Fix a Flat

Cynthia's Tai Tai Taxi (aka - The Hardly Davidson - the three wheeled electric scooter for those of you new to the blog) was out of commission for a while with a flat tire.  Sunday we decided to try and get it to the scooter repair shop and headed out with tire pump in hand, Scott driving and Cynthia as passenger.  We had to stop four times in the 2 kilometers to re-pump up the tire.  We were quite the sight to all the Chinese out for their Sunday activities and we evoked more than a few smiles and gape jawed stares.  We finally arrived at the sidewalk repair shop which was more or less a grease spot strewn with tools, scooters, batteries and parts situated between a storefront Chinese restaurant and a travel agency.  After communicating the obvious problem we waited for about 15 minutes before a young boy who looked not a day over 12 approached us with a small stool and a couple of tools in hand and began the process of taking out the inner tube. Over the next 30 minutes or so he and I worked on the tire and finally found the leak.  He patched it up and we got the tube back into the tire and we were all set to go.  I asked how much the repair was and the owner said "San kwai"  which I interpreted as 30 rmb or about 4$ US.  I pulled out 30 kwai and handed it to him to which he repeated "San kwai" this time with a bit more emphasis on the SAN portion - which I once again misinterpreted as 30 rmb and stuck out my hand with a 20 and 2 fives.  At this time the owner realized that my command of the Chinese language was weak and he grabbed a 5 rmb bill and repeated "San kwai" and then proceeded to give me 2 kwai in change.  Basically, the entire repair cost me 45 cents US.  Unbelievable.

Home from India

I finally arrived home from India after 15 hours of travel!  Our meeting with ABB was completed by 3pm on Wednesday so I headed for the airport - unfortunately my flight was not scheduled to depart until 8pm.  Nothing like 5 hours to kill in the Bangalore airport.  My next stop was Delhi after a 2-1/2 hour flight.  1hour layover then a 5 hour flight to Hong Kong another 2 hour layover then my final 2-1/2 hour flight from HK to Shanghai.  By the time I got home I was absolutely wiped out.  The next day I went into work to try and catch up on my expense reports as well as interview a couple of candidates for a Channel Management position that we have open.  By the time the last interviewee left I was really not feeling well.  I got a ride home from my colleague's driver and spent the next 14 hours in bed with a 24 hour flu bug.  Did I mention that I love India?!  Spent Saturday with Landon and Regan feeling much better while Cynthia was at a women's retreat with our church.  She had the opportunity to employ her newly found acting skills and perform a 10 minute monologue which she absolutely nailed by all reports.  That evening we attended our friend's 50th birthday celebration (the same one we tried to attend one month ago)  This time we had the date correct and really enjoyed ourselves.  Today is Sunday and we are going to take it easy.  I depart for Korea on Monday - only 2 day trip this time. Whew!  I am tired from just writing about this.  Take care!

Happy Birthday Cynthia

Cynthia and I celebrated her 15th birthday (okay so I am being a bit dyslexic) on Monday night by having a wonderful dinner at M on the Bund.  Her day started with two friends taking her out for a long lunch, then a facial and then out to dinner with me!  We had a great time.  Started our date at the Glamour Bar with "our song" playing on the sound system - "Girl from Ipanema".  We then proceeded to have a wonderful 3 course meal, champagne and a special birthday dessert.  The only thing missing from the evening was - my credit card!  Fortunately, I realized this before we released the driver for the night.  I had to call a Chinese colleague in Qingdao to call my driver and explain to him that he needed to drive home and collect my credit card from the boys then drive back to the restaurant all before our bill came!  It all worked out in the end and we had a great time. 

I am on my way to India for one week where we will have a distributor sales meeting and participate in a global supplier summit for one of our key customers.  Lots of fun!  Take care.