Looking Back

I was going over and cleaning my drawers when I found this notebook from my high school

In it were these imaginary letters, in Chinese, to girls I liked back then

I can't stop smirking while reading them

Ah, the young adolescent age that were occuplied with only school work, and puppy love

Those letters were never sent out, or read by anybody else. Nothing came out of high schools either

Life was simple, yet complicated with these emotional thoughts

Now, life is more complex, not necessarily complicated, but without any emotional thoughts

How ten years transformed one's life from innocence, to understanding, and to mature :)

My computer/mouse right hand is colder than my left. I am a freak!!

I was curious yesterday when my right hand was freezing while my left hand was normal, and I Google'ed and turns out I am not the only one - Yahoo Answers

There is no clear answer though, but the possible cause makes sense - right hand rests on the mouse at higher altitude than the left hand, therefore causing less circulation of warm blood to it, resulting in lower temperature.

Does your right hand (mouse hand) get colder than left hand?

Looking Back

It is a week of looking back, so that we can look forward
However, it is the number of years that I have looked back that scared me :-) I am old

In last Thursday's ER, Dr. Mark Greene made a guest appearance as we saw the past of Dr. Catherine Banfield (current ER chief) unfolds. Cate lost her son Daryl to acute leukemia in the County General ER and it was Dr. Greene who did his best trying to save him, even at the cost of delaying his chemotherapy for his brain tumor.

We knew we would see guest appearance from characters in previous seasons being the last season of ER. For example, the annoying Dr. Robert Romano who was killed by a chopper falling down from the roof. Sadly it was the last season of ER that the creator, Michael Crichton, could not see it through (Rest in peace)

Financially, looking back at the last few months through Globe's excellent FAQ article

I know people who have lost their jobs, and I think I was close to losing mine at one point.
Ending with this quote I find funny (in bad ways) in this time of unknown.

There is an old joke (recently retold in the Economist) that says that when your neighbour loses her job, it is called an economic slowdown. When you lose your job, it is a recession. But when an economist loses his job, it becomes a depression.

What A Day, 感觸良多

星期五早上 出門時太陽投射在我的身上 此時的後院 有點冬天的美麗
心情 卻依然難以平靜 有點納悶 有點不知所措 有點鬆口氣 深呼吸... 今天不是昨天

星期四的早上 朋友來信告知好消息 她將要到美國去工作了
心理當然替她開心 卻也不可否認的納悶自己的機會在哪 只是感覺 職場無常
殊不知 這竟是這一天最好的消息了

星期四的下午 部門開會時 獲知主管將要去追尋新的機會
心頭揪了一下 不會吧 又一則人事變遷 又一則職場無常

星期四的晚上 踏出公司的前一刻 接到了信 反應不過來 我的機會沒了
一路納悶的回家 想知道為什麼 老天聽到了我的聲音 回家時已接到一封個人回覆
因為財務關係 職位將被移除取消 只能跟我說抱歉 謝謝我跑了一趟

心情澎湃的夜晚 在閱讀網路新聞時 驚覺看見"星光三班黎礎寧為感情自殺不治"
身為星光大道一班二班三班的忠實觀眾 我其實喜歡礎寧 也覺得她的歌喉很好
第一個反應 怎麼可能 發生了什麼事情
第二個反應 傻瓜 怎麼可以這樣就走了 這種事 這麼多人關心
第三個反應 唉 現在的社會 現在的年輕人 真的這麼脆弱嗎...


是誰說人生無常 是誰告訴了我們人生的秘密 - 萬變才是不變
一天之內 我經歷了職場無常 看見了人生無常
心頭真的握著好緊 深怕一放開 天上的星辰又會掉落
今年 錯愕之中 阿公走了 王永慶走了 礎寧走了 Richard Monette (Director of Stratford Festival) Michael Crichton (Creator of TV series ER) 也走了 來不及說聲再見

其實也不能清楚的畫出心中的感觸 他們是很抽象的 卻又真實的掛在心頭
此時 只想用力的呼出胸口每一口氣 再用力的吸入 直到每一分哀愁都能散去

星期五下午 感謝平靜的一天 能好好整理自己的思緒
放了左手 放了右手 緊握雙手 準備下一個禮拜 準備新的開始
告訴自己 要設定目標 向那靠近 不想 也不能有無常的遺憾

凱

Canada Remembers

I remember the first year I was in Canada, I wondered what the red flower everyone wears was - the Poppy, then learned about November 11th. Today is Remembrance Day, let us take a moment and remember that freedom had a price.

Despite being born after World War 1 or 2, there is still a war going on, the war against terrorism and it is a costly one. Let us remember the fallen soldiers and what they did for us, for Canada, and for freedom

Remembrance Day – also known as Poppy Day, Armistice Day (the event it commemorates) or Veterans Day – is a day to commemorate the sacrifices of members of the armed forces and of civilians in times of war, specifically since the First World War. It is observed on 11 November to recall the end of World War I on that date in 1918. The day was specifically dedicated by King George V, on 7 November 1919, to the observance of members of the armed forces who were killed during war; this was possibly done upon the suggestion of Edward George Honey to Wellesley Tudor Pole, who established two ceremonial periods of remembrance based on events in 1917.

Thank you my friends

I want to dedicate this post to thank my friends at Stratford

Not for just inviting me to a Rock Band party where I sucked, but to bring back good memories and experience friendships that seemed to be sucked out of my life recently with bitterness and frustration.

I liked chatting with everyone, catching up and realize how fast time passed by. No politics, no masks
I think my life is too dark from the way I described it

Anyway, the best part for the last - I got to blow ONE belated birthday candle, on a chocolate brownie.
It's no fancy cake, it's no 28 candles, but I was truly touched with joy. That one candle meant so much ...

THANK YOU

Jerry

And thanks to Maggie for the cool experience of Penn and Teller performance at Centre in the Square

陳雲林拜會證嚴法師 邀訪大陸

This is a historical moment to be remembered for -
Chen Yunlin, president of China's quasi-official Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) met with Master Cheng Yen, founder of the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation.

Above all the politics, verbal wars and violence, love and respect are connecting the two divided countries together. There is no difference among us, we are all Chinese and all working for a greater future.

台北六日電


大陸海峽兩岸關係協會會長陳雲林今天拜會證嚴法師時說，這些年來，兩岸佛教界交流非常活絡。「現在大陸很多朋友都希望法師有機會到大陸去，我們對此表示歡迎，也期待您去。」

　 陳雲林下午偕同海協會常務副會長鄭立中、駐會副會長李炳才、副秘書長張勝林前往位於關渡的慈濟大愛台，拜會證嚴法師。

　 他表示，「我和今天一起來的同事，包括今天大陸那麼多同胞，大家認識慈濟、了解慈濟，是從一九九一年華東發生特大洪水以後，廣大台灣同胞慷慨捐輸，最突出的就是證嚴法師和慈濟基金會。」

　 陳雲林說：「那時，大陸改革開放還沒有像今天的程度，有些地區，包括特大洪災波及的地區，有些還很貧困。在那個非常困難的時候，各位到大陸去，深入每個災區，深入很多災民家裡，問寒問暖，對他們伸出援助之手。從衣物、糧食、房屋、學校、醫院，給災區居民非常大的關懷。」

　 他表示，「後來，慈濟義工幾乎遍布中國大陸各省，特別在貴州、陝西這些地方，慈濟人不辭勞苦，跨越高山峻嶺，把那裡的缺水問題當做慈濟人自己的事情。我們在甘肅好多地方，也是大陸的扶貧點，那裡有很多老百姓非常感念您，你們幫助那裡解決非常緊迫的缺水問題。」

　 陳雲林說：「我們這次來，就是代表這些大陸同胞對慈濟人、對您、對慈濟基金會這些年來對大陸貧困受災地區人民慷慨捐輸的溫暖與愛心，我們想藉這樣的機會表達感激。」

　 證嚴法師與陳雲林會面時，特別向陳雲林介紹慈濟基金會環保志工回收保特瓶後，相關素材處理後製成的毛毯和圍巾。陳雲林也仔細觀察毛毯和圍巾素材，並拿起圍巾摩擦臉頰，感受圍巾觸感，還表示，「這個像羊毛織的圍巾。」

　 最後，陳雲林致贈證嚴一幅水墨畫；證嚴則回贈陳雲林福慧紅包、自己的著作等禮品。

Aww......

Isn't she the cutest bunny?

I am an Editor at SmartCanucks Tech Deals Blog

I had the honour of being asked to be an Editor at the Smart Canucks Tech Deals Blog.
It started on Oct 22, 2008 and so far, as far as I know, I am still hired after 2 weeks.

Who knew my hobby of buying and selling, expertise in deals, and the addiction to RFD can come in handy one day. Except now I have more blogs to write, and finding true deals is getting harder and harder.

The Globe and Mail's annual ranking of online brokers

The Globe and Mail's 10th annual online brokerage ranking evaluated 13 different firms in six different categories. Here are the results

I am glad that TD Waterhouse is at least #4 because that is what I use

It does okay (and good at some) but it does lack behind in features compared to newer and smaller brokerage firms.
TD Waterhouse has only recently introduced the Stock Screener and soon the Options Trains, and most exciting of all - Portfolio Manager