Going, going back, back to Cali, Cali

Arrived in California today. I've got a conference/exhibition to attend tomorrow.

My luggage for this short 4-day trip includes an oversized pop-up booth. The pop-up booth's travel case measures L + W + H = 209 cm, exceeding the maximum allowable limit of 203cm. So, if Eva Air wanted to make a fuss, they could penalize me the cost of 3 luggage pieces (> $300 CAD). Fortunately, while they noticed it was big, they didn't bother measuring its dimensions. Although I got quite a few looks as a wheeled around that massive luggage.

Hint to those taking long-haul flights... request that you don't get seated in the first few rows behind the "baby row" (where the young parents with their crying babies are seated). I was behind a row of 3 babies. 3 babies do a lot of crying over a 10 hour flight. Fortunately, I had the foresight to bring my earplugs, so I wasn't annoyed by them nearly as much as the people around me, I bet.

After landing at SFO, I rented a car and drove to Fremont, CA. Chevy Impala. Big car, big trunk - perfect for my oversized luggage. Checked into my Holiday Inn - got a big room with a kitchen. Drove around the surrounding area, just to see what's around. It looks like Langley - with all the outlet type stores.

I had a Wendy's chicken club burger... just because I haven't had Wendy's in a long time, and because it was just around the corner from my hotel. But what's funny is that the guy behind me (in our two-person queue) ordered his meal in Spanish. Because he, and all the people behind the Wendy's counter were Hispanic. Not sure if I should be surprised.

Anyway, a pretty normal work day tomorrow. Driving down to San Jose after lunch for the conference. 3 hours on Wednesday, 3 hours on Thursday. Pretty short, and guaranteed to be uneventful.

Happy Chinese New Year~!

恭喜發財!
Happy Chinese New Year!

First off, I'm typing this blog wearing fleece gloves because it's just so dang cold here in Hsinbchu. So, ther may bre spelloing mistgakesa, and theyt're not intentional./ But just to prove to anyone who suspects that it's esay to type with glooves on, that it's not.

It's a mere 17 dewgrees here in my office - pretty darned cold. Everyone's wearing their jackets or extra layers as we bare the cold wind current coming from China.

To pass the Chinese New Year holidays, I was with my sister and university frioend BC (visiting from Tokyo) on the East coast of Taiwan - Hualien County in particular. It was warmner out there/.

Just wanted to sayt Happy CNY. I'll post abouyt my holidfay travels. They aren't that interesting anyway.

Cuts

(Last, last Thursday's news)

I knocked over an empty glass and it shattered on my desk and onto the office carpet. When I picked up the bottom half of the cup (laying on its side), the weight of the base turned the cup in my hand, slicing a 1.5cm cut into my palm with its jagged top edge. My first thought was "F**k, how am I going to play in the foosball tournament this weekend?"

Went to the hospital emergency room, and lay down on a bed with my arm straight outwards ready to get stitched. I told the doctor "Can I raise my head to watch (you stitch my wound?" He replied, "Sure, if you want." I put my head down while the anesthetic was injected, wincing at the pain. Then the doctor lightly wiped my wound and asked me if it hurt. I said it did just a little. Then he starts rubbing it really hard, wiping it clean. And with the way he ruthlessly rubbed back and forth, I said "Uhh... I don't think I want to look any more."

It took about 5 minutes to give me 3 stitches, as seen in the photograph.

---

That Saturday, I still played in the annual Taiwan Foosball Tournament. Unfortunately, I couldn't really play to win, so I played to have fun and be a part of the event. I know a good number of foosball players in Taiwan (at least from Taipei, Hsinchu, and Taichung).

After a week of showering with my hand raised in a plastic bag, and bi-daily cleaning and dressing my cut, I had the stitches removed on Friday. I'm still showering with my hand in a plastic bag, but I don't really need to. I just want the wound to be more or less completely healed before I subject it to water. Should need just a couple more days.

End of update. Go out and play now.

Absent what?

I just put on a sock, and then I was looking left, right, and around me for the other sock. Then I found it... on my other foot.

I haven't blogged in a while, have been busy. I hope everyone's doing well out there. I'll try to blog a little more when I find the time.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008!

Wow, would you believe I haven't posted anything here for more than I month? It's been a busy time, and I guess there just hasn't been too much to post.

I hope everyone's had a great holiday season, and I'm sure you're all dreading going back to work. Fortunately, I don't share those feelings, because we don't take breaks here during the Christmas/New Year's holidays. Ok, not true. We had Jan 1 off.

My New Years was spent having a late hot pot, going to Taipei's City Hall to see the fireworks (watching the Taipei 101 fireworks, that is), and playing MJ until past 4am.

Since I couldn't be with everyone back home (nor everyone here in Taipei) to bring in the new year, let's do the countdown together right here, right now.

10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!

[kiss kiss kiss] [drink drink drink]

Blacktooth

I like simplifying my life. I don't need fancy gadgets because they usually involve unnecessary complexity. Things like music libraries (iTunes, etc), PDAs, Bluetooth this and that, etc.

Alright, so I came around to thinking about Bluetooth. I normally wouldn't think I'd need something like that, until I'd thought of a good use for it. And finally, I did. Instead of plugging my Creative computer speakers into my 3.5mm headphone jack (which gets in the way because the jack sits at the front of my Asus F3Jp laptop), I could lose the cables by getting a Bluetooth USB dongle for my computer and a Bluetooth receiver on the other end which my existing speakers can plug into. AirLive makes such a little doohickey like that, which is shown in the photo.

So I looked online for a USB dongle - something that would Bluetooth-enable my notebook. Checked out some prices. And went to the computer district in Taipei to snoop about. I was pretty much settled on an Asus Bluetooth USB dongle, but decided to wait until I could find a Bluetooth receiver first, since I would have no use for a Bluetooth dongle otherwise. I couldn't find any AirLive resellers. AirLive even replied to my email, but told me they don't sell in Taiwan - or that the minimum order is $3000 (presumably USD). So my idea was dying.

...Time passes...

While using my laptop over the weekend, I noticed the a stickers near the keyboard was starting to peel at its corner. You know, one of those stickers introducing features included in your electronic product that you NEVER peel off - just like for camcorders, VCRs, etc. I digress. Anyway the peeling sticker was starting to annoy me, so I decided to take a couple of them off. As I peeled away at the first one, I read: Bluetooth v2.0 + EDR. Oh yeah! My laptop, which is only 6 months old, already supports Bluetooth! But as I've never used it, I just plain forgot.

"Well THERE'S your problem." - Adam Savage, Mythbusters

Fantasizing...

I joined a Fantasy Basketball league this year. Yahoo! Basketball

For those who don't know what that is, you can consider it a statistical game. A league consists of 15 managers (like me), and on a set draft date before the current season starts, we create our rosters by drafting NBA players. In our league, we have 10 positions and 3 spots on the bench. Our teams are evaluated based on nine statistical categories: field goal %, free throw %, 3-pointers made, points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, and turnovers. So as the season progresses, the averages or sums (depending on the given category) is accumulated based on how players play in real life. This makes your team susceptible to injuries, inconsistent play, etc. And of course, we can make trades with other teams in our league, pick up players from the free agency, and all that good stuff.

So what does this all amount to? A lot of wasted time.

Since figuring out how to play the game (because there's a very, very slight learning curve), I've been staring at stats and reading news like crazy. Most of these guys, other than the superstars, I'd never even heard of. But now I'm hooked. It's a very day-to-day thing. I started off around 8th place out of 15 teams in my league. Then it's been a roller coaster ride 8th -> 5th -> 6th -> 4th -> 8th -> 12th -> 14th. After all this time I've spent looking at player statistics, reading news and expert advice, I'm in 14th place out of 15. Just horrible.

One big reason is that I've got no bona fide superstars. I have some good players, but they're not going to consistently put in double-double. I don't have people who can regularly drop 30 points on a night. And that really hurts. It hurts me inside.

All in good fun, right? Only when it doesn't mess up your mood. But it's a long season, and like mutual funds, we're in for the long run. Let's go, team MadMen!

A Meal For One - Photo Entry (Part II)

Title: A Meal For One

He misses her. The old man misses the 42 years of companionship, of memories, of life that was supposed to last forever. And so he sits in the shadows that hang over his loneliness, concealing the tears in his eyes. He has no thoughts. Just sadness.


Photo taken in Yokohama, Japan - January, 2007

Facade - Photo Entry (Part I)

As posted earlier, my entries came in second place in our company's photo contest. So, I thought I'd post a few here. These are my submissions under the category of "People". The judges said there would be extra points given to title and any added effort. So I wrote stories for each of my photos.

This first one is called "Facade".


Photo taken in Tokyo, Japan - January, 2007

Childhood Memories (Part 3)

Leaving some kids unsupervised for any amount of time can often lead to disaster. Looking back, I could have been one of those kids. But heck, I turned out alright.

One day during elementary school (I no longer recall how old I was anymore), I was alone at home. I had just filled an empty Danish butter cookies tin with water and put the lid on tightly. Who knows exactly why I was doing that, but kids with copious amounts of time on their hands tend to do strange things.

With a shared fascination with many kids my age, it seemed only appropriate to learn about fire by way of experimentation. So in the kitchen, I decided to light a piece of letter-sized paper on fire to watch it burn. Tipping the flame downwards, I managed to grow the fire to a mini blaze eating quickly away at the sheet. So large was this fire that I started to panic. Cleverly I thought "I'll just throw this away into the kitchen garbage." Our kitchen garbage was usually a plastic bag doubled in a large paper Safeway bag. So, I tossed the sheet of paper on top of the garbage, you know, hoping somehow the flame would miraculously extinguish.

Yet for some strange reason, the flame not only didn't get smaller, the garbage caught fire. Of course, I panicked even further. I couldn't get water from the sink to the garbage, so I did the next best thing - I got my Danish cookie container that I had filled with water not much earlier to pour its contents over the fire. But, with my fast-beating heart and my shaking hands, I couldn't manage the lid off the tin. So, I shook the sealed tin over the garbage, hoping water would gush out between the tin and its lid, putting an end to the inferno building in my parents' kitchen. Well, water did come out, but they only in mere drips. So with the same intelligence that got me into Engineering school, I ran to the washroom to grab my towel. "That's it, I'll blow the fire out."

Back in the kitchen with my towel, I frantically flapped my towel up and down vigorously at my new-found fireplace. And wouldn't you believe it... IT DIDN'T HELP. Finally, after the fire had incinerated the garbage bags down to the floor, it decided that I had learned enough of a lesson, and it didn't need to continue to burn the rest of the house down. It stopped.

Now I'm not sure how the rest of my day went from there on, but I'm sure I got into plenty of well-deserved sh!t from my folks. Maybe they'll remind me after they read this blog.