Another strange week...

 The holidays are right around the corner. Yet this week covid-19 showed its ugly head again. One of our students tested positive on Tuesday. So after the second class of the day on Tuesday, we all had to go get tested. This Sunday we will have to all get tested again. This is just horrible. The next day on Wednesday we all had to shut down the school. So I worked two hours then had a day off. Of course, we will make up those days in February. February 12th and the 13th to be exact. That is a Saturday and a Sunday. So that week will be strange as well. I prefer to have the makeup classes than lose pay. These days every penny needs to count as we never know when a real lockdown will occur!

/tata

Making changes for the good.

 My wife and I have decided to do two things regularly going forward. First, in 2020 November we decided to exercise more. The results I have posted are about; losing weight (slowly), recovering faster if we are injured. To make this change we had to make the time. The key is to make the time. That is the key. We here in this system of things actually have time. It is short if you look a the big picture. But, it is long enough to do good in our lives. Jesus says one of the greatest commandments is to treat others as you want to be treated. This is a powerful statement. 

Today people tend to be very selfish. There is this common saying that goes like this "You can not forgive others until you forgive yourself". I do not understand this. How can I forgive MYSELF of a sin I committed to others, or against God? How selfish to think I will be sitting there saying "Hey Jemal it is ok what you did. I forgive myself." Rather than trying to reach out and say sorry, confess, and in turn repent. Repenting I am learning is an active thing. You struggle not to do the same wrongdoing. For me, prayer and reading the bible really helps me. I find that JUST reading is not helpful. The bible is full of advice and guidance for different issues or areas of our lives. 

So I find that reading my bible, and walking (about 4 or 5 days each week) really helps me. 

I feel that if we are going to be ready for what is coming we need to think carefully about how we live our lives in this world.

/tata

Friends...

 Sometimes life can show us many surprises. For, example my wife and I have gained a new friend over the past 3 years. At first, things were strained and there were many misunderstandings. Now? She and her husband are two people I would not hesitate to call if I need help. I have helped them on many occasions. I feel so happy when they are thanking me. I can feel that they genuinely are at my back and I theirs. 

Last week Jan 15th we asked her if she could order 2 pc chairs for us. The money would be deducted from that week's earnings. She of course smiled and said ok. Later we find that not only did she order the chairs, but she also used a coupon and saved us 30% on the order! 

We have of course helped her and her family as well. When we were moving items to a new study room we were there. She purchased some desks and chairs on two separate occasions and her husband (who I consider a friend) needed some help, we were there. 

We enjoyed camping together as well. I now understand that friends if you are working with them they will share profits! In this world money is a source of power. So when someone who is calling you a friend offers you a cut of the pie and not a small slice (normal employment) that one is really looking out for you. 

It is rare to find a true friend in this world we live in right now. 

I can give another example. A friend if you are late will ask "Is everything ok? You are not here!".

Someone who is not a friend will say "You are late, Where are you?". 

I am blessed to have such friends. I am also understanding lessons that were taught to me years ago about watching who you associate with. They can either build you up, and you do the same for them (a true friend). Or, like a leech, they latch on to you pulling energy and resources towards their own selfish gain.

If you have some success they will appear genuinely happy. Others who are not a friend will be very jealous of you. 

Ok time to get this week started!

/tata

Using 2013 2014 Hardware today...

 My current rig has been performing amazingly well for the old hardware it has. It is so crazy how there are some people running after the wind. This quote comes from the bible. King Solomon asked for wisdom from Jehovah. He did not ask for long life or riches. Of course, God gave him these things as well. 

So when looking at my set up I can see if I had been running after the wind, I would have so many old motherboards, ram chips, graphic cards, extra monitors and so many other items. They would be sitting around gathering dust. At the moment I would have to relocate it would cause me a lot of stress. Due to the chip crisis, I would not want to leave them behind or sell them at low prices. 

So in keeping my system, I not only saved myself a lot of money; I also saved myself stress from having so much clutter. It is much better for us to live simple lives. Simple lives mean we can focus on things that are more important. 

My wife and I recently had our smartphones "renewed". Basically, the batteries and front and rear panels were replaced (my Note 10+5g). Yogita and I both had the internals renewed. What this means is that they reapplied thermal paste on the CPU, GPU, and RAM chips. My phone feels like it did when I first bought it in 2019. The same for my wife. 

I will be upgrading our systems. Likely, I will buy quality second-hand parts for the desktops, and new gaming laptops. For our boys, I will maintain the systems they have but I'll install our 1060's in those rigs and use our old ddr3 ram to make sure they have 16 gigs each. 

This is so much more simple and easy. Reuse!

/tata

Current Locale Outbreak Slowing Down..

 In Iksan there has been an outbreak for the last three weeks. Now finally the new numbers of infected cases are at 13 as of now 2:55pm today. I have been cleaning desks, students' hands, my own hands, and surfaces diligently. I am hoping that this year we will be able to run more smoothly. With no more shutdowns, like we had two weeks ago. Of course, we were lucky our winter vacation was scheduled for that week. Then last week we had to shut down on Wednesday. I would say that the word shut-down has become a new common word. Sort of like bailout was back in 2008. 

In South Korea, the number of new cases is decreasing. Of course, newspapers still use alarmist language when reporting the daily number of cases. We are under new social distancing guidelines. All restaurants must close by 9pm. Certain other multiuse facilities must close at 10pm. So this means Yogita and I have had to adapt yet again. Our date nights keep changing. Thanks Covid! However, some places we used to frequent will likely not see our business anymore. This is because we are having more fun NOT going there. I am talking about local bars or pubs. They can be fun, but we sing together or play scrabble, strategize about our online gaming adventures, among other activities like ordering late-night soup, we have more fun!

We also discuss spiritual matters, our boy's future, our future plans, issues within our relationship, and of course work. So why should we go to a bar where others many of whom are not close to us wants to encroach on our time? This is not saying it is not fun socializing, but it will not be a weekly affair anymore. If we stay in South Korea and covid-19 outbreaks become a thing of the past, I will buy a car. Then weekly we will head to nearby cities and enjoy some sites. As a family, we will go camping more. If we relocate to India then the plan is a lot more exciting. We will settle down in a city we want to live in (South India is gorgeous!). The job market is very strong for both us Yogi and I. In fact, it is also great for George. 

So let's hope covid slows down long enough for us to catch a breath! 

/tata

A funny story from Gunsan...

 As I am sitting here waiting for my class to start, a funny memory came to me. It was in the summer of 2015. It took place at the academy we taught at in Gunsan. Yogita was prepping for her class when Mrs. Cho's daughter came in to talk to her. Her older daughter to be precise. She started out with the typical small talk stuff. Then suddenly she got serious. She told Yogita that her mom is worried about us. We would not be able to get another job in Korea. Basically, her mother was very concerned. She kept mentioning how she was going to shutter her school. She would mention that she can not make ends meet. (Later that same year she bought a new 2015 Chevy Impala LOL). 

Yogita started laughing. She told Mrs. Cho's daughter we are here because we WANT to be here. Not because of your mom. She then stated that in India we were doing very well. (Mrs. Cho thought we returned to South Korea because we could get jobs LOL again!). 

Her daughter was embarrassed and apologized. Now we need to fast forward to 2016. We are having a meeting and Mrs. Cho says it again: "I can not make ends meet". Me trying to be a nice guy says well I can take a pay cut. I had side gigs going already so a pay cut would not have hurt us all that much. 

But I told her very specifically: Do you think I should start looking for a new job?? She said "Yes. I think that would be a good idea." I repeated myself twice. Then told her that we would be looking for a new position. She smiled sheepishly and said that it would be ok, she would even give us a release letter. 

Ok fine I thought. Yogita and I had a meeting in the park that afternoon. We went over our options. I wanted to leave Korea and go back to India. Yogita said, "Let's try to find a new position tonight." Well, that night we saw the same job posted for a place called Apple in Iksan. Well, I have a car why not? She sent an email with our contact numbers resume etc. The next day I guess this would be Friday evening we are again in a park near the school (we would take breaks there nearly every day). We get a phone call. Oh, it is Apple from Iksan! I talk to the man on the phone and we set up an interview the very next day!

I am very skeptical I want to return to India, could this school really be that good that we will stay another year?

We return to our last classes of that day. As I am leaving I tell Mrs. Cho that I have a job interview tomorrow. In the course of 3 days, I have another job lined up. She smiles in an odd way. I now feel that she was confident that I would fail. Well, the interview goes smashingly well. My new boss is beaming during the interview from the very beginning to the end. I even get to set my own salary. 

Mrs. Cho was very angry at Yogita. To me, she sheepishly signed the release letter and asked me to stay on and help her with some classes. I did so as we needed the extra funds. Long story short do not underestimate people. Also, I believe that God was looking out for us. If things did not happen as they did, we would be in a very bad place today. Thank you, Jehovah for your aiding hand!

/tata