Author: Doris

Toilet.

Our toilet has been leaking.  For a few weeks now, it’s been getting stuck in the “open” position after flushing and then it keeps running until someone notices.  We’ve “fixed” it temporarily by leaving the ceramic tank lid off and then if you notice it stuck, you can just use your finger to nudge it down.  I’ve gone to Home Depot twice already to fix this toilet.  The first time, I was so excited and bought a dual flush apparatus to have low water use for pee and high water use for poop (I did this because I knew Jeremy would like it, and I wanted to transfer some of that affection of water savings to affection for me), but it didn’t fit the tank.  Then I went back and bought the standard repair kit.  Tonight, I really broke the toilet trying to fix it and I found out that the replacement part isn’t sold in Home Depot and wasn’t the one I bought – it’s sold online.  This toilet was part of American Standard’s “we can flush 18 golf-balls down the drain” line and had super fancy toilet innards. Now the toilet is out of commission pending the two-day Amazon prime delivery truck.

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Vince’s Halloween costume is something I do not understand.  It’s a “Doge meme”.  Whatever that is. I’m reminded everyday how old I really am.

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We spent some of the morning doing our duty for local politics.  It was a beautiful day, Jeremy and I are supporting Team Rockville.  A little rally –

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A few speeches –

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On to signage –

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Chinese University Tops MIT in Engineering Rankings

Rena, Doris and Donald: I guess you all have something to do with MIT personally.  Our revolutionary uncle (deceased) in Beijing is a graduate of Tsinghua Unviersity majoring in “Physics”.  But, later trasferred to major in “History” to believe that it would provide him with more perspectives to fight Japanese in WWII. I find this article in Wall Street Journal pretty interesting.

China’s prestigious Tsinghua University has bested the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to become the top school in the world for engineering research, according to a new U.S. News & World Report ranking, in a development that has renewed debate within China over the country’s educational system.

Tsinghua, which is often called “China’s MIT” and is renowned as one of the country’s top schools for studying sciences, came in first among 250 universities ranked by U.S. News in a report released this week, with Cambridge-based MIT ranking second.
Each school’s score is based on its number of publications and citations as well as its global and regional research reputation. U.S. News has released rankings of U.S. colleges for more than 30 years, but 2015 marks only the second year that it has scored universities across the globe.
In China, where school rankings are closely followed by the media and the public alike, some trumpeted Tsinghua’s victory as a sign that Chinese institutions of higher learning are gaining ground on their foreign counterparts, in a sign of Beijing’s growing global clout.
“Tsinghua’s progress is a microcosm of China’s rise,” one user wrote Thursday on China’s Weibo microblogs, while another exulted: “Not only Tsinghua alums but also all Chinese should be proud.”
Xu Haiyun, a Tsinghua graduate and chief engineer for the China Urban Construction Design and Research Institute, told the state-run China Daily newspaper that in recent years, China has “constructed the most tall buildings, bridges and railways in the world, and we educated the greatest number of engineering students, all of which requires advancement in engineering technology.”

Car Accident

The other day, some one hit my car from the back at nearby “STOP” sign.  I stopped and he stopped. I pulled out and stopped again to see whether there are cars coming from the other direction.  He hit me at the back.
After several days of reviewing by his policy holder GEICO, the accident is not covered.  And I don’t have collision insurance either because it is a 1996 Windstar.  Finally, his wife and I settled the claim ourselves.  They will pay me a total $400.00 with two payments.  One for the lights, they will FedEx me the check of $200.00 right away.  The other for the bumper, they will pay me on Friday, Oct 23rd. 
Since he is between jobs and his pay checks are unpredictable, I offered them to pay me just once by the end of this month with regular mail.  That will not affect me at all (because we are out-of-country for 3 weeks) but it may help them somewhat.  This way, it is good for both sides, I believe.
What am I going to do?  Next Spring, I will buy the light assembly online.  It costs about $40.00 and replace the damaged one myself.  With respect to the bumper, just leave it as it is.

Scientists from Ireland, Japan and China win Nobel medicine prize

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This was the first Nobel Prize given to a Chinese scientist for work carried out within China.
“This is indeed a glorious moment,”  said Li Chenjian,  a vice provost at prestigious Peking University,  “This also is an acknowledgement to the traditional Chinese medicine,  for the work began with herbal medicine.”
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The winners will share the 8 million Swedish kronor (about $960,000) prize money with one half going to Campbell and Omura,  and the other to Tu.  Each winner will also get a diploma and a gold medal at the annual award ceremony on Dec. 10, the anniversary of the death of prize founder Alfred Nobel.
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