Sea Change

I can't believe it's May already. Almost half of the year is over. Where did the time go?

I am having such a tough year. First, a husband of a friend of mine died late last year. My uncle (by marriage) died from lung cancer in February. Now, I just found out one of my close female friend is dying from lung cancer. Prognosis is not good, they are giving her 8 months to live - this is with chemo and radiation treatment. Prolonging life so that she can get her business in order. Her husband is also in his last stage of cancer. He had it for about 2 years now. I have 2 other female friends with breast cancer! Goodness. I feel blessed everyday to be healthy and alive.

On to other business. I've been doing some art business with a lady in Vietnam. She is wonderful. I like her so much, but I tell you, I'm thoroughly frustrated with the process of doing business. For example, I asked how long will it take to complete the business transaction. She said 10 days. After 10 days, it's not done correctly, so I ask her to correct it. Here it is 9 weeks and many phone calls later, it's still not done. I have already sent her a 50% deposit for the work.

I would like to see the small businesses in Vietnam thrive. It's because my business is not urgent that I can wait for this young lady, but if I was a general business here, I wouldn't have returned after this happened the first time. In the US, a business can not survive like that. I see this with many of the small businesses in Vietnam. I hope she can get it together soon.