PBC Remains Competitive in a Turbulant Economy

Man, if I could invest stock in Individuals, I would put all my money down on that good fellow Ryan Pei. That kid is driven for success. Since he himself is not a publicly traded entity though, I guess I have no other option but to just sit back and marvel at his accelerating growth.

Lately I've been wondering what it means to be competitive. Some people hate competition, say it makes us too greedy, too narrow-minded. Others love it, say it's a motivator, a road to ultimate personal gratification. Here's my assessment, of how I deal with competition. I will run in the race, head to head with the other competition-lovers, if I think I have a chance of winning. And this is a vast majority of the time. But whenever I'm falling behind, or when I get tired of running, I'll plea for advice and comfort from the disinterested spectators, those who either think they're too good for the race or that it's just not worth it to run. Then when I think I've heard enough of their rambling, I run again. And it cycles like this, I never find myself running forever for the sake of running, nor taking too long of a rest because the non-competitive crowd never comes up with a good reason for me to stop. I figure survival and comfort in life are key, which can only be achieved by maintaining competitiveness, and along the way we just have to take a few moments to think about where we are really going.

But I like competitive people much more than non-competitive. I'm not sure what the draw is. But I think it makes perfect sense to feel attached to someone who thinks life should be a pursuit of happiness rather than a miserable helpless existence. Also tend to be attached to competitive peoples in general. Like the Swiss, Americans, and Singaporeans. I just saw the World Economic Forum's "World's Most Competitive Countries" index, and the 1st place spots in North American, Asia, and Europe were held by the US, Singapore, and Switzerland respectively. All my favorites, how cool is that.

So what happened as of recent? I turned 21, while visiting Fredericksburg and Austin with all my family from Texas. Lots of fun of course, and my first legal alcoholic drink (in the US) was a rather flat kir royale, sort of disappointing. But the food was good. We literally did nothing but eat the whole weekend, my kind of weekend. And I got to take my new 2009 Accord out on its first real road-trip across Texas. Such a smooth ride, I love this car.

And how is work? Meh, it's alright I guess. Getting to know many more people, so that's good. And for once, yesterday I was able to actually HELP someone else with something, rather than having everyone come help me because I'm a clueless intern. So I suppose that signals at least some progress.

Anything else? Nothing urgent, I don't think I'm getting enough sleep though so I'm going to bed after a little Skype and a shower. Good night!

Blogging is for losers. Period

What a fine compliment. One that comes from someone who has committed his life to discovering the meaning of life or the origin of the universe, among a few other trivial pursuits. But none as trivial as blogging.

No but really, I feel very complimented. I like it when people are not afraid to possibly offend me, as long as they speak up. So good job Mr. Anonymous, you have earned yourself your own quotation being honored as one of my blog post titles.

Ok, updates for the weeks past. Went to my sister's graduation last weekend, which I was really glad to have skipped work to attend. Her high school did a much better job than mine did. My school's ceremony was too orderly, too disciplined, too centered around the idea that if any one of us fucked up in marching around or saying things at speeches we'd get raped. Whereas my sister's was actually entertaining to watch. Free emotions, free ideas. This is what graduating is about I think. Finally being entitled to say things for yourself. Man I wish I went to Mountain View High. Then again all the cool people went to Los Altos. But enough about me, big congrats to my sister! I know she is going to be very important, worldly-famous person, and I'm glad because she's very cool, and I'm proud to be her brother.

My first two weeks at my new job have been good. I've met some cool kids there, so that's good. I was afraid during my first week that I would be stuck with some particular people I had the unfortunate pleasure of meeting the first day I got there... won't name any names but, I'm glad I'm not stuck with them now.

This weekend has been relaxing for once, thus why I have time to put up another post. I've been reunited with Pandora, listening to all my favorite stations. I couldn't listen in Singapore because the site is unlicensed outside of the US. I also went to see "Up" in 3D. I was really surprised at what a fantastic movie it was, since I heard little about it before. Why does Pixar never disappoint?

Now the only thing missing from my normalized life is tennis. I've even spammed facebook friends to see who's in Houston available to play, and so far no response... come on, what's up?

Ugh don't give me any sympathy people. Give me a good fight.

Oh snap. India lost to England in cricket. Let me try to console my roommate, before he floods the place with bitter tears of curry.

A brutal end to my half-year long vacation

Wake up at 6:30. Get dressed. Eat cereal. Get on the train. Sit down at my cubicle. Look busy on my computer. Leave after 9 hours. Come home exhausted. Rustle up dinner. Shower. Skype a bit. Go to bed. Repeat. It seriously feels like I'm living the life of that animated girl in that song Shaiyan once showed me on YouTube.

Ok I exaggerate. It's actually kind of fun. I would tell a lot of stories about work, but I think I would get into serious trouble if I publicized this kind of information. So see my private blog if you want the real story.

And to keep things interesting for me on the way to and from work, I try to imagine what living in Houston would be like for a foreigner. The way I saw Zurich or Singapore. Because Houston is a pretty boring major city, to tell the truth. But as a foreigner, watching American habits and customs might actually be somewhat entertaining. For one, hearing English and Spanish on the Metro, and having a sort of "honor system" for the fare to get on. Seeing all the different races, especially blacks, since you don't see many of those in Asia and only some places in Europe. The oak trees everywhere. The homeless people lining up outside the church across the street from Lovett. The skyscrapers in downtown, with business people and crazies on the sidewalks. The underground tunnel system. Rice campus. The museum district. The huge portions that you get served at restaurants.

Oh I can also mention the drive to Houston. So I left Los Altos, California at 3am on Thursday. Got to El Paso, Texas at 10:30pm that night. That's 1,152 miles in 19 hours. Dad and I took shifts driving. And unfortunately, while on my shift, I got a speeding ticket going 80 on a 65mph highway in New Mexico. New Mexico is officially now my least favorite state. They should just go back to Old Mexico, completely useless to us. Ugh and I can't wait to be 25, then auto insurance companies won't continue to bleed me for all I'm worth. Woah Ryan, be careful what you wish for. Being older is never a good thing.

The trip after El Paso was fun though. Stopped in Fredericksburg to see the grandparents, who were swell as always to see. Then Aunt Phyllis's new place in Seguin. Get BBQ from Luling. And finally, onward to Houston.

And once I got to Houston, I got my new CAR! And it's a beut. I should put up pictures, dark gray Honda 2009 Accord, the best look for the Accord yet.

Now I have to do some real work. Yes, even now I have homework. I have to write a program, in Java. Hopefully I'll pull through. Asking Quincy a lot of questions though on Skype haha. I should seriously split my wages with him.

Signing off!