Vinh Pham

Today on NPR they had the mayors of two US cities talking about how they tried so hard to court Toyota to build a plant in their city. While US automobile companies are paying $100K to their employees to leave the job, Japanese companies are getting the red carpet treatment from US workers. In a related story, a professor did a study and said that California workers actually benefit from illegal immigrants because illegals allow them educated citizens to hold better higher paying jobs. Uneducated citizens however still get paid less.

The ideas presented in these two stories are very ironic.
First, Americans are always complaining that they are loosing their jobs because it is being sent over seas, yet they are the ones courting for jobs from offshore companies. On another note, getting $100K to quit your job?? Ok Ok, I know that getting $100K is not enough to cover the misfortune of loosing a company you dedicated your entire life to, but lets be honest, $100K is a lot of money you can use to begin a new life.
Second, people get all upset because they blame illegal immigrants for stealing their jobs and bringing crime to America. That’s a load crap in my opinion. Another study I heard yesterday said that as the population of immigrants risen in the past few years, the number of crimes has actually decreased! In fact, the study also pointed out that as immigrants become more American (ie. their children ) their frequency of committing crimes actually increases. So lets look at some of the facts: 1) immigrants do the dirty work so educated Americans can have better paying jobs 2) they do not commit any crimes, so the question is, why are we so hostile to them??

Go figure.

I stumbled on this today, and I just could not believe it. Being someone who is always around young teachers, this story really sparked my interest. I have not heard of this case on the news, and that surprises me. But anyways, this story is absolute amazing.

Teacher goes to jail over pornography

Being a computer veteran, and a ‘pornographic viewer’ for a good portion of my life, I must say that these charges are ludicrous. Unless they can prove without a doubt that this woman intentionally opened all the porn sites and was jerking off in class while her student watched, the claims made here are absolutely crazy.

Here are my arguments:

1) I believe her when she said she doesn’t know how to turn off the monitor. You have NO IDEA how many people still ask me to fix their monitor thinking it’s their computer.

2) Clicking ‘close’ will actually OPEN more spyware. If you ever get a spyware or an ad popping up on your computer, click on the X will actually open up more spyware for you. A lot of spyware have tricky buttons that looks like close buttons, but they are used to load even more malicious programs

3) Once an adware is installed, it is not easy to remove. Virus scanners DO NOTHING to protect you against a spyware or adware. Closing it, does not remove it. You can close it all you want, but it will be there when you turn your computer on again.

4) Just because the domain name sounds good, it does not mean the website is good. The website whitehouse .com used to be a pornographic website. I remember stumbling on to it once when I was looking for whitehouse.gov. The point is, most people are unaware that the seemingly innocent sites they are visiting, could be malicious.

Anyways, I cannot tell you if this woman is innocent or not. All I can say is that it is VERY VERY VERY easy for someone to get trapped in this nightmare if they are not familiar with computer technology.

I don’t remember much about Vietnam, but there is one thing that is clear in my mind. It was an early lunar new year morning. I remember my dad waking up before the sun came up and went outside to our big cement yard to light firecrackers. I can’t remember the scenery because it was just dark, however I remember vividly the sound of exploding firecrackers. I also remember the sound of firecracker from all the houses around us. It was an exciting moment, a fun moment, a time that is so far away…

I can’t tell you for sure if I just dreamed that up, but its an image I’ve had in my mind for as long as I can remember. I think my parents once told me that during Tet you get up early and light firecrackers to welcome to the new year, it was part of the Vietnamese tradition.

I am sad that with every passing year, a little bit more of my culture is lost.

I got Uyen some tulips for V-Day. I like tulips. They look like white peaches, if white peaches were flowers. Speaking of white peaches, white peaches are good…

We went to Frank Fat, a Chinese restaurant in Sacramento, for dinner. Let me declare right here, right now, that they had the best Chinese food I have ever eaten. Yes it was expensive and dark ( yea fancy restaurants are always dark, I don’t know why ), but the food was damn good.

The past couples days I have not felt like blogging. I have so many things I want to write about, but I just don’t want to sit down and write it. Maybe its because my back hurts like a bitch and I can’t barely sit down to take a dump.

Speaking of dumps. Its already 10:20 and I have not done a single lick of work today. Just like somedays I don’t feel like blogging, somedays I just don’t feel like working. Ok ok, actually, most days I don’t feel like working… :lol: . But the truth is, when I get inspired to work, I can do great things. When I get bored at work, I rearrange my website.

Leave me a fucking comment.

Almost every other day, at around 12pm, I leave my cubicle world to go get some poison to ingest. I drive down to the local poison center and speak through the little confession box, telling the person on the other side what brand of poison I want, and how much of it I want. We then agree on a fair price and I pull up slowly to pay my dues.

Ok. I don’t know about anyone else, but I always feel like that whenever I go to get fast food. Not only does the food I get at those places makes me feel like I am going in a pool of cooking oil, but the people working at these joints also make me feel like I am setting myself up for a life time of doom and misery. Its kind of funny actually. The people serving you at a fast food joint is like a before and AFTER of what will happen to you after you eat the food. But I never actually see these people eat the food, so its even scarier for me think that maybe just being around this food and smelling it could make you balloon out of control and slimy, crust filled, muck would craw out of the pores in your face.

Seriously, you think I am joking, but can you remember the last time you pulled up to the drive in and thought to yourself, “she’s hot.” Probably never… More like, “fuck I hope she didn’t touch my food”, or “fuck I think I loss my appetite.”

But I shouldn’t be complaining, because even though I know that the food I am eating is going to kill me, I keep coming back. I buy the food, and then as I eat it, I get shivers down my spine thinking about how my arteries are being bombarded by millions of sticky fat cells piling up. It’s like a scene from “requiem for a dream”, except that instead of cells moving fast through my arteries, the cells are in traffic gridlock like its after work hours on an LA highway.

Poison… absolute poison… and as I type this, I am putting more poison in my mouth. I feel its menacing effects pouncing away at my lethargic heart, and I can feel the grease on my finger tips smearing into the grooves of my keyboard. I need to cook.

Today I join the list of people who knows someone who died of cancer. My cousin, which I dont have a picture of, died from cancer today. He is not what you normally think of when you think of cousin, because he is actually in his late 30s, so he is a lot older than me. Him and his family were the first people we knew when we came to America in 1991. They opened up their home to us, and they gave us everything we needed to start our life here. I remember coming over to his house at Christmas and eating turkey and corn. The house was always cold, and it had a big backyard with a lot of untrimmed grass.
He was a good person. He always tried to do things for other people, and he always did a lot for me and my family. He actually helped my dad buy his first car, and he also helped me bought my first car a few years back. He was a simple man really. At the end of his life he was driving a cab in SF. Of all the cabs in SF, one day while walking in downtown SF, I actually saw him driving by.
I am the oldest in my family, but I would consider him to be almost like my older brother. Of all his brothers and sisters, he was the most caring. He was also very good with his hands and that made him sort of an idol in my mind. He could single handedly rebuilt a car engine in his spare him. He could also remodel an entire kitchen by himself. He could build almost anything. He was an amazing person.
When I learned he had cancer, I didnt know how to re-act. I just remember it being weird seeing him bald, weak, and confused. In my mind, he had NEVER been like that. He was always, in his life, strong, friendly, and helpful. That is how I will remember him. He was a great man. God will be happy to welcome him to his kingdom.

This is Ivy. People have asked me “who is that girl on your profile?” That’s the kind of buzz she gets. But for me, she’s just little Ivy (I really shouldnt call anyone “little”, cus I aint exactly far from it), the girl I knew back in freshman year of college. I remember she always came to my door looking all happy in her blue UC davis sweatshirt. I think she was the only person who wore a blue UC Davis sweatshirt. Nowadays Ivy is a superstar. She hangs out with all the celebrities up in Hollywood because shes cool like that. She is also cool because she always has time to hang out with you if you have time for her. Shes always down to kick it with her homies.

Anyways. Waking up late makes me feel sick. I like waking up at like 6am and jumping out of bed like I am going to drop dead any minute because I am so tired. At least I don’t feel sick that way. Sleeping in is the devil!

This is a picture of my buddy Susan taken by Derek. It makes her look amazing. ( Although she does look good normally too ) This photo brings out a lot of colors and an awkward expression that just seems so life like. When I look at this photo it reminds me of the first time Susan spoke Vietnamese to me. She’s tricky, easy to surprise you when you least expect it. This is Susan after the alcohol, looking out from the Susan before alcohol. Anyways, good work Derek.

I can’t remember if I already written about this, but I need to mention that the bathroom at my work is probably one of the best places to work. It’s warm in there, and it’s the only place at my job where my pants can be off and no one would care. It’s not like I like being naked or anything, its just that on cold days, walking into the warm bathroom can be a relief. Besides, it’s usually extremely quiet and nobody really drops a bomb in there anyways. If my boss let me, I would move my desk into the bathroom and work next to the sink.

I was browsing flickr today and I am starting to notice there is a lot of nudity on there. A breast here, a darken butt there, and scantily clad women everywhere.

Don’t get me wrong, being a man and all, I love a little T&A every chance I get :), but on flickr??? I find that kind of offensive.

I understand that flickr address a global market, and that people around the world are very “used” to nudity and stuff, but come on, flickr?

What if I am a parent? I wouldn’t feel right if my kid was looking at flickr and pictures of naked girls keep coming up.

What If I am at work, like right now, what the hell am I suppose to say if my boss walks by? Or worse, one of my co-workers? They will think I am some kind of pervert. (which I wont deny ).

My point is, flickr should not be about nudity. I enjoy the photographs I see on there, and I can do without all that nakedness.

Whenever I am driving in my little car, and the music is on loud, I can briefly close my eyes to day dream about what life could be. In my day dream I am sitting on leather seats in my brand new BMW M3. I am wearing an expensive dry cleaned suit. My hair is gelled up and I got my stunna shades on. I am going somewhere important. Somewhere that people are anxiously awaiting my arrival. Sometimes I am just on my way home to see my girl, because we been apart for so long. Sometimes I am on my way to a business meeting where I will be handing down decisions that will be worth millions of dollars. When I arrive at my destination, there is a parking spot reserved for me right in front. I pulled in quickly, step out of my ride and press the lock button. The cars goes “beep” and the headlight winks slightly. I shove my hands in my pants pocket and off I go into a big building with darkened glass windows. A pretty young woman sits at the big marbled receptionist desk with a phone to her ear. At my arrival shes politely puts down the phone, stands up and utter in a sweet sexy voice, “Good Morning Mr. Pham, Bill Gates is waiting for you on line 2″.

Yep… That is what goes on in my head when you are not looking.