Wednesday
19th February, 2020 2040
The
Firewall Police struck again last night and I was put on the naughty
step for 24 hours. It's bad enough with the situation as it is
without not being able to access UK television. Service only resumed
about an hour ago and even now I can only connect via Hong Kong so
it's YouTube.
Once
I had read the news, well, such news sites as are not blocked here, I
didn't dare watch any films I had downloaded in case it left me with
nothing to watch tonight so I played online dou dizhou all day. I
played it so long I never realised the time and when I did, it was
too late to even think of making a carrot and lentil soup as intended
and also too late to bake a loaf. The local bakery and the new
supermarket only sell “cake” bread and neither of us wanted to
make the trip to BHG. She ended up with cake bread and jam,
thankfully I had some frozen pasta thingy I cooked weeks ago.
Tomorrow we really should eat some proper food. I think I saw the
stirrings of some decent potatoes in the shop so maybe a roast. I
just need to move my backside earlier!
Anyway,
while other cities are awakening, Lanzhou continues to remain an open
prison and today just became ever so slightly worse. Now, when I
leave or return home, I have to show a card! Ok, I understand they
can't know everyone by sight, especially with these bloody masks,
but.....
There
is but one fat foreigner living here, in fact for the foreseeable
only one foreigner and every guard knows me because without
fail when I pass I greet them or wave to them in the guardhouse! It's
a bit like asking your own brother for ID! I have always maintained
good relations with security in China because I don't want them to
bar entry to my taxis when I come home, particularly with boxes of
wine and heavy shopping. If I owned a car they'd let me in.
People
keep saying everything will be fine in March. That's eleven days
away. Really?
Ah
well, at least I did a huge load of laundry yesterday!
Going to watch the Tyson Fury fight Sunday morning, possibly at the BB. And just to cheer you up, no internet problems here.
ReplyDeleteBugger off!
ReplyDeleteWhat is the speed of your normal internet without using a VPN?
ReplyDeleteNo such thing. Remember I have always used uni internet. Unstable is how they describe it. Can be anything from 50Kbps to 1.5Mbps
ReplyDeleteMust be, I have 200Mbps as the Chinese maximum allowed. It gets reduced using a VPN to anything between 40Mbps and 70Mbps. My TV is direct, not using the VPN and I have uninterrupted foreign TV coverage.
ReplyDeleteI am ecstatic with 2Mbps
ReplyDeleteBut then I don't pay for it.
DeleteBut wouldn't you prefer to pay for better reception. This place came with 100Mbps connection but shared with all the other apartments.
ReplyDeleteHow? The flat belongs to the school. I couldn't even get permission to have a hole drilled in the wall so the washing machine drains outside!
ReplyDeleteI don't know but I did it here. If you pay, they will do it.
ReplyDeleteThis is not my property either but I did it.
ReplyDeleteI've suffered for 10 years and I am too close to retirement to rock the boat.
ReplyDeleteIts not rocking the boat getting what is allowed. How you use it may be.
ReplyDeleteBut how do they know what you are doing or using?
ReplyDeleteEven if I did it there's bound to be a contract for a set time. I don't have that security of tenure.
DeleteI think you need some contacts with people owho know how things work.
ReplyDeleteYou think there are no IT professors teaching in this university?
ReplyDeleteJust people who can arrange the connection. You don't need an IT professor, just someone to connect you. It's just normal people who come here. Anyway have a good evening. I'm watching BBC live at the moment and flicking between Sky news and CNN.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't forget my salary is about 10% of yours. We can't all live the Shanghai Dream.
DeleteEnjoy
ReplyDelete😇
ReplyDelete