memoryloot

I just got back from helping my sister move and had to post on an amazing invention that caught my attention a few weeks ago. When my new washer and dryer was delivered, I noticed that the delivery guys had these straps they used to move the washer and dryer. They easily moved both items in a matter of minutes without much struggle. I was so impressed I went online the next day to see if I can buy myself a pair. Upon further research, I found that people were complaining that the arm straps are bad for moving things up and down stairs. Through the magic of Amazon’s related item query, it pointed me to the Shoulder Dolly. This was supposedly a better version in which 2 movers straps on a harness and use a single strap to lift a heavy item using their legs and shoulder. I HAD TO HAVE IT!

With my Amazon credit I ordered one and finally had the opportunity to use it today. There was a bit of skepticism in the part the moving party but I was able to convince a friend of my sister to help me move the refrigerator down a flight of stairs. Lifting the thing was a amazing. But when it came time to bring it downstairs, we struggled a bit. The person going down the stairs had the bulk of the weigh on him. We then continued moving both washer and dryer which was much more successful. Especially the dryer since that was light. We easily moved it down the stairs without any struggles. It was a matter of adjusting the straps properly so that item was evenly distributed and high enough off the ground so it doesn’t interfere with the steps. My dad even asked for it when we were moving the heavy items out of the truck! Unfortunately, I didn’t bring it because we had a heavy duty dolly and the place we moved to had no stairs.

Check out their website for more information. This will certainly come in handy when I get into woodworking (hopefully). And now an instructional video to go over how to really use the thing.

Some how during all my life changing events, the “feeling” of the holiday season isn’t here. Considering that I’m writing about this on Christmas I don’t think the feeling will be coming this year. To me, it seems like another day. Yes, I get to see more family, friends and have a 2 week vacation to help me usher in this holiday season. Unfortunately, purchasing this new home seem to have sucked the festive feeling right out of me.

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!

It’s been officially 1 week since I moved in. It did not feel like home until tonight. The combination of having my own home cooked meals, Internet connectivity, and a new brand new bed made my place alot more welcoming. Especially the new bed part. Can’t wait to sleep tonight!

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.

I can’t believe Thanksgiving is upon us. I’ve been so wrapped up with this home thing that I lost sight of the holiday. I wish I could have enjoyed it more even though I took this week off. My sister and I agreed that this year, it doesn’t “feel” like Thanksgiving. I suppose in the previous year we focused more on the holiday. Not that owning a home is a bad thing but I need to sit back a bit and reflect upon what I’m thankful about. I’m thankful I have great family and friends in my life. I’m thankful I get along so well with my sister. We’ve been much closer in our adult years. I suppose it’s the fact that we have each other to lean on. We’re going through the same ordeal in buying our first house and have been bouncing ideas and recommendations off each other. I’m thankful that my friends are still my friends. Some of us don’t talk as much while others I see on a weekly basis. I’m so thankful I have friends regardless of how frequently I see them.

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!

It took almost a week to finish painting my place. But finally that was completed this last Sunday. Big thanks to Billy & Jen, Marie & Sang, Aly & her nephews, and last but not least my wonderful girlfriend for dedicating their times to help pitch in in giving my walls a much needed face lift.

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.

So it’s been 10 days since I received my keys to my new home. I haven’t moved in yet. There is alot to do before I can even begin to think of packing. What I’ve done so far is

• 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.

We first witness America’s first African-American President. And we as Americans made it happen. His acceptance speech was so moving. Finally after 8 years of blunders this is a refreshing change.

As some of you may know, I have been shopping for a new home for a few months now. After a long escrow period, I am finally a home owner! I officially closed escrow at noon today. My bank accounts were emptied in the process. I don’t officially move into the new place until the last week of November. The seller is renting back the place so that she can wait for her escrow to close as well. I was over at the house yesterday and could see that she’s already packed up many of her stuff in preparation for the move. The place should be all mine on November 8th. I will then need to paint 2 of the rooms and do some cleaning in preparation for my move. Needless to say, it’ll be a busy few months to get situated.

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!

Yesterday, I decided to take the bike out for the day to run errands and finally meet up with a group of friends for dinner. All was well until I was getting ready to leave. A security guard comes by and tells me never to park at the parking center again. I was asking, “Where can I park then?” He pointed to the back of the parking lot at other signs and tells me that his boss doesn’t like it when bikes are locked up to sign posts. I told them he should install some bike parking locations so that all the bikes can use it. He continues to tell me that his boss won’t do it. The only thing I could do was to tell him I’ll be sure to write to the city and tell them of this situation.

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!

I recently found out the founder the Bike Oven opened his own bicycle store down the street from the Oven. I dug around his website and found that he organizes a “Get Some Dim Sum” ride every Sunday morning. Last Sunday was the 9th iteration of such a ride.

Coincidentally, my schedule allowed me to take part on this ride last weekend. I woke up early on Sunday morning and pedaled my way to the South Pasadena Gold line station and rode the train one stop south to Highland Park station. Upon arriving I was accompanied by a few others who also wanted to be part of this morning’s adventure. There were 2 other bloggers who joined us. Shannon from Sha In LA and Pat from Eating L.A. (stunning picture of me on this post). Check out their blogs for additional point of views.

I was joined by a few familiar faces besides Josef. Veronica, DJ Chickenleather, and Martin showed up. We casually strolled through Northeast LA. The bikes looked really cool but seemed restrictive. I kept hearing that the brakes were as effective as any coaster brakes. Also they were more of a sit back and cruise bike. I wanted the option to cruise and the ability to kick it up a notch should I need to. Luckily I was on my fixie. During the ride, I finally realized the beauty of riding fixed. I didn’t have to use my brakes as much as some people while we traveled on a slight decent and was required to stop frequently.

Our pack made it to the San Antonio Winery and we immediately made our way to the kitchen. The food took awhile for some (they were cooking 20 meals just for our group) but when it came I polished off my Italian Omelette without any hesitation.

We were invited to tour the winery. Our tour guide guided us through the few rooms explaining the history and process of making wine in the middle of LA. You don’t have to drive to Napa or even Temecula to get your winery fix. We had the opportunity to try some wine (Pat’s blog should have details on what was given to us).

By the time we were done and ready to go, the sun came up and warmed everyone up. It was pleasant a pleasant ride back. I especially like that Chickenleather was documenting the whole experience. One of these days I’m going to see if I can get a copy from him. We passed by a group where someone yelled, “Are you guys Midnight Riddazz??” CL wittingly replied, “Of course we’re not! It’s daytime.” That made me chuckle. Riding in a group like that made me feel like a kid again. It’s similar to riding in a group of motorcycles but slow enough to carry on conversations. Hard to describe unless you’re there.

I bid farewell to the group when I stopped at the Oven to help out for the rest of the afternoon. I’m definitely going to do this again. Hopefully more peeps can join me.