The Traveling Pants or my new pee pee pants

There is a story about the traveling pants. I don't know it. I only know my story of the traveling pants and it is ugly. I am traveling about China with Big Daddy. And in China you wear pants. And in China you have to pee. In China they do not have above ground toilets-you know the kind you sit on. China has these fucking porcelain holes in the floor they call toilets. With foot rests. They are filthy. And the ladies squat. No hand rails, nothing to grab onto. In the floor. And they miss alot-peeing in the hole that is- according to the amount of liquid on the floor. And they do not use soap to wash their hands. They use water. The water you are not allowed to drink. And there are no hand wipes, towels, papers, whatever. I finally got fedded up (a French term) at the last airport and went to the "weak only" stall. It was all fouled up with errant pee pee too, I assuming as they only know how to squat and cannot aim. Or clean up after themselves. and there is no cleaning crew on the "washrooms". Yes, speaking Canadian in China. So now my traveling pants are the ones I wear to and from the airport.

It changes the way you think when you are aware of the fact that most people you look in the eye have pee on their trousers.

At the new accommodation 5 star hotel in Shenzhen it is sucky. There is no manicure/pedicure service. The hair salon is bad-but the hair wash was fantastic. The hair Wash was done in the chair, dropped shampoo and water on drops at a time and the most fantastic head and neck massage ever. Not enough to make up for no other massage allowed-ONLY men are allowed to get massage (including feet). Women are not allowed. So I walked away with a really bad hairdo and aching feet.

It is not safe to go outside and shop. WTF. No shopping in the hotel except for overpriced Chinese shit I cannot find in Shanghai. Vases for 5,000 US, right.

Now we are fucked by Paypal and can't order food any more, so okay no more eating.
And I thought we had found a food source. Some British woman ordered on our account and shut it down. Great.

Big Daddy is now a fan of Dragon Fruit, speckled with seeds so I can't try it, he says it is delicious. So now I will now sign off and see what can possibly follow this fantastic day of disappointment. Oh I almost forgot to mention no smiles today, a couple nasty looks, and no sunshine. If someone could explain why these people are so miserable I would like to know. I get that they are under a communist regime, but since when is it a crime to smile.

Hello Shanghai

Flight was great. God sent me an angel as a seat mate and she showed me the ropes including getting a cart at the airport. Immigration and Customs was nothing compared to other countries. The worst was the baggage wait. Took a crazy taxi ride to the apartment and proceeded to be sick for the next 4 hours. I am so grateful I did not start feeling bad until the taxi or I would have been in quarantine.

Apartment will be okay once I get some decorating in place, like dishes and rugs and a clock. The Ayah cleaning is not up to par, so we talked with her boss, or someone who knew her boss. Confusing. They speak English but do not know what you are really saying and cannot really tell you what you want to know.

Need to go shopping today, Big Daddy did not have tissues. Went shopping yesterday but no essentials to be found where we went. Found a couple hats, casual, for a good price but not what we needed. Think Big Daddy wanted to show me the area he knew. Great sightseeing with designer stores in this rabbit's warren of craziness. Have a picture of the scene across from the cafe where stopped for a rest. Sitting on the balcony looking at a hovel with the laundry hanging outside and across the street they were renovating a place putting doors in crooked. Will have to wait as Big Daddy took the picture with his mobile phone as I of course forgot the camera.

Oh, the black cloud following me across the U.S. and the Pacific. Yesterday no water in the apartment and when they turned it on the toilet broke.

Going to eat lunch and go to the mall. See ya later.

Life Goes on

Met a woman at Trader Joe's who gave me the skinny on cheap flights to NYC to visit Punkin Head. Her son lives in Brooklyn Heights. She also has a house in France. She was hunting for bargain wines. It is still true. Grosse Pointers are cheap. I am getting cheap myself. Won't turn on the lights. First it was to save money. Now it so I don't have to change light bulbs all by myself. What if I am up on a ladder and fall? I don't have one of those things hanging on my neck to call for help.

Big Daddy is not happy with our new apartment. Thinks we are getting pimped. He will be on the warpath to fix this Sunday. No Internet, no phone,no cable and one bath with a futon in the second bedroom. And the locks had to be fixed first thing. Compared his digs to his co-workers digs and he thinks there is something suspicious going on. Hhhmmm. He said shopping was great tho, and ex-pats very kind to each other. Bought about 70 US dollars food for 15 FC money. Good thing cause we are still broke.

Once again the neighbors

Got a knock on the door this morning from the lady tending the corner house. She's the new neighbor. Good landscaping and a cute little girl.

She was asking my permission to put in her air-conditioning unit. WTF. This unit is across the street and behind bushes. So now we have to make local government and 1 out of 3 neighbors happy. The unit is only 2 feet from where the big screen TV(and I mean big)live. They will hear more noise than I ever will.

Big Daddy is interviewing for a new job this week overseas. Kinda scary. I think we may need to find a new home for the GrrDog or he will be lunch.

Off to do my resume for MARVIN, the bane of my existence, the most fickle relationship ever.