John’s been itching for a radio… and he finally got one last week. Now instead of torturing me with his music reruns of Outkast and John Mayer, he has Chinese pop filling the room. Btw, that includes really bad Britney Spears and Mariah Carey covers. But it’s kinda cool seeing him get into the Chinese daytime chatter. Already, he’s picked up the popular advertising phrases– zui xin, zui ku, which mean the newest and coolest. Fortunately, the lack of Chinese creativity and originality results in a lot of repetition on the airwaves. John beams with excitement every time he recognizes clips of the audio. Then I get to hear the fast-paced ruckus as background noise in our office and as my bedtime lullaby. Despite its cuteness, I want that radio to die!

In other news, my laptop display is no longer showing the bright red lines. Now the damn thing just abruptly turns off in the middle of typing. It’s really kinda freaky. The wifi card light turns off, the screen goes dark, but the fan continues to run and the power lights/keyboard lights remain on. I called the local Compaq repair shop, and Mr. Zhang said it sounded like an overheating issue, especially since the temps have been really hot here lately. Okay well I never had this problem before I sent my laptop to you for repair and second, the computer is in my office– where I run the AC daily. Look like I get to contact HP online chat again. Yay!

Thinking of customer service, yesterday I went to the bank and there was this American guy with his British friend waiting in line. No wonder people in the international community hate Americans. He was a goddamn prick– loud, obnoxious, impatient. He kept complaining in English that service was slow– at a volume loud enough for everyone in the damn building to hear. Then when he got up to the window, he made his request in Chinese but when they couldn’t process his transaction, he started being an ass in English, saying shit like, “Ok. Whatever. Just give me my stuff back then. Geez. blah, blah, blah.” I should have told him to shut the hell up. I hate assholes like that. Cocky bastard.