JianXia.mp3

Sunday, November 30, 2008

故友

在奧克蘭,十二年前某一天,一名陌生女子輕扣我的房門。她說剛剛到埗,聽房東說我在奧大唸書,所以想要詢問讀大學的事宜。

我將大學的報讀詳情告訴她。原來她比我長二歲,來自上海。二十二歲就當上經理,為了增廣見聞,想要在紐西蘭修一個碩士再回中國。

為了幫補生計,她到旅館替人收拾房間,幹了半天就回來了。她說,「這折床單的活兒是沒腦筋的人幹的。」她找到比較穩定的工作,是在飯店裡當女待應。晚上我打球回來,見她還沒有回來,總是買一罐Freshup橙汁,放在她的房門口。

某一天,一大早她就敲了我的房門。我見她臉泛淚痕,細問之下,原來昨日房東太太誤會她勾引房東(房東為前青島某高官),打了她一下。於是我這個唯一的朋友,就替她搬家了。其實前一晚冷得不得了,大家都裹得實實的,就她一個女孩衣著單薄,穿著平時的襯衫去找房東商量事情,不料出事了。

記得一次逛街時,她到女裝店買衣服,我卻在外徘徊,不肯進去。又一次,她跟了我去打羽球。我因為跟隊友對練,著她跟別的朋友搓球,結果她就負氣走了。

據她說,她父親圍棋六段。她的圍棋不怎麼樣,但五子棋卻可勝乃父。象棋我在行,五子棋卻第一次學。結果,在肯德基內拿了一個紙,在上面畫個棋盤。我這新手二十來步就取勝。

這段時間,她以最快的速度考及格GMAT,再以兩年時間修完國際企業碩士學位。兩年以後,書讀完了,居留也拿到了,受聘於紐西蘭的一家誇國啤酒公司進軍中國市場,於是我們一別十年。

昨晚上網搜索,她已經成為中國當地一家大型公司的董事。我找到的是她上任時的發佈,說她的公司將要進軍下游業務,開設一千間分店。

Friday, November 28, 2008

TechNet II

十二月五日比赛,Ninja, ae86, ae85三人向公司请假,有点太过。

Saturday, November 22, 2008

婚宴;

『當我第一眼見到妳的時候,我真係好想走到妳面前,話俾妳知,妳好靚!
但是我始終都只是靜靜咁坐響度,偷偷咁望住妳。
喺你離開前嘅最後一刻,竟然是妳走到我面前同我講拜拜。』

唱了千百遍的《只有你不知道》,竟然成真。

李克勤的《高妹》
『我沒有六呎高,我卻會待你好,我會接受妳一切的改造。
妳似美麗城堡的一個待嫁的女巫,
有著各樣法術,一再施法使我迷倒。』

那是不是說,要戒Dota了呢?

『最迴腸盪氣之時可用你的名字,和我姓氏,成就這故事。
從此以後,無憂無愁。故事平淡但當中有妳,已經足夠。』

昨晚朋友的婚宴,咳嗽還沒清,氣息不順。有點恩怨的合唱團就坐在台前第一桌,多少有一點壓力,唱畢這首《妳的名字,我的姓氏》,突地不再關注是否壓得住合唱團或者比起兩位歌星如何。

將來我的婚宴,要唱這三首歌。

Sunday, November 16, 2008

離別

弟弟回家三年,星期二就要離家去紐西蘭工作。

男兒志在四方。心裡雖然不捨,但是卻不能阻止,還要多加祝福,希望他順順利利。

Friday, November 7, 2008

Buffetology

Warren Buffet reminds investors how to behave now

Times are tough. During these chaotic times, the principals of proper portfolio management are crucial:

1. Don't sell into fear
2. Rebalance your portfolio to buy equity
3. Continue dollar cost averaging
4. Inject cash if you have it

Warren Buffet affirmed this very powerfully in the New York Times last week. Nobody explains it better:


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Buy America. I Am.

By Warren E. Buffett

The financial world is a mess, both in the United States and abroad. Its problems, moreover, have been leaking into the general economy, and the leaks are now turning into a gusher. In the near term, unemployment will rise, business activity will falter and headlines will continue to be scary.

So ... I've been buying American stocks. This is my personal account I'm talking about, in which I previously owned nothing but United States government bonds. (This description leaves aside my Berkshire Hathaway holdings, which are all committed to philanthropy.) If prices keep looking attractive, my non-Berkshire net worth will soon be 100 percent in United States equities.

Why?

A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. And most certainly, fear is now widespread, gripping even seasoned investors. To be sure, investors are right to be wary of highly leveraged entities or businesses in weak competitive positions. But fears regarding the long-term prosperity of the nation's many sound companies make no sense. These businesses will indeed suffer earnings hiccups, as they always have. But most major companies will be setting new profit records 5, 10 and 20 years from now.

Let me be clear on one point: I can't predict the short-term movements of the stock market. I haven't the faintest idea as to whether stocks will be higher or lower a month — or a year — from now. What is likely, however, is that the market will move higher, perhaps substantially so, well before either sentiment or the economy turns up. So if you wait for the robins, spring will be over.

A little history here: During the Depression, the Dow hit its low, 41, on July 8, 1932. Economic conditions, though, kept deteriorating until Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in March 1933. By that time, the market had already advanced 30 percent. Or think back to the early days of World War II, when things were going badly for the United States in Europe and the Pacific. The market hit bottom in April 1942, well before Allied fortunes turned. Again, in the early 1980s, the time to buy stocks was when inflation raged and the economy was in the tank. In short, bad news is an investor's best friend. It lets you buy a slice of America's future at a marked-down price.

Over the long term, the stock market news will be good. In the 20th century, the United States endured two world wars and other traumatic and expensive military conflicts; the Depression; a dozen or so recessions and financial panics; oil shocks; a flu epidemic; and the resignation of a disgraced president. Yet the Dow rose from 66 to 11,497.

You might think it would have been impossible for an investor to lose money during a century marked by such an extraordinary gain. But some investors did. The hapless ones bought stocks only when they felt comfort in doing so and then proceeded to sell when the headlines made them queasy.

Today people who hold cash equivalents feel comfortable. They shouldn't. They have opted for a terrible long-term asset, one that pays virtually nothing and is certain to depreciate in value. Indeed, the policies that government will follow in its efforts to alleviate the current crisis will probably prove inflationary and therefore accelerate declines in the real value of cash accounts. |

Equities will almost certainly outperform cash over the next decade, probably by a substantial degree. Those investors who cling now to cash are betting they can efficiently time their move away from it later. In waiting for the comfort of good news, they are ignoring Wayne Gretzky's advice: "I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been."

I don't like to opine on the stock market, and again I emphasize that I have no idea what the market will do in the short term. Nevertheless, I'll follow the lead of a restaurant that opened in an empty bank building and then advertised: "Put your mouth where your money was." Today my money and my mouth both say equities.

Source: Warren Buffet, " Buy America. I Am.", New York Times

Sunday, November 2, 2008

少林武功

心裡有一種沉悶。

安東尼.羅賓說,是刺激不足。

尋一些東西來做。

讀到網上有「大力金剛指」練法。凌晨三點起床練功五十分鐘。

多年前一位朋友教我練硬氣功,五式只教會我二式。多年來有空也會練來玩玩。

我們平常人俗務繁多,還是練一些外功較為保險。練養生氣功,我個人的體驗是,煩瑣之中收功不易,常常練完功頭痛半天。