Category: San Francisco Life (2002-2005)

So this morning, I went down to the grand opening of the new SF Apple Store. I’ve seen video of the line at the Tokyo grand opening, and while the population of SF is about 1/17 of Tokyo’s, the line was quite impressive. It went all the way up Stockton to O’Farrel, around to Powell, down to Ellis, back over to Stockton, then wrapping around the corner on to Market and down 6 blocks. ALL FOR THE STORE. Although I’m not a mac user YET, I find the whole cult type following of Apple customers quite fascinating. The fact that people began lining up for the opening of the store on Thursday, is amazing. Plus, the design, quality of people and products that Apple has is very impressive–and I’m still quite disappointed about not having any opportunities there…

What a very interesting reality show. I don’t know how many people tuned in, but it was definitely a TV night. So the end of the show was to have all of your family attend the wedding and not object, in order to win $250,000 for her and $250,000 for her family. However, the family was so emotionally distraught throughout this show, that at the end, they walked out, potentially causing the daughter to lose the money. However, I think because there was so much emotion tied up in this, that the producers probably changed it around a little bit, and awarded the family $500,000 and the daughter $500,000. I still don’t think the money made the family completely ok. It was really kind of a Reality Show gone bust in my opinion.

Obviously this is a hot topic as of late, especially with Dubya trying to ‘give what the people want’.

I was reading a funny article by a straight author writing about the issue:

But gay marriage would make a mockery of marriage! And that?s the job of heterosexuals, right? Can they possibly screw it up worse than straight folks? The divorce rate?s higher than 50 percent, and couples are bailing out of marriages quicker than ever; something like 60 percent of married men and 40 percent of married women have extramarital affairs; and their kids who aren?t busy shooting their classmates are packed with so many pills they sound like maracas when you shake them.

An 86-year-old sleazeball can marry an 18-year-old dominatrix, and that is sanctified. Larry King can marry for the seventh time, and it?s sanctified. Britney Spears can get married and annulled quicker than you can say “publicity skank,” and it is sanctified. Yet a gay couple that has stuck it out through better and worse for 40 years, being exemplary neighbors and citizens the whole while, pose a threat to marriage? It is legal for them to marry, of course, just not to each other. They could go out this afternoon and marry a total stranger, so long as it?s someone of the opposite sex. That?s the law. What?s left to mock?

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This leads to the point of the interference and segregation of Church and State. The whole issue is that the institution of marriage has been governed by both, and rightfully so–(keeps benefits, organization to partners throughout the nation). However, for the state to govern that marriages can only be between a man & woman simply defies civil rights laws. Church should be the only one that governs what two beings will be ‘recognized by God’ but should have no say in a Constitutional Ammendment. Anyone who pays taxes and has a Social Security number should be able to be recognized by the state as a couple, if they choose to be.

Tonight, I went over to Scott’s place for a Sex in the City TV Night for the Finale. It’s amazing how these TV shows come into your lives, and you find yourself attached to the characters on screen. It was actually kind of sad to know that there won’t be any more episodes. The story line really tied together well all of the characters’ lives, and of course seeing Carey ending up NOT in Paris was obviously the way to go. Well done. I will definitely have to start procuring the series on DVD.

Tonight I went to Joshua’s party, a huge event that the e-vite consisted of about 80 people who all replied yes, plus another 50 or so that hadn’t answered. I would venture to say that most people came. It was a lot of fun, and I met a lot of nice people. The view from the apartment was amazing, and it made me want even more a bigger place with a roommate. It’s just so much more like living in a house if you have a proper bedroom and living area. After the party, we started to flee the abode in our taxis across town.

This week I spent all in Denver for a Customer Facing Meeting for my company. I prepared all the graphics for the event, and helped arrange things. Pretty much the multimedia man, which was a lot of fun. I took the pictures, did the audio, etc.

The weather was ok, and Joi and I swam and sat in the hot tub the first night–it was excellent! The week went by quickly, and before I knew it, it was Thursday, and I was rushing to the airport to try to catch an earlier flight. I did, and I flew on a 747-400 to San Francisco with Cecilia, and her husband came and drove us both back to the city.

So my friend Steve sent me an update your contacts email. It was by a site called Plaxo. It’s absolutely an ingenious idea. You sign up, it integrates with Outlook, sends out emails to everyone to get their new contact info. If any of those people become users as well, everytime they update their contact info, yours address book is updated as well. It’s great! So, I sent out asking for updates, and I’m getting responses back. It’s about time my contacts are updated. After leaving college, people move and change cell phones/email etc so often, that it’s great to have a way to get updated. If you haven’t been in touch, make sure you e-mail me!

So, I’ve taken the final steps into becoming a California Resident. I just finished filing my permanent resident CA Taxes, applied for Voter Registration, and I’ll get my Driver’s License (as my TN one runs out in March) the first week of March. Guess I’ll be here for quite a while!

I will never in my life purchase another SONY product. After working on my computer this weekend, during a normal email routine, the screen went dim and fizzled out. I restarted the computer, checked the cables, checked the power, and it just blips. Long story short, the customer service I received was atrocious, and I now will be receiving a refurbished model, that has probably been turned in for the same issue, with no extended warranty. Have companies not yet realized that outsourcing things such as customer service costs more in the long run??

Welcome to globetrotter.us v5.0! Along with new colors and design, I’ve also used CSS to make a much cleaner user interface from things that I’ve been reading/learning. Hopefully this will be a long-standing page. All comments/suggestions are welcomed!