I’m cleaning out my hard drive today (September 21, 2006), and guess what I find? An old entry, which I don’t think ever got posted (blogger connection problems). So here it is, going back to July 14…

Between cleaning and in John’s case, working, we managed to squeeze in several gorge-fests. We finally went to City Diner. My friend Joon’s been raving about that place for months. Thankfully, I didn’t try it sooner; I’d easily be 20 lbs. heavier. That shit beats good old American diner food in the States. God, the BLT… I’m salivating just thinking about it. Also, we hit Di Shui Dong (滴水洞), a Hunan place. Yeah, all the sudden I’m all into hot and spicy. We’re addicts. Yes, hit that place at least FOUR times in the last two weeks-— braved the bathroom consequences and all. I should insert a funny story here.

On one of those nights, a waitress came up to us near the end of dinner. She asked if we were there earlier that week. Yeah, we’re regulars. Then, she asked if we sat on the other side of the room. I started to realize she wasn’t just commenting on our frequent patronage… Apparently, the other night she got the checks between two tables mixed up, and one party got a steal, paying 89 rmb less than the value of their order. Poor girl realized the mistake only afterwards, so she had to foot the difference.

I insisted that I sat at a table on the other side but not the one she pointed. I also explained our bills NEVER come under 200 rmb. I could see in her eyes that she didn’t believe me. But what else could she do? All she could do was show me the order ticket (it had other items we didn’t order) and take my word for it. But I still felt bad about it. I didn’t want her to feel like I was lying. So what did I do? 发票 to the rescue, man. I’m telling you, my receipts game SAVED me. I dug up my receipts from the last week, found the ones with their company chop/number, and showed it to her: 210 in receipts from the other day. Aw yeah baby! It was a fine redeeming moment. Haha!

In China, at one time or another, you learn to work the system. My Chinese friend 毛毛 (Mao Mao) recently switched jobs. As a 外地人 (migrant), changing jobs is no walk in the park; unless you’re Shanghainese, you get screwed with loads of extra paperwork just so you can work legally in the city. Labor permits, work visas, annual health checks… a total pain in the ass, not to mention a time sink AND a money pit. I went through the tiresome process myself a couple times, so I empathize with Mao, who is both low on time and low on cash. Needless to say, she was over one night, and my scanner caught her eye. I’ve done a couple websites and shit, but I’m certainly no graphic artist or “documents expert.” Ah well, I will say this: her new employer received all the photocopies she requested of Mao’s materials. Am I a good Samaritan slash bad ass or what?

I should have known better… One week later and I still have Sandy. First, she was in the middle of finals. After exams were over, I texted her asking if she was still interested. No pressure: this was her out. And she said she was still interested. Over the next two days, I gave her time slots for her to swing by. First, she wasn’t feeling well– would come by the next day. Then, the next day, still wasn’t feeling well. Would just text me when she was ready to come by. Meanwhile, I’m up to my fucking ears in last minute bullshit. And then I’ve got SCAA asking what is up with Nemesis and telling me Sandy’s due for more jabs plus spaying. Jesus Christ. I dunno how I get myself into these things. The plan was so simple and fuckhead nemesis screwed me over. Hate her. Why did I even give her two seconds of reconsideration?

So things are fine. Someone’s coming to purchase and haul off the dresser, DVD player, lamp, electric toothbrush, etc. I’m whittling things down. Also, my friend Susie is going to bring her dog over to check out Sandy. If those two get along, Susie may be up for fostering Sandy. Thank goodness. A more reliable option. It’s really a shame Sandy has grown into such a complicated situation, because she is so damn easy. Seriously. You cannot get an easier dog than this. Oh well, idiots are not my problem anymore.

Btw, I’m FINALLY getting my Enjoy Shanghai voucher today. That was another mess of its own but looks like the conclusion is near. Man, Shanghai is fucking muggy outside. It’s depressing me. Actually, this whole move/new life thing is depressing me. A bit. I mean, I’m happy about being with Bubbey again but things are really weird with this whole starting over thing. And it’s our final week in China and I don’t feel like doing anything.

I should have known better… One week later and I still have Sandy. First, she was in the middle of finals. After exams were over, I texted her asking if she was still interested. No pressure: this was her out. And she said she was still interested. Over the next two days, I gave her time slots for her to swing by. First, she wasn’t feeling well– would come by the next day. Then, the next day, still wasn’t feeling well. Would just text me when she was ready to come by. Meanwhile, I’m up to my fucking ears in last minute bullshit. And then I’ve got SCAA asking what is up with Nemesis and telling me Sandy’s due for more jabs plus spaying. Jesus Christ. I dunno how I get myself into these things. The plan was so simple and fuckhead nemesis screwed me over. Hate her. Why did I even give her two seconds of reconsideration?

So things are fine. Someone’s coming to purchase and haul off the dresser, DVD player, lamp, electric toothbrush, etc. I’m whittling things down. Also, my friend Susie is going to bring her dog over to check out Sandy. If those two get along, Susie may be up for fostering Sandy. Thank goodness. A more reliable option. It’s really a shame Sandy has grown into such a complicated situation, because she is so damn easy. Seriously. You cannot get an easier dog than this. Oh well, idiots are not my problem anymore.

Btw, I’m FINALLY getting my Enjoy Shanghai voucher today. That was another mess of its own but looks like the conclusion is near. Man, Shanghai is fucking muggy outside. It’s depressing me. Actually, this whole move/new life thing is depressing me. A bit. I mean, I’m happy about being with Bubbey again but things are really weird with this whole starting over thing. And it’s our final week in China and I don’t feel like doing anything.

Gotta give it to Air China for making our last SFO PVG trip a memorable one. Yes, I have written many a posts bitching about the disastrous state of “customer service.” To date, I have sworn off HP laptops, Best Buy, China Eastern (through LAX), Sprint, Enjoy Shanghai… yes, the list goes on. Everywhere I turn, I am disappointed with half-ass people. Seriously, how are these people even employed? Anyway, in case you were wondering, something actually came from the Enjoy debacle: I was offered a voucher to SF Steakhouse in town (yes, how appropriate). Trouble is, it’s now been two weeks and I have yet to receive the voucher in the mail. I actually had trouble receiving mail from Enjoy in the past. Initially, it was my bad: I miswrote my address as Number 5 rather than Lane 5. But I corrected the mistake last year. Now, it’s the same problem again. Now Enjoy is like investigating something with the post office. Must everything be so goddamn difficult? Jesus fucking Christ.

So the whole thing with Air China… first, John and I are fying back to SF on separate airlines. He’ll be on United; I’ll be on Air China. And the official airline of the Beijing Olympics has me fucking going through BJ. So bloody stupid. When I purchased the ticket last October, the flight was direct. Then in April, Air China made the brilliant decision to alter the route with a stopover in BJ– only adds about 4 hours’ time to the itinerary. Fuckers. I spent days on the phone with Travelocity (they’re on my shitlist now too) AND Air China and ultimately, I got no where. Pissed me off. So I guess John and I can consider this flight back a safe strategy, like for the kids we don’t have. You know, in case one of us goes down, at least the other survives for the nonexistent kiddies. Morbid but hey, people actually think like that!

John’s experience with Air China last Saturday was hell. In BJ, the connecting flight to SH never made it, so the agents scrambled for an alternative. After utter disorder and chaos, the passengers were hurried from one end of the BJ airport to the other to board a plane headed for Hongqiao airport (rather than Pudong). Fortunately, Hongqiao is closer to our apartment, but still. The two SH airports are on the opposite sides of town! Had it not been for John’s smartphone, I would have been waiting at PVG for no reason.

In light of our recent bad experiences with the airlines, it’s a wonder I’m giving an iota of thought to some job openings with Cathy Pacific in their San Francisco base. You see, I’m kinda bummed about leaving China. My good friend Jenny, a former Cathay Pacific flight attendant, told me Cathay is aiming to open shop in SF. They are currently recruiting billingual staff for their SFO-HKK route. I’m actually a bit surprised by my interest in this opportunity. After all, am I cool and glamorous and wild and crazy (that’s how I imagine airline crews…)? Not a bit. Still, I’ll look into it. My friends are skeptical too: they can’t see me excelling at customer service, or rather, they can’t see me putting up with other people’s bullshit… Oh well, this could just be my ticket to Asia. Plus, it’s a job where I can use my Mandarin so can’t be that bad, right? More on that later.

In other news, the last few days have been exhausting. John and I braved the suffocating heat and headed out to Pudong to extend his visa on Monday. I don’t care what I told you during the winter: Shanghai summers are definitely WORSE than Shanghai winters. Just to put it in perspective, my buddy Pamela canceled shopping because of the heat. You know it’s REALLY bad then!

So yesterday, the packers finally came. Jesus. I only wasted like two weeks trying to squeeze a goddamn quote out of these people. So confusing. There’s like the main shipping company that has an agent in Shanghai and then I also deal with another dude in their SFO branch office. Oddly, they don’t communicate directly. They actually go through me… bizarro. Then, there’s this separate packing company that’s supposed to get me cleared through customs in China. That company has like three different contacts, and every time we talk money, they ask me what price I was quoted. Yeah, totally sketch. Like I’m getting a laowai quote or something. So frustrating dealing with all these hands in the pot. So we ended up shipping back a few unanticipated things– his 23-inch cinema display which didn’t sell and my guzheng (which, encased, is practically the size of a coffin!). What we had expected to be under 3 cubic meters ended up being 5! And we’re supposed to be minimalists. I was so depressed yesterday after they hauled off our 20 big-ass boxes. How did this happen? Damn books, I tell you. We don’t even have knicky-knacky shit. It was like four monster tubs of books plus clothes and bedding. Anyway, I’m disgusted with myself. It definitely isn’t going to be pretty on the other side. I just hope my oil paintings, guzheng, and cinema display arrive unscathed.

I’ve been away from the gym for about five days. Yeah, the food safari has already taken its toll… But it rained this evening so things have cooled off some. I plan to head over around 9. Gotta get in my 30 minutes of misery.

Btw, Nemesis is coming over tomorrow to check out Sandy. We’ll see what comes of that. I also sold my dresser and a radiator heater… Hurray! Checkin’ shit off the list… We’re down to the homestretch.

I went out to dinner this evening with my students at Shepherd. They are the sweetest peeps; we ate Sichuan at a nice restaurant around the corner. Food was a bit spicy, but dinner was fun all the same. Raymond always tries to drink people under the table. He tries, I guess. We had quite the feast; cow stomach, fish, shrimp, tofu, yam noodles, pumpkin rice cakes. When the bill came, I witnessed price negotiation at its best. My students were surprised to find that small river shrimp cost 78 rmb/lb. After several minutes of back and forth with the restaurant staff, we got a 20 percent discount. Geez, if only I had that kind of tenacity. Even the office director Simon gets DVDs for only 5 kuai. Guess I’m just a sucker.

After dinner, I met up with some friends at Windows downtown to watch Argentina v. Germany, supposedly one of the biggest games of the tourney. I sure as hell wouldn’t know; despite its hunks, soccer doesn’t appeal to me. So anyway, this Windows place was packed to the seams. It was so fucking hot, and damn, people really get worked up over this shit. Next to me, a young German lady– who happened to look a lot like Jodie Foster– was on the verge of tears. She was totally stressed, and her face twitched and trembled– a breakdown was imminent. The game was ok to watch; unlike American football, at least each play lasts longer than three seconds. And the game seems more straightforward; no first and second downs and all that bullshit. Still, by the end of the second half, I was ready to jet. Especially with German chick on a tightrope next to me. Her anxiety was disturbing. After the supplemental time wrapped, I left.

Poor cabbie couldn’t understand my address. I didn’t even drink (meaning, no slurred speech). I repeated it for him like four times and then I got really impatient. I mean, come on, I’ve been living here almost three years. I know how to fucking pronounce my address; don’t tell me I say it wrong. Just don’t.

Blah, blah. World Cup. Who cares. The big news is Bubbey’s coming home tonight. Yay! I guess it’s been about seven weeks. Not really that long in the grand scheme of things, but definitely long enough. I’ve had a my singledom fix and now I’m ready for buddy time. Unfortunately, he’s going to be dead tired AND jetlagged, but I’m just glad we’ll be together again.

Speaking of pet sitters/boarders, John and I got a good laugh out of this ad which appeared in a Shanghai magazine

The night before last, John emailed me: the dog boarding kennel is booked. Two days before his departure, and no one to watch the dogs. For two weeks. I started flipping out.

You see, many boarding facilities in the area have like 150-200 dog runs. In the past, the places just told us to bring the animals; they were never at capacity. Well, bite me in the ass. We forgot about the Independence Day holiday. July 4. Panicked, I stayed up til 3 a.m. that night scrambling for a sitter. We finally found one, thank goodness. R&M man, sandbags of the century. 🙂

Poor John. As usual, he was again slammed at work with meetings all that day. Plus, he was especially unnerved about having to can two people. First time as the doer, rather than the watcher. I imagine firing someone is very difficult. You think about the impact, not just on the individual but their loved ones, their family. It’s not easy. And John was tormented despite the facts. These people are so aggravating though. I understand that work blows. I’ve been there– depressed and disgruntled. But still, do your damn work. You can have a bad attitude; you can use up all your sick leave or whatever. But don’t be an asshole. Likely you’re not saving the world or anything, so please, just get your shit done. That’s what you’re paid to do. I mean, it’s that simple. If you’re not productive, why should you continue drawing a paycheck? It’s not rocket science. Wtf, man. Get with the program.

So, John’s a nice guy and he was losing sleep over having to do this. Damn fuckers. I mean, there are plenty of people who want to make a decent living. If these bastards are unhappy and unproductive, they’ve got to go. It’s no one’s fault but theirs. They’ve made the conscious decision not only to slack ass, but also to be jerks. So screw it. They were asking for it. I know, I sound harsh but Bubbey comes first. Stop making his life so complicated and difficult. He’s not a goddamn babysitter. The job isn’t supposed to be ’round the clock crisis management; it’s supposed to be project management, development, and planning. Jesus Christ.

So anyway, surprise surprise: John’s gonna have to work while he’s here. But hopefully he’ll get some rest.