I was on vacation in China for 13 days, from the 26th of June to the 8th of July.  Now, China is 15 hours ahead of California (Pacific time zone).  So basically: day is night, and night is day...complete reversal.  Jet lag nightmare.

I was able to combat jet lag on the way over by basically reading and playing my DS on the airplane until 4am Los Angeles time (7pm China time).  I woke up maybe 6 hours later, to about 3am China time.  This brought me about halfway thru the time change.  When I arrived in China, I stayed up as long as I could and ended up passing out at maybe 10 or 11pm China time the next day.  I woke up at 6am the next morning to start the day off with some touring and I was fully on China time by then.  I was sleeping between 10pm and 12am, depending on our tour schedule, and waking up between 6am and 8am.

Fast forward to the end of our trip.  I tried to do the same thing on the way back...not quite as successfully.  The timing was pretty tough to figure out.  Our flight left from Shanghai, China at 4pm local (1am Los Angeles time), so I should have went to bed immediately.  But it was a short flight (2 hours) to Korea.  Dinner was served on the way, so I didn't want to sleep and get super hungry on the trip home.  We then left fairly soon from Korea to Los Angeles...maybe around 7pm China time (4am Los Angeles time).  Another small meal served which I stayed up for.  I finally went to sleep maybe around 6 or 7am Los Angeles time.  I slept for maybe 5 or 6 hours, bringing it to around 12 noon Los Angeles time.  Not horribly off.  Treat it like a weekend where I sleep in =P.  Again, maybe it brought me halfway to Los Angeles time.

Christine and I land into LAX and feel pretty good.  I think I was pretty tired, but we toughed it out until maybe 10pm when we went to bed on Wednesday night.  Thursday I headed to work like normal.  I was a bit tired, but nothing to stop me from kicking some butt at work and completing many tasks on my first day back.  Friday was the same.  A bit early to bed...like around 10pm...and a bit early to rise...like 4am rather than 6am.  But nothing to be too alarmed about.  2 hours off wasn't bad considering the 15 hour time difference and the 24 hours it practically takes to get from one airport to the other.

Then Saturday came along.  We went to bed around the "normal" time on Friday...around 10pm.  Saturday, we woke at 4am. By 6am we were ridiculously hungry, so we headed off to Bagel Me. Good thing they open at 6am...because we got there at 6:02.  We sat there and had some yummy yummy breakfast and brought some bagels back with us.  We were back home at around 7am with nothing really to do.  I was a bit tired again, for whatever reason and so I laid my head down.  Next thing I know, I'm waking up and it's already 11am.  We were supposed to leave to meet family for brunch/lunch at around 10 or 10:30!  The day became an endless battle of being sleepy and being unable to sleep.  Saturday night we fell asleep again relatively early...woke up at 4am again.  We then drifted in and out of consciousness until noon.  Too much sleep left us more tired than not.  We were pretty groggy thru the day, which left us a bit grumpy.  Then night came and we were awake again, since it was daytime in China.  *sigh*...

Now, we're midway into the week after, and things are shaping up.  Sleep schedule is pretty much right back on track...whew.  I was getting tired of being jet lagged.

What's the worst you've been jet lagged?

As all some of you know, I work in the video game industry.  As a recent college graduate, I haven't been working in this industry long, but I have touched upon the lighter and darker sides of development.  While it hasn't all been fun and games, I generally have had a blast.  In my short time in the gaming industry, I have worked on 3 games professionally: Brothers in Arms: Hells Highway at Gearbox Software, Disney Pixar's Up: The Video Game and the upcoming Spongebob Squarepants: Truth or Square, both at Heavy Iron Studios.

Often, I wonder what working in this industry means.  I think about how I ended up here.  I wonder when it became a reality.  Was this my predestined path since picking up that NES gamepad and playing Contra?  Did the problem solving and logic of Tetris drive me towards those same aspects of programming?  Or did I simply just follow my brother's footsteps into this industry?

I also wonder where I'll end up.  I wonder if my education at USC has given me enough to truly excel at my position; or will I need to get a higher degree?  A masters degree perhaps?  When I look at the work others do here...the memory optimizations, the profiling, the levels upon levels of abstraction that they work thru without even so much as a blink of the eye...I wonder if that's experience or talent.  Will I reach that level?  Sometimes it seems as if it is coming along so slowly for me.  In 6 years, will I really be at their level? In 10 years?  Some of the higher-ups praise me...tell me about how fast I blast thru my tasks.  I work hard to keep my bug count low...but at the same time, I worry about my personal career growth.  USC not only taught me about programming, but they taught me how to learn.  Am I learning fast enough?

It is said that a person must do something for 10k hours to be an "expert" in that field.  In terms of 40 hour work weeks, 52 weeks a year, that's just under 5 years of professional working experience.  That seems about right.  People seem to get to Senior or Lead programmer after 6 or so years in the industry.  So here's to the next 4-5 years.  Lets see if I can become an "expert."

Where do you see yourself professionally in 5 years?

So there is this show called "Rimetime: What Would You Do?" where they stage some sort of situation which causes unknowing bystanders to be put in a moral dilemma to see what people will do.  For instance, once scenario would be a customer of minority descent attempting to order something at a deli all while the store clerk is yelling racist remarks at the person and refusing service to him (both actors).  Hidden cameras capture the responses and actions of other customers...seeing if any of them act to protect/back up the customer or if they just sit idly by.

I found myself in a similar situation this past weekend.  I was in a Wal-mart in a very bad neighborhood (For those who know the LA area, Martin Luther King and Crenshaw).  Not a place you want to be too late at night.  Anyways, my girlfriend and I were there after sunset to find some supplies for our new fish tank as well as a few other things.  We happened to spot a lot of USC clothing in the corner so we went to look.  While there, a man approached and somewhat forcefully moved to the corner area, bumping into my girlfriend when moving past her and a shopping cart.  In the corner he grabbed an ice cream out of the ice cream bin thing then forcefully left the corner area again.

Maybe 30 seconds later, he was back...again bumping into my girlfriend as he went into that same corner.  That's when the spider senses started to tingle.  I watched him as he reached around the short wall behind the ice cream bin and into the shelving that held the cigarettes behind the counter.  I watched him grab 4 or 5 cartons of cigarettes and place them into an unmarked black bag.  He then put on his headphones and walked away.

I thought about telling an employee that there was someone shoplifting in their store.  But as I looked around, I felt so out of place.  I was on MLK and Crenshaw, after all.  I had a mental debate with my conscience for probably 10 minutes.  In the end, I did nothing.  I didn't tell anyone.  Something felt way too off.  Maybe if I was in a more normal Wal-mart...a little less ghetto...then maybe I woulda done something.  But something felt wrong there.  I still don't know what I should have done.

I keep thinking...maybe I shoulda helped.

What would you have done? Have you ever been in a situation like this where you had a moral dillema?

I've always hated when our garbage can in the kitchen would smell.  We bought a pretty sweet garbage can that has an auto-open lid that helps keep the smell contained within the can, but it still reeks sometimes.

That's when I discovered how useful the garbage disposal could be.  Anything that was on the verge of rotting went down the drain. This kept our kitchen from smelling too bad.  It became the magic hole that many things disappeared into, and I never thought twice about the things that would go down.  Just jam it down the sink, turn on the water, flip the switch, wait for the sound to go back to normal, then all my garbage needs were taken care of.  I could walk away with a feeling of accomplishment as if I had just taken out the trash.

Then came the fateful time this past Sunday night.  We had cooked an artichoke earlier but we never got around to eating it.  Our kitchen trash can was nearly empty, so it probably wouldn't be emptied for a few days.  The artichoke would definitely smell by then.  Perfect time to utilize my trusty garbage disposal friend.

So I cut up that artichoke into small enough pieces to go down the drain and set on my way to purge our kitchen of old food.

Bad idea.

I didn't notice anything was wrong until the whole artichoke was gone.  Then I saw the water pooled up on the other side of the sink.  The artichoke had shred up and clogged our sink, backing the water up.

So I reached into the drains and grabbed a ton of artichoke shreds out from the drain.  I spent a good half hour or so doing this.  It was a long process that involved turning on and off the garbage disposal and pulling artichoke strands out.

Finally, I got all the artichoke strands I could find out from the drain...yet the water remained.  I stood there unsure what to do next.  Finally I got the plunger and started plunging the sink, trying to suck up more artichoke strands for me to pull out.

No luck.

I had to recruit the help of our apartment-mate who had the more correct idea on how to plunge the stupid thing.  After a good half hour or so of plunging, we were still not getting anywhere.  We were at the point where we were pretty much going to give up have a plumber deal with our artichoke drainage problems.  But before we gave up, we decided to give it one more go with the plunger...and what do you know!? The water drains away and everything works and is fine and dandy again =).

Moral of the story: Don't put an artichoke down the garbage disposal. It's not as fun as you would think.

What have you done to clog the drain?

"Those who are to be laid off will be informed today."

That's what they told us Monday morning in a mandatory all-studio meeting.  We were told to return to our desks, so I went back to my desk.

I had mentally prepared for this moment all week.  I very well knew that I was the youngest and newest addition to the company's programming team.  Therefore, I would be the easiest to let go.  I knew I lacked the experience, skills, and knowledge to complete the harder tasks on my own.  On the other hand, I knew I had potential.  I knew I had the drive to learn whatever was needed given the chance and the time to do so.  I knew that people believed in me.

For the week prior, I prepared for the worst.  I updated my resume for the first time since receiving this job a year ago.  I started probing for job openings at other companies.  I started getting myself psyched up for the period of unemployment, figuring out what individual projects I would work on during the day...getting excited about the opportunities that I was provided.

And that's what I had decided.  Whether I be employed or laid off was an amazing opportunity for me.  On one hand, I could continue to work on a game project which I can really call my first real commercial project, start to finish.  I had so much input into it, I really connected with it.  I was proud of it.  On the other hand, I could work on a game project that I started years ago in school, but was forced to take other directions from my ideal vision.  Our timeline was well too short, forcing us to hack an end product together which was only a small fraction of what we could possibly imagine.  If I was laid off, I would have the opportunity to revisit this pet project of mine and really find the potential of it.  And in the end, I would get the opportunities to work at other companies.  To expand my horizons and meet new people.

So there I was...mid-morning on a Monday at work.  I sat there, and I continued my work.

Why did I keep working?

I honestly don't really know why.  Whether I continued to work or not would not change the state of my employment.  But I felt the need to work.  I wanted to continue to support the company.  Whether or not they were going to continue to employ me was a completely separate issue.  Maybe I felt the need to work to distract my mind from the impending decisions that would ultimately impact the course of my career.  Either way, I worked and worked...not really thinking too much about the announcement that morning.

Then came the boxes.

All of a sudden, the floor was a chaotic mess.  People swarmed in the doors.  In their arms were stacks and stacks of boxes.  The boxes moved towards people's desks.  And just like that, it had begun.  It happened swiftly.  Boxes were given to people and they packed as much as they could before being escorted out.  I stood there with mixed emotions as I shook a few of my coworkers' hands that I would never see again.

I still have a few mixed emotions about the whole situation in general, but in the end, I am happy.  I have much hope knowing that my managers believe in me.  While I may be inexperienced, they see the potential that I have.  So here I stand, still employed and working through the transition period for our company.  Lets hope that I can right the ship and help make this company a successful one.

In this economy, everyone is worried about their job security.  No one knows when their company may file bankruptcy or go on another wave of layoffs.

But not me.  No.  For some odd reason, I felt secure.  I felt like my job would be there when I needed it.  When an analyst said there was a 50/50 chance that THQ (our parent company) would go under, I laughed.  Not this company, baby.

Well I ain't laughin' no mo'.

For those who keep up with game industry news: (blurbs from the Kotaku article released on 3/17/2009)

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"Publisher THQ announced in February that it would be cutting back substantially, axing jobs and shuttering studios after losing $191.8 million last quarter."

"California based Heavy Iron in Los Angeles and Incinerator in Carlsbad were let go by the publisher today, part of THQ's previously announced cutbacks. Both studios were responsible for creating titles based on Pixar properties, including The Incredibles and Wall E from Heavy Iron and Cars from Incinerator Studios."

"THQ reps call the actions "unfortunate but were necessitated by the difficult economic environment." It has plans to layoff nearly 600 employees or about 24% of its total workforce, in order to cut costs by $220 million in its fiscal 2010."

---

I work for Heavy Iron Studios mentioned in the article.  We're one of the companies that is being let go and becoming an independant entity.  During the split, there will inevitably be down-sizing.  So for the next few months, I'll be seeing if that proverbial pink slip comes to my desk.  In light of this, I am thankful of what I have.  I currently have a job, and a decent shot at keeping it.  It could have been worse...we could have been like Big Huge Games.  If they do not find a buyer in the next 60 days (well, 59 now), the studio will close down.

But I, like many others around me in this world, now live day-to-day, wondering if this job will be around in 6 months.

For full articles on the coverage:
Kotaku Article
Gamasutra Article
CrispyGamer Article

How has this recession affected you?

• We'll wake up super early, get some great breakfast, get to San Diego and have some great lunch in the San Diego Wild Animal Park, then head over to our Dinner Cruise.
• We're feeling kind of lazy.  We'll wake up whenever we wake up, get some great breakfast, get to San Diego and have some great lunch in the San Diego Wild Animal Park, then head over to our Dinner Cruise.
• We woke up too late.  We'll get some breakfast, get to San Diego and have lunch, go to the San Diego Wild Animal Park, then head over to our Dinner Cruise.
• We spent too much time shopping.  We'll get lunch on the way to San Diego, go to the San Diego Wild Animal Park, then head over to our Dinner Cruise.
• We're still shopping and are still within 10 miles of home. We'll get lunch on the way to San Diego, go to the San Diego Wild Animal Park for an hour or two, then head over to our Dinner Cruise.
• We just had lunch on the way and it's getting really late.  We'll go to the San Diego Zoo instead since it is more time efficient and then go to our Dinner Cruise.
• We may not make it to the Zoo before they close.  We'll just go shopping and then go to our Dinner Cruise.

When is a time that your initial plans were way off base from what you actually did?  Did you continuously update your plans like we did?

I was on my way home last night from my night-time Chinese class at Los Angeles City College when Christine gets a text message.  It read "(#821 2/2) side until further notice." from alrt@trojansalert.usc.edu.

Trojans Alert was a system set up after the Virginia Tech incident to alert students, faculty, staff, alumni, and parents of potential dangers in the USC area so that they can take precautions to be safe.  This was the first time we've ever had a Trojans Alert sent out...and it was a very ambiguous message.  Side until further notice?  We decided to call our friend to see what's going on.

According to him (and the much clearer emails sent out), there were shooters on the loose in the area, and they had parts of the neighborhood (near where I live) closed off by police.  So, Christine and I decided to just leisurely mosey home and get some boba.  You know, give those cops a bit more time to catch the bad guys.

We grabbed some coffee and milk tea boba and are on our way home.  The first thing we noticed was the police helicopter overhead...circling approximately where our apartment is.  Great.  As we approached the first major intersection nearing our apartment from the North, we were redirected by LAPD away from our apartment.  Another attempt to get around on on the West side resulted in us hitting another LAPD roadblock.

We decided to circle all the way down to try to approach from the South side.  As we passed by the street in which we would need to enter from, we saw yet another police road block as well as a crowd of students who were not being allowed to go home.  We could try from the East, but we decided that chances were it would be no good as well.

So we went onto campus.  Campus was probably actually the safest place to be, as it is a closed campus and DPS (campus security) would likely have locked down the area.  We parked in a reserved parking space by the Architecture school; not too worried about being checked for having a correct permit as DPS should be busy  trying to catch bad guys, not trying to catch bad ol' Wade parked in the wrong spot in the late evening when not many people are on campus.

We went into the architecture studio.  I played my DS while Christine worked on her group project.  Hours passed.  I got a text message from Trojans Alert saying "(#828 2/2) ustody. 2 at large."  We kept up to date on the current situation through Facebook status updates of our friends, who would learn information through various sources.  4 suspects total.  1 suspect was shot and wounded during a gunfight with LAPD.  1 was under arrest...which is what the text must have been trying to tell me.  The LAPD perimeter was closing in...I read the streets off of facebook: Menlo, 30th, Vermont, and Adams.  Narrowing in...right around where my apartment is.

We tried to find online news coverage of the situation.  Maybe they would know more.  We only found one article...I believe it was KTLA who posted it.  Their information was worse than ours.  Apparently FOX news had a short story too, but they had wrong information, thinking that the incident started on the Frat Row when it really started on the opposite side of campus.

It approached midnight.  Updates were slower...but the situation getting better.  At 12:24, we got an email from Trojans Alert giving the all clear...we could return home now.  The suspect who was shot was the driver.  One suspect was arrested just after the shoot-out while the other three made a get-a-way in their vehicle.  The wounded driver crashed into a USC tram shortly after.  He was too wounded and stayed in the car while the two other suspects made a run for it.  The wounded suspect was taken to the hospital and later died of his wounds.  The third suspect was found in a tree by K9 units and the police helicopter.  The last suspect was found in an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting posing as a member.  No civilians or police officers were injured during the incident.

Click here for the KTLA news article

Click here for the Daily Trojan news article

Have you ever been affected by a police related incident?

It all started in Chinese class.  The professor was going through everybody's names and assigning them Chinese names.  When he got to me, he asked if I already had a Chinese name.  I informed him that I did.  I pronounced it as best I could.

"Fong Way Jew"

He gave me a confused look.  I was starting to get embarrassed for not even knowing how to say my own name correctly.  "Fong...Way...Jew?" I said again.  "Jew as in bamboo?" he asked.  I shrugged.  He gave up and asked me to find out my Chinese name from my parents.  He then proceeded to go into a mini-rant about how 2nd generation immigrants don't know much about their roots.

I saw my parents that weekend.  After dinner, I asked them how to write my Chinese name.  They helped me write my name as well as helping me with the stroke order.



Fāng Wèi Zǔ would be the correct way to pronounce my name (using Pinyin romanization).

I was then curious enough to ask what my name meant.  Chinese names often have meaning.  For instance, Jackie Chan's name was Chan Kong-Sang, which means "born in Hong Kong."  However, after he began his acting career, he became known as Shing Long, meaning "become a dragon."  This name change was because he was set to replace the legendary Bruce Lee (Bruce Lee's name, Lee Siu Long, means "Lee the Little Dragon").  Thus, it was Jackie Chan's mission to "become a dragon" just like Bruce Lee.

Anyways, back to my name.  My name means to "Comfort the Ancestors."  When I learned this, I immediately thought of my gong gong and popo (my grandfather and grandmother on my mother's side) whom I was very close to.  I thought of their smiles and our simple conversations.  I thought of all the years I spent with them and how happy I tried to make them.  In that moment, I decided:

I like my name.

Does your name have a meaning?  If so, what does your name mean?  What does your name mean to you?

I guess this has been going around...so I guess I'll give it a shot.  25 facts about me...Enjoy:

1. In the 3rd grade, I wanted to be an Optometrist.  I guess so that I could prescribe my own glasses / contacts.
   
2. I'm very socially awkward and am always worried about what other people are judging thinking about me.
3. Two of my wisdom teeth were coming in sideways...quite literally.  My oral surgeon said that if they were allowed to grow out, they would have knocked like two of my teeth out with them.
4. I have never once broken a bone *knocks on wood*
5. I used to play the violin, piano, and the clarinet.  Now all I play is Rock Band on my Xbox 360.
   
6. I used to go to Chinese school as a kid on weekends and summers.  I hated it.  Now, about 10 years after I quit Chinese school, I am taking night-time Chinese classes at a local community college and loving it.
7. I don't drink.  I don't smoke.  I don't do drugs.  All personal decisions I've made because I like who I am.
   
8. I rarely take medication when sick or in pain.  When I was younger and had a fever...my mother's solution was to wrap me in blankets and for me to sweat it out.  It actually works very well.
   
9. I didn't miss a day of school from 1st grade all the way thru 8th grade.  I just was never sick.  Then, after being recognized for perfect attendance 8 straight years, I promptly got sick in the 9th grade and missed a day of school.  That's karma...
10. I have a favorite grey sweatshirt that I wear practically every single day.  I like it because the strings are soft and fun to play with...and greatly remind me of my Chilly Willy stuffy that I had all thru my childhood.  The strings feel much like Chilly Willy's hat when I rub them against my nose.
11. My greatest fears are heights and falling.  Needless to say, I hate roller coasters.
12. When I was a kid, I visited the Statue of Liberty with my family.  The only memory I have of it was how absolutely terrified I was climbing up the narrow spiral staircase as it got higher and higher.  I could not go back down as I started to get scared of the height because of the people behind us in line...so I had no choice but to proceed clutching for dear life to the railing and my parents.  Going back down the other staircase was even worse as I was forced to look down.
    
13. I love chick flicks.  Hitch, Music and Lyrics, etc...I'm in =).
14. I love rewatching movies and TV shows.  I love rereading books.  I love replaying video games.  Something about knowing what's coming is comforting to me.  As long as the movie/show/book/game is great, I'll happily do it all over again.
    
15. I used to do everything any anything my brother did...only because my brother did it.  I emulated his life.  It wasn't until I reached High School that I embraced that I am my own person.
16. I am generally much more comfortable talking to someone online than I am in person or on the phone.  I never know what to say in person.  Goes somewhat along with #2
    
17. I talk in my sleep.  Thankfully I don't walk in my sleep =P.
18. I almost never drink soda anymore.  Just a couple years ago, I was drinking soda constantly.  Especially Orange Soda.  Then, in Texas, I got too dehydrated drinking soda all the time, so I switched over to Apple Juice.  Now, I drink almost exclusively water with sporadic soda and juice depending on my mood.
19. I love cheese.  Absolutely love it.  If you sat me down with one of those cheese cube platters, I'd probably live off of it for days.  (Side note: I am eating a cheese danish right now)
    
20. In Writ-140 at USC, I progressively got worse at writing as the semester went on.  I watched my essay grades drop starting with a B, then I got a B-, to a C+, to a C before minimally getting better at writing with my last paper getting a C+.  I hope my blog writing isn't getting worse over time too...
21. As hard as I have ever tried, I have never gotten straight A's in my lifetime of schooling.  Although I am very proud of reaching Deans List at USC...still could never get that ever so elusive 4.0 even when taking only classes within my major/minor (classes that I like).
    
22. My very first AIM name was Pikachu64.  That was back in middle school.  It became r0cksb0tt0m in High School (since The Rock was amazing).  Ever since I started college, it has been TrojanWade; at least until I make another one.
23. I have OCD with my chin hairs.  Sometimes, for whatever reason, one of the suckers will bug me and I'll pick at it.  Usually I can get them with just my fingers, but every once in a while, there's one that's too short and I'll end up picking at it all day long...finally getting it long past when I've scratched my skin off of that area.  Thankfully, my girlfriend got me a pair of tweezers for my work desk.
24. I daydream constantly.  Whether it be me with super powers, how awesome it would be to be a Jedi, being a star football player, or just re-imagining my day.  Maybe this is the reason for #25.
25. It took me 2 weeks to come up with 25 (somewhat meaningful) things about myself.

Anything on the list strike a chord with you?