Hello from Beijing! Back to the city and into my humble abode… again. Still.

How was the trip? How was the food? It was decent but has been better. Same with the snacks. No brownies this time. They seem to be giving free beer on domestic flights these days.

Watched Suits, Succession, and Narcos.

Are you a YouTuber?

And, do you like being back?

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***

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Hope you have a great one!!

00:00 Back in Beijing

00:38 Air Canada Flight Recap

01:54 Carry On Seat Drama

03:58 Souvenirs and Books

06:01 New Job Starts Tomorrow

07:51 Arrival Customs Tips

09:39 Canada to China Itinerary

11:28 Headache and Airport Shopping

14:26 In Flight Shows and Editing

17:24 Vlogging Without B Roll

22:02 Are You a YouTuber

30:58 Do I Like Being Back

38:42 Closing and Links

End of week and end of my time in Canada! I can’t believe it’s over and… I can’t believe I couldn’t get it to work.

Packing almost done, next up, getting stuff ready to sit for another year. When will I come back?

Another recording done! Let it Crash! Or something like that.

And are you ready to get back to Beijing? Back to China?

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***

Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com

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Newsletter over at stevensirski.substack.com

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Hope you have a great weekend! See you in Beijing!

00:00 Last Night in Canada

01:44 Goodbyes and No Visitors

02:22 Book Gifts Gone Wrong

04:51 Three Days of Transit

07:16 Teaching Prep and Creative Labor

11:00 Packing Lists and China Snacks

11:52 Why China Again

17:24 Cymbals Album and Microphone ROI

23:20 Online Teaching Dream Failed

28:17 Content Strategy and Language Vlog

31:30 Final Packing and Loose Ends

36:10 Not Ready for Beijing

42:00 Wrap Up and Links

Up and at it 6 am… or thereabouts. Gotta get back into the swing of things.

Happy sun spin to me and out for dinner with Mumsy!

Sorting files and hoping I’ve got the shots I needed… won’t get any of this done until next week.

—

Check for differences:diff -rq /path/to/computer/folder /path/to/external/drive/folder

(Returns a blank line if folders are 100% identical.)

Dry run (Simulate copying missing files):rsync -avn --ignore-existing /path/to/computer/folder/ /path/to/external/drive/folder/

Actual transfer (Copy missing files only):rsync -av --ignore-existing /path/to/computer/folder/ /path/to/external/drive/folder/


(Note: The forward slash / at the end of the first folder path and the space after it are required.)

Useful Keyboard Shortcuts

Up Arrow: Recalls your last used command.

Option + Left/Right Arrow: Moves the cursor word-by-word.

Control + K: Clears/deletes everything from the cursor to the end of the line.

—

Upstairs a workin’ on that cymbal album… Why? Some latency issues and stick around for a sneak peak.

And, interesting conversation, if kids want to use social media, should they get a job?

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***

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Happy Sun Spin!

00:00 Early Start Reset

00:33 Leaving Winnipeg Soon

02:13 New Semester Schedule

05:16 Skills Split Teaching Plan

07:08 Morning Routine Workout

08:21 First Week Prep Meeting

09:38 Icebreakers And Class Ideas

11:24 Packing Gifts And Visa

14:25 Gear Loss And Filming Runs

17:36 Birthday Dinner With Mom

18:26 Magazines And Media Rants

22:05 Backing Up Travel Footage

22:29 Sharing Photos via Drive

23:56 Terminal Backup Tricks

25:51 Diff and Rsync Explained

27:55 Vlog Titles and Thumbnails

29:59 Cymbal Album Motivation

35:02 Logic Pro Latency Problems

38:59 Avoiding a Vanity Album

40:33 Kids and Social Media Debate

46:18 Wrap Up and Links

Hello from Winnipeg! Made it back after some trouble with the flight. They destroyed my luggage!

$20 for a pint?! There goes the food budget!

Back into the Peg and getting ready to go once again. Bought the cigars I needed and Halloween Kisses. What else do I need?

And I did a manly thing today: I cleaned an eaves trough!

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***

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Hope you have a great one!!

00:00 Back in Winnipeg

01:01 Toronto Security Chaos

03:15 Water Bottle Standoff

06:24 Random Pat Down Drama

08:32 Twenty Dollar Pint

11:54 Forced Gate Check

14:21 Zipper Break Fallout

17:52 Racing Back to China

19:54 No Screens No Plugs

21:05 Travel Lessons Learned

21:20 Airport Legalese Mode

22:29 Shouldve Kept Carry On

22:57 Do Airlines Track You

24:09 Back In Winnipeg Errands

25:34 Microphone Rental Regrets

26:37 Flight Back To Beijing Plan

29:44 Insurance Timing Trap

35:07 Travel Vs Medical Coverage

37:45 Cleaning The Eavestrough

43:04 Maybe A New Career

44:49 Wrap Up And Links

Made it! Hello from Toronto! The Great Grand American Road Trip is now over and it’s back to work for this guy!

Lyft to the Gordie Howe International Bridge, yes, the same one that was in the news a while back. Apparently Canada paid for it, but now the US wants to charge tolls or something like that. No idea. Took 45 minutes to walk across… but that’s because I was taking pictures.

How was your last day in Detroit and in the America? Pretty good.

-Buddy’s Pizza (talked about that yesterday)

-Riverwalk

-Walked much of the way back to Hamtramck

-Didn’t make the Polish Village Restaurant

-Saves the Day closed out the Labour Day Hamtramck Festival.

And yea, how was border security?

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***

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Safe travels!

Hello from Detroit, Michigan!

Got in Saturday morning (sorry I didn’t publish Friday’s episode until later). Got about three hours of sleep and… that wasn’t enough.

Weekend review.

Out and about in Detroit, Coney Island hot dogs, Buddy’s Pizza, Detroit Institute of Arts, Lime Bike, Hamtamck Hostel

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***

Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com

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Hope you have a great one!!

00:00 Goodbye Detroit Vibes

00:31 Expat Again and Time Crunch

01:49 Exhausted Drive and Close Call

06:12 Airport to Downtown on a Budget

09:00 Hamtramck Intro and Getting Around

14:30 Hostel Life and Riverwalk Setup

16:15 Jazz Fest and Hamtramck Food Scene

18:12 Hostel Characters and Festival Chats

22:14 Laundry Night and Reading The Stand

24:14 Sunday Plans and Detroit Institute of Arts

26:59 Making Videos and Trip Content Goals

29:02 Video Plans and Publishing

30:13 Recording in Public

30:37 Detroit Institute of Arts Visit

33:40 Detroit Food Quest Begins

33:49 Coney Dogs Taste Test

35:18 Origins of American Junk Food

38:42 Riverwalk Jazz Festival Night

40:53 Late Night Scooter Ride Back

41:56 Monday Plans and Ticket Mistake

43:24 Buddy's Detroit Style Pizza

47:54 What Counts as a Good Deed

50:03 Next Day Bridge and Travel Logistics

52:36 Wrapping Up and Final Thoughts

Oh man! The Cleveland air show is this weekend! And that Rock and Roll Hall of Fame looks enticing!

Made it to Cleveland! How was the drive? How was the sleep?

Saw Lake Erie and dipped my toes in.

Did a quick tour of Buffalo in the morning. Canalsides, AKG Art Museum, war ships, and Charlie the Butcher Beef on Weck.

And yea, the sleep sucked but good thing I got to the car rental agency at 6.30am cause… they said there are limited walkups.

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***

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Hope you have a great one!!

00:00 Midnight Truck Stop Check-In

02:03 Running on Empty

04:48 Airport Bench Night

07:50 Why Travel Costs So Much

09:51 Renting the Altima

12:38 Car vs Bus Math

14:46 Buffalo Driving Missions

15:46 Cemetery and Canalside History

17:58 Buffalo Food Tour

19:26 Route 5 to Lake Erie

21:37 Airshow Or Bust

22:37 Backroads Reality Check

23:48 Ripping Down I-90

24:42 Cleveland Arrival Regrets

26:25 Locals Talk Airshow

29:54 Truck Stop Reset

30:08 Walmart Card Fail

33:37 Planning Versus Wing It

35:46 Costs And Logistics

37:00 Trip Recap And Reading

39:05 Next Steps And Sleep

39:54 Wrap Up And Links

Wow, America! This is insane! Nowhere cheap to stay!

Did try the Buffalo Wings at Gabriel’s Gate. Park Street Steak sandwich, too… and that’s my food budget for the day.

Right now at Ulrich’s Tavern not far from Kevin’s Guesthouse… they wouldn’t take me because I don’t have anyone at the hospital, “It’s against our charter.” “I’d rather donate to you than a hotel. Can I volunteer?” “There’s the City Mission, they’ll take you.”

Thank you to Thomas the travelling salesman who helped me out last night. Hyatt Regency! What a sleep! Part of his work is to attract sales by going to in-person meetings all over the States to convince people to use their software. Had a few beers at The Brew Room before heading back to the Hyatt Regency. I was skeptical but, again, like yesterday, what’s the difference of that and Couchsurfing? (He was a practitioner of Kundalini yoga… interesting.)

McKenzie the bar tender and I did a video… she’s studying Mandarin Chinese and looking to travel to China next year.

What are my options?

And Steve, do you still love America?

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***

Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com

Transcript and more available on Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1om1Geup1o6Adi-A8kTAnCf12Zo7nDkAt?usp=sharing

Newsletter over at stevensirski.substack.com

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Hope you have a great one!!

00:00 Buffalo Sticker Shock

00:51 Do I Still Love America

02:59 Politics and Media Extremes

05:20 Karpeles Museum Detour

07:44 Stranger Danger Hotel Offer

11:18 Buffalo History with ChatGPT

15:08 Kundalini and Goggins Challenge

17:11 Gabriel's Gate Wing Review

24:51 Guesthouse Rejection and City Mission

28:55 Next Moves and Travel Options

37:12 McKenzie Learns Mandarin

40:09 Wrap Up and What's Next

My apologies about the delay in posting yesterday’s episode. Many technical delays! iPhone got SOAKED! Couldn’t charge. Couldn’t upload. OOPS!

Hello from Buffalo! What’s it like? It’s raining! Surprise surprise and there’s a tornado warning.

No cheap places to stay. Thinking about staying in the airport… unless I take this guy’s offer up at the bar to stay in his hotel room… Steve, say wha?

I did record an interview with the hostel owner in Niagara… but, it will need to be edited.

And what’s next? How was Niagara Falls?

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***

Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com

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Hope you have a great one!!

00:00 Delayed Update in Buffalo

00:31 Mission and Setup

01:42 Getting to Downtown

02:08 No Hostels No Storage

03:52 Couchsurfing and Bar Offer

05:41 Airport Sleep Debate

06:43 Spa Alternatives Abroad

10:37 Renting a Car Math

16:48 Weather Warnings and Wet Gear

18:42 KeyBank Center and Brewpub

19:29 Buffalo Wings Origin Story

22:49 Why Everything Feels Expensive

24:45 Hotel Search Clickbait

25:14 Dynamic Pricing Scam

25:47 Couchsurfing Dilemma

27:11 Buffalo Not Budget

27:54 Car Town Cost Math

29:07 Phone Soaked Fallout

31:02 Weed Offer And Vices

33:35 Hostel Interview Problems

37:44 iPhone Revival Upload

40:32 Spa Hunt Mandarin Chat

41:57 Next Stops Deadline

44:22 Wrap Up Bonus Reflections

Welcome to the America!

Yes, checked in late to the hostel, much to the chagrin of the owner, Jeff! Found him at the bar down the street! Sounded gruff on the phone but was very nice in person, very knowledgeable. 

China visa video doing okay, 500+ views so far. Keep the stories a coming, Stevie!

How was the crossover into the US? Not bad, though nerve-racking, border guard was curious how long I was going to be in the country, asked me what I do for work, and how I was going to get around. She looked a little skeptical about my idea to take the bus and train around. Why am I coming here? Because NO ONE is saying anything nice about the country, I gotta see it for myself!

And, I’m soaked!

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***

Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com

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Hope you have a great one!!  

00:00 Raw Niagara Intro

00:37 Soaked at Cave of the Winds

02:45 Park Side Prices and Thirst

03:46 What to Do on US Side

05:12 Hostel Check In Debacle Setup

08:00 Border Politics and City Reality

09:38 Food Portions and Daily Costs

11:14 China Visa Video Backlash

14:03 Crossing the Rainbow Bridge

14:57 US Transit Shock and Itinerary

19:19 Maps Confusion and Locked Hostel

21:39 Phone Plan Fails

22:29 Seeking Help Nearby

23:31 Gas Station Lifeline

26:37 Tracking Down Jeff

29:56 Bar Encounter Check In

31:30 Hostel Life And Fees

35:35 Next Stop Buffalo

38:10 Niagara History Lesson

46:31 Wrap Up And Links