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Absurdity

7/29/2011

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Note: This post has nothing to do with China, travel, or food. I just needed a space to vent.

A member of my office building's management staff recently stopped me in the lobby of the building, where I was wheeling my bike through to take it up to my office. I was told that I could not bring my bike through the lobby, but was supposed to take it down to the bike rack in the garage.

Now here's the thing. I understand that the building management is not being wholly unreasonable in asking cyclists to park their bikes in the garage, but they're not making it easy, either.

(1) No one had ever really told me that I wasn't allowed to bring my bike through the lobby, so it's not exactly a well-defined policy.
(2) The garage seems reasonably secure, as it's not open to the public, requiring keycard access only granted to monthly parkers to get in. But it is neither manned nor has security cameras on the bike area, much less a separate bike cage or room -- the bike rack (old and crappy) is just in a corner of the allotted parking space. It's probably not a major risk, especially compared to other garages in the area, but I still wouldn't want to leave my bike there for a few days (e.g., if I had biked in but then bad weather hit).
(3) The weight of me + bike isn't enough to trigger the garage gate to open, so in order to exit the garage, I have to open the (heavy) fire door with one arm while maneuvering my bike up the single step (also slightly uphill) and through the door with the other. I'm short and have commensurate-length arms. This is a pain.
(4) This is the best part: the building is unwilling to give me keycard access because I'm not a monthly parker (see (2) above). So how am I supposed to get into the garage to use the bike rack as requested, you may ask? Why, bring my bike through the lobby to the garage elevator, of course!

Wait, I hear you thinking, because you have more brains than the entire staff of the building management company combined. Wasn't the problem that you were bringing your bike through the lobby in the first place?

Yes. Yes, it was.

So what we have here is: a solution that not only fails to address the original problem, but is completely illogical, and causes the only party directly involved much aggravation and frustration. Awesome.

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Circus skills made practical

3/24/2011

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Check out this handy skill for those evenings you return to your bike only to find a wheel missing...



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Tech-tonic shifts

9/22/2010

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Despite having spent most of my career in technology-related positions, I am somewhat of a technological, or gadget, laggard. I was well behind the curve with CD players (other than the one in my desktop) and cellphones (I finally caved and got a pay-as-you-go version in 2003, primarily as a concession to the new seating policy for UMD basketball games), and I have yet to invest in a DVR, Kindle, smartphone, or iAnything.  (I did have an MP3 player that served bravely and well, until it finally took one drop too many.)

So it is with great sorrow that I face the need to invest in a new technology -- two, in fact.

First, my PDA of six years, the wonderful Palm Zire 72, is going to have to be replaced.  I'm not really ready for this moment -- apart from a short battery life, it functions perfectly well, does everything I want it to do, and I love both the PDA and desktop interfaces. But the software is incompatible with Windows 7, which means I wouldn't be able to sync my PDA and computer (an unacceptable circumstance), and I'm unwilling to keep my computer in the dark ages on account of my dwindling-battery-life PDA.

I know this should be easy: iPhone! iTouch! Android!  But here's the thing: I do *not* want a smartphone. I don't want to carry a phone that large, and I definitely don't want to pay for a monthly data plan when my primary need for the device is as an organizer.  Ah, the iTouch, you say.... but I don't want an Apple product either. I know, I'm a heretic. A stubborn, narrow-minded heretic. But honestly, I can't stand iTunes, and the thought of having to install it on my PC and make it my primary music player makes me want to take violent masochistic action. It may be a poor reason to reject the iTouch, but it's my reason.

So this is my plea: does anyone out there know of a non-Apple device that would solve my problems (and prevent me from wasting more time on fruitless 'research')? I'm looking for something with reasonably sophisticated calendar functionality, notes and to-do lists, and a robust address book; the ability to sync with my PC (or web app); and nothing that will require me to pay an additional monthly fee. If you are in the know, clue me in! If you suggest a winning item, you may have my undying gratitude. Or at least my healthy gratitude until said device withers away and dies, and I have to do this all over again.

Second (yeah, I almost forgot there was a second too!), I also need to find a replacement for the soon-to-be-defunct Bloglines reader. I've been trying to feel Google Reader, but it's not quite working for me (how do I bring in images for all the food-porn blogs??). I'm now trying out RSSOwl. Other suggestions are also welcome. Criteria include: (a) ability to group feeds, (b) ability to save particular posts, and (c) be able to see the pretty pictures and at least some copy for each unread post at a glance.

Your support in this difficult time is appreciated!
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The downfall of civilization as we know it

5/17/2010

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You may remember that I mentioned the prevalence of pajamas on Shanghai  streets.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/17/opinion/17gao.html

If only the Chinese government knew how Western university students dressed. 
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Sheer terror

3/30/2010

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You may be aware that I was not a huge fan of the motorbikes in Vietnam.  Words cannot express what I think of this development.
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Travel in my Destiny

2/1/2009

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I used to have this awesome health insurance. I mean, we're talking phenomenal. When I was hired at my former employers', it was billed to me as "incentive-based", which I thought sounded like a crock of, y'know, marketing-speak.

It turns out this crockpot worked for me in a big way. What made it different was basically that you got rewards points for proving that you were healthy -- taking a fitness test every 6 months (and your results on said test), participating in some kind of physical activity event, etc.; these were all ways of amassing points that you could then redeem for all kinds of stuff.

Over the three years that I had this insurance (Guardian Life-Destiny, by the way; I'm all for plugging it so more people adopt it!), I chose to redeem my points mainly for (a) the digital point-n-shoot that was responsible for the photos and video on this blog, (b) the Slingbox, and (c) certificates for free hotel stays. The latter were really tempting to me as I like to travel to big cities, where hotels can be darn expensive, and have of late been going to lots of out-of-town weddings. And they were valid for roughly 14-16 months, so what was the risk, right?

Well, I didn't end up using any while I was in Asia, wanting to save them for places where hotels were more expensive. But now I'm back in the States, wedding season is a few months away, and I have some hotel nights to use up... two this month, in fact. Eeps! Where to go? I'm feeling somewhere warm and sunny, preferably with a beach, but it also has to be close enough for a two-night trip... Ah well, I can't complain; it's as good an excuse to get out of the office as any, right?  Wish me luck, and a couple days off work! 

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Ah, memories

1/28/2009

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For those of you who've been, I dunno, not paying attention, I'm back in the States these days. But yesterday, I had a wee moment of nostalgia, where I scolded myself for having readjusted from China in one way too many: I wasn't carrying my camera.

Yesterday, it snowed. A decent amount, for this area, and things were messy. At the best of times, this city does not deal with snow particularly well, and yesterday drifted from the white powdery stuff through the heavier, wetter variety, before ending up as freezing drizzle. The end result of this was that trudging home was a bit harder, and evidently not just for me.

I passed a woman who was dragging an airline carry-on bag behind her, inside of which was.... her elementary-school-age child.  All I could think was, "in China, that would have totally made the blog." AND I DIDN'T HAVE MY CAMERA.

But I decided to put it on the blog anyway, in honor. Or mourning.  Something like that.

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Welcome to the Shanghai Metro

10/10/2008

3 Comments

 

Helloooooo?  Anyone still listening?  I feel bad about being such a slacker since I've been back, but things like jobhunting have been taking precedence. I don't suppose my posting absence has really affected your daily lives much, either, so maybe I'll just feel a little bit bad. (Oh, and in my defense, the last time I tried to post something, the site was acting up. Kindly ignore the fact that I then did not try to post again for the next 2.5 weeks.)

Anyway, I do in fact still have material to share, so -- case in point -- here are a couple of shots for you to enjoy during your three-day (maybe), no-rush-hours weekend.

Have I mentioned that there are a lot of people here?


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Please stand by

9/16/2008

1 Comment

 

It turns out there are some additions to the last post. Something I didn't realize I missed: squirrels. They're funny.

Something I won't miss at all: The Great Firewall.  However, I am without home internet at the moment, so you may encounter a slight delay in the blog's irregular programming. Sorry!

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Top 5

9/12/2008

1 Comment

 

Guess what, folks, it's time for me to head home. It's been a great adventure, but at some point I was going to have to rejoin the world of the gainfully-employed, and that time is... well, as yet indeterminate, but rapidly approaching. I still have a few things to write about, so it's not the death knell for the blog just yet, but in the interests of transparency, future entries will not in fact be Made in China.

I thought I should take some time before I leave to reflect on my stay, and the best way I could think of to share some of that summary with all of you was to give you the following Top 5 lists. (After all, who doesn't like lists?)

Five Things I Will Miss About Shanghai
1. Chinese New Year fireworks -- 'nuff said.
2. Fresh food markets everywhere
3. (Relative) proximity to a large portion of my family
4. Fish in the subway and other things on the street that make me smile. There's another pedestrian passage that has big Van Gogh paintings for billboards. I like public art. And public oddity.
5. The non-waste mentality -- everything here that can be reused in any shape or form is. It's a nice break from the consume-dispose cycle to see things valued regardless of how old or used they may be.

No specific foods on the list -- are you surprised?  Sure, I like the dumplings, but they are in fact available elsewhere.

Five Things I Won't Miss About Shanghai
1. The layer of construction dust in the air -- I'm curious to see whether the tickle I've had in my throat for the last couple months goes away. And Shanghai is among the better Chinese cities in that respect.
2. Getting run over by wheeled vehicles on the sidewalk and the no-yield driving policy
3. Smoking in the elevators (restaurants, police offices, etc), despite signs, and all customary safety regulations to the contrary
4. The smell of stinky tofu
5. Chinese TV. Honestly, it's pretty bad. I can tell even when I don't understand the dialogue, that's how bad it is.

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    Huh?

    No, I haven't seen the movie, and yes, I chose the name anyway.  I'm told an Asian woman with green eyes is a plot point.

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