Spring Already?

It's amazing how warm it's been lately. I think I've already got allergies since the trees have been budding so early. I decided to go snowboarding today since I won't get much of a chance this season and it was another sunny day. I was set on going to Cypress Mountain. When I arrived there, the snow was just terrible. I knew it was going to be bad, but I didn't think it was going to be that bad. I couldn't shell out $28 for one run. I was cheesed, so I thought about Grouse Mountain. I wondered if it would be better. I've never rode there and I thought to myself a new mountain to ride on would be a fresh experience. When I got there, the staff told me that they had 8 runs open and I'm like how? They have snow making machines. I was like sweet! The gondola ride up was a bonus and at the end of the day I got some great runs in. It's a pretty good mountain and when it snows again, I will definitely return. After my experience at Grouse, Mount Seymour is offically the worst mountain to ride on. I don't think I want to ride on that one anymore. I took some pictures of my day and night at Grouse Mountain and posted them below.

Another interesting thing happened to me today. Before I headed up to Grouse, I stopped at Future Shop to check out some new stuff. I came across a first-person shooter PC game that I had wanted for a long time, but didn't want to shell out the dough for. But because it's been out for a while, the game "Far Cry" was selling for $24.99. I was like awesome. I picked it up and when I went to pay for it, the cashier at the counter asked me how old I was. I was caught off guard and said I am 24. She said that the game is rated M for Mature which means they don't sell these games to those under 17 years of age. I said, "Yeah, some people think I look 18." She said, "You look younger?" Then, I said, "Younger? 16?" She said, "Younger." And I'm thinking what?? Do I look 14 years old to you? Man, I must have some eternal youth in me or something. She didn't ask me for my ID, but was very skeptical of me. It was just plain weird! I just took it as a compliment sort of.

Peace.

View of Greater Vancouver to the East from Grouse Mountain.

The snow is melting, but thanks to the snow making machines, we can still ski.

View of Vancouver and Burnaby from The Cut.

View of Downtown Vancouver.

No cables. Must be an old chairlift since it runs right into the new chairlift perpendicular to it. Ah, they must keep it so they can use the lights for night skiing.

View of the Lions? Not sure what this peak is called, but it looks beautiful.

View of UBC sort of (it's in the trees) and ships from around the world.

View of Coal Harbour, Stanley Park, and English Bay.

The sun is setting.

Sunset at Grouse Mountain.

The Peak at night.

View of Vancouver at night from Grouse Mountain.

Promotion

Tonight, I finished my last shift as a Customer Consultant. I have been promoted! On Monday, I start my new role as a Project Manager. I actually skipped a couple of positions in the hierarchy at FedEx Kinko's to my new position. It's amazing how much I have learned since I've been with the company back in April 2004. Not only do I know how to copy, print, troubleshoot files, do auxiliary work (binding, laminating, cutting, folding, padding), ship packages, deal with unpleasant customers, but I have even more responsibilities. I will now manage all orders taken, deal with order issues, do quality control, and make sure the flow of production is running smoothly.

I am pleased with taking on a new challenging role, but I wish I was paid more. What customers don't understand is how little we make, but how much we have to know (the amount of information is staggering). People think we are experts in all design software available on Earth and that we can make their complicated jobs simple for them (but not easy for us). I had one customer bring in 80 MS Word files and each were one page. She wanted one copy of each. I'm like what the?? I just have to say some people are dumb. My Project Managers have given me a welcome mat saying "We are here to fix all of our customers' problems and we all have magic wands to help them." I have now entered a different world than the one I'm use to. But in reality, that's life and I can't complain, at least I have a job.

I know I will learn a lot and there will be many stressful nights. The tools I have learned at Kinko's are very valuable to me. I am grateful for making mistakes and learning from them. Dealing with people especially has taught me how to control my emotions, be a professional, and how to be an influence.

I am actually excited about the future. For a while, I hit a plateau. I have applied for a two-year Operations Management Technology program at BCIT. My goal now is to begin a career in business as a Christian man and become a leader of influence. Then again, I could always take up surfing, marry a hot girl, make babies, and live in a hut on a white sandy beach.

Peace.

Mystery Man

I found this list. It's another lazy post, but it was fun to do. I have been a mystery to some, but not all. Here I reveal some answers that you may have been wondering about.

TEN Random Things About Me
10. I play too much Counter-Strike online (I need a girlfriend).
9. My favourite TV show is The Apprentice.
8. Sometimes I don’t listen to what a person just said by saying, “Huh?” and I have them repeat themselves.
7. I dislike beer and coffee.
6. I occasionally like to watch a good romance film. Props to The Notebook
5. I drive like an old lady.
4. I’ve had White Castle burgers and fries.
3. I’m confused about my identity. Am I White or Korean? Who knows.
2. I like to read before I go to bed. Right now, I’m reading, “How to Win Friends & Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. It’s a must read if you want to become more successful in life.
1. I enjoy a good hike.

NINE Places I've Visited
9. Maple Ridge, BC (It’s a boony town)
8. Saskatchewan
7. Ontario
6. Washington
5. California
4. Illinois
3. Hawaii
2. China
1. South Korea

EIGHT Things I Want To Do Before I Die
8. Climb a mountain for charity like Summits of Hope.
7. Drive across Canada.
6. Travel to Europe.
5. Get married.
4. Sex.
3. Go scuba diving.
2. Go on a safari and see some wild animals like a Lion.
1. Know that I made a difference in someone’s life.

SEVEN Ways To Win My Heart
7. Be real and honest.
6. Work together in building one another up in Christ.
5. Make me laugh.
4. Love the outdoors and have an adventurous spirit.
3. Get along with my family.
2. Have your own opinions and not agree with everything I say.
1. Have goals.

SIX Things I Believe (In)
6. Jesus Christ.
5. Love.
4. Death.
3. Gravity.
2. The world is round not square.
1. We are special and specifically designed for a purpose.

FIVE Things I'm Afraid Of
5. Spiders.
4. Being alone.
3. That my faith was just a lie. Then, I would be totally lost.
2. Being burned alive or frozen to death.
1. Cell phones.

FOUR Of My Favorite Items In My Bedroom
4. Computer. It's got a lot of power.
3. Bible.
2. Action figures.
1. Guitar.

THREE Things I Do Everyday
3. Shower.
2. Play PC games online.
1. Watch The Tonight Show with Jay Leno at 11:35 pm on The New VI. (Except weekends)

TWO Things I Hate
2. Stuck up people.
1. Kimchi.

ONE Person I Want To See Right Now
1. My high school crush. Ha ha…yeah, but it’s true. I wonder what she’s been up to.

If you want to find out about my brother's life, you can see him in a feature documentary called "College Days, College Nights." It was produced by an Academy Award-winning filmmaker John Zaritsky. It airs on the Documentary Channel, Tuesday, March 1 - Thursday, March 3 at 5 pm PST. It will air later on CBC. For more details, check out Documentary Channel.

Peace.

Memories

If you read this:

You must comment a memory of me.
It can be anything you want!
It can be good...or bad.
Just so long as it happened.
Then post this to your blog,
and see what people remember about you.

Peace.

U2

I woke up this morning at 9:30 am, logged onto ticketmaster.ca, and hoped that I could get a couple of U2 Vertigo concert tickets at GM Place being held on April 28th at 7:30 pm. But I was shocked at how quickly it sold out! After searching for tickets, they added another show for April 29th at 7:30 pm. I tried that one as soon as it became available, but then that was sold out as well. I figured there must have been a lot of scalpers who registered on the U2 website as a paid member to get the presale. It's too bad for us who want to see the show without paying $400 CA on ebay. I found a couple of tickets going for $900 CA! And these sellers are from the US. Man, the greed of some people. I also waited until 11 am to get tickets to the show at the KeyArena in Seattle, WA. But, no success there. Maybe next time I'll have to register as a member for a chance at those tickets. There's no way I'd pay that much for a concert. It's just ridonculous.

Today, I'm gonna work at the FedEx Kinko's in Langley to cover for their branch meeting. Never worked there. Should be cool. Then, I have to head back to the Broadway branch to work the evening shift. Ah, the excitement of doing shift work.

Peace.