Apartment Living... An Update...

Many of you found my last post re: apartment living and the middle of the night 'construction' noises amusing... Not sure if I closed that story with you all.

It turns out the guy living in 402 is pissed at the people living in 302. When the people in 302 put their ceiling fans on, the noise it makes in 402 bothers him greatly... And in a very open and direct way of dealing with the problem, the guy decided the most appropriate response was to bounce a bowling ball on the ceiling. It seems that after my late night pounding session on his door, he switched over to a basketball... seems it's just as annoying for the people below, but less so for people in other apartments!

The nice Aussies in 302 are pulling their hair out... They have involved the management company here at the complex, but since the guy in 402 owns the apartment, and is not renting from the management company, there is nothing they can do... And there is no such thing as a home owners association here. They are now to the point of involving the local government, going to arbitration and scheduling a government official to come into the apartment and measure the sound created by the fans below... I am sure that now that the government is involved, it will get settled in a speedy manner! :)

So, now onto our newest apartment living story... The family upstairs has a number of kids - three I think. They are generally very quiet.... but, they practice the piano an amazing amount. On the weekends the piano is being played quite literally from 8:30am - 7:30pm non-stop with the exception of what I assume is meals...

Of all the things to hear from your neighbors (including, evidently, bowling balls being bounced on the floor) this is not that bad!

Unfortunately, tonight things changed... for about an hour tonight, one of the kids started to practice a new instrument... it was what I believe was a trumpet, trombone, or french horn... I know it's unlikely that those 3 instruments sound anything alike, but I'm not a brass instrument expert... All I know, is that as much as they have improved the piano skills in the last 15 months, they would need to out pace that progress to get anywhere near bearable on the brass instrument!

Steph is in Beijing this weekend with her cousin Gina, Gina's husband Ben and Ben's mom. They'll be back here on Tuesday to spend the week touring Shanghai before heading back to San Fransisco on Sunday. This will have our medium sized apartment stressed on sleeping spots, but we wouldn't have it any other way! We have been so excited about them coming and are glad they are finally here!

Then in December we have our friend's Mike and Karmen coming with their kids Sydney and Sam for Christmas. Everyone is looking forward to the visit!

I hope this finds you all well and looking forward to the holiday season!

Cheers,
Joe

Sometimes I am simply not very smart...

I am going to blame it on jet lag. If it weren't for jet lag, I'd be as smart as everyone else... perhaps.

I just returned to PRC after 3 weeks in the US. Couple weeks for my hunting trip and then a couple days of meetings in Oregon. Jet lag was much stronger and harder to overcome after being gone that long.

Saturday morning after having played basketball at the local international school, I decided to cut my hair. Anyone who has seen me recently, knows that I have embraced by developing baldness, and refused to go the way of the comb-over.

I started my 'bald friendly haircut' by asking the barber/stylist to shave my head with the clippers using a #2 guard. Then I progressed to the #1. During the warm summer, even going down to a #1/2. Cutting my hair with the clippers, guard in place, became so easy that Steph does it many times, and sometimes I manage it myself.

Well I had been gone nearly a month (week in Thailand for work, followed by the US for vacation and meetings). So it was time for a trim.

Saturday morning following basketball, I head into the bathroom to trim up my 'mop'. I start shaving, and am surprised at the amount of hair on the floor thinking to myself 'wow, that's a lot of hair for 1 month growth'.

Then I glance into the mirror and see my head - 1/2 shaved. Then I look at the clippers, and see NO GUARD. I had just started shaving away. So no #2, #1, not even a #1/2 - you could say I shaved my head using #0.

So now, when my kids tease me and call me 'Baldy Daddy' they are a little closer to the truth... I'll be wearing a hat as often as possible the next couple weeks! :(

Sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear gets you...

So the answer to the question 'how was the hunting trip' depends on how you decide to measure sucess!

Spending time with granddad was great... it had been over a year since I had seen him. It was so great to get a chance to spend this dedicated time with him, not phone calls and letters. Hard to believe that at 84 years old he's still out in the field, 'pushing the corn' and shooting at birds. We should all hope to be in such good shape at 84!

Now, as for the hunting, that wasn't the best we had ever had. Turns out the area of SD we were hunting has had a very wet fall. That has led to 'lots of cover' for the birds, meaning 2 things:
1) there is A LOT of corn that still has to be harvested, meaning birds hang out in the corn, which is hard to hunt with a small group of guys and a couple dogs and 2) all of the other cover (sloughs, shelterbelts, etc) are all overgrown, again making for flushing birds a chore!

The other really great thing about the trip was the dinners we were able to do with the Bratland family. It is really funny to hear my granddad and his friends tell stories about hunting 30+ years ago when the 'Bratland Kids' were kids. Now here I am hunting when the grandkids are all just kids... the next generation of hunters is seeing the next generation of Bratland's grow up (albeit 1 week at a time in the middle of October every year).

So the summary is 3 birds in 3.5 days of hunting (rained out the last day and a half) for the group... not a great showing. Close to the least birds they have ever gotten!

On the upside, I did hit the 1 pheasant I shot at... the downside of course was that was the only pheasant I got to shoot at... :(

The drive on both the way there and back was uneventful. Very little traffic either way. I never paid over $3.00/gal for gas, which was nice.

Weather was great for the first 3 days (sunny and cool). Then the rain set in. We hunted the morning of day 4, but man was it cold and windy. After a couple of hours of not seeing many birds and getting colder and wetter with every step, we called it a day... Then the next morning we woke to the same darned weather.

So we had breakfast and decided that we weren't going to hunt that day, instead we went back to the house and all packed up, getting on the road early.

Now I am finishing up my vacation days staying at our friend's house before finishing up my time in the states with a couple days of meetings in Oregon... Have loved my time in the US, but really miss Steph and the girls.

More later.

Cheers,
Joe

Birds or no birds, I am looking forward to next year's trip... Which I am sure my wife is rolling her eyes at as she reads this! :)

Spreading Around My Tourist Dollars

As many of you know, I am back in the US for about 2 weeks for my annual pheasant hunting trip in South Dakota with my granddad.

I am sitting in a local hole in the wall restaurant in Bowman, ND. The sign said 'World Famous Big J's Restaurant' and actually had both an American and Canadian flag, as to make it clear that the world is bigger than ND and the US! I had to give it a try - heck if those kooky Canadians love this place, it must be good.

Turns out this little hole in the wall has Internet access... Amazing.

So I am making good progress... Started out from Canby at about 4:30am on Thursday morning (jet lag lead to an early awakening). Made it to Bozeman (as planned) on Day 1 and will get to Willow Lake, SD by this evening if all remains on track.

I stopped here in Bowman, ND for 2 reasons - #1, I have never been to ND, so I decided stopping for lunch would give me a real excuse to say I had been there... and obviously I lucked out and came across the world famous 'Big J's'. #2 - I decided to spread out my tourist dollars. This route only crosses the SW corner of ND, I can't be in the state for more than a hundred miles - so I grabbed this chance.

The 1 state that is in last place in the Welsh Tourist Dollars standings is Washington. I could not make it from Canby to Couer D'Alene on 1 tank of gas and was forced to stop in Spokane and get gas - which I was trying to avoid, as it was something like $3.2x/gallon. I got only $15 worth - enough to get me to the $2.89/gallon gas in Couer D'Alene.

Montana got some gas and a night's stay.
North Dakota got lunch, although that's only $5.79 ($6.20 with tax).

Oh, last reason Big J's will remain famous with me: they rightly serve ranch dressing in a squeeze bottle like ketchup and mustard... not limited quantities in little cups like most places... that alone was worth the stop!

More from the 'Pheasant Trail' later...

Cheers,
Joe

Why I was worried about an apartment...

It took over 1 year... but it finally happened. I had a little voice in the back of my head that was concerned about going back to apartment living. The proximity to other people, and the impact of their living habits on my family... it worried me a little.

But the fact that we looked for 4 days, and this was the only place in our budget we could afford, and it was such a good location, I silenced the little voice that was asking if I really wanted to go back to 'apartment living'.

Our place is great, it really is. Great location, under budget, good landlords. But one night last week, it turned into exactly what that little voice in my head thought it might.

So we went to bed, fairly early due to Steph's evenings being more enjoyable for her when she is asleep! I woke up at about 12:45am. I don't know if it was the rhythmic banging or something else that woke me, but there I was awake and listening to the banging. Where was it coming from? I opened some windows to rule out the construction site not far from the apartment, and sure enough, that wasn't it. I paced around a little longer, and felt convinced the noise was originating in the building.

I picked up the phone and called the front desk/service center and explained that someone was seemingly doing construction of some sort in their apartment in the middle of the night. I asked they investigate and take care of it. It stopped for a period of time, which I was hoping was the end of it, alas, it started up again.

At this point, I decided to take the bull by the horns and started walking up the stairs from our second floor landing to determine the location of the midnight construction site. I got to the 4th floor and there was an employee of the apartment complex standing outside apartment 402. I asked him in English with accompanying hand gestures if this was the place. He indicated it was (lots of Chinese, then a nod). We waited. Then the banging started again. At this point the employee starts talking into his walkie talkie, talking to the front desk. I take a little more direct approach and knock on the door and ring the doorbell.

We hear footsteps on the other side of the door, and they approach right to the door and stop. Then nothing - obviously sizing us up through the peep hole. Then footsteps away from the door again... never bothered to open the door up.

So I head back to my apartment, assuming that the person on the other side saw a neighbor (white dude in boxer shorts and a t-shirt) and an employee of the complex at his door at 1:00am, obviously in response to his home improvement project in the middle of the night. That'll be the end of it, right?

No, not really... about 10 minutes later, it starts again... of course, just as I was falling asleep. So I call the front desk again. Here's the conversation:

Guy On Late Shift: You have call him your personally.
Angry White Guy: OK, give me the number.
Guy On Late Shift: Well, he no speak English.
Angry White Guy: Well then why did you tell me to call him?
Guy On Late Shift:
Angry White Guy: Can you call him? Did you call him?
Guy On Late Shift: I call, he no answer.
Angry White Guy: Did you send someone to the apartment?
Guy on Late Shift: He no answer.
Angry White Guy: Nevermind, I am going up there myself.
Guy On Late Shift: Thank you, anything else I help with tonight?
Angry White Guy: No thanks, you have been so much help to this point.

So I go up there. I wait for the banging, which has stopped for a moment to start up again... I don't have to wait long... about 45 seconds later, there it is... bang... bang.... bang, bang, bang.

So at this point I step up to the door and ring the bell. Banging stops, but no walking to the door. Just silence. I am really upset at this point and react a little less than maturely. I commence ringing his doorbell for about 3 minutes non-stop. Just keep ringing and ringing and ringing.

Finally feeling a little better, I head back down stairs, thinking to myself 'this guy doesn't know who he is messing with... I am regularly up and out of the house between 5:45am and 6:30am during the week... I have no issues stopping by the 4th floor on my way out to the car every morning and waking him up.'

Lucky for everyone, 3 minutes of ringing the guy's doorbell sent the right message, or he was just tuckered out at 2:00am and decided to knock off for the night. The banging stopped.

Unfortunately, I was still 'Immature Angry White Guy Who Was Really Tired' when I left for the office at 6:30am the next morning. So on my way out, I stopped upstairs to wish him a happy morning... I started to ring the doorbell, and lo and behold, he had unplugged it! Turned it off!

So rather than realizing I got the better of the situation, I pounded on the door for about a minute - long enough and loud enough to wake the guy up, and then headed down to the car and off to the office... he never answered the door.

Part of me looks back a little ashamed for being so immature... but part of me says 'there's been no midnight banging since then'.

1 night in over a year... that's pretty good, so I can't complain 1 bit about the apartment. It's all good!

Hope you all are sleeping well. :)

Joe

Update on Baby Welsh

First, thanks to all for the great response to our news! All the congratulations and well wishes are greatly appreciated.

Steph is starting her tours of the various hospitals and birthing centers in Shanghai. I have not been able to attend, as work remains stressful and busy beyond belief, not to mention logistics issues discussed below...

We had some good news today - Steph went to have an appointment and a 14 week ultrasound... they reviewed some of the early 'soft signs' for downs syndrome and all looks healthy! Steph said the baby was doing some pretty serious gymnastics during the ultrasound.

One of the big differences between having a baby in Oregon and in Shanghai has to do with my involvement with the pregnancy (outside of initiation, an activity in which my role was consistent from child to child). In Oregon the access to the doctors office was amazingly convenient. Our OBs office was basically right across the street from my office. For Olivia, I attended every pre-natal appointment. For Gigi, I was able to attend many of the appointments, but was sure to attend all ultrasounds.

Logistics of trying to get to these appointments is prohibitive... it takes 30-45 minutes to get anywhere in Shanghai and our office is in the middle of nowhere! And with 1 car and 1 driver, it means I had to put my pregnant wife on the subway to her appointment today! That will have to change... I will be working from home or carpooling as she gets farther along.

The other logistics issue is around the birth itself. Likely the hospital we will choose will be 30-45 minutes (during light traffic) from our apartment. If we need to get to the hospital during rush hour, there is no telling how long it might take! And then the complexity of being in a city in which we can't drive: our driver lives 1 hour away from us on the other side of the river. One of my fears revolves around Steph's water breaking in the middle of the night (like it did with Olivia)... Having to wait an hour on our driver, or taking the Shanghai Death Trap known as a Taxi? When this discussion starts to work its way into my head, I choose to ignore it and think about it later... always later...

Anyhow, I thought I would post the most recent pics from today's ultrasound... Steph remains tired and fighting off evening nausea, but otherwise doing OK.
Hope this finds you well.

Cheers,
Joe

Big News: Another Monkey Being Added to the Zoo!

So I was finally able to convince Steph that we needed to have another baby… Indeed, it was a mammoth effort to get her on board with the idea… OK, so those of you who know us well realize just how big a load of crap that really is. I was long reluctant to add another girl to the family (and we all know that Stephanie and Joe only make girls – something about those ‘Merryman women genes’). The idea of starting over with diapers and midnight feedings, not to mention another college education and wedding expense (hopefully in that order) had me spooked. Alas, after a number of conversations and the realization that our 2 girls are the sweetest things in the universe, we decided to try for a third!

Note: here is the potential TMI (Too Much Information) part of the post… move to the next paragraph to avoid!

So Steph and I historically are very good at making babies… what I mean by “very good” is that there is not much “practicing” or “trying” involved. On the contrary, I tease Steph that she is the most fertile woman on the planet, and she counters that I am too virile… I still think if I looked at her just right, that would be enough to conceive! When we got pregnant with Olivia a good friend gave Stephanie a congratulations card, and gave me a sympathy card for us being so efficient at getting pregnant!

So just as with Olivia and Genevieve, conception was instantaneous! Three kids and I never got the extended period of ‘trying to get pregnant’… I tease, as I know friends who have struggles with conceiving, so I know we are really blessed to be expecting our third! But… really, God? You couldn’t work with me on just this one thing? :)

Family has been duly notified, and I updated my Facebook page with ultrasound pictures. We are working on a message to friends – some of which will hear via Facebook first as opposed to from us directly – you can blame me for that… I was just too excited to wait! I guess for some of you who discussed #3 with me when I was in the ‘no way’ phase that is hard to imagine.

So Steph has had a rough go of the first trimester to this point… She does OK in the morning, but about mid-afternoon starts to get really tired and nauseous. No fun for anyone, but mostly her. I am sure she’ll be posting to her blog to keep everyone posted on the action!

I have prepared a little ‘Reactive QnA’ about Baby Welsh based on the most anticipated questions:

Q: Are you going to have the baby in China?
A: Yes… everything else on the planet is ‘Made in China’, why not Baby Welsh? Also, there are 1.3B people in China, they seem to have the baby making and delivery process down pretty well!

Q: Do you want a boy?
A: As cliché as it sounds: 10 fingers and 10 toes, healthy baby, and we will be perfectly happy. Part of me would love a boy, what man doesn’t want a son? But that being said, my two girls are awesome, just complete joys (most of the time). And we know how to do girls, we’ve gotten pretty good at it.

Q: Will you find out the sex?
A: Not unless we get another ultrasound technician that graduated at the bottom of their class. With Olivia we didn’t know, and with Gigi we didn’t want to, and 7 minutes after telling the tech that, she said ‘wow, you usually can’t tell the sex this early, but if you look right there, this is obviously a girl’. UGH. We would prefer to be surprised.

Q: Really? Having the baby in China?
A: Yes, we happen to live there.

Q: Any names picked out?
A: Gomer for a boy and Esmeralda for girl… OK, not really, but friends of ours were doing some financial planning before they had kids, but knew they wanted to have 2, so they created placeholders and called them Gomer and Esmeralda and the names stuck until Nicolas and Carter arrived… We thought it was hilarious. We have some ideas, but won’t be sharing until Baby Welsh arrives.

Q: What if you have twins?
A: I kicked the imaginary person who asked this imaginary question in the shin. What would make a person think it was a good idea to put that out in the universe?

Q: But what if?
A: I immediately go to confession and seek forgiveness for whatever it is that caused God so much pain and anguish that brought this on me… Then I go to B&Q (Chinese Home Depot) and apply for a second job at night stocking shelves. My aunt Patrice had 2 kids and then had twins on the last ‘go round’… She tells me 4 is the perfect number of kids and we should welcome twins, or just have a fourth… I can only think that the experience of four kids has made her a little nuts.

Q: With as much as you travel, are you sure it’s yours?
A: Stephanie kicked the imaginary person who asked this question (his name is Dan Roth) in the shin… He keeps it up and she starts kicking higher. Joe asked ‘if it’s not mine will someone else pay for the college education and wedding (hopefully in that order)?' Steph then kicked Joe in the shin.

Q: Really? China?
A: I thought we covered this... Did you graduate just below the ultra sound technician?

More later…

Cheers,
Joe