January 31, 2004(Saturday)

I went to Parque del Este for a run. I was tired and wanted to fall asleep in the run. I went to IBCC to practice music and then went to MB Church to practice music. At night, Elisa called me about the fellowship program tomorrow. It is about the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). I suddenly have the idea and I composed a song using these two verses.

January 30, 2004(Friday)

I had a tough day at work today. In the morning, I was organizing the expense report for the Colombia trip. They gave me US $800 to spend and I spent about $385. Roughly $10 transportation and $20 food per day. My table is a mess when laying out all the receipt there. I am glad that I have written down the date and the item each time, and I recorded what I spent each day. During morning, I heard that my boss Omar was busy talking on the phone. I had a bad feeling already; not long after Mario told me that there is problem with the CanTV network and the customer felt that we have not given them enough attention. Omar was handling the case and I need to take over now. I was not quite pleased with that but I still asked Omar what is needed to be done. He told me that basically the case is under control so he will inform me in the afternoon.
Originally I planned to take my MBA Accounting exam after work. However, I have a feeling that I may be really busy and not able to take the exam after work. Therefore, instead of going home for afternoon nap or exercise, I stayed at Desca and took the Accounting exam. This is a closed book exam because we should take it under the same condition as the students who will take it in the classroom. This is a struggle for not to cheat, and of course I am honest. I got 86%, which is only a B+ under the IU grading system. (UBC is the only university that has A- starting from 80%, as far as I know. SFU needs 86% for A- and IU needs 90%!) If I don't plan to study PhD, this would be a good-enough grade. However, this is certainly not enough for my PhD dream. I felt a bit disappointed, yet it is a relief to finish the exam!
There is also problem with the IPTV Server at Desca. There was some virus several weeks ago and I disconnected that. Afterward, I did not have time to get back with this device. Today, the Support Engineer asked me to fix it. Since Desca is a company with round-the-clock support, one of the Support Engineers each time would stay overnight. Therefore, fixing the IPTV is really good for them. I troubleshot for 30 mins and then it works!
TV Cable from Colombia emailed me yesterday saying that they want a presentation about their Security consultation project. Therefore, instead of wandering around the street or doing something else after the Accounting exam, I prepared the presentation immediately after eating McDonald chocolate ice-cream. It took me an hour and I finished the presentation PowerPoint!
During the afternoon, Omar did not get back to me about the CanTV problem. Rather, he was busy talking on the phone (in English) about some Microsoft problems for a customer. Sounding from the urgency and the language of English, I have a bad feeling already. When I am writing my email about the TV Cable presentation, he told me that I need to go to the customer "Banco Federal". They have problem with Microsoft (which I don't know how to solve at all) and they need me to go now (because I know English). Desca already flied an engineer from Maracaibo (another city from Venezuela which is 1 hours flight) this morning for solving this problem. According to Omar, he does not speak "perfect" English and he needs my support. We need to solve it by Monday morning or else we will lose the US $250,000 contract.
I was not pleased with that, but at least, I got to finish the expense report, Accounting mid-term and also the TV Cable presentation. When I arrived to the customer site, I found out the other Desca engineer who was there does not really speak English at all! (According to Omar's definition, I would just not speak "perfect" Spanish!) Omar had opened a case with Microsoft and the Microsoft engineer should call me soon. However, I was sitting in customer's site doing nothing (actually, I am updating my online diary).
I was staying at customer "Banco Federal" from 4:40 to 7pm. There is no Microsoft engineer called me. Omar told me that there is some "political" reason (which I don't know) so that the Microsoft Engineer can't call me today. I need to attend to the customer until 7:30pm and then return tomorrow morning. What a stupid time!
My boss called me and told me that the customer got some of the problems fixed and there is no need to contact the Microsoft engineer. That means, I don't need to go to customer tomorrow. I felt glad about that! He thanked me for my responsibility and my responsiveness. Actually I have not done anything but follow my boss order. Probably may be some other engineers would not be as obedience as I am to my boss.
My cell phone rang when I was cooking dinner. My boss called and I did not answer it because I did not hear it. However, he did not leave a message. Therefore, I pretend that there is nothing important happened. He should leave voice mail or call back if there is anything that requires my action.

January 29, 2004(Thursday)

I went to BanSuperior for presentation this morning. Probably they found that my security analysis was valid so they wanted me to present to their boss. Yesterday, I put on the technical hat. Today, I told them that we are on the same page because I studied MBA and cared the business too. I tried my best and I hope that they like my presentation. As far as I know, they would probably go for Desca's consultation which is about US 50k. Not a big project but it will be a start. However, the big boss was busy and she had to leave 10 mins into the presentation because of other thing.
I left the apartment at noon and then went to airport for a 3:30pm flight. I arrived Venezuela at about 6pm. I almost got stuck in the immigration again; they took my Canadian passport and examined it. Probably they suspected that my passport is fake so they asked me to show a Canadian driver license. I showed them both my Vancouver driver license and citizenship card; everything was ok afterward. I went to TGI Friday for my last luxury business trip meal. Probably I am over-nutrient for the last 10 days of business trip. I need to do some more exercise and eat less expensive meat or else I would be really fat.
I went home and unpacked stuff. I also studied for my accounting exam tomorrow.

January 28, 2004(Wednesday)

I slept for 40 mins after morning routine because I know that it will be a long day. I went to BanSuperior for customer presentation. I presented half in English and Miguel presented the other half in Spanish. The English literacy of the client is worse than I think. When I raised up some good point during my presentation, they would talk among themselves in Spanish or asked Miguel opinion in Spanish. I was left out. I tried my best to do this presentation and I hoped that the customer would like it. In fact, the customer invited me to go back tomorrow morning again and present my finding to their boss. That may be a good sign, although I don't really enjoy that.
I had lunch with co-worker Miguel and then we went back to Desca to discuss about the network of another customer, Banco Union Colombia. Originally I am scheduled to leave tonight at 9pm but the Desca's sales told the customer that there is a security specialist here and so the customer insisted to discuss with me. That is an honor, although I know that Miguel's suggestions to the customer are already very good. I went to their office and talked for about 1.2 hours. Basically we were just chatting and I tried to ask them what their network design will be and my opinion about that. I had already discussed most of that with Miguel before the meeting so I sounded to be knowledgeable.
I went back to Desca at 5:40 and one of the managers welcomed me. He told me that he had some gift for me, and it ended up that a customer, "National University of Colombia" had serious security problem and they needed me to fix. I was quite exhausted at that time (because I did not have afternoon nap). Miguel told me that he may know the reason of the problem, but he can't go because he has other commitment. I was there from 7:10 to 11:00. Obviously there is not quick fix to the problem and Miguel's suggestion is not correct. So I have to troubleshoot and I thought that, the worse I can be is without dinner and go home late. I proofed to them that this is not the security problem but some other network problem (i.e. finger pointing, but with solid proof). The customer is disappointed that the problem can't be solved but there is nothing much I can do.

January 27, 2004(Tuesday)

I went to BanSuperior the whole day. Since the place is very close to home, I can go home to take an afternoon nap. I can also go to buy coffee too. Actually, the Colombia coffee is the best in the world. Carmen told me that the Venezuelan coffee is much better than Canadian coffee. And my co-workers told me that the Colombian coffee is much better than the Venezuelan coffee. I am drinking a lot of expensive best coffee in the last few days. It tastes good, even better than chocolate milk! The only reason that I am not drinking too much is because I want to sleep.
I went to "Mister Rib" to have the most expensive dinner! I ordered the most expensive food (Cdn $20); I have no idea what that is, and it turned out that it is seafood. There is "dragon shrimp", oyster, and little fish steak. I did not really like it though. I regretted that I did not bring camera to take the picture. Including the Nestea, I have to pay (to expense!) Cdn $25.
I went home to work on the presentation of tomorrow. The other three co-workers are talking in the living room and I was working in the living room too, just to increase my presence. They were talking something in Spanish and I am working on the presentation. I also talked briefly about whether Desca in Venezuela is surviving or not. Originally, my co-worker Miguel is supposed to come to my house to discuss about the presentation but since it is too late, we will discuss it through AOL. I also discussed with Carmen about our future through MSN at night for 1.5 hours too.

January 26, 2004(Monday)

I had a meeting with coworker Miguel about the BanSuperior project in the morning. I went home to have afternoon nap (the only time during my Colombia visit) because I was close to home. I went to BanSuperior to meet with the customer. The meeting was in Spanish; I can understand half of it. I had meeting this morning with Miguel so I know what is going on already.
The three Desca Caracas people came and they are staying at the apartment. I helped them to settle down the apartment by giving them some tips. For example, I told them that there is very little toilet paper, and I boiled some water and the toilet pump is not functioning well and so on. I tried to be as helpful as possible. We had a long conversation. One of them (Jose) left his suit jacket last Bogotá’s visit in the room that I am staying and he went to took the suit and found out that I have my violin there. They invited me to play violin when they were drinking wine; I played the Mozart's song that Carmen got me during last Christmas. I played quite poorly. I told them that I have experience in performing to 500 people (during church offering) or playing flute to 1000 people (Canada Day in Canada Place) but still I was nervous because there is no accompany and they were my bosses / co-workers. We also had long conversation. In order to keep them interested and talked in English, I talked a lot and shared a lot about myself. For example, I told them that I will get married in the 10th yr anniversary and we shared the same birthday. Jose said that since our dates are so co-incidence, our marriage would last for 100 years. Then I told him that I am not sure whether I can live that long. I said that quality is more important than quantity. I would rather live a full life for 40 or 50 years than being garbage for 200 years. They asked me whether I have read "Confucius" and I told them that I am a Christian and read Bible. I said that one of the reasons why I came to Venezuela is to experience life and open my eye. I joked about I should go to India too because there is lost of IT job but Rhamer told me that India is full of CCIE and have lots of people.
I also mentioned to them the poor situation of Chinese in Venezuela; they are illegal immigrant and had a bad life yet they have to pretend to be good in front of their friends in Chinese to save face. People are not satisfied with what they have so they want to go to some other place and this is a poor way of thinking. They also talked about drinking wine and showed me how to see the wine because Jose had taken a course in drinking wine. When they asked how my Spanish was, I told them that I do not have gift in language; my Chinese and English grades in school were bad. (And they said, "but you have talent in music, math...)
This was a nice conversation (although Carmen thought that I may overdo it). People in work always think that I am like a mushroom sitting in the corner. It is great to show them the other side of me (the one that church people sees): talkative, have unique way of thinking, going for challenge, good planning, philosopher... Actually I may be under a curse for behaving like a mushroom during work. Co-workers in TELUS thought the same of me, until the date I was laid off and I suddenly become way more friendly and talkative. I must think of some way to break this curse.

January 25, 2004(Sunday)

I slept at 1:50 last night because I was studying marketing. And then at 5am the driver of Desca called. She told me to let the Desca person who stayed in the Desca apartment last night to be ready at 5:30am so that she can drive him to the airport. The first time when she called, I told her that he is in washroom. I was almost fall asleep again and she called the second time asking me to let him know about this. I was quite angered at that time; I told the co-worker anyway when he was taking a shower. I doubt that he can hear clearly but I have done my job. For some unknown reasons I can't fall asleep. After a while, I went out and tell the co-worker again when he finished his shower. And the security (or someone else) called again speaking Spanish which I don't really know what is going on. Anyway, I lost about 40 mins of sleep there.
I did not go to church this morning. Pastor Loh gave me two or three English missionaries a while ago and I lost their email except one. I tried to email several days ago but he probably canceled his email address. Therefore, I stayed home. I felt so uncomfortable; I can count how many times that I did not go to church on Sunday morning! In one time, I need to study for my exam and my parents force me to stay home. (The only time in my life to skip church for academic reason and that happens when I was in Gr. 3 or 4. Mom stayed home with me) Also, I did not go to church when I was in hospital 1992. Other than that, it is mostly personal trip (e.g. trip with church friends or family, but we still have family worship). For business trip, I guess that I can't go to worship during Beijing 98 trip. And may be some other trip. So far, I still have not have a Sunday when I can go to church and I did not go (e.g. because of sleep in). Please remind me if I am wrong.
I went to see the movie "The Last Samurai" (instead of going to worship). This is my first time to see movie by myself. Afterward, I went home, did some reading on the marketing course and had afternoon sleep. I used to have afternoon nap every weekday but it is not possible to sleep in TV Cable, except the time when I took taxi home. I also had really nice Colombia coffee so I am not tired. I can finally sleep tonight.
I went to Pizza Hut for dinner. There should be three people: Rhamer (head of the Caracas office), Jose Ignacio (CFO of the company) and Marisa (purchaser of Cisco equipment) coming to Colombia. I am expecting them.

January 24, 2004(Saturday)

I asked TV Cable's engineer about what is a good place to visit. He told me to go to a place called "Moloka", which is a catholic church located at the mountain top. I took taxi to the cable car station, that was quite far away from the place I was, and I have no idea whether the taxi driver is driving me to the cable car station or to some other place to rob me. I also worry about whether there will be taxi go back. Anyway, I was in the cable car station and turn out this is a tourist zone (because I saw some English written there). I was walking the "road on mountain top" that has all the important scene about Jesus' cruxification. I am quite physically fit and yet I found it quite tired to walk uphill. I suddenly remembered that Jesus is killed on the hill. He must carry the cross uphill and that is so tiring. I never realize about this fact previously.
As seen from my photo webpage, there is a church, market place and some hiking trail there. That is an interesting mix to have three different kinds of places on the mountain top. I also checked out the Catholic mass for about 5 mins. The priest was saying something (in Spanish) in monotone and the audience response to that (say "Amen"?) every 10 seconds. It was so boring and worse than any of the sermon I have ever heard! I would definitely fall asleep or not even go to this kind of church. However, the audiences are very concentrated (except some younger people are talking among themselves) and no one fall asleep. Probably in the Christian sermon, the pastor should ask the audience to say "Amen" every 10 seconds to keep them from falling asleep. Their singspiration (I would not call that to be singspiration because it only lasts for 10 seconds and that is even worse than the sermon!) was deadly. However, the priest did not read anything from the cheat-sheet. He memorized! I had lunch in the high-class restaurant. I did not order the most expensive food. Just order a spegatti.
I went to the "Museo del Oro" (gold museum) afterward. I guess that I am supposed to pay for entrance fee but somehow I don't know about that and I can sneak inside. There is nothing, except a lot of gold that is molded to different "typical South American shape / god". I am not really interested about that. They don't permit photo. The security is very tight too. I walked around the street and want to go to another place. But there is nothing really so I went home at about 3 and update my photo and online diary because I want to write as much as possible when my memory is still fresh.
I enjoyed what I am doing today. Basically I have no idea where I should go and I have no one to bring me to places. Plus people are talking Spanish and I may get lost anytime. However, that exactly is the point. Every day is an adventure, especially today. I don't think people with similar background (Chinese Canadian) would go to Venezuela / Colombia to work by themselves (at least, I have not yet seen anyone. Even Ricky Lam, who has similar background as myself, was coming from a US company! The only Chinese that do this adventure are those poor Chinese that wanted to get out and smuggle to South America). I would have great story to tell my family and my friends in the future! These 1.75 years in South America is really exciting, especially today, because I don't know what I would expect next!
I went to "Centro Comercial Andino" (Andino mall) at night. I planned to go there last night but I did not go because I was supposed to wait for the co-worker. Anyway, the TV Cable people recommended that this is a very high class mall in Bogotá. I walked around and also had good dinner that costs me 30000 Peso (about $15 Cdn, which is quite expensive here!). I also went to "Centro Comercial Atlantis" (Atlantis mall) afterward. For some reason, the security told me not to take picture. I don't know why what so special in this mall that I can't take picture. I took three illegal pictures anyway.
Desca had a new office in Melgin (a city of Colombia). Someone came to the apartment to say overnight because he will go to San Jose tomorrow for a Cisco course. So I am not alone anymore.

January 23, 2004(Friday)

I went to TV Cable to finish up my report after breakfast. They treated me for lunch; I guess that my relationship with the customer is pretty good. Hope that they will like my report too. I arrived home at 5:30 because the cleaning maid from Desca will help me take my clothes to laundry to wash it. One of my co-workers, Segundo, whom I met in September 2003 in Colombia, asked me to go out at night for a drink / dinner. Therefore I was waiting for him. However, he did not show up so I was staying home eating just the last piece of steak, tomatoes, ice-cream that I purchased yesterday. Originally I planned to go to see a movie at another mall so I may have to postpone. I was working on MBA and also researching about PhD in different school. I also watched the highlight of Chinese Christian movie CD "god of cooking" that Carmen gave me in Christmas.

January 22, 2004(Thursday)

I forgot my map to the taxi driver yesterday. Therefore, the taxi driver today wasted me 30 mins to find TV Cable. I was working today at TV Cable and did not go to lunch with them again. Originally I needed to go back to Desca for a meeting with a co-worker about TV Cable, but since he is busy, I went home early.
I went to a nice supermarket for grocery shopping. The area (plus the cool weather) that I am living gave me a feeling of nice modern European environment. I do not have this feeling in any place in Venezuela. Since today is Chinese New Year (actually, this has nothing to do with that) I had a luxury grocery shopping. Usually I bought Cdn $10 each time in Venezuela. However, since I can claim all my expense and the price in Colombia is slightly more expensive, I got myself about Cdn $56 of grocery yesterday and today. I purchased chocolate ice-cream, chocolate, Perrier mineral water, nice vegetable, high class steak and so on. I felt so luxury.
Probably because I had enough of "outside, street" meal, I cooked tonight with the grocery I got. After dinner, I enjoyed the rest of the Chinese New Year night with a bowl of chocolate ice-cream and MSN Carmen in the living room. I studied MBA Accounting and wrote spreadsheet calculating depreciation expense.

January 21, 2004(Wednesday)

I went to TV Cable today again. I was busy writing report. Also, I was writing an excel spreadsheet for calculating the Prevent bond value for MBA accounting course. I did not go to lunch with them because I wanted to focus on my work and I don't want to socialize with them too much because I have nothing much to say after being talkative for the last two days.
I went back to Desca from 6 - 7:30 and had a meeting with a co-worker about the consulting service I need to perform next week. Once again, I have no idea what I should do. I am glad that I only need to have a meeting with them and write report. It is easier to talk than to do the job. Someone else may need to implement what I will suggest next week.
I went to Pizza Hut (the best and most comfortable restaurant that is open in this high class business area) for the Chinese year end dinner. I ate chicken legs, spegatti, salad and juice. I am very full. I went to the supermarket to purchase high class chocolate ice-cream (never brought any ice-cream in Venezuela) and Belgium chocolate. I am glad that I still keep on doing daily exercise, or else I will be really fat.

January 20, 2004(Tuesday)

I went to TV Cable today by myself because the Desca co-worker is busy. I was working on the report today. I had lunch with the TV Cable engineers and I treated them (actually, I get expense from Desca) lunch (a PR event). I went home and studied MBA. I also went out for dinner. The area that I am staying is considered to be high class and business, but I can't find any good restaurant or they are closed. I asked Carmen to call me because I don't know how to make long distance telephone from Colombia and I do not have telephone card. Carmen and her parents had dinner with my parents so I can talk too each of them (except Hansel and Fiona and Carol)

January 19, 2004(Monday)

I went to Desca 7:50. There are already two or three people there. It is glad to meet this people, whom I met in Sept 2003. Comparatively, the Colombia co-workers treat me a lot better than Caracas co-workers. Probably because I am here for a short time and they only see the good and bright side of mine, and not the sneaky (e.g. eating lunch in kitchen) and lazy (sleep during lunch) part of mine. They work hard, sometimes from 8am to 7pm at night.
I went to customer TV Cable with co-worker Leonardo the whole day. I have traveled to customer quite a lot in Caracas, and neither Caracas nor Bogotá is my home. It does not make a huge difference between traveling to customer in Caracas and in Bogotá. I don't know what to expect in either case anyway. I am learning to step away from comfort zone (if any) all the time. My job nature this week is to give them security consultation on their network. Actually, this is the first time that I do this kind of "high level" cool job, even though my title is "Senior Network Consultant Engineer". I always behave like a coordinator between the Cisco engineer and customer, or troubleshoot one or at most two equipments. These kind of job should be done by low level engineer, but I enjoy it too because I don't have to use my brain. (I mean, I can use my brain in something else). This is the first time that I can have a comprehensive view of the entire ISP network and I am glad about this opportunity. I don't know whether I do a good job or not but I would try my best not to make a fool of myself.
They first showed me the server and equipment rooms; I have no idea what is going on. Afterward, we sat down and discussed about the network. My strength is to talk (i.e. BS); I asked a lot of bright questions and gave several really useful tips (the customer actually took out the pen and paper and wrote down my suggestion!). I know that if they really ask me to do the stuff, I would not have as much confidence as I have; however, I pretended to have confidence (with the back up of my "Senior" title plus CCIE certificate) and my ability is not in doubt. Even though most of the suggestions are common sense, I am proud of myself. I hope that they are impressing with my performance too. After being neglected in the office for the last several years, it felt good to have four people gathered around me listen to me talking about technical stuff.
I can't go home to have afternoon nap (although I really want) so I went to have lunch with them. I never went to have lunch with my Venezuela co-workers because of the language barrier. Judging from how they treat me normally, I would be a nobody and looks odd if I go to have lunch with them. However, when I had lunch with 2 TV cable engineer and the Desca co-worker, they actually talked to me in English and I felt (a bit) I am part of them. After lunch, they gave me a tour on the facility. I saw about 15 really big satellite dishes! I am sure that they gave weight to me (at least, not treat me like a nobody) so that they gave me a tour. Another interesting thing I found out from the Desca coworker (he was a very junior engineer, with only CCNA. My double CCIE title makes him think that I am "god" of networking, although the reality is that, I don't really know much) is the rumor in Desca Colombia about how I get my job. He told me that I met the company owner Jorge in the flight. During the causal talk with Jorge, I told him that I am a CCIE and Jorge invited me to work in Desca. This is out-of-nowhere (I know this job by joining the Cisco email group) and I have no idea where is that coming from. But the fact that I have rumor means that I am somebody! I have only been to Colombia office once in September 2003; probably my conference was really outstanding and people are interested in me and remember me! (However, I am sure that if I really have to work in Colombia, I can't maintain the "intense" interest that people have in me). (There should be rumor about myself in Caracas. People will say that Hubert always eat in the kitchen and eat all day, or something like that) I wrote quite a bit negative notes about how my Caracas co-worker treats me like nobody. Not everyone is bad and I made a good relationship with my boss and that is the most important thing.
My material-life is pretty good now. I fixed the wireless internet problem (by resetting the modem) and I can go to internet from the bed. The house is pretty high class, and I get (almost) unlimited amount of money to eat anything I like. I felt so luxury.

January 18, 2004(Sunday)

I was the song leader this morning and led "Beautiful New Life" (ACM's "Come Revive Me"), "Emmanuel" (ACM), "Thanks to God", "Because God's Name" (author is "Uncle West") and "Who is like Jesus". Ricky showed the Saddleback Church photo afterward and then we had Sunday School. Rather than having lunch with church's people (they will make "Kou Che", a thing that is similar to Wonton), I went for a run.
I went to the airport at 5 and took a flight to Bogotá from 7:50pm to 8:30 Bogotá time (Bogotá is one hour behind of Caracas, which makes the flight took about 1.5 hours). I tried to explore the Desca apartment. There is internet so that I can check email and update homepages. Tomorrow, I won't spend so much time on those things. There is a wireless internet connection but for some reason it is not working. Therefore, I have to unplug the wireless connection and use the connected connection.

January 17, 2004(Saturday)

I went for run in the afternoon. At 5, I went to Baptist Church for music practice. My temper and patient are much better after Carmen's visit. I went to have dinner with Che So, Cheng's family and then went back to church for meeting from 8:30 to 11:20 pm. We evaluated the Dec 24 outreach and also planned for future programs. After I went home, Ricky Lam called. He just came to Venezuela for a week. I went to have late dinner with him (actually, I did not eat anything) and went to his house to talk from 11:30 to 2am! We talked a lot about the church's situation and his visit to the Saddleback Church in LA. (The focused church in the two books "Purpose Driven Church" and "Purpose Drive Life").

January 16, 2004(Friday)

I finally got to go back to my office for a full day today. During the lunch time, my boss called me about problem with CanTV. I am glad that I can handle this issue remotely at my office. I coordinated between the Cisco engineer and CanTV engineer. The CanTV engineer is slow to reply even though this is their urgent issue. Probably the language barrier would be one of the reasons. (And the Venezuela slow culture would be another reason). I also researched a lot about PhD program too. My GMAT score is low now and I will see whether I can upgrade it later.
I went home to cook dinner, packed for my Colombia trip and then studied MBA.

January 15, 2004(Thursday)

I went to McDonald early. They are migrating their network and I need to make sure that the migration is successful. Originally I expected that to last for about 1 hour or two hours at most. However, it turns out that I worked straight from 11:40 to 5. There is some little issue is not working and I spent some times troubleshooting it. And I discovered that there is a back door to their network. By that time my brain is not functioning. I did not take my normal afternoon lunch and the room is pretty cold. Also, this is the computer industry. Small problem which we expect to be solved in a short time will turn out to be long and dragging. I worked hard without lunch that they brought me some good sandwiches from McDonald. That is good. Their boss is nice (at least, fake to be nice) but demanding. Want me to go back again, especially because I will be off for 10 days in Colombia soon.
I went home to take a nap and then went back to Desca at 7:45. There is a MBA team meeting. This Marketing course gave me a lot of stress because of team meeting. The reason is that, I am in different time zone. And the toll free 1-800 number costs money in Venezuela, plus I have no internet access at home. So I have to go back to work in order to join them. They can use the chat room provided by the MBA but they like to use conference call. Also, one of the teammates told me that he can use his work number to call me which is free. However, he has to pick up his sick daughter so he can't call me. Also, in theory, I should be able to call 1-800 for free from my desk because I specifically asked for that. The Desca engineer told me that he configured that today but I did not test it because I am in McDonald. And it turns out that it does not work. Therefore, I am back to work at late hour hoping to get the conference call but I can't do it for free. Of course I am not happy about that but I have to show that I don't really mind. Sigh. I wrote this diary and surfed the net instead. I am glad that I got the key for office.
I will go to Colombia next week. Here is the schedule.

Jan. 18 (Sun)	AV 81S Caracas - Bogotá 19:20 - 20:10
Jan. 28 (Wed)	AV 78S Bogotá - Caracas 21:20 - 00:10

January 14, 2004(Wednesday)

People asked me to go to another customer in the morning to troubleshoot something that I don't know about. I am so glad that I can turn down because I need to go to McDonald in the afternoon. There are some qualities that make it my "good" customer. First, I must be able to travel thru Metro easily. I can take Metro to RCTV or Fondo Comun but the walk is too long. And I have to take taxi to Otepi which makes it too expensive. McDonald located just above the Metro station so this is a good place. Second, I need to have freedom. For CanTV, I have absolute freedom and the customers do not care what I am doing. In fact, this is true for most of my customers. Sometimes, because of the place that I am located, the McDonald engineer would be able to look over my shoulder and know what I am up to. That is not too great. Finally, this is the nature of my job. For McDonald, I need to actually do something, which makes it a bit challenging. For CanTV, all I need to do is to communicate with the Cisco TAC engineer, which is a no-brainer. However, sometimes, for the out-of-the-blue customers that I was supposed to go to today, they asked me to do something that I have no idea and that makes it bad. Overall, McDonald and CanTV are my good customers and I don't mind to spend time there.
I left at 5 and went for grocery shopping and early dinner. At 7pm, when I am about to take a shower, "Ball Son" asked me out because he has an appreciate dinner at Pizza Hut for the church youth. Originally I do not want to go because I have finished dinner. However, I am slightly ahead in the MBA so I can spare some time for socializing. The Baptist Church prayer meeting was supposed to re-schedule to Friday night. I talked to a friend of "Ball Son", who was the only non-Christian there. Since he is new to the rest of the church, I don't want him to feel isolated so I talked and sat with him.

January 13, 2004(Tuesday)

I went to McDonald in the afternoon for their security network. I also received email in the middle of the troubleshooting saying that I will have two customers that I need to visit during my Colombia visit next week. Also, CanTV told me that there is problem in their network and needs me to go there to fix tonight. I felt a bit busy at that time.
I went to Baptist Church for the first unofficial youth fellowship. There is only Mrs. Cheng, her son, Che So, Ah Men and myself (Mrs. Cheng and Che So was there to cook food for us, and Mrs. Cheng's son Wilson was there because he has no where to go) We had dinner and then talked about what we should do in the fellowship. In the middle of dinner, Kitty and her two friends dropped by for drinking soup for 15 mins. I remembered that in Vancouver when I was thinking of starting a fellowship, we need at least 8 to 10 core people. We would never start a fellowship here if we have to wait for 8 core people. It is tougher to start a fellowship here.
I need to go to CanTV to upgrade their software after the dinner. Ah Men had nothing to do and he was interested in the computer and network stuff that I am doing and so I brought him to CanTV with me. He was just standing behind me looking over my shoulder. I upgraded the IOS and I hoped that it works. This is one of the very few times that I actually do something in CanTV. Previously, I was just opening TAC case and contacted the Cisco TAC engineer. No brain is needed. Now I am doing some real work. It was quite stressful because the TAC engineer had gone home already and there is no one that I can turn to. I am not sure whether the upgrade was successful or not. At least, during my visit in CanTV, we tested and it was ok. I have to wait for a few days before we know whether the upgrade is successful or not.

January 12, 2004(Monday)

I went to McDonald in the afternoon for their Security network configuration. I was trying to configure their requirement but I am not successful yet. They previously used another vendor and worked. Therefore, I need to be successful or else it may look bad. I went home and enjoyed my quiet night again. I get used to live by myself; the comic that Carmen got me and the MBA books surely help me to spend all those quiet night.

January 11, 2004(Sunday)

I did not go to Baptist Church this morning because I need to host a wedding so I need some rest. After grocery shopping, I went to Parque del Este for a run. I was extremely tired yesterday and today, although I am out of shape, I am a lot better than yesterday.
I went to MB church in the afternoon. After the Sunday Service, it was the wedding for "Ball son" and "cho ha". Kit and I Were the MC and we did pretty good and everything was smooth. Michelle sang the "moon represents my heart" Chinese pop song and we sang "One life" song to them. The ceremony was from 4:40 - 5:40. We played the couple afterward. I interviewed them and asked them how they know each other, how they engaged and first kiss. I asked Ball to repeat after me about the Chinese rhyme from 1 to 10 and then 100, 1000, 10000. We played this game during Hansel's wedding. Also, I asked Ball to be like a horse and Cho Ha hold his leg to walk a distance. I also asked Cho Ha to roll a small egg thru his pant. The last game was to ask the couple to repeat the action after other couples. People here were more conservative than my Canadian friends. However, we (at least, the audience and I) had fun.
I went home afterward, read comic and studied MBA.

January 10, 2004(Saturday)

I was sick again. I went to washroom to pooh about 6 or 7 times. I am not hungry at all. I went to Parque del Este for running and I was really tired. I have the determination so whenever I am very tired, I walked. I finished the track in 85 mins although normally I used 45 mins. I also slept a lot during the day and read comics.
Leo, Kit and Michelle went to my home to discuss about the wedding of "Ball Son". We discussed about the MC script, game and practiced song. Also, I heard that the whole Caracas has no water today.

January 09, 2004(Friday)

I went to CanTV in the morning and then went back to office. I went to drink soup and also ate McDonald ice-cream too. I went to have dinner with Paco and his family at night and went home.

January 08, 2004(Thursday)

I almost needed to go to CAF for installation of PIX this morning, but the problem was fixed. I was doing the marketing homework. In addition, with writing lots of job application letter and MBA writing lately, my grammar may have improved. (But I do not think that it is necessary to have error-free diary though). I was also daydreaming about studying PhD in Math/business department. I tried to visualize myself studying Math or Physics or Engineering PhD and it does not feel right. The entrance requirement of business PhD is difficult too. I am trying to find somewhere that I am interested in and I am qualified.

January 07, 2004(Wednesday)

I went to CanTV to help fixing their problem in the morning. Actually, as usual, I am just coordinating. Therefore, I have nothing much to do. I went back to office in the afternoon and enjoyed a really good soup that Chi Kong showed Carmen and I in Dec 30. I researched and applied jobs online and then went to Church prayer meeting at night. (Seems like after Carmen's departure, there is nothing much interesting happening in my daily life and there is no daily photo)

January 06, 2004(Tuesday)

Today is a quiet day of work again. I had a good long lunch. Also, I researched on some job opportunity online and emailed Carmen. I went home after grocery shopping. I practiced piano, read comic and studied.

January 05, 2004(Monday)

I gave gifts to some of my co-workers. The little Chinese statue that my parents got is cute for Venezuelan (but not so much for me). I got the MBA textbook refund today too. I got US $320 back although I spent a lot of my emotional money on these textbook.
Originally I am supposed to go to Colombia for a working trip but some of the workers in Colombia took vacation so the trip will be postponed for about two weeks. This is another unorganized thing that my company created. But this "flexibility" (nice word for un-organization) may be the key reason why we are still in business.
I went to MB church to have a rehearsal for "ball son" and "cho ha"'s wedding. Semson was very sick so we may have to use another pastor from Venezuelan church. Kit and I are the MC and I will be speaking Chinese and she will be speaking Chinese and translating some Spanish when necessary. Once again, the whole ceremony will be according to my plan.

January 04, 2004(Sunday)

I was the pianist for the Baptist Church worship today. I have always dreamed to be the worship pianist and I finally was one today. My performance is not too good because my skill is not good. Today is a testimony sharing day and it lasts for 2.8 hours. I was very tired because of the sickness and try to rest and fall asleep in the middle of the service.
The MB Church people let me took a day off (I was supposed to be the singspiration leader today) because of my sickness. So I was sleeping at home again. I went to MB Church afterward to discuss about the MC script with Kit for "ball son" and "cho ha"'s wedding. The fellowship was preparing "kou chi" (Chinese food similar to "Won Ton"). I did not do anything because I don't want to spread my germs to the food. The program ended late; I was very tired because of taking medicine so I went home before it ends.

January 03, 2004(Saturday)

I was sick for the day so I spent more than 10 hours sleeping. I went to Baptist Church to practice music and then MB church to practice music. Afterward, we had a discussion with the MB church people for "ball son" and "Cho Ha"'s wedding. They also really took care of me and brought medicine for me to make sure that I will recover from my sickness.

January 02, 2004(Friday)

We woke up at 4:30 and I went to the airport with Carmen in the morning. She bought the wedding gown and the MB Church friend told us that we can carry-on this box. However, it seems like that the airline officer wanted that to be check-in. This is a paper box and if people throw something on top of this gown, then it would have huge damage to it. Both Carmen and I are worry and sad about this possibility. They wrote "fragile" on top of this box but then they put it inside the big black garbage bag which we used to carry to the airport. I am not too optimistic about this but there is nothing much I can do.
I went back to my home at 7:30. After some unpacking and organizing, I went to office at 8:30. However, there is no one there and the door is locked. I brought some stuff that I planned to put in my office. So I put that inside a plastic bag, wrote my name on it and slipped it through the bar of the gate. I hope that no one would steal it because these are the gift for my co-worker. I am glad that I brought the wireless card so that I can go on line sitting in front of the door. However, there is no electricity plug, so I have to go to another floor every now and then to re-charge the laptop. The laptop keyboard is not working either. Every time when I need to use the letter "h" and "g", I have to cut and paste. Moreover, occasionally the laptop keyboard functions again by banging it. This morning, the laptop crashed seriously every 30 mins (with the deep blue screen saying something and reboot my computer automatically) after using the wireless card. I have to save my work very often (every 2 mins). My cell phone is running out of battery too; the last time I charged it was Dec 31 and then I left it at my home and did not charge it again in Dr. Chu's house.
Anyway, I managed to update my photo homepage, online diary, checked email and uploaded photos to the two churches' website. I am addicted to getting online and this is especially true for a discipline (rigid?) person like myself. My website is always up-to-date but it was very stressful if I am absence from internet for more than 2 days, especially if there is a lot of photo needed to be uploaded. I felt so free and so good after doing all these from 8:30 to 1:30pm although the environment is very tough, as described in the previous paragraph. Now my family and friends can check the online stuff.
I went home and organizing my stuff again. And then I went to Parque del Este for a jog in order to release the stress and return to my daily routine. I also read some comic to lighten up myself after Carmen's departure. I went back to Desca at night to give my laptop to my co-worker to fix it.

January 01, 2004(Thursday)

Originally, we were supposed to go to beach with Chi Kong in the morning. However he woke up late and we waited for him for an hour and ended up went to drink Carmen's final Venezuela coffee instead. Afterward, Paco and his family went to Dr. Chu's house for lunch and I played around with kids and shared with them.
Since we have nothing to do in the afternoon, we went to MB Church for the service. We did not miss a single church event during Carmen's trip! They had worker appreciate time; they acted different workers including myself. We had a good dinner at church and then we went back to Dr. Chu's house. Elisa, Chuen and "Cou ha" came to talk with us too. Carmen and I shared at night but we were too tired so we slept at 12am.