陳培勇的世界

Horseback Riding

2008-08-04T16:56:00.000-07:00

Went to Garrod Farms for some horseback riding. It's a lot of fun actually. I always wanted to ride a horse. It seems like so much fun. I do have an innate fear of animals though. But I am glad we went. We had a good ride around the hiking trails near Stevens Creek Reservoir. My horse Cabo picked a fight with another horse and tried to eat poison ivy but I was able to wrestle him out of it. Imagine that? Little ol' me. It was a beautiful day and capped off one of the most amazing weekends I have ever had.

Up and coming

2008-07-29T15:48:00.000-07:00

So what is new with me? Well, we'll skip over the obvious and delve right into the more obscure details of my life.

Number 1 is that I am going back to school. That's right. I am currently enrolled in University of Arizona's optics program. I'm not officially enrolled in the MS degree but that's the plan for the future. I'm going to take a few optics classes since work pays for it and see how it goes. If I do well, then I will apply. Why don't I apply now? That's a question for you to ask me.

Number 2 is I am moving back home. It's been a wonderful experience being out there on my own. I've had ups and downs. I may complain about my roommate a lot but honestly, he's been a great roommate. No one is perfect. I just like to complain a lot. I would continue living with him if money were no object. I think I've accomplished what I set out to do here. Mainly, be close to work so that my initial training can be easier. I can come and go without worrying about the three hour drive.

Number 3 is my brother from Japan is coming to visit in a couple of weeks.

That's it for now.

The grandeur of my photos

2008-07-24T20:45:00.000-07:00

Even I am surprised by how well this photo turned out. If only someone as capable as me were behind the camera, then I would have a backdrop like this for my wallpaper. Alas, we'll just have to enjoy my splendor as thus.

Camping for the weekend

2008-07-21T22:30:00.000-07:00

So tired. I couldn't have had a better time. Here's a pic of me. Not really sure what I am doing. But I have to say, I look pretty tall. My coworker and her bf were like little energizer bunnies. It was everything we could do to keep up with them. It was interesting to watch. We were usually found behind them trying not to fall too far behind.

Snooze

2008-07-13T21:10:00.000-07:00

There's a sense of tranquility when you place a baby upon your chest and watch it slowly nod into slumber. Baby Lia hicupped and squirmed a few moments while I held her. She seemed to like jerking here leg to and fro while mouthing like a fish. This one many be an Olympic swimmer. Watch out for her in 15 years. After she wrestles into a comfortable position she likes, I watch her wides eyes start a slow struggle to remain open. She seems genuinely curious to study her surroundings, namely; my face. But her conscious time span has not been exercised fully in her four short weeks on planet Earth. Thusly, I get to watch one of the most beautiful sightings in life: a baby peacefully sleeping on top of your beating heart.

I wanna hold your hand

2008-07-12T20:52:00.000-07:00

Small and exquisite
Dainty and light
Cool to the touch
Bursting with excite

Smooth and soft
Are five slender fingers
I hold on gently
So the moment lingers...
Forever

Fireworks in Lake Tahoe

2008-07-09T19:35:00.000-07:00

My friend emailed me about another church retreat to attend in Lake Tahoe for the 4th of July weekend. How am I going to turn that down? $104 food and lodging? I'm down. I arrived a bit but in time to hear most of the message. Then we packed into our cars and headed to the beach to secure a good spot to see the show. Again, those that know me know that I don't care much for fireworks. I guess I've just seen a lot of them. From the ones in downtown San Francisco, to Disneyland to the ones they keep shooting off at the Santa Clara Fairgrounds. I lived right behind the fairgrounds and therefore have become numb to the experience. I have to say fireworks technology has improved greatly since the last I saw it. There were happy faces. Hearts. Cubes. There was even a Saturn. What amazed me the most were the ones that were levitating in midair for maybe 15 seconds while burning. Looked like a flaming hummingbird. It was the most fantastic fireworks show I have ever seen.

It's an odd thing about girls and myself. Maybe my desperate vibes are no longer there. I saw a couple of girls from our group I never met and immediately went to introduce myself. One caught my eye and I devoted my attention to her. We talked much as we waited for the sun to set. I had thought she looked very familiar. It turns out I've seen her at a bible study class throughout the year. She played the piano. I always wanted to go up and talk to her but never had the guts to do so. On the beach at a church retreat social, it was much easier to approach her. In my wild fantasy, the thought occurred that she may be interested in me. But eh, what do I know about reading women. Besides I'm not about to split my attention away from my current alignment.

Forgot the eggs

2008-07-08T22:12:00.001-07:00

My friend came to visit me yesterday. It has been awhile since we've had a chance to talk one on one. Those moments come rare these days because I don't care to call her anymore. It's too much exercise to exclude her SO. Don't get me wrong, her SO is one of my best friends in the world. I like seeing him too. But you know how it is. They show up in a pair while I become the light bulb. Translate that to Chinese if you don't understand. No one wants to be the light bulb.

Anyway, she wanted insight on my dating life and I adamantly refused to tell her on grounds that she belittles me and offends me greatly when I go into detail about girls. She assures me that she is only being genuine and is only concerned about me. I've been saying lately that I am an open book. Anyone can know all about my life. They need only ask. I don't mind her knowing about my love life. What I do mind is her commentating. Which is not to knock her. I know she's not being mean. She's just being herself. But it just rubs me the wrong way and puts me down. I mean really down. Those that know me, know that I have a hangup about girls. I mean, my self-esteem is based on how girls view me. Or at least how I think they view me. It's taken me a long time work past this problem and actually approach girls like a normal person.

So we talked all night dancing around the girl subject. I gave her tidbits into my love life even though I was steadfast against it. I was beginning to feel more comfortable and relent a little. Maybe I was wrong about her after all.

Then she says, "I can't wait until you're married and have your first kiss," she said with a devilish smile. "How are you going to do that when you don't like being touched?"

Oh gosh, I can't even keep quiet about my own little secrets. Can't even begin to count how many things are wrong with that statement.

Growing up

2008-07-01T22:51:00.000-07:00

Today was a good day. I was given my third project at work. Which in my eyes means I'm doing good work and management trusts me with another hundreds of thousands of dollars contract. That's a good thing/ And something just occurred to me. I'm not scared about being happy. I'm not worried something bad is going to happen. Is this what they call growing up? I make up little side theories of pessimism to avoid being let down. It's just that I've grown up to so many failed promises that in order not to be disappointed, I had to lower my expectations. But not today. I earned my third project. I worked hard to get it.

No eHarmony update this week

2008-06-30T22:58:00.000-07:00

Why? Because I've turned off matching. I'm not receiving anymore matches. I'll let your imagination figure out the reason.

Moon Lady

2008-06-29T23:41:00.000-07:00

The moon hung low and red listened to me.
"I am tired and lonely," I whispered.
I told her this would be temporary.
I told her I wanted to change things.
I wanted to change things for the better.
She was large and round smiling at me.
It's that wicked smile of sarcasm
She knows me well.
But I know I am changing.
But how?
I know I am out there dragging my feet.
Potential swirling like a mist around, my hands unable to grasp at them.
Tomorrow, I tell myself.
Tomorrow, I step forward.
And yet I cower in the darkness avoiding the lunar shine when the time comes.
Will you sense me here
Will you find me here?
I want to be near you.

Very bad phone message

2008-06-28T10:12:00.000-07:00

Omigosh, you have to check out this link. This is the worst phone message ever left for someone. I can't wrap my head around it. How can someone be such a douche bag?

http://view.break.com/527579 - Watch more free videos

Me too old or him too young

2008-06-25T17:40:00.000-07:00

I was talking to a new intern at work today about our temp receptionist. She looks a lot like Blossom. "Who's Blossom?" he asked. Are you kidding me? You don't know Blossom? You don't know what it means when people say, "on a very special Blossom...?" He's all of 21 and he's never watched Blossom. Am I too old? The 90's isn't that long ago is it?

What a gorgeous day!

2008-06-24T19:30:00.001-07:00

We finally did it. The literary genius of my group has finally succumbed to error. Well, not really a genius but among a bunch of tech savvy young adults in the Silicon Valley he might as well be Webster. (As in the dictionary not the short kid) His downfall came in a casual crossword game to a seemingly benign word. He mispronounced it in such a lovely tone. You just had to be there to savor in the grace and majesty that is his utter ineptitude at grasping the subtle nuances of such a auspicious and affable word. It will now and for always be my favorite word. Yes, Jack's downfall is....duh duh duh duh!

PARADIGM

Glory to you oh great and humble word.

eHarmony Update #3

2008-06-17T22:15:00.001-07:00

Now, I am having fun. The numbers are in. For my one month anniversary I have 93 matches of which 77 are closed. I took a couple of new pictures of myself and apparently they are good. I haven't been closed by anyone since. I've had to close them out myself. I learned from another site that if you have too many on your waiting list, eHarmony is less willing to give you new matches. Being that a great bulk, perhaps 50%, are from non-subscribers, I just chucked half of my matches that didn't respond to me after a week. Remember, I send out communication to just about everyone I am matched up with.

Either I am very appealing or my goal for this 6 month experiment is too low. I just came back from my 3rd date and this girl actually shows promise. I don't want to get ahead of myself and say any more than that. The first girl didn't seem interested in a relationship. There wasn't a connection with the second girl. The third girl, I asked out again. Anyway, I'm extremely happy with my results being that I am ahead of the game already. Actually, I shouldn't call it a game. I hate that term for dating. I'm still not too sure that I would meet my soul mate doing this but I sure am having a blast participating.

Uncle twice over

2008-06-15T22:11:00.000-07:00

I am an uncle again. This time to a rather fat 8 plus pound girl. Her name is Lianna. I like the sound of that. She took her time coming out and displaced my sister's pelvic bone. But all in all, a smooth delivery. I can't wait to go home and see her again. I want to hold her. Andrew is no longer cute. heheh.

The Drone

2008-06-11T22:03:00.000-07:00

You hear that? Really, you don't? It's constant droning in my head. I recently moved in to a great apartment complex. It's spacious and clean. It even has central air. According to the managers at the office, it's the only apartment complex in Richmond to offer the luxury. I thought, great. Sign me up. If there is one thing I cannot live without, it is air conditioning. The last few days have been pretty warm. It's standard fare for summer in northern California. It's actually a bit cooler than I was used to in LA. It's cool enough outside that I can just open the window and let the breeze come in. But along with the breeze, I get the dreaded buzzing. That's right. The buzzing of 50 other AC units in this apartment complex. It's enough to drive a man crazy. I'm not just being cheap about it either. There's no reason to waste natural resources when temperatures are under 80. Good thing I just bought these noise isolating headphones. They're rubbish though for only $7 at Fry's.

Sex and the City and Me

2008-06-10T22:40:00.000-07:00

I was out hiking with Mandy again last week. She is by far my favorite hiking buddy. She can keep up with me and we have meaningful conversations. Perhaps a little too meaningful. She told me she should have invited me to go see Sex and the City with her girlfriends? Whatever, crazy girl. I'm a dude. I mean, I like Pride and Prejudice but I draw the line at Samantha, Carrie et al. She said she felt I was like one of her girlfriends. She can tell me anything. Yikes. I don't know if I should be flattered or offended. I'll just take it as she values my friendship. Which makes me feel good. Because I value hers too. But you won't find me watching that movie. Has nothing to do with me trying to be macho. I don't have interest in seeing the movie. I did watch the first season of the series. In fact, I bought half of it on DVD with Nam. He got to keep it. He must have bought me out.

Sex and the City: The Movie

2008-06-08T22:42:00.000-07:00

I was having lunch with my sister when she got a phone call from her friend to go see Sex and the City. This is the third group of people I know who are getting together to go see this movie. I recently saw an email at work from a coworker who was planning an outing as well. All these throngs of women gather up to watch this movie like they were going to the bathroom or something. What is going on? It's some sort of cult woman thing. It's just odd to me. We guys probably have an equivalent thing too. But I can't think of one that excludes women. Women can watch the Superbowl. A strip club is all about the woman.

eHarmony Update #2

2008-06-04T18:14:00.000-07:00

You know, I try to be politically correct. I try to be honest. I try to look beyond the cover. I try not to judge a person on first impression. I try to be a squeaky clean person. But I'm just not.

There are 5 levels of so called "Guided Communication." The final step is open communication. I've reached open communication with only 2 out of the 80 matches I have. So far I am above par in my expectations.

Anyway, back to where I am a jerk. So I've told you already. I basically, initiate communication with just about every match I get as long as they fit my criteria. Which are thusly in order of importance:

1. Local
2. Age between 22-32
3. Asian

I closed about 10 people who were matched to me outside this criteria. This is because eHarmony has a "pity" routine. If it sees that you are not receiving any matches, it starts loosening up your requirements so you get more matches. Which is kinda stupid because people set those requirements there for a reason. But I guess it's better to provide an irate customer with lousy matches than no matches at all.

Anyway, those that know me, know that I have one more criteria that I didn't list. I don't like pink people. I've already blogged about this in an earlier post and you can call me a pig all you want. I haven't met a single ugly pink person. They are all beautiful to me. If they would just drop the fork some time, they would be the most popular guy or girl. All they have to do is exercise. I'm not saying it's easy but it's something you can do. Ugly people like me have no course of action short of plastic surgery. And even that is not a sure thing.

So I was matched with a hot pink last week. I said to myself. I am not going to be a jerk. I'm not gonna be one of those 40 other women that closed me right off the bat without a single thought. Those that took one look at me and said, "Ewwww." I was gonna give all my matches a try. Looks aren't everything right? I initiated communication with her despite my jerkness. Her responses to me were lightning quick, within minutes. As if she sat online all day with nothing to do. I started to wonder what I would do if we came up to the point of having to meet face-to-face. My third communication with her was ignored for six days. And finally, on the seventh, she closed on me. Frankly, that is a relief.

Those of you snickering in the back saying I am pink too wondering how I can call people pink when I am pink too. Well, I don't like myself either. I don't discriminate on my hate even if it is to myself.

In-N-Out

2008-06-01T08:39:00.000-07:00

Did you know that there are bible scriptures at In-N-Out Burger? Check the burger wrapper and the paper cups next time you are there.

NSFW

2008-05-31T06:58:00.000-07:00

I was at work on Friday when I got an im from my friend Jack. It contained a link to a video on a website. Just as I was about to click play on the video, he said I might like this artistic nudity. Is he sending me a porn link while at work? So I im back, NSFW? (Not Safe for Work?) And he said only if your work doesn't allow artistic nudity. I mean, seriously, how many of you work at a place that allows naked pictures of people on your desktop? And then he ims back, "Then it's NSFYW." (Not Safe For Your Work.) I closed the browser link and then closed his im box.

Office Space kind of day again

2008-05-29T18:41:00.000-07:00

There's been a recent shift in management the past couple of months. We engineers are now asked to make convergence charts for projects. We don't like them. In fact, we hate them. So much so that only 3 has been put together out of 20+ projects since inception. It helps us in no way for processing. It's just another way for higher ups to review our projects. Although they have 9 other sources they could use. Most easily being, check the log book! Anyway, they were initially called Process Execution Success Tracking Sheets. (PESTS) Very unpleasant. We voted to rename them to Tracking Process Success Reports. (TPS Report). Gosh, I love that movie. But it doesn't make these reports any less anal retentive.

Rock Band again

2008-05-27T17:03:00.000-07:00

Yeah I think I am going to be Rock Band. Check out this story.

How Rock Band saved my marriage

I want to play game

2008-05-26T16:46:00.000-07:00

I took Andrew over to Mandy's sister's somebody's 7-year-old birthday party. I watched in delight as the boy's father lugged in a huge box for his son. He happily pried it open to find Rock Band inside. Lucky kid! I immediately wanted to join in the game but held back for propriety sake. Andrew, however, leaped in flailing his arms. For the next 20 minutes I watched sadly as he screamed over and over again, "I want to play game." Now, when I was 7-years-old and a kid half my age wanted a piece of my Nintendo, I ignored him. It's my birthday present no one gets to play except me! I tried to hold back Andrew but nothing I did could calm him down. So I watched waiting for the inevitable crying to my arms that he wasn't allowed to play. Oddly though after 5 minutes of rejection. He didn't cry. If this was home and he didn't get what he wanted he would be wailing almost immediately. Odd. He seems to be able to keep himself in check outside. Still, watching him squirm into the group of 10 other kids all much older than him waiting desperate for a turn to play made me wish I could do something for him. Mandy said this was a life lesson he needs to learn. He won't always get what he wants. It struck close to home for me because I envisioned myself back then when I was kept out of things and not allowed to be part of the group. I wanted so much to do something for him but I know I can't. As an uncle, I can't baby him forever. As it turns out, these are the least selfish kids I have ever seen. I did not once see any of them take the drum sticks from each other. No one hogged an instrument for more than one turn. They each waited patiently for their chance to play. Boy, was I spoiled when I was a kid. Andrew eventually got his turn to play. Even more surprising, he relinquished the drum sticks after it was over with no fuss. Imagine that? i think my nephew deserves an award. Maybe I should go buy Rock Band. That game is fun.