Shopping for a used vehicle from a dealership is a complicated endeavor. Not only are there many different makes, models, features, classes, and specifications, people’s credit scores, available cash, and current state of the economy get involved as well.

Some basic things that I realized today as I went from dealership to dealership was to be specific about desired features. I decided that I needed a reliable car with power locks, a power passenger mirror, air conditioning, and a cup holder. Everything else would be icing.

I found out that my bank would not issue an auto loan on a vehicle any more than five years old. Older than that, I would have to get a personal loan, which would have different interest rates.

Also, in determining my total payment, I confirmed that financed vehicles must have full coverage car insurance. This is a far cry from the liability insurance with a $1,000 deductible on my 1991 Nissan Pathfinder.

From all the talking that I did, I was able to surmise a couple guidelines: (1) An ideal down payment is one-third of the cost of the vehicle, (2) Monthly payments are about $250 for every $10,000 financed over five years. Whenever I mentioned that my goals were less than that, many sales representatives indicated how hard it would be.

I have become a victim of two adages: (1) When it rains it pours; and (2) Whatever can go wrong will go wrong, and at the worst possible time, in the worst possible way.

It all started when I lost the windshield mount to my Magellan 4250 GPS. I last saw it on May 10, 2009. Shortly after, I lost my Jawbone 2 Bluetooth device and my driver’s license. As a form of identification, I began to carry my passport around, until my new license would arrive in the mail. This morning, I locked my passport in my glove box–along with my JVC stereo face plate, my iPod Mini, my iPhone charter, and my Magellan 4250 GPS–forgetting to take it out this morning and put it in my backpack.

Well, I parked my car–a burgundy 1991 Nissan Pathfinder XE-V6, license plate 3DJY495–this morning–around 7:15 a.m.–at the light rail station, a place I park every weekday. This afternoon–at 5:22 p.m.–I arrived back at the station to find that my car was missing. My car has been stolen, along with my passport, my lola’s disabled placard, my Magellan 4250 GPS, my iPod Mini, and my iPhone charger.

As far as the worst possible time, I am supposed to go to a commencement tomorrow and celebrate the undergraduate degree of one friend and the graduate degrees of a coworker and a fraternity brother. Afterwards, I was going to volunteer and work on preparing materials for the Asian Pacific Islander Policy Summit. As it stands, I have to inconvenience one of the graduates and their family to attend the commencement and can not make it to the working meeting.

I think about all the different scenarios that could have prevented this occurence, and how much I played a part in it. Regardless of my negligence in leaving my items in my car, or if I left a door unlocked, there is no way that this justifies having my items stolen from me.

Most disconcerting, however, is the fact that the perpetrator or perpetrators that disrespected my property know my address, as it was on my passport and on the registration paperwork, and I can not help but think that these same perpetrators may get the idea that they can victimize me again.

Also bothersome is the idea that this possibly could have been avoided if people were not so economically desperate, or there were more funds to pay more patrol officers to protect private property left in public parking lots. To add insult to injury, when I reported my car stolen to the Sacramento Police Department, I learned that if found, the authorities would tow my car to a yard, and I would be charged for the service of towing and storing my vehicle.

I am a believer in karma, and part of me thinks of what I have done to solicit such a series of unfortunate events. Another part of me applies this karmic belief to reassure myself of the negative karma that will befall the perpetrator and any of their accomplices.

Fortunately, as far as I know, nobody was physically hurt, and the material items can be replaced, albeit inconvenient and expensive. My optimistic side also realizes that this gives me a very strong reason to purchase a vehicle and replace my eighteen year old sport utility vehicle.

I look at food differently ever since taking the Food in American Culture class, especially Filipino food and Filipino American food. While lumpia and pancit are the most recognized Filipino foods, they, along with other foods, are more than just delectable delights, with rich histories and deep meanings.

As a former colony, the Philippines endured 300 years under Spain and spent another 50 years under American rule. This blend of tastes and flavors has created a unique Philippine cuisine filled with pan de sal bread, chorizo sausages, and other breakfast foods.

The Philippine diaspora has also made significant contributions to the U.S. agriculture and economy. In the early 1900s, the manong generation tilled the asparagus fields of California and worked seasonally in the salmon fisheries of Alaska. Both asparagus and salmon were synonymous with Filipinos at the time, and the working seasons allowed many Filipinos to earn money to obtain a postsecondary education.

Cooking Filipino food in the U.S. is like cooking from memories of the homeland. Similar to Japanese American language, Filipino American cooking maintained its authenticity because the older generations in the U.S. preserved the traditional recipes. In contrast, the contemporary population in the Philippines has transformed the local cuisine into something different over the last half-century.

Despite the popularity of Filipino food, fine Filipino dining has not broken into the mainstream. When most Filipinos think of Filipino food, they think of it as homestyle or how their nanay or lola has prepared it. Also, most Filipino parents think of the restaurant business as being “blue collar” and do not encourage it as a career for their children.

Filipino food is more than just something to eat.

Along with the announcement of the failure of the budget propositions, I continue to hear a litany of services that are going to be cut, the pronouncements that public safety is going to be compromised, and the number of layoffs that are going to occur.

I truly believe that voters shot themselves in the foot today, just as they have done on numerous occassions, particularly during the 1970s. California public schools, which in the 1960s had been ranked among the best nationally in student achievement, have fallen to 48th in many surveys of student achievement. California’s spending per pupil was the same as the national average until about 1985, when it began dropping.

The only way that we as a people can get out of this situation is for all of us to work on it in a manner fitting of the nation’s name.

Tony de Zuniga is known as the first Filipino to ever do illustrations for comic book juggernauts, Marvel and DC comics. He opened the doors to other Pinoy artists in the US four decades ago.

He started as a comic book artist in the Philippines as a teenager and went on to study Commercial Arts in the University of Santo Tomas and Industrial Design at the New York School of Design.

It was in 1968, that he met DC comics editor Joe Orlando, who hired him right away after seeing his impressive portfolio. While working for DC in the late 70s, Tony noticed that the company was simply reprinting the comics that they did before, because the company had cut back on hiring new artists for fresh works due to lack of funds.

Tony then explained to his editor that there is a pool of talented artists waiting to be hired in the Philippines who can be commissioned for the same price as reprints.” With his editor, Tony flew back to the Philippines in 1978 to scout for Filipino comic book artists. He single-handedly started the “Filipino Invasion.”

Pressure must be relieved. Nature demonstrates this in a number of ways. Whether it be an earthquake, a volcano eruption, or a geyser, their natural occurence is a result of rising pressure. When an individual experiences pressure, many invoke their independence and handle the pressure themselves. Some do this successfully, and others engage in unhealthy ways to relieve the pressure.

It can be very helpful to seek out the assistance of a trusted individual, someone who will be fair and unbiased. Sometimes, that person can be a counselor, social worker, or another professional.

Humanity is very resilient. People have strong wills and are able to accomplish very much, against horrific conditions. Rarely, however, does one succeed alone, and when they receive assistance, it can be very rewarding to acknowledge and appreciate the help and what individuals have done to help.

South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has taken a position to not accept federal stimulus money for his state unless the money be used to pay down debt, rather than posited to education and very needy schools.

Similarly, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, announced on Friday with his May revise that more cuts to education are in order, as well as to monthly aid to the poor, disabled, and elderly, to in-home health care workers, and layoffs of state workers. I mention these three four items in particular because they all would affect my household. I am a state worker in education, my three-year-old diabetic nephew receives aid, and my 90-year-old lola utilizes the in-home supportive services program.

I myself have taken the furlough in stride, knowing that a few changes in my spending and investing habits would compensate for the adjustment. However, as the only income in my household, being layed off would be disastrous for me.

What baffles me, however is that with all the proposed cuts to services for the most needy and the least empowered–kids, the elderly, and the needy–their counterparts do not seem to be facing the similar bleak future. In my opinion, a multi-millionaire can absorb an economic downturn better than a person teetering on the brink of poverty. Similarly, I believe that they can adjust to a tax increase more easily than a middle-class individual.

I understand the concept that people earn their money and they should be able to do with it what they please. It is a valid argument. Many are also disenchanted with how government operates, targeting its wastefulness as one of many reasons to oppose tax increases.

At the same time, government has a valid argument that costs to operate are higher. When costs rise for a for-profit company, they can pass along those increased costs to the buyers. However, government can not pass along increased costs to taxpayers without voter approval. There is a strong feeling that citizens are entitled to quality government services. Government services are provided only through taxpayer monies.

I am not sure if taxes have historically kept up with inflation, but one statistic that I heard is that in 1981, the tax bracket for an individual with an annual income of $100,000 was 70 percent. Whether or not government was efficient at that time is up for analysis. In 2008, the tax bracket for an individual with the same income is 28 percent. I would venture to say that most people are not happy with government right now.

I acknowledge that the tax bracket is not the only difference between 1981 and 2009. The purchasing power of a dollar is different, as well as the population, and the social, economic, and political climate in general. It is terribly complicated, with many ways to better the situation. The best way, is the one that creates consensus, not just between political leaders, but with lawmakers and taxpayers, rich and poor, and any other dialectic that can be stated. That day can not come a day too soon.

I attended a brown bag chat with Harold Levine, Dean of the School of Education at the University of California, Davis. He had some insightful things to say about teacher preparation and its effect on education. He talked about the growing demand for high quality teachers, the short supply of high quality teachers, and we discussed the reality of why this was happening.

One of the profound statements he made was, “Of all the critical professions in the world, teaching is the least professionalized.” What he meant by this is that despite everyone’s agreement that teachers are important, they are not provided the systemic professional development, resources, and technology that other professions get. He compared it to how there are constant technological advances in the medical sector, or in the defense sector, but the same sort of discoveries are not being made in the education sector. These advances are directly proportional to the funding allocated to them.

Just how high is education among society’s priorities?

Is it ever too early to engage people in civic participation? Personally, I think that it is key to society’s success. Having a diversity of ideas and participation and having young people in the political process s an essential component to a strong government. Considering that about 51 percent of eligible 18 through 24 year old voters were unregistered in 2008, imagine what kind of decisions can be made when everyone casts their vote.

Assembly Bill 30 is legislation in the California State Assembly that would allow sixteen and seventeen year-old individuals to pre-register to vote if they satisfy all other voter eligibility criteria. That means that as soon as they turn eighteen, voting materials would be sent to them automatically, and ultimately result in less youth missing their opportunity to register to vote in the first election that they are eligible.

I encourage everyone to write or call their representative in support of AB 30. It is about the realization of true democracy.