Author: stlplace

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Life Life Tips

American healthcare system II – 美国医疗系统之二

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Background

This is a continuation of my earlier post here, also just noticed I wrote about the US healthcare systems back in 2009: My Thoughts On US Healthcare Reform, My Thoughts On US Healthcare Reform: II, My Analogies On Healthcare Reform Protest, and Healthcare Reform: Some Good Things About US Hospitals.

Below was written over a few days. Personal story. Hopefully could be useful for people in the USA. As one of my previous colleagues said: the best is to avoid the hospital, but if we do go, it’s important to have the healthcare insurance 🙂

Today (7/01) I spent almost full day at the total access urgent care center (TAUC). I am not complaining but rather quite appreciative of how things came about. Yesterday (06/30/2023) we had a storm here and I did a dumb thing looking back: remember hindsight is always 20/20. I climbed up the ladder shortly after the storm with the intension of removing a few big tree branches on the roof. But things didn’t work as I hoped: I fell from the ladder, back down 1st and totally unexpected. Btw, here are some safety tips re: using ladders, and this one too. And I talked to my colleague about it later, who has medic and safety experience. Reflecting back the loose foundation (with mulches etc.) is also a contributing factor of the fall of ladder.

I didn’t feel too bad in the immediate aftermath, but things turned worse over the night as I found I had blood in my urine. It was about 9 or 10 pm and I didn’t think it’s a good idea to hang out at a hospital emergency room. So I tried to tough it out until 8 am this morning when the urgent care places opens. Note the main reason not going to the hospital emergency room (ER) is the ER usually tries to help the most in needed, those were seriously hurt etc., and I don’t think I am in that category.

But why I still spend almost a full day? I think the short answer is they have many patients that are in similar situation as me. Also my case is a bit more complicated because the doctor wants to do a CT scan on my neck as well as my abdomen with contrast. There is X-ray in the 1st TAUC place I went (Creve Coeur), but for CT scan I need to go to another TAUC place which is about 20 minutes drive (Chesterfield). Note this is my 2nd CT scan in the US. My first one was documented here. This time I got more scans than last time, I think I got both the regular scan as well as contrast scan. And I got the GE CT machine instead of the Siemens machine last time (year 2015).

I think TAUC started to pop up in last 10 years or so in the St. Louis area, with the booming of the urgent care in the US in general. They are not the 1st urgent care place in the area (Creve Coeur to be specific). That honor goes to St. Lukes. But St. Lukes has one disadvantages, they usually have two bills (one from the urgent care, another one from the provider). TAUC only has one consolidated bill. I think TAUC bill is also usually cheaper. For example, yesterday (7/01) I went to the Creve Coeur location 1st. I know from past experience, that I need to queue up online 1st. So I did. I waited at the Bread Co. at Old Olive road. At about 9 am, I saw I am at spot 3, and the restaurant is getting busy, so I went to the clinic.

Tests, lots of them

Typical treatment flow of urgent care goes like this: check in at front desk (may or may not fill out paperwork, or may need to make some payment from last visit, become more rare as more payments are done online nowadays). Go to the treatment room, and wait for the nurse. Nurse come in the take vitals. The provider (a doctor, nurse practitioner, or a physician assistant PD) will come in and ask questions. In my case I talked about what happened, and the aftermath. The doctor will order some tests. Actually I think my urine sample was taken before doctor even come in. And the doctor checked my back etc. and ordered both X-ray for back and legs, as well as CT Scan for the neck and the abdomen. While the X-ray technician started to work on my X-ray, I realized I have some minor pain on head too, so they (the doc and technician) did the head X-ray as well. After that they did some blood draw as well as the prep for IV for the contrast CT scan (basically leave a cap in my elbow area). I was ready to move on at about 12:15 pm at the Creve Coeur location. Thought about ordering McDonald’s but the text message came quickly asking me to go the the new TAUC location, and I realized I have something in my elbow too. So I started going there.

At the new location, I got the vitals again (before leave, the CC location did the vital for me again to make sure, and I realized the med tech/assistant is a Wash U student), and the IV which is just saline. I did the CT there, which is more complicated than last time, mainly because of the contrast scan. I closed my eyes during testing. I recall in my recent China (refer to my recent visit, this one and that one ) trip I realized they do way more CT than they are doing here, and some elders don’t like hold breath etc. and my mom didn’t like some of the tests either.

Waiting

After done the CT, as well as finishing up the IV (again saline). I was mostly in the waiting mode. I noticed in the new location, the TV is not on. I managed to plug in the power adapter for the receiver and was able to watch some TV. At one point I was restless, so I went to the car and get water as well as the portable battery to charge my iPhone, as the iPhone battery was low after I used it for a while. At about 3:30 pm or so, I got the call from the provider and he explained the things to me, and ready to let me go home. I got the call when I was in the restroom taking the call from my Apple Watch (I left the phone in the treatment room). I think I started to order McDonald’s via the app as well. The main thing at the time was to remove the cap on my elbow, and receive the discharge instructions. They did the vitals once again as well.

At about 4:15 pm, I was finally ready to go. And I went to the McDonald’s right away.

PS: on Saturday night when I 1st saw blood in my urine (which is probably the 1st time in my almost 52-year-old life), I was unsettled. Today (07-04-2023) I think about the life insurance I bought in the year 2012, which is a 15-year term life for $500,000 coverage. And today I realized 500k in the year 2012 is probably 250k in today’s dollars. Inflation is another tailwind for the insurance companies, in addition to the benefits of float (they didn’t have to pay out all the claims because people didn’t all die, or claimable accidents didn’t all happen at once). So basically they can invest the float (the income from premiums) money for a long time. Today I went to skating too, and I think I may not need to see a urologist that urgently for now.

PS 2: I found out my elbow has some residue pain from the IV, refer to this. It seems “Once the tube has been placed, the IV site shouldn’t hurt, sting, or burn. When the IV procedure is completed, some swelling and bruising at the site are common and not cause for concern. Most IV sites heal quickly in a few days.” I think I am starting to fear if I got this IV thing when I get older. And it seems to me the pain is there when I visited my mom recently in hospital in China. This seems like something comes with the modern medicine (note IV is used much more in China than there). Before my recent visit to urgent care, I recall I did this only once when I had fever (and maybe cough) a few years before pandemic. I recall the nurse put in some steroids to help me (make me more comfortable).

PS 3: regarding safety, I think we need to be careful and vigilant in many aspects: from driving (car incidents) to climbing ladder, or on the lake (reminds me one incident in which one of my old friends died). I understand sometimes things are not 100% under our control, such as this recent greyhound bus accident.

PS 4: 07-30-2023 I saw the insurance benefits explanation, it looks like I (only) need to pay $200. This seems a good deal to me 🙂

Categories
Life Life Tips Music

From the unfriendly comments on Liang Jingru aka Fish Leong

Reading Time: 3 minutes

I was not aware or conscious of the famous Chinese singer Liang Jingru’s age until a few days ago. Note 梁静茹 Sometimes the fans call her Fish Leong. I think Leong is the last name 梁 in her native Malaysia: her ancestor is from China’s Guangdong province and I assume they all speak Cantonese.

The reason for my interest to learn her age was this short video clip tweet; here is a longer and mostly complete version on YouTube and some controversy around it (Sina in Chinese 新浪中文). Btw, the song here is 分手快樂 (YouTube link here). I think you should be able to find out on other platforms easily as this is one of her most famous songs, and Leong is probably one of the best Chinese female singers in her generation.

The controversy is about her gaining some weight in the last few years. Note she is 45 years old. Last few years due to the pandemic, many people stayed at home more and didn’t pay attention to snacking habits, or exercise, and they gained weight that way. Perhaps, age is a big factor too. I recall about 12 years ago when I was 40, one day I hiked with my friend at the Powder Valley trail, and I saw myself in a t-shirt, and suddenly I realized I gained quite a bit of weight in the last few years. Aging and gain weight is quite common due to the change of metabolism and not adapting the food/drink intake at the same time.

I recall in the summer of 2016, when I encountered one of my college classmates after about 23 years, he couldn’t recognize me due to my weight gain and aging over the years.

At the same time though, there is absolutely no need to comment on other people’s weight, especially in a not-so-friendly way. Because we will all age, some age faster, some a bit slower. Weight is a much more personal thing. Some people will gain weight more easily, and vice versa. It’s important to be vigilant because weight gain in a short period of time could mean something health-wise, and we know health is one of the most important things.

There is another subtle meaning that comes with this controversy: that is the perception of aged women are less worthy. Interestingly, Michelle Yeoh, who is also a Malaysia-born Chinese, recently talked about it. I would talk about “aging gracefully” in another post, as this is another big topic.

PS: not to 蹭热度 (cloud chasing) I felt this youtube video explained a similar situation regarding “what can be said in a joke” or whether something is “pushing the envelop” too far. Yes I had to admit that I agree with the “hot lady” there (did I push the envelop too far here? I will remove the hot if most ladies think so 🙂

PS 2: not about sexism (guys, never comment on ladies / girls appearance, vice versa for girls). It’s about ageism. I understand in Chinese there is this saying 徐娘半老 – not a complements I believe. Until recently to be precise it was during my recent China trip, in the Shanghai subway I realized I am probably the older part of the passengers in the train. So God forbid, if somethings happens in the train, I should lead, or give the opportunity of life to other younger folks 🙂 Last but not least, I created a YT playlist for her live performances in last few years. Please note to singing a few hours non-step or with little stops are not easy. Not everything is Taylor Swift.

Categories
401k and Personal Finance DIY gadgets Life Tips Technology

Switching from Charter Spectrum to AT&T broadband

Reading Time: 3 minutes

I thought about this for a while. The last time I planned to switch, was a few years ago, at our previous home (condo), for some reason the AT&T technician could not find a port for the broadband, per my wife (I was likely working at the credit card company at the time). And the technician gave up. I vaguely recall the reason for the switch was to reduce the monthly bill. Internet providers usually gave a good introductory price for one year, before jacking up the prices. And in the case of Charter, they jack up prices almost every year. Once I called them, and said I wanted to switch, and then they lowered the price by $10 a month. Basically switching providers or phone calls are two ways I know to lower the broadband bill.

I didn’t think of switching during the move – partially due to the unpleasant experience I had with $T (AT&T, T is their stock ticker symbol). Partially because Charter/Spectrum gave a good intro price for a year for new customers (here new as a new address, or a new account). I recall it took me some effort to figure out which cable to plug into my cable modem (the broadband modern for Charter), set up the Wifi router, and my IP phone (iTalkBB, refer to this old blog post here, time flies. Probably time to cancel iTalkBB now.) and I didn’t bother to switch to AT&T until very recently. I did recall about 2 summers ago, we had a power outage, and Charter Internet came back as soon as the power is back (both the cable modem and wifi router needed electricity). But the communication lines were damaged especially the AT&T cables, if my memory is correct, and it seems today during my AT&T install, another outside technician needs to come to the outside terminal and do some work – likely a fallout from 2 years ago. Again back to the topic.

Recently I had some intermittent issues with the Charter/Spectrum internet so I decided to switch. The intermittent/reliability issue is both from my observation and from informal surveys among friends (thank you friends 🙂

I placed the installation order last week, and a technician came today. I did some surveys before today. So I pointed out the outside and inside cables. Installation took a few hours. The setup is relatively straightforward, I mean the embedded Wifi router. It’s done via an app called Smart Home Manager. The technician is friendly and helpful too. In addition to pointing out the app, as well as showing me how to get to it, he told me to switch off Charter shortly to avoid a new monthly bill.

I did a speed test just now, it seems Charter still has a faster download speed, but the upload speed is comparable. I will update this post as time goes on.

PS: I recall The Sound of dial-up Internet both in China and in the US. It’s a bit funny when I was applying for US graduate schools in the fall of 1996, I borrowed the email and computer access card from my friend in Fudan U. The professor in Rolla thought I was a graduate student in Fudan: which probably helped my application a bit as they are more prestigious than my graduate school 🙂 I still remember those days when I wrote emails on a terminal of a UNIX machine. Copy, paste, and save information or write information to a disk seems like a century ago, in today’s smartphone, and ubiquitous Internet world. Also, just came across this post back in 2014 when I had to do some magic or hack to make the iPad work with Wifi at home.

PS2: the monthly cost, was $80 per month for Charter, vs $50 a month for AT&T. AT&T has a slightly slower download speed, from the speed test. Also, some offers one may be able to use. Rakuten (eBates): I used it and I saw $112.50 cash in my account (this will cover the $99 installation cost, btw). Some Chase credit cards may offer cash back for AT&T fiber (I think they all broadband will likely work): I plan to use my Amazon Chase card as it has a $50 offer. Last but not least, I had a twitter poll for this.

Update 01-28-2024: I used offer from Amex Gold too. Also it seems Dosh App gave me cash back on the top of the Amex offer. Now we are talking about double dipping 🙂 Last but not least, I realized that I used the link at ebates (now rakuten) and I received $112.50 cash back from them as well (on 08-15-2023). So in summary, at least for now, the AT&T service (about $55 a month) is mostly free for me/my family at this time. I do expect to use fewer offer from now on. And I don’t plan to switch back to Charter soon as their service seems still spotty from time to time.

Categories
401k and Personal Finance

Amex Gold card and Amex card offers

Reading Time: 3 minutes

(Update 09-25-2025) I believe the annual fee for the Amex Gold card is $325 now. The perks: $10 a month on both Uber Eats and Grub Hub; $7 a month back on Dunkin Donuts. Total $27 x 12 = $324. So, this basically pays itself right there.

(Original 06-06-2023) I owned an Amex Gold card for a while. Sometimes I tweeted about it. I was thinking about giving Serenity a card (I talked about it in my blog), too. In fact, the other day Mother’s Day 2023 to be precise, we had her “pay” for the dinner. Note the reason I used the double quotes is I still pay the credit card bill :-).

I mentioned/talked about Amex Gold Card in my other blog post: you will need to scroll down a bit to read the benefits of Amex Gold. I think for the most part, the benefits cover the annual fee of $250.

One thing I did notice recently, is that the Gold Card does not provide airport lounge access. For that access, it requires a platinum card: an Amex centurion lounge or a Delta Lounge. Btw, this video explained various airport lounges well. To summarize though, it may make sense if someone travels quite a bit (meaning probably once or twice each month). And it seems the $495 a year Amex Delta platinum card (Delta Lounge) and the $695 a year Amex Platinum (centurion lounge) are the way to go. For infrequent flyers, thinking Priority Club is worth trying via a day pass. (Update 06-13-2023) I came across another YT video that offers an interesting perspective – It’s Over: Why I’m Cancelling My American Express.

But I am happy with the other benefits that come with Amex gold, including some of the offers. Note I like the flexibility Membership Rewards offer too, e.g., I can transfer the points to my HHonors account (the Hilton family hotels, 1 Membership Rewards point = 2 Hilton Honors points), or Marriott Bonvoy (Marriott rewards program, 1 Membership Rewards points = 1 Marriott Points).

I do have another Amex card, the Blue Cash, with a $95 annual fee. And I think the benefits such as 6% grocery store cashback and offers such as the Disney bundle covers the fee as well.

Note I don’t necessarily like or appreciate some of their “offers”, again, for example, this Fiji water offer, $20 off $80, and I mentioned some of the controversy of the famous Fiji water here. Also the CNBC Jim Cramer’s Investors Club, which is a $100 off $399 offer, again I would pass.

Last but not least, I pay off the balance every month. I think with the rewards credit card, sometimes I may have over-spent. This is something I believe Mr. Zhang Xin did right, as he explained in Chinese about his personal finance tips ( 我的理財觀超級老古板，當作笑話看就可以了章新談談心，老了改不了了 ), basically, he does not use a credit card (he uses cash, I assume debit card included), and he doesn’t invest or trade stocks, as he thinks that’s a gamble.

Offers vs Promotion

I worked for a major credit card company’s rewards program for almost 4 years between 2015 and 2019. And I personally created or oversaw some of the promotions (or campaigns) when I was there. Offers are a bit different. It’s another type of promotion from the consumer’s point of view, basically, the consumer just needs to enroll in that offer, when a qualifying spend happens, the cashback or other rewards will happen automatically. Right now, I mainly use the offers from Amex and Chase credit cards, as they are fairly straightforward and easy to enroll. A good example of an “offer” is this one – #AmexGold has an offer from #Steelcase for $150 off $750, you may want to check your Amex cards if you are planning to buy office chairs from the Steelcase website directly.

PS, danger zone (stock investing) –

YouTube : Warren Buffett: American Express Was Our Best Ever Stock Purchase

Categories
gadgets Life Life Tips Software development

I decided to spend some money on office chair

Reading Time: 4 minutes

(11-06-2023) Design with Reach has some deals for the Herman Miller chairs. The website popup says 20% off (not sure if it can be stacked on the existing 25% off offer).

(09-25-2023) And now I realized I had an issue with the jeans. Googled it and it seems people were talking about it on Reddit. For now I am just going to use a seat cushion. Figured a seat cushion is probably cheaper than a pair of jeans (I have story for the jeans price too 🙂

(07-11-2023) Came across this one – again I am for #reuse #recycle and #reduce.

(06-19-2023) I changed 3 wheels out of 5, all out of necessity 🙂 || Separately, just came across this how Herman Miller tests its chair.

(06-11-2023) One of the wheels broke. I bought a replacement wheel set from Amazon and replaced it in one minute (btw, later on, I found the price is cheaper on eBay. Note this is not unusual, I mean the price difference). I saw a few choices for the wheels. and decided to go with the more expensive “Amazon’s Choice”. Here is a very short YouTube video explaining how to take out the old wheel and put in the new one. I also found there is a headrest for the Aeron chair (FB, used, $98 + $9 shipping); and it’s available on Amazon as well ($152). || Some day I will work a separate post on buying/owing the Herman Miller Aeron chair.

(Update 06-05-2023) I bought a used Herman Miller Aeron classic from an office that’s closed down, near where I live. I feel good about it so far. The other day I just realized this thing is heavy, about 48 pounds per Amazon. Btw, I found this PDF adjustment guide from the Herman Miller website too.

(Original 05-2023) The high-end office chair is not cheap, it costs more than $1,000. Let’s say a chair of $1,350 (note Haworth Fern is in that range), typical workers work 2,000 hours a year. Let’s say a typical worker sits 60% of the time, 1,200 hours sitting on a $1,350 chair. A dollar an-hour chair sitting cost. The chair lasts at least 10 years though. So it’s more like 10 cents an hour chair sitting cost.

Why is a chair important for office workers?

Weight problems, back problems, and other ergonomic chairs may help out. As explained by this YouTube video by Ahnestly (Dan Ahn) here. I don’t want to go much into detail here. I think for normal office workers (people who sit before the computer every day for a while), a good chair, a good posture, and even keyboarding, mouse/trackpad clicking/tapping are all important. Remember, your personal health is your responsibility. And I think standing desks could be a fad; see this Harvard Medical School article for reference. Wearing the Apple Watch (or other equivalent watches, that remind people to stand up and stretch a bit after sitting for a while), and standing up once in a while is the way to go.

Where to buy?

I see 2 (or 3) choices:

  1. Buy new (from the manufacturers or from retailers), usually via the website (e-commerce, such as Steelcase Leap at the manufacturer’s website, Steelcase Leap chair at Amazon, note the Amazon link here is my Amazon Associate link) nowadays. With today’s logistics, they could be shipped from the warehouse quickly, via UPS, FedEx or Amazon. The customer just needs to open the box and start to use it.
  2. Buy preowned. There are also “like new” such as this 3-month-old Haworth Fern asking for $900 (picture shown below), “refurbished” sometimes with warranty and buy used still in good condition. This is somewhat like buying a used car, we need to pay a bit more attention here. It seems nowadays CraigsList (sample search Steelcase chair on local CraigsList) and Facebook marketplace (sample search on FB for Herman Miller Aeron) are two popular places to look. || I think on coming Monday 05-22-2023 I am going to proceed with/check out this one on FB marketplace that’s very close to my home. Note like buying used cars, the prices for used office chairs vary, and again Ahnestly (Dan Ahn) explained it very well in one of his YT videos too: this one is specifically for Herman Miller Aeron (and I tried to follow his instructions when I checked out the chair). Btw, I also created a YouTube watchList for office chairs.

If one likes to have neck support (headrest)

From memory, it seems Steelcase Leap V2 (Amazon*; Steelcase) is a popular chair with headrest option.

The business of office furniture makers

It seems the manufacturers (mainly Haworth, Herman Miller, and Steelcase) do not have a business model like the iPhone. Typically people upgrade iPhones every 2, 3, or 4 years. Office chairs last more than 10 years.

Also, some knockoff products (e.g., this one on local Craigslist) may have an impact on the brand names (Haworth, Herman Miller, and Steelcase). What exactly is “equal to or better than Herman Miller Aeron Chair”, anyway? From the picture, the shape looks like Herman Miller Aeron Chair (picture shown below). It seems this person is doing it (selling used chairs) as a business.

It’s more a consumer win/manufacturer “did okay or lose a bit” kind of situation.

Danger zone

I have had some brief interactions with two manufacturers. In Spring Festival 2009, I visited Haworth for a business trip when I was working for Autodesk. Then recently I started looking into Steelcase stock ($SCS). I heard the Steelcase for 1st time probably back in 2009 when I asked Haworth folks who are the competitors. The two companies are close by, Haworth is in Holland MI, and Steelcase is HQ’ed at Grand Rapids, MI. When I visited Holland, the airplane is from STL to Grand Rapids (I recall it was an old MD DC airplane).

Investor Day presentation (webcast; PDF) for Steelcase 05-04-2023

Quick thoughts after doing office chair research

For Steelcase, a unique problem is its vast used inventory in the market, this is evident on the FB Marketplace and on CraigsList. It will take some time to digest those inventories that were a result of the pandemic (and work from home).

*Note the Amazon link is my Amazon Associates link. Your price will be the same, but I may earn a small commission if you click through the link and buy.

Categories
DIY gadgets Life Tips

DIY via Amazon and YouTube

Reading Time: 4 minutes

I am trying to fix small things myself these days, this is probably true for many other people too.

Replace the cell battery for the car keys

For example, recently I found out the new Car key (new to me anyway, it’s a used 2020 Toyota Camry key, so a few years old in reality), may have some issues, as sometimes although I put it in my pocket or in the car seat, the dashboard will say something like “key not found“. Note this is an electronic key now, basically as long as I have the key in my pocket or nearby, it should do its thing: meaning, I can open the front doors, and when I step on the break, and push the ignition button, the car should start. And if I don’t step on the break and just push the ignition button, the accessories should start (audio, etc). When the battery is low, some of those functions will stop working too. For example, on Mother’s Day evening, it started to rain, in the parking lot, I tried to open the car door via remote, but no luck at first. I tried to open the trunk first, then I was able to open the 1st front door. After I came home, I googled and followed this YouTube video to replace the battery in the remote. For the battery itself, I have some in stock, Amazon Basics 10-Pack CR2032 Lithium Coin Cell Battery, 3 Volt, Long Lasting Power, Mercury-Free*. Before this, I did similar replacements myself for my 2012 Camry and Sienna remote in the past too. The main difference is for newer car keys, we need to use them to start the car indirectly. But It’s done via pressing the button, in other words, if the remote is truly out of battery, we may not be able to start the car (which is a bit like a strand situation, and it’s ideal – update 11-20-2024, I found on YT there is a manual way to do this too).

Headlight in Toyota Sienna

PHILIPS – 12362B2 H11 Standard Halogen Replacement Headlight Bulb, 2 Pack || Youtube: How to change #Headlight #bulbs in #Toyota #Sienna (btw, always keep your car in top condition that you can afford, this includes the battery, tires and other misc things) || (Update 11-20-2024) I may need to rewrite this part as it’s on Twitter/X, and I no longer actively update on X. Also, the search functionality on X is horrendous.

MacBook Pro right arrow key

Recently I also bought a MacBook right arrow key* and my 13 year old daughter was able to follow along a YouTube video and replace it. She broke the original key first though. She was bored.

Garage Door sensor

Last year or so, I was able to buy the Genie GSTB-R STB-BL Replacement Safety Beams, Black, 2 Pack, Black, one size (GSTB-R)*, and replaced one broken safety beam. I think I got idea from the YouTube as well. This is relatively straightforward for me. I did hire a professional garage door person install the system for me originally, as it was above my head and hands.

GE Refrigerator Ice Maker not working

Ongoing (05-18-2023): the issue was something like this as described in this GE article. I think I am going to replace the ice maker on the fridge. Ordered the aftermarket part* from amazon just now, $55 before tax, it got high ratings and good reviews at Amazon. And here is the YouTube video by “DIY Repairs Now“. I watched it a few times, and I bought the replacement part using the author’s Amazon Associates (update 02-24-2024, all links to normal links now, Amazon invalided my Associates account because I didn’t bring in enough leads in a given duration. They are pretty ruthless, if I may) link as well. The author posted the OEM part in the description for the video too. I compared the price, delivery date and the reviews, and decided to go with the cheaper aftermarket part.

This is a GE 25.6 cu ft refrigerator made in 2007 (model number – PSS26MSWASS). The replacement (a Samsung 27.4 cu ft side by side) starts at about $1,149 at Costco. (Update 05-20-2023) I replaced the old ice maker with the new after market one that I bought from Amazon, and it worked (my wife is happy). The most difficult part is trying to unplug and plug in the electronic cable. I got some ideas from the YouTube video above, at about 1 min 10 seconds (unplug, use a tool, use hand solely was really hard) and 4 minutes 40 seconds mark (plug in). I realized those cables’ ends (6 pins, some are round, some are semi rounds) are not identical, which means we can only plugin via proper directions. Other useful resources: REFRIGERATOR – ICEMAKER DOES NOT FILL WITH WATER (GE again). Please note, I unplugged the electricity during the repair. I did not turn off water as I didn’t know how to do it for the refrigerator.

Note I do have one remaining task, that is to fix the ice dispenser. For that I found a video here: Refrigerator Won’t Dispense Ice – Top 6 Reasons & Fixes – Kenmore, Whirlpool, Frigidaire, GE & more. This is not as straightforward as I need to troubleshoot and determine which part is broken.

*The Amazon links are my own Amazon Associates links. I may earn a small fee but your price at Amazon should be the same regardless you use this link or go directly to Amazon.

(Update 11-26-2023) It seems the GE fridge is giving up today (it gave up probably 2 or 3 days ago, but we realized it today). And we decided to get a new one.

Ironically, I recall Amazon the company has its humble beginning including makes its own desk “How to build your own Amazon door desk“; From Scrappy DIY Desk to Amazon Icon | Amazon News – YouTube.

(Update 02-24-2024) How to replace the battery on a Dyson D8 (YouTube Video). New battery bought on Last purchased Jun 14, 2020 (Amazon). And on Nov 28, 2023 again Amazon. I just put this on thanks to the YT video. I don’t recall last time (around June 2020) how I replaced it, which video I watched etc.

Categories
Investing

The surprising losers in the First Republic Bank rout

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Do you want to guess the mutual fund (company) that lost the most in the First Republic Bank rout? I mean the mutual fund that held the most $FRC before it’s being closed by FDIC and since taken over by the JP Morgan Chase. I was a bit surprised to find that the Vanguard Group, held about 11.45% of $FRC shares (source: Yahoo Finance). And yes $FRC was in the S&P 500 index too (it was replaced by another company on May the 4th). It seems auto pilot, aka indexing is not always safe here.

At the same time, yesterday evening I learned a local hedge fund company Wedgewood Partners, invested in $FRC stock too (not a lot, also note their positions varies over the time). One ironic part is in their recent letter to clients, they put a bank run old movie photo (it’s a wonderful life) there, it’s no longer fun when you think about the stock were worth zero now. The Chief Investment Office CIO of Wedgewood, seems like a Warren Buffett admirer too (just like yours truly). Note Warren basically just said $FRC did some garbage mortgage deals a week ago. So blindly following Warren Buffett or blindly take reverse Berkshire position won’t work. We need to do our own research.

Also, last night (05-15-2023) I read this: ‘Big Short’ investor Burry bet on regional banks in first quarter https://finance.yahoo.com/news/big-short-investor-burry-bet-180322220.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr… Burry’s Scion Asset Management’s positions included 150,000 shares in $FRC, 250,000 shares in $PacW, 850,000 shares in $NYCB, and 125,000 shares of $WAL , filings showed.

(Update 05-16-2023) David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital snapped up 2 regional banking stocks during last quarter’s turmoil. It seems $NYCB and $FCNCA are the beneficiaries of the crisis so far. At one time I traded $NYCB too but I did not make money (in fact I lost a bit I think).

Last but not least, I found a website that have information on hedge funds and other institutional investors 13F/13D and holdings: e.g., Pzena and Wedgewood parnters.

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401k and Personal Finance

Be Generous

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Yesterday, an interesting moment. I need a five dollar bill. And I asked my 13 year old and 8 (soon to be 9) year old. I asked my younger daughter 1st. She said, why don’t you go ask mom? My 13 year old was listening, she already went to her piggy bank. She didn’t have 2 five(s). I said it’s okay, I will give you 10 and and you gave me the dollar bills (6). No judgement I hope one day young daughter can be as generous as her big sister.

Btw, I gave my older daughter an Amex Gold card yesterday too. I plan to give my younger one a Chase Debit Card at her 9th birthday. Different banks have different age limit for credit or debit card. I think for Chase the age limit for debit card is 7. Also note I usually pay off all the credit card balance each month. So in other words I receive all the reward points for free (or almost free if we don’t consider the annual fees). I just noticed there is a 5,000 points reward if the new cardholder spends $2,000 in the first 6 month. I don’t think my 13 year will spend that much. And I don’t think it’s a good idea for her to spend that much either. More on the credit card and rewards on another post.

More about the Amex gold card – My 13 year old got her 1st CC. It’s an Amex Gold (technically it’s a charge card, which means there is no credit limit I think). It does provide the typical protection that a CC provides such as loss and theft. Yesterday I realized she will be herself, graduate from college and start working in 10 years. Our younger one will be in college too. || Time really flies. I remember when I was new to America, I saw the commercial/infomercial on the late night TV, and I cannot recall I applied for the Amex credit card 💳 or not. If I did, it would be a straight decline. 又突然想到我初中二年级的时候已经住校，而且好像是自己管理自己的粮票饭票菜票了[捂脸]。一个月见一次父母。

PS: today 05-12-2023 I renewed the Amazon Prime PBS Kids subscription ($4.99 a month, pas as you go) again for my 8 year old. I am a generous dad, right? I looked through my gmail “Your PBS KIDS Subscription Has Started”, and found that I subscribed three times, and cancelled twice 🙂

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401k and Personal Finance

High yield savings account

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I think savers should look at high yield savings account #HYSA now. Personally I use the $AXP (#Amex or #AmericanExpress) and $DFS (#DiscoverCard). The rate as of today 05-05-2023 is 3.75% for both. I expect they raise the rate to 4% shortly after this week Federal Reserve’s 0.25% rate hike.

Doctor of credit has a more comprehensive list – http://doctorofcredit.com/high-interest-saving……

#savingsAccount #interest #yield

More readings: choose HYSA or Certificate of Deposit (CNBC – These 2 savings accounts have interest rates of about 5%: Here’s which one you should choose). Long word short, if you have money that you know you can put away for 3 months, 6 months, 1 year or more, go for the CD to lock in the current high interest rate. The convention wisdom is the Federal Reserve may pause here, and after a while, may start lower the interest rate if they see the inflation is slowly under control (of course, all these are hard to predict). If you want flexibility, e.g., if you just want to put your emergency funds somewhere safe, I think HYSA is the way to go. We just got a floating (market) interest rate then: I don’t know about how you feel, personally I am okay with that. Btw, I just saw the Discover Card is offering 4.5% interest rate for one year CD.

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401k and Personal Finance

A stock WeChat group

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橄榄🫒村股票群
群公告 history

Please email me at minjie dot xu at gmail dot com if you like to join


讨论美股个股为主(Latest update is at the bottom). 近年我个人比较成功的是OKTA：她家做identity cloud ☁️ (single sign on, security as a service etc). ZM没有拿稳比较可惜。I also long Berkshire Hathaway, Alibaba and GoodRx. Two disclaimers: 1) Your money 💰, your call (decision); 2) I am not big on macro trend / economics, neither am I big on market predictions: other than general things such as republicans are usually for less regulations, Democrats are for more tax / wealth distribution if you will.

(Update as of 12-28-2020: I sold off GDRX recently and I sold some $BABA today and last Thursday. I plan to sell remaining $BABA in the near future)

(Update 01-08-2021: 股市有泡沫，投机需谨慎).

(Update 11-01-2021: top 6 stock holdings in all my accounts are (in the order of most money => least): brk.b, sbux, ko, hun, SLB and DVN. The last 3 are chemicals, oil services and oil / gas producer. I believe we have at least 10 to 20 more years of internal combustion engines cars / trucks, and many many more years usage of chemicals (thinking painting, building materials etc.), plastics etc). ||

(Update 01-22-2022) The US stock market 📉 is entering the correction mode, as we have seen from last week. Be careful out there and pay attention to the cash management. Personally I try to keep 10% to 15% in cash in my account: everyone can pick a ratio that’s comfortable to her / him. Buckle up and we will see the other end soon or later.

(Update 03-01-2023) not much has changed, except the inflation and the Fed. Big tech/saas/cloud players mostly entered into a plateau after the recent spectacular run/crash, $ZM is a good example. But in longer term, i agree with Warren Buffett said: the America’s best day us still ahead and the growth of this country is the best tail wind for the stock market. This was true in the past 🐻 markets (personally I recall 2000-2002, 2007-2009), and will be applicable today as well.

PS: 05-17-2023 I did not post those in the WeChat group. I looked at my performance in the last 2 years. My biggest gainer is the $BRK.B. And I think I need to find revenue or gain outside of $BRK.B and other Berkshire Hathaway holdings: e.g., $AVTI, $AAPL etc.