Blueberry Pancakes

Today I was on Facebook and saw a comment on a friend’s post from someone I used to know in elementary school. That got me searching for other people that I remembered from elementary school. I didn't add or message any of them, but I did look on their pages to see how they were doing. Most seem to be doing OK which made me smile. It seems that when nothing exciting is happening in my life I like to look at the past and the good memories that come with it. Not that the past was perfect or anything, but just being able to remember the fun memories makes it a good rabbit hole to go down. Merry Christmas! I didn't do anything special, just went to my parents’ place for dinner and presents. Due to covid we couldn't really get together with anyone else, but it was nice just to see my parents. They cooked a delicious dinner and their presents to me were awesome.  Somehow they have managed to bring in an entire duck colony to feed. There is anywhere up to 50 ducks at a time. Wildl...

 Lately due to covid getting out of control again, we have been allowed to work at home if we can. Of course, we are still often going in, but now we aren't really required to show up at 8:00 AM even if we still have to clock in at that time. Being able to sleep in an extra 20 to 30 minutes has really improved my quality of life. The night owl in me really hates waking up so early and it's going to be hard to go back to going into the office all the time. Personally, I hate the small talk and answering the questions of “what did you do this weekend?” or “good morning, how are you?” A nice raise is coming to me this year so I guess I can't complain too much.  They have found and approved a vaccine for covid. Health care workers should be getting it soon so I am hoping to get mine. They still aren't sure if you can transmit the disease even after you have been vaccinated so I still won't be able to travel anywhere with restrictions. I hope I can get over to Taiwan soo...

Not sure how it's going to go but I've started talking to my friend about a business in buying real estate. We would buy houses and then rent them out to tenants. Hopefully we could get enough houses that we would have a solid line of real estate investments. Again, I'm not sure how far we will get into this, but real estate is always a solid investment so I'm hoping this goes well. Covid is still going strong, in fact it's stronger now in the US than it has been at any other time due to winter and people staying inside. They have supposedly found a vaccine that is set to be approved in the coming weeks with it going out to normal folk next year. It would be nice, I would like to do some traveling and be able to hug my parents again without fear of giving them the virus. Here’s hoping.

When you're in school it seems so easy to make friends. You are all forced to be at the same place for roughly 8 hours or more a day. It just seems natural that you would become friends with people around you. After school ends though, there isn't a whole lot holding you and your friends together, so oftentimes you slowly drift apart. Maybe you meet occasionally, but even that seems to slow down to a stop. In my mid 30s, I have one, maybe two people who actively try to hang out with me every once in a while. Other than that, the other people I would consider friends only hang out with me if I am the one inviting them. I still invite them because if I didn't, I'm not sure I would ever leave my apartment. Sometimes I try to reconnect with people on Facebook, but the people I try to reconnect with always have some reason to go after roughly 5 minutes of conversation. It makes me wonder why we are still Facebook friends. Why follow someone you don't really care about an...

I have a tradition that when I leave a place I have lived in for the final time, I stand in the doorway and just relive all the memories of that place. I then thank that place, and bow to it in gratitude. I am very thankful for all the memories and for allowing me to live with one of my best friends for three years. It was fun, and it's unfortunate that good times must come to an end, but such is life.  Thank you Campus Park Apartments #216. Fortunately, I found an apartment just down the street that is even closer to my work that I was before. Instead of a 10 minute walk, it's now a 6 minute walk. Instead of a 3 minute drive, it's now a 2 minute drive. 2020 has been an interesting year, but hopefully I can make some magic happen with these remaining three months.

The entire west coast seems to be on fire. I keep checking the evacuation maps to see how close it's getting to my parents. My friend Ike has already evacuated his home in Estacada with his family. Even up here in Vancouver the skies are filled with ash that is snowing down even though we aren't all that close to the fires. The year keeps getting crazier it seems like. On a positive note, I did manage to make a chicken and kimchi dish that I really like.

My second most favorite sound is the steady pat pat pat of rain drops crashing into the earth. The rain can't be too heavy or too light, it has to be just right, and it must maintain consistency. My favorite sound is nothing. Late at night when you go outside and there are no cars, no people, nothing man-made running and all you hear is the sound of nothing. Time stops for me for whatever reason when I hear nothing and I love it.  Right now there's not a sound going on outside my apartment and it's music to my ears. My favorite smell is the aroma of morning. It reminds me of getting up and waiting for the school bus in my elementary school days. There is also just something about the morning smell that smells so good. There is probably a scientific answer as to what it is, but I'm not sure of what it is. It's unfortunate that I am not a morning person.