Patrick's Diary - 12/30/2015

Having the sweet bun as breakfast instead of McGriddle at McDonald's, I drove on my way on this chilly but sunny Wednesday morning to gym. Driving out of our neighborhood, I could view the playgrounds inside Lynnwood High School being covered by a layer of frosts.

There weren't many people working out when I got there. I did a holiday routine, which was equivalent to my weekend routine: 1 hour on treadmill, 20 minutes on bike and 200 times weightlifting. While on bike, I could watch today's first bowl game - Birmingham Bowl very closely. 

I had planned to drive my son to University Bookstore to buy textbooks for his classes in Winter Quarter. He could buy them by himself when he moves back to dorm on Sunday but I wanted to take a look at his Statistics book and show him the method of studying computational classes by thoroughly going through the first chapter of the book: Reading every word and solving every end-of-chapter problem. If he wants to get a good grade, he must follow it. In addition to Statistics, we also bought the book for Psychology class. Acting II doesn't require a book. Two books cost 490 bucks, yes, textbooks are so expensive nowadays.

Anyway, bookstores and libraries are two amazing places at any college. Every time we bought the textbooks at University Bookstore, I took a shot for my son.

Our next task was to go back to Lynnwood area to buy new batteries for our cells. Though they still work, may wear out pretty soon. A store named Batteries+Bulbs on 196th street stocked all kinds of supplies as I had experienced in the past, it didn't disappoint us this time either. In addition to the new batteries for my son's and mine, we also got a wall charger at a discounted price. Eventually, we got 10 bucks more discount on our total purchases. Just checking on Youtube, I learned it is a nationwide franchise, which I hadn't known before.

My son hadn't been able to connect the earphone to his IPad for quite a while, so I dropped him off close to Apple Store at Alderwood Mall. It would have taken 30 minutes to wait before the technician could have checked it for him, so he made an appointment in the afternoon on Friday. I will have to drive him there again, which will have me missing the 2nd half of Rose Bowl. I may be able to watch it inside the mall somewhere. Stopping by Romano's Macaroni Grill, we had a casual but delicious lunch. I wish I could have had a glass of wine but I didn't order because of driving. 

Falling into sleep after coming back home, I didn't catch much of Belk Bowl in which NC State lost to Mississippi State.

Moving down to living room to watch Music City Bowl, I watched the 2nd half in every detail and enjoyed it. Louisville won the game. At one point of time, Texas A&M missed a field goal, so they were still 13 points behind. I tweeted they were 3 positions behind. My thought process was if they had made it, it would have become a 2 positions game. Someone started discrediting me through tweets and even asked me to comment on other games like Chinesechecker. I had watched college football for 15 years, of course, I know what the typical call is for this margin. However, since this guy laughed at my math, I counterattacked that 2 positions were not precise because two TDs would add 14 points but one TD and two field goals would add 13 exactly. 

Moving onto the next bowl game - Holiday Bowl being held in San Diego, I started tweeting in Chinese, sometimes in Beijing Slangs of which no one could figure out through Google Translate. After a while, I switched back. Yes, if you don't like me tweeting in English, I can do in Chinese. How does this sound? This game was beautifully and closely done at the end. Badgers deserved the win because a potential TD was blown off earlier in the game when a badger didn't step out of the bound and obviously would have run into Trojans' end zone. 

Tomorrow will be the biggest day for college football before the final in January. Two playoff games will be held. Clemson will play Oklahoma at Orange and Alabama will against Michigan State at Cotton. I was asked by a follower on twitter who I projected to win the final, I assumed Bama to have another chance.

My son asked me to take a photo for him in front of lightings before they will be taken off after the New Year. I took two for him...

Patrick's Diary - 12/29/2015

Stopping by McDonald's, I had McGriddle, Hashbrown and a large cup of coffee I hadn't had for several weeks. Then, I went to gym to work out for almost 2 hours: 1 hour on treadmill, 20 minutes on bike and 200 weightlifting. The only feeling I could express was: COOL.

Coming back home, I started watching Armed Forces Bowl. Though Air Force made the first Touchdown, their key defensive player was ejected due to targeting at very early stage, which would cause a lot of issues for their defence later.

 

Berkeley was a better team with their projected top 5 drafted QB who made many effective throws in this game.

I had to drive my mom for her CT Test at Virginia Mason, so didn't catch the most of the 2nd half of this game. I would learn Berkeley eventually won an easy game.

An incident at the intersection of 524 and North Road had driven me so uncomfortable in the entire afternoon. An Volvo Stationwagon was to turn right in front of me. I don't know if the driver was intentional or stupid who just stopped the car even without coming traffic. When that car moved, I instinctually released the break but an pedestrian had started crossing the road in between our two cars. I immediately stepped onto the break to stop the car, that pedestrian yelled to me: "Watch the fucking light!" He was so mad even it wasn't a very dangerous situation. I wasn't sure if he has a miserable life at home or not. I hope this idiotic old garbage will learn how to behave in future. If he needs, I will teach him especially he dressed like an idiot I know. There will be a good chance for me to see him on the road again in our neighborhood. The whole incident actually was driven by the driver's stupidity or conspiracy in that Volvo, so I caught that car up to memorize the license plate: APR66**. I even surpassed it to drive in front to find a chance to have it hit my car's bumper. The driver wasn't so stupid, turned the car to the left at another intersection to escape. 

While waiting for my mom's test to start, I tweeted my angers repeatedly. Then a man wearing Coug's cap coming for a test. After him, another guy wearing shorts as if coming from gym directly came in for test as well. I didn't know his orange shirt representing Illinois, Syracuse or Clemsons. It might be for Denver. 

The team Virginia worked professionally and warmly for my mom's test and I don't think my mom has any issues. Except her mobility, she has been doing great to manage her health. 

Driving back home without more incidents, I started catching Baylor taking UNC in Russell Athletic Bowl. Both teams showcased dramatic plays. 

The following bowl game was Texas Bowl in which LSU played Texas Tech. Both in NFL and College Football games, teams have been faking a lot of plays to draw viewers on TV for commercial purposes. This one wasn't an exception. However, I didn't care. American sports are different from the rest of the world. In soccer world, you always hear fixed games being investigated. In the world of American sports, every game could be a show depending on commercial needs. I enjoy watching exciting shows. Who cares if are they real competitions or not?

I did plan to watch a movie called "The Signal" but was really tired...

Patick's Diary - 12/28/2015

Waking up, I started watching BPL Breakaway on NBC Sports Network. It's a very entertaining program NBCSN presents once or twice a season. Every match played simultaneously was switched from time to time, sometimes the scenes were moments ago, sometimes they were live. Moving down to living room, I kept watching Manchester United playing Chelsea, both teams are struggling in this season and several players missed absolute scoring opportunities in this match. No one scored at the end.

I thought my mom's test to be arranged in this afternoon, but realized it on Tuesday after reading the note and calling reservation desk to confirm. Going back to my bedroom, I started catching up the bowl games. Navy was leading Pittsburgh by 10 at Military Bowl, but Pitt caught up 2 touchdowns in a short period of time.

Navy took a risk at 4th & 2 and their Quarterback ran more yards. Pitt had never tied the game before the end. Navy won the bowl, they seemed so happy.

Switching to ESPN2, I kept watching Quick Lane Bowl in which Minnesota playing Central Michigan. This bowl game was being held in Detroit, which wasn't far away from both teams' home. It's a low score game because I found only Minnesota added a field goal after I woke up from an hour long nap. However, Central Michigan would make a combative TD pretty soon. 

Toward the end of the game, Minnesota made their final TD in this game to lead by 5 points. They tried to lead by a TD, so attempted two-point-conversion and made it. Eventually, Minnesota won the bowl. College bowl games are very entertaining and exciting. I will finish my plan to watch every bowl game in person in my life for sure.

We had planned to go to Red Lobster in Lynnwood to have our biggest holiday dinner, so I drove my parents and my son there around 6:00 PM. I had called earlier to try to make a reservation but they didn't take it unless for a group of 9 or more. It's pretty busy even on a Monday night. We had to wait for 15 minutes to get our table. Last time I was here was probably 8 years ago, the menu was new to me though I had checked online earlier. Since it was planned as the most significant dining out during this holiday break for our family, we ordered full courses: Drinks; Lobster Pizza as appetizer; two 1 1/4 pound live maine lobsters, steak and linguini as main courses for everyone. I even got a free refill of lemonade. The foods were delicious, the services were super. Their manager even came over to talk to us for a minute at the end of our feast. The check amount was reasonable, which was similar to what we spent for seafoods at New Star Chinese restaurant in downtown Seattle. 

Leaving for home after the big dinner, I snapped a photo for my parents and son at the front of the restaurant. It's our family celebration for New Year of 2016.

Catching the final four seconds of Monday Night Football, I was surprised by Broncos' missed field goal, which wasn't a super long one. However, the kicker made the winning one in overtime because Bengals wouldn't be able to score later. I just noticed the former Alabama's QB playing for Bengals in this season, he must be drafted by them earlier this year. 

I did notice several movies on HBO I wanted to watch, but became very sleepy...

Patrick's Diary - 12/27/2015

Surprisingly, there wasn't BPL match on this Sunday morning, so I searched on HBO and found this Jim Carrey's comedy named "Dumb and Dumber To". It's another meaningless funny comedy of his style again but was entertaining. I think I watched the portion of the first one but can't recall the contents.

Vacuuming the carpets upstairs, I found our little sunshine was hiding behind the TV stand in living room. He is always scared while I am doing this. It reminded me my late Little who was always so brave to watch the vacuum and even tried to challenge it. 

Watching Cam Newton vs. Matt Ryan from time to time, I learned Falcons eventually winning a divisional game at home. 

It's the final home game for Seahawks in this season and I would learn 69,000 fans packing the CenturyLink Field. It's not a very critical game for them because they had clinched the playoff spot, but they would have a chance to be the fifth seed if they won this game. However, Rams played the better game, when I came back from bathroom at certain point of time, they had led by a TD and a FG. 

Seahawks were trying to catch up, threw and ran effectively during a period of time. 

They didn't recover the fumble twice in their territory, which was unbelievable. It might not be Seahawks' day. 

Only one hour was left before LA Fitness would close on Sunday. I drove there to work out in a short version: 20 minutes on treadmill, 10 minutes on bike but 150 times weightlifting as a weekday routine, not a weekend one. 

I stopped by Fred Meyer trying to buy detergent for drycleaning my pants but didn't find any. Instead, I bought dishwash detergent for mom. Anyway, I will liquify Tide Powders with water to clean my pants. Buying grande latte, I hadn't noticed Tully's having been replaced by Starbucks until paying attention to its logo on the cup when I went back in my car, then I saw its huge logo on the wall of store front through my car's window. 

Planning to eat the burger I bought at 7-11 for dinner, I found my dad having already cooked noodle. One big bowl of noodle was enough for that period of time. Later on, I added a bottle of beer and the Bacon Cheeseburger while watching the weird but impressive movie - Gone Girl.

The next movie on this channel was another interesting one. The scene at the beginning seemed in NYC, but was moved to New Orleans, eventually even further south - Brazil. Will Smith's movie is always entertaining, though the Australian girl was new to me. Her performance was very good too.

I still have a whole to consume at home before our big holiday break is gone. I will watch more movies, matches and games. 

Patrick's Diary - 12/26/2015

Sleeping on the couch from the night of Christmas to the morning on Saturday, I started watching football both BPL and American. I did catch the last several minutes of the match Stoke City beating United 2 to 0 though I didn't catch the goals. Next, I watched the full match in which Liverpool overtaking Leicester, which has been the darkest horse in the season. Benteke made a very timely touch to send the ball into the back of the net.

Switching to NBC signature channel, I kept watching Everton taking Newcastle. Though I missed most of the match because I fell into sleep from time to time, I did catch the only goal made in this match in almost last second. Everton won the match with so much joy at the end.

One more BPL match would be televised on NBC but I wanted to switch to ESPN to catch Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl to support Huskies. It kicked off after several minutes.

Huskies' running game was pretty effective since the beginning, even Browning ran a long one by himself. 

Gaskin made four TD in this game, became the MVP. 

His extra effort made the differences.

The 4th TD was made

I have to say Southern Mississippi catching up a beautiful TD but it was a bit late.

Browning made a lot of accurate and brave long throws in this game. This team is very promising in the next several years.

Another Washington State team, Cougs, won over Miami at Sun Bowl. Unfortunately, it was being played during the same time, so I didn't watch it. 

Going to Safeway to pick up my dad's medications, I drove to LA Fitness to work out. Though I didn't finish a weekend routine, I was sweaty enough while glancing at Independence Bowl on TV at gym.

Stopping by 7-11, I bought 4 burgers assuming that my son might not want dinner, so my parents didn't cook anything. I learned the lesson the night before because my son didn't want dinner, my parents only cooked needle for me. Several hours later, my son got hungry, tried to find something to eat up and downstairs for quite a while. However, when I arrived at home, I found the dinner was prepared, so we could have burgers on Sunday night. 

It's a surprise Tulsa catching up the scores only behind a field goal. They lost at the end anyway. Watching UCLA taking Nebraska, I just noticed Thursday Night Football being televised on NFL Network, oh, TNF was switched to Saturday Night in this Christmas week. Switching between the two games, I finally closed the day for football.

No, I wouldn't sleep on couch again, so turned off the TV without watching through the end. Going to reading room to write my diary for Christmas, I returned to my bedroom to sleep...

Patrick's Diary - 12/25/2015

I skipped writing diary on Christmas Day but am catching it up now. Though, I got up pretty early on Christmas morning, went back to bed sleeping until lunchtime. I was recovered from tiredness very well. 

Not having been able to watch movies non-stop over the night before, I resumed doing it after lunch. The first one I watched was The Longest Ride on StarZ. It was very romantic and the comparisons between two love stories from nowadays to old days were intertwined very impressively. 

The ending was very happy. The main characters got all what they wanted: Love, Dreams and Money. It's a typical American Dream - Happiness based on materialism. Why not?

After watching this wonderful movie, I decided to take a break and went to Lynnwood High School to practice soccer. I hadn't done this for two months and this was the only 2nd time I did it in 2015. When I arrived there, there were two or three families playing in one of the fields, so I picked the other one. I practiced Free Kick, Penalty Kick, Volley, Powerful shot, Header and Dash to shoot, both in right and left foot. My left foot is always weaker and less accurate when making FK and Powerful shots but with the similar strength for the others in addition to passing and crossing. After more than one hour's practices, my thighs became pretty sourly. 

As I shared before, I was great at scoring the goals through direct free kicks when I was young. I made one of the last four shots in this practice right into the left upper corner of the goal post with the ball scratching the pole and bar, which was deemed perfectly because even the best professional keeper wouldn't be able to save it. Two of them hit the bar and another one into left upper side net. Why did I make those four much better than the rest? I used the point of touch technique I developed by myself when I was in college: Hitting the ball at the point of half of radius and 45 degree both in lower right part of the ball with right inner big toe mound at a spot at the right side in front of big box:

Coming back home, I took a shower, then went downstairs. My parents were sitting around the formal dining table we had never used since moving into this house in December, 2009. Our cat seemed enjoying this family gathering very much too. My dad told me he watched a Chinese economist talking about Adam Smith and Keynes on Chinese channel earlier. 

I resumed my Christmas movie festival again and watched the part of the "Big Game" I hadn't even heard of before. It's a pretty impressive one. 

Next, I watched Music and Lyrics. Checking Grant's recent romances and affairs online, I figured he is still a playboy even at the age of 55. Barrymore always keeps her image of a sweetheart. It was produced in 2007 but I had never watched. 

Searching TV Guide on the screen, I found Insurgent to be replayed on one of HBO channels. I had watched it two weeks ago but missed the first half of it. Definitely I would catch it this night.

After catching it up, I moved to watch Taken 3 I had never watched before. Different from the first two, the scenes were all in LA. I checked online about Taken 4, which could be released in late 2016. 

I am not seriously religious but enjoy Christianity more as a civilized culture influencing me so much since my childhood while I also like the stories in Arabic Nights. Notre Dame De Paris is one of the churches I admire because of Victor Hugo. However, sitting inside Uppsala Cathedral, I could feel harmony. On this Christmas Day, I would like to show my respect to Church of Sweden. 

Patrick's Diary - 12/24/2015

Finally, Christmas Eve showed in front of the door. My dad's appointment was set in this morning, so I drove him to Virginia Mason. It went pretty smoothly and my dad was very healthy. He is 83 years old but when he was asked to draw a clock to tell the time of 10 past 11, he did it instantly. Even on my mind, I still had to think about it for several seconds. It might be because I tell the time by numbers. It was even more amazing that he repeated three words "Orange, Shoe and Flag" instantly as well. After several minutes, when he was asked to repeat again suddenly, he did it perfectly. His memory is still great at this age. 

As planned, I drove my son to Seattle Premium Outlet to buy new clothes and shoes. 

He had complained that he didn't have enough pants and shirts and he needed a light but thick winter coat too. He sticked with sporty clothes, so I targeted Nike and Adidas. However, he wanted to try other brands since we had been buying those two every year, he wanted a change. First, we headed to Puma, which offered good deals today. 

Eventually, I bought a pair of pants, a long sleeve shirt and a sport jacket at Puma:

Then, we walked to Reebok to see if we could find a pair of shoes he liked. He caught a blue one. Though he is 6'2 1/2'' tall, his foot size is only 10 and there was only one pair of this size on the shelf. I wear size 10 as well but mine may be a little bit larger. Oh, a couple of weeks ago, when I measured his height, I asked him to do it for me to check. I can no longer claim 6' any more. It drops to 5'11 1/2" now. I heard when people get older, the height may be shorten. When I was at his age, I was 182.5 cm, which is barely equivalent to 6', and just back in 2005, I was 6'1/2". Just like my mom, her height drops from 5'5" to 5'3" now. We can't reject agings. I feel a little bit disappointed that my son doesn't play sports. With his height and size, I would play college football. He needs larger feet though. The most talented soccer player, Maradona, is pretty short but his feet are super large. My son should go for a tryout at Peterson's Huskies. It's a joke, he is already in sophomore and isn't very athletic. He actually could run very fast but never developed on it. 

In addition to the shoes, I bought him another pair of pants with Reebok's logo on and a light blue sweatshirt. He preferred a dark blue one to fit the color of that pair of pants but couldn't find one. 

We came to the outlet very early, there weren't many people there during that period of time. According to the saleswoman at Puma, it might become very crowded after lunchtime. They would close at 6:00 PM on Christmas Eve. 

Approaching the parking lot, I viewed the nearby Casino and suggested to my son that we might come to stay over a night here during this break. He wasn't very interested in Casino because he isn't allowed to sit in the gambling area at age of 20. What I thought was that we could go to the restaurants inside the casino to eat while watching shows if the artists don't take break. 

As I shared, I bought the tickets at Costco a week ago, so decided to use them for The Hunger Games at Regal attached to Everett Mall. It's still one hour earlier before the show would start, so we planned to have a lunch at nearby Olive Garden first. While approaching it, I noticed another restaurant we had never tried. It's Famous Dave's of which I had seen another one at Alderwood Mall. We walked into it and were seated. While waiting for the drinks, I was excited in catching Bahamas Bowl on TV. By the way, I ordered draft beer because we would hang around the Mall for three hours, I wouldn't need to drive very soon. 

I heard my son to order Ribs, which seemed signature dishes at this barbecue restaurant but he eventually ordered Georgia Chopped Pork I hadn't paid attention to until he almost finished it. My focus was on Bahamas Bowl then. I ordered Sweetwater Fish Tacos, which was so delicious. 

We got out of the Famous Dave's and walked toward to Regal under the typical cloudy Seattle's winter. I feel lucky that I could breath such fresh air. 

It's just several minutes away from starting when we sat into the auditorium in which many audiences had occupied the seats. It's a bit surprise given The Hunger Games having been released for almost a month. It's a very small auditorium anyway.

The two parts of Mcokingjay were not really big makes. However, my son said that the stories of The Hunger Games were not for extraordinary special effects anyway. It's so popular because of so many fans of the novels. Jennifer Lawrence became a lovely wife and mother at the end of the movie. 

Finally, we stopped by Sears inside Everett Mall to buy a coat. It fit all of my son's requirements: Thick, Light and Hoody. Shopping all of the clothes and shoes for my son today reminded me my mom doing this every year for me right before Spring Festivals when I was a kid and teen in Beijing, we almost always went to Wanfujing Shopping District, though it was very modest back in 70s and 80s. However, I was often criticized by my high school advisor who was very traditional that I dressed oddly. Wanfujing is very magnificent today as I heard.

This is the coat my son really likes, he will dress it during this break wherever we go to entertain. While taking this photo, I just noticed that its brand name is NordicTrack and made in China. The world is fully connected. 

Coming back home fruitfully, I started getting into celebrating mood of Christmas. My plan was to watch movies non-stop through the night. Starting with a traveling movie named Land Ho, I was impressed by the road trip in Iceland.

It reminds me our road trip in Scandinavia this summer. However, I have to say roads in summer are more beautiful. Going back to watch this clip I filmed on E-4 to Uppsala as soon as we drove out of Arlanda, I just realized how hyper I was at that moment. I was probably too excited then. 

Actually, it's been a very busy day for me, so I was so tired. After watching this first movie, I moved back to my bedroom and fell into sleep though I kept TV on ESPN on which Hawaii Bowl was being televised. Thursday Night Football on NFL Network also had California Civil War presented but I didn't have a chance to watch either. Both of San Diego and Oakland performed pretty badly anyway in this season. 

Ok, it's 3:30 in the morning on Christmas now. Merry Christmas!

Patrick's Diary - 12/23/2015

I needed to drive my dad to have a lab test at 7:30 am, so didn't leave for work early this morning. Taking this chance to watch CNBC, I found NYC Ballet was hosting Opening Bell at NYSE. It made the financial world with the smell of money artistically. 

With a group of elementary school students in Beijing from 1974 to 1975, I was trained for ballet by a former Soviet Union dancer who lived in China for the reason I didn't know. She went back her home after a year, our training stopped. However, I still remember we kept our both foot horizontally at 180 degree as a part of daily practice. Haha, I still can do it today.

It's interesting that I was playing right inside forward in WM Formation at school soccer team and even starting going to district soccer academy the same years. These were totally different activities.

Coming back home early, I started putting the lights above the garage door and wrapping them around the trees in the front yard. My dad was helping as well. Though, our lightings are not fancy, they look still pretty colorful. I just went out to film a clip. Our neighbours' lightings are more beautiful but most of them are turned off, so you can't see them. They put them on probably back in Thanksgiving. 

It's actually already 2:07 in the morning of Christmas Eve, I will drive my dad to Virginia Mason for annual health check 6 hours later, so I have to go back to sleep instead of solving the problems in my son's Calculus textbook. Someone who seems trained by elite tech schools gave a hint very implicitly, so probably I should apply Calculus going forward. It's exciting.

Patrick's Diary - 12/22/2015

The traffic was much lighter today, people were ready to celebrate Christmas. My buddy at work would officially retire tomorrow after 37 years and a half services without any disruptions since graduating his college. It's amazing. He told me that he was a bit emotional. No wonder, even I have only worked here for 8 years, did I leave, I would be emotional too. It is a tradition of living with the company for the entire professional life here. My other close co-worker down in Southern California will be retiring the end of this month as well after 40 years services. She sounded even more emotional. I hope I can walk out of the door by 11/16/2026 at the latest, it will make me a 19 years veteran. 

I stopped by Safeway to pick up my mom's new medication for bone treatment, then bought three rolls of new lightings. When I arrived at home, our neighbor Chris greeted me for Christmas. He asked me how my son was doing in school, I told him that he did something great but others below average. My son happened to come out to join the conversations. He was a sort of exciting because he got an acceptable grade in Intermediate Microeconomics. Given its level of studies for Economic Major, I don't feel bad on this grade either. However, I am still a bit frustrated why he didn't want my help. I think he is still thinking about to pursue Economics Major, in the past quarter, he did pretty badly in Integrals and was not so good in ECON 300, so he lost confidence, thinking about to change the pursuit of his major. However, if he can get a satisfactory grade in Statistics next quarter, I bet he will rethink about applying Econ Major, though he won't be able to apply BS but BA still possibly. I over estimated his interests and capabilities in Calculus and he was overconfident as well at the beginning of this academic journey. Had he started with a plan of pursuing BA in Economics, he would be a at least 3.3 GPA student and able to apply his major in next quarter. Many great economists including several Nobel Laureates actually started with BA in Econ. I wasn't good at calculus in my first college either but caught that up several years later. Today, I even have passions in it. Though my son has gone through a hard curve in the past four quarters due to the bad planning, he still has a good chance to get back on track. It totally depends on his desire of efforts-making. As I observe, he is too causal at his academic studies. However, getting a good grade in Statistics will be a turning point for him in Winter Quarter, then he will be confident and interested in retaking Integrals to improve his GPA though requirements of BA in Economics don't require Math 125, not even Math 124 he already qualified in last quarter. 

Ok, I will wrap up my last day at work before getting into holiday break. I got it wrong last week thinking about having to go to work on Christmas Eve. It makes sense that we don't need to and it has been our official holiday every year. What was I thinking then?

Patrick's Diary - 12/21/2015

I wrapped up my diary for Sunday this morning, then drove on road to the office. It was very early and the traffic in Christmas week was relatively light. Some people have taken the entire week off, especially those need to go home to see their families. 

I took off earlier but the day had become short, so when I arrived at home, it's already pretty dark. My mom complained to me that I still hadn't put lightings on for the holidays, ok, I will do it tomorrow. She asked me to buy some new lightings.

I missed Democratic Debates on ABC on Saturday because I didn't know about it. I had never seen its commercials prior to the debate anywhere. I still don't know what the candidates talked about. 

Ok, after sleeping for quite a while after dinner, I did some tests for my in-depth review of calculus. Now, it's already 1:28 in the morning on Tuesday, I will try to go to work early and come back home early to decorate the house with lightings modestly. 

Patrick's Diary - 12/20/2015

 I planned to watch FIFA World Club Cup on Saturday night and early Sunday morning but only watched very few minutes from time to time. I am not sure if it was the first time for a Chinese club getting into this final stage, they played with a Japanese club for the third place and I don't know the result. I did catch Messi scoring the first goal when I was happening waking up and caught up at the end that Barcelona won over River Plate. This tournament is derived from Toyota Cup I started watching in early 80s or even late 70s. The first one I watched was Zico's club beating Liverpool by 3 to 0 and Zico scored a beautiful free pick if I recall correctly. Back then, it was only one match between Europe and South America being held in December. That day had been a very important one on my calendar when I was a teen and a youth... Oh, Youtube is wonderful, I just found this clip to prove that match being held in 1981, Zico didn't directly score but the Free Kick led a goal by other. I mixed this one with another goal he made through free kick the same year when Brazilian National Team beat Bolivians in one match of 1982 World Cup Qualifications.

I started my Sunday with having leftover of meatloaf and a glass of wine made in Walla Walla while watching the only televised BPL match. I can't recall now if it is a draw at the end. Swansea didn't get a result at home. Again, it was confirmed by Youtube. 

After dinner, I started watching Seahawks to host Browns. After the kickoff, Johnny Football did show its power to lead a Touchdown. 

Kearse made several critical catches through this match, though he didn't score.

The combined offense of Wilson and Baldwin performed again in this game, 2 TDs were made from their collaborations. Seahawks got into Playoff again with this win. There are two games left from which Seahawks will lock the fifth place if they win both. 

My original plan was to drive my son to Regal Cinema at Everett Mall to watch the Hunger Games by using the tickets bought at Costco because I assumed the one for Star Wars still being crowded in this opening weekend. However, after Seahawks game, I wanted to give a try at AMC at Alderwood Mall because there were so many shows and it's still too early for the Hunger Games at Regal. Yes, we got the tickets for the one at 5:30 PM and the auditorium was not packed, though most of the seats were occupied. This episode of Star Wars was very impressive and it triggered my desire to go back watching all episodes again. 

It's too expensive to realize my dream of going to each College Football Bowl games in person during holiday break but is affordable to dine in each restaurant at Alderwood Mall. After watching the movie, we started with Claim Jumper. 

Patrick's Diary - 12/19/2015

Starting my super sporty weekend with watching Bayern Munich taking Hannover 96, I was so sympathetic about latter's captain who made a natural save with his hand in front of the post, then drove a PK for Muller to score. 

Coming back to my bedroom from living room to keep watching BPL match, I missed all goals in the one Chelsea leading Sunderland by 3 to 1. Jose Mourinho was sacked earlier in the week, several of his key players were subbed before the end of this match, which signified them to leave as well. A rumor is being spread that Mourinho to manage Manchester United, which is coincidentally with recent downfall performances. 

Dropping my parents at Ranch 99, I drove my son to Costco to buy other stuff. While approaching the entrance, I saw a couple rushed to the front of us. They signified a sort of inspiring phenomenon a group of people are really excited about. While admiring it, I have to clarify that the song I used in my memoir in Chinese 10 years ago was the top on Swedish Chart for many weeks in 1996 and it was the last top song I listened in the streets of Stockholm in 90s. It was why I used it as masterpiece of music in my memoir. However, it didn't represent Swedes' lifestyle two decades ago. I bet Swedes must be very confused if this misunderstanding has been driven by my picked song 10 years ago due to its popularity in 1996. I should have picked THE SIGN but it wasn't the case in that year in Sweden. A funny scene happened just next to me at a concert in Kungstradgarden at night on July 18, this summer probably driven by this misunderstanding. However, I appreciated the band on the stage keeping chanting HOW ARE YOU in Chinese "你好". I was the only Chinese in that open air concert as far as I could view. Later on, a group of Swedes gathered around me to have a group photo, so you might see my face there at that night somewhere on social media. It kicked my memory back to 90s at Kungstradgarden. However, it didn't host this type of concerts very often then. 

My son pulled a box of Meatloaf from the container and walked out of the warehouse to wait for me outside. I collected a lot of stuff and went through the register. The cashier asked me if I wanted to buy some IPhone cards or movie tickets from her, I rejected initially, of course, she was a bit disappointed. However, I did plan to go watching Hunger Game with my son, so decided to buy a set of two eventually. It only applies to Regal but I would drive to the one at Everett Mall to watch. The one at Alderwood doesn't have it presented. We need to present the tickets at box office and will have to pay surcharge for IMAX there. 

My son wanted to eat the lunch at New Star again, so we drove to Chinatown in Downtown Seattle. Peking Duck and Fresh Fish were so delicious. During the lunch, we talked about the opportunities of becoming a performing artist I gave all them up when I was an elementary school student in 70s. My school teachers frequently pushed me to pursue it but I just didn't follow the recommendations. My son actually has more talents of acting than me, though I probably am more talented in that world by nature. By the way, my son got a near perfect grad in his drama class and will take the second class in Winter Quarter. 

My son wore the sweatshirt and pants I bought in Orlando during Christmas break in 1998. I really like them, so have kept in my closet for so many years. When I filmed him in the parking lot near Century Link Field, he kept joking with a term Americans really hate. 

I missed the New Mexico Bowl at which Arizona won but caught the entire one of Camellia Bowl. Appalachian State played inconsistently for a while but won the bowl eventually. It was a big accomplishment for a FCS school. Ohio played pretty well during a period of time. They don't need to feel bad because the result is more exciting for college football fans, I guess. 

Yep, during this period, they kept getting the ball intercepted. 

It's why I said them not being consistently during that period of time. This hilarious steal from Ohio's player to lead another easy touchdown for Ohio University. 

However, Appalachian State was very resilient and ran into red zone in the last 23 seconds. They were only behind by 2 points and a field goal would seal the victory for them.

Though their kicker had missed two earlier but he nailed this decisive one and became the hero of the game.

My son was hungry, so I started baking the meatloaf while watching New Orleans Bowl in living room. LA Tech seemed more competitive but Arkansa State kept coming back. 

Did I catch the commentary correctly that LA Tech's QB was a top prospect in high school years ago? Yep, LA Tech's receiver ran into Arkansa State's territory again.

I fell into sleep in the couch after the game...

Patrick's Diary - 12/18/2015

It's another long day, and I picked up my son at his dorm almost at 7:00 PM because of the bad traffic from Renton to I-90 bridge. When I arrived at Elm, the street parkings were almost emptied, yes, most of kids had already left the building. It will be closed for winter break this weekend.

The bad thing is my son getting a barely pass grade on Integral but the good thing is his calculus book becoming available to me. I will start solving all the problems in it. My son will retake the class either in Spring or Summer. I will closely watch his progress. I had offered to help him study but he refused. I am not sure if he wants my help going forward or not. It sounded the final exam of Intermediate Economics being much more difficult than he had expected, so the grade may be a disappointment as well. Getting into advanced studies, he needs to make extra efforts or keeps taking favorable classes to get a degree, then decides what he really wants to do. His GPA will drop for sure but still be far beyond academic probation. If he starts selecting all the classes he is good at, he will become an excellent student by Junior Year. He has been suffering in the math classes in the past three quarters and this quarter was a disaster, it's time for a break. However, I will take a look into my son's final exam, see the level of intellects at Classic and Modern Ivies. I am excited in starting reviewing calculus and will fully support Iowa in Rose Bowl. I will also advocate Drexel to replace Penn in Ivies. Lol.

Yes, I will enjoy this weekend by watching BPL, Bundesliga and FIFA World Club Champ soccer matches, in addition to college bowl and NFL football games. Since we have to buy groceries on Saturday morning, I won't be able to catch the first 3 quarters of New Mexico Bowl,

Patrick's Diary - 12/17/2015

Of course, today's biggest thing was to have holiday party at California Pizza Kitchen and subsequently at the nearby ACME bowling alley. 

After eating Hawaii BBQ pizza, I walked with a coworker who had parked his car close to the alley in the rain. Wow, all lanes were taken, so we had to sit in the eating area to play white elephant. I didn't prepare but had fun watching. I did stop by Fred Meyer thinking about to buy a 10 bucks gift card and a Christmas card, however, the store wouldn't open until 7:00 AM and I was 15 minutes earlier but didn't want to wait. 

This guy dressed up and another guy from another group who also dressed up as a santa even came over to greet because two of them liked a pair. 

My coworker in the same team got something interesting.

The bar looked pretty neat, I might come over one day to watch football while drinking till 2:00 in the morning. The screen right in front of eyes at this area actually was having a soccer match televised.

Yes, we got a group of pretty good bowlers and many strikes were made.

This one almost was made another strike.

Last time I bowled was also with my team one year ago at an alley in downtown Bellevue. We had a lot of fun then too. 

After bowling, most of the team members were standing there chatting, I stayed with them for minutes but felt a bit headache because I had drunk three draft. I needed to sleep in my van to wait for the alcohol level to drop below legal limit. When I drove on road, it was already 4:00 PM. The freeway was totally congested. Passing an exit around Bellevue, I still felt a bit distracted even alcohol was already gone. I decided to drive out to park in a nearby small neighbourhood to take another break. When I got back to freeway, the congestion wasn't improved much. 

I had slept until almost midnight after only drinking three bowls of soy milk at dinner. My son texted me to pick him up at 6:00 PM tomorrow, so I won't start too early at work. Actually, I plan to drop monthly due for my rental townhouse at Management office, then drive on I-5 to go to work.