4:58 AM View

 And so begins the last day of my fifties 

How will I spend it?  I’ll be a school dealing with indifferent students, grading, planning, and tonight, I’ll take my son somewhere to get a haircut.

2:13 PM View and a 3:53 PM View

 

From Whiskers to Jingle Jangles we drove, that be my son and I. 

 Tony was mad at me.  Why? Story not worth repeating.  Suffice to say, he is in a petulant teenager phase.  I made a sound argument against him, and I knew I had won, when my riposte quieted him for a minute, and he made a lame comeback which was what he had spend the silent time trying to come up with.

Today is the second last day of my being in my fifties.

I will get a worthwhile birthday  present on December 24th: I will go to Mass in the evening.  I realize I should be grateful that my birthday is eclipsed by the birth of Christ.  I have a proper idea of how significant my birthday is:  not at all except to God and my Mom.

Earlier, I went for lunch with my wife.  Tony was mad at me so he didn’t come.

6:28 AM View

 I’ll drive my wife to her work.

I’ll take the car to the Car Wash.

I’ll extend my Duolingo Streak.

I’ll make a Greetings Vidro.  Topic TBD.

I’ll read.

I’ll listen to podcasts.

6:57 PM View

 We went to Sam’s Club.  There was a lineup of cars to just get to the place.  But it was all right.  One had to be patient and not get annoyed by the impatient iceholes cutting into the lineup and everything turned out alright.

The highlight purchase was donuts:

1:33 PM View

 The Blogger who is responsible for the greatest China Exoat Blog of World History — that be Moi, yours truthfully — is submitting this entry from the Wuxi, China apartment.

Looks like we’ll be going to Sam’s Club this afternoon.

Thanks to accelerated depreciation, it turns out I turned sixty on June 11, 2021 and this upcoming December 24th is not my birthday at all. My 64th birthday will be on March 15, 2025.  I turned 63 on April 6, 2024.

10:25 AM View

 Sun in the Saturday Morning Sky!  Nice!

Still trying to piece together what happened last night.

Here are some more photos.

Any who, I’m waiting for my son to wake up so we can drive to Wuxi.

Here is a photo of the loot I got last night.

700,000 Views for the Best Ever China Expat Blog

 1964 views yesterday put me over 700,000 all time AKIC blog views.

I maintain that the Andis Kaulins in China blog is the greatest blog of an Expat living in China!

8:30 AM View

 Sun rising from behind the nearby building view:  nice!

My darling wife bought my son Tony & I Tim Tams.

Maybe I make a video of myself doing the Tim Tam Slam!

Here is a photo taken last night;

Here are photos taken earlier:

Should I have been smiling?

Any who, we, that be my son Tony & I, will go to Wuxi sometime today.

7:17 AM View

 It was a wild and crazy last evening and last night for me, by my standards, if you can catch my drift.  There were fun moments and dejected moments. I stayed out too late. I drank too much.  I smoked,  I was overly friendly.  I was overly cold. I should have stayed home.  I was cheap.  People annoyed me.  I annoyed them.  I received more than I gave.  I deserve to suffer this morning.

4:11 PM View

 I’m not going to WJ tonight. It being Friday.  I may not go there tomorrow.  

Tonight, I got two dinners taking place simultaneously to go to.  One for the school and then one for the Jiangyin Friendship Group.  I’ll report how that works out.

I’ll leave the apartment at 5:05 PM to get to the school dinner.

11:45 AM View

 My spidey sense had reason to tingle.  Or was it my Guardian Angel?

An American was asking me about Pierre Polierve, our more than likely Prime Minister.  I had to admit that I was not super excited about him, citing his invisibility during the great defining event of our time:  the truckers protest.

What I like about blogging is that I can do it by myself.  That way, I am assured I can get it done.

4:55 AM View

 4:27 AM wake up for me this Friday morning.  That’s late for me.

Some activities this evening.  I won’t jinx them by saying what they will be.

5:07 PM View

 Dinner time.  KFC.

Listening to Anne Coulter and Amy Wax.

11:53 AM View

 Giddiness fighting a feeling of guilt.

All these work pants I have and I am wearing the pants I wore on Monday on Thursday.  The pants are quick drying and don’t require ironing.

It is suspected that there was a conspiracy about a grade 12 class to not show up at school.  Thirteen of eighteen didn’t show up today.

Oh Kissy Kissy Face.

Eh Kay Eye See Inn Chai Nah!

6:30 AM View

 No hurry this morning so I take another view photo.

I’ll leave eventually.

Milestones:  1789 Day Duolingo Streak and over 2,600,000 views on my YouTube channel.

5:00 AM View

 I’m in the midst of making a greetings video: a Thursday morning greetings video.

Changed my routine again:  go to bed without showering, showering in the morning.

Trudeau really screwed up this time.  That’s what I am gleaming off the inter web.  Just resign already!

4:33 PM View

 Looks like I forgot to take a lunchtime view photo. I did go here for lunch.  Here is not home.

Slow day for me.

6:35 AM View

 I left the JJ apartment a little later this morning.  So I took this photo of the dawn before I left to go to school.

4:58 AM View

 Went out last night to a 2024 Jiangyin Overseas Experts New Year Celebration Event, so didn’t take an evening view.  The event was a lot of fun.  We ate good food and drank beer.  I meet people from Egypt, Venezuela, Kurdistan and PEI.

Thankfully I don’t start as early today as my colleagues are.

After all the fun, we got suitcases full of goodies.

11:23 AM View

 Plans changed.  I won’t be going to the Jiangyin Friendship thing.

I will sitting around watching rehearsals till 16:00.

I started reading the Odyssey because I’m trying to figure out Jame Joyce’s novel Ulysses’s relation to it.

4:50 AM View

 When I woke up this morning, I asked Siri what time it was.  She told me 3:00.  An hour to snuggle I had.

Today’s schedule:  two classes, listening tests, a class or a rehearsal, and some Friendship event run by Jiangyin.  I tempted to skip the latter.  I’m going to be late for it.

I uploaded a good night video to YouTube:

5:03 PM View

 Still light out.

How many foreigners did I talk to today?  One.

Played the music video Jump by Van Halen.  I asked the students what the name of the song was.  They said a sound that started with J but it wasn’t Jump.

Tomorrow, I am supposed to be at the front door of the Jiangyin Grand Theatre at 14:00.  My class ends at 14:10.  I’ll be late.  I’ll go if someone is late with me.  Otherwise, I’ll pass.

Here are some videos I made this morning:

12:01 PM View

 I’ve always found 12:01 PM to be confusing.  It appears to be more midnight than lunchtimish.

When it’s 11:56 AM, I feel I’m more on solid ground.

4:52 AM View

 Monday morning.  Might be a busier week for me.  I got some speaking tests to administer and some social affairs to attend on Wednesday and Friday

Right now, I’m feeling disembodied from everything.  Going through the motions seems wearying.  But what do I want instead?  Don’t know.

1:51 & 3:04 PM Views

 

Just drive from the WJ apartment to the JJ apartment.  There was one female driver in a red BMW that we both Tony & I gave the one finger salute to on account T of her cutting us off without even using turn signals…

We had lunch at the Wanda Plaza where I saw this sight:

The glare is obscuring the bit in red lettering that I hope you can see.

Here’s a closeup:

“The Constitution of New Socialist Countryside.

8:58 AM View

 Phoned Canada.

Did some reading.

Ate breakfast my wife ordered from KFC.

Made a greetings video in Chinese.

My Chinese is atonal!

Jon Ottenson’s Obituary

 

5:56 AM View

 I went to sleep around 11:00 PM last night.  So up a little later this Sunday morning.

Plans:  phone Canada, drink coffee, do daily reading, pray, maintain Duolingo streak, make greetings video, drink coffee, blog, past the time, listen to podcasts, nap, buy bread, drive to JJ and make a video for YouTube.

6:30 PM View

 Had to take a photo of this view at night.

Listening to this podcast:

Formerly known as Weedslut.

4:49 PM View

 There is some kind of building project going on in front of the right hand side buildings.

I was hoping to go to the Red Lion tonight.  Tony initially promised to go but changed his mind.  I asked three others but they were busy.  So, I’ll be spending the evening and night at the Wuxi Ivy Park apartment.  It is probably just as well that I don’t go because I can’t naturally enjoy or not enjoy these outings.  I have to fight existential despair — what a pretentious way of putting it — and not be able to find a way to just have a good time.  No matter how much experience should prepare me for nothing-will-happen, I find myself full of resentment.  (resentment at what?)

I prayed the rosary this afternoon.  Doing this prayer as often as I do, I believe the devil is real.  I often find, when my mind wanders, these dark thoughts coming into my mind where either I imagine my resentments acted out or some evil act depicted in a movie,

11:01 AM View

 Now in WJ.