Sofi's Miracle

April 8th: My 2 little ones and their grandma are involved in a car accident. My little daughter has the worst damage.

April 10th: Neurosurgery at UC Davis Children's Hospital. She would remain a month in ICU battling for her life.

May: transferred to Kaiser Hospital in Oakland, still in ICU, on a ventilator and paralyzed completely on her right side.

May 3rd: Tracheostomy...we can once again see her beautiful smile now that her mouth is not all taped up from being intubated. A couple of days later, she moves her right leg and one finger on her right hand!

May 13: Transferred to Children's Hospital in Oakland, where she spends a day of evaluation in PICU, and then transferred to the Rehab area.

June 10th: Sofia is taken off the ventilator...she is tired the first couple of days, but handled it well.

June 17th: She is decannulated (trach is taken out). Everything goes well, she handles it!

August: Sofia is released from the hospital....shortly thereafter, she is enrolled in school.

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Sometimes, life confronts us with tragedy and unthinkable grief. Sometimes, all we can do is walk with God and trust in his divine mercy. God may deliver you, or he may grant you the strength to face your adversity. Whatever the case, he will be by your side.


Music: R.A. Fiallos, Carlinhos Niehues, Ron Kenoly

The Commute

I am one of the thousands of people who has a long commute every day. The trip can range anywhere from 1.5 to 2 hours (each way) depending on the traffic.

Is it healthy to do this?

I doubt it.

Will it lead to an early grave?

Perhaps.

So why in the heck do I do it?

To pay my mortgage, bills, and provide a better overall standard of living for my family.

Let's face it people, home prices in metropolitan areas are astronomical, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area (my former stomping grounds). Sure, I would love to live in the area, but I would be paying top dollar to rent a smaller place in a so-so neighborhood. Instead, I subject myself to hours of driving in order to pay my mortgage and so that my wife and kids can have a decent place to call their own. To me, it's worth it and I typically don't complain about it unless there's an accident on the road that turns a 1.5 hour trip into a 3 hour nightmare. If I become aware of the accident before I'm half way to work, I can turn the car around and fire up the laptop from home...but if I've reached the half way mark, I grit my teeth and ride it out.

I fought the move for years. In fact, I used to make fun of my colleagues who moved out to the "boondocks" while working in Silicon Valley. I used to crack jokes about cows, pastures, and country music. But that stopped when I saw property prices in the Bay Area reach ridiculous levels. There was no way I was going to buy a 1200 square foot older home for half a million dollars. It just seemed plain stupid. Yes, the area is chock-full of entertainment options. Yes, there's a buhzillion restaurant choices, and yes, there are waaay more choices for cultural enrichment...but half a million for a crackerjack box type place??? Stupid. At least for me.

So in 2003, I joined the masses who looked to the boondocks as a chance to fulfill their American dream. You know, the one of the house with the white picket fence and 1.3 pets. I pulled the trigger and jumped on the boat before it sailed away.

Forward to early 2005. My house had gone up over $200k in value. Yes, I know, ridiculous...but it was nice to see houses being put on the market and selling quickly. It made me feel good about my choice to buy a house. It made the drive a whole heckuva lot more pleasant.

Forward to mid 2008. Mortgage/Credit crunch in full effect. The $200k added value? Bye bye. In fact, it's now worth less than what I owe on it. I've never been great with money, but the one time I thought I made a good investment...oh well, I count my blessings--I still have a place to live, and of course, my greatest treasure: my family. They are worth every mile and more.

Peep this:




You can also view it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88VT-so36zA

Uh Oh, Where Are The Customers???

One lone attendant, no cars in sight. Not good.


















Remember the days when people were freaking
out that gas was going to pass the $3 mark? Now
we're happy when it's below $4.


So my city had been growing rapidly due to the hot housing market. Many folks moved out to Manteca in an effort to buy a home at a decent price. I did so in 2003, right before the home prices skyrocketted to ridiculous levels. In fact, the Tracy-Manteca-Stockton area has been a popular choice for folks looking to avoid the insane Bay Area home prices. Since 2005, I've seen the city attract businesses such as Kohl's, Chili's, Old Navy, Circuit City, and Ross. More recently, a Costco (complete with gas station) has opened up. In another part of town, a Bass Pro Shop is almost complete and retailers such as Best Buy, JC Penney, and a 16 theater Cineplex will be opening soon...but will the town be able to support these businesses?

At the beginning 2005, a 2000 square foot home could be bought at a price of around $520k. Unreal, I know, especially for such a "boondock" location (Hey, nothing wrong with small towns, but c'mon, this ain't San Francisco). Forward a couple of years later after the mortgage melt down and the same house (bank owned because of a foreclosure) can sell for $244k.

Wow.

Great for folks looking for an opportunity to buy their first house, bad for the suckers who vastly overpaid for their properties in an attempt to avoid "missing the boat."

Take a ride through my neck of the woods and be prepared to see scores of "For Sale" signs and abandoned homes. What must the retailers who are already building in the city be thinking?

Is it too late to renegotiate my lease???

Costco is generally buzzing with customers, especially the gas station which typically has lower prices. I'm sorry to say that the last couple of times I've filled up on my way to work (at least a half hour after the gas station opens) it has been virtually empty. Yikes. How long until these retailers pack up and leave? At least many of these large businesses can afford to gamble on their business choices, but what about the regular folks who gambled on buying their homes hoping for a piece of the American dream? Folks who spent their life savings on a down payment, folks who felt safe securing the risky loan on the notion (and often times false promise) that they could always refinance when their home went up in value?

Good thing we rely on the Good Lord above for our strength and hope, and not on the economy, the housing market, or our politicians.

How About a Bail Out for Us Regular Joes?

It's now official: the Federal Reserve Board will authorize an $85 BILLION loan to AIG.

Wow.

Things are really spiraling downward for our financial industry. The fact that the government has deemed it necessary to bail out a private company speaks volumes. And now, car makers Ford and GM are asking good ol' Uncle Sam for the same sort of treatment while they deal with "tougher fuel-efficiency regulations." Hey guys, what the hell were you thinking going the SUV gas-guzzling route? Talk about short-sightedness. Yes, there was demand but what about having vision? What about checking out what your competition is doing (ahem, the Prius?).

Hey, how about a bail out for me? My Amex card was declined at the pump this morning and I had to use my debit card. Ouch.

Hiatus...

I haven't posted anything to this site in the past couple of months. Why? Tragedy struck my family when a car accident almost claimed the life of my little five year old girl. 4 doctors told me that she was lucky to be alive. 1 doctor actually used the word "miracle".

Yes, it was a miracle. And I am humbled by the power and the mercy that God showed me and especially my little girl. He knows how much I love her and he answered my prayers. He has been with her every step of the way, and I am grateful. I want to devote more time to this blog, and I will...although right now, things are a bit hectic. If you are interested in reading more of the incident, you can visit:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/sofiafiallos

Take care and God bless,

Qiuvo

Rant

- Jack-in-the-box Ultimate Cheeseburger has overtaken Mickey D's double quarter pounder with cheese in Qiuvo's fast food power rankings. Congrats to Jack and his team for their menu improvement as well as some very clever advertizing.

- Kim Kardasian's booty has bounced J-Lo's booty off Qiuvo's power rankings! Still, she falls waaay short in the talent department.

- The curse of the big Webbino is finally broken!!! Not only has Don Nelson raised the Golden State Warriors from the ashes of mediocrity, he has finally broken the curse that plagued the Warriors after C-Webb split town in the first place. Even though the Webber experiment didn't work out, the fact that Webber and Nelly buried the hatchet and smoked a peace pipe guarantees that the Warriors will not suck so much for a while.

- Whatup with Mormon Elders getting around town in bikes? If there's one thing the LDS Church is good at, it's making money. So how about upgrading to Vespas?

- Ok, I play guitar, so I thought I'd be good at Guitar Hero...NOT! I'm ok in Intermediate, but I still haven't beaten Slash. My kid, on the other hand, who doesn't play guitar, absolutely buries me on GH3. Just more proof that the older you get, the faster you reach the point of diminishing returns on anything.

- Has there ever been a book or movie named AmeriKKKa? That would be cool title for a movie about race relations in the 60's.

Until next time,

Q.

Fast Food

I recently saw Supersize, the documentary that harps on the fast food industry, and in particular, McDonalds. Talk about depressing. Not that I have fast food all the time, but I'll throw down once in a while. This culture of instant gratification is tailor made for the fast food industry so it is easy to fall into the fast food trap for the sake of convenience. But let's face it, it's not just convenience. Sometimes, you just have to have a big, fat, juicy burger.

Here's some personal observations:

- Best Fast food burgers

1. Carl's Jr 6 Dollar Burger. I like all of their variations: jalapeno, portabella mushroom, guacamole, etc. If you want to be extra naughty, make it a double. The most over-the-top I've had was a "Double six dollar PASTRAMI burger".It was damn good, but the food coma that follows is not very pleasant.

2. Fat Burger: Double Chili Cheese King Burger. Talk about over the top, but it's damn good.

3. McDonalds: double qarter pounder with cheese and Jack in the Box: Ultimate Burger.

---

Best Sub fast food place:


1. Togo's: hands down, best pastrami for a big franchice joint.

2. Quizno's: Really good flavor but vastly over-priced. Frankly, it takes the joy out of eating there.

3. Subway sucks...correction, Subway in the Bay Area sucks. It seems like the only people buying Subway franchises are skimpy folks who pass their skimpyness on to the consumer.
The best Subway I ever went to was in L.A., in a strip mall owned mostly by Magic Johnson. That place did not skimp. While there, try Magic Johnson's TGI Fridays. Again, no skimpiness there.

- What is up with McDonalds Filet of Fish costing over 3 dollars? This should be in their dollar menu.

- With all the fast food bashing going around, why don't these fast food joints offer things such as whole wheat buns and decent vegetarian burgers? A turkey burger on whole wheat buns doesn't sound bad...

More to come...