2013 misc

1/23/2013-2/17/2013: Chinese New Year Taipei visit.  Flew Evergreen airway, the plane was surprisingly not crowed, almost all three-seat rows has one seat unoccupied, my next seat passenger moved to one row with only one other passenger - this made me very happy since I was in a 2-seat row, felt like in business class :-)  Had blood, urine, and stool examined, stool examine return positive, recommended 大腸鏡 but they could not find an open for me before I left, had to do it next time.  Blood sugar a little high but within boarder line, cholesterols are OK, blood pressure has been OK during the one-week test(except sometimes it went over the 135/85 mark but most retests are below).  Met big brother/sister Chou at 三四味屋.  Had lunch at Anita's brother's home, 14 dishes total - the most I've ever seen there.

2/26/2013: Start trimming the Wisteria, selected the heavy ones that were causing the trellis to lean toward the brick pavement, used one of the old oak floor leftover to help straighten the trellis, I think it can serve its pur[ose for at least another year, need to trim off one of the larger branches close to the back of the right side trellis as it is pressing the old and fragile fence.

2/27/2013: Start trimming the defunct Cherry, cutting off the smaller branches first to clear up access space for handling larger branches; realized that the saw blade may be a bit dull when cutting larger branches, need to get a new one before continuing with other larger branches.  Played ping pong at Dynamic Foundation at 1:00.

2/28/2013: Got a new saw blade for the reciprocal saw at Lowes - ~$3.00.  Cut off the vertical branch that was blocking our bedroom view.  Cut branches small and big into short and manageable pieces took the most time.

3/1/2013: Went to Chi/Willis' dinner party in Los Gato, even though I studied the map over and over before driving, I still made several wrong turns but safely arrived and parked on the street.  Nick's Next Door is a small but popular place, our appointment was 7:45PM, but we didn't get seated until 8:10, food was different but not bad, I had Chilean Seabass, fairly tasting, oh, their bread was very good, I could just eat the bread and be satisfied.  Played ping pong at Dynamic Foundation at 1:00.

3/2/2013: Went to California Badminton Academy and played table tennis with Ching Lee - he and his partner joined the table tennis club of this academy because their memberships with Top Spin expired plus the new place charged the same without any play time restriction, oh it is only 5 minutes from Ching Lee's house; this place has 10 tables on one side of the building, granted, badminton is their major event, it was filled with mostly young people learning and playing games, we were the only serious table tennis players there.

3/3/2013: Decided to vist the Chinese supermarket near City Sports, the last we were looing something else and did not spend much time there.  I wanted to see if it is competitive to Ranch 99 as their price is going out of hand.  Turned out it has a lot more stuff and I liked their price, they even carris the stinky tofu cake(臭豆腐乳).

3/4/2013: Cut down the horizontal center branches - cut a 2-foot piece first, but realized it is too slow since it's not easy to cut it up there, so I decided to use the shorter power cord as rope to hold the branches so they won't fall on the flower plants below, worked well.  Kept the thicker part of the branches to serve as fence bottom blocker.  Played ping pong at Dynamic Foundation at 3:00 (1:00 canceled due to their meeting).

3/5/2013: After struggling to deal with the hard to reach larger vertical branch, I finally managed to place the ladder next to the deck and trimmed off it piece by piece.  Went to play ping pong at Dynamic Foundation, but was cut short half way through, because Kung got a phone call from his sister Teresa, apparently their mother once again is acting up due to Alzheimer disease, sigh.
Cutting the trimmed off branches to smaller pieces in 80 minutes, backyard tree trimming project completed.

3/7/2013: No ping pong today, my neck is acting up, need to rest it nicely.  Started to rain around 5:30PM, took out all ~8 empty buckets.  Went back in the yard to fill them until all are done - around ~11:30PM.

3/8/2013: Still pondering how to solve the heavy 3-leg table support problem.  Refilled Anita's T-mobile cell phone with $10 - (408)627-9458, expiring 3/8/2014.
Paid LS400 DMV registration fee $120 at 11:21:58 AM, authorization number 184800.

3/9/2013: Drove with Jason to hike in Saratoga.  Finished the 3-leg table installation - after some modification to original design - except the legs, I'll leave them on the floor for a few days before taking off the top parts for final installation.

3/13/2013: Called Jihua and cancel dinner with them.

3/14/2013: Played ping pong with Ching Lee at CBA from 10:30 to 12:15.  Qualified for $5 senior price.

3/15/2013:  Started working on final phase of the 3-leg table, manually cut off the lower part of the legs, keep only the decor.  Sand off the excess and stained them, reinstall them with their original screws and voila - done.

3/16/2013: Went hiking in Saratoga hill - Jason's turn to drive - in the morning, 9 people were in the  hiking trail - me, Jason, Yung, Jerry, Ruby, John, Allen, Steve, and Ching.
Went to Po's 60th birthday party at Chef Chu - by myself - took 101 N., Middlefield rd, San Antonio rd and El Camino.  It is still very popular, a lot of people waiting to pick up takeouts, almost all tables were occupied, parking, of course, is a challenge, I got a spot at lot 2 - second to the last one.
The dishes selected by Po and CC are fabulous prepared by the chef - the best dishes I had for as long as I can remember.

Menu:
                Appetizer: 核桃, 素雞, 捲黃瓜，小魚乾
                金瓜濃湯
                北京烤鴉
                龍蝦拼盤(蝦，龍蝦，墨魚，干貝）
                Lamb lollipop(thick and juicy)
                湖南豆腐
                壽麵
                米素雪魚
                杏仁茶(with  )芝麻球
                {XO醬: 辣椒，小蝦米，火腿,...- excellent}
                Interesting waiter

3/18/2013: Heading to SFO at 10:10 to pick up Anita, flight status indicated that it will be 16 minutes late - 10:26, I did a nice estimate and arrived at gate G, took a leak at the restroom at ther end of the building and got a call from Anita as I came back to the gate, turned out she just came out, almost perfect timing.  Parking was $4.

3/20/2013: Got the following from Costco
             Bagel, croissant, seaweed salad, spring mix, sweet bell pepper, grape tomatoes,
             smoked  gouda cheese, and California Mandarins.

4/7/2013: Ordered Sony DSC-HX20V fro walmart.com for $299 plus tax - the loest price seen, most other places ask for over $380 for it.  Used free shipping instead store pickup, estimated delivery date is 4/15/2013.

4/11/2013: Received SONY DSC-HX20V camera ordered from Walmart.com, similar look as the SONY DSC-HX7V except the hidden flash, 20X zoom, and a little heavier body, oh plus a smaller micro USB charger connecter - the same as Nexus 7.

4/12/2013: Received twin-pack NP-BG1 batteries and charger ordered from Amazon.com, the batteries and charger are tested and appeared to work well - the two replacement batteries also allowed the cameras to show percentage of battery level instead simply the battery bars - a better indicator.

5/9/2013 - 5/23/2013: Turkey trip

5/24/2013: First weight measurement after trip to Turkey - 150.2

5/28/2013: Second time weight measurement after trip to Turkey, expecting to gain some but got 148.8 - a low record in recent years (15?)

6/8/2013: Dinner at Sushi Mizu, ordered
        - Calamari (OK)
        - Cajun Tuna Sashimi (OK)
        - Spicy Tuna Salad (OK)
        - Pink Godzilla Roll (OK)
        - Butterfly Roll (not OK)
        - Mizu Margarita
        - Dragon's Hurricane

        Bill plus tip = $109 ($94.57+$14.43)

7/21/2013: Discovered my new bike has a flat front tire, determined it was caused by thorn covered 果實 after careful examination.  Pumped air in the tire.

7/22/2013: The front tire is completely flat.  Got a bottle of sealant and air pump from Walmart.  Reinserted the front tire inner tube and reinstalled the tire/wheel.  Followed the directions on the sealant bottle: 1. Remove tire valve core (with tool included) and deflate tire, 2. Inject sealant (4 OZ) into the tire,. 3. Reinstall valve core, 4. Inflate tire, 5. Rotate tire to distribute sealant.
Also did the same to the rear tire, will examine the result tomorrow.

8/25/2013: Found a way to include more photos in the same MyPublisher photobook page - collage:
        - CollageIt 3 Free version, not easy to use as it does not have enough templates to accommodate different photo formats (number and orientation).
        - Use CollageIt to create new photos - large size file, usually the total memory used by all the original photos. save photos.
        - Open each collaged photo and crop properly (command+shift+4), it will be saved on desktop.
        - Rename the cropped files, remove collaged photos
        - Launch iPhoto and import these photos as MyPublisher can only get them from iPhoto.

           
           
           

中國醫藥大學內湖分院檢查經驗

Sharon showed me how to get around
1. Fill out first time visit form, take a number, present health insurance card and the form at the registration counter
w. Go to 家醫科 at 2nd floor
3. Relay to the doctor with issues - high blood pressure, need blood test,...
4. Go to test labs in the basement - urine collection, instruction for blood test, and guide for stool sample collection
5. Pay for visit at the same registration office
6. Pick up prescription at the counter across the hallway
7. Fast for at least 8 hours before having blood drawn

2013 movie experience

Zero Dark Thirty: The movie about tracking and killing of Bin Laden (1/7/2013: SantanaRow CineArts)

The Descendants: A hawaiian family decide if selling their holding a heritage land is a good thing for the family and the island (1/23/2013 on BR27 to Taipei - watched this a few years before)

Johnny English Reborn: A discharged MI7 agent is brought back to join a mission (1/23/2013 on BR27 to Taipei - funny as always by Rowan Atkinson of Mr. Bean)

L'amour dure trios ans: A man's distrust of long term marriage changes as he met a girl (1/23/2013 on BR27 to Taipei)

Trouble with the Curve: A baseball talent scout's daughter gets to know her father and herself (1/23/2013 on BR27 to Taipei - Clint Eastwood's traditional style loner movie)

Taken 2: Similar scheme and plot as Taken, the only difference is the location and groups involved (1/23/2013 on BR27 to Taipei - Liam Neeson is still all violent in the film)

OZ the great and powerful: Mina Kunis in this new version of OZ, entertaining. (3/29/2013: SantanaRow CineArts)

Die Hard, A good Day to Die Hard: McClane helps son capturing villain with weapon-grade Uranium (7/10/2013: Funshion.com)

Despicable Me 2: The gangs save the world again (7/11/2013: SantanaRow CineArts)

We are the Millers: A pretend family of 4 is trying to make money by bringing in drugs from Mexico (8/12/2013: SantanaRow CineArts)

The Wolverine: Wolverine goes to Japan to help a dying old friend (8/24/2013: funshion.com online)

Lee Daniels' The Butler: This film relieves the  civil rights movement through the life of a White House Butler who severed 7 presidents (Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan) (9/23/2013: SantanaRow CineArts)

Gravity 3D: Astronaut repairing Hubble Scope fall victim to space debris (Sandra Bullock, George Clooney) (11/4/2013: SantanaRow CineArts)

Hunger Games: Catching Fire: Past champions/survivors are selected to 75th Hunger Games (Jennifer Lawrence)( 12/5/2013: SantanaRow CineArts)

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: Second episode of the Hobbit series ( 12/16/2013: SantanaRow CineArts)

RX300 tire repairment

Discovered the right front tire is a little low at about 26 lbs the night before our scheduled trip to Pacific Grove on 20120625.  Inflated the tire and checked the next morning, it dropped from 31 to 30 lbs, thinking it's probably due to cold night.  Drove to Pacific Grove, checked into Asilomar Conference Ground, visited Monterey Bay Aquarium and drove back, the car felt a little strange as it tend to veer to the right occasionally, checked the left front tire pressure, it became 20 lbs.

Found out that there was a puncture at the bottom of the tire on the inner side after removing it, since the Chevron station, which usually handles this kind of problem, is under renovation, I had to come up with another solution - options: 1. Check out if Chevron has a temporary shop that still fix autos; 2. Purchase a tire repairing kit and do it myself; 3. Find another tire store that can take care of this.  I ended up getting a tire repairing kit ($10) from Auto Zone after option number 1 didn't exist.  The kit includes one puncture cleaning tool, 5 repairing strings, one string insertion tool, and one tube of rubber cement.  The first string went all the way in as I could not stop in time, but the second one was inserted just right.  After removing the excess string, inflated the tire to 31 lbs, the tire was checked and, voila, no more leakage.  I then rotate the tires according to the manual - right front to left rear, left rear to left front, left front to right rear, and right rear to right front, did a test drive in the neighborhood, put everything back in the car - spare tire, tools, and special socket.  I need to check the tires on a daily basis at least the first week then weekly afterward - I should have the tires replaced sometime end of the year.

Home Wi-Fi tips

In order for all (almost all) Wi-Fi devices, including iPOD Touch, iMAC, NBs, and Android phones, to work encryption keys must be set properly, the following are tested and work properly.

plhome2: "airstationwep" - 128-bit WEP (13 ASCII characters)
2WIRE: "xxxxanitayyyy" - 128-bit WEP (13 ASCII characters)

2WIRE DHCP server must be (appears to be) be enabled, only those devices with leased IP addresses (randomly assigned or pre-fixed that are known to 2WIRE router) are allowed access to the Internet - otherwise blocked.

2WIRE router security setting requirements

The custom pass phrase entered is not valid for the selected encryption type. WEP encryption requires either 10 hexadecimal characters or 5 ASCII characters to enable 64-bit encryption and 26 hexadecimal characters or 13 ASCII characters to enable 128-bit encryption.TKIP (WPA-PSK) & AES-CCMP (WPA2-PSK) require either 64 hexadecimal characters or an ASCII “pass phrase” between 8 and 63 alphanumeric characters.

Trouble Shooting:

- When having Internet problem (for example, upstream very slow - as is the case since early 2012) connecting from downstairs, wire or wireless, reseting the Linksys workgroup switch might resolve the problem.

可樂果

1/17/2012: Went to Daiso to look for something interesting, it is different from the last two years when I was able to find some useful gadgets, looks like it removed some merchandises that were probably not selling well, I will likely not coming back for a while.

申請健保與國民年金代繳

1. Get 委託郵局代繳費用申請書 online (2 copies) along with instruction page

2. Prepare one copy of 身分證 (required for 國民年金代繳)

3.Prepare one copy of last 健保繳費單或繳費收據 (required for 健保費代繳)

4.Fill out 委託郵局代繳費用申請書 accordingly
- 申請日期
- □新辦代繳
- 申請人戶名
- 申請人身分證號
- 存簿局號與帳號
- 聯絡電話
- 蓋章或簽名
- 聯絡電話
- 國民年金保險費一欄的 (1) 被保險人姓名 與 (2) 被保險人身分證號
- 全民健康保險費 第六類被保險人 一欄的 (1) 分局別代號, (2) 被保險人姓名(繳款單之繳款人), (3) 被保險人身分證號, (4) 所屬投保 單位代號