Cold Weather in Wuxi.

It is cold by Wuxi standards which means it is below zero Celsius. I happened to be on my electric bike early this morning and I was dressed well. But my fingers had a sore feeling of cold that I haven't experienced since driving my heater-less VW Bug in Winnipeg at minus thirty.

I also noticed that the cheap box vans were stalling out in the cold. Either that or the three vans just all happened to break down by coincidence.

Old trucks were not starting also I saw some people using fire to try to warm the oil pan below one truck while someone was in the cab turning the ignition - a dangerous practice. I was told that the radio was warning people not to do this.


I found a copy of Micheal Crichton's Congo when wandering the used-book stalls of Nanchang Market. The lady asked ten rmb for it. I talked her down to eight. Crichton died recently and all the obits I read said he wrote many a fine thriller. He was also a global warming skeptic.


My son Tony likes paying with coins. He likes them because of the shape; not because of the monetary value. I had to stop him from putting the coins in the garbage with his used diapers. Having to retrieve money from among the poo was not a great experience.


I will get my birthday and Christmas off this year. I have no plans other than to spend it with the family K. We will visit an old friend and student of mine who just had a baby herself. I believe we are going to eat Japanese for my birthday supper.

I haven't done any Christmas shopping this year due to financial considerations. In the case of Tony, I can get away with it because he is too young to know any different. I will have to get into the tradition of Christmas once my son is old enough to know, which I imagine will be next year. My wife is actually making more effort than me to do something for Christmas. This says a lot since she has never celebrated it before meeting me.

That said, I do look forward to being able to afford to go shopping for Tony one day.

Thinking back on my life, I have to admit that I haven't been in the habit of celebrating Christmas. Once I moved to British Columbia, it was simply a day off and a sort of annoyance. Christmas strangely got better in China, but this year will be a write-off except for the fact that I do have Tony and Jenny. And that will make it the best Christmas ever!