No Winter Weather

No Winter Weather
There was no sign of Winter weather today. It was more like Summer. I was buzzing around this morning running some errands in my shorts and an Aloha shirt. This was sweet but 82F/28C is not typical Halloween weather at all.

It was sweet to be out in my shorts today. I’m not sure if my semi-pale legs were scary or not. If I had been smart with a keen presence of mind, I would have gone past the beach and stopped to read for a while and take in the scenery and local life out on the sand.

Korean Historical Epics
It looks like I will be without any more Korean historical epics to watch on. In the Sunday night time slot for The Immortal Yi Soon-Shin, the company broadcast a Korean musical show. I think it was a good show with nice production values. I didn’t watch much of it because it was in Korean, naturally, and without subtitles.

On the plus side, this means I will be able to go out on Saturday or Sunday night and not miss part of the series of programs. It also means that Doug is off the hook for taping these shows when I am out of town.

Job Searching
I was doing my job searching today. There was nothing that was really close to my skills and my interests locally. I could have found some very interesting positions but a couple of the most promising were in the coastal section of Texas.

Earthquakes I can handle because you have no warning and therefore no time to get scared. Hurricanes, on the other hand, take a long time to develop and their tracks can be plotted with reasonable accuracy. In other words, you know it is coming and you know where it will hit. That is not my idea of a good job.

I found another one in Kansas. Kansas is probably a very nice state and place to live. There are tornados, remember Dorothy and Toto, but there are no hurricanes or earthquakes unless you count the New Madrid Fault system that is overdue to pop a big one. The big strike for me against Kansas is there is no ocean. I don’t think I could live far from the ocean and beach.

Programming Note
Gentle readers you will have to get used to short blog postings for a while until I can find something new to do and a new place to work. Going to work gives me opportunities to see and observe on the daily passing parade.

Be well and stay happy.

Weekend Update

Nelson – Rest in Peace
Nelson was the Princess and Doug’s day.

She was put to sleep on Saturday after a long life. I think she was 14 or 15 years old but had been in declining healthy for the last few years. Things got progressively worse until she was laid to rest.

The Princess picked Nelson out of a crowd of puppies at the local animal shelter. I’m not sure why she chose the dog, maybe it looked energetic when they went to pick one out. I suppose you are wondering why a female dog would be called Nelson. At the time, the Princess was enamored with the rock group, Nelson, hence the name.

I don’t think anyone knows what sort of mix Nelson was. The Princess said she was part rotwieler and part wiener dog. I could agree with that mix, she was always barking at me even though I came around the house on a regular basis.

When the Princess was in high school and doing whatever she did to occupy her time. Doug took care of the dog. He would walk her regularly come rain or shine although the walks in the rain were shorter.

After the Princess went off to college, Nelson became Doug’s dog. She slept in his room, sometimes on his bed and sometimes on the floor. He even named his production company for his high school, local cable access video show Nelson – Hannibal Productions. The dog’s photo was the company’s symbol.

Doug changed his schedule to accommodate Nelson. When she was in failing health, he made his class selections with a view towards being able to spend time at home so he could take care of Nelson.

Anyway, Nelson has passed on and we will all miss her, even me.

The Immortal Yi Soon-Shin
To my surprise last night, the Korean television broadcast showed a one hour retrospective of the year long historical drama. It was an interesting recap of the show.

Yi’s fleet either 23 or 30 battles and did not suffer lose one battle. In one battle, the Japanese lost 59 out of 75 ships and the Koreans didn’t even have a battle death. That is a remarkable record.

The broadcast claimed his victory at Hansando was one of the four greatest naval victories of all time. I can think of some of the other three, Salamis, Lepanto, and the Armada. I’m don’t recall studying the battle when I was in college in the Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps.

The fact that most impressed me was the ability to the Koreans and the Japanese for that matter to handle their ships in the open waters of the Sea of Japan. The ships were flat bottomed for the most part which made them unstable on the high seas. They could only use their sails with a directly following wind unlike contemporary European ships that tack with the wind.

The Koreans and the Japanese both carried them main battery on the upper deck. This must have created a tremendous stability problem with having so much weight so high up. It is a wonder they were able to sail on the high seas at all.

I was surprised to learn the Koreans’ largest cannon fired a 34 kilogram or 75 pound ball accurately about one kilometer. Lord Nelson’s HMS Victory fired a 64 pound ball but from only the lower gun deck. While the Koreans had larger armament than their European contemporaries, the Europeans were superior sailors who sailed better built ships. And, the Europeans combined the long range gunnery that the Koreans favored along with the favored boarding tactics of the Japanese.

I am guessing that tonight there will be a new Korean historical drama for me to become engrossed in for the balance of the next twelve months.

Andy Sippy
I went to see my tailor from Hong Kong on Saturday. I was good to see him again. I exercised extreme restraint and only order two sports coats. One is a regular blue blazer and the other is sort of a mustard brown blazer. With some luck, I should have the blazers by early January.

Andy showed me absolutely wonderful fabric this time around. Naturally, it was English woolen material. It was the finest suit material I have ever felt and probably would have tossed down an order for two or three suits except for the price of $1,000 each. That was a wee bit on the steep side, especially since I have new eight suits in the closet within the last eighteen months. I will probably purchase one in a year when I get really tired of two suits that I have had since January 1997. I think that owning and wearing a suit for over nineteen years is reason enough to buy a replacement.

More bad tats
I got to Andy’ hotel early so I killed time by people watching in the lobby.

I saw a young Asian woman walking around talking on a cell phone, hardly unusual there. She was wearing a short skirt low on her hips, and nothing out of the ordinary here.

She turned around and faced away from me while she was talking on the phone. Her turn exposed her nasty case of throng creep above the top of skirt as well as what appeared to be two, matching tats on her butt cheeks. They were small and grayish and, since she was walking away from me, I could not tell what the design was and I had no desire to get out of the chair and go take a closer look.

I was so turned off that I changed chairs so I would not be looking at here. Sometimes, one has to do things like this.

Sunday morning fog
Now, I live at the beach so fog is not unusual here.

This morning’s early fog was on the east or land side of the hill that my building is on. The fog had blanketed the area and only tall trees and office buildings were showing above the ground fog. It had an eerie, Halloween look to it.

The fog was gone in less than four hours. We have a nice pleasant day to enjoy.

Sunday marketing
I went to the market because I was out of food. This was an excellent reason to buy more food. I also continued to pick up the necessary food for the holiday cooking. It is much easier to buy the food as you see it instead of running around at the last minute, running a chance that it will not be there.

I saw a woman who looked interesting in the aisles today. She was not wearing a wedding ring so that was a good sign. I was going to say something to her but at the last moment I saw four, large gallon containers of milk in her shopping cart. This stopped me in my tracks because I came to the tenuous, but reasonable, conclusion that she was a single mother who had a couple of kids at home. That was not a situation that interested me at all.

I saw the mother again at the checkout line. She had enough food to feed a small army. Ok, maybe not enough to feed an army but enough to feed a medium sized family for a week or two. The only logical reason she was buying that much food was there were multiple mouths at home to feed.

I will wait for a single woman with no children at home. She can be closer to my age with adult children that are out of the house. That is fine with me.

In my wandering up and down the aisles, I stopped in the liquor section. I take a drink every day because my doctor says it is good for me. He says I can have a can of beer, a glass of wine, or a shot of whisky. I take the whiskey because I am a Scotch whisky drinker.

I saw one 1 ½ liter bottle of Scotch whisky that was very attractively priced. I was going to buy it even though it was a blended whisky instead of my usual single malt whisky. Then, I saw it came in a plastic bottle. I know that no good Scotch whisky would ever come in plastic bottles.

So, I passed on that bottle and purchased a bottle of moderately priced, single malt that I have not tried before. I know that I am drinking an unknown whisky but it can’t be worse than the blended whisky in the plastic bottle. The plastic bottle made me think of wines that are sold in cardboard boxes with plastic liners. That is just so wrong.

I think the plastic bottle beverage would probably be excellent as paint remover. It does not belong in my stomach.

Normally, I do not pay much attention to newspaper market coupons, I give those to Doug’s mother [ex-wife] and even less attention to the ones they generate when you checkout. Today, I made a modest change. I got a coupon for $5.00 off my next bottle of Chivas Regal Scotch whisky. I am not a Chivas drinker; but for $5.00, I certainly can become one and will be one next month.

Bad Ideas
Everyone should be creative. New ideas and products help expand and drive the economy. Some ideas should never ever see the light of day. I question their creators’ intentions.

Last night, I was watching television for The Immortal Yi Soon-Shin. I tuned in early and caught the end of a Japanese language news program. I’m not sure where I saw the ad but I did see the ad.

The advertisement in questions was a product called, and I am not kidding here, tofu steak.

Tofu steak?

That is just so wrong. The very thought of it makes my stomach churn. It is clearly an evil product.

And so, gentle readers, that was my weekend. I hope your weekend was enjoyable for you.

Weekend Preview

Well, the weekend is here and this is a short post. It would have been longer if I had added it to my Thursday night posting.

More Down Side Residue
I came up with some more down side residue from the lay-off. Since I am now no longer working for the company, I won’t be getting a bonus in February like I had planned on. So, no bonus, no big screen, plasma, HDTV, dlp, lcd television for me anytime soon.

I can live with the small screen for a while longer. I will benefit from waiting as the prices keep falling. When I do buy a big screen, it will be a larger model than I could have purchased now and it will have better technology. I win all around the table.

Halloween Tricks
I was reading the local newspaper’s sports section yesterday night after posting. I flashed and nearly heaved my dinner. My first reaction to the article was...

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

The article was speculating that the NFL would permanently relocate the New Orleans Saints to Los Angeles since their venue in New Orleans is broken and will not be repaired for a long time to come. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum has been vacant on Sundays for years. It has been an excellent football venue for years.

Tomorrow, the Coliseum will be sold out for the University of Southern California Trojans home coming football game. There will be around 92,000 football fans in the seats. USC is going for its thirtieth consecutive win.

The Saints are a terrible team that can’t win and won’t be able to win in Los Angeles. I don’t think the Saints have ever had more than 50,000 fans show up for a game. Three would be a great consecutive game win streak for them.

Los Angeles doesn’t deserve a crummy team like the Saints. They were a crummy team long before Hurricane Katrina. No amount of lipstick is going to make this pig look beautiful, even if all of Hollywood’s make-up artists and special effects technicians worked from now to New Years Day to make the Saints look good.

The NFL needs to stay away from Los Angeles forever.

Los Angeles is a great world class city. We do not have to prove anything to anyone. No other US city has hosted two Summer Olympic games. We do not need them at all. We do get to choose from four free games every Sunday that we can watch from the comfort of our homes in our flannel jammies. That is not bad at all. Most of the choices are the tops ones

Bad Timing Award
Here is my nomination for the Bad Timing Award.

The Mexican Tourist Board and the Cancun area have been running televisions ads here talking about how great a vacation to Cancun would be, right after Hurricane Wilma devastated the area and almost destroyed every hotel that serves the tourist business. It is unfortunate that this happened since it is money lost with no real gain.

Be well and stay happy gentle readers and enjoy your weekend.

Sleeping In - Sort Of

Sleeping In – Sort Of
Well gentle readers, I tried my hand or body at sleeping today. I did not set the alarm last night and in spite of my best efforts I was unsuccessful. I woke up around 3:45 AM to go to the bathroom.

I tried to go back to sleep but all I could manage was tossing around until I finally got out of bed at 6:00 AM. Not a very successful sleeping in day if you ask me.

Sharon
Sharon called me this morning to see if I received her email about a job opening at her company, a very much larger bank. I said that I had and would be sending my resume off to the hiring person. I also asked which divisions of the bank were better than. Sharon gave me a couple of ideas.

I was going to ask to go to lunch on Saturday so I could pick up the famous unsent photo of her. She is going out of town this weekend so I won’t be taking her to lunch on Saturday. Sharon suggested that I drive into downtown Los Angeles and join her for lunch. I could pick up the famous photo then.

Sharon suggested that we have lunch sometime next week. I will see how things develop. Maybe we will have lunch then. I can also tell you about the famous photo.

Job Searching
I emailed one of my former big bosses at the old company to ask if he would be a reference for me in my job search. He said he would happy to act as a reference. He also expressed regret that I was laid off. That was a particularly appreciated gesture by me.

I spent most of the day creating online resumes and posting them to Monster.com and Career Builder.com. That is a long and slow process, especially if you create multiple resumes for different situations as I was doing. I still have one more to create plus revise an existing one. That should take most of the morning tomorrow.

I also spent some time looking at the very recent job postings. I found a couple where I matched all but one or at most two of the desired – required job skills or experiences. That was so frustrating to be close but as far away as being on Mars.

The Old Office
One of the staffers from the old office called me today. She was upset that I had left yesterday without saying good bye to them. I explained that the company preferred to have me leave as quickly and quietly as possible so there would be no scenes or upset.

That is a logical request from their point of view. I respect their position.

We talked about the fact that she would miss me even though I was not part of the entertainment finance group. She felt that I was a good person to be around because of my cheerful nature and even disposition. She said most of the staffers were upset about my departure. That made me feel good as well.

We laughed together when I told that I wouldn’t have to worry about who to ask to go the holiday party with. She laughed some more when I said that I wouldn’t have to think over what to get for the holiday gift exchange in the office or what to make the luncheon that day.

Plus Side Event
Since I was at home today, I took some time from job searching to go out on the balcony and smoke one the cigars by coworker had sent me. Of course, it wasn’t Summer smoking out on the balcony. I had to wear long pants. I had to put on a warm jacket and zip it all the way up just to stay warm. It was breezy enough to blow the smoke away so that I didn’t bother anyone.

I did have a nice 80 minute smoking session this afternoon with a very nice and very mild cigar. I also had time to read some more of volume two of The Three Kingdoms while I was smoking.

Weekend Preview
I think you will just have to wait until tomorrow night for my weekend preview. I will be adjusting my posting schedule over the next week or so. I will let you know when to dial in for another posting from time to time.

Be well and stay happy.

Black Wednesday

Black Wednesday
Today, I was laid off from the company, making today Black Wednesday. I was hired to help the company add a new business segment. Since August, when the champion of the new business segment initiative left the company, I had figured my days were numbered. My work was exactly what the company hired me to do and the company has no complaints about what I was doing. It’s just that the company is going in a different direction.

I hope the company succeeds on its current course. I think it will muddle through over time.

On the Plus Side
I won’t be getting up at 5:00 AM tomorrow so that can’t be all bad.

I won’t be making the round trip to the office in heavy traffic tomorrow and tomorrow carries a forecast of rain and my gasoline usage will be down dramatically. That can’t be all bad either.

I won’t have to figure what to wear to the Christmas Party or who to invite to go with me and I won’t have to wonder what to get for the annual gift exchange in the office. That can’t be al bad either.

I will have some time to figure out how to work my new digital camera. I will have some time to read my historical novel, The Three Kingdoms. That can’t be all bad.

On the Down Side
I did not get to say goodbye to the people where I have worked these last 18 months. I started earlier than them and was out of the door before they came to work.

Days
Today was Day 72 in the building next door non-deconstruction saga. This is also likely to be the last report since I am highly unlikely to drive into Century City just to see that no work was taking place.

Sharon’s Photo
Sharon’s photo did not arrive in the mail today. Maybe it will arrive tomorrow but I will not hold my breath until I have it in my hands.

Be well and stay happy gentle readers.

Another dull day - another short posting

Hello again gentle readers. It was another dull day so that resulted in another short posting. Life is short like that sometimes. On the plus side with a short posting, I will have more time to read from The Three Kingdoms.

Days
It was Day 71 today. What else could I say? Nothing as is nothing much happened today at the building next door deconstruction site.

Sharon
My friend Sharon, who is a younger woman, is supposed to be sending me a cool photo of herself. I have been waiting for about two weeks now. I am beginning to think the photo does not exist. I have been told, “I ran out of time to mail it; I didn’t have any stamps; I didn’t want to mail it when it was raining; I left it at home; I didn’t cut it out of the group of prints; I left it at the office; and My boss was giving me a hard time about being away from the office.”

Maybe it does truly exist and it will arrive at my mailbox someday in the not too distant future.

Then again, maybe it is all a hoax to tempt me and play with my emotions.

I phoned Sharon this afternoon to say I was going to offer her an alternative delivery system if she had not mailed the photo yet. I hadn’t heard from her by the time that I left work.

You are probably wondering why I refer to Sharon as “my friend who is a younger woman.” There is a really simple explanation.

Sharon is younger than I am but not by all that much. Age is such a sensitive issue with women that they seem to grasp for every young attribute they can. That is why I say younger woman.

Sharon doesn’t like to be called “my girl friend.” So, I refer to her as “my friend who is a younger woman.”

Logical isn’t it? To some, it must surely sound very strange. But, to us, it is all very logical since we have been friends since 1987.

Andy Sippy the tailor from Hong Kong
I am going to see my tailor from Hong Kong on Saturday. He is in town this weekend, taking orders for new suits and shirts. I have been buying my suits from him since 1972 and before that with his company since 1967. Obviously, I am a satisfied customer.

I am meeting one of my coworkers from the bank at Andy’s hotel. I have picked up seven suits in the last eighteen months so I do not need much this time around. I am limiting myself to only one or two sports coats and that will be it.

My coworker says buying suits from Andy is like going to male suit shopping heaven. Every style and every fabric and every color is always in stock and it always fits perfectly each time. Our only complaint is there are too many excellent choice and too little money available to spend on suits.

Next, the Sharon connection.

Andy is staying at his usual hotel in Pasadena. Pasadena is about ¾ of the way to Sharon’s house. I figured that I could see Andy around 11:00 AM and be finished by Noon. Then, I could drive on over to Sharon’s house, take her out to lunch since I will be hungry by then, and pick up the photo.

Game – Set – Match to Nice Guy Chuck. I think that is an excellent plan.

What do you think gentle readers?

Be well and stay happy.

Things I Forgot to Mention in the Update

Things I Forgot to Mention
Hello gentle readers. I do have a few things that I forgot to mention last night in the Update.

I forgot to mention that I felt guilty for running around the office in a golf shirt and Dockers on business casual dress on Fridays. Vivian the Office Assistant is always cold, even in the middle of Summer. Vivian had her space heater under her desk on full. She was wearing a wool turtle neck sweater, a muffler, long pants, and a thick coat that came down to her knees.

I told her that I felt embarrassed being warm and comfortable as I was while she was suffering. Vivian said it was fine; she was used to being the only cold one in the office.

I also forgot to mention how Sharon’s evil boss was making her life miserable. It seems that her boss does not understand how to manage and lead professionals. I doubt her boss could lead a squad of hungry Marines to the mess hall that was directly across the parade ground and upwind.

The Princess Spoke
I phoned the Princess to get her thoughts on some Ethel M candy for Amy the server from Morton’s. The Princess said I was right to call her; that way I could avoid making a bad mistake. I had picked out three choices and asked the Princess which one I should get for Amy. With flawless logic, she picked one and that was a perfectly safe choice.

Then, the Princess said, “Daddy, since you are in a buying mood; Emily is almost out of coffee and I am nearly out of tea. Can you go buy us some coffee and tea and send it to us?” I said I would pick some up and mail it off this weekend.

Just so you don’t get the idea that Atlanta is a small backwoods city that doesn’t have any decent coffee or tea for sale, the Princess and Emily like the coffee and tea from The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, a Southern California company. Once you find a good supplier, it is hard to change.

The G-Man
One of my coworkers, the G-Man, sent me a couple of cigars in the interoffice mail. They were supposed to arrive on Friday so I could enjoy one of them out on the balcony. The G-Man called Friday to ask about them and I said the package had not been delivered. We talked about where they could have gone and came to no conclusions.

I don’t think I would have been out smoking on the weekend since it was damp and cool and windy. This coming weekend looks better for smoking outside. I will be enjoying one of the cigars for sure.

The Weather
It was another crummy day today. The morning low clouds and mist never really went away today. I didn’t see the sun at all and I drove home without wearing my sunglasses. I also did not open the sunroof in my car like I normally do.

Days
It was Day 70 today and nothing happened. Not that I expected anything to happen today.

Today was a slow day gentle readers.

Be well and stay happy.

Weekend Update

Sharon Part 1
I got a phone call from Sharon on late Friday morning saying she had received her box of candy. She also said she wasn’t going to share it with her evil boss. I guess things are not happy at work for Sharon.

Sharon was upset at the fact that I sent her a large box. I said that she could always save a bunch for me. I think her reply was something along the lines of “I don’t think so.” Sharon admitted that she was going to be a nice person and share the box with some of her coworkers.

I also asked her if she had mailed the photo she had taken to me yet. No, it was still on her desk because there were interruptions at work and she was unable to get it mailed. I am beginning to wonder if the photo exists or not. Maybe I will get it for a Christmas gift.

Day 69
It was Day 69 and nothing had happened up until I left the office. I left the office early today because I did not want to kill myself on the drive to school. Since it was a Friday and it was afternoon, I’m going out on a limb and say that nothing happened in the afternoon.

Wall Street Journal
It is always interesting to see what you can learn about life by reading the Wall Street Journal.

On Friday, I learned that Korea has become a major destination spot in Asia for cosmetic surgery. For some reason, many Asian do not care for their appearance and want to have a more Western look, especially with the eyes and nose for young women.

Personally, I have always liked the Asian appearance. But, what do I know? Probably not very much when it comes to this subject.

Vivian the Office Assistant is an Asian American. She and I had a discussion about the topic. She felt those who were getting the surgery were fools. She felt that the results of the surgery may not last long enough or you may end up with an old face and very young looking eyes. She said that look is perfect on Halloween but during the other 364 days of the year.

I think I agree with Vivian. I suppose this also means that when I see an Asian actress on television or in a film I ought to assume that some of her beauty came from a surgeon’s knife and stitching.

School and the Professor
I had my dissertation prospectus class on Friday night. The drive was not too bad for a change.
We started off by going around the group with everyone saying where they were in their project. Some of the students were saying their dissertation topics and they demonstrated they had not learned a lesson from an earlier class.

One of the first things we are taught is to pick a small topic; smaller is better when it comes to a dissertation. One woman wanted to write about “using emotional intelligence in management.” I think one could write on that subject from now until the next Ice Age; this assumes, of course, that emotional intelligence is a valid scientific technique and not some pseudo-science made up by some half baked authors to sell some books and get on the lecture circuit for a year or two.

I described my topic as being a twig on a branch of a large tree. I said my universe for study consists of only 670 institutions. Our professor said that was a good job of narrowing the topic down into a really workable area.

I felt really good.

Then, we were talking about writing research hypotheses later class. One woman, sitting next to me, suggested a potential research hypothesis but the professor sort of said she had missed the point.

I volunteered a hypothesis and the woman sitting next to me snickered at it. The suggestion worked perfectly for the professor because it met all of his needs to illustrate the point and it lead into his next set of comments on independent and depended variable.

The woman sitting next to me was not snickering any more.

Doug and Chuck Go to Morton’s with Amy the Server
Technically, we didn’t go to Morton’s with Amy; she was already working there when we arrived.

I got there early for our reservation because class ended early. I told the receptionist my name and that I was way early for a 9:00 PM reservation. I also restated my request for Amy to be our server and I said we would be willing to wait past our reservation in order to have Amy as our server.

The receptionist said, “Really?”

I said, “Of course, Amy is well worth the wait.” Then, I smiled like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. [Cue Jefferson Airplane White Rabbit song now.]

We got seated almost on time and that was good. Amy was our server and that was even better. She greeted us with a line that sounded like, “and how are my boys tonight?” It was the start of a wonderful dinner.

We promised to behave ourselves and eat responsibly and we did do just that. We had taken photos of Amy with each of us and I gave her a copy of the photos. I think we were the first ones to do that for her.

Amy asked where Sharon was tonight. We said this was boys’ night out. Sharon was also busy with some of her high school friends. I said Sharon was having dinner but it obviously was no where near close to what we were about to have tonight.

Amy spent a lot of time at our table during the evening. I guess her other table were a bunch of deadheads and losers. During one of sessions or stops at our table, Amy mentioned that she loves sweets and chocolate in particular.

This got me to thinking about getting something for Amy for our next dinner that will be in November. I will order some absolutely yummy chocolate candy from Ethel M. for Amy. The Princess says Ethel M is the best candy she has ever tasted.

Doug and I started talking about Douguary already and planning the tradition end of Douguary Dinner at Morton’s. Amy was there when we were talking about Douguary and she looked confused until Doug explained that Douguary was his birthday.

Actually, Douguary is a month long celebration of all things Doug that is held in the month of February each year. There is a similar celebration in May called Chuckay. Chuckay is a month long celebration of all things Chuck.

Some of our friends think we are crazy; our true friends just say that is Doug and his Dad.

Nice Guy Chuck
I was a nice guy at dinner. I ordered a take home roast prime rib dinner for Doug’s mother. I was surprised that Morton’s still had one dinner left by the time we were got there.

Sharon Part 2
Sharon has been urging me to but a digital camera. I have put the purchase off since the regular 35mm camera she bought me years ago still works fine.

On Saturday, I broke down and bought a Sony digital camera with 4.1 megapixels. I think it is more than what I can use but the price was compelling. I saved about $100 or so. It has a three step zoom lens system and Carl Zeiss lens optics, always a benchmark of quality.

The camera came with 32mb of built in memory. I added another 256mb of memory so now the camera can hold around 150 photos that are fairly detailed.

The camera comes with a user manual and a user CD. I think next weekend I will learn how to use camera. The nice thing about a digital camera, Doug says, is that you can delete any unwanted photos immediately and there is no developing to deal with and trips to the camera store. Our my major complaint is that I take about half a roll at an event and then I have to wait for months until I finish off the roll before I can see the photos. Now, I can have instant photo gratification, assuming, of course, the photos are worthwhile.

DVD Planet.com
Doug met me at DVD Planet for a DVD purchase. Since the store only sells DVDs, there is nothing else to buy there. I had three films that I wanted to buy and picked those up. The three are an eclectic collection of HONDO, LAND OF THE DEAD, and LIFEBOAT.

I also picked up THE EAGLE [silent film with Rudolph Valentino], BLADE RUNNER, THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN, HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES, THE BIG LEBOWSKI, and AUDITION.

AUDITION was Doug’s suggestion. I’m not sure if his suggestion was based as a warning to me about getting involved with young Asian women or if it was to point out a really good horror film. I’ll have to ask him about that some more.

No one can accuse me of playing favorites in my film selections.

After I came home, I watched AUDITION and ALEXANDER NEVSKY. Doug was right about AUDITION as being a scary psycho-drama that generates enough tension through a confusing, at times, flashback based plot. It is a great film for this time of the year or anytime you need a good solid to the bones scare.

ALEXANDER NEVSKY is Eisenstein’s great classic film. It is clearly propaganda; it shows the Russian people defeating invading German knights in the late 14th century. The Russian victory marked the beginning of the modern Russian state. I can see how some of his battle scenes in this film have ended up in other films, some from Kurosawa.

The Original Tommy’s Hamburgers
Doug and I went to the Original Tommy’s Hamburger for lunch. Doug has always said there are no bad times to go to Tommy’s for lunch, dinner, or at any other time when you are hungry.

I wasn’t hungry so I had a Number 2 combination which consists of a medium drink, fries, and a double Tommy’s burger [two slices of beef, two slices of cheese, chili, tomato, onion, and lettuce]. It was just perfect on a breezy, coolish [for Southern California] day.

Doug had the same except that he usually has chili fries but forgot to mention that change to the counterperson. So, he ended up with regular fries. He did admit that the regular fries were not bad and were actually very tasty.

The Immortal Yi Soon-Shin
The last episode was Episode 104 on Saturday night.

It was the last battle of war with the Japanese invaders. It was the fitting way for a warrior to pass on. Yi died in battle from a bullet wound, much like Lord Nelson did at Trafalgar in 1805.

Both Nelson and Yi were wounded by a marksman.

Both men died after the battle was won and victory was complete.

The Japanese forces were defeated, actually destroyed, because they fell for the bait that Yi had laid for them. The Japanese fleet was numerically larger than the combined Korean and Chinese fleets. In any fleet engagement, size matters unless the larger fleet in unable to maneuver and bring its greater power to bear on the smaller enemy.

The Japanese fleet was separated in three groups. Yi’s combine Korean and the Chinese fleet was able to attack the Japanese fleet in a piecemeal battle. This meant the Japanese were outnumbered in each individual encounter.

When you add in the elements of surprise, leadership, and planning, the outcome was a forgone conclusion. The Koreans launched their attack from darkness giving them the complete element of surprise.

The Japanese were thrown into confusion by the Korean use of long range [for that day and time] rockets. The rockets were fired from a long range and plunged into the wooden Japanese ships with frightening results. For the most part, the rockets did not explode but they did not have to explode to sink a Japanese ship. Their high ballistic speed gave them the kinetic energy to go right through the underwater portion of the ships they struck. This lead to immediate and uncontrolled flooding and the Japanese ships sank like rocks, taking their crews with them.

Yi’s nemeses, Wakazaki and Konishi, predecease him as they lose their fleets and men to the Koreans. They were played expertly by the Koreans and they paid the price for being overly optimistic.

Even the Chinese admiral came out of the fight a hero. He finally decided to fight with the Koreans, his supposed allies. He was able to return to China with his fleet intact and no significant losses to explain to the Ming emperor and claim part in a naval great victory. He had thousands of Japanese heads to present to his emperor. He had helped protect China from Japanese invasion. Apparently, presenting the emperor with the heads of his enemies was a way to gain favor. All he had to do was pick up the Japanese bodies from the waters and cut off their heads.

The battle that Yi’s fleet fought kept the Japanese out of Korea for just over 300 years. The Japanese returned in 1905 after they defeated the Russian empire.

The series had a very satisfying conclusion. But, one wonders what would have happened to Korea if Yi had survived the battle and gone on to influence the government. I would guess that Korea would have progressed farther and become a major economic power in the region, much like the nation in today.

Cinema and the Rest of the Weekend
I had planned to go to the cinema and see GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK today. I decided to stay home instead.

I got some reading done and I did some downloading. I am downloading files on business management and leadership for my friend Wu Shuyen who lives in Hong Kong. I will also make a copy of the files for Sharon as well because I am Nice Guy Chuck.

That was my weekend gentle readers.

Be well and stay happy.

Weekend Preview

It’s the weekend now; well, almost now.

But, first some of the usual details that some of you have grown to love.

Days
Today was Day 68 and I saw some activity in the building next door.

The security agent was seen walking around on the empty, wall-less second floor. It was a nice day outside but I have absolutely no idea why he would walk up to the second floor to walk around. Access to the floor is only by an internal stairway so there is no need to keep transients out of the building.

Strange, I did not see him to any of the other floors.

Sharon
I had ordered Sharon some Halloween candy from Hershey’s the other day. I was checking the package tracking system from DHL [the carrier] to see if she got it. I think that DHL has a little work to do on their tracking system. It showed the package was picked this morning in Ohio for delivery in Los Angeles today.

The candy might have been delivered today if I had dropped a ton of money on live courier services and chartered private jets. I really like Sharon but not that much. Second day air delivery is just fine I think.

I will check in the morning and see where the package is located. Hopefully, it won’t languish in her company’s mailroom over the weekend and get consumed by the mailroom clerks.

Sharon said she would call me when she gets the candy.

Weekend Events
This is not as busy a weekend as last weekend. That is good for me.

I have class on Friday evening. Not exactly looking forward to the class but I will show up and participate.

After class, Doug and I are going to Morton’s for dinner and we hope to have Amy as our server. Amy always makes our meals more special.

I am going to go visit DVD Planet.com to pickup a couple of films. I plan to snag HONDO, LIFEBOAT, and LAND OF THE DEAD. Now that is an eclectic collection of films. I will probably look at the foreign films as well and cruise through the Anime section as well.

This weekend is Episodes 104 and 105 of The Immortal Yi Soon-Shin. You just know I will be there for them.

Lastly, I plan to go see at least one film this weekend. I think I will go see GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK.

And so gentle readers, I hope you have a great weekend.

Be well and stay happy.

No Rain Today

Well gentle readers; there was no rain in Los Angeles today. We did have some of the rainfall totals, that’s a big number with us since we live on the edge of a desert, for the storm. It looks like the rainfall where I live was about one inch and up to several inches in the mountains where I don’t live.

Days
The two forlorn potted palm trees looked a little better today. I am guessing the rain helped them. There was no de-construction going on at the building site next door. But, you all knew that was going to happen, didn’t you now.

It was Day 67 today.

Hong Kong tailor
I got a card today from my tailor from Hong Kong. He will be in town next weekend. I have been buying suits from my tailor and from his predecessor company since 1968 and I have never ever been disappointed.

In the last eighteen months, I have purchased eight suits from my friend Andy. It is going to be hard to justify any more suits because I will be out of room in my closet for them. I am going to go see him and I plan to exercise extreme restraint this time around.

I am planning on buying a new blue wool blazer. The one I have now is almost eight years old. It still fits and is wearable. I am just tired of looking at it now; the cleaners have not been kind to it over the years and the abuse from the pressers is showing.

If I play my cards right, I can go see Andy in the late morning, order my new blazer, and then buzz on over to see Sharon for lunch if she is at home and not working. That would be a nice day for me.

Final Notices
I got some very serious looking Final Notices and other warnings today in my email.

If I don’t do something today, the fake watch vendors have threatened to stop sending me any more advertisements. I also got a final warning from some mortgage company that I have never dealt with saying there were going to cancel my pre-approved mortgage loan from their company.

Now, those, gentle readers, are big time threats.

My only question is will they stay true to their promise to cut me off if I continue to ignore their messages? The short answer is, as we all know, the Dodgers will lose to the Angels in four game in the World Series first before they lay off sending me and you this useless drivel.

I wonder if you can only receive spam email if you end up in Hell for you afterlife. That would be enough to most of us on the straight and extremely narrow path.

Just something to think about the next time you have to wait for an elevator.

Be well and stay happy.

Another short blog

Hello gentle readers. This will be another short blog posting. It is hard to have much to say when all I do is go to work, come home, have dinner, write a blog posting, and go to bed until it is time to get up for work again. I have more varied activities on the weekend so those posting are longer out of necessity.

Days
It was Day 66 and the rains continued from yesterday on through until around mid-day today. This means the two forlorn potted palm trees got some water from the storm. The deconstruction dust should be well matted down into a mud-like mess.

There was no work with the rain coming down, obviously.

Big shout out to Doug
I need to give Doug a big shout out for referring a bunch of his readers to my humble blog. I had over 30 unique readers yesterday. He was writing about older people who try to act 26 or younger. He said I had my own blog but acted my age and that I didn’t try to dress like a college kid.

I think I come close to dressing when I wear my Tommy Bahama silk Aloha shirts. Doug said most college kids he knew could not afford a silk Tommy Bahama shirt so that doesn’t count against me. Actually, I think Doug would like to borrow my black Aloha shirt sometime. He likes Aloha shirts and black is his favorite color.

Weather
It rained on the way into work this morning. I was wondering how my car would look with the rain hitting it. I was concerned that it would look ugly with water spots and dirt on it. Actually, the rain was heavy enough to knock the dirt and dust off of the car. It looks rather well today.

Prelude performance
I forgot to mention that the Prelude hit 328,000 miles as I pulled into my building on Saturday after having dinner with Sharon. Honda built a winner car with my 1989 Prelude.

It runs and runs and runs just like a Swiss chronograph.
What more a guy ask for in a car? Nothing except maybe a hot Asian American female in the front passenger’s seat to keep him company when they are stuck in the Los Angeles traffic.

Food in the Office
Today was sweet food in the office day.

The feasting started when Vivian the Office Assistant brought in some chocolate cake she had made last night.

I was bummed out because the rain had kept me from getting my morning coffee. I was not about to walk two blocks in the rain for a cup of coffee. Vivian sent out an email to the office saying there was chocolate cake in the staff room. I needed no second invitation and when to pick out my piece.

Vivian said she knew I was ready for the cake as I walked past her cubicle on my way to the staff room.

Vivian’s cake was fresh and moist and very yummy. It was perfect chocolate cake.

I told Vivian that her cake was wonderful and that her boy friend is lucky to have found a woman like her who can cook and loves to cook as well. Vivian said he doesn’t eat most of what she cooks.

I think her boy friend is missing out on a lot of great food.

But, that is not my department.

Early this afternoon, my Halloween candy order for the office from Hershey’s arrived. It was four pounds of Hershey miniatures in a Halloween pail or bucket. I took the pail around in a reverse trick or treat. Everyone had one or more of the candies and, by the end of the day; the pail was down by close to two inches.

I was surprised that the Princess got her box on last Friday and I got mine today even though they were ordered at the same time. I guess it was the distances involved.

That was my day; tomorrow looks better with the end of the rain for a while.

Be well and stay happy.

It rained in Southern California

Weather
It rained in Southern California today and will rain tonight and continue into tomorrow. This is something to not look forward to because the roads will be slick.

People will be talking on their cell phones while they try to drive. They will blame the driver of the car they hit for causing the accident. The other driver should have known that they were every important and that they had to talk on their cell phones about absolutely nothing important in the grand scheme of life.

The forecast is calling for a moderate amount of rain by the time the storm leaves tomorrow. I think the forecast is a little over an inch of rain at the beach with more rainfall the closer you are to the mountains.

I spoke with Doug about the rain this morning. He said there was a lot of thunder and lightening out by his house last night. Either I slept through the thunderstorm or there were none by my house. I think there were no storms by my house.

My drive home from work was not all that bad. It took me a bit longer to make the drive. I don’t think the rain had much to do with the extra time. It could have been unskilled drivers in California who are unfamiliar with wet weather. It will be rainy when I drive into the office but traffic will be light then. The rain should be gone by tomorrow night so the drive will be back to normal, whatever normal is on the freeway.

Days
It was a rainy Day 65 today. The rain will help keep the dust from the non-deconstruction site at the building next door down for the nest couple of days. The neighbors should appreciate that.

The two forlorn potted palm trees on the roof of the building next door got some water from the rain. I don’t know how much but any rain has to be beneficial for them since they are not being watered regularly now. I should be able to tell how much water the palm trees got by how their leaves droop on Wednesday.

Mail from my brother
I got an envelope from my brother today. He had cut out an article from the Wall Street Journal on upscale steakhouses because Doug and I love to go to them. Our personal favorite is Morton’s in Santa Ana, California and our favorite server is Amy. I had missed the article so this is pleasant reading.

I will be sharing the article with Doug when we visit Morton’s on Friday night. I had to be out in the area for a school class that runs from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. Morton’s is maybe ten minutes away from school so it is a perfect place to go for a later dinner. It will be even better if Amy is our server.

That was my day gentle readers. I hope your day was exciting.

Be well and stay happy.

Weekend Update

Days
Friday was Day 64. It was a little windy so the dust got blown around a bit more at the building site next to my office.

Sharon – Part 1
I phoned Sharon to wish her a fun weekend before I left work on Friday. She was still in her office, running around and helping a co-worker finish off one of his projects.

She sounded stressed and unhappy, a common condition lately.

I wished her well. She asked me what I was doing this weekend. I said that I planned to go to the company picnic on Saturday and mentioned that it was going to be at the Air Show at the Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar in San Diego.

Sharon bemoaned the fact that she was going to go see to the Air Show on Sunday with some friends and that she had nothing else to do for the weekend.

Military Tats
I was reading a news report on my Internet service provider’s news feed after dinner on Friday. There was a fascinating report that the Coast Guard had enacted new regulations that would bar recruitment of men or women who had tattoos on their arms. The reason for the ban was the Coast Guard wanted to improve its image and the tattoos were no longer consistent with its mission.

I was surprised to find the Navy had already enacted a similar ban several years ago.

This got me thinking when I was a young office serving in the good ship USS Leonard F Mason when she was part of the old Asiatic Squadron of the Pacific Fleet. We had lots of seamen and a few officers with tattoos on our ship. Some of the body art was fairly extensive and no one gave it much thought. We did encourage our sailors to think carefully about a tattoo since they were permanent and to make sure the tattoo parlor was clean and used clean needles.

In spite of my best efforts, a couple of my sailors got body art they would later live to regret.

Some had their girl friends’ names tattooed on their arms. This would be regretful as at least one of my sailors received a “Dear Joe” letter from home. He came to me with tears in his eyes at the thought of having to look at his unfaithful girl friend’s name every time he shaved. Her name was tattooed over his heart. Unfortunately, I could offer him no suggestions or advice beyond wearing long sleeves when he got home.

Some of his shipmates suggested he find another girl friend with the same name. I don’t think that was the Number One solution for this sailor.

Sharon – Part 2
Sharon called me around 10:30 PM just after she got home from her office.

Sharon wanted to talk and mostly vent out her frustration with her job. I supplied the willing and listening ears. I listened for almost thirty minutes until I looked at the clock and it appeared to be flashing 11:00 PM. I am not that sure because I did not have my glasses on.

We talked briefly about the company picnic and the air show. I mentioned the weather forecast that called for showers on Sunday in San Diego. This upset her even more. Sharon could not change her plans for Saturday because she was going to be out selecting new carpet, tile, and granite countertops for her place.

I finally said I would love to talk with you further but I needed to get to sleep.

Sleep
I did sleep fitfully after the phone call. I had planned to get up early and drive to San Diego. The phone call upset my sleep pattern so I ended up leaving my place later than I had planned.

Sharon – Part 3
Sharon called me on Saturday morning as I was having a light breakfast of a bagel, banana, and coffee. She wanted to know why my cell phones were off and I said it was because I was still home.

Sharon said she was going to call and talk to me while I drove to San Diego. I thanked her for caring but explained that I did not usually talk on the cell phone when I drive and I would not when I was driving at high speed as I would on the drive to San Diego.

I said I would call her later on after I got to the company picnic.

Company Picnic – Air Show
It only took me two hours to drive to the freeway exit for the Marine Corps Air Station. Then, it took me almost an hour to drive four miles to the entrance gate and get parked. It was a free show and San Diego is a military town so the turn out was very large. That, plus the weather was cooperating; it was sunny and breezy.

I had a good time at the picnic. I saw a bunch of my co-workers. We all looked different as we dressed casually and most of the time I see them in suits and business attire. The food was good and there was plenty of it so no one went hungry. It was also very nice to meet some of my co-workers’ children and their spouses. Before, they have been just names and images on a screen saver program.

One of my co-workers from my office asked me why I hadn’t invited Sharon to go to the company picnic with me. I said Sharon often has sketchy schedules that can change at the very last minute. I said Sharon had other plans today.

My co-worker asked me if I was going to ask Sharon to go to the company holiday party. I said that I probably would and expressed a hope that Sharon would be able to do so. The holiday season is a difficult time for her with job that requires her to go to a whole bunch of seasonal parties and represent her employer.

Instant impression from the air show, loud.

It was very loud but you would have to expect that since it was at a Marine Corps Air Station. The Marines were flying their top line jet aircraft. We were close to the flight line so the noise of the engines was almost painful for me. I can imagine that the small children were uncomfortable.

Ear plugs were a very welcome premium from the company.

I decided to leave early. I figured that traffic would be a nightmare when the show ended. This was a wise decision. I did miss seeing the Blue Angels perform but I have seen them perform three times before so I felt I was not giving up that much.

Drive Home
The drive home went very smoothly. I missed all of the traffic at the end of the air show. I did see a lot of traffic crawling along on the freeway going south to San Diego as I was cruising north towards home at full speed.

Utah lost again
I got home in time to see part of the third quarter of the Utah – San Diego State University football game. It looked the Utes were rallying. They were only down by three points. I figured that, with a full quarter to play and playing at home, the Utes should win the game.

I decided, on the spur of the moment, to call Sharon and see if she had plans for dinner. She was out with the flooring search project still so we made plans to have a late dinner.

On Sunday, when I read the newspaper, I discovered that I had guessed wrong about the Utes. The other team scored a touchdown in the Fourth Quarter. Utah now has a record of 3 wins and 4 losses. It looks like they will be out of a post season bowl game this year.

I haven’t spoken to the Princess yet but I imagine she will not be in a very charitable mood since San Diego State is a lesser quality football team this year.

Sharon – Part 4
My decision to go to dinner with Sharon was a better idea for me.

I got out to her house around 8:00 PM. I had to drive through some rain cells on my way there. It looks like it is going to be an early rainy season for us now.

When I picked Sharon up, she said it was raining and should she bring an umbrella. I said no because it was not raining all that hard. My car looks crummy now with all of the rain spots on it. It was dusty before the rain and the rain only made it look worse now. I will probably have to take it to the car wash this coming weekend so it looks presentable.

Sharon had wanted to try a new Italian restaurant but I was in the mood for a thick hamburger and ice cream. We compromised at a brew-pub that we have gone to in the past.

We had a lot of fun with our server. Sharon and I have been friends for so long that we can anticipate each other’s order. This confuses the servers because they do not know whose instructions to follow.

Sharon decided that I didn’t need an appetizer. She said we could split her salad instead and that this would be fine with me. The server was confused until I said that I would pass on an appetizer and then asked for a couple of extra tomato slices on our shared salad.

We talked while we waited for our food. We also got in some people watching. Sharon pointed out all of the married men that were quickly leaving the brew-pub after the baseball game was over. I watched some young women that were at the brew-pub and they looked like they were looking to be seen by young men. I felt sorry for them because none of the young men I saw showed them any interest. They ended up making a big production of leaving the place by taking the longest possible path from their table to the front door. I guess they wanted to make sure the young men saw what was leaving or to give them another chance to show some courage and start up a conversation with them.

Sharon remembered that I had asked to go to the picnic and the air show and was indignant that I did not take her. I pointed out, in my weak defense [with a woman, all male defenses are inherently weak], that she never accepted my invitation to go. It was my fault that I did not call her again and again until she made up her mind and agreed to go with me.

I asked her to go to the company holiday party with me in December. I told her it would likely be on a Saturday and probably be at a club in Hollywood. The company would provide for the food and musical entertainment so it should be a fun time. I also mentioned that one of my office co-workers had asked about her going to the picnic and had urged me to ask her to the holiday party.

Sharon agreed to consider the idea of going to my company’s holiday party. She said it would probably be fun and that I should remind her several times because she did not have her calendar with her.

Then we got into a discussion about carpet. Sharon was telling me that she had decided on a carpet that came with a seven year warranty over one that came with a twenty year warranty. Sharon said the seven year one felt better and more durable.

I said that didn’t make much sense especially since both cost the same. I said that I would pick the one with the longer warranty. That lead to whether or not Sharon would still be living there in twenty years.

Sharon said that she would compare her notes about the carpets on Sunday and then talk to the salesman. I sort of feel sorry for the salesman because Sharon can be a difficult negotiator and she will persist until she gets what she wants.

Our meals were very good and Sharon took most of hers home in a box. The portions are larger than what she can eat so I am guessing she will have ribs Sunday and Monday for her dinners.

We shared dessert. Dessert was a brownie with ice cream. It was good but not a great dessert. I should have asked for a chocolate sundae instead.

Weather
We had rain, heavy at times, on Saturday. I had some light rain on Sunday at my house. It seems like this might be an early Winter this year. But, it is hard to base an entire season forecast on just one isolated storm system. There needs to be more storms for me to accept that we are going to have an early and went Winter.

Earthquake
Southern California experienced an earthquake this afternoon. I felt it as I was out on the balcony reading. It felt like a rolling motion. The earthquake was centered perhaps 100 miles away and out to sea. It has been recorded on the Richter Scale at 4.9, a moderate quake. There was no reported damage.

The epicenter was San Clemente Island. I know there was no damage to the island. The southern portion of the island that was closest to the epicenter has been used by the Pacific Fleet as a gunnery range for over fifty years. With all of the naval shells that have been fired into the island, I doubt there was much that could have been done to island. I supposed the bird and native animals were disturbed but probably not as much as when old battleships used the island for target practice.

I called Doug this afternoon. He did not feel the earthquake but he said he was busy and had a lot on his mind when the quake struck.

I guess I felt it because of the fault line I live very close to. My fault line runs out into the ocean and it may have been transmitted along the fault line better.

Doug’s Film Production project
When Doug and I spoke about the earthquake, we also talked about the Film Production class project he worked on Saturday. He got the filming done but it took longer than he anticipated it would take because his partners do have any production experience that he has from working on a bunch of student films.

Doug said that he thought his was the only group that elected to make an all indoor filming project. He thinks this will make his group stand out for taking their project up a notch or two and not doing simple daytime exteriors scenes.

Yi Soon-Shin
I missed the episode on Saturday when I had dinner with Sharon so I don’t know what happened but I can guess. The King placed more restrictions on his activity at the orders of the turn-coat Chinese admiral and general. If he disobeys the orders, he will be imprisoned and probably executed by the Koreans.

Not a good future for the man who saved the kingdom. Yi Soon-Shin saved the kingdom when everyone ran away and tried to hide from the Japanese invaders. His navy was the only effective force in almost seven years of fighting.

Sunday was Episode 103. The series is rapidly coming to a conclusion. Next weekend should probably be the end of the series with Episodes 104 and 105.

Tonight, Yi accomplished a masterful strategic move. He has tricked the Japanese forces into attacking him at a time and place of Yi’s choosing. Yi will be outnumbered on paper again but he was in every battle that he fought against the Japanese.

If you can select the battlefield and time of battle, then you have a great advantage over your enemy. Every great general from Alexander the Great on down the line of history has tried to this.

In addition to being able to select the battlefield, Yi has gotten the Japanese to divide their forces so he can attack them piecemeal. This will allow him to bring his forces to fully bear on the smaller enemy forces and destroy them in separate engagements.

Yi’s strategy is much like that of the Athenians and their Greek allies at the Battle of Salamis that ended the Persian invasion of Greece where they shattered a much larger Persian fleet and the Persian king’s dreams of victory.

Yi has rallied his men and worked them into an emotional fever pitch. They are lusting for Japanese blood and they seem to willing only accept total victory. Yi has promised his men that this will be the last battle of the war. The speech was not on the level of Henry V’s speech on the eve of the Battle of Agincourt but it has been the most inspiring one I have seen in all of the episodes so far. But, it is not too far off in my book.

And so gentle readers, that was my weekend.

Be well and stay happy.

Make-Up Blog Posting

Days
It is or was Days 62 and 63 of Non-Deconstruction at the building next door. There was some very minor activity to other day. Someone came in and removed a rusting pile of metal that looked like it came from a condenser or heat exchange unit in an air conditioning system.

It also looked like the boiler tubes on the good ship USS Leonard F Mason from when I sailed on her as part of the old Asiatic Squadron of the United States Navy’s Pacific Fleet. Except our boiler tubes were not rusty, I had more hair, and the hair was dark.

Those were good days for me.

Bad Tats and Thongs
I share Doug’s feelings about thong creep. It is bad, just plain bad to see the top of a thong creep up and over the top of a young woman’s pants.

When I was waiting for Michelle to cut my hair on Monday, a young woman came in to have her haircut. She looked too young even to be Doug’s girl friend. Anyway, when she turned around and had her back towards me, the top of her thong had crept about a half inch above the top of her pants. Since she had a tan from the beach, the black thong just stood out too much.

It was very distracting. It did not look good either.

She also had some bad tats as well. She had a small reddish one that was half way out of her pants. It sorted of looked like it was peering, like looking over a fence, at me when she turned around. Then, when she sat down, she had another tat that was mostly bluish on her lower stomach.

It looked at me when she sat down in the waiting chair opposite me. It looked at me whenever she moved around in the chair. I don’t know whether she was uncomfortable or was moving on purpose to show herself off. There were other and younger men than me in the hair styling place.

Then, I noticed she was wearing a wedding and engagement rings. She could not have been more than 18, if that. This made me feel really, really old now. I won’t go off on a rant about teenage marriages except to say they are a very bad idea from no good can come for most people.

Weekend Preview
I spoke with the Big Guy today but I forgot to ask him about his thoughts on the new choices for the weekend cinema; not that I will have a great deal of time for the cinema. More on that later.

We did talk about his classes. He said he got an A on his American Film course mid-term test. Doug was surprised because it was a screwy, messed up test. I said that he has a lot of experience with this type of test and he did agree with me on that point. He said he was one of the few students that got A’s on the examination.

Today was his Film Production class. If you will recall, Doug had some anxiety over his assignment to load a celluloid film camera and then shoot some scenes and images. Make that a whole lot of anxiety.

Anyway, the professor screened the student efforts today. Doug was pleased because his film came out which meant he was able to load the film properly and then expose it. He was able to film the action and the sound.

He said he only had one trouble spot. He had set the film speed to run faster than normal so the result was a slow motion series of images.

I also told Doug that he could sign up for some free film screenings at the November American Film Market event in Santa Monica. AFM is a major film market for domestic films. Since the screenings are free, I figured why not go to one or more of them.

Company Picnic
The Company is having its annual Southern California picnic on Saturday. I am planning on attending. It will be in San Diego which is a sort of bummer because I will have to drive there and back.

I could take a Company sponsored bus but I would have to get up at 5:00 AM and then drive for 50 miles to catch the bus. Taking the bus means that I would have no opportunity to make my own plans or leave when I wanted to.

I’ll drive and take an extra couple of hours of sleep instead. That plus I can do what I want to do.

Cigars
Since I am going to be in San Diego on Saturday, I plan to swing past the Cuban Cigar Factory and buy some more cigars. They have a nifty program of giving you a free cigar for every box you return. I have two boxes to turn in.

I am planning to smoke one cigar on the drive back to Redondo Beach. I will have the sun roof open so I can vent the smoke. Then, I will lower the side windows when the cigar is finished to really air out the car.

What a perfect way to end the day.

Other Stuff
Sunday is going to be a day for laundry, minor errands, going to the market, school work, and The Immortal Yi Soon-Shin. I have to make a presentation next Friday in class so I need to put it together on Sunday.

That’s my weekend gentle readers. I hope your weekend is wonderful.

Be well and stay happy.

Short Post

Short Post
This blog will be a short posting, primarily because nothing much happened to me today. Everyone has a dull every now and then and today was one of mine.

Days
It was Day 61 in the Non-Deconstruction Story for the building next door. Everyone followed their scripts and nothing happened.

Michelle the Stylist
I went to see Michelle the Stylist tonight on my way home from the office. My hair was getting on the shaggy side and starting to look unruly. This look may have been caused by the long weekend when I did not put any effort into managing my hair.

Anyway, it was time for a light trim.

Michelle is the longest running female stylist I think. She has been cutting my hair for maybe three or four years now. She tries very hard to cut the hair the way that I want but never seems to reach my desired goal.

So, you ask, why do I stay with Michelle?

Simple and easy.

The pain of starting over with another stylist would be too much. The place has a high turnover rate so I would realistically be starting over about every third haircut. The inconsistent look and results would bother me greatly. I would end up with a shaved head look to simplify things for the stylist. I mean, anyone can buzz cut someone’s head. How hard can shaving a head be?

Michelle has been bugging [her choice of words, nagging if you were to ask me] me to bring in a photo of Doug and his sister, the Princess, for two years. I copied a photo from early July when Sharon went to dinner with the three of us. I took a photo of the three of them.

Pointing to Sharon, Michelle wanted to know, “Who’s that?”

“Not one of my kids.”

“Gee, Charles, I could tell that. Give me a little credit why don’t you?”

“That’s my friend Sharon. She has been around as a friend for 15 years or so.”

“She’s cute and so are your kids. Your friend Sharon and daughter are on the short side in the photo.”

“Actually, Doug is just over six feet, one inch tall [185 cm].”

“Ahhhh, I see.”

We had a longer conversation but I didn’t remember most of it plus I don’t want to bore you with a discussion of how to make stuffing for a Thanksgiving turkey or why I will spend all of Thanksgiving Day cooking.

Programming Note
I have to do some other stuff tomorrow night so I will not have a blog posting for you to read. How many other blogs tell you ahead of time that there will not be a new posting? You get that here for no extra charge.

That’s all there is folks.

Be well and stay happy.

Long Weekend Update

Long Weekends
Long weekends are the best sort of weekends, especially if you have no plans or events to attend. Then, you can just lounge around and be comfortable. Give the razor the day off and save your face.

Life can be very good sometimes.

Days
Monday will be day 60 but I will not be at work. Normally, I would not count Monday as being a day in the Non-Deconstruction Project at the building next door because of the holiday. Since the holiday, Columbus Day [observed] has a limited recognition; I am going to count Monday.

Of course, I will post a correction, if by some strange chance or coincidence, work has been restarted.

Donut Friday
Donut Friday went off without a hitch on Friday. Everyone seemed to have enough donuts to eat and everyone got their favorite one so there was no conflict. One of the managers explained to the new employee which donuts she could have and which ones were purchased for specific co-workers.

The new co-worker likes chocolate so I think she and I will get along just fine.

I left the office before the end of the day so I don’t know how long the donuts lasted but I am confident there were no leftovers to put away in the refrigerator until Tuesday. By then, they would be nasty tasting unless one was starving.

Early Holiday Start
I started my holiday early by taking half a day off as vacation time. That meant I left work at noon. I took my “lunch” from noon until 1:00 PM and then was on vacation from 1:00 onward.

I got to class in plenty of time on Friday. This was a primary reason for taking the time off. I did not want to get caught in heavy traffic on Friday and be late to class. Class was pretty good; I picked up some new insights on writing my dissertation and that was very useful.

After class, I went on over to Doug’s house since I was in South Orange County for class and then we went to Albertacos for dinner. It was a late dinner as we caught the end of the scoring in the Angels – Yankees baseball game. I think it was close to 9:00 PM when we got out food. We each had a #8 with an extra soft carne asada taco and a medium drink.

It was just great comfort food that filled you up and made you sleepy.

It had been a while since we went to Albertacos and this was the first time in maybe a year or more since I went there at night. I think it was high school night at Albertacos; there were several groups of young people that looked like they were in high school.

There were a couple of young women who were apparently Capistrano Valley High School [an Orange County high school out near where Doug lives] graduates there. They were wearing their high school class jackets and they looked so un-Southern California.

It felt painful for me as I watched them trying to act sophisticated and not succeeding very well.

I got home from dinner with Doug around 11:00 PM and promptly went to bed. I was tired and slept soundly until 5:30 AM when I woke up. This is close to my regular time to get up. I flopped around in the bed until 7:30 when I got up and got dressed.

Saturday Stuff and Odds and Ends
After reading the paper and munching on a toasted bagel with peanut butter, I went to the market again.

I know peanut butter sounds gross. But, I like peanut butter and it melts into the toasted bagel. Besides, peanut butter is healthier than cream cheese. I should point out that when I am out with people I do have cream cheese with my bagels so I can follow convention when it is appropriate or necessary.

If you will recall, I had sort of invited Sharon over for dinner on Sunday night. Her schedule is sometimes sketchy at times [Doug’s phrase for being unpredictable or unreliable] so I figured it would be best to buy the food I needed for dinner early and not be faced with a crummy selection late on Sunday afternoon.

The market was on the empty side and there were no interesting women in the store. One of these days I may meet Ms Right in the fresh produce section while I am checking out the fresh tomatoes.

I was able to get everything I needed for my stuffed swordfish and pasta. It looks very colorful on the plate and tastes wonderful. I stuff the swordfish with bay [small] shrimp and then bake with some chopped tomatoes, peppers, and spices on the top.

Just before the fish is finished baking, I pull the pan out and cover the fish with a slice of Monterey Jack cheese. I let the cheese melt for two minutes or so and then add a couple of avocado wedges for color and flavor. Add the pasta with a sun dried tomato pesto sauce and eat.

Yummy.

I also have a salad and some sourdough bread to wipe up the tomato pesto sauce. I will wash the meal down with a glass or two of California Sauvignon Blanc wine. Since Sharon doesn’t drink, I will make some iced tea for her and be sure to give her a glass of ice cubes to add to her tea. Sharon likes her iced tea really cold.

Dessert is still up in the air. I can go to my Italian deli and pick up some really yummy pastries or we can go to Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream cones after dinner.

So many dessert choices and such a small stomach. Decisions, decisions.

Anyway, after the marketing, I spent a couple of hours cleaning my place up. Guys are not the neatest people on the planet so I figured some dusting and washing would not be out of order. This was not my best idea for spending Saturday afternoon.

I did do some reading and finished one of the Chinese books that I ordered last month. The book was the Dream of the Red Chamber. It is quite brilliant. It reminded me of Romeo and Juliet to a large extent with the two central young lovers dying in the end.

I also found the book presented an interesting look at Imperial China before the arrival of the Westerners and the collapse of China. I was surprised to see how matriarchal society was then. I suppose there is still a hold over of that form of family governance today. For the most part, it seems like the women were the ones who managed the family affairs while their husbands were out having affairs.

While Dream of the Red Chamber is a classic of modern Chinese literature, it is not a book for everyone. I think a reader has to have an interest in Asian culture to appreciate the complexities and subtleties within the family as they go about their normal lives.

There were some aspects of the book that reminded me of Gone with the Wind. These aspects were how the family members treated their servants. In many respects, there was not much of a difference except possibly for the characters’ names.

Doug called me this afternoon to ask me to read his Sitcom Writing class paper. The paper was about conflict analysis in an M*A*S*H episode. I won’t bore with the episode background since it is not relevant for the blog.

We had talked about the paper when we had dinner on Friday so it was fairly familiar for me when I read it. I thought he had nailed the topic well during the dinner discussion; I only added one minor suggestion and he thought it was worthwhile. The paper only required some very minor changes and corrections; adding a couple of commas here and there, breaking up a large paragraph into two smaller ones, and adding a couple of explanatory sentences to clarify a point.

Sharon called me this afternoon and asked me to send her some job postings. I had sent them to her earlier but she did not have them where she was. Being the nice guy, I almost immediately went in and emailed them to her. I suppose she will thank me later.
We talked briefly about her evil new boss. As Sharon describes it, her new evil boss is on the verge of creating an ugly employment discrimination complaint. A little hostile work environment here some aged based discrimination there and pretty soon the lawyers will say “Jackpot!” when they become involved.

I hope she finds a new and better job real soon.

The Immortal Yi Soon-Shin
This weekend was Episodes 100 and 101.

The combined Ming and Korean navy were to take part in a joint attack on a key Japanese fort that protected the main Japanese supply harbor. The end result was a bad performance by the allies. Combined operations are difficult in the best of times and under ideal conditions; neither was present tonight.

The Ming army general was so corrupt that he could be bought off by the Japanese. He did not have his army attack as called for in the plans. Then, he argued over the size of his bribe. His army just fired their cannon and had the soldiers march up and down and shout.

The naval attack went ahead as planned except the Chinese admiral wanted to gain all of the glory so he broke away from the Korean fleet and charged ahead to attack the Japanese. Unfortunately, the Ming admiral did not know the local waters and soon found himself beached as the tide went out. Then, the Japanese army attacked his beached flagship. The admiral would have been killed or captured but for a rescue put on by the Koreans.

A sailor can get reckless in close combat with the enemy and be successful but only if you are Lord Nelson and this Ming admiral was only qualified to make Nelson’s tea. I’m sure Sun Tzu has appropriate statement for this situation in his Art of War. But, I doubt the admiral bothered to read Sun Tzu.

The program ended with the Korean king losing control again. The duplicitous Chinese general had sent a false battle report that blamed Yi Soon-Shin was the loss. Yi’s report is accurate and claims a victory since there were more Japanese casualties than allied.

It certainly is a depressing set of developments.

Sunday’s episode continued the theme of Chinese duplicity. Now, the Japanese are trying to suborn the local Chinese admiral as well as the general in an attempt to evacuate their shrinking beachhead safely.

Yi Soon-Shin will not allow the Japanese to evacuate at all. He intends to sortie is fleet and engage the Japanese transports and warships in an attempt to sink as many Japanese warships as eh can and kill as many Japanese soldiers as he can. His sailors and officers support his efforts to rid their nation of the Japanese invaders.

The Korean navy has the Japanese forces blockaded so effectively that the Japanese are unable to communicate with other forces. The scattered Japanese forces are faced with two challenges. First, their food supplies and access to reinforcements are at risk since they do control the seas. They can not receive material aid.

Second, they are isolated and this makes them more open to Korean attacks where the Koreans can bring a large force to bear on a smaller one. The Japanese forces are tied, cold, hungry, and weak. This is not a good position to be in.

The Japanese position is further complicated by Korean partisans who are seeking out small patrols to ambush and attack. These attacks, while limited in size, will do significant harm to the Japanese who are still in the isolated garrisons. Seeing dead comrades suddenly on a previously safe path or road is not very helpful for sagging morale.

In an uncharacteristic move for the Japanese samurai who value honor above all else, they have resorted to using captured Korean prisoners as human shields. This strikes of desperation on their part.

The Japanese commanding general, Konishi, has become so desperate that he has authorized an assassination attempt on Yi in a plan to break out of the beachhead. By killing Yi, Konishi believes he will be able to safely evacuate his soldiers and return to Japan with the bulk of his army. With Yi Soon-Shin dead, the Koreans will not have the fire to continue the fight and will be happy to end the seven year long war that has devastated the Korean peninsula at a cost of countless lives.

The Japanese will evacuate safely.

The suffering will hopefully end for the Korean people.

The Chinese will claim all of the glory for the victory over the Japanese without having to suffer horrendous losses of men and ships.

Everyone wins.

Utah lost again
My University of Utah Utes lost on Saturday to Colorado State University in Fort Collins. This was their second road loss in a row for the Utes. They now have three wins and three losses.

The Utes are a better team and should have won. The Utes had complete control of the game for the first three quarters and then fell apart in the last quarter. It is a sign of a good team if it can rise from adversity and overcome the challenges. I think the Utes lack a fire and intensity in their football game plan. Last year’s team was seeking to put their opponents away in the first quarter by burying them in wave of touchdowns.

The most telling element was the fact that Colorado State stopped Utah three times at the one yard line for what would have been the game winning touchdown in the last two minutes of the game. If a team can’t push the ball one yard in three tries, then they perhaps deserve to lose.

Part of the problem is the new head coach I think. I have read where he does not want to be an emotional coach. This is completely wrong. You can be unemotional if you are a Bear Bryant or Joe Paterno and you know how to get the most out of your players. But, the coaching winners have almost always been emotional leaders like Vince Lombardi or Knute Rockne or Steve Spurrier [college only] or Urban Mayer.

Maybe the Utah coach should check out HENRY V [either the Olivier or Gibson versions] from the film school library and watch Henry’s speech before the Battle of Agincourt as a motivation experience.

On second thought, maybe he should screen it for the team. It couldn’t hurt.

Sharon
I called Sharon from the comfort of my balcony on Sunday afternoon where I was reading another of my Chinese books on military strategy. I called her cell phone number because I never know where she might be.

Sharon was in her office in downtown Los Angeles on a Sunday afternoon working on a project that had ridiculous timelines. She sounded harried and pressed when we spoke. I could imagine how high her stress level must have been and where her blood pressure might have been.

I called for one reason, three reasons actually but only one was discussed. One was to wish her a fun Sunday but I gave up on that idea without mentioning it when I found out that she was at work. Second, I called to see if she was going to accept my invitation for dinner on Sunday night. I passed on even asking her because of the tone of her voice that sounded of pressure and extreme tension.

Third, I called to suggest that we consider postponing our scheduled lunch for Monday since new evil young boss was giving her such a hard time at work. Sharon agreed with me that we postpone things for a while.

I had a nice dinner by myself. The planned meal turned out just fine. In the end, I will have an extra portion of stuffed swordfish to eat now. That is probably acceptable since I do not have swordfish all that much.

Cinema
I saw two films over the weekend. One was WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT. It was very enjoyable and a well made claymation film. I will probably buy it when it comes out on DVD. While the film is clearly aimed at children [at least half of the audience were children when I saw the film], it does have a number of adult jokes, some of which are visual and some of which oral. Much of the humor is English in style. I’m not sure if that is a help or hindrance in the American cinema. I also liked the music selection for the cartoon. It seemed to be well placed and appropriate.

The other film was SERENITY and I saw it today. This is a follow-on to the FIREFLY television series that lasted only a year on the Fox channel. In some respects, it is like STAR TREK only without Captain Kirk and his crew and no Klingons and Romulans. All of the cast from the television show were back for this film. Unfortunately, some of them were killed off so they have no future if there is a sequel.

The film answered some of the questions from the television show like why was the Alliance after River and her brother. Some of the characters were more developed than in the series, especially with Simon the doctor and Kayly the ship’s engineer.

I will admit that it is hard to like a science fiction film that doesn’t have a Scot as part of the crew. I will also go see the sequel if and when it is released.

The Three Kingdoms
I started reading The Three Kingdoms this afternoon out on my balcony while I smoked a cigar.

I was only able to get in about 76 pages [there are over 2,300 pages] before it got too cool for me to sit there in shorts and a golf shirt. Obviously, this is only the introduction section of the novel. Even so, it is interesting and very easy to read. I think I will enjoy it immensely.

The Three Kingdoms is significant in Chinese literature for several reasons. It is a cultural icon for the Chinese people and it makes the character trait of righteousness a central theme. It was the first Chinese novel to have chapter. I think there are over 100 chapters and I am only at Chapter 5 now.

And, that, gentle readers, was my weekend. I hope your weekend was as much fun as mine. Be well and stay happy.

Go Angels

Go Angels
I was not here last night. I got home later than usual because I had to go to the market for food and other necessities of life, toilet paper for one.

When I finally got home, I turned on ESPN and started to watch the Angels – Yankees baseball playoff game. The game was compelling and I stayed until the Angels won and tied the best of five games series at one win each. I was way past very ready for bed when the game ended so I went to bed instead of posting here.

My Brother wants to see the Houston Astros play the New York Yankees in the World Series so Roger Clemens can pitch against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium. I think it would be better to see Clemens pitch against Randy Johnson. That would be an epic match-up.

I am entitled to own my personal life and to do what I want to do with it.

Days
It was Day 58 today and nothing happened at the deconstruction site.


The Younger Brother Visit
My Younger Brother stopped by my office today for a brief visit on his way back to San Francisco. He was in town on some sales calls and my office was only 200 yards or so out of his way from his last call on his way to the airport for a flight home.

He got to meet Vivian the Office Assistant today. She validated his parking in the building and saved him a bunch of money. She said afterwards that, “You two don’t look very much alike.” We don’t so I had to agree with Vivian’s assessment.

The Brother also wanted to see the building that I write about under the Days topic. He agreed that there was nothing happening today. He also agreed that the two forlorn palm trees on the roof are sad and forlorn. I don’t know if I mentioned it or not before that the palm trees are potted palm trees and are, therefore, small.

I gave him a quick tour of the office. He was impressed at how neat and quiet the office was; I think he was in the office at a slow time.

We concluded his visit by exchanging company pens.

The pen exchange seemed to strike me as something out of the Cold War where the diplomats have just concluded some important negotiations and they have signed the agreement. As a gesture of friendship or conciliation, the diplomats exchanged the pens they used to sign the agreement.

Cue the photographers and everyone say, “Cheese.” [Flash bulbs go pop, pop, pop.]

The Big Guy and the G5
The G5 is still not Internet ready; tomorrow should be the big day to get it up and online. If the tech support people have their acts together, it just may happen.

The Big Guy called with a question about printing a PowerPoint presentation. He decided to call the local tech support guy and got through on the second ring.

There was no crummy music on hold or endless telephone button pushing in an attempt to narrow down the choices and options.

There was only a do this, then do that, now click print, then click ok. The document printed out nicely and that was that. We were finished before he would have heard a human voice from Earthlink.

It was all good.

Market
I went to the market last night on the way home from the office. I am not sure this was the best possible solution since it was a scorching hot day. It was 90F / 32C at 6:45PM at the market about three miles from my house. That’s way hot for the beach area.

I saw an interesting Asian woman in the market and we passed in the aisles several times. I was tempted to say something but decided to pass. This was a wise decision since her boyfriend was waiting for her in her car.

If nothing else, it was good practice at making eye contact and getting an attractive young woman to smile at me.

I had expected to find Halloween supplies in the market since Halloween is a couple of weeks away. Most of the stuff was bagged candy and some costumes.

I was taken aback by the sight of Christmas decoration stuff in the market in the first week in October.

That is just so wrong.

On the other hand, it may be sign the retailers are expecting a bad Holiday season and starting to move the merchandise early. This may mean bigger sales and discounts that would clearly benefit consumers.

I would be a beneficiary of the bigger discounts and sales. Sharon has almost convinced me to buy a digital camera and a big screen television. I am leaning towards buying the camera now and picking up the television in February after I get my 2005 bonus check.

Weekend Preview
Sharon may or may not come over to my house for dinner on Sunday. I am cooking stuffed swordfish with linguini and tomato pesto sauce. There will be a spinach salad and sourdough bread. Sharon doesn’t drink so I don’t know what kind of wine I will buy for myself.

Dessert will come from my local Italian deli, Giuliano’s. I have been going there since 1978 and have yet to be disappointed.

I plan to go see the SERENITY and maybe WALLACE AND GROMIT movies over the weekend.

Doug and I are planning to get together on Friday night after my class at school. It will be a late meal at around 8:30 – 9:00 PM. Still, it will be worth the wait. I expect we will go to Albertacos since we haven’t been there in a while.

Monday is a bank holiday, Columbus Day. I have the day off but Sharon has to work. We are currently planning for me to drive to Sharon’s office in downtown Los Angeles and have lunch.

I have mixed views on the idea of the lunch. If I go, I will have to get shaved and cleaned up; made presentable you know on a day when I don’t have to. But Sharon is fun to be with so I will make an effort.

Programming Change
The Weekend Update will not appear until Monday, October 10th sometime in the afternoon on the West Coast of the United States.

Be well and stay happy and Go Angels.