Do you wanna ride in my rocket?

Please, get in. >=D

I promise I won't fly straight up 100 miles and then dismount and watch you plummet to your death.  I have nothing to do with the little pile of bones you see there.  Really. 

Troubleshooting

I've been working on my laptop for 4 days. I've done everything I can to try and see what the problem is with my ethernet port.

Since Sunday, I have:

1) Run a System Restore (2x)
2) Uninstalled my drivers (2x)
3) Tried 3 different cables off 2 different modems with 2 different laptops
4) Rebooted the system BIOS
5) Run a system wide virus scan
6) Scanned the system boot screen
7) run sfc /SCANNOW in cmd
8) Reinstalled my OS

And nothing has worked.  After I had done up to step 7, it was clearly a motherboard problem and NOT an OS issue, since I still had my wireless working AND my drivers were all updated and working.  So obviously the ethernet port wasn't connecting with my cable and wasn't reading its existence.   The worst thing is, after I told the Alienware technician guy that it's a motherboard problem, he told me that he wouldn't send out a new motherboard UNTIL I had reinstalled the OS. SERIOUSLY? What part of a motherboard defect do you not understand??

Basically he was accusing me of wanting a new motherboard. 

What an asshole.

So just to play their stupid game, the OS was reinstalled today and of course the ethernet port still is dead.  Now what?  Give me my stupid motherboard, you cheapskates!

This is so beautiful

Ahhh.... emails and work on the left, Gaming in the middle, and chatting on the right..... while watching TV on top if you wished.  How beautiful is this setup?

I can't wait to move back to the States so I can start setting up my dream "workstation."    This is exactly the way I would set it up.  That table is also from Ikea... I've wanted to buy it several times but I never had room in the house to put it.  But once I get back to the US..... this will become a reality.

My Alienware laptop's ethernet port broke.  Which is all kinds of fking FAIL.  This means I can't connect to the internet through cable.  WTF dude.  I have to use wireless, in a place where the internet is already slow as hell? REALLY? Wireless??

Especially for a hardcore gamer.... stable, plugged in connectivity is crucial. It's like the air I breathe. There is nothing more fail than your character raising an arm to do that final finishing blow... and then you get "You have been disconnected." Fking fail, wireless!!!!!!   And then that Orc with 200hp left turns around and starts healing himself... WORSE YET... attacking you. And you, in all your epicly overgeared glory, stands helpless with one arm raised... running in place... while a fail noob Orc whittles your 30,000HP away..... fking fail, man.

This must be fixed!!! Damn you, ethernet port. Damn you, Alienware, for costing thousands of dollars and still having shitty quality!! Damn you, Dell, for buying Alienware and using your crap factories that manufacture crap Dells to also manufacture Alienware components, which now also makes it crap quality!! Damn you alllllll!!!!!!!!!!

I am in the process of getting this fixed. And when I am back.... hell hath no fury like a woman and her laptop scorned.

Home Sweet Home

My family is moving so we are selling the house that I've lived in for many, many, years.  This is devastating to me even though I've been living abroad. I've always thought that I would go back and go "home," back to my room, back to that familiar street, back to that familiar city.  But even if I go home permanently next year... where do I go?  More importantly, since my parents are moving back to Taipei, how do I get my family members under one roof again?  Are our gatherings really only limited to Christmas and other holidays?  I can't go home just one weekend and see everyone anymore?

That city was my life for so much of my childhood.  And even adulthood.  I've never thought about not having a home in that city.  Even if I moved to another city, I always felt that once I stepped foot in those familiar boundaries I would feel like I belonged. 

My home will never be where I am currently living.  And I don't want it to be. 

It was a shocking decision that we are actually really going to sell the house.  We've talked about it for several years but I think we were all hesitant.  It's hard for me to believe that this is real, that the next time I go home, I will just be a visitor.

I feel that I've taken for granted all the time that I spent with my family.  I always thought that we would be "home" together, that it was good enough. And now that it's going to be gone, those minutes that we all shared under one roof seems so few and far between.  If I had moved home years ago, would things be different now?  I'm not sure.  But I feel like now the minutes and seconds that we spend together will be that much more precious, because there's no longer an endless pool of time.

Chinese Tea

If you go into a little Tea Store and they tell you your complexion looks bad and they say you need some special tea mixture to be more healthy, don't believe them, even if the tea they're trying to sell you costs 20rmb for 10 bags.  I don't know what got into me, I just felt like getting some tea and I think I was too lazy to say, "No."  20rmb for 10 bags, why not, right?  Anyways, I tried the tea today and the taste is so light I taste nothing but water.  I even brewed 2 bags at once. Now I have 18 bags of unflavorful tea.... at least the rose buds inside look pretty floating around.

Odd that I'm saying this, but the tea shops targeted at the foreigners here actually sell much much better tasting tea, and authentic as well.   Sorry Mom and Pop shops, I just don't trust you guys.  At least not in this country.

Kingdom Hearts, Birth By Sleep

I must get this. It looks amazing.

Usually I don't like to wait for the English versions because of bad dubbing, but when Disney is involved, everything is usually perfect.  And looking at the list of actors they have doing the voice recordings, I think I'll wait for this one. :)

http://kotaku.com/5540790/kingdom-hearts-birth-by-sleep-dated-detailed-and-psp-bundled/gallery/

Pirated DVDs

So we assume that the studio has a leak which is why someone in Russia is able to get a copy of the movie, copy it a few million times, and sell it for $2 on the street to developing nations.

However, where do the subtitles come from?
No, I don't mean the movies with the perfect english subtitles.  Usually they're only perfect if the studio also leaked a script, or the movie has been out for a long time already.

My question is, where do the half ass, 80% of the time doesn't make sense Chinese subtitles come from?  I'm talking about when I watch movies that just came out a few weeks ago, and there's the chinese subtitle on the bottom. But when you read the subtitle it's not completely translated correctly.  The actor could be saying something like, "Yeah, whatever you dumbass. You swear I would do something like that.  I'm not down with it."  And the Chinese would be translated into, "No, I won't do it. I don't do crime." (But in Chinese).

It's like, who sat there, and could only half understand the English slang, but decided to translate it like that for his countrymen?  Is there some dude who sits there in a dark room and watches all the movies and writes his own transcript of the movie?  How long does it take him to do it? Does he use urbandictionary? How much does he get paid?

And how does he introduce himself if others ask what he does for a living?

"I'm the guy that translates all the new movies from English to Chinese, except I don't understand all of it so I just translate it however I want by what I think they're saying."


Just curious.

God, Please give me more time

V FINALLY watched this series after I raved about it for years to her and talking to her about it brought me back memories of it. I think I watched this when I was 18 or so, and it was so touching and really well done that it became one of the best dramas I've ever seen.

It's about this girl Masaki who saved up a lot of money to watch the concert of a composer she really admires.  She leaves her purse in the phone booth and it's stolen, along with all the money she saved to buy the ticket.  The concert is only a few days away, and she gets influenced by other girls around her age (at that time, this was, and still is, a big problem in Japan) to sell her body to get cash.  Unfortunately, the man she sleeps with has AIDs because he's been sleeping around, and passes it to her.

She ends up meeting Keigo (the composer) after his concert by running up the bridge in front of his car and holding up a huge sign she made for him.  And then their relationship starts. However, as her friends and family finds out she has AIDs, she loses everyone close to her and has to find the strength to keep living on.  At the same time, the paparazzi is following Keigo around, and his singer is in love with him.... and he has to figure out whats more important to him.

I think what makes the story good is that the acting was superb and Kyoko Fukada (who plays Masaki) was only 17 at the time (same age as the character).  And Takeshi Kaneshiro (half Taiwanese/Japanese) was good at playing Keigo, of course.

I used to listen to the theme songs over and over and over.  I don't think they make dramas like this anymore.

Opening Song
 (I for You by Luna Sea)



Drama Theme
(In The Sky by Kudo Shizuka)




Of course, when  I was 18, I was so amazed after watching this that people could love each other so much.
lol.

Wow that's kind of unfair

Who gets to have their cake and eat it too?

Certainly not I.

When you think of what women have to go through, unfair pay, getting pregnant (which ruins the body, causes 9 months of pain and possibly death), and having to work through glass ceilings in their career you think... wow it must suck to have to be born a woman.

And especially in long distance relationships, in the movies we always see women having to move to be near their men.  Or, their men either cheats on them, finds another woman, or they break up.  Why do men get to be so lucky? Why does there have to be a timeline?  A deadline for supposed true "love?"  When was the last time you actually heard that a man moved to be near his woman? Oh right... in Good Will Hunting, where he says, "Sorry. I have to go see about a girl."

Yeah, right, in another movie.

It's always the women who have to sacrifice everything for a man.  We quit our jobs, move countries, have no income, depend on the men, become depressed and emo and then the man finds another woman and tells us, "You're so depressing. You're just not right for me."  If it's supposed to be true love and you really love a person, shouldn't there be no timeline? No deadline?  You would be able to wait?  If you think about how some women move to Shanghai to be with their expat husbands, all they do everyday is stay at home with the kids.  They're unhappy, they can't find jobs, and they just watch as their husbands cheat on them because now they're stuck here and they've already made the decision to move to where their men are.  It's a horrible cycle.

What allows the men to benefit off this? What do the women benefit?  They get pregnant, their form is ruined, they have been out of a career for a year, when they apply for another job its "Why did you move here?" "To be with my husband."  How does that sound good to anyone?

WHY does there always have to be a deadline? If you love someone shouldn't you be able to wait for them? Why are men so selfish? Don't they realize that the woman has to give up everything she stands for?  Everything that she represents?  Why isn't anything ever enough?  They need to stop writing movie scripts like this.  It just pisses me off.

Wonderful

In addition to my previous 2 taxi driver stories, I have to say that today I met another taxi driver who took me to the airport.  I was thirsty so I asked him to stop at a convenience store so I could buy a drink.  And he said, "There's no need. I just bought one this morning. Unopened. Here you go."  And I said, "No no, it's okay, if I drink that, what are you going to drink?" And he goes "It's okay, you drink it."  And he insisted because my throat was hurting so I finally took it. WHAT a nice guy.  So I'm going to ask him to take me to the airport everytime I go to and from Taipei then. 

So now I'm waiting to head back to [place].  No matter how modern it looks it's still full of NICE MANNERED PEOPLE (*comment harmonized).  I will go back to staying at home and leaving the house as little as possible unless it's night time or to a specific place. I do 0 shopping there, I do 0 walking in the parks, I do absolutely nothing that forces me to be in a mass of people.  The only time I go out is at night time when everyone goes home.  That way, I avoid what I want to avoid.

I'm using the free internets at the Taipei airport.  Free internets ftw!  Not only in terms of cost, but in speech.  If it was a lifestyle choice I would move back here in an instant. Unfortunately, not everything is so easy and it's near impossible.  The wage compensation here is lower than poverty level in the states because of the small market.  A market that is always fluctuating near the red.  So that means I must come back here and consume more and support the local economy!  I always eat at mom and pop shops, I rarely ever go to restaurants in Taipei. There's just no need at all.

I had a nice long talk with my relatives this weekend.  About me being where I am, how I felt about it, and my future.  I have definitely missed my family. I think I should come back more often.  My aunt is getting sick and must go to the hospital everyday to get a health check. My uncle is also very old.... additionally, I wanted to see my grandma this weekend (which is mainly why I came back) but I couldn't because I got sick. With her fragile body it's probably not the best idea.

My friend made a very interesting comment this weekend. He also lives in LOVELY UNPOLLUTED PLACE (*comment harmonized).  He said that *someplace was the real *someplace.  Love how I harmonize everything?  I learned it from the media here. 

I hope there are no babies on the plane. At if there are, please have them shut up and be quiet. 

I love little boutique stores. I found a nice pair of [gifts] today for my <3.  I think it's hard to find elsewhere and there was only one.  So I bought it. I hope it fits. It's so adorable.

I want a cat.  I want Bob back.  Give me back Bob, you asshole.

I gained so much weight in Taipei. I ate everything.  Sigh. I would walk by something and smell it, and turn around and buy it. I would see a sign with a bowl of noodles and I would walk there and order something.  I ate all day, everyday.  I guess it's okay, because there is no food for me back in AWESOMELAND. (*comment harmonized)  I will just starve like I always do because I don't eat anything but salad and sandwiches, and I don't eat after 7pm.  So usually I just starve.  I think of it like a diet.

I went to the clinic today at the airport.  The doctor also lived in XXXXX for a bit. She told me that all the dieseases there are stronger so your immune system takes a beating.  She told me to exercise more and build up my health so I can fight against it.

I would love to retire in Taipei.

I want to go to Okinawa.

I want to go to the Shaolin Temple.

One thing I think is super awesome is Wuxia Novels.  How awesome are those.  I prefer them to fantasy and sci-fi novels.  I grew up watching and admiring Jet Li. I admire him more than JC.  Wuxia novels should be all translated. The reason why I came here is because I wanted to see all the places that the Wuxia novels talked about.  Wudan mountain, Shaolin Temple.... I need to go there... soon.

I still have a lot of time until I board.

I saw this article the other day about how Little Emperors these days are the worst, because not only do they get spoiled being the only child, but they grow up to expect everyone else to be the same.  They get all the money from the family, and they use family connections to get into jobs.  This is why I never hire people with families in the big cities.  People from the countryside work harder.  It's a fact.  Everyone knows this.  Granted, there are a few from the big cities from meager backgrounds who work just as hard. But if you were to interview 10 people, the ones from small cities will work harder for you.

I was at another computer where some guy before me changed the browser language to THAI.  Then they left their login name on the facebook "name" field and when I clicked "password" it showed the password.  What an idiot. I was seriously contemplating logging in and posting all kinds of crap on their facebook to teach them a lesson. But I let my conscience talk me out of it.  He'll learn his lesson someday from his carelessness, and I don't want that on my karma.

I recruited 2 more friends to play WoW.  I'm so damn good at this.

Hey look, my runny nose and throat pain is gone. Man I love Taiwan.  2 pills and I am no longer suffering. 

You have to wonder why people think everyone likes babies.  I don't like your baby. I don't think it's cute.  Don't show me pictures of your stupid baby. I don't care.  All they do is cry and poo and shit.  Take it away.
I don't like your baby unless I like you.  So the woman sitting next to me on the plane learned this the hard way.  Her baby was crying and making a fuss and she kept cooing to it even when it was quiet.  Nobody wants to hear your cheesy baby talk. Shutup.  I asked the stewardess to change my seat because it was loud and annoying.  The baby woman got the point and swtiched seats with her husband. Yeah, that's right. Take your annoying baby and go away.  If I ever have a baby I'm not going to fly until he's old enough to understand "Shutup now."

I left a tip for my room service maid lady who kept cleaning my hotel room.  I left 100NT worth of coins in a happy face and wrote her a thank you note.  I think people who do hard labor like that (well, not hard labor but shes older and I'm sure she has a family) should get reminded that we appreciate their services.  Just like the older taxi drivers.  They are trying to make a living. I'm sure they have daughters or granddaughters.  I just want to support them.

I went to find my favorite potsticker place behind California but the couple weren't there again. I hope nothing happened to them. I really love their potstickers.

I'm so full.  I ate too much.  But beware, tummy!! Days of hunger loom ahead!!  Enjoy digesting clean food while you can.

What's up with French people and FeiYue shoes?  Stop buying 1000s of them when you come to GREATEST PLACE ON EARTH. *harmonized

You're making the prices skyrocket and they really aren't worth that much.  Silly french people.  I like those shoes at 20rmb, thank you very much. Now that you buy hundreds of them and sell them for $$$ back in Paris the price already went up to 30rmb.  It's only a matter of time until they're 100rmb each for locally made shoes at the overhead cost of 5rmb.  And no, the workers and laborers do not see the money, it goes to the rich owners.  So stop it and go buy your crappy Louis Vuitton.


Kthxbai.

I love Taipei taxi drivers

Today I had dinner with some friends and because we ate so much, my stomach hurt!  On my way home from dinner the taxi driver knew I had a stomach ache, and proceeded to talk to me about all kinds of things.  And before he dropped me off, he asked me if my stomach felt better, and told me he wanted to talk to me to get my mind off my stomach ache and hoped I felt better.  So nice.

And 2 weeks ago, I asked to be driven to a store that seemed closed at 11a.m. So the driver came out and asked the other store owners nearby what happened the original store, so I wouldn't have to get out of the car and then be stuck if it was permanently closed.  So nice.

What a difference.