Serenity

There are over 7 million people where I am. I found a place to stop and listen to the sounds of voices and nature. I was able to watch East and West take a moment to realize that there is beauty in the world. Taking time in your own spiritual reflectiveness is a good thing.

To My Dad

Happy Birthday!
I know I am in China today but I'm calling!

Love, Me.

Fear

Here in central China, the aftershocks of the earthquakes continue. While I have not felt them myself here in Xi'an, the fear of them is very present. When there have been aftershocks felt here in Xi'an, many people sleep outside at night in the parks and parking lots. I have been through a few earthquakes and seeing this has surprised me. I myself have not felt any aftershocks here but I know they are real.

Posting...

I am working on trying to post but getting a connection to my blog has been tough. I can only post and edit. I can not view it. I am keeping a log offline and when I can, I will catch up the days I miss.

Culture Differences

It is amazing the differences between East and West. At the same time we see their culture in ours and our culture in theirs. Maybe if we could understand the differences, we can truly see the similarities.

I crave...

Just some turkey bacon, eggs and toast...that is all I want for breakfast. However, in China is resembles more like what we are use to for lunch....

Outside of the box

Always be willing to try new things. You never know the smile it will bring to your heart or to others.

I made it...

You were right....I would make it to China and so did you. Happy Birthday.

What we need to learn...

How to spend time with others. May it be our friends or loved ones. Here people hang out in the park. May it be singing, dancing, group exercise, game of cards or just talking. We put an emphasis on making money. When do we stop and smell the roses?

1 million people can stand here.

Tien'anmen Square

I'm not in Kansas anymore Toto....

Not a sleep number bed

Things to expect in traveling...sometimes the bed will be too soft or too hard. In this case...I am talking this bed is sleep number 100+. I wonder if this will be like this the whole trip? The strange thing is I slept really well and no backache.

I am where????

I made it to China!

The world

There is a mini UN in every international airport. We are a small world.

Internalization...

I have one thing I must learn. I hope I grasp it over the next four weeks. If not...I will surely implode.

My amazing mom

In less than 48 hours I will be enroute to China. I have to finish a million things... Two complete all of this with out a hitch takes a phenomenal person...for me ...my mom. Amazing...she is simply amazing.

Judgement

It is amazing to watch people. Especially those who judge others and think themselves superior. Hmmm...I may need to change some things...

Roughly 80 hours to go...

...and I need to finish what????

Ok in just over 3 days I will be on a plane to China. This is awesome....I think. I am a bit apprehensive because I am not ready to go and I need to move mountains in order to get everything done.

Will I make it?
Yes
Will I be a little worse for the wear?
Yes
Is anyone allowed to give me anything else to do at work after now?
No...heck no. And people what part of NO do you not get.

Now to become superwoman!

A bad day and how to resolve it.

Well yesterday was a crappy day. I was in at 6am to make a network change and didn't go home until after 5pm. I have a lot to do and when I get people adding to my stress by their caddy comments or lack of help, it impacts me. I know I need to work on my ability to deflect things like that but when it is compounding on itself...I am not a happy camper. In 5 days I am leaving for a month in China. But before I go, I need to complete a number of things such as 5 major and 5 minor tasks at work and 9 tasks at home. So yep I am stressed. To top it all off, my kitchen sink was clogged from cooking part of the breakfast for work on Monday and my house still smelled like bacon. I ended up dismantling the plumbing under my sink since trying to dislodge the clog with a plunger for over an hour didn't work. I am glad my mom taught me to be resourceful.

The funny thing is I could have dealt with that fairly well but I hit a wall. What pushed me to the edge was an email. I found out I am not going to Tibet. Right now I am extremely angry with the universe. There are very few things in life that I ever wanted. I have spent the last 25 years trying every way possible to ask for those few things. So I am going to resign myself to just accepting that I am not going to get what I have asked for. Some will say that I am only 40 and there is still time. I am not that way. I am done trying and asking.

When I left for the day I had to find a way to get out of that crappy mood I was in. So how do I resolve a bad day? Here is my equation for it.

x + ay^2 + z = happiness

x = limeade (constant)
a = # of shots (variable)
y = Bombay Sapphire (constant)
z = a hot bath (constant)

Today will be a better one...although I am still angry at the universe. Things will go on.

Snow in May

It snowed today! For some strange reason it caught some people off guard. Yes, it snows here in May and sometimes even into June. It doesn't stay long but can put a damper on the new signs of spring. This picture is of the same iris I posted the other day. The unfortunate thing is that this is Ride Your Bike to Work Week. It was cold and snowy this morning so I opted for the Jeep. Should be warm tomorrow so back on my bike.

Threads...

If one speaks or acts with a cruel mind, misery follows, as the cart follows the horse... If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows, as a shadow follows its source.
-- the Dhammapada

Happy Mother's Day

My mom is awesome. I often describe her as a hummingbird on full tilt. She has an amazing amount of energy. I am not going to see her today but I did get to spend "mother's day" with her last weekend. We had fun and as usual we were going full speed.

Happy Mother's Day! I love you.

I love spring...

My day...

Idealism is what precedes experience; cynicism is what follows.
-- David T. Wolf

Allergies or a Cold?

Yesterday morning I woke up to a stuffy head, major dark circles under the eyes and looking like I hadn't slept in 3 days. Actually I had gotten 7 uninterrupted hours of sleep. Is it allergies? Umm no. It is a cold. I my goal this year was not to get sick at all. Well I am on cold #2 which is better than last year when I was already on cold #5 by now. I am glad that I am getting sick now instead of in two weeks when I will be on the other side of the planet.

Today my brain doesn't want to kick in and my head and sinuses are making life unpleasant. I feel like I need about 10 hours of sleep and a hot bath. I think I am going home early today. Tomorrow I have to be in at 5:30AM. No rest for a sys admin.

It is nearly over...

The semester is coming to a close. I have finished my Chinese class by the skin of my teeth. No I just need to write my reflection paper for swimming class. Yeah you read that right...a reflection paper for my swimming class. What am I going to say? I have no idea. What did I get out of the class? I got the understanding that I can swim a half a mile. I may not be fast but at least I can.

What fun...

Tonight was Jane Austen night. This time my friends and I watched Bride and Prejudice. It is a Bollywood adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. It was the first time I have seen a Bollywood production.

Tonight was a lot of fun. Great food and company. My Chinese teacher joined us tonight. I think she had a great time as well.

If you get the chance, check this film out. It was fun to watch and some great laughs.

It's a Monday...

It is a scale of proportions which makes the bad difficult and the good easy.
-- Albert Einstein

Fragility

Life is very fragile. On Friday my grandfather went to the hospital for an angiogram because he had been experiencing shortness of breath. Good thing he finally had a doctor who listened to him and found him a good heart doctor. My grandfather had a blood vessel that was almost 100% blocked. He now has a stint in that place and the doctor feels he gave him another 10 years.

My grandfather is the third person in a year that I know who has needed stints. I am grateful this technology exists. I still have three great people in my life.

Here comes the light

Well the semester will be over for me on Monday as I have my Chinese final. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. This light is either going to run me over with a lot of collateral damage or I will be just fine with possible bruises. I am hoping for the latter but at present rate I think it is going to be the former. This is not going to be pretty.

Fridays

I love Fridays.....having a one hour period where you can be yourself with people you like. Lunch...it's for humans.

Time

Time is flying. I know it is moving at its normal pace but it is already May 1 and year is marching to the half way point. Many things to do, see and say during the next 7 months. When I get to the end of the year, what will my life be like? The same? Different? Well I will just have to wait and see.