2008 Presidential Election

Magic number - 1
Giants will go down tomorrow!!!!

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It looks like it's really going to happen. After back to school night, I go back home and rather than popping in my Russian CD, I opt for a little Dodger baseball.... only to be dismayed by a 4-0 deficit.

But take heart, it's werth it to stick around with these Dodgers. The cora of the team was a bit shaken up with the trade of LoDuca, but thank goodness DePodesta didn't say, "Let's not make the trade -- izturisky." Without Finley, who knows where the Dodgers would be? When hee seop, you know he's going to belt rays of light into the ball and hit it over geos, vans.... aycarrara!!!! Aishii.... didn't think I could fit in all these Dodger names into one entry.... okay, okay... NOMO, NOMO.... you don't have to worry... you're saying, "He's gone. YAY!" Well, the saenz are obvious and I'm venturaing into unknown terrains. So what's the mayne point??? Hmm... I forget.... I just know that it's funny how i've weaved all these dodger players seemlessly into this post....

all i can say is, "How bout them Dodgers?"

As a teenager myself, I had no clue how to handle my finances... my parents never taught me, my friends certainly didn't teach me, and teachers at school fo shizzle never even went in the vicinity of even approaching the topic of personal finance.

Now I think that is pretty odd, in retrospect, considering the importance that we, as a society, place on income and the management thereof. True, money is not everything. I am wholeheartedly for the sentiment that you should do whatever you want in life regardless of how much it pays. At the same time, I realize that dreams don't pay bills....

As high schoolers, teens have such an advantage over non-high schoolers in that they really have no financial obligations. It is in this time of care-free approach to money matters should teens aggressively pursue a path of financial wellness. Now is the time to track income and expenses and meticulously consider how much they are spending on things and why... I'm not necessarily advocating a budget... just promoting the idea that everyone (yes, including "irresponsible teens") should make purchases after considering their opportunity costs....

That being said, according to some information from Wells Fargo at a CCEE meeting, a whopping 70% of high school Seniors failed a basic financial literacy test....

What does this all mean??? Hmmm... good question. For me, at least, I'm motivated in educating each and every student that goes through my classroom about money matters that they will inevitably face once they walk out of my classroom and Los Altos High School. That is, at least for now, my calling, and I'm fo shizzle ready to do what I can do what I'm paid to do: teach.

Nowadays, students have a lot more information available towards them... www.ratemyteacher.com and its companion website www.ratemyprofessor.com allows students to figure out what to expect from a teacher. While a high school student does not have the flexibility to choose which teacher to choose, college students can choose whether or not to take a particular class based on comments.... it's actually a resource that I have used in determining my class selection at Cal State Fullerton and something I certainly would have used at Claremont if it were available...

Apparently, some schools have actually blocked this website because it gives students the freedom to post negative comments about their teacher... my thoughts on this are that as we are increasingly become an information-based society, it would be unwise to limit access this type of information from students... I mean, if student after student constantly rate a teacher as being bad, then perhaps there actually is truth to such sentiments.... but that's just my take on that

2 MBNAs, 1 Citibank, 1 Mastercard, 1 Credit Union account, 1 Discover, 1 CapitalOne Lowe's, and 1 BankOne... ladies and gentlemen, that is 8 credit cards!!! Now, there is nothing inherently wrong with 8 credit cards, considering that any balance I do have on any of the cards is at 0%. The only problem to having so many cards open is that I now have to juggle different accounts and try to figure out how to keep that 0% balance and make sure I make payments on time and all that junk... the thing is, I acutally like keeping track of all that stuff. And right now, it makes sense for me to do what I'm doing. Now, do I recommend that everyone do as I do? Probably not. I know what it means to misuse credit and now I know how to use the system to take out advantageous loans. Only once you've graduated the school of credit cards and how to have them work for you, stick with just one credit card... it'll make your life a lot easier and more debt-free...

Don't you just hate it when you had intended on placing a call but in fact, you end up placing a put. That's exactly what happened to me last night. In my rush to do something proactive with my ROTH IRA cash, I unwittingly bought a Yahoo option (thinking it was a call, when in fact, it was a put). Today, I see the value of my put that I bought drop $240!!!! Why is this the case? Because Yahoo went up over 5% at 1.13ish. That's what I had predicted, but instead of the call option with a strike price of $32.50, I opted for the erroneous put option with a strike price of $32.50. Now, I have 3 days to hopefully see the Yahoo price drop and then by then, it will be too late to sell the contract and then I will then opt to purchase yahoo and then sell yahoo at the strike price of $32.50, hopefully yielding a profit of sorts....

If you have no idea about what I just wrote and would like some type of explanation, simply ask me in class and I will do my best to explain this aspect of the stock market. Don't make the mistake I made with puts and calls!!!! Aish!!!!

My sister and my brother-in-law recently purchased a wireless router for my birthday (at my request)... although over 40 days late, it finally arrived at my house!!! Anyways, after a bit of troubleshooting help from my Yahoo-employed brother-in-law, I am typing this blog post whilst watching TV in my living room. I am quite ecstatic. The prospects of having wireless internet is awesome. Now, I can update my website, chat online, and watch Dodgers baseball all at the same time. My productivity has tripled!

My next technological toy I will purchase is a mini-DV camcorder.... my current 8 mm camcorder is pretty much obsolete at this juncture, and definitely before the baseball season starts for Los Altos, I want to have the technology in place to video record Los Altos baseball games and put together a presentation for the players and parents at the end-of-the-year banquet... any future film students interested in helping me out with this venture. I would be in need of a video guy... it's something that you could possibly do for a Senior Project field work topic that would be pretty interesting... post in my guestbook if you're apt to do this type of project...

On the 3rd anniversary of September 11th, I am heading to Dodger Stadium to watch Jeff Weaver and the Dodgers battle Woody Williams and the Cardinals. My prediction: Dodgers 9, Cardinals 7. Gagne closes it out in the 9th inning by striking out Pujols with the bases loaded... or something like that, at least.

I'm thinking back on September 11th, 2001. I was working at Big League Dreams excited about somehow cracking into the recreation industry. What ended up happening, though, was that my primary job was simply to register people for softball and put balls into a bag... not exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of my life... in comparison, this teaching gig that I have is a lot more cush and a lot more fun... alrighty, then... I'm off to the stadium!

Economics is always in the news. People want to know the latest job report, housing prices, taxes, and things that affect their income and expenses. Although economics does deal with money, what's more important is identifying and making choices based on rational decisions. Think about it... if you had all the money in the world that you wanted, you really wouldn't be concerned about money and making choices. You'd simply buy whatever you wanted to buy whenever you wanted to do so! But, because money is a scarce item, you naturally have to decide how to allocate this scarce resource.... And the Dodgers win against the lowly Arizona Diamondbacks? Anyone interested in going to the Dodger game this Saturday against the St. Louis Cardinals??? Tickets are $6 and are a scarce item!!!!! Yes... but what is the opportunity cost?

Adrian Beltre is having a great season, but the MVP is undoubtedly Barry Bonds.

The AL MVP is definitely harder to pinpoint. I'm in favor of Ichiro, especially if he gets to George Sisler's single-season hits record of 242. Who knows? If he bats .500 the rest of the way, Ichiro might get to .400..

I just found out that President Clinton was hospitalized for chest pains and will soon undergo a quadruple bypass heart surgery. President George W. Bush wished his predecessor a "swift and speedy" recovery.

As with most Americans, I am shocked to hear this news. Clinton is a relatively young man as far as being involved in politics is concerned. Sure, Clinton probably ate one too many cheeseburgers, but as far as it leading to heart problems at this age is not something that really registered in people's minds. But it has. Partisanship aside, what Bill Clinton now faces is something that everyday, ordinary people face. And Bill Clinton is now an ordinary person -- no better, no worse.