names are a changing.  my coworker's kids are named john and matthew and are apparently the only (!) kids in their pre-school school (ages 2-4 yrs) with those names.  meanwhile, there are four "aidens" and a slew of children with last names for first names.  kids named harrison, hunter, madison, logan, etc.  nowadays, it's "this is my son brayden and this is our dog jeff."

i'm a bit concerned about my health insurance plan.  i keep reading that private companies are leaning towards dropping company sponsored health insurance plans and paying a minimal fine to drop workers to the govt plan.  we have companies in our portfolio whose insurance costs are increasing 20% this year as insurers start raising premiums in anticipation of obamacare.  the CFO of one of our companies is telling me they may drop insurance altogether bc it's cheaper to pay the fine.  if this trend takes hold, we'll all be on something akin to medicare and will see rationed care and less choice.

holy moly, i totally forgot i had this site.  thanks DC for having a link to jack in the bottom corner of your last post.  apologies to all for the crappy previous posts.

so what's new since a year and a half ago?  well, still working at the same place.  it's been 2 yrs, and we haven't blown up yet.  but it's coming.  i can see the beginnings of it now.

i finally had surgery to repair a bum shoulder and have been doing brazilian jiu jitsu ever since (almost a year).  one thing i've noticed is i'm one of the oldest and heaviest in my class.  it's fun, except when i slip on a wet patch of the mat (sweat) or when someone is on top of me and his sweat drops directly onto my eyeball.  i've been on the giving end of those a couple times and had to suppress a smile or two.  i've become quite good at something called an omoplata, which i can rip off with surprising ease.  it's also one of my favorite words to say.

my work hours are 9 to 530pm so i cook more and watch a whole host of TV shows, which i never had time for before.  perhaps i've gone soft in my old age and need to jump back into something more intense.  my thought of the day.

Belated 25 Things

Every firm I work for blows up somehow... am currently trying my darndest to stave off the inevitable.

I am very into washing my hands, esp w foaming hand soap.  Not OCD, but maybe like 10-12x per day.

Star Wars, Transformers, GI Joe.  In that order.

I once ate 14 taco bell tacos about half an hour after eating a bowl of bibimbap at church.  I used to eat an entire bucket of KFC for dinner sometimes.  Wow.

Call me an asiaphile, but I think chi paos are hot.  HOT.

Everything I know, I’ve learned from educational TV programs and magazines.  The Da Vinci code and Wind Up Bird Chronicle are probably the only books I’ve read since college.  I’ll read the crap outta the Economist or Foreign Policy, tho.

I'm the only person I know never to have had an ipod.

I used to work 90-95 hr weeks, week after week, month after month, until the credit crisis ended the madness and saved my life.  Thank you, Barney Frank.  Thank you, his lover at Fannie Mae.

My favorite Madonna song is take a bow.  No kidding.  Too bad she has no talent.  Maybe some mysticism and spells will help her find some.

I think I believe that ghosts are just distortions that allow us to sense other dimensions.  Not sure why I think that but somehow I do.

Sometimes I fear developing Alzheimer’s in my old age and only remembering the following sequences: 007 373 5963 and up up down down left right left right B A Select Start.

My favorite food of all time was the old Pizza Hut Supreme, circa 1980-1990, when they made the crust all oily and deep fried.

I think the Hills is the worst show on TV.  Just hate it.  It reminds of so much that is wrong about this country.

I work next to a kid whose dad made a $110mm bonus in one year at my old firm.  Dang, why won’t he pay for breakfast?

I have poor hearing and ringing ears from listening to music WAY TOO LOUD while driving way too fast in hs.  Smashing Pumpkins and Chili Peppers, among other things.

My dad is as lazy as I am and overslept the day he was to report for the military.  Still, he claims to have had a near photographic memory and managed to go to the best HS and college in Korea without ever studying.  My hero.

When I was about 7 or 8, I had a spinal tap to check for meningitis.  No biggie.

Nobody can beat me in RBI baseball.

I was awake for a tissue biopsy a few yrs back and could feel the drip drip of my insides bleeding.

In my next life, I’ll be Italian and riding a red Ducati Monster.

I prefer live hockey games and televised football games.

I love what I do.  Not necessarily my current firm, but just in general.  I love what I do and I think I'm good at it.

Hockey left me with concussion problems and a torn labrum.

One or two diet cokes every week day.

My favorite song right now is live your life by TI.  the yodeling in the beginning is catchy.

here we go again...