花錢

自從簽了房租, 胚心情愉悅的要花很多大錢.
首先, 訂了一張床.
那張床據說原價 $1699 pre-tax, 售貨員 (來美國那麼多年第一次遇到那麼積極進取的售貨員) 說那是著名的 W Hotel 專用床 (暱稱 bed in heaven), 現在美東北地區的庫存只剩下三張, 大殺價 $899, 問我要不要.
我看看班比, 剛剛是他問我要不要進來看看的, 現在好了吧, 人家硬要賣我床呢. 而且我試躺了一次還很喜歡, 試躺了第二次更喜歡, 人家硬要賣我呢.
班比說我們只是路過進來看看, 現在不急著買.
售貨員於是追問我們什麼時候要, 我說我七月才搬家, 新床七月才要.
他說他可以七月再送貨.
班比看看我, 你啊你兩天前才大手筆的簽了房租付了訂金, 今天又要花大錢嗎?
售貨員看我們眉來眼去, 緩了緩氣氛說: 我知道你的預算是六七百, 那我讓你躺躺我們家六七百的床, 你比較看看.
我躺了躺, 唉... 我就是喜歡那張 bed in heaven.
床是我最在意的家具, 每天回家花上最多時間就是在床上. 班比了解我, 看看我, 你確定嗎? 喜歡就訂了吧.
售貨員看我們有點動搖了, 他說你再去躺躺. 我說我躺兩次了, 我知道我喜歡.
班比開始跟我分析來分析去, 他說真的要急著現在買嗎? 他說那不過就加了個記憶床墊罷了, 他說他也是很喜歡的啦, 他說可是真的不便宜耶, 他說可是這是你最在意的家具.
我沒有回話, 我又走向那張床, 第三次躺上去.
我下了床, 我跟售貨員說, 我要它了.
售貨員微笑問我要不要使用一年無息分期付款?
What? Really? 我說當然要啊.
第一次享受到有真正薪水的好處: 信用, 信用好買什麼都可以分期付款, 美國人的消費市場原來是這樣啊.

所以我要分期付款買新電腦.
還有新電視. 我親愛的電視跟我也跟了七年, 該退休了.
剛剛在想, 我是不是要加買一個外接的電腦螢幕, 這樣手提電腦在家裡當主機使用, 螢幕可以外接個大一點的, 然後就想想乾脆新電視一機兩用, 可以當電視螢幕來看 DVD 也可以當電腦螢幕.
結果我 google 的結果是: 我還是要買一個電視螢幕和一個電腦螢幕. 真是花錢啊..... 好吧, 電腦螢幕可以等等啦.

以下是倒出我上述結論的資訊:

原著是從 Yahoo+ 知識轉到光華商場論壇, 現在我又轉過來, 作者是 tomigood.

一般大眾大都以為電腦螢幕和液晶電視是同樣的面版,只是有加電視選臺器..等,可以收看電視的就是液晶電視,沒有加裝電視選臺器的有VGA只能接電腦的就是電腦螢幕(或稱鑑示器);其時兩者之主要差別就是在面版本身.

電腦鑑示器主要是收看電腦資訊的,其資訊之呈現大都是以文字表格圖形等靜畫為主,且是靠近電腦甚至就顯在您眼前,故其最主要的條件是清晰;亮度對比不需太高, 以免近看傷眼睛;且因文字表格圖形大都是靜畫,故面版反應時間不需太快.....

電視面版之需求就完全相反,因其是為讓您可以高翹二郎腿,舒適的躺坐在沙發上,遠觀電視而設.因是遠觀故清晰並不是最重要(遠看一朵花,近看一個 疤,哎呀我的媽,原來是個母夜叉....觀賞美女絕對要遠看不能近看,否則您一定是個大傻瓜).但因電視畫面大都是動畫(新聞主持例外),又係遠觀,故亮 度對比以及螢幕的反應時間變的非常重要.(反應時間太慢於動畫動作太大時會發生拖影).

所以有人認為液晶電視接上接上VGA就成電腦鑑示器,而電腦鑑示器接上電視卡或電視盒就變成液晶電視,這種觀念是不正確的,由于面版特性不同, 設計的觀念不同,所以液晶電視拿來當液晶電腦螢幕您看起來會覺得吃力,刺眼,眼睛極易疲乏;相反的您若拿液晶電腦螢幕來當液晶電視那您就會覺得畫面對比不 夠,較不清晰,且畫面移動時會有嚴重的拖影現象.

此外,液晶電視因係針對視訊使用,所以它用了很多視訊專用的解調晶片,如3D梳型濾波器,動態偵測循序掃瞄,動態對比控制,灰階平衡控 制......等視訊專用晶片,大大的題昇視訊的清晰度與可看性,而這些電路都是装在本身基版內,與面版一對一的調整;而電視盒或轉換器不但沒有上述之提 高畫質之電路,而且是單獨之個體,和您的晶電腦螢幕是否匹配的好就要看運氣了.

因為電腦及電視所顯示之標的不同,故像日本電視大廠,如Sony,Hitachi....等大廠已經開始把電視及電腦螢幕作分割,其最高檔之電漿電視已經不加VGA端子,純粹只能用於電視中.
所以您若只要有電視畫面就滿足了,那大可買只電視盒接在螢幕上就可看到電視畫面;但若要享受電視所帶來的聲光效果,那只有花大錢用高檔的液晶電視了.

還有什麼要買啊?
沙發! 五斗櫃! 書架! 桌椅...
我應該要搞一個 house warming registry
還是乖乖存錢吧

history of sickness

Was I amazingly healthy before 2004? If not, why did I trash all medical bills before 2004? No, I don't trash this kind of things easily. I must have been quite healthy.
I even went home in 2003 during the SARS crisis. There were more stewardesses than passengers on the flight. Everyone was wearing a mask. I was fine shopping in stores with all attention to myself only. I was fine after multiple temperature checks at entrances of anything. I must have been quite healthy before 2004.

I pushed all medical bills to the floor and thought I did not need them anymore: they are useless now.
Within a minute, I regretted and sat down on the floor, starting organizing them by dates of medical services.
This stack of bills represents part of my history, my American life. Their importance is equivalent to photographs'. Photographs usually record happy times. Medical bills remind me of unpleasant physical conditions. Although unpleasant, they are not terrible. They are not like my teenage diaries which I have destroyed.

My skin went bad starting from the cold dry winter of 2003 and became worse during that horribly busy and stressful semester of spring 2004.
I went to see three doctors, and each of them prescribed me different anti-histamines. They asked me to apply lotion and cream as often as possible on my skin. They told me that my condition would not be cured.
I was desperate. My skin went not only dry but broken and bleeding. Nothing improved. I could not apply lotion on wounds.
In spring 2004, I took 4 courses (one more credit than I was allowed to take per semester) and finished up for my masters. When Mama came to see me for my masters ceremony in May, I had to cover my face and legs with thick cosmetics.
She was heart broken seeing me like that. She asked for Chinese medicine's help and mailed me herb-extract creams from Taiwan. Magically, symptoms on my face, hands, and legs disappeared in a week.
Since then, I was converted into a Chinese medicine believer.

In October 2005, one of my wisdom teeth was pulled out. That was one unbelievably insane experience (written in Chinese, however).
In a highly developed country such as Taiwan, one does not need to be put to sleep in order to have teeth, or wisdom teeth to be more specific, removed. The patient will not feel a thing during the procedure. The patient will be able to return to normal life within an hour after the procedure.
I do not understand why I had to be anesthetized entirely for removal of one tooth. I could not function for not just one day but felt light-headed for the whole week.
Worse, the other wisdom teeth bugged me in November before Thanksgiving. That's right. I had them removed by the same surgeon through the same anesthetization s**t before the holiday when people were happily eating. Thankfully on the black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), Alex accompanied me to King of Prussia, the Pennsylvanian town where the biggest outlet on the East Coat is.

Since then, I received many dental bills because I identified a dentist to take care of me. The dentist was from Poland. She had a very strong accent. She liked to talked to me while I was unable to reply with my mouth wide open. She liked to asked me questions requiring answers that could not be accomplished by nodding or shaking my head.
She was very detail-oriented. She would spend two hours in tooth washing or until I could not feel my jaw.
She provided me cherry-flavored anti-bacteria-related jell on my gum. She gave me samples of mouth wash, toothbrush, and toothpaste.
She reminded me of dentist visits every month by mailing me a card. She would say "You have $1000 to spend each year covered by your insurance. Do not waste it." But I really preferred not to visit her more than once a year.

I have stopped seeing a dentist since I moved to New Jersey. My postdoc insurance did not cover dentistry.
Which reminds me that I should find a dentist soon because now my new insurance covers it.
Yeah... America is weird in its health insurance systems.

In spring 2007, I discovered that my immune system hates pollen. I sneezed in non-stop for two days during the move to New Jersey and flew back to Taiwan for a month. When I was back to the States, it was summer without allergy attack.
The allergy attack came back on time in spring 2008. I named it GBM.
This year the seasonal allergy was bad too, but I did my best to survive from it without taking medication. Well... in fact I was too lazy to get drug, and I was thinking "I am going to Florida and Taiwan in May. It is summer there." However, in some nights, I failed to fall asleep because my sinuses were congested. I prayed for rain.

Superstar made me to have a mask on during the plane ride to Taiwan. Although I refused to wear a mask in New Jersey on the request of Mama, I obeyed Superstar and wore an N95 mask for 17 hours of flying, not comfortable at all. In Taiwan, up to May, all cases of the H1N1 virus carriers were travelers coming from New York, especially Queens. We were flying from JFK. Superstar cared so I had to care because I care about what he cares.
I did not get the flu but got a diarrhea for a week. This had happened once several years ago. My digestion system seems to prefer America even though my skin loves Taiwan.

To take care of myself, I apply skin lotion and cream as often as possible. I also do pap smears and check vision every year. I also talk to Kim if I am not feeling well. How convenient to have a physician friend so close by.
Actually I have several physician friends in Taiwan. Oh those days back in college finally are paying off. I could email friends to find Taiwanese doctors for Mama and grand parents. Even my boss knows a Taiwanese psychiatrist (her previous trainee) who has recommended neurologists for Mama.
Now I am a believer in Chinese medicine, meaning I will need friends in this field to guide me. Luckily, friendships since college years last. Little North is becoming a practitioner in Chinese medicine. Ching is studying acupressure. I am covered.

Exact descriptions are not needed to reserve my historical events. Just medical conditions or photographs are enough to cue past episodes. Blog entries help too.
Take care, you all.
Take care.

stay up

Up is yet another great Pixar film.
As usual, after seeing the movie I went to imdb for more information. I found the following and couldn't help but admire nerds out there:
"If Carl's house was approximately 1600 square feet, and the average house weighs between 60-100 pounds per square foot, it weighs 120,000 pounds. If the average helium balloon can carry .009 pounds (or 4.63 grams), it would take 12,658,392 balloons to lift his house off the ground. (20,622 balloons appear on the house when it first lifts off.)"

I need a balloon to lift each eyelid. I need 20,000 balloons to lift Mr. M off the earth and away from my planet. Mr. M is a nerd type that could never induce fondness from me.
Jet lag is one of the worst things in the world. Another worst thing is to hear Mr. M the IT mumbling in my personal space, which is the entire hall way where my cubicle locates. I have tried to stay calm with him since the first week of my postdoc career (for example).
Today as I was fighting drowsiness while working, Mr. M came over and demanded my computer for 30 minutes. He claimed that he needed it for a Microsoft update.
Instead of saying "Can you see I'm busy?", I replied "Do you have to do it now?"
"No, not really. Hm... let me check one thing." He reached over and took a look into the system, realizing that my computer had been updated automatically. "Oh, I don't need your computer."

Why didn't you check so before demanding my space?
Why couldn't you disappear?
Why are you staying next to my cubicle and talking to J without noticing that he does not want to talk to you and I do not want to listen to you?

Mr. M told J that Cantonese was the second most spoken Chinese language next to Mandarin. Mr. M also stated that, as-a-matter-of-fact-ly, I was Japanese.
I was like... oh if you were so knowledgeable, how come you didn't know my first name was a super popular Chinese name, meaning that I am Chinese?
J avoided him by asking him to ask me since I was there a cubicle-separator away.
"No, you are wrong." I said without emotion.
"Really? Does China mean 'united'?" He asked another question.
"No, it does not. China, the English word, has nothing to do with the Chinese name of the country, which does not mean 'united' either."
"But the blah blah blah says.."
"No, it is wrong."
"But my ex-girlfriend, who is Chinese, told me that ...." He kept saying, and I zoned my mind out of his voice. Girl friend? Who wants to be your girl friend? Does the girl know she was your girl friend? How about your current girl friend? Have you met her in person? Does she know you are her boy friend?

Somehow, being disgusted by Mr. M made me awake.
I felt horribly drowsy all day yesterday, but stayed in office till regular hour today.

Oh, God of Balloons, please fly Mr. M away from me.
Also, go see Up. Go see all Pixar films. They are awesome!

please rain at night

The Vision Sciences Society holds its conference every first or second week of May. This year was the 9th meeting and my 6th.
I left New Jersey where pollen attacks me fiercely. I flew to Naples, Florida where summer is the theme. Summer is not the season for pollen. That is, my nose would not be running, and my eyes would not be tearing. I am very glad that I am not allergic to sunlight. Just ... being an Asian means that I am not a big fan of the sun tan, but I do like sunny days and cloudless nights. Click the picture below to feel it.

Summer starts at VSS

Once getting back, I found my left half of the face fighting very hard. Water was coming out of the left nostril and eye. Sneezes became my greetings again.
I saw Bungbung covered with yellow-green-ish particles, oh pollens! Get away from me and my car!
"How was the conference? You look so tired." Co-workers told me. I do? I am tired of not being able to sleep because of my own sneezes.

It rained a bit. I walked in the parking lot and felt light. No congestion. No congestion!
Please rain tonight so that I can sleep well.
But I do want a sunny Friday and weekend. Just rain at night.

flu reaction

I am not quite sure whether my constant sneezing is caused by pollen or by a flu virus. I prefer pollen.
I am not ignorant and know that H1N1 has caught much attention these days because people are getting sick or dying. I was not so worried until Mama called and emailed and highly suggested me to wear a facemask outdoors.
Naturally she is worried, especially bombed by panic-promoting Taiwanese media as often as 24/7.
Therefore, I took a look at the news source, WHO, and directly copied and pasted this message from the WHO website:

"As of 0600 GMT, 3 May 2009, 17 countries have officially reported 787 cases of influenza A(H1N1) infection.
Mexico has reported 506 confirmed human cases of infection, including 19 deaths. The higher number of cases from Mexico in the past 48 hours reflects ongoing testing of previously collected specimens. The United States Government has reported 160 laboratory confirmed human cases, including one death.
The following countries have reported laboratory confirmed cases with no deaths - Austria (1), Canada (70), China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (1), Costa Rica (1), Denmark (1), France (2), Germany (6), Ireland (1), Israel (3), Netherlands (1), New Zealand (4), Republic of Korea (1), Spain (13), Switzerland (1) and the United Kingdom (15)".

Let me direct you the US stats data at www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/
It says that as of May 3, 2009, 11:00 AM ET, there are 7 cases confirmed in New Jersey and 63 cases in New York.

So... what should I do? Do I follow what CDC recommends?

1. Wash my hands. ---- I do after walking through the hospital to get food in the cafeteria. I do before eating.

2. Stay in good general health. ---- I think I do except for the seasonal sneezing. The trees, however, are too beautiful to be cut dead entirely by my limited power.

3. Get plenty of sleep. ---- I have slept quite a lot recently. It is also seasonal. One of my allergic reaction is getting drowsy easily. I fell asleep while reading Angels and Demons (because I liked Da Vinci Code) or One Piece (Japanese manga 海賊王). Both were supposed to keep a reader awake.

4. Be physically active. ---- I take walks, practice yoga, and try to tango at least once a week. I am being lazy recently, however, because I am drowsy.

5. Manage my stress. ---- I did have some stress before April 29. But I am fine and happy now.

6. Drink plenty of fluids. ---- Coffee, tea, and water are my life. I also celebrated May 1 by having half bottle of wine followed by a dizzy head carrying a smiley face. I also bought half dozen of the seasonal selection of Blue Moon! This is my favorite beer of 2009.

7. Eat nutritious food. ---- I had much fruit and milk this week. Kim and Chris cooked tasty Indian food with chicken and various veggies on the last day of my postdoc fellowship. The wine I just mentioned was going very well with the Sicilian style rib eye steak served in a fine restaurant in my neighborhood. It immediately became my favorite steak of 2009. Yes, I also had much chocolate and green tea ice cream recently. They were all very nutritious.

8. Try not to touch surfaces that may be contaminated with the flu virus. ---- This rule is difficult to follow because how I would know whether a surface is contaminated. And try not to touch it? Alright, alright I will try very very hard. No touch at all.

9. Avoid close contact with people who are sick. ---- How close is close? Um... I do shake hands with stroke patients. They are sick indeed, but I cannot avoid them. I promise I will wash hands before rubbing my eyes.

My conclusion is that wearing a facemask to work or to take a walk is overreacting to the current situation, Mama.
However, I did not go to a tango practica today. The reasons are that I woke up with a series of sneezes and felt a bit under weather, and that it has been raining. It will be a pain for me to hold an umbrella with constant sneezes so that I am not able to hold the umbrella still, which condition may attract attention inducing thoughts in people's head that "This girl is sick, and we should avoid close contact with her", and I will get no leader to dance with me.

Be calm and continue your usual life style with an further healthier habits. We will be fine.