Super Typhoon Talim hits Taiwan just days after Hurricane Katrina hits the USA

Super Typhoon Talim is just about ready to hit Taiwan. My family woke up to just a wonderful warm day today (8:00am). At around noon the government called a emergency and said business are to close at 4:00pm. I went to pick up Jasper at GymBaby (his learning center) at 2:00pm. It started raining hard around 1:00pm. Coming home with Jasper on my scooter was not a fun task. First off he hates to be under the plastic parka I wear to keep dry. However, as the rain and wind hit him he quickly found refuge under the parka. I normally drive the MinQuan Bridge at 80kph with Jasper. Today the wind was so strong nobody was going quicker than 25kph. I was going around 20kph and having trouble steering due to the wind. And this was just the very, very, very outskirts of the storm. Crazy enough at 3:00 the rain stopped. It is 5:00pm now and all is pretty calm.

http://www.npmoc.navy.mil/jtwc/warnings/wp1305.gif

Or see: http://www.supertyphoon.com/storms/2005/13w.html

Hurricane Katrina Asian View

I am watching some of the coverage of the storm on CNN in Taipei. So, we see the Asian version of CNN out of Hong Kong (and parts from the HQ in Atlanta). I must admit some of these TV journalist in America are just crazy. They actually have some goofy guys (WFOR -CBS4) running out into the street trying to show its strength. Trees falling, metal and glass in the street while some local street reporter, (Brian Adams -possibly his name) is hiding behind city trash-barrels to report. He even asks the camera man to watch out and yell to him if he sees anything that may hit him. (On top of that the reporter pulls a metal piece apart from the trashcan and tosses it down the street - maybe it may hit one of his fellow reporters). As he runs back to the hotel the guy’s feet are swept out from under him. "Things are being torn apart slowly and surely from this south wind," is being reported -- So why not send out some expendable extra staff we have. Now I hear "It is hell on earth," when the reporters TV van was totaled by falling debris. It is rather funny, but the humor is more an expression of exasperation. Jim Clancy, anchor and correspondent for CNN International, even commented on how silly some of these guys are in covering the storm.

Here in Taipei we get hit by a few typhoons a year. I guess since the death and serious injury of multiple reporters in the Asian region they have changed their coverage here. I just hope these US stations understand losing a reporter is not worth the video picture. Why not just point the camera out a building window. (Typhoon and Hurricanes are the same thing).

• Hurricane - in the North Atlantic and Pacific Ocean east of the dateline and South Pacific Ocean east of 160degreesE.
• Typhoon - Northwest Pacific Ocean west of the date line

Here in Taiwan we hunker down in our house and wait for the storm to pass. After being in 10 or more typhoons you really get a feel of how this country has found good ways to stay safe. The sad thing is people still do die in rural areas and at times downtown.

Teaching and ATS Feelings

In some way I am a bit embarrassed to say that I am teaching English in Taipei. I was accomplished in doing business in Asia, but for some strange reason finding a new job here has proved difficult. I am talking to U.S. headhunters and checking CareerBuilder.com and Monster regularly.  Nonetheless, teaching has proven eventful. I teach adult conversation and grammar. I have learned much from my students. I work for a Japanese school chain called GEOS Language Academy. They have offices throughout the world. Pay is not bad if you have a full schedule.  However, I am not used to this life style. I am used to working hard for a company goal. I am used to solving problems and issues to a tight schedule. I like seeing a product I assisted with in the market. I like my mind and body to be active in all aspects of my job. An argument could be made that in teaching I am fulfilling some of these points. In some way 'yes,' but it has just left me a bit empty. It is definitely time to hit the pavement hard again to find a good company job for myself. 

My last job was at ATS in NeiHu (Taipei, Taiwan). I enjoyed the job, but the company did not have money. I did everything possible for them and still to this day I have not been paid. I had 3 months payment (and I accepted a discounted salary payment) coming since June. So for 5+ months I basically had no income. The CEO of ATS tells me the money will be coming every week. Today I heard the same answer again. I just hope it comes soon. My family can not afford to burn money with nothing coming in. My job with ATS has put me in the worst financial shape I have ever been in. The sad thing is I turned down two (possibly 3) job offers while I was working there. ---- ICK ----

My Heavens Where Have I Been

My gosh I have been missing for over a month. During this time I'm not sure I've accomplished much. I did however updated the Jasper Timeline and his pictures on this site. So, what the heck is going on.

I took a small break from my daily activities on the computer. I started teaching and I was doing research and studying how to teach Chinese adults English. I took this job seriously (although I have found out many teachers here think I am crazy for diving so deep into it). I took the job as I would any. I dove head first into it. I provide my students with daily notes, articles of interest, and agendas which include: info on the day's class, homework, vocabulary, and suggestions (areas of concentration). My students all seem to like this very much. So I continue it and dismiss the criticism I get from the other teachers. I guess I may take it too seriously, but my schooling and past training tell me not to slack.

I have now caught up on my learning curve. However I did not jump right back into my computer. As you may know I DJ at Roxy99 in Taipei. I have many CDs and a hellva a lot of songs. Needless to say I need to organize them in my MusicMatch program. I like to see my files read: artist, song, album, song number. Plus I like to add the cover, release date and genre to each album. Sounds like much, but with the computer, it is not that hard, it just takes time. One week passed on my work and now that is done as well.

My job hunt (for a marketing and/or sales position) was on hold for two weeks as well. Due to reasons above and the hope of a particular prospect coming through.

I can't believe my email box had 2,039 emails in it from the past week. The scary thing is only 35 messages were truly real. The spam and advertising is just too much. For this reason alone I keep thinking I should start writing out letters and messages instead. For that you need a little money.

That leads me to my final comments. Money does make people happy. It will not buy you happiness and family, but it does take off many burdens and allows you to breath relief which is happiness in itself. Our school (3-12 year olds) business adventure is now doing okay. It took seven months but things are now stabilizing. The problem is my pay has changed (teaching does not pay as high as my previous job), and Esther is not working a paying job (working at Curious Monkey "her" school). So bills pill up and borrowing money has become a norm. This is not like Esther and I and we feel the pressure of it every day. But we are pulling through like champs.

Now time to get back to finding a good paying job here in Taiwan and keeping this site updated. A good paying job will also helps me keep the restaurant page updated. Otherwise I may be telling you more about street vendors, grocery stores and our home cooked meals.