Just today I was given a fright because the guy my parents are hiring to remodel our bathroom came to my house. My parents had been out shopping, at Home Depot I think, but they came home after the remodeling guy did. (I don't know his name yet, actually, haha. You'll see why soon.) Well, he came into the house, so I ran off to my bedroom, since I hadn't even brushed my hair yet, and now here was a total stranger invading my turf.

I heard footsteps in the hallway and the guy's voice calling, "Xiao pengyou? Xiao pengyou?" Literally translated, that means "little friend", and I guess it's something adults use when they're talking to children. It's one of my biggest pet peeves and one of the various other reasons I dislike the Chinese language. Okay, I know that you don't know my name, but please don't call me that. Just say, "Hey, you", that would do the trick. But don't call me little friend. Yes, I am short, but I'm certainly not your friend. (Well, maybe whoever's reading this is my friend, but you know what I mean, right? Regardless, I still find "xiao pengyou" to be a very irritating expression.)

So I was forced to walk out, and he asked me, in Chinese (Mandarin, not the Shanghai dialect), how to open the back door, since he and his fellow remodeling man needed to move stuff back and forth or something. I unlocked the door and then escaped before I could feel any more creeped out. I'd been against the idea of remodeling from the beginning, but I didn't count on having two complete strangers in my house for the next couple weeks. I tried to stay out of their way, but even when I was sitting in the living room with headphones on, I could still here the horrible sounds of my poor bathroom being smashed to smithereens.

The morning is probably the worst time of day. The remodeling workers come at about 8 am in the morning. I'm usually already awake before then; usually I'd just try to go back to sleep, but since I haven't got soundproof walls or a decent pair of earplugs (believe me, I've tried; I used my noise-canceling headphones but it was too uncomfortable to sleep), I had to wave bye-bye to get enough sleep. Sure, I could go to bed earlier, but I always forget or get distracted by something or other...I should really just set my clocks further ahead (some of my clocks are already about ten minutes ahead of the "actual" time).

The other really bad part about it is sharing the bathroom. Since one of the bathrooms is occupied, all three of us have to use the other one (at least it's good that I'm an only child). It's not pleasant when the bathroom stinks and you know who just used it. Of course, I am not free from guilt, either, in that regard at least...

I am sure this is going to be a horrible few weeks and I really hope it turns out to be worth all the grey hairs it's probably giving me. I don't mean to put all the remodeling folks out of business, but honestly, I think people should just buy a house that's already in good shape. Or a nice apartment. Just not all the chaos that goes along with remodeling.

Labels: apartment, change, chinese, choice, house, housing, little friend, mandarin, remodel, remodeling, scary, strangers, work, xiao pengyou, 小朋友

Last week, in math class, we watched a video called Donald in Mathmagic Land. It's an old Disney movie featuring Donald Duck which shows how math shows up in our lives.

The movie showed how music is actually based off of math. I believe it was Pythagoras, whom the Pythagorean Theorem is named after. He found out that to go an octave higher, you simply divide the length of a string in half. Different lengths of string would create different sounds/notes (C, D, E, F, and also the sharps and flats) Pythagoras's discovery then became the basis for the instrument we know as the harp.

Also, the film showed how math is used in nature. Many flowers had five petals, designed to look like a star, or a pentagon. And snails and other animals with shells had a spiraling shape, which is also mathematical.

Even people who play pool (otherwise known as billiards) use math. There are little markings all along the perimeter of the pool table. Some experts use those markings to decide how to shoot, and it also helps them to see where the ball will go.

It's a little hard to explain it in words. If you're bored one day and have a half hour of time, I suggest you go on Youtube and search for "Donald in Mathmagic Land". It seems that the movie can be watched on Youtube. It's pretty good considering that the movie was from 1959 or so.

Enough about mathematics itself...And on to math class. My teacher said that this morning he walked by and saw some students doing PE. They were having their pull-up tests on the metal bars we have at my school. He said that at our age, we're supposed to be at our athletic prime, and so he found it funny watching people who look buff struggling and struggling to do a single pull-up. They would strain and kick their legs but they wouldn't go up. But at least there were some people who could do lots of pull-ups, which sort of made up for it. Apparently, one guy said, "I'm so proud that I have a ripped friend," since one of his friends could do 15 pull-ups.

Lately, my dad has been really busy at work. He's practically working two jobs since he's still doing his old job and kind of doing another job too. He doesn't want to be a manager anymore. I was outraged because I think that being a manager is a good job. Before, my dad didn't seem to work much and he was being paid a reasonable amount. But my dad says that now his company is really getting their money's worth out of him since he's really working hard. I'm kind of worried because he looks tired. That's why I think he should go back to being a manager, just that, like the old days, so he can be relaxed.

My mother is also having troubles with work, but a different kind. She was moved downstairs (her cubicle used to be on the second floor of her office building). Now she's right near the door, which is both convenient (shorter walk to and from her car) and also annoying. There is a vent or something above her cubicle which has air coming out of it. My mom complained about it but it still seems to be blowing (she hung up something and it moves because of the breeze). She says she can't concentrate at work because of the breeze. Unfortunately, she hasn't been successful in getting to move to a different location yet.

The last time I visited my mother's office, we were going back to the building after lunch when we saw a person smoking. It was pretty close to the door. Ironically, there was a sign on the door that said "No Smoking within 20 feet of the building" or something like that. But the person was not that far from the building. I hope the smoke from his cigarette is not blowing into the building when the door opens... After all, it's bad enough to smoke, but it's much, much worse if you smoke in a place with other people. If you made a bad decision and start smoking, it becomes your loss, but if you smoke around other people then they could get lung cancer when they've never given into peer pressure or somehow or other picked up a cigarette.

I am still finding cigarettes around the school. It's probably not from the teachers because one of my old teachers says that if you smoke, you've pretty much ruined your chances of becoming a teacher...At least at elementary school, and perhaps also middle school. Where did the cigarettes come from, then? Is it from those people who come here on the weekends? (I didn't know those older boys who play basketball smoked, but you never know. We find old Gatorade bottles and gum stuck to benches...) I find it unlikely that middle school students would be smoking, but there are always snakes in the grass...

Labels: air, billiards, building, cigarette, disney, donald in mathmagic land, job, manager, middle school, movie, music, pool, pull-ups, pythagoras, school, smoking, strength, teacher, work, youtube

Today we went to the library and then to Great Mall. We had to return a lot of library books and DVDs because they'll be due during the time we're gone on vacation. D: I feel sad returning them, but at least that means I got to use the electronic machine outside the Cupertino Library. That is always lots of fun. It's more enjoyable to use the check-out machines, though. On the second floor, the check-out on the left side makes noises, like a slot machine. XD

After that we headed to my dad's office, which was a surprise since it's the weekend. Apparently my dad was supposed to bring home some headphones or something but he forgot to do it yesterday. While we were there I got some pencils from the break room. My dad said it's a good life to work at Cisco Systems because you can check stocks, look at PGA Tour's website, drink coffee, have free pencils, and eat ramen. (Which leads me to the next paragraph.)

For lunch, we ate at a ramen shop, called Maru Ichi. (According to dad, it's the favorite ramen shop in the Bay Area) I had some shoyu ramen and so did my mom. My dad had kuro ramen. (I think kuro/kuroi means black, so that's why the soup looked black.) It was really good, and I even got a bit of ice cream. What was really funny was the ice cream came in a plastic cup. On the cup it said "Warning: Contents hot". I hope ice cream will always be a cold treat.

After that we headed to Great Mall, which is apparently close to my dad and mom's workplaces. (My mom says years back, she used to go there, until she realized she wasn't going to buy any clothes anyways.) At first I didn't remember it but after I went inside I recognized it, even though I haven't been there for a few years. I mostly just go to Valley Fair or Vallco/Cupertino Square. (If you live near me, you may know what I'm talking about. These are malls, by the way.) The stores have changed, though. And it was really crowded in there. Lots of people are doing holiday shopping since they think they can get good deals at this time of year.

Even a year later, Hollister and Abercrombie still creep me out, but since my mom's friend thinks I should get a heavy jacket there, my parents dragged me in. The dim lights, pants that have holes in them, and giant black-and-white pictures are disturbing. Worse, the Hollister fitting rooms have no benches and are really small, so they look like jail cells...

I got really thirsty and my feet hurt from walking around too long. My mom wanted to use the bathroom, so we went to my dad's office a second time so she could use the restroom. XD In the meantime my dad and I went to get drinks in the break room, but the refrigerator broke on the first floor so we had to go upstairs. It's a good thing that they have elevators because I am bad at using stairs.

Labels: clothes, library, office, parents, restaurant, shopping, work

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