Rain dance

I have a special talent, a knack for always visiting Shanghai on a day when it is raining. Oh yeah, I checked the weather forecast ahead of time, but it was completely wrong (they must hire summer interns to do the forecast).  But once you have tickets, it's hard to change plans. So here are my photos of my trip to Shanghai on Saturday. Above is the Pudong side of the Huangpu (whahng-poo) River. The tall futuristic-looking tower is the Pearl Tower. In this picture it looks much taller than the other buildings, but in fact, it is not. Behind it are the three tallest buildings in China, at least partially obscured by the clouds. One is still under construction. They are in the photo below too.

Above is the Puxi (poo-shee) side of the river, the main part of Shanghai, the Bund. These buildings were built a century or so ago. I didn't lighten the photos, because I wanted you to see the same dark view I got on this cloudy day.

Boats on the Huangpu.

Need rain? Invite me over. It's pretty odd when you consider I didn't even own an umbrella the first 21 years of my life, but these days rain follows me like a little lost puppy.

I'd like to return to normal, please

This is what the sun looked like about the last time I saw it ... a few weeks ago ... shining on my apartment building.

But the sun hasn't been out for quite awhile now. It has been cloudy and rainy, as you can see in my last post.

Incessant rain means my psychotic dog keeps me awake at night with her whining, thudding heart palpitations, and panting breath. I have to get out of bed, move to the living room and sleep on the sofa to calm her down. I wish she would go to the living room without me, but she won't.

(I thought sleeping on the sofa was for married couples, when one of them got in trouble with the other. How demeaning that I'm not even married and I still have to sleep on the sofa to keep the peace in the household! Good grief.)

I'm tired. I haven't had a good night's rest all week. She needs a doggy exorcism. (Kidding.) This must be how new parents feel when they complain about lack of sleep.

Okay, I'll stop talking about my dog for a little while now, since I know some of you couldn't care less about my beloved pooch. I hope she doesn't do anything really cute and clever in the next day or two though or you will just have to miss out on it.

Gonna be a long rainy season

I miss the good old days when a thunderstorm hardly caused her to blink. She'd shrug her shoulders in her doggy sort of way and continue to munch on her bone. Something happened in the past year -- I don't know what -- and now she is traumatized by the mere sound of rain hitting the window. Panic attacks. She whines, pants hard, paces the floor. Her heart feels like it is going to beat out of her chest. So, in the middle of the night, I get up to console her. On the sofa.

Poor Meems.

Is it normal for her to acquire fear as she ages? She's 8 and a half now. I try to make her feel better, but she is mostly inconsolable.

The dark clouds photo above was taken at 3:55 in the afternoon yesterday. By 3:56 a heavy downpour was in progress. We don't get tornados, just heavy rain and lightning.

It is like this today too, and for almost every day in the 15-day forecast. Rainy season isn't going to be much fun with Mimi's phobia going on.

Skeered

While waiting at a red light, I saw these two guys repairing a billboard (see top of photo). They were sitting on a pipe that held up the lights. They wore no safety harnesses. The ladder was a long way from where they were seated in this photo. There were no safety rails to hang on to as they made their way back to the ladder. If they leaned back or lost their balance, they would fall onto the pavement, possibly onto e-bike riders. I made sure to dodge them as I drove underneath the overpass where they worked.

Safety standards here are ridiculously lacking. I often see window washers hanging off of high-rise buildings held by only a rope around their waists. Air-conditioner repairmen hang on to the sides of high-rise apartment buildings to put the a/c units in place.

If I see something bad, not only will it be a tragedy for those involved, but it will be traumatically etched into my brain forever. I can't change their way of doing things, so I close the curtains or turn the other way.

OSHA may have a mind-numbing array of safety regulations, and sometimes we may complain, but if you could see what I see on a daily basis, you'd certainly appreciate this one bit of government bureaucracy that looks out for your well-being.

To be sure, the employees assigned these dangerous tasks are scared. But their employers demand they do the work and don't provide any safety measures to them. The employees have to feed their families, and jobs are scarce. May the Lord have mercy on them.

A bug on a rug

Friday when I was in town, I bought a new rug. About two seconds after I put it on the floor, before I could even take a photo of it, someone had walked up to it and immediately claimed it as a bed.

Okay, fine, it's yours. How can I say no to a sweet face like that?

Social call

Look what we did today ... Mimi got her annual shots (rabies and whatever comes with them). If you've never taken a dog to a vet in a taxi in 95°F weather in a developing country, you can't imagine the fun you are missing. :-) 

Pleasantries

June's weather is, as usual, amazingly pleasant and cool with low humidity. July and August will feel like Houston weather, but for now, it is perfect. Today's high was 77°F. I'm on vacation now. I'll clean closets and the downstairs storage, maybe take a day trip or visit a park. I'm not checking work email though. That's my plan. I have lots of other trips coming up later this year, so for now I just want to take it easy and enjoy my daily life.

Nemesis with needles

She's in her 30s, weighs ninety pounds tops, and wear braces. If you meet her in a dark alley, run for your life.

The first time my acupuncturist got hold of me, I wondered if I should call 911 to report battery and assault. It felt as though I'd been beaten with an iron bar. It wasn't the needles, it was her evil massage preceding the needly inserts that broke me.

She wasn't into her survey of my back very long when she said in her broken English, "ooh, very bad." I asked what was bad, but she didn't understand the question. I still don't know what is very bad. Something is for sure very bad though.

When I came back for my second visit, she asked about the bruise on my back and asked what caused it.  She really had to ask? "Um, YOU caused it," I told her. 

I wish she spoke English. I have no idea what she is doing, why, and whether or not I should expect to see results in the near future.

I could speak Chinese to her I suppose. But my current vocabulary is limited to important things in life. Things like "Where is the bathroom?," "I'd like that steak cooked medium well," and "Don't worry, my dog won't bite you." (And that last one is just wishful thinking.) I have no idea how to explain to a doctor in Chinese that my qi is failing to flow through the third meridian of my back. (Anyway, I don't know what it means in English either, I made it up just now with the help of Wikipedia.)

Each time I go back to her office, she asks if I still have pain. Does she mean my original pain? Or does she mean the pain she inflicted during my last visit? 

(Sigh.) She doesn't understand the question.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

P.S. My expectations for her to speak English are based solely on the fact that she works for a medical clinic whose clientele base is composed almost exclusively of English-speaking expats. All the doctors at the clinic speak English except for this one. I would not expect an acupuncturist whose clientele was Chinese, at a Chinese clinic, to speak English. Just wanted to clear that up so you wouldn't think my language expectations were arrogant, ethno-centric and all that. :-)

Reeds, fish, boats and rice

Today is the Duan Wu (dwahn woo) Festival in China. But since that's hard for foreigners to say, in English it is called the Dragon Boat Festival.

Dragon boats will be racing today, but I'm not bored enough to go see them. I saw them a few years ago.  Boats in the shape of canoes, with a carved dragon head on one end of each, filled with people I don't know, race each other. (Yawn.)

The legend of the holiday involves a depressing plot involving civil unrest, suicide, and fish eating a dead body, followed by people throwing rice into the lake so the hungry fish would leave the dead body alone -- leaving me feeling a little cold as far as holidays go in China. It's best just to enjoy a day off and not think about the origins.

My neighbors in Bamboo Forest like to hang reeds from the lake on their front doors (see photo above). They didn't do this in Bedrock. These long reeds are for sale on the sidewalks outside the veggie markets. I'm not sure of the significance of the reeds, but I assume it has something to do with the lake in the legend.

I love me some Chinese culture, but for most Chinese holidays, it's really best not to remember the reason for the season.

P.S. The red banners on my neighbor's door are leftover from Chinese New Year decorating. It's kind of like people in America leaving up their Christmas lights all year.

P.S.S. Sorry if I made you yawn when I mentioned the word yawn. But truthfully, it's always a good thing to get more oxygen into your brain. So, you know, you're welcome.

Lakeview

A random scene of the city, taken while I was cruising around on my e-bike.

Disbelief of the disbelief

I keep up with American news the same way most Americans living in America do: the Internet and TV. And the reaction of some Americans to two things in the news this year has completely taken me by surprise.

#1 - Lance Armstrong's doping scandal

I was beyond surprised to find out that there were actually people on this planet who thought he was telling the truth the whole time. From the beginning, I never ever believed him. 

#2 - The story about the U.S. government snooping around in our emails and text messages

I have always assumed that this was going on, but apparently a bunch of Americans are totally caught off guard by the news. It never crossed my mind that it wouldn't be going on. Of course it is going on. Wait, it's not SUPPOSED to be going on? I'm so confused. Of course, we'll take into consideration that I live in a place where they sometimes openly admit to doing this. I mean, I used to talk to my wall sockets so the people listening in would have something interesting to listen to. I am totally not kidding. 

In other news, I'm having acupuncture this month. I can't tell any difference yet, except I might hurt more than usual. I'll let you know how it goes.

A rainy day in my neighborhood

Another rainy season has begun. They call this one Plum Rain Season. The rains are gentle. I went out when the rain let up and took a few snapshots. Just thought I'd give you a few pics of what I see when I step out into the great outdoors. (Mimi and I cross that bridge in the third photo on almost every single walk we go on, three times a day...what a beautiful view we are blessed with!)

Where you would least expect it

This lovely stained glass that says "Risen Lord" in two languages was spotted at a church in China ... in the stall inside a woman's restroom. Each stall had a pretty window similar to this in it. Odd placement, yet a lovely and inspiring reminder.

Wedding pigs

People getting married here have wedding processionals with cars decorated with flowers. This is the first one I've seen with pigs.

But, you know, whatever.

Summer is here, kinda

A man sells beach towels on the side of the road. He is having fun. How else can we explain those tired arms holding up that towel for passersby to see?

These Chinese people ... they certainly have a sense of humor.

Don't drop the kid

In China, it seems that even the statues are limited by the one-child policy. :-)