JustinMar.com: The official website of Justin Mar

Despite all the time extra free time I have lately, I still have not been disciplined enough to sit down in front of computer to blog about a specific topic. I’m not sure if I lack the motivation to type something, or just can’t come up with ideas to write about. Since I have some time to spare, why not write about something that’s going on with me currently at the moment. Gout . It’s painful, it’s annoying, and it flat out sucks! For those who do not know what gout is, and without too much scientific or medical jargon; it’s basically a condition similar to arthritis that attacks your joints due to high levels of uric acid in your bloodsteam. Gout is caused when you consume food with too much purines. It’s also knows as “rich man’s disease.” The purines are broken down in you body and then turns in to uric acid. The uric acid levels settle in your joint and then being to crystallize. As they crystallize, it caused pain and swelling in the joints. In my case, it attacks m...

Yes, I know. It's been a few months since my last blog post. I can say that a lot has happened over the span of a few months. Here is what took place in short. Went on a trip to Los Angeles the first week of June to visit co-workers and to add an extra ten pounds to my body just from eating. I was diagnosed with Gout. There was a previous post about my foot pain, wearing a walking cast boot, etc. Turns out that being flatfooted was not the problem. Gout was the reason for foot pain and swelling. Blood tests confirmed that my uric acid levels were really high. I'm on medication and basically cut out beef from my diet. Mary and Nelson got hitched on 8/8/2009. Mary is Sherry's cousin. Pat and Stephanie got hitched on 10/3/2009 and I officiated their wedding. It was the first time I ever officiated a wedding. It was a lot of fun! Since my engagement to Sherry, we have already locked in a wedding venue and date. It will be on October 10, 2010. (Operation 10/10/10 as I wo...

For those of you who purchase merchandise through Amazon.com , you should really consider getting an Amazon Prime shipping membership! It's worth every single penny! For only $79 a year, you get the following: Unlimited Free 2 day shipping with no purchase minimum,(I sometimes get it in one day) $3.99 fee if you want 1 day shipping for each item. Add up to four family members to one subscription. No minimum order size. One of the great benefits of having a Prime account is the fact that you are sales tax free! Yes, California is in a deficit, but cheating sales tax is just a small amount of revenue that my county is not missing out on. I live in Alameda County and our current tax rate is 9.75% as of July 1, 2009. Pricing on Amazon is rather competitive to local walk-in store retailers, so if I don't need the item immediately, it's better for me to buy through Amazon.com, and get it in a few days. Plus I save myself almost 10% in not having to pay sales tax, and Prime sh...

Yes, envy me! So many great things happened this week! I'm engaged, had a great sales month, and now I end the month with a new toy! A great way to end the month of June 2009! The new toy is a Canon EOS Rebel T1i DSLR camera. It's a replacement camera and a step up for me to explore the greater flexibility into digital SLR camera technology. I somewhat got fed up with the limitations of a point and shoot camera, and it's just another excuse for me to keep up with the Jones'. This is a great camera; especially considering it's price tag in comparison to other cameras in it's class. It's priced just below $850, which is a bargain considering what this camera can pump out. One of the selling features for me was the capability to capture HD video. Here are a few general specs: New 15.1 Megapixel CMOS sensor with DIGIC 4 Image Processor for faster processing of fine detail and natural color reproduction, 14-bit A/D conversion fo...

I told you there was going to be some change! Today I proposed to a very special person that I love dearly; Sherry Lee. It was a special day with lovely summer weather (which isn't very often in San Francisco). In fact, the weather was very HOT, but it did not spoil for what I had planned for the day. Here's a little history. On May 15, 2004, Sherry and I went on our first date. Back then, I wanted to impress her by having a nice little picnic at the Palace of Fine Arts . This is a beautiful area that is common place for taking wedding photos, with ponds, swans, ducks, and not to mention the famous "dome" structure that was made for the World's Faire in the 1920's. It's a really nice place. For our first date picnic, I made a box lunch. It included a nice croissant sandwich, a fruit salad, and some chips. It really impressed Sherry because it was nicely packaged, with decorative paper napkins, lime green colored plastic utensils, and with a lovely f...

Decided to change the layout of my blog today. Also wanted a different look after noticing that the previous layout had some problems. Since I am not a html guru, I'm stuck to these cookie cutter templates that Blogger offers. They don't look that bad at all. It's better to keep things simple. Plus there's a little bit of " orange " accents! I know I haven't been blogging that often. When I do take some time away from Facebook or Twitter ; I sometimes remember that I still have this blog to maintain. This shouldn't be a chore. Other than my shortness for words at the moment, I wanted to prepare myself in this blog about the "change" that I have ahead of me very soon. Stay tuned.

Photo Credit ( http://photofill.com/archives/2006/04/light_at_the_en.html ) Yes, it's been three months since I've made a post here. So I'll just dive right in to stay on topic. The above photo is very symbolic in two ways. First, I do a lot of driving on the road. When I say a lot, I'll usually spend an average of four hours of just driving to my destinations. That's nearly half a work day. So this picture symbolizes the road I always have ahead of me. Secondly, the photo shows a tiny light at the end of the tunnel. With the current state of the economy lately, my sales numbers have dropped dramatically. I am ashamed to say that I was in a bit of a "sales slump" for a few months. So by definition to this photo; I HAVE FINALLY APPROACHED CLOSE TO THE END OF THE TUNNEL! I can see the light! Sales are picking up for me! It's not all fine and dandy just yet. An uphill battle is still ahead. For those who know me, don't even ask me about...

For the past few months, I applaud the San Francisco Chronicle because they've been doing a GREAT job in assuring that my paper is delivered on my scheduled delivery date. Perhaps they saw my blog posting rant about my constant mis-deliveries. :) Aside from reading the regular print news, I also read all the latest news stories from their online publication on SFGate.com . What I love the most (aside from reading the article itself) is reading all the comments that people post in reference to the article. I know that the comment section is moderated giving users the option to report "abuse." Usually the comments are full of posts from users who are comedians probably as their second job. I'll sit in from of my monitor, laughing my a$$ off at some of the comments posed. Here's an example of comments about the recent "Free Grand Slam Meal" from Denny's offered today. What's also very cool is the fact that you can give a "thumbs up...

I told you that 2009 is going to be "sunshine!" I'm really excited at what FedEx delivered this morning! FedEx was nice enough to call me early this morning just to make sure that I was available fo r them to deliver my new Dell computer. There was a little mishap that left me puzzled because the monitor showed up before the CPU box. Common s ense would make one think that both boxes come together in one delivery. Turns out the CPU box arrives 15 minutes later from another delivery person . I was in need of a new computer. My previous Dell Dimension 8200 Pentium 4 was purchased back in 2001. It's outdated, slow, and I'm surprised it lasted me this long without any problems. I know that many people have complained about problems with Dell computers, but I have to honestly say that I had eight years of "trouble-free" usage. Definitely got my money's worth and more (since it still works fine). This computer is not going into retirement just y...

It has been yet another year that flew by faster than a "New York Minute." I can only say that 2008 was another year of life lessons, happiness, and good eating. I can only look forward to 2009 and what it has to offer. Stay posted. I think this year has some "sunshine" ahead.

I know I'm a day late! Yesterday was Christmas Day. My excuse was the fact that I was too busy to make a blog post. :) Christmas Day was spent with my immediate family. My sister roasted crab with garlic and butter. I made jambalaya and brussel sprouts. My aunt made pork adobo. Plenty of food and no leftovers! For dessert, we had a coffee crumb cake from the famous Eastern Bakery in San Francisco's Chinatown. Yes, we are family of big eaters. Opened gifts and had a wonderful time. As usual, I got a new stock of orange shirts/sweaters to add to my large existing collection of everything "orange". The gift that was the most meaningful to me was a Remote Controlled Helicopter . Here's a background information about the helicopter and the meaning behind it. When I was very little, my dad happened to purchase a Spiderman toy helicopter. My sister, who was a toddler at the time was the recipient of this toy. When you think of toy helicopters, you would t...

Growing up as an American Born Chinese (ABC), I was obviously exposed to Chinese food. My parents whom are also ABC were fortunate enough to expose my sister and I to various different cultural cuisines as we were growing up. My girlfriend on the other hand only ate Chinese food as she was growing up, and still to this day, her parents cook only Chinese food. She also mentioned to me that she really was not exposed to different types of food until she entered college. Most Americans have a liking to Chinese food. It's filling, inexpensive, different, somewhat healthy, and is well known as the default "take out" delivery food. So you ask why the love/hate I have with Chinese Food? It all started in the year 2000 when I went on a trip to China. For two weeks, we ate Chinese food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Aside from breakfast (dim sum), each meal was your typical 10 course+ banquet style dinner. In China, what else is there to eat (especially in the village...

Today is my 32nd Birthday. Another year older, fatter, and wiser. Thanks to those who wished me Birthday wishes on Facebook, email, or phone calls. No big party. Just a simple dinner with family. Simple and relaxing. Oh yeah, forgot to mention cake.

Yet another year to give thanks!  Despite all the mess that's going on in today's economy, we should all be grateful and thankful for all the current blessings we all have.  Thankful for life, family, love, pets, jobs, electronics, transportation , football, turkey, good food, and BLACK FRIDAY! After perusing the Black Friday ads, nothing really captured my attention.  All the items such as cameras, GPS, and flat panel TVs exist with some at killer deal prices.  A new flat panel TV would be a nice addition to my home office also doubled as a computer monitor , but NAH! I consider myself very fortunate that I have all these items already.  So why go out to buy things on sale for items I already have?  That's just from my own personal perspective.  I'm the gadget guy with too many toys. Black Friday enthusiasts are just plain crazy!  Early birds definitely catch the worm, but at the same time freeze their asses off standing or camping in line. With everything going on wi...

Getting the morning San Francisco Chronicle newspaper delivered every morning to my residence is completely frustrating! Especially when I'm a paying subscriber! As more and more print publications are going under due to online readership, you would think delivery subscriptions would do a better job. Call me old fashioned, but I still like to read the morning paper while I drink my cup of coffee. I've been a subscriber since I got a random phone "cold call" about a promotion the San Francisco Chronicle where I can subscribe to the paper for six months on Wednesday through Sunday only. It was an inexpensive promotion for under $15. It was mentioned that the subscription was discounted because advertisers were subsidizing the subscription costs. Plus the added value was getting all the coupon savings from the Sunday paper. Blah blah blah. I'm sold. Send me the paper. If I recall correctly, the phone sales rep mentioned that I would get the paper within a...

First of all, "HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY!!!" To all those veterans out there who served past and present for our Country, "THANK YOU!" I think all Americans should give way more support to those who are currently serving for us despite our opposition to the current war we are in. People are dying out there to protect the freedom and rights that we have here in America. Let's have a moment a silence for them. Time sure does fly by fast and it's really hard for me to keep up with blogging. I still haven't had the discipline to blog faithfully about anything or everything that goes on in my little world. I am for one, very happy that we elected the first African American as President of the United States. Go Obama! I strongly believe that he will do a good job at moving our country in the right direction for the CHANGE that we need. Aside from the recent election, I've been also entertaining myself with the controversial California Prop 8 discus...

Coffee? Espresso? Latte? Mocha? Yes, call me the new coffee fiend. I simply got tired of spending $4 or more for some type of specialty coffee drink at Starbucks . Slee usually contributes more to Starbucks franchise than I do. So to save a little more money during these tough economic times, I've been brewing and making my own cups of Joe. I do agree that I can't come close to Starbucks, when it comes to all the fancy flavors, but I can get the potency of caffeine . Plus I get my coffee from an inside corporate source at Starbucks for free! Thanks Big Al! Many will say, "It's not the same." Who cares? During these economic times, over the long run, it's a better investment to buy a good coffee maker/espresso maker that won't break your daily budget. Save money and still get the caffeine buzz! I started off by purchasing a good burr grinder. Good coffee grinders are not cheap. Don't even bother with those $20 spinning blade grinders. T...

My head hangs in shame.  I let my sales team down, my company down,  let God down, and my country down.   That sounds way too dramatic.   Why do I hang my head in shame?  I didn't sell a single contract the entire month of September 2008.  Blanked!  I had a few contracts pending, but they didn't happen to close within the month.  I can sit here writing on and on blaming the poor economy.  It's not going to change anything.  I just have to be patient and wait until things get a little better.   Eventually within time, all that hard work, patience, putting up with cold shoulders, having doors slammed in my face will pay off.  All I can say is that I tried my best and just have to work even harder for the next month.   We all have bad months.  I am just reflecting on what I did or attempted and started making a strategic plan for the months ahead. It was definitely a hard month for everyone in my industry.  A lot of the dealership in my market area closed their doors.  There ...

With all the hiatus going on in regards to the upcoming election and the economic crisis we are currently facing; I can't help but keep my eyes peeled to watching CNN .  When I was younger (not much younger), I used to think that CNN was the most boring cable news channel to watch.  Who wants to watch news 24/7 of national and international new events?  CNN is everywhere!  It's the most watched news channel internationally!  CNN is broadcasted at the airports, at hospitals, and even some sports bars.  Call me a late bloomer or it a personal sign of maturity; but why haven't I tuned in earlier?  Perhaps, everyone should be informed.  It's really scary to realize what we have ahead of us. CNN has been pure entertainment (for now) and I love how the media is still very careful on how they present the news.  Lately, it doesn't surprise that they are trying to inform the Nation rather than scare the Nation shitless.  Yes, the financial institutions are failing.  Banks ar...

I've been known to have a keen sense of memory. People are always amazed at how well I can remember experiences, names, faces, places, processes, and even smells. Lately, I've been careless with an important item that many people hold onto with extreme care. It's not my house keys. It's not my car keys! It's not my social security number. It's not even money (although close enough)! I've been careless with my CREDIT CARD! Al thought, not careless with my spending. Let me explain: I order food from a restaurant. I pay the bill with my credit card. I sign the credit card receipt. Then I somehow forget to put my credit card back into my wallet!!!! Turns out that I happened to leave my credit card behind at a local restaurant we visit often and they were honest to keep it safe for me. I called them the next day and then had to suffer the embarrassment of walking in with a big stamp on my forehead that says, "DUMMY." The panic of opening my wal...