EDCF 2012 - 2013 Forum-Wide Giveaway! (163/365)

:D  I won this in EDCF's 2012-2013 Forum-Wide Giveaway, courtesy of my buddy SAK.  :D  I'm super psyched for it, as I've always wanted these little SAKs with the pen.  :)  The scales were custom made by Willy Digger and it just looks super awesome.   :D  I can't wait to have it in my hands!

Pill Case (162/365)

I was at Walmart the other day and found this neat pill case in the travel section.  They're only $1.48 each and has 6 differently sized compartments to hold all types of pills and small trinkets.  I had the same formatted one from The Container Store that I'd bought a few years ago, but the fit and finish of that one was sub-par.  This one from iGo is really nice.  :)  At my Wal-Mart, it came in this nice blue and seen below, and a deep purple.  :D

iGo "Just In Case."

All of the compartments when you unlatch it.  :)

Minimum Charges, Work!, Almost Missed (?) Connection, My Tattered Notebook (158 - 161/365)

*** I was having problems with Picasa the past few days, so I've edited my individual posts into one lump post for January 26 - 29. ***

January 26 - Minimum Charges  (158/365)

Ah... credit cards.  What have you done to me?  I usually will carry a $20.00 bill on me, but for most purchases, I use my credit card.  Last night, I had used my $20.00 to pay for lunch for a friend and I.  After that, I went to the market to check some prices on a few items and get some soy milk in the process.

To my surprise, the soy milk was on sale for $1.00 per carton and they also had the black soy milk, which I don't see very often.  I picked one up, knowing that I already had 2 cartons at home.  I go through soy milk pretty quickly, considering that there's enough in a carton to make probably 5 - 7 smoothies; I make up to 3 a day depending on how much time I spend at home.

I get up to the cashier with my soy milk in hand... only to find that there's a $10.00 minimum that needs to be met for all plastic purchases.  :(  In "frantic" mode, I blurted out that I would grab some more soy milk.

... I came home with 10 cartons of the stuff.

January 27 - Work!  (159/365)

Tomorrow will be my first day of work.  :D  I'd already set out what I wanted to bring with me.  But I'll post the picture tomorrow.  I'm super excited for it!  Tomorrow's also the new school semester.  I've packed up some EDC items that will play double duty for both school and work.

My pens:  Pentel Tradio Mini w/ Waterman Florida Blue, Pilot Prera w/ PR Chocolat, Rotring Rapid Pro 0.5

(edited to add)

Work carry consisted of:  key fob, wallet, Olight, name plate, Skagen watch, Vic Cadet, spiral notebook for work, mini Composition for agenda and personal notes, Pilot Prera, Zebra F-301, Burt's Bees lip balm tin (not shown; didn't make it in frame)

January 28:  Almost Missed (?) Connection  (160/ 365)

Tonight I went with a classmate to Soup Plantation between classes.  We almost gave up because we had gotten lost on the way there and didn't want to be late for our last class for the night.  It was dark and we were in the hills.  O_O  Scary.

Anyway, we made it to Soup Plantation.  I had forgotten my phone in the car but promised someone I'd text them.  After retrieval, I came back in and just as I was about to sit down, I saw an old co-worker!  We used to do network marketing together and we'd lost touch after I'd quit and went a separate path.

She's super nice and it was great to see her again.  A few times I had wondered how she was doing but because of the circumstances (and the fact that I got a new phone and all the numbers were wiped...) I didn't want any awkwardness.  You know how sometimes you think about old friends and want to say hi but are afraid that they might not remember you?  Yeah.  That's how I felt.  :D  We exchanged e-mails and phone numbers and I hope that we keep in touch.  :)

January 29:  My Tattered Notebook  (161/365)

Ever since I found these notebooks at Dollar Tree, I've fallen in love.  The paper quality is great, the binding is sewn (I HATE glued binding!), and it's just the perfect size.  Plus, I fancy products that are miniaturized versions of the originals.  :)  The above notebook has been with me for just about 3 months.  It's down to its last 4 pages and final couple of days before the agenda portion that I'd formatted runs out.

I'm sure it would have held up better had it not gotten wet in Jersey, but hey, well worn EDC items just shows great love.  ;)  I hope that Dollar Tree never stops selling these.  They come in packs of 3 and that's the best dang deal I've ever seen for mini notebooks.  :D

I can't wait to start up the new one.  :)  I usually put aside some time here and there to format the following quarter's notebook, but I think I'll expedite that process by getting a date stamper.  :)

Trypophobia (157/365)

No pictures.  'Cause that sh!t freaks me out.

Is that phobia really forreal?  'Cause sh!t...

So earlier today, I was on the forums and a picture I see kinda gets me squirmish.  Then a few of the members ask why and it eventually leads to a member posting a picture of someone covered in hole-ish ... things.  It's likely on the first page of Google images if you just search "Trypophobia."  *shudder*

I FLIPPED OUT.  Holy f*ck.  It scared the bajeezus out of me!

So then my brother found out.  And he didn't stop either.  I was already creeped out from the forum post let alone my brother relentlessly poking at my imagination.

I knew that stuff bothered me.  But I really didn't know to what extent.  Until tonight.

With my brother on my tail about it nonstop, I eventually got really scared and well, I cried.  Well, I half cried and half laughed.  It was really hard to explain.  I think I was genuinely scared of those hole-ish thing, but I laughed at myself for being scared of it (and trying to make myself stop crying in the process).  So yeah.  It was awkward.

But man, was I scared!

No more, please!  O_O  Who the heck even started photoshopping sh!t like that?  O_O

Excuse my language.  Dang.

Bape G-Shock [Replica] (156/365)

I got this in the mail yesterday.  I ordered this off of dx.com (SKU 80390) just after the new year and it took the usual 3 weeks to get here.  It was $9.20 shipped and the reviews were really good.  There were a ton of YouTube videos on this one too.  I believe it comes in 5 colors; white, black, yellow, pink, and red.  I'm not even sure how I found it, but I'm pretty sure it was because of the "Related Videos" on YouTube that popped up when I was looking up G-shock reviews of the ones I wanted.

I got this one in particular for a few reasons...

1. I wanted to try my hand at dying the resin band.  I had seen a lot of threads on mygshock.com about people customizing their G-shocks and I just wanted to try.  However, I didn't want to do it on a real G-shock for fear of ruining a $100+ watch.  So by all means, this one is my guinea pig. :)
2. Before I purchase the GWX8900B-7, I wanted to make sure that I would be comfortable with a larger watch.  Prior to this, I've always worn Skagens, which are super thing.  The next largest would be my cheap Casio Illuminator, and then the Timex Classic that Papa T got me for my birthday.  :)  This one will not be one of the future ones I dye.  This one's just the one I really wanted.  :P
3. To be honest, I just have a fascination with fakes/replicas.  Without going into the economics of things, it's just interesting.  This is one of a very small amount (less than I can count on my one hand that I can recall) of "fake" stuff that I own.  Researching it is another story.  I guess you can say learning about replica items is a bit of a hobby.

From what I learned on myghock.com, these have a different resin composition than that of the real deal.  So the dye will still take, but it'll come up a little lighter.  That's fine by me.  :)  I just wanted to test this out and make sure I have the process down.  This one's pretty cute as is, though.  :3

Magic the Gathering (155/365)

New EDC?  Maybe.  :)  I just got these cards from a couple of friends last night, S and HF.  We'd met up at Starbucks to catch up and they were playing Magic the Gathering.  Eventually they taught me how to play and I won my first two games, with the help of S, of course.  After a few hours, we migrated over to the Target that was in the same plaza so that HF could buy some new cards.  He'd gotten the really neat Holiday Gift Pack, which included 4 booster packs, a promo card, a bunch of land cards, and a very nice box with labels to organize everything.

However, it ended up being a "trash box" since all of his cards from the booster packs were commons/uncommons.  HF handed the cards over to me to start my very own deck.  :)  I need to get myself some land cards to make it work though.  :P  As of right now, I only have 1 Plains and 1 Island, both are basic lands.

Will I start playing this?  Maybe.  Maybe I'll just grab an intro deck for $10 or $15 to get started and then work it out with the boys for better cards and build from there.  :P  It's actually a pretty fun game once you understand the rules.  I still think it's crazy that a new set comes out like every 3 months or something though.  I'm not sure if I can keep up with it!

BONUS:

This is HF's Batman backpack.  It's so freaken cute!  I WANT IT!  :D

HB Tattoo - F*ck Cancer (154/365)

Yesterday was HB Tattoo's 72 hour tattoo marathon thing to help fund for cancer research.  There were 50 tattoo artists there crankin' out crazy amounts of tattoos.  I'd forgotten to take a picture of the specific F*ck Cancer inks available, but they were really good.  I wasn't planning on getting inked, I was just there with a friend to check it out.

Someday I would like a small one though, but I'd want it to be meaningful to me.  :)

Shorty :P (153/365)

Today was department photo day.  Apparently, not only am I the shortest person of my squad, I am the shortest person in the entire department.  That means I'm in the middle of every picture and I know exactly where I stand during lineup.  Fun times.  :)

Svord PKM (152/365)

I ordered the Svord PKM a few days ago and found that it had arrived yesterday while I was at Disneyland.  :)

Closed...

Open!  I love that the packaging says, "Available only to first class peasants.  Are you good enough?!"

The knife fits my hands very well.  :D  So far I like it a lot, though I do have to work out some burrs on the cutting edge.  The white handle looks great too.  :D  For $15 shipped, it's a great little friction folder.  :)

Disneyland! (151/365)

It's been a few years since I've been to Disneyland.  The last time I went there for a full day was probably a few months before I had quit back in 2010.

Today, I got to go with my friend B, and we'd spent the whole day together doing all the major attractions, making sure to catch everything that had been renewed or added since her last visit.  :)

I brought my Sitka as my day pack and it was PERFECT for the outing.  :D  More on that another time.

The first purchase of the day?  Dole Whip Float.  Yummmmm.

For dinner, we both got a margarita (to celebrate my new job) and the vegetarian chili bowl at Pacific Wharf Cafe.

This was my first time seeing the Aladdin show at the Hyperion!  It was great - I'm sure to make time for this show from now on.  :D

The night ended with a visit to the Mad T-Party.  It was a lot better than I had expected.  :D  I really dig the costumes.

We packed a whole lot of fun into our day.  First thing's first, B and I headed to get our Fast Passes for World of Color.  Lucky us, we got the Blue section for the 8pm showing!  :D  The show was  PHENOMENAL!  :D

We also went on Soarin' Over California, Ariel's little ride thingie, visited some friends at the Wharf, got our Fast Passes for the Radiator Springs ride (it was AWESOME!) and a few other things over on the DCA side that I can't recall.

Over on the Disneyland side, we watched Captain EO (I miss MJ), went on Space Mountain, got to see the new Star Tours for the first time (the screen is so clear... and the motion was more abrupt than it used to be), and Pirates.

Even though we'd spend the day from 9am to about 10:30pm, we were only able to fit so much in our schedule, even with the fast passes.  We only waited in 2 lines; a 30 minute line for Pirates and a 1 hour line for Space Mountain.  All in all, it was a great day.  While we weren't able to hit up everything, we got to see everything that we wanted to.  :)  

GREAT NEWS! (150/365)

GREAT NEWS!  :)  I just got news this morning of a job offer that sets me up on my career path.  :D  I'm super excited!  I'm to start getting squared away come the following week and will finally be able to start reaching my career goals.  :D  Whoo!

I never thought that things would work out so early in my life.  I was afraid that I had strayed from the path that I needed to (in terms of schooling and such).  So for everything to fall into place in early 2013... it's a true blessing.  :)

CHEERS!

Annual Get-Together (149/365)

Tonight was ABCCDDD's 10th annual dinner get-together.  :D  I couldn't have asked for a better group of friends to share this with.  P, J, R, K, K, and I have been friends since the 7th grade.  While we have all went our separate ways to study abroad, out of state, or even start our careers, we've all have always made the effort to come together each and every year to spend time with one another.

This year wasn't as packed full of games and such as much as when we were younger.  Instead, now that we have grown up together, the night consisted of dinner (stuffed mushrooms by P, a salad bar by myself, mini desert apple pies by R, a pasta dish by J, and bbq chicken by K), a gift exchange, and then the night was finished off simply with just talking and catching up over a few glasses of wine and dessert.

It was funny, sitting there, thinking back about our "younger" days.  :P  We joked around and complained that, "Man, we're old now.  It's only 8:30pm?!  Dang... we're old."  Great times were had and even greater memories were made.  :)  I can't wait for next year's get-together.

Archery! (148/365)

I went to archery today for the first time in a long while.  :D  It was a great way to spend the day and catch up with my buddy K, the owner of the shop.

Got a bullseye on the 6th shot!  :)  Whoo!

I got Mr. Fat Rat in the belly!  :P  We got bored of the regular targets and switched to these things and balloons.

We got carne asada fries from Alertos for lunch.  :)  Yum!

I spied this in the back of the archery range.  It's a flippin sweet Anza knife, model Nam 2.  It's pretty sweet and hey, I gotta show my VN pride!  It'll be mine the next time I swing in at the archery range.  :)

New Park Signs, Busy Days Ahead (147/365)

I finally got home from one of the longer days I've had in a while...

First I was out on my usual patrol shift, only to find... I wouldn't be patrolling today.  My partner and I were in charge of putting up new park signs.  Apparently, there's been some activity going on in the local parks and the local law enforcement agencies want their residents to know to lock up their belongings when away from their vehicle.

I wouldn't have chosen that color scheme... though I've got to admit, it's fairly eye catching.

So after that shift was over, I came home for a good 10 minutes only to change and have to head out again.  What this time?  Cook up the food booth menu items for the volunteers of GI Joe SAR to try out  so that we can get some feedback at tonight's meeting.

Holy moly, I was tired.  The meeting consisted of a lot of productive back and forth talk about how to go about handling the food booth that we'll be manning in a few weeks for the annual Chinese New Year Festival.  It's going to feel like working in the Disney kitchen again...

It was great to have good feedback from the volunteers.  Here's to having a good turnout and that everything goes off without a hitch... 'cause I'm tired.  Too, TOO tired.

Mini Composition Notebook Cover (146/365)

I had an itchin' to sew something tonight.  :)  By all means, I made a fabric cover for these little mini composition notebooks.  :D  I didn't have the fabric I wanted, so I made due with whatever remnants I could find around the house.

It was super easy to make - I'll have to revisit this entry in the future to do a step-by-step tutorial for it when I find the time.  :)

This one was just done off the top of my head and so the stitching was a little bit off.  I think I'll try and add an elastic band to it on the next try.  :D  Or like a button or velcro closure or something.  The measurements I used made it fairly snug, which I like.  I just didn't like the fabric used (it's a little stretchy) and so this will not be carried in pocket (I'm sure I'll get irritated).  If it's not too thick, I think I'll try using the duck canvas for the next one.  :)

The notebook on the left (green) is how it looks after nearly 3 months of carry (front pocket, mostly) and having gotten wet while helping in Jersey with the Hurricane Sandy relief.

My First Scratcher (145/365)

Whoo!  I scratched my first scratcher today.  :D  For the new year, one of the officers at PD handed these out to the volunteers.  No win, but it was still fun to scratch it.  :D  I did so with my Vic Hiker.

Disney Reunion (144/365)

:)  No pictures 'cause I had too much fun to take out my phone and snaps photos.

Tonight I went with my Bestie to a potluck to visit some of my old co-workers from my days back at Disneyland Resort, Anaheim.  I had tons of fun seeing everybody again and geez, I hope I grow up to be as fun as they are.  :D  Most of them were moms and grandmoms, but they never lost their spunk.  :D

The night consisted of homemade foods, karaoke, bingo (with money!), LINE DANCING, and just chatting.  I was surprised to find that they all remembered me after the years have passed.  They still took me in just as though I'd only left the Disney family yesterday and wished me all the best in my future endeavors.  I hope to continue to keep in touch with these ladies (and a couple men).

Line dancing was hilarious!  :D  The first time I'd done that was back in elementary school when the PE teacher taught us as an exercise.

Tonight was fun and I look forward to more just like it in the future.  :)  Heads up:  I'll be having my dinner annual get-together with the ABCCDDD in a few days. :D

Ears Lent & Maxie's Haircut (142, 143/365)

I was having problems last night with Blogger, so I couldn't get my post up.  :(

But anyway, I was having a really cruddy Wednesday night and Thursday morning.  In a tiny nutshell, I went into just about full panic mode when I was thinking about all of the responsibilities I would have to take care of in a few weeks, on top of 2 jobs and going to school.  I just didn't think I could do it and I didn't understand why anyone would give me such responsibilities.  I freaked out.  And I was basically tired of being "bullied."

Lo and behold, my friends came through for me.  On top of that, I found a couple more people who were willing to lend an ear at a moment's notice.  That's so awesome.  :)  I'm super thankful for having met these people in my life.  A super special thanks to Medic, to whom I basically gave a full on rant via PM.  Even on holiday they listened!  Amazing.  :D

On to today...

Maxie got shaved!  HAHAH!  :)

Maxie got a bad case of hot spots and his fur was getting out of hand.  We had originally taken him in for a trim and quick grooming, but there were certain spots that had mattes that I wasn't able to work out (even with daily brushings!) and so my dad decided to just have his fur shaved off.  This makes easy work of treating his hot spots until his fur grows back.  :)  Aww.... 

True Friends (141/365)

I went out for a (just about) weekly outing for tea (well actually, boba) with my friends today.  I had a wonderful time talking to them, as always, and I love that everyone makes the effort to meet up whenever they can just to be in each others' company and to catch up on our lives.

Earlier there was talk on EDCF about the use of Facebook (see here).  In a nutshell, they were talking about how the forum acted as a "Facebook" for its members.  For many, that was true.  Many of the forum members spend their time catching up and keeping in contact with other forum members.  I can personally attest to that.

I do not have a Facebook account.  And when I did, I found that my relationships were shallow.  I didn't really know my friends, nor they, me.  I didn't care for the Facebook games, "pokes," having the most "friends," etc.  It was all... fake.  I didn't feel like I was actually living my life, spending so much time in front of the computer screen.

Eventually, I gave up my account.  I've been without one for a couple of years now, and I have no inkling to even get back onto it.  It was a little nice to find old acquaintances from when I was younger, but most of the time (if not all of the time), it was just a quick "Hey!  Remember me?  We used to go to school together!" and then they fade into the background again.

When I gave up my account, nobody really noticed.  That is, nobody but my true friends.  These friends have been by my side since Grade 7.  As soon as the account was deleted, they called/texted/e-mailed within 24 hours, wondering where I was and if I was okay.  I didn't bother "announcing" that I was leaving Facebook, because face it, it's useless - I don't want that sort of attention and I didn't want anybody telling me otherwise.  Mostly, I just didn't want to seem like an "attention seeker," as I found publicly announcing the deletion of one's account to be almost equivalent to the virtual version of "Nobody notices me.  I'm going to go kill/cut myself."  (Not to take it to that extreme, but that's just an example.)

I think giving up my Facebook account was the best decision ever.  I was able to get a lot more stuff done in my life.  Most importantly, I learned who my true friends were.  I wouldn't trade that knowledge for the world.  Having true friends is important to me.  We're like family and that's never going to change.  We're there for each other's sadness and happiness, challenges and triumphs...

In the decade that I've known these people, we've all gone our separate ways in our lives.  Some of us studied abroad, others out of state.  But no matter what, everybody makes the effort to keep in contact, be it via text, e-mail, phone calls, Facebook (for them), or even through hand written letters and cards.  Every year, no matter where we are in the world, we make sure that we meet up for our annual holiday get together and dinner.  It's something I look forward to every year and it's something I'm proud of.  I have a lot of pride in the friendship that I hold with this close knit group of friends.

P, R, K, J... you'll forever be family in my eyes.  :)

Heartmelting Photos... (140/365)

A crazy list of photos I'd found while browsing Pinterest.  It'll surely melt your heart and bring tears to your eyes...  They really make you think.

SoyJoy?! (139/365)

I went grocery shopping the other day at Fresh & Easy and found these little things on sale ($0.50 this month).  I didn't even know they still existed.  I hadn't had these since like... high school.  That was over a half decade ago.  O_O

I don't think too many people like these things, but I do.  :)  I think I'll go back on my next trip and stock up on some more.  They'll be a great addition to my EDC bag, I think.  :D

Food Prepping Craziness (138/365)

Today was CRAAAAZY.  I'd spent the whole morning with Sis buying ingredients for the proposed menu items for year's Tet Festival.  The Joes are going with fusion sliders.  :D

I think I'll just keep the ingredients on the down-low for now.  ;)

We also made ghetto corn to end the night.  :P

Surprise: Willydigger Cow Hide (137/365)

I went on my morning jog today and came home to find a package.  I recognized it as one of Willydigger's, but I was completely confused, as I did not order anything from him.  Upon opening said package, I found this note.  Googly Eyes?  I knew who it was in an instant.  :)

After opening the package completely, I found one of Willydigger's custom beads!  The Cow Hide, to be exact.  :D

It's currently being rocked on my Ohta Friction Folder that I had gotten from the Custom Knife Show in October 2012.  :)  It's such a cutie.

It's the Little Things (136/365)

It's the little things that makes you happy.  :)  Today, I came home from a long patrol shift.  I tossed my jacket on the floor, let the babies in, and then went to take a shower.  When I came back in my room, the scene above is what I found.  It was adorable.  Mr. Tinkles (the little one) and Sir Maximilian Piddlesworth (Maxie; the bigger one) fought over my jacket for possession.  Mr. Tinkles won and Maxie got the pity prize of my sleeve.

I love my doggies.  <3

After that I went ahead and made little beds for them out of pillows and towels for them to stay in my room while I worked on some stuff.  :)  Little angels.  :)

Keychain Carry Update (135/365)

I decided to go back and do a 2 chain carry.  :)  My keys are on the NiteIze Key Rack and my tools are on the Kaijin fish hook that I'd received from an EDCF member.  :D

A closeup of the keys on the Key Rack...

A closeup of the Kaijin fish hook.

I really, REALLY like this key hook.  :D  Super special shoutout thanks to that member*.  ;)  'Tis a GREAT birthday gift.

On this fish hook, I have:

1. Uncle Bill's tweezers
2. Purple TEC Glow Fob (Thanks, KAMM!)
3. Fenix E01
4. Mr. Sharkie
5. Pico Widgy
6. Hohner harmonica

There are a few things I could add/remove from the Kaijin, but I like it fine as is right now.  Any more additions and it'll become extremely bulky...

* I was never sure how people felt about other people knowing about them gifting gifts.  I guess I try to keep it on the downlow so that other members don't await handouts.  But no worries!  I did not forget who gifted this to me.  :)

New Year, New Notebook (134/365)

I got this Moleskine Le Petit Prince agenda/diary from a forum member for my birthday.  It's now 2013 and it's time to crack it open and use it!  Gosh... it's nervewrecking.

I really, REALLY like this notebook.  First of all, it's got that classy Moleskine look.  Secondly, it's got Le Petit Prince on it!  The inside pages are phenomenal.  :D  It came with a special desk calendar (seen above, just below my Spyderco Squeak) and a separate, not to mention really neat, address book (cahier style).

The layout is something I never thought about before.  On the left hand page you find the agenda, and on the right side, a full page of just regular rules.  It has its pros and cons for that type of layout though. It's great because you can write all the notes you need for the week.  What's bad is that if you need multiple pages for notes, it'll be hard to come back to refer to it if you're going by the whole idea of "1 page per week" type deal.

BUT IT'S ALL GOOD!  :D  A huge thank you for this gift!  :)  The color is really great too.  :D

Happy New Year! (133/365)

I totally got the scheduling wrong on this post... Ah well, let us continue with the 365 project!  :)

Wishing everyone a happy 2013!  :)  

I spent the final hours of 2012 with my dear friend J.  We'd set up ourselves a nice little picnic and had a tiny bit to drink.  I wouldn't have wanted to spend it any other way.  :)  We started out with a little picnic (on the floor, in her room... haha!) complete with tea lights and Christmas lights to set the mood.

On the menu we had delicious cheese and crackers, red pepper hummus with pita chips, and to drink, Coke and Rum.  As you can see above, my Molle straps accommodated the minis perfectly.  :P

Our time spent together was not much different than other nights or outings.  This time though, it was more reminiscent.  We looked back over 2012 and spoke of our personal triumphs and challenges, then we mused over what's to come for 2013.  To bring in the new year, we ended up looking at Chinese horoscopes and had a blast doing so.  It's a little odd how the same things we were musing over that night ended up being "foretold" in the horoscopes.  haha :)

And that was that.  Happy new year,  y'all.  :D