Categories
Social

Report On an Explosion

Two months ago, the apartment building next to the water tower made the headlines on Swedish national television because of an explosion. When I woke up early that day to work on my laptop, I suddenly heard a loud bang, and then I just vaguely felt that more cars than usual were passing by the building, without really thinking about what had happened.

It was only after dawn, when I saw the police cordon on the street, that I remembered to look it up online, and the familiar scene appeared in a video report on STV. There had been an explosion in the apartment building across the street from the stadium; no one was injured, but the door of the building and some parked cars on the street were damaged. Police are questioning residents and waiting for technicians to examine the scene.

It took less than 40 minutes from the 4 a.m. explosion for an official news report to appear online. Three days later, there was a follow-up story about the arrest of two suspects on charges including general vandalism and violating laws regarding flammable and explosive materials.

In retrospect, I was probably one of the few people awake at the time. But more importantly, were those holding the microphone still sound asleep when the incident occurred?

Categories
Writings

5 Benefits of Not Updating Your Blog

Last year I wrote about “5 benefits of writing a blog” and today we talk about the benefits of not updating it.

1. Put your phone down

I don’t know if it’s the change in the push mechanism of the platform or the reading habits of the readers, but the number of views dropped significantly after the new year. When everyone is busy making money, dating or traveling, it’s actually a good thing to put the phone down and get out of the house.

2. Reduce unfollowing

It’s often said that people who don’t work never make mistakes. If you don’t update, you usually don’t get unfollowed. Once the new content is sent, it will always remind some readers that they have been following such a useless blog, intentionally or not.

3. Organize old posts

Spend some time to reread the previous content and select some to translate into English, you will also have new profits. For example, after I published an article about Google with a slight change of wording in English, it was successfully blocked by the platform.

4. Wait for inspiration

Although Li Dan had said in his book that creators cannot only rely on inspiration, but need more discipline. But writing a blog is not considered work for most people, it should be more fun.

5. Keep distance

Hotspots may bring more traffic, but they may not be the real issues worthy of attention and discussion. Selective expression is sometimes more powerful.

Categories
Travel

Wildfire

Finally, I rode Wildfire, the so-called best wooden roller coaster in the world. According to its website, I was supposed to experience weightlessness at least 12 times, but it was too fast to know what weightlessness was.

A Korean father was sitting next to me in the front row, with his son and daughter behind us. When the ride started, he mumbled something before saying “Oh my gosh” in English. I think he was just trying to be friendly because we were just having a little conversation. The next memory of his family was in the gift shop looking at the photos.

The most interesting activity in Kolmården besides Wildfire is watching the animals on a cable, which is a bit like in Jurassic Park. But there was no background music like in a theme park, so you could only hear the wind. Even if you could not see the animals sometimes, there were different kinds of footprints in the snow. Looking at the world as if from a drone is a new experience.

Kolmården was full of energy at Easter compared to New Year; almost every child in town was there. Our return bus was full and shaking more than Wildfire.

Categories
Social

Dust Storms and the Risk of Longevity

The first news about the Beijing dust storm came from a promotional text message from an air purifier brand: “Sandstorm is coming! ……”

This is very reminiscent of the little story of “selling cloth on a sunny day and umbrellas on a rainy day”. It is not only about a mindset, but also shows that each event can have a different impact on different industries, companies, and individuals.

Another example is the “longevity risk” often mentioned in the insurance industry, which may come as a shock to those hearing it for the first time. But both insurance companies and Social Security are paying more for pensions and health insurance as people live longer, so longevity is a risk for these organizations.

When bad weather or disaster strikes, businesses that provide essential goods and services help people get through it. We cannot blame them for profiting from national disasters just because they have a tailwind.

The question is whether it is fair trade, i.e., whether companies are using disasters to monopolize markets, raise prices, or otherwise profit by improper means.

Categories
Life

Why Did I Cancel My Amazon Prime Membership?

Without the free trial of Amazon Prime, I would not choose home delivery again. Last time, I had to run back and forth looking for the delivery person.

It was Friday night when I got the call. I was happy that the projector we ordered could be used over the weekend, so I immediately put on my coat and went downstairs.

Then I got another call. I told him I was out and would find him shortly. It turned out he was not where he said he was and I could not reach him by phone.

It’s only six minutes from his first call to his disappearance without a trace. Any normal person cannot find a stranger hidden in the darkness from the sixth floor of our building in six minutes.

I’ve complained to both the delivery company and Amazon, but it’s no use. We will not be able to test our new projector this weekend. The only thing I can do now is cancel Amazon Prime.