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FRIGGIN HILAROUS!  I mean seriously laugh out loud funny.  Now that I ruined it for you, go watch it.

I’ll admit it- Today, I’ve been crying on and off all day.  In fact, I am crying right now, because today has been a roller coaster of emotions.

I watched my grandma die today.

She did fight on since the doctors told her she had less than 6 months to go- 1 year ago.  She kept on fighting for 16 hours after being removed from all her medications and kept on going.  I know now what kept her going fot this long…the love for her husband.  Finally, a little over 1 hour ago my Dad, younger sister, and I told her that we knew she loved us all, that we loved her, and promised her and would look after over our grandfather- only then did she take one last breath and then stopped fighting.

The world has lost one of the most incredible women I have ever known.  She has survived WWII, fled the Communists, and raised 3 kids, and 4 grandkids.  She was a accomplished painter, Chinese calligrapher, ballroom dancer, and a Chinese Opera Singer!  I can go on forever, but I’ll have to leave that for another day.

I am glad that I was there holding her hand the moment when she passed.   I am glad she is no longer in pain.  It is something I will always remember.
R.I.P.

Mrs. Lee Ping Chao
8/8/1920-2/29/2008

I have been quite busy as of late and as a result have been neglecting my websites.  It has been a hectic and somewhat profitable New Years.  I hope all is well with you, my valued readers.  I have a few posts that I have been working on and will post once I get a moment to finish.

Cheers.

Can’t figure it out.  Just hit me out of the blue yesterday.   When I figure it out, I’ll let ya’ll know.

I love beaches.  Something about the warmth, sun, and water make me relaxed.  I’ve been to a few of the top beaches of the world already (Hawaii/Cyprus), but I want to visit the following beaches:

Paradise Beach (Mykonos Island)
Red Beach (Santorini)
Phang Nga Bay (Phuket)
Sanur Beach (Seminyak, Bali)
Sanur Beach (Seminyak, Bali)
Saline Beach (Saint-Barthélemy)
Eleuthera (The Bahamas)

The Transportation and Security Administration would like to remind you that the current threat level is ORANGE…

I don’t believe the threat level was ever below orange. I know for a fact that the threat level has been continually set at Orange for at least a year, if not more. Now, doesn’t that strike you as odd? If there was such a high risk for an attack, wouldn’t it have happened by now or would Kip Hawley or his comrades have mentioned exactly WHAT risk we are facing by now? We’ve seen the attention go to from the silly items as toenail clippers to perceived threats of Knives, ID checks, to liquid bombs.

Now lets look at the facts: On 9-11, America saw terrorism from an outside source hit home. Four planes were hijacked. Of those, three were crashed into buildings and the last one crashed into a field. The hijackers were armed with pepper spray, box cutters, and an outdated action plan of of dealing with hijackers.

The tools used in the 9-11 attacks were allowed by the airline and authorities to be carried on board. Even if on 9-11, the items were caught by the private security firms, the items were perfectly legal to be brought on board and thus not confiscated. We all know what happened then. Those exact same items were used in 9-11 and and required new thinking in the process of dealing with terrorists.

Previous to the 9-11 attack, the standard operating procedure during a hijacking was to follow the hijackers demands. Why? Well previous to 9-11, with one notable exception, the standard hijacking demand was “bring me to XXXX (insert any city here).” To protect the passenger and a multi-million dollar plane, the demands were met. Most of the time, the planes and passengers remained unscathed. Bring me to Cuba!

Now, lets see what the TSA says is the REAL threats are and preventing another attack on our transportation system. Lets look at this objectively and put some rational thought behind this.

First it was knives.

Sharp pointy objects. Sharp objects (box cutters) were used to hijack the planes on 9-11 and could be used to kill. With enforced steel cockpit doors on all planes, it is sort of difficult to “storm (a.k.a break into)” the cockpit with knives, kill the pilots, take control, and crash planes into buildings. Lets face it, a 9-11 style attack won’t happen again. Fellow passengers now will do exactly what happened on flight 93- fight back. For the past couple of years, there have been documented incidents where airline passengers have fought back at unruly passengers deemed a risk, subdued them, and arrived safely at their destination. They have done this even if it wasn’t a credible threat.

Analysis: Having a knife really doesn’t change the outcome. If terrorist cannot get into airplane cockpit = Airplane doesn’t crash into tall building and kill thousands. It can be a passenger safety issue, but no longer becomes an aviation security issue. The threat is neutralized between passengers willing to help, reinforced cockpit doors, and a new procedural resistance to hijacking.  Risk Level: Same as Michael Jackson getting plastic surgery to look like he did when he was 8.

On to the next threat, the SHOE BOMB.

In 2001, Richard Reid attempted to ignite his shoes lined with plastic explosives to take down a plane. Not exactly so shocking as a 9-11 style attack, but still a threat. The TSA reaction? Everybody take off your shoes! We’ll scan the shoes for explosives. Do you feel safer? You shouldn’t. Four years later, in a 2005 TSA report concluded that the X ray machine cannot detect explosives. Now three years after the report, I haven’t heard them broadcast the fact that they cannot detect explosives. The only accurate ways to detect explosives as A) the explosive swab test B) a special trained explosives scent dog C) the explosives particle test. However, as it stands you STILL need to take off your shoes at the X-ray. I asked a few screeners earlier this week why the shoe carnival removal requirement was in place- the reply was, “To detect explosives.” One more off topic thought- have you thought about how nasty the floors are? Thousands of dirty feet walking over the same area that is cleaned maybe once a day. Bleh.  Threat  level- Same as a black man joining the KKK.

Analysis: You cannot detect explosives via an x-ray, use a method that actually works. Don’t implement foolish bureaucratic procedures that actually waste time for the ILLUSION of security(read: taking off shoes for x-ray), aggravate travelers with procedures that actually detract from security. Either A) swab all shoes B) have a dog sniff everyone’s feet C) run EVERYONE through the particle test. Just feel worse because you probably just picked up a nice foot fungus on your last trip through security.

The LIQUID Bomb! This one really makes me laugh. The threat: British intelligence picked up electronic details of a plot to use liquids to create a liquid bomb to destroy a commercial airliner. Since 2006, we have not been allowed to bring on board more than a 3oz containers placed in a zip lock baggie.

Analysis: As this reporter found out, the liquid bomb threat is based more on Hollywood fiction rather than reality. Even if it a liquid bomb were possible, the terrorists wouldn’t do so on a plane. Why blow one up? Terrorism is government by intimidation.  Blow up a plane, no intimidation there.  Shock and awe!  Remember that?  Threat level - Same as finding a live a Jackolope

Apparently we, the American people are OBVIOUSLY intimidated. However, as the saying goes, “we’ve thrown the baby out with the bathwater.” The TSA misses all the actual threats, but does just enough to satisfy Ma and Pa Kettle.   I don’t get the orange level, but will say the terror level should currently be in the blue or green.  I miss the America I grew up in.

OH yes, forgot to say: Happy New Year NSA!

I hurt my back yesterday.  It was so bad that I was on the ground writhing in pain.  Pretty much I spent the entire day on the floor immobile.  Thankfully today with the help of 800mg of Ibuprofen i’m doing a lot better.  Massage later tonight and I should be back in action for the weekend.

A friendly public service announcement:

Please STRETCH NOW!

Studies confirm that men prefer attractive women

Well Duh.

A week or so ago, I had a great conversation with someone very like myself. We were discussing as to why were both not happy, but also not unhappy. Our conclusion was that a) we know how good life can be b) we’ve experienced it c) we do miss it.

I don’t want to sound too egotistical, but I will go ahead and make this one statement:

I could have lived a normal life, but I made a decision a decade or so ago not to.

During the heyday in San Francisco, I’ve lived as a so-called “socialite” lifestyle, made piles of money, dated incredible women, and then literally lost it all. I moped around for a while, slaving away at a 9-7, and not being not exactly happy, but then again not miserable either. Every reason I worked for before ended up making me feel empty. I felt stagnated in life. Eventually, the opportunity came for me to move to Asia and I grabbed it. I sold almost all of my material possessions, cashed out a lot of what was left in my portfolio, and left town.

I traveled the world. I then saw how good things could be.

My move to Asia was an eye opener and eventually, through my friends and family contacts the cycle repeated again. I started to rise. Things I thought were important, suddenly wasn’t. Not necessarily in the same fashion as I regulated myself back to being a student, but nonetheless I started to feel the “rush” again. The energy in Asia was incredible…and infectious. It was like my younger years where I was growing up in the Silicon and Internet gold rush. Like before, I’d go to school during the day, work at night, and make contacts people-who would at first glace would be dismissed here, but actually were the movers and shakers of an entire continent- at all night private parties. I was living AS a rock star- not like a rock star- and enjoyed it. Everything I hated in the US wasn’t there, everything I liked was, and I was hooked.

Fast-forward a year later.

I move back. San Francisco is exactly the same…well actually everything is a bit worse. A Starbucks homogenized version of life . I see my friends and realize that most haven’t changed at all; careers, friends, relationships, everything is the same. They’ve stagnated…and are happy!?!?! Yes they complain about work, stress, all the normal petty things, they want to do more, but won’t because they don’t have any motivation and fear to do so. Yet they are perfectly happy.

I didn’t understand. How could they be perfectly content? I thought I was losing my mind.

I almost moved back, but one thing stopped me- family. As Baz Luhrmann sang in the song, “Everybody’s free…to wear sunscreen”:

“Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for
good. Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the
people most likely to stick with you in the future.”

I realized I haven’t spent enough time with my parents, sisters, and grandparents. All the memories, good times, funny stories…could stop tomorrow and I could completely miss it. There is no bigger regret I have than not to really know my grandfather (maternal) and nothing I do can fill that. I am determined not to let it happen again with the rest of my family.

I have made an unconscious decision years ago and bit the fruit of knowledge. I have seen and experienced how good life can be for me. I want it again. It’s what I was looking for my entire life. However I realized that I couldn’t live it forever.

Today is almost the one year mark of my return. My friend Jin told me her fortune from a fortune cookie:

Happiness equals reality minus expectations.

In a few years I might move back to Asia, but I know now that I learn to thrive here again. I can’t afford to get too addicted to the lifestyle in Asia as I want my kids to be raised as I was and I want them to have, at the least, the same opportunities I had here.

Ultimately…
I bit the fruit of knowledge and am forced to live with that decision. By biting the fruit of knowledge, my expectations have gone VERY high. If I live my life in Asia again, I need to make sure my reality is set just as high when I return.

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Given a choice would you bite the fruit of knowledge and work hard to be happy? Or would you prefer to be dumb and happy?

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Edit- There are other reasons why I’m planning on staying here for a couple of years.  Grad School being important and the other being family.  Please don’t freak out on me.  =D