…to its office in Santa Ana, California. With everything that is going on right now, $400/month in rent is not in my, or my company’s best interest. It held its purpose when business was tempted to be booming, and people were on the ball, but it all slowly faded into somewhat of a travesty. It will be sad though, to not have an office anymore, it was a great place to come and get things done if it was too busy and loud at home, or if I was unable to keep focused at Global.
I will make due with what I have for a price I can afford, i.e. its already included in my pay or rent. I will just have to force myself to work harder so I can increase business and one day own an office building. I took a few pictures for the memories and I am posting them below… Oh, and please ignore the mess, I am currently moving out! 
P.S. If anyone is in Orange County, and is looking for a reception desk (cherry wood, right return, 2 attached drawer / filing drawer), an executive desk (cherry wood, right return, 1 double filing drawer, 1 double drawer / filing drawer) I am probably going to end up selling mine. They are in perfect condition, still brand new. I paid just over $2000 for both of them, collectively. I will put up a CraigList link once I create it later tonight.
Thank you for reading!
After writing my post, entitled, “Have you Heard of oDesk?” oDesk notified me that I was to be featured in the oDesk Community Spotlight and on top of that, I would be receiving a free t-shirt! They sent out the newsletter and to my surprise, I was featured as the “Favorite Quote of the Month.”
Exciting news if you ask me! As for an update on the oDesk service, I am still trying to get my first job but I am having no luck at the moment. I am sure it is due to the competition and other providers prices compared to mine. I know I have the experience and knowledge to work on each of the jobs I have applied to, so I am assuming the pricing competition is just too great. I will probably have to work on a more concise cover letter to let the potential buyers know they are safe working with me.
Once I get my first job, I will post about it… Take care!
It has been such a long week! Vegas last weekend was a blast, and somewhat of a bust, at least in the beginning… Since Ann, Mychael and I were driving about ~260mi from Southern California to Vegas, we had about a four and a half hour trek in front of us. We left Friday morning at about 3:00AM so we could make it in time to have breakfast with Nette.
To skip most of the “too-boring-to-type-about” drive up, it went fairly well, I drove the last 100 or so miles from Baker, California and we made it to the strip by 7:30AM. Traffic was minimal, so good times right? Well… We got into the parking structure at Caesar’s Palace and noticed a raunchy smell… Turns out the car is having issues, in the engine area… I am not a car buff, nor do I pretend to know anything about cars, but I know that smell, and it is bad.
To carry on, instead of getting breakfast, we spend the next six or so hours figuring out what the hell is wrong with the car. We went to our fair share of mechanics throughout the day until Sears finally tells us what is wrong and refers us to a specialist. It turns out that the gasket and seal in the engine is shot, as well as many of the other various parts and hoses which keep a vehicle running. I do not think those parts were ever serviced or even looked at in the life of the car; it’s a 2001. Did I mention by this point I am STRESSED BEYOND BELIEF? We all had to be back to work and or school on Monday, and plane tickets were not looking good… After dropping the car at the specialist, we waited for a Taxi to pick us up and take us to the hotel. We waited for about an hour and a half, what the hell Nevada?
Anyway, it was a forty-five minute ride for about 12 miles, and it cost us $25. We stayed at Circus Circus, one of the older, less voluptuous hotels on the strip, but they had recently remodeled the interior and it was actually extremely nice! After being checked in we went to the room and had our bags delivered, then it was time for Ann and I to get food since we had not eaten at all that day. After eating, we played some slots to get rid of some of our stress and money…
The rest of the day was just a waiting game. Will the car get fixed? How do we get around? Is the whole trip going to suck? Quite possible if you would have asked me that day… We got a call from the mechanic and he said he will have it fixed by Sunday, and he had a huge list, meaning it was going to be costly. So we rented a car and when the time came we went and picked up Cindy from the airport.
On Saturday we did the touristy deal and walked the strip going to the stores like the Coca-Cola store, the M&M Store, etc. Cindy bought some cool things from the stores, maybe she will post about it on her blog when she gets some time. I would have taken pictures of various things, but I forgot my camera in the trunk of my car, back in SoCal, dammit… Cindy did bring her camera; we got a few pictures, but not very many. I did get some nifty trading cards from various Hispanic people throughout our walk, cannot post them here though!
Later that day when we were resting I decided to go and donate some more money to the casino. I played $20 on video poker, lost it, then another $20 on some slots and lost it. Bust right? Well I decided, from now on I take my chances playing roulette, I usually have some luck with that the whole two times I have played… Anyway, got a seat at a table with some cool people, they were relaxed and helpful. I played, for about an hour and from $50 I was up to over $110, doing the best at the table. So, I stood up and walked away ahead. Even though after the $40 I lost, it ended up only being like $20 ahead, still works for me though!
A few hours after winning my first go-around, Mychael, Cindy and I decided to go up to the game zone and play the carnival games. Shortly after I bought Nette and I a much-needed drink, she got a Seventy-Seven and I got a Jack & Coke, I am so simple! Feeling more relaxed after the alcohol intake I decided to try my luck again at roulette, long story short… Lost my $50 that I put in, gambling is so risky right? After loosing, Nette bought me another Jack & Coke, and I was ready to play some games with Mychael and Cindy. Everyone ended up winning a bunch of stuffed animals, too bad the animals were not filled with a few million…
Anyway bringing this into a quick wrap-up, we got the car back Sunday morning and left Vegas at about 1:00PM and got home around 5:30 or 6PM. Overall, I had a good time, I really like Vegas… It is definitely a city to check out every once-in-a-while… It figures there had to be stress on a vacation, but I think we all worked through it and made the best of it. The next Vegas trip is April 2009 for Cindy’s 21st birthday; we will be flying both ways.
If you read this all the way to the end, thanks, and the pain you may feel is only about One-Thousandth of what I felt. Leave a comment and share the love wont you?
P.S. the car repairs were around $1800, and Ann was already looking for a new car a few weeks before this trip…
As noted at the end of “Why I am Still in Love With Smarty“, I will be leaving for Las Vegas Friday (tomorrow) morning at 3:00AM. Ann, Mychael and I will be driving out there to meet Nette. She flew out there today for the employee’s only dinner party. Our plan is to get there by 8:00AM so we can all have breakfast and hang out throughout the day. As a wonderful surprise, Cindy has decided to go on the trip with us! She will be flying in Friday night and she should land right around 9:00PM.
Exact details for the trip are unspecified, but I think we plan on just relaxing in the air-conditioning, eating at a couple buffets, and taking pictures. It has been a number of years since any of us have been out of state, and in Las Vegas, so who really knows what will happen?
After we get back from this trip, I promise to get my Santa Barbara pictures up in my Photography section, as well as the pictures from the Vegas trip.
