Tuesday, August 31, 2021

生活在樂園中/莊峻華

 生活在樂園中/莊峻華

生活在樂園中,是人生之夢想,屈指算來,我也開始算饅頭了,我們在台灣服兵役術語,哪一天可已退伍返鄉?恢復平民生活,當兵盡義務是痛苦的,人生也是多苦,因此需要苦中緊握機會,享受人間樂園生活,當然,樂園生活,完全自己定義,自己準備。

每天,我很早睡覺,因為糖尿病痼疾,中途需要醒來如廁,順便看台灣來大學群組連線,四點後,開始我的早餐準備,現在我吃美國人熱餅,就是雞蛋生奶和熱餅速粉混合攪拌後,在熱鍋上煎,約三十分鐘,完成兩份,一份給元兒,也多謝他捧場,我立即食用,夏天西瓜季節,我佐以西瓜潤咽喉吞餅,西瓜是我一生最愛水果,現在我已經可以挑選好西瓜,當然超市先選一次。愛美要我陪她晨步三十分鐘,然後我就驅車到鄰村網球場。

兩年來,我親自組織一老人球局,先是兩小組,每天打網球,我們有八位知己,先是在我社區,後來有時到鄰村使用其三球場,漸漸與其球組合併,週末我們可達十二人,我們從七點半打到十點半,當然,有些人提早離去,我因無事,經常最後離開,休市夏日炙熱,但清晨,樹蔭,和微風有助。球技,個性,和年紀不同,所以我漸漸可以安排夥伴對抗,避免無聊,我們主要是要有經常運動,網球可以幫助老人平衡,避免跌倒。

一週我游泳六日,我們社區有一美倫美奐之游泳池,社區非常引以為傲,但使用者非常有限,就好像我私家泳池,一個半奧林匹克泳池大小,週一關閉維護,我也是小時候習得泳技,老年後派上用場。週一不游泳,我就割草,割草也割八年矣,而且技術越來越好。

早晨運動後,我需要有一晚晨睡,約是一個半小時,因為眼神不支,非睡不可,琳兒贈我一三星手機,我可以聽音樂,我聽里查特.克萊德曼之鋼琴,一節下來約是一小時半。然後就是自由自在的時間,我看中國農村生活,中國蒲田烹飪,中國河北秦皇島趕集豬肉攤生意等,現在較少政治節目,我已經不看電視二十年。晚上若看到有趣電影,偶而稍晚入睡,但都在八點半前。清晨興來,我寫部落格,交待全球讀者,我也做家事,例如製作我的素食晚餐。

武漢肺炎讓我中斷郵輪旅行,卻也省下許多旅費。


Saturday, August 28, 2021

A week visit of Costa Rica/Carlos Pueblo

 A week visit of Costa Rica/Carlos Pueblo

On August 9, 2021, all our family have visited a resort village of Costa Rica on the Pacific side.

We went through both new Corona Virus requirements to exit and re-enter the country. We must provide our vaccine shots to be verified in order to get a bar code; we also required to take a test to be negative in order to get a permission to re-enter to the U.S. There are still man people travelling.

We were taken by a shuttle van for about 10 passengers to get out of San Jose Airport in a direction which I didn't know. I thought that San Jose was on the Atlantic side and we were visiting on the Atlantic side. Now I check the address and map and I find that I am still visiting the Pacific side. San Antonio or the Manuel Antonio is on the south west part of the Capital San Jose about 179 miles away. Last time I visited the Pacific side of this nation, I was on a cruise sailing across the Panama Canal and I was very comfortable. This time is totally different and I vomited and so did Amy. It was a ride of more than 4 hours from the airport.

Our stay at the Jungle Vista Inn is very comfortable that I have forgiven Michelle who arranges the drill. The lovely inn is build on a side of hill six story high. We are on the top by a tropical jungle with huge bamboo grove and  tall trees. Reception is on the fifth floor while the street level is on the fourth level, the restaurant is on the four while we must enter the swimming pool and walk up to it. Two small pools like the back yard size pool on the 3rd and 4th floor all facing the adjacent jungle. There is a sloths hanging on the  top of a tall tree out side of our balcony with a skin color similar to the trunk. This slow moving animal rarely moves out of his holding  of the branch. 

There are at least three kinds of monkeys in the jungle, the white face monkey called Caribloanco, the smaller golden monkeys called Titi, and the Congo negro who make very loud noise early in the morning. Cariblancos come to visit us every morning a little bit after seven o'clock while we have our breakfast. First, they were away a bit at the pool area, then closer to the roof an hanging down near our table, one the third morning even come to our table for me to take photos. They are very friendly. Titi is a surprised encountering. One day we walked to the village for some grocery shopping, there were a group of 40 of them walking on lines above the street to cross the street to the other side. One raining afternoon, I found two of them jumping around our backyard jungle. When I was a school boy, we recited a famous piece of literature about a golden monkey mother that I still remember the first two sentences.

I keep good correspondence with my old college classmates line group. I went to check on a request of the Mahogany furniture. I couldn't find the famous tree yet I did have some photos at a gift shop on the next door famous Hotel La Marisposas, a beautiful garden inside well maintained.

I run out of space to describe some more interesting things on this trip. For a reason or two, we went to the village to have a nice Thai dinner. The restaurant's name is Samui and suddenly there are two other Japanese words come up to me, wabishi and sabishii. I asked my classmate Roger to identify these three words. He gave me 寒い,侘びし,寂しい,these three words are in my mind from my childhood; however, most of the times I am confused.


Friday, August 27, 2021

哥斯達黎加行/莊峻華

 哥斯達黎加行/莊峻華

八月初旬,我們家在中美洲哥斯達黎加國,有團聚旅行,難得有機會旅行國外,尤其在此風聲鶴唳之武漢肺炎肆虐下。我們是在休市搭機三小時半,抵達哥國首都聖荷西機場,然後再搭專車,西南下到太平洋沿岸之聖安東尼鎮,住了一週。行前,我們依照哥國入境規定,展示接種武肺疫苗證據,取得入境許可條碼,以便取得機票,和入境過關;返美前三日,需有武肺未感染檢察證條碼,始能入境美國,很是麻煩。

旅行箱車,公路上奔波,非常辛苦,因為是雙線公路,沒有速率限制,各色車輛,包括自行車,共用小公路,司機又想招攬餐廳生意,結果我在第三小時就吐,幸好愛美和同行乘客,遞上塑膠袋,半小時後,愛美也吐,還好有塑膠袋,當天也未多食,但甚狼狽。

一夜休息後,翌晨已恢復元氣,我們陸續參加幾項活動,在曼諾維爾安東尼海灘,這是一美麗沙灘,叢林直接接上太平洋。我們住的旅店在六樓,前三樓在叢林深谷,四樓是路面,三樓是餐廳,旅店有二大棟六樓房間,但僅有兩家旅客,我們三人,和一英國猶太家族七,八人,因為我看到男性戴黑色瓜皮帽。我們六樓陽台外,一高株棲有一樹賴動物,非常緩慢,有保護色,最近於中南美食蟻獸,刮風下雨均不退。

我們房間外就是叢林,主要士巨大竹林,有三種猿猴,曰白面猴,金絲猴,和黑岡果猿,白面猴每天和我們在餐廳見面,第三日後,更加親近,直接跑到座旁,讓我拍照,約有一打左右,白面墨身。第二類是金絲猴,約有四十餘,一日我們步行上坡到村落,剛好遇上這一群金絲猴過馬路,穿過電纜,武陵產猿,猿毛若金絲之謂也,非常可愛,另一下午下雨,一兩隻也來訪竹林。岡果黑猿,嚎叫聲大,當地人稱之為大叫聲者,很有趣,元兒曰此猿食小彌猴。

一日我們想食泰國料理,到村頭一泰國餐廳曰寒い,點了一炒飯和酸辣魚湯,非常可口,但客人稀落,隔壁也是寒い餐廳,顯然是同一泰國女老闆,但無一人生意,很慘。我回旅店,似有天涯海角之感覺,心中想起兩個日本單字,侘びし,寂しい,於是我在群組線上,請教在台灣的瑞耀兄,回家後,我決心努力日文。

我們旅店上坡,就是蝴蝶大飯店,有一座美麗花園,每日我們都去逛花園,俯瞰叢林海灘,金鳳姊詢問哥國著名桃花心木傢俱,我到蝴蝶大飯店,詢問多人不果,僅在禮品店,拍攝到一些桃花心木碗,十分高貴漂亮,我也有興趣傢俱。

哥國人和藹可親,勤奮敬業。

Amy's flat tire/Carlos Pueblo

 Amy's flat tire/Carlos Pueblo

Amy ran over her car and got a nail on the left rear tire the other day. Dealing with the car issues is my specialty and I was interrupted with my routine nap. I got her wrecker's service card and talked to a computer robot. It asked me several basic questions such as what kind of service? What kind of the vehicle? Verifying my phone numbers and assigning me a mechanic near by my house. I changed my going outside cloths and ready to be out in a hot summer day. The mechanic came in one hour early as the the time scheduled.  He found the nail with a big bottom on the tire and ready to get it out. I started thinking what to do next after he changed the spare tire. Should I go to McDaniel to repair the flat? or Should I go to Costco to get a new tire? Michelin tire is on sale.

He explained to me that he could repair the flat right on the spot with $15 fee. I agreed to him and he started to work. What he does is that he purchases parts and equipment from Walmart. I appreciate his business idea and have my compliment to it. He took off the tire and got the screw nail out of it. He used a drill to make the hole about the same size of a hard robber rod which he was going to insert to the hole. He applied some glue to the new hole. I have seen this procedure for many times during my many years with vehicles. He cut off two robber rod ends extended out of the surface, cut them and smoothed them with a small sharp knife and burned them with a small gas lighter for cigarettes then more glue to seal it off. I went inside to get my $20 bill which I prepared for the  trip to Costa Rica. Once Amy heard about it, she said no change needed and I agreed to her.

He had saved me an entire afternoon and money as well. If I go to a garage to repair the tire, I don't think that I can get out of it with $20. If I go to replace that tire with that discount, I would pay more and may have to replace a pair of tires as the mechanic always claims that is better for the balance.

Thursday, August 26, 2021

愛美車胎漏氣/莊峻華

 愛美車胎漏氣/莊峻華

昨日愛美車胎漏氣,我真倒霉,又亂了分寸,一日休閑,電話連絡美國汽車協會拖車服務,和電腦報案幾分鐘,大概是問我需要何種服務?我說是車胎漏氣,甚麼車型顏色?我說18年豐田,電腦早有記錄車型號碼,然後電腦又再肯定我的電話號碼,是愛美之會員卡,幾次都是我打電話,所以我的手機是主要號碼,電腦指定一家拖車老店,管轄我們社區,比電腦約定時間早到一小時,我連忙穿上外出服,開始想是要如何處理此車?我知道愛美會付所需費用,但我還需幫忙,因為我較有修車經驗。

這拖車青年,驗明愛美正身後,問我何事漏風?我說愛美開車壓到釘子,果然是一螺絲釘,開始拿出工具曰,可以幫我補胎,他有技術和私有設備零件,要價十五美元,這是補胎費用,要比我開備胎到車行,補胎便宜五元,我很快就有結論,讓他做是比較方便,又便宜,我很會算,就是再漏風一些,我們也可以開漏氣車,到車行換胎,我知道補胎不是高科技,他敢說一定會。

小夥子一面卸車胎,一面和我聊天曰,其女友也開此行座車,他正準備換他的此型舊車05年,換豐田四輪帶動小卡車,我正說完該車在聖安東尼製造,豐田車好但股票也不漲,我買本田股票30年,都不漲價云云,他就卸下輪胎,取出大螺絲釘,他熟練取出螺絲起,在車胎傷口插入螺絲起,稍微磨平洞穴,然後取出另外一起子,夾帶一約洞大小橡膠束,旋入輪胎破洞中,我看過這種美國補胎技術四十多年矣,他用小剪刀,剪平橡膠束漏出部分,然後再塗少許強力膠,補前也塗一層強力膠,特別補述。然後用小打火機火焰,封死凸出橡膠束,於是大功告成,我回室內拿現金付帳,沒有零錢,愛美買輝瑞一百股,賺一千,最近很大方付小費,我也補上第二小時午睡。

Wednesday, August 25, 2021

Treat all beings as straw dogs/Carlos Pueblo

 Treat all beings as straw dogs/Carlos Pueblo

During our discussions on the matter of Tai-Chi Mon tax evasion sorry case on the line group, a devoted disciple of the Master Hong and a beloved old classmate has post a sentence from the Taoism, Tao Te Ching. It is said that the heaven and earth are showing no benevolence and treat all beings as straw dogs. He complains with the treatment of his master with 100 million dollars is like treating constituents as domestic animals which on his previous post with a quote on an article written by a Mr. Su, a fellow follower of Master Hong. I am then getting involved more than my outsider status and now I am in the field to play.

I am going to quote the entire chapter 5 of the Taoism book according to Wayne L. Wang, Ph.D. of Ilan, Taiwan from his book the Dynamic Tao, Helena Island Publisher. Heaven and earth showing no benevolence treat all beings as straw-dogs. The Sage showing no benevolence treat all people as straw -dogs. Space between heaven and earth behaves like a bellows! It is empty but is never exhausted. It is dynamic and keeps yielding more. Wanting to know more leads to wit's end. One rather ponders in the center.

I am going to simplify the complicated thought of Lao Tze by concentrating the first two sentences. Who are responsible for treating all beings and people like straw-dogs? The heaven and earth is the first while the Sage is the second, right? What is the heaven and earth? It is the God by Baruch Spinoza, a Dutch philosopher that I admires him very much. The sum of the natural and physical laws of the universe and not an individual of the universe and not an individual entity or creator; therefore , God is just the sum of all the substances of the universe. God is the only substance in the universe, and everything is a part of God. Please use God to describe the heaven and earth in Taoism chapter 5, the hurricane, flood, earth quake, windstorm, hail, tornado, etc. are all acts of God as English description of the natural hazard or the punishment of the guilty or unfaithful  on the Bible.

The Sage can be changed to the Chinese rulers in Chinese history and that is Chinese culture and political system. Chinese adore a strong leader to conquer everything and makes their China great to expel all foreigners' ambition to rule China; therefore, they don't know that they are slaves of the Communist, they are not aware of the status of the domestic animals, and of course, they don't know what the Straw-dogs are. Instead of killing animals to sacrifice to Rulers, like paying income tax for instance. The Sage will allow people to burn the straw dog instead to kill a real dog. That is what it means on the book.

以萬物為芻狗/莊峻華

 以萬物為芻狗/莊峻華

最近,我們大學群組線上,討論到太極門稅案,同學受害者,連續舉兩例,一為民為政府家家畜說,我同意這是中國歷史,和中華民族之不幸處境;幾日前,這位同學再度申訴太極門稅務怨案,以道德經守中章第五,天地不仁,以萬物為芻狗。這是一很可自由發揮的老子哲學,我深深了解太極門的影射,太極門是政府之家禽家畜,太極門是政府之芻狗,我的了解如此,而且我一生亦有此認識,非常相信孔子的,亂邦不入,危邦不居之道理。

因此,我苦口婆心之忠告,主張與中國統一者,要認同台灣,無論你是那一代之台灣移民,要認同台灣是你的國家,你的母國,祖先之國,台灣自李登輝選上中華民國總統起,無一政治異議人士入獄,獄中無政治犯,現代之民進黨政府,更加尊重人權,私有財產,生存等權,在中文領域諸國中,最為先進者,我無法渴望近代中國難民後代,同意我的看法,此看法合乎世界潮流,已經是普世價值,台灣應以為傲。

我看不出太極門怨案,有圓滿落幕解局,我知道太極門很多損失,錢都可以賺回來,只要生命尚在,這就是有也是無,無也是有的道理,無中生有的大道理。

推翻北京中國,現在已經有影,台灣早就顛覆國民黨中國政權,台灣人民早已非民進黨中華民國之家禽家畜,也不是芻狗,芻狗是紙作之狗型祭祀用,台灣拜拜殺家禽家畜,烹煮後,祭天地後分食家人,天地是神,後一句是,聖人不仁,以百姓為芻狗,現在的北京中國,仍舊如此。