Life in Moses Lake

New Seat Belt Law

2012-02-01T09:25:00.001+08:00

The new seatbelt law is to be effective today, February 1st, 2012, which requires all passengers in vehicle fastening the seatbelts including the rear seats. Violators are to be fined NT$1,500-6,000 (about US$50-200).

The requirements for all children to be seated in car seats or boosters will be effective on August 1st this year.

Helen and I had been using seat belt all the time no matter which seat we sit in a car for years. And Ethan had been using children car seat since he was 3-day old when leaving the hospital to home and swapped to high-back booster seat last year.

Time to establish standards for people to ride vehicle safely.

Here are some tips how to choose a booster seat. (Link to Washington State Booster Seat Coalition.)

120129 Ethan Helped Fixing Dinner

2012-01-29T22:04:00.000+08:00

Today was the last day of the 9-day Chinese New Year Holidays, and I decided not to waste it staying at home. This afternoon I took Ethan to Yong-he-shan reservoir (永和山水庫) for hiking so Helen could get a few hours without Ethan for rest and do whatever she wanted to do. We came back home near 5 pm and I dragged Ethan to take a shower before the dinner was ready.

While we were still waiting for the heater to warm up the bathroom, Ethan went in the kitchen and help Helen with the dinner. That I decided to take these photos when I saw what he was doing.

120128 Pants on Ethan's Head

2012-01-28T22:12:00.001+08:00

Ethan put his pajama pants on his head and told us that was his hair. It was his favorite "Bear" pants!

120107 Annual Activity at Preschool (親子闖關活動)

2012-01-28T08:56:00.000+08:00

Ethan and Helen are walking on the bridge crossing a "swamp". It's a part of the Animal World.

In the preschool Ethan goes there is an activity each year requires all kids to work with the teachers for at least a month to decorate their classroom and then invites all parents to come and play with the kids. In this school year it was on January 7th.

Ethan entered this preschool last year right after the activity and didn't participate it. So this was his first time. There are four classrooms in the preschool and in each one of them there was a theme. Like in the first photo above the theme was "Animal World", and in the photo below was another classroom "Ancient Life". Ethan's classroom was "Holes".

What I appreciated it was that it got all kids to involve. The teachers would just hint them with the subject and the kids needed to get their hands on. All the decoration was made by the preschoolers and the teachers finished it to hang them onto the wall and the ceiling. It was not that the teachers did it all and then let kids to play in. I was told the whole work took them about a month, for the once-a-year special day.

We had great fun and great weather that day.

Ethan was experiencing lifting water from a well. It was much heavier then it looked.

Lifting and carrying a cargo with Mom.

The spiders and web cob in Ethan's classroom. It's all made by Ethan and his classmates.

In "Holes", you got to go through different holes to reach each partition.

In each partition there was different subjects to explore.

Then go to the next one. There was no shortcuts for parents so we must go through the same path to catch up.

That was Ethan's drawing, An ant queen.

120127 Somewhere in Tong-shao, Miaoli (苗栗通霄)

2012-01-27T22:46:00.000+08:00

We went out this afternoon for sightseeing and took these pictures. (Nikon D50, Nikkor 85mm 1.8G, ISO 200, SB-800, TTL EV-2.7)

Ethan in the Luggage

2012-01-20T11:34:00.000+08:00

Ethan in the luggage. (Photo by Helen)

I bought a new luggage bag weeks ago, and wanted to try if it was easy to pull. I looked around, trying to find some weight to put in. Then I saw..... ETHAN! He is the perfect weight! Almost 20 kg, close to the limit of luggage most airliners allow passenger to check in (for economic class), and perfect size to sit in.

He hesitated when I motioned him to sit in. I showed him the bag will be leave open like the way shown in the photo, and he was okay with it. Then I walked the luggage in the living room again and again, and Ethan thought it was fun and kept asking me not to stop.

Final, I sat on the floor and asked him to come out. And he refused. I had to tell him I was done for the rest of the day, and there would be no more pulling to convince him to get out of the bag.

Work, Work, Work

2012-01-19T22:40:00.000+08:00

This takes 50% of the time I am awake, 70% of my attention, and 95% of my brain activities since December.

It is rewarding and addicting, to solve the puzzles in the work and make things going with endless planning, negotiating, and following up. Again, I can feel the workaholic spirit is resurrecting in me. But there is one thing different. I have Ethan and Helen. They are the brake to slow me down and remind me I got a life to live.

So far I think the new job is okay. In two more months I will be in this company for one year. Only sometimes it is annoying to hear people talking emotionally in the office, especially when I was busy in solving the problem. Unfortunately, it is not able to be eluded when dealing with people.

When I work, it seems there is a switch in my mind to shut down or tune down my feeling. And I like to stay this way. Just calm, and get things done.

120104 Ethan's House

2012-01-04T23:22:00.001+08:00

Ethan asked me to photo every house he built with the Lincoln Logs. So that he would remember what he had built. These are his work tonight.

Snow White, Ethan's Edition?

2012-01-04T07:59:00.000+08:00

Last night I was trying to finish the bedtime story Snow White, and couldn't help being interrupted by Ethan.

When I was to tell him that the queen about how the queen wanted to prepare the apple to poison Snow White, I said, "then the queen grabbed some apples and..."

Ethan continued immediately, "stoned her?"

Google Talk

2012-01-03T19:32:00.000+08:00

What an ingenious tool!

I usually leave the office for lunch even we can order something delivered to our facility just to get some fresh air, but not today. I got to stay to make an important phone call, to a best friend of mine, Matt.

I tried to call him via Skype a few days ago but the quality of voice was terrible. Since we both have Android phones we decided to switch to Google Talk so we could use the video chat service for free. It was good than ever. The talk didn't last long as we both got something else to do that day, and we managed to continue the chat today at my lunch break.

The first call from Matt was when I was still in a meeting. The phone was turned to silent mode and I could feel it vibrating in my vest pocket. I couldn't answer. Then I saw the massage. It was Matt requesting the video chat. I replied the message saying I would call him back at noon.

I was in the warehouse, where was in the range of one of the Wi-Fi hotspot that I could have the connection. After a few rings the display on my phone's screen changed. Then the familiar smile and face showed up. The voice was loud and clear, so as the picture quality. Unlike Skpye, Google Talk uses the whole screen for video and provides clearer pictures of whom I was talking to.

I have been using Google Talk for months, ever since the video chat function was released to my phone. Sometimes I would use it to talk to Helen while I was at work and she was at home. And for many times I used it at the kindergarten when I went to pick up Ethan to call Helen with 3G wireless service and let her know I got Ethan already, or let Helen see Ethan still playing on the playground when I turned the camera on the top of the phone to him.

Or I would call Helen after work when I was sitting in my car, telling her I am going home and also sharing some news before I start the engine. Sometimes it is a good strategy to help me switching from "business mode" to "home mode". That is quite important to me for handling the pressure from work.

During my business trip in Germany, every morning I was always the first one arrived the restaurant on the first floor of the hotel, where was in the range of the Wi-Fi router. The signal in my room was terrible and couldn't even sustain a stable connection. I talked to Helen everyday for at least half an hour via Google Talk video chat before I started my breakfast. It was so comforting to be able to see the family everyday when traveling in the other side of the world.

So I do really like it. It has been integrated into the Android phone nicely. Good to have this in our life.

Bye Bye 2011

2012-01-01T08:05:00.000+08:00

So that was how Year 2011 ended.

I was extremely busy and overwhelmed by work in the last month of 2011. The loading increased sharply after my business trip in Germany, and eventually became the center of information in the company for some cases, collecting, sorting, distributing information, and also the main contact window for the customers overseas. More than half of the phone calls for business were to other country in the world, in working hours and midnight.

2011, the year of change, and might be another milestone in my life. The others are 2002, the year of moving to the United States of America with ambitions; 2007, the year of moving back to Taiwan with depression; 2008, devoted to Life Insurance business and pursuing a life without an employer and work for myself only. In 2001, I was offered a job with bigger challenges and opportunities.

I entered a completely different industry. At the first I was kind of lost as I seemed not to belong to any departments in the company, I didn't in charge of any things except translating the documents. And the situation changed when I had my first business trip in November.

I had been in many exhibitions before, but not as an exhibitor in any of them. That was my first time to stay in a booth for four fully days, from 9 am to 6 pm. I could tell that my sense of business had come back to me. In insurance industry I did the direct sale, but now I am a part of the gigantic international supply chains of disposable medical device. It was made so clear in the biggest project I had been taking care of recently.

I never saw this day would have come to me again. Having my own desk (and someday my own office maybe), working with a group of people, business flight, weekly meetings, conference calls, negotiations and monitoring projects. Sometimes I still felt surreal and sometimes I missed the days I could call off anytime I want.

Other than my career, we have other great things happening. Helen's Jazzercise business was stabilized and grows steadily. The night on the New Year's Eve at dinner we talked about how it was like in the first year when Helen just started the first class from scratch. It had seemed far far away. And Helen now is fully running the business on her own. My assistance and consult is no longer required. She is capable to conceive, organize, prepare, and execute a yearly event for her members now. I see a strong-willed and confident woman in her.

And Ethan moved back to live with us from Helen's parents' house for good. This was the first year to go to the kindergarten starting to build his social skills and many other things which will go with him for life that we couldn't provide at home schooling. Now he is a happy and popular boy in his class. I still try to keep close contact to his teachers to exchange opinions and observations help Ethan to find his guidance.

That's our 2011.

11115 Kolner Dom (Cologne Cathedral)

2011-12-24T09:51:00.002+08:00

November 15, the day before the exhibition Medica began, my colleague Jane and I went to Cologne to visit the famous Cologne Cathedral.

Cologne is only 30 minutes away from Dusseldorf by Reihnexpress (Region Express trains). The Cathedral is right beside the train station. It is so...... HUGE. A magnificent artificial piece standing in front of us when we walked out of the station following the signs.

And we climbed all the way to the top of the tower. Let the photos to tell my feelings.

Huge building. I was just out of the train station and even my wide-angel lens camera could only barely capture the building and make it fit in the frame.

Me standing in front of the building. Notice how far I had to stay from the cathedral so I would not look too small in the picture?

Statues on surround the door frame. Each one of them are estimated around 2 meter, taller than me (I am 1.82 m).

Inside the cathedral. There was a service when we entered the cathedral. All visitors were asked to stay behind a line not disturbing the sacred ritual. It was reopened after the service was done.

View of Cologne from the top of the tower.

Looked upright from the bottom of the tower.

Painted glass window.

The Altar.

Me inside the cathedral.

The bell. On the way to the top of the tower.

Mosaic pattern on the floor.

The two-deck train to Cologne we took.

111113 Frankfurt

2011-12-03T09:02:00.001+08:00

Skyline of Frankfurt, Germany.

Frankfurt Railroad station, the 2nd and the 3rd generation of ICE.

?? Square? I really don't remember.

111113 Rothenburg

2011-11-25T07:42:00.001+08:00

Town Hall

We booked the flight on 11/13 and were supposed to arrive Frankfurt on 11/14, but the flight was cancelled. Our arrival was moved one day forward and we were arranged to visit the small town with the Medieval atmosphere Rothenburg in Bavaria, South Germany.

The hall square seen from the top of the hall tower.

Rothenburg is nearly 3 hours away from Frankfurt, the port we entered Germany. The plane was landed at 6 am and a tour bus was waiting for us at the airport. 10:30 am, we were dropped at the park lots outside the town. The spike tower and the wall surrounding the town was my first impression about Rothenburg.

Town Hall.

I was too busy to do the research before going to Germany, and knew nothing about Rothenburg when I walked on the stone-paved street. I just relaxed and enjoyed the cool and dry air that we don't have in Taiwan.

The town was lovely. It was Sunday and most stores were not open until noon. I observed the town with my full curiosity. We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant in the town, which was odd, I think. I didn't fly over 14 hours to have Chinese food in Central Europe. But there was nothing I could do about it. We came with a group of exhibitors and some of them just could handle the food their were not used to for 10 days. (The touring agent even prepared boxes of Taiwanese instant noodles for us.)

Western town gate.

After lunch we had about an hour to walk around. I knew where I should go: the top of the tower of the town hall. The wooden stairs was only foot-wide, and worn down. Every step I was worrying I might be the one who broke the pieces of history. The view from the top of the tower was gorgeous. Unfortunately the light was not right for picture so I didn't post them here. But from the second photo above could provide some idea how tall the tower was.

Then we headed back to Frankfurt for dinner and checking in the hotel for my first night in Germany.

Town wall.

Business Class (On the Plane)

2011-11-23T07:45:00.001+08:00

The beverage served while waiting for passengers in economy class to board.

One of the benefits of my position in the company is that we get to sit in the business class on the plane while traveling. This trip to Germany was my first experience of the service of business class.

So what makes it special to ride in business class? Well, everything starts with checking-in. Business class passengers share exclusive check-in counter with the first class passengers, which means nearly no waiting to the counter. Our check-in luggage was labeled "priority", gave the luggage transporters some idea which luggage should be loaded separately and unloaded first so the passengers would not spend too much time at the luggage claim.

When the boarding time comes, first class and business class passengers get to board the plane first. While we were waiting for the rest of the cabinet be filled with economy class passengers, a glass of preferred beverage was served, as shown in the first picture. We got to use the real glass, not a plastic cup. Similar treatments are also consistent through the whole flight.

We did not really had nothing to do while waiting. A stewardess offered me two menus by calling my surname. One menu was for the meals on the trip and the other one was for drink. They got a good variety of the drink and I had to struggle not to order too much.

Salad, appetizer, bread and wine.

The seat was wide and comfortable, with extended leg room. In fact, because the tables were hidden in the armrest not on the back of the front seat, I didn't have to lift the back of the seat while having my dinner and it would not bother the passenger behind me. Before the meal was served, the stewardess laid a sheet of table cloth on the dining table, which was another surprised to me.

The tray was covered by another cloth which gave the service warm feeling. The food was on real ceramic plates, even salt and pepper were in ceramic dispenser not in cheap paper bags.

The silverware was wrapped in another fabric napkin. None of knives, forks spoons were plastic. The full meal included appetizer, entree, and dessert, served one after another. It was more like sitting in an nice restaurant than in an airplane.

Besides the way they served the meal, each passenger has his/her own slippers (not the paper type) and a pack of personal hygiene stuffs, including a shaving razor. So I could took off the shoes, raised the leg support and lean back to the cozy seat, slept through the flight.

Grilled veal served with roasted potato.

Another appetizer before the meal served.

Fruit and dessert (fruit).

Fruit and dessert (dessert).

I AM IN GERMANY!

2011-11-16T11:33:00.001+08:00

Germany, a country I wanted to visit mostly in my life since I was a kid. Today, it's hard to believe that I am really here standing on the land of Germany.

This is the most important part of my job starting in March this year, to represent the company in the largest medical device exhibition in the world in Dusseldorf, Germany. I came with other two colleagues who had come here every November for years.

We arrived a day earlier than the planned schedule because the airliner cancelled the flight we booked. That gave us one more time for touring. We arrived in the morning on Sunday, visited Rothenburg, a village with the feeling of medieval era, and then stayed overnight in Frankfurt. The next day we departed to Dusseldorf. The day after (yesterday) I took one of the colleague riding train to Cologne and visited the famous Cologne Cathedral.

I took a lot of photos and will post them here later.

Weird Son, Weird Song

2011-11-11T06:36:00.001+08:00

My weird son singing a weird song. Recorded with my Google Nexus S.

If Everyone Cared...

2011-11-08T21:41:00.000+08:00

If everyone cared... if we paid more attention... the world can be different.

Pursuit of Perfect Crema

2011-11-07T18:11:00.000+08:00

Mypressi Twist V2, the one I really want to have.

We got a new espresso machine in the office two weeks ago, and since then I have been possessed to find the best condition for coffee brewing.

I am fan since I was a college student. I loved the combination of cheese cake and espresso (for weight control, I am not into cheese cake as I used to be), then double-shot espresso became my favorite. However, it was just a habit that I couldn't afford to do on daily basis. Monthly or quarterly, maybe. And I never had a good chance to know how to brew a cup of perfect espresso to me.

When I was working in America, I finally realized how much I loved espresso. Every morning someone would make coffee in the rest area of the factory and I never took a sip of it. I could tell it didn't meet my standard to coffee by the aroma filling in the room. Not even once in five years. Americano was for caffeine supply, not for taste. But the espresso maker didn't appear in our kitchen for two reasons: I didn't know which one to buy, and Helen didn't drink coffee because the minimal dose of caffeine would keep her awake almost all night long laying in bed .

Rancilio Silvia, the model we have in the office.

Two years ago, we met our friend Su-Fang who has a Nespresso machine at home. My flexible working schedule allowed Helen and I to visit her occasionally in the morning to have a cup of espresso. The desire to have one was sprouting in my mind. After struggling for a year, I entered this company with a nice semi-automatic espresso machine in the office. I began the coffee routine every morning till two weeks ago.

The new espresso machine was delivered to the office to replace the old one. It's Ranchilio Silvia, a well known best espresso maker for home or office in the world. Everyone was excited to see it installed, but the excited last for two days. I started to discuss the crema problem with a colleague who drank coffee as much as I did.

For some reason, we just couldn't generate good crema floating on the top of the coffee, neither the aroma. It was frustrating. I tried almost everything I could thought of to operate the machine, as I did to the analytic instrument in the lab. I tried different forces to press the powder, flushing the passage of the hot water to preheat it and make sure the temperature of the first drop of water reaching the powder was ideal. None was working. Even the flow rate from the spout was obviously wrong.

I called for help. I was lucky to have a friend well experienced in making perfect coffee. His first response was "how could it be possible not able to make crema with this machine" as heard my description of the problem. He explained how the crema was created chemically, physically, and mechanically, and gave me some advises to try.

I did. The improvement was remarkable. The crema was not even close to acceptable but at least I got a layer floating on the espresso. More works need to be done before getting satisfied. It was a beginning, at least I could say so.

Funny Ethan

2011-11-07T08:34:00.001+08:00

I don't remember exactly when he started that, making funny face when I told him I was going to snap a photo of him.

Here are some examples I remembered.

111031 Jack-O'-Lantern at Jazzercise

2011-10-31T23:23:00.002+08:00

Jack-O'-Lantern on stage with Helen.

Helen did as she planned -- bringing the Jack-O'-Lantern to her Jazzercise class tonight and put them on the stage.

I was there to record the moment with my Nikon D50 and after the class took some photos for Helen's class members. It seemed almost none of them had seen a Jack-O'-Lantern before.

View from the stage.

And Ethan's face on the photo below is hilarious.

Our first family photo on Halloween.

111030 Jack-O'-Lantern

2011-10-31T06:46:00.005+08:00

Ethan's first Jack-O'-Lantern

Helen always wants to create holiday atmosphere in her Jazzercise classroom, starting Halloween. She used to decorate the classroom before the day came, but this year, she got three pumpkins.

I have no idea how and where she got them. As shown in the photos, pumpkins in Taiwan are not as big as in America. The color are lighter, skin is firmer, and the flesh is thicker. The season wasn't not right either. Pumpkin season was the problem. It was too warm in October for pumpkins to grow in Taiwan, so I was very surprised when I saw the three pumpkins appeared by the door of our living room.

Light up the tea candles

I don't remember when was the last time we carved Jack-O'-Lantern in Moses Lake. 2006 or 2005? The post previously indicated it was 2006, the year before we moved back to Taiwan and Helen was still pregnant.

Worked on the second pumpkin.

Last night Helen asked me to carve the pumpkins for her. I wasn't quite sure it would work. So I picked a smaller one (the one on right in photos), drew the face with a whiteboard pen, and grabbed the 5-inch serrated utility knife and the 6-inch boning knife from the kitchen and started the work.

To cut the lid was the hardest part. The flesh was about three inches thick. I had to be very careful not to cut myself. It took me fifteen minutes to remove the lid. Then I have to cut off more flesh from the hole I created to make it big enough letting my hand through to remove the seeds inside.

As I first cut it, I made the inside of each window narrower than the open on the skin. I used the boning knife to remove flesh as much as possible. Otherwise, the hole would not be big enough to let the light through.

The second one was easier with the experience from carving the first one. I finished it when Helen went downstairs to buy some tealight candles from the shop right at the corner of the block our apartment settled.

Then, it's time to light up the candles. It seemed impossible to put the lit candle through the hole without burning my hand. We used the tongs I bought for barbecue. Nice and easy. We got two Jack-O'-Lanterns on our dining table.

Jack-O'-Lanterns in the dark.

111015 Ethan, Helen and Evonne at NCHU (Picture only)

2011-10-30T08:38:00.003+08:00

From Skype to Google Talk

2011-10-30T08:05:00.001+08:00

11:30 pm on Friday night, I was laying in bed and ready to turn off the lamp on the bedside table. Helen and Ethan were in another room. My android phone got an incoming message via Google Talk. It was Helen to say good night.

I smiled, calling back to her via Google Talk. Her and Ethan's faces appeared on the screen. We talked for a few more minutes.

Two weeks ago, I went to the kindergarten to ride Ethan home on my way back from the office. I didn't call Helen on phone to let her know I had gotten Ethan. Instead, I called Helen via Google Talk Video and 3G mobile Internet access service, Helen could see Ethan still running in the classroom and playing with his classmates. Then I turned the phone back to me, and told Helen I would be home soon.

Hangouts on Google+

Since I got Helen an Android phone for her birthday, Google Talk has become an important (and free) tool for the communication between Helen and I. The full integration to the phone and the application surely is one of the reason, but not the most important one. We both use Gmail for our daily email access portal and that just makes using Google Talk to IM each other easier and intuitive. I even cut down the time I use MSN messenger service already.

And what does this do to Skype? Skype is still the tool we use to make calls to landline or other countries, with the Unlimited World monthly plan for only US$10 a month (it seems Skype had raised the monthly fee to US$13.99 but my got the contracted plan since 2008 and fixed the price). Since it's a paid plan, Helen and I share one account to make all phone calls, from home, or my office, or our cell, whenever calling via Skype is cheaper. And that comes with a few inconvenience.

First of it is that Helen and I cannot talk to each other via our shared Skype account. Or we have to switch account frequently. That is even more inconvenient.

Belkin Skype desktop phone

Second, we have a Belkin Skype desktop phone set on my desk at home. It is neat that we can make voice call through Skype without our computer on. Since we use the voice call service more than instant message, it is logical to have such a phone connected. And the phone signs in the share account, too. So when people call us on this account, this desktop phone rings, all computers with Skype signing in the same account ring, and so as Helen and my cell phone. And I used the same account for my work too. See the point? Skype is good for saving money but so good for free online chatting. Google Talk make communication more personal and private in our case.

Plus, when Google+ provide the Hangouts multiple users video chat service for free, the possibility or three way video call among my parents in Taipei, my sister in LA and us in Jhunan is now doable. That makes switching to Google Talk from Skype an more reasonable change.

Morning Walk

2011-10-29T18:50:00.001+08:00

Today's sunrise.

Resting for a month, I resumed the morning walk with two colleagues this morning. No matter how good the view of the trail is, arriving the entrance of the trial at 6 am is still a challenge to me. I have to drive 40 minutes in the dark to get there on time. Nevertheless, it was oorth to participate some activities with colleagues after the working hours in somewhere other then the office. You get to know them better. I was glad to be back.