The rare something new in Automotive repping

The Help weeded and weeded and this is the curb on garbage day. There is Sammy's little pee spot on the left that we need to repair.

Repping, that is what I do. I am a Rep for a company, supplier, that goes into assembly plants and fixes shit. There are many titles for what I do and Rep is not in my title, but it is what I do and what many others do. It is also called taking a bullet for the company. Because when shit goes south I am the one standing there taking the blast.

Well, Friday I got to do something new, it is not often in this biz that anything is new. Picture yourself driving to your favorite medium sized parking lot. Maybe 200 cars. Then wandering around for awhile trying to find where the hell you are supposed to go. Going into a place and asking if anyone knows so and so and then getting an escort. I was finally directed to this obscure office in the back where many people were milling about. All sort of people from those looking homeless to suits and ties. I pushed through this mob and got in line. With a phone call and my ID I had secured a vehicle to look at from 3PM to 3:30 PM. Never before has this happened in my life. When it was my turn they handed me the keys to a launch or pre-production vehicle and gave me directions to the lot. I was told if I drove the vehicle to report the mileage when I returned. WTF. I could drive this bitch, and where was I allowed to go. Can you imagine calling and telling your boss you just wrecked this bitch, oh yea that would be great.

So I am wandering about this huge lot looking for the small numbering to indicate I found the right vehicle. There were many other people doing the same thing. Finally I had to resort to the panic button on the fob. Did my job and locked her up and returned my keys with a vehicle not driven report. But I would have loved to do that.

Speaking of vehicles, I don't know what the Slavs are doing over there but one of the cars in mix is a brand new Mercedes C Series. Can't be from the winery yet.

The Best Month Ever

Yes, it is indeed my copy of the The Help.

Thanksgiving dinner in front of the television.

When Big Daddy went out to do his shopping chores he found the movie, he is my hero.

We just could not do the phony Thanksgiving dinners, we got some foie gras last weekend, some fabulous cheese and just winged it. The foie gras will improve with experience in searing it but all in all, not bad. The trick is on how hot the pan must be-sear but not melt. The grilled fruit was great and the dinner was very satisfactory.

The movie was wonderful. I loved this book, and the movie did not veer too far off, the changes were fitting and I did not want to have her mama die again. The flavor and nuance of the south was huge, I felt like I used to walk those streets. I remember living in the south, near Memphis, when these things happened, it was truly a different world. We had a maid for little while, but I think she only came once in a while, and she babysat us. I remember how amazed she was that our poodle cost 100 dollars. And that dog was a bitch and the bane of my existence for years.

My mother refused to try to fit in with the ladies and it was always a trial, you can't be like them but must get along with them. My mother was from the north and took quite a different direction from "making your point" to just becoming scandalous, she made us swim in the public pool after it was integrated. We were the only white kids in the pool. And mother did not come with us, she was more of the make the shitball than throw the shitball person. She was too busy trying to save to world than to make our lives easy. Her world was a lady that did not know how to cook fish sticks. And mother never did convince her to use the stove.

Big Daddy is at his interview, for those keeping score he has turned down 2, one for less money than I used to make and one for location. It will happen when it happens.

Unpainted Toenails

There will be no picture as I view unpainted toenails unacceptable for public viewing.

I considered drawing a picture but as Leonardo and I seem to have more than 6 degrees of separation that could take weeks.

Shit, first we need to get the latest The Help update out of the way. Punkin Head actually went looking and The Lady inquired for me, I believe a at Barnes & Noble. Nope, it is definitely December for release. As much as I have bitched about this I think Opie should just send me the movie in honor of his daughter, one of the stars of the film. Yea, like that is gonna happen. I would even donate money to his cause, whatever that is, just to get the damn movie.

I have also solved part one of the getting a job mission. I really am wishing I can find something not in automotive. That is a crazy world and I do not think I can do that again, and for probably a lot less money than they used to pay. I am used to sleeping all night and not talking to asshats at 11 PM. Also, since the government gave them some of my tax dollars I feel I have a right to tell them when they are out of line.

So to address part one, I am writing a cookbook. Just because I hate cooking and kitchens and preparing food is not a good reason not to write a book about cooking. I took over Big Daddy's Blog, previously called "Big Daddy Can Cook" now called, The Best Cookbook ever for Really Stupid People. I think it will be a success. I left his old recipes on it, there were only 2, they were good (stolen other people's recipes) and I may want to try them someday. I am currently working on a recipe for making coffee. If you check it out I must say Susan Spicer's recipe for Garlic Soup is the best.

Now, let us address unpainted toenails. These are usually toenails that have rarely if ever been seen by a professional. I do admit I have an odd fascination with toenails. Can't explain that, just do. Toenails should never be shown in public without polish. Professional type polishing. No one wants to look at nasty, dirty, jagged toenails with unkempt cuticles. Cuticle care is as important to pretty feet as perfect polish. Gleaming soft skin, silken cuticles and shiny perfect polished nails, that makes a foot worthy of being seen. Anything less is an affront to good manners. Anyone with a whit of sense can learn to do a proper pedicure, there is no excuse for bare toenails in public.

People without the good sense to polish their toes can wear oxfords and boots. Which of course means men should never be seen with visible toenails unless they are standing in sand. Period. Maybe on a boat, if they learned to properly care for their feet. Or they get regular pedicures, with buffing.

Turkey Day

Big Daddy spilled his guts and informed me he has 7 vacation days left. Wow, of course that is because he just found out this year the lying and thieving Chinese forgot to tell him he had 2 work days when he got home leave. They pay for your tickets, so they have to say 2 days of your trip are work related.

Anyhoo, he is taking off Thanksgiving like a real white person. That is what the Chinese call us, white people, when they are being kind. So we are investigating where to go for Thanksgiving dinner. The prices are totally outrageous and all include what I am pretty sure is a glass of crappy wine.

The cheapest so far seems to be The Roosevelt which is supposed to be the most beautiful and expensive place to get a steak. As dried out turkey and cheap wine is probably served everywhere, I think the most beautiful and historic place is the right way to go. But we are not sure where it is.

First off, even China admits the maps are not the most accurate. And since mostly no one can read a map it is not really a priority to fix this problem. I was pretty sure I knew where it was, and then BD finds this map on the Internet that shows somewhere completely different. And the website is so out of date, well who knows where the fuck this place is. And, blast it all, it is not shown on my scarf.

Investigation is in order here, but first I have to go see if anyone has The Help.

Just an aside, as I regularly rip any movie I see, watched Midnight in Paris with Owen Wilson and it was not bad. It actually had a plot I have not seen before.

One of the best birthdays ever.

Silk Scarf , map of Shanghai

I made Big Daddy soup on Friday so he was Mr. Happy all weekend. That man loves his soup.

I will start with the most exciting and finish with the WTF.

Punkin Head called and wished me a happy day. That boy makes me happy. Last year he sent a card but we never gave him the new address when we moved.

Big Daddy gave me a beautiful hand made shawl with 999 roses sewn on, this signifies everlasting and enduring love and devotion. The color of the roses means his only love forever. So if I die he cannot give it to wife number 2. And because it was my birthday and we have spent a bunch of money there the shawl store gave me a silk scarf with a map of Shanghai on it.

Amay gave me a beautiful silk scarf in my favorite colors, purple and green.

After a nice walk I got a taxi and surprised BD by going to Kapps for dinner. He loves that place and we both had excellent steaks. First steaks since we have been back in China.

Sunday we went for a walk and ended up grabbing a taxi to the Italian restaurant on Maoming. BD has wanted to go there for awhile and have pizza. Their pizza is just like the ones he had in Torino, and last night the special was truffle pizza. He was over the moon.

When I got my hair done Saturday Anna gave me a free deep conditioner for my birthday. It is the one where they wrap up your head and put under a bonnet that ties you down and then a bunch of steam comes off your head for 20 minutes. Gotta say my hair looked great.

Oh yes, others remembered my special day too, Sephora sent me an email with a free gift (did not open the email yet) Delta Airlines sent me a Birthday Greeting and a discount code just in case I want to spend a bunch of money with them before December 31, and my old radio station in Detroit emailed me a have a happy day. Wow.

Seriously, I had a great weekend, drama free. Except for one little thing. We stopped at the video store and no they do not have The Help movie. They tried to show BD the new movies and he told them is not buying anything until they get The Help. They were sad, we do spend some kwai with them. Then we were walking past Mr. Woody's and what do see, a poster for The Help. Mr. Woody does not have the movie The Help, he has the poster. Yes, yes, we have the poster now. WTF. BD went on the Internet looking for movie here in Shanghai, they sent him to my blog.

We are all good now

I fixed the "Did It Work" post and you can now click on the link and go right to the album and the captions show up. I fear in the future some will grumble "I wish she never figured that Picasa out". Don't worry, it was dumb luck and I doubt I will be inundating the Internet with enough photos to choke anyone. That is not a bad way to post photos, I think when I started using Picasa the Internet was on the fritz here and I could not stay connected long enough to stay interested. Thank you Badger for the reminders.

I found out some curious information today regarding my quest for the movie, The Help. Big Daddy found some magazine and brought it home from Ning Hai. The magazine had an article on how often you should clean your nose. I have a weak stomach and cannot discuss the nose cleaning nor BD's fascination with the Chinese ability to perform miracle mucus discharge and phlegm feats, however I found an article on new shit happening in Shanghai and there it was, a description of the movie, The Help. This is when I checked the date of the magazine and discovered it was 2 months old. I also discovered we missed the stage play "Kiss Me Kate". I am thinking that might have been a Chinese sanctioned movie and actually sold here at retail, which would explain why no pirates have it. Bad news, we don't know of any retail DVD establishments in Shanghai. I might have to order this one from Amazon. And find a current magazine, I have never seen this one before.

As the fall brings a new crop of expats, we have at least one here at the Hotel, BD called for flowers Monday and when he went down to the lobby there was a laowai trying to steal our flowers. Offering huge sums of money for our Bird of Paradise flowers. The flower lady held firm to her refusal and Bd was the good guy and told him the arrangement on how to get flowers. I swear, there are days that the flowers are the only thing that make my life a happy one.