The Audio Blog of Steven Sirski

Nineteen more days until the summer solstice, nineteen more days until the days start getting shorter. Too early? Three more days! Apparently I have to have class on Friday morning! Grades getting sent out. Episode 43 of the SLV podcast recorded, hope to have it out tomorrow. AI Agents, new tech, or just a fad? What about for teachers? Ma La Xiang Guo - what is it? Donate to the show! PayPal link...

It’s Dragon Boat Weekend! Back into Changping for the last time! Why do we even have classes this week?! Summer plans? A resurgence of COVID? Smokers didn’t COVID? Where’s the evidence of alcohol helping you do stuff? Saw the latest Mission: Impossible movie. Not bad. Long. Kinda sappy. And they finally gave me soap in the hotel again! Donate to the show! PayPal link below! https://www.paypal.me/s...

End of the month already and five months gone of the year. Insane. Most grading done, a few more changes to make. Visa renewal in process! Got a few videos done today, too! Workout in! Ooof! 7.03 km in 42.34, then tried to go into pull ups etc. got through 75 and the decided to go eat. Returned after breakfast to finish the last bit. Spent the afternoon updating spreadsheets and cycling around Cha...

And it’s over! Classes are over! Some students were asking about a writing test next week… I know nothing about it.  Trump Tariffs on pause, is that why Chinese stocks went up? Lost 200 RMB! Damn! It’s been there all semester! Why is it that that can affect me more than losing money in the stock market? Looking at houses in Canada, changed my “Maximum” monthly payment to “$2000” and was literally...

Classes nearing the end! Some interesting class presentations: -tea (white hair silver needles) -how to make your own LLM And glad to see one class is as dialled out for their classmates’ presentations as they are for me! Should get that residence permit renewal in! Forgot and have been busy! Workout in! 7.02km in 39.34 - 5.30 pace. Is the time savings worth the extra struggle? Then hit the weight...

Essays done, final exam done! Turns out the other teachers are leaving! Am I missing something?? Workout in! 5 km in the noontime in 34.28, then a 20-minute workout afterwards. Working on three months of content, so it can build upon itself AND an agentic workflow.  And a discussion on whether or not AI should be in the classroom. Donate to the show! PayPal link below! https://www.paypal.me/steven...

Beginning of the week, and end of the semester. Speaking presentations begin! What is vibe coding and why does anyone care? Projects piling up, how to sort through them all? Workout in! 6.44 km in 49.07. Four rounds of rope work, push ups, tuck jumps and assisted pistol squats (these are getting better!). Then inside for club and mace work. Work permit extended, do I even want to stay? What’s the...

End of classes! Now on to exams! Finally time to pause and think. Kinda. If Google Meet is taking out language teachers, then automation is the way to go. It’s the new teaching English. Power Automate, Zapier, Make, I guess I’m going to learn how to do them all. Workout in! 110 pull ups, 220 push ups, 330 squats with 5kg, then lunges, 20 kg plate farmers carries. 7.03 km run in 43.10. Ran faster (...

Google live translate! https://www.wsj.com/tech/personal-tech/google-meet-ai-translation-6a30c43a?mod=itp_wsj,djemITP_h Sheeeit! They found me! Or at least a few did. What are they watching? Are they the trolls? And it’s agreed that the Chinese internet is more toxic than the West! Do dead people have feelings? My Dad said he got some of the best sleep in class. Would you rather carry a backpack f...

Long day! Is COVID back? Workout in! 7.00km in 41.18. Did the last three kms in under five minutes caused I got passed by another runner. Not gonna let that happen… actually, wanted to see if I could keep pace. I did. Weights done, not lifting as heavy, but still moving. Canada energy retreating, and inflation not as bad as it has been - because of the drop in the price of oil! -unless of course y...

520! Send your kisses! Some students were sure dolled up. Lots of former students got married this past weekend. Essay breakdown! OMG! Where did they learn this?? High school?? Google Notebook LM is out! How is it? Same same as before. It was able to pull from YouTube and summarize everything but it also included the mouth smack… annoying.  New SLV podcast out! Looking at ways to make this easier....

Getting hot out there! Getting hard to walk across open streets. Winnipeg Jets are out! In overtime! Sad. ;( Mark Scheifele’s father passed away before the game, then he takes a penalty in the last thirty seconds of the game which carried over into overtime.  Then, with only thirty seconds left in the penalty, Dallas Stars scored.  Workouts in! 6.50 km in 38.37… not sure about that. Four rounds of...

End of the week! Time to work! Can’t wait for the semester to be over. Power Automate - looks like Zapier but SLOW AF! Aaaand… why am I learning this? Workouts in! 110 pull ups (105 weighted with 5 kg), 220 push ups, 335 squats. Took 1 hr 13 min to complete, then a 7.00km run in 46.42. Figured, get it done cause if I stop, would I start again? Heading into an easier week but my mind is on the summ...

Some articles on Warren Buffett https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/read-the-wsjs-early-coverage-of-warren-buffett-01b09b9c? What’s inside Berkshire Hathaway https://www.wsj.com/business/what-is-berkshire-hathaway-warren-buffett-a6d0d968? $130 for a writing APP?!?! Could I make something similar for the language vlog? Summer plans, do I really want to be living in Canada? Current schedule is uns...

Apple and Synchron - Would you connect to your device? What holds this back? What if a country such as China takes the lead in this type of technology? What if aliens “force-feed” their children information? https://www.wsj.com/tech/apple-brain-computer-interface-9ec69919? No go for Winnipeg - oh. Will have to look for something else and some way else. Why DID I sign another contract with a univer...

Peace in Ukraine? Could it be? Neighbour moving home, why? One of the other teachers? LEAVING! One semester is enough! And if she’s leaving after one semester, what am I to think? What do other people think about Beijing? And what about the Chinese economy? I know I said I’d talk about it.  How bad is China’s economy? https://www.wsj.com/world/china/china-economy-data-missing-096cac9a? Disappearin...

Hey Happy Mother’s Day! Steve, did you forget? Only on Friday. Back to class, should I continue? What did I say?? What will I do this summer? Essay reading, getting into the groove. Using a new APP: GoodNotes 6. Much better than default MarkUp APP. This just in, BREAKING! Trade war truce! Is that a surprise?! Stonks sore, GOLD drops! 18-40  Donate to the show! PayPal link below! https://www.paypal...

End of week! Kinda! Make up class tomorrow. Touched a student today! She learned how to make a paper koala in class. New Pope! Pope Leo XIV! USAmerican. Did Trump call it? Will this Pope be at odds with the Chinese cardinals?! Workout in! 7.02km in 47.34, then down to the gym for 105 or 110 pull ups, 210 push ups, 315 squats all with 5kg weights. Took over an hour to do. Throat is doing okay, but...

Smells like rain. It is! First thunderstorm! How is the throat? Better. Hamstrings are still a hurtin. Make up class today so began at 8am. Can’t say this is a sustainable schedule nor do I really want to repeat it! Winnipeg Jets lost… my internet connection cut out just before the end of the game. New SLV podcast out! Came across this guy on TikTok who LAMBASTS popular salesmen online. H&S Mo...

Owie! Legs are a hurting! Run done, 7.26km in 50.10. Went right to the weight room after for a workout and hit the legs. I would stiffen up during the day. Getting hit with something, throat is sore, fatigued, but brain is still okay. 板蓝根 Banlangen, is a Traditional Chinese herbal medicine, only has a 1000 year history in use. (Who had it before?) Main component is Isatis indigotica  root ( IIR...

Buffet stepping down! TikTok rebrands to Lemon-8?! Or just creating a new AP?! YouTube is 20! Can you remember when it started? And HOW it started? How is China’s economy? Is the US going to buy Chinese energy? Electric and coal stocks are going up. And will there be a new baby boom? I bet they’ll change the science and, therefore, the thinking, of when and how people can have babies. Donate to th...

May the fifth be with you! Calves are a hurtin’! Why? Walking walking walking. Fatigued, tired, and a bit worn out. It’s been a year. Workouts in! 7.00km in the morning, then steel clubs in the afternoon. Beginning to mark essays, ChatGPT wouldn’t cut it. Still need to highlight the problem areas. Can’t wait til the end of semester. New vid up on the language vlog. And what an exciting game! Winni...

End of week and things are looking up! Where would you digital visa yourself? Workouts in! 7.00 km this morning in 53minutes, though I think the clouds affected the count. Afternoon workout: 105 pull ups, 210 push ups, 315 squats, half weighted, half not. What’s this idea I have for the language vlog? And how do I create these courses? Talking about Circle Communities. Donate to the show! PayPal l...

It’s the weekend! Five days off and we’re heading into the home stretch. 劳动节快乐！ Meeting with the admin today, do I want to continue? Not really. I tell her I spend my evenings trying to automate language learning, “You’re the enemy!” she responds! Ha! But what’s next? An interesting job idea AND… I think I may have found a good place for a website. More costly than a regular website, but I t...

End of the month, let the break begin! Looking forward to the break. Taxes done, the people’s are due today, self-employed on June 15th. Payment still due today. Turns out I’m no longer eligible for the GST credit in Canada. New ice cream shop on campus! Could they confiscate GOLD (again)? What if it’s needed for the space race or something similar? Got a run in, but barely any weights. Had to fin...