.: Just Another Day At Work

Pictures of the sf bay while working on a roof 3 stories up.  The places I go and the views may be nice, but I really need to finish school and find a comfy white collar job so I can stop risking my life everyday.

One small step at a time to the top, otherwise you might fall!

.: Tragedy in Japan

I'm sure anyone who doesn't live under a rock knows about the heart-breaking events that are ongoing in Japan. I wanted to express my condolences for the people in Japan and to tell them to not lose hope amongst all the chaos!  It's heartwarming to see so many nations preparing and willingness to help our fellow human kind.

It's crazy how scary nature can be, I have a fear of earthquakes because I've experienced the Northridge earthquake, which was only a magnitude of 6.7, and that terrified me as a child seeing our neighborhood literally break down.

I can't imagine the pain and sorrow they must be facing from a 8.9 earthquake and pray for the best to those that are going through this ordeal.

:. Here's an insightful post by someone who experienced the quake itself from gizmodo.
I survived Japan’s massive earthquake

:. The Story of a Guild Part 2

I wanted to thank everyone for their feedback from the previous post! I've been really busy with work and school these days so I apologize for the big gaps and shortness of my posts.

The Constitution
The liberation from our first corrupt leader made us realize that we required a set of rules to prevent another dictator and ensure fairness in our guild.  The cabinet gathered and worked on a constitution to keep limitations on the leaders and formed a currency system to help distribute loot and trade amongst the members.  We were no longer savages but civilized people who respected and followed law.

The Rise to Power
To my surprise, I was elected as the next person to take the throne to lead our guild. With the help of my cabinet, our reputation began to grow through our achievements and conquers of dangerous mythical beasts.  In a blink of an eye, our guild had become the #1 nation in our land and we were suddenly busy reading resumes and doing interviews for all the people applying to join our ranks.  The guild as a whole would vote on an applicant based on their performance and attitude after a two week trial period.

I began to experience the power and influence of being the leader of a top nation as strangers would approach me with respect and try to befriend me out of the blue.  I began receiving random presents from females and no one dared to question me. Managing relations with other guild leaders were also important to establish trade and prevent any conflicts in territory.

This whole process was a strange experience for me because I was 17 during my reign in power and was the youngest in the guild.  The guild at this stage was composed of 60 players whom were all older than me.  Having everyone's obedience and respect was very eye opening on how strong power is and its influence on other people.

The Bitterness of Power
As time went on, I realized the downsides of being in a state of power.  I slowly became stressed and bitter from resolving all the drama and problems amongst guild members.The game I had once loved had become a job and I was no longer having fun but too busy managing adults who were all older than me.

The rise to power had become the cause of my death.

.: The Story of a Guild

I want to share a past experience on how certain video game communities evolve to form its own societies with structures and regulations just like a government. It's interesting how a lawless virtual world ends up becoming civilized where reputation and power becomes a great value and its influences on other players.  I have witnessed corruption, espionage, marriages, break ups, and great friendships being born in my adventure.

The Colonization Era
The story begins when a game was newly released and a couple of friends and I wanted to have some fun. Rumor was that 20,000 people had already set sail to the new world and we followed suit.  Once we arrived, we ignored the other colonizers and took care of each other but as we began to explore further, we realized that our numbers had to grow in order to survive this fiery world where dragons ruled the lands.

Our group slowly began to interact with different players and eventually formed a guild. We were a small guild exploring an unknown territory and accepted anyone who wished to join our new found colony.  These were dark times because there was no enforcement on who we invited and how we interacted amongst each other until our first leader.

B-A-N-A-N-A-S
The first elected leader of the new found colony was a man named Bishop.  Bishop was not a clergyman but a 22 year old electrician who liked to sing the B-A-N-A-N-A-S part in Holla Back Girl by Gwen Stefani.  Finally having stability and rules to follow, the colony began thriving with new members and we were up to 40 members and I was invited to become one of the 5 officer cabinet members.

The Revolution

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely"

- Lord Acton

As time passed, we no longer heard the joyfullyrics that would spread laughter through the fields but the angry, crazed voice from Bishop when we failed to return with the hidden treasures from the enemies we had slain.  How can I say it, Bishop was going bananas and began abusing his power to use the colony for his greedy personal interests.

Our home had become desolate and we began to lose members left and right so something had to be done.

      

                                          
* To be Continued..
* I realized as I was writing this experience, that everything I wanted to express would make this post way too long. So I was wondering if everyone would like a follow-up post or I should just blog a new subject. Thanks for your feedback!
  

:. Stand Your Ground When Someone Tries to Rob You

It's a gloomy Thursday night and I'm on my way to crash at my friend's apartment in San Francisco.  I arrive to the deserted BART station, a public transit system in Nor Cal, around 10 pm and idly wait for the train to arrive.  As I sit down reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo I notice a group of guys approaching me out the corner of my eye.

"Hey man do you have a dollar bill for my 4 quarters?".  I don't know if it was the shitty weather or the gangster attire these guys were wearing but something didn't seem right. Usually when someone asks for change, they want to convert their bills into coins.  I've never heard of anyone wantin ga dollar for four quarters.

Something's fishy.
I casually respond "sorry I only carry credit" when I actually had 2 bills stashed in my wallet and watched as they walked away from me.  The train finally arrives and me being the idiot walk into an empty compartment in the back of the train while the mystery group enters the compartment next to me.

Now the train is in route, I look up and the guy who asked me for change slides open the door, enters the compartment, and sits a few seats directly in front of me. At this point, I finally realize what's going on because the mystery man's friends are blocking the door from the other side.  I mean who would randomly just leave his friends to come into a train compartment where I was the only person occupying it.

In my backpack, I had a recently purchased aluminum Macbook and my love for my gadgets suddenly kicked in action because I was ready to fight to my death to protect my dear baby. Let's just say the next 5 minutes in the train compartment looked like this between me and the guy.

 

                                                                                       

The guy eventually got up and left without a word.  This really surprised me because he was much bigger and had his friends looking out for him.  I learned that day it is important to stand your ground and not look weak when you encounter a situation where someone is trying to take advantage of you,.  Most of these losers do not want to deal with someone who might potentially fight back.

TLDR: I'm just glad I didn't get robbed and I was ready to go down fighting like a man rather than cowering in the corner