New floors are done in the lower level of the house. They are installing the new carpet on Monday as well as finishing the trim work. After Monday the only thing left to finish is touch up some paint on the walls, from the boys banging into them not the flooding.
Nicole and the boys are at the Minnesota Zoo this morning and Jeremy is trying to get caught up on some work (he's not a fan of putting together PowerPoint slides). Family bike ride and cleaning out Nicole's truck are in store for Saturday afternoon.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Typhoon Morakot and Earthquakes
Before we got into Taipei typhoon Morakot hit the island of Taiwan. Thankfully for Taipei the eye of the typhoon went directly over the city so it received some relief from the rain however the southern part of the island was not so lucky. Cities in the south received in excess of 114" of rain (over 9 feet of rain) over the course of 72 hours. Mudslides, washouts and anything catastrophic you can think of with a flood happened. The death toll is not yet confirmed as many people are still trapped in the remote villages but estimates are ranging from 500 to 2,000 depending upon which media outlet you read. We didn't see any of the impacted areas first hand but it was all over the news and media.
One of the biggest challenge facing rescue efforts is the number of roads washed out to the more remote villages is making it extremely difficult to get machinery, bulldozers specifically, into the impacted areas.
Here is a link to one of the articles from Taipei Times News
Then on top of Morakot when we were leaving Shenzhen to head to Taipei we heard of earthquakes that were hitting Japan and some of the more remote islands. If I recall the biggest was a 6.7 on the rector scale.
I'm am thinking next time I come to Asia I will try to make it any month other than June through September.
One of the biggest challenge facing rescue efforts is the number of roads washed out to the more remote villages is making it extremely difficult to get machinery, bulldozers specifically, into the impacted areas.
Here is a link to one of the articles from Taipei Times News
Then on top of Morakot when we were leaving Shenzhen to head to Taipei we heard of earthquakes that were hitting Japan and some of the more remote islands. If I recall the biggest was a 6.7 on the rector scale.
I'm am thinking next time I come to Asia I will try to make it any month other than June through September.
Taipei, Taiwan
For one of the factory visits in Taiwan we had to travel south on the island from Taipei to Taichung City via high speed train. Based on how well this method of transporation worked and how inexpensive it was I struggle to understand why there isn't a nation wide high speed rail system in the U.S. It was quiet, comfortable and fast (174 MPH).
Our last full day in Taipei we finished up our business meetings by 1:00 pm and then our team based in Taipei showed us some of the sights.
While I am not certain of the direct translation this is the tomb of the past president of Taiwan (2 of them). It's located in an area similar to the Lincoln Memorial in DC.
This is one of the guards of the memorial. We got there just as they were doing the changing of the guards, very intense focus and disciplined in the process and formality. The crazy part was the guards don't blink and never lose focus despite cameras flashing everywhere. Pretty impressive and I was able to get about 10 minutes of this on video.
In this picture you can see the memorial and if you look in the background the tall needle looking building is Taipei 101.
Here are Joesph, Phillip and I standing on the steps of the memorial.
The sun was trying to break through the clouds over the entrance to the square.
This is from the steps of the memorial looking down at the square.
Our last full day in Taipei we finished up our business meetings by 1:00 pm and then our team based in Taipei showed us some of the sights.
While I am not certain of the direct translation this is the tomb of the past president of Taiwan (2 of them). It's located in an area similar to the Lincoln Memorial in DC.
This is one of the guards of the memorial. We got there just as they were doing the changing of the guards, very intense focus and disciplined in the process and formality. The crazy part was the guards don't blink and never lose focus despite cameras flashing everywhere. Pretty impressive and I was able to get about 10 minutes of this on video.
In this picture you can see the memorial and if you look in the background the tall needle looking building is Taipei 101.
Here are Joesph, Phillip and I standing on the steps of the memorial.
The sun was trying to break through the clouds over the entrance to the square.
This is from the steps of the memorial looking down at the square.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Trevor's First Day of Judo
Trevor started Judo today!! We were pretty excited when we found out that Mr. Alex was going to be teaching a Judo class at Doc's Gym in Minneapolis! We decided that Trevor would be a good candidate for this!! Some way for him to exhort some pent up energy!!!
Here is a picture of Xanny, Trevor, & Bella in their Gi's before class Friday night!!
Here is a picture of Xanny, Trevor, & Bella in their Gi's before class Friday night!!
We are getting some new floors!!
So with Jeremy in China for the last few weeks (since July 31!!), the boys and I decided to head to Milwaukee to see some family and take some photos! While we were gone the ice maker decided to break!! So when we came home on Monday we come home to a kitchen full of water!! NOT GOOD!!!
ServiceMaster had to come out Tuesday morning and they had to come out and rip out the kitchen floor, the carpet AND the bathroom floor!!!
Here are some pics of what the house looks like now!!
ServiceMaster had to come out Tuesday morning and they had to come out and rip out the kitchen floor, the carpet AND the bathroom floor!!!
Here are some pics of what the house looks like now!!
Taipei 101
While traveling in Taiwan I was fortunate enough to be provided a tour by the General Manager and Spokesman for Taipei 101, which is still currently the tallest building in the world (the one being built in Dubai is not yet open thus it is not yet recognized as the tallest in the world).
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