I already knew about this but I think I’ll write about this since a recent event reminded me about it.

Everyone values different things. And what could be worthless / equivalent to someone could mean the difference between heaven and earth to another. That’s some crazy ass shit. What happened was that I was taking my dad to the cheesecake factory in SF. It’s located on the highest level of a retail building and since it’s the only cheesecake factory and always busy - they don’t take reservations. You sit whenever and wherever a table frees up.

As we were getting seated… this group of four europeans were argueing with the waiters saying that they wanted to sit by the window. Because the window seat has such an amazing view and is the shit. They were annoyed that they couldn’t sit there because that’s not how the system works. And then the waiters were like… if you ask these guys (me) and they are okay with the swap then you can sit there. So they’re like yo - can we sit by the window? And I’m like sure go ahead. I just wanna eat food. In my mind… the window seat and the middle seat has no difference. If anything… since I have a slight fear of heights… the window seat might made me slightly nervous. But anyways… I gave them the window seat and they were like so happy. Omg that guy is so nice. And I’m thinking - nah I’m a selfish asshole. It’s just that the window seat means nothing to me.

And then the guy was like. Sir, can I buy you a drink? And then it’s like… uh thanks. But I don’t drink. And then I asked my dad if he wanted a free drink. And then he refused too. I guess offering to buy someone a drink is just a gesture of goodwill. But it’s like… buying me a drink or offering to buy me a drink to me is like… the equivalent of yo guy, do you want me to infect you with hives and rashes? Oh… I made the huge mistake of drinking gourmet whisky and then went into shock once. I blame $200 whisky but that’s for another story I guess.

tl;dr - everyone has different value systems. you see the world through your own values… but other people generally have different values than you

For some reason whenever I have to do things… I always have this intense struggle and deliberation of wasting time. Like today when I had to send the email out to my coworkers that I would be out in the morning tomorrow. I knew that I needed to send the email regardless… and that the behaviour was totally accepted. But like… I just feel like delaying and not doing it.

I dunno why. Something that I want to work on is just doing what it is that you’re suppose to be doing. I think… it’s like a remnant of self sabotage… fear of success maybe? Like… I’m just a horrible person to myself sometimes.

Just now… writing this post should been like 10 sentences. And yet it took me probably 30 minutes. The big idea is do what you gotta do without hesitation and yet all I could think about was hesitating and delaying even though I need to post something to maintain my streak.

I think the longer you delay the harder it gets so you might as well try and get shit done asap. More delay == harder. Just. Do. It. Shia Labeouf.

Check out the original video here.

Well. My mind is blown.

Eliminate. Automate. Delegate. Hmmm.

There is just so much goodness in this talk. I think the key point is procrastinating because you know you want to do it / need to do it but don’t feel like doing it is the bad / death form of procrastination. Procrastinating when you know that you don’t need to do it right now and you decide to do it later is perfectly acceptable. The thing is… I’ve been doing the bad form of procrastination and it’s something that I need to work out.

I think with regards to elimination. I’ve gotten better at eliminating time wasters and shit that I shouldn’t be doing. Saying no to random things.

With automation… I’d say I’m almost master level at it since I’m a programmer. And I automate a lot of things that other people would have to do manually.

With delegation… hmmm. I think it’s something that’s always on my mind and I already do it to a certain extent. I pay people to buy my groceries (instacart). I pay people to drive me to places (uber). I pay people to clean my apartment. I don’t quite have a virtual assistant so I still do a lot of low value tasks like finding vacation plane tickets and booking airbnb. But I think that’s fine for now… since… hmm. Nah. That’s bullshit. I think I should probably investigate the time into finding a reliable virtual assistant so that they can help me do the mundate tasks of booking airbnb and flights. Those two take so much time and is such a waste of my life. Hmmmm. Maybe. Maybe.

tl;dr - this video was much better than I had imagined it from the title. watch it and see how much time you make

This is my own personal take on the maxim.

I think this is totally true and it’s what helps you save money without really planning for it. I’ve been trying to save up for this trip and the way I’ve been saving up is by just spending only amounts that I know that I don’t need to keep track of or will affect any sort of my financial planning.

Since I first started working… it was about $30… but now that I’m more senior and getting paid more I can afford to spend more on stupid shit and not care about it… and yet I’m still saving more compared to before. I think it’s a combination of spending a small fraction of your income to the point where it doesn’t really affect you.

I’ve read a lot of advice that says always save x% before you take money out for yourself… and I think that with this method you can save a much higher x% if you follow it.

I’m thankful that my Dad visited me all the way from Toronto. He boughht me president’s choice chocolate chip cookies x3. It’s like… one of the few things that I really miss about Toronto. Them chocolate chip cookies.

I went to Cafe la Press with my dad and had an egg benedict. It’s really funny because I was craving egg benedict ever since the shoukugeki no souma episode. I’m thankful that I got to have fancy french food that’s one block away from my house with my dad. Also egg benedict. Sadly it didn’t compare to the anime version.

Then itea. I tried out the panda milk tea. So goood. For dinner I took my dad to cheesecake factory. I’m thankful that I get to have such a delicious cheesecake place. I was annoyed by the fact that you can’t book and stuff. Waiting is a huge pet peeve of mine… I need to uh… get better at it. So far I’ve just been avoid all places that need to wait.

I think whenever visit it makes me realize how lucky I am. My home is like… the perfect setup. And it’s close to everything. Ramen. Burgers. Boba. Cheesecake. So much goodness that I sometimes take for granted.

I booked Alexander’s steakhouse for tomorrow. I’m thankful that something fancy and nice as Alexander’s steakhouse is in store for me. Tomorrow will be golden gate bridge and fisherman’s wharf tour guide.

I’ve been making stupid retarded decisions recently. So sleepy right now. I got borderline sick this past week… and yet I’ve only been sleeping for 5 hours per day. I’ve been surviving on caffine and sugar. Blargh. And yet…. each night I continue to just waste my life doing random shit and not sleep. Dunno.

On the other hand… since I was sick I skipped gym this Tuesday/Thursday. I decided to go to the gym today and uh… even though I was extremely sleep deprived… I still put in my reps. It’s all about the process and just showing up. And it’s good that I did show up. I think… whenever I miss my process… I actually have an itch to go back and fix it. So that’s good.

My dad’s visiting tomorrow. That’ll be fun. I’ll get to go to a nice fancy steakhouse. Also the cheesecake factory.

Went to spin today despite feeling sick. I think spin actually made me feel healthier after sweating it out.

Off to anime night with friends. We’re watching mirai nikki. Even though I’ve already seen it… it’s more about just chilling with friends I guess.

Edit: Just got back from shuffle. So much fun. But uh… frigggg. I feel old. Lol. I think I pulled a back muscle cause I went too intense without warming up. Damn. Warmups are so important now that I’m old. BooHoo.

I’ve been HEALing myself. I’ll write about the book at some point later.

You know what I felt totally robbed of? Gohan crushing Dabura.

I’m fairly certain that Dabura < Cell < Kid Gohan. So the question because where does adult gohan fit into the equation?

We know that Adult Gohan < Kid Gohan which is sad. I think Gohan actually lost the ability to turn SSJ2 at will when he became an adult. But my theory is that Dabura = Adult SSJ Gohan < Cell < SSJ2 Adult Gohan < SSJ2 Kid Gohan.

Moral of the story. If you ain’t getting stronger you’re getting weaker.

Also… Adult Gohan would’ve beat Dabura eventually.

I started reading maxims and it’s pretty cool.

I use to think that conflict was bad but now I see that sometimes it’s essential. Conflict leads to progress and sometimes it’s necessary. I really want to write about the there are no rules part.

I think the important thing is to not avoid or fear conflict. I think it’s like the full circle. Before I would be afraid of conflict. But now that I have no fear of conflict… I generally avoid conflict for reasons other than fear. The important thing overcoming that fear. It’s think as long as your reason is sound and you have no fear then everything is good.

I think it’s more important to have no fear but that’s probably a different thought.

I just made my own sushi sandwich wrap. It was quite tasty. I’m thankful for the ease which I got it. Amazon delivered me the seaweed sheets and chinatown got me the shredded pork fillings.

I’m thankful that I’m healthy now. I was like really borderline sick and I would say that I’m still borderline sick. Might work from home tomorrow to not infect others but… it’s good that I’m not deathly sick.

I hang around some really smart people. I’m thankful that I have them in my life. I’m thankful for the great books that I have access to… currently reading hardwiring happiness and wooden on leadership.

SF public transit isn’t actually too bad. I’m thankful that I don’t need to drive in SF. between public transit / lyft / uber… I’m hella spoiled.

Also I learned how to make essentially pizza hut level garlic bread with cheese at home. Except it’s sour dough bread with cheese. I went out to get boba yesterday and it was the chinese new year annual parade. I’m thankful for the #onlyinsf events that I just stumble upon since I live downtown.

Watched this because a coworker said it was a hella good sci fi movie. I really like sci fi.

I think it’s important to be able to suspend belief when you watch a movie. Because that way it makes the movie more enjoyable and uh immersive. There have been documented cases of badassery in the history of man so it’s expected that in the movies it would only show the really small sample size of extreme like and badassery.

It’s really hard for me to disregard plot armor and the hollywood happy ending. Cause everyone loves a happy ending for the hero after overcoming obstacles and against all odds… it’s the foundation of the hero’s journey and all storytelling. I think that’s why I enjoy comedy/dark stuff more because it’s just slightly more unpredictable.

Astronauts are badasses. They are like soldiers and scientists fused into one. And I guess they have to be because there are probably less astronauts than any soldier / phd combined and stuff.

So anyways… watching this movie made me emo at times. It reminded me of robinson crusoe. I’d say… it was a decent movie. Probably not mind blowingly good. But I’d recommend it.

tl;dr - watch this if you like science and sci fi

Check out the video here.

I think this may have been the video that sold me on ted talks. Since watching this video there was a time where I would watch a ted talk daily. Now I just watch a ted talk weekly.

This ted talk was really interesting for me. Because… it was honestly so shocking how good he was given that he only practiced 20 hours. I think this goes by to my thought of how everything boils down to the basics. If you master the basics… it allows you to get good really fast. The alternate method is kinda hacky learning.

So you can life hack or growth hack or whatever. And you’ll get really good for the first 20 hours. But I think paradoxically… you won’t get as good later on. So I think it’s important to balance the first 20 hours with many many hours of practicing the basics. That said… I think watching this video was more about… breaking limitations for me. If this guy can get so good in 20 hours… how much better can I get in 20 hours? A lot better.

So I guess… this video was more about making me believe what’s possible. After all… whatever you believe to be hard or easy. It’ll become reality. And this kinda bent reality for me.

tl;dr - watch this video to see how good you can get in 20 hours learning an instrument from scratch

I wanted to go to spin class today. I left work earlier to go. And as I left I ran into a coworker.

We lyft pooled back. I’ve been reading this happiness book… and been trying to put it into practice. Like… randomly running in coworker and sharing a lyft is a positive experience. I should’ve slowed down and learned that memory or whatever. But no biggie. Plenty of positive experiences in my life.

So I got home and packed all my stuff and got dressed. It was raining but I didn’t use that as an excuse. I told myself I’d just leave the building and if it was crazy rain I’d walk back. And it was crazy rain… so I just walked back.

So tired at work. There’s just been so much to do. I’ve been doing mega PR reviews. Like 6000+ lines of code. That took hours and was crazy tiring. I wonder how gosu people manage to read code faster than I can read text…

Instacart delivery is happening later today. So I get fresh fruit despite it being crazy rain. Life is good.

Get the best pocky here.

Nah. I lied. It’s not the best pocky. It’s just that… before I ordered it I imagined it would be the tastiest snack in existence. And then when it arrived in two days and I had some… it was only really good. It wasn’t as heavenly as I imagined it.

I feel like that’s almost a metaphor for life. I always imagine x will be heavenly. And when I get it… it’s only good.

Still. This is delicious delicious pocky

I just finished Spectre… the 2015 bond movie that was one of the few movies I almost kinda wanted to watch in theatres but of course didn’t end up doing.

What’s crazy is… that almost every single bond movie follows the exact same formula. I don’t think the bond movie has changed since it’s inception. It’s like. Hero. Villain. Hot and helpless lady that needs saving.

It just feels so… formulaic. Like… watching it. On one hand the action is still somewhat entertaining. But you know that bond will live. And that he’ll win. It’s like… I don’t understand why villains insist on playing fairly or messing with bond. Like if you’re already proven to be evil as fuck why do you have these fake rules and do such stupid shit.

The other thing that surprised me is… the bond theme. It’s so iconic. I think it’s probably older than me. And it’s still the same. I guess some things never change huh.