It starts again

This is me a few years ago trying to decide just what I had gotten myself into.

Big Daddy got home to China just fine. Had to fight his way off the elevator as the majority of riders got on the down elevator when they wanted to go up, and did not want to let BD off. He did something with some one's computer bag and there was some climbing, but it all turned out just fine.

We still have an apartment and maybe a plant. The ayi's went crazy with decorating, you know how to style the ashtrays.

Funny of the day: Big Daddy had a taxi driver in ESL classes and the entire ride to the apartment he repeated the following: Good Morning, How are you doing, Good, Thank You, Knee How, (hee hee hee), Thank you.  I asked BD how often did he repeat this, it was constant with the only respite occurring when he lighted a smoke. Heeheehee.

New scandal is the roads are now falling apart days after opening to traffic. Whew. Good that the smell is off the subway scandel and the trains falling off the tracks.

Times are a changing

For some unknown and not spoken reason, security is on the rise here in China. Airport security really upped the checks and fistfights broke out. I do not understand this but it is not uncommon. For some reason when the Chinese are made to wait they get very upset. Big Daddy was at a railway ticket booth that opened five minutes late one time and he said it became a pushing and shoving free-for-all. All Chinese believe they should be first and they cannot accept the concept that there is only 1 first.

Anyway current advice is to arrive 2-3 hours before flight time. This will never work in China. These people are trained to walk up at the last minute and get their ticket and queue up at the gate. The queue has nothing to do with lining up, it is a gathering of people at one point, followed by a contest of who beats whom to the finish point.

One thing I have learned here is that when you train a Chinese person they will never deviate. Changes are not allowed. How the hell are they going to re-train an entire country.

My guess is that being first explains the Chinese airline pilot, that is really Korean by birth, that would not yield to the Mayday of another airplane when landing in Shanghai recently. I am sure the Captain, pilot flying, was urged on by the FO, we do not wait, that is silly, our job is to be first.

Since Piers Morgan thinks the Chinese are the best of best maybe he can teach them to queue. Y'all know Piers gets on my last nerve.

Big Daddy said the heightened security even reached the trains today. A fully outfitted policeman slept next to him on the train. Never saw police on a train before.