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mcism
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Name: Minh
Birthday: 9/22/1982
Gender: Male
Interests: Travel, photography, hiking and packbacking, computer, snorkling, reading
My photography site: http//minhchau.smugmug.com
Expertise: getting lost
Occupation: Computer related
Industry: Computers (Software)
Message: message me
Website: visit my website
AIM:  SilentOfTheDay
Member Since:
7/15/2004
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| My baby Sushi learn how to fetch last night, sooo proud. Although he would run really funny, his hind legs run faster than his front legs and thus he would have to do a hop here and there and trip on himself once in a while which was kind of funny. He prefer that I low ball the tennis ball since he can't track it if you throw it high, he would get really excited in the begining but as he gets tire he will also get lazy and drop the ball half way; we'll have to work on that soon. Once he master fetching the tennis ball we'll move on to a flying object or something, hehe. On a different note, someone ask me why I don't blog about my gf and the answer is I prefer to keep that private just how I like it. | | |
| So for the last year and a half, my life was going very well, I got a job, school slowly but surely progressing and this is my last quarter at UC Riverside, my company joined IBM and I now work for IBM (I always wanted that), found the love of my life and just feel very content with all the great friends and family and so for a long time I was wondering when I will get the first bad luck event. Well, I got it last Friday Oct 13. My apt got BURGLARIZED. They broke in during the time that no one was home, we were at work, our neighboor was at work. I called the police, they came, make a report, and say "that's it, honestly you will not get your things back", and they left, they were honest enough to let us know and I think that's fine. The police gave us some advice for credit report to monitor identity theft, lock, etc so that help a little. The burglars took some of the most valuable items that I have (sentimental value and monetary).
My Canon DSLR (a high end camera, I do photography)
My photography lenses, 3 total to be exact: My Canon, my telephoto Sigma, my macro Sigma
and allllll of the photography accessories
My girlfriend's brand new Dell
My roomie's HP
2 watches, one was from girlfriend gave me for our 6 months, one was from my dad when he consider that I am old enough as a man to wear nice watch
My mp3 player
My gf digital camera
Roomie's watch
My camping flashlight
and various other items
Psychologically, my girlfriend now feel very unsafe, in our own house and that hurt me the most, I feel like I failed the one duty that guy should do: protect his love one. Being a wonderful girlfriend, she tried to tell me that it was not my fault, but I can't help blaming myself for not taking more measure to protect my home. My poor love, she sleep with tension, she would wake up with the smallest noise, and I would come running out with flashlight and baseball bat, I been checking every little noise in the house ever since and I don't know how long I can keep it up but it really get to you. I feel violated that someone break in my house, went through all my things, documents, and pretty much trashed my room. The worse thing is now I don't even feel safe in my own room, I sleep with the light on so that I can see what's going on outside in case I need to get my girlfriend to a safe place, I have multiple flashlights in various location, I have multiple weapons(legally of course) at various location also, I put locks (I know they won't help much, but shit I have to do it), I'm hooking up an alarm system, so if you are the burglar and you reading this fucker you know i'm ready, next time you try this shit I will fuck you up (ehhh, yes, i'm venting).
I talked to Loc, and Loc and I agreed it could have been a lot worse, if my girlfriend was home alone, or my roomie's gf was home, who know what could have happen, or even if I or my roomie was home, someone could have got hurt. I'm just glad that everyone is safe, other then that it fucken frustrating (I don't believe in profanity on my blog but man, can't help it this time). I been waking up in the middle of the night cause I heard something, man I don't know when I can sleep peacefully again. It really suck to know that I can't go take picture with the boys for a longggg time to come, and my girlfriend will really miss her laptop.
Tim asked if he should get a gun, and also Tim will sell me his shotgun (yes, Tim is a badass dude). His exact words was:
"fuckers, take out the entire front door"
Now, I firmly believe in a no gun policy in the home, and even after this, I still believe in a no gun at home policy so I'm not going to get a gun, but thanks Tim for offering, I appreciate it. Even though I'm not getting any gun, man I would really want to get my hand on that burglar, I won't feel any remorse if I have to burst his face open with my baseball bat, break his legs and his arms and every single bone in his body. I have not truly hate and want to harm anyone in my life, but this time it's exception, people that have no respect for other property and other safety have no place in this world, they belong in jail or execution row. It's one thing to hurt me, but making my girlfriend living in fear is another thing.
I guess out of this, something good came, I have friends offer to come over and "guard" the house, hehe, anh Phu aka Biggie and his wife chi. YK came last night right away, even though we ok they want to be there with us, they brought food over and talk to us, we love them. I do more research on apt and home safety and I'm trying my best to do as many of those things as I can, I hope from now until I can truly secure my apt nothing will happen. Here is some simple things you can do:
1. Get to know your neighboor, this is the most important thing. Most burglars either is your neighboor or were stopped by your neighboor. My next door folks is cool, but the one down stair is suspicious.
2. Secure all windows and locks. This mean that your front door lock should be double bolt reinforce against kicking or prying (you can buy steal plate that designed for this purpose, although if you rent then this is not an option). Main door should be solid wood, if not then get it, multiple locks with dead bolt that can only open from inside.
3. Glass window is the easiest force entry method since most people don't bother to secure them or leave them open for ventilation. Get a lock to safe guard against sliding (this is how my house was burglarize), what the thief would do is he would break open a small section so that he can opent he lock, then slide the window. So go to Home Depot. Get another lock to guard against vertical shifting where the thief can move the window up and out, this is harder but still you should guard against it.
4. For house, get motion detector for backdoor and install automatic light that can trigger by motion, secure all backdoor by lock and make sure pet door are safe (ie not too big).
5. Big glassdoor should be secure by multiple lock against sliding and shifting like window, if you have money, you can buy large sheet to coat it so that it won't break to piece but stay intact (cracked of course).
6. Alarm system: if you live in a house, go with a professional company that have centralize system, if you live in apartment like me, invest in a battery power system that doesn't cost much but would be very helpful, I got couple at 20$/piece.
7. How alarm system work: they either work by motion sensor or by sound frequency detection, or by magnetic sensing. A motion detection would trigger if someone walk into the zone that the sensor is cover, for frequency detection, this usually for glass window. If a glass window get break, the glass will give off a signature sound that have specific frequency in the waves (if you took physic then all of this you will recognize), the signature will then get detect by the main module and analyze by a small computer chip to see if it match the glass breakage frequency, if it match then the alarm will go off. Magnetic alarm work as fowllow: one piece will go on a fix mount point, the other will go on the window, if the window get slide thus the magnetic piece get slide then the distance between the two will change and there is where the detection come in. Invest in these piece will help to alert other.
8. Dogs and alarm: if you have them, try to get a sign that give warning for these.
That's some basic, if you want more you can google it, but remember a good neighboor is most valuable, they know your family and know who should be watch out for. Again, if the burglar really want to break into your house, nothing can stop them, what you are trying to do is to show the burglar that it is harder to break into your house without getting caught comparing to a house down the road and so they might as well go for the house down the road. I know, that sound mean but that is how things work. 70% of burglerize happen in broad day light between mornig till 5pm ish, since this is the time that everyone at work.
Anyway, I thought I wouldn't write here for a long time, but man I need to vent and I also want to post some stuff to help all the friends, I really don't want this to happen to anyone.
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| And here is a tribute to his single life, which ceased to exist last night May 27, 2006. Officially GAME OVER !
Đời trai, nay đã thôi rồi
Tin mày lấy vợ, rụng rời lòng tao
Đang bay nhẫy, sướng biết bao
Tự nhiên mày lại .... vướng vào vợ
con
Vợ con là cái lồng son
Đường vào thì có, chẳng còn đường ra
Vợ mày là con người ta
Nghĩ mày với nó, chẳng bà con chi
Con gái là cái quái gì ?
Mà mày mê mệt, mày đi vào tròng
Thuyền quyên là bẫy anh hùng
Bao người đã chết, mày không thấy à ?
Ngày xưa mày vẩn ba hoa
Thằng nào ngu mới ... bị sa lưới tình
Giờ đây cáo đà thành tinh
Đã thấy bẫy sập, còn xin được vào
Độc thân thì sướng biết bao
Bao nhiêu con gái đua nhau lôi mời
Bây giờ đã vợ con rồi
Đi về khai báo, chạy trời khỏi mưa ?
Tiền lương tháng tháng phải đưa
Tiềng xài mua sắm, phải thưa với bà
Thân trai rửa bát, quét nhà
Vợ kêu thì dạ, còn ra nỗi gì ? (Vợ kêy thì bảo, bẩm bà có
em!)
Bạn bè rủ nhậu, chẳng đi
Sợ về nằm đất, tối thì ... điếc tai
Hu hu, ơ hỡi mày ơi !!!
Kể như tao khóc cho đời bạn tao !!!!!
My apologies if you cannot read Vietnamese.
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| I haven't update in a long time it passed that 6 months period so here is another update. I been working a lot lately, both at my day time job and consulting projects on the side. I finally done with my latest project and delivered it and it felt good. I stopped by Thang office to visit him and talk to him a bit, hang in there bro, you'll be ok. As I was driving home with the window down and sticking my head out of the car window like usual (yes, not the smartest way to drive, but I love the wind in my hair) I felt happy, not the kind of tsunami rushing, whirlwind kind of happy but the deep and smooth powerful and yet peaceful happiness. I am at peace with myself. I finally starting to see what the Buddha and my Zen book mean, when you at peace with yourself, you'll be happy regardless of what you have to face. "Know yourself, understand yourself and be at peace with yourself" is finally starting to sink in, and that is what I will try to do. Summer is coming, and that mean long travel road trip for me, last year I was somewhere up and down the West coast of the US, getting lost in forest and watching the moose, I don't know where I will be this year but my heart ache for the open sky and the blue moon, we'll see. To end a very sentimental post, here is my favorite quote from Aeschylus (also happen to be Robert Kennedy's favorite quote):
"He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep, pain that cannot
forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair,
against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God." --
Aeschylus
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| The Evil Secret Coalition
So it's just another day at work yesterday right?
pretty much. I got some IM to wish me happy birthday here and there and
it was really sweet of all the friends. Got out of work and just
driving home early and come to Quyen's place. She came home, we talked
for a bit and Quyen told me she have to pick up her lil cousin so she
will have to meet up with me and Giang later for my dinner (Giang
wanted to take me out for my bday). No problem. I came to Giang house
and start driving her to TGIF, we got there, order some appertizer,
main dishes and such and sit and talk for a while. After an hour
without seeing my better looking half, I called her and she went back
home instead of going to the restaurant so I was like "hmm, okk?? that
is strange". Called her back again and ask if she is ok and we'll go
home and bring her something, and she suddenly said she want me to come
home right away in a worry voice. So here I am, sitting at TGIF about
to have my birthday dinner and my gf wanted me to come home right away,
so this must be serious? is she ok? is everything ok at home? am I in
trouble ?????  but no time to think about
those thing. So off I rushed home with Giang, worrying and anxious, got
home and she open the gate and didn't even wake up to the car, she just
walk straight back to the apt, ok, I am in deep trouble, since she
usually run to the car and get in and give me hugs and kisses, but what
am I in trouble for???? I been nothing but a most innocent and kind
persona, hahahaha  . So I rushed up the
stair and run into her arm and asking if she is ok, what's wrong and
she told me that she's mad cause I went out and eat, when she bought
food home, and there it is all these food on the table. But I thought I
told you that we going to have dinner with Giang already hon??? didn't
we plan to go eat with friend? ok, i'm confuseeeeeeeeee now, thought I
had the clearance, but then again girl are confusing and difficult. So
while i'm standing there scratching my head trying to think of a way to
bail myself out of trouble, I just happen to turned my head to the left
and lo and behold out of now where and from the dark, something jumped
at me, what is it?
is it a bird? is it a plane? is it a flying pig? is it a running rabbit?
NOOooo, it's BichLy (Brittney), Loc, Vanessa, Chris, Nhan and a roaring "Surpriseeee !!!!"
Damn, I actually jumped up with my hand moving outward to protect
myself, damn right it's a surprise. Holy cow, my first surprise bday
party from my gf, awww, she put all these effort into it to tricked me  ,
hehe, you the best hon. Lol, yup they got me good alright, turned out
everyone knew about it, Loc, Biggie, Kim Chi, Tammy, the whole gang !!!
no wonder they been smiling and smirking at me the whole day. Tammy
came over, anh Thang came over, Biggie and his YK came too. Aww, thanks
gang, for all the presents and wishes, this is the best gift ever. And
thanks to my baby for going through hoops to put this together for me.
You're the best hon.
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