Random Whateveryoucallems

Ritma's passing away has put my normal blogging on hold.  Here are some notes from the past week that I made:

• On the way to work Saturday morning, I passed an accident scene.  I saw a truck and trailer with its' cab crushed.  The contents of the trailer, some huge piece of metal, overturned beside the trailer.  and there was the usual crowd of onlookers.
• I did the squats in a Chinese restaurant.  I had no choice because I had to go.
• I am now watching the Fourth and final DVD of my three-season set of Mad Men.  I wondered how the Yanks would deal with the Brits -- taking them out with a John Deere Lawnmower seemed a crude way to do it.  I heard someone say that Don Draper was a fuller character than the main character from The Wire (what the hell is his name?).  I think Don Draper is an amoral poser.
• Saturday Evening on Wuxi's European Street, there was a police incident.  I couldn't determine what was happening though as there were hundreds of spectators surrounding the police.
• I was listening to a Slate political podcast during which the three hosts said some jaw-dropingly absurd things.  One of the hosts was asked if he thought of himself as an advocate or a unbiased reporter, and he, without a hint of irony, said he was the latter.  And when it came to discussing Obama, they couldn't help but be uncritical kool-aid drinkers.  Obama thinks long-term, they said, unlike all their opponents (who do worry about expanding deficits).  And they conveniently forgot all his campaign promises of being bi-partisan, overlooking the irony of the fact that opposition to the health-care bill was in fact bi-partisan.  And they never dealt with his lack of executive experience.  Talk about living in a bubble!
• Here I was praising Tony Kornheiser.  I feel like taking the praise back now that I know he has that mumbling, witless Clinton political operative James Carville making football picks.
• On Sunday, November 14, I saw even longer lineups of trucks trying to get diesel.
• I saw an electric cyclist make a left turn from a bike lane to a crosswalk without looking.  The bus I was on had to slow down screechingly and I crushed the person who sat beside me.  Even the Chinese shook their heads at this traffic maneuver.
• I went downtown with Tony and Jenny on Tuesday afternoon.  Tony, the lazy bugger, wanted me to carry him everywhere.
• Life is like a prison where everyone is on death row, but the cells aren't the same size.
• I am not finished watching the first three seasons of Mad Men.  The 11/22/63 episode was interesting and actually made references to things in my life.  One character joins the army and talks of having to go to West Germany -- my father was doing this sort of thing at about the same time -- I was born in West Germany.  Children said, another character, are still being born despite the JFK assassination -- I know people born that date.
• Riding the bus home Monday evening, I see a couple fighting -- the woman was walking, the man was trying to grab her, the woman would push him away.
• I tried to yield my seat to a woman and child only to have another woman take it.  I would have said something right away if it weren't for the fact that I thought the women knew each other.  I couldn't be bothered when I did realize the women didn't know each other.  Someone else eventually yielded their seat to the woman and child;  I stood beside the seat, I had yielded, thinking evil thoughts of the women, but I let it go....