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I have been searching for an espresso machine the last couple of weeks and have received a huge education. Apparently, the reason the espresso from my Mr. Coffee was crappy was because the machine was crappy. After much research and many days of craving (I cut myself off from the $4 lattes from Starbucks and Java Joe’s), I ordered the Solis Crema SL90.

The machine was on back order. I doubted that I would get it before I left for a business trip next Monday. But I got an email from the OurCoffeeBarn.com. FedEx tracking number 070093710151567. It is currently on a truck for delivery. Maybe the truck I hear outside right now.

I ordered a super sampler pack of espresso pods from PodMerchant.com which came a week ago. They have been sitting on the kitchen counter, mocking me. HA! Today they get their come-uppance. I know, I know. The true espresso afficianados scoff at espresso pods. But I am lazy and not that bright. I can’t figure out the whole tamping, measuring thing. Perhaps once I get a taste of what could be, I may study the art of espresso more closely.

I know of no other doctor who can inspire people to swim from Cuba for medical treatment.

My brother-in-law just opened up his dental practice. Since we were in the Bay Area this weekend and he was my dentist before I moved to Salt Lake City, I took the opportunity to get my teeth checked and cleaned.

My 2 year old also needed to get her teeth checked. This is what her teeth look like*. My brother-in-law says she has to start brushing twice a day.

My brother-in-law is the most attentive and gentle dentist I have ever been to. He has the best bedside manner and sees his job as treating people, not teeth. He’s also great with kids. He explained what he was doing in terms that she could understand without lying to her. He got her to trust him. It was great.

So this is a shamless plug. If you live or work in the East Bay and want the best dental care, go see my brother-in-law.

Kevin Ko, DDS
1181 Boulevard Way #A
Walnut Creek, CA
(925) 934-0192

*These are not her real teeth. My brother-in-law has a great sense of humor. They are child-size fake teeth.

My husband’s current favorite commercial is the one for the cell phone with the favorite 5. The one where the Dad says to the boyfriend that they are both on the daughter’s fav 5 and it was like the Dad was watching the boyfriend. I think my husband is collecting ideas for when my kid starts dating. Someone should collect all the commercials that are along this vein and call it Daddy 101.

My daughter has been requesting “Tiki Tiki Tembo” for her bedtime story every night for the past couple of weeks. It’s a story about these two Chinese brothers. The older had this great, long, distinguished name. The younger, Chang. When Chang falls into a well, Chang gets saved right away. When Tiki tiki tembo no sa rembo chari bari ruchi pip peri pembo falls into the well, he stays there much longer because of his name. My daughter follows along and repeats Tiki tiki tembo’s name.

Last night, she asked my husband why the characters were all sleeping. Huh? Sleeping? Apparently, she thought they were sleeping because their eyes were represented with lines. My husband told her that it was because it was sunny. Good save, Daddy.

How do you explain to a two year old the stereotype that East Asians always look like they are squinting or that their eyes are slanted? I have loved this story since I was a kid. I wonder what other surprises await me in other stories.

The best thing about Ikea coming to Utah is that I get to see the commercials again. I missed them when we moved here from CA. The one with the lamp still cracks me up.

In Salt Lake City, we have about 2 weeks of spring, during which, this year, the trees sprouted their first leaves and then got snowed on. It is about 75/80 degrees outside today as it was two weekends ago.

We went to the outdoor mall downtown, the Gateway, to deal with the heat. After my kid got a good douse at the fountain, we got Ben & Jerry’s and Auntie Anne’s pretzels.

We then had dinner at McGrath’s Fish House (they overcooked the swordfish) and hung out listening to a band. Hmm. Is this a sign my kid will be a groupie?

Since it is Employee Survey time, I was thinking about feedback in general and it brought me back to my MBA days. The last class is Capstone, where you bring together all the learnings from the previous 2-4 years (it was a part-time program).

We formed teams who we stayed with through the entire semester. We worked together on assignments and on project deliverables. We had a well-rounded group, a product manager, a finance guy, and two engineers who wanted to be business people.

We split the work according to everyone’s strong suit. We would give the product manager industry analysis stuff and the finance guy finance stuff, etc. On the first assignment we realized we had a problem with the finance guy. He could not put a sentence together nor communicate a coherent thought. We had to rewrite his stuff at the 11th hour.

We gave him feedback. He needed to structure his thoughts, he need to proofread, he need to spell check.For the next assignment, what he submitted was brilliant: well formed ideas and arguments, but the transitions were a little rocky. Turns out he was plagiarizing. He cut and pasted text from a financial analysis on the web. We had to rewrite his portion again at the 11th hour. The rest of the team was livid.

We gave him feedback. He can’t steal other people’s ideas. He needs to give credit where credit was due. He needed to be honest with us. We were his team. After that, he rarely showed up to our team meetings. We ended up doing his share of the work in anticipation of the crap he would deliver or not deliver at all.

At the end of the semester, we were asked to rate each team member on a scale of 1-5. I wanted to give him a 1. My other team member, great guy, highly respect, he’s a VP at a network security outfit now, convinced me to do otherwise. Life is too short to screw another person over. The worst that would happen is this guy doesn’t pass the class and won’t graduate. Do I want that on my conscience. And it’s not like my rating of 1 was being delivered along side constructive critism. I gave him a 3.

To this day I conflicted. What was the right thing for me to do? I feel a 3 was way more than he deserved. But I felt it unfair to blindside him with a 1. Would I have been more justified had I told him I was giving him a 1 and why?

It’s the time of year when Sun goes to the employees and survey us on our immediate managers and how we feel about being Sun employees. There are challenges to working anywhere, but I have to say that the upside for working at Sun greatly outweighs the downside.

We are respected as individuals and expected to have an opinion and dissent when we disagree. But we all support the ultimate decision because we were heard. I know that a lot depends on the behavior and management style of your chain of management, but I think in general this is true. Certainly for my 5 years of experience at Sun.

I also love that management treats us like adults and allows us to work from home. They don’t feel the need to account for every hour of our days. It is about results, whether we work from 8-5 or need to split your day up to take the kid to the doctor or go to the post office to get stamps.

Net-net. I love Sun and I love working at Sun.

My friend Jean is finally one of the Borg. She posted her first blog entry about a week ago and already has second one up. Welcome, Jean!