be $0.00 difference. Since I was only active for 3 months, I checked those 3 months and all of them were $0.00 difference. Legalzoom is now responsible for finishing the filing portion, they will send me the final filing documents over email and i'll have to sign electronically for them to send the amended tax documents.

• I also spent today planning with my friend Chris on getting the 96 Civic ready to drive and put in my name. This way I can stop borrowing the 2000 Celica GT from my mom and they said my brother will be given the vehicle. We have quite a bit of work to do on it over the weekend, hopefully ready to drive home on Monday. If it is ready, I will register the car in my name and start making payments on the car to Chris.

• Also planning with family on getting rid of my furniture up for sale. I recently updated my desk from a short width and long L desk to a bigger one-piece desk that can be used for sitting or standing. I also updated my TV stand to go on a small heavy duty stand with wheels, compared to a huge 3 tier glass shelve entertainment center. My new TV stand is saving so much more space and is way more convenient to move, simply point it at my desk or the bed with the wheels. I do wish it was taller though for the standing desk, I have to look a bit down at the tv while actually standing... wish it was at eye level. It's still tall enough though and my next purchase will be an ergonomic desk chair. I am selling the Entertainment center to my sister in Fresno and giving the L desk to my mom.
  I have a gaming desk chair right now and they are not made to be ergonomic, just have a cool color and design. An ergonomic desk chair will be breathable material, have adjustments for lower back and the neck, have height adjustment and arm rest height adjustment. My gaming chair did not have arm rest height adjustment and I just removed the arm rests completely. Lower back and neck adjustments are also non-existent on the gaming chair so its uncomfortable after sitting for extended timeframes. An ergonomic desk chair will probably be a goal to have one next year, unless my income increases this year.

• Planning for the road trip to Fresno with the furniture. So, this trip to Fresno will be for 3 causes. Assist where I can with Chris on restoring the 96 Civic to hopefully have it ready to drive home, instead of the Celica by Monday. Sell and setup the Entertainment center for my sister, I paid $250 and selling to her for $100. Give the desk to my mom for free and help setup. Let's see how it goes, the furniture stuff will be easy. We don't know how the car stuff will go hehe, let's hope it finishes as expected by Monday morning!

7/12 Wednesday

• Called off work to do Business Taxes I learned quite a bit of information. So, I'm currently with Legalzoom tax services and they basically just help you learn QuickBooks and then after you learn it, you reconcile it and they can file your business taxes. I had to learn how to do it, it's pretty simple once you learn it, like everything else. Just so many options in QuickBooks, it's nice to have someone hold your hand until you get it haha. I feel that Legalzoom tax services is hugely overpriced for just being an observing entity during the process. Normally, if going with an accountant, they would also act as your bookkeeper and you should be able to trust them and its more taken care of. It was $159 a month and a binding contract for 12 months. Just under $2000 for the tax services and all they did was file for me lol. Huge waste of money. I will also be making a DBA, so I don't have to pay the $800 LLC fee for California. When I start having clients and need an insurance or protection, I can then file for the LLC again.

Basically, QuickBooks had me creating expenses, link my business bank account to automatically include incoming payments and lastly reconciling your account for Legalzoom to file your taxes. Since it is also added onto your personal taxes, they had to amend my personal taxes and add this business tax information. I was told I have 3 years to actually amend a tax report, so you are not actually late until after 3 years. Repeating the note of first year LLC owners of California get the $800 fee waived. You don't have to pay the $800 California fee until your 2nd year.

• Interview with Allied Universal for Armed Field Supervisor. Felt like they didnt like me, even though I was the most qualified. This was confirmed on 7/14 when they told me I was not selected haha. There is a lot of drama with this company regarding daily reports and I won't get into too much detail here lol. Let's just say most guards don't write anything on their daily reports and I do, so they don't like that and started creating childish drama haha. It is my guess that I was not selected because of this drama. I almost nailed the interview, besides a few parts I felt I said a lot without looking at any notes. Nice group speaking practice, I don't mind not getting the position.

• Costco stop to fill up the gas tank, get an ice cream and cheese pizza slice. Headed home for the day.

7/9 Sunday

• Applied to Armed Field Supervisor with Allied Universal (current employer).

• Also applied to Gavin de Becker & Associates to be a bodyguard.

7/8 Saturday

• Fight Class at Krav was interesting. I had been proud of finally getting MMA gloves and then they were using boxing gloves haha. So, now I will have to bring both types of gloves to class. I had gotten poor looks from other members. I still stayed and did what I could with MMA gloves, if I had to go lighter than thats what I did. One guy even put MMA gloves on for me in a spar round, that was cool. So, they warmed up with lining up for body shots. I can't remember what else we did besides sparring. I stayed to watch most of the orange belt workshop afterwards.

• Chiropractor was great. I told Dr Rogers about my neck being the chief complaint. My neck was the biggest crackling, I am very good at pinpointing where to be adjusted. Seems to be a regular adjustment to do my upper back and neck and it feels great after.

7/4 Tuesday (Holiday No Work)

• Put together the new sit/stand desk and made a great meal for the day. Korean BBQ inspired marinade, grass fed ground beef burgers. Pecan, Walnut Giant Pancake with 100% real maple syrup.

7/3 Monday

• 0600-1630 Armed Security sent to Pasadena for the day. It was funny in the morning I had spilled my entire bowl of pancake mix on the floor. I spent around 30-40 minutes just vacuuming and wiping it all down haha. Ended up having to go get burritos at JB Burgers because I ran out of time to do anything else. Didnt get to shave and also forget my watch haha. That pancake mix spilling really threw my morning off. I later had a great workout in the gym this night!!

• 2000-2200 Weights Gym This was a very good workout night! I did up to 225 squats with BP vest on. Some lower back extensions. Then I did my 35/45-pound plate raises on the giant tire. AFTER my usual custom plate raises exercise for 20 minutes, I then did 35 minutes of tire flipping. I set my timer for 20 minutes and then wanted to keep going, set it for 5 minutes and just kept going for 3 rounds of 5 minutes as well. Total is roughly 35 minutes that I can track by timer. My back, forearms, legs were all really tired afterwards. I even had black fingers and biceps from the tire. I think I'll make this a new tradition to flip the tire for 35 minutes, once a month or something, that was really fun.

7/1 Saturday

• 0900-1000 Krav beginners 

• 1000-1100 Mauy Tai Pads Striking with BP vest.

• 1100-1200 Fight Class training to see opponents strikes and a judo-like throw/take-down.

• 1300-1315 Chiropractor cracked my spine really good. It was loud and took the breath out of me haha. Since I had my neck over-stretched, it felt good to have the neck cracked as well. It's hard to crack my neck now, doesn't feel natural anymore. The Chiropractor Dr. Rogers is very good at adjusting the neck; I trust him not to turn me into a vegetable. In other words, if the chiropractor does it wrong, they can injure you. Which is why it's important to be with a good practitioner.

• Drove my broken desk to Diego's, since he is into carpentry work. I asked him if he would like a free desk, he would just have to fix the cracked tabletop. He accepted it earlier in the week and I was able to deliver it today. Him and his fiancé later invited me to third wheel fireworks show on the lake nearby their home. I accepted and couldn't recall the last time I sat to watch fireworks in person. They also got some Mexican food and paid for my meal, thank you Diego and Mary! I was pretty wiped out from the morning 3-hour workout, the hot drive with no A/C to their home and they offered me to stay the night in the guest room. The next day, Mary made eggs and pancakes before I put oil in the car and air in the tires to head home. Headed home and noticed I forgot my blender cup, damn haha. It was the bigger cup, so now I have the smaller backup cup but its smaller :(

6/25 Sunday

1. 6/23 Friday

• 0600-1700 Day job as Armed Security had nothing to report on this day.

• Did not go to Krav because I was still tired from not sleeping the night before, so I planned for a 3-hour session the next day.

2. 6/24 Saturday

• 0800-0900 Wake up and get ready for 3-hour session at Krav! Made the daily smoothie, grabbed my BP vest for thai pads class, ran out the door to make it by 0900.

• 0900-1200 Krav 3-hour session Begins with a (1 hour) Beginners class. We did a lot of forearm smashing and causing bruises haha. They call it body defense where you have your arm in a 90-degree angle and you raise it to stop attackers, hitting their forearm. This is very painful and everyone "loves" it every time I see a class doing it haha. Expect some nice bruises on your forearms after a class with this hehe! (2nd hour) Thai Pads with 6lb vest was really good practice on combo memorization. Me and my partner Mike would practice the combo a bit and eventually get a clean performance. The goal is for the pad holder and you to remember which strike and order to execute. The combo usually starts at 3 strikes and goes up to 9-12 strikes consecutively. There are going to be moments where you really got it down and for me sometimes i just blank out haha. Mike was very patient with me and my blanking out, thanks Mike it was a fun class. (3rd hour) Fight Class was especially fun today because I got to experience my first set of decent punches to the face. Note that I challenged all the tall guys to spar so I can get some good practice with tall people haha. It's fun. Well, they are going rougher on me, they said its a sign that I am showing signs of improvement and so they feel its okay to go rougher. So, the first punch to the face was between the eye brows. Not really phased by it, but my partner stopped to mention it and give me a breather if I needed anyway. I carried on. The next punch to the face landed on my nose! Phew! I had watery eyes and it stung for a bit haha, it is still sensitive and I feel like I should get it looked at for alignment hmmm. Last time I had this much sensitivity on my nose it took over a month to stop hurting, well anyway the round was over shortly after that. My partner noted it and checked on me like the first guy did when it landed. I also noticed that when I'm in close, I seem to blur out a bit while I'm moving and have hit 2 people with an elbow unintentionally. I'm trying to get in close more so I get used to it and stop blurring out to see what I'm doing. I feel like my dodging is decent, however everyone also notices that I need to work on recoil. After I strike, I am really easy to counter. I have to work on recoil and/or expecting to defend against a counter strike. That was a fun sparring class.

• 1200-1600 Stayed to talk about fighting with the crew and there was also a green belt seminar that we are able to stay and watch. I ended up staying until 1600, leaving early to make a Chiropractor visit. Wish I would have stayed at Krav because the Chiropractor was busy and unable to see me before they closed. So, I left the green belt seminar observations before it ended and didnt get my back adjusted haha, sucks. Moving on, I went home to make a big dinner since I just had a protein smoothie and some sourdough at krav.

• 2000-0400 Started working on the furniture layout remodel in the studio. I got both new Tv stand and desk from Amazon, so I felt I would get started. I wasn't that tired after eating the big dinner. First, I took everything off the old entertainment center and unplugged all cables from Tv and Pc. Second, I took the TV off the the old stand and laid it on the bed. I deconstructed the old tv stand and the old desk. I then put together the new TV stand and put it on to get it off the bed. I still had my old desk on the bed too, so I moved all the parts to the wall and went to bed after all the TV stuff was plugged in and I could listen to some rain sounds for bed.

Now for today, 6/25 Sunday I finished with the studio remodeling. I was able to unbox the new desk however it was damaged. I had requested a new desk tabletop from the seller and they responded same day with a green light on the request. I could keep the damaged part but, Honestly, I don't know what to do with it. The new desk was actually bent so much that it cracked and is no longer at full integrity. If it was just the box all beat up and the desk was unharmed that would have been nice. It's too bad the desk was damaged, now I have to figure out what to do with the broken one. I don't know if someone can use it still even though its lost integrity, it's a big desk top would be a shame to toss it in the garbage. Well anyway, I got the Tv stand all wired up and put my old "L" desk back together. The L desk could actually fit now since the new tv stand is so much smaller. The saved space really is nice for this small studio. The only downside to the small stand is having a lengthy sound bar haha. My sound bar is pretty much the length of the tv almost, so it just dangles like in midair and is susceptible to being walked into and knocked off. It's a good thing that I planned the layout with walkways in mind, so that the furniture is less likely to be knocked down. Since the L desk is back together, I am really loving to make the OLED main monitor again. I was using the new IPS monitor as main for a while since the desk layout was no longer facing the OLED. Since I have more space now with the old entertainment center gone, I was able to position the desk and 2nd monitor in good position to use both. Everything is up and running again, will have to wait on the next desk table to arrive, then i'll have to unplug everything on the L desk and disassemble it and make the new desk. Fun haha. Fun weekend!

6/22 Thursday

• 0600-1700 (0300 went to sleep!)
  Day job as Armed Security, nothing to report but I'd like to mention what I did after work for this job. I was a witness to a supervisor berating an employee, an elderly employee and apparently this has been going on for some time. I stayed up until 0300 writing what I witnessed and tried to emphasize on how wrong that was. This was a nice little old lady who walks around with a cane. She was berated in front of myself and 2 other workers. That was very uncalled for and I felt bad so, I said I'd write something and give it to her on Friday which was the next day. I had to stay up and kept proofreading it, trying to emphasize the matter being wrong. Hope she doesn't have to keep enduring that kind of treatment there, but this is pretty typical in government/corporate scenery. People are just numbers and the management could care less about the workers. I'd say it's mostly family-owned businesses where you will have more of a chance to be treated like an actual human. Hope my statement helps the old lady get some justice, she was just talking to an old friend in the main lobby after her shift. 

6/21 Wednesday

• 0600-1700
  Day job as Armed Security, nothing to really report on this day. It was either this day or the next day where I found a guy drugged out in front of the county parking lot. I went to get a sheriff to see how they respond, they just ask them to leave the property even though they can hardly stand up eh... not much you can do and you don't want to touch them in case they have an open needle on them somewhere. Although an EMT would have to touch them, so I wonder what a safe protocol is regarding needle pokes is. As a prior Phlebotomist, I was always the one with the needle so never had to worry about that. Well, the guy stumbled down the sidewalk a little bit and then fell over into the street. Some bystanders stopped of course and tried talking to him, I explained he was under the influence or on drugs. Sheriffs had called paramedics to the scene and they left within a few minutes. A lady had come to claim him as a person of interest and that was it.

• 1930-2030
  Krav Maga Beginners
  tonight was with Nick, I remember lining up to do punching defense and punching without wraps or gloves on. We did a lot of punch re-directing, that was pretty much the class. Instructor is trying to do a progression theme, not just random techniques/drills so that was new.

• 2100-2200
  Weights gym
  was very fun on this night, I was able to do deadlifts and my usual back workout on the giant tire. First time doing deadlifts in a while, was able to get x2 45's for 225 pounds. I feel like my strength was sapped from deadlifts, yet still improving on endurance for the Back exercise I created with the giant tire. Still got a 45 plate and 35 plate on both ends of the tire. I raise one plate for 30 seconds and rest for 1 minute, repeating for 20 minutes straight. Fun.

6/20 Tuesday

• 0600-1700
  Day job as Armed Security, nothing to report on this day besides something really funny. I went up to a new county worker and said, "This is a no laughing and no talking area". This lady took me dead serious and now hates me hahaha. I have never had someone take me seriously when I said that there's a first for everything, I guess lol.

• 1800-2300
  Home Organizing, used as a rest day. I ordered a new bargain deal sit/stand desk on the 6th; it finally came in today. It happened to be a normal size, very nice desk for only $114 with tax. Usually they cost $300+, which is why I grabbed one. Well, my studio is too small for regular sized desk. I have been using a small L desk with nearly half the width and length, so it fit pretty good. This new desk made me think of downsizing my entertainment center, so I would need to sell it and in exchange get a mobile TV stand. Mobile TV stands are much smaller than a full-on living room entertainment center TV stand. Also, since I use the TV for both desk and bed use, with a TV stand having wheels it will be able to move as a whole; instead of just rotating on a swivel. Spent a lot of time just searching for a TV stand that looks tall enough and not cheap since the OLED will be going on it. So basically I'm going to sell my entertainment center since it takes up so much space and downgrade to a mobile TV stand. I will be fine with that since it gives me more space in the studio and ability to wheel the tv for perfect angle at desk and bed.

• 1800-2300
  More Home Organizing also included going through some personal documents and organizing them into folders or tossing them away. I have made a pile of documents on my entertainment center and it's been a while since I organized them. I made some progress on my personal document filing and deposited a random check that I haven't deposited yet.

6/19 Monday

• Holiday, off from day job,

• 1930-2100
  Ground Fighting at Krav Maga, was really fun mainly due to the end of class. I am not sure how long the match was, but I got to roll with a senior guy and was able to last for a good amount of time. I learned to inch my way up higher, whenever in top mount and try to keep my balance because he flipped me over every time I would get top mount on him. Fun fun.

6/17 Saturday

• 1100-1200
  Fight class at Krav Maga today was very fun. No injuries besides a good tap to my nose, felt the cartilage bend haha. No lingering side effects from the hit to the nose. This was noted during class, but never stopped fighting because of it. I tried working on my mistakes, like coming in without setting up and big movements without a purpose. It seems I am trying to confuse my opponent by moving a lot, but it's so obvious when I actually go in for a strike haha. At the end of class, we finished with a body striking line. I found this part to be the reason why it was so fun today, I was noticing that I had gotten better at blocking body shots and giving body shots. I sparred with this guy who is like me and blurs out, so people don't really like sparring with him. I got to talk to him about it and tell him I went through the same thing as a beginning fighter, it will be less blurry and you'll be able to think more and things will start to slow down. I think he appreciated the conversation, since I guess... others don't like to spar with him since he loses control of himself.

• 1200-1500
  Observe brown belt seminar was being able to see gun defenses and takeaways, ground submissions, flying knees, climbing kick. I was able to stay and watch until the seminar ended.

• 1530-1600
  Chiropractor was nice, i needed to crack my back and neck. It was done very nicely by Dr Rogers.

• 1630-1830
  Massage Therapy was very much needed after this week. I did not have my massage buddy to trade with, so I went and got a 2-hour full body Chinese massage. They are very good at getting knots out, reflexology, today my therapist ended with some nice assisted stretches. Worked on my back for like an hour straight, I had a lot of knots. All this exercise is building a lot of knots.

6/16 Friday

• 0600-1700
  Armed Security went very well, according to the potluck that was planned. There was also no incident at work for the day. For the potluck there was my 2 pizzas from Costco and my air fryer to warm all the pizzas to a nice crisp, cheese and pepperoni. Maria brought a supreme pizza and ceasar salad from Sam's club. Myint brought soda for the others, I don't drink soda. Rianna brought an amazing fruit tart cake from Superior grocery store, it was not too sweet and so I liked that very much haha. Everyone else liked the dessert a lot also, I'd say it was MVP of the foods for today's potluck. We ended up not eating a lot of the pizza and almost had a full Costco size to give away, which we did to one of the late closing employees. Maria suggested she make enchiladas for the next one, she cooks a lot so that sounded like a good idea. As far as security work for the day, this should conclude a coworkers vacation and the company asking me to stay late haha. I did find out what closers are supposed to do and wrote it down for new closers to follow. For example, a supervisor and new closer showed up today at 1700 and they were given my notes by another coworker. I keep finding things to contribute to this company haha.

• 1830-1930
  Krav Beginners today was about getting out of wrist holds. This was also my first class alongside my Krav crush, it's hard not to just stare at her haha she's very beautiful phew! So, we had grabbed our partners wrist with one hand and pulled them to the sides. The drill was to use the pull as momentum for striking and getting into fight stance. We would switch sides from left to right wrist grabbing and then pulling, the victim would then practice turning the pulling into a strike. We later transitioned into a two-hand grab on the wrist/forearm. I don't remember what else we did so I'll just tell you about after class. I had declared a buddy to be my rival in ground fighting, after we rolled. He came up to me after class asking to roll and I said of course. We rolled for quite some time, got 3 good rounds in. In previous rolls with him, you could tell we were both very new and were like wtf do we do haha. Now this time it was like we are going for submissions and we are not letting each other get into a submission hold. It was very cool to see that we both progressed tremendously. I eventually got him with what he calls an Americana, I was doing some disfigured version of it and after we rolled, he showed me how it's supposed to be done and that made way more sense. I will now try doing the Americana the way he showed me. So, he got me in top mount position and I was stuck, but then in an instant I thought of a class where we rolled opponents over. Boom, I rolled him over and got top mount on him, then I went for my disfigured Americana and he tapped. I also wanted him to show me what he was trying to go for and we just traded opinions on what we were trying to do and how much better we both are now.

• 2010-2130
  Weights Gym was Biceps and Triceps, lower back, thighs and ended with a 20 min session of 1 minute on and 30 seconds rest for the punching bag. My wrists were wrapped for the punching bag. OH, I also did some abbs on the cable machine from left to right side. I hold the cable grip with two hands and pull heavy weight to the left or the right side with a body twisting motion, very fun. Punching bag was fun also, haven't done that in a while.

6/15 Thursday

• 0600-1700
  Wake up for Armed Security. No incidents to report this day, I did however remind those who I work with about a potluck. I love to bring food and started making friends at my current home base. I have yet to bring food here, since I had to get to know everyone and make friends first. A few days ago, I initiated and said I would bring some Costco pizza and then invited others I see a lot to also bring something. Today was a final reminder for everyone and it will be a foodie Friday. We have a 3-day weekend due to a holiday on Monday. No incident to report today on the job. So far, we had 4 people participating in the potluck. Just the guards (3) and receptionists in the main lobby haha.

• 1900-1950
  4 Mile run with BP vest on, about 6 pounds. Felt good, I was also kind of rushing it since I wanted to make it to Costco before they closed. Costco closes at 2030, so I still had 40 minutes to get there. I finished my sprint and just came home to get the car key. Without changing or cleaning up at all, I went to Costco as to not miss the opening hours. I promised to bring Costco pizza and so I made sure to get the run done and get pizza after. Mission accomplished. Was still sore from gym last night, although after 2 miles I was warmed up and felt great. After the run, I could feel the soreness again haha.

• 1955-2030
  Errand to pick-up Costco Pizza. I got 1 cheese and 1 pepperoni. We also have someone bringing a supreme pizza from Sam's Club tomorrow, so we will have 3 different pizzas to choose from. So far, I know we will have Soda from Myint, I don't drink it but everyone else will. Maria will bring a ceasar salad and the supreme pizza from Sam's Club. Rianna will bring a dessert and then both of my Costco pizzas. Not a bad potluck, I will also have my daily smoothie, pineapple in a can, protein bar, fruit pouch and water.

6/14 Wednesday

• 0600-1700
  Wake up for Armed Security. Morning cooking, hygiene, dressed in uniform. Drive to work and get off at 1700. No incidents to report.

• 1930-2100
  Weights gym. Back, Glutes, Bench, ended the night with my deep plate raises on tire. This was especially tiring tonight, fun.

6/12 Monday

• 0600-1706
  Woke up to get ready for Armed security. Tried a new morning routine, Costco finally had Kirkland frozen chicken thighs so I thought they would be an easy meal for the day. Pop some chicken thighs in the air fryer and then do my morning hygiene and uniform. My morning routine is to usually cook something quick for the day job meal and fill my lunch bag with waters and snacks. I also make a protein and fruit smoothie daily. So, I have to get all my food ready, morning hygiene and then put my uniform on last to leave for work. This is all done in 1 hour. I got tired of waking up at 5am and moved it up to 6am since I always go to bed late, especially on workout days. Started work, it was the same as any other day. No incidents to report at todays armed security job. There are 3 guards and the late shift is on vacation, so we had a new guard doing the closing. I had to help coordinate closing duties, since I haven't closed yet myself. I found out what the closing duties were and told the new guard what to do. I left about 1706, just a few minutes past 1700 to make sure he was good to go.

• 1830-1850
  Chiropractor visit, I needed a nice upper spine crack and it went smoothly.

• 1930-2150
  Ground Fight, Krav Maga, this night was a really interesting session. The class is typically 1 hour but I was able to stay until just before 2200. We had learned some Gi/Clothing grab submissions and then rolled for the rest of class. I was with a really tall guy who was new like me, so I think we both blurred out and went a little rougher than we should have. We still had a lot of fun; no injuries and it was mostly controlled rolling. He was good at choking people out, so I made sure to never let him get near a choke hold. It was probably one of my longer rolls, I could barely make a fist from holding my grip so much haha. Fun fun. I then got to roll with the Chief Instructor and you could tell he was going easy, but he was also making me work. Chief Instructor is also a tall guy so that was good experience rolling with a bigger person. I was able to outlast my first opponent Andrew, he ended up tapping out. I ended up tapping out from the Chief Instructor since I was gassed out. I really used a lot of grip strength in my first match, I don't think I ever used so much before. Gi/Collar grabbing is really helpful but uses a lot of grip strength hehe. I then witnessed a high-end belt student roll with the Chief Instructor for over 20 minutes straight. When you are first starting out in ground fighting, you don't know moves and techniques. So, since I been coming for a while now, I was able to see some moves that they would each try to pull off and then see the other one stop that from happening. It was a really cool match to witness in person and on the mat with them to see it up close. I think stayed to just before 2200 listening to them talk about Krav and that was cool to hang with them. Before I left to get home and eat dinner, I told them I been wanting to commit to at least 3 classes a week. That I wanted to say that to someone and I happened to tell them and they got to witness me declare that, so I could get some accountability to come consistently. I shook their hands and came home for dinner, cleanup and sleep.

• 0040
  Finally cleaned up and in bed. Finished writing todays blog.

6/10 Saturday

• 1100-1200 Fight Class Sparring, Krav Maga.
  Practice control sparring, work on staying centered with opponent while moving around, keeping your distance or coming in close to strike. I took a nice kick to the body, knocked the wind out of me was fun. I also took an elbow to the foot, ouch haha. Good experience, I am less blurry in sparring and starting to be able to think and develop striking combos. Development is slow, nonetheless it is still progress, I'll take it. I am noticing the mistakes I am making during a fight. When I strike, I'm not setting up a combo and striking randomly. I need to start thinking of combos. Also, while I strike it leaves me open and I get hit a lot. I will need to work on striking in that combo fashion with a purpose and then being able to back off or keep striking so that I'm not totally open all the time. I am aware of a lot of the strikes coming towards me, so that is good. I really need to practice more striking with purpose, combo or counter. Learning how the opponent moves it seems is what experienced fighters are doing. They see common moves and attack the common pattern, as a new fighter it seems I have many common patterns haha. I need to develop more, so I'm not predictable!

6/9 Friday

• 0534-1600 Call from my Armed Security Supervisor, to ask about covering another location. I accepted new location assignment for the day in Pomona, instead of my usual El Monte County building. Usual time is 0800 to 1700, this other location was 0700 to 1600. Worked without a lunch break, ate on post so I could get paid for 9 hours. I took the assignment mainly for an assured opportunity to get to Krav at 1830. I have to rush when I get off at 1700, from drive time and taking uniform off and cleaning up.

• 1830-1930 Krav Maga Beginners
  Practice fall breaks and getting up into fight stance, top-mounted ground choke break, ground kicks with heel strike.

6/7 Wednesday

• 0900-1500 Personal driver today for a friend, start in Monrovia to pick them up in Pomona. Drove them to Riverside for their daughter's high school graduation and back to their home in Pomona. I had called off of armed security work the day prior.

• 1830-1930 Gave a massage to Faith. Main request was Neck, Lower back, Right arm. Worked on loosening the stiff joints and relaxing the muscle tension. Right arm is a common request, it is her dominant arm so that makes sense. She is a licensed massage therapist and uses her right hand a lot, including her weight training as a fitness model.

6/6 Tuesday

• 0800-1700 Armed Security.

• 1830-1930 Muay Thai Striking at Krav Maga.

• 2030-2130 Weights Gym, Back/Forearm/Shoulder.

• 2230 Called off day job tomorrow, will be a personal driver for a graduation in Riverside.

• 2300 Found a Sit/Stand desk bargain deal purchase ordered it for the studio. Took screenshot to share in bargain deals section (not public yet).

6/4 Sunday

• Laundry, 3 loads. Regular clothes, Work Uniform, Bed Sheets.

• Rest, No Exercise.

• Cook awesome tri-tip dinner.

• Watched Anime. 7 Deadly Sins, Season 1.

6/3 Saturday

• 1100 Krav Maga Fight Class Sparring. Poked in the eye, no damage besides initial temporary pain.

• 1230 Pickup Laundry quarters from the bank.

• 1300 Weights Gym. Back Exercise: throwing 35 and 45-pound plates for 30 seconds on and 1 minute rest for 20 minutes.

• 1430 Massage 1 Hour.

• 1700 Wash car, add 1 quart of oil, check coolant fluid, Wipe windows with RainX cleaner/repellant.

6/1 Thursday

• 0800-1700 Armed Security.

• 1830 Chiropractor.

• 1930 Krav Maga Beginners. Front kicks and knife defense.

• 2100 Weights Gym. Legs/Arms Exercises by squatting, bicep curls, overhead press while laying down, Leg extensions front and back.

5/27 Saturday

• 1100 Krav Maga Fight class Sparring.

• 1300 Weights Gym.

• 1445 Chiropractor.