This log entry has nothing to do with cruising, so if you've come for the sailing, skip ahead to the next entry.
Did you hear the story a month or so ago about the ESPN reporter who got fired for using "A Chink in the Armour?" as a title for a story about a native Chinese dude who plays in the NBA? He swears that it wasn't meant as a racial slur, but either way it was pretty funny.
Having said that, I have only ever known three Chinese people and they were all pretty cool, so please don't take this as some sort of ethnic put down, but I have had my fill of China.
The Chinese are the oldest ongoing society on our planet. Among other things, they are credited with creating gun powder, irrigation, math, writing, salt preservation and of course sailing, which brings to mind the Chinese "Junk" rig; the first form of sail configuration ever seen.
In recent times, the Chinese economy has exploded and now Chinese "Junk" more aptly applies to just about everything made in China.
Case in point, in the last 3 weeks we have had 9 made in China items fail:
- our made in China prop on the small outboard has succumbed to metal fatigue.
- our made in China keyboard on my little ASUS EEEPC 700 has quit responding to every third keystroke
- our made in China anchor rode swivel completely separated while sitting on deck
- MadibaWeasel's favorite made in China squeeky toy broke into 5 pieces after a two foot fall from the salon table
- our made in China, Ryobi 18 volt battery for all my cordless power tools now refuses to charge
- our made in China button slugs that I covered and then sewed into our new salon cushions have systematically begun to fail resulting in high speed button explosions that now require us to wear eye protection at dinner
- our made in China foot pump for dinghy inflation no longer pushes air
- Amy's made in China espresso cooker's handle fell off in the course of normal usage
- our made in China super strength, life time guaranteed spatchula broke in half this morning while I was in the process of flipping pancakes.
I ask you, how can one nation be so inept at manufacturing everything?
Did you see the North Korean rocket that failed so spectacularly earlier this week? Guess who designed that 400 million dollar fiasco? I'm pretty sure the Chinese translation of the rocket type, "Me Dong", translates into "Complete Chinese Space Junk".
Ok, enough complaining. Sorry but I needed to vent.....