t
o
n
y
a
n
g
'
s
 
w
e
b
l
o
g


late last night there was a thunderstorm. it wasn't a surprise because the weather was acting weird all day yesterday, with a sudden dip in temperature and strong winds. i was tempted to get up and watch the lightning, but sleep was more important.

saturday. of all my 6 day work week, saturday should be the easiest. the owner side of the project don't work on saturdays so there's a more laid back feeling. i've also mentioned this on several occasions, but i've personally vowed to work as little as possible on saturdays, as a civil protest for inhumane work hours.

i brought carrots to work as a snack, but i ate most of it on the bus on the way to the office sitting next to ZAS. i had to find a way to use up these carrots because they were starting to get soft in my fridge. people were kind of shocked that i was just eating raw carrots. everything - including vegetables - is cooked here. the chinese think things just taste better when cooked, and cooking has an added benefit of killing off any parasites.

maybe sunmeng has a network of spies in the office but she asked me this morning if i had a girlfriend at work. never one to lie, i told her i didn't, but that i was hanging out with xianglian a lot. i told her for various reasons (one of which is XL running hot and cold) we weren't officially going out yet, and it may never happen since i've got about 2 months left of work.

as i have nobody to walk with after lunch, i used my break to go out on my own, examining the wildflowers growing along the side of the road, stopping every once in a while to take a snapshot with my camera phone. there were also some insects: all sorts of flies (green bottle, tachinid, bee fly) and some ladybugs (larva and adult). i could've done this all day, walk for miles, provided i'd be able to find something new every once in a while.

right before the end of lunch break i remembered to call the camera repair shop. the man on the phone said my lens was already fixed. everything is in place for me to return to shiqiaopu to pick up my equipment.

* returning to the tailor to ask about special sleeve work; i get the idea she's never done an alteration like that, i will probably have to return to my old place (smoky mahjong joint) * eating knife-cut noodles by myself for dinner
* wandering the streets of changshou to reach 10,000 steps on my fitness tracker, taking photos with my cellphone camera
* coming home, noticed some dust on my winter jacket; turns out it's mold after 2 weeks of not wearing it