In Lieu of Wit and Wisdom: April 2008

Post #301, misc. photos

I didn't realize until today that my last post was #300. Not that I'm proud, or tired.

I cleared some more photos from my mobile phone. The low-light photos aren't very good, but screw you if you don't like 'em :p

Brilliance Mall is near the United Family Hospital so we stop in there after the doctor visits. The shopping is pretty good and we have a good time people watching, guessing who is from China and who isn't.

Every crab season, these ads pop up everywhere, this one is at a toll booth. I don't mind anthropomorphized crabs, but they've created a bizarre hybrid which is a child with a full crab for his/her head. It creeps me out everytime.

Translations are improving, but there is still some difficulty in getting the whole package to, uh, be, um. Not unintentionally funny? Best: it's a diaper bag.

My girl and my driver at lunch after doctor visit. Xu is a good guy and a pretty capable (and Western-like) driver.

A photo from plating mahjong a few months ago. I may have posted this before and I have the animation, but I'm too lazy to post it. Come visit us and we'll show you in person.

An Olympic display near our apartment. Click the picture for pops-in-a-new-window bigger view. I hope you can read the text ok. The names are all made of repeated words, "ni ni" "huan huan", etc. If you take the first part of each name you get "Bei jing huan ying ni" which means "Welcome to Beijing". Pretty neat.

A quick photo of a motorcop along a busy road north of Miami. He was watching, watching, watching for you!

Tuesday morning - status report

Oops, Ann is correct, Janine is the map geek. And Jeff is petty for picking on my maps :p And John is correct, the quote is from the ultrasound tech at our hospital (only 1 hour away, I hope we never need to make an emergency visit).

The more local doctor (only 10 minutes away, Singapore clinic) diagnosed me yesterday with a TMJ disorder. Could be from my overexuberance trying to crack my neck last week or from my prodigious gum chewing habit. I'm just glad it isn't an absess or some other nasty like that. With a week of relaxing and anti-inflammatories, I hope to be ok again. I may also turn to my favorite blind massage place as they seem to have cured my tendonitis. Hmmm, maybe TCM for my TMJ. TMD.

And verily there was maps

For people more bored than I. I could be less bored, but that would take away from worrying about this jaw pain I've had the past week :p

The small map, click on it for a pops-to-new-window, big map goodness. I aligned by latitude a little and just matched the east and west borders. We'll see if even John is bored enough to click it ;)

I don't ask for much

All I want is to have some things available, like trust worthy dental care and my favorite licorice.

Quote of the week:
"Here's the bottom. There's one leg, there's two leg, no three leg. So girl."

Guess the source.

Geography, the boring story

Living in China has led me to make many geographic comparisons to the US. Some of the interesting things to think about and research are where certain part of the US lie compared to China in a country overlay. What a confusing sentence. Let me put it this way: if you lay the US on top of China, where do certain cities lie?

First some basics:
- China is about 9.6 million square kilometers in area
- US is about 9.8 million square km - including Alaska which is the biggest bit by far
- China covers latitudes 20-50 (approx.) and US 26-48 (w/o AK and HI) - China is a little longer
- China covers longitudes 72-135 and US 65-123 (w/o AK and HI) - China is a little taller

I made an overlay map which I'm not goint to post unless some people show real interest. I put US on top of China and lined Shanghai up latitudinally with a midpoint between Jacksonville, FL and Savannah, GA. This is about 31 degrees latitude.

With this arrangement, Nebraska and Iowa end up in Mongolia, Philadelphia (40 degrees) is right around Pyongyang North Korea. As I write this, I realize it's more boring than I thought.

Nuttin' much going on

I guess my last update was during my US trip. Not much new since then, just getting through a large number of tasks at work (mostly frustrating) and dreaming of the future. Also trying to get my sleep back on schedule (still going to bed at 9pm and waking at 5am) and get my body loosened up again. The massage Sunday was helpful, but then I negated the benefit by tossing my head around Monday morning trying to make my neck crack, and pulled a muscle. I've been moving like a whiplash victim for 3 days now :p

I discovered another thing I'll miss about China - watermelon seeds. They are similar to sunflower seeds, but they have a salty/sweet coating instead of just salty. Mmm, so good.

My US taxes are complete for 2007 and they were the most enjoyable ever. Total page count was about 70 with just federal forms being around 42. So many schedules and calcualation pages, hypothetical taxes, minimum tax calculations, short-term gains, living abroad, etc. I'm glad I don't have to do it all myself. This was GP's first exposure to US taxes and she was boggled by the enormity, especially compared to China. Oh, for the days of the 1040EZ.

130 more days to go.

Busy in the US

I haven't updated recently (i.e., during my US travels) due to combinations of busy and lazy. I'll do a brief chronology and I apologize if I forget anyone.

5 April
Rode to the airport where my driver dropped me at the new terminal. It looks very nice and I would have enjoyed it more if that's where Delta flies from. It was quick and easy to walk to the old terminal, so no problem. The flight was only about 1/3 full, so it was a pretty relaxing flight.

Connected through Atlanta with no issues or delays, called mom to check in and hopped the short flight to Miami. The drive north was about an hour and driving on I-95 came back to me quickly. The Hampton Inn is very nice and they have a little pantry for a midnight dinner.

6 April
Drove around a little to check things out. Bought a box to ship a few things to Philadelphia (like my heavy, leather coat). Caught up on some notes for the next day's meetings.

7 April
Met with a potential supplier for a full day of good meetings. We went to some great restaurants for lunch and dinner and I was able to stay awake through all of it :)

8 April
I drove to Boca Raton and did a little shopping, but it was silly to buy much while I had only my small suitcase. Decided hanging out until my 7:30 flight was silly, so I checked in early and got a 4:00 flight. Security was ridiculously long, but they took me further up (either because of my status or my quick flight schedule) and the boarding and flight were ok. Arrived to Horsham a little after 9 and unpacked.

9 April
I went to work for awhile in the morning and enjoyed seeing my US coworkers. It is very fulfilling to discuss real projects with people who have good insight to what is happening. Subtle, but important differences between headquarters and China. Had lunch with Horst (it's always so good to see him) and then went to my eye appointment. My eyes haven't changed, but I ordered a new pair of glasses anyway, gotta keep looking cool ;) Also got a Western haircut which looks nice on my western head.

Wednesday night I picked up some mixed Stoudt's beer and went over to visit John and his family. It was like Christmas because I had ordered so many online items and had them delivered to John's house. The pile shrunk by at least 60% as the packaging was thrown away and I think it can all be taken back without problem. Our group of five went out to Iron Hill for food and drinks and catching up on goings-on. John's daughters are growing up (taller and more mature) and it's fun to see the changes in them when I visit so seldom. Their interests change so quickly during the teen years. Again, drove back to the hotel very sleepy.

10 April
Back to work in the morning, catch up on emails, and mix up some chemicals for Friday's trip. Before lunch, I went to the King of Prussia Mall to do some shopping (GP needs presents!) and then stopped in to see our immigration lawyer. After a good meeting with her, I drove south past Wilmington and just into Maryland. I had a good 2 hour meeting (good = we understood each other, but only worked out enough to keep looking for the problem) with a supplier and then drove back as far as Wilmington. I somehow remembered how to find Linda's house (Hi Linda! Happy Birthday!) and we chatted until her boyfriend (Leo) came home from the gym and then we all went out to dinner. Dinner was at a tiny cafe (I forgot the name) and the food was great. But the service was SO SLOW! Oh, well, it was great to catchup since I hadn't seen Linda since I moved to China. Everyone please wish her a happy day on Monday.

11 April
Finally, Friday. Again, I went to work for awhile in the morning and then drove (and drove and drove) north to Olyphant, PA to visit a supplier. We had a good meeting (see definition above) for about 3 hours and then I drove and drove and drove back south. I met up with Maura at the Drafting Room and caught up on our respective news. She is doing well and keeping busy, especially with fixing up the new house, and reports Lily is fuzzy and loving as ever. Once more, dinner, 9pm and a sleepy ride home, though this time it was only 15 minutes for me. Another chance to use big words and talk philosophy :) Thanks Maura.

12 April
Saturday morning I'm up early to do laundry. Well, I'm up early because of jet lag, but I do laundry and then go out shopping. So many things to buy for myself and others back in Suzhou. I somehow misplaced a big piece of luggage, so I bought a nice, new duffel roller late Saturday and I've been test packing this morning. Looks good so far.

I visited Erin & Trevor and their beautiful kids (incredible blond hair and blue eyes) and realized GP and I will have a high goal for our little mouse to be as advanced as these kids at the same ages. I can't believe the intelligle words and short sentences coming from a little girl less than 2 years old! It was fun to see them - again it was a year and a half since the last time - and the buffalo chicken cheesesteak was awesome, though too big.

After some post-lunch shopping (see above), I met with Horst at his place to relax and chat and then we drove to Northern Liberties to meet Melanie and Chad at North 3rd. As with all my other evenings, it was good food, drink and conversation. With all of my friends, it had been a long time since our last meeting, but the conversations picked up right were they left off. Thanks to all of my good friends for making time for me on this trip. I hope to see you all again soon.

13 April
Today, Sunday. I went running for awhile this morning and soon I will shower, dress and head out for a little more shopping. Some last gifts and then back to John's for a last good bye and some lunch. I must work this afternoon (I'm so far behind) and stop by my storage garage. Tomorrow I'm at work all day and checking into my future when I return to the US. Tomorrow night the last of the packing and early to bed for my 6am flight on Tuesday. Talk to you all from Suzhou.

Miscellaneous photos

I cleaned up some loose photos and am putting a few up here.

We stayed at the Shangri La hotel (in Suzhou New District, other end of town) for our anniversary. GP requested something to celebrate and they sent a great little cake.

Across from our apartment building, the city dammed and drained part of the canal to make a new road over it. I took a small picture of the floating crane. This new litle bridge cuts 3 minutes off my 6 minute walk to Starbucks :)

Mom sent GP some clothes from US. Surprisingly, the pants are too small, even before the baby bump. I can't figure out who in the US is taller and thinner than GP.