Peter’s Blog V2

Face masks are a common accessory in Asia.  People in Taiwan wear it to shield themselves from dust, pollens and viruses, and to keep their own sicknesses from spreading to others.  Hong Kong, Japan, and likely other surrounding countries, share the common etiquette in their cultures – something I slowly forgot after moving to the United States.

This morning, for the very first time in the US, I saw somebody wear a face mask in public.

And the second time.  And the third.

The swine flu has hit the US at a threatening level, and NYC has been hit the hardest.  The first couple of cases were discovered right here in Queens, which is also a crowded neighborhood for any virus’s convenience. Morning commute on the Subway is filled with endless surprises even without a pademic warning out there, so no wonder people started taking action to protect themselves.  Hmm. Maybe I should be worried too?

Last Saturday night, people around the world turned their lights off to conserve energy, in celebration of the Earth Hour 2009.  Click to see some amazing city skyline transitions from light to dark.

I did not hear about this event until Sean and Alice brought it up, when I took them sightseeing and they questioned why the office buildings don’t shut their lights off at night.  Obviously, you don’t see New York in this series of pictures as an Earth Hour participant.

Damn… a smaller scale, but equally horrific news story from my beloved VT campus.

Click to read.  I suppose it’s appropriate to not attach any picture to this post.

I guess, though, that nasty things like this happen all the time, everywhere, and it’s just the matter of whether we (especially the media) choose to pay attention.  That’s a pretty scary thought.

The president to get a spy-proof smart phone in place of his favorite BlackBerry.

I’m not interested in the security measures that the president has to obey, but this article really caught my attention.  It seems like the leaders of our country is very behind technologically… cannot use e-mail?  Sucks to be a president!

I wonder if his daughters will even be allowed to have Facebook profiles.

Thursday, January 15th – US Airways plane crashed into the Hudson River.  The tail of the plane could be seen from my office.  Kind of surreal to see that kind of thing in the water.  It was unbearly cold that day, too.

Thursday, January 22nd – Van crashing in Chinatown killed 2 children, wounded many.  That’s where I buy my groceries!  My $4-a-dozen Asian pears!

I wonder if this proves that air travel is safer than land travel.  You can survive in one piece from a plane crash but may suffer much more from walking legally on a sidewalk…

Sigh, why is New York such an “eventful” city?

I’m happy that Mr. Obama was elected and vowed in as our new president.  A lot more people, like some of my coworkers, teared up for this historic victory.  But there are even more hardcore fans out there, such as the creator of this page covering hundreds (if not more) of Obama inauguration headlines, from around the globe:

Who wants to bet that Obama is the world’s most celebrated celebrity?

Not claimed by me.  Wall Street Journal says so.

Introducing the latest list of Best & Worst Jobs in the US:

Looks like you can’t go wrong being a math major after all.  Add that Computer Science for fringe benefits.

My job apparently is #2 on the list.  Don’t think it fits the “rarely works overtime or feels stressed out” description, though.

Every year, on this day and the weeks that follow, it becomes exponentially more difficult to:

• Find a seat on the subway
• Walk on the sidewalk without being slowed down by a not-in-a-hurry tourist
• Walk on the road, due to the police barricade
• Jaywalk, due to the police barricade
• Run the red light, because the cops that pop out of nowhere actually care about it for once

I don’t understand why people can’t simply go to Mercer County, NJ where the tree came from, and see it there.  They can actually take all the photos they want without blocking any hungry New Yorker who just wants a quick bite before returning to work.

Dubai has not stopped impressing the world with the continuously refreshed list of new world wonders.  This time, it’s the Atlantis hotel:

Dang I love the view from that window.  It’s a much better honeymoon destination than your average tropical beach resorts.  If my salary somehow goes up 100 times next March, I’ll book a room there for sure.

Nearly four years ago I wrote a blog post with this title, and it was about getting my “dream” job offer.  This time around, it’s actually what you might think it is.

Here’s a very subtle picture:

The photo journey of a stone: