Things To Be Thankful For - 2015 Edition

It's been a year since I blogged!  Well, it's Thanksgiving evening and now's a good time to give my thanks:

1.
My "Twin" Friend:  Lots of up and downs throughout this 2015 year for both of us.  But I'm glad my "twin" is with me.  Someone who is always willing to lend and ear to listen or just talk about random things.  We really are the definition of good friends!

2.
ABC Basketball:  The older you get, the less you go out and "party".  Plus, a lot of friends get married and the time to hang out gets minimized to a few times per year.  So what do you do?  You go play in basketball leagues.  Not just any leagues though.  ABC Basketball is less about basketball and more about community.  It's a chance to "hang out" with people you know once or twice a week (depending if you play one or both leagues).  Everyone needs their social time away from regular life and I'm glad that ABC is around for me.

3.
Shopping centers and late night Target Hours:  My mom's health isn't great and there's a lot of things she is supposed to do including exercise.  It's a challenge for my dad since he works odd hours.   So most days / nights when I am not busy, I am taking my mom around for walks.   The walks are  nothing too elaborate or long.  Given her age and sensitivity to hot / cold weather, I've made several shopping centers (Serramonte and Stonestown) and the Colma Target my mom's walking spots.  Target is my favorite after 9 PM since the malls are closed by then.

I got walking patterns for the malls / Target that will generally get mom about 25 to 30 minutes of walking.  We probably need to do more but she does get tired.  I figure that just getting a little bit every day is a good cumulative thing.

4.
iMovie / Movie Cameras:  Technology is great and I've taken advantage of it.  In the past three years or so, I'm on a binge recording a good number of my basketball related activities.  Then I use iMovie to parse highlights for myself and friends.  It's a shame technology wasn't as advanced in the older days.  It would be nice to see myself when I was younger.  But I have no complaints about things now!

Thanksgiving 2013

Many years ago, I started a tradition of "giving thanks" by writing an email to various friends.  With the growth of the Internet, I've taken to posting my thanks on my blog.  So for 2013, here are some things to be thankful for:

1.
Mom and Dad.  There are things going on that my mom has to deal with.  It hasn't been easy for my Dad and I but I am fortunate they are both doing ok for the most part.  We go through ups and downs with our parents but at the end, you still love them because they raised you.

2.
My "Twin Friend"(They know who they are).   My twin and I talk to each other a lot.   Some times we just talk briefly due to time and other things.  Some days are serious and some days are not.  The main thing is we talk to see how the other person is and provide some friendly company to the other.  In this day and age of texting and social media, it's easy to feel disconnected.  My friend and I are far from that.

3.
My "Old College Friend".  Even though things have been busy on my friend's end lately (having a baby does that), we chat via email and text.  When we do see each other, we pick up like nothing's changed.  Just a sign of a great friend when we can do that.

4.
Canon Rebel XSI / EOS 70D / Point and Shoot / iPhone 4 - I've always taken a lot of photographs in the past.  It's been in the past few years that I started learning the art / technique of manual photography.  It took some time, but I am finally grasping a few things.  But even though I am learning a different way of photography, I still do "regular" auto photography as well.  Thanks to my old XSI for being the first DSLR I had.  Even though it's old, I still use it for the majority of my shots.  My new 70D (plus lens) is used for basketball shots at the moment.  My iPhone and Canon Point and Shoot still serve a purpose for quick shots when I don't want to lug my DSLR's around.

5.
My old guy friends (aka "Downtown Work Guys") - I've known all of these guy friends for years.  Interestingly enough we all work downtown now and we have lunch every now and then.

6.
ABC Basketball League - I've been injured for much of the fall basketball season so i haven't played and haven't been as present during the fall.  However, the league is still a great place to drop by and catch up with people.  It's a basketball league but also a social center for many people from different places.  A very unique league that I am glad to be associated with.

I'm sure there are a lot of other things, but let's stop here for now.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Thanksgiving 2012

Per my usual routine, I have usually done a "Things To Be Thankful For" around Thanksgiving.  Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the 2012 edition:

"My Twin" -  I don't have any brothers or sisters in the biological sense but I am lucky to be blessed with a friend who is, in all intensive purposes, my "twin".   We share something that is unusual but has become a unifying thing and a source of humor.  Beyond the laughs lie two good friends who look out for each other.  We talk frequently to share our ups / downs but also just to check in on the other person.   Can't ask much more from a good friend.

"Basketball" - As always, I'm thankful for basketball.  But not just the game but the people involved, especially the two basketball leagues I play in and the group of guys I play with on Saturday.  It's great to get exercise but to also hang out with the guys as well.

"San Francisco" - You never know what you miss until you get it back.  I worked in downtown SF from around 1999 until 2002.  After 2002,  I've worked in various cities but never got back to downtown SF.  Just last week, I returned to downtown SF and I am loving it.  I've got friends who I can meet up with constantly and plenty of food, activities around that I can do.

"The Visitor" -   I'm going to keep this one brief.  But I want to acknowledge a person that I met recently.   Thanks for everything and I look forward to seeing what the future brings.

"Sales / Speaking Skills" - Once a upon a time, I was a tech support engineer who was trying to learn to become a Sales Engineer.  I went through quite a few difficult situations and have grown up faster than I expected.  These days, speaking in front of customers, large crowds or other things don't bother me.

"Ricardo / iMovie / Movie Editing" - Special thanks to a guy named Ricardo who plays in my basketball league.  It was due to his idea of capturing videos that spurred me to pick up the basics of movie editing.  Thanks to iMovie for making the process easy and editing movies a fun task.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Things To Be Thankful For - 2011 Turkey Day Edition

Some years ago, I wrote a list of things I was thankful for and emailed them to my friends.  Since we have the power of Facebook and blogs, I am going to note a list of things to be thankful for in 2011!

In no particular order:

1. Family:  Mom/Dad primarily, but to all my cousins that are out there.  I don't see them a ton but thankful when I do see them. 
2. Friends:  Too many to name, but thanks to everyone I come into contact with.  You all have been a blessing to me, especially in times of need. 
3. Job:  Yes, I've been laid off twice from my current position and still chose to come back once again.  But I am not complaining.  I am thankful to have a job during a tough time in the economy. 
4. Basketball:  Many reasons I put this down.  One, I love being involved in the sport.   Two, it's good exercise.  Three, it brings together friends whether it's the Saturday guys I play with or the leagues I play with.

To conclude, it's easy for a lot of people to look at what we don't have (me included!).  However, try to remember that we are blessed with many things if we stop to take a look.  It may be as simple as the air we breathe or the fact that we have a roof over our heads.  Happy Thanksgiving! 

Happy Thanksgiving / Things To Be Thankful For

It's the night before Thanksgiving.  It's a little chilly out in my neck of the woods but fortunately I'm at home and enjoy the warmth of being indoors.

Several years ago, I started a tradition of emailing my friends a list of "Things To Be Thankful For".  This year, I'll expand this to my blogging.  After all, many of us are middle class people have a lot of things that we may take for granted (jobs, families, money, cars, etc).

From my perspective, we shouldn't take these things for granted.   Any things we have could be taken from us at anytime.  We need to appreciate these things more greatly than we do sometimes.

In any case, here's my list of things to be thankful for this year:

1. Family - This one is an obvious one.  Without family, I wouldn't be there.  Thanks to mom and dad for supporting me in all that I do.  No one's family is perfect including mine but we have to learn to overlook things as we go through our lives. 
2. Friends - I've gone through plenty of ups and downs throughout my life and every step, I've had good friends to help me through.  Beyond some of my closest friends that I've known for years, I am thankful for everyone that I've met and had a chance to associate with in various activities. 
3. Job - I was laid off in June of 2008.  I was hired for a job in August of 2008 but was laid off yet again in April of 2009.   I ended up getting rehired at my previous job in September of 2009 and have been there ever since.  When you've been through my situation, you get thankful for the job that you have.  It's not an easy job but I am thankful for the learning and growth opportunities it has presented in my time since I came back. 
4. Health - I've been fortunate to be healthy in all aspects of my life and hope that continues in the future. 
5. Basketball - Really, I could put any sport here.  I enjoy being active and sports gives me a workout and I feel like it relives me of any stresses I have in my life.   Sports used to be about winning and sometimes I forget this.  However, after some tough things this week, sports did give me a release and I felt great afterward.  

That's it for this year!  Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving everyone!