I saw the northern lights!

As you're probably aware, there were a series of solar storms over the past few days. Due to the intensity of these storms, the resulting aurora was visible in much lower latitudes — even as far south as Texas. It's not often this happens!

The cool thing is that I got to see the northern lights on Friday. I didn't actually see the aurora with my naked eye, but did catch a faint glow on my iPhone. You could see the unmistakable colors in the photos.

Mom and I tried to look for the aurora again last night after hearing the solar storms would continue into the weekend. The two of us stayed up pretty late last night but didn't see anything as there was a bit of a cloud cover. We had heard there was yet another chance to see the aurora tonight at around 10 p.m. However, there again wasn't much to see as the moonlight was too bright this time.

Even though I only saw the aurora once — on Friday evening — this was a neat experience. The next time this happens may be decades away. Seeing the northern lights was something that had been on my bucket list for a long time, and I'm glad I finally got the chance.

On a side note, happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. :-)

Currently listening to: Clair de lune by Claude Debussy

ordered a snack box for the first time

So the Universal Yums snack box I ordered on Amazon just arrived. I've always wanted to try one, but have been reluctant to do so because food is pretty expensive these days. However, you may recall that I recently completed my AI and machine learning certification program from MIT with a perfect score. I figured this would be a good way to celebrate. It also seemed like a nice birthday present for myself as I turned 38 not long ago.

There were lots of snack boxes for sale, but I settled on Universal Yums because it had excellent reviews and a good weight-to-price ratio. I definitely can't wait to try all the snacks. Seeing them definitely made me feel like a kid on Christmas. I haven't felt this way in probably almost 30 years!

Currently playing: Angry Birds Friends

a scary gas leak

So we had a gas leak at our house. It turns out the person we hired to fix our furnace had turned the wrong valve while shutting off the gas. Imagine the shock when we noticed the unmistakable hiss of gas escaping the meter!

Obviously, the first thing we did was call 911. Although the local fire station is just a few blocks away, those few minutes were one of the most terrifying moments of my life. This definitely brought back memories from the 1998 tornado. After what felt like hours, the firefighters arrived and were able to shut off the gas for us. They even stayed to make sure everything was OK while we waited for the PG&E technician to arrive.

I truly appreciate the crew's professionalism and how lucky we were. We even gave them some of our home-cooked drumsticks afterwards. I'm definitely glad everything ended well. And this is why I have the greatest respect for firefighters.

a convoluted commute

"This is gonna suck." -- me

So something crazy happened today.

As part of my commute to my new job, I take the Caltrain to the Millbrae before taking BART to the Embarcadero station in San Francisco. Due to equipment problems, the BART to Millbrae was delayed by about 20 minutes. It just happened that we had a team meeting this morning. I was only late for a few minutes, but still...

The BART train somehow got delayed again. The delay wasn't as long as the morning one, but it caused me to miss my normal Caltrain ride. Shit happens.

Speaking of which, Caltrain got delayed as well. Because of an accident, one of the tracks was closed. I didn't get home until 50 minutes after my normal arrival. You could say that things weren't on the right track today... if you'll excuse the incredibly lame pun.

According to news reports, there was a minor collision between one of the trains and a car. From what I gather, nobody got hurt in the incident. I'm glad it wasn't a suicide or anything - those things are always really sad.

Currently reading: The Martian by Andy Weir

Hospital visits are no fun...

...especially in the middle of the night at 4 a.m.

So the family across the street is moving and has generously put stuff up for free. I was helping my parents carry some furniture last night when I started getting an itch. At first we thought it was caused by dry skin or bug bites, but the itching became worse and bumps began appearing everywhere. It eventually got so bad that I couldn't sleep. I figured it was just hives, but Dad insisted on taking me to the hospital just to be on the safe side.

The doctor confirmed it was hives after one look while a nurse gave me medicine to suppress the reaction. That must have been some pretty powerful stuff as the symptoms went away within an hour. From what the doctor and the nurse told me, the hives were likely caused by food allergies. This was exhausting as I had very little sleep after getting home. I just hope this doesn't happen again. *shrugs*

One thing for sure is that I'm not looking forward to the bill. From what I've heard, emergency room visits are expensive as hell. :\

Currently playing: Final Doom

I love rummage sales.

One of the local churches just had a rummage sale, and my parents and I went there yesterday to see what was available. Although the church holds a sale every few months, this was our first time checking it out.

There were lots of stuff, most of which was extremely cheap. We bought a vacuum cleaner, two reprinted paintings, some iPad and laptop cases, an unopened Death Valley National Park jigsaw puzzle, a knitted bag, a shoe rack and lots of greeting cards - all for a grand total of less than $75.

Some of these items were especially good deals. For example, the greeting cards were only five cents each, and the puzzle was just three bucks. In comparison, these puzzles often cost $15 or more at gift shops. What a steal!

The other cool thing is that I ran into my old classmate Allie from Egan and LAHS. I'm surprised we still recognized each other after eight years. On the subject of which, my mother also ran into one of her friends at the sale. It's a small world indeed.

Currently watching: Star Trek: The Original Series - "Where No Man Has Gone Before"

getting rid of the pool today

After weighing options for some time, we've decided to take the plunge and have our swimming pool removed. If everything goes to plan, the contractors will start draining it this afternoon.

You see, the pool started leaking last month. Figuring the cost of fixing it would be much higher in the long run, my parents opted to remove the pool. This wasn't an easy decision: even though it was rarely used in recent years, the pool has great sentimental value because we've had it since moving here 17 years ago. I'm definitely a little sad to see it go.

On the bright side, demolishing the pool will help save at least $2,000 a year in maintenance costs. It also means we'll be getting a more spacious backyard. Although we haven't yet decided what to do with the extra space, Mom's thinking about expanding her organic vegetable garden.

Funnily enough, I was afraid of water as a kid and begged to have the pool drained when we moved to our current home. You could say I finally got my wish after all those years. The other thing is that I constantly feared someone would accidentally fall in and drown. Perhaps I'm paranoid, but at least that's one less thing to worry about. Haha.

Hail to the Chief

I was at the San Francisco Mariott Marquis last night for FAIM 607 when a bunch of Secret Service agents started showing up. It soon became apparent that Obama was also staying at the hotel. I knew he was going to be in San Francisco but didn't expect him to be right here!

Although the President's location wasn't announced for obvious reasons, the presence of law enforcement kind of gave it away. Some people gathered in the lobby to try to catch a glimpse of Obama. The presidential state car ultimately bypassed the main entrance, but it was still really cool to be in the same building as the President of the United States.

I should mention that class ended early. Security wouldn't let anyone back into the hotel except for registered guests. The professor couldn't get back in and decided to dismiss the class. Due to road closures, my family was stuck in San Francisco for about an hour. But at least I have an amazing story to share. :-)

In other news...

Mom invited some friends over today for a potluck lunch. Go here for the pictures!

the stuff of legends

Two of my uncle Yeh-Wei's friends came over today. However, George and Andy are no ordinary guests: the duo are doing a 6,000 km bike ride across the continental United States, all the way from the West Coast to the East Coast!

Of note is that their entire three-month trek to New York City will be improvised. For example, they prefer get directions from locals and book hotels directly instead of making reservations. Yeh-Wei knew we lived near their starting point and asked us to give them a send-off. George and Andy also accompanied us to San Francisco in the evening to meet my classmates. :-)

This was a neat experience as we usually only hear about these people in the news. In any case, all of us are incredibly honored to know these guys!

In other news...

I went to the Cloud Connect expo with Dad yesterday afternoon. This event was much smaller than the RSA Conference two weeks ago, but the swag was nice. :D

early Christmas presents :-)

Just because Black Friday and Cyber Monday are over doesn't mean the deals are. Case in point, I came home today to find that my father had picked up various goodies while I was at school. The things he got were:

1. Two LaCie external hard drives with 1 TB of storage each. Considering that one of my hard drives failed last month, Dad figured we needed something to back up our files.
2. Some Eneloop batteries and a charger. These will go well with my green lasers.
3. Several Eco-i-Lite Home LED flashlight from Capstone Industries. They're intended for emergency lighting but should still be useful.
4. A Nikon Coolpix S550 digital camera. This means Mom and I won't have to fight over the Coolpix 5200 anymore. :-)
5. An Acer Aspire One netbook for himself.
6. A 22" AOC Envision LCD HDTV monitor. It will allow us to continue watching TV when the digital TV transition comes.

Getting early Christmas presents is always nice. Thanks, Dad!

new digital camcorder!

Dad recently bought a Sony Handycam DCR-SR46 digital camcorder at Costco. I've posted a picture of it here. The DCR-SR46 is really nice, especially with the 40x optical zoom and 40 GB of built-in storage. It also has an ergonomic design. I'm definitely taking it on our trip to Yellowstone. Expect some new videos on my YouTube channel soon. :-)

That said, this thing has lots of features and will take a while to get used to. At least I have a few days to study the manual. Haha.

Relay For Life

I participated in the local Relay For Life tonight. The event was hosted at my old high school. Though Mom was busy cleaning up the house, Dad and I walked several laps. We also bought two T-shirts to support the American Cancer Society in their fight against this terrible disease. Having lost family to cancer, both of us felt this was a worthy cause.

Currently reading: Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

new rubber raft

You won't believe this, but Dad bought an inflatable rubber raft at Mel Cotton's Sporting Goods this morning. I can't wait to try it out on the water. This is definitely something we've never done before.

The plan is to go to Stevens Creek Reservoir tomorrow after lunch. I think it's the perfect place because Stevens Creek County Park is one of our favorite hiking spots. I'm a little nervous but also excited at the same time!