In the sink, China

Ali is a procrastinator by nature.  I am the exact opposite of a procrastinator, whatever the word is for that.  After being married for 10+ years we have managed to more or less find a balance between the two dispositions.  However there are times our different outlook on these things can cause the other angst. 

Take for example the kitchen sink.  Ali and I disagree totally on how to handle things when it comes to the sink and the things you wash in them.  Let’s say that a meal was prepared that involved some big pots or pans.  Ali’s preferred method of cleaning these items would be to put some soapy water in them and just let them sit in the sink for her to attend to later. I would much rather get out the scrub brush and utilize some elbow grease to get everything cleaned up right then and now, then it isn’t hanging over my head to get done later. 

That leads to the drying process.  Again, we differ on this.  Ali is a big fan of getting out the drying rack from under the sink and just throwing items on there to dry.  So you get out the rack, pile the crap on it to sit for hours (or the next day), and then put it away later.  I grab the drying towel, dry the item and put it away immediately.

Another popular use for our sink is to wash out food residue from recyclable items before they are put in the recycle bin.  Sounds simple enough right?  Run some hot water into the container, rinse it out and into the bin it goes.  Not in Ali’s world.  Once again she prefers to fill the item with water and let it sit in the sink, where usually I will wind up rinsing it out myself and putting it  in the bin. 

Now I realize everyone is wired differently.  I just think the inner psychology behind this behavior is interesting.  Why not take the extra 4 seconds and complete a mindless chore instead of putting it off to be completed later?  This difference in philosophy comes into most of our household chores/duties.  We find a way to navigate a happy median, normally.

I have really been annoyed with China. I have been thinking if besides the 2008 Olympics, what has come out of China in the past decade or two that has been good? It seems like every other week there is a new story breaking about yet another sub-standard/dangerous product coming out of the damn place.  Food, toys, building materials, you name it, China produces a shitty version of it. 

Not only does China produce an astronomical amount of shitty items, they have overrun the American market with it.  It’s ridiculous how invasive their products are if you actually take the time to look at where something is made.  The overwhelming majority is from China.  In many cases you have no options, you either buy something made in China or do without.  They have effectively choked out any US made alternatives in many areas.

China also holds the United States ransom financially.  Due to the rampant deficit spending of the last decade or so we have been forced to whore ourselves out to the Chinese.  Last time I heard, China held close to a TRILLION dollars in US bonds.  The Chinese own $1 out of every $10 in US debt. 

China is the world’s biggest polluter.  They open several new coal fired power plants PER WEEK, the dirtiest and cheapest source of energy available.  Hell they had to shut down Beijing for a month prior to the Olympics just to try to get the smog to clear a bit.

China even affects WoW in a negative way.  The “Chinese Gold Farmers” are legendary in game.  These are extremely low paid Chinese workers that do nothing but play WoW 24/7.  Their job is to generate in game virtual currency and then turn around and sell it for real world dollars.  Their efforts poison in game economies and upset the balance of the game.  Hmmm sounds just like the Chinese role in real life scenarios.

We are slowly being cut down at the knees by a pair of chopsticks.