About Air-traveling

I have been traveling through air on a regular basis for almost 8 years and have experienced lots of random situations. The worst one was losing my boarding pass half an hour before boarding. I eventually got onboard, but at one point I really thought I wasn’t getting on the plane.

Some situations are unavoidable though, such as having babies around. I used to feel sorry for those parents, now I truly admire them. Oh, another annoying thing is having messy hair after being on the airplane for 12+ hours.

So now I always bring earplugs and a pair of sunglasses while air-traveling. Earplugs are good for blocking the noise; sunglasses can 1) keep unwanted light away while resting and 2) make me feel ok about my messy hair.

My other recommendation is to order low-fat meals. Besides eating healthier, you get the meal earlier and avoid the bathroom rush later on. For most airlines, if you didn't request a special meal while booking the ticket, you can do so 24 hours before departure.

Choices for special meals usually include vegetarian, low-sodium, kids’ meal, maybe law-carbs? I personally think low-fat meals taste better than normal meals. I wouldn’t order a kid’s meal for my kid if I ever have one though. French fries and chicken fingers are not good for kids.

By the way, I am extremely lucky this time to fly in Econ Plus class with an empty seat next to me.

Subway

Two people stopped me while I was approaching Metro Center after work today.
They asked, "Is there a subway around?"
I pointed at Metro Center: "the metro station is right in front of us."

They paused for 3 seconds and said,

"Oh, we are looking for a Subway...where you can buy subs"

鄧鄧搭地鐵的故事

現在每天都得一大早出門搭地鐵進DC上班，熊熊讓我有從淡水坐捷運到台北市的感覺...

話說我今天早上剛坐定，地鐵開沒多久，突然身後傳來一聲巨響。我連忙回頭看，竟然是一個超大個兒的黑人昏倒在地上，我目測他身高大概有二百公分左右吧。

四周的人一時無法反應，車箱內的空氣凝結於眾人驚嚇的眼光中...好在倒在地上的人自己慢慢坐直。我回神後趕緊從坐位上跳起來說，"Do you want to sit?" 旁邊的人也一陣七嘴八舌，有人問他要不要打電話叫救護車，有人問他要不要叫開地鐵的人停車，也有路人甲問路人乙說，該不該按緊急鈴。

大家等著當事人表示意見，但那老兄只是猛搖頭。突然有個人小聲的說，"你剛是不是睡著了..."

他他他...終於點了點頭。

於是，車箱馬上恢復平靜，看報紙的把報紙撿起來，聽ipod的把耳機放回耳朵，我也悄悄的坐回原位。"昏倒"的人挑了個離他最近的坐位，一坐上馬上呼呼大睡。我想，他真的很累吧。

So, Who is the client?

~Some thoughts after reading Seetoo's stories as a summer intern at the public defenders office in Michigan (see my link to Seetoo's blog)

I am damn lucky to get this summer job--Working as a temporary summer law clerk at a DC law firm, which is located next to the White House and neighboring tons of other law firms. Having approximately 120 attorneys (not including their staff), the firm is considered a medium-sized DC firm.

The office is beautiful and spacious. There are lots of artworks, big conference rooms, and free Starbucks coffee. The service is great too--If the attorneys need to copy something, there are professional copying staff to do the job. If the attorneys work overtime, the food department will deliver dinner to their room.

Basically, the attorneys only worry about their billable hours, so the firm can charge its clients.

So, who are the clients?

While Seetoo's clients are poor delinquent juveniles, our clients are mostly rich corporations. A lot of them have famous company names that everybody has heard of.

Far from feeling sentimental, it is hard for me to get emotionally involved while dealing with our clients' matters. After all, they are not even real humans.

At the end of the day, our clients, being very rich and powerful to begin with, become even richer and more powerful with the help of our legal services. But what happens to those poor delinquent juveniles? I have no idea...

老神在在的單身理由

以下是網路上來路不明的道聽塗說, 不完全代表鄧鄧立場

英國調查指出，到公元 2000年，獨自生活的人數已從120萬增加到800萬除此之外，單身者喜歡花花草草等園藝植物，且花比較多的時間閱讀

同一報告也分析了單身貴族喜歡獨自生活的原因：

1. 盥洗室永遠淨空
2. 看電視時能任意而為，包括剪腳指甲
3. 電話完全屬於自己
4. 一個月洗一次衣服也沒有人囉唆
5. 隨時能赤條條的到處走
6. 冰箱裡的食物不會不翼而飛
7. 正在念的書沒有人會碰
8. 不會有人忘記帶鑰匙在凌晨兩點要你起床開門
9. 音樂放大聲也沒人管
10.不必假裝喜歡另一半的朋友
11.打碎任何東西都不必內疚
12.可以完全掌握電視遙控器
13.披頭散髮面貌狼狽不會有人目睹
14.吃東西時不必管時間
15.家裡任何東西如剪刀、錄音帶等不怕找不到

單身的好處

1. 可以隨心所欲出去,不必編理由
2. 想吃什麼就吃什麼
3. 自己安排生活作息, 睡不睡覺用不著解釋
4. 衣櫥比較寬敞
5. 不用等洗手間
6. 可以盡興地任自己一團混亂

話說我今天下班後一個人衝去吃挫冰
小姐問我幾個人，我用手很酷的比了個"一"

她張大了眼，提高十分貝說: "妳一個人喔?" 於是我很鎮定的跟她說: "我只是來吃冰的"

接著她指示--那妳去坐角落

是怎樣...

Thank you Sophia

summerme
Originally uploaded by dwd140.

Thank you Sophia for teaching me how to do this.

My other non-secret identity as ddeng

I have been writing about fitness for almost 2 years on PTT, which is a popular Taiwanese bulletin board system (BBS) site. Actually, I don't really write, I try to answer questions and share my experiences with people who view the board.

I was surprised when I started receiving messages/mails from people who either ask me specific fitness questions or encourage me to keep on writing.

"ddeng" is my username to log in the system and has become my other identity in the Cyberspace. (which most of us all have in certain ways)

The board manager has kept some of my articles on the web, but those are all written in Chinese.

What if I don't become a lawyer

"What would you do if you don't become a lawyer?"

Trust me, this is always a good conversation starter in law school. You'd be surprised by lots of random answers, maybe including mine.

My Plan A is to be a lawyer and Plan B is to be a personal trainer. I actually think the two professions involve the same skill--Being able to explain your legal/fitness knowledge to someone like your mother.

Thanks to Carol's encouragement last night, I just ordered the Certified Fitness Trainer (CFT) course package online.

Why Run

I used to hate running. To be more specific, I hated running more than math.

Being overweight and self-concious about my very-slow-speed, running was not only physically painful but also humiliating. I still remember vividly when my classmates cheered for me around the track because I was having a hard time to complete a 800m running test in high school PE class.

Now I run at least twice a week and had participated in two 5K races.

And I believe we all have great potential, but sometimes we just don't know about it without trying things out.