07/25/24 - I feel like eating apples is like completing a mandatory mission.
“Holy shit, this bowl of rice noodles is 188 RMB.”
Comments say, “Did you forget to put in a decimal point??”
“I’ve had one that was 68 RMB that looked pretty similar to this. It’s all a bunch of small plates.”
“That’s the same as my height XD”
#Hu Youping [woman who stopped a man with a knife from assaulting a school bus full of Japanese children.] appears on Hero List. “Today, the Central Politics and Law Commission released the second quarterly Hero List in 2024, featuring 48 heroes. Among them, there are figures like Liu Hao, Hu Youping, and Cheng Chunting, who bravely fought against dangerous criminals. There are also figures like Wang Long or Zhu Ruxin, who lost their lives trying to save others from danger. When faced with danger, they stood up with extraordinary bravery. Some of them were critically injured. Some lost their lives. They used their blood and life to portray their heroic deeds. Salute!”
#Paris will be cloudy during the Olympics opening. “French Meteorology Bureau predicts on the 25th that when the Paris Olympics opens on the evening of the 26th, the weather will be cloudy.
The Meteorology Bureau website shows that on the 26th, before 11AM, there will be some light showers, and starting from noon, the weather will turn cloudy. The evening temperatures are predicted to be around 23C, with 15km/hr winds. It should feel very refreshing.
It has been revealed that the Olympics opening will take place at 7:30PM. Personnel from over 200 different countries and regions will rode a boat from the Austerlitz Bridge to the Yena Bridge in front of the Eiffe Tower, a journey of about 6km. Sunset on the 26th in Paris should be around 9:35PM. If it was a sunny day, then as the boats sail from east to west, they should’ve had a beautiful view of the dusk clouds.
Overall, this is a pretty ideal weather for the opening. At least, the rainfall that the Olympics Committee have been worried about won’t be happening, and the Seine is very calm too.
It has been revealed that the Seine has a water level of 1.25m these few days, and a flow of 350 cubic metre/second, far lower than the threshold where protective measures would be necessary. If the water level got to 1.4m, then the two largest boats would have to be switched out, as they wouldn’t be able to pass under the bridge.
Relevant reports show that the water level on the 26th should be very safe. Paris Mayor, Anne Hidalgo spoke lately, “We predict the flow to be between 300 to 380 cubic metres/second, and the water level should be between 1.1m and 1.4m.””
#Man uses slingshot to kill invasive Golden Snail. “The rapidly multiplying Golden Snails have met their natural enemy in Chengdu. Next to a pond in the southern suburbs of Chengdu, Feng Ruihua is squeezing his slingshot tight, pulling the rubber band all the way back. He takes aim, and lets loose the round, and the Golden Snail eggs are instantly crushed, splashing into the water. He may not a crack shot, but at least 9 times out of time, the eggs fall into the pond and becomes food for the fishes.
Feng Ruihua is 38-years-old this year, and has been practicing with the slingshot for over a decade, and once came in the top 32 in a national slingshot competition. People call him, “Hua Bro”. For the last year, Hua has been using his extraordinary slingshot skills to precisely crush Golden Snail eggs, getting many upvotes on the internet. He’s even been lovingly nicknamed “Michael Angelo”. [米开朗击螺 - the last two character has been changed to the two characters for “hitting snails”.]
Comments say, “Netizens are geniuses at coming up with names XD”
“Are we out of news to report?”
“I follow a guy who shoots rats on Bilibili.” [Chinese youtube.]
“Graduating student got forgotten in the office.
Monday was my first day reporting to work. I got assigned to a brand new office. There’s two desks in the office, but right now, I’m the only person working here.
I clocked in at 8:40AM and started up the AC and my computer, and started sitting around, not really knowing what to do with myself.
I asked my boss what I should do, and she said that she had a meeting that afternoon, so I can just familiarise myself with things today.
So I went back to my office and sat around uneasily for the rest of the day.
I ate lunch in the cafeteria and kept sitting around all afternoon, and nobody ever came to my office all day. Now, I’ve only got another 20 minutes to go before I clock out.
I kind of feel bad for getting paid but not actually contributing anything.”
Comments say, “Right now, your bosses are fighting over who gets to use you. Once they arrive at a consensus, your good days will come to an end.”
“The worst thing is when everyone else in the office is super busy, and you’re the only person with nothing to do.”
“This is just your first day. You’ll be exhausted by next week.”
“I feel like eating apples is like completing a mandatory mission.
Apples are such a boring fruit. It’s called the King of Fruit, but I’ve never liked them. Or, well, it’s not like I dislike them either, but I wouldn’t eat an apple unless we were out of all other fruits at home. Of course, there’s fruits I hate a lot more than apples, but apples are kind of like a standard divider to me. If I like a fruit, it’s ranked above apples. If I actively dislike a fruit, it’s ranked below apples.
I just ate some apples, and after a few bites, I could feel my brain emptying. Only my mouth kept moving, mechanically repeating the chewing motion. I only woke back up once I was almost done, and there was still the faint lingering bittersweetness of apples in my mouth. In that moment, I feel like buying apples and eating apples is like some kind of mission that apples put on my task list.
ETA: Honestly, I feel very complicated about apples. Although I don’t like them, I can’t go without them either. Every once in a while, I’ll suddenly remember they exist and eat one, or get forced by my family to eat one—and I will, after some fighting. Sometimes, I kind of feel touched, because no matter what season it is, apples are always around, in fruit shops, on your coffee table, in your pantry, or in some forgotten corner in the school. And apples don’t go bad nearly as quickly as bananas. You buy them once in a while and when you check ages later, they’re still quietly lying there, like they’re waiting just for you.”
Comments say, “I have fruits I like and I hate, but apples…I don’t love them. I don’t hate them. They haven’t done anything wrong. They’re just really boring. If you force me to, I’ll eat them. But even if the world ran out of food, I would probably never go out of my way to eat an apple.”
“Right? I’m tired after two bites, but I can’t stop. I just mechanically go on, with a cold apple in my hand.”
“I guess apples are betas? They’re not very intense, they’re easily forgotten, they’re not seasonal, and nothing stands out about their flavour. They’re not rare, and they keep forever.”
#Experts claim that retirement age definitely has to change. “Beijing University’s Sociology professor Lu Jiehua claims that retirement age definitely has to change, because in a long-lifespan society, a lot of standards like health and mindset are all changing. If our expected lifespan is 78, and we set retirement age to 60, and now people are living to their 90s, then you can’t keep using 60 or 65 as your retirement age. You might have to use 70 or 71 as the standard for what an old person is. And this is going to keep changing.
Our country is doing a steady pushback on retirement, and this is actually a pretty long process. If we say people need to retire at 65, then experts believe it would be at least 2054 before the retirement age gets pushed to 65, because it happens step by step, one month, two months, one year, two years. This is a very long process. We still have 30 years to get to 2054. A lot of developed countries have their retirement ages set to 65 or 67 or even 70.”
Comments say, “Tell me retirement age is 70 earlier. Then I definitely wouldn’t have paid a thing.”
“So can experts give up a part of their social security then?”
“They won’t talk about the social benefits of developed countries. They only want to talk about retirement age.”
“I found my dream job while on summer break. What should I do?
I’m a uni student, and found a job during summer break on Boss [hiring website]. It says they’re looking for a long-term hire, office work in a monopoly industry, so the company makes a ton of money, and everything is above board. Pay and benefits are all great, and my boss is super nice and always giving us free stuff. And most importantly, right now, there’s only three people in the whole company, including the boss, and he’s the only guy. There’s only us two girls there, and we get along, and the boss only occasionally chews us out if we screw up. I interned here for a couple of days and love it. Should I just keep going? I don’t think I could find a job half as nice once I graduate.”
Comments say, “Let me tell you, if you’re currently in uni, you should still finish your diploma. I’ve been in your mindset before. I worked really hard at a fancy seafood store, and the owner made me a manager. I don’t really have to do anything except tell other people what to do, and I got a raise. The boss relied on me a lot, and I thought the same thing as you—that I wouldn’t make much more money even if I graduated, and I could accumulate experience earlier if I just kept at this. But you know, you can’t focus on that. Once I graduated, I realised how foolish I was back then, because if I hadn’t finished, then I wouldn’t have a uni diploma, and that wasn’t a super stable job or anything. You can’t predict what’s going to happen to this company in the future, and you’d be tied to it for the rest of your life. Once you leave, you won’t be able to find another job without a diploma. Unless it’s one of those super freeform jobs where you can work it without a diploma.”
“Just stay in contact and intern there every summer and winter break, and contact them before you graduate and get an official job there.”
“What industry can be monopolised by just 2-3 people???”