Venting

I'm back in Taipei again.

It's been about 6 months and generally, everything is where I left it.

The little street-side Taoist shrine I used to pass on my way from my lodgings to my work has been replaced by a 7-11. I shallower man than I would try to make something of that fact.

It took about 2 hours of my 20 hour plane trip to realize I was coming down with a cold; coughing, slightly sore throat, sinus pain, and body aches are the symptoms. Though the body aches may be the result of 20 hours in the torture device Northwest Airlines has the effrontery to call a coach "seat". Apparently, the changeover to Delta includes repainting the outside of the planes, but the "seats" are as crappy as ever. I guess since waterboarding is no longer on the table as an enhanced interrogation technique, might I humbly propose a minor substitution: two or three pacific crossings on that miserable plane ought to be about equivalent and, you no one can accuse you of violating Geneva because hell, some idiots (me) actually pay for the experience.

Anyway, good thing for me is that, like Coca-Cola and McNuggets, Robitussin exists anywhere that a meager profit might be had. I got 15 doses for the equivalent of about $4. That's not too bad. But I also wanted some more acetaminophen to augment what was in the 'tussin, and I finally found a product that had just that (it's not called Tylenol). Apparently an Australian subsidiary of GlaxoSmithKline sells a nice little box of what are, essentially, six extra-strength Tylenol, for the same $4 equivalent. They must still be laughing uproariously in Australia over that one.