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Crazy Clutter

The clutter in my apartment is really starting to piss me off. I’ve ALWAYS had a problem with clutter and it makes me so mad. I tried to find some papers tonight, and I looked in all the logical places, but I couldn’t find them. I have updated replacements I can print out, but still.

It’s frustrating. I don’t know how to make it stop. It’s not like I even go out shopping for junk anymore. The bulk of my money is spent on food, transportation, utilities, and medicine. I haven’t bought new clothes in almost two years. I haven’t bought new shoes in a year and a half. I buy magazines maybe once a year. I can’t remember the last time I bought an actual, real physical book. I think it might have been in 2024.

Anyway, that’s today’s gripe. Junk, junk, junk, junk, and clutter all over the fucking place.

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Cold

We had another beautiful day today, but I underdressed. I wasn’t wearing a jacket, and so I was cold.

I had to do a wire transfer back home, and sitting in the bank for two and a half hours was hard, because it was cold. I was also very sleepy.

McDonald’s was a bit warmer, but not nearly enough.

I got to school and in my office, the windows were open. I managed to close one, but there were stacks of junk between me and the back window, so that one stayed open. But I fired up the giant space heater/air conditioner. It became bearable.

I also went to class, and that was cold too. And frustrating. The technology in there is a bit complicated, and asking for someone to come and help soaked up more time than I anticipated. So the in-class assignment became homework.

But it wasn’t a bad day, except for being cold.

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Teacher’s Union Benefits!

The teacher’s union I belong to usually sponsors two trips a year, usually to a historical site. I love these trips, because I get to see areas I wouldn’t normally find out about, and there’s history involved.

Today we went to Linpu Village. It played a part in the Civil War. And the descendents of the rulers were named Lin and Chen. It had a school, and what looked like a combination temple and performance area.

It was in a park-like area, and right beside a river. We had beautiful weather.

One of Fuzhou’s many bridges.

They rebuilt a temporary palace for the rulers, and we got to wander around inside for a bit. One element I like about the palaces, or at least the bigger houses in Fujian, is that they are sort of open air, but only in parts of the house. There will be little courtyards in the center of some rooms, but on the sides of the rooms, there will be a covered passageway. So even though it might be raining, you can get from one side of the house to the other without getting wet. They had little courtyards like this, and one had a pond complete with koi fish and a little bridge.

Pond, with the footbridge at the top of the photo.

We then had dinner at a village not very far from Linpu village. The food was great, just dish upon dish of various things, like orange chicken/pork, cucumber fish, four types of soup, and fruit. Also rice, of course.

Remnants of a good meal.

After, we went back to campus, and someone invited me to play table tennis. I hadn’t held a racquet in my hand for years, but they paired me up with someone, and after a very little while, felt like I could actually hit the ball. We had several volleys which lasted several seconds, so I didn’t feel like a complete klutz.

Ceiling where the temporary palace is.
The higher the threshold, the more worthy you are.
I knew these weren’t roses, but one of my colleagues said it was a camellia. They grow on bush-like small trees.

So it was a very nice day indeed.