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Monday, October 14, 2019

The Beijing Aquarium - Day 58 - Harry’s Computer Fiasco

Yesterday Lulu and I enjoyed the Beijing Aquarium.It is actually in the Beijing Zoo - but there is a separate admission. It is very close to our flat - so it was a quick bus ride. 






We get into the zoo for free as senior citizens. But the aquarium is $8 extra. It was really worth it. The building is shaped like a giant shell with paths leading to different spiraling sections. During the whole time I did e- I was not quite sure where I was. Just when we thought we saw all of it - in an open sesame moment - we were in a giant indoor water  arena where  sea lions - seals - and dolphins performed. 

What particularly impressed me was the jelly fish area. There were different tanks full of different species of jelly fish - it felt almost like a ballet with colors and music. 

Off topic - but since it was here - I had t cover the orange juice machine. They have orange juice machines here that deliver the freshest juice. You watch about 8 oranges being squeezed to make you a 12 ounce bottle of orange juice. You use you iPhone to pay - then watch the action. Finally a glass bottle - perfectly sealed pops out the bottom. You saw the bottle being filled - the oranges squeezed - and the cap sealed.

I am not a big fan of zoos and aquariums. I do not like the idea of animals being caged. But also - when I visit a place - I like to see local stuff - not animals. Brought in from far away places. I can see that in Washington - Tampa - Tallahassee - Philadelphia. Also - shame on me - if you have seen one lion or elephant - you have seen them all :-( When I travel - I like to see man made things - like the Pyramids - the Great Wall - Parthenon - and the Eiffel Tower.

Since this zoo was so close to our apartment - and they let us in free - I said what the heck. I was very delighted with the job they did on it. 

A little bit about my problems on this Day 58 in China. Things are good - the apartment is great - the weather got cooler - the food has been surprisingly good - and cheap. 

My laptop broke. Yeah - waa waa! The keyboard died. It has left me only my iPhone to communicate with you. I went to Apple and it would hav even easy to just buy a new one - but I did not want to buy here. After help from my son - Drew - he found a re-call on my laptop. Apple agreed that they would fix and/or replace it free.I must jump thru their hoops. Tomorrow at 1 PM I take it in for the second evaluation.

Meanwhile I am sitting at the dinner table typing on a wireless keyboard thru my iPhone. Some would say - why not just use Lulu’s - but she needs that for work. We are computer snobs and hate to share. 

My phone is hooked up to t-mobile cellular. It is better than the DSL WiFi in our apartment. Although I have narrow bandwidth - it is dependable - no censorship - no spooling - etc. I could be a walking advertisement for t-mobile cellular in China. Our phone bill is $90 for 2 unlimited iPhone - and they work wherever we go. Text - mail - data - and voice over FaceTime - free. 

It is a little harder sending as many pictures as I like to May when page - and friends. It sends pictures well to facebook. I am very spoiled with the Comcast Cable WiFi at Tallahassee. 

In Tallahassee - when we have a problem -  we just pick up a phone and  complain. Here - when we call someone - they speak Chinese. they have no idea what we want - and vice versa. Example - the other day the electricity went off - I went downstairs - and they said - bill not paid. We called Lulu’s assistant - and she handled it - power on. The college pays all our bills - phone - cable - internet - water -  gas. Yes we have a gas stove and gas hot water. 

Yesterday they was a printed note on our door. We thought it was a delivery notice. There are delivery boxes downstairs - we tried to scan the note - thinking it was for a package delivery. I took it to the office - - - it was the water bill. Again - the college pays the water bill. I was afraid to start a shower :-)

I set up and program to send this email to all of you plus my web page. I hope it works. I used to be able to. Do this and also send pictures. I sent three stories to my web page - but the pictures did not appear. This is a work-around for now. I feel really badly not posting a story every day on my web page - www.harry.everhart.com.

Maybe I should just go to the Apple Store - and buy a new MacBook and a new iPhone 11. Then I would send my old MacBook and iPhone Xmax to Drew and have him sells them. Problem solved. :-) 

In the great scheme fo things - this is no big deal. Our health has been good. Our back surgeries have been transparent - no issues. We are not spending much money - just eating and touring. Our apartment is covered by BNU. All our pays are safely deposited in Wells Fargo at home. My friends JP and George are keeping watch over things back home. We have gotten our passport and residency visas all taken care of - we can now come and go as we please. Our first guest Jan was wonderful. 

Please reply and let me know you got this report and the 2 pictures with it. 

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