JustinMar.com: The official website of Justin Mar

Moving back to Castro Valley, CA! We found a place just a few miles away from our previous residence. Closed escrow ironically on September 11th.  The real estate market has be really crazy! The bidding process had its challenges. Low mortgage interest rates along with limit inventory is just a recipe for challenges in itself. Glad it's over with and we have keys to our new place! Our place is very centrally located in town! Close to Taylor's school, close to shopping, close to parks, close to the hospital, very close to our family dentist, and best of all--Taylor lives a few houses down from her best friend!  Overall, we are very pleased with our house in all its 1980's glory. Not much was done to the house for 40 years, but it was at least well kept. That means it can get the updates that we prefer as homeowners. The house meets the majority of what we were looking for; in regards to size and remodel potential. I can foresee some remodeling projects. Also, I'm really ...

Covid-19 Pandemic 2020 The coronavirus pandemic is something that we will all remember for the rest of our lives. It will make history on how it has impacted our entire world in all aspects. A virus that does not discriminate against age, sex, race, or species (humans so to say). It's deadly to the most vulnerable and can even kill the healthy. On a personal note, we are taking every precaution in our household to shelter in place and limit our social exposure. It's quite an adjustment. Since we live with many elders in our household, it's just prudent for us to use all precautions because they are so vulnerable. We survived our first week confined inside our home. Our daughter transitioned to distant learning. Sherry is working from home.  Since we are social creatures, it's very easy to get "stir crazy." Somewhat feels like we are on house arrest (we actually are).  There were a few occasions where we walked back and forth in front of the house just to...

The real estate market has been HOT! A definite "sellers" market. We were able to quickly sell our condo to a very serious buyer! Very quickly too! There were only a few contingency snags, but we were able to sort them out. It helped that our realtor walked us through the entire process. We were very pleased! Where are we living now? We moved in with my in-laws. This is just temporary until we find our future home. Gives us an opportunity to save even more too! It's rather nice to have zero debt again! The next steps... Now we are just going to wait for the market to level out a bit here in the Bay Area (keeping fingers crossed). The prices for homes are just outrageous and real estate inventory is limited. We are gambling on the fact that if we approach a recession, the housing pricing in the Bay Area may adjust to being more reasonable. Let's hope! We're standing by with money in hand to pull the trigger!

We decided to put our Castro Valley condominium up for sale. It was our first home that we bought together 14 years ago and we want to pass it to another first time buyer or investor! Many memories in this place. The views of the bay are spectacular! It's in the coveted Castro Valley School District and conveniently located close to BART/freeways, etc. I personally did all the remodeling by myself. New bamboo floor, new carpet, new appliances, new interior paint, new lighting fixtures, new toilets, and new water saving fixtures. Very bittersweet to leave but it's the right time for us to move to something bigger for our family. Come to the open house on June 8 & June 9 from 1pm-4pm on both days. Click here  to view the listing. Living Room Dining Area Kitchen with new appliances Master Bedroom Bedroom 2 View

Today embarks a very sad day for our family.  We lost our little furry friend Mickey who has been a longtime family member of ours for 16 years. He has been suffering from mitral val ve disease the past year. A common disease in older dogs. He had a constant chronic cough (a common symptom) along with an irregular hea rt bea t (m urmur). The vet diagnosed that eventually over time as he ag ed , h is heart w ould most likely give up. The indicators that we monitored was his b reath count at rest. So when I noticed he was breathing rapidly at rest, it was a strong indicator that his hear t was w orkin g harder and would eventually go into cardiac arrest. We could tell the night before his passing that he was slowly weakening. He could b ar ely walk, stop ped eating, drinking, and was very slow moving. I had this very small hunch that he was getting ready to depart.   That night, we heard him struggling to walk on our wooden floors. We could hear his paws scamper...

Decided to pull the trigger on getting the iPhone 6S series since AT&T was the last of the large mobile carriers to drop the two year contract phone option.  Now all the mobile companies require you to pay retail price for the phone or you'll have to finance the phone in your monthly bill payments. I was a bit skeptical in the beginning on getting the 6SPlus due to it's size. I have large hands, so it actually looks like a regular 6s in my hands. Although after reading the reviews, I was more sold on the 4K video aspect with image stabilization (a feature only available on the 6s Plus). I've also noticed that I've always purchased the "S" version of the iPhone. My main reason for getting the 'S' models is due to some of the revised enhancements done to the phone prior to the predecessor. Never understood what the S was abbreviated for. Is it short for: Security? Sucker? Speed? Sound? Sensitivity? Who knows? It's a great phone...

It feels good to go back to an Apple computer.  Especially after being a devoted PC user for the past 20 years.  My first computer when I was in elementary school was an Apple IIGS, which was one of Apple's first color and sound based Apple II series computers. This computer got me through jr. high and high school as my word processor. It paired along with the trusty dot matrix Apple ImageWriter II color printer. Why did I decided to go back to an Apple?  One of the main reasons for going back to an Apple was for processing photos, as my aging PC desktop was getting rather dated and didn't have the capacity to process images without crashing all the time. Since I was due for a new computer, I decided to go back to an Apple since the majority of photographers use Apple computers (sorry PC fans). Additionally, you can't beat Apple's Million color 5K Retina screen! Sure, there aren't very many videos shot in this format yet, but at when the industr...

We are the proud lessees of the 2014 Chevrolet Volt. This is the third Chevy in our household. Given the fact that gasoline isn't getting much cheaper, we've decided to lease a Volt to save on having to spend money at the tank. Plus when driving on all electric mode, there are zero emissions.  Great for our environment There are some great advantages of owning the Chevrolet Volt. Fully electric for 40 miles or better (depending on your driving style). Gas free driving at any acceleration or speed. Instant torque! Plugs into a wall outlet to charge and cost less than $1.50 to fully charge. Will transition to gas with internal combustion engine when needed. Meaning that you won't be left stranded when electric power runs out. California HOV/Carpool lane sticker. Meaning you can drive in the carpool lane as a single occupant. $1500 cash back from the state of California $7500 rebate from the Federal Government, which helps for a low monthly lease pay...

YES!  The Apple iPhone 5S.  It arrived today from a direct shipped airplane from my ancestor's Motherland (China).  It's been a long overdue upgrade since my last post way back in January 2010 when I decided to convert from a Crackberry user to a Apple iPhone junkie. It's time to take the trusty iPhone 3GS and use it as my work phone. When Apple decided to announce the release of the iPhone 5C and the iPhone 5S, I was one of those smart people who didn't stand in line at their local Apple store.  I did stop by to check out the line, but didn't stand it line because I really didn't care to have this new phone on the release date.  The most coveted was the 5S in "GOLD"  It's just not my cup of tea and apparently there was a limited supply available in the gold color. I just opted for the space gray with 32 GB in storage. Here are my likes: The camera is superb! lower f stop for better low light photos.  I'm amazed at how sharp the photos ...

We are proud to announce the birth of our first daughter! Taylor Sophia Mar born January 21, 2013 at 5:10pm 7lbs 7oz and 19.7 inches long Happens to be born on the same date as my cousin Mindee! She is the first grandchild for both of our parents.  So you can imagine how happy our family is! It's also hard to believe that I'm a DAD!  The thought hasn't really sunken in yet. Why the name Taylor? I think Sherry is a hidden Taylor Swift fan! People usually ask if Taylor Swift name had any influence.  No!  We just liked the name.  Plus we can call her "Tay-Tay" as her shortened nickname. As we enter parenthood, we are both excited and scared.  Sleepless nights, diaper changes, nursing (not me), and all the fun stuff that is all part of the parenthood package. Welcome to our family Taylor!

It's been a long time since I posted here on my blog. A lot has happened indeed and a lot to celebrate for! I am so excited and happy for the San Francisco Giants! Today they made history! Their first World Championship Baseball win for the franchise for the 50 years they've been in San Francisco! Their victory even brought a tear to my eye! Fear the Beard, Torture, The Freak, Kung Fu Panda, Buster Posey, the Misfits, the names go on. The Giants were listed as the underdogs of this series. They are a team of hard working players who had the perseverance to obtain what they wanted; A WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP! Who said you need a multi-million dollar player roster to win a World Championship? The Texas Rangers did a great job in putting up a good fight, but in all honestly, the Giants really deserved the Title! They are such a humble team. Especially Edgar Renteria, who received the World Series MVP. He struggled a bit during the season, but who would have known that he led the Giant...

OK...call me a Dell whore. Since we have a wedding planned in October, I decided on researching color laser printers so we could print various color printouts for necessary wedding items (invitations, name cards, etc.) Wanted something inexpensive, fast, reliable, and good print quality. I did a few google searches and surprisingly, Dell printers got decent reviews aside from being expensive to replace toner. All printers will cost you an arm and leg for toner. Printer companies should give printers away for free and charge you for toner/ink for the lifespan of owning the printer. I started my quest searching online for the best color laser printer deals. Luckily, I was browsing through craigslist , and spotted "BRAND NEW DELL 3130cn COLOR LASER PRINTER FOR SALE - $200." I know these printers sell for around $325 and up! So it sounded like a great deal. The seller explained in the ad that it was won as raffle prize and they didn't need the printer. I emailed the selle...

Ok. This seems to be an ongoing theme on my blog about the crazy weather we've been experiencing. Yes, it's spring time! April showers bring May flowers. Now April hail showers bring us wet icy roads! We live on a rather steep hill. The icy hail has visited us. Icy thick hail = out of control cars coming down the hill! Cars trying to go up the hill have problems too! I'll let all the pictures do the talking.

First posting for the month of March! Seven more months until our big wedding day. Ok, back to the main subject. The Bay Area has been having off and on rain since the beginning of this year. Sometimes HAIL too! You basically have to constantly check the weather everyday (or hour by hour) and also carry an umbrella since the weather has been so unpredictable. There are days when it'll be sunny outside, then a minute later POURING rain, and then sunshine again. Hail on 2010 March 8 @ 16:30 from Justin Mar on Vimeo . Just to give you an example, I took some video footage of the hail as it pattered down on our patio. I caught a few seconds of the downpour of hail, and then in a quick moment it stopped in an instantly! Today, the weather is sunny outside! It's crazy!

**DISCLAIMER** if you are offended by sight of rodents or the killing of these cute little creatures; then do not continue on reading. Yes, a rodent was harmed in this process! These are pests that created damage to my house and jeopardized our attempts at sanitation. The rodent was killed instantly in the best humane manner (by electrical shock). Again, if you are offended or a PETA activist, do not read this. I apologize in advance and I am giving advance warning. We have been blessed with the company of mice at our residence. They are a pain and there are reason's why we call them "pests." It all started when Sherry noticed that there were tiny holes in our bag of raw rice that we kept in the bottom cabinet next to our sink. As I looked deeper with a flashlight inside the cabinet, I noticed little droppings all over the place. Our sink drainage pipe runs into the wall and through the same cabinet. It appears that the mouse was able to squeeze through a small opening in...

Alas! I now present to you my Hackintoshed Dell Mini 10v running on Apple's Snow Leopard Mac OS! Yes, I will remove the Windows 7 sticker that you see at the lower right hand corner. So long to the Windows 7 operating system that use to exisit on this computer. This was a rather easy task to accomplish. Not really complicated. Simple enough for someone who has some computer knowledge and can follow directions. It took about two hours to install. I wanted to give special thanks to mechdrew's guide on how to accomplish the installation process. As a disclaimer, I want to inform you that you will most likely void your Dell warranty and somewhat piss off Apple at the same time if you decided to take on this project. It's not illegal, but it is alterating the overall use of the peripheral. It took me awhile to adjust to Apple's user interface since I've been a PC Windows user for many years. The principals are virtually the same, but just in a different layout. It...

I was listening to KCBS radio the other day and they reported that Democrats use the iPhone and Republicans have a Blackberry. Coincidence? Here's a link to their report: KCBS - Smart Phone Use May Correlate to Political Party Yes, this is good statistical information when using this type of data to promote directly to your campaign audience. Although, I don't find this correlation to be very accurate. President Obama is a Democrat and he is known to be a huge Blackberry fan. Does this mean he is a closet Republican since he loves his Blackberry? What are they going to say next? Democrats are more likely to drive a Toyota Prius and Republicans are more likely to drive a Ford F-150 pickup with a gun rack? What you own or use is not a strong determining factor of your political party ties. There are some close or similar trends or coincidences, but not a strong argument to determine a correlation. I guess you can call me bi-partisan since I have both the iPhone and ...

Today was a dark, rainy, and stormy day. For those of you in California, you've probably had enough of all the thunder storms we've been having the past few days. Flooding, power outages, sandbags, auto accidents, broken umbrellas, and all the other annoyances that come along with wet weather. With that being said, I've been trying to stay cozy inside and avoiding going outdoors unless necessary. Until TODAY! I risked my life driving in the pouring rain, down to my local Apple retail store. The Blackberry gods are shaking their heads with disgust that I purchased an Apple iPhone 3GS today. Being a loyal Crackberry user for several years now; I really had trouble making the decision to switch to one of the most popular smart phones on the market. This purchase was more of an impulsive purchase, rather than really needing a phone because I cracked the screen from dropping it on hard cement. Which reminds me, I made a blog post several years ago when I purchased a Blackberry...

After a long well thought out decision, we decided to cancel our Comcast Cable subscription. For the past five years we just had basic cable with the addition of High Definition channels. Over the years we never flinched when Comcast kept on increasing their rates. We just paid the bill over the years. Our last bill was $80 a month. So if you do the yearly math, it equals out to nearly $960 a year! I must admit that Comcast's pricing is rather high in comparison to the many offers from satellite providers or even AT&T's U-Verse. Just like the mobile phone industry, you have many choices of limited time promotional rate packages with the addition of premium channels. Some of these are locked into contract terms. Also, once the promo is over, then that's when the subscription rates go through the roof! Cancelling the service was a fiasco in itself. I tried calling yesterday only to be on hold for nearly 45 minutes! I even tried going through the new account route to s...

*DISCLAIMER* If you have a very weak stomach or easily offended by disgusting "bodily waste material", then I advise you not to continue reading or viewing the images below. Beware of PUNS. As we are now a few days into 2010, I cannot refrain myself from talking about what showed up on the pathway entrance of our residence. It's big, it's huge, it's enormous, it's massive, it's organic, and it's all natural! Not something to eat! For those of you who know me very well, I have a very sick sense of toilet humor or anything that has a relationship to fecal matter, farts, vomit, boogers, etc. Anything and everything gross will get a chuckle out of me! I'll admit it. I'm a guy. I laugh at this stuff. Oddly, my parents don't find much humor in these disgusting bodily functions, but I have a wonderful uncle that guided me to the path of bodily function humor. You either laugh or frown in disgust . I now present to you, "HOLY CRAP!" A one...