Wishing you and your family a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Stay safe, happy, and healthy this holiday season.
Rolling Head-On Into Thanksgiving...
Jeez, just four more days to Thanksgiving...2010 has gone by very FAST! It's a cold, wet Sunday morning — just finished a telephone briefing for the airport and wanted to write a quick blog post.Maria is still homeschooling Brandon and Nicholas. Our family has now homeschooled their children the longest in this city's ENCORE Homeschooling Program (part of the Unified School District)—13 years to be exact! I think Maria wants to slowly but surely transition the boys into Public School like the other two, but they don't really have any interest to go. Why would you when you can wake up at 9 or 10 and do your reading and lessons anytime throughout the day and your Mom was home with you always? It really is great for the children.
As for the two teenagers, Alexandra is a Senior and driving her 1984 Ford Mustang Convertible ALLOVER the place. Talk about growing up fast, she starts college next year and still maintains a GREAT job teaching dance and gymnastics. She's a natural teacher and little kids LOVE her.
Cameron maintains a very high GPA, takes Advance Placement Chemistry as a Sophomore, and is No. 3 on the varsity tennis team (and rising fast). He just started a three-month intense fitness program for athletes. He is going to be in TIP-TOP shape soon and his coach is expecting to see some explosive lateral movement side-to-side on the court. He is very much like his Uncle Alex—a naturally-gifted athlete.
Maria is still working part-time, even though her hours often flex to near full-time!!! We're not complaining given THIS economy. We still have fun and that's important.
As for me, I'm still running all training at SFO International Airport (from pat downs to X-ray). We have the BEST screeners...try some of the other airports and tell me if you don't agree! After all this time, I STILL love the work and the people I get to work with...what's not to like about that!
And if you haven't checked out my website, NerdBoyTV, go visit it NOW ;-) I also have a channel on YouTube. I'm very proud that I've maintained the NerdBoyTV show for almost four years now. It's also a FREE podcast on iTunes.
Hope you all had a terrific 2010! Have fun and be safe this holiday season.
For Nicholas
I'm at home sick again today, so I have a lot of time on my hands to play with video and pictures (grin). This one is for my little guy, Nicholas (Nini). Can't believe he's already nine-years-old. Jeez, time really flies by quickly. Here's MY way of grabbing onto the early years for just a little while longer.
For Alexandra
A music video for my daughter, Alexandra. Even though she drives now, she'll always be MY little girl (smile). I integrated some of her old dancing videoclips with some of her pictures. I hope you like it, Alexandra. Love, Dad.
Julian Smith (sax) – All By Myself (Britain's Got Talent 2009)
NOTE from Ryan: This was my first attempt to integrate still pictures with videoclips. I think it turned out pretty good, actually. Julian liked it on Facebook, too ;-) If you haven't got his new CD, order it below—you're gonna like it!
After much frustration in the music business, Julian Smith decided to enter BRITAINS GOT TALENT IN 2009 and achieved second runner up placement with nearly 700,000 public telephone votes and millions of YouTube hits on the internet. Get Julian's long-anticipated "Somewhere" CD at http://www.juliansmithsax.co.uk. - created at http://animoto.com
After much frustration in the music business, Julian Smith decided to enter BRITAINS GOT TALENT IN 2009 and achieved second runner up placement with nearly 700,000 public telephone votes and millions of YouTube hits on the internet. Get Julian's long-anticipated "Somewhere" CD at http://www.juliansmithsax.co.uk. - created at http://animoto.com
SF Giants win the NL Pennant in Game 6
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww, I just wanna relive this moment again and again! Wish I could go to the World Series (traffic coming home is gonna be awful!!!), but in any case, bring it home Giants! Take down the Rangers!
Commuting to work
I look real excited on my way to work, huh? LOL This is me riding into work on BART. Don't feel sorry for me — I'm totally WiFi "wired" with mp3s blasting and the Internet roaring at blazing speeds. ;-) Figures, huh?
VIDEO: Alex & Heidi's Housewarming
This video contains pictures from Alex and Heidi's housewarming BBQ and includes lots of pictures of Baby Ellie and Maria's belated birthday celebration.
College: Making The Case For Useless Degrees
College: Making The Case For Useless Degrees - Newsweek - Education:"Ignore the grown-ups. Opt for an imaginative, if not lucrative, course of study.
During my junior year of high school, I sat near the window in English class. I wanted to be an engineer, so during most classes, I daydreamed about applying early to MIT while the class rambled on about short stories by Philip Roth. But sometime in the spring, not long after we'd finished a lesson about some strange thing called 'transcendentalism,' and started reading Shakespeare, I kicked my best friend Crary's chair.
Henry David Thoreau and Elizabethan sonnets had suddenly piqued my interest—I was fascinated, bewildered, hooked. Since his mother had been forcing books on him since he was 3 months old, Crary seemed to know everything about everything. 'Where does any of this lead?' I asked him. 'There's a major in college called comparative literature,' he said. 'They read books together like this all day long.' It sounded intriguing, but I was dumbfounded. 'What in the world would be the value in that?'
I later learned that there's actually a huge value in it. Computer science, accounting, marketing—the purpose of many majors is self-evident. They lead to well-paid jobs and clear-cut career paths. (One hopes, at least.) But comparative literature, classics, and philosophy—according to the new conventional wisdom—offer no clear trajectory. As my colleague Nancy Cook reports, many schools are even slashing liberal arts from their curriculum. It's true that studying the humanities will surely elicit snide comment from your uncle like, 'All that studying so you'll be able to ask, 'You want fries with that?' ' Tell your uncle to shove it. Majoring in the liberal arts is still the best use of your college tuition.
CLICK link above to read entire article.
- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Ellie and me
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Originally uploaded by Ryan Yee.
I was happy that my little niece just let me hold her (let alone steal a kiss)
BOOK: Debt-Free U: How I Paid For an Outstanding College Education Without Loans, Scholarships, or Mooching Off My Parents
Yahoo! Finance - Financially Fit"A new book offers advice for college students looking to save their parents' retirement and financial well-being.
Meet Zac Bissonnette, a graduate of the University of Massachusetts and the author of the book Debt-Free U: How I Paid For an Outstanding College Education Without Loans, Scholarships, or Mooching Off My Parents. Bissonnette's tale is an eye-opening one – and a must-read for students looking to save every penny they can on tuition.
The cost of higher education is rising – even as the economy remains a tailspin. The average four-year cost for a top-flight school like Harvard or Stanford is almost $200,000. And even a solid state school like UCLA or the University of Michigan will set students back almost $100,000.
So how did Bissonnette come out ahead?
Let's take a look at Bissonnette's results and what he was (or wasn't) working with. He graduated with no student loan debt, no financial support from parents and no scholarships.
NOTE from Ryan: Click on the link above to read the entire article.
- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Like the ’55 Chevy, the 3,000-Mile Oil Change Is Pretty Much History
Like the ’55 Chevy, the 3,000-Mile Oil Change Is Pretty Much History - Yahoo! Finance
NOTE from Ryan: I'm one of those who changes his oil every 3,000 miles, so this particular finding struck a cord with me—I wanted to pass this along to all of you, too.
"I STILL remember learning from my father how to carefully remove a dipstick to check the oil level in our cars. It was drilled into me — along with turning off the lights when you left a room and clearing the plates off the table after dinner — that oil needs to be changed every 3,000 miles or so.
I’m not sure what I thought would happen if I didn’t, but I vaguely imagined an unlubricated engine grinding to a halt.
Childhood habits are hard to undo, and that’s often good. To this day, I hate seeing an empty room with the lights on.
But sometimes, we need to throw aside our parents’ good advice. In March, for example, I wrote about how we should relearn the dishwasher and laundry soap habits we inherited from our mothers.
Add frequent oil-changing to that list.
“There was a time when the 3,000 miles was a good guideline,” said Philip Reed, senior consumer advice editor for the car site Edmunds.com. “But it’s no longer true for any car bought in the last seven or eight years.”
Oil chemistry and engine technology have improved to the point that most cars can go several thousand more miles before changing the oil, Mr. Reed said. A better average, he said, would be 7,500 between oil changes, and sometimes up to 10,000 miles or more.
- Sent using Google Toolbar"
NOTE from Ryan: I'm one of those who changes his oil every 3,000 miles, so this particular finding struck a cord with me—I wanted to pass this along to all of you, too.
"I STILL remember learning from my father how to carefully remove a dipstick to check the oil level in our cars. It was drilled into me — along with turning off the lights when you left a room and clearing the plates off the table after dinner — that oil needs to be changed every 3,000 miles or so.
I’m not sure what I thought would happen if I didn’t, but I vaguely imagined an unlubricated engine grinding to a halt.
Childhood habits are hard to undo, and that’s often good. To this day, I hate seeing an empty room with the lights on.
But sometimes, we need to throw aside our parents’ good advice. In March, for example, I wrote about how we should relearn the dishwasher and laundry soap habits we inherited from our mothers.
Add frequent oil-changing to that list.
“There was a time when the 3,000 miles was a good guideline,” said Philip Reed, senior consumer advice editor for the car site Edmunds.com. “But it’s no longer true for any car bought in the last seven or eight years.”
Oil chemistry and engine technology have improved to the point that most cars can go several thousand more miles before changing the oil, Mr. Reed said. A better average, he said, would be 7,500 between oil changes, and sometimes up to 10,000 miles or more.
- Sent using Google Toolbar"
SHOW #93 - NerdBoyTV: DecalGirl Phone Skins
In this episode of NerdBoyTV, Ryan Yee uses a cool skin from DecalGirl.com to spruce up the look of his old Blackberry Curve 8330.
Ryan & Nicholas on Labor Day Weekend
Picture 20
Originally uploaded by Ryan Yee.
This picture was taken with my Logitech ProCam 910 that takes HD video and nice photos. Nicholas was a good sport when I asked him to try the camera out with me.
Fighting Gravity is amazing on America's Got Talent 2010
These guys are simply amazing. You mark my words, "Fighting Gravity" is gonna be a headliner in Vegas someday real soon. They are AWESOME!
Date Night at Yoshi's with Brian McKnight
Date night! Maria took BART into the city and met me at SFO Airport. We took off to Yoshi's San Francisco on Fillmore and had a TERRIFIC sushi dinner and a 3-dessert sampler (I also had the sake sampler!!!). Then we saw Brian McKnight in the theater from the third row about 5 feet away; he was solo, just him and his piano/guitar for 90 minutes! WOW! What a show—and as you can see, we met him afterward. What a wonderful evening!And below is a clip I found on YouTube of Brian performing Stevie Wonder's "Overjoyed" that he also sang at Yoshi's that night...fantastic!
7 Millionaire Myths
Millionaire Myths: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance: "We all have are preconceptions about millionaires: they're tax evaders who just inherited their money from rich Aunt Flo, and they hang around the golf course all day with their snobby, elitist friends. So what's the average millionaire really like? Here are seven millionaire myths, and the real facts about the ones who seem to have it all.
NOTE from Ryan: I posted this one because I think we all could use a little reminder now and then about what constitutes "wealth." Sure made me pause to think...
- Sent using Google Toolbar"
NOTE from Ryan: I posted this one because I think we all could use a little reminder now and then about what constitutes "wealth." Sure made me pause to think...
- Sent using Google Toolbar"
OHS Class of 1980's 30th Reunion
A once-in-a-lifetime event that occurred Saturday, July 17, 2010, at the Oakland Marriott City Center. Pictures by Sherri Bullard-Wheeler.
Classmate Brenda Roy tore it up at our reunion!
Brenda Roy is a FANTASTIC singer. She was voted "Most Talented" by our high school senior class in 1980 and she is STILL the most talented in 2010! See for yourself! Go Brenda, Go Brenda...
PROM PICTURE: Maria & Ryan @ 30th Reunion
SLIDESHOW: Happy Fourth of July 2010
Here we are at Alex and Heidi's new house in Oakland. They have a wonderful, charming house with a big backyard for my niece, Ellie, to grow-up and play in. Congrats you two...
Happy Father's Day, Dad!
Should you pre-rinse your dishes before loading the dishwasher?
RYAN's NOTE: And to think I've been doing THIS for years? I'm gonna stop starting tonight! Should you pre-rinse your dishes before loading the dishwasher? on Shine: "Experts unanimously agree that you should NOT pre-rinse your dishes before loading the dishwasher.
Why not? Because your dishes will not get any cleaner if you rinse them before loading your dishwasher. Pre-rinsing is therefore a complete waste of time, water, energy, and money. And, in some cases, it can actually harm your glassware.
Still not convinced? Here are the details.
Dishes will not get any cleaner if you pre-rinse them.
Modern dishwashers and detergents have come a long way in the past couple of decades. 'You will not improve your wash performance one bit by pre-rinsing,' says John Dries, a mechanical engineer and owner of Dries Engineering, an appliance design consulting company. He points out that heavily soiled dishes are used in pre-market 'wash tests,' not pre-rinsed dishes.
In most cases, all you need to do is scrape your plates over a trashcan to get rid of bones or chunks of food. One caveat: It's a good idea to pre-soak pans or dishes that have something really burned on them. Pre-rinsing doesn't help in this situation.
Use the dishwasher's rinse cycle if you're not going to run your dishwasher immediately and are worried about the smell of sour food.
How about older dishwashers? 'People with any age dishwasher can feel comfortable knowing they don't need to pre-wash dishes before washing them in the dishwasher,' says Jill Notini, a spokesperson for the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers.
- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Maria & Ryan in the car
Maria & Ryan in the car
Originally uploaded by Ryan Yee.
Taken on a day-off from work after our 21st Anniversary with my funky old work Blackberry.
Out-of-work job applicants told unemployed need not apply
RYAN'S NOTE: This is really awful. Corporate America can be soooooooo evil!
Out-of-work job applicants told unemployed need not apply - Yahoo! Finance: "The last thing someone who is unemployed needs to be told is that they shouldn't even apply for the limited number of job openings that are available. But some companies and recruiters are doing just that.
Employment experts say they believe companies are increasingly interested only in applicants who already have a job.
'I think it is more prevalent than it used to be,' said Rich Thompson, vice president of learning and performance for Adecco Group North America, the world's largest staffing firm. 'I don't have hard numbers, but three out of the last four conversations I've had about openings, this requirement was brought up.'
Some job postings include restrictions such as 'unemployed candidates will not be considered' or 'must be currently employed.' Those explicit limitations have occasionally been removed from listings when an employer or recruiter is questioned by the media though.
That's what happened with numerous listings for grocery store managers throughout the Southeast posted by a South Carolina recruiter, Latro Consulting.
After CNNMoney called seeking comments on the listings last week, the restriction against unemployed candidates being considered came down. Latro Consulting refused to comment when contacted.
Sony Ericsson, a global phone manufacturer that was hiring for a new Georgia facility, also removed a similar restriction after local reporters wrote about it. According to reports, a Sony Ericsson spokesperson said that a mistake had been made.
- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Out-of-work job applicants told unemployed need not apply - Yahoo! Finance: "The last thing someone who is unemployed needs to be told is that they shouldn't even apply for the limited number of job openings that are available. But some companies and recruiters are doing just that.
Employment experts say they believe companies are increasingly interested only in applicants who already have a job.
'I think it is more prevalent than it used to be,' said Rich Thompson, vice president of learning and performance for Adecco Group North America, the world's largest staffing firm. 'I don't have hard numbers, but three out of the last four conversations I've had about openings, this requirement was brought up.'
Some job postings include restrictions such as 'unemployed candidates will not be considered' or 'must be currently employed.' Those explicit limitations have occasionally been removed from listings when an employer or recruiter is questioned by the media though.
That's what happened with numerous listings for grocery store managers throughout the Southeast posted by a South Carolina recruiter, Latro Consulting.
After CNNMoney called seeking comments on the listings last week, the restriction against unemployed candidates being considered came down. Latro Consulting refused to comment when contacted.
Sony Ericsson, a global phone manufacturer that was hiring for a new Georgia facility, also removed a similar restriction after local reporters wrote about it. According to reports, a Sony Ericsson spokesperson said that a mistake had been made.
- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Yee Boys Night Out at Giants Game
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Originally uploaded by Ryan Yee.
We had an awesome time last night at AT&T Park to see the SF Giants kick the Baltimore Orioles' butt, 10–2. Then we went to a late night carnival at Lot A and sneaked over to Oakland Chinatown for won ton takeout (hehehe). Got home slightly before midnight...nice.
Click on the picture to see slideshow.
Game 6 — Kobe Unguardable! Lakers into NBA Finals!
Awesome game! Lakers now roll into NBA Finals against Boston Celtics! Wow, gonna be a GREAT series. Go Lakers!
SLIDESHOW: Growing Up
Found these on an external hard drive...so many good memories. I have great kids ;-)
SLIDESHOW: Brothers & Sisters
As I get older, I realize more and more how lucky I am to have siblings. We don't always agree, but life is definitely a lot richer with them in it. Enjoy the trip down memory lane.
Peacock on My Roof
Ashley & Alexandra at Barney's Burgers in Oakland
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Originally uploaded by Ryan Yee.
TODAY is Alexandra's 17th Birthday! Wow, time sure flies. Here is Alex with her friend, Ashley, yesterday at Barney's Burgers on College Avenue in Oakland. We also walked along Telegraph Avenue, visited UC Berkeley, and drove to the Great Mall in Milpitas ;-)
Blogging at a McDonalds in the Mall...
It's a rainy Sunday afternoon...Maria and Cameron wanted to go to the mall. Ah, but I came prepared. With netbook, the Nook, a cellphone, and Verizon Wireless modem in hand, I've settled down comfortably here at a McDonald's here at Sun Valley and taking a moment to blog ;-)
Just saw that Bode Miller finally won a gold metal...will definitely have to watch the replay on NBC later tonight. I read a "movie spoiler" about Leonardo DeCaprio's new movie, "Shutter Island." Wow, what a surprise ending (hehehe).
Hope you're all staying dry...I'm gonna log into Slingbox now and watch the Olympics...I know, I'm SUCH a techie nerd! LOL
Just saw that Bode Miller finally won a gold metal...will definitely have to watch the replay on NBC later tonight. I read a "movie spoiler" about Leonardo DeCaprio's new movie, "Shutter Island." Wow, what a surprise ending (hehehe).
Hope you're all staying dry...I'm gonna log into Slingbox now and watch the Olympics...I know, I'm SUCH a techie nerd! LOL
Maria with our new niece, Ellie
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Originally uploaded by Ryan Yee.
We visited Alex and Heidi yesterday with the kids to see our week-old niece, Ellie Grace ;-) She was alert (but hungry) during our late-night visit, but no doubt about it...an absolute "cutie." And Maria hasn't forgotten how to change a diaper with lightening speed either
Ellie Grace Catapusan (born 2/10/2010)
Our new little niece is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! We are in L-O-V-E!
Alexandra as The Little Match Girl (2000)
Alexandra dancing in The Little Match Girl was definitely one of the highlights for me as a dad ;-) Even though she's a driving teenager now, she'll always be MY "Little Match Girl."
