It's a grapefruit blend - not as tart as 100% grapefruit juice - but refreshing. It has lots of grapefruit bits in it.
Thursday, July 29, 2004
my current favorite drink
is Gokuri by Suntory. The site is in Japanese. Interestingly, it is listed as a softdrink.
It's a grapefruit blend - not as tart as 100% grapefruit juice - but refreshing. It has lots of grapefruit bits in it.
It's a grapefruit blend - not as tart as 100% grapefruit juice - but refreshing. It has lots of grapefruit bits in it.
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
hiring considerations
Hypothetical situation:
- 3 month project
- hiring programmers.
Most current programmers are in their late 20's, some are much younger.
Applicant:
- early 40's
- overqualified for the position, with extensive experience
- would be perfect as a team leader
- aware that he is applying for a programming position
Would you interview him?
In a similar situation, the team leader decided not to interview him, saying they couldn't use him currently. He would have been perfect when they were hiring for more senior positions. They joked about putting him to work under one 28 year old programmer, or the 20 year old programmer.
What do you think about this decision?
Personally, I'm surprised that they didn't bother to interview him. As long as he'd be willing to work with people who have far less experience than him, I think it'd be great to have such an experienced person on the project. If he was willing and appeared open to it (or had even had experience with similar situations), I don't see what the project would have to lose.
- 3 month project
- hiring programmers.
Most current programmers are in their late 20's, some are much younger.
Applicant:
- early 40's
- overqualified for the position, with extensive experience
- would be perfect as a team leader
- aware that he is applying for a programming position
Would you interview him?
In a similar situation, the team leader decided not to interview him, saying they couldn't use him currently. He would have been perfect when they were hiring for more senior positions. They joked about putting him to work under one 28 year old programmer, or the 20 year old programmer.
What do you think about this decision?
Personally, I'm surprised that they didn't bother to interview him. As long as he'd be willing to work with people who have far less experience than him, I think it'd be great to have such an experienced person on the project. If he was willing and appeared open to it (or had even had experience with similar situations), I don't see what the project would have to lose.
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
learn chinese
Laf. Remember Jin? That Chinese American kid who blew up BET's "106 n Park" MC battles. I'm actually pretty impressed by his new song. The melody's not bad, and the lyrics are Jin. Pretty clever. A tad on the misogynistic side though.
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
cool vs. everyone
各位(kakui), meaning everyone, or ladies and gentlemen, and かっこいい(kakkoii) sound the same to me, although context probably makes it clear which word is intended.
golf, drum arcade game
Yesterday was the holiday 海の日(Sea Day). Coming back from Ito we stopped at Yokohama. We went to a bowling/entertainment center that had almost any sport imaginable. An ice rink on the 2nd floor (in summer!), ping pong, archery!, a batting range, a tennis range, a place to shoot baskets. I went to the driving range for the first time. It was pretty fun, but the golf swing feels rather strange. I enjoyed it a lot though. A friend taught us some basics, but actually only swinging my shoulders is rather difficult.
Another first was trying that taiko drumming game where you hit the middle or the edge of the drum depending on the beat showing on the screen. It's fun trying to drum to Carmen, William Tell, or jpop songs. I could see wasting a lot of money on this game. 200 yen for 2 songs. I guess used manga is a better investment.
We also played a couple games of pool. I scratched on the 8 ball in the second game, but made it in on the 3rd game. Whew. Often I start out playing fairly accurately, then eventually can't get anything in, so it was nice to regain a little accuracy in the end.
Mini golf and the seesaw game were lots of fun too. Very interesting mini golf courses. Rather dangerous, actually. Laf. There's one where you hit the ball up a ramp and it flies into a net about 4 feet high. I wonder if someone got a picture. It was a bit tricky hitting the ball hard enough to reach the net.
We went to the movie theatre to see what movies were playing, but the selection was pretty boring. A bunch of screens with Spiderman 2. I'm still bitter about paying money to see the first Spiderman, which was spectacularly disappointing, so I have no interest in the second movie. But I feel bad that I never want to see the movies that everyone else wants to see. No interest in Day after Tomorrow either. I think I've seen enough of those global disaster movies.
Another first was trying that taiko drumming game where you hit the middle or the edge of the drum depending on the beat showing on the screen. It's fun trying to drum to Carmen, William Tell, or jpop songs. I could see wasting a lot of money on this game. 200 yen for 2 songs. I guess used manga is a better investment.
We also played a couple games of pool. I scratched on the 8 ball in the second game, but made it in on the 3rd game. Whew. Often I start out playing fairly accurately, then eventually can't get anything in, so it was nice to regain a little accuracy in the end.
Mini golf and the seesaw game were lots of fun too. Very interesting mini golf courses. Rather dangerous, actually. Laf. There's one where you hit the ball up a ramp and it flies into a net about 4 feet high. I wonder if someone got a picture. It was a bit tricky hitting the ball hard enough to reach the net.
We went to the movie theatre to see what movies were playing, but the selection was pretty boring. A bunch of screens with Spiderman 2. I'm still bitter about paying money to see the first Spiderman, which was spectacularly disappointing, so I have no interest in the second movie. But I feel bad that I never want to see the movies that everyone else wants to see. No interest in Day after Tomorrow either. I think I've seen enough of those global disaster movies.
Ito onsen, taxis
伊東(Ito) near 熱海(Atami) is a pleasant little place. It's quieter than Atami, and easy to walk around. The beach is a dark sand beach, but probably isn't the prettiest beach I've ever seen. We saw a couple festival structures with people practicing for the fireworks festival at the end of the month. One group was interesting - all men dressed up in anime costumes, many in drag. There was a Anpan man character, and the guy on the megaphone looked like a power ranger in a powder blue outfit.
The 温泉 (hotspring) was very nice; wide and pleasant. Also mostly empty. Hot water really feels great. I can't stay in it very long though.
We watched an interesting reality show where a father and daughter, both taxi drivers, took their passenger from the southernmost point of South America, to New York. They started from some island off the coast of Aregentina. It was great; the show brought an actual Japanese taxi to the island!
Laf. When they started, the passenger, a recently divorced guy in the entertainment business (on a journey to discover himself), said, "New York, please." And they actually started up the meter! I think at the end, if they make it to New York, the father and daughter will actually collect the fare from the show. Somehow, I don't think the passenger is going to be paying.
While they were driving the first day, they continued past 11 o'clock, and the daughter informed the passenger that after 11pm there is a 30% surcharge on the regular fare. Or 3 times the regular fare. I'm not sure about that. That was hilariously surreal. Here they are, driving around a South American island, and she mentions the taxi fare rules. As if the passenger had a choice. "I think I'll hail another taxi."
Driving around Brazil's largest city, they went through the Japantown, where various people stopped them and asked if they were really driving a Japanese taxi.
They stopped by a lovely waterfall too. Looked cooler than Niagara. South America looks really beautiful.
The 温泉 (hotspring) was very nice; wide and pleasant. Also mostly empty. Hot water really feels great. I can't stay in it very long though.
We watched an interesting reality show where a father and daughter, both taxi drivers, took their passenger from the southernmost point of South America, to New York. They started from some island off the coast of Aregentina. It was great; the show brought an actual Japanese taxi to the island!
Laf. When they started, the passenger, a recently divorced guy in the entertainment business (on a journey to discover himself), said, "New York, please." And they actually started up the meter! I think at the end, if they make it to New York, the father and daughter will actually collect the fare from the show. Somehow, I don't think the passenger is going to be paying.
While they were driving the first day, they continued past 11 o'clock, and the daughter informed the passenger that after 11pm there is a 30% surcharge on the regular fare. Or 3 times the regular fare. I'm not sure about that. That was hilariously surreal. Here they are, driving around a South American island, and she mentions the taxi fare rules. As if the passenger had a choice. "I think I'll hail another taxi."
Driving around Brazil's largest city, they went through the Japantown, where various people stopped them and asked if they were really driving a Japanese taxi.
They stopped by a lovely waterfall too. Looked cooler than Niagara. South America looks really beautiful.
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