Try, try again

1) Every town has its own acronyms. In HK, one of the most common for gweilos is FILTH: Failed In London, Try Hongkong. It applies to both financial and romantic endeavors, and let's just say it's not a term of endearment, so I had to laugh when I went for a (yes, legit) massage on Sunday and saw this sign posted on a buzzer for someone who lives in the building where my massage place is in Lan Kwai Fong.

2) Speaking of said people, creepy Gary Glitter recently told a local paper that he wants to relocate to Hong Kong sted of his native Britain when he is released from a Vietnamese prison for molesting little girls. Why? Because his homeland requires sex offenders to register, whereas HK does not. My guess? He relocates to Lamma, which is already full of creepy old British guys trying to escape from their past.

3) I recently got a mailing to extend the warranty on my flat-screen tv. Like almost everything in this town, it isn't a plan or an offer they were extending. It was a "scheme." Even the local version of Social Security here is a "scheme." I know it's a Britishism, but I always get creeped out by that word, like something Dr. Phibes is planning: he's taking the money that is supposed to go toward my retirement to lure creepy British pedophiles to Hong Kong to help in his quest to take over the world.

4) I've been to a few apartments lately of people who don't live in the industry. It still surprises me sometimes how few books I see in people's apartments sometimes. Maybe they all hide them in their bedrooms, but I always assumed people read more. And these people aren't with kids, so that's not the reason. I remember talking about this with someone lately, and they commented that in most apartments in this town, they only see thrillers by Tom Clancy to read on airplanes and "You Can Do It!" business motivation books. Whatever happened to reading novels or biographies or analytical histories?

5) The high lately has been around 50, as there is a huge winter storm rolling through China. The locals are bundled up like they're ready to do a snow dog race. It brings back a memory of when I interviewed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, about 11 years ago. The editors were talking about the big news of the day, which was the low was getting down to 35 or 36 F. Someone said they needed to talk to shelters about the dangers of someone dying from the cold, and the senior editor in the room said, "Oh, for gods' sake. It's 38 outside. The homeless are not going to die, they're just gonna get really cranky."