Something New To Crave.....

Building my ride on the Honda site, I finally created the 2008 Honda CRV EX 4WD close to my dream car, the BMW M3 series. The Honda may not resemble my dream car but for practical reasons, this car has it all. Car specifications that caught my eye:

• Low gas mileage (City/Highway: 20mpg/26mpg)
• 4WD especially for the winter
• All disc plate brakes
• Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) with Traction Control
• Ultra-Low-Emission Vehicle
• 5 speed automatic with O/D
• Steering wheel-mounted audio controls
• 17” Alloy wheels
• Chrome window trim
• Moonroof
• 6 disc CD changer

Front mud guards were added as accessories to this car as it did not come with them. I was so tempted to pimp up my car with a set of spoke chrome-look alloy wheels but decided against it later to minimize attention to my soon-to-be new car.

After building the car on the site, I submitted my request for quotes from the various Honda dealers in my area. Amazingly the dealers came back with quotes within 2 hours, thus the start of my visits to dealerships with the best offer attempting to further haggle for a better price.

Talking to the dealers was not as challenging as I thought it would be as most dealers gave me their final price. Those that did not offer their best only had me walking out of the dealership. All is not lost as there was one dealer that had me returning and offering them what I thought was a fair price to both of us that they finally accepted. My deposit was put down and with the VIN number in hand I started shopping around for car insurance over the internet. Purchasing my policy over the internet, all I needed to do was collect my car on Tuesday the following week.

Came Tuesday I collected my baby. The smell of the new car and the smooth ride put a smile on my face the moment I drove it. There it was, my car sitting on the parking lot beckoning me to drive it as I stare at it everyday from my apartment window. It sounds extreme but that car is a damn good ride.

Of course with every new object owned come with new responsibilities. For the past 11 years of my life I have either driven my dad’s car or rentals. In conclusion, I had the luxury of not experiencing the need to take care of them as someone else was taking of that for me. With this new possession, the tables have turned and I finally had to step up to the plate and I wasted no time researching the internet.

Believe me when I said I had plenty to learn and read about taking care of cars since I intend to keep the car for the next ten years. Perhaps I will bore you with what it means to perform under the hood checks in my next write up. Nonetheless, here is me and my new baby.

Did I mention I put a set of wheel locks on the car tires too?

For more pictures, please visit http://rhys31.multiply.com/photos/album/11/Pimp_My_Ride

The Goddamned Fucking Chicken and Fish

(Warning: Do not read if you are easily bored by descriptive writing and offended by mild profanity. Off colored words are hyperlinks to other sites for additional info.)

Grandpa: Again with the fucking chicken.

Richard: Dad.

Grandpa: It's always with the goddamn fucking chicken.
Richard: Dad!!!
Grandpa: Every night it's the fucking chicken! Holy God Almighty! Is it possible just once we could get something to eat for dinner around here that's not the goddamned fucking chicken?


My friend J turned to look at me accusingly after we watched the abovementioned scene from Little Miss Sunshine. Instantly, I rolled my eyes as I knew what was referred to; fish. We have been having fish almost everyday and the fish is by no means small. As a matter of fact, there is a total of two big fish sitting in the freezer frozen solid as I am writing this. Although I have been cranking new cooking ideas for the fish, I must admit that I have been avoiding cooking fish at all cost.

It was the Friday before Labor’s Day weekend that I decided to go deep sea fishing. I have been itching to go on a fishing trip since summer started but never got around to it. Seeing that it was a long weekend, I wanted to make good use of it. The fishing adventure started before the actual fishing trip when J and myself spent time preparing for the outing.

That evening I was frantically looking for a pair of slippers with a base that grips to prevent me from slipping and falling on the boat while fishing. How about sneakers? It is not advisable to wear sneakers unless you want your sneakers smelling fishy. Fish blood or any fish essence will stay on the sneakers for a VERY long time, so I have read from fishing experts.

I started my slipper hunting pretty late into the evening because J whom I had dinner with that evening has a habit of eating extraordinarily slow (J, if you are reading this, I am talking about you. Come on man, a cow eats faster than you). It did not help that my slipper hunting did not go smoothly as stores that sell them did not have my size and it was 9.40 p.m. I finally managed to purchase my first pair of crocs footwear which I swore months before not to buy because they looked ridiculous. They were surprisingly comfortable but good God they drew plenty of attention.

I bought yellow.

Honestly, it was not by choice but there were no other colors my size and I was desperate. It was 9.55 pm and Whole Foods was closing in 5 minutes. I supposed during the fishing trip everyone would be engrossed in fishing and not my feet. Nonetheless, I was happy to know that I can now fish in peace. As I tested my new crocs shoes, J was laughing relentlessly (thanks a lot, you were the cause).

The next stop was Stop N Shop to purchase a disposable cooler, ice and food items for the fishing trip. We had tuna bites, diet ginger ale, sandwich ingredients and Lunchables stackers. J insisted that he needed to eat plenty when he is on the boat (What is this? A picnic? geezzz……).

The boat leaves at 9.00 am hence, we were at the dork by 8.40 am. We boarded the boat with our food and cooler filled with ice. Subsequently, we rented our tackle/fishing rod and rested the rod in empty poles on the boat. As we sat waiting for time, we saw a group of men hauling a huge cooler on board. J and I looked at each other puzzled at the size of the cooler. We had the expectation that the fish was not going to be huge and that we were lucky if we manage to catch one.

Fifteen minutes after sailing from the dock, all on board was hauled off to the end of the boat where Captain Keith briefed us on the safety and process of fishing on his boat. When we stopped at a suitable fishing location, we had to release our line upon hearing the first boat honk. Upon hearing the second honk, we had to reel up the line as quickly as possible. With everyone’s fishing rod out of the water, the boat will move to another spot. The rational for the boat to continuously move is to ensure that we catch as many drifts as possible that will inevitably affect the number of times we were able to fish. Catching drifts is essential to a successful fishing trip as the fish feeds where the drifts are. Furthermore, lifeless bait gives the impression of being alive when the drifts motion against them.

Nonetheless, armed with fishing tips from the Captain and experienced fishing mates we let our line go down into the sea when we heard the first boat honk. I let my line go as far as it can go while keeping my thumb on the reel to prevent my line from tangling up together. As I felt the end of my line hit the bottom, I began reeling the line towards me about 25 times and waited. I waited patiently for the bite; nothing

The second time around, I had a bite but the fish escaped while I was reeling it in hence, nothing. The third time I had another bite, only this time I was fighting with the fish while I was reeling him up. It swam from one end to another tangling my line with everyone else’s lines. The others had to stop reeling so that I can reel mine up without snapping the lines. I reeled it just below the surface of the sea and the Captain using a hook, hooked it up onto the boat. There it was my first conquest flopping helplessly on the boat. The head of the bluefish was almost as big as my head and the length was almost 28 inches with the weight of approximately 15 pounds. Not too shabby for a novice.

(J caught his first fish on his first try while I successfully caught mine on the third. However, my fish was bigger than the one he caught…Booyah!).

I must admit that I was tired after catching the rebellious imp. It tired me out, so much so I sat on the boat in a daze recovering from the adrenaline rush of fighting the fish. I had repeated performance from these fish throughout the trip. For these, I could not reel them up quickly as they were too huge and they put up a good fight. Instead of seeing my reel reeling towards me, it was reeling in the opposite direction. It came to a point J questioned me, ‘What the heck are you fishing? A monster fish?’ Truth was I chose the biggest bait I could find from the bucket of supply. This may translate to a whopping fish that were trying to prey on the large bait (Yes, I was greedy trying to catch a fish larger than I could handle).

Thinking that I will only catch one that day, I was surprised that I managed to catch another almost at the end of the fishing trip. This one is slightly smaller than my first but it is still huge nonetheless. All in all, J and I collectively caught six bluefish. Our next challenge was to put them all in the cooler and realized the purpose of the huge cooler brought by those men much earlier. We managed to cram three in the cooler and the rest in the rice sack.

By 3.00 pm, we reached the end of our exhilarating fishing trip. Saying goodbyes to our fellow fishing mates, I became self conscious of my yellow crocs as I heard them say ‘Bye Sharon, nice shoes. Hope to see you again’. That debunked my theory that they were indeed focused on the fish and not my attire. Clearly, you will not be seeing me wear the crocs unless I am going fishing.

We made our way home only to find the fish toppled out from the cooler and lay lifelessly all over the trunk/boot when we finally arrived at our destination. It left the car smelling fishy even after a week. Thankfully, the car was a rental which I later returned. The lesson learnt here is this; bring a huge non-disposable cooler on fishing trips unless trunk is deliberately used to store fish.

Now then, what exactly did we do with the six bluefish?

One was given away to the chinese restaurant that I frequent most and we had them cook another for our consumption. The leftovers were eaten for lunch. The third we marinated and barbecued the following day, also eaten for lunch and dinner. The heads were used in making soup and we had the soup the day after. The fourth was given away to SC another friend of mine. That leaves two along with my brain and taste buds screaming ‘Holy God Almighty! Is it possible just once we could get something to eat around here that's not the goddamned fucking fish?’

Infamous croc shoes

My whopping catch

Me (big biceps), J and Bruce

For more pictures, please visit http://rhys31.multiply.com/photos/album/10/Fishing_Trip_on_Hel-Cat_II

My Take on Handguns

Mention violence in the United States, you will never fail to hear the masses say ‘It is easy to get hold of guns in America!’ I cannot deny that there is some truth to what they perceive about obtaining handguns. At the same time I must say that this perception merely applies to criminals in the United States. For any decent residents in the United States who already possess a handgun and about to obtain one can agree with me that obtaining a permit to legally possess a handgun is easier said than done.

Allow me to say that the process is tedious and stringent. Adding to the process are handgun laws and regulations where the penalty of not adhering to them is hefty and could extend to incarceration and fines if not both. Since I reside in the United States, I had the opportunity to read the law pertaining to firearms by the Board of Firearms Permit Examiners. It was dry but insightful as I never knew that criminal possession of a handgun is considered a class D felony. Criminal possession means not carrying the permit when one has possession of a handgun. Furthermore, a permit is only valid in the state where the permit was issued. To carry and use the handgun in another state would require a permit from the respective state.

Acquainted although not yet familiar with these laws and a little apprehensive for fear of being incarcerated for having a slight tendency of being forgetful (I have the reputation of not carrying legal documents when I am suppose to), I called up a friend of mine to register me for the National Rifle Association (NRA) Safety and Use of Pistols and Revolvers course, a pre-requisite to obtaining a handgun permit.

The course consists of two three hours in-classroom and a one day on-range instruction. The two day in-classroom instruction was informal where experienced NRA Certified instructors taught students crucial safety rules when handling a handgun. By the end of the first day, I had the basic safety rules drummed into my head. They are:

1. ALWAYS keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.
2. ALWAYS keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.
3. ALWAYS keep the gun unloaded until ready to use.

It was easy remembering them as the instructors narrated mishaps as a result of being careless and not following these three fundamental gun handling rules. On top of that, range instructors will fail students who do not follow these safety rules.

On the second day, students were acquainted with the laws and regulations governing handguns and were stressed upon to adhere to them. Additionally, students had the opportunity to load and unload different models of pistols and revolvers using dummy bullets. While I followed the three rules religiously although the handguns were loaded with dummy bullets, I had a few fellow course mates pointing the handgun right at me (that’s right, keep that up and someone will surely get hurt).

The final day we had a chance to handle handguns with real bullets at the shooting range. I was fortunate enough to try out a range of pistols and revolvers and had my friend take me to the shooting range the day before to fire a few rounds to obtain more experience (He owns approximately 30 different guns…..phew).

Honestly, I am bad shot. Being a right handed person and left eye dominant shooter, it created problems for me. One possible solution is to train my right eye for aiming and shooting. The hurdle now is the 2 months wait for my appointment with the police officer to have my fingerprints taken and application submitted. The application includes the certificate for successfully completing and passing the course, a copy of my US driver’s license, letters of character reference, photo and bank cheques. Yes, I have to pay processing fees to three separate parties i.e. Commissioner of Public Safety, local police department and the Department of Public Safety.

This of course is not the end of the story.

What comes after the submission is a possible 6 to 8 weeks wait for the application results. At this juncture, the application can either be accepted or denied. Successful application will result in the issuance of a town handgun permit. With that permit, one can make their way to the Department of Public Safety to apply for the state handgun permit which will take another 2 to 4 weeks.

Such long wait but well worth it I must admit. Once having obtained the state permit, I will be on my way to buying my first handgun for target shooting. My second handgun that I intend to obtain will be primarily use for self protection. Two handguns for starters should be sufficient for beginners. After all, good handguns and the bullets do not come cheap. I could literally see my greenbacks flying out from my checking account even at this moment…..sigh.

Nevertheless, for those out there who still thinks that obtaining handguns are easy through legitimate means, you may want to reconsider this perception. Also, for those who are interested in seeing what a bad shot I am, feel free to access the URL below.

http://rhys31.multiply.com/photos/album/9/Target_Shooting

To Challenge Religion: Your beliefs

Religion has always been a sore subject for me. Many times I have logged heads with family and friends on this issue. It came to a point where I could only express what I believed in, hope for others to open their eyes and to ask questions. Since then, I have ceased to discuss religion at length for fear of tension and friction. Reading an article on msnbc.com (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19190916/page/4/) however, compelled me to express myself once again about religion and how most humans have lost reasoning for themselves. It is as though they have reverted to a learning process of "Monkey see, monkey do".

Most religion advocates life and does not condone destroying lives. The Catholic position begins with the statement that human life must be respected and protected. With this belief, the official Church teaching forbids direct abortion and birth control for it is at the moment of conception that the tiny being is a human life and thus must be respected and protected. By itself, this belief is positive but a tad short from being realistic and practical in today’s life.

Medical science has developed emergency contraception (EC) also known as ‘morning after pills’ to help prevent unwanted conception hence prescription as such is most useful to women who fall prey to rapists. The concern is that these women were denied EC and some even as far as referrals because some physicians chose to uphold the Church’s teaching that forbids birth control.

What then is the right answer for women who find themselves in such circumstance?

Based on this belief, perhaps the fitting answer is to let God decide if the unwanted pregnancy should take place. If the pregnancy does take place, the mother will give birth to the child. At this juncture, she will either send the child for adoption or keep the child but be reminded of the inhumane incident that took place each time she looks at the child’s face. In the midst of upholding this belief, the rest of world should also forget about the financial situation of the mother or her conscience when one day and God forbid her child should question his or her origins. One with a logical mind can clearly comprehend that upholding the belief and not weighing potential issues does not benefit any women in this particular situation. In this instance, the physician who denied her the EC and referral was clearly judging and not thinking.

One would also sense that perhaps there are exceptions to the rule. Perhaps that is not the case.

A married woman 14 weeks pregnant had her water broken needed an abortion to prevent serious infection that could lead to infertility or death. The nearest hospital under Catholic administration denied care for this woman by requesting her physician to wait for an onset of an infection before carrying out the necessary procedure. Her physician fearing for the patient sent her to a secular hospital 80 miles away for the procedure. In another instant, a woman with ectopic pregnancy had a choice of an invasive procedure to remove the embryo implanted in her fallopian tube or a less risky method that administer methotrexate, a drug used for cancer to dissolve the pregnancy that spares the tube. The directive from the Catholic hospital was to perform the invasive procedure as the latter is a “direct abortion” as oppose to the former that is a lifesaving method that indirectly kills the embryo. Like any logical individual, the patient checked into another ER.

As a reader who stumbled upon this article, I tried to understand the need for doctors to be respected for their beliefs. While there is a need to provide healthcare to patients, one cannot deny out of respect for doctors that they are certainly faced with an ethical dilemma. Some procedures pointed out by them are indeed in conflict with their moral ideology and they should have the right like any individual to freedom of religion.

I like many others advocate the freedom of speech, belief and religion. The matter at hand is not the issue of freedom but to what extent one should exercise their belief? What is the boundary? Have humans lost the reasoning for themselves that they uphold teachings that are shaped by institutions, leaders of religion consisting of everyday people like you and I without questioning the basis of these beliefs?

Perhaps to some, it is much easier to abide by what others tell them to trust even to the extent of exercising moral judgment on others as long as the belief is deemed inspiration from a higher power. Conceivably, it is more difficult to deliberate and contemplate of what is true and not. By challenging one's belief for the purpose of seeking the truth is liken to having the security blanket being pulled from the bottom of one's feet and being placed out of the comfort zone.

The question is how many are willing to extract themselves out of the comfort zone for a period of time to seek the truth? Would you be comfortable?

Are We Ready?

Like every other morning amid the slamming of my hand on the snooze button and finally getting my bottom in the car to drive to work, I tuned to the local FM. Driving at 80 mph/130 kmph my concentration was not on the road but an account narrated over the radio station that day.

A caller named Scott calls up a radio station to tell the story of his love affair with a woman he was acquainted to. Scott was hired as a hospital staff through his classmate’s mother’s assistance. Let’s call his classmate’s mother Linda. Every break that he had from his classes during the day, Scott would make frequent visits to Linda’s workplace at the hospital. It was also uncanny how convenient his university was located near the hospital that he could bike to have frequent romps with Linda. The breaking point of this affair was when Linda’s husband became angry to find him in his house way too many times when Linda was around. Apparently, Linda’s husband was also playing the field. Nonetheless, Scott was 17 years old when this affair happened while Linda was 41 years old. While the affair may not have lasted, Scott today at 26 years old found Linda to be attractive.

Why am I remembering this story? Admittedly, it is screwed up when Linda’s marriage is concern. Hence, I am not condoning any ‘extra-curricular’ activities with anyone beyond your spouse. Very simply, this story gave hope. The perspective of an older woman going out with a much younger man is somewhat altered when compared to traditional standards laid down from generations to generations where the younger party should be the woman. As time progresses, slowly but surely, traditional standards start to erode thereby raising fewer eyebrows when an older woman is seen with a younger man having a great time.

I and perhaps many women out there have realised that by attaching ourselves to traditional standards and ignoring our options, we are only limiting ourselves. As women get older, so will our pool of men. Let us perform a simple math. A woman at 18 can have a pool of men that ranges from 20 to 60 years old (Ignore the huge age difference as I have in fact seen that happening). A woman at 30 can have a pool of men that ranges from 30 to 60 years old. At 40, the pool will noticeably decrease from a range of 40 to 60 year old men. This pool did not exclude men who fall into the trap of mid-life crisis or men who cannot survive in the midst of any intelligent and powerful women. Excluding these categories of men will leave women with only a handful to have a meaningful conversation with. Ignoring traditional or conventional standards, women will notice that their pool increase when they allow themselves to go out with men younger than them. As a matter of fact, this is not a new mania in town. Countries like the United Kingdom and United States have carried out census and observed that there is an increasing trend of women dating and marrying younger men.

A while ago, I took this subject matter to my lady friends. Despite the trend, some of my lady friends argued that the age difference may hinder any prospects of a stable and permanent relationship. A few mentioned that they would like to be with someone older as older men have more capability in financially providing for them. Then again, I do have a few of my lady friends in their 40s say, ‘It will be liberating to be able to go out with men half our age who is not intimidated by us, who can make us laugh and carry a good conversation’.

Perhaps, women of different ages aspire for different aspects of a relationship. Regardless of what they are, there are men who cannot bring themselves to roam into uncharted waters of dating older women. As more and more women detach themselves from conventional standards, I look forward to seeing more men take the opportunity to look beyond ‘age’ as a factor and merely enjoy the experiences of being with a compatible woman.

Reflections Year 2006

Another half a year has gone by. What is the significance one may ask? After all, we know that time passes by every year with a mere snap of the finger. I was thinking that after 27 years of this, going through year 2006 will be just like any other year; piece of cake. It looks that way on the surface. However underneath it all is a volcano that is waiting to erupt especially when the calendar hits 30th June. Seventeen days after this date will be the day I commemorate my birth.

(People! Get your flags out imprinted with my portrait, hail me and march down the street singing my name. Enhance it with fireworks while you are at it.)

Although, I do not wish to make a huge deal out of it, it nags me. Every year it pesters me. I could still remember how my mother’s constant nag fails to faze me. The ‘one ear in and one ear out’ mode turns on magically. However, this ‘getting older’ nag gets louder every year. The ‘one ear in and one ear out’ mode does not switch on no matter how hard I try. The switch somehow does not work in this scenario, very much like a freaking light bulb that does not turn on no matter how many times you toggle with its switch. Switch…switch….come on…..switch switch switch switch..Turn on you damn thing…you get the message.

I fear time not because I fear having younglings at an old age. Sure there is a higher chance they may come out mentally challenged but that is the least of my concern currently. Instead, I fear that I will lose my youthful luster, my physical ability to bounce back if I should put on more weight and want to lose the fat. I seriously do not want to look like muffin top when I wear certain clothes. Most of all I fear not being ‘where’ I want to be as the year goes by.

Every year healthy folks perform a checklist on their lives. It can happen anytime i.e. at the end of the year, beginning of the year, your anniversary breakup with your ex-boyfriend/ex-girlfriend, birth date, someone else’s funeral date etc. you get the picture.

("The unexamined life is not worth living." Socrates)

My checklist clearly points out to me that my progress has been rather pitiable. Allow me to rephrase. My checklist clearly points out to me that my progress has been slow on the uptake. Since 18 I told myself that I will be on my way to being wealthy, my ultimate goal. Give me 10 years I will get there. Ten #%!!* years have passed and from where I stand today, nothing happened. I was still studying between age 18 to 22 when I came up with these great ideas on how to get to my ultimate goal. These bright ideas did not take flight. Usually something is in the way or perhaps these ideas are not so bright after all (stop snickering). I shall not delve into details at this point.

Nonetheless, at 23 I found my first job and I look at my first paycheck in awe thinking ‘YES! I AM GOING TO BE RICH!!!’. As naïve as it sounded, I clearly knew my paycheck was not going to make me rich like Donald Trump or Oprah and wealthy like Warren Buffet or The Hiltons but it sure felt great to receive that first paycheck. After 4 years I am better positioned financially but definitely neither rich nor wealthy. Although not anywhere near my goal, my career is on track thus far.

Despite all this, I have a long way to go as I am not anywhere close to starting the journey of reaching my goal as I am in the process of relocation. For 3 years I screamed at my inability to make the decision to either remain home or start my life in a brand new environment. I stood still at this crossroad for 3 years and we know that 3 years is a long time to make a decision. Finally after going through trials, tribulations, proper examination and perhaps some wrong raison d'être, I gathered enough guts to come to a conclusion to start anew in a foreign land. I must admit I do lose ground and doubt that this decision is the right one. Missing home, lack of quality friendships, pangs of loneliness, bouts of unhappiness, relationship failure sure destroys my confidence. Knocking some common sense into my head to stay on track, the tough part was over I thought. I thought wrong. This decision was accompanied with obstacles.

As I narrated my self-absorbed life to my counterparts, they always remind me that when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. What these condescending jokers fail to elaborate is that when life gives you lemons, life does not hand you lemons gently. In fact, life throws lemons at you. Not one or two lemons but MANY lemons. As a normal functioning human being, how many lemons can one catch and juggle at once? Hey, kudos to you out there who can at least juggle 3 lemons simultaneously. Juggle I am certainly not great at. How about catching these lemons even if one cannot juggle? As avoidance is definitely out of the question, I have certainly missed catching plenty not to mention being pelt by those incoming lemons. The upside of this is that I come out smelling lemony (Smell me if you are not convinced). Anyway, life’s a bitch thus, cut your losses and move on. Sounds easy, isn’t it?

It will be all right as I convinced myself. All I need to do now is to maintain a positive outlook, be focus and progress with the task at hand. Nevermind the grumblings from relatives, godparents and parents about my love life. That can wait, yes?

To be continued……