Woon Yen's Blog

2007-08-12T17:42:00.000-07:00

2007-06-09T05:46:00.000-07:00

I sent an email (for text see below), to both of my Senators today urging them to get back to reforming immigration. The point I am trying to make is that delay in reform has the effect of slowing the growth of the American economy and speeding up the off-shoring of US jobs to other countries.

I'm actually not sure whether the bill's passage helps Nicola, our daughter who is an immigration lawer in Raleigh NC, but I am hopeful it will help the US economy as well as immigrants present and future, documented and undocumented.

Text: I was deeply disappointed in the Senate's failure to move ahead with immigration reform. I would urge you to get back to the immigration debate yet this summer, compromising where necessary, to get it done.

The presence of 12 million undocumented immigrants in this country coupled with our very low national unemployment rate is ample evidence that our country's economy is big enough to have them come out of the shadows. The continuing flow of immigrants legal as well as undocumented, combined with a massively oversubscribed demand for work visas of all types is further evidence that our economy wants to grow even faster. Yet our economy's growth is being held back by our antiquated immigration laws and today's quotas compounded by the failure of our elected officials to reform the immigration laws. Failure to provide enough workers here directly speeds up the off-shoring of those jobs to other countries.

Sir, please get back to the debate this summer and reform the immigration law.

I was also deeply disappointed in the bipartisan finger-pointing that followed the voting on cloture. Please turn those fingers to the future, and say "That's where we are going, together", and not at each other complaining "She's the reason I can't get where I want to go".

2007-05-19T10:01:00.000-07:00

Nicola's blog on immigration issues has become active again - which is good to hear a reasoned view since we will hear a lot of huffing and puffing from Washington on the issue as it is discussed in Congress again. Today she disucsses the new points system and disagrees with AILA's negative stance on the proposed points system, arguing that it actually works pretty well in other countries.

2007-05-19T09:58:00.000-07:00

Take time to have a look at the progress with the 100 homes in 100 days project in Pascagoula, Mississippi, where the target is to build or renovate 100 homes in 100 days - ending on July 4th, 2007. They are at a halfway point and have made great progress.

2007-04-28T06:09:00.000-07:00

Well, we are all looking forward to next weekend when our favorite immigration lawyer from Raleigh NC will be coming home with Andy for their engagement party. The garden normally would look great at this time of year, but we have had a weird spring. After leaves on the trees started coming out in March when Spring came early with 80 degree temperatures, we then had five nights of temperatures well below freezing - killed al the young leaves on our Japanese Maple and many of the leaves on the regular maples too (I'll post pics later). Still, who am I to complain: farmers around here lost all their winter wheat which was at a particularly delicate stage when the frosts came.

2007-02-12T11:20:00.000-08:00

It is now almost exactly a year since Nicola became an immigration lawyer in Raleigh, NC. I am so proud of her progress - and I think her clients too are happy with the speed and accuracy with which she expedites their cases.

2006-11-20T20:25:00.000-08:00

We have just laid down some Turkish ceramic tiles in our sitting room - I'll post some photos later. A friend our ours from Bowling Green, KY imports them from Turkey. Very pleased with the result - and easy to keep clean. Of course we turned the house upside down to clear the sitting room, but will have everything back in place for a house full of people at Thanksgiving.

2006-10-22T20:56:00.000-07:00

Check out this website for "Hope Has a Face Foundation". Guy's former colleague, Keith Canfield, left his job as VP of Marketing for PIC to start this foundation whose objective is to locate donors and secure funding for post-Katrina rebuilding projects on the Gulf Coast. The web-site explains the type of project he is focusing on. He will shortly be bringing out an up-market catalog of projects that need funding and will be mailing it nationwide. He also is setting up interviews on TV talk shows around the country as a way to bring attention to these worthy projects. More power to Keith - worth spreading the word about his web-site and its objectives!

2006-10-16T21:17:00.000-07:00

I was amazed by the news the other day that Google had bought YouTube for $1.6 billion. It caused me to visit YouTube for the first time - and I found it very additctive. I was happy to find there a recent music video from our long-time Brazilian friend, Glaucia Nasser. She is developing a singing career, and this video clip (Balanco Zona Sul) is the most-played song from her second CD, Bem Demais.

2006-10-16T21:06:00.000-07:00

We spent an enjoyable weekend in Raleigh last weekend, visiting Anna and Chris, Nicola and Andy, as well as Jennifer who was also visiting her brother and sister; the whole family together. Main reason for going was to check out Chris and Anna's very nice new home that they have just bought. You can see some pictures of their new home here.

2006-09-16T21:30:00.000-07:00

The Brickyard in Franklin opened for business August 1, 2006! Here are a couple of pictures showing the first loaves of bread baked at the restaurant, and a table of guests on a "test night" that we ran just before we opened.

In September we expanded service to include lunch as well as dinner.

2006-07-25T11:47:00.000-07:00

The inspector did not let us open the Brickyard today - problems with the HVAC. After great excitement, with the full staff called in, and friends called to be the first to eat at the Brickyard this evening. the inspector did not allow the restaurant to open until further work was done on the HVAC and electrics. This is a picture of the manager (me), the owner (Robert), and the executive chef (Zack) praying that the HVAC passes inspection next week ...... Below are some pictures that illustrate our disappointment and the emptiness we feel

2006-07-25T11:42:00.000-07:00

... the empty bar ...
... the empty restaurant ...
... no guests in the private dining room ...
... exhausted staff ...

2006-07-11T09:07:00.000-07:00

Nicola has just set up her own blog Nicola Prall's Blog that contains much thoughtful comment about immigration law and immigration attorneys. Nicola has her own practice in Raleigh, NC.

2006-02-27T05:29:00.000-08:00

Nicola is setting up her own law practice for immigration law. She is based in Raleigh, North Carolina (NC). Some time I will learn the difference between "Attorney" and "Lawyer", or maybe there isn't one, but whatever it is she is an "attorney-at-law" - and interestingly signs herself as "Esquire" - which she then demonstrated to me is a perfectly appropriate descriptor for an attorney. So she works at things like getting immigrants, workers, and visitors the right visa or naturalization process - and she is very good at what she does, very successful.

2006-02-27T04:03:00.000-08:00

Save the NCCC from budget cuts!

The Americorps budget request that President Bush recently submitted to Congress - see the NCCC Fiscal 2007 Statement and additional links - proposes the total elimination of the NCCC program. This is short-sighted and unneccessary, especially in view of the real good that the program achieves at such a low cost.

The NCCC is a $26 million dollar a year program that improves the lives of thousands of disadvantaged Americans across this nation. In addition, the Government has recently shown strong evidence that the young (18 - 24 year old) adults who actually do the work become better and more involved citizens in later life, being more likely to participate in civic or volunteer groups in their lives after Americorps.

And the proposed savings? The annual cost of Americorps*NCCC? Just three hours of what we the taxpayers (and our children and grandchildren) are spending in the Iraq War. Three hours. Congress has appropriated $251 billion dollars for this war which will soon reach its third anniversary. That equates to $9.5 million dollars per hour, every hour. For goodness sake let's spend that money doing something good in America and save the Americorps*NCCC program.

What can you do? Write your congressman and senator and point out the facts and ask him to save the Americorps*NCCC program from being eliminated.

2005-05-03T19:17:00.000-07:00

Table arrangement with flowers from the garden - alas, only a few Lilies of the Valley are in bloom but the tulips and Helleborus were magnificient

2005-05-03T19:16:00.001-07:00

Cake cutting - it was so....yummy

2005-05-03T19:16:00.000-07:00

Guy making a speech/toast to Mr and Mrs Newman - what a happy evening , the laptop showed pictures of their wedding at Cibolo Creek on March 26

2005-05-03T19:14:00.000-07:00

Scott and Leslie with some guests - drinks and appetisers of lamb phyllo pastries, goat cheese with sundried tomatoes, green tomatillo salsa with guacomole on the patio followed dinner of chicken satay, spicy crab cakes, sauteed fresh shitake and oyster mushroom, asparagus , pasta with walnuts and cognac.

2005-05-03T19:13:00.000-07:00

Wedding cake I made for Newmans' party at home-a tres leches ( three milk) cake filled with whipped cream and raspberries, decorated with white azaleas

2005-05-03T19:09:00.000-07:00

I love this view from the kitchen window - the birds enjoy playing in the birdbath and perching on the espalier

2005-05-03T19:07:00.001-07:00

These white tulips were humongous - the flowers measured 3-4"

2005-05-03T19:07:00.000-07:00

more pictures of double tulips and aquilegia -I had planted 200 bulbs last Fall !!

2005-05-03T19:06:00.000-07:00

some very happy goldfish a-swimming...under the bridge that Guy built

2005-05-03T19:05:00.000-07:00

These double tulips when in full bloom look like peonies

2005-05-03T19:04:00.000-07:00

apple espalier in full bloom -looks like we will have a bounty of Golden Delicious this summer

2005-05-03T18:59:00.000-07:00

The garden in May with the apple espalier in the backgroundl

2005-02-15T05:09:00.000-08:00

We trimmed some trees this last weekend - they were overgrown and had lost some branches during the Christmas ice-storm. The cherry-picker arm can extend over 60 feet above the ground.

2005-01-23T17:15:00.000-08:00

Tsunami fundraiser:We held a tsunami fundraiser on Saturday January 22nd. We had a short presentation on Sri Lanka by Lali Abeydeera , followed by a short presentation on the geology and mechanics behind tsunamis, by Margaret Crowder . This was then followed by a dinner of roti( Indian bread) , Sri Lankan lentil curry,chicken satay, Thai pork vegetable stirfry, chicken briyani, white rice,Kentucky BBQ, baked ham, salads and homemade desserts. Many many people helped in the preparation in so many ways. Over 150 people actually came to the dinner, and we have raised over $13,450 which included 3 donations of $1,600 each which is the cost of building a transitional Habitat house in Sri Lanka. The local elementary school and middle school are having their own fundraisers to add to the pot. Jennifer Prall burned a CD of a song written and played on a guiter by an Americorps colleague, raised $145 to this effort with the $5 perCD sale. All proceeds will go to the home rebuilding efforts of Habitat for Humanity in Sri Lanka and in Indonesia. It was wonderful to see how this effort brought together so many different people and groups. When I commented how heartwarming it was to see young people coming forth voluntarily to be part of this effort of helping others , Phil Dutille's comment was " ah, the Yenettes .... !!! "

2005-01-23T17:14:00.000-08:00

Guy preparing the coals for grilling the satay

2005-01-23T17:13:00.000-08:00

The beginning of the "fort" to fend off 18 degree temp as the wind picked up.

2005-01-23T17:12:00.001-08:00

Linda trying to warm up a cup of hot cocoa as Guy prepares more charcoal for the satay - they grilled abt 400 skewers of chicken satay which took longer than usual because of the freezing temps. Take note of the snow on the hood of the car and the blanket Guy rigged up billowing in the freezing wind on the left.

2005-01-23T17:12:00.000-08:00

Linda Knight cooking satays - note wind chilled nose - as the opera AIDA was blasting away . The opera did not do much to keep the grillmasters warm but the handwarmers, hot tea, hot cocoa and hipflask helped!! Take a guess on the wind chill factor....

2005-01-23T17:11:00.000-08:00

Donna Houston -mastering art of Thai stir fry

2005-01-23T17:09:00.000-08:00

Tsunami Fundraiser: Phil Dutille cooking the sliced pork on the hotplate to add to the Thai-stir-fry

2005-01-23T17:08:00.000-08:00

Sarah Wakefield and Ginny Hain getting the veggies together by recipe portions for Donna with Craig Tuck in the background observing the art of stirfry. The kitchen help was very efficient working assemby line fashion, chopping veggies, skewering satays, etc..

2005-01-23T16:36:00.000-08:00

Cleaning up after dinner in the kitchen. Gayla Coates in the pink shirt came up with the location ie. the Methodist Church which has a huge fellowship hall and a commercial kitchen with lots and lots of counterspace - much needed and well utilised indeed.

2005-01-02T17:16:00.000-08:00

Christmas lunch, 2005. The family plus friends (from left to right), Leslie Schecter, Alan Emsley, and Scott Newman. But where's Guy?

2005-01-02T17:15:00.000-08:00

Guy, happy with his new router - expect his gifts next year to be suitably routed ...

2005-01-01T14:49:00.001-08:00

We had a white Christmas thanks to the ice storm and very cold weather. Chris, Nicola, and Jennifer were all able to be with us, but, sadly, the weather made it impossible for Woon Mei and Joe to travel from Cleveland to be here with us.

2005-01-01T14:49:00.000-08:00

We had an ice storm two days before Christmas. It coated evertthing with ice. It also left us with about a dozen broken branches, no phone service, and no cable/internet access for about a week.

2004-12-05T21:30:00.000-08:00

The new kitchen

2004-12-05T21:01:00.000-08:00

We said goodbye to Arthur this year

2004-12-05T20:59:00.002-08:00

Proteas ...

2004-12-05T20:59:00.001-08:00

Proteas in a display

2004-12-05T20:58:00.003-08:00

Another boutonniere

2004-12-05T20:58:00.002-08:00

Boutonniere

2004-12-05T20:58:00.001-08:00

Flowers at Bob Bridges wedding

2004-12-05T20:58:00.000-08:00

Flowers at Bob Bridges wedding

2004-12-05T20:57:00.000-08:00

Jennifer turned 21 this year, and we celebrated with a dinner at the Wild Boar in Nashville

2004-12-05T20:56:00.000-08:00

We also had a graduation party in the garden - here, in a rather blurred picture, is Jennifer wih two of her very good friends, Janine and Suzie

2004-12-05T20:55:00.000-08:00

Chris was in charge of the satays at Jennifer's party. And that's Anna, Chris' girlfriend behind him

2004-12-05T19:29:00.000-08:00

Autumn leaves from the Japanese maple tree fallen on the bridge and zen garden that occupied so much time this Spring to design and build

2004-12-05T19:27:00.000-08:00

Guy's Dad at Natural Bridge, KY

2004-12-05T19:26:00.000-08:00

Guy's Dad, at the Shaker Village in Pleasantville, KY

2004-12-05T19:24:00.000-08:00

Guy's Dad and all of us outside the house on a beautiful end-of-November afternoon

2004-09-28T11:14:00.000-07:00

The soapbox supporting democratic free speechers

2004-08-29T12:47:00.000-07:00

We are helping organize volunteers to elect John Kerry and other Democrats this November. This is the booth we set up at the Franklin Antique Car show

2004-06-01T19:59:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day Weekend - We borrowed a friend's house and pontoon boat for the long Memorial Day weekend. Really relaxing. The pontoon boat can hold up to 16 people. Guy and Jennifer are preparing the boat.

2004-06-01T19:52:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day Weekend - Hmm a bad hair day, but then who cares when you are on the lake!

2004-06-01T19:49:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day Weekend - Nicola and Leigh taking it easy at the front of the boat

2004-06-01T19:47:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day Weekend - Guy falling out of the Speedster after it hit a wave

2004-06-01T19:44:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day on the Lake - Scott and Leslie in the Speedster!

2004-06-01T19:43:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day on Barren River Lake. Jennifer proved herself to be a very good boat driver.

2004-05-17T19:59:00.000-07:00

Jennifer the Graduate - curtsying after graduation! Well, goofing around, really! Jennifer will begin work with Americorps in October. Read abt it at www.americorp.org and she will be part of Americorp*NCCC

2004-05-17T19:58:00.000-07:00

Jennifer waiting to graduate; there were about 15,000 people in The Quad what with students, facutly, and loads of relatives

2004-05-17T19:57:00.000-07:00

The graduate with her family. Happily we were all able to be there - Nicola drove in from Lexington, and Chris flew in from Cleveland. Happy Day. Because of the expected crowd and the heat of the day, Guy was waiting in line to get a good seat by 5:45 a.m. - and there were about 100 people ahead of him - but we got good seats!

2004-05-17T19:55:00.000-07:00

Jennifer shaking the hand of Secretary of State Colin Powell who was the speaker at graduation

2004-05-17T19:53:00.000-07:00

Jennifer and Pi Beta Phi sorority sisters celebrating at graduation weekend

2004-05-17T19:51:00.000-07:00

Jennifer's Graduation weekend - The End. Jennifer, we had a great weekend, and loved spending time with you, your friends and their families. The four house mates - graduated - all about to go their separate ways after spending four years together. :(

2004-05-11T20:20:00.000-07:00

Nicola's a Lawyer!! Chris snapped this picture from a few steps above Nic just after she received her certificate. Nicola will be joining an immmigration law firm, Chapman Law Firm ( www.chapman-immig.com )in Greensboro, North Carolina end of August.Yeah,congratulations, daughter,JD.

2004-05-11T20:19:00.000-07:00

The Law Graduate: Goofing around while waiting to walk the line. All those years of studying - this is almost surreal!

2004-05-11T20:02:00.000-07:00

Graduation and Friends. Two new lawyers. Real smiles of happiness and relief - "we survived!"

2004-05-11T20:00:00.000-07:00

Graduation Day at UK Law School. The sun was so bright all our eyes are squinnied up. But no denying we were all happy about the graduation and the fact that all the family could be there - Chris drove in from Ohio, and Jennifer drove in from North Carolina. Happy Day!

2004-05-11T19:57:00.000-07:00

The new lawyer talking to her Mum and her professor just after graduation.

2004-05-11T19:51:00.000-07:00

Graduation Parties. Another picture taken at Spindletop Hall. After this our family all went to have Sushi at a Japanese restaurant. Christopher had booked us into a hotel (to get us out of the way, I think) while they all went off to party elsewhere into the night.

2004-05-10T20:23:00.000-07:00

The Bridge. Below this posting are several pictures documenting the saga of the building of the bridge over the goldfish pond!

2004-05-10T20:22:00.000-07:00

The Bridge: This is the pond that needs to be bridged.

2004-05-10T20:21:00.000-07:00

The Bridge: Guy made the bridge support by bending four one-inch planks in an arc, gluing and clamping them together.

2004-05-10T20:19:00.000-07:00

The Bridge: Guy cut the sandwich of bent planks lengthwise into three, giving three equal shaped curved supports to the bridge.

2004-05-10T19:18:00.000-07:00

The Bridge: He secured the three girders together to give them greater rigidity. (There were a few extra screws too, just in case the Gorilla glue did not hold the sandwich together too well).

2004-05-10T19:17:00.000-07:00

The Bridge: Marking out the dimensions of the bridge, preparing to dig the foundations.

2004-05-10T19:15:00.000-07:00

The Bridge: Finally setting the framework of the bridge into the ground.

2004-05-10T19:10:00.000-07:00

The Bridge: Nailing the planks in place.

2004-05-10T19:01:00.000-07:00

The Bridge: Finished, and feeding the fish!

2004-03-27T20:19:00.000-08:00

My 50th: Wasn't I sweet? This is the picture that Guy put on the invitation to the party

2004-03-27T20:06:00.001-08:00

My 50th: Woon Mei and Jennifer in the kitchen

2004-03-27T20:06:00.000-08:00

My 50th: Enjoying a joke with Pat

2004-03-27T20:05:00.001-08:00

My 50th: Father and son

2004-03-27T20:05:00.000-08:00

My 50th: Sitting around the log fire we had going all evening

2004-03-27T20:04:00.000-08:00

My 50th:Nancy and Scott. Scott helped Guy not only on the day of the party but helped out with food as well as, weeks before, with addressing invitation envelopes

2004-03-27T20:02:00.000-08:00

My 50th: Sarah and Nancy at the bountiful spread

2004-03-27T20:01:00.000-08:00

My 50th: Lots of different people helped Guy out with food preparation and flower decoration

2004-03-27T19:59:00.000-08:00

My 50th: Woon Mei (and Joe too) was a wonderful surprise visitor. She's here with Nicola and Lora

2004-03-27T19:58:00.000-08:00

My 50th: The temperature that evening was perfect allowing us to sit outside until late at night even though it was still March

2004-03-27T15:30:00.000-08:00

Woon Yen's 50th Birthday: Here I am arriving for the party (with Guy), photo taken through a cloud of barbeque smoke. More pictures and comments to follow later.

2004-03-26T23:16:00.000-08:00

Uncle Joe enjoying Christopher's satay

2004-03-26T12:36:00.000-08:00

This is an experiment to see if I can direct Google search to suggest, first off, our company web site. I am trying to get several sites to use this HTML code that will impact a search for Crossbred Breeding Value - CBV

2004-03-11T19:56:00.001-08:00

Flowers