Posted 10:47 AM by Andy

I’m chilling warmly in my Torrance pad, with my year almost over. In hindsight, the trials and tribulations I endured served to make me stronger.

Work. My next gig was officially finalized on December 1. After consulting Albert, who happened to be an insider at eBay, on negotiating tactics, I accepted the offer from eBay to work as a product manager at their Shanghai site. I asked for and received a signing bonus. I’m really relieved because I will be going into a much more dynamic and interesting industry that promises to equip me for future ventures. I was also thrown a curve-ball during the resignation process from SMIC. The norm at the firm is to resign a month in advance of your actual last day of employment. I submitted my resignation the same afternoon I signed my offer sheet. Apparently word had already leaked so my manager calmly accepted the fact of my impending departure. I requested to leave at the end of the month and take vacation in the interim. Unbeknownst to me, HR changed my last day to December 7. I was not informed of this decision until I called HR on December 6. The basic motivation for HR’s decision is to save the firm money as they would avoid having to pay me a year-end bonus. I would also lose a batch of options that would vest on January 1, 2006. Eric, a HR director at Honeywell, advised me to examine my employment agreement. When I asked my HR department for the agreement, they were scared of a lawsuit and consulted my manager on how to proceed. My manager decided to back me and so I got the exit date I originally requested. From this episode, I’ve gotten wiser to the labor laws in China (2 weeks standard resignation notice, possible same day termination if the employee in question is defecting to a direct competitor), as well as how best to resign (resign the day you are ready to leave.) All I need to do is return my keys at the end of the month before this chapter at SMIC is officially closed. I’m thankful that I have some time to relax before the tempest starts again with eBay in January.

Recreation. In recent days, gym time has been increasingly more difficult to attain for basketball so I’ve reverted to that other venerable sport of table tennis for my exercise and fun. My strength is defense. My forehand slam is decent and my spin-serve is average. In my own assessment, I’m above average in my office league versus Jeff, Jim, Carlos, and Jeff. I finished my rookie fantasy football season in sixth place out of twelve, losing in the first round of the playoffs. I’m sitting in the middle of the pack in basketball, having sparked the most controversy and debate with my trade of Kobe and Nick Collison for Lamar Odom and Ricky Davis. Last week, I hosted SMIC’s Christmas party. I declined participating in the SMIC Idol singing contest, as well as performing in the Christmas program for a lack of preparation time. My co-host and I practiced a lot to make our witty repartee on stage seem natural and enable our two shows to be a success. One night I ran into Felix at Guandii unwittingly. It happened to be his birthday so chilled with his friends at the lounge. I hope someday that would be true (registering recognition) everywhere I go in Shanghai. Last week I took Situ, Wang Qi, and Tang Lin out to a karaoke and clubbing session to thank Situ for her help during my tenure at SMIC.

Friends. I’ve met a litany of new people including Sam Y, Ben H, Steve C in recent days. I also hung out with and may end up living with Simien, Wai’s friend from Syracuse. I chatted with Julie W and Angelia briefly on Thanksgiving weekend over brunch. I met up with Pui, Flo, and Jenn M last week. Pui disclosed his plans to run his father’s investment fund in Hong Kong, trading pubic equities from China. If things go well, he can retire at 35. I met up with Greg and other friends at his graduation show at Art Center on Friday. Yesterday I saw James, Cherene, and Christine off to Shanghai at the airport. It’s too bad our schedules almost exactly criss-cross so I will miss their time in China. I’m undecided whether to go up to the Bay area since my time in the US is so limited.

Books. The reading list this winter includes Fooled by Randomness, Fortune’s Formula, The Search, Cosa Nostra, Why Do I Love These People, and the Political Genius of Lincoln. Topics cover the nature of risk and randomness in the markets and life, the search industry and Google’s evolution, history of the Sicilian mafia, Po Bronson’s sketches of various family relationships, and Lincoln’s political savvy.

Next time: moving to a new apartment at Longyang, starting a new job downtown, expanding my social network.