On January 18, 2007, my Grandfather Wing Quan passed away from pneumonia at the age of 89. Funeral services were held in Glendale, California. During his last years, he battled health problems and diabetes. His doctor said given his health condition, many elderly could have died in their 60s.
My Grandfather always put family first. When he immigrated to America, he worked as a gardener, cook, and servant sending money to his family in China. He gave little time to himself and kept his family in mind. 11 years later, he brought his family to America.
One time, my family visited Santa Barbara when I was a kid in the late 1980s. One afternoon, one donut remained in the Winchell’s donut box. My sister wanted to eat the donut for breakfast tomorrow. She wrote a note next to the donut saying it’s her donut. A few hours later, my Grandfather went to Winchell’s and purchased a dozen donuts during his afternoon errands for tomorrow’s breakfast.
Another example of family first dedication was taking care of his mother. His mother suffered a stroke and part of her body was paralyzed. Three times a day, my Grandfather visited his mother in the nursing home feeding her, taking care of her including bathing and changing clothes, and talking to her. My great grandmother could not speak English and was the only resident who couldn’t speak English.
Other lessons learned from my Grandfather,
*Save money. Always have some money saved in case of emergencies.
*Family first. We live in the Information Age. One must find time and make family a priority.
*Judge a person by their successes. Judging a person by looks can be deceiving.
*Have the attitude of self reliance. Learn how to cook and take care by yourself. Never be 100% dependent.
Rest in peace and may heaven bring him continued joy and happiness.
Side Note: All four of my grandparents are deceased. My Grandmother from my Mom’s side passed away on April 1996. My Grandfather from my Dad’s side passed away on June 1997. And my Grandmother from my Dad’s side passed away in July 2006.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
My Sad Blog
First a few updates before my :-( Blog.
^^ My braces schedule is going as planned. The dentist pulled four teeth on Wednesday January 10 without problems. Tomorrow I get measurements. I get braces on Wednesday January 24.
^^ I'm still busy and I still remember to look at VirtualDub and Blazemp, software to help video editing. I'm eager to create VBlogs. In the meantime, check out my favorite YouTube videos at www.youtube.com/ininvideos
^^ Yesterday, I got a sore throat. Yeah, another one :-/ I'm confident the sore throat is minor and I expect a fast recovery. No double wammy ;-)
Today at work I felt sad . . . sad I work at one of the sorriest companies in the world. I'm no longer mad anymore. I give up. I just don't care anymore. Fire me and it's a blessing in disguise; however, if my company fires me, I tell them to lay me off. I can apply for unemployment insurance.
What happened today was my dumb ass co-worker who calculates the statistics fucked up again. He made a mistake with the absorption statistics from March 2006 to December 2006. I think he has been correcting the error for the past three working days. How sad. At first, I thought the hell with the corrections on the reports I created. Then again, I have the guilty conscience of the must do my job all the way attitude—no half ass work. Fortunately, I found a way to correct my reports with the absorption statistics with minimal disruption. I'm glad I work smart, not work hard *__* One of these days his weaseling out ways are going to fail. Nothing lasts forever.
I feel sad because it's hopeless my company is going to improve. Management? Who are they? I don't know them. I have no idea what's their response or action if I tell them what's going on. Are they going to listen or pretend to listen? Are they going to take my observations serious or blow them off? Are they going to be sincere? I'm not sure management is creditable. I just don' t know who the management are? T__T
I feel sad my company does nothing to make the company a place for employees to grow, to become better people professionally and personally. I self-taught myself and created the Innovate Infinitely attitude to never stop learning, never stop being a better person. I contributed to my department new ideas and innovative products such as creating new reports, speed the turnaround time for the brokers' requests, and expanded my responsibilities and functions. Yet, the company fails to follow my example, follow my lead to be better.
Today, we live in the Information Age. My idiot co-worker believes we live in the Industrial Age. He uses a system to calculate statistics in the 80s. He has never improved his job, his game if I say so. Look at his work and it's the same since 1988. How sad. It's depressing. In a perfect day, he can finish the monthly statistics in half a work day. In the Information Age, he must calculate in less than two hours efficiency. Notice the key word is efficiency.
A few of my co-workers shares similar feelings about the company. Many of the brokers worry about themselves. Lots of talk, lots of lip service, few actions, few compassions. Lots of promises, few accomplishing the promises. Lots of smiles, few joys. Nobody sets the high expectations in the company. From my eyes, I see the same, predicable work day year after year after year since I started. For the junk database, I'm no longer pissed off at the database and the programmers. I'm sad the database failed to reach the potential.
My 2006 annual review is Thursday. I'm so sad and crying whatever happens good or bad means nothing to a sad and unmotivated employee ;__;
^^ My braces schedule is going as planned. The dentist pulled four teeth on Wednesday January 10 without problems. Tomorrow I get measurements. I get braces on Wednesday January 24.
^^ I'm still busy and I still remember to look at VirtualDub and Blazemp, software to help video editing. I'm eager to create VBlogs. In the meantime, check out my favorite YouTube videos at www.youtube.com/ininvideos
^^ Yesterday, I got a sore throat. Yeah, another one :-/ I'm confident the sore throat is minor and I expect a fast recovery. No double wammy ;-)
Today at work I felt sad . . . sad I work at one of the sorriest companies in the world. I'm no longer mad anymore. I give up. I just don't care anymore. Fire me and it's a blessing in disguise; however, if my company fires me, I tell them to lay me off. I can apply for unemployment insurance.
What happened today was my dumb ass co-worker who calculates the statistics fucked up again. He made a mistake with the absorption statistics from March 2006 to December 2006. I think he has been correcting the error for the past three working days. How sad. At first, I thought the hell with the corrections on the reports I created. Then again, I have the guilty conscience of the must do my job all the way attitude—no half ass work. Fortunately, I found a way to correct my reports with the absorption statistics with minimal disruption. I'm glad I work smart, not work hard *__* One of these days his weaseling out ways are going to fail. Nothing lasts forever.
I feel sad because it's hopeless my company is going to improve. Management? Who are they? I don't know them. I have no idea what's their response or action if I tell them what's going on. Are they going to listen or pretend to listen? Are they going to take my observations serious or blow them off? Are they going to be sincere? I'm not sure management is creditable. I just don' t know who the management are? T__T
I feel sad my company does nothing to make the company a place for employees to grow, to become better people professionally and personally. I self-taught myself and created the Innovate Infinitely attitude to never stop learning, never stop being a better person. I contributed to my department new ideas and innovative products such as creating new reports, speed the turnaround time for the brokers' requests, and expanded my responsibilities and functions. Yet, the company fails to follow my example, follow my lead to be better.
Today, we live in the Information Age. My idiot co-worker believes we live in the Industrial Age. He uses a system to calculate statistics in the 80s. He has never improved his job, his game if I say so. Look at his work and it's the same since 1988. How sad. It's depressing. In a perfect day, he can finish the monthly statistics in half a work day. In the Information Age, he must calculate in less than two hours efficiency. Notice the key word is efficiency.
A few of my co-workers shares similar feelings about the company. Many of the brokers worry about themselves. Lots of talk, lots of lip service, few actions, few compassions. Lots of promises, few accomplishing the promises. Lots of smiles, few joys. Nobody sets the high expectations in the company. From my eyes, I see the same, predicable work day year after year after year since I started. For the junk database, I'm no longer pissed off at the database and the programmers. I'm sad the database failed to reach the potential.
My 2006 annual review is Thursday. I'm so sad and crying whatever happens good or bad means nothing to a sad and unmotivated employee ;__;
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
What Pissed Me Off Yesterday?
Author’s Note: The Blog entry is a rant. I’m going to just type what I want to say . . . let it all out. Pardon the grammar mistakes.
What happened yesterday? What pissed me off? Was it work? It’s the obvious choice which is correct. Anything outside work including family, friends, and hobbies—no complaints.
What pissed me off at work? Brokers? No. Workload? No because I expected a barrage of requests from the brokers since 2006 ended. Management? No; however, it’s another Blog entry. Hitting the empty water container on the water cooler to the floor? Nah. I intentionally hit it; in other words, I choose to hit the container while maintaining my sanity, and I hit the container on two separate incidents. My co-worker calculating year end statistics? Yes. I’m pissed off at my company’s outdated and inefficient system to calculate stats.
My dumb-ass co-worker takes at least half a day to calculate statistics, and if nobody bothers him, he finishes in half a day. He uses a 1980s system of spreadsheets, moving files, copy and pasting data to different files, and using Access. The system is ancient history and takes way too long. A few of the brokers needed stats for their presentations and for their clients. Today, his body language, his physiological signs says it all: full of frustration and fatigue. Every 10 or 15 minutes, he breathes heavily as if he wanted to talk to someone. It’s not me. Stay away from me. You smell tobacco. Our third researcher, his outlet, was out sick. Perhaps, it was a good thing.
If anyone looks at the historical statistics, there are two observations one should notice easily. The first is the statistics, the format, the presentation, are the same from 1988 and today. No improvements. No innovations. No better and efficient way to calculate the stats. It’s as if he never understood the stats. He must use the same format, the same cumbersome procedure because they are the only way he knows what to do. The second observation is there is missing historical stats. The reason is in 1997, the server containing the stats crashed and he didn’t backup the data. My family and friends said he should have been fired. Why he is still working is a miracle and a mystery.
Today, we live in the Information Age where data and information are available quickly. Technology today enables people to gather, to analyze, to summarize, and to release quickly, efficiently, and accurately all at fast pace. With technology improving and innovating consistently forever and infinite, it’s going to get better and faster for information to communicate to the world. When I upload my Blogs and send emails to my friends, it’s a matter of seconds when the whole world read my Blogs and my friends reads my emails.
In my company, the three researchers are trained in Crystal Reports, yet only I use Crystal. Unfortunately, I’m still a beginner and I learn Crystal on my spare time at home for which if I knew more Crystal, I can do my job 100 times more quickly, efficiently, and accurately (and find another job, LOL). If a company fails to recognize and to accept we live in the Information Age, then its inevitable the company is going out of business.
My co-worker managed to complete the stats. With all the interruptions, it took at least the entire day. I’m very certain he started working on the stats on Monday. My company and my co-worker failed to use today’s technology to calculate stats monthly, quarterly, and yearly quickly, efficiently, and accurately. If our competitors know about the weakness, my company is screwed. Furthermore, my company talks about the latest technology and how technology is important to stay ahead of the curve. To me, it’s all talk because my company fails to use the latest technology to smash our competitors and to create a more efficient and more productive company. For example, my company has a new database which became online in March 2006. Today is January 2007 and the database has gone at least 30 revisions (I lost count). And there are still bugs and improvements needed. The database was never beta tested.
What happened yesterday? What pissed me off? Was it work? It’s the obvious choice which is correct. Anything outside work including family, friends, and hobbies—no complaints.
What pissed me off at work? Brokers? No. Workload? No because I expected a barrage of requests from the brokers since 2006 ended. Management? No; however, it’s another Blog entry. Hitting the empty water container on the water cooler to the floor? Nah. I intentionally hit it; in other words, I choose to hit the container while maintaining my sanity, and I hit the container on two separate incidents. My co-worker calculating year end statistics? Yes. I’m pissed off at my company’s outdated and inefficient system to calculate stats.
My dumb-ass co-worker takes at least half a day to calculate statistics, and if nobody bothers him, he finishes in half a day. He uses a 1980s system of spreadsheets, moving files, copy and pasting data to different files, and using Access. The system is ancient history and takes way too long. A few of the brokers needed stats for their presentations and for their clients. Today, his body language, his physiological signs says it all: full of frustration and fatigue. Every 10 or 15 minutes, he breathes heavily as if he wanted to talk to someone. It’s not me. Stay away from me. You smell tobacco. Our third researcher, his outlet, was out sick. Perhaps, it was a good thing.
If anyone looks at the historical statistics, there are two observations one should notice easily. The first is the statistics, the format, the presentation, are the same from 1988 and today. No improvements. No innovations. No better and efficient way to calculate the stats. It’s as if he never understood the stats. He must use the same format, the same cumbersome procedure because they are the only way he knows what to do. The second observation is there is missing historical stats. The reason is in 1997, the server containing the stats crashed and he didn’t backup the data. My family and friends said he should have been fired. Why he is still working is a miracle and a mystery.
Today, we live in the Information Age where data and information are available quickly. Technology today enables people to gather, to analyze, to summarize, and to release quickly, efficiently, and accurately all at fast pace. With technology improving and innovating consistently forever and infinite, it’s going to get better and faster for information to communicate to the world. When I upload my Blogs and send emails to my friends, it’s a matter of seconds when the whole world read my Blogs and my friends reads my emails.
In my company, the three researchers are trained in Crystal Reports, yet only I use Crystal. Unfortunately, I’m still a beginner and I learn Crystal on my spare time at home for which if I knew more Crystal, I can do my job 100 times more quickly, efficiently, and accurately (and find another job, LOL). If a company fails to recognize and to accept we live in the Information Age, then its inevitable the company is going out of business.
My co-worker managed to complete the stats. With all the interruptions, it took at least the entire day. I’m very certain he started working on the stats on Monday. My company and my co-worker failed to use today’s technology to calculate stats monthly, quarterly, and yearly quickly, efficiently, and accurately. If our competitors know about the weakness, my company is screwed. Furthermore, my company talks about the latest technology and how technology is important to stay ahead of the curve. To me, it’s all talk because my company fails to use the latest technology to smash our competitors and to create a more efficient and more productive company. For example, my company has a new database which became online in March 2006. Today is January 2007 and the database has gone at least 30 revisions (I lost count). And there are still bugs and improvements needed. The database was never beta tested.
Saturday, January 06, 2007
A Bag Of Little Things
(Author's Note: The Blog below is unedited. Lots to do for the weekend. Pardon the grammar mistakes.) Here we go ^__^ . . .
1. Video Editing For VBlogs
I received tips on video editing software for my VBlogs. The first is VirtualDub and the website is www.virtualdub.org. The second is Blazemp and the website is www.blazemp.com. I try both software. When I'm comfortable with video editing, I upload VBlogs. Thank you for waiting ^__^
2. A High School And College Friend Visiting
One of my friends from high school and college is visiting San Jose for two weeks on a business trip. Hoa found a new job in September after working four years as a director in his last job. Congrats! We went out for dinner on Thursday talking about our latest lives and just hanging out.
3. Another Friend Visiting
Another friend is visiting the Bay Area on vacation. We hang out for a couple of hours on Tuesday and went out for dinner on Friday. Arashii lives in Southern California and is an anime fan like me.
4. Crystal Reports XI
Earlier today, I went to Borders to purchase a Crystal Reports XI reference book to help me learn more about Crystal Reports XI. I reread and redid the exercises from my Crystal Reports class in April 2006. I like to learn more about Crystal because, so far, Crystal has benefited me at work doing some of my responsibilities faster and better.
5. House Plant, Candy, And Yogurt
After Borders, I went to Safeway to buy a house plant for my room, candy, and yogurt. I was sick during Christmas 2006, one Christmas I'm going to forget. During my sickness, I thought about getting a house plant for my room. I heard a house plant helps keep the air on the fresh side since house plants breathe carbon dioxide.
And Safeway had 3 for $.99 candy. I purchased Hershey's milk chocolate and Kit Kat candy bars. Chocolate has anti-oxidants. Hey, one good reason to buy candy. *Hee, hee*
And I also purchased yogurt because I'm getting braces on January 24 and I need to eat soft food during the first few days of my braces. Also, on Wednesday January 10, I'm getting four teeth pulled and I'm going on a soft diet for a few days as well. When I was a child, I hated yogurt. Today, I purchased a strawberry yogurt and a lemon yogurt. I ate the strawberry when I got home and I loved it. Yogurt is really good. What did I miss when I was a kid =P
6. RSV
Yesterday, I read an article in the Mercury News discussing Respiratory Syncytial Virus or RSV. The article says there has been an increase in people getting RSV. I'm 99% positive I got the virus since Christmas. Going to the doctor is a waste of time because antibiotics are useless against virus. I'm keeping myself warm, drinking warm fluids, eating Garlic pills, taking Vitamin C, and drinking green tea, and eating candy, LOL!
RSV is a mild sickness for which one usually doesn't require bed rest; however, RSV is a lingering virus lasting weeks. RSV infects the lungs and respiratory tract with a runny nose, cough, low-grade fever, sore throat, and mild headaches.
7. Stretches In The Meantime
I'm continuing to recovery from RSV. I'm taking it really easy on the exercises by doing simple stretches and sit-ups. I'm eager to go back to the gym to do at least the stationary bike and the treadmill. I assure everyone I take it really easy if I choose to go back to the gym. The earliest I can go is the week of January 15 because on January 10 I'm getting four teeth removed :-[=] with a break on the week of January 22 because on January 24 I get my braces :-{} I then can resume my gym schedule in February.
8. Recapping On My Braces
Wednesday January 10: Four teeth removed.
Wednesday January 17: Measurements for my braces.
Wednesday January 24: Braces installed. Expect to wear them between 1.5 to 2 years.
9. Back Ups, Laundry, And Football
I came home after Safeway, ate lunch and watch some football, and I back up some of my photos on my laptop. I'm now checking email and writing the Blog. Later tonight, I wash my clothes, stretch out, and keep warm. If I'm awake, I watch an episode of The Shield at midnight.
10. And Finally, New About Me
I updated my About Me section. The new About Me is more positive, talks more about me, and is friendlier to new people visiting my Blog. The new people get to know me better reading the About Me and I hope they get a positive impression on who I am.
1. Video Editing For VBlogs
I received tips on video editing software for my VBlogs. The first is VirtualDub and the website is www.virtualdub.org. The second is Blazemp and the website is www.blazemp.com. I try both software. When I'm comfortable with video editing, I upload VBlogs. Thank you for waiting ^__^
2. A High School And College Friend Visiting
One of my friends from high school and college is visiting San Jose for two weeks on a business trip. Hoa found a new job in September after working four years as a director in his last job. Congrats! We went out for dinner on Thursday talking about our latest lives and just hanging out.
3. Another Friend Visiting
Another friend is visiting the Bay Area on vacation. We hang out for a couple of hours on Tuesday and went out for dinner on Friday. Arashii lives in Southern California and is an anime fan like me.
4. Crystal Reports XI
Earlier today, I went to Borders to purchase a Crystal Reports XI reference book to help me learn more about Crystal Reports XI. I reread and redid the exercises from my Crystal Reports class in April 2006. I like to learn more about Crystal because, so far, Crystal has benefited me at work doing some of my responsibilities faster and better.
5. House Plant, Candy, And Yogurt
After Borders, I went to Safeway to buy a house plant for my room, candy, and yogurt. I was sick during Christmas 2006, one Christmas I'm going to forget. During my sickness, I thought about getting a house plant for my room. I heard a house plant helps keep the air on the fresh side since house plants breathe carbon dioxide.
And Safeway had 3 for $.99 candy. I purchased Hershey's milk chocolate and Kit Kat candy bars. Chocolate has anti-oxidants. Hey, one good reason to buy candy. *Hee, hee*
And I also purchased yogurt because I'm getting braces on January 24 and I need to eat soft food during the first few days of my braces. Also, on Wednesday January 10, I'm getting four teeth pulled and I'm going on a soft diet for a few days as well. When I was a child, I hated yogurt. Today, I purchased a strawberry yogurt and a lemon yogurt. I ate the strawberry when I got home and I loved it. Yogurt is really good. What did I miss when I was a kid =P
6. RSV
Yesterday, I read an article in the Mercury News discussing Respiratory Syncytial Virus or RSV. The article says there has been an increase in people getting RSV. I'm 99% positive I got the virus since Christmas. Going to the doctor is a waste of time because antibiotics are useless against virus. I'm keeping myself warm, drinking warm fluids, eating Garlic pills, taking Vitamin C, and drinking green tea, and eating candy, LOL!
RSV is a mild sickness for which one usually doesn't require bed rest; however, RSV is a lingering virus lasting weeks. RSV infects the lungs and respiratory tract with a runny nose, cough, low-grade fever, sore throat, and mild headaches.
7. Stretches In The Meantime
I'm continuing to recovery from RSV. I'm taking it really easy on the exercises by doing simple stretches and sit-ups. I'm eager to go back to the gym to do at least the stationary bike and the treadmill. I assure everyone I take it really easy if I choose to go back to the gym. The earliest I can go is the week of January 15 because on January 10 I'm getting four teeth removed :-[=] with a break on the week of January 22 because on January 24 I get my braces :-{} I then can resume my gym schedule in February.
8. Recapping On My Braces
Wednesday January 10: Four teeth removed.
Wednesday January 17: Measurements for my braces.
Wednesday January 24: Braces installed. Expect to wear them between 1.5 to 2 years.
9. Back Ups, Laundry, And Football
I came home after Safeway, ate lunch and watch some football, and I back up some of my photos on my laptop. I'm now checking email and writing the Blog. Later tonight, I wash my clothes, stretch out, and keep warm. If I'm awake, I watch an episode of The Shield at midnight.
10. And Finally, New About Me
I updated my About Me section. The new About Me is more positive, talks more about me, and is friendlier to new people visiting my Blog. The new people get to know me better reading the About Me and I hope they get a positive impression on who I am.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Good Idea, My Friend
Want to win friends and meet new people? Make the other person feel important. One way is when someone suggested an idea for a place to eat, an activity, a book, a store and you also had the idea, say, "Good idea, my friend." Avoid saying, "I, too, thought that too."
Saying "Good idea, my friend" makes the other person feel important. It makes the other person feel the idea is his or her and is the only person with the good idea. Everyone wants to feel important. By making the other person feel important and recognizing their importance, the person is going to make you their friend.
I guarantee saying "Good idea, my friend" is less than 100% success. Even if the success rate is 50% or 5%, making new friends is 100% genuine. People come and go in our lives. Friends come and go in our lives, too. Always meet new people in every situation. Nobody has too many friends.
Saying "Good idea, my friend" makes the other person feel important. It makes the other person feel the idea is his or her and is the only person with the good idea. Everyone wants to feel important. By making the other person feel important and recognizing their importance, the person is going to make you their friend.
I guarantee saying "Good idea, my friend" is less than 100% success. Even if the success rate is 50% or 5%, making new friends is 100% genuine. People come and go in our lives. Friends come and go in our lives, too. Always meet new people in every situation. Nobody has too many friends.
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