I Love Vegetables!!

It's a bit of an odd topic tonight but I can be pretty random sometimes!   In thinking of my diet these days, I can't imagine NOT eating vegetables.  I eat bok choy, cabbage, broccoli, brussels sprouts, peas, corn and just about any vegetable out there.  There is one minor exception.  I've never been a fan of eggplant.

In thinking about my life, I don't if I always had vegetables.  In my younger days, my mom usually cooked vegetables at home but I didn't make a point to eat vegetables outside of home.  In fact, when I was grammar and middle school, I eat a LOT of McDonald's fast food for lunch.

When I got to high school, I started to learn a little more about a healthy diet.  Because I ran cross country (and was a fencer), our coach encouraged us to get more carbohydrates.  That's when I started eating a ton of pasta.  In fact, since my layoff, my default lunch at home is usually a bowl of pasta.

In recent years, as I got older,  I realized eating healthy was important.  I'll still get some occasional fast food but for the most part, I try to get vegetables in my diet as much as possible.   If I brought in lunch to work, I'd make sure there would be some vegetables (left overs or frozen).  If I went out to buy lunch, I'd usually pick meals with some sort of vegetable present even if it was fast food.

When eating dinner at home, my mom still makes a ton of vegetables which I gladly consume.  The funny thing is that I am not really a salad person.  I'll eat one every now and then (Fresh Choice is good) but I don't out of my way to eat a salad.

While American culture is typically a meat and potatoes one (and I let meat and potatoes), vegetables are also an important part.  If you don't eat vegetables frequently, you should try.  They are quite good for you!

2.99 GPA And Some Old College Memories.........

It's been a couple of weeks since my layoff and all is good in my world.  There's been a few job leads but I am not overly concerned about how they turn out.  I've taken my time to finish up my final paperwork to complete my departure from my company, clean up the house a bit and just relax a bit.

One other thing I've been doing is researching information on graduate school.  There's one program that I had looked at during my last layoff back in April 2009.  However, when I got rehired at my old job in September of 2009, I didn't look at the graduate school program again.  With the layoff hitting me again though, I am seriously looking at graduate school again.

In doing my research yesterday, I found out that the graduate program I was considering requires a 3.0 GPA.  That was a bit of a downer as I knew my overall GPA from college was around 2.86.  In digging a little further, I found out that the graduate program was just looking at my last 60 semester units.  That made feel a little better as I had done better in the last couple of years before I graduate than my earlier years.

I had pull up my old transcripts from college and upon doing the math, my overall GPA from my last 62 units was.........2.99!  That was pretty frustrating and got me to think "What if I had done better in this one class or another class?"  Alas, those thoughts didn't stick around long as there's nothing I can do about it now.

However, in reviewing my old college transcript, it did bring up an old memory I hadn't thought about in a while (and it could have made a difference in my last 62 unit GPA).   There was a class that I had received a grade of C in that I should have gotten at least a B instead.

What had happened was the lecturer graded the class on a curve.  Usually, when a class is graded on a curve, it's to help the students on the lower end of the grading scale to pass.   I think most of my fellow classmates thought the same.  However, when the final grades were distributed after our final, I was given a C grade despite scoring 85% (or somewhere around there) in the class.  Basically, our lecturer had went on a curve and RAISED the standards since the class was not terribly difficult.

I wasn't the only one who got stuck with a C in the 85% range.  A bunch of classmates tried to complain but it didn't get us anywhere as the lecturer had warned us upfront he was grading on a curve.  Who would have though that class could have implications over 13 years later?

All complaining aside though, with a 2.99 GPA, it looks like I will have to take a class, get an A, and get my GPA about 3.0 to apply for the graduate program I was looking at.   While this is a little frustrating, it is also a benefit.  I haven't been in school in a while so taking a class to boost my GPA will also get me back into school mode.

Opening Up To Different Perspectives.......

From my youth through my high school days, I didn't really have a lot of close friends.  I had some buddies I hung out with but not being with the popular crowd, I didn't really have someone I talked to consistently about "life issues".

Toward the end of my high school years, I finally found one really good friend and we remained close for many years. I talked to this particular friend about most (if not all) of my life issues for the duration of our friendship.   Alas, as this friend lived in the East Coast, distance and life in general spelled the end of this particular friendship.

Unlike my younger days, I had met some other friends throughout my college years and many of them remain my friends today.  These friends are usually the first ones I go to and discuss my life issues with.   As I have grown up and matured, I realized I don't need to talk to my friends about "every thing" that happens in my life.  

However, as I have matured, I have realized that I don't have to just rely on my "close friends" for perspective on things.  I am fortunate to have a HUGE circle of people to draw from.   I can draw on my fellow basketball players or officials for perspective on things.  In fact, tonight I officiated some basketball games with a fellow official who had been laid off in January.   That was definitely a topic of discussion because of my recent layoff.

Last night, I spent a good amount of time talking to the girlfriend of one of the guys I play basketball with.  She's quite a few years younger than me but awfully mature and we had some nice discussions over a few different topics.

My friends like to make fun of me in the fact that I "talk a lot".  There is some element of truth to this as I do like talking to my friends on the phone.  What some of my friends haven't seen is that I just don't talk to "shoot the breeze".  I have realized I have a natural curiosity over many things and I can discuss almost any topic under the sun.

So while my close friends will remain my close friends, I am 100% open to talking to others about anything they want to talk about or if something catches my fancy.  It's actually quite refreshing!

A Different Level Of Basketball......

Today concluded a super busy weekend for me.  I formed a team to play in a Easter basketball tournament and we played two games Saturday and two games Sunday.  In addition, I met up some friends for dinner after the tournament Saturday and I attended an NBA game after the tournament on Sunday.

Overall, I felt the tournament was a success.  My team consisted of two separate groups of people who I played with previously and we meshed together pretty well.  We won two games and lost two games to finish in 3rd place.

My team was really a middle of the road team in this tourney and it was reflected in the games we won, the games we lost and how we finished.   My team had plenty of guys who have played league basketball before but not at a super high level.  We also had a couple of guys who didn't play much organized basketball before but we were able to make up for it.

In first game we won Saturday, we beat an older but somewhat inexperienced team.   This team was pretty tough inside but struggled with their shots and our team played solidly enough to pull off the win.  In the second game we won today, we played a young and inexperienced team.   My team didn't play particularly well but had enough in the tank to knock off the young kids.

However, the two losses reflected many of my team's weaknesses.  In our first loss on Saturday, we played some early to mid 20's guys who just ran circles around my team offensively and defensively.   Their youth and athleticism was just too much of our team to overcome.

In our second loss this afternoon, we played a mixed team with vets (over 35), guys in their prime (25 to 30) and young kids.  The story of this game?  Defense.  The mixed team came out in their man to man defense and suffocated my team.  We were just not used to the level of defense that was being played.   The older guys used their experience to clog all our passing lanes and contested all of our shots.   The younger guys took advantage of our tired legs on offense.   This was a tough game and showed why defense is so important in basketball.

In both cases, if my team had played more together and got more time to gel, we might have a better chance against the more organized teams.  Alas, my team was just playing on the fly and that was why we struggled against the better teams.    As it turned out, the two teams we lost to this weekend ended up playing the championship with the mixed team beating the young kids in overtime.

My days of competitive basketball are winding down but it was fun play in the tournament with my team.

Quote Of The Day

"If you're on the path you're meant to be on, everything falls into place; the Universe is telling you that. If you are not on the right path, you will experience roadblocks all along the way, and this is also the Universe telling you to stop, look, and ask if this is where you are supposed to be."


— James Van Praagh


This quote was something I shared with a friend a while back.   With my layoff, I was thinking about this a bit.  The layoff is obviously a rather large roadblock.  So while I am poking around for job leads related to what I've been doing, I am taking some time to think about the distant future and see if the "Universe" / "God" / "Whatever suits you" has plans for me. 


I'll let you know when I figure out what my plans are! 

The Layoff Aftermath

It's a late Wednesday evening / Thursday morning as I write this.  It will be a week since I unexpectedly got laid off from my job.   While the title of this posting makes it sound like something bad or bad happened after my layoff, in reality NOTHING earth shattering happened.

I didn't jump off a cliff, bang my head against a wall or curse out my luck, bosses or anything else for that matter.    I talked about things with a few people last Thursday.  I wasn't too emotional and was pretty rational trying to figure out what exactly happened.

The next day was my birthday and I spent my day relaxing.  I had lunch with my parents and went shopping at the local mall for a while before going home to rest for a bit.  I then headed out to dinner / dessert with friends and had a good time.  While my layoff was discussed, I didn't express my bitterness and actually was my normal jovial self.

Saturday, I spent the day officiating basketball before going to dinner with another group of friends for another birthday celebration.  This time, the celebration was for two other folks plus me.  Once again the layoff was discussed but not too long.

Monday, I replied back to a ton of emails from my former co-workers who expressed disbelief at my layoff and gave me some best wishes.  I also took care of submitting my unemployment papers as well.   Though I was not intending to job hunt, I ran across some job postings so I reviewed them as well.

Tuesday, I spent time reviewing my severance papers and understanding what I was signing.  I have to return the papers in the next couple of days to complete from departure from my company.

Wednesday, I actually started the job hunt by talking to a recruiter.  The recruiter actually had two leads for jobs and I got another email later with another lead.  Whether they will come to fruition is another story but it's good to see I have some options.

As Thursday dawns, everything is all positive on my end.   I left my job last week in a state of disbelief.   In the week sense, I've gotten over it and moved on.  Sometimes when these roadblocks occur, it is life telling you that you should going another direction.  What that direction is I don't know 100% yet.

However, I am in the process of figuring it out and will take everyone once I decide which way I am going.  :)

In Sales, It's All About The "Numbers"

In just about any job, you generally have a set of general company goals and employee specific goals that you are evaluated against.  These evaluations will determine many things such as raises or even if you KEEP your job (for those that do their jobs poorly).

Salespeople likely have these same things but there is ONE overriding factor above all else:  The dreaded QUOTA.  What is a quota?  The amount of revenue (aka "dollars") that is required to be brought in by a salesperson over a given time period (monthly, quarterly, etc).

If you've ever wondered why salespeople are so pushy when it comes to homes, cars or other things they sell, the quota is the reason why.  If salespeople don't meet their quota consistently, they don't have a job.  Sales is a tough job and I've asked various salespeople why they work in the industry.  The respond that they like the challenge of selling and the excitement of closing a large deal.

The flip side of this is that even if the salesperson does everything 100% correctly, their jobs and livelihood could depend on the consumer signing the contract.   Imagine if all your jobs were dependent on others??  The only other job I can think of that could even be close if Project Managers.  Project Manager have to depend on other people to get their jobs without being their direct manager.  That poses challenges in of itself.

Prior to my time as a Sales Engineer, I didn't really understand the sales process and what salespeople went through.   As I've been supporting a sales team for the past few years, I've gotten a great understanding of what the salespeople go through on a daily basis and they have earned my respect.

Life has a way of repeating itself

This morning, I was informed by HR and my team VP that my job position was being eliminated due to budget cuts. This was not pleasant for several reasons.

One, I had already gone through his once before two years ago to the day. The reasons in 2009 were the same as they were today. It was about the budget and not about my performance.

Two, as with two years ago, tomorrow is my birthday. Of course with the end of the month and quarter coming, there is nothing that could be done with the timing.

I leave with my head held high. I had my struggles last year but worked through them as best as I could. Many people in my office and team were surprised that I was let go.

What's next? In the short term, going to enjoy my birthday the next few days as I have some dinners. Beyond that, we will see. I will take some time off and focus on some hobbies (not basketball as I do that enough). I may jump into photography more and get back into sportswriting a bit.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Enjoying the simple things in life

Up in Tahoe this weekend and having a food time. My friends and I are keeping things simple. While most of us have experience skiing and snowboarding, it was bypassed this time die to logistics. There'd were kids and elders where they wouldn't able to participate much in skiing and snowboarding.

While there wasn't adrenaline based activities, we did have fun in the snow and just hanging playing pool and board games.

This goes to show that hang out activities do not have to be extreme to have a good time. That is the general attitude I take with my friends. Let's enjoy ourselves whether we are hanging out or just talking on the phone. After all, as long as we enjoy what we are doing, it doesn't matter what the actual activity is.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Shoveling Snow In Lake Tahoe

In Tahoe with friends and the house we are staying at is full of snow. We are shoveling away to clear the driveway so we can park our cars.




How do people do this constantly in the east coast do this?

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Five Years And Four Months Ago......

Five Years and Four Months is a long time.  That would put things around the month of December in the year 2005.

Looking back at December of 2005, I was still employed at SBC Internet though unknown to me at that time, I would leave about 5 months later for a job at a startup.  I was still officiating high school basketball at that time as well.

But looking back at that time there was going to be a significant change in life for me.  During December of that year, I had went to Las Vegas to hang out with a old school friend who had flown in from the East Coast on a work assignment.   That would also be the LAST time I would hang out with my friend.  It was a few weeks later when I lost my cool and put a chill on our long time friendship.

In looking back, the situation should not have been unexpected.  My friend and I had gotten into a disagreement a few years prior.  Though we had settled the issue, I had personally grown a bit disenchanted with my friend.   The distance between us was great and I put in a lot of effort into the friendship which I didn't think my friend reciprocated.

Five years and four months later, I can see clearly now that the break in this particular friendship needed to happen.  There are a few reasons for this.

One, I had become too dependent on my high school friend over the years.  I had made them my best friend.  I talked to this person about everything and asked for advice.  Alas, my friend didn't look at me this way.  I knew this but still treated them in a slightly one sided fashion.  While I had a few other friends, I had neglected developing them very well.

Two, I wasn't a very mature person and perhaps I was being selfish in expecting a lot from my old friend.  Plus, I was narrow minded and didn't consider other alternatives in the form of other communication methods or just talking to other friends.

In looking back at how this broken friendship benefitted me, I can see a few things:

One, I expanded my myself from ONE best friend to several groups of friends.  There's a few different groups of people I hang out with.  They may be groups of old friends, basketball buddies or just other folks I have met over time.  I have a couple of old friends I talk to the most on the phone.

Two, with experience comes wisdom and with wisdom comes maturity.  With maturity comes the realization that life isn't just about YOU!  I was a little selfish with my friend back in 2005.  I've realized that for a while now.  It just didn't occur to me how much!

In the old days, I would call my old friend every couple of days just to jabber about stuff and ask advice. These days, if I am lucky, I'll talk to my two old friends once a week.  In fact, one of my old friends and I haven't talked in about a MONTH recently due to work.  Yet, I've emailed and texted them to say hi.

This particular friend of mine is great about calling back and when they don't call back, it usually means they are pretty busy.  I've been mature enough to accept this and continue on with life until we touch base again.

I could go on all night but let me summarize.  Things in life do happen for a reason.  The broken friendship was NOT fun at all.   Yet as I look back at the friendships I built and some maturity I've gained in recent years, it was a required process that I had to go through.

Though I probably hurt my old friend and may need to make amends one day, the learning process was definitely something I needed to go through.

Weird Night At The Gym / Career Night #2

The sports of basketball can bring you the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows.   Tonight, I think my team went through both the highs and the lows all in one night in our Thursday Night Friendship Basketball League against Team Blue.

For whatever reason, my team came out frigid offensively.  It didn't matter if we were shooting jump shots or layups, nothing was falling.  Team Blue also took advantage of some defensive match ups and took an early 14-0 lead.   My team called timeout with 14 minutes left and zero points on the board.

I knew the team was struggling and tried to get myself going.  I wasn't exactly scorching hot but ended scoring my team's first 6 points (8 points overall in the first half) of the game to keep us afloat.  The rest of the team finally followed suit.  Despite falling behind 14-0 to Team Blue, we were only down 33-21 at halftime.   My team even pulled a Chris Webber moment to add to the weirdness in the first half.  We called timeout when we had none and that cost us a point and possession as well.

The second half was a bit of a blur.   I remembered trying to get going early and missing.  However, the shots that weren't falling for me early finally starting going as I got into the zone and my team slowly clawed back into the game.  I scored 21 of my career high 29 points in the second half.

I know we eventually tied the game but immediately fell back behind the next possession. Both teams went back and forth a bit as Team Blue held on to a slim lead.   With about 30 seconds or so left, there was controversy.  My team was down two and got the steal and was cruising for the layup but the referee called a tough traveling call.   That definitely hurt and put us into a tough situation.   Team Blue got the ball and we had to foul them to let them shoot free throws.   Fortunately Team Blue made only 1 free throw and my team had a chance as we were only down 3 points at 52-49.

I dribbled the ball up the court and with several teammates setting screens, I was left wide open for a three pointer from the left wing and nailed it with 10 seconds left to tie the game.  Team Blue had a chance for a final shot but fortunately missed and that sent the game into overtime.

In the overtime, both teams went cold as no one could score for the first 1 1/2 minutes of overtime.  I personally rushed a couple of jumpers which frustrated me.  However, with about 25 seconds left, I finally got the ball again and knocked down the only shot for both teams in overtime for the 55-53 win.  Team Blue tried to tie but was unable to and my team pulled out the victory.

As you can see, this was a weird game but I am glad we won.  As for my career high 29 points, it was great to be able to score a lot AND help the team win.   There weren't stats kept so not exactly how well I shot.  My guesstimate is I shot around 50% or maybe a little below as I did take quite a few shots tonight.

Adding to the statistical weirdness, my teammates were consistent tonight.  My 7 other teammates combined for 13 points in both the first half and the second half.

All in all, it was a fun evening trying to carry my team and being the hero.  I'm normally a role player but for one night, i got to be the star.  My legs and body are paying for it a little bit but I'll enjoy it the next few days.

CIF NorCal State Division I Boys Basketball Playoff: Washington (SF) vs. Santa Teresa (San Jose)

I was working in Santa Clara today and realized that the Washington High Eagles boys basketball team would be playing in San Jose tonight against Santa Teresa at 7 PM in a CIF State Playoff game.  Since I was in the area (sort of, it was estimated to be some 19 miles + 30 minutes away), I decided to head over to the game.   Some thoughts......

The drive to Santa Teresa High School took about 40 minutes as I ran into rush hour traffic.  As I pulled into the school's parking lot, I was surprised to see a lot of cars already there.  As I walked to the gym, I saw a short line out the door.  It was then I knew I would be walking into hostile territory.

The environment was crazy.  Both sides of the gym were packed with fans (the majority of them Santa Teresa).  There was a student cheering section as well as cheerleaders.   The entire gym was loud, especially since Santa Teresa played well and eventually beat Washington 70-60.   I don't know if Santa Teresa is like this every game they play, but it was definitely a boost to their team and hostile to the visiting Washington team.

The Santa Teresa team deserves some credit too.   I haven't watched a ton of varsity basketball games this year but Santa Teresa was one of the better teams I have seen.  Santa Teresa shot the lights out from three point land, had great fundamentals,  played hard defense and crashed the boards.  In my opinion, Santa Teresa was probably the best team Washington had seen in recent weeks.   I don't think Washington had seen such a balanced team in a while and that proved frustrating.  Washington's defense couldn't lay back as Santa Teresa would hit the three's.  If Washington played tight, Santa Teresa was able to blow by the defenders.

The Washington team wasn't bad though.  While I am not a graduate of Washington, I had officiated one of their games during this past season and knew the coach personally.  After winning the San Francisco AAA championship against Mission last week (first championship since 1982), I was curious how Washington would do in the bright lights of the CIF State Playoffs.

Some of the things I had noticed during the AAA championship game came to light against Santa Teresa.  Washington and Mission both thrive on up tempo games as evidenced by the 75-72 final score in the championship.   I thought it was interesting that Washington didn't hit a lot of outside jumpers.  Most of their shots were put backs or layups.

This proved to be a key against Santa Teresa.  With Santa Teresa hitting their shots, Washington was forced to play half court and had trouble generating offense.  They went through a cold streak from halfway through the first quarter into the second quarter and allowed Santa Teresa to pull away to a 20 point lead.  Washington never really challenged after that.

While it was a tough night for Washington, they should keep their heads high for making a great effort.  Good luck to Santa Teresa as they travel to Sacramento for their next game.

Focal Point of the Defense

Tonight was game #2 for my team (Red) in our Monday night basketball league.  It was just a week ago I dropped home a career high 23 points in a 64-54 loss.   My performance was still the talk of the other players as our game was going to tip off tonight against the Gold team.  

Having played so many years, I didn't worry too much of trying too hard to replicate my performance from last week.  The Gold team knew my game pretty well and I was sure they were going to focus their defense on getting me off of my sweet spots.

The Gold team did pretty well in the first half as I only hit one shot for 2 points as my team was down 11 points at halftime.  We hung tough in the second half to keep the game close.  Unfortunately, my team also only had five guys so we were noticeably tired as the half went on.

I got loose to hit two jumpers and two layups to total 10 points for the game though I didn't shoot as well as last week (5-12 FG).   It was a week our team needed some more but it wasn't meant to be.

From my experience the past two weeks, I have to say that the sport of basketball is a fun game but difficult to master even with years of experience.    I was able to score 23 points last week because I have developed a solid mid-range jump shot in recent years.  Alas, at this point in my life, my game isn't as diversified enough to score more without jump shots.  I don't drive as much or grab a ton of offensive rebounds as I used to when I was younger.

All in all, you have to appreciate the special talents that play NBA, college, high school and even your local recreational basketball league.

Getting Away

Work was especially stressful this week with the end of the month approaching and our sales team trying to close up deals. As someone who supports these efforts, I typically remain calm, cool and collected. Alas the strain did finally get to me and I felt some of the effects. It did not help I was busy with my after work activities.

So, after being asked, I am out of town with friends on a church retreat. I'm not that far from home (1 1/2 hours). However, It is welcome respite from work.

The point is that work isn't always everything. Good to get some me time which I will try this weekend.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Career Night On The Court

There some things that occur during your lifetime that cannot be easily explained.   There might some weird coincidence that happens which causes you to meet your future wife, get a job or something else.

Tonight, something weird happened tonight which I cannot easily explain.  Take a look at the following stat line from my adult league basketball game tonight:

23 Points (11-19 FG's, 1-1 FT)
7 Rebounds
1 Assist
1 Steal
1 Turnover

That stat line was MINE tonight.  There was a considerable buzz around the gym as I put up my 23 points tonight.  The reason was that I am not usually the main scorer for any of the teams I play on.  Secondly, while I am known as a decent mid-range (15 foot and in) shooter,  I can be streaky at times.
Plus, I've only scored 20 points in a game less than 10 times in all the years I played in league basketball (probably more like 3 to 5 times, though I don't remember exactly).

However, if I were to try and explain why I shot so well tonight, here's some possibly explanations....


MY TEAM WAS MISSING TWO KEY GUYS


We were missing our center (injury) and our young guard (illness) tonight.  Between those two guys, they probably would have gobbled up the majority of my 19 shots.  With the two guys missing, the remaining six guys had a chance to get more shots up.  Of course, with more opportunities, you still have to make the shots.  Fortunately, they were going in for me tonight!

I PLAYED IN A WEEKEND BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT


I played in a weekend basketball tournament with some other guys.  My team didn't do too well as we lost all three games.  However,  I played quite a few minutes and got a lot of running in.  So that definitely helped me get in shape.

But the other thing was that I was hitting my shots during the tournament.  My overall shooting percentage wasn't that great because I forced some bad shots during the games.  However, when I was open and shot the ball in rhythm, the shots were going down with good frequency.  In fact, during the second game of our weekend tournament, I hit my first four shots of the game!  Overall, I averaged 10 points a game during the tournament which was solid.

IT'S THE SHOES!


My knees had been aching the past several week while playing basketball.  I thought it was just due to old age.  However, it never occurred to me that it was my basketball shoes.  The shoes I had been using looked great on the outside.  However, I wondered if I had overused it the past year or so with the number of league games I had played.

For my weekend tournament, I decided to break in my Li-Ning BD Doom shoes (Baron Davis's signature shoe with Chinese company Li-Ning).   Surprisingly, the shoes were comfortable and held up well over the weekend.  Of course, I played reasonably well and the trend continued into tonight.  I might need to order up another pair for backup!

IT WAS A HOLIDAY!


It was great to have today off.  I got in plenty of sleep and didn't do a lot during the day.  I went to the mall and CostCo with my mom to get some shopping in.  Other than that, I just chilled and showed up at the gym pretty laid back.

One underestimates how much work stress can have on you for the other activities in your life.  Too bad I can't take days off every time I play basketball!

JUST ONE OF THOSE NIGHTS


I could throw out my possible explanations.  But hey, it could have just been one of those crazy evenings.  Assuming our other two guys come back healthy, I'll probably settle back into my role as a bench player.

I should mention that it would have been nice if my team had won (we lost 64-54).  Career nights are great but not so if the team loses.  However, it was a fun evening and definitely one to remember.

Chinese New Year Basketball Classic Tournament - Day 1

So the day is finally over.  After getting up at 7:45 AM for my team's 9 AM game and playing a second game at 11:30 AM, I stayed and watched the other games before returning home moments ago.

The day was tough for my team as we lost both games.  The first game we played some college kids and they jumped out to an early lead that they never relinquished.  We ended up losing 78-57.  The second game was better as our opponent was more at our level.  Alas, after taking a one point lead with 4 seconds left, our defense wasn't good enough as our opponents hit a shot at the buzzer to win 43-42.

With our record at 0-2, we will play tomorrow morning at 11 AM against First Chinese Baptist Church.  They are a pretty young and athletic team so my team will have to be at our best to have a chance.

As for myself, I actually had a pretty offensive day.  I scored 12 points in the first game and 8 points in the second game.  In fact, I hit my first four shots of the second game but struggled in the second half when the opponents went to a man defense.

All in all, while the record isn't great my team did have a good time and it was good to get my team onto the floor.  We'll do our best tomorrow!

Game Time!

In about 12 hours, a rag tag basketball team I put together will tip off in a Chinese New Year basketball tournament being held in South San Francisco.  The team comprises with 4 guys I played with in some leagues recently, 2 friends, and 3 other newcomers I have never met.

I have no idea how my team will do and the quality of the competition we will face.  It will not be easy though as we will play twice tomorrow (9 AM & 11:30 AM) and at least one game (hopefully more) on Sunday.

This particular tournament has existed for some 50 years.  From reading something online, this tournament could be the 50th Anniversary though the coordinators have not acknowledged it. The tournament started play at the Chinese Recreation Center in San Francisco's Chinatown and was played there up until last year.  Due to a remodel of the Center, the tournament has been moved to a high school in South San Francisco for this year.

Being a Chinatown kid and hanging around Chinese Recreation Center a lot, I had watched various teams play the tournament over the years.  Yet, I never actually played in the tournament.  I wasn't a huge basketball player in my youth though I always enjoyed watching it.   To me, this particular tournament represented a higher level of competition among Asian/Chinese players than I could ever be at.   Interestingly, I actually have officiated the tournament in recent years though will not be doing so this year as I am playing.

Many friends wondered why I decided to form the team and play in the tournament, especially since I am 36 years old and my knees have been aching lately.  Some thought it was because I am a basketball nut.  In a way, you could that is true.  However, I could have easily chosen NOT to form a team as I normally play basketball on Saturdays anyway. 

I decided to form a team because I felt this was one of my last few opportunities to play in the tournament.  Because of the move to another facility, there was enough space to host two tournaments.  There is the Upper Division for the more competitive teams.  Then the coordinators formed a Lower Division for the other teams who wanted to play but couldn't compete with the better teams. 

Seeing that there was a Lower Division compelled me to form the team and make perhaps my first (and probably last) appearance in a tournament that I have watched since I was a kid.   Playing this year is less about winning than about being part of a tradition that has existed for many years.  

Win or lose, I am going to enjoy this weekend with my teammates.  Wish us luck!  

The Struggles Of Work / Life Balance

I'm a season ticket holder for our local professional basketball team and split the tickets among a group of people.  So, for my friends, they take their significant others OR other friends they know from church or other social groups  

For me, since I am not married nor do I currently have a girlfriend, I knew I had to find people to take to the games.  I had several friends in mind but not all the plans come to fruition.  The main problem is that the games are sometimes on weeknights which make it difficult for people to go.  Fortunately, my mom is around.  Since she is retired and likes basketball, I ended up just taking her instead.

However, for this particular weekend, I had a Sunday game with a marquee team and player coming into town.  There was one friend (call her Friend A) who I wanted to take.  She wanted to go but the timing (Sunday evening) would be tough because she had to work the next day.  Of course, I have to work too but I can deal with it better than others since I typically have more energy than many people I know.

So I had to go to a backup plan with another friend (Friend B).  This friend had already went to a game about a month ago.   While there was going to be some logistical things I had to address with this friend about the game, I figured it would be worth the effort.

Alas, all the plans got shot down.  Just like Friend A, Friend B has work issues.  Alas, Friend B's work issues were a little more pressing.  She was put on call for this weekend out of the blue and could not commit to making the game.

I admit to being frustrated at the time we talked.  This had nothing to do with Friend B and more so with the fact that it's just been one BUSY week for me.  I have had evening activities this ENTIRE week and not much downtime to myself.  While it's enjoyable, I haven't had much a chance to recharge.   Friend B's situation just muddled matters.  With me being tired already, I wasn't too thrilled to have think about what to do for the game.

After taking a nap to recharge, I feel better and thought I need to address the issue of work / life balance because of what I went through with my friends the past couple of days.

For me, work / life balance has always been important.  In the years I've been in the workforce, I've always done my 40 (and sometimes more) hours.   But after work, I've always had activities.  It could be something simple like just going to the gym to workout or hitting a bookstore to read which take a small amount of time.  Alternatively, I officiate, play or go watch basketball.

For Friend A, work dominates her life though she doesn't seem to mind and she cuts small time for herself to take walks.  I wasn't surprised at her for not attending the game.   Her life is structured around work and you have to fit into her schedule.  It's not always easy to do that.

Friend B isn't anything like Friend A.  In fact, Friend B is probably more like me in that work/life balance is important.   The major difference with Friend B and me?  Her work schedule is currently Tuesday through Saturday PLUS she works in an environment that operates 24 hours a day.

Thus, that is why Friend B's situation came up and I believe that is a source of resentment for her.  On one hand, you have to do the job you currently have.  On the other hand, she's already losing one weekend day.  Plus this weekend, our plans got shot down just because she MIGHT have to do work on one of her days off.

Since I am calmer about the situation now, I advised Friend B to start looking for a job that is Monday to Friend and does not operate 24 hours a day.    I am not thrilled that Friend B's job is going to make her miss the game Sunday.  We talk a lot but don't see each other much so any opportunity to see her is welcome.

But beyond that, work / life balance is important.  You need time to yourself and the fact is work is not everything.   Yes, we all need to earn money to support ourselves.  But work should not override your own personal time that you need for yourself.   Considering I know Friend B very well, this personal time is much needed, maybe more so than maybe your average person.

I went through what Friend B is experiencing now early in my career and I am quite understanding of what her situation is.  I worked in call centers with odd schedules like Thursday through Monday.  Fortunately, as time went on and I got seniority, I was able to get myself out of those odd schedules.  My current job is just Monday through Friday though I have to deal with odd hours every now and then.

All in all, I don't envy what Friend B has to deal with.  It's not fun.  For everyone reading, do what you need to do at work.  But make time for yourself and also try to avoid working on your days off.  All in all, I think it will allow you to enjoy your life much more.

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