On Friday May 18. 2007, my neighbors the Shermans moved to Virginia to be close to their family. The Shermans lived in my neighborhood since the late 80s. They have seen me grown up and were part of my childhood years. The husband is a retired airline pilot and the wife is a homemaker. The Shermans have three children living in the Eastern U.S.A.
During their retirement years, they lived on their own. The husband knows automobiles, astronomy, and investing. The wife gardens, cooks, and read books. Every morning, they read the newspaper. They are devoted parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents visiting their families during the major holidays.
My favorite attribute of the Shermans is they never stop learning. They are in there late 80s and they continue to read and to learn. Some retirees want to relax and do nothing. Not the Shermans. The husband learned how to use computers especially Excel, Word, and the internet. The wife read books to keep her mind sharp and learn new ideas.
Our last dinner together with my family and the Shermans was on Mother Day. My mom invited the Shermans because they were lonley. The Shermans didn't need to fly to Eastern U.S.A. since they move a week later. The Shermans are going to be missed in the neighborhood. Best of luck. And thank you for being great neighbors XD
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
$.41 Stamp
My department's Q3FY07 report is almost finished. There are final details and summaries to be completed. It's frustrating at Cisco making lots of mistakes; fortunately, I learn from the mistakes. In time, the more I expose myself to my department's functions, the better I'm going to be. I work smarter, not harder.
Couple of latest happenings. Today, the price to mail a letter is $.41, up from $.39. Each additional ounce is $.17, down from $.24. The last time the United States Postal Service raised prices was January 2006. The increase seems like yesterday.
On Saturday May 12, I attended a birthday party for two people at a park. Two birthday cakes were in my car's trunk. The car was parked in a non-shaded area. I walked to my car to get the cakes because I fear the cakes got warm. After opening the trunk, I grabbed my pants to wear over my shorts because the weather started to get cold. I closed the trunk and realized I left the keys in the trunk :(
Fortunately, the park was 15 minutes away from home. I called my parents to bring the spare car key. My Dad arrived with the spare key. The party continued without problems. Lesson learned: after opening the trunk, secure the keys in my pocket.
The second happening is I have been laughing too much lately. Bad for me :< I wrote a Blog titled "Innovating My Enthusiasm" about me laughing too much . . . being enthusiastic too much. It's great to be really, really happy. I need to control the happiness, the laughter, the enthusiasm. Recently, unfortunately, I'm really, really happy and I lose my control. I need to keep my happiness in check and don't laugh all the time. Yes, laugh when someone says a good joke. No, don't laugh for no reason. There are better ways to express happiness in any particular moment or situation except laughing.
Couple of latest happenings. Today, the price to mail a letter is $.41, up from $.39. Each additional ounce is $.17, down from $.24. The last time the United States Postal Service raised prices was January 2006. The increase seems like yesterday.
On Saturday May 12, I attended a birthday party for two people at a park. Two birthday cakes were in my car's trunk. The car was parked in a non-shaded area. I walked to my car to get the cakes because I fear the cakes got warm. After opening the trunk, I grabbed my pants to wear over my shorts because the weather started to get cold. I closed the trunk and realized I left the keys in the trunk :(
Fortunately, the park was 15 minutes away from home. I called my parents to bring the spare car key. My Dad arrived with the spare key. The party continued without problems. Lesson learned: after opening the trunk, secure the keys in my pocket.
The second happening is I have been laughing too much lately. Bad for me :< I wrote a Blog titled "Innovating My Enthusiasm" about me laughing too much . . . being enthusiastic too much. It's great to be really, really happy. I need to control the happiness, the laughter, the enthusiasm. Recently, unfortunately, I'm really, really happy and I lose my control. I need to keep my happiness in check and don't laugh all the time. Yes, laugh when someone says a good joke. No, don't laugh for no reason. There are better ways to express happiness in any particular moment or situation except laughing.
Saturday, May 05, 2007
A Lesson On Life Yesterday
Yesterday was the longest workday at Cisco since I started on March 19, 2007. I went to work at 8:45 AM and went home on 7:30 PM. I ate lunch for 15 minutes in my cubicle. The assignment was cleaning up FY07 data. I can't be specific because I'm a newbie and I don't want to be fired—companies fire workers from Blogs =( The last person kept a separate database in Excel. The Excel database data and the main database data are inaccurate. If I know more about the department and know more skills, I can complete the assignment faster. Specific skills include SQL and Crystal, and I'm self learning both.
The lesson I learned yesterday was life doesn't hold hands for people. You are responsible for yourself. At Cisco, I talked to a few co-workers, and many of them worked at Cisco less than six months. They told me nobody is going to sit down and teach you. You must learn it yourself. You are given an assignment, here are the guidelines, now do it. Life is like Cisco . . . nobody is going to sit down and teach you how to live life. You must find how to live life yourself. (I just remember my Physics classes at SJSU taught their students the same way Cisco gave assignments.)
Also, yesterday was the most frustrated day. I made a lot of mistakes. I'm confident successful people welcome frustration and mistakes. They learn and become stronger experiencing frustration and mistakes. In my last jobs, frustration and mistakes were kept to a minimum and I didn't learn from my frustration and mistakes.
If you find a mentor, someone who teaches you, consider yourself lucky. I had one mentor. When I was in 4th grade, the most popular kid got along with everyone and he was a great guy. Part of me wants to be him today. I want to get along with everyone. Honestly, I have not. My goal is to get close to 100% success of getting along with everyone. In the meantime, the mentor is me and I continue to meet new people.
The lesson I learned yesterday was life doesn't hold hands for people. You are responsible for yourself. At Cisco, I talked to a few co-workers, and many of them worked at Cisco less than six months. They told me nobody is going to sit down and teach you. You must learn it yourself. You are given an assignment, here are the guidelines, now do it. Life is like Cisco . . . nobody is going to sit down and teach you how to live life. You must find how to live life yourself. (I just remember my Physics classes at SJSU taught their students the same way Cisco gave assignments.)
Also, yesterday was the most frustrated day. I made a lot of mistakes. I'm confident successful people welcome frustration and mistakes. They learn and become stronger experiencing frustration and mistakes. In my last jobs, frustration and mistakes were kept to a minimum and I didn't learn from my frustration and mistakes.
If you find a mentor, someone who teaches you, consider yourself lucky. I had one mentor. When I was in 4th grade, the most popular kid got along with everyone and he was a great guy. Part of me wants to be him today. I want to get along with everyone. Honestly, I have not. My goal is to get close to 100% success of getting along with everyone. In the meantime, the mentor is me and I continue to meet new people.
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