Turns out the landscapes people paint in oil paintings are just everyday scenery in Xinjiang. ⛰️✨ #Xinjiang# #Nature# #Landscape# #Travel# #Dreamlike# #Chinalife# #myhome# #photography#

Blue skies drifting into endless clouds, rivers singing through the valleys, and emerald mountains sleeping beneath the summer wind. 🌿✨ #Nature# #Landscape# #Dreamlike# #Peaceful# #Travel# #Chinalife# #myhome# #mountain# #poetrytwitter#

My work setup: Company Windows PC on me at all times when traveling. MacBook Pro docked on my home desk with access to a cloud drive that lives on both systems, and syncs in real-time. At all times, I have full access to my work drive from dispatch. During any given travel week, I can fully manipulate any work files from my work PC or my cellphone by remote controlling my always-on MacBook Pro. Doesn’t matter if I’m posted up in the hotel room, or walking through an airport terminal. I can always do desktop level productivity tasks now. Having an always-on machine at your home base is a must now IMO. Just a total friction remover.

During my first month in the United States, I had to send an urgent document to immigration. My English was fragile, rigid, and terrified. At the post office, the counter clerk asked three routine shipping questions. My mind went blank. The words turned to stone in my throat. I couldn't understand her dialect. Behind me, eight people were waiting in line during their lunch break. In my home culture, holding up a line is a sin worthy of exile. Sweat poured down my spine. I was trembling, about to grab my envelope and flee out the glass doors. The clerk, a tall Black woman with silver glasses named Brenda, looked at my hands, softened her voice, and reached across the counter to touch my wrist. 'Look at me, honey,' she said gently. 'Breathe. Take all the time you need. Nobody behind you is going anywhere.' I looked back. Not a single person in line was huffing or checking their watch. An older man in a baseball cap gave me a patient, reassuring smile. That was the day I realized American impatience is a myth. When a human being is struggling, they build a wall of patience around you.