Dear Ðán,

You turn 13 today. Happy birthday. You are growing older and wiser. I hope you will make good choices. Out of my four boys, I worry about you the most. I must admit. I screwed up.

I screwed up my responsibility as a father. I am failing to prevent you from sinking into the digital ocean. Every single day, my heart drops seeing you glued to your chair playing video games.

For someone with so much potential, you dropped everything except spending time on your PC. I don’t want to see you this way and it is all my fault. I was too soft and too weak. I caved in.

I am hurt that you don’t want to spend time with me and told me to leave you alone. I am heartbroken that you said you don’t need me anymore, except when you need help with your English homework.

Of course I jumped at the opportunity to help you with anything. I am glad that you reached out to me when you needed me. I am so relieved that you are staying on top of your school work. I am proud of your grades. Your hard work paid off.

Education is important, but so are family, friends, and self-care. Sitting in front of your PC every chance you get is not healthy, mentally and physically. Not knowing when to walk away is an addiction. Not knowing your limitations is an addiction. Getting angry when being asked repeatedly to get off is an addiction.

It is so hard for me to write this letter. I want you to be happy. I want to stay out of your way, as you have wished, but I can’t turn the other way when I see you become less active and less interactive.

I am lost for words and for directions. I don’t know what to say and what to do. I hope that you will turn out OK. I hope that I am just worrying too much about you. Deep down, I love you from the bottom of my heart whether you know it or not. I am here when you need me.

No matter what goes on. No matter what happens. You will always be my son and I always want what is best for you.

Love,
Dad

1. Connection: Introduction & check equipments (5 minutes)
2. Flat Ground Exercises: Demo “Homebase” position (athletic stance) (5 minutes)
3. Strap in Both Feet to Board: Revisit “Homebase” position with both feet strapped into board. (5 minutes)
4. Skate: Demonstrate skating both directions (10-15 minutes).
5. Magic Carpet: Explain loading/unloading carpet safety. Instructor’s last (30 minutes into lesson).
6. Sideslip: Demo toe edge and heel edge sideslip (10-15 minutes).
7. Falling Leaf: Demo toe edge and heel edge (15-20 minutes).
8. Chair Lift: Explain safety, safety bar, and how to load and unload (1 hour into lesson).
9. J-Turn: Demo J-Turn to left or right (25-30 minutes).
10. S-Turn: Demo Linking Turns (25-30 minutes).
11. Wrap Up: Thank guests for coming (5 minutes).

Administrator’s Name: Donny Truong
Position and Department: Web Designer, College Relations
Supervisor: Carolyn Guyer
Period covered by this review: April 2005 – April 2006

Areas for Discussion

to be completed by the supervisor

Job Knowledge

Like his colleagues in the web group, Donny necessarily keeps up with changes in web technology, learning and refining skills almost constantly. He not only seeks out research and study of both technical and graphic design technique, but also joins and adds to what others in the group share and discuss. As the most senior of our web designers, Donny exhibits a grasp of Vassar practices and expectations that comes from his almost four years of experience here.

Quality Of Work During This Time Period

As ever, Donny can always be relied on to work quickly. And, while his design skills have continually improved over time, this year, I observed a distinctly strong upturn in his ability to hit the mark right away. He himself attributes this to the change in his office location, which puts him in central proximity to the others. His receptiveness to more interaction with colleagues has definitely improved his overall abilities.

Communication

In my opinion, Donny is a born communicator. Moving to the U.S. from Vietnam when he was eleven radically altered his ability to communicate in his new environment. He spent his playground time in those early years trying to learn English. He learned quickly, and even prior to the time I’ve known him, he has been publishing an online blog, or journal, where he reviews music, books, film, and software, and keeps up conversations about life in general with others who read his writing. This past year, he became a rather high-profile figure among the population of the international Vietnamese diaspora, and others interested in Vietnamese culture, for his Flash pieces combining music with images of Vietnam. As a result of his public voice on his own website, he has corresponded with people from all parts of society in different countries. Donny is clearly not a person who needs perfect English to be a communicator, yet he sets as a goal for himself working to perfect it. He has my respect and admiration for that.

Innovation

As a web and graphic designer in College Relations, Donny is expected to respond to assignments with creative solutions. He not only does this, but when numerous versions become necessary, he does not lose patience and always remains flexible. Sometimes, when a refining process has slowed too much, he jettisons it and comes up with a completely new and fresh design that almost always hits the mark precisely, based on all the earlier iterations. This is a wonderful and valuable creative ability.

Working Relationships/Teamwork

Teamwork underlies everything we do in web development and Donny has always participated with great respect and generosity with his colleagues. He quietly listens and is often one of the last to speak in a group discussion, but he does not hesitate giving an opinion if he feels it will help. His willingness to aid others was particularly evident this year as he worked across somewhat undefined boundaries with the new web designer in Development. Donny, who redesigned the Development site last year, helped the new designer to transition into taking over responsibility for it. Ego issues must be put aside in this kind of situation and that never seemed to be a problem for Donny.

Summary of Overall Performance

After almost four years of working at Vassar, Donny clearly shows evidence of his accumulation of institutional knowledge. He remains a steady and reliable web expert, devoted to his work, and always trying to improve. His willingness to carry the extra load we’ve all felt this past year while we were shorthanded was exemplary for how he did not let it noticeably impact his legendary speed.

I attended the indoor training for new instructors this morning. It was quite a large group. There were more ski than snowboard instructors; therefore, I went with snowboard.

We introduced ourselves. Most skiers had 15 to 30 years of experience. I had four. Most snowboarders had 8 to 12 years of experience. I had two. I will probably be one of the oldest snowboard instructors.

After the brief introductions, we split up into two camps. I went with the snowboard camp. We did some activities together, including teaching a subject drawn from a helmet. I got “Red light, green light.” I zipped through it. In retrospect, I should have asked for participants to play the game.

Then we went to the outside learning center and two instructors walked us through the very beginner lesson. It didn’t look too bad.

Everyone on the snow school team were friendly and cool. I am looking forward to the season.

This morning I took our Toyota Sienna 2018 SE over to anh Hùng to replace the brake pads and rotors. I text him two days ago and he recommended that I buy the parts from Toyota. I preferred Toyota’s genuine parts over aftermarket anyway. I called our closest dealer get a quote on brake pads and rotors for four wheels. He gave me a price that was over $900. My wife ordered everything online and I came to the dealer to pick up and everything cost $400. That was crazy.

In any rate, the technician took a look at our car and told me that I only needed to change the rear pads and rotors. He took 40 minutes to replace and charged me $70. I was surprised. He did an excellent job. I am definitely coming back to him to do more services. He lives only 15 minutes away from me. He is honest and he doesn’t charge an arm and leg. He only takes on jobs that he could do. It’s hard to find people like him nowadays.

Here’s the breakdown:

• 2 Rear Rotors: $150
• 4 Rear Brake Discs: $50
• Labor: $70

Total: $270

Note: Toyota Sienna 2018 SE at 80,000 miles

A couple of days ago, I scrolled through screenshots of websites I had designed more than a decade ago. Many of these sites are now defunct. Nevertheless, I want to keep an archive of my past work on my portfolio.

I wish I had kept my early projects back in 2000. I graduated from La Salle University in 2001. That means I have been creating websites for at least 23 years.

There were times I wanted to do something else, but I have no other talent. The only thing I am decent at is web design. It pays the bill and helps me raise my family. I am grateful for that.

I don’t know what the future will hold. I hope I can continue to survive until my retirement.

It’s official. I am joining Vail Resorts as a ski and snowboard instructor at Whitetail. My first day will start as soon as we get some snow. My job depends on you, Mother Nature.

When I first started to ski, I learned my first lesson at Whitetail. Now I am part of the team. I would like to teach skiing and snowboarding because I love both sports. Skiing is easier to get started. I taught a few kids to ski and they could get on the lift themselves and ski down the green slopes at the learning center.

Snowboarding is more challenging to get started. I struggled quite a bit and I had to figure out how to get over the learning curve. I only snowboarded for two seasons. All the learning techniques are still fresh in my mind. If I have to pick one sport to teach, I would go with snowboarding.

It’s going to be an exciting winter!

I picked up this book at a public library book sale. I didn’t care about a listicle book, but the author is Pamela Paul. I used to listen to her podcast, read a few of her books, and enjoyed her writing. This book, in particular, didn’t do it for me. I liked some of the things she wrote including “Boredom,” “The Period,” and “Looking Out The Window.” For many, I just needed to read titles such as “The Phone in the Kitchen,” “The Rolodex,” and obviously “Old Tech.” With 100 things, they either hit or miss. I love the typesetting though. Scala, designed by Martin Majoor, is such a readable typeface.

As of today, I have created 500+ connections on LinkedIn. I am not sure if anything will change. I hadn’t had any job offer on LinkedIn. I hadn’t found any meaningful connection. I use LinkedIn primarily to promote my work. Even that doesn’t bring much visibility. Nevertheless, it doesn’t hurt to use the platform for that. At least it is an additional space for me to share my new projects. I still use this blog to share my latest works.

I had to read William Golding’s Lord of the Flies for an English class in eighth grade. I didn’t understand a darn thing.

At the time, I got pulled out of the regular English class to join a diverse group made of a Caucasian boy, a Spanish girl, and me, a Vietnamese kid. Our teacher was from Ireland. We took turns reading the book and I loved our teacher’s accent.

In the past few weeks, Đạo had to read it for his English class and he recommended it to me. I read it again more than 30 years later. This time I understood the book much better. When there were no rules and orders even kids became savages. It is such a dark fiction for young adults.

I enjoyed Golding’s writing. While I was reading it to escape the current events, I couldn’t help wondering about the future of our country. The majority of America had made the decision to take us back. It is just a matter of how far back we will go.