Posted 12:15 AM by Tim

well i know 1 of them...

Posted 12:15 AM by Tim

Millbrae Bits

haven't blogged in a while. i guess fatherhood has taken time away from the computer.

here are some pics of tyler for those of you who haven't been able to see him...

getting scared right now, he's been sleeping 4 out of the last 5 hours, going to be up late tonight...

Favorite TV Shows

i went on a binge right before tyler came of watching some dvd tv series. here are my rankings of my favorite tv shows.

1) lost - decided to hold off watching season 3 until the dvd's come out...
2) the office: favorite characters - dwight and kevin
3) arrested development - i think the guest stars are awesome, go ron howard!
4) csi las vegas - still waiting for season 6 on dvd
5) las vegas - kim will even watch on occassion. :P

Car Quiz

i think this is an accurate description of me. i actually wanted the S2000 when it first came out. good thing i didn't get it, no room for a carseat... not very practical.

I'm a Honda S2000!

You live on the edge, and you live for the adrenaline rush. You don't need luxuries, snob appeal, or superfluous gadgets. You put your top down, get your motor revving, and take all the curves that life throws at you at full speed. So what if you spin out occasionally?

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Posted 12:06 AM by Tim

What a Foo!

today i was at michael's with kim. she was looking for some scrapbooking stuff. all of the sudden i hear this loud man in the next aisle. let's just say this man had a "feminine-like" voice. his phone conversation goes something like this...

what?!! i'm not going to pay for the software! $30?!! the software doesn't even work... blah blah blah... if you don't take off the charges, i'm going to put together a class action lawsuit and sue you for 1 MILLION DOLLARS!!!! let me speak to your manager!

man, that was so funny. if i was the customer service rep, i would have just rolled over and laughed. go ahead and put together your class action lawsuit. spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars trying to put that together you IDIOT! hahaha. this just cracked me up...

Posted 1:26 AM by Tim

Thought this was interesting from sfcitygirl and starwarsboy's blog...

21 FIRSTS

1. Who was your first prom date?
Didn't go to the prom, the girl i invited said her parents wouldn't let her go.

2. Who was your first roommate?
Bro

3. What alcoholic beverage did you drink when you got drunk the first time?
Drunk only once, long island tea at 550 barnveld. strongest mixed drink i've ever had...

4. What was your first job?
Buddy's Bagels

5. What was your first nickname?
tiny tim, personally, i prefer poc

6. When did you go to your first funeral?
grandmother's brother

7. How old were you when you first moved away from your hometown?
18, for college

8. Who was your first grade teacher?
Miss Maime

9. Where did you go on your first ride on an airplane?
Hawaii, didn't fly until I got to HS. Sad...

10. When you snuck out of your house for the first time, who was it with?
No curfew in HS. No one cool enough before then to sneak out with.

11. Who was your first Best Friend and are you still friends?
Travis M. Have no idea where he's at now. I bet you Lowell people might know.

12. Where was your first sleepover?
my girlfriend's house... jk. grandparents

13. Who is the first person you call when you have a bad day?
Wife - General Stuff, San Ho - stock market, POB - FBB

14. Whose wedding were you in the first time?
Ken and Sara's

15. What is the first thing you do in the morning?
Tell Jimbo to go back to sleep.

16. What was the first concert you ever went to?
Vanilla Ice - Ice Ice Baby!

17. First tattoo or piercing?
I live vicariously through my brother.

18. First celebrity crush?
Cindy Crawford? Can't remember anyone before her...

19. Age of first "real" kiss?
Let's just say college...

20. First crush?
NB from elementary

21. First REAL love?
my golf clubs

Posted 10:05 PM by Tim

San Jose Listing

If anybody knows someone looking to buy a house in the San Jose area, let them know about this listing. It's a beautiful house in a wonderful neighborhood! :)

Posted 10:26 AM by Tim

Music

been using lala.com (it's like peerflix, but with music cd's) to get a lot of music. From 1996-2000, I bought a lot of Christian music cd's. Since then, I hardly bought music in general. Two groups that I've listened to recently that I really like are Casting Crowns and Caedmon's Call. Here are some music thoughts since I've joined lala.com.

-The 2nd Evanescence cd has the same songs as the first cd! It's just the concert version. What a poc. You can't tell by just looking at the cover.
-Here are the cd's on their way to me: all things new - steven c chapman, the beatiful letdown - switchfoot, beauty has it's grace - jaci velasquez, hoobastank, some hearts - carrie underwood
-i love t.a.t.u.'s music, great for staying awake in the car.
-avril lavigne, another artist i like
-anyone ever listen to m2m? their first cd was great, 2nd one not so much

Posted 11:02 PM by Tim

Preparing for the Unpreparable

So, how does God prepare you for fatherhood? For me, it has involved being recruited by the wifeby to sub for the school district. Over the past 3 weeks, I subbed 4 times in blocks of 1-4 hours. Each of the classrooms were so different from each other. I think 3 of the 4 classes liked me. All of the kids wanted to play with me, fighting it out for a piece of my attention.

The 4th class didn't like me as much. I was asked to watch this class for an hour on the playground while the teachers went to a meeting. So in the first 5 minutes, I see all this sand throwing in the sandbox. I have to keep telling them not to throw. Eventually, I have to take a shovel away from a kid using it to throw sand. I had to put on my stern mean face, look in their little eyes, and say "Stop throwing sand! Now I have to take your shovel away. If you keep throwing sand, you can't play in the sand anymore." A couple minutes later, I have to tell 2 kids they can't play in the sand anymore.

10 minutes go by and I see kids filling their mouths with water and acting as if they're going to spit it on other students. I see one kid chasing another kid and in two quick motions, he spits water at a kid and then throws sand at him! what a poc! i pull him aside and have him sit at a table to watch the other kids playing and having fun for 5 mintues. I have to tell him before he leaves that if he does it again, he'll sit on the table longer. kim later tells me that giving timeouts are bad, but i think this kid deserved it. :P

later i see another kid pick up woodchips, sneak up behind a kid playing nicely, and throws it at the back of his head! dang... i made him sit at the table also. had to tell him that this is what he gets for throwing woodchips. he starts crying after a couple minutes at the table.

later i find a kid who keeps pushing other kids. the sand throwing kid tattle tales on him. i have to pull the other kid aside to not push other kids because someone is going to get hurt.

fatherhood is going to be hard, i just know it...

afterwards, i have to ask kim what the "textbook" method of handling each of the situations. back in the old days, they had some great punishment methods. Standing against the wall, nose on the chalkboard, ruler to the hand, spanking, head down on the table, writing sentences, walking around the lines on the playground in a line, etc etc. what types of punishment did you guys face when you were kids? :P

Posted 1:05 AM by Tim

CD's and DVD's

i love owning cd's and dvd's...

CD's - there was a long stretch that i didn't buy a cd. that was until i started with real estate... the more time i spend in the car, the more important music has become. sitting in traffic can become bearable if the right music is playing. even though everyone owns an ipod, the only one i have is the shuffle. it was a bridal party gift from schiu last year. even still, i have never purchased an itune song. i'm still old-fashioned and like to buy the cd's with the artwork. i figure 6 cd's in my cd changer offers me enough choice of music.

i recently decided to join bmg again and get the 12 for 1. i've probably joined 7-8 times in my lifetime between bmg and columbia house. below are the cd's i picked out.

natasha bedingfield
black eyed peas
3 michael buble cd's
2 casting crown cd's

i have to buy 1 at full price to get my other 4 free ones. i'm kind of kicking myself that i didn't pick carrie underwood. i heard a few of her songs and liked them. guess she'll have to wait.

DVD's, i have a rack next to my tv that holds 25 of my favorite dvd's. the dvd's sometimes get booted out when i find better movies to displace the top 25 list. the most recent additions to the top 25 are pride and prejudice, and soon to be bought SPL, Kill the Wolf (chinese movie). i have a wide taste in movies, so a lot of different type of movies are on the rack. i have to blame our previous housemate, MA, for making me watch and like the original pride and prejudice. that's why i was able to appreciate the new one and add it to the rack.

HD DVD - it kind of hit me when i read an article today. the first hd-dvd's are coming out next month. am i going to have to transition my dvd collection to hd dvd?!! the first hd-dvd players will be around $1,000, so i'll have no temptation to buy there. blue-ray is going to be even more expensive. also, i don't even have an hdtv! the article made me think about holding off on dvd purchases and just waiting for hd-dvd players to become cheaper. man, now that i think about it, some companies are going to be raking in some heavy dough with the change in technology platforms! better start doing some more research on which stocks will benefit most. warner brothers and the other studios will be making some new cash. their licenses will be kicking them more money as people start repurchasing movies in the new format. maybe my stock gains will be enough to buy me a hdtv, hd-dvd player, and a few hd-dvd's. :)

Posted 10:13 PM by Tim

Dating Survey

Dating Strengths	Dating Weaknesses
1. Spirituality - 92.3% 2. Kindness - 81.8% 3. Financial Situation - 76.9% 4. Friendliness - 68.8% 5. Open-Mindedness - 63.6%	1. Selfishness - 54.5%

Dating Strengths Explained
Spirituality - Your spiritual side brings you peace and balance, and keeps you grounded. This is attractive, as you can help reinforce this quality in other people. Kindness - You treat other people with empathy and goodwill. This positive trait helps you stand out and draw people into your warmth. Financial Situation - You've got your financial situation under control, which is a very desirable quality. Be careful to avoid women who are only interested in your money. Friendliness - Your friendliness makes you approachable and fun to be around. A wide circle of friends also works to your advantage on the dating scene. Open-Mindedness - You are open to trying new things and entertaining new ideas, and this widens your pool of available women.
Dating Weaknesses Explained
Selfishness - You think too much of yourself and your needs. You must learn to put your partner first and tend to her needs.
Take the Dating Diversions Latest Online Dating Quiz

Posted 11:35 PM by Tim

Redwood City

yesterday in my real estate investment class, we had the redwood city planning supervisor as a guest speaker. he went over what the planning commission does and what they are currently working on in redwood city.

one of the things i found really interesting was his presentation on the renovation/urbanization of downtown redwood city. right now, downtown redwood city sucks. there aren't many restaurants or retail stores to shop at. however, the city is currently renovating the court house museum, creating an area with trees, fountains, and open space in front of the museum, and building a shopping structure that will house century theaters and a variety of restaurants and shops. i'm pretty excited. they have already built a new library about a year ago. all of this stuff is within walking distance of our house, so it should be nice to be able to stroll through downtown and enjoy it.

he also talked about the development of land on the east side of 101. there is a lot of potential there for future housing and/or mix used land. the office space that was vacant for several years will soon be occupied by stanford clinical and other biotech companies. when these buildings are filled (as it was in the dot com days), it should add to the demand of housing in redwood city, and also the money inflow to the city's coffers.

i think redwood city is definitely on the rise. i think all these developments will be very good for long term appreciation of home prices in redwood city. the planning supervisor mentioned that someone on the city council mentioned our city's slogan should be... "palo alto without the attitude".

Posted 8:57 PM by Tim

Real Estate

i got my first rental listing this week. the trend of ex-lumpers in the past 2 years has been to move down the peninsula. i think that's awesome. below is a description of the house for rent. i will post it on craigslist tomorrow and will include a link.

*****
$1900 – Clean 2BR/1BA House for Rent, OPEN HOUSE Sat + Sun

1514 33rd Avenue / Kirkham (X St)
This Inner Sunset District home has:

Master Bedroom with large closet
2nd Bedroom with closet
Bathroom
Large Well-Lit Living Room with Fireplace
Dining Room with Hardwood Floor
Breakfast Nook
Kitchen with fridge and gas stove
2 Car Garage with lots of storage space, washer & dryer
Clean backyard, great for BBQ’s
Water and Garbage included in rent.

Close to stores, restaurants, transportation, and supermarket.

Sorry, no pets.

Open House this Saturday (1/28) and Sunday (1/29) from 2-4 pm.

For questions, please contact Tim (agent) at 415-652-6253.

Posted 4:11 PM by Tim

Helicopter Game

i'm addicted. thanks mike for sending me the link at work...

Helicopter Game

if you can't break 600, you're weak.
if you can break 800, you're the average guy.
if you can break 1000, you played video games a lot when you were a kid.
if you can break 1500, you should stop playing and get back to work.
if you can beat me, i humbly bow before your video game greatness.

my 3 highest scores...
2321
2207
1748

BOOYAH! hahaha

Posted 1:49 AM by Tim

Millbrae Bits

real estate
it's official, at the end of december i will be leaving edusoft after 1.5 years to pursue real estate full time. things i'm looking forward to: helping people find houses, spending more time with my dad, increased flexibility in scedule, income based on performance. so, if you're looking for a house, give me a ring!

little yuen
nope, not us, but congrats to san ho and nancy for their thanksgiving baby; isabella grace yuen. we got to see her saturday. i usually don't say a baby is cute if it's not, but isabella was a little darling. really cute.

australia
our trip has been booked for about 2 months now. getting pretty excited. we'll be gone from 12/10-12/25. we're visiting sydney, cairns (great barrier reef), aukland (new zealand), and queenstown (new zealand). only 2 weeks til we're there.

puppies
josie got pregnant over a month ago. a "little" accident with jimbo. we didn't think the little guy had it in him after he kept grabbing her by the head. unfortunately i think she'll have the puppies sometime while we're in australia, so we won't be able to see them when they're born. fortunately, kim's parents have volunteered to take care of the dogs.

spinout
i was coming home today after showing a client some houses in sf. it was pouring pretty hard while i was driving back on 280 at night. before i knew it, the car next to me in the fast lane spins out and does a 360! the car was about 25 yards in front of me and thank goodness for God's protection (for me and the driver), the car spun to the left where only part of the car was sticking out in the fast lane.

black black friday
went to comp usa this past thursday at midnight. it was so crazy... people starting pushing into the store once the doors opened! it was a madhouse! after 12 minutes looking around the store, i got into line. it took me 75 minutes to get to the register! not sure if my 1 GB memory stick for my camera and the wireless car were worth it. after comp usa, i drove by best buy around 2am. saw a pretty long line standing in the rain!!! so crazy! thankfully, the lines took my desire away for shopping the whole weekend.

stock market
go sbux! go wfmi! go aapl! go dna!

cooked meals in the 2 months
i've been cooking a lot more recently. glad to say that i think i'm improving. cooking is actually pretty enjoyable when we have guests over. here are some of the things i made in the last month. tri-tip from whole foods, seared ribeye from harris ranch with mushrooms and onions cooked in butter and chardonnay, lamb steaks, korean beef short ribs, baked rock cod marinated in seafood sauce, marsala chicken with potatoes and vegetables cooked in an indian sauce (from farmer's market), and shrimp stir fry. i haven't cooked oxtail stew in a while, but am actually craving it a little right now.

data entry
finished helping kim do some data entry for her job. i was entering some assessment scores for preschoolers in the redwood school district. finished about an hour ago but i'm not tired cuz i slept for 2 hours after dinner.

Posted 11:26 PM by Tim

The Whole Foods Experience

let me start off by saying that i am a shareholder of whole foods co. it's been one of my best performing stocks this past year.

when i first started shopping at whole foods, i thought it was pretty expensive. vegetables and meat were about 20-50% higher in price for that organic label. more recently as i've started to cook a lot more and i've been trying to cook healthier. with cooking comes a lot more grocery shopping. i've been splitting the shopping between whole foods, safeway, and marina market in foster city.

so today after work, i go to whole foods to shop for groceries. today they were donating 9% of all sales to fight poverty! whole foods is similar to starbucks in terms of community outreach and charity work. while shopping, i notice that everyone seems pretty happy and going about their business. i find some pretty cool items on sale. ribeye steak $9.99/lb (cattle from new zealand) only a $2 more a lb than costco, pumpkin ale beer, lasagna noodles made from artichoke flour, razzleberry juice, pizza crust to make your own pizza, naan, organic pizza sauce, organic turkey sausage, organic milk, and some organic vegetables. usually i like to buy green tea chai, but kim bought me several cartons a few weeks ago. :) i notice that when I shop at whole foods, i'm definitely buying healthier food. upon checking out, the bag boy gives the cashier a hard time for carding me for the pumpkin ale. he tells me i shouldn't take that from her. i smile and take my groceries.

wanting to save a few dollars, i decided to get the mozarella cheese for my pizzas from safeway because it wasn't on sale at whole foods. i go to safeway and it feels like i walked into a dump (compared to whole foods!). the lighting is a lot darker, people seemed like they were in a rush and not in the best of moods, and the selection for fruits and vegetables weren't too great. i get my mozarella cheese and head off back home.

i've decided that since i'm doing a lot more cooking, i'm going to try and shop a little more at whole foods. it might cost us a little more money, but i can defintely tell the difference in the quality of food we get. the more i shop at whole foods, the better i like owning their company's stock. :)