The Google Gets It Wrong

One of the things that inspires confidence when you move to another country in the age of smartphone technology is the Google translate app.  I've been in cabs, restaurants and even lost in cities before and been able to go to The Google (via the Interwebs) and been able to The Google Map or The Google Translate myself where I need to be.

Today, we were in Carrefour shopping for groceries and need cotton balls.  We were wildly unsuccessful in finding them.  So we turned to The Google and into my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 (is not to big a smartphone, by the way) I type cotton balls.  Attached to the post is a screen shot of what The Google returned.  I confidently walked up to a woman that worked in the section of the store where you would expect cotton balls and showed her the translation.

She shook her head yes and led us off to...  the food section?  Something was amiss.  She handed Steph a package of marshmallows.  Huh?  I handed G the phone to get her take on what the translation error might be.  In a voice that sounded like the teenage version of G, she said, 'Uh, Dad, that says Marshmallow'.

Having spent 20 minutes trying to find cotton balls, we gave up and claimed 'mostly victory' over our Sunday excursion to Carrefour.

Negotiation Fishbowl

Quick story from last night's personal training session...  As a part of joining the local gym Steph and I were each given a free personal training session.

To start, the guy kicked my butt last night.  I haven't lifted weights that hard in YEARS...  and my muscles are paying the price today.

At the end of the personal training appointment they put the hard sell on you to sign up for a series of personal training sessions.  Steph and I wouldn't mind meeting with a personal trainer once a week, if for no other reason than left to our own devices we wouldn't push ourselves as hard as these guys pushed us in these sessions.  Basically a once a week butt kicking, sprinkled into our other activity might be good for us.  But the reality is that we have lots of tutor expenses (Gigi homework tutor, Gigi character tutor, Gigi English tutor, Olivia Spanish tutor) and we haven't gotten our first full month electric bill to know what the air con costs are going to be!

So at the end of my session, the guy sits me down to start the negotiation.  The negotiation itself went as you would imagine, I explain it's too much, he explains the value, I explain it's too much, he asks me what I am willing to pay, I tell him, he's offended...  repeat, repeat.

The funny part - at least I thought it was funny - was the audience we attracted.  At one point we had my trainer sitting across from me, his manager leaned over the table considering our 'offensive' offer and 4 other trainers looking over all our shoulders.

Then, we started to attract some of the folks there to work out...  they just swung by while resting in between sets to take in the action.  It's like they were fascinated to see if I could get a better deal than they did, or they were enjoying seeing the white guy getting worked over by 6 gym staff members!

I walked out with what I believe really is their best offer for personal training...  mostly because I walked out with a written offer (they didn't call me back in as I walked away) and they seemed unhappy/resigned to the offer I left with.

It's still more than we are willing to pay, but it was a fun negotiation experience.

Health Check – Déjà vu all over again?

First off, I am writing this post as we cruise along the streets of Taipei in bus 285.  It took about 10 minute’s worth of ride for a seat to clear out, but I am still counting myself lucky in the ‘finding a seat when riding the bus lottery’.

Some of you may remember our experience with the mandatory Chinese Health Check when we moved to Shanghai in 2007.  Weird, interesting, funny and perplexing all at the same time.  You can check out my post on the experience here, and Steph’s here.

Evidently each year the Intel office in Taipei sponsors a mandatory health check.  I’ll be sure to post about it afterwards, as it’s sure to be an interesting (and evidently LONG) process.  But I couldn't help but share the ‘pre-work’ for the health check. 

First, I get the packet from the Intel lobby staff.  In the packet is a 14 page questionnaire that needs to be filled out – hard copy.  Um, last time I checked it’s the 21^st century… this form could not be done on the web and then accessed when I am there for the appointment?  The answer is obviously ‘no’.  The form is pretty robust, asking about everything from diet to exercise, past or current medical conditions and personal habits – drinking, smoking, etc.  There was an entire section dedicated to the use of Betel Nuts (I’ll summarize in a later post for friends not familiar with the favorite treat of Taipei taxi drivers).

Also in the packet is a phone number to call and schedule the appointment.  I call, hoping upon hope that someone on the other end of the line speaks English.  This contest plays out to a draw.  No English, but also no person… a series of announcements – in Chinese, of course.  Now, I am lucky, as I have been provided with admin support from a wonderful woman who has been incredibly helpful and gets me an appointment the coming Monday at the same time as some other American expats so I can carpool and not have to use the taxi or sort out MRT.

So, the appointment is scheduled, my 14 page assessment is complete and I am reading through the remainder of the material… fast from midnight the night before, no problem.  Be on time, no problem. 

When I opened the package initially I noticed what I thought was a very small urine sample container.  I thought this a little weird – can’t they just collect that at the appointment?  Then I got to the section of the instructions that talk about this little tube.  Seems it’s not for a urine sample – it’s for a fecal sample.  WHAT?  Never before have my physicals/health checks required this.  And the 13 year old adolescent in me can’t help but giggle at the thought of 3 grown professional men in a van together on the way to the medical check on Monday morning with their fecal samples in hand.

Even better… the packet tells you to ‘follow the instructions’ included with the fecal sample collection mechanism and storage tube.  And… wait for it… yup, you’re probably already there… the instructions are all in Chinese. 

If you’re at all interested, check back for the compare contrast between this and the PRC experience.  I’m fascinated to see what I’m getting into on Monday given the pre-work...  And I promise, no more discussion of fecal samples!

Cheers!

When a small bed equals a doll pillow... Simple math...

Wow, it is hard to believe it's been nearly a week since we arrived in Taipei.  We hit the ground on Sunday night and spent night 1 in a hotel.  We were lucky in that we were able to secure two adjoining rooms, complete with the door connecting them.  While common in the US, these are not so common in the Intel hotels in which I have stayed in Asia.

This lead to our first 'we're in Asia'/'language barrier' moment.  Both rooms had two single beds, which was great.  We just needed to either fashion together a bed for Amelia (the 4 year old baby gets the short stick) or perhaps a roll away bed.  So we call the service center and ask for a roll away bed or baby cot for our youngest daughter.  They send someone to our room who asks what we want (didn't we just tell the lady on the phone what we wanted...  why yes, we did).  So I explain to her what we want.  I even pull out a little Chinese.  I point at the bed that one of the older kids is on and say 'xiao de', which if I remember correctly translates to 'small one'.  So, off the lady goes, in search of a small bed.  A few minutes later she returns... and in her hands is...  yes, I gave it away in the title of the post...  a pillow that might be right sized for an American Girl doll.

At this point, and remember we haven't slept in about 26 hours, I am trying to explain that we don't want a small pillow, we want a small bed.  Of course at this point Mimi is yelling 'I want the pillow, I love the pillow'.  So I hand her the pillow, my eyes telling her she's not helping.

What happens next is what always happens next when there's a language issue in Asia.  It's like when you call into get IT support and the first tech can't solve your problem.  They then find someone that's a little more knowledgeable until you get to someone that can fix your problem.  They found someone with a little better English to help us out, and a few minutes later, we had a roll away bed set up for Mimi, and in she was tucked with her American Doll pillow.

At about 5a I heard a ruckus in the girls room.  Upon investigation I found Mimi standing on her bed looking like she was about to launch the American Doll pillow across the room at Gigi, who was sitting up in her bed wide awake.  This was all playing out over Olivia's bed - in which she was dead asleep.  A stern message delivered to the youngest two children resulted in their going back to sleep and needing to be woken up at 8:00a in time to get breakfast.

Uneventful flights to Taipei, and easy commute and check into the hotel and a good night's sleep.  I good start I would say!

3 Years Between Posts?

I am the world's worst blogger... hands down. 3 years since last post? Not like it hasn't been eventful for goodness sake! Well, here's to 2013 having more things of interest to share!

The Great Weight Loss Challenge - 2010

As many people know due to Facebook, I embarked on the challenge of losing a bunch of weight this year. I can't thank everyone enough for all the encouragement as I have posted progress... It truly does mean a lot to me.

Many people have asked 'how did you do it' and said that this little effort has inspired them to work on their weight... So I thought I would capture some thoughts on what got me from 238 pounds on January 2, 2010 to the 188 pounds I tipped the scales at this morning. Partly to answer the questions people have asked and partly as a documentation for me of what a lifestyle change can do, so if I find myself creeping up in weight again, I know that I control my weight, it doesn't control me. That my excuse of my life being 'too busy' or 'too stressful' or 'too - insert excuse here' to maintain a healthy weight is crap, and that if I am willing to be honest about my choices, I control my weight... I control it going up and I control it going down.

December of 2009 I stepped on the scale and saw something I had never seen before... The first number being a '2' was old hat... it'd been that way since my freshman year in college... and while there was one brief moment during one of my 'diet periods' when I had dropped to 190-something, I imagine that moment could have been measured in hours and not days.

The next number was the surprise... and not the 'found $20 in my pocket' surprise. The second number was a '4'... yup... 240. All of a sudden, all the excuses I used to justify my weight melted away and were replaced with what can only be described as a sense of self loathing. All of a sudden I had more proof than looking in the mirror that I had reached an unhealthy weight. There it was in the black and white read out of the digital scale.

Some of my common excuses:
1) I am too busy to work out
2) I am healthy, my doctor tells me so
3) Our lives are too busy to cook healthier
4) I am big boned, I have an athletic build

These were the main/major themes that I always fell back on to justify my ever increasing waist size.

Now, truth be told, I have probably lost 250 pounds in the last 10 years... 10 pounds one year, replaced a few months later with 15... then 20 the next year, replaced a few months later with 25... then 30, 35, 40... I think you understand.

So between the man in the mirror and the black and white on the scale, I knew I had to do something. I knew the justifications for my poor eating habits and poor exercise habits were just excuses to allow myself the easiest route.

I talked with Steph about how bad it had gotten, and asked for her support in making a lifestyle change. I explained that every year I put on a few more pounds than I had lost on whatever diet regime I tried, and that I needed to do something that we could commit to for the rest of our lives so that I could get off the yo-yo. Not only was every year's weight addition a little more than the loss from the year before, it was harder and harder as I got older to get rid of the pounds.

Diets of the past included Atkins, trying to limit portions, playing a lot of basketball, going to the gym for elliptical/treadmill time... all worked as long as I stayed on them... but the problem I had was that I viewed them as short term solutions... not a lifestyle change. So as soon as I stopped doing whatever I was doing, the weight came back.

I needed a sustainable solution.

One of my boundary conditions for getting healthy was the realization that with a full time (plus some in certain weeks) job, 3 kids, a house full of projects, a yard full of work and a nasty golf addiction my ability to consistently work out is limited. Unfortunately, I don't enjoy running... AT ALL. I lost a bunch of weight in the mid-to-late 90s by running nearly every day and eating a VERY low fat diet. I disliked running so much, I knew it just couldn't be part of a permanent lifestyle change. I love playing basketball, and we play at lunch at work in the summer... but it's outdoor and limited by weather. Finally, the Welsh Family Budget trades any money for a gym membership for greens fees (truth be told, the gym would be cheaper). So I needed to find something I could commit to that didn't rely on regular attendance in the gym or regular running.

Stephanie does 90% of the shopping and cooking in the Welsh household, so any solution/decision needed to be joint. It needed to be something we could both commit to, and something the entire family could live with - she couldn't be expected to make a meal for them and something different for me. She graciously agreed to settle on something we could implement for the entire family.

So January 2, 2010 we agreed to start living The South Beach Lifestyle. I am not going to turn this into an infomercial for South Beach. It's what worked for us, but it's not, in my opinion the end all be all in getting to and maintaining a healthy weight. My aunt Patrice is 50-something, eats whatever she wants, drinks what she wants when she wants and runs regularly... she has a lifestyle that keeps her weight and her body healthy. We have friends that do Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, etc... I really believe it comes down to 'what can you commit to doing consistently for the rest of your life'. I think, for us, South Beach is that.

South Beach is one of the many 'low carb' eating styles. High in lean protein and vegetables, it shuns processed flour, sugar and empty carbs. There are plenty of carbs to be eaten, focusing on veggies and whole wheat and whole grains. I like to think of it as a 'kinder, gentler Atkins'. A very good friend used this eating style to get healthy, and showed me that it's completely reasonable to do this forever... not just until the weight is gone, then back to unexamined eating habits.

So we decided on 'how'... but what was the goal? What was I trying to accomplish. I decided that 40 pounds was the goal. That would get me to under 200 pounds... A weight not consistently carried on this frame since high school. It was completely arbitrary. I did a little more research and decided I would like to get to 'normal' on the BMI - I was technically 'obese'. Now I know that there are limitations with BMI, as it's just a ratio of height to weight. I know it doesn't take into account muscle mass, but since I don't go to the gym, I have at best 'average' muscle tone. It seemed a little more scientific... but it also said that 40 pounds was a cop out... a good start. The new goal became 183, which translates to 24.99 BMI, which means for the first time since high school I would be 'normal' and not 'overweight' or 'obese'. Then the goal changed 1 more time. It's now a 180 pound goal. I want to reward myself when I hit my goal with a pizza and beer night. And I don't want to have to really look closely at my weight and adjust eating habits after that reward, so the thought is, get to 180... have my 'za and beers and then still be at or under my 183, where I hope to maintain.

So we started. Stephanie started to shop the outside of the supermarket... veggies, fruits, meats. In January of 2010 I ate more broccoli than I had in the entire rest of my life (all 35 years). This is not an exaggeration. I am a very black and white person, so I was, you could say, fanatical about making sure I adhered to the program. Very restrictive on carbs for the initial phase, slightly relaxed in phase 2, then even more relaxed in phase 3.

The weight indeed did start to melt away... extremely consistently. I averaged about 2 pounds per week from 02 January to 17 June. 23.5 weeks and 50 pounds.

The beginning of April I started an experiment... or I thought I was starting an experiment. One of the criticisms of the South Beach Diet (and other low carb eating plans) is that by cutting out bread and sugar and beer and pasta you are simply reducing calories... that weight loss is simply calories in/calories out. All the glycemic index mumbo jumbo was masking the fact that you were eating less calories. (Side note - it's interesting this is a 'criticism'... a program that lets you eat whenever you are hungry, but still limit calorie intake and lose weight... what's bad in that?)

So, a friend of mine had lost a significant amount of weight simply limiting his calories and working out. 100% a calories in/calories out program. Watch his intake, bump up his calorie burn with swimming and running. He looks great, by the way. He was using an App called 'Lose It' (gratuitous product plug) to set up a goal weight, determine net calories he was 'allowed' to consume and track his exercise. I decided to use the App to see if the reality was simply that the South Beach program was limiting my calories without my realizing it... which I would have been completely fine with.

The plan was to eat exactly how I had from January 2nd to April 3rd, but measure all my portions and track the calories. I learned 2 things during this experiment:

1) I had NO IDEA what a serving size really was. I would load up my salad with cheese and dressing, as they were 'low carb' not realizing I was at least doubling, if not tripling, the serving sizes.
2) When I knew what a serving size was, and knew how many calories were involved, I couldn't keep adding cheese and dressing and stuff to my salad!

So, from April to today I have adopted a hybrid plan. I am eating using South Beach principles. I will use these principles forever. Lean meat, veggies, whole wheat/whole grain breads and pastas. Eliminate sugars where possible. But I have also been using the app to count calories. It's been interesting to learn what a serving size of things really are. I realize how much 'extra food' I was putting in my body.

I cut back on the calories, but eat whenever I am hungry (I think this is where the food choice in South Beach help - the food sticks with me, avoids the 'blood sugar effects' of carbs so I get hungry less). But I see myself eating less volume of food... and I am not hungry... this clearly means I was fueling my body with more food than needed.

Part of why this has worked for me is that I don't require a lot of variety in my diet. I am OK with eating the same or similar things day after day after day (I say as I eat my standard lunch of chicken sausage with artichoke and garlic, cucumber salad with 1 tbsp of Olive Oil and Vinegar Newman's Own Dressing (gratuitous product plug #2). Every day I have 1-2 ounces of dry roasted peanuts. 80% of the mornings I have an Atkins shake for breakfast. I don't get bored or tired of the same or similar things day after day.

But without a doubt the single biggest reason this has worked is the support of my wife. She has changed how she shops and how she cooks. She found the money in the budget for the increased grocery bill (shopping the outside of the store is more expensive than the inside with it's packaged and processed foods). She puts up with my constant measuring (I have brought my scale to the table for dinner and taken it to restaurants to measure portion sizes). She puts up with my nearly daily updates on weight, calories consumed, etc. Without her support and encouragement this would not have been possible... OK, another side note... that paragraph sounds like an Oscar acceptance speech... apologies, but I am not deleting or editing it. She rocks and this was as much because of her help as my discipline.

A common question I have gotten is around enjoying eating. Have I missed anything, have I had to sacrifice anything, am I hungry all the time. The answer is 'I enjoy eating, if I am hungry I eat, and of course I miss stuff!'.

I miss pasta, but not more than I enjoy weighing 50 pounds less.
I miss ice cream, but not more than I enjoy weighing 50 pounds less.
I miss eating an entire dish of 7 layer dip with my friend Brian, but not more than I enjoy weighing 50 pounds less.
I miss an occasional beer, but not more than I enjoy weighing 50 pounds less.

Did I stop drinking? Kind of... I drink less for sure, although I didn't drink that much to begin with. I drink wine and alcohol instead of beer... as can be attested by my friend Matt, who's bottle of Jamison's I polished off half of at his BBQ a few weeks ago. :)

I also found that there are plenty of replacements we have made that lower both the carbs and calories in our diet...

1) Replace ground beef with ground turkey
2) Replace bacon with turkey bacon
3) Replace sausage with either chicken sausage or turkey sausage
4) Replace beer with wine and whiskey
5) Replace sugar filled desserts with sugar free or no sugar added dessert treats... a favorite dessert in the early summer has become strawberries with whipped cream - that was my 20 pounds down treat!
6) Replace starchy side dishes (potatoes/rice) with veggies
7) Replace white bread with whole wheat or whole grain bread
8) Replace white pasta with whole wheat pasta
9) Replace whatever pasta sauce we would normally buy with the sauce with the lowest amount of sugar
10) Replace products containing High Fructose Corn Syrup with those that don't (Note: I don't think HFCS is evil - and agree with the commercial that it's fine in moderation... but it's in EVERYTHING, so how the hell am I supposed to moderate it? And what's 'moderation'?)

No beer in 6 months? No desserts in 6 months? No bread in 6 months? No rice or pasta in 6 months? No, not exactly. I have had treats here and there. I have just been smart about them and not used them as a slippery slope to giving up the lifestyle.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries for birthday dinner. A chocolate chip cookie at Val and Matt's BBQ. A couple thin mints one night on a particularly low calorie day. A dessert treat almost every night (Sugar Free Jello Pudding, or Watchin' Carbs Sugar Free Fudgscicles). Strawberries with COOL WHIP (yum, I love Cool Whip). 1/2 bottle of Jamison's at a friends BBQ (that was bad idea). Copious amounts of wine at the St. C's auction. An occasional 1/2 sandwich with Sourdough or Rye bread. Foot long Turkey Sandwich @ Subway last night on wheat bread (hold the cheese and mayo please). Couple belts of Scotch with the neighbor last night. But admittedly, these have become treats and not regular occurrences.

So I still have some work to do. I'm 50 pounds down with another 5-8 pounds to go... I haven't worked out during this time, so while skinnier, I am still a little jiggly around the edges (sorry for that mental picture)... I have been drinking a lot of diet soda instead of water... But the reality for me is that I can only focus on one thing at a time... so about the middle of July I ought to get to the goal weight... then I'll turn focus from weight loss to improving muscle tone and kicking the diet soda habit... one thing at a time.

If you made it this far into the note, thanks.
If you sent me a note of encouragement, thanks.

Joe, if you are reading this - you must have started making bad decisions again... get back on the wagon. You control your weight, whether it's going up or down, it's your decision.

Having the right to do something does not make it right to do...

Preface: I am not an economist and no expert in public policy. I only know what I know by trying to read a balanced amount of content from the left and the right, knowing that the truth belongs to neither and it lies someplace between each of their respective spin machines.

I know I might be in the minority when I say that I think the auto bailout and the financial industry bailout were the right things to do... Especially in my family and my wife's family which is pretty heavily conservative in political nature.

My reasoning may be so simplistic as to be completely wrong, but it's what I believed at the time and haven't read a lot to change my mind. I also happen to believe that had the GOP won the White House they'd have been forced to do something very similar... It's just politically convenient to scream from the mountain tops about an unpopular yet required infusion of hard earned tax dollars.

My simplistic defense for bailing out auto and finance in the US is this: I am relying on savings and investment to send my kids to college as well as retire. There are A LOT of people out of work today. Imagine the state of the US economy if we had let the auto industry fail... all those living wage jobs gone and all those suppliers shutting down and sending their employees to the welfare offices for checks as well.

Hank Paulson (Republican Treasury Secretary) estimated that without the bank bailout unemployment could have reached 25%. And that's just the financial sector. Add the auto industry and the suppliers to that industry... it's scary to think about the size of the recession or depression the US could have entered.

Call it simplistic, call it selfish. It's both, but it's why I look at the bailouts as a necessary evil.

That being said, I can't believe the marketing decision that GM just made. Many have probably seen the GM commercials talking about paying their loans back in full, with interest and early. This is technically accurate. Based on the research I have done, nothing they said was untrue.

But the reality is that GM was given 2 pots of TARP funds. One was loan money, the other represented the cash investment in the company whereby the US Government owns 60% of the company. This second bucket is where the money came from to pay off the loan.

Now, based on what I have read, and as a shareholder in GM (aren't we all shareholders when our tax dollars are paying to buy 60% of the company) it was the right financial decision. It seems that use of TARP debt came along with a fee that GM would have had to pay soon. If they retired the debt, they avoided the fee - saved money. Absolutely the right thing to do.

Now, for what I am calling them 'having the right to do something that was not right to do'... They chose to advertise that they paid back the loans in full intimating that this was done out of earnings from selling cars... they never said it, but a pretty strong correlation was drawn between 'increased demand for GM cars' and being able to pay the debt portion of the TARP funds back. They absolutely had the right to run an ad that put things in this light. But from my seat in front of the TV it wasn't the right thing to do.

I thought GM was making good progress. They are emerging from bankruptcy, they have some good cars (as measured by 3rd party feature and quality reviews), their advertising campaign talking about 'may the best car win' put the focus on the strides they were making.

Then this... a purposely misleading ad... Again, paying off the loan, even with other TARP funds was their right, AND the right thing to do.... Running the ad was their right, but in my opinion, not the right thing to do.