Tuesday, March 31, 2009
A Bad Month?
You bet. This has not been too fun a month at all. USBank still continues to leech maintenance fees from me, American Airlines just plain sucks, and I'm up past midnight ranting =_= Oh, almost forgot. There's a supposedly deadly virus that will be spreading on April Fool's Day, so I probably should shut my computer down until April 2nd. I made sure to pay all my bills today so I will be ok even if something should happen. I can't believe April is almost here. I need to start studying for my exams soon =_= *sigh* Oh joy.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Do Not Fly With American Airlines
I repeat: Do Not Fly With American Airlines, for they have pissed me off tremendously this morning.
Almost all e-tickets are nonrefundable no matter what you do. They won't credit you or anything, and ask for a hefty cancellation fee. Yes, so it's my own fault for jumping the gun and buying plane tickets with another airline, but if not for the fact they didn't send me a confirmation letter straight away, I would not be freaking out last night.
So here is the story:
I go onto American Airlines' website last night to book tickets for my great aunt and uncle, and then there was a glitch so I lost all my information and had no idea what the ticket even looked like. I got no confirmation letter and was freaking out, so I called a representative who said that it never entered their system, etc. Well, then I can't wait that long for a ticket in limbo while the ticket prices are climbing so I went ahead and went to AlaskaAirlines and bought the tickets there for my relatives. They were much more expensive, but I got better seats for them. So here I was thinking that life would be fine 'cause I did get that confirmation from Alaska. So off to bed I go.
I wake the next morning (now), and see another confirmation email and this time, it's from AA. I freaked out. I immediately called the airline to see how much it would cost to cancel and they're like "$150." I get pretty pissed of course, because if not for the fact that their system is a piece of sh*t, I wouldn't even have gone to buy tickets elsewhere. I'm so frustrated and angry with them right now. Any company that has a faulty web system should be shot. This includes the lovely USBank, which I have decided to destroy my accounts as soon as I get home. So, I'll take a dent in my credit, oh well. I can't stand people trying to slip money from underneath me anymore, it just pisses me off so badly.
But the moral of the story is: do not open an account at USBank and do not fly with American Airlines. You will be in less mental & financial agony, trust me. I'm about to cry, because I just lost $200 down the wazoo. I don't think I'm going to tell my parents about it either =_=. They'll be out for blood. But I really needed to vent this, so I wrote here. *sigh* Why is life so mean recently?
Almost all e-tickets are nonrefundable no matter what you do. They won't credit you or anything, and ask for a hefty cancellation fee. Yes, so it's my own fault for jumping the gun and buying plane tickets with another airline, but if not for the fact they didn't send me a confirmation letter straight away, I would not be freaking out last night.
So here is the story:
I go onto American Airlines' website last night to book tickets for my great aunt and uncle, and then there was a glitch so I lost all my information and had no idea what the ticket even looked like. I got no confirmation letter and was freaking out, so I called a representative who said that it never entered their system, etc. Well, then I can't wait that long for a ticket in limbo while the ticket prices are climbing so I went ahead and went to AlaskaAirlines and bought the tickets there for my relatives. They were much more expensive, but I got better seats for them. So here I was thinking that life would be fine 'cause I did get that confirmation from Alaska. So off to bed I go.
I wake the next morning (now), and see another confirmation email and this time, it's from AA. I freaked out. I immediately called the airline to see how much it would cost to cancel and they're like "$150." I get pretty pissed of course, because if not for the fact that their system is a piece of sh*t, I wouldn't even have gone to buy tickets elsewhere. I'm so frustrated and angry with them right now. Any company that has a faulty web system should be shot. This includes the lovely USBank, which I have decided to destroy my accounts as soon as I get home. So, I'll take a dent in my credit, oh well. I can't stand people trying to slip money from underneath me anymore, it just pisses me off so badly.
But the moral of the story is: do not open an account at USBank and do not fly with American Airlines. You will be in less mental & financial agony, trust me. I'm about to cry, because I just lost $200 down the wazoo. I don't think I'm going to tell my parents about it either =_=. They'll be out for blood. But I really needed to vent this, so I wrote here. *sigh* Why is life so mean recently?
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Fushigi Yuugi
I got bored last night and then I decided, "Hey, let's watch Fushigi Yuugi!" I know that Araki Kae has a squeaky and annoying voice, and Miaka is not exactly role model material -- then again, she's only 15 you know =_=; -- but I really wanted to watch it. I was reading up on the Genbu series since I'm pretty behind with the story now, and then I just really wanted to read the first series, but all the books are back at home. I still need to buy the series in Japanese and English. Yes, while Fushigi Yuugi may not be the best manga series in the world, it definitely has sentimental value to me.
The reason why I was able to get back into manga at all is because of Watase Yuu's art style. I remember reading that series and saying "My god, this is the most beautiful style I've seen to date." I liked CLAMP, Watsuki Nobuhiro, Takeuchi Naoko, Matsushita Yoko, Soryu Fuyumi, Yuki Kaori, and a few other mangaka, but Watase Yuu really stood out. I was so in love with her style that I bought the entire FY series in Chinese -- which was what I could read best at the time and VIZ was still publishing the volumes in reverse, so that's why I did it. But her artwork was what helped me set my style and helped me draw really good patterns and poses. Now that I have a tablet, I think I've lost my touch with old-fashioned sketching and actual drawing. I wish I could go back to the old days in a way, but I'm too focused on keeping it looking perfect so it'll be a process.
Now that the story is being published in bunko format, I'm really considering buying it again... maybe ^_^;
The reason why I was able to get back into manga at all is because of Watase Yuu's art style. I remember reading that series and saying "My god, this is the most beautiful style I've seen to date." I liked CLAMP, Watsuki Nobuhiro, Takeuchi Naoko, Matsushita Yoko, Soryu Fuyumi, Yuki Kaori, and a few other mangaka, but Watase Yuu really stood out. I was so in love with her style that I bought the entire FY series in Chinese -- which was what I could read best at the time and VIZ was still publishing the volumes in reverse, so that's why I did it. But her artwork was what helped me set my style and helped me draw really good patterns and poses. Now that I have a tablet, I think I've lost my touch with old-fashioned sketching and actual drawing. I wish I could go back to the old days in a way, but I'm too focused on keeping it looking perfect so it'll be a process.
Now that the story is being published in bunko format, I'm really considering buying it again... maybe ^_^;
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
To Hell With USBank!
The banks and their money-making schemes is why they all deserve to be suffering and bought out by more successful institutions than themselves. For instance... USBank has finally caused me to snap my temper. While I wasn't looking and enjoying my lovely new accounts at Wells Fargo, they increased the bloody minimum balance in the savings account so I was literally being punished these past two months by not having over $300 in my savings account. What kind of messed up rubbish is that!? You would think that one would get some fair warning about the change, but no. They charge once, get away with it and then do it again. Next thing I know, the minimum balance will be $500 and all my money will be at Wells Fargo, so how in the world am I going to send money into that account without getting charged any transaction fees!? Yes, I can manually withdraw the cash from an ATM and deposit the dough into my USBank accounts, but I don't live near one and why the hell should I go through the trouble of all that anyway!?
But here is why I won't cancel my USBank account no matter how ridiculous and piece-of-sh*t obnoxious it is : 'cause I have sky-high excellent and stellar credit.
The world made it impossible to save us fools from putting money in the bank and then taking it all out from them jackasses without getting totally ripped off 'cause they chuck cancellation fees into our faces and then mercilessly stomp on our excellent credit till there's absolutely nothing left. Yes, one too many times have I heard horror stories of good credit getting thrown down the wazoo because of people wanting to eliminate an extra account. But people wouldn't even consider canceling their account had that bank been good in the first place. What kind of sneaky, irresponsible and downright dishonest company does such a thing!?
Well, I hope Wells Fargo buys them out so my accounts can consolidate themselves. So here's my message to USBank: you have been officially condemned and I wish you a lovely journey in hell.
But here is why I won't cancel my USBank account no matter how ridiculous and piece-of-sh*t obnoxious it is : 'cause I have sky-high excellent and stellar credit.
The world made it impossible to save us fools from putting money in the bank and then taking it all out from them jackasses without getting totally ripped off 'cause they chuck cancellation fees into our faces and then mercilessly stomp on our excellent credit till there's absolutely nothing left. Yes, one too many times have I heard horror stories of good credit getting thrown down the wazoo because of people wanting to eliminate an extra account. But people wouldn't even consider canceling their account had that bank been good in the first place. What kind of sneaky, irresponsible and downright dishonest company does such a thing!?
Well, I hope Wells Fargo buys them out so my accounts can consolidate themselves. So here's my message to USBank: you have been officially condemned and I wish you a lovely journey in hell.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Plane Ticket Home
So I bought my one-way plane ticket back to Oregon today and I'm kind of looking forward to going back and visiting family. My parents are going to drop my car off up in the Portland area and when I get back on the 16th, my aunt will come pick me up and then I'll drive back down to see my family in Eugene. I'm really stoked about this, though I wish I requested more days off... But I kind of wanted to save my vacation days for later on in the year so that's why I only decided on two work days rather than a week or something.
The time change has been doing me some good actually, I really like the time becoming normal again. I remember hating it when I was a student, but now that I'm in the working world, I really enjoy getting up in the morning and feeling like it's actually morning with the sun still rising rather than the sun making its way towards noon already. I like the cool, brisk walk to work and that extra hour of sunshine after I get off. I know that the days will start lengthening as the temperature starts warming up from the seasonal change, but I kind of like it how it is right now.
I've decided to stick it out for a year living at where I am right now 'cause then I can save some money as opposed to moving out... but I still really want to go and live in a studio. Maybe my mindset will change after I bring my car down here. I'll have more chances to look around for places and I can move my things in, etc. I really would like a place that I can live at and feel right at home. I can relax, not worry about other people when I get home and just feel relaxed. I'm starting to adjust here though... but a place to myself would be a bit more comfortable, I guess. We'll see what happens in the next few months to come.
Anyway, just thought I'd pop in for a sec. I'm feeling pretty sleepy so going to go take a shower and sleep~
The time change has been doing me some good actually, I really like the time becoming normal again. I remember hating it when I was a student, but now that I'm in the working world, I really enjoy getting up in the morning and feeling like it's actually morning with the sun still rising rather than the sun making its way towards noon already. I like the cool, brisk walk to work and that extra hour of sunshine after I get off. I know that the days will start lengthening as the temperature starts warming up from the seasonal change, but I kind of like it how it is right now.
I've decided to stick it out for a year living at where I am right now 'cause then I can save some money as opposed to moving out... but I still really want to go and live in a studio. Maybe my mindset will change after I bring my car down here. I'll have more chances to look around for places and I can move my things in, etc. I really would like a place that I can live at and feel right at home. I can relax, not worry about other people when I get home and just feel relaxed. I'm starting to adjust here though... but a place to myself would be a bit more comfortable, I guess. We'll see what happens in the next few months to come.
Anyway, just thought I'd pop in for a sec. I'm feeling pretty sleepy so going to go take a shower and sleep~
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
I Want a Dog
After I move out and settle in to a new place, I would like to be able to get a dog. Probably not right away, but I would love to be able to get a small dog that is very quiet and isn't hard to train. Hopefully not much of a shedder, doesn't need me to be by its side all the time, not too expensive, doesn't need to be outdoors too much, and loves people. I thought about a coton de tulear, yorkies, small terriers, and a few other breeds, but can't seem to pinpoint one that's good for me. I wish I had someone to help me take care of the little animal while I'm away at work T__T. *sigh* I just don't know if I have time or money to take care of one right now, but someday, I would really like to have a dog down here. Our family beagle should just live out her life in Oregon, I would like to be able to get a puppy down here.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Japantown
So my friend, Iris, and I went to Japantown today to do some shopping and have lunch. We both had quite a hard time getting up this morning so we ended up getting there late, but we were lucky and got a parking spot on Geary so things were good. We went inside a little supermarket and decided to go back later when we're about to go home since there's lots of refrigerated foods that we wanted to get.
And then, since both of us hadn't eaten yet, we stopped in at Mifune's and had soba & udon. I got tempura soba and it was so good. The croquettes were good too *__* Iris and I shared a hot sake and tried some shochu, but we both weren't fond of the shochu so that was the only thing we really didn't touch much throughout the meal -- in my opinion, it tastes like watered down tequilla. Anyway, it was really early in the day for too much alcohol so we both ended up passing on the glass of shochu, but we finished the hot sake though ^__^ For me, it took a lot of effort to finish the sake 'cause by the time we had half a jar left, we were both so stuffed from food that it was difficult to handle any more solids or liquids in the body. Also, my body was still trying to detox from Friday night when we went to a local bar in town and got a little too smashed for our own goods =_=; so I didn't want to drink too much today. Hot sake is good though *__*
After lunch, both of us were sleepy 'cause the amount of food they give us is incredible =_= We walked around and stopped in this store called Amiko that sells the cutest shirts and purses. Iris and I couldn't resist and bought a bag each. We visited just about every store in the building that Kinokuniya's in and also headed downstairs to the manga department. I bought "Kinou Nani ga Tabeta?" by Yoshinaga Fumi (volumes 1 & 2) and Junjyo Romantica 11 by Nakamura Shungiku (yes, I read yaoi, get over it if it bothers you XP). The yaoi section's all the way in the back and there's both English and Japanese. I tend to just buy the Japanese volumes since I'm pretty up-to-date on the stories and English versions take longer plus are overly-priced. I usually wait a year to buy some series since the prices usually drop online for the English versions. I wanted to buy more, but I really need to be economical and not buy so much stuff.
We wanted to get crepes today, but lunch filled us up so much that the sweet smell of creme and crepe just made us queasy and we had to move away from the shop. Next time we go, we'll stop in the crepe shop for lunch is what we decided... though Iris really wanted Taiyaki and the shop that sells them closes earlier than the crepe shop, so maybe we should do Taiyaki shop for lunch and crepe for dessert?? Well... we'll figure it out eventually.
There's a great Korean BBQ place on Geary Blvd that we went to last week (or was it the week before?) and they serve so much food that it's insane. We shared two entrees and got all these extra side dishes and the total was only around $30 so we both paid like $15. Today, we had alcohol so that's why our bill at Mifune was higher, but food in the Japantown area is really nice. We still have another block or so in Japantown to explore and tons of shops left to eat at lol ^__^ Since I love my manga, I'll be Kinokuniya's newest regular lol ^__^; Well... I would go there more often if it were more convenient.
After shopping at Kinokuniya and running away from the crepe shop upstairs, we crossed the skybridge over to another crepe shop where they have bubble tea so we took a break and had some before going off to the Japanese supermarket to buy groceries. We kind of went nuts there and we got lots of stuff. I bought some ponzu sauce, togarashi bonito furikake (and it's so good), melon pan, a bottle of green tea ('cause I was kind of thirsty at the time), a box of bonito stock for making miso soup, a creamy crab & a veggie croquette set, men's pocky, a bag of veggie chips, and strawberry daifuku. Iris got some miso, wakame, soba, and some other things. We both got our share of stuff for cooking together and I kind of just added to my collection of cooking ingredients ^__^;
We made miso soup Saturday night since I had miso and she had some miso mix. I went over to the grocery store across from where I live to pick up a brick of soft tofu and buy some more eggs so we could make it tastier XD~ She brought over the rest of her French green beans, which had to go soon, and I cooked those with some beef soup that I drained out of a Progresso can (it's the roast beef type, I ate the meat & veggies earlier that day with rice without the soup since I use the broth for cooking sometimes), and I also made some rice so we ate at my place.
Later, Iris was watching an ice-cream special on the travel channel so we started craving ice-cream and walked back over across the street to buy some Ben & Jerry's FroYo. I got the cherry garcia since I love cherries and she got the half-baked kind. It was a nice little dinner and it was pretty chill since we were both kind of detoxing from the night before. We were originally going to go to Japantown on Saturday, but we were both so drained that we elected to go Sunday instead. Well, the weekend was fun and I think we'll be getting less of them as April 15 comes creeping by so we can only enjoy them while we can.
And then, since both of us hadn't eaten yet, we stopped in at Mifune's and had soba & udon. I got tempura soba and it was so good. The croquettes were good too *__* Iris and I shared a hot sake and tried some shochu, but we both weren't fond of the shochu so that was the only thing we really didn't touch much throughout the meal -- in my opinion, it tastes like watered down tequilla. Anyway, it was really early in the day for too much alcohol so we both ended up passing on the glass of shochu, but we finished the hot sake though ^__^ For me, it took a lot of effort to finish the sake 'cause by the time we had half a jar left, we were both so stuffed from food that it was difficult to handle any more solids or liquids in the body. Also, my body was still trying to detox from Friday night when we went to a local bar in town and got a little too smashed for our own goods =_=; so I didn't want to drink too much today. Hot sake is good though *__*
After lunch, both of us were sleepy 'cause the amount of food they give us is incredible =_= We walked around and stopped in this store called Amiko that sells the cutest shirts and purses. Iris and I couldn't resist and bought a bag each. We visited just about every store in the building that Kinokuniya's in and also headed downstairs to the manga department. I bought "Kinou Nani ga Tabeta?" by Yoshinaga Fumi (volumes 1 & 2) and Junjyo Romantica 11 by Nakamura Shungiku (yes, I read yaoi, get over it if it bothers you XP). The yaoi section's all the way in the back and there's both English and Japanese. I tend to just buy the Japanese volumes since I'm pretty up-to-date on the stories and English versions take longer plus are overly-priced. I usually wait a year to buy some series since the prices usually drop online for the English versions. I wanted to buy more, but I really need to be economical and not buy so much stuff.
We wanted to get crepes today, but lunch filled us up so much that the sweet smell of creme and crepe just made us queasy and we had to move away from the shop. Next time we go, we'll stop in the crepe shop for lunch is what we decided... though Iris really wanted Taiyaki and the shop that sells them closes earlier than the crepe shop, so maybe we should do Taiyaki shop for lunch and crepe for dessert?? Well... we'll figure it out eventually.
There's a great Korean BBQ place on Geary Blvd that we went to last week (or was it the week before?) and they serve so much food that it's insane. We shared two entrees and got all these extra side dishes and the total was only around $30 so we both paid like $15. Today, we had alcohol so that's why our bill at Mifune was higher, but food in the Japantown area is really nice. We still have another block or so in Japantown to explore and tons of shops left to eat at lol ^__^ Since I love my manga, I'll be Kinokuniya's newest regular lol ^__^; Well... I would go there more often if it were more convenient.
After shopping at Kinokuniya and running away from the crepe shop upstairs, we crossed the skybridge over to another crepe shop where they have bubble tea so we took a break and had some before going off to the Japanese supermarket to buy groceries. We kind of went nuts there and we got lots of stuff. I bought some ponzu sauce, togarashi bonito furikake (and it's so good), melon pan, a bottle of green tea ('cause I was kind of thirsty at the time), a box of bonito stock for making miso soup, a creamy crab & a veggie croquette set, men's pocky, a bag of veggie chips, and strawberry daifuku. Iris got some miso, wakame, soba, and some other things. We both got our share of stuff for cooking together and I kind of just added to my collection of cooking ingredients ^__^;
We made miso soup Saturday night since I had miso and she had some miso mix. I went over to the grocery store across from where I live to pick up a brick of soft tofu and buy some more eggs so we could make it tastier XD~ She brought over the rest of her French green beans, which had to go soon, and I cooked those with some beef soup that I drained out of a Progresso can (it's the roast beef type, I ate the meat & veggies earlier that day with rice without the soup since I use the broth for cooking sometimes), and I also made some rice so we ate at my place.
Later, Iris was watching an ice-cream special on the travel channel so we started craving ice-cream and walked back over across the street to buy some Ben & Jerry's FroYo. I got the cherry garcia since I love cherries and she got the half-baked kind. It was a nice little dinner and it was pretty chill since we were both kind of detoxing from the night before. We were originally going to go to Japantown on Saturday, but we were both so drained that we elected to go Sunday instead. Well, the weekend was fun and I think we'll be getting less of them as April 15 comes creeping by so we can only enjoy them while we can.
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