Interesting website

Found this during an academic excursion in linguistics. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Pretty soon everyone will want one. Or two.

The good things in life

After a hard day rockin', uh, working, it's nice to go out for some German food, some German beer, and some discussions with a German friend.

Horst, thanks. I don't think I'd survive some of the days here without you.

Twice in one day?!

Yeah, it's been a long time since I've done it twice in one day. Blog, I mean.

What could be better than a hard day's work followed by Pizza Hut with coworkers and then surfing monster.com with a screwdriver in hand? Screwdriver = vodka + orange juice, not screwing implement.

And I finally hooked up my speakers so I have music in stereo and with, like, decent sound. Not that my $20 speakers are that great. Pfft, it took me 20 minutes to notice only one side speaker was putting out sound :p

Either more or less screwdriver is needed. I think some more monster surfing and then more 'driver. Wish me luck.

Late again

I hope I'm excused as I've been super busy with craziness at work. It's all crazy. The workers, the bosses, the engineers, the equipment, the food. The only thing keeping me sane is, uh. Nevermind.

Happy (belated) Father's Day to all the daddies out there and especially my Dad. I'll look for an extra special something to bring back from China for you.

Happy Birthday to Joshua who is the big 3 today! Only 60+ more years until retirement.

Happy early Birthday to Airelle. Just in case the craziness keeps me from posting later in the week.

***

Lunch today: various vegetables; hard boiled egg (it was brown. naturally?); a whole, small fish fried and soaked in something; poor excuse for a pork cutlet; jellied pigs ear with vegetables.

I had rice, a pork cutlet, vegetables and the little bread things they give you if you don't take at least 2 meats.

Yeesh. Tonight I'm going to Pizza Hut

Saturday - rarin' for badminton

Ah, what a week. Ferociously busy at work. Battling with engineers, moving problem to problem, coping with a verbose manager.

But now it's the weekend. today is sleep late, play badminton, who knows what after that. Maybe more exercise as I need to get more :p

Thought for the day:

God moves in mysterious ways. I'll bet
that's why He's so good at dodgeball.

If that's not irreverent enough, try this one:

If fries go with that shake, can
I ask for a tossed salad, too?

See ya

a day of celebration

Luckily, I'm living 12 hours ahead of the East Coast, USA, so I'm not actually late with these tidings.

Happy Birthday, Dad! Sorry I can't take you out for dinner for your birthday. Well, I will, it just won't be *on* your birthday.

Happy Anniversary to Trevor and Erin. Still celebrating with the pretty, new baby.

Happy Anniversary to Mike and Rachel. Haven't talked with you in too long, but I hope you see this and have a happy day.

So I am not late with the next one . .

Happy Anniversary to Chad and Kelli! Amazing how long they've been married, especially Kelli still being under 30! (I won't tell if you won't, Kel)

That is all.

Home Sweet Tohkin

Check out the apartments.

Looks nice in the ad, right? Well, it's not so bad, I guess. Better than summer camp, worse than the 5-star hotel we usually stay at. My specific apartment is roomy, but some things are a little low quality. The bathroom is as far from the bedroom as possible and right inside the front door. There were 4 clothes hangers when I arrived. A miniature washing machine, but no real drying capability. Stuff like that.

Luckily, I'm a nesting sort of guy, so I hit the store yesterday and dropped almost $100US on drying rack, detergent, groceries, chopsticks (Chinese apartment comes with 1 plate, 1 cup, 1 glass, 1 spoon, 1 fork), stuff like that. As I type, I'm making congee (jook, rice porridge, gruel) and hard boiling some eggs. I think the leftover lamb from the other night will be very good in the congee :)

Now that internet works (some sort of over-the-phone-line, USB-to-your-computer setup), I can update the blog and entertain the masses. Too bad the cords are so short I must sit on the end of the couch (not *at* the end, *on* the end) to do so. I think a WAP is needed.

See the photos. . . (ok, photos can't upload yet, check back later)

















By the way, the trucks and buses run all night. Right outside my windows :p

Leaving on a jet plane

Well, two jet planes, and first, a limo.

The car will be here in 25 minutest to take me to the airport. Then 1st class to Chicago. Then cattle car to Shanghai :p Oh, well, 2 out of 3 and all that guff.

I get to Shanghai Wednesday afternoon (local time - Wed morning in the US) and stay for a month. I like traveling. It's nice to get home, but I admit I'm excited to be traveling again. I like to pack, I like my little passport, I like airport security . . well, not that one.

Stay tuned for exciting updates from Suzhou!

(Note: exciting updates = rants about work, food, and driving)