Seems like a wildly different weather/climate than this house would have normally been in. I wonder whether that impacts the longevity of these constructions.
> I wonder whether that impacts the longevity of these constructions.
Probably positively--Shikoku Island is quite a bit more tropical/humid than LA. I'd imagine a timber-framed house that has already endured centuries in a more humid climate would do just fine in a milder/drier climate.
On the flip side if something goes wrong you get to discover what $RANDOM_VENDOR in $RANDOM_COUNTRY thinks is a reasonable policy for handling it, which is not usually a big risk for domestic USA travel, but for international travel can be a true wrench in the spokes.
Maybe but if $RANDOM_VENDOR isn't willing/able to help, I don't really expect Expedia to. That said, I do use an agent to arrange self-guided walking trips and things like that and they seem to be a useful resource rather than planning and booking the whole thing myself, in part, because a lot of local knowledge can be involved. But that's different from booking 5 nights in some European city.
I had a couple of times when car rentals and hotels decided to add surprise charges when I arrived. As those was booked through Expedia, the latter refunded me those immediately (and I suspect went and got them back from the vendor later)
Kosher salt and table salt of similar chemical composition (i.e. not the 60% potassium "low sodium" stuff) should be interchangeable if measured by weight?
I've read somewhere that the iodine can negatively affect the fermentation process, so that it's better to use iodine free sea salt. Cant remember the source, though.
It is definitely easier to audit profit taxes that has to follow a standard protocol than checking every transaction. Do we expect the auditor to call random customers whether they purchased bread on November 17 last year?
What exactly is easier about auditing profits, when they are the difference between a claimed number (income) and another claimed number (expenses), whereas sales tax is literally printed on receipts?
Thats why you hear about megacorps paying $0 in (profit) tax, but you never hear about anyone "dodging" sales tax.
I'm not who you replied to, but I have such a story.
I was in southern China for a couple weeks, using Google Translate to try to talk to locals sometimes. The voice-to-voice feature seemed useful and more approachable than asking someone to type on my phone. I'd often start by saying "Talk into the phone and it will translate."
This did not go well. People seemed bewildered, utterly unwilling to try it out. Some people already knew what I was doing but the rest seemed to think I was crazy. One or two tried taking the phone and holding it to their ear like they were going to have a normal phone conversation with someone far away.
I later found out that Google had translated my phrase as something like "There is a phone call for you."
> I later found out that Google had translated my phrase as something like "There is a phone call for you."
Language learning stories are always amazing because the perpetrator of the comedy is almost always entirely oblivious. Love your story.
My shining moment when I was learning Portuguese... I went to the pharmacy because I'd hurt my ankles hiking. They kept everything behind the counter, so I asked for some painkillers that would work for ankle pain.
The cashier gave me the weirdest look and the rest of the line started giggling. Eventually, after several attempts at repetition and variation, they gave me some ibuprofen - perfect. As I was leaving I processed my mistake - I'd accidentally swapped calcanhares (ankles) for calcinhas (panties), so my series of requests (as a male) had come out as: "My panties are killing me, do you have anything to help? ... Sorry, my Portuguese...I'll try again: My panties. Pan-ties. Pain. Pain in my panties. Panties pain. Medicine?"
Fun fact: Quality of Google translate and Google search in Simplified Chinese and Google maps in mainland China has plummeted over the past decade. Barely usable if at all. I would suggest avoid them at all cost for your peace of mind
I've found ChatGPT 4o (the voice one) to be useful, I just need to prompt it first by saying `Whatever you hear in Chinese, say in English, whatever you hear in English, say in Chinese`. It refuses to cooperate if you tell it to be a live translator.
Anyways, it seems to understand context really well, I tried it out with a Chinese person and they said it worked really well.
It even works for Croatian which is awesome as it is a really small language that anything voice-related usually does not work with.
My next goal was Panzhihua, in Sichuan province. I hitched a ride (I can't remember where) with a group who invited me to a party. I was 21 and they were like late 20s. I graciously accepted their invitation, on the condition that they would take me back to the highway a few hours before sunset.
After a fun few hours in the car, we arrive at the party destination- a beautiful plantation of rice paddies and fruit trees. I see escalades and Porsches parked along the long, dirt driveway.
Rural China is often extremely poor, even without running water. This is what made me come back from China less confident in their ability to take over America as #1.
But this place was in the middle of nowhere and very well kept, with a pool and some nice cabins.
We drink a lot at this girl's birthday party. I was used to being the center of attention by now and was quite fluent in Chinese at this time. We drank a lot of baijiu ('white alcohol"), which you must spill on the ground a little before you yell "clean cup!" and then drink.
We go out picking lychees and mangos in the mountains. I pack a bunch in my backpack for later.
Then the group graciously brings me back to the highway so I can hitch a ride to my destination.
I get picked up by an old farmer and his son. I hop in the truck a little drunk. The old farmer starts talking to me about George Washington, so I fumble a quarter out of my pocket and give it to him. He takes me straight to the center of Panzhihua.
By this time, I'm hungry, drunk and tired. I wander around the center and find a place to eat. After finishing my meal at the restaurant, the owner sits next to me and shows me his phone. My face is on the screen, smiling alongside all the others at the party. I had travelled at least 100 miles, but small world anyways.
I left the restaurant, looking for a place to sleep and it was raining. Finding a hostel or just a place to stay is notoriously difficult for foreigners in China. This time I wasn't even gonna try to find a hostel.
I see an almost finished construction job. Prime location to sleep, protected from the rain. Just as I'm about to put down my sleeping bag, I hear a guard yell "HEY, what are you doing!". He runs at me with his flashlight. I grab my things and sneak off into the night.
I wander the city, unable to find even just an awning to sleep under. I'm soaked. I decide to sleep on some sidewalk steps under a few trees.
A couple out on a date talk enthusiastically until they see me in the fetal position on their sidewalk. They hush down the steps.
I hope to finally get some shut-eye. Just as I'm about to fall asleep, I feel a slight itch... then fire throughout my body.
I leap up and take off all my clothes. I find I'm covered in fire ants. They were after the lychees and mangoes I had in my bag.
So there I am, in the middle of Communist China, NAKED, on the side of the road, soaking wet and covered in ants.
I really did stand in the rain and contemplate my existence with my balls hanging out.
I swipe off the ants from my bag, put on my clothes and left those stairs.
I had enough. I walked right across the street and knocked on the door of a security guard's station.
"Hi, I just wanted to let you know I'm standing here under your awning"
The security guard gaped in amazement. After a few questions we just stared at each other. I wasn't going to take no for an answer.
Then he graciously invites me into his guard-station, and lets me sleep in his chair.
The next day, I bought him breakfast. I am eternally grateful to him.
This was just 24 hours in a 90 day trip. Crazy experiences immediately precede and follow this story.
I hitch-hiked around Europe in the mid-nineties (when English wasn’t commonly spoken in Central/Eastern Europe) so I appreciated this story. I stayed in a hostel most nights (unless I was offered a place to stay) so my experience was nowhere near as adventurous as yours. Thanks for the anecdote.
I've read this trope many times but honestly I don't buy it. At highway speeds conventional door handles, which are absolutely tiny in frontal area and have fairly low drag shape to begin with, are behind the side mirror turbulence anyway. I wish some high budget Youtuber would test this in a wind tunnel so we can put it to rest.
The only thing separating Tesla from a realistic multiple is Musk. For shareholders it's rational to want to keep him around. Otherwise they would have to face a much worse reversion to the mean.
See: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18693177