Addicted to Online Learning

 One of the things that I have an obsession with is taking online courses.  Within the past few years, I've been taking all sorts of classes to learn new hobbies and skills.  With each class I take, I post a review on Youtube.  

In the beginning, I really thought my video editing skills were really great, but in reality, the videos really sucked.  So sometime last year, I took Casey Neistat's Storytelling Class.  I learned a few things here and there, but it didn't turn me into a great filmmaker.  I think everyone has different abilities and ways of thinking which is why when you watch Youtube, there are thousands upon thousands of videos about money, but every single person explains it differently and have different experiences and perspectives.  

I wanted to learn how to paint and post art on my walls so I took Ten Hundred's Creative Acrylic Painting Class.  He is a famous graffiti artist that was based in Seattle, now he goes around the world and paints murals and creates Youtube videos.  He is doing pretty well for himself.  He has a very hip style and very down-to-earth fellow.  When I was taking his class, he even commented on our work!  I have mad respect for that dude.

Another class we took was Christina Tosi's Creative Baking Class.  We learned how to invent our own cookies, pies and cakes.  What I actually learned is that I really don't like cooking.  It's a time consuming process and those sweets are really unhealthy.  Since I can't eat what I make, we have to give it all away.  I wouldn't say that it was a total waste of time, because whenever a potluck comes around, I can contribute by providing cookies or something.

A really fun class that we recently took was David Blaine's Magic Class.  It is really fascinating how he does magic.  There is a lot of tricks to fool people and hide things and distract people.  It is a useful skill in the real world.  Too bad I can't remember how to do the tricks after I watched his videos.  

A class that I feel like I wasted my money on was Kevin Perry's Class on Video Wizardry.  It was really expensive for the amount of information that was given.  But after seeing his video and may other videos on the web, it seems like the standard camera that people are using are Canons because of the lens choices and compatibility with other software such as Dragonframe, a piece of software dedicated to stop motion videos.

So what class am I taking right now you may ask?

I'm taking a class called 30 Day Course Creator.  This class is the most expensive class I have taken so far.  ~$700.  With this class, I hope to learn how to create my own classes and upload them and learn how to use Facebook ads and such.  So far, I'm learning a lot about finance and accounting.  The really push really hard in the first few days in the class with the boring Excel spreadsheet data stuff.  I'm actually starting to get bored of it.  But who knows, I'll keep trekking on and see what I come up with.

I miss the Pandemic Sometimes

 The pandemic started in January of 2020.  There was a total lockdown.  People were ordered to stay indoors, and there was no traffic in Los Angeles.  For the first time, it was relatively quiet everywhere I went.  I never stopped working for my job.  I still traveled and sometimes, there would only be like 20 people to board a plane.  I remember having entire rows in front of me and behind me all empty on Delta flights and being served a snack in a brown paper bag with a small bottle of water.  From toilet paper shortages to mask-wearing debates, it was a crazy time.  

When I was stuck at home, Cecilia and I would do workout videos after work and take online classes on an online platform called Monthly.com, not it had renamed/reinvented itself to be Studio.com.  During the pandemic, we learned to bake, oil paint, paint with acrylic paints, produce music, storytelling, making videos, dancing, etc.  We had a very productive time.  

Cecilia and I also took the opportunity to get married in Hollywood, CA at a stupid expensive place called Yamashiro Hollywood which is a historic Japanese structure on top of a hill above the Magic Castle in Hollywood.  We got a HUGE, HUGE discount and because it was the pandemic, there was a limited number of people we could invite.  Something that would've cost us upwards of $40K only cost us $12K, mostly because we only invited around 30 people.    It was a great deal.

I don't want to focus on negativity, but a lot of people did die due to the pandemic.  Los Angeles had about 300 deaths per day at one point.  You may think... WOW!  300 people per day?!?  Yeah, that's a lot, the morgues were running out of space.  However, after the pandemic, no one can tell that the population had decreased at all.  People die all the time, but not because of the pandemic.

Now, the pandemic is over.  Everything has gone back to normal right?  Not really.  The workforce has embraced video meetings through Zoom or Microsoft Teams.  Silicon Valley has recently had massive layoffs of tech gurus.  Nowadays, these huge companies can hire from outside of California and not pay them "California Pay" which is crazy insane high.  

Do I miss the pandemic?  Yeah, kind of.  As Neil DeGrasse Tyson (astrophysicist, and overall genus dude) would explain, that the pandemic was a test to see if humanity would all come together and tackle a single problem and, guess what?, we have all failed.

2 Years of Youtubing

 Just wanted to put up an update.  I've been experimenting with the Youtube platform and seeing what works and what doesn't.  It was never my goal to get a million followers or anything, it was just a place for me to mess around and learn about videography which is something that I really enjoy doing.  Things I have made videos about: travel, top 10s, hiking, exploring new places, composting, flooring, working, etc.  It's a VLOG that is pretty much anything I want to talk about.  

A lot of people ask me, are you making any money on Youtube?  The quick answer is no.  I have spent a lot of money learning about the craft of making videos from cameras, lighting, sound, software, etc.  It takes a lot of work and time to make a video.  I would say about an hour to two hours per min for a video that isn't all talking.  Videos where I talk take a lot less time.  Special effects, filters and animation take much more time, but it is deeply satisfying when something comes out the way I imagined.  

As of today, my channel has about 150 videos on it.  Go check it out!  Wasabi Gato on Youtube 

Take Risks

 The 20 bucks I paid a psychic to give me advice really paid off. This morning, I was pondering what would have happened if I had stayed in the military an extra 2 years to reach my High Year Tenure (HYT). Getting out of the military was against all the best advice I was given from the brightest, financial number crunchers. If I would have followed that advice, I would have been totally screwed. My HYT would have had me exit the military on August 2020 during the pandemic.

Not only would I have struggled to find an apartment, I would have struggled to find a job.  

So the lesson here is to trust your instincts and take risks.  With great risk, there are great rewards.  

16 months as a Field Service Engineer

Wow!  It has been almost a year since my last post.  So much stuff has happened!  3 trips to Germany, airline status with United, American Airlines, Southwest, Alaska and Delta.  Status with Hertz and Avis.  Status with Hilton and Marriott.  Lots and lots of travel. 

I have bought a house as well in Azusa, California the Canyon City!  Making new friends, in a relationship, life can't be better.

The girls have grown up.  13 and 11.  Very mature and faces stuck on their phones. 

I'll try to post picks whenever I get a chance.  :)

How I'm Making New Friends after Moving to a New City

In the 626 area code, Meetup.com has numerous meetup groups.  I have recently joined a network of board gamers where geeks like me can hang out and play board games.  At these meetups, a lot of people come together with the determination of having fun and meeting new people.  One couple came to me and said that they met through meetup and eventually got married.  Another couple was handing out wedding invitations.  It was crazy interesting to note that people actually hook up here.  Regular people of all races, different backgrounds, different occupations all converging to one location to eat and have fun.  It makes for a really great time!  I'm so glad to go.  So far the meetups I've participated in:

-Crazy Rich Asians Dumpling Party
-Steak Night at Steve's with Karaoke
-Taco Night at Steve's with Board Gaming
-Board gaming at Bruce's (when I arrived, I was surprised to find out that it was my upstairs neighbor!!!)
-Board Gaming at Tony's Potluck Halloween Party
-Salsa Dancing Lessons

Good times! 

I saw my father in my reflection.

Last Friday night as I got off a lengthy 5 and a half hour flight from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, I headed straight to the bathroom.  As I was washing my hands, I looked up into the mirror and saw a glimpse of my father in my reflection.  I looked down and right back up again and he was gone!  It was really crazy feeling, yet intriguing.  Maybe my mind was playing tricks on me.

I have a strange feeling that my dad is watching me, protecting me and bringing me good fortune.  Somehow, in the spiritual world, he is making things happen for me.  I feel it.  Do you feel the same feeling?

My New Job

I have been working at Leica Microsystems for 4 months now and my life has changed!  I really love my job being a Senior Field Service Engineer.  Going from the medical industry to the research industry is very rewarding because I feel like the contributions I make in science is helping the future of humanity.  Everything I touch makes a difference in the development of new technologies from carbon fiber nanotubes to stem cell organ farms, the things I get to see and do is so incredibly fun!  It is really nice to get compensated appropriately for my brain and my skills rather than how accurate I can shoot or how many pushups I can do.

So when I did my job search, I didn't go for the highest paying job.  I went with location, culture and finally pay.  The guys I interviewed with were pretty awesome and were prior US Navy Petty Officer First Classes like me.   I knew if I were a Chief, I would've been doomed at the interview because everyone knows that to make CPO, you have to be backstabbing and semi-useless. 

I am at a very happy point in my life right now.  Now, I feel like I need to pay it forward.  :)

Takes on Business 101 for Transitioning Military

Recently, I took a 3 day course on business for military members that are in senior positions (Staff Non-Commissioned Officers (SNCOs) and Officers).

Here are some things I have found interesting and noteworthy.

1.  Jobs are like duty stations.  It is normal for people to bounce around every few years until they settle for something they really like.

2.  Companies are organic living beings.  They constantly grow and shrink. 

3.  Employees with tenure with companies can be resentful or threatened by the new skills and talent that you may bring to your new job.

4.  Keep your deployment/sea stories to yourself.  It is like a camping trip that no one went on.  Consider your stories completely unrelatable to those who haven't served.

5.  Large time gaps in your work history can HURT you!  Complete college while you are active duty if you haven't already.  Never stop going to school.  Don't stop until you have reached PhD.

6.  If you start your own business, you need to be different to be competitive.  "Know that the Riches are in the Niches."

7.  If you apply for a government job, while it may be normal to make counter offers, negotiating your step level can be extremely risky since it is typically unknown to hiring managers how to get a new hire bumped up to another level. 

8.  Your social media accounts should not have you in your military garb.  Nobody cares about your medals except for you.

9.  Never stop learning.  Spend an hour each day learning something new.  Boost your vocabulary, learn some new phrases in another language, learn managerial accounting, research your companies website, etc.  There is nothing wrong about making yourself smarter about various things.

10.  Learn how to interview by going to Youtube.  Practice answering basic questions about yourself and be able to translate your military experience into skills worth having at your next job.  Be original in your answers, recruiters are bored of answers that are cliche.

Job Seeking with the Federal Government

Since my last post, I got two notifications from my applications for job positions within the federal government.   I applied for two separate blue collar jobs that at a minimum requires a high school diploma and 2 years of experience and some type of formal schooling or nationally recognized accredited certification.  I applied for the jobs about 5 months ago and since then, I have applied for numerous others and eventually, I got hired by a large private company that has a global presence.

What is interesting about the government jobs is that they are required to inform you of the reason of not getting hired.  Although, I had a valid Bachelor's Degree from a technical school, certification and 20 years of experience, they still told me I was lacking in education and/or experience.  Does this mean that my last post was correct?  Are other people more qualified than me applying for the same job?  That is simply amazing to me and further confirms that the market is over-saturated with qualified candidates.

Master's Degree is the New Bachelor's Degree

Getting a job is probably one of the most stressful things that anyone has to do.  It may be easy for some, but typically, if you want a decent wage earning job that doesn't require working yourself to death, you're going to need a lot of time and patience.  These days having a Bachelor's degree is like having an Associates.  The Master's Degree is the new Bachelor's degree.  The job market is over saturated with over-qualified candidates, it is extremely competitive and when people are in extreme financial debt due to college, people will do whatever it takes to compete for the top earning jobs.  Therefore as humans, we are in constant competition with each other. 

In my next post, I will discuss the trials and tribulations of my job seeking.

Military Humor

"Know what controlled rage is, controlled rage is yelling at someone and smashing someone's head against a concrete wall. Uncontrolled rage is when you do all that and then pee on yourself." - GYSGT D. Smith, USMC Ret.

Last 7 Months on Active Duty

The last 7 months of active duty prior to retirement is reserved for setting yourself up for the civilian world. That's when you have to start calling people by their first names and learn to relax more. The military's operations tempo is so extreme, people in it are addicted to drinking coffee and energy drinks to stay awake. Physical and mental disorders are the result in some cases.  Military people are always on the go and try to accomplish everything at one time, usually ahead of schedule.  So to alleviate getting an anxiety attack or something, I  have laid out a calendar that is planned day by day. So here is what I have.  If I am missing anything, let me know in the comments below.

Month 7:

• Keep going to medical to get your stuff documented
• Attend TRS (transition classes, a.k.a. TAPS or TGPS) 
• Attend CalVet class Attend Boots 2 Business by the Small Business Association 
• Start drafting and sculpting your resume
• Make a Linkedin Account and begin to make it look like a resume

Month 6:

• Keep going to medical to get your stuff documented. 
• Go to legal to update your will 
• Begin to throw away everything you don't need on a weekly basis 
• Attend a Business Career Seminar 
• Take some Microsoft Classes 
• Finalize your resumes and make a "master resume"
• Start exploring USAJOBS.com
• Start exploring CalJobs (or whatever state your wanting to stay in)
• Make 2 copies of your medical record and get your AHLTA notes put on disc

Month 5:

• Do your CAPSTONE. 
• Visit the DAV to get your medical record screened 
• After your Medical Record is screened, setup and appointment to submit your VA disability claim 
• Do your VA Disability Claim 
• Begin giving away all manuals and military stuff you no longer need 
• Change your Linkedin Profile to "actively seeking a job"
• Begin your job search and start applying.  
• Begin Interviewing with companies

Month 4: 

• Submit your 30 Days of Notice to Vacate 
• Start closing your cable account 
• Get your check-out sheet and start the process of checking out 
• Turn in your weapons card 
• Turn in your combat gear and gas mask (CIF) 
• Schedule multiple interviews
• Keep job searching and applying.  You're not hired until you sign a contract offer.

Month 3:

• Do your Pack Out and put your stuff in storage. 
• DoD will pay to store your stuff for 365 days. 
• Find Apartment where you want to live. Start moving. 

Month 2:

• Retirement Ceremony 
• Begin your 10 days of job hunting/10 days of house hunting 
• Get your DD214 and make a lot of copies 
• Go to legal to certify true copy all your DD214s 
• Go on vacation or begin working your 2nd career. 

Month 1:

• Terminal Leave 
• Go on vacation or begin working your 2nd career. 
• Last Paychecks 

Month after you get out:

• Sign up for VA 
• Re-enroll in Tricare

Kids Nowadays Want to Become Famous YouTubers

Posting videos on YouTube has become a profitable trend for many people.  My kids tell me that most of the kids in their class want to become YouTubers.  Okay, well.  I asked if they wanted to become one and they said 'yes'.  So I took it upon myself to create a YouTube channel for them.  With the existing cellphones and tablets they have, they have the tools to create their own stop motion videos, especially the Minecraft videos.  And so far their videos started out kind of awful, but as they got more experience, their videos continued to get better and better.



Minecraft Stop Motion Studio

Now, they are making videos with their toys and my youngest daughter started a series "Cooking with Pinkie Pie".  The kids are so creative!



All of this can be created inexpensively too.  All the kids need are toys, a tablet or phone that can download apps and a little bit of creativity.

Why it is Important to Read Everything No Matter the Topic

Sometimes, I come across articles on Yahoo that I truly don't care about.  I ran into one article that was about a journalist that was bashing another journalist, which quite frankly seemed like a huge waste of time.

But I got something out of it.

The article was full of words that I was unfamiliar with.  All of the sudden, the article became interesting to me and I took fascination with the difficult words that the journalist was using.  Now that I know how the words were used within a sentence, I wrote down the list of words I didn't know in a notebook.  The next thing I know, I was looking up words up on Google like "excoriation" and "decommodified".  I unknowingly increased my vocabulary by reading stupid articles that I normally wouldn't read.  There was this feeling of satisfaction that I have learned something on Christmas Day!

Merry Christmas!

I Want to Burp but I Can't

Recently, I had an episode where I felt like I needed to burp, but no matter what, I couldn't.  I could swallow air, but it felt like air was being trapped in my esophagus.   I tried to drink water, but it only made it worse.  It felt like water would only go down a certain point and stop as if it stopped at the sphincter that enters the stomach.  The pain was excruciating.  I didn't know what it was.  I had a co-worker drive me over to the emergency room.  I told them that I had chest pain and immediately, they took an EKG on me.  I told the technician that it wasn't my heart!  I had pain in my esophagus area!  My EKG turned out to be fine.  My blood pressure was through the roof though.  It was 200/100.  A normal BP is 118/50 for me.  People could tell that I was in extreme pain, my face was red and I never felt so horrible.  I sat in the waiting room for an hour and a half and they finally called me in.  The staff did a turnover with the night crew and I saw a triage nurse.  About 30 minutes later, I spoke to the Doc and I told him my symptoms.  He said, "what helps with the inability to burp is a carbonated beverage like 7-up."  He left and I didn't see him again for another 3 hours.  Between that, I got a couple of chest x-rays and they turned out normal.  A nurse gave me a "G.I. cocktail" which numbed my mouth and throat and I would assume that it did the same for my esophagus.  I didn't fell better though.  I just waited and waited.  Eventually, someone came in and verified that my blood pressure went down and then I was shortly released.  They couldn't figure out what was wrong with me.  My diagnosis was "gastric pain".  I almost yelled at the doctor.  I asked why they didn't scope me to see if I had some kind of tumor or something.  He laughed and said, "scope in the ER?!?  I need you to go see your primary care provider and he can give you a referral to the GI clinic."   My visit was so disappointing that I left pretty pissed.  I wasted five hours of my life just to find out it was confirmed that I had gastric pain.

I figured that I had something called heartburn.  When I was sitting in the ER,  I had plenty of time to google all my symptoms on my phone and all signs were pointing to heartburn.  Next time I have heartburn, I'm going to take Alka-Seltzer or drink some carbonated beverage or something.