Category: t_visPgress

visible progress over the years, often thanks to analytical blogging.
(Best practice to remove a blogpost from this ‘club’ once it is well-known.)

[21]口语水准:benchmarked As a non-native speaker #self-record

Posted on by tiger40490

This blogpost is about oral not writing proficiency, and an informal comparison with English speakers from Asia.

95% of those peers who are born in SEAsia, India or other Asia countries … do not speak better than I do, perhaps better in some aspects, but no better overall.

Their accent is comparable to (if not stronger than) mine, as judged by Americans. Accent is probably the most important element in most situations, but purists would say vocab is more fundamental.

Their vocab is seldom richer than mine (even if they were taught English from birth), as I have steadily increased my vocab (primarily in writing but also speaking). Around 2018, I noticed that my oral vocab has reached a similar standard as many Singapore hotline staff.

Due to aging, our memory and therefore our vocab could decline, across your oral languages. It’s good to push ourselves to use a wider, updated vocab, perhaps with younger people.

Beside 1) vocab and 2) accent, I guess my next big improvement is 3) slower articulation. This feature is typical of fluent and confident speakers, not so common among non-native speakers (后来学英语的人).

I wanted to but couldn’t say the same about the Europeans (as I said about Asians). They may have a better learning environment and they probably start learning English earlier. I think majority of Western Europeans do not write (and read) English everyday as much as SGrns do. Presumably, their vocab is less /developed/.

Basically, only those growing up in the 5 native speaking nations speak more fluent English than I do.

— 2024 sugg: self-record in phones every month
My Aug 2024 Genepai presentation revealed that I can learn a lot (and gain motivation) about my /articulation/. It is relatively easy to self-record, as part of blogg

— exceptions .. are important to study, and is a /cornerstone/ (reference point) of this blogpost on my oral_English_proficiency

There are always talented individuals. Some of them learn English only in their teenage but learn it very well, such as my sister. Among the China students in NUS/NTU, some girls (and a few guys) are pretty good. Ignoring the fact that my interaction with them was rather brief, I would say that this small subset have high motivation, strong talent, and probably become more fluent than me, in oral and writing.

This exceptional subset tend to gravitate towards non-technical professions. There are too many such professions, so I would not name them.

Some Malaysians and some SGrns (including our 3 prime ministers) actually grow up speaking English as their first langauge. Many but not all of them have good vocab, and light accent. They tend to speak better than I do. Remember Caroline of PropNex?

BMI > flexible > strength > CRE

Posted on by tiger40490

 

k_soul_search

  • After the meet-up with YY.T, I realized CRE fitness (or speed) is not a priority to me. Longevity > freedom from illness > intimacy > good sleep and appetite
    BMI .. seems to be a key indicator/predictor of many of the above.
  • As of Mar 2022,free_from_ill > BMI green zone > ▲ full-body esp. upper-body strength relative to body weight > flexible >▼CRE ..
  • As of Dec 2021, free_from_ill > healthy_longevity > BMI > ▲ flexible > ▲ strength > ▼CRE
  • As of Jul 2021, free_from_ill_health > healthy_longevity > BMI green zone > ▲flexible > ▼endurance > ▲strength .. identical to 2018 !
  • As of 2020, freedom_from_ill_health > healthy_longevity > endurance > strength > flexible
  • As of Jan 2019, I have achieved the greatest success in weight, and I was making the biggest effort (against greatest resistance) in flexibility
  • As of 2018, If I must chose between the two, in 2018 I would choose to prioritize flexibility over bodyweight. I conceived this pyramid of fitness priorities in July 2018:
  1. weight? Affects endurance, strength, flexibility, speed, leaping, …
  2. Y-junction (central) flexibility? toughest to improve. Central means lower waist till thigh. All other parts are much, much, much, , much, much better in terms of my gap behind other (mostly female) yoga students. See ##toughest yoga poses ranked
  3. stamina in heart and lung etc
    • depends on weight
    • less visible, less keenly felt as a weakness
    • easier to improve and maintain, due to my absorbency advantage.
  4. strength (including muscle endurance) relative to weight. See notes below
    1. depends on weight
  5. speed of distance running; leap length/height
    • depends on weight

 

Even though my shoulder joint is unable to extend up to 180 degrees, it’s not preventing any yoga poses. It only makes “poor form” or forces me to take on modified poses. In contrast, my Y-junction inflexibility does render some yoga poses unattainable.

▲ means “gaining relative mindshare now than earlier”
▼ means “losing mindshare but still important (usually)”

This blogpost is mostly about my personal priorities. How about the priorities for my son/daughter (or a family member or a colleague/friend)? That priority list is usually BMI > CRE > strength > flexibility. Note BMI is the most important wellness factor for my family.

— aspect: intimacy … sexual gratification and longer active sex life…  sometimes more important to me than improving BMI to 64 kg. If BMI improvement affect my intimacy, then let go of the BMI. My intimacy is more important.

— aspect: healthy appetite.. Losing your healthy appetite, and becoming someone like grandpa in his late 80s, can reduce your BMI, but do you want that?

During my covid infection, I lost appetite and BMI, but it is not worth it.

— aspect: Freedom from ill health
“Freedom” includes things like immunity, recovery, and karma. The perspective is shorter-term and slightly more achievable and predictable than longevity.
— aspect: longevity
longevity-but-in-poor-health is not really my goal.
— aspect: stamina [endurance/CRE//]
Jolt: endurance .. also required in yoga, chin-up, jump-rope etc, and has a massive psychological impact.

“Fitness” is vague and means slightly more than stamina. Stamina means cardio-respiratory endurance (CRE) to me. For me, fitness (and also most strengths) is measured against body weight.

— aspect: muscle mass and Strength, esp. against body weight
Strength is slightly more than muscles strength. Muscle mass is a low priority to me.

Amputation can “improve” your BMI but do you want it?

(Note muscle mass vs body fat .. is a recurring debate, but body fat is hard to measure.)

Those (sportspeople) who gain muscle mass often have a hard time maintaining BMI in old age.

For bone health and some other elements of health, adequate muscle strength is crucial.

Plank and other stationary exercises fall into the Strength category.

Many workout classes focus on minor muscles seldom exercised. I tend to think those are important and deserve some attention.

— the need to balance enjoyments with wellness priorities
some people (mostly men) enjoy muscle training and nothing else .. I think some Americans do. It can affect BMI and flexibility, two of the most important aspects of wellness. I am unlikely to become bulky, but flexibility is a traditionally neglected area.

some people enjoy jogging and nothing else. It can lead to loss of flexibility and muscle as we age.

Some women do mostly yoga including some limited strength training, so they lack CRE. Therefore, some combine yoga with cardio.

Ideally, you would want to enjoy a range of workouts, but few individuals are so lucky. For every adult and child, consistent workout is repetitive and requires a lot of effort and absorbency. Team sports and golf are more fun but requires a lot of external help.

Yoga trains some less-used muscles and includes many stationary exercises.

— Q: which aspect is easiest to accumulate? Stamina
Q: which are the easiest to lose? BMI
Q: which are the easiest to rebuild/recover? Strength

— Q: which aspect generates the most reassurance? free_from_ill_health;
Q: which component has the biggest weightage in overall self-esteem/self-confidence? BMI

==== Aging .. Even though ▲flexibility is the weakest weakness and #1 area that needs the most ‘sunshine’, I still need to work on stamina, muscle strength etc as I age.

As we age, each part of the engine must be kept in working condition, including the more durable parts (probably heart and bones).

BMI wellness would show declines in both sexes, affects stamina, strength, and flexibility.

Stamina is 80% heart and lung, but joints and bones also need continuous /boost/ and strengthening through strength training. I feel positive that I have a natural advantage in stamina, but stamina needs active maintenance.

I think 1) muscle and 2) flexibility are likely to experience the most declines.  You will always see exceptions, but those rare cases can be misleading and /breed/ a sense of complacency, a false sense of /invincibility/ and overconfidence

— upper body strength relative to weight, as we age
As we age, lower body strength is easier to maintain, thanks to climing, jogging, cardios (predominantly leg work). In contrast, upper body muscles are almost never deployed to support FULL body weight, except in 1) chin-up 2) dip. Therefore, as we age, we would lose these abilities quite early. I have many male colleagues to tell me “At my age I can’t do chin-up any more.”

In late 2021, I met a group of body builders at the Blk 79A exercise corner. I think they have lean muscles, strengths, balance, but how about upper body strengthRelative2Weight? I would guess that for most of them, as they age the bulky muscles are likely to become a problem rather than an asset.  Bodybuilders, boxers, weight lifters tend to become overweight in older age.

Similar to flexibility, upper body strength training (esp. chin-up) is less sustainable, more boring than outdoor cardio, or lower-body strength training. It requires more /absorbency/, sunshine. Classes could help. See chin-up #muscle-up

praises/Proud@My English proficiency

Posted on by tiger40490

 

— praises on my oral English proficiency .. Over the years, many people (who had not seen my writing yet) say “You speak very good English.” Almost never flattery. When I mention that I still struggle from time to time, some of them would add “Of course English is your second language, so you would be more comfortable in Chinese. It’s natural to struggle in a second language.”  — This fact should NOT diminish my sense of achievement, self-esteem and pride.

Those praises together are a remarkable achievement even though the yardstick seems to be a lower yardstick — a yardstick for foreigners. The important thing is, I am able to use English effectively. Whether I’m more effective than a native speaker is insignificant. This is not a contest. Effective usage is the only yardstick, and accent is a small factor.

I could give the same sincere praise to my sister, some of my Indian colleagues and some European guys. They are very articulate.

— (historical zoom) Q: How critical was English during the early 2007 adaptation/adjustment [actually a struggle] to living in USA?

Luckily, in early 2007 my English proved adequate, thanks to the formal education in SG and on-the-job training in SG, and my years of self-practice in emails, in-depth discussions with non-Chinese friends.

From early 2007, I had no difficulty reading (any tough material) and .. listening [my traditional weakness]!

I was already a fairly fluent speaker in 2007. No one said I had a strong accent like half the subcontinent coworkers, whose /oral/ English was good enough for an offshore worksite. My Singapore/Malaysia/Hongkong accent was mild in contrast to millions of immigrants speaking English “dialects” of Eastern Europe, middle east, central Asia, S.E.Asia,,,,

In each ethnic group, some 5 to 20% [1] of the immigrants speak decent English, usually due to education, but conceivably due to everyday practice (without education) or untrained talent — consider my sister and my wife.

[1] Among the Mexican immigrants, that percentage is lower because proportionally many of them came in without a work visa or student visa.

Q: how did my wife cope with English?
A….

I have hitherto left out proficiency in writing. Not an “everyday” proficiency, more of an advanced skill. Challenging for most immigrants. Even native speakers (esp. the less educated) struggle with many non-trivial tasks. Writing is a trained skill like painting, piano, public speaking, …. Training takes years and generally, I learning English over the prior decades since 1991. Now in 2022, I consider myself “well-trained” as a writer, when benchmarked to the average native SPEAKER.

— One of my first milestones — After my farewell letter to Catcha colleagues, a short, young Indian girl colleague turned to me and and praised my writing. She was not technical but an editor of online content. She doesn’t know me well and I didn’t ask her opinion on my letter.

— Then I crossed a second milestone — Kyle said my English is better than a lot of Americans.

My discussions with Kyle was often conceptually complex … so vocab is important. I explained that I’m an intellectual type, like my dad.

%%paper filing method

Posted on by tiger40490

My method is based on my current situation:

— Pile: (stapled) sets of non-essential documents to re-read .. internet/intranet articles, or book photocopies, or course handouts, or brochures

I generally keep them in clear display folders inside ring folders.

Document Retrieval pattern: no on-demand retrieval.  I won’t keep 100 sets of docs. I think 20-40 sets are practical. Once a few months I would /prune/ this pile — maintenance legwork.

— Pile: SOA [i.e. “statements” of account] from large organizations

I generally punch them and keep them in a ring folder.

Most SOA have an electronic copy. The paper copies don’t need long-term storage. Therefore, this pile looks like a small pile so far, and mostly related to mortgage.  Therefore, this pile doesn’t need a dedicated physical folder. If I need to keep them in the same folder along with other piles, then I need to keep this pile physically separated from other piles as much as possible.

visProgress^FOMO^ ocEffective^ envy^semi

Posted on by tiger40490

k_X_FOMO_v_livelihood .. k_semi_kai3mo2

  • T_effectiveOC — personal capabilities, more specific, more narrow
  • t_FOMO — about the fear. more broad
  • .. FOMO^livelihood — more specific about the contrast, contradiction, misPerception. More specific than mellow.
  • T_semi_kai3mo2 [definition] — focused on specific and comparable individuals as kai3mo2[role model], usually with strength, character, rather than dumb luck. T_semiK3m2 is an abbreviation of T_questionable_roleModel
  • t_envy .. jealous, zi4bei1, but not some individuals perceived as in my socioeconomic strata
  • —– Above are the negative themes; Below are the positive themes
  • visPgress — is more general with a wider scope.

[22]no more envy: underpaid cf US for20Y

Posted on by tiger40490

This is a deep and long “bruise” (imperfect metaphor.. LG), occasionally painful but extremely common.

For most of my life, I was constantly envious of nationals of richer countries. More resources, bigger safety net, more life chances. That’s until I became SPR.

— underpaid .. When I became a SWE in SG, for years I was envious of SWE in U.S. — Same workload, I was paid far less.

Now in 2022, I feel whether in SG or WSt (where I can work), I am paid similar to the highest paid SWEs i.e. in WCBA.

##[21]G9 visProgress]home laptop usage #health++

Posted on by tiger40490

 

Half-ranked by impact and value

  • [h] gd2() command to reduce risk of conflict. better backburner stress
  • 0.txt sharing via SD card
  • [h] more standing at home ..
  • [h] A95 touchpad .. less strenuous after battery replacement
  • duplicate task bar on both monitors
  • — EOR .. Now some items that are familiar, or minor
  • portable installers .. see separate blogpost
  • [h] tiny Bluetooth keyboard for dual-screen
  • clip as wire organizer .. not a “laptop” thing per se
  • [h] laptop wire lock in office .. better backburner stress
  • less overcharging .. better battery life, lower electricity, less heat
  • short date in system tray
  • [h] mouse pointer and default text sizes.. bigger, less straining on the eyes.
  • [h] powerline .. (powered-on-demand) more reliable in my perception, better backburner stress home wifi
  • thin task bar on the side, to increase vertical (and horizontal) real estate
  • [h=wellness]

I thought: medical professionals confined to SG market

Posted on by tiger40490

background: I am now feeling blessed to enjoy the low-cost carefree comfortable[1] life in Singapore. However, for decades I felt superior to doctors who can’t make a living outside the tiny city of Singapore. Here’s my reconciliation, mostly related to livelihood:

  • both doctors and people like I can aim lower and choose stable income, not rising income
  • I no longer seek career growth or leadership
  • brbr, Fuller wealth .. are the foundations of my carefree ezlife. Inflation is addressed by my “portfolio”.

[1] I didn’t write “low-cost good life” because of conflicting connotations

— what if Singapore declines?
I’m not 30 any more, so if this starts to happen in my 50’s I can cope even without leaving Singapore.

 

中年男士40-50压力最高@@ #w1r1

Posted on by tiger40490

k_X_FOMO_v_livelihood

压力最高是 2008-2009 高盛阶段。最近几年 （2017 年以来）逐步降低。

[w=related to widespread wrong priorities, such as mindless luxury spend driven by blind FOMO, or mindless fixation on brank]

  1. 健康？ 有的中年男士出现状况， 我只是胆固醇稍高
    1. [w] 没时间运动和睡眠？ 我有时间
    2. [w] 饮食失控？
    3. 失眠？我没有
  2. [R] 上有老下有小需要照顾? (Singaporeans talk about the sandwich generation.) 只有大宝这小子叫我操心. Much better after PSLE.
  3. marriage? no major threats or fault lines
  4. [Rw] 房奴？ 只贷款了两年。（其实根本不用贷款。公积金利息比贷款高, 不想动用公积金所以才贷款。）
  5. [w] 入不敷出？ 不工作我一家都够花
  6. 工作职责，任务，压力？ 有的中年男士40多爬到个人事业巅峰，可能责任重大，指挥千军万马。 我没这压力。
  7. FOLB, as hinted in the RoyalSociety talk [[Life Starts at 40]]
  8. 移民？ 的确是许多中年男士头上一座大山。 移民牵扯到购房、医保 、语言障碍、适应气候、歧视、重建人脉、就学、就业、 甚至被迫转行。 有的蹲移民监不敢回国（怕再进不来）连家人送葬都赶不上。
  9. [R] 投资重挫，一蹶不振？Strategic misstep? 我也亏过， 但没损失个人净资产的 1% 所以没啥压力。
  10. [w] 架空？ 有的中年男士薪水或职位太高，公司可以提拔30多岁年轻人“取而代之”。 就算没有迹象，也令当事人忧心忡忡，战战兢兢，捕风捉影地疑神疑鬼。 我不担这心。

— [R] See also may (mail) long chat with R.Teo

— I think the “中年男士压力最高” notion is not supported by enough data .. See [[lifespan dev]]. However, there is enough anecdotal evidence to convince most observers that indeed many 40-59 men suffer multiple stressors.

Similar to the wealth gap (income gap, education gap…), this is a kind of “mental health gap”.

##locus@control: carefree high ground mostly due2effort

Posted on by tiger40490

The Locus-of-control question — Q: is my current carefree high ground mostly due to (NN) 努力 i.e. effort or (XX) eXternal factors such as inborn talent, karma, dumb luck, timing without analysis etc?

This question is NOT academic or egocentric. Like the explanatory styles explored in [[learned optimism]], this perception-of-reality could shape individual behavior. NN answer leads to internal locus of control, and XX answer leads to external locus of control.

In reality, answer is never precise like 51% A + 49% B. Instead, I prefer a simple binary system — either mostly-NN or mostly-XX. Pattern: most of the success stories below hinge on personal effectiveness and self-management, rather than leadership or interpersonal capabilities.

— Warning: If you attribute success to NN or talent, you may sound cocky, conceited, vain
— How about the G5 personal winning bets? They sound like mostly luck. Well, For most of the winning bets, I had to work hard to make it a winning bet.
In general, I believe we can’t rely on PAST lucky bets. We face so many decisions at every stage of our life and have no choice but keep betting and keep improving our betting skill (analysis..)

Therefore, winning at these bets is mostly personal effort.

How about the poster child — the lucky investments? I think they are the exception that prove the rule. 1) You need analysis and accumulation of capital 2) Those who over-rely on luck is likely to lose it. Luck seems to favor the diligent.
— now the big list

  • [d=conscious detachment needed]
  • ==== sgCitizenship? XX [timing]
  • ==== [d] stable marriage? mostly XX [luck] but some personal effort
  • ==== academic achievements? Mostly NN, esp. in taking up MSFM.
  • ==== emerging freedom from FOLB/FOMO (XR, CSY…)? NN [[analysis]]
  • ==== my brbr, Fuller wealth, my cashflow high ground amid covid19 job insecurity? NN
  • ==== MLP job
  • — [d] excellent commute? mostly XX but I insisted on buying a location with short commute
  • — [d] flexible hours? mostly XX but I also work weekends and evenings
  • — [d] reasonable workload? XX
  • ==== wellness
  • — flexibility: above average for guys, due to NN .. huge uphill battle
  • — no illness for years? XX
  • — cholesterol under control? NN
  • — [d] relatively few bone (+joint) problems? mostly XX but jogging improves bone density
  • — [d] eyesight stable? XX
  • — hair loss not leading to baldness? XX
  • — memory aging not so fast? XX but I do keep my brain active
  • — good sleep and vitality? XX
  • — excellent heart health? XX
  • — [d] excellent dental health? mostly NN
  • — [d] excellent sexual health? mostly XX but exercise does help a lot

==== [d] BMI green zone?
— NN. Without a harmful starvation diet, reaching [1] a target weight is damn hard for everyone (exceptions are trivial) so I ought to seriously celebrate my achievements. I think this achievement is comparable to my c++ interview improvements or getting into UChicago MSFM program. 40% luck + 60% effort.

[1] “Reaching” means maintaining for 7 days. This criteria excludes crash diet and water weight effect. I stayed within 136.4 lbs longer than a week. Maintaining a target weight for 6M is even harder and is 99% effort, but let’s not digress.

Resilience against temptations? Tough efforts.

— XX (Let’s ignore those who don’t try to slim down.) Apparently, 20% of us can slim down to a healthy BMI. The #1 factor seems to be external.
Assumption: our effort levels are mostly comparable, but each “resistance” level is different. So those who make it are lucky. 50% luck + 50% effort.

In my case, the effort level is much higher than others.
==== cashflow high ground
— [d] barebones ffree? NN
— retirement planning? mostly NN with some XX [sgCitizenship]
— housing portfolio and reasonable plan? NN [analysis] with some luck at #04-116
==== career longevity and health
— slowly growing confidence with large codebase in greenfield or brown field? NN
— explosive demand for global tech talent? XX
— tech IV success? Mostly NN. I think many people have comparable talent but don’t have my position.
— [d] java? some XX [luck] but why am i head and shoulders above other candidates?
— c++? NN
— CIV? mostly NN though I had some innate talent which needed a lot of polishing.