Tingzhi(Vince) Li

Woodworking, Software, and Life

  • Go With The Flow

    I used to feel bad whenever I had an unproductive day. Now I question why I need to be productive every day. There are days that I am inspired to write, create, and share. There are days that I just want to chill. I cannot predict how I will feel tomorrow. So now I am…

  • Simple Rules in Life

    When the trash can is full, take the trash outside.When the soap dispenser is empty, refill it.When the knife is dull, sharpen it.When a bill comes due, pay it.When the laundry hamper is full, do the laundry.When the nails get long, trim them. Taking actions to deal with them usually pays off. Because then, we…

  • How to convert a hex color to a UIColor

    This snippet of code takes a hex color string as input and creates a UIColor object as a result. It expects the hex color string format of #RRGGBB. To use the above extension code

  • It’s the Wear Items that Cost Money

    Nothing lasts forever. Except diamonds of course! Almost everything in life is a wear item if we look at it through a long enough time horizon. Take a hand plane as an example, every time I sharpen the blade, it gets a bit shorter. Once the blade is used up, a new one must be…

  • New Year and Better Self

    Happy Chinese New Year(the year of rabbit)! In the tech world, things are not going great lately. I was laid off October 2022. More mass layoff happened this week. No matter how much mental preparation you do, it still stings when that happens. I have been there. All I want to say is that give…

  • What a Sharp Plane Will Do?

  • Making A Habit of It

    If you want to learn woodworking, then spend 5 minutes in the shop every day. If you want to be a better programmer, then spend 5 minutes on your laptop writing some code every day. If you want to be stronger, then carve out 5 minutes to do some push ups or some pull ups…

  • Tojiro F-990 Chinese Chef’s Knife Sharpening Log (updated 8/23/2022)

    Knife steel specifications: Core steel: VG10 Hardness: 59-60HRC My sharpening stones Ultra Sharp diamond stone: #300, #600, #1200 Shapton Kuromaku ceramic waterstones: #5000, #8000 Leather strop rough side up charged with green polishing compound Plain leather strop smooth side up Sharpening log 3/7/2022: purchased the knife 4/26/2022: initial sharpening with #1200, #5000, and #8000. 7/25/2022:…

  • Meet Your Heroes While You Can

    Sebastian Vettle is retiring from F1 at the end of this year. I wish I had gone to see him racing in person at least once. Roger Federer might retire in the next 2 years. One of my heroes too. At least I am taking a class with an American master furniture maker Gary Rogowski…

  • Life is A Journey

    To live only for some future goal is shallow. It is the sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top. Robert Persig wrote in “Zen and the Art of Motocycle Maintenance” It resonated.

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