The Number 22

22.  Do you know what 22 is?  22 is the number of young military veterans that take their own lives everyday.  It is an epidemic that can be prevented, yet so little is done to actually address the issue.  For one day that is a lot.  The number surpasses the number of suicides by civilians by 2 times.  Is it because of the operational tempo at which military members deploy and separate from their families and loved ones?  Is it due to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)?  Is 22 an accurate number and should we be concerned that this number would create an unhealthy stereotype that all military members of the armed forces have a wire lose somewhere?  The truth is, the vast majority of our young veterans are okay.  Most of them are healthy and doing well.  Most of them have strong, everlasting friendships.  The pay isn't even that bad.  The military provides enough money and allowances for food, shelter, education, healthcare and beer.  So why are they killing themselves?  I believe the answer to this is one simple phrase.  "High expectations."  In the military, members are taught to have a slightly greater than zero tolerance for failure.  Military members have sharper instincts, they show up on time, they have a greater understanding of responsibility and have an uncanny sense of attention to detail.  That type of stuff cannot be taught in college.  Teenagers are thrown into bootcamp and are challenged mentally and physically and are forced to make swift decisions as if their life and the lives of their fellow members depend on it.  Military members are taught to adapt and overcome any adversary that may come along the way in life, however the one thing that isn't taught... is dealing with failure.  Everything that is done, there is an "instruction" or manual for it.  Instructions must be followed or consequences will be dealt with via the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).  Of course, there is annual "training" to identify that there is indeed a problem with suicide, but given how military members are programmed, failure is too much.  The problem is, high expectations are expected.   There's gotta be a phrase that says if you keep your expectations low, than you'll never be disappointed.  The cure for suicide?  There isn't any, but you know what helps?  The Swahili's got it right.  "HAKUNA MATATA."

San Diego Comic Art Gallery

 

Every first Friday of the Month at NTC, Liberty Station there are free art exhibits.  On June 5, 2015, Kevin Eastman, the co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, came to show off his first turtle sketches.  It was a great night with super-TMNT-fans, photographs and autograph signing.



Hillcrest Farmer's Market in San Diego

I just stopped by the Hillcrest Farmer's Market in San Diego and here are my unbiased observations.

Perks:
-Get to run into a lot of great people with positive attitudes.  There's no hate here.  Everyone is the same and they all love each other.
-Nice variety of fresh grown organic produce.
-Nice variety of world cuisine.
-People watching.  There's a lot of unusual looking humans of all types on Hillcrest.

Cons:
-Park far and take a free trolley bus, it says "FREE" all over the bus, but there's a huge tip jar at the exit next to the driver with dollars spilling out, so exiting the bus without tipping feels kind of bad.
-Price of produce.  How do they decide the price of their food???  Do they just round up and guess what the local price is?  Have the sellers NEVER visited a grocery store?  It's like $5 for a bag of ugly Naval oranges whereas it's $2.50 at a local grocery store for the same amount.  A small basket of strawberries are also nearly double priced as well.  Do they think I'm stupid? 
-Bring cash.  Sorry, you can't utilize your "rewards" card and earn points here.  I spotted maybe two or three places that took credit.
-People bring their dogs.  If you don't like dogs or are allergic to them, avoid this place at all costs!


Overall, don't expect to go bargain shopping here, but to find a good local variety of fresh fruit, vegetables, eggs, and world cuisine.  It is a good way to try out unusual foods like raw sea urchin or tofu dipping sauce.

My New Crib

I moved into this new place in San Diego at the Rancho Mission Villas.  I've been remodeling this place by myself.  So far, I've replaced the flooring with porcelain wood-like tile, repainted all the walls, repainted all the baseboards and replaced the damaged ones, removed the popcorn ceiling, replaced all the outlets with updated ones including those with USB, placed motion sensing light switches to automatically shutoff, replaced kitchen lighting fixtures with LED, installed a ceiling fan in the dining area, replaced all chrome faucets and knobs with brushed nickel... the projects don't stop.  I'm planning on putting a backsplash in the kitchen and vanity room.  So far all the improvement projects have cost me around $3,000 doing it all myself.

 

 

Analyzing the Possibility and the Advantages of Homelessness

Being that rents, mortgages and HOA fees are so ridiculously high, homelessness has become an option for many here in San Diego.  The average rent as of June 2015 is $1,514.  Middle class families are forced to move out of rentals and purchase, which is driving up home prices.  Although, apartment complexes are being built, it could take many years for the home market and rents to drop again.

After speaking with some active duty Sailors that work with me, I have found out that some of them are indeed homeless and are bouncing around on people's couches.  Make no mistake, these guys are still collecting BAH which is the basic allowance for housing, yet they want to pocket that money or pay for a home in a remote location which makes it unfeasible to drive to and from work.  After contemplating this option myself, I have opted not to.  It would be rather simple to just live in my car and shower at work, eat at the galley for breakfast, lunch and dinner for less than $8 a day.  It's quite enticing if you put the numbers together.  The savings are exponential.  A major question I would have for myself would be what I would do with all the extra time?  Would I hang out at the beach all day?  Where would I sleep?  A rental solves that issue since I have a bed, wireless internet, laptop and cable TV to keep me company.  But I've always wondered can I do without it?  Can't I just sleep in my car and read books at the public library to kill time?  Doing things like dating and going to bars is out of the question for me for I pay child support which consumes a big chunk of my pay.  The money I have left is better utilized for food and other basic necessities in order to survive.  So would I do it? 

No. 

Because after speaking with the Sailors actually living on the streets are extremely unhappy with their lives and their current situation.  They tend to be embarrassed to explain what they did on the weekend or end up finding 2nd employment. 

Observances of my years while active duty.

The 20 year mark in the military marks a milestone for the incredibly small percentage of folks that actually stay in for that long.  In less than four years, I'll reach that milestone and it makes me a little bit nervous.  I joined during a period of time when no one used cellphones.  E-mail was rudimentary.  We were using Windows 98.  I can recall vividly when bell-bottoms were worn and I stood watch during the whole Y2K scare where all electronic devices were supposed to fizzle out when the clock stroke midnight when the clocks changed to the year 2000.  The Clinton years were the good times, no one thought about war, the only major thing going on was the BRAC (base realignment).  Bases were getting shut down everywhere.  I remember being in biomed school when 9/11 happened.  The break-room was eerily silent as the second plane hit the second world trade center.  The angry faces of all my fellow Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen as they stared at the television while the events were unraveling had been permanently etched in my mind.  When I checked into Lemoore, I remember President Bush declaring war and sending troops to Iraq.  Some of my fellow friends and Shipmates were sent there and they came back with stories of taking down the statue of Saddam Hussein.  I got married.  I went to more school.  I got stationed half a world away with a weird and quirky culture, Japan.  I was sent to Kuwait.  I traveled some more and got stationed in DC.  I even deployed to Africa and Afghanistan.  Almost got killed several times in my epic journeys.  In some instances, I almost shit my pants but I'm not even allowed to talk about it.  I even honorably served with the President of the United States which was a very humbling experience that made me respect our government even more.    With numerous deployments and absences, I contributed to Navy statistics, I was ultimately betrayed and I got divorced.  The marriage produced two kids who are fantastic little people.  I'm now serving my last and final tour.  Getting closer and closer to retirement.  I've grown from past experience not to trust anyone.  I'm prepping myself for the worst.  Paying off all my debts, saving for 2 years of unemployment and completing my Bachelors in Applied Science.  The life of this Sailor has been filled with death-defying adventure, constant relocation and intense loneliness.  But do I regret joining the U.S. Navy?  Hell no!  All of the above is part of the package.  I look forward towards the next chapter of my life, the civilian life.  I am older, more mature, and disenchanted with love.  I have been trained by the best and I can't wait to move on.  It feels as though as an American, I live to work rather than live to live because living is so mundane while working with people to achieve a common goal is so damned satisfying.

The Lone Sailor Statue which ironically and unexpectedly defines my current life in the Navy.

Awesome Things to do with Kids in San Diego

You can read a million articles online about what there is to do in San Diego.  I have made it my life's mission to find cool and unique things to do that you and your kids will surely enjoy.  With this blog article being a LIVING post, I'll update it as often as possible as I discover new things!  Unlike other posts about family events, I'll clue you in on the parking situation as well, because parking is a premium in San Diego!

1.  Bring your family on a bicycle ride around Coronado Island.  As soon as you cross the Coronado Island bridge, take the first right and another right into the park.  From there, find parking and off load your bikes and go for a bike ride around this island!  There is a long paved road for bikes to travel around this island.  There's free parking if you make two rights right after crossing the bridge.  I've never had trouble finding parking here.

2.  Get an annual pass to the San Diego Zoo!  There are unique events going on throughout the year and having an annual pass gives you a chance to see all the animals up close which is something you cannot do if you just visit the zoo once or twice.  The tigers and monkeys are active during different times.  After visiting the zoo many different times, the tiger only came out for up-close viewing once.
**In the summertime, the San Diego Zoo does Night-time Zoo!  This is truly a unique experience where you get to see animals that are usually asleep during the day roam and prowl around at night.  The kids and I got to hear the lion roar and the kids were terrified.  The predators are active during this time and with spotty lighting, it can be scary for little ones.  There is a huge parking lot here.

3.  Take your family to the beach!  San Diego has several different beaches.  Some have cliffs, some have shallow areas full of wild life and some are completely flat and some are lit up at night. 

• Mission Beach - This beach is lit up at night and is near a carnival.  The carnival, a.k.a. Belmont Park, has a wooden roller coaster, arcade, carnival games and plenty of rides.
• Coronado Beach - This is the only beach in the world with gold flakey sand.  It is not real gold, it is mica which has no real value, but it is really nice to bring the kids to.  It is long, flat and wet which make it a runners sanctuary and sand castle builder's dream.
• Sunset Cliffs - This is off the end of Interstate 8.  It leads directly into the Sunset Cliffs before you get to Point Loma.  There are a lot of surfers and spectacular views.  The edge may be a bit scary for those afraid of heights.  Keep your kids on a short leash.
• Point Loma Tide Pool - After paying the $5 entrance fee, you can see wild sea creatures at the tide pool.  This area is protected by the Department of Agriculture and you can be fined for taking anything you find there including sea shells.  Some of the shells here are perfect for hermit crabs and on occasion, you may see one.  Kids really enjoy this one-on-one experience and beautiful views of the ocean.

4.  Visit "The Living Coast".  This is an interactive aquarium with a sting ray petting area, shark tank, eagles, etc.  They have animal feedings about 4 times a day which draw large crowds.  There's also a trail that leads out to the bay with the ruins of the old gunpowder plant and overgrown railroad tracks.  Parking is free and there is a free shuttle from the parking lot to the nature center.

5.  Go Cruising around Downtown San Diego.  This is rather an inexpensive journey.  From Petco Park to Adams Avenue, there's plenty to see, cool things to discover.  Small businesses thrive here.  Cupcake stores to costume shops.  You never know what you'll find unless you go out and explore.  Kids will awe in amazement with the city skyscrapers of downtown and the beautiful treed landscape while cruising through Balboa Park.

6.  Friday Night Liberty @ NTC at Liberty Station.  Every first Friday of the Month between 5-9 pm the art galleries are no cost.   There are live performances and art studios for kids.  It's also a beautiful place to visit outside of Balboa Park.  Lots of open room, parks and plenty of parking.  www.ntclibertystation.com

7.  The Cat Café.  This idea came from cat cafes in Japan where you can just sip coffee (hot chocolate or whatever) and play with cats.  The price of admission is the cost of a cup of coffee; just buy a cup and they'll let you in.  On crowded days, they let people in in 30 minute intervals and on slower days, you have plenty of time to enjoy the cats.  All the cats are up for adoption.  The cats are not always active so just let them be cats and take all the pictures you want.  Parking in downtown can be pretty hairy so I just park in the south end of Horton Plaza parking structure and get my ticket validated inside to score 3 hours of free parking at the cost of buying candy or something in Horton Plaza.  http://www.catcafesd.com/ 

The FAB FAIR

This year's San Diego County Fair was themed The FAB FAIR which honored the old pop band, The Beatles.  Right before you step in, you'll see the yellow submarine and a museum on the right.  It was pretty fun.  The fair is split into two sides, the adult side and the kid side.  We did both to maximize the fun!

 

 

 

Homecoming Zero Dark Thirty

Soco is back from her six month deployment in Afghanistan!  The girls were so happy to see their mom.  I'm very glad that she made it out okay and a little bit richer.  Being stationed with the Marines is probably the best experience that she has ever had and this deployment was very good for her.

This guy paid off $74K in student loans in 2 years. How he did it.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/17-tips-quickly-paying-down-191300858.html

My Job is to Make Things Better

Red tape makes everything worse.  Incompetence makes things even more worse.  I have found out through trial and error that our average turnaround time for broken equipment is roughly 2 1/2 months.  And no one even notices that this is a concern!  The red tape involved using checks and balances have made ordering parts a nightmare and the recent budget cuts are not helping any.  Of course, high priority items get taken care of within days, but if you have something rather routine forget about it.  So I have made it my duty... my purpose in life in the next year or so to make things better.  Given my past knowledge of how a shop works elsewhere from five different hospitals, have given me vision to spot out all the bottlenecks in our process.  Gee... sometimes I wish I was a commissioned officer because it seems like I think like one.  I'm pretty sure that I have this problem solved so that our turnaround time can turn from months to weeks or even days.  Challenge accepted.

Also, here is a recent video taken by me showing Vicky going across the monkey bars.

Trading in for a newer car.

When trading in your old car for a new one and when they say that they retain a high resale value, ask them to prove it. - Exion H.

The Best Time to Buy Everything

Everything is on a rotational schedule of when they go on sale.  Follow this link:  Monthly Sales Breakdown <-----save afford="" big="" can="" if="" it="" money="" nbsp="" off="" p="" pay="" then="" time="" to="" wait="" will="" you="">

How to Drive a Prius V Three

A 2012-2013 Prius V Three is equipped with cruise control, navigation and backup camera.  I would like to first start off saying that this car is really easy to drive.  But to get the best gas mileage, there are certain techniques that you must adhere to.  I'm not here to tell you how to drive for the best gas mileage because you can find that all over the internet!  I'm going to tell you how to drive it for max performance + max fuel economy.

Now you see next to the steering wheel, there is the shifter knob that takes the car into four modes, "Brake", "Neutral", "Reverse", and "Drive".  The shifter is spring loaded to default into it's parked position which is nothing.  All of these have a very specific function and you can shift into neutral, brake and drive while the car is in motion.  When you know that you need to slow down, drop the shifter into "brake" mode.  It won't put the full force of your brakes, but it'll create resistance which will charge your batteries faster than if you were to completely take your foot off the gas pedal.  Very lightly tapping the gas pedal, puts you into a "coasting" mode which your car is neither charging the batteries or using any energy.  This is what you should be doing most of the time while your car is in motion. 

The car is very aerodynamic and very heavy so that coasting is easily done.  Even while going on a slight uphill with inertia... 

On freeways, keep a two or three car distance so that you may plan to use the "brake" mode if you need to.  Notice that brake mode will charge 2 or 3 bars depending on environmental conditions.  Letting go of the gas pedal will always charge to 1 bar.  But be careful of using the shift brake if there is someone following you.  Your brake lights will not come on while shift braking!

Driving while using cruise control takes all the guess work out of brake mode or depressing the gas pedal on drive mode.  It does all the calculations for you.  It will even use the engine brake and will increase the engine resistance to maintain your speed on down hill slopes.  Most of the time, using cruise control will provide better gas mileage than if you drive yourself because maintaining constant speed throughout your trip enhances fuel economy.

Keeping the car in PWR mode will deplete your battery while powering up steep hills.  It is useful, but avoid keeping it there.  If your battery is depleted, your car will automatically charge the battery back up.  It will do it better and faster if you utilize cruise control and you won't even notice it.

Turn off your AC while going uphills.  Your car will need all the horsepower it can get.  And keep your windows rolled up.  Speeds in excess of 45 mph with the windows rolled down negates the aerodynamics and kills fuel economy.  AC doesn't use much power if you keep your car in ECO mode.  In PWR mode, AC will deplete your battery faster but blow much cooler.

Learn how to drive in PWR + EV mode in the city.  While in PWR mode, the Prius accelerates faster and you also have the convenience of locking in EV mode while in PWR mode so that your gasoline engine does not kick on.  But if you accelerate too hard, the gasoline engine will almost always come one.  If you learn how to manipulate your gas pedal just right, you can accelerate quickly while in EV mode without having the gasoline motor come on.  Of course, your battery depletes much faster, but if you come up to a cruising speed much quicker and when you know a stop is coming up, you can recharge your batteries if you plan it far in advance so that you don't use gasoline at all for short trips.

From what I notice from my trips.  Over 5,000 miles of experimenting here are my results.  Cruising speed: 79 mph = 38-40 avg mpg, 70 mph = 40-42 avg mpg, 55- 60 mph = 42-47.7 avg mpg

If you can think of anything else, let me know!  Thanks for reading and I hope this helps you drive better.  

What it is like leading your own non-profit organization.

A few years ago, I had an awesome idea about cleaning and maintaining forest trails.  The trails in Southern California, especially those near urban areas are littered with garbage which was too much for any official organization such as the Forest Service or city park authorities to keep up with, so I started my own non-profit organization called the Trails Preservation Volunteer Group to help offset the balance between polluting citizens/graffiti artists and cleanup crews.

So far, I've led over 25 meetups and along the way, I have met some awesome people who are passionate about forests, streams and mountains as I was.  The experience is truly rewarding and I would recommend volunteering for anyone who have spare time.  In the past two years alone, my teams have removed over 200 tons of refuse and covered 2 square miles of graffiti.  And I'm very proud that I'm making a difference!  Try it yourself.

Charging a Plug In Hybrid with Bicycle Power Generator

I was crunching numbers and trying to figure out how much distance you would get from 20 minutes of cycling charging a Prius if a Prius was to run on battery power alone.  From a fit person, they would generate approximately 275 watts of power if a stationary bike was connected to a generator charging up a battery for 20 minutes.  That translates to 0.09075 kWh.   A Prius requires 5kWH to go 30 miles which translates to 166.7 watt hour per mile.  A person would have to pedal 121 minutes to go one mile.  5,280 feet in a mile, so every minute of pedaling can take you 43 feet.  So 20 minutes of pedaling will get you 860 feet in a Prius.  Or in terms of mileage, 0.16 miles.  Cool huh?  If my math is wrong, let me know.

 

Week 3 Post Surgery

The itchiness and the redness finally went away.  I put my sling back on and got into the habit of wearing it again.  A buddy of mine who got the same type of surgery told me that because he didn't utilize his sling post surgery, he is never able to reach his back.  That statement got me thinking.  I decided to put it back on again for my sake.  So far, I've had two physical therapy appointments and basically, my treatment plan is to do nothing.  No rehab, no stretching, no lifting, nothing!  6 weeks post surgery is when the pain will commence.  All they did in the meantime is just have me relax on a table, relax my muscles and they moved my arm around.  I also got put on this ice compression machine for 15 minutes.  After a while, it felt like I was getting stabbed and my stitches were coming out.  It sort of hurts.  So never again, I hope.

2 Weeks After AC Separation Surgery

Today, I got to see the ortho-surgeon for my post operative surgery appointment. I took four x-rays and it shows that everything is back in alignment. He snipped off some stitches that were sticking out and offered to put the steri-strips back on. I kindly declined due to the irritation on my skin.
He told me that I needed to wear my sling for up to 6 weeks. To be honest, I only needed it for the first two days. After that, I've been rehabilitating myself without one. The first two days really sucked. I was taking oxycodone which was making me nauseous. I didn't eat very much for 3 days after the surgery and I needed to take fiber supplements so that I could have a bowel movement.

Even though, I was prescribed enough pain meds for 10 days, I was only able to take them for 3 days until I called it quits.  Many people say that narcotics are addicting, but I couldn't wait to wean myself off of it!  Well rather than wean myself off as planned, I just forgot to take them and I didn't take them since. It just shows how bad my memory is.  Anyways...

Overall, I'm getting better.

The 2013 Prius V

So right after my surgery (while my right arm was still numb and while I was high on narcotics), I did the sensible thing and decided to stop by a Toyota dealership in San Diego. I was wanting to trade in my aging RAV4 due to reliability issues and a myriad of flaws due to being a high mileage vehicle.

I have had this for two weeks now and I'm actually liking it. The amount of gasoline that I save is really surprising. My visits to the gas station has been drastically reduced from 4 visits a week to 1. The car gets almost 400 miles to a tank! I am very pleased. So far, I've only been to the gas station twice since I've owned it.

I paid $25,000 for it because it is a used vehicle. It had just over 19k miles on it which is high for a 2013, however for the cost of this vehicle, I got the technology package which comes with navigation, backup camera, keyless entry/ignition, Bing, Pandora and a bunch of other things that I haven't even discovered yet. The windows came tinted which was what I was going to do anyways. So coming with that saved me time and money. Being a prior leased vehicle, it came with hubcaps to protect the aluminum wheels that came with the car. Cool huh?

So how much did I trade in the 9 year old RAV4 for? $8,000! Wow. How could I say no to that. Well, I was originally wanting $9k for it and Mazda was prepared to give me that. However, when I came back to the dealer to turn in the spare key to the RAV, I found out that my salesman was "relieved" (maybe fired???) the next day.

Grade III AC Separation

 

 

This is what my shoulder looked like before surgery. I had a Grade III AC Separation caused by a mountain biking accident. The doctors told me that it would heal and that I should be fine after that, but after almost a year of having this, it was still painful to have so I had surgery done to it.