ERRORIK"Z BLOG

2008-08-18T19:09:00.000-07:00

Please find your way around my blog using the links on the right side. -->

These are the stories of how I was able to buy, wreck, and repair my Ferrari, and some of my random thoughts along the way. Enjoy. Leave some comments.

If you need help dealing with Insurance companies, or buying from a private seller, or doing bodywork, let me know, I'll do my best to share some of my experience.

Newest Post: WRECK

I'm Booked

2008-08-18T07:41:00.000-07:00

I've been working on my car so much recently, that I haven't really felt the need to be going out as much. So this weekend was my first time meeting new people in about 6 months. They usually are pretty amazed by the way I live my life, or think it's crazy. But most of the time, that kind of lifestyle is not for them. They want something more ... normal. It got me thinking.

I started to think about why I live like I do. Why I go after the things I'm after. I've been thinking about this all weekend and here are my thoughts.

Make the life you live, like the book you want to read.

That's it; that was my conclusion to why I am the way I am. I feel like what I do with my life, the stories I have, all the memories and experiences in my head, somehow they constantly compile into the book of my life.

The more interesting things I do, the more interesting of a book I'm able to live out. If the book is boring, it's my fault for filling it with boring things.

No one wants to read a book about Average Joe, yet most people end up living like him. But seriously, could you imagine reading a book or watching a movie about the average day in the life of the average guy? Why in the world would anyone want to base their lifestyle off of this? Usually people aspire to their heros or role models. Average Joe can not be what most people look up to? Can he? Maybe...

I quickly decided earlier in my life that if I wanted to know what I was missing out on by not doing average things, all I had to do was pick someone random, and chances are they could fill me in pretty quickly. And then I could get right back to living my own life.

The Rear Bumper - Part I

2008-08-07T18:18:00.000-07:00

My rear bumper got messed up. See below. The damage occurred when I hit a freeway wall.

First step, find a new bumper. The new bumper from Ferrari cost $3,490.00 each !!!! Wah, tai gui leh. And that's not even including installation and paint and tax and shipping charges. Total price of about $6000 at least.

But I was lucky enough to find a used bumper on ebay. This bumper came from a race car on the Ferrari Race team. So it is a little beat up because I guess the cars get hit all the time. But on the plus side, it is made out of a special type of fiberglass so it is a little bit lighter. The original bumper weighs about 35 pounds. The challenge race bumper weighs less than 15 pounds. Not too much, but people sometimes pay a lot of money to save that much weight, and I'm saving money by choosing this bumper! How much? This bumper only costs $800. No tax, and $150 to ship to me.

First step: repair all the cracks. I used fiberglass to do this. There are 2 types of fiberglass, the cat-hairball type and the cloth type. I used the cat hairball type because girls think the name sounds cute.

This is the crack I'm fixing from the outside. All I did was put some tape over the outside, that way the fiberglass has something to mold against as I push it from the back.

This is the crack I'm fixing from the inside. It's really messy. This is because I'm not too good at working with fiberglass.

Here is the mounted bumper without paint. I thought it'd be fun to drive around with the race car look for awhile! Haha, I think it looks pretty cool, but The Da Da made me change it. Haha.

So. Now, the next step was to add the license plate lights. This was kind of hard, but boring, so I didn't take any pictures and I'll try not to talk about it too much. I just cut some holes in the bumper with a drill and ran the cord through.

And then I removed all the stickers. I put them up on my wall to remind me. That was the easy part. What comes next was very hard work and time consuming.

First, I had to fill in all the holes with Bondo body filler. and then sand it down flush. Some of the holes came from the lap time transponder, which tells a computer how fast you drove. And the other hold came from the tow hook mount.

So I put some fiberglass from the back. And then filled it with bondo from the front.

Man, I'm tired. I'll upload more pictures later.

The Wreck

2008-08-06T20:37:00.000-07:00

Long day at work:

I had to work in Sweeny Complex earlier today. About an hour south of where I live, so we carpooled to save on gas.

At work, my work uniform includes: Hard hat, gloves, ear plugs, safety goggles, steel toe boots, and flame resistant clothing.

Right outside the plant gate, we always are in a hurry to take off our hard hats, safety glasses, and ear plugs. They aren't the most comfortable thing to wear all day in the Texas sun.

So we carpool home and we get back to my place. A few friends want to go out to eat at a fancy Indian place. Me and a Coworker jump in my Ferrari and head over there.

Ferrari's use a lot of exotic metals in the engines to save on weight and increase performance. Because of this, it is extremely important to warm up the engine thoroughly, due to the different thermal expansion rates of the metals.

So we spend a few minutes warming up the car at idle. Ready, Set, Go.

Trying to make up the time lost, I open up the throttle as I on the on ramp for the freeway. 20 miles per hour-30-40-50-60-70- clutch-second gear-gas -80-90 -clutch-3rd gear-gas-

100-110-120- clutch-4th gear-gas! 130! 140!
There are some cars in front of me, so I brake down to about 80 and switch lanes. Shit. That's all it took. My car looses traction in the back. I try to correct, but it spins out of control.

While still going about 70 miles per hour, I spin 180º, brush up against a freeway barrier, and then knock a pickup truck off the road. Happened pretty fast. Both vehicles stop. Everyone is okay. We push my car off the road, which is harder than it looks because the wheel barely rolls.

I make sure again everyone is okay. You can buy Ferrari fenders. Well... Maybe you can't buy them, because they are quite pricey... Haha, just kidding. You can buy Ferrari fenders, but you can't buy health or life or a new arm. The people in the other car actually get a little annoyed that I kept asking them if they are okay.

They are okay though. Shit. Back to my life. I'm not hurt. My car looks fucked up though. WTF am I going to do.

Rear window grill cracked

Rear bumper and quarter panel. Look at the rear rim It's missing most of its lip

Side skirt. Hit the bottom of it on the concrete barrier.

Front Bumper

Roof. Shit. This is an aluminum panel. which means that to replace it. There's only a few places in the country certified to work on aluminum sheet metal. It's due to the weldability and how it doesn't bend, it plastically deforms

Taillights and trunk.

I know a guy called David who works out a lot. He knows how to deal with insurance agencies and maybe I won't loose that much money after all. Before I can think about this for too long...

Before I know it a police car shows up trying to investigate the accident. Shit... I'm fucked!

But actually, what's funny is that before the police show up, a bunch of tow trucks show up.

They all have the same scanner communications that the police use, but they are twice as eager to get to the scene. They must get a large commission.

So the officer asked me wtf I was doing.

Texas Police Officer: Son, who in da hale does you thank you is, drivin' up here in MAH city, on MAH highwaiz, goin' a bahzillion miles an hour?

Errorik: Sorry Sir.

Texas Police Officer: I don't wanna hear no sorry. Does I look like I need to hear a sorry? Is dat what chure gunna tell my son if you hit him while he's playin' baskatball in da streets? He ain't gonna be able to hear your sorry den.

Errorik: Look, it was an accident. I'm sor..

Texas Police Officer: I told ya I don't want none more of your sorries. You're just lucky everything turned out okay.

...and so on for about 2 hours....

And then he finally let me off with a $300 ticket and 2 points on my record. I could tell he wanted to arrest me so bad. I might want to too. Some punk kid thinks he's all that driving around a fuckign ferrari? The ticket was for "Failure to stay in lane". That's one way to put spinning out on the highway and hitting barriers and knocking another truck off the road.

But as he was walking away he told me how lucky I was that I was so caring for the people in the other car. They pleaded with the officer not to arrest me. There's some karma left after all.

Now... What to do with my car...

- II - Transport Home

2008-08-05T19:23:00.000-07:00

I buy the car. Then what? i'm about 1500 miles away from home.

The more you drive a car, the less it's worth. It's just that obvious. Same can be said with girls, the more sex partners had, the more the value goes down. Haha, just kidding. But no one would pay the same price for the same car with 50,000 miles as they would for one with 30,000 miles.

I have plotted the depreciation due to vehicle mileage and sales price respectively for the 360 Modena. What I am looking for is the "Slope", which would be how many dollars on average, the car will depreciate every mile I drive it.

Los Angeles, California to Houston, Texas is 1565 miles.
The plane ticket back at the time is $385, inclusive of taxes and airport fees.
The cost for closed transport is approximately $1200
My Ferrari is expected to get 18 miles per gallon on the freeway. This translates to 87 gallons.
Currently, the gas price is about $3.60 per gallon for premium. This equates to a total fuel cost of $313.

Fuck it. I'll drive. It makes sense. Another thing to worry about. Rock chips. Rocks chipping my bumper and rocks chipping my windshield.

63353800 WINDSHIELD 360/F430 (COUPE)

63353800

$2,380.00

+ shipping + installation + tax!!! We're looking at $4 grand easy.

www.ricambiamerica.com if you don't believe me.

So...I do what I can. I put some tape over the parts of the car prone to get rock chips.

On the way, I stop by Las Vegas. Cruising on the strip is something you have to do if you have a Ferrari and don't mind driving it.

10:00am
woke up and tried to get free breakfast. My friend Ty and his family go to Vegas a lot, so they treat him real nice with free meals, free rooms...

11:45pm
We go to Studio 51 Club and party a little bit in some club.

5:00am
Everyone is tired, and are ready to go to sleep. I still have a long drive ahead of me.

5:30am
Me and Ty check the motor oil. It's dangerously low! We go to the gas station and buy a few quarts of oil.

It's strange to check the oil on a Ferrari, because the oil pump system is different. It's dry sump. So you have to check the level with the engine on. Strange huh? It took us a while to figure this out. I'm relieved and return the oil to the store.

The rest of the drive is a blast!!!

I was up all night, and I still drive for another 24 hours straight almost.

Gas up -> Drive -> Gas up -> Drive

And then, the desert came. I hit 193mph!!! That's over 300km/hr.

That's faster than Weny's crazy Taxi Driver in Singapore.

Anyway... I make it through most of the states. California to Nevada to Arizona to New Mexico ... And then.... to be continued.

The Ketchup Post -Packet IX- How to Buy

2008-08-05T15:32:00.000-07:00

So even if you do have the money, how do you buy a Ferrari? Craigslist? Cars.com? Where do you see Ferrari's for sale? The Ferrari dealership?

My account now has over $100,000usd in CASH!! I walk into the Ferrari of Houston Dealership feeling like a Rockstar.

I don't really plan on buying anything, because the dealership always charges way too much, just like with normal cars. But I at least want to test drive a few and see the interiors so that I know have some sort of baseline of the condition that a 360 Modena should be in.

Keep in mind I currently drive a Ford Escort. This is my actual car. Even with professional models showing it off, it doesn't scream "Rock Star" as loud as I hope.

I set foot into the Ferrari of Houston dealership. The front desk lady is cute and says 'hi'. The salesmen in the back look up briefly. And then they all return to doing their work. Salesmen are very busy people apparently.

**************Walk to Salesman
Errorik: Can you help show me a couple cars?
Steve: Hi Sir, you're going to have to talk to Sally at the front desk.

**************Walk to Front Desk
Errorik: Hi, can someone show me a 360 modena?
Cute Front Desk Lady: Yes, one second
Errorik: Thank you ma'am.
Cute Front Desk Lady (On intercom): Steve, I have a Mr. Errorik here interested in a 360 Modena, are you available to show Mr. Errorik anything we have to offer this afternoon.
Steve (On intercom): Yes, I'll be right up.

***************Steve Walks Up
Steve: Oh, it's you. Look, it's the end of the day and I got a few things to catch up on. Is this something quick?
Errorik: Hi, I'm Errorik. I'm interested in buying a 360 Modena. Can you help show me a couple of your cars?
Steve: Oh, those? We don't have any for sale right now. Sorry, son.
Errorik: What about the ones listed on your website?
Steve: I must have forgot, they're out back. Right this way.

***************We Walk to the Cars
Errorik: Okay, wow, nice. These cars are amazing. I've been wanting one for a long time. I was thinking about getting this color.
Steve: Yes, Ferrari's do set a standard.
Errorik: Can I get in?

Steve: No.
Errorik: Hahaha
Steve: ?
Errorik: Oh, are you serious?
Steve: I'm afraid so. Is there anything else I can help you with?

Errorik: I'd like to check out the interior and take it for a test drive.
Steve: That's just not a possibility. These cars are very valuable and expensive to maintain.
Errorik: Oh, okay. Sorry to inconvenience you. Thanks for your time.
Steve: Good day.

That's the first time I had see "Ferrari Arrogance". I had never experienced it before in my life because I had never met a Ferrari Driver or Salesman before.

First time for everything though.

The Ramen Chef

2008-08-05T11:19:00.000-07:00

Ramen Noodles make up a staple part of my diet. They are a necessary component of any diet aimed at low cost calorie intake.

In order to further increase my efficiency, I have begun optimizing my ramen cooking to reduce wait/stall time.

0:00
First, I fill 4 pots with exactly 1/4th the water and turn on 4 burners at once on 'high'.

0:23
While the temperature rises, I open the ramen and pre-tear the chem packs.

1:37
Once the boiling temp has been surpassed, I combine all 4 pots into one, and dump the noodles in.

1:43
In the next minutes that it takes to cook the ramen, I dry the other pots (because water were the only contents, extensive washing is unnecessary).

1:59
Now, I add the chemical pack, stir, and get some ice ready.

2:09
Next, I insert 1/6 cup of ice to cool the ramen to consumption temp.

2:15
Ramen is being eaten.

I have saved about 12 minutes per meal. This is incredible for a food that is already "instant"

The Ketchup Post - Packet VIII - Good Thursday

2008-08-04T09:49:00.000-07:00

Here in the US, there is a national holiday called Good Friday. I'm not sure what exactly happened on this particular Friday many years ago, but it's something religious and somehow related to Easter Eggs.

Anyway, because of the holiday Good Friday, the stock markets are closed, and stock options expire on Thursday. What are Stock Options?

DISCLAIMER: Stock Options are very dangerous. I downplay the risk quite significantly on this blog but I must warn anyone who is considering trading stock options that is isn't for everyone. See with the average stock, it generally goes up in value as time goes on. Everyone makes money. With Stock Options, they generally go down over time. And the price drops REALLY QUICK! So that was my warning. I do not encourage it.

What are stock options though? Stock options are contracts that you can buy or trade that give you the 'right' to buy 100 stocks. You aren't buying stocks. You are just buying the 'right' to buy them if you feel like at a given price. For example

Lets say Errorik Stock is at $35/share.

Maybe a stock option that has a $40 strike price and expires next month is worth $50/contract.

(a contract = 100 shares)

($40 strike price means that you have the right to buy this stock at $40/share)

So you buy a contract for $50 because you know that Errorik has a good reputation of making profit, and you calculate that it's worth the gamble.

Now, if Errorik stock increases in value to $45/share, then the contract you just bought becomes super valuable. It's worth at least $500 now. Because you have a 100 shares that you could buy at '$40' and sell at $45 right away.

So there, you just turned $50 into $500. Easy money!!!

What usually happens however, is that The Stock doesn't go up, or stays the same, or maybe it goes up, but doesn't go up enough or fast enough. And you lose all your money.

Okay now, here is my Good Thursday story.

5:30am. I wake up and go to work just like any other day in my life knowing that today is the day. Everything that has mattered in the past few years of my life is determined by the events occurring later this afternoon.

The only thing I do different this morning is that I don’t drink any water. I won’t have any time to get up and pee. I will be on my computer and my eyes can’t leave the screen not even for a second. Today, my boss is on vacation. My door will be closed all day. All meetings have been canceled for no reason. When you cancel meeting for no reason at the last minute, people assume you are busy doing very high priority work.

8:30am. Trading begins for me. I have a 1 hour disadvantage because New York time is one hour ahead. This means I have 1 hour less to research the current futures and market stance.

8:35am I have invested everything I have, about $40,000 into Bidu Call options. Bidu is like the Chinese google. I guess Bidu has better search compatibility with the Chinese characters that google hasn’t developed yet.

8:45am I have now lost about $17,000. This is a lot of money, and I think about all the ramen bowls and cups of oatmeal I have saved to get this much money. It makes me sick seeing how far backwards I have come. I decide to stay in because it seems like it momentum is changing rapidly.

9:00am I have rebounded off my low, and have gained $21k. So now I am $4k in profits for the day. I sell everything and rejoice. I now have about $44k total in my account.

9:02am The sell transaction has completed, and I drink water to cool me down. By now I am sweating profusely. I am so relieved, and yet my heart is still beating so fast. I can’t really think of any other times in my life that compare to how nervous I feel right now, maybe checking my college acceptances, or asking out this girl. The investments that are happening today will have an even greater impact on my life.

10:00am I am bored because I have cancelled all my meetings. I am so bored, so I keep looking at stocks. I see Google being a good buy. I buy $44k of Google options. It goes up

10:05am I am up $8000 already in Google options, so I sell immediately. I just get too scared. I want to keep my profits. It's too much of a risk to hold in case I lose it all.

10:07am Sell transaction is complete. I lock in $8000 in profit and my account now has $52000!!!

I am so relieved. I drink some more water and go to the kitchen to get some paper towels to wipe the sweat off my face. People ask me if I look okay as I go to the kitchen. I say yes as I speed walk back to my office.

11:15am I decide not to go to lunch. Luckily I have some oatmeal and chips saved up, so I just bring those out. I am now addicted to gambling with stock options. I buy Google contracts again.

11:59am I need to pee really bad. All the water I have been drinking to calm me down has added up and now my bladder is ready to blow. But I can’t take my eyes off the screen. I am up $35000 and my portfolio is going up and down by tens of thousands of dollars every minute! There is no way that I can afford running down the hall to take a piss. I look around my office for a cup to pee in. I am unsuccessful. BUT I discover a chip bag. It seems possible to pee in this and I can dump it down the sink at a less strenuous time of the day.

I begin to fantasize about toilets and it is really distracting. Concentration is key when thousands of dollars are moving around every second. The last time I fantasized about toilets was when I needed to puke from being so drunk.

12:15am Really needing to pee makes you about 10 times more nervous!! My heart is racing so fast right now. There is a kind of unhealthy you feel right after you eat a lot of McDonalds. This is a completely different kind of unhealthy. I feel like every minute I spend watching this stock, a week is taken off my life.

I don't know why this picture above is so blurry. Try clicking on it to enlarge the image.

1:30am I finally sell my stock. I gain almost 100%. This is the best day of my life. I want to yell and scream and jump up and down, but there are people around. But it is so hard to conceal my excitement and happiness. I finally get out of my chair for the first time in a while. I close the office door.

And I do some air punches. Like Tai Chi. But really fast! I spend about 20 seconds air punching. Tiger Woods does this too kind of, but I could beat him up easily.

Now, I have to start looking for my Ferrari.

Cold Showers

2008-08-03T14:50:00.000-07:00

December 7th, 2006

This is a man getting submerged in cold water. People can survive up to 3 hours in 5ºC water if they have a life jacket. Right now, in Indiana, it's snowing outside. I only have to survive in the 5ºC shower long enough to shampoo, soap, and rinse. No problem. Everyday. No problem.

The average flow rate of a shower head can be estimated as 100mL per second. I am not pulling numbers out of my butt. You can scientifically determine this by turning on the shower, starting a stop watch and letting the shower water fill a bucket. Then divide volume by time to get a flow rate.

Each mL of water takes 4.186 joules to heat 1 degree Celcius. That's just the specific heat of water, go wikipedia it.

But for a hot shower, water must be heated about 20ºC above it's current temp. (If you are an engineer, this shortcut is crucial. Alt+167. That's the degree symbol "º". Cute girls also have applications when making designs in their Instant Message profiles.)

So every second of hot shower usage equates to 8372 Joules being used to heat up the water. (4.186*100*20)

A 20 minute hot shower uses 10046400 Joules = 10046.4 kJ !!!!!!!!!!!! Does anyone realize how significant this is? Let me put it into numbers that non engineers can understand.

The average light bulb is 60 Watts. A watt is a joule/second.

Above is a picture of about 45 light bulbs. Imagine this many times 3 all turned on!

So when you are taking your nice comfortable hot shower, it is like turning on 139.5 light bulbs!! That's how much energy you need to heat up the water. (8327/60=139.5)

So a 20 minute shower is like leaving 2 light bulbs on all day!! What a waste. (10046400joules/24hr/60min/60sec/60watt = 1.94 bulbs/day)

So it is easy to see why I have quit hot showers. I have also quit hot water laundry washing. The goal is to turn off the water heater. This is because it also costs a lot of energy to maintain the heat in the water tank.

*************Update
It's been a little over a year and a half since I made that goal. This was only supposed to be a year long goal. Try to save a little electricity, help the world out. But mid way through that year, I cheated once.

February 2007:
I was kind of seeing this girl, and we were taking a shower together. It was snowing outside, and she had her hot water heater turned on like most people. I suggested the idea of trying a cold shower, but she refused. I'm usually a stubborn guy, but it doesn't take an idiot to figure out that asking again would kill the mood.

This is a girl that is taking a cold shower. I didn't want to see that face on the girl I was seeing because I'm a nice guy. (By the way, I don't look at these kind of websites. I was just doing a google image search for cold showers, and this came up)

I happily accepted the warm shower. I told myself that I was not taking a warm shower. I am just sharing her's. You know? She would have been using that hot water with or without me, so might as well with me!!

But after about 20 minutes. I turned the shower off and got out. I couldn't take it anymore. I wasted such a nice memory because I was so caught up in not wasting electricity.

So after that, I decided that instead of 1 year without hot water. I would change my goal to "I will not use hot water until I get a girlfriend."

August 3rd, 2008
I am still not taking showers because I am still single. It will probably remain like this for awhile. I need to be single until I save up enough cash in my Ferrari Fund. Girls spend your money!

Also, there is instant saving from energy costs from not using hot water. Every dollar helps. That seems to be the most important rule. Every dollar helps.

It's easy to think you're only spending a few dollars here on coffee or a few dollars here on a shirt that's on sale. And maybe you only do these things a few times every month. But you add it all up for the year and you begin to realize that even little things that happen a lot of times becomes a lot of money.

Lunch Monster

2008-08-01T09:06:00.001-07:00

I have become an expert at getting company lunches. It's getting to the point where it is really pushing it, so I'm happy that my name is listed no where in this blog.

Errorik: "Hey, I was trying to get a little more information on your Pressure Safety Valves, could you help clarify a couple of the product specifications for me?"
Tyco Valve Sales Rep: "Sure, what can I help you with?"
Errorik: "I'm worried about the interface between your socket weld fitting and the schedule 40 pipe we use out in the field. "
Tyco Valve Sales Rep:"It should work just fine, we do it all the time"
Errorik: "I don't understand"
Tyco Valve Sales Rep:"What?"
Errorik: "I don't understand"
Tyco Valve Sales Rep: "What don't you understand, they mate up perfectly, thats what all our customers do"
Errorik: "I don't get it."
Tyco Valve Sales Rep: "Don't get what"
Errorik: "I don't know, could you just come out and we can discuss this over lunch"
Tyco Valve Sales Rep: "umm.... Okay"
Errorik: "Great, see you tomorrow at 11:00am."
Tyco Valve Sales Rep: "Okay....bye"
******************Eatting lunch
Tyco Valve Sales Rep: So what are we supposed to be talking about?
Errorik: Man, this steak is pretty good, huh?
Tyco Valve Sales Rep: Yea. I guess

Errorik: Thanks for lunch by the way, it's really important to me to meet my vendors in person. Hey, do you mind if I order another meal for my wife and kids? They really got to try this steak. It's great.
Tyco Valve Sales Rep: Umm, I'm only supposed to pay for you and me.
Errorik: But I'm thinking about using Tyco Valve Co, but this other company Flowserve has some pretty competitive products too, can't you just expense it?
Tyco Valve Sales Rep: Alright, but I expect a Product Order in on Monday.
Errorik: Okay cool. Can you fill me up with gas on the way out?

As for company training Lunch 'N Learns. I have become notorious around the office for being cheap. First. I always eat 2 lunches at lunch.

The box lunches usually come with chips. I take breaks from the seminar, to "go to the bathroom", but I'm really hiding bags of chips in my office to save for a later consumption date. This is how I can eat 2 lunches. I just save the chips for later.

Next, once everyone is full, I ALWAYS take the extra boxes of lunches. This is crucial! So often, people are full, so they don't plan ahead for the next time they will be hungry. (Or maybe they just aren't cheap enough to).

I'm really careful about this because I don't want people to know the extent of how cheap I am. I make separate trips to get each lunch box. And then I hide it around the building. We have 4 refrigerators. I put a lunch box in each one and label it with a different name so people won't accidentally take it. Names you might recognize are "Spalding", "Manga", "JJ". I've never had more than 3 lunches. But I even try to write the names in different hand writing. And I never use my own because people will get suspicious,

"Hey, why's this Errorik guy taking all the lunches. He didn't even go to this Seminar!!"

Yea, use different names, try to save some face.

The Ketchup Post -Packet VII- The Eating Arrangement

2007-11-01T13:23:00.000-07:00

November 2007:

Now, that I've found a cheap place to live, it is time to start concentrating my efforts on minimizing other expenses in my life. The goal is to barely survive and to put the rest of my money into the Ferrari Fund.

See, there are two ways to get a lot of money.
One) is to increase your income: work a second job, do well at your first job so your boss gives you a raise, invest your money and get some returns, sell stuff on ebay... etc...
The Other) is to decrease your spending: Cut back on going to the movies, cut your own hair, don't eat out so much, stop buying new clothes, don't use as much electricity... etc...

I feel like I am already doing well with conserving my money because I don't go shopping anymore or go to bars too often. But, I have itemized my monthly expenses and am shocked how much money is being spent by gas and food!

Regarding Gas) I have convinced an intern at the company, Paul, to pick me up on the way to work, and in exchange, I will pay for half of the gas costs associated with driving to/from work.

Okay, just cut a major monthly expense in half!

Also, this way, I do not have to worry about maintenance costs for my car (which is due to break any moment).

I am such a good mentor, right? What? At least I don't make him get me coffee. I would never do that. Partly because I am too nice, but mostly because coffee is an expense I choose to forgo in order to put that potentially wasted money into Ferrari Fund.

Regarding Food) I thought I was doing well by eating fast food a lot. In the US, fast food is the absolute cheapest food you can buy. For some reason in China, fast food is really expensive. I'm not sure why. But for the price of one Big Mac Meal in Shanghai, you can have a big bottle of beer, rice, and maybe 2 dishes of food.

Anyway, I aim to cut my food expenses much further. The only possible way to go cheaper than fast food is to cook myself. In deciding what to cook, I have come up with a spreadsheet matrix:

So now it's quite obvious that especially when you calculate the fuel costs associated with fast food, or the tip associated with delivery, that those are no longer an option. I will be surviving on a diet of Oatmeal, Ramen, and occasionally canned tuna for protein. Of course vitamins will be essential for my health.

I would very much like to start eating rice an beans, but my warehouse doesn't have the cooking capabilities. I will try bringing these materials to work to cook in the company kitchen. Then I can just bring them home, however I have to eat them immediately, because the warehouse lacks refrigeration capabilities as well.

Also, another source of nutrition is company lunches. Occasionally a vendor comes in and want to do a presentation at lunch time, so they provide lunch. Or maybe I have an all day training class, so lunch is provided. If there is extra, I take one home too. haha.

The Ketchup Post -Packet VI- The Living Arrangement

2007-10-01T01:23:00.000-07:00

October 2007:

1) I am now living in a warehouse downtown. This isn't a nice warehouse that has been converted into a modern contemporary art apartment. This is a real warehouse previously used for coal storage. The floors are concrete and dirty. There is no air conditioning. The "shower" consists of an overhead pipe that someone has drilled holes in. The water just falls out over you head as it's trying to pass through. Cold water only, even in winter. I have no bed, only some padding that I used when I brought my BMX bike here.

I find some scaffold materials in the warehouse, and build myself a bed frame. I now sleep on a piece of plywood that is elevated by scaffold parts. Not the most comfortable bed, but better than the concrete, and it's raised, so I don't have to worry about roaches crawling on my face.

Also, due to the nature of the warehouse, I try to take as many shits as I can at work. Not only does this save on toilet paper and water bills and give me more time to do other things while I am home, but the toilet in the warehouse is pretty disgusting. I usually don't care about things like that, but trust me, it's bad.

2) I bought a Ducati 748. I love it. The single sided swing arm is one of the best engineering accomplishments in motorcycles. The little things on it matter to me too, like CnC'd aluminum brake and clutch levers instead of cheap, injection molded plastic like Honda or Suzuki use. Factory steering damper. Quick release clips that secure all the fairings. My bike doesn't mind sleeping on concrete at night in my room. It's nice, because I know if it was a girlfriend, she'd complain and whine all night about how uncomfortable and cold and hard the concrete is to sleep on.

Because I live in a warehouse, I'm able to park my motorcycle in my room and sleep with it every night. I wash it with bottled water. It's my baby. Little does it know, that once I get my Ferrari, I'm going to dump it. Haha. I'll probably keep both and they can fight over me for attention.

The Ketchup Post -Packet V- The Stepping Stone

2007-09-01T13:23:00.000-07:00

September 2007:

I have settled down in Houston by now. I now have a stable income, place to sleep, and place to park my car. Now,I am looking for:
1) A cheaper place to live in an area that is more happening.
2) A motorcycle to save on gas and fulfill my need for speed until my Ferrari comes through.

In the meantime, there is a hurricane in Houston. At my current residence, a tree falls through the roof in the bathroom. Water pours in from the heavy rain and disintegrates the bathroom floor.

Now there is no roof and no floor in the bathroom. There are frogs that I take showers with because they hop through the floor. Haha. It's kind of funny. They just jump around, but never out of the shower. They aren't as slimy as they look. I was first afraid that I might accidentally step on one and slip. This would be unacceptable due to the costs incurred through medical treatment. Luckily, this is no longer a concern.

The Ketchup Post -Packet IV- Ready Set Go

2007-08-01T01:23:00.000-07:00

August 2007:

I start work at Chevron Phillips in Houston Texas. I arrive in Houston city with 2 duffel bags. One is filled with my BMX bike of course. The other has the necessary clothes and bathroom items. I go up to the rental car booth, get a Dodge Charger, throw my bags in the back. Ready to go. It'd be convenient to have some friends/family here to call, but it'd also be too easy.

Next stop. Find a Wang Ba Internet Cafe. Can't find one, so the free computers at the public library will suffice. I immediately go to www.craigslist.com to search for a room with a month-by-month lease. Call a whole bunch of prospects. My phone runs out of batteries, but luckily I have my battery charger. This is all I need for now. Computer to find online ads for housing, phone to call them, car to get there, and some dollar bills to pay for food and gas on the way.

I finally find a winner, and put my bags down. I pay $250/month + utilities for rent. I sleep, and in the morning I continue searching Craigslist for a car. Find a 1991 Ford Escort for $800 (kind of like the one above, but mine is red and looks like someone tried to wash it with acid). I buy it in cash on the condition that the seller meets me at the rental car drop off point with the car. I drop off the rental car, and drop off my $800, and drive away in a new ride. Beautiful efficiency! In just a couple days, I'm able to set up a new life in Houston

The Ketchup Post -Packet III- The Plan

2007-07-07T13:23:00.000-07:00

The Plan

By now, every detail of my life has been revolving around getting my Ferrari 355. I shave my head every 2 weeks. Not only does this eliminate the need for a $20/month hair cut, it also cuts cost because I no longer have to use shampoo or conditioner, body soap is applicable to hair under 6mm. This is my cost cutting haircut.

No girlfriends at all. I get really lucky with this. It's amazingly easy for girls to not come up to me and want to date me. Some guys get girls left and right, and then they end up dating them, and spending all their money on them. Nope, not me. I'm blessed because girls never want to date me. The only times I've gotten girls, I had to be very persuasive and trick them into thinking I'm really strong by continuously flexing my muscles throughout our whole conversations. Man, that gets tiring.

There has been a change of plan.
The original plan was to go to Texas, work at Chevron Phillips for $67k/year, save as much as possible, and put it in "The Ferrari Fund". After the Ferrari Fund reaches $40k in value, I would proceed to Las Vegas to do some gambling. Roulette would be the game. Depending on what color Ferrari I would get, that would be the color I would bet on. Red or Black. That's how I roll baby. I would need 4 friends to come with me and bet $10k each. This is due to the IRS taxing any winnings over $10k.

The new plan is to continually invest my saved money in the a Ferrari Brokerage Account. The benefits include not needing to fly to Vegas and coordinate between friends. The odds are generally better, in a year, you should generally make about 10%. Stocks generally make you money over time. Roulette, the odds are against you by something like 5 percent. This method of accumulation will be much slower than Roulette, and definitely not as brag-worthy, but it has the highest chances of returning me with a Ferrari 355, which if you don't know by now, is everything that matters in these 2 years.

The Ketchup Post -Packet II- Rough Calculations

2007-05-01T01:23:00.000-07:00

May 2007:

I graduate from Purdue University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. I have finished all seasons of the Prison Break TV series, and have been scheming my master Ferrari plan for about a year now. Prison Break is such an inspiration to anyone who ever needs to plan anything. Please watch it if you have something complicated in life you need to do. Anyway, here is the most important information affecting the near future:
1) I have accepted the job at Chevron Phillips with a starting salary of $67000/year, signing bonus of $8000, and yearly bonus of $7000. This should provide me with enough capital needed to achieve my Ferrari Goal.
2) I will be working in Texas because Texas has no state tax, only federal tax. This is important both in income taxes and taxes incurred through capital gains from investing.
3) The cost of living in Texas is cheap. Both land and food are among the cheapest of big cities in the US.

Based on these criteria, I have selected Chevron Phillips as the best employer in terms of capital building for my Ferrari. I will begin on September 1rst. Until then I'm going to take a break and hang out in China.

Unfortunately, my calculations indicate that I cannot buy a Ferrari in cash in 2 years with this salary. There is capital gains tax of approx 25% of all stock gains and a sales tax of 6% on the value of the car. In 2 years, saving up $40k is more reasonable. Therefore, the new plan is to save up $40k, and then play Roulette with it. All or Nothing. Las Vegas 2010.

The Ketchup (Catch-Up) Post -Packet I- How It All Began

2006-11-01T01:23:00.000-08:00

Early 1990s:
I see my first Ferrari. I ask my dad :
Errorik: "Dad, why is that car so low? Do they make it short so that it can be cheaper and use less material?"
Dad: "No, it's the other way around, it's actually more expensive"
Errorik: "But dad, there is only 2 seats, it should be half the price"
Dad: "That car is fast, so people pay lots of money for it, one day you'll grow up and understand better"

Mid 1990s:
My uncle gives me a present of a wind up F40. It is my favorite toy for about 1 year. Then it breaks. (The reliability on Ferrari's are notoriously lacking.)

Late 1990s:
My interests shift to US military combat air planes. I want to become a jet fighter pilot, but I am already wearing glasses. Anything except 20/20 vision is not permissible. So I aim my education towards aero/mechanical engineering, and cars don't seem that bad again.

Fall 2006:
I have begun my senior year in college at Purdue University. This semester I am applying to jobs. I have decided not to pursue attending grad school. Here is a conversation I had with Spencer Brady that started it all:
Errorik: "Hey, heard back from any jobs yet?"
Spencer: "No, I'm not applying though, I'm going to do grad school?"
Errorik:"Are you sure, that's a lot more school? I'm not sure if it makes financial sense."
Spencer: "Sure it does, I got a full ride AND I'll be making $80 G's a year when I get out"
Errorik: "Actually, I'm sure it doens't make financial sense."
Spencer: "Haha, how do you know? Prove it"
Errorik: "Okay, I will. Check it out: You go to school for free for 2 more years. Live off your stipend in a low class apartment, eating low class food, drinking low class beer. I'll work at Chevron Phillips for the same 2 years. I'll live in a low class apartment and eat low class food just like you. I'm used to living in college, it won't be anything different from what I do now. BUT, with my extra money, I'm going to save up for a Ferrari. In 2 years when you get out, I'll have been promoted to $80k per year AND I'll buy a Ferrari 355 with my extra cash."
Spencer: "Haha, yea right, sounds like a good plan"
Errorik: "Yea, 2 years away; We'll both be making 80k/year but I"ll have a Ferrari and you won't.
Spencer: "We'll see. Let me know how things work out 2010"

Ferrari F355 Berlinetta. I can't wait to make some $$$ so I can buy this.

2006-07-30T06:30:00.000-07:00

Oh, if anyone wants any fake wallets or purses or something. Send me a picture of what you desire to my email. I'm probably going back there in 2 weeks when my girlfriend visits and I can look for you. They have everything, scarves jackets umbrellas, suitcases. It's pretty certain that anytying you send me I can find.

Why you have to go to China to skateboard or BMX bipsycho:
1) They have the biggest skatepark in the world
2) Chinese are short, therefor their handrails are also short. Fuck yea!
3) Chinese love marble ledges. I have no idea why, but they are all for some reason 1.5 feet off the ground. Fuck yea!
4) No one knows what a skateboard is, so there are no skatestops. Haha.
5) Chinese people give you mad props for busting tricks. And they do so in Chinese.
6) When you get tired from skating, you can go eat dinner for about a dollar and get a massage for about $5-10 per hour.

2006-07-30T06:28:00.000-07:00

I now ride a premium products Josh Harrington signiture frame. It's pretty sweet. But it'sfucking long. 21.25 inch top tube. What the fuck, this guy is seriously 6'5 so what the fuck am doing riding that shit...
Heat treated laser cut dropouts.....integrated headset...$300 well spent

My girlfriend is the best! Daphne Teo travelled to the best BMX distributer in all of Asia and Australia(except for some in Japan) and bought me the best bike part. It's imported from America because American made is quality made! Internally and externaly machined for EXTREME weight savings, haha.. Anodized red. Hell yea.

It's not even available in main US distributers for another week. 10.8ounces, can't fucking wait. She's so beautiful, she got such a nice price, this stem retails in London for over $100, and she got it for about half that.

2006-07-30T06:27:00.000-07:00

Daily Chinese Lesson

Ni hao.

Wo zhen xihuan qishuai. Zhongguo you hen duo de guai yangzi. Wo he Spicy Sprite, hai you he Mint Sprite. Dou shi bu hao he de. he yi hou, wo yao tutu. Weishenme yiwei yao he la de qishuai, ranhou xuyao he beide qishuai yinwai tai la de? Weishenme yiwei yao he Mint qishuai suoyi mei you shuaya? Wo bu mingbai Zhongguoren.

Wo mei you zhaoxiangji. Xiaci, wo yong pengyou de zhaoxiang gei nimen kankan.

Wo changchang he qishuai. Meici, shou "Expiry 2005". Wo bu mingbai weishenme Zhongguoren xihuan jiu de qishuai.

Wo xianzai yong MSN gei pengyou jianghua. Yinwei wo bu zai Meiguo, suoyi diannao mei you MeiguoOL. Wo de MSN mingzi jiao ehagen@purdue.edu. Qing jia wo dao ni Buddylist. Jianghua wo shi hen hao wanr.

Shanghairen kankan wo de shihou, bu shuo "shen me shang". Tamen shuo "shen me shi". You "what's up" de yisi.

2006-07-30T06:26:00.000-07:00

More about China:
I kind of feel like China is one big Chinatown. It's pretty dumb, I know. Anyway, I've been searching for an Americatown, but I'vehad no luck. There is Chinatowns in every big US city, so what the fuck, Shanghai has a shitload of people. I can only guess it's because Americans are more social and used to being around people of different nationalities so they can mingle in. When Chinese come to the US, they are usually cliquey tehrefore creating Chinatowns.

Ketchup packets are twice as big. Thank god. It's weird how they discovered this before America because the ketchup consumption is probably 20 times greater. Chinese people are stingy too, so you'd think they'd put as little ketchup per packet as possible. Wierd.
Haha, maybe the ketchup packets are the same size, but they just look twice as big compared to the height of the average person in Shanghai. Anyway, I made this ketchup discovery because I'm sick of Chinese food. I eat at McDonalds every day now.

The Chinese are working on splicing the genes from a fire fly into a tree. And again, Chinese don't even have Christmas/christmas trees. What the fuck. But I saw some pictures of a protype. It's pretty sweet.

ALOT of Chinese clothing have English words on them that make no sense at all. Things like "Useful Everday for You" and "Sport Running Material Designing" and "Extremely Fashion" are the lastones I rememeber. I wonder if that's how dumb Americans look when we get Chinese charater tatoos or clothing.

2006-07-30T06:24:00.000-07:00

It's Chinese new year today. That shit was pretty crazy, there were loudass fireworks going off non stop. I've never really been in a war, but that's the closest I can imagine to being in a battle field. My ears still hurt, which can't be good. I guess in Asia, the louder the better because the noise scares away evil spirits.I might get a trials bike. It's 3000yuan here. 500usd maybe, which is a pretty good price. The back brakes on this bike cost 1200 Yuan. That seems pretty weird.

Daily Chinese Lesson:
zi xing che sha che=brakes
yin hua=fireworks
zun bei hao le=yes the fireworks are setup properly
Ay ya, er duo teng le=Damn bitch that shit's loud as a motha fucka

The subways are pretty crazy. I really wish everyone can try to get into a Shanghainese subway sometime in your life, it really is a memorible experience. Anyway, sometimes I fart in them for fun because they are so crowded, but I just found out that excersing bodily functions is socially acceptible here. Farting, sneezing or coughing without covering, burping loudly, spitting, gathering phlem in your throat loudly then spitting it on the floor no matter where you are, dou shi mei you wen ti. So now, it's not as fun to fart in crowed subway cars.

I got some counterfeit DC skate shoes last weekend. That shit hurts. There is absolutely no layer of any sort of padding. It's just the rubber on the bottom and that's it. I added 2 sandals and some aftermarket sole thing into each one, and it is now tolerable. Overall, I saved $40.

2006-07-30T06:22:00.001-07:00

In China, they have illegal motorcycle taxis. They are a lot cheaper than taxi taxis, aka chuzuches, but they are motorcycles, moutouches. So yesterday I wanted to go snowboard at an indoor snowboarding park, huaxuechang. And I decided to be a badass and give xiaomoutouche a try, so I hop on the back. Approximately 6 minutes into the journey, he hits the a center divider and I bang my knee on the side of the bike, hen teng. And I think, what the fuck. I should get a cheaper price, because in china, it's okay to bargain for everything, pianyi yidian. The thought continued for the next 2 minutes and that is when I got hit by the minivan, aka mianbaoche. I don't know why I bothered shouting "watch the fuck out" in english. But yea, the bike's windshield shattered, and so did it's trunk, and out spilled the helmet that I could have been wearing.

Yea, that hurt. But at least I didn't have to pay. And then I went snowboarding further trying to hurt myself.

I think Chinese people give waiguorens fucked up Chinese names. So I started giving Chinese people fucked up English names that sound cute. I named a girl Potty. And that's just the start. Milfy and Jizzlet are coming up.

In China, it's okay to drink on the streets. So we get drunk on the streets and that's still okay. And we run around and do dumb things and laugh and pretend that we're faguoren. The french must love us.

I sprained my ankle. But I don't trust myself to stay off my bike. So I took it apart and hid parts in different rooms so that my ankle will be safe.

In China, the prostitute shops and hair cutting places and sometimes the same. So you could possibly get a haircut blowjob combo if one so desired.

They don't have 40's here, but they have like 33oz beers. And they sell for 2.7kuai. Which is about 3 for a US dollar. Prostitutes can even open them for you with their teeth. I didn't fuck any, but we paid some to karyoke with us.

A chinese joke:
The guy says, "Why do you like me, because of my good looks, or my good personality" The girl replies "Neither, because of your sense of humour".

An American pickup line:
"Is that a beer keg in your pants, because I want to tap that ass".

That is called a cultural barrier.

2006-07-30T06:22:00.000-07:00

I wake boarded today. I highly recomend it for anyone that loves snowboarding or skateboarding. They have this device in this artificial lake where a cable pulls you around and around in a square. They have a kicker ramp and a horizontal rail. It's pretty sweet.The park went in a counter clockwise circle, so I had to board switch the whole time.

Daphne Teo preparing to wake board. Notice the girl wakeboarding in the background. That cable device pulls you around the lake.

Daphne Teo trying to wakeboard, but doing a belly flop. It was actually a 270 fakie bellyflop.

2006-07-30T06:20:00.000-07:00

Not including apartment rent, I'm on a 100rmb per week budget. That is about $12.50 per week for food, play, and buying things.

I shaved my head yesterday at the barbers. It took 2 hours because they had to prewash my hair first, then instead of shaving my head with the electric clippers, they used scissors and comb for an hour. Anyway, I don't get my hair cut to often. This is the second time in my life that I've paid someone to cut my hair.

Yesterday I was drinking in a bush. I was in a bush because I thought it would be funny if we popped up and shouted pickup lines in Chinese when a hot girl walked by. But it was unsucessful. Instead we practiced taiqiquan(chinese martial arts) moves in the bushes. I did a super ninja move over the bush and my shoe fell off. My foot then proceeded to land on a nail that happened to be sticking out of a 2x4 which was on the ground and hidden in the bush. My sock is now bloody, but I changed it when I got home. So my socks are clean again. I hated that bush so I peed on it and all the zhongguorens looked at me weird. But I really hated that bush.

We went to a club after, but girls didn't like me as much when I could only dance on one foot. It kind of got old after a while. This girl came up to me and said, "your hair is hennankan". And I said oh, that's nice, and you are hard not to look at. But I guess when Isaid "mei kan dao ni ye hen nan", it didn't translate well. So I added "because you're hot". And then I realized my phone was gone and that I couldn't get her number.

I went back to the ninja bush, and found my phone underneath. It must have fallen out when I did the super ninja move over the bush. And then i realized that I earlier pissed on the bush that I'm standing in, and that my phone is wet. And now the vibrate function doesn't work. And my phone smells like piss. But that's okay. The phone wasn't mine anyway. And it's not like people go smelling your phone all the time. I almosted washed it, but that would have been dumb.

2006-07-30T06:18:00.001-07:00

There's a lot of bums in China.

In America, I feel bad if I ignore bums because they are people too. I usually say something like "no" to them when they ask for money so at least they don't have to feel invisible.

In China, it's a different story. Once you do anything to acknowledge the bum's existance, a few more come rushing over to beg because they have sensed weakness.

I don't like giving money away for free, so I have to think of excuses. Sometimes, I pay them to give me massages. But most of the time, I make them tell me a joke in Chinese, and if I laugh, I give them some change. That's pretty fair. But they never know any jokes. So they have other methods to make me laugh. I've been tickled before. One time a bum humped some random guy. They dance sometimes.

Children in China that aren't potty trained do not wear diappers. Their parents instead just cut holes in their pants and underwear. This allows them to shit and piss whenever they need to. It's really strange, but this doesn't seem like the country where cleanliness or sanatary conditions are too big of concern, so it makes sense. Except for that kids fall on their asses every 2 minutes, and they become really dirty. Especially because there is so much shit and piss from other kids and spit and trash from other adults.

2006-07-30T06:18:00.000-07:00

Girls in China have an obsession with being cute. Not the American kind of cute. The kind of cute that is meant for stuffed animals and Japanese anime. This girl named Clara Ho would pretend puke if she were exposed for a few minutes. Damnit, this is all just talk without pictures, I shoudl get a camera. Anyway, it's disgustingly common to find a row of 5 girlfriends walking arm in arm down the fucking street in step. -in fucking sycronized step. Mother fuckers. And they have doll hair. I can't explain it.

Price seems to be more important in China. And this goes for a lot of things. If the Chinese are deciding to make tolerances tighter on subway platform gappage, or saving money by having loose tolerances, the choice is obvious. Again, if you can save money by only using a half gallon of water to mop half the cafeteria, so be it.

And so I was walking home a few days ago, and the yeild strength factor of safety on one of the sewer caps wasn't quite up to par. I fell through that shit and landed in shit, shit. And that is when I noticed the most disgusting worm I could ever imagine. It was albino skin white, with large red spots on its side. It had a diameter of 1 cm, and the portion protuding out of the shitlike substance was about 5 cm in length. And that was okay, I could handle it.

But. This fucking worm had 3 teeth on it's face and it's head look like a rotting sausage. And taht's what gives me nightmeres.

2006-07-30T06:16:00.001-07:00

What did the kungfu master do when his shoelace came untied?

Taebo.BUt I just got back from China, and I haven't seen one ad for Taebo there. They have the real thing.

I just farted some because of some mexican beans, and it smells so good. That's how much I miss mexican food. It's hard to explain with words.

FUck engineering, I think I'm just going to be a professional joke maker, no joking.. haha.

2006-07-30T06:16:00.000-07:00

Homemake joke: Why did the gangsters have a bbq together?

Art it like morality, you have the draw the line somewhere. Some people suck at drawing.

So my plane ticket got fucked. I will now be back in California on Aug13thish. Mother fucker. I miss you cali people so bad.

Joke answer: Because they had too much beef.

Daily Chinese lesson:
tsao knee mah- means fuck your mom in Chinese.
khun dah gee- means kentucy(fried chicken) Shit, I'm going to go get some right now. Also, there's no black people in the KFC's in China. Haha. Can you imagine that?

I saw an episode of Friends the other day, and Joey did a comerical for blue lipstick in japanese. And I regret not doing a cheap comerical in Chinese. Haha.
Off to KFC, bye.

2006-07-30T06:14:00.000-07:00

Joke:Why couldn't the backpack get through the metal detector?

I'm having trouble adjusting to the prices of things here. Evrything here is about 4 times as much as it is in China, except McDonalds. Haha. In China, McDonalds is one of the more expensive things you can eat for some reason. In the US, McDonalds is the cheapest. It tastes like shit in both countries.

The price of gas has risen by 50% since I left. That Iraq war didn't seem to do too much.

I'm having trouble adjusting to the cultural differences too. I remember I used to dislike it when people buy me dinner and shit. It made me feel like I had to be take care of me or something like a grandma or 4 yearold or soemthign. Anyway, now I'm in the habbit of buying people shit that they don't ask for. It's a very Chinese thing to do but it makes people a bit awkward.

Man, I have a bad memory. My birthday is on Martin Luther King's day, so I get a 3 day weekend every year. Fuck yea. But more importantly, I'm able to remember my birthday, otherwise I'd just forget it. So I'm thinking, I need to meet a girl with her birthday on some holiday so that I don't forget it. And then when I get married, it can be on the same day. So that I can be like "happy chrismas/aniversery/birthday honey". And plus, if I forget, it'll just be one scolding a year.

Man, I watched Napolean Dynamite once, and I thought his brother was such a loser for chatting with hot babes online all day. But out of nowhere I find this girl on my buddy list, and she turns out to be so hot. And I talked to her for like 30 minutes and it was so fun. She's seriously really hot, and I thought man, you're too hot to be a hot girl, you're probably just an old guy that likes talking to me. But she had a whole website of proof, so I could enjoy the conversation without any homosexual worries.

Answer: because it got straps, yo.

2006-07-30T06:13:00.000-07:00

Joke:How did the beastealitor you spend all his/her money at the farm?

I can't get used to tipping people here. I've forgotten to tip twice, because in China, you don't tip. And it's not just like you don't have to tip, but you CAN"T tip. They will get really mad. And I couldn't understand this for a long time, but I finally realized why.

In China, your job is like your responsibility, and they feel insulted when you pay them extra to do there job, because that is what they get paid to do in the first place.

It's kind of like how when you are little and do the dishes for your family because your mom tells you to. But if your mom tried to pay you to do the dishes, something would be very wrong with that.

Answer: Cow Tipping

2006-07-30T06:09:00.000-07:00

---On a hot day---

Me: Ni ke ma? shang ci ni gei wo mai hedongxi. Gai wo le ba.

Chinese friend: Bu yao bu yao.

---I buy a water---

Me: Ni zeme le?

Chinese friend: Wo xian zou.

Me: Wei shenme?

Chinese friend: Tianqi tai re.Wo xiang mai yi ping shui.

Me: Ni gang gang gaosu wo ni bu ke, bu yao hedongxi.

Chinese friend: Wo zhi dao.

Me: ?

Chinese friend: zai zhongguo ruguo wo men yao hedongxi, wo men shuo "bu yao". Ruguo women ke, wo jiu shuo "meiguanxi".

Me: Na, ruguo nimen hui shuo "bu yao", weishenme nimen xian wen "yao bu yao hedongxi"

Chinese friend: Shi zhiyang: ni wen wo "yao bu yao". Wo shuo "bu yao", danshi you "yao" de yisi. Ni yingai mingbai wo de "buyao" you "yao" de yisi, shuoyi ni mai hedongxi gei wo.

Me: Ruguo ni zhende bu yao hedongxi, ni yingai shuo shenme?

Chinese friend: Jintian tianqi hao re a! Chuenbu ren kanding xiang hedongxi.

Me: Zhongguo ren shi pian ren.

Chinese friend: Mei you, zhi you limao.

---Zhong guo ren juede bi jiao you limao. Wo juede bijiao mafan---

The end

2005-07-30T06:47:00.001-07:00

On Anti-anti-racism

Fuck, I hate all this anti-racism shit by people who don't know what the fuck they're trying to solve. Fools just don't understand that racism is a crucial part of maintaining a culturally diversified society. If there was no racism or the discriminatory/dividing lines that racism promotes, and the world was just a single grey race, what a tremendous waste of thousands of years of culture. I'm not even Christian, but if I was, I'd be damn mad that God gave us all different kinds ethnicities to appreciate, and we are just trying to ignore them and call everyone equal. Fuck that and fuck you, and especially fuck anti-racistors, they just fool themselves with the pleasant comfort that by discouraging racism they are influencing change for the better. I agree maybe at one point in time, American society could have benefited by a decrease in racism, but that time is over, and still encouraging antiracism is now just extremist bullshit. We need to meet in the fucking middle, and right now, there is a perfect balance of racist/antiracist mentalities. There is really no reason to continue bitching about a solved problem, and what we really need to discriminate against are fools, like antiracistors for example.

2005-07-30T06:47:00.000-07:00

You say it's because I deserver better?
My heart is shattered into a thousand broken pieces,
with the only remaining value left in their jadged edges.
Please come close and comfort me again, like it once was,
so I can slit the viens that sucked my life out of me.

I've decided that I will embark to a life of depression for the next month or so. The reasons are extremely complicated and especially cannont in anyway be explained to lesser mortals through Xanga. Maybe a simplified version can be thought of as I now feel that aiming to live a happy life seems much too one sided with respect with the happy/misery spectrum of life in order to appreciate life in it's entirety. I guess kind of how music(life) with only the bass(happiness) turned up in it's entirety sounds like shit(shitty life), yet still so many fools(you) only spend their money(priorities in life) on overpriced and overrated subwoofers/amplifiers(goals that make you happy) and not MBquart component speakers/tweeters(the best possible depression). But again, it's much to hard to explain, and infinitely harder for you to comprehend even if I did.

2005-07-30T06:45:00.001-07:00

My philosophy on life of the month:

First, let's compare the difference between the reality of life and a dream world. The only distinguishing concept between our perceptions of reality and dream is what we call "present tense". We feel alive right NOW, so we automatically conclude what we are living now is real, and what we dreamed is a dream. But we fail to remember that when we dream, we feel just as alive right then. Basically, you have no idea whether your dreams are more real than your reality, or the other way around, or if everything you know of is just a dream.

Conclusion, live life as though it were a dream, because it could be. And it would be such a waste of a dream to live so properly. Think about what consititutes a good dream, and it's not making money, being popular, having honorable morals...No, a good dream is interesting, a fantasy, and as far from what we know as reality as possible. You could wake up at any moment, and when you do, you better be sure you'll remember something worth dreaming.

2005-07-30T06:45:00.000-07:00

Why people commit suicide:

First of all, it's essential to question why you are living in the first place. And you have to think pretty hard. I mean, shallow shit like happiness and laughter and success and accomplishments are what get you by from year to year, as in they make life more bearable. But the main reason people live is to eventually die.

That's why people commit suicide, because they realize that life is pointless before they naturally die and feel the need to expedite the process of just "waiting to die", or as the optimist calls it, "living". People that commit suicide are smarter than you because it takes them less time to realize this, or maybe everyone already knows they should die, but procrastinates because it's so common in this society to put things off.

What's strange is that normal, unsuicidal people, such as you and I, see these people as commiting suicide because these crazy people have overwhelming feelings depression, loneliness, helplessness, and hopelessness and that the only way out of these feelings is death. But what we don't seem to understand after millions of suicides is that our existance really IS lonely, depressing, helpless, hopeless, and that we as socially normal humans merely invented happliness, smiles, and laughter to help us forget what life really comes down to.

Just kidding, I have no respect for people that commit suicide, unless they do it on April 1rst and no one believes it until April 2nd because they think it's an April Fools trick..They obviously don't appreciate the gift of their life enough to validate their living it, taking the easy way out of the best opportunity ever given to them. People that have no respect for the life they lead are worse than walking corpses and detriment the greater good by being a waste of the same food, shelter, and relationships that others would kill(joke that you might miss if this wasn't here) for. It's like they give themselves the well earned death penalty for being so stupid, inconsiderate, and unappreciative.

Disclaimer: This post is solely for the purpose of gaining an interesting perspective, and is probably not the veiw of me or any of the people that help me write my Xangas, especially if you know someone who commited suicide on a date other than April 1rst.

2005-07-30T06:44:00.000-07:00

County

So, that stupid Caltrans bullshit, I completed it one day late, so I got 2 days in LA county prison plus I have to complete 10 more days, fucking bullshit because it was raining and I was at Purdue the whole time. Here are the most interesting parts of my jailtime experience.

You know when you meet new people at boring places, and they ask you shallow social questions like "what's your major", and you reply "blah blah" and they kind of judge you on how hard it is. So like if you say "Mechanical Engineering" people will think, damn that's one prestigious mother fucker and give you a bunch of e-props, whatever. Well in jail, the most common question is "What are you here for, foo?" and then depending on the answer you give, they judge you too, but it's backwards. The more ganster your crime was, the more jail-props you get. Its important to note that the crime should be as ganster as possible, not as bad as possible. For some reason, rape and perverted shit get you way less respect than tagging, even though its far "worse", just because it's not ganster, just sick. So after a few people ask you that question, and steal your biscuit right after because they out jail-prop you, you figure out you have to lie. Haha, after 2 days I was still relatively new in such a large prison, so people never stopped asking me what I was there for. I finally figured it out, and got to eat my own biscut yesterday. When some ganster ass foo asked me what I was there for, I replied "Yo, better step off foo, or I'm about to show your ass". Haha.it worked, so either he was just a newbie at hustling for bicuits, or that was a pretty pimp response worthy of keeping my fucking biscuit. If I was there for more than a month, I'd definitely learn how to pimp biscuits. Not because they were all that good, I don't even know why people stole them. Probably just because the more biscuits you eat at lunch, the more jail-props you get.

Everything in jail is "routine" meaning you wake up, shower, eat, everything at the same fucking time everyday. Even shit that doesn't have to be routine, like where you eat lunch, where you watch people play basketball is the same fucking thing everyday. In fact, it's so damn consistrnt that when you go to another clique's area, it's called "out of bounds" haha. Funny shit, and sometimes you see people like "Do you know where you're at?" Haha, like it's a different fucking city. No, I don't know where I"m at, I lost track 15 feet ago. I didn't say that though.

The fucking jailhouse tatoos are pretty interesting. I think the main reason inmates do it is because they're bored, the pain helps them get away from realizing that they are in jail, it looks hard. But they just kind of accurately spill ink on themselves, and push it in with a needle that doesn't look too sharp or clean. It's really amazing that they can actually see what they're doing. It just looked like spilt ink to me. I kind of wanted one as a souvenir, but I didn't want to pay for it with my ass.LA county bitch!

2005-07-30T06:43:00.000-07:00

So a couple months ago, there was a class action lawsuit against fabreeze for using dangerous chemicals in their products.Basically, the way fabreeze works is, it doesn't make things odorless, it numbs your sense of smell with a chemical called fabrine-trioxidant. And usually this chemical is supposed to be temporary, somewhat like alcohol's numbing of pain is temporary.However, for about 40 children in the past 2 years that have inhaled the product, they have not only permanently lost their sense of smell, but there is visionary damage as well. And it sounds like they weren't even serious inhalitions either. One kid was just testing to see if the item he sprayed still smelled bad or not, but I guess he sniffed it too close or for too long. Sad story.So now I'm working at Ford, and there are all these ideals in my Corporate Handbook. Anyway, except for the kids who can't smell now, fabreeze did a really good job of thinking "outside the box". I mean, everyone would like a product that eliminates odor, so there is a definite need. And it is impossible to create a product that destroys all odor, simply because there are so many different forms of odor. So I think fabreeze showed some good thinking in developing a product that numbed your sense of smell instead, which is a very feasible task and basically accomplished the same thing.

2005-07-30T06:41:00.000-07:00

Dying to Donate

There's this guy on death row, I fogot his name, but he wanted to donate his heart to his cousin, supposedly in order to help make up for whatever he did to get in jail, and probably also because it's family and it's not like he's going to do much with his heart after he's dead anyway. To me, it seems weird because the heart is kind of representative of your morals, and having the heart of someone who is a criminal would be very strange(because I am not one).

But anyway, the reason this was on the news was because people were outraged. The people were mad because instead of dying the death penalty way, lethal injection, the criminal now had a chance to die on the operation table, and supposedly that kind of death wasn't a punishment.

That was kind of unclear, basically, they wanted his punishment to be "death" and a penalty, and they didn't want his death to have the possibility of just being and "accident", despite how much help he would have done for his cousin. It really doesn't seem to matter to them that he is going to die either way, but maybe that's just weird to me though.

The reason they can't do it the other way around to make everyone happy (death penalty first, donation right after) was because there would be chemicals pumped through his heart from the lethal injection.

And you can't donate a heart full of chemicals.

2005-07-30T06:40:00.001-07:00

So a teacher in Compton was arrested, fired, and got her teaching license revoked last Thursday. Haha, what happened was she was trying to give a homeless kid homework. This is all thanks to one of the Child Labor and Welfare Acts passed recently so that children under 16 can't work more than 4 hours of work outside of their homes each day. And since the teacher knew he was already doing 4 hours of work outside of school, she was supposedly responsible for endorsing "child labor activities". A bit ridiculous if you ask me. Sometimes I think people that sue for letting McDonalds make them fat or people that fire people for this kind of thing have some sort of deeper sense of humour. Speaking of lawsuits:

So this woman is accused of statutory raping a 34 year old man. The man's sister is suing on the grounds that the man is menally retarted and has the mind of a 11 year old, which I guess is under the legal age of 18. It's kind of funny because the raper is so ugly. I mean, I have pretty bad taste in girls sometimes, but I'd sue her too if I found out we had sex. Haha, just kidding. But it's kind of funny too because this same 34 year old guy was let off easy on grand theft auto atempt; he just got off on the juvenile charges. I mean, usually when you get caught trying to steal a car, you're pretty fucked, and this time, he got pretty fucked by a pretty ugly woman. Haha, karma. Speaking of karma:

Karma is good because you'll think twice about doing things you wouldn't want happening to you. But Karma's major downfall in my opinion is that everytime you do something good, you have this remote expectation that something good is "owed" to you. And the thought that some supreme power will pay you retribution for doing what you already should do, is a pretty ignorant pretext. I mean, that's assuming the Pilth's belief that we are natually good. Good people should do good things naturally, so I don't know why these expectations of reward and good luck are necessary for people to mantain their good nature.

2005-07-30T06:40:00.000-07:00

Hydrogen Powered Cars

All this hype about hydrogen powered vehicles is quite funny. The promoters brag that water is the only by-product and how it's environmentally friendly. And they actually convince many people that it is a great product and the next revolution in automotive technology

But what people fail to understand is that, per vehicle, when separating hydrogen from oxygen in water molecules, factories would be producing 40% more pollution than the average gasoline powered car. Seriously, what's the point of creating an environmentally friendly car that uses a fuel that's extremely unenvironmentally friendly to produce? Oh, and by the way, hydrogen powered cars are expensive and slow and can't go very far, hydrogen is expensive and dangerous to compress, and converting gas stations to have hydrogen pumps would require $20 billion in investments.

Idiots…gosh

2005-07-30T06:39:00.000-07:00

PerfectionismThings can never be perfect, only close to perfect at best. The things that can be perfect are no longer perfect after a few seconds, they become new standards for 'barely acceptable'. Perfectionalists tend to take satisfaction in never being satisfied with anything. Sucks to be you.

Between the Buried and Me.

So I guess since we have this linear concept of time, there is only 3 ways we can look at it; past, present, future. It turns out that a good life has focus balanced around all three, which is intuitively obvious, but obviously not intuitive enough. Well, that's from my experience at least.

What happens if you live in the past is quite apparent for most people since it's a very common problem, but what happens is you have these unrealistic expectations that life will revert to what it once was, which is nearly impossible, so you are continually unsatisfied. It sucks, because for most people it's a horrible cycle. You don't want to do anything new because you're obsessed with the past, and because you're not doing anything new in your life, your more significant memories are your past, strengthening the obsession.

What happens if you focus in the present tense is you have no understanding of consequence. Haha, and I guess that doesn't really matter if you're living day by day anyway, but you start to feel really shallow. You realize the importance of how long term goals drive you.

If you live in the future, it's hard to ever enjoy life because you're always working for something new. By the time you get whatever you were trying to, you already have too many new ambitions you're focused on to ever enjoy it for long. The problem of pimp playahz, haha, not that I would have any idea.

But what if time isn't just a one dimensional string of possibilities? Well, I think time is multidimensional. Perhaps it's worth your thinking about for at least 20 more seconds. And then, when time flies, will you have wings to follow?

2005-07-30T06:36:00.000-07:00

On Under Protectionalism

So let's say you have this girl that you love and she happens to be really hot. Anyway, I have this watch that my father used to wear when he was still alive. It's nice looking, but it also obviously means a lot to me and I love it alot. Now, it'd be dumb for me to treat it like just an ordinary nice looking watch, because if someone were to steal it away from me, they'd only steal it because it looks nice. It's such a waste: I lost the watch I love, someone gained a watch that looks nice to them, which leads to an obvious conclusion on being under protective based on optimization of the greater good.

On Over Protectionalism

When you're overly controlling, it gives off the impression that you don't trust her. If she really wants to go to a club, she'll go, but she'll just lie to you about it reaffirming your lack of trust, and it's kind of a cycle. The more you don't trust her and feel the need to control her, the more she has to lie to do the things she wants causing you to mistrust her even more when you find out. And it's so dumb to think that holding her back from going to a few parties is going to help her not cheat on you. If the girl really wants to cheat, she isn't dumb, she would find a way.

Also, when you're over protective, it really makes you look insecure and pathetic. Deep inside, you know that girls like confident guys, and that being a pussy will make her like you less. And that might be part of the reason why you feel like you need to be controlling, is that because girls cheat on pussies with confident manly men, and you don't want that to happen to you. Why don't you just be a better boyfriend; If you were a manly man, they wouldn't cheat on you with a pussy, you'd be everything they are looking for.

It seems like the only good thing that comes from being a controlling boyfriend is that you show you really care about her, or at least about not loosing her. Unfortunately, there are much better ways to show her that you care. And everyone including her knows this. Instead of showing her you care by getting mad at her when other guys smile at her, why not buy her flowers or take her on a picnic.

I'm not saying to act like you don't care if she's obviously taking the first steps to cheat on you. I'm just saying that if you know she loves you, then be confident in that and trust her more instead of being a pussy ass bitch.

2005-07-30T06:34:00.000-07:00

To Twinkle Toes, because he likes thinkingabout wierd shit:On Seeing the Future

It's really hard for me to believe that people can have extraordinary senses. Seeing into the future, for example, seems a bit more of a fantasy than anything else.

Anyway, I guess all senses are hard to believe at first. Vision for example. Imagine humanity as a naturally blind species. And then, imagine a few people who actually have the beginning traces of the ability to see. It probably would be hard for them to convince the rest of the blind people(and probably themselves as a matter of fact) that vision is indeed possible and that they themselves have this gift. And yet at one point in the evolution of our species, it might have been that vision as we know it today wasn't possible. But the reason we evolved into a seeing species is probably because it seeing helped significantly with hunting animals or identifying edible plants. And the more people with vision fucked and thrived and fucked and dominated the blind, the more humanity changed from a blind species to a seeing species.

I'm not really sure whether or not I believe in people claiming to see the future. I mean, I'm sure it could be possible at some point in time either by means of technological advances or through evolution. Well, anyway, I just wanted to say that I think all the future seers should get together and fuck, and create some future-seeing babies. And they should fuck, and if indeed this new generation of species is legit, then they should be able to dominate the modern survival of the fittest (stock market and such). I mean, I hope it wouldn't even have to take this long, because I'm kind of curious about my future.

I don't really expect that today's future seers presently have such a fine tuned sense. I'd imagine that to take about 100,000 years to develope. For example: The sense of hearing has evolved significantly since the Homo habilis stage in human history over 2.4 million years ago. The cochlea of the ear( this fluid filled sack that detects sound) contained no hair membranes at all back then. This means that they could only hear the lower frequencies, probably 20-100 Hz, which is nothing, especially because lower frequencies are less directional(it's hard to tell which direction thunder is coming from) and our own voices are 300-1000Hz. So they don't know where the sound is coming from, and they can't even hear too much of our current auditory spectum(20-20000Hz). Hearing sucked for them. And now the sense of hearing is so much more, I mean, we can't hear as high as dogs, but still, it took awhile for us to get to this level. And maybe these psycics just need some few thousand years before they can clearly and acurately see the future.

This whole 'sense enhancement through the generations' process could easily be expedited through genetic research. I mean, if seeing into the future is a 'sense', then there should be some genitic difference between them and us. And since the exponetial rate at which genic testing and technology is growing, it should be any decade now that this will be possible.

2005-07-30T06:32:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder why your cat's hair is soft and yours isn't? I'm going to invent Cat Saliva Conditioner(for humans to use (since cats already have cat saliva)).

What do you do to a wheel that's old??..................................retire that shit. Yea bitch.

If your nose runs and your feet smell, you're built upside down.

I don't snowboard I snow interesting, because I'm cool like that. Cool like snow.

Dude, I suck at being funny.

Graffiti is worth it for the artist if the "risk to getting caught" vs. "length of time the art stays up and how public it is" ratio is very low. So if you were a owner of a store that has been graffitied on, it's in your interest to paint over the graffiti as soon as possible so future artists will think "Wow, I don't want to risk painting here if it's going to be painted over tomorrow anyway". It's like all that risk for nothing.

But, if you are the artist, if your work get's painted over, it's in your best interest to paint over it as soon as possible with a better work. That way the owner will think "Wow, I don't want to spend any money painting over this shit anymore if it's just going to get painted over with more graffiti the next day. And at least this time we have a pretty one

Here's a poem I wrote. I'm such a romantic guy.

"Dear Daphne,I think about my feelings for you, and everything else seems so little.
It's like my whole life is revolving, and you're in the middle.
And when I think about losing you, my heart seems so brittle
But then i remember how sweet you are, like a non-sourkind Skittle."
-Errorik.

2004-07-30T06:49:00.000-07:00

Day 4, damn it, nothing interesting happened today. Actually, so when you pickup trash on the freeway, you place it in these big orange bags, 3ft by 2ft by 3ft when full. Anyway, so after the bags get full, we tie them and throw them onto this truck. But I accently threw it over the truck, and it landed in the middle of the lane on the free way. There was major skidding and I caused a traffic jam for about 5-10 minutes. Unfortunately, no one was injured so it makes for a pretty shitty Xanga post.For some reason, one of my coworkers, Richie, was trying to get this warning sticker off his helmet. How the fuck should I know why, anyway, he starts picking at it with his nails which proves to be unsucessful, so he pulls out an 8 inch switch blade, and cuts that shit off. I was pretty fucking scared, I"m surrounded by convicts in a fucking van and one of them has a bigasfuck knife.Oh by the way everyone, I'm interning for the Calfornia Department of Transportation doing some work on environmental polution solutions. It's a great resume builder, if anyone reading this needs an internship here, I'll hook you up, for free, I know a couple people.Newest Slang from the Baddest Convicts(1) "in a minute" means "for a long time"Examples: Have you been working in this, in a minute = Have you been working here for a long timeI haven't seen dat nigga in a minute = I haven't seen that particular Negro American in a long time(2) "Ain't no joke" means "fuh-real"Example: Boss aint no joke = The boss is very straightforward(3) "Surgical" means "skillful"Example: Damn, boss be surgical wit dat bus = Wow, the boss is highly skillful in operating the busBy noticing the patterns slang tends to follow, I'll attempt to create a list of probable future slangs.For example: "What are you up to" to "What's up" to "sup".Also, 'Not at all, home boy" to "Nall, homie" to "naw homes"Therefor, I predict "Bitch ass homie" will evolve into "Blomie "For example "Damn, will you bitch ass homies cleanup after yourself and get the fuck out of my house" turns into "Damn, will you blowme, cleanup afteryourself, and get the fuck out"

2004-07-30T06:48:00.000-07:00

Day 5: So today I discover 3 wallets on the side of an offramp, they were pretty nice too owned by middle aged men living in rich areas. One was Coach, one was DKNY, I didn't look too hard at the other one. But being the nice guy that I am, I put them in a mail box. I"m pretty sure that they get sent back to the address on the drivers license.

So if 1500 people in California are infected with West Nile virus anually, and probably the average Californian get's bitten .5 times (you have to understand there aren't many misquito's in California because the weather's nice). And since there are roughly 15 million people living in Californa. That means each misquito that bites you has a 1500/.5/15000000 = .0002 = .02%.

Today I got bitten 37 times by misquitos cleaning a damn swamp area on the side of a freeway that no one gives a fuck about except these crooks that use the area to dump stolen wallets. And that's just the visible ones too, there's probably some on the back of my head or neck that I can't see. That means I have almost a 1% chance of getting West Nile virus and dying. Luckly, I'm a proud member of the California Department of Transportation and take these risks with a smile on my face in order to make the freeways a better place for all of us.