Rainy Days in Northern California

We need it but, due to being solar-powered, I'm suffering a bit personally. It pretty much started last Tuesday when Rodrigo and I were in Palo Alto, at Stanford University. That's him, all dressed up for his interview for Stanford's Physician Assistant program. I went with him so that I could drop him at SFO on my way back home (after he bought me a late lunch at the Chipotle Mexican Grill - YUM).

Once I'd dropped him off I began the trek home, through San Francisco and unfortunately right in the middle of the commuter traffic. I was stuck in bumper-to-bumber all the way through the city so, to amuse myself, I took some photos out my window. Neighboring motorists probably thought I was a nut-case but who cares, I'll never see any of them again. :-)
Here's a view of the "lovely" traffic across all the many interchanges and overpasses.

A view of the crowded financial district. You can see what a gray, rainy day it was.

Here's a familiar sight to anyone who drives I-80/I-101 pass through San Francisco. Not sure what this old building is called, or what businesses are in there, but I love the look of it, and the clock in the tower, too. The brief clearing of the sky looked very pretty.

I hate driving on the lower deck of the Bay Bridge! It's creepy, especially after part of it collapsed during the 1989 earthquake (we were living in nearby San Jose at that time). So much heavy concrete and steel over my head terrorizes me still.

Here's a bridge I like a lot better; the Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge; it carries only northbound traffic (plus a bike lane). Beyond it is the aging Carquinez Bridge for southbound traffic - not as pretty, and to be replaced someday as it's not quite up to par to withstand a major earthquake. (How did I get on this earthquake theme?)

So today the weather is the same, maybe worse because there's more rain and it's heavier. It's good for easing our drought conditions but it won't be enough. It seems we are always in a drought, every year, no matter how much or how little rain we get. Plus, when there's day after day of gray and gloomy I get gray and gloomy! My productivity and my creativity really suffer. I just want to curl up on the couch with a blanket, a book or movie, and two cats. Still, I AM trying to get a few things done.

I am totally up-to-date with all the blogs I read (as long as I don't hit the refresh button)! I hope to post to both my blogs today. Then I need to make some progress on the digital scrapbooking kit I have been designing; that is going very slowly. Kinda tough to work on a kit with Spring as its theme when it's cold and wet outside. I could really use just a tad of sunshine today, please.

On other subjects, the Oscars are nearly upon us. I don't always watch but I do like to know which movies won which awards. It's also fun to see which movie reviewer's predictions for the awards are closest. My favorite movie reviewer (Michael!) has just posted his picks and you can read the article here. It includes a contest so you can see how well YOU rate this year's movies.

In my blog reading I came across a very interesting article here. Seems those little conversation hearts we buy every Valentine's Day for the kids? Each year the sayings on the hearts CHANGE! I was astounded. Who'da thought? I can't remember the last time I even bothered to look at the sayings printed on the candy. Apparently, every year they are different, an entirely different theme each year even so, guess what? You can tell if someone has slipped you a bag of last year's hearts, ha ha! Check out the different year's themes and sayings, they're great. I'm really sad I missed 2007's pet theme, in particular, and 1998 was way cool with high-tech sentiments.

And now, the bright side to all the rain?

The flowers in my garden are sure enjoying it!

More of my Birthday in China

As mentioned in a previous post, Michael threw a big birthday party for me at his regular Wednesday night dinner. Many of his friends and colleagues came, there was a fantastic meal, I got presents, and we had a huge cake.Here we are having dinner cooked by Michael and his friends. I met a lot of new people that evening, as well as got to see many that I already knew from my previous trip here, or from attending Michael's classes.
My cake. That's Xiao Rui (Michael's girlfriend) to my left. Not only did I have a big dinner and cake, but I also got treated by Dr. Lee and another doctor, Faye, to a splint for my wrist.They arrived with the splint and sling and, when they realized they didn't have anything to tie the splint on with, they used the laces from a pair of Michael's shoes! Behind us you can see Dr. Lee showing off his new watch -- it takes photographs!
Michael with Faye, Aggie (from Portugal), and Mike from Spain. Faye is Chinese and a doctor here in Luoyang, and Aggie and Mike (also known as Spanish Mike) are also teachers.
Dr. Lee in front. In back is Aggie, Xiao Rui (right next to me), and Faye on the far right. I can't remember the names of the two Chinese girls.That day, Wed'day, was the third day of a three-day mourning period in all of China, in memory of the earthquake victims (which are now numbering over 55,000). One of Michael's friends brought white candles, placed them in a heart shape on the table, and lit them so that we could offer a few moments of silence.
Another birthday cake, this time at a nightclub called "The Image" where many of the foreigners living in Luoyang gather for dinner each Friday evening. This was my "real" birthday so I was treated again to dinner, friends, and a cake. Everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to me and I blew out the tall, skinny chinese candles. The cakes are not as sweet as in the U.S. but they are very good and have a cream & and fruit filling. And they are huge!
One of the new people I got to meet that evening was Jim Medsea, the original drummer for the 70's rock band "Boston!" That was great fun and I got to sit and talk with him and another friend, Allen, about their experiences living in China. Jim still plays the drums and is going on a revival tour with Boston this summer, but most of the time he lives here in China teaching English to kindergartners! He absolutely loves it here and has no plans to go back to the U.S. on a permanent basis anytime soon.

Hard to believe my visit is winding down soon. I have much more to blog about, though, so stay tuned for photos and description of my "appearances" as a special guest in Michael's classroom, and Animal Rights in China, to name a couple of the upcoming subjects!

Take care, all!

Safe Landing in Shanghai

Hi All, I know many of you have been waiting patiently (or anxiously, due to the earthquakes!) for my first blog posting so, finally, here it is! Sorry, there won't be any pictures yet because I haven't taken them off my camera and onto Michael's computer (they are transferring now--verrrryyy slowly)! But I will post photos as soon as possible, maybe even within just a few hours.

Meanwhile, a little news on what I've been doing so far on my trip. I arrived in Shanghai around 7:30 p.m. (China time) on a flight delayed first by the late arrival of the plane from its previous destination and then a problem with the pressurization system that needed to be repaired before we could take off. Once we arrived in in Shanghai (4 in-flight movies, 3 episodes of Desperate Housewives, 3 episodes of Grey's Anatomy, two meals, a snack, and dozens of beverages later) I zipped through customs (nothing to declare), waited an interminable time for my luggage, and finally found my way to the exit where Michael was waiting for me with three of his friends, Mike, Uri, and Salena (who is now Michael's girlfriend), all of whom I have met before. A great reunion!

We spent the next few days in and around Shanghai. Mike and his girlfriend, Maya, have an apartment there and they put all four of us up that first night. The next two nights we spent in hotels, the first one in Shanghai, and the second one in the old city of Zhouzhuang. The fourth night we spent on a sleeper train that we took from Shanhai to Luoyang. My first sleeper train; what an experience! It was a 17 hour trip. Speaking of trains, we also rode the famous Maglev train when we left the Shanghai airport. This is the high-speed train that goes up to 300 km/hour! It's awesome! I'll try to do some internet research on it and post more info. I do know that, somehow using magnetic power, the train actually rises up off the tracks so that there is no friction - this is how it goes so fast. Fascinating.

In Shanghai we visited the People's Square, a famous shopping center where we saw lots of other foreigners. We also went to the Oriental Pearl Tower where we ascended in an elevator 267 meters high and had a 360 degree view of Shanghai. This tower reminded me of the Stratosphere in Las Vegas.

There's LOTS more to tell but I need my photos to help jog my failing memory! We have packed a lot into the last few days. Now we are at Michael's apartment on campus at the University of Technology in Luoyang City.

Regarding the earthquake (and the hundreds of aftershocks), there has really not been any affect on Shanghai or here in Luoyang except, of course, the usual watching the news, reading the papers, sympathy for the affected people, and the horror of watching the death toll rise every day. We're too far away here for it to be much more "personal." The only English-speaking channel on t.v. has been running continuous earthquake coverage and we've watched a fair amount of that. Horrible stories of entire schools collapsing and burying the students, factories that went down on an entire workforce of people and, more recently, relief workers being buried by mudslides caused by aftershocks. Yesterday we had just climbed into the back seat of a taxi when our driver started blowing his horn. Turned out it was a three-minute period of "silence" all across the country where all emergency sirens were activated and everyone on the road blew their car horns in recognition of the dead.

I'm going to see what I can do now to get my photos uploaded. Hopefully, today I will be able to post some! Feel free to leave comments, especially if you have any questions!! More soon!!