It is interesting how things turn out in one's life.
I had a solid four-year college education in the Accounting major, obtained an MBA degree in the Accounting & Finance field, and I am a CPA license holder. You think I would be working in a Big-5 Accounting Firm? I thought so too (and I did work for Deloitte & Touche for a great year). But I started out my first job in the United States with American Management Systems, Inc. (AMS), an international IT consulting firm based in Virginia, as a business analyst. My first assignment was to develop an interface software functional design. I learned a lot about computers and information technology, and my interest in the IT field growed as I worked. For a short period of time, I even volunteered to take the role of the database administrator when there was a need in my group. I definitely appreciate my company for giving me this opportunity and all the training I needed.
Currently, I transitioned to a different project that does software implementation. Basically, we meet with the client, understand their needs and requirements, analyze how our software can improve their business processes, and help them implement our software. This new project gives me more opportunities to learn the client business practices, to see what the client is actually doing out there, and to become more involved with the client.
In addition, I also occasionally participate in product demonstrations, vendor conferences, and trade shows. I don't really belong to a Business Development group but I love traveling and I always try to grab as much chance as I can.
I am very happy at work, and I feel proud of being part of this company. AMS is really a great place to work for, and we have the most open-minded, caring, enthusiastic and hard-working people. I feel very appreciated and rewarded, and I enjoy going to work everyday. I think this is very important because we spend so many hours a day at work, and you really need to love your job to keep it up! I think I am really lucky to land a job at a company like AMS. ^_^
Aside from my current job, ever since my childhood, I always hoped that I could be a teacher someday. I don't think I will become a real full-time teacher, but I like to pursue a chance to be the instructor or lecturer for our company's internal training or client training. I have been tuoring my fellow classmates or mentoring new students since I was in junior high school, and I received very high reputation and appreciation in doing so. Many people would come to me for help before mid-term or final exams. I just love to share knowledge with people, learn from teaching, and know that I have helped people. I believe I am very good at expressing a difficult subject with easy words, or vivid diagrams, to help people understand. I know one day I will get a chance to fulfill my dream.
Didn't I tell you I am a Libra? Don't you know Libra's are lazy? ^_^
I have a slim build but I really can't say I do anything for fitness. I just don't like to get sweaty, and I don't like to move. I *know* the importance of eating and exercising, and I don't like to look like a skeleton, but most of the time I just don't feel like eating and I am too lazy to work out. I am under-weight and trying to gain some healthy pounds. Well, aparently I wasn't trying hard enough. Fortunately, I have some friends who would hang out with me and make me happy -- I can actually eat quite a bit when I am in a good mood. And even if I don't exercise, I got great genes from my mom so I can still keep slim (she could eat 4 big meals and 2 desserts a day without exercises and still not gain weight). I sometimes thought of using the free gym facility at work to improve my own health, but I never really plugged up the courage to do it. I admire one of my old housemate who goes to the gym everyday, rain or shine. I guess exercising a little bit more (just a little bit) will continue to be on my new year�s resolution list for the rest of my life....
One topic that many people like to ask me is, "What is your favorite movie?". Well, I don't really have one favorite movie, but let me talk about my favorite movie "type" first. Then you may have a better idea what I may like.
I like a movie that tells a deep story, that makes you think, that has no or few flaws and conflicted scenes, that induces me to watch it again, that gives me a different feeling and understanding each time I watch, and one that contains surprises. This kind of movie, I consider, has a collectible value (to me) and I will want to own a copy when I see a good deal -- if I haven't got one yet.
As far as movie types I enjoy watching (but not necessarily collecting), I like tragedies much more (but it can have a good ending), and I don't like comedies in general (it's hard to find a good one). Sometimes I also enjoy terribly romantic love stories that make me cry. I dare not watch horror movies (then I won't be able to go to the bathroom by myself at night), but I like suspense movies.
So, for specific movie titles, on a scale from 0 to 10, the following are some "10 points" movies: I have watched Somewhere in Time 6 or 7 times, and finally bought the video (now I am struggling whether to buy it on DVD again). I like Color of Night, Ocean's 11, Spy Game, The Thomas Crown Affair, The Sixth Sense, The Game, The Mexican, and Meet Joe Black, The Mummy/Returns, all of which I own on DVDs. As you can see, they are mostly the suspense kind-- I like plots with a lot of twists. There is also a french movie that I watched on tape many years ago that I really loved, but I can't find the title and therefore can't add it to my collection. It's a story of the life of two musicians -- the master and the protege, and the whole movie is soaked with beautiful music... It was so good to watch it at night when all lights were turned off. It's such a shame that I can't find it.
The following are some 8~9 points movies: Silence of the Lamb, Interview with the Vampire, Shakespeare in Love, Ever After, Face/Off, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Cash and Tango, Finding Nemo, Tuck Everlasting... just to name a few. Oh, one funny comment I got from a friend was: "in the same movie category, you would like the worse movies but not like the better ones." Hum... do I really have a weird taste? I guess so!
Another category that is evolving in my movie taste is war-related movies. I didn't use to like them at all, but after some fair amount of "training" from my boyfriend (who, by the way, is an active Navy sailer), I am beginning to like them -- or at least, accepting them.
I didn't used to watch movies in the theater. I stopped going to movies since the second year in my junior high school, all the way until my third year in the United States. I don't really have a reason, but I guess it has a lot to do with the movie theaters in Taiwan -- the seats are uncomfortable, the floors are sticky, the bad smell and the crowd, just all the things I don't like. I much rather wait till the movie come out on TV, then I can watch it for free, have all the snack and drinks I want (not just greasy pop-corns and soda), and enjoy the comfort of my own couch in my own home. Also, now that I am building up my own DVD collections, I enjoy watching all the behind the scenes, deleted scenes, and best of all, I can turn on the subtitles for some difficult to understand movies.
With that said, however, I have started going back to the movie theaters again, especially for those that requires a big screen to fully enjoy the effects. I am pretty happy with the theaters in the States. They are small, spacy, and some of them have pretty good stadium seats. And the most important reason is that my boyfriend is a hard core movie fan who used to go to movies once a week or more often. But I try to be selective and only watch the kind of movie that really worths paying for.
Now that you know roughly what I like, I would be happy to hear from you if you have any suggestion of good movies that I may be interested in! I am trying to make a list of 60 DVDs to rent, and so far I only have less than half. So, help me out! Thanks!
I was actually raised by my grandparents because both of my parents were working very hard to support the family after I was born. My mom was once really upset because I called my grandma "ma ma" and cried for fear when I saw my own mom! That was sort of a family joke now. I can't remember what I did when I was that young... but now I know I do love my mom!
My grandpa was a very wise and open-minded person. He was very loved and respected in the family. Unlike most traditional Chinese grandpas that exercise authority and fear to control the family, he respected his children and grandchildren, taught them love and discipline, gave them confidence, suggestions and support, had a great sense of humor, and was a very loving and caring husband to my grandma. Sometimes, he was so open-minded that he surprised me a lot. He's the "ideal" husband I would be looking for!
I started to write this topic last year when my grandpa was still alive. Today I am updating this topic and I had to change all the present tense to past tense. This makes me really upset. He passed away on August 29, 2002. It was the worst day in my life. Everyone in the family was really surprised because he used to be healthy and careful. I wish I could have been home more often or have gone back to be with him earlier when he was still conscious, but I couldn't do either. It was very difficult being in a foregin country -- even if I grabbed the first available flight the very next morning after my mom called me to come home, it still took over 24 hours before I could be at his bedside. I feel really bad about myself for not being by his side. I know he missed me very very much. It was fortunate that I was able to see him for the last few days, and he knew I was there.
My grandpa was the closest family member to me. I could tell him everything, including the darkest secrets and things that I wouldn't dare to tell my mom. He's always listening, analysing and providing suggestions (but not deciding for me). I remember he always told me to be a "lady". And he meant it in the old-fashion way, like a well-educated, graceful, elegant, intelligent, kind, organized, polite, and respectful "lady". Throughout my life, I try very hard not to let him down. And I am really glad that he gave me such standards and discipline. I am who I am, a lot of it is because of him.
My birthday (October 10th) happens to be the same as the birthday of the Republic of China. I guess it's just like having a birthday on July 4th in America, it always draws a lot of attention. Of course, we have fireworks everywhere in the evening to celebrate this day. And I, conveniently, like to take this as my "private celebration birthday party fireworks" and enjoy all the fireworks that the whole country fired up for me. ;-)
So, you know, I have this "thing" about fireworks. I really love them and I get so excited watching them. The year 2000, I went downtown DC to watch the fireworks on July the 4th. This was my first time experience watching fireworks downtown, and I was really nervous because people had been telling me how bad the traffic would be. Therefore, I consulted many friends that had been there for good strategies to get around. The fireworks were fantastic: they showed many special shaped fireworks, such as the National Flag, the peace symbol, eagle, horse, stars, and even smily face! It was a particularly long one too. I heard that it was a special bonus or compensation because they couldn't get the monument re-open on time. In any rate, it was great! I totally enjoyed it, and I took a lot of pictures. Some people left early to get ahead of the crowd, but they also missed those special shows towards the end of the show. I stayed the whole time, and as soon as the fireworks finished, I jumped up and started to run! I ran all the way back to the metro station, and I could hear people talking and laughing about me: "look at that girl, she's running..." It's a little embarrassing, but it paid off. I got back to the metro station and caught a train in 5 minutes. Since not many people made it to the station yet, I even got a seat. I completely enjoyed the fireworks, and didn't have any trouble getting home. Cool!
Well, it really depends. I am the kind of person who doesn't "warm up" very quickly. I tend to be really quiet if I am not acquainted with someone. I might seem to be cold, unfriendly or even hostile for a first impression. But once people get to know me, they will learn that I can be funny, enthusiastic and friendly. And most importantly, I am not a mean person!
Being able to talk and communicate is actually a very important foundation of my relationships and friendships. I was brought up in an environment where my family seldom tells me any bad news or difficulties because they did not want me to worry. Well it was nice of them trying to protect me, but I really would rather get more information. At least that way I know what's coming and might even be able to take some actions in advance.
Once I am opened up, I really talk a lot. I had the record of talking on the phone with my best girlfriend for 6 hours straight, or sitting in the buffet restaurant for 6 hours -- we weren't eating, of course, just chatting. I think it's really fantastic that two people can talk about anything and everything and never run out of topics, you know? Or during the chat, you find out so many things about the other person, how you are so similar or totally opposite. That's why I think a perfect first date is to sit in a casual dining place (such as Denny's) where you can talk, and talk your way out.
Also you know what? One good thing about me is that whatever people told me, it never goes to another person. I enjoy chatting, but I do not like gossiping. I don't talk bad things behind people's back, and if I hear things like that, I ignore them. My good friends like to talk to me about their issues and problems because they know I will try my best to suggest a solution and I will never be the "radio station" that broadcasts people's secrets. I think this is just the minimum of a human decency, but not many people can do that.
In addition to Talk talk, I also enjoy silent talk -- email, letters, internet chats... well, if I have time! When I was back in school, I used to hang out on line a lot, visiting chat rooms, sending emails. And before I was exposed to the wonderful Internet, I wrote a lot of letters. Nowadays leisure time is a luxury to me, and I cut back a lot on keeping in touch with my friends, which is really a bad thing. :-( I wish I had more time to keep up with what's going on with my friends more often. And I am grateful that they tolerate my lack of communication and still be my friends. But now, really the only person that I communicate a lot is my boyfriend, and it is just emailing because he is deployed at the present time. It is quite difficult to me because I would much rather be able to talk to him real-time and get instant feedback.
Oh well. I guess this is enough talk on Talks!
When I was a little girl, my father used to take my mom and me driving around the mountains to watch the trees and wild flowers, to enjoy the breeze, and just to relax. I would be in the back seat by myself, and stick my body outside of the car window, so I could reach my arm out to feel the air and the branches. We called it "La Fong", which meant "dragging the wind". Of course, I couldn't do this at any and every place -- we had to come to a quiet mountain road where my parents thought it was safe enough. So I would be sitting in the car thinking "can I La Fong yet? Can I La Fong yet?" until my parents finally said "Okay, you can La Fong here." That was the most fun thing I looked forward to every Sunday.
My mom was also having fun with these trips. In summer, we would have bags and big garden scissors in the trunk. When we get to a scenary view point, we would stop and watch the mountains and trees. If the time was right, there would be wild ginger flowers everywhere. We would take home a bag full of it, and my mom would decorate our living room with these flowers and the fragrance would last a long time.
Oh that's right... we used to always have fresh flowers in the living room. Sometimes we bought them from the flower market, sometimes we picked our own from the garden on our roof, and sometimes we picked wild flowers like those ginger flowers.
My dad used to be a romantic person, I think. He knew that my mom loved flowers, so he built a garden for her on our roof. Short walls were built to rise the edge of the roof, the finest soil was shipped from the mountains to fill up the space, and various flower beds were built for different groups of flowers. He also designed a three-waterfall pond for the coys. We got trees, bushes, flowers, grass, and it was absolutely a gorgeous garden. My mom, dad, and I used to go to the Flower Market every Sunday to shop for flowers and trees, so we have fresh bloomings all year round.
We had so many different kinds of fruits and vegetables too. I remember the peach tree and the cherry tree the most. The peaches were really sweet, but it was a shame that it only produced 2 peaches for the entire time. The cherry tree, on the other hand, produced a lot of fruits. The funny thing was, if you saw a cherry that was "attacked" by the birds and almost eaten all the way through, then you knew it's a sweet cherry. If you saw one that had only one poke (you could tell that's a bird's beak), then you bet it's sour! The birds would tell you if it were good or not.
My dad also planted a "Christmas tree" for me. It was really small when we first moved there and the garden was first built. After 12 years, it grew too high and the roots were drilling down too deep. There was a serious concern that our ceiling might be damaged. So eventually, my parents had to cut it down. I was quite upset because it was "my Christmas tree".
I always liked gardens, but I don't have one now in my townhouse. I don't have much of a yard to begin with, and I cannot even plant trees that are not approved by the Home Owners Association. I don't have my mom's green thumb, and I also don't have time and energy to take care of it. Maybe one day when my mom moves here to live with me, we will be in a big single family house with a huge beautiful yard that she can do whatever she wants!
I think I went camping with my parents when I was really little, but I really don't remember much of it. My recent camping experience came from my ex-boyfriend. He introduced me to camping, and I mean, "real caming". We set up the tent on the ground, walked around the mountain, picked up fallen branches from the woods, chopped our own firewood from them, built up a fire from scratch, and played with fire at night. At first I was a little afraid of the flame, but then I really started to enjoy it a lot. It kept us warm at night and poking the fire was fun! I would grab a hold of a long skinny branch and "poke" the fire to see the flame jumping up and down.
Last year, for my boyfriend's birthday, we went camping in Shenandoah. He had been wanting to go camping for the longest time, so we were really excited that we finally made the trip. His sister also came with us. It was a long weekend and all camp grounds were packed. We were lucky enough to grab the last available spot.
The next day we went on our second hiking trail. The most unbelievable thing happened -- we saw a baby deer. Other experienced hikers around told us that Bambi looked as if he was just born for a few hours. Evidentally he didn't know to fear people, so he walked straight towards me. He couldn't even walk very well. We didn't know why the mother wasn't around, and Bambi looked really hungry.... this poor thing. He was so cute and I almost wanted to hug him. The hikers warned me not to touch him otherwise his mother would abandon him. So I tried to keep at a distance. But I got a ton of pictures of him. We stayed around him for a while and then we had to move on. As we left, we were somewhat worried that there were dogs and bears around that might hurt him. But we think eventually the mother came back. At least I hope that's what it was.
That night, my boyfriend and I were sitting on a big stone next to the woods around the camp ground to watch the moon. Suddenly we heard this noise from behind the trees. We were slightly scared and remained still because we couldn't tell it was a bear or something else. It turned out to be a deer. He slowly walked to only about 7 feet away from us, and stopped. I could see him very clearly, and we were both holding our breaths not to scare him away. Finally he realized we were there and slipped away quickly into the night. But that was really cool -- I have never been so close to a big deer like that.
We didn't see any bear on that trip, but I think we encountered a total of 20 some deer altogether. I enjoyed it a lot, and I am looking forward to another trip this year.
When asked about my favorite "food", I always say "chocolates". Most people around me know that already. I know they don't really belong to the "food" category, but I used to eat them when I am hungry, and they do a great job keeping me going.
I used to eat at least one chocolate bar a day, or "drink" chocolate syrup with chocolate ice creams. But I have been cutting back on my chocolate consumption since '97 when I moved to the U.S. Well the reason is simple -- no one buys chocolates for me any more! Ha ha. When I was in Taiwan, my mom kept the sweets cabinets full all the time for me, and my old boyfriend would buy me a box chocolates on the 10th of every month. Did I buy any chocolates for myself? Probably, but I don't really remember. Anyway the thing is, everything in America is so expensive, and I didn't have any income... so I hesitated to buy anything that was not "necessary". Once in a while, my uncle treated me with some chocolates, or I might have gotten them from some other occasions, but I am not living on chocolates everyday any more.
Anyway that was boring (sorry I am talking to myself). Ok... what I really wanted to talk about is the "types" of chocolates I love. Well first of all, chocolate manufacturers or brands don't really make too much of a difference to me. Yes I have to agree that Godiva has better taste, but other brands can be very satisfying as well -- as long as the chocolates were made the way I wanted!
I like chocolates for chocolates. That is, just chocolates. I don't want any nuts or fruits or biscuits. However, there are a few exceptions: I don't mind caramel, or crispy rice, or marshmellows. In a few cases, I also don't mind finely grounded hazelnuts. I also have a side rule that "chocolates should be dark brown/black". So I don't really like white chocolates either. They taste too milk-ish. I also don't like dark chocolates as much as milk chocolates, because dark chocolates are not as sweet and soft.
So, here is a list (examples) of chocolates I like:
Hershey's Kisses: The original. I have a "thing" about Hershey's Kisses. For every Kisses I ate, I roll the wrapper into a solid silver ball, or whatever color it may be. This silver ball has to have the shiny side out, and of course, no residual chocolates, and perfectly round. I deposit it into an empty container--recently it has been a plastic Coke bottle. I like to look at my "collection" building up. As far as the Kisses flag, I keep every one of them, and paste them together into a long string. I also match up the words printed on the flags so it appears to be one continuous string, instead of a bunch of individual flags. Sometimes I use this to gift-wrap, for example, use it as the ribbon around an envelope or a small giftbox. I think it looks really nice.
Nestle's Crunch: This I don't have a story to tell. I just like to eat them.
Milka's I Love Milka: This is the chocolate box my old boyfriend used to give me on the 10th of every month. The reason was that we started dating on March 10th, and he knew that I loved chocolates, so that's the way he pampered me. This little "monthly celebration" went on for a long time. Even after I came to the U.S., he still air-mailed the boxes to me and made sure they arrived on time.
Godiva's Milk Chocolate Comtesse, Feather and Chocolate Cream Heart, Open Oyster, Praline Heart, Godiva Liqueur Truffle, Milk Chocolate Truffle, Chocolate Caramel, Creole, and Paola: They are so good but expensive too. I enjoy them for special occasions.
Ferrero Rocher-Cappuccino: This is not the usual golden-wrapper Ferrero Rocher you've seen in every store! The ones I am talking about have a brown-wrapper, and they don't have crushed nuts all over them, or a big nut piece inside. They are similar but they have Cappuccino flavored creamy center fill. It was only available in Hong Kong and I only had one box of them many years ago from my dad's friend in Hong Kong. Ever since then, I have been looking for them but I have never seen them any where in the U.S. or Taiwan.
See's Candies' Milk Chocolate Butter, Scotch Kiss, Dark Chocolate Chip Truffle, Scotchmallow, and Mocha: I hope they open a new store near me! They don't have any stores on the East Coast. During holiday seasons, they usually have little retail booths in FairOaks Mall that is right next to my work. But the problem is, these booths only carry assorted gift boxes. The gift boxes are usually filled with nutty and fruity chocolate pieces and only a few of these certain kinds that I like. If there were a See's store, then I would be able to just pick my own pieces.
Now you probably understand what I mean!
And I think the best way to enjoy them is to never chew them. They will last longer, you will taste the full flavor, and nothing stuck to your teeth! I like to have a chocolate piece sitting on my tongue and just let it melt. The warm and sweet juice feels so smooth and dreamy when I swallow it. Mmmm......
Let me tell you about my most horrible business trip in my life (but I can laugh at it now. It is actually a very entertaining story). Well, my job doesn't usually require me to travel, but last Monday, when I was talking to the client, he said something like, "Oh I am going to this conference in Columbus tomorrow (Tuesday) through Thursday. Too bad I didn't tell you about it. If I had thought about it, I would have liked you to attend as well." So I told my manager about it. Then my manager said, "Well, I don't want to twist your arms, but do you think you can go?" We were trying to make this client happy, and I don't really have any "family" to worry about, so I said, "Sure, why not". So Monday night I booked the flight for the next morning. But at that point, I was only planning on going from Tue to Wed (because I had other plans Wed night). The flight was not a direct flight, because it was too late and all "good flights" (direct flights at convenient times) were gone. Ok, fine. So I booked a flight at Tue morning 6:22 am from DC to Detroit, and then from Detroit to Columbus. I should arrive at 10 am in Columbus, and the conference would start at 1 pm. So it sounded perfect.
Well, Monday night I went to bed at a decent time, set my alarm for 5 am, and went to sleep. The next morning, I got up and went to the bathroom. I glanced at my watch and it said 6:04 am. I was still sleepy so I was like, "hun?????" The mysterious daylight saving time even popped up in my head. Then I was suddenly awakened. I jumped up and checked the clock on the bed. Sure enough, it was 6 am. It turned out that I had set the alarm clock wrong -- instead of 5 am alarm, I set it to sound off at 6 am. I was freaking out. There was no way I could catch the flight at 6:22. I ran out and started driving towards the airport, and called the airline on my cell phone. The next flight at 8:00 am was already sold out, so she put me on the next one at 9:20 am, which was 3 hours later than I had planned. So, instead of getting to Columbus at 10 am, I would be there a little after 1 pm, which was still not too bad because I would just be a little late to the conference, and you know, the conference usually never starts on time.
So I actually went to work first (since the flight was 3 hours later) and talked to my manager (he usually gets in the office at 7 am). He was cool with it and he actually laughed at it. Then I got to the airport and arrived at Detroit on time. Fine. Then I saw the next connecting flight (from Detroit to Columbus) was delayed. Instead of 11:55 am departure, it would depart at 12:34 pm. Ok, so I would be another half an hour late. So I called the client and let him know that I would be late. He was cool with it.
Before I sat down at the gate, a Chinese old lady ran towards me and grabbed my arm. She said (in Chinese), "Do you speak Chinese?" she looked so desperate. I said I did, and she was so happy. It turned out that she and her husband came here to visit their son. The son had to work so he booked a tour for the old couple. But somehow they got separated from the tour guy, and they didn't speak a word of English. Their flight was then cancelled, and they were rebooked to a different flight, but it was not a direct flight any more, so they were all confused. So I helped them translate with the gate agent, and finally got things straightened out for them. She was very grateful and I felt good too. She continued to chat with me for a while and then left.
I then noticed there was a long line at my gate. I did not think too much and ignored it. Finally, I felt something was wrong. So I asked them what they were in line for. The people told me that the gate agent had announced that our flight was cancelled, so everyone was in line to get rebooked to the next flight. I was like, "CRAP", I must have missed the announcement while I was helping the old lady. So I got in line, and of course I was at the end of the line. The next flight did not leave till 1:42 pm. Great. I then started chatting with the 2 guys in front of me in line. Their flight was also cancelled, and they were supposed to be in Columbus last night. So we were all mad. When it was their turn to be rebooked, I jokingly said, "Hey, don't you guys take the last 2 seats!" Guess what? They did. When it was my turn, I was booked on the 3:14 pm flight, instead of 1:42. THAT was just GREAT. I requested to be put on stand-by for the 1:42 pm flight, but I thought the chance for me to get on it was pretty slim, since there were so many people ahead of me.
My original flight (11:55 or 12:34) was at gate A5, the 1:42 flight was at gate A76, and the 3:14 flight was at Gate A17. It was Detroit, so it was like a mile between the gates at this end of the terminal and the other end of the terminal. I debated with myself whether I should even bother going to gate A76 and try my stand-by luck. However, I eventually decided to go for a walk because if I didn't try, I would never knew. Fortunately, when I walked about 1/3 way through, I found out there was actually an Express Train that would take me to the other end of the terminal. So I didn't have to walk too much. I got there and asked the gate agent how the seats looked like. She gave me a very business-like reply, which was, "I will do the best I can." But she did not sound sincere or caring at all. I went to the waiting area and found the two guys ahead of me in line earlier. I jokingly told them that they took the last 2 seats. One guy didn't believe it, so I showed him my ticket with the 3:14 pm flight time. He felt really bad, and he told me he would have given me his seat, but he had a real estate meeting that night and he could not miss it. The other guy joked and said if I gave him $20, he would give me his seat. Another random old lady also asked me how much I was willing to pay her for her seat. Geez, people!
So, all the confirmed passengers were boarded. I was very anxious to see if there was any seat left. The gate agent started calling the stand-by people (by name). Everyone she called showed up and boarded. My name was never called because I was too way down the list. I was really disappointed, but I didn't leave (I wasn't going to leave until she actually closed the door and the flight had left). Suddenly, a guy ran out from inside. He said his companion was not here yet. The gate agent checked the computer, and said that she had already checked in but she was still on the ground, and she was not going to make it. The guy said he's not leaving without her. So suddenly 2 seats were open. Another stand-by guy and myself were so excited (although I also felt really bad for that guy), and we ran for the seats. I finally arrived at Columbus around 3 pm, and got to the conference at about 3:15. I was able to participate in the last 2 hours of the conference that day. I was really glad I made the 1:42 pm flight. Otherwise, if I had left at 3:14, I wouldn't even get to the client's building until 5 pm. Then, the entire day was wasted.
I was really upset about everything that happened on Tuesday, and it was my fault because if I had not set the alarm wrong, none of these would have happened. So I offered to stay for the conference on Thursday, in order to make up my missing presence on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the day went pretty well, until about 5 pm when almost everyone had left the building. I stayed a little later because I was trying to be helpful and I offered to help the event facilitator to prepare the briefing notes for the next day. He said it was not necessary, so then I was about to head out. At that time, we suddenly heard a loud thunder. The sky suddenly turned dark, and the trees were blown by the strong wind in all directions. It looked pretty bad, so I ran into my car right when it started raining. I started driving and was hoping to beat the rain. Well, it did not work that way. After I pulled out of the site, just about one block away, the storm started to pour down. Literally it was like the faucet in the sky was broken and all that water just got dumped on the earth. The rain was so thick and so hard that I could not see past 5 inches ahead of my windshield. The water also had a muddy color, which was very unusual in the U.S. I decided that I could not drive in such a storm, so I pulled over to the side. I was lucky that I was next to a street mall, so I pulled into the shopping center's parking lot. I sat in my car in the middle of the open parking lot, and waited for the storm to die down. It was almost the most scary moment in my life because of the rain, the thunder, and the lightning.
Finally, about 25 minutes later, it stopped. The sun came out, and the water on the ground started to dry up. I started to head back to the hotel. My hotel was only about 3 miles away, but there were 3 car accidents on my way. I was really glad that I pulled over (and I was able to pull over because there was a shopping center). It was the right thing to do. So, that was a very exciting evening.
Thursday, my flight was supposed to leave at 1:30 pm, so I left the conference at 12:20 pm. I got to the airport, returned the rental car, got to the gate, and found out my flight was cancelled. However, it was not a big deal because the next flight was 15 minutes later and I got rebooked right away. After everyone boarded the aircraft, the captain made a quite disturbing announcement. He said we could not leave and the run way was closed, because a storm was coming our way. We looked to the side, and sure enough, the sky was dark and we could see lightning. I thought, ok, it would be about half an hour delay, then (based on the previous evening's experience). So we all sat in the airplane and waited for the storm to be over. It was quite a sight too, because we could see the rain and lightning slowly moving towards us and then we were finally covered by them. It was actually not as scary, because I could hardly hear any thunder, and there were a lot of people around me, so I was not alone.
However, it did not die down in half an hour. In fact, there were multiple storms. They came one after another, and we were not able to move at all. We ended up sitting in the airplane for 2 hours before we were allowed to depart. The captain also announced that it was possible we would be required to make circles in the air and not able to land right away when we get to Detroit. He then said, "But we have enough fuel to do that, so don't worry." Uhm, yeah, thanks for the comforting announcement. (To be fair, he was actually a very informative captain. He kept us in the loop all the time, and I appreciated that.) When we got to Detroit, we were able to land, but we were not able to get off the airplane. The same storms had actually come from Detroit, which made Detroit closed for 2 hours. Therefore, all the flights were delayed, and all the gates were occupied by delayed flights. Our plane would not find an open gate to let us off. So we sat in the airplane for another hour and half.
We were finally let off the airplane, and I got to my next gate. The flight was of course delayed, but it was only delayed for half an hour. Comparing to other flights that had been delayed for hours, I was just happy to see that it was not cancelled. I finally got on the flight and arrived back in DC at 8 pm.
I drove back to the city where I live, and I had to stop by a store to pick up something. I turned off my ignition, took the keys out, and automatically locked my door. Guess what's next. I did not have my keys in my hand. They were in my laptop bag, sitting nicely on my passenger seat, along with my cell phone and everything else. My day could never be any better. I had my sun roof tilted up, so I thought maybe I could get a long stick and somehow unlock the door. I ran into the store and asked if they had any long stick that I could borrow, and I explained the whole thing. The store employee was very helpful and called their in-house technician to help. He was not a lock-picker but he was surely very helpful. After about half an hour of fighting with the lock, I finally was able to get into my car.
Was my horrible week over? Not yet. When I got back to my house, I found out the air conditioner was broken. My house was over 90 degrees. But I had had enough, so I did not do anything about it. In fact, I have not fixed it since then. It was actually not too bad during the week. The house was probably over 100 degrees during the day, but I was not home anyway. At night, it was about 83 degrees, which is a little bit hotter than my perfect temperature, but fairly close. If I open up the windows, it was actually pleasant. It's not like I don't have the money to call a repairman, but I just don't feel like doing it. So, I will let it go for a while. Weekends are worse because I am home all day. But I will try to find some escape, for example, I could go to work (and I do have a lot of work to do).
So, how's this story?