Had my first day with my leg down all day yesterday.

That was a mistake! :) My knee looked like a watermelon - just the wrong color.

Tomorrow I'm supposed to walk around all day looking at places to live and I'm actually worried.

Frigging Dr Wu - what's up with the doctors in Taiwan? So car salesman Dr. Wu did do a great job on my leg... it's just that he makes you feel like he's sellin you life insurance, or a Hummer H2, or something.

Look at all the screws in the top half of my knee - in this x-ray

Dr. Flood & Dr. Feng's butchery - China Medical School Hospital - Taichung

From 20090520 Chang Gung Xrays

A close up - the grey line is WHERE the black line is supposed to be

From 20090520 Chang Gung Xrays

The surgery here is more organized

Dr. Wu - Chang Gung Memorial Hospital

From Redoing My Left Leg! More surgery

However, the wacky thing was Dr. Wu took my stitches out on day 6... now most doctors would have waited like 14 days or more for doing that - especially as I have about 25 inches (40 centimeters) of stitches! In their place he put some paper butterfly stitches - and told me I could shower today... day 14.

So I was DYING to shower - and did so... and POP, opened up some stitches on my ankle... only about 1 centimeter (3/8 of an inch)... but it bled like a stuck pig.

So I went and got more tape & taped up all the areas tht I took the paper stitches off! :) Giggle.

With that said - the SHOWER felt great.

Looking at the 'growth' in China is one way to evaluate the governments effectiveness. However something that I think is much more important is to evaluate its strategy.

I love reading things like www.ForeignAffairs.org for politics, strategy, articles, etc.... and as some of you know, I believe the USD is headed for a crash (pre 2013), and that the Chinese (not Taiwanese, but Mainland Chinese) economy is the place to be. I believe the 'fall of' the western powers is now irreversible, and that China is the current financial super-power. They are just, predictably, doing it in Chinese style (which, 99.9% of westerners can't - or don't want to - comprehend).

I believe the following - and think that it is an excellent plan by the CCP...

Parker's Guess At Chinese Political Strategy:

1. Educate the youth in Western Schools (late 80's onwards): Closing the gap on business strategy, manufacturing, political sciences, and technology are key


2. Compete in world manufacturing through inexpensive (not cheap) labour (ongoing): The mainland has had continuous planning over the last 20 years of moving hundreds of millions of people from rural to urban areas in order to maintain inexpensive labor costs. This is not only great for the government, but prevents revolution in the country.


3. Technology transfer (at the expense of companies wanting to open factories in China): Less acceptable is the official and unofficial ways in which technology has been transfered. Some of the intellectual property was blatantly stolen ... or IP stolen from a company and then the Chinese courts ruling CLEARLY against logic due to the fact that a foreigner was suing a mainlander. Other cases are not as blatant ... but still less good (requiring Joint Ventures, etc.) when tech is required to be transfered as part of the deal. At least in those cases, the foreign company can CHOOSE to go somewhere else


4. Invest in American T-bills until they own such a high percentage that the US is beholden to their export model. (ongoing but currently stalled): This is more the USA's fault than anyone else's. Blaming the Chinese for this is xenophobic and stupid. It's intelligent for China to invest in (the government of) the USA, as the US is it's principal target market. It's perfect capitalism on China's part to try to get the US to become beholden to China.


5. Invest in vast amounts of tangible commodites (ongoing, and increasing): this is what makes Soros & Buffet rich ... why shouldn't China do it? Additionally, it goes back to what their elite learned while studying in the 'west'.


6. They will work with Europe to push OPEC into using either the Euro or a basket of currencies to denominate petroleum / oil - so that as the US currency fluctuates, pricing stays more stable - at least that will be what is publicly stated (2010-2011)


7. Start unloading US investments, slow at first until they've divested into a more diverse basket of currencies. (2012): Japan is a net SELLER of US government investments.... We fought AGAINST them 50 years ago ... but don't openly whine about them not supporting us. We wrote their constitution and are still 'required' to defend them if there were a future war (think North Korea), but we don't whine about that, nor that they're not supporting us. Capitalism is just that - and since Japan has had their recession/depression/"Lost Decade" - we now whine that someone is going to do something financially sound @ the USA's expense.


8. Once the value of the US dollar crashes, they will move to trade the Renminbi on the open market and displace the American dollar as the world currency. (2015): This is a sensible move. The question is how far will they let the dollar drop - as if they do it too far, then they will not only gut the USA, but many dollar-tied currencies.

Sheepish

If you're from the US, and you don't LIKE what I've written, then you're not being objective. The above is good strategy, and the USA is filled with too many selfish, narcissistic politicians, and too many fat, dumb & lazy citizens. By ignoring our problems, and becoming increasingly docile(sheeplike, sheepish, lemming-esque), all we are doing is consigning ourselves to failure.

At what point do we realize that we're being abused by the talking heads/politicians? When do ALL of us start asking ourselves "how is it that we would have been better off if we were born in 'Communist' China?" As by asking ourselves that question makes one wonder - what in the world is going on here?

Last Thought

We Americans currently OWE, that is, the USA's national debt is currently:

There are (as of today 24 June 2009) 304,059,724 people in the USA ... which is a total of

MORE THAN USD 37511.66 per person in the USA in debt

And that's the debt that the US Government admits to!

here i sit , writing to my friend parker and charlene, and kids, love that scooter video on YouTube,.....listening to jazz on sirius radio...

Surgery went well... or so it seems.

Dr Wu's hear daily, smiling and excited by how straight my leg seems - to me and to him. :) Although, I'm getting a little tired of hearing how straight it is. Ahhh, to love one's job, I suppose.

It's Friday, and all I recall doing since surgery on Tuesday is sleeping, going to the bathroom, or eating some before sleeping more.

I haven't had the energy to turn the computer on in the last 48 hours ... and just woke up (3:30pm) from my second nap of the day...

Hopefully, the main cause for my napping all the time has left the hospital. I was sharing a room with an old man who would go to sleep around 9p or so at night - so we'd start being really quite.

Then when I would finally fall asleep - call it 1a to 2:30a - the "sleeping medicine" my doctor agreed to give me is "tylenol" ... I'd be woken up by the old man, his son(s) and his doctor at or BEFORE 6am.

Then, as we were right by the windows, I'd nap until something else woke me up.

So the old man left today - he's going back to his farm of 4,000 to 5,000 pigs - and I took his spot. Which is a little bit less large AND away from the windows, BUT it is right near the AC vent, and is away from the windows! So I'll be cooler, and have less chances of a headache due to the light.

Meds
Dr Wu has me on a tylenol only diet - which I'm not so happy about. He even refused a stool softener ... as I have yet to go.... I'll talk with him today.

Tylenol is like drinking water for pain. Doesn't work. So,yes, I did use something I happened to find in my bag.

today

Went for a walk, washed my hair, and turned on my laptop. Busy day!

10:30 Went in to OR for pre-surgery stuff: is it this leg, what are we doing, who are you, etc.
11:10 Charlene had to leave as I went in to the OR
11:30 Unconscious - surgery started.
17:50 Went to recovery.
20:50 Back to my room.

21:30 Fired off the above SMS

They took out all the old screws & plates and put in all new ones.

Gave me some of the old plates... the screws were "too dangerous" to give me... according to Dr Wu.