culture differences

my team at work has undergone several changes in the past 6 months or so.  my previous (awesome hill-billy) manager left the company 2 months after my supervisor left her position, leaving me to be the manager who manages the work flow of 2 people (while doing the work for these 2 invisible people).  then we hired a Cantonese guy, making my team entirely consist of asians (asian power!!11!1).  just recently, my team was combined with another team to create a different team structure, hoping that separation of duty will create efficiency within the organization.  the new team now consist of 5 people, 2 asian (boy&girl), 2 black (boy&girl), 1 italian (girl), plus my New York/Italian director (guy), together we form the most diverse team in a white-dominated company.  :o)

so John, my new acting manager for this new team, and i went to Memphis for the weekend to work on some IBM print supply returns.  returns are not fun, because 70% of the boxes came back somewhat banged up, and these shipments often contain print bands and toner cartridges for commercial printers; so, if the toner got spilled in the box and you open one, it's like a "poof" of smoke (the toner came in powder form--weird), and it gets all up in your nose and all over your hands.  anyway, that was the purpose of our trip.  and he was with me at the airport when the AA planes broke down on us.

to kill time, we walked around the terminals, bought some coffee/ice cream, and people-watched.  if any of you follow basketball religiously, then you should know the All-Star basketball event was last weekend.  John, being the extremely observant guy he is, walked past a terminal and suddenly busted out laughing.  I, being the usual i'm-oblivious-of-my-surroundings, shot him a question-mark look.  he pulled me to the middle of the walkway, turned me so that i'm facing the terminal, and said, "you know the all-star weekend right?  well, all-star weekend starts tomorrow at Las Vegas, and it's known for the notoriously high ratio of blacks who want to be part of the all-star actions.  while i'm saying this to you, look over my shoulder, and take in the percentage of black folks at this gate, who are heading to Las Vegas."  i looked around, noticed gold and diamond, baggy jeans and terry-cloth track suits, and maybe some grills if i look close enough.  hmm... b:w ratio is about 10:1.  so we walked on.

"ah, this one's going to Boston, any black folks?"  none.  "going to Seattle?" maybe 3.  "how about New York?" yeah, there are more this time.  then another terminal going to Las Vegas.  BAM -- the 10:1 ratio appears.  that's very interesting...

that being said, i realized that i proved nothing.

while working on the returns at the warehouse in a team of 6, i realized i was the only non-black.  this guy was jabbing away, making smart comments in a thick southern black accent (there's soul in his voice, john said), and everybody would find it hilarious but me, who pretended to concentrate very hard on whatever i was doing so to look like i wasn't paying attention.  even if i did, i didn't follow the words, and being an asian fob doesn't help.  it's a language completely on its own as far as i'm concerned. 

and i don't know where this is going, so i'm going to go to sleep in my nice fluffy bed, in the Marriot hotel of Roseville, CA.  tomorrow is the day when we'll get our asses chewed by our client in the post-project-implementation meeting.  9am - 3pm, can't wait.

meaningless wait...

at 5:45am, i woke up, ate breakfast and all that, zipped up my luggage, and ran out the door at 6:30 to catch a flight at 9.  It was a freezing morning (literally), and i'd do anything to cuddle with my warm blanket for one more hour.  But, i had to fly out to Memphis on a morning flight.  Upon arriving at the airport, I skipped the line to use the e-ticket machine to check in, then something unfamiliar displayed on the screen... "your flight was cancelled due to operational reasons -- please note schedule below"...  and the flight AA rebooked me on was at 1pm.  at the time, it was 8am, and with no intention to sit in the airport for 5 hours, i set off out of the airport again hoping to run some errands.

So i rotated my tires, got gas, call the dentist, and went home for lunch...

then come time again to go to the airport.  the time is now 11am.  my coworker and i met at the airport -- 11:30am.  we people-watched and waited patiently for our time to board.  we boarded.  the luggages got moved into the bottom of the plane.  then from the ground next to my seat, i heard loud banging sound coming from underneath...  "err... it doesn't sound too good"...  then the dreadful news came: "all passengers are to deplane, there's a problem with the hydraulic system..."  the wait got longer and people got impatient...  AA brought in a plane from somewhere for us at 2pm, which got pushed back to 2:40pm, then after we boarded we had to wait for other planes to go.  i was sitting right next to the engine, and the constant whirrling sound makes me paranoid and wonder if anything else were to break after we had taken off, would i survive with the knowledge of the emergency instructions given at the beginning of the flight?  what if we had to land on top of trees of inside a lake?  what if...

the flight finally landed at 4pm without a hiccup.  if you've been to the Memphis airport, it's very very small, and baggage claim sits in its little corner.  it took us antoher 30 min to get our bags.  by the time we got to the warehouse, it was 5pm.  everybody had left. 

a shitty day of constant waiting.  i accomplished nothing.  and it was freezing cold out.  great.

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i am not a big fan of freezing weather.  the only good thing it does for me is for my hair to stay tangle-free.
it is also days like this when i think of all the people out there living on the street.  were they able to seek shelter for the last few weeks?  do they have enough food and clothes to stay warm?  it makes me realize that our lifestyles might not be lavishing in this materialistic world, it is a blessing everyday to be able to take hot showers, wear clean clothes, and eat the food of our choice.  satisfaction is not achieved by how much you gain, but by appreciating what you already own.  i'm glad i'm a healthy happy person.

happy chinese new year.

In memories of all those lost in the tragedy of 9/11...

5 years, the questions remain unanswered.  is it true?

if you have time, click here, or go here.  These people have a very interesting point of view...

why do we sleep during the day, and stay up at night?
i like the sun very much.

time to start training for a 5K run in one month.  i got suckered into signing up.  can't let  my co-working talk shit without standing up and show him who's the boss.  then i suckered someone else into running it with us. 

it's gonna be fun. :D

then there's the pool tournament.  with business ppl from the Dallas region.  some of them were pretty good last year, and the others not so good.  last year, we got kicked out in the first round, and lost in the loser's bracket, playing dutch 8 ball.  we sucked pretty bad.

oh well.  can we go through at least one round this time?  we shall see...

look!  UTD is participating too.  i guess students aren't allowed to sign up... 

--this is the #1 song on my short list of mp3 right now.  it's got a badass guitar solo in the middle. 
i heart variety of beats all jumbo-ed up into one great song--

Hate me today
Hate me tomorrow
Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you

i lost my supervisor to another company, but we got a new guy last week.  he's pretty sharp, catching up quickly.  used to do IT stuff, so my computer problems will have a faster fix since i can yell across my cube and get help right away.  3 days into working with him, punk's already talking sh1t.  just wait.  i'll get you back. 

maybe it won't be long till i can walk out of the door at 6pm on a daily basis.  working late sucks.  not being able to stay on top of thing sucks.  having things linger over my head while i go into the weekend sucks.  working sucks.  did i mention i love my job?  well, it sucks.

i've gotten more and more impatient by day.  must be evolving into an emo kid with dark eyeliner and black lipstick.  i snap easily.  don't wanna associate with people.  when i need you i can't find you, and that frustrates me.  i never have my phone on me.  i want a phone call, but i don't wanna pick up.  when you don't pick up, i sulk.  getting jeaous over all those who can laugh and hang out with you.  but not me.  i'm so boring.  maybe i am just attention needy.  we are so different.  is that normal?
arrg. 

Do you ever want to run away?
Do you lock yourself in your room?
With the radio on turned up so loud
That no one hears you screaming...

Do you have the time to listen to me whine?