March 31, 2001
[12:46 AM, PST]
Yeeeeeesh, a few days can make you really think about different things. On Thursday, I had an interview at a company called Mountain View Pharmaceuticals... and boy, did I get GRILLED. It was all going ok until one of the head scientists started asking questions from my lab courses WAAAAAYYYY back to my freshman and sophomore years... I really felt foolish. While I know a bad experience is a lesson learned, it's also made me think about what I really wanted to do... and now, I find myself almost back at square one: what do I want to do? What shall I do? How shall I go about doing it? And it's really making me realize that the hermit/nomad position in the mystical land of Asia is looking awfully attractive right now.... *sigh*. I sincerely hate this feeling: this feeling of helplessness, negativity, lack of hope, etc. Granted, I know I could be in worse situations but I just think that my personal "trials by fire" have yet to cease. Oh boy... *sigh*
Anyhow, today was a pretty kick back day I suppose -- I picked up my mother from the airport after her month-long "excursion" to Canada to help out a friend. Afterwards, I went out ice-skating with some people (and just for record for Chianne's sake: people who went ice-skating included Chianne, Ming Ming, Isabel, Hank, Steve, Jean, and myself) followed by a small trip to T.G.I.F.'s for a little snacking. And that just about sums it up for now.
March 27, 2001
[12:55 AM, PST]
Well, unfortunately, Incyte Genomics didn't take me -- the group (or the person in charge of hiring) preferred a more experienced person... *sigh*.... oh well, c'est la vie. I'm disappointed but not too down about it like I thought I would be originally...
Of course, bad things don't come alone; rather, they just seem to be in abundance for me lately. I found out yesterday that my front windshield is cracked! Argh! That means I have to send in my car for repairs AGAIN - and that I'll have to shell out more money AGAIN. *sigh*... Why oh why...
Other recent events: I attended another workshop affiliated with the EDD (Employment Development Department) -- not too bad really; I felt like I learned a little bit from discussing and listening about negotiations within an interview.
Fun stuff recently: the 73rd Academy Awards!! That was a joy to watch this past Sunday -- I actually watched all five films which were nominated for best film (I squeezed in Traffic right before Sunday afternoon mass!!). As the proud Chinaman that I am, I was personally supporting Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon though I realized that mainstream America has quite a ways to go before fully accepting an Asian film. But hey, four Academy Awards ain't bad (Cinematography, Art Direction, Score, and Foreign Film)... it's just too bad Ang Lee himself didn't earn a Best Director award -- quite a disappointment for me and my "homies" :)...
Last but not least, there shall be a new added info in the games section inspired by (as someone would put it) "TSW" --> you know who you are ;).
March 22, 2001
[12:45 AM, PST]
So much has happened since my last update that I'll try to be brief since I could go on for hours (and I really should be sleeping).
I got in touch with Lab Support, a bio-related temp. agency, and I've been fortunate enough to hear of some potential places. Unfortunately, I haven't been responsive as I thought I would be -- this is mostly attributed to waiting out for Incyte Genomics, another company which is located in Palo Alto. I'm hoping to hear from them after my interview last week and I hope it's good news -- I'd think it'd be great to be working with a friend and near a friend too!
At the same time, I turned down a contract offer from an ex-manager at Gamers.com. Though it may have been interesting to do a little more work for them, I don't think signing up with them and working part-time while potentially getting a full-time position elsewhere would be too good or convenient. I guess my time with Gamers.com truly is over.
One slightly negative event occurred as well: I wasn't able to appeal to the Berkeley traffic court for traffic school -- oh well, I guess some lessons are a little expensive...
Anyhow, tomorrow I'm interviewing at a Stanford lab -- looking forward to it but I guess I'm still anxious about Incyte. But worrying about it isn't very helpful nor healthy; I should be looking ahead and thinking positive.
In terms of changes (wow, I'm really rambling), I've begun my move back home to San Jose from Berkeley. It's an odd feeling -- however, coupled with my talk with my ex-manager, I somehow got the feeling that moving down to San Jose just felt right... like it was a logical step or progression. Unfortunately, my (95% possibiliy of) moving down will limit my time and exposure to my Berkeley friends. But I'm sure I'll get the motivation to visit :)...
Okay, I've gone on long enough... time for bed!
March 8, 2001
[10:49 PM, PST]
Well, it's been two days since a "certain" incident and while I'm feeling better in general, thinking about it still makes me pretty peeved and depressed, especially regarding insurance, going to the court and asking for traffic school, etc. I understand it's "just a ticket" and that nothing necessarily bad happened but I guess I'm one of those guys that just can't stand feeling guilty and doing something negative generally makes me feel like crap. Argh... this self-centering waddling in my own sadness is pretty pathetic but it's difficult to think positively. I'm just hoping that I'll be able to find work soon -- that should get me thinking positive and will probably raise my spirits.
March 6, 2001
[02:45 AM, PST]
It's been awhile since I've last updated... There's now a new "Personal Rant" section I put up. It's mainly stemmed from the fact that I got a ticket today. Wheeee....... For more details, head over to the Rant section dated today for more details. Please pray for me.... I could use it. *sigh*....
February 26, 2001
[01:01 AM, PST]
A fairly relaxing Sunday... after mass at St. Clare's, a woman named Claudia Devaux came to speak about the book she co-wrote, Bamboo Swaying in the Wind. It is a biographical account of Father George Bernard Wong, a Jesuit priest who spent over 20 years for his faith in China. Though I originally attended her book-signing back at the Ricci Institute at USF last October, it is much more meaningful since she came to the San Jose Chinese Catholic Community to speak about the book and about Fr. Wong. It is also of importance due to Fr. Wong's recent passing earlier this year - a sad and unfortunate event. Though I have yet to read all of it, I know it is one that I should be reading - something to learn about Fr. Wong's persistence, loyalty, and undying faith. I hope the teenagers at our church can learn something from this too.
Anyhow, it is late and I should be sleeping... gotta get up early to go up to SF and later to Berkeley!
February 25, 2001
[01:12 AM, PST]
Well, it's not like the daily updates that I'd like to do but well, I guess something is better than nothing.
I finally picked up my car yesterday after five days in the body shop. For the uninformed, my car was hit twice in two weeks by some unknown Berkeley drivers with the depth perception of a one-eyed monster with astigmatism. Considering that they've hit my PARKED car in the DAYTIME, I'm seriously pondering the vision and intelligence of California drivers (and Berkeley drivers specifically). Without going into details, I paid quite a bit to get it fixed -- in fact, I could have bought a nice, new computer with a nice, large (high-quality) monitor. *sigh*... I'm already dreading driving up to Berkeley and leaving my car parked around the southside of campus waiting for some blind IDIOT(s) to hit it again.
Anyhow, last night, I had the opportunity to hang out with a friend and go to his co-worker's birthday party. Naturally, lots of people from aforementioned co-worker's workplace were there and having a ball. While many friends may say I'm the social butterfly, I've realized a while back that my personal mingling skills have not been up to par as they were when I was an eagerly, outgoing socialite my first year at Cal. Thus, my so-called attempts at socializing was very humble and kept me glued to a nearby couch, talking to some folks here and there. It's a bit more difficult, for me now at least, to get the gumption and courage to speak to random people at random moments. I've also realized that I'm probably more the "doer" and would rather be doing something as opposed to just talking. Geez, what's wrong with me?...
Today I had the opportunity to spend time with my extended family and celebrate my aunt's 60th birthday in San Francisco. I've also realized that my time with family is limited and I should appreciate as much as I can get. It's also come to my mind that maybe I'm sharing too much *grin*... anyhow, I've rambled enough for tonight. Oh well, 'til next time ;)...
February 21, 2001
[07:52 PM, PST]
Oh dear, my first journal entry into the online world since... since a LONG long time (despite having this generic URL for AGES). It's been about 3.5 years since my last webpage was available to view. That site has gone the way of the Titanic unfortunately, plunging into the icy realms due to its reception of a hard drive crash.
Hopefully, with time and motivation, I'll be able to actually write and make this site something useful to read and visit. If you see this text under a smorgasbord of rambling words or in some long forgotten link barely visited due to mad updates from my part, then I have succeeded and am glad to see you have come this far. Hopefully, I have done well in entertaining you, to say the least.
In any case, I shall write more as time permits (hopefully). More shall come on regarding who I am and what my status is, whatever it may be. Take care! ;)