A dinner exchange with Mom

Me: Are these shrimps skinless?

Mom: Yes, in America, shrimps come without skin.

Have I already talked about HDTV?

U.S. of A: Free (and fast) Internet, HD TV and ... US Airways

First, I have to put on the record that US Airways is my new favorite airline, at least until I fly with Southwest again. I missed my flight from Regan National Airport to Kansas City TWICE within a span of 13 hours. Leaving aside the magnitude of incompetence required to accomplish this, I have to say that US Airways put me on another flight both times without charge.

The first time I missed it, on Friday night, was due to the fact that 1) I didn't know different colored trains share the same track in DC's subway system (and I was buzzed off America's actually-alcoholic beer), and 2) the subway train I was on (the wrong subway train) broke down as I was headed toward not-Regan. Then I switched trains and waited 30 minutes and then transferred (waiting 10 minutes) and got to the airport just as the flight was leaving the gate.

The second time ... well, there's no good excuse, really. I got to the check-in counter for my 9:20 am flight at 10 o'clock and told them I missed my flight -- again -- and the guy said, "You're making a habit of missing flights, huh?" I replied, "Yeah, it was idiotic." He put me on the 10:40.

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Watching the US-Japan game on HDTV without drunk people next to me. Wow. When ESPN HD showed highlights of the '99 game, which wasn't in HD, all I could think was, HOW DID WE LIVE BACK THEN?

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I can stream WWE Raw from Tudou.com without lag. To put this in perspective: I certainly can't stream YouTube (with VPN, of course) in China without having to pause the video every 10 seconds so that it loads.

American Internet is the thing I miss the most about this country.

And Paninis with bacon, bulgogi beef, grilled peppers and onions.

And my cat, Kiddy.

(Mom... goes without saying, I hope.)

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Quick thought about this game that I'm watching on HDTV as we pass the 34-minute mark: I've never seen any goalkeeper layout as often as this Japanese keeper without being anywhere close to the ball. Poor keeper.

Not my best side, but ...

Just kidding, of course. Beijing Ultimate could use all the publicity it gets. Thanks to Vera Peneda and Global Times, which I believe I've said before is the best English-language publication in Beijing.

Article here.