Monthly Archives: September 2009

兩週一聚

兩週一聚﹕重頭一次

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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、tintinbright、Lomichee、cr 、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。

News Clips

Have Designers Lost The Ability To Be Creative?

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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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Daily Scribble

ecoEnergy inspection

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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.

News Clips

Teen slang: Enter at your own risk

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I no longer a teen, I am over 30 and I am old. I found myself I couldn’t keep up with the new slangs. (Did I ever keep up with the slangs?) I might not use the new slangs, but its comforting to know there is a way to decode it.

Continue reading Teen slang: Enter at your own risk →

Product Reviews

Milwaukee M18

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m18-drill

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.