Middle of The Week (Tit-Bits I’ve forgotten To Post)

It’s Wednesday evening, work is becoming more and more complicated. No one here knows what the hell is going on. The plant doesn’t have there storeroom built yet, which complicates things even more….there are barely any machines running…the Dragon project people and the plant people keep pushing responsibility on each other.
It’s going to be a tough road for the guy I’m training. I’m hoping he can think on his feet and stay ahead of the game…..time will tell….Oh well…enough about work.
Today was decent day for adventures. (Meaning the wind was only blowing 15 MPH) We decided to venture out into Pulandian for lunch. I can’t stress how bad it sucks to be working in Pulandian instead of Dalian. There is no food at the plant (Which wouldn’t matter anyways…prison food would be better). So there are two choices for lunch. You can either order food at the front gate…you have to have your order in by 10:00, or you can go into Pulandian’s downtown for lunch. The front gate is the key. We now have it pegged to be over a kilometer walk….so if you are walking that far anyways, you might as well take a taxi to get something better to eat downtown. It’s really cold in Pulandian. I think I described it before, but the walk into and out of the plant is horrible. The wind howls because it’s right on the ocean; it kicks up dirt, dust, and little rocks. Then the road turns to a dirt path full of rocks and dips. It’s not a lot of fun. So we made the walk down to the gate; we then caught a cab into town.
The town looks really small for one that is supposing to house 877,000 people. There are a few factories…I think one is a sugar refinery. The downtown is very plain. There isn’t much happening…I didn’t see a big market or anything. It just seemed like a quiet sleepy town.
We had lunch at a restaurant that was in a hotel. It was a pretty good spot. The food was really good, very clean…wasn’t what I was expecting. (Not that I ever know what to expect) We had some dumplings, pork, mushrooms, and some kind of sea weed that was actually spicy and delicious!
Tid-Bits
There is a Goodyear guy here that is the receiving clerk. He has an AWESOME name. Are you ready for his name? Are you? It’s……Tan Dan…..that’s right! And he has an insatiable desire to know all things Americano! Here are a couple of his questions:
Why Michael Jackson like little kids?
Gay get married?
What wrong with Brittany Spears?
I saw to lesbians in UK, why lesbian?
How rich is Justin Timberlake?
Where is hotel California?
Why is California? (Didn’t understand that one)
You vote for Mr. Obama?
Do you remember 9-11?
You like Tom and Jerry? (That made me laugh hard considering I watched Tom and Jerry waiting for dinner in Shanghai!)
Dan Tan is a riot! Everything that comes in the plant has to pass through Dan Tan. So there are constantly Americans trying to get the things they need to complete projects….and Dan Tan isn’t the fastest, plus he is constantly talking on a blue tooth. So someone is trying to be patient with him and get there part…when he just stops the conversation and starts talking on his cell phone. There’s a high level of frustration that is funny…it’s like people can’t believe it goes on this way…so they are mad, but laughing. Good stuff! I’m a big Dan Tan fan! I’m thinking of making the T-Shirt. I’m going to take his picture….DAN TAN FAN.
I had forgotten how annoying Chinese people are with cell phones. They are constantly on them. They all have crazy ring tones that blare loud as hell. The worst part is if they are on a land line they just let the thing ring and ring and ring! I’ve become use to it again, but for a few days it took some getting used to.
Here’s another funny thing. I recently bought a Livescribe pen. It is a pen that has a built in infra-red camera that records as you write, so you can upload your notes into your computer. It also records conversation as you are writing. It’s really saves time when you are trying to review your notes and backfill them.
I showed this pen to Steve Wu, who is the storeroom manager. He was amazed by the pen! He absolutely loved it. So he started telling other people in the plant about it. So everyday I’ve had at least one Chinese person come looking to see “The Magic Pen”. ….That’s what they call it. Someone will walk up, “Excuse me, you have magic pen?”
“Yes. I have a magic pen.” Then I show it to them…usually a crowd of three or four will gather around to look at it a second time. Everyone is amazed. Then one of them was looking at the docking station and noticed that it was made in China (Surprise). That sent everyone into a tizzy! Steven Wu wrote down every piece of information he could find on the pen. I’m sure one of them will show up with the same pen soon…..only they paid 10RMB for it (1.60). It’s been pretty funny. It’s actually been a good way to meet more people in the plant.