Author: stlplace

Categories
advice and tips

The insurances one must buy in the USA 我们在美国必须买的保险

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还有再加上保险里面的一些坑。

Must buy 必须买的保险

Healthcare insurance, better include dental and vision too. Without healthcare insurance, it’s much harder to get needed medical care, should you or your family need it. This actually happened to one of my friends. And I believe the friend probably died from the disease because of that: lack of insurance, and delay of the needed medical care.

Life insurance: please note for most people, term life is good enough. It’s better to buy this outside work because this way we got protected when we switch jobs. Note sometimes the benefits at new workplace doesn’t kick in immediately (it happened to me actually).

Note for life insurance, most US employers offer some life insurance under a group plan – it usually doesn’t require a physical etc. The only thing needed for employee is to “opt-in” during the open enrollment period (usually in November). Once I had a former colleague (he is younger than me) who unexpected died, and upon further examination, company benefits people cannot find the record that he “opt-in”. It was a sad story for his wife and his parents (in addition to losing him).

Car insurance: besides the required liability insurance, it’s best to buy the comprehensive (including collision) too. If the premium is high, you may raise the deductible (meaning you will pay up to that amount, out of your own pocket), if your car experiences damage. The reason to buy comprehensive including collision is: this way, if you involved in another party in an accident, your insurance company will pay you right away, and they also have more incentive to fight with the other party’s insurance company regarding the liability etc. You probably like the fault fall to the other party, because if the fault is yours, your insurance company will likely raise your premium during the upcoming renewal.

Home insurance: if you have the mortgage, the bank or the mortgage company will likely ask you to show the home (or home owner) insurance.

Types of insurances or extended warranties you may not need

Extended warranty for car or other products. I know Apple offers iPhone insurance, this one is probably okay. But many used car extended warranty plans are just junk. And yours truly managed to fall into it once.

Home or major appliance (e.g., HVAC) protection plans.

Annuity sold as life insurance. There are a lot contents on this topic. I am not going to elaborate. Fortunately I didn’t fall into this one so far. (Update 19-Dec-2024) WSJ: They Look Like CDs, but They’re Annuities—and Sales Are Booming:

Below is Chinese translation done by Google Translate.

必须买的保险

医疗保险，最好也包括牙科和视力保险。如果没有医疗保险，如果你或你的家人需要医疗服务，就很难得到。这实际上发生在我的一个朋友身上。我相信这位朋友最后死于疾病，很可能因为没有保险，以及所需的医疗服务延误。

(以下部分上面英文里还没有）

没有医疗保险，或者没有好的医疗保险，很多医生平常就看不到，更别说住院。紧急时可以去医院急诊，但这个不是解决问题，或缓解病情的好办法。好的医疗保险现在一家人在村里大概要 $1,500 左右。我知道如果你上班的话，一般自己不会掏这么多：一般是公司出一千，个人出五百。一分价钱一分货。过于便宜的保险，一般来说保得差一些。如果是自己给自己打工，market place (Obama Care), 比如这个 healthcare.gov 可以看一下。

我记得我读研究生的时候，那是二十多年之前的事了，有些男研究生因为嫌贵（我印象中大概是一个月是一百美元）没有给太太买医疗保险。那就意味着如果太太怀孕，她们要到圣路易斯的 St. John Mercy 来生小孩。St. John Mercy 因为是天主教的医院，不提倡流产，好像是一口价生小孩（顺产）是当时两千多美元。

其实刚来美国的时候，我自己也是有点讳疾忌医：因为美国的医疗系统和中国国内完全不同。还有语言的障碍：医学方面的单词确实是不太懂。当时还带了一点常用的药，比如说头孢。这个可能也是不少国人的习惯，有点小病自己吃点药。美国人的观点不一样：美国的药主要有两种，处方药是医生开的药（自己拿处方去药房买），over the counter (OTC) drugs 非处方药自己可以直接在药房买。

后来上班以后，才慢慢好一点。我先找了会汉语的医生作为我的primary care physican (PCP)。后来我的PCP退休了，我换了我的PCP：先是一个美国人医生，他一年后也退休了。我又换了一个年轻的华人医生。年轻医生最近又有工作变动，我就又找了一个大概是中年人的华人医生。

(以上部分上面英文里还没有）

人寿保险：请注意，对于大多数人来说，定期寿险（term life insurance）就足够了。最好在工作之外购买，因为这样我们在换工作时会得到保护。请注意，有时新工作场所的福利不会立即生效（实际上我遇到过这种情况）。

关于人寿保险，请注意，大多数美国雇主都会提供一些团体计划下的人寿保险——通常不需要体检等。员工唯一需要做的就是在开放注册期间（通常在 11 月）“选择加入”。曾经有一位前同事（他比我年轻，印象中他好像还没小孩）意外去世。经过进一步检查，公司福利人员找不到他“选择加入”的记录。所以保险公司就不会赔钱。这对他的妻子和父母来说是一个悲伤的故事（除了失去他）。

汽车保险：除了必需的责任保险外，最好也购买综合保险（包括碰撞险）。如果保费高，如果您的汽车受到损坏，您可以提高免赔额（意味着您将自掏腰包支付最高金额）。购买包括碰撞在内的综合险的原因是：这样，如果您与另一方发生事故，您的保险公司会立即向您支付赔偿金，而且他们也更有动力与对方的保险公司就责任等问题进行斗争。您可能希望将责任归咎于对方，因为如果责任在您，您的保险公司可能会在即将到来的续保期间提高您的保费。

房屋保险：如果您有抵押贷款，银行或抵押贷款公司可能会要求您出示房屋（或房主）保险。

您可能不需要的保险类型或延长保修，或者说保险里面的一些坑

汽车或其他产品的延长保修。我知道 Apple 提供 iPhone 保险，这个可能还可以。但许多二手车延长保修计划只是垃圾。而我曾经真的陷入其中。

家庭或主要家电（例如 HVAC）保护计划。

年金作为人寿保险出售。关于这个话题的内容很多。我不打算详细说明。幸运的是，到目前为止我还没有陷入这个。

PS: 得罪保险销售的视频: 为什么买保险不是投资?我买保险的原则是什么? by MoneyXYZ

Categories
Investing

I am not a believer of Bitcoin and Cryptos

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Because the Bitcoin just crossed the $100,000 mark recently, and with the upcoming US president who is friendly to the bitcoin and Cryptos, I saw a lot of excitement and craziness going on in that space.

Came across a question at FB private group:

My young adults (16/19) keep trying to invest in crypto, xrp, etc. Where is a good place to learn about it so they don’t get scammed. Already a few times one has lost $ from graduation gift we gave him to try his hand. What are legit companies to try bitcoin investing that I can learn from? They are definitely targeted on their social media platforms.
Thanks!

My initial answer: Replace “invest” with speculate (or gamble). I don’t think cryptos are investment: they have no real value – other than hope the next guy will pay a higher price.

Someone’s answer to my initial answer: tell that to all the people who have made hundreds of thousands of dollars by investing in it.

My follow up answer: some people are just lucky 🍀- just like those people who won giant jackpot🎰 at the lottery. That doesn’t mean everyone else can have the exact same luck.

Like Warren Buffett, I won’t pay $25 for all of the bitcoins in the world. That being said, if you speculate on it, I still wish you good luck.

PS: I already expressed my opinion on “investing” on bitcoin and other cryptos (I don’t even want to call them cryptocurrencies). But at the same time, recently I realized companies such as Block Inc. with stock ticker symbol $SQ, Coinbase with ticker symbol $COIN, and Robinhood (App) $HOOD etc. actually are still viable business. Imagine them like the casino houses such as Caesar Entertainment, Las Vegas Sand, Wynn or other other casino in Las Vegas, in Macau and in Singapore: they are mostly profitable as long as their casinos are open and they have customers coming to gamble. Or just think them like the operator of Mega Millions or Powerball in the USA. Remember the old saying: the house always wins.

You may also read a Chinese version (translated by Google Translate) here.

Categories
Business

RIP – Brian Thompson United Healthcare CEO

Reading Time: 2 minutes

(Originally written in Chinese; English version generated via Google translate at the bottom)

美国中西部大农村出来的高管，总的来说还是没认识到这个世界的复杂(公司小气不请保安，自己掏钱也得请保镖啊）。巴菲特一年的保镖/保安费大概是几十万吧。二十多年前微软的巴尔莫来村里，也有保镖。我觉得他是帮股东挨了这几枪。

我在美国工作24+ 年，基本上所有大的医疗保险公司都用过，我个人感觉 UNH 的服务还是相对靠谱的。有很多不靠谱的保险公司-光收钱不办事的很多。

还有我较鄙视网上的美国义和团/键盘侠，砸本国人的日本车，各种医闹：美国的医疗系统，医疗保险问题，主要是政客们搞出来的。共和党的政客们要负主要责任：我敢保证他们是拿保险公司捐款的大头。美国应该可以学习其它西方国家搞全民医保。美国（极端）资本主义，以盈利为唯一目标，过于依赖市场的黑暗我是领教过一些的。我记得几年前亚马逊把得了癌症的员工裁了，纽约时报当时报道过。

附：美国的医疗系统，庞大无比，有她先进之处（新药，新设备，新的治疗方法），但是确实 it has some drawbacks，我最近也是有亲身体会。

其实昨天最早是从小红书上看到这个消息的-希望国人不是因为幸灾乐祸才发的。

油管

12-08-2024 更新：我关于美国医疗体系概况的油管视频。全长15分32秒。

My YT Video on safety etc (财不露富：害人之心不可有，防人之心不可无 – 从村里最近的一个案件想到大家要注意的事). 下面是英文版。

Executives from rural areas in the Midwest of the United States generally do not realize the complexity of the world (the company is stingy and does not hire security guards, but you have to hire bodyguards at your own expense). Buffett’s annual bodyguard/security fee is probably hundreds of thousands. More than 20 years ago, Microsoft’s Balmer came to the village and also had bodyguards. I think he took these shots for the shareholders.

I have worked in the United States for 24+ years and have used basically all major medical insurance companies. I personally feel that UNH’s service is relatively reliable. There are many unreliable insurance companies-many of them just take money but do not do anything.

I also despise the American Boxers/keyboard warriors on the Internet, who smash Japanese cars of compatriots and make all kinds of medical troubles: the medical system and medical insurance problems in the United States are mainly caused by politicians. Republican politicians should bear the main responsibility: I dare to guarantee that they are the ones who receive the bulk of donations from insurance companies. The United States should learn from other Western countries to implement universal health insurance. I have experienced some of the darkness of American (extreme) capitalism, which takes profit as the only goal and relies too much on the market. I remember that Amazon laid off employees with cancer a few years ago, and the New York Times reported it at the time.

PS: The US medical system is huge and has its advanced aspects (new drugs, new equipment, new treatments), but it does have some drawbacks, which I have personally experienced recently.

Actually, I first saw this news on Xiaohongshu yesterday – I hope the Chinese people are not posting it out of gloating.

Related

More bad people – Fake bomb threat targets 2 Maple Grove homes owned by family of slain UHC executive Brian Thompson

Categories
Fun kids Life

Watch “Growing Pains” series again

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I watched a bit of “Growing Pains” on Apple TV last night: the 2nd show that has the Bruce Springsteen show tickets. I purchase the series from Apple, probably in year 2016, when Alan Thicke, who acted as the dad in the screen, Dr. Jason Seave, died.

I recall I watched most of the series in early 1990s at my childhood home, mostly during my summer and winter breaks in college years, which seems match the timing 成长的烦恼 showing time in China – “曾在台湾中华电视公司及中国大陆的上海教育电视台从1990年一直播到1994年中播出。”

I recall I didn’t go back much to my childhood home since summer 1993, the year I graduated from college. My parents also moved away a bit from our childhood home.

I have a few thoughts:

  1. in late 1980s and early 1990s, my adolescent and college years, I recall we were very curious about the outside world. I recall seeing movies such as True Lies, Twister (1996 film), Schindler’s List, and many westerns on Shanghai TV channel 2 (the international channel). The society and the country in general were much more open then too, here is some background (in Chinese) how they started to import those TV series – 文汇世纪 | 《成长的烦恼》《神探亨特》…当年上海电视台如何引进第一批美剧？||【话说上海】那些年我们一起追过的剧集 | 海外影视 This is probably my 1st exposure to the American high school (Michael and Carrol). More recently I learned a bit more about American high schools via Gilmore Girls (Netflix).
  2. Now that I have my own teen, I can sympathize better with the parents. This also ties back to my earlier blog post Summer Break 2024 – little moments. I left it in the draft mode for a while 🙂
  3. Some similar shows I watched recently include Gilmore Girls (available on Netflix), and Modern Family (available on Hulu).
Categories
Fun kids Life Software development

Summer Break 2024 – little moments

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Below moment is likely not isolated to summer. Sometime between March and July this year (year 2024). One day I took MacBook on sofa, and sit about 6 ft from my 14 year old. We were at the two ends of the sofa (couch). Her response: dad, you are not going to sitting here for good, right? She was on her computer and wanted privacy. My sweet 9 year old said: dad, I want to sit with you 🙂

This morning (early June): while I was driving to my 14 year old to Clayton HS, and I got distracted, passed Ladue road while driving on Warson south bound. Basically I went to the Ladue Middle School – made turn at Price & past JBS, and my 14 year old said: it’s 1st time I saw JBS 🙂

Since this summer, I started to play some board game with my 10 year old (was 9 year old before this past July), almost everyday. This continued even when she was in the Children’s Hospital for a few days in September. We played “spot it” during those days. Our most recent favorite game is Montessori Trinomial Cube (we played a ton lately, I am pretty sure she outgrew it. There goes my original plan to sell it on eBay 🙂 “Trash Panda” is probably the most complicated game for me. And I am glad some days we got to play table tennis in the basement.

PS: for anyone reading, please don’t share this with your teen kids – I am worry about the I may have the Bruce Springsteen show/tickets moments as shown in one of the Growing Pains series 🙂

Categories
Life

Avoid toxic people

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One of the life lessons I learned over the years is – avoid toxic people at all cost.

Charlie Munger mentioned it a few times.

This is the latest example as to why: Man arrested, charged in woman’s St. Louis death after Clayton abduction: “Investigators believe that Mosby and the victim, identified as 37-year-old Michelle Hampton, were known to each other.”

More from KDSK.com: 2nd suspect charged in deadly kidnapping of Michelle Hampton “According to documents from the U.S. District Court Eastern District, Mosby was the boyfriend of Michelle Hampton’s twin sister, Samantha Hampton.” Also quote this article here: Samantha said she had recently told Mosby that Michelle was holding a $40,000 settlement on behalf of their brother. My take: unfortunately, there is no drug for stupidity. This is partially the reason her twin sister got killed. Maybe I should add the stupid people in the title too.

Also earlier: ‘If I stop, my sister will be gone’ – Woman says she argued with 911 while following car with kidnapped sister

Categories
car

Buying used car in St. Louis

Reading Time: 2 minutes

I have not bought used car for a while, my last two used cars are both Toyota Pre own certified: basically I found the car online, went for a test drive at the dealership and bought them.

But this morning I had opportunity to visit a used car dealer in my old neighborhood: I lived near that place about 20 years ago. I remember the good old days, in late 1990s (1998 and 1999 to be specific), when I was a graduate student in Rolla (Missouri S&T), we would buy the St. Louis Post Dispatch newspaper on a Friday, went through the paper auto classified ads section, circle out the cars we were interested, call the private owners and made appointment for Saturday. And so on.

I was not familiar with used car dealers. I did buy a used Subaru from an auto shop (note his specialty is service not selling used cars). And I bought another used Subaru in year 2010, from an owner via local Craigslist. I drove that one for about 3 years and trade it in for the used Toyota Sienna in summer 2013, without losing much value.

Btw, I liked two cars I drove this morning, a 2013 Volvo XC 60 and a 2015 Honda Odyssey EX-L. Both came with leather seats, which my Sienna doesn’t have. They came with about 144 k miles though – which is higher than my current own 2013 Sienna.

Why a used car dealer with a physical presence

I didn’t give it much thought, again you can look at my used car purchase history above. I also bought 2 other used cars while I was in Rolla. One is from a Taiwanese student and it’s a 1984 Toyota Celica (I bought it in Spring 1998).

Big picture or 40,000 feet view

YT Video from the Car Care Nut (about 1 hour 30 minutes): What is The Future Of The Automotive Industry? Featuring Savagegeese

YT video from Royalty Auto Service: Ranking The Top 5 Least Expensive Vehicles To Maintain That We Work On At Our Shop!

How Much Do Car Dealerships Really Make? 80后男孩在美国开二手车行是怎么赚钱的？

Categories
401k and Personal Finance advice and tips

Avoid the traps aka the financial fraud

Reading Time: 3 minutes

(Update 02-16-2026) Scam on rye: The inside story of a $100 million deli fraud – I recall this saga.

(Update 12-30-2025) Reuters – Trump’s funding cuts put America’s consumer watchdog on the brink of collapse. Quote a bit here (below):

Warren said that as a law professor studying bankruptcy she saw that consumer protections were weak and fragmented, and that America needed a single federal agency dedicated to protecting consumers from unfair, deceptive and abusive practices.
“I was stunned by the number of people in financial trouble who had lost a job or got sick but who had also been cheated by one or more of their creditors,” she told Reuters. “For no agency was consumer protection a first priority, it was somewhere between fifth and tenth, which meant there was just no cop on the beat. If the CFPB is not there, people have nowhere to turn when they get cheated.”

Personally, I feel the lack of personal finance knowledge, as well as bad math, are contributing factors for people getting into financial trouble.

(Update 11-08-2025) Couple loses $180,000 from retirement savings after accounts hacked. I suggest avoiding the TastyTrade company mentioned in the article. That’s also one reason I am a bit skeptical of upstart like Robinhood App. It appears though Robinhood has decent security measures in their app.

(Update Dec-16-2024) The fintech company that collapsed and took $90 million of people’s life savings with it: The collapse and bankruptcy of fintech middleman Synapse in May has left more than 100,000 Americans locked out of a collective $90 million of their own money, prompting a class action lawsuit. (I don’t know how much money can be recovered for the victims though).

(Original) One downside of the free speech in this country, is one can hear or see all kinds of shenanigans or “God damned lies” on TV (both network and cables), on radio, and the latest and greatest the social medias.

Examples of financial frauds in America I read today 11-22-2024 Friday:

CNBC: ‘I have no money’: Thousands of Americans see their savings vanish in Synapse fintech crisis : this one has impact to thousands of people. Here is a YouTube video that explains the situation – Yotta Bank & The Problem with Fintech! It’s somewhat to see Joe Rogan and Marc Andreessen talking about this. Note the Synapse was backed by the VC firm Andreessen Horowitz. This is confirmed at their website too. Fat cats usually get away in this country, btw. Talk about Marc Andreessen, personally I felt he is full fledge MAGA now (google is marc andreessen maga).

Synapse is a Andreeseen Horowitz company

Google search “treasury department warning on yotta”.

WSJ: ‘I Don’t Know Where to Turn or What to Do.’ His $763,094 Retirement Fund Is in Limbo. subtitle: Richard Whitacre transferred his entire 401(k) into an account offering a ‘guaranteed’ 15.25% return. Will he ever see his money again?

(This probably is rare, but I suggest to avoid it) An investor says he put 98% of his retirement funds in Trump Media stock and won’t bail because Trump has a ‘secret’ plan. Since the Enron and WorldCom debacle, many companies started to remove company stock as an investment choice in 401k plans. Personally I think it’s a wise choice. In fact, I noticed the company I used to work for, Siemens, did divest my Siemens stocks (not a lot), and put it in a target date portfolio. Not all companies are doing that though: e.g., I know Arch Coal (now Arch Resources after the emergence post bankruptcy), used to offer the company stock in its 401k plan – note that stock became useless when it went through bankruptcy about 10 years ago. GE had similar issues: it didn’t go through bankruptcy, but at one time its stock went down a lot before its eventually company split (the original company was split into 3 companies).

中国企业家3千万美元搭上川普 获邀任顾问 : don’t just walk, run away from this guy and World Liberty Financial if you could. I remember Warren Buffett famously said he won’t pay $25 for all of the bitcoins. But he was duped by this 孙宇晨（Justin Sun）guy – when Warren was just trying to raise money for charity.

Major’s Rule Number 1

If something is too good to be true: IT IS A LIE e.g.: ‘guaranteed’ 15.25% return (annually?) – Run not just walk, when you hear this kind of guaranteed return.

Major’s Rule Number 2

Refer to rule number 1

PS: my YT podcast on the same topic, in Mandarin Chinese.

Categories
car

How to change the headlight bulb for Toyota Sienna 2012

Reading Time: < 1 minute

This is the replacement light bulb at Amazon: last purchased Sep 14, 2022 (replace one about 2 years ago; replace another one this evening). One driver flashed me yesterday evening. And this evening a neighbor told me one of the light for my minivan is out 🙂

Took me a while to find the other light bulb: I placed it along with other regular home use light bulbs.

To replace, the trick is to take out the old one, and put in the new one. There is a clip (snaps) from the electronic cable to the light bulb assembly. This is the YT video I watched this time (I may have watched another one last time around, but it was 2 years ago). Again the trick is to press, to unplug the old one, and the rest is the history 🙂

Related earlier post: DIY via Amazon and YouTube

Categories
Saint Louis uber-and-side-hustle

Drove for Uber the 1st time – 我在美国开优步

Reading Time: 4 minutes

中文简体读者：这里有一个谷歌翻译的版本，可能不是最新的版本，但大意差不多。

Yesterday (Sunday) afternoon I drove for Uber the first time, after I thought and talked about it for a bit. Note I still have the day job – this is mostly to supplement my income, and also gain some experience/have some fun. I also wrote a Twitter/X thread here.

A few things to do or think before drive for Uber:

I did give some thoughts on the whole thing before my 1st trip. Here are just some of the things I wrote down on my iPhone notes (MX):

MX: read safety tips (here are Uber Tips for Drivers), I also read a bit more on safety at Google and Reddit too, for example, below thread at Reddit:

Safety : r/uberdrivers

Don’t accept any obviously fake names (Smokey, Mr. X, Princess, etc) and if you’re gut says it’s wrong, let rolling and cancel when you get around the block…

Oh, and buy a dashcam! I got one at Walmart for $75. I honestly believe just having it mounted helps avoid issues.

Re: dash cam, I actually did place an order at Amazon, but I decided to cancel the order today after I think more about it. I always get it if needed, down the road. I have a few items that I bought from Amazon that ends up didn’t get used. Try to avoid that mistake again – and I really need to use the items I bought or sell them on eBay (it it’s passed the time to return).

I also thought about Pepper Spray or carry a firearm: my understanding is that Missouri is an open carry state.

It is not a crime under Missouri law to openly carry a weapon into any place where concealed carry is prohibited, except for a church, school bus, school, or onto the grounds of a school function. According to RSMo Section 571.030, there is no age limit to openly carry a handgun, long gun or any weapon.

But I have purchased neither for now: I think the rearview mirror, along with some items near my driver seat are sufficient for me. Under any circumstances, if I feel that my safety is not 100% guaranteed, in most cases if I am driving and my car is good, I expect to get out of the trouble quickly.

MX: only drive days with daylights, no evenings or nights;

MX: tax or expenses tracking including: miles driven, gas receipts 🧾, and insurance.

But today’s two rides (one cancelled) is mostly around “finding the rider” at the starting point.

Some bugs in the Google Map abd Uber Driver App

For the 1st ride, it took me a few minutes to meet my rider. She had someone else called the ride. And it seems (according to her) Google Map also messed up her home address. I think the Uber Driver App too. But I was able to pick her up and drop her off at the right place. From Clayton road near Hanley road to a house near 270 and Manchester (via highway 64 and 270). My gross income for that ride is about $13.50.

Shortly after I complete my 1st ride, as I am driving back to the Manchester road near 270, I got another ride request, and the starting point is at Eureka. That one took time to drive, and unfortunately, the Uber Driver App pointed me to the wrong place (it was close, but not exact). I texted and called the rider, no response. After 5 minutes or so. I decided to leave, and drive back home. One thing because I followed Uber Driver App, and waited the necessary time, I was paid about $15.50 or the cancelled ride. But I do have some lesson learned and I documented in the Twitter/X as well:

use Apple Map for navigation; also pick the ride when I am stationary and have time to think about it. I picked the 2nd ride when I was just finished the 1st trip, and when I was driving. I think I can let the pass in a situation like this next time. Ideally I would stop accept my new ride when I have ample time.

Bonus points

I liked the view of fall leaves: not quite red or changing yet, but start seeing colors when I drove highway 44 west from 270 towards Eureka, MO (exit 264). I used to enjoy similar sceneries when I was working in an office, more specifically working for the Mastercard at their O’fallon MO office. I drove quite a bit of the Page (Missouri 364) Extension and part of the road was beautiful in the fall (autumn). I understand I may not be able to enjoy nice views everywhere I go – but since I work from home 99% nowadays, and yes sometimes I do miss driving (and not just driving with families, my wife and kids – hope they don’t see this comment 🙂

Also, Fatal crash closes westbound I-44 near Six Flags: note I was there about 2 hours before the accident. This again highlights the risk of driving including drive for Uber and drive on highways (high speed).

PS: I will likely write another post on “driving for Uber” or create a quick YT video hopefully soon: I will write down my thoughts after driving for them for the last 4 days (Monday 10/14 to Thursday 10/17), may include Saturday 10/19 too (if I have some free time).

(Update 10-29-2024) in this short YouTube video, I talked about my thoughts after driving 19 trips for Uber. Also, I noticed quite a few YouTube video in Mandarin on Uber 优步 too – collect them here and here.

(Update 11-04-2024) Reddit – Curious as to how well Uber drivers do here in STL?

(Update 11-27-2024) Realized it’s best to keep the Uber driver ratings (score) above 4.6, if applicable (and you are curious about the score).