Category: Life Tips

Reading Time: 5 minutes Colonoscopy is a routine exam recommended by doctors for adults over 50 in the USA: as a precaution checkup for the signs of colon cancer. 在美国一般医生会建议50岁以上的人去做一次肠镜,以检查是否有肠癌的迹象。I heard colon caner is among the top two cancer in the US. I did mine at Mercy St. Louis – it’s the hospital both my girls were born and

stlplace
March 1, 2024

Reading Time: 2 minutes First, some background: I missed a few checks from Delta Dental of Missouri and a mortgage company in last few years. I was able to remediate the issues later. First I located the unclaimed checks (years later), then I called Delta Dental and they issues new checks to me. In the case of unclaimed check

stlplace
February 25, 2024

Reading Time: 2 minutes I don’t know about you, but I was fairly enthusiastic about sports when I was in the middle school and part of the high school. At one time I thought I should join the Chinese youth soccer team (under 16), which looking back I don’t think that’s possible. A few months ago I also talked

stlplace
February 19, 2024

Reading Time: 4 minutes It’s the beginning of the year, and one common theme or joke is people sign up the gym membership in January. This is probably true. I do think we should look long term for the fitness and health. Personally I am not a believer of new year resolution, but at the same time, I do

stlplace
January 2, 2024

Reading Time: 3 minutes Using Spoken English the 1st time in the USA 97年夏天我第一次来美国,我的飞机航班是东航上海虹桥(SHA) 到洛杉矶 (LAX, China Eastern MU 583), 当时好像用的是麦道11(Btw, 93年好像有一次事故),再从洛杉矶坐TWA航班飞圣路易斯(STL)。我在洛杉矶机场犯了一个不大不小的错误。我当时很想上厕所,急着从机场(入境处和海关)出来,结果一出来就拿错了行李。等我发现我拿错了,我已经出了海关,我赶紧用我的英语跟美国机场的工作人员解释,还好他听懂了,让我进去跟东航的地勤人员说上话,交换了行李(取到了我自己的行李)。这个箱子是当时上海第一百货的牌子,估计我们都是在一百买的,这个箱子实用也较便宜。这一次是我的口语第一次在美国派到用场。 PS: 大概在2005/6年在圣村的机场,又碰到一件类似的事情,这一次是Diplomat的灰色硬壳箱。对方把我的箱子拿到家以后,没有多想,直接撬锁。后来她通过航空公司陪了我大概是五十还是一百块钱(USD):她没有拿我的东西,就是赔我的坏掉的箱锁。那个箱子今年回国才退休。Also: I have other stories with the diplomat luggage (1 and 2) back in 2007 when I tried to replace a broken wheel. So this one really last for a long time: at least from 2007

stlplace
December 18, 2023

Reading Time: 3 minutes For hiking or walking. Some are paved, while others are not. By nature I mean there are trees etc. around the trail. I am adding difficulty levels (categories) for hiking or walking. By easy, I mean it’s suitable for family. By moderate, I mean, the old or the young may have some challenge complete the

stlplace
December 17, 2023

Reading Time: 3 minutes 油管:my Youtube 2022 video for BRK HQ video below (narration mostly in Chinese) Charlie Munger We know Charlie Munger (Wiki) passed away recently, and he was the vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway: he had some influence on Warren Buffet’s investments over the years, including See’s Candy, Coca Cola and so on. Here is the free

stlplace
December 9, 2023

Reading Time: 2 minutes OR shall we call it winter break camp? I still think during the holiday season, it’s best to spend more time with the kids as they do grow up so quickly. Enjoy the moment when we can. I recall one of the best preschool teacher and administrator, also a Montessori educator in the area, Susie

stlplace
December 7, 2023

Reading Time: < 1 minute 我的小女儿经常说的一个口头禅是如上的标题。这个好像也是my better half (aka 也就是我太太)有时头疼的一个问题。我觉得吃或者饥饿也是人的本性之一吧。我自己总的来说应该是没有因为经济的原因,在小时候饿过肚子。我太太应该也没有(她也是浙江人)。有一次我闯了一个不大不小的祸:小朋友玩捉迷藏,我好像躲在那个油菜的杆子后面,后来那家人说他们那个还有菜籽(可以榨油的那种油菜籽,canola oil), 我爸爸妈妈可能陪了他们五毛钱(no pun intended, for real)。那个时候我爸爸的月工资大概是50块钱,也就是我的错误大概是我爸爸月收入的1%。比我十三岁女儿最近的iPhone事故稍好些。那天晚饭我不敢回家吃饭,后来我的哥哥把我叫回去了。一般来说,再大的事不影响吃饭。那时候还有一个大人经常用来吓唬小孩的故事:浪费粮食,打雷的时候雷公会打的。后来在美国,我的美国host mom(她四八年生人,我不是住在他们家,但是他们对我刚来美国有很大帮助,以后会单独写),她的妈妈在她们小时候经常说:finish what’s on your plate, because in China and India a lot of pepiple are staving. 让我又想到小时候的台湾人民生活在水深火热之中,后来在美国碰到台湾人,好像他们也这么说。 我是七十年代初在浙江东北部农村长大,相对来说应该是较富的农村。但是还是很怀念过年或是暑假去我外婆(大舅小舅家的日子)。我可能是比较贪吃的人。我想起来,我五年级,我小哥初二,他有一次开玩笑说我肚子里有馋虫。我将信将疑,可能有点像我九岁的小女儿(四年级)不久前对圣诞老人的相信程度吧 🙂 还记得有一次,我在镇海中学上学,我大舅来镇海(城关镇),他的学生(我一般叫她阿姨,因为她也是我妈妈的朋友,我妈妈比我大舅小十几岁),叫我一起去吃晚饭。虽然当时我已经在学校食堂吃过饭了。我就去她家吃了个十二分饱 🙁 很多年以后,严格来说也就是在我年过半百的时候,我才慢慢意识到,在我现在这个年龄,吃饭最好最好吃个7️⃣分饱。亡羊补牢为时不晚。Better late than never. 小时候,好像总的来说,肉比较少,有时候好像要凭票。牛肉更少,好像生产队偶尔会分牛肉:我印像中一般可能是耕牛(干活的牛)可能老死了。顺便说一下,我骑过一次牛,我应该很小,还没上学,我的叔叔给生产队放牛(不是亲叔叔,但是比较近)把我放在牛背上,感觉牛背很高(多年以后我后来在美国骑过一会马,感觉有点类似)。公公(叔叔的爸爸)很能干,我现在还记得在他家吃的高粱饼的味道。我们那里一般大家不怎么种高粱,印像中高粱主要是北方种得多一些。偶尔我们也会到邻居阿嫂家蹭东西吃:比如寒假暑假里,我们爸爸妈妈要上班,阿嫂做得东西很好吃。当然,可能还有一个原因,就是跟”neighbor’s yard is greener” 类似的道理。有一次,还听说一个笑话。事情是这样的:有一家在做“汤锅”,就是没有馅的小圆子,另一家正好经过,就开玩笑说等一下做好了,就来吃晚饭吧。主人就说好的。我估计这个客人的智商可能跟我小时候的智商差不多,因为她们后来真的穿着漂亮衣服,去吃晚饭了。 为什么提到我的智商呢,其实严格来说应该是情商,就是察言观色的水平,英文叫read the room, or read/listen between the lines。就是有一次,我大概是我小女儿现在的年纪,春节期间去我爸的亲戚家做客,他的表哥家,我爸的姨娘(也就是我奶奶的姐姐)也在,他们拿出了所有的好菜。结果,我可能把我姨婆/大伯家的黄鱼给撬了。后来知道有的菜主人可能就一份,不能随便撬的 🙁 我的大哥小哥可能把我好好笑话了一下。我记得这是我去唯一一次去大伯家做客。我爸爸可能后来有去的:我倒不是觉得是因为我撬了不该撬的菜。我估计主要还是春节期间我们一般会去外婆(小舅家)住几天。也有去过外婆家旁边的姑婆家:应该是我妈妈/舅舅的姑妈,和我妈妈的表哥家。我记得有一次(我应该比我小女儿现在还小),我在公共汽车站,说口渴,我外婆就走到相对较近的姑婆家给我去倒了水喝。小时候去外婆家,坐车,走路都有。我小时候有时会觉得,如果我“聪明”一点(用现在流行的话来说情商高一点),我的肩膀上可能跟两个哥哥一样是三条杠(而不是两条了)。这个可能在现在看来很好笑,但当时是我真实的想法。我后来有一次还真的拿到了三条杠,可惜时间不长,因为我五年级很快转学了:也就“削官为民” 🙂 在我的外婆家(也就是大舅,小舅家)没有这个不能撬菜的讲究。八零后九零后出生的朋友们可能会没听说过”拿出来装样子的菜“:生活水平后来慢慢上去了。还有一个,后来也是听朋友提起,就是重男轻女,女生先不上桌。这个可能现在也好多了。外婆可能还是重男轻女的,比如说她会让我的表妹(跟我同岁)帮我洗衣服,等等,但是总的来说还好。春节在我外婆家的主要任务就是吃吃吃。我现在想起来她有时会问我们,早上,coffee time (宁波话想不起来了),

stlplace
November 29, 2023

Reading Time: 3 minutes My wife who started working for a localization company since this past April, for the most part she was happy. But recently she started to talk about this exact issue of her leader (more a tech lead or project lead, not necessarily a manager). This reminds me of my own experience of dealing with micro

stlplace
October 23, 2023
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