what an epic saturday indeed.

The iMD alleycat race and grand opening took place yesterday. It was probably one of the more eventful Saturdays that I’ve had in recent memory.

Photo by Trangalang

Trangalang took this picture of me before the race. He said that I was “carbo loading” before the race; stuffing my piehole with pizza and surrounded by balloons while sitting by myself. Sounds exactly like one of my birthday parties. Suc.

Riding the 50 some odd miles was c*ck brutal; I had a hard time keeping up with my pard’ners Darin and Matt. I remember shouting some pretty absurd obscenities the entire time. Suc this and suc that.

Photo by Anna Marie

It was all worth it because at the end of the race we were greeted by a table full of delicious food fit for a hobo. $5 buc suc pizza from Little Caesar’s, Natty Ice kegs, and $2 buc suc wine. Then Mark had to ruin it by ordering 7 gourmet courses of catered vegetarian food from Tofoo Com Chay. Haha.

One of the best moments of the night was when I heard my number called for the raffle. I was overcome with joy. My prize: the Macaframa DVD, which I have long coveted, but could not afford on my hobo budget.

I think the camaraderie between new and old friends from racing and mingling with friends afterward was the best part; after winning the Macaframa DVD of course. Just look at my facial expressions. Yes, I am very self-involved.

Photo by trangalang

Photo by Birdman

Photo by Birdman

Thanks to Mark, Anna, JP and everyone else for putting this one on.

free amazon prime trial.

Even if you received the free 3-month trial a few years back you can hop on this new shortened trial. It worked for me.

Amazon Prime allows for free shipping on all Amazon orders, even those that are under $25. Not only that, you get a free upgrade to 2-day shipping.

Don’t forget to go to Your Account and cancel the automatic renewal after one month, its $79 for one year.

Link here.

Note to self: Do not buy unneeded item.s

omgomgomgomgohmgohnomgohnomnomohnomnom.

not a love song.

Oops, did that last post just make you depressed. Cheer up, watch this video from Uh Huh Her. There’s a horse with a ridiculous cotton candy tube attached to it’s head to make it look like a unicorn.

jello puddin pops.

“I don’t know the keys to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”

-Bill Cosby

I first read this quote when I was still in college. But I didn’t fully grasp the true meaning of it until now (post-college). And I still don’t possess the keys to success. In the past I never would have admitted that.

For some reason I thought that one of the keys to being happy was having everybody like you. Or at least I wanted people to think highly of me. I somehow thought I would impress people by “pretending” that I knew exactly what I wanted in life.

Instead I ended up alienating a lot of people and not pleasing anyone. But how can you please other people, when you’re not even pleased with yourself?

Like I’ve said time and time again, I was miserable. On the outside, everything seemed ok. Throughout college I had landed several good jobs, and then had a good job lined up for me after graduation. And that was really the only thing I cared about. Simply because it made me “appear” to look successful; or at least it made me appear to know what I was doing.

I think I hit rock bottom in 2007, which was the same year that I graduated college. It would only be a matter of time before I would burn out from keeping up this facade of “success.” There wasn’t any single moment where I realized my life sucked, it was more of a gradual thing.

My weight was starting to get out of control. I had very few friends. My dating life was going nowhere. Weekends were just like weekdays for me since I had no social life. I was drowning in debt, spending thousands on unnecessary trinkets to keep me occupied. I resented anybody who seemed like they were having fun in life.

You’re not supposed to have fun. You’re supposed to work at a corporate job, so you can contribute to your 401(k) and then retire in 40 years. If you have enough saved, maybe you can squeeze in a 10 day excursion to Europe at age 65. If you think otherwise; you’re dead wrong.

The relationships that I had with everyone in my life was very odd. I would try so hard for people to like me, but at the same time I would act like a complete jackass. It’s really hard for me to explain.

I remember moving into the dorms for my first year of college. Since I was a Los Angeles transplant, I didn’t know anybody. My attitude didn’t really do much to change that. I was the true definition of the term poser. I didn’t even attempt to try to get to know anyone, because I thought I was so much cooler than everyone else. I probably made 3 friends that first year.

Why? Because I was the only thing that mattered. While I was trying to be superficially nice to everyone, I thought in my head that I was better than everyone. Nobody’s opinion mattered but mine. I was hardly one to clash openly with people, but in my mind I would always be shaking my head in disagreement.

Trying to please everyone is a neverending battle. Just look at Jesus Christ, or Barack Obama. They didn’t please everyone; in fact many people wanted to kill them!

Anyhow, I know that I talked about writing a book. But I think I’m just going to post lessons that I have learned in my life. I have a bunch of stuff written up that I will release every once in a while.

I haven’t read this book entirely through, but I will read it in its entirety after I finish my current book. How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

Also, if you haven’t checked out Leo Babauta’s site, I urge you too. This guy is genius. Zenhabits.net

minimalization mode.

I continued with my minimalization effort today by shipping out some more eBay stuff. It’s nice to get money for stuff that has just been lying around my apartment.

My closet was getting a little out of control, so I decided to try and minimalize it some. I normally don’t like selling my clothes to used clothing stores, because you get very little back(if they decide to even buy them). But it’s also quick and easy, so I headed over to Black and Brown.

After looking through my stuff she said, “I would have liked to take your clothes, but they were just too damaged.” That’s a lot better than, “Your clothes are in good condition, but your style is beyond atrocious, so next time don’t bother coming in because we will remember your face,” which is the response I usually get. See, they didn’t even remember my face. Suc. Am I not memorable? So I’m generic. Suc. Google Andrew Ho right now and see what comes up.

my monthly expenses.

These are some bills that I have to pay every month. Keep in mind that these are just recurring bills, so entertainment, food and the like are not covered in this. This list is pretty much what comes out of my pocket right off the bat every month.

Over the past couple of years I have been able to trim down my monthly expenses by weeding out unnecessary things. Here is what I have been able to cut it down to:

Rent- $760
Utilities- $15
Health Insurance- $78
Gym- $30 (I paid for the entire year, but this is what it would come out to per month)
Student Loan Repayment- $50
Cell Phone- $45
Credit Cards- Varies

In any given month I am paying close to $1000 or more in just bills alone.

Obviously rent is the biggest money eater here.

Do I really need a one bedroom apartment? No.

My landlord might be evicting all of the tenants soon, in order to repair damage to the building. Although I love my place, to be honest, I wouldn’t mind getting kicked out.

It would force me to downsize.

The search begins.

the unfree stuff.

As much as I effin love free stuff, I effin hate unfree stuff. I probably hate unfree stuff more than I love free stuff; that’s how much I hate unfree stuff.

Unfree stuff are late charges, overdraft fees, fines, penalties, tickets; pretty much anything that is completely unnecessary, takes up precious time and/or drains your bank account. The good thing is that most of these things can be avoided; the sad thing is that sometimes I just can’t seem to avoid them.

Earlier today I went to the Santa Clara County Courthouse, to get a court date for my latest unfree gift from the government. I ran a red light and was ticketed for my offense. I will most likely have to pay a $174 fine, and will be going back to court early next year to try and reduce my fine. Read more about it here.

All of the other things I mentioned can be avoided as well. Late fees at the library can be avoided if I just turn my books in on time, or simply renew them online. Overdraft fees can be avoided if I transfer enough money over from one account to the other in time. Occasionally I even forget to return the DVDplay rentals on time, which results in a $1 penalty.

When you add up all the unfree things over time, it can really add up. Instead of buying something that would be useful to me, I end up forking over money to cover my stupid mistakes. Unfree stuff kills precious time too, as I will be taking a few hours out of the day to attend my court hearing. Stoopid.

the list.

Without any further ado, here’s my highly anticipated sucwiddable list for 2009. This list is comprised of mainstream Hollywood(mostly) stars in no particular order.

Jennifer Aniston
Emily Blunt
Kate Perry
Kristen Bell
Elizabeth Banks
Leighton Meester
Kate Beckinsale
Kristen Stewart
Emma Watson
Amanda Crew
Olga Kurylenko
Gemma Arterton
Rachel McAdams
Ali Larter
Christina Milian
Eliza Dushku
Katherine Mcphee
Kristen Kreuk
Nicole Sherzinger
Lizzy Caplan
Katrina Bowden
Rose Byrne
Gina Carano
Julianne Hough
Stacy Keibler
Scarlett Johansson

Are you looking for a link, or picture? Highlight, right click and google you lazy sucs.

I’m probably missing some names on here; I’ll add them when they come to mind.

my favorite color is fluorescent beige.

What have I said over and over again.. repeatedly.. on a continual basis? I effin love free stuff.

Camera Cinemas has this loyalty program going on right now where you get points for watching movies. Well you’re not really getting entirely free stuff because you’re paying for the movie tickets, right? Wrong.

The beauty of this program is that you get free points for completing surveys in the theater. So sometimes after my gym workout, I go next door to the movie theater and fill out a survey. Free points without any purchase. Suc!

Is this being idiotic, or is this being hobo? I think it’s a combination of both. You can judge me now, but while you’re laughing just know that I am well on my way to a free Medium Romantic Movie Pack, which includes popcorn, drinks and candy. I can’t wait to see Precious. Oprah approved!

flier fridays.

don’t cha.

If I were to purchase one piece of furniture, this probably wouldn’t be it. But it’s nice to dream every once in a while. Atocha Design

starting out.

Featured in Blog Carnival

When I first read that Erin Burt was leaving Kiplinger, I was sad. Then I was happy again when I read that she was leaving to spend more time with her family.

Erin Burt was an editor at Kiplinger, where she had a column called Starting Out. In this column she gave great financial advice for people in their 20s and 30s. I read her weekly articles almost religiously.

I am in my mid-twenties now, and have made my fair share of financial mistakes. In honor of the “Starting Out” tradition, I hope to share some of the lessons and tips that I have learned along the way. Below are five important things that helped me out in becoming (credit card) debt free.

It sounds kind of preachy, but these quick tips really helped me with my addiction to credit.

Credit Card Debt

Who among us doesn’t have credit card debt? Credit card debt is probably one of the ugliest debts you can have. If you’re not careful, it can spiral out of control.

Although I am carrying a balance as of right now, it is a manageable one that I plan to eradicate by year’s end. But at one point, I had thousands of dollars spread across multiple accounts.

At times it can seem hopeless, because you don’t even know how you accrued so much debt, much less how to begin the repayment process. With a little willpower and determination, I was able to get through it. And if you’re struggling with it, so can you.

1. First off, STOP charging on your credit cards. Forget those measly 2% cash back rewards that you get for using credit. What’s 2% when your APR is 15.99%?

I used to buy so much useless crap. On credit. It’s so easy to swipe that card, or to type those 16 numbers into any store’s secure online checkout . You have to resist. Ask yourself, “Do I really need this?” Chances are you probably don’t. Start using debit or cash.

2. Don’t default on monthly payments, even if it means paying just the bare minimum. It hurts your credit score and the fees will increase your debt.

If you are currently defaulting on your payments, start paying the bare minimum. A late payment or nonpayment can result in a world of hurt for you. It raises a red flag on your account to the credit card and creditors, and can add massive amounts of penalties for you.

Thankfully, I have never missed a payment, but I have received plenty of overdraft fees. And those piss me off. It’s like you’re just handing over money to the man. Don’t let the man take your money.

3. Some people say that you should start attacking your highest interest rate card first. I agree. But you can also start paying off your lowest balance first.

If you have a lot of debt, and don’t know where to begin, start with your smallest debt. I remember one of my accounts was significantly lower than the rest of my accounts, so I just paid that one off. When I saw that I had killed one debt, albeit a small one, it boosted my confidence. One little victory, but it was just the boost I needed to really strap down and kill the rest of my debts.

4. Be wary of balance transfers, they can give you a false sense of financial security. Do the math first, since there are balance transfer fees, that might end up costing more your old APR.

Balance transfers can be a good way of consolidating your debts, but there are also a lot of fees associated with them. Most transfers have a flat rate fee, and then another fee which charges you based on the amount of money you want to transfer. Make sure it makes fiscal sense to transfer or not.

5. Once you start clearing some of your debt, you might get the urge to close out the accounts. Keep them open, because you want to retain your history of credit. Closing accounts will also affect your credit utilization ratio.

One thing that creditors look at is the credit-utilization ratio. If you have a $1,000 credit limit, and you’re carrying a balance of $900, you are using 90% of your available credit. You want to try to lower this number to less than 50%. And then eventually zero.

I think we all struggle with money or the lack thereof. If you do have bad credit, don’t fret. Like most things, you can turn it around, it will just take time. But you have to stop the bleeding first. Do whatever it takes to stop using your credit card. Freeze it. Leave it at home. Cut it up.

It’s really scary when you realize what kind of hold credit has on you. It still is a constant struggle for me, don’t get me wrong. And Black Friday is looming around the corner. Suc.

don’t be sad.

Julian says don’t be sad.

I’m listening to his new album, Phrazes for the Young as I am writing this post and my next post. It’s a bargain for only $4.99.

excerpt.

I’ve been spending a lot of time writing my “book.” There is so much I want to say that it has been really hard for me to get it on type. Lately I have been struggling with a lot of different emotions, but I am also surrounded by such positivity that it is hard to stay down for too long.

I did manage to write about one of the single most happy and liberating days of my life. Here it is:

————————————————————————

“Andrew, can you come into my office for our 10 o’clock.”

I was sure that those were going to be the final words of my boss to me before my termination.

It was Wednesday morning, right in the middle of the work week. Earlier that week my immediate supervisor had told me that we were going to have a meeting with the head boss. I remembered reading somewhere that people only get fired on Fridays, so I thought nothing of it.

As I walked slowly to my boss’ office around the corner from mine, my mind started to race like crazy for some reason. Was I in trouble? Did I do something wrong? Were they finally smart enough to go through my internet browsing records? I knew I shouldn’t have clicked on that NSFW link off Digg. Even though I hated my work, it still would have sucked to be reprimanded or even fired for doing something idiotic while on the job.

The twenty foot walk to my boss’ office seemed longer than an eternity. I had so many things mulling around in my head that I started to perspire. The red polo and khaki pants that I always wore to blend in with my office environment was starting to stick to my skin. I passed by a majority of my co-workers’ offices on the way to my meeting; most of whom I loathed. How did it even get to this point? I’m about to get fired from a job that I should have quit months ago.

When I got to her office, my supervisor was already there, sitting there solemnly next to the big boss. “Go ahead and shut the door behind you, Andrew,” she said as she motioned for me to sit down. My chair was on the other side of the table, facing both of my superiors. I took my seat while trying to analyze the whole situation. I spotted some reports and paperwork piled on the table in front of them. Those are probably my internet records, I thought to myself.

Before I had a chance to figure out what they were, my boss opened up her mouth. “As you know, our company has been facing some huge budget cuts.” She paused for a bit, as if doing so for effect.

“Unfortunately, your position was included in our budget cuts. We want to assure you that it had nothing to do with you personally or your job performance…”

At that moment it felt like someone had injected me with 50mg of heroin. I have never tried heroin, but I was sure the euphoric feeling that I was experiencing could only be brought on by some sort of intravenous drug.

Did I really just get laid off? It felt so surreal; I was in a lucid state of mind. It felt like I was strung out on some phantom drugs that had been administered to me one after another. On top of heroin, it was like adding psychedelic mushrooms to the mix, another drug that I have also never experienced. In case you’re keeping count, I don’t really do drugs, I can only imagine.

I tried to keep my composure, and even managed to well up my eyes a little. “I just want to thank you for the opportunity that you have given me, as a student straight out of college…” I’m pretty sure I added some other shit in there to fluff my goodbye, just to ensure that I didn’t burn any bridges. The meeting was coming to an end, and as I made my way out of the office, I could see that my supervisor really was crying a little. It made me want to give him some of the metaphorical ’shrooms I was tripping out on.

Once I was out of the office and plain view of my soon to be ex-coworkers, I began to attempt to understand what had just happened. I was just laid off from a job that I really hated. That much I knew.

bringin’ it back to 1997.

Somehow I manage to lose my scarf every year. I was thinking about getting the scarf that I mentioned in one of my previous posts, but it was way too expensive and cool for my liking.

And seeing as how I’m always losing my scarves, it wouldn’t be very hobo of me to buy a $42 scarf.

Cue in Old Navy. I saw a commercial advertising scarves for the $1 buc suc on Saturday. Sucwidit! After searching my apartment high and low for $1.09 (tax in CA), I finally came up with the funds to buy a scarf.

I knew that all of the other frugal hobos in the South Bay would be flocking to Old Navy, so I woke up bright and early and rode out to Valley Fair. I ended up picking some muted classic colors, so it would be hard to tell that I got my scarves from Old Navy. If anyone asks, I got them from a less embarrassing store, like Hollister… the outlet.

If you are into hip hop or just art in general, you might want to check out Bret Kranak. His work is in the P2 space at Works right now. This dude’s work is effin sick, and he is still humble as a mother. And can you believe that it’s his first show ever?

While you’re there, check out my piece too. It’s coming down soon. Haha.

write about what you talk about.

If you didn’t already know, November is national novel writing month. Meaning you have 30 days to complete a 50,000 word book. There is actually a website where you can sign up for the literary extravaganza.

Writing a book seems like a fun and challenging thing to do. Writing one in 30 days seems like more of a challenge than actually being fun. But what the heck, I have time. I’m going to change the rules a bit for myself, and ignore the 30 day time limit.

Over the past couple of years I think I have changed from a miserable person to a generally happy person. My views on life have changed drastically, and my life has improved dramatically. I’m still looking for a lot of answers, but now I am learning to enjoy the journey of finding those answers.

So that is going to be the topic of my book, how I went from a miserable corporate wanker to a happy hobo extraordinaire.

I’m always talking about “quality of life” with friends, but I probably talk to Jabari and Carolyn the most about it. Jabari and I were once stuck in the rat race of the corporate world, but are no longer. Carolyn used to work at a job where she wanted to walk out on, but now has found her real passion. Needless to say we have a lot in common.

I’m also a really good friend, it was Carolyn’s birthday the other day so she supplied the cupcakes and I ate them. But I digress.

Well, I started on my book already, and I am hoping that I have the willpower to finish it. It’ll probably end up being some sort of stream of consciousness bull but whatever. Only time will tell.

make money, lose money.

My childhood friend from the Pacific Northwest came down to visit, so I had dinner with him on Sunday night. Tim-o-tee was coming up on his one year marriage anniversary. It was good to see that everything was going really well for him.

I think he realized how much of a hobo I was so he paid for dinner even though I threatened him that I would no longer be his bff if he paid. He obviously didn’t care about our friendship because he pulled out his American Express black card without hesitation.

Haha thanks Tim! I even got the leftovers.

Remember those “riding jeans” I was trying to sell at the swap meet a couple weeks back? Well I threw those bad boys on eBay and sold those babies along with some other crap I had. Looks like there are some other chubby bastards out there cuz they sold.

I totally forgot to use my own packaging, so I ended up shipping via Priority Mail; blowing my whole margin of profit. Suc.

a peanutbutter packed weekend.

Don’t wait until the last minute to get your Halloween ’stume together. I went all over San Jose the day of just to get my stupid ensemble together.

After getting all my supplies I rushed over to the shop for the alleycat. A good amount of people showed up, considering all the other races/events going on in the Bay.

While we were waiting for people to register, the topic of blogs came up. JP, Jared and I were saying how everyone has a blog now. Which is literally true.

I looked into it, and I found out that my blog has it’s own blog. And in it’s blog it talks sh*t about my blog. Can you believe it? The suc??!?? Linky. I’m about to slap my blog.

In any case, the race, Ghoul Sprints and Halloween party at Darin’s was sick. I think I just wandered around the entire night, and I tried to make it rain from the balcony onto the dance floor but failed.

another day in hobo heaven.

Pavel and Sarah had an extra spot for me to visit the Anchor Steam Brewery in San Francisco. Being the hobo that I am, I gladly accepted. Five of us were able to comfortably fit into Sarah’s Fit.

We knew it was going to be a long day, with plenty of beer, so we had to line our stomach’s with something scrumdilioucious. Millbrae Pancake House was on the way; anytime is a good time for pancakes.

After breakfast/lunch we hit up the brewery, no iPhone needed, as we just followed the scent of the fermented yeast. Did I learn anything? Yes, hops are just an additive for taste, adding bitterness to offset the sweetness in beers. Time to get suc.

Once the tour was over, the guide gave us a taste of all of the beers that they brewed. If you’re counting the time, that was six beers before 1230pm. Talk about suc.

Since we were already in the city, we decided to stick around to do some exploring. One of the spots we stopped by was Bean Bag cafe, which is misleading because there were no beanbag chairs. They did offer blueberry french toast, which we all devoured; but it was mostly me.

The cool thing about the little excursion was catching up with everyone and talking about life. All of us at one point had corporate jobs, and eventually either got laid off or quit. Julia, Marc, Sarah and I definitely did not like the corporate rat race. Pavel’s nickname is corporate p, so yeah you do the math. But now look, we’re all “growed up,” enjoying some binge drinking at 11am, and savoring blueberry french toast mid-afternoon. Cheers to life.

douhudoduoduododo..Whatever happened to predictability..the milkman..the paperboy..evening tv..