Kevin had a spring break week early april. I took him to a train ride trip to portland thur through saturday. this is his first real train ride and he is excited (to be accurate, this is my first train ride in usa also, and i am excited too). the trip from seattle to portland is scenary and beautiful, it travels along the pristine beauty of puget sounds elegant water, then passes through the valley like majestic cascade mountains. the best place on train to view the scenary is the lounge car, it provides the seating in front of windows just like a cruise. we also had a dinner on the train in the dinner car, it is relaxing and kevin can spread out his drawing gig and took pictures outside the window. he also found some playmates on the train back to seattle and enjoyed playing games with them.
walking on the bridge in portland
portland chinese garden
relax at 知鱼亭
小小表演家
picture taken by kevin
on the cascade dinner train
scenary outside the trainplay on the cascade train ride
play on cascade train dinner car
kevin has completed the level 1 swimming class and is now attending level 2 class. he is doing great. he is still not able to swim by himself but that day may come anytime. he has all the skills to do that but he has never swim by himself before so it may take a bit longer, just like a baby walk, the first step is always the hardest.
microsoft’s earning report is not at all good for this quarter. down 6% revenu, net income of $2.98 billion was down 32%… but msft is up >10% today, a rare jump for a long time. i feel sometimes it is hard to interpret what’s going on on wallstreet. but i am long at msft, the windows 7, the cost reduction. borrow a saying from the famous bizzar food host “if it looks good, eat it”, i say, if it looks good, keep it:)
It sounds like a disney sensation but it happens in real life. Susan boyle, the 47 years old lady rocked the judges and audiences at British got talent show and it was an “overnight sensation”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY
this video clip has been viewed 41,335,790 times as of today, it is simply amazing.
some take away from this:
– if you got talent, it will shine one way or another
– it may not seem like this, but you are eventually judged by your talent not by your look
– make your weapon sharp and wait for the right opportunity
– everyone are equal in front of opportunity
– remain humble
– keep a positive view on things
– relax, life is beautiful if you think it is
microsoft has been very successful playing the catch up game previously, from office suite, visual studio development IDE, to winning the browser war with netscape, and up coming xbox game sectors, but this has not yet happened in the search portal. although microsoft spent tons of dollars on search, the performance is by far disappointing.
although money still talks, but you really win by providing the best service or experience to your end users. this was true for office and visual studio, they catch the competitors and eventually beat them by quality. this can not be said on search experiences though. I admit using google whenever i need find something online, chances i usually find what i want in no time. i would love to use live search if it provides better results (or even comparable results). i see lots of investment in the search group and i would hope the same catch-and-pass game would come true to search.
had a chance to try out the latest microsoft search brand kumo, feel it has many details that the search portal put together. the map search has definately improved, so are the user experiences, etc. Another cool thing about kumo is the mouse over feature, it retrieves the content from the result page so you can view it without leaving the search page, as well as other topics on that page.
The fun game of desert kings gives us some great lessons what we can apply to our daily work and life:
- there are many factors in life that would try to take control of me. Try to be active and take good control of these enviromental factors and not let them control you:
- deadline
- competition
- peer pressure
- desire to achieve
- fear of failure
- fear of unknown
- inexperience
- frustration
- information overload
- do not fear unknowns, find a way to make it known
- take time to make a solid plan before taking action. decisions make up front have the greatest impact on productivity
- find all the facts before making decision. decisions may seem good but if they are made based on bad or false info, they are bad decisions and will certainly cost. so stay calm, be patient, dont rush to decisions
- speck to the “old man”: every field you will find the old man who represents the past knowledget, who are the knowledge as stackholder. those old man could be:
- customers
- co-workers
- leadership
- competitors
- reports
- library
- value your resources. especially, time, info, people
- do not plan for the sake of planning, plan for productivity (in this game, the productivity is time in the mountain, not time in the desert)
- there is a big difference between playing to win and playing not to lose - maximize your chance to win and dont compromise on situation
- measure every decision based on the impact it has on the desired outcome.
- consensus, if unfocused, will lead to compromise and mediocrity. sometimes you should step up and make tough decisions, even they are not popular
- make sure your goals are:
- specific
- attainable
- measurable
- agreed upon
this is a very good team building and goal setting training that i highly recommend
其一:夏七月,赤日停天,亦无风,亦无云;前后庭赫然如洪炉,无一鸟敢来飞.汗出遍身,纵横成渠.置饭於前,不可得吃.呼簟欲卧地上,则地湿如膏,苍蝇又来缘颈附鼻,驱之不去.正莫可如何,忽然大黑车轴,疾澍澎湃之声,如数百万金鼓.檐溜浩於瀑布.身汗顿收,地燥如扫,苍蝇尽去,饭便得吃.不亦快哉!其二:十年别友,抵暮忽至.开门一揖毕,不及问其船来陆来,并不及命其坐床坐榻,便自疾趋入内,卑辞叩内子:「君岂有斗酒如东坡妇乎 」内子欣然拔金簪相付.计之可作三日供也.不亦快哉!
其三:空斋独坐,正思夜来床头鼠耗可恼,不知其戛戛者是损我何器,嗤嗤者是裂我何书.中心回惑,其理莫措,忽见一狻猫,注目摇尾,似有所瞷.歛声屏息,少复待之,则疾趋如风,唧然一声.而此物竟去矣.不亦快哉!
其四:於书斋前,拔去垂丝海棠紫荆等树,多种芭蕉一二十本.不亦快哉!
其五:春夜与诸豪士快饮,至半醉,住本难住,进则难进.旁一解意童子,忽送大纸炮可十余枚,便自起身出席,取火放之.硫磺之香,自鼻入脑,通身怡然.不亦快哉!
其六:街行见两措大执争一理,既皆目裂颈赤,如不戴天,而又高拱手,低曲腰,满口仍用者也之乎等字.其语剌剌,势将连年不休.忽有壮夫掉臂行来,振威从中一喝而解.不亦快哉!
其七:子弟背诵书烂熟,如瓶中泻水.不亦快哉!
其八:饭后无事,入市闲行,见有小物,戏复买之,买亦已成矣,所差者甚少,而市儿苦争,必不相饶.便掏袖下一件,其轻重与前直相上下者,掷而与之.市儿忽改笑容,拱手连称不敢.不亦快哉!
其九:饭后无事,翻倒敝箧.则见新旧逋欠文契不下数十百通,其人或存或亡,总之无有还理.背人取火拉杂烧净,仰看高天,萧然无云.不亦快哉!
其十:夏月科头赤足,自持凉繖遮日,看壮夫唱吴歌,踏桔槔.水一时湥涌而上,譬如翻银滚雪.不亦快哉!
其十一:朝眠初觉,似闻家人叹息之声,言某人夜来已死.急呼而讯之,正是一城中第一绝有心计人.不亦快哉!
其十二:夏月早起,看人於松棚下,锯大竹作筩用.不亦快哉!
其十三:重阴匝月,如醉如病,朝眠不起.忽闻众鸟毕作弄晴之声,急引手搴帷,推窗视之,日光晶荧,林木如洗.不亦快哉!
其十四:夜来似闻某人素心,明日试往看之.入其门,窥其闺,见所谓某人,方据案面南看一文书.顾客入来,默然一揖,便拉袖命坐曰:「君既来,可亦试看此书.」相与欢笑,日影尽去.既已自饥;徐问客曰:「君亦饥耶 」不亦快哉!
其十五:本不欲造屋,偶得闲钱,试造一屋.自此日为始,需木,需石,需瓦,需砖,需灰,需钉,无晨无夕,不来聒於两耳.乃至罗雀掘鼠,无非为屋校计,而又都不得屋住,既已安之如命矣.忽然一日屋竟落成,刷墙扫地;糊窗挂画.一切匠作出门毕去,同人乃来分榻列坐.不亦快哉!
其十六:冬夜饮酒,转复寒甚,推窗试看,雪大如手,已积三四寸矣.不亦快哉!
其十七:夏日於朱红盘中,自拔快刀,切绿沉西瓜.不亦快哉!
其十八:久欲为比邱,苦不得公然吃肉.若许为比邱,又得公然吃肉,则夏月以热汤快刀,净割头发.不亦快哉!
其十九:箧中无意忽检得故人手迹.不亦快哉!
其二十:存得三四癞疮於私处,时呼热汤关门澡之.不亦快哉!
其廿一:寒士来借银,谓不可启齿,於是唯唯亦说他事.我窥其苦意,拉向无人处,问所需多少.急趋入内,如数给与,然而问其必当速归料理是事耶,为尚得少留共饮酒耶.不亦快哉!
其廿二:坐小船,遇利风,苦不得张帆,一快其心.忽逢艑舸,疾行如风.试伸挽钩,聊复挽之.不意挽之便著,因取缆缆向其尾,口中高吟老杜「青惜峰峦,共知橘柚」之句;极大笑乐.不亦快哉!
其廿三:久欲觅别居与友人共住,而苦无善地.忽一人传来云有屋不多,可十余间,而门临大河,嘉树葱然.便与此人共吃饭毕,试走看之,都未知屋如何.入门先见空地一片,大可六七亩许,异日瓜菜不足复虑.不亦快哉!
其廿四:久客得归,望见郭门,两岸童妇,皆作故乡之声.不亦快哉!
其廿五:佳磁既损,必无完理.反覆多看,徒乱人意.因宣付厨人作杂器充用,永不更令到眼.不亦快哉!
其廿六:身非圣人,安能无过.夜来不觉私作一事,早起怦怦,实不自安.忽然想到佛家有布萨之法,不自覆藏,便成忏悔,因明对生熟众客,快然自陈其失.不亦快哉!
其廿七:看人作擘窠大书,不亦快哉!
其廿八:推纸窗放蜂出去,不亦快哉!
其廿九:作县官,每日打鼓退堂时,不亦快哉!
其三十:看人风筝断,不亦快哉!
其卅一:看野烧,不亦快哉!
其卅二:还债毕,不亦快哉!
其卅三:读虬髯客传,不亦快哉!
yesterday I went with kevin to his school’s annual scientic fair. it is like a festival or something and lots of displays of the kids have accomplished during the school year. there are quite a few really deep thoughts and experients, but for the most part there are kids (not so scientific) thoughts but shows that they are eager to explor and learn and generating good ideas that may or may not seem accurate. there is a display of a kid who studied the color and physical changes of egg when they are raw, and when they are cookd with cook, coffee, etc. and wrote down what she observed. there is another one experient that a kid doing on some leaf (not quite sure), he mentioned several steps he followed and at the end he stated honestly that his experiment failed. i feel it is pretty good accomplishment althought he did not get teh results he expected but at least he was being honest and he never stop exploring new ideas.
kevin and chris had a good time going from booth to booth, play with anything they can get a hand on and show good interests on the cookies and sweet eats. they are 50c each and made by volunteers of hte student family.