credit

So I checked the car sale ads again and found fine print of "Requires *** credit score" which I am 20 points below. Then I was worried, and asked Yucheng my friend,

"I am 20 points below their requirement, I think I am doomed."
"Come on. You are the one who buy it, so you should be the master"

Reeeeeeaaaaaaaaly????

I guess I was poor for too long and it changed my mindset.

Redefine myself.

answering phone

I was looking for an apartment in Jackson yesterday, and found plenty of them on google map. Even though it was a Sunday, I still called a number. A woman answered,

"Hidgeland apartments, how may I help you?"
"Can I ask for the price for a one-br?" I said.
"I don't have any information about the apartments, this is just an answering service." She said.
"errr, ok. But can I ask some generous question about the neighborhood?"
"I don't have any information sir, please call management tomorrow. This is an answering service." She answered.
...

Is she a robot? She must be a black-accent disguised automated answer machine. Then I found the neighborhood data on city-data.com, to find in the zip code area 75% population is black and 27 sex offenders reported this year in that neighborhood. Then I found a nicer area and still looking for an apartment.

2007 Chevy Cobalt LS, 29k miles, $195 per month for 72 months, 0 down. Deal or not deal?

2002 Kia Spectra, 59k miles, $4900, can be financed. Carfax shows an accident in 2004 with damage cost over $500. Front bumper covered with plastic. Am I too cheap?

Maybe I will go for the first one. Any suggestions?

The Sims 2

My wife Ying comes back from CA for a week and helps me pack and move. We played a very popular computer game "The Sims 2" together for a few hours before she got bored. Then I kept playing, trying to master and beat the game. Unlike other games which are so addictive when they starts and become repetitive after a few hours of playing, "The Sims 2" is the opposite: it does not look exciting at first, but you know there is a long way before you can master it.

The characters in the game are called the sims, who have six stages throughout the whole life-span: baby, toddler, child, teen, adult and elder. Their lives are driven by their "aspiration", and their performance is determined by their "mood". There are seven types of "aspiration" which the player needs to choose when creating a sims: Family, Fortune, Knowledge, Popularity, Romance, Pleasure and Grilled Cheese (Eating many grilled cheese sandwiches). Mood is determined by how well their daily need is filled. It can be interesting when a sims has to go to school when he is full of urine; or a sims needs to sleep so bad that he passes out on a couch in a night club.

You can have babies, with human or,.., err aliens. You can choose the action "try for babies" with another person of opposite sex who is in a love relationship with you, or you can use a telescope and get "abduct" by an alien so that you can have a weird-acting alien baby. Unlike other games in which fun comes automatically to you, "The Sims 2" asks you to explore fun by yourself, which you may or may not like.

Another fun part of the game is that you can open your own business, but that needs other tweaks. There are many videos on youtube about many interesting life stories about different sims. This game is the second best seller of computer games of all time, only next to the original "The Sims".

Even though this game is interesting in all aspects, it lacks one characteristic of an exciting game: addictiveness. But since I will start work soon, I can not get addicted to computer games any more, "The Sims 2" might become a casual fun for me.

moving

So I decided to take the research associate job at Jackson state university in Mississippi. As a foreigner, aerospace engineer goes nowhere, so this is a chance to do a career transition, as I will do research on Hurricane on the new job. It's a pain to relocate and leave my friends, but life permits changes, isn't it?

I miss the Friday nights at the rock church. The first persons I met I believe are Sarah S., Christine, Lane and Gina. Then the salsa dance, then the Christmas ball, when Christine told me we didn't have to hold hands, oh this person got character I thought. Then Will came back from Israel, then the retreat to his cabin. Then Karl invited Yuejian and me to his home for Thanksgiving dinner. I thought I might have been in Minnesota forever, but I am tired of being poor.

People have to have something in common to be together, say 3 years. What we have in common is that we believe in God and the desire to communicate with each other. So we did. I have made many decisions during the five years, I hope this one will be a right one. At least I hope it will do good to my career. Getting too used to the U of M campus makes me not want to do anything, I hope moving to a new place will make me read more Bible and eager more.

About a month ago I experience a sudden heath danger at midnight. I didn't know what it was wrong: I felt dizzy for 5 minutes and it stopped before I decided to call ambulance. Since then I realize that everything has an end. If I will die tomorrow, the struggles I have today will seem ridiculous. Take it easy, I will leave Minneapolis and have a new start.

At the new place, I will rent an apartment, buy a new car, make new friends. I will use this blog as a journal.

draw on facebook

I tried out the drawing application on facebook today, here are the results.

job interviews

I have been through 3 job interviews, not all of them were fun though. They deserve a blog post. There might be some criticism and show-off, which should not be viewed as proud.

The first interview was at Fort Worth, Texas. It was horrible, and I had made every possible mistake during the interview. Long story short, basically I talked too much. Speaking of personality, how could people want more of you if they already know everything about you. So I changed my strategy accordingly in the latter interviews: I talked when it was necessary, and everything I talked had some relation to landing the job. Yes I talked too much, from the weather of Minnesota to the fact that there are some bugs flying inside my TV tube. Everything. So I fall into the "too nice but thanks" category. By the way, I lied during my presentation at the interview and caught right on spot, and I thought the secretary has a nice ass and stared at her ass at every single chance. The interview was supposed to finish at 4 pm. But at 3pm they all left with a "nice to meet you but has to go for Friday". I knew I was done.

After nights of insomnia, repent and tears, I went to the supercomputing institute for an interview about a supercomputing consultant job. It a user-support job. This time I treated as an exam and had a score of myself in mind. So I did not blow it this time. But God it was such a long day, eight different people interviewed me on one on in turn, with basically the same questions. I collapsed after I walked home. Yesterday they asked me for an extra interview on next Monday because "I live here so it is convenient"as she said. I don't know if it's a good sign, but I have to go there on more time.

So I was excited about the supercomputing job and smiled even during sleep, as if I was in my first love. In this unrealistic mood, I went to Jackson, Mississippi for another interview. I didn't really want this job, but I don't want to miss a chance either. So I was polite, a little distant during the interview, until he said that he offered me a job with well payment and benefits. Then I realized this is for real. So right now I am still confused, money or my first love?

I came back to Minneapolis yesterday. On the Halloween night, an African girl walked up to me and asked me if I want to sleep with her. God, speaking of offer, thanks, but no thanks. (I hope my wife wouldn't read this but I swear nothing happens).

sunday

Will called me on Sunday and asked if I was going to the house church. But til 12:30 I had not had lunch and not showered or shaved. So I decided not to go, instead I went for grocery shopping with Yuejian. Then I played DotA, then I got sick of it and went to lab. Hours later, on my way back home from lab, I thought, 2007 is almost over, 2008 will come. What am I gonna be 10 years later? Best scenario, a job, wife, house, car, is that all? Then I got tired of my own limitation. I got afraid of numbers, like how much income I can make in 10 years, how many hours I spend on sleep, and so on.

What is the purpose of my life? Where does true happiness come from for me? I asked myself. Money, work, friendship, parentship, love/sex? I worship God because I want to be a better person. God, is your love unconditional or I need to work for it. If the latter, I am not afraid to work to win your love. Then, I come to a conclusion, Tian, you need to spend yourself on the things you are supposed to do.

Deep huh?

proactive

proactive: acting in anticipation of future problems, needs, or changes

(Merriam-Webster.com)

There is a job opening at the supercomputing institute at the U. In the job requirement it says "it is expected that the person that fills this position will take a proactive approach in communicating the unique research potential of the computing facilities to the university community".

That's my problem. For example, when I play soccer, most often I pass the ball to another player's position. Wrong. It should go to where I want it to be, and it should be ahead of him. To be proactive, I need to have vision, plan and action. It's difficult, but I have to have them. Vision comes from experience and thoughts, plan comes from worry and action comes from determination. So, to be professional, what is needed to be successful in this job? This question I have to ask myself again and again before interview. Skills, knowledge of the market and patience. Yes, patience, I am not patient when comes to communication. Don't be frustrated when things don't work at first. It takes time to communicate.

Another view, proactive = professionally active. Yes I want to be proactive.

superantispyware

I have solved the computer virus an malware problem on my advisor's computer. The magic is called superantispyware. This software is awesome. It found 135 infected items on the computer, of which 80 something were hidden in the Windows registry which was not detected by Norton Anti-virus. Best part, it is free download and small, even though it needs to check and uncheck some options to enable full-computer scan. Some anti-malware software itself has pop-ups for updating virus definition, which is annoying. This superantispyware has no update-pop-ups. If your computer has pop-ups that recommend you buying something, consider this software.

Download link: http://www.snapfiles.com/get/SuperAntiSpyware.html
PC Magazine review: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2127210,00.asp
(only scored average in the review, but it did good job for me)

errata

The subtitle of my blog was "I will write everything happening in my wife..". It was wrong, not "in my wife" but "in my life". I just corrected it. Apparently I can't write everything in my wife, she is not pregnant and might have faith in future but not right now, sad to say.

I think I have decided to be a post-doc for my advisor. Is it a real job? Yes it is, but not a dream one. But I should be able to perform as I get paid. I found a sublease for a studio in dinkytown. A 2-bedroom is a waste for me right now.