We just came back from my wife’s week-long family reunion in Friendsville, Maryland. I am still feeling exhausted. I got wasted last night from taking tequila shots with our cousins. I was having way too much fun. I need to stay off the liquor for a while.

In the beginning of the week, I didn’t have anyone to drink with, which was good for my gout control. I spent time with the young kids between the pool and the hot tub. I also spent a chunk of time playing ping pong with Đán. His sudden interest in ping pong brought us closer together. In retrospect, I started to get into ping pong when I was around his age now living in the refugee camp in the Philippines.

This year, we got to meet baby Long, our youngest member of the family, for the first time. He’s a cute seven-month-old baby. Other than that, we did our usual reunion activities. We ate, talked, laughed, played games, and took loads of photos. Even though I only got to see many of the family members once a year, we bonded over the years.

The most important thing was that we bonded. No matter what goes on and no matter what happens, we always support each other. That’s what I love about my wife’s family and I am very fortunate to be part of it. I hope we will continue to get together for many years to come.

As someone whose English is a second language, I read many books on grammar rules. Most often, the expert advice was to avoid using ain’t, double negative, hopefully, and so on. Only Anne Curzan flips the script and gives us the license to use these words when appropriate. A fascinating read for someone who is fascinated with the English language.

After almost two months, my gout had finally gone. I haven’t touched beef. I also cut down alcohol tremendously. I went back on Aleve last Monday and my big toe was no longer feeling the pain by Wednesday. Aleve worked for me, but I didn’t want to abuse it. I only took it when I absolutely needed to.

I went back to the skatepark yesterday with Xuân for the first time in two months. He had been busy swimming and I had to deal with my gout. Our skills were a bit rusty, but we were getting them back. He was a bit hesitant, but we both dropped from an 8-foot ramp.

With my gout and extremely hot weather in the last couple of weeks, I have been doing my own snowboard training in my basement. I have been working on my posi-posi stance and turns. Lexi Bullis’s carving tip is what I am trying to accomplish in the next season.

The Darkest White, by Eric Blenheim, is a biography of Craig Kelly who was a legend in the snowboarding world. In part one of the book, Blenheim takes us back to the birth of snowboarding and how Kelly got into the sport. It’s a fascinating read. Blenheim writes about the punk rock of snowboarding:

Unlike football, baseball, basketball, or, more to the point, skiing, snowboarding had no coaches, no schools, and no rules. There was zero attachment to establishment or the past, and it was something teens could do without some older authoritarian telling them how to do it better. Even the elders in the sport were thirty—tops—and they were figuring it out right alongside the youngsters. The only thing they knew for certain was that it was radical.

Part two, in which Blenheim gives details about Kelly’s mission to become an ACMG guide, is a bit of a drag. Part three is where the actions are. Now that I am into snowboarding, this book is an intriguing read for me.

After 14 days, Toyota Brand Engagement Center has received all my documents. Nethertheless, they still wanted a proof of ownership of the vehicle, which they did not stated in their original correspondence. Fine, I’ll give them the proof.

Dear R,

Sorry I missed your call, but I received your message. I am sending you the registration as proof that I am the owner of the 2018 Toyota Sienna SE. If you have further questions, please call me at XXX-XXX-2187.

Sincerely,
Donny Truong

Let’s see where we are going with this.

Dear Vương,

In retrospect, we haven’t spent much one-on-one time together. You’re still a mama boy. I am cool with that. I am sure you will come around when you are ready. You have always done things on your own terms.

When you first learned to ski, you wanted me to hold on to your harness. Then one day you decided to ski on your own. At first you didn’t want to ride your balance bike, but then one day you were rolling down the ramps at the skatepark on your own. Right now you don’t even want to take swimming lessons. You want to figure it out on your own first. That’s cool with me.

Being the youngest in the family, you get all the love; therefore, you don’t need to compete for attention. You just stay low keys. I like that about your personality. I am learning so much from you. Whenever you don’t want to do something or if someone tries to get under your skin, you give them the middle finger and say, “I don’t care.” How badass is that? I can’t even scold you for the middle finger. When you have that much confidence in yourself, no one can mess with you.

Another important lesson you had taught me that I could not forget even though it had been a few years already. You and I were racing down the sidewalk after a heavy rain. As we reached a big puddle of water, I carefully stopped and tried to figure out how to get over it. You just ran through it without thinking. Not only beating me, but you also splashed water all over me. I realized that sometimes in life you just go for it. I spent too much time thinking. As a result, I hadn’t gotten anywhere in life. You will go further than I ever have been.

I enjoy watching you play, hearing you talk, and seeing you grow each day. Time passes by so fast. Before we know it, you will become a young man and I will become an old man. Thank you for still letting me hug you and kiss you.

I love you so much, baby Vương.
Dad!

HostPapa hit me a few years ago with the resource limit bullshit. I cancelled all of my services with HostPapa. I knew it was just a matter of time before HostPapa went after my clients.

According to their automated performance scans, Thơ mưa had exceeded the allocated resources. Of course it was a scam because Thơ mưa was not even powered by WordPress. It was just a static site built on HTML, CSS, and a bit of PHP. No way it was hogging up the resources.

When my client forwarded to me the HostPapa scheme trying to upsell their service, I advised my client to get out. My client agreed. I transferred the domain and migrated the entire site over to Namecheap. I haven’t used Namecheap in the past. Since my client already has a few domains with Namecheap, I signed up for their hosting as well. Namecheap seams to be a good, reliable company.

HostPapa took 9 days to release the domain. Even though the migration process was time-consuming, I didn’t charge my client a penny. I created Thơ mưa 8 years ago and I had no obligation to take on the migration, but it was the right thing to do. This is one of the reasons I am not doing good at business, but I am OK with that.

If your site is hosted with HostPapa, you need to get out. They are a horrible company.

Dear Đán,

I wish I could take away all your blemishes. Then again, no one is perfect. As you have repeatedly pointed out, I have many flaws. I have learned to accept them as part of who I am. I can’t let them affect my life. I hope that you will learn to accept them as well.

Being the second born out of the four brothers is hard. You might feel left out, but I can reassure you that you are always on my mind. I think of you everyday. I have tremendous love for you and I want to be close to you. I am always available for you. You can come to me anytime. You can talk to me about anything. If you want to do something together, we can make that happen.

My only goal as a father is to provide you a happy, fulfilling life. If anything I can do to reach my goal, please let me know. I really wish we can spend some time together. I am down with fishing, shooting some hoops, or passing some ping pongs. Of course, we can snowboard together as well.

You have an incredible athletic ability. You picked up ice skating, rollerblading, and snowboarding with ease. I struggled to learn snowboarding and wished I had your skills. Through determination, I can ride the board now. I lacked the skills; therefore, I had to work hard. You had the skills, but your heart wasn’t in it. Talent without passion and hard work can only take you so far. Then again, we can just play sports for fun and to stay active.

As you are growing, I hope you will learn to balance your life and manage your time. Step away from your screen, reconnect with nature, and spend time with your loved ones, including your dad.

I love you, my boy!
Dad

After replacing the bathroom fan for just three months, it stopped working again. The fan was fine, but the switch was dead. So the previous switch was made by Eaton only lasted three months. I hope it was the switch issue and not the electrical issue. Does any electrician or electrical engineer know why the switch had such a short lifespan? Could the cost ($0.85) be the factor? Switches seem to last for a very long time. Hit me know if you know the answer.

Dear Xuân,

I am so proud of you for receiving this year’s Most Dedicated award in your swimming league. I am glad that your coach and your team recognized your efforts.

Because of summer school, you couldn’t practice with your team. Nevertheless, you went to the pool and practiced on your own. You competed in almost every meet and gave all of your best.

You won fourth place in the 25-meter freestyle in the Northern Virginia Swimming League Division Championships. Your time was 18.71 seconds. That’s an accomplishment.

Your time has improved tremendously across the board since you started swimming. You thrive and excel when you put your mind to it. You did it with skiing and scootering, but swimming is where your heart at. I hope you will continue to ski and scooter with me, but your mother and I will support you all the way in swimming.

Keep your passion alive. As long as you are willing to put in the time and the efforts, you will go far. I have faith in you. I have nothing but love for you. Do your things, my Xuânshine!

Love,
Dad