am i the only who has issues using keyboard shortcuts as a result of switching between pc and mac machines? why can't apple just place the command (apple) key where the control key is on pc keyboards?
i know my coworkers think i have a problem cutting, pasting, and using other shortcuts...
as i wait for the car service company to call me back at work, i thouht i should take this time to add another entry to my blog. i love to read, and there's nothing i enjoy more than picking up a used book at a discounted price. i was well acquanted with all of the many used book stores in sf, and hoped to find more of the same here in nyc. the strand bookstore came highly recommended, but it's been a disappointment my first few trips there. my thoughts:
the strand (one huge store) vs. sf bookstores (many little stores)
-- location --
the strand is conveniently located nearby in the east village, only a short walk away, whereas the bookstores in sf were spread all throughout the city.
winner: strand
-- selection --
although the strand has "18 miles of books", many are just the same books in massive quantities. in addition, i've found their used book selection to be especially weak when compared to the variety in sf. if one store doesn't have it, another will.
winner: sf bookstores
-- service --
i get a little of the superstore feeling at the strand, and i really prefer a small store feel when i buy my used books (otherwise i'd just buy books off amazon). it's nice when you can have a conversation with the people at the bookstore and get their opinions/recommendations and not feel rushed. the employees in sf also just seem to know the store/books better.
winner: sf bookstores
-- price --
like i said earlier, it's been tough finding the used books i want at the strand. they have numerous discount books, but it's like at borders where you really don't want most of what's on sale. i want to be able to buy recent, popular books now for a discounted price. in sf you may have to do some searching, but usually you'll find what you are looking for.
winner: sf bookstores
as you can see, sf bookstores win easily. maybe it'll just take some time for me to find the small independent used bookstores out here...
i've decided to spend part of my lunch break at work entering notes from my handy little notebook into my blog. many of these are thoughts that would have been directly entered online, if not for my erratic internet connectivity.
last night i had another splendid meal with tommy, sanjeet, and mr. and mrs. griffiths. unfortunately sanjeet's mom decided she had had enough of the cold weather after a day of sightseeing so she decided to stay in and order room service. this time sanjeet treated us to an excellent seafood dinner at the manhattan ocean club. afterwards we went back to the hotel to hang out with sanjeet's mom and enjoy the cranberry apple pie (from kitchenette)devy gave them on sunday. the pie was delicious, but the hotel charged us $14 for 6 plates and silverware!
prior to dinner also picked up my gift for the secret santa gift exchange my high school friends have had for the past 6-7 years. hope my secret santee (?) enjoys it!
tommy and sanjeet passed on a request from my secret santa to see what i need, but i prefer to be surprised. however, in an attempt to be helpful, here are a few lists:
needlist (stuff i will be buying soon):
- placemats
- vacuum cleaner
- reading lamp
- external hard drive
wantlist (stuff i don't really need, but want):
- digital camera (a smaller one i can actually carry around without my man-purse)
- hot water boiler (tea kettle)
- athletic shoes (for running/working out)
- boots (for the rain.snow)
- printer
wishlist (stuff that i really want):
- peace, joy and happiness for all!
still have more to add but gotta get back to work...
per aki's request i have changed the title of our fantasy league to instruct all of you you read my blog. i must say that have been disappointed in the performance of "ballers of the world v.pasadena league," but v.sunnyvale and v.lambda leagues have been off to fairly great starts. as long as i finish in the money for one of my leagues i'll be happy.
why does my isp tease me like this? i had access for about 30 minutes this morning, then after i shut down my computer and pack up everything, it starts up again! aargh (as my sf friends have known me to say, usuallly as i am destroying some feeble piece of furniture)! or shaking a fist (ajuah-style)!
firefox - i decided to create this post using firefox, as there is added blogger usability that safari doesn't support. however, as i do need to leave for work now, i won't be able to add links, pics, etc. until next time...
our gas meter is inside of our shower. is it rude to ask the meter guy to take off his shoes befoore entering our home, bathroom and shower to read the meter?
my table is here! chih (my roommate) assembled it when it came in, so i got a nice surprise after coming home late from work. i'm actually sitting at my new table now as i type this entry.
anyways, just wanted to elaborate on the radio city show. i really didn't have any prior opinions about it, knowing only the kick step that the rockettes do from childish imitations in elementary school, but it actually pretty neat. i'm not a big show person, but there was a toy soldiers bit that i thought was really neat.
work was pretty standard up until 8pm. i was in the midst of finishing a project earlier than expected, so rather than leave at 8, i thought i would try to pick up some additional training. unfortunately it became a complicated project that lasted until after 10:30pm. i do consider myself fortunate that everyone i work with is very nice and although the work environment is hectic, it's not the crazy stressed out law environment i imagined.
another nice surprise tonight is that my internet is actually working from home.
tomorrow i'm hoping to leave work early so i can enjoy dinner and the evening with tommy, sanjeet and family. it's awesome having good friends visit, although it does make me realize how much i miss everyone else- family, friends, co-workers, and students.
i really should send a letter to all of my old kids one of these days. i hope they don't feel like i left them hanging...
currently listening to plans by death cab for cutie. i didn't like their last album that much, but i love this one. my sister jennifer also recommended jack johnson and the gorillaz, so i'll be uploading those to my mp3 player soon.
for those of you with the new ipod (no, not me), tommy showed me that you can rip your dvd movies and load them onto your ipod. neat! the software is called handbrake (don't have the link handy, but you can just google it).
ok, off to shower and get ready for bed!
but this time i won't be apologizing for a lack of recent posts (although there may be one), but rather for posting some horrible blogs. gerald, as likely the sole reader of my blog, commented that i've been repeating many of the same events/thoughts in my postings. upon a cursory review, i also discovered that my grammar is pretty bad too.
luckily, there probably weren't many people reading this, but even so i promise to try harder to improve my postings. what i may have to do is actually read my posts before i publish them (which i probably still won't do because i don't like to).
thoughts (hopefully new):
1. i really miss playing basketball. i wonder how my team is doing without me and my 0.8 pts and 7 rebs/game. i'm sure they are doing well but i need to find some pick up games around here soon.
2. i'm afraid of gaining a ton of weight now that i'm working again. these computer jobs always seem to result in me sitting in front of a screen while constantly eating. hopefully i can keep my weight close to/under 200lbs. especially since the chairs i got state a 200 lb. max.
events (i know these are new):
1. first snowfall! i just wish i had time to walk through central park, but...
2. my friends tommy and sanjeet are in town from los angeles (really bradbury near monrovia)and i met them for brunch at their hotel. it was really nice to see them. they are here with some family (tommy's parents and sanjeet's mom), unfortunately mrs. griffiths (tommy' mom) wasn't feeling well so her and mr. griffith were stuck in the hotel all day.
3. then we did a lot of shopping on fifth avenue - sanjeet's mom was soerly equipped for the cold and bought a new scarf, hat, gloves and earmuffs.
4. after changing into nicer clothes at home, i met up with them at del friscos, a nice steakhouse by radio city music hall. unfortunately, mrs. g was still unwell so devy and i took their seats for the radio city music hall christmas show, which was actually quite a neat production.
5. finally i stopped by gerald and susana's place on the way home to pick up my computer and went home.
thoughts 2:
1. i can't wait to watch neon genesis evangelion. this series dominated at least one year of my college life. what sucks is that my dvd player cuts off the subtitles so i can't watch it on my tv at home.
2. i really hope i don't gain more weight.
thanks for reading! maybe someday i'lll have some fancy stuff like pictures and hyperlinks...
