White people...
I did not win the election for school board this year. In the post game analysis, I did receive over 90% of the white vote (and 100% of the white non-evangelical constituents). You'd think that would be good, but with only 10% of the school population being white (and by white, in this case I mean people that have spent more than 5 years living in the west. Betty gets to check that box on her application) that was not good enough. I definitely needed to adjust my message to the Chinese audience, but could not in good conscience do so. Their loss.
It's that time of year to look around and see who isn't going to be here when we return in the Fall. Feels like half of the expats we have come to appreciate are bugging out. Last year was tough as I lost three quality drinking buddies. Not losing those per se, but a huge layer of the ladies that I enjoy are heading back to the states. Don't have any hard data, but anecdotally, seems that companies are scaling back on their expat programs. Have heard it a dozen times recently that a person wants to stay but that their employers are utilizing local employees to fill the spots that the expats used to hold. There will always be the diplomat families (who are aggravating to talk to as they will never comment on anything sparking of controversy), but am starting to miss the computer company families already.
Here is something I don't understand...why do we give a shit about coal miner jobs? Was sitting here last week, happily watching Ted Cruz get whipped in Indiana and bow out of the race. His speech was filled with nods to God and the gospel. Such an icky dude and was by far the worst option. You know who didn't mention God once in their speech tonight? Donny T. Gotta love that about the guy, but he kept going on about getting coal miners back their jobs. Why are we so concerned about an industry that will soon be on the scrapheap of history? Did we squash the telegraph to save the Pony Express industry? I get that it's part of the climate denier thing, but the majority think there is something to it and if you live in a place where you can't see the sky and your kids can't play outside cause of all the smoke from the coal fired plants, you understand that it is an inefficient and deadly fuel source. Saw a letter on some papers site by a person that said well what I have been saying forever. To paraphrase...if you are wrong and climate change is due to humans, then we are gonna see disaster that you can't imagine. If I am wrong and it isn't caused by humans, then we have more efficient energy and cleaner air...probably with huge new industries and jobs created. Whoever said being a coal miner was a great job anyway. You work underground, likely get an awful disease and probably go to work thinking that you'll get buried alive.
Anyhoo, gonna be a fun summer listening to people tie themselves up in knots trying to rationalize voting for Trump.
Picked up Baby Doll the other day and she is carrying these...
"Where'd ya get those" I ask. The boy she likes gave them to her and asked her to be his girlfriend. She seemed fairly pleased about it and I follow up by asking 'what does that mean exactly'. She laughed while she said she didn't know. The kid seems harmless enough but can't say that I like this one bit.
Another fact I heard, that is far less interesting to most, is that Japanese pitchers that come to the States to pitch usually wear #18. Turns out that the ace in Japanese staffs wear that number as the greatest pitcher in early Japanese baseball history wore it, so it is a number of honor and signifies you are the best on your team.
Speaking of baseball, have been flat out working on our summer plans, which is why I have not had time to devote to this space. I know it sounds like fun, and it is, but a lot of time goes into setting up two months on the road. Accommodations aren't cheap and fortunately, Betty is a rabid hotel points hoarder and has rewards at 7 different chains. Finding the hotel in the right part of town while comparing the amount of points to be deducted so that it is a good deal is an art form. This has always been her domain but am working on it and the sense of satisfaction when you can find a smokin' deal is great. The goal is to not spend a dime on accommodations...will probably have to buy a couple nights here and there, but think it's going to be close.
May go more into the itinerary plans later probably, but the best part about planning it is to figure out how to get to the most baseball games and stadiums. Looks like it'll be 8 this year with me seeing one or more home games at the Nationals, Phillies, Orioles, Rockies, Giants, A's, Dodgers and Mariners, with the Philadelphia and Colorado stadiums being new ones for me. I love baseball.
The new Taiwanese President takes office next week...I've said before that she seems to good to be true and have high hopes, but a lot is stacked against her. Internally, while there was an 8 year stretch where her party (DDP) won the presidency, the legislature has been controlled by the KMT continuously since 1949. While the DDP did win the legislature this time, the levers of power in the rank and file are all still KMT appointed. There will be some residual foot dragging to be sure.
It is the external pressure from China that is the big worry. When the KMT guy came in 8 years ago, he pivoted the economy to do more business with China. The thought was that it would bring more prosperity to the island. It did, for the ultra rich, but the people on the street saw little to no benefit. So now that the DDP, who are decidedly not pro-China, is coming to power, China is turning off the tap to Taiwan. From little things like restricting tourists from visiting (a large source of income), to middle things like pressuring countries to renounce recognition of Taiwan, to big militarily threatening things, China is playing the bully.. Who thought that tying your economy to the country that has pledged to reincorporate you, by force if necessary, was a good idea? These old Conservative KMT jokers apparently. As their economy sputters, the geopolitical fear is that China will lash out somewhere to take the proletariats mind off of eating something disgusting (which begs the question....what would be a disgusting thing for Chinese to eat?) When dealing with China on the macro level, and I refer to it in the micro level as well, there is an old Chinese adage that should inform ones decision. I can't remember it exactly, but it goes something like...poke a haystack with a pitchfork, if you meet no resistance, proceed. If you meet with steel, retreat. These guys will never fight against a determined foe, but if you let them, they will creep forward forever.
Earthquakes galore the last few weeks. Three over 5.0 in the last couple of days alone. No one freaks out, but still, it freaks you out.
We bug outta here on June 5th and will try to post one more time before then. If not, hope to see you somewhere along the road soon.
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