While visiting in LA, Alex showed me one pretty awesome [FREE] application that will save you money on iPhone applications – BargainBin.

Basically, it updates whenever an iPhone application goes on sale of 50% or more or becomes FREE [sometimes for a very limited time]! You can browse by category, or by “Bargain” or “Free.” Simple to use. To see more information about a deal before proceeding to the application store to buy it, you can hold down your finger on the selection and wait for the menu to pull up more information. You can also easily email a deal to a friend! The one part I am not a fan of is that when you click the selection, it takes you to the store for download. You have to restart BargainBin to get back to browsing the deals. It’s probably not something that can be worked around just yet, but it’s free and easy to use otherwise.

Despite the minor inconvenience, BargainBin is perfect for catching some really good deals or just trying out a bunch of random applications. If they’re any good, I keep ‘em. If not, delete city!

Jen and Alex have Snuggies [Beware, the site starts off with a video, so turn down the volume!]. Of course, I had to be silly with the two that they had and wear them together. They’re made of the cheapest fleece, and surprisingly, they are warm and act well as a blanket when you don’t have one. So I found myself sleeping in my make-shift Twin Snuggie outfit.

I look ridiculous. I don’t own them though, so you won’t be seeing me at the next Snuggie Pub Crawl.

While Jen and Alex rested off their hangovers from the Alter Egos party, RV and I went up to the Valley to visit Jeshii, Yayoi, and Little Joe! The last time I had seen Jeshii was when he told me that Yayoi was pregnant. I’d seen photos of Joe over the last few months, but to see him in person at three months old, wow! It’s sunk in. One of my close friends has a baby! And Joe was so well-behaved while we enjoyed brunch at CiCi’s Cafe. Steve [Ace] was there also, and I hadn’t seen him for a few years, I think. Good to catch up. The food was pretty good too!

After brunch, we hung out for a bit at their house. Caught up a bit. I’m considering returning to LA in August for the annual Death March. Will see if I can fit that in!

Upon returning to LA, we made our way over for ice cream at Scoops! I think I make sure to visit every time I’m in LA. Unfortunately, we got there about half an hour before closing, so there weren’t a lot of flavors left. I ended up with the Brown Bread [with Grape Nuts] and a vegan Salty Chocolate combo. Still very good.

And then a few hours later, Taco Zone! I’d heard so much about this taco truck from Jen and other friends. It was much easier to track down because they park in the same spot every night – on the side of the road, right by the Vons parking lot. Very convenient location! The food was pretty tasty; we ordered the suadero burritos on Jen’s recommendation. We grabbed everything to-go and chowed down on the back of the car.

If I visited LA more frequently, I’d return to SF a very fat girl… I just keep on eating… Oh, wait. I do that in any city already!

The rest of the evening was relaxing. Watched Duplicity back at the apartment. It was a little confusing at first, but then it all came together. I actually really liked it because the portrayal of corporations competing for secrets cracked me up. A bit over-the-top.

On day number two, RV and I headed for the canals of Venice after a brief stop for lunch at a Burmese market/eatery for lunch. I’ve always loved the area because of the unique houses and gorgeous canals. It hasn’t changed very much since I was in the area last, except maybe a few extra “For Sale” signs.

After a scroll around the canals, we headed for Venice Beach. It was much too windy, and there were too many people trying to peddle their goods along the walkway, so we got out of there. It was quite the feat to find a bathroom that wasn’t one of the public ones at the beach. We found ourselves at Seed. No bathrooms for customer use there, but we did fill our bellies with a vegan cupcake and an iced coffee [Yeah, we ordered a beverage despite our original task at hand - to find a toilet!].

The joint birthday party for Jen, Neil, and James was in the evening. The theme was Alter Egos, and all guests picked name tags on the way in. All the names had been pre-determined, which was part of the fun. You didn’t know who you would become until the party. I ended up with “Dorah,” and RV was “Gabriel” for the evening.

Good times, but I think it got a little frustrating for some people who didn’t know very many people, and all they had was a fake name! There were some pretty awful names in the mix too, including “Edna,” “Grizelda,” “Eustace,” “Archibald,” etc. I guess it was better being referred to as “The Explorah” the entire time. There was someone named “Norah” there also.

By the end of the party, I had decided to sift through the name box for something a little more crazy and ended up with “Apollonia,” except I pronounced the “pollo” portion like chicken in Spanish!

So nice to catch up with everyone in LA, as well as meet the new faces. Kristen made the cakes – aren’t they AWESOME?

I’m in LA today. It’s good to be away from home. It keeps me from just wrapping myself up in a blanket and staying in all day long, casually browsing job listings on Craigslist or LinkedIn on the laptop.

RV and I arrived yesterday afternoon. Alex was kind enough to pick us up from the airport, and we started off our trip by trying out Kitchen 24 in Hollywood. Basically, a fancy version of a diner. The servers wore pink pants, and I had french toast for lunch.

Most places we check out SHOULD be new while we’re down here since I’ve not been lived here since 2004, and my last trip was several months ago. After walking around in the neighborhood, I can say there’s a lot to see just within a few blocks, so we’ll be entertained for the few days we’re here. We spent a few hours hanging out at the apartment, playing Little Big Planet. YES, they have that game here! I’ve been obsessing over the Sackboys for some time now, so that was pretty exciting. While time-consuming, it’s fun to see what the characters can do.

When Jen got home from work, I told her about Kogi BBQ being on Vine, possibly nearby, and we looked it up right away. Turns out it was just a block up! We immediately headed outside to get in line for it, totally expecting a reaaally long line. It was actually not too bad of a line, and we had our food in hand in 20 minutes. It’s basically a taco truck with Korean-style meats that announces its location using Twitter [@kogibbq]. My review: here.

Since I’ve been following all these food trucks and carts lately, I’ve decided to start a new Twitter account for that purpose. Follow @hungrysuki for my foodie adventures, my first one being Kogi BBQ!

After the delicious KBBQ tacos, burritos, sliders, and dessert [Yeah, we ordered a shit-ton!], we hung out [aka painted their new apartment bathrooms] until finally deciding to go out. Ended up downtown at Bar 107 where we caught up with a few others to finish off the night.

Wondering what today will bring… aside from the guaranteed boozing madness that will ensue tonight at the joint birthday party that was the real reason we flew down for the weekend! Can’t wait!

From Rob Brezny for the week of April 23, 2009:
“Being understood is not the most essential thing in life,” said actress Jodie Foster. While that may be true for her, I bet you won’t turn it down if a flood of appreciation and acknowledgment comes your way in the next few weeks. According to my reading of the astrological omens, you now have the potential to be better understood than maybe you’ve been in a long time. I suggest you take maximum advantage of this good fortune. Make it easy for people to see you for who you really are.

I interviewed for two jobs via a recruiter in the past few weeks. They were scheduled before the lay-off. I guess I had really good timing in terms of getting in touch with them, except I didn’t get offers for either. One, I didn’t appear interested in their company. Two, I was a bit more qualified than they were looking for. Someone else interviewing with one year less caught their eye. Oh well. It’s good practice, and with each interview, it seems that I am getting feedback to work on. I’m also figuring out what I’m looking for and how I want to present myself, at least in a way that truly reflects the matching of my needs and the companies’ needs. While the thought of interviewing still makes me nervous, the actual experience itself hasn’t been so bad, so I’m not dreading it when it happens again next.

The economy is tough though.

Illusion Labs [based in Sweden] makes one of my latest favorite iPhone games, Sway. Cutest game ever!

You start off with Lizzie the Lizard, and as you progress, you unlock her friends [the part that keeps me playing]. The graphics are quite impressive on this game, and you spend your time swinging from block to block, collecting stars and dodging obstacles. My favorite character to use is Ninja Man, but some of the other characters have longer arms [Monkee and Scarlet] and prove to be a bit more useful on some levels. Box boy is extra springy too! Using your left and right thumb, you control the swaying action of the character. When you let go of the screen, your character takes off, and when you put your finger back on the screen, your character will latch on to the nearest block. The objective of the game: Collect stars as quickly as you can to the finish line of each level. Rescue friends on the “Save a Friend” levels.

Yup, I shelled out $4.99 for this one after doing a test run of Sway Lite. Some of the levels are quite tough, but there are checkpoints on each level to save the spot you’ve reached in the level. You also have unlimited number of deaths, so you can keep on going. Quite entertaining and fun! I’ve gotten really into the game, and my fingers get all sweaty. Oops! It looks cute, but it is still tough.

Well worth the $$ spent. I’m down to one more friend to rescue, but I’m hoping there will be future updates with more levels + friends.

With all the free time I have now, I may spend some of it crocheting Ninja Man – see pattern here!

Here are screen shots of some of the friends:

Despite no longer having a job, I am not freaking out about it. I think I must have mentally prepared myself over the last month or so, considering the state of the economy and what I knew of firm economics. While slightly sad, I was not surprised. It’s sad because over the last five years, that’s all I did. That’s all I know! To have to throw myself back on the market is strange. It’s like being in a long-term relationship and with the new single status, you’re not sure what to do with yourself.

I’m very fortunate to have worked for a company of such great people though. As soon as I let the news spread that it was my last day, people sent emails of well wishes, as well as job opportunities! At times, it seemed like a lonely place to work because of the nature of each engagement. I was on small teams and spent very little time in the office. It felt like I didn’t know anyone, but now I see that it just gave opportunity to meet more people.

Anyway, I’m moving forward. I’ve not yet decided what my exact plans are, but for now, they involve a few interviews. I know that I could easily take time off to study and travel somewhere new and exciting, but I’d like to at least put my frame of mind back into that mode. At first I might not find what I want, but I’ll not know till I try, right?

Yeah, I’m an optimist.

PS – I’ve told the parents. They didn’t act very surprised or were they very upset. I think I mentally prepared them well in advance.

I can’t sleep very well. Part of it is due to the alcohol consumed last night, but another part is due to what this day has to bring. I think it may be my last day at my job of the last five years. It’s going to be sad, but at the same time, I’ve been expecting. I received an e-mail from HR yesterday afternoon for a “mandatory meeting.” That’s pretty much how I’ve heard that it goes down.

I wonder what’s next! I’ll definitely wrap up on the CPA exams. There’s no better time than now to get all the certification stuff out of the way.

This will definitely put a cramp on the surgery that’s supposed to take place later this year though…

Courtesy of Rob Brezny:
I once had a girlfriend who was tormented by her demons. As brilliant an artist as she was, as much good as she did in the world, she couldn’t get those jerks to stop whispering curses like “You’re a fraud” and “You’ll never make any money from doing what you’re good at” and “No one will ever love you for who you really are.” I did my best to silence the voices that plagued her. I tried to sing them to sleep or scare them away or make her feel so well-loved they’d die of malnourishment. But nothing worked, and she and I eventually broke up because of those demons. Since then I’ve worked hard to improve my skills as an exorcist. As much as I’m inclined to use those skills to help you chase away the pests that are bugging you, however, that’s not necessary. You now have the power to perform a dramatic do-it-yourself banishing. So get to work!

Getting to work!