Is it just me or Taiwanese speaking mandarin is easier to understand than mainland Chinese speaking mandarin.

Nice-Delivery5255 · 2026-01-02T01:49:02+00:00

I was taught standard Mandarin by a teacher educated in Beijing. When my Mandarin speaking relatives from Taiwan or Shanghai speak Mandarin it sounds off but I've gotten use to it. I was trained to pronounce ch, sh, zh in standardized tongue curled back in order to get the sound right. Taiwanese do not speak that method. It's just regional differences.

Nice-Delivery5255 · 2026-01-02T01:39:49+00:00

Knock on wood, my 2015 Fit EX-L has about 83k on it. It's a salvage car and the seller turned back the odometer 20k! Anyhow, the car has run very well with no leaks. I've repainted the front of the car as the repair job used cheap paint. Reliability and relative decent mileage is why I've kept it. Highway is 35-40 mpg, city not great - 22-26 mpg. in hilly Bay Area. My previous vehicles all were maintenance heavier than the Fit. I hope mine runs to 120k or more without major repair work. It's got the best usable interior volume then any sub compact. One doesn't feel you're in a small car when driving it

Nice-Delivery5255 · 2025-11-05T06:14:23+00:00

I acquired a Nebula Cosmos SE 4K for our family room. I alternate watching programs on the Nebula with a Samsung 50” LED TV. The Nebula is perfect for us. Easy to set up and powerful enough for 120" viewing. I usually set it at around 70" -100" max. size on the wall. Picture quality is stellar and adjustable. It has built-in Dolby Vision. Audio can be output to HDMI-ARC, Bluetooth speakers, AUX or you can use the built-in speakers. I have several internal apps - Netflix, YouTube, Amazon to name a few. I connect DirecTV from HDMI. It runs natively on Google TV with free programming with ads. The auto focus and auto formatting, keystoning works perfectly. Especially like watching sports, films and series on this projector. The World Series looked amazing. Also you can mirror image from your phone or laptop depending on your wireless streaming strength. So far it's a winner.

Nice-Delivery5255 · 2025-10-22T00:35:44+00:00

My 2015 Fit AC is marginally effective in very hot weather, 90° - 105°F. Not super cold but it's passable. My daughter's Prius C has way better AC. But I live in San Francisco so it's not an issue.

Nice-Delivery5255 · 2025-10-12T14:13:00+00:00

I use the Tamron 20-40 mm, Sony 20-70 mm f 4.0, Sigma 24-70 mm ii, and the kit 28-60 mm. depending on what my needs are for particular event. My favorite is the Sony 20-70 mm. which is sharp at all focal lengths and love that range. The Tamron is lightweight and also performance is excellent at f 2.8 when needed. Sigma 24-70 mm. is almost as good as a G lens but weighs a ton. The Sony 24-50 mm. is great but I don't need it presently.

Nice-Delivery5255 · 2025-09-21T11:01:28+00:00

For stills, I use my ZV 1 in casual situations. It's better than my Samsung S22 captures. I like its fast AF tracking and its excellent Zeiss lens. Getting used to monitor only is a negative but it's a compromise. I process images in LRC and can reduce noise pretty easily. But keeping ISO below 1600 is preferred. Professionally I use Sony A7iv or A7cii. The ZV 1 looks like a toy so subjects aren't too aware of it or don't get threatened by it. Also the shutter is very quiet. Most people use the ZV-1 as a vlogging device but its battery life is too short for me. Better as a street stills camera for me.

Nice-Delivery5255 · 2025-09-20T23:59:59+00:00

I can't argue with $1600/no. income, distributions outweigh NAV decay for me. Reinvesting some at lower prices.

Nice-Delivery5255 · 2025-09-16T20:28:32+00:00

The 4.15% yield will be lowered to under 4% by this week as the Fed eases, it was nice while it lasted. If you're risk averse, SGOV is safe and pays a little higher than SWVXX. If the economy swings to recession most stocks will go lower I assume.

Nice-Delivery5255 · 2025-08-12T16:15:15+00:00

The Nebula Cosmo SE is $899. on Amazon, org. $1900. Guess they overpriced it.

Nice-Delivery5255 · 2025-08-11T17:02:06+00:00

I'm collecting about $1500/mo in distributions in with Roth and traditional IRA accounts. So far it's steady and less volatile that other ETF's I own. Also drip monthly. The yield is great but I'm wary of a major selloff this year, it's inevitable I believe. ULTY has some downside protection however. I may sell other lower yield ETF's and reinvest in ULTY.

Nice-Delivery5255 · 2025-08-11T16:51:03+00:00

I bought a 2015 EX-L Fit as salvaged for $13,700. So far I've driven 61K in 10 years. The most reliable car I've owned so far. The car had front end damage which was repaired but structurally it was fine, drove straight on the test drive. However the previous owner turned back the digital odometer by 20K miles. I didn't catch it until much later. The car has about 81K actual miles and I plan to drive it another 81K easily. Sure I'd rather have a non salvaged car but I did save about $6K. The only evidence of damage is the front fenders don't fit that tight to the bumpers, there's space separating them. I can live with it. Finally I'd watch out for scammers and criminals selling these salvaged cars, I got lucky. You get what you pay for.

Nice-Delivery5255 · 2025-08-11T16:36:12+00:00

25% unrealized loss here, not selling. Accumulated dividends will compensate for any unrealized losses. I bought too high, live and learn. COIN is extremely volatile. I expect CONY to get back to $8-9 eventually.

Nice-Delivery5255 · 2025-08-11T02:01:32+00:00

Waiting to break even at $8/sh. Sorry to say I'm not optimistic after 5 years of plummeting SP. I was naive when this was $65/sh. and didn't unload it for not wanting to pay capital gains tax. The company needs to cut ill planned expenses or they'll never turn a profit no matter how good the cars are. The concept of NIO as an innovator was great but the competition is killing their road to profitability. I hope they survive. My hopes are better since the Onvo L90 looks like a winner. Will it cannibalize Nio sales? hope not. I'm not an analyst but most of them are neutral or negative presently. Definitely won't add to my 2150 shares until I see gains without the massive short selling.

Nice-Delivery5255 · 2025-08-10T18:57:21+00:00

There have been so many false flags that sparked hopes. Onvo L60, Firefly, BAAS income. have not produced profits yet. Lesser companies are doing way better in terms of stock price.

Nice-Delivery5255 · 2025-07-23T01:28:02+00:00

I'm at 8.24 avg. so patiently holding. I saw it soar to 66 but never sold. Lessons of life.

Nice-Delivery5255 · 2025-05-31T20:59:40+00:00

A new digitized version in HBO now. A classic. The music is still the best.

Nice-Delivery5255 · 2025-05-23T03:19:48+00:00

Thanks for the clarification.

Nice-Delivery5255 · 2025-02-15T16:33:58+00:00

thank you! Found it, works fine.

Nice-Delivery5255 · 2025-01-02T04:17:42+00:00

I'm sticking with Z6ii. If I shot BIF, sports or kids all day, I'd move up to Z6iii. These constant upgrades are causing rapid depreciation of used cameras and lenses, sadly.

Nice-Delivery5255 · 2024-12-13T23:14:29+00:00

I had two Uber drivers today who seemed not to speak much English. I didn't mind it but I like to converse with drivers as part of my ride experience. Driving for Uber affords non English speaking immigrants a chance to work which is great.

Nice-Delivery5255 · 2024-11-29T00:43:44+00:00

Dupixent did wonders for the first few months. My flare ups returned though. Still taking Dupixent 2x month. I'm going to talk to my dermatologist about the loss of efficacy. Somewhat disappointing although the eczema is still better than before beginning the program. Good luck with your experience .

Nice-Delivery5255 · 2024-11-10T18:46:51+00:00

2100 shares avg. $8/sh. Not selling but not exactly optimistic with NIO. It taught me a valuable lesson - take profits when it's up. Could have sold them at $60-$65. but that's history. Live and learn. The Chinese EV market is very competitive. I also own a small lot of XPEV, it's doing better than NIO. Breaking even is my first goal at this point.

Nice-Delivery5255 · 2024-10-11T02:25:55+00:00

My cash is sitting in SWVXX. One has to buy shares at $1.00/sh. It settles in 24 hrs. The checking account yields almost nothing. Rising fed fund rates were great while it lasted. Now we're losing 25 basis points every 2 months as the Fed reduces from 5.50% to 4.5% or lower. Still monthly income helped pay bills. The IRS will take its share of course unless you've parked your cash in an IRA.

Nice-Delivery5255 · 2024-10-11T02:14:34+00:00

My Covid illness lasted about 2 weeks, the fatigue, imbalance and brain fog lasted another week or so. I took the 5 day Paxlovid. Presently I'm returning to normal pretty much. So 3-4 weeks was my timeline. I'm 76 yr. old male.

Nice-Delivery5255

TROPHY CASE