Happy Finds

I really enjoy reading and one of my favorite genres is mystery. I
especially like Adam Hall (Quiller books), John D. MacDonald (Travis
McGee stories), and Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe) and I download as many
ebooks as possible to read on my pda. I am fussy enough to want to
complete my sets, but too lazy to keep track of which I need.
Recently, I hit a lucky stretch and downloaded two MacDonald books I
hadn't read before, "Turquoise Lament" and "The Lonely Silver Rain".
Amazing I hadn't seen them before and I'm very glad to have found
them.

The Nero Wolfe books are fun to read since they are set in the 1930's
and 1940's in NYC and offer an insight to life then. The writing is
fairly high-level, but easy to read and Archie Goodwin is a great
character. Check 'em out.

Oh, yeah, Matt Helm stories (I forgot the author name) are also very
good, in fact pretty similar to Travis McGee's character. And not a
comic farce like the movies.

Trip to Shanghai

GP and I went to Shanghai and enjoyed some Haagen Dazs, some Hong Kong lunch, and ran into a friend for a nice surprise. I bought some qimen tea, but no other great shopping finds. And we swung by United Family Hospital to get a picture taken.

Joke

Stolen, er, borrowed with attribution from Top5:

If aliens landed in my yard today and said,
"Take me to your leader," I'd probably refuse.
Not to protect the president, mind you, but
because I'd be too embarrassed to admit to an
advanced civilization that we elected this guy.

(Paul B.)

I'm Matt and I endorse this message.

I'm trying, but it isn't working

I tried to do a minor revision on my blog yesterday . . and today . . but something is bad either on my server, or with Blogger, or with China (most likely) which keeps the changes from being published. One of these days, you should see a different layout, but who knows when.

I've been thinking about leaving China and have realized I will miss many things about China, Suzhou, and many friends I have here. On the other hand, if someone put everything on a plane for me today, I'd go right after lunch. Too many sacrifices to my lifestyle, my health, and my sanity. I'll be very glad to get back to whatever the West has for me and I'll be very, very happy to take a pretty, smart souvenir back with me :) (psst! that's *you*, GP)

My girl is so smart

GP came home from school tonight (she is working on a degree in International Import/Export) to report that she is at the top of her class of 100 people. It was scholarship day and she was one of two to get a second level scholarship, and she was the only one to get a scholarship both semesters in a row. Let's hear it for GP!

Feeling a little . . weird

I think the coffee machine at work was reprogrammed. I had two cups of "coffee" (using the coffee button), but my racing heard and lack of concentration suggests I had 2 double espressos instead. It would be a fun ride if it wasn't 9:30 in the morning and I didn't have work to do :p

Or it could be I'm loopy because I have a head cold and woke up at five o'clock this morning. GP has the same head cold and it seems to be a little worse for her, poor girl. I made some hot soup last night and she skipped school; hopefully the rest does her good.

I'm all booked for my east coast visit in April. Two days in Florida to see a vendor and 4 days in Philadelphia. All the work days are filled with appointments including an eye exam and I hope to see some friends each night, assuming jet lag doesn't get in the way. I'll also do a little shopping for some new clothes and other items that are difficult to find in Suzhou. I expect a five pound minimum weight gain once I'm back in the land of tasty, fatty, American food :)