Let's Green

"Green" is not only a simple adjective to describe a lime, an olive, or a piece of jade's color right now; or a noun to illustrate a color which is a mixture of yellow and blue; the color of Shrek or the color of New York Jets. The word, green, becomes a verb to express that someone is doing something which can protect the environment, as well as a noun to categorize someone who has capability to care for the environment. Nowadays, furthermore, the word represents an investment and a future trend in the business field. When you open any investment guides or business magazines you found on streets, the "Green Industry" always stands as the hot topic in their suggested list. However, I think to achieve "Green" in the United States will be a long journey.

[轉載] The Credit Crunch 信用危機

這是一篇在網路上轉寄的一篇文章，他針對了最近信用危機 (Credit Crunch) 導致的次級房貸風波 (Subprime Crisis) 提出說明。淺顯易懂，可以讓大家參考一下。原文如下：


過去在美國，貸款是非常普遍的現象，從房子到汽車，從信用卡到電話帳單，貸款無處不在。當地人很少一次現金買房，通常都是長時間貸款。可是我們也知道，在美國失業和再就業是很常見的現象。這些收入並不穩定甚至根本沒有收入的人，他們怎麼買房子呢？因為信用等級達不到標準，他們就被定義為次級貸款者。

From the Day Lehman Fell Down to Work Philosophy

Although all of us have already known the financial industry is heading to an incredible crisis, no one has expected that day would come in a hasty and astonishing way.

It was a regular Sunday night to me. I poured the last of bottle of wine and randomly browsed TV channels from my comfortable cheap coach. Suddenly, the breaking news on CNN showed a shot at the front of Lehman Brother’s home office in Time Square and reported, "The employees of Lehman Brothers are packing their stuff on this Sunday night, since the company is already full of rumors of bankruptcy. You can see the people are coming in and out right now." The next second, I was dialing my friends who work for Lehman but no one answered. I was shocked!

We Have Only One Life – Australian Philosophy

這是我有生以來第一次離開北半球，拜訪看不到北極星的另一半世界。雖然沒什麼機會到各個觀光景點，甚至沒能有機會去最著名的大城 ─ 雪梨一趟，不過我真的滿喜歡這個新大陸的。若要我說對於澳洲的印象，其實讓我印象最深刻的，不是那些濃厚口音的澳式英文，也不是那些只有澳洲才有的奇特生物，什麼袋鼠、無尾熊、鴨嘴獸之類的，而是他們對於生活的態度。

在這一大片由火山爆發形成的古老大陸，雖然是全世界面積第三大的國家，澳洲人帶給我的感覺卻更像是個與世無爭的島國居民，一切自給自足。在這裡最重要的經濟活動是農業、礦業、跟畜牧業，其他的活動似乎都只是附加上去的，這也讓澳洲有著與其他經濟體競爭的資源與本錢，加上近幾十年來開放並鼓勵新移民的遷入，高加索白人、非裔黑人、印度人、亞裔黃種人，各式的種族在這裡落地生根，接著融合在一起，讓澳洲的文化更增添了特殊的風味。在這裡，沒有紐約那樣的忙碌與冷漠，同樣是有著多元文化的國際型都市，這裡更多了一點亞洲人般的親切、和歐洲人般的氣質、還有澳洲人獨特的悠哉閒適的生活態度。

Oh Ya! Summer Time!

Despite super duper god damn busy working lately, despite running projects, writing reports, or endless meetings until extremely late in the nights, after seeing a bright sunshine, my heart feels refreshed and recharged without any reasons. And YES!! It is SUMMER TIME!

有在夏天來過美國的朋友就會知道，在美國夏天有所謂的「 Daylight Saving (日光節約時間) 」，這是從一次世界大戰當時的一位英國人 William Willet 規劃出來而且倡導的政策。所以在美國也就因為實施日光節約時間，所以在夏令時間太陽都可以到八九點才下山。還記得我剛來到美國的那年夏天，雖然沒什麼時差問題，可是對這麼晚下山的太陽還是有點不習慣。記得那個時候常常都會打球打到太陽下山才回家吃飯，每次吃飽飯都十點、十一點了，沒多久就要睡覺了。哈！這對當時生長在亞熱帶台灣、從沒出過遠門的我來說，還真是個難忘的記憶呢！不過阿，我倒是滿喜歡這樣能享受日照的好日子。就算五六點下了班，還有三四個小時天還是亮著的，這種感覺真好！

Concerts in the Parks

It just likes clock turning back to my childhood. The park nearby my family's place used to hold some outdoor traditional Taiwanese drama events a few days each summer. Under a still-bright-sunset, with feelings of delight and excitement, people around the neighborhood carried folded chairs and light food to the park. Children chased each other and followed by their barking puppies. Food vendors rolled their carts near the entrance. Those nearby could breath in many delicious aromas - grilled sausage, grilled squid, cotton candy, ice cream, and many of others. People dressed comfortably in T-shirts, shorts and cheap flip-flops. Their hair was still damp after a shower and they carried a light hand fan. I didn't really care what the performance was on the stage. Having family and friends around is the most important thing to me.

Last night, the Concerts in the Parks awakened my memory. After just one visit, I am sure you will love the music and the atmosphere there.

Mount in the Mist – Shenandoah National Park

一直想要再次拜訪這個 Shenandoah National Park (有人翻作仙納度國家公園，我會翻成仙納多瓦國家公園) ，上次一遊 (我有在我之前的 遊記 寫到) 只能匆匆一撇，這次雖然沒有太多的時間停留，卻主要是針對拜訪他而來的，讓我有緣多多認識這個位於山陵線上的美麗國家公園。

趁著美國國慶這個難得的 Long Weekend ，我們幾個紐約客就又約著一起拜訪這裡，成員還是老樣子 A 君、 H 君、 D 君，只是這次又多了 D 君遠從 Vancouver 來拜訪的爸媽，一行六個人浩浩蕩蕩地開著 Mini Van ，橫越了好幾個州到 Shenandoah 去。我們走的路線可能不是最好的，不過還算是滿快、滿省油的路線 (最近油價爆貴的) 。我們這次都以走高速公路為原則，從 Queens 出發，走 I-278 接 Williamsburg Bridge 到 Manhattan ，再從 Holland Tunnel 到 New Jersey ，走 US1/9 接 I-76 一路往西，最後在接 I-81 往西南過去，這樣就會到 Shenandoah 的 Skyline Drive North Entrance 。我們中途休息了兩次，加上加油、用餐的時間大約六個多小時，不到七個小時就到了，算是一路順暢。其實那裡距離 Philadelphia, PA 、 Washington DC 、和 Charlotte, NC 很近，在這幾個地方上班的大夥兒，有空真的可以去走一走。