My Incredible is a brick

Man, I really loved my Verizon HTC Incredible (the first time, before it was stolen during a mugging in NYC). My second one has been nothing but trouble.

I'm now suffering from what is know as the "Low on Space" error that basically makes your phone a brick.

Essentially, upon startup, I receive an error message that states, "Low on Space" when I have over 6.5 gigs still free. From doing research the past few days, it seems the only cure is a hard reset, which wipes all data. People have deduced that they think it's an issue with HTC's Mail Client as the error seems to be popping up on Windows Mobile Phones made by HTC as well. Both HTC and Verizon aren't owning up to the issue and it's getting really annoying. People are hoping a Fro Yo upgrade will fix the issue. Here's hoping, b/c I don't want to clear my data with a hard reset...

On ZDNet: Is your Droid Incredible low on disk space?

On Android Central: HTC Mail Memory Leak/Big ("Phone Storage Getting Low")

 

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A semi work reunion

Today I had a semi-impromptu reunion with some old teammates, some of whom are still at Google and some decided to leave. We were all part of a team called the "Workflow Team" that focused on a variety of functions but never really had an identity. We then split into two different teams, but always stayed close.

Pictured above is me, Erin, Britt, Tolu, Renee, Ziv & Vickie. It's been probably been a year since we got a group of this size together. Here's what we originally looked like:

See and download the full gallery on posterous

We basically just shot the shit and caught up with each other at the "hidden" Starbucks --- aka, the one near Best Buy and not 7-11. We're a fairly gossipy bunch. It's always fun because we're all don't take ourselves too seriously. Tolu and Renee are now married (albeit, not to each other). It was fun to hear about wedding life and honeymoons. It's also nice to get an outside perspective from former Googlers, because it keeps in check with reality.

I think we all feel like we're on the game show Survivor. Who'll be next? What if we all rigged the game and walked out together?

Let's be honest. People are dropping like flies. I'm getting upwards of 2 to 3 "Bon Voyage" emails a week. It makes you really think...

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Sometimes...

... I feel like I'm up against Jesus.

... or Goliath.

-David

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Girly Lunch(es)

I love having 1:1 lunches with my girlies. I used to do it ALL the time in Mountain View. Now I'm lacking girlies in San Bruno.

I got to have lunch with my work wife, Cheryl, last friday in Mountain View. It was good to catch up (which we had LOADS to catch up on) as well as try food at a new cafe. Afterwords, I carpooled with friends down to LA/Riverside for the weekend.

Today, I got to catch up with my old teammate, Brittany, in Mountain View. We worked back in 2007/2008 on the same team as well as spent 3ish months in Ann Arbor together. We got to quickly catch up on boys, work, personal life, vacations and well, gadgets. :D

She recently took a vacation to Hawaii and Mammoth. She's also been with her guy for over a year. Boy how time flies! :D

I think I do so much better with 1:1 interactions than anything else. Anything more than 4 or 5 people and I tend to take a backseat. Anywho, I'm now of the philosophy there isn't a reason why you need to schedule lunch. Just do it! No reasons are needed. :)

Late night convos

Yesterday evening, after a long drive from Los Angeles, I had my college friend Vince let me know he was in Nor Cal on a whim. Turns out he was staying with family in Fremont but was up here learning more about an organization that devotes getting new technology resources for undeserved schools in the Philippines. He wants to volunteer with an organization that helps his home country and has an educational element to it.

Turns out that the timing was perfect as I was in the South Bay and he was on his way to drop off a friend in Millbrae. We met in Millbrae and I drove us to YouTube in San Bruno for a late night chat/coffee sesh. We'd last seen each other a few months ago during his last few weeks living in Hawaii. He spent 4 years going to school and teaching there. Now he's back in Southern California while studying for graduate school exams.

We had a lot to catch up on --- personally, professionally, etc. I love the simple act of a late night conversations. The tiredness ads an element of delirium and realism. People tend to be more honest. Usually settings are more quiet and intimate.

I'm proud of him for the goals he's set out for himself as well as a making a few personal strides in being comfortable with himself.

He was one of the first people I ever came out to and I will never forget that moment in West Hollywood (@ the Target off La Brea & Santa Monica Blvd.). It's an awesome story.

It's funny how we've known each other for most of our adult lives and it seems like yesterday we were taking business classes together at UCR. Crazy how time flies.

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The Gay Mexican

Well, in a sense, I'm a gay Mexican. But that isn't what this entry is about.

A few weeks back, I was in a bar in the Castro while waiting for friends to arrive. I used to clam up at the thought of being alone in a bar, but I got over that over time with an improvement in social skills and self esteem. So while alone and sans alcohol, I just observed the crowd and listened to some good tunes [*untz untz untz*].

Next thing I knew I felt my chest being groped. I looked to my right and this man in what appeared to be in his late 30's had a grin on his face. I'm not gonna lie, he looked like a creepy guy slash potential child molester.

There was something about him that made me want to talk to him to see what he had to say. Normally, I'd just scadadle on my merry way after asking their name and politely finding an exit strategy.
The mystery man was like, "You [pronounced like "Jew"] have a nice chest. Are you from here?" I said yes and asked where he was from. He was from a small town a few hours from Mexico City but used to be a professor at Diablo City College in the North Bay of San Francisco. He hadn't been to San Francisco since 2002. He was here for a conference on the "Law of Attraction." Okay, first sign he wasn't a total creepster just out to touch man pecks.

I asked more about his background and it turns out he has a Ph.D. in Electrical or Computer Engineering. He asked me about myself and my background. I let him know that I'm also Mexican but that I was curious as to what it's like to be Mexican and Gay, in Mexico. He said it was hard because he's in a smaller town and there are no gay specific bars. You kind of have to guess who's gay and hope you're right. Otherwise you could totally offend someone and pay the consequences. He also said it's kind of fun in a sense to guess. It's always a mystery. He also said most gay men to try assimilate into a masculine sensibility.

We probably had a 30 minute conversation. He even asked why I was single. He kept on saying, "You look like Ricky Martin. You are so handsome." He repeated that a few times throughout the conversation. Funny enough, that's not the first time someone thought I looked like Ricky. I don't really think so, but I find it flattering.

He finally asked me to dance, but I didn't really feel like it at the time.

In the end, I learned a lot that evening, quite unexpectedly, mainly because I didn't discount someone purely based on appearance.

The Gay Mexican re-invigorated my passion to learn more about my Mexican Heritage and finally travel to Mexico. It's too bad there is so much political instability in the country, or I'd be there on a plane tomorrow. NPR reminded me last week of this with their story, "Amid Mexico's Drug War, A Rush for Bulletproof Cars." I'd like to practice my spanish and learn what the local culture is about. I'd be curious to see what being gay is like in the country as well.

 
Download now or listen on posterous

NPR_-_Amid_Mexico's_Drug_War_-_A_Rush_for_Bulletproof_Cars.mp3 (2741 KB)

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Yelp Review: Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea (Silverlake, CA)

I've never had the often raved about Chicago-based Intelligentsia Coffee before, although I have been inside of their location on Abbot Kinney in Venice, CA. This location is in hipster-ville/gipster-ville in Silverlake (LA's answer to San Francisco's Mission District). It's surrounded by gentrification --- fancy pupusarias, brunch spots and shopping. More importantly, it's also across the street from an El Pollo Loco.

I was originally going to meet my friend Paul at Casbah Cafe for a cup of coffee but I got a text from him exclaiming, "The coffee at Intelligentsia smells good." So we made a quick change of plans.

Upon entering, you'll notice the cute outdoor seating area. Once you enter it was semi confusing on where to go as the interior layout is sort of like a gay bar, but taking into account nicer materials and the fact you can see people in the lighting. It sorta reminded me of a coffee bar in Rome with the bar style seating that was available as well.

I ordered my friend an Americano while I had to ponder for a minute on what to get. My take on a good coffee house is drip coffee straight up. No cream, no sugar. They had 4 drip coffee specials today starting at $3.50 and going up to $7. I asked the barista which one he liked. He suggested the most expensive one, that being $7 for a cup of Joe. I said, okay, what the hell? I think it was some sort of reserve coffee called La Tortuga from Honduras. However, I wasn't quite paying attention, but that's what I deduced from their website. He described it as any gay man would, "lush" and "bold."

I finally sat down with my friend and sipped on my $7 drip coffee while we caught up on life. Holy hell it was like heaven in my mouth. I hadn't quite tasted anything like that before. It started out super light but finished bold and smooth. Maybe lush. If it weren't for the fact I could have gotten a meal at El Pollo Loco for the same price as an exquisite drip coffee here, then I'd place it at 5 stars. So i had to knock it down to 4.

Now go rush there... and have a gay barista suggest the $7 drip coffee. Mmmm... lush.

Link to my Yelp Review

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A YouTube Without Colin

I'm really going to miss my coworker Colin and his positive upbeat spirit. He's one of the most amazing people I've met here at YouTube. There was a period of time when he was working from Australia because his wife earned a Fulbright scholarship there, but he never felt very far. I specifically make an appearance in the video below at 8:05 wishing him the best and letting him know what I learned from him. The theme of this 11 minute video is "A World Without Colin." He was the master at creating help material for YouTube users. He's made the product easily understood for millions of people around the globe. :)
Bon voyage and good luck in New York City in business/film school at NYU!

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Smiling again

It's no secret if you've been around me for the past month (or even longer) that I haven't been the most jovial guy out there. I'm going through a fairly large rough spot in my personal life. In the end, I think I'm using this time for self reflection and self improvement which will in the end make me a stronger human.

Last week, specifically on Wednesday, I was feeling upbeat and energetic. I think I had this realization that I'm starting to remember who I am and most importantly, why I kick ass. It was also a great day because of a judge striking down Prop 8 in California. I also got to spend time with my BOLD intern Charleton. I later celebrated in the Castro with my roommates, Kevin and Michael. I don't think I've been that happy in a while.

Most importantly, I wasn't faking a smile or pretending to be happy. I was happy.

It was interesting because the next day I pinged my roommate Greg, who knows exactly what I'm going through right now in my personal life. He was like "I was just going to text you to tell you something. How funny." He was going to tell me that he doesn't even remember the last time he saw me happy. But the night prior he was really excited to see me truly happy.

It meant a lot for me to hear him say that. I know my mood affects those around me heavily. I don't want to be sad. I understand that I have to have a period of time to grieve. In some respects, I'm not quite done, but I'm definitely on the upswing. Most importantly, I'm smiling again.

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UCR, One of the Top Gay-friendly Schools in the US

I'm so proud of UCR! :) 

It's one of the gay friendliest campuses in the nation! It's one of 19 schools to earn a 5 star rating by CampusClimateIndex.org. It's one of only 3 UC Campuses (UCLA, UCB, UCR) to earn top marks. People often confuse thoughts on UCR vs. The City of Riverside in terms of being gay friendly and liberal. UCR is incredibly liberal. The City of Riverside swings conservative with pockets of liberalism around campus.

Carleton College; Humboldt State University; Ithaca College; Oberlin College; Oregon State University; Princeton University; San Diego State University; Syracuse University; Ohio State University; Pennsylvania State University; University of California, Berkeley; University of California, Los Angeles; University of California, Riverside; University of Maine, Farmington; University of Oregon; University of Pennsylvania; University of Southern California; University of Vermont; and Washington University in St. Louis.

More information on the Advocate: http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/08/04/UCLA,_Princeton_Top_Friendliest_Colleges_List/

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Random Bits from Today: Christmas in August, Meeting the Canary Girls & Nice Surprises

Christmas in August

I woke up this morning and arrived at work. I usually enter through the cafe doors and grab some breakfast. To my surprise, there were Christmas decorations all around. Trees, Snowmen, Santas, Tons of Red and Green decor, you name it! At first I was like, WTF, but I couldn't help but smile. It's weird because we've usually stayed neutral when it comes to Religious Holidays. I guess Santa on a the Beach isn't super religious.

They also had Christmas themed items for lunch like Turkey, Ham, Stuffing and Egg Nog, etc.

     

The Canary Girls

Canary Marketing is a company based out of Danville, CA that specializes in the creation of company swag. When I first started out at Google, I would often be the "Ra Ra" (Yay team spirit!) guy who'd order stuff like track jackets for team events or offsites. I developed an (email) relationship with Adrienne G., who was always awesome with hooking it up with new types of swag.

Anywho, I'd never met Adrienne in person before. But I heard from my coworker in HR, Megan, that Adrienne was stopping by for a meeting today. I went down and said hello and she was super awesome Super fun! I'm so glad I got to meet her in person after all of these years. She left me with a cool water bottle and a little Canary Flower, as pictured below. How sweet.

Sweet Surprises

I got into work this morning and there were snacks from the microkitchen at my desk. A bag of 100 calorie Kettle Chips and a small bag of M&M's. (BTW, I love them both. Well, I stay away from M&M's, but they're lovely.) At first I was confused. Who could have left that? Did they know I had a bad day yesterday and wanted to make me smile? With that seemingly small gesture, I couldn't help but smile.

I ran into my old teammate Kat during lunch and she mentioned that she was on my side of the building today. I had mentioned there were some random snacks on my desk. She was like "Oh... Michael and I had a meeting today on your side of the building. He left you those."

I pinged Michael just to say Hi and told him how sweet of a gesture that was. I like him a lot. He's such a genuine guy.

Anywho, here is the evidence:

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My Horoscope Today Is Horrifically Accurate

From Tarot.com // Libra

Relationships are important to you, yet now they are more significant than ever as you work through very deeply rooted issues. Your current expectations could come from lessons you learned in your childhood or even from remembering early family dynamics. Rediscovering your origins can clear the idealism from your current perspective that could set you up for disappointment. Try engaging in social activities without turning them into anything but the simple pleasures that they are.

I don't even know what to say about this. Seriously.

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The LA Retreat: ...Monday Reflections

Monday, July 26th, 2010:

I worked from home in LA. Specifically from my bed. I was still sore from running the 1st Half of the San Francisco Marathon the day prior. Damn those hilly hills... and lactic acid. Maybe I'll try what this guy did next time I do a half marathon. Okay, maybe not.

My Dad has Monday's off so we'd chit chat throughout the day when he wasn't running errands himself. In the early evening, my Dad BBQ'ed dinner for my Mom and had dinner ready for her around 5:30pm. I didn't eat with them (I was going to eat dinner later in the evening). I did sit with them, though. They like to eat dinner on the couch while watching a TV show. Not very often do they eat at the dinner table. So I watched TV with them while they were eating dinner. Even chit chatting and simply being in their presence was comforting and something I hadn't done in a while.

After that, I took a nap to help makeup for a lack of sleep the few days prior. That was really helpful.

Around 8pm I woke up, freshened up at drove myself to the Northridge Fashion Center (pretty much the cornerstone to my youth) to have dinner with my high school buddy, Laurence at 8:30pm. We ate at one of my favorite places in the Valley, Wood Ranch. It's a small American Barbecue chain that started out in Moorpark. They have delicious meats and sides... their Tri-Tip is especially bomb.

Laurence is an amazing guy. We hung out a lot in High School and occasionally in college since we went to universities that were relatively close to one another. He went to Cal Poly Pomona while I was at UC Riverside. When we were young(er), we'd get a group of guys together and shoot some hoops or play poker. I know, hard to believe. Being butch at its finest.

I've made several trips down to LA over the past few years but the two of us could never quite connect to see each other. We've been talking about working out together at 24 Hr. Fitness at the Sherman Oaks Galleria (like, you know, the center of the SFV) and grabbing a drink or meal together to catch up. I figured since I gave him a week notice and had a whole week down in LA, we're finally gonna make it happen!

... and we did. The last time we physically saw each other had to be around 2005/2006. It was one of those things where simply the act of hugging and shaking a hand meant the world to me. We've kept up with each other via social networking, the occasional phone call or email. But meeting in person, there's nothing like it. We discussed the current happenings in our lives... jobs, work, love life, family life, etc. We also took a trip down memory lane as well as filled in the gaps for the past 5 years.

We both ordered the Tri-Tip, got some drinks (he beer, me Mighty Leaf Tea) and we'd chit chat away. My phone was turned off and he had my complete attention. I'd listen and have a conversation just like I once had, pre-Facebook, Twitter, etc.

He's in bit of a rut when it comes to work, but he's accepted where he's at and has a future plan that involves Grad School. Most importantly he's learned to be happy with his current situation. He's also got some financial goals with paying down debt and has made some sacrifices in the meantime. He's also in HR for a Whole Foods store in the Valley. You know what's funny is that Laurence is sort of like the straight version of myself. He's a hopeless romantic, dreamer, very analytical (esp. when it comes to himself) etc. I always found that I could relate to him. Maybe that's why he's so easy to talk to.

When we got down to love life, the whole conversation of "leagues" came up. You know as in "She's out of my league." He randomly said, "Will, you're an 8.5. That means, you can pretty much get whatever you want." His reasoning is most people have the ability to get within 2. So an 8 could get a  6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 and not have it be super awkward.

He also always told me that he somewhat envies me and my situation. He thinks that I've always "hit it out of the park" when it comes to work, school, social life, etc.  I guess from an outside perspective I can see how he can think that but I'd tend to be more critical. However, that's usually the case. I think that conversation stemmed a whole discuss on risk-taking and why it usually pays off in the end even if you don't succeed.

Even though it had been 4 or 5 years since we'd last seen each other, it felt like yesterday. That's what good friendship is all about. I admire him for having his priorities straight and setting goals that he's out to accomplish.

We finished dinner around 10:30pm and we were kinda getting the boot from the wait staff. We wanted to then move to a local Starbucks but they were closed. Welcome to Suburbia on a Monday night. We decided to call it a night and workout on Thursday together.

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The LA Retreat: It's All About Me

Two weeks ago I had the idea that a trip to Los Angeles was in order. But not what I usually go for. I usually go for the gay clubbing at night, a special event or maybe catch up with a friend or two if I can squeeze it in within my usually 48 hours of allotted time. Of course I get to see the fam, but it isn't of that great of length.

This time around I had a purpose. A greater purpose. To catch up with friends and family that I really miss and hardly get to see. I also came down for "me time." This is all because this week is designed all about me. Not about you, but all about me. It's time to get a little bit selfish. I needed a bit of removal from the norm. I also needed a bit of time to think and get perspective. The long drive down and up would also be good for that. :) Truth be told, I can't remember the last time I took some time for myself. Most of my energy has been devoted to others. Now I can see why Mothers get so lost and forget who they really are.

The good thing about my job (recruiting) is that I can do it from anywhere as long as I don't have candidates to greet. And even still, I can get help with that from my recruiting coordinator. I can be in the office or work remotely and everything gets done. It's kind of amazing. I haven't really taken advantage of that until now. So I'm worked from LA Monday-Friday of this week and spent time with myself and loved ones in the evening. My boss was on board and supportive.

It's not like LA is known to be a retreat spot for anyone. The city resonates stress for the average person. But for me, it's home... no matter how much I struggle with that. I somehow find peace when sitting in traffic, driving all around the city, etc. LA is also a place where I find it easy to get things done. I know the San Fernando Valley (SFV or simply just The Valley) like the back of my hand and can get errands accomplished super easily.

And so now I'll recount the events that took place from Monday 26th to Sunday July 31st, or the nuggets I remembered, if you will, all with the purpose of making myself happy. Those will be in future posts.

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The one where I get a new manager (again)

My current manager, Jeff, whom I adore, invited me to a "catch up lunch" today.

We never have 1:1's with each other because he's as anti-meeting as possible. I kinda figured something was up when I saw the meeting invite pop up on my calendar somewhere in between 10am and 11am.

Well, Jeff focuses on recruiting for the product team at YouTube as well as general HR related tasks for the org. He never had a sales recruiting focus, which is where I lie. Original, he took me on as a reportee because the person who I would have reported to was in our European Offices. To have a new recruiter starting out who's never done the job before to report to someone who's half way around the world as well as not have sales recruiters around him, well, that's just kinda stupid. He fought to have me report to him instead of someone in the sales recruiting world. Technically, it was kind of a secret.

Well today, he sat me down at lunch and chit chatted about random stuff. I could then sense a slight uptick in the serious tone of the conversation, which is what I expected since we've never had a "calendar invited" lunch before. First, he said, "Well, you know, there is going to be someone taking over the org you recruit for. He's going to start being your direct manager sometime in the near future, probably September. It'll be good because he wants you to feel like you're part of a team and can get the support you need." Jeff and I shot the shit a bit more before he randomly inserted my performance review very informally... "Well, you did well... you were at <insert level/score> for the quarter. It was an improvement over the previous quarter." He gave me a quick suggestion in terms of what to focus on, but shaped in the form of a warning. "You weren't on top of this, whereas, I wouldn't care, but Brian (my new manager) will care about that more than I would." He also mentioned, "You'll be compared against people in the sales recruiting world now, not the people who report to me."

Jeff's always looking out for my best interest, which i totally appreciate. I can still come to him for guidance. I'm going to be honest, he's connected like Jesus internally. He knows everyone. He knows who to talk to get things done and go through hoops if needed. I'm going to miss having that, but Jeff said he'll still be there for me to break down barriers.

I'm sort of feeling torn right now. Jeff tried to ease the pain by letting me know that Brian actually took over for him in his last role and he's an awesome guy. I feel like Jeff has been an awesome mentor, whom I can still look for guidance in, but I won't report to anymore. Brian, will be in New York, so I won't have very much contact with him in person.

Jeff was quick to highlight, "I'm sure Brian's going to want you to visit New York more." He totally knew that would make me feel better. Travel on the company dime always does.

We ended the lunch talking about more random shit. The lunch was about an hour in length. I talked to him about some random movies I had watched over the weekend, including Long Time Companion and The Celluloid Closet. Both of which were fantastic LGBT focused films. He ended by showing me a photo of Kevin, his partner. I asked him to show me a photo because I've always heard his name, but never knew what he looked like.

We walked back to our desk and I asked Jeff, "So was that lunch to take the place of my performance review? Is it because you don't like formal meetings?" He was like "Yea, who needs 'em?"

And so I go back into the world of formality after a 5 month long escape from it. In the end there will be benefits to moving to a new manager. I'm sure I'll have clearer goals, more of a feeling of a being part of a "team," and well, a chance to possibly travel.

In my nearly 5 years at Google, I must now add Jeff to my long list of GOOG Managers:

• Dara - AdWords Temp Manager (Mountain View)
• Matt - AdWords Tier 3 Manager (Mountain View)
• Megan - AdWords Phone Team Manager (Mountain View)
• Tolu - AdWords Workflow Manager (Mountain View)
• Bethany - AdWords Quality/Workflow Manager (Ann Arbor)
• Maeve - AdWords Quality Team Manager (Mountain View)
• Tom - YouTube OSO Ads Manager/Director (San Bruno)
• Doug - YouTube OSO Ads Manager (San Bruno)
• Jeff - YouTube Recruiting Manager (San Bruno)
• Brian - YouTube/Google Sales Recruiting Manager (San Bruno, based out of NYC)

I think Jeff's support and guidance single handedly kept me working at the GOOG rather than quitting or taking a break. I hit my career quarter life crisis right before he was my manager. He reminded me of why it's such an amazing company to work for.

One thing I think Jeff could be better at is long term career guidance. I hope to get a little bit of that from Brian. I think it's because Jeff is used to working with fairly seasoned recruiters who know what they want and need. I'm still looking for that guidance and support. It's also my responsibility to bring it up. I've been pretty much living in the now, though.

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