I find it interesting that when one attains a certain position in a company, one can haul off and yawn in one-on-one meetings whenever one feels like it. By "one", I mean "not me" because as a peon in corporate America, I have not had meetings with people whom I out-rank. Just this last week, though, I had 2 meetings with VPs at my new company, and both of them were apparently sleep deprived and had forgotten to take their Provigil. So they yawned six or seven times. The implication is that they have been slaving away at their jobs and haven't had time to sleep. In reality, they probably stayed up because they wanted to see Oprah on Letterman. The hard thing about big-wigs yawning is that yawns are contagious. Just by seeing one, or hearing a yawn-moan, or writing about yawns, one tends to yawn (heck, I'm yawning right now). This, however, is unacceptable behavior for small fry like me. It's ironic that if anyone should be sleepy, it's the guy who just pulled an all-nighter to get the presentation ready for the (yawning) execs. I hadn't pulled an all-nighter before these meetings, and was able to suppress.

An anecdote illustrating the importance of marketing: In going to a Japanese restaurant this week, I remembered how two foods that are exactly the same can be perceived in very different ways. For example, Billy-Bob can walk into the local greasy spoon and order pounded, breaded pork deep-fat fried in lard with onion rings. A yuppie can go to the local Japanese food joint, and ask for Tonkatsu with Tempura and get the exact same thing. Both can feel that their food selection is consistent with their own self-image. Great that international cuisine can be so accommodating.

This last week, I went out surfing. Because the waves were really small, I had some time to think. One thing that occurred to me is that boards are really fragile equipment. Here are some things that can be hazardous to a board's health: sun, saltwater, rocks, reef, sand, and heat. These are also the basic ingredients of surfing. It's like having a baseball bat that degrades in the presence of pine tar, skoal, and Stanozolol.

So my family's gone this week and next enjoying sunny Hawaii, while I am stuck in sunny San Diego. This may not seem like a crock to you, but the fact that all the Ohkis are gathered for the annual family reunion there makes me mad that I can't go (gotta work). It's strange that when my family is gone, I turn into a totally different person, not unlike the guy to the left. It's hard to explain, but here are some symptoms:

• Inability to leave TV off
• Affinity for otherwise objectionable hard rock bands like Creed
• Aggressive driving
• Inadvisable purchasing behavior (Jack LaLane Juicer was lookin' good yesterday)
• Bizarre eating patterns

An episode which occurred mere hours after my family left: Upon returning home Friday night, I ate 9 frozen cookie dough balls Marie (unwisely) left in the freezer, washed them down with some milk (swig taken straight from jug), watched basketball and went to bed.

Enough for today.