Christmas Eve

Today is Christmas Eve. There was almost no traffic on the road today. Most people are doing their last minute shopping and then having the big Holy Night Dinner. Then they will wake up in the morning, open their gifts under the Christmas tree and then have a huge Christmas feast tomorrow evening.

Arnold's school closes at 4 pm today so I have to leave at 3:30 pm to pick him up. "Can you pick him up a bit early?" Biajee asked me this morning.

"Why? I'm pregnant. I'd love to pick him up at lunch time if I wasn't so uncomfortable. Plus we paid day care and they should watch our kids." I told him.

I'm still mailing out gifts to friends today. We bought some 2009 desktop calendars from Berkeshire Hathaway's annual shareholders' meeting. We'll still have two of them left. Of course, we're going to use one ourselves and I am hoping the other one will appreciate in value over the years.

"I don't think it'll appreciate in value." Biajee said gloomily."It is for 2009. But of course, you could reuse it 17 years later."

Well, this is exactly the opinion you get for marrying a nerd sometimes. But I think this calendar will hold value, especially after years. Maybe we could auction it on eBay for 10 times worth.

聪明的一休

最近爸爸寄来了全套《聪明的一休》的DVD.我和Biajee每天晚上都看几集，回想着我们在日本度假的快乐时光和好吃的生鱼片及点心。日本的和尚好像是可以吃荤的，因为昨晚一休从厨房里偷了一些鱼干。一休原来是一个将军的儿子，因其父战败，其母为保全其性命，将他送至庙里出家。一休的原名是清国。生完孩子我就可以看日本的武侠小说《宫本五藏》，《上杉谦信》和历史小说《丰臣秀吉》与《德川家康〉了，不由得心花怒放。

这星期许多人都请假了，公司里冷冷清清。我昨天已经和人事部谈了关于工作结束，医疗保险和遣散费的发放的问题。好像忘记问奖金的事了，今天下午还是要去骚扰他们一下。

下个星期阿诺的学校放假，我只好生病了。只有生病才能在家陪阿诺。想起要每天陪着阿诺追跑打闹，真有些发愁。我很可能每天将他放在健身房两小时，这样便可以锻炼身体了。Biajee今天早上将我们全家四口人的行李装车了，准备随时去医院生孩子。希望他不要忘了带书。虽然医院里有电视看，我宁愿他看书，这样可以不吵到我。还有阿诺的书，玩具和尿片也都得再多装些。如果一切顺利，我只须在医院住两个晚上。回想起苏珊说她年轻时生孩子可以在医院住一个月，觉得美国的医疗保险制度真的江河日下了。

中午去买尿片，发现商店里人头攒动，果然快过节了。我们为阿诺不会自己上厕所而烦恼，真怕他读大学的时候还带着尿片。我们试图训练他的上厕所意识，但这个家伙很不合作，宁愿尿在内裤里等我们给他清洗。下星期我在家的时候将重点攻关此课题。

ViewSonic

Our Viewsonic monitor was broken for months. We finally got it shipped back to California today. I didn't realize that the quality of Viewsonic products was so poor. Office Depot was using Viewsonic monitors when I was working for them and I don't recall a lot of problems then. Maybe LCD monitor is a challenge for them in technology.

I first called them before Thanksgiving and they were telling me they would ship us a box to put the monitor in. Then Biajee called them a week ago because we didn't receive anything. He was told no box would be provided so we had to pack the thing ourselves.

We found a huge box in our basement over the weekend and managed to put the monitor inside and shipped it today via FEDEX Ground through my company's mailroom. It's amazing that we got great discounts because I was still an employee. The box weighed 18.8 lbs and we only paid $5.79 for shipping. We'll sure miss this benefit after my last day.

1cm

今晨去看医生，发现婴儿大头朝下，子宫口已经开了1厘米。奥斯丁医生坚决否定了我从朋友们那里听来的关于引产的种种说法。他说在过去二，三百名他引产的妇女中，无人实施了剖腹产手术，还说一般第一胎被引产的妇女最后进行剖腹产的可能性较大。但是，他不会让我超过41周。如过41周还不生，他一定会对我实施引产。

我只好告诉他我现在不愿意被引产，因为反正也没了工作，不用着急回去上班。不过他确实强调了引产可以让我们更有计划有准备地迎接婴儿的到来. 向Biajee通风报信之后，Biajee决定今晚就收拾行李，准备随时去医院。我总觉得还不至于这周末就生，怎么也得过完圣诞节，打完牌吧。记得怀阿诺的时候也是1厘米，一直到生都是1厘米。

今天在候诊室里等的时间最长，大概是因为Biajee没和我一起去的缘故。读了很多杂志，发现开心果可以降低LDL,就是坏的胆固醇。所以要多吃开心果。

昨晚终于冒着雨雪去了联邦快递的办公室，发现雅虎的地图实在很糟糕，上面的指示全是不存在的路名。我只好凭着直觉和推理，设法找到了取护照的地方。今晨听收音机才知道，联邦快递的首席执行官主动给自己降薪20%，并且36000名职员也都降薪5%到15%不等。他们的销售比去年同期下降了2%，预示着经济非常不好，每况愈下。

Dogmatic

Finally, I'm able to go to FEDEX today to pick up my passport. Biajee said this was really dogmatic. They should have been able to let me choose leave the package at their office so that their drives didn't have to come out 3 days in a row to deliver at a time that I wasn't home.

Arnold woke up at 4 o'clock this morning so we are all exhausted. I had my last career session with Resnik Partners today about Holiday Networking. It's basically the same as networking. We just had a few more slides about Holidays. Each past day signals the approachment of my last day with Corporate Express.

My friend Jules canceled the birthday party for her twins because both of them are having serious stomache flu, which will leave our Sunday with no exciting plans. I guess it is a bad idea to host birthday parties for babies. My other friend Nancy canceled the birthday party for her boy last year because he was sick.

I'm meeting with a coworker today to transition a project. Luckily he is the one who will drive from Northglenn to the Broomfield office in the snow shower.

皇帝蟹

昨天的晚饭吃了阿拉斯加皇帝蟹，终于不难受了。最近吃的肉类食品太多，蔬菜和清热解毒的东东太少，以至于Biajee都生病了。这一次他终于吃到了没有过期的抗生素，使病情有明显好转。我们决定这周末去吃寿司。很久没有吃日本饭了，这里的中国店已经有一个多月没有活鱼卖了，我觉得自己快要因为海鲜匮乏而死掉了。真想念在香港每天吃生猛海鲜的日子。

联邦快递昨天果然又送了一次护照。他们每天大概1点和2点之间送抵包裹，所以如果我今天中午回家等待，也许能够等到护照。但是回家之后我就不会再来上班了。这是多么矛盾呀。还是明天亲自去取比较划算。

希腊最近连连发生暴动和死人事件。雅典的许多广场都是一片混乱，我们曾经去过的一家银行也被砸了。这是希腊自1974年以来最糟糕的暴乱。经济部门估计在雅典有565见商店被砸，直接经济损失达2000万欧元。12月10日，雅典机场曾因为罢工关闭。希腊落后的教育系统，居高不下的失业率和持续多年的经济困难使得年轻一代对政府失去信心。雅典卫城之上亦被示威者挂上了两幅大标语。示威发展到今天的规模主要因为上周六一个15岁的少年被警察枪杀。该警员已被起诉犯了谋杀罪。

看到这些照片和报道我不禁心有余悸。我们曾经亲眼在雅典的大街上目睹过示威游行，虽然听不懂希腊语，但还是被这个民族的暴力倾向镇住了。我正在犹豫明年还要不要带孩子去雅典。生命毕竟是宝贵的。

Reschedule Appointment

Avista hospital called me this morning and said that Dr. Austin was called out for an emergency surgery. My appointment was rescheduled to Friday at 8:30 am. I think a lot of people are trying to have their babies by Dec. 31st so that they could put the child on this year's tax return. I don't think we can be that lucky.

My chiropractor said both his kids were late. The first one was 18 days late and the second one was 20 days late. He delivered them by himself with the help of a midwife. I don't think Dr. A will let me go that long. He usually induces the mom a week after due date.

FedEx attempted to deliver my passport yesterday while I was not home. They'll make another attempt today and I surely will miss that one as well. Since I've requested direct signature, they couldn't leave the package outside the door. I may have to go to their office in Arvada to pick it up either tomorrow or Thursday. At least I won't have to worry about getting another passport in the next 10 years.

I scheduled our IT department to release my blackberry phone number next Monday so that I'll no longer be on company server. Then I'll have to call AT&T to set up my personal account with the same mobile number. This number is really important for me as all the friends have it.

凡高：天才的画笔

星期六一早全家去丹佛自然历史博物馆观看了凡高的大屏幕电影。电影是从荷兰阿姆斯特丹的凡高博物馆运来的。屏幕44尺宽，66尺长，所以效果非常好。

凡高在生命中的最后九年里创作了900多幅画作，可以说是名副其实的多产作家。可惜他有生之年只卖出过一幅画，还是在他弟弟的帮助下售出的。凡高去世后，其作品逐渐为世人欣赏和承认，在各大拍卖行均以上千万美元的高价出售。

影片再现了凡高许多画作的地点和原型。凡高的画作几何透视力极强，虽然线条全部歪七扭八，但如果将这些线条延长并拉直，我们会惊奇地发现，其作品简直与照片无异。凡高十分注重色彩的运用，尤其是对比色被他发挥得淋漓尽致。所以他的画作总显得比别的画作亮度高，能够紧紧抓住欣赏者的心扉。凡高善于使用厚重的油彩来表现明暗的对比，这一点在他的许多风景画中都可见一斑。

凡高去世前的两年曾在酒醉后割下自己的一只耳朵，被送入精神病院。住院对他来说亦不啻为一种享受，因为这样便不用支付旅馆费用。住院期间凡高继续作画。每次他都先用铅笔勾勒出作品雏形，寄给弟弟，之后再全力以赴，完成作品。他生命中的最后两个月，被弟弟邀请去法国乡间的阿勒村居住。在这60天中，他每天起早贪黑，孜孜不倦地创作，共完成80多幅作品。终于，在1890年7月27日，他在极度的疲倦与身心交瘁之时，在每天作画的田野间向自己的胸部开枪，两天之后凡高去世，享年37岁，可算得英年早逝。

凡高去世后六个月，他的弟弟也在极度悲伤之中撒手人寰。凡高之所以能够潜心创作，与其兄弟的支持和关爱十分不开的。他的所有开销，包括住宿，画笔，油布，食物等全部是由弟弟提供的。伟大的爱造就了伟大的艺术家。

我和Biajee对这部影片评价很好。许多效果是去博物馆欣赏不到的，完全可以列入小学作文的《记一次有意义的活动》。

Networking Profile

Marc and I reviewed my networking profile this morning. Basically I need to put more target companies on it and then separate the companies into different industries. The most important thing of a networking profile is target position titles and target companies.

In addition, I may get a free on line resume critique as well. My resume will probably be critiqued so badly that they'd ask me for $2,000 to rewrite my resume for me. Then I can choose not to use the service, at least for now.

Roughly every job posted on the market will get about 2,000 resumes these days because the unemployement rate is so high and there are so many people on the market. There are also people who already have a job pumping out resumes on line as well. It's a very tough market for job search right now.

Fortunately I don't have to actively search for another 3 months. I've posted my resume on all the major websites just for the fun of it. Hopefully things will change in 3 months.

凤梨酥

今天中午去朋友那里吃了很好吃的台湾凤梨酥。台湾的凤梨酥好像改革了，包装比以前精致，口感也更加疏松了，不象这里中国店卖的过期货。还有一种日本的胡麻曲奇非常香甜，也是只有加州和纽约才买得到。相比之下，住在中西部是很悲惨的。

上午冒着严寒出去散了一圈步，昨晚下的雪还没有被清扫，只得踩着积雪蹒跚前进。还有四个星期就不用上班了，有一种前所未有的轻松和快乐。所有的计划都要等孩子出世以后再做安排。想到我已经工作了这么多年，总算可以好好休息了。

今天上午撰写了个人求职目标及本人经历简介。这份东西不同于简历，是我的求职咨询员要求我写的。反正也没什么事做，写完了明天可以让他帮我改改，顺便练习一些面试的问题。一月份以后的所有日程都改到古歌的日历上。在大雪纷飞和寒风凛冽的日子里我会抱着新生的婴孩躲在被窝里读《金融时报》或者是唱歌给他听，这种日子多么令人向往。

发现今年的结婚纪念日居然是个星期天，我们决定去丹佛的棕榈树牛排屋吃晚饭。情人节的时候刚好生完孩子，所以只能在家庆祝了。Biajee的生日有可能是婴儿出生的日子，所以不必为他准备生日礼物了，只要将孩子往他怀里一塞，说一声“该换尿片了”就应该能够蒙混过关了。

最近还在试运行两年前写的一个数据库，希望不要有人来逼我重写。这些小程序的运行速度慢得超出想象，大概是数据攫取出了问题，可能与公司的数据表格变动有关，我也不想修复了。