Erratica » Personal http://www.liujoshua.org Joshua Liu Online Thu, 27 May 2010 21:35:39 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Exploring opportunities for employment http://www.liujoshua.org/2010/05/27/exploring-opportunities-for-employment/ http://www.liujoshua.org/2010/05/27/exploring-opportunities-for-employment/#comments Thu, 27 May 2010 21:33:03 +0000 joshuwaliu http://www.liujoshua.org/?p=187 The past few days have been busy! I’ve been searching for positions and neurotically updating my resume and Linked in profile. It’s always a been challenge for me to pin down what I’m looking for and verbalize it succinctly. I’m constantly brainstorming and writing “personal narratives” in an attempt to distill the essence of who I am and what I want. I got this idea from Erica and it’s been a monumental help. Here is the product of the last few hours:

I like to wear lots of hats!
Entrepreneurial, result-oriented individual with strong technical aptitude, highly-competitive academic background, ability to reach key audiences, and successful track record of accomplishments. Enjoys fast paced environments, is driven to excel and thrives in collaborative environments. Seeks to make an immediate contribution.

Thanks, Erica!

]]> http://www.liujoshua.org/2010/05/27/exploring-opportunities-for-employment/feed/ 0 Expanding My Coverage of Credit Card 5% Reward Categories http://www.liujoshua.org/2009/02/13/expanding-my-coverage-of-credit-card-5-reward-categories/ http://www.liujoshua.org/2009/02/13/expanding-my-coverage-of-credit-card-5-reward-categories/#comments Fri, 13 Feb 2009 05:23:41 +0000 joshuwaliu http://www.liujoshua.org/?p=116 I wish I had this list handy years ago:

mtvU: Restaurants, Amazon, Bookstores, Movies, Video Rentals, Record stores
PenFed pending approval: Gas
Discover Through March: Airline, Hotel, Car Rental

I sorely miss the early years when Citi Platinum Select and Dividend cards still offered 5% on utilities, drugstores, supermarkets, and cable bills. The Amazon and gas discounts have been around for years; I’ve actually had the mtvU card since 2006 too — oh how ignorant I was =( Amazon and gas have consistently been money-sucking black holes for me.

Oh, and my general purchase reward rate went from 1% to 1.25%, also thanks to PenFed. I’m pretty excited since I just received my Pentagon Federal Credit Union membership today. I’ll be reporting on the ridiculous discounts, benefits and deals I am anticipating.

]]> http://www.liujoshua.org/2009/02/13/expanding-my-coverage-of-credit-card-5-reward-categories/feed/ 0 The Sartorialist: On the Street….Via Savonia, Milano http://www.liujoshua.org/2009/01/22/the-sartorialist-on-the-streetvia-savonia-milano/ http://www.liujoshua.org/2009/01/22/the-sartorialist-on-the-streetvia-savonia-milano/#comments Thu, 22 Jan 2009 18:04:32 +0000 joshuwaliu http://www.liujoshua.org/?p=108 I really want to go to Europe.

via The Sartorialist: On the Street….Via Savonia, Milano.

]]> http://www.liujoshua.org/2009/01/22/the-sartorialist-on-the-streetvia-savonia-milano/feed/ 0 Preliminary Goals for 2009 http://www.liujoshua.org/2009/01/01/preliminary-goals-for-2009/ http://www.liujoshua.org/2009/01/01/preliminary-goals-for-2009/#comments Fri, 02 Jan 2009 03:44:46 +0000 joshuwaliu http://joshuwaliu.com/wordpress/?p=72 Personal Growth

  1. Join Toastmasters and complete at least four projects in the Competent Communication manual
  2. Spend at least 4 hours a week on academic pursuits.
  3. Invite people to my apartment at least six times. This will force me to declutter regularly and be sociable.

Health Maintenance

  1. Go to gym for at least 45 minutes, 3 times a week. I will start off with Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday schedule
  2. Stop avoiding my problems, get three health issues addressed. I will disclose one on my blog: wisdom teeth removal (yikes!)

Financial Security

  1. Keep emergency fund sufficient for three months’ living expenses.
  2. Contribute 18% of  salary to Roth 401k.
  3. Contribute at least $3,000 to Roth IRA for 2009, and make up $2,000 for 2008
  4. File my own taxes
  5. Acquire one new supplemental stream of income

An estimated 14-24 hours a week need to be allocated to meet these goals, which will also help improve my time management skills.

]]> http://www.liujoshua.org/2009/01/01/preliminary-goals-for-2009/feed/ 0 John Ji http://www.liujoshua.org/2008/11/13/john-ji/ http://www.liujoshua.org/2008/11/13/john-ji/#comments Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:03:51 +0000 joshuwaliu http://joshuwaliu.com/wordpress/?p=46 My college roommate of three years, John Ji, is pretty awesome.  When he mentioned that he would like to try out WordPress, I was delighted to set up an instance for him to play with.

This post is mostly to test track/pingbacks on both our setups.

]]> http://www.liujoshua.org/2008/11/13/john-ji/feed/ 1 First post! http://www.liujoshua.org/2008/11/12/first-post/ http://www.liujoshua.org/2008/11/12/first-post/#comments Thu, 13 Nov 2008 01:52:59 +0000 admin http://joshuwaliu.com/wordpress/?p=5 I finally decided to start using WordPress.  I’ve been a WP administrator for several years and hope this platform will suit me as an end-user as well.  Thanks to Jack for hosting!

I have been using a hodgepodge of services like Xanga and Google Reader for reading and posting for a well.  It’s become a hassle to work with.  This transition will allow me to consolidate my blog posts and also serve as a place to share interesting articles.  I will still continue to use Google Reader for the forseeable future.

The design of the blog will probably stay bland for a long time.  I’m not really a web design person — I can do it, but prefer to let others take care of the aesthetics.  In the meantime, I hope to create some interesting content.

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