Life saving @ SD

第一次在美国捐血！我在离开新加坡３个月前捐了一次血，所以当我知道SD有个捐血运动，我也不落人后。

叫我意外的是我们得在巴士上捐血！呵呵，好不一样的经历啊！我察觉到不是很多人报名，估计可以qualify捐的人应该很少。Why？可能和如此性开放的社会有关系，毕竟捐血者需要fulfill一些条件。

 还是岛国的福利较好，捐血后可以喝Milo，吃蛋糕！对了，那护士并没有帮我注射一些麻醉药就将大大的针孔插入我的血脉，还好没把我们吓昏！

Miracle @ Columbia Gorge (OR, WA)

   

几年前去过了Multnomah Falls,我还是想自己开车去，出差期间不必担心一切的费用如车油，饮食，住处等；呵呵，那就是出差的好处，边看世界，边工作，虽然工作不是如想象中的悠闲，但还可以啊，富有挑战和难度！　

上午遇上了一位陌生人，她告诉我如果要去Columbia Gorge，一定要到Bridge of the gods，因为那里的景色太美了。

虽然下着雨，实在不是观赏游每景色的好季节，既然我不常到Portland，我还是决定开车去了。一路上沿着Columbia River,绵绵细雨，美丽极了，若是有阳光那会更好！

不知觉我开了约90分钟，在bridge的那端，我犹豫了，不知道应不应该开过桥去，还需要还toll呢。既然来的，索性冒险开过去！这惊喜太美好了，原来听闻已久的Skamania lodge 就在ＷＡ的那一段，过了桥就算是过的州界限，我到了Washington state！

这个county名为Stevenson.很幽静的小镇，风景好迷人，好宽阔的河流和山脉，上帝的创造何其美妙雄壮！我再度穿上我的雨衣去照相和在河边小走一段路！当时的心情是很兴奋的，庆幸自己没有因着天气的不佳和路途的遥远而却步，反之这眼前的一切告诉我是值得的！下回我希望在夏天到此一游！

回去的路途上的机遇叫我难忘。我承认自己有点心急喝疏忽，但若非耶和华的眷顾和保守，我想我应该没有健康的生命气息继续活着！Oregon的雨水不断，公路也潮湿些，尽管一般的车速都比加州来得慢，但速度还是很惊人！眼前的大卡车有点碍眼，加上若尾随着它或开在它旁边，它会将路上的水喷在我的大镜上，很不安全；所以我拿定主意要超越它。就这样，我加速想要越过它！

 就在那刹那，由于速度加上风速，它把我吹向公路的分界缇(road divider)，我潜意识踩了煞车器，我可以清楚看到我的车子如Ｓ的形状滑行，不是撞向分界缇，就是大卡车，心想完蛋了！感谢神，我并没有松手，我反而把驾驶盘抓得很紧，几秒钟过去，卡车离我远去，但车子还是继续摇摆。我处在两条单向公路的中间，然后我看见后面的车子从我左右近距离得路过，尽然没有撞着！过后所有的车子继续行驶，似乎没有任何事情发生。这难道不是奇迹吗？除了是上帝的作为，他的宏恩，我不知还能说什么！

话说回来，我竟然没有被吓着松开双手，也没有落泪，只是很吃惊的继续开着车向前行没，仿佛就像一场梦，我反复回想刚才的情景，真的很惊险！

我的生命是上帝赐的，所以我要单单为他而活！

若你有机会读这一篇博客，请也为我向上帝说声谢谢，因为这真的是他奇妙的恩典！

p/s 我在学习自拍。呵呵。

Freezing Moment @ Portland , OR

周末的Portland到处是雨水，我有点神经质，为了justify我所买的雨衣，我拒绝拿雨伞，所以我套上我那红雨衣，穿上靴子在downtown行走！虽然很冷，但很写意，呵呵，到处你可以看到人人披上雨衣在街上溜达。

我见Pioneer Square有个室外tube concert，所以我也疯狂的凑上一份，喝着热烘烘的星巴克咖啡，在寒冷的大雨中站了1.5个小时！难得有机会在如此的情景享受圣诞乐曲，０度的气温加上雨水，这经历不错吧！老实说，我忘记自己会因此感冒，所以没有顾忌的在外待了几个小时，连午餐都没有吃！呵呵

夜晚，约了George和DChai吃中餐！好开心啊，也许是饿坏了，觉得食物特别好吃，热腾腾的中餐，赞！

 

过后我和DChai到Grotto去赏灯。每逢感恩节到圣诞节，他们都会以耶稣诞生的故事来装饰这个花园，然后会有诗班在教堂里献诗。

 

在同一天里，我体会到两种不同的方式来欢庆耶稣基督的诞生。据说如果在白天游花园，可以搭电梯上瞭望台看整个Portland的市貌，好吧，看看下回有没有机会再参观Grotto！

Shopping Craze @ Woodburn, OR

我疯狂了在那儿瞎拼了６个小时，很夸张。哈哈。我必须强调，我没有乱买东西，我只是买了那些我需要而且在Oregon没有销售税，比起加州便宜些。呵呵。MYL说我是branded kid，我茨口否认，不过那些都是good deal，打折的名牌商品！

我的Oregon行之战利品如下：

Columbia的运动外套、寒衣、雨衣、hiking鞋、帽子

Northface的背包

Oakley的太阳镜、背包

Esprit的裤子、衣服

Adidas的跑步鞋

Coach的皮包、wristlet

Clinique的眼霜

Timex的 radio clockl

Uniden的电话

Samsonite的行李箱

哇，乍看之下，我应该已经花超过600元！应该还可以吧　。

有一件值得感恩的事情。12/15日当我们急着赶搭8.10pm的班机时，大哥MYL问我要不要一同用餐然后再前往机场。我们就约在Woodburn见面，因为我得去更换我的背包。当我们开心着要开车到Portland机场时，我的车钥匙在车厢里，我被locked out了！天哪！　我所有的东西都在车里头！

看看手表，5.30pm, 我真的不知道搞怎么办，还好MYL较冷静，他急忙用他的smart phone看我们可以联络谁。Hertz? BarB? DanK? 还好他是AAA会员，所以他向他们求助；由于AAA需要他的证件，所以他必须在现场　（其实他大可把我留在ＷＢ然后开着他的租借车前往机场，但是他并兵没有丢下我。他通知的他的妻子我们也许今晚回不了SD，要多待一晚）。

在等待AAA来的当儿，大哥开始探讨几个scenario,万一我们赶不上飞机该怎么办，通知Alaska Airline换班机，找酒店。就在我们很担心的时刻，AAA在6.15pm出现了，工作人员用了５分钟就打开了，真的感谢神！接下来就是要冲到机场！距离机场约１小时车程，可能赶不及了，所以尽管下着不小的雨，我们两辆车飞驰在公路上，真的有点紧张！7.15pm, 我们抵达机场，还了车，马上check in.  7.35pm. We made it!!! 我们赶快的到Starbuck买了饮料和面包登机！那天我还真有点无奈，不管是等还车，check in, screening甚至是买咖啡，都得要等！MYL以广东话说了一句：样衰。我真的是无语！

感谢上帝的保守，我们能平安、及时地抵达机场并且能够安全的回到SD，好一个ADVENTURE阿！

在美国的第一个生日

我已经不记得我是否有在外地渡过生日，生日的真正意义是什么呢？感谢你依然能够存活？暗自欣喜有人的确记得你的生日？感叹自己又年长（=成熟）了？还是就如平日一样，没有什么特别？

我不觉得自己是仙人。被人‘记得’的感觉是很好的，挺comforting的；毕竟这证明自己不是透明人，至少还有人在那一霎那、那一天想起你，小女子本是凡人一位。

FB的寄语很多，没有感到很温馨，总觉得要不是那右边的birthday Calendar 在作怪，你的朋友的记性应该不会那么好。呵呵。若是可以的话，写封电邮、寄卡或发简讯，贴心多了，能触动我的心弦，抱歉，我的要求高。呵呵。

12/6生日当天，当然得要上班！会议排得满满的，但很充实。午间没有外出食用，就与Barb, SteveA, TonyK, JonC到cafeteria用餐聊天。由于JonC不舒服，所以我和DChai到Big River喝cocktail，吃汉堡和巧克力蛋糕！接着又与taiHui夫妇一起逛walmart．累坏了！

没有很疯狂的庆生但我内心是充满感恩的。因为上帝的恩典并没有在生日那天才特别多，他每日所浇灌的恩惠数之不尽，他送我的礼物远超过我所应得的。

当12/7 晚餐后JonC问我昨日如何庆生，我说就如往常，没什么特别；他和SteveA应该以为我还是 mid 20's的黄毛Y头。

当然啦，因着出差的缘故，报公帐吃了自己爱吃的食物。编按：BarbM知道我会在Big River 享用一顿好的，所以我并没有违背上司和公司的条例。还有，她为着我需要在陌生的环境（又加上出差）渡过生日而感到抱歉。

其实我还好，即使人在ＳＤ，我还是会感觉冷漠，因为我所亲近所熟悉的家人和朋友都远在新加坡和马来西亚；我不需要一个生日庆祝会，甚至不需要切蛋糕，也许这就是依恋、就是想念吧！二哥和二嫂其实在我到SD前已买了个蛋糕为我庆生，大嫂和姐姐也发简讯祝贺生日，至少当我的朋友忘记我的时候，我还有上帝赐我家人！不过，我没有那么可怜，还是有许多很温馨的生日祝语！

友人CY与我分享了一句话：自知者明，自信者强。自信的根基在哪儿呢？我愿意建立在耶稣基督里面，透过上帝更认识自己，晓得他在我生命中美好的计划；因着在基督里有智慧、爱、盼望和喜乐，愿那能成为一种自信，成为世界的光！我们很难能逃过他人的眼光，要在这多变的世界继续持守上帝的教诲需要更加倍努力和坚持！

不过嘛，我挺感恩自己能在过去的一年经历了许多的挑战和转变，我知道接下来的历练会更多，要好好倚靠仰望那为我们创始成终的耶稣！

Sweet Little Town - Corvallis

I have not been blogging for almost 2 weeks. Why? Because I was on the business trip and yes, it is more tiring than I thought. I think I didn’t have enough sleep. Did I work too hard or in retrospect, I play too much? Nope, I wasn’t at all.

Corvallis

 It is a nice sweet little town, located 2 hrs away from Portland Airport in Oregon. Why I like Oregon? Because it is tax free and I can do lots shopping there. Ha. I am crazy. Yes? People like to say this, work at Washington (Vancouver site) and spend $$ at Oregon (Corvallis site). Because in WA, there is no income tax but sales tax AND in OR, there is no sales tax but income tax. Guess where I work and stay? California!! CA has high income tax and high sales tax!!

We arrived on Sunday and it wasn’t raining. Well, it started to rain the second onwards. The fact about Corvallis (or rather Oregon) is that… it rains consecutively for 8 months and you’ll get a beautiful summer for 4 months! It rains all day, even at night :) the driving speed in CRV is slower, about 55 mph whereas in CA, people drive at least 70mph. and on normal road, CA residents drive 55mph instead of 25/35 mph. Isn't it crazy?! Hoho.

I like the Corvallis office more, the surrounding. So big!! I heard once it housed 7k people and now it only has 1500 people since they close down the wafer fabrication line and lay off people. Essentially the 2 biggest employers in CRV is Hewlett Packard and OSU (Oregon State University). So the WFR (workforce reduction) in HP was a bad hit to the CRV residents. Many were unemployed and they have to move elsewhere. Yes, US is not Singapore, you move because of a job assignment.

I am so grateful to God as I get to meet the nice people there although I am really like, know nobody there! I had a great meet up with the WS folks there (under my hiring manager Barb and we will be working as a team on the same product line). They are so nice and kind to me. Really. Thank God for the good favour!

First is SteveA. He is real kind and patience. I will be working with him on the critical solution whereby we need to have it installed in our press machines since there is great market demand. He coached me from the very basic introduction on the press to the tedious procedure of sending test files! My first few weeks down here in SD wasn’t as fruitful as this! He walked me thru the stuffs, inform me on the potential counterparts. You know the best part is.. since the press schedule is so tight and we can only run the test from 5-10pm. He actually worked till 1040pm with us on Wednesday night and he was there at 8am at the press the very next day. He is so hard core. Hoho. I am glad that I get to work with him. He is such a systematic and organized engineer!~ Oh yes, he likes to wear Columbia brand apparel, from shirt to pant to his shoe. haha.

MikeS. He is a pretty serious engineer. He is a man of few words. SteveA, MikeS and myself will be working as a team to develop and qualify the solution. MikeS just got back from his disability. Hmm he likes paragliding and he joined competition. I heard 3 months back, he fell off unto a cliff and almost paralysed. So it is a miracle that he survived!! Even the doctors commented that the chances of recovery is slim. Well, he made it!!

DonM. At first I was very clueless when he shared those technical info. So I have decided to schedule a 1:1 session with him for him to go over some basic training on the things he worked on. He has kindly agreed to. The session went well and now I am able to catch some ball. ;p I was sitting with DonM during the IHPS celebration, as I spotted that his kids has Chinese look, so I thought his wife is Chinese. As I bluntly asked about it, he told me that his 2 kids are Korean, adopted children. He has no qualms in sharing those personal stuffs and he told me about the homeschooling. I asked him why? He said he is Christian and he and wife believe in home schooling. Has our bible ever taught us that? I am unsure.

TonyK. I didn’t have a very good impression on him whenever I saw him over the videoconference. Because he always walked out whenever we talked about Mobius. It was a nice surprise that we actually chatted and he is also a soft spoken guy. He is now in Italy. Haha. He was also patience enough to tell me the issues they face at vendor.

JimK. Hoho. I heard he was a manager but he doesn’t like people management, so now he is the so called architect and consultant. He is quite knowledgeable and maybe a bit aloof. Haha. He always like to dress like a soccer coach and true enough, he is an assistant football coach. I asked him what it takes to become one and he said: talented son! I think to a certain extent, he was quite friendly to me. I was hogging SteveElgee’s cube since he is always not in. so when SteveE was back last Tues and I have to move away from his cube, JimK asked SteveE why did he take my cube? Ha. So amusing.

JoeS. After a few email correspondence, I do not think he is friendly. Ya, the first few days he didn’t talk to me and I thought he is quite of quiet as a person. During staff meeting, I can see his frustrations. So we schedule a session to talk about colorcal. Hehe. He wasn’t as cold as I thought. In fact, he is quite a nice guy too and he told me those background of the current system. Wow, he had a master in color science on hp fellowship. Cool ah. Anyway, I will need more guidance from him in future.

AprilS. She is the only lady engineer in the team. She has a reminder every 15min to tell her to take a break. When the pop up shows up, the monitor just freeze and she is not allowed to do anything. Interesting feature. April is the youngest in their team though she is still older than me. Ha. She has a unique feature and it seems to be that she is quite sporty. She taught me some plot creation stuffs. She is a icy queen. kekeke

Who else did I not mention? SteveE? BarbM? BillFisher? GeorgeR?

BarbM sits with the rest of her engineers. I am amazed by the open conversations. Effectively everyone else can hear what you said in your cube, even the 1:1 session is done at her cube. Hoho. I am still unsure would it be better for her to be my manager or Bill? Hoho. Again, I believe all things happen for a good purpose at the right time.

Trust the Lord always!

Car shopping

我需要认罪因为我是个小信的人。我没有因为工作和教会的事情上甚至是思念家人而落泪，我竟然在昨早因着无法及时赶在出差前购买汽车而哭了。

我觉得无助，先前很友善的NT突然间变得好像陌生人，没有提供有建设性的协助，而只是让我自生自灭，我觉得有点伤心和意外。个人认为你无需为帮人流血流泪，但至少能提供基本的information已经够了，她的冷漠让我有点心寒。临时取消的生日会和一声我无法带你去试车让我感到很泄气。

Craig 是一个很诚实的汽车销售员，他尽心把我属意的2009Civic安排载到SD，但一次又一次的耽误让我很灰心，不是他的错，有些事情就是会发生。从周四等到周五，心冷了，因为没有车等于少了一只脚，除了家里，到哪里都难。不是不可以步行，只是附近都是高速公路，没有行人走道，开车较安全。

由于知道NT没空帮我，感谢神Daniel愿意与我同去，很欣慰。原本信心满满的我以为周六早可以试车后拿车，直等到上午11时还没有消息，又再度很泄气，因为不想耽延Daniel的时间，我哭了。我问上帝为何买车也这么折腾人，我已经很有耐性的等和告诉自己要相信上帝会供应，但是还是无法搞定。Daniel 马上挂了个电话给我，告诉我说只要时间允许，他会和我一起去，毕竟我是女生，肯定很容易被人吃定。

约5分钟后，Craig通知我车到了，可以试车了。我连忙与Daniel去Carmax，进去之前我们谈论该如何给自己多一些选择，切勿冲动。果然那2009 的Civic不错，驾驶很顺心。过后我们决定checkout其他品牌的豪华车。我爱BMW，很炫，价格（旧车）相同于一辆新的civic或 accord。见到Mercedes SLK和C class, 价格低于USD35000，顿时我有点动摇；我大胆了试驾BMW 3 Series。Craig 人很好，他说我们没有Obligation买那辆Civic, 只要提早通知他，他估计那辆车很抢手。

我和Daniel决定去喝茶。呵呵，第一次在美国喝珍珠奶茶，比新加坡贵多了，而我在岛国也没有喝这玩意儿。哈。我们尝试分析眼前的抉择。我爱BMW，但它的维修和汽油使用量较高，我应该没有闲钱浪费在这地方，宝马啊，谁不想要呢，但还是要务实些。至于那2009的civic，看来很佳；但是和全新2011 Civic的价格比较，相差约4千元左右，倒不如花多些买新车？所以我们就前往附近的Honda代理去询问。听说这里的汽车销售员都很aggressive,如果你意志不坚定，他们绝对不会让你走出大门。听了都有点怕。Daniel 带了ipad，查询全新civic的价格，我们商讨对策后才下车打仗，我们的战略是知道自己要得车款，得到自己满意的价格，如果是no deal 的话，我们准备走人！看到那salesman Wally，感觉好像要吃了我们一样，小女子我有些紧张。

我们了解各样Civic的档次，VP，LX，LX-S，和EX。我从来没想要买EX，毕竟那款最贵啦，我又对车的各feature没有很多的了解，还好上帝安排Daniel，他给了我很多详细的解释。好啦，敲定要买EX款型，这下子是战争的开始。由于我们必须表现我们有十足的诚意，才斗胆杀价。那财务经理karr确实觉得我们很可恶，呵呵。好吧，从原来的21500 杀到20200。我们试车去了！崭新的Civic果然不一样，有sun roof, 驾驶盘的影响控制和比较有型的轮盘。那些都是2千元买来的，更重要的，它的煞车器比LX能给予驾驶者在紧急时的保障。

我一直认为Edmunds开的价格不太对，所以赶紧让Daniel 查询KBB的价格(Suggested Retail price)，我们必须尽量让我们以Invoice price +200-400元的价格成交。天啊，KBB的价格为19500，我们也许会吃亏了，所以我们厚着脸皮叫价19900。那销售员的脸沉了，我们老早打算如果他不买帐，我们将离开。

也许他们急需达到销售量，所以他们答应了。Daniel还想要再减价，呵呵，我还真的不好意思。好吧，我愿意花19900成交，也许那不是最佳的价格，但至少我知道我没有让人白敲了1600元。 接着在签字时，那财务经理Karr似乎要吓唬我，说如果我那全新的Civic部不安装alarm的话，贼很喜欢Civic，容易被偷，他开价549。之前还好Daniel有通知 我说如果找别人装alarm,只需花约250元，所以我们铁着心肠拒绝Karr。他不甘心，再开价390。我拒绝，还说200吧。接着Karr说我们刚才无理的杀价，从21500到20200，然后最终的19900，所以他将不会让步。我们无所谓。呵呵。就在他打印契约时，他突然说，好吧300元，不能削价，呵呵。我心想，随便啦，省些麻烦。成交了！连同与昂贵的加州的零售税，一共约23000上下。

我终于在生日前买了人生中的第一辆车，银色 的2011 Honda Civic EX！很感恩，很欣慰，虽然不能在出差前把车子开回家，但总算了了一个心愿。

很有趣又有点纳闷的是, 当我回家想与NT分享我的喜悦，毕竟真是个good deal, 但她竟然毫无表情，好怪。我觉得她好像是有点bitter。这完全是我个人的猜测。老实说，身为‘朋友’，她都没有给予我任何买车的贴士，只让我自个儿解决。还好，上帝差派天使眷顾。我不喜欢唱衰她，因为我觉得她在我初到SD的照顾是很让人感谢的，一个月走来，我们也没有什么争执和口角，我只觉得她好像变的怪怪的，开始有点计较。好笑的是，有同事说她这种人不算朋友，因为‘朋友’是不会敲诈朋友的。呵呵，我真的no comments.

回到买车，在我们等待paper work的当儿，Daniel问我他是否逼我做决定作的太紧，我说没有。对我来说，我很感谢他很有智慧的帮助我做自己觉得舒服的决定。老实说，我只知道自已需要一部车，但我对买车这回事一窍不通，若没有他在旁帮忙分析，聆听我的需要、担忧和想法，慢慢引导我作决定，我敢肯定这个买车的过程更艰辛。我告诉他我向上帝埋怨，没有信心，觉得很无助；他笑着说为何那么没有信心呢？其实他认为我的问题不在于我无助，关键在于我没有足够的资料data让我做决定。是的，上帝的确怜悯我，买车得花一大笔钱，这是继买HDB后另一个重大的决定。这个过程让我体验和领悟到底什么是人生：人的丑陋、人的冷漠，人的私心 ，人的无助，人的爱心，人的关心和更重要的，掌管者的主权。人心筹算自己的脚步，唯有耶和华能立定和成就一切。除了谢谢上帝的恩典，也谢谢周遭的好心人提供的意见和不住的鼓励，让我更理智，更勇敢和更谨慎的向前迈进！

-蒙恩的人 on 4 Dec2010