November 30th, 2017

A couple of quick updates from past episodes.

Am still receiving the periodic anonymous comments from the Jordanian pest control and auto repair places , but did get one from someone who must actually read this.  The comment?..."You are fucked up".  I couldn't agree more.

Mentioned that the new business going up next door was not a Bu-shi-ban, but another convenience store.  It was supposed to open November 30th, but these guys have it down and it debuted a week early.  I said there were 5 of these within a 1 block radius of our apartment, but forgot the Family Mart on the other side of the park, so it is now 6 Family Marts/7E's.  So convenient.

A new wave of shops have sprung up in the neighborhood within the last couple of weeks.

These are tiny "stores" that are loaded with one kind of claw grabbing arcade games.  Apparently, the Japanese are really into it, but these have been colossal rip offs since the day they were invented and have yet to see a single person inside.  It is hard to imagine who thinks this is a good idea.

What I wish people would spend their brain power on is to develop a pair of the surf shoes that don't smell like a thousand smelly feet after one wearing.

Took the above to the Philippines cause the water has a bunch of rocks and coral close to shore, and wore them on the first day.  The next morning, after letting them dry outside overnight, we came back from breakfast and the girls smelled them immediately.  It was my foot smell times 20...nasty nasty nasty.  Had to take them to the garbage can near the lobby it was so bad.  There absolutely has to be a better way.

Our T-giving trip was relaxing.  The place we stayed paled in comparison to the one we stayed last time nearby, but they tried hard and the girls both caught up on their sleep.  No funny stuff, but will update the reasons why Taiwan's airport is rated one of the best.  Once through security, there are many of the filtered water machines where you can refill your bottles for free, and those have settings for cold, room temp and warm water (which the locals prefer).  In addition, they have vending machines that sell bottles of water for NT$20, which is 60 cents US.  That you pay at least US$4 for the same sized bottle of Dasani (or $5 for the square Figi kind) at the effin' Hudson Bay is an absolute crime.

Have been reading this interesting book called They Thought They Were Free and finished it off on this trip.  Written in 1955, it is an account by the writer of his interactions with 10 regular Germans who were not in the army, but how they dealt with the rise of the National Socialists and the ways they justified it in their minds and lives.  Came to it from some show that said it had parallels with the way we are looking at the political dialogue and processes today.  While there were some, at least in the US, it feels like we have enough people to stand up to this xenophobic shit, but will admit that some parts did hit home, especially the racial justification parts.  Anyhoo, mention this not to get you to read it (although if history is your bag, you'll dig it), or to prove that I actually read (cause I don't read nearly as much as I should), but that this was an interesting book to travel with from a sociological perspective.

Having that giant swastika on the cover caused everyone that walked by at the pool or in the waiting lounge to look at the book, then look at my face with expressions of concern.  I'd want to yell that it was a book against the Nazi's, but then got fascinated by the universal expressions of dread.  No guys in white polos and khakis came up to me to talk about the good old days thankfully, and this was in Asia where their "nationalism" is as fierce but a tad more openly benign.

Moving on.  Something I do recommend that you watch, and only takes 3 and a half minutes is the below YouTube video discussing the history of chopsticks and why they are different in Japan, Korea and China.  If you are reluctant to click on links in this space, search for Chopsticks Quartzy on YouTube.

Betty, who would never say she "knows it all", but absolutely knows what she knows thought she knew all the reasons why they are so different from culture to culture, and she even learned a thing or two.  If you love food, you are going to look at chopsticks differently afterwards.  I won't go into all of it cause you need to see it, but one thing totally floored me.  The Chinese didn't share their food family style until the 10th century and only then after tables and chairs were introduced in Asia from the West.  Tables and chairs?  One of our biggest past times is discussing (debating) who has contributed more to civilization.  I would never admit this, but I don't think the west is superior per se and that invention is the mother of necessity and am a adherent to the theory put out by The Needham Question, but c'mon...tables and chairs?  Probably also explains the squat pot.

Acupuncture...mentioned that I tried it for the first time a couple weeks ago and have been several times since.  Still not sure how I feel about it, meaning is it voodoo or something for everyone, but let me relate the experience so far for posterity.

As background, I know my knees are shot and have been told that acupuncture can't really help the damage that is going on there, but my spine is now totally wrecked and people said to give this a try.  The guy that was recommended a couple of times happens to be across the street, and takes the Taiwanese National Health Insurance so had no excuse.  Would have liked to go with Betty for translating purposes, but this is busy travel season and didn't want to put it off any longer.  I went in and while the staff speaks no English, got through the admittance process OK and met with the doctor who does speak English well  I told him my tale of woe, the abbreviated version but did give him the CD images from this summers MRI, which he didn't look at for  this visit.  He took my pulse for no more than 5 seconds, looked at my tongue and felt my back for again, no more than 5 seconds.  Told me that my heart beat was irregular and felt satisfied to start the therapy.

After a couple of minute wait, was taken into the acupuncture room, which is all tiled off and reminds of a not really dirty, but not super clean YMCA bathroom without the urinals.  Dingy is a word I would use for it.   There are 6 stools and they have been filled every time I've been.  You sit on the stool and they point this 18th century alchemy looking contraption that blows steam onto your problem area.

The doctor comes in and for me, I get two pokes on the outside of each leg, one just below the knee and one at the ankle.  My other mates in the stick room get them all over, arms, legs, face.  And 9 out of 10 of the patients there are older than I, so unclear if the kids don't need treatment or if this is for the older set.

Not much to look at in there, and don't want to be seen taking too many snaps cause peoples (yours truly included) wrinkly body parts are exposed.  There are some notices about hours and things on the wall, and to help me pass the time, I watched a mosquito dance around the room ( a great environment for them for sure)  Below is all of the medical equipment needed.  A bunch of sticks and cotton balls for sterilization.

You sit with the needles and hot steam for 15 minutes and that is it.  After, I get 15 minutes of that electric stimulation device on my spine, and last time, he put me on the inversion therapy table for 10 minutes.  I love that thing and it made me feel better immediately.  Going back this afternoon and hope there is more of that in the plan.  The doctor did look at my MRI images and his only comment about them was that "your 4 and 5 (vertebrae)?" and then makes the sound of something breaking while making the motion of an Indian burn.  Great.  And is Indian burn not said anymore?

It is certainly not the experience you see in the movies or TV, with a person stuck with a hundred needles all over.  Putting in the needles feels like a light pinch, and then you don't notice them anymore.  Each visit costs NT$100, which is like US$3.25, so why not play it through.  Betty was interested and I took her after work the other day (they stay open several nights till 9pm, which is another nice feature.)  He did the same 30 second analysis of her, said she had poor circulation and then into the therapy she went.  She even got a couple needles in her head so must be way more messed up than I. She walked away in love with it.   Am sure to have more to say on this subject, just needed to put down the details so far.

Couple more things before signing off...Betty forwarded this link that I loved.  Have found it weird that I get a lot of things in my feeds about introversion and am pretty sure that I am on that spectrum.  The author posits in this essay that the shitty stuff he does, like being late, keeping money in a wallet he found on the street, is justified cause he is an introvert.  Funny and too true.

Caught some live music in town last week...a band called Pond who are from Australia and are the guts of the band Tame Impala.  Like a couple of their things and would never go see them in the States, but in the wasteland that is alternative music here, you gotta take what you can get.  I went, it was OK, and left after they played the song I liked.

Not much more to say other than I saw some bad male behavior.  The crowd at these shows is about 90% Taiwanese/10%Westerners and there were a couple of local looking girls in front of me.  When the band started up, a white guy (polo shirt and beard...not the hipster kind, more of the white supremacist type) starts to dance next to them.  They seem kinda game and do a light slam dance which all seemed harmless, but the guy wouldn't let it go.   He moves around, tries to start grinding with them, looking at them with a total creepy stare, that kind of crap.  Am watching this and the girls are getting visibly more uncomfortable when the guy gets up close to one and grabs both her hands and continues with his effed up gaze move.  Gross.  And I hate this stuff cause now we have to do something about it and it is distracting from the music.  I ask the girls if they know this guy while giving him the stink eye  and they don't speak English, but the next second, a local dude who must have been watching this go down too walks in front of the girls and stands between them and the creep.  He got the message and disappeared.

With this wave of dudes being outed as predators, sometimes it feels a bit overwhelming (today was Today's Matt Lauer's turn) and have heard some fatigue by certain pundits.  Must say that I feel it is going too far at times too, but know this is a seminal moment in history when all dudes are getting the word that this shit is over.  Fucking scum and seeing this prick at the show made me want to punch him right there.  I don't preach too much to the kids, but one of the few non-negotiable things that I pounded into the Boys head from the age that he started to notice girls was to not only respect women, but look out for their welfare when they are in vulnerable spots, especially in the lead up to being on his own at school.  I pray that I was convincing.

Alrighty...leave in a few hours for San Francisco.  Mom had her shoulder replacement and sister is going on vacation, so I get to hang for 10 days or so.  While I do have a couple of fun things planned, not looking forward to it as she doesn't seem to be acting well.  Not that you can blame her, but she has been getting delirious, sometimes aggressively so, and seems to be in the pity spiral that does not go over well with anyone, especially yours truly.  Gonna take all of my patience to deal for sure and have to keep reminding myself that she is 90 and that she has never been in a vulnerable state, that the frustration level is off the charts for her.  I may be too busy to post next week, or may have all the time in the world.  Will see you when I see you