兩週一聚﹕重頭一次

前言﹕這是一個叫「兩周一聚」的活動。是網友米雪兒發起。每月十五日﹑三十日﹐一班住在世界不同角落的香港人都會一起寫同一個題目。今天是第二十一次相聚,由HumptiDumpti出題﹐主題定為「重頭一次」。

看見今期的題目﹐腦海中響起了林憶蓮的一首舊歌﹐不如重新開始。如果人生可以重頭來過﹐生命會有什麼不同呢。人生中不如意事十常八九﹐稍有不滿便要重新來過﹐恐怕會變成涼宮春日無止境的八月。因暑假還有遺憾不願開學﹐結果墮進九月不會來的永恆輪迴﹐過著不斷重覆暑假的生活。

如果人生可以重頭來過﹐大慨我最想是重頭買過上星期那張彩票﹐不買原本那組不中獎的號碼﹐改買贏了二千五百萬的那組號碼。想要重新來過﹐是因為不滿意現狀﹐想藉著改變過去來改變現在。問題是改變了過去﹐並不保證現狀會更好﹐可能反過來變得更差﹐好像電影蝴蝶效應一樣﹐每次改變總會帶來出乎意料的意外。那又是否要重回過去﹐再一次改變未來呢﹖

小時候跟父親學捉棋﹐下棋不小心棋子給吃掉﹐我總是賴皮要求退回重下。老父便教訓我說所謂舉手不回真君子﹐不過棋力實在相差太遠所以讓我重下﹐不過就算重下也改變不了輸棋的命運。退回一步甚至兩步﹐可以挽求不小心走錯位被吃掉的棋子。但下棋不只是一枚棋子的得失﹐還講究佈局棋勢縱橫連合。當敗局已成不便能扳回﹐甚至不知道該從那一步開始重走﹐退回一兩步不過是垂死爭扎﹐甚至會發現不論走任何一步﹐也必定會有棋子被吃掉。要重頭來過扭轉劣勢﹐恐怕要退回到開局的位置﹐其實已變等於下一局新棋。人生要完全從新來過的話﹐那可要退回嬰兒剛剛出世的時候了。

能夠重新來過並不保證不會從行舊路。若回到過去不能攜帶現在的記憶﹐那當日作選擇時的條件沒有改變﹐思考後得出的答案應該不會改變。或許我們其實並非想重新一次﹐而是在作出選擇時能夠預知未來。不過就算能夠預知未來﹐也不一定不會後悔當日的選擇﹐人總會隔壁飯香或得不到是最美的奇怪心理。

想undo的博客有:

Michelle、Vince、csfling、火羽、周游C9讀與食、athrunz、hevangel、haricot、南杏、安寧tintinbrightLomicheecr軍師奶敖然C+

若果想參加兩周一聚的朋友﹐可以參看這個網頁

Have Designers Lost The Ability To Be Creative?

In the global economy of outsourcing, design knowledge is slowly become a commodity. Low wage workers in third world countries will eventually learn your know-hows and technical skills. The only want to stay competitive is be creative. That’s what really set excellence apart from the mediocre.

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ecoEnergy inspection

We just have our ecoEnergy inspection for our new place over the weekend.  The Canadian government is giving out ecoEnergy Retrofit Home Grants to encourage home owners making their home more energy efficient.  Before your renovation, you can get an eco-inspector to measure the green rating of your home.  Then eco-inspector come again after the inspection is done.  The government will reimburse part of the renovation cost base on green rating improvement.

The most interesting part of the inspection is testing the air leakage of the house.  First the inspect closed all windows and doors, then he install a big fan in the front door and sucking air out from the house.  The fan create a pressure difference between the house and outside.  Depending on the sucking power of the fan and the pressure difference, he can calculate the air leakage of the house.  When there is a large difference in air pressure, I can put my hand in front of wall sockets or door gaps and feel wind coming through the gaps.  The optimal air leakage is 30% of the air in the house is circulated every hour.  If too much leakage, the house is losing too much heat.  If too light leakage, the air will becomes stall in the house.

Since  I am not a environmental friendly person, so I don’t really care about the green rating.  It will take many years to recoup the renovation cost on electricity and gas bills anyways.  Pat is more evnironmental friendly and she insists on the eco-inspection.  It turns out our house is already very energy efficient because it is quite new.  We are already using double layer windows, water saving toilet and Energy Stars appliances.  Basically we don’t have to do anything.

Milwaukee M18

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It is man’s duty to maintain the house. When something is broken, the man of the house should know some easy repair skills. Being a handy man in the house is what defines the masculinity of a man. A power drill to has man living in a house is like a sword to a swordsman, a gun to a soldier. Every man needs a power drill.

I have been shopping for my power drill for a while, since I got my own place. I did many research online and talked to my colleagues. I have concluded that a few rule of thumbs buying the first power drill.

  1. Never pay full price for a power tool. Hardware shops have sales every few months, wait and save
  2. Power drill should be your only cordless tool. Battery is not powerful enough for saws.
  3. Get a 18V cordless driller instead of 14.4V or 12V. It’s more powerful and easier to use
  4. You need at least 2 batteries and a quick charger. Or you have to stop and wait when the battery is drained.
  5. Don’t buy cheap Chinese made power tool, it breaks fast.
  6. Warranty, warranty, warranty.

I was debating within myself should I get a normal drill or hammer drill. The impact drill is in between and it’s pretty much useless. A normal drill is good enough for indoor work, but I may want work on the concrete in my backyard, so I decided a hammer drill. At first I think I can get by with just a drill and use it as a driver instead of getting a separate impact driver. I saw the 2-in-1 hammer drill and impact driver combo on sales, it’s 40% off the regular price. It is too good a deal to miss, so I end up having both tools. After all, it is better to fasten screws with a impact driver.

I saw the Dewalt combo in the sales fryer. When I was at the hardware shop, there was Milwaukee sales booth. Both Dewalt and Milwaukee are very good power tool bands and I only see good review on the web. Dewalt seems more to be popular but Milwaukee has a reputation of better quality. Dewalt is made in Taiwan or Mexico, but Milwaukee is made in USA. The specification of the Dewalt and Milwaukee is pretty similar, both use Li-ion battery. The Milwaukee has slightly better torque and speed. Usually Milwaukee is a bit more expensive than Dewalt. The Milwaukee sales offer to match the price of the Dewalt combo and throw in an extra battery. So I walked out the door with a Milwaukee M18 hammer drill, impact driver combo with 3 batteries.

17 Again 回到十七歲

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荷里活的青春高校電影﹐公式不外乎找些俊男美女﹐以青少年校園愛情喜劇為主題﹐再用運動或音樂為襯托。始終青少年是戲院的主要市場﹐每隔幾年也有新一代觀眾入場﹐所以這類電影長拍長有。但對成年觀眾未免流於無聊幼稚﹐我已經過了青春期多年﹐自然對這類電影興趣缺缺。《回到十七歲》看似是一般公式高校電影﹐集齊賣座元素不難吸引青少年捧場。難得劇本花心思在慨定的公式上玩變化﹐令青春遠去的中年人也有共鳴﹐成為一齣大小通吃的稀有高校電影。

這齣電影的故事很簡單﹐大部份橋段也熟口熟面﹐笑位也完全在預測之內﹐可是看這部電影很有窩心的感覺。中年漢失婚失業﹐與子女關係疏離﹐只能懷緬燦爛的高中生活。當年少年無知搞出人命﹐奉子成婚放棄升大學的機會。偏偏獲幸運之神眷顧給他第二次機會﹐讓他回到十七歲﹐變回當年那個迷倒全級少女的籃球隊長。男主角的演技十分出色﹐以十七歲的外表﹐演活三十多歲中年人的心態。主角重回十七歲後﹐生命並不是重設由頭開始﹐而是以一個新的身份﹐去重新認識自己的子女和妻子。他幫助在學校受惡霸欺凌的兒子﹐苦練球技重新建立自信﹐追求啦啦隊美女隊長。女兒與好逸惡勞的飛仔拍拖﹐主角變為吃醋父親擔心女兒蝕抵。千方百計拆散女兒和男朋友﹐上性教育課發表偉論反對婚前性行很搞笑。女兒被負心男友拋棄後,主角用用偉大的父愛去填補女兒心中的空缺﹐變成女兒會錯意主動獻身﹐也有當年《回到未來》中的母親色誘兒子﹐嚇得兒子荒落而逃的神髓。當然少不了主角以十七歲之身﹐兒子朋友的身份﹐追求剛離婚的妻子﹐明顯拿《畢業生》的橋段來開玩笑。另外主角的富豪老友也很好笑﹐扮作主角的父親去見家長﹐卻對老姑婆校長一見鐘情。電影當然是大團員結局﹐主角變回三十幾歲﹐與老婆重燃愛火。女兒忘記男友努力讀書升大學﹐兒子當上籃球隊長﹐連富豪老友也贏得美人歸。

故事是擺明是搵戲來做﹐不過完場時不禁心想﹐人生總有些冤枉路﹐過後回路看才後悔當初的決定﹐若果可以重新來過﹐會否比現在的更加好呢。不過我中學生活平凡﹐讀書和運動平平﹐更完全沒有女生緣。雖不至於很不快樂﹐但亦沒有任何特別值得留戀之處。或許像戲中那個富豪老友說﹐現在生活不知比從前的好多少﹐為什麼要選擇回到過去呢。其實回到過去也不一定快樂﹐只不過主角恰巧有個超級富豪老友﹐當了他的義務臨時父親﹐替他買名牌服飾讓他開跑車去上學﹐才由老土怪搖身一變成萬人迷。其實不用回到過去﹐在任何時間任何年紀﹐只要有個超級富豪父親﹐已經解決一半不快樂的問題了。

The voice of business

If companies have a right to free speech as a legal person, why stop there? Maybe companies should also have the rights to vote like a real person. In the matter of fact, we should subject the unions or special interest groups to same restriction as companies. It should not be a race to the bottom that who has the deepest pocket wins.

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