Did you know that 500,000 people make their living selling wares on eBay? Apparently, that's the same number of people who are currently employed in San Francisco. eBay is like a city in itself!

Disclaimer: I'm not entirely sure if the numbers above are correct. I'm just reporting from something I heard at a technical conference... so don't go betting people and blame me if you lose money! =) Blame the speaker whose session I attended.

Two Thursdays ago, Kimmy and I were involved a small fender-bender on our way back from seeing Evita. Well... it wasn't exactly my fender that took the damage, but more like my rear bumper. I guess you could call it a "bumper-thumper". Even though it was minor and no one had been injured, I was a little shaken up by it and didn't exactly do everything I could have done with regards to flagging down witnesses, calling the police etc... I did however get all the basics down and made a few phone calls to the insurance companies the following day. The whole process was pretty easy and they did not seem to mind that I had overlooked a few things. Maybe the story would have been different if the other driver had been more quarrelsome, but that wasn't the case. Now, a little less than two weeks later, I have an appointment to have my car repaired at no cost to me.

I guess this is why you pay that insurance premium that you don't need 99% of the time... just in case you have the unfortunate experience to be in the one percentile that does. That, and because it's the law. =)

I have recently switched my blog from a self-grown jsp/java/servlet solution to one that is much more popular and full-featured.

Yes, I gave in and started using Blogger itself as the engine behind my blog.

Creating an account, a new blog and integrating it with my own ISP was very, very easy. Great job blogger team! The process that took the bulk of my time was modifying a template to make it look the way I wanted it to. I started with one of the pre-built templates offered by Blogger and started modifying it to fit my needs. I think I would have been better off just cutting and pasting from files on my site instead - that definitely would have been faster. The transfer of my old posts over to Blogger was rather painless... since I only had 6 or 7 in the past two years! I need to be better about updating my blog regularly.

Well, I'm up and running!

Kimmy and I went to the Alameda County Fair yesterday. Neither of us had been to a fair in quite a few years so we thought it'd be fun to meet up with some friends and "hang out" in the midst of the rollercoasters, game booths and exhibits. When our friends had a change of plans and did not make it to the fairgrounds, Kimmy and I roamed on our own.

We walked throughout exhibits showing entries ranging from themed dinner place settings, to personal tributes to local sports teams, to quilts and much more. We also checked out a couple of pavillions showing the type of products you would see on TV infomercials. We strolled near the rollercoasters and game booths and even stopped by to check out some sheep!

Everything was very interesting but I think I might have "outgrown" the type of fun that the fair offers. It was still entertaining ... but nowhere near what I remember from my childhood. There were however two things that made my night. One of them was the fact that Kimmy and I enjoyed some funnel cakes! Yum! The other was when Kimmy regaled me throuhgout the night with memories of the fair she had as a child. It was nice being close to her and in some sense reliving her childhood memories.

I have been really lucky in the past. While many of the people around me were affected by the typical sneezing and runny noses, I've always been able to get away pretty much scott free each year. Until this year. It appears that it's finally caught up with me. Oh I've gotten the occasionaly sneeze in past years, but it was hardly worth mentioning. This year, however, my allergies have kicked it up a notch. All this frequent sneezing and sniffing not caused by an actual cold is a whole new world to me.

I guess I shouldn't complain. Although annoying, my symptoms are actually very mild compared to what some of my friends are experiencing. While playing golf, one of them actually got a nosebleed because he blew his nose so much! Every time he'd stand over the ball getting ready to hit, his nose would start dripping and you would hear him pull it all back up with a great big, loud sniff. I can only imagine how miserable he feels when allergies get as bad as that. If not for his love of the game, I think he would have called it quits and gone home.

This past weekend, while working on the yard and again while hiking, I got a couple of annoying sneezing attacks, as well as watery eyes. Nothing to write home about.. but for someone who's NEVER experienced it before, it's definitely a change. I'm hoping that this is a fluke year, that I'll be back to my normal self next year. They say that allergies develop over a period of years. Maybe they've finally fully developed in me and are here to stay. I hope that is not the case! Time will tell.

I started playing golf again last Friday... and Saturday... and Sunday.

I recently went to the driving range after a six month hiatus from the sport. It was a fun time! I got to swing my dusty clubs again, Kimmy got to try her new ones for the very first time and we just enjoyed the time spent together. It reminded me of how much I like to play golf with great company.

The weather this past weekend was more beautiful than it had been in a long, long while and I wanted to take advantage of it by doing something outdoors. So of course I thought about getting in some rounds of golf. I knew I was rusty from my time at the driving range, so I decided to start out playing on a nine-hole course where people won't yell at me too much if I take too long or come close to hitting them with the ball. Besides, they're easier to walk on than a true 18-hole course.

So Friday at lunch time, I called the Pleasanton Fairways Golf Course to check for availability and they assured me that I could tee off without an excessive wait. It's a really neat course that is built entirely inside a horse racing track. Getting there is a little tricky unless you've already been there - it's not clear to me how one could follow mapquest or yahoo directions and actually arrive to your destination on the first try. You have to go through one of the guarded gates into the Alameda County Fairgrounds, then go through a blind one-lane curving tunnel that is BOTH the entrance and exit! You need to honk as you start into the tunnel to warn any car about to enter from the other side. It's always nerve wracking not knowing whether you'll find yourself facing another car head-on midway through the tunnel and having to figure out who should be the one backing up to let the other through. All in all though, that course is rather pretty and kept in good shape. Give it a try if you ever have a chance.

Enough about the course, back to my golf story. I am glad I decided to start playing again on a less challenging course, because let me tell you: I was TERRIBLE! I must have walked twice as much as the people I teed off with. There was a lot of going from one side of the fairway to the other without much forward progress. But hey... I am on my exercise kick anyway, so all this walking was at least good for something. I lost two balls that day, one in the one and only water hazard on the course, and the other in the dirt of the surrounding track. I can say that the weather was the only positive thing on that day. =)

I'm a glutton for punishment. I decided to play again on Saturday and Sunday. I was preparing myself for another mediocre display of skills, but on the whole, I wasn't too displeased. I had my share of errant shots, but I actually also had a few good ones. Golf is a very frustrating sport. At times you can hate it so much you will swear never to pick up another club for the rest of your life. I've thought that many times during the course of the past few years. But all it takes is one good shot - straight, beautifully arched, effortless - and you will be back out there hacking at that dimpled ball and chasing that elusive perfect-shot feeling you've tasted.

The only thing that beats playing a round of golf in beautiful weather is playing it with people you enjoy being with. I can't wait for Kimmy to be sharing that time with me!

I just bought tickets to go see Mamma Mia the musical in mid April! I'm really excited! =) At the risk of showing my age, let me say that I grew up being a fan of ABBA. I know their music is of the disco genre, but there is just something about it that makes me happy. I love to sing along to their songs!

For those of you who have never heard of Mamma Mia, it's a broadway musical based entirely on the music and songs of ABBA. They change a few words here and there to fit in with the plot, but overall, it's still pretty faithful to the original renditions. I saw it once a couple of years ago and it totally blew me away. At the end of the show, people were dancing in the aisles and in their seats! It felt like a disco club... without the disco ball.

I'm so glad I get a chance to see it again with Kimmy and I cannot wait for her to enjoy the performance! She loves musicals and her taste in music is pretty varied... so I'm sure she would like a little disco!

1.5 months to go!