Nevada and Vodka Cranberries

I am still buzzing from last night's huge win over Boise State. Jerick, Mark and I went to a local pub and watched the game and drained some beers. At halftime, Nevada was losing 24-7 and Boise St. arrogantly almost went for a 4th and 8, because they were looking outside the game and the implications on the BCS standings that a lopsided win would deliver. Karma, well is Karma.

Nevada was losing and not looking good. From the game, Pickett text messaged and told me to remove the Orange jacket and man-up. So, I did, and we chucked our heavy beers and man-downed to some Vodka Cranberry cocktails to honor Jerick's love for the "fruity drink". At this point, anything to break the momentum of the game.

The second half was all Nevada, as we pounded them to death with our running game. How sweet was it to have their senior kicker miss two chip shots, and our redshirt freshman from Reno nail a 34-yarder to win the biggest game in our school's history. Unbelievable!

Vodka Cranberrie's will symbolize the unity of the Pack, and good times by friends as we celebrate our passion for pack football. So, next time you seen five grown men in a bar toasting to Cran-Vods, it's not what you think.

Red Sky #2

Life passes by so fast, especially in a bullet train in China! I have been back now for just under two weeks, and my jet-lag is finally gone, but not the impression that China's latest technologically advanced land rocket left on me is still with me. In a word, it's awesome.

It was the second weekend of the trip and we were headed inland to Chenlu's home province of Hunan. Chenlu knew about the supersonic trains, and she was excited to take them. I love the metro systems in China, and I was looking forward to taking the trains. The wow factor starts at the curb of the station. These new train stations are so futuristic and state of the art, they make you forget that you are at a station. Amazingly, you don't need reservations for the train, you simply show up to the station and buy a ticket on the next train. About every 20 minutes, you can catch a train to your destination, which makes the mausoleum type stations all the more bewildering.

We traveled on these land rockets for three legs throughout China. On the third leg, from Chenzhou to Changsha, we took the platform to board the train. As we waited for our train to arrive, on the fourth track, the second and third tracks had no platform. Within a minute of standing there, the rumble started and as I turned down to look at track three, the land rocket blew us down. The noise, the speed, the velocity scared me. It scared all of us newbies. I loved it. They are clearly going to be the mode of transportation in the country very soon, making airplanes look like The Mayflower. Traveling on a cloud is the best way to describe the feeling. Smoother than you can imagine, it lulls you into thinking its not real.

The whole experience reminded me of a fresh Space Mountain from Disneyland. The look, feel and exhilaration are all similar. Like many of the contradictions that make up China, the trains fly through beautiful countryside filled with peasants tending to the farms with Ox and Yokes having to make the yearly decision whether to spend money to rent a harvester. I wonder what those farmers think as the bullet trains blow by every 20 minutes. I know what I was thinking....boom baby!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRf_Fphrx3Q

Red Sky #1

Contradictions abound when discussing China. We are back now, and because of China's government controls, I was blocked from updating my blog until I returned. After spending the last three days recovering from jet lag, I am finally ready to update. I will try to give a few stories about China and my experiences over the next couple of weeks.

The last weekend, and 14 days into the trip, I am meeting the future in-laws. We were meeting for lunch after spending the night before with a nice dinner and a rousing late night of drinking and singing at the KTV (Karoke Bar) to celebrate Chenlu's birthday. We are heading for my favorite type of Chinese food...Hunan Food. With spicy peppers and seasoning, Hunan cuisine is a cross between the best of Mexican food and the wholeness of Japanese. It's excellent. We walked a few blocks from our bus stop and Chenlu pointed to a three story building that was light in color with the usual Chinese lettering. The Hunan Restaurant occupied on the first two floors, and a familiar site was on the third floor. A Chinese Christian Church was above the restaurant. Realize, that I am in a very urban, industrial area, where the heart of Shenzhen is one hour away along with cultural western influence. It was a good sign.

The lunch was right in the middle of three days of warming up to her parents and someday to prepare entry into the family. Things had been going well, and this lunch was no different. Like dinner the night before, Chenlu's father and I ordered some cold beer to toast the meal and the potential future. The meal went well, we shared company and I tipped the bottle to fill up my small glass for a final toast with her father. I paused, and thought, these early moments with her family are so important for the future and hoped it was going well. I silently thought to myself, "I am glad Jesus is looking over me." I clinked my small glass with him, and we drained our beers. Amen.

China- Part One-A2 SFO

I am hoping that the LAX-AA experience is the end of my hassles traveling. I am truly amazed at the difference between International Airports/Terminals and Domestic ones. It is like the difference between a Greyhound Bus Terminal and Ritz-Carlton. The Tom Bradley International Terminal is one of the worst Intl. terminals, but it is far greater than LAX's domestic terminals. Even the SFO Intl terminal is gorgeous, state-of-the-art architecture, lots of space, computerized, and efficient. It looks like Hong Kong's airport terminal.

Sights of the AA-Greyhound: 1) an upper-aged woman wearing a tight cotton dress and a thong. Chenlu and I had to shield our eyes. 2) Three travelers, all alone, saddled up at the bar drinking beer and one woman taking a shot of tequila....at 6:30 a.m.! Outside of Vegas, only in the Greyhound LAX will you see that. 3) The difference between AA-Greyhound flight attendants and the Internationals (the greyhounds have to turn sideways to get down the aisle, and they are cantankerous as all hell). The International Team looks like they had military training mixed in with customer service. We need to improve on this immensely. 4) Two Starbucks Coffees in the same terminal, both with very long lines.

China- Part One-A LAX-AA Witch Hurdle

We made it past the brood of witches at AA. I think it may have been because our reviewing AA employee was a middle-aged Latino man who wants to go to Shanghai! Either way, he was surprised to see that we had such a problem on Friday and said he has seen much worse. I thanked him and asked him, "Where were you on Friday?

Shuttle buses, elevators and airplanes always create an interesting "stranger energy field" (SEF). Where you are in close contact with strangers and you have one of two options; engage or disengage. Men are good at this, because every trip to a public restroom creates a similar scenario, and unless you are at a sporting event, you must surely disengage.

This morning, at 4:30 am, a few of us gathered on the shuttle and remarked about being tired, the darkness and the hotel Starbucks being closed. An older gentlemen boarded the bus and set his bag down, before he looked up I said, "Good evening!" (Laughter followed).

CHINA - Part One - Failure to Launch

Chenlu and I are embarking on a two-week trip back to China. She is going to visit family and I am going to visit factories. It has been planned for quite awhile, and I will try to add a daily edition to my blog about my visit to China.

The first entry was supposed to be from Beijing, starting about right now. We were to arrive Saturday night late and be in our hotel waiting for a three-day visit to the capital city. Needless to say, that did not happen as we encountered one of the more difficult and stressful days I have had in quite awhile.

On Thursday, I learned that our container of product held at customs in Long Beach was being held longer because we had an legal/marking issue UL. I awoke Friday morning to an indifferent couple of directors from New York, who accused us of illegally marking product and threatened to eliminate our quarter million dollar inventory and essentially put out us out of business. The car was packed in the office parking lot as I feverishly read and assembled our "case" to present to them showing a clear-cut mistake on their part. I left late for the airport.

We arrived at the American Airlines terminal 9 minutes to late to check-in bags on the plane for an international flight AND my passport was rejected as a damaged from sunscreen stains from the summer. It was clearly legible, and both the US Immigration Department (added pages) and the Chinese Embassy (Visa) reviewed and modified it for my impending departure.

I hate American Airlines (note: my absolute no-brainer, worst customer service company in my 20+ years as an adult!) as they eliminated any hope of me catching a flight that day, this weekend, or even within the next month! Two hectic hours later, I flights, visited a Beverly Hills Passport Specialist, US Immigration Office and the Ticket Counter for Cathay Pacific, all of which accepted my passport and denounced American Airlines for their absence of leniency.

With calm, the reproach to the AA counter resulted in a lengthy meeting of "the witches of AA-LAX" to which they agreed to "let" me go this time, of course, there is no guarantee next time.

Ugh! The weekend was shot, Beijing was eliminated from the trip, my wallet was zapped excruciatingly so from the rebooking, but we cashed in some rewards and stayed at a nice hotel at the airport and dumped our frustration into a calm dinner and quiet night of comfort.

Earlier this week, I watched a movie with Kathy Bates and Matthew Maconahay (Failure to Launch). I remember thinking that Kathy Bates is like Morgan Freeman, as an actor that plays many roles in big movies, with such ease. The "witches" of AA-LAX remind me of one her most famous character roles that she played: Annie Wilkes in Misery!

Identity - Part One

Last weekend was beautiful day in Sunny Southern California Suburbia and I was driving with Chenlu and the kids past our local park. There was small showing of a piece of the Berlin Wall on display for the weekend by what looked like a amateurish group dedicated to remembering the significance.

Just over 20 years ago, The Berlin Wall fell and created what I believe to be one of the most significant bookmarks for the history of the political man. For me, the wall and the date represent a significant change in my life, for so many reasons, but here are two.

From my family's perspective, the Cold War was over, and essentially so was my father's career in the Aerospace/Defense Industry. We won? He won! But, his talents and skills for the past two decades become instantly extinct and much like the city of Berlin, he changed. Black and white became gray, and he pushed himself to diversify. It was clear to me then, that once the wall came down, it was never going back up.

From a personal perspective, my wall of being a college kid enjoying the spoils of freedom to which responsibility loomed heavy on the other side, fell too. Starting my own family was much like Berlin starting over. The two sides flooded together to form a new way of life. Preparation, patience and maturity gave way to urgency, emotions and chaos. Now, of course, starting a family at such a young age was not unusual, but much like the diverse ideological differences between the West and the East, the expectations were drastically different than the reality of the change.

Carly asked what was the Berlin Wall and why is there a piece of it here. As you drive past the green park, kids playing baseball and soccer, cloud-less sunshine beaming off the faded asphalt and concrete sidewalks, I lose my ability to describe what it is. For, selfishly, I do not have the capability to really understand the significance of the wall to others, but just myself and how it impacted me. I shrink into simple thoughts, and like an elementary textbook describe in a few sentences what the wall was and why it fell.

As I pull up to my apartment complex, the gate is closed and waiting for signal to open. I reach up above my head on the ceiling console of my SUV and pull out a small box with the little white button that I push to open the gate and let me in. With the smallest of effort, I press the button and I my access is confirmed and the gate opens for my arrival. The wall is down and I must move forward to continue the day before me.

Shades of Red - Part One

- life-granting color; worn by brides and babies (Asian definition of Red)

Red is the most striking color, and for me, it is a color that bombarded my life over the past two years. Chenlu entered my life two years ago and I have not been the same since. A woman from the Red Country of China, as pure and simple as China can get, reached through my layers of emotions and grabbed my heart, or rather, my heart grabbed her. With Shades of Red, I choose to write about me falling in love with Chenlu and our relationship as we journey down a road less taken.

I tried to sleep as my head slouched against the car window and I winced at the sound of our taxi driver's horn. His way of politely telling the motor scooter to move away. We passed hundreds of motor scooters that day, as we did everyday, returning from a factory visit. We were tired and borderline car sick from the roller coaster movements and the lack of fresh air. The road straightened for a bit, and the motor scooters were too far to see. The car smoothed out its bumps and I sat up to wonder why. I looked over to my right, and Chenlu lay still against the car door. I paused, and noticed that she was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. In the dregs of a long, traveling day, in and out of dirty factories, with quick meals and little sleep the night before, this was hardly a woman's ideal moment to shine. But, she shined brilliantly.

"What?" she said in her soothing accent that made her English fun to listen to. "What are you looking at?" I explained that at that very moment, with a tired mind and body and without much thought, that I wanted to grow old with her. In my forty plus years on earth, I have never had a thought about growing old with someone and I saw that with her. I explained that I can imagine her old with me and how incredibly beautiful she will remain in my eyes.

Like many of our conversations and interactions between each other, translation can be lost. In this case, she thought I was saying that she looked old. She didn't take my comments as a compliment or even fancied the idea of growing old together. It was like a drop of water hitting a well waxed car hood, it just rolled off. But that moment was not for her, it was for me. The moment I was granted a life of love.

The taxi swerved a little, and honked his horn again. I leaned my head against the inside of the car, and closed my eyes. This time with a little smile on my face.

Family - Part Two

Deja vu! Yesterday morning early, my soon-to-be fiancee and I awoke early to partake in a old family ritual: Garage Sale-ing. The weekly Saturday sunrise activity is part thrift, part discovery, and part gamesmanship. For me, I realized yesterday, that it started young and shaped some of the way I do things today.

Today, the economy is rough and Garage Sales offer deals. We experienced that yesterday, as Chenlu and I filled our apartment with a couch, desk, wall hangings, and other small things for under $100 dollars. Our apartment feels much more like a home, and we enjoyed the experience of working together to find the second-hand treasures. Nothing to big about saving money for the coming year.

However, the discovery makes Garage Sale-ing so much fun. It is a treasure hunt, with a map and tools, but the treasures are unknown. For whatever reason, I like bargains. I love bargains. I have such a hard time paying full retail for anything, but do not hesitate to buy multiples of things on sale. Funny though, I do not care for second-hand stores, etc. I believe Garage Sale-ing is acceptable to me because I meet the previous owners of the goods. I get a chance to discover how they live, where they live, what other goods they are selling, and how they sell the goods they do no want anymore. It makes the purchase feel better. It is like taking a pet from an owner that has to move away. That is part of what makes the discovery of treasures so great for me, and satisfies my emotional desire to get a deal.

It is especially fun to work the deal. I found myself going back in time as a child or even 10 years ago and checking into deal maker's mode. If you find a good prospective seller with something you like, you immediately ask for a price on the item and once the price is given...you wait. Put the item down, subtly communicate that you are not happy with the initial price and begin to move around the merchandise. Check to see if there is anything else you might want from the sale, because you know that the initial price is either coming down or you are going to create a nice combination of things for that price. Lower prices or more merchandise is the game.

This, of course, was learned early on as our family went to garage sales and swap meets almost every weekend. The lessons of negotiation, patience, value sourcing, self sacrifice, working together as a team, and stepping back to analyze the situation are all vital elements to the art of Garage Sale-ing. As I finished up yesterday and unloaded our treasures, it struck me that I use those elements in my day-to-day work life.

I now realize that the greatest treasures of my childhood garage sale-ing days have materialized in the form of those valuable lessons, not the second-hand toys and games that ended up at our garage sales.