Last Day Of Work Is Upon Me

Oops - Guess I got a day ahead of myself. Forgot that it's still the 30th there and as I type this it's the 31st. You get the point;)

So today is the big game and Iowa State has a chance to finish 8-4. They should have finished 11-1 but that's besides the point. Hopefully the game will not go into overtime because we all know that they are finished if it does. Cyclones win tonight - 31-13. I have my ISU "Coaches Shirt" on today in preparation for the game.... So by my count, the Kick A$$ Big 12 is now 4-1 in bowl games while the overrated Big 10 is 0-3. That's what I like to see!!

I'm still full from the German Restaurant last night. Can't tell you how good that was. Work is chugging along but I think we'll be done around 5:30 again since they've stopped building more systems. All the other companies around the IBM building in the Free Trade Zone have stopped their production for the year... not us;) We're better than that and that's what makes IBM the best of the best! We have trucks parked for blocks to help ship all the systems we plan on getting out today. It's during the final weeks of the year that you appreciate how large a process it is to get this job done with so much efficiency and how many people it takes to do their jobs correctly. Something I don't get to always see when I'm sitting in a lab all day in Rochester.

So New Years Eve is here and we're trying to make plans. If we do indeed get out of here at 5:30 like every other day, we're going to start with a foot massage (they're addictive and so cheap!), then head for some dinner at Romas (see first night here... I hear the Ribs are good there), then go party like it's 1999!!! Everyone else has a 7:15 flight tomorrow morning - crazy! I plan on sleeping in then doing some shopping around town! I don't want to pay $200 RMB (about $25 US) for cover tonight like we did on Christmas Eve. So that alone will dictate where I go tonight.

Oh, this one's for Kahn and the former legend of Rochester's own Vicinity! If you guys ever want to quit your low paying jobs at IBM, you should come to China and play at these nice restaurants. All of them have live bands and honestly, I feel like I'm at Amateur Kareoke night. Last night at the nice German dinner the band began with Vanessa Williams' Save the Best for Last, then went right into Eternal Flame by the Bangles (I still think Susanna Hoffs was one of the cutest lead singers ever - still cute even at 47!!!) Then we were treated to What a Wonderful World (horrible horrible singing on this one.... sung with a Chinese accent by the drummer). After that our waitress "Joy" took her pen back so I couldn't write anymore down. But you get the idea. And Joy said that they play these same songs EVERY NIGHT! Vicinity could take 'em!

Speaking of music, I've been playing Eminem for the few of the TEs still around. They don't care for it much. Rap must be a US only thing as I know most of Europe isn't into it either. I can dig it. And they obviously haven't heard of Naughty by Nature as Tony goes around asking everyone "You down with OPP?" Guess you had to be there.

One other Hong Kong story. When Tony was buying his PSPs, the lady selling them to him spoke very good English. She said that these were better than the ones across the street (they all say that) because they were made in Japan, not made in China. We asked her why and she said that all the quality stuff comes from Japan, not China. I think that statement shows a lot of the dislike of China by the folks in Hong Kong. Still a lot of harsh feelings there but everyone's adapting to the change from even 6 years ago (I think).

Couple more days of the 70-75 degree days! I'll take the snow though for a breath of fresh air finally!

Hope y'all have a great New Years Eve Day! I'll blog tomorrow sometime from the hotel. I'll try to remember to take some New years pics as well with my non-digital disposable camera!!