tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89819846033531234362010-07-31T10:57:43.995-07:00Rickie Miyakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15944094329397237563noreply@blogger.comBlogger592125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981984603353123436.post-64702142906524433242010-07-27T02:00:00.000-07:002010-07-27T02:00:05.689-07:00

Over the weekend we saw a most excellent movie: Inception. Intelligently made, thought-provoking, and NOT an excuse to have a bunch of special effects parade across the screen (although this had them in abundance).In case you don't know what the movie is about (usually I am the last to know or I don't ever know), it's about dreams. The subject of dreams and time travel are two of my favorite

Rickie Miyakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15944094329397237563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981984603353123436.post-51917201815684541322010-07-24T02:00:00.000-07:002010-07-24T02:00:01.746-07:00

Well it's been a few days since I made my last post and given its depressing nature I thought maybe I ought to just let you know I haven't committed suicide or anything like that, haha.. I'm still here.The way I look at it, it is what it is. No country or person is invulnerable and no country is going to last forever. There is only one Kingdom that will prevail and will last for eternity and

Rickie Miyakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15944094329397237563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981984603353123436.post-31917532020993324242010-07-21T02:00:00.000-07:002010-07-21T02:00:06.585-07:00

If you don't want to be depressed, then don't read today's blog because it's a downer.Yesterday I wrote about how, because of feelings of mass euphoria or mass depression, people start talking about how "this time it's different," but it really isn't. History repeats itself. Not exactly the same way each time, of course, but it does to a degree where you can say you've seen it before. And you'll

Rickie Miyakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15944094329397237563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981984603353123436.post-52400569746585660802010-07-20T02:00:00.000-07:002010-07-20T02:00:00.722-07:00

I started reading a book called When Pigs Go To Market, about the virtues of long term investing in the stock market as told through characters in a story.It was written in 1999, presumably right before the dot com bust brought down the market. I found it pretty interesting when the main characters have a conversation, with the expert explaining how this time, the market is different. That is,

Rickie Miyakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15944094329397237563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981984603353123436.post-87535994453152936642010-07-19T02:00:00.000-07:002010-07-19T02:00:05.136-07:00

I don't know what took me so long to buy it.. well, actually I do. I was waiting for the price to come down (which it didn't) and also, I was thinking the songs would be subject to new arrangements or theatrics or things to be cute. But finally after reading the reviews and looking at the set list, I purchased Elton John's 60th birthday concert at Madison Square Garden, on Blu Ray.Better late

Rickie Miyakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15944094329397237563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981984603353123436.post-48097203843208815212010-07-18T02:00:00.000-07:002010-07-17T08:51:41.164-07:00

This morning when I stepped in the shower I noticed a Daddy Long Legs had taken up residence on one end. I pondered what to do about it. Normally I just leave spiders alone (black widows excluded) since they dispose of insect pests, but then I didn't want to be taking a shower and then feel something crawling up my leg.I decided I would just leave it alone and if it got washed away so be it and

Rickie Miyakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15944094329397237563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981984603353123436.post-66638823006054912622010-07-15T02:00:00.000-07:002010-07-15T02:00:01.132-07:00

Today I received an e-mail from Classmates.com inviting me to preview a Dorsey yearbook. Of course I couldn't resist the opportunity so I clicked on the link and was taken to a web page that had the cover of the 1959 Circle on it. Besides this year, there were 1950, 1951, 1980 and 1984.I started clicking through the pages of the 1959 yearbook ("annual" as I always called them). What immediately

Rickie Miyakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15944094329397237563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981984603353123436.post-53141782755137801032010-07-12T02:00:00.000-07:002010-07-12T02:00:03.353-07:00

I think I've probably complained about this here already but since I'm not sure, I'll just do it again.. why do people think it is good to do a web site that starts playing music as soon as you arrive???That is sooooooooooooooo annoying!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now a site like YouTube, yes, that makes sense because that's why you go there in the first place, to watch a video and it is already understood

Rickie Miyakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15944094329397237563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981984603353123436.post-79291770631312982782010-07-11T02:00:00.000-07:002010-07-11T02:00:02.952-07:00

The other day this young woman drove her pickup truck into our front fence.I was in the back bedroom when I heard the sound of cars colliding, and then a car alarm went off. The first thing I thought was, this sounds just like listening to a blu ray movie. I ran up to the front of the house and looked out the window.There, in front of our house, was a black pickup truck that was on our curb. She

Rickie Miyakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15944094329397237563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981984603353123436.post-38165067307408034922010-07-10T02:00:00.000-07:002010-07-10T02:00:01.552-07:00

Well lo and behold, when I got home from work today there was a box waiting for me from Walmart. That order I had placed on Wednesday and that was supposed to arrive sometime next week was delivered today! (see yesterday's post if you don't know what I am talking about)What is odd is that I was never able to track this package and I still can't get any tracking info on it. According to the

Rickie Miyakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15944094329397237563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981984603353123436.post-56323775983997794632010-07-09T02:00:00.000-07:002010-07-09T21:15:26.233-07:00

Yesterday (Wednesday) I placed an online order with Walmart. Nope, I am not one of those folks who refuses to shop there on principle. The store seems in many respects to be out of the dinosaur age but I have no qualms about shopping there, and don't see them as the most evil thing in the universe as so many others seem to do.Actually I would prefer to make my online purchases from Amazon, which

Rickie Miyakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15944094329397237563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981984603353123436.post-6507140877356904562010-07-06T02:00:00.000-07:002010-07-06T02:00:00.614-07:00

It's kind of nice having July 4 fall on a Sunday and then getting the following Monday off. While that still results in the same number of days off, Monday acts as a buffer between the celebratory atmosphere of the 4th versus the depressing atmosphere of having to drag oneself back to work.We had a pretty relaxing day. We drove down to the Seal Beach pier. There's a small collection of shops and

Rickie Miyakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15944094329397237563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981984603353123436.post-89393962819056982012010-07-05T02:00:00.000-07:002010-07-05T02:00:06.051-07:00

Today's post is kind of gross but what the heck. I've had pretty good luck with my sinuses until the past year or two, when at times I feel some pressure and get headaches from them. Or at least it seems that is what is causing the problem. Other than that, once in a while I'll get allergies, and about once or twice a year suffer through several hours in which I can't seem to stop

Rickie Miyakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15944094329397237563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981984603353123436.post-1227046586155200952010-07-03T02:00:00.000-07:002010-07-03T02:00:03.449-07:00

Today at the beginning of my drive home from work I looked up at the freeway to see what traffic was like. It was pretty slow, but moving. It was slow enough to enable me to read the large sign that was on the side of one of those big tractor trailers (not sure if that is the right term, but this was one of those real big trailer trucks).The sign said:Jesus Christ is Lord!It is not a swear word!

Rickie Miyakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15944094329397237563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981984603353123436.post-19687500668895957582010-07-02T02:00:00.000-07:002010-07-02T02:00:05.470-07:00

Okay, yesterday I posted about how depressing it is to have to return to work from vacation. However, I also have to say it is nice to be back home after being on vacation. Home sweet home is not the same as work sweet work.Being on vacation and having to adjust to staying in other rooms made me appreciate how important it is having a home court advantage in sports. It isn't just the crowd

Rickie Miyakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15944094329397237563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981984603353123436.post-90101073329458906552010-07-01T02:00:00.000-07:002010-07-01T02:00:05.162-07:00

I wrote all of these vacation posts on Saturday evening after we returned, and just set them up in advance to post on consecutive days.By the time you read this, vacation will have ended and I'll have returned to work and will be suffering from post-vacation letdown. I don't have to guess about that, I know this will be the case because that's how I always feel. Not once have I ever been happy

Rickie Miyakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15944094329397237563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981984603353123436.post-43883884061984547512010-06-30T02:00:00.000-07:002010-06-30T02:00:03.910-07:00

For you veteran readers of this blog, you may be wondering if we visited any Costco stores along the way on our brief vacation.Well, yes, we did make time for that. There were several along the way, so why pass up the opportunity? Santa Cruz, Salinas, Sand City (near Monterey), San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria, Goleta and Oxnard.After you stop laughing, you can continue on with this post.Santa Cruz

Rickie Miyakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15944094329397237563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981984603353123436.post-77567669717946929522010-06-29T02:00:00.000-07:002010-06-29T02:00:01.726-07:00

We stayed in Pacific Grove Wednesday and Thursday night, then for the final night of our short trip we stayed in Ventura. I'd prefer Santa Barbara but it's too darn expensive for what you get, and Ventura isn't that far away from there but much more reasonable price-wise.As far as figuring out where to stay, I consulted Yelp and Tripadvisor. One thing I noticed was that when you click the button

Rickie Miyakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15944094329397237563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981984603353123436.post-8386386136146852892010-06-28T02:00:00.000-07:002010-06-28T02:00:00.951-07:00

We took a drive up to Santa Cruz on Thursday. We visited the Boardwalk. The only other time I've been there was several years ago with Katie and she was very upset that I wouldn't go on the roller coaster with her. I kept telling her to ride it herself and I'd wait, but either she didn't want to ride it alone or she thought maybe I'd drive off laughing while she was on the roller coaster.

Rickie Miyakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15944094329397237563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981984603353123436.post-27844110692866164912010-06-27T02:00:00.000-07:002010-06-27T02:00:00.866-07:00

Gee, it was just about a year ago (July 4, to be exact) that we left on our whirlwind bus tour that took us as far east as Mount Rushmore. Time sure flies by.We just got back from a short trip up north today (Saturday) but this time we drove. The advantage to taking a bus is not having to worry about driving or locating your destination. The advantage to driving yourself is being on your own

Rickie Miyakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15944094329397237563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981984603353123436.post-16440952112796961842010-06-22T02:00:00.000-07:002010-06-22T02:00:01.314-07:00

On Sunday night I was making one of my infrequent visits to my Facebook page to see what was going on and ran across a post from one of the pastoral interns at my church, who wished his dad a happy Father's Day. He mentioned his name and it was in blue, meaning his dad was on FB as well.I clicked his dad's name to see his page and was thinking, how neat, the guy's dad is on FB! Then it struck

Rickie Miyakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15944094329397237563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981984603353123436.post-31555801094068811422010-06-21T02:00:00.000-07:002010-06-21T02:00:02.277-07:00

The other day I was seeing exactly what channels I'm able to receive on our main television using an amplified antenna. One thing I noticed is that the old television in the bedroom gets more digital stations using its ancient rabbit ears than the amplified hi-tech one does.The amplified antenna does get PBS, though - channel 28.1. The program at the time was featuring clips of old-time Los

Rickie Miyakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15944094329397237563noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981984603353123436.post-86210263153183695192010-06-18T02:00:00.000-07:002010-06-18T02:00:02.178-07:00

We live across the street from an intermediate school here in the SGV. They had their commencement ceremony today and as I sat at the computer with the window open, I could hear everything that was going on, including the announcing of the graduate's names as they received their diplomas. There seemed to be an amazing number of people who shared the same last names.Chan.. Chan.. Chan..Chan..

Rickie Miyakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15944094329397237563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981984603353123436.post-59694613549626211712010-06-15T02:00:00.000-07:002010-06-15T02:00:04.280-07:00

I thought I would just mention a few observations about what happens when you go eat with a big group of people and there's just one check for the group so each person has to put in their share of the bill.You have the person who orders a bunch of appetizers or drinks but then when the bill comes suggests dividing the amount equally.You have the person who seemingly has no math skills because

Rickie Miyakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15944094329397237563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8981984603353123436.post-59265071870371578342010-06-14T02:00:00.000-07:002010-06-14T02:00:05.364-07:00

Some graduation pics taken yesterday by proud papa. ; )

Rickie Miyakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15944094329397237563noreply@blogger.com2