It's a tall, tall world....

It's a world of gas fumes, a world of gray.

It's a world of carbon and urban decay.

There's some junk in the air, that its time you're aware, it's a smog, smog world.

Today Dade and I forked out $17 to ride the world's fastest elevator to the world's highest observatory deck.

The viewing deck is situated 1614 feet above street level. To give you an idea, the Empire State Building is 1454.

The observatory deck had glass floors, and floor to ceiling glass windows. It was stomach churning to say the least.

Unfortunately, the view from 1614 feet can sometimes suck. Especially on a day when the smog index is over 200.....which it was.

Enough said- here are the pictures from the world's highest observatory.

Note- the building in picture 4 is taller than than any building in Oregon.

Silence In Shanghai

When I was a kid, maybe 7 or 8 years old I was at my grandma's house....my mom's mom Barbara's.  I can't remember what I was doing, but I distinctly remember her turning at me, a bit irritated, and saying "Calee go sit on the davenport!".  I had enough sense to listen to what she said....but I had no idea what the hell a davenport was.  A bit frightened, and in a flail of a guess, I went into the laundry room and sat on the dryer.

That is a true story and my point is I've been around long enough to know the sound of crap when it's about to hit the fan.  You want to know what that sound is?  Silence.

That has been the last two weeks here in Shanghai.  Sarah and I have been here for 2 weeks straight.....no quick, or long trips out, just straight Shanghai.  Silent.

Well that's about to come to a close.  Sarah leaves for the US tomorrow, the day before Dade arrives here.  Dade and I will be here for a few days then will be travelling to Beijing to breath some particularly bad air.  Sarah gets back sometime while we are gone.  We get back for a day and Dade leaves....at which point Sarah and I are travelling to Hong Kong.  Once back from Hong Kong we're here for three days then going to Taiwan....then I'm out to the US.  And on and on.  Sarah's birthday, August to US, September all over the place.....it just doesn't stop.....and all of a sudden here I am- the very person I swore I'd never be.  The planning in advance kind.

I don't like to plan.  I can't stand it when I hear someone say "We might have one weekend at the end of July" or "I wish I could but I'm booked until September".

So, what am I going to do about it?  Can Sarah and I avoid it?  In short, yes. 

In what many would consider complete irresponsibility, I'm quitting my job.  I'm changing my future plans to come home to I don't know when.....and am probably just going to show up one day at your house needing a place to stay.  We're going to bail for Sarah's birthday and hope we don't need a visa for where ever we show up.  I'm bailing to Alaska to fish, and we're going to close out the year with a backpack and a sleeping bag.  Maybe in Australia, maybe in your living room....we'll know a few days in advance.

Like I said before, we wish to live deliberately- and to see if we can not learn what the world has to teach....and not, when we come to die discover that we have not lived.....

Unfortunately it is probably time for me to fess up and let you know that I stole that line the first time I used it from Stewie Griffin from Family Guy.  This time I couldn't remember it so I cut and copied it from a previous blog.

Last, a while back Driver David went bow hunting over here and shot a pheasant.  Knowing that I use feathers to tie flies he brought me some pheasant tail from the bird he shot.  Well, this was before that whole bird flu thing really came along....and so I accepted the gift with open arms.

Fast forward to this last week and I've had time to tie up some flies for my trip to Klamath.  I sprayed the tail feathers with Lysol and called it good.  I've tied these in years past and every year they seem to evolve.  This year they include Chinese pheasant tail, olive rabbit fur with rubber legs, Hungarian partridge, the wing is goose and the collar is peacock....a blend of H7N9 if I've ever seen one.  So I'm going to name it either "Calee's Bird Flu Fly", "H7N9 Trout Slayer", or "Trout Influenza"......not sure which yet but I promise it'll catch fish!






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Modern Engineering and Happy Birthday Christine!

I just don't get it.  Everyone loves puppies and kittens.  If you say you hate kittens, you're a liar....unless you're allergic.  Then I'd hate them too.

So this is what I think, and if you disagree, go find another rad blog....

We have engineered everything.  Bridges that span miles, space ships, submarines.  We've covered every inch of this world.....even been to the moon.

We can make watermelons more juicy, corn more sweet, cows more lean.

We can turn air and water into electricity, fire, the wheel, bronze tools and more.

All that crap and no one has figured out how to bio-engineer pets.  I'd like a pure white long hair kitty that doesn't shed, and will only ever grow to 40% full size.  Is that really too much to ask?  Considering what we've accomplished, I don't think so.  I will give the first person to come up with this a cool $100 cash.

I'm on a roll.....so here is stellar idea #2- how about a small street store/booth, like a newspaper stand style shop that you'd find in a big city.  The shops walls rotate around, and have three faces.  So in the morning your booth sells newspapers, coffee, maybe bagels.  At 3pm you rotate your wall once and it's full of candy and toys for the kids who just got out of school.  At 5pm it rotates again and now you're selling beer, cigarettes, maybe umbrellas on a rainy day....get my drift...?  Why hasn't this caught hold?  This is easy stuff....anyway, the intellectual capital belongs to me- don't touch.

Update on Little Flower:

This was Little Flower's first week and it's been dope.  She's already way better than Po was (no offense Po).  So on Wednesday she and I went to the store so I could show her what kind of stuff we buy- and she'll make sure we always have it.  IOW- she's going to do most of our grocery shopping for us....which is just flat crazy that, as we all know, I really have no responsibility here, and I still can't manage to lift a finger. 

We went to the foreigner market, and she balked at the prices of stuff there....then offered to take me to E-Mart, a big Target style store not too far from our house.  I didn't really pay too much attention to most of it- but I did notice they had Ting Tao beer- 22oz- for 2 RMB.  That's 40 cents folks.  Needless to say, I was all over the pijiu (that means beer in Chinese).

After the store, we walked back to our house and she showed me some other local shops.  Nothing I haven't seen yet- but interesting to have her pointing out what they actually were....a lot of times I just walk by- half jaw dropped at the madness.  On our walk back she explained that she's been an ayi for 24 years here in Shanghai!

Long story short, she's money....she did ask me about my family some, and I made the mistake of telling her that I have 6 brothers and sisters, so she asked about each and their age....then asked how old my mom was.....and I had to start back tracking.....and she never really understood any of it in the first place....so now I think she thinks I was lying.  This is the kind of crap you have to deal with all the time around here.  My advise to you is this- when in another country, answer "yes" or "no" to every single question anyone ever asks you.  It's much more simple.

Along those lines, Mikey B asked me if I could hook up a mountain bike frame for cheap.  As you all know, I love these kinds of projects- but seriously....I don't know if its the language barrier or the way business is done around here but it's been 400 conversations, covering the same 4 points for 4 days now (4 is an unlucky number here BTW.  You'll never see a building with a 4th floor).  Its real simple- 21 inch frame, 29 inch wheel size, aluminum, how much?  Be my guest if you think you can make any headway over here with something this easy.....and let me tell you- any time the answer has anyting to do with "the factory"- you're in trouble.

Written by Calee Cariaga in a letter to you.  April 19, 2013


HAPPY BIRTHDAY Christine Williamson of Lebanon Oregon! 
Christine, mother of the 1995 Strawberry Festival Queen turns 61 today!  Arriving in Oregon via covered wagon on the Oregon Trail, Christine is now old enough to "remember when this was all fields as far as the eye could see".  If you ever get a chance to sit down with "Chirs" as her friends and family call her, you'll be in for a treat of a history lesson as she will give you first hand accounts of; the invention of the wheel, the spanish inqusition, or the civil war. 

As a baby Christine was raised by native tribes, now called Neanderthal, and as a young girl growing up in the ice age she has fond memories of riding the wooly mammoth.  Her teenage years were spent chasing "totonka" (also know as buffalo) in the fields and prairies of her back yard.  Fast forward to today and you can find her working in her yard with her beloved husband Steve, cooking in the kitchen (just kiddin!), or spending time with her grandchildren. 

You can see her documentary on the History Channel website here:

www.olderthandirt.historychannel.com

61 and still rolling!  Happy Birthday Christine!!!

Written in a twitter update- time stamp 5:11pm

A Quick Comparison

Check it.....a few posts ago I took a photo of the sunrise from our balcony. Today I took another photo from the same spot.

The difference is smog.....

Thunder Bear Poll

Emotions are high after my previous post about Kris naming his scooter. Private messages to me have indicated that his scooter name should not change.

Therefore, I'm going to help him find a logo via a poll on this blog. Here are the two leading candidates- the first from Eric, the second from Kris himself. Please post your votes....or submit links to artwork that you think should be considered.

Chris "knock out" Jones submitted the third logo "playing for keeps"

Junk Mail

I woke up to this email this morning:

All,

I’ve thought hard about this and the decision wasn’t easy.  It’s taken over a year and I harken back to the research compiled and the published paper written by a colleague which can be foundHere circa 2012.  The methodology in this paper is sound, but I haven’t followed it exactly.  What’s in a name?  A name should stir an emotional response.  It may be a direct rip off, but if you don’t know where it came from I won’t tell you.  With that I give to you the new name of the Honda Ruckus:

God, I don't even know where to start with this one.  First, who names their scooter?  Maybe a motorcycle- for sure a boat......why not just put tassels on the handlebars to match the banana seat?  Thunder Bear?  All I can envision is some big, hairy, wanna-be motorcyclist wearing only jeans and a black leather vest somewhere in the Castro District.....and take that from the one who used to go clubbin' there with his wife and her friends after they got me drunk.  If you're reading this, no offense Thunder Bear, hope all is well.

My gut reaction was to grab his underarm, you know- the inside of his arm at the triceps with my thumb and fingers digging into his biceps, the power hold....like his mom used to in Market Basket (more on grocery stores in a minute).....anyway, grab his underarm and shake it violently while yelling under my breath "you're embarrassing me!", you go Coy.

However, in this post 9/11 world I see it more beneficial to be positive and helpful.  Plus, I realize that not everyone can be good at making up names.  I'm not really.  There are only a few people I know that actually are.  Nick Kappas taking the cake- that dude will give you a nickname inside 10 minutes of meeting you that is not only fun and catchy- but also sums up your entire life in one word.

Like I said, I'm not great at making up names....but I am good at: stealing other's ideas, copying things and making them my own, making fun of people, integrating the word donkey into every blog, and contracting bird flu from our friend and Sarah's old high school buddy Jill.

Combine this ridiculous set of skills and you get not only a good name for a scooter, but a logo too.  Trust you me, I didn't want to get involved in this one....but what can you do?  Here is the new name and logo for Kris' scooter:

That's right- the new name is Sherm's Thunderbird.  Deal with it.  Snap.

Calee out.

Economics 101

Here is a little economics, supply/demand, manufacturing lesson for you....

Stop buying so much crap.

Myself included.

Why this lesson (rant) today?  Well because I happen to live smack in the middle of the world's industrial district, and I was cautioned today to not "go outside" due to the very poor air quality.  Rad.

We all know where most of this junk is going to once it is made- our living rooms.  It is in our living rooms because it is cheap to make and ship, hence cheaper for us to buy.  

There are two reasons it is cheap to make.  First wages are depressed, likely because of a work force that has become far too large.  Second, there are few regulations, and less that are enforced, on manufacturing....creating the perfect environment to make and sell cheap stuff.

Each of these reasons presents significant problems for Shanghai, China, and the world.  Today we are going to explore the second of these issues and how that impacts the environment here in Shanghai....and further, how now I can't just jump on my new bike and cruise the streets.  For more on the first issue, depressed wages, tune in next week for Calee's "theory of alienation" plagiarized by me from Karl Marx.

It's simple really, if you don't have to worry about anything that has to do with the environment, you make make cheap stuff.  Gas getting too expensive for your delivery trucks?  Mix some old oil in with some Aquanet (yes, another early 90's reference) and you're good to deliver 500 more units....let's worry about the black smoke the truck is spewing later.  Have a ton of waste from the aluminum you just drilled out?  Well the good news is that junk sinks....so throw it in the river and no one will see it.  Let's not even kid ourselves if we think we are even going to address the smoke coming out of the factory....that's level one stuff we started ignoring 30 years ago.

My point is this- rent, stream, or pirate some old MacGyver episodes and lets all start buying less crap.  That is the only way we'll be able to help this country dig itself out of this enviro-mess.  I don't know if that is going to solve the worlds problems or what, and I'm not sure I even care....I just want to ride my bike.

In line with this "anti-crap" post....a picture of our new trophy wall in the living room.  These are made from 100% recycled materials and only three animals were injured....

End of the road

We told Po, the ayi the bad news today. It sucked. Here is the translation of what I said to her:

How do I say goodbye to what we had?

The good times that made us laugh outweigh the bad.

I thought we'd get to see forever, but forever has gone away.

It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

She was ok with it- like I said before- she has a bunch of families, so we're just a drop in the bucket. I'll miss her though- she and David were the only people I knew around here for a while.

The awkwardness of her being in the house when she and I can't talk will be gone I think with Little Flower since she can speak some English.

And I'll put it to rest right now- I know the name Little Flower sounds Modoc but it's not. It's Paiute. Free Leonard Peltier.

Oh- I almost forgot! My bike came in the mail! Well, the frame did. So I took it down to Speedcat bike shop- which is a dirty little shop not too far from here. They have a giant iguana, a small cat, and a really dirty aquarium with maybe 5 turtles in it. One of the turtles is huge- it's shell maybe the size of a basketball hoop.

Anyway, David dropped me off- I helped them put it all together- and I rode it home. All that is left is to take off the donkey stickers and I'm 100%.

For $200 you can get an aluminum frame, carbon fiber deep v rims, and all the other crap. That's dirty cheap.

Peace.

Sleepless In Shanghai

It's a play on words. Like sleepless is Seattle, except I replaced Seattle with Shanghai. Get it. Clever huh.

Anyway, I woke up at 4am. Still can't get on the Asia timeframe here.....and this asleep by 7 or 8pm and up at the crack is getting old.

Not all bad news though- we've had good weather this week, will this weekend, and next week. About 65-68 and sunny with only slight smog. Not too shabby. Last night I even saw a few stars....maybe the clearest I've seen it here yet.

I'll include a pic of the sunrise I took from our balcony. It looks pretty nice! Check out the tall building in the background- when complete it'll be the 2nd or 3rd tallest in the world I believe.

All the trees here have gone from small buds to full leaves in the past week or so....and while its nice now, everyone speaks of what this transition in weather brings- the humid heat of summer. It is universally agreed that it is some of the worst weather you can find. But for now, we'll focus on the good.

Sarah is going to Taiwan for work- so I'm gonna go over and meet her. Don't know why, or what's there, but figure ill never go again once we move back- so better do it now. I'm gonna roll those Taiwanese fools.

Turns out mainland Chinese people don't really dig on Taiwanese people....they all seem to rival over here. We had to take a cultural training class and they explained why....had I been paying attention I would relay that but of knowledge to you, but god- they stuck us in some room all day, and the lunch sucked. It was the only day here I "had" to do something....and I don't like people making me do things. Then the chick who was teaching it had too much perfume.

Sent from my iPhone

Devil in the Details

Its the little things in life.  Lets give it a try....

Sarah kicked my leg in her sleep and woke me up.  I looked at the time on my phone and it was 2:39am.

I checked my email since I was up anyway, one from Leland Outfitters and one from Chjo9- something sassy about my other blog.

I smashed my toe and my toe nail is black.  It's the third time in two years.

The song Back In The Highlife has been stuck in my head all day.

On my way to meet Sarah for lunch I saw a girl we saw back in July when we were looking for an apartment.  She was looking at an apartment the same time we were.

I can't remember if the "in" and the "the" should be capitalized in the title of this blog.  I can't ever remember that.

I have to order one of the big water bottles from the apartment management office, and I hope I don't forget to.

My favorite neighborhoods are flat with wide streets.  I don't like narrow streets.

I used to be good at organizing emails in my inbox.  Now I'm not, so there are 5000 emails piled up in there.

I wanted to post this reply to Dade's reply to my blog from the other day, but didn't:

"Dade, yes we all know the story- You didn't think you needed him when you got out on your own.  Dead set on having your way you were convinced that you were right and Steve was wrong.  But then you started thinking to yourself well, maybe what he said was true.  How could you get so turned around when you needed Steve as much as he needed you?"

I tried, but can't find a basketball hoop with suction cups that I could put up on our apartment glass door.

When I was in Oregon last, my back hurt every morning from that donkey bed at Kris'.

I'm slightly worried about contracting bird flu, even though statistically it's super unlikely.

The inside of my watch band is a little foul.

When I woke up this morning I did a mental walk-thru of how this blog would be and this was not it.

And then, then when I was 5, I pushed my sister down the stairs and blamed it on the dog.

I planned transportation, hotel, and guided vacation to Beijing without doing a single thing myself somehow.

Last time I went to the dentist I had them skip the x-rays because I don't like those things they jam in your mouth.

The thing that was holding up my shoe thing in the bedroom broke.  I have to find a new one now.

Slight wind today, 7 MPH from the north east.

Dinner tonight will be made by me and I found tuna and mayonnaise at the grocery store, I consider that a big win.

I should buy a few Huey Lewis and the News songs from itunes for old times sake.

Chae just texted me. 

The other day I remembered to our neighbors growing up were named Muffin and Chunks.  No joke.

Sometimes our coffee maker doesn't work great.  Sometimes it does.

Little Flower

Well, I wish it didn't come down to this....but we had to make a change. Things weren't happening like they should, and we couldn't fix them if we couldn't communicate them....

So, yes- you guessed it. We are letting our ayi go. She was faithful, and mildly decent. But if you can't communicate with her- things become very difficult....things start falling through the cracks. Feelings get hurt.

So today I met with Leo. Leo is our sort if Chinese agent. He helps find a driver, house, car, ayi.....and anything else "living" related.

Leo came well prepared with a few ayis to interview. He has skin in the game you see- his company can provide an ayi and our money goes to his company (well not HIS company, his employer). That said, you want to know what he does? He shows up with an ayi that can speak, read, and write English.

Yeah- that's right- Xiao Lan....she told me her name means "little flower". Game changer.

This is a total 180 from Po, who couldn't read Chinese....and things just go up from there.

First, she said she can go to the store for us any time- "just SMS me". Second, she cooks western foods....or so she claims. Third, if we need anything translated, she will be lurching around the house anyway. Four, she is available 3 days a week (Po was only around 2). Five, I can be even more lazy now. Six, well I'm just gonna stop, I could go on forever.

So, life in SH just got a little better....which is to say- its only a bird-flu, pigs-in-water, north-Korea, smog step away from being half as cool as Oregon.

Hey but so here is the deal- don't tell anyone! We haven't told Po yet, and I think she should hear it from us. She'll be ok as she works for like 10 families....and, to be dead honest, I'm not so sure she really liked Sarah all that much.

My new deal is gonna be that I'm going to end all my blogs with a Jeff Winger style inspirational line. Let's give it a try....

So it's a new day, and what we have to remember is that the only thing we need to remember is that maybe being nice to one another is what will get us through the day. We spend so much time wanting to be someone else that we forget who we are to each other and in doing so we lose ourselves.

Back in the high life....

Internet is fixed!

Home phone is fixed!

Here is a song my friend Steve wrote that I think is perfect for this occasion:

It used to seem to me
That my life ran on too fast
And I had to take it slowly
Just to make the good parts last
But when you're born to run
It's so hard to just slow down
So don't be surprised to see me
Back in that bright part of town

I'll be back in the high life again
All the doors I closed one time will open up again
I'll be back in the high life again
All the eyes that watched me once will smile and take me in

And I'll drink and dance with one hand free
Let the world back into me
And on I'll be a sight to see
Back in the high life again

You used to be the best
To make life be life to me
And I hope that you're still out there
And you're like you used to be
We'll have ourselves a time
And we'll dance 'til the morning sun
And we'll let the good times come in
And we won't stop 'til we're done

We'll be back in the high life again
All the doors I closed one time will open up again
We'll be back in the high life again
All the eyes that watched us once will smile and take us in
And we'll drink and dance with one hand free
And have the world so easily
And oh we'll be a sight to see
Back in the high life again

We'll be back in the high life again
All the doors I closed one time will open up again
We'll be back in the high life again
All the eyes that watched us once will smile and take us in
And we'll drink and dance with one hand free
And have the world so easily
And oh we'll be a sight to see
Back in the high life again

Life in SH-IT

That is short for Shanghai Information Technology....

Or lack there of....

The deal is this- I'm now having to sit and write this blog in the most uncomfortable position possible because the computer has to be plugged into the wall.

Why?

Because our wifi is still broken.

Why?

Because the person who came to fix it last night was the owner's property management agent, not someone who knows anything about IT. 

As a result, 2 hours of my time was wasted on this idiot poking around with the wires going to and fro just to say "I don't know what the problem is, we will have to have a technician come out".

So, here is the cut and copy of the email I sent to our agent, his boss, the apartment owner, and his property management company:

Hi All,

As you are all well aware- the wifi at our apartment has not worked for 4 days, and the Internet did not work for 2 days.

The process to fix these issues is very different here in China than what  am used to in the US.  Because of this I have one question:

Why does it seem that my time has no value to any of you?

I hate to ask the question, but it seems necessary since I have now wasted many hours on this issue with no resolution in sight.  Specifically, I had to be at home for 2 hours yesterday while the management agent was sent to fix our issue....though he had no IT knowledge.....and could not even begin to fix our issue.  2 hours yesterday, and now I'm waiting around today for a second person.  I can only hope they have some minimal amount of knowledge or training.

Also, I would like to know who the second individual was that came with the management agent.  That person simply stood around in my apartment the entire time and contributed absolutely nothing.  I'm only concerned with this because I don't like to have people I'm not familiar with in my home for no apparent reason....and it would seem extremely unprofessional to me if it was just the agents friend or family member.

I appreciate any response,

Calee

Now, I hope that didn't end up being too rude- I do have to work with our agent quite often.....but I mean come on.  Imagine I rented a house to you and agreed to take care of the Internet in the house -you call me when it isn't working and I say "ok, I'll send my niece Mia over to take a look at it"...."she seems to know a little bit about computers"......"wait for her to show up sometime after school between 3:30pm and 8pm".

Seriously.

Crash, Bang, Donkey

That was the title of a book Gino had in his bedroom.  When I told him I'd read him a book before bed, I had no idea it would be such a sweet deal.

The blog is back- and hotter than ever!  Bird flu, dead pigs in the river, custom made Indiana Jones whip....it's all here!  Now, where to start.....

First, I'm back on the bike kick.  After a failed attempt at a sidehack, a bought and sold mountain bike in Oregon, a bike with orange rims, and some other rad ideas, I've landed on a 2013 VISP fixed gear.  Due to arrive fresh from taobao.com in 2 days it'll be sure to knock your socks off!  6061 aluminum frame and fork with a cro-mo steer tube- it comes in at just under $100- made in China.  Gotta love cheap labor- cause this would have been an easy $500 frame stateside.  Crash, bang, donkey.

Phase two will be the build process......does any of this sound familiar?  I feel like this is the twelfth (when was the last time you saw that word spelled out) bike project I've had going here that never even left the ground.  Well this one is no different!  Freaking frame was supposed to be here Sunday.....its Monday and the new word is two days out.  Crash, bang, donkey.

Dade is coming in a few weeks.  Crash, bang, donkey to say the least.

Sarah will be going home for work in a few weeks.  She'll have the usual suitcase full of crap I've been commissioned to buy and send home.....so for those of you with orders contact Sarah at sarah@caleeschinabusiness.com.  If no jail time is involved, I expect all deliveries to be on time.  Crash, bang, donkey.

Currently 68 and sunny in Shanghai- and I'm stuck in the house waiting for some crash, bang, donkey to come fix our wifi.  Apparently if you're wireless router is down in China the process is as follows:

1.  Wait for 2 days for no reason.
2.  Stinky guy shows up to tell you it is broken.
3.  I tell our agent we have a problem, he tells owners agent, owners agent tells guy who has already been here that we have a problem, guy who has been here tells owners agent it is broke, owners agent tells owner, owner tells his agent to come out here and see, owners agent contacts our agent to update, our agent tells us owners agent is coming out, I tell our agent he, owner, owner's agent, and fix it guy they are all lame.

I SWEAR, that has been the process so far.  Lord only knows where it goes from here once the owner's agent comes today.  Crash, bang, donkey.

Back to the whip.  So I've been contemplating an Indiana Jones whip for some time now....for a number of reasons.....what if you were in the jungle?  I live on the 7th floor, what if there was a fire?  In the boat and, heaven forbid, someone fell out!?  A whole bunch of reasons to say the least.  So, I'm currently looking for someone here in SH to make me a bull whip.  Not just any whip though- I'll only rock a 10 foot, 12 plait, kangaroo overlay.  I'm serious- I'm going to rock that thing and it's gonna be crash, bang, donkey!


EDITOR'S NOTE-  Homeboy just showed up to "fix" the wifi.  The owner"s agent IS the IT guy.....except after 2 hours he said he couldn't fix it and that he'd tell the owner....and they'd send someone to fix it.  What a bunch of ridiculousness!  So here I am connected to the Internet through a cable.  What is this 2008.....or should I say 2000 and late!?