:: Life of a software engineer, and now a program manager ::

:: Saturday, March 02, 2002 ::

Never in my life have I seen such beautiful town before. Everything was Danish style, from the building architecture to the culture and people. Really amazing town. Solvang is a small town located to the south of SLO, about 45 minute drive. Solvang, means 'sunny field' in Danish, was discovered in 1911 and later became a farming town. The environment was very unique indeed. Leong, a local colleague of ours (used to be Msian but migrated to US when he was 1 year old, he doesn't understand any Chinese dialect, but his 'England very powderful'), was kind enough to bring us to this special place. We went to several museums, among them Hans Christian Andersen Museum. Bought one little windmill as souvenir, bought boy-boy a special bookmark...
Don't understand why I liked Solvang the moment I saw that place. Wanted to ride those horse carriages, but didn't do it in the end. Eaten lunch at Cafe Angelica, Italian food. Ordered Salmon Primavera, with salmon, dried tomatoes (doesn't taste good), penne (longish pasta), celery and etc. The most 'pai seh' thing is that Leong insisted on paying for us...next time must really treat him to one good meal, coz last time he treated us to Thai food as well...
Today has been fun for me, never anticipated that I will fall in love with a place...but it's really worth a trip for those of you coming to Cali.



:: Mich 9:49 PM [+] ::
...

Went out to eat in Applebee's, well, I had fish fillet, wall fresh but tasteless coz it's grilled...overall was quite okay...bought clinique Acne Treatment Gel and foam wash for USD36. Well, pokai again, but had to really spend some money for my face. If this doesn't work, have to go back to Msia and buy Neostrata, which might cost more than RM200.
Tomorrow might be going to vineyard, wine tasting wor...:O. Then will go to Solvang to see cute houses, apparently...hopefully everything goes according to plan, if not have to rot at home...:P

:: Mich 11:01 PM [+] ::
...

I've got a totally paralized hand here, help! Now I'm only typing with one hand, and it sucks! 1 word per minute is not exactly what I wanna achieve... anybody out there who knows what medication can heal Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
Boss wanted us to go off at 5.00pm, that fella wants to go shopping...if big big boss knows about this..huih, World War 3 lor...


:: Mich 4:35 PM [+] ::
...

This is ridiculous! The income tax ppl must be crazy, deducted more than RM200 in my bonus! Wanna strangle somebody, anybody! Work so hard and yet all the money gets donated to the government. So pissed off with this crap. And now waiting for the boss to reach the airport. That fella might have missed the flight or might have gotten his own car and drove to the hotel. Told us 6.30pm, now it's 7.15pm, where might he be? Really is a screwed up day today...
Must start to use the 'smile therapy' from John Cage-> Ally McBeal. Otherwise I'll blow up right here in the middle of the office.
:D:D:D:D:D:D:D...*smile*.

:: Mich 7:16 PM [+] ::
...

Sometimes working environment is very important to cultivate the motivation in work. I realised that although the project sucks, but if I have good friends to work with, I do not mind staying late nights and finish the job. Those kind of friends are more willing to teach, and share what they've learnt. In return, I will surely offer my help when needed.
Unfortunately this is not the case now. Seems like there's no collaboration in work, the feeling of wanting to win over one another exists. The thought of it scares me, coz I will be stuck in the same project, working with the same ppl for quite a while.
I have been working with several groups of ppl, and this is the first time where I felt this. It like everyone do things their own way, there's no standard at all, and nobody wants to have any discussion to iron things out. Sounds like the teochew song..."ki ki gu ki ki" (which means everyone have to take care of themselves)...
Felt that this is not working out, no teamwork means the project won't be successful...there'll always be something missing.

:: Mich 9:09 PM [+] ::
...

Just now had a long talk with boss, talking about patents...his imagination is really amazing, for once I actually 'tabik' him...although the hatred for him still exists. Wonder who in this world won't hate their bosses...
Made me skipped Buffy and Ally McBeal and X-Files just to write that stupid HLD. What crap. And just finished my dinner, at 10.20pm. Now diligently typing away on my laptop, but not to complete my work...hehe, yes, to express all my frustration towards the management. Couldn't agree more with Jon, to hell with the managers! Ole ole ole ole...
Hmmm, must be the coffee, too much of it can really make one go crazy and sing World Cup song. Oh well, goodbye blog and hello HLD.

:: Mich 10:56 PM [+] ::
...

Life is full of surprises, yesterday was blasted by boss for not asking too many technical questions, today he asked me if I should patent something out of our previous project. The technical question part was really absurd, coz I actually understand what is going on, so there's no need for me to ask, but he is not involved in it, but he expects us to be 'intelligent' and ask intelligent questions. Sometimes I think he contradicts himself, wants us to ask questions, but 'intelligent' questions. If we can ask intelligent questions, we probably know the answer, so might as well don't ask.
Just now did another stupid thing, embarassing nia. Said the wrong revision number to boss, together with a whole bunch of engineers. Really spoiled my reputation. How good would it be if that guy hadn't ask me what revision it was! Jeez, that revision is not even supported! Duh...

:: Mich 10:39 AM [+] ::
...

Just added comments to my blog, insisted by Mr. Persistent Jon, who said that it is a must for weblogs. :P
Hmm, let's try it out and see, and if it fails, I know who to blame...

:: Mich 10:36 PM [+] ::
...

It's Buffy time! At 6.00pm Pacific time, channel FX!

:: Mich 6:01 PM [+] ::
...

Nothing much happened today, had plans to go to Santa Maria, but in the end when my colleague didn't call, I assumed that he did not want to go as well. Sometimes it's kinda boring when only the two of us go, and apart from that, factory outlets are making me sick nowadays. Can't seem to get big ones like Gilroy in SLO.
My brother just sent my nephew's picture to me, well, that kid does not looked like my brother at ALL! Really wonder if he's his son...:P
Not to say that I wanna criticize my nephew, but he does look...not-so-handsome...and not to say that my brother is handsome (would never say this even if he points a gun to my head), but my nephew looks more like the mommy...well, I love him all the same. Hey, for goodness sake, he's a part of the family! That's why I bought a cute little shirt for him, dunno if it fits, but he'll grow...
Huarrghh, felt so sleepy, and yet I refrained myself from sleeping, coz if I sleep now, I'll be staring at the ceiling till 3.00am...
The sunset outside my apt is breathtaking! And the sea view, whoa!
Should be really reading up on the HLD, otherwise boss will kill me...:)



:: Mich 5:59 PM [+] ::
...