The great "firewall" of china

Will says that may be the problem occasionally - getting through China's firewall and being able to post the blogs...so we'll see. Don't give up on me just yet.

Today is Wednesday and its my third day out and about. I had a really good day yesterday. I met Will's boss' wife - Mary. Talk about nervous meeting her, geesh - she and Darrell have a driver (their own black passat like my Heidi) and a drive named Qu ("Koo"). She was really nice and we squeezed in the car with the two real estate agents and we were off to look at apartments. None of them were real dumps, but a lot of places don't have ovens or dryers (only washing machines) - so the two places I found were at the top end of our price range of $1500. Will doesn't really want to spend that and neither do I, but I think we would miss an oven and I don't think I want all my clothes lined dried out the window with Shanghai's air quality. So I think I've convinced him to splurge and those that venture to China to visit will be happier as well. Although I really haven't found an unsafe area - dirty, yes, unsafe, no. Crime is rare here especially against foreigners. Mary said that the Chinese people will get 10x the punishment if it is against a foreigner versus one of their fellow Chinese. I think that is goofy. Alas, the only thing I have been warned about is having a good grip on your cell phone.

Mary also has a dachshund that looks surprisingly similar to Wyatt - except in much better shape. It is good to know that I am not the only one the spoils my dachshunds. Maxine (the dog) is tough cookie - but I finally was able to pet her and I came away from the visit with out any bites or scratches...which I felt was a success. But, it makes me miss my dogs a little more too. Sigh....

I am having some sinus issues/headache/stuffy nose...so I'm chilling out right now and might venture out to the metro to go down to the fakes market. That way I know where to take all of you when you want to go. :)