Tag: t_vague

U.S.openness to foreign visitors

Posted on by tiger40490

— https://sg.news.yahoo.com/singapore-overtakes-japan-most-powerful-passport-094952622.html

Henley & Partners also researched the relationship between 1) a country’s openness to foreign visitors and 2) its citizens’ travel freedom to other countries.

The Henley Openness index ranks each country based on the number of nationalities it allows entry to without a prior visa. Small island nations and African states dominate the top 20 most open countries, while Afghanistan, North Korea, Papua New Guinea and Turkmenistan score zero, allowing no visa-free entry by any foreigner.

The US, with its (excellent) visa-free access to 184 destinations, ranks poorly on the Henley Openness Index, occupying the 78th position. This suggests that it does not reciprocate the same level of openness despite its citizens’ travel freedom.

Experts warn that the US’s limited extension of visa-free access and challenges in the visa system, including processing delays and high refusal rates, could impact its global competitiveness. The country may experience a decline in soft power, affecting business partnerships, tourism and its reputation as a world leader.

## fake_crises #serenity..

Posted on by tiger40490

k_X_focusing_illusion  k_soul_search

I get into crises anxieties far too often .. I guess it has to with focusing illusion.
Let’s be slightly more rational and ask ourselves — what bad news (or other events) should be considered a crisis? Let’s list up to 9 high-level categories. I think they all have some timeline.

  • kids developmental problem
  • medical condition that should not be postponed indefinitely.
  • mounting financial loss
  • family tension [marital, parenting]
  • kids’ developmental [behavior] problems
  • equipment out@service but actually needed. Counter example: the bedroom door repair can be postponed.

Here are some storms-in-teacup i.e. fake crises:

  • ED .. growing difficulties .. There are many proven solutions, and I believe them.
  • air-con issues except in boy’s room … We seldom use these
  • work projects taking longer than “normal”
  • boy’s overweight
  • boy’s slow progress on piano
  • cpf fund not earning enough return — but no urgency
  • engagement honeymoon has ended
  • my time allocation differs from my ideal — so what?
  • my spare time is not generating enough ROTI — but when did it?
  • my workout time has reduced — but any real effect on my health?
  • visible result of my time spent on boy is far below my expectation — but real progress nevertheless
  • fall-below fees

Slightly less often we notice a shocking deterioration in our life, but irreversible, hence no big change needed. What we need most is the serenity prayer.
* skin, hair condition, perhaps due to aging
* c++ programmers’ life becoming tougher on wall st
* growing population of younger, brighter developers in Singapore job market

Which individuals have the serenity and the discernment? Grandpa, Josh?

##[18]time well_spent= productive,roti,Burn,,

Posted on by tiger40490

k_soul_search  k_tyrant_of_rmSelf  ……   k_therapeutic_reflective_blogg … k_mellow

See also fixation@ROTI@tech-xx : too result-oriented and burn=materialistic_ROTI + self_discipline

A progressive, mellowing, fundamental change in my attitude —

Only a tiny percentage of my daily hours need to be, so-called, productive.

However, as I told my son, a bit of time each day should be spent on self-improvement. For his age, even 10 minues could be good enough.

As a side note, those earning more usually don’t spend more than 8 hours working or studying. However, for me studying and working are often therapeutic, providing meaning, vocation (passion) and occupation (killing time). I think grandpa may have a similar view on his vocation.

I no longer try so hard to make every hour “count”. I am now 100% sure it’s just unrealistic to be productive for more than 12 hours a day. In hind sight, even on a busy workday, or busy weekend, most of the hours are not really productive.

The “O2” and coblood concepts I developed myself (since my late teens?) No longer valid.

The chore^pleasure framework is more useful. The chores are often productive but some productive activities can be pleasurable.

The burn-or-rot concept is a more important element of “productivity” than roti. Burn means challenge, pushing yourself, beyond the comfort zone.

roti vs productive ?Productivity to me means some tangible output — 收获/fruitful . However, lots of productive activities have no measurable roti or no roti whatsoever.

  • my reflective blogging, including those long emails I don’t require my recipients to read?
  • my weight and chin-up improvement in late 2018 ranks as one of the greatest personal victories of my adult life. I spent months of personal time.
  • learning localSys — high ROTI though not increasing my income
    • in contrast, coding drill is definitely productive
  • Einstein’s violin? He would consider it highly productive though it doesn’t produce entertainment value to anyone but himself
    • Grandpa’s longing for recreation and hobby
  • piano practice with kids? Apparently many parents have very clear answers. “When parents are gone, piano remains a lifelong companion to the child”, Cheng Lan said “a gift to their lives”.
  • piano practice for myself? Yes burn!
  • yoga | lower body flexibility tiny, temporary improvements — hugely productive because that’s my weakest weakness
  • news or leisure reading? yes tangible output
  • quality family time
  • quality conversation with grandparents
  • — some examples as listed in my google sheet on freeday]SG
  • ikea trip with boy? unproductive with high tcost, though boy enjoyed it

G5 health issues in longevity individuals #heatmap

Posted on by tiger40490

Here are my top 5 health concerns in my 95-longevity plan.

Note death is only part of my concern.

  1. heart – variouis conditions add up to be the #2 killer in SG
  2. cancers in various organs – is the #1 killer in SG
  3. bones .. as CSY warned
  4. stroke – much lower in SG ranking
  5. Pneumonia – the #3 killer in SG

— SG: risk factors behind the most death+disability combined, based on http://www.healthdata.org/singapore

  1. tobacco
  2. t2dm (High fasting plasma glucose)
  3. BMI
  4. hypertension
  5. LDL
  6. alcohol

https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-compare/ is a treemap/heatmap, where color represents growth rate, and area represents incidence measured in DAYLs. I chose Singapore Males 70+. Need to choose “Cause” and “Death”. This data is not published by Singapore MOH.

  1. heart including hypertension and various cancers are the biggest two causes of death.
  2. lower respiratory infections — is an infection, probably not chronic like cancer or COPD
  3. — Above are the big 3. Below are the other major items
  4. t2dm + kidney
  5. stroke
  6. Alzheimer’s
  7. hearing loss

G9 Precious little gems: lost2the drain #criticalMass

Posted on by tiger40490
Street road drainage with metal grill drain cover covered with autumn maple leaves Stock Photo - Alamy
What little gems could disappear in the drain?

k_detach

See also steadfast focus

This blogpost is about the precious little gems that we could lose to the drain unexpectedly. Not restricted to carefree ezlife

[d=detach actively]

— G3 in gz

  • my c++ critical mass
  • [d] flexible hours, short commute, excellent medbx
  • [d] the nice office near the waterfront, with workout facilities

— G1 PFF domain is well-analyzed, well-protected, so i will only name unfamiliar little gems

  • Rbh .. out-of-country access

— G4 in wellness

  • absorbency [knee capacity] and joy of jogging
  • absorbency for chin-up, yoga
  • [d] strong bones .. my shin bones survived a hard hit during bike fall

— Beyond the top 9, here are some of the high-level-n-vague, the big (not “little gems”) the familiar..

  • [d] coreJava (and c, SQL, perl/shell scripting to a lesser extent) .. robust demand
  • [d] libido
  • [d] small belly
  • carefree ezlife based on plenty of buffer in spare time/money
  • inflation in SGD .. too high-level
  • loving family .. too vague
  • .. improving bonding with boy
  • .. nice bonding with meimei

[21]shift`fixations since q3SG #othRisk

Posted on by tiger40490

It takes too much time to keep this list. In each item, there are too many important details.. like pulling out a thread from a knitted sweater:( … Once I start pulling I can’t stop pulling.

  • [early 2016] renzi
  • [mid 2016] boy ownership, heavy workload, efficiency, kiasu parents,
  • personal finance, including bx and property investment
  • [Mar – Sep 2016] fitness including yoga
  • [Sep 2016] (after coming back from Beijing trip) marriage – risk of break-up
  • [m] UChicago
  • [m] c# body building —- ended in 2013. I tried several US jobs.
  • Saxo/Oanda —- subsided after my Saxo options expired in Nov 2015. Failed experiment
  • [!m] FSM —- more than 3H/week for most of 2013 – 2016
  • boy Eng reading —- Late 2014, before his P1, we enrolled in Mind Stretcher and KentRidgeTutors. In P1, we engaged home tutor mostly for English reading (and writing).
    • [m] renzi —- In P2, my focus shifted to renzi. I brought boy out on weekends to read on MRT or in library. Very poor ROTI.
    • ownership^bmark —- initiative, efficiency, study habits … was a focus since early 2016.
  • [m] Jill’s, BGC and Phnom Penh — minor focuses
  • b@a —- dominant focus after the chat with Ilya Oct 2014 – Mar 2015. Went to office on many weekends
  • post-b@a —- dominant focus Mar – May 2015
  • ramp-up at Macquarie —- major focus for Jun – Dec 2015. Weekends…
  • H1 —- dominant focus from Dec 2015 to Mar 2016. This includes all the analysis, discussions and decision-making.
  • yoga —- became a minor focus in Feb 2016. Took up lots of time and energy.
  • unstable marriage for a few weeks after waigong came.
  • Boy fitness —- signed up with flexifitness in Jul.
    • [m] my jogging —- I started jogging with them then with Ashish. My ROTI is excellent. This also includes yoga and swim.
  • [m=measurable target]

In hind sight, overspent on boy, investment, basically same tendency in HIS19 !

Apr21EAP: appetite失控 #compassion #poison

Posted on by tiger40490

k_mellow

Problem description — You come home without hunger (like Bayonne), but when you see food you start to feel an appetite out of control.

Counsellor challenged me — Can you say to yourself right now “I won’t compare to the past. I will focus on the present and what’s within my control.” Well, I won’t give up and accept things like “my kids have disappeared, or my legs are now useless..” However, the environment changed hugely from 2019.

— out-of-control appetite.. I hope there’s a more powerful phrase like “appetite on rampage”, but “control” is a power phrase in my mind. See also wins+control ]Bayonne

Now I think the appetite on rampage is normal. How do you decide that’s not legitimate hunger? Your yardstick is elastic!

You find this new appetite so irrational (hunger is never rational), so random (it actually is), so out of control (human nature). But that’s probably the case with a lot of people, when they have not tasted that particular food for a long time.

— Compassion .. is a keyword from the 13 Apr 2021 Cigna counselor. See powerless guilt #self-hate for the opposite of compassion

I gave the counselor a graphic metaphor — patches of poison on the surface of an internal organ. This counselling session helped me open up, spot the poison, wash it off, while keeping, not rejecting, the organ. I felt cleansed. I know how ugly the organ looks, but it’s part of me and I embrace every part of me. I am OK as an fallible, weak human being. It’s OK to lose half the nightly battles. In unusual j4 S$7.50 salad, I recorded my chat with another Cigna counselor Bindi when I said “everyone is weak.”

Las Verrugas Anales | ASCRS

furniture tilt against wall #tips

Posted on by tiger40490

When a (relatively) slim piece furniture stands at a gap from the wall, I usually want to tilt it to close the gap, to increase stability. Two options

— option: “pull” from a strong wall anchor ..

🙁 manufacturer designed the furniture based on vertical load bearing. Now, much of the load is on the top wall anchor… sustainable?

🙁 the front “toes” of the furniture would be slightly off the ground. Perhaps invisible, but you could easily slip a card through

— option: insert a wedge underneath the front “toes”

🙁 still need the wall anchor, if “slender”.