I planned to come back home early to watch double header of Copa Centenario but totally forgot a meeting scheduled in the afternoon. However, I was able to get home not too late. In the first match, Panama won over Bolivia in Orlando. Both teams are weaker than the other two in the same group. In this tournament, the best teams in each group kicked off the first match: USA vs Columbia; Brazil vs Ecuador; Mexico vs Uruguay; Argentina vs Chile. I guess this may ensure the competitiveness for the following two matches to take weaker teams.
Messi got back injury, so didn't play. Argentina was good enough to win over Chile and Messi may not play in the group stage at all because this team should be able to beat Panama and Bolivia easily without him. Many fans in Seattle hope to see him play at Centurylink Field on 14th, I guess that he may be subbed in at certain point of time in second half because he needs to warm up for the quarterfinal.
Before the match, Fox Sports held a debate on if Messi is the greatest of all time, I still argued that Maradona is. I know he had so bad images off the field. However, in the field, he was the only superstar who was able to bring a second class team to championship. Fans in this generation may not know back in 80s and early 90s, the best league in the world was Serie A because of the impact of Italian's world cup championship in 1982. Maradona transformed Napoli to a Serie A champion with his individual efforts. If some fans argued that two Brazilian star players Kareca and Alemao helped the win as well, Argentina's world cup championship was apparently Maradona's personal contribution. With his comprehensive skills, leadership and discipline in the field, Maradona is the best in my mind. I am sure a lot of fans being with me. We all know FIFA hated him, otherwise Argentina led by Maradona could have won back-to-back championship in 1990.
However, I have to admit, Maradona may be the worst superstar in his personal life.
There wouldn't be any soccer match until 10:00 AM when US Women's National Team would take Japanese. However, I am always an early bird and it wasn't an exception on this beautiful Sunday morning either though I was allergic to the change of the weather, which drove my throat so dry and tight.
Hesitating a little bit, I didn't go to Lynnwood High to practice soccer, instead, I turned onto CNN to watch Jab's State of Union. When I made the comment on Periscope about Trump University, one viewer popped a comment on immigration. I said that I am an immigrant but pretty sure what I contributed to this country was more than I got. If I move out of the country, it will be a loss to the country. I just wanted to use it as an example to remind the immigration laws be reviewed from both sides. Clinton was poised to clinch Democratic nomination but Sanders was still trying to win California next week. If he succeeds, it will put Clinton into a very embarrassing scenario. Even she still can clinch the nomination, I don't think she has any other choice not to select Sanders to be her running mate. Someone popped another comment on my screen to blame Sanders a socialist. I countered that Sanders claimed himself a socialist but he didn't really understand Socialism. First of all, former Soviet Union, China were Totalitarian Socialism, which fouled their citizens to sacrifice for ruling Communist Party's interests. The leaders of the countries were imperial families instead of public servants; Secondly, Sanders admired Scandinavian Socialism deeply, as I said, he probably was far away from what I had studied it for two decades. Scandinavian Socialism is the highest social form in the world but homogeneous and facing the challenges now. US is a much larger country with tremendous diversified demographics, it's no way to have Scandinavian models implemented; Someone pointed out the crisis in Venezuela, I answered that I wasn't familiar with its socialism but could assume that it must be very disorganized. In addition, as I remember, many years ago, I had learned Venezuela used to be ranked 7th largest economy for a period of time but went down gradually due to lack of disciplines. Does it rely on oil export a lot? I think so. Under current circumstance, it's also not a surprise it gets into deep trouble. I also reassured that I keep my Presidential Campaign to beat Trump and Clinton. The newly joined candidate from Libertarian Party is no influence on voters at all.
US Women National Team played a better match than they did in last week. Morgan knocked the ball with her left foot timely to score the second goal. I don't know how many international friendly they will play before going to Olympics. It's fun of watching their plays.
Jamaica played Venezuela at Soldier Field in Chicago in its group stage match. They reserved their top player but the coach had to send him in after they were behind a goal and short of one player due to the red card. Coach himself was sent out to the stand due to the argument with referee. Eventually, they lost this crucial match. However, with Mexico and Uruguay in the same group, I don't think they were really confident to advance. Venezuela sent a bunch of beautiful girls cheering for their team on the stands, which is a soft weapon to winning the neutral fans off the field.
The following match became the best one since the tournament kicked off. More than 60,000 Mexican fans flooded University of Phoenix Stadium. Mexican scored a very quick goal and Uruguay lost a player due to the red card. In second half, Uruguay players did a much better job and equalized the match. In the last several minutes, Uruguay defenders lost concentrations, eventually lost two goals right before the end of the match. Mexican fans were illuminated. It's a happy night for them.
Catching up my diary for Saturday, I didn't watch a movie on HBO or StarZ as I had usually done to close the weekend. I planned to leave earlier then come back home to catch two more Copa Centenario matches on Monday night.
Because we would drive to Ranch 99 and Costco to buy groceries, I went to Lynnwood High to practice soccer at 7:00 AM. My plan was to walk to the formal field at the back to play if both fields in the front were still locked. If the formal one at the back was locked surprisingly, I would drive to the gym to work out for an hour. Fortunately, both were opened. I hesitated for a couple of seconds at the gate of the inside field but decided to practice at the outside one close to North Road because the other one was closer to several houses in which the residents might be bothered by the noise in such an early weekend morning made by my practices.
The weather was perfect, sunny with a little bit breeze, so it's pretty cool. I made two dozens penalty kicks on both feet, then the same quantities of free kicks too. Dashing back and forth on the field from southend to northend 5 times, I was exhausted. It took me almost an hour to get my body totally soaked by sweats. When I got into my van, I saw another guy practicing the soccer in the inside field by himself as well. I noticed he came in probably 15 minutes after I had come and he might be to stay there for a while. He dressed more professionally than I did and wore a pair of orange soccer cleats. While driving out of the parking lot, I saw my Dad walking by, it's his daily routine for workout.
The big news this morning was Ali passing away on Friday night, I caught it on CNN. I actually read a biography back in late 70s when I was an elementary school student in Beijing, so I knew him long ago. However, I am not a fan of boxing, so didn't know about his life after those years. I respect him as a person. I lost that book but found the cover of it on Baidu. However, this one must not be the first print because the publishing year was 1985. I am very sure the one I bought must be before 1979 when our family still lived in a shared apartment and I lent that book and Pele's Biography to the boy next door.
Switching to ESPN News channel, I watched the first 30 minutes of the International Friendly between Germany and Hungary, then drove my Dad out. Yes, it's such a wonderful Saturday morning, everyone was supposed to be joyful and I also put on my hawaii shirt bought in April in Wahu, but I wasn't so lucky. After dropping my Dad, I drove to Costco. At the second to the last traffic lights, I was the last driver to catch the green light to get through, a man drove his Volkswagen to switch onto my lane on the left without seeing me already passing his car's hood, so his car slightly scratched my van's sliding door on right side. We both drove into a parking lot on the right side of the road. When I got off my van, he said"I didn't see you." It's obviously 100% his fault but the damage on my van was very insignificant and my van was already 16 years old. At soon as I observed it, I already decided to let him go. However, I had to show him my driver's license and insurance card to prove my identity of legal driver and asked him to show me his in addition to the registration. I told him my point was to verify that he was a legal driver for his car. He was in his 50s and looked a good citizen. Wishing him luck, I drove away. I bet he would go to Costco as well because I saw his membership card in his wallet. It's probably why he tried to switch onto my lane, which led the road to the last traffic lights to have the cars turned left into the big commercial section where Costco is located.
Before leaving home, I signed the annual Costco reward coupon without paying attention to the detail. When I present it to the customer services representative, he told me it was for 2015 and already expired on 8/31/2015. How stupid was I? The year was specified on the coupon very significantly, I just hadn't read it through my mind. It's 95 bucks, a meaningful sum of money, so how could I miss it last year? We just came back from Scandinavia at the end of July, I probably tried to catch up a lot of stuff professionally and personally in the following month, so totally forgot this coupon. I recalled I did receive another new one for 2016 with a less value but might mix it with this old one. By the way, I still haven't found that one for 2016, it might be thrown away. In total, I probably lost 150 bucks.
I heard good recommendations of the foods at Boiling Point several years ago but never tried. I saw one of its franchises or branches close to Ranch 99 and ever suggested to try it to my son, he didn't want to do it. Today, only with my Dad since my son didn't come back home due to final exams in next week, we stopped by to sit into this restaurant. The hotpot was very delicious and both of my Dad and I loved the lunch. I would come to eat frequently in future. I bet my son would like it too, he probably just would need to order extra rice and meat.
Driving through McDonald's, I ordered Big Mac meal with diet coke for my mom. The guy at the first window to collect the money was impressed by my Hawaii shirt and wondering if I bought it in Hawaii, I told him I was there in April and it was my second time in two decades. He said he had never been there, I might respond a bit carelessly by saying "Find a chance to go." but with a big smile instead of being rude. Then he said he would like to go Mexico too, I responded "Mexico is fantastic as well" while proceeding my van to the next window. He was obviously offended. Anyway, I should have said nothing when he praised my shirt. His initial intent might not be negative but my response might be considered bragging and insensitive. It's why Trump has so many supporters now. I am wondering if Trump will have to file bankruptcy again, so he is trying to win Presidency to rescue himself. Wow, it's just a conspiracy theory.
Coming home to catch the second half of International Friendly between France and Scotland, I was so angry that the broadcasting was cancelled on ESPN2. ESPN is its flagship channel, they could have put the most significant program for today there. However, I knew this type of matches always being present on ESPN3, now it is called ESPN App. Generally, I don't like watching the matches on it because the pictures are not always high definition and can be broken from time to time. Without other choices, I sat in front of my laptop in study room and started watching the match. France won over Scotland at the end, it's a good friendly warm up before Euro Cup 2016 would kick off this Friday.
Next came Costa Rica playing Paraguay, the draw would be the best result for US and it was scoreless at the end. Valdez was subbed in the last 20 minutes but didn't control the ball much. USA would take Costa Rica on Tuesday. Many brawls broke out in this match because of reckless even brutal tackles.
Sleeping for a while, I checked the next match to be televised on FOX but found out with a surprise that Haiti taking Peru being played at Centurylink Field was broadcast on Univision. I never watched any program on this channel because it was in Spanish. This was a perfect chance for me to utilize it. Soccer itself is an universal language.
The most anticipated match at the end of the day was Brazil taking Ecuador. The most shining star was Willian and Coutinho was a very good player in my mind as well because I watched a lot of his plays at Liverpool. Later on, I figured out Filipe Luis playing for Atletico Madrid and Jonas playing for Lisbon. However, without several other stars, it's so difficult for Brazilians to make any effective offense. They even could have lost the match if the goal hadn't been called off. No matter if that ball was fully out of the bottomline, the referee had blown the whistle first, so it couldn't be ruled a goal anyway.
In between the last two matches, I drove to the gym to complete a full routine of weekend workout. The bad thing was the cold coming back for unknown reason. My throat became very tight and voice became funny again. However, I broadcast very frequently on Periscope through the day and even answered many questions raised by viewers. I would suggest my son to outline several subjects he is interested in during the summer break and start helping him building his online presence.
I got up a little bit late, so missed opening bell on CNBC after taking shower. May job report was really bad, which dragged markets down. It would trigger Fed to reconsider the timing of raising interest rate. At the end of the day, my SeaPower Index dropped a little bit but still stayed above base value I built on 5/16. I would watch Expedia closely before the end of July assuming its trend to following Costco's before its earning release a week ago. Hedge Funds managers always target someone, so am I if I make myself one of them. Twitter is still in the rumor of seeking possibility of merging with Yahoo. I don't know how much strategic value their merger will bring onto the table, but I do use both of them on daily basis. Everyone can tell I tweet everyday but people rarely know Yahoo is my news resource a dozen times a day. Though I no longer rely on Yahoo as my searching engine, still heavily rely on it for other online surfing purposes. In this regard, you may tell its contents are still very attractive to me.
Coming back home close to 5:30 PM, I started watching Copa Centenario pre-opening show. Around 6:00PM, the Opening Ceremony started, several performing artists sang and danced on the stage. After National Anthem of both countries were played, the opening match between USA and Columbia kicked off. Though USA possessed the ball more than Columbia, the visitor was more effective. Their first goal was a decisive and timely volley and I was sorry to see Yedlin making a handball to draw a penalty kick. However, I don't think he could wrap his arms at his back at that moment because he was jumping up to try to block the cross. It's a natural position to have his arms stretched in the air.
Anyway, I didn't make any comment during the match because I actually got cold today. My co-worker gave me a medication late in the afternoon. So, while watching the match, I couldn't concentrate very much even fell into sleep from time to time. It's the impact of the medication, which really helped me recover.
Tomorrow, I will be watching two more matches broadcast on Fox and FS1 but miss two international friendly in the morning because we need to go buying groceries.
Again, Periscope is really effective to have everyone running a broadcast business. I will have my son trying it if he wants to become a talk show host.
Watching CNBC before leaving home for work, I witnessed another trading day to go down. However, at the end of the day, Amazon made another historic high. Costco went down a little bit after surging 3 bucks yesterday powered by Goldman Sachs' upgrade. My SeaPower Index had been above base value three-day-in-row. Towards Q2 earning release most of them in July, I project Expedia, Costco, Alaska will all go up significantly. Nordstrom may be a bargain. I am not sure how much Amazon can go up but it alway can surprise the markets.
Coming back home around 5PM, I watched CNN a little bit, then started following Game One of NBA Final. Lebron James didn't play very well in this game, Golden State beat Cleveland with a nice margin.
Due to NBA game, I missed almost all of the match US Women's National Team hosting Japan. During the short period I watched in first half, Japanese was leading 2 to 1. I did catch the post game highlights to learn US Women making a draw. Morgan scored a goal, she is still a key player in this team.
Going to gym to work out for an hour, I walked out to my car 10 minutes before it was to close. I am so glad Friday is coming and Copa Centenario will kick off tomorrow night. Oh, by the way, my rent was deposited at the end of the day and bi-week paycheck had been directly deposited earlier. Wow, I am so rich compared to Buffett.
Today is International Children's Day, democratic nations like US don't celebrate it. I actually received renewal notice for my driver's license from Department of Licensing yesterday. As you may know, the expiration date is always driver's birthday and my current license will expire on 7/8/2016, which will be my 50 years old birthday. So, I can't celebrate this holiday any more. But do I look that old? From this picture I just snapped, I may not be like a half a hundred years old douchebag, yes, I just worked out for almost an hour at the gym
Compared to me on the photo snapped at my parents' apartment in 1985 when I took my first summer break after freshman year at CMUT, is there much change? Back then, I was only 19 years old Objectively speaking, I was pretty cool. On the train back to Beijing from Xuzhou where our college was located, some passengers thought I was actor. In another break on the train back to Beijing, a beautiful girl who had graduated from a college in Southern Province and started working for a big government agency even tried to pick me up. She was probably three years senior and I still remember her name. It's not I didn't like her, for some reasons I forget, I lost her contact information after I went back to my college. Yes, she was very beautiful and in a very good shape as I recall. Don't blame me that I am bragging. Don't you want to go back 30 years to restart? Being young is priceless.
I had a lot of things to cover today but managed to leave early enough to catch Sounders' match at DC United, though missed first 3 minutes. That I made some comments might make the players irritated, two young players made two goals at the end with which even both coaches seemed not understanding. Anyway, Sounders won the first road match and got 3 points.
My rental townhouse rent for May had been delayed to be deposited for a month. My agent told me that he was out of town for quite a while and the local government agency changed payment method from check to debit card, which also caused confusions at his end because he was worried to misplace the payments amongst different clients. The renter is under section 8, so the payment is made by government. I mentioned to my agent this morning that my mortgage on my residential house was just withdrawn, so I would like to use the rent to cover it. Hopefully, he can figure it out tomorrow. Anyway, my bi-week paycheck will be directly deposited tomorrow, I saw the notification on our intranet: You have a new paycheck, which always makes me so happy.
Yes, NBA Final will start tomorrow night, I will watch it if I can make home on time.
North Korea newspaper endorses Trump, so he was compared to Rodman by the media. It's just another joke in this Presidential Campaign process.
I took a nap after dinner because it's been a long day. Going to the gym, I worked out an hour until the whole body was soaked by sweat. I don't know what the number for my blood sugar will be tomorrow morning. It may be pretty high because I ate several pieces of apple pie a co-worker brought to the office. However, I didn't bring anything for lunch today, so dessert was the only food for me.
On my way home, I could see stars remotely in the sky. The clouds were relatively heavy, so I wasn't sure if tomorrow would be a shining sunny day as it was today. My original plan was to wear short sleeve shirt starting from June 1st but would defer it to next Monday, yes, double 6 is always a great day once a year. Actually, many of my college alumni from CUMT greeted each other for Children's Day on WeChat. Now, it is 12:31 in the morning on June 1st. This is the designated holiday for children in many former communist countries. Though kids are not always happy all over a year, they do enjoy this day, I believe.
There wasn't any soccer match on Tuesday but I checked out another International Friendly being played on Monday. Sweden made a draw with Slovenia. Everytime I watched Swedish in Euro Cup, I can't help recall that semi-final in which they lost to Germany in Solna in 1992.
Another International Friendly seemed played today, Ireland lost Belarus 1 to 2. How come? They are supposed to be a better team.
