Woodsy

Rocking the marathon and making the doughnuts

First of all, congratulations to Tom and Sarah on rocking through the marathon in Phoenix last weekend!  Both fell a bit short of their BQ goals but still made < 4 hrs and toughed it out until the very end.  It was pretty warm and dry for us Oregonians.  Not so hot temperature-wise but with the sun out it felt warm for running.  

After the runners left around 6 am, I ate breakfast and wandered across the street to linger at Starbucks for a while.  I could get used to being a spectator.   At around 9:30 I met Tom at mile 13 and started to run with him.  I thought it might be helpful to play "rabbit" and run a little ahead at goal pace.  And I have plenty of experience playing a rabbit.  We kept the 3:30 pace group in sight for a while, and every few minutes I'd look over my shoulder to make sure I wasn't pulling away as we were starting to gradually slow down.  Then somewhere past mile 16 I turned around and Tom was gone- oops.  Suppose dropping your runner is generally not helpful, but I knew I would see him sometime after stopping at mile 18 to catch Sarah.  When Sarah came by she was a bit behind the 3:50 pace group, which I thought wasn't a good sign as she'd planned to stay ahead of them longer.  As we started running she said she was doing OK, but around mile 20 started to fade.  I carried her baggie of thermolytes and managed to drop the capsules on the ground twice, both times retrieving them within the requisite 5 seconds and before someone stepped on them.  Hey- I was juggling the baggie along with the HHR (URC) keys, credit card, my Blackberry that I used to SOS text Coach Mark, and a water bottle that I carried so I wouldn't take water from a race I didn't pay for.  I took some water anyway after I eventually ran out- like I said it was warm!  Oh, I know they make those fancy belts now to hold all this kind of stuff but I forgot mine in Portland.  Duh.

Finally, the finish line.  Made a beeline for Einstein's bagels as Tom and Sarah did the finisher's thing that includes food, water, medals, photos and drop bag pick-up.  We met over at Yogurtini as I had talked it up after my ride.  Still good!  Turns out they do have a smaller size container.  Somehow I missed that the day before :)  That evening, Mexican food including a killer margarita for Sarah.  Then Dairy Queen for all, including me.  I have placed no training dietary restrictions on ice cream mind you. 

Back at the ranch in Oregon: today we got the news that Intel is closing a few factories including Fab 20 in Oregon and D2 in Santa Clara.  I work at AFO (Aloha Factory Operations) which is a really good place to be.  Imagine computer chips as doughnuts.  We basically take doughnuts from other fabs in Oregon and Arizona and put on the icing and sprinkles.  Because doughnuts don't work without icing and sprinkles.  We try not to drop the doughnuts on the floor because a LOT of money has gone into making them by the time they get to us.  And there's no 5-second rule.

 

Behold the finished product.  The sprinkles are usually more uniform.

During hard times at Intel it's usually safer to have a job close to the doughnuts.  My position is only two degrees of separation away.  Although you never know.

Are you giving me that eyes-glazed-over look that I always get when I describe my job to others?

WFH

That's right.  I was "Working From Home" today.  Still working here.  Lindsay and I are stranded on top of our icy hill.  I love working from home!  Got so much accomplished:

- Hauled empties from Saturday night's party downstairs to the recycling bin.  You are all a bunch of lushes, btw ;o)

- Made lunch.  Well, heated up some meatballs.

- Set up the trainer again in it's assigned living room space. 

- Changed a flat tire.  Yes, I was on the trainer and it gets better- this happened before I even got ON the bike.  Haha.  I pulled the valve out with the bike pump head.  Don't know my own strength after all this upper body work I've been doing.

- Completed a big ring trainer workout.

- Almost finished assembly of my Christmas cards.  They WILL be done tonight!

- Oh, I logged on and did some work too.  Honest.

I thought this would be a great day to WFH because I had some computer work to finish up and also needed to shoot off some email.  Most of the recipients are probably WFH or being totally unproductive at work today anyhow, so I should receive answers pronto right?  Um, no.  Don't you think if you are WFH, you should at least be logged on and perhaps checking email occasionally??  Slackers ;)

A big thank you to my friends who attended the party here on Saturday night.  I am so lucky to have you all.  From the sounds of it, everyone had lots to talk about.  And the food- wow.  We had to set up a separate "simple carbs" table for all the desserts.  All I did was make meatballs with my super-secret special recipe.  Shhh.  Also made some super-secret mulled wine back on the stove that only I consumed.  That was not the intent!  If you didn't make it, PLEASE stop by for some meatballs, cupcakes and beer (not all at once).  I got some left here!  And the food log can not start until all this stuff is gone.

In other news: Ashley, Karly, Sarah and I are in via lottery for the Moab 1/2 Marathon on March 21st!  Can you say girl's weekend in the sun?  I've never been to Moab, but always wanted to go.  Sedona is another place that falls into that category.  Although Moab is known for mountain biking, I may tri geek-out and bring my road bike since I'll be in the middle of IMCDA training.

Positive attitudes and other oddities

I'm taking a late-night break from some tedious work: PCS review prep.  Some of you know exactly what I'm talking about, and thank you for feeling my pain.

Earlier today I had a meeting with a person who appears to be genuinely happy about work and has a positive attitude.  Yes, he works here.  Even went so far as to crack jokes -and not just about the daily Dilbert occurrences, bureaucracy, or stock price.  As we left the meeting he said, "hey at least we have jobs!" - a thought that has crossed my mind many a time as of late.  Like when the pager goes off at 4am.  Still, I left this person in a state of bewilderment.  It's just so rare to come across people like that here.  What is he on?

Also today, I had a peppermint white chocolate mocha (PWCM) at Starbucks.  And it was good.  I have to say this one holds it's own against the eggnog latte.  If you go, remember that a PWCM should not be confused with a "peppermint mocha twist" that you might also see on the menu.  I'm not sure what that is and I can not recommend it at this time.

AND on this Tuesday (that is kind of Friday except I go in for staff meetings every Wednesday 2-4) I did a track workout.  5x800.  It was not bad.  Not "awesome and I can't wait to run a marathon on Sunday" good, but not bad.  My confidence is about a 5 on scale of 1-10 at the moment; not sure if I'm going to punt and dial down pace to meet a safer goal (PR) or lay it out there for the stretch goal of 3:10.  I don't want to give up before the race starts, but crashing and burning is not high on my list either. 

Oh just to clarify, the track workout happened before I had the PWCM.  Doesn't work so well the other way around.

The Las Vegas marathon is happening this weekend too, so I've come across a few others in blogland preparing to race.  Some are going so far as to mentally prepare.  So far I've managed to forget about the race several times, does that count?  Can I meet up for happy hour this weekend- sure!  Oh wait, I'm flying to Sacramento to run a marathon.  That's right. 

So, I am invited to a co-workers holiday party that is BYOB.  I'm thinking it would be really funny if I show up with a bottle of Jager and a shot glass, just for shock value.  Now those who know me personally would be like yeah whatever, but my colleagues would be a bit suprised to say the least.  I see an episode of "The Office" in the making. 

Working a 2pm-2am shift is a bit like being stranded on an island.  Food is scarce and eventually you start talking to yourself, or your blog if the island has a computer.  Start to go a little crazy.  I feel a lot like an island (or was it on an island??) these days both in training and in work.  Though a couple of my unemployed..I mean "self-employed"...friends have been visiting the island of crazy to join me for some running and riding.  Which is good.  Otherwise I might have completely drifted out to sea by this point.

Margaritaville

Here is the scene at Manuel's, an upscale Mexican restuarant about 6 blocks from my hotel in Austin.  This is life on per diem, baby.  I am logged onto work AND drinking margaritas- score!  Now this is how I like to work!  With an outlet for my power supply and drinks on demand, I'm not likely to leave anytime soon.  So I just ordered a second maragarita; I've got some more specs to edit. 

Awesome day today, sunny and warm, and I'm just a few steps from the river trail and <1 mi from the major bike and triathlon shops.  Can't wait to get out but this is my recovery day- ran the Girlfriends Half Marathon yesterday in the 'Couv and it went really well.  1:30:19 (on a course that was about 0.3 mi short but still extrapolates to a PR by ~5 min) and 4th place overall.  If the course had actually been 13.1 miles I might have taken 3rd place.  Closed the gap big time in the last couple miles but wasn't quite able to catch up.  Happiest that I felt good the entire race, stuck to plan and had plenty..,well, enough left for the hills at the end.  We were awarded bracelets at the finish line by the volunteer fire department- nice touch ;o)

And as for icing on my Texas-size cake, vendor class runs 8-3 Mon-Thurs and 8-12 on Friday!  That might make up for 64 hours in 5 days last week.  If I have another margarita.  The waiter just took back the check without my credit card- too funny.  Apparently I look comfortable.

And she's back

My last blog was about recovery from camp.  Unfortunately one day after I returned, I had to pick up the duty pager for my new group at work.  And I thought duty pager in my old group was bad...sheesh.  This round I was woken up 1-3 times every night for a week.  Never had to go in, so it wouldn't be so bad if one could fall asleep again right away after answering a call...I could not.  Talking to my co-workers, found out that falling asleep again is a common problem.  On the positive side, I don't forsee a problem staying busy on my new shift which is a good thing.

Last Tuesday morning's wake-up call was somewhat comical.  At ~4:00am my pager went off chirp and vibrate, followed by my alarm clock a few minutes later, followed by a text message to my phone with that morning's swim workout- ha!  I was totally confused but by gosh I was getting up, like it or not!  Didn't make it to the pool though.

Emerged from the fog after finally getting 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep on Wednesday night, just in time for my first open water swim of the year at Hagg Lake on Thursday.  Was dreading my first wetsuit swim in "just above brain freeze temperature" water (good description Charlie) but it went better than expected.  My key points to remember were 1- relax, 2- relax, 3- do not panic or flail.  That is my present definition of success!  Sarah, who is clearly back in the game now, joined me for my fun cycling hill repeats afterward that didn't stop until 9 PM.  Yes we are coming up on the summer solstice next week despite the fact that spring has not yet arrived...hmmm. 

  
Chris, Sarah and Anne prepare to get soaked.  Oh wait- they already are.  Charlie was a late addition, but we missed our fearless leader Tim.

Experienced a short deluge while we were getting our wetsuits on (we scrambled for cover to avoid getting wet- funny) but later on while we were swimming, I wouldn't swear to it but...think I saw some kind of glowing orb emerge from behind the clouds ever-so-briefly.  "Sun", I think it's called?  I've heard of it.

Also on the horizon...

Lindsay is competing at Short-course Worlds in Vancouver B.C. this weekend!  Go girl!

GNO to see the "Sex and the City" movie on Saturday night.  Look out!

I have the "LEAN Experience" every day next week 8-5, a required class for work.  Can't wait to get my blog on for this one.  I don't think it's about my IM training diet though.

Bailing out

Last September I wrote on this blog that I was not moving to China.  And then I went to Dalian for a week and all signs pointed to yes, I should move to China.  I was sleepless and ill at the end of my preview trip, but considered it a positive career move and the opportunity to enjoy a fairly luxurious lifestyle for a couple of years.  Not to mention the learning experience and time off to travel the world.  Touring around with John and his driver on my preview trip was fun, and seeing the construction site was actually kind of inspirational.  Do you want to build this fab?  Yes I do!!  Build it, and they will come.  And I was SO there.  Signed on the dotted line, moved to my training site in Aloha, and started taking Mandarin Chinese classes.  I even made a paper lantern at our Chinese New Year teambuilding event.  It is a fine work of art I tell you.

And then I thought about it some more. 

And then people started asking me when I was moving to China.  Some would even bid me farewell: "if I don't see you before you leave, have fun!".  Granted these were not people I knew or ran into very often, but still.  They've written me off and I'm not going anywhere for another year and a half!  The life of a "seed" is sometimes hard.  A seed is an engineer or technician working in another fab as training for their home site.  I know, because I did it 3 TIMES before moving from New Mexico to Oregon permanently: one year, 6 months, and another 6 months.  As a seed you really are a "temp" of sorts.   

And I thought about moving far, far away from my peeps in Oregon.  And my peeps in this country for that matter.  Realized that I really suck at Chinese too- LOL!  Actually the classes were fun, despite the fact that I had no time to study and was pretty much clueless all the time.  Run/bike/swim or sit/study?  No contest for me.  My tri-geek lifestyle would be serously comprimised while living in China as well.  There are options, but would be nothing like Oregon.  We are spoiled here for sure.

So I jumped the China ship and found refuge on the Aloha dinghy.  Yes, I have ANOTHER new job.  Hooray!  Although it sounds like I can't hold down a job, this was all my doing I swear.  Thankfully I have not been fired yet.  I'm actually doing the same kind of activities, just on different tools and processes.  SSDD if you will.  In Aloha I'll be working as an on-shift engineer, front-end shift 8 ("The Ocho").  Intel Aloha created these new positions to better support manufacturing and minimize off-hours calls to engineering, like around say 1AM on a Saturday night.  Those calls I love.  My days/hours will be Sun-Mon-Tues and every other Wed, 2pm-2am.  A little unconventional I know.  But did I mention that I will have every other Wed, Thurs, Fri and Sat off?  That's 3 and 4-day weekends for those who are counting.  That's long bike rides and runs.  And most importantly, that's no on-call pager.  When I'm on, I'm on (and first POC so will be plenty busy) and when I'm off I'm unavailable.  Unless the fab is on fire and even then, I probably won't care. 

Guess it's Panda Express for my Chinese food cravings.  Right.  Still want to run the Great Wall marathon though.

WLE and lack thereof

Second tour of duty with the on-call pager is SUCKING.  Received a Friday night page at 10:30pm, ended up in the fab 11:30pm-3:30am.  Received a Saturday night page at 1:30am, in the fab 2:00am-3:00am.  Getting more efficient, but...not by my choice or schedule.  One of the billion acronyms thrown around at work is WLE, or "Work/Life Effectiveness".  Not really feeling any at the moment.  Mgmt is making some effort to improve this, and if it pans out I will definitely be blogging about it soon.  If it doesn't, I will be blogging about my plans to quit and become a professional triathlete.  What do you mean- I actually have to be good to turn pro?  Oh darn.  Must start formulating plan B.

No Estacada TT for me, although there were a few other reasons for not doing that one anyhow.  At least the money goes to a good cause.  Now, to see if I can sleep for a few hours.

Running in Circles

Ever feel like you're chasing your tail?  Happening way too much here lately.  If I had half that wasted energy back for my run last night, maybe it wouldn't have sucked quite so much.

You may remember I got my laptop "refreshed" at work a couple weeks ago, twice.  Another painful process but I will spare you those details.  The new computer actually works, but in the confusion I only received one power cord.  Hang with me here, I'm trying to explain succinctly.  Engineers supporting the fab need two laptop power cords but they not only work at their desk but most everywhere else including but not limited to the fab, cafeteria, car, Starbucks, and bed.  To name the most common.  So after a flurry of 16 (yes one-six, I counted) emails over two weeks, one of which suggested I get yet another NEW LAPTOP, I am back to where I started.  Trying my initial request again.  *sigh*.  That's the way things work in The Corporation.  Nothing is easy.  If it is easy, you've probably screwed up!  Another example: it took 5 calls and 3 open tickets with the IT TAC (tech assistance center) over an entire week to get a new program working on my PC.  That is because when you call the TAC you are now forced to choose an option, there no bail-out option to "stay on the line and wait for a customer service rep to assist you".  There is no more customer service, which became apparent pretty quickly.  After going down the wrong path a few times I finally got someone who told me the right choices for my program were option 1, option 5 and option 8.  Option 8?!  My attention span is just not that long.  I've completely tuned out by option 4.

Pedaling in circles...an update.  My new bike has new pedals.  Hooray!  Which of course are not compatible with the old-school pedals and cleats on my old bike.   Bah!  So what to do?  Get new shoes of course!  That is always the default.  OK, so I got some tri shoes on order, then started thinking that those old bike pedals are just a big wrench in the whole machine.  If I got NEW pedals for my OLD bike, then all compatibility issues would be resolved.  Net result is one new bike, two new pairs of pedals and one new pair of shoes.  Going forward my new Fuji shall be referred to as the Aloha CF2 Money Pit, or CF2MP.  Because it ain't over yet.

For my 10-mile run tonight, I think I'll do a loop or two.  The next few days are all about recovery for the Jack Frost time trial on Sunday which is, of course, a out-and-back.  BE THERE or be warm and dry at home.

I Heart my Blackberry

Are we all feeling the love this Valentine's Day?  In honor of V-day, let me tell you about how much I love my new wireless device.  The Blackberry I set up last weekend is flippin' sweet.  Did you think that hyperlink would take you to a picture?  Because that would actually be really funny.  Though my phone can't take pictures of itself,  it can take pictures of me.   There's this little reflective dot....ah, I digress.  Got my work email and calendar sync'd up to it yesterday, a decision I immediately regretted as 323 messages came streaming into my inbox intermingling with the Gmail which is actually important.  Luckily I figured out the notification profile deal or I'd be getting pinged every 2 minutes due to a lines-down situation or lot-on-hold or some other factory issue I don't care about.  Unfortunately I'm going to have to start caring, because I'm on the verge of being useful at work.  As in, starting to do stuff.  And that means my colleagues are chomping at the bit to get me into the on-call rotation.  Sorry boss, that's just not going to work out with my Ironman training.  Can't stop the group in the middle of a ride to deal with some crisis in the fab.  Priorities.

I already see the advantage of having a Blackberry is that I'll always be ON TOP OF IT.  I know where my next meeting is and don't have to depend on my short-term memory from desk to conference room.  When our stock goes up I'll know right away...still waiting.  Al least now when I jump up and start yelling "sell! sell!" you will understand why.  How does the weather look for our run this weekend?  JUST a moment, let me check now.  Org announcements?  Team rides?  ALL OVER IT.   And get this- I now have the power to blog from anywhere at anytime, with pictures.  Danger!

The disadvantage of having of Blackberry is, of course, that I'm always ON TOP OF IT.  Do I want to be on top of it?  Depends on what IT is :o)  Between this and the pager, nothing gets by me know.  All this connectivity is making me tired. 

Thank you to those who sent Valentine wishes!  And for those who didn't, well...I still heart you.  But not as much as my Blackberry.  Remember that gifts of chocolate are acceptable at any time of the year.  Also want to send a shout out to my Blackberry Buddy (I see a marketing opportunity) and brother Darren who got me hooked over Christmas.  What is family for, if not to spark your addictions? 

Leaping Ahead

Drifting without an anchor here in a sea of technology.  After months of my complaining and weeks of it sputtering, my computer has finally died.  Let us pause for a moment of silence...ok that's good.  My IBM T40 is being "refreshed", workplace speak for "replaced", with a sexy new HP this morning.  My data is currently being migrated.  Advancement is inevitable.  Resistance is futile.  What could go wrong?  Let's hope IT saves the day because this is not a good time for my productivity to be compromised.  I've got "work work" to do here in Aloha and also in Hillsboro and an IPS (more on that later) to write over the weekend and Chinese to study and blogging to do, of course.  I'm hopeful that my new computer will represent...hey, it's dual core after all.  Two cores have to be better than one right?

Technology

Just got my work laptop back from the doctor at PC Services.  I brought it in because I was fed up.  Do you know how frustrating it is to work for the world's leading computer chip-making company on a PC that runs slow as molasses?   Oh the irony!  How am I supposed to meet and exceed the expectations of our customers, employees, and shareholders?  Much less "Leap Ahead"?  First I got this error while blogging

Then this one!

 

My computer was then contemplating every mouse click.  "Let's see, seems as if she wants to open Outlook.  Let's see...Outlook...Outlook...ah there, there it is.  I'll have to go get the mail first, and the mailbox is down the street...".  In the meantime I became late for the meeting I was trying to look up.  Great!  Anyway the PC services guy worked his magic and it's somewhat faster now.  Perhaps he dropped it on the floor?  I think that's the next step in the RFC for computer problems, after 3x reboot.  Threw in that three-letter acronym just for my colleagues ;) 

It's a strange feeling as an engineer to be separated from your PC, drifting around without an email anchor.  Worthlessness.  Thank goodness we have the "pager leash" or I might wander out into fresh air and never find my way back to the fab.  Without email or IM we might be forced to walk around and actually talk to other engineers (gasp)!  How can you tell you've met an extroverted engineer?  They look at your shoes when talking to you.  Can't remember who forwarded that to me recently but thanks for the laugh.  Alright, here's one more tidbit of eng humor to make your day.  Definitions of "cubicle".

1.	cubicle
	Confining structure containing just three walls, as the designers saw to make them so restrictive the person sitting in it adds the fourth wall in their mind. Cubicle dwellers are often starved for any and all types of human contact and often peek out of their cubicle at the slightest sound of activity. A loud enough activity will resonate a "prairie dog" position from the cubicle dweller, poking their head over the tiny little glass partition. Locations of the most Minesweeper and Solitaire activity than any other place in the entire world. When walking through a grid of cubicles, one often feels their very life getting sucked out of them.

2.  cubicle
     A small "office" in which an employee loses all of their will to live let alone keep their job.

     At work, I sit in a cubicle.

Bio break

So I just wrote a bio for an org announcement about my new job.  And I started that last sentence with "so" because that's one of the quirks you pick up working here for too long.  The real thing reads something like this:

Alanna started her career as a Process Engineer in New Mexico, blankety-blank module in Fab "6-inch wafer".  blah blah blah.  uuuhhh then she moved to two other Fabs in NM and did some more stuff and moved back and forth to Oregon three times, playing a KEY role in the Pxxxx process transfer zzzzz....whoops sorry fell asleep there.  She will be based in Oregon, and is currently working in Oregon doing pretty much the same thing as when she started 11 years ago.  She holds a BS in ChemE from MSU.  Alanna enjoys travel, cycling, running and triathlon and is currently training for an Ironman!!!!

OK maybe I didn't put 4 exclamation points.  My boss will probably cut that part out anyhow so as not to intimidate the other engineers.  Then I thought, what if I could spice it up a little?

Alanna started her career in New Mexico because that's where her boyfriend was working.  She hit the road to Albuquerque with nothing but a U-Haul full o' crap and a dream to engineer at the world's leading semiconductor company!  She spent 6 enchanting years in New Mexico, building up an iron stomach for green chile and learning how to spell Albuquerque.  One day it dawned on her that the dry air, wind and 300+ days of sunshine per year would probably turn her skin to leather by age 30.  And she really wanted to work with bigger wafers.  So she volunteered for job roles that would send her packing to the Northwest, back and forth 3 times in 2 years.  During those temp assignments, P-town and vicinity would woo her with lots of tall mountains, wide trails and skinny athletic friends.  So in 2003 she hit the road to Ore-gone with nothing but a midsize SUV and a dream to work less and play more. Sadly, her dream was crushed by an energizer-bunny pager that kept going OFF and going OFF despite numerous attempts to destroy it, such as dropping it on the pavement and running with it in the rain.  Right here Alanna would like to send a shout out to her buddy Kyle for so willingly handing over his job!  In the first 6 months she picked up several new vices including microbrews, coffee and wine.  Before signing her life away in blood to join this new Fab, she monitored email vigilantly for 1 month, went on vacation for 2 weeks and boondoggled for 1 week.   

(OK this is longer but much more interesting, no?  I'm not done.)

She holds one degree from a university that is awesome- GO CATS!  Her turn-ons include long walks on the beach, pina coladas and getting caught in the rain.  Scratch that. Long runs on the beach, mojitos and smooth male-triathlete legs.  Yes that's more like it. 

Please join me in welcoming Alanna to the team!  She's a team player!

Zaijian

Don't be impressed, I just looked up "goodbye" in my Mandarin phrasebook.  I am about to set off for the states here in a few hours.  The jet lag and intestinal distress has been fun but it's time to go home, back to the land of fine wine and microbrews.  And rain, I'm afraid.

I was impressed with Dalian, China.  It's location on the ocean makes it quite pleasant; the sea breeze seems to keep pollution under control most days.  There are parks and beaches.  You feel like a celebrity amongst the Chinese, and actually the staring eyes on the street did not bother me.  Actually I think my funniest memory is the three young workers at Starbucks huddling behind the cash register grinning at me every morning.  I felt safe, though I also felt like an outsider looking in.  Learning the language would definitely enrich the experience, allowing one to interact with the locals.  I had a serious hour-long massage while drinking a pot of tea for 7 US dollars.  No kidding.  Westerners can certainly live a life of luxury here.  Definitely learned a lot about the city and Chinese culture.  A huge thank you to my friendly colleagues/tour guides for introducing me to some local flavor and and offering a lot of advice :)

All my pics are now uploaded to Flickr.  A few strange things to ponder...

 
Can you see the rock climbers?  They're just statues.


That tree in the background?  Concrete.


A sign that indicates this hole in the ground will someday be a factory

Who could argue with this?

Chinglish in Dalian

Sleepless in Asia

Those who can not sleep, blog.  I am in Dalian, China trying to figure out what time zone I'm in.  My GI system is trying to figure out why it's been punished with airplane food for 9 hours (from Amsterdam to Chicago) and then again for 12 hours (from San Fran to Seoul).  At least I think that's what is happening, I haven't ingested any "high risk" foods or tap water here.  Hope that wasn't TMI for you.

Arrived in Dalian last night (was it?) to begin my preview trip.  This is where I decide whether I would like to live in China for 2-3 years starting in 2009.  For a good description of Dalian see John's blog.  I had high hopes of quality sleep tonight after getting up early to see the plant construction site and walking around most of the day. 

Maybe too much Starbucks is to blame?  Nah.  Yes there are a few in Dalian and this one is close to my hotel.  Just started opening one hour earlier for those of us who need pre-office gratification.

Home for the next few days.  Not bad, not bad at all.  It's a bathrobe-and-slippers-provided kinda place

It's been easy going so far.  More photos here.  John's driver is very good but fear of death comes when you leave the relative safety of the car and start crossing the streets.  Negotiating multiple-lane roads feels exactly like playing Frogger, except it's for real.  And as described in Pimpin' with my Ride, traffic lights are merely suggestions.  In one day I've seen numerous cars run red lights and perform other tricky maneuvers like a u-turn driving off of the sidewalk (you may wonder why they were on the sidewalk in the first place), through an intersection around a couple people crossing the road.  Pedestrians do not have the right-of-way at any time and playing chicken is probably not recommended.  I have learned to go with the locals when possible, ensuring at least one person is between the oncoming car and myself to lessen the impact.  Once you've committed?  MOVE IT, hold your breath and don't look.  That's my strategy.

Tomorrow I meet up with the relocation company to explore the area.  I told them my interests were cycling and running...this should be good.

Not moving to China

Yet, anyhow.  Last spring I applied for a position within my company that would send me to work in China for 2-3 years starting in 2009.  I got an offer and was really excited about it.  Booked a plane ticket to take off and check it out two days after my last triathlon of the year, a perfect time to take serious leave of my 2x daily workouts!   Come back and start training for the job, a year long commitment.  I was ready to get out of Portland and have a cultural experience.  Learn a new language!  Visit places far and away!  Well, today it all fell through.  Technically it's on hold, but chances are I will not be moving out of the country when I expected, if at all.  Having been at the company for almost 11 years I should expect changes like this. 

Still, the timing suprises me.  I started to have serious doubts about the whole thing just a couple weeks ago.  Is moving to Asia really what I want to do at this point in my life?  I started obsessing about it but hey, since I asked for the job and got it so who was I to complain?  Really somebody needed to slap me and remind me that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.  Instead, I got some reprieve.  I don't need to nail down the next four years of my life right now.  But I'm gonna miss my boondoggle.