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43 days ago

A phone ring broke my morning peace. Hello? (1 second silence) "Hello, my name is ___ and I am a firefighter in your neighborhood. I am calling to encourage you to vote YES for referendum ___." That's when I hung up. Was I rude? What's there to be rude to a machine? If you care enough about an issue, at least call me in person. Don't send me a recorded message. Here's a better one. Phone rings, and I pick it up. (1 second silence and then click). "Hello, please HOLD until the next agent is available." Then I become very confused. Did I make the call or did I just answer the phone? Then I come to realization of what's happened and hang up promptly. Why should I wait for your telemarketing message? What kind of marketing tactic is that? Technology is only a tool. If used properly, it can improve efficiency and effectiveness. If used improperly, it can bring undesired outcome. Telemarketers better come to realize this... before people start using ...

It's got to be easier than this

51 days ago

With all the hype about Bing (and I like Bing more than any other search engines Microsoft produced), I can't believe that I just spent 15 minutes looking for a place to change my Live ID password. I normally went to www.live.com to login and access my account. Now that URL takes me to www.bing.com and I can't access my account... only my preferences! After couple of savvy maneuvering around redirects, I figured out Windows Live is now http://home.live.com. It's been awhile since I last visited Windows Live homepage (my fault for neglecting to pay attention to constant changes on the Web for the past few months), and I was literally lost in what seems to me modules after modules of UI elements ... network, preferences, safety, profile... but no account! Finally when I scrolled down to the bottom of the page (I don't know what prompted me to do so), I found a link to my account at the bottom right corner! Ahh... 15 minutes of treasure hunt just to change my password ...

Niagara Falls

392 days ago

Boy, am I behind with blogging! This is hard to keep up with full time job. Anyway, here are some photos from family vacation at Niagara Falls (Canadian View) this past June. By the way if you're planning a trip for 10+ people, decide on how you'll split shared costs such as food, car rental, gasoline, etc. I ended up paying all, but was the family trip worth it? Absolutely! We bonded and disagreed (sometimes). It was a great 'reconnection' opportunity. Even today, we talk about it. I might suggest that we make this into a family tradition. American Falls (left) and Canadian Horseshoe Falls (right). To enjoy the Horseshoe Falls, climb the tower for couple of dollars. It's too foggy to see anything from land level. This is Horseshoe Falls view standing right next to it on a ledge (left). I wanted to capture how "thick" the water is flowing. It flows roaring fast - literally. The water chops away about 8 ft. of cliff every year. Compare that with 8 ft. of ...

Weekend Getaway

566 days ago

A real vacation is one that gets you away from day to day life completely, not just physically but psychologically, no matter how long or short. I was fortunate to have one of those vacations thanks to a colleague (now my long time friend) who retired from corporate life to enjoy a rural life in Walla Walla. It has been a long time since I last took a long drive (I used to love these long drives down the endless highway). Leaving behind cold, wet, cloudy home, I drove straight to what was expected to be warm, dry, sunny Walla Walla. What met me, however, was another cloud... but warm and dry temperature. Ever since my friend retired, I began counting the months to see how long she'd last in the country. The moment I arrived, I could see how different her life is now and that its been keeping her quite busy. She has approximately 4 acre land and she wants to grow vegetables. Here's a snapshot of her kitchen view (yes, her kitchen has this picture perfect view), small ...

Where's the rice?

581 days ago

A week ago I read an article on WSJ about rice shortage and its impact to already skyrocketing crop price. I didn't think much of it until I ran out of rice yesterday and went to Costco... only to find no rice. I tried two Asian markets and found no rice there either. What's up?! After talking to the store manager, I learned that they're releasing limited number of rice bags per day per household, first come, first served. This is more serious than I thought! I called my friends and family nationwide to warn them but was shocked to learn that they have no trouble finding rice. It's all the Teriyaki store owners in my state who are hoarding the rice. I shall not be surprised if Teriyaki stores charged extra for rice. I suppose I could go on no-carb diet now... ref: Rice shortage hits home in Seattle