A Change of Plans!

in case you stopped by looking for posts lately, there haven't been any!

up until late last year, my travels have been mostly to Taiwan. Now, i have started to travel to mainland anihC. if you haven't heard about the great firewall, anihc blocks access to any site that they feel is inappropriate! from there you cannot get access to this blog, you tube, facebook, twitter and a whole host of others!

so for now, i've been posting on a new site: www.papatravels.com

i appreciate your stopping by and please continue to follow this amazing saga in its new location!

Mike

The Universal Human Condition!

say what you want, i think that crime is a universal human condition. wanting more, no matter how you obtain it.
apparently, china has a real problem with counterfeit money! they check the money closer than at walmart! i mean the money appears to have most of the security features of watermarks, metallic thread. but apparently counterfeiting is quite a problem. the have the special marker pens, but also a UV light they put the bill under.
US state department advises strongly against exchanging foreign currency on the street. Get caught with counterfeit money and you go to jail! no problem.
D and i were walking on the pier in the harbor, (pics later!)and i bought a little something from a vendor, giant flea market. D was lauging saying the change i got was probably counterfeit! I said no problem, and passed it off on the next vendor i had a chance to and not get change back!


Hmmmm??? could it be???? turnabout? for allegedly counterfeiting some other countries currency?

Kids Will Be Kids!

while shopping the first day for sheets/towels. we were in a fairly large megastore. Think a five story WalMart, but with a smaller footprint and underground parking. anyway, we finished what we needed in housewares and were walking through the toy department on our way out and some young boy was having a major meltdown! i mean wailing, weeping, and drama because he just had to have the new transformer character. 4 or 5 adults and another couple of kids trying to calm this kid down and he was having no part of it!

Does a Bear **** In The Woods? A Hunter's story....

next time you see me, ask me to tell you about going to the bathroom when you're out hunting in the middle of the woods! unless you're specifically carrying a roll of TP, a dollar bill works just fine. ask me and i'll show you the technique.

i was originally going to stay in a hotel near the beach. Change of plans, because it was about 45 min from the plant and 20 min from where D was staying. So, i could have stayed in the 5 star hotel across the street or bunk in with D. So we bunked because it's cheaper!
The lobby of the apartment building I ended up staying in!



Bunking in with D is not a hardship, other than no internet availability. (i have to get let into the building managers office at night and can't leave or go back to the room until D. picks me up because the elevator is card coded and the lobby is guarded, and he only has one card.
i digress......
so on the way from the airport, we have to stop and shop! we get a sheet to cover with, because the bed has a down comforter on it, and bath and hand towel. (there is no maid service!) i had my own toothpaste, soap, and shampoo so we were set.
get here and there is no TP in the bathroom! that is just wrong.......
so, after a 3hr flight and last night's outdoor barbeque, i needed to ......!
the TP holder has a cover on it and so it wasn't until to late that i discovered my problem. being intuitive and inventive, all i had was a $100 RMB bill. little smaller that a US $1 bill, but adequate!
so after dinner that night, we walked past the 24 hour convenient mart and i got a couple bottles of water and a roll of TP. problem solved!
The next evening after work, we walked to a supermarket/mall extravaganza a couple of blocks away! i bought a bowl for my noodles that we can cook because we have a hot water pot and can boil our water. D. had an extra set of chopsticks for me. i bought some wax apples, hmmmmm and some bread and a juice for breakfast. and some yogurt! but that's tomorrows story!



update: i saw the no TP problem before hand and had a tissue pack in my carryon that worked just fine. you have to admit it is a funny story and i'ld still like to show you the hunting technique if i haven't already!

Dope on a Rope

we were in the LR of the apt this morning waiting for our morning appointment. i was just finishing breakfast and D pointed out a rope dangling outside one of the LR windows! i said they were probably going to be washing windows. well, were sitting there talking about my favorite subject, wheels, when a guy comes slinging down the outside of the building in a bosun's chair, touching up the caulk on the window edges. a squirt here, a squirt there, and he drops down another floor.
we're on the 25th floor and i get the willies just pressing my nose up against the glass to look down.
now, if they would have had Lucky Andy and Lenny do it right the first time, they wouldn't have to go over it and fix it!

Swine Flu!

I know that there is a worldwide concern over the spread of Swine and Avian flu... but, it seems to me that jeannie is already out of the bottle..... with the ease of global air travel and the geometric spread of even a fleeting contact, it seems like a futile effort to stick one's finger in a collapsing seawall.


flying into Qingdao, the plane was held at the gate before you could even get out of your seat for a health inspection. 2 masked health care workers entered the plane and went up each aisle and IR'ed the forehead of every person on the plane. ( note to self: take two tylenol half way thru the flight just to be sure that you don't end up in a 7 day quarantine facility and packed back on a plane out of the country! the US state department advised parents traveling with children that if a child is found to be running a fever, the child will be isolated and medicated without regard for parent permission or not! whooooaaaa! that's harsh!)

then you go through the first immigration/health quarantine screening. besides the travel questionaire you had to fill out before landing. being from the US, i got sent into the special screening area where i had to tell them where i was from and have travelled. and got the special ear probe temp again! (i don't think that they connected that the first case detected in the US was an elementary student from Elyria OH! oh well,not my problem!)

no problem going through immigration then and pick up your bags and then through customs. oooops, had to go back in line because i didn't have the proper form filled out!

Your father's buick!

have seen a high percentage of buick and chevy cars around! plenty of benz, toyota, honda, even an H3! but more chevy and buick name plates than normal! we're getting driven around in a buick minivan(?) 2 doors up front, 2 sliding doors, 2 bucket seats in the middle and a bench in the back. R and his driver have been carting us all over lately!
turns out that there is a GM/Suzuki JV plant a couple hours north of where we're at. And it is a VERY popular brand!

Traditions!

because of the great firewall of china, i was unable to blog during recent trip. couldn't access twitter or utube. so i make notes to post later! i'll try and start catching up, especially now that i'm back on local time!!


traditions are hard to understand for an outsider! the Chinese tradition of letting guests sit at the table facing the door is one! at a round table, there is no head! we had lunch at the shop in a small dining room off of the main dining room R, D, myself and 5 other senior managers that we have been working with. it's a round table with a lazy susan center where everything gets placed and passed around!
i stood by a seat off to the side while we were all getting settled. oh no, that would not do! D and i were whisked around to the other side of the table where we sat "facing" the door to the room!
The Rest of the Story:
reason being 5,000 years of palace intrigue, you wouldn't let the guest of honor sit with his back facing the door so he didn't have to worry about who entered behind him! cool

This happened in every restaurant that we ate in that didn't have a regular booth!

Angels 2 Sinners 0

The heavenly hand of Jesus reached out and saved this sinner Friday night driving to Rochester. I'm okay, car is going to need some work! thank you Jesus! Post pics later!

Saturday evening the same hand reached out to protect Dean also! All he needed was a change of clothes!







fell asleep! drifted off road and hit the median. woke up looking at speed limit sign, so i aimed for it, clipped it right off and watched it/felt it smash into the roof of the car! got control, drove back up through the median, no cars coming, pulled back into east bound lane of highway. taa daa!
stopped at the next rest stop to catch my breath!
believe me, i know how many ways this could have gone horribly wrong! but, someone took care of me so that i could be posting this now!

Urban Legend?

There have been rumors that there were no fish at the spillway at Pymatuming!
Saturday was G's birthday and papa made the sacrifice to take the boys for the afternoon so that mom and dad could get ready for the party!
this first video is from the new and improved shoreway and parking lot! there are plenty of fish and geese with that quacking and sucking sound!



a little bit farther along is the actual spillway. i was astounded just how thick the fish were there!





all in all, it was a successful adventure! spill way,fish hatchery,mennonite church, giant eagle, west end elementray and of course, ice cream. as you can tell by the young birthday boy in the backseat!

Another Sign That Spring is Near!

Mid-afternoon mom and i decided to go to the Cleveland Home & Garden Show . (Formerly know as the National City (now PNC) Home & Garden Show!) The show is at the IX Center in Cleveland, just south of the airport. Despite the entrance fees $8 to park and $13/ea to enter, the show is still an interesting place. Obviously a home and garden showplace of vendors abilities and a haven for winter weary citizens! And a world of fresh spring flowers to assault the senses. Builders, landscapers, suppliers, and Carnies of all flavor!




There is also a section of "Arts & Crafts" with some vendors doing exhibitions of their work! We just happened to walk by an artist starting to work on another piece! I love to watch someone proficient working! They make it look so easy! We got there just as he was masking off what looked to be an outline of a barn.


He prepped his "palette" with gobs of acrylic paints from his table!


And started laying up the "sky" with a spatula.


The rest of the picture was done with just fan brushes!

If anyone remembers the series on WQLN with the painter who used a 4" paint brush and everything was okay in "your happy little world"! this was it! We kept walking around and coming back to watch! The crowd would grow and wane as he kept up painting and talking with visitors! Below is the last shot i got on our way out of the show!


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Another artist that we came across was Silk Ebroidering. Each of the pictures was completely embroidered in silk thread! one string at a time! the colors and detail were so sharp. The picture is of a piece that she is working on in a frame. The initial image is silk screened for layout and rough color and the rest is embroidered in! When complete the image is completely embroidered with none of the initial screened layout visible at all! Click on the link and go to her "store" for more pictures.

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Another surprise person that we saw and stopped to talk with is Vickie Allen. She had a booth and was doing some simple clay projects. It was really nice to run into someone from Erie! We have bought some of her pieces for custom wedding presents in the past and have some of our own!

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The rest of the vendors had all sorts of must have artsy pieces for you!

These plane/ship/helicopter models are "carved" from mahogany. They were "extemely" on sale according to the vendor! because they were just getting to heavy to haul around in and out of shows! (turns out he is not the carver, but rather buys them from artists in VietNam!)


And then came the "Carnies" hawking everything from Snuggies to Sham-Wows to every floor polishing gimmick you could imagine! The funniest thing was the "European Spa Macinines" to build a buff body in just 10 minutes a day! It was a machine that you stood on and the pad vibrated like hell! something about slow twitch muscles! Always demonstrated by a buff guy and girl! and you can do pushups on this vibrating base and look like them! (i'll see if i can find a picture to post!)

I should laugh, because i'm the sucker that bought a Vita-Mix after a demo like this at BJ's! I still enjoyed the "green" smoothies that he was making!



And now for the Piece De Resistance This was just to funny to pass up!


(when she walked by you could hear a whistle though!)

Alright Already -- Enough!

I'm sure that you're thinking "not again"!
If so, i don't care!
Yesterday by mid morning the temp was 51F! And a major snow melt was in progress!
And those first thoughts of "CROCUSES" came racing through...
For me, this is the first harbinger that Spring is around the corner and winter is waning! You can have all the groundhogs you want or buckeye bobs (ohio's lame whatever version). But, it was always Mrs.Klings crocuses that meant spring was near. The days are getting longer, pitchers and catchers report in a couple weeks! This surely doesn't mean that we have seen the end of cold and snow, but it does mean that golfing can't be far behind!

So.....
I put my shoes on and went out front and walked around the tree!



And there it was!!!!
The first brave sentinel to poke its little green head up! A single bulb that the frost worked to the surface!



From here on in, its nothing but good! the daffodils and hyacinths will not be far behind and you can bet that i'll have pictures of them too!

Let me explain........

From the looks of the dishwasher rack, you might be tempted to think that i ate nothing but chinese food all week!
But, truth be told,
Most (some) of them were from making and taking lunches to work!

yep, that's my story!

A Hankerin'

Lately i've had a hankering for BACON wrapped SHRIMP!
So, being at home alone on the weekend and the steelers game on for the AFC championship, i indulged myself!
First to Sam's Club for some shrimp and bacon!

Then some quality time wrapping the shrimp.
(note: cut bacon strips in half! otherwise it's a roll of bacon!)

First Change of Plans!
i was going to spear each wrap with a toothpick to hold them while on the grill. BUT!
way better idea was to use the bamboo skewers! nice! easy to handle and flip!

Spent a couple of minutes preparing the accompanying side dishes! after all, there is nothing like eating a well balanced meal!

Now i had to shovel a path out the back door to the grill and clean the snow off of it!
opened it up and fired it right up!
10 seconds later, it is out of gas! and it was to cold and to much snow (to lazy) to go back to the shed and swap out tanks!)

Second Change of Plans!
so i brought them back in and broiled them in the oven! OH my, did the house smell good! And finished up minutes before the steelers game started.



Oh by the way! Steelers won!

Snow Sentinels.......sNOw ANGELS

This has been quite a winter! Even for Elyria.....Cold, more cold, and lots of snow!
I've been traveling every weekend the last month or so to Erie, Rochester, and Meadville.
The time with the kids and grandkids has been wonderful!

Believe me, the only reason I came back was because I had to go to work!




There has been so much snow for Elyria, it really is pretty to look at.

The yard is so pristine! Almost like a Christmas card.






When I look out the back door, I see the Snow Sentinels standing guard over the yard.

At the same time, it is quiet sad! After all of the time with the boys, the quiet and pristine also seem empty.




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This is what the yard needed! Real SNOW ANGELS and SNOW FORTS!



This is what the yard needed! Sledding and laughing and tromping all over the place!



And thanks to Kaitlyn, there certainly was plenty of laughter and squealing!



And most of all, the yard needed someone to hold you when you get knocked down in the snow and just need a hug to feel better!