GOING TO THE HOSPITAL

Randy writes:

Part of the Visa application involves having a medical check done, I'll take you through the steps involved to get this done.

The company I work for has arranged for the services of a relocation agency to help us through the pains of registering with the government, finding a place to live and getting us acclimated to the Shanghai scene. One of their employees met me in the hotel lobby this morning, I had already been briefed on what to bring, extra photos and my passport. We took a taxi to the hospital and went inside. First order of business was to check-in, here they took my photos, passport, entered me into their system and gave me number 039. I then had a one sheet questionaire to fill out very similar to the one we get from our doctors back home.

After waiting a few minutes my number was called and I went into another office and had a short interview with a lady who took another picture of me for their system. I was then instructed to move over one desk and answer another couple of questions. then went down the hall a short distance and provided payment for the tests I was scheduled to take...702rmb which is about $90.

After payment I went into another room and changed into a robe. Then was weighed and measured for height. Next stop was down the hall into another room for a blood test. A nurse at a desk in the middle of the room is performing blood test while 6 other people are waiting to have theirs drawn or are in a recovery process waiting to have a bandaid applied. So as I wait (and try to look away) several others ahead of me have their arms slapped to raise the vein(?) and get the needle. By the time my turn rolls around I'm in a full blown anxiety attack but sit down and put my arm on the towel and await further instruction. She ties my upper arm with the rubber hose, tells me to make a fist and gives me a couple slaps on the arms before plunging in. She should of slapped my face. It was over in just a few seconds, she applied a cotton ball and said, "hold for 3 minutes." Everyone else had a bandaid applied and left the room when their 3 minutes were up lets just say I held it for 3 minutes and stuck around a little bit longer for a piece of chocolate and a glass of water, might as well get my money's worth.

After that ordeal the rest was really a cakewalk, I had my blood pressure checked in one room, my eyes checked (including a color blind test) in another, an ultrasound of my stomach area in another, EKG in another and chest x-ray in another room. Then it was time to change back into my clothes and check out. All total I was in and out in less than an hour. Quite the assembly line process, I know in the hospitals back home you wait an hour before even seeing someone. All the procedures were done in the same hall, none of this going to different floor levels or going from the radiology department to the EKG unit. Very efficient, and all for less than $90, why can't we do that in our society?

RANDY'S FIRST WEEK

The following is written by Randy:

Today is Tuesday, November 14th, I arrived in Shanghai a week ago about 10 pm and then took a 2 hour car ride to Suzhou where I stayed the first night. The plan was for me to meet a co-worker from our UK company (staying at the same hotel) at 8 am and then we would be picked up by our Chinese counterpart for a 3 hour car ride to Ningbo.

The best way to describe being on the highway system in China is to compare it to the video game MarioKart. All lanes and shoulders are fair game, double yellow lines are only there to add color and traffic lights are a suggestion. Few people drive a uniform speed (maybe truckers), the rest jack rabbit start, drive as fast as possible only to stomp on the breaks. Then repeat for the entire duration of the trip.

Lights and horns are also used to communicate lane changes instead of using the blinkers.

After arriving in Ningbo we toured a Tooling Company and then went to our hotel. We were picked up by the company we had toured and taken to a nice restaurant for a sit down meal around the lazy susan. One person ordered for all of us and we were treated to beef, chicken, pork, lamb, several types of vegetables, fish and a special treat containing some jellyfish. It had a nice crunch to it actually.

The next day found us driving back to Shanghai in the morning in time to visit some more toolmakers in the area. Upon arriving in Shanghai we had time to grab a quick bite around the lazy-susan. We ate some more Pork, beef, fish, etc...treat of the day was some sort of dried fish that had been prepared with a crunchy batter. Best way to enjoy these was to eat the fins, heads and tails altogether.

After touring the toolmakers we had to catch a flight to Southern China just outside of Hong Kong...Shenzhen. We arrived to the hotel here around midnight and it was 77 degrees. Woke up early in the morning to get a quick start to visit 2 different companies that day. The first company sent a car to pick us up and drove us back to the hotel afterwards. After lunch at the hotel we were picked up by the 2nd company to visit their facility. Said second company then drove us to the airport to take our flight back to Shanghai.

Chinese airports seem very efficient, I checked luggage each time flying and the baggage is always at the carousal as we walk to it. The factories we tour are clean and neat, filled with fairly new equipment and loaded with employees.

Saturday I was up and around quite early, I walked a few blocks around the hotel area to check things out and found some guys fishing in the canals with fibreglass cane poles! They were after some big shad type fish about 5-6 inches long).

Jet Lag got the best of me and I slept from 2:30 to 10 pm then got up and went to bed. Sunday was get my stuff together sort of day, I had been having troubles with my cell phone and Vonage systems. I wrote a couple Nasty-grams to Vonage and took my cell phone to China Mobile. I couldn't talk to the China Mobile people but I dialed a number for them to hear the Chinese message that I couldn't understand.

The Chinese people are always quick with a smile and seem very friendly to me. Most of them say "allo" to me and I answer Nee Hao to them. They really do seem to like hearing a Westerner use a little (very little) of their language. Today we had fish head soup for us cooked at deer camp. I call it deer camp because it is a temporary office, pretty rustic and I know I'm missing opening day back home so I'm entitled to pretend. Anyway, after dodging around the eyeballs with my chopsticks, picking the meat off the head and going for the cheeks, I told the cook "Hung How" (very good). And before you even ask, no I wasn't asking him a personal question.

My two fingers are tired of typing, lets hope this get posted on the right site. Bye for now!!

GOOD BYE TO GRINDSTONE

November 3, 2006

Randy and I traveled up to our "summer home" to close up and winterize our 5th wheel trailer, and say good-bye to our dear friends in the northern tip of the Thumb of Michigan. Grindstone City is a quaint little fishing village with the apt motto of "A drinking village with a fishing problem." I believe Grindstone probably has a permanent population of around 40 people, but a seasonal population of around 400, fifty percent of them fishermen.

This was an emotional visit. This area is certainly one one of my favorite spots on the planet, and we have become quite close to the other folks who have seasonal homes in the resort known as Whalen's Grindstone Shores. Whalen's was established around 40 years ago by Mae Whalen (long deceased) as a quiet, simple spot for folks such as herself, who enjoy the peace and serenity, as well as the fishing, of Lake Huron. We have found soulmates and solice there, and will miss it tremendously. So much have we enjoyed this place that we have decided to spend the money to keep our spot in the park. A few friends and family have expressed interest in utilizing our little slice of heaven, so we know we leave it in good hands.

I guess the appeal of Grindstone for me can be summed up in one word ... simplicity. It's not fancy (and neither are the people which is what I LOVE about them). It's beauty comes completely from nature. There is a natural harbor that opens into Lake Huron. Whalen's sits on the edge of this harbor and my favorite spot for a walk is around this harbor and along the shoreline. Normally, during the season, the main activity is the fishing boats heading in and out of the harbor to try their luck with the salmon, steelhead, and lake trout. When the fishing is good, there is a natural rhythm to the area that goes something like this on the weekends:

4:30 AM Wake up, coffee, head out to the boat

5:00 AM Fish until 11:00 or until you've reach your limit, whichever comes first

Noon Head back to the harbor, hang your catch on the various "bragging posts"
and make up big lies about how you caught each fish and the one that got away
while cleaning your catch

1:00 PM Lunch and nap

4:00 PM Head back out to the boat for the evening fish and repeat 5:00 AM above

8:00 PM Grill fish. Put your feet up by the campfire with a cold one and tell some more lies.

10:00 PM Go to bed and do it again tomorrow.


Of course, there are those of us who either get seasick or simply cannot resist curling up in a hammock with a book, but basically everything revolves around the schedule, weather notwithstanding. The last couple of seasons though the fish (particularly the salmon) have migrated to Lake Michigan, so the schedule has gone by the wayside a bit.

There have been wonderful gatherings ... chili cook-offs, pig roasts, 4th of July fireworks, rummage sales, just to name a few happenings. One of the most memorable events actually happened when most of us were sleeping. The attempt by a couple of 16-year olds to steal a cooler full of beer from our neighbor resulted in the said neighber running through the park in his tighty-whities, if you know what I mean. He caught 'em. Got his cooler back too. We supplied the streaker with lovely boxers for his next nocturnal journey ... this IS a rather conservative community, you know.

There have been snapping turtle rescues, skunk mishaps, and more deer sightings than I can count. For a simple place, I can't say that I've EVER been bored. But I have laughed until I cried, and loved until I ached both the people and the place ... I hope it doesn't change too much until we can return.