Works?

It’s been a fun ride.  Xanga has been a place where I was able to put my life online and people actually read it!  I’ve met many people here, some are now lifelong friends and one of which is now my wife.  

Anyway, I didn’t want to start a new entry so I’m just reposting my latest one as that’s where I’ll be if you need to fine me.  Mrs. jigg has convinced me to start blogging again and we’ll be posting on our Sharing Blankets site.

See you there!

-ray leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

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As some of you may know, Mrs. jigg and I have been doing comics on our SharingBlankets.com site about our life together.  I guess that could be part of the reason why I don’t blog anymore–some of the things I say or think may potentially be an awesome comic and it would be ruined if I already disclosed it here.

We also got into the card making business, mostly because Mrs. jigg loves doing these creativity things and partially because I can never find the card I want.  So we decided to create cards that we would give out to other people, for all kinds of holidays or events, mostly with either humor or an “awwww” factor.

I think the most interesting thing so far, is the idea of going into business with your significant other.  It’s literally the ultimate test for your relationship.  While Mrs. jigg and I are on the same page most of the time, every now and then, there is a difference of opinion.  It’s good thing we don’t fight about anything else.

Anyway, please come check out our comics, “LIKE” and “share” them if you they amused you and buy a card if you need one.  And if you have any ideas on what other kinds of cards you would like to see, leave a comment or email me at jigg@sharingblankets.com.

Enjoy!

It’s been five months since I’ve blogged. For some reason, I have had no urge to write. But I think I should. I think I just need to get back into the grove again.

Leave a comment so I know who is still here.

So Mrs jigg and I have decided to go to Spain for about 8 nights, flying into Barcelona and then hopping on a train to Madrid.

I wanted to go to Asia, but the travel time is a bit much for a little more than a week’s worth of travel.

In any event, anyone been to these two cities who would have recommendations on what area to stay in and what to see, do, and eat? Thanks!

Mrs jigg and I haven’t been away this year and we plan on taking the week of Thanksgiving off. Last year for our honeymoon, we went to London, Paris, and Rome for 2 weeks.

I have some idea where our next trip will be, but it hasn’t been decided yet and I’m looking for suggestions.

If you could go away for a whole week, where would you go and why? This is assuming that cost isn’t really a factor and the trip must be outside of the continental US 48.

Maybe a place you’ve been to before and you had a great experience. Just keep in mind that this is mid-late November and weather could be a factor.

During breakfast yesterday, Mrs jigg brought up that she heard the wife of one of the founders of Google came up with the technology to scan your DNA and tell you if you have any or if you are in high risk of one of those hereditary diseases. She asked me if I would do that if it gets approved by the FDA.

My first thought was Gataca. For those of you who have never seen the movie (SEE IT!), it’s set in a world where the government has everyone’s DNA on file and you are tracked and ID’d through instant blood tests with a prick of the finger at every turnstile.

If any one entity had all this huge database of DNA, I would imagine it may be used for gene research and eventually, gene altering, where they can take away all the bad genes before a child is born (like in Gataca). Maybe it would be great where we can take away the celiac disease or even the high risks of diabetes before our children are born, but would it be a better world? What else can this lead to?

My next thought was that if the government passed a law and absorbed this company, they would now have access to everyone’s DNA and while I would never go so far to say that government is evil, I believe that the government does what’s best in it’s interest and that may not necessarily in line with what’s best in our interest.

The last thought I had was that what if this machine is eventually upgraded to predict the length of your natural lifespan and is only off by 2 years? Would you want to know?

I’m not so sure I want to know. Would I really do things differently knowing that the machine said in 5 years, give or take 2 (3-7 years) or if it said 50 years? I’m not so sure. I feel like I’m already making the choices that are best for me and my family. If my lifespan was shorter, I don’t think I would necessarily make too big of a change. I wouldn’t stop working. I might even feel the need to work even more to make more money so that Mrs jigg would be taken care of once I pass.

I guess that question would be the litmus test of your life right now–if you only had only 3-7 years left in your life, would you want to know and if you do, how would things change for you in terms of goals and lifestyles? If you make great changes, why aren’t you doing those things now?

I’ve lost so much weight that my wedding band is now really loose. My ring is made of tungsten carbide, so it’s not sizable. My only choices are to do nothing and risk losing it and then buying a new one that’s the right size, or just buy a new one right now.

Is there a specific sentimental value associated with that exact ring? What if I got one that’s identical in design, but smaller? Would it have less sentimental value? Would you be unhappy if your spouse was in my situation and got a new band?

Relaxing vacations is an oxymoron to me. I love going to cities and getting lost. Sure, I’d do some research regarding the must-sees, but I just want to see everything, good or bad. Usually I would return home exhausted, wishing I had a few more days off to rest. But we all know that never happens–if you have 7 days off, you’re going to use up all 7 to see and do as much as possible.

Two weekends ago, I went to Provincetown MA with Mrs jigg and two of my friends. Mrs jigg had a bachelorette party to go to and had no way of getting there. I wasn’t invited, so I agreed to drive her there and just do my own thing. All the hotels were expensive there so I decided to camp.

I convinced two of my friends that it’s going to be fun and relaxing. Since P-town is at the tip of Cape Cod, the drive was really long. It rained a bit, but our tent kept us dry. We explored the town, swam in an empty beach and drove around the Cape. We even spent at least two hours a day (three-day weekend) to read and just lounge around. Overall, despite the long drive, it was very relaxing.

When I got back Sunday evening, I realized how rested I was. It was an unusual feeling as I’m always exhausted but this time, I felt great. Work has been stressful and this was exactly what I needed to recharge my batteries.

I never thought that I would enjoy vacations where I don’t really do much. Maybe I’m just getting older but even though I didn’t “have a blast” on this trip, I enjoyed it a great deal.

Before this trip, I was really against going away to resorts because I didn’t like the idea of lounging around. I don’t particularly like beaches either because I hate sand. This trip however changed my opinion. Vacations should be adventurous, but they can also be relaxing. I hate sand, but swimming in the ocean is a wonderful feeling, especially when the water is clear and warm.

And for other future roadtrip, I think I might explore the camping option. It was a great idea for this trip and can be a great idea for future trips.

What’s your idea of a vacation?

Growing up, I loved watching the Olympics.  It was a real family event where we would watch as many events that was broadcasted and with my dad cheering for China and me cheering for the US, many of these events were nerve-wracking.

As I grow older, the appeal of the Olympics isn’t as crazy as it was before.  Maybe because I’m not invested into the athletes who are competing.  I find myself cheering for different athletes, depending on how they are depicted by the media.  I would have never dreamed to cheer for another country back in 1988 and 1992, but this year, I’m cheering for Team GB for soccer as some of my favorite players are playing on that team.

I’ve been following it as much as I can, even waking up to reading up on articles regarding events I have missed.  This morning, I read about what happened to the South Corean fencer, Shin A Lam.  She was in the semi-final of the women’s fencing competition, where winner of the match would advance and fight for gold.  With one second left on the clock, all she needed to do was wait for the time to go out and she would have advanced.  Apparently, because of a timing error, the clock was stuck at 1 second and her opponent, Britta Heidemann from Germany, was able to get connect with her epee and land a hit, resulting in her advancement.

The clock doesn’t move!  (courtesy of buzzfeed.com)

As an athlete, you’re to trust that the people judging the event are fair.  You trust that whatever they say is correct.  As a viewer, you also have that kind of trust.  In these competition, there are rarely second chances and each and every time, you’re expected to be as perfect as you can, hoping that your best is the overall best.  If you make a mistake, your competitor will take advantage of that and your chance of gold, is over.  You’d expect the judges and organizes to also be perfect.

So what if they’re not?  What if they mess up and tell the victim of their error, “Sorry, we messed up?  Wait another 4 years?”  That’s unacceptable.  After watching the replays, Heidemann made 3 moves to score that hit.  It’s virtually impossible to do in 1 second.  I have not seen a replay which shows an assumed clock of exactly 1 second and better yet, should show the clock at a 1.99 seconds to prove a point.  MAYBE those 3 moves can be done in 1.99 seconds.  If that was a case, an argument can be made Heidemann could have won it.  But what if it took her more than 1.99 seconds to make those three moves?  

I’m not partial to South Corea in any way and while I’ve taken a few courses in fencing, the event itself isn’t something I care particularly much about.  But the fact that I know something like this has happened, it has negatively affected my feelings about the Olympics.  One caveat for those who still don’t know the entire story, Shin then sat down on the piste and refused to get off.  In fencing, once you leave the area, that means you are in agreement with the judging.  She waited till Corea officially appealed the decision and apparently, in order to do so, had to wire the money to lodge the appeal.  The whole thing took like 45 mins and eventually, they officials came out and announced that there was no appeal–the judge’s decision was final.

Shin, standing up defiant of the ruling before being escorted off by security.(from buzzfeed.com)

I’m sure right now there is some kind of investigation going on and at the moment, I’ll just wait it out.  That in fact, Heidemann was able to land her hit in 1 second or even hypothetically, 1.99 seconds.  However, if the investigation results in the judges to be wrong, I don’t think I can continue watching the Olympics.

This is the Olympics we’re talking about–the highest standard of athletic competition.  So call me an extremist. Sure, not watching the Olympics isn’t going to affect me in bad way, but until they resolve this issue of fairness to the athletes, I cannot support it.  I want them to at least acknowledge that they messed up and even though they cannot redo the whole thing over (which they should have done in the first place), that they did in fact completely took away the dream of this athlete because of their incompetence.

Click here to view the video.

I convinced my parents to try to buy organic. As Chinese parents, they are more worried about how much food costs, rather than the about all the potential health issues that one may get. However, as my father is probably suffering from celiac disease as well, he fully understands that what you eat can really make a difference.

Since I pretty much pay for everything around the house, I told them I’d pay extra for eating organic as well. Do I know for sure eating organic will be better for us? No conclusive study has proven that it does, but conventional wisdom tells me that the exponential increase of cancer and other diseases in the past 50 or so years and it may have to do with the things put into our foods.

Conventional wisdom also tells me that if spray 10-20 kinds of pesticides onto our produce to keep insects away, it can’t be good for humans. No amount of washing would get it off, especially if it’s absorbed into the fruit or vegetable. Conventional wisdom also tells me that growth hormones and anti-biotics injected into the animals will pass through to us when we eat them.

And even if you don’t believe in this, there’s really no way of denying that organic foods taste better. If you haven’t tried it, go to Whole Foods, buy some organic foods and then buy the same foods, but non-organic (inorganic might not be the correct word) at your neighborhood store and cook the same thing. You’ll realize how much more delicious everything is. I just hope that as more people begin eating organic, more farms will switch to it and increase supply, driving costs down a bit.

Obviously there’s no way I can eat organic all the time and every meal since dining out leaves you fewer options sometimes, but my entire family and I will work towards eating better and healthier. I realized that waking up and feeling better about yourself, yields a really wholesome kind of happiness. I just have to continue making better choices.

What are your thoughts on organic foods?