Fun With Shek Kip Mei

There's a fun little meme doing the rounds where people take transit maps and make anagrams of the station names. Well no one had done my beloved Hong Kong and its wonderful MTR system, so I took the liberty. It was a fun process. Some of my favorite place names include:- An Elder Dr's Sin Toy - Nun Sweat - Anal Adult Sin - A Wooly Knob - Dirty Lama Check it out! Update: My map was featured on BoingBoing!

My Grandfather - Rambo

My Grandmother sent me this article last year and while I was in the UK over Christmas, I typed it up because it's truly an amazing article. It's a fellow soldier's recollections of my Grandfather. My Grandfather was a Major General in the British Army and also a Gurkha. He was fearless and tough as nails and the more I hear about him, the more I wish I was able to get to know him better. This article really highlights his bravery and loyalty.It seems strange to me that I remember noticing Pat at Sandhurst in 1937. He was walking down the main corridor of Number 1 Company, looking ahead with a stern and purposeful gaze, hands in front of as though washing, and weading a red and white striped blazer with the isignia of a "blue" on the breast pocket. Later I discovered that it was a pentathlon "blue". He was a senior and we never spoke until he met me at Durgai, the railhead for Malakand, in January 1940, with a very warm welcome to the 1st Battalion. There the Batallion barracks were perched on a rocky eyrie on the lower slopes of the Himalayas. In the early, crisp, bright air, the British officers went oiiut for the first parade in muzri shirts and shining morning boots, with regimental swagger-canes tapping against their wide cardboard-stiff shorts. They visited the various weapon training groups; usually Vickers Berthier Light Machine Gun instruction with a non-commissioned officer shouting "rokhta" to show a stoppage. Pat sized the situation up pretty quickly, and although the most junior of officer, is reputed to have said "But this is nonsense. Surely the first parade should be more imaginative, with officers involved", or words to that effect. This, true or not, exemplified his attitude towards practices of the past. At every chance he cut away out-dated attitudes and brought reality. The years that followed involved operations in Waziristan, where he got heat-stroke rather badly; training for open warfare near Madras and training in combined operations off the coast near Bombay. Then we went south to the Nilambur jungles. There was a river by our camp, and a river-crossing exercise started to go horribly wrong when two rifelmen, with rifles slung, attempted to swim across. As we watched, it became apparent that they were in trouble and sinking. Before anyone else could respond, Pat leapt down the bank and dived to the rescue.

Then the Battalion went into action against the Japanese. We crossed the Chindwin in November 1944. There are two occasions on which I remember Pat particularly during our 9-month advance to the end of the War. The first was when we were across the Irrawaddy, returning from Minban Taung, a hill feature about 2 miles beyond the bridgehead which was being invested by the enemy. As we approached, Pat's company struck the Japanese position. He was forward, not in the relative safety of Company Headquarters, and without hesitation he charged with the leading platoon and overran the enemy. There was the rest of the spur to climb, so they went on, only to be met by heavy fire when they reached the summit. Twelve of the platoon were killed or wounded, including the platoon commander (Bishnabir). As reserve company i was sent forward, and to this day I remember so clearly the view of Pat standing on a large boulder, directing his reserves and telling me to get a move on. How he survived I do not know, because my leading scout (Punbir) was shot through the chest as soon as he looked over the lower part of the ridge above which pat was standing; and there was much lethal stuff exploding and flying around. That was Pat in action as a company commander. He enabled us to return to the bridgehead the next morning, without further opposition. The second occasion was Pat in action as a battalion commander. It was the last action of our war, and took place during the break-out battle. The Battalion's task was to destroy a considerable force of Japanese occupying the villages of Wegyi and Aukkon. There is a full account of the engagement in the Regimental History, but it does not tell of the amazing way Pat orchestrated the battle, with the field and mountain artillery support, a Sikh machine gun section, his own 3-inch mortars with high explosive and smoke, and his reserves. My main memory is of him in the final phase, stalking forward with the leading company commander (Nainasing) in the evening dimness, with attap roofs on fire around him and the chatterings of Bren and sten ahead, and the unrythmic clatter of the enemy machine gun. Once again there was no following behind at a safer distance in the Battalion Headquarters. Pat was not a person who really needed the company of others. He liked being with two or three, and with a drink in one hand, and a cigarette in the other (with his little finger tipping off the ash), he enjoyed pulling legs, joking gently, at the same time finding out what were the problems of others. He had a charity of mind towards those whom he recognised as straightforward people trying to do their best; but showed very firm intolerance towards those he considered untrustworthy, indolent or time-serving. I think that the stern and purposeful look that I saw at Sandhurst was of one who felt he had a mission in life as a soldier. And I had a feeling in later days, after he had retired, that he felt some disappointment in the fact that he had set out to defend the borders of the Empire, and then was eventually involved in their demolishing. But those he served and those he commanded, and the many that he helped, know that his was an extremely successful life. the Indian Civil Service and was educated at Tonbridge School and Sandhurst. He was commissioned into the the Gurkha Rifles in 1938. Before the war he served with the 1st Battalion on the North-West Frontier, including command of the fort at Chagdarrah covering the approaches to Peshwar from Afghanistan, and taking part in several affrays in Waziristan. The 1st 6th Gurkhas did not enter the war in Burma until August 1944 when the tide was turning against the Japanese. Patterson was by then a major commanding the Battalion's D Company, with which he won his MC in 1945. He had taken part in the assount crossing of the Irrawaddy, in January of that year. In the advance on Rangoon he was promoted to second in command and on three separate occasions took over the actual command of the Battalion, being mentioned in dispatches in that capacity at the Sittang battle. He had proved himself a tough, inspirational leader, and later showed that his strength lay in his training ability, based on his experience in Burma. On Indian Independence in August 1947, 6th Gurkhas was transferred to the British Army and took part in the long anti-terrorist campaign in Malaya. Patterson attended the Staff College, Camberley in 1949 and from there was appointed Brigade Major of the Brigade of Gurkhas, being appointed MBE for his services in establishing the Headquarters of the British Gurkhas in Malaya in 1951. He returned to England in 1954 to attend the Joint Services Staff College, whence in 1955 he was appointed as a GSO2 on Montgomery's staff at SHAPE. Patterson was given commander of 2nd Battalion 6th Gurkha Rifles, 1959-61, operating in the jungle of the Malay-Thai border. He was advanced to OBE in 191 after eliminating some of the last communist terrorist gangs in Northern Kedah. At the end of his tenure, he was given a brief spell back in England as GSO1 Western Command at Chester before taking command of 99th Gurkha Brigade in Singapore in 1962. In December 1962 the Indonesian inspired revolt broke out in Brunei. The 1st 2nd Gurkhas, the Queen's Own Highlanders and 42nd Commando, Royal Marines, were scrambled by air and sea from Singapore to crush it. Brigadier Patterson protested forcibly to the Commander Far East Land Forces about the deployment of troops from his Brigade, under an ad hoc headquarters, when his own was readily available. The untidy command arrangements were sorted out, Patterson's 99th Gurkha Brigade Headquarters took command of Brunei and the 4th and 5th divisions of Sarawak in time to handle the freeing of the Shell Oil Company's employees held by the rebels at Seria. Later, as reinforcements arrived and "Confrontation" was stepped up by the Indonesians, 99th Gurkha Brigade took over the most active front of all: the Western Brigade sector around Kuching. Patterson was awarded his DSO in 194 and twice mentioned in dispatches for his highly successful defence of the sector. He was also decorated by the Sultan of Brunei and the Malaysian Government. His tenure of command ended in late 1964 and he returned to England to join the Imperial Defence College course of 1965. The following year he went back to Malaysiato take over command of the 17th Gurkha Infantry Division, combined with the post of Major-General Brigade of Gurkhas. "Confrontation" ended in August 1964 and, instead of having to conduct further jungle operations, he had to contend with the jungles of Whitehall to help preserve the Brigade of Gurkhas. His last appointment with the Army was well chosen. He became Director of Army Training 1969-72, an activity at which he excelled (and for which he was appointed CB.) Yet characteristically, as soon as he retired he took over the Gurkha resettlement scheme in Nepal, into which he put his heart and soul. He returned home in 1976 and thereafter kept himself busy with the local affairs of Benenden in Kent.

Let's Review...

I want to take you through some of the photos I've posted recently that I never promoted on the front page of my site. Just to give you some context, as a lot of them mean a lot to me, or are of "historical significance." Let's watch!
ENGLAND
	This is Cranbrook, Kent in England.This is where I spent 7 years of my life at Dulwich Prep School and Cranbrook school for two and five years respectively.
	This is St. Dunstan's Church in Cranbrook - I spent many a Sunday in here against my will. Not saying I didn't want to go to church but when you're 15, there's a lot more you want to be doing with your precious weekend.
	This is Cranbrook School where I did 5 years of hard time. The main building (the big one) is from Elizabethan times and the school charter was given to the school by Queen Elizabeth I herself.
	This is Crowden house - my boarding house for 4 of the 5 years I was at Cranbrook. It was a pretty decent place.
	This is School Lodge, the first year boys boarding house. Interesting fact, the housemaster while I was there was actually the devil himself. Not many people know that.
	Have you ever wanted to travel back in time? Well I did in December. From L to R, that's Emma, Becky and Sarah. Sarah is my (ex-girl)friend and Emma and Becky are two of her close friends. I hadn't seen them in almost 8 years. That's time travel. TECHNOLOGY!
	This is my Grandmother - the legendary Grandmother. The world's toughest woman.
	This is Burnt House - my Grandmother's house, and the center of my existence, simply because it's the only thing that hasn't changed in my 26.5 years on this planet.
MISCELLANEOUS
	We took my nieces to the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos a few weeks ago. It was really neat to be able to share my love of aviation with them. Incredibly, they loved it and there was no cries of "Uncle Alex, I'm bored, can we go now?" They loved it and asked a ton of questions, and were genuinely impressed by all the displays.

Four Things

I saw this on Mike Pusateri's site and I thought I'd follow suit.Four Things Four jobs I've had: 1. Big 5 Sporting Goods whore 2. Wannabe Entrepreneur 3. Webmaster for world's largest staffing firm 4. Web Content Manager at the number 1 nutrition company in the U.S. Four movies I can watch over and over: 1. Lost in Translation 2. Groundhog Day 3. American President (I have no idea why) 4. Akira Four places I've lived: 1. Livermore, California 2. Clearwater Bay, Hong Kong 3. Causeway Bay, Hong Kong 4. Cranbrook, England Four TV shows I love: 1. Futurama 2. Family Guy 3. Red Dwarf 4. The Daily Show with John Stewart Ten highly regarded and recommended TV shows that I've never watched a single minute of: 1. Lost 2. 24 3. Desperate Housewives 4. The West Wing 5. Gray's Anatomy 6. CSI 7. Alias 8. Buffy 9. The O.C. 10. NYPD Blue Four places I've vacationed: 1. South Africa 2. Morocco 3. Spain 4. Hong Kong Four of my favorite dishes: 1. Butter Chicken 2. Salmon Teriyaki 3. My grandmother's blackberry and apple crumble 4. Roast Chicken Four sites I visit daily: 1. BoingBoing 2. BBC News 3. SomethingAwful Forums 4. SoccerNet Four places I would rather be right now: 1. Hong Kong 2. Flying over the Bay Area 3. Constantia, South Africa 4. Mojave Airport Tag! You're it! Time for these people to post their lists! Deanne Mike Tricia Will

The ins and outs of england

Photos from our trip are in the gallery
We're back from England after a very sucessful trip. It was my first Christmas in England since 1999 and Deanne's first Christmas abroad. We were fortunate enough to have my dad's car the whole time, which made a huge difference because we weren't at the mercy of British Rail. Thankfully his car has navigation which was an absolute Godsend as driving in England is rather treacherous. The nav even gives you a little diagram of roundabouts so that people like me aren't overly confused.Since our trip was longer than most of our previous trips, we were able to take things at a slightly more leisurely pace, and slip into British life. This included things like: - popping down the pub for a quick pint - watching Match of the Day on a Saturday evening (after going to the match in person!) - nipping down to the village shop for a paper and some milk - complaining about the weather and then saying "oh well, mustn't grumble" - driving through villages with names like Farleigh Wallop, Titsey, and Shellow Bowells - eating "Marks and Spencer's Chicken Korma Dinner for Two" with a really bad bottle of Spanish wine - sitting in front of the fire, doing the Times Crossword - speeding down country lanes that are no wider than the average California bike path - watching Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear and muttering "smug wanker" - eating at Little Chef roadside diners - being able to use words like fortnight, anorak, bollocks, and aerial without people staring at me You know, the little things I miss about England. The things I don't miss include: - wind so cold it feels like someone is slapping your face repeatedly with a rubber glove - roundabouts - tiny kitchens - smoking in pubs - steak and kidney pie - Countdown - people not making eye contact - The vacuous utterance of "Can I help?" when you're next in line Anyway, we had a wonderful trip, visiting with friends and family, wandering around London, shopping, eating and just having a good time. For me, this is the best way to visit England - often enough to experience the things I enjoy but not long enough for the little things to start irritating me again. I maintain that constant state of nostalgia for ol' Blighty. Now if only it were a bit closer....

10 things I learned on vacation

1. Cadbury's is, and will forever remain, the best chocolate in the world.2. Although temperature-wise, my grandmother's house is freezing, it remains the warmest place I'll ever know. 3. You've never felt cold until you walk for 5 minutes in London and can't feel your face. 4. You can make a very effective crack pipe out of one of those mini bottles of liquor. And to think I never would have learned that had I not glanced into a phone booth in one of the less desirable areas of London. 5. There is only one shop in the entire United Kingdom that sells dental floss. 6. Traffic roundabouts were designed purely to confound and confuse people like me. 7. England (and most of Europe) is so far ahead of the US in cellphone technology it's embarassing. 8. Writing "See ID" on the signature panel of your credit card will frighten and confuse your average British shopkeep. 9. I really miss Match of the Day 10. American tourists are embarassing to be associated with. "What was the name of that palace we saw today...Buckin' somethin'?"

England

We have arrived in England. Yeah, we're in England - I think I forgot to mention that fact to pretty much everyone! Things have been so hectic at both home and work that neither of us really had a chance to even think about this trip until the day before we left. So we packed frantically, tried to get everything squared away, at work and Darlene took us to the airport on Wednesday. Work gave me a Blackberry (gee...THANKS guys) so I can stay on top of my email. We were fortunate enough to get Upper Class again on the way over and despite a few glitches for me here and there at the beginning of the flight, I was ok. Each flight gets easier and easier.We were met at the airport and driven to my parents house by one of the Virgin limos which was kinda neat. Will was in good form when we arrived and my dad arrived later in the evening. We had a nice pub dinner down the road before crashing at about 10pm. Dad and will are off to South Africa tonight and we are heading to my grandmother's house tomorrow morning. I shall post here as oft I can.

It's finally over.

Gutted.

Musical Moments

Have you ever heard a song on the radio or in a commercial or while at the mall or something, and it instantly reminds you of a very specific time, place or event?I had that today and it got me thinking about all the songs that remind me of something, someone or somewhere. Travis - Why Does it Always Rain on Me: sitting on the top deck of a double decker bus going from University to the town center of Canterbury on a rainy afternoon, right after telling my parents that I'd ask Deanne to marry me. Sonique - It Feels So Good: driving through the Nevada desert on my 1998 road trip with Mike, right after we noticed the door in the side of a mountain. Artful Dodger - Re-Rewind - also on our 1997 road trip, driving to Disneyland right after making a U-turn to get to the park. I had my window rolled down in Mike's truck. Moody Blues - Talking Out of Turn: driving to the San Francisco airport when I was about 7 or 8 with my family. We were going up the Dublin grade. I was trying to get my dad to play the song that I only knew as "the rocketship song" - I called it that because the intro always conjured up images of a rocket launch. Funkstar De Luxe - Sun is Shining: walking onto the Virgin flight from SFO to London after my visit in 2000. I had just smacked my head on the overhead bin. Jive Bunny - Swing the Mood - in my Grandmother's kitchen on a Sunday morning in 1991. Andrew, my great aunt and my cousin were there and my Grandmother kept saying "I can't believe 'Boogie Woogie Bugle' is popular again!" while I kept trying to convince my "ultra cool cousin" that it was, in fact, "cool". No Doubt - Spiderwebs: biking to Sarah's house after an arduous day of picking strawberries in Hawkhurst in the summer of 1997. Santana - Smooth - walking through Central MTR station in Hong Kong after a day's work at Cathay in February 1999. I was on my own has everyone else had buggered off to the U.S. I'm sure there's a lot more, but these are the ones that really stand out at me.

Decaf Alex

About two months ago, I completely eliminated caffeine from my diet. Why on earth would I do such a thing, you say? Well I wanted to see what would happen - that's the simple answer. The rest of the answer is that I wasn't sleeping as well as I would have liked and I had a feeling that caffeine was a contributing factor. Couple that with all the stress at work and of selling the house, etc, the last thing I needed was to be even more wired. So I decided to stop drinking anything with caffeine in it.Now for a lot of people, this wouldn't be that much of a challenge, but remember I'm a geek, and geek's thrive on caffeine. My consumption of Diet Coke had reached epic proportions, eclipsed only by that of my wife, whose Diet Coke habit keeps the Coca-Cola Company in business. So when I embarked on this endeavor, many people said I wouldn't last a week, and I must admit, towards the middle of the first week, I thought they might be right. For those of you who haven't given up caffeine, it can be a pretty brutal task. For caffeine junkies, missing a regular intake of soda or coffee during the day can result in a "caffeine headache" - a particulary nasty headache that is only tamed by, you guessed it, caffeine. "Continued consumption of caffeine can lead to tolerance. Upon withdrawal, the body becomes oversensitive to adenosine, causing the blood pressure to drop dramatically, leading to headache and other symptoms.¹" For the first few days of my experiment I was prone to these headaches, but I quickly discovered that a couple of glasses of water would put them at ease. I don't believe in taking pain killers for headaches - they do too much damage for the short term relief they provide. Anyway, after I got through the first week, things started getting much better. The headaches were gone and I was feeling pretty good. The most noticable and immediate benefit was that I was sleeping much better than before. I wouldn't wake up with my mind racing at 4:30am and not be able to go back to sleep. "Any accumulated sleep debt will be fully felt on withdrawal as well. ²" I was able to go to bed at a reasonable hour and not fidget for ages before eventually falling asleep. I was waking up refreshed and ready for the day. Secondly, I noticed I was able to relax more. I didn't get stressed out at work as easily, I was calmer and able to concentrate for longer. "Caffeine intoxication can lead to symptoms similar to those of panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.³" Thirdly, it's resulted in me drinking a lot more water. Before, whenever I was thirsty, I would just run down to the vending machine and grab a soda. Now, I have no choice but to drink water. I fill up my pitcher and usually end up drinking the whole thing over the course of the day. So after enjoying the obvious benefits of zero caffeine intake for a few months I decided to do another little experiment. I wanted to judge what would happen if I gradually and sporadically re-introduced caffeine into my diet. During my caffeine binge days, one soda would not effect me at all - it wouldn't make my hyper or alert or anything like that. I wanted to see if this was still the case now that I had purged my system of caffeine. Around 2pm one afternoon I was starting to drag. "I need a pick me up," I thought to myself. That's when I decided to see how caffeine would affect me. So I grabbed a Diet Coke and waited to see what would happen. It definitely had the desired "pick-me-up" effect. I was impressed - caffeine actually works as advertised.....but only if it's not coarsing through your veins already. But will that get me back to regularly drinking caffeine? I don't think so. The benefits of removing it from my system far outweigh the benefits of drinking it regularly. And the occasional "pick-me-up" actually has meaning now. ¹ - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine#Metabolism_and_toxicology ² - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine#Metabolism_and_toxicology ³ - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine#Metabolism_and_toxicology

Three Years Ago

Three Years Ago Today:- I was preparing to recite my vows - My brother was nervously rehearsing his Best Man's speech over and over - My wife-to-be was recovering from having to share the couch with Jack, the 100lb Chocolate Labrador. - Relatives were continiously reminding Will not to set anything on fire with the candles - Everyone was marvelling at how lucky we'd been with the weather - The chapel was filling with friends and relatives I hadn't seen in years Three Years Ago Today was the best day of my life. Happy Anniversary, Deanne.

Long time no see

It's certainly been a while since I posted, and for that I apologize. Let me bring you up to speed with what's been happening.

Our house is on the market! After three years in Tracy, it's time to move on. Deanne has worked tirelessly to make the house even more beautiful than it already was. Actually, it was briefly off the market last week when we got an offer and entered into contract but the buyer pulled out of the contract so we're back to square one. So if you need a house in Tracy, guess what, I've got one! Come buy it! Check out the MLS listing for details on the house.



Deanne's Birthday was a ton of fun. We spent the day doing a bunch of things she loves doing that we just don't do often enough. We went bowling with Mike, Mindy and Lisa and then Andrew, Deanne and I played miniature golf. In the evening we got 30 people together and commandeered one of the rooms at Deanne's favorite restaurant, Sansar, and had a great dinner. Hey, you only turn 25 once and it was her turn for a big party. I've posted the pictures in my gallery.




Since I last posted, we had our epic trip to Chicago. I'm sure all of you have heard by now but Deanne and I drove to Chicago and back for the Shaklee National Conference that I attended for work. I was due to fly but had a meltdown at the last minute and Deanne came to my rescue and said she'd be willing to drive with me to Chicago. We left Tracy at 6pm and drove for 32 hours without stopping throught California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa and into Illinois. We traded sleeping and driving duties so we could maximize the time we were one the road. Despite having minor car trouble in Grand Island, Nebraska (go there, I dare ya) we made it to Chicago at 5am, despite driving around Chicago's very confusing surface street system for 2 hours looking for the damn hotel. We checked in and I slept for 45 minutes before I had to go to work, and deanne, incredibly, jumped straight on the shuttle bus to the airport and flew home. 4 days later, she worked a full day then jumped on a plane to Chicago, spent three hours meeting my co-workers and then got in the car with me and drove the 2300 miles home with me. NOW you can understand my previous post. I have posted pictures of the journey in my gallery.
I took a couple of days off after Chicago and right before our house went on the market so we could get everything ready for our first open house. After four straight days of cleaning and prepping the house, we decided that on the last day we would do something fun and relaxing. So we crossed the San Mateo bridge to San Carlos and the Hiller Aviation Museum. I'd driven past it hundreds of times but never actually gone in; now I wish I hadn't waited so long. It's a fantastic museum and particularly interesting to me as it focuses on civil aviation, and in particular, civil aviation in the Bay Area. The highlights for me were the nose sections of a 737-200 and full front end of a 747-100, both of which you could get into and "play with." The 747 front end was from a former BA plane and sat in the cockpit was a retired Pan Am Captain who would answer any questions. I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who's even remotely interested in aviation. It's great for kids as well. I have posted pictures in the my gallery.

Thank You, Deanne

Though the details of her deed are inconsequential to anyone but me and her, the notion of what she has done is truly staggering. Thank You, Deanne, from the bottom of my heart. I love you.

I have a new niece!!

Camryn Clendenen arrived yesterday afternoon! She was a healthy 7lbs 12oz and 21" long. Both mother and baby are doing very well. Deanne was there for the birth and was blown away by the entire thing. She took photos after Camryn was born and I have them in my gallery. I'll post more news and photos soon.

Too Close for Comfort

As I'm sure you heard, terrorists blew up three underground trains and a double-decker bus in London today. I knew something was wrong when the phone started ringing at about 6am - that's never a good sign. I went downstairs and there was a text message from my father saying "All ok with Hunter family, no one in London." Another bad sign. Just as I turned on the TV to see what was going on, my mom called. That's when I got that feeling in my chest.It turns out my brother Andrew was all set to be on the train from Peterborough to London, as he does every Thursday. He was due to arrive at King's Cross and jump on the underground. About the same time that they blew it up. That's too close for comfort. He had to cancel his trip down to London at the last minute to take care of something at work. Evidently someone was looking out for him today. His boss, on the other hand, was not so lucky. He was at King's Cross when the bomb went off. He's alright, but very, very shaken. To those that did this, I have just one thing to say. Run. Because they will find you. And they will kill you. And as much as I disagree with President Bush, he's very good at bombing the fuck out of disgusting little rogue nations, just like the one you come from. Don't you dare try to claim this in the name of religion or ideology or politics. You killed 40 innocent people. Not preachers or clerics or politicians. Innocent People. I am not a hateful person and I don't believe in an "eye for an eye" but for you, I'm willing to make an exception.

Stunning Regularity

Wow, so it looks like my posting schedule has been reduced to once a month. Am I really that busy? Yes.........Yes, I am. Anyway, here are a some tidbits that I've been keeping in a safe place until I had time to post them:Paintball: I've posted the photos from our latest paintballing trip. Andrew had insisted that we go paintballing while he was out here and I hadn't been for a while, so we gathered the troops and went out to the Sunol Paintball Field. Deanne, Andrew, Mike, Stephanie spent the day shooting each other with various colored paint. Stephanie was gung-ho from the moment we first walked onto the range and I don't think she missed an entire game. Andrew took out months of pent up agression on his jeans by rolling around in the dirt and going on several suicide runs up the middle of the battlefield. Deanne took a beating like I have never seen but remained upbeat the whole time...I had a feeling she'd be good at paintball. Mike tried out his new marker, as did I, and we regarded as the "experts" even though we'd only played a handful of times; suffice to say we still had our asses handed to us by a bunch of 12 year old kids who were armed to the teeth. Anyway, a great day had by all and paintball demonstrations continued throughout the weekend with target practice at Mike and Mindy's Memorial Day barbecue. Brilliant. Further Random Reading: After a lengthy absence I have started posting new content to the "Further Random Reading" section of my site. Located in the right column, under the random gallery image, this is a bunch of links to stories that I think other people might find interesting. Most of them are tech related but occassionally a random nugget of hilarity will slip through. One of the good things about getting to work so early is that I have a bit of time to read the news, check my RSS feeds, etc, and scour the internets for interesting news. I shall continue to deposit them here. Music: Last week a CD was thrust into my hand with a "You lived in Hong Kong, you'll probably like this." It was a Taiwanese rap CD. In Mandarin. I was skeptical at first but then I listened. The sound quality was crap but the music was excllent. I asked about the terrible audio quality and I was told the background behind the CD. Apparently this kid, who spent several years of his life in LA, wrote and recorded the album in his bedroom, unbeknownst to anyone in his family. Sadly, he died of cancer about three years ago. He was only 23. While they were going through his things after he died, his brother found his demo CD. He sent it back to Taiwan and had it produced and turned into a proper album. The album became a huge success and is winning awards all over Asia. I'm enjoying it immensely and I can't even understand it. It reminds me of early Tupac - post Digital Underground. Here's a link to a flash version of one of his videos.
Oh but you look so much older: For those of you who keep asking......yes, I'm REALLY 25.

He's Alive!!

Yes, I'm still here. I know it's very out of character for me to go almost a month without posting on my site, but it's with good reason this time. As I alluded to in my previous post, I have started a new job. Before I get into the details, you know how when you start a new job, you're just sitting around for the first week or two, twiddling your thumbs, reviewing documents, etc? Not at this job. I hit the ground running. On my first day I had a two hour HR orientation and then I was in meetings for the rest of the day. In one of the meetings someone said "Alex, we're looking to you for guidance on this," and I had a room full of people looking at me. My first instinct was to say "ummmmm, I've been here for like 3 hours." But I didn't, I told them what I would do and it was greeted with a great deal of enthusiasm.So here I am, exactly one month into my new job and I finally have a chance to take a breath. Not since my time at Cathay back in Hong Kong am I able to say in all seriousness......I love my job. I finally feel like I'm living up to my potential, I finally feel like I'm being challenged, I finally feel like I'm using all my skills, and I finally feel like I'm being given the responsibility I deserve. It's a very different environment as well. Smaller company, new industry, etc. I'm wearing a shirt and tie every day. I'm in meetings with CIO and Senior Vice Presidents, and get this, they're actually LISTENING! Imagine that. When I speak, they listen. It's very refreshing. So I'm happy. I've gone from getting 9-10 hours of sleep a night, to getting around 6 or 7, but I have more energy than I've had in ages. Deanne has been wonderfully supportive and has answered the question "Does this tie go with this shirt?" about 600 times in the last month. Anyway, I've started a new chapter in my career and, as a result, my life. Let's see how the rest of the story goes.

New Horizons

Last Friday was a milestone (albeit a minor one) in my career. It was my last day at Robert Half. After almost four years, I'm moving on. I'll let you know more about my new position after I've been there a little longer.Anyway, as I said to many people when I left on Friday, I'm not particularly sad to be leaving RHI, but I *am* sad to be leaving some great people. I made some good friends at RHI over the four years that I was there. But there were a lot of people there who just didn't get it; and to them I say this - Leave. Right now. Go write that book, go make that movie, go record that album, go on that roadtrip, go make that baby, go visit your college roommate, go call your mother, go learn how to fly/play golf/scuba dive/speak french, go work on that open source project, go to the beach and just sit there, go to San Francisco and remind yourself why you live here, go do SOMETHING that means something to you. Even if you just go on vacation, at least do it. You're not curing cancer, you're not creating world peace. Whatever you're working on, it can wait until tomorrow. Go home and spend some time with your family. Take a deep breath....and relax. It's not that important. You're all good people, and some of the smartest I have ever met in my life. Go make it happen.

Best Headline Ever

With Him in charge, how could they possibly lose?

All depressing, all the time

I woke up this morning feeling rather chipper for some reason. It was a beautiful day and despite having to get to work early for four hours of useless training, I had a spring in my step.Then I turned on the radio and within 15 minutes:

Landon Donovan officially returns from Germany and joins the Galaxy (Fuck you Landon, by the way.)

Terry Schiavo dies - I don't really have an opinion on this whole issue, but it's still sad when someone dies, especially under such terrible circumstances.

They play a 911 tape of a 5 year old girl who woke up to discover both her parents had been killed by an intruder. Wow. That killed my buzz. I'm going to stop listening to the news when I'm in a good mood.