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!