China doesn't miss me

 Hi Folks.  It's been two months.  The sad thing is I haven't thought much about this blog, in the least.  Last week I logged in probably 55 hours in the office.  Not counting the fun commute on three interstates.  

 And now I'm finally on vacation.  Even so, it has taken me a few days to take care of errands and rest up a bit.  I don't miss getting up at 630 in the morning.  At all.  Today I only woke up when my alarm clock did.  930 in the morning.   So now I have some random thoughts before I start posting again.

I miss China.  I do.  I miss China very much so for the wrong reasons.  I wonder if I will "age" myself away from all the "Vice" that China represents the Western Man in China?  I believe I will. 

China on the other hand seems to be "just fine" without us.  Very much so.  I think someday those few laowai in China during these strange days will write books of their experience.  Today I know of only one laowai, a Russian of course.  A handsome fellow stuck in the bar industry.   In love with a girl from Chongqing, and alas he has now left Dalian for Sichuan.   Good luck with that. 

I can't help but wonder what has happened to the Foreign Studies Programs, the 5 star hotels in China, etc. We may never quite frankly ever know.  Not until China wants to tell that story. 

And will we ever go back?  Oh I think we will.  Those of us with booster shots, perhaps.  But as we move on from Alpha to Delta to Omicron, when will it ever end? Will it end? 

In America the covid death rate is about triple the flu death rate, in absolute terms.  About ten million Americans get hospitalized per year for the flu.  That's alot.  The worst year had about 50,000 deaths.

As I write this my teenager is getting a rapid covid test. 

I read somewhere that if China let's the virus escape its clutches, it will have 600,000 cases per day.  We currently have around 100,000 cases per day.

The Virus is tiring, it's tedious.  But its interesting how China copes.  It simply refuses "to live" with the virus.   Yet the virus lives on.   While not clear on your country I'm clearly exacerbated with mine.   We still have 30 million people that I consider truly responsible adults, that don't give a damn.  

They just refuse to get vaccinated. They make a political statement out of "Outsmarting Science".

Yep, outsmarting science one death at at time.  Meanwhile, I'm sitting here wondering when my daughter will qualify for a booster shot.   You think anyone in China is gonna get a booster shot anytime soon?  Too many people folks.    This Virus is faster than Science.  Still, Western Science is able to keep pace with the change.  Will Chinese Science be able to do the same? 

I was hoping to go to China sometime in the Spring.  Visit my staff, and also some suppliers. 

How much longer will we(I?) be able to manage our suppliers if we cannot visit them?  Thank God for WeChat.

Last night I had a conference call with several folks, and it was torture.  Why?  None of the American side had WeChat.   We had to wait twenty minutes for the Chinese side to download "Teams". 

This Virus worries me.  I think in the end, there is a good chance it will outwit our current defenses.  Just a matter of time.  Then what?  I tell you what, pray our scientists don't die from the damn thing. 

Again, I will say this;  this event is in the Chinese Wheelhouse.  A society that is used to dictating and a populace that is used to being dictated, too.   Meanwhile my own sister is not vaccinated, and her company doesn't mandate it.   

We can say this is Darwin.  I know.  Let's the dumbasses die first.  I get it.  But do you think America(or your country) is ever going to run out of dumbasses?  Do you?    At first I thought all these old folks dying would be good for Social Security.     

Hold of on that.  Younger folks are dying too.   That is, those that pay into the system. 

The Chinese System is overkill.  We know that.  But that is all they know.  This is "subtlety with Chinese Characteristics."  If the Chinese don't like things they can come here.  Their welcome.  And they do not have to isolate. 

If I were to go to China, I would need to isolate for almost a month. Port of entry and final destination. 

Have a booster?  China Man don't care.  Have a vaccination card?  China Man don't care.  

I have to think China's strict control regime is a myth.  Afterall, I see lots of pix from this Russian friend of mine, he's a bartender, of massive crowds in those Chinese nightclubs.  No masks.  Amazing. 

I went to listen to a symphony the other day and needed a vaccination card to gain entry.  And I didn't complain.

So let's see how this plays out.  In the interim, China doesn't miss me folks.  Or you.  And that kinda sucks.