It is good to blog. I just reviewed this blog and remembered about my last few times doing the South Beach Diet. I used to do it every year during Spring time. Then, I stopped in 2009 and 2010. It is just too hard to stay on track when living and eating with other people.
This year is a big year for weddings. I have 3-5 to attend. I also have a Mexico (sun and beach) trip lined up. Obviously, I have good incentives to get back in shape. This year, I want to try something new to me: The Master Cleanse.
I found out about The Master Cleanse from the status of a facebook friend. I think it's well known and popular here in the USA. My friends back home have no clue of what it is (just like me!). It must be popular practice if Whole Foods has a whole section dedicated to it!
I really believe in detoxifying. With all the process food we eat, I sometimes feel gross. This time, dear husband (DH) and our friend T said they will join me in the Master Cleanse. Yay! It will make it more fun. We will weigh-in, measure, and take before and after pictures. I haven't decided on an action plan, but I will post it when I draw it down. Stay tuned!
Friday, January 28, 2011
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Three Easy Chicken Wings Recipes
Prepare the chicken wings the previous night. Clean them: remove the last bits of feather, rub with salt, rinse, and strain. Below are instructions for three different flavours.
Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings 椒鹽雞翼
Sprinkle enough of salt and pepper premix (椒鹽粉) and toss to cover all of the wings. I use the Knorr brand. The instructions say to use 1 pouch of seasoning for 2 pounds of meat and season for 30 minutes. In an effort to cut down on salt, I use much less, maybe half of a package and I season overnight in the fridge.
Fermented Tofu Chicken Wings 南乳雞翼
Use fermented tofu to flavour the wings. Make sure you use tofu that was fermented with red yeast rice (紅豆腐乳/南乳). Toss the wings to ensure it’s all covered by the tofu paste, about 3-4 cubes per pound. Let it sit overnight in the fridge.
Char Siu Chicken Wings 叉燒雞翼
Use char siu marinate sauce (叉燒醬) or char siu season mix (叉燒粉) to marinate and season. I actually like to mix both. I use Lee Kum Kee’s char siu sauce and Noh’s char siu seasoning dissolved in a bit of water. Add hoisin sauce if desired. Let it marinate overnight in the fridge.
The next day, you can simply barbecue, bake, pan-fry or deep-fry the wings.
Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings 椒鹽雞翼
Sprinkle enough of salt and pepper premix (椒鹽粉) and toss to cover all of the wings. I use the Knorr brand. The instructions say to use 1 pouch of seasoning for 2 pounds of meat and season for 30 minutes. In an effort to cut down on salt, I use much less, maybe half of a package and I season overnight in the fridge.
Fermented Tofu Chicken Wings 南乳雞翼
Use fermented tofu to flavour the wings. Make sure you use tofu that was fermented with red yeast rice (紅豆腐乳/南乳). Toss the wings to ensure it’s all covered by the tofu paste, about 3-4 cubes per pound. Let it sit overnight in the fridge.
Char Siu Chicken Wings 叉燒雞翼
Use char siu marinate sauce (叉燒醬) or char siu season mix (叉燒粉) to marinate and season. I actually like to mix both. I use Lee Kum Kee’s char siu sauce and Noh’s char siu seasoning dissolved in a bit of water. Add hoisin sauce if desired. Let it marinate overnight in the fridge.
The next day, you can simply barbecue, bake, pan-fry or deep-fry the wings.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Zerona
On Monday, I was bored, so I turned the TV on hoping to get some entertainment. I caught The Drs show, a daily talk show hosted by physicians, who answer medical related questions.
That day, one of the topic addressed was about weight loss. A woman contacted them to ask about a way to lose the 40lbs she gained after giving birth to her 3 children. She said she tried everything from exercising to dieting, without success, which lead her to get professional help. I expected the doctors to analyze her lifestyle and diet and then to pinpoint her wrongs. I also thought they would develop a program for her to follow, including a daily routine with a new diet. It wasn't the case.
The doctors of the show introduced her to Zerona. Zerona is a noninvasive liposuction. That's right, it is a non-surgical liposuction alternative!!! It's a 6 treatments of 40-min to be performed in 2 weeks. It is painfree and you can lose up to 9 inches (at the waist)!!!! Now doesn't that sound too good to be true?
Zerona uses low-level cold laser to force fat cells to release their contents into the intercellular space. Then, they are eliminated by lymphatic drain like other toxin . That's literally shrinking the fat cells. To my understanding, this technology has been in used for years with traditional liposuction to ease the suction of fat. They recently found out that used alone, the excess is drained by the body and it also provides remarkable results. Controlled study shows that the average result for this two-week treatment is 3.5", in some cases, it can be as much as 9". The lady from The Drs show lost 4" at her waist. (Click here for picture and sypnosis of the show.) Now, who wouldn't like that? The only disadvantage of this treatment over traditional liposuction is that fat cells are reduced rather than removed. Hence, the patient is required to change his/her lifestyle and eating habits or else, the fat cell will grow back.
My opinion on this? Well, it seems great technology, but I don't think it should not be advertise by doctors. The treatment is fairly new, so new that I can't find deeper information, but the technology behind it has been in used for years. It seems fairly safe since it is low-level laser, but it doesn't have decades of history to prove it doesn't have long-term side-effects. It is affordable, the treatment is priced at about $3600 for the 6 sessions. Would you try it?
That day, one of the topic addressed was about weight loss. A woman contacted them to ask about a way to lose the 40lbs she gained after giving birth to her 3 children. She said she tried everything from exercising to dieting, without success, which lead her to get professional help. I expected the doctors to analyze her lifestyle and diet and then to pinpoint her wrongs. I also thought they would develop a program for her to follow, including a daily routine with a new diet. It wasn't the case.
The doctors of the show introduced her to Zerona. Zerona is a noninvasive liposuction. That's right, it is a non-surgical liposuction alternative!!! It's a 6 treatments of 40-min to be performed in 2 weeks. It is painfree and you can lose up to 9 inches (at the waist)!!!! Now doesn't that sound too good to be true?
Zerona uses low-level cold laser to force fat cells to release their contents into the intercellular space. Then, they are eliminated by lymphatic drain like other toxin . That's literally shrinking the fat cells. To my understanding, this technology has been in used for years with traditional liposuction to ease the suction of fat. They recently found out that used alone, the excess is drained by the body and it also provides remarkable results. Controlled study shows that the average result for this two-week treatment is 3.5", in some cases, it can be as much as 9". The lady from The Drs show lost 4" at her waist. (Click here for picture and sypnosis of the show.) Now, who wouldn't like that? The only disadvantage of this treatment over traditional liposuction is that fat cells are reduced rather than removed. Hence, the patient is required to change his/her lifestyle and eating habits or else, the fat cell will grow back.
My opinion on this? Well, it seems great technology, but I don't think it should not be advertise by doctors. The treatment is fairly new, so new that I can't find deeper information, but the technology behind it has been in used for years. It seems fairly safe since it is low-level laser, but it doesn't have decades of history to prove it doesn't have long-term side-effects. It is affordable, the treatment is priced at about $3600 for the 6 sessions. Would you try it?
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Free!
Bare Escentuals is giving away free samples of Bare Minerals! I just put in a order. It's a 10-day supply of their new, breakthrough bareMinerals MATTE SPF 15 Foundation and it comes with a mini brush. Shipping is only $1!
Problem Solving Guideline for Couples
*Courtesy of my friends*
1.Identify who owns the problem.
2. If only one party owns the problem, others can give polite and respectful opinions, but the owner of the issue has the final say on how to deal with the problem.
3. If more than one party owns the problem,
3.1. Both parties must come to an agreement before picking a solution for the problem.
3.2. Before discussing the problem, ask if the other party is ready to talk about it. If not, schedule an appointment with each other to do so. Avoid discussing the issue when either one is not ready (e.g. driving, in bad mood, tired, busy).
3.3. During discussion, both parties should avoid negative emotion fueled arguments. If such occasion cannot be avoided, either party can leave the place where discussion is held to give each other a time-out.
4. During discussion, avoid:
4.1. Negative discussion in front of kids and other family members
4.2. Voice raising
4.3. History digging
4.4. Relating to parents or relatives
- Merlinda & Wallace
1.Identify who owns the problem.
2. If only one party owns the problem, others can give polite and respectful opinions, but the owner of the issue has the final say on how to deal with the problem.
3. If more than one party owns the problem,
3.1. Both parties must come to an agreement before picking a solution for the problem.
3.2. Before discussing the problem, ask if the other party is ready to talk about it. If not, schedule an appointment with each other to do so. Avoid discussing the issue when either one is not ready (e.g. driving, in bad mood, tired, busy).
3.3. During discussion, both parties should avoid negative emotion fueled arguments. If such occasion cannot be avoided, either party can leave the place where discussion is held to give each other a time-out.
4. During discussion, avoid:
4.1. Negative discussion in front of kids and other family members
4.2. Voice raising
4.3. History digging
4.4. Relating to parents or relatives
- Merlinda & Wallace
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Timeshare Presentation
Exactly a year ago, DH and I went on a "free" trip to Honolulu, HI which was a "gift" from a timeshare presentation. Click here for the related blog posting. Last week, we got a letter inviting us to a presentation... from the same timeshare with the same gift!!! Of course we jumped on it and made an appointment.
This timeshare company is called RCI. Their deals are the best we've seen so far. We were actually tempted to buy last time, but they didn't have resorts at places we care for (San Jose and Hong Kong) and plus, money is always better in my pocket than in theirs. So we went early this afternoon, to see if anything changed. With the real estate market crash, I was curious about how it would affect prices.
We let the presenter know that we attended the presentation before. He asked why we didn't buy last time and I gave him two good reasons: it wasn't within our budget and they didn't have resorts in the cities we cared for. This time, they now have *one* location in Hong Kong. The company keeps on growing and acquiring new locations. Then, he asked how much it was 2 years ago, we answered it was in the $8000 figure and we were here to see if price would have dropped. He answered that big hotels don't care about real estates crisis, they will always keep their prices high. (Despite I don't agree on that one, since airfare and hotel prices have dropped significantly, I didn't want to waste too much of his or our time.) So, this presenter was convinced we wouldn't buy and said that if we didn't buy last time, we wouldn't buy this time because prices has gone up. Their cheapest package is now around $9300 for 21,000 points with $254 in annual maintance fees and $189 of transaction fees for each week you exchange (this fee would be $160 if done online). After saying many things to convince us it is a good deal, we answered that times are hard and it is not within our budget, we like our money close to us in this kind of market. Then he says that "software engineers have the easiest job in the Bay Area and [you] can always find another job [in case of a lay off]". We stayed quiet. Then he pulled out his daughter's picture and tell us why we would want to waste his time because this is how he makes money to raise her. We stayed quiet. If you know me, you probably know I have lots of opinions. I think is it just fair for us to shop around and it is unwise to make impulsive purchases, but we stayed quiet. I tried to keep an open mind and see if they dropped their prices, I wouldn't say we intentionally go there for the free trip, because we didn't look for it, they invited us! The presenter already labelled us. He was frustrated and said he'll make sure we'll be on the do not call list. We walked out with two coupons: one for a free trip to Honolulu, HI (2 nights plus air) and another one is a 2-night stay at one of the 5-6 location choices (we'll probably pick Lake Tahoe or Reno).
This timeshare company is called RCI. Their deals are the best we've seen so far. We were actually tempted to buy last time, but they didn't have resorts at places we care for (San Jose and Hong Kong) and plus, money is always better in my pocket than in theirs. So we went early this afternoon, to see if anything changed. With the real estate market crash, I was curious about how it would affect prices.
We let the presenter know that we attended the presentation before. He asked why we didn't buy last time and I gave him two good reasons: it wasn't within our budget and they didn't have resorts in the cities we cared for. This time, they now have *one* location in Hong Kong. The company keeps on growing and acquiring new locations. Then, he asked how much it was 2 years ago, we answered it was in the $8000 figure and we were here to see if price would have dropped. He answered that big hotels don't care about real estates crisis, they will always keep their prices high. (Despite I don't agree on that one, since airfare and hotel prices have dropped significantly, I didn't want to waste too much of his or our time.) So, this presenter was convinced we wouldn't buy and said that if we didn't buy last time, we wouldn't buy this time because prices has gone up. Their cheapest package is now around $9300 for 21,000 points with $254 in annual maintance fees and $189 of transaction fees for each week you exchange (this fee would be $160 if done online). After saying many things to convince us it is a good deal, we answered that times are hard and it is not within our budget, we like our money close to us in this kind of market. Then he says that "software engineers have the easiest job in the Bay Area and [you] can always find another job [in case of a lay off]". We stayed quiet. Then he pulled out his daughter's picture and tell us why we would want to waste his time because this is how he makes money to raise her. We stayed quiet. If you know me, you probably know I have lots of opinions. I think is it just fair for us to shop around and it is unwise to make impulsive purchases, but we stayed quiet. I tried to keep an open mind and see if they dropped their prices, I wouldn't say we intentionally go there for the free trip, because we didn't look for it, they invited us! The presenter already labelled us. He was frustrated and said he'll make sure we'll be on the do not call list. We walked out with two coupons: one for a free trip to Honolulu, HI (2 nights plus air) and another one is a 2-night stay at one of the 5-6 location choices (we'll probably pick Lake Tahoe or Reno).
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
McDonald's Personel
Seating in a corner of a McDonald's restaurant, I'm here sipping my iced sweet tea while using their wi-fi and waiting for my next class. I've been customer of McDonald's since I was a kid. The experience is always quick and the service is without hesitation. Back home, McDonald's staffing usually consists of students and young people. They are sharp, full of energy and quick. The experience is totally different here. The staff are rather mature... at least they seem older than me. Most or all of them are dark skinned. This cashier even had problems explaining what's in a Happy Meal. Her English seemed limited. Yes, you have guessed right. Back home, this kind of jobs are for students with lots of energy, here, it seems to be dominated by Latino workers. Just an observation. However, on the other hand, In-N-Out Burger seems to have a youthful personel.
Friday, October 03, 2008
Sarah Palin
me: Wow... Palin was Miss Wasilla!!!... and she finished third (second runner-up) in the Miss Alaska Pageant!
DH: Now try to picture Miss Teen South Carolina running for VP!
Links: Sarah Palin playing flute
DH: Now try to picture Miss Teen South Carolina running for VP!
Links: Sarah Palin playing flute
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Facebook and My Ottawa Friends
Dear Ottawa friends,
About two weeks ago, I was playing with Facebook features and removed my "relationship status" so that it doesn't show. Please let me clarify that DH and I are still happily married. I sincerely thank you for your caring. Thank you to those who checked up on me to see how I'm doing. It was not my intention to cause any worries. From what I heard, I caused "some sad gossip" in Ottawa. Little did I know that the one who cares most about finding out if I divorced is actually someone who wouldn't contact me directly, even better, he does not even own a Facebook account!!!
Yours truthfully,
little camy
About two weeks ago, I was playing with Facebook features and removed my "relationship status" so that it doesn't show. Please let me clarify that DH and I are still happily married. I sincerely thank you for your caring. Thank you to those who checked up on me to see how I'm doing. It was not my intention to cause any worries. From what I heard, I caused "some sad gossip" in Ottawa. Little did I know that the one who cares most about finding out if I divorced is actually someone who wouldn't contact me directly, even better, he does not even own a Facebook account!!!
Yours truthfully,
little camy
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Labour Day Weekend in San Diego, CA
DH and I got a ride from a friend and went down to San Diego, CA. There was traffic on the way down and it took us 9 hours drive to get there after work on Friday!
It was 2:00am when we arrived and we crashed at our friend's brother's place. The next day, we spent a day at Las Americas outlet in San Ysidro, CA, near the Mexico border. Then our friend dropped us off in downtown San Diego to check in at Doubletree Hotel, which we previously bid on priceline.com. Let me tell you how unsatisfied we were with the customer service when we called Priceline. We encountered some problems and called them, this people avoid answering by hanging up!! Yup, it's ridiculous! The first time it happened, we thought maybe we lost connection, but after it happened thrice, we looked up on reviews of Priceline and the general public do agree that their customer service is horrible! Despite the bad experience with Priceline, we enjoyed our stay at Doubletree. It was a nice hotel and we got a room with a nice view on the 21st floor of a 22-storey hotel. We were greeted with their signature warm cookies.
On Sunday, we didn't have a car, so we spent the day checking out downtown San Diego. We walked so much that my pedometer registered over 22 000 steps! We started off from our hotel and went to Balboa Park. We visited the Natural History Museum. Then we walked back towards downtown and stopped by a 7 Eleven for some lunch/snack. We continued our walk all the way to the habour to enjoy the water front. Finally we walked to Horton Plaza where a friend picked us up to go to the beach and then dinner. Look at the map!
View Larger Map
It was 2:00am when we arrived and we crashed at our friend's brother's place. The next day, we spent a day at Las Americas outlet in San Ysidro, CA, near the Mexico border. Then our friend dropped us off in downtown San Diego to check in at Doubletree Hotel, which we previously bid on priceline.com. Let me tell you how unsatisfied we were with the customer service when we called Priceline. We encountered some problems and called them, this people avoid answering by hanging up!! Yup, it's ridiculous! The first time it happened, we thought maybe we lost connection, but after it happened thrice, we looked up on reviews of Priceline and the general public do agree that their customer service is horrible! Despite the bad experience with Priceline, we enjoyed our stay at Doubletree. It was a nice hotel and we got a room with a nice view on the 21st floor of a 22-storey hotel. We were greeted with their signature warm cookies.
On Sunday, we didn't have a car, so we spent the day checking out downtown San Diego. We walked so much that my pedometer registered over 22 000 steps! We started off from our hotel and went to Balboa Park. We visited the Natural History Museum. Then we walked back towards downtown and stopped by a 7 Eleven for some lunch/snack. We continued our walk all the way to the habour to enjoy the water front. Finally we walked to Horton Plaza where a friend picked us up to go to the beach and then dinner. Look at the map!
View Larger Map
Hidden heart harm of fatty foods
This is an interesting article from BBC. Here's a quote I took out of the article (link to article further below):
"Instead of a healthy pink muscle, his heart looks like a pulsating
lump of lard after a lifetime of eating too much saturated fat.
The layer of fat encasing Mr Haj's heart was so thick the surgeons
doing his triple bypass could not see his coronary arteries."
The video on the page shows surgery... you may or may not want to view that:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7605999.stm
"Instead of a healthy pink muscle, his heart looks like a pulsating
lump of lard after a lifetime of eating too much saturated fat.
The layer of fat encasing Mr Haj's heart was so thick the surgeons
doing his triple bypass could not see his coronary arteries."
The video on the page shows surgery... you may or may not want to view that:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Wonton Noodle Soup
Today, I made Hong Kong style shrimp wonton noodle soup for the first time. Surprisingly, it came out very good at the first trial! Woohoo! One item down on my list of cooking challenges, one more item on the list of items I will not order at restaurants. DH says is delicious :D.
It is really worth making my own wonton noodle soup? At least it has no MSG! The wonton wrap was the only thing I didn't make from scratch. Now let's see how much it costs me:
For wonton:
1 pack of wonton skin (1lbs, ~86 pieces): $1.59
1 lbs of ground pork: $1.79
2 lbs of shrimps: $6.00 (yeah, I got a deal on these)
seasoning: negligible
-> This makes about 14 portions of 6 wontons, therefore $0.67/portion.
For noodles and soup:
1 lbs of pork bones: $1.00
1 lbs of fresh egg noodles: $2.39
1 lbs of vegetables: $1.00
seasoning: negligible
-> This makes about 4 portions, therefore $1.10/portion.
Wow, that's cheap! I didn't realize until now. So, if we round up a bit for the cost of seasoning, a bowl of wonton noodle soup would cost around $2.00. Unfortunately, I don't know how much electricity I used, I guess that's the price I have to pay for some MSG-free and safe homemade food!
It is really worth making my own wonton noodle soup? At least it has no MSG! The wonton wrap was the only thing I didn't make from scratch. Now let's see how much it costs me:
For wonton:
1 pack of wonton skin (1lbs, ~86 pieces): $1.59
1 lbs of ground pork: $1.79
2 lbs of shrimps: $6.00 (yeah, I got a deal on these)
seasoning: negligible
-> This makes about 14 portions of 6 wontons, therefore $0.67/portion.
For noodles and soup:
1 lbs of pork bones: $1.00
1 lbs of fresh egg noodles: $2.39
1 lbs of vegetables: $1.00
seasoning: negligible
-> This makes about 4 portions, therefore $1.10/portion.
Wow, that's cheap! I didn't realize until now. So, if we round up a bit for the cost of seasoning, a bowl of wonton noodle soup would cost around $2.00. Unfortunately, I don't know how much electricity I used, I guess that's the price I have to pay for some MSG-free and safe homemade food!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Sad News
Recently, I read in the news that a Montreal woman was shot to death in Afghanistan. It is a sad news, but even sadder when I found out that she is the wife of Professor Kirk, who taught me EMF.
http://www.mcgill.ca/channels/announcements/item/?item_id=101156
http://www.mcgill.ca/channels/announcements/item/?item_id=101156
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Revolutionary Idea!
Did you ever wonder why women change their name to their husband's after marrying them? It tradition is still practiced in many culture. It is a very confusing, especially nowadays that women have their own career and that divorce is a common practice. I met a woman who was widowed thrice and is currently married to a fourth husband, therefore she had have 5 names in the course of her life... now how confusing is that!
In Quebec, under the civil law, a woman cannot legally change her name to her husband's:
"Both spouses keep their birth names after marriage and continue to exercise their civil rights under that name, i.e. they must use their birth name in contracts, on credit cards, on their driver's licence, etc. However, women are free however to assume their husband's name socially. Women married before April 2, 1981 who already use their husband's last name to exercise their civil rights may continue to do so."
I don't believe that women should be her man's belonging. My revolutionary idea is if the husband insists his wife in taking his name, then the wife should offer a name swap! He takes her name, she takes his name!
In Quebec, under the civil law, a woman cannot legally change her name to her husband's:
"Both spouses keep their birth names after marriage and continue to exercise their civil rights under that name, i.e. they must use their birth name in contracts, on credit cards, on their driver's licence, etc. However, women are free however to assume their husband's name socially. Women married before April 2, 1981 who already use their husband's last name to exercise their civil rights may continue to do so."
I don't believe that women should be her man's belonging. My revolutionary idea is if the husband insists his wife in taking his name, then the wife should offer a name swap! He takes her name, she takes his name!
Monday, June 09, 2008
Tips for maintaining your laptop battery
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_ion
Since I'm getting a new laptop with a Li-ion battery, I read up on it and found interesting tips I want to share with you.
Since I'm getting a new laptop with a Li-ion battery, I read up on it and found interesting tips I want to share with you.
Waiting for my next laptop
After my blue-screen experience with the previous Dell Inspiron 1420, I decided to try HP. Don't get me wrong, I received good service from Dell's tech-support. For some "unknown" reason, the three I spoke to coincidentally had Indian-sounding names and spoke with an Indian-like accent. Though satisfied with the level of service, I didn't fall in love with my Dell Inspiron 1420, therefore I decided to try HP, a brand I never had experience with. My friends recommended me a Mac. I would love getting a Mac, but I never saw it drop enough to fit my budget.
There's a similar/same deal going on with HP laptops as for the Dell laptops: get 25% off 14.1" laptops over $999. I upgraded mine to reach $1050 with a Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T8300 (2.4GHz) and 250GB of HD. There was a free upgrade to 2GB of RAM and it also comes with a free HP Deskjet D1560 Printer (value of $70), which I don't care for.
Now, I'm patiently waiting for my next toy. :D
There's a similar/same deal going on with HP laptops as for the Dell laptops: get 25% off 14.1" laptops over $999. I upgraded mine to reach $1050 with a Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T8300 (2.4GHz) and 250GB of HD. There was a free upgrade to 2GB of RAM and it also comes with a free HP Deskjet D1560 Printer (value of $70), which I don't care for.
Now, I'm patiently waiting for my next toy. :D
Home Sweet Home
When I was growing up, I always wondered why people get excited when they meet someone from their home country. Especially in a Chinese community, they get very friendly when they meet people from their village and speaking their dialects.
My parents have been visiting for the past few weeks. Today, I went to SFO airport to send them off. While waiting for them to cross security, I overheard someone speaking Québécois. I turned my head to look and had a smile. This feeling of belonging to a limited group of people speaking a language with a specific accent is quite strange. You can identify where they come from almost without a mistake, they probably grew up on the same land as you did. I bet it would be even more surprising for them to hear me speak, because I just don't look like someone who speaks Québécois!
My parents have been visiting for the past few weeks. Today, I went to SFO airport to send them off. While waiting for them to cross security, I overheard someone speaking Québécois. I turned my head to look and had a smile. This feeling of belonging to a limited group of people speaking a language with a specific accent is quite strange. You can identify where they come from almost without a mistake, they probably grew up on the same land as you did. I bet it would be even more surprising for them to hear me speak, because I just don't look like someone who speaks Québécois!
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Still hanging around... without computer!
It's not really easy to keep in touch without a computer. The laptop I've been using finally died in the 2nd half of April. It just refused to power on! It was a good old Toshiba (897 MHz with 256 MB of RAM) that a good friend lent me. It's time for an upgrade!
It took me a good couple of weeks before I found a deal that attracted me. I got myself a Dell Inspiron 1420: 14.1", Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T8300 (2.4GHz), 3 GB of RAM, 120 GB of HD with built-in Bluetooth and webcam priced at regular price for $1019. After 25% off and 8.25% tax it totaled $833.30. I was quite satisfied with the deal!
Unfortunately, it was just not meant to be. On the day after I received it, I was playing with its webcam software and I encountered the Windows Vista blue screen (BSOD - Blue Screen Of Death)! I had a chance to work with Dell's tech support. I followed tech support's instructions and did a system restore. After restarting Windows Vista, I got a 2nd blue screen when starting Internet Explorer! At that point, my case was escalated and I was given a phone number and a contact name. The service I experienced was quite good. It took me about 2 weeks of phone exchanges with Dell's tech support but the cause of the blue screens was not determined. I finally decided to return the laptop for a full refund (due to defectiveness). In the meantime, I got a third blue screen.
Once again, I'm computer-less... it feels weird... Let me know if you find any good deals for my budget of less than $900 total (out of pocket)!
It took me a good couple of weeks before I found a deal that attracted me. I got myself a Dell Inspiron 1420: 14.1", Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T8300 (2.4GHz), 3 GB of RAM, 120 GB of HD with built-in Bluetooth and webcam priced at regular price for $1019. After 25% off and 8.25% tax it totaled $833.30. I was quite satisfied with the deal!
Unfortunately, it was just not meant to be. On the day after I received it, I was playing with its webcam software and I encountered the Windows Vista blue screen (BSOD - Blue Screen Of Death)! I had a chance to work with Dell's tech support. I followed tech support's instructions and did a system restore. After restarting Windows Vista, I got a 2nd blue screen when starting Internet Explorer! At that point, my case was escalated and I was given a phone number and a contact name. The service I experienced was quite good. It took me about 2 weeks of phone exchanges with Dell's tech support but the cause of the blue screens was not determined. I finally decided to return the laptop for a full refund (due to defectiveness). In the meantime, I got a third blue screen.
Once again, I'm computer-less... it feels weird... Let me know if you find any good deals for my budget of less than $900 total (out of pocket)!
Monday, April 07, 2008
Free Drinks!
Jamba Juice is giving away free breakfast tomorrow until 10am to promote their new breakfast products!
http://www.jambajuice.com/
And coincidentally, Starbucks is having some kind of promotion tomorrow as well... but they are not telling what it is "because it will spoil the surprise"!
http://starbucks.com/
Enjoy!
http://www.jambajuice.com/
And coincidentally, Starbucks is having some kind of promotion tomorrow as well... but they are not telling what it is "because it will spoil the surprise"!
http://starbucks.com/
Enjoy!
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