Friday, September 30, 2005

Cousins from summer trip to hk & mainland!






Mike, Ngai, Lawrence, Lois, Boringfish, Vincent

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Pinki got hitched!



My friend, Pinki got married this past weekend... Wish her and Devon a happy life together!

Saturday, September 03, 2005

HK Street scene

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Coffee was spotted at Pt. Townsend!

Coffee has been spotted again... I will be heading to the Penisula.

Work week 32 was hectic, especially when I am on call for week 33 and Horace is on vacation.

I worked hard cleaning up the house mess on Saturday afternoon to get ready for the night of Majhong party. It was a lot of fun. We had Mahjong, Karaoke, X-box. I was glad that Colleen, Austina, Gang and Adam could come.

Hopefully, the electrical upgrade can be completed this week. Tree Trimming and plumbing will be next.

Emily is a Benton doggie now.. she just got her license.

White top run is coming, get ready to be dizzy!

Next week, I will be seeing 3 cousins from the North of the border, the Maple-leaf land. Can't wait to chill with Ngai, Lawrence & Michael.

It was nice to hear from Richard. Go Annette! (to Russia)

Monday, August 01, 2005

Continued Coffee Rescue

We are still hoping that Coffee will turn up some time before winter - he has been missing for almost seven weeks. We have tried hard to find him, and he still refuses to show his face. I miss him dearly, and hope that he will turn up safe and sound and make his way back to us. I worry that he is too cute - someone may have decided to keep him.

On the other hand, I threw myself into cleaning up the house (bit by bit), and progress is slow and steady. I am not wearing myself out, so I can keep up the constant progress. I am still working on taxes (my extension is almost over!).

There were a few episodes with my roommates, but in general we are getting along well, and learning to live with each others' odd habits. We had a mah jong party/dinner finally in July, which was a good way to make the house more of a home. That party was also a goodbye party for Angela, who has moved back to Taiwan to pursue her PhD in Computer Enigneering. I did not know her very well, but I am happy that I did get to know her for the limited time she was here.

2005 definitely has been quite a year - my beloved Grandpa passed away on Saturday morning (HK time). It has been difficult to accept that he is really gone, but I am beginning to learn how to cope with it. At least I did get to visit him not that long ago, and I spoke to him even on my last day in HK. He will be missed very much. Meanwhile, I guess I will be heading to the far east to pay my respects and love to him.

That is it for now - thanks for taking the time to visit me!

Saturday, July 23, 2005

Monday, July 18, 2005

July Update

Since I last wrote in the blog, life has been busy.

For starters, I played in the 3rd annual Golf tournament, where this year I managed to win a prize - for highest score. I received $25 as consolation for my more-than-average performance. I was inspired to purchase a set of clubs to prepare for next year - in hopes of Wie-like prowess (just kidding). I do hope to take some lessons this summer, though.

The other major news has been the search for Coffee. My beloved doggie has gone missing - somewhere in the olympic peninsula he is searching for his humans. We have been to search for him, and have tried a lot of publicity, but so far we have not located our favorite pup. I became devoted to the search, and purchased a tent and flashlight for camping out in the woods in hope of attracting Coffee - however, no luck finding the doggie so far.

In other developments, I now have 2 years of injury-free work, and received my "no injury" safety sticker for my helmet - it will be proudly displayed.

4th of july was ok, and the house upgrade has been a headache - we are still working on getting the first big project finished. I also have been entertaining 3 summer student at works - and have been told what "I played a vital role and resource to them" I am. I am only a junior mentor, but I have made an effort to be very helpful.

While searching for Coffee, I did spend time on the Olympic peninsula - appreciating my mom's new home-to-be in her retirement. I can see that she will have much to enjoy there.

I also just went to my first Country Fair - I loved it - it was a different and interesting experience, and I would like to go back again in my little tie-dye dress. It is a good place to be a hippie child.

Oregon has been blessed with a lot of sunshine lately - we tied the record yesterday at 100 degrees F. On that note, I am going to open a window for some fresh air and call it a night.

Saturday, June 18, 2005

The Price of Climbing up the Corporate Ladder

Hello everyone, again. I am back on the blogging circle. Since my last entry my life has been about two things: work, and more work (okay, elecrtical on the house, too). In my professional development it is all about how to multitask when there is only one of you and you are supposed to handle more than 7 projects at all times, not to mention unexpected upset conditions and specific grade runs on the machine that pull you away from what your are supposed to be doing each day. Don't get me wrong, work is still very satisfying mentally, but physically it has been a strain on my body. I got sick with a prolonged cold compounded by allergies, and was told that I had a severe upper respiratory infection. A few bottles of cough syrup later I still feel like a plague victim. I still have a stuffy nose and hurting throat all the time.

The latest challenge at work aside from multitasking is being multitalented - I am learning to accept that I am Horace's sidekick on all fronts. I get comments from superintendent that say we are a good team, and I guess we are. A lot of times, if Horace cannot perform the task (due to time constraints), I am here to pick up the slack (we are a team, and he does the same for me). The summer season is here, and I am working with an intern - kind of like a junior mentor. I think this will be cool, and an opportunity to be the mentor that I wish I had. It seems like the Kappa analyzer has gone full circle - probably it will be back to me again. I cannot seem to get away from Metso. It's funny how that works.

The farmhouse continues to be the biggest headache I have - I moved in on memorial day weekend, finding roommates has been a horrible experience, and very frustrating. I finally realize what a good tenant I have been. Okay, I am getting tired - I will post more tomorrow. Good night!

Saturday, May 28, 2005

Bay city, CA


Nice view of the bay from the 22nd floor of the hotel room.

Renee from the South


Catfish, prawns & Hush Puppies... I made Horace proud!

LA

AR

OK

Big W ppl

Memphis' Beale Street

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Where was I?

Ok, finally I am back to my blogging schedule... sorry folks, life has been about the T, traveling. Let pick up where I was before.... oh hey the South.

Anyway, the trip to LA, OK, AR and TX were great, it opened doors for me BUT I am not moving to LA. I will stay in Oregon in my fixer-upper. I am moving into the mansion this weekend.

Work week 20 was disastrous. The appetizer was the unexpected total mill power outage that has pushed my Monday into a 17 hours work day. Main course: the twice delayed but highly anticipated White top run with 4 set of trials planned, 4 sets of trials request, 5 group of interested visitors strolling in (SP, Wilsonville, chemists, paper makers and WY-WTC) and multiple operation and quality constraints. The side dish was: Friday when it was all about the fixer upper, mom visit and white top filler trial. Last but not least, the dessert: working on Saturday with unusually high pond level and water consumption condition. Sure look at me.

After packing my bags into the twilight hours, I got on the road to the quest of the Elvis’s land.

Memphis, Tennessee is the house of the blues. Horace explained that people are in misery and feeling blues at Memphis. Anyway the week was uneventfully in the entertainment prospective, but definitely an eye opener and mind blower for my intellectual capacities. I highly recommend ppl to go to that machine optimization seminar.

San Francisco is always a treat to go to. It was a stressful start but I had a good time eating and shopping. The view from the hotel was amazing, overlooking the bay. I even went to a service Sunday morning.

Here I am back to work with a Monday filled with BASF work, PM#3 production episode and refiners plate change out. Adios! Can't wait till June for b-day, July for wedding events....

PS.. Dave has a farmer tan and Wing is going to San Francisco!

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Back from Dixie

I was cruising along south dixie in my prius hybrid, enjoying the trees and the fancy car, making my way deep into the heart of Dixie. I had a chance to try out some southern specialities, including catfish and hush puppies, which were not terribly impressive, but made my mentor proud and made for some good conversation at work.

The drive from Dallas to Campti was not too bad, and I made good time (though I could not keep up with the crazy drivers in Dallas), so I had a chance to explore the area. There is not much to keep a person busy around Natchitoches, although I can see how it could be an attractive place for a southern raised family to settle down. Quiet, peaceful, and definitely out of the way. Finding decent chinese food, however, was basically impossible.

After Campti, I made my way via Shreveport and Arkansas, back through Texas, and into Oklahoma. It was hot, and fairly uncomfortable, and there was still no sign of good chinese food. Valliant is an enormous mill, with quite a culture, and they are very proud of their operation. They did not seem very enthusiastic about Louisiana, and discouraged a culturally sophisticated person like me from making a home there. They mostly said they would rather come home with me.

After acquainting myself with the operation in Valliant, I made my way back to Dallas for one last day of entertainment and eating. It was another long drive to get there, but I still had some time to go out on the town.

After making the most of Dallas, it was time to head for the airport, so I packed up the Prius and headed out on the crazy Texas freeway. Just four miles from the airport, I experienced one more little piece of excitement - the Prius turned out to be more than just a fun car. It became a car that kept me safe in a dangerous situation. Driving down the road, cruising along with all the crazies, I saw something fall off the undercarriage of the car in front of me. I had no time to avoid it, so I ended up running straight into the muffler that had plopped onto the road in front of me. It took out the tire of the Prius, and left me stranded on the freeway with a flat, all by myself. Thankfully, my cel phone had enough charge for one call to the rental folks, who promptly came to rescue me. They were there in less than 15 minutes, and had me on my way to the airport right away.

Since Friday I have been learning to utilize my negotiation skills, and at this point I feel happy with the rewards and experience that the trip provided. It was a valuable learning experience for me, and also gave me some more tools to help open doors for my future.

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Red river here I come!

Hi you all!

I will be traveling to the south in a week of time. 4 states in 7 days. Cowboys here I come!

Friday, April 15, 2005

TMO diary! & The Grunt of the Year!

TMO was a great learning opportunity! On the first day I was panicking about fellows from Metso and looking forward to meet the Steiner group. Anyway, there were a lot of foot shuttling between AFL and PMs throughout the day between the analyzers. After lockout chaos, PM update meeting, samplers’ un- attachment chaos in the afternoon, I was in my jumpsuit and harness, getting ready to dive into the chip rocket, being dripped and covered with black liquor. Quite an adventure. More great news coming my way as the Finnish Metso specialist cured the tumor that has been hurting Cati for months. It was all about the defected circuit board. On the other hand, Kappa has 3 error messages, erratic reading and a contaminated level sensor.
I gotta talk to Margaret too. She is from corporate. (Saw SU from SP and had dinner with him).

Confusion and panicking continued on the second day of TMO as Metso work continued. Teflon tape and light issues were causing some bums. By 2, I almost had a nervous breakdown since my vendor has a tendency to play hide and seek with me. He was nowhere in sight. After attending update meetings of PMs and AFL, I chased him down and got an update. More panicking set in as I was finding out how I was failing my project. He was running out of time and out of parts and I felt I was being cheated out of my service contract (rebuilt 2 samplers and analyzers). I wanted the job done. I learned a lot about the rocket though, esp. the lower screens and I got to visit with some of my fave AFL operators. So after all, the day was another A+. After work, I visited the carriage house.

Third day, I changed my battlefield from AFL to PMs. The very hectic day took my mind off of some VERY unpleasant family time. Meanwhile, I was hoping that Kappa would be fully serviced. I did not get the actuator for Kappa. I guess I will wait. My day was all about headboxes and graphite sheets. Horace and I were checking out all the cool blisters on the sheets, but blisters are not really desirably cool. I also got to learn a lot about apron and slice lips from the Steiner group. They even enjoyed my oriental style chili with the Mexican twist for lunch. Also, my Barbie outfit was well received. Those were the jokes of the day. At the end of the day. I was told that I will be going to Memphis TN for a week in May. HEE_HAW. Oh.. Oh Oh … and my new name of the day is GRUNT or the assistant of another assistant!

Fourth day, I spent time in trip-planning (TN and CA), PMs and recovery. In the morning, I was at PMs, doing blister counting. (Scott stopped by to talk to me about red river, a mystery will be revealed shortly.) In the afternoon, I was able to climb inside the fire box, the 7th and the 12th deck of the recovery boiler, not to forget about the lime kiln. That was pretty awesome. (I had dinner with SU again. It was a lot of fun.)

The fifth day was all about harmony and good news (NC called back). Everyone is ready to go home and be happy. “This is a friendly mill.” Quote SU. Horace liked that. What SU should have said but didn’t is: “I like to work with you all, fine ppl”. Bright and early, I was hanging with SU in the lime kiln. It was awesome to be inside one of those, checking out the bricks, lime mud and the chains. Then he came and visited at 10:15 AM. (oops he had a little run-in with the lab ppl, I hope it was just a misunderstanding) Then I had lunch with SU, Horace and a bunch of maint folks. I even got him to hang out with me till 1. In the afternoon, it was all about start up and just trying to survive.

The weekend is around the corner and let see what kind of torments are waiting of me.
I am physically exhausted and emotionally strained. White top (brightener, white fiber), Metso, PI are all coming my way, and Oh I forgot ‘the fixer-upper” . When will I be on a sandy beach?

Tuesday, April 12, 2005

TMO Saga!

The first day of TMO was awesome!.......

I was in a harness and in a the chip rocket... IT WAS SO COOL!

Sunday, April 10, 2005

A nightmare!

Friday night and Saturday were the worst time I can have in the past year or so.
I was heart broken and now I lost faith and trust in certain individual. It is sad that how people transformed into a wicked domain.

For me, life goes on...... I learn that other's stupidity should not cause me pain, because they ain't deserve my attention and love.

Friday, April 08, 2005

A house ownership is on the way!

Nerve-wracking... I am very nervous, anxious and excited.

Monday, April 04, 2005

Another week in progress!

Another week closer to the TMO!

Work week 14 was alright. Busy as usual, especially when TMO is approaching. Hanging out with Richard last Monday night was great, he is a good friend; I always enjoyed his company, too bad that I was too tired for some chess.

Tuesday and Wednesday, I visited with A.

Wednesday after work was OSU recruiting night. It was somewhat weird to run into past professors. My orbit-liked drink is still sitting on Skip’s shelf. Hackleman still has the funky hairdo.

I spent Thursday night with tech dept. It was a dinner get together for Zane. I drank some Riesling; tried some dirty Martini for the first time. it smelled like disinfectant and tasted liked very nasty alcohol.

April's fool day! Friday evening, I went to dinner with Kamichia and A. It was fun except I was disturbed by A a little and hoping the weekend would get better. (I guess it was a little better, what can I say? I was hoping for too much.) I ended up not visiting with Laura while I was in Portland. The weather was nice, no rains, and we went to the Portland Chinese Garden. It was “mamatei” to hang out with A. He was feeling bored and uneventful. On the upside, I got to know the person a lot better.

Sunday was about my day and my space. I get to relaxed and be lazy. It was very comforting to attend mass Sunday evening. I miss going to that for the past month.

Week 15 starting with a stressful vibe so far. I was very irritated by certain someone; dang it, talk when I can and don’t play stupid with me.
Anyway, today is A's Birthday. Wonder if he cares to have dinner with me sometime this week. I haven't seen him for awhile... a few months now...not even in church.

Wing's insight was right on about such and such. Know what I meant?
Let see if I can get off work at a reasonable hour and do some volunteering tonight?

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Just some random thoughts!

Things that I want to do this year:

1. Get hitch.
2. Move to the tropical island with 'sandy' beaches.

Just plain being insane.
'you are the life-saver'- Eric H. and all I did is having dental floss on my desk.