Congratulations Daniel and Windsparrow!

I'm posting from my iPhone! I have a short-term contract with China Mobile. Starting to feel more settled. The family Tea is now safely ensconced at Biyi's parents' apartment. It's next to a primary school, which can be entertaining. Feels much more relaxing than Shanghai. Ryan is reconnecting with his grandparents, and is being (on the whole) a very good little traveller. On this trip, he's now travelled by plane, taxi, train and bus, and been very excited by each one. (If you've ever ridden in a Chinese taxi, you'll know why this would be an occasion for excitement. And hair-raising thrills and spills.) In fact, I think today may be the first time Ryan's caught a bus ever.

They now have a high-speed train between Shanghai and Hangzhou, reaching speeds of almost 300 kph. That was fun. Hangzhou itself is developing fast, but I was disappointed that almost all of the new skyscrapers have no aesthetic quality - just functional concrete blocks. (This contrasts with Shanghai, where even housing developments often make some effort. However, taxis in Hangzhou have seatbelts in the back seats, and in Shanghai they do not, so Hangzhou wins.)

So what are the enclosures at the Shanghai Zoo like? I imagine that Chinese zoos are very different than when I went to visit them in 1989. Plus I didn't go to Shanghai, more's the pity. But I recall they had a Persian cat. And I remember the tiger. hmm, I sense a feline theme to my memories...

Going way back: mostly ok but not great. There were exceptions, and oddly the primates hit both extremes. The golden snub-nosed monkeys were awesome and had a verdant and varied enclosure. The gibbons had good room and clearly enjoyed swinging on all the ropes. The old primate house, however, was distressing and depressing. You had the mandrills and De Brazza's guenons on bare concrete. One touching moment: a mandrill and guenon holding hands between the bars of their cages.)

Otherwise, most animals had sufficient space and some facilities, but nothing great. (And the sun bears had nothing to climb.) I did get the impression though that they are trying to improve things, and the animals themselves looked well-cared for.

It's moving day. I could use some sanity and more spoons.

Jesus. all the 'ma in the world.

I am prepping to move in July. What agony.

Sanity and spoons to sj.

Ginger, you're in my mind and heart, always, even if I'm not around here, lately.

Calli, your hair is AWESOME, as are you. I wonder if the feeling is catching around the compound, though, because I've been feeling down lately, which is part of the reason I haven't been around here lately. Which is counterproductive, but definitely a pattern with me. You and I should make a pact to keep an eye on each other and remind each other that we're awesome. What are next door neighbors for, anyway?

Andi, and Daniel, I said it on Facebook, but it bears repeating: SO happy for you!

Oh, and baby~ma, GC!

I'm sorry for the puzzling behavior, bonny. I figure if anyone can figure him out, you can. The question is, do you want to invest that much in a dog that may not ever be simpatico?

This question is burning in my heart, Beverly. I just don't know. And I don't have a particularly good feeling about it.

I wish I'd been a Buffista when I first had Bartleby, so that folks could remind me of what we went through. I know it wasn't all good, by any means, but I can't remember enough to know if it was this hard.

When he's great, he's great, but MAN, when he's not he's more than a few hands full.

sj, fortunately, Cagney loves all people. Except for the homeless fellow who has lived on my street for the last 20 years and is now in a wheelchair. His barking and posturing at the chair is stressful and embarrassing.

Our last training session is today, and I'm thinking about opting for something I said I would never do again, but I feel like it would satisfy my 'Did I do everything I could' need.

Congressional Cemetery is a symbiotic dog park. 30 acres, fully fenced, with water stations and strategically placed rubbish bins. I'm thinking about re-upping my membership there to see if crazy exercise over the next two years would help.

It is expensive...$250 per year...ouch...but part of it is a charitable donation and the fees help to defer the $90,000 charge each and every time it is mowed. Seriously, 30,000 headstones, many of them centuries old, need specialized care.

It is inconvenient...1.2 miles from my no-car-having ass. Still the 4 mile walk 4 or 5 times a week wouldn't hurt that ass.

I don't love all the people involved, but it is a much healthier physical environment than any of the other dog parks near us.

The massive upside is there are strict rules about aggressive dogs and Cagney can run himself ragged without me having to worry about him getting lost.

That, and maybe some group classes. It's all I can think to do at this point.

The truck is almost full and there is still more to put in it.

Oh, my office. You so crazy. Every month we order out to celebrate the birthdays in that month. And every month, we get an e-mail telling us what restaurant, telling us a menu will be circulating soon so we can order, and the birthday lunch will be at noon on such-and-such day.

And every month, noon on birthday lunch rolls around, and the people in charge of collecting our money and getting the food still haven't even come to get our money. We all know the promise of eating at noon is a lie, so why keep telling us that every month?

Chatty!co-worker and I usually bet on the *actual* time that we'll get to eat. Since it's just about noon right now, and no money has been collected yet, my bet is on 1:15.

And I am so hungry I am about to eat my hand.

Andi, and Daniel, I said it on Facebook, but it bears repeating: SO happy for you!

Thank you again, and to all. We are once more basking in Buffista love.

Brackets and other punctuation for you, sj.

Okay, it's almost 12:45 and no one has come around to collect money for our "noon lunch." People are starting to get pissed.

The move is going well but taking longer than we hoped. We still have to go back to the apartment tonight and empty some closets. I only slept about 3 hours last night and am ready to fall down.