So the last 2 weeks came and went rather quick. I had the opportunity to spend almost all my time here at my home. Can’t believe it’s almost 2 months living here. I have a tenant / roommate living at the other room. It’s the gf’s sister who was looking for a place to stay since her job was relocated to Studio City from WeHo. It’s nice to have someone looking after the place when you’re not here. Except she works almost similar hours as I do.

The place still needs furniture. I haven’t had the chance to dive into my woodworking ambitions. Not sure if its because I’m lazy or I don’t have time. Maybe because I know that this new hobby is going to cost me some dough to buy tools, I’m just holding off on it for now. I do need some furniture so I’ll save up for it. I did get to do my first major upgrade to the kitchen sink. Not really something I absolutely needed to do but the old sink was leaking pretty bad and I was going to just change out the parts of the old sink. Unfortunately, the bolt on the handle would not budge and the allen wrench I used kept on rounding off corners in the hole. I just gave up after trying for about an hour. Ran over to good ole Home Depot and picked me up a Moen faucet. The job took me another hour and I was done installing. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. The hardest part was ripping the old one out and getting wet as well as having rusted metal fall over my head because the bolt underneath the old faucet was corroded pretty bad. I couldn’t unscrew the bolt but rather ripped it out from the top of the sink. Here’s a few shots of the old faucet and the corroded bolt

Here’s a nice picture of the end results of the new faucet.

I have to say I’m pretty proud of my work. I celebrated by making dinner for everyone.

Last weekend I had the chance to attend a wedding of a very good friend of mine. We were friends since 6th grade. She’s finally getting married. This gave me the chance to reconnect with people in past. One notable figure was my 8th grade history teacher. He looked the same except more white hair. Also got to see some college buddies and their kid. It was good to see everyone again. I contributed to the wedding by helping them build their website and creating their slideshow. Fortunately it turned out great with their multiple day visit and feedback. My gf said their attention to detail made my slideshow better and made me look good. Hopefully we’ll get that thing on YouTube soon.

I also had a chance to get in a good ride on the same day as the wedding. It was a good 20 mile ride around Burbank, Glendale, Los Feliz, and Griffith Park. I found another route that leads me up the Verdugo Mountains and San Gabriel mountain area. It’s a 30 miler through Sun Valley, Sunland, Glendale, and finally Burbank. Haven’t done it yet but will be doing it soon when I’m feeling ambitious and adventurous. In the mean-time, my daily commute to work every Tuesday to Friday will keep me happy.

I think the main reason for this lack of “feeling” is that I didn’t get to go Christmas shopping this year. Just alot of shopping for the new home. I didn’t feel I took part of the giving. I even tried to replicate by participating in volunteer events every weekend this December but still nothing.

I’m not the only one who’s feeling this way. My sister, who is also in the midst of her home remodeling is bitten by the scrooge bug. Gone is our annual Christmas tree. Gone is the presents under the tree. Gone is the annual tradition of staying up until Christmas morning to open our presents.

I’m hoping this is only a temporary setback only for this year. I’m hoping the same time next year, we both will be situated and will be fighting to have our traditions restored. Maybe then 2009 will give me back that “feeling” of the holiday season. But for now, here are some pictures from recent events in my life.

Anyway, I still wanted to wish everyone out there a very Merry Christmas. And if I don’t post again before the new year begins, Happy New Year!

Unfortunately, I’m also trying to get over a cold. I’ve been sleeping it off while taking nyquil and dayquil (at least the local pharmacy’s version of it). I think I’m getting better but I don’t know if it’s because of the drugs or not.

I was able to ride my bicycle into work for 2 times last week. It was about a 13 mile ride. The City of Burbank is fairly bicycle friendly. Plenty of bike lanes and bike routes. There were only a few places where it got a bit crowded. I need to spend more time with the bikes when I get better. It’s just so hard with so many new home improvement projects.

I’ve been thinking about building my furniture. Wouldn’t it be cool to build something from scratch and perhaps maybe make some cool gifts for friends and family later? I’m going to look into and see if I can build a simple bookcase. Will have to document the process when that happens.

Anyhow, I think I’ve expressed myself enough and would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! Hopefully next year I’ll have my own Thanksgiving feast at my place. But going to others would have to do this year. So let the gorging begin!

Marie and I went back yesterday to clean the carpets. It took almost the whole day but we left my place with a wet but clean carpet. I went back today and found that majority of the carpet is dry. This means move in day has officially started! I spent the day gathering all my belongings from my parent’s garage and have it ready for the move.

On a down note, my car has been making a weird grinding noise. I suspected that it was something to do with the transmission. My dad and I took it to the local mechanic and they confirmed that I need a whole new transmission. That means I’m out another $2400 and no car for a week.

This blows because I wanted to buy a washer and dryer, a new bedroom set with a bed, a couch, and finally a new television. It’s so tempting with all these great sales for Black Friday. I can’t even finance because of my projected negative cash flow. I guess my Christmas will start next year when I get my tax return.

• Re-keyed all the doors.
• Added gas and electricity utilities in my name.
• With the help of others, primed all rooms and painted 2 rooms.

I still have to prime a wall in my office and the master bedroom’s closet tonight. Then I can begin painting the office and other rooms. Hopefully things will be done by Sunday. I can begin cleaning the place. I’ll be cleaning the bathrooms, kitchen, patio, garage, and the area at the front of my house. I will finally need to vacuum, spot clean, and wash the carpets.

I can then finally think about packing up my stuff and prepare for my move next week. At least I’ll have the entire week off. There is going to be some home improvement projects in the future. But first I’ll have to buy a washer and dryer, bedroom set, living room furniture, and a flat screen television before I can think about home improvement projects. It’s funny how Lowe’s and Home Depot become your favorite store overnight.

I spent several days now figuring how my cash flow will work. I should be okay if I don’t splurge. I am welcoming myself back to living frugally. Wisebread.com, here I come!

Well, I just sent my email to them. I was so mad. Here I am, riding my bicycle around town for the day. I made a personal commitment to not start my car and drive. I was not going to be contributing to the demise of our environment and the congestion on the road. I felt in a way betrayed by all of this. Even though you think you might be doing a good thing, it won’t go unpunished. What if I had a $5000 bike (which I don’t)? A person with with any beat-up or nice car or motorize vehicle will have designated spots. All I’m saying is why can’t they be fair about this? Their city states that a ratio of 5% of all parking should be provided to bicycles. I definitely did not see that since almost all spaces were for automobiles.

And with that I am declaring boycott to the following list of businesses or locations:

• Baccali, 245 W Valley Blvd, Alhambra, CA 91801
• Din Tai Fung Dumpling House and it’s neighboring businesses, 1108 S Baldwin Ave, Arcadia, CA 91007

It’s really not the fact that they don’t have parking but to tell a paying customer to never to park at the only places that we can park will get you shit listed. Enough said!