Las Vegas and Back

I was in Las Vegas last week for the first time since 2003. The infamous strip has changed since then, but was still, in so many ways, the Las Vegas I remembered. If there was one change that stood out, it was that the raunchiness and open debauchery was more prevalent than what I previously remembered. But it wouldn’t be Las Vegas, nor would it be as swarming, if that was not present. It’s part of the overall experience. I went there for a conference and did not have a lot of free time, but I did manage to get out and see a show and enjoy what time I had. The cost of living in Las Vegas is attractive, but the actual thought of living there is something that I have yet to get comfortable with, although I am told that it’s quite a family-friendly and convenient place to live once you leave the strip.

One of the things I will remember from this trip, ironically, was the flight back to New York. Not only did the staff of Virgin America take care of me onboard their flight, but while descending into JFK I was able to view the City in all of its nighttime glory. For the first time that I can remember I flew directly over Manhattan into JFK. My window seat several thousand feet in the air provided an extraordinary view. From locating the general area of my residence, to the dark rectangle of Central Park to the flashes of cameras on the 86th floor observation deck of the Empire State Building, the island and its surroundings were a sight to see, however brief it lasted. For the first time visitor to the City, such a view may have been deceiving, for what looks like one sparkling, manageable island can be daunting while down on street level. For me, though, it’s a welcome sight because it means I’m home.

Quote of the Day

“You can’t kill love. You can’t even kill it with hate. You can kill in-love, and loving, and even loveliness. You can kill them all, or numb them into a dense, leaden regret, but you can’t kill love itself. Love is the passionate search for a truth other than your own; and once you feel it, honestly and completely, love is forever. Every act of love, every moment of the heart reaching out, is a part of the universal good: it’s a part of God, or what we call God, and it can never die.”

~Shantaram, page 740

Homeward Bound Again

The below post is something I wrote over two years ago. I hate to repost old thoughts, but some things are worth repeating.

There is usually only one good thing about working late: the car ride home. Most days I leave the office around 7:00 pm and take the subway up to GCT to catch the commuter train home. On a good day, it’s a one-hour trip from the time I leave my office to when I walk into my apartment door. But one of the few perks about working at a law firm in Manhattan is the car service provided if you have to stay in the office past 9:00 pm. I guess the rationale behind providing a Lincoln Towncar to shuttle around its lawyers to the suburbs is that it’s a safer, faster way to get them home. But of course, it’s the client that ends up paying for it.

The few times I have had to take a car home recently have been because I was at work until 11:00 pm or beyond, a time when the traffic on this over-congested island has finally subsided. Given where I live, the quickest route home from lower Manhattan is to take the FDR Highway along the East River until it reaches the TriBorough Bridge, connecting us to the Bronx. Once I give the foreign driver my address, his computer leads us home, leaving me with time to relax in the backseat of the luxury car. Although I don’t mind my commute, the train I take daily is not always the most relaxing means of transportation. As such, it’s nice to be able to put on some Brian Culbertson or other Smooth Jazz and watch the lights of the City fly by on my left and the views of Brooklyn and Queens on my right. In the hustle and bustle of my everyday commute, I don’t often have an opportunity to appreciate the size and beauty of the great City of New York. In many ways it is an engineering masterpiece, at least when looked at as a whole. To think that the colony of New Amsterdam has become what it is today in 400 years is impressive. It’s toughness and refiner’s fire drew me here.

Yet, there are times during the MTA delays that I wonder why I am in fact here. And it is in the car ride home, along the East River, that I remember. I have lived in other locations, and New York too, one day, will be a memory to me. But with the light dancing across the river from the outer Boroughs to meet me in Manhattan, I know why at this point in life I am here. I am home.

Year Thirty / Year Three

I am amazed at the power and speed in which you can reach out to people these days. This past week was my wife’s thirtieth birthday, and for several reasons, I hadn’t yet gotten her a gift. I had something in mind for her, but hadn’t had the time to pick it up.  On the day before my wife’s birthday I quickly posted a Facebook status update to the effect of, “Help, I need last-minute gift ideas for my wife’s birthday.” Within minutes the responses came rolling in. A trip to the spa was the most popular gift idea, although I knew that was not the gift to get for my wife. Time to herself was also a hit amongst the responses, but I also knew that was not the best idea. One friend even suggested a slip and slide (not sure what was meant by that). In the end, I did what I knew all along I was going to do. I left work early, went to a few stores in midtown and picked out some clothes at stores I knew she liked. I also picked up dinner and dessert before jumping on the train to head home. Despite all of her talk of not wanting a gift because of our recent vacation to California, I knew I couldn’t come home empty handed. Whether it was what she had in mind or not, I don’t know, but in the end she seemed satisfied and we spent an enjoyable evening together for her thirtieth birthday. Perhaps I should have put some more thought into her gift – should have planned months in advance and really pulled off something special. To those who believe that should’ve been my game plan, I can only say I’m sorry. I am fortunate enough to have an understanding and low-maintenance wife who was happy to spend her birthday at home with just me.

On a more personal note, this week marks three years since I began this blog. I am proud to say that, unlike 75% or so of personal blogs that stay dormant for months, I have continued to write an average of one post a week for three years. Readership is still small and I have made no effort to monetize the site through Google Ad Sense or any other means, but I have had my share of memorable posts over the past three years, some of which I may repost in the coming year. I just like to write and hope to continue this for the next several years. Let me know if you ever have any topic ideas, as that is the most difficult thing, I believe, about maintaining a blog – what do you write about day in and day out? I will resume coming up with ideas, but any thoughts are appreciated.

A Trip to Berkeley

Last week I had the chance to visit the campus of one of the great public universities in the country – the University of California at Berkeley. It was my first trip to the city and the campus and was a memorable one. Not only does Berkeley’s hilltop location provide an excellent view of the North Bay and the city of San Francisco and its towering bridges, but the campus was beautiful and brought me back to my college years, although I attended a much smaller university. What I will remember most, however, is a prominent display near the student union and the bookstore. It was entitled “How I Feel About Berkeley.” The display was a long wall of beautiful black and white photos featuring the faces of current Berkeley students – the classes of 2010 to 2013. Although the photos were black and white, it truly was a rainbow of color and diversity. Each student had his or her name displayed and a chance to provide a caption at the bottom of the photo. Besides English, there were comments in a multitude of languages. But these students were not from abroad. The Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, Hebrew, Portuguese, Hindi, Thai, Hmong, and other languages that these students understood and proudly displayed came from their homes. In California. You could see it in their faces; these were not foreign students. As I gazed at the faces staring back at me, each commenting on what the university meant to them or how it changed their lives, I had the distinct impression that they (including their contemporaries in all shapes and colors at the top universities in the country) are the future. These kids, not much younger than I am, were what the country must depend on and who will ultimately change the world as we know it. I was holding my daughter at the time and as we were beckoned to leave the display by my departing party, I turned to her, all of two and a half years, and whispered, “Say goodbye to the future of your country.”

Postponed Getaway

Another vacation is here. While I have traveled quite a few times this year for work compared to the recent past, I have done so each time on my own. Tomorrow morning, I am on the plane with my wife and two young daughters. For a six-hour flight. To California. My prior flights have been spent reading and watching movies and television. But I will now have to switch activities every twenty minutes to keep the kids entertained for the duration of the flight. But we have been looking forward to this trip for months and I am glad it is here. It will be nice to get away and see family. Up until this week, my wife and I were even planning on leaving the kids with grandma and grandpa and getting away on our own for a few days. Given that our last trip together was literally years ago, I thought a few days together would be a needed getaway. Not surprisingly, that is no longer happening. It’s a money issue. We finally agreed (although it was a compromise on my end in the spirit of keeping the peace) that we would forego the mountain hotel resort together for a few day trips around town. On tap we have some shopping and dining; enjoyable activities, but not the hiking and relaxing I had initially planned. While I am sure we will end up enjoying the vacation (hopefully), this raised the question in my mind whether we will ever have a chance to get away on our own. This was supposed to be our chance, but I will now have to wait and see if I can convince my wife to spend a few days alone with me next year. If not, I may have to plan a one-man getaway on my own.

Fall Memories

This past weekend marked the six year anniversary of the weekend my wife and I first hit it off together. I will always remember it. It was fall, I had just started law school and love was in the air. The cooler weather and changing foliage each October always reminds me of those days. I used to walk around our university campus thinking, wondering what the future held for us. There was so much uncertainty in our lives at that time, but we knew we wanted to be together and were determined to make it work. We took a leap of faith and committed ourselves to each other.

Now, six years later, I look back at what we have accomplished together – two educations completed, two careers on track, two wonderful daughters, one house and almost six years of surviving in New York – and smile. While I feel we have a long way to go sometimes, we have certainly come a long way. If nothing else, we finally deserve a vacation, which is where we’re off to next week. Lake Tahoe, here we come. With the chance next week to step out of our hectic lives, I am ready to rekindle the fire and affection I felt that fall six years ago when I fell in love.

Visiting Milan

I am currently in Switzerland for the fourth time since last September. But I have yet to leave Confoederatio Helvetica, the Latin name for what is now the state of Switzerland, during any of my trips here. That changed this past weekend when I traveled to Milan, Italy. Although I had visited Italy more than six years ago, this was my first trip to Milan. People I asked mentioned that it could be done in a day trip and so that is what I planned. Traveling with some colleagues from work I spent the day in one of the fashion capitals of the world. I strolled the streets of the Golden Triangle and peered into shops where I knew I could not even come close to affording the cheapest item in the store. I walked the ancient streets on my way to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuelle. After exploring the roof and intricate architecture of the Duomo, Milan’s centerpiece and massive cathedral, I admired the beautiful and colorful stained glass windows found inside. And I explored an outdoor marketplace away from the city center where the city’s vibrant immigrant scene was on full display.

Overall it was a fun trip. But I feel no need to go back anytime soon. I got a feel for the city during my short time in Italy and saw a few of the sites. What was most striking, however, was the difference between Italy and Switzerland. As one colleague later told me, as frustrating as living in Switzerland may be for someone not from here, you don’t fully appreciate it until you travel to other parts of Europe. I wholeheartedly agree.

Hey Mr. DJ

I was reminded this week of an old ambition of mine – I used to want to be a radio DJ. Not one of the morning talk show DJs or even an afternoon let-me-solve-your-problems DJ, but a late-night, slow-jams-playing, small-audience-listening DJ. The type of DJ not hired for their voice, celebrity appeal or wittiness, but useful only in his ability to choose and play good music. I wanted to play slow-jam R&B and smooth jazz hits for everyone listening at home or on the road after 10:00 pm. Of course, my life has gone in a very different direction. I never did seriously pursue a life of DJing as I guess I didn’t think of it as a stable career path; I ended up in the law instead.

But that doesn’t mean I have never been on the radio. While in Japan several years ago, I found myself spending two months in the mountainous town of Toyooka, near the Japan Sea. In the middle of the largest shopping center in the town was a booth in which the local pop radio station broadcast live. As it turns out, my American companion at the time and I came to know the DJ and were invited to be on the radio during her afternoon program. Her last name was Hashimoto, but her DJ name was Hershey. I will forever remember my on-air conversation in Japanese with Hershey. She asked us about our hometown (Seattle) and what we thought of Japan (liked it) and even allowed us to dedicate a song. I chose a hit song by Utada Hikaru and, after giving a shout-out to all my friends and family back in the States, dedicated the song to all of the Utada lovers out there in Toyooka. It was a fun experience and may be the only time in my life I am actually on live radio. The thoughts of being a DJ have died as I have grown older, but my love for music and choosing music has not.

Music’s Medium Through the Years

I look back at my relatively short life and am amazed at the changes in how I listen to music. I don’t go back to the days of vinyl records or 8-tracks, but I do clearly remember the days of cassette tapes. I remember having several briefcase-like containers that I could insert my tapes in. I bought several tapes as a youth and spent hours mixing and making my own tapes. Many of the boomboxes of the late 1980s and early 1990s had dual cassette tape players meant for people to record whatever songs they wanted on blank tapes. I made tapes for road trips, for working out, for relaxing, and so on. You name the activity and I had a mix tape for it. But of course, CDs had gained in popularity while I was still young and soon tapes became difficult to find. CDs were great because a listener could easily skip to the track they wanted without having to rewind or fast-forward. Options such as ‘repeat’ or ‘random’ became music necessities.

In 1998 as I was moving to Japan, CDs were still popular and, thanks to computers, people had begun to ‘burn’ music they wanted onto blank CDs, much as I did with my tapes. While in Japan I was confronted with mini disc players, or MDs. Although similar to CDs, MDs were smaller and enclosed in a hard case. They were also recordable and I swapped many MDs with friends during my two-year stay in Japan. When I returned to the U.S. I thought I would be at the forefront of technology with my state-of-the-art MD player only to find that the U.S. had skipped MDs all together and had gone straight to MP3s. Napster was still in nascent operation in 2000 (albeit illegally) and I obtained an education in digital file sharing through friends in college. Just for the record, I did not own a computer and did not download files illegally, but did receive burned CDs from friends from their music library.  

While in college I found Internet radio. Tired of listening to the MDs or CDs I owned at the time, I recall plugging in my headphones to a library computer and working for hours on end while listening to various stations online through Live 365 or MSN Radio. It was refreshing to be able to have access to countless genres of non-stop streaming radio whenever I wanted. Later in life, while in law school, I received an iPod and became familiar with iTunes. I copied my entire CD collection onto my iPod and for the first time became familiar with podcasts, then just becoming popular.

Today, I still listen to my iPod almost daily as I commute, but have found that I am generally tired of spending money for music. I doubt I will buy another physical CD ever again. If I want to listen to music these days beyond my iPod, I can access Pandora or Slacker Radio for free on my phone. And in the near future, Spotify will finally be available in the U.S. and will allow anyone to download any song on their computer for free. I can’t imagine how my children will listen to music. Really, what could be next after this? Smaller digital music files? Better quality streaming without any lags? Unlimited skips on free Internet radio sites? Music is here to stay, but the way we listen to it will forever change. My failure to imagine the next possibilities, I guess, is partly why I am not rich.

Happy Anniversary

Today marks what would have been my parent’s thirty-first wedding anniversary. Unfortunately, they never had the chance to make it this far as my mom passed away fifteen years ago this past spring. But that does not mean their anniversary is something to be forgotten. The marriage was a success that ended in sadness and tragedy. But the four children born from the marriage, me and my three siblings, live on as a testament to what they accomplished together. And so, on this special day, I wish you happy anniversary, dad, and wish you the best as you go forward during this exciting and life-changing time.

The Difference a Year Makes

It just occurred to me that it was one year ago this week that I gave my two-week notice to my last job (first out of law school) and made the move. Looking back, I am glad I made the switch. Like with anything new, I had some uncertainty prior to the move and knew it would send me down a very different path than the one I was on at the time. But I have since learned a lot; I have joined a company that I genuinely feel is headed in the right direction and enjoy being with the people that I work with. I feel that I am part of a team, which was a huge issue for me with my prior job. And while I recognize that I may have a long way to go in my career in some ways, I am in a much better place than I was last year. I still have a job, for one thing, which, after this past tumultuous year, is worth quite a lot. The year has gone by quickly – that must be a sign that I am doing something right.

A Greener Kind of City

I spent a few days earlier this week in San Francisco and for the second time in six months was struck with how much more environmentally friendly of a city it is compared to New York. Sure, New York has its proponents of living a green lifestyle, and it has made strides towards greenliness over the past decade, but San Francisco is noticeably leaps and bounds beyond New York. From my company’s San Francisco office to the Giants/Dodgers game I attended at AT&T Park to the dinner I had in Union Square, San Francisco, its public servants and its citizens are actively doing its part to help the environment. Who knows how much of an impact this will make in the big scheme of things, but such effort is, I believe, a step in the right direction and a model for other urban centers around the country.

O-bon Odori

Ten years ago this week I was in the neighborhoods of Osaka doing the O-bon odori, the dance performed at the annual Japanese festival of the dead. All across Japan, from the end of July to early August, neighbors and families gather to dance the night away and welcome the souls of their ancestors back for a night of dancing. It’s quite the custom, and one that almost every Japanese has participated in at least once in their lifetime. I had the privilege of spending the summer of 1999 in Osaka and was invited to the local O-bon festival near where we lived at the time. With a few other Americans, I made the journey to the neighborhood park where the festival was held for our debut O-bon Festival. It was comforting to know that hundreds of other parks around Japan were playing host to the same dancing and singing I witnessed that night. I still remember the large circle of fish-shaped lanterns that magically lit up the park that evening. In the center of the lanterns rose a wooden tower about ten feet high, where the equivalent of the mc was to sit and spin the tunes for the night, a mixture of traditional Japanese songs. Most of the crowd came dressed in their yukatas (summer kimonos) and geta (Japanese wooden shoes) and ready to line dance the night away despite the humidity that still hung in the evening air. Of course, like so many other things Japanese, O-bon’s roots relate back to Buddhism and the ritual of honoring one’s ancestors, but you would be hard pressed to find anyone in Japan these days, especially among Japan’s youth, that could explain the true significance of O-bon.

Once the music got going that summer night we quickly realized we were the only ones that didn’t know the steps, but after a few minutes of instruction, we fit right in. Young or old, everyone joined in, making a circle of dancers stepping in synchronization around the yagura, the raised wooden platform that stood in the center of the park. The most famous O-bon song is that of the Coal Miners song, or Tanko Bushi. Even now, ten years later, when I hear the song memorializing the coal workers of Kyushu at Miike Mine, I remember back to that night in Osaka, sweat dripping off my forehead, and the good times I had. I just made a note to myself next summer to find a local O-bon festival to take my daughters to so they can know the joys of O-bon and the Tanko Bushi dance.

More information on O-bon can be found here.

Amazon Vine

I have been a fan of Amazon.com since 2001, when I made my first online purchase through Amazon. Back then, Amazon mostly sold books, CDs and DVDs, far from the range of products Amazon offers today. In the spring of 2001 I finished a book I really enjoyed (‘The Brothers K’ by David James Duncan, a splendid book, I might add) and it dawned on me that I should write a public review, which I did. Since that first review, I have written almost 200 more. And now it has really begun to pay off. I was invited to join the Amazon Vine Program, an initiative to have new products tested and publicly reviewed by loyal customers prior to the full product release, knowing how valuable customer and peer reviews are to potential purchasers. In exchange for agreeing to review products after use, I now have access to free products via Amazon. I can occasionally log on to the Vine newsletter and have any item still available shipped to me for free. At some point, I review the product and the cycle continues. This is even better than the library. I’m hooked. Thank you Amazon for rewarding your loyal customers and those reviewers that help make your site so great. You have (re)won over another fan.

Three Decades

This is it. Three decades of life are behind me and I have entered number four. I am now 30 years old and there is no turning back. My life so far has been good and I know there are many good days ahead of me. But youth, I feel, has passed me by. I remember when I turned 16, 18, 21, 25 and 28. I was okay with those ages. They were times to celebrate. Youth was synonymous with my life then. But I no longer have a claim to youth like I used to at my age now. There is something about the ‘3′ in front of my age that wards off any notion of youth. But that is my reality now. I can only accept it and go forward. And so I will. However, I will say this – if the next thirty years are as fun, memorable, educational and exciting as the last thirty, I will not be able to ask for nothing more. I just hope they don’t go as fast.

Yearning For Simplicity

I had always wanted to live in New York. Now I’m in my sixth summer here, and while I have never actually lived in Manhattan, I have spent the vast majority of my life the past five years studying, playing, working and commuting on the island at the center of the world. But I feel like that is becoming less and less true. My office is located in midtown, near where I exit the train that takes me from my suburban sanctuary to the heart of the city each day. I exit the train and walk two minutes and find myself already in my office. This, of course, makes for convenience, but also has the unintended effect of making me feel like I am hardly in the city. Up to September of last year I was commuting downtown once I got off the commuter train, dealing daily with the subway and the hustle and bustle of the financial district. But now it seems I am confined to the few blocks around the MetLife building at 200 Park Avenue. There was a time when I spent each Saturday in the City – enjoying the crowd or skate dancers at the Central Park Sheep Meadow, strolling the esplanade of Battery Park City, catching some window shopping along West Broadway or even taking in the always-amusing sites of Washington Square Park or Union Square. But those days ended when I had children. I have learned that with young kids, the city is often more work than it is worth.

All of this is a long way to say that while I miss having freedom in the City, I can now feel satisfied that I have been there and done that. So long as I am staying at home with family after work and on the weekends, I might as well do that in a less expensive, more family-friendly location. In looking at the country’s best places to live, as ranked by CNN/Money Magazine, I am beginning to be drawn to the simplicity and convenience of living in a smaller, suburban area as opposed to one of the most densely populated areas on earth. But no discussion on moving is meaningful unless the issue of finding a job is discussed. And I am not about to begin to look for another job. For now, therefore, our house and two jobs are here in New York. And this is more than enough to keep us here. But I am finally expressing a desire to leave, and may be willing to look beyond the strict urban living criteria I have established for much of my life.

A Tribute to Michael Jackson

There was a heated discussion today at lunch regarding Michael Jackson. The question on the table was whether you grew up listening to Michael. Almost everyone in the room was around my age, and so, naturally, in my mind, they all should have grown up listening to Michael (and they all did except for one guy, which shocked us all). Sure, I don’t exactly remember when Off the Wall or Thriller came out because of my young age at the time, but I do remember listening to the music when I was young. And as I grew older, I went back and became familiar with his music. I remember my mom telling me how she watched the 1983 Motown 25th Anniversary Special where Michael Jackson performed with his brothers as the Jackson 5 and then performed ‘Billie Jean’ live on stage. Thriller was still a new album at the time and his performance seen across the country that night helped boost the album to become the best selling album of all time. He also performed the Moonwalk on stage for the first time in that performance and changed his image forever. The passion and emotion he showed that night instantly catapulted him to another level. Young, old, black, white, it didn’t matter, everyone was listening to Michael after that.

When Bad came out, I was old enough to follow music on my own. I remember watching the video for ‘Smooth Criminal’ over and over and trying to mimic his dance moves. There was no doubt that at this point he was the King of Pop. He had transformed the music industry and revolutionized music videos and live performances. Later in my life I caught Michael Jackson performing live at the 1995 VMA Awards and remember thinking he was the best dancer in the world. Despite what he became and the problems he had in life, he will always be remembered for what he did. For me, the Michael Jackson prior to the Dangerous album is the King of Pop. He is an American icon and no one will ever come close again to achieving what he did. He is the one and only. On this day that the world pays tribute to MJ, I wish to add my own tribute to him as a great artist and part of my childhood. Thank you for the great music and memories.

A Growing Problem

Last week I drove to Washington D.C. from New York. The traffic was out of control.  I left Thursday late morning, well after the morning rush hour. Getting out of the Bronx and across the George Washington Bridge took much longer than expected because of traffic. There were no accidents or construction projects. The delays were merely a result of the volume of cars on the road. Later that day further south, traffic caused us to be further delayed on the I-495 Beltway around D.C. Again, no accidents or construction, just volume. Not only have I ranted before about the poor condition of much of the this country’s roads and infrastructure, but I am now convinced that the current infrastructure is severely inadequate to handle a growing population that will undoubtedly result in additional cars on the road. Largely due to immigration, the United States is one of the few industrialized countries in the world with a steadily increasing and not steadily declining population. But more people could equal more potential problems in the future, not just fiscally, but in the time simply needed to travel from point A to point B. I doubt the U.S. traffic will ever rival some cities of the world (e.g. Bangkok), but traffic problems will be an ever-growing problem in the future with no easy fix. All we can do is try to reduce the amount of pollutants traffic causes while increasing mass transportaion options. We can also be thankful for the freedom we have to travel when and where we want in the U.S. of A.

U.S. Soccer

As I sit here and watch the U.S. vs. Spain semifinal soccer match of the Confederations Cup in South Africa (I work at a European firm and so we can watch soccer in the office), I must say that my allegiances are somewhat mixed. If it was any other team besides the U.S. national team, I would be cheering for Spain, the home of my heritage and the current number one national soccer team in the world. But this is the U.S. we’re talking about, and I’m an American. I have always followed sports, but have rarely had a team that I truly rooted for consistently. Soccer at the national team level is the one exception. It brings out more passion in me than any other sport (and I know I’m not alone). With the U.S. up 1-0 at half, I must say that despite my affinity for Spanish soccer, I’m yelling ‘Go U.S.A.!’

The Timepiece as Art

Since I have been periodically traveling to Switzerland for work the past many months I have become fascinated with watches. Switzerland is the gold standard for watchmaking, with Japan a distant second. No other country has a monopoly on displaying time like Switzerland. But it is not just my fascination with knowing what time it is constantly that has me interested in watches. Rather, I have become interested in timepieces as works of art and an everyday accessory. I almost always have my watch on, and for the past three years that watch has been a Citizen Eco Drive, a functional, yet elegant watch that has served me well. With no reliance on a battery, I have no intentions of letting go of it. But I am becoming ready for a new watch, if only to add something new to my wardrobe. The problem is that, like with so many other things out there, today’s selection of fine watches is overwhelming. My conundrum is whether I go with one of the many Swiss-made watches, and do my company’s homeland proud, or do I go with the only real competitors out there – the Japanese brands of Citizen, Seiko or Casio.

Most everyone has heard of Rolex, Omega or Tag Heuer, but not everyone has heard of other fine Swiss timepiece manufactures, such as Jaeger Le Coultre, Chopard, IWC, Hublot, Patek Philippe, Piaget, Tissot, Maurice Lacroix, Ulysse Nardin or Audemars Piguet. Each of these manufacturers is a master in its ability to craft detailed timepieces. The technology as well as the craftsmanship in today’s watches has become so advanced that it truly can be considered a work of art. These watches are not cheap either. Although fine watch stores sit on every respectable corner in Zurich or Geneva, not everyone has the money to spend thousands of dollars on a watch. And neither do I. I am looking for function and style. I want a watch that does more than tell me the time. I demand that my watch now feed me information. It’s true that many people these days can look at their smartphones for the time, weather or up-to-date news (as can I), but I still enjoy looking at my watch strapped to my wrist. In thinking about style versus function, I have even considered getting a nice G-Shock watch for my next watch, evoking memories of the two years I spent in Japan with my men’s Baby-G watch. Or, the next time I am traveling to Zurich, I could pick me up a Swiss timepiece. Then again, I have been very happy with my Citizen watch and like their new collection of timepieces. What would you do?

Vacation Days

Last week someone from my office returned from Argentina and another colleague is in Italy at the moment. Someone just flew back from Australia a few days ago. Another person in the office has a trip to the Galapagos Islands later in the summer and even others are traveling to China, the Bahamas and Croatia, all on their personal dime for vacation. Even my brother is in Brazil at the moment on vacation. My vacation plans this summer include a short trip to Washington D.C. in a few weeks. It will be enjoyable, but will hardly be the most glamorous of vacations, especially with our two young kids. Later this year we have talked about visiting the exotic locale of Utah, but nothing has been finalized.

My company offers me five weeks of vacation and I am encouraged to use it. I sometimes wish I could. I am dying to get back to Japan and visit Hong Kong and China while I’m over in that part of the world. But in reality, how much emphasis should be put on taking a vacation? Some people refuse to travel, saving money for a day when they hope they can afford to travel while others are out there traveling and making memories when they can. Opinions vary on what the best approach is. I have read that someone should take two relaxing vacations a year. It has been over a year since I have been on a non-work relaxing vacation with family or friends. My wife has not been on a vacation for even longer and the last time we traveled together has been quite a while. I am not advocating traveling when it clearly cannot be afforded, but am merely wondering why if all those around me can do it why can’t we? Should I plan something and surprise my wife for her birthday? Would she be okay with that – the fact that I spent money for vacation purposes? What would we do with the kids? I will try to come up with some ideas and will report my progress as I do so. We need some time off together and her birthday in October presents the perfect opportunity for us to do so. Any ideas would be appreciated.

Rise and Shine

I have always been a night person. I grew up that way and it’s how I am wired. But I am trying to change that little by little. I am finding that life with two kids leaves me very little time for myself. With our first child, there was a point each day that she went to sleep, leaving me and my wife time to accomplish what we needed to in the evenings together or on our own. But with two children, not to mention an increasingly busy work schedule, the time I used to have in the evening is dwindling. The need for the time, however, is not. In searching for a time for myself, I found that the only realistic time was early in the morning. I had already been waking up around 5:45 am each weekday morning to get myself ready and off to the train station to get in the office when expected, but the more I studied it, the more I realized that the early morning was the only time I had free. Besides, it was the only time of day when it was calm and quiet at home. I have read of thousands of people who swear that the key to the successes in their life is the personal time they spend each morning. They wake as early as 4:00 am to get a jump start on the day. They use the morning to plan and asses their personal goals, exercise, meditate, read, ponder or write (I woke early this morning to write some thoughts that I had been meaning to, but couldn’t find the time). Some of the most accomplished people in the world are early risers, and it would make sense that they would be. We are not all equal in life. We each have different talents, traits, skills, educations and backgrounds. The only thing that is equal across mankind is the amount of time each person has in one day. How one spends each twenty-hour period, however, varies widely. It will be a struggle for me at times as a night person, but I am starting slowly and will build day by day to waking early and enjoying my personal time prior to the chaos of each day. Once I am used to having my morning time I hope that I won’t be able to live without it. I am aware, though, that this means trying to get to sleep at a reasonable time each evening, which will also be a struggle at times. But for now I am dedicated to waking early and using the time to enrich my life.

Lost Identity

For the first time in my life I have been the victim of identity fraud. Sort of. I received a call from my credit card company this morning asking whether I had recently purchased several tickets on Delta Air Lines. I stated that I had not, although my credit card apparently had. Trips from Miami to New York, Los Angeles to Philadelphia and even a trip to Hong Kong were booked all with my sixteen digit credit card number, three digit verification number and home address. I spoke with the member of Delta’s fraud department who spotted the suspicious activity and he confirmed that my name was not used. In fact, it was the various names used with the same card number that caused the activity to be spotted in the first place. I have never been uncomfortable using my credit card to make purchases online through legitimate sites, but my personal information was hacked somehow, somewhere. I am happy to say that people were doing their job and I will not be charged for the $3,500 worth of travel that was purchased with my card. Luckily this was caught when it was and it was not worse. I feel bad for those that have to suffer through true identity fraud and the years it takes to piece their life, credit and finances together.

It’s Our Anniversary

This week marks five years since my wife and I were married. It has gone by quickly in some ways, and in others, it’s hard to remember the pre-marriage life. We have accomplished a lot together since 2004. We have each completed our education and have begun careers. We have taken some risks, moved across the country to New York, and most importantly, have had two beautiful daughters together. We have very little to complain about. But we do not have a perfect marriage. In the end, I believe that we sometimes struggle with the same issues that all couples struggle with if they are together long enough. There is no doubt that an excellent marriage takes work, patience, love and forgiveness. Being good at each of those traits all of the time, day in and day out is difficult to do. But a successful marriage requires it. Over the past five years, there have been many more good times than bad. The key is to turn the times in between, the mediocre and uneventful times when real life happens and the weeks become months, into good and memorable times. That will be my focus for the next five years. If we can get that behind us and get a rhythm going, the rest should come naturally.

And by the way, I can’t say the above title without signing the song of the same title in my head by Tony! Toni! Toné!