The Hiatus

I know I have not written a post since the 13th. I took a short hiatus because things have been pretty hectic. We have been shopping for stuff for the apartment. We ended up buying a bed, a wardrobe, a table, two end tables, and a washer. Aside from the things for the apartment, we also each purchased a bike, and I bought two new suits. The suits were a surprise. We were actually shopping for furniture when we passed a store that had suits on sale. I bought a suit for 180 kuai and one for 280 kuai. That is two suits for about $75. What is really nice about this is that I really didn’t think I would be able to find a suit to fit me off the rack. I almost didn’t. I had to get the largest size they had, a size 52. At first I tried on a 50 but that was too tight. Now, as you all know, I am not a particularly large man. So how is it that I am one size away from shopping at the big and tall store? After trying on the pants, and getting measured for the hem, one of the ladies took my money, while another one took the pants and ran down the street. I asked the remaining clerk “when will my pants be ready”? She says “xinzai, qingzuo” “now, please sit”. I waited about ten minutes and I had my suits.
After leaving there we went and bought our wardrobe. We bought it from the same lady that we bought our bed from. We like her because she delivers for free and it is hard to carry large pieces of furniture on our bike. For that you need a tricycle. I am serious about that. At the market there are guys that have tricycles that they use to deliver the goods that people buy. On Tuesday, we used one of the tricycle guys to deliver our washer, table, and chairs. He was expensive but he got our stuff to our place with a minimum of hassle. That is more than can be said for the people who deliver for free. You know the old saying “you get what you pay for”. When we purchased our bed, they told us that they would have it to us by four. A little before four, we got a call that said they would be there around six. At six, we got a call from them saying they were on the way. At eight, Amanda and I were on the streets looking for them. By nine, we had our bed. Ok, so the next day when it is time to buy our wardrobe, where do we go? As I stated earlier, we went to the same lady. Why, because we can usually negotiate with her and get her to agree to a reasonable price, and because delivery is free. We figured they know where we live now, so delivery should go much smoother. It was a nice thought at least. This time they didn’t even pretend that it would be delivered while the sun was up. They told us after six. Well, by eight o’clock we began to wonder. We received several phone calls from the delivery guy that even Amanda couldn’t make sense of but we did know that once again the delivery guy was lost. So I took the phone down to the building security guard and he told the driver how to get to our place. Once the guy arrived, it took him about an hour to set the wardrobe up. So we couldn’t relax until almost 10, so much for free delivery.
We now have internet access in our place. The guy came today to set it up. He tried to help me set up my wireless router, but that didn’t go so well. After trying for an hour he took off. I brought my router with me half way across the globe, but it will not work. I think it is, like me, having trouble communicating. If anyone has any advice (Tim R. or Dave T., this means you) I would really appreciate any help you can give. – Frank
To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.
Chinese Proverb