08 June 2013: Happy Birthday, Brother! :D Time for Breakfast!

Quick shout out to my brother, who turns 26 today!  :D  A nice plate o' breakfast and a mug of chai tea (ran out of Cafe Du Monde!).  MmmMmm...

Been really diggin' carrying this TNT and the notebook is still amazing as always.  :D  The notebook is slowly developing some patina - I can't wait to see how it looks like in a year.  :)  Nothin' in my carry changes too much, especially when I'm lounging at home.

Perhaps a new vape setup will be added later on today.  Definitely some new juices.  I'll be taking my brother out to a couple of vape shops to set him up with one later this afternoon.  :)  He keeps taking my eGo-T.  haha!

Cheers!

UPDATE:

Just came back from the vape shop.  :)  I got myself a replacement Boge cart and had brother pick out his own little setup.  He went with the eGo Mini, Boge cart, and 3 juices - Gummy Bear, Smarty Tarty (like US Smarties candies), and Green Fairy (like black licorice).  :)  Now he can stop taking my stuff.

UPDATE:

Just finished dinner with the family.  :)  Had lobster and clams tonight.  :D  Then ended it with some boba on the way home.  :)

Story of my Sitka (128/365)

I had written this a couple of days ago on EDCF, but I really wanted to re-write it for the blog.  This is the story of my Sitka...

It all started back on December 7, 2012.  Whilst browsing the EDCF BST threads, I had found a Sitka put up for sale by member Mag718.  It was going for $65.00 shipped CONUS and had all the straps intact with very, VERY minor blemishes on the fabric (most of the time they go for $80.00 and usually are missing the Y-compression strap).  I wanted it.  And when I saw it for that price, I had to have it, especially taking into consideration that the only ~1:1 clone I'd ever been able to locate costs $50.00 (Red Rock Outdoor, Model: Rambler, for those interested).  But the problem was that I didn't have any spending money.  By this time, I had been eyeing the Sitka for a few months now.  I started to put up items for sale to get the funds for it, in hopes that I could get enough money for it before it was sold.

A few days later, I find that amazingly, the Sitka was still available.  I ask about it... which bumped the thread up to the top and then somebody else questioned having it shipped to internationally.  I thought it was a goner, but I didn't see that it was sold yet.  Fast forward nearly 2 weeks after the original posting, it's again, STILL AVAILABLE!  And still at the same [relatively] low price of $65.00 shipped CONUS.  By this date, it was my birthday, December 20, 2012.  It had been a rough day for me, getting a ton of not-so-great news and studying for my final exam at school.  During that moment of weakness, I asked my EDCF brethren and sistren whether I should continue funding for it and wait for the next deal to roll around or go ahead and buy it while I still can.  Most told me to be a good girl and wait.  And so I did.

Less than a day later, I started to get offers on the items I had up for sale.  I thought sure sure that that Sitka would be mine.  I happily closed the deals and went on my merry way.  Until I realized that member catfishdan had already bought it shortly after I asked the members to help me make my to buy or not to buy decision.  I was bummed.  So bummed in fact, that I texted my buddy KAMM to tell her what happened.  catfishdan had bought "my" Sitka.  But I figured that just gives me more time to sell stuff and save up for the next deal.  I was still bummed though.

About a day later I got a trade offer on my BST items that involved a Sitka.  It happened to be an S-Type, and so I spent a good 10 - 15 minutes standing in my room, swapping bags from shoulder to shoulder to see if I could make due with wearing a bag over my right shoulder instead of my left.  It also happened to be the Sitka that KAMM used to own.  I texted her to tell her how how ironic it would have been if I ended up with her Sitka, since I had missed out on it on her original thread (and because at the time I wasn't sure if I would spring for ran S-Type).  She tried to talk me out of it but I didn't understand why.  I thought it was weird because I was pretty sure there were no flaws with said item since she takes good care of her stuff.

Fast forward again to December 24, 2012...

This package arrived from catfishdan and Mag718 with a little Happy Birthday message.  :)

My new Sitka in foliage.

Complete with a surprise message, a Sipik Sk-68, and a lanyard from Mag, himself.

What a wonderful holiday season it has been.  It totally took me by surprise.  My sincerest thanks to all those who have made this year wonderful for me.  :D

Gen KBBQ (081/365)

Whoo!  Happy birthday, J!  :)  As always, I had a great time tonight with my buddies.  Tonight we headed out to Gen KBBQ in HB.  We had gone to the one in Tustin or whatever back when J graduated and decided to try this one out since it had just opened.  They had a few more items on their menu and the food was just as good as the other place.

Luckily for us, with only a group of 3 this night, we were seated in about 5 minutes - it would normally be a 2 hour wait otherwise.  I didn't like the seating arrangements for the smaller groups since you are elbow-to-elbow with the next group.  :(

But ah well.  KBBQ deliciousness is worth it!  We were sad that they had no alcohol though - they didn't have their licensing in order yet or something.  I'm surprised that they didn't work all that out prior to their grand opening.

I look forward to the next outing here, though!  :)

A Simple Thank You Goes a Long Way :)

About a month ago, I'd written a postcard to Starbucks Customer Relations.  It was around the time that I'd gotten my shipment of Vistaprint postcards and was in the mood to send them out.  I can't remember exactly what I'd written, but the gist of it involved thanking the people working there for all of their hard work and mentioning that because Starbucks sends out postcard (coupons) to their customers each and every day, it's high time they'd received one instead.

Fast forward to the present, I'd received a package from Starbucks a couple of days ago.  I didn't open it until today, Christmas day, though.  For what reason, I don't know.  I just wasn't in a rush to open it.  Within the package, I found a ceramic mug that read, "fa la la la la" all over it, 2 cute little ornaments, as well as a letter from one of the Customer Relations representatives.  Keeping his/her name anonymous, it read that they loved my letter and to please excuse their tardiness, as they wanted to show my postcard to everyone.  Upon looking up my account, they'd realized that my birthday was just around the corner and while shopping, had bought me the aforementioned gifts.

My simple thank you resulted in a great gift package from Starbucks.  They will be receiving another thank you letter from me once the holiday season dies down.  :)

This isn't the first time I'd received a gift from corporate.  I think most large businesses truly appreciate genuine thanks from the people they serve.  <3