Just when I thought I got all the car dramas out of the way, I had to go back to Costco yesterday evening to drop off our 2011 Toyota Sienna. My wife drove over a nail and punctured the rear passenger tire. I brought the car in at 6 pm and they called me at 9:30 pm to let me know it was finished. I still need to pick it up after work today. Did I say I hate dealing with cars? There’s a saying in Vietnamese, “Ghét của nào trời trao của nấy.” It’s true. Whatever you hate, God will give it to you. All these times, I thought God only give me good things.

Dear Đạo,

I am sorry about your phone issue. Don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s fine to experiment with it. That’s how you learn.

You have been asking me for a new phone and I don’t have a problem with getting you a new one. I am deeply concerned, however, when you don’t know how to control your usage.

You don’t like it when I remind you about your education, but you haven’t proved that you can take responsibility for your school work. School should be your first priority, not digital usage. I worry about you, but my words have fallen on deaf ears.

I just don’t know what else to say to make you understand–or you just don’t want to understand. My priority is you and your brothers, but I am not doing a good job as a father. When talking to other parents about digital usage, I had learned that they were able to limit their kids to one hour a day, one hour a week, or none at all. I have not done that and I can’t now. I know the repercussions of limiting your usage.

Now that you are old enough, I hope you will figure out what to do with your life. Your mom and I do anything for you, but we can’t do anything without your participation. It’s still not too late.

Love,
Dad

Dear Xuân,

Thank you for telling us about your week at school. I am glad you had a chance to meet Illustrator Alicia Robinson. I must confess that I didn’t know who she was; therefore, I had to look her up online. She is indeed a talented illustrator.

I always appreciated people who can draw. I wish I had drawn when I was a kid. I never liked drawing because I didn’t think my drawings were any good. I have seen your sketches. You can draw way better than me. You have a creative way of creating your characters.

Don’t make the mistake I made. Please continue to draw. Practice makes perfect. The more you draw, the better you will get. Once you figure out your style, you can become even more creative. You can even become an illustrator like Ms. Robinson.

You have a whole lot of future in front of you kiddo! Just enjoy yourself if you enjoy drawing. Talk to you in the next letter.

Love,
Dad

The car maintenance has become expensive and time draining. In the past two weeks, I had been working remotely at auto shops more than at my home office, which is my bedroom.

I dropped our 2011 Toyota Sienna XLE off at Costco for balance and rotation. Then I dropped it off at a Toyota dealer for an oil change. Then I did the same services for the 2018 Toyota Sienna LE. I also dropped the 2018 LE off at the Toyota Collision Center to fix the liftgate. That took almost a week. Then the 2018 LE’s airbag debacle that cost us $1,250.

This morning, I had to come back to the Toyota dealer to fix the door for the 2018 LE. The technician didn’t connect the cable to the latch. The passenger door couldn’t open from the inside. I am now working in the waiting room at Firestone to get an alignment for the 2018 LE. Later on, I have to take my 2011 XLE back to Firestone for another alignment.

Needless to say, I am fucking sick and tired of maintaining these two vehicles. I need to take some auto mechanics courses to fix some of these issues myself. My oldest son will take a course in auto mechanics. I hope he can help fix these damn vehicles.

The days of pop-jazz are gone. Norah Jones has moved on. Visions, her latest album, is a pop-rock album full of life and filled with joy. Even when she’s “Staring at the Wall,” the vibe is energetic. She also takes listeners into a rocking “Paradise.” She’s the “Queen of Sea” who “Just Wants to Dance.” Jones’s smoky voice is aged like fine wine and her keyboard skills are sharper even though her style is still less is more, which makes her collaboration with Leon Michels a fruitful one.

I was reading Pete the Cat’s Groovy Guide to Life, by Kimberly and James Dean, with my five-year-old son, who chose the book from the library, and falling in love with the quotes the author had compiled. I decided to translate the quotes into Vietnamese and created a sample page with both languages. To make it groovy, I chose vibrant colors for each quote and typeset in Calistoga, designed by Yvonne Schüttler and Eben Sorkin, combined with Neue DIN, by Hendrik Weber, Andreas Frohloff, and Olli Meier. Check out Hướng dẫn đi đến nếp sống hấp dẫn.

As stated in my letter to Toyota regarding to the melting of electric wires in my 2018 Toyota Sienna LE’s passenger door. Here’s the breakdown of the repair:

• Wire Front Door Right-hand – Toyota (82151-08250) $300 (even though its website discounted for $202.68)
• Side Airbag Sensor (82151-08250) $90 (the website lists for $76.74)
• Labor: $720 for 4 hours (that’s $180 per hour)

With tax and environment fee, the total was $1245.54. Ouch! Ourisman Toyota.

This is my first time listening to Guitarist Julian Lage and the first track, “Hymal,” on this album pulls me in immediately. What a hypnotic, soulful bass-guitar duo. “Northern Shuffle” continues with blues-rock sensational riffs. “Serenade” is just so beautiful. I enjoyed the album immensely from start to finish.

After I sent Toyota a letter yesterday, a Brand Engagement Advocate, responded:

Dear Donny Truong,

Thank you for contacting us about your 2018 Toyota Sienna. We are sorry to learn the electrical wires on the inside of the passenger door are melting and causing the air bag sensor light to turn on and we appreciate you contacting us for assistance. Thank you for the attachments.

Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. understands your concerns with your Toyota Sienna. We apologize; as this issue is no longer covered under the vehicle’s warranty due to time and mileage limits, and as we do not show any recalls or other support programs applicable to the vehicle, Toyota respectfully declines your request for financial assistance towards the cost of these repairs.

In the interest of customer satisfaction and retention, based on your product loyalty, we would like to extend an offer of $750.00 towards future service(s), using genuine Toyota parts at an authorized Toyota dealership.

Once you have incurred the full amount of $750.00, or, if it is more convenient, you may send in documents for smaller amounts as they occur, and we will reimburse them on an ongoing basis until the total offer amount has been reached. Please forward the complete paid dealership invoice(s) and your receipt(s) to:

Toyota Brand Engagement Center
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
P.O. Box 259001
Plano, TX 75025-9001

You may also scan and attach your documents as case attachments to this comment thread. Upon receipt of your documentation, we will send you a check.

We are sincere in our efforts of keeping you a satisfied guest and appreciate the opportunity to further review. Please know, we have documented your experience here at Toyota National Headquarters under your reference number. If you have any other questions, please contact us.

Sincerely,
N

Toyota Brand Engagement Center

That was not the answer I was hoping for. They should have covered the electoral malfunction on their part regardless of year and mileage. That’s not a wear and tear issue. It’s a safety issue.

With regular rain and warm weather, the skiing-snowboarding season is coming to an end—for the resorts closest to me. We are still hoping for a week of spring skiing and snowboarding at the end of March in Vermont, but the chance is also slim.

I spent 36 days on the terrains; therefore, my Epic pass was well worth the price. I still have so much to learn, but I am satisfied with my progression. I could snowboard down the double black diamond slopes with confidence and comfort. I also got my groove back on my skis. My skiing and snowboarding levels are at the same level, which is fun to learn new skills on both at the same time. As I am making the transition to carving on both, the season is wrapping up. I need to pick them back up again next year.

Without a doubt, I am in love with skiing and snowboarding. Whenever I put my mind into something, I have to go all in. Skiing was love at first sight for me. The movement I let my rental skis take me down the bunny slope, I never looked back. Snowboarding was the complete opposite. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “You must do the things you think you cannot do.” I hated snowboarding when I first tried it. I gave up, but came back to it just to prove to myself I could do anything when I put my mind to it. I conquered snowboarding and fell in love with it.

My wife informed me that I am addicted and she was the one that got me hooked. No addict would admit he was addicted, but I can attest that skiing and snowboarding are therapeutic for me—not an addiction. They keep my body healthy and my mind strong. I used to hate the freezing cold in the winter. Now I pray Mother Nature for all the snow and the cold she could give us, but she hasn’t answered my prayers. This winter, once again, I didn’t catch a cold. Not only I didn’t get sick, but I also felt great.

The physical benefits were nothing compared to the mental benefits. Skiing and snowboarding helped me get through the darkest days in the last couple of months. Hitting the trails was like attending counseling sessions for me. The adrenaline rush of going down the terrains and the peacefulness of the mountains when no one was around left all of my worries behind. It was pure escapism.

I don’t have a strong mind. I get stressed out easily. I lack self-confidence. I also get lots of anxiety. My coping mechanism has been writing, skiing, snowboarding, and skating. I don’t let myself fall into depression. I don’t let anxieties take over me. I don’t wrap myself in a blanket and feel sorry for myself. My life is too damn short and too fucking valuable to be miserable. I never know when I will go.

My arms are too short to box with life. I have to let go of anything that is out of my reach. I learn to differentiate what I can and cannot control. What I have come to realize is that the only control I have is my own mind; therefore, I need to pay attention to it. I need to nurture it and guide it to the right path. Between maneuvering around the mogul fields and navigating my ways down the steep slopes, skiing and snowboarding help keep my mind strong and prepare me to deal with problems in life. I will ski and snowboard for as long as I can.