Signs of Life

I haven't blogged in a while. There just hasn't been all that much new or different going on to report on. And I'm not like my uber-talented wife, Beth, who can take even the most mundane details of the day and turn them into a blog post that's both funny and insightful. That's probably why she has a career that involves writing and I have a career that involves...oh wait, I don't have a career. So, anyways...things are good. And here's more proof that the Nordbergs are settling into life in their new home:

You've Got Radio - Can you believe it's been 8 months since I've listened to the radio? Technically I get to hear the radio in the taxis, but I don't really count that since I don't get to choose the station and most often I can't understand what's being said. We had shipped over from the states our surround sound/dvd/radio system. Unfortunately it was a 120 volt unit and Hong Kong supplies 220 volt electricity. This system requires 280 watts of electricity, which meant that we'd need more than the typical travel convertor. On Monday, I finally bucked up and paid the HK$330 required to buy a 300 watt transformer. So, I hooked up the system and surfed the Hong Kong radio waves! Of course, I was only able to find one station in English! At least now, though, we'll be able to watch movies without having to listen to the audio through the puny speakers in our projector!

She's a City Dog - Zoe's adapting quite well to city life. She now understands how elevators work. While waiting for the elevator, she hears the beep indicating that the elevator has arrived on our floor and before she sees the doors open, she lurches toward the door waiting for it to open. This proves she's learned what that beep means! Same thing when in the elevator she sits patiently while it descends until the doors open on the ground floor. Also, while on walks she has learned to adapt to her city environment. Those of you with dogs know that they prefer grass to, uhh...do their "business." Unfortunately there's not a lot of grass to be found here. She doesn't mind doing #2 on the sidewalk, but I've noticed that she doesn't like to do #1 on the sidewalk...perhaps she's embarassed by the attention in draws to her (she's very aware of other people). So, she found a good solution, allow me to explain ... Our favorite place to walk her is down by the ferry terminals at Victoria Harbour. Along the walkway is a long sewer grate. When we walk there, she deliberately walks along the sewer grate and we've discovered one reason why is that she likes to stop on it and do her "business" (both #1 and #2) as she has figured out that the "droppings" will then dissapear into the sewer grate, nice and descrete-like. How she figured this out, I don't know. But, I'm greateful that it's one less turd I have to poop and scoop!

Hail Thy Cab - We've gotten quite good at hailing cabs. And no, this doesn't involve sticking your fingeres in your mouth and whistling very loudly...I can't even do that. But, it does involve strategic thinking. The key is to go upstream to where the taxis are coming from and not just wait for one to come by where you are at. Plus, you also need to think about where you are trying to get to and which streets head in that direction (most streets here are one-way). The slightest difference in where the taxi picks you up can double the time (and possibly cost) it takes to get you there.