Public Transit will bring life to rural areas

There is an article in the "express" titled "Metro Offering To Sell Property Near 2 Stations." Yes, those will be two very valuable properties - considering how everywhere close to metro is now considered desirable. The article stated that metro will use this money to fund its long-term projects. So the two location will be near the Navy Yard, near the new baseball stadium, and the second one will be in Capitol Heights. I wonder which developers are jumping at the chance - man, I wish I can be involved in one of those projects.

And if we compare DC to San Francisco - if SF is any indicator, the Navy Yard area will be booming right before our eyes from its current more run down appearance.

It is interesting to note that the "express" published this article next to the article titled "Washington Still Near Top in Job Growth Numbers." This article states that the number of jobs in DC has increased every month since June 2002, and we currently grew to more than 3 million in number of jobs. Together, this article suggests that private developments are still very desirable in the current "cooling" market. Right now, people are scared, sales and prices are down from last year - but wait - DC is still growing like crazy, hence the developers better put in their large bids now for a chance to develop these valuable pieces of land near metro stations! hidden message....hmmm....how interesting.....

Regardless - I wish I am working in the area of real estate...ahhh..... Because Greenspan is correct in his housing price indicator, this is the lowest we will see before the housing market pick up again!

have luggage and free hands

Yes, there is now a way that I can have everything I need when I go on long trips - or trips that just require me to bring a lot of stuff - so much that I cannot carry it all with me on the plane!!!

now we can use one of those luggage forwarding services! You pick when you want your stuff delivered, and when you want them to pick it up (time further away from delivery time will be cheaper). And when you arrive at your destination - whola! there is your luggage! So now, you no longer have to lug everything with you on the plane - and travel worry free!

try

www.luggageforward.com

www.theluggageclub.com

Finally - I can Sleep!!!

Finally, my bed arrived! and now I can sleep comfortably at my new place. The only problem is that they have not fixed everything inside - very annoying! these people!!!!

Finally. ice cream for my dog

In the last few years, the most trendy accessory is to have a small dog that will fit into your carry on. So we can carry our furry bestfriend every where we go! And with the popularity of many boutique and specialty dog bakeries (i.e. www.threedogbakery.com), Pedigree (the large pet food producer) finally decided to cash in on this popular trend and make Ice Cream Sandwich Treats for Dogs. It is said that these treats will be dairy based, and have the same texture as ice cream, but will contain only 1 percent lactose (most dogs are lactose intolerant). In addition, the treats will have no added sugar but will have added protein.

I wonder if my dog will like it...

Living Large in Small Spaces

So, I am finally going to close on my condo :-) The only problem is, city leaving means small spaces. And now I need to be creative with the use of my space and be very selective about the furniture I am going to buy. Everything piece of furniture I buy will need to do double duties... Even with the modern trend of designing for condo or apartment living - it is still hard to find suitable furniture that will not break the bank.

Right now I am debating on purchasing a sofa sleeper from www.apt-ny.com .
The problem is that I have no idea if the sofa or the sleeper would be comfortable. They only have one store, and that store is located in NYC.... and unfortunately, that is not where my condo is located.

Lunch Money

many of us have experienced this.... too much money is being spent on food!!! and we all try to cut back, but few of us are actually successful.

How much money should I be spend on food each week? no matter how I look at it, it always seems too much. And now, I am trying to get serious on cutting down.

Last week I spent about a total of $12 for lunch from Monday through Friday - hmm....good week.

This week, I am already on $17.50 (and today is only Tuesday). I went to subway yesterday... got a footlong sub, ate half and saved half to eat for lunch today. ($8) Went to the grocery store, bought 2 cans of soup and 2 bags of apple cripses, 1 bag of pretezels and 2 pouches of salmon steak. Hmmm....bad move since I can eat a can of soup of lunch each day....but I would need something to go with my salmon steak.

Snacking is also my down fall... if I didn't get the 2 bags of apple cripses or the 1 bag of pretzel, I would have saved about $5.50.

I tried fixing my lunches at home and bring it to work, but it is not cheaper than buying frozen entries at the grocery store when the entries are on sale.... does anyone have any suggestions on how to cut down on lunch spending?

9/11 A National Holiday?

Should 9/11 be a National Holiday? There are arguments on both sides. Here are some of the arguments:

We did not make Pearl Harbor a National Holiday: but people - let's ask yourself, how many people actually remember or know the date of Pearl Harbor? How many people remember? For those of you wondering, it is December 7, 1941.

Too close to Labor Day: This is just ridiculous for someone to even argue this, we want 9/11 to be a national holiday so we will never forget, not just to have another day off. I already know plenty of people from my office who were affected that already do take the day off to remember.
How long before people would start asking each other - as they now do for Memorial Day - say, "What're you doing for the Sept. 11 long weekend?" Here is a thought, remembrance day in Canada, November 11, is a national holiday, and growing up there I remember having the moment of silence in school, and wearing the a red poppy on my chest and thought to myself:

In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

and the nation remembers. Is this argument saying that Americans are not capable of doing the same?

National Holiday is a celebration i.e. Memorial Day: is to celebrate the war is over: again, like my thoughts above, it this all Americans are capable of?

to be fair: here are some arguments on both sides:

Make 9/11 a national holiday? (click on "Yes" or "No" for link)
Yes
No

and you tell me what you think.

Tiger Woods

The weekend is over once again..... played golf on both Saturday and Sunday. And then it is back to work...now, if I can just be like Elin Nordegren (Tiger's wife), and marry a rich golf pro...everyday will be a weekend, and I can actually take advantage of the courses when it is quiet on weekdays. Not to mention the free lessons.....

I think this means I need to go buy some cute golf skorts to make sure I have a chance at scoring the next Tiger... now, if someone can tell me how I can look like a model give that I was not braced with long legs at birth.

The Fabulous life.....

For those of us who wonder..... and for those of us working towards that goal....

The Jet Set's Shopping List Unmasked: How do the very wealthy spend their money? You may not want to know.
By Thomas KostigenMarketWatch

Private jet owners have an average annual income of $9.2 million and a net worth of $89.3 million. They are 57 years old. And 70 percent of them are men.
Hannah Shaw Grove and Russ Alan Prince, two researchers, surveyed the group to find out who they are, what makes them tick, and perhaps most interestingly, what they spend their money on.

The average jet setter spends nearly $30,000 per year on alcohol (wines & spirits). Grove and Prince note that this amount is about two-thirds of the median household income in the U.S. And that's the smallest category of spending they surveyed.
The next smallest was "experiential travel," which includes guided tours, such as photographic safaris, or hikes to Machu Picchu, or eco-tours to the Brazilian rainforest, or kayaking in Baja California during the gray whale migration. For these experiences, jet setters spend an average of $98,000 per year.

Travel
But these journeys are small potatoes when compared to how much these wealthy individuals spend on hotels and resorts ($157,000 a year), or events at hotels and resorts ($224,000 a year). Spa treatments even fetch more jet-set dollars than wilderness tours. The average jet setter spends $107,000 a year at spas around the world.

Not that many of these "global citizens," as they like to be called, would know: Just 34 percent of jet owners open their own mail and only 19 percent pay their own bills, Grove and Prince found. This results in a sort of detachment from the world and creates "the low level of awareness that most jet owners have about their finances," they say.

Indeed, it would take a curious psychological composition to comprehend spending $147,000 a year on watches, as the jet set do. Or $117,000 on clothes. Or a whopping $248,000 a year on jewelry.

These people need serious help with their...finances. And that is partially why Grove and Prince conducted the survey -- as a note to advisers who might be able to help people with complex money issues.Getting Good Help

"Any way you slice it, private jet owners are an ultra-affluent bunch and, as such, likely have intricate financial requirements. As is often the case, there is a proportionate relationship between the amount of wealth and the complexity of the financial goals, meaning there is a greater need for a professional adviser to guide them through the planning process and supply them with strategies and experts to meet their goals along the way," they say.
Whatever. I'm far more interested in how much the super rich spend on cars ($226,000 per year), and boats ($404,000 a year on yacht rentals).

I'm even more interested to know what the $542,000 a year in home improvements was spent on. Grove and Prince say the average jet setter has more than two principal residences worth at least $2 million each. New kitchens? Kick ass sound systems? They don't inform.
But they do tell us that jet-setters spend the most amount of money on art, $1.75 million a year on average. It's also here that the spending patterns differ by the classes within the classes that Grove and Prince unearthed by analyzing the jet-set pack.

Trendsetters spend the most as group, but the least amount per purchase. Last year, 60 percent of this group bought art, at an average price of $500,000. Trendsetters are influenced by magazines, television and movies, Grove and Prince say.

Connoisseurs, on the other hand, spend on average more than $6 million per piece, yet are cautious purchasers: less than 10 percent of this class bought art last year.

I'm not sure which of the three personality types Grove and Prince defined among jet setters I'd fall into: Trendsetters are more likely to be impulse buyers; Winners reward themselves and those in their inner circle with large purchases for personal and professional accomplishments; and Connoisseurs are deliberate in their purchasing behavior and thoroughly research all aspects of a category, and a particular item, before making a decision.

Not that it much matters. I'd just like to be able to afford to spend $168,000 a year renting a villa or chalet, as the jet set do.

It'd be fun.

For the full report on how the jet set spend their money, go to www.hannahgrove.com and go to "white papers" in the publications section

Living with the Richest people in the US

Today, the Washington Post came out with an article and named DC as having one of the riches suburbs in the nations. Does that make me feel richer living in the DC area? Nope, instead...it enforced the notion how everything is over priced here, and living here, I have to pay for it all! Worse, my salary still looks the same as yesterday!!!

DC Suburbs top List of Richest Counties

Sake Tasting

Yes, most of your have probably done the wine tasting, and cheese tasting, but have you tried sake tasting?

Most people in the US have very little knowledge of sake. Sake in Japan refers to all alcohol, and what most Americans drink or call "sake" are really known as "nihhonshu" (prepared by brewing milled rice, water, yeast and other ingredients."

Moreover, a lot of Americans drink Sake warmed, but this is not how all sake should be served. yes, they do serve sake warm in Japan, but not all sake.

You can bring a new delightful twist to your next "tasting" party by hosting a SAKE-Sampling party. Things to note before your party: sake is categorized by the amount of rice grains polished. More polishing makes for a purer product.

Experts have suggested, like wine, you should serve from the lighter tasting to the heavier, more complex sake.

Example of what to serve:
Start with Junmai sake (amde with water and rice that has a 30% polish) - this of this as your regular table wine

Then move to Junmai ginjo (this will taste aromatic, with floral and anise with a smooth clean texture)

next, try a Honjozo sake - example: Ohkagura HOnjozo (made with distilled alcohol and rice) This one will taste rich and creamy with nutty aromas and a sweeter more full bodied texture.

Finish with a Daiginjo ( a combination of distilled alcohol and 50% polished rice). Try Nobu Diginjo - this is a full flavored sake with an assertive nutty aroma.

All of the above should be served Chilled!

Also, stay away from ceramic cups, those are usually reserved for warmed sake. Use wine glasses or shot glasses instead, or you want to be really fancy, you can buy glass sake cups.

And it is not necessary for oyu to serve sushi with your tasting, you can serve it with any beef, game or duck.

or to really show off your sake knowledge, do food paring as if you are serving wine. For example, Juneau jinjo are good with seafood and honkies are excellent with fried foods. But who really cares - as along as there is good food let your taste bud tell you which sake goes best with which food!

That is why we became lawyers

Today, while I riding on the metro to work, I pick up the free "Express" newspaper they give out here in the Washington, DC metro area - and of course this is in the paper.

A Shandong, China, student is suing his teacher claiming mental distress after being punished for sleeping in class, China Daily reported. Four months ago, Xiaodong fell asleep during class and was awakened by his teacher, Wang; when Xiaodong fell asleep again a few minutes later, Wang made the student stand in the corner of the room as punishment. He refused, walked out of class and went home.

And I am sure all lawyers all inspire to bring cases like such....

Mid-Life Crisis

It has appeared to me that numerous co-workers at my job are currently through mid-life crisis! I mean, does everyone really go through mid-life crisis??? What is this all about. All the men in my office around their 40s want to get out of their marriage, want to have a new girlfriend... basically want to be different than they are now. I am not sure if they are "bored", and this age thing is really hitting them or what - but what is this phenomena?

Here are some insights from the internet:

Midlife is the old age of youth and the youth of old age.Proverb
If this is true then many people are standing on the threshold of a "new youth." It is what Gail Sheehy in her book, New Passages, calls the "second adulthood." We all have a second chance at becoming the person we are meant to be. This second chance is called midlife. However, midlife is a new and often dangerous territory.

What is a helpful image for the midlife process? Perhaps it is the Midlife Quest in which there is a challenging adventure of seeking, exploration, and discovery. Or, it might be Midlife Metamorphosis where there is the profound change of reformation and transformation. Another image is that of Midlife Renaissance with a new birth, a new beginning, and a chance to start over. There is also the possibility of Midlife Crisis where there is a sense of urgency along with intense emotion and perplexity. Of the four possibilities it is Midlife Crisis that is ultimately most appropriate. This is because the two fundamental elements of crisis are found in all of the images.

A Dangerous Opportunity
The Chinese word for crisis readily shows these two basic elements. In the Chinese language the ideogram for crisis is made up of two separate characters. One of these characters represents "danger" and the other represents "opportunity." Thus the proper translation of crisis from Chinese is as a "dangerous opportunity." Any crisis in our lives provides the chance for change and growth -- the opportunity -- as well as the risk of regression or stagnation -- the danger. In the images of Quest, Metamorphosis, or Renaissance both opportunity and danger exist. You may not always attain the goal of the Quest, the Metamorphosis may not be complete, and the Renaissance may be a still birth. The danger of midlife is very real. Successful transition to the next life stage is not guaranteed.

How to Stay Awake at Work

It is that time of the day around 3:30, and all I want to do is take a nap.... how am I ever going to stay awake? Anyone has any ideas? please help!!!

After the bar

Yeah! I am finally done with the NY State bar, I now feel like I can move on with my life. Surprisingly, I ran into about 20 people I knew at the test center. Yes, I know, there were thousands of people there, so knowing 20 people is really not a big deal. At the same time, I knew these people from all different walks of life! It still amazes me how EVERYONE is becoming a lawyer.

Moreover, there were many people I knew from college - and they were all pre-meds...hmm..... I guess when people realize they cannot or do not want to be a doctor....they just install plan 2 - and become a lawyer.

NY State Bar

The Summer 2006 bar is only a few days away. Taking the bar the second time is no easier than the first time! (this is true even when you pass the bar the first time). My initial plan was to study up until the day before the bar because I did not have much time to study this year (thanks to working full time). All I have to say is - the plan was nice, but not going to happen. Three days before the bar, and I just don't want to study anymore. I guess I'll just cross my fingers and hope for the best when the bar roll around in a few days.

MaxJet

They are at it again, Max Jet is having a sale! Fly the exclusive all business classes carrier from JFK or Washington Dulles to London for $1499. It is worth the price right now in the summer peak season!!!

Be the next reality TV Star?

ABC is looking for the next reality tv star Right here in the Washington, DC area!!!

June 29, 2006 — Looking for adventure and up for a challenge? Need to add some excitement to your life? "Primetime" is looking for people to participate in an adventure in the Washington, D.C., area. Now's your chance to try something new. Are you lively, energetic, with a dazzling personality? Do you love taking risks?
If you love to take on new, exciting challenges, live within a three-hour drive of Washington, D.C., and are willing to be on camera, please tell us briefly about yourself and your situation, and include a photograph.

Sign up with ABC

Renova Black

Move over traditional white toilet paper - you just can't compete with remove black. What is all this buzz about - what are we going COO COO for black toilet paper??? That is the question I want to know. But hey, it sure looks cool - just another design concept to make your bathroom look extra cool

and they don't just come in black - there is also red and orange!

Happiness = S + C + V

On the metro ride this morning, I was reading the free newspaper "Express." There was this article that spelled out the secret formula to happiness. Yes, so it seems simple, that we can reduce everything to a mathematical equation.... but then reality hits

S is your biological disposition toward being happy, aka your "happiness set point"
C represents the conditions in which you live, some of which are fixed ( i.e. age or gender) and some of which you can change (i.e. relationships)
V stands for voluntary activities that you engage in i.e. work, vacation etc.

What I mean by reality is - it looks all simple when we reduce all the factors down to three variables. However, within each variable, there are just too many factors. For example: C really equals i.e. X(age) + Y(gender) + Z(relationship) + A(city you live in) + ...etc. So what is the point, in the end, even after knowing the mathematical equation - there is no way for us to add up all the different factors we need to make ourselves happier - or even to add it up to know what out happiness level is..... hmmm.......