Monday, January 26, 2009

Chinese New Year Resolutions

Gung Hay Fat Choy, interwebs! The Year of the Ox is upon us.

I am running quite a bit behind, mostly due to mad stress and uncertainty over Sun's huge layoff. I basically tabled any life decisions until after January, and now that the immediate future is secure, it's time to get things in gear.

I wanted to make some New Year's resolutions, but I was too preoccupied. But I gave it a bit of thought, and ladies and gentlemen, I give you my Chinese New Year's Resolutions, better late than never:

  • Get healthy. - yes, I know I could not be more vague. I don't want to just say "lose weight" - what if I gain muscle? Essentially, these are the things I need to do: lower cholesterol. Eat better and avoid fast food. Make an exercise plan that I can stick to. Get my remaining nerve issues with my leg and foot resolved.
  • Retire to bedroom by 10:30 - I know what you're thinking. It's almost midnight. FAIL. No, I said bedroom, not bed. Currently Rhonda spends the first hour or so sleeping on the couch because I stubbornly refuse to go to bed. This isn't altogether fair. So the plan is to get some exercises and stretches down before bed, possibly get to sleep a little earlier, and ...
  • Read more - and not just comics and manga. Actual books with words. I have a lot of books I started and never finished, and quite a few more I have wanted to read but are just collecting dust on a shelf. and I have a library card.
  • Improve my Japanese - 2008 was a failure of epic proportions when it comes to my foreign language skills. I need to at least get to where I was two years ago. Goal is to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) this winter. Improved Japanese skills will come in handy when I ...
  • Get my ass to Japan - It's been five (!) years since our honeymoon in Japan. We have been planning to return for quite a while now, but our plans have been scuttled by the economy, looming layoffs, etcetera etcetera. I think this summer it can finally happen.

There it is; that's the list. I will be posting updates, at least partially as a motivational tool for myself. And since (C)NYR's are, well, pretty arbitrary, I reserve the right to add to the list as the year goes on.

Ganbarimasu!
A couple of weird and disparate stories from this weekend.

Instead of rolling in the Scion as usual, we took the CR-V to Stockton so I could pick up the elliptical I bought at Christmas vaca. The CR-V has no iPod capabilities (the FM transmitter broke), so my wife was fiddling with radio stations. One of the stations played Digable Planets. I haven't heard Rebirth of Slick in years. Great, right?

It was the oldies station. That song came out when I was in high school!

Went to mass Sunday morning. They got to the part where they offer prayers, and it played out mostly as usual. There was a prayer to respect the right to life, which is pretty standard nowadays. A little later, the last prayer was for (and I paraphrase): that our leaders, especially President Obama, govern in a matter to respect the rights of the unborn. Lord hear our prayers.

At which point I leaned over to my wife and said, "That's it?!?"

When did it come to this? Why is the intersection of politics and religion so narrow that there is only room for one issue? At a time when I'm not really getting along with my church, this ain't exactly smoothing things over.

(I don't want to start an abortion debate. Personally, I'm not down with it, but I'm not rabid about my position. I feel like I don't want other people shoving their religions down my throat, so who am I to do the same? An abortion is a personal choice and it's between you and your God, whoever He is. The key word there being "choice". I don't think victims of rape or incest should be required to have a baby. There are a lot of people who think that makes me a lousy Christian and that I will burn in hell, but I say this is between me and MY God.)

My point, of course, is: what about the rights of the *born*? Is abortion really that much bigger a sin than war? Torture? Suppression of civil liberties? Discrimination based on ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or sexual preference? What about capital punishment? I don't understand people who are against abortion but in favor of the death penalty. What is it with you people, timing?

I guess I should just shut up now before I make anyone else angry.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Survivor Guilt

Survived layoffs today, for the umpteenth time. I've lost count, but unlike the others, this round came during the worst economic disaster since the Great Depression. So I have to feel pretty good about having a paycheck tonight.

As an added bonus, I have a new boss (my second this week) in a new division. Finally, my group is where it should have been the day I joined it.

People seem to think I should be pretty happy about these developments. Relieved, yes. Grateful, yes. But not happy. Several people that I work with closely had to leave today. So today has been incredibly difficult. Not only do we need to fill the gaping void left by their departure, but I am, of course, worried about them and how they will adjust. And I'm also left wondering why they are unemployed, and I get to continue working from home with four weeks of vacation a year.

If I've learned anything about this process, it's that I can't predict what is going to happen. What inevitably happened was so far from what I would've thought it is difficult to wrap my head around. And I don't have too much time to dwell on it, since we now have to figure out how two people are going to do the work of four. As usual, the future is wrought with uncertainty and I don't know where my path will take me. But at least I've bought some time.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

"On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord."



"As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers ... our found fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all the other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more."



"So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

'Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet (it).' "