Great Greek

I've lived in Los Angeles for a week now and I would say that it has been a wonderful experience. The food is delicious, the people are friendly, and traffic really is not a big deal. My new job is awesome as well although I'm going to be doing more traveling that I originally expected. I would say that my most enjoyable experience so far has been eating at the Great Greek with some my new friends in the valley. The resturant looks like your average eatery until the staff and owners began dancing, singing, and playing instruments.

I love it here in Los Angeles; I would say that the quality of my life has been enhanced 3 fold not because I make more money but because I truly believe that I can live a healthier lifestyle with greater freedom at work and endless opporunties for personal growth. Although I've yet to build solid friendship, I think that over the next several months as I find my niche I can root a network of friendships that I can grow.

some new friends I had dinner with on over the weekend

Baby got Book!!!

Although religious, the video below is the funniest homemade video I've seen in awhile. Enjoy!!

Hammer has a blog site

A good friend of mine is now a blogger. His name is Hammer and he is one of the most courageous and committed men that I have gotten the opportunity to call my friend. Two years ago when he injured his knee he didn't let the hardship dampen his spirit or even stop him from taking a 3 day vacation to Vancouver BC with me. No matter how much chaos is going on in my life or his, I know that Hammer will be a friend to the end.

me and hammer at a sushi bar in vancouver b.c. (summer 2004)

Winning the lottery will change your life for better or worse

TAMPA Tribune - Rhoda Toth didn't want her husband, Alex, to spend his last few dollars on a lottery ticket 16 years ago, and even after they won $13 million, she had a bad feeling, she says.
Now the money's gone, and so are most of their friends. Their house was foreclosed on two years ago. They live in a trailer in Hudson with no electricity or running water, and they said most of their family isn't talking to them.

On Wednesday, IRS agents arrested them and charged them with filing false tax returns. The government wants more than $500,000 from them. They could not afford to hire attorneys, so a judge appointed lawyers to represent them. "They lied on their return, and they tried to get a big fat refund from the government," said Internal Revenue Service spokesman Norman C. Meadows. "That's the harm, basically." "I wish I could give it all back," said Rhoda Toth, 49, talking about the lottery money outside the federal courthouse after pleading not guilty to charges of lying on tax returns for three years. "The life we led before the lottery, we were still happy."

Beneath each eye, Rhoda has a tattoo of a small tear, one for each of her deceased parents, she said. As she spoke, she cradled arms bandaged because of nerve damage. She said she suffered a brain injury when she fell outside a supermarket and hit her head. She owns a bar but said it's sporadically open and closed. The employees live off tips, she told a judge.

Alex Toth, 58, said he is receiving Social Security disability income since he was injured in an automobile accident in 2000. He's also had a few previous tangles with the law; his record
includes passing bad checks and growing marijuana.

What happened to their winnings from Florida Lotto?
"All the money is gone. From family and kids and stuff, it's all gone," Alex Toth told U.S. Magistrate Thomas B. McCoun III. Outside the courthouse, Rhoda Toth said, "It was given away. It was gambled. It was both. We traveled. We went places most people will never see," places like Lake Tahoe.

"I'd give it all back to have us a little home, a little tin-can car to drive around," she said. "If I could reverse the time and go back, I would. It would be so much different." Assistant U.S. Attorney Dennis Moore told the judge, "We have no evidence that the defendants have any assets."

In 1996, Rhoda Toth had a public falling-out with her son, Steven Michael Moser. She accused him in court of threatening her after she stopped giving him money. She said Wednesday that she and her son have since patched things up. She said he tries to help her, but there's not much he can do with a wife and a new baby.

The couple said Rhoda sued Alex over control of the money. They worked it out, they said, and are still together. But none of his children talk to him. Rhoda Toth said when the money was rolling in, they gave one of her cousins a new house and a car. Now that they're broke, the cousin won't even return their calls. None of the people they helped are there for them now, she said.

The lottery money was supposed to be spread out over 20 years, but the couple said they sold the annuity to pay debts. Neighbors near their trailer on Brenda Street in Hudson said the couple has gotten electricity by leaving a car running and rigging it with an extension cord from the engine. "I can't imagine anybody living in those conditions in this day and age," Laura Fender, 78, who lives across the street. "I can understand people being very poor. I can't understand somebody winning the lottery and they can't have electricity and water. There's something screwy with that."

thanks Hurricane Dustin for highlighting this story on your blog

First Day at the Gas Company

The first day at the office went smoothly. The commute from the valley to downtown Los Angeles during rush hour only took about one hour compared to 30 minutes when there's light traffic. Personally I won't mind working downtown rather than the satellite office in Chatsworth-basically my supervisor said that it was really up to me to decide which office suits me best for my activities day to day.

XXX (i'm not going to use the proper name--to prevent this blog from popping up in google search) is a great company with a level of employee diversity that would be difficult to beat. It seems that a large percentage of the staff, maybe 3 out of 10, are contract or temporary rather than permanent employees of the gas company nonetheless everyone seems to be happy and enjoy their jobs. Entering and moving about the building is like being in a federal reserve bank....security and id checks are at the entrance, elevators, and even entering and exiting doors on each floor. In fact there is a full service bank on the floor with the environmental solutions staff. The environmental solutions team has three biologist including myself, which basically means that mainly administer natural resources actions. I'm looking forward to my future with the company.

First day tomorrow

Tomorrow is my first day of the new job. I'll report to the 17th floor of the Gas Company Tower in downtown LA to pickup my employee badge and meet my formal supervisor. At this point I'm not quite sure what I'll be doing on my first day since I have to go to San Diego next week to file my official employee paperwork with human resources.

My New Car

I just purchased the 2002 Isuzu Axiom!

1st full day in Los Angeles

The today's weather for Los Angeles is sunny and 69 degrees, which makes it great weather for car shopping. Yesterday, I spend about 3 hours test driving mid-sized SUV and my pick is the 2002 Isuzu Axiom. The car drives great, looks awesome, and has the uniqueness that I'm looking for in a vehicle. The car doesn't have the best fuel efficiency.. nonetheless this isn't a concern since my daily commute to work will only be about 7 miles. The insurance rate is almost double what I had planned to spend on a car and so that lead me to investigate a little deeper into what it cost to own a car in LA county. I called around to several companies and the least expensive rate was basically the first quote I received... I also found out that even if I purchased an earlier model car ('98 Toyota) the insurance rate would only be $30 cheaper. Today, I plan to look at a couple of trucks while the financing details are being worked out.... I might just change my mind and go for a Nissan Frontier. By the way if you plan to change jobs and move to another state.. buy a vehicle in your home state before you move... it makes financing a car and getting insurance a whole lot easier.

I left my camera in Seattle.. and so I cannot post any orginal pictures until SH mails the camera to me.

President Jintao visits Seattle

Today, I had lunch with a friend that knows me better than most people here in Seattle. We met at University of Washington in 1999 and he had a few wise words to share over lunch as I depart for another city.

On the way to meet my friend for lunch, the President of China, Hu Jintao, had lunch with some of his friends at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Seattle as well. President Jintao's arrival made quite the ruckus... helicopters, 500+ police, hundreds of people waving China's flags outside of the Four Seasons Hotel. At first I was taken back by the vast sea of supports for the President. As I walked a couple of more blocks I spotted the protesters, of all things there were some people protesting against the use of natural resources in Asia--

see more pictures of President Jintao's visit to downtown Seattle on Soggy Dan's blog.

Easter Sunday

One thing I would have to say about moving from one city to another is that you'll probably take more pictures and have more deep conversations with friends than during your normal daily routine. Below are some of the pictures I took on Easter Sunday.

Farewell Party Quiz

On Saturday, I had a farewell party at Zeek's Pizza. I took far too many pictures to post (I got my camera back from repair)! I was pleased to see so many friends turn out for the party, including people from church and friends here in Seattle. As part of the party I passed out a trivia quiz to get people thinking about Los Angeles and hopefully interested in visiting the area. Writing the questions actually helped me learn more about the city. The quiz and answers are below.

1. Los Angeles averages 325 days of sunshine a year. Although most days are sunny with lows in the 50s and highs in the 70s, the city does experience temperature extremes. The lowest temperature recorded in the city of Los Angeles was 18 degrees during the winter 1989 and the highest temperature was 112 during the summer of 1990. With 33 days of precipitation occurring mainly during the winter, when was the last time it snowed in downtown Los Angeles:
a. 1993
b. 1962
c. 1889
d. never

2. Los Angeles has five major airports (LAX, Bob Hope, Long Beach, John Wayne, and Ontario) within 40 miles of downtown and so getting to the city by air isn’t difficult. A non-stop flight from the Seattle to LA is 2 hours and 12 minutes. What’s the least expensive roundtrip airline ticket from Sea-Tac to LAX in the month of July (as quoted on April 15th)?
a. More than $300
b. $200 to $300
c. $100 to $200
d. less than $100

3. Los Angeles is known for its car culture and the locals claim that nobody walks in LA. The first automobile appeared in Los Angeles in 1897. Today, SoCal is the car capital of the America with 15% of all the country’s new car/truck purchases made in the megalopolis. Though Los Angeles has a reputation for gridlock, it is also infamous for its car chases. The most famous police pursuit was of O. J. Simpson in:
a. 1995
b. 1994
c. 1993
d. 1992

4. SoCal is the name given to the group of metropolitan cities that occupy the southern quarter of the state of California. The area is bound on the north and east by deserts, the west by the Pacific Ocean, and the south by the international border between the United States and Mexico. Containing the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego the area is host to:
a. 1 percent of the world’s population
b. More 7-Elevens than all of Taiwan, Japan, and China
c. Six NFL, MLB, and NBA teams
d. three time zones

5. Johnny is moving to the San Fernando Valley, a place that everyone has heard but don’t know by name. The valley is located north of the Santa Monica mountains which separates the Los Angeles basin and the valley. Colloquially women from the area have been coined Valley Girls and the valley was the location of the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The valley is home to the:
a. Second largest urban park in North America
b. Hollywood sign
c. Oprah’s California dream house
d. Lockheed Martin headquarters

6. Unlike other large cities that rely on rain to clear smog, Los Angeles recieves 15 inches of rain each year, so the smog is able to accumulate over multiple consecutive days. Smog is the result of the acullumation of ozone in the air. In the 1970s the City exceeded federal air quality standards for ozone more than 150 days a year; in the 1980s the City exceeded these same standards on average 80 days a year. Since then, the state of California has required the automotive industry to sell low emissions vehicles in the region resulting in a remarkable drop in air pollution levels in recent years. In 2005, air quality in downtown LA exceeded the federal air quality standard for ozone:
a. 21days
b. 12 days
c. 6 days
d. 0 days

7. Retail and commercial services in Los Angeles are very similar to Seattle. All but one of the following local Seattle favorites has a franchise store in Los Angeles, which is it:
a. Buffalo Exchange
b. Seattle’s Best Coffee
c. Trader Joe’s
d. Uwajimaya

8. Los Angeles is all about the neighborhoods (although many of the neighborhoods are technically cities). Some of the well known cities commonly referred to as Los Angeles proper include Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Santa Monica, and Pasadena. City streets rather than highways connect many of these neighborhoods to other parts of the city; in turn these streets themselves have become famous. Which of the following is not a street connecting Los Angeles to one of its neighborhoods?
a. Ocean Drive
b. Rodeo Drive
c. Sunset Boulevard
d. Wilshire Boulevard

9. The Rodney King riots started on the streets of Los Angeles after the reading of the historic verdict in which a jury acquitted three LAPD officers. The jury for the trial was drawn from citizens living in the San Fernando Valley. The afternoon that the verdict was read Reginald Denny was dragged from his vehicle by an angry mob in South Central LA at the intersection of Florence and ( ).

Answers: 1. b 2. a 3. b 4. c 5. a 6.d 7. d 8. a 9. Normandie

my belltown neighbor

Car shopping

In just under a week I will move to Los Angeles. Among the things that remain on my to do list is to purchase a car. Of course knowing what car I want isn't the problem, after all I worked as a parking valet for over 8 months at a hotel and casino. Ideally I'd like to have a car with a low total cost of ownership. Ownership costs besides the purchase price to consider are insurance, fuel, and scheduled 5 year maintenance/repair cost.

Los Angeles being the auto theft capital of the world and commonly stolen cars typically have higher insurance premiums, I should purchase a car with a below average theft rate. Insure.com lists vehicles most and least expensive to insure as a function of “most likely to be stolen”. Of the 10 least expensive vehicles to insure I could at least imagine driving an impala, grand cherokee, malibu, or sierra pickup. The fuel economy of these vehicles range from a high of 22 city/30 highway for the malibu; and a low of 16 city/ 22 highway for the sierra pickup. Interestingly the vehicles maintenance/repair cost is a flip flop of the cost of insurance premiums. The impala has the least expensive premiums but the highest maintenance/repair cost and the sierra pickup has the highest premiums but the lowest maintenance/repair cost.

At this point I'm removing the sierra pickup from consideration after trying to visualize myself driving a truck in LA. The total of the premiums and maintenance/repair cost makes owning the remaining car virtually the same (12 to 13k for a 5-yr period). The difference is in the fuel economy. And so I'm going to begin a search for an impala (18/28), cherokee (17/21), or malibu (22/32).

Even the homeless are educated

The education stats are in and Seattle remains the highest educated population in America. It turns out that 51.3 percent of all adults over 25 years of age have a bachelor's degree and 21 percent have an advance degree beyond bachelors. Overall 90.2 percent of all adults over 25 have a high school diploma in Seattle. Interestingly the city also has one of the highest homeless populations in the country. Apparently being educated does keep you from being homeless.. it's the competition that makes you homeless. In 2005, Forbes magazine ranked Seattle as the most overpriced city in America. Seattle is ranked high on the list not because of housing prices but because of job growth. Basically the educated population has limited job opportunities. If you ever have the chance to talk with a homeless person on the street (especially someone younger than 40) ask them if they graduated from high school, and if they went to college-- I'm sure their response will surprise you.

a 3 hour boat tour of Seattle

I went out on a 3 hour boating trip with some friends after work on Tuesday. We departed Fisherman's terminal at about 7pm and traveled through the Lake Washington Ship Canal and across Lake Washington to Kirkland. In Kirkland we docked a friend's parents house and had cake and ice cream before turning around and retracing our route. It was a beautiful day to be out on the water.

sunset behind UW Husky stadium

the boat docked on Lake Washington

view of Seattle from Lake Union

Update to Coffee County (GA) Sheriff

For those following the story

Last Wednesday, Sheriff Rob Smith pled guilty to one count of malpractice and malfeasance in office.

Malpractice is defined as "the wrongful doing of an act which the person has no right to do, due to either evil intent or culpable neglect."

Malfeasance is "the doing of an act which a person ought not to do or the unjust performance of some act which the person has no right to do."

After his guilty plea he resigned from his office as Coffee County Sheriff and a judge (Mike Boggs) sentenced Smith to 12 months in jail. However because of the sheriff's plea agreement with the prosecuting attorney, Boggs suspended the sentence.

Let's just say that I predicted the outcome of this, in an earlier blog entry I said:
I would be rather surprised if Sheriff Smith actually served time for the crime.. for sure the charges will get everyone else on thier toes and stop the use of government property for personal gains.