Observations from the week of July 16 to July 22

Weekly Summer Blog Entries

I will be making one written blog entry per week for the Summer.  Life is pretty regular here, and all that happens to me is I see things that I wish I could have photographed.

Shitting on the Street

Walking to the bus stop from my apartment, I saw a boy, about eight years old, taking a crap on the street.  He was squatted near the sidewalk so I took a wide berth away from him and walked close to the nearby restaurant that I think his parents owned.

Even though I have seen this behavior before, I still couldn't believe it.  There was a boy, easily in the view of passing traffic, squatted with a big pile of turds beneath him.

Macaroni & Cheese

In the lunch room at school, the IT Guy did a double-take as he saw me eating mac and cheese.  What the heck was he eating?  he was obviously thinking to himself.  The mac and cheese I had brought back from Canada.

Blocked in

Monday, I had the family e-bike parked in a corner of a parking garage.  A car parked nearby and I couldn't get the e-bike out for a day because it was completely blocked off. 

It was my lone afternoon off  for the week.  My plans to take Tony for a ride in the countryside had been ruined.

Qianzhou

So, I ended up taking the bus with Tony to Qianzhou -- the boonies as far as Wuxi was concerned.  Nowheresville had a lot of buildings and people, and I was made aware, yet again, of how China has so many people.

Driver and Cyclist

On the way to work Thursday, I saw a driver, of a red Mazda, stand near a cyclist who was clutching himself in great pain.  The female's car had hit the cyclist knocking him over the curb onto some grass.

I couldn't help but think the driver was hamming it up in hopes of getting more money from the car driver.

I also couldn't help but think that the driver should have learned not to cut her turns so sharp.

Cough

Tony had a thick cough for a while.  Now, Jenny and I have it.  In the middle of the night, I will have a coughing fit, as well as in every class I teach.  Medicine and Halls aren't helping.

1,800,000 Views on My Youtube Channel!

Not much, I know.  But it a milestone, nonetheless.

Quantity not Quality

I got to spend a large quantity of time with Tony; it increases the chances of there being quality time.  Nothing ever goes as planned with Tony.  The good times happen independently of my preparation to try to bring them on.  And Tony always has his own agenda.

OBEY

A teenage student was wearing a cap, in the current fashion with mesh and straight brim, that said "OBEY."  Obey Who?  I asked.  This being the PRC, I wondered, if possibly, the party was trying to be hip.

Nut in Aurora

The story of that evil person killing all those people in the cinema got my attention on Friday night. 

It is proof we need gun control?  Of course not!  (Although I heard one person go on about it at work)  It only shows us that there is evil in the world.  Anything can be used to kill a person if one is so inclined.

Good people have the right to defend themselves in the manner they see fit.

And then I heard about....

Steve Reid 

The father of my nephew and niece, I learned, was killed in a driving accident on Thursday.  My prayers go out to Kyle and Steph.

At the Square

It was Saturday evening and I didn't have to be at school, so I had supper at home with the wife and son -- something I wish I could do every day.

After supper, I took my son, via E-bike, to the local people's square.  There were hundreds of people there.  Many were dancing, some were roller-blading, some were sitting, and some were doing Tai Chi  At one instance, I wanted to get away from Tony and watch a mob of dancers move to faster song.  It looked like an outdoor disco.  Unfortunately, all the people at the square were doing their thing in the dark so I couldn't take any photos like of the people doing Tai Chi who were quite graceful.

Tony was playing with a water-gun toy his mother had bought.  The toy really wasn't a gun in that it didn't look like a gun and had no trigger.  It was just a long tube which could suck water in and then spray it out.

Tony wandered around the pools in the square and thankfully didn't get anyone but himself wet.  However, he fell in one of the pools when he tried to use his water gun like it was a cane.  The water gun slipped and so did he in the water.  I was a second too late to catch him.  The water was shallow so I all I really had to worry about was the wrath of my wife when I got home.  Mishaps are a part of childhood, but my wife takes these thing seriously.