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| Saturday, August 31, 2002 | ||
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It's great to be back home for a long weekend. I am having a lot of fun just chilling out with friends and family. |
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| Min-Hsao -- 9:09:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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| Friday, August 30, 2002 | ||
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The following is a email I just got about the issues with the term "Engineers" in Texas. "I want to give you a heads up on some legal actions going on in Texas with the Texas Board of Professional Engineers. You should already know that the Texas Board controls the registration process in Texas, but it also has broad authority to control the use of the term Engineer plus any and all derivatives of the term. Stated very simply, a person cannot use the term Engineer, in any form, as part of a title on business cards, letters, or correspondence unless they are a registered Professional Engineer. This level of control is intended to ensure that people offering engineering services to the public are qualified to do so. There is an exemption for "in-house" engineers like us who do not offer engineering services to the public. This exemption has allowed us to routinely use our engineering titles without any problems for longer than I've been around - in fact longer than the Texas Board of Professional Engineers has been around. Well, there's a new wrinkle. Last month the Texas Attorney General issued an opinion that the exemptions don't really exempt in-house engineers the way they have been interpreted for the past 60 odd years. Nobody but a politician would agree with the logic, but if the opinion stands, we may not be able to include our Engineering titles on business cards, cover letters or other forms of correspondence outside the company. The opinion could also go as far as to restrict the use of the term Engineering in department names if the company is not registered as an engineering company. As you might imagine, this has raised some serious concerns throughout the Company and across our industry. Stewart and I participated in a meeting with legal, government affairs, HR and a host of others to discuss what our actions should be. The picture painted by our lawyer and the government affairs folks is ugly, and I kept expecting Rod Sterling to walk up and welcome us to the Twilight Zone. Humor aside, this is a serious matter and the ramifications if this opinion stands will be far reaching. Our lawyer is researching some of the questions we raised in the meeting and will come back to us with recommendations on how to proceed. In the meantime, we all need to be careful about using the term Engineer on anything going outside the company. I recommend that you not include your company title on any outside correspondence. This goes for everyone. Texas has raised the issue, but other states with similar restrictions may decide to follow Texas' lead on enforcement. I'll keep you informed of any new developments as I get them. " What does this mean? I guess it means that I won't be an engineer any more. So does this mean that all the Ph. Ds doing engineering research are not "Engineers" any more? and why does a bio "Engineer" need to know about building roads? I guess I should go for my P.E. next year after all. |
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| Min-Hsao -- 10:36:00 AM [ 0 ] | ||
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War Eagle! It's pretty cool, on the way to work today I actually ran in to someone else graduated from Auburn University. The funny thing about it is that today is the first day I wore my Auburn polo shirt and already I got couple of comments. Awesome man! 
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| Min-Hsao -- 6:40:00 AM [ 0 ] | ||
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I am ready for the long weekend ... are you? |
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| Min-Hsao -- 5:03:00 AM [ 0 ] | ||
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| Thursday, August 29, 2002 | ||
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Raquetball rocks! It has eliminated all my stress... ok ok... Rigged won one game!!! |
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| Min-Hsao -- 11:01:00 AM [ 0 ] | ||
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I finally got a response around 7:50 and the answer is "Oops, it seems like we made a mistake, but we can't help you to fix it either. You will have to get your ass back to the south boy... back to Atlanta." Ok, maybe that was not exactly what they said, but the point is they can't do anything about it and they are sending me back to Atlanta to get processed. What really gets me is that, when I asked them what they need to verified me and put the seal on the certificate. They responded, ?We will need to verify all document such as court records to show that you are a citizen.? So I asked, ?Can you not do that through the computer?? They replied, ?No!? By this time I am all fired up and I asked, ?So if someone get in to something and need a citizenship verification, you guys will actually call all the INS around the country to see if that person is a citizen or not?? They answered, ?Oh no, we do that through the computer.? ? ??? ? ???? ? what the heck? ?So what does the computer say about my status?? I asked. ?The computer says you are a citizen?. ?So why can I not get a seal and a date on my certificate? ? ?Because this was processed through Atlanta and you can only get it done in Atlanta!... sorry.? Is it just me or does it make sense to everyone else?? |
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| Min-Hsao -- 8:59:00 AM [ 0 ] | ||
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While I was Waiting in line at the INS .... I wrote the following.... Is it just me or is it always the coldest right before the sun rise. 7 more minutes and it will be 6:00 am! INS must have hired Disney to create their waiting line. I finally turned the corner and realized what was causing the line to move. It is not people are being processed but instead the fornt doors are opened and you are led to a inside room with lines. It is now 6:21 AM. It is now 7:06 am. I am still in line inside the building. There are a lot of people in front of me and there are only 40 numbers availiable. I just hope not everyone in front of me needs a number for the citizenship officer. It would really suck if I get to the end of the line and find out that "sorry, thatls all th numbers for the day". We will see. 7:21 and I am just a few more people until the "window of waiting numbers". So I got to the end of the line and spoke to some one and what she told me is to "Follow the blue line and speak to the people there" so I am now at the end of the blue line and waiting... It is 7:37. I just spoke to some one at the end of the blue line and she is now telling me that they can do this but no one has the key to the safe. You may need to come back tomorrow. But let me check... And the suspense continues...... |
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| Min-Hsao -- 8:17:00 AM [ 0 ] | ||
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With my surprise there started to have some movement in the line and it is only 5:30. I am now very close to the corner. Woo Hoo! |
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| Min-Hsao -- 3:42:00 AM [ 0 ] | ||
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I am here sitting in the line around the INS building. Yep around the building, the line is that long that it wraps around the building. The worst of all, it is only 5 am right now. Goodness, I am so tired. |
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| Min-Hsao -- 3:25:00 AM [ 0 ] | ||
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| Wednesday, August 28, 2002 | ||
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Even after I have signed the contract paper... I am still stressed. What if I have made a mistake? The more I think about it, the more I think I should have adding some stuff in the negotiation. I just hate being toyed around. It is not fun... actually I should say it sucks!!! |
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| Min-Hsao -- 6:33:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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So now I am officially in major debt!!! But looking on the bright side... I am going to be a home owner once again in a couple of months. I guess my lifestyle as a free spending bachlor will end in a few month. |
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| Min-Hsao -- 12:12:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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| Tuesday, August 27, 2002 | ||
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Man! trying to buy a house is so stressful, but it seems it will soon be over. I start to wonder what does all this mean? Does this mean I will be in Houston for the rest of my life? Scary huh? |
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| Min-Hsao -- 9:16:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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So I made an offer to a town home. There is already another offer there we will see how my offer will stand. |
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| Min-Hsao -- 8:10:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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So I went to check out some more houses this afternoon. It is totally unbelievable, I just don't understand how can someone expect to sell their house for 170 thousand dollars and not clean it up at all. I mean, it was like roaches and dirty laundry all over the place. What a nasty dump!!! |
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| Min-Hsao -- 7:42:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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Doh! Today Rigged beat me in Racquetball. But the good news today is the presentation went really well. Only 2 people attended. I am still feeling a bit funny in my ear. I think I might head out around 5:00. |
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| Min-Hsao -- 1:03:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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So... I am sitting here around 10:19 and no one is here. Am I in the wrong room? I don't think so. I am ready.... let's go, let's go!! |
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| Min-Hsao -- 8:20:00 AM [ 0 ] | ||
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Big day today, I am suppose to give a big presentation to some VPs in the company about my current project. To to show off and get noticed, yeah! |
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| Min-Hsao -- 5:32:00 AM [ 0 ] | ||
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Ever wake up in the morning and one of your ear is clogged up? It is really messing me up right now. Hopefully it will clear up as time goes by. |
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| Min-Hsao -- 5:31:00 AM [ 0 ] | ||
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| Monday, August 26, 2002 | ||
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4 More days until I get to see her!!! Woo hoo!!! |
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| Min-Hsao -- 1:20:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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Rigged..... He says that I never talk about him on my BLOG... so let's talk about Rigged!! |
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| Min-Hsao -- 1:19:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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New Day, New Week ... so what's my goal this week... "FIND A PLACE TO LIVE... oh and finish my EYIs" |
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| Min-Hsao -- 7:12:00 AM [ 0 ] | ||
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| Sunday, August 25, 2002 | ||
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 Ah... Just got back from Scotts, it was alot of fun. We had some good jambalaya and played PS2 and watched, of course, our favorites Sunday night ?The Simpsons?. I really enjoy the Simpsons. Homer is the best. I think I will consider buying the Simpson?s complete second season DVD. It looks pretty cool. I guess I will wait until I decide if I am or am not going to buy a home.
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| Min-Hsao -- 7:22:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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I just met my friends from college, it was interesting. I have not seen those guys in forever. We all met up at the Houston Natural history museum. It was interesting, we actually did not do anything but saw a show at the planetarium. The show was just like a Discovery channel program except, we had to pay 5 dollars each. What happened to all the free museum days?? Well, Scott is cooking jambalaya so I am off to his place. UMMM? JAMBALAYA!!!! |
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| Min-Hsao -- 1:02:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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| Saturday, August 24, 2002 | ||
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 I been working on the 1/144 Tallgeese model that Surgen gave me. It's pretty cool. It is the first Gundam model that I have built. I like it. My only problem is that I can't seem to find the right colors to paint it. BTW there are HG Gundam models for sale in Target stores. So I will hit the good old wal mart tomorrow.
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| Min-Hsao -- 7:25:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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I am a little bit stress lately. Why? Well, my lease for my apartment is about to run out. Well, that?s no big deal, I will just have to find another place to live. The question is where? So I thought maybe I should buy a house. I don?t want to move too far from downtown because I like the 5-15 min. commute every morning. It?s very low stress. After looking about with my parents this past week, we have found a few good options, but now what is stressing me out is the price. It is pretty expensive to live close to downtown. {sigh} We will see?. Hey maybe I will get a raise after I finish my Dial backup project? Right? Ha ha ha !!! |
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| Min-Hsao -- 7:07:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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 Well, the Texas play in Houston for the first time tonight. I got caught in that aweful traffic on the way back from helping my sister move. DANG! It reminded me of Auburn Football traffic. BTW the Texans SUCKS!.... 17-0 at half time. I hope they can do better.
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| Min-Hsao -- 7:01:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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 So what happened today? Well, Today, I help move my sister in to her dorm room. Funny thing about that is that someone at Rice actually thought I was a Freshman. ha ha ha ... I guess it was probably because I was wearing a Green Lantern T-Shirt and moving lots of boxes. I mean who in their right mind would wear a GL tee shirt at 25?
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| Min-Hsao -- 6:56:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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| Friday, August 23, 2002 | ||
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I been bad... I been really really bad. I have not update my blog for about a week. This week has been really really busy at work. With my parents over at my place and working my butt off... I had very little time updating my site and my blog. I promise I will do a better job next week. Sorry, everyone!!! |
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| Min-Hsao -- 3:59:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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| Monday, August 19, 2002 | ||
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It has been a crazy weekend. I have driven over 600 miles. Let see Friday I went back to Auburn. Saturday, I went to Birmingham and then headed for Huntsville, where Donovan got married. After the wedding we went to the reception and headed back. Boy, I have to say? Hsiu Hsiu was hot! ;-) The weekend was over all too short. And now I am back to work? it has been busy, busy, and busy. Oh guess what I saw in the ATL airport?. I saw a Ginger? or the ?it ? people mover. It was very awesome!! |
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| Min-Hsao -- 2:48:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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| Thursday, August 15, 2002 | ||
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Today got to be one of the most aweful days that I had lately. Let's just say that I am now all wet and soaked and I really don't feel that wonderful! It has just been a bad day!! |
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| Min-Hsao -- 3:31:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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| Wednesday, August 14, 2002 | ||
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I feel like I am back in college again. It is kind of exciting but it is so frustrating reading over ton and tons of stuff. Doing tons and tons of practice tests and still finding yourself unworthy. Just 11 more hours until crunch time, we will have to see how this will all span out. Now back to my practice tests. So what is a Null VTP domain? |
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| Min-Hsao -- 8:31:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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Scott is the Mack Daddy of everything!!! After trying to find a local INS number and trying to get someone to help me with my immigration problem, Scott finally helped me found my answer. The number is 281-774-4610? Go ahead?. Write it down!!! So, I called that number and the lady was 200 % more helpful then the national help line. She actually told me that they can probably take care of the seal and date problem, if they can locate my information on there computer system. The kind lady also informed me that the office that handled this type of issue is only open on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. So my question, obviously, was when are you open? She said they are open at 7:00 am, but she said that I have to come early because people start waiting in line around 3:00 am in the morning. Good God! 3 AM in the MORNING!?! |
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| Min-Hsao -- 2:31:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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Doh... My plan to head up to INS office today is Foo bar. Why? Because I can't get up early enough.... I think I will now aim for Friday morning to deal with INS. |
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| Min-Hsao -- 5:52:00 AM [ 0 ] | ||
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| Tuesday, August 13, 2002 | ||
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Well, Guess what? I finally talked to someone in the INS help line. And what did they say? They told me to go to the INS office in Houston... in short it means ... "Get in line, bitch!" Well, I just hope when I get to the INS office in Houston, they don't tell me "sorry, you have to go back to Atlanta." So... I guess I will plan for a trip to North Houston tomorrow morning. |
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| Min-Hsao -- 2:37:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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Amazing! I get right into INS's phone system right after 4:00 pm. And that's when they say I should call back. The best part is that I called them about 3:48 and got hung up on. So what does that mean? They don't answer their calls until after 4?? |
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| Min-Hsao -- 2:10:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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INS sucks!!! Why do they suck? Well, humm.. where do I start? Let?s start with my citizenship. Well, since I got my US citizenship, I figure why not go ahead and get my passport. Couple days ago, I got a letter from the passport office denying my application, because my naturalization certificate was not valid. So I ask myself? ?What? How could that be?? After reading the letter from the passport office and reviewing my certificate, they were correct. INS forgot to put a INS seal and a date on my certificate. So what does this mean? I don?t know what it means? Does it mean I am not a citizen? Today, I try to contact INS to see where I need to go to clear this up? Either Houston, Atlanta, or Montgomery, either way it will probably cost more money and time. I try to find and number to call and the only number I can find is there national hotline. ?Hey, that?s no biggie, I will just give them a call and they will tell me where to go.? When I called, I get this huge list of menu which nothing really helps. Here is the kicker, when I finally found the right option to push, it told me to hold on and my call is very important, and my call Will be answered in the order which it was received. But shortly after that message, it gave me another message saying that all of the agents are busy please call back at a different time and then ?Thank you for calling INS? Click!? Those punks hung up on me! Just like that, they hung up on me. I guess I will have to call back ? I mean what else can I do? Well, I love how efficient and friendly our government is. |
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| Min-Hsao -- 10:40:00 AM [ 0 ] | ||
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| Monday, August 12, 2002 | ||
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So I signed up for my first CCNP exam today. $125 down the drain..... swoooh! |
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| Min-Hsao -- 2:58:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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Doh... My cable modem went Ka-put this morning!!! But don't worry ... it's all fixed now :-) |
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| Min-Hsao -- 2:48:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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| Sunday, August 11, 2002 | ||
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Ah... Just got back from Scott's for steak. BTW Scott is now the offical King in Simpson's Road Rage!!! |
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| Min-Hsao -- 7:49:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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| Friday, August 09, 2002 | ||
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 It's Friday... woo hoo!!! So here is some good news to cheer everyone up on this happy Friday. Painless Dentistry!!!! Yeah!
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| Min-Hsao -- 6:39:00 AM [ 0 ] | ||
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| Thursday, August 08, 2002 | ||
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Man... can you believe this? I got offered some Astros ticket today and I turned them down. They were box seats too!!! When I saw the ticket price, I was shocked. They were 100 dollars a pop. No, no, it was not the price that caused me to turn down the tickets. I mean my friend was going to "give" me the ticket. No, it was the time. The game time today is at 12:35. That is truely a bad time. I mean ... I got to work right? |
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| Min-Hsao -- 11:42:00 AM [ 0 ] | ||
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| Wednesday, August 07, 2002 | ||
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It's hump day... it's hump day!!! 2 more days until weekend!! |
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| Min-Hsao -- 2:04:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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| Tuesday, August 06, 2002 | ||
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It to go home and get me something to eat!!! hungry hungry!!! |
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| Min-Hsao -- 3:04:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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I am starting to think that working out around lunch is a bad idea. I mean, it's good that I am working out, but boy missing lunch really sucks. I don't think it is healthy to keep this up. What do you guys think? |
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| Min-Hsao -- 12:55:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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| Monday, August 05, 2002 | ||
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ATM PVC SVC VCC ARP ILMI FSSRP LEC BUS LANE. AHHH!!!! The acronyms are killing me. i been studying for my CCNP switching exam for over an hour and my head is about to explode with acronyms. I agree with whoever that said the computer industry uses too much acronyms. Yep we do !!! |
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| Min-Hsao -- 9:06:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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What a short weekend!! It seems like yesterday, I was getting ready to get off for Friday and all the sudden... BOOM... it's Monday again. Well, this is the week, I am going to train and study the hardest!!! Why? Because I am planning to take my first CCNP test on Friday. I will decide on Wednesday if I am ready or not. So Cheer for me everyone!! |
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| Min-Hsao -- 6:40:00 AM [ 0 ] | ||
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| Sunday, August 04, 2002 | ||
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Where can you go in 342 miles from Houston? |
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| Min-Hsao -- 4:33:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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| Friday, August 02, 2002 | ||
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I just got a very interesting letter from our great leaders in our company. It is an email about cost cutting. Well, I guess something must be going on with our company, because our great leaders are now telling us to cut down on our daily costs. Some examples of what?s being cut are no more FedEx shipping unless necessary, no more use of fax machines, no more Starbucks coffees, no more shuttles to greenway, no more plant and, watering service. Even though, I agree with most of the cost saving topics there is one that I strongly disagrees with. That is no more exercise clothing for Travis Fitness Center. Well, as you know, I just joined the Travis Gym last week and I really enjoy it. The best part about the Travis Gym is that they provides everything, the only thing I have to bring are my shoes. I guess that won?t be true for long. What I don?t understand is why can?t they just raise the price and keep the service? Does this mean that the monthly fee to the Travis Gym will be less??? I truly doubt it. Man ? This sucks!!! |
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| Min-Hsao -- 1:17:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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I am now royally pissed off at my apartment complex. I mean what does it take to give them money? Well, today is the 2nd, and I went to the office this morning to pay my rent, but of course they are closed. I try to go over there yesterday but they closed when I got home. Ok? now that?s nothing to be pissed off about, but they are going to charge me a late fee if I don?t pay by end of the day today. I mean what gives. They don?t cash in the check until the 7th day anyway, but they want everyone to pay them by the 2nd. Damn, Bastards!!! |
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| Min-Hsao -- 6:36:00 AM [ 0 ] | ||
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| Thursday, August 01, 2002 | ||
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It's 7:25 pm and I am finally done with work. Time to go home. So... the biggest question in everyone's mind is ... what am I going to eat tonight??? |
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| Min-Hsao -- 5:26:00 PM [ 0 ] | ||
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Ever wonder if your name is a website on the internet? Well, I checked it out. Did you know there is a www.minchen.com? But it's in German. What gives? |
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| Min-Hsao -- 5:09:00 AM [ 0 ] | ||
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