microfinancing

i admit, i don't have a huge compassionate heart for worldly events like i do with things involving family and close friends. however, my friend told me about kiva and since it's based in san francisco, it got my attention.

kiva is a group that works with microfinancing institutions to lend out money in poor countries to those who need to fix or enhance their business to make their living. this is no donation, it's a loan so they agree to pay back what they borrowed.

this really sparked my eye because, like many people in this world, i'm a big advocate of hard work and independance. i think it's amazing that people in these countries don't want a hand out and instead, choose to be resourceful. they believe in themselves and want to work hard to survive and provide for their families. i give them much respect for this.

if you're interesting in lending, all you do is pick a person you want to help and that's it! you can search the site by country, gender, type of business and if you're looking to support an individual or group. all the information is there, you can read a little blurb about that person's background and the reason why they need the money. it was hard to determine who i wanted to lend to - and you don't have to pick just one - but i finally found a profile that reached out to me.

meet juanito salubod.

weird

locker 480

the gym at my work has limited personal lockers. it's advised to get on the waiting list right when you join in hopes of getting a locker within a couple years. two months ago i received an email with the subject title "available locker". i literally screamed "YESSSSSS" and proceeded to go around my department bragging about my soon-to-be personal locker.

the personal locker is great since it's dedicated to only you. but the best part of the deal is that they do your laundry! stick those stinky sweaty gym clothes in a mesh bag, drop them in the shute and the very next day you can find that bag back in your locker with everything washed. now, this is the first gym i've belonged to and didn't even realize that having unlimited towels was a major perk. so, having this laundry service is making me feel like a celebrity!

this is definitely a life changing moment for me. no more shlepping my gym bag back and forth on the bus, no more travel sized toiletries for my after workout shower. i've got a shower caddy with full sized soap and shampoo. everything i need is in locker 480.

macadamia nut kisses!

i'm not a huge chocolate fan but exclusivity makes things taste better, don't they?

got shrimp?

i bought five little shrimp today.

mid week bowling

serra bowl is my kind of bowling alley and bowling is the best rainy day activity. forget all these new fancy shmancy places like lucky strike. bring on the nachos, fries and cheap beer! (the cafe also had filipino food since you know, it's daly city)

toast, upside down

i like to eat my peanut butter toast peanut butter side down. it's more enjoyable when the peanut butter side hits your tongue rather than the roof of your mouth. it makes quite the difference.

korean .:R32

my cousin in korea bought himself a MKV .:R32. i'm a proud cousin.

i'm famous!

on the way to the shuttle stop this morning, i saw a man taking pictures of a ginormous stuffed dog next to a parking meter. strange but what isn't in sf? lo and behold, a post from mission mission!

christmas tree bonfire

dwight k. shrute as rainn wilson

book signing in mountain view for his book soulpancake.

mr. irish breakfast

even though you're fatty, i still love you. your sausage patty is always so tasty. don't ever change.

gimme s'more

what you are looking at are graham cracker cookies made from scratch! that's right, i do some baking from scratch occasionally.

n'awlins

usually when i travel somewhere, it's because i'm visiting friends or family. never have i planned a trip for no reason other than pure curiosity. we got an email from steve jobs in october telling us that because he's so proud of our hard work, we all get the week of thanksgiving off, paid. how better than to use my free vacation days traveling to unexplored territory? after a lot of back and forth, a friend and i decided that new orleans was the perfect place to go, mainly because we would be able to escape cold SF for some upper 70's weather.  

the culture in new orleans is amazing. the random bands playing in the street, the southern hospitality and best of all, the food! fried oyster po boys, freshly cooked beignets, gumbo and alligator sausage were just a few delicious eats i got to indulge in. and bourbon street. man, it's more intense than the vegas strip. our sat night there was so wild i'm afraid of what marti gras is like. we also explored frenchmen street which also had tons of bars with live music. i liked the underground feel it had there. the marnigy was where we saw the hipsters and let me tell ya, hipsters are hipsters wherever you go. 

overall, i give this trip an 'A'. i had an awesome time. now, time to detox.