Reading Time: < 1 minute 在2019年之前，我大概有二十年没有割草了。从1998年一月到1999年七月，我住在罗拉的美国大学生的兄弟会(Wikipedia fraternity; interestingly I joined the Delta Tau Delta fraternity (Epsilon Nu chapter) which is shown in the image when you do google search). 我在兄弟会的时候割过几次草。兄弟会有duty, 翻译成中文大概是值日值班的意思，我的任务里有不少是洗碗，偶尔也有割草。兄弟会是汽油的传统割草机：会有汽油的味道。印象最深的一次是大概是98年的夏天，兄弟会后面有较大的草地，我们一开始没有割草，后来发现有（不太友好的）邻居把我们举报了。马路对面的美国邻居是较友好的，我印像中他叫Bob May, 他告诉我们这个事。后来我们兄弟会有能力的美国小兄弟，去租了一个可以坐上去的割草机，把后面的草给割了。 我2000年十月份来圣路易斯以后，一直住公寓和康斗(Condo, 相当于买下来的公寓), 就不用担心割草的事。一直到19年夏天，搬到现在的独门独户的房子。 我一开始在亚马逊上买了这个 Greenworks 40V 16″ Cordless (Push) Lawn Mower，用了几年，效果还可以。一直到去年（2023年）春夏天，第一次割草时感觉很卡，割两下就熄火Shutdown. 我想两百多块的钱，用了快四年，也值了本了。正好在Costco 看到这个马力大的 Greenworks 80V 21″ Gen 2 Self-Propelled Mower, 还打折，就跳了。事后想想，打折的东西要稍加小心，也许有坑。 后来发现确实有坑：这个割草机的好处是马力大，也有自推的功能。她的缺点是一个电池基本上是坏的，还有她在草较长的时候也同样熄火。最近我联系了厂家，换了个电池。但是总的来说，她家说充满电一次可以割 0.75 acre 是达不到的。我家的院子大概是 0.28 acre,
Reading Time: < 1 minute 好像有个说法，人生在于折腾。 Zhihu: 人生的意义在于折腾 晚读 | 人生在于折腾，而不是年纪轻轻趋于平静 (新黄河 via qq.com) 我想对年轻人来说，这个基本上是适用的。比如说前几年流行的创业，我们年轻时（大学毕业时，九十年代初）去南方，广东，深圳等。With some exceptions, of course. The main thing is we all need to listen to our body – doesn’t matter whether one is young or old. We want to avoid things like below Another death at BoA (X)? A 25-year-old Bank of America credit trader died
Reading Time: 2 minutes (Update 12-08-2024) 我今天录了一个油管视频：I created a YT video today and it’s in Mandarin Chinese. I can create an English version later, if there is interest. My street credentials (qualification) for writing this: besides as the consumer of US healthcare system (employer sponsored plans most of the time) since fall 2000. I also worked for 2 large
Reading Time: 3 minutes Dealing with my 14 y old: the new retainer got lost in a week. See: I was smart that I bought the “retainer insurance” 🙂 If the opportunity arises, I would buy the “iPhone insurance” too (remember why I bought iPhone 15 : long story short, she accidentally broke her iPhone XR (which was passed
Reading Time: < 1 minute I am used to stay at hotels when I visited Shanghai, from the Home Inn or the like back in the days, to more fancier or western brand hotels, now that I have a family and kids. I never thought that I would stay in hotels when I go home and see my parents. But
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
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
Reading Time: 3 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
Reading Time: 4 minutes (Update 01-23-2025) Recently I started attending more group exercises classes at the J. Right now I am mostly doing the Saturday morning (7:30 am) and Sunday morning (8 am) weight training classes. I feel I need those. Honestly I need a lot more. But I will do my baby steps and slowly ramp up. (Original
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
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