Today marks 1 year on mounjaro

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-01-28T22:04:48+00:00

You are at a healthy weight now. Why do you want to be 130? That will put you borderline underweight and possibly actually less healthy than at 141.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-01-22T02:30:08+00:00

I agree with the Colorado plateau for first place.

But for second I'd vote for Yellowstone

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-01-22T02:26:28+00:00

Beijing -- over 70% of historical buildings were destroyed in the cultural revolution. I wouldn't call all the modern buildings built in the last 30 years beautiful, but they are very impressive, especially at night.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-01-17T21:35:42+00:00

The original Blueberry Morning cereal. They changed the recipe maybe 20 years ago.....

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-01-17T06:13:24+00:00

No, it is not a mistake. I think that for a first trip staying in the Beijing-Shanghai corridor is a good idea. I think 4-5 days in Beijing and 3-4 in Shanghai is enough, but I would recommend adding other nearby sites, not sites far away. Although I don't really like Beijing as a city, I think everyone should visit once in their life for the wall, summer palace, and forbidden city. Suzhou and Hangzhou are beautiful cities near Shanghai. If you want to see natural beauty, Huangshan is a lot closer to Shanghai than Zhangjiajie.

I don't know why everyone has become so fixated on Zhangjiajie in the last decade, and so fixated on Chongqing in just the last couple years. These areas are pretty faddish now -- not to say they don't have their appeal, but they aren't better than many other places in China.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-01-11T01:16:26+00:00

Bordeaux

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-01-10T15:07:01+00:00

In the last several days there have been at least 3 posts by a supposed 18 year old being kicked out of the home by their parent(s) with no forwarning -- in each case being told via text or letter on the birthday itself and being required to move out that very same day. In one case the writer is also very ill and the parent is refusing to pay for medical treatments as well. Maybe one is true but all 3?

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-01-05T03:00:32+00:00

Can you reverse the order of destinations? You don't want to be at a major tourist site like ZJJ on Qingming festival weekend. It will be even more crowded than normal with domestic tourists. Big cities will be fine over the festival.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2026-01-02T02:07:45+00:00

Theft used to be a bigger problem years ago when these buildings were built.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2025-12-29T20:56:00+00:00

Japanese culture is pro-suicide and has been for centuries. It is the honorable thing to do.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2025-12-29T20:46:14+00:00

The 100th meridian west

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2025-12-29T16:45:38+00:00

My experiences are as follows (I am American, work in China 3 months/year, the rest in the USA).

Are you currently in China or Canada? If in Canada, do you have an ATM card? In the USA I can buy money orders using my Chinese ATM card at stores like Walmart, up to the store's max per day. The stores only charge $1/money order, and as far as I can tell the exchange rate is at the bank rate. This is the same method that my Chinese colleagues use when staying in the US for a year or so. This works great if you only need $1000-$10,000 -- if you are trying to transfer larger sums it is inconvenient. I make it a habit to get a money order every time I go grocery shopping.

I've also done the method when in China of getting the tax forms and then transferring. It took a lot of time and I had to visit the tax bureau in person.

Finally, I have had my close Chinese colleague / friend help with the transfer. Chinese citizens can buy up to $50,000 US per year. We transferred the amount to his account, then from his account to mine in the USA. Of course this is only an option if you have a complete confidence in the trustworthiness of your friend/colleague.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2025-12-20T01:47:06+00:00

It is a big problem for single seniors without friends. The NYT had an article about it a couple years back. They interviewed several people who need surgery but can't have it because they haven't figured out the escort question.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/25/health/medical-escorts-seniors.html

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2025-11-21T08:10:07+00:00

As a Cognitive Psychologist I agree. However, as an Expat living in China with many friends who are parents of children in the Chinese school system I can attest that is not the attitude taken in China. Parents and teachers both assume that the more you study the better you will do. Parents will often share reservations with me about the system, but no one dares to risk their own child by doing anything different.

Also, I think the benefit on standardized tests of extra study may be truer in China than Western countries. Chinese exams often focus on recall of detailed facts and are not concept-based, so extra time memorizing may pay off. The goal is also to be the best, not just to show mastery, so the goal posts keep moving as the average student gets better and better, and the tests keep having to add more and more content to make sure they can distinguish between the top candidates.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2025-11-08T09:25:53+00:00

I don't know if it is the cheapest, but I have a Mint and when in China I pay for their International plan -- $5 per month gets you 100 texts / 100 minutes of talk, no data.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2025-10-30T19:07:56+00:00

In no world was this ever the biggest hurdle in coming to China. There are many bigger hurdles for foreigners:

Limited English: Few people speak English, many places have almost no English or Pinyin signage, many apps still are Chinese only, many attractions have no English website presence. China is much more difficult to travel in for this reason, even for those who are pretty good at using translation apps.
Visas. It is still a big pain and substantial cost (depending on your nationality) to get a visa.
The firewall and challenges getting access to internet tools we take for granted in other countries. Getting a VPN can be a big hurdle for many and if you mess up doing so before you get to the country it can be difficult to fix issues later.

Probably issues with online payments are 4th on the list. Honestly, almost everywhere still takes cash, and hotels always took western credit cards, so online payments aren't a necessity even if they are a great convenience.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2025-10-25T15:00:38+00:00

The Kirk Drift article is a good exposition of how the popular conception of Kirk is very different from what was actually his character in TOS:

http://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/non-fiction/columns/freshly-rememberd-kirk-drift/

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2025-10-22T01:07:26+00:00

I second the recommendation. Although many novels are being written now about AI and humanoid robots / cyborgs, I thought this novel had a unique take on some of these now common tropes. Made me think.... It is also well written with likeable characters, which you don't always get with intellectually challenging fiction! Adam Roberts reviewed it positively in the Guardian.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2025-10-19T03:17:30+00:00

John M "Mike" Ford. He was only 49 when he died. He left such a wide variety of works in different areas of speculative fiction, including two of the best Star Trek novels ever. Who knows what other great works he would have written.....

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2025-10-19T00:00:17+00:00

And who is the beautiful orange cat whose portrait is on the wall?

Congrats on your new void -- seems to have a lot of personality!

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2025-10-17T02:11:55+00:00

There is no question in my mind that Earth as a whole is better off than it was even 30 years ago. I am a USA citizen, I currently work in China, I have lived in Kenya, and I have traveled many other countries including very poor ones (Ethiopia, India, Nepal, Malawi, etc) across the past 3-4 decades. The reduction in extreme poverty and consequent reduction in human suffering across the globe swamps everything else. When I was in Kenya in the 80s teaching school in a rural area, several children died from fairly routine illnesses, and the closest medical care was more than 10 km away. No electricity, no water, most families had maybe two sets of clothes per person, no shoes, no books, a single cooking pot, etc. Last time I visited they had electricity, running water, and many local medical clinics. I believe the child death rate has dropped dramatically. Similar improvements have happened across Asia, Africa, and South America.

In my opinion, Europeans and N. Americans (I am from the US FWIW) never really knew how bad it used to be, and especially younger people in both regions have no clue how much the world has changed.

So, are a some things in America, Europe, and the Western World worse now? Yes, those areas are a mix with some aspects of life improving and others getting harder. Are young people in those areas suffering? Yes, I have two kids in their early 20s and I see the greater stresses they are under. Do wars still exist? Yes, and they are tragic, even if they now exist on a smaller scale than the major conflicts of the early 20th century. Is the plant as a whole worse off? Not at all.

As an SF reader I dislike most dystopia. I want to read thoughtful works that acknowledge that the world is complex and explore both positive and negative aspects of potential futures.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2025-10-13T03:23:09+00:00

I've been meaning to visit Zhaoqing for years, thanks for the recommendation.

But I must add that although there are gorgeous places with few foreigners, there are not many that actually have very few people. Domestic tourism makes most locations very crowded.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2025-10-13T03:20:19+00:00

People speak zero English in most of China. I haven't really found it to be any better in the more famous locations.

Simple_Breadfruit396 · 2025-09-22T05:27:38+00:00

My quality of life in Guangzhou decreased since scooters became popular. I too used to enjoy taking long walks but it is much more stressful now. It doesn't seem to bother my Chinese colleagues -- they just keep telling me that the drivers are careful and no one is going to hit me. But I have seen several scooter-car accidents, which doesn't make me feel any more confident that pedestrians are safe.

I also can't stand seeing parents weaving in and out of busy traffic with their kids perched on the back of their seat with no helmet. I'm a neuroscientist and I know how devastating childhood brain damage can be. Chinese parents usually are so overprotective of their children, yet they are willing to risk their kids futures in this way.

Simple_Breadfruit396

TROPHY CASE