Internet

I am feeling a bit annoyed by the internet lately. I sit in front of the computer way too much... 8 hours at work doing work related stuff, and then I come home and sit in front to do my personal stuff, watch movies, listen to music, chat, and what not... when i am in A room, i naturally sit in front of the computer to do shiet. it's like i see a computer, i just gotta hump it or something. so here are so stats of mine (just from the top of my head / on average):

MSN: 99.9% online....
Gmail: 10x a day
Yahoo Mail: 3x a day
Facebook: 5x a day
Xanga: Check 1x a day
Myspace: 1x a week
Google: Search 15x a day
Isohunt: 1x a day
Bankofamerica: 3x a week
Expedia.com: 5x a day
Random online articles: 4-10 articles a day
Random Video clips: 3-5 a day
An episode of some TV show or a movie: 1x a day
Shopping for some random crap: 3x a week

I don't know man. I am wondering if the internet is making my life more convenient, or taking over my life. not to mention that i work for a web company... at least I am glad I am not a developer, I actually have meetings that we talk in human languages (maybe). and what i hate the most at work is that I get like 40+ emails easily (it used to be even more) a day. let's just talk on the phone or in person god damn it. Especially when I get this 20 email long threads that I need to follow up with including technical details.

I am planning to start investing in some stocks beginning of 2007, and with that, I am sure I will be checking some stock site like X times a day or something... sigh... seems like everything can be done online now a days besides the basic physical needs like eating and snowboarding...

btw, I am glad that it's snowboarding season again! Last weekend was my virGIN (borat style) run for the season, got the blood pumping and regaining 90% of what I remember last season by the end of the day. need to work on more endurance for sure though. good stuff. planning to go this weekend again.

and what's up with all content sharing sites now a days... tags tags tags... even vista photo gallery has tags! I understand that it's somewhat useful to sort your "things" in categories. but to me, it's just an overhead to maintain tags of every single picture / article / blog / whatever it is... i like how gmail has a huge storage space and a good search function. i dont ever delete any mail i get from gmail, and if i need to find something, i just type in a few phrases in the search, and i find it immediately, without any overhead of ever maintaining my mailboxes, putting it them in folders, tagging them, deleting them, and what not. just read, write, and reply. simple.

anyway, I dont know where i am going with this blog... haven't written in a while. i just realized from august till december... I am averaging one blog a month. interesting! at least i am free from the blogging bondage holla! hope everyone is having a great time.

Maui Trip Summary

Supermarkets in Seattle

This is a very random post of a very random observation I have made yesterday.

While I was cleaning out my wallet, I realized that QFC, Ranch 99, and Safeway all have the color red on their membership card. I wonder if there is any marketing or specific reason of why that is.

If you are not from Washington, QFC is a very popular big chain of supermarkets here. It stands for Quality Food Center, not to be confused with KFC.

And listen to the song Chaiyya Chaiyya. It's that indian song at the beginning of the movie Inside Man. It's very fun to listen to!

Alright, peace out.

Currently Listening Dil Se (Free -- Bonus CD Kehtaa hai Dil Baar Baar) Chaiyya Chaiyya see related

WHY?

Portland Trip

Saturday
- White water rafting @ clakumus river - Cindy, mel, jen, and i spent a good afternoon here rafting. It's our first time doing this. I think the highlight of the trip was jumping off a 30 footer cliff into the chilly water. Man, all the girls are fearless, and it took me quite a while to jump.
- Eating @ Chinatown - Took a good nap after white water rafting, and then went to chinatown for some dinner. Man, downtown portland is pretty ghetto at night, and the chinatown there is pretty beat down too.
- Clubbing @ Baracuda - So it's Mel's birthday on Monday, so we had an early celebration clubbing in Baracuda, and kinda ironic cause she is really not 21 yet. It's a really fun night dancing and drinking with cyn. The crowd got pretty huge around midnight. And man, drinks are so expensive.

Sunday
- Sightseeing + shopping @ downtown portland - There is this Saturday and Sunday market thing near the Old town area, and they had tons of shops there. That was really cool. Then we went to Pioneer Place in the downtown area for shopping. Tax-free, but i didn't buy anything. I just took note where right in the center of portland is a huge shopping mall. Which makes me wonder, what does the modern culture worship? It might as well be the castle or the church in olden times that is in the center of the city.
- Mt. St Helens Visitor center - This is the low light of the trip. Mt St Helens is barely visible and is 50 miles away from the visitor center. But yeah, at least I finally saw it.