1st Day of the long weekend....

This is how they deliver fresh water jugs in China, on a motorcycle.  You cannot see the motorcycle in this picture due the amount of water bottles on it.

Nearly everyone drinks water from these water jugs instead of the spout of the kitchen or bathroom.  The water that comes from the spout is not drinkable at all. It tastes very funny and probably is not safe.

I don't know where they get the water for the bottles but it is not from the spout of faucets there.

I am reading Rin Tin Tin: The Life and Legend.  I found it on my Kindle Fire. It came from Net Galley but every time I went there to get it the site said it was archived and not accessible.  I don't know how it ended up on my Fire but there it is.

I checked the same book out of our local library and I will return it later today. 

What are your plans for the three day weekend now?  Me, I have Season 2 of Justified to watch here.

I missed that entire season while I was in China.  I am recording on my DVR the third season, but I need to watch Season 2 before I start watching what I have been recording.

Have some fun this first weekend of summer here.

Steven

A small suprise for you...

This is my big surprise to all of you.  I am now married to Helen.  This is our wedding certificate.

She, like me, is Roman Catholic.  But she likes to sing at church and I don't sing anymore.  What a strange couple  we will be at Church.

I take my Kindle to church with me as I have the Baltimore Catechism on it as well as the The Divine Office on it.  I must admit two weeks I was reading The Hunger Games so I read it at Church too.  I was a bad boy but the book is so good I could not put it down.

I also have a 1962 Missal with me here, the one we used in grade school.

Enough surprises for now.

Steven

U today...

This picture is from Yunnan University, near my apartment in Kunming China. Kunming is sort of like western Oregon with a lot of green lawns and green trees.  It does get a little humid in the summer, but nothing like Shanghai or Beijing. 

I am now reading Gideon's Corpse by two of my favorite authors, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Childs. I read everything these two authors write together.

My good news will come here in a few days.

Not much else happening here, except chatting and chatting and chatting.

Steven

Warm days are here...so nice....

Here is how fruit is displayed in grocery stores in Kunming.

Once you buy the fruit you take it to a weighing station and priced. The clerk at the checkout does not weigh it. 

You can see the weigh station right behind the two fruit stands.

I am now reading a book by Rob Walker, this one is on the Bismark battle ship.  It is a good book so far. 

The chapters alternate between the launching of the ship and an effort in current time to send down a submarine 3 miles to explore it.

Some news from me in a few days.  It may surprise you.

Steven

Weekend is here...

This picture is from Yunnan University.  I walked there from my apartment in Kunming but took a taxi back home.

It is a very beautiful campus, with a lot of green lawns and a lot red dirt.

This is a pond on the campus.

The weekend is here now. What are your plans? I will check to see if there are any garage sales near here.

It is early in the garage sale season.

I am watching To Kill a Mockingbird on TV, I recorded this a few weeks ago.  It is one of the best books I ever read and one of the best movies I ever saw.

I will spend part of this weekend reading and part of this weekend watching TV shows I recorded this week.

Steven

Toward the end of the week...

Yet another picture of a young Chinese woman in very tight jeans.  The women in Kunming wear either short skirts or super tight jeans. 

No more pictures from this series, as I have shown enough of these.  I have some more of these but you get the picture.

I am reading Nothing to Envy again.  I have it on my Kindle and I am reading it again.  Twenty million people died of famine during the past few years there. Nothing to envy is saying in North Korea that like to say that they have nothing to envy in any other country. What a big lie from the government there. 

I hope to have Helen here next week.

Steven

U today

Sorry for not posting as much as I want to this blog.

This picture is from Black Dragon Park, an old way to mill corn in this picture.

I finished The Hunger Games yesterday.  I got it free from Amazon under the Prime rule.  Come June 1 I will get the second book in the series, again in the Free Lending Library of Amazon.

I have not seen the movie yet. I wonder if it as good as the book. 

I do promise to post here more often. 

I am not reading a book now.

I got two books on President Johnson by Robert Caro.  I want his latest book in this series, not the first two, which I got at the our local library.

Steven

U today...

Yet another picture of young Chinese girl in a very short skirt. I took a lot of these pictures and I will not put many of them on here.  Just to give you idea of what young Chinese women wear in Kunming China.

Now I see young women in Stayton wearing similar outfits too,.  I am not taking pictures of these women.

I am chatting with Helen every day now.  She will be coming here after one big event in our life. 

I will take some more pictures of Helen when she arrives here so you can see what she looks like here.

I was playing games on my Kindle Fire today, both pinball and slots,.  I won quite bit in slots, and I apparently won a Rolex watch, but I will wait to see if one is mailed to me.

I spent only 1/2 of what I earned in the slot game, so I still have over $4,000 in winnings there 

Still reading Nothing to Envy, a book on North Korea.  Nothing to Envy is a saying in North Korea that the leaders say about the outside world, there is nothing to envy in other countries.  Over 1 million died there for the lack of food. 

I posted a picture here some time ago of North Korea at night.  It is completely dark with no lights showing at all, so unlike nearby countries. 

Not much else to say here.

Steven