Where Did Summer Go?

Happy Happy Hump Day!

Germany has vacated the premises AGAIN, (Good luck to them. They'll need it!) but we have a new country "in da house," so let's all say, "HUANYING, ZHONGGUO!" (Welcome, China!) I am well-aware about your standing as a business partner with the United  States and its Western bretheren, and I will do everything humanly possible to insure that this blog is acceptable reading, while continuing to provide my own  unique  mix of impartial reporting and snappy patter.

Although I have never had the pleasure to visit China personally, the Chinese event that affected me the most was the Summer Olympics in 2008, when the majority of the medals were won by China, the USA, and a small country called Michael Phelps. Not to take anything away from Phelpsie and the other mermen and mermaids from the USA  swimming team, but the memory of the Games that will stay with me forever is the Marathon. True, we have our own Marathon here in my hometown of New York City, (the ING New York City Marathon, to be exact) but the fact that all those  people were running competitively on  the streets of Beijing at the same time Mayor Bloomberg (NO  COMMENT!) began closing the streets of Manhattan and the Bronx to traffic the first three Saturdays in August gave me incentive to get my rear in gear and walk all the way from my home (originally in Gramercy Park, currently in Murray Hill, or, as I  call it, EaGa, for EAst of Madison Square GArden) all the way to the East Side. The name of this program is SummerStreets,  but Mother Nature being the fickle lady she is, it's hard sometimes for the program to live up to its billing. Traditionally, August weather is oppressively hot and can often sloooooooow things doooooooown, hence the nickname, the "Dog Days of Summer," but sometimes,July can be as oppressive as August, packing a powerful punch right after our July 4th Celebration here in the States. As  Summer is also  part of Hurricane Season, rain has been known to rear its ugly head just as we  begin to enjoy the Summer warmth we've waited all year for, but it also reminds us that the Fall can't be too far behind and often gives us a sneak preview of the upper 70-low 80 temps we usually expect then, but, Your Obedient Servant believes we were robbed this August, and we  were entitled to those 90-110 temps that are usually part and parcel of August. I will agree with those guys and dolls who say that this August has been a nice one for weather, but it has also been downright un-American! (How's Summer in Beijing? Use the comment box or tweet me @SEisenpreis using the hashtag #BeijingSummer. The best tweets will get honorable mention, although I might try a little something special, just for my PROC readers.)

By the way, one of the favorite nonsense songs of the Jurassic days of my youth was a little ditty called "Come To The Supermarket in Old Peking." I know  of the supermarkets in London, such as Asda, Safeway, and the famous Food Hall of Harrods, and Carrefour, Europe's famous hypermarket, but, while I have you here, Beijing, what are your supermarkets REALLY like? Tweet me at the aforementioned Twitter name using #BeijingMarket. Just asking!

That's  30 for now, but China, Britain, and the rest of you, (including, of course, the Good Old USA!) I'll see you all during the weekend. How did that old song go? "Everybody's working for the weekend.." (And that's all I can use without getting sued for copyright infringement.)

Zaijian, Buckaroos!
Steve