Early morning on U

This picture shows the mean counter at the grocery store in Kunming.  The people you see are cutting the meet, mostly pork, and putting it in front of them. Meat is never wrapped and is put out raw.  I did not buy this meat, as flies were landing on it. The meat moves fast as there is always a big crowd around these guys taking meat away.

The main meats in China are pork, chicken and duck.  Rarely do you see beef in this country,.

Tomorrow or Thursday I will post the picture of my big surprise. 

I don't know what is wrong with me but I awoke at 2:00 am this morning.  I will probably go back to bed in a few hours.

I have not been listening to many podcasts here, so I have four or five behind on every one of them. 

I have not been listening regularly to NPR either.  I am listening to All Things Considered from Monday as I write this.

I need to bear down to (1) read more; (2) listen to NPR every day; and (3) set up time to listen to podcasts.

Too much time I spend watching TV.  I need to cut back on it now to do other things. I think being without TV for my time in China forced me to watch too much TV upon my return to Oregon. 

I got all seven Harry Potter books on my Kindle and Kindle Fire.  Now I have them all in one place. I added them to all three of my Kindles and to Nolan's Kindle too as his Kindle is on my account. 

Gas here is over $4.00 a gallon here now.  Catching up to China where gas is sold there by the liter.  During my last days in Kunming I looked a local gas station to see that gas there sells for 7.17 rmb per liter.  That makes it well over $4.00 a gallon when you do the conversion (6.3 rmb equals $1.00)

Gas in China is owned by the government from the well head to the gas station.  It keeps the price high there to bring more money to the federal government.

I did some laundry yesterday and I was able to hang some clothes outside for the first time this year.  All of my clothes dried in about 3 hours outside yesterday. 

Tomorrow I am going to the airport in Portland, and think you know why.

Steven

Tis the Egg Day...

This is something I don't do often, putting a picture of me on this blog. But here is a picture of me at Black Dragon Park in Kunming China.

Today is Egg Day. I hope you are enjoying this day.  I went to 8;00 am Mass this morning. It was packed full, even the choir was full.

I don't sing in Church anymore. I am sung out, for I spent four years in Boys Glee at Regis.  We sang every day and we took tours to Catholic schools in Washington.  After four years of that singing I am done singing. 

But we shall see next week for my surprise will be with me then.  I am not telling you yet what surprise is but I am very pleased with her,. I will ask her if I post a picture of her in the middle of the week.

She is Catholic too. 

So now you part of my surprise, but wait until you see her picture. 

I finished Part Wild yesterday.  The author did not give the wolf away to a Rescue Association or to another place.  She ended up putting the wolf down. That wolf, named Inyo, was too hard to control in any situation,.

I am now reading Revelations about the book written in 236 so if you believe John the apostle wrote it,then you are wrong.  None of it true today.  It was written about the Roman Empire at that time. 

Steven



Saturday today

This picture shows the back end of the Catholic Church. It is one block from our house in Stayton. 

I went to Good Friday services last night and it was in English and Spanish.  Our church is very big and it was full last  night.

I will go to Mass Sunday morning as the Saturday night service is over two hours long.

I saw snow in the rain here yesterday.  What is wrong with this weather we have in in western Oregon?  Global warming is the cause of all of this strange weather.

I did not realize that I failed to post here for the past five days.  I promise to post more in the future.

I have some news but I will wait until the middle of next week to give the good news to you. I will attach a picture too. Let me say I feel like I won the lottery and the prize is the best of all.

I will finish Part Wild today.  I have another book waiting for me, this time on Revelation.  A good liberal book for me to read.

Steven

M eve now...

This is the lake we visited in Kunming China.  It is a big lake but no boats on it except a few local residents. 

I got my hair cut today. Tomorrow it will be colored again, the first time since returning from China.

A haircut in China cost me 10 rmb, or about $1.80.  A haircut here in Stayton cost me $11.00 today.  It took a barber about 45 minutes to cut my hair as he had not cut a western man's hair before.  Jim, my barber here, takes about five to six minutes to cut my hair. 

I am now reading Part Wild: One Woman's Journey with a Creature Caught Between the Worlds of Wolves and Dogs.  I heard this author on an NPR program soon after returning to the U.S.  The author tried to tame a wolf but found out how wild he was and could not keep the wolf in her house,.

Do you believe dogs devolved from wolves?  But what about a pug dog or the dog that won the Westminster Dog Show, so far away from wolves they look more like cats than dogs. 

My dad is doing fine in The Dalles, at the Oregon Veterans' Home.  He calls me about every other week to give me a report on what is happening there.

My father is now 90 years old. 

I am surprised I like reading books on my Kindle Fire. I thought with the back-lit screen I would not like it, but I turn the brightness down quite a bit to read books and articles on it. 

I have read two books on it and I am now putting articles on it too.

I am not gaining weight here in the U.S. I simply do not have a large appetite yet here. 

Steven

Sunday today

This is a typical Chinese dinner.

Dumplings, a green vegetables and some fish.  Now you know why I lost nearly 40 pounds there in about six months.

My two favorite dishes in China were dumplings and noodles.  Rice came in a distant third.

I am now reading The Long Night: William L Shirer and The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.   I have The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich here but it over 1,000 pages in paperback form. I may read it this summer.

Not much else happening here. 

More tomorrow.

Steven