March 24th, 2021

 Hey there,  

Mentioned last time we made an offer on a place in Seattle and things have progressed smoothly so far and we are positioned to close at the end of the month.  We're not Rich Uncle Pennybags (the monocle guy from Monopoly) in our buying and selling of properties , but this is a weird experience in that we are unable to physically see and touch the most expensive purchase of our lives.  Our apprehension has been lessening and we feel that this is the right move for us.  As we learn more about the space, it seems this building is right for us as the tenants are all in our age group and there are no children, save visiting grandkids.  Not happy in saying that this is our home before the retirement home, but effectively is just that. The location checked our boxes of being on the Lake Washington side of town, has a lake and Rainier view, great areas to walk with a nice beach across the street and some shopping.  The building went through a top to bottom remodel in the last couple of years and all the common spaces/facades have been updated and look tasteful.  The last owner of our unit was an old lady that of course just transitioned to a retirement home, and the interior is nearly perfect with the exception of the master bath.  That is cool with us as we can remodel that to exactly what we want and look forward to designing a super shower. 

View from the deck.

 

The rub on that building wide remodel is that they hired a contractor to do the work.  Details are not many, but what we gather is that he was slow and doing a crappy job, so they fired him and now he is suing the building for the fees he wasn't paid, and of course the BS lost other jobs he wasn't able to pursue and probably emotional distress.  Like a contractor has any human emotion that isn't evil.  What we didn't know is that if a place is under a lawsuit, that lenders will not let you finance a mortgage, so we are having to pay cash in full.  We have it as we sold our place in Seattle before we moved here and have been investing that money for 10 years so were in a good position to make an offer under asking as the seller didn't have a ton of buyers in our position.  We hired an attorney to go through all the HOA's and lawsuit docs and she seemed happy with all of it.  I was feeling really good about the whole deal and then at the end she said two words that had me question the entire thing.  She said the unit was a "rare find".  I know that is supposed to be a good thing, so why does this phrase make me nervous as all get out.

Here in Taiwan, things are quiet.  Aussie Rules football started this week so that was on all weekend and it was a great bunch of matches, and baseball starts next week, so the boring 6 weeks after the NFL is over is over.  It is baseball season at the school and I will have one day without coaching some team in a month.  No complaints about that.  I am more than ready to complain about the weather as it is starting to turn nasty.  Hasn't descended into hell yet, but you can see it from here.  It is the time of year when the wind shifts and all the pollution from China wafts over and we've had several days of AQI in the unhealthy range.      

B-doll turned a milestone 18 today so can booze legally here.  It is the quiet before the end of the school year crush that'll be even more bittersweet as this is the end of high school for her and us. Do feel fortunate that we will get to have in person graduation and hope that they will be able to have prom and such.  When she was in elementary school, and even middle school, she was not a great student.  Grades were fine, but what kid can't sleep through school and not get a B.  It was a lack of self confidence and her enthusiasm about doing well in school that weren't good, and we would half jokingly say that she may go to beauty school after graduation.  There was always one character trait about her that I saw from the earliest of times that gave hope that she would thrive, and that is her ability to concentrate on a task.  She could sit with crayons or whatever book or toy and stay focused for far longer than any kid I knew.  When she hit high school, some switch got flipped and she has been not only a diligent student, but her confidence has snowballed to it now being an avalanche. I wish I could pinpoint what it was that triggered her turnaround, but if I had to guess, would attribute her taking to dance as a big influence and also that she is at a school where competition to do well in class is real.  Having peer pressure to get an A is better than getting pressure to get wasted.  When the three of us eat dinner at home, we'll often turn on an episode of Jeopardy! and she gets almost as many correct answers as I do.  I still kick butt just cause while my knowledge pool is shallow, it is mighty big, and I know a ton of stuff just from being alive 47 years longer, but she nails all the science questions and gets a surprising number of history and culture questions right.  Of course I can believe she is 18 cause I understand the second law of thermodynamics, but it is hard to believe.  

We went to a wine tasting last Saturday and the featured wines were all Taiwanese.  I know.  I was schooled by my wine mentor a long time ago that you can grow grapes for wine anywhere.  There are wines from all 50 states for instance, but there is a reason why only a few places are able to grow grapes that make for a subtle wine.  Gapes grown in the tropics have properties that are not conducive for that, which they explained and I cannot regurgitate.  I will never pretend to say I have a refined palette or know jack about wine, but all of what we had tasted awful to me.  Too sweet and battery acidic across the board.  Some of the labels were cool and wine tasting parties are just perfect for getting people to loosen up and chat.  We only knew a couple folks there but the crowd was lively and we gave the local kids that were earnest in their promotion of the lacking wines an appropriate amount of shit without being too disrespectful (although we did get more so as the night went on).

The whites

And the reds and brandys

In local news, this meme of an old guy asleep at the Costco here turned into Inauguration Bernie made the rounds.

Here is a touching story about a couple of cops who came across an injured cat that was hit by a car and took it to the hospital.  The cat ultimately passed.  Not a big story nor do I have a gag for it, but felt it worth sharing.

And there have been lots of articles (here is one from The Guardian) about some promotion where you get free sushi if your name has the character for salmon in it, and there have been several (150) people that (tried to) changed their name to salmon to get the freebie.  One guy says he did it and ate US$176 worth of free sushi. This article states that Taiwanese people are allowed to officially change their names three times, which seems like a lot, no?  Will endeavor to find out more about this and am sure there are some other nutty reasons why people change their names.  Also am drafting some possible changes for yours truly.

Finally for today...had a whole bit about German toilets ready to go, but have a thought or two about all the Asian hate to get off my mind.  Mentioned this matter a couple times ago in relation to worrying about B-doll off to university this Fall.  Betty commented that I didn't mention worrying about her, which I do of course, but also know from personal experience that she is capable of raining hellfire on anyone that messes with her.  It is nice that we have a President that can speak compassionately about it, and have seen so many pieces about the need for people to get a grip after Atlanta, but before that, all the names speaking out about it were Asian.  But as I watch these pleas, just feel that they are completely pointless and that not a single one of these monsters will be swayed by any of them, and the few that are would be outweighed exponentially by the ones that are emboldened by the snowflakes hearts bleeding.  It is the Asians turn this month/year/history of the US, and it'll be some other groups turn in the spotlight soon enough.  Sick fucks having babies and growing more sick fucks.  What do you /I do about it?  There was a lady at the wine party above and she seemed OK at first, but as the night wore on, she couldn't hide her crazy.  First noticed the big cross earrings as she made some eyebrow raising comment, and then the gay dude confided (with accompanying eye roll) out at the smoking circle that she's "like that" cause she is born again.  Her opinions started to slip as the wine flowed...'You heard about the 1000 babies in India that died during the vaccine trial"...shit like that.  I only knew the hosts so held my tongue, and all the other guests who did know her changed the subject, but I've been pissed ever since that I didn't expose her in the moment.  I know all the head shrinkers will say not to shame or admonish these types cause it will push them further into their hole, and that we should try to explore their feelings in hopes of finding something or other to change their mind.  Seems like a colossal waste of time to me.   I don't really care what you believe about climate/masks/vaccines/guns, believing and knowing are completely different things.  Knowing takes some effort and believing in anything is just lazy.  Think I am gonna add that word to proud and actually in my red flag list. And this goes for all genders and colors, friends and family, as there are plenty of crap people in all degrees.   Have really had enough.

March 15th, 2021

Hiya,

Gotta kick off today with this headline: Taiwan teen's toe falls out of sock after accident.  A 19 year-old crashed his scooter "at high speed' into a traffic island, but was able to ride it home.  Once he got there and saw his bloody sock, he took it off and the fourth (or ring?) toe 'tumbled' out of it.  He stuck it in the freezer but it was too late for it to be reattached.  The man's sister said that "Fortunately, he's an optimistic person" and the man joked that now he can wear two right footed flip flops (there is a drawing as to how that'll work).  They end the article by saying that "the sibling's mom thought about saving her son's disconnected digit but was put off by the idea of cooking it to remove the meat from the bone."  I knew it.

Last weekend was Babydoll's final High School dance performance.  She made the school's IASAS team (the group that would have traveled to compete against our like schools from Singapore, Jakarta, Bangkok, etc.), but the competition was held virtually this year.  Our school was the only one that was allowed to practice together and film without masks.  The dance and drama teams put on a show of their pieces for the school community and they were well executed as they always are at that place.  Obviously, I am biased, and maybe I have seen enough dance in the last years to have gained a deeper understanding and appreciation of it, but was not alone in saying this was the best dance piece in her era.  

Was told that it was a five vignette suite about the expectations and realities of being an Asian woman, and even I understood some of it this time.  Costumes were clever in that they were both loose but did not obscure the grace of their movements.

They have worked really hard over the last few months putting it together with many practice sessions after school and on weekends.  B-doll came home after one grueling practice totally gassed and explained that they did 3 full run throughs that day and as there are no boys this year, she was deemed the physically strongest of the team and had to do all of the lifts.  The coach/choreographer that organized the team came up to us after the show and raved that Babydoll worked extra hard and was the horse.  Miss Q has been a constant in our 4 years of dance there and B-doll loves her both as a coach and for her fiesty personality.  We all feel fortunate that she was able to have such a great mentor and give her a ton of credit as B-doll has come so far in her 4 years there with regards to confidence, stage presence, grace and strength.  

In the post show meet and greet, I got a little misty looking at her and her best friend and knowing this was the last one of these we'll probably get like this and was the end of an era.

Finally, Betty and I made an offer on a condo in Leschi and it was accepted.  There are a few hurdles to get over but things are looking good.  We've been giddy with excitement over things like what bed to buy, restaurants in the vicinity (Peruvian chicken, Ethiopian.....) and when we're gonna have people over for dinner.  As to when that'll be...TBD. 

March 4th, 2021

Hey there,

Quick rehab update...it was 6 weeks since replacement yesterday and the recovery is amazing.  I have pretty much stopped using the cane and you would not even notice the scar if you weren't looking for it.

Still a little swollen and haven't reverted to my natural chicken legs.  Pain is less each day and is almost non-existent and notice it mostly on the first couple of steps and with some tightness.   We were at dinner with a bunch of other North Americans having dinner the other day and one of the topics was whether we think a trip to the States for the summer is possible.  Heard Uncle Joe this morning telling everyone that vaccinations will be available to all by the end of May, and that guy is of the under promise/over deliver mentality.  They haven't started inoculating people here yet and have to guess that white boys from the valley will be towards the end of the queue, so probably being in the states in July would be the fastest in getting the vaccine.  The problem is getting back into Taiwan and not wanting to quarantine for 3 weeks as we surmise that this place will be the last ones to let their guard down.  Thinking that I will try to get the other knee done the first week of June and then if it all shakes out right, accompany B-doll on her journey to college mid-August.  

The other revelation that came out of the party the other night concerns Grey's Anatomy.  Have been looking to see what the new knee is made of as people ask and assumed it is titanium.  Finally found information that identifies it as being made of a cobalt-chromium alloy.  Cobalt is a cool sounding word and learned that it has to be combined with other elements as it does not exist on Earth in pure form.  One of the guests was a girl that is a college Freshman and she asked what it was made from, and when I told her, she laughed and said she just watched an episode of Grey's Anatomy where the patient had gotten cobalt poisoning from his replacement joint.  So now I worry about that.

In news from these parts, we are firmly in the peak of Mosquito season.  There are two seasons in Taiwan: Hell and Mosquito.  The bug zapper is going off non-stop and any area of skin exposed has little red bumps in various stages of itchiness.  

Lantern festival was last Sunday.  Lantern festival is the first full moon after Chinese New Year and marks the end of the two week celebration.  There were tons of fireworks that night but the big festivities around the island were nearly non-existent.  A few days before CNY, there was a doctor that treats Covid patients that was found to have contracted it, and he gave it to his nurse wife and they had been out and about before being diagnosed.  The entire country freaked and they canceled almost all of the large planned gatherings to celebrate the New Year in the entire country to risk spreading the virus.  It's been over two weeks since the New Year and not a single new local transmission.  I mentioned we had a party the other night...one where we all ate together and hugged and stuff.   The economy here grew in 2020. People wear masks.  What the fuck is wrong with America?

In the past, would be skeptical of the traditions and such that I found bizarre here, but now due to their Covid response, I am on board (or at least consider taking the train) with everything they say, including the crazy stuff.  Here is a list of 12 taboos that we were to avoid during Lantern Festival.  I think I nailed 11 out of 12 of them with my only slip up being # 11.

I 

1 - Avoided family strife...did not argue with Betty nor did I hit my children.  Not that it didn't cross my mind.

2 - Didn't get a haircut...easy enough as I only get one every 3-6 months

3 - Didn't see a doctor.  Not as simple with the rehab, but no problemo this week

4 - Kept my tools and equipment in good order.  Add generic dick joke here.

5 - Stayed away from sketchy places.  I woulda thought this was dive bars, but it is more cemetery stuff.  Either way...

6 - Avoided property loss.  Would think this would be an everyday sorta rule.

7 - Didn't lend money.  Never!

8 - Didn't empty out the rice pot.  Lucky we didn't eat rice dishes over the weekend cause I cannot stand leaving food out.

9 - Avoided damaging any clothing.  I am more of a spiller than a ripper.

10 - Didn't slaughter any animals.  Pretty sure I have never slaughtered one.  I ran over a racoon once on accident and still feel bad about it.

11 - I did swear and now will be "prone to misspeaking and starting arguments."  What else is new?

12 - I didn't wear any outfits with black or white stripes.  Does this outfit make me look fat?  No, my fat ass makes me look fat.

The local political scandal this week has to do with the mainland canceling all importations of Taiwanese pineapples.  Those China types say they banned importations cause of some fear of "harmful creatures" coming in with the fruit, which is rich coming from them.  Everyone knows they are just being their typical dickish selves.  It is now a part of national pride to eat a 'Freedom Pineapple' and the local Canadian and American embassy's are supporting this initiative.  The locals rallied and bought all of the pineapples that were to be exported in 4 days.

By the way, the news is getting here about the verbal and physical attacks on Asians in the States.  I would like to think that these are not as widespread as they sound, but the way the piece of shit ex-president continues his baiting, and his easy to join in on the racist stuff cult members zeal to blame others for everything, I do worry about B-doll going to the States in August.  

That said, and I abhor that this sounds like a conspiracy theory, but after reading this report am feeling that the virus got out of that lab in Wuhan and that we have not yet heard the full story.  The German scientist that researched that paper, Roland Wiesendanger, sounds like a sober and serious guy and find his hypothesis very believable.  Regardless, why would people push over an old man?  It'd be like a black guy smacking me cause of slavery.  We (white folks) have some serious karmic atonement coming our way.