Thinking of My Kids

Inspiring Read

The last time I read an entire book in less than a week was in 9th grade when I tried finishing "To Kill A Mockingbird." Nineteen years later, I happy to report I did it again. "Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas" is a novel-length Q&A with U2's frontman. I give it five out of five black wrap-around sunglasses.

Paging Dr. Oz

I've never had a parasite. I don't know what a parasite feels like. I don't even know what it looks like. Despite this ignorance, I'm 100 percent confident I have a parasite living in my being. It all started four days after I arrived back in the States. Dawn and I tried eating at Sampaio on Friday night, and I spent the entire time not at the table. I've never experienced stomach pains like I was experiencing that night.

So we went to the Pro Med minor emergency clinic on Anderson Lane. The "nurses" behind the counter were eating fried chicken and licking their fingers as I was being admitted. That scene combined with the smell of sick was enough to put me over the edge. In classic Dawn form, she came prepared and brought a bag full of goodies to pass the time: Oprah magazines, a blanket, bottled water and bean bags for juggling. According to her, "it's impossible to worry and juggle at the same time."

The doctor gave me lomotil which he described as a "colon-seizing" medication. Sounded good to me. I spent the rest of the weekend in Temple with my parents getting some rest. The stomach pains continued.

Monday came and went. No change. Tuesday and Wednesday came. No change and no work. I eventually went to my normal doctor. She said the lomotil was the worst thing the doctor could have given me. They prescribed 500 grams of Cipro and did lab work. I'm still waiting to find out if I have a little Chinese parasite living inside me.

If you finished reading this blog post, thank you. Listening to someone else's sickness is like viewing their vacation photos.

Dispatches from Beijing

If I knew the Chinese words for "boring meetings" I'd use them right now to describe the afternoon meetings. So I'll use the time to recap the Beijing trip so far. I arrived on Saturday afternoon at Peking International Airport. The city alone is larger than Belgium in land mass and with more than 15 million people living in the city, it's not hard to forget you're not alone. The entire city (and country) is really gearing up for the Olympic games this summer. There are digital countdown clocks throughout the city to alert everyone how many days (158) are left before the opening ceremonies.



On Sunday, I booked a tour of the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and the Great Wall. The 9-hour tour which included an English-speaking guide, lunch and an air-conditioned bus cost only $60 or 420 Yuan. As you'll see from the slideshow below, I was totally under-dressed for the weather. When we arrived at the Forbidden City there was ice floating around the moat. My t-shirt, fleece and jeans didn't quite cut it. Quick facts on the Forbidden City I found interesting: It was the home of 2 dynasties (Ming and Qing). "The Last Emperor" was about one of these dynasties. I'm not sure which one. During the height of the Ming Dynasty, more than 5,000 servants, guards, eunuchs and concubines lived here. Once the woman entered the city walls, she never left. I'll end the history lesson before I start making stuff up.

As we left the Forbidden City, I tried snapping of photo of Chairman Mao Zedong and was quickly yelled at by the Chinese military guards. "No cameras!" There were about 20 guards stationed around the entrance yelling this to everyone attempting to snap a photo. They didn't have to tell me twice.

Across the street is Tiananmen Square and Chairman Mao's crystal tomb (from England, no less). Our tour guide's cousin participated in the hunger strike and protest in 1989.

After Tiananmen Square, we drove about 60 miles outside the city to the Great Wall. By this time, my core temperature had dropped about 10 degrees. I bought a counterfeit Olympics knitted cap for $1.25 from a lady on the Great Wall.

On the way back to the hotel we drove by the Olympic Village, National Stadium and National Aquatics Center. It was almost 7 pm on Sunday night and workers were out in full force laying bricks and sidewalks.

Our meetings started on Monday morning. About 30 people are crammed into a conference room fit for about 14. Every hour a little lady walks in and refreshes the hot tea. Last night we had a team dinner at a local restaurant. Some of the highlights included boiled chicken feet, seasoned duck egg (and by seasoned, I mean green) and papaya soup with fish stomach. I tried the latter. It tasted like mouthful of warm Ramen noodle before you add the chicken seasoning.

So far, no sickness or stomachaches. The highlight of today was seeing a store dedicated to nothing but Monchhichi and Precious Moments figurines. I was tempted to buy one, but I'm not telling you which one.

I'm planning to work from the hotel tomorrow morning so I can watch the Texas primary returns on CNN.com's streaming TV. I'll be holding my own caucus in room 1028.

Yes, We Can Mash-Up

Cool video mash-up of Barack Obama's speeches with Will.I.Am's music featuring Scarlett Johansson, John Legend, Herbie Hancock, Kate Walsh, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and more. Did I mention it has Scarlett Johansson?

A Bit of DC in Austin

Last night I attended the Texas Democratic Party Debate Watching Party at the Hyatt on Town Lake. After three hours of seeing the candidates on the big screen, they finally made their way to the ballroom for a few brief remarks to the crowd of 1,200. Before entering the ballroom, everyone had to go through TSA screening similar to the airport security checks.

Hillary spoke first and then made her way across the pipe and drape barriers to keep the crowd off the stage. I wasn't too confident I'd be able to shake anyone's hand. About 45 minutes later, Barack Obama entered the room to a medley of U2's "City of Blinding Lights" and Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered." He flashed the Hook 'em Horns sign and talked about the uniquely independent spirit of Austin that he'd like to bottle and take across the rest of the country.

As he was wrapping up the speech, I decided to make my move toward the front of the barrier. At this point, I was about 10 rows deep. I threw out all common courtesy and probably inappropriately clamored my way up to the front just as Obama was making his way to the line. My right hand shook his left hand. Score! I know I'm probably obsessing on this entire story, but it is what it is. Check out the video of his entrance:



Mark and I are scheduled to attend the "Stand for Change" rally tonight in downtown Austin. We'll have Mark and Suzanne's nice camera so I'm hoping for better pictures to post tomorrow.

Lost in Translation

I found out last night I'm going to Beijing, China, in two weeks for work. I'm representing our product group at a global strategy meeting in our Beijing office. The meeting is for only three days, but I guess they value face-to-face meetings rather than a call or webinar.


I spent three hours today trying to find out how to apply for a business visa. After calls to the US Embassy and Chinese Embassy, I finally figured out how to do it online. We outsource the process to third-party which makes it easier, but a little frightening nonetheless. I have to mail my passport to Houston for inspection/stamping.

It just so happened I went to the Austin Diagnostic Travel Clinic this morning for a flu shot (too late) and a follow-up hepatitis A/B shot from last year's Africa trip. I asked her what other shots I needed for China. I didn't want to get turned away at the airport for not having a simple rabies shot. Good news. No vaccinations are needed. I think I pretty much glow in the dark from last summer's poking and prodding. I just can't visit any pig farms or hatcheries. There go my evening plans.

Love is in the Air

Happy Valentine's Day! Molly is loving her some Uno this week. Every evening I come home to Luther Vandross blaring from her room.

Death and Taxes

I feel like I've flirted with both the past few days. The sickness started last Wednesday out in California. I attributed it to the above average amount of seafood I consumed while I out there. Mercury seemed to be the culprit. After three days of no improvement, the verdict came down. The flu. Definitely the flu. Today was the first day I actually felt like getting off the sofa. The upside to this? LOST: Season 3 re-runs. Thanks to a potpourri of iTune downloads, NetFlix and the neighborhood Hollywood Video, I consumed 10 mind-numbing episodes over the past three days. My next installment arrives next tomorrow. I can finally join in the conversation without earmuffs. Strangely, I can say that 420 minutes later, I still have absolutely no clue what's going on. I love it!


Another positive thing to come from staying home: getting taxes done. That's about all I'm saying about that.

Luke has started calling me Uncle David. It's more like "Uh-Day" but it makes perfect sense to me and it is wonderful. It puts the biggest smile on my face each time I hear it. He loves to say "Uh-Day" and that gorillas are from "Aaa-cah" (Africa) and pandas are from "ina" (China). I'm probably stealing Mom and Dad's thunder, but he who blogs it first, claims it.