User Comments - pretzellogic

Posted on: Hang Up and Ride!

yes, I know, I overdid it.  And to think I still didn't find the lesson using "for the upteenth time, please clean up your mess".

Posted on: Warm Winter Clothes

bodawei, never heard the term "trackie dacks" before, but if you're referring to track suits, then these are the suits that I see kids wearing as school uniforms?  I still see them wearing these things in 30 degree weather. I hope they're wearing 2 sets of long underwear under them.

Posted on: Hang Up and Ride!

some related cleaning, and getting the 7 yr old to help

Posted on: Hang Up and Ride!

for when the kid starts eating off the floor (maybe your 7 yr old won't do this);

Posted on: Hang Up and Ride!

for when the kid starts hitting you and others:

Posted on: Hang Up and Ride!

and these are good when you want to tell your kid, "throw that away!" and other phrases.

Posted on: Hang Up and Ride!

Here are some more family related lessons, courtesy of calkins:

Posted on: Pirates under attack!

A pirate lesson. Give cpod and staff an A for creativity. Hopefully, this is the kind of fun lesson that inspires newbies to subscribe for a whole year.

And I like how the pirate looks like Captain Feathersword.

Fisticuffs? I'm looking forward to working that word into everyday conversation. Maybe with a taxi driver in Beijing.  Or the waiter who brings me cappuccino instead of a latte. Fisticuffs.  I suppose its easier than saying "we need to open up a can of whoop-ass on Hua Mei".

Teeny nits:

- It looks like no one writing this dialogue was ever in the Navy, Chinese, US or otherwise. Remember, a "boat" is something that can be taken aboard a SHIP :) (oh, submarines excepted)

- Turn the rudder is better said like "come to starboard" or "120 degrees port". need compass headings here.

Posted on: The Dragonfly Experience

Overall, I thought this was a nice interview.  Some points:

My going in perception of Dragonfly would have been that it was replicating what the spa experience is like in the US.  And I would agree, it's very different from what the typical Chinese massage outfit is doing.  But the way it comes out in the interview, it's sounds as if Randal and his partner were saying,"we've done the heavy lifting around analyzing competitor positioning, strength, customer base, market opportunity and so on", then then the spa idea fell out of all that, rather than starting with, "let's replicate the western idea of a spa experience, and we will rule China".  Maybe this is a chicken and egg problem, but I think that would have been helpful to have a bit more clarity on. 

I guess it would also be interesting from a business/human interest standpoint to hear ultimately how much risk was Randal taking to come to China with his wife and family.  Without going into a lot of personal detail, was the decision to come to China easy for Randal and his wife because they had a giant nest egg to make things work here, and if the first couple of ventures failed, it was no big deal? Or they were down to their last 500 RMB, and then they fell into what became Dragonfly, but there was a lot of ramen noodle breakfasts, lunches and dinners between when Dragonfly started and now? 

By the way, when did Dragonfly start?  Did the venture experience meteoric growth, or was it one store for the first 5 years and then just blossomed? Has the company always been profitable? Is it profitable? How many employees?  Did they  have to take loans to grow, or was it all personally financed by the partners? If they got loans, who did they get them from? How many partners are there? What is Randal actually responsible for at Dragonfly? Marketing? Operations? Business Development? How has his skill set expanded? What was he not good at that was exposed in helping Dragonfly grow? It would have been interesting to have some color around the company's evolution. 

It was definitely good to hear about the challenges facing the company, and how Dragonfly had to resort to training its own people in order to ensure the quality of the customer experience.

I guess the good business idea is that someone could always found a business selling stuff to expats things expats miss from home and can't get here in China.  But somehow, if there is a difference between the simple statement I just made, and what Randal and his team have actually created, that needs to be brought up and highlighted.  

Lastly, when was Randal in the Canadian Navy? or rather what period? Was he in NORAD while he was in?

Posted on: Hot Pot Chitchat

dwfndley, sadly, I don't know who sells Mary Kay in Beijing, but I swear by the acne treatment I received from some Mary Kay salesperson.  Cleared up my 16 year old skin in about 2 weeks.  Girlfriends were a different problem that took me another decade to sort of almost-not-quite-get a handle on.  Good luck to you.