安迪的垃圾堆

網站 在西雅圖想要知道誰是菜鳥觀光客並不難. 在西雅圖有一種地圖, 上面除了有市中心, 西雅圖中心, Lake Union 和華盛頓大學的各個景點, 還印有旅館, 餐廳和購物等等的位置. 這地圖印得精美, 實用又方便. 還有日文版. 每當在街上, 看到有人拿著這地圖, 對照著街上的地點就知道這是新到的觀光客.

報導上說, 在西雅圖採買 $100 元的食物, 在雙子城和波士頓只須要花 $92 元. 大西雅圖地區平均價錢最貴的是 Safeway. 另外儘管 Fred Meyer 和 QFC 都是同一個老版. Fred Meyer 平均起來卻是比 QFC 便宜約 10%. 不過也不用洩氣, 儘管西雅圖地區有最貴的價錢, 比起其他地區店裡有較多的選擇. 產品的質量也好許多. 所有的連鎖店裡, 以 Haggen Food and Pharmacy 有最低的平均價和高的質量和服務水準. 不過也難怪, 這店是在大西雅圖地區非常北方的部份. 報導: Grocery bills are higher here Choice of store can save you $$

到目前為止, 一切都很好. 沒有斷訊的困擾. 唯一麻煩的是一年總有約兩次, 每次約兩個星期, 在中午的時候有一至二小時的斷訊. 因為太陽剛好在衛星的背後, 訊號被太陽給切了… Ken’s TV & Satellite 123 N Olympic Av ARLINGTON, WA (360) 435-2421 家裡的小朋友終於又有中文可以看了… 差不多有四個月沒有中文電視. 該死的台北衛視和東森衛視. 真不知道為什麼他們的訊號那麼的微弱. 人家大愛台和人間衛視都沒有這種問題. 誰叫我住在這麼”偏遠”的地方. 看了些網路上的文章, 決定唯一的手段是加大衛星碟子. 一般在美國南部, 標準型 76 公分的碟子已經是綽綽有餘. 可是在我住的地方卻是個衛星接受的外圍地區. 掃瞄的訊號一般最好的狀態都只有 75% 左右. 一般能連續看個十分鐘就可以偷笑了, 大部份沒有五分鐘就斷訊了. 打了不少裝衛星的商家, 有從 $500 (只有碟子安裝另加)到 $250 (碟子和安裝全包). 一般 eBay 上也要賣 $120 左右(鐵製). 只有上面寫的這個商家最好. 他只有收我 $125 元(碟子免費). 我覺得這年頭很少有商家這麼做生意了. 安裝衛星是他的興趣. 他喜歡回收那些沒有用的衛星碟子和接收器. 我們家裝的碟子就是他廢物再利用. 自從 PrimeStar 被 DirecTV 買了下來. 那些一公尺直徑 PrimeStar 的碟子突然就成了廢物. 兩個星期前打電話問他, 他就直接告訴我, 他可以免費幫我找個 PrimeStar 的碟子(當碟子到時, 我發現這種二手塑鋼纖維的碟子, 他至少可以賣我 $160 元以上) . 就這樣上星期五他來我家裝碟子. 一點也沒有生意人的樣子. 他還很誠實的告訴我們, 如果他做慢了請不要抱怨. 因為先前他裝了碟子到四個家庭, 他已經是很累了. 最後他是花了兩個小時半換裝完成. 我想我們聊天的時間就超個一小時, 感覺上就像是鄰居來我家幫忙似的. 結果當場是非常滿意. 不只是因為現在衛星的訊號達到 90% – 92% 之間, 他還特地裝了雙頻(垂直和水平)的接受器, 讓我可以接收更多免費頻道. 當然這接收器也是從他的廢物利用裡撿出來的. 不過他只負責裝碟子, 解碼器和解碼卡都是要另外向台北衛視或東森衛視購買.

UW to limit 2-year transfers from community colleges === 從 Seattle Times 的新聞 === In a move that will further restrict access to the state’s flagship public university, top community college graduates will no longer be guaranteed admission to the University of Washington. The change was announced yesterday by UW and community-college officials, who cited over-enrollment and state budget cuts as the reason for the new policy. It will take effect next summer and affects only the UW’s Seattle campus, not its branches in Bothell and Tacoma. The limits on admission come at a time when community colleges are seeing record enrollment, with many students planning to transfer to four-year colleges once they earn their Associate of Arts or Science degrees. “It is going to change the game a bit. There is no question that a lot of students want to transfer to the UW,” said Earl Hale, executive director of the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. “A lot of students’ plans are at stake here.” Since 1988, state residents who completed a community-college degree with at least a 2.75 grade-point average were guaranteed a direct transfer to the UW’s Seattle campus. But UW administrators said the number of students who qualify for admission under that agreement has been increasing at a faster rate than the number of new enrollment spaces funded by the state. For thousands of students, the community-college route is a second chance, a way to get into the UW if their high-school grades weren’t good enough. And many students can afford college only by attending community college or a technical school for the first two years. “It worries me terribly that we will have students who won’t get in,” said state Rep. Phyllis Gutierrez Kenney, D-Seattle, chairwoman of the House Higher Education Committee. Although she blamed the Legislature for underfunding universities, Kenney fears the UW’s decision leaves the impression that the university is elitist. Already, it takes the equivalent of about a 3.7 grade-point average and a 1,200 SAT score for a high-school student to be automatically accepted at the UW. Only 18 percent of Washington students who took the SAT in 2002 met or exceeded that standard. And in 2001, the UW began restricting transfers of students with only one year of community college, even with GPAs of 3.5 or better. Previously, such transfers were almost always accepted. UW officials said this latest decision to ration access to community-college transfers isn’t a political move to protest state cuts, but rather a last resort to handle overcrowding. For autumn quarter this year, they said, applications were received from 1,938 community-college transfer-agreement applicants, and there is room for only 1,100 to enroll. Admission for 838 students has been delayed to either winter or spring quarter 2004. “It is a growing and emerging problem since the late 1990s,” said Tim Washburn, the UW’s assistant vice president for enrollment services. “It was like the perfect storm. The economy is bad. More students are graduating from high schools. Less state funding is available. And we have more students here at school staying on and completing their degrees because the work opportunities aren’t good. All those things combined have exaggerated the problem.” The UW has promised to continue to honor an agreement with the state’s community colleges that specifies at least 30 percent of its new undergraduates annually will come from Washington community and technical colleges. Still, hundreds of community-college students each year likely will not be admitted to the UW, even with GPAs above 3.0, many community-college administrators predict. College administrators estimate that many students will try to beat the deadline and complete their associate degrees in order to enroll at the UW next fall. UW admissions officials anticipate the rush and plan to tell 500 to 800 would-be transfers that they will not be admitted until winter or spring quarter in 2005. And the autumn-quarter application deadline has been moved from April 15 to Feb. 15 to allow UW officials more time for an extensive admissions review. The news of the change in policy will have a big impact at Seattle Central, North Seattle and South Seattle community colleges, where more than 1,200 students transfer to the UW each year. One fallout may be that many students will remain at community colleges longer, which would create further overcrowding in the community-college system, said Seattle Community Colleges Chancellor Charles Mitchell, who oversees the three Seattle colleges. The policy revision will not only make transfer admissions more competitive, but the popularity of students’ academic fields could also decide their success at getting into the UW. Transfer students will have a tougher time gaining entrance to high-demand programs such as the Business School or College of Engineering, while transfers who seek enrollment in the College of Forest Resources or College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences may stand a better chance because those programs are underenrolled. How far along a student is in meeting all the prerequisite classes may also affect their admissions standing. “If you say you are a business major, but you haven’t taken econ, you will get less priority than someone who did take econ,” said Jan Yoshiwara, director of education services for the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. “It won’t be uniform,” Washburn said of the new admissions-review policy. Tan Vinh: 206-515-5656 or [email protected]