Two thousand eleven was a very significant year. It was the anniversary for several big events. It was 10 years ago that I launched this site. It was 10 years ago that the iPod was launched. It was 10 years ago that our nation changed forever. And it was 10 years ago that one event put happenstance into perspective.

I worked at the UCI Bookstore during the last 3 years I was at UCI. It was probably the best job on campus job you could have. Your job was on campus so that made it super convenient. And they were understanding of your life as a college student so they would do anything to accommodate your schedule. While most of the times I had with my coworkers was fun and enjoyable, there was one shift I’ll never forget.

I was working a closing shift with one of my coworkers. It was pretty slow so we were just goofing around waiting for our shift to end. He goes into the back to grab his cellphone and is gone for a couple minutes. He comes back and he is visibly shaken. He tells me that someone close to him was suddenly taken away. His friend was in a motorcycle accident and he didn’t survive. I didn’t know what to say. I’d never been around anyone who has received news like that. After awhile, we started talking about his friend. I don’t remember much of the conversation but I do remember talking about the car club he was in. It turns out that I knew someone in that same car club but in San Diego. I talked about my high school friend and the car that he had. We talked about the picnics they would throw in the summer. We talked about how funny it was that we were able to make that connection. By the end of our shift, I felt that somehow I was able to make him feel a little bit better. I reflected on what happened that day and was moved enough to write a post on how people come into and out of your life.

Last March, I was out with my friends having dinner at the Gyu Kaku in Tustin. Towards the end of dinner, I check my phone and notice an old friend of mine checking in at a bar in my neighborhood. Surprised that she was in my neighborhood since she lived up north, I asked how long she would be there and she invited me to meet up. The rest, as they say, is history. Today, Mary is my girlfriend and I’ve never been happier than any other point in my life.

At the stage in our relationship where we went from flirty text messages and IM chats to late night phone conversations, we talked about that night in March. She was at The Copper Door to celebrate her younger sister’s birthday. She was also in town because it was her brother’s birthday as well. I knew that she had a brother and that he was no longer with us. We started talking about his passing and how it affected a lot of people. She started telling me about how one of our mutual friends even went to the viewing.

Light bulb.

My heart was beating out of its chest while I was trying to send her the link to a post I’d written ten years earlier. She read my post. We were both speechless. I’d written the post late at night, on December 18, 2001; the day after her brother had passed.

I’ve been meaning to write my annual year in review post for over a month now but didn’t know where to start. I decided to share these two stories to show that everything happens for a reason. Little insignificant decisions you make in your everyday life, may have an significant impact in your future, who knows how many years in advance. After our first date, I knew that Mary and I had something special. I connect with her on so many different levels; music, food, movies, sense of humor. I could go on. The one thing I couldn’t relate to with her was with her brother. I’d never met Clyde and I hope to never know what it’s like to lose a sibling so suddenly. When I wrote that post, I had no idea that this was the one way I would be able to connect to Clyde. I had no idea he had a younger sister that I would meet for the first time at a bar in Fullerton 5 years later. I had no idea that I would run into her again 5 years after that and fall head over heels for her.

It’s funny the way life works sometimes. Here’s to 2012.

I’ve been wanting to write this post for awhile now but I didn’t want to jinx anything before it all became official. I’ve always been amazed how much can happen in a year and this year is no exception. At the beginning of the year, I was working from home for a small HVAC rep firm and worked on a food truck part time. Fast forward to the end of November and my how things have changed.

As of yesterday, I became an employee of DMG. DES, the company I’ve been working for since 2009, was bought and most of the employees joined DMG as part of the merger. My position has changed. I won’t be in outside sales and working from home anymore. In this role, I’ll be supporting two outside sales people and be commuting 5 days a week to the office. I’m not disappointed at all with the change. Working from home definitely has its pros but it also has its cons. The main disadvantage to working from home are the distractions. I’d often work from coffee shops just to get away from my apartment just to give me a sense of going somewhere to do something. I’m actually looking forward to working in an office with actual coworkers. At home, all I had was Dexter. While I’ll miss being able to run errands during the day and working remotely (sometimes very remotely), I’m excited to start work.

I started working on the Dos Chinos food truck in September of 2010 and while I thought of it as something I would do for fun on the side for extra money, I almost turned it into my career. The truck turned from an unwrapped, roach coach to one of the most popular food trucks in Orange County. The truck was featured in the New York Times, Good Day LA and Eat Street on The Cooking Channel. The truck was doing so well that in October, Dos Chinos opened the doors to its brick and mortar location. With rumors of DES being acquired and the success of the food truck, I seriously contemplated switching careers to manage the Downtown LA location. I told my managers at both DES and Dos Chinos where I was and that after a much needed vacation to Hawaii, that I would make my decision of where I wanted to work. Once I got back, I made my decision to work at Dos Chinos full time. I called Hop ready to work and got the cold shoulder. While we had verbally agreed on how much I would be paid, he back tracked and couldn’t afford to pay me. I had already told DES that I was working the restaurant full time but held off telling DMG. I thank the powers that be for everything working out the way it did.

While I’m sad the Dos Chinos thing didn’t work out the way I wanted, it led me to my current side gig. I met the guys from The Lime Truck back in September 2010. We all hung out at their house in Irvine after a long shift and had a great time. They eventually became one of, if not the most, popular trucks in Orange County. They recently won season 2 of The Great Food Truck race and Chef Jason is using the money to open his own restaurant. A couple months back when Dos Chinos and The Lime Truck put together a pop up restaurant event, I asked him about working at his new restaurant. I called him the closer the restaurant was to being done and while I was expecting to go through some interview process, he ended up bringing me along as part of his staff. My side gig is now a server and stage at Playground in Downtown Santa Ana.

In Steve Jobs’ commencement speech to Stanford, he spoke about connecting the dots.

You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

I know that all the events of the past year have led me to where I am today. Without meeting Hop, I would’ve never met Jason and I wouldn’t have my awesome side gig I have today. If one of my old managers didn’t refer me to Joe, I would’ve never been hired by DES and then later acquired by DMG. I know that the dots I’ve connected this year are only a small part of a bigger picture. I won’t know how the picture will end up looking like, but I trust that it will all work out in the end.

Here are my late, if not quick, thoughts on the iPad 2. First some background. When the iPad 2 originally came out, I wasn’t compelled to buy it. The reduction in size and weight, along with the addition of the traditional and front facing camera weren’t enough to justify the purchase of a new iPad. a few months after its release, the company whose product we represent announced a sales contest in which the grand prize was a 3 day vacation for two to any location in the US. My eyes weren’t on that prize however. The prize for those who met the minimum quotas was an iPad 2.

The company promised a mid level 32 GB wifi only iPad 2. however, due to certain accounting reasons, instead of shipping us actual units, it was much easier to send checks for the amount of the iPad. And due to tax reasons, they sent us enough money to get us a top of the line 64 GB WiFi 3G iPad with enough money leftover for a smart cover.

As an original iPad owner, the thing I immediately noticed was how thin the iPad 2 is. Even after having this thing for about a month, I still marvel at how thin it is. Even with the smart cover covering the front, it is still thinner than the original iPad. Along with the thinner form factor, the iPad 2 is 33% lighter. Again, it doesn’t sound like much but in actual real life use, it’s noticeable. With the original iPad, I would feel uncomfortable bringing it out to use in public. I’m sure part of the reason why was it’s novelty but second, I felt like the device was too bulky to carry around, especially when carried around with a case. But with the iPad 2, I don’t feel awkward carrying the device around. Even with the Smart Cover attached.

You can read other reviews and read how fast it compares to the first iPad and I can vouch that those claims are true. The feature that actually motivated me to earn the iPad 2 was FaceTime. I currently own an iPhone 3GS and am waiting for the iPhone 5/4S release to upgrade. And aside from a beta version of FaceTime available for Mac OS X, I don’t have a FaceTime compatible iOS device. Being in a long distance relationship is not the easiest thing and while cell phones and instant messaging helps, nothing beats seeing the emotion on someone else’s face. Using FaceTime on the iPad makes it feel like it was initially designed for this device, rather than the iPhone 4 it debuted on. I still am amazed whenever I use FaceTime.

If you’re on the fence about the iPad 2 and you’ve never owned one, I can’t recommend it enough. If you own the original iPad and have the funds to upgrade, do so. If not, start saving your money for an iPad 3. I can’t imagine what new features they’ll come up with by then.

The iPod turned ten years old over the weekend. You could arguably say that its introduction started Apple’s renaissance that continues today. There are other retrospectives on the Internet that are much better than what I could ever write but I thought I’d write a few words about my own experience.

I didn’t buy the iPod when it first came out. I bought my first iPod as soon as Apple introduced Windows compatibility through MusicMatch Jukebox software (if you even know what EphPod is, you’re awesome). It still, however, had the original iconic design. I remember saving a little from each paycheck from my job at the UCI Bookstore to save enough money to buy one. Luckily, I had a student discount and was able to get it for a little under $300 after taxes. At first I was embarrassed to tell people how much money I spent on something that “just played music”. But I didn’t care. For me, the greatest thing was being able to carry a thousand songs with me, all over campus with enough battery to last me an entire day.

The original iPod was the first Apple product that I purchased and it eventually converted me to the Apple fanboy that I am today. I’m proud to say that it still works. Every once in awhile I’ll take it out and set it next to one of its descendants, my iPhone 3GS and just stare in amazement at where ten years has brought us. I can’t wait to see where the next ten will take us.

Just for fun, here are a couple pictures of my original iPod through the years, from its unboxing to different trips I’ve taken it on.

As I type this, I’m on a flight, appropriately enough, to the Bay Area. I learned of Steve Jobs’ passing while checking Twitter one last time before the plane pushed off from its gate. I’ve never understood why some people would react so emotionally to the passing of a public figure they are not closely related to. Until today.

I take pride in being able to say that I was once an Apple employee. I worked at a retail store in San Diego right out of college. I have only one Steve Jobs story that I can share. I was an Apple employee when he sent that first company wide email announcing that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He said that there were two kinds: the more common one which is, in over 90% of its cases, terminal and a rare form that is actually treatable. He had the latter type. He went on to say that patients with his type of cancer are able to live healthy lives for years. Steve also said that he would take a six month medical leave to deal with his cancer and that Tim Cook would be leading the company in the meantime. This was in 2004.

It’s amazing that he only stepped down as CEO six weeks ago. He truly lived and breathed Apple. Every time I use the Maps application to avoid traffic, every time I FaceTime with my girlfriend and every time I use my iPhone to casually pass the time, I’ll be thankful for the man and his company that made these things possible.

Thanks Steve. You’ll be missed.