8/7/2026 Friday
Despite more complicated history, I did not know it was Chairman Mao's movement that officially spit the Chinese characters into traditional and simplified:
8/6/2026 Thursday
Nadia's working so I used the time to test the long ago (2024) bought Backup Generator, EcoFlow DELTA MAX 2000 with 2 Portable Solar Panels from Costco. It's been sitting with 100% charge for more than a year. With AI's help, I follow this setup to make good use of it. I really was not distinguishing backup generator and a more permanent Solar Battery setup (LiPO4 batteries). This is a backup generator, meant for portability (i.e. camping) and backup use (i.e. power outage and such). For a more permanent solar battery solution, and for even EV cars, EcoFlow sells their Delta Pro Ultra $5,000 - $10,000 (5 batteries back option). Though I may look for cheaper alternatives for the Delta Pro Ultra.
This Costco deal for the DELTA MAX was around $1,300:
I got to test the two portable solar panels for the first time. It seems to work easily. Although, halfway through, I don't know if it's me or the wifi connectivity (this unit support wifi and allows phone app to connect to it via the wifi network at home, and testing it in the backyard may be too far for wifi connectivity), the unit just bricks for a while, until I tried various reset and reboot on it. According to AI, I need to keep it charged at 50%-60% for optimal longevity. This is my intro to DIY Solar System. Learning the specs and the math of it. Specs below:
At night, I managed to setup in the shed, two LED ceiling lights I bought a while back from Harbor Freight. They are hooked up to the generator and they certainly do light up the room. These are: BRAUN 5500 Lumen, 4 ft. Linkable LED Hanging Shop Light.
8/4/2026 Tuesday
Accepted Tesla's trade-in offer in app: $5800 for Honda CRV 2012, I think it's a good deal considering previous offers from other dealers and even Tesla had gone from $2,000 to $5,400 (a Quick Kelley's Blue Book KBB check shows $5,756 (8/6 update email from KBB values the trade-in at $5,680 - $ 7,155, not sure what's with this update) on based on VIN number and brief car description). Delivery date confirmed for Aug 27th, 3pm, at Totowa. Nadia wants me to call Totowa to have it changed to morning. I'll try to call for a morning reschedule and even earlier date. I'll have to start looking into charging cable (25 10 awg extension cord) and PPF (full front + bulk roll, to cut cost). Other accessories are all weather floor mats, compartmental drawers, LCD screen protector, Ceramic coating, car wash materials, etc. I would also be interested in a future project of charging the car purely via solar, AI gave promising instructions.
8/2/2026 Sunday
Crossroads Community Church Sermon on Numbers 18: The Lord is My Portion
The divine demand upon Aaronic Priesthood in the first verse reminds me that Adam's opportunity to bear Eve's sin was missed.
The multiple mentions of "Perpetual due" (4 times in ESV in this chapter) had me looking this up: That the Levites, or specifically the descendent of Jewish priests is the only one traceable today, as the other Jews are basically symbolized by the tribe of Judah (and Benjamin) while the other ten northern tribes are considered lost or ambiguously assimilated by Assyrians and such. Only the Tribe of Levi has preserved explicit, directly verifiable hereditary surnames throughout Jewish history: Kohanim surnames identify as Aaron's descent: Cohen, Cohn, Kohn, Cahn, Kahn, Coen, Kagan, Kogan, Kaganovich, Kaplan (Ashkenazi Jews transliterated this from European word chaplain), Baron (Bar Aaron), Kohan, Kohanpour, Lavi, Lavaee. Surnames for broader tribe of Levites descendent: Levi, Levy, Levin, Levine, Lewin, Levinsky, Levitan, Levenson, Segal, Sagal, Siegal (meaning Assistant Levite - Segan Levi). Even today synagogues require descendent of Aaron to do prayers and such. So there's some kind of spiritual perpetual due among the Jews still today, but interestingly, Jesus had already fulfilled this. So this spiritual due they are practicing in a way becomes the old wine skin, forever.
Since last night, my ASUS laptop (ASUS ROG STRIX G634JY SCAR 16 (2023) G634 - Gaming Laptop) has had some problem accessing the internet. With Google AI's help today I could quickly narrow down and changed the ethernet card's MAC address from factory to spoofed (Device Manager -> Network card -> Properties -> Advanced -> Network Address -> enter random 12 digit HEX numbers) the MAC address and it works right away. For some reason, the Verizon Router must be blocking the original factory MAC address. Rebooting the Verizon router did not help. So this remains a mystery. I'll categorize this entry under Projects until it is resolved or I no longer own this laptop setup. Also, changing the static ip assigned for the laptop in the Router also works, which is my final solution.