Hello Nanning!! Dec 16, 2018. Question?

[danb]

Hello everyone.  Hello from Nanning!!  It is nice here.  Moderate temperature for me.  It seems to me, for the Chinese, it is time for  the winter jackets to come out. Knowing that tipping is not that expected but where there are many foreignors , it may be practiced.  For a 500 RMB hotel room ,a fairly nice hotel, how much to the bell boy for two heavy bags and a backpack .  I gave 30 rmb.    For my upgrade room.  A very nice upgrade!!  I left 12 RMB.  I came back from lunch.  The room was clean but the 12 RMB was left, not taken.  Not enough?  What do you guys think?  What do you guys normally do?  Danb

[Randy W]

Tipping is not understood in China - if you leave too much money on a restaurant table, they may come running after you with your "change"

 

Follow your wife's lead there

 

If you REALLY want to leave tips, you might get some red envelopes, although you may need to give them face-to-face.

Edited December 17, 2018 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Today is back up in the 70's, but we had a few days where the temperature went down to 50°F.

 

Anything below 70 will bring out the winter jackets - while I'm still wearing short-sleeved shirts. I usually run into a guy on the elevator who tells me, "You must be very healthy!"

[amberjack1234]

Speaking of health Randy how is the knee?

[Randy W]

Speaking of health Randy how is the knee?

 

 

Incrementally better. I still have to limit any walking to around a block or two, but have gone as far as 1 km. Steps are a little bit easier to navigate. Seems especially sore today.

 

The major problems I have for now are sleeping, getting around, and trying to help the legs recover. My gout medicine was leaving me "tired and wired" (sleeping less and unable to catch up), so I've cut WAY back on that.I seem to get my best sleep between about 2 to 4 AM, and noon to 2PM. If I don't find a comfortable position to fall asleep in, I'll wake up sore the next day.

 

So I'm stuck at home a lot. I'm even turning down local trips. Somehow, I'm strangely content with that for now.

Edited December 17, 2018 by Randy W (see edit history)

[danb]

So no tipping even in a Sheraton or Marriott in the hotel or dining room. That would save me some money. But it also would feel strange.

 

So another question. I want to do some web searching but not able to use Google, which I expected but Yahoo also? Has something changed recently? Any suggestion for an English speaking web browser that will work ?

[Randy W]

So no tipping even in a Sheraton or Marriott in the hotel or dining room. That would save me some money. But it also would feel strange.

 

So another question. I want to do some web searching but not able to use Google, which I expected but Yahoo also? Has something changed recently? Any suggestion for an English speaking web browser that will work ?

 

 

UC Browser is a Chinese Chrome/Bing clone - but you'll still need a VPN to access many of the western sites

[danb]

 

Speaking of health Randy how is the knee?

 

 

Incrementally better. I still have to limit any walking to around a block or two, but have gone as far as 1 km. Steps are a little bit easier to navigate. Seems especially sore today.

 

The major problems I have for now are sleeping, getting around, and trying to help the legs recover. My gout medicine was leaving me "tired and wired" (sleeping less and unable to catch up), so I've cut WAY back on that.

 

Randy , You got a touch of gout? That is not good. I feel for you. Are you being treated with western style medicines. Indomecine or Clocicine? Sorry about the spelling. I will try to look up the correct spelling. Indomeithacin (spelling on bottle is a bit worn) and and Colchicine. I also took Tylenol , 3000 to 4000mg a day. Seems like things got better only after my dosage for the Indomeithacin from 50 to 75 mg a day. Hope things get better for you.

 

PS, now that I am in China for a visit, my Lao po is looking for some Chinese cures for gout.

 

[Randy W]

 

 

Speaking of health Randy how is the knee?

 

 

Incrementally better. I still have to limit any walking to around a block or two, but have gone as far as 1 km. Steps are a little bit easier to navigate. Seems especially sore today.

 

The major problems I have for now are sleeping, getting around, and trying to help the legs recover. My gout medicine was leaving me "tired and wired" (sleeping less and unable to catch up), so I've cut WAY back on that.

 

Randy , You got a touch of gout? That is not good. I feel for you. Are you being treated with western style medicines. Indomecine or Clocicine? Sorry about the spelling. I will try to look up the correct spelling. Indomeithacin (spelling on bottle is a bit worn) and and Colchicine. I also took Tylenol , 3000 to 4000mg a day. Seems like things got better only after my dosage for the Indomeithacin from 50 to 75 mg a day. Hope things get better for you.

 

PS, now that I am in China for a visit, my Lao po is looking for some Chinese cures for gout.

 

 

 

 

The gout came down after about 10 days of IV treatment at the orthopedics hospital, from 405 to 273 (maximum acceptable uric acid level is 410 - conversion factor to American units is 18.8), with no improvement to my mobility. So they took an MRI, which revealed nothing (no damage) - so it was pronounced an "old people's leg" - similar to what the old people hobbling around with canes suffer with. I take glucosamine to try to improve the calcium.

 

The Chinese medicines I'm still taking to keep the uric acid level down are 湱血止痛胶囊 (huo xue zhi tong jiao nang) and 骨疏宁片 (gu shu ning pian), but they interfere with my sleep, so only half a dose every other day at the most.

[amberjack1234]

Thanks for the catch-up, Randy. I've been thinking about you.

 

danb: Better watch taking that much Tylenol it can damage your liver or even kill it. When taking that much better watch the liver enzymes. I had rotary cuff surgery and the doc was giving me to much Tylenol and some of my liver enzymes went to the moon. Found out through a yearly VA exam just luckily. Took me off of it immediately.

[danb]

Wow, I hope things get better for you soon. I have had several bouts this year. Not sure what is going on. Not liking it also. My uric acid was about 9.7. By American standards. Not sure what it is now. I would like to have it tested. I get gout once every 2 or 3 years. Usually after I eat a pound of hot dogs or a pound of German Bologna in a short period of time ( less than 2 days). Aleve helps me sometimes. This year because of the 3 bouts I am talking to the doctors. They were talking about alpuriono and/ or Cochincine. Not sure about me having a peg leg but I did have a bout of Psuedo-gout. Great I thought, that is all that I need!! Turns out that gout and Psuedo-gout are similar in treatment and in symptoms. But Psuedo- gout has needle like calcium deposits in the joints instead of uric acid needle like crystals deposits in joints. Doctor aspirated the joint and took a blood sample and had it tested. Found the calcium deposits. That time she gave me shot of cortisone which helped. Randy any idea what brings on gout for you?

[danb]

Amberjack, I was told that up to 4000 mg of Tylenola day is normally ok. The length of how long to take it safely I am not sure. I am now taking maybe 2000 mg a day. I am cutting back and will try to cut back more. Just trying to get around. Thanks for the heads up. I also will try to drink more water.

[Randy W]

Wow, I hope things get better for you soon. I have had several bouts this year. Not sure what is going on. Not liking it also. My uric acid was about 9.7. By American standards. Not sure what it is now. I would like to have it tested. I get gout once every 2 or 3 years. Usually after I eat a pound of hot dogs or a pound of German Bologna in a short period of time ( less than 2 days). Aleve helps me sometimes. This year because of the 3 bouts I am talking to the doctors. They were talking about alpuriono and/ or Cochincine. Not sure about me having a peg leg but I did have a bout of Psuedo-gout. Great I thought, that is all that I need!! Turns out that gout and Psuedo-gout are similar in treatment and in symptoms. But Psuedo- gout has needle like calcium deposits in the joints instead of uric acid needle like crystals deposits in joints. Doctor aspirated the joint and took a blood sample and had it tested. Found the calcium deposits. That time she gave me shot of cortisone which helped. Randy any idea what brings on gout for you?

 

 

Trying to sort out units here - I found this

 

In human blood plasma, the reference range of uric acid is typically 3.4–7.2 mg per 100 ml (200–430 µmol/l) for men, and 2.4–6.1 mg per 100 ml for women (140–360 µmol/l).

 

 

 

It looks like you're over the limit - I'm just very high on the scale and trying to keep it down a little

[amberjack1234]

Amberjack, I was told that up to 4000 mg of Tylenola day is normally ok. The length of how long to take it safely I am not sure. I am now taking maybe 2000 mg a day. I am cutting back and will try to cut back more. Just trying to get around. Thanks for the heads up. I also will try to drink more water.

Yes, sir 4000mg per day is about it. Some places say that it does depend on the person. 3000mg could be dangerous for some folks as not everyone is the same and some can tolerate more than others. If I was going to take 4000mg per day for more than a few days I would get my liver checked. It ain't worth losing my liver over. Glad that you are down to 2000mg per day. Good luck with the gout. I have had customers that would come in with it and I felt so sorry for them.

[danb]

I have found that normally www.MSN.com is accessible on my computer. At least for the moment. MSN has a BING search window also that I can use. I tried to download the US Brower but was getting errors. It did not like the version of Window and type of computer that I have. For the moment I should be okay using BING.

 

Now on to a new problem. The ATM cards that I used last year and the locations that I used them are not working. They are not accepting them. I told the banks of my Travel intentions a couple of weeks ago. I have enough funds in my accounts. I am going to ATM's that display CIRRUS and the NYCE logo's. I have asked for 3000 rmb and also asked for 2000 rmb. I normally use CCb and BOC in China. Both do not work. Any suggestion of what to do or try now? Has something changed in using ATM's in China in the past 11 months or so? Any suggestion. This is not a good situation for me. I have done what I have done in the past. Had no real problem. But now....Aiyaa.. What to do.??