On the Amtrak, traveling from Union Station in Washington D.C. to Penn Station in New York City. Boy, didn’t realize how expensive these tickets were; it costs pretty much the same as purchasing a same day plane ticket from SoCal to NorCal. The express train (2 hours, 57 minutes) would have cost $218, while the regional train (3 hours, 25 minutes) cost $153. Originally I had asked for the express train, but then I got sticker shock and balked at the cost. I did some quick calculations in my head and decided to settle for the regional. I figure being on the train an extra 28 minutes was definitely worth saving $65 for my firm. Good thing travel fare is expensed; otherwise, I would’ve just gone with the Bolt Bus (4 hours, 15 minutes) at a low, low price of ~$20.

So you may ask, “Well, Jon, if you’re willing to forgo 28 minutes for a $65 saving, why not lose another 50 minutes for additional savings of ~$133?” Great question. That seems to make sense, b/c the incremental savings to lost time ratio for the bus is 2.66:1, better than a 2.32:1 for the regional train, which is an additional 34 cents saved per minute. The problem with this logic is that a bus leaving in the afternoon may encounter heavy traffic on the road, potentially increasing travel time significantly, and thus eroding the value of savings per minute.

Furthermore, there is the consideration of my schedule. When I arrive back in New York, I need to do my laundry (which was part of the strategy in how I packed). Getting back at 7:50pm still gives me ample time to wash my clothes. I estimate it’ll take at least 1 hour and 30 minutes, putting completion time at around 9:30pm. Getting back at 8:40pm earliest (using the bus), but most likely 9:30pm or later, does not give me sufficient time as I really don’t want to be folding my laundry in the office at 11pm or midnight.

Oh yes, the washer and dryer are in the office.

Well, that took forever.

I had decided that I was tired of not being able to automatically update my WordPress build/themes/plugins on my former web hosting provider. Sure, I could still download a .zip file, extract the contents, and then bring it all in via FTP, but why do that if I could just click a single button for Automatic Update. Exactly.

And thus began my quest for another free web host. A long, tedious, and frustrating search, mainly due to the word “free.” With free web hosting, it always feel like there’s a catch or some aspect of service only reserved for paying members. I tried Zymic, but even just attempting to FTP the WordPress files was problematic since the connection to the server kept on dropping. (It took me about 3 days to finally install WordPress, only to find the plugin/theme searches not working.) I then tried RoyalWebHosting, which seemed promising at first, until I found out that outgoing connections were reserved for paying members, which eliminates the possibility of automatic updates, since you couldn’t request a file. (Figuring that out took me another 2 days).

After doing some research, I finally found Frihost. From the reviews, it seemed that this web host would fit the bill. However, it did have a catch – Frihost apparently is in the forum business (they make money off the ads displayed in the forums), and so in return for free web hosting services, you’re required to be an active member in the forums. (You need a minimum of 5 intelligible posts first in order to even request the web hosting service.) Initially, that seemed kind of lame, but quickly perusing the forums, it turns out that there were all kinds of topics to comment on, which wouldn’t be too hard since I have opinions on almost everything (and if I don’t, give me a few minutes to read up on the subject and I will).

So I posted in the forums, requested the web hosting service, and was approved. Proceeded to FTP the WordPress files without a hitch, installed the platform, downloaded some plugins (with the automatic functionality, yes!), imported the content from my website residing on the other web host, and then selected a theme. Themes don’t always exactly match up with what I have in mind (or perhaps I’m just bad at figuring out what themes to look at), so I spent another day tinkering with the PHP script. Not entirely satisfied, but the site is in decent shape, and so this post is here to inaugurate the transfer.

Yay for automatic install/updates! Yay for free web hosts that work!

After watching the Super Bowl, I decided I would tidy up my desk. No, there’s no connection between football and a desire to clean up—I simply got tired of seeing the unorganized sprawl of mail, papers, and books. And it was also 7:30pm, so I had plenty of time on my hands.

It feels a lot better when things are tidied up, and really, it doesn’t take that much time to keep things organized. But comparatively speaking, it’s a lot easier to keep the sink free of dirty dishes than to keep my desk free of clutter, simply b/c the dishes should always end up in the same place. You take a dish, soap it up, scrub it down, rinse off the suds, and then place it on the dish rack. Pretty straightforward. But with things on my desk, I have to put some effort into thinking about whether I should keep it or toss it, where it should go, whether it fits in with a particular grouping of items, do I have enough space to put it there, etc. Sometimes it’s easier to say, “Eh. I’ll just take care of it some other time.” Hence, a messy desk, which does bug me and sometimes makes it harder to find something that I’m looking for. But at least for now, it’s been straightened up a bit.

In other news, you know you’re not so young anymore when you walk by a team of auditors working in a conference room and think, “Gosh, I wonder why they stuck their college interns here instead of giving them their own cubicles.” Or “Awww. Look at those college students working hard and looking all professional-like.”

One of the annoying things about blogging, if not done consistently, is the staleness factor. What is that, you ask? What a great question.

So, imagine that you own a blog that you write in once in a while. But you don’t write in it everyday, either because you’re busy, would rather be distracted by other things, or you’re feeling lazy. And so, as things happen in your life, you may have thought of a number of topics to write about [e.g. being a terrible baker (three attempts to make a batch of cookies that weren’t even that good), replacing a car battery by yourself at 1am in the morning, being handed a free Starbucks card on the street, owning a piece of both AAPL and GOOG by buying the dip, etc.], but because you didn’t pen your thoughts within 24 hours of the occurrence, they become dated and no longer seem that relevant. In other words, stale.

Or, it simply just feels kind of lame to write about something that took place a month or even a week ago as if you don’t have an unlimited store of current, interesting material drawn from your always exciting life. The problem is, most of our lives really aren’t that extraordinary, but who really wants know that you go downstairs to the SF Soup Company pretty much every day to buy a regular-sized cup of soup that you eat for lunch by yourself at your desk. Well, maybe there are people who would be interested in knowing about that kind of stuff. But in the end, I think we have a thing about not really wanting to write at all unless we can write something good, good being defined as thoughtful, deep, profound, scintillating, witty, hilarious, dramatic, heart-wrenching, and/or well, awesome.

Today, around noontime, I enjoyed singing Hymn #394 with YEP at the table.

1. Unto him that hath Thou givest
   Ever more abundantly;
   Lord, I live because Thou livest,
   Therefore give more life to me,
   Therefore speed me in the race,
   Therefore let me grow in grace.
2. Deepen all Thy work, O Master,
   Strengthen every downward root;
   Only do Thou ripen faster,
   More and more Thy pleasant fruit;
   Purge me, prune me, self abase;
   Only let me grow in grace.
3. Let me grow by sun and shower,
   Every moment water me;
   Make me really, hour by hour,
   More and more conformed to Thee,
   That Thy loving eye may trace
   Day by day my growth in grace.
4. From Thy fulness grace outpouring,
   Show me ever greater things;
   Raise me higher, sunward soaring,
   Mounting as on eagle-wings.
   By the brightness of They face,
   Ever let me grow in grace.
5. Let me, then, be always growing,
   Never, never standing still,
   Listening, learning, better knowing
   Thee and Thy most blessed will.
   Till I win the glorious race,
   Daily let me grow in grace.

Maybe it’s late and my mind is mush, or there’s too many thoughts to process at once, but I’m not able (at least as of right now) to put into words my appreciation of the sentiments borne by the words of this hymn.

Yesterday, BVH told his story. And one part that resonated went something like this — “Sometimes, we want something so badly that it causes things to become more cloudy” (paraphrased). When we’re so hung up on whatever it is, we begin to have a difficult time figuring out whether it’s of ourselves or of the Lord. And there is no clarity, because we may be unwilling to come and really open to the Lord regarding the matter, even though the Lord’s response is a “Yes,” because we’re afraid of hearing the “No.” Which is silly, because whatever the Lord’s response is, even if it’s “No,” is where we want to be, since only in His perfect will is real rest. But there’s usually that disconnect between what we know and how we actually are, although to some degree we have seen something through the Lord’s operation in us and on us.

But as to the matter of clarity, back in May 2007, the first excerpt on L&ER’s program from Life-study of Revelation, message 65 made quite an impression on me:

The fact that the water of life is bright as crystal means that it has no dimness or opaqueness. When this water of life flows in us, it purifies us and make us transparent. Nothing is more clear than the flow of life within us…

We all must submit ourselves to the Lord and walk the golden way of the divine nature. There is only one way—the golden way. We must submit to the headship of Christ and say, “Lord Jesus, You are my head and my sovereign Lord. I submit myself to You.” What an inner flow there is when we do this! And what an inner supply! Immediately, the flow makes us clear, and we are assured of the Lord’s will.

“Deepen all Thy work, O Master, strengthen every downward root…

Let me, then, be always growing…listening, learning, better knowing Thee and Thy most blessed will…”

I’ve always felt that after getting into college, I’ve been getting dumber and dumber ever since. With every year that passes by, I think I lose some more synapse connections. Sometimes, when I’m picking through my archive of past projects, essays, poems, drawings from grade school and so on, I think to myself – “Gosh. This is pretty good stuff. Man, I used to be a smart kid.” And then I lament the regression from such pinnacles of creativity and imagination.

Today, I was reminded of a theory I had come up with as to why this sad phenomenon might be. One word…one number……Omega-3.

That’s right. Omega-3 fatty acids.

So growing up, my mom made it a point to put fish on the table at pretty much every dinner. Dinner was usually one meat, one fish, two vegetables, and a soup. And that was great for our development. My siblings and I had a healthy diet, and especially a healthy consumption of the grey-matter strengthening goodness called DHA.

But after coming up to Berkeley for college, my intake of fish decreased substantially as it was much more inconvenient to store/prepare or more expensive to buy. An entire live fish at 99 ranch isn’t that much more expensive per pound, but there’s a little bit more involved in preparing and storing it for later use. Hence, inconvenient; it’s a lot easier to rub salt and pepper on a piece of chicken breast and throw it into the oven. On the other hand, fish steaks and fillets are easy to handle but cost a pretty penny per pound.

When I eat out, I do tend to make a point to favor the fish dishes if available, but there’s only so many places that serve fish and you can only order fish so often. So, less fish, less smart. And that’s my theory. True story.

Now this morning, I read an interesting article on MSN entitled, “52 Ways to Cute Fat in 2012.” And one of the things it said was this:

Choose tuna swimming in water. Stick to tuna packed in water not oil. Three ounces of water-packed chicken of the sea contains 109 calories and 2.5 g of fat compared with 158 calories and 6.9 g of fat in the oil-soaked kind. Plus, it’s a good protein source that’s rick in omega-3 fatty acids…

There we go—tuna in a can. Problem solved. Convenient, cheap, and also a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids. Of course, it’s nice to have the salmon and sea bass once in a while, and I heard that trout and sardines can be had for cheap. But when I just want something quick and simple that I can also stock up in my pantry, there will always be chicken of the sea.

I am definitely going to try to work this into my diet. I can feel myself getting smarter already…

I find it funny how, when you’re out trying to do your own thing, the Lord goes, “Yeahhh……how about you minister some of Me instead.”

And so you’re out doing your thing, when all of a sudden, the person standing next to you turns out to be a fairly new believer. They’ve been talking about this and that, blah blah blah, and out of nowhere they mention off the cuff that they go home and read the Bible. And you hear the words, “read the Bible,” loud and clear, but…b/c you’re still trying to focus on your own thing and not wanting to be drawn into a conversation about the Lord, you just let it go.

But the Lord doesn’t let you go that easily. Eventually, something about the end-times, Bible, state of human society, prayer, etc, comes up again and you just can’t help but overflow and share something about God’s dispensing. Because here is a fellow believer, a member of the Body of Christ, and you have food to give that you cannot withhold.

Yup. You read that right. If you haven’t already heard from the grave vine, my sister is definitely engaged. J popped the question on Friday and the engagement was announced today. I got a kick out of the gasps coming from the sisters’ sections when my sister stood up and J walked over to stand next to her.

The engagement lunch was also today, where members of each party’s extended family comes together for a meal, some kind of Chinese tradition. Of course, at a Chinese restaurant that charges an arm and a leg per table. For some reason, I feel like we’ve just been eating and eating the past few days. Maybe it’s b/c we have – Jinga Korean BBQ (a lot, a lot of meat), Sat lunch; TAPS Fish House & Brewery, Sat dinner; and Prince Seafood Restaurant (10-course meal), LD lunch. After all that food, I think my family was pretty happy to simply eat a skimpy dinner of leftovers tonight.

And as the news broke of my sister’s engagement, a few questions have also been thrown my way. How do you feel about your sister going first? Are you in a relationship? When are you getting married? Are you feeling the pressure now? (To provide some context, for those of you who don’t know, I’m the older of my two siblings and two years older than my now-engaged sister.) And I have no problem, no, no idea, and no.

I guess I can see how someone else might feel the pressure to get things going if their younger sibling is getting hitched before them, but that doesn’t really bother me. Besides, being a guy, I do have a longer shelf life. Sure, if I’m nearing my 40’s and still have no prospects, that might be cause for worry. But when the time comes, it’ll come, and rushing usually makes things worse more often than not. And perhaps the pressure isn’t there simply b/c I think things will somehow just work out. Unfounded optimism?

I love free things. I also love value items. (I’m not exactly sure where this affinity for free/discounted items come from. Maybe it was instilled into me by my parents over time, or maybe it’s just how I was hardwired.) And I also love the taco truck fad (though sometimes the food items are more expensive than they really should be). Today, all three converged in a side alley on Sacramento St. near Kearny, taking on the form of…the Gap taco truck.

Yes. Gap does have a taco truck. And it’s name is Pico de Gap. Actually, Gap has four taco trucks: one in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and SF. And they’re not just some regular taco trucks, they’re gourmet taco trucks, featuring “celebrity chefs” like Marcel Vigneron from “Marcel’s Quantum Kitchen,” Rich Gresh of David Burke’s Primehouse, cook-book author Katie Lee, and Ryan Scott of “Top Chef” fame (in case you were wondering, the order of the chefs match the order of cities listed).

But here’s the awesome part: two tacos and a bottled soda (Coke or Jarritos) for $1.69. Yes, you read that right. That is $1.69.

Jaw-droppingly shocking.

And we’re talking about gourmet tacos here, which any other taco truck would be selling for $3-$4 a piece. Even the Mexican bottled Coke is a $2 value at most taco trucks. Okay, so you might be thinking, “Pshh. Gourmet tacos. Fancy shmancy. It’s probably not that amazing.” Well, for all of you with hearts of unbelief, this is Ryan Scott’s taco menu:

• Chorizo and Crispy Potato Taco: with goat cheese, watercress, and charred lime salsa verde
• Mole-braised Brisket Taco: with pumpkin seeds, red onion marmalade, queso fresco, and Mexican chocolate vinaigrette
• Raw Yellow Corn “Ceviche” Taco: with dirty green rice, poblano aioli, guacamole, and charred tomato salsa
• California Taco: with pasilla-braised chicken, Frank’s Red Hot Sauce, pepper jack cheese, and Cool Ranch Doritos

Are you salivating yet? Yes, they were delicious. I got two combos, picking up one of each along with my two bottled sodas, but I really wished I had doubled down.

And I’m not even done yet. While I was waiting in line, the Gap employees started handing out coupons, thanking us for being so patient while they were still getting things settled, this being their first day. (Apparently I had somehow managed to stumble upon them within the first 20 minutes of their first day of business). But again, what’s the big deal about a coupon, right? Here, read what the coupon says:

HERE’S TO YOU A FREE PAIR OF GAP JEANS

Valid for one free pair of jeans with a retail price of $90.00 or less at Gap, GapKids, babyGap and GapMaternity stores in the U.S. and Canada only, through December 31, 2012.

Those minutes in line waiting for my tacos to be ready? I was so happy and was so…so…I don’t know…so blown away? that this was happening to me.

Here’s an article on Pico de Gap SF: http://sf.popsugar.com/Pico-de-Gap-SF-Taco-Truck-Menu-Top-Chef-Ryan-Scott-18656591

My Tempurpedic came today! I’m looking forward to sleeping in it in a little bit. I even washed my blanket and sheets so that the first time would be perfect.

Today, Jon Tien and I went across the street to play tennis and found that the courts…were missing their nets. All of them. Judging from how new the courts looked (and by how they were missing their white lines), we deduced that the school must’ve repainted them. My first reaction was to head back home, but then I thought, “What the heck, might as well hit against the wall” (the paint was dry). Eventually, we decided to rally against each other anyway, despite the missing nets. And you know what? Not having a net was great for rallies. The posts were still there, so you could generally tell if you’ve driven a ball into the “net.” But because of the huge empty space, when you do hit the “net,” the ball doesn’t get stuck in the center–it just keeps on rolling over to your hitting partner. Definitely saves a good chunk of time with not needing to retrieve as many balls.

Actually, while we were hitting, I came up with an even better idea. What if there was a vacuum system along the outer walls of the court and the bottom of the net that would suck in all the stray balls that rolled to its vicinity, depositing them in a basket along one side of the wall? And if you didn’t feel like walking over to the basket for balls, you could simply shout “Ball Boy!” and the system would shoot a tennis ball from the basket through a tube out of the wall towards your direction. *Fwttt!* And you’d just simply have to catch it. It could probably be called the “Ball Boy Super Plus Plus” (yes, the two pluses are intentional).

Remember, if this system ever gets developed…you heard it first here.

Okay, I get to sleep on my Tempurpedic now. Yay!