Articles by mgedwards

Random thoughts

Tonight my son and I finished carving our pumpkin into Oliver the Train.  It looks pretty good!  I carved the train’s face on the front and the number "11" on the side (Oliver’s number is 11).  On Halloween night it will look great on our porch, welcoming trick or treaters.  I posted a few photos of the final product.
 
So Dr. Ben Bernanke has been nominated to replace Alan Greenspan as chair of the Federal Reserve.  At least we now know who will be Greenspan’s successor.  While the name "Bernanke" doesn’t quite conjure images of money and Wall Street like the name "Greenspan" does, it appears that Bernanke will not deviate significantly, at least initially, from Greenspan’s policies.  While I believe that Greenspan’s true legacy does not rise to mythos, I do think that Bernanke will have some big shoes to fill.  Unlike the recent nomination of Harriet Miers to U.S. Supreme Court, it appears that Bernanke will easily win confirmation.  I’m glad that the market reacted positively to the news.  After Hurricane Katrina battered stocks over the past couple of weeks, it’s about time that stocks headed upward for a change.
 
Wow, the Chicago White Sox look like they’re headed to their first World Series victory in 88 years.  Barring a disaster, they may sweep the Houston Astros or win in five games (if the Sox do choke, people might start wondering if the Sox rigged the World Series like they did in 1919, the infamous "Black Sox" World Series).  Although it’s a shame the outcome is so lopsided, it’s good to see some very close games.  And I guess my prediction of the Astros in seven is wrong yet again!  I guess I should stick to investing.
 
I finished a very important project today.  It’s something I developed from scatch and have been slowly transitioning to a team of people.  It’s a system for managing our operations.  The head of the operation will be heading back to the United States with the project results in hand and will be showing it to the Powers That Be.  If they like it, it could be implemented worldwide.  Now that it’s done, I’m turning my focus to implementing an ISO 9001 Quality Management System in our organization.  This is an even bigger challenge.  I have about one year to put together a team, a plan, and implement the system.  Not everyone is sold on the idea, so it will take a lot of work just to convince people that it is worth the effort.
 
Kevin, a blog reader, asked if the community association I wrote about in my previous blog is common in Korea.  Yes, and no.  Our community association is an expat community association; I don’t think there are many organized community associations for the expatriate community in Korea.  Most expats here are either affiliated with the military and are under the auspices of by U.S. Forces Korea, teachers, who are active in their schools and universities, and businesspeople and government- or non-government employees, who are usually taken care of by their organizations.  However, there are many Korean community associations.  In fact, it’s my understanding that Koreans who live together in apartment complexes often form community associations.  Some have been accused of price fixing, pressuring those who want to sell their apartments to sell at prices set by the group.  This is an illegal practice in Korea, and the "speculation" that arises from this has been popular in the Korean press.  If someone is coerced into selling their property at a fixed price, I can understand why it’s illegal.  Still, I question why there’s been a crackdown on housing speculation in Korea.
 
Blog Notes:  Dear Reader, I received my first hate comment today.  It’s been almost a year since I started this blog and have never received malicious comments before.  I never thought this blog was controversial enough to get any at all.  How do you respond to this comment? 

 

You make me sick. Cancer is God’s way of getting rid of parasites on planet Earth. If you have Cancer I hope you die soon!!! If you have a problem with this, you’re a retard. Stop by my space and learn more retard. Ryan Benedetti

I could delete it, but I won’t.  I think it’s really sad.  It seems he just wants to use this as a platform to advertise his own blog.  He doesn’t really say why I make him sick and why he wants me to die.  I do take exception with how he treats cancer–it’s extremely inconsiderate of those who actually suffer from cancer.  He could very well have spammed a bunch of MSN blogs with his vective just to get attention.  He claims on his blog that someone else is spamming other people’s blogs and misusing his name.  If so, if I were him I would shut down the blog and start over rather than becoming a target for people’s ire.  Interestingly, his handle is Canadiankick.  I thought Canada was a peaceful nation.  Oh well, thanks for stopping by anyway, Canadiankick.

Weathering the proverbial storm

Late last month I took over as chair of our community’s association.  The association serves our expatriate community and manages the community’s myriad assets.  We have a large facility and lease space to several vendors, including Quiznos Sub and Starbucks.  We manage some extended-stay suites, event hall rentals, a business center, and merchandise sales.  We have many revenue streams and offer many services to the community.  We also host social events throughout the year, and we plan to invest the association’s excess cash so that we can meet the future needs of our community.  We’re a non-profit entity, but because we have so many revenue streams, we function like in many ways like a corporation.  It is truly an amazing operation.  I don’t use my MBA much on the job, but as part of the association’s Board, I am able to put my business skills to work.  I enjoy it very much.
 
Lately, the association faces several big challenges.  We haven’t had a cafeteria since last March, and we just lost an important vendor in a messy divorce.  Our business center vendor’s lease is almost up, and our facility desperately needs some maintenance.  We have to put on several key events for our community.  We’re losing some valuable employees.  Our association has a full-time general manager who’s been working hard to manage our operations.  However, I think her job is too much work for one person to handle.  She has a small staff, but each employee is assigned to a specific function.  As chair I’ve tried to work closely with her and her staff to make sure we do everything that needs to get done in the next six months.  Although some people in the community think a Board chair should sit back and take a passive role in the association, letting the GM function like a CEO, I prefer to be much more activist and as involved as I can be.  The GM appreciates this.  Corporate boards that serve at the whim of the CEO (in this case the GM) are not doing their jobs.  Corporate governance experts tend to agree with me.  I also see the chair role as a that of a visionary, where I help instill a vision of what the future of the association will look like and work with the Board and general manager to make it happen.  Many of the best boards in the corporate world are led by dynamic Board chairs who guide their companies and ensure the best interests of shareholders are served.  In this case, I need to look out for the interests of our community.
 
Right now the association faces several daunting challenges.  Last night, the association hosted a major reception for the community.  I emceed the event.  I don’t like public speaking, but I did fine addressing the crowd of about 160 people.  The reception was a culmination of the joint efforts of many people who worked to make sure everything was perfect.  I was really happy to see how we all pulled together to make it happen.  Today the Board approved the new business center vendor, who will offer Vonage phone service and business services to the community.  They will also build the association a professional web site which will serve as a portal for our potential customers.  If they deliver what they promise, the community will have a viable, alternate phone and Internet service provider.  For the next few days, we need to focus on finalizing the divorce from one of our vendors and finding a replacement vendor.  I hope we can accomplish this within two weeks.  The new vendor will offer food and coffee to our customers, and the absence of the previous vendor has been conspicuous.  Next, our attention will turn to reopening the employee cafeteria.  At the same time, we will sell merchandise at the upcoming APEC Summit in Busan in mid-November, and we will host Halloween and Thanksgiving events.  We will also finish facility maintenance before winter arrives, and we will invest our excess cash in low-risk, high-yield municipal bond funds.  Juggling all of these commitments is a momental task.  It feels at times like a perfect storm.  While overwhelming, we must weather these challenges and persevere.
 
When the dust settles and the smoke clears, our vendor contracts will be in place, and we will have given back in myriad ways to the community.  It’s a lot of work, and at times my wife asks me why I expend so much effort volunteering on behalf of the association.  It’s because someone needs to do it.  At this critical juncture in the association’s existence, we need to get through the challenges and outlast the storm.  And after my term ends in five months, I hope that the next association chair will be left with a tidy ship and calm waters.

Blasts from the past

Dear Reader, I am sorry for the long absence.  As you know, I love writing this blog.  I look forward to writing each night about something different and offbeat.  Unfortunately, last week was a difficult week for me, with illness and other commitments I needed to fulfill.  Famous last words, I know, but it was just one of those weeks.  I’ve done everything that needed to be done, and for the time being, I can relax a bit and spend more time writing.  I feel much better, although I still have a cough (thanks for the kind words and well wishes!).  As is often the case, the cough will likely linger on for another week or so.
 
There’s so much to write about since my last entry that I think I’ll focus tonight on just a couple of interesting items.  Both happened last night.  I spent much of the weekend with my son.  After having spent the previous weekend at Seoul City Hall and working as a movie extra, I needed to spend more time with my family.  We had a wonderful time.  Last night, while his mother went out with some friends, my son and I stayed home and played together.  We began to carve a pumpkin into a Jack O’Lantern.  I gutted it, and he assisted.  The pumpkin still awaits a face because I stopped midway through carving when my son lost interest.  He was a great helper, helping daddy put the pumpkin guts into the plastic bowl and cleaning the gunk off my hands.  He industriously studied the inside of the pumpkin and asked me if he could have a bite.  I told him it didn’t taste good, but he tried a tiny piece anyway…and spit it out.  Sometimes you just have to learn something yourself.  We’ll finish up the pumpkin carving tomorrow evening.  He wants me to turn Jack O’Lantern into a train.  While I’m not surprised by his choice, since he absolutely loves trains, I was amused that he chose Oliver from "Thomas the Tank Engine" to serve as the model for his carved pumpkin.  He could have chosen Thomas, or Gordon, or Henry, or any number of central characters from the story, "Thomas the Tank Engine."  Instead, there was something about this pumpkin that reminded him of Oliver.  I’m not sure why–it’s a green train that’s not much different from the other "Thomas" trains.  At times, children’s minds work in mysterious ways.  So tomorrow night, we shall turn my son’s pumpkin into Oliver the Train. 
 
I haven’t carved a pumpkin in years.  The last time I did was over a decade ago when my wife and I just started dating.  We were still in college at the time.  We were over at her dormitory a few days before Halloween.  The residence hall had given away free pumpkins, and we went into the kitchen and carved a pumpkin into a Jack O’Lantern.  My Chinese wife had never carved a pumpkin before, for Halloween is a western tradition virtually unknown to Chinese (it’s catching on now in China, I’ve been told).  Like my son, she primarily watched me carve it.   Although it happened a long time ago and the memory has faded a bit, it came back to me as my son watched me once again carve a pumpkin.  After that first Halloween together, my wife and I made it a habit to spend Halloween going out for dinner.  We never really were the type of people to stay home and pass out candy to trick o’treaters.  However, now that we have a child who’s old enough to wear a costume (he’s going to be Thomas the Tank Engine–who else?), Halloween has taken on a new meaning.  We’re not really fans of a celebration that has such dark undertones, but I’m happy to let my son do some of those things most kids like to do, like carving pumpkins, dressing in a costume, and trick o’treating.  Trick o’treating can be filled with hazards, but since my neighbors are also my coworkers, I think we can safely trick o’treat without fear of tainted candy in a secure environment.
 
Last night while we were carving the pumpkin, I suddenly heard explosions outside our house.  It took me a few minutes to ascertain that it the sound of a fireworks display.  For a brief moment, the unthinkable crossed my mind–were those bombs?  Gunfire?  I turned on the television just to make sure.  Thankfully, it wasn’t an attack.  If it were, I would probably not be writing tonight.  It is not something to take lightly  After all, in Seoul we are well within range of North Korean artillery.  If there were an invasion by North Korea, the entire city of Seoul could be destroyed within two-to-three days.  No matter how unlikely it seems now, we are within range of a war zone, and the Koreas are technically in a tense ceasefire.  There has been no peace on the Korean Peninsula since 1950.  Last night was not a holiday such as Independence Day, when you expect fireworks.  I might not have thought anything of them, but I could not help imagining briefly what would happen if an invasion really occurred.  I would have to send my family to safety in Japan and stay behind, helping people, just as my colleagues in Islamabad are now feverishly helping those savaged by the tragic earthquake in Pakistan.  Seoul seems so far away from that possibility.  When you live here, you rarely ever think about the possibility of war; that is, until it suddenly grabs your attention.  Living in Seoul gives you a different perspective on something that seems so innocuous, even a fireworks display.  Every once in awhile, the City of Seoul still stages afternoon siren drills, and the entire city stops for five to 10 minutes, an ominous reminder that Seoul is not quite like any other modern metropolis.