I was scrolling through FaceCrack, and discovered Fort Wayne now has MiniSo. I guess it’s a global thing. But I was shocked and delighted this store is now in my hometown. It’s sort of dangerous though. It’s part Dollar Tree, part Five Below, with a generous sprinkling of Target. If you like any of these three stores, you’ll fall in love with MiniSo. They have a core inventory, but seem to constantly get new things in.
The ultra essential Hello Kitty nightlight/bluetooth speaker.
And it’s practical stuff too. It’s a mix of cute things you don’t really need (like a Hello Kitty nightlight/Bluetooth speaker) with handy stuff like cotton swabs, packets of wet wipes, hand sanitizer, bandages, dental care, and socks. But there’s also a huge assortment of toys, figurines, slippers, perfume, makeup, sunglasses, lunch kits, hats and cell phone accessories.
Dental care!Hello Kitty perfume!These 007 sanitary pads almost make me wish I still had my period. Moneypenny would no doubt declare them “bloody good!”
The store itself seems a bit cramped, which might not seem so in U.S. stores. But they are brightly lit. I expect the red winking logo will become iconic, much like the Target bullseye. It’s the kind of store that even if you come for cotton swabs, you’ll probably end up winding your way through the store just to see what they have. It’s a lot like Target, where you go for paper towels, and before you know it, you’ve blown $40. I’ve not done a whole lot of pricing when it comes to stuff there, but I think the most expensive thing I’ve seen is maybe $14 or so, and that was for a black, wireless Bluetooth speaker that’s a pretty good size. I still have both of mine, and sometimes I bust one out when I want to listen to Youtube while I’m cleaning or something.
It’s the mid-1980s all over again, I guess. Can the Cabbage patch kid revival be far behind?
One of my favorite things I’ve bought there is my Coca-Cola tote bag. My Boken Fitness bag was falling apart. My Coke bag is showing slight signs of wear, but at least it’s better made than my Boken bag. I use it to carry my swim stuff back and forth.
Enough room for all my swim stuff!
I went today to my nearest MiniSo to see what they had this week, and I guess the Care Bears are back. MiniSo has several tie ins, as you can see from the photos featuring Chip and Dale makeup. Barbie stuff is still there of course, and whatever is coming out this summer will probably make an appearance in a few months or so. I managed to get out of the store without buying anything today, because I’m still on my buy as little as possible trip. I’m trying not to buy anything I don’t really need. I’m a bit fed up with some of my clothes, but they work, so I’m keeping them. But it’s a bit frustrating to know exactly what I want, and not be able to find it, either online or in the stores. Ah well.
Chip ‘N Dale makeup. Just when you’re tired of Mac, Urban Decay and Maybelline, cartoons take over your face.
I’ve been doing my best to maintain, which means a lot of stuff has gone by the wayside so I can function. But that can backfire. I forgot to pay my phone bill. So one morning, I was trying to request a Didi, but couldn’t. I was late to work, and as a result, I’ll have $350 less in my January paycheck.
My computer literally fell apart on me a few weeks ago, and I had to cope with that, plus other computer ailments.
And daily blogging has taken a backseat, obviously. I’m still penny-pinching, however. It’s been a year and a half since I bought a bunch of new clothes. I bought a couple of tank tops and some lightweight pants this past May, but that’s it. My leather flats are shot. My Pumas are not necessarily fashionable, but I alternate those with my combat boots.
I see tons of stuff that looks nice, but I always remember that I’m renting pretty much everything I don’t consume. I indulge in food, because I need to eat. Sometimes I indulge with transportation as well. That sort of backfired yesterday. On my way to the island, my driver hit something. I’m not sure what it was, but it did minor damage to the car. I was a bit nervous, he pulled over to the breakdown lane on the bridge. Did the other motorists merge to the center lane? No, they did not. I thought about walking the length of the bridge just to get away, but we were able to get rolling again, and stopped at the police station to report it. Just in time, the driver emerged, and we were on our way again. I realized that by opting for a Didi instead of the subway, it actually took longer. Oh well.
It was a quiet Christmas Eve. There are decorations up, of course. And I’ve been going swimming again. I usually go on Friday, but since I’ve bought a new membership, I’ve been going Sunday afternoons. I was supposed to go out and celebrate last night, but one of my friends has been sick; the other one didn’t confirm we were going anywhere. So I came home and worked on grading. It’s final exam time, so I’m wrapping up the semester with tallying grades and answering questions from my students. I’d like to get all the grades ready to go, so I just have to drop in the exam and essay scores and that part will be over.
I had trouble sleeping last night, so I slept super late today, then indulged in some fast food. What the hell? I don’t do much celebrating, and nothing much has sounded good, so I had onion rings before swimming, and a fish sandwich and fries and a chocolate sundae after. The water was fairly warm, although the pool room itself seemed a bit chilly. I decided to take my break in the sauna. Because it is COLD. Or rather, it sure feels like it. I just checked, it’s 11 C or 51 F for you Americans. I think what made it feel so cold is it seemed there wasn’t a gradual cooling down. It seemed like it went from 30 to 10. A week ago Friday, I was saying how my classroom felt like a sauna. A few days ago, it wa obvious it was winter. But it feels like it’s freezing. I busted out my North Face jacket, something I hadn’t worn in over a year. But I’m sure glad I bought that jacket.
I haven’t had a refrigerator for two weeks now. I noticed things not being as cold as they should be, and the landlord is supposed to send someone tomorrow. So I’ll be spending Christmas day waiting to see what’s wrong with the refrigerator. Hopefully I can get a bit of cleaning done, as my living room looks terrible. Chock-full of papers and bags strewn on the floor. But as I said earlier, I try to conserve my energy. It was a busy, productive semester, but I am ready for a break for sure.
The holidays have put me in an odd mood. The past few weeks I have been dreaming about men/boys from my past, which is strange to me. Sleep comes hard for me; to dream about people from my past doesn’t exactly help.
So yeah, it’s been a while. It’s not that nothing has been happening. It’s just that I haven’t wanted to write about it.
So much for posting every day. But having a bit of cash takes the drama out of daily life.
Not much of an excuse, I know. I love talking about work, but realize I shouldn’t be doing it on this platform.
I’m still being frugal. Indulging in food a bit, but as for buying unnecessary stuff, I’ve backed off on that quite a bit. I’m trying to delay purchases to the next weekend, or the next payday.
Four Grocery Stores and Seven Years Ago…
Another grocery store opened up on my street, which brings the total to four. Around the corner is yet another grocery store, the biggest one within walking distance with a collection of saucepans and kitchen utensils. That doesn’t include the two fruit markets down the street, and the veggies/eggs/meat shop. And occasionally, the corn guy sets up on the corner. Or the egg lady. When they do, I buy from them if I’m in the mood for corn or eggs.
Another way I can save is by not wasting food. I get the urge for bacon and eggs, and so I buy 10 eggs. I eat two. The rest go to waste. Luckily, here I can buy one egg if I need one. That’s super helpful. However, I know I can freeze eggs if I need to. Just scramble a couple together and put into a freezer back and mark the number of eggs and the date on the bag.
Still More Computer Problems
One of the reasons I haven’t posted is computer problems. I won’t get into that today though, I’ll save that for tomorrow.
It will give me something to write about. And maybe I can get back into the swing of daily posting.
Had one of those rare nice days yesterday. I am having more computer problems, but for some weird reason, they went away on their own. After I got home from my computer guy’s place and the Lenovo shop, I started to download some drivers, and the keyboard started working. But I’m not entirely sure the drivers were the problem. I think there’s simply too much crud in the keyboard. And it’s not like I can clean it like I could with my old one. Each key is individually sunk into the metal.
Art Amoy International Art Fair!
Anyway, the computer guy is right up the street from the convention center, so I got to see the Art Amoy International Art Fair. Not much photography, but lots of really cool paintings I wouldn’t mind having. Some pretty amazing ones—a couple looked like photographs of broken glass, until you got right up to the paintings and saw the individual brush strokes.
Then, as I was getting ready to cross the street, a couple of young ladies approached me. They said they heard me talking to someone in the art fair, so they decided to chat me up at the stop light. They were happy to practice their English, and so we rode to their subway stop. We exchanged WeChat information, so now I have a couple more friends in Xiamen. They like karaoke, so I suggested we go sometime. I LOVE to sing, even though I’m not good at it. And karaoke here is not like in the states where a bar hosts a karaoke night.
Karaoke Here has RUINED Me…
And I will say karaoke here has RUINED me for karaoke back home. Here, it’s an industry. There is a chain, KTV, and a typical location consists of dozens of suites of rooms, from cozy to corporate. They are decorated with various themes. They usually have a couple of computers where you can choose songs, and there are two microphones and sometimes a tambourine. There’s booths and chairs and tables, and you can have food delivered to your suite. I’ve never paid for an entire room for myself. I have no idea how much it costs. I have chipped in for the cost of a room, but it would seem silly if I just went up there and got a room for myself. Maybe someday if I have some extra money, I’ll indulge. But I can sing by myself at home. Of course, there’s no sound system there, and I can’t see how on tune I am, but whatever.
I’m 10 Pounds Away from My Goal Weight!
So yesterday was one of those rare good days where it felt like I got a lot done. For whatever reason my computer keyboard is working again.
Oh—and I’m 10 pounds away from my goal weight. Environment DOES play a big role in weight loss. I’m still stressed out about things, but I’m not eating nearly as much as I was in the states. Not sure why that is, but I’m not.
So I got paid—it was rather anti-climactic, probably because I was thinking of other things at the time.
My computer’s internet crapped out on Friday, October 13. It was working fine that morning, then of course, right before class, it stopped working. I could show the all-important powerpoints, but it meant I couldn’t do my review the way I had planned it.
Powerpoint!
So I gave the students some time to review the powerpoint slides while I came up with the totally non-electronic review bingo activity. Then, we took the quiz on good old-fashioned paper. Problem is, the students are used to a paper-free classroom.
I’ve told them on day one to have a notebook and something to write with. Computers and the internet being the way they are, sometimes it’s good to have backup.
So I got through the class. I was rattled, so I went swimming at the uni pool. It’s bigger and colder than what I am used to. But it was nice to swim off the week, so to speak, and relax a bit from the afternoon’s panic.
A Weekend Without Internet on My Computer
That night, I contacted my computer guy and explained the problem. He said he wasn’t going to be in on Saturday, because his daughter was sick.
So, no internet that weekend. Or rather, no internet on my computer. I could access the internet via my newer Samsung phone, but try reading a textbook on that. However, that’s just what I did. I had access via the web, but the book hadn’t been officially given to me yet. As long as I had internet access, I was fine… but…
A co-worker helped me get back online the following week. I was hoping it would be a small glitch, like something related to the university, but after coming home and trying, the internet was still not working. It wasn’t a matter of the wifi being down or anything like that. I suspected a driver issue.
A Computer Shop on Campus to the Rescue!
The following week a co-worker showed me to a computer shop on campus, provided translation, and problem solved. Seems I could either leave the computer there for a few days, or for 39 rmb (less than $5.60) I could plug a little doohickey into the side of my computer and I’d be back online. So I paid, and BOOM! Thank you, Jesus. When I finally DID get back online, I downloaded the driver the program said I needed. The doohickey is still plugged in, however.
Tuesday I was exhausted, as that is my longest day, at 13 hours start to finish. Having a nap helps, but it’s rough going. I can’t even go to sleep when I come home, as I signed up for a writing course that meets at midnight my time, noon their time. Sometimes, I try to sneak a little nap in before class starts.
Wednesday, I did my banking. Withdrew most of my paycheck and then deposited it into my other account (don’t ask) and today I did a wire transfer home.
So yeah, very happy that money dropped, but also a bit distracted.
Going For Broke: Living on the Edge in the World’s Richest Country
Did I mention that Going for Broke dropped? I’m sure I did. I had my complimentary copies forwarded, and that’s another story too. I have my mail back home sent to Traveling Mailbox. It’s a nifty service that is for digital nomads, or people who travel a lot. Your mail is sent to a location of your choice. Then, whenever you get mail, you get an email sent to you. You log on and can see what mail you’ve received and what to do with it.
So I got notified of my books. I set them up to be forwarded, but the payment wouldn’t go through. This baffled me, as I’d paid for the writing course with the card, and THAT went through. I tried using my debit card through my credit union, and that didn’t work either. Turns out there was a block on it because they thought something fraudulent was happening, but I assured them there wasn’t.
So my card was unblocked, and the payment for the forwarding STILL wouldn’t go through. I contacted Traveling Mailbox again only to be told it was a ME problem, not a THEM problem
It’s Not Me, It’s Ups
But because I’m brilliant, I thought, “Maybe the delivery method I’ve chosen doesn’t go to China.”
I chose another delivery method, and it went through.
Now I’m waiting for the book to show up. I already have the e-copy, but to be honest, I’m really tired of reading books on the computer. I feel like I’m staring into a computer 20 hours a day as it is. The e-reader I downloaded isn’t reader friendly, so reading the book on this thing isn’t very pleasant.
But still—this is my proudest writing achievement to date. Even more than when I won an award for my research paper on Karla Homolka. Probably because not only was I paid more, but I ALSO RECEIVED THE MONEY AND I’LL HAVE A HUGE AUDIENCE FOR THIS.\
Thanks, Karla Homolka
Here’s another story (told you this would be a big ass post!): my last year of grad school, I entered my Karla Homolka research paper into a contest. I ended up winning $1000, but because I was receiving financial aid, the school took all the prize money, and left me with a $10 check.
So much for that vacation at Cedar Point.
It’s ironic that the best times spent in grad school were outside the classroom. I had enough to go to California a few times, and had some nice things said to me by agents. Doing research was also spent outside the classroom. And I also did some of my best studying not at school.
What a weird time that was. Some of it was great, like my writing workshops with a certain group of students, but most of the time I spent mentally rolling my eyes.
Mr. Honky Gets Annoyed
And on the way home last night on the bus, the driver wouldn’t stop honking the horn. Then, to add some drama, he yelled at the bus driver ahead of us. The other driver was blocking an intersection and was actually backing up.
Anyway, here are some links to things I’ve written. Hope you enjoy them!
It’s one of those worky weekends–I can sort of work at my own pace, but I’m still WORKING. Prepping, grading, all that stuff. But I wired some money home today, had a nice lunch, and didn’t use Didi once. I discovered that I didn’t have to take Didi to Metro–just get on the 3 train from Robinson’s, walk a bit (45 minutes is a lot for the average American, but I’m not average anymore) and I’m at Metro.
I’m thrilled at the amount of money I’m saving by taking bus and Didi (Chinese Uber).
And I went back by bus. I probably saved $15-$20 by not taking Didi today, especially with the time of day i headed back to Jimei.
Anyway, bit ass post coming tomorrow. It was quite an eventful few days leading up to payday. I was actually not concerned about money for several hours. But don’t worry–I got right back into the countdown for NEXT payday. And I am eternally grateful to one of my co-workers for helping me out when I really, really needed it.
Actually, TWO of my co-workers. One of them former. He loaned me some money when I realized I wouldn’t get paid for months. He sent me the money so I wouldn’t stress out. I finished with several hundred dollars left, not counting his loan or the meager savings I had in reserve. So I am proud of that.
Starting this week, I’m going to not be vague anymore about what I’m spending. Going to limit myself to $20 a day, and see how that goes.
But check out tomorrow’s post. Get the popcorn ready and a few drinks.
Purchases: Malted milk balls, two Didi rides, probably around $7 or so
Days until next payday: 25.
So, I survived. I even had several hundred dollars left. But payday was rather anti-climactic.
I’m not sure why.
I paid back a little of the money a kind, sympathetic co-worker loaned me at the beginning of my ordeal. I decided not to touch it if at all possible. But I’m still going to pay him back a little at a time. I have my reasons.
Stay tuned for a bigger blog post on Sunday. All gooey and self-indulgent with the disaster that hit Friday the 13th. Funny, it was only until AFTER the day was over that I realized what day it was.
No Way! Laowai! 
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