Duncan Cam!

Living alone can have its advantages, but it definitely has its cons as well.  One of those cons is not having an extra set of eyes to help watch my biggest asset: my house.  I don't have an advanced security installed in my home and I am obviously not home all the time.  Fortunately, I live in a culdesac at the very end of my street, so burglars are less tempted to go that deep into the neighborhood to break into a house.  Nonetheless, home security is very important and whatever affordable measures can be taken to improve security should be considered!

A couple weekends ago, I was at my sister's house and she told me about a surveillance camera her family uses to monitor their home while they're away.  I looked into getting one for myself and eventually I purchased a HooToo Surveillance Camera off Amazon.com for $70 (my sister's brand is Foscam).  The camera is a great investment!  It has built in wireless which allows me to put it anywhere in the house as long as the Wi-Fi is accessible.  I can then monitor my home from my computer at work or from my phone!  Most of the time, it just serves as a Duncan Cam. :)

Having the camera installed helps give me peace of mind that my home is safe including Duncan. Obviously I can't be staring at it 24-7, but I do keep it open on my second monitor while I'm at work and will check it from my phone when I'm out of town.  Also, during long vacations, I can enable the motion detection sensor to e-mail me if any large movements are detected in the camera's line of sight!  Definitely worth the very affordable price!

I'll say the only drawback is that I see a fluffy Duncan sleeping on the sofa and I just want to squeeze him.  Makes me miss my cat even more when I'm not home... :O

Playoffs!?

My Tuesday pool team (a.k.a. the "Cereal Killers") has been tearing it up in league and tournament play much of last year.  Winter session just ended before the holidays, but this time we didn't finish in 1st place for a change.  As a result, we played in playoffs to determine the second team that would be sent to the Big Money Tournament.

The first round of playoffs was played against "Team Chaos".  I ran a lineup of 4-4-4-5-6 (those are the skill levels of the 5 players for my team).  The first round ended up going to the very last match in winner-take-all fashion.  I saved myself for the end and had to play against a skill level of 5 (I'm a 4 if you've forgotten, which is about average).  I played very well that night...or maybe my opponent didn't play as well as he's expected to.  Whatever the reason, the match was won and we made it to the second and final round of playoffs.

The finals were held these past two weeks of January (as makeup to avoid playing during the holidays).  Entering last night, it was a 4-4 tie in points with the other team "Pog Mo Thoin" holidng the tiebreaker since they won 2 of the first 3 matches.  I put myself up 4th knowing it would draw out their 5 and leave the 3 for the final match, and it was imperative that I win at least 1 game so that I didn't get shutout and give them a 3-0 point victory.  The game was really sloppy and both sides played a bit poorly with the last 3 games of the match all being determined by the 8-ball going in early or scratching on the 8.  Nonetheless, I pulled out a 2-0 win by winning 3 games to his 2!  That left us 6-4 going into the last match.  All was left was for Jake, a skill level 4, to win 2 games before his opponent won 2...  Out of nowhere, Jake shot the best pool anyone's ever seen him play.  He ran out all of the balls in one turn on the first game and handled the next game pretty easily.  So the Cereal Killers won the matchup and will be returning for their 3rd consecutive Big Money appearance! Woohoo!!!  Oh and I guess I get another plaque to add to the wall...

In other news...

Bowling is still going and 10 weeks remain on the schedule.  I'm currently sitting at a 191 average after last week's massive 659 series.  191 is where I started the season and my personal goal is to go up in average.  195+ would be awesome, but I'll be happy with anything 192+.  On that note, I signed up to bowl in the USBC Open Championships this June in Reno.  I'll be going with 7 other IBM League bowlers and it should be a really fun and challenging experience!

AHGL StarCraft 2 Season 4 is beginning soon as well.  While I have been on a break from StarCraft (because I've been working my monk in Diablo III up to paragon level 100 --just 2 levels away as we speak), I will start practicing again soon as the season is set to begin on February 9th.  I haven't decided if this will be my last year as captain for IBM's AHGL team, but all I know is I want to make a strong run at the title in 2014!

Finally, I've been coordinating the IBM Basketball League to start in the middle of February.  The old commissioner, Dale, finally retired from IBM last December, which leaves me as sole commissioner of the league.  However, this is what we prepared for and I'm ready to get things going again for the IBMers!

Hope everyone is enjoying the 2014 year so far!  Continue to Make It Happen, whatever It Happens to be worth Making!

The Real Reason I Celebrate Christmas

I don't really celebrate Christmas.  In fact, if you base the holiday on religious aspects, I'm probably the last person that should be celebrating Christmas since I'm probably one of the most non-religious people out there.  For years as a kid growing up, I partook in the festivities, mostly the commercial part, as I looked forward to putting up a Christmas tree, opening my presents in the morning, and learning about characters like Santa and Frosty.

But like every innocent kid, we all grow up and learn the real truths behind Christmas and our beliefs change.  I went through a period in early college where I wanted to completely abandon anything related to Christmas.  While my parents were indifferent, some of my friends were saddened to hear that I would no longer be taking part in Christmas traditions, such as exchanging gifts for our circle of friends or enjoying a glass of eggnog and brandy at midnight on Christmas Day.  It's pretty safe to say I wasn't exactly the most mature person in my very early 20s.  I made several mistakes and arrogantly thought I knew everything about myself and everyone else.

Fortunately, we never stop growing up and many years later, I've started to realize the real reason I enjoy Christmas.  It's not for the presents, holiday music, or Christmas lights (actually, while I don't really do the commercial aspect of Christmas as much anymore, I won't completely dismiss it and still get presents for my nieces and nephew).  I enjoy Christmas now because it brings my friends and family home for the holidays.  Many of the people I grew up with have moved away from Arizona to have their lives, but for many, Arizona is still home and I can still expect many to be in town during the holidays.  Life is about the people, the friendships and relationships you've built over decades, because without others, life becomes pretty meaningless.  People coming home for the holidays is what I look forward to every Christmas now and that reason alone is enough to celebrate!

So whatever your reasons for celebrating Christmas, I wish you a Merry Christmas and hope you keep up with those friendships and traditions you've enjoyed for so many years.  Merry Christmas from the Lin family: Andy and Duncan!

Termites! :( ...and Landscaping! :)

Termites Invade My Home... :(

My friend Matt recently suggested that I check my house for termites.  As a first time homeowner, this is not really something I've ever done or even thought about doing before.  He told me termites are easy to check for, especially with newer houses where the foundation goes in at the base, you can usually see little mud tunnels along your wall if there is a presence of termites in your house.  So one day I went outside to check and wouldn't you know it...

This was about 2 weeks ago, but they've probably been around for much longer.  I honestly don't recall seeing these in the past several years I've lived at my house, but then again, I've never known to look for them.  Anyhoo, I started talking to some friends about companies to inquire services from...

My friend Xav was actually getting his house in Tucson treated for Tucson at the same time.  He got quotes from Orkin and Five Star and apparently those were $1,700 and $900 respectively.  Hearing those numbers freaked me out a bit..."uh oh, it's gonna be expensive." :(

My friend Jen didn't really know of anyone, but suggested Truly Nolan based on those notable yellow mouse cars they drive around.  They were the first people to inspect my home, but seemed very lackadaisical in their inspection.  They said stuff like, "yeah, those have been there for a while" and "here's what we'll do" without ever really doing anything more than just standing and looking at the exterior.

My friend Matt (the one who had me check for termites in the first place; thanks Matt!) suggested Got Bugs since he used them for his house in Tucson, albeit for other types of pest control.  The inspection from Got Bugs was great and felt really personal.  The guy did a full inspection of my home inside and out.  He educated me on all kinds of termite-related things.  I was very impressed with the inspection and the explanation of options.

My sister Elsa had also had her house treated for termites.  She gave me a couple companies, one that she used and another her friend had tried.  The first was Wildcat Exterminating.  When Wildcat came out, the inspection was similar to Truly Nolan, but by then I had realized that the treatment is pretty much gonna be the same no matter what company I went with, so it was more a matter of price.  The final company was A-Security Pest Control, a very small company that I felt had the most promise since my sister knew the owner, but when they called me they said they had driven by, taken a look at the foundations within the subdivision, and would mail me a proposal treatment.  It seemed very quick and obviously not thorough at all.

So overall, here is was each company proposed to me:
Truly Nolan - $494 for treatment, annual warranty renewable for $150 a year
Got Bugs - $484 for treatment, annual warranty renewable for $125 a year
Wildcat Exterminating - $568 for treatment + 2-year warranty, extendable annual warranty renewable for $135 a year
A-Security Pest Control - $400 for treatment, annual warranty renewable for $165 a year

In the end, I decided to go with Wildcat Exterminating.  I chose them mostly due to price (I get a 2-year warranty right off the bat for $100).  It was really between them and Got Bugs since both treatments were identical.  I hope the termites get exterminated and will be gone for good!

Landscaping! :)

So part of the Got Bugs inspection pointed out how the collection of weeds and tree debris can attract pests.  As you know, the battle between me and my yard is never-ending due to the slope next to the west side of my house bringing in lots of water for weeds and the two large mesquite trees in the back that shed tons of leaves and pods.  Cleaning the yard is a long and exhausting chore because of how bad it gets in my yard, that I finally decided to inquire about landscaping services that can clean my yard for me.  My friend Jonathan found a very small landscaping company that is run by a Hispanic family.  The father doesn't even speak great English, but the quality of work you get in return is as good as anyone's and you just can't beat their price.

For $275 they took out all the weeds around my house, cut out a few dead shrubs and large desert bushes in my front yard, and then raked and cleaned all the leaves and pods in the back.  He told me I am not paying for hours, but for the work.  They worked for 3 hours today and another 2 hours today and after all is said and done, the yard looks great! Wahoo!

South Side of Home with Slope:

Before

After

 
Backyard with 2 Mesquite Trees:

After