It’s 666! Oh no!! Beast is born!! Really?? I mean what does 666 really mean? I read news that pregnant women tried to avoid delivering babies today because they might be son of the devil! Ooooooh!! But, if you really think about it, it’s kinda cool to born on 666. Your friends won’t forget your birthday!

I still do not have A/C. It’s freaking hot here!! My office is also freaking hot too!! I cannot run the experiment because it’s too hot to run!! We are getting A/C installed in the lab, but well, it hasn’t installed yet! I am so glad I fixed A/C in my car because that’s the only A/C I have an access to!!

In this morning, I took the test to check if my balance nerve is getting better. In the last June, I had herpes zoster oticus that pretty much screwed up my left auditory, facial and balance nerves. I mean who thought viral infection can screw up all three my nerves? Ha! Fortunately, my facial paralysis is mostly gone, and my hearing is back to normal (kinda). But, I have been still having balance problem, especially dizziness! So, I went to see the specialist here in Minnesota. Last November, when I first time saw him, he made me go through all sorts of testing to see how my three nerves were doing. Obviously, my auditory and facial nerves were happy nerves, but my balance nerve was, well, according to the test, 64% lost its function. But, the doctor thought it might get better since my other two nerves recovered quite well.

Sooooo, I had follow-up test in this morning. The test itself wasn't really pleasant because basically they wanted to make me dizzy!! One of the tests was blowing the hot and cold air into the ear which was supposed to make me (or any healthy people) dizzy. I got pretty dizzy when she was blowing the air in my right ear, but I didn't get dizzy at all when she blew the air into my left ear. The woman who was administering the test said, “okay, we need to try it again because you are supposed to get dizzy!” So, she repeatedly blew hot air into my left ear. I think we tried five times... Then, finally she said, “oh, this is not good. If you don't get dizzy, that means your left side of balance is totally gone!” I really hoped she didn't tell me that because I kinda got depressed!! I just answered, “hmm, that’s not good.” What else was I supposed to say! So, she tried cold air for the last time, and she said, “ooh, I got something!!!” By the way, she was checking my eye movement (I was hooked up with electros) because dizziness causes rapid eye movement, so she could tell if I was getting dizzy or not. Since she got something, I said, “oh, that’s good!” Then, she said, “well, but your left balance nerve is severely damaged. It might be better if the function is all gone, so the nerve doesn’t send wrong signal to the brain.” Ha, so my barley functioning left balance nerve is sending wrong signal to my brain, and that's causing dizziness eh? So, I said to her I wish my left balance nerve was dead. Then, she said “oh, but you don't want that.” I mean really, she kept contradicting herself entire test!! Also, every time she made me dizzy, she asked me questions such as “what are girls’ names?” or “what’s in your refrigerator?” According to her, the brain tries to suppress dizziness, so asking those questions keep the brain busy, and she can check how much nerves are actually working. It does make sense, but she was making me dizzy, and I was dizzy, and she was asking me what I have in the refrigerator. I was like “I don’t know, I am freaking dizzy here!! Well, couple of tomatoes maybe!” I really did not enjoy the test, so I hope I don’t have to do this again.

After the test, the doctor told me that it seems that I lost 93% of left balance function. I was kinda sad, but well, what can I do really? Even my left balance is screwed up, I can still run and play video games, so I think that’s good enough for me! But, I noticed that I do bump into stuff a lot though. Well, it could be that’s because I am aging!! Or not!!

I like bags. I think I might be bag addict or something like that. It's not like I need another bag, I just want to get it. It’s same as I love buying pair of jeans. Well, but, I have been pretty good not buying jeans or bags. But, last weekend, I went to Marshall Field’s because I was bored, and they were doing sale. Tons of jeans were on sale, but I couldn't find any I liked. So, I was kinda sad, but then, I saw this bag on sale. Well, it’s jack spade’s canvas bag. Well, it was tote bag. I had a little discussion with my girlfriends when I was still living in Chicago about if it’s okay for guy to carry tote bag. Obviously, men’s tote bags are kinda “in.” Aaand, in Japan, a lot of guys carry these tote bags which disturbed me a lot the last time I went back to Japan. I think it is kinda acceptable if you carry tote bag with your hands, but you cannot carry a bag with shoulder (you know what I mean??). It looks so gay. Well, Japanese guys dress like gay anyway! So, I stood in front of this tote bag for good 10 minutes thinking if I should buy this or not. I assume I was pretty suspicious with my lovely star trek t-shirt. Then, I was informed by a guy (well, store guy) that the bag would be 40% off from the original price. Ha! So, think no more, I just bought it. Now, I don't know what to do with this bag. I have a feeling if I go to school with this bag, it would be kinda scandalous! Well, not really, but I would think “what the hack he is carrying??” if I saw the guy carrying tote bag!

My TV is dying. The left bottom corner of screen has color burned, and that part is super red. It really bothers me especially when I am playing video game. I have used this TV for 10 years, yes, 10 years, so I really think I am deserved to buy new TV. Since I love TV soooooo much, I decided to go crazy. I ordered 32 inch LCD HDTV. I knew plasma screen has better color and quality, but well, they are kinda expensive! My new TV should get to my apt sometime next week, but I hardly can wait! I will be able to play video games with big screen! And my eyes are going to hurt like a mug! Nice!

Today was the release day of Nintendo DS Lite. Woohoo!! I was pretty excited about NDSL because this game console is totally sold out in Japan. Actually, regular DS is sold out too!! Seriously, NDS is super popular there. I pre-ordered NDSL the day after Nintendo announced the US release day. I love the fact EB Games is just a block away from my apt! Well, but, I kinda do not like EB Games people. When I was checking out, the guy kept asking me if I wanted to get extra warranty for NDSL. You can get optional warranty when you buy both hardware or software from EB Games. He was saying if I paid $20, I would get a warranty which covers all physical damages to NDSL. Even if screen cracked, they will exchange it to new one. Well, sounds kinda good, but really, do you really think I will crack my NDSL in normal use?? I mean, I would not drop anything on my precious!! So, I said no. Then, he asked me if I wanted to exchange my old DS for $10. I mean, $10!! Of course, I said no, then he said “oh I just want to save your money.” I actually stared at his face for 5 seconds and thought, “oh you are freaking bullshit!” Of course, I didn't vocalize what I was thinking. I mean he asked me if I wanted to waste $20 for stupid extra warranty, and now this guy asked me if I wanna exchange my limited edition NDS for $10?? He will be burned in the hell!! I actually do not mind most of guys working at EB Games I go to, but I just cannot stand this guy!! He is soooo emotionless while he is talking, and I am assuming he still lives with his mom.

After going through all emotional hassle at EB Games, I finally made back to my apt with brand new NDSL. After I charged and transferred my WiFi setting, I turned on Animal Crossing. Well, man, the screen is just fucking bright!! Bright enough to make me regret all color I have missed in AC with old NDS! When I cranked up the brightness to the max, I thought I would go blind! So bright, so awesome!! Also, I am super loving re-designed shell. So white, so clear, it goes with my iMac! Well, basically I love NDSL. Although NDSL is smaller than NDS, the stylus is longer and thicker! But, there are couple things I do not like. First, speaker is pretty bad. Old NDS has better sound quality for sure. I was reading reviews from Japanese Amazon, and some people mentioned about it. But, surprisingly, most of people seemed to not mind. Ha! I think that’s because Japanese people play NDSL with headphones. They play DS games during their long commuting time, and of course, they gotta use headphones! I guess I can use headphone cos indeed, I am Japanese! Another thing I do not like is control pad. It’s so awesome Nintendo out power button to the side of DS. But, control pad is so light! I mean it’s almost feels like the pad is not properly installed or something. Also, start and select buttons are so hard to push!! Screen is much brighter, but color balance is kinda weird. But, overall, NDSL is super! But, but, it’s not as super as the changes from GBA to GBASP. I think if you have NDS and are happy with it, there is no need to upgrade to NDSL. But, well, NDSL is sooooo bright!!

I finally below 160lb!! I feel good. But, my goal weight is 150lb. I think I will try to cut back some alcohol intake! And, well, some candy intake too. Oh, and some bagel intake too. I must go back to w size 30!!!

My 10 years old TV finally can rest. I ordered new TV, and it arrived this week. Mmmmmmm, HDTV! Yaaaay! I am so loving my new TV. I did not know I can love something this much instantly! So shiny, so thin, so big, so nice. But, it is kinda expensive to subscribe HDTV program. Eh. I am not sure if I wanna pay $70 a month, so I can watch handful of HD programs. Also, I was a little bit nauseous after playing video game. Wide screen is nice when you watch movies, but it’s not that great to play video games. Too much eye movement actions going on!

I have been working on analyzing the data I collected in the last semester. It’s not fun. Actually, it’s fun to write matlab scripts to organize data and stuff like that, but after you finished running actual statistics, you have to explain what these means. Well, that part sucks. Since I have only a week, I must finish my poster by this weekend.

Because I am getting fatty, I am on diet right now. I completely stopped drinking any alcoholic beverages, and again, it sucks. I just drink water. Well, water is good and everything, but it’s boring to drink. I was making smoothie, but realized actually smoothie has lots of calories. Ugh. Dieting sucks!

Happy Bloom's day!!

So, I finally bought A/C. It’s nice, but it wasn’t fun to install. I actually had never installed window A/C in my entire life. All my apartments I lived in the past had A/C already installed. Although I like watching home improvement shows, I am not handy at all. When I picked up A/C at HomeDepot, I turned the A/C side, so I could put into the cart. When I was heading to the casher, the store lady looked at going to be my A/C and said, “oh, you gotta level your A/C before you plug in.” It was pretty confusing. According to her, I should level A/C and leave it for three hours before I turn on because if I don’t the A/C would be screwed. I wasn't quite sure what she meant, but I put fake smile on and said, “Oh okay. Thanks.” Then, another HomeDepot lady came to me while I was in the line at casher and said exactly same thing to me. I was like “well, but it has been only less than 5 minutes since I took the box from the pile of A/Cs!!” But, since two HomeDepot ladies warned me same thing within very short duration of time, I started thinking this might be serious!! I shouldn’t turn the box! I should wait at least three hours to turn on!! But, then, when I was driving back home, I started thinking, “oh, wait. I was still in the store, and there were tons of same A/Cs. So, if I need to wait for three hours to turn on this A/C, should I get another A/C and leave this screwed up A/C??” Yes, I think I was so right. Since those two ladies were sooooo concerned about me turning the A/C, they could just tell me to get another one. So, there would be zero chance I would screw the A/C. I mean, I still don't get why I had to wait three hours to turn on though.

After all drama at HomeDepot, I was actually nervous turning on the A/C. But, of course, before I could turn on, I had to install it. So, I opened the box, and first thing I saw was a piece of wood, so called 2X4. Umm. I wasn’t sure what the hell I was supposed to do with this. After I carefully read the manual, I started installing the A/C. As I expected, it was very very veeery hard for me to install this chunk of metal!! It was heavy, and it almost fell from the window! I mean, really, window unit sucks! I was sweating so much, but I couldn't turn on the A/C right away, I had to wait for three freaking hours!! When I was ready to turn on the A/C, I wasn’t sweating at all, and it was actually cool outside! I cannot believe I have to take this down for the winter...

Six Apart released beta version of movabletype 3.3. I use movabletype for all my blog entries. It’s pretty neat program. However, when I upgraded to 3.2, my blog was soooo screwed up. Some of you might notice that some fonts became weird. Also, overall performance of my site went down so much, and I had no idea what the hack was going on. Unfortunately, I couldn't roll back to 3.1, so I stacked with this stupid 3.2 for over a year! I was hoping Six Apart would release bug fix soon, but well, it took more than a year for them to come out new version. Seriously, I am so not sure if I should upgrade to 3.3 because I am afraid it would screw up my blog again. I think my site is getting slower because of number of blog entries. It’s amazing I have been blogging more than 4 years! Ha! I guess that’s pretty cool.

I was pretty disappointed by the fact I only lost one pound in the last week. But, I guess it’s better than nothing. I am trying to lose two pounds a week, but, it seems getting harder. Well, actually, I don't have to lose weight if I can get back to 30 inch!!

A/C is awesome!