Category: Saint Louis

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advice and tips Saint Louis

I’m looking for a new gym and/or swimming pool

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And I am open to all suggestions 🙂

Some background – amid the most recent war and the turmoil in the middle east, I thought about quitting JCC earlier next year – I shared my thoughts here YT Video (in Chinese) a few days ago.

Now I think I may do it a bit sooner – the earliest time I think is starting next month May 2026. This is a bit like if people decided to move on from a relationship or a job, it doesn’t make much sense to hang around long, if they don’t expect things to change. In this spirit, I think about cancelling the membership at the end of April – before they start charging me the month of May membership. I know I had said a lot of good words for the J, the short name for JCC, over the years: including my blog posts over the years and this one in particular. Both my kids participated the Day Camp there in summer. But now I think it’s time to move on.

I am thinking about some alternative locations for indoor swimming, if I continue to do that. Another thing I like to have is an indoor walking track – West County mall is one option (in that case The Lodge at Des Peres may be fit the bill?). I like to walk outdoors. But here in STL, there are quite a few months in the year that the weather will be either be too hot or too cold to walk outside, or too rainy. And I can think of the below list. I will be taking time to decide my next move as I am not in a hurry. I would join the Olivette’s Five Oaks off Warson, the closest community center (walking distance from my home), if they have one of those. But it seems to me they only have work out (exercise) machines (treadmills, bikes, weight machines etc.), and pickleball and basketball court. I am decent on pickleball, but I haven’t been fully sold on that sport. Btw, about 2 years ago I poked fun at the pickleball here.

The list

Center of Clayton || Membership rates below (monthly), probably the closest among all the gyms.

 catergoryResidentCorporateNon-Resident
 Youth (3-17)$32$38$42
 Adult$47$56$67
 Senior (65+)$38$45$49
 Family $78 $90 $111

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Maryland Heights Community Center: it looks like their rate is much cheaper than the J membership.

Prices below are listed as Resident/Non-resident

Adults (Ages 16-61):

  • 12 Months: $270/$324
  • 6 Months: $169/$203
  • 3 Months: $101/$115
  • 1 Month: $41/$49

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Not too far from Maryland Heights CC, the YMCAs (Edward Jones branch)

Richmond Heights

Lifetime Fitness (this one is a bit more expensive; I feel it’s too expensive for my income or taste)

Forest lake tennis and swimming club (outdoor pool only): my younger daughter is already doing weekly tennis clinics there.

The Lodge (Des Peres)?

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kids math-and-edu Saint Louis

Summer Intern Opportunities

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Engineering Intern – Shape the Streets of Kirkwood! (college)

Teen: Shaw Institute for Field Training, SIFT

Missouri Botanical Garden has other internship opportunities as well.

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advice and tips Saint Louis

How to print a file on school google drive at Saint Louis County Library

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I had to provide both Uber driving and tech support for my younger daughter – she wants to print a PDF file on her school iPad. The file is available on google drive in her school google account.

It’s the 1st time I am using the printer at the new County Library the Clark Family Branch (it used to be the HQ before the rebuild). I think initially we tried to log into her school google account on the PC dedicated to the scanner. That didn’t work. I asked her to log into google drive on my iPhone. It worked. But there are no “Air Printer” from my iPhone. Also per school IT policy, she could not share the file with me because I am not a school employee.

So there is how I did: I made the file available offline. Then I went to Google Doc app, and shared the file via “send a copy” aka email to myself.

Later I log into one of the library computer, and logged into my email there, and click “print” (we gave the job a name). There are one more thing before the printer job will go though – there is a computer between the two printers (the black/white and the color printers). And I log into that computer and approved the “named” print job. Each library patron gets $5 printer credit each month, and it’s enough for small printing job. If not, I believe they take cash or credit card.

Last but not least: you will need to bring your library card in order to use the computer and the printer at the library.

PS: we have printer at home and it supports air print: meaning we can print it from an iPhone or iPad. But this time our younger daughter wants color printing and our printer only prints black and white.

(Update 11-21-2025) So S6 wants to print color copies for a file in Canva app on her school iPad. The process is similar, I asked her to export the document as PDF and save it to her Google Drive. Then on my personal iPhone she was logged into the Google Drive app, I just need to send the PDF file to myself. Tomorrow I am going to print out the file at country library. Again all this is to get around the issue of she cannot share file directly with me. So we have to do it in 2 steps (via the intermediary of Google Drive).

Categories
Saint Louis Software development

IT Recruiters

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Having worked in the IT/software field for almost 25 years, I think it was beneficial to know a few good recruiters, at least it’s something I felt important in the old days in the IT/software industry. Another reason to have recruiters, is because that’s their livelihood and they have incentive to help or work for you.

I still recall Michael Banocy: about 20 years ago, it was probably year 2007 or 2008, I recall he said to me “make sure you have some marketable skills, and then you will be okay”. Although I haven’t worked with Michael directly after that, his words left me impressions. I just realized he retired in recent years. He is probably 15 years senior than me.

The first time I worked with recruiter, it was for a contractor position at Unigroup (2010). Note: I have comments for most of my past employers or clients here, if you are interested. Please note they are by no means comprehensive, it’s just my quick notes and hopefully it benefits people in the future.

I worked with another recruiter in 2012 for another contractor position, about 2 years later after the 1st contractor position. Those 2 plus the earlier position at Unidev, which technically is a contractor position for Union Pacific railroad, are all the contractor positions I had. Btw, I talked about contractor vs employee here. I worked with recruiters after 2012 too, but I believe I found all my positions myself the the exception of my current position, and the Mercy Health position. In both cases, I already know the recruiters because I knew them from working with Technology Partners earlier (2010).

I also worked with recruiters a bit in year 2019 and 2020, when I was working for Ascension, as we were hiring quite a few people at the time.

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Fun Saint Louis

Swim

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Yesterday (9/14 Sunday, I started writing this blog on 9/15 Monday) was the last day for the outdoor pool at the J Creve Coeur, for this year.

This summer is likely the most I swam in a summer in an outdoor setting.

Growing up I didn’t know how to swim. The main reason is my parents were very much scared that we would drown in the water reservoir which is one or two miles away. The story was two young guys who are probably in their early 20s, went to swimming after a hot working day in the summer, and both of them drowned and died. I am guessing they were probably my dad’s age or slightly younger. I have 2 elder brothers, we played in the water sometimes, but not at the big water reservoir. We played at the brooks in front of our house, and also a small pond in which we can stand without swimming. Only one of my brothers, my little big brother (who is 2 years older than me), learned or taught himself how to swim.

I first learned to swim myself after college, mostly at swimming pools, when I was working in Shanghai. I did learned a few things from other people, here and there. But the most important part is I practice myself, either in the swimming pool, or when I get a chance, in the water park. But my swimming skills were not that great, and my stamina for swimming is not that great either. That lasted for long time, until this summer, as I decided to swim more or longer distances. I think in the past, I usually swim probably 6 laps or 300 yards at the J indoor lap pool. This year, I set my goal higher, and I usually swim 600 yards. I also swam more at the outdoor pool when possible. Keep in mind I talked about the J or JCC here and there, and as you may be able to tell I am a fan of the J.

Also, note I paused swimming for quite a while before this summer. But now I am back.

This summer, at the J outdoor pool, once a boy asked me how to swim. He probably thought that I am a good or a decent swimmer because I was doing lap swimming. I never expected that but it’s definitely made my day as I like to share my knowledge with other people, especially younger folks. I think the boy is 11 years old, just like my younger daughter. Both my girls know how to swim, but they are not big fans of swimming as their dad 🙂

Now I am back to the indoor swimming, and I hope to stick to it until next summer.

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Saint Louis Travel

More St Louis area restaurants

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Taco Buddha: we went to the U City (close to Clayton one). We were going to the good old Corner 17 (link goes to Yelp, you can join waiting list there, but please make sure you check in at the front desk too), but the waiting time is too long. One thing I noticed is their adoption of technology: they have a QR code that the customer can use to order from the table. The technology provider is the Toast. Initially I was a bit hesitant because it charges only one cent to start. Because I worked for the credit card company I quickly realized it’s just an AUTH, not the actual tab. They actually texted me the link to the tab just in case.

Another place in the Delmar Loop area Sikao Life Chinese BBQ has similar ordering system too.

Ethyl’s Smoke House and Saloon: note I mentioned it here – I went again recently with a friend as he was driving by (drive through STL area along highway 70).

Note I haven’t been to the below restaurants: I saw them over FB and just bookmarked them here.

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French: Brasserie

Spanish (tapas) : Barcelona Tapas Restaurant Saint Louis


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Saint Louis uber-and-side-hustle

More Uber Driving

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I had two new experiences this morning. It appears I just received a one-star rating from a passenger (the 1st time for me): don’t know for sure why and who. But one girl (passenger, or customer) asked me if she can vape in my minivan, and I told her no (I told her politely though).

Also, I drove on some sketchy area in St. Louis, such as this one: Northway Supermarket. It seems the general area is Walnut Park East (and my google term here). And it seems to me this Yelp review (see below) is quite fair. Honestly when I drove by that place the 1st time this morning, I thought people were doing drug trade – buy and sell 🙂

Read Isaac H.‘s review of Northway Supermarket on Yelp.

And this is the whole route.

(Update 08-12-2025) I did an adhoc Uber driving yesterday afternoon. I got about one hour of time, after swimming. Turned down a few exclusive requests (they are a bit long for me). And did two short trips. I looked at my stats this morning, and it seems my acceptance rate was impacted because I didn’t accept the exclusive requests. I don’t mind that much as my overall score is already down, and I no longer qualify for the advantage mode due to that. The acceptance rate drop was not as bad. Anyway, next time I may be a bit more careful if I only have one hour or less to drive. Maybe just skipping Uber driving altogether.

(Update 10-12-2025) I didn’t do much driving recently. Last I recall was a Wednesday afternoon (evening), I drove for about one hour after picking up my kids. I did come across an article from Yahoo today (I’ve Driven for Uber for a Decade. I Don’t Know What My Future Holds. – Business Insider). I read it via Yahoo and it didn’t have paywall.

(Update 12-22-2025) I drive for Uber and Lyft after retiring from Wall Street. The principles I learned as a trader help me make more money.

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Saint Louis uber-and-side-hustle

Went to St. Louis Bread Co. after my morning Uber driving

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This one (link to YT).

Yesterday morning I was a bit tired after driving for about 2 hours. Next time I should remember take some “coffee breaks” every hour or so, that is, if I drive for more than one hour. Usually I just drive one hour nowadays (refer to my most recent post on Uber driving, refer to “PS: early morning Uber driving“)

This is probably also the first St. Louis Bread Co. I visited in St. Louis area (or one of the first). I used to live near that place Saint Louis – Chippewa St @ Lansdowne Ave or 6607 Chippewa Street, St Louis, MO 63109. I probably had bread bowl soup there too.

Please note one of the St. Louis landmarks Ted Drewes Frozen Custard is located not too far away from the Bread Co., it’s at 6726 Chippewa St, St. Louis, MO 63109.

They are within walking distance, or a very short drive.

(Update 07/07/2025) Bumped into an engineer (or an executive) from Faith Group, LLC (LinkedIn, company website). The gentleman didn’t tell me the exact company name during my Uber driving this mooning, but I am 100% sure this is the company, from the descriptions. He gave me $5 tip.

(Update 07/08/2025) Drive in the city of St. Louis. Occasionally I drove in the city of St. Louis. I would be a bit more careful when driving in the city of St. Louis. Not just because of the crime rate. In fact overall the crime rate is down if you look at the Google search overview – pasted below for the ease of reading.

(Update 07/10/2025) Tips sometimes can come days late. A lot people now live in “motel” which is really more like a studio apartment: they apparently cannot put in number for the motel, other than the main address. This morning, I had something like this, had to text the passenger to get the exact room number (she has some mobility challenges). More re: driving in the city, I noticed some people don’t obey the traffic lights, even official cars such as fire truck. That’s why I said earlier “be more careful when driving in the city”. Btw, the Uber business sort of dried up in recent mornings.

(Update 07/11/2025) This morning I went to Panera Bread at Westport after my Uber driving. This morning’s 3 trips are all for caregivers, the 1st one is for someone who lives in the apartment complex across the street, to a home in west county (home caregiver?). The latter two are drop offs at nursing homes (senior living places): one in Clayton, another one in Maryland Heights.

Btw, it seems a lot of my trips are drop offs at nursing homes (senior living places), especially now I mostly drive in the early mornings. I thought about evenings but considering the high temperature and potential damages to my car (battery), and I decided to skip.

Also, I happened to see this apartment complex Prospect Creek – Ballwin in a nice neighborhood (with privacy and walking trails etc.). You would do more research on apartment yourself, if applicable.

(Update 07/14/2025) I did 3 trips from or to Airport on 7/13/2025. This was a bit unusual because the airport terminal 2 got busy due to an end of a big conference. Today I did my usual: 3 trips total, white castle (fast food restaurant), wustl (off big bend road) to home (custodian get off work?), and lastly take a kid’s caregiver to kids care place. I think in terms of tips, the airport trips are usually better. But I don’t just work for tips. One minor thing though, between yesterday and today, I got a score of 3 (out of 5) and it lowers my average score a tiny bit. It’s not the end of the world, as it used to be though. Because right now I have 98 “5”. For comparison, I have 2 “4”, and 3 “3” and 1 “2”. I don’t have any “1”.

Separately, I came across a YT video 在上海住車上開網約車，一個月掙七千多，女士說這是普通人的生存希望 about driving ride share in SH, it seems they have a much harder job.

(Update 07/15/2025) This morning I only did 2 trips, because I am a bit tired and also today is my younger daughter’s b-day. For the 2nd trip, I took the same passenger as yesterday – WUSTL (off big bend road) to home (custodian get off work?). 1 trip was from an apartment near Page Blvd to a medical facility near Schnucks U city. I overshot a bit over there because my mind was a bit off at the time.

(Update 07/16/2025) I didn’t drive this morning as I need to do some work for my day job.

(Update 07/17/2025) This morning I did two trips related to the hotel (or nursing home). First trip was from the senior living behind Diebergs off Craig road, to his temp housing at Craigshire road. There was a bit hiccup. The customer thinks he ordered a stop at the Mobile on the run gas station, but it didn’t show up in my driver app. I honored his request nonetheless. The second trip was from the courtyard behind Aldi in Creve Coeur, to a hotel in Clayton.

(Update 07/18/2025) I did two airport trips this morning. I took a gentleman from WUSTL (Knight Center, business school) to airport (American Airline). And I intentionally didn’t leave as fast as I could, and lucky me I got another trip as I was leaving, from terminal 2 (southwest) to west port. After that I got food and coffee at Panera bread at west port and went home.

(Update 07/19/2025) Two trips this morning. One is taking a guy from his apartment in Overland to the gas station and back. He bought a pack of cigarette. I think he can walk, because it’s about 0.5 miles one way. The second one is take a lady from her home in Overland (I think it’s still overland) to the McDonalds’ in the U city China town (there is no actual official China town, but if you are from St. Louis, you probably know what I meant).

(Update 07/20/2025) 3 trips this am. Took the same lady (C) from wustl to her apartment at north county (slightly different from her other home). Took another lady (girl) from nearby apartment to the Amazon facility at St. Peters. And last but not least, took a Russian lady (nurse) from St. Peters to the JCC senior living apartment.

(Update 07/20/2025) Two trips this morning. It was raining and the driving conditions were not good. First trip was from the Hilton Frontenac to the Dr. Pepper plant off Page and 170. I was thinking we were going to airport and didn’t pick up the new trip on the way there initially, including an exclusive request. I picked up new trip after I dropped off a passenger, this new trip is from north county to the south city. After that I was a bit tired, and I went to the same bread company the one at Lansdowne and Chippewa. I was happy I drove about 5 miles along Chippewa in south city – my 1st time did something like this.

This post is getting long, and I am thinking start a new post next time I drive for Uber.

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St. Louis has seen a significant decrease in crime, with the first three months of 2025 showing the lowest number of homicides in 20 years, according to the City of St. Louis (.gov). Homicides are down 45%, robberies are down 20%, burglaries are down 33%, and auto thefts are down 39% year-to-date compared to the same period in previous years. However, there was a recent uptick in robberies during a specific week, but investigations led to arrests. The city is actively working to address crime through various strategies, including street intervention and focused deterrence. Here’s a more detailed breakdown:

  • Overall Crime Reduction:In the first three months of 2025, overall crime is down 28% compared to the same period last year and nearly 50% compared to 2023. 
  • Homicide Rate:The city is experiencing the lowest number of year-to-date homicides since 2005. 
  • Robberies:While robberies have seen a recent increase during a specific week, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD) is actively investigating and has made arrests related to carjackings. 
  • Property Crime:Property crimes, including burglaries and auto theft, have also seen significant decreases. 
  • Violent Crime:Violent crime in general is down, including rape, aggravated assault, and simple assault. 
  • Targeted Efforts:The City is pursuing a strategy of street intervention, cognitive behavioral theory, and focused deterrence to further reduce crime. 
  • Community Collaboration:The SLMPD, the Circuit Attorney’s Office, the Office of Violence Prevention, and community partners are all working together to build a safer St. Louis. 
  • Public Access to Information:The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department provides crime statistics and a crime map for public access. 

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Categories
Saint Louis uber-and-side-hustle

Somewhat unusual Uber pickup experience at STL airport this morning

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When I first started to drive for Uber, and if I drove to the airport, I usually would call the day and turn off the new requests. After a while, I decided to leave the incoming request on (basically I didn’t do anything special), and twice I got a ride right away the the drop off location. Btw, in terminal one where most airlines fly, the ride share pickup location is near door 6 at the upper (departure) level.

This morning I was hoping for similar magic as I was driving my customers for flight. It didn’t happen right away. So I was pulling away before a request coming in – as I was driving I usually cannot see all details for the request. I accepted it. Turns out to be the beginning of a small disaster for me. The rider (customer) did a loop request for Uber (basically the pick up and drop off at the same location). And they didn’t speak English. They come to STL for an adventist world congress. After looping through airport a few times, and also attempt for them to call their son who speaks English, and also attempt to put in the new destination for the ride (was not successful), I finally gave up. I did what the ride request asked, dropped them off at the almost same spot. They did tip me one dollar.

This is one of the strangest Uber ride I did so far.

PS: early morning Uber driving

Since my most recent China trip, I resumed my Uber driving, and I drove almost entirely during early morning hours (after sunrise, in other words, I still don’t drive for Uber when it’s dark outside). I think early morning Uber-ing has a few benefits:

1) Airport rides. This is usually the most safe, and also sometimes people tip (because of luggages). And in rare cases, I got a new Uber ride at the airport (happened to me 3 times total, and with the last one I mentioned above).

2) People go to work or get off work. I have picked up people go to work (or get off work) at nursing home (this is probably the most common). But really I drove for people who works at Walgreens, Starbucks, Dierbergs, warehouse or assembly line, cannabis* store, hospitals, schools, office buildings and hotels. Basically pretty much anywhere you can think of. And this is as safe as airport ride.

*Cannabis: this is the smell I dislike when driving for Uber. I usually was not in a position or really like to tell people not to get on my car.

Categories
Fun Life Tips Saint Louis

The swimming pools size at the JCC St. Louis

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I am mostly talking about the length for lap swimming

Creve Coeur

Indoor

Recreational pool (warm water, temp probably slightly above 84F): 20 yards

Lap pool (warm water, temperature is probably at 80F): 25 yards

Outdoor

They have two kinds of setups for the lap swimming

Shorter: about 25 yards

Longer: about 25 meters (about 27.43 yards)

Those numbers are a bit trickier because they are not standard. And I got it from my own try and error, via my Apple watch. I assume Apple watch is measuring the pool length correctly.

Refer to the official length

Chesterfield

Indoor

Warm water, temp 84F, 25 yards

Outdoor

Need some confirmation as I haven’t been there for a long time.

(Update 06-24-2025)

Today (this evening) it was a bit usual because a boy approached me and asked whether I speak English. I said yes, and he asked if I could teach him to swim. It looks like he can swim to some extent. I showed him and his friend how to breeze via mouth above the water. Also, the very basics of breaststroke. The boy is 11, his friend is 9 and the boy’s big sister is 12. They all know some swimming or can swim some: but they seem have not taken formal swimming lessons at the J or somewhere equivalent.

I never in my life would think I would teach kids swimming. I never taught my own kids. I did teach my wife a bit re: breathing or blow the water (suck in air and leave the water out via mouth). I don’t mind teaching kids one a while, but if every time I go to lap swimming, and I could not find an empty or semi-empty lap, I may have 2nd thoughts on this.

(Update 06-25-2025)

I am continuing adjusting the length of the pool on my Apple Watch. Today I set it to 31 yards. This thing puzzles me a bit: if the Apple watch can measure my swimming distance, why it needs the pool length. It seems it’s using the pool length to do some kind of calibration, so that it could come up a nice round number for the total swimming distance.