Survey time

I need to start smoking so I can quit. Think of the money I’ll save.

… A year ago I mentioned that Stockton, Calif. – the hub of San Joaquin County and where I grew up – was ranked No. 2 by Forbes Magazine in its Most Miserable City in America survey behind Detroit and ahead of Flint, Mich.

This year, there is no one above them. When I thought it couldn’t get any worse it did. Forbes calls Stockton the “… ground zero of the housing boom and now the subsequent bust,” and thus is “honored” with the Most Miserable City in America title.

While I knew the house bust was in Stockton, this is what I didn’t know – only 15 percent of adults have college degrees, one of the lowest rates in the country. I find this a bit odd since the University of the Pacific is there and is considered a good college. I guess people wise up after graduating.

In a way I’m kind of sad since it is where I grew up and they were trying to improve its image. The strange this is Stockton has won an All-America City Award, given by the National Civic League, twice since 1999. The way things look; they might not win another for a while.

Another survey I found recently said my car was one of the top 10 automobiles to get tickets. It was ranked No. 7. The Hummer H2 was No. 1 followed by the Scion Tc and Scion Xb.

When I thought about it, it made sense. I got a ticket within a month of getting my Scion Xa. I then got another ticket in 17 months later.

I’m not that worried about it, however. I love my car.

… In celebration of my friend’s upcoming wedding, they had a Laser Tag party. It’s been about 11 years since I played and it showed as I finished last out of 22 people in the “everyone for themselves” round. And just so you know, that included women and children.

I fared much better over the next two rounds, both team competitions. My team won the second round as I finished in sixth overall. Then in the third round my team lost, but I finished in third. What can I say, I’m a team player.

It was fun until my right hamstring cramped up at dinner, twice. The first time I was able play it off. The second time it hurt really bad. So I had everyone laughing at my pain – it wouldn’t have been the first time.

In less than two weeks, my friend gets married. I have the privilege to be the DJ at the wedding. My handle will be DJ takenorequests, I think it is pretty clear why.

I did buy a new suit for the wedding. I found a Ralph Lauren sports coat at Macy’s marked down from $225 to $28 in excellent condition. I got new slacks and a tie, both on sale. I have a styling new suit for $76. Plus, I had a gift card for $50 so I didn’t spend much out of pocket.

… February is half over and there is still a month and a half to go in my private hell. I know for a fact that my newspaper’s sister publication in Woodland Hills is going to transfer over in March to West Covina meaning our paper will probably move over in April. I’m still trying to get out by then. I also need to find a new place to live too.

… Ah, baseball season is here. I like my San Francisco Giants’ chances this season. They have strong pitching; they just need to find someone that can hit a home run more frequently than every other week.

It’s only until we’ve lost everything …

January sucked, and it usually gets worse this time of year.

… Two weeks ago, my friend Eric and I continued a tradition of going to Las Vegas for his birthday. We would have left on the day of his birthday but since his it fell on the date of the Inauguration, we thought it would be better to watch it and delay the trip for a day. In fact, we had thoughts about going to Washington D.C. to see it in person, but could not secure any tickets.

We stayed at the Luxor and it was pretty nice. We pretty much hung around the hotel, except for a few excursions. We went to the top of the Hotel at Mandalay Bay for a free view of the strip. Well it wasn’t really free since we bought $5 Pepsi drinks.

We also went to The Pinball Hall of Fame where we played a variety of pinball games from the 40s to today. I got to play a lot of games I remember playing when I was younger. It took me back.

I was down for a while but won $60 dollars playing craps then another $40 on nickel slots to put my losses on the trip down to about $40.

… However, I couldn’t really escape all the problems at home. In fact, they got me while I was still in Las Vegas when my roommate sent me a text saying she had news for me. I instantly figured that our rent was going to go up. What I didn’t expect, as I found out the next day, was that it would go up $450 total by April.

What I feared came true. The owner of the property died a couple of months ago and knew the person taking over would know this place is worth more. They are fixing up the place, painting and will eventually fix up the inside.

My roommate would then inform me a few days later that it was time for her to buy a house. If I could, I would and hopefully it works out for her. As for me, I need to find a new place by April.

… January refused to die easy. Almost a week later I received news that I would be forced to take a week furlough. Basically, take an unpaid vacation anytime during the months of February and March. You can’t help but get the feeling that you are working in the engine room of the Titanic.

Trying to make this into a positive I quickly budgeted to make sure that unpaid week off wasn’t going to hurt me financially and, if I could, make it into a positive some way. I told my supervisor that I would take a day off soon then wait until the end of March to take off the other four days, that way I can use the time to move.

We also moved into the new building finally. It’s a nice place but the problem is: How much longer will I be there before being transferred to a central location?

… I had the honor to write a letter of recommendation for one of my college professors who was up for the Distinguished Facility Advising Award at CSULB. I considered it a great honor. His advice helped me a lot during my time as a student and he kept helping me after college.

I hope I helped.

… I went to Las Vegas again for the UFC Pay-Per-View, but I think it was the last time. My friend that covered the UFC for my newspaper was laid off. It was sad because I remember bringing James to these events and the fun we would have at the event and later on gambling in the casino.

I gambled and won $55. I won $9 on penny slots and the rest playing craps. I was actually down $40 when it was my turn roll and I made my winnings. The best thing about craps is that when you are on a roll, you win people money and that is a good feeling. I even got tipped from one of the players for rolling a hard six, which I also cashed in on.

… I head into what is typically the worst months for me, February and March. For those that didn’t believe me and what can happen to me learned last year when I: was transferred, found out my father had cancer (which he beat), saw my Giants lose on opening day to the Dodgers, and had someone do $150 damage to my car in the form of staining it (to this day I don’t know what they did, but it looked like paint and it wouldn’t come off with soap and water.)

While I did win money the first couple days in February last year, it didn’t prove to be a positive omen. So I consider my winnings and anomaly.

My focus over the next two months is to find a new place to live and look for a new job, in that order. Of the two things, looking for shelter is definitely going to happen. I think if I don’t find work, I hopefully will still be working at my current job and stick it out there.

I had an interesting thought. My job search in a way was kind of limited since I was looking around Long Beach. Since I have to move, however, I can pretty much uproot myself now. I had mentioned in my last blog that I would want to stay in Southern California since I’ll be close to family and friends and still plan on doing that. Now, I can expand the search to beyond the Long Beach area while a part of me thinks it is a sign to live elsewhere.

I’m reminded of the quote, “It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything.” Losing this apartment and working a job that could go away at any time somehow gives me a freeing feeling. Maybe it is because I’m delusional, or maybe it’s because now is the time to do something else and not be afraid to leave because I have to anyway.