Crossing the finish line at the 100th Bay to Breakers!

Crossing the finish line at the 100th Bay to Breakers!

On May 15 I ran the 100th running of the Bay to Breakers.  I have never run this foot race, and the only run that I have run close to this foot race is the Bridge to Bridge run–also a 12K run.

On this run, I decided to break in my new Saucony Progrid Mirage.  This shoe is categorized as minimalist as reviewed by Running Times Magazine.  It seems to feel tight, but I didn’t really notice it much during the run.  Because it has less in terms of heel compared to the traditional cushioned running shoe, I really felt my forefoot landing more often than before.  I also noticed that I was able to coast on the downhill portions of this run.  Because it felt light, I didn’t really feel like I was getting tired.  The run felt fast; as a matter of fact, having been stuck in the C corral made it difficult to cover ground fast early in the run.

Nevertheless, the temperature was just right, and it was a fun experience.  Here are the results of my run:

Results of my 2011 Bay to Breakers Run

Results of my 2011 Bay to Breakers Run

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

I would like to share my appreciation and thanks to my wife, the mother of my kids, on the upcoming Mother’s Day, 8 May 2011.

When my wife and I married, she also ended up marrying the US Air Force.  Where ever I went, she followed. Note that my wife is a college graduate and has a degree in Accounting/Business Management.  Yet when our kids were born, she stayed home for them.  She knew she could have had a career in business, but she chose our kids, and put her career on indefinite hold.

When the kids were born, she would always be the first one to wake up when she hears the baby cry.  She was that dedicated to the care of the kids.

My wife didn’t want nor could stand leaving the kids with anyone, even close relatives just so she can have time to herself.  She didn’t feel comfortable about that until the kids were older–old enough to take care of themselves.  The only time, I can remember ever leaving one of our kids with others was when she went into labor with our second child.  That was the only time!

When the kids were going to elementary school, her days would be broken up with the duties of dropping them off and picking them up from school.  If you’ve ever done that, you know that it is very difficult to do anything, yet she managed.

When the kids were at home growing up, she spent countless hours reading to them and teaching them to read.  My first daughter learned to read when she was 2 years old!

For all the sacrifice and hard work.  A big THANKS to my Wife!

It’s mother’s day once again.  It is time to honor, show appreciation, and

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day

celebrate mothers.

Anyway, this year I wanted to do something different to honor my mom.  This year I will write about what I consider the heroic actions she has taken in being a mother to me, my brother, and sisters.  I’m sure everyone has a similar story, but this one is what makes my mother unique.

So here it goes…

When I was in my early childhood years, my mother took the role of the traditional mother who stayed home and took care of the kids.  She had the opportunity to go to college, but we came first on her priority list.  So instead of trying to complete the nursing program, she stayed home and took care of us.

During Christmas holidays my mother would see how we looked at other kids who had received toys as gifts.  I just knew that she felt bad seeing us this way.  Note that we were not well to do, and I would say we were on the lower end of the Philippine middle class.  That said, she still went out of her way to take us to a store to see what we wanted to get.  Of course, back then, I didn’t realize what financial hardships my parents were experiencing.

When I was around 7 or 8 years old, my Dad took a one year Telephone Engineering contract job in Vietnam.   That left my mother to take care of everything for a year.  That year came and went; and she handled us four kids with no problem.

When we went to the United States in 1974, we were again faced with a new challenge.  My father was having difficulties finding a job in the engineering field and was laid off from a job he had at Fairchild Semiconductor.  To help make ends meet, my mother looked for a job, and was able to land one in the semiconductor industry.  This showed she was willing to do anything to help keep us fed and clothed while my father continued his job search (which later landed him at Becthtel Corp.).

In 1975, my father’s work led us to Atlanta, GA.  There, with us kids older (by this time I was around 13 or 14 years old), my mother continued to help bring in income for the family.  She even worked at a nursing home!  Nursing homes aren’t the best place to work, yet she worked there to help the family.  My father was eventually able to get us back to California where we eventually were able to get a house.

Through her hard work and her support of my father, she was able to help move the family to a better financial condition, which later led to all the kids having the opportunity to go to college.

Here’s another thing I always remember of my Mother.  When coming home from school, she always makes sure to ask if we’ve eaten, and she would make something no matter how she felt or what she was doing.  She would always worry about us.

Thanks Mom for the sacrifice!  Without you, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

An ad as seen on Apple.com

An ad as seen on Apple.com

A few days ago I received an email from Apple.com with their announcement of the availability of the white iPhone. Only Apple can create such a big hoopla around the availability of such an essential feature such as color.

I wouldn’t be surprised if die-hard Apple fans would line up to get a white iPhone.  Some of my friends are figuring out the Apple marketing scam.  They dupe their loyal and die-hard customers into buying a new iPhone through the incremental introduction of features.  Here are some of the most obvious examples:

  • The original iPhone didn’t have a camera facing the user.  The iPhone 4 added that feature.
  • The original iPhone was in silver/black color; now there is white!
  • The original iPhone had its buttons located in a certain position; the new iPhone made some slight design changes, causing the buttons to move by a  few millimeters–enough so that you can’t use your existing or current iPhone cases with the new iPhone 4 phones.

Here’s what I predict Apple will do to squeeze more moola from its loyal customer base.  In a future release of iPhone, Apple will include or offer:

  • A micro SD slot; NOT! Memory limitation or restriction is what keeps users coming back for more iPhones.
  • Flash player-capable iPhone
  • Standard USB interface
  • A 100% silver colored iPhone.

That’s all I can think of right now.  If you have other ideas to add, please post in the comments section.