December 15, 2012

I have complained about the weather in Taipei a lot in this space, so it is fair that I give equal time to how awesome it is to have a 79 degree day on December 15th.  October and November were both really nice, and while December has seen its share of rainy (high 50's at night/low 60's during day), we are currently on a stretch of 4 days with 75 to 79 degree highs.  Good times.  I broke down and wore jeans a couple of days last week, but Paul is still on his run of wearing shorts to school every day.  I asked him if he is going to try to go all year long without long pants and he said that is the plan...Mom is probably not happy hearing that, but I totally respect the kid for it. 

Living in a dense city means that land is at a premium, so the parking is mostly underground.  Am typically at the Costco a couple of times a week and park in their underground lot, which was originally built as a bunker to protect the citizens from mainland Chinese bombs during the cold war.  In an area of high geological activity, being in such structurally sound enclosures is a bit comforting to one with a mild case of claustrophobia.  These heavily fortified cement structures are everywhere, the most rumored about being the one underneath the National Museum.  That museum houses the largest collection of Chinese artifacts in the world, with these being either "rescued" or "stolen" from the mainland in 1949.

Back to parking at the Costco...every time I go I notice that at least half the cars back into the spots, so their trunks are backed up against the cars in the adjacent rows, or against walls of the thickest concrete imaginable...I'm thinking similar in thickness to the bunkers the Iranians are storing their centrifuges in.  And every time, you see people struggling to open their SUV hatchbacks against the obstacles and/or doing the Taiwanese version of the chicken dance carrying their Costco sized diapers between their car and the one parked (closely) next to them to get them to the back of the vehicle.  And every time I wonder why don't they just pull in head first so they can access the trunk directly from their cart.  I am looking for some kind of outlet for me to get in front of the "people" to ask them why they do some of these things...I know there has to be a reason, and there is always a reason, but change takes time and maybe we can find a better way if we all work together.

Finally for today, am sitting here on a bright Saturday morning in our office where a window in front of the computer faces out, and Betty wakes up, comes in to open the shades and am immediately blinded and a headache is coming on.  We've had this 18 year (with the wind chill factor, it feels like 30) battle between her bright/quiet preferences, and my need for dark/loud things.  I appreciate her aversion to loud things and try to tune them down when she's around, but even the lowest of my "jungle music" can make her face scruntch. 

Quick side note: one of the few times I get to unleash the volume to 11 is when I am in the car alone, which is obviously a main reason why I like to drive so much.  You can't really blast it in an apartment complex and have never been a lover of headphones.  Growing up in LA, rolling the windows down and cranking it all the way up is an inalienable right.  But it is not de rigueur here...I have yet to hear music coming from another car.  And it isn't that the only music they have is the Erhu (sad Chinese two string violin) or Hello Kitty K-Pop, neither of which sound great amplified.  I know there are some loud rock music lovers around...have seen them in action...and there are loud shows all the time (check out some of those awesome band names), so you'd think that we'd run into them somewhere. Sometimes I'll look around at people on the street or in other cars when the tunes are blasting from mine and will they will give the power rock salute.   Additionally, they do not roll their car windows down.  The only ones I ever see down are on the most beat up of the Taiwanese blue work trucks where the dudes are chain smoking and probably have no AC.  I'm tooling downtown yesterday in idyllic 78 degree weather with the windows down and every other car has theirs up.  Adding to my list of "Why" questions as there has to be some reason...I fear it might be something similar to the use of umbrellas year round to protect from the harsh UV or acid rain, but suspect the real reason is to protect their anonymity for all the dickish driving maneuvers that they regularly pull.

But as for the light thing...I have green eyes.  I was in a lighting store a couple of years ago and was describing the differences to light that I have with Betty to the (rather attractive) lighting expert, and she sits me down, looks deep into my eyes and told me that she understood..  People with blue and (especially) green eyes are far more sensitive to light than those with brown eyes...it is a scientific fact.  I know the more prejudiced minded of you will think that the brown eyed people are just superior, but remember that if the color green were not so light absorbent, that photosynthesis would not possible and humans may not have evolved at all without it.   So this is my open letter to all of you brown eyed people out there to be sensitive to the sensitivities your genetically different brothers and sisters.