August 3rd, 2005 yoshers
- Take into account the weather of your destination…especially if it is in the opposite hemisphere as your home
- If you travel often, you can probably begin preparations a bit later, but definitely get your ducks lined up and start working on things a week or two in advance – you don’t want to find out that your dry cleaning cannot be done before your date of departure and end up buying new clothes (OK, I know some of you would actually like to use this as an excuse)
- Pack lots of gifts for family gatherings…this will mean you will have lots of room for return gifts and souvenirs (not to mention courteous to your family members)
- Make sure someone picks you up from the airport…all plans after that can be worked out, but if you are not picked up then you may live at the airport for an indefinite amount of time
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August 3rd, 2005 yoshers
Things have been so busy that I have pretty much ignored the fact that I will be off to New Zealand in two weeks. Honestly, I have been telling people that I am going in two weeks, but really have not thought about it much. I guess I have settled into a pretty comfortable life after coming back from Chicago and frankly, I haven’t traveled much (well, I mean something more than just a weekend or my normal Christmas break) so I guess I just have not gotten into it quite yet.
Anyways, I have been kept busy with the bSpace project at work…among other tasks and projects. We have finally launched on production, though a bit trimmed due to some large and small errors that we have been unable to correct…or in some case, indentify. Seriously, adapting code to suit your needs is not an easy task and I am fortunate that I do not have to do this. Of course, running a set of hardware for an application without knowing that someone else has done so successfully is not exactly a walk in the park either…and this is something that I am dealing with.
Outside of work, I have been watching my fantasy baseball teams live at polar opposites of the spectrum – one team is so far ahead that I cannot see how I can lose and the other is so far behind that I do not see how it is even possible to make the playoffs. Of course, there is also the fantasy football draft…which is always fun and is taking its time as we are doing a forum draft (yes, I am hosting the forums…and hopefully they don’t go down when I am in New Zealand!). And while I have not worried much about New Zealand, I have been helping Shareena out in running some errands – buy books, get some winter clothes, get gifts! Of course, there will be more of this next week.
All in all, I hope to write in my blog more often this month…notes on preparing and vacationing in New Zealand seems like something that might be interesting. Of course, we’ll see if I even get internet access in New Zealand…and if I do, no one at work shall know!
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July 2nd, 2005 yoshers
- Have some emergency money in a liquid account (3 months of expenses is about right)
- Prepare for major expenses if you can; for example, save some money on a monthly basis for your annual property tax payment
- Take some time and estimate what your tax contribution will be for the year and adjust your tax withheld numbers accordingly
- Save a set amount monthly (before it hits your bank account) for retirement (in an account that is beneficial for you tax dollars) or perhaps a down payment for a home (or both!)
- Learn how to manage your personal finance by spending some time (not too much, an hour a week perhaps?) every week to check out new information and ideas
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July 2nd, 2005 yoshers
OK, so I still have not managed to stop looking at housing bubble sites, but I have stopped reading most of the housing bubble blog/comment posts as most of it is just rehashing stuff that I have already read. Fortunately (or unfortunately, considering the amount of time that I am spending), there are yet more to read about as far as how the US economy will influence and be influenced by the current real estate situation. And although I have not been able to settle myself down and find a really good way to learn about economics formally, I have learned more about the different dynamics of the economy.
Still, economics are very much influenced by people…and we know trying to figure out what people will or will not do is hardly something that one can measure scientifically. People basically profit off of other people (see stock market bubble of the late nineties variety) and for some reason, it feels like the current market conditions are basically influenced by two things 1) oil price and 2) whatever comes out of the Federal Reserve Board. Seems like a very narrowly focused set of things to determine the whole US economy…sure, other factors are still involved, but the real conundrum is that the study of economics is basically the study of how people (whether individually or as a large group) will behave towards certain commodities. But the fact that the Fed Board can say, “everything looks great” and the economy will stay healthy (and conversely, if they say, “the sky is falling”, you can bet that people will be hiding their assets under their pillows) makes my question the sanity in following any economy.
So now that I have spat out my less than fully educated view of the US economy, I shall once again resist the urge to do something hasty in anticipation of the imminent demise of real estate. Their will be no selling of my house in anticipation of real estate prices dropping. I mean, renting really does suck on so many levels.
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June 3rd, 2005 yoshers
I must say that I have caught on to the housing bubble wave and am spending a bit too much time reading articles and various forums about the current housing situation. Frankly, everyone can analyze it all they want, but just as the recent housing price run up has been unpredicted and unprecedented, the future of housing prices are just as unpredictable and perilous.
When I bought my house a few years ago, I thought I was buying at the peak of the market. Of course, that did not deter me as I had ample money for the down payment and I was hardly stretching myself too thin for my housing payments. At that time, I was definitely buying for the long term and just wanted a place to call home so I can stop renting (especially from Mr. Reddy). And if the market went down a bit, which was possible, I would still be doing quite well.
Nowadays, if you believe in the very worse of the housing bubble talk, I would be very tempted to sell my house and wait for the bottom to drop out on housing prices. Aside from the hassle of moving and finding a place to rent (which ironically would be cheaper than buying in Berkeley), I guess this would be possible. Of course, I tend to not believe that Berkeley will be hit as hard as some of the other locations when the housing market cools off. Given that the university is nearby and the already high prices, I doubt that the inventory of houses for sale will dramatically increase and there are probably very few investors trying to flip properties for a profit here.
That said, while Shareena and I would like to move away from the dirty alley, but the time is not right. So I will keep an eye out and see what’s out there and hopefully the mass mob mentality that is going on right now dies down in a polite way. Of course, I don’t think that’s going to happen, but that’s another story for when I talk with you next.
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June 3rd, 2005 yoshers
- If you are looking to buy long term and cannot really wait on speculations of housing price drops, it really is not that bad to buy now assuming you can actually afford it
- If you are sitting pretty, then why not wait and see if the prices drop. I mean you cannot expect this rising housing market to continue to rise without consequences
- Do not speculate on housing right now
- Those nice second homes and vacation hot spots are probably the first place to see a housing price decline, so I would especially avoid those right now
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May 12th, 2005 yoshers
It has been in the works for some time. After inviting her aunt and uncle from New Zealand last August for her mom’s surprise birthday party, Shareena was offered a reciprocity of hospitality if we wanted to go to New Zealand. It just so happens that the middle of August contains both Shareena’s and her aunt’s and uncle’s daughter’s birthdays, so there will definitely be a bit of celebration for that (in fact, it will be the day after we arrive in New Zealand, can you say “jet lag”?).
I suppose that depending on the method of travel, you have different sort of “official” date of accepting a vacation – a sort of point of very difficult return. In this case, it was pretty much the plane ticket as we were already offered food and shelter as well as a somewhat set itinerary. Shareena is further excited about touring some of the locations where Lord of the Ringswas shot, despite the fact that it will be winter in New Zealand in August. I guess this just means a better excuse to pack more.
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May 2nd, 2005 yoshers
As usual, I am a few weeks late with my latest adventure, but at least I do eventually managed to get my thoughts on the hard disk.
So a couple of weekends ago, I flew off to Las Vegas to meet with my cousins from my mother’s side to have much, much fun. After being picked up by Ken and his girlfriend, Angela; Henry; and Vivian, we hung out at the Hilton Grand Vacation Club, where we had a suite (though we did not take advantage of the kitchen, it was still quite spacious), and after my cousins (originally from Chicago) Angie, Jack and Judy arrived at the suite, we talked some more and before you knew it, there was a bet going on.
As Angie, Jack and Judy were about to leave, Judy asked whether or not anyone wanted to run with her on Friday morning as she is training for a 10 mile run. One thing led to another and before long, Angie and Ken were challenging each other to see who can run better and longer. Eventually, they settled on seeing on who can run 1 mile the fastest and I managed to sucker Henry into placing a wager for Angie with 3 to 1 odds (so I put in $20 for Ken to win and Henry put in $7 for Angie and winner takes all). Well, the race apparently did not last long and a short time after the start, Angie decided to stop and lie on the ashphalt to rest.
Besides this small wager, we had quite a good time gambling, eating, clubbing, drinking and doing all the normal Vegas things. I managed to break even (despite some pretty big ups and downs at the Blackjack table) thanks to my placing 7th (first money spot) in a No-Limit Texas Hold-em poker tournament where Albert, Stanley and Henry also entered (with about 100 players total). I must admit, things did not look very good for me at the first break as I was low on the chip stack compared to my cousins, but a few all-ins later, I tripled up a couple of times and was back in business. In the end, my luck failed at the first “opportune” time as I went all in with A-7, only to be called by the chip stack leader with A-6…and then watching as a 6 came up on the flop. So yes, there is some skill in poker, but don’t kid yourself if you think it is all skill.
All in all, I had lots of fun despite not getting very much sleep (I think I slept about 3 hours a night for 3 straight days), so I suppose I am just now getting back to normal (though it is never normal when as I sometimes come into work at 6am to restart the servers) and that’s why it has taken me so long to write this entry. Now if you believe this, then I do have a future as a poker player.
Picture from Vegas (thanks to Judy).
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May 1st, 2005 yoshers
- Allot a set amount of money to lose for the entire trip; allot a set amount per day/event/hour/whatever if you do not want to burn through your whole stash in one sitting
- Don’t play while you are drunk; if you think you play better when you are drunk, you are probably just a better loser when you are drunk
- Know that the odds are against you by default, if you come out even, then you are really ahead
- Have fun; you are there to have a good time, don’t keep putting more money in thinking you can “earn” it back
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April 2nd, 2005 yoshers
- For longer trips, plan ahead (impromptu short trips are nice too)
- Avoid the crowds by going on weekdays if you can
- Ask the locals for places to eat
- Reserve an extra day or two at the end of your vacation to really rest before going back to work
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