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May 31, 2005

Ok, here I am.

I finally can come down here and do some little writing. You know, I have been so busy over the past few days. I have got many lessons to give. I am even now preparing materials for the new class tomorrow. I have also been working on someone's marriage proposal...no kidding, but I will ask that sucker to post that piece of work here as well, after it is delivered to him. I don't know why I always say "yes" to people when what I really want to say is "no". Hey, I know you are looking at this article, but don't take it too seriously. I am just bellyaching a little. But the truth is, I really like to help with your marriage proposal.
Too much to do, to little time. My schedule has been packed and filled to capacity. Do I enjoy it? Of course not!! I wish I could just take a long break and got no one to bother me. Let me tell you guys a little secret....I am working on a big project now. If this one goes well, I can forget about all these damn crap I am working on. Then I will be a loaded man. Loaded with what? Of course the green bucks, butthead!
Ok, that's good enough for the bellyaching.

May 25, 2005

Let's go jogging

Greetings from Richard, the English class student in the GVO . Here is a very good chance to exercise outdoors as well as getting some gimmicks . Let’s go jogging behind the Taipei City Hall on Jun 5th .Starting from 6:00 am , runner will win a functional T shirt ,mousepad, shopping bag and Frisbee .Theres a free eye medical care and consulting provide by some noted ophthalmologists . By the way, it’s free to sign up. You guys are welcome to join the activity .Getting more details Pls check out website: http://www.alcon.com.tw

May 22, 2005

An important notice.

What's going on, my dear friends? Here I have some important things to keep you posted. So just be all ears.

I recently found I really have hard time posting my work at this blog on a daily basis. So, I decided to go for some changes from now on, that is, I will have to shrink the number of the articles I usually write for here. A weekly one or two articles is a possible load for me now.

Again, I am so sorry about the inconvenience I have brought to you, but meanwhile I don't want to lose all my lovely readers like you who are always behind me and give me the best support. To give me a hand, I strongly suggest you post your stuff here and share your life experience with us. I do believe it is about time that you practiced your writing skill at this point. It pays to write your own articles here with the view to improving your ability in English writing. I can do it well, so can you.

Bruce's articles may be posted here once a week, depending on whether he will send me his stuff to me. We always look forward to digesting his distinguished piece of work.

Ok, then it's settled. Catch you later.

May 15, 2005

Torrential Rain on Saturday

The rainy season is here.

I left home last Saturday at 7:30 am as usual for catching the early train to XinZhu. I was told the weather was not so good that it might downpour left and right all day in northern Taiwan. Actually, I did not really want to run into any troubles on my way down, but who could fight the power of the mother nature?

I was a little out of luck soon after the train departed. As it stopped at XinFong station, the conductor of the train made an announcement via the broadcast system that the train couldn't proceed its journey for the time being-- there was some area ahead flooded by the heavy rainfall. "Oh my God. This can't be right", I told myself. And I wished it were not happening again, because I used to suffer from such a bad weather long time ago. I still remembered I was stuck on the highway due to the typhoon's strike. For that matter, it delayed my arrival to XinZhu for about 1 1/2 hours. I was definitely late for the class. "Is it gonna happen to me one more time ?" I mourned.

Well, the train finally moved again. I was rest assured but not for too long-- it stopped again at ZhuBei station! And this time it seemed like the conductor was playing for real. He warned those who were in a hurry for business should find alternatives themselves because there was no sign the flood would go away. As a result the trained will be halted here for an unknown period of time.

I couldn't wait to die. I decided to get out of the train station. Before I left there, I asked the worker in the train station where I could catch the local bus to XinZhu. I know this city was just a jump from my destination. I followed the directions given from them, turned right at the traffic light, but didn't find any bus stop. I decided to asked for help again.

I approached a beverage store asking the clerk which direction I should headed to. His reaction was funny. "Bus stop? Why is everyone asking for that?" I assumed that he might have been bothered many times answering the same question. Poor him, but I was miserable too. He told me just to go little further down and I couldn't miss it. I finally found it, but it was 10:25, 5 minutes before the class began.

I tried calling the cram school explaining everything happening. I was asked to take a taxi there. Well, the train station worker ever told me it would charge me for 200 NT for taxi ride. Now I was really between a rock and a hard place. Just before I hailed a taxi, the bus came. Thank God, I saved 200 bucks now. When getting to the school, I had been 20 minutes late.

Not too bad, I thought. At least I finally made it there. Just one hour and 20 minutes late.

May 08, 2005

Electric Flyswatter

Nothing can be simple as a flyswatter or flyswat. It is used to kill flies or other insects. It usually consists of a piece of plastic or wire mesh attached to a long handle. When using it, all we have to do is blow the object sharply with it. Thanks to the smart Taiwanese who gave the flyswat a different look plus innovated feature such as the metal wire replacing the old plastic one. Moreover, the wire is set up with the electric circuit, so it becomes a deadly weapon to kill bugs like mosquitoes. With the new flyswat in hand, no more slapping is needed to kill the annoying insects. The batteries in it are durable for a long time because it only requires a slight electric current out of the batteries to carry out the mission.
Believe it or not, a flyswat can even be a good gift for friends. Mr. Lee, one of my students from Korea, told me that he took along several of flyswatters when visiting his fellow people back in his country long ago. People who received the flyswatters from him as a gift were all impressed with its efficiency of killing mosquitoes. I suggested he sold it on Internet to Korean people and it may help him make a big fortune.

flyswatter 蒼蠅拍
consists of 包括
wire mesh 線網
attached to 黏合
blow the object sharply 重擊
Thanks to someone/ something 多虧了...
innovated 革新的
metal wire 金屬網
electric circuit 電路
deadly weapon 致命的武器
mosquitoes 蚊子
slapping 重拍
durable 耐久的
electric current 電流
carry out the mission 執行任務
believe it or not 不管信不信
efficiency 效率
make a big fortune 賺一大筆財富

May 03, 2005

One celebrity's death

Most of the people here must know this person. He used to be one of the most popular comedians who ever performed his variety shows on different TV channels. In his late twenties, he started off his career as a singer; until now the mid-aged can still remember his record album released during early 1980's. He tried to transform himself into a new identity soon after he became famous-- a comedian. No matter what he had been, his astonishing performance always impressed everyone who knew him. Being a has-been, he ever tried to run for the congressman but failed during the election. There always seemed to be up and down in his life, but he always made a comeback as he never gave up on anything. Unfortunately, we read of late that he committed suicide by hanging himself to death. We badly regret that the audience like you and me will never have the chance to watch his show any more.

celebrity 名人
comedian 喜劇演員
perform 表演
variety show 綜藝節目
start off 開始
mid-aged 中年
transform 轉換
record album 唱片專輯
identity 身分
has-been 過氣的人
run for 競選
up and down 起伏
comeback 恢復, 東山再起
commit suicide 自殺