First of all: It seems that the All Blacks got a really, really easy first round in the Rugby World Cup. Now they’re going to have to face up to teams that are actually capable of challenging them. Given the All Black’s history, I’m sure there are a lot of nervous people out there.
But more importantly: lzh gets off work at midday. Or 11:30, more likely. Yeah, she, too, had to work the weekend to make up for the holiday. I know, it’s hard to see the logic in this, but it’s just the way things are done here. Fortunately, my timetable and my more logical than normal boss mean that I’ve been on holiday since 5pm on Thursday. Ten days off after a month in which I only did one week at a full classload. Pretty sweet. So at about midday I’ll head over to Deshengmen to meet lzh, then we’ll get on the bus, and before you know it we’ll be up in the village. I am so looking forward to it.
Anybody want to take bets on whether when I get off the bus at Yanqing Dongguan some idiot “taxi” driver, on seeing me with a backpack on my back, a paper bag containing a box of mooncakes in one hand, and a paper bag with two bottles of baijiu and a carton of cigarettes in the other hand, will offer me a ride to Longqingxia? Yeah, that’s right, I’m going to Longqingxia with gifts which anybody with a functioning pair of eyes and a basic understanding of Chinese culture can see are for Chinese family members.
So, sure, I won’t be entirely happy until we’re safely on the 920 on our way out of the county town and up the highway.
Anyway, the ivy has been pulled off the windows and the windows are all shut. I’ve had breakfast. All that remains to be done is for me to finish packing stuff, unplug everything electric except the fridge, then leave. But I’ve still got a couple of hours in which to do all that, so no hurry.
And the ivy wasn’t as difficult a job as I thought it would be. It was worst on the loungeroom windows, where it wasn’t so much growing on, as growing on, over, through, around and in the windows. On the other windows it was only a very minor nuisance.
Should’ve dealt with it earlier, though, because with the temperature dropping so sharply the last couple of days, I’ve gone and gotten a cold.
It will be tougher for you as now you will face France in the quarters. I am sorry for you that you will have to leave the competition so early.
We’ll see who leaves the competition so early. But yes, that’s what concerns me, the ABs have had an easy ride so far, now they have to face up to real competition.