China marks 100 days to Olympics

April is winding down

Work has shown no sign of slowing down in this very tough economy, Check out my April.

To start, let talk about the fire. We had 2 fire on the same day in the mill this month. I actually was one of the first to report the 1st fire. I froze when I saw it at first, then I ran into the control room to get help. While Mr. tree was calling the central command, I got a hold of Eddie and showed him where it was. Eddie responded and ran to get a water hose. I completely forgot the rule of running and just stood there in shock! It was crazy. 21.

25. Blood donation, 3 request calls in 2 weeks, the blood bank is low in inventory...Go help save a life.


The BB team are driving me crazy, my patience is being tested constantly. I am so sick of the phase "you are my hero" or " you are awesome" or simply having an unauthorized spokeperson with many talents, teaching me how to read my speed meter, decorate my office for more storage space (btw, my worst fear came true, I got ding at the housekeeping audit, despite I had made some improvement from this), or the art of how to make an ass of yourself. I can't wait to get a new cub wall or some sort of filing cabinets, so GG team can only be a step away. Lately, SMS is a new way for me to communicate with the GG and the SS teams, esp when I step away from my cub.


18. The new captain started his 1st day of work by visiting us, people, don't read too much into the market rumor, he was here for our 2nd gold award!!! S's shocking news makes me nervous. Who knows? Maybe I should be a tree farmer too. Later that night, I went to Kells 1st time with Bulldog fan, Miss H and Glacier Climber.

14-18. I attended an industry conference, making lots of contacts along with seeing old friends and won my self a mug in the contest of the most annoying team with too many questions. A fun week filled with knowledge! NLT presentation went ok.






13. Deer#4, where are the bears? We work side by side!


12. Missed Mr. T's play and Miss Clinton @ red dress

5. Nay to candle party with Angela and Colleen, maybe next time.




3. Big ship on river. They had to submerge the ship just a bit to go under the bridge.

Mon & Catholicism. Richard is a Bucky Badger officially. Musical chair starts in SP. There is something about Miss H and Georgia. Lesser of Tom, but maybe more of Adam this summer. Endora was in Nihon for the Sakura festival. Charlie is getting hitched in June. Mocha and Dorky are coming to town in 3 weeks, so will Richard. No Mexico trip this summer.

The Swell Season - If You Want Me - live Wiltern 11/10/07

It was an awesome show tonight at Keller! I hope they will come back soon! The group delicated this song to the female audiences at the concert.

Rev. at 5:40 PM 4.29.08
Another Portlander's review, a much more comprehensive review, compared to my 3 liners.

Swell Season tonight!

5 Golden Rules For Finding Your Life Partner

Author: Rabbi Dov Heller, M.A.

A relationship coach lays out his 5 golden rules for evaluating the prospects of long-term success. When it comes to making the decision about choosing a life partner, no one wants to make a mistake. Yet, with a divorce rate of close to 50 percent, it appears that many are making serious mistakes in their approach to finding Mr./Ms. Right!

If you ask most couples who are engaged why they're getting married, they'll say: "We're in love." I believe is the ..1 mistake people make when they date. Choosing a life partner should never be based on love (alone). Though this may sound not politically correct, there's a profound truth here. Love (alone) is not the basis for getting married. Rather, love is the result of a good marriage. When the other ingredients are right, then the love will come.

Let me say it again: You can't build a lifetime relationship on love alone. You need a lot more. Here are five questions you must ask yourself if you're serious about finding and keeping a life partner.

QUESTION ..1: Do we share a common life purpose? Why is this so important? Let me put it this way: If you're married for 20 or 30 years, that's a long time to live with someone. What do you plan to do with each other all that time? Travel, eat and jog together? You need to share something deeper and more meaningful. You need a common life purpose. Two things can happen in a marriage. You can grow together, or you can grow apart. 50 percent of the people out there are growing apart. To make a marriage work, you need to know what you want out of life - bottom line- and marry someone who wants the same thing.

QUESTION ..2: Do I feel safe expressing my feelings and thoughts with this person? This question goes to the core of the quality of your relationship. Feeling safe means you can communicate openly with this person. The basis of having good communication is trust - i.e. trust that I won't get "punished" or hurt for expressing my honest thoughts and feelings. A colleague of mine defines an abusive person as someone with whom you feel afraid to express your thoughts and feelings. Be honest with yourself on this one. Make sure you feel emotionally safe with the person you plan to marry.

QUESTION ..3: Is he/she a mensch? A mensch is someone who is a refined and sensitive person. How can you test? Here are some suggestions. Do they work on personal growth on a regular basis? Are they serious about improving themselves? A teacher of mine defines a good person as "someone who is always striving to be good and do the right thing. "So ask about your significant other: What do they do with their time? Is this person materialistic? Usually a materialistic person is not someone whose top priority is character refinement. There are essentially two types of people in the world: People who are dedicated to personal growth and people who are dedicated to seeking comfort. Someone whose goal in life is to be comfortable will put personal comfort ahead of doing the right thing. You need to know that before walking down the aisle.

QUESTION ..4: How does he/she treat other people? The one most important thing that makes any relationship work is the ability to give. By giving, we mean the ability to give another person pleasure. Ask: Is this someone who enjoys giving pleasure to others or are they wrapped up in themselves and self-absorbed? To measure this, think about the following: How do they treat people whom they do not have to be nice to, such as a waiters, bus boy, taxi driver, etc. How do they treat parents and siblings? Do they have gratitude and appreciation? Do they show respect? If they don't have gratitude for the people who have given them everything, you cannot expect that they'll have gratitude for you-who can't do nearly as much for them! Do they gossip and speak badly about others? Someone who gossips cannot be someone who loves others. You can be sure that someone who treats others poorly will eventually treat you poorly as well.

QUESTION ..5: Is there anything I'm hoping to change about this person after we're married? Too many people make the mistake of marrying someone with the intention of trying to "improve" them after they're married. As a colleague of mine puts it, "You can probably expect someone to change after marriage ... for the worse!" If you cannot fully accept this person the way they are now, then you are not ready to marry them.

In conclusion, dating doesn't have to be difficult and treacherous. The key is to try leading a little more with your head and less with your heart. It pays to be as objective as possible when you are dating; to be sure to ask questions that will help you get to the key issues. Falling in love is a great feeling, but when you wake up with a ring on your finger, you don't want to find yourself in trouble because you didn't do your homework.

Romance

Tommy Emmanuel / J.Shimabukuro: While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Jack Johnson - Angel (Full, with Lyrics)

Vicious Deadly Peace Kitty

Rain/Colbert "feud" continues

Hilarious

My 2nd and 3rd career: Yard maintanence supervisor & Gutter-balls Champion

I am a "garden expert" in comparsion to Miss H. I have a 1 electric weed eater, a hedge trimmer and 3 lawn mowers, a electric one, a gas-powered one and a pusher (not that I ever used any of them on my own). As I drove to pick up Miss H for our Friday's dinner, I found a very cluless gardener stuck in her front lawn. My supervisory skill came in handy and I told her that mowing the grass after the rain is a production that she should aviod forever. I will spare you all the "hilarious" details of how we finished the project. Just imagine, the blind was leading another blind and eventually we got the task done with the limited tools that we had. At one point, the neighbor's dog: Rocko, wanted to have a lawn party with us. Do not let his size fool you, he was running away from the blower.

The reward after such mentally and physically strained exercise was the happy hour at Sorabol. We had 50 % off conveyor sushi plate and haemul pajeon(해물파전).

The next day, we went bowling (I have 16 gutter balls in 2 games, very sad in deed), shopping and eating multi-course Chinese food with HKC.
Not just the 2 of us for the big feast. We were missing Miss J and so we just randonly grabbed 10 very hungry Asians to eat with us. Just kidding.

haemul sundubu jjigae(해물 순두부찌개)

Style magazine
The menu at Cho Dang
Banchan
My meal
The big comfy bed

Entering the land of MSFT :-)

I was ready to go visit Mr. Gate at 12:08 AM this morning! And guess what I learn when I was there...Who invented the first tiolet": Thomas Crapper & I forgot the answer of who invented the urinal? Exciting eh? The group had great dynamics and when you put all of us in a room, boy, you are asking for trouble. We were loud and funny and I did not know we were that capable! Mamas' rules on being quiet and courteous were all left at the main gate of Mr. Gate's compound. Good times!
PS. chubby is cute! and you can see my teacher in the reflection of the glass.

Take Your Child to Work Day

Thursday, April 24, 2008, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm, Huskygal will be in with her "kids", they plan to camp out at my cub! Oh boy! I would have bring my "kids", but I am going to see Mr. Gate.

張敬軒- 笑忘書FULL MV

Cruising on I-5

Why You Make the Same Mistake Twice
Dogs for rent
You want a blinked-out shirt and cap?Source
S Korea trains sniffer-dog clones
Couple's Custom Microphones Carry Colorful Past
Germans to swim without high-tech suits
Sachs Explains 'Economics for a Crowded Planet'
ENTITLEMENTS

Vegan Food Guide

I should try this.

Earth day!

A really really outdated page about earth daySource

Friendships along women

By Gale Berkowitz

University of California, Los Angeles

A landmark UCLA study suggests friendships between women are special. They shape who we are and who we are yet to be. They soothe our tumultuous inner world, fill the emotional gaps in our marriages, and help us remember who we really are. By the way, they may do even more. Scientists now suspect that hanging out with our friends can actually counteract the kind of stomach-quivering stress most of us experience on a daily basis.

A landmark UCLA study suggests that women respond to stress with a cascade of brain chemicals that cause us to make and maintain friendships with other women. It's a stunning find that has turned five decades of stress research---most of it on men---upside down. "Until this study was published, scientists generally believed that when people experienced stress, the condition triggered a hormonal cascade that prepared the body to either stand and fight or flee as fast as possible," explains Laura Cousino Klein, Ph.D., now an Assistant Professor of Biobehavioral Health at Penn State University and one of the study's authors. "It's an ancient survival mechanism left over from the time we were chased across the planet by saber-toothed tigers." Now the researchers suspect that women have a larger behavioral repertoire than just "fight or flight." "In fact," says Dr. Klein, "it seems that when the hormone oxytocin is released as part of the stress responses in a woman, it buffers the 'fight or flight' response and encourages her to tend children and gather with other women instead. When she actually engages in this tending or befriending, studies suggest that more oxytocin is released, which further counters stress and produces a calming effect.

This calming response does not occur in men", says Dr. Klein, "because testosterone ---which men produce in high levels when they're under stress---seems to reduce the effects of oxytocin. Estrogen", she adds, "seems to enhance it."

The discovery that women respond to stress differently than men was made in a classic "aha!" moment shared by two women scientists who were talking one day in a lab at UCLA. "There was this joke that when the women who worked in the lab were stressed, they came in, cleaned the lab, had coffee, and bonded," says Dr. Klein. "When the men were stressed, they holed up somewhere on their own. I commented one day to fellow researcher Shelley Taylor that nearly 90% of the stress research is on males. I showed her the data from my lab, and the two of us knew instantly that we were onto something."

The women cleared their schedules and started meeting with one scientist after another from various research specialties. Very quickly, Drs. Klein and Taylor discovered that by not including women in stress research, scientists had made a huge mistake: The fact that women respond to stress differently than men has significant implications for our health.

It may take some time for new studies to reveal all the ways that oxytocin encourages us to care for children and hang out with other women, but the "tend and befriend" notion developed by Drs. Klein and Taylor may explain why women consistently outlive men. Study after study has found that social ties reduce our risk of disease by lowering blood pressure, heart rate, and cholesterol.

"There's no doubt," says Dr. Klein, "that friends are helping us live." In one study, for example, researchers found that people who had no friends increased their risk of death over a 6-month period. In another study, those who had the most friends over a 9-year period cut their risk of death by more than 60%.

Friends are also helping us live better. The famed Nurses' Health Study from Harvard Medical School found that the more friends women had, the less likely they were to develop physical impairments as they aged, and the more likely they were to be leading a joyful life.

In fact, the results were so significant, the researchers concluded, that not having close friends or confidantes was as detrimental to your health as smoking or carrying extra weight!

And that's not all! When the researchers looked at how well the women functioned after the death of their spouse, they found that even in the face of this biggest stressor of all, those women who had a close friend and confidante were more likely to survive the experience without any new physical impairments or permanent loss of vitality. Those without friends were not always so fortunate.

Yet if friends counter the stress that seems to swallow up so much of our life these days, if they keep us healthy and even add years to our life, why is it so hard to find time to be with them? That's a question that also troubles researcher Ruthellen Josselson, Ph.D., co-author of Best Friends: The Pleasures and Perils of Girls' and Women's Friendships (Three Rivers Press, 1998). "Every time we get overly busy with work and family, the first thing we do is let go of friendships with other women," explains Dr. Josselson. "We push them right to the back burner. That's really a mistake because women are such a source of strength to each other. We nurture one another. And we need to have unpressured space in which we can do the special kind of talk that women do when they're with other women. It's a very healing experience."

Sources: Taylor, S. E., Klein, L.C., Lewis, B. P., Gruenewald, T. L., Gurung, R.A.R., & Updegraff, J. A. (2000).
"Female Responses to Stress: Tend and Befriend, Not Fight or Flight", Psychological Review, 107(3), 41-429.
Database: 268.17.
8/648 - Release Date: 1/23/2007 11:04 AM
Kylie Bentley, RD/LD
Certified LEAP Therapist

Source: 興奮勝影帝李連杰 男配角劉德華
The Raconteurs: New Music for Old Friends. They are playing in Portland on the 22nd.
Historic China-Taiwan talks held
Dark screens, Japan shies away from shrine film
中環秘竇日本麵
Live Saturday: Nada Surf in Concert. They will be coming back on June 13th.
'Knockemstiff' Writer Pulls No Punches
Why I will carry the Olympic torch by Helen Zia
Olympic protests: Chinese reaction
Oasis budget airline stops flying
Rogge says Olympics in 'crisis'
12 Museums to Fuel a Road Trip
Why Beautiful Women Marry Less Attractive Men
Intel plans to tackle cosmic ray threat
Siberia's black market logging
Simpsons ditched by Venezuelan TV
Face values applied to love game
Florida lawmakers pass "take your guns to work" law

Studio Ghibli Promo Trailer

「天空の城ラピュタ」 君をのせて

Toxic 100

Wanna know who they are? Check this out, I was shocked to see all the famous ppl

Judy's

Friday
Wednesday

Gary's puppies

I have my eyes on the blue-circled puppy. That puppy remind me of a kid in my family, similar marking on her neck as well.

Overbooked.....with projects

China Forbes finds her own sound. I got ticket to see China Forbes, so I skipped out on this ISEPP lecture. Thomas had a camero, playing "Hey Eugene" on the piano.

Pink Martini "Hey Eugene" on David Letterman - 6.14.07

Pink Martini - Lilly

Happy Birthday to Eric and Peggy!

"Prevention is Better Than Cure".

"Prevention is Better Than Cure".

Yummy Korean Food.

Chow time

お元気ですか？

Slow Down a Little, Save a Lot of Gas
Asian states feel rice pinch
有辣有唔辣
Canucks fighting for playoff lives, Go Canucks! Don't sit on the bench with the Oilers.
Statistics show Icelandic men have longest life expectancy
Jail for Chinese rights activist
Why the US might ban salmon fishing on the Pacific coast
China's Labor Advances May Affect U.S. Prices
China Tries to Export Culture as Influence Increases
FAA Whistleblowers: Southwest Probes Stymied
Man Arrested In Suspicion Of Kidnapping And Murder In Death Of 7-Year-Old Girl in SLC
'Mayor' protests on Chile 007 set
What is autism? Study links preemies with autism signs
10 Common Tax-Filing Mistakes to Avoid
Mom's fish intake may boost child's brain power
Go Oilers! Oilers continue playoff push against flickering Flames
U.S. Farmers Plan to Cut Corn, Boost Soy, Wheat
India sends warning to Dalai Lama
UBS doubles sub-prime writedowns
China's Income Gap
Making a Smaller 'Carbon Footprint'
China Alters Its Role in World Economy, Diplomacy
Top 10 Detox Foods, are you ready?

Interesting headline: Siemens to supply all drives and electrical equipment for 'world's largest' paper machine at APP's Hainan Jinhai pulp mill in China's Hainan island
Xerox Named No 1 Cut Sheet Paper Brand in Europe
The Results are in...Over 92% of IKEA Customers Bagged the Plastic Bag!
NewPage Continues Operations at Niagara, Wisconsin
Nine Dragons Paper
Sunshine Paper

Shut day

After an extended outage of a total of 21 hours, we finally started the production at 3 AM. What a tough start up, no beavers opening night. Trials are next.

The Breaking News just came in:

They are making the 1st announcement. The new folks don't have have a spot for him, so Mr. pilot is coming over to make pulp! I wonder what other exceptions will they make?

Hurray, hurray, hurray to Miss J!!!!!

Another day in cubicle paradise, good times!!!!!!!!

Smoking Hot Thai Food

After a session of ball machine with WJ and Huskygal, We had dinner at Thai Lotus.

Gold.....Gold... Gold....

When the shocking news came out several weeks ago, I thought I couldn’t see the end of the road. Some felt betrayal, abandoned, some were relieved and some (they are not the other side of the fence) were happy. Some of you might say hello BoringFish, what to worry? I am adaptive but so-so adventurous to go out on the limp. Besides, when you bleed green, it is not easy to let go of those relationships. Will I hear massive layoff? I don’t know but all I can hear is the word “ruthless”. I hope my old friends are going to be fine. (Mr. pilot, Horace, Genius Dave etc)

N1 will celebrate working 1 year without a recordable. Hurray! Judy is coming! And I am so proud!

The buzz word is still starches; you want ethanol, fries or pudding? In the last several weeks, I also added sand and colorant to my vocabs. Did I forget to mention all the fun time with the R&D credits spreadsheet? So much to do.. so much to do!!Lots to keep track with school, work, home and fun!

Who knows a family wedding can transform into a power struggle? To go or not to go, why does it has to be so "mafan"?

Richard will be here in May for a month! He will be a Sparty or a Bucky!

Joe, Dave and I went to Meadows, too bad that Ting, Tucker and Aaron did not join us for a snowy party! I am very tired and sore~~! Where would be next? Ski Bowl? Timberline? Cooper Spur? Joe and I are looking for excuses to enjoy the Tuesday's 2 for 1 special at White Pass!

Tax season is here.... 13 days to go!

News off the press: We got the SMT safety good award again! Hurray! Liked Dusty said: "We won awards!". The second time is sweet. The new president is coming to town to check us out! Housekeeping to the Tee~! Oh my desk, I have been working on it bit by bit. It will be clean and spotless when he is here!

13.5 hrs outage tomorrow, lots of bugs killing! We are slowing down a bit lately because we are holey, on the clothing! N1 is having a premature outage right now... more holes in clothing....*grin*....

WJ's ukulele

It's here!

Final 4

Final 4: North Carolina (midwest), Kansas (east), Memphis (south) & UCLA (west), Championship game on 4.7.08
Oregon St. interviews San Diego's Grier
2 Portland St. players in jail in Mexico

What can you say?

A: Good morning.
B: That's debatable!

I guess there's no point to greet person B anymore.

Pranker's day!

Randy spilled pop on himself on April Fools' Day. My hysterical laugh did not save him from the practical joke. I got to watch my back because you never know when the prankers will throw a curve ball at you.