Blog

  • Pulling Teeth

    December 28, 2004

    Today was a long day…first, I got two wisdom teeth extracted, then I replaced my main hard drive on the production PC. Guess which one took longer.

    I was pretty nervous about getting the teeth yanked, but so far it hasn’t been a terrible experience. I had it done under local anesthetic at Modern Dental, which seems to be a good enough operation. It’s the first time I’ve had my teeth looked at here in the States; prior to this, my dentist uncle in Taiwan had done all the work. Apparently my extractions were more difficult than anticipated, because I have a mutant upper wisdom tooth that has three roots instead of one. It didn’t want to come out. The bottom tooth wasn’t much more cooperative, but it eventually came. The entire procedure took a little over an hour.

    Replacing my hard drive, on the other hand, took the better part of a day. Two of my hard drives were on the very brink of failure, which made it difficult to get the machine to boot up so I could transfer the boot files to the new drive. I eventually got it to work, but the data drive was hosed and I had to toss it. Fortunately I have everything backed up to a central server, so I haven’t lost anything. While I had the computer open, I also cleaned up the video card’s cooling fan, which was gummed up and making horrible noises.

    All in all, a productive if slightly annoying day. The next two days should be quite painful in the jaw and I’m on a no-alcohol, no chewing diet. So much for holiday drinking and eating!

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    DSri Seah
  • Go Team!

    December 23, 2004

    John Doerr is a VC with an apparently great track record, and does a Question and Answer session with Fast Company. He confirms the mental calculus that’s been churning in the back of my mind recently: a great team is everything. Worth reading, if you’re thinking about raising some hell with your own company some day. However, it’s the kind of advice that you will have had to experience before you really get it. Via jd.

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    DSri Seah
  • The Good Stuff

    December 23, 2004

    Pu Erh Tea Dad brought some special tea, called Pu Erh Tea. It’s fermented, aged and compressed into a cake that you have to pick apart yourself.

    Pu Erh Tea BoxPu Erh Tea CakeYou can see the shrink-wrapped brick in the red box (Dad says it just says Pu Erh Tea). It takes quite a bit of effort to scrape the leaves off the main brick enough so that it can actually be brewed. Since we were splitting this brick between my sister and myself, it was necessary to crack it in half.

    Pu Erh Tea CupThe tea itself is a mild, red tea that has a kind of earthy taste. Not as strongly flavored as black or green tea, it’s sort of faintly fragrant. The Wiki article says that there’s mold that forms on the compressed cake as it ages that contributes to the earthy flavor. Sort of like cheese, I suppose.

    Some of the fancier cakes have shapes embossed in them.

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    DSri Seah
  • Retail Greetings

    December 22, 2004

    Yes, literally retail greetings. I guess it’s a crazy time of year for mall employees, but it still irks me when I go up to, say, the Cinnabon counter, and get nothing but a disassociated stare in return. A “Hi! How Can I Help You?” would be nice, even expected. Thinking it was me, I’ve been adjusting my approach to be a touch more benevolent, even jolly. Not much effect.

    I wonder if I’m getting profiled: Large, puffy asian man with bad hair. Demanding demeanor. Probably an asshole who’s going to give me a hard time about there not being enough cinnamon on his f**ing bun and try to get a discount, because his bitchy wife and kids emasculate him at home. *Shields Up! Or maybe they’re just poorly trained, or tired. But the person in front of me in line seems to get the standard how-de-do.

    Maybe I’m imagining it, but next time I’m out, I’ll have to try some different warm-up routines. Use different eye contact. Or wear a shirt with a collar.

    Or maybe ignore their lack of retail salesmanship and get on with my life. :-)

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    DSri Seah
  • Soup is Good Food

    December 21, 2004

    I have a toothache, which has done wonders to surpress my apetite. Having not slept well for several days due to the throbbing pain, I have resorted to gumming my food on the right side of my mouth and avoiding all things that fall outside of “tepid” in terms of temperature.

    However, today I had a culinary breakthrough: Campbell’s Southwestern Chicken Verde Soup + White Bread = Toothache Friendly Fare. It’s sort of like Chicken A La King over bread. Nice and soft. Slurpable. Spicy enough, with small bits of chicken that are easily swallowed. I’m sure this will work with the other fine Campbell’s cream-based soups. I think the Chicken Verde is a bit too strong by itself, but on white bread it’s better. On toast it would probably be pretty good too.

    I’ve got a dentist appointment later today, so I’ll be back to solid foods soon. But just in case, I’m slow cooking a beef roast in the crock pot at this very moment.

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    DSri Seah