2006...

Where does all time go? As you get older it just seems time flies by. Time seems to move even faster when you have kids...except when you are watching them by yourself on a weekend.


In any case, 2006 was a very good year for us. It is hard to believe JT is already 1 years old.

A new year, new start and hopefully good things for everyone.

Wishing everyone a very happy and healthy 2007!!!

LMB Farewell...

Okay, normally our LMB happy hours are G14, but since I am no longer an employee I can post pictures! Sunil, these are just a few of the MANY pictures on Oscar's camera.

El Cholo's:
Michelle, Oscar, Sascha and I:

Oscar, Sascha, Jeff, Miles:

Danny, Stewart, Sascha, Michelle:


The dreaded tequilla shots:

3 different reactions to the shots...Sascha is Ewww, Oscar is mother's milk, Danny is smm-ooth.

After a few hours of drinking. Oscar and his pink purse:

Um, no comment. What Oscar and Sascha do when they lived together is there own business:

Paying the final bar tab with LMB bonus money!

LMB Counter Pt 2....

It was a much harder decision than I expected, but I resigned my position at LMB on Friday. I know, you must be thinking what am I doing? First I win a 58" plasma:

Up next was the company bonus. This year we got paid $50 bucks for each month we were employed at LMB. Naturally, LMB did it in all cash. My team also had a happy hour that night so needless to say it was quite a fun night. (Sunil, pictures will be posted later).

LMB was very good to me and it was difficult to leave. At every job I have had, I have always received a counter offer to stay. I have never accepted a counter but I always listen to the counter. LMB also proposed a counter and it was one of the most interesting counter offers I have ever received.

Without going into numbers, I was presented with a lot of upfront cash on top of my regular salary. Basically a bonus for each month I stay at LMB. It was very interesting, very flattering and very difficult to pass up.

In the end it all boiled down to more money or go to work with someone I have worked with at 3 other jobs? While the money was good, I think I may have actually taken the higher moral road for once and chose to go to work for Universal Music Group.

No regrets, no worries and now no looking back. Afterall, I am not going to UMG for free. I am still getting paid. Hopefully I will have less stress and less hours and work more a typical 9-5...or should I say 7:30 to 3:30.

Tea Leaf Reading...

Do you believe in fortune tellers? Horoscope? Palm Readers? How about Tea Leaf readers? I have never done a tea leaf reading before, but Aya and I got ours read at the LMB Christmas party.

What is a tea leaf reading? I suppose there are many variations. Our reader put leafs of tea in a cup. Poured some tea into the cup. Turned it upside down and asked me to rotate the cup 3 times.

I went first and the reader said that I am looking to buy a house close to the ocean. I have an angel watching over me. I live a simple and clean life. I will have a new career opportunity soon. I will have a very pleasurable new year.

Maybe I looked skeptical, so the reader showed me my tea leaf cup. Sure enough, one of the leafs looked like house and I had a tiny bit of water in the cup still. I had an angel WITH wings. Seriously, it looked like a house and angel. My cup was also very barren. Just tiny leaves here and there.

Aya went next. The reader immediately asks her is someone recently passed away. Before Aya could answer, the reader said this person is happy and wants to say, "hello". Aya gets teary eyed and said her father just passed away. The reader then asks Aya if she is expecting or planning for a child (NNNNNOOOO we are not pregnant). The reader goes on to say that her father will come back to life in our next child.

Talk about bizzare! That night I won the tv...that was pleasurable. I also faxed my offer letter the day before the company party to start my new job. Lets see if any of this comes true in the new year!

Christmas 2006...

It was a good and bad Christmas for us. Good because we saw lots of family and friends. Bad because JT got sick on Christmas Eve. JT got worse on Christmas day. Normally JT is moving all over the place and generally a happy baby. Over the weekend he was cranky, crying, not sleeping and kinda life-less.

We went to the doctor today and found out that JT has a border line ear infection. We have to watch it one more night to see if he can fight it off on his own or if he needs anti-biotics...which we got today just in case. Good thing we had the internet as JT had a temperature over 102 in the middle of the night and we read that we didn't have to worry until 104.

I hope everyone else had a very Merry Christmas!!

Superbowl Sunday....

Superbowl Sunday for those of us playing Fantasy Football. Last year was one of my worse years ever. I just haven't found the time for pre-season and 17 weeks of football. Having a kid really puts a damper on my football research...let alone watching any games.

The year I hoped to do better. Things were pretty rosy for me in the regular season. I was division leader...I beat Ron...and with 4 games left in the regular season, I only needed to win ONE game to secure a playoff berth. Guess what happens. I go 0-4.

By some miracle (or as Jeff would say, "Miles won the life lottery") I reached the playoffs in a 3 way tie for 3rd (my team is Ghetto Superstar...Rons team is Lucky Dogs....just look at the bottom for his record). I only made it because I had the highest point total.



I was the lowest seed going into the playoffs thus having the hardest road. I had to play the #3 ranked team...beat him...then play the #2 ranked team...beat him...and then the #1 ranked team!

Yup, if you guessed that I would win the superbowl, you guessed correct! You are looking at the four time, four time, four time, four time, four time Super Bowl contender. This is the second time I have won it all. First time in this league...but this league is only two years old. Ron was the first winner so I am just trying to follow in his footsteps!

Kid parties...

I guess I am going to eat crow on this one. I know I said I hated going to kid birthday parties...and I still do...but there maybe some hope. Aya and I went to Olivia's 1st birthday party.

I so didn't want to go, but I like Olivia's dad, Dave. He and I got stuck with smart career minded wives but wives with little to no driving skills and/or common sense. So Dave and I have can now swap stories about our dingy wives.

In any case, the party wasn't bad. It wasn't the ideal way to spend an afternoon, but what made it nice was JT had sooo much fun playing with the other kids. Most of all the kids were older so JT got put into his place and pushed around. That was nice to see...hopefully he will learn not to be a bully.

I guess as long as JT has a good time at the party that is good enough for me.

Heart Murmur Update...

I realized I never update everyone on JT's heart murmur. We went to UCLA to see a specialist about JT's heart murmur. It was some of the worse service ever! I am not sure about all peditricians, but for ours, when we go on time we are seen on time. They don't make us wait long and we are in and out no problems.

I figure they know you have a baby so they aren't going to make you wait like adult HMO's. When I went to UCLA I figured the service would be even better since we are seeing a specialist. Nope.

One, I went by myself...well with JT.

Two, I had to pay $8 bucks for parking.

Three, I had this LONG questionnaire to fill out. The lady kinda gave me attitude because JT had mangled all the sheets. It is their fault. How can I answer a 12 page questionnaire AND watch a toddler?!

Four, they left us alone for an hour. JT was super squirmy and impatient by the time we see the first of three doctors.

Five, I was just about ready to leave without seeing the Sr. Doctor because it was just taking way too long. Good thing I took the entire day off from work because I was there for close to 3 hours!

Indeed, JT does have a heart murmur. He has a stills murmur. I guess it is the run of the mill ordinary murmur. Not unusal. The only unusal thing was he was young to have this murmur. We have to keep an eye or ear on it for the next year and maybe schedule a followup visit when JT can learn to sit still for an ultrasound test.

Thanks for all your concerns but JT will be a-okay!

Outwit, Outlast, Outplay

I guess it is that time again. Today, I resigned my Manager of Business Intelligence position at LowerMyBills. My last day of work is 12/29.

When I started LMB, my mission was to outlast Sascha by 2 weeks. He started 2 weeks before me. When I started, LMB the team was David, Antonio, Sascha and I. I was two jobs removed from MicroStrategy as I was a Cognos and Siebel developer and then previously a business analyst and project manager.

Shortly thereafter David quit. Gaoyuan replaced him. Then my subcontinental asian brother Sunil joined LMB....but not before I told him to go home on his first day because we are not hiring him yet! We were truly the United Nations at that point, Antonio the Mexican, Sascha the German, Gaoyuan the Chinese, Sunil the India(n) and me the Japanese.

Our group is a pretty tight knit group so not only do we work together but we also eat lunch and have happy hour togethers. Fun times...a good group...or so I thought...until the next patch of contractors arrived.

Antonio and Gaoyuan left LMB and then we get Danny the White Boy, Oscar the Mexican and Stewart the Korean....all joining the current group of Sascha the German, Sunil the India(n) and me. Again, the United Nations in full effect! Lemmie throw in Jeff from ETL so we get some Chinese representation.

This group was probably the best group for me. We had a lot of happy hours. A lot of great times together. This was my second favorite group I have ever worked with. The first was WB but I think I am biased...since I also met Aya at WB.

What I really liked about this group was we are all about the same age. These guys are over achievers....but they are down to earth. No big egos....oh, there is competition to be the best...but all in good fun. Sure we all get paid well, but what really made the job fun was coming to work to hang out with all the guys. Working with a group like this does not come around often.

The group has dwindled as Sunil and Stewart left a few months ago. Carlynn from WB days joined...but now Sascha and I are leaving as well. It truly has been a pleasure working and getting to know all these guys. I wish the A-Squad all the best as we go our different ways.

Graduation....

My sister graduated from Chiropractic school on Saturday.

It was a very interesting graduation. For the most part, I think everyone already had graduated from college. My sister said her class size was less than 100 so I figured graduation would be pretty small, intimate and quick. Sadly, I was mistaken.

Graduation was at a theater and instead of opening the doors early they wait until all the graduates family and friends are there and then they open the theater doors. There is no assigned seating, so it is like a cattle herd flowing into the pen. Old people are so slow. People with strollers (I wasn't one of them)...but you can't push a stroller in a theater aisle. Other people are 'saving' 20 seats. Not the most organized start.

Okay, no problem...I can deal with that...lets get to the program. The real pain begins. The eastern medicine valedictorian gets up to speak and:

1. English isn't her first language.

2. She typed a LONG speech and lost it. Good thing, right? She will wing it and make a short and sweet speech...NOPE.

3. She talks and talks and talks.

4. I can dig a long speech, I can even deal with the broken english...but the chick had absolutely no point to her speech. It was...no joke...about 20 minutes of crap.

5. I think she was valedictorian because her teachers didn't want to listen to her so they just gave her an 'A' to shut her up.

Literally this girl had no clue. I had to bite my tongue...HARD...to not boo her. I kept thinking of Showtime at the Apollo and was praying the music would start and the clown would come out and give her the hook!

I lean over to Aya and whisper whoever is next is going to ROCK because even if their speech sucks it has to be better than that chicks! Wrong! Dead wrong. So wrong! The next two professors, don't even speak ENGLISH! They had the thickest asian accents ever. How in the world the school would ever let these guys be SPEAKERS at a graduation is beyond me?!

I really give my sister credit now. To graduate listening to those bozo's...amazing!!

Finally we get to my sisters graduating class. The valedictorian is blond so I know this girl will speak english and now her speech is going to rock. Nope. Boring. Not inspiring. Nothing. Amazing, that these people can not give a speech. I am not asking for something long, funny...but something decent. C'mon, 3.99 GPA and you can't inspire or stir the crowd?

There was only one good speaker...the last guy. Funny, inspirational quotation and a short speech. Really, not difficult.

Good thing my sister thought the speechs were lame too...if not she would probably just think I am complaining about being there...which I am not. I wanted to go to the graduation I just thought it would be better.

225517....

Saturday night was the LowerMyBills company party in Santa Monica. I didn't go last year because JT was less than a month old. I didn't really want to go this year but since Sunil isn't around to go with Oscar I figued I should go. In all honesty, I wanted to go to have a chance at winning the raffle.

At past company events I have won a video ipod, a car wash and wax and an ipod speaker set. At some of the events there are gaming events so the more you win the more raffel tickets you get. I win a decent amount...not the most...not th least...more than the default amount. The past two raffles have only been one ticket.

When we got to the company event I told Aya that we would only stay until the raffle. We also only got ONE ticket per couple! Ouch. That is going to mean 1-200 chance of winning. Good thing there were 5-6 prizes to lower my odds.

Not only have I been lucky at winning prizes at company events, but if I don't win someone on my team wins. The Christmas party was no different. My coworker, Danny won one of the prizes. I figured that was it...I am not going to win.

We get down to the grand prize....a 58" plasma tv. The CEO starts calling out the numbers:

2-----2-----5-----5....how many people are still in the running? I am thinking, "ME-ME". Next number...2-2-5-5.....1.....so close.....last number.......we all know how this is going to end, right? 2-2-5-5-1.........7!!! You are damn skippy!! I was the winner of a 58" Panasonic Plasma tv!!

I get the details on Monday on how to get the tv. I won the tv plus free installation. The big question now is, "What am I going to do with my 65" rear screen projection?" Aya just bought me a 42" plasma. I just got my 65" serviced. If Aya didn't buy me the 42" plasma I would probably give the 58" to my folks but when you watch HD on the plasma it just kicks butt against the rear screen. The 58" is just too good to pass up!

If anyone out there wants a 65" rear screen hit me up.

Thank you...

I didn't realize how much energy the funeral took out from me. It has been a very long and tiring week. Good thing I do what I do for a living. I was able to use all my Business Intelligence skills to plan the funeral. It was very similiar to working a dot com project. You have to be able to adapt and adjust to change quickly. I am just looking forward to getting some rest.

I want to say a big, "THANK YOU" to everyone for all the condolances sent to myself, Aya and her family. Thank you to everyone who came to the funeral as well. It really meant a lot to me and Aya during this difficult time for her.

Aya is back to work and doing fine. I am sure it is just going to take time to get over her loss.

This probably isn't the happiest or the joyous thing to write about, but as my thank you to my faithful followers here are some key items that you need to know should your parent pass away:

1. SSN number for your mom and dad.
2. Parents date of birth
3. First and last names of your grand parents, including grandmothers maiden name.
4. First and lase names of your parents, including mothers maiden name.
5. Parents address and phone number.
6. Occupation of your parents.
7. Family physican name, address and phone number for either parent.
8. Do you want to be buried or cremated?
9. Where?
10. Urns go through the xray at the airports. Do not get a super expensive one that can not be xrayed if you are transporting it. Get a plastic or cheap one for transport and carry it on. Buy the nice one at your destination.
11. Urns need permits and will not be inspected at the airport.

Items 1-7 are a must have to get the death certificate rolling. You pretty much can't get started without that information.

Items 8-11 happen shortly thereafter. You may have briefly talked with your parents but when tragedy happens suddenly you begin to wonder, was my dad serious about cremation or do you think he wanted to be buried?

Again, not the happiest of postings, but maybe it will be useful one day...hopefully not soon...but just want everyone to be prepared.

JTs Birthday...

I wanted to get this done earlier but better late than never. Also, I want to move onto more cheerier and happier posts.

Ogi-Chan...

Jenny had nothing to update on her website but requested Saori and I update our websites. Yes, I have been away. Some bad news to report.

Monday morning we received a call informing us that Aya's father passed away in Chicago. Aya, her mom and I all left that morning for Chicago to identify the body and bring him back to Los Angeles.

Aya's father had been in Chicago for the past 4.5 years and they needed some closure and wanted to say goodbye so we set up a wake service Tuesday night. We then flew back to LA and we have finalized the funeral service for Los Angeles.

It has been a rough few days for us but Aya and her mom are doing well under the circumstances. Luckily we were all able to get together over the Thanksgiving weekend:

JT and ogi-chan playing:

Here is the press release issued by Lyndex Nikken:

MUNDELEIN, Ill – Gen Irie, the vice-chairman of Lyndex-Nikken, died Dec. 4, 2006 of
an apparent heart attack near his Schaumburg, Ill. home at the age of 59, according to
company officials.

"It is hard to put into words how important he was to our company," said Jun Hayashi,
Lyndex-Nikken President.

"Through his strong leadership, focus on providing a quality product, marketing knowhow
and organizational skills, he built Lyndex-Nikken into the company that it is today,"
Hayashi said.

Born in Osaka, Japan, Irie emigrated to the United States shortly after turning 18 years
old and began his lifelong career in the manufacturing industry as a warehouse employee
at Yamazen, Inc. He quickly ascended through several positions in the company to
become one of Yamazen, Inc.’s top salesmen. While serving as district sales manager,
Irie was credited with pioneering Yamazen, Inc.’s West Coast distribution network for its
Mori Seiki product line.

In 1978, Irie left Yamazen, Inc. to start his own machine tool distribution company,
Machinex Corporation. Built from the ground up, Irie turned the small company into the
world’s top selling distributor of Hitachi Seiki machine tools before selling the company
in early 2002.

After a brief retirement, Irie moved from California to Illinois to take on the role of
president of Lyndex-Nikken, Inc. As the company’s head, he helped complete the U.S.
tool holder distributor’s merger with Japanese tool manufacturing giant Nikken
Kosakusho Works, Ltd. Over a four year period, he more than doubled Lyndex-Nikken,
Inc. sales.

On Dec. 1, 2006, Irie assumed the role of company vice-chairman, handing over
responsibilities of president to Jun Hayashi.

"He will be missed on both a professional and personal level," Hayashi said. "His
teachings will be with us in our hearts and minds forever."

Irie is survived by his wife of 38 years, Yoko, his son Susumu, a daughter Ayako, son-inlaw
Miles and a grandson Jack.

Funeral services are scheduled begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 9 at the Marriot
Downtown Los Angeles, 333 S. Figueroa St. Los Angeles, CA 90071. For further
information, contact Fukui Mortuary at (213) 626-0441. The family asks that no flowers
or donations be presented.

Lyndex-Nikken is North America’s leading supplier of Machine Tool Accessories, and a
wholly owned subsidiary of Nikken Kosakusho Works, Ltd. Japan.