Category: Rant

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Recap on an issue: Excommunication for divorcing?!

So I got to see an old friend of mine… I had heard and then confirmed that another friend of mine was getting divorced.  🙁  So I wanted to show up and see him to give him support…

What made me madder than anything was how his church, of all places and people, excommunicated him for it!   😡  WTF?!  Excuse my language but I am mad as hell… church was made to be a place for people who are broken to come and be healed and made whole again before God!  So Christians can forgive murderers but not dirvorced?!  There’s a bit more to the story but that should not change the fact that it is especially for these times that the church should embrace both of the broken parties and work to heal the family…

Erg… I’m so freakin’ mad!   We as church need to realize that just because we make a mistake should not end in being cut off from the body of Christ!  For goodness’ sake…  I’m just glad that my friend was taking it better… not hating these clueless people… or God.  In fact, all things considered, he was doing well… but just couldn’t attend a church (physically) for now.  Really.  I hope we all strive to be more forgiving and receiving…

/Rant

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Different kind of review: Manufacturer RMA Service

RMA stands for Return Merchandise Authorization and is usually used and applied when an item, usually electronics or computer parts or systems, is damaged and/or broken.

I have had to RMA a good share of computer parts as well as electronics for personal usages.  So over time, you begin to associate good RMA experiences with good brands.  Here’s the personal breakdown.

The Good:

Logitech –  I own a LOAD of their computer parts and accessories, mainly computer mice, webcam, and wireless headphone.  Logitech by far has been the best experience when it comes to requesting RMA for a replacement.  Case in point, my Logitech Freepulse bluetooth stereo headphones.  They are great but the power button began to fail.  I called them up, explained the situation, mailed in my item, and within a week, I had my brand new replacement!  They get 90+ score from me!  I have only had to RMA twice and both were very pleasant.

BFG Tech – I purchased their video card two years ago… it was Geforce 6800.  Well, it died within 3 months.  🙁  However, thanks to its lifetime warranty, I was able to get replacement within couple of weeks and since they no longer produced that model, they freely upgraded mine to 6800GT!  😀  Now, that’s freakin’ service!

The Bad:

Dell – Even if it’s because they are such a big company now, it’s no excuse for having such narrow-minded and inflexible service!  My brother’s laptop died just a bit after its 1-year warranty and that was that.  It was cheaper for him to get a new laptop!  Blah…

The Ugly:

Sapphire / Althon Micro –  Then there are truly ugly ones.  Althon Micro handles the tech service for Sapphire Technologies as a sub-contractor.  My video card died on me.  It was X1900XT 512 MB monster… so after some talking, I mailed mine in.  First they tell me it works fine but being a computer nerd myself, I didn’t buy it and told them to find me a replacement.  After six long weeks of waiting, they can’t find a replacement so they offer me a downgrade!  The nerve!  😡  See above about BFG Tech!  They wanted to give me X1950Pro, which, though it may sound like an upgrade, in performance, it surely isn’t!  After two months (total time), I tell them to ship my original X1900XT back with confirmed letter stating that it’s in working condition, yet they tell me that they sent it to Hong Kong for “repairs”!  WTF?!!  If it was in “working condition”, why did they send it to HQ?!!  They eventually “give in” and ship me an X1950XT!  By far, the worst RMA experience thus far!  I won’t buy their cards anymore.

The Rundown:

You treat your customers well, we will come back.  Again and again.  You treat us like crap, we boycott you.  For good!  Learn the freakin’ lesson!!

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Ask not what your God can do for you…

… but what you can do for your God!

That’s what I’d say now. I used to say, borrowing from the words of JFK, “Ask not what your church can do for you, but what you can do for your church!” But I am realizing lately that even that is a selfish statement and request. In fact, in light of discussion with PS after tonight’s Bible study, I am realizing how selfish I have been and am… and how selfish we all are.

We grew up with everything expecting to be certain way… be it same or different from what/how others perceive that as. And because of that, we, more than another person, are more prone to resisting change. That’s not necessarily bad… but it is when that change is mandated by God! I feel that more than often, that I myself am that factor that resists the change that God wants to bring.. for the good of His kingdom! John Ortberg spoke of many things in the following video from this year’s PGF (Presbyterian Global Fellowship) but one thing that stuck to me was when he used the word “conduits” to imply our role to bring God’s Kingdom to hear on earth.

The way double pane windows and thermos work is by using vacuum inbetween two materials. Vacuum is what prevents the heat from being transferred between two places. If you wanted the heat to be transferred faster, you’d either use better conducting fluid (like water) or just use metal inbetween. Sometimes, we Christians act more like vacuum than water and keep from God’s kingdom from coming down to here on earth. And we must stop that by being less and less selfish. More of Christ, less of me. Less of you.

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NY Times Article: Borrowers Face Dubious Charges in Foreclosures

I’ve never liked banks. Especially large ones. You know who you are… Wells Fargo (this one is the focus in the article) … Citi Bank… and even my bank like Chase. I have to deal with them… but doesn’t mean I have to like them. My fears were confirmed this morning when I read the NY Times article.

Read it here

I know banks are out to make a buck (and more), but this is sheer ridiculous! Makes me mad… I hope you (all banks) take some hit (and heat) from all this! How low can you really go?!! The shame! 😡

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I remembered why…

… I hated alcohol with passion.

I know this kid.  I spoke with him recently to learn that he and his mom are moving out.  Why?  His father is a drunk… a violent one at that.    His father would threaten him and the family.  If the law was up to me, I’d allow imprisonment solely based upon physical threat upon an immediate family member.    Why must men do this??

The sad part is that his dad is not the first that I know of.  Another sister in Christ suffers heavily from such a violent father.  In fact, she doesn’t know the whereabouts of her mom because her mom ran away for her own safety, and because she was so scared for her own life, she didn’t let any of her children know where she disappeared to…

Why must we do such a thing to our own family.  Alcohol itself isn’t evil.  However, when you mix it with men, it becomes way too dangerous.  Alcohol has to be one of the worst family breakers ever.  I am ashamed to be a man because of such family violence that we cause.  I seldom touch alcohol and it will become even less frequent as I hear more of such tragedies…

Please pray for the safety of the kid and his mom…  and all the children and the spouses of abused out there.  I’m sure God is more than sad to see this kind of brokenness.  And men, please remember what addiction can do to your loved ones…

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Boycott Myanmar’s Natural Gas (Thiland & S. Korea, among many)

NY Times Article

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, may become the new “Tiananmen Square”.  The merciless ruling junta refuses to let go of its selfish grip on the country.  As more and more people are killed by this junta’s military, if something doesn’t change soon, things will just become worse.  The countries that have the power to influence Myanmar’s junta are giving in because of their need for energy source, mainly Myanmar’s natural gas.  South Korea is among the bidders… I can only pray that other countries are smarter than that and remember their own dark pasts.

People of Myanmar are becoming wary and beyond being tired of the ruthless murders.  But before things could get better, I am afraid that it will have to get worse first.  Tiananmen Square incident shocked and brought much needed change to China.  People must rise together, or they will fall together.

I pray for a peaceful change, but just like in any other countries (including South Korea), sacrifices were made before changes were made.  Let us pray for a peaceful (as peaceful as it can get) and successful change for the better of the country and the people of Myanmar.

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Perks of working for large company as an underpaid engineer

Though I b*tch and complain about being underpaid and under-appreciated at work, there are some good perks that I cannot ignore or forget.  First is the health benefits.  That alone has saved us a load of money… just having our kids saved us easily $40K! 

But the 2nd (and bigger) perk is the flexibility in the work schedule.  As most of you know by now, Soojin’s ankle has made me take more time out of work to do things that are necessary.  For example, today’s schedule went like this…

7:45 Take Anna to school
8:15 Come back home
8:45 Take Soojin and JJ to UBC for mothers’ Bible study
9:15 Get into work
10:15 Leave for my doctor’s appointment
11:45 Come back to work
2:45 Leave to pick up Anna from school
3:30 Stop by court to pickup application for Soojin’s temporary disabled parking permit
3:45 Drop off my prescription
4:15 Back at work
5:45 Leave for home

Tomorrow, I have to pick up JJ from pre-school at noon, drop him off at home, come back to work, and go pick up Anna again at 3 pm.  These kind of flexibility work schedule could not be possible if I worked at smaller companies or bigger responsibilities with more pay.  I thanked God today for my job.    I don’t want to leave transporting my precious kids to someone I hardly know!