January 27, 2002: Bathroom Scale, WSJ article on Hunter

Hi,

I was supposed to go to Detroit this weekend and visit some friends.
However, I got a sore throat, so I decided to stay here in Cleveland to get
better. I did end up having a pretty good weekend. I watched the new
movie "Count of Monte Cristo", which I really liked. I read the book (by
Alexander Dumas) when I was young, and have always liked it. The movie
highlights the fact that human beings are capable of incredible hatred,
revenge and betrayal. I also liked the sword fighting.

When I was in LA, I attended the Chinese Christian Alliance Church, which
belongs to the Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA). So today, I
visited the Grace Church, which is the CMA church for the Cleveland area.
I really liked it. In fact, I think that I'm going to be going to this
church from now on. The worship was good (contemporary), and the teaching
was solid. They also have a variety of small groups. I will have to get
used to the fact that in this fairly large church, there are almost no
minorities (so about 99% white). I also saw this in the church bulletin:

This year's Promise Keepers Conference, "Storm the Gates", is in Cleveland
July 26-27. There is a $20 discount for early registration ($49 for
adults), but the deadline is this Thurs., Jan 31. For more information or
to register, call 1-800-888-7595 or go online at
www.promisekeepers.org/conf/conf10.htm.

I'm planning to attend the conference, since it's right here. If you want
to come to the conference, visit me here in Cleveland, and want to crash at
my place, just let me know. I'm not sure who the speakers will be, but I'm
sure that they will have some of the leading Christian male leaders from
around the country.

A friend of mine from Singapore, Wei Hsien Chan, is a private equity fund
manager. He is looking some information. He writes:

I'm evaluating a possible investment in a digital satellite TV company in
Asia for my fund. Can you let me know from your experience in the US or
elsewhere:

1. Are most digital satellite TV subscribers switching from cable or did
they previously not have cable?
2. What is the main reason for switching from cable to digital satellite TV?

Some examples and interesting anecdotes would help me out greatly - thanks!
If you have any thoughts for him, you can email him at: weihsien1@yahoo.com.

This week's thought provoking question: "If you could change one thing to
make life easier for your own gender, what would you change?"

This week's humor and end pieces were forwarded from Anna Man and Joel
Hornstein, respectively. The end piece is an article on Wall Street
Journal about the entrance exam to get into my high school, Hunter College
High School. My classmates are having a lively debating over the Internet
whether the writer is obnoxious or not. I would have to say that I really
enjoyed my high school years, as did most of my classmates. It was a very
special place. We actually had our prom at the "Windows on the World",
which is at the top of the World Trade Center.

Enjoy!

-Josh.
9235 N Church Dr #528
Parma Heights, OH 44130
(440) 884-1623
_________________________________

How to Lie to Your Bathroom Scale

1. Weigh yourself with clothes on, after dinner ... as well as in the
morning, without clothes, before breakfast, because it's nice to see how
much weight you've lost overnight.

2. Never weigh yourself with wet hair.

3. When weighing, remove everything, including glasses. In this case,
blurred vision is an asset. Don't forget the earrings, these things can
weigh at least a pound.

4. Use cheap scales only, never the medical kind, because they are always
five pounds off ... to your advantage.

5. Always go to the bathroom first.

6. Stand with arms raised, making pressure on the scale lighter.

7. Don't eat or drink in the morning until AFTER you've weighed in,
completely naked, of course.

8. Weigh yourself after a haircut; this is good for at least half a pound
of hair (hopefully).

9. Exhale with all your might BEFORE stepping onto the scale (air has to
weigh something, right?).

10. Start out with just one foot on the scale, then holding onto the towel
rack in front of you, slowly edge your other foot on and slowly let off of
the rack. Admittedly, this takes time, but it's worth it. You will weigh at
least two pounds less than if you'd stepped on normally.
_________________________________

I thought others might enjoy this piece from last Friday's Wall Street
Journal weekend section. Hope everyone is well.

WEEKEND JOURNAL
Taste: Meet, Compete --- The ordeal of entrance exams -- for 11-year-olds
By Amy Finnerty

01/18/2002
The Wall Street Journal
W13
(Copyright (c) 2002, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

It is barely light outside as my 11-year-old daughter and I make our way to
the
subway stop in our Brooklyn neighborhood. We are on our way to the Upper
East
Side, where she will take the entrance exam for Hunter College High School,
a
famously fine public school, admission to which is considered something of
a jackpot
for middle-class New York parents. All of the standards and rigor of an
excellent
private school, with none of the tuition.

But on this morning she and I are also officially entering a strange new
world -- of elite
academic credentializing and the ferocious competition for it. It feels a
bit premature,
but then New York parents, many of whom must put their children through
competitive
interviews for private kindergartens, are used to this sort of thing. I am
not, not yet.

After two expensive sessions to review the advanced math on the test, my
sixth-grader has figured her chances of getting in at slightly worse than
one-in-a-hundred, odds that she notes with philosophical good humor and
even relief.
She's thriving at her current school and at the moment is looking forward
to a
sleepover she has planned for later this evening. But enough about her.

We mothers and fathers are, as psychotherapists like to put it,
narcissistically
invested in the success of our children -- so much so that an unpleasant,
bureaucratic
and competitive admissions process inspires in us a slavish obedience and
enthusiasm. And the mention of "test scores" or "class rank" transforms us
from
confident grown-ups into insecure children.

These feelings must be familiar to any parent who, seeing a child's
high-school
graduation approach, has had to scan the college lists, read up on SAT
scores and
do some anxious back-of-the-envelope calculations about which schools are
possible
and which may be out of reach. But Hunter's admissions mailing, which some
parents I know have dubbed the "fuhgedaboudit" letter, suggests that it's
never too
soon to start worrying -- 2,500 sixth graders, it says, will compete for a
mere 240
spaces. And yet because Hunter is a public school and not a private one, the
contest is already taking on an instructive, democratic cast -- not that it
is any less
ruthless.

As we rattle uptown on the No. 4 train, a woman with a Brooklyn accent,
trailed by
her own glum, pencil-laden offspring, spots us. "You must be goin' to the
Huntah
test," she observes. She looks my daughter up and down, as if sizing up the
competition. We chat about our educational aspirations for our children as
they sit by
in silent horror.

In the same subway car, a clutch of seemingly street-hardened 11-year-olds
is
traveling, parent-free, with admission tickets in hand, toward the test
location at 68th
and Lexington Avenue. I'm guessing that they have not benefited from
confidence-enhancing tutoring, not to mention book-lined living rooms. And
their
parents aren't even dropping them off. My daughter eyes them with searing
envy.

We are 45 minutes early and it is freezing cold. In a coffee shop near
Hunter, a
dozen pre-teens, representing as many ethnic and socio-economic niches, are
fidgeting in booths or on counter stools, not eating the hearty breakfasts
ordered by
their parents who, by contrast, appear glowing and energized. Several
adults are
standing in the crowded aisle to free seats for the young and gifted.

At the counter, an East Asian father (Vietnamese? Chinese?) is coaching his
son,
talking persistently as eggs-over-easy congeal on the miserable boy's
plate. How
much ambition, one wonders, is being loaded onto the child's performance
today? Are
they immigrants? Are they poor? Is he the first in his family to have a
shot at the
American education gravy train? In a nearby booth, a mother with a Kate
Spade bag
pushes hot chocolate toward her daughter and tells her to drink it.

There are other mothers, fixing hair clips -- "How can you see with your
hair in your
eyes?" -- and suggesting last trips to the bathroom, but the fathers have
made a
stronger showing here than the women, in a strange inversion of school
drop-off
culture. Maybe the big guns only come out for events worth more than
$15,000 a year
in disposable income.

We have all been given color-coded cards, one to allow our children to
enter the test
hall, the other to allow us to claim them at the end of the ordeal. At the
entrance I
am stopped by two uniformed guards who inform me that "the girl can go in"
to the
building but that I can't. They seem unimpressed when I protest that "I'm
her
MOTHER."

It is dawning on me that, in the real world, 11-year-olds are free to roam
municipal
institutions unsupervised. It's also clear that, at events such as this,
some parents
are probably pushy nightmares from whom the children need armed protection.
My
daughter seems delighted by the doorway drama and by my lack of authority
in this
official venue. She kisses me good-bye and disappears into the crowd of
little
overachievers.

My yellow card tells me to report to the Kaye Playhouse at 12:15. There I
am herded
to the red section where, I'm told, my child will find me after she is
dismissed. A
bossy functionary on the stage hectors the ever-docile parents: "Please
don't stand in
the aisles. Please take your children for a very nice lunch and leave."

Nearby an extended family -- grandmother, parents, siblings -- awaits one
test-taker.
They are also Asian, and, to their great fortune, they seem not to notice
the woman
on stage. Their hope for the future emerges from backstage, smiling. His
expression
is quietly triumphant, and they all beam and nod. This is one young student
who
probably knows the difference between, say, "affect" and "effect."

As my own child walks toward me, I try to read her expression, but she's
poker-faced.
"It was OK, and I'm glad I did it," she says. "But I met a girl in the
bathroom who's
had 15 tutoring sessions!"

We were told that Hunter doesn't endorse test preparation services, and we
thought
our review sessions in the week before the exam would give us an almost
unsportsmanlike edge. Secretly I had been congratulating myself -- and this
is truly
pathetic -- for being organized enough to fill in all the forms and get my
child to the
test at the right time and place.

There must be a course -- perhaps at the New School or the 92nd Street Y --
that
teaches parents everything about the test-prep market, the clever tricks
that ease a
child's way up the academic ladder and into America's incomparable
meritocracy. I
wonder if it requires a test to get in.

---
Ms. Finnerty is a writer in Brooklyn, N.Y.

January 20, 2002: Elderly Proposal, Riddle

Hi,

How is everything going? Quite a few of my friends wrote and asked me what
I am doing here in Cleveland. Well, I work for Avery Dennison, as part of
the General Manager Development Program. I just finished an 8-month
rotation in Singapore. Now I will be here in Cleveland for about 9 months.

I am working for the Automotive Product Division of Avery Dennison.
Basically, we print just about all the labels that goes into automobiles.
The next time you sit in your car, or look under the hood, try to notice
the labels that are placed all over the car. For example, on the back of
your sun visor, there may be a label about seat belts. Under the hood,
there should be labels regarding the emissions of your car. For new cars,
there is a label on the front passenger side warning people about the
dangers of the front side seat belt for children. Another really cool type
of labels that I never knew about are anti-theft, tamper-proof labels.
Auto makers places these small labels (with a barcoded serial number) in
secret places all over your car. If your car ever gets stolen, it is
easier for the police to track the stolen parts. Our customers are the car
makers: GM, Ford, Chrysler, Honda, Nissan, Toyota, Mercedes, etc, as well
as the Tier 1 auto component suppliers (that provide sub-assemblies for the
car makers).

I am the General Manager trainee here, so I am getting a broad exposure to
all different aspects of this business. I report to the General Manager
and work with the Production Manager and Logistics Manager on various
projects to improve the operations at our plant. One good learning
experience for me will be to work with the press operators (my first
exposure to union employees) to implement changes.

For those of you who went to business school, you may remember a book we
read called "The Goal", which is a very good and interesting story about a
plant manager who improves the operations at a plant. Well, my job is a
bit like that. For example, one of my projects is to help reduce the setup
time for a type of printing press, which will reduce our plant's operating
cost. Another is to help to reduce the amount of scrap materials. I will
also work on improving our supply chain management, and also help with our
Six Sigma quality projects. When I go back to LA, I will pick up some of
my B-school notes from my operations class, which will be quite useful.

This week's thought provoking question is, "If you had to choose the best
television show ever made, which one would you pick?"

This week's humor and inspirational pieces were forwarded from Elaine Low
and Mei Ying, respectively.

Enjoy!

-Josh.
9235 North Church Drive #528
Parma Heights, OH 44130
(440) 884-1623
_________________________________

Elderly Proposal

An elderly widow and widower were dating for about five years. The man
finally decided to ask her to marry. She immediately said "yes".

The next morning when he awoke, he couldn't remember what her answer was!
"Was she happy? I think so, wait, no, she looked at me funny..."

After about an hour of trying to remember to no avail, he got on the
telephone and gave her a call. Embarrassed, he admitted that he didn't
remember her answer to the marriage proposal.

"Oh," she said, "I'm so glad you called. I remembered saying 'yes' to
someone, but I couldn't remember who it was."
_________________________________

Riddle

Try to think hard before you go down for an answer.

Once there was a loving couple travelling in a bus in a mountainous area.
They wanted to get down at some place. The couple disembarked the bus and
it moved on. As the bus moved on, a humongous rock fell on the bus from a
mountain and crushed the bus to crumbs. Everybody on board was killed.

The couple upon seeing that, said, "We wish we could be on that bus."

Why did they say that?

Scroll down for answer
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Answer !!!!
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In case they were on the bus and had decided not to get down, the resulting
time delay could have been avoided and the rock would have fallen after the
bus had passed off....!!!

Think positive in life always and look for opportunities when u can help
others.

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

January 13, 2002: Chocolate, Points for 2002

Hi,

Greetings from Cleveland! It snowed when I first arrived here, but it was
actually over 40 degrees in the past few days. I'm living in Parma
Heights, which is a nice suburb in the southwest part of Cleveland. I live
right across from a mall, 2 gas stations, 2 large grocery stores, and many
restaurants. There is a Wal-Mart and Target nearby as well, so shopping
has been very convenient. The only store that I really miss is 99 Ranch.

I ate dim sum at a restaurant in Chinatown with my high school big sister
Irene Chan, who just relocated to Cleveland for work as well. Chinatown
here is tiny (I think only a couple of blocks). There are a few Chinese
grocery stores in Chinatown, but the prices are much higher than those in
LA. We also had lunch at an Italian restaurant in Little Italy, which is
only one street.

In the past two weeks, I visited two churches. The first is the Cleveland
Chinese Christian Church. The English service had about 80 people. The
church is located in a northeast suburb of Cleveland, so it was quite far
away. Today, I visited the Cleveland Baptist Church, which is only a few
miles away. It is very large (I think over 1000 people), and the worship
music is all hymns. I didn't see any Asians there. The teaching is fairly
solid, but I think that I will be looking for a medium sized church that
sings a bit more contemporary praise music. One thing I did notice was
that there are a lot of churches in my neighborhood, and even a Christian
bookstore nearby. So I'll have plenty of churches to choose from.

Here are some pictures that I took in Boston, when I visited my old church
(BCEC). It was very good to catch up with good friends, especially my
former roommate Richard Sahara.

BCEC Friends
http://community.webshots.com/album/27654055GyjkgeFQgF

In New York, I also met up with friends from high school, college, NAAAP,
etc. Here are the pictures from my visit to my high school classmates Tai
& Judy Wong, and their adorable baby girl Caroline.

Tai Judy Caroline
http://community.webshots.com/album/27750003sjsFunmkSK

This week's thought provoking question is, "If you could be on the cover of
any magazine next month, which magazine would you want it to be, and what
would the caption say?"

This week's humor and inspirational pieces were forwarded from Jennifer
Deniega and Audra Khoo, respectively.

Enjoy!

-Josh.
9235 North Church Drive #528
Parma Heights, OH 44130
Tel: (440) 884-1623
_________________________________

All About Chocolate .....

Chocolate is a Vegetable: Chocolate is derived from cocoa beans. Bean =
vegetable.

Sugar is derived from either sugar CANE or sugar BEETS. Both are plants,
which places them in the vegetable category. Thus, chocolate is a
vegetable.

To go one step further, chocolate candy bars also contain milk, which is
dairy. So candy bars are a health food.

Chocolate-covered raisins, cherries, orange slices and strawberries all
count as fruit, so eat as many as you want.

If you've got melted chocolate all over your hands, you're eating it too
slowly.

The problem: How to get 2 pounds of chocolate home from the store in a hot
car. The solution: Eat it in the parking lot.

Diet tip: Eat a chocolate bar before each meal. It'll take the edge off
your appetite, and you'll eat less.

If I eat equal amounts of dark chocolate and white chocolate, is that a
balanced diet? Don't they actually counteract each other?

Chocolate has many preservatives. Preservatives make you look younger.

Put "eat chocolate" at the top of your list of things to do today. That
way, at least you'll get one thing done.

A nice box of chocolates can provide your total daily intake of calories in
one place. Now, isn't that handy?

If not for chocolate, there would be no need for control top pantyhose. An
entire garment industry would be devastated. You can't let that happen, can
you?

REMEMBER: "Stressed" spelled backward is "desserts" Send this to four women
and you will lose two pounds. Send this to all the women you know (or ever
knew), and you will lose 10 pounds.

If you delete this message, you will gain 10 pounds immediately.

That's why I had to pass this on --

I didn't want to risk it.
_________________________________

HERE'S TO A BETTER YEAR!!

God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow,
sun without rain; but He did promise strength for the day,
comfort for the tears, and light for the way.
Disappointments are like road humps, they slow you down a bit
but you enjoy the smooth road afterwards.
Don't stay on the humps too long. Move on!

When you feel down because you didn't get
what you want, just sit tight and be happy,
because God is thinking of something better to give you.
When something happens to you, good or bad,
consider what it means. There's a purpose to
life's events, to teach you how to
laugh more or not to cry too hard.

You can't make someone love you;
all you can do is be someone who can be loved,
the rest is up to the person your worth.

The measure of love is when you love without measure.
In life there are very rare chances that you'll meet the
person you love and loves you in return.
So once you have it don't ever let go, the chance might
Never come your way again.

It's better to lose your pride to the one you love, than
to lose the one you love because of pride. We spend too much
time looking for the right person to love or finding fault with
those we already love, when instead we should be perfecting the
love we give.

When you truly care for someone, you don't look for faults,
you don't look for answers, you don't look for mistakes.
Instead, you fight the mistakes, you accept the faults,
and you overlook the excuses.


Remember the five simple rules to be happy:
1. Free your heart from hate.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

No one can go back and make a brand new start.
Anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.
EVERY SECOND WHICH PASSES,
IS ANOTHER CHANCE TO TURN YOUR LIFE AROUND.