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.

Shoulder Surgery Pre-Op

It has been a busy week for me since I'm trying to wrap up all my work before my surgery. I'll be getting my right shoulder reconstructed due to a Grade III AC Separation that was due to a mountain biking accident I had in May of last year. My surgeon asked me why I waited this long to get seen because usually people have surgery shortly after their accidents. I just explained to him that I was in a middle of a PCS move from Camp Pendleton to the Naval hospital. To get a consult takes weeks and months. The bureaucratic red tape is a giant hindrance and a big pain in the butt which pretty much explains everything. From my experience, NEVER ever ask your surgeon what he is going to do to you because the gruesome details just might scare the living shit out of you.

Vicky's 6th Birthday

Instead of a birthday party filled with BBQ, bouncing castles, birthday gifts, and piñatas.  I have decided to make a move to a non-financially devastating move to implore exciting alternatives that lasted a whole weekend.  The San Diego Zoo, Babycakes (cupcake restaurant), John's Incredible Pizza and road trip' in all over the place.  Here we go, enjoy the video.  Music credits go to: Cash Cash - Take Me Home.

Another Eureka Moment Again...

I just had another eureka moment again after watching "Jobs".   That movie was very good and it was about Steve Jobs and his life as a jerk with humble beginnings.

So my eureka moment?  Yes, hit me up if you have about 2 million dollars, I have a cool idea that will completely change the world and it is definitely something that can make you and your offspring retire forever.... til the end of time.  So just e-mail me so we can discuss this.  And no, I'm not building a computer.  But I do need to incorporate to execute this business plan so that "we" can protect our assets.  It is a product that is internet proof and cannot be copied by anyone else which makes it even more plausible.  My idea will cost $100,000 to be paid back in full once I reach net positive with your investment in R&D, real estate and in the company with me running the whole operation just like Jobs did.  If I receive no responses within two years before I retire, I'll post my idea on Kickstarter and you "the multi-millionaire" will never be a billionaire.

North Park Park

 

In the heart of North Park is the community park.  The North Park Park!  It is just a few walkable blocks away from my house and the kids love it.  There is sand and lots of activities for your imaginative little ones.  Hidden and scattered throughout the park are 100 frogs waiting to be found. 

Celebrity Power

With thousands and thousands of views on this blog, sometimes I wonder if some of the views are coming from people I know.  It is interesting that once, because I used to post a ton of information about Japan, this blog has gotten me backstage to an Everclear concert.  Someone who recognized who I was, instantly invited me to come backstage.  I got pictures with the band and had a 10 minute chit-chat with lead singer.  This blog has almost gotten me in trouble in the past and got me fired from a job and it's brief removal has also caused some turmoil during my breakup in marriage as well.  To add on to that, I know the government is monitoring this site to see if I make any slipups concerning OPSEC and such. 

I wouldn't call myself a celebrity, because to be considered that, you must have millions of adoring fans.   I'm a normal person just like most of you.  And to all of you who continuously check on this site, I sincerely thank you.  Although, I know that blogging on here is a complete waste of my time and that I get no money from it what-so-ever, I hope this site remains to be somewhat relevant to others.

Since I started Blogging, I have joined a social media thing that you may all know of called Facebook.  It is fascinating and addicting and people can easily be hooked on clicking on pictures and links and stuff.  I have recently came in the realization that it is like a drug and before you know it, you end up spending hours on it.  Hours that I could've spent on doing something more productive, especially since posting on Facebook only reaches a close circle of friends.  Through Blogger, I can reach 7 billion people without much effort.  Now that's powerful.

P.S.  If this is your first time visiting this site then, welcome!  Take off your hat and stay a while.  Click on the time line to the right to view the chronological postings of my insane adventures.

Overlooking the 805 on Adams

Most Fascinating Person on the Planet

One of my friends posted on their Facebook: "If you could sit on a bench and have a conversation with someone living or dead, who would it be?"

For me, it is simple.  Michio Kaku is my pick.  I like how he breaks quantum physics down into lay terms.

Here is the link to how to reverse aging without drugs or creams and stuff.

http://bigthink.com/ideas/how-to-reverse-aging-2

This Guy Nailed It

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/retiring-27-ambitious-lazy-crazy-140000847.html

Read the article above.  My life would have been drastically different if I hadn't decided to join the military to serve my country.  Entrepreneurship run in my veins and being constantly deployed, getting married, having kids and transferring to new locations have always held me down.  Maybe God decided that my talents serve a purpose for the greater good and that I shall be rewarded in the end.  I can only hope.  Realistically though, if I had decided to go to school instead of the Navy, I had already made a conscious decision to become a chiropractor.  I had the school picked out and everything.  Yeah, life would've been different.

Recently, I had an eureka moment (again).  My never ending quest for process improvement has led me to finding shortcuts.  When I was handed over two jobs from two different people who were leaving, I was short on time.  Doing reports take hours and hours to do. I figured out how to do something that used to take 6 to 8 hours and brought it down to ten minutes by schooling myself on mathematics and spreadsheet formulas.  Now my secret?  Haha.  No way. 

Being lazy is always a good thing.

Avoid Crowds, Save Time. Save Time, Save Money.

I hate crowds.  I'm not a people person and I hate waiting in line.  I feel as though my time is not being maximized and if I know there is a place with long lines, I avoid it like the plague.  Here are TEN tips that have gotten me living in the fastest lane at all times.

Kids showing off what they like at the San Diego Zoo.

1. Do the opposite of what everyone else is doing.
• If it is NFL season, just know when people are watching football.
• Nice sunny day?  Everyone is probably headed to the beach.  Wait for an overcast day and dress appropriately.  Ample free parking and plenty of room to spread out and plenty of seashells to pickup.
2. Get a car where the gas door is on the passenger side.  Usually that side of the pump is clear so you never have to worry about lines at the pump.
3. Shop online.  This is obvious, but after a while it is nice to get some sunshine and walk around.
4. Drive in the slow lane when the freeway is jammed.  It moves at a steady pace because everyone is usually trying to move into the passing lanes.
5. Do your chores early.  Go grocery store shopping and get your gasoline early in the morning right before the rush.
6. If you go to the movie theatre, watch movies that have been out a week or two.  You get really good seating that way.
7. Avoid eating out.  Bring food and picnic at a place of your choosing.  It is more relaxing and stress-free.
8. If eating out, eat a late lunch 2-3 p.m. or early dinner between 4-5 p.m.  People tend to not eat between these times and table service is much better.
9. Barbershops are empty on Friday nights on a military base.  Everyone usually waits until Sunday afternoon-evening.
10. Before traveling anywhere, check Google Maps prior to leaving your house to see the latest traffic conditions and avoid accidents on your route.  This is where five minutes can save you hours of headache!

At the Pier