The Audio Blog of Steven Sirski

Snow again! But not too cold… but how would I know as I never did go outside today! First time touching the drums in over a year! Kinda sucked. Only hit the snare drum and tried out some rudiments. Steve, are you not going back to China? I guess I should get going… though I said the same thing about Canada. Automation for the win! Zapier AI can modify my text input and spit out a decently well-cra...

Snow, but not cold New language vlog podcast out! Episode 19! Should I start posting these videos too? New walk n talk vlog out on the language vlog: lots of comments about the decline of the West and the rise of the East (re: China). Do you believe that? Then why do so many people want to leave China?? Workout in: Snow removal Walk Weights Steps for 35 minutes Gold and Chinese stonks a poppin! Wh...

Happy St. Nick’s Day! Oy khto khto? Zapier for the win! FINALLY got the “AI” to modify the Youtube Description input into social media channel output! Only took a year and a half! BEAUTIFUL! Will save me some monies on Fiverr! Why the sudden shift? Cause Zapier now allows you to use AI by Zapier (which is just OpenAI) as part of their paid plans. I can avoid the API fees! Now… to do this podcast A...

Another microphone mishap! The thing just cut out in the middle of the recording? How was it otherwise? Certainly holding the microphone closer to my mouth. Cold, but no snow today. Should warm up this weekend. Would it be possible to make 30,000 rmb per month in the Chinese stonk market? Need capital, and don’t confuse a bull market for brains. Trying to find this book I bought years ago about bu...

STUFFED! East Indian food for dinner, omg. Red Top diner for lunch, big breakfast there. Workout in! Bench, squats, accessories. Bench, had to dial back the weight a little, but squat added another ten pounds to the bar. Sun dogs, ever seen them? All I know is that it’s cold when they are out. Dealing with stuff, got rid of an old fog machine, black light, and strobe light that have been sitting a...

Snowy, but nice. Stonks a poppin! Is that a China rally underway? New mic! How does it sound? Did some shopping today. Old books, what do you do with them? How many times do you move a book before you just get rid of it? December Drumming continues, May You Make Your Movie continues, soon launching a Chinese language course… lots to go on. How do I make this easier on myself? Donate to the show! P...

Welcome to December! Last month of the year! Beginning of December Drumming! Here we go! This is a lot easier than March Motion and even MYMYM. Will I still get those done? Tracks here: https://skrskimuzik.bandcamp.com/album/december-drumming-2024 Language vlog podcast out - all about the reality of being an expat. Will probably make a second, follow up video to this and post it later in the week....

It’s gotten COLD! Workout in! Shoulders, rows, deadlifts and… stairs! Thirty minutes of that! Add on some accessory work and a short run, done n done. Mall stabbing in Polo Park! One of the big malls here in Winnipeg. Portage Place Mall closing up shop… it hasn’t been good since it opened. Lots of theft and not a very safe area. Convo with one of the cousins: guns, travel, and the state of the cou...

I forgot to put the perogie instructions at the end of the episode on Tuesday. Will put it at the end of today’s and Tuesday’s. Canada post still on strike, the dock workers were on strike, anyone else? Done Russian classes for now! Working on an email drip campaign for the language vlog: language learning and learning basic Chinese. This would be the first draft of the books I was looking to crea...

Can I say I’m tired of the cold? Workout in! Having fun trying to calculate kg to lbs. Bench, squat, accessories + a 7.00 km run in 37.03. Did I actually run 7km or is my watch lying to me? Six laps to a mile, 3.6 laps to a km. Why is it abbreviated “lbs”? Apparently from the Latin “libra”… but where does the “s” come from? Some say “little beef stacks”, which I thought was an interesting answer....

Surprised at how many people talk about Trump! Russian class done! Two more to go. What’s my plan? Chinese books in the making, how so? AI and more? What would YOU have liked to know when you first wen to China? Looking into Facebook Ads, add in a VA doing Lead Gen and… maybe this could be a good way to build up a clientele? Don’t forget newsletter marketing. Bringing back some flour to China - ca...

Bank of China overseas withdrawal fee was 32.84 RMB for $400 CAD, 46.54 RMB for $660 CAD. Max withdrawals seem to be $1000 CAD. This is in addition to the $3.50 CAD ATM fee. Kinda expensive, innit? SLV newsletter out, podcast out. Freelancers sorted… had to draw up a proper ChatGPT prompt for them. Is this the new requirement for bosses? Or have I just been dialling it in and finally clued in to w...

My apologies for all the sniffles, I hope I got most edited out. Feeling better now. So Thanksgiving Day is next week, do you think Trump will pardon the turkey? Day with the fam, ran through a couple of my crazy ideas just to see if they sound crazy out loud. Not too bad. Finally went upstairs to my old room and got rid of a box of books! I probably have three or four more I could get rid of very...

COLD! Uruguay, shenme yisi? Buying land in Canada vs other places. Shoplifting is a problem in Canada Trying to coordinate with freelancers, this is a bit of a challenge. Donate to the show! PayPal link below! https://www.paypal.me/stevensirski?locale.x=en_CA *** Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com And on Notion: https://stevensirski.notion.site/SSAB-The-Audio-Blog-of-Steven-Sirski-00acfe34...

Cold and rainy turning to slush! Oh Winnipeg! Stuck around the house today to get some things done. A year’s worth of mail and other clean up jobs. Cost of perogies has gone up! $9 per dozen! Used to be $6! Never did go for a walk but did go out for a drive to Grant Park mall. Shopped at Co-op… they used to be just a gas station, now grocery store that replaced the Safeway. Cash register lady was...

Back in the peg! Or, as some people like to say, Winnipeg Pegged. EL oh EL Flair airlines, who’s it for? Those with very little luggage and those who book ahead of time. I did not. Otherwise an uneventful flight. Did I even finish yesterday’s episode? Talked to a business student at SFU, last term at university then off into the job world. Something about a co-op instead of a term ending? My advic...

SSAB - November 18, 2024 Canadalanded! How was the flight? Korean Air… movie selection was a little… well, very Korean. Watched Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning. Had the whole row to myself! Eight hour forty three minutes total flight time. Vancouver Aquarium with the family… Unionpay did NOT work. Grey Cup on Sunday, Winnipeg Blue Bombers lost 41 to 22 or something. Brutal. Jonas Brothers? Have...

Work done and dusted for another couple of weeks! Markets… down! Mid-November pullback or signs of a further correction? Workouts in! Morning: 20 min on the bike (reading Chinese) Shoulders, Rows, Deadlifts Finishing arms Afternoon: 6.46 km in 1hr 13m 39s Rounds included Pull ups: 10, 14, 14, 14, 24 Push Ups: 20, 28, 28, 28, 48 Squats: 30, 42, 42, 42, 72 Plus lunges, duck walks, step ups Some old...

To Canada on Saturday! Should’ve booked hometown tickets earlier! Taiwanese class done for a while! ChatGPT can do spreadsheets, but what’s the prompt?? What’s the difference between import and export and an Amazon Fulfillment business? I’m a little lost why people would still need an importer/exporter based in China. Donate to the show! PayPal link below! https://www.paypal.me/stevensirski?locale...

Cleaning up the phone and prepping for Canada. Ooofs, 3-4%ers roughly going - but what’s the choice? GOLD, USD, OIL and BITCOIN… how they interact? Prepping a language vlog: can language and culture be separated? Workouts in! Morning: 26 min on the bike while reading Chinese Bench (26.5 kg each side x 5 reps) Squat (30 kg each side x 5 reps) Finishing arms Came back early to start work and… had to...

Less busy, but smoggy day. looking at ticket back to Canada. Just a short trip this time. Packing up some things. Chinese done, Taiwanese class done, Russian reading done. Reading Trump’s Art of the Deal. Interesting if only because it dates me, he was making deals in New York and I was in diapers! Looking at using Zapier for automation, cannot find a good deal on the social media repurposing. May...

Lest we forget! Another reading… Hey! It’s Single’s Day! Did you buy anything? Great Leap #45 gone! The others remain. More comments on the YT channel! To be clear, I’m not looking to build some sort of “expat in China” vlog, I’m looking to create a channel that is more dedicated to language learning and living as an expat around the world rather than just one country. Scones arrived! Maple and pu...

Workouts in despite the smog! What’s one hour in the dirt? Morning: 30min bike while reading Chinese Rows, Shoulders, Deadlift Finishing arms Afternoon: 6.44km in 1hr 13m 31s w 6kg vest 60 pull ups, 120 pushups, 180 squats Lunges, step ups, etc. VLOG a POPPIN! 800+ subscribers and comments a flowin’ in! Apparently people like the walk n talks? I’m aiming to do ten of these before moving on to some...

Why are people upset? Ukraine was invaded TWICE during a Democrat presidency? GOLD and SILVER DROP like a rock… there’s the correction / pullback we’re looking for. AEM.to and WPM.to in particular. BITCOIN? New ETFs out. CANADIAN OIL doing well. Looking at the Stock Trader’s Almanac https://jeffhirsch.tumblr.com/ TWO NEW VIDEOS out on the vlog, A visit to Universal Studios Beijing. Debating betwee...

Trump is in! USAmericans moan! Again! More! LOL! Stocks go up! Working on that book… using ChatGPT? Is it worth it? Looking at tickets back to Canada. Might reshoot that video I made yesterday, clarify a few things. Workouts in! Morning: 33 min on the bike while reading Chinese Bench, squat, finishing arms Afternoon: 6.44 km in 43.58 Then 20 minutes of slam ball work. But that shoulder is a tweaki...