On My Mind...

Another reason for you to move out this way closer...

2010-04-10T12:41:21.536-05:00

Another reason for you to move out this way closer to NY

I would put your twitter feed up on the side-bar o...

2010-04-10T12:05:54.805-05:00

I would put your twitter feed up on the side-bar or as a post. Might as well, in case anyone stumbles across this blog.

That plane is owned by the FBO that I rent from, T...

2009-07-20T16:01:55.550-05:00

That plane is owned by the FBO that I rent from, Thunderbird Aviation at Flying Cloud Airport in Eden Prairie. Dude landed at night, got dazzled by the lights or something, and hit the ILS equipment on final approach to Airlake Airport in Lakeville, MN. The plane is reassembled and sitting at Tbird right now. They told me they were going to use it for parts.

Good luck.

2009-07-07T04:57:53.832-05:00

Good luck.

Yes, the account and password are very confused an...

2009-07-07T04:54:46.363-05:00

Yes, the account and password are very confused and annoyed to most of us. Hope have a consistent account, so that we can log on every system/tools by this account and we can change this passwd regularly.

There are a lot of external libraries that are ful...

2009-03-31T20:31:00.000-05:00

There are a lot of external libraries that are fully integrated into CHAIR. I use the iHeadtable interface. Daily.

Hi Olivia, so moved to see you talking here. Wish ...

2008-12-17T08:21:00.000-06:00

Hi Olivia, so moved to see you talking here. Wish you have a peaceful life, without that piece of pain to bother.(BTW, what a coincidence! I happened to have chosen the male version of your English name :p )
My respect to you, Heath and Gary, for letting this whole thing to happen and caring this so much.
It seems pretty like an achievement you've done.

That is so cool, Gary. I don't have a blogger stor...

2008-12-09T14:29:00.000-06:00

That is so cool, Gary. I don't have a blogger story anywhere near as cool as that. One more example of how the internet has made the world even smaller. Heath, I'd love to see your story when it is finsihed (take your time). Best wishes for Olivia and her friends.

Thank you all for posting.Joost: Thank you for you...

2008-12-09T12:07:00.000-06:00

Thank you all for posting.

Joost: Thank you for your input.

Heath: Thank you for reaching out to me.

Olivia: Thank you for letting me (and all 10 other readers of my blog) that you are O.K. enough to work again.

Hi Gary,I can confirm what Heath said. Olivia actu...

2008-12-09T09:38:00.000-06:00

Hi Gary,

I can confirm what Heath said. Olivia actually pointed your blog out to me.

I can't tell you anything more then is already said because I feel that Olivia's story is hers to tell, not mine.

Like her, I feel sad about what happened and I hope the family of Todd Bachman are doing ok and I would like to extend my sincerest condolences.

Hello Gary, I am the person who was attacked at th...

2008-12-09T08:04:00.000-06:00

Hello Gary, I am the person who was attacked at the Drum Tower. My friend Heath helped me a lot. I really appreciate his help. I feel much better now and am already going back to work. I still have a little pain in my bones, but, as time goes by, this is getting better and better. I feel sorry for the family, If I knew chinese Kung Fu, I could have protected them. I hope his wife, daughter and the rest of his family are ok and recovering well.

Hi Gary, I'm sort of new to blogging, and I even h...

2008-12-08T22:22:00.000-06:00

Hi Gary, I'm sort of new to blogging, and I even had trouble adding your info. The reason I didn't reveal more information was... as you initially alluded to, I'm not sure how comfortable Olivia is about the whole thing. She's not exactly the type to steal the limelight... ;-)
What I do pledge to do, is contact her, and ask her to post on your blog, or get permission to share more information about her story. I heard an eyewitness account from her, from her hospital bedside, that I can't think of without tears welling in my eyes. Peace. PS - I'm taking a creative writing course, and I'm writing a story based on Olivia's experience, I just can't shake it...

I am a Canadian who was in Beijing and had worked ...

2008-12-07T11:08:00.000-06:00

I am a Canadian who was in Beijing and had worked with the guide who was injured in the attack. I am happy to report that she is OK, and getting married very soon. While she underwent surgery shortly thereafter, she has recovered well from her wounds. Her brother is a doctor, and I can attest to the fact that she received excellent care, as I visited her in the hospital on two occasions. While I know she still experiences physical pain, this young Chinese girl has an indomitable spirit, and I am certain she will make a full psychological recovery. I too was frustrated that for 2 days while in Beijing I could find no information on her status. I feared she may have died, and hardly a day goes by that I don't think of the courage of my Chinese friend. Her name was Olivia.

What are the odds of spotting two aircraft getting...

2008-12-06T07:12:00.000-06:00

What are the odds of spotting two aircraft getting towed on the highway? Are there a lot of crashes in Minnesota for some reason? Wind sheer?

Where? Here it is...Google Maps Photo View

2008-11-24T19:03:00.000-06:00

Where? Here it is...

Google Maps Photo View

hey, you still keep memories about China. That's a...

2008-11-24T01:56:00.000-06:00

hey, you still keep memories about China. That's a wired sign which i never saw in Beijing.The yellow characters mean that lane is dedicated for public transportation, which in this case is much dangerous.

Got the same record from net:Registration: N4349K....

2008-11-02T23:13:00.000-06:00

Got the same record from net:
Registration: N4349K. C/n / msn: 28-8416067. Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants:. Airplane damage: Substantial. Location: Minneapolis, MN

May this can fly again...

PS: Got to know there's gonna be an aviation show at Zhuhai(southern China) from Nov 4th. I'm surely lack of time and money to watch it. So, some preview shot to repay myself Here.

Excellent photos! Great stuff, Gary!

2008-10-11T21:13:00.000-05:00

Excellent photos! Great stuff, Gary!

Beautiful! Makes me want to venture outside of New...

2008-10-08T06:57:00.000-05:00

Beautiful! Makes me want to venture outside of New York. oh NOOOO! :)

haha, your are a fabulous tour guide and a serious...

2008-10-06T10:00:00.000-05:00

haha, your are a fabulous tour guide and a serious blogger, too. :)

Like you said, it's the going out with good friends make us happy, but besides that, the sceneray around Superior is really fascinating, and I'll never forget the experience there~ :P

Vahl,I am not giving CEOs the benefit of the doubt...

2008-10-02T08:59:00.000-05:00

Vahl,

I am not giving CEOs the benefit of the doubt at all. Actually, I refuse to give them credit for thinking outside of their private boxes to be able to cause this sort of mess.

The golden parachute is a personal contract between a corporate entity and a key employee, and it frees that employee up about having to personally worry about the outcome of his/her actions on a personal level.

Clearly, this does not protect a CEO from criminal investigation in the case of rampant wrong-doing. It does protect a CEO from being forced into retirement with no prospects for future employment on the heals of a miscalculated risk.

My greater point about the crisis has more to do with follow-through, though. The key when dealing with free financial markets is to deliver (within a margin) on what you say you will deliver. In the case of the bail-out, it had been widely reported that a bail-out deal that was palatable to both sides had been found. When that failed, the result was panic.

I'm still not 100% convinced that this is the right bail-out at the right time, and I find it deplorable that so many programs have been tacked onto it .. forcing anyone to votes against it to have to face future election ads that say " ... voted against parity for the mentally disabled ... "

I am 100% convinced that something needs to happen - and that something should come at the banking level, and that something should come at a cost.

Meanwhile, the markets are teetering on another panic because lawmakers have again said that the bail-out will still happen. I hope for all our sakes it either happens, or government learns to stop making promises that it doesn't intend to keep.

Your point about a CEO getting fired if he didn't ...

2008-10-02T06:00:00.000-05:00

Your point about a CEO getting fired if he didn't take risks in Real Estate:

WHY is that the case?

1. Zero Congressional Oversight -- I've heard clips from 2004 and 2005 on talk radio where Republicans were too weak to use their majority to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ... and Democrats were apologizing and defending the executives from those companies, and the regulator who was calling for reform was ripped to shreds on Capital Hill.

2. Moral Hazard -- Executives KNOW that the Federal Government will bail them out, and they have FAITH that the Federal Government will not fail financially. There's ethics, morality, and reality. If you teach execs that the Government will bail them out, they will take bigger risks.

3. Poor Communication: Being here in Florida, in the center of the financial storm, I can tell you that the mortgage crisis was starting two years ago, after all the Hurricanes. People wanted to get out of Florida ... too many homes went on the market all at once ... Real Estate agents were not realistic with sellers, telling them to wait until the buyers returned (I was shopping for a home at the time, looking for a bargain -- it was a mantra) ... ARMs started to reset at higher interest rates (The Fed never should have lowered rates to 1% -- another symptom of moral hazard) ... foreclosures ... buyers circling like vultures ... banks reacting slowly.

***

Anyway -- I would not give CEO's the benefit of the doubt on this issue. They made a CHOICE to take risks, while not keeping an ear to the ground to hear what was really happening in major markets like Florida.

This is why I am against the bailout -- I think we need an end to Moral Hazard -- CEO's need to understand that the Government will not bail them out ... the fear will eventually work itself out of the market, and things will stabilize -- it will be a little different, of course, but normal.

I have zero faith that my idea will happen ... or if it does happen, the consumer will be punished SEVERELY for insisting that Congress vote NO on a bailout. We the masses will suffer, one way or another, for this mess, with higher interest rates and scarcity of credit.

I was here, Boom! Pong!! Wa.......

2008-09-28T22:48:00.000-05:00

I was here, Boom! Pong!! Wa.......

That Reuters article sounds like a DailySkew parod...

2008-09-19T07:36:00.000-05:00

That Reuters article sounds like a DailySkew parody. It's crazy.

Oh..NYC!!!~~~And world financial centre!!!...First...

2008-09-16T03:12:00.000-05:00

Oh..NYC!!!~~~
And world financial centre!!!...

First time see Kim and Mercedes, are they both analysts?