Hockey, phone-shopping, water.

The water still smells this morning.  Washing dishes is going to be tortuous.

I am listening to game two of the Stanley Cup Final on the Internet.  The score is nothing-nothing late in the second period.  The first team to score will win this game. And so with a probable 1-0 score line, I should say this is the second leg of the UEFA semifinal.  It is the Anaheim's station broadcast that I am listening to.  The Ducks' play-by-play man is uninspiring.  And so I can't believe I am listening to a Stanley Cup Final game.

I have had my mobile phone for over two years now, and so my wife says it is time to buy a new one.   My old phone, a Motorola V220, was never good.  I had to replace the CPU once and I have never been able to have a phone conversation where I don't ask if I could be heard.  The past year, I have put the phone's speakers on, anytime I have had to talk.  The phone also looks so worn and battered that it gets gasps from students when I show it to them.  The wife ordered me to visit phone stores, of which Wuxi has many, and find a suitable model that she likes and hopefully I like too.

Yesterday, I wandered on Zhongshan Road looking for phones.  The choice of models I saw was overwhelming.  But I have narrowed down the brand names to Nokia or Sony-Ericson.  The students and expats have told me that Nokia phones are the most reliable.  I would also  like a phone that has MP3 capabilities, has clear listening for conversations, and is  a clam-shell or flip phone.  Most phones, these days, have MP3 capabilities.  Flip phones seem to be out of style as most of what I can see in the shops are the face phones where you have to lock and unlock the keypad anytime you use the phone.  My name starting with "A", I have had numerous people phone me from unlocked phones in their pants, so I hate flat faced phones.  I did not see any Nokia phones that suited the budget and had the features I wanted.  They all looked ugly to me, as well.  I did see a Sony model, the Z558c, that suits all my requirements, but the wife thinks it is ugly and she is dead-set on me getting a Nokia.  The Chinese must also have some prejudice against Sony.

Together, the Wife and I will look at phones today.  It will be a battle of wills where my wife gets her way.  And so she will chose a model and purchase it for me after my pay day.