Impromptu Run at Signal Hill

          For the past 3 years or so that I've been doing the Saturday morning walk at Signal Hill with the Long Beach and Palos Verdes Peninsula Walkers Meet Up group, I've either just walked the whole course, walked and ran it random intervals, walked with a 20 pound backpack, ran just the uphills, ran just the downhills, or ran just the flat portions. I even did a time trial walk last year which I wrote about here: http://aboutlifeandrunning.blogspot.com/2013/07/signal-hill-time-trial-walk.html.  But I never ever ran the whole course until last Saturday, April 12th.

          I don't know what got into me. At the spur of the moment I decided to try to run the whole 6 mile course that we normally walk. It must have been all the sitting around and eating all week that made me feel the need to do this. The conservative plan was to run at least the first 30 minutes regardless of what part of the course it might take me, then walk the rest of the way. Except 30 minutes turned into 35, which in turn got extended until I finally decided to just keep on going since I was getting close to the finish anyway. My guesstimates on how many minutes it would take me to climb the hills were pretty spot on, and the downhills and the flats were run at pretty much the same pace as the uphills since I can't really stretch out my stride anymore without injuring myself. Familiarity with the course helped a lot in the pacing. There were 6 major climbs on the course.

          I knew the course to be exactly 6 miles based on using my GPS watch several times in the past, but which I did not bring last Saturday. Nevertheless, when I finally clicked off my chronograph at the finish, I was surprised to see that it took me exactly 1 hour and 12 minutes which meant 12 minutes per mile. Not bad for a hilly course from an occasional runner. I knew for sure that I would pay for it the next day in the form of delayed onset muscle soreness (D.O.M.S.), but as I write this about 30 hours later, it hasn't happened. Perhaps because the pace was too slow and I wasn't bounding downhills which creates most of the muscle damage. Better still is that my bad ankles survived it.

          On that day when I was invited to a church to celebrate the 40th day memorial for a relative who passed away too soon, I dedicated this impromptu run since I wasn't able to make it to the 8 a.m. mass.

Other notes about walking at Signal Hill: A few weeks ago I went to Kmart to look at the 20 pound weight vest they were selling. It was too wide and thus too loose for my torso. I also felt that the small sand bags had the potential to be torn open down the line due to stress fatigue or perhaps continuous rubbing against the pockets they were inserted in. So, I finally placed the sand I bought from Home Depot weeks ago inside plastic bags reinforced with duct tape, and placed it in my backpack to substitute the 20 pound weight plate I usually carried in it. I walked with the group and felt slower than usual, so when I got home, I weighed the backpack on a bathroom scale and saw that it was 24 pounds. I felt every extra ounce of those 4 pounds while walking up and down Signal Hill. If that wasn't bad enough, the following week, while putting the backpack in the trunk of my car, I pinched a nerve on the right side of my trapezius muscle, which radiated down my chest. If it wasn't on the right side and didn't feel muscular, I would have thought I was having a heart attack because of the radiating pain. I may have to switch back to the weight plates and be more careful when I mount the backpack on my back next time.

          Feeling thankful for being able to run a hilly 6 miles :-)

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Grocery Walk (Shorter Version)

Out the door, out on the street, into the grocery store, through the park, then back home. An incredibly boring video of an errand walk through my neighborhood.

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LAS VEGAS Random Notes

          This is a delayed follow up to my post about my first time in Las Vegas. The past week has been quite busy due to a couple of résumé writing workshops, researching dialysis companies about education and job opportunities, and the sad internment of a relative. The first part of this entry can be found here: http://aboutlifeandrunning.blogspot.com/2014/03/what-happens-in-vegas.html

          Just about everybody and anybody I know has gone to Vegas but not me until a couple of weeks ago, so immense gratitude is in order for Uncle Oscar and Auntie Ditas De Las Penas, along with Eduardo Tay and Elizabeth Tay, who after all these years of inviting me, I finally relented.

          There were 8 of us sharing the accommodations and I'm not used to being in that situation anymore, having lived by myself for most of my life. The trick for me was to get things started early (like using the toilet), get out of the way and let them do their thing, then follow the leader afterwards, doing what they wanted to do and following where they wanted to go. It felt nice not having to make any decisions on what to do next.

          Regarding the accommodations? I'm not used to staying in such luxurious surroundings since I live a pretty Spartan lifestyle.

          The dry air of Las Vegas made my skin dry and made me itch for a few days. Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. 

 One thing that Pechanga does better than the casinos of Las Vegas is that their air scrubbers seem to decrease the smell of cigarette smoke better.

I was finally able to make use of my 3 year old AREC bag. I first tried a suitcase(too big), then backpack (too small) and found the gym bag to be in the Goldilocks zone (just right). 

          I might be one of those rare people who goes to a casino, doesn't really win, and still goes back home with a net gain, because I only gamble a little bit, walk around to explore the place, play a little bit more, then it's time to go home. The net gain is usually a result of "balato" or cash gifts shared by relatives from their winnings (thank you all, for your generosity). Due to my meanderings, sometimes I fail to gamble the balato away.

          My relatives also found ways to save. Due to their experience travelling, they already knew ways to cut on expenses like bringing home cooked food (kulma, tinola, adobo, daing na bangus, etc.)and not ordering anything from the hotel room. And of course the free accommodations helped a lot.

          Canadian cousin Harold pretty much recouped all the money he spent shopping for pasalubongs (presents to take home) by winning a few hundred bucks at the baccarat table. What a lucky guy, eh? :-) 

Lest one thinks I'm gallivanting on the government's dime while collecting unemployment benefits, lets me assure you that this trip was courtesy of Uncle Oscar and Auntie Ditas who won the free hotel accommodations through a raffle. I have to admit that I'm not used to that kind of luxury because I live an almost Spartan lifestyle (like I mentioned earlier). Remember the American Express ad where the spokesperson said "membership has its privileges"? Well, unemployment has its advantages as well in the form of free time. I did have to reschedule my résumé writing workshops though. I haven't minimized my job searching, but I had to jump at what may be a once in a lifetime opportunity. The irony of the situation is that I finally made it to Las Vegas at a time when my earnings have stopped due to being jobless.

          To travel light, I brought casual multi-purpose clothes that can be worn in public during the day and evening,  then worn again in the early morning for working out, before being considered dirty laundry. Another way of travelling lightly but in a different way, was to limit my fluid intake before the road trip so don't have to pee on the road. Otherwise, woe is me with the small bladder!

          About the way I gamble - I limited myself to pennies, ventured to quarters sometimes, and even tried a dollar once hoping for a "big" one time jackpot. Perhaps next time I get the opportunity, I'll head directly to the video poker machine where I can at least make some choices rather than making the slot machine make all the choices. 

On our last night in Las Vegas, I woke up at 2 a.m. Tuesday and couldn't go back to sleep, and remembering our GPS/Hooters misadventure from the day before,  I downloaded NavFree USA, a free GPS app to see if it worked on my tablet PC without an internet or data connection. Surprisingly, other than being a battery hog, the app worked very well when I tested it on the road while on the way home. 

After the Pechanga and Las Vegas trips, I still don't consider myself a gambler, although at LV at least I knew what to expect in the casino already because I've downloaded a few casino game apps and have been practicing at home without losing any money.

Although I can say that I may never go to Pechanga again, I may want to return to Las Vegas because there are more things to see and experience.

          Having said all that, it took me a few days to recover and get my balance again after our alleged or imagined debauchery in Las Vegas. 

Good memories :-)

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What Happens in Vegas ...

... doesn't necessarily stay in Vegas, especially when things don't happen like the Hangover movies. Having a few days off from work, I was finally able to make it to Sin City, thanks to a timely invitation from my Uncle and Aunt, which coincided with a visit by a cousin from Canada whom I haven't seen since 1989. Wait...I've been off all day every day since the first week of October 2013 so any time is a good time for me! Unemployment does have its advantages in the form of being available to go anywhere albeit on someone else's dime. You know I don't get out much and since this is my first time to make it to Las Vegas, which is a reasonable progression after having gone to Pechanga in early January, I just had to share it with you. I'm sorry that I'll have to defy the oft quoted TV ad slogan "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. First things first. No, I don't mean the gambling but how I got the invitation. My uncle and aunt won a raffle for a 2 day/2 night stay at Wyndham Grand Desert Resort which is a time share, and my Uncle decided to take advantage of it while my Canadian cousin was in town with his son. The roster included Uncle Oscar, Auntie Ditas, Uncle Ed, Auntie Beth, cousin Harold, a.k.a. Jojo, his son Paolo, and I. We were a group who communicated in English, Tagalog, and Tausug, and sometimes a combination of all three at once, and not to forget Paolo who also speaks a little French.

Barstow Rest Stop

We departed Cerritos about 9:00 a.m. Sunday and pretty soon we hit our first rest stop...a mile away from home to have breakfast at McDonalds. Then we settled in the van and the real road trip began. In a couple of hours, we arrived at the next rest stop which was Barstow, where we saw a lot of people also on their way to Nevada or going back home after a weekend of sin and debauchery. Jojo bought some souvenirs and Auntie Ditas bought a funny t-shirt which said: RETIRED -  NO PHONE, NO ADDRESS, NO BUSINESS,NO MONEY, TOO OLD TO STEAL, TOO LAZY TO WORK. Wow, kinda sounds like me! We also contributed $2.00 each to buy lottery tickets perchance to win big in the Mega Millions or Super Lotto. It was the last opportunity to play the lottery in California before we crossed over to Nevada.

Pretty soon we were on the road again surrounded by desert, but in a little while we could see Las Vegas in the distance. The van exited the freeway upon reaching the city and we began looking for our hotel. Uncle Oscar likes to fly off the seat of his pants so he didn't exactly get definitive directions and to add to that, the GPS he had wasn't working well. Cousin Jojo managed to get it up and running and in a few short blocks we made it to the hotel. While Uncle Oscar and Auntie Ditas checked in, I turned on my tablet PC to look for a wi-fi connection. There was one but I couldn't connect. We were later able to do so after asking for the password. The Wyndham Grand Desert resort comprised of 3 buildings and we drove a few hundred feet away to find ours, then went up to our room on the 12th floor. Our living room quarters had 2 rooms but I immediately had first dibs on the living room couch. We settled in and hung around the room, then had a late lunch/early dinner.

Outside Bellagio

Bellagio Lobby

Then it was time to finally cruise the famous Las Vegas Strip. Down the street we went, made a u-turn and proceeded the opposite way, until we reached the Bellagio and parked there. We entered the building, took a few pictures in the lobby, then went outside to watch the dancing fountains. Afterwards we went to the casino where things became more interesting. As I said before after our Pechanga trip with the same group minus the Canadians, I am not a gambler, but it's nice to try playing the slots and video poker especially now that I know what to expect, having been oriented by my Uncle and his daughter to the games while in Pechanga. We went our separate ways sitting at our own machines of choice. I first played penny slots but was having no luck, so I switched from one machine to the next. I stayed put at one which was making me lose lesser, and pretty soon was joined at the next machine by a very attractive young woman. I acknowledged her presence but we didn't talk and just kept on playing. She left shortly and Uncle Ed came by and told me she might have been a hooker looking for a customer. Due to my naivete, I never even thought about that possibility even though I knew that hookers abound the city, Nevada being a state with legalized prostitution. My question is: why a possible hooker would be scouting me on the slot machine or perhaps it was a slut machine, and not only that but why she would do that to someone playing penny slots instead of someone playing bigger stakes, thus possibly having more moolah to spend, even perhaps for her services. It defies logic, thus the reason why there is a doubt that she was really a lady of the night. And if she was, then I'm flattered that she even thought of me as a possible "john". After an hour or so of gambling, we returned to the hotel minus the very attractive young woman.

The next morning, I was up bright and early ready to explore the strip with cousin Jojo. Unfortunately he had a trying night because Paolo was coughing so he was catching up on sleep. I bid Auntie Ditas goodbye and told her I would be back in about an hour. I started jogging towards the strip and reached it in about 6 minutes, so I estimated to distance from the hotel to be about 6/10ths of a mile (I later found out via car GPS that it was 1/2 mile, so close enough). I turned left from Harmon Street and jogged all the way to Mandalay Bay then turned back. Little did I know until I checked the map while writing this blog that I had reached the end of the strip on that side. That made for a 40 minute turnaround which was not bad for someone who doesn't run anymore. I actually tacked on another 5 minutes at the end.

We had breakfast upon my return then went looking for a Filipino grocery store at another part of the city to buy food. We searched for the store on the GPS and failed to find it, so we resorted to a paper map and made it there. After shopping, we again relied on the GPS to guide us back to the hotel and this is where another misadventure happened. The GPS sent us down the street where the University of Nevada - Las Vegas was located which happened to have a lot of traffic, then proceeded to send us to Duke Ellington Way. When we turned left on that street, we ended up right smack-dab in front of... wait for it... HOOTERS! The GPS with the female voice must have had a male mind! Not that the men in the van minded it too much, but the situation was too funny. Hotel...Hooters...at least four letters matched. What a hoot! At least the GPS didn't take us here: http://www.chickenranchbrothel.com/ (beware: adults only link), which Google says is only about an hour away from Las Vegas. Maybe I should check that device to make sure it didn't miss by a letter: HPS (Hooters Positioning System). Anyway, we made it back to the hotel after recognizing a street without the benefit of the GPS. Aunties Ditas and Beth stayed behind with Paolo, while the guys headed for Hooters, well actually the Las Vegas Outlet Mall, but on the drive there and back, we again passed Hooters. We scouted the mall, went back to the hotel to have lunch of freshly cooked tinola soup, then all of us went back to the Outlet Mall so Jojo could shop for pasalubong (gifts) to bring back to Canada.

After all the shopping, we drove back to the Las Vegas Strip and went to Hooters, no, I meant Harrah's Casino. No time to waste as Auntie Ditas had been itching all day to hit the slot machines where she apparently had a history of doing quite well in that particular casino. We claimed our own machines while Jojo went searching for the baccarat tables which he also played the previous night at the Bellagio with much luck. More on that later. I took a few spins at slots betting quarters but was having no luck so I switched to video poker in which I did better. After a bet of a dollar made it all the way up to $15, I walked away because as Kenny Rogers said "you gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em". I went exploring inside the casino then went outside where I saw the minions from the movie Despicable Me. Paolo happened to have seen them the night before and was asking about them. I looked for Jojo to tell him about it and saw him at a baccarat table, but I let him be, not wanting to spoil his luck. When I saw him again later, I told him about the minions and he was able to take photos of Paolo with them (for tips of course), thus making the kid's  trip memorable (in addition to finding a black car from the movie CARS which he wanted to have so much, in the Disney Store at the outlet mall). I played more poker and subsequently gave $5 back to the casino. By the time we left Harrah's that evening , no misguided hooker had seated herself beside me. Maybe the one from the night before passed it along to her social network (Assbook), that I wasn't a potential customer. Back at the hotel, we had a late dinner of kulma, rice, and toast.

Gambling at Harrah's Casino

Early next morning, Jojo and I made our way to the compact hotel gym. We both mounted treadmills but mine didn't work so I settled for the recumbent bike. After 20 minutes I found a working treadmill and did another 30 minutes there. Wow, that's 2 days in a row of running! Then it was back to the room to shower, change, and check out, but not before learning some sad news that a relative had passed away suddenly the night before. So with utter disbelief and heavy hearts, we headed back to L.A. and after a brief stop at Whiskey Pete's for a last chance at winning (or losing for that matter),where I bet a whole dollar on slots instead of the usual penny but no dice as usual, we were back in Cerritos about 3:30 p.m. Thus ended three wonderful first time days in Sin City. No riches in winnings, but brought back some wealth of experience.

Final gambling stop at Whiskey Pete's

Since this is too long already: EPILOGUE TO FOLLOW.

As promised, here is the second part of this post: http://aboutlifeandrunning.blogspot.com/2014/03/las-vegas-random-notes.html.

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Walking with Weights (again) Plus Some Jogging (again)

          The past couple of months, I've been walking consistently with the Long Beach Area Walking Club at Signal Hill every Saturday morning at 7 a.m. I started using my weighted backpack again, the first time with a 15 pound barbell plate. I've been doing this to slow me down and equalize my pace with the rest of the group because I was getting bored and lonely walking alone up front. The following week, I added an extra 5 pounds and that made a huge difference in the intensity of the walk. In short, the extra 5 pounds kicked my butt and I even got chicked on the way up Stanley St. hill by two ladies. Nobody has ever passed me going uphill, ever.

          What do the weights do exactly other than slow me down? They help me resist the temptation to run so I don't injure myself, while still getting a workout intensity similar to running. As an added benefit, I can socialize with the other walkers by matching their pace.

          So it got me thinking about getting one of those weighted vests again but every time I shop around for it, the cost deters me from getting one. You will not find a 20 pound weighted vest for less than $40, and that's money I can't spare while being jobless. One of the people I walk with, Paul, suggested sand and more particularly, wet sand which is very dense and heavy, instead of the barbell plates which I'm afraid might rip my backpack any day soon. I pondered this for a few weeks not knowing how much a bag of sand might cost at a building supplies store. I checked out the Home Depot website and it showed a 50 pound bag of all-purpose sand for $2.44. So a few days ago, I finally went to Home Depot and was surprised to see how many types of sand there was other than the all-purpose type. Well, I picked up the cheapest one even though it was more than I needed because it didn't come any smaller. I'm planning on replacing the weight plates with sand as soon as I can find a separate bag to divide it and to find a way to accurately measure 20 pounds, which I hope will fit in the backpack and adhere to its shape in contrast to the weight plates which bounce around while I'm walking.

          Fearing that my backpack was about to rip due to the weight plates, I have been walking without it the past two weeks. I've been able to do some short jogs again (after injuring my left thigh trying to run full stride) and besides I found somebody with the walking group who could keep up with my pace. On the first day of March when rainstorms were hitting the Los Angeles/Long Beach area, I monitored the weather forecast and upon awakening that Saturday morning seeing no rain, I decided to show up at Signal Hill, not knowing who else was going to be there. The girl who was able to keep up with me wasn't there and I was relieved to see another walker who braved the weather. Well we lucked out because the rain, wind, and thunder didn't come till afternoon. The significant thing that happened on this walk was that I was able to jog uphill and downhill for 55 minutes non-stop, and that was the most I have done in the past several months, which was mostly on flat terrain. My initial plan was 30 minutes, but I kept adding 5 more minutes until I figured 55 minutes was enough. The rest of the way, I walked and jogged until I completed an hour and a half. At least I found a good excuse for running so slowly: going uphill, then using recovery as an excuse for running slowly downhill. Also I figured, if Obama and Biden can jog that slowly around the White House, I could do as well up and down hills.

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Losing Internet Connection Plus the Need for Instant Gratification

          My internet connection felt sluggish a couple of days ago so I turned off the modem for about 30 seconds like I have done countless times before (powercycling in tech speak), then turned it back on. The internet light never turned on and after half an hour of waiting, I finally called tech support. Edgar tested the line on their end and it looked fine. He had me power cycle the modem again, change the cable, and try another phone jack, to no avail. He started writing a ticket for it so the phone company can check the phone line the next day, but he encountered a problem on his end. He said they were going to troubleshoot the problem further and get back to me as soon as it is fixed. The phone call lasted an hour. In the meantime, I started to get anxious while felt like withdrawal symptoms from not being able to get my internet fix. I even considered asking some neighbors if I could connect to their wi-fi temporarily for the night until the DSL provider fixed the problem.

          After a couple hours without resolution and to wait for the effects of the wine to wear off, I finally decided to head to Walmart to check out how much a new DSL modem costs. I figured something must be wrong with my 2004 vintage modem or worst it was at its last legs and ready to give up the ghost. Walmart didn't have a plain DSL modem but only had a combination modem and wireless router. So I walked over to Radioshack a couple of hundred feet away, but they were already closed. Back to Walmart I went and checked the price of the modem/router on a scanner. I was shocked to find out it was $90.00 plus tax! I didn't have too many options considering I had to have my internet fix for the night. I was still hoping my old modem would start pulling the internet from the phone company's line. Sure enough, when I returned home, the internet light on the modem was lit. I opened a browser and some websites just to make sure, and reconnected my VoIP Magicjack phone. I was back in business and felt immediate relief. I imagine that's how a heroin addict would feel after shooting up. So first thing the next morning, I'll was back at Walmart returning the product. Whew, saved myself $98.00! The addiction must have been really bad because I hardly leave the house past 6 p.m. and there I was at Walmart at 9 p.m. Well, I jumped the gun because what I wanted was instant gratification. I got back home from Walmart with my credit card a little lighter and after apologizing to the cashier for returning the product. It remained unopened.

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How I Reduced My Property Taxes

          I don't know if you've noticed that there has been a marked decrease in my posts and this is a result of being unemployed, ergo, bloggable moments have come few and far between.

          When one is jobless, every little decrease in expenses helps and that's what happened to me on February 25th at a hearing. No, not a criminal, or civil, or divorce,  or small claims court hearing, but a property tax assessment hearing. Last year, I applied for a reduction in my property taxes because I noticed that in my depressed area of the city, the property values were going down in contrast to the other parts. Sure enough, when I checked the comparable sales in just my condominium building, I was being assessed as much as 40% more. So I filled out an online application from the Los Angeles County Assessor's Office and sent my appeal with the links for the comps that  found. A couple of months afterwards, I received a response in the mail saying that to proceed, I would have to report to the community building of Chace Burton Park in Marina Del Rey for a hearing with an appeals officer. I had to bring along evidence in the form of 3 comparative sales in my immediate area. I found some of these comps from the Assessor's Office website itself, but relied on a realtor friend, Nancy D. (Ask me if you have a property to buy or sell and maybe I can refer you to her. And yes, she is the same Nancy D. who drove me to and from my colonoscopy last year.), to provide me a more professional presentation.  I printed out the requisite 3 comps and was ready to face the music. Big thanks to you for all your help, Nancy!

          I planned on at least an hour drive from Long Beach to Marina Del Rey based on a 42 minute estimate by Google Maps. I also programmed the destination on my Tom Tom GPS as a backup, then left home at 8:45 for my 10:30 a.m. appointment. Based on past experience with GPS where it didn't send me on the most direct route, I followed Google's suggestion first and took the surface streets. I went through Long Beach, Carson, Gardena, Manhattan Beach, Culver City, LAX, and finally, Marina Del Rey. Everything worked well until I started looking for Mindanao Way which I couldn't find, and was quite ironic since I come from the Mindanao area of the Philippines, hahaha! That's when I had to rely on GPS which correctly guided me to my destination in the last couple of miles.  Having checked out the Chace Burton Park Website beforehand, I was able to find the parking area quickly, and even though the website said that there was a $5.00 fee, I didn't see any signs indicating it nor did I see an automated ticket dispenser or any parking lot attendants. I parked hoping that I don't see a ticket when I returned. My arrival time was 10:10 a.m., so it took much longer than expected.

          I walked the short distance from the parking lot to the park's community center and my first order of business was to find the nearest bathroom. Woe is me with the tiny bladder! Next was to find the community room and I correctly assumed that the one full of people was it. The lady inside asked for my appointment card then proceeded to swear me in, you know - to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God. Then the waiting began. I turned on my tablet to read the news and before it can even boot up, another lady called my name and asked me to follow her. I actually had her verify my name to make sure I was whom she called because I was there before the 10:30 appointment. We approached a table where another lady was waiting. I started to present my evidence then was told it wasn't necessary because they had already done it for me. All they asked me was if I agreed with the new assessment which I originally presented to them in my application months before or if I disagreed. Well of course I agreed!  The second lady signed off on it and bad-a-bing, bad-a-boom, that was all there was to it! 5 minutes waiting and talking, tops! I was escorted back to the front and was given a copy of my new assessment. What's supposed to happen next is that the assessor's office is going to make the change and that I will be refunded part of the taxes I already paid. Next year, if there are further reductions in the comparative sale in my area, I will have to apply again. Assumptions: the first lady was probably the hearing officer and the second lady what the assessor's office representative.

          One more bathroom use for the road then I headed back to the parking lot. Luckily, no ticket. I checked my Google printout and my GPS, then I was outta there. The drive back home took me half an hour quicker. What I can say about driving to and from the park is that it's always good to have a backup system, and it helped that I was already familiar with the area having lived in Torrance in the 80's and ridden my bike on the bike path to Marina Del Rey.

          Was the almost 2 hour drive back and forth worth it? Definitely so. My only question is - wouldn't it have been more efficient to have done it by email or mail since the process took such a short time? I was expecting myself to beg and plead in person to reduce my taxes. Instead, all I was asked was if I agreed. I guess I needed to be there in case I didn't agree. Again, I should only been asked to show up if that were so. Not an efficient system in my opinion and a waste of gasoline, but gratified for the reduction in taxes. Two decades ago, I also appealed for a reduction using old fashioned paper sent in the mail and got approved without going anywhere as long as I had filled out the application and provided comps. Don't computers and the internet take care of that nowadays?

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Technical Support From The Bored and The Jobless

          Apologies to the soap opera "The Young and The Restless".

          I posted the following on HP's Facebook page: I upgraded from Windows 8.0 to Windows 8.1 and HP Solution Center stopped working for my printer. Despite following the instructions in the solutions area of the HP website, it hasn't worked. Reading through the forums, there were no answers that worked either. Finally, after looking for something similar to Windows Fax and Scan, I found something that can be used an alternative to the HP Solution Center so you can scan to PDF (which Windows Fax and Scan does not offer). The solution is a free HP Windows 8.2 app called HP Scan and Capture. I hope whoever encountered a similar problem with HP Solution Center finds this helpful.

          In other tech support issues, my Uncle called me about being unable to print out all pages of a document and I found out he was trying print it out from his email instead of opening the file in Microsoft Word. After showing him how to do it over Teamviewer then trying to print it out, only blank paper came out of the printer. A good guess was that it was out of black ink. As a workaround, I adjusted the document color to dark blue instead and was able to print it out. Then another minor complication came up: the pages cut off at different parts that were not the same as the one onscreen. Since it was a legal document, I figured that it was on legal sized paper. My Uncle said he was going to buy some black ink and legal size paper the next day. Problem solved. Actually, 2 problems solved since I was able to find a workaround for the HP Solution Center problem too. I know my Uncle appreciates my help and I hope HP does too, especially since it was free.

Want tech support for free? Call me...

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Budgeting While Unemployed

Stretching The Buck

          Forcefully retired - what a nicer way of saying that I am jobless without much money. Maybe untimely retirement sounds better. If not for the unemployment checks, I'd already be in deep doo-doo by now. Never mind that the unemployment rate has been going down, a lot of people still cannot find adequate jobs and not for lack of looking. I've sent numerous applications online but nary a call for an interview. My resume at Caljobs.ca.gov hasn't been viewed by even a single employer. Here's one of the reasons why I'm still not employed: no CNA credentials (certified nursing assistant). In the last few decades, I've fallen into a type of job which didn't require it, but now employers in psych units are beginning to prefer that you have a CNA. My CNA certification expired years ago even though my card does not have an expiration date. I already checked with the Board of Nursing several years ago about my status and was told I had to retake the whole course again. It's hard having been a jack-of-one-trade all these years.

          I'm beginning to find out that merely filling out applications and sending your resume online is not enough because software filters those applications using keywords and even when your resume passes those filters, a human may take their good old time sorting through the hundreds they probably receive daily. It would be better to find the actual hiring person and talk to him or her and they might look for your application. If not, well, at least you now have a contact person in the company.

          So how does one survive this situation I'm in? You tighten your belt...a lot, until you almost turn blue. Budgeting - something I thought I was good at. Through the recession, cut backs on our salary for three years, sending money to my mother, increasing cost of food and gasoline - I survived them all, but that was because I had an income. The unemployment checks are helping a lot but that will end in April and after that I will have to dig into my retirement nest egg. Out of the checks, I pay homeowner's association dues, electricity, heating gas, internet, cellphone, car insurance, health insurance, dental insurance, real estate taxes, and income taxes. My goodness, so many bills!

          For the amount of cash I used to withdraw from the bank every week for  food/gasoline/daily expenses, I have now managed to make it last for 10 or 11 days instead of 7. So instead of withdrawing that amount 4 times a month, I do it just 3 times a month. My last withdrawal from the ATM may even last me two weeks, but that's probably going to be a rare occurrence. I started using cheap shampoo to wash dishes again because they are cheaper than dish soap, thicker, lasts longer, and smells better. This was my blog post from April 2010: http://aboutlifeandrunning.blogspot.com/2010/04/experimenting-with-dish-soap.html.  My gas bill more than doubled last month because I like to keep the temperature around 78 degrees. Well, that bill was too much so I decided I could just wear warmer clothes indoors and keep the temperature to about 70 degrees. My gas bill this month fell to more than half. Not having to drive to work has helped with my gasoline bill because I now only have to gas up about every 6 weeks or so. Another thing that helps is that I don't eat out. Because my income has decreased a lot, I qualified for small discounts on my electricity and heating gas bills. Every little bit helps at this point.

          As if being unemployed wasn't bad enough, this is what happened after I received my first unemployment check - someone guessed the numbers on my EDD debit card plus the security code and charged $2.00 in Illinois! They were probably probing to find out if they guessed correctly. A few days later, the bank credited it back after they replaced the card. One advantage of applying for the funds online is that you get the money quicker. I fill out the application on Sunday, then get an email from the bank when the EDD check is deposited on Monday, then 2 days later I get another email from the credit union that it's been transferred to my private account.

          I thought I had to pay income taxes for 2013 because despite being laid off, my income increased due to my 460 hours of vacation time being cashed out to me by the previous employer. Thank goodness after using tax software and filing electronically,  I was surprised that I'm getting a refund. That may allow me to last another month after the unemployment checks stop coming.

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Bruno Mars & RHCP ~ pepsi 1/2Time Super Bowl XLVIII

It was a great Super Bowl...NOT! Just my 2 cents' worth, I think the half time celebration was the best part. Even the ads were not as exceptional as in previous years and a couple that I liked were the Budweiser and Doritos ads. That's all I have to say about XLVIII (pronounced X-Love the Third).



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Covered California (Obamacare) Update - The Saga Continues

BREAKING NEWS: Hours after I posted what I wrote below, I received snail mail from Covered California notifying me that I'm temporarily qualified for the federal subsidy for only 3 months because they needed proof of income, citizenship, and social security. I scanned and uploaded those to the website immediately but as probably should be expected my first two attempts gave me an error message. Fortunately, I remembered a workaround from a couple of months ago when somebody from Medi-Cal assisted me with my enrollment and uploaded the documents to a different section for eligibility changes. We shall wait and see what's going to happen next.

         
          After I had my insurance choice changed from Anthem Blue Cross Silver to Healthnet Platinum, I waited a week for an acceptance letter from Healthnet. When that didn't arrive, I called Healthnet to find out if my name was in their system. To my consternation, it was not and January 1st was fast approaching and I didn't want to be without medical insurance at the start of 2014. I scoured the internet for similar problems and one of the websites mentioned a Covered California phone number that one of the commenters posted that wasn't publicized by Covered California.

          I called the number and I was surprised that it wasn't busy nor did it have a waiting time. Initially, they couldn't check on my status because the system was down for maintenance. I tried again an hour later and they were able to verify my choice of insurance. The person I talked with said he was going to forward my concerns to tech support. When I called Healthnet the next day, my name was already in their system. I was given my subscriber ID number by the customer service representative and another phone number to call where I could pay and choose a doctor. It was an automated system (I thought I was going to take to another person) and the option to choose a doctor was not available, but I was able to pay for the January premium by credit card. My name didn't come up but the ID number corresponded with my platinum coverage choice and amount that Covered California quoted.

          The next day, an acceptance letter arrived from Healthnet, which was out of turn chronologically. I then tried to register with the Healthnet website for several days but it wouldn't take my ID number until January 1st. When I was finally able to log in, I found out that I had been preassigned a doctor based in Huntington Park. I called the Healthnet again on New Year's Day and wasn't expecting a live person to answer when I didn't press any buttons, but someone named Candy answered and she was able to change my doctor. I even joked and asked her if she picked the short straw so she had to work on New Year's day. I printed out the overview of my coverage as a temporary ID in case I needed proof of insurance since I was joining my relatives the next day for a day trip to Pechanga Casino.

          So it was great relief to find out I was finally covered even though I had to pay for it and it's a lot cheaper than what I paid for private insurance in November  and December. It had been an almost painstaking three months to get covered which was not helped by being unemployed. Then another surprise came up. I got a Medi-Cal card in the mail and called their L.A. County office  who told me I'm also temporarily covered and can use it any time until more information comes in the mail, so I can choose a Managed Care Plan, kinda like an HMO. I'm temporarily covered by Medi-Cal until they can verify my projected 2014 income. Again, out of turn, my Healthnet ID card arrived a few days later.

People who haven't bought insurance by March 31st are supposed to be fined by the Federal Government. My question is how will the government know if they haven't bought it? I also think it's going to be a mess once the insurance companies start trying to collect the subsidized amounts (based on income) from the government. How well the Obamacare system works out remains to be seen.

          This is what would cost me to have health insurance: if I took COBRA from the job I was laid off from = $503, if I continued with Anthem Blue Cross Silver (which I subscribed in November and December on the open market)= $193, with Healthnet Platinum = $134. Medi-Cal, if it comes to it, is free.

Here are my other posts regarding Obamacare:
http://aboutlifeandrunning.blogspot.com/2013/04/an-obamacare-loophole-for-early-retirees.html
http://aboutlifeandrunning.blogspot.com/2013/12/complications-in-making-changes-in.html
http://aboutlifeandrunning.blogspot.com/2013/11/my-experience-with-obamacare-sign-up-in.html
http://aboutlifeandrunning.blogspot.com/2013/12/glitches-ive-encountered-with-covered.html

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My First Ever Casino Experience

          Would you believe that in the 33 years I've lived in the U.S., I've never been to a casino until last week (January 2nd, 2014), when my Uncle and Aunt invited me to go to Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California? I've had numerous invitations before of course, but I've always declined because they usually interfered with my work schedule. This last invitation, I finally ran out of excuses not to go since there is no job schedule to be interfered with. Oh, didn't you know that I've been unemployed since October 2013?

          We agreed to meet at my Uncle Oscar and Auntie Ditas' house at 10 a.m. with Uncle Ed and were soon on the road to Pechanga. However, we were invited to stop by for lunch at another Aunt's (Beth) and cousin's (Melot) home in Winchester only a few miles away from Pechanga, so that's where we headed for first. This was another first for me because again, despite invitations in the past, I've never visited their home before. My goodness, their house was spacious and beautiful! Lunch consisted of tinolang manok and inihaw na isda. Thank you Auntie Beth, that was delicious and filling.

          After lunch, we were back on the road to Pechanga. We arrived at the destination in about 15 minutes, parked in the casino parking structure making note of the floor and parking spot (3rd/3J), and upon reaching the entrance, took some obligatory pictures just to prove that I finally made it to a casino. It was disappointing that there was no sign in that area indicating that it was Pechanga Resort and Casino though. I tried to geolocate myself on Facebook but the guest wi-fi needed a password and I didn't have a data plan on my phone.

Uncle Oscar, Auntie Ditas, & I

          Upon entering the building we agreed to meet in that area at a designated time in case we became separated. Oh, I almost forgot, Uncle Ed handed me $20 to gamble with, LOL! Being unemployed has certain advantages, doesn't it? Then we proceed through a long hallway full of slot machines and card tables towards the non-smoking area. Uncle Oscar proceeded to show me how the slot machines worked: insert loyalty card if you had one, insert money, then start pressing the button and hope you win. He further explained how you can increase and/or decrease your bets if you wanted to. Then he left me to play on his dime and I tried to analyze how one won or lost which up to now I'm still unclear. All I know is that I didn't win on that orientation machine. I returned Uncle's loyalty card and thanked him and we were shortly joined by Auntie Beth who drove from Winchester. She and Uncle Ed proceeded to play some slots while I explored the interior perimeter of the building. Surprisingly, the larger smoking sections didn't smell too much of smoke. Maybe the building had a very good air scrubbing system. I also went upstairs and looked inside the Bingo room and the non-smoking Poker room where I looked for my cousin-in-law, Mike who we knew was in the building with cousin Mary Ann and their friends.

 I went back downstairs and saw Ed and Beth again. Ed had won about $20 in slots but subsequently lost all of it. Darn! I walked around some more then went outside where a woman asked me if she could use my phone to call a friend who was supposed to pick her up. I was very wary but reluctantly lent her my phone. Her friend told her he would be picking her up shortly. She asked me if I was Vietnamese and I said I could be whatever or whomever she wanted me to be, baby. Just kidding, I told her I was not. With that, I separated ways with the young lady.

View From
2nd Floor

2nd Floor Selfie

Next, I explored the outer perimeter of the casino and hotel. Well, nothing to see there really, except parking lots, hahaha! In about 25 minutes, I was back where I started from and the Vietnamese lady was still waiting. She texted and called her friend again and somehow they just missed each other, or so he said. I told the lady I was surprised that she didn't have a cell phone. She said she did but her battery ran out and showed me her phone. She also told me that she was from Orange County and was in the area to sell her daughter's car and decided to visit the casino for a couple of hours. I wished her luck and hoped that her ride would arrive soon, then went back inside the casino.

I met up with Ed and Beth again and were joined by Uncle Oscar and Auntie Ditas. In a few minutes, cousin Mary Ann saw us and said she won $225 when she hit a Royal Flush in the poker machine. She handed over $100 for us to have dinner on her. Beth went to a change machine instead and divided the money among ourselves for more gambling funds. Mary Ann took me around to look for a Poker machine to show me how it works and upon finally finding a free one, my second casino orientation began. She showed me how to bet and what winning hands would look like. After a few examples, she had me make a go of it. At least this game involved more thinking than a slot machine and I spent more time there. However, still no beginner's luck and pretty soon it was 4:30 p.m. which we decided beforehand was the time to head home. But first, Uncle Ed and Oscar had a hankering for coffee and hotdog so it was off to the snack area. I was still full from Auntie Beth's cooking at lunch so I declined the snacks. Then it was a pre-drive bathroom break for some, while the others played some last second slots in the lobby area. Too bad, no late winnings there. Mary Ann went to look for Mike and friends while we headed back to the parking structure. Soon we were on the freeway and headed back to Cerritos. The drive took about 1 hour and 15 minutes just like Google Maps said. Before we parted, Auntie Ditas treated us from her approximately $80 winnings, banh mi sandwiches and a taste of durian smoothie. Then Ed and I went to our respective cars and headed home.

Impressions: well, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Pechanga exploring, observing, being oriented to, and playing the machines a little bit. I can now say that gambling is not my cup of tea maybe because I have become a very risk averse person in this time of my life. Other than Uncle Oscar's money in the slot machine and Mary Ann's in the poker machine, I didn't use the $40 I was given. So you might say, I won $40 dollars from my relatives :-).  Nothing ventured, nothing gained, but nothing lost either.

Gratitude: I want to say my utmost thanks to Uncle Oscar and Auntie Ditas for inviting me which enabled me to have my first ever visit and experience in a casino, to Uncle Ed and cousin Mary Ann for the funds, and to Auntie Beth for the Filipino food lunch.

After having such fun spending most of the day at Pechanga with my beloved relatives, the next day alone at home was a bit sad, but I got over it. Well, next time, Auntie Beth said it may be Las Vegas (another place I've never been to).

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Complications in Making Changes in Covered California (Obamacare)

          

          Register, Enroll, Pay, get medical insurance coverage. If only it was that simple. I should be done with this by now and I never expected to blog so much about Obamacare as I have already. I've even run out of blog ideas this week until this came along. To add a quote by Michael Corleone from the film The Godfather - Part 2, " Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in". Sometimes things just don't work in a logical manner. As Spock would say "It's not logical Jim".

          Case in point: I originally registered with Coveredca.com for Obamacare on the day before I got laid off and picked Anthem Blue Cross Silver Plan because that was what I thought I could afford based on the federal subsidy discounts. Then of course the day after, I got laid off, so I made changes on my projected income in the Covered California website. No income would have meant I qualified for Medi-Cal and a few weeks later, I received a letter from Covered California saying so.

          I patiently waited for Medi-Cal to send me more information. When none arrived several weeks later, I finally called the Los Angeles County Medi-Cal phone number that Covered California gave to me in their letter. I was able to speak to a nice lady named Heidi S. who asked me for my updated income and she was able to update that information. However, it was based on a whole year of me receiving unemployment benefits which disqualified me for Medi-Cal. Well, those benefits are only supposed to last for 6 months but the system didn't allow for this, so Heidi said that when my benefits expire in April, I can call them again so they can qualify me for Medi-Cal. She was also able to let me log in to the Covered California website again (remember I was locked out of the system) by giving me an access code and merging a new username and password with my old one. Strange system isn't it? Heidi asked me to upload my new income information but we encountered another glitch - the system would not accept the upload and said to contact system administrator. Heidi told me that they have been able to work around this problem and she had me upload my EDD unemployment benefits data to the California proof of residency link instead. That worked and she was able to qualify me for Obamacare based on reduced income. This reduced income would have enabled me to enroll in a cheaper coverage because of a higher federal subsidy. But then the system would not let me make changes on the original Anthem Blue Cross I was enrolled in. Heidi said she was going to ask her supervisor about this and call me back.

          In the meantime, I got on the treadmill and did a 45 minute hill walk/jog while waiting. I got Heidi's call back after I finished my workout and she said they couldn't do the changes from their end and that I would have to call Covered California. Being pig headed, I tried to make changes in the website myself by inputting everything from the beginning and with the new income that Heidi had helped me with. When it came to the enrollment part and after I tried choosing a new insurance plan, the system still didn't reflect any changes and kept it with Anthem Blue Cross. Believe me, I tried 3 times.

          After lunch, I called the primary Covered California number which gave a very prolonged message in English and Spanish telling me to call another toll free number. I did and the system told me that the waiting time would be more than 30 minutes. I hanged up and called Anthem to find out if they can do it on their end. I was told that Covered California still haven't sent my information to them and until then, they couldn't do anything. I tried Healthnet too and asked them if they can help me enroll directly. They said they could not. It was back to the Covered California phone number then.

          I watched a movie, read the news, surfed the web and waited. Thank goodness I was able to figure out how to listen to the elevator music on my computer speakers instead of holding the phone on my ear. After almost an hour, an agent finally answered the phone. Well I'll be darned but if it wasn't Tony whom I had spoken to about three weeks before about resetting my password and updating my income. I recognized him by his name and accent. He wasn't able to help me several weeks ago, but this time he said he would be able to change my insurance choice. He said that the system doesn't allow for the consumer to make the changes because otherwise people would keep on doing it if they were not satisfied. He made the changes in his computer then I tried to log in to see them. The system would not let me do it. Tony gave me another number that I can call to reset my password and also gave me a California State Client I.D. number which he said would help me in the future. After we hanged up, I emptied the cache of my browser and tried to log in again. Surprise, surprise, I was able to! It looks like Covered CA will not let me log in when agent is logged in and is using or updating my data.  It showed the changes that Tony made and I was now supposedly enrolled in Healthnet Platinum Plan instead of Anthem Blue Cross Silver Plan. Even though I didn't get the free Medi-Cal insurance I had hoped for, because of the higher federal subsidy, I was able to get better coverage for lesser money with Healthnet. Thank you so much Tony! Now I have to wait for Healthnet to bill me and send me my enrollment information. Then in April, if I'm still unemployed, I can try for Medi-Cal again.
          With all the complications and glitches I've experienced so far, I should be in critical condition by now.

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Glitches I've Encountered With Covered California (Obamacare)

          

          Even though the Covered California website (coveredca.com) didn't have as many glitches as the federal Healthcare.gov website, it still wasn't smooth sailing as should be expected. In my first attempt at applying in October, the section where I was supposed to enter my citizenship information stopped me in my tracks because it wouldn't take the A90 number of my citizenship certificate. The website showed an error code and told me to contact the System Administrator. Well, I don't work for them so I didn't have a way of doing that. A week later, it miraculously accepted my citizenship info and I was able to proceed. So my registration was completed and the website presented me with options on what companies and insurance coverage I preferred based on my projected income in 2014 if I was still employed. Unfortunately, the next day, I was laid off so that changed the income equation.  If I remained unemployed in 2014, that means I would not have an income, so I had to make revisions with Covered California. When I tried to input my projected income of zero dollars, the website would not accept the value, however, when I put in 1 cent per hour, it was accepted. To prove that my income had changed, I was asked by the website to upload whatever evidence I had. I was able to upload my WARN Act Letter and my Termination Notice. Based on a projected annual income of $1,664 a year, I qualified for free insurance coverage through Medi-cal which is California' version of Medicaid. I don't know how much Medi-cal covers but at least it's free and better than not having any health insurance coverage.

          A couple of weeks later, I logged on the website to check on my status and it showed me that I was approved for Medi-cal based on my revised projected income and the evidence I provided. However, I didn't know what the next step was. By that time I had started receiving unemployment benefits so I had to update my information and report my new income. I would still be receiving substantially less than the $15,800 threshold for subsidized private insurance where I have to pay a certain amount, so I would still qualify for Medi-cal. As required by the rules to be truthful with my information, I tried to make the changes to my income. Again I hit a roadblock similar to the one with the citizenship information. Thinking maybe the website was too busy to process the new information, I tried to log in again in the evening. This is where a new problem cropped up. The website said I entered the wrong password so I tried to be more careful the second time. I got the same message so I clicked on the "Forgot Password" link which brought up some challenge questions to prove my identity. I know for sure that I answered them correctly but the website locked me out.

          The next day, I contacted customer service via Instant Messaging and was told to call the customer service number for help in resetting my password. I did that and after about a 35 minute wait, I talked to someone who told me to wait 24 hours before trying to log in again. He said that should help in trying to reset my password. While he was on the phone with me, I asked him if he could change my income information. He found me via my case number and did what I tried the day before. He failed as well because his computer gave him the same error message that I got. His advice was to just let it go since the new information wouldn't change my qualifying for Medi-cal anyway.

          I waited for more than 48 hours before trying to log in again but was still locked out of the system, and wouldn't even allow me to change my password. It didn't even ask the challenge questions again but rather just told me to call the toll free number. I sent an email to customer service with my dilemma and they were supposed to respond within 2 days. Two weeks later, I still haven't gotten one. Being bullheaded, I called customer service again and got someone on the line within half an hour. I asked him about resetting my password and he said that they are not allowed to do that anymore. What should I do if I needed to update my info, I asked? He said I would have to do it over the phone. Like the previous representative, he suggested that I leave well enough alone with the income situation, because I would be assigned a Medi-cal caseworker anyway at a later date who would verify my income.

          On December 5, 2013, I finally received a letter via snail mail stating that I didn't qualify for lower cost subsidies for private insurance, but rather I qualified for Medi-cal. At least now I know that my information was in the system. I was to wait for more paperwork, but this time it would be coming from Medi-cal and not from Covered California.

          Another glitch I encountered with the website is the Instant Messaging system. Sometimes after waiting in the queue for a long time while it counts down until you become number 1, the system kicks you off and says that no representative is available. This happened to me twice. So I think it's better to wait on the phone or do both at the same time if you want to talk to anybody.

          Time it was when I was so naive before I moved to the U.S. when I thought that if ever I become sick in America, I could just go to the nearest hospital's charity ward. After living here since 1981, I still haven't seen a charity ward in all the hospitals I've worked in.

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