Ski time!

On Thursday, Dennis and I went skiing in Wisconsin with two other friends. The drive to the ski resort, Devils Head, took over three hours. It was my second time skiing (my first time was in PA two years ago) and I was anxious because I remembered falling a lot the first time. I started out warming up on the bunny slope and you know what, I didn't fall once. I guess my body retained some basic moves. Maybe it's like biking, once your body learns the skill, it doesn't forget easily. In any case, I definitely felt more comfortable skiing; it was time to move on. The rest of the day, I skied on the green, the blue, and yes the black slope (although only once). I can't claim I'm a good skier yet (I fell 3-4 times), but I am definitely getting better. Skiing on the black slope was really scary. I was hesitant at first, but then I thought, well what's the worst that can happen? Falling down isn't fun but at least it doesn't hurt. I knew I would regret it if I didn't try it, and so I did. Wow! What a rush! All I can say is, I can't wait to go skiing again. 

Food cost: up, up, and...up?

These days whenever I go grocery shopping, I always come out thinking about how things used to be cheaper. The first time I really started paying attention to my grocery bill was during my second year of college (four years ago). That is only because I was on a meal plan my first year, meaning I didn't need to cook (I couldn't even if I wanted to since I didn't have access to a proper kitchen). To further illustrate, look at how much the price of these food has gone up in the past year alone:

-eggs up 43.9%

-milk up 21.3%

-meat up 6.4%

-poultry up 7.2%

So, why? After deducting inflation from the equation, the rising food price phenomenon can be directly accounted for by the law of supple and demand. To illustrate, countries like China (whose economy has been growing at a ferocious rate) are competing for the same commodities in the global market as the U.S. These commodities include food and energy. The U.S. is a major supplier of food but not of energy. This translates to rising food cost and soaring energy price.  Did I mention how soaring energy price directly contribute to rising food cost since the cost of transporting food is increased? The saying that oil is king is not an understatement. 

What can the U.S. do to become more self-sufficient? In comes ethanol...made from corn that is. 

It seemed like the perfect solution.  Instead of paying other countries for oil, we can pay our own farmers to make ethanol from corn. Moreover, burning corn-derived ethanol is a lot better for the environment. What a perfect way to kill two birds with one stone!

If only that was the case. Since we are paying our farmers more to use corn for ethanol, we are left with less corn for our own consumption. Not to mention all the corn-derived products including corn syrup and corn oil. Moreover, farmers frequently use corn to feed their livestock...well they used to anyways. To further poke holes at the rosy picture, corn-derived ethanol is not as efficient as crude oil. Although I am certain the energy efficiency will continue to improve with further research, I really doubt we will reach the point where all of our oil will come from plant. 

For now, this is a lose-lose situation. With time, in the best case scenario, our farmers will plant more corn to boost supply and our corn-derived ethanol will be a lot more energy efficient. Otherwise, the exorbitant prices will be unbearable, people will protest and government will probably have to subsidize the cost of food or energy. 

Northern California trip/family reunion

Dennis and me in front of the Golden Gate Bridge

Crashing waves of the Pacific.

Night time view of bridge.

Left to right: Carol, Dad and Mom, Fang and Susan, me and Dennis.

Another picture of the extended family.

Liang's family shot.

Us again.

I spent the Thanksgiving holiday in the Sunshine state with friends and family, far away from Chicago's winter (thankfully). California is a huge state with so much to see and do, where do I begin? Luckily, our gracious hosts, Susan and Fang, packed the four-days trip with their favorite Northern California destinations.

Some highlights of our trip include the Golden Gate Bridge (a must see), touring the Napa Valley wine vineyards (fantastic wine tasting opportunity), and driving through the 17-miles drive in Carmel (beautiful, beautiful, and did I say beautiful?). Needless to say, I was very content with all the places; what's more beautiful than the arts of Mother Nature? 

Thank you again for a fantastic time Susan and Fang.