Top hotel groups

Marriott International: The undisputed largest hotel chain in the world, featuring over 1.6 million rooms across legendary brands like Ritz-Carlton, Sheraton, and Westin. 

Hilton Worldwide: The second largest by market valuation, spanning over 1.2 million rooms across brands like Waldorf Astoria, Conrad, and Hampton. 

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG): A massive global footprint of nearly 1 million rooms, anchored by Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, and InterContinental. 

Hyatt Hotels Corporation: Considerably smaller in total hotel count (around 1,300+ properties) but fiercely loved by travelers for its high-end luxury portfolio like Park Hyatt and Grand Hyatt.

Accor: Based in France, Accor is Europe's largest hotel group. It commands over 850,000 rooms and has the most diverse lifestyle/luxury lineup, including Fairmont, Sofitel, Novotel, and Ibis.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts: By absolute number of hotel locations, Wyndham is an absolute monster with over 9,200 properties, focusing heavily on budget and midscale travel like Days Inn, Super 8, and Ramada. 

Jin Jiang International: This Chinese state-owned giant is technically the second-largest hotel group in the world by room count. It owns Radisson Hotel Group (outside the Americas) and Louvre Hotels.

H World Group (Huazhu): Another massive Chinese powerhouse that ranks ahead of IHG and Hyatt in terms of total global room capacity. 

3 websites for housing search

 

www.sccassessor.org

www.greatschools.org

www.dre.ca.gov

Plumbing rooter service

My Kitchen drain was clogged, so I need to find a plumber to unclog it. Called a couple of companies from google search and Yelp search, in the hope of finding a good and reasonable quote but failed.

https://plumbing.rootersolutionssj.com/

408-215-7696

https://www.drainrooterservice.com/

(669) 232-7086

https://www.rescuerooter-bay-area.com/

(510) 983-4008

 

Finally, Mr. Cris from Señor Rooter Plumbing quoted from pictures I sent to him without making an onsite appointment. https://www.yelp.com/biz/se%C3%B1or-rooter-plumbing-san-martin  I feel family owned business is more friendly, affordable and professional.

Top 100 Places to Eat in the Bay Area according to Yelp Elites (2024)

 https://www.yelp.com/collection/VYiUdPIDvoQ9FOLPfGgJMw/Top-100-Places-to-Eat-in-the-Bay-Area-according-to-Yelp-Elites

Top 10:

1. Zareen's in Palo Alto
2. Duc Huong in San Jose
3. The Laundromat in San Francisco
4. Butchers Korean BBQ in Sunnyvale (https://www.10butchers.net/)
5. Tony's Pizza Napoletana in San Franisco
6. House of Prime Rib in San Francisco
7. Komeya No Bento in San Franisco
8. Breakfast Little in San Francisco
9. Tiny Sushi - Oh Baby in Daly City
10. San Tung in San Francisco 

Zareen餐厅有印度菜和巴基斯坦菜。餐厅老板Zareen Khan说，这里的食物“健康、慢炖、清淡，充满了爱与真诚。”

Duc Huong是一家三明治店，他们说他们提供“正宗的越南菜、最美味的三明治以及从西贡到河内的街头小吃，采用新鲜的食材和古老的食谱。”

Tony's Pizza Napoletana最近在意大利披萨指南“50佳披萨”的全球50强中排名第六。

Two trickly questions from I-90 Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card

My green card (Permanent resident card) is expiring, so I need to file form I-90 to review/replace my green card online.

The first step is to register an online account iwth USCIS at uscis.gov

The second step is to fill out the form I-90

However, there are two questions a bit tricky to answer which are:

Where did you apply for your immigrant visa or adjustment of status?
Where was your immigrant visa or adjustment of status granted?

First off, if you applied green card outside of USA, it is immigrant visa. If you applied while you were in the USA, it is adjustment of status.

Provide the location of the U.S. Embassy, U.S. Consulate, or USCIS office that issued your immigrant visa or permanent resident status.

This info was ten years ago, very hard to recall or identify, however, the green card has receipt number or card # starts with USCIS office code. Using the office code, ask google to find out the office. For my case, the 3 characters are LIN, so it maps to Nebraska Service Center. Questions answered.

The three-digit codes for USCIS office locations are:

• MSC: National Benefits Center
• NBC: National Benefits Center
• EAC: Vermont Service Center (formerly known as Eastern Adjudication Center)
• VSC: Vermont Service Center
• WAC: California Service Center (formerly known as Western Adjudication Center)
• CSC: California Service Center
• LIN: Nebraska Service Center
NSC: Nebraska Service Center
SRC: Texas Service Center (formerly known as Southern Regional Center)
TSC: Texas Service Center
IOE: ELIS (e-Filing)
YSC: Potomac Service Center

The first three characters of a USCIS application's 13-character receipt number indicate which USCIS service center is processing the case. The receipt number can be found on the application.

The first three letters of the card number on a green card also indicate the USCIS office that granted the adjustment of status case. The card number may be located on the front or back of the card, depending on the year it was issued.

To visit a USCIS field office, an appointment is required, and walk-ins are not permitted. The field office address can be found on the appointment or interview notice.

Hyatt and World of Hyatt

Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an American multinational hospitality company headquartered in the Riverside Plaza area of Chicago that manages and franchises luxury and business hotels, resorts, and vacation properties. Hyatt has more than 1350 hotels and all-inclusive properties in 69 countries, across six continents.

Hyatt operates a loyalty program called World of Hyatt, which replaced Gold Passport on March 1, 2017.[56] This program includes membership tiers of base members, Discoverists, Explorists, and Globalists. The program offers Hyatt members benefits such as room upgrades and complimentary breakfast, based on how many nights they stayed in Hyatt-affiliated hotels or how much they spend in Hyatt properties.[57]

Hyatt has 25+ distinctive brands and over 1,300 locations to explore. 

Hyatt manages many different brands of properties:

• Alila
• Alua Hotels & Resorts
• Andaz
• Atona
• Breathless Resorts
• Caption by Hyatt
• Destination by Hyatt
• Dreams Resorts & Spas
• Grand Hyatt
• Hyatt
• Hyatt Centric
• Hyatt House
• Hyatt Place
• Hyatt Regency
• Hyatt Residence Club
• Hyatt Studios
• Hyatt Vivid
• Hyatt Zilara
• Hyatt Ziva
• Impression by Secrets
• JdV by Hyatt
• Miraval
• Park Hyatt
• Secrets Resorts & Spas
• Sunscape Resorts & Spas
• Thompson Hotels
• The Unbound Collection
• UrCove by Hyatt
• Zoëtry Wellness & Spa Resorts

Hilton and Hilton Honors

As one of the world's largest hospitality companies, Hilton is committed to driving responsible travel and tourism globally. At Hilton, there's a hotel brand for everyone, from the no-frills Hampton Inn traveler to the luxury seeker who wants to be pampered at a Conrad or Waldorf Astoria. Hilton’s portfolio includes 23 brands, from the luxury Waldorf Astoria and Conrad Hotels and Resorts to mid-scale Tru by Hilton.

Hilton Honors points have a value of 0.5 cent each. Hilton Honors points are worth less than the average hotel point. As a member of the Hilton Honors program, you'll be able to earn and redeem your points on everything from affordable hotels with all the basics to some of the most luxurious addresses around the world.

Canopy by Hilton (Lifestyle)

Conrad Hotels & Resorts (Luxury, named after founder)
Curio Collection by Hilton (Upper upscale)
DoubleTree by Hilton (Upscale)
Embassy Suites by Hilton (Upper upscale)
Hampton by Hilton (Upper midscale)
Hilton Club (Timeshare)
Hilton Garden Inn (Upscale)
Hilton Grand Vacations Club (Timeshare)
Hilton Vacation Club (Timeshare)
Hilton Hotels & Resorts (Upper upscale)
Home2 Suites by Hilton (Upper midscale)
Homewood Suites by Hilton (Upscale)
LivSmart Studios (Extended Stay)
LXR Hotels & Resorts (Luxury)
Motto by Hilton (Upper midscale)
Signia by Hilton (Upscale)
Small Luxury Hotels of the World (Upscale independent hotels)
Spark by Hilton (Premium economy)

Tapestry Collection by Hilton (Upscale independent hotels)
Tempo by Hilton (Upscale)
Tru by Hilton (Midscale)
Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts (Luxury)

IHG and Marriott

Always a bit confused by so many hotel brands, so I spent some time learning these two hotel groups: IHG and Marriott. 

IHG Hotels & Resorts, or InterContinental Hotels Group, is a British hospitality company that operates more than 6,000 hotels and resorts in over 100 countries. IHG is known for its brands, which include InterContinental, Holiday Inn, Kimpton, Hualuxe, Avid, and Garner.

IHG offers a free IHG One Rewards program that allows members to earn points that can be redeemed for hotel nights, transferred to airlines, and more. Members can also earn elite status and receive benefits like room upgrades and late checkout. There are many opportunities to earn and redeem IHG One Rewards points at iconic hotel brands like Intercontinental, Kimpton, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and more.

https://www.ihg.com/content/us/en/about/brands

Marriott International is a multinational company that operates, franchises, and licenses lodging brands, including hotels, residential properties, and timeshares. Marriott has over 30 brands and 8,785 locations in 139 countries and territories, with 1,597,380 rooms across its network. Some of Marriott's brands include The Ritz-Carlton, W Hotels, JW Marriott, Sheraton, and Marriott Hotels Resorts & Suites.

Marriott also offers hotel reservations, timeshare vacations, flight and hotel packages, and car rental services. The company also operates loyalty programs, including Marriott Bonvoy, which allows members to earn and redeem points for benefits such as hotel stays, credit card spending, tours and activities, and more. Membership in Marriott Bonvoy is free to enroll in and maintain.

https://www.marriott.com/marriott-brands/explore-our-brands.mi

HSA Advantages

HSA: Health savings account, or Health investment account, or Health retirement account

• Triple tax advantage (contribute, grow, withdraw all tax free)
  
• Invest HSA money (for future growth)
  
• Carry-over (HSA account belongs to you and no expiration like FSA)
• Tax free withdraw for medical expenses
• Penalty free 65+ use funds on anything (Use HSA for anything after 65 years old)
• Use the receipt loophole (Don't use HSA for medical expenses when you are young, you can reimburse yourself for past medical expense after retirement)
• You cannot contribute HSA when take medicare (Medicare at 65, no more HSA contribution)

17 books for financial learnings (4 stages)

the alchemist
think and grow rich
atomic habits
money master the game

the 4 hours workweek
influence the psychology of persuasion
confessions of an advertising man
the never split the difference
the lean startup
how to win friends and influence people
the 48 laws of power
the personal MBA

the intelligent investor
reality transurfing
misbehaving

the creature from Jekyll Island
the house of morgan

24节气

1. 立春：悄悄地，悄悄地，春的脚步近了。
2. 雨水：随风潜入夜，润物细无声。
3. 惊蛰：初惊蛰，鸟鸣虫动，踏青寻景，春雷相伴。
4. 春分：南园春半踏青时，风和闻马嘶。
5. 清明：书页受了惊扰而跳动，只因不识字的清风太过调皮。
6. 谷雨：春天唱起了歌，她的声音，是存封了千年的酒。
7. 立夏：星影憧憧，醉目点点，是为夏夜。
8. 小满：普洱叶，紫砂壶，菊花几瓣，清泉一掬。
9. 芒种：茶农香清，渗人心扉，哪知艳阳天。
10. 夏至：碧波轻弄影，荡舟杨柳中。
11. 小暑：风摇莲叶轻弄月，一片蛙声唱荷花。
12. 大暑：品夜风徐徐，听蝉声一二。
13. 立秋：卷帘凉暗度，迎扇暑先除。
14. 处暑：西风解事，为人间，洗尽三庚烦暑。
15. 白露：书堆寻碎玉，月下点流萤。
16. 秋分：秋浓蟹肥，邀知己三五，酌花雕数杯。
17. 寒露：为君持酒劝斜阳，且向花间留晚照。
18. 霜降：碧云天，黄叶地，秋色连波，波上寒烟翠。
19. 立冬：冬天的第一个早晨，被喧闹的阳光唤醒。
20. 小雪：片片互玲珑，飞扬玉漏终。
21. 大雪：千树万树梨花开，竟比春烂漫。
22. 冬至：岸容待腊将舒柳，山意冲寒欲放梅。
23. 小寒：折香骨一支，玉瓶置之，就一口雄黄，秀色可餐。
24. 大寒：且忘却浓寒，更登高，观雪景。

白驹过隙，寒暑几许。对酒当歌，回首望，流金岁月，哪有虚度的年华。

5 Fidelity funds

• Fidelity U.S. Bond Index Fund (FXNAX) 
• Fidelity Total International Index Fund (FTIHX)
• Fidelity Zero Total Market Index Fund (FZROX) 
• Fidelity Total Market Index Fund (FSKAX)
• Fidelity 500 Index Fund (FXAIX)
  

Tax Free investment

• Tax-Free Long-Term Capital Gains (below certain income threshold, up to 20% tax rate)
• Tax-Free Municipal Bonds (e.g. VTEAX)
• Tax-Free Treasury Securities (e.g. Bills/Notes/Bonds)
• Tax-Free Roth IRA (after tax contribution)
• Tax-Free Roth 401K (after tax contribution)
  
• Tax-Free Life Insurance (IUL - loan with interest rates)
• Tax-Free HSA (triple tax benefits) 
• Real Estate Can Be Tax-Free (Deprecations non-cash expense)
• Tax-Free Business (if expense is more than income)
  

 

2022-2023年美国50个最佳居住地

1. Atlanta, Georgia
2. Tempe, Arizona
3. Kirkland, Washington
4. Raleigh, North Carolina
5. Rogers Park (Chicago), Illinois
6. Columbia, Maryland
7. Somerville, Massachusetts
8. Ann Arbor, Michigan
9. Tampa, Florida
10. Jersey City, New Jersey
11. Boise, Idaho
12. Chapel Hill, North Carolina
13. Irvine, California
14. Fort Lee, New Jersey
15. Arlington, Virginia
16. Naperville, Illinois
17. Milton, Massachusetts
18. Fremont, California
19. Carmel, Indiana
20. Rockville, Maryland
21. Franklin, Tennessee
22. San Diego, California
23. Hillsboro, Oregon
24. Abington, Pennsylvania
25. San Jose, California
26. Alexandria, Virginia
27. Chanhassen, Minnesota
28. Denver, Colorado
29. Overland Park, Kansas
30. Morristown, New Jersey
31. Lafayette, Colorado
32. Camas, Washington
33. Alamonte Springs, Florida
34. South Burlington, Vermont
35. Marietta, Georgia
36. Kirkwood, Missouri
37. Glen Cove, New York
38. Kaneohe, Hawaii
39. Hutto, Texas
40. Madison, Wisconsin
41. Salt Lake City, Utah
42. Bentonville, Arkansas
43. Sarasota, Florida
44. Nashua, New Hampshire
45. Norman, Oklahoma
46. Greenville, South Carolina
47. Juneau, Alaska
48. Coralville, Iowa
49. Jeffersonville, Indiana
50. Sparks, Nevada

FDIC insurance per account limit

SVB crash in 2023 triggered me to research how FDIC insurance works. 

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), a body that underwrites most private bank deposits. Federal deposit insurance goes to the heart of the FDIC’s mission: to promote confidence and stability in the nation’s financial system. FDIC deposit insurance enables consumers to confidently place their money at thousands of FDIC-insured banks across the country, and is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government. Since the founding of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in 1933 no depositor has lost a penny of FDIC-insured funds.

The standard deposit insurance amount is $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, for each account ownership category.

The following ownership categories are covered by the FDIC:

1. Single accounts
2. Joint accounts
3. Certain retirement accounts, including IRAs
4. Revocable trust accounts
5. Irrevocable trust accounts
6. Corporation, partnership, and unincorporated association accounts
7. Employee benefit plan accounts
8. Government accounts

FDIC insurance allows account holders to designate up to six beneficiaries who will each receive equal shares upon the account holder's passing. Each beneficiary is eligible for up to $250,000 in FDIC coverage per account owner. By setting up beneficiaries on an account, the account holder can increase their FDIC coverage. Qualifying beneficiaries for FDIC coverage include the account owner’s spouse, children, grandchildren, parents, and siblings. (This requirement might have changed)

The owner names five unique eligible beneficiaries and the total deposit(s) allocated to all beneficiaries combined is $1,250,000.

Two ways to do this:

1) Instead of equally dividing the money between beneficiaries in that bank account, you can choose a custom allocation. For example, you can leave 99.6% to one beneficiary and 0.1% to each of four beneficiaries. Those other four beneficiaries could be friends or charities.

2) Sets up 5 accounts (CDs for example) at the bank. The first CD has a balance of $1,249,600 with his wife as a beneficiary. The other 4 CDs have balances of only $100 each, and each has a separate beneficiary. The output of the EDIE calculator which shows that all $1.25 million is insured.

2023 World's happiest countries

1. Finland
2. Denmark
3. Iceland
4. Israel
5. Netherlands
6. Sweden
7. Norway
8. Switzerland
9. Luxembourg
10. New Zealand
11. Austria
12. Australia
13. Canada
14. Ireland
15. United States
16. Germany
17. Belgium
18. Czech Republic
19. United Kingdom
20. Lithuania

SLA, SLO, and SLI

We are doing service maturity audit now, and more often than not the team gets confused about these three acronyms, so I want to quickly review here.

An SLA (service level agreement) is an agreement between service provider and customers about measurable metrics like uptime, performance, QoS, responsiveness, and responsibilities. It’s always better to under-promise and over-deliver the agreement.

An SLO (service level objective) is an agreement within an SLA about a specific metric like uptime or response time. Commit to as few SLOs as possible and focus on the ones that matter most to customers.

An SLI (service level indicator) measures compliance with an SLO (service level objective). To stay in compliance with your SLA, the SLI will need to meet or exceed the promises made in that document. Choose which metrics actually matter to your core SLOs and put your energy into tracking those critical metrics effectively.

For service reliability and availability, build disaster recovery plan and an error budget is very important. Leaving room for failures not only protects the business from SLA violations, but also has the space to try innovative new solutions that might fail. However, production is production, every second matters when service is down. We need to design for failure and plan for failure in service development and operations.

Live site culture

Live site culture is the focus of an organization to prioritize the experience and reliability of the live site over everything else. A live-site culture promotes the idea that anything that happens in the production environment takes precedence over anything else. Next, anything that threatens production, is about to go to production, or hinders going to production at any time gets priority. Only when these are all in order is the attention shifted to future work.

• Live site first
• Control exposure through feature flags
• Make vulnerabilities real and personal
• Engineering is more than an ops partner
• Production telemetry is the heartbeat of your service
• Make alerts actionable

California National Parks Free Entrance

Come experience the national parks! On five days in 2023, all National Park Service sites that charge an entrance fee will offer free admission to everyone. Mark your calendar for these entrance fee–free dates in 2023:

• January 16: Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
• April 22: First day of National Park Week
• August 4: Anniversary of the Great American Outdoors Act
• September 23: National Public Lands Day
• November 11: Veterans Day

优胜美地国家公园（Yosemite National Park）
死亡谷国家公园（Death Valley National Park）
约书亚树国家公园（Joshua Tree National Park）
旧金山国立海事历史公园（San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park）
威思基镇国家休闲区（Whiskeytown National Recreation Area）
美洲杉和国王峡谷国家公园（Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks）
穆尔森林国家纪念地（Muir Woods National Monument）
火山岩床国家保护区（Lava Beds National Monument）
拉森火山国家公园（Lassen Volcanic National Park）
卡布里约国家纪念区 （Cabrillo National Monument）
石峰国家公园（Pinnacles National Park）

Products to Platforms

Here are my reading notes from https://hbr.org/2016/04/products-to-platforms-making-the-leap great research article about transitioning from products to platforms.

1. Start with a Defensible Product and a Critical Mass of Users

Platforms connect two or more distinct groups of users and enable their direct interaction—can generate many revenue streams.

A great platform starts with a great product—one that claims a critical mass of customers and provides enough value to keep them from defecting to competitors (in other words, is defensible).

No platform can thrive unless it creates value for those third parties.

Popularity doesn’t necessarily make a product defensible. (Need moat)

2. Apply a Hybrid Business Model Focused on Creating and Sharing New Value

It’s foolish to think that moving to a platform will revive a struggling product.

In a product business model, firms create value by developing differentiated products for specific customer needs, and they capture value by charging money for those items. In a platform business model, firms create value primarily by connecting users and third parties, and they capture value by charging fees for access to the platform.

Thus successful product-to-platform transitions require firms to engage in activities to increase the value of the product while also trying to attract third parties.

Firms stumble when a “product mindset” leads them to view the value pie as fixed.

3. Drive Rapid Conversion to the New Platform

Provide adequate value.
Stay consistent with your brand.
Involve users in improvements.

4. Identify and Act on Opportunities to Deter Competitive Imitation

One effective way to fend off copycat competitors is to identify and control the openings for value creation.

Firms should consider which aspects of their platforms to own and control. (Control own destiny)