Handshakes

I appreciate a good, firm handshake. None of that princess shake thing with just the tips of the finger or a touch and go with no pressure.

Today our admin took me around the floor to meet everyone. Even though we work in the same building and exchange emails, it's funny how some of us have never actually met in person. It was a fun afternoon. So far everyone is super friendly.

Then she brought me to this woman so I streched out my arm to shake her hand. She kind of looked at it, hesitated, then stuck out her hand. But she didn't clasp my hand, instead her hand went over my hand... I don't remember how it really went... but it was very awkward. Then she said in an odd way, "I don't shake hands, I don't know how to tell people that without offending them." She's like Howie Mandel.

I felt pretty bad for sticking out my hand first. So afterwards, I'd wait for the other person to offer me their hand first. I don't like that... cuz what if they're waiting for me to stick out my hand first? And then we end up wondering if the other person's just not friendly.

Today is Wednesday. They sweep one side of the street in front of our condo on Wednesdays... or so they say. I just got home and that side of the street is still dirty!

This makes me mad because I got a ticket a couple weeks ago for parking there. I had totally forgotten about the Wednesday thing. If they don't sweep then they better not ticket people!

So if you're ever in LA county... these are the parking violation fines: 

Failure to obey signs - $50
Street sweeping - $50
Failure to obey markings - $50
Disconnected trailer - $45
Parking in alleys - $45
Parking meters - $45
Double parking - $45
Parking in bus zone - $255
Parking in fire lane - $60
18 inches from curb - $45
Disabled parking - $330
Disabled - crosshatched lines - $330
Fire hydrant - $60

Remember the days when our church people would double park like crazy? But you get ticketed once and you'll probably never do it again.

I've been off work for a whole week. I go back tomorrow. At least it's just one day and then the weekend. But tomorrow, I also say goodbye to most of my teammates. It's the last day for all those whose jobs were outsourced to India. It's going to be a sad day.

I haven't posted about it, but I'm staying with the company. A couple days after the re-org announcement, my manager asked me if I'd accept if they proposed to a couple departments to create a position for me. It was amazing how things worked out because now I'll be a part of Sales Finance. I've always wanted to get closer to the business so this is a great opportunity. God has shown Himself unbelievably amazing once again!

There's been so much confusion, waiting, red tape, hush-hush stuff, and politics around all this. I don't even know if everything has been sorted out yet since I've been on vacation. But in the middle of all this, there has been a lot of peace, all of which could only have come from above. Oh, that's for sure.

Anyway, I'm really excited. I love my new team. They're people I currently work with. They move my stuff next Wednesday. 15th floor, here I come!

En route to Ohio, I saw a man reading on the plane. He was totally immersed in his book; leaning forward, an anxious expression on his face, one hand on the book, one knuckle in his mouth. Haha, I love it!

Expressive readers, I think I am one myself. Well, as long as the book is an interesting one. I smile, laugh, cry, gasp, chuckle, open my eyes real wide, etc. If it's thought provoking, I'll put the book down and look into the distance.

It's interesting seeing people react to words on a page. It's not like a movie b/c you can't see on a screen why they're laughing/upset looking... you just know they're emotionally moved by a certain story that's only playing in their mind. And even if there are no reactions, I also love seeing readers completely fixed upon their book. For some reason it makes me happy. Hence, the profile pic.

If I chanced upon you reading an interesting book, would I be amused?

Wouldn't it be neat if entomologists discovered that insects speak our language? For example, if an ant was born in the states, it would naturally speak English. Of course the Texan ants would speak with a drawl.

Sure, National Geographic gets real up close and personal but their microphones still aren't good enough nor tuned correctly to pick up ant talk. With the right technology, you may even hear them say, "We're on TV, we're going to be famous! Act natural."

You think that's silly? Yes, of course it's preposterous. That's only because an insect's life span is too short to learn a language.

On the subject of learning languages... we went to dinner @ BCD Tofu House tonight. On the way there, I was able to read some words on an advertising bench in Korean! At dinner, I could read AND understand some items on the menu. I was ecstatic! I feel like a new door is opening for me and letting in brighter light into my living space.

But oh... why is grammar so hard and so different than English? I don't get it. I need to learn how to use subject and object particles.

Annyong! (Bye!)

I was listening to a radio program last week on the way to work and the speaker spoke briefly about laughter. He referred to a study which showed that of all ages, 4 year olds peak in terms of the number of laughs laughed per day. The average 4 year old laughs 400 times a day! Wow, how wonderful to find life so light, amusing, and fun again. Sure does make the day more enjoyable.

And then he said that the average 50 or 52 year old (which was how old he was) laughs 15 times a day. Woh, how depressing. I've heard of laughter therapy, but didn't know that random groups of people just go to a room to laugh for 30 minutes straight without really having any topic to laugh about. And then it just catches on... and though it might be fake at first, somehow, you end up feeling better.

I don't know how true this study is, but I'd be curious to see the average number of laughs by age. Regardless, I can attest to what a good laugh can do. It really can lift your spirit. I've been meaning to count the number of times that I laugh a day, but I keep forgetting to keep track. However, since the radio program I have been more aware of when I laugh. Like, "Hey, I just laughed." (Inwardly) It's neat to realize that I actually laugh a lot at work. I like that.

Today has been a pretty prosperous laughing day. Hey, if any of you count your laughs per day, can you tell me what you got?

It's sooo hot! How come I don't remember summers ever being really hot when I was young? Maybe kids are too busy playing and having fun that it doesn't phase them?

S and I drove by church and decided to play 2 games of tetherball. I think the last time I played was back in elementary school. When we were playing, I didn't even feel hot. It was fun. I think I even felt a cool breeze. But right when I stopped, my head started throbbing and I thought it was going to explode from the heat.

I was also reminded of how much I sucked at school yard games.