The Common Cold

After my 2 year streak of being "cold-free," I have finally fallen ill to the common cold virus this past week. It all started off with a sore throat, which of course, being Chinese, I immediately thought the sore throat was a result of "hot air." I began my spree of eating and drinking anything that was classified as "cool" - melons, ice cream, ching-bo-leung, etc. But the sore throat quickly developed into a congested nose and a fever. It was then I realized that my strong immune system that protected me for the past 2 years lost its battle against the evil virus. The cough came and then more congestion. I missed 2 days of work, and I'm still trying to recover right now. The hope of being 100% well in the next day or so seems unlikely. I need to heal quickly because on Monday, I will be stepping into a plane, i.e. the best breeding ground for germs to spread. It will be a 5 hour flight to New York, which is a very long flight in my definition. I don't want to spread my germs to others nor do I want my weak immune system to engage in any more fights with other viruses. This is perhaps one of the worse colds I've had... symptoms acting in full-fledge and lastinglonger than usual!

Desperate Housewives

I love every Sunday night's Desperate Housewives! The show has a plot that draws me in like a magnet, and every episode never fails to do just that. The storyline gets more and more interesting every Sunday. This is, by far, one of the best TV shows I've watched. If you are a fan of Desperate Housewives and have been missing a few ones here and there, watch the April 27th show, which is supposed to be a "recap" of all that has happened since the premiere. And boy, there are a lot that has happened! A lot of secrets have been revealed!!!

Catching up

It's always a treat to meet up with an old friend once in a while and have a nice lunch to catch up. I met up with a college friend today and we talked non-stop throughout lunch. We gave updates on our lives, which remained pretty much status quo. We mentioned that every time we meet, which is about 2-3 times a year, life hasn't changed much since. There weren't any "dramatic" changes. We defined "dramatic" changes as:

1. A new job
2. A new love life (boyfriend, fiance, husband)
3. A new dwelling (buying a house, moving)
4. A new baby

So how do we end up talking for an entire hour if we've determined within seconds that our lives remained "same ol', same ol'?" Well, the joy of having 2 women together can be translated to talking about other people's dramatic changes. While it's politically-correct to catch up on each other's lives, it's much more interesting to catch up on the latest gossip!

I'm sad to announce that the watch department I currently handle at work is under the chopping block. Senior management thinks the department's brand line-up and price points are too "cheap" for the company's image. They want the cheapest watch that we offer to customers to be at least $200; so the $60 watches in my department just won't cut it. So there it goes. My department, my vendors, and most importantly, my bonus. Throughout the year, we work hard, long hours just so we can beat our sales targets and get our much-deserved bonus. So it's only 3 months into the year, and because of this decision made by Senior management, we are left in the cold. We are in the process of negotiating with the company to make some "exceptions" because this is simply unfair. Why should our team be punished for the Company's decision?

In addition to the bonus, the ultimate question is what will happen to me? I'm actually not too sure myself. If my entire department is to go away, will they eventually eliminate my position and lay me off? There is always this chance. Why keep that extra body and head count around? Hmmm....

Cruise

My husband and I, along with my entire family just came back from a short cruise vacation we took this past week. This was my first cruise but I've heard quite a lot of things about cruises from friends and people who have gone before. Our port of call was in L.A. so we had to drive down there. It was no easy task to coordinate a trip for 18 people, ages ranging from 1 year old to 70. Thankfully, it was somehow managed and no major issues happened. The ship was a little bit aged and probably needed renovations, but overall, not too bad. The best part of the cruise was of course, the delicious, around-the-clock food. Dinners were of course the best --many times I ordered more than 1 appetitizer, more than 1 entree, and more than 1 dessert! :P

Our port stops included San Diego, Catalina Island, and Ensenada. We visited the San Diego Zoo, kayaked on Catalina Island, and walked around Ensenada. This was definitely a good starter cruise because it was short and have 3 port stops to rest and be on land. I actually got a little uneasy when we sailed over choppy waters the first day. I never knew whether I get motion-sickness or not. I've been on speedboats before and have no problems but the rides were always less than 30 minutes short. I guess I was able to adapt on this cruise to the constant swaying.

So the week just zoomed by without me even realizing it. I'm now back in S.F. and am totally NOT looking forward to going back to work. I took a sneak preview of my work inbox and saw that I have 250 emails sitting there. :( Next week is going to be a long week for me, like always.

Spring Forward!

Monarch of the Seas