Love Joe Le

Joe,

I believe it’s now been a month since I’ve last seen you.  I miss you dearly.  I still reminisce about the days of grade school, middle school, and high school.  You’re loved greatly by your family and friends.  Joe, I still think about you at least once each day.  Many things remind me of you.  I still remember back in elementary when you’d first moved here from Arizona and how you loved playing Lacrosse.  haha I also remember how you spoke of your sister.  And you know what?  You were right.  She’s a wonderful sister. 

The foundation that your sister set up under your name is wonderful.  I’m so glad to be a part of it.  We’ll make you proud, Joe!

Keep looking after us, buddy.  One day, we will meet at heaven’s gate.  I’m expecting you to show me around!  We’ll catch up when that time comes.  It won’t be too long, I promise.  Until then, I bid you adieu.

Cracked

My poor iPod Touch!

I’ve ruined it just now. Well, about a half hour ago when I got out of biology lab. I was fumbling with my lab equipment and it slipped out of my pocket and fell to the ground… glass side down.

Now it looks as though I’ve got a spider web on the upper left corner of my screen. Why couldn’t it have fallen the other way?

Oh well… I’ll live. at least the digitizer still works wonderfully.

I am definitely looking for a replacement screen though. I use this thing on a daily basis and would rather fix it now before something harms the digitizer.

Oh sigh…

Cleaning the Camelbak

My trusty old Camelbak was in need of a serious cleaning.  Usually I only carry water in it, but recently, I’ve been taking Emergen-C (It flavors my water for about the same price as those drink-to-go mixes, but without all of the weird additives, and the possibility of getting my “vitamins” is a plus.  I’m not sure if I quite believe their claims.  It just tastes good, in my opinion.  I really like the lemon-lime one. ) and well… let’s just say I haven’t been looking after my Camelbak very well.

When I carried water, I’d just rinse it out every night when I came home from school and filled it again the next morning.  About twice a week, it gets a good wash.  But I never really had to worry too much about the straw and bite valve.  I’ll still disassemble the whole thing and wash it, but I just didn’t pay too much attention to it.  This time, however, because I had accidentally left the Emergen-C over the weekend (I don’t take the Camelbak out on weekends), it had developed some nasty stuffs around.

To clean it, I used a pipe cleaner for the straw and connector.  Worked like a charm.  All of the gookies came out.  It was a nasty sight.  For the bite valve, I used an interdental brush from Dentek.  Works perfectly for all of the nooks and crannies of the bite valve and the little rubbery thing in the lid.  For good measure, I threw in a denture tablet, shook it up, and let it sit a few minutes before rinsing it out.

Good as new!  3 years strong, and I’m looking at a few more years service from this lil guy.  It’ll be a while before it needs to be replaced.  I wonder what people do to theirs that they sell replacement parts and whatnot.  I wouldn’t mind owning the plastic insulated one though. 

Wow… my sentences are unusually short tonight.  xD

Lent 2011

And so the Lenten season begins.  I’ve decided to go back to vegetarianism (as I was a vegetarian for 8+ years of my life) for the season and see how long after I can continue, reminding myself that I can do it for just one more day for Him.  I’ve also given up spending money on unnecessary purchases so that I may use that money toward a greater good.  The purchases that I’ve been making recently has definitely took a toll on my wallet and was just for small items that kept me occupied in my currently mundane life since quitting my job.  Though, I did recently (like a week ago) obtain 2 volunteer positions.  I’d also decided to give up eating out for the same reason as the unnecessary purchases; the money could definitely go toward a greater good and there was no reason in not using the perfectly good food at home to eat while at school or work.    Happy Lenten season and I hope everyone a great one!

Starbucks Gold Card

Ah. After just about 6 months, I’ve finally earned “gold” under the Starbucks Rewards program.

I’d received my 30th star two days ago on the 28th of February. My Starbucks Mobile app has recognized that I’m now officially a Gold member.

Now I’m just wondering how long before my card comes in the mail. I hope by the end of the month since those things typically take 4-6 weeks, right?

Oh glorious personalized gold card… I can’t wait to have you in my possession! xD

Update: (16 March 2011)
Today I finally got an e-mail stating that they have recognized that I’ve become gold. Took long enough… Now, to wait for the gold card!

Lil Pickle

Yum. I just had lunch at Lil Pickle, a dinky little sub shop down the street from school. Good stuff! The sandwich rolls are freshly steamed, all of the ingredients have a nice fresh crisp to them, and of course, it’s garnished with a lil pickle on the side.

I got the number 1, Lil Pickle. I didn’t bother reading the menu to see what was inside; I just wanted it simply because of the name! From what I can tell, there was lettuce, tomato, salami, something similar to Italian dressing, and lots of white shredded cheese of which I am unsure of its exact name.

There it is, the Lil Pickle. Quite a great change from the pizza and junk that I’d normally get from school.

Good stuff.

I was really bummed that they didn’t have a business card that I could add to my collection though.

Come to think of it, now that I’ve started to become more aware of business cards, not too many businesses do have them, which saddens me. I believe that after a whole day’s outing the other day, only one of the stores that I’d stepped into (Kinokuniya) had business cards.

Writing Letters to Corporate

I’ve decided to take up the “hobby” of writing letters to corporate if I like (or perhaps dislike; though I’m really bad at straight up complaining – rants are another thing) their products or services.

I’ve heard that companies really appreciate it and will actually sometimes send you stuff.  A quick search on the web showed up a site (www.the39dollarexperiment.com) where a guy sent out 100 letters to 100 companies to see what sort of replies he would get.  He straight up asked for freebies though.  If anything, I may add a little post script at the end asking for a legit business card to add to my collection.  How awesome would that be?

Let’s see how this goes.    My firsts will be to VistaPrint and 4Imprint.  Just like my previous post (here), I’d like to add again that I LOVE VistaPrint.  For what I use it for, it’s the best.

My Seedling

I’d found this little grass plant thing at Michaels and thought it was pretty cute and bought it on a whim. It was $2.49 before tax but after using a 40% off coupon (I never shop there without one), it was $1.62 after tax.

I got the one that looks like a bee.

There are 3 different munchkins that you can choose from but I liked the bee the best.

These are the contents of the package; the small ceramic pot, grass seeds (rye), and a little soil pellet about the diameter of a quarter and shy of a centimeter in thickness.

Haha the soil pellet looked like poop after adding water to it (3 tablespoons, the instructions called for).

And so begins Day 1: (04 February 2011)

Day 2: (05 February 2011)

Day 3: (06 February 2011)

*sigh* Still nothing. I hear they take 3-5 days to germinate. But I’m so impatient! I kind of want to get a bunch more of these. And Michaels has a 45% off coupon for today only! I might pick up another one.

Day 4: (07 February 2011)

Yay! My munchkin is starting to sprout! I was starting to think that I fail at growing plants. And yes, I DID get another one. xD With the 45% off coupon, it came out to be $1.49 after tax.

Day 5: (08 February 2011)

(7:37am) Holy cow. This was what spouted overnight! (Day 4′s picture was taken the night if the 7th at about 10pm.)

Day 6: (09 February 2011)

Wow! After only 1 more day! This is amazing! Haha how simple things like this make me so giddy and happy…! it’s been a while since I’ve been so happy and content.

Day 8: (11 February 2011)

Yay! I think I’ll let the bee grow a bit more before styling it’s “hair.” As for the ladybug, I think I messed it up… The soil seemed packed so I decided to loosen it up, moving the seeds around in the process. They’re still growing an all; I just hope there’s still enough soil on top!

Firsts of the Spring Semester

I wanted to record this semester’s “firsts”

31 January 2011:
0832 – First step onto Adams Lot/school campus
0935 – First class (Physics lecture)
1113 – Checked out my first textbook (Physics)
1235 – First pizza from the Student Center (Supreme!)
1431 – First step into the newly built Biological Sciences building (Thanks to Measure C!) AND first class to step foot into lab 206 AND use the new microscopes.
1602 – First Starbucks purchase (maple scone + tall hot chocolate)
2004 – Used the photo copy machine

01 February 2011:
0935 – I’d met my childhood friend in my class. It’s been 3 years since we’d last seen each other and we had a blast catching up. It’s those friendships that continue where they had left off as if there were no breaks and no awkwardness that mean the most to me.

**Update: (04 February 2011)
I’d just finished my first week of the spring semester. No more major firsts…

It’s been a while

Hmm. It’s been a few weeks since I’ve last posted. All for good reason; I’ve been going through some rough times with work and all. But a happy me I am, for I have quit my job and decided to focus on school and get back on track with my original plans. So all is well!

Of course, I’ll still be looking for odd jobs here and there. Cant go through college without spending cash! Those parking permits and books won’t pay for themselves.

Speaking of which, school starts tomorrow. I have a good feeling about what is ahead of me. I think with the week off from work after quitting, my mind has been able to relax and sort things out. 6 straight weeks of unappreciated overtime can take a major toll on you.

That’s my most major update so far.

**ETA: There is something I’d like to add. >=[ The app store double charged me on an app purchase. I hope I can sort this out, as it was a $2.99 app. Granted the gift card was redeemed via MyPoints, but it’s still money I could have used toward something else. And it’s not as though I didn’t work for the card!