Friday, January 28, 2005

The OC TV Show

I was channel surfing one evening and came across the TV show, The OC. I guess the show is based on Orange County, California. Being a former resident of Orange County, I decided to check it out and was hoping it would be a good show. Well, it was full of disappointment. It turns out to be a Primetime soap opera and the cast doesn't even match the demographics of Orange County. Instead, it looks more like Newport Beach, which is in Orange County. To me, if you are going to call a show The OC, then the typical demographics should be represented. Instead, the cast is predominantly white, while the majority of the population in OC is Hispanic with a big mix of Asians. Why don't they just call the show Newport Beach? I just don't get these Hollywood people.

I don't like soap operas anyways so they can do whatever they want with the show. These soaps have the same old story, same old yada yada yada. I guess I'll just stick to watching the Food Network or PBS with their documentaries and nature programming. I figure with these types of shows, I'll be enriching my life instead of wasting my mind on soap opera garbage. I think I'd rather eat broken glass than to watch soaps.

In and Out Burgers, Great Place for Low Carbers





This week has been very hectic with work and weird hours. Of course this leads to having to grab a quick bite to eat which means eating fast food. One place that I have been regularly visiting is In and Out Burgers. Being on a low carb diet, In and Out has a burger that is perfect for me...a double double, protein style, with pickles and raw onion. Protein style means that instead of a bun, the burger is wrapped with lettuce. I found out that they have been doing this for over 20 years! That is way too cool. I love their burgers! The burgers are simple with basic fixings of lettuce tomato and sauce. If you want onions, grilled onions, pickles, ketchup, or mustard, just ask them to add it on.

In and Out uses only the freshest ingredients. Fresh, hand leafed lettuce, juicy tomatos, fresh ground beef, and their special sauce. These guys don't even own a microwave. For you non low carb eaters, their hamburger buns are made with old fashioned sponge dough, the fries are freshly made with no beef talow or other flavorings, and the milk shakes are made with real milk.

The menu at In and Out is rather basic: Hamburger, cheeseburger, double double (two patties and two slices of cheese), fries, soft drinks, milk shakes. However, they do have a secret menu. Their secret menu is as follows:

Protein Style - As noted earlier, it is the burger without the bun and it is wrapped up with lettuce instead.

Animal Style - The burger with mustard, grilled onions, pickles and extra sauce.

Wish Burger/Veggie Burger - A burger for you vegetarians out there - no meat, no cheese with all the fixings.

Flying Dutchman - The burger with two patties and two slices of cheese with no fixings. Basically, a plain double double.

Grilled Cheese - A cheeseburger without the meat.

Double Meat - a Double Double without the cheese.

Fries Well Done - Extra crispy fries.

Fries Light - Opposite of Fries Well Done. Fries more on the raw side.

Fries Animal Style - Fries with cheese, grilled onions, and sauce.

3 by 3 - Three patties, three slices of cheese. They basically can do any combination with the first number being the number of patties and the second number being the number of slices of cheese. If you want 5 patties and 7 slices of cheese, then you would order a 5 by 7.

Neopolitan Shake - Chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla shakes blended together.

Whenever I want to eat a burger, I always think about In and Out first. Fresh, tasty, and can be customized the way you like it. The funny thing is that I've eaten at In and Out for 4 straight days for lunch and I never grow tired of it.

I heard that they have changed their bumper sticker that you can buy from a previous design due to some creative and nasty minds who altered the stickers so it read In and Out urge. The first time I saw the altered bumper sticker, I just had to laugh.

Well, now I'm craving for an In and Out urg...I mean an In and Out burger!

My Appologies to My Regular Readers

Everyone, I want to appologize for not posting anything new for this past week. I have been deluged with work in the evening hours and thus have not had a chance to make any postings. I am so bummed not being able to put thoughts onto this blog. Well, hopefully the work load will ease up for a bit for now. I am kind of bummed that I have to work this Saturday but at least it will free me up for this evening. I will try to post something up when I can.

Friday, January 21, 2005

Low Rise Jeans, Mid-Riff Shirts, and Fat Chicks

What is it with today's hip fashion for women? Just the other day while on a lunch break, I saw two women dressed in low rise jeans with mid-riff shirts. Being a guy, this would at least bring some attention to me but in this case it was unwelcoming attention. These women were not built for such clothes. It looked as if their pants and shirts were at least one to two sizes too small. With their bellies hanging out, all exposed for the world to see made me want to end my lunch right then and there. One of them also had a belly ring which made it even more disgusting. I'm not against belly rings or piercings but on a fat chick, yes, I do take offense. It's almost like a beacon saying, "Look at my fat belly...doesn't it look sexy?" Ugh, I don't even want to get an image!

I don't understand these fat chicks trying to look hip with the latest fashions when those clothes just makes them look disgusting. I mean, I'm a fat guy but I don't go around exposing my belly in public for all the world to see that I'm fat. I don't want anyone to be hurling their lunch looking at my fat jiggly belly. I do have some decency and dignity to not do such things. At least I wear clothes that make me look thinner. Instead, it seems that these women want to show everyone how fat they are. I just don't get it.

Low rise jeans themselves really do not compliment women in general. I mean they are cut in the area where women generally have problems with. Unless she is totally hard bodied, these jeans can make a skinny woman show her handles.

Don't these women know that these clothes don't make them look good? Don't they know that it makes them look like freaks showing all their folds protruding in every which way? Are they in denial that they are fat? I'd rather look at roadkill festering in the hot sun for a week than to look at fat chicks wearing clothes that show their folds and buldges. Burn my eyes out with acid or something. Dear God, please!

Thursday, January 20, 2005

Be Healthy - Go Low Carb

Well, it has been about 6 months since I've been on the low carb Page Diet. My total weight loss as of today is 50 pounds! I could not believe that I was actually over 300 lbs. prior to my diet. I was so out of shape, had a hard time bending down, and had high blood pressure and who knows what else.

The weight loss has been great. I can now wear some of my old clothes, my blood pressure is much lower and I can actually climb a flight of stairs without huffing and puffing.

One of the amazing things is that my fiance's blood sugar levels are coming down towards normal levels. She still takes medication for diabetes but it is pretty much in control. Her cholesterol and triglycerides are normal. As I stated in earlier posts, her blood chemistries prior to going low carb were:

Fasting blood sugar - 225
Cholesterol - 237
Triglycerides - 300

I don't know her present cholesterol and triglyceride levels are but two months after going low carb, her cholesterol was at a normal 187 and triglycerides were at 100. At the time, her fasting blood sugar was 135. Well, lately it has been in the upper 90s and low 100s. That is a significant change in blood sugar levels. The low carb lifestyle has given her pancrease a chance to recover, rest, and improve. And it has given her cells to become more responsive to insulin.

Going low carb will not only improve your blood chemistries, but will also cause healthy weight loss. Some diets will make you loose weight but it will also cause water and muscle loss. By going low carb, your body has an adequate protein source to minimize muscle loss. In addition, low carb diets will eleviate many allergies and other problems.

If you are suffering from asthma, psoriasis, eczema, acne, I would recommend going on a diet where you eliminate grains, sugars, and refined flour. Look at my link for Dr. Mercola's blog. He has data supporting that these ailments can be minimized or even eliminated by going on a low carb lifestyle.

Do you know that the American population is 60% obese? That means the average American is fat! Look at how the average American eats. Fast food, breads, sodas, sweetened sports drinks, snack foods, pizza, the list goes on and on. What is the common thread with these foods? Carbs...sugar, flour, starches. Looks like a clear link between carbs and increased girth. On top of that, we have increasing incidents of heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, cancer.

Study after study has shown when the modern American diet is introduced to a different culture, there is an increase in health ailments. A study on Pima Indians in Arizona is a good example. They are suffering from levels above average in diabetes and coronary diseases. Japan is another example. As the younger generation is drawn to American fast food and snacks, the number of coronary diseases have increased as well as obesity.

Get healthy and go low carb!

The Ending of Bachelorhood

Well, the day of the wedding is getting closer and closer. My days of living the wild life of a bachelor is coming to an end. I'm leaving the single's market. Yeah, right. As if I did lead a wild life of a bachelor or was out on the market. Man, that kind of sounded like a close out sale of a defunct Super Kmart store or something. You know I never really did the heavy partying or have girlfriends left and right. I usually am a homebody and felt rather content at staying at home, reading a book, or doing something on the computer. You can actually say that my life was a bit boring. But, I was happy with it. It's not like I didn't date.

Yeah, I had girlfriends here and there. Some were long term, but most were short in duration. For a period, I was attracting psychos. One relationship was very nightmarish...is that a word? Oh well, I guess it is for me. Anyways, this one scary relationship was chocking the life out of me. She would disapprove of me going out with my buddies, would always want to be with me, you know, very suffocating. I couldn't take it anymore and broke it off. Then what I thought was going to be peace and quiet came the nightmare. She would leave so many messages on my answering machine that it was all full every day. She called my friends constantly. She tried following me everywhere I went. I was glad that I didn't have any pet rabbits (remember the movie where the psycho woman made rabbit stew?).

After a year or so, I started dating again and met up with other psychotic women. Well, I learned from my previous mistakes and quickly broke off those relationships. I then decided that it was safer to date women at the church I go to. Well, I guess I dated almost all of the single women close to my age at church. That's where I met my fiance.

One day, I was sharing with my fiance about my past dating experiences and then she noticed that all of the women that I dated at the church were all of her college classmates! Even funnier is when she then called me the church whore! That made me laugh so hard!

It has been quite the adventure in dating to finally proposing to my fiance. I've basically known her for 7 years before I started dating her and then eventually proposing to her. I guess I needed to go through the various experiences before I knew what I was looking for in a wife and be ready for marriage.

In no way is my fiance a psycho or someone who smothers me. Instead, she is a compliment to me and has been supportive and caring. She is everything that I want in a wife and a lifelong partner. So with that, I guess it is not a heartache that I am leaving the life of a bachelor. Instead, I am looking forward to living the life of marriage and as a supporting and loving husband.

Okay, that's enough mushy stuff. Good bye bachelorhood, hello ball and...er, I mean, marriage!

Monday, January 17, 2005

Men and Shopping

The other day, my fiance and I went shopping for our wedding registry. I thought it was a pretty cool process where you use a hand held bar code scanner to pick out the items you want. At first, I had a blast when it came to looking at different stuff for the kitchen such as pots and pans, food processors, vacuum sealers and other neat gadgets for the kitchen. I love these things since I love to cook. However, when it came to looking at other stuff such as sheets, bed covers and the like, I was soon reaching my shopping limit. My fiance was quick to notice my change in demeanor and we soon called it quits for the day.

I usually dread going to malls and shopping for clothes. I'd rather pluck my eyes out with a paper clip than to go to a mall. I usually shop only when I have to and know where to go and what to get. So, my fiance was actually very surprised that I agreed to go with her for the gift registry. Well, I figure it is the right thing to do and plus it pays to get brownie points! Maybe I can use it to my advantage in the future for something like going to a gun show or something with lots of testosterone. Yeah, gun show...guns, bullets, lots of firepower...sorry for the brief change of thought. At least my fiance knows when I'm reaching my limit when it comes to shopping. It's not that I don't like it. I guess what it comes down to is I enjoy shopping and browsing for things I have interest in. Take for instance, Home Depot is one of my favorite places to go. I don't even need to buy anything. I just enjoy browsing through the store...especially the power tools.

Speaking of power tools, isn't it odd that when a guy talks about power tools no one has any indecent thoughts but when a woman mentions power tools, people get ideas other than a Mikita cordless drill if you know what I mean.

When it comes to clothes shopping, you can forget it. I don't care if a place is selling stuff at 50% off. I'd rather have a frontal lobotomy removing 50% off of my brain! I'm glad my fiance knows that when she has to buy her girly stuff, she knows that she would have better chance of winning the lotto and powerball on the same day than me accompanying her to the mall.

So are there any guys out there that like to go shopping at the mall or enjoy shopping in general? What's your take on this?

Friday, January 14, 2005

Sushi in Nashville?




The other day I was taken out to lunch by the company doing the training that I'm attending and they took all of us out to eat at a Japanese steak house that is similar to Benihana's. Well, I was amazed to see that they serve sushi there. Come to find out, there are several other places that service sushi. I could not believe it! Sushi in Nashville. I don't know how it tastes since I'm on a low carb diet but it didn't look that bad. I know for certain that it isn't the best because there is no way that sushi in Nashville could beat sushi in LA. I guess Nashville is a pretty progressive city! My hats off to them!

Aloha to Nashville

Well, this is my last evening in Nashville. It has been a pleasant stay and the timing was perfect. While I've been here, the temperature has been mild with a couple of days of rain. I guess the rain followed me from California. Anyways, tonight the temperatures have plunged. Currently, the temperature is in the low 40's and it will get colder the rest of the week.

I am a bit bummed that I was not able to go see the Grand Ole Opry or tour the Jack Daniels whiskey distillery. I really enjoy country music and good whiskey. There are other places I wanted to visit such as the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and The Hermitage: Home of President Andrew Jackson.

It's too bad that I didn't run into Shania Twain or Trisha Yearwood. I know I would be all goo-goo if I saw either of them. Trisha is a cutie and Shania is...HOT! I'm sure my fiance is glad that I didn't see either of them!

Well, I am hoping that my trip back to LA will be nice and smooth. My travel plans call for a brief stop in Minneapolis/St. Paul and then to LA. I'm going to be arriving pretty late into LA. I'm just hoping that there won't be any delays or especially any cancellation of flights. That would be extremely bad. I know I will be drained by the time I get home.

So, it's off to bed. Actually, I gotta call my honey up on the phone and tell her goodnight and then it's off to bed!

Aloha Nashville...it was great visiting you!

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Too Funny

Thought to share some humor with you. Here's some pictures I received from my fiance. I think these are hilarious. I can relate to the last picture with the cat after a certain night of sake binging. The famous quote of that night was "I may be drunk, but I'm not stupid". What a night that was!













BBQ and Downtown Nashville

Today I got to experience my first taste of southern bbq during my lunch break. The pork ribs were nicely smoked and the sauce was spicy and a bit on the vinegary side. I did enjoy eating it but so far I think bbq from the Salt Lick just outside of Austin, Texas is the best so far. Well, I like my bbq sauce the best but I think the Salt Lick comes in a very close 2nd.

After the training session was over, me and the guys in the class decided to explore downtown Nashville and check out some live music. We went down to the area of Broadway and 2nd where there are a lot of bars and restaurants. The downtown area is very clean and nice. I saw no signs of graffiti or bumbs hanging out. What a world of difference compared to LA! We headed to a place called Wildhorse Saloon . The place is huge with three floors and a big stage and dance floor. On the first level alone, I counted 5 bars! The band that was playing was great and the food was pretty good. Of course, I had to try their award winning Memphis pork ribs. Well, it was delicious but still did not beat the Salt Lick. After dining and hanging out at the Wildhorse, we then decided to check out a place called the Coyote Ugly Saloon. I guess it is a chain bar across the US. It just seems so funny that these married guys I'm training with want to go to places to check out women. I really don't understand. Oh well, that will be another topic in the future.

Now I'm ready to go to sleep and start the day early tomorrow. We're going to continue with the training class and do some major component replacements.

Aloha from Nashville!

Monday, January 10, 2005

Nashville, Music Capitol, USA

Well, here I am in Nashville. Actually, I'm just outside of Nashville in a town called Goodlettsville. What a name for a town.

The trip from LA to here was a long and tiring one. The plane ride was bumpy all the way from LA to Memphis. I then had to switch planes and fly to Nashville. Other employees from my workplace were joining me on the training course and their plane was delayed for 45 minutes so I had to wait for them at the airport since we had to share a rental car. The one thing that really sucked from the plane ride aside from the constant turbulance was the food. Airplane food alone sucks but when you are on a low carb diet, you can forget about eating the meal they serve you. They served a sandwich, chips, and an apple. Of course, I could only eat the meat and the cheese. I was so desperately hungry that I sucked the mustard out of the bag to get any form of nutrition!

Well, the weather here is nice and mild. I thought that it would be freaking cold but it was in the 60's today with no rain. I'm sure the rain from LA is on its way here.

One of the things I noticed here is that gas prices are so much lower than in California. I can't believe it! It is actually 10 cents cheaper than in LA! Gas makers in LA are ripping us off. Actually it is the state government's fault with their moronic regulations.

That's it for now...Aloha from Nashville!

Sunday, January 09, 2005

Heading for the Country...Off to Nashville

Well, my bags are all packed, itinerary printed out and I'm all set to go off to Nashville for company training. I'm going to be learning the basics of Computer Aided Tomography systems...CT systems or the machines that does them CAT scans. It will be very interesting I think. I've always wanted to learn about CT systems when I was with my previous employer while doing diagnostic x-rays.

It looks like the weather in Nashville will be similar to what we are experiencing here in Los Angeles...lots of rain and cold temperatures. I wish the rain would end and give us some nice California sunshine and smog!

Funny thing is that I really don't want to go on this trip. I guess I just don't like to travel away from my fiance. Oh well, it's just a week so it won't be too bad. It's just that I really enjoy her company (I know what you're thinking...duh, you better be if you're marrying her) and I'm going to be missing her. Ok, enough of the sappy stuff. I'm hoping that there will be time for me to go visit some sights in Nashville like the Grand Ole Opry. Being a country music fan (yeah, I know it's strange for an Asian to love country music) it is an incredible opportunity to be in the country music capitol of the world. Hmm...I hope I run into Shanya Twain or Trisha Yearwood...rrrraaaawooooo! Ok, it was a joke....Honestly, honey (yeah, my fiance reads my blogs).

I hope to make updates while I'm in Nashville. The hotel I'm staying at claims to have high speed internet access so I'm looking forward to that. Well, time for bed. It's going to be a long day of traveling from LA to Memphis to Nashville. Until then, Aloha!

Monday, January 03, 2005

Switch to Firefox

Get Firefox!

With the start of the New Year, start fresh on the Internet by using Firefox as your browser. With the threats of spyware, pop up ads, and security issues that IE users suffer, why not use a browser that is more effective? And as a bonus, it is free. Just click on the button above and it will take you to Mozilla's site to download this increadible browser.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer seems to be pretty good but I would say that Mozilla's Firefox is even better. Dowloads and page loads are much faster. On top of that, I no longer see annoying popup ads. Get Firefox today!