Almost a new year

This past week has has some interesting developments.  Training is continuing at my new job, the team is very good and we all are eager to begin working on some projects, but in the mean time we are going over Cisco network designs, theories, and protocols.  Line 3 is still working out for me pretty good, although yesterday (12-26) there were two trains on the track going the same way, so I had to catch the next train… meaning everyone had to catch the next train and we were packed in as tight as Line 1 usually is.  I had to work on Christmas and it was not too bad but the trains were packed as well.  At least the 3 days off starting next Monday will be a nice break from the commuter crowds.

I managed to get a ticket to the pre-opening of Best Buy here in Shanghai, their first mainland China store.  It is pretty much like Best Buy in the US minus the DVD and CD racks and minus 95% of the gaming racks as well.  They do have an awesome kitchen area, complete with kitchen full of working appliances and what not.  I picked up a new Sonic Care because my 4 year old one from the states quite holding a charge, a mini Braun food processor for making baby food and juice along with some adult beverages and food items, and some nice mini head phones for my Christmas present from my wife, a Creative Zen Vision W 60 GB!  I also got a wonderful plate, mug, and some chocolate from Coco’s best friend, not to mention my kid’s and mine gifts from my best friend back in Va Beach (thanks Tony!) and my Mom is sending over some things too.  The prices in Best Buy are lower then in the US but higher then many Chinese vendors… BUT the items here are not fakes and they include warranties!  This is a new thing to many Chinese people.  They also have some Statecraft figurines but they wanted 1,000 RMB each for them (over $120 USD)!  Everything I got only cost 1,340 RMB ($200 USD) plus they do things.  I am sure my wife would kill me if I got them… I do have 2 limited edition figurines which were not sold in stores but the price is still way too high.  I am glad there is a Best Buy here now and I see myself going there often… they do have a good variety of grills too, and with most apartment places rules against grills on the patios… it will be a must get item this summer.

This morning Taiwan was hit by 2 earth quakes, and we are pretty much cut off from the internet.  I can get to some web sites but no email and no Messenger.  I have talked to Coco via cell phone and land line so the phone systems here in main land are working but the news is saying all communications from Asia is diminished by this.  There are 5 connections to an underwater cable here that is THE backbone for net connections here, and 3 of them are down.  Stock markets, banks, telecoms, are all taking a hit by this.  The few circuits left, and the alternate routes are now saturated with traffic so everything is either slower then 28.8 Kbps dial up or it just times out.

I have gotten the opportunity to play around with my digicam a little so maybe I will open a YouTube account and put some video links here for the kid when she gets here.  Speaking of which, my wife called today telling me one of her friends just delivered a baby the doctors told here was a girl, and it was a boy, so now I am tasked with coming up with a backup name.  In 3 to 4 weeks we will know either way.  Coco has had a head cold since she moved back to Guangzhou for the delivery and is not able to do anything about it.  I hope it will not effect her breathing too much as now she has a hard time getting enough air because her sinuses are so clogged.  I hope to review the digicam and the Zen Vision and let you all know how they work out.  I will have some time off after this weekend, we ARE working this weekend… all of China is, so we can enjoy a 3 day holiday and then just a 2 day work week and another weekend!  As long as the cable issue in Taiwan is fixed by then.  Happy Holidays and Have a safe and wonderful New Year!