Saturday 22nd October, 2016                          1130

Well I had a result on Thursday, the water was only turned off from 1500 for about an hour. Typically it happened just when I wanted to wash up a lot of pans that I had just used to prepare part of the evening meal.

Yet more online shopping had arrived, meaning I had to take that home instead of hopping straight on the BRT which was slightly inconvenient, albeit self-inflicted. I had offered to cook for Suzy and Sheila (I shall miss them when they go to Cyprus, they are very helpful) and given them the choice between lasagne and tortillas. They opted for tortillas as wraps but they would be cold and a tad boring so I naturally decided to make chilli enchiladas, hence having dirtied a lot of kitchen things.

This bribe was so as to get them to do a bit of cleaning before eating, mostly dusting surfaces (God it’s dusty here!) and very importantly mopping the kitchen floor. They loved the enchiladas and the internet gods smiled on us because I never lost connection until a few minutes after they left so they got to watch The Children of Huang Shi, particularly relevant to them (aside from the obvious) because Lanzhou features in it.

Since Thursday the water supply has been uninterrupted so I am hoping that soon they will start filling in the trenches. I just wish the internet company would get its act together. Yesterday morning Brenda came bearing my passport at last and equally importantly, a hodge-podge of piping which she had got for my washing machine inlet. For starters it wasn’t going to connect to the machine, although I still had the original pipe which did. We now had a four-piece “snake” which I declared would not connect to the bathroom tap. Of course I am a world-renowned expert on plumbing and all things engineering. Brenda connected it.

It was terrific last night to throw my clothes in the machine, connect up, press the button to start and simply wait until the wash was finished. Not a bucket in sight!

Mid afternoon Suzy had texted me in class to ask if I was in school. I guessed my final shopping item had arrived and she wanted to give it to me - salad cream. For some reason I couldn’t respond, the text kept getting saved in the outbox. Miffed, I tried to call her but was told my account was overdue! Well it’s pay as you go so not really an account per se but considering the day before I had 37y credit I found it incredible that it had all disappeared! Disappeared it had though but Suzy was waiting outside my office when I finished class anyway. I explained to her the problems I had in trying to put money on the phone in four different shops previously and she suggested it was because I never had my ID with me. Well until that morning I hadn’t had any ID as my passport was away getting the permit. I said I would take it tomorrow (now today) and see if I could top up. It meant I would be unable to communicate with anyone last night but I was certain that nobody would need me to.

Except Harriett, whom Brenda had asked to take me to open a Bank of China account on Monday afternoon (passport with valid permit needed), sent me a message to say she would rather do it this morning, was it ok? Well yes, if only I could tell her! Aha! I sent a Skype message to Suzy to ask her to tell Harriett I was incommunicado and to call me. We arranged to meet at 0930 this morning.

Off we went to the bank, I had engineered it so as not to have to go shopping over the weekend but now I may as well get some bits seeing as I was going to be near BHG anyway. Harriett could also help me top up my phone.

Only she couldn’t in the shop either. It’s nothing to do with ID, instead out of province shops can’t do it unless they are a “main” branch. Marvellous. Harriett did it for me online using her phone.

In the bank (now this was the third visit to open an account, having been thwarted at two branches because my passport was away) the teller indicated there may be yet another problem to do with “sensitive politics”. What?? I have no stamps in the passport from countries China isn’t friendly with, I am not a member of a political party so what could possibly be “sensitive”?

My name.

I asked how the hell my name could prevent me opening an account? Which part of it was sensitive? Get this - the bank computer doesn’t like “Steven”!!!!! Don’t ask, I am as mystified as anyone. So now we need to go to another branch near the campus I teach at on Monday. Apparently my name will become acceptable there. ABC and CCB never had any problem giving me an account - the teller gave a stupid smile when I pointed this out - yet the biggest of them all does. Ho hum.

At least I did some shopping, this time buying a load of fatty minced pork, I am going to try my hand at making sausages. That is bound to end up with about two yards of lumpen, misshapen skin at best, meat all over the kitchen and me at worst. Fingers crossed!