Go Monie, Go!!!

Today was my daughter Monet's 1st swim meet at the Hawthorne pool! Boy did she make me proud :-)
She swam the 25 yards backstroke in 30:40 , the 25 yards breaststroke in 32:38 and came in 3rd in the 25 yards freestyle, in 30:59 !

I am happy she found her vocation so far as she's now a SeaTurtle, training 5 days a week at The Plunge Junior Olympics pool in El Segundo .

Tomorrow I'll be leaving to China, on Asiana's midnight flight to Guangzhou, via Seoul and schedule back in LA just on time for her 8th birthday, November 10, 2009

Go Monie, Go!

Some businesses have no business staying in business!

I don't know whether I'm getting to turn into an old grumpy old man or whether I'm just fed up of getting ripped off and time-robbed by goods and/or services providers out there.
Don't you hate it when you have to call a number only to be greeted by some "beta version" speech recognition software that keeps making you speak as slow and intelligibly as you possibly can to no avail, no matter how hard you try?
I am sick and tired of having to waste half my day waiting on-hold and hoping that the next "associate" who will handle my case will finally identify the problem and have it solved. What's wrong in this picture? And it's not like I'm calling a customer or a potential customer. It's always when calling suppliers that this happens! I mean this defies logic and business principles; one has to usually take aggravation and grief from a customer, not from a supplier. Suppliers should be standing in line competing for my business, not the other way around.
I had wanted to start this thread years ago, but I always dreaded negative approaches before. This time, I just had to say something, having realized that sometimes, being nice does not mean we have to just sit there without reacting.

From this day on, I will be reporting the good and the bad, giving "bricks and flowers"
And this is only the beginning. (To be continued)

The Journey Is Its Own Reward

I’m now at the peak of my life’s first half century and can finally look back and have a good laugh at myself, realizing that happiness is a journey not a destination. I lived well and to the fullest and I re-live it when my mind drifts. But the thoughts of the worse decisions I made force me into a self-induced amnesia. Fortunately, I have much more credit in fond memories.
“May you never forget what is worth remembering, nor ever remember what is best forgotten” (Irish Proverb)

Do they ever watch the news?

On May 11 2008 late night, I had just finished packing my luggage, as I expected my ride to LAX (Los Angeles Int'l Airport) early morning of the 12th. Destination; Shanghai, China.

Back to my computer before going to bed to check on the late night email, I see the familiar CNN News Update titled "Major Earthquake evaluated at about 8 Ms, just hit in Sichuan province, China!" The time was May 12th 14h28 CST.

China Eastern flight 586 landed in Shanghai at 18h15 on May 13th, less than 30 hours after the initial shock. I was greeted at the airport by my Chinese broker who had come to pick me up to take me to Huzhou where I was going to stay for the next few days. Huzhou is about 2 to 2 1/2 hours drive west of Shanghai.

During the trip, I asked my broker for news about the earthquake tha day before.As we were discussing it, the driver must have picked parts of what we were saying and started questioning her in Chinese. He then slowed down and frantically started placing several calls on his mobile phone.

Perplexed, I asked Rachel what happened. She told me that the driver's family lives in Sichuan and he just learnt of the earthquake hearing us discussing it in the back seat!