It wasn’t a bad day as such. We had a bit of a business discussion in the morning and went for lunch at a Chinese restaurant across the street. On the way there we passed a liquor and tobacco shop with glass doors and an English translation underneath the Chinese warning: Mend the Glass. The Chinese are far less trigger-happy than the Japanese about using English, so cute signs like that are few and far between. Most of their English use goes toward “Bank of Beijing” and such signs.
The food at the restaurant ranged from cold and vinegary to hot and spicy. The spicy chicken bits with peanuts and hot peppers contained a flowery-sweet note which came from small pepper corns. When toward the end of the meal we asked for rice, the informed us they were out of rice and would we like noodles? I’d just explained to Joe my rule of not having noodles in Asia before dinnertime, so we opted for dumplings instead.
Despite boasting upscale furnishings the toilets only boasted squat pots, and it didn’t impress me much more than rocket scientists apparently impress Shania that up the same staircase that led down to the toilet came a guy with a platter of hot dishes. Oh well, I’ve got King Creosote to back me up.
After lunch Paul and I hailed a cab and took a ride through Beijing’s sto-pan-d’go traffic back to the hotel to pick up my demonstration microscope for some training. I enjoyed that, even though it took us all afternoon just to cover basics and get everyone to change a tip. (I’d link to the wikipedia page for atomic force microscopes here, but the Chinese government has apparently decided that wikipedia is a dangerous site that needs to be blocked.) I’m still not sure they can carry out a good measurement…
The day ended with yesterday’s customer demanding that we demonstrate another measurement mode before they sign the acceptance form and pay the remainder. I feel like the car dealer whose customer pays 80% cash for his SUV and then says: “Now you demonstrate to me that my car can do what the ad promised and I’ll pay the rest.” What is it that makes Europeans and Americans alike purchase and accept our instruments without such testing? Apparently, Chinese researchers will purchase ovens they intend to use for temperatures around 100 °C but insist on seeing the oven reach the specified maximum of 240 °C before accepting it.
So, in honor of this day, here’s an ABBA sing-along:
My my, at Waterloo Napoleon did surrender
Oh yeah, and I have met my infamy in quite a similar way
The Sears catalogue on the shelf
Is singing this ditty itself
Squatterloo – I am defeated, you won the war
Squatterloo – promise to use you (can’t wait no more)
Squatterloo – couldn’t escape if I wanted to
Squatterloo – no other place for a man to poo
Squatterloo – finally straddling my squatterloo
My my, I tried another tack but that took longer
Oh yeah, and now it seems my only chance is giving up the fight
And how could I ever refuse
I feel like my bowels are loose
Squatterloo – I am defeated, you won the war
Squatterloo – promise to use you (can’t wait no more)
Squatterloo – couldn’t escape if I wanted to
Squatterloo – no other place for a man to poo
And how could I ever refuse
I feel like my bowels are loose
Squatterloo – I am defeated, you won the war
Squatterloo – promise to use you (can’t wait no more)
Squatterloo – couldn’t escape if I wanted to
Squatterloo – no other place for a man to poo
Squatterloo – finally straddling my squatterloo
