“Good Night, Sleep Tight...” 第三集、大結局

12:29PM, my phone rings. It’s a “415” number. Can it be another telemarketer? I roll the dice and take my chances.
“Hello?”
“我送牀㗎。”
"唔係一點咩？"  (whatever... early is good).
And within 20 minutes... they had the bed delivered, set up, cleaned up, and was gone with the wind.  $800 + $20 tip.  3 and a half months... it finally comes to an end.  Closure.  Fin.

In the end... I ended up getting the bed.  Drove up to the furniture store on Memorial Day Saturday to place the order.  In the end... I ended up delivering the pillow, comforter, beddings.  In the end... I took away the old bed.  In the end... in the end... in the end...

I am not complaining.  I shouldn't complain.  I can't complain. 十月懷胎.  I can never repay that.  Yet... she just wears my patience thin.  In so many ways.... every single button, she knows how to find and push.

I find minor consolation in having a few people that I can vent at.  And ironically... the past few times, they make me just want to hurl my phone.  Why even vent at them... they'll just make me feel like dirt. Lower than dirt.  The dirt that dirt steps on.  d-dirt.

Deep exhale.... it's over.  Mom made lunch for me.  It was a special moment for her...to have a home cooked meal with her son.  She claims it's the first.  I know she's made me a few more meals... but I wasn't going to argue (see above).  I polished the food, drank the soup, and started troubleshooting her computer needs and filled out a bunch of forms. 

I finally make it home.. get a text from her..  Thanking us for making her bedroom, feel like a bedroom.  Why didn't I pull the trigger earlier?? Why.... 

In the end... when this is all put to bed (pun intended), I think I'm the one that can have a Good night... and Sleep tight.

Dinner Menu: 小籠飽， 紅燒牛腩面， 紅油抄手

Deflation Sensation

My little "Avengers" or "Justice League" finished briefing all the VP's...and had a chance to brief the Big 3 today.  This was the last hoorah prior to meeting with the big guy himself.  We had everything lined up... charts and data were available... we dry ran this thing so many times everyone was sick of our own charts.  Then within 15 minutes of our presentation, they completed redirected our recommendation.  Gone.  Poof!!  All those months of hard work... disappeared.

I sorta expected something like this... seen this too many times.  My question was, where were you during the mid-course review!!

My team of young bucks didn't take it as well.  "I felt like we were spinning our wheels for 3 months...and all along they had the answer."  and "We failed you Hank.  They didn't accept our ideas."

Poor kids... I did my job in consoling them, letting them know that without your data, ideas and hardwork, they would not have reached their conclusion.  But in reality... it's a tough pill to swallow. Welcome to the real world.

Essential Oils

One of Nn's classmates mom is really into Essential Oils. There apparently is an entire pyramid type empire out there that sells these things. Her personal testimonies are quite convincing. She also talked about how back in biblical times, oil was as banal as Starbucks and Peet's for modern day. You see someone on the street and say, "Hey! Let's get a cup of coffee. Well, back then, it'll be "Let's go get a dose of oil!" She even cited these books and studies on different oil recipes from the bible. Then it occurred to me.... wait....this isn't just biblical times... this is MY CULTURE!!!! The Chinese also believed and practiced in essential oils...
In my recollection, there's the all loving, all encompassing, very nurturing, 蠟梅油.  You use this for various illnesses from bug bites, to scratches and cuts, to even pimples. 






If 蠟梅油 is the Mother of All Oil (which it's not, as you shall see), then the Father of All Oil is the all curing, much dreaded, ever-smelling "BITE" of 獅子油?? If pungency equated to potency... the lion oil certain takes that crown. Unlike 蠟梅油, 獅子油 burned. It reeked. It brought water to our eyes. But you reached for it... for all the tougher cases. And mom said... for a while, the US banned sale of this, cuz Americans really thought the oil was made of lions. *Shrug* or should I say, *Growl?*


There's the much much more famous, but not in my household, 活絡油.  Ahhhhh.... for massaging, relaxing, balming and was the forerunner for "Hot Ice" and "Ben Gay."  Maybe this is the Uncle of All Oil??? I dunno....

And then... the oil the That Shall Rule Them All...the oil That Shall Not Be Named... the oil above all oil.... the one where if you're riding a city bus and you get a whiff of it, you immediately bounce up and yield your seat.  It's the oil... where if someone is fainting, it comes out to go under the nose, behind the ears and on the temples.  Arthritis.  This oil. Stomach ache.  This oil. Itching / allegies. This oil. Migraines? This oil. Cook dinner.... man.... makes you wonder.  It's the oil... which brings you back to days gone by... days of the past.. days where you can no longer hold onto.  The infamous...

So Joyce buys into this Essential Oil fad and gets a diffuser and some oil from Whole Foods.  Whatever... if it makes the family sleep better, fine.  If it gets rid of moth problem, fine.  If it changes me into a mutant ninja turtle fine.  What's not fine?!?!?!? WHAT'S NOT FINE?!!?!?  As I dropped the kids off today..  I hugged and kissed them... and they both smelled like.... my grandma.  Sigh....

And then today... I saw Costco selling Essential Oils.  If they sell it at Costco... I guess it's validated.

Dinner Menu: Tinola over Rice

始終都眼紅

I'm very nonchalant when dealing money with friends and family.  I trust that no one is out to 煽 me.  And it all works out at the end.  Despite that... deep down, I still get 眼紅.

Case in point, Hody and I bought a bag of 花膠 together.  We were about split the bag... I really didn't care how she divvied things up, I trusted her.  But when she was dividing up the booty... and I saw her put the big pieces in her bag, I grew 眼紅!!  Was thinking... "Wait... why do you get all the big pieces?!?"  And we even had a balance... to fairly weigh out everything.  In the end... she was very fair.  And we did use the balance to make sure no one got jipped.  I guess no matter how "fair" I want to be...inherently... I still have the fear of being on the short end of the stick.

Dinner Menu: Mediterranean Sea Bass, Pescatora pasta, a glass of Chianti and a glass of Pinot Noir

Vindicated

One message, two speakers, two results.

A few weeks ago, I shared some ideas in a leadership meeting and was met with accusations of blasphemy.

Today, PT said the exact same things and was applauded for profound, breakthrough thinking.

The only difference is... he’s who he is. And I’m me.  When I shared this with Roy, who was in both meetings, he said the difference was the audience. Ahhh wellz... regardless, deep down, I felt vindicated. Not that it matters. Just sayin....

Dinner Menu: KFC and Costco Cheese Pizza

When Mama's Not Home

Joyce had a Sisters' Night Out tonight... which meant I get to spoil the kids all by myself.   By spoiling... I took them on a 5 mile hike up Rancho San Antonio.  It started out fun and exciting...I would take them on the circuitous route. Instead of going around the creek, we would walk on the balance beam formed by a fallen tree.  We would observe turkeys, lizards and any other animals that's not a mountain lion. Then after the 3rd mile... everyone started to get hangry and complained.  It didn't help that NN suggested we play a game of describing of favorite dinner.  No no no.

But I pushed them and challenged them... not giving them a chance to stop and rest until they reached the Vista Point. 

NN: "I'm tired."

BB: "Hi Tired! I'm daddy."

NN: "Not funny."

NN: "My foot hurts."

BB: "Hi foot hurts."

NN: "Daddy, that doesn't even make sense.  Can you stop."

BB: "Stop what?"

SW: "Dad jokes!!"

(a few minutes later)

SW: "I'm tired."

NN: "Hi tired!"

All: "Hahahahhaa

On the way back down, SW slipped and scratched his knee.  He started crying. Rightfully so... he was tired and it stung.  Last time I took the two of them hiking, he also slipped and fell and scratched his knee.  Wrong type of tradition to build.

In the end, I articulated the importance of overcoming challenges, the times it feels that you're physically exhausted and someone's there to walk that final with you, the feeling of victory when we reached the Vista Point, and planting the seed that we will look back on these special 三人行 moments.

Then they started longing for Mommy.  Why?? If Mommy was here, we would've turned around after the first half mile. =) 

Dinner Menu: Sweet Tomatoes

一日為師

Made a little promise to {someone} that 2019 will be a year of reconnecting and reconciliation.  The year started out with a phenomenal lunch with Nancy and a majestic dinner with the Fab 5.  Today... I gave my volleyball coach, Dan, aka 鬼佬, a call.

His voice sounded weak.  He's aged.  But his mind is like an elephant.  The gory little details he remembers is remarkable!!  Down to a insignificant conversation we had at a Salvation Army nearly 20 years ago.  Looking back... Dan had as much an impact on my wicked sense of humor, sarcasm and goofiness more than practically anyone other than Big Bro.  His use of irony... straight faced comedy... current events induced uneasiness... and self-depreciation... has oddly shaped the man I am today. Obviously, the taught me how to play volleyball.  He also taught me how to swing a golf club.  Took me to my first Happy Hour (he had a beer, I had lemonade). And one thing that stuck out.. that I till remember, was he loved to read.  He'll get up every morning, make a pot of coffee, and read.

We shot the breeze, joked around a little, reminisced a lot... and at one point, I stopped and said, "Hey Dan... I want to thank you.  Thank you for being such a big part of my life.  You've done more for me than you can possibly imagine."  I wasn't prepared to make that speech at the moment... and choked up.  Maybe he heard it over the phone... assuming he can still hear.  And he interrupted me with an obnoxious sarcastic joke, "Sorry to interrupt... I really need to record that so I can play it every night to put myself to sleep."

"一日為師, 終身為父." It doesn't matter how old he is... how high I climb in life... or how tipsy topsy the world will change.  I will always, for the rest of my days, call him "Coach." Cuz he earned it.  Cuz he deserves it.  Cuz, in some ways, I deserved him.

Dinner Menu: 牛肉白菜陽春麵

#LikeAGirl

In 2014, Always put together a Super Bowl commercial that tugs at my heart and opens the water works every time I watch it.  I admit.. I'm guilty of judging, prescribing and even cursing my very own daughter of what she does.

Today... we came home early.. and went outside to play some baseball.  I played outfield (so I don't have to run up half the city block to pick up the ball), while Nn pitched to SW... throwing the ball each and every way, but down the middle.

Behind him. Way out in front of him. Sailing over his head. Bouncing it 5 feet in front of him.  I've spent time teaching NN and SW how to throw.  "Don't throw from your elbow! That's throwing like a girl!" I would say.  And while it's somewhat true...  that girls prefer to throw from their elbows instead of their shoulders, I see boys (and men) do the same.

So I'm relentless.  I make her throw me 15-20 pitches.  Not accepting how she's throwing.  My daughter deserves a redo.  Even though she could possibly be mocked the rest of her life, I will do my part to ensure that if she does get mocked, she will go down fighting, #LikeAGirl.

I love my 囡囡豬.

Dinner Menu: Curry Tonkatsu over rice,  咖喱雜丸， 油菜苗

I don't believe in luck...

I don't believe in luck.  Luck, is the intersection of preparation and opportunity.  And as "luck" would have it... I was mightily prepared when the opportunity presented itself in the form of Paul's Life and Letters Final today.  Did I ace it?? Probably not...but I'm confident I passed.

I'm not a good test taker.  Some people just know how to study.. and know how to regurgitate.  Too many times during college, I think I know the material, but come test time, I just fail to perform.  Not today... Especially when our teacher, specifically drilled us hard yesterday in our final class.  And I had a feeling I needed to study that one question.  BAM!!! That question was pretty much 1/3 of the final.

Brings back memories of the other time I got "lucky."  Digital Design in my Masters course... and I went to office hours the day before the final to figure out how to answer one question.  The professor went into detail, step by step, on what to do.  I even had a buddy (colleague, actually) who was in there with me.  The next day... that was one of the questions on the final.  BAM!!!!  Took me 3 minutes to regurgitate everything.  The dude who was with me... also lucked out.

Doesn't always happen that way. Sometimes, during a midterm or final... if you're stuck, then you're stuck.  Not today.

Mood: at the crosspoint of preparation and opportunity... aka lucky

Just shaddup already!!

In every group... there's usually a guy that likes to argue for argument sake.  Whether it's to stir up conversation... or it's to make them sound smart... or it's because they're just born argumentative.  They will argue with you non-stop, until you give-in and take their side... then they'll switch sides and argue with you again!!!  Can't stand those people... unless that person is me. Tee hee!!

The past few weeks... I found myself at the cross roads of an otherwise simplistic theological doctrine.  The answers are obvious.  Jesus is God.  He's omnipotent.  End of argument.  Or... we WANT to bear each other's burdens, but it's simply impractical.  How are those even points of discussions??

Well.... lemme tell you! Actually... lemme not.

Was Jesus the most influential leader ever?? Well of course He was. He's God!! He's the Almighty!! Not semi-mighty.  Not pretty-mighty.  How can you even argue against that?? Well... I did.  I carefully devised my answer into Jesus the Son of Man for 33 years.  Was he influential?? Of course He was. But what happened when he died?? Every one went into hiding!! What happened when he ascended into heaven?? They went into hiding!!! What happened when He asked Simon Peter if he loved him?? Simon failed.  It wasn't till the Holy Spirit came... that things started changing.  And even then... you see how the apostles kept failing in Acts.  Oh.... but Jesus is part of the Trinity.  Yes yes.... He's God and He's omnipotent.  For a few moments that day.... I was the anti-Christ.

In the book of Galatians... it says we have to bear each other's burdens.  I felt the class was taking the passage out of context.  Take a step back people!! Read the passage as a letter for what it's worth.  Understand the other teachings from the bible and step into Paul and the Galatians' shoes.  It's clear as day if you do that.  Nope... I was lambasted again. 

Makes me wonder... if I'm argumentative?? Or is there more than meets the eyes?? Are they drinking from the Kool-aid?? Or perhaps... I'm inherently theologically flawed.

Sometimes... I wanna tell myself to just shaddup already!!

Mood: giggly

岂有此理!

中文学校学期完结，收回囡囡的每周笔记。由于她的中文程度只限于广东话的谈话，他对造句作文是一晓不通, 唯有我和老婆帮她。岂料今天看笔记簿时、内面很多血迹！伤痕累累！原来用繁体字是错的。每当有繁体字，老师都要求改回简体字。这就算了吧。普遍的中文普通话自从解放之後也是簡體字的。但最令我深深不忿，就是當筆記簿沒有血跡時、老師的評價竟然是一個 「Good」 字。

大佬！你系中文学校、竟会用英文字作出评价！？我D繁体字起码系中文！真是岂有此理！

心情: 岂有此理