Reflection – Page 115 – This is Another Story

Spring Break’s Over

Published on March 16, 2015March 16, 2015 by YinglanLeave a comment

I supposed I could’ve written something yesterday other than the usual Sunday Photo Fiction but I didn’t. Instead, I had spent most of the day yesterday doing homework for the first time since my spring break started. I guess I just want to get back into the groove of doing schoolwork.

Also, I’ve been a little under the weather since Saturday afternoon when I decided to take the afternoon off, lie on the reclining couch catching up on my favorite TV shows on Hulu while writing a little of a short story I’ve writing for a long time as well as napping. Wow, that’s a lot to do at the same time.

I’m almost caught up with my shows but I wound up with a big headache. Apparently, I’m not cut out to watch TV for more than two hours at a time.

Anyway, as of today, spring break is officially over. I guess that’s probably why I’m feeling a whole lot better this morning. It’s Monday and I’m finally home alone again. You know, I don’t get my mom’s schedule. She’s grown more and more confusing lately. Or is it me?

I could’ve sworn she told me last week that she was taking today and Wednesday off. I was dreading it the entire weekend because when she’s home, I cannot accomplish anything. Then it turned out, she’s working today and taking Wednesday off. I asked her when did it change, she told me, it’s always like this. Hmm, weird.

So what have I accomplished this spring break? Absolutely nothing except work which took almost the entire week. I barely did any writing except on here. I thought I could’ve written around 10,000 words but instead I’ve barely written 2,000.

On the bright side, the router crisis has finally been resolved. I no longer have to worry about switching back to the old router. Yesterday afternoon, my mom decided to head to Walmart to see about getting the burner phone recharged. The minutes are expiring in two days. While there, we decided to get a more expensive router; apparently cable internet works best with Netgear router.

When we got home, I plugged it in and voila it’s fixed. Even my old computer in my room has a stable connection. I am still skeptical though because now, the connection on my new computer is very slow. Will things ever be perfect around here?

Just a quick update.

Beautiful spring time flowers, tulips, photography — I hope our tulips will be this beautiful this year.

All picture credits go to pinterest.

What is Love?

Published on March 14, 2015December 24, 2016 by Yinglan15 Comments

Today, daily prompt has asked an intriguing question. What is Love? What is Love, by the way?

Here’s the ending to my fiction/non-fiction retell of my first crush. I think it’ll answer the question by itself. Happy Saturday.

We grew closer and closer to each other, in a playful kind of way, of course. In P.E., we jogged together and sometimes, when I was tired, we’d walk. Although neither of us would admit it, I can tell he likes me. If he didn’t, then he’d ditched me long ago, in eighth grade, perhaps.

It was very sweet and I’ve never felt sweet before. I knew it wouldn’t last. Nothing ever lasts with me. I was dead on. Everything came crashing down in a landslide that afternoon when I arrived home to find suitcases lying all over the living room floor.

“What’s going on?” I’d asked.

“We’re going to China!” My step-dad had announced excitedly. He had never been out of the country before.

“What?” I’d shrieked and Cindy had stood beside me, frozen. “When?”

“Next week.” My step-dad’d answered.

“What about school?” He stared at me, surprised. Since when are you so concerned with school? His look had told me. I tried hard not to show that I want to go to school just to see Jaime, it would tell them I have a boyfriend and they’d made it crystal clear I’m not to have a boyfriend. I changed the subject. “Why all of the sudden?”

“Your mom got a great deal a few months ago.”

“And you didn’t bother to tell me this until now?”

He’d shrugged. “We forgot.”

“But if we go, then I’d be way behind in school when we get back.”

“Oh, you won’t be go to school. We’re also moving to Texas.” My jaw had literally dropped. They’ve been talking about moving to Texas all through my middle school years and now when I’ve found my happiness, they decided to do it?

The following week would be brutal and sad. I told Jaime I was moving to Texas, he had replied, “That’s okay, we have plenty of tools we can use to stay in touch.” Who was he kidding? My parents monitored everything, who I call, who I talk to at school. We could never stay in touch.

Then we just drifted apart. He no longer wanted to be near me now that he knew I was moving and I was left to walk the lap alone in P.E., running my fingers along the chain-link fence that separated the school from the outside. At lunch, he’s nowhere to be seen and I was left to eat with Cindy and Anna. I felt alone and betrayed. If he’d liked me, he’d stick by me no matter what. If he’d liked me, he wouldn’t leave me just sitting here or walking laps alone.

That Thursday, the day we’re supposed to go to China, I spent my morning checking out of my classes and the school, returned everything that belonged to the school, and retrieved my belongings from my gym locker. Through that morning, somehow, I felt like a part of me was holding out for Jaime, hoping we’d get a few more minutes together before I leave for good but no, I never saw him again.

Skeptical

Published on March 13, 2015August 5, 2015 by Yinglan5 Comments

Skeptical. I think that’s the word I’ll use to describe my feeling at the moment.

Two days ago, a technician came and “fixed” the internet. Technically, he didn’t really fix the internet. All he did was switching the router. He did fix the speed on the wifi. It turned out the new router was a piece of junk and I may have discovered my room was a blind spot in the whole house. After he swapped the router though, the speed became normal again, for about 5 minutes. After he left, I tested again and would you look at that, it went back to as slow as before but only on my new computer. I don’t know why. My old computer and tablet performed just fine.

For the past two days, I had been holding my breath, waiting for everything to resume to normal, for the internet to go back up but it never did. Switching the routers might be the worst thing I’ve ever done. Now, not only the download speed is still not back up to the speed that I was getting before but the wifi on my old computer won’t stay connected for less than 5 minutes. It is like a time-bomb about to go off any second and it’s completely and utterly frustrating.

A few minutes ago, my mom was complaining again how the phone line went dead after 5 minutes. She was trying to call my aunt in China. I asked if she wanted me to change back to our old G router, it seemed to be the only router that’s ever worked. It only irritated her even more. After the line’s connected again, she immediately told my aunt how unwilling to work I was, that I rather watch TV last night than perform the big switch on the router.

Yes, I do prefer watching TV at night because I don’t perform well at night when the lighting’s not adequate. Working at night would just amplify my frustration when something goes wrong.

So the internet is definitely slow now, there’s not denying it now. She wants me to do the switch tonight when I want to relax after a day of work. I’m very afraid because if something goes wrong, I might be drowning myself in tears in my sleep tonight. Wish me luck.

Daily Prompt – Twenty Five – Didn’t use the letter “z”, my favorite letter.

If I can live somewhere else…

Published on March 12, 2015 by Yinglan6 Comments

Seguret in France. If only I could speak french, I would move to France in a second without thinking twice. — Explore villages like this one. Seguret, France

If I am asked to live in a different location for an entire year, I’d choose somewhere in western Europe, maybe like France or the U.K or Germany. I’d love to explore the quaint villages and places that survived hundreds and thousands of years, even through the two world wars.

I’ve never been to any villages before, the closest to a village I’ve been to involved rubble and dog poop everywhere when I had to spend the summer supervising the construction on my grandpa’s house when I was 9. So it’d be fun to visit an actual village with its twisty streets and maybe spend an afternoon people watching at a Venetian Cafe.

A few days ago, while we were driving home from somewhere, I reminded my mom that her passport was about to expired. She said, “So is yours.”

“No,” I answered. I’ve got mine renewed some time ago.

“It was 2010,” she said.

“No,” I answered. “It was 2011.”

She stuck with her answer of 2010 as she remembered her unit was supposed to be sent to Iraq that year. It was a chaotic year for me too. I’ve just begun my Sophomore year in college and I’d spent most of the semester staring at brochures regarding the school’s exchange program.

Beijing residents watch sunrise on giant commercial screens. The smog has become so thick in Beijing that the city's natural light-starved masses have begun flocking to huge digital commercial television screens across the city to observe virtual sunrises. The screens installed usually advertize tourist destinations. — I remember my teacher showed me this last year.

As my mom got the news that there’s a possibility she might be deployed to Iraq for an entire year, she grew panicked. She didn’t want me to stay home for an entire year though I didn’t know why. I’ve done it before when she went for basic training for six months and D.C. for the remainder of the year. “It’s too dangerous,” that was her excuse.

Instead, she wanted me to go back to China to study abroad for an entire year. I’d rather stay here, I’d told her but she was adamant in her decision.

I would spend the next few months gathering information and applying for my university’s exchange program to go to QingHua University in Beijing, China. At first, I was actually excited to go but after looking at the requirements, I no longer wanted to go.

The air pollution was already awful.
With my grades, I highly doubt they will accept me into the program in the first place.
Even though me and the exchange student would pay the same tuition but I have to pay it in U.S. dollar while he/she gets to pay it in Chinese Yuan. So for me, it was mighty expensive.

Beautiful view of the city of Edinburgh | 19 Reasons Why Scotland Must Be on Your Bucket List. Amazing no. #12 — You see why Edinburgh is a better option? Just look at it, it’s gorgeous!

I asked her why she so badly wanted to send me back. She said it was good for me. How is that good for me? Everything about it is bad, awful.

I tried to find another place I could go that was a bit more reasonably priced, if I was to go. The only place there was was Edinburgh. That’s not bad. But no, my mom thought it was too rural. She wanted me in a big city, a big polluted city like Beijing.

In the end though, I didn’t have to go anywhere. My mom didn’t get deployed to Iraq. In 2011, she’d give me that same piece of news again but again, it didn’t happen. I guess she’s lucky.

Things happen for a reason

Published on March 10, 2015November 22, 2015 by Yinglan6 Comments

So yesterday, I swapped my G router for a N router because I was tired of the internet signal always just barely reaching my room. Continue reading “Things happen for a reason” →

Following Instructions and Understanding Glamour

Published on March 7, 2015 by Yinglan7 Comments

So apparently it’s another slow day at VITA, the place I’m volunteering to help other people do their tax returns. I thought I’d be busy since it’s the last week but no, there’s barely anyone here to file their taxes. Right, now, I’m just waiting for the instructor to review my mom’s tax return which I believe it will take a while. My mom’s got what they call a “complex return” but mine’s done and I have to pay some $2,000 back in taxes. 😦 The downside of being self-employed.

Anyway, today’s prompt asks…

Are you good at what you do? What would you like to be better at?

I’ve been told by many that I have confidence. “I like your confidence.” Their words, not mine.

The truth is, I don’t feel like I have a lot of confidence, not in myself. Circumstances in life tend to create a lot of doubt and therefore it takes away my confidence.

What would I like to be better at?

I’d like to be better at a lot of things, listening, writing, understanding instructions, learning, and beautifying my appearance.

I have a hard time understanding and following instructions. Whenever I’m given some instructions, I’ll not want to be the first one to complete the task. I tend to be the follower instead of the leader because of my fear of not being able to follow simple instructions along with my tendency to doubt myself. So if I can be better at understanding exactly what the instruction is asking me to do, I might be a much better me, a smart me even.

The other thing I’d really like to be better at? Beautifying my appearance. I do not know how to do that, not consistently at least. My mom almost always say, “tidy yourself, don’t be so messy.” I know she’s talking about my appearance which I am very random when it come to it but not so random that I step outside in rags. All I am saying is that I like to dressed comfortably, not glamorous. If that’s a fault, then I can’t be fixed.

Oh don’t get me wrong though, I like to dress glamorously, just in a comfortable kind of way.

Okay, my shift’s over, have to head home, eat something, study, and try to take my exam this afternoon. Wish me luck.

Not Today

Published on March 3, 2015October 14, 2015 by Yinglan10 Comments

Okay, so today’s prompt has asked me to write my own obituary. That’s just plain depressing. Is it just me or has the last three prompts (including this one) been sad? I’ve actually seen this one a few months ago while I was shuffling around the prompts, trying to squeeze some sort of inspiration out of me. Then when I saw this prompt, I was like that’s it, no more. That was one of those days I didn’t post at all.

It had something like 20 responses the last time I’d check and I didn’t think it would actually come back. Well, I’m not going to write it. A reason being I have no reason to write an obituary for myself especially not days like today.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever mention this, I am horrifically superstitious. I believe that when my right eye twitches, it’s good and when my left eye twitches, uh oh, better watch out.

Well, my left eye’s been twitching since Saturday morning. I was so worried that I might mess up on someone’s tax return. Fortunately, I didn’t. Throughout the entire weekend, my left eye’s been twitching and twitching. Just when I was going crazy worried, my right eye started twitching, which is great news. I relaxed for a second and that was when my left eye would start again.

Believe it or not, my left eye is still twitchy and it’s making me incredibly nervous wondering what the heck is going to happen. My mom said maybe I just need more sleep. If I have more sleep than the amount I’m getting now, I’d be chubby again.

This morning, I woke up to this…

…as compare to this from early February.

What a difference, right? I like snow, we need the water but of all the days to snow, why today? Why does it have to snow when I have to go to school? Also, why couldn’t the weathermen predicted this? I swear, when I watched the weather two days ago, it said there wouldn’t be a storm for days. Either there’s a problem with the weathermen’s machines or this storm was really as unpredictable as it seemed.

This is the view from my bedroom window. You see that thing with the antenna sticking out? That’s my car, temporarily evicted from the garage to house my rich friend’s expensive European “toy” car. There was at least 3 or 4 inches accumulated by the time I went outside this morning. It took me 15 minutes to get the snow from the windows. When I got into the car again, I realized the windows were covered with snow again. Frankly, I was running out of time.

I turned on the heat and melt the snow to the best of my ability while I listened to the traffic on the radio. Everywhere’s stop-n-go traffic, the broadcaster announced and right at the top of my head, I knew I couldn’t take my usual route down Highway 89. I can’t get through the canyons in this weather. I also knew I-15 wouldn’t be an option either. It’s been about two months since the last snow storm and people drive like a maniac here especially with the increased speed.

There’s only one route left to take, the slowest and it involves me driving through 4 or 5 cities at 40 mph. It was a smart decision, I thought even though it’s almost the same as the freeway. With the slick road, I couldn’t really go more than 30 mph. I was stuck in stop-n-traffic for about 30 minutes and didn’t get to school until almost 2 hours later. A normal 15 minutes commute had taken me almost 2 hours, can you believe it? I’m just so glad I didn’t get into an accident or skid off the road, or worse, die. Then my mom will really be the one who’s doing this prompt (writing my obituary).

My Ideal Saturday Morning

Published on February 28, 2015February 6, 2016 by Yinglan2 Comments

Daily Prompt: What’s your ideal Saturday morning? Are you doing those things this morning? Why not?

My ideal Saturday morning is probably to sit in front of the computer blogging or reading a book while drinking Hot Cocoa and not be bothered by anyone. No homework, just write, read, and relax. Boy, I haven’t had those for a while, not since my mother’s monthly drill in September before my aunt and cousin got here.

I can really use some me time but unfortunately, I can’t do it today. I have to volunteer to file taxes for the low income this morning and then who knows what my mom will drag me to do after. I’m in the computer lab right now, waiting for my first customer, who know when that’s going to be. So I’m taking this chance to answer this insanely trivial daily prompt.

Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy my short crime-solving story I published this morning. 🙂

No Last Words

Published on February 27, 2015 by Yinglan8 Comments

Daily Prompt: You have the chance to write one last post on your blog before you stop blogging forever. Write it.

I am going to write it.

There are probably only two reasons in this entire universe why I would ever stop blogging. 1. sudden death and 2. I got a job and am busy as hell. Even then, the end of this blog would be sudden. There wouldn’t be one last post even if I was given the chance.

I wouldn’t even know what to say. I guess the only words I can say are…

A big thank you to all you readers out there who had found the things I write so interesting that you’re compelled to follow me. That I have enjoyed writing and honing my writing skills.

I actually told my mom about my blog last night during dinner with her friend’s daughter (the one we helped to move) and before I could finish my sentence, she cut in and said. “Oh, they’re just silly stories.” I mean, seriously? After that, they just went on with their conversation, ignoring me completely.

Oh well, whatever. I am used to feel invisible.

I am now left with her two pet turtles and have no clue how to take care of them. I don’t even know their names! So far, my mom’s mostly been the one to take care of it. She’s the one to promise someone to turtle-sit, not me.

What Makes a Bad Day

Published on February 26, 2015August 5, 2015 by Yinglan9 Comments

My strongest memory of heart-pounding, belly-twisting nervousness (it’s more anxiety than nervousness) was this morning. Seriously, I am having a bad and weird day.

I was super exhausted last night and I’m not sure whether I didn’t set my alarm last night or my alarm didn’t go off this morning or what. When I open my eyes this morning, it took me a second to register my clock read 8:09. I’ve overslept. Thank god the alarm clock is off by 10 minutes and that it’s actually 7:59 but still I overslept.

My chest was pounding as I almost fell out of bed. “Oh my god,” I kept saying as I dressed, brushed my teeth, and pulled my hair into a ponytail. I stuffed all my things into my backpack, grabbed a pair of socks, and a breakfast shake and I was out of the door.

When I got to the garage, I pressed the button to open the trunk, the trunk didn’t pop. That’s weird, I thought. I pressed again, still, nothing. I was really scared then and it left me with no choice but to do it the old-fashion way, open it with the key. On the way to school, I blamed my mom, blaming her for causing me to oversleep, blaming her that she’d done something to the trunk last night when she was moving all the things we got from her friend’s daughter’s apartment to the garage.

It was partly her fault because she knew I have school today and still dragged me to her friend’s daughter’s apartment in Salt Lake City last night. For two hours last night, I spent moving back and forth with pots, pans, and boxes of seasonings from the apartment to the car.

Her friend’s daughter and I’ve known each other since I was five and she was four, so you can technically call her my childhood friend. Four years ago, she moved to Salt Lake City to attend college there. Last December, she graduated with a Bachelor in Business.

Now that she’s graduated, it’s time for her to return her apartment keys to the landlord. Her landlord’s given her two days to move out but the apartment is still piled high with stuff. Seriously, I have never seen so much stuff in my life. I should had secretly taken a picture but I didn’t bring anything with me last night.

We didn’t spend two hours helping her pack last night, if that’s what you’re wondering. She’s rich, she has people for that. No, her mom has requested her to give her stuff away and only keep the essentials. Her mom has also bought so much stuff that her house in California has no more room. Even her brand-new BMW has to park on the street.

My mom spent two hours last night digging through through the things like people searching for priceless junk at the thrift store. I stood out of the way, only helping to transfer the things into the car. At the end of two hours, the back-seat of the car plus the trunk was so full that I couldn’t put another thing in there. So we decided to come home and go again tonight.

The best thing I got last night was my friend’s radio with the iPod plugin. My iPod’s battery is getting worse and worse and I’m pretty sure that I have to replace it soon. I mean I can only get through 200 songs now and it needs a recharge. Getting this radio is like the thing I wanted for a long time because if my iPod battery is going bad, I might as well listen to my music on AC power.

I’ve had this kind of radio once but it broke within 3 months of purchase. So I had to returned for a refund and since then, I didn’t dare to buy another one. My friend’s radio looked promising since it costed her $200 and I thought, that has to be something if she’s willing to pay $200 for an alarm clock-radio. And it is. The sound from its speaker is magnificent and it can charge my ancient iPod and that is all I want. Just please last this time.

As for the trunk of the car, well, I guess I’ll wait for my mom to fix it. I saw her do something to it last night. So I’m pretty sure she can fix it.

Encore Post: Awards and Announcements

Published on February 22, 2015October 14, 2015 by Yinglan2 Comments

Okay, since today is Sunday, I think this calls for an encore post. This post will be about so many things, a few things I have to announce. Continue reading “Encore Post: Awards and Announcements” →

Don’t Waste Food

Published on February 20, 2015September 23, 2015 by Yinglan4 Comments

The other day, I had to throw the remainder of a pumpkin pie I made more than a week ago down the garbage disposal. All because Continue reading “Don’t Waste Food” →

Off to a Painful Start

Published on February 18, 2015November 22, 2015 by Yinglan10 Comments

Happy Chinese New Year!!!

Well, technically, it’s still eve here in the U.S.. In China, it’s Chinese New Year. This year is the year of the goat and I was born in the year of goat. As I mentioned in previous posts, my mom said I’m bound to be unlucky this year and guess what, I’m off to a painful start already. This morning, I was woke by a sharp pain in my back. Not again! Continue reading “Off to a Painful Start” →

Doubt

Published on February 13, 2015October 14, 2015 by YinglanLeave a comment

So I am just now getting home after spending the past 5 hours touring and learning about a CPA firm. I must admit, I had an interesting time. I didn’t think I’d have a good time talking to people. I thought I’d get bored very quickly. But I got to learn about all the different aspects of working in public accounting as well as go into detail of what an accountant actually do. Continue reading “Doubt” →

Collection

Published on February 12, 2015August 10, 2015 by Yinglan5 Comments

Daily Prompt: Dig through your couch cushions, your purse, or the floor of your car and look at the year printed on the first coin you find. What were you doing that year?

Okay, that will be a problem for me because first of all, my mom and I, we don’t put or hide coin anywhere and we certainly don’t keep coins in our pockets. We keep them in our wallet where they belong but even then I don’t have a lot of coins. I keep mostly bus tokens in my wallet, though I don’t know why, I have a pass that will allow me to ride whatever I want for free.

So therefore, I’m going to show you these…

DSCF9698

I am almost finish collecting the third set, just need Mississippi. I began collecting state quarters in I think 2003 (it seems like every interesting thing happen that year). I have no clue what got me interested, maybe I just like collecting money. :p

When we were still living in California, my mom and I used to go to the recycling center all the time, to sell plastic bottles and soda cans. Then we would tell the guy to give us quarters which he happily gave us, chunks of quarters at a time.

Once we arrive home, I’d go excitedly to the dining table to find if there was any quarters that I did not have already. The unwanted quarter would be for my mom to do laundry.

At first, it was easy because well, I’m new and I haven’t collected up to the current year yet. After a while, it got tough but I didn’t give up. The most frustrating period of this collection was when we were living in Texas when my step-dad would secretly take my state quarters to buy alcohol and cigarettes while I was asleep. See, that’s why I wanted to lock my door.

I stopped for a while because what’s the point if I collect one and you take one? I began again when I moved to Utah but in the last few years, I’ve slowed down a lot since both my mom and I don’t really use cash anymore unless it’s an emergency and we no longer need quarters to do laundry. So now I’ve fallen quite behind on my national parks and monuments collection and I need to catch up.

Well, I have to head to school. I actually got up early again this morning. I thought this problematic prompt was interesting and knew I could squeeze a few minutes of my time before school to write this.

A Great Day

Published on February 11, 2015 by Yinglan10 Comments

What a great day today! That was my first thought when I woke up this morning. Today is one of those rare days when I got up early which was at 6:15 am.

The moment my eyes opened, I knew I was alone, that my mom had already gone to work and there was no one else in this big empty house. I can do whatever I want. Isn’t that great? Unfortunately, I have homework and work. Ugh, why do these things have to ruin everything? Good thing I don’t have worry about beating everyone to lunch and I might not even have to eat. That’ll really save me a lot of time as I learned last night.

I was so stuffed from the lunch buffet yesterday that I couldn’t eat anything during dinner. So no dinner for me last night and this morning, I just satisfied myself on a cup of Hot Cocoa with Chia Seed and Flaxseed. Plenty healthy.

I am incredibly obsessed with this idea in my head for a novel right now. So that’s probably why my appearance had dwindled here as I’m spending a majority of my free time catching up on my shows and developing this idea on wattpad.

Anyway, I have to get to work on my paper for school. It is so beautiful here this morning. It is as if spring had decided to come early. I just hope the dark clouds will stay away and won’t drop some measly rain in the middle of the day again.

Secretive

Published on February 10, 2015September 23, 2015 by Yinglan1 Comment

Ah, finally, some peace and quiet. Continue reading “Secretive” →

One of those days…

Published on February 8, 2015October 14, 2015 by Yinglan2 Comments

I guess I should be proud of myself today. I have just finish a 7-hour workday. I am still not finished with my work, still have a long way to go.

I woke up this morning feeling extremely weird from a series of obscure dreams that I can only dimly recall. I looked at the prompt and the only thing I can describe it is blank. I absolutely cannot recall the last time someone told me they were proud of me.

Actually, I think my mom said it once a few days ago but I can’t remember why. Anyway, I guess I am just having one of those days when I am awake but my brain isn’t. I mean, I’m even having a hard time translating articles.

I think I might just need some inspiration. Or perhaps I just been non-stop thinking about that in two days, my aunt and cousin will go back to China and I will no longer have to cook my lunch before they get home and best of all, no more rice for dinner. Six months, 100 lb of rice, that’s enough.

Now if you’d excuse me, I’d like to look at some breathtaking photographs on pinterest. Here’s a phenomenal one. 🙂

An observer in Colorado stands framed by a partial solar eclipse in a picture taken last week and submitted to National Geographic's My Shot ... — (Partical Eclipse) pinterest.com

Excel: Not For Dummies

Published on February 7, 2015March 16, 2015 by Yinglan3 Comments

I don’t claim to know more about Excel than most people. In fact, there are a lot of formulas in that program that I still have no idea how to use and Excel still frustrates me so very much even after so many years of using it.

Last night, I spent two hours helping my mom with her homework or our homework since we are both in the same class but I’ve already finished mine a week ago and she’s just getting started. It is an assignment to create a template for the Statement of Cash Flows using the data from Income Statement and Balance Sheet.

Anyway, her typing was so darn slow and erroneous. It’s like she’s dragging a ton of bricks with her hands while typing. And the way she punches the numbers, it’s like she’s trying to murder the darn thing.

On the other hand, I am never good at explaining things to people. I am always good at hands-on, do it for them or let them follow me while I perform the task myself.

A few times during the night, I asked her. “Maybe I should give you mine and you can study it.” She refused, claiming she will not learn anything if I just gave it to her.

I know she’s right and it’s completely unethical of me. It can even be classified as cheating but I just don’t think I can sit there any longer watching her type the formulas one by one instead of placing the cursor at the bottom right corner of the cell and dragging the formula down. I taught her how to do that but she seems to forget everything once she begins typing again.

At the end of two hours, we are at near completion. We completed the Income Statement, Balance Sheet, and the Other Detail for Statement of Cash Flows. Now all we need is the Statement of Cash Flows which we are set to complete on Monday night. I bet I’ll have some real fun teaching her to use the “if” formula in excel, huh?

Breaking the Rules

Published on February 5, 2015September 27, 2015 by Yinglan4 Comments

I know there are many people who grew up in a household with an established set of rules, probably written on a piece of construction paper on the wall. Continue reading “Breaking the Rules” →

Teacher’s Pets

Published on February 1, 2015November 28, 2015 by Yinglan12 Comments

I used to be a teacher’s pet with my group of so-call friends back in 6th and 7th grade. Almost everyday at lunch, we’d go chat with our teacher like friends. Then after school, we’d go again to help clean the boards and tidy up the classroom. But then we sort of went our separate ways during 8th grade. Continue reading “Teacher’s Pets” →

Happy and Accomplished

Published on January 26, 2015 by Yinglan2 Comments

I feel like I’ve finally accomplished something today. I have completed my assignment that’s due tomorrow after another round of Beat the System. Hopefully, my instructor will settle for a 3% similarities. It’s a different instructor than Business Law.

I’ve also completed the homework that’s due on Wednesday. Finally! Now if I can just finish yet this week’s Business Law homework, I’d be the happiest girl on Earth.

I won’t say much. I began scribbling down an idea that’s been stuck inside me for a few weeks now. I feel like it’s going to burst. I’ve finally finished the character list yet again for the novel I’ve been trying to write for about two years now. This will be my fourth possibly fifth rewrite as well as change of characters. Like most writers say, the first novel is always the hardest. I agree with them completely.

Before I go though, I like to share this photograph I’ve found on pinterest.

“En ese momento me di cuenta de que el anochecer es sólo una ilusión, porque el sol sigue estando presente, ya sea por encima o por debajo de la línea del horizonte. Y estos significa que el día y la noche están unidos como muy pocas cosas lo están; no pueden estar el uno sin el otro, pero tampoco pueden existir a la vez.” Nicholas Sparks. — Song of the Setting Sun Print by Phil Koch Credit: Pinterest

To Start the Day…

Published on January 21, 2015November 22, 2015 by Yinglan7 Comments

I do a lot yet I also do very little in those 30 minutes after I awaken from my long 6-10 hours slumber and none of those thing will ensure my day is off on the right foot. Continue reading “To Start the Day…” →