Shawshank's 岁月点滴

来美10年，除了01年圣诞夜在US287上因超速吃了一张 speeding 的 warning 外，一直相安无事。
今天开信箱，收到一封Houston Police Department Photo Enforcement Program的信，就预感到不对了。
10天前的14日我在一个路口前红灯右转被闪了一下，于是我的车牌便清晰显现在这封信的显著位置。罪名为：Failure to Stop at Red Light

人生终于进一步完整了。特此纪念。另外，吃一堑长一智，要做一个更好的司机。

有时想想真窝火，乱花钱有很多种，主要就是买那些自己并不需要的东西，而这 traffic ticket则是这种形式的最极致的表现。想想如果能把那75刀拿来捐了也比送给黑猫叔叔们好上万倍。

PS: 同时请教各位经验丰富的朋友们：我这有希望dismiss掉吗？上defensive driving也行:(

A couple of months back boss asked me if I wanted to transfer to R&D. That came as more or less of a surprise to me. I felt quite comfortable staying in the company’s operations side, and there is no reason to move. Although I didn’t want to move at all, based on the principle of "never say never", I told boss I wanted to "wait and see"
This afternoon Grace called in. She is one of my very few Chinese colleagues. I first met her right after joining the company three years ago and ever since we kept in constant contact. Despite the fact AirLiquide being a French company and doesn’t like foreigners (Even in AirLiquide America, Americans are still foreigners), she still managed to move up to the position of Marketing Director, a very prestige position.
During the conversation, I asked her opinion about the possible transfer and her immediate response was: "Why not?"
Then she laid out the reasons, ranging from R&D’s global exposure, cross branch architecture, and above all, the availability of abundant funding. I immediately felt enlightened and damned myself for failing to to see the whole picture in the beginning.
Now recessed in the couch of my cozy home, I am reflecting. There are a couple of things I should learn:
1) It’s extremely beneficial to have acquaintances higher up in the corporate as your mentor (上海话叫老法师） . Since they are higher up, they have a much wider vision. And able to see what we are not able to.
2) In a corporate environment, it’s the control on resources that gives you job security, and the control of funding gives you status.
3) This is the most important one: The biggest enemy against me is complacency. Corporate life is different than school years. As a student, a few nights on the eve of exams can keep myself as a good student; but as a professional, the challenge is daily. Being buried in daily routine can blur your vision, slow down your pace, and drain your ambition.

I have been sitting in my comfort zone for too long. It’s time to take a move. Up.
Although I will work harder than ever, but there will be no frustrations on my having to let go my ideas, only to see me do more I like to. Above all, I will see a better me.

自从去年11月经济危机的风暴到来，公司的业绩也受到了影响，首先是 stock option 没了，接着便是销售额的滑坡。更近的就是传来我们的两家竞争对手 Air Products 和 Praxair 各自宣布全球范围内裁员 5% 的消息。山雨欲来，而公司里却平静的很。
风最终还是来了。一早就收到公司新总裁的email，宣布下午公司有重要事项宣布。由于我们的办公地不在公司的美国总部，所以就都只好 conference call 到现场。下午两点，通气会开始，楼里也顿时安静下来，几乎每个人的电话机前都传来一样的声音。意料之中的是公司09年展望很悲观，而没有意料到的是，对于有3000多人的北美分公司，仅仅裁员15人（另外有9人提前退休，转行等等）。CEO还多次强调，除非经济形势再有意想不到的恶化，这将是公司唯一的一次裁人。

心中顿时松了口气。