Why can't things work they way they should around here?
I woke up. After I took my shower, I was mopping up the floor and I heard the fone ringing. I ran to get it and I didnt recognize the number. I answered and it was Yumi. WOW! She called me from Japan. What a wonderful surprise. It was great to chat with her.
I called CASE in HK at 10AM to find out about my iPod and I got that same message. "Thank you for calling incompetant people. Business hours are closed. Please call back during normal business hours at 10AM to 8Pm Monday thru Saturday. Thank you."
um...it is normal business hours and its saturday. You should put on the message when you will be back in the office and why you are closed. But I guess that is too tough. I decided to call back every 10 minutes just to make sure and when I called at 1020AM, someone answered. So I said I would be there. I rushed to the Flower Hotel and the next ferry to catch was at 2pm and the shuttle left at 1215pm. It was 1045AM so I had some time to kill.
My old glasses that I brought along broke. I step on them once here in China and I bent them back into shape. However, doing so made them much weaker and during that wretched Bowen Camp, i finally broke them while I was trying to adjust them. Oh well. So, I decided to pick up a new pair here in China. Glasses here are super duper cheap. I could get a stylish and durable frame with good scratch resistance lenses for $24US.
I checked out a couple places on prices for frames and I found a place that had some cool frames for cheap and it was by my house. So, I was gonna go with that. By the time I had decided on what I wanted, it was 1130am. They kept speaking to me about something I didnt understand, turned out to be what type of lenses do you want. Basic, better, best, tinted, etc. I said I didnt understand, and they just continued to speak chinese to me... What part of "msec tang" do you not understand?
I called Jolene and I just asked a couple basic questions, and it took her about 10 minutes to ask them everything. I asked for the time they close...that question alone took 5 minutes to get. She kept getting and giving me information that was useless. It was just getting frustrated, becuase it was getting late.
I sat down for the eye exam, but they wouldn't start it out until 10 minutes were up, because of the chemical on the eyes left by contacts would ruin the test. Whatever, you prolly wont do it right anyway. They said the actual test would take 3 minutes. 15 minutes later the test was done. The glasses would be done at 2pm, so they would be ready when I got back from HK. It was 12:10pm by the time I got out of there. I told them about my time issue many times and they assured they could complete it by 12. but...nope.
I got to the Flower Hotel at 1215pm and just barely caught the shuttle bus. The ferry to HK was packed with people. I was very surprised. I have never seen it this packed. Leaving the ferry was a chore, there were 300 people trying to get thru one door all at once. Like John said last nite, "If any country was in need of deli tickets, its China." These people don't understand the concept of waiting in line. They just push and shove.
Once I got in HK I went straight to the CASE Office via the Subway. After I picked it up I took off and headed back to the ferry port and snagged a ticket for 6pm. Chinese/Hong Kongese people walk really friggin' slow. Its very irritating. I was in HK for a total of 2.5 hours. I got back to Xiaolan at 845pm. I then headed to the glasses shop to pick up my glasses.
And wouldn't you know it...I tried them on and I immediately said, "bu hou" (no good). I repeated it over an over again. They checked them over and put them on a machine for some adjustments and they still were wrong. Ugh! INCOMPETENCE ABOUNDS IN THIS COUNTRY! And it seems lIke I am the only one that deals with it all the time. The tailor, the travel agency, CASE, the eyeglass shop, etc. I mean, yes, I am a demanding person, I want things to be right, but I aint a prick about it. I mean, these people are certified eye-glass people. They had the diplomas and stuff hanging on the walls. I see tons of chinese with glasses. I can't believe that nobody in China has the same issue with their eyes that I do. Its not that uncommon: astigmatism, lazy left eye, and farsightedness or nearsightedness(i dont know which).
I called Amy and she talked to them. I told them that I would go home and get my old lenses to have them duplicate them. I ran back, dropped off my stuff, grabbed the glasses and headed back. They looked at the lenses and from what I could tell, they were clueless. I tried calling Amy back, but her fone was off. I tried calling Jolene, her fone wouldn't connect, I called Mountain, it wouldn't connect. Crap! Ugh! Then a few moments later Mountain called me back. He talked to them and they wanted to do the test over again. I tried to explain to them what is up with my eyes, but they didnt understand. I drew pictures and that didnt help. I told Mountain what the problem seems to be:
The lenses they created, the left one works with the left eye when the right eye is shut, the right works with the right eye when the left is shut, but when i open both eyes, it hurts and I can't focus on anything. I believe they failed in their test on my astigmatism or lazy eye. The thing is, my lazy eye isn't lazy anymore, I have strengthend it. I use contacts and I dont go cross eyed. I can't believe they could screw something like this up. I can't believe they couldn't find the problem, I am sure chinese people have the same problems as well. So, they gave me two options via Mountain.
1. Refund my money.
2. Try a different pair of frames. (apparently they felt that the location of the lenses may have caused the problems. I never heard anything so lame before. The issues is that they don't know what they are doing.
Being nice, I chose 2 after I told Mountain. I went outside and I chose a different set of frames and they looked at me like I was crazy. They tried to give me my money back, but I was like no i want you to try. So they started pricing out the other lenses. i was like YOU GAVE ME THE 2 OPTIONS! Screw it, I aint' dealing with you jackholes anymore, gimme my money.
I came home. Finished packing some stuff and just finished writing this journal. I am going to bed. I need to get up at 4am to get ready to leave for Kunming. I will be taking notes in a paper journal on the trip. Take care everyone. I will try and get lots of pictures.