BIKE OCD

Whenever I pick up a hobby, I get into it. It's almost obsessive. But when I think about it, I think it's more OCD. In fact, I think I had OCD when I was a child. It'd squirm around during church and some people would wonder what was the matter with me. I'd repeat my squirm or some kind of movement and I remember I would need to do it at least seven times. It's so weird thinking about it now.

My friend Ryan confirmed this once. He told me that when he sees me get into something, I'd really get into it. I think he may have first noticed this when I got into blackjack. After work, I'd spend an hour or two in the copy room making copies of blackjack books. Then I'd go to Vegas with my newfound techniques and get slaughtered.

Now that I have my brother's bike, and after taking apart its tires and replacing them, I moved onto the handle bars. They were crooked and I wasn't sure how to fix it. There was a locking nut right below the handle bars but loosening them didn't do anything. I think it just holds the handle bars to the bike's frame.

So I loosened a little hex nut which did the trick. You can adjust the bars so they are perpendicular to the front tire. Before I did this, you had to turn the bars slightly to the right to go straight. Loosening that hex nut was tough, so I started wondering, how the hell did it get crooked?

Anyway, after all this, I want to tune the entire bike myself. You can pay $50 for a shop to do it, but why let them have all the fun?

BIKE HELL

Ever since I decided to join a sprint triathlon with my cousin Ray, I needed a bike. Thankfully, my brother Noel has a bike, but it's a mountain bike. I don't really care since this race isn't that competitive for me. I'm just doing it for the experience and to see just how hard it is.

The problem with my bro's bike was one of its tires. When I first got a hold of it, both of the tires were flat, so the first thing I needed to do was see if they could hold air. I pumped them both up to maximum pressure and rode around a little. They seemed fine.

But the next day, the rear tire was completely flat and I knew it was time to replace the tube. So I purchased a heavy duty tube with some tire tools and thus began my journey into hell.

It wasn't that it was all that particularly difficult to remove the tires, nor was it that difficult to replace the tube. The difficulty lay in trying to get the tread back on the rims. It seemed impossible to get the damn thing around the rim, but after a good hour of trying and trying and trying again, I finally got the thing on. My fingers felt weak and the pain in my lower back made me feel like an old shit.

But I was able to finish what I started. The next step is to fix the handle bars because they're not on straight. After all was said and done, I felt like I could actually get into this bike thing. It's so mechanical, you can get into messin' with all the little parts and fine tuning the thing.

HULA GIRL

After a long day working on a movie (I saw Michael Keaton and Alexis Bledel) where I nearly fell asleep in between takes, I went home straight away and ate dinner. I finally finished off the bottle of hot sauce I purchased at the Alien Fresh Jerky store in Baker, CA.

I'd heard of Hula Girl hot sauce from the 2004 Golden Chile awards on the Food Network. The Golden Chile is the most prestigious award a hot sauce can get during the Fiery Food Challenge. The sauce I had was the Chipotle Habanero. I miss it already.

IN SEARCH OF DAY 4

I can't tell you how much easier it is to talk to people when you first give them a compliment. It seems like people just aren't used to hearing, "happy new year" or some other statement as long as it's sincere.

I told Mary the manager at Customer Communications that the form that was needed is done and over with. She said she would double check to see if that was the case. What surprised me was that she was still aware of the car tax refund. Maybe there were other people in my situation?

Mary asked me specific questions. Do you remember how much the check was for? Did you receive it because you were charged too much or because your car was wrecked? When did you receive the check? After all this, she said this was like looking for a needle in a haystack (her words, not mine) because there was no database she could just look at to determine what to do. She then asked me for the license plate number of my vehicle.

After holding, she discovered there was some record of a VLF rebate that was issued in 2001. I was surprised to hear that I've been flaking that long. But she said the rebate was just $49. It's both funny and troubling to me how much money comes and goes in our lifetimes and how certain amounts seem a lot or a little depending on the context.

She told me she would need to ask accounting what to do to request a new check. She asked for my cell and told me she would call me back sometime today. She never did.

IN SEARCH OF DAY 3

For some reason, I felt nervous about contacting these offices. What am I fearing? Over the phone humiliation from a desk clerk who can't help but laugh uncontrollably at someone who is looking for their long lost check? What's the big deal? I've shit my pants before, so how much worse can this be?

I begin by calling the Disbursement office. Jennifer answers and she's new. That means she's quite helpful and tells me that I need to figure out which agency was in charge of issuing the refund. The Disbursement office is only in charge of issuing the check. She reassures me that the check is not gone and that I can still get the money. The only problem is that I'll need to start the entire process over again and that could take time. I'd heard this before when I started this search the first time, so I feel better about that.

She put me on hold then came back saying that I'd need to speak to the DMV. She also said she asked a few people and they told her the same thing. She wished me luck and that was that.

Since I'd spoken to the DMV already, it was time to try the Field Office Support Unit number again. It was busy the first time and upon trying it again, it was busy again! What the heck?

I decided to try the 800 number again to see where it would lead me. Would the agent give me the Field Support Unit again? But that number was busy too! What's going on here? What is it about the new year that is causing so many calls to DMV? Maybe it's just timing. Everyone and their mother likes to call around this time. It's that time of the work day when you can do some of your errands and look like you're working.

I go to the DMV website and find another 800 number. Unfortunately, it's only for appointments or registration renewal. Oddly, the DMV website's page for offices does not list a Field Support Unit number. Does the office even exist?

I call the FSU # again and get a ring! But it keeps ringing and ringing. No one answers and I begin to wonder if there is such a thing. No message, no answer, no nothing. I let it ring and finally get the message, "your party is not answering." This message is familiar because when I try to book gigs, I sometimes get the same message when the booking agent doesn't answer their line.

I call the 800 number again and get through. The agent seemed a little more helpful and kept asking me questions about the check. I told her I just wanted to verify the support unit's number since no one answered. I told her that another agent gave me that number after I went through my story. She put me on hold. After some time, I begin to wonder if she's telling her supervisors my story. What if she tells it wrong? What if she doesn't make sense? What if she makes as much sense as I am trying to reclaim my long lost check?

I'm on hold so long, I wonder if she's forgotten? As I look for a stop watch to time the hold period, the agent comes back. She gives me the Customer Communications number.

Customer Communications
(916) 657-6560

She explains that lost checks once required a form to be filled-out at the time. However, since that process is long gone, they don't do that anymore. I would need to explain this to whoever I speak to and hopefully, find another way to go about claiming my check. She warned me that they may give me another number to call - she didn't know.

I call the number and sure enough, it's busy. This will need to wait until tomorrow.

ELECTRICITY UPGRADE

I woke up with my phone beeping, and I suddenly realized that Souther California Edison was upgrading their infrastructure today. That meant no power until about 5pm.

After eating a bowl of cereal (with milk that wasn't entirely cold), I began wondering what I could do today. I panicked a little when I wondered how I could cook rice without the rice cooker. But then I noticed I had a little leftover rice that I could warm-up on the stove.

I started to get really bored when I couldn't watch tv or use the computer. What the hell do I do?! It's no surprise my room is a complete mess. I just don't want to organize the damn thing because I've tried several times to organize it and failed miserably. I guess you just hate doing something you feel like you can't be successful at. I think my big problem is that I just can't seem to throw anything away. But starting some day soon, I'm gonna do it. I'm just gonna throw it away if I haven't used it for at least two years.

But what if I can use it for the future? Waste not, want not. Is that not in the scriptures? Sounds like a proverb to me.

My goal today was to cook them pork spareribs sittin' in the fridge, so I went to the grocery store to buy needed ingredients. My brother bought me a bbq book for Christmas and I love it. I'm such a fan of bbq because 1) it involves meat, 2) it involves sauce(s) and 3) you usually need to eat it with your hands. In some ways, I could argue that bbq is perhaps the most Filipino American cuisine there is because of these points.

So of course, when I get started on something, I forget everything else. So sure enough, I forgot my California car tax refund project. Tomorrow, I shall continue with it.

SLEEP GLORIOUS SLEEP

I don't know what it was but I just kept on sleeping today. I think it has to do with my bed. It isn't the most comfortable bed. I screwed up by throwing the box frame away to make room. That left the mattress which is very, very firm.

When my bro came over from San Jose, my mom bought a mattress topper for my brother's kids. They slept on it since there aren't enough beds for everyone. After they left, I put it on my bed. After two days of sleeping on it, I find that I get really hot for some reason. What could it be? Maybe my body is generating too much heat and it is transferred to the topper. That leaves me waking up in a cold sweat.

So I was tired when I woke up and felt sleepy after lunch. I woke up in the early evening wondering what the hell was wrong with me. It could also have been my workout last night, but I can't imagine I'm that out of shape. But who knows? My current hypothesis is that it's my damn bed. As with all experiments, the only way to figure it out is to sleep on a different mattress.

Anyway, I got up feeling a little better and decided I had to run even if it was just a little bit. So I did and I actually felt tired after a light jog. It might be the sweatshirt and tshirt I wore. When you're sweating and the sweat just sticks to you, you tend to overheat and it makes it tougher on your body. At least that's what I'm thinking.

IN SEARCH OF DAY 2

I'm determined to recover my lost check that Governor Schwarzenegger sent me years ago. My next step is to contact DMV to determine what I need to do.

DMV
(800) 777-0133

I did some research and discovered that the car tax refund checks were mailed almost four years ago!! Holy shit! Has it been that long? Good lord, where has the time gone?? After a little bit of thought, I began to wonder if I cashed that check after all? I'm quite certain I did not, so rather than going back into my bank records, I decided to move ahead with the call.

DMV answered and I told them my story. The agent told me that if you missed your shot at getting the refund, they wouldn't offer it again. This thought worried me a little because when you think about it, checks don't last forever. You need to cash them within a certain time period or else they're gone. The agent also said that the money goes into a general fund when it's not cashed and that may be the end result. Still, she provided me with the Field Office Support Unit's number. She said they are in charge of any car tax refunds.

Field Office Support Unit
(916) 657-8035

The Field Office Support Unit was busy. And it stayed busy. So rather than waiting them out, I decided to contact the DMV's Media Relations office. Why the hell not? I kind of feel anal but at the same time wonder if this is what it's like being a journalist who's trying to track down some kind of lead. Or even better yet, a mysterious private eye doing his due diligence.

DMV Media Relations Office
(916) 657-6437
dmvmediarelations@dmv.ca.gov

Instead of calling them, I decided to send them an email. I'm too scared to call since I have family around me right now. I don't want them snooping in on my phone conversations. But you're only supposed to use the email for media inquiries. Oh well! I sent them a sorrowful email anyway.

As I looked at the press release a little more carefully, it was obvious that the State Controller's office was the one that issued the checks. Therefore, wouldn't it make sense to contact them?

State Controller, Los Angeles Office
777 South Figueroa Street, Suite 4800
Los Angeles, California 90017
(213) 833-6010 Office
(213) 833-6011 FAX

The office above is actually the Executive's office. Nevertheless, whoever answered the phone was helpful and gave me the number to the disbursement office which she said handles all checks.

State Controller's Disbursement Office
(916) 445-7789

Since it's Friday, I figured I'd wait until next week to continue my quest. I figured I'd probably get more help on Monday since everyone else is probably getting ready for the weekend. My tip on searching would be to start the conversation with "Happy New Year!" or some other happy note.

IN SEARCH OF

A few years ago, Governor Schwarzenegger issued a refund to all California drivers. Car registration prices went down and everyone seemed happy. The check wasn't much, but it was something and I'm determined to get it.

I remember filling something out a few years ago. It was some kind of state form, but I don't remember if I ever sent it out or if it just never came back.

My search begins anew with a call to the State Information Agents number (800) 807-6755. The agent gave me three numbers.

(800) 992-4647 the Unclaimed Property number. The recording says there's a website! Search the Vault. I did a search using my social security number. No result! It said you can search by name if you go to the website. Before doing this, I figured I should speak to an agent so I pressed zero. Disconnected! What the heck? So I try again and call back. I speak to Angie and she tells me there's no record under my SS# or my name. She asks if I still have the check and how much it was. I tell her no and under $100. She tells me I need proof of delivery from the agency that issued the check and that is how they can research it from her end.

Just to play safe and cover my bases, I visit the website and do a name search. The site is run by the State Controller's Office. Upon first glance, it seems like this is more about actual property and not a money thing. I still do a search and find the same thing as the agent - nothing.

Next step is the DMV. I'm always intimidated by stories about the DMV's notorious lines. I'm calling them next so hopefully, I won't need to wait in a line. This will need to wait until tomorrow since I promised Bill I'd work on his PC.

Bill's recovering from his knee replacement surgery pretty well. He's a tough guy and reminds me a little of John Wayne. I tried to explain to him why his pc was running so slow. Anti-virus applications seem to be memory hogs, so I put a smaller one on there, did a spyware sweep and refragged his hard drive. It seemed to do the trick and the pc seemed to boot much faster.

After all this, I couldn't resist having a drink with him, Zita and Mike. Zita also made some guacamole that was really delicious even though it wasn't fresh. I was amazed at how flavorful the darn thing was. Costco kick ass! That's where she said she bought all the goodies.

When I got back, I was too full and too hungry to workout. Instead, I just did some push ups while I played the Ferg. While playing, I figured out how to compress the video I shot for my nieces. It turns out that FCP 3 doesn't know what to do with 30fps .avi files.

So I looked up some hints online and this is what worked for me. I used FCP to export a different kind of file for each of the videos I had uploaded. These were my settings:

Format:
Export as QuickTime movie

Video:
Compression - DV/DVCPRO - NTSC
Quality - Medium
Frame rate - 29.97
Scan mode - Interlaced
Aspect ratio - 4:3
Dimensions - 720x4280 (640x480)

Sound:
Format - Uncompressed
Sample rate - 32 kHz
Sample size - 16
Channels - 2

Prepare for Internet Streaming:
Fast Start

A NEW YEAR

I convinced my cuz Ray to run a triathlon with me this year. There's one in San Dimas this April and it'll cost about $85. This isn't one of those Ironman events. This is considered a sprint triathlon and each of the events are pretty short. The swim is just two hundred yards, the bike is something like 15 miles and the run is only three miles.

My NY friend Kristy inspired me to do this. I'd always wanted to do it, but as Ray and I agreed upon, unless you make an actual commitment, it's pretty hard to actually do something. So we decided we'd better sign-up and commit our money so that we wouldn't flake. Kristy just ran a marathon and since she's real to me (that is, she's someone I know, not some character in a movie or in my imagination), I figured, if she can do it, why can't I?

The interesting thing about starting training is that you begin to think about your eating and your exercise more carefully. I suppose it's kind of like preparing for a test. You know that what you do now will help you when test time comes along. So I know that every mile I run or every exercise I do has some kind of purpose.

And ultimately, isn't that what we're all really searching for?