Random Musings from a Troubled Mind

Packed and Ready!

The image of organization.

- 12 large bags (2 per person) each packed to within ounces of their 50 lb. capacity.
- 6 carry-ons
- 6 personal items

Lock and Load! Cars will be here soon to transport all this stuff, and us, to the airport...

DMac Out...

{{ Sent from DMac's E71 }}

Jamie gets the treatment

One thing that Jamie just loved about getting his hair cut in China, is that they wash It,s right in the seat. Not sure why that's so exciting, but he loves it...

They also occasionally give him the Mohawk treatment, which is clearly a cool thing!

DMac Out...

{{ Sent from DMac's E71 }}

If it ain't nailed down, or labeled...

PACK IT!!!  The pre-team of two swept through, marking all the things that belonged to the landlord and were not to be moved.  Basically, anything that we are not taking on the plane, and did not belong to the house is going in a sea-bound container.  

 
 

There was one exception that got marked that is going on the plane with us...

After that activity, then the team of workers swooped in to make it all happen.

 
 
 And of course, we had our crack junior team hard at it, "on the job" moving stuff!

 Let's see, Jessie is moving vegetables in "Gardening Mama", Jake is moving people and objects in "Zelda", Josh is moving animals in "Animal Crossing", and Jamie was moving who knows what in "Mr. Slime Junior."

BUT, it will all get done.  We have Kristi on our team, and as you all know, that means that our team more than makes up for having four slackers.  :-)

DMac Out...

As seen on TV!

I don't know if any of you have tried these "space bags" that you can now find at Target and other places, but there are amazing.  I neglected to take the full picture of everything getting "reduced in size", but here is a small example of what went "into" a space bag.

 

Next, I stuffed in bedding and sucked it all down... 

And voila!  Bedding for six in a single Eddie Bauer duffle bag.  

 

That, does NOT suck!

DMac Out...

PS. By the way, a huge thanks to Julie Brenny for hooking us up with these bags!!!

More 'resources' isn't always the answer...

I had a great lesson in resource management the other day, funnily enough, while shopping for groceries.

In our daily lives, whether personal or professional, we often think, 'if only I had some more help, this would be so much easier!' To be fair, that is occasionally the case, maybe even the predominant factor, but, it doesn't resolve all ills.

In China, their largest resource, I would have to estimate, is most likely human. Therefore, during crunch times, the first 'lever' that is pulled is large 'throw people at the problem!' switch,

I'll cut to the chase. No matter how many unskilled workers you throw at a problem, it will not be resolved in an effective manner. Case in point. I wanted to buy a nice bottle of wine for a friend. Unfortunately, my wine knowledge is limited, therefore, I struggle when I'm in a store that has NOTHING I know. Yes, I did get an 'A' in my wine class while at university, so at some point, I probably could have extolled the virtues of this year over that, or the moisture content in that region for that grape, etc. That knowledge is long buried behind drinking lots of Capri Sun juice drinks with four kids.

Fast forward to now, and the problem at hand. I am of course in China, and therefore have a limited selection of wines to choose from. Therefore, anything I might know is either unavailable, or 'unattainable' price wise.

I scour the shelves, looking for something yummy and interesting, that I might recognize. A Pinot Nor maybe, or perhaps a Syrah? Maybe a precocious little Chateau neuf du Pape. No, double No, and 'what was I thinking?'

Whilst I looked, one clerk after another asked if I needed help. Now, mind you, this is in a very Western part of Beijing that completely caters to foreigners. The store is loaded with Western products, at nose-bleed prices, and English-speaking staff. But, I thought to myself, 'they really won't be able to help. Will they?'

That was confirmed when two different girls, without asking anything about what I wanted, pointed to two completely different (but equally expensive) bottles and commented, 'this derlicious' No, that's not a typo.

So, after being asked three times, by three different clerks, and experiencing increasing frustration at my lack of success in finding just the right bottle, I came to the conclusion, 'why not ask, they certainly can't do any LESS than I am doing now.'

So, I called over one of the clerks, and told her what I wad trying to find.

She in turn called over her colleague, and they debated the topic some more.

A third clerk made the mistake of wandering by, so she too was pulled into the discussion.

Finally, they filled out their problem solving squad with a fourth member, and the dream team was complete. They had brought all the resources to bear that the store had to offer. Unfortunately, none of them really appeared to know anything more than any of the others.

I thanked them for their assistance (for reference, read back a few posts to the one about language, and varying degrees of something being 'fixed' or 'finished') and bade them farewell.

I made a choice that looked reasonable. French, good year, expensive enough to not be too dodgy. Let's see what happens. That said, it was for a Chinese friend, in China. So even if it were corked, or the worst bottle of wine available, I would still hear how much it was 'enjoyed.'

I must say, there is a certain warmth to the fact that the Chinese culture embraces people who would rather tell a half truth, than to offend someone. We could learn a little bit there.

DMac Out...

PS. Sorry the picture is a bit fuzzy, I was laughing a bit, and wanted to take this quickly so I didn't offend them. I'm sure they thought I was nuts!

{{ Sent from DMac's E71 }}

One stop fun for all ages

I just dropped off Josh at a birthday party for one of his school mates. The fun center was called, 'Gongti 100 Bowling and Tennis Centre.' They were bowling, which I later found out is on the second floor.

We first went to the basement, thinking bowling, being both noisy and probably heavy construction, should be on hard ground. Nope, that was a food court, and myriad of sundry other assorted distractions. Okay, truth be told, I have no idea. They saw that I had a kid with a gift, said a boat-load of things in Chinese, which I loosely interpretted as, 'hey, loser, does this look like a kids party place to you? You must be looking for the bowling and fun center, which is on the 2nd Floor.'

Okay, off we go.

Up the stairs, and immediately I hear the calming sound of balls gliding down wooden planks, slamming into pins. Noises from a place where I misspent so much of my youth.

So, the sounds matched. Then I see 'lanes', so the visuals match. Then I see lots of people dressed nicely, a man in a black suit, a flashy woman in an electric-blue velvet dress. Hmmm, curiouser and curiouser...

Next, I see posters advertising all sorts of bowling things, BUT between them. Are pictures of attractive Asian women in lingerie. No, I'm not kidding. I have no idea what other things this 'fun center' was providing, but I'm guessing that most patrons, my 9-year old son amongst them, will leave happy.

This isn't the best picture, but I a) didn't want to look like a perv, taking pictures of the others, and b) wanted you to see the bowling in the background so you wouldn't think I was making this up!!!

DMac Out...

{{ Sent from DMac's E71 }}

I thought Australia was "down under"

You know what they say about digging a deep hole, and ending up in China?  You know what you find when you get here?  I'm not sure, but I think it could be the top of this Christmas tree...

 

Wait, maybe we've had it backwards all these years.  Look how many more presents you can get under it when you put the little part at the bottom!!!  :-)

DMac Out...

What a difference a "T" makes

What a difference a "T" makes

You know, it’s the details that REALLY matter sometimes. For example, I recently bought this cool card for Kristi, which showed the translation of her first name into 3 Chinese characters. On the back, it showed the meaning of of each character, in English. As you will see, it’s not about the pronunciation, it’s about the sentiment behind each character, that is expresses the full depth and breadth of character and tradition.

For the middle character, I had to ask, politely, what it meant. They told me, “uh, that mean ‘Long Life’.” Ah, it’s a bit different without the “T” in the middle...

DMac Out...

 

Jamie wins another Dragon Award!

Jamie wins another Dragon Award!

Now, I wasn’t told what the content of the award entailed, meaning what he did to deserve it. But that’s not the point. What puzzled me was the fact that, the award itself, was not quite clear. He keeps winning these things, and I’m stumped by what’s motivating him.

Here is the picture. Maybe you can work it out...
Dmac Out.