reflections

I was a very bland-charactered kid in primary school: no notable talents, peculiar traits, off-the-wall behavior... the only distinguishing thing about me was I did well in classes, and in those days that was good enough to earn great respect from teachers and fellow classmates... I was elected/designated class president year after year, and had no trouble making friends with every one... everyone liked me, and I liked everyone.

This pretty much ran true through my high school years, so I was shocked one day during my senior high years to hear a guy I acquainted with at a summer camp--one of those precocious, young leader type--give me some well-meant advice: "One day you will realize there are some people who are not worth spending time on..."  What kind of people was he talking about, I really couldn't get it.

Undiscriminating as my friends-making seemed to be, subconsciously, I realized later, I was readily drawn to people who I admired or possessed some personality traits I lacked I wanted to have. Friendships like these could be ephemeral when circumstances changed, or last for a life time even after the mystique of the initial attraction had disappeared.

Lincoln once said "every man over forty is responsible for his face". At age 61, I am well past the days when I blamed my character flaws on my inherited nature, or saw the "superior personality traits" in others. I am contented with who I am, finally falling in line with modern Western culture's rah-rah cry of "be what the best you can be!" 

And I found out I am not that easy-going, bland-charactered guy I thought I was. I have my quirks, likes and dislikes, just like the most peculiar people I know, that I tend more to assert than suppress as I get older.

And people are not all what they act to be. None of us has it all together, but many think or pretend they do, through analytical talking, rote recitation, always-up posture, etc.

I hold a positive attitude towards life, but I think everyone is entitled to be sad or sentimental sometimes.

I'll strive to be the best I can be, but an all-around, wholesome person, not a flat, functionality piece that modern Western culture also seems to encourage, in a world soon to abound with artificial intelligence machines anyway.  

I probably won't tell a young man "not to waste your time on some people", but "pay attention to whomever you happen to be with, and no time will be wasted".

And no matter what labels or hats we happen to don in life, or what character quirks we may have, I still believe what unites us is greater than what divides us, deep down we are more alike than different, good triumphs over evil, peace on earth, good will to men.

Merry Christmas!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfPC0YrzHHM

tour de france

A 12-day "Kaleidoscope of France" tour we took in mid-October started in Paris, going through the central valley, to the northwest (Normandy), back to Paris, then to the southeast (Provence) via a high speed train, before flying back to the US.

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Here's the "executive summary" of it:

Paris

Compared to London and Berlin, Paris is a relatively small town, but definitely gave a live and charming feel from the moment our cab set in the tree-lined autumn-leafed somewhat-busy semi-tidy cityscape. We visited the usual high spots--the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Versailles, the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Seine River...--and kept notes of places we would like to come back to revisit or yet to visit and they were plenty...

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​Loire Valley

This central stretch of France where its longest river runs through it is called the "Cradle of the French" and the "Garden of France" for its rich cultural and agricultural heritages, and to that I may add the "Royal Backyard of the French" nobility for the many grand, fancy chateaus they built, of which we visited three, along with two unassuming little towns and a winery on this pleasant roam of the bucolic side of the country.

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​Normandy

The visits to the bleak beaches of the D-day Invasion and the soldiers' graves were certainly heavy and sad, but also reminded us of how monumental events such as this shaped civilizations and world history, like another invasion in reverse direction and of different nature some 1000 years ago that allowed the French to change the culture and history of the English, whose story we saw unfolded on a strip of tapestry in a little museum in a little French town. And what a geographical monument that "church/abbey-on-a-mount" is, on an island barely off the coast of this northwestern land of the Normans!

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Provence

Long famed for its village living, upscale Mediterranean resorts and artist enclaves, the southeast of France has much to offer: We visited an ancient Roman aqueduct, the Popes' palace, Van Gogh's asylum, a winery and a perfume factory, the festive Cannes, the glitzy and glammy Monaco/Monte Carlo, and the relaxing Nice where I took my virgin swim in the Mediterranean. A medieval hill side village that features a majestic cemetery, a chapel with contemporary interior design, and galleries of vibrant artworks lodged between winding alleys and cobblestone streets shows all's blended swell under the big blue of the French Riviera!

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France is a large country, Texas size, with diverse geography, changing demographics, various social and political issues, etc., but wherever I went, "livable" seemed to be the word that came to my mind: the climate is mild, the commute is convenient, the food is excellent, and the people are friendly--forget about the snotty French who refuse to speak English, a "bon jour" (good day, excuse me) and a "merci" (thank you) can carry you a long way, and they do and will speak English with a smile when they see you are in need of it!

This was the second time we used the same travel agency we used for our tour to Turkey four years ago, and were even more impressed this time by their service: the transport, the selection of hotels, the itinerary, etc. In addition, a super nice tour guide named Edo, whose passion, humor, and love of his job went beyond the usual professionalism that no amount of Google search or Wikipedia knowledge could replace, made this trip an extra pleasant one for all of us!

Vive le tour!

* For more photos and details of the tour, click on the following:

Paris

Loire Valley
Normandy
Provence

three evenings

Ken has been one great gentleman scholar I respect long before the days he attended the men's group I hosted at my home backyard a decade ago. He has a small group himself that I attended a couple times before and enjoyed the scintillating discussions with an eclectic group of spirited Christians and truth seekers at his home.

For last month's sharing he invited a neighbor of his who has been practicing Buddhism for years on the subject of "mindfulness":

There are 4 stages of mindfulness practice: through body (身),  through feeling (受), through mind (心), through mental objects (法). You start by sensing the world with your bio-receptors (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, touch), then with your non-bio (the 6th) sense, then from the pit of your soul, before the final enlightenment comes. 

One common mistake people make is try to reach the final enlightenment stage without going through the first three, making it almost impossible to achieve, or creating an ephemeral, delusional, false experience of it.

"Teacher Sho-Lee" (秀麗老師) is another long time friend of ours from the days when we were attending a Taiwanese church some 20+ years ago, whose nice ocean view house sits just minutes away from ours but we have rarely seen each other in recent years. She called the other day and invited us to a Sunday evening get-together party at her house that we gladly obliged and went.

There were about 5 or 6 other couples, some of them we knew and some we did not, and a pastor from her church at the party as well. Pastor Hu is a tactful conversationalist and threw a question at us at the dinner table: "Say you had all the freedom of the world, and you could do it with abandon, what would be the one thing you'd do now?" that stirred up some interesting musing and sharing from everyone. 

Some said simple things (watching good movies, helping others), some projected grander goals (teaching the young, spreading new ideas), some were actually doing it already (painting), some were still looking for it, or--my favorite answer from a lady--just doing everyday mundane things, but with spiritual sensitivity and aspiration to becoming a finer person, like a gem being chiseled out from the rough in God's hand.

Then Monday evening I went to the monthly meetup of a "THINK, the Critical Thinking and Discussion Forum" group I joined over a year ago. Our presenter this time was a fellow member Cary, a sharp but at times abrasive logical and lexical purist, on the importance of having clearly defined vocabulary and terms before one can have precise thinking and communication. 

"There may be scale of vagueness in phrases we commonly use," he said... for example, the term "truth seeker." On that I interjected (like we all did from time to time during his presentation): "That sounds like a pretty clear term to me: as long as one is seeking the truth one believes is out there, he/she is a truth seeker." 

Bruce, an atheist who is the organizer of a "Backyard Skeptics" group himself, cautioned that my statement might include people (such as flat-earth believers) who are pursuing false truths, while Phil, a Catholic turned atheist who once did a "believence" presentation for the group and hosted a podcast for a believer-nonbeliever debate series, concurred with me. In response to Bruce's comment, I added that the "truth" in my "truth seeker" definition refers to the one ultimate truth, rather than the many "suit-my-need" "alternative" truths that seem to be floating around abundantly in this post-truth era we live in.

Three consecutive evening events, all happening on a weekend and a Monday when we were supposed to be on a trip to New York City for my wife's best friend Jing-Ping (靜平)'s daughter's wedding that we had to cancel at last minute due to an unexpected eye surgery of my wife.

Congratulations, beautiful Jing-Ping and daughter!!

feeling bad

I don't believe people who say they don't care what others think about them. Putting aside that "social gene" anthropologists say enables us to cooperate and out-compete other hominin species, even as a loner creature, entering a strange new environment, one has to detect the friendly and not-so-friendly elements around, in order to fight or flight, act or react... a very basic survival instinct we all must have.

It takes people who deal daily with multitude others, such as politicians, to develop a "thick skin", so to speak, to hide their emotional vulnerability, to perform their jobs, then.

Except when it comes to Mr. Trump, the "alternative politician," who, crass and crude as he seems, is actually a very thin-skinned, normal human being just like you and me.

Our sensitivity to "what would others think" can easily be transformed to feeling of shame if we do something against societal norms that brings embarrassment to ourselves or our family. "Don't be a burden to others," is rule number one Japanese kids are taught first day at school. It's no surprise then theirs is such an orderly and courteous society, and the extraordinarily well behaved soccer fans we saw on TV dutifully cleaning up their seats even after a heart breaking loss of their team at the World Cup games.

Guilt, by some definition, is more intrinsic and individualistic. It's a bad feeling you have when something you do or did not do goes against your personal values... which, again, might very well be culturally nurtured. As the joke goes: "I am a Catholic, I feel guilty about everything."

Is my behavior more guilt driven or shame driven?  

In the community I live, they recently set up stop signs and bumps at some erstwhile free flowing intersections. Many--including myself--hate it, and some actually drive around the bump when they come to it. I felt like doing the same thing, and wouldn't feel guilty about it because I thought these bumps were really stupid boondoggle contraptions (that I'd like to protest about too), but the thought of "what if my neighbors saw me doing this and thought less of me, the law abiding, Model Citizen Wong image all collapsing in one day" stopped me from doing it.

Sin is another bad feeling quite in its own category, and very much a religious one. The old school definition of it sounds like a curse God threw upon human beings since their grand old innocent ancestors made an inexcusable mistake of disobeying His benevolent advice, while modern theologians like to focus on the disposition of human mindset and call it as being "off the mark," "going the wrong direction," thus alleviating the moral connotation of the word.

Spiritually, I think sin just means "inadequacy" of humankind: Our lack of power to love, inability to truly embrace others, self-obsession, small-mindedness ... all the plain facts of who we really are. 

Admitting that, and being drawn towards its opposite (if we feel something is missing, something probably is out there), with no shame or guilt pushing us behind, what a joyful and wonderful ride to eternity would that be!

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"... whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:8).  

days of nuke, days of sun

One of my online chat groups’ recent discussion on whether some moth-balled nuclear power plant in Taiwan should be re-activated to alleviate the pollution generated by coal-burning power plants there had me recall the nuclear power plant shutdown that happened years ago near where I live, as well as the proliferation of solar panels deployment going on in my neighborhood in recent years, that I wrote the following to share with them:

前幾天看到大家討論台灣要不要廢核/重新啟動核電的議題，讓我興起念頭想跟大家分享一下我身在南加的一點核電跟綠能的切身體驗，有耐性/興趣的同學請往下看：

我住在南加州介於LA洛杉磯跟San Diego兩個大都會中間的一個靠海小鎮，南邊緊鄰的另一個小城就是當年尼克森總統的“西部白宮”，也是他退休（水門案下台）後幾年住的私人豪宅所在地，叫做San Clemente；再往南一點，沿著海邊，緊鄰San Diego County邊界，就是一個60年代興建的核電廠，叫做San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant：





這個核電廠總共有3個核反應爐，1號反應爐在1968年啟用，1992年拆解，2號反應爐跟3號反應爐分別在1983跟1984年啟用，也分別在2009年及2010年做了可以延長使用年限20年的改裝，卻在2012年出了大紕漏：它們的蒸汽發電機steam generator的合金氣管alloy tubes出現了異常磨損的現象：2號爐先停工進行修護，3號爐則在發生漏水現象後被勒令停工檢修。

美國在地的反核團體（趁此機會）大肆韃伐核電的不安全，管理不善等問題，即便電力公司(Southern California Edison) 花費巨資修護並修改設計，解釋安全無虞，並願削減發電量試行恢復營運等措施，民眾團體還是不斷質疑它的安全性，甚至電力公司主事者事先是否已知危險性超過預估須負刑責，等等，而美國聯邦的核能管理局Nuclear Regulatory Commission也裁決若該核電廠要恢復營運的話，必須重新申請營運執照，因為他們做的修改已經使核電廠跟當初申請營業執照時的設計不符...

最後電力公司經過審慎評估，考量若要恢復核電廠營運所必需做的工事花費，重新審核過程的冗長與不確定性，可能的安全疑慮與訴訟的風險等等，終於在2013年宣布放棄重新啟動該核電廠的計劃，改進行廢置（decommission）該核電廠的動作，就這樣，曾經提供南加大部地區20%能源的核電廠就此停擺。

下面這張是我的一個美國朋友，一位住在San Clemente的退休老師在聽證會上發言反對核電廠復工的新聞照片：



我是在2012年搬入我現在住的全新社區，這幾年來，我的左鄰右舍一家接一家，紛紛在屋頂安裝了太陽能面板。下面這張照片，可以看到除了我（藍點那戶）跟右邊隔壁兩家 (這張Google的衛星照片有點過時，事實上我右邊的右邊那家屋頂也已裝了太陽能面板了）之外，我們那半條街的住家都已經被“綠化”完成了：



當我的鄰居來找我簽他們安裝太陽能面板的同意書（屋頂安裝面板會改變社區景觀，需左鄰右舍同意）時，我會順便問問他們為何有此動機，他們的答覆大致是：電費會越來越貴，以後要考慮買電動車，現在安裝還有聯邦，州政府的獎勵補助等等... 我一直沒有心動要裝的原因則是我們家的電力使用量並不高（人口簡單，住在海邊夏天基本上不用開冷氣...），安裝可能不划算。

但是兩個禮拜前到Costco買東西閒逛時碰到一家長期在裡面擺攤位跟Costco有合作關係的太陽能系統安裝公司，好奇跟他們問了些問題，他們就要了我的電費帳單並跟我約了個時間到我家詳細解釋他們的program跟估價: 基本上我家的電費支出的確不多，所以他給我估計了一個最小的系統（9片面板），需耗費$1萬，扣掉聯邦稅的補助30%（$3千）,換算成每月電費，相當於每kWh（千瓦小時）$0.09, vs我若不改裝太陽能的話平均電費$0.24/kWh.

https://youtu.be/bG8IOiZNr94



若換算成實際的每月開支，改裝成太陽能系統之後, 未來20年我每個月只要支付$10，到年底時我可能還有$100多的進帳，因為我的太陽能系統若有產生多餘的電力我用不完的話可以倒賣給電力公司



加州的綠能產業從1970年代石油危機開始的沙漠地區到處可見的風力發電風車到最近幾年來的太陽能發電，一直是處於先導的地位。2008年州政府在能源管理，研究單位等建議下，立法規定全州的電力公司能源來源在2020年前必須達到有33%來自再生能源的目標；2015年更進一步要求在2030年前必須達到50%來自再生能源的目標。但形勢比人強，in a good way：據統計加州在2017年全州已經達到33%來自再生能源的目標，而今年2018年三月初的某一天更創下了有49.95%來自再生能源的紀錄！所以不用政府規定，也不用等到2030年，目標就顯而易見已經可以達成。另外以上的數字還都只是統計電力公司的能源使用來源而已，若加上民間自己安裝太陽能面板而製造的再生能源，比例更遠超過上述。

所以事實上州議會最近已經又在立法，要將目標重新改成：2030年達到60%，2045年達到100%所有電力來自再生能源的目標；今年五月更通過法案，規定從2020年起所有新建的房屋都得包含太陽能系統安裝在內:

https://www.npr.org/2018/05/17/612082781/california-to-require-all-new-homes-to-have-solar-panels-starting-in-2020

核電，再生能源，環保等等是個複雜的議題，加州有加州的環境，台灣有台灣的環境，我不認為加州這套做法就比較優越，或搬到台灣就一定可行。只是直覺上，核電/綠能/環保不應該是個政治議題，反倒應該是個以經濟/科技為主的議題。縱觀老美這邊反核/復核，支持綠能的論點幾乎都是以經濟效益，老百姓的荷包數字來作論述：電力公司/主張復核者說若核電廠廢置，會有1100個 good paying jobs 立即消失；反核電人士說電力公司反反覆覆修改維護的花費都會由全體用戶來買單，所以何不趁早廢置省掉這筆費用；隨著科技的進步，太陽能面板的效率增加，採購量增加，售價與安裝的費用直直落，當政府的法規強制要求建設商必須在所有新屋安裝太陽能系統時，大家估計房屋售價大概只會增加$8,000到$12,000，換算成30年的房貸，大約每月只會多$40，但是每月可以省電費 $80，it becomes a no brainer, 實在沒有不做的理由！

我們這邊的電費這一兩個月飛漲，因為電力公司(San Diego Gas & Electric)更嚴格採用了Time of Day計費方式，就是根據使用的時段而有不同的費率，尖端用電費率是低端用電費率的兩倍，說的好聽是鼓勵大家節約用電，或聰明用電，或甚至是變相“壓迫”大家更走向安裝或使用綠能（這就有點政治化了，哈哈）

但我也同時看到電力公司在抱怨/擔心越來越多的客戶安裝太陽能，使他們失去越來越多的收入來源，而配電網路infrastructure的維護卻仍然必須由他們來負擔，到最後也必定會轉嫁到越來越少剩下來仍使用他們傳統電力的（較窮）的客戶上...這也是一種經濟/社會上的不公，又是另一種可能的政治議題了😞

中國大陸事實上是目前世界最大的太陽能源生產國。下面這張照片是山西大同一個太陽能源農場（solar farm）的鳥瞰圖：



兩隻熊貓，俯伏在地，very cute, isn't it!

但是他們的太陽能產能的使用率只有15%不到，一個主要原因是生產地都在人煙稀少的北/西北邊區，傳輸到人煙稠密的使用區時耗損率太高；另外，太陽能面板的生命週期大約30年，所以預計2040年開始會面對大批廢棄的太陽能面板處理，可能的污染問題... 有興趣知道詳情的可看這篇BBC的報導:
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20180822-why-china-is-transforming-the-worlds-solar-energy

Nuke, solar, environmental, economy, politics... all are complicated issues, hope you've enjoyed the reading!

sweet lineing

LINE is an instant messaging service like Skype or Google Hangouts, but used regularly among people with closer ties (old school alums, family members, church group, etc.), it becomes yet another social medium that lures you in for more direct and conversational communication between people you are supposedly more intimate with.

I've joined a few LINE groups in the past couple years, but except for some rare occasions, I've remained an observer much more than become an active participant in group conversations of many kinds. 

Recently an event in one of my groups--the one consisting of my old junior high school classmates, however, had me totally hooked, day in and day out, clicking and typing, rooting and hooting, for nearly three whole weeks... What was that all about?

It all started with a simple request from one of our old classmates, whose daughter's musical band was in an online popularity contest that needed votes for support: ("Double Sweet" was the name of the band; one vote per person per day was the rule)

​​Our teacher was one of the first to respond:

I jumped in, as many did, as vote #544:

Surprise!, another classmate of ours also had a singer daughter, whose new single just came out, so he invited us to enjoy and "like" it too:   

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​Two dads shared how their daughters picked up their singing hobby/career:

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​As the daily voting went on, I started picking/waiting for some cool numbers to vote, joshing with my fellow classmates along the way:

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We had two natural shifts for voting: As the day turned, those in Taiwan finished their voting, we in the US started ours:

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Even the usual social media non-participant, the anti-faddist, non-trend-chaser type were fired up:

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I took time to listen to and promote a radio music program hosted by yet another talented classmate of ours, while waiting for my target number to appear:

Friends and family were pulled in by some for reinforcement:

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On a business trip to China, one was concerned he might not be able to vote from there (some websites, as well as LINE are blocked in China):

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Yes he could and did:

A Twilight Zone moment came when one day our teacher in Taiwan voted, and three of us in US followed, one by one, at exact 10-minute intervals, with no premeditation or conspiration of any sort:

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Using the statistics I collected, I did a mid-campaign analysis for the group: In 7 hours (during US day time) our candidate gained 100 votes, while her main rival gained only 5, evidence that ours had far superior foreign legion power than her competition did:

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Some in the US set alarm clock to remind themselves to vote when a new voting day started in Taiwan:

We continued to play the game of picking interesting/milestone numbers for vote: 

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I waited patiently, then in one fell swoop I grabbed the number (6000) I wanted (I had registered two accounts to be able to cast two votes at a time, using one as a quick setup for the one I was after):

It's the last day of voting, I was staying up late to get the monumental #8000, but some people beat me to it, so I cast my last ballot as vote #8002 and went to bed:

As expected, we won by a landslide: 8118 to 6100 against our closest competitor

​​I made an uncanny hieroglyphical and numerological interpretation for those numbers:

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Some gave comments:

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What a wonderful LINEing journey! No rude remarks, tiresome posting/repostings, "fake news" nonsense, bad taste jokes or videos, heated but useless political debates... just pure fun and excitement, camaraderie for a common goal, like a bunch of youngsters sitting in one same classroom we were some 45 years ago! 

* Just in case you are curious, here's our classmate's daughter's song that won the contest, for the prize of becoming the official song of a town in northwest Taiwan:

https://streetvoice.com/Drummerjump/songs/557297/