Standby in Newark Airport

I was on a business trip to Boston and New Jersey last week. Being away for a week, I was eager to return on Friday. I was on the earliest flight from Newark to San Francisco that leaves at 7:15 AM. Arriving at Terminal C, I was stunned to be in the middle of a packed terminal. It took me a while to figure out that my flight was canceled and I must be in a long line to be "re-accommodated."

The battle began and I've already lost. It took me a long time to figure out that the reaccomodation line was useless, and I need to get on the stand-by list of the next few flights. A few tricks that I realized on Friday:

1. Don't use the regular Continental web site. Use the mobile version: http://pda.continental.com/PDA20/default.aspx. You can check the current standby list with this mobile version only and see your place. As long as you are at top 10, you have a chance.
   
2. Try to get on the Elite status. Delta, NWA and continental are part of the Star Team, if you earned enough miles on any of the airlines you can get that status and be on shorter lines.
   
3. Avoid Continental airline; I have yet to be on a Continental flight that is NOT late by more than one hour. They upgraded me to first class on a flight to Mumbai once so I'm grateful to them, but they are always late.
   
4. Ask for Alma in the Elite customer service counter. She was so helpful and sympathetic to me. Without her help, I am still in Newark now: The customer support person on the phone told me that the next flight that I can get is on Tuesday.
   
5. Continental allows you to be on one standby list at a time. If you can be on a late one but a shorter list, you should take that.
   

Anyway, I thought that I got lucky and managed to get on the afternoon flight as a standby. The plane almost took off but returned to the terminal after nearly two hours. This flight was also canceled.

There was no more flight out of Newark after that. I have to find a hotel, competing with thousands of stranded travelers. All the good hotels near the airport were book. I was lucky to find a decent motel, small, cold, but a place to sleep.

Saturday morning I wait for the second flight out of Newark. The third time was a charm. I was number 6 on the standby list and got on the flight. Some late arrived travelers with tickets were met with hostile eyes from standby customers. The survival instinct was at display. I was proud of myself that I kept my compassion for fellow travelers in this difficult time.

It felt like leaving a battle field after the flight took off. I was wondering about the tens of thousands of travelers stranded at the Newark Airport: what are they doing and how can they get back from home.

 

more newspaper headlines of Obama victory

Obama Victory Newspaper Headlines

Some Newspaper Headlines

Can the Marlins Make the Playoff?

With 12 games to play, the Marlins are 5 games behind on the National League wildcard race. Do they still have a chance? If they win all the games, then they will probably be in, and likely clinch the division. The Marlins do control their own destiny. They will play Houston, Philadelphia, and NY Mets, the teams in front of them. They must do well. If by some miracle they are in the playoff, then the history is on their side, they won both 97 and 03 world series as wildcard team.

Double Birthday

Last weekend we celebrated Victor's birthday. He will turn 5 on Wednesday but we could not wait. On Saturday we went to Costco and brought a big toy emergency response helicopter as the birthday present. This toy instantly became his favorite toy; he wouldn't let it be away from him. On Sunday we brought a birthday cake for him and Grandma, whose birthday is later this month. Oliver and Victor liked the cake so much that they had it for lunch yesterday.

Victor is doing well at school. He had some homework, and when Yang and I tried to work with him, he appeared to know everything and needs no help at all. We'll try to teach him more subjects. We started with Chinese characters and poems from Tang Dynasty. The results were mixed so far.

Drill Baby Drill

The Republic Party had their convention last week. Among other things, they nominated their candidates for the US President. I didn't watch much TV coverage due to my busy schedule. But I heard that the party faithful was ecstatic about their nominees.

During a few speeches, the whole floor was chanting "Drill Baby Drill," apparently referring to the policy of drilling for oil near the US coastline. The atmosphere on the convention floor was euphoric, a few conservatives must be a bit reluctant to chant this suggestive slogan, but went along anyway.

Any political party in this type of excitement over drilling for oil doesn't deserve to win any election. This is the most reactionary policy one that can come up with when facing the energy shortage and the climate change problem. It would be a shame if the Congress will vote on this.

Republic couples may had a good time using this slogan in their bedroom, but it's the US environment and long term energy security that will suffer in the long run. Stop them.

Mount Wanda

Mount Wanda

Another hot day in the Bay Area. Victor wanted to hike. I was surprised that he wanted to do it again. So I checked the direction and we headed to Mount Wanda, which is about 10 miles east of our house. Yang and I hiked this trail a couple of times. It's an easy trail, but with initial steep climb. I had low expectation for Victor.

Mount Wanda is part of the state park system. Near the entrance, there is a big warning sign indicating extreme fire danger.

Victor wore the odometer when we started the hike. Every five minutes he would stop and got a reading. I was hoping that we can get to the 0.5 mile mark, but Victor got thirsty and tired quickly. For a few steps, he sat on my shoulder. Adding to our misery, we didn't bring the water bottle.

Victor kept on begging me to turn back. We met two couples and their dogs heading down. Then we encountered a mother and her teen-age daughter. Victor attracted their attention. They stopped and complimented him as a brave young hiker. Victor, as always, ignored them.

We stopped just shy of the 0.5 mile mark, where the trail became flat. I didn't want to push too hard so we returned. The odometer read 2800+ steps.

Victor promised me to go further next time. If the weather becomes cooler next week, we might go further.

Start of the hike

who left her heart in Mount Wanda?

Victor with the odometer

Ducks

We were back after attending a wedding in Powell, Wyoming and two days sight-seeing in the Yellowstone National Park. We decided to take a walking in the neighborhood before getting dark. Victor became excited after we mentioned feeding the wild ducks in the pond. We brought some bread.

"Are we allowed to feed the wild duck?" Yang asked.

"We will do it anyway." All of us answered.

When we arrived, to our disappointment, the small pond was empty today, not a single creature.

We were about to leave when three young people approached the pond, two ladies and a men. One lady carried something. It looked like they were here feeding the ducks too. They looked disappointed when looked at the pond. I wanted to initiate a conversation with them about the ducks.

To my surprise, I noticed that the lady carried a big rock. The other two persons carried a couple of rocks. We left quickly and quietly. I heard three of them threw the rocks into the pond. It looked like they wanted to scare the ducks. But with the rocks that big, they might injure them. We were glad that the ducks had left.

Till next year.

Obama’s VP Pick

My prediction: he will pick Senator Hillary Clinton at 3 AM on Saturday.

What do you call an invasion?

The most popular term is pre-emptive war. Since you're preparing to attack us, we have to invade you to prevent a war. Nazis used this term to launch their Operation Barbarossa against Russia.

A variation of pre-emptive war: Self-defense counter-strike. This is a term invented by Chinese when they invaded India and Vietnam decades ago.

Liberation, another abused term used quite often. The US forces invaded Iraq five years ago under this term. So did many other powers. India and Argentina used when they invaded the Gao and Falklands island respectively.

Peace enforcement operation. A laughable term invented by Russia when they invaded Georgia a week ago. Incidentally, the Russians claimed that they only wanted to "cool down Georgia's hot-heads" when their jets flew over the region.

Negative Toll at the Bay Bridge

I had lunch with V today and we discussed the idea of reducing traffic congestion in the Bay Area.

If only we can get more people to work different shifts, we thought aloud.

The simplest incentive, of course, is money, which works everywhere in our society. Thus the idea of a "negative toll" at the Bay Bridge during certain late night hours: one can collect four dollars when entering the toll booth between 11 PM and 3 AM. The amount is large enough, $20 a week, to be interesting to a person's budget for a daily journey, but not worth the gas money if one doesn't need to drive across the bridge for work.

Will this work?

Yang and I were sick over the weekend. It's so cold and windy in the Bay Area yesterday and today. I could barely go up today, took naps after breakfast and lunch. I'm still tired. But tomorrow will be a long day.

The kids are doing fine on the other hand; No flu symptom at all.

From Seattle to Beijing

A friend of mine, G, from Microsoft days visited me yesterday. He stopped in the Bay Area on his way to China. It’s been six years since I saw him last time. G didn’t change much. His family is moving to Beijing in a few months. G and his wife, Y, both work for Microsoft. Their job responsibility includes a lot of coordination with Microsoft’s international offices, especially the Beijing office.

They have a tough work schedule. G told me that he and Y both work two shifts: first the regular 9-5 shift, then after dinner, they go back to office to work until midnight. This must be very tough on their young boy. So they are making a change to move to China. They won’t have to travel to China or have late night conference call anymore.

It looks Microsoft treats relocated workers quite well. They need to take a bit of pay cut, but will receive some allowance on housing, which is actually more expensive in Beijing than Seattle.

I’m eager to see how their move works out. There is possibility that Yang and I make the same move, eventually.

Birthday

Mom is coming to my house tomorrow from San Jose to celebrate my birthday. It has been a few weeks since she stayed in my house. Oliver is coming with her. Yang, Victor and I miss Oliver badly. It will be a lot of fun tomorrow.

Garden update

Our vegetable garden is doing well this year. Tomatoes are ripe.

Lots of peaches too.

Harold Ford, Jr. for Vice President

Obama should pick Harold Ford, Jr. as his running mate. A liberal from Mid-west pairing up with a moderate from deep south can be a winning ticket. Harold Ford Jr. reminded me a bit of Al Gore: smart, articulate, cool and passionate. I see him occasionally on MSNBC. He always maintains his composure on tough questions. It’s reported that in November 2005, when Ohio Republican Congresswoman Jean Schmidt implied that Pennsylvania Democrat John Murtha was a "coward" in response to Murtha's proposal for a redeployment of American forces in Iraq, Ford charged across the House floor to the Republican side during the resulting uproar in the chamber, shouting "Say it to Murtha!" while waving his finger at Schmidt. He was engaged last year, disappointing many ladies. But he looks very happy these days despite being a skilled politican without holding any serious office.

He is a moderate and his voting record is too conservative for me. But he will be a perfect fit as a running mate for Obama. Hopefully he will help to win Tennessee.

Meaning of Life

I'm obsessed with this question. Sometimes I ask Yang for fun. She always replies that she would slap me, just like a Zen master responding to a stubborn pupil.

I might have met a couple of true Zen masters lately. Some responses that I got recently when I asked the question are:

• No – Just one word, no explanation.
  
• I got slapped repeatedly until I have to run away.
  
• Take a bath- what does that mean
  
• Flip over
  
• Stupid
  
• I cannot see
  

These were the answers given by my sons 4 year old and 3 year old. This has been fun for them, being chased by me asking this silly question. But I might be closer to understand the meaning of life after this experience anyway.

The long car pool line

I noticed a sudden change of my commute routine this week: I have a more predictable morning drive to work nowadays.

I drive from East Bay to Redwood Shores every day. Typically I pick up two commuters from a casual car pool staging area, and get on I-80's car pool lane and avoid the Bay Bridge toll booth. Several months ago a typical situation is that the cars waited in a line in the staging area for commuters. The wait time ranges from five to ten minutes, sometimes fifteen minutes. The situation is reversed. Cars don't have to wait; people wait in line now.

The highways are still crowded with cars. But I do notice a few traffic congestions along my commute route. The traffic slows down a couple times along I-80 and 101, but it doesn't slow to stop and go anymore.

Is this the result of high gas price and slower economy?

Save Water

California declared statewide drought a few days ago. We received several letter from our water company on the rules during the drought period. We are required to save water usage by 10-15%. If we use the same amount of water, then we'll pay about 20% more, but if we save 15% water usage, our water bill will remain about the same.

We are also prohibited to waste water. If we violate the rules, there will be fines, water flow restrictions or cut of water service. Some rules are:

• Use water for decorative ponds, fountains.
  
• Washing cars.
  
• Washing sidewalks, patios.
  
• Irrigating outdoors on consecutive days.
  

Our water usage has been low in general. But we have about 20 trees, about 10 tomato plants and several other vegetables. We need to water the vegetable plants every day. We have been recycling kitchen water to water the garden. We will just have to save more. I fixed two toilet leaks recently. This should help to cut down the water.

The water company even recommends everybody to flush toilet less often. I guess California is serious about the drought!

Brothers

Oliver and Victor were close before the Hawaii trip. They become inseparable now. They play together, quarrel with each other, and make trouble together all the time. Oliver had been repeating everything coming from Victor’s mouth. In this way Oliver is following Victor’s lead on many activities, whether it’s going to the garden to play or running around the house. They are actually communicating now with their limited vocabulary.

This evening we were in Victor’s room. While I was sitting on his bed before my evening conference call, both of them charged at me and let me push them to the ground. This simple activity created so much fun for both. They kept doing this for at least ten minutes. At the end, both didn’t want to stop and ended up crying. This is their daily routine. Different each day but predictable outcome. It's so much fun for everybody.

Oahu 1

Our extended family went to vacation in Oahu last week. We treated Mom and Dad for this vacation. The planning took some major effort from Yang. She put together my miles from AA and United to get enough tickets to Honolulu. The trickiest part is to figure out the ride to the San Francisco airport. We tried to book the shuttle van to take us there, but the timing was bad. We also tried to find out BART, again there was no BART to the airport on Saturday morning. Finally we decided to drive and park near the airport. We packed six people in my mid-size car. Mom had to crawl in front of the backseat the whole time. But it worked.

The day that we arrived in Honolulu, Yang had a medical emergency and needed to see a doctor. Fortunately Kiser has several local hospitals near Honolulu. We called the hospital and rushed there after unpacking in the hotel. Yang could not be too active for the duration of the vacation. This limited our activity options and made the vacation more relaxing.

Honolulu had some unimpressive Chinese restaurants. We had Dim Sum in the first day but the food was no way near the quality of the Bay Area Chinese restaurant. The shrimp dumplings were dry and had no taste. I could have made better ones.

The living cost of Honolulu must be very high. Yang and I went to Safeway, a supermarket chain that has stores in California, to buy some vegetable. We were shocked at the price tag. Many vegetable and fruit are twice or three times as expensive as the same item in the Bay Area. For example, broccoli sells for three dollars per pound. Green onion is $1.5 a bunch.

MercyCorps

I read some stories about fraud and corruptions about some Chinese Red Cross officials while handling earthquake relief. This was heartbreaking. In one instance, one Red Cross official tried to get a 50,000RMB receipt for a 10,000 RMB purchase. In another instance, a relief tent showed up in downtown Chungking, cause a near street riot.

I lost faith in the Chinese relief organizations completely. I thought long and hard on whether I should still make the donation. At the end, I still decide to find a reputable charity to contribute. There is so much misery there; I cannot risk not trying just because some corrupt Red Cross people. A colleague at work recommend MercyCorps. So I rushed and made the biggest one time donation that I ever made.

Better use of the Tax Rebate

We received the Bush tax rebate over the weekend. While I completely oppose this rebate gimmick from Bush, I cannot say no to the money.

Our plan was to pay down some debt we owed to a relative in China. We have a change of plan now. We'll send more than half of the rebate to the China earthquake relief fund from American Red Cross. This is an easy call for us. When I mentioned the idea to Yang, her question was how we could send the check.

Hopefully our contribution will make a difference. It will take them a long time to rebuild. I can see hope based on the news reports.

Big Helper

Big Helper Victor is four and half years old but he was always eager to help out on chores. So far Yang and I are not encouraging him too much. This afternoon I went to our backyard to pick some board beans. I wanted to cook some board beans as a dish for dinner. Victor was watching TV. But he went out and told me that he wanted to him. "Sure. Can you help me to take the beans out of the pods?" I asked. For the next twenty minutes, Victor squirted in the backyard and opened the pods and picked out the beans. For the first time in his life, he is helping me in a substantial way and actually completed the task. I was so proud of him. I could see him growing up to be a big helper in our family.

Another Run for the Florida Marlins?

Another Run for the Florida Marlins?
The Florida Marlins is at first place of Major League Baseball. They have a record of 23-14 and are slight ahead of Arizona and Boston. This is amazing. They have the lower payroll in baseball. In fact, their total payroll is lower than the salary of New York Yankee's ARod.

I followed Marlins all these years. It was fun to watch them. I remembered the exciting 1997 and 2003. Especially 2003, when they beat the Giants, Cubs and Yankees to win it all. I brought the 2003 Marlins World Championship DVD. This is the only sports DVD that I own.

So do they have the talent for another run? I don't know. But if they play the way that they played for the last week, they will be unbeatable.

Busy Weekend

Busy Weekend

It was a busy weekend.

Yang and I took care of many chores. Yesterday we took her old car to Prof Smog for a second smog test. This time we passed. I worked in the front yard to cut the weed and landscape so we could compile with the HOA rules. We brought some white paint.

This morning I painted the front yard fence. It took me about two hours and was very tiring. But we did it. Now we just have to ask our HOA to close all three pending cases. What a pain!

Aggressive HOA

We received three letters from our HOA yesterday. All required us to correct something in our front yard:

- It has come to our attention that there are weeds under your front fence next to the sidewalk. please ensure that these are removed by Thursday May 22, 2008.
- It has come to our attention that the landscaping under your front fence is overgrown. please ensure that these are removed by Thursday May 22, 2008.
- Paint your front fence.

I have been relying on our HOA to remind me to do the minimal yard work. So far I don't have much complain. Other home owners frequently complain about HOA being too aggressive. It looks like I will have a busy weekend.

Oliver the Vampire

Tonight after diner, Yang was scooping out some ice cream for Victor and Oliver. For no obvious reason, Oliver bit Yang on the leg, very hard. The skin on the leg was penetrated and some blood was out. Oliver got a spanking. Victor, showing his caring side, went upstairs and brought Yang some bandage. We forgave Oliver at the end and he nodded to agree not to bite again. Still, we didn't know what prompted him to bite that hard.

Does China need Bush's Tax Rebate

I look forward to the $1800 tax rebate promised by the US government next month. (I have two kids so am qualified for $1800.) When I get the rebate check, I won't rush out to Walmart to spend it, sorry George W. Instead, I need to send the money to China to pay off a personal loan. A rich relative in China lent some money to Yang and me so we could buy a property in Shanghai.

The tax rebate will simulate the economy, the Chinese economy. Ironically the Chinese economy is growing too fast and requires some cooling.

Actually, I won't be too different from an average American. The stuffs that we buy from Walmart are made in China, and the rebate money will be sent to China one way or the other. It's faster and more direct in my case.

MDX vs. Altima Hybrid

We need a new car. Yang's current car, 93 Infiniti G20, is reaching the end of life. It's drivable but we are not sure how long it will last. We sinked in a couple thousand dollars a year for maintainance. We almost brought a new car in 2004, but decided not to at the last minute. Four years later, we really need one, but what kind?

I drive a used 03 Acura TL and like it. Our first choice is a used Acura MDX. It seats 7 people and will be useful when the extended family go out together. For the last few weeks I have been doing some window shopping. The local Acura dealers has some used Acura MDX's but none of them offered me a good price. Yang and I also tested the latest MDX. Great car but too expensive for us.

Last Saturday (4/26) I visited Nissan dealer. They had the new 08 Nissan Altima Hybrid on display. After a quick test drive, I just brought it. I called Yang and she didn't even bother to come for a test drive. I brought a base model with no options, and the price is slightly below the official invoice price. Next April I should be able to get a hybrid car rebate from the US government. So overall it's good buy, and I didn't have any stress throughout this process.

The car looks slick from outside. I didn't pay much attention of the interior. When Yang went to pick up the car, she wasn't happy to see the dark interior. It's too late. She would have to get use to it. After a few days, Yang gets use to it already. It sure gets good MPG. For now we are keep the G20 and will rotate the cars for our commute.

How to Obliterate Iran

How to Obliterate a Country

Last week Senator Clinton made the following comments

"I want the Iranians to know that if I'm the president, we will attack Iran," Clinton said. "In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them."

Senator Clinton should be locked up in a mental hospital instead of being allow to run for president. I feel safer with Dick Cheney as the President than Senator Clinton.

According to the Webster dictionary, obliterate means

• a: to remove utterly from recognition or memory
• b: to remove from existence : destroy utterly all trace, indication, or significance of
• c: to cause to disappear (as a bodily part or a scar) or collapse (as a duct conveying body fluid) :

Senator Clinton meant a or b in her comments. As if this was not enough, she added a redundant totally before the verb obliterate.

I have many questions for Senator Clinton on this:

1. What's detailed plan to obliterate Iran?
2. How many people are you willing to kill in the process?
3. What weapons do you plan to use?
4. How this would make American safer?
5. Did you ask the people in Israel if this is their preferred plan?

Iran is one of the oldest country in the world with more than 5000 years rich history. It has roughly 70 million people. There are about six cities with more than 1 million residents: Tehran, Mashhad , Isfahan ,Karaj , Tabriz and Shiraz , etc. To obliterate Iran, these cities would need to be destoried. Senator Clinton, what will the order of obliteration of these cities? There are many Christans and Jews living in Tehran, do you have any plan to spare them?

I assume that she plan to nuclear weapons because I really don't know any other ways. It's time for the voters her to send her packing. This is a more pleasant outcome for Senator Clinton than facing trial in a war crime court.

New Addition?

New Addition?

Yang found out that she is pregnant this week. This is unexpected for both of us. Victor is four and half years old; Oliver is close to three year old. Yang and I are used to having two kids and our various routines now. We are cruising now, but our life will change soon.

I want a girl. Two boys and one girl will make our household gender balanced. But the sex is already decided and we'll just have to wait and see.

We'll spoil the little one. Hopefully Victor and Oliver won't be too jealous and they can be good brother to the little one.

Three children make a perfect sized family. The parents should be able to handle one more kids than the total number of adults. When there are three kids, they can form more combinations of ways to entertain one another. Victor can probably baby-sit the youngest. There may be the days that Yang and I will have to give up and let three of them rule the family. So three is perfect.

A Visit to the Dentist

Oliver has been back since Monday. Our house became busy. Victor and Oliver play together, watch kids TV show together, and flight with each other over toys and some objects. They do get alone and they talk to each other. Oliver doesn't speak English. But somehow they can understand each other most of the times. Both of them went to the dentist this morning. Victor doesn't have any cavity. The dentist wanted us to reach the molars when brushing. Oliver wasn't so lucky. Two teeth were colliding and there was a small hole on one tooth. He needed to have the hole filled soon. They got two balloons from the dentist.

American Mom

My Mom took the US citizenship interview this morning. She passed the interview in about 10 minutes. All her study and practice in the last month paid off. I am glad I helped her too.

Now I have an American mom, a wife and two kids. I guess I should follow their footsteps.

Beautiful kidneys

I paid my annul visit to the radiologist yesterday. This was not usually a pleasant experience. The exam required fasting: I could not eat or drink past midnight. In the morning I had to drive for about one hour in rush hour traffic to get there, and then waited in the lobby to sign in.

I met a nice technician who did my checkup. She looked like the ultrasound technician from the movie Juno. She was very talkative and encouraging. The whole exam lasted fifteen minutes.

“I'm not suppose to tell you but everything looks fine.” She told me. By rule, technicians would just pass the results to my doctor and let her interpret the results.

“You have beautiful kidneys,” She continued. This was a sentence that I had never heard in my life.

“Thank you.” I didn't know how to react.

“You have good genes," she said. "This is my first exam today. It's good to see healthy organs. You made my day.”

After the exam she asked if I needed any water. I'd never met a medical professional who is so personal. She consulted with a radiologist then showed me out. “Have a good year!”

She certainly made my day and I hoped that she can do my exam again next year. We can all make a difference in this world. She was definitely practicing this.

I need to call my parents to thank them.

Bill Richardson is in debt, still begging for money

But don't ask Wen Ho. May be he can ask Obama to bail him out?

---

Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2008 17:36:26 -0400
To: xxxxxxxxxxxx
From: info@richardsonforpresident.com
Subject: One Last Request

	Dear Wen Ho, Millions of people have turned out in record numbers during our Democratic presidential process. What it shows me is how energized our Party is and how strong our desire is to take back the White House after eight years of Bush administration arrogance, incompetence, and recklessness. And while Governor Richardson left the field some three months ago, the debts we incurred in working to get his message out have not. Thanks to our many supporters, we have begun to whittle that number down but there is much more to do--and I'm hoping you will help us finally retire it all with one last contribution. We changed this race in important ways that will truly make a difference to our country. Now, both Democratic candidates are committed to ending the war in Iraq and getting all of our troops out. Now, both Democratic candidates are committed to charting a new energy future for America. And now, both Democratic candidates are committed to a foreign policy based on diplomacy and respect for international human rights. The goal of all of us who worked so hard on the Governor's campaign now is to ensure a Democrat gets elected in the fall and to make sure that Democrats control our national agenda starting next year. But please, as one last gesture to Bill Richardson's extraordinary leadership in our democratic process, help us close our books and live up to our obligations by making one last contribution to retire his campaign debt. Thank you so much for everything you've done to help. Sincerely, Dave P.S. A number of our friends in the Democratic Party have asked to reach out to you via email to enlist your help on behalf of other like-minded candidates and causes. If you would rather not receive any messages from them, you can let us know by clicking here . Here's to putting our national agenda back in the hands of people who share our progressive ideals.

Paid for by Richardson for President, Inc. Contributions are not tax deductible for Federal income tax purposes. All content © 2007 Richardson for President, Inc. To unsubscribe, go to: http://action.richardsonforpresident.com/unsubscribe

---

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Do you own a resort in Goa?

Every once a while, a seemingly casual conversation with someone can turn into an important moment. A year ago, RM told he would retire with his family to Goa as soon as he could save enough money; he would own and manage a resort there. He told me it could be a good business to manage a resort in Goa, serving many visitors from Europe. For sure it would be a completely different and perhaps more fulfilling career than the demanding high-tech management job, working with colleagues from twelve time zones away every day.

RM’s dream stirred up my imagination about my life and retirement plan for my family. What was my plan? Was I sacrificing too much for my job responsibility? Did I spend enough time with my kids? Should I think about more important things?

Did I have my own resort in Goa?

RM was a colleague of mine from Gurgaon, tall, slim, and charismatic. Although a dedicated family man, he had never missed out on any fun. A chain-smoker and food lover, he could cook delicious food and know all the good local restaurants. RM always kept a cool head when things appeared to be out of control. But what impressed me the most was his dream for a resort in Goa.

Life is short. I may not have a five year plan of semi-retiring, but I should have a resort in Goa for me and my family today. Always remember why I’m working, and make time for the important people.

I don’t know how close RM is with his plan. Wish him success. Maybe I can invest in his family resort and get to visit there soon…

So, do you own a resort too?

Baidu.com endorses Obama?

Barack is nominated as the most-impacting person on baidu’s latest profile page (http://renwu.baidu.com/ ). There are only six featured profiles so far, and Barack is the first non-Chinese featured. I checked the page. The page is filled with pictures and stories that are very informational and generally positive about Obama. Unfortunately the headline reads " 'Black Kid' Obama: Eveything is Possible!" The Chinese media still needs some training about racial stereotype.

Similarly the popular blog that reported this story also showed some ignorance about Baidu.com, assuming it somehow represented the view of the Chinese government.

RFK and MLK

RFK is one of my favorite politicians.

Copyright: Public Domain
Credit: Photograph by Abbie Rowe, National Park Service, in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston.

Sunday on the hiking trail

Yang took today off from writing to spend time with Victor and me. Three of us went on the Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline hiking trail. The air was cool today, a good day for hiking. We went much further than last two weeks when Victor and I were hiking by ourselves. Along the way we saw a beautiful sunflower plant. Sunflower is Yang's favorite flower. The soil surrounding the plant was very dry. We didn't know how this plant grew so healthy among other wildflowers.

Two deer were next to the trail and three of us caught a glimpse of them. They bounded away as we walked closer and before I could take a picture. A big black cow was nearby too. It chewed the cudd and watched us walking by gingerly.

When we were on the top of the hill surrounding by the trees and grass, my cell phone rang. It was a car dealer from the local Acura dealership asking me to buy a car. He was persistent but I managed to hang up after a minute of conversation.

Victor slipped a few times on the way down. We decided that we would find a flatter hiking trail next time.

Firefighting

Victor was always interested in fire trucks. He has one or two in his toy cars collection. Recently he picked up books about firefighter and firefighting vehicles every time we visited library. Last week I read him fire fighting related books for several nights in a row. He was fascinated by all these fire fighting cars, plans and boats. We learned many facts about firefighting together. For example, we learned different methods of fighting house fires, farm house fires, forest fires, boat fires and airport fires. Victor was especially impressed by the fire boats and their awesome water guns.We watched the movie Brotherhood together last night. It was a documentary about a few New York city firefighters. This was not a kids movie, but Victor watched with intense interest. For a four year old, these are one of the coolest thing on earth.

Sick Week

The flu bug is spreading around these days. In my office a few people got sick. Some were sick for the second time in a couple of weeks. In our household Victor got sick first, with sore throat and nasal congestion. Next Yang was infected by Victor, having the same symptoms for the last two days. The flu appeared to be a mild one. Neither Victor nor Yang had fever. I was the lucky one who wasn’t affected. I haven’t got sick this year and would like to keep it this way.

Victor became difficult when he was sick. He made a fuss about little things and cried a lot. He refused to take any medicine and clung to Yang. Hopefully Victor and Yang’s flu will pass soon.

How teachers respond to the hitting

The next day (March 28, 2008) I talked to Victor’s teachers: S and P. They were eager to know about my talk with the director. Perhaps they had been given the same answer and wanted to know if I had better luck.

I told them: either Victor had to leave or we should tolerate it. Victor would rather be hit every day than go to another class.

P: That’s so sweet.

S: Oh, but that is so sad. [She looked away.]

S came up with a plan: designate a teacher to shadow N every day.

I saw them doing it sometimes, but shadowing a three-year-old for 8 hours/day is easier said than done, especially on the playground. I read that an Olympic track champion once followed his 2.5-year-old boy and imitated his moves. By noon he collapsed in exhaustion. I have only gratitude and admiration for Victor’s teachers. They are on my side, and I feel supported.

Y: Thank you so much. I know how difficult this is when you have other 20 children to work with. But this is for N’s own good. I heard he’s tuned down.

S: He’s still hitting. With this plan I feel more confident.

Y: I hope he’ll change. It’s for everyone, most of all for N.

S: I know, and it’s your right to be concerned. I want Oliver to be here, so this is a family business.

Actually I’m not sure if I want Oliver to go through this. He’ll be three in May. There’s plenty of time for him to grow up. I don’t want it to start with N if I can help it. Oliver doesn’t know English so it’ll be hard for him to protect/stand up for himself. Yet, I love S and hope Oliver to have the benefit of her guidance.

Every day I ask Victor if he’s hit at school. Sometimes he says, “I don’t know.” “I forgot.” He may not want me to make a big deal of it, but I have to ask. Yesterday (April 2) he said, “N hit A twice. She cried two times because she was hurt.” A was like Victor’s “girlfriend,” although he said, “Eww.”

A part of me thinks something is wrong if a gentle child gets hit, s/he should cry and get over it. I don’t want to go to a meeting and be pushed down to the floor. I get up and say, “My boss is a spirited man.”

I don’t think I can ever do that. If I can, something vital inside me must have died.

(Originally posted at Yang's blog.)

How a 4-year-old practices non-violence

A pacifist gets feisty when someone hits her child.

Victor is an introvert, like me, low-key and easygoing. He loves the preschool and calls his classmates girlfriends and boyfriends, except for a few children who hits and curses. One child, N, hits/pushes Victor every day. Victor is not singled out, because N hits others as well. But he likes to approach Victor, and sometimes they form a bond. Victor plays with N and gets hit. To get back at the aggressor, he calls N "Crybaby" to make him mad. Then the conflict escalates.

One day N did some stunt. A teacher couldn't catch him. N threw a rock and hit Victor's head. N was then taken to the director. Hearing the news, I felt as if someone bashed me on the head. I complained to the teacher and director. N was put on a "program" to learn proper behaviors. I heard that he has tuned down, but Victor still gets hit/pushed every day. Since he is not hurt, I ignored his complaints, such as, N called "Victor" during the naptime, N bared his belly, N took off his pants and showed his booty (not in the bathroom). N slapped a teacher on the hand and spat on her.

Yesterday Victor said he was pushed down three times and cried three times. His teacher saw one incident at least, but didn't see Victor cry. I talked to the director again. Evidently she has heard such complaints.

Director: Don't listen to other parents' stories. You should come to the classroom and observe the children. There's more to it than you thought.

Yang: I heard the complaints from Victor, not from other parents. [I haven't spent a lot of time in the classroom but I had some observations. Once I saw N slap a teacher. Another time N chased after boy J, who didn't want to play with him. Being the selfish mother that I am, I told Victor to imitate J. But Victor couldn't behave like J to save his own skin.]

D: The teachers should intervene.

Y: A teacher cannot predict when a child is going to hit. After N hits someone, she can only sit him down and tell him not to hit, which is not effective because he doesn’t listen.

D: N’s parents came to observe him. They said he doesn’t behave like this at home. They are doing what we tell them to do. I cannot remove N from the classroom. If you want, I can put Victor in another class.

Y: But Victor was here first. [Victor has been in the class for a year and half, and N came two months ago.]

D: Technically, N came first. He has been with the Center since he was six months old. [Now he’s three.]

Y: Really? I am very surprised. Then there’s little chance that he’ll change.

D: I won’t say that. I won’t give up on any child, until we go through the program, which takes some time to complete, we cannot make him drop out. N is not a bad child. He is a spirited child.

Y: [I didn’t care to label N as any kind of child. I didn’t want Victor to be his punching bag. It's not fair or acceptable to me.] N needs to respect other people’s boundaries. Otherwise, it’s not safe for Victor to be in the same classroom with him. [N also hits other children every day.]

D: Other children also do things to N.

Y: I know Victor calls him “Crybaby” a few times to make him mad.

D: You see, you need to teach Victor to stop doing that.

Y: Comparing to hitting someone, this is less offensive; besides, it’s the only thing Victor can do. He cannot hit N back, so he calls him “Crybaby” to get back at him. It’s the only power Victor has over N. If you take that away, N still hits, but Victor can do nothing to express his anger. He is victimized and powerless. This is a vicious cycle.

D: What do you want me to do?

Y: I came to you and hope you might have a solution.

D: I offer that you come to observe, or you move Victor to another class.

Y: Victor loves his teachers. [Victor told me he needed to pee, he was probably bored. I asked him to wait a second. He climbed into my chair so I had to stand up.]

D: Why don’t you control your child? Sit down. [It was getting personal. Victor and I spoke in Mandarin.]

Y: Maybe you can understand: as a parent, I’m worried about his safety at school. In the other class, there is also an aggressive child. He’s very tall and his name starts with N. He hit Victor but not on a daily basis.

D: I’m not removing N from the class. His mother is a nursing student here.

Y: [I didn’t think this was relevant. I realized I was in the wrong political camp: the wrong race and social/economic class. I didn’t have a chance.] Will N be in the summer program?

D: Why? If he’s here, Victor won’t come?

Y: I want to know my options.

D: I don’t know at this time.

Y: I want to avoid conflict as best as I can. So it’ll be helpful if I know whether N will be in the class.

D: I don’t know.

Y: Thank you for your time.

D: You’re welcome. I’ll be here until eight o’clock.

[We both smiled.]

I came outside and asked Victor, “How about I switch you to the other class?”

He burst into tears. “No, I love Ms. S!”

“But N hits you every day.”

“Let him hit me. I want to be in Ms. S’s class.”

“But I don’t want him to hit you.”

“It’s okay. N is funny sometimes.”

“How?”

He couldn’t tell me. “I want to be in Ms. S’s class.”

There was not much I could say to that.

On our way home, we listened to a Chinese song, Sailor. He hums the lyrics:

在受人欺负的时候总是听见水手说/他说风雨中这点痛算什么/
Whenever I’m bullied I remember what the sailor said/In the storm my pain is nothing
擦干泪不要怕/至少我们还有梦
Dry my tears, don’t be afraid/At least we still have dreams
他说风雨中这点痛算什么/擦干泪不要问为什么　
In the storm my pain is nothing /Dry my tears and don’t ask why

I had low expectations for the preschool. I wanted Victor to learn English, make friends and have fun. He has done that and more, he is learning to practice non-violence. It’s easy to punch a smaller child, but it takes courage, wisdom and self-reliance to practice non-violence. Victor has taken on the task voluntarily because he won’t succumb to a bully either by withdrawing or imitating the aggressor.

Pay your bills Citizen Gyanendra

For a French revolution admirer like me, the situation in Napel is as close as it can get to be like France 200 years ago. I would like to be an MP in Nepal now. It's reported that Nepal's King refused to pay the electric bill. (http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Quirks/2008/02/29/nepal_monarchy_must_pay_electric_bill/5564/) I am not sure if the government has done anything yet.

My advise to the Nepalese government:

• Send Gyanendra the water bill.
• Send Gyanendra the gas bill.
• Send Gyanendra the electric bill again with 10% interest.
• Send Gyanendra the property tax bill of his palace.
• Cut the electricity, water, and gas to his palace right away.
• Seize his property to pay these bills, auction off his possessions.
  

Citizen Gyanendra needs to start making an honest living for himself. I suggest him becoming a clown in a circus.

Holy Watir!

I was in a tight spot last week. As a middle manager at a small software company, I was in charge of starting the load test practice. We set the goal and plan of actions. The major problem was that our software was designed in a way that prevented any load testing tool to function properly without any major effort. I tried WAPT, jMeter, and Grinder. While some worked better than others, all of them failed due to some fundamental problems with the user interface layer design. I pushed the development manager in charge to make the changes. But it was difficult, time-consuming and risky to change, and the manager was already stressed out over a couple of other projects.

The deadline was approaching.

Watir was designed to do single user automation testing. It just invoked an IE instance and drove the UI elements in a web page. One could always create multiple IE instances to simulate multiple users. This was not a preferred way to do load test. But I was desperate.

I wanted to conduct three kind of test:

• Longevity test: to make sure our server can stay healthy under heavy load for many hours.
• Capacity test: to measure the number of concurrent users one server node can support for more an extended period of time.
• Response time test: to measure the response time under typical scenarios.

I figured that Watir could do the first two kind of tests. So I spent about two hours modifying an existing script that a colleague of mine had written last Friday. I used Firebug to identify the dynamically generated HTML elements. Then I installed Ruby and Watir on a VMWare image that I allocated enough memory. We were ready to go.

On Saturday morning, when I got the green light from our QA team in India that it was all clear, I restarted the QA server and started my longevity test. The test script fired up and closed about fifteen IE windows. It paused then different users logged in and logged out. The screens were flashing. The VM image was just fine, no memory leak after a long period of time. Ruby and Watir seemed to be much improved. I managed to go to hiking with Victor while starting and stopping multiple load tests.

Ultimately the longevity tests failed. And we are still debugging the problem. The poor man's stress testing tool was just amazing; I could never imaging that it just works out-of-box. Thanks to Yun-Ping who introduced me to this tool.

A side note: So far Tomcat lasted ten times as long as WS in my longevity tests.

Citizenship Test

The date is near for my Mom to take the citizenship test. She still goes to classes to practices with several volunteer teachers. My brother and I occasionally call her to do some impromptu tests. She becomes so good with routine questions that her answers are automatic. Even with some random free formed questions, Mom begins to pick up the keyword in these questions and answers them. My prediction is that she has 60% probability to pass, as long as she is not intimidated by the process and interviewer. If she can answer the questions from phone without looking at the questioner, then she should be able to answer them face to face.

Indian in Szechuan restaurant

R is a colleague of mine from the Delhi office. He is a hard working hard driving manager and chain smoker. He can be up for several days in a row with very little sleep. Sometimes I wonder if he is in the right business as a software programmer. He is more suitable as a union leader or in a rock band. When I visited India, R used to show me around and take me to restaurants. We stayed up very late and I always drank and smoked with him.

R loves spicy food. When he visited the Bay Area last year, I took him to a Szechuan restaurant in San Mateo for lunch. This restaurant had a reputation of serving very spicy food. I thought he would be satisfied. We ordered cold noodles, fish in tofu and another seafood dish. All three were marked with red peppers on the menu. When the dishes came, R didn't think they were spicy enough, he kept on pouring hot sauce. I and the waiter were both surprised. R was sweating but pressed on.

As much as he liked the spicy dishes, R disapproved the cold noodles. "Why do they serve the food cold?" I guess it's not normal to serve cold dishes in India.

Toy Cars

Victor's Toy Cars

A tow truck that can tow two cars at a time. Taken on Friday night in Little Hong Kong.

Hiking Cow!

Why is this Cow in a hiking trail? Victor and I went on the same trail this morning. It was cooler than last Saturday. The ground was a bit wet because of the rain from the last few days. The trail was quite. We saw a large animal stood near the bench that we sat a week ago. At first I didn't know what it was. After closer inspection, we discovered that it was a huge cow. It was sitting and eating, and blocked the path to the bench with a view. We dared not get closer.

We continued for a while until Victor was tired. When we came back, the cow was still there, now facing toward us. We left in a hurry but took a couple of pictures.

We found an interesting wild grass on the ground. It repelled water just like a lotus leaf.

George Carlin is Good For Ya

George Carlin, Bill Maher and a few movies. These are the reasons why we subscribe to HBO. I was disappointed at George Carlin’s Life is Worth Losing two years ago. No complain about his topic and style, it just wasn’t funny enough.

Now he is back with It’s Bad For Ya. I watched it two weeks ago, and it’s as good as ever.

As usual, he rants against everything, from Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods, George Bush, to religion (again), so-called “self-esteem” movement, and patriotism. He is brave to dissect the slogans such as “Proud to Be an American, ” “God Bless America,” and “Your vote counts.” And one by one, all these just become ridicules right in front of us.

For a 70 years old man, some of his topics are serious: death and being old. George just lays it out there, with plain facts and no exaggeration, and these topics become funny. George seems to age gracefully. He reminded my pastor Ken in New Hampshire. Ken gave a sermon on death, funeral, and funeral reception. That was his only sermon that I remember after ten years.

George Carlin is honest, direct, uncompromising, thought-provoking, and really funny in It’s Bad For Ya. Check it out.

Barack Obama invited me for dinner

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Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:39:19 -0400
To:
From: info@barackobama.com
Subject: Dinner invitation

Friend -- Refusing money from PACs and Washington lobbyists makes this campaign different in one very important respect. We are not beholden to anyone but you. We've rejected the traditional Washington fundraising strategy -- including countless dinners hosted by lobbyists -- and put our trust in millions of Americans owning a piece of this campaign. Senator Clinton and Senator McCain have a different approach. Both have accepted millions from lobbyists and special interests, and both have relied on high dollar donors for the majority of their funding. This campaign is different, and I'm looking forward to supporters like you joining me for a different kind of fundraising dinner. If you make a donation in any amount between now and 11:59 pm EDT on Monday, March 31st, you could join me and three other supporters for an intimate dinner for five: "my.barackobama.com" https://donate.barackobama.com/dinner On Monday, at 11:44 am, Bonnie Locchetta of Rushville, Indiana made her first donation of $25. I'm pleased to announce that Bonnie will be one of my dinner guests. Here's what she told us about herself: "I come from an incredibly Republican county in a little tiny town. I've always been the rebel in my family. I had a fantastic government teacher in high school who really opened my eyes to a lot of things. I haven't always voted Democratic, but I wanted to vote for someone who spoke to me personally. Now my kids are doing well in school, but I'm praying for scholarships. I have no savings, and I don't know how I'm going to put them through college. I have never contributed to a political candidate before, but I have started an organizing group in my very Republican county. My children are very active in their support, and I will do all I can to show my neighbors that together, YES WE CAN." I'm looking forward to having dinner with Bonnie, but there are still three seats left at the table. Will you be in one of them? If you make a donation by 11:59 pm EDT on Monday, March 31st, you could join us: "my.barackobama.com" https://donate.barackobama.com/dinner We'll pay for your trip and the meal -- all you need to bring is your story and your ideas about how to make this a better country for all Americans. Small donations from ordinary Americans have set our campaign apart and allowed us to reject the influence of Washington lobbyists and special interest groups. Not only is your support the key to our success, it's essential to reclaiming a government that is of the people, by the people, and for the people. I hope you will make a donation now to participate in this opportunity. Own a part of this campaign and strengthen your role in our movement: "my.barackobama.com" https://donate.barackobama.com/dinner Together we can put an end to pay-for-influence politics. We can turn the page in Washington, and it all begins with you. Thank you for your support, Barack

Paid for by Obama for America This email was sent to: qinzhang@alum.dartmouth.org To unsubscribe, go to: http://my.barackobama.com/unsubscribe

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Test your Star IQ Play now!

Our Household Green Scorecard

Yang and I have always been living modestly. Conserving everything, including energy, is in our nature. These days I've been wondering how we really do for our part to protect the earth for every living being. Let's do an objective assessment:

• Household size: We get B-. We have two kids, slightly below the average size of the US household. We should get a B except that we have two boys. Boys tend to use more resource than girls base on my observation.
  
• Shelter: We get D. We are guilty in buying a large place to live, much bigger than necessary.
  
• Transportation: We get C. Our cars have average MPG ratings (22 and 28). We should get an F as I drive about 100 miles every day for work. But we were saved by my taking two passengers every morning across the Bay Bridge.
  
• Energy Usage: A. We use very little electricity and natural gas. Our electricity and natural gas bills are always very low. We don't have an air-conditioner. We use energy-saving light bulbs everywhere. In the winter, the temperature in our
  
• General Consumption: B. We don't buy much new products. Our TVs are small and more than 10 years old. We all drive used cars. We don't have many new cloths.
  
• Water consumption: A-. Our water bills are very low. We don't have lawn and we try to recycle household water to our garden.
  
• Recycling: A. We recycle everything paper, water, boxes, plastic bags, egg containers, etc. My Mom is a natural in this department. Everything she visits us, she always shows us new ways to reuse and recycles things.
  

Our overall score is B-. We are doing well but could be better.

What is your score?

Nepal shows us the way

Nepal will become a republic after so many years ruled by a cruel and stupid king. This is great news for the whole world to celebrate. It's about time for other countries to follow this lead and abolish all monarchies.

Monarchy is a form of government that is so outdated in the twenty-first century. Similar to slavery, this is an institution full of people's blood. All monarchies were established through conquests, greed, cruel customs and wars. The fairytales about beloved kings or queens are, just fairytales. This institution represents the worst of the human race. Oppression, deception, conquest, inequality are all associated with this form of government.

I have a simple solution for the world's monarchy problem: let's create a theme park for all the monarchs in the world, and call it Monarch-Land. Let them live in this theme park, wearing their silly costumes. They can call each other majesty and highness all day long. We will get to visit Monarch-Land to see them play. But they are not allowed to leave. For outside of this theme park, there will be no place for monarchs.

Victor’s School Choice

We live in a newly developed neighborhood. The assigned school O doesn't have a high ranking. When we moved here four years ago, it was too early to worry about Victor's school choice. That was then, now the school problem is right in front of us. Yang and I talked about school often.

We need to get Victor to a decent school.

There are not many options for us. We can wait and hope his assigned school gets better, which is not likely. Or we can move to a different location with better schools. The last resort is to send Victor to a private school. Our friends and acquaintances deal with it differently. L brought an apartment in a good school district twenty minutes from her house, just so that her kids can go to school there. This is too costly. Yang and I considered this option, went house hunting once, and decided against it. I know somebody who sent their kids to private schools in San Francisco. His kids even got a scholarship to pay some bills. This option is also expensive and we cannot take in our current financial situation.

Fortunately there seems to be a loophole in the school assignment rules. We can transfer Victor to a different school within the same school district. Almost all other schools have better ranking than O. H is a school in the same city but with a higher score; O2 is even better; K, in an area full of million-dollar houses, is the best. Yang did extensive research and applied to all three of them. This week we learned that Victor was accepted as a transfer student at H. He will be set for seven years. Oliver will follow him to the same school in a couple of years.

Some interesting school district politics: O2 is a very good school, but they need more students to fill their classrooms and get some funding. They practically beg for extra students from other cities. A week ago they held an open house with cookies and drinks. I took Victor there. A teacher spent thirty minutes explaining to me and Yang (over the phone) how to transfer Victor to her school. Yang sent in the transfer form. Victor may get in there too.

Do you, too, have a school problem?

The Spiciest Dish that I’ve ever Cooked

It's called boiled fish, or 水煮鱼. Yang and I had it the other day in a Chinese Restaurant.

We have the ingredients. So I tried to make one yesterday. The result was fantastic. The dish was very spicy. As you can see, there were a lot of red pepper, some fish, bean thread noodles, and a lot of oil. It's a hearty dish that one shouldn't eat every day. But when we had it last night, it was so satisfying.

Victor had his own dish: egg with tomato and mushroom.

Why is John McCain thanking Obama?

Why is John McCain thanking Obama?

Dear Obama, I want to thank you for taking the time to sign up for email updates at http://www.johnmccain.com/. I hope you will join me in getting actively involved in this campaign. There are two important ways you can get further involved today: Make an online donation. Your financial support today is crucial to our success. Create your own McCainSpace website. Become an important online volunteer in this campaign and encourage your friends to get involved as well. Once again, thank you for signing up for email updates and I look forward to keeping in touch with you in the future. Sincerely, John McCain P.S. Please continue to visit our website at http://www.johnmccain.com/ for the latest news and information about my campaign. Please visit this page if you want to remove yourself from the email list. Paid for by John McCain 2008 · http://www.johnmccain.com/ John McCain 2008 P.O. Box 16118, Arlington, VA 22215 Phone: (703) 418-2008 Contributions are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. Federal Election Law requires us to report the name, address, occupation, and employer for contributions aggregating in excess of $200 in an election cycle. The maximum an individual may contribute is $2,300 for the primary election and an additional $2,300 for the general election. Couples may contribute $4,600 for the primary and general elections, respectively. Federal PACs may contribute $5,000 for each election. Contributions from corporations, labor unions, federal government contractors, national banks, and foreign nationals without permanent residency status are prohibited.

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Victor’s First Hike

For about three years, Yang and I used to hike every weekend. We hiked all the major trails in the Bay Area. We used a community web site http://www.bahiker.com/ to find good trails and plan the hikes. Hiking was our favorite activity until we had Victor and Oliver. Since Victor was born, we have been to the hills only a few times and haven't had a real hike.

We cannot wait to get back there. This morning Victor and I decided to give it try. I found an easy hiking trail not very far away from us http://www.bahiker.com/eastbayhikes/carquinez.html. I jotted down some simple directions and packed water and food and drove away. Yang stayed home to continue her work on Chapter 12.

Twenty minutes later I had to call Yang. Although I wrote down the directions, I missed an important detail. There were two Rankin Park Trails, and I didn't know which one to take. After a phone call and some technical assistance, Victor and I took the left one. Now we were all set as I wrote down all the other details.

The climb was steep, and Victor struggled. I stayed right behind him. He was in high spirit but became tired immediately. I took a few pictures.

Ten minutes later we had to take a break. We actually had a bay view. I encouraged Victor to continue. It became hot for both of us.

Another ten minutes and another climb later, we were at a relatively flat area, there was a bench to sit and enjoy the bay view.

Victor and I decided to head back because he was really tired. On the way back, he picked some yellow flowers for Mom. I led the way and Victor followed me this time, the steep decent was a bit dangerous for Victor. We moved slowly and went down safely.

We hiked about 1.2 miles, a third of the recommended route. Victor agreed to do it again and hike the whole route next time.

Aquarium of the Bay

We've been to the Oakland Zoo many time, but never been to an aquarium together. This morning Victor told me he wanted to go the aquarium in San Francisco. So after breakfast and some playing time in our garden, Victor and I headed for San Francisco.

It was a beautiful day in the Bay Area. There was a traffic jam in the city and many people are out. There are a large crowd near the ferry building. We drove to Pier 39 and parked our car on the top level of the public garage. Pier 39 was very crowded. There were many tourists.

We bought a family pass to the aquarium for $72. It was a good deal if all four of us went there twice in a year. The Aquarium is small, with the usual creatures. We saw some ugly fish and some pretty ones.

And some starfish.

We saw a big school of fish.

We saw sharks, not the scary big one but small pretty sharks.

Rays were flying on top of us, with funny faces.

There was even a small petting place. I petted a ray and shark. The water was cold. Victor didn't want to touch any fish; I wondered why.

Victor was mesmerized.

We had fun and will come back again with Yang and Oliver.