In case you were wondering, (I know I was!) there are ample los bathrooms in Shanghai including "1,089 fixed toilets and 25 movable toilets, owned by a government department called Shanghai City Appearance and Environmental Sanitation Administrative Bureau. Apart from the bureau's toilets, private-enterprise owner Gu Hongchang built 140 movable toilets. "In total, the city has over 1,200 toilets, which means, on average, there are three toilets per square kilometre..."

How do you spell relief? DECENT TOILET!

I decided that I hate it that Patrick has epilepsy. Today, it's under control but it could flare up again at any time. A dog whose person is on the canine epilepsy mailing list I'm on had a whopper this morning, peed and pooed and bit his lip so he was awash in bodily fluids. I read that and almost cried, thinking that it could happen to Mr. P at any time. I hope that he is seizure free while we're in China, that he doesn't get freaked out that we're not home for 10 days. Sigh.

You can't beat a telemarketer who hangs up on themselves.

In Japan and China, we'll have to go through customs and make declarations. I've been practicing all morning:
I declare that i'm the king of customs!
I declare that Amy declares I'm the king of declarations
I declare that I'll be here all day, making declarations!

The parents have arrived safely. They had a 3+ hour delay getting out of Columbus but arrived tired, but okay. I called the airline to see what they'd done with them, they weren't going to give out the information (aka the 411) but I did this whole spiel about how they're 70 years old (not quite but hey) and don't travel much, if they were lost, or worse, in Detroit and they hooked me up. We had a quick dinner, then whisked them off to my big holiday concert. They hadn't seen me play since high school and it was a huge thrill to have them there. Later, Mom said she was proud of me. Awww, shucks.

Ever wondered: How much of a lesbian are you? Thanks Dylan. For your information, I scored 100 out of 180 so maybe I'm not as gay as I think. Except of course for having no physical attraction to men but hey, that's a sidebar.

3 of my great loves all together, Roo, hockey and of course MissAlice:

And of course, Z and Mr. P

And for a little levity, I offer you Zeus and Gus:

Calling the groomer to make an appointment for Mr. Zeus, who is a real pain in the ass when it comes to getting his nails trimmed. We hadn't been there in a while and I knew this was coming but it still left me in tears.
"Hi, I need to make a grooming appointment."
Okay, what's your name?
Liz, Doughty
Oh, okay is this for Alice?
My voice catches, no, no it's not, she passed away about a year ago.

The woman was sorry and overly apologetic through the rest of the conversation but the pain still hung there. Some days, I think that pain will just always be with me, that the mere mention of her name will bring me to tears forever. Maybe it will, I just don't know. The farther away we get from losing her, the more I realize that you just don't get over a loss like this, that maybe you learn (most days) how to maneuver around it, but it's always there. I imagine made for TV movies about Al and me, people the world over amazed at the great bond we shared and of course how fucking cute she was.

Yup, she was #1. I may wear jersey #1, but it belongs to her and her alone. Maybe someday, when I'm more over this, I'll retire those jerseys but for now, it's something I need to do to remind the world who she was. Far more than just a dog, that's fo damn sheezy.

Amyfritz. Sherpa
and Solid Gold dancer, yo!
Boogie at the bar

Groove to the beat when
Nobody else is dancing
We are Solid Gold.

Went to the city
On the weekend. Bus then Bart
Then Muni. Tired, here.

Blind man on the train
Nobody stops to help him
You, there, you ASSHOLE!

Late night hockey game
Tons of fun then, but today
So tired I can't stand.

Amyfritz, all things
Fashionable and also
Personal sherpa

My parents are coming out to visit tomorrow. I am already exhausted at all the planning that's gone on and will continue to go on. I do know that my mom will have a better time the more we have each meal, each moment planned so I've done my best to accomodate that. But I'm not quite that organized so it's very hard. I expect a number of additional phone calls from them before they arrive.

People are Jerks
Just when I am starting to have faith in mankind, that we are basically good, comes a smack upside the head from the gods that screams 'Liz, you dumbass, people are assholes.' Getting off the train this morning, there is the usual throng of people waiting to buy muni tickets, myself included. In the middle of this throng is a man who is obviously blind (HELLO? DID YOU NOT SEE THE CANE??) and he's confused. Doesn't know where to put his money and keeps waving his dollar around. Does anyone stop to help him? No! They just walk around him or shove him out of the way so they can get their fucking tickets. Finally, it's my turn, of course the man is still standing there, so I basically buy his ticket for him then guide him to the platform. At one point the guy almost wanders off the platform and people just look on. Once on the train, he asks if this car stops at Market and California but nobody answers.

What is wrong with people? Are we all so self important that we can't help a blind man get on the streetcar? Obviously yes. So, dear readers, take a look around you and if someone needs help, don't shove them out of the way, help them! You'd certainly want the same if you were in the blind man's shoes.

And to the little kid who hit Leo this weekend at the pizza place, no little Mikey that was NOT appropriate behavior and your mommy should be ashamed that you did that. She should also kick your ass for touching Leo, not just say 'that's inappropriate behavior.' Aren't people parents anymore? Kudos to Holly and Kevin for not kicking the mother's ass but for insisting that she apologize.

In case you're wondering what the weather is in lovely Shanghai:

My esteemed collegue Rajiv is out for the week on a much-needed vacation. In his absence, I'm covering his accounts and already, here at 10:52 am on Monday, I am ready for him to return.

2 weeks from today, we will be in China. China. Motherfucking China. Ho-a and top o the morning to you, good people of Shanghai.

Fabulous Weekend
The parts of the Blue Jackets game that I saw were fantastic, they outshot the Sharks and I got to see Geoff Sanderson score two goals. They were up 2-1 when we left to get ready to play but blew it while we were gone, losing 3-2 to the Sharks. Skating after was big fun, even if the Cones got their asses kicked. Saturday was a Long Day. Andrea headed up to the city for the craft show and I came up later via transit. Lesson learned -- there's nothing fun about a long city bus ride. Bart was exciting from the moment I got on, an old man next to me was 'ready to rock and roll, let's get this thing moving' and another guy came through shouting that we were headed to Sahn Frahn, Sahn Frahn!! By the time I got to the craft fair I was tired and hungry. Fortunately Amy came along and whisked me away to the house of cheesesteaks. We ate them with Andrea, then headed off to get Amy's car, shlepping my hockey gear on not one but two busses. Glenlewis, I do not know how you do that week after week. It was a royal pain in the ass. We got Amy's car and she drove my ass down to Redwood City (home of the most fun playing hockey ever) to watch a rag tag band of geezer subs tie the #1 team, the 16-19 year old Jr Girls Sharks. I took a big time penalty, tripping a girl as she went toward the net, but she didn't score so it was worth it. I had a blast, then we headed back to the city for dinner w/ Andrea, Annie and on to meet for Brandon's birthday party.

We schlepped Brandon's ghetto cake through North Beach, Amy carrying with me in the lead saying, 'excuse us, cake coming through' the whole way. The bar was the super trendy, decidely downtempo Rosewood, where they play hip hop music but nobody dances, they just stand around wearing hip clothes and drinking expensive drinks. Me? I had a water and was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. I decided the music was going to waste and started dancing like I was at a real (aka Gay) club. Amy joined me and we danced as if nobody was looking, which of course they weren't. They were turned away, being trendy.

Sunday, my Red team kicked ass despite the subs I'd invited getting intimidated out of playing for us by these two women who had just shown up hoping to play. I was pretty pissed about the whole thing but got there too late to change it. We won 3-0, thanks to a solid line of D and some hard working forwards. Tons o fun. Immediately after, I went to the Green practice, where I spent an hour dumping pucks into the corner for them to chase. Eventually I started using slapshots. It was perfect, I could just stand there and watch them go. In a game, you'd need to pay attention but in practice, you can admire your shot all day long.

But now it's Monday and I'm here at the office again. Woo.