Jaime has Arrived

Jaime arrived in Malaysia yesterday about noon and made the mistake of taking a nap about 4 pm and woke up the next morning. That is not unusual when flying halfway around the world. I met her for supper and we went to Tony Roma's and later visited her hotel where Sunway is putting her up for the next two weeks while she finds a condo to live in.

It was really good to see jaime as I had not seen her in about 6 months. I leave this Saturday for Ottawa for a 2 week working holiday and hope to spend some time with Jordan.

Oh yes, Jaime was very excited about her new iPad 2. :-)

TTYL,

Jim

Home on July 2nd Saturday

I am travelling back to Ottawa on July 2nd and due to the wonders of the international date line, I arrive July 2nd. I am quite looking forward to a more relaxed visit this time around as I am there until July 13th.

Things I have to do include, seeing the realtor, the lawyer, my Mother, thanking my sisters and Bill, visiting the Prescott, seeing King Louie at Rideau Ferry, and going for a few motorcycle rides and spending some time with Jordan who is working this summer in Ottawa.

If you want to get together just send me an email to CoachJimDale@gmail.com :-)

TTYL,

Jim

Home from Bangkok

I had a great visit with John Mcgrath in Bangkok. In one day we took a motorcycle taxi, tuk tuk, river boat taxi, and a regular taxi. We managed to hear some great music in a couple of bars, shot some pool, and had a great 40th birthday party for one of the school's VP's.

John cooked up a great breakfast one morning of bacon (real pork bacon), eggs, and brown beans with fried up potato slices. It was great.

I also discovered a great drink, votka and Red Bull. The votka makes you happy and the Red Bull keeps you awake all night to enjoy your new found happiness. It also tastes great and did not leave a hangover for some reason.

Thanks a lot John :-)

TTYL,

Jim

Bangkok this Weekend

I am going to visit John McGrath this weekend in Bangkok. I have not seen John for quite some time so I am looking forward to it. The population of Bangkok is 12 million people so you can imagine how busy and large it is. John is very adept at getting around which really amazes me. John is the principal of the American International School in Bangkok.

I am preparing to wrap up my stay here in Malaysia. My exit meeting with personnel is on June 22nd and my last day of work is about August 31st.

What I really like about Canada, is that you can actually do things outdoors, like go for a walk without having sweat dripping into your eyes after 5 minutes. I look forward to biking and bicycling again, picknics in the park, running outside, and all things outdoors, including winter activties :-)

What will I miss? Taylors is a great organization to work for and the people are fantastic. The malls are awesome but life is about more than a shopping experience.
TTYL,
Jim

Why?

I have been wondering ... why can't you deselect a button in an elevator? It is a simple programming task :-) I suppose the big question is what happens when there is only one button selected and the elevator is moving to that floor. Simple, go to that floor unless the user chooses another button then go to the new choice.

Common elevator manufacturers ... this is not rocket science stuff. Have you never got on an elevator with all the buttons pushed by some kid?

TTYL,

Jim

Sunday Night/Monday Morning

It is 1:47 am and I can't sleep :-( Is anyone awake? I guess so, as it is Sunday afternoon back in Canada. Parents are taking their kids to soccer games, active people are riding bicycles on the bike pathways in and around Ottawa. Hey, you could even be travelling back from Algonquin park after a weekend of hiking and canoeing.

Here in Malaysia the family takes the car to the mall and shops and eats. I still have not figured what else they do but I know I do not see bicyclists (dangerous to your health), games on the outdoor playing fields (too hot and humid), people walking outside (just me usually and the odd Indonesian illegal worker).

They do like to skate on the ice rink, but that may be because it is in the mall so I am not sure. The malls also have large open areas where they stage entertainment of various kinds (talent shows, fashion shows, car shows, etc.)

I am thinking of going to langkawi this coming weekend as I am going a little stir crazy in my apartment in Subang Jaya. Not this coming weekend, but the following weekend I am visiting John McGrath in Bangkok. That should be fun as I have not seen John for 4 or 5 months and there is lots to get caught up on.

I am also trying to get back to Canada for a couple of weeks in July. I have been working on a new software project and it is time to demo it to the clients to make sure what I am building for them is what they want :-) It all depends on how many holidays I have coming to me.

I am trying to make the time go a little faster here in Malaysia by engaging in travel over the next 3 months.

TTYL,

Jim

TGIF

Another Friday without the chimps and a TGIF :-( Is East Side Marios still the prefered watering hole or are you lost without me?

I think I will head out to a restaurant for a bite to eat tonight. Somewhere in downtown KL and maybe then a beer or two. I have some new programming that needs to get started this weekend and some old stuff that needs to get finished.

The new countdown is at 89 days until August 31st.

I hope your weekend is more exciting than mine, TTYL

Jim

Time in Malaysia Extended

I will be staying in Malaysia until the end of August so my countdown is now at 90 days not 70. taylor's requested that I stay until that time in order to get some things completed. I was okay with that as it is important to me to fullfill the duties you were hired to complete.

I have gotten into the habit of exploring KL. There is lots to do and many, many restaurants and smaller malls to explore. The other night I went to the Hard Rock cafe for some western food and to listen to a live band. The food was great, music not so great, but the crowd was mostly white folks like me which is unusal most places I go.

There is still lots of time if anyone wants to visit and we all know you teacher types have the months of July and August off. I would be happy to show you around, feed, entertain, and accommodate you.  I will draw the line at free beer for larry as no one can afford to feed free beer to Brown Bear :-)

I am doing some ONSIS work and have just completed in-servicing 75 Malaysian teachers on Blended Course delivery and implementing Gizmos in their Science and Mathematics courses. If you have not used Gizmos, check them out at http://www.explorelearning.com/. You can use any Gizmo for 5 minutes ... just enough time to get a feel for what it does. There are several hundred Gizmos to explore.

I am surviving well on my own and have even started to cook now and again.

That's about it for now, so TTYL.

Jim