Friday, April 20, 2007

The interview!

Had my US citizenship interview yesterday! Went well of course. Heck, I absorbed something from those English language tapes! I nailed all the questions asking where the train station was, or that the Apple is Red.

I was struck though on how much more efficient the US Gov't had gotten over the past 10 years. Back in da day, a trip to INS required that you set your alarm for 3am, and line up at the local office at 4am or so. It was first-come-first-serve back then, and they had a cutoff of how many folks can be processed in a given day. There was no queuing mechanism, so folks with questions on a N400 form would be on the same line as someone looking for the restroom. Very unpleasant. I only line up in the dark for important things. Like at ToysRUs waiting for one of 25 Nintendo Wii units coming in. This time though, the citizenship appointment was done online. I brought the printout with me, scanned at the door, and off I went. Very cool. The Man has embraced IT, and us little people are grateful.

16 miler

6 weeks left till the San Diego marathon! This was my week to do a 16mile training run.

Inspired by this article, I decided to do the whole training run on the treadmill.

My lasting impression after I was done: Chafe. Chafe. Chafe.

Try this sometime and see for yourself.

And enjoy the joy of searing pain in the shower afterwards.

Reminds me of what a wise friend once said:

That which does not kill me only postpones the inevitable.

Friday, April 06, 2007

Universal Translator

The new Boston Red Sox sensation, Daisuke Matsuzaka, often gets interviewed via a translator. Some nuances seem to get lost in the translation:

How do you feel about that outing?
English: Great! It feels like a dream come true!
Japanese: I couldn't concentrate because all you yammering journalists kept popping the flash when I was in my windup

What's this Gyroball I hear about?
English: Perhaps you will see it in my next start. (smiles knowingly)
Japanese: I dunno, dude (wincing because sun is in eyes)

How do you feel to be a Boston Red Sox?
English: I am proud to be a part of the honorable tradition and history of the Boston franchise
Japanese: Who is Boston?
 

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