Day 1

Thankful for a cool sunny weather so I could take my daily walk in comfort. I do power walks almost every day for about 15 minutes.  I should be doing 30 minutes, but 15 seems to be good enough for me. Even in that seemingly short time, I can work up a sweat, especially during warm days. So during cool days, I can return at the end without being drenched in sweat.

Day 2

Thankful of the OC fire fighters. Santa Ana winds were at it again and dry weather caused brush fires around here. I’m glad the fire fighters are always on alert and ready for it now.

Day 3

Thankful for co-operative co-workers.  In a company where every one works together as a team, stress is not an issue.  I was glad I could have at least one day of it at work.

Day 4

Thankful for the rain.  I would hate to have more brush fires, so a good amount of rain was needed!

Day 5

Thankful for my Indonesian friends.  I’m very much a Canadian/American, but I can’t forget my roots.  Because of my wife, I now have many Indonesian friends!

Day 6

Thankful for reliable transportation.  In California, a car is the only reliable transportation and I have two working and safe ones.

Day 7

Thankful for free software. A lot of generous people out there. My PC, iPhone, and Android tablet have many useful ones like Google Maps, Google Earth, Kindle reader (with free books!), etc.! [Update: Coincidently, Lifehacker has an article on 50 Free Apps We're Most Thankful For.]

Day 8

Thankful for a hot shower. November is cold season – both temperature and the health-issue kind.  A nice hot shower brought relieve!

Day 9

Thankful for 3G Data Connection. I love Pandora Radio.  I listen to it every day during my commute.  The 3G data on my iPhone made that possible.

Day 10

Thankful for my thankless job.  I’m a sysadmin. I’m expected to work late and work often. I work behind the scenes, so I don’t get the glory. It’s a stressful job that gets little or no appreciation.  But in this economy, I’m glad I have a job that I still love doing.

Day 11

Thankful for the men and women in the armed forces who are keeping this world free and secure.  Veteran’s (or Remembrance) Day is by far the most important day in November.  To our military personnel, thank you for your service!

Day 12

Thankful for my spiritual leaders: Pastor Rick Warren, John, and Elizabeth.  These folks lead by example on how to be a good and faithful Christian. Excellent mentors!

Day 13

Thankful for God’s healing and friends’ prayers.  My family’s been suffering the cold & coughs. With prayers, we’re healing and recovering nicely.

Day 14

Thankful for clean sheets.  Nothing feels better than clean, bouncy, and soft bedding sheets.  Feels like heaven!

Day 15

Thankful for cheap DVD-Rs.  I’ve got a ton of kids and vacation videos. The cheap discs let me experiment with authoring techniques and archive my hard drives, on a regular basis – without hurting my wallet.

Day 16

Thankful for an uneventful day. Sometimes, things just work out without a glitch. Everyone’s happy as they can be. I always count these blessings!

Day 17

Thankful they FINALLY opened an extra lane for turning right on Northbound Imperial Highway, making my commute home much easier. This used to be one lane and always always cause a backup all the way past the Highway 91 overpass.  For years, I drove this road and got stuck for 10 minutes.  Now, turning right on La Palma is fast, resulting in less congestion. It’s ABOUT TIME!

Day 18

Thankful for coupons.  I always appreciate free or deeply discounted stuff.  Especially stuff that I need, like food, or a new computer!

Day 19

Thankful for all of the warm birthday greetings from family and friends. Everyone left a message via Facebook, email, phone calls, and in-person. I’m touched everyone remembers. These are the people that matter in my life!

Day 20

Thankful I’m sharing the joys of Christmas together with my family. We’ve put up the Christmas tree and decorated it.  My 6-year old was so excited about it. Got the Christmas music going in the background.  It’s too bad it wasn’t snowing – but at least it was raining.  The tree turned out beautiful!

 Day 21

Thankful for free shipping.  I just love Internet stores with free shipping. They make everything so affordable – and convenient.  Now if they could all get rid of the State taxes…

Day 22

Thankful I got my Ultrabook!  I got my Toshiba ultra-thin and light notebook computer and enjoy being super-productive with it.  Not to mention it’s kinder on my back since it’s so much lighter than my other 5-pounder Notebooks!

Day 23

Thankful I could beat the holiday traffic.  The commute to work was easy, but the traffic after 4:30PM was brutal!  Good thing I got out early from work at 3PM, so I managed to miss the pile up.

Day 24

Thankful for my wife and child – for being there when I need them!  My family is wonderful!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This article was posted on Rudy Amid's Blog:

Twenty-Four Days of Thanksgiving

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It’s Nov 11 2011 at 11:11pm.¹

To me, today is just another day. I have a slight cold and feeling tired.

Today is Veteran’s day, though. That’s more important!

This article was posted on Rudy Amid's Blog:

11-11-11 11:11pm

1. Well technically 23:11, but who’s counting?

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With so much going on in this world, the busyness and hectic schedule, it’s good to know there are still ways to get away from it all. Enjoy the good things in life.

This article was posted on Rudy Amid's Blog:

Walk In The Park

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Some will use it start a new decade of positive goals.

Others will try to explain this day.

Douglas Adams‘ fans will see this day as the number of the universe, in binary.

One thing for sure, no one can’t deny the neatness of the number. Have a wonderful 10-10-10 day!

This article was posted on Rudy Amid's Blog:

10-10-10 10:10

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I used to “outsource” this task when I first bought the house.  I paid a local help $85/month to mow and clean up.  However, they’re not thorough with the “clean up” part.  I have leaves, hedge, flowers, and trees to maintain.  He wanted to charge more for it.  He also ran up my water bill by increasing the watering times.  Moreover, during cold months, the grass hardly grew, so why would he need to show up every week?

So after a year of service, I told him he was no longer needed.

After maintaining my own yard for more than 3 years, I understand the difficulty.  It’s back breaking.  It makes my allergies act up.  It’s time consuming.  It’s frustrating to deal with weeds, crabgrass, etc.  It’s rough working with the irrigation system.  I fought the lawn, and the lawn (sometimes) won!

But, in the end, the result is worth it!  I got to maintain the yard the way I wanted.  I understood what the plants need.  I reduced my water usage.  I reduced my monthly expenses.  It’s just soothing and tranquil to be outside among the plants.  It’s also satisfying to see them grow – even if they’re just grass.

From my experience, lawn care comes down to this:

1. Water once a day for less than 3 minutes, before 8am when it’s cooler.  Less water mean less lawn maintenance.
2. Mow the lawn twice a week.  In winter, it can even be once a month!
3. Follow instructions on Scott’s lawn products, the result is predictably good.
4. Mulching is a good thing.  I leave grass and leaf clippings on the lawn.
5. I keep the grass high (upto 4 inches) all year long.
6. Test and fix the sprinklers every month.
7. Regular weed whacking.  I declared war on crabgrass!

After breaking it down to a routine, yard care doesn’t seem so bad now.  It’s now summer, though.  So the heat might be the game changer.  But hey, I gotta man up, and keep plowing along!

This article was posted on Rudy Amid's Blog:

Yard Care

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I dug up the old tree and it was easy.  The root was thin and had not gone deep.  There was a nice smell from the root ball.  It’s unfortunate I had to throw the tree away.

I planted the new tree with a regular garden soil.  I opted not use the “special tree mix” since I saw the current soil was already soft, had a nice dark earthy color, and full of worms.  I covered the whole thing with top soil and created a little circular water reservoir by stamping them down with my feet.

The master gardener at UCCE wrote to me:

“When you plant your new tree be sure and protect the graft area from the sun for the first year.  Your nursery should sell plastic sun barriers that go around the base of the tree.”

I went ghetto with the sun barrier and used a piece of trash bag.  I twist-tied it together and got myself an instant graft cover around the base.  I think it will work as intended: to prevent one-off growth from the grafted area.

So now I’ll wait and see how this one turns out.  I have to check up on it once in a while to remove any damaging insects, and to ensure there’s no other overgrowth.  Here’s hoping my green thumb prevails this time.

Update: Forgot to include the instructions tag on how to care for the tree.

Update 2: Got a letter from Barry the Master Gardener about the sun barrier and potential mold issue:

The sun barrier should not be secured tightly to the trunk as that could cause girdling of the tree.  The barrier should be loosely attached with air space between the trunk and the barrier.  However, if your conditions are so damp that mold or mildew are a problem, you could paint the base of the trunk with a white latex paint.

Good luck with your new tree.

Barry – Master Gardener

This article was posted on Rudy Amid's Blog:

Gardening: Orange Tree Part Deux

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To make it easier for myself, the selection of plants have been simple.  Only perennials and hardy plants, like Calla Lilies, Lily of the Nile, Jasmine, and Hydrangea.  Nothing fancy like roses or orchids.

However, last year around Summer 2009, I decided to be ambitious and tried planting a small orange tree.  I bought one from OSH’s nursery at a bargain price of $8.99 for $24.99!  How hard could it be?  Plant and grow, right?

Wrong.

Fast forward to April 2010, the tree (pictured here) had a branch that grew almost 10′ tall.  It didn’t seem right, so I asked the folks at UCCE Master Gardeners, and here’s their reply:

Hi Rudy,

Thank you for contacting the UCCE Master Gardeners of Orange County about your orange tree.  Also, thank you for sending the picture.  The picture show us what your problem is and how to answer you.

Orange trees are grafted.  A root stock is selected which is resistant to the diseases in the soil then the desired orange is grafted on the root stock.  One of the type of citrus trees used for root stock has huge thorns, your tree has huge thorns.  At the place on your tree where the graft should have been, there is a bend.  This indicates that the graft died and the root system sent up a sucker which will not produce the type of orange that you want.

While you could cut off the sucker and regraft the tree, it would be easier and faster to dig up your tree and plant a new one.  When buying a new orange tree, be sure and take a look at the graft area.  It should be growing straight and you should be able to see a ridge or callor at the point of the graft.

Sorry you lost a year of growing time.  When you plant your new tree be sure and protect the graft area from the sun for the first year.  Your nursery should sell plastic sun barriers that go around the base of the tree.

Barry – Master Gardener

Looks like I under-estimated the details in planting an orange tree!  I have to dig it up and throw away a live plant¹.  So sad.

At this point, I haven’t decided to plant another orange tree.  But if I am, at least I have Barry’s instructions on how inspect and care for the new plant.   Maybe my thumb will turn green then.

This article was posted on Rudy Amid's Blog:

Gardening: Grey Thumb

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But no more!  It’s been pouring cats and dogs in the past few days.  Thunder and lightning, too!  There was also a tornado warning!

I love the rain – in moderation, of course.  Maybe rain once a week, or even once a month.  I would go crazy if the days are like Seattle or Vancouver, where it’s perpetually overcast and wet.

Happy Raining!

Regarding the photo, it was taken near Huntington Beach Pier in 2005 when water spout swelled up in the ocean.  It was spectacular.  More info here.

This article was posted on Rudy Amid's Blog:

Here Comes the Rain

1. LA = Los Angeles

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With the drought, water is becoming a premium around here.  Yet I see people still set their water sprinklers of their homes for a long time, wasting so much of it.   The City is also guilty of over watering the parks!  The park behind my house had its sprinklers on for hours, and some of them were watering the road instead of the plants.

From City of Anaheim billing paper:

SAVING WATER …  A BETTER WAY OF LIFE

It may come as a surprise to you that over the past several years, imported water supplies to Southern California have been cut by 290 billion gallons. That is enough water to meet the needs of Anaheim water customers for 12 years. Current conditions are so dry that even normal rainfall this coming winter will not be of much help in breaking the drought. YOU CAN HELP MAKE A DIFFERENCE by reducing your water use, particularly outdoors, where homeowners use up to 70% of their water. If everyone in Southern California cut back watering by just one day a week, we will save enough water to supply residents and businesses in Anaheim, Burbank, Long Beach and Pasadena for an entire year.

That figure, 70% of people use their water for lawns or filling up pools, is quite distressing.  Many people here can afford the premium on water here, so money is probably not the way to deter people from wasting a lot of it.  Understanding the need to conserve is the key.  More people need to spread the word and realize we need to start saving water now.

This article was posted on Rudy Amid's Blog:

Saving Water

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