Ratology- Very Happy Very Vain

Obtain a refund of sales tax paid while visiting the United States?

2013-10-10T22:09:00.002-04:00

Went with my grandpa Canon--the best camera on this planet and the once-upon-a-time technology-- to search for its replacement earlier today. Then, just now, when monkeying around searching online for the best deal on that model we set our eyes on, I saw the tax added to the final price.

It reminds me of the things people said about the refund of sales tax when visiting foreign countries. Ya, in a previous visit to Canada, I almost got to have the GST refunded. Unfortunately, the item I got was something like 199.9 while, in order to get the tax refunded, the bill had to be at least 200 canadian dollars or something like that. Oops... bye bye GST... lol

So, it got me all intrigued... would I be able to obtain a refund of sales tax paid while visiting the United States?

According to the US Customs and Border Protection,

"The United States Government does not refund sales tax to foreign visitors. Sales tax charged in the U.S. is paid to individual states, not the Federal government - the same way that VAT is paid in many countries. If you are making a major purchase, such as a car, and you intend to export the item, you will want to contact the State taxation authority in the state where you will be making the purchase. They will be able to inform you of their criteria for refunding any sales tax paid."

In other words, as a visitor in the US, if you really want to claim the refund of the sales tax paid, you have to contact the State taxation authority where the purchase is made.

Personally, since it's only a point-and-shoot camera I intend to buy (not a car), and the tax for the camera is less than 25 US dollars, I am just gonna forget about it and entertain the issue no more. As for you, if it's a major item you are purchasing, make sure you contact the taxation authority of the state. Bon Chance!

MBT on discount at The Walking Company ending on 11/12/2012

2012-11-11T02:05:00.002-05:00

For a cripple in recovery, I love the support provided by MBT shoes and they are the shoes that provide what is needed for me to go the distance... whether it is distance to the others or not.

Just when two pairs of my MBT got worn out... due to the mileage on them, I found out that the Walking Company, an authorized dealer of MBT shoes are having a deep discount on MBT footwear- with discounts as deep as 72% off.....

The discount will end on 11/12/2012!

Second cup

2012-02-08T20:43:00.001-05:00

7-11 city cafe 30% off the second cup in Taiwan

Just went to get my second up earlier, cool... my first 欠杯 experience. I gave the lady the receipt, she stamped on it and I got my Latte.

Update: Apparently, it should be called 寄杯 at 7-11.

7-11 city cafe 30% off the second cup in Taiwan

2012-02-07T20:31:00.001-05:00

The city cafe 7-11 is having a promotion of 30% off the second cup in Taiwan from now till February 21st.

Just tried this out for the first time called "owing a cup." (欠杯） Essentially, since I can not gonna drink both cups today, I can go back to pick it up tomorrow with the receipt (or within the promotional period).

Sweet! Save me a good 5 NT dollars.

Starbucks buy-one-get-one-free in Taiwan today

2012-02-04T03:02:00.006-05:00

Starbucks coffee is having a buy-one-get-one-free offer today up till 8:00 PM, on February 4th 2012, in Taiwan because people have to work today to make up for the extra vacation day during the Chinese New Year break.

A long long line and a long wait thereafter though.

Nu Skin Moisture Restore Day Protective Lotion SPF 15

2012-01-07T12:22:00.000-05:00

A new product I have been using nowadays... Moisture Restore Day Protective Lotion SPF 15. Nice and light.

Free things in NYC

2011-07-20T13:04:00.001-04:00

The great thing about New York is... although many things are expensive, there are many things to do for free, too...

Such as La Bohème pour La Bohème comme moi... 8-O lol

Check out more free events... http://www.nycgo.com/free/

Dr. Sholls insole

2011-07-19T12:55:00.001-04:00

I do a lot of walking as part of my rehab and since that's really the only one exercise I can do. Unfortunately, in addition to the problems along my spine, my knees are also not very happy.

Being on my feet for so long, the knees and feet usually get more and more grumpy towards the end of the day.

So, I decided to get myself some Dr. Sholl's insoles.

I had gotten a pair of it for back pains 1-2 years ago and it did help relieving my back pain except for I haven't been able to locate it since I switched to my MBT (because it didn't fit into my MBT snickers).

The one I started using since three days ago is the Dr. Scholl's Knee Pain Relief Orthotic insoles.

Do the insoles help?

After using it for 2-3 days, one thing I can tell you is that... it seems to make my knees feel less grumpy although there is nothing scientific about my statement. 8-O lol

I did recommend Dr. Sholl's insoles to my friends with aches and pains in all different places...

Gotta say, though, even though it seems to work for me, another friend of mine didn't think the pair she got for her specific condition was really of any help.

I've gotten my insoles from the cheapest source I could find all around town: Bed, Bath & Beyond. I think the original price was 9.99 and another 2 dollars off with the manufacturer's coupon.... sweet!

Avocado Banana pudding

2011-07-13T23:41:00.002-04:00

One thing I learned to make or made recently is the Avocado Banana pudding.

Essentially, you mix Avocado and Banana together... and... you get a nice and healthy dessert-- if not the meal itself since it is pretty rich.

Apparently, it is even good for babies... some baby food I made as I am taking my baby step in da journey towards cooking... 8-O lol

Perfect dish for me to learn to cook... since... doesn't involve too much of anything... 8-O lol

Bresaola con rucola

2011-07-13T23:16:00.003-04:00

Bresaola con rucola

Bresaola con rucola or Bresaola with arugula is an Italian dish even I have learned to make.

I made it for the first time right after my friend with a broken foot got her foot surgery.... with her dictating each every step to take on preparing this dish.

Put Bresaola on the plate
Pour a whole lot of olive oil over the Bresaola
Put Arugula on top of the Bresaola
Pour much more olive oil onto the salad and some freshly squeezed lemon juice
Spray Parmesan cheeses on top
Pour even more olive oil or lemon juice if you wish
You can also add some pepper to it...

Dr. Teal's Epsom Salt

2011-07-12T23:32:00.001-04:00

I came back to the place of my friend with a broken foot--- the house of disability won't be full without the contribution of my own disability, I figure... 8-O lol

She asked me whether there was something I need when she was about to place an order online last time. Since I used out all of her Epsom salt, I said... Epsom salt... the cheapest kind that you can find

The Epsom salt, apparently, arrived with me yesterday... and some fancy kind as well...

Dr. Teal's Epsom salt it is, which contains also eucalyptus and spearmint essential oils.

How do I like it?

One thing I have to say is that, in addition to the fact that my body likes Epsom Salt bath, I slept like a baby even with the smallest part of the 25/4 mg dose of Seroquel... That is relaxing... gotta tell you...

My friend like it, too... apparently, the steam from the bath permeated the entire place and she could even smell it all the way from her room. 8-O lol

Che palle-- di spinaci

2011-07-08T23:54:00.002-04:00

My mom and I had some palle di spinaci at my friend with a broken foot's the other day. She had made them palle di spinaci herself and explained to me how it was made..

First of all, you cook spinach, drain it and mix it with ricotta cheese. You might also need to add a bit of flour because it would make it stickier and easier to shape the ingredients into balls. If you can't eat it all fresh, you can store them in the freezer.

To serve these balls, you have to first bring the water to a boil before putting these balls in, when them palle float to the surface, they shall be done.

Apparently, if these balls are wrapped inside of pastry, it would turn into Ravioli. (See... we learn something everyday...)

For the sauce, she added some herb into butter or the I can't believe it is not butter.

When serving the dish, you simply pour the sauce on top of palle di spinici and some parmesan cheese as well.

As usual, my mom was very impressed by the Italian immersion experiences!

Wyndmere Essential Oil- Breathe Easier

2011-07-05T16:43:00.000-04:00

When I got the Breathe Easier Essential Oil by Wyndmere, it was when I was having some concerns about my dear respiratory system.

This oil contains: Basil, Niaouli, Eucalyptus, Pine, Rosemary, Lavender and Cedarwood essential oils.

One thing I can tell you after using it for almost a year is that, although I am not sure whether it helps my respiratory system, it surely calms my whole existence down when adding a few drops into either my bathing water or my foot soak.

Capers

2011-07-03T01:21:00.003-04:00

My friend with a broken foot made us some Vitello Tonnato when I took my mom to visit her again...

This time, she decorated the dish with some gigantic Italian capers... if I recall correctly, she might have brought it all the way back from Italy herself.

Apparently, with these capers, you have to soak it in water for something like over night or a day. Otherwise, it might be too salty.

As you can see, the capers are almost as big as the cornichon. When I first saw these big-behind capers, I though they were figs... lol

Ginger

2011-07-01T00:18:00.003-04:00

My friend with a broken foot made my mom and I some vegi juice today and we had the tasty juice at lunch... including ingredients such as celery, apples, carrots, broccoli stem and ginger.

Not quite sure yet how well da juice will help me in the digestion department yet...

My mouth was runing... running... running.... like a waterfall....

It was not until later did I realize that... oops... I seem to be feeling something funny...

One thing I know is that... I was all energetic... OMG... so very overflying with energy on a day with the smaller piece of my 25/4 mg Seroquel.... and I think it might have something to do with the two huge chunk of ginger we added in there...

It works far faster than anti-depressants... and I became instantly all hyped up....

It reminded me of this experience I had back a while ago when trying to find relief for my insomnia though simple things such as foot-soaking.

One day, I read somewhere online that Ginger helps getting the damp xi out of our body and can help people relax as well. So, I decided to try out foot soaking with slices of ginger... though don't quite remember whether I boiled it or not...

The outcome?

Well, it helped my insomnia... rather than my sleep...

I was wide awake after soaking my feet in the ginger water and was lying in bed counting them sheep till the cows came home... 8-O lol

The lesson learned... what works for the others might not work for us...

After observing its effect on me, I decided... foot soaking with ginger or drinking vegi juice with ginger might be a good thing early in the day rather than something to do after mid-day....

Thanks for taking interest in my sharing.

After my foot soaking with Epsom salt, time to go night night.

Acqua di Parma Blu Mediterraneo Foglie di Basilico polvere di sapone

2011-06-29T00:00:00.002-04:00

Back to my friend with a broken foot's place and I decided to try out again.... the Blue Mediterraneo Basil soap power by Acqua di Parma.

I googled all around and the only place I found that sells the Acqua di Parma Blu Mediterraneo Foglie di Basilico polvere di sapone is an online store in Italy.

I used it once before and sort of like it...

So I added some of the soap powder to my Epsom salt bath today, the way it smells... it makes yours grumpy old hen feel like a happy baby after a nice hot bath!

Vitello Tonnato

2011-06-25T12:24:00.002-04:00

Tried quite a few new Italian dishes nowadays cooked by my friend with a broken foot...

Vitello Tonnato is one of the specialty dish she cooked for my mom and I.

Essentially, Vitello Tonnato is veal with tuna sauce.

To prepare this dish, my friend cooked the veal she got from Freshdirect and cooked it with all different kinds of vegetables and herbs for over an hour or so at low heat.

The funnest story about the veal she got was that it was already sliced into pieces-- wrapped in paper to keep them seperate. It was not until when all was ready did she realize that... oops... the meat was still frozen, which makes it difficult to take the paper out. So, we simply cooking all things together... with the wrapping paper. 8-O lol

Regarding the sauce, I think she mixed two cans of tuna, mayo and capers together to make the sauce.

My mom cut the baby carrots and cornichon pickles (Italian baby pickles) in half to serve as decoration.

What you see in the left is a picture of of the completed dish... veal covered with tuna sauce decorated with carrots, pickles, and capers.

Looking good and tasting nice!

Both my mom and I think that my friend with a broken leg should go with us to open an Italian restaurant in Taipei. lol

Road Runner Broaderband finally up!

2011-06-24T21:21:00.003-04:00

One thing I did after I got home today was to check out the speed of my internet connection.

Still... the speed limit is within the range of Road Runner basic.

So, yours moving really slow decided to call up Timewarner again.

Oops, apparently, the order to upgrade to Road Runner Broadband was still not completed today.

The representative asked me to wait till tomorrow so that he could gather the information to send the case forth to its supervisor.

This time I asked, "Can I please speak with your supervisor directly because I have been calling back 4-5 days in a roll and it seems like the order just can not get completed."

So he did eventually got his supervisor on the phone.

As I was explaining the entire situation to him, he also went over my history and found it sort of bizzard how one would go through such hassles simply wanting to have a service upgrade.

It took him less than a minute to get the order issue resolved and he even added some more speed to my account to compensate for the, I guess, inconveniences.

I restarted the cable modem and the computer....

I tested the speed... and...

Voila!

Packets running and running around!

Slow as I am, my packets goes faster than 89% of US! 8-O lol

Though nothing comparable to the connection speed through Internet 2...

From a residential point of view, Lord, this round, I am really coming out of the dark!

Caffé d'orzo

2011-06-23T23:31:00.001-04:00

Back to keep my friend with a broken foot company and she made some Orzo Orzo for me.. as opposed to Orzo and Coffee.

This is the first time I try it out...

What does it taste like?

I think that Orzo along tastes and smells very much like barley tea... or... 麥茶...

So, how does caffè d'orzo differ from barley tea if both can involve the consumption of roasted barley?

So I found a writing about Barley beverages on Italian Wiki- correct me if I am wrong but... it seems like that the differences might reside in people's attempt to either make the drink more coffee-like or tea-like...

Maybe you only need to roast barley for a shorter time if what you want is roasted barley tea? (Feel free to correct me since it is only a guess)

BTW, check out the following link in case you would like to make your own Caffé d'orzo...

Road Runner Broadband again

2011-06-23T22:27:00.004-04:00

The lady I spoke with finally was able to get my order completed although, in my account, it is still showing that the current services I am subscribing to is the basic plan.

So I chatted with an agent online while back keeping my friend with a broken foot some company-- so I was informed... yes, the order is completed; yet, unfortunately, "there is an outage of service in your area...."

So I replied, "Thank God that I am not home."

OMG... the consequences of my finally upgrading to broadband--- service outage? 8-O lol

Gotta say though, the 29.99 /mo without contract offer is still valid in my area and I could still view it in My Services... though not sure whether it might be available in your neighborhood... not to mention whether you would have to go through the same grief I have to go through these past few days with a simple pursuit of wanting to switch to Road Runner Broadband.

BTW, though the customer representatives told me that the order has been completed and my services have been upgraded. As you can tell in the screenshots I am providing with you now... apparently not in the online records.

Still fighting to go Broadband

2011-06-23T16:42:00.000-04:00

Back a couple of days ago, I mentioned that I found this opportunity to get broadband to the house at 29.99 without contract...

Also... for some bizzard reason, timewarner kept on having problem getting the order completed in their system.

I have been calling them on a daily basis, such as now, trying to get my Broadband set up....

May God let it be the 4th call the last.... 8-X

Road Runner Broadband for 29.99 (No contract)

2011-06-20T01:19:00.005-04:00

It all started from my pursuit to get the issue of skype video disconnecting all the time... and that was when I realized that the aka high speed Internet connection I use affords me no more than the download speed of 1.5 mbps and .25 mbps for upload...

Ouch... all of a sudden, I fell back to the dark age.... What kinda fiber were my packets traveling on?

Since I was already dealing with the Time Warner people, I decided to clean up the whole mess with all my Timewarner account...essentially spending hours straightening out the username and password issues for payexpress and my services.

I don't know why... just felt like it...

Then, when I finally was able to get into my services, I went to check on the other options I might have for higher speed Internet.

After getting back to NYC, I needed to have Timewarner service reactivated because I was gone for about 10 months. The customer representative, then, signed me on for the Road Runner Basic, which costs me 33.95 per month, taxes and fees not included.

Strangely, when looking at the upgrade options, I found Road Runner Broadband, which could go as fast as 10 mbps when downloading data, to be at the cheaper price of 29.99.

33.95 for the speed of 1.5 mbps while 29.99 for that of 10 mbps?

After chatting with the customer representative online to make sure that I would be paying 29.99 rather than 33.95+29.99, I had the order submitted.

The best thing about this offer... there is no annual contract... and, thus, no penalty fees of any kind shall I have it cancelled in 2-3 months! Sweet!

The moral of the lesson, it won't hurt for you to log in to "my services" once in a while shall Timewarner provide services in your neighborhood and shall you existing service be more expensive yet slower than 10 mpbs downloading speed.

And, apparently, the offer is limited time only and is dependent on your geographical location as well.

Good luck!

Update on 6/21/2011 8:10 PM: Been talking to customer representatives at Timerwarner because they seem to have some problem getting their system info fixed so that I can finally upgrade to broadband... 8-O lol

Orzo

2011-06-19T00:01:00.002-04:00

My friend with a broken foot came from Italy originally and drinks Orzo all the times.

Caffé d'orzo... qu'est-ce que c'est?

Orzo, itself, is a kind of roasted grain beverage made from barley-- thus, caffeine-free.

The kind my friend drinks all the time, though, is Orzo & Caffè, which is equivalent to decaffeinated coffee... I guess...

So I was told by my friend with a broken foot... during the war, there was a shortage of coffee and many more people drank Orzo instead in Italy... such as my friend's parents. Interestingly, it never became big outside of Italy, if not Europe.

Unfortunately, despite of my diligent efforts, I have some problems finding any info over the Internet to either support or refute the validity of the above statement. Please feel free to correct me.

The two pictures show you what my friend's instant Orzo & Caffè by Ristora looks like... though the looks might be different, the ingredients are the same... barley 46%, rye, chicory, malt, instant coffee 35 % and low fat cocoa.

Free calling plans within the US and Canada

2011-06-18T16:28:00.002-04:00

Never really paid much attention to calling plans since I don't like to talk on the phone. As a result, there was never really a need for me to look for free calling plans.

Though I don't have a cellphone, I do have a land line... something I have had for the longest time and might as well keep it.

Had the chance to try out skypeout when it was free within the US-- though use it nowadays mainly when I have to make long distance calls... say between the US and Taiwan.

By chance, I rediscovered google voice tonight....and realized that... sweet... google voice allows you to make free phone calls within the US and Canad-- provided that you make your phone calls from within the US and Canada.

There is one thing I have to say, though, about the quality of GV... sometimes the voices are so low that you can barely hear what people are talking about....

Tea and sleep

2011-06-15T00:47:00.002-04:00

Those nights of having problems falling asleep and/or staying asleep must have traumatized me quite a bit because, after getting back to NYC, I can't stop rethinking about them things I tried out to shut my head down.

Surely, many things could have contributed to them endless sleepless nights....

For me, it might have something to do with the fact that, for those year or two, I had to cut the dosage of Seroquel down from 500-600 mg of Seroquel to 25 mg..... till today's dosage of roughly 25/4 mg... Since Seroquel used to knock me down like a charm at bed time, the decrease, surely, would have caused some turmoils to the activities of neurotransmitters in my beautiful head.

My shrink had prescribed sleeping pills but, unfortunately, I am one of those who would get the sleeping pill hangover- not to mention the risk of developing dependence on the pills.

That was the reason why-- in addition to drastically cut down the consumption of Coffee, I started to try out all alternatives possible to put myself to sleep.

This is the time when I started exploring the potential of herbal tea.... starting from Lavender and Chamomile.

For Chamomile tea along, I had tried out most of the common brands that you can find in the supermarkets or pharmacies such Bigelow, Stash, Celestial, Yogi etc. One conclusion I have after testing them out is that... just as all animals are equeal... Though all chamomile tea should be equal, some seems to do a better job helping me falling asleep than the others.

Guess, sort of like... although all froggies might be da prince, sometimes you might have to kiss a few en route in order to find da prince... 8-O lol

One kind of tea that I found most potent in knocking me down is the Yogi Bedtime tea... perhaps, it has something to do with the fact that the Valerian has been used for sleep disorders although, if you check the info provided in MedlinePlus, you might get the feeling that scientifically based studies don't seem to provide too much support for its effect.

Regardless what the experts say, the only thing I know is that... something worked for me and it could be the addition of Valerian.

Of course, each person is different and you might have to test it out to see whether the Yogi Bedtime tea might work for you.

One thing I noticed, though, was that, during the time when I have to drink this tea religiously at bedtime, I often wake up in the morning feeling more thirsty than usual. Although I have to remind you that I was not sure whether it was really the doing of the tea since there were many other things I tried out before bed time during that period for one and only one pursuit-- to sleep.

Just a hunch... I guess...

Sleep well!