之一：民國六十五年 - 1976

聽說我小時候很難帶，不吃奶，又容易吐，我媽還曾經為了逗我，鼻子釣到了衣櫃的把手。一整罐的S-26，大概有一半是我爸喝掉的。 因為爸媽都要上班，剛出生沒多久，白天都是樓上的一個媽媽帶我。不知道是體質不好，還是水土不服(水土不服?What am I, from Mars?)，反正小時候，聽說我是歸類於營養不良。有些親戚還不太敢抱我，說我皮鬆鬆的，像隻過瘦的沙皮狗。所以後來，我就被送到外公外婆那兒給他們照顧。 誰知道以後會變那麼胖……

之零：民國六十四年 - 1975

明明我是屬兔的，但由於是在九月以後出生，自然得跟龍年的小孩們一起就學。從小到大，各項考試都跟一堆龍子龍女擠成一團，每逄大考(高中聯考、大學聯考)，新聞總是免不了要把前幾年的應考人數比一比。以前當人們還試著擠進「大學窄門」的時候，這則新聞可能還會當成茶餘飯後的話題之一。現在，我想也沒人在乎了。

回憶…回憶…

回憶，如果伴著彌漫的咖啡香和壁爐，可以很浪漫。而坐在電腦前面，堆著一疊疊的待繳帳單，光看著一閃一閃的游標，也可以讓人錯亂不已。 不過，浪漫與否、錯亂也好，身在異地，回憶反而變的更加清晰。

What would you do if you have 100 million dollars??

今天要開獎的Mega Million，最高累積獎金已達3億1千萬美金。就算要扣掉60%的稅，實拿金額大概是1億2千萬美金，約為40億台幣。中Jackpot的機率是1/175,711,536，而最大獎是310 million，期望值接近2塊錢(1.75~1.8)。以5注5 dolloars 看來，是該去搏一下！ What would you do if you hit the jackpot? 120 millions…hmm… 別 的不說，先拿個1 million出來零花！不過，我想要「零花」完一百萬美金，大概也不是這麼容易的事吧。再花個2 millions買個房子。再存個10 million到銀行，就算是年利率只有2%，一年光單利的利息也有20萬。這個錢拿來交房屋稅，水電，吃喝玩樂應該還有剩。然後再拿個2 million出來孝敬父母，再5 million出來成立信托給弟弟們做為創業基金。這樣加一加也不過20 million，還有整整100 million勒… 原來花錢也不是件那麼容易的事……

The World's Shortest Personality Test

上班鬼混的時候，看到這個小測驗...(還真是小...)沒事大家可以試試！

Your Personality Profile

You are elegant, withdrawn, and brilliant. Your mind is a weapon, able to solve any puzzle. You are also great at poking holes in arguments and common beliefs. For you, comfort and calm are very important. You tend to thrive on your own and shrug off most affection. You prefer to protect your emotions and stay strong.

The World's Shortest Personality Test

要吊到何時??

實在很好笑，可是當事人可能快瘋了吧.....

PS. 經過Stanley的研究，看來最後一張是用第五張合成的...我想，應該不會真的有人這麼倒楣吧...

Super Volcano

Just watched the show about the seismic-active Yellowstone on Discovery Channel. Here's some links showing the research of the possible catastrophic disaster.

• Super Volcano Yellowstone

"......Scientists have revealed that Yellowstone Park has been on a regular eruption cycle of 600,000 years. The last eruption was 640,000 years ago…so the next is overdue. The next eruption could be 2,500 times the size of the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption."

• Yellowstone Supervolcano Getting Ready to blow its cork

"......In reality, if there is an eruption, larger than Mt. St. Helens, we would need at least a year's worth of supplies because no food could be grown, farm lands would be useless, temperatures would drop by as much as 15 degrees. Within 3 months, the entire world would be covered by clouds."

• Truth, fiction and everything in between at Yellowstone by Jake Lowenstern

“......The term ‘supervolcano’ implies an eruption of magnitude 8 on the Volcano Explosivity Index, meaning that more than 1,000 cubic kilometers (250 cubic miles) of magma (partially molten rock) are erupted. The most recent such event on Earth occurred 74,000 years ago at the Toba Caldera in Sumatra, Indonesia.”

Should I still schedule a trip to Yellowstone??

麻省理工學院開放式課程

上班前，在各Blog中逛來逛去的時候，無意間在Inside the box那兒發現了「麻省理工學院開放式課程」的消息。 在網站中，有不少課程的資訊。很快的找了幾個有用課程先列著，有空再來好好研究：

• Advanced Geotechnical Engineering, Fall 2003
• Groundwater Hydrology, Fall 2004
• Advanced Soil Mechanics, Fall 2004

PS. 英文版網站 (MITOPENCOURSEWARE)

Coming Musicals

West Side Story November 1 thru 13, 2005 American Musical Theatre San Jose San Jose, California

Mamma Mia November 29 thru December 4, 2005 American Musical Theatre San Jose San Jose, California

Masse's Pastries for Jamie

趁著幫Jamie過生日的機會，特別讓Stanley從Berkeley帶來二個Masse's Pastries的蛋糕。Masse's的糕點，目前還是個人在Bay Area裏甜點、下午茶及生日蛋糕的第一選擇。 第一個是Tiramisu，上面舖滿了巧克力做成的小捲子，四周圍著Lady Finger；入口甜而不膩，令人回味再三。

第二個，二層的Fugde Brownie夾著Chocolate Mousse，說真的是太甜了一點，very rich and chocolate-y。雖然並忘了明確的名稱為何，但整個蛋糕以巧克力包裹，並做成的仿布料般的波浪及皺摺，光看，就令人心醉不已。 PS. 享用之前，還得先把刀身加熱，不然還真難下刀。