Cynthia's New Ride part 2

Our story so far...Scott and Mr. Dong have arrived at the shop of the Scooter dealer after a comedy of errors in getting there.  The shop owner was more than happy to see us and finally Mr. Dong understood what I wanted and the purpose of the mysterious phone number I had given him.  There were three models to choose from and I test drove them all and decided that one of the models was just too small and one of the models was too big but the third model was juussst right!  (Sounds like The Three Bears story)  Anyway, the store owner had a couple kids put the finishing touches on the trike - installing the rear view mirrors,  batteries, and a new speedometer cover (the original was cracked) and I took it for a final spin just to make sure it met my high standards of trike buying - (no Dad, I did not check Consumer Reports)  The next step was to get the thing home!  No problem - one of the kids who helped put it together would drive it to our apartment.  So we set off toward home with the guy in the trike following us.  We would have to stop for traffic periodically or simply to wait for him to catch up to us but he always appeared.  Remember the traffic here is absolutely crazy and but it was obvious that he was a real veteran of maneuvering in and around any and all obstacles.  Thirty minutes later we arrived at home and Cynthia was standing on the stairs of our building and when she saw the trike the air pressure around us dropped several points as she mad a huge gasp and said "Is that mine?!"  I paid the guy the final amount and he was gone like the lone ranger amid all the excitement.  All the expat drivers like Mr. Dong were hanging out near their vans (as they always do awaiting the next trip to wherever with an expat wife and kids) and they were quite amused when Cynthia invited all of them for a ride in her new wheels!  The trike actually has a reverse and instead of a gentle beeping sound like on a golf cart this has a nasally sounding Chinese women repeating some phrase that we can only assume means "Watch Out - Crazy American Woman Backing Up!"  We all got a great laugh out of this.   We store it in the underground garage where we can also charge the batteries.  Our next mission is to get the maintenance department to widen the ramp up the stairs in the basement so that getting it into the charging area doesn't require two people and a hernia.  Oh well, one thing at a time!

Cynthia's New Ride

Well as you can see from the latest blog photo - Cynthia is on the move!  We wanted to get her a scooter to get around the neighborhood to visit friends and make grocery runs but she was a bit uneasy on two wheels and besides the carrying capacity for groceries is somewhat limited on a scooter. She had mentioned to me that she really wanted a three wheeler and I of course kind of put the idea on the back burner.  I was walking in our neighborhood one evening and came across a woman driving a three wheeler.  We had a short chat and she gave me the phone number of the place she bought it.  She could not remember the name of the place, its location and oh yeah, they don't speak any English. (pretty much a given)  The next day I climbed into the van with our driver and told him that I was going to call a number and that he had to talk to them and find out how to drive me there - now remember our driver doesn't really speak much english so I am sure he had no idea what I wanted other than I wanted to go to the place associated with the number I dialed.  Much shouting and directing later we ended up at a dead end - the highway just stopped - must have run out of money or cement or maybe both.  Anyway, we called the number back, described where we were and they sent a guy on a scooter to direct us to the location.  It was a small hole in the wall shop... literally.  TO BE CONTINUED

Cynthia's Debut

Well, it did not take long for Cynthia to start impacting the community!  (Not that this will surprise anyone) She has been asked by the Service Center staff to emcee the New Moon Festival celebration on Saturday night.  The service center for Green Court manages all of the apartments in our complex which I guess must number near 500.  From day one, Cynthia set as a goal to make sure she was known by the service center staff so as to be able to get special favors when it comes to maintenance and other things that come up.  She quickly befriended Grace, Mandy and Agnes who work the desk.  When she first called the SC after arriving the response she got to her question "Do you remember me?" was "Ma'am there are so many people it is very hard to remember them all".  Well that was motivation enough for Cynthia to march down to the SC and meet face to face with the team and make a BIG impression in only the way that my wife can do.  She turned on all her "woo - power" and won them all over.  Yesterday, she got a call from Mandy who explained that they were having a community get together to celebrate the first day of the moon festival and that they would like Cynthia to be the emcee along with another Chinese host.  When Cynthia inquired "Why me?" Mandy replied, "Because you are a good talker, you have much talent in this area and you are friendly!"  Cynthia asked if she could have an hour to think about it to which Mandy replied, "No, you only get 30 minutes"  (the Chinese can be very efficient and direct when they want to be.)  Needless to say, Cynthia will be the Expat emcee for the kick off of the New Moon Festival!  (If they only knew what they have done.) It is Saturday morning and Cynthia just left for rehearsal.  I  leave for India today so I will miss the "performance" - which might be okay now that I think about it.  Landon has a sleep over birthday party to attend and Regan has found a good friend who he is spending lots of time with.  Mason went with a college friend to a get together last night and had a good time.  Oh, and our shipment came!  Woo hoo!!  Landon's comment this morning was, "I got to eat with silverware today!"  Oh to be thankful for the small things in life.  Have a great weekend and keep those cards and letters coming.  Until next time.