Tonight my son and I finished carving our pumpkin into Oliver the Train. It looks pretty good! I carved the train’s face on the front and the number "11" on the side (Oliver’s number is 11). On Halloween night it will look great on our porch, welcoming trick or treaters. I posted a few photos of the final product.
So Dr. Ben Bernanke has been nominated to replace Alan Greenspan as chair of the Federal Reserve. At least we now know who will be Greenspan’s successor. While the name "Bernanke" doesn’t quite conjure images of money and Wall Street like the name "Greenspan" does, it appears that Bernanke will not deviate significantly, at least initially, from Greenspan’s policies. While I believe that Greenspan’s true legacy does not rise to mythos, I do think that Bernanke will have some big shoes to fill. Unlike the recent nomination of Harriet Miers to U.S. Supreme Court, it appears that Bernanke will easily win confirmation. I’m glad that the market reacted positively to the news. After Hurricane Katrina battered stocks over the past couple of weeks, it’s about time that stocks headed upward for a change.
Wow, the Chicago White Sox look like they’re headed to their first World Series victory in 88 years. Barring a disaster, they may sweep the Houston Astros or win in five games (if the Sox do choke, people might start wondering if the Sox rigged the World Series like they did in 1919, the infamous "Black Sox" World Series). Although it’s a shame the outcome is so lopsided, it’s good to see some very close games. And I guess my prediction of the Astros in seven is wrong yet again! I guess I should stick to investing.
I finished a very important project today. It’s something I developed from scatch and have been slowly transitioning to a team of people. It’s a system for managing our operations. The head of the operation will be heading back to the United States with the project results in hand and will be showing it to the Powers That Be. If they like it, it could be implemented worldwide. Now that it’s done, I’m turning my focus to implementing an ISO 9001 Quality Management System in our organization. This is an even bigger challenge. I have about one year to put together a team, a plan, and implement the system. Not everyone is sold on the idea, so it will take a lot of work just to convince people that it is worth the effort.
Kevin, a blog reader, asked if the community association I wrote about in my previous blog is common in Korea. Yes, and no. Our community association is an expat community association; I don’t think there are many organized community associations for the expatriate community in Korea. Most expats here are either affiliated with the military and are under the auspices of by U.S. Forces Korea, teachers, who are active in their schools and universities, and businesspeople and government- or non-government employees, who are usually taken care of by their organizations. However, there are many Korean community associations. In fact, it’s my understanding that Koreans who live together in apartment complexes often form community associations. Some have been accused of price fixing, pressuring those who want to sell their apartments to sell at prices set by the group. This is an illegal practice in Korea, and the "speculation" that arises from this has been popular in the Korean press. If someone is coerced into selling their property at a fixed price, I can understand why it’s illegal. Still, I question why there’s been a crackdown on housing speculation in Korea.
Blog Notes: Dear Reader, I received my first hate comment today. It’s been almost a year since I started this blog and have never received malicious comments before. I never thought this blog was controversial enough to get any at all. How do you respond to this comment?
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You make me sick. Cancer is God’s way of getting rid of parasites on planet Earth. If you have Cancer I hope you die soon!!! If you have a problem with this, you’re a retard. Stop by my space and learn more retard. Ryan Benedetti
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I could delete it, but I won’t. I think it’s really sad. It seems he just wants to use this as a platform to advertise his own blog. He doesn’t really say why I make him sick and why he wants me to die. I do take exception with how he treats cancer–it’s extremely inconsiderate of those who actually suffer from cancer. He could very well have spammed a bunch of MSN blogs with his vective just to get attention. He claims on his blog that someone else is spamming other people’s blogs and misusing his name. If so, if I were him I would shut down the blog and start over rather than becoming a target for people’s ire. Interestingly, his handle is Canadiankick. I thought Canada was a peaceful nation. Oh well, thanks for stopping by anyway, Canadiankick.
Just keep posting such wonderful, informative and interesting blogs, and ignore the ‘morons’ of life. (Perhaps report it to MSN?)Oh, and if you get the chance, swing by and carve a Carebear into our pumpkin? *Laugh*, I can’t carve at all and you did a really good job! Enjoy H’ween with your lil man!! 🙂
Actually, this comment has appeared on other blogs. I think I also saw one addressed to the "Russia with Love" woman and wondered why such a nice woman would get such a nasty and irrelevent comment. I think it’s the work of an immature person trying to get hits on their blog.