End of the Car-less days

Posted on January 8, 2013 by sinyaw

Nov 25, 2012

Americans love to hate car salesmen, particularly used-cars. Very few enjoy the car buying experience. The knowledge on the subject is very asymmetric: the selling side knows about cars and cost structure far more than average buyers. After living without a car for about 5 months,

I re-lived a car buying experience once more; got an used car no less.

Armed with Internet, the information is now much less asymmetric. Edmunds.com is very helpful and Costco.com is a powerful tool. We researched casually and eventually narrowed down to 4 “candidate cars” whose dealerships were on bus routes or within walking distance. On the Thanksgiving Saturday, we walked into “candidate #1” and were prepared to drive a car out. After the test drive, the salesman, whom we knew from the previous “research round”, led us to his office and started to “work the numbers.” I asked the simple question, “If I go to Edmunds.com and look for the “true market price” for this car, what will the number be?” The guy refused to bulge. Two and half hours after we walked in, we walked out.

Sunday came, we took the bus to the “candidate #2” dealership and also found the salesman whom we also met earlier (he also behaved as if he remembered us). Again, we test drove and were about to enter the “working the number” phase. He seemed nice (don’t they all?) so we told him what we were truly looking for — 5 seater, all-wheel drive, good trunk space, etc. — and asked him what would he recommend. He asked if we would consider used-cars. Wife and I looked at each other and shrugged, “why not?” (At this point, the informational asymmetry intensified, since we would have known much less about used cars.) Cut to the chase, we drove out the dealership with a used-car: he successfully sold us something we were came to buy.

Why? Simply because we ended up trusting the second salesman. He seemed genuine and honest. After the fact, our researched showed that the deal was decent, not a killer. That’s really less important since we trusted him to have gotten us a solid car that we will drive for many years without heart-aches, or even with enjoyment.

Yes, getting a car is economically irrational for us. If history is any guidance, we will buy three to four more cars in the future. I hope the industry would have evolved to make it easier and more enjoyable. Clicking on Amazon.com/cars? Hmm…

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What not own guns?

Posted on January 5, 2013 by sinyaw

Here in China, over a meal, they asked, “You live in America. Why don’t you own guns?” The general impression is that every Americans owns guns. Many Washingtonians do. This state has very liberal gun laws. It seems that everyone I knew has an arsenal that will put a small country’s military to shame. Why don’t I own guns?

Economically, it makes little sense. Although guns are not hugely expensive. They are also not impulse buys. A decent hand gun costs several hundred dollars. In addition, you need to amass the ammunition and accessories. The hunting season is short and I don’t enjoy that anyway. So the only recreation is target shooting. Ranges are not that many and shooting in the wilderness is a trouble-some thing to do. Put it simply, you don’t get much use out of those guns you own.

The “self protection” value of guns are a myth. In the event of an intruder, few people have the training to use guns to protect themselves. It takes skills and practices to shoot another person. The consequence of failure, or even success, can be dire. The emotional trauma of killing someone is severe, even in self-defense. The truth is, I may not be that tough to use guns to protect myself.

More than likely, guns are misused during the emotionally heated moments against love ones. Having a gun escalates and amplifies the consequence of strong and negative emotions. Tears and shouting become blood and death, instead of just hurt feelings and broken hearts. Note that guns do not enhance the positivity. They don’t make your birthdays, wedding, or other celebrations more enjoyable.

Lastly, there are accidents: kids playing with the wrong toys; adults not being careful handling them; or just wrong things being together at the wrong time.

When I want to have fun shooting, I go to a gun range, rent a few pieces, buy some boxes or ammo, and shred pieces of paper with bullets. I get this “fix” once in a couple of years.

And that’s just fine with me.

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Sloops

Posted on December 28, 2012 by sinyaw

Is there an optimal design for sail boats? The answer is the same for airplanes or cars: no. But, by large, the design principles have been worked out after many thousands of times of experiments. For speed, do Catamaran, otherwise, go for an variation of Sloop. (Note that I am no longer talking about sailing for commercial purposes, like fishing or cargo.)

Clearly, the biggest element is the sails themselves. For that, the sail area is the dominant design factor. The larger the sail, the more wind power to harness, the faster. Unfortunately, to increase sail area, you need taller or more masts that weigh down the boat. Then you must consider the material of the sails: how heavy and durable they are. Lastly, how would the boat operate under different wind strength and directions? Modern design and material technologies essentially make single mast the optimal choice. We have light and sturdy material to make a tall mast. We also have good material for light and strong sails. There are also a rich set of motors and tools to reduce muscular demand in operating a boat. (You can now set a boat to “auto pilot.”) If we add the economic factor, Sloop became the winner of modern sail boat design.

The ideas are simple: a triangular-shaped sail is easier to control; raise the mast for the more power; add a jib to harness more wind, particular upwind; add Spinnaker for downwind. Everything else is about “tuning” it for different purposes: comfort, speed, ease of maneuvering, etc.

Sloops have one mast that closer to the bow. To its fore hangs a head sail, or jib. Aft of that is the mainsail, with a boom at the bottom. This is the classic Bermuda rigging. Steel cables stabilize the mast. Hulls can be fiber-glass or wood. Put down a keel/rudder design at the bottom.

The location of the mast is a critical design point. The mast is heavy and affects the center of the gravity. When the wind is blowing side way, the sails, in combination, should have the minimal rotational torque on the hull to minimize “weather helm” that slows down the boat.

Cutter is essentially a Sloop with two foresails. To accommodate them, the mast usually moves back to the center of the boat. An extra foresail create another set of control sheets and complicates the control. But it also harness the wind power more efficiently.

Posted in Peek into my mind, Sailing | Leave a comment

Les Mis: Movie is Better

Posted on December 25, 2012 by sinyaw

Not by much, both very good. This blog is mostly a comparison of the movie to its theatrical counter-part. If you don’t want to know or care, stop reading.

First of all, Anne Hathaway out-acted and out-sang Hugh Jackman who was not bad either. Amanda Seyfried, as adult Cosette, was awesome. Samantha Barks made Éponine so much alive and memorable.

You expect better acting and scenes from a movie. After all, theater is, comparatively, much limited than what a camera can do. In this regard, the movie did not disappoint. 19th century France/Paris was realistic. The miserable was indeed. If you have never been to the musical, the movie is not a bad substitute.

There is a magic about live performances. I can somehow better connected with a real persons singing on the stage. The movie is not bad at all, particularly with better acting. I am very impressed by those supposedly real singing. It is not easy to be an actor these days. They can probably out-sing many on-stage performers.

In a strange way, Javert’s falling into the river is less dramatic than the theater, yes, even with the bone crushing. I also felt the opening scene for Thénadier was more comical and enjoyable in the theater too.

I highly recommend this movie, even for those who have been to the theater.

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Doomsday Averted.

Posted on December 22, 2012 by sinyaw

Remember the movie 2012 that depicted the second coming of Noah’s flood, with earth splitting fires that swallowed all civilizations?

December 21 came and passed. What were you doing?

How many times you learned that a disaster could have been averted had someone paid a bit more attention? How frequent do you ignore those warnings? Had we heeded the doomsday prediction, we would look like fools. Yet we chastened those who should have paid attention to the warnings of 9/11, Sandy Hook, or even earthquakes. We assess the quality of the decisions by the outcome that are dominated by uncontrollable factors.

Rationality is not human.

Posted in 100 Words, Peek into my mind | Leave a comment

For Young Job Seekers…

Posted on December 18, 2012 by sinyaw

A young person was working with me on her job hunt. So many questions/confusions! Which cities are best? Which industries should she target? Is cover letter necessary? Are those really called “experience?” These are the summary of our exchanges:

  • No one owe you a job. No one care if you think it is not fun. Treat job hunting as a full time job and do it seriously. Spend 4 to 6 hours a day doing it. Develop a routine, err on over-doing and over-thinking. This is not your Mom’s job and really would have profound impact on the rest of your own life. Why are you not motivated to do better than trying to score better on your Internet games?

  • Did you consider starting your own business? Is there a passion in you that just need a bit more motivation? Don’t get intimidated by your lack of business experience. Being young is a very previous resource. You can afford to fail now, not later.

  • Resume serves two purposes: get you an interview and guide the interviewers to ask you the right questions. It is a marketing material. In these days, there is no excuse not to customize it for every jobs you apply.

    Edit your resume at least 5 times and spend at least 20 hours on it. Scrutinize every words and formatting decisions. Strive for perfection. Ask people for suggestions and feedback. Find people who had hired many to criticize it. Keep an open-mind and don’t be defensive. If you can recite your resume in heart, that’s about right.

    You must have a cell phone and email address on the resume. Skype handle is good to have, not required. You need to provide an easy way for them to find you. If it is not easy, you lose.

    I have once find a resume that was otherwise attractive, but without phone numbers. The response from the email was that the person treated his cell phone number “private” and wouldn’t share it with any “strangers.” Seriously?! If it takes 2 hours to arrange an interview for you and 5 minutes for the other applicants. You lose. Get yourself a second line or email account!

  • Unless you are willing to put in roughly 10 hours and 5 edits to create a cover letter, don’t. The “intro” message should be very short. Don’t repeat what’s on the resume and write only what’s relevant to the job. Always edit before you send. It is far easier to screw up cover letter than not doing it at all.

    Those who actually did spend the time get an advantage. But I rarely saw good ones, particularly from young candidates.

  • Create your LinkedIn account, put the same material in your resume there. Make sure your profile picture is not funky. Contact your bosses and colleagues to “endorse” you. Upload a pleasant, well-lit, head-and-shoulder picture.

  • If you have a Facebook account, try removing party pictures and offensive postings. Google yourself and tried to clean up anything embarrassing. If your name is too common, add middle name or initial to the resume. If you blog, check your recent postings. Yes, your future employer will Google you before making you an offer.

  • Referrals from direct friends is the most effective way to get hired. Contact all your siblings, friends, and whomever you meet in any social functions for referrals. It is best that they themselves send in your resume with a positive intro (This is my friend. She is great. Our company will do better with her. ETc.) Otherwise, send to the hiring manager yourself and state very clearly who referred you. If the position is out of state, remove the address from your resume.

  • Ask those who are in your parents’ generation for the same thing. Remember, personal referrals or “word of mouth” is the most effective way to get hired. Very large number of jobs are not posted to the public.

  • Go back to the school (yes, physically) and visit the career center and inquire their various campus recruiting programs. Ask for a list of companies that recently visited the campus or showed interests in hiring entry level positions. If possible, email to the hiring managers. Otherwise, send a paper version of the resume to the HR department.

Posted in Management Thoughts | 1 Comment

Why Unions Still Exist?

Posted on December 15, 2012 by sinyaw

The benefits of unions to the labor side is clear: good income, good lifestyles, and job security. Extra costs to business translate to higher prices. But if the business is a near monopoly, its customers have no choice. The customers, faced with higher prices, need more income and demand that from their employers or customers. This process continues and essentially becomes a general inflation. Everyone ends up the same at the end, but the cycle can take a long time. Before that, someone could enjoy a temporary advantage over others, that could be years and just fine for most people.

What if the business is not a monopoly and cannot pass the costs to the customers? Like Hostess, it becomes less profitable and eventually must close down. The labor side then suffers a catastrophic blow: everyone loses their jobs. Note that “everyone” means those who were still employed at the end. Those who left before the end did just fine.

After Hostess, port workers in Los Angeles and Long Beach went on strike. The nearby Ensenada port enjoyed a windfall of business. It is just 3 hours of driving from Long Beach. Those who shipped cargo across the pacific ocean would not mind, particularly when the alternative is waiting for the labor dispute to settle.

The workers in Los Angeles or Long Beach ports won, for now. They also have weakened the their employers and, at the same time, strengthened Ensenada. That’s just fine with them. The catastrophic end is not tomorrow. There is no need to worry.

Therefore, unions are workers of the present cheating the workers of the future. Those who favor unions should ask their offspring to work somewhere else.

Posted in Management Thoughts, Peek into my mind | Leave a comment

Farmers Market

Posted on December 10, 2012 by sinyaw

“What do you miss from California?” People asked when they learned that we lived there for decades. “Farmers Market!” has been the answer we never really said out loud. The inquirers rarely really wanted to know. It was only a conversation starter. The right answer was to talk about the wonderful things Seattle: coffee, beers, wines, seafood, water sceneries, etc. Then, this weekend, we discovered the Broadway Sunday Farmers Market: a mere 20 minutes’ walk away.

I knew there is the famed Pike Place Market and farmers do sell their products there. We wanted a true neighborhood market where you can have a conversation with those who actually grew, harvested, or made the stuff. We can get pristine cellophane supermarket goods anytime. What we want is that connection to the dirt and roots: worn jeans, rubber boots, earthworms crawling back, and Rollie-Pollies digging back in.

What do we missed from California? Its dirt.

Posted in Peek into my mind, Seattle, Tour guides | Tagged | Leave a comment

Asian Bakeries

Posted on December 5, 2012 by sinyaw

One of the joyful experience coming to Asia (Taiwan, Hong Kong, China) is the extravagant and huge variety of breads. American bakeries focus mostly on the crust and the texture inside of the bread. The fancy ones add aromatic or mild flavors such as Rosemary or Olive. Then there is the variety of grains or refinement methods. The key point is the the bread is done when the baker took it out of the oven. There is usually no filling in bread.

Asian breads have a very distinct layer on top: sometime baked in and sometime added on after the bread has been out of the oven. They also usually have some kind of filling. This practice makes Asia bread a step closer to desserts. They are usually consumed stand-alone, instead of being part of a meal.

This is a forehead slapping “of course” moment. The main staple of meals is plain steamed rice that is served in bowls. Dishes are picked up from the communal plates and placed onto the rice and eaten. Traditional breads do not go well in that process. Bakeries, instead, went for “substantial snack” route and thrived.

Skip hotel breakfast and stroll out to find a bakery nearby. Pick one and get your favorite breakfast drink too. Chances are you will be pleasantly delighted. Of course you can also find them in the US, you just need to venture into a neighborhood that looks like China.

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Chasing the Wind

Posted on December 1, 2012 by sinyaw

October 13th, 2012

Visualization did not work! My “thought rehearsals” omitted the repeated mutiny attempts by the wind and the boat. At the end, I prevailed.

Same boat, the Mercury, and I showed off my perfectly done bowline knot. Just about to hoist up the mainsail. “Stop!” Elena shouted from afar. “You needed to turn the boat around before you hoist up the mainsail.” Ah, right. The boat must points upwind (called “in the iron”) before hoisting up the the sails. Five minutes later, Elena pushed out the bow, and I was out — without colliding with any object.

The plan was simple: explore and understood every wind directions. Since I went out with broad reach from port side (wind blew from behind, from the left side), that’s how I would start. First was to find the transition between broad reach and running (wind directly behind). When the boat is running, the mainsail blocks the wind from the jib. So I steered the boat, slowly, until the jib went limp. Ha! Got it! The intention was to steer it back. But the momentum of the boat kept going and I did a “unplanned jibe.” The boom (horizontal bar at the bottom of the mainsail) swept across the deck with such authority! I ducked just in time to avoid being knocked off the boat. No matter, improvise! I practiced the same, only with broad reach from the starboard side now.

It started raining! Rain drops rolled off the Marmot jacket and disappeared into the jeans. Calmly, I put my cell phone and wallet into the jacket pockets and zip them up. Time to formulated a plan to go back.

Remember I went out with a broad reach? Going back would be against the wind. I would need to tack back and forth to move toward the destination. This, I guess, is what racing is all about — there is a trade-off between the total distance against the frequency of tacking. I decided to minimize tacks. So I crossed the lake, tacked port-side 90 degrees, another one starboard-side, and repeat with more precision to enter the dock. The plan worked beautifully. I approached the nice parking spot at the end of the pier. A gentle turn paralleled the boat. The jib was long ago let flapping. I let loose the main sheets and walked up with the stern line in hand, like a pro.

During all those turns, I was in need of an extra hand. The jib has two sheets (ropes are called sheets) on each side. When the boat turned, I needed to let go the one I am holding and grab the other one, always had been pulled to the stopper knot. After several turns, I learned to grab that one, cleat nicely within reach, then make the turn. As the boat turned, I would just pull. Such a simple trick! This is what experience is all about.

Just when I had tied the stern line, the wind came and blew the bow out to the water. I found myself staring at the butt of the boat, and not knowing how to reach the bow line. Elena appeared, out of thin air, next to me and shook her head, “You should have walked up with your bow line. There is nothing we could do now. You need to sail out and come back again.” I untied the bow line, walked up the boat, sailed out, circled back, docked again, this time walked up with the bow line. Like a pro, I might add.

I took down the jib, folded it up, and put it in the bag. Took down the mainsail, tied it on the boom, and put on its cover. Then I stood there, blank-minded, and let the adrenaline recede.

I was drenched, tired, thirsty, and content with myself. Oh, the rain stopped somewhere when I was still in the water.

Posted in Sailing, Seattle, Witness to my life | Tagged | Leave a comment