======= January 2008

01.17.08

The topic of baby-shower came up during lunch with the co-workers the other day,  and Wei, who is Chinese, said she has never been invited to one.  "I contain too much lead," she said.

I sent in my first primary ballot the other day, for Obama.

I've been practicing 6-hour sleep day for the last few weeks.  Much harder than what I remember. 

Seven weeks and counting, down.

It's a strange sight to see snow, however light, on my way to work.  It's been raining all week, and the temperature is in the low 30's.  It's been a great season for skiing, too bad we are out of commission this year.

I got the iphone a couple days ago.  Don't know how I could live without it for so long.  Screw this economic recession, I am buying Apple stocks.

I really hope Obama gets the Dems nomination.  Otherwise, McCain has a great chance to win it all, which might not be such a bad thing

Mom is in Vietnam, so we have been cooking for ourselves the last couple weeks.  Ha likes to watch Rachel Ray with "Tasty Meals under 30 minutes."  I got a glimpse of the show once in a while and it always makes me chuckle.  It is true that the cooking part takes 30 minutes, but how long does it take for the army of helpers in the background to do all the food prep?  Anyhow, we got a taste of that yesterday.  With all the prep works done over the weekend, I got home at 6:45 and started cooking.  At 7:15, we had a tasty dinner complete with soup and a main course.  It is kind of fun, but I am not sure if I can do it for more than a week.

Next week is going to be hectic.  Tape-out is a week from Monday, and ISSCC is also next week.

======= February 2008

02.01.08

I have this setup in my iGoogle page that has all the ticker symbols of the stocks I own.  That way I can see where my investment is every time I open a web browser.  Anyhow, it's always a good feeling when the day gains of each and everyone of them are between 3 and 5%.

Well, I am kind of overlooking the GOOG symbol there, which I don't own, but is on the list for obvious reason.  It drops forty something points today.

Speaking of Google, I was having three-day-old leftover for lunch today, when my wife called and raved about how good the sushi was at her Google Cafe.  Can't complain though, I have had my fair share of food there.

02.07.08

It's the year of the Rat, an exciting year.

02.11.08

At an MIT reunion last week, I ran into Julia, a former MIT colleague.  I had lost track of her after she graduated.  It turns out, after MIT, she lived a year in France before moving back to the States to be a ski instructor at a Tahoe resort for two years.  She is now a circuit designer at Rambus.  What an interesting story!

I take the on ramp connection from 87 South to 85 North every morning on my way to work.  This morning, the line of cars waiting at the ramp was abnormally long, at least 5 times the usual.  It took me about 15 minutes before I got closer to the front where I could see the metering light.  Well, here's my unscientific sample of the American driving IQ story for you.  The damn light was OFF, yet every single driver stopped and waited for it to turn green.  One after another, just stopped and waited.  To give these stupid drivers a benefit of the doubt, I thought maybe people didn't realize the light was off (although, that would beg the question of how they were allowed to drive without being able to tell if a light is on or off).  Not realizing the light was off, people just followed the one in front of them, who stopped.  So when it was my turn, I just took off, without stopping.  I looked in my mirror, and what do you know, the guy after me stopped and waited for the green light.

Anyhow, after two weeks of rain, the weather has been amazing lately.  A nice and crisp 62F everyday with plenty of sunshine.  I love California.

02.13.08

I think Ha has been doing as well as can be during her pregnancy, but she is alway nervous and worries about it.  Anyhow, at her checkup this morning, she was so happy when the doctor told her she's doing fine.  I could have told her that, but nooooo, she needs to hear that from a doctor.  Well, come to think of it, I have a Dr. in my title too.  Oh well ...

02.15.08

Just made a donation to the Obama campaign.  I really hope he gets the nomination.

02.20.08

Here's some hilarious quotes I stumbled upon the last couple days.

~ Regarding the Little Saigon naming protest that has been going on the last few months in San Jose, someone left this comment at the end of a Mercury News article,

" All Nguyens should just leave. Then that will make the Viet community a total of 6. We can handle that.... "

 ~ From Phil Jackson, discussing Shaq's role in the high octane Suns,

"His role involves taking the ball out of bounds and waiting for the other team to get back"

======= March 2008

03.05.08

The General's daughter has arrived

A few minutes after Zoey came out of her mom's womb, holding her in my hands,

me, talking to Zoey: I like you already.

dr. mannon: You better like her, she's yours now, there's no putting her back.

Someone told me once that when you have a kid, especially your first one, you take all your normal activities and put them aside.  Then slowly over the years, you start incorporating them back into your routines.  I guess, everyone experience is a little different and unique in its own way.  For us, it is dramatic, not overwhelming, but certainly life changing.  We are very lucky that we get help from both the grandparents.  It'd be a lot rougher otherwise.

It's only been three weeks, but it's been fun, and more so each and everyday.  Now, everyone but Zoey is doing the talking, mom, dad, the grandparents...  Zoey might not understand any of it, but everyone talks to her anyway.  I think it'll be reversed when she starts talking.  No one might understand her, but she'd talk anyway.

Everyone jokes that with all the love and attention, Zoey will be very spoiled.  I think, or I know, I can be tough in teaching and disciplining her.  And I think Ha is even more so than I am.  So she'll be all right, at least I hope :)  We'll see.

Zoey had her regular checkup today.  She weights in at 7lbs 14oz.  She was 5lbs 12oz two weeks ago.  That's a pretty healthy rate, we are quite happy.

I think it's a standard practice in the pediatric section that you always greet patients by complementing their child.  Things like, "oh, she's so cute", or "how adorable".  Anyhow, it sounds boring and pretentious after a while.  This morning, in the doctor's office,

Dr. Cleary: Hi Zoey, you are so cute.

Zoey: ....

Zoey's dad: Thank you

Dr. Cleary: Hey Zoey, do you want a boyfriend, I have two boys, a 2 year old and a 3 month old, you can choose.

Zoey: ....

Zoey's mom and dad: uhhhhhh

My boss just came back from a business exploring / recruiting trip in Malaysia.  He is shocked by the cheap and abundant high tech work force there, and believes that eventually all the high tech jobs in the US will be outsources to other countries.  I, for one, don't worry about that at all.  People cried fouls and predicted doom for the US when the textile and manufacturing were outsourced.  If anything, it just makes the US stronger.  Our companies are more profitable by outsourcing, and we continue to attract the cream of the crops from around the world.  As long as we maintain our educational advantage, we'll do well. 

Stanford admission rate is less 10% this year.  Sure, it is a brutal competition, and it sucks if you grow up dreaming to go to Stanford, but that's how we stay ahead of the curve.

======= April 2008

04.13.08

Work has been going pretty well lately.  Busy but challenging. 

Just got back from the gym for the first time after a couple months, although I wouldn't call it exercising.  Anyhow, I got back to the office to find a 30' monitor on my desk.  I don't watch movies on it, but let me tell you, it's a damn nice monitor.  It'll take me a couple days to get used to it.

A couple months ago, I made a small donation to Obama.  And ever since, I've been bombarded with emails from his campaign, as expected.  Now, I don't mind the emails at all, but the tone of them makes me cringed, full of negativities and bullshitting.  I still prefer Obama over Clinton, but as a friend of mine once said: "I vote to minimize the damage, not to choose the best candidate."

We saw the Google Street Cam Car driving by our neighborhood yesterday.  It'll be interesting to see how long it'll take them to put the images up on their map.

Anyhow, I have a tendency of letting Zoey sleep on my arms when I watch her at night.  Her face is so peaceful yet radiant.  I feel like Toby Ziegler now.

And yes, the true winner of last night Pennsylvania primary is John McCain.