徐霞客-旅游文学奖

One of the project that I think Xu Xia Ke institute might be able to do it to have a global award for travel literature.

It would be a great tribute to Xu and to the Tao family.  Maybe the first will be done in Jiang Yin May 2020.

ITU is a labor of love

After only a few months.  My role at ITU is fading away.  It has been a labor of love and very bumpy ride. The project my team and I worked on, the crisis we dealt with, the shared vision we built will have a long impression on me.  I also learned, again, how important is the governance of a non-profit.

The end was sudden and unhappy, but I have done my part so no regrets. Will have many blog on this during my self-assigned two months of thinking time

Crisis - should check the system

Crisis management
- monitoring
- Audit corporate culture
- challenging key assumptions
- thinking and acting systematically

Annoucement

Dr O and IT 08/09/2019

It is a troubling time at IT.  Dr. O, under the pressure of the Board and probably because all resources are depleting, suddenly announce his is retiring, in effective at the end of day - while I was 100 miles away having a meeting at NorthState with the Board Chair.

The Board, which I barely met, have designed Dr. H as the interim and appoint me as “Acting”.  Which is fine for day to day operation, but not sure there is a mandate required for major strategic changes - which is badly needed at the IT.

This morning, Dr O’s last morning at SJC, we had breakfast at the campus regular meal place Hobbes. The omelet is pretty good but the conversation with Kr was confusing.  He showed a list of fancy app and described his numerous contribution to the campus.  I was hoping he just show up and do his work and does not slow down the technology updates on campus.

The sea is stormy, the sky is dark, I am at the helm but with one hand tied behind my back.  I will have call the shots.  I know what to do and confident that any humanly possible endeavor, I can accomplish.  Just not 100% that is what it takes to sail the ship of IT to a safe place.

Ahead we go.

Leaving fortune to kids

It is a universal problem.  Parents worked hard, made mistakses, picked themselves up, become self-disciplned, resoucrful and resilient.  The parents assume those value will trickle down to automatically. But no.  This is why in many culture, there is saying that wealth does not last for more than 3 generation.

It is also important for kids to leave home for college, away from parents, so they can go thru some hardship and learn some valuable lessons.  

So we move on writing poems of life

It’s always a choice. With worries and expectations. Moving towards the unknow journey of life that I write poems with sweat, blood and tears - the no one will read , let  alone laughs and cry and triumph and fail and wounded and recover with me.

So move on, dream on.

Single parent is hard - choice and fate

Being a single parent is harder than I have thought.  It is not the actual tasks that burden me, but the constant worries about the well being and the future of the kids that torment my days.  Especially being the teenagers, they have a lot of freedom to do foolish or careless things, including wasting their precious time.

Y did not receive early admission to her dream univ, both of us are disappointed but we know it is a long shot. However, reflecting her performance, the academic ones are fine, obviously at or close to the top of her class. But attitude and behavior shows that she still have a lot to learn.  Her subpar essay to the piano competition, unwillingness to work with admission consultant, choose to have leisure and social activities instead of working on study or helping others, shockingly untidy room, especially her attitude toward any criticism.  I hope I have done a better job.  Maybe I should start today.

One simple question that we all, including the kids, have to answer "What do you to do with your free time?" will determine ones fate.  Is it

1. watching TV, playing video games, eat,   or
2. social with friends and playing with social network, or
3. practicing, studying and learning, or
4. help others?

how does one spread the time on the four items, seals her/his fate.