Back from another fun trip to Las Vegas. This time, I stayed at The Palazzo for the very first time. I actually had never heard of the place until 2 weeks ago, when I also happened to be in Vegas. My friend was also there that weekend and she was staying there. Didn’t know it was some new hotel/extension of the Venetian, similar I think to like the Wynn and Encore. So what did I think?
When I first walked in, I thought it was pretty nice looking. They have this design where you check in with a bunch of different colored suspended umbrellas in the air. Looked kind of cool I guess. The room we stayed in was a suite that was pretty nice too. Two beds, a nice L-shaped couch, coffee table, desk, 2 LCD TV’s, and one more TV in the bathroom.
I think overall the hotel is nice. The casino area seems pretty small, but I think that is understandable because I don’t think the hotel is all that big. Other than the check in/out area, there didn’t really seem to be a whole lot. There is a tiny shopping area in the area that connects to the Venetian, a few restaurants, but that seemed about it to me. Overall I did think it was a nice place. Would I stay there again? Its hard to say because we got the room for free. It would depend on how much the room was before I can really answer that question. I’m pretty cheap and will almost never pay more than 100 bucks/night for a room in Vegas unless its some special occassion like a bachelor party or something and I have to.
I think its fairly common knowledge, sad as it may be, that Americans are terrible with their money. The save very little, spend more than they make, and are very susceptible to marketing and advertising. It is quite frightening how many people out there, and I’m not talking just right now when we are in a recession but even in good times, how little people save and how much they overspend. There are people stealing my tax money claiming they need unemployment benefits, yet they each have cell phones, a nice flat screen TV and cable, a new car. Its as if Americans feel they are entitled to have all this stuff, and to take it away from them is like cutting off a limb.
But I digress. I have a question for anyone who knows about economics out there. I always hear in articles that the American economy is based and predicated on people spending. When Bush Jr. gave out those tax rebates, he encouraged them to spend it, not save it because if they spend, it improves the economy. So, my question. Why is it that everyone always tells you to save x percent of your paycheck to save for a rainy day and stuff, but when there are things like tax rebates the government and media put out articles that the rebates will not work if people just save the money and put it in their bank accounts. They have to spend it to stimulate the economy. Does that mean it is not possible to have a good economy when Americans are not stupid with their money? Can the American economy be successful and not in a recession if every American saved x percent of their paycheck into their savings account and only bought things that they needed? Can an economy be “stimulated” if everyone saves their money? Is it possible?
If saving your money is supposedly a good thing for you, but bad for the economy, then what is the right thing to do? I just don’t have a good enough understanding of economics to answer that question. Would we plunge into another Great Depression if every American all of a sudden became good and smart with their money? Or, is our economy predicated on the fact that we have to be stupid with our money for the betterment of all? Kind of scary if that really is the case. Indiviually you can save your money, hoping that there are enough morons out there to stimulate the economy and allow you to keep your job. Is that how the American economy is supposed to work?
My work has a free health screening every year. Obviously since I’m writing about it, mine was today. I missed last year’s one because I was travelling in Asia, but did go to the one the year before. So, while I could not compare my results to that of last year, I can compare them to 2 years ago. What do I see when I compare them? Like most Americans, I am getting fatter and more unhealthy as I age.
From two years ago, I am 5.5 pounds heavier, blood pressure went up from 120/75 to 127/89, bmi went up from 23 to 24.7, and body fat went from 19% to 22.2%. While none of these I don’t think is critical at this point, the trends are not good!! I think the only thing that improved was that my cholesterol went down, which is not a big deal because it wasn’t high to begin with. It went down from 175 to 167 (HDL went from 28 to 35). My blood pressure seemed a bit high to me. The last few times I’ve had it taken i the last few weeks it was much closer to 120/80, so I might have to check that out again.
Anyway, like I said, I don’t think any of these are bad numbers, and I’m not fat, yet, but I should really do more to keep myself where I am rather than move up! Maybe I should go to the gym more often? I usually average about 3 times/week. Maybe go at least one more time on the weekend? I’m so lazy though. I think the biggest problem for me, the one that’s harder than not being lazy and going to the gym, is that I like to eat! I eat a lot and not all of it is healthy. That is what will be the hardest to control, if I really do want to stay where I am. I don’t think I’m going to try to lose any of my gains, only because that makes it all the more harder, and I’m not at a terrible spot now. Small steps! Hopefully the next health screening I take will show numbers that are the same or lower!
About 3 weeks or so ago, as I wrote about in this blog, I went to Vegas with my family to celebrate my cousin’s 21st birthday. We all stayed at the Rio, getting 2 rooms there. Well, after we left, my brother realized while we were already well on the road home that he left his Nintendo DS in the room. He called them and left a voicemail asking them to look for it. We all, as probably many of you would have, lost hope and figured it was long gone and the maids probably took it or something.
Anyway, he called again when he got home and still nothing. He e-mailed them at the end of this week, and they wrote back right away saying they would look. Apparently e-mail works much better when contacting the Rio when it comes to lost and found? Anyway, they wrote back and send they found it, and then 2 days later my brother got his DS in the mail. Just wanted to give mad props to the Rio for returning his item. Yes, its not a super expensive gadget, but its not cheap either. Kudos to them for actually finding it, not keeping it, and shipping it back. Sometimes, American companies give you small glimmers of hope that they actually do care. Just sometimes.
The popular cartoon and toy line was finally made into a movie, following in the footsteps of Transformers. As I do with pretty much any summer action movie/blockbuster, I took it in over the weekend. I had seen trailers for this thing, and honestly, I thought it did not look like a good movie. But, hey, it had to be entertaining huh?
The movie is about a weapons and defense manufacturer that makes like the majority of the world’s weapons. However, this company has bigger ambitions than just making money by selling weapons to both sides. Power is what it is all about. And then you have the G.I. Joe’s, a collection of the world’s best of the best. Can they stop the evildoers and save the world?
After watching the movie, I thought the movie was fun, and entertaining. It wasn’t a great movie, but by no means was it the trainwreck that was Transformers 2. That movie was terrible. This one? While the plot is as simple as they go with respect to blockbuster movies aimed at young guys, at least it was not filled with holes and it actually made sense, unlike that other toy action movie this summer. Some of the lines in this movie are kind of cheesy, and they totally and completely wrote this film such that there had to be a sequel. So, you can pretty much guarantee a part 2 of this movie as long as it makes money. The action sequences in this movie, and there are a lot of them as you pretty much are jumping from one to another, are fun. I’m sure the critics gave this movie failing grades. But, if you just want some nice action fight scenes and a hot Baroness, then by all means just check this out.
For the longest time, I have been using this car freshener from Glade. My friend told me about it, he used it, and I liked it so I bought it. However, for the last few months, no matter where I go, I just cannot find it. I’ve been to Target and Walmart, both places that I used to go in order to purchase them, and I just can never find them there. I went to Amazon, and while they did have them there, it was something like 7.50 for each refill after shipping. Now, I’m not necessarily opposed to paying that price. However, just out of principle, I will not do so because I’ve been paying between 2 and 3 bucks all these years and I’ll be damned if I am going to more than double that price!
So, my question to everyone. Do you currently use any air freshener for your car? I might try it if you like it. I’ve tried a couple other ones I saw at Walmart and I didn’t like them. They smelled decent when I bought them, but when I put them in my car, they just didn’t smell as nice. I also tried buying this one I bought in Diamond Plaza in Rowland Heights. I actually like the smell of it, however, once I put it in my car, I found out that unless I put it right under my nose, I couldn’t smell anything. It might as well of been a cup of water for all the smell it gives off. I always keep the inside of my car clean, so it doesn’t smell bad. It just doesn’t smell good! So, any nice recommendations?
The other day, I heard someone say something about all-nighters during college. If you pull an all nighter, its not because you are a dedicated student who wants to get good grades. It means you are a freaking procrastinator who cannot manage your time!
People who pay 80 bucks for a data plan on their cell phone (i.e. iPhone) yet complain about not having money get no sympathy from me. Cancel your damn “necessities”, drive a cheaper car, then you can complain to me.
Baby showers are boring as hell, so never invite me to one because I won’t go anyway.
If you are always taught while growing up that you can always do better, and that no matter who you are there is always someone better, then why would you ever marry someone? I mean, won’t someone better just come along?
Is it possible not to take things for granted or is that just human nature and once something is gone, only then do you realize how much it meant?
The other day I was talking about some Chinese food I ate over the weekend (tongue, tripe, and duck were included). I was overheard and the (white) person said gross, and how could I eat that stuff. WTF? Just because I can eat more things than a salad, chicken and steak, doesn’t make me gross. It just means you are boring! Expand your f’ing palette and try other things before you diss it! I will almost always try to eat something before I say I won’t ever do so again.
Is it harder to diet or exercise? I think diet. I have no problem exercising after work, but I just can’t stop eating what I like to eat.
I want to buy a new car, and even went to a dealership over the weekend. But, I want a house more so no car for me. Yup, I can control myself.
I have a feeling that in 2 generations, the ability to actually hand write well will be rare.
If you want to buy a dog, or any pet for that matter, freaking take care of it!!! Feed and groom your pet. And if your pet is sick, take it to the vet!!! Don’t buy a dog if you won’t take care of the dog!
So, as many of you know, I wore braces for 3 years. I posted about it earlier, after I took them off. However, I will not put a link to it because I put pictures of my teeth before and after on it and people were grossed out!
Anyway, I took them off and had to put a retainer on full time after that, taking it out only to eat. I was able to select either the Hawley retainers, which is probably the most common and the ones that most people think about when they think of retainers, the clear ones that kind of look like invisalign, and finally a Hawley on the top and on the bottom a permanent retainer glued to the back of my teeth. My retainer, as well as my dentist friend, said the clear one is not good because it’d only last a couple years and then you’d have to buy another one. My friend also told me that so long as I always wear my retainer, I didn’t need the permanent one. So, I just got the Hawley retainers. I wore them pretty much 24/7 for about a year.
Why so long? If you ask my friend, its because he said my ortho was bad and left a gap in my teeth on the sides (which only he notices) and the ortho kept me on my retainers the whole time in the hopes of closing it. It didn’t work. She actually suggested that if I wanted to close it, I needed to put retainers back on. I said no thanks. No one notices the small gap on the sides anyway. So she said cool. My friend told me that it was probably poor planning on my original orthodontist (I had like 3 because the original moved away, another took over, and then the one I finally got bought out the practice). Oh well.
Because I don’t care about that gap, she said I am now able to just wear my retainers and night now. Its so much easier and free, and I love not having to carry my stupid retainer container around anymore. I do, however, totally notice a difference when I put my retainer back on at night. I can totally feel the pressure it puts on my teeth. After a few minutes, I don’t notice it anymore. But, I guess it really does put pressure in there. Its been a couple weeks now, and I really do like the freedom I long forgot about pre-braces. I don’t know how long I will keep up wearing these only at night. My whole braces ordeal lasted about 4 years, including the retainers full time. Despite what my friend says, I’m happy that my teeth no longer are super crooked. I don’t notice the gap. I guess it’d be nicer if, according to my friend, my original orthodontist had “planned” better. But, what can you do? When you are a regular joe like me, how the hell do you know who a good orthodonist is? For that matter, who a good dentist or even doctor is. I like my teeth better than they were before, and isn’t that what counts most??
This was one of 2 movies I watched over the weekend. I’ll post about the other tomorrow. I’ve seen trailers to this movie throughout the summer, and honestly did not know what to expect with it. It didn’t say a whole lot, other than the fact that the aliens wanted to go back home. They could go pretty much anywhere with that, so I guess I had to watch the movie to find out.
Basically, District 9 is like a concentration camp for the aliens, who happened to somehow come to earth on their ship and then just hover over South Africa. Humans broke their way into the ship and found the aliens, who appeared to be refugees of some sort, and getting them all out and then forcing them to live in District 9. That is pretty much the intro. As the movie proceeds, an organization called MNU, amid protests from locals who want the slums of District 9 gone, is trying to evict all of the aliens (now over 1 million plus of them after 20+ years) to another concentration camp farther from town. From there, obviously things happen, and I won’t get into that for those who have not seen the movie.
And see the movie you should, I believe. The movie, I will admit, starts off pretty slow. But, not slow boring in my opinion. The pace and the action definitely picks up after that slow start. There isn’t anyone famous in this movie, which is probably one reason why every single ad and trailer mentioned Peter Jackson’s name, and so the movie has to rely on its acting, effects and story. And, because I said that I liked this movie and that you should see it, I thought they did a good job doing so. Go watch and see if you agree with me.
Movie #2 for this weekend was The Time Traveler’s Wife, based on the novel of the same name by Audrey Niffenegger. I read this book a few years back and I really liked it. Therefore, when I found out that they were going to make a movie, and that the super cute Rachel McAdams was going to be in it, you knew I had to watch it.
The story for this is about a man, Henry played by Eric Bana, who has some sort of genetic impairment that causes him to time travel back and forth within his own timeline. One of the places and times he travels back to often is Claire’s childhood home, played by the aforementioned Rachel McAdams. Because of that, Claire first met Henry back when she was 6, and has known him almost her entire life by seeing him constantly travel backwards in time. The two finally get married and Claire soon finds out its not very easy being married to someone just disappears without notice.
While there are changes in the movie from the book, the ending being one obvious example, the gist of the story remains the same. After watching the movie, I did enjoy it and thought it was better than I thought it would be. Many times when I watch movies based on books, they often butchers the movie. That being said, I still liked the book a lot better, especially the ending. I don’t think you need to read the book in order to understand what happens in this movie. I oftentimes watch movies where I don’t think the viewer would totally understand what is happening if they had not read the book, which is poor film making in my opinion. My friend thought the movie was just okay, and I thought it was slightly better than that assessment. Its not an overly sappy movie like the poster or trailer might make it seem, so if you are turned off by those kinds of films, then don’t be in this case. Love story yes, interesting time traveling questions and ponderings yes, but overly sappy love movie no.
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