Category: Uncategorized

Campus Kitten was Hungry Today

I made it to her usual waiting place for me around 4:30 p.m. She wasn’t yowling like she was when I first saw her, but she sounded somewhat desperate.

I talked to someone yesterday via WeChat about how much it would cost to transport her home, should I adopt her. I told the pet travel agent the kitten’s story, and she had all sorts of suggestions of how to catch her even though I can’t get onto campus.

I still have to earn her trust though. She’s let me pet her, but it’s not like she CRAVES to be petted. She won’t eat out of my hand yet. I’m scattering bits of food along the bottom bricks of the fence. Maybe someday she’ll climb up and sit there while I pet her.

Next I have to see if there are any good cat boarding places nearby, just in case.

I’m torn. I worry about her, but do I want the responsibilty? I feel like I failed with Daphne. I fostered Summit with a good friend and total animal lover, so she was in good hands. But I felt guilty about leaving Summit. I hope she forgives me. Her health deteriorated, and she was put down about a year and a half ago. She wasn’t the most affectionate cat, but I found her too, and felt bad for her, being so tiny and seemingly alone in the world, eyes sealed shut because of a grass allergy. I took her home, fed her Iams for a year, and she lived for 15 years.

But I still felt I said goodbye in less than ideal circumstances. Getting her into her carrier wasn’t pleasant, and she was probably wondering what the hell was going on. But better than leaving her at the shelter, or with a total stranger.

Feeling a Bit Weirded Out

I had a really great supper. Pepper steak over white rice was good. I woke up this morning with a weird stomach. I found the mint gum I bought the other day and chewed some of that. But it always makes me wonder when I wake up with a bad stomach what caused it.

So I actually had two meals today. Having mint tea for dessert to hopefully ward off the stomach pains.

I certainly slept deep last night. I never know what sort of sleep I’m going to get anymore. It was hard to get out of bed, but I did it. Had to teach yesterday because of the makeup day situation. I had one of my classes write about how they felt about having a long vacation, but having to come in the weekend before for one day, and then come in for a weekend after for one day. Nobody seems to like it. They don’t like having their plans disrupted, and it throws them off schedule.

Because of this, I have them play Scrabble. This Saturday class I had I had them write dialogue using the words they made during the Scrabble game. It’s an oral English class after all.

Maybe I’m upset about Diane Keaton. I only really knew her from The Godfather and Annie Hall, but I always wonder if I should go, would I be satisfied with what I’d done? I’ve got a novel I want representation for, but I fear I’ll have to self-publish. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, because that IS an option, but somehow it feels like failure. I want to have a bit of money to promote it this time.

It could be I’ve come to terms with my life. Like some things will never, ever, change, and I’d better be okay with that or risk permanent unhappiness. And for every hour I indulge in something mindless, it also reminds me I’m nowhere near where I want to be, and time’s running out. It always has been running out, but if you run into never-ending setbacks, you wonder if you should still go on.

There are so many things I wish I had the courage to change, so many people I wish I would have stood up to and said, “fuck off!”

But I also realized standing up for myself doesn’t get me anywhere either, except the “quit or be fired speech.”

Goodnight, everybody.

Just Got Paid, Thursday Night

I got paid a day early, which was nice. I was also able to save quite a bit this month so I wasn’t down to nothing before payday. I’m not sure how that happened, but after thinking it over, I have an idea.

I have several accounts I try to put money into each month. Plane ticket home, small emergency fund, real pearls, Ikea, Hong Kong, eyeglasses (the ones I bought a year ago broke) and editing for my novel. For the last three months, I’ve not contribued anything to any one of them, because in July I had a double whammy of blod tests and a broken computer.

So that’s how I ended up with a surplus this month, and it was very nice.

But I’m also behind on saving for these things.

I may try to switch phone providers as I pay waaaaay too much for as little as I use my American phone. Verizon knocked the monthly payments down, but it seems like they do it sporadically. So I may try Mint Mobile.

My American phone I use for minor texting, the occasionall call to the US and verification for some of my accounts. You try to log in, but they say they will send a verification code. You know how it works. So I feel like I can’t quit my American phone.

So we’ll see if I can switch to a cheaper provider. Because I swear, taking care of stuff at home costs more than running a house here.

I Shouldn’t Be Eating Out So Much

I’m still sort of in my funk. I have food in my house, but the food bores me. So I’ve been eating out a bit too much recently. And I feel bad about that because I could have saved another $20-$30 in these last few days before payday. But I’m doing really well, considering. I still have more than $200 left and payday is Friday.

Today I went to Pizza Hut. The last time I went there, I had food poisoning, so it’s been a while. I am not sure if it really was food poisoning, or just way too much grease. I had an entire pepperoni pizza plus an order of French fries. I’ve been fine since then. So I just had pizza today.

I walked there and back, and it’s really nice to live so close to things like that. My neighborhood grocery store is going to close for remodeling. What was funny was there was a huge sign at the entrance saying something along the lines of “due to the immaturity and incompetency of the corporate management, we will be remodeling and training the store staff.” I wish I would have saved the sign’s translation. You usually don’t see corporations admitting their faults. But it means I need to find another location of Yong Hui so I can use my discount card. I think I still have nearly $70 left. I need to reorganize my freezer so I can stock up on chicken, salmon, and shrimp so I can have those ready to go so I won’t be tempted to eat out as much.

Finding good frozen pizza here is hard. I remember I think it was Tony’s Deep Dish Pizza I used to get when I lived back home. These pizzas were about five inches around, and were perfect for a very simple lunch. They came like five or six to a package. I’d LOVE to have something like that available. Young Hui had corn dogs available for a while, and I went MAD over those. They tasted just like home. And yes, not the most nutritious of entrees, but those plus tater tots were amazing.

I’ve only made pizza once here. It was okay, but I’d rather walk to Pizza Hut.

And one of my students informed me that Subway Sandwiches finally opened on campus. If I wanted Subway, I’d have to take a bus to Gulou district, stop off and get Lay’s chips at Ole, the fancy western food shop, then continue to Subway. The Subway’s in mainland China don’t sell chips, but the one in Hong Kong does. So if you want the usual experience, you have to make an extra trip for the chips, and I always do. But at least I can walk to Subway now, which will save me about 56 cents in car fare.

I wish I could get rid of this funk though. I am not sure what it is. But at least this month, I didn’t run out of cash. I had a surplus for a change. A small surplus, but that’s nice. Not sure how I managed it, but I hope I can keep this up for the next couple months so I have a little more breathing room by the fourth week of the month.

And I am a Miniature Girl

Occasionally I like making stuff by hand. I think it’s to prove I can do it. One of the first things I made here in China was a bolero, I think it’s called. I refer to it as a “shoulder shrug” but it’s one of those tops ballet dancers wear. They basically cover your shoulders, arms, and just a tiny part of your back. They’re handy in case you are wearing a sleeveless top and want to take something along in case you get cold. I had no idea what they were called, and I decided to make my own. I got a long-sleeved stretchy black top, cut it up the middle, and hemmed it. It was okay. Later, I found out what they were called, and bolero is the correct term, although a quick glance online had one of them referred to as a shrug. Or in German, a “schulterwarmer.”

I like miniatures. I’ve loved them for years, since my mom had that as a hobby as well. I bought a doll years ago for photography purposes so I could experiment with light. Anyway, I decided I’d make her a house out of a cardboard moving box. But I’m not sure what I got myself into. I decided to make her a stove/sink combo. I didn’t even know if there was such a thing, but there is. So I set to work.

I had some wood I’d ordered maybe two summers ago. Some of it was pre-cut, some wasn’t, so I got out the utility knife and started cutting. I also have sandpaper, so I sanded the edges down. I also cut out a sink hole. I collect pieces of plastic packaging, and found a perfect sink.

Front of the sink/stove combo, with oven on the right.

The plastic piece that is now a sink.

I tried to think of low-cost paint alternatives, and I went to MiniSo to see what they had by way of nail polish. I think I went to Sanfu as well to see what was there. MiniSo is a great little store that has something for everyone, sort of like a smaller version of KKV, which blew my mind the first time I looked around in the store.

Anyway, I picked up some black nail polish and some silver sparkly polish for the burners, the faucet, the handles on the cabinets and stove and broiler, and for the sink.

Still in progress, but almost done.

The metal things you put the pans on turned out to be the most time-consuming and complicated. I planned to use wire, but it wasn’t working out. So I used wooden Q-tip sticks painted silver. For the actual burner for where the flame would come out, I saved the snap-on lids from my lemon juice bottles. They also got the nail polish treatment. The metal pan holders have been glued on. But I’m not done yet. It’s looking pretty good, and when I feel it’s done, I’ll be posting a picture.