Explosion = Freedom

So a lot has happened over the past week or so.  Thanksgiving came and went and I just officially finished my last paper five minutes ago. (cracking open a Miller High Life as we speak) The only thing I have left to do is to read and comment on fellow student’s paper next week and I’m done.  My other class finished early so I don’t have to worry about that anymore.  It’s a good way to wind down the semester which is usually not the norm.  Usually I finish up with both of my classes on a big paper or final exam on the final week.  I think I like this method a little better.

As far as my location goes, a timely explosion has rewarded us with a release from that hellish compound we were living in.  Sometime last Friday the refinery was lighting a heater, a really big one, and it exploded.  Since it would take about one month to fix they told my wife to leave, so here we are…relaxing in Taipei.  My wife just found out this morning that we are now heading ……BACK TO CHINA!!!   After her boss even told her that “since I’m sure you’re tired of China by now we’ll see what else is open” right before we left for Taiwan so I was a bit shocked, especially since there was another job in Malaysia starting at exactly the same time.  OH well, what can you do? I think we’re flying to Hong Kong tomorrow to get our Chinese Visa before we either take a few days of vacation or head to Beijing to prep for the next job. The only good news about the new assignment is that it’s right outside Shanghai, so it’s not remote and it makes getting out of there a lot easier.  I guess we’ll be spending another Christmas in China, but hopefully the job won’t take that long.

As far as the past few days have been it’s been nice getting to relax in Taipei.  We even took the opportunity to watch a movie in a theater, which we haven’t done in over a year.  We played some arcade games and won a few prizes, none of which are worth mentioning, and we’ve visited some unique restaurants which finally served me a piece of sushi that I enjoyed.  Perhaps it was just the wasabi that masked the flavor of raw fish that made it enjoyable.

I guess everyone has seen the Tiger Woods debacle on TV and ESPN all week.  It’s almost as bad as those two media whores that crashed the White House dinner last week.  I hate when the media picks up on a story that doesn’t have anything to do with useful news and they play it constantly, over and over and over again until I can memorize the quotes used by one of Tiger’s skanky tramps who are trying to get their 15 minutes of fame as well.

OK,time for me to sign off, just had to rant a little on CNN (because that’s what i’m watching now) and their portrayal of “news” and the redundancy that goes along with it.  Hope everyone wraps up the semester on a good note and good luck with any tests or projects that have to be finished up in the final week!