As some of you know, Melanie and I are planning on going to [Bali](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bali), Indonesia, for the Chinese National Day holiday. On Saturday, October 1, Bali was hit by a string of bombings. Read [this Wikipedia entry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_Bali_bombings) for more details. At the point, we are still planning on going; our date and time of departure (from Beijing) is Monday, October 3, 7:50AM (+0800 GMT).

I’ve got a problem with this whole celebrity public reaction to this Hurricane Katrina mess. First of all, a disclaimer - as with most people, I am saddened by the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina - both to people’s lives and to their property. It is a horrible event, and I feel for those who have been affected, both directly and indirectly. Now, to my rant. Some celebrities are using this disaster as a publicity stunt.

Longmenjian Gully Originally uploaded by chrisdrum. Photo Set Here - Two weekends ago, we went on our annual company outing. This time, to Mentougou County, about 3 hours north west of downtown Beijing. My photos only consist of the Longmenjian Gully and campfire portions as I missed Sunday’s activities due to having a noon flight to the states. But, I did get out of more hiking in hot weather. Enjoy the pics.

Howdy y’all. Ok, sorry. I am in Austin, Texas for the next two weeks. On business. It is nice to be back in the states for a short time. The project I am working on is progressing as planned (after day one…). I plan on buying a few gadgets here and there, so I imagine my credit card bill will cause some heart burn. I haven’t had a chance to visit the downtown area of Austin yet, but I will definitely visit in the next few days.

IMG_1637.JPG Originally uploaded by chrisdrum. Well, it seems to be a tradition of mine. Whenever I go to the U.S. on business, and I take my powerbook, it somehow gets damaged. This time - at the company outing the night before my flight. I had my powerbook in the computer bag over my sholder, stepped on a loose rock around the fire pit, it moved, I fell on the bag.

$50 iBooks cause stampede! Source: The Unofficial Apple Weblog Wow, I am truly amazed. People will go to this much trouble to get their hands on a 4 year old Apple iBook. People: It’s 4 years old! Come on! Don’t give me the BS answer/excuse “oh, I don’t have a computer” blah blah. 4 years old. 4 Years Old! 4 YEARS OLD!!! If I were one of the idiots who decided to camp out at, say, 4am, and I saw that many many more people have camped out for several hours earlier, I think I would have enough sense to say “Screw it” and go home to sleep.