1000 Steps

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Aiye comes early this morning to clean. I’ve been up just a few minutes.

I’ve observed housekeepers in France and now China. I think I’ve learned some things. If I can get around to enough places where housekeepers come in each week, I might have something to say about my observations. Meantime, I’ll try to stay out of Aiye’s way.

We live on the fifth floor of this building, though our apartment number is 402. There are 73 steps to climb to reach our door. I’ve had trouble with the steps at about the fourth floor when I’ m bundled up. Today I’m going to try to see how it goes without all those clothes on.

Wow! It does make a difference. I thought pollution had gotten to my lungs and was holding me back. It’s just the extra bulk, especially on my legs.

Well, ok, I start huffing and puffing the third time I come up. But this is great exercise, especially on days when it’s just too darn cold to walk outside.

After going up and down 12 times I think I’ve done 1000, but I do the math and I’m short so I do two more rounds. Good workout.

I’ve felt guilty about not calling Linda and Joe, the couple we met on the way to Harbin. Linda had suggested we might ride over to the Ice Festival together, but I sensed some hesitation from Joe.

On our side, we thought we might not be able to stay very long because of the cold, and Bernie’s hip might start hurting, so we didn’t want to slow their pace.

But they seem very nice and Linda may want to talk to someone from back home – we don’t know how many of the Intel people are already her. So I call. Joe answers the phone. They are both sick. The caught head colds in Harbin. Linda may call when she’s well.

I’ve found a missed call on my phone that came in a week ago. The calling number shown on the phone isn’t really the calling number. I think it may be the way cell numbers display in China – a ten-digit number, the first three are zeroes, the next three 191 and the last three seem to vary. Trouble is, you can’t call back using those numbers.

I’m in a quandary. If I call Gail and she didn’t call me I may look presumptuous. If I don’t call and she left a voicemail, which I cannot access here, I’ll be rude.

I’ve sent an e-mail, but with e-mail who knows? Maybe it didn’t go anywhere. Maybe she only looks at her personal e-mail a couple of times a week.

And then there are the darker thoughts. I’ve been cut off from Facebook. Probably that’s just some computer slinking by and stabbing at anything that sticks its head out. On the other hand what if it’s more sinister?
I know that the surface appearance is designed to make this look like a free, bustling, very modern place.

But there’s more than meets the eye.

What if my new friends have been touched by something careless I’ve done to call attention to us?

All this is extremely unlikely. But when you’re in the shadow of darkness…

My worries about good etiquette may be for naught anyway. I’ve tried three phones and six different ways of dialing the number we have for Sheri’s mom and each time I get a recording telling me the number is no good.

I go to bed thinking there’s even a possibility she’s had to change her cell number because of….what?

You know, even when you’re all grown up and think you know better, you sometimes suspect that there really is something under the bed.