So the results are in and for the 10 million votes cast for Prop 8 in CA, there was $74M spend on both sides for their cause. At $7.40 a vote is a record ever spent on any election initiative. Was that really necessary? I wonder how else that money could have been spent.

I got my Christmas bonus today and I realized that that bonus will be more than the total I am going to pay for gifts this year. Can it be true? I am going to make out with a positive cash flow during xmas?

After I got my close friends to join my no gifts for adults xmas, we stopped with the gift exchange in that circle. Last year, my siblings and I decided to do the same and only buy gifts for the nephew and have a nice dinner for the rest of us.

I wish I can give my siblings some money to help them out because they always seem to struggle around this time of year, but if I do, they will just end of giving me something. It would be hypocritical to give something in this world where people give because they were given.

The only big pool I have to shop for is the office group. Though everyone knows that it is not required, but the environment is that everyone in the department buys everyone a gift. It's better to buy the gifts instead of answer the questions why I don't care for xmas.

Scrooge me this, scrooge me that, xmas is too damn materialistic.

The air is murky and full of ash. The skies are no longer blue as they usually are during high winds. The cars continue to get covered and I expect them to be worse tomorrow. County health boards have advised all residence to stay in doors and to avoid spending unnecessary time outside. I might have to start wearing a mask as some sort of filter. I'm going to have to refill my inhaler prescription.

The air in the office is starting to get affected. I can smell the smoke and char. It might get worse at 5pm when people start to leave and the doors are constantly opening and closing.

I'm going to start going through the cupboards to see what foods I can donate to fire diaster relief. I'm going to have to re-evaluate my budget position this month to see how much I can afford to give.

So I wanted to help my mother with her charity work. She does a lot of work helping under privilege kids in Vietnam by finding school supplies and sponsors to help send kids to school. School was about to start and she showed me a picture of a kid that needed a sponsor, so I said, I'll do it. All it took was $100 to send that child to school for year, so I gave my mom a Benjamin. I can see this as something I can do every year and find more children to sponsor. I'm sorry I can't be like Angelina Jolie and adopt the child and send him to some $20K a year private school with gourmet lunches, but I think my kid will be find.