It was Saturday morning and I was trying to read the news, but I could not focus. Something was wrong, but I didn’t know what. I took off my glasses to clean them and the right lens is missing. Fortunately I quickly found it in my shirt pocket. It appears I lost a screw that tightens the frame. Getting my glasses repaired will be my first project today. I dug out my old glasses to finish reading the news. There is a glasses store a couple of blocks from my house. A few weeks ago one of the nose guards came [View Full Entry]

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It is very hot again today. The library is air conditioned to the point that it actually feels cool. It is the only place where the temperature is kept below 80. I read every word in the China Post today just to keep from going out. Much of the news I already knew from reading on the internet. I am sure this is why newspapers are dying. I have been rationing my reading lately. The 4 books I bought in Hong Kong might have to last me a while, so I have been limiting my reading to a few minutes per [View Full Entry]

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It rained again last night and most of the morning. It is still hot and humid, but not quite as bad as on a sunny day. My toe is almost completely healed. I am barely aware of it. I am happy about that. This afternoon I watched a butcher kill and dress a chicken. The woman came to the butcher shop and spoke a few words. In five seconds the butcher reached into the cage, grabbed a chicken and wrung its neck. Then quickly he cut a diamond shape opening in the neck where blood began to run out into a [View Full Entry]

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It is hot and humid. The sun is out. My buddy the metal fabricator started working at 06:00. This afternoon. When I arrived home he was still at it. A truck drove up and they unloaded a bunch of steel. I guess he will be busy for a while. I spent almost two hours in the library this afternoon. The air conditioning felt good, plus I missed yesterday so had twice as much to read. I paid special attention to the news about Iran, but there wasn’t much of it. By the time I left for home, it had become very [View Full Entry]

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Am back from my day trip to Hong Kong. It was relatively painless to get my visa renewed. I just walked through the various Check Points, Passport Control windows, and Customs desks while filling out a few forms. Everyone signed off and stamped whatever was required. I didn’t have to spend a certain amount of time outside of China as I had feared. I don’t know where I had gotten that idea. They take the flu very seriously here. Going into and out of Hong Kong I had to fill out a form about the flu virus. Am I now sick? [View Full Entry]

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I went to bed early last night after returning from Hong Kong with my visa renewed. For some reason I was very worried that something would go wrong, some piece of paper work would be out of order, and I wouldn’t be able to re-enter China. I actually stayed awake at nights worrying. Then I forgot to put my computer in my back pack, so if I couldn’t go back to China, I would be incommunicado. Now that everything is OK, I am happy and relieved. I feel like I can take a deep breath and resume my happy, quiet, life. [View Full Entry]

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Woke up to rain this morning. It was still hot and muggy. Sometimes the rain seems to cool things off, sometimes not. Today is a not day. I slept with the air conditioner on last night. My new best friend, the metal worker who I watch from my balcony, was working away. The noise was loud and the sparks were flying. Somehow I feel better when he is working. I don’t know why this is. I have never spoken to him, or even walked by the shop. I have to go to Hong Kong on Saturday. I have to leave China [View Full Entry]

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It has been very hot and humid the past couple of days. It has rained intermittently, but the raid does not cool things off. If I understand it, the weather is supposed to continue as it is for a few more days. I guess I’ll be spending a lot of time reading in the air conditioned library. I slept with the air conditioner on last night. I think I am getting used to the heat, at least somewhat. I still sweat when walking across the street, but it doesn’t exhaust and drain me like it did once. The metal shop in [View Full Entry]

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I got up early and went directly to the computer. To my relief, everything was working. I was able to go everywhere I wanted. It will take a while to catch up on the emails. I didn’t do anything much today. It was the usual. I had a pepper, mushrooms and pork stir fry. I had this same dish a few days ago, but forgot to take a pic. Here it is. Often when I return to a place for a dish I liked before, it is not as good the second time. This was still good. A day or two [View Full Entry]

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I went to bed early last night and woke up around 06:00 this morning. It had cooled off a bit. It was comfortable. I had a good sound sleep. I got up, made coffee, and turned on my computer to look at the news. The Drudge Report, MSNBC, Huffington Post, The Daily Kos, and Breitbart would not come up. Then I checked the places I knew were already blocked, and they were still unavailable. So had the internet blockage been increased, or is my server just having a bad morning? I’ll find out after work. The day began a little cloudy. [View Full Entry]

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