Curtain Call

No one reads this anymore. Fine. I don't write anymore. Also fine. Here's why:

I have been granted a permanent residence visa as Tim's partner, so we will be leaving Taiwan in about 2 months. We are both very excited and relieved. The packing is underway, and we're already making inquiries about transporting the dog, and other awkward items. I will almost certainly not continue to maintain this blog in Canada. I thought about starting one called "Made in Canada," but that sitename on blogspot.com was already taken by some pregnant woman who posted once 2 years ago and then stopped. No matter. I will keep this one where it is, and if I ever start something new, this is where I'll let you know. Or, I'll start making comment posts on the 2 blogs I still read, this one and this one.

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And now, one final Taiwan Moment.

Because people in Taiwan don't have much use for second-hand clothes, they often just get dumped. There are big metal boxes all over the city for clothing recycling. There is one such box in our garbage/recycling area at the apartment.

An additional box was added just around the corner several months ago. It seemed a little unnecessary since the other one was so close, but because it's under our window, I could see that some people were using it to dump off their old clothes.

Anyway, last Saturday night, at about 1 am, the dog went crazy barking. He's normally good-natured, and he doesn't bark at street noises. When I looked out the window, I saw two dirty men get out of a blue truck. They unlocked the box with a key, removed the clothes, and drove away.

Now, if this thing is legitimate, why did they empty it in the middle of the night?

But to me, the bigger issue is this: If they had a key, that means that they put this box here to "steal" recycled clothes. It's like putting your own "donation" trailer in the middle of a parking lot, and keeping everything for yourself.

Say what you will about scams, but this one just seems like a lot of work for not much payout. I'll be leaving them some clothes before I go.

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This year, I will celebrate a milestone. I will turn 1 billion seconds old. It turns out that 1 billion seconds is 31 years and change. I will be celebrating mine on August 21, in Canada.

Thanks everyone for reading and commenting...If you're ever in Nova Scotia Canada after August, 2005, look me up...jbtucker42[at]yahoo.com. Peace out. Zai Jian!