Tragedy Monday, April-16-2007. It happened where I am working now

This is the second time in 8 months that tragedy things happened to this town.


Last August, a gun man killed several people before he got shot and terminated. One police officer killed just 500 meters away from where I work.


Last Monday around 9:45 AM, I was on the way to work when I noticed 6 state-police cars passed my car in a very high speed. I told myself, It could be an accident on highway I-81N.


Around 10:15 AM, I took the exit 188B on highway I-81N to go to my work place, I saw 1 more state-police car took the same exit with me. I met another police car right after I got off the exit. We got two bomb threat last week so I asked myself, "is there a bomb threat today or actually a bomb?".


I reached Smart Road 5 minutes after that and the road was almost empty. There were 2 ambulance vehicles and 2 more police cars passed me after I went on Smart Road. I sensed something wrong.


I parked my car, took my book bag and .... could not open the door of the building of my company. It instantly reminded me about the incident in last August. I walked around the building to get to the other door. A co-worker saw me and open the door for me, that was when I found out about the shooting. At that time, there was only one dead and one wounded in the report. In one hour after that, the updated report came out with 32 victims and the killer.


My co-worker's husband was a professor that was shot in his class-room. He made it out of it with 2 bullets, 1 one his head and one on his arm. He is alright now.


By the time I am writing these lines, President Bush had just completed his speech. We share our deepest sympathies to families of unlucky people who were happen to be at a wrong place and at a wrong time.

It was definitively my mistake. It was colder than it felt when I decided to take a walk around the building . I say it was around -4°C outside, my nose was frozen. I tried to complete a half mile walk then so happy to get back inside.

I saw a police's car was running slowly on the other side of the building. That cop's car and walking alone in the cold dark night reminded me a couples events happened to me more than a year ago that I would love to share with you guys and laugh about it.

• The first round (I won). It was summer semester.

I was in school. I had no job, no money so I could not go home every day after school. I could not get me a room close to my school. So I slept in my truck at night time after school. It was around midnight that day. I got up because I heard some body was talking and jumping around my truck. I thought that they were trying to steal the wheels of my truck. A second later, I heard a girl's voice "there is no body here". So I got up but still stay inside my truck. I saw a guy and a girl bending down at my front wheel.

Holly cow, what the heck is going on here ?

I grabbed the wrench that was used to replace wheel for my truck then reached forward to push the horn which was next to the guy's ears. The guy jumped up like he got kicked on his butt .

I rolled the window down a little bit and told them "stay the hell away from my truck "
They both told me "there was a cat in your truck".
"They lost their mind", I thought.
So I told them "I don't care if your parents are in my truck, get the hell away from my truck. If you need to look for your cat, get back here in the morning".
The couple got mad and told me that they would go and tell the police that I was drunk and drive (you go to jail if they catch you drunk and drive).
I would be happy if the police was there, so I told the girl "go ahead, I will be right here waiting for you " (I did not say exactly the same, but I would stay there because I had no where to go). And they left. I went back to sleep.

45 minutes later, the police knocked on the window of my truck and asked me to get out for an ID check. After the ID check, they wanted me to open the hood of my truck to check if there was any thing under it.

There was a baby cat in it I was sure that couple tried to throw away some baby kittens and this one jumped off their basket and ran under my truck. The couple fell bad if I did not know about it and I could accidentally kill the cat.

• The second round (they won). It was fall semester
  
  
  I was still broke and the weather got colder. I knew that I could not sleep in my truck any more. I got a "sound good" strategy in my head, so I apply for a "proctor job" at school and join a research project with a professor. This job gave me the permission to enter the computer lab at any time. You can imagine easily what my plan was , right?
  

Yes, i got pay to use the lab as my room and I used the gym for shower (can not sound better). I got everything under control for about 3 weeks before things started to get out of hand.

I scared the house-keeping staffs and they thought that I was some kind of thief. They called the police . Yes, they waked me up at 6:00 AM and told me that I had to leave the building. I left the building at 6:45AM after a long routine of ID checking,... It sucked because I could get back inside the building at 7:00AM. I stood there at the door for 20 minutes then got back inside the building and laughed at the house-keeping staffs (my big mistake). And that was the same police guy that I met on the "cat" event.

I contacted the professor that I was doing research with and she sent an email to the police department (University police) to state that I should be allowed to stay late in the building because I was doing a research. The police replied that it would be fine as long as I have my ID with me. It sounded cool, right?

• I got K.O. It was still in fall semester

Three weeks after the event, I got waked up again by the same police officer at 3:20AM. I told him that I got permission to stay late in the lab. Could you have a guess what the answer was? That guy told me "Sure, but the email did not say anything about sleeping in here, so you can stay to do the research, not sleeping" (smart ass ). I left the building and saw the same two house-keeping staffs was standing there and laughed at me . I had to stay in my truck for 3 hours before I could get back inside the building. I was cold that night and I was sitting in my truck, wrapped the blanket around my body. I was so cold that I could not sleep.

I was out of solution but luckily I found out that there was another computer lab for resident students and it opened 24/7 . I became the resident of that computer lab for the rest of that semester and the semester after that. That resident lab was a lot better than the other one because you can enjoy "student made" movies sometimes at lateeeeeeeeee night, hahaha.

My buddies tried to get me a sign "Home sweet home" at the door of the resident lab. the house keeping guy in that building was a lot nicer than the other two female staffs, he had not gave me any trouble (thank you so much).

So I dragged myself through American college like that. I was fun but sometime it hurt so much that I could cry.

January 09, 2006 - January 09, 2007. One year from the day that I got back my life

Today is a special day

• Today marks one year the day I went back to work as a computer programmer.
• Today marks one year the day that I went back to the world, to work in the field that I love, to be around people who think in the way that I am thinking.
• Today marks one year the day that I reached my goal earlier than I was expected.
• Today marks one year the day that my Mom didn't have to cry for me any more when they though about the time I washed dishes in restaurants or worked in factories.
• Today marks one year the day that I made all people who love me proud.

What ?, Yes, you are right. No title

• One's worst enemy in life is himself
• One's worst debt in life is unrequited love
• One's worst mistake in life is losing himself

These are some in 14 commandments of Buddha. These are the ones that could help me to express myself at this moment.

It is easily to recognize the emptiness but it looks like impossible to fill up the emptiness

---

Quoted from the movie "10 things that I hate about you"

1. I hate the way you talk to me, and the way you cut your hair.
2. I hate the way you drive my car.
3. I hate it when you stare.
4. I hate your big dumb combat boots, and the way you read my mind.
5. I hate you so much it makes me sick; it even makes me rhyme.
6. I hate the way you're always right.
7. I hate it when you lie.
8. I hate it when you make me laugh, even worse when you make me cry.
9. I hate it when you're not around, and the fact that you didn't call.
10. But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you. Not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all.

---

And this is my 10 things that I hate about her

1. I hate the way you act as if you don't care
2. ...
3. I hate it when you stare.
4. I hate the way you act when you don't want to read my mind
5. I hate you so much it makes me sick; it even makes me rhyme.
   
6. I hate that you always fight when you are not right
   
7. I hate it when you lie.
8. I hate it when you make me laugh, even worse when you make me cry.
9. I hate it when you're not around, and the fact that you didn't call.
10. But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you. Not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all.

The gambler

On a warm summer's evenin' on a train bound for nowhere,
I met up with the gambler; we were both too tired to sleep.
So we took turns a starin' out the window at the darkness
'Til boredom overtook us, and he began to speak.

He said, "Son, I've made my life out of readin' people's faces,
And knowin' what their cards were by the way they held their eyes.
So if you don't mind my sayin', I can see you're out of aces.
For a taste of your whiskey I'll give you some advice."

So I handed him my bottle and he drank down my last swallow.
Then he bummed a cigarette and asked me for a light.
And the night got deathly quiet, and his face lost all expression.

Said,
"If you're gonna play the game, boy, ya gotta learn to play it right.
You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.

Now Ev'ry gambler knows that the secret to survivin'
Is knowin' what to throw away and knowing what to keep.
'Cause ev'ry hand's a winner and ev'ry hand's a loser,
And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep."

So when he'd finished speakin', he turned back towards the window,
Crushed out his cigarette and faded off to sleep.
And somewhere in the darkness the gambler, he broke even.

But in his final words I found an ace that I could keep.

You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.


YouTube "The Gambler"

---

Yes, the most important lesson in life is that


You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.


We are all gamblers during our life but we should never try to be a gambler when it comes to love. There are only losers when gambling with love.

Vietnamese poems

Ðôi Dép

(thơ Nguyễn Trung Kiên)

Bài thơ đầu anh viết tặng em
Là bài thơ anh kể về đôi dép
Khi nỗi nhớ ở trong lòng da diết
Những vật tầm thường cũng viết thành thơ

Hai chiếc dép kia gặp nhau tự bao giờ
Có yêu nhau đâu mà chẳng rời nửa bước
Cùng gánh vác những nẻo đường xuôi ngược
Lên thảm nhung xuống cát bụi cùng nhau

Cùng bước, cùng mòn, không kẻ thấp người cao
Cùng chia sẻ sức người đời chà đạp
Dẫu vinh nhục không đi cùng người khác
Số phận chiếc này phụ thuộc chiếc kia

Nếu ngày nào một chiếc dép mất đi
Mọi thay thế đều chở nên khập khiễng
Giống nhau lắm nhưng mọi người đời sẽ biết
Hai chiếc này chẳng phải một đôi đâu

Cũng như mình trong những lúc vắng nhau
Bước hụt hẫng cứ nghiêng về một phía
Dẫu bên cạnh đã có người thay thế
Mà trong lòng nỗi nhớ cứ chênh vênh

Đôi dép vô tri khắng khít bước song hành
Chẳng thề nguyền mà không hề giả dối
Chẳng hứa hẹn mà không hề phản bội
Lối đi nào cũng có mặt cả đôi

Không thể thiếu nhau trên những bước đường đời
Dẫu mỗi chiếc ở một bên phải trái
Nhưng tôi yêu em bởi những điều ngược lại
Gắn bó đời nhau vì một lối đi chung

Hai mảnh đời thầm lặng bước song song
Sẽ dừng lại khi chỉ còn một chiếc
Chỉ còn một là không còn gì hết
Nếu không tìm được chiếc thứ hai kia…

Những phút xao lòng

(thơ Thuận Hữu)

Mình cũng có những phút giây cảm thấy xao lòng
Khi gặp người yêu xưa với những điều vợ mình không có được

Có thể vợ mình xưa cũng có một người yêu
Người ấy gọi vợ mình là người yêu cũ
Cũng như mình thôi, mình ngày xưa cũng thế
Yêu một cô, giờ cô ấy đã có chồng.

Có thể vợ mình vì những phút mềm lòng
Nên giấu kín những suy tư, không kể về giấc mộng
Người yêu cũ vợ mình có những điều mà mình không có được
Cô ấy không nói ra vì sợ mình buồn

Mình cũng có những phút giây cảm thấy xao lòng
Khi gặp người yêu xưa với những điều vợ mình không có được
Nghĩ về cái đã qua nhiều khi như nuối tiếc
Mình cũng chẳng nói ra vì sợ vợ buồn

Sau những lần nghĩ đâu đâu, mình thương vợ mình hơn
Và cảm thấy mình như người có lỗi
Chắc vợ mình hiểu điều mình không nói
Cô ấy cũng thương yêu và chăm chút mình hơn

Mà có trách chi những phút xao lòng
Ai cũng có một thời để yêu và một thời để nhớ
Ai cũng có những phút giây ngoài chồng ngoài vợ
Đừng có trách chi những phút xao lòng!

Live in America, speak American, think American but still enjoy Vietnamese beauty

I miss you

Hey guys,

I am sitting here in this room and it is around mid-night. I have a couple problems to solve and suddently I miss you all.

I miss the time that we spent together to complete the program called MemoryCompiler. How many nights did we spend together to have it delivered on time? I could not remember and I don't really care. The only thing that was important to me was the friendship that we developed through that time.

I miss the time that we spent to watch soccer games. I miss the time that we all got drunk after some one's birthday party. I miss the time that the whole group went out. I miss all the Karaoke parties that we had together. I miss every morning that we had the whole group together, joked around and ate fruit.

I miss the group of friends was called Software Team. Some said that they suck, some others said that they were friendly. I don't care whatever others said. I know that we care for each others and all of you guys are wonderful friends.

Thank you guys, it is my honor to have all of you as my friends.