國防部兩巨頭記者會／莊峻華

 國防部兩巨頭記者會／莊峻華

昨日俄羅斯一顆飛彈，打到波蘭境內炸死人，輿論譁然，輿論界提醒波蘭是北大西洋公約盟國，北約盟國受到攻擊，北約不能坐視，於是今晨國防部特別舉行兩巨頭記者會，而且實況轉播，我也等了一小時以上，我是鎖定華盛頓郵報網誌實況。

奧斯汀部長曰，比較相信波蘭國防部長之初判，飛彈是烏克蘭之攔截火箭殘骸，波及民宅，造成傷亡，現在仍在調查中，烏克蘭也同意合作，米利將軍的參謀作戰部軍官，也參加調查，記者仍舊追問不捨，兩國防部巨頭，都強調靜候調查報告，兩巨頭果然是拜登堅強內閣官員，一位是退役陸軍上將，一位是現役陸軍上將，均身經百戰，有豐富之政治經驗。

當然這是好機會來解釋分晰烏克蘭戰爭，奧斯汀和米利都認為俄羅斯已敗，但俄羅斯可以結束此自己選擇發動之戰爭，美國支持烏克蘭保護自己，烏克蘭決定何時與俄羅斯談和，俄羅斯仍舊佔領烏克蘭20％面積之領土，俄羅斯是大國，可以撐住甚久，奧斯汀一一感謝一些資助烏克蘭抗俄之國，他說全球有50國，參加幫助烏克蘭抗俄。

有中國記者牽入中國攻打台灣之問題，米利將軍比較詳細回答，我查一下他的背景，是普林斯頓出身預備軍官，可倫比亞碩士，軍團司令等，參加過阿富汗戰爭，奧斯汀是西點軍校出身，參加過伊拉克和阿富汗戰爭，退休後拜登請來幫忙，兩人均幫忙拜登結束阿富汗戰爭，俄羅斯普汀仍不知踢到美國鐵板。

米利曰，中國有野心成為世界軍事和經濟第一，2027年可以與美國挑戰，米利曰我們美國不允許如此發生，現在開始準備，準備備戰，2027離今僅5年，他認為中國尚未有實力攻打台灣，也許可以轟炸，但登陸佔領台灣山地不易，中國人民解放軍是一農民主體，自1979年後，即無近代戰爭經驗，攻打台灣不易，像俄烏戰爭，可以提供大家許多經驗和教訓。

奧斯汀強調與中國國防部魏部長保持電話聯絡，而且要擴大到軍團司令級，避免擦槍走火，這是對的，我相信近代已經沒有攻心為上，和不戰而能屈人之兵之道理，觀察拜登這老外交參議員總統，真能體會中國古代之合縱連橫，只是規模更加巨大而已。

Two money issues a day/Carlos Pueblo

 Two money issues a day/Carlos Pueblo

Even though money is no longer an issue to me after that I brag about how I can make something out of nothing, a Taoism; however, I am still very much concerned with it due to my humble background in my childhood. There are two money issues popping up today which are bothering me a bit. I receive a check from a flood company and is unable to deposit to my checking account and I receive a notice from the IRS to pay a penalty of my 2021 income tax return. The flood commission check is about $98 while the IRS penalty is about $500 and I am bothered.

It was cold and rain drizzling and I made a special trip to a local bank to make a deposit after my morning tennis. It is my habit to deposit the check as soon as possible to my checking account even though the bank never pay me any interest on checking account. I was not pleased when the young male clerk asked me for my identification before he found out my account number below my signature. He filled out a deposit slip and ran through both check and the slip to the machine. Then, he carefully inspected the check for several minutes and finally decided to reject my deposit. He informed me to call the issuer of the company, the flood company in Florida, to find out why the check was not ready for depositary or depository. I asked to speak to his manager at the bank. She agreed with him and told me the same thing. I was furious. I went back home before taking a shower and called the customer service to complain and I wanted to complain following to the chain of command to the top. A customer service manager told me that the chairman of the bank would not accept a phone call. She advised me to go to another branch to seek my luck. I did and was rejected again. A more friendly branch manager took a look and advised me to wait for a few days for the flood company to make it available for deposit. That is it.

In the late afternoon of the same today. I checked my mailbox and found the unwelcome IRS letter to find a penalty of $500 plus  to pay instead of an audit. I have already recovered my anxiety of the deposit issue in the morning and no more fighting spirit. I must pay whatever due to me from the IRS even though I am paying more now than ever before and I am not working at all for more than 20 years. Amy agrees to help me for $200 because her investment made a killing in 2021. 

錢的問題／莊峻華

 錢的問題／莊峻華

今天兩件錢的問題，令我十分不滿，雖言我能變錢，能無中生有，但是出身貧困家庭，對金錢甚是敏感，一件是一張水險傭金支票，一件是國稅局補稅通知。

水險公司寄一張$98支票給我，我存到大通銀行，銀行職員曰該支票不能存入我的帳戶，因為電腦不能接受，於是我誤會銀行職員找我麻煩，於是把經理找來，經理判斷一樣，要我找開支票之公司理論，於是我憤憤不平離去，回家後找到銀行客服電話中心投訴，第一線職員解釋，我也不滿意，因為還是要我打電話給保險公司，於是我又將經理調出來，經理也是愛末能助，但稍透露可以試試另家分行，我看支票上也是大通銀行支票，非常正式，保險公司不應開我玩笑才是，於是我查出保險公司電話，但電話無人接聽，於是我又開車出去，第二家大通分行，再存一次，職員仍曰不能，建議領取現金，我不用現金卡，所以我不相信，旁邊經理問我原因，然後解釋保險公司開出支票後，並未立即准許寄存，需要等些時間，我才豁然開朗，這是我首遇銀行奇怪案例，銀行先行擋住，避免又有手續費爭端，我一直以為美國是憑票即付。

下午信箱取來信，一封國稅局通知罰款，我的2021年申報，國稅局不同意，不足，罰款，和利息要補交$500多，我查一下記錄大體無誤，我申報一切都是根據商用軟體晶片，否則無法自己申報，最近十餘年無業賦閒在家，子女成年，愛美投資收入狂飆，稅務比年輕時增加甚多，美國政府支出多，我們德州無所得稅，房產稅老人有折扣，所以我也無能力計較，所幸愛美諒解，幫我負擔$200罰款，我實在不能說是有錢，僅足夠節約過日無債務耳。

Bump into friends at cruises/Carlos Pueblo

 Bump into friends at cruises/Carlos Pueblo

There were two cruises recently which I bumped into friends unexpectedly and one unusual event of a NATO naval drill at Halifax Bay in Nova Scotia, Canada. I must temporarily suspend my cruise journal to Livorno/Florence, Italy before the summer this year to describe this chance encounter. At the first disembark tender boat, I ran into Ivy Pan of Pittsburgh who was my old neighbor at Huwei, Taiwan. We have had so much fond memories back then, about our favorite school  teachers, our neighbors, and of course my kid sister Grace, etc. Her traveling companions including a daughter of a former distinguished senior high president who helped me to get an assignment to teach at senior high school chemistry when I returned home from the frontier army service in 1973.

I am so glad to see Rosie Hunte and Mac Nurse of the Fire and Ice Duo performing at the Breakaway. I have been their loyal fan since my first cruise in 2011 at the similar route. She sings 4 times for me her title song, Midnight train to Georgia of the great hit of Gladys Knight during my two back to back cruises. With the approval of the ship's general manager, I have invited each of them to my latitude dinners at the Cagney's Steak House.

On the second time stop at Newport, Rhode Island, I made an usual march to the old town area across the pier. I ran into an old frame house mansion of Anna Pell, the grandmother of the late Senator Pell. A young man named Chris who walked his neighbor's dog chatted with me about my admiration of the late Senator and his friendly effort to help Taiwan. Later in the week, he texted me that he took some pictures for me of the late senator's childhood residence. I explained to him why the late senator was so friendly to Taiwan because he was influenced by George Kerr, the author of the Formosa Betrayed.

I also ran into two of my long lost daughters, Abbigail and Leilani. I have adopted more than 400 beautiful daughters on ships and now I begin to adopt grand daughters due to my old age. 

I found a air plane carrier on the bay of Halifax, Nova Scotia on her NATO drill with another 14 cruisers among the U.S. German and Dutch navies. Last time, I did run into the QE II of the U.K. on her maiden voyage to the North America. Gerald R. Ford is closer to the Cruise ship this time.

郵輪旅行巧遇／莊峻華

 郵輪旅行巧遇／莊峻華

這次新英格蘭加拿大郵輪旅行，諸多巧遇，令我不得不暫時中斷敘述前半年旅行遊記，事先預告此巧遇，我是購買起跑號北美海岸旅行背靠背雙週行，首日就巧遇火冰雙重唱，很高興女主唱羅斯恢復健康，我是她的常年歌迷，於是當場邀請她和其夥伴晚餐，經過起跑號總經理批准，兩餐如期在凱格妮牛排餐廳舉行。首站羅德島州新港市接駁艇中，巧遇50年餘虎尾民主二路老鄰居，念華是我們家茜茜之老友，甚至有清晰之舊日回憶，其同行摯友中一位王小姐，是舊日虎尾女高石校長千金，石校長曾經裴大夫介紹，為我說項虎中李校長，聘用我為老師，有恩惠於我，非常親切。第二週重返新港市，遊覽三百年老市區，發現裴爾參議員祖母故居，和一位溜狗青年克里斯聊天，他對我之崇拜裴爾有興趣，裴爾參議員對台灣甚為關切，有恩於台灣，後來幾日，克里斯幫我找到裴爾童年故居住址和舊宅，幫我解決多年宿願。船上巧遇幾位失聯愛女，一位是黎明號之愛比歌爾，兩位是賭場之蕾蘭妮和茉西，都重新合照留念。

我像是一孤獨老人，離群索居日久，鍛鍊儒家慎獨功夫，郵輪旅行帶來多少興奮，多少樂趣。這次旅行尾站，加拿大新蘇格蘭省哈里費克斯港，巧遇北大西洋公約國海軍演習，包括美軍1.31兆新航母福特號，和14艘導彈重巡洋艦，德國和荷蘭各兩艘，新穎壯觀英姿，靠岸於海灣步徑尾端。

我在緬因州棒港逛海灣，近愛克迪亞國家公園，第一日遭陰雨襲擊，但巧遇大理花開，甚是艷麗，翌次到訪天晴，大理花一週缺雨潤澤，花朵萎縮，而且是嚴冬到臨，郵輪旅行季節結束，許多大街店面均冬眠去也，前週忘記介紹一株路中之老蘋果樹，樹梢有些蘋果卻高不可攀。

My car battery was dead when I came back home from the cruise/Carlos Pueblo

 My car battery was dead when I came back home from the cruise/Carlos Pueblo

My car battery was dead when I came back from the cruise. Am I surprised? No. I damaged the passenger side door one day when I attempted to avoid an exit car from the tennis court at a peaking hour of the morning school kids delivery. I ran into a low wall and scraped heavily on the passengers side doors and since then the side door light was on all the time. I kept on driving for a month before I left for a half moth long cruises. The old car was parked on the street of my house and of course the battery leaked the juice and went dead when I returned. First, I like to see if I can jump the dead car with Arthur's vehicle.

I got both vehicles lined up face to face and hoods were open. I properly connected the red and black cables on both batteries. I asked him to add some gas to pump up some electrical current power to my car I guessed. It didn't work and I let him go back to the house. I continued to add some more gas on his vehicle to charge some more time and finally it worked. Then, I had to make a decision to do next. I drove to my auto garage McDaniel to seek a help. I explained my problem to the manager and he listened carefully and got a menchanic to come out to take a look. The mechanic rolled down the window and opened and closed the passenger's door. He went back inside and took a hammer out. I didn't mid if he hammered out the door light. Actually, he knocked down two or three times to the door buckle and closed the door. Amazingly, the light was disappeared and the door was properly closed and I didn't see the door not closed light on the panel. I thanked them for helping me to solve the issue and they didn't charge me anything.

I had had an identical experience in 2013 when I ran into the side bricks under the breakfast room window outside of house on the driveway. It was a new vehicle and costed me about $8,000 for the dealer to fix it. My old Q45 is about $1,000 value or less. It will be very inconvenient if I don't have it in my old life to drive to the tennis court every morning. I can also use the vehicle as Arthur's alternative to his old Camry to work. We can live more peacefully with both vehicles in working condition and that is why I am released.

Nissan make vehicles very reliable especially its luxury Infinite vehicles such as the Q45. I have had  it for 25 years. I believe that Japan cars makers can produce very good quality of army tanks if case of the war.

舊車熄火／莊峻華

 舊車熄火／莊峻華

北美東北岸郵輪旅行回家，發現舊車果然熄火，正想如何處理？元兒需要開車上班，只好等待其翌日週休，先開其車打網球，然後投票，再處理熄火舊車，我先借其車起動熄火電池，果然不久帶動，我讓我舊車發動些時，然後開到修車行，請求幫忙解決信號燈不關閉之問題。

約是兩個月前，我在網球場入口，因圖避免與出球場車輛碰撞，結果舊車滑撞球場矮磚牆，乘客門從中間滑上一凹，拖到第二門，很是難看，但舊車仍舊可駕駛每日，只是門底有一燈，關門後無法熄滅，而且駕駛盤指示燈，一直顯示門未關妥，我也弄不清楚如何處理，我也不想花錢整理，出門旅行半個月，是想到請愛美每日發動舊車，但又忘記交待，當然舊車必然熄火。

如果車行老闆不樂意幫忙，我只好開車去握爾瑪大店換新電池，然後下個月再外出旅行時，將電池接頭鬆卸，斷絕漏電，雖是麻煩，但也可行。老闆不在，我解釋給前櫃經理，他同我外出觀看，舊車仍在開動中，他開關前座雙門，然後請出一位年輕伙計，技師看過損壞部門，打開窗，這窗突然可以上下移動，然後他回車場帶出一鋃頭傢伙，我說敲掉燈也無妨，結果他是敲一重下門上固定之鐵扣，讓該前門可以緊扣關閉，然後語我燈已關閉。

日產豪華車像坦克一樣堅固耐用，我亦僅開車打網球爾，別無其他用途，此車也可讓元兒備用，開舊車可以節約省錢，何況年邁不宜駕駛，白日抑或夜晚。