thomas time

"[The Beijing Olympics was] China’s deliciously understated 16-day world domination..."

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:30:07 +0800

“[The Beijing Olympics was] China’s deliciously understated 16-day world domination infomercial.”

- The torch is passed, from Beijing epic to London bus queue | The Guardian

Updates

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:18:21 +0800

So, Suzy got her visa. A few days ago, we bought our airline tickets for the USA. We’ll be wingin’ our way out of China on December 2nd. The time between now and then will mostly be wrapping up our work here in Guangzhou, and typing up loose ends back in Changsha.

Sing along with us: IIIIIIIIIII’ll be hoooooooooooome for Chriiiiiiiiiiiistmaaaaaaaaaas…

xkcd - Frustration

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:07:40 +0800

xkcd - Frustration

My Yearbook Photo from 1970 (see all my yearbook photos on...

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:14:02 +0800

My Yearbook Photo from 1970

(see all my yearbook photos on Flickr)

Bamboo Forest (by youngdoo on Flickr)

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 08:39:30 +0800

Bamboo Forest

(by youngdoo on Flickr)

Lunch (via my Flickr photostream)

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:52:06 +0800

Lunch (via my Flickr photostream)

Visa, and Stuff.

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:08:05 +0800

Bleh, I really suck these days. I haven’t posted on here for the usual reasons. I’ve been working a different schedule at the school, and we’ve had friends visiting us here in Guangzhou, so there wasn’t much time to hop online and fight my way through the Chinese firewalls to post a note.

Just a couple of updates, in case anybody actually still bothers to come here…

Suzy’s Visa - we got a call-in letter from the Consulate on the 9th, “implying” that her visa is approved (they actually wrote the word “implies” in the letter, because they don’t want to commit to anything until the bitter end). We submitted her passport yesterday, and in theory she can go pick it up this afternoon and have her US visa in hand. We’ll see what happens today when she goes. Keep your fingers/legs/toes/eyes crossed for us.
Anniversary - July 27th was our 1 year marriage anniversary. The night before, we went to Zhongshan Memorial Hall to see the opening night of the Broadway musical, The Sound of Music. It was a fantastic show, and jam-packed with people. In the general area where we were sitting, I’d say the ratio was about 70% Chinese and 30% foreigners watching the show. During intermission, everybody was lined up to go to the restrooms, and it was the funniest thing — 20-somethings humming “My Favorite Things” and little girls dancing around the hallway trying to imitate the performers on stage.
Olympics - I’m actively trying to avoid most Olympics stuff because I’ve had it forced down my throat for the last 2 years I’ve been involved with China… But anyway. I did watch the first basketball game, USA vs. China, and it was a blast. I never really watch sports games, but it was nice to see the USA putting the smack down in one of the few sports we’re really good at. And the women’s team followed that up with another slaughter, so it’s double fun.

That’s all for now. Hopefully things will be easing up for us schedule-wise, and I can have more time to write some interesting stuff on here. Hasta!

Bonk

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 09:07:14 +0800

Bleh, I suck. I haven’t posted much here lately because things have been even busier than usual. Work is as heavy as always, and last weekend we had our friend from Changsha visiting. There’s much to do, and little time to evade Chinese censorship and post to my blog.

We haven’t been able to move forward on Suzy’s visa yet, but the papers we need are presently on their way from the USA. They just left Hong Kong, in fact, which is only about 90 minutes from here. With luck, we’ll get those papers in the next day or so and have them off to the Consulate. After that, it should (in theory) only be about a week until the Consulate contacts us to give us the thumbs up or thumbs down. Here’s hoping for UP.

Homer Tries to Escape (via harry.1967 on Flickr)

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 08:07:54 +0800

Homer Tries to Escape

(via harry.1967 on Flickr)

In-Flight Ads - A Plane? More Like a Flying Magazine (NYTimes.com)

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 08:20:43 +0800

In-Flight Ads - A Plane? More Like a Flying Magazine (NYTimes.com): As if flying wasn’t miserable enough, now, after being frisked at security, jockeying for overhead bin space, and squeezing into that remaining middle seat, passengers must endure a string of in-flight advertisements.

TIT Building (from my photostream on Flickr)

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:52:01 +0800

TIT Building

(from my photostream on Flickr)

In honor of Independence Day - “America, Fuck Yeah!”...

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 09:11:40 +0800

In honor of Independence Day - “America, Fuck Yeah!” from Team America

Happy 4th!

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 08:54:17 +0800

It’s July 4th in my timezone, and you know what that means… Happy Independence Day!

Visa

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:05:05 +0800

Hi folks. Suzy had her visa interview yesterday, and it went pretty well overall. The actual face-to-face interview was only maybe 10 or 15 minutes out of the 4 hours she was at the Consulate, but that’s to be expected.

They couldn’t approve her visa on the spot, though. We have to do yet more paper shuffling, which involves having stuff mailed to me from the USA, etc. etc. etc. Very frustrating, especially since the papers they want are around 95% identical to the ones we already freakin’ gave them. But whatever… The visa interviewer said that if Suzy gets these papers in, that should be the last we need for her visa to be approved. Here’s hoping.

Thank You, New York Times

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 23:49:20 +0800

Finally, some actual science to back up my bitching and moaning. When I worked at the UPS Store, we would always turn off AC at the whim of the ladies, who never believed me and my fellow male slaves when we would claim to be burning up and sweating like mad:

Q. It seems as if women complain about feeling cold more than men do. Is there a gender disparity when it comes to temperature’s effects?

A. Women do tend to feel colder in air-conditioned offices — for reasons of physiology and fashion, said Alan Hedge, an ergonomics professor at Cornell University. The muscles of the body generate about a third of its heat, he explained, and women tend to have less muscle mass than men. In addition, women are often freer to wear clothing that leaves their arms, legs and the neck area exposed. (The ankles, he said, are particularly vulnerable to cold.)

Guangzhou Night

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:22:07 +0800

Guangzhou Night

The Visa Chronicles

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:18:06 +0800

Hola. My lack of updates around here have been mostly due to the lack of anything interesting to say. However, the last couple of days have been so busy that it’s beyond words to express.

Basically, on Saturday we got an express letter from the US Consulate in Guangzhou telling us that Suzy has her visa interview date. We also realized we had little more than a week to get our shiznit together to present during her interview. So, all of Saturday night, Sunday, and a good 7 hours of running around today have been devoted to getting all our loose ends tied up. “Scrambling” would be my word of choice — scrambling to print, copy, and certify things; scrambling to acquire the appropriate letters and records we may need; scrambling to get last-minute questions answered.

Anyway, we’re 95% ready, I think. Still some things to sort out, but I think we’re golden. Suzy’s sparkling personality, combined with the sheer volume of papers and evidence we can throw at the Consulate, should get things done if we’re lucky. Just gotta keep our fingers crossed that we didn’t forget some critical piece of paper, or misunderstand something. If we blow it this time around, it may set us back a few weeks or months before we can get it all sewed up and get her visa in hand.

Cross your fingers, toes, and your eyes for us! Suzy’s interview is next week, and I’ll post a thumbs up or thumbs down here when we know how it’s worked out. Until then, it’s going to be a l-o-o-o-o-n-g week.

"Apple seeds don’t produce lemon trees. When we behave positively, we get positive results;..."

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:04:36 +0800

“Apple seeds don’t produce lemon trees. When we behave positively, we get positive results; when we cling to questionable values, we get questionable results.”

- Lama Surya Das, Awakening the Buddha Within (p. 198)

Zhuhai (珠海) Photos @ Flickr

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 21:39:56 +0800

Zhuhai (珠海) Photos @ Flickr: I finally got all of my good Zhuhai photos up on Flickr for safe keeping. Enjoy!

Two Happy Birthdays

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 09:31:33 +0800

To my dad (today) and to my mom (tomorrow)…

Happy Birthday, parental units! :-)