Thursday, January 29, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Chinese New Year Office Cleaning (MP3 at www.teacherbill.com)
Okay, I’m here with our pre-Chinese New Year cleaning, and this is a tradition here in Chinese culture, to clean before the new year, once a year. We actually have a cleaning contest to see which floor can do the best job cleaning.
I really think it’s kind of a neat thing to have, an organizational cleaning in the office. Because what happens is, usually in America, there’s no such organized cleaning, and then things just pile up, and they just, they start to look unprofessional, and it looks real sloppy around an office.
So, but uh, this is good not only for the organization, but also personally, because we accumulate things that we don’t need. Think about your desk—you’ve got stuff there for two, three, four years that you’ve never even looked at—you don’t even need. It’s time to get rid of them.
Go through your stuff now, and look at it. If there’s anything you haven’t even used in six months, you might want to think about throwing it out.
And, uh—I’ll tell you about accumulating things. Alex, you can show them some of the cleaning here, and see all the work that’s being done—right.
So, anyways I want to show you something. There’s an office in Scott Township where my father used to work. What they do—they don’t throw anything out—they actually have started to put garbage bags over chairs. (Come on Mabel.) And they actually use the garbage bags as, like a filing system. And their whole—they’ve got this big room full of these garbage bags. Of course, the tables are all piled up with things. And, uh, it’s really embarrassing; one, it’s embarrassing, it doesn’t look professional; two, I don’t know how they find anything, in this atmosphere.
So, don’t let your office get to this point. Have an organized cleaning once a year. We do it here in Asia, so do it back there in America.
Goodbye!
Key Words
Organizational-n-relating to the entire organization, involving everyone.
Pile up-v-to become more and more, not organized, unmaneagable.
Sloppy-adj-messy, not organized, untidy.
Accumulate-v-to gather things, collect many items.
Get rid of-v.phr-to discard, throw away.
Filing system-n-a way of keeping things in order.
Embarrassing-adj-shame, feeling of not being very good.
Atmosphere-n-the surroundings of a place, the environment.
I really think it’s kind of a neat thing to have, an organizational cleaning in the office. Because what happens is, usually in America, there’s no such organized cleaning, and then things just pile up, and they just, they start to look unprofessional, and it looks real sloppy around an office.
So, but uh, this is good not only for the organization, but also personally, because we accumulate things that we don’t need. Think about your desk—you’ve got stuff there for two, three, four years that you’ve never even looked at—you don’t even need. It’s time to get rid of them.
Go through your stuff now, and look at it. If there’s anything you haven’t even used in six months, you might want to think about throwing it out.
And, uh—I’ll tell you about accumulating things. Alex, you can show them some of the cleaning here, and see all the work that’s being done—right.
So, anyways I want to show you something. There’s an office in Scott Township where my father used to work. What they do—they don’t throw anything out—they actually have started to put garbage bags over chairs. (Come on Mabel.) And they actually use the garbage bags as, like a filing system. And their whole—they’ve got this big room full of these garbage bags. Of course, the tables are all piled up with things. And, uh, it’s really embarrassing; one, it’s embarrassing, it doesn’t look professional; two, I don’t know how they find anything, in this atmosphere.
So, don’t let your office get to this point. Have an organized cleaning once a year. We do it here in Asia, so do it back there in America.
Goodbye!
Key Words
Organizational-n-relating to the entire organization, involving everyone.
Pile up-v-to become more and more, not organized, unmaneagable.
Sloppy-adj-messy, not organized, untidy.
Accumulate-v-to gather things, collect many items.
Get rid of-v.phr-to discard, throw away.
Filing system-n-a way of keeping things in order.
Embarrassing-adj-shame, feeling of not being very good.
Atmosphere-n-the surroundings of a place, the environment.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Interview with Lenovo's CEO, Bill Amelio
If you would like the MP3 and text file of my interview with Lenovo CEO Bill Amelio, send me an email at billfnl@hotmail.com , and I'll email it to you. Thanks!
Friday, November 7, 2008
Don't kill yourself--why I don't miss Penn State
Okay, here I am at Penn State University, my alma mater. This is where I went to college, or university. And in fact, this is where I lived. I moved in here 29 years ago, 1979, in Ewing Hall. I lived in this dormitory for three years, up on the second floor.
This whole deal about coming here, and being at my old dormitory from 29 years ago, is actually very weird. I don’t have, uh, very strong feelings about this place, about Penn State, or my old dormitory—because I actually have, uh, good memories, and I have bad memories.
And so what does that mean? Um, well first of all, let me tell you why I’m here. I’m here because I’m helping my brother bring my nephew back home. He is a student here at Penn State University. So, I came up for a visit—I’m all the way from Taipei—I’m in State College, Pennsylvania, here in the beginning of May.
But I wanted to mention to you the significance of not putting too much importance on whatever happens at your university. Because even though I had some really difficult times here, it doesn’t mean anything now. I had some really good times here—doesn’t mean anything now.
So, apply that to your day today. If things go really poorly, if things don’t go your way, if you lose a relationship, somebody tells you they don’t love you anymore, you lose a job—don’t go out and kill yourself because of it. You’ll survive.
I actually fell in love with a girl in this next dormitory over here—the girl’s dormitory, Cross Hall—and she broke up with me after six months; I was depressed for three years. I survived—I’m very happy today.
So, whatever happens in you university experience, or even in your job today, don’t make much of it. Okay.
In a short period of time, you’ll survive, you’ll make it past, don’t do anything stupid. Okay. So, I actually can’t wait to leave this place. I—I don’t even want to be here.
Key Words
Alma mater—n, the college or university you attended, graduated from.
Dormitory—n, building that students live in.
Significance—n, meaning or value of something.
Broke up—v.ph, to end a relationship with someone.
Depressed—adj, sad, gloomy, dejected.
This whole deal about coming here, and being at my old dormitory from 29 years ago, is actually very weird. I don’t have, uh, very strong feelings about this place, about Penn State, or my old dormitory—because I actually have, uh, good memories, and I have bad memories.
And so what does that mean? Um, well first of all, let me tell you why I’m here. I’m here because I’m helping my brother bring my nephew back home. He is a student here at Penn State University. So, I came up for a visit—I’m all the way from Taipei—I’m in State College, Pennsylvania, here in the beginning of May.
But I wanted to mention to you the significance of not putting too much importance on whatever happens at your university. Because even though I had some really difficult times here, it doesn’t mean anything now. I had some really good times here—doesn’t mean anything now.
So, apply that to your day today. If things go really poorly, if things don’t go your way, if you lose a relationship, somebody tells you they don’t love you anymore, you lose a job—don’t go out and kill yourself because of it. You’ll survive.
I actually fell in love with a girl in this next dormitory over here—the girl’s dormitory, Cross Hall—and she broke up with me after six months; I was depressed for three years. I survived—I’m very happy today.
So, whatever happens in you university experience, or even in your job today, don’t make much of it. Okay.
In a short period of time, you’ll survive, you’ll make it past, don’t do anything stupid. Okay. So, I actually can’t wait to leave this place. I—I don’t even want to be here.
Key Words
Alma mater—n, the college or university you attended, graduated from.
Dormitory—n, building that students live in.
Significance—n, meaning or value of something.
Broke up—v.ph, to end a relationship with someone.
Depressed—adj, sad, gloomy, dejected.
Friday, October 17, 2008
"Don't Be So Cheap!" (Tips on Tipping)
Okay, we’re here a TGIFriday’s in Taipei. Free beer tomorrow.
This is William—Hi—“Hi, nie hao”. Say Merry Christmas—“Merry Christmas, Sheng dan jei kwai la”.
Okay, William’s going to help us out here with our video, and, uh, I’ve got my friend Christopher from Boston here. Say something—“As-alam-a-lakem”.
Oh, I don’t know what that means, but he says a lot of stuff that I don’t understand. Anyway, I want to make a point to all of our listeners today—is that, um, if you get good service in a restaurant, make sure you leave a good tip for your waiter or waitress.
There’s a problem here in Asia—restaurants serve—charge ten percent “service charge”—but they keep it! They never pass it on to the waiters and waitresses. So be generous, don’t be so cheap—don’t be so cheap! Remember that.
Think about all the money you waste on shoes and clothes and cars and everything—but we never treat our fellow human beings generously. So give a nice tip to your waiters and waitresses—they’ll treat you better the next time you come in, and you’ll feel better.
Christopher always leaves a nice tip when we come in, and, uh, he does it because it’s the right thing to do—it’s the right thing to do. So, don’t be so cheap—remember that!
Are you going to eat all that? “Yeah, I have to, I just got married.”
Key Words
Generous-adj-giving more than is expected. We can be generous with our money, time or attention.
Cheap-adj-cheap usually means that something has a low price. But when describing a person who is “cheap”, we mean that they are not generous, they are not willing to part with their cash, to the degree of this being a negative personality trait.
This is William—Hi—“Hi, nie hao”. Say Merry Christmas—“Merry Christmas, Sheng dan jei kwai la”.
Okay, William’s going to help us out here with our video, and, uh, I’ve got my friend Christopher from Boston here. Say something—“As-alam-a-lakem”.
Oh, I don’t know what that means, but he says a lot of stuff that I don’t understand. Anyway, I want to make a point to all of our listeners today—is that, um, if you get good service in a restaurant, make sure you leave a good tip for your waiter or waitress.
There’s a problem here in Asia—restaurants serve—charge ten percent “service charge”—but they keep it! They never pass it on to the waiters and waitresses. So be generous, don’t be so cheap—don’t be so cheap! Remember that.
Think about all the money you waste on shoes and clothes and cars and everything—but we never treat our fellow human beings generously. So give a nice tip to your waiters and waitresses—they’ll treat you better the next time you come in, and you’ll feel better.
Christopher always leaves a nice tip when we come in, and, uh, he does it because it’s the right thing to do—it’s the right thing to do. So, don’t be so cheap—remember that!
Are you going to eat all that? “Yeah, I have to, I just got married.”
Key Words
Generous-adj-giving more than is expected. We can be generous with our money, time or attention.
Cheap-adj-cheap usually means that something has a low price. But when describing a person who is “cheap”, we mean that they are not generous, they are not willing to part with their cash, to the degree of this being a negative personality trait.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Pittsburgh Submarine and Incline
Well, here we are in my hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There’s downtown, there’s the football stadium, the beautiful three rivers, there’s even the Incline over there—which are these little cars that, uh, go up the side of the mountain. Actually, Pittsburgh has two of them—we’re gonna take a look at that a little bit later on. It’s one of their unique ways of traveling.
But Pittsburgh, like any great city, uh, they’ve got all these great things, and plenty of birds, and that—but what else would a city be without a submarine! The U.S.S. Requin, a retired submarine, is here on display, and we’re gonna go inside and take a look.
This is kind of interesting—we’re in the torpedo room. Those are the tubes where they shoot the torpedoes out. And, get this—here is a torpedo right here. There’s the tail fin of the torpedo, and there is the, uh, warhead up front. Now, how would you like this?—this is a bunk! Guys used to sleep on top of the torpedo. How would you like to sleep on top of this torpedo? Hmmm.
Well, here is the, uh, dining area. It’s a little cramped. And you can see they would, uh, sit here in this tiny dining area, and cook, and here are also some quarters for guys to sleep in. There’s three bunks in there, and they would sleep for four hours at a time. Uh, they would be working for four hours and, uh, they would be off for eight hours.
Alright, we’re gonna come here into the control room, and check everything out. And we saw the engines in the back here, so as far as their speed and their depth in the water.
This is the forward engine room, and, um, the engines—that’s my dad standing right there—and these engines were so loud, these guys worked in here all the time. One of the problems is they did not use ear plugs, and so, uh, because of the constant droning of the engines, most of the guys in here ended up with serious hearing loss and actually going deaf.
And as you can see, it’s not a very big space, and they had 81 guys on this.
Okay, so that’s our trip here, our visit to the U.S.S. Requin. The submarine was brought here to Pittsburgh in 1990, and you can come here or go on board and take a tour. It’s part of the Carnegie Science Center. So, very interesting to walk on a submarine. It was brought up the Mississippi River, all the way up here, then the Ohio River here in Pittsburgh.
So, now we’re gonna go over there and take a look at the Incline.
Okay, we’re here at the top of Mt. Washington, at the Duquesne Incline. Let’s go inside and take a look at this very unique attraction.
This is one of the, uh, cars, the cute red cars that are used on the Incline, to go up and down the hill. And that’s the track right there that goes down the hill. There’s the river, and then there’s the downtown area.
Well, the bell rang, so it should be coming out very soon on its journey down to the, uh, river down there—Ohio River.
I used to ride this, uh, to work. I would go down to the bottom, and catch a bus—and then ride it over to downtown Pittsburgh—go across that bridge. I use to take the Incline in the mornings. That was a long time ago, when I was much younger, and life was much simpler.
Now, this is pretty cool! This is the gear that’s pulling and releasing the cable on the Incline. And this is at the top of the hill, so, uh, the one moving clockwise is pulling the car up the hill.
And here it is, pulling into place—and we’ve got a handful of passengers on board.
But Pittsburgh, like any great city, uh, they’ve got all these great things, and plenty of birds, and that—but what else would a city be without a submarine! The U.S.S. Requin, a retired submarine, is here on display, and we’re gonna go inside and take a look.
This is kind of interesting—we’re in the torpedo room. Those are the tubes where they shoot the torpedoes out. And, get this—here is a torpedo right here. There’s the tail fin of the torpedo, and there is the, uh, warhead up front. Now, how would you like this?—this is a bunk! Guys used to sleep on top of the torpedo. How would you like to sleep on top of this torpedo? Hmmm.
Well, here is the, uh, dining area. It’s a little cramped. And you can see they would, uh, sit here in this tiny dining area, and cook, and here are also some quarters for guys to sleep in. There’s three bunks in there, and they would sleep for four hours at a time. Uh, they would be working for four hours and, uh, they would be off for eight hours.
Alright, we’re gonna come here into the control room, and check everything out. And we saw the engines in the back here, so as far as their speed and their depth in the water.
This is the forward engine room, and, um, the engines—that’s my dad standing right there—and these engines were so loud, these guys worked in here all the time. One of the problems is they did not use ear plugs, and so, uh, because of the constant droning of the engines, most of the guys in here ended up with serious hearing loss and actually going deaf.
And as you can see, it’s not a very big space, and they had 81 guys on this.
Okay, so that’s our trip here, our visit to the U.S.S. Requin. The submarine was brought here to Pittsburgh in 1990, and you can come here or go on board and take a tour. It’s part of the Carnegie Science Center. So, very interesting to walk on a submarine. It was brought up the Mississippi River, all the way up here, then the Ohio River here in Pittsburgh.
So, now we’re gonna go over there and take a look at the Incline.
Okay, we’re here at the top of Mt. Washington, at the Duquesne Incline. Let’s go inside and take a look at this very unique attraction.
This is one of the, uh, cars, the cute red cars that are used on the Incline, to go up and down the hill. And that’s the track right there that goes down the hill. There’s the river, and then there’s the downtown area.
Well, the bell rang, so it should be coming out very soon on its journey down to the, uh, river down there—Ohio River.
I used to ride this, uh, to work. I would go down to the bottom, and catch a bus—and then ride it over to downtown Pittsburgh—go across that bridge. I use to take the Incline in the mornings. That was a long time ago, when I was much younger, and life was much simpler.
Now, this is pretty cool! This is the gear that’s pulling and releasing the cable on the Incline. And this is at the top of the hill, so, uh, the one moving clockwise is pulling the car up the hill.
And here it is, pulling into place—and we’ve got a handful of passengers on board.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Fallingwater
Okay, we are here at Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd Wright’s home that he completed in 1937 for Edgar and Liliane Kaufmann. And, uh, we’re gonna go on a little tour today. So, we’ll take a look inside—the house is actually built over a waterfall—so wouldn’t you like that? To have your house built over a waterfall?
Not your ordinary home: it’s a cantilevered structure—that’s what we call these horizontal lines here, and it was, uh, something that Frank Lloyd Wright designed, therefore, a striking scene. He had his own very modern way of designing homes. Our tour guide just explained that Frank Lloyd Wright never lived here—this was the home of Edgar and Liliane J. Kaufmann—only on the weekends. I’ll pick that up in just a moment.
As I was just mentioning, Frank Lloyd Wright never lived here in this home. It was the weekend getaway for Edgar and Liliane J. Kaufmann and their family—of the Kaufman Department Store heirs. Actually, they founded the Kaufmann Department Store in Pittsburgh.
So, they contracted out Frank Lloyd Wright to design it on this lovely rural piece of property here in the Laurel Mountains of Pennsylvania, approximately one hour east of Pittsburgh.
And I don’t know if the Kaufmann’s came down those steps in the morning to take their morning bath, but it certainly would wake them up, the cold water.
Well, Fallingwater was finished in 1937, and, uh, the guesthouse up behind it was finished in 1939. One interesting thing about this is Frank Lloyd Wright built the house into the hillside, the mountainside, and actually used the stone—right there—as, um, foundation for this. So, uh, he did not destroy the land and he didn’t clear things away like they do today, with all of this.
It was, uh, built at a cost of $155,000, and Wright made a commission of $8,000 back then. So, but of course, today it’s priceless—you could not build it again.
This is the Visitors Center at the Frank Lloyd Wright Fallingwater complex—just beautiful facility nestled into the forest here in the Laurel Mountains outside of Pittsburgh. Just a lovely place—very cool and relaxing.
Okay, so Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were here two years ago for Brad Pitt’s birthday party, and, um, nobody else was here, it was a private tour—and I bet you they let Brad Pitt take photographs. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take any photographs up there today, so, but I’m not Brad Pitt—I might look like him, but I’m not Brad Pitt.
So, one more look at Fallingwater outside of Pittsburgh. When you have a chance, come to Pittsburgh and see Fallingwater—Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece. See you next time!
Key Words
Cantilevered (adj) – A projecting structure, such as a beam, that is supported at one end and carries a load at the other end or along its length.
Horizontal (adj) – at right angles to a vertical line.
Striking (adj) – bold, very dramatic, gets your attention.
Contracted (verb) – to hire someone to perform a specific task for a fee.
Rural (adj) – out in the country.
Foundation (noun) – the solid base on which a home or building is built. Usually stone or concrete.
Commission (noun) – the fee paid to someone for completing a task or job.
Nestled (verb) – to lie in a sheltered, protected area.
Brad Pitt (person) – a very famous and handsome American actor often compared to Bill Quinn.
Masterpiece (noun) – a fine work of art, beautiful, perfectly done.
Not your ordinary home: it’s a cantilevered structure—that’s what we call these horizontal lines here, and it was, uh, something that Frank Lloyd Wright designed, therefore, a striking scene. He had his own very modern way of designing homes. Our tour guide just explained that Frank Lloyd Wright never lived here—this was the home of Edgar and Liliane J. Kaufmann—only on the weekends. I’ll pick that up in just a moment.
As I was just mentioning, Frank Lloyd Wright never lived here in this home. It was the weekend getaway for Edgar and Liliane J. Kaufmann and their family—of the Kaufman Department Store heirs. Actually, they founded the Kaufmann Department Store in Pittsburgh.
So, they contracted out Frank Lloyd Wright to design it on this lovely rural piece of property here in the Laurel Mountains of Pennsylvania, approximately one hour east of Pittsburgh.
And I don’t know if the Kaufmann’s came down those steps in the morning to take their morning bath, but it certainly would wake them up, the cold water.
Well, Fallingwater was finished in 1937, and, uh, the guesthouse up behind it was finished in 1939. One interesting thing about this is Frank Lloyd Wright built the house into the hillside, the mountainside, and actually used the stone—right there—as, um, foundation for this. So, uh, he did not destroy the land and he didn’t clear things away like they do today, with all of this.
It was, uh, built at a cost of $155,000, and Wright made a commission of $8,000 back then. So, but of course, today it’s priceless—you could not build it again.
This is the Visitors Center at the Frank Lloyd Wright Fallingwater complex—just beautiful facility nestled into the forest here in the Laurel Mountains outside of Pittsburgh. Just a lovely place—very cool and relaxing.
Okay, so Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were here two years ago for Brad Pitt’s birthday party, and, um, nobody else was here, it was a private tour—and I bet you they let Brad Pitt take photographs. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take any photographs up there today, so, but I’m not Brad Pitt—I might look like him, but I’m not Brad Pitt.
So, one more look at Fallingwater outside of Pittsburgh. When you have a chance, come to Pittsburgh and see Fallingwater—Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece. See you next time!
Key Words
Cantilevered (adj) – A projecting structure, such as a beam, that is supported at one end and carries a load at the other end or along its length.
Horizontal (adj) – at right angles to a vertical line.
Striking (adj) – bold, very dramatic, gets your attention.
Contracted (verb) – to hire someone to perform a specific task for a fee.
Rural (adj) – out in the country.
Foundation (noun) – the solid base on which a home or building is built. Usually stone or concrete.
Commission (noun) – the fee paid to someone for completing a task or job.
Nestled (verb) – to lie in a sheltered, protected area.
Brad Pitt (person) – a very famous and handsome American actor often compared to Bill Quinn.
Masterpiece (noun) – a fine work of art, beautiful, perfectly done.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Airplane on Glacier
On my recent trip to America I took a plane ride around Mt. McKinley in Alaska, the tallest mountain in North America, at over 20,000 feet. The plane landed on a glacier in the mountains, using ski's. I will have a longer, better video of the flight later. Here's the text:
Okay, here we are, we just landed on the Ruth Glacier in our DeHaviland Beaver. Our pilot Rico landed us here, and it was a beautiful thing, a beautiful thing.
We're gonna take off from the glacier, so--you ever see a plane land on ski's?
Okay, and then we're gonna head down that way--I'll have J.D. show us a little panorama of the beautiful mountains. We're gonna take off from the glacier and sail off into the sunset!
Okay, here we are, we just landed on the Ruth Glacier in our DeHaviland Beaver. Our pilot Rico landed us here, and it was a beautiful thing, a beautiful thing.
We're gonna take off from the glacier, so--you ever see a plane land on ski's?
Okay, and then we're gonna head down that way--I'll have J.D. show us a little panorama of the beautiful mountains. We're gonna take off from the glacier and sail off into the sunset!
Mt. McKinley airplane ride (short version)
Here's a short video of my plane ride to Mt. McKinley in Alaska.
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