GZ Expat, Part II

Ain't Freedom Puurrrrdee.

Minutes after Prime Minister Omar Karami announced he was stepping down, jubilant demonstrators — shouting, waving flags and handing red roses to soldiers — demanded that Syrian-backed President Emile Lahoud bow out, too, and pressed on with their calls for Syria to withdraw its troops from the country.

Busy work week...low blog output

I've got another week of visitors...loads of visitors...from stateside checking on stuff.  Blogging will be at a minimum this week...sorry about that. 

Hang in there...more to come when this all blows over!

Lazy photo-blog today

Expat-son is busy doing some homework on a lazy Sunday morning. 

A couple of pictures of spring arriving in Guangzhou.  It's raining today...but we have daffodils blooming and plenty of new growth on our new years orange trees.  I hacked these things back to the bare bones a couple weeks ago and ever since, they are thriving. 

OK...I lied...here is the finished desk!  Not too bad.  Still needs modifications, though.  The drawers look good...but the don't line up too well and open smoothly.

You can find all of these photo's on the new photo album supplied by Typepad.  I like the MSN album better because you can easily upload bulk files...but, the quality of this album is pretty good.  I only wish there were an easier way to link files in the photo album with my blog.  I guess I need to hit the help file.

Hot...Hot...Hot...

There is no way Hillary could dress like this and get away with it. 

The calf-length open 'Neo' jacket with the knee-high stilletto boots.  All she is missing is the tri-corner hat and she is a patriot...getting ready to ride through the night proclaiming, 'The British are coming!'  C'mon...the Secretary of State??  Ever remember Madeline Albright looking like this??

And look at that lucky $#%^ on the right.  All smug and smiling...showing all his buddies around him, 'she's MINE.' 

Friday news dump...

Haven't done a new headline dump in a while...and there are some good ones out there today...

• I love it when liberal watchdog groups go around and lecture governments on how to treat national security concerns.  But more so...how the media just laps up the swill these people stir up.  How about we just be nice with those people that are trying to blow up government buildings, give them flowers and tell them we love them.  Whatever.

• Load of China news out there.  USA defense continues to hold ongoing talks with China on MIA's from the Korean War...which is nice to hear that the Chinese would also like to solve these issues and put it in the past.  The admission of the lack of regard for the environment in Shenzhen is also a breath of fresh air.  But, admissions and actions are completely different. 

• Another alarmist view of the world.  With the elections in Iraq all wrapped up and the US military taking a back seat to the Iraqi security forces...with Lebanon protesting for democracy and winning...the alarmists in the world have nothing to talk about...except...Bird Flu.  Let's remember that this flu does not pass from human to human.  But IT COULD!!!  And when it does, it will be on the scale of the pandemic of the early 1900's.  BUT...lets not mention the fact that healthcare, transportation, communication, sanitation are no where near what they were in the early 1900's...that doesn't matter.  What matters is...we are all gonna die!!

• Speaking of the flu...Whitney Houston is rushed to hospital with gastroenteritis in Paris.  Hmmm...quick Google search on that.  So...she had a fart that wouldn't get round the corner, eh?? 

• Finally...this.  The Nobel Prize nominees.  This listing is such a joke.  Colin Powell???  Bono???  Ravi Shankar??  One heck of a band they could get together with Bono and Ravi.  Whaaahahahahha.  A once prestigious award continues to be a joke. The best examples of that can be found in the award being given to Jimmy Carter for his brokering the North Korea deal on nuclear weapons...uh...that worked out well, eh?  And, Yassar Arafat for...killing countless Israeli's and enslaving the Palestinian people in a cycle of dispair and violence until his death (after which they immediately embraced democratic reforms and renounced violence as a means to deal with Israel).

• Finally...another prayer for the Pope.  If we want to award a peace prize, it should have long ago went to this man and the triad of the 80's; Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II for their role in ending communism and the nuclear menace that threated us for 50 years.  You don't need to be a Catholic to recognize that this is a great, great man of history.

I promised pictures of the desk construction.  I lied. It went so incredibly well last night, the first 'DAMNIT' came while I was attempting to screw in the last bolt.  Huh...that's progress for me, dontcha think??  No pictures.  We have a desk for the upstairs computer...the drawers and the keyboard tray don't quite slide (due to the horrible placement of the pilot holes for these parts).  That will be a project that I will take up at some point in the future.

Here's to the weekend!

Title Bar photo...

Here you go...I got my title bar photo from this...

Oregon State vs. USC...in the fog.  Only game last year in which USC was threatened.

The flat-pack scenario

Tai-tai decided to move the kids computer in the upstairs landing.  It was located in expat daughter's room and she naturally took most of the time on it and so expat son wasn't getting his time on it when he needed.  In order to make this move complete, she headed out on a shopping trip to find a desk.

She had called me and said she found a desk and had purchased it.  This was a good one.  All vinyl covered MDF with 3 drawers and a large counter top.  Cheap too...only RMB150 (USD 1:8.28 RMB).  She then explained that she asked if they had instructions on how to put it together and she got the standard, Chinese, blank stare.  They searched and searched and came up with a picture of the desk.  uhhh...OK, that should be good enough (I hope).

I got home last night to unpack it and see what we have.  Tai-tai points out the picture on the brochure they gave her and I go about taking out all the pieces to see if everything is there.  The flat pack is tightly packed, so it looks as though that I am getting what I need.  As I start going through the parts, it is becoming evident that the flat-pack she received and the picture she thought she was getting are two different things.  In vain, I try and try to match up all the parts in the picture...uuuhhhh...forget it.  Let's sort through the hardware.

7 different type of screws...some nails...a whole pile of plastic nuts...3 drawer locks (I know where those go!!)...some drawer handles (know where those go too)...and some drawer guides. 

It's all laid out on the landing floor.  I survey what lies before me and think, "I need a beer."  I can always think much clearer with a beer.  Especially when it comes to tasks like this. 

After several sips of brew, it dawns on me.  I know where 50% of the drawer hardware goes...and what the drawer pieces look like.  I'll make the drawers!! Off we go. 

Now, Chinese flat packs are not the same as Ikea.  Besides not having instructions, the hardware just doesn't have the same kind of integrity that DIY packages do in the USA or anywhere else.  As I am nailing on the bottom to the last drawer, the face of the drawer gives way.  CRACK!  Granted, this happens only due to the hammering of the nail...the embedded bolt they have used has broken.  Back to the earlier paragraph...it only cost us RMB150.  This is a small consolation.

It was about this stage that I figured out which picture went with the parts that I had.  It was the same sort of desk, but a completely different configuration.  In fact, the picture on the brochure had only 2 drawers...mine had three.  But, the rest of the configuration matched with the parts that I had.  If I used my imagination, I should be able to build this successfully.

2 hours have passed at this point

The other portion I figured I knew where they went were the drawer guides.  I could do that too.  So...those were assembled.  STOP.  Oops...put that one in backwards.  OK...fix...re-assemble.  Done for the night.  I'm not risking screwing anything up at this stage of the evening.

So it sits...as I contemplate completion of this project.  I'll post some pictures of the progress and completion.  I think all that time spent watching the DIY Network (the Boring channel, as expat daughter calls it) that has gotten me to this stage. 

Notice a change?

Did a little exploring on the template program with TypePad.  In just a couple minutes, I was able to transform the colors and top bar.  Pretty cool, I thought. 

TypePad support was also kind enough to help me out with a problem I have been having with the Weather Channel magnet you see to the left.  You may have noticed that it was kind of broken up and weird looking.  Of course, it was a simple problem of border settings, changed it, and presto!  Liked their response so much...I decided to plunk down some $$$ for a year subscription.  So, here is where the blog will stay. 

If anyone can guess what the picture is of on my title bar, they win the respect and admiration of the expat family.  I'll post the real photo tomorrow.

News of the day...

Ever notice that the media have not been reporting the success of Afghanistan?  A great round up here, via Instapundit, of the success to date.

This ruling in Australia does not bode well for Todd Bertuzzi and the civil suit that has now been brought by Stephen Moore.  Moore is losing more and more credibility with this lawsuit.  Marcus Naslund, the player whom Moore hit initially to ignite the fury in the Canucks players, says this...

"He's suing everyone so he can make money," Naslund told the Vancouver Sun from Sweden. "I've got no respect for him at all.

"Even talking to his teammates, it seems evident he doesn't have a lot of support in hockey."

"I'm not saying what (Bertuzzi did) was right. But if it was me, I'd be doing everything I could to get back and play and show everyone the character I have, instead of trying to sue everyone."

Glad to hear some sense coming out of the hockey world.

Aussie PM Howard is stepping up with another unpopular decision to send a few more troops to Iraq to help with training.  He has quietly been a great supporter of US efforts in Iraq...

This other tidbit via Instapundit...fishing in Iraq! 

Survey of expatriates rate Asia's top cities.  Where is Guangzhou?!?

Finally...it was 25 years ago...do you believe in miracles??

eBloggy Saga Continues...

First off...I've been quite satisfied with Typepad.  It's reliable and simple to use.  Sometimes its a bit slow to access...uploading files isn't the quickest...but, I can live with it.  I'm on the freebie right now and plan to go ahead and purchase the 1 year deal soon. 

My original blog software/service was eBloggy.  I searched on the internet for a free service that would be somewhat easy to use.  The templates were very basic and I had to use MS Front Page to get it to where I wanted.  But, the actual posting of blog entires was quite simple and easy to use. 

Shortly after the new year, the whole system crashed and disappeared.  Suddenly on the home page of eBloggy, a note appeared telling us the system had crashed and they'd be back up in a day.  Well...that drug on for over a month.  The other promises were that they would ensure that all of our posts were there, nothing is lost, etc.  Here is what their website says now:

eBloggy is up, and it is starting from scratch.

Previous eBloggy users, this means that you have to signup again with eBloggy. Also, please give us some time to restore your blog entries.

For more information, read here.

I've tried to log in...but nothing.  I need to re-sign up.  After that, I am supposed to 'give them some time' to get all my entries back in an archive form.  Uhhh...yeah, whatever.

The homepage of eBloggy has the same stuff it had on it when it crashed...for instance:

What our users say

- This service rocks. I'd even pay for it. Thanks so much for all your hard work ... I really get a lot of enjoyment out of it :), United States

AmerKitten

I think Amerkitten should re-submit their critique of the service...something like this:

What our users say

- This service blows. I'd wouldn't even pay for it. Thanks so much for all your hard work ... I really get a lot of enjoyment out of losing my entire website and all my entries over the course of several months :(, United States

AmerKitten

So...I bid eBloggy farewell, with all my earlier entries...and some good ones at that. 

In fact, the last post I did, was just prior to the whole thing crashing, so not sure if many people saw it.  It was just a quick photoblog...