I'm Done

Posted by bert at 11:16 AM on May 1, 2007 in ME.

1 year down...  1 year to go.

guess what i'm doing tonight...  you get 3 guesses and the first two don't count.   See you friday =)

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why is it so damn hard...

Posted by bert at 09:16 AM on May 2, 2007 in ME.

to find a place to sublet.  it's so much more difficult than buying a house.  this is rediculous.  Just give me a 2 br place in DC.. k.. thanks.

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HOORAY SUMMER!!

Posted by bert at 09:12 AM on May 4, 2007 in ME.

Here's the upcoming agenda:  (i go from no traveling to a lot)

 

5/6 - 5/12:  Taiwan

5/14 - 5/21:  Cali with Vegas party

5/23:  DC

5/24: AC rounding sessions

5/25 - 5/27: Boston

5/28: Yale Commencement

5/29 (or 30): New York sessions

5/31:  not sure?

6/1:  DC move in (i'm sure Ikea is involved) 

6/4 - 8/11: Booz Allen (DC) with another wedding somewhere in there.

 

so.  anyone gonna be in any of those places?

 

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The best part of the year

Posted by bert at 07:07 PM on May 4, 2007 in ME.

it's also the saddest.

I said goodbye to the last of my really good B-school friends today.   (well outside of Matt who I'll be living with this summer).  

I'm was so excited to be done with classes, but everyone now is all gone...

so what am i doing on a friday night?  watching season 2 of Avatar.. lol =) 

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Talk about a long f'ing trip...

Posted by bert at 09:14 AM on May 7, 2007 in ME.

from out the door in Cary, NC to Arriving at the hotel in Taipei Taiwan took a grand total of thirty [30!!!] hours. I am so glad I brought a toothbrush on the plane since United decided it wasn't worth it to give passengers a toothbrush.

Obviously I had a bit of time to write while in airports and on planes, so here's my big travel entry below.

 (Read More)

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jetlag = bad...

Posted by bert at 04:45 PM on May 7, 2007 in ME.

and man do i have it bad today.

Good thing there is a street merchant down stairs with yummy pan friend dumplings for me to buy at 3 for $30 NT (or $1 roughly US).

and the 7-11 across the street sells me what's roughly equivalent of a 20 oz juice box for $20 NT. 

 

I SHALL be 5 lbs heavier when I return stateside. 

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Hello food!!!

Posted by bert at 09:53 AM on May 8, 2007 in ME.

Right. You knew it wasn't going to be long before I sunk my teeth into some food here right? So here's a few things to share.

(Read More)

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This is why I'm hot

Posted by bert at 10:11 AM on May 8, 2007 in ME.

oh crap...

during my attempts to not wake up at 5:15 AM tomorrow morning... i've been surfing the net (aka, shopping online while in vacation...)

damnit.. i can't believe i'm considering THIS. 

*sigh* 

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I take LA for granted...

Posted by bert at 04:15 AM on May 9, 2007 in ME.

lemme just say this before i type my entry today.

1.) I never thought the smog in LA was that bad (since i moved there roughly 5 years ago).

2.)  HOLY CRAP, i moved there roughly 5 (!!!) years ago.

 

ok..

the smog in Taiwan is downright atrocious.  I have bought baby wipes (shut up ya goof), just to wipe myself down every couple of hours.   Granted it started originally with just tissue, until I was noticing darker smears.  Anyway... the amount of soot/smog/crap/whatever my forehead (can't imagine what my clothes pick up) picks up over a 2 hour period of walking around is just plain disgusting...

For all you fearless OC'ers out there...  count yourselves lucky,  It's not horrible at all.  I can't wait to not be the darkest person in any given moment.   Really... Shiseido/SK-II has got the greatest propaganda with women going on over here.  They've convinced women that the whiter you look the better you look.  Instead of dropping ridiculous amounts of cash on this lotion, they could maybe splurge for...  braces?  or clothes that match! =)

 

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Gotta Love the night markets

Posted by bert at 07:21 AM on May 9, 2007 in ME.

I [finally] got to go the night markets here.   Gosh, i missed them so much.  Where else can you get all the fruit you could ever want with random assortments of friend chinese stuff?  

I also got to meet my cousins two new kids.   They are 3 years old and 4 months.   Simply adorable, although the little one has a penchant for crying.  I guess that's normal... =)

So i'd share my night market photos except we were taking photos back at the hotel afterwards, and the elder niece got to playing with my camera and deleted every photo from today.   I have some nice family shots though and will put them up later.  For now... i'm exhausted.  

 

Buenos Noches. 

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For you Linda...

Posted by bert at 07:25 AM on May 10, 2007 in ME.

a picture is worth a thousand words right?

 

 

you should have seen the face on the guy at the 7-11 counter =) 

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Joost

Posted by bert at 02:28 PM on May 10, 2007 in ME.

I've been beta testing them for awhile.. pretty cool technology.

two things to note.

1.)  they just secured a 2nd round of funding pegged at $45 million.  (this is RIDICULOUS!!!)   Google in it's heyday only get $25 million in its 2nd round.  To give you a frame of reference.   A post money valuation is at least double the funding.  But this is an up-round with angel funding being it's "first round" thanks to the founders being loaded up front.   Anyway..  Huge round of funding.  And it's led by the biggest of the bigs...  Sequoia.

 

2.) funding means more beta testers to get it rolling.   Joost just might kill IPTV dreams everywhere. =)   Watch out AppleTV, watch out Microsoft, and watching Cisco.

 oh yeah.. it also means i have roughly 1000 invites.   So if anyone wants a Joost account.  let me know =)

 

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Another radio personality fired...

Posted by bert at 08:23 AM on May 13, 2007 in ME.

This disgusts me...

 

making fun of the asian accent...   Jeez you know why people make fun of it?  because it is funny....

Good job Asian-American community.  Instead of practicing forgiveness (something that is indoctrinated in our culture), you called for these guys to get fired.   Instead of getting a reputation for being fair and lenient you were just as bad as the other groups you so disdain. 

 

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McCarran Intl

Posted by bert at 10:46 AM on May 16, 2007 in ME.

gotta love free wifi in an airport.  LAS is the only one i know that provides it.   I love LAS. =)

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wow.. i miss cali

Posted by bert at 11:57 PM on May 17, 2007 in ME.

Ok.. stuff i've done.

 Ate at or went to the following:

• South Coast
• The Block
• Spectrum 
• Good Chinese!
  
• Pho
• Bulgolgi
• Fish Tacos
• Burrito Stand
• Good Mexican
• Huntington Beach
• Newport Beach
• Fashion Island.

 

man...  i really do miss this place.

 

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Cali

Posted by bert at 10:10 PM on May 20, 2007 in ME.

sad... now i have to be back east.   At least its only 3 days before NJ-NYC/ Boston/ DC summer. 

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i feel like roy...

Posted by bert at 12:52 AM on May 21, 2007 in ME.

can't sleep at all.. ugh.. 4 a.m. and counting.

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congrats linda

Posted by bert at 02:39 PM on May 28, 2007 in ME.

i still can't believe you are done with school.. wtf..  soon someone will tell me that she's going to be earning a paycheck...  oh wait...

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more places not to live...

Posted by bert at 08:48 PM on May 29, 2007 in ME.

I was in Boston over the weekend, and it wasn't bad.  I really liked the convenience of the "T" to get in and out of the city,  and as an added plus, the subways didn't smell completely like urine, even though they were completely owned by Dunkin Donuts....  But then you have to deal outside of the subway, and driving there sucks.   When a university can close some random exits preventing someone from getting onto a major freeway (*ahem* Harvard you suck).  Oh and the drivers in that state are in a perenial state of rage and anger.   That and they drive 66 mph in the far left lane where the speed limit is 65.   Nope.. can't live there.

Connecticut just sucks.. twice in New Haven has convinced me.   and the drivers suck just as bad as Mass.   And it's not in the city.   and the access into and out of the city.

 New York, is busy... and smelly, and ugly.  and can get cold.

New Jersey is the armpit of New York. and also smells like urine.

I just hope that DC isn't bad... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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switching my 401k

Posted by bert at 07:14 AM on May 31, 2007 in ME.

so my 401k is still with boeing, but i've been trying to switch it lately

now while i do appreciate the security measures that boeing takes to protect my privacy, its starting to get annoying...

first off we have a completely separate login and password system for our financial services.

fine.  My employee number will never change so it's not a big deal...  so I called in because i did forget my password, and you go through the normal inquisition:

what's your first and last name?

ssn?

mailing address? (changed of course)

date of birth?

ok.  thank you for verifying yourself.  now how can i help you?

oh if you need your password, we can mail it to you. 

"well maam, you see, i'm no long at that address can you mail my password here?"

no... you need your password to change your mailing address.

so i had to fill out another bit of information with more inquisition stuff, and MAIL it into our nebraska office.

got my mailing address changed to my NC address. 

so I tried to log in, only my account was locked from last time when i tried t log in with my expired (not forgotten) password.

so again I had to call.

now after calling, and going through the self-identification process, I get to another customer service rep.   

"oh sorry sir, your password expired, you need to update a new one.   Unfortunately you do not have access to your accounts, so we'll have to mail you your new password."

so i have my second new password, and got into my 401k account and asked to move my money to something i can manage.    And now I can't change anything in my account because my address on record with my 401k is still in California, while my address is in NC.   great..  So now they have to examine why there is a difference while freezing my accounts.

 

wonderful.. Thanks Boeing... only a 3 month process thus far... 

 Can i just have my money?

 

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