I have had it, just had it

Must have woken up on the wrong side of the too hot and sweaty bed today because I feel like I am gonna blow.

Latest indignity: I cannot do the NYT crossword. They say I do not have access and need to set up an account. Those MF's have been taking my money for years and now they say I am dogshit. And I have logged in with my account to get this nasty little message. According to my American Express statement they  got some 'splaining to do and they are lucky I am far, far away right now. Don't fuck with my puzzle. It keeps me sane. So I guess this is what sent Charlie Sheen down that path, the NYT crossword.

I cannot regulate the heat in this room. Tried the snowflake icon, tried the sun icon, does not matter it just keeps getting hotter. Turned the damn thing off and have the window open. Next will be the hall door. Would call them for assistance but cannot take the friendly jabba jabba right now. Afraid I will bite them.

China must be really lively or really paranoid because CNN is off more than usual. I would not know as the NYT is full of shit and not telling me.

We are in podunk, bfe also known as Ning Hai. It is an hour drive from Ning Bo which is also bfe but with bigger slums. When we drove in the sun was red and it was really smoggy. Could have something to do with all the open fires I saw. It also appears to be one of the capitals of stone work as there were many places selling stone statues of animal that were 30 feet tall.

Hotel is really nice, the Howard Johnson, very new and quite friendly. Friendly in the Chinese way of wanting you to know they speak English. Incessantly. Insultingly. The Chinese of have no concept of western style manners and civility. They are actually worse than the Austrians and they shocked me at what they will say and ask. And they never shut up. When we arrived we needed a smoke and accordingly went to the outdoor ashtray stand before we went inside. 3 people asked us 7 times to go inside with our luggage. And they are impervious to the steam beginning to leak from my ears.

At the check-in there is the usual cluster, taking 3 people to check us in, Big Daddy has to call his supplier get them to talk to the hotel, and then Mr. Shithead (as I named him) wants to know our entry date to China. We tell him and he has the passport in his hand. He can't read it. BD is trying to help him find it and the steam coming out my ears is getting larger. IS IT ME, or if your job is to read dates from passports shouldn't you know how to do that? During this entire debacle we got the lady bringing us tea and hot towels at the counter and now I am thinking about shoving the towel down Mr. Shithead's mouth. Thirty minutes later I go to the room with the bags and BD goes to get me some wine.

The room is very nice, pictures to follow, and the bell boy keeps jabbering about God knows what and telling me if I need anything to ask him. Now keep in mind, the bell staff in China never shows you the lights, heat, TV controls, nothing-they put your bags in the room. So he is hanging around doing nothing and telling me to ask if I need anything and I tell him, yep, I need ice. He is flummoxed. He does not know ice. I show him the ice bucket. He is aghast that I would want ice in the ice bucket. He tells me to call zero. So much for his help.

BD arrived with the wine, someone arrived with ice and now it was time for dinner. I cannot describe dinner right now and do it justice. For one thing I took no pictures. Also I was exhausted and surely it was not as bizarre as I recall. Dinner in the room tonight and a nice bath and I will take a fresh look tomorrow and post pictures.

Now I am freezing so need to play with the thermostat some more.