Strange things are going on in the MRT. I live near the last stop on the Xindian line. The trains come into the station on either side of the platform, and then, a few minutes later, they leave again, going back towards the city. I’ve noticed some peculiar behavior recently on my way in to work in the mornings. A train will come in from the city and stop on one side of the platform, and as soon as the doors open people sprint madly across the platform into the other waiting train, which will take them back to where they just came from. I saw so many people doing this this morning that I was tempted to ask one of them what they were thinking, but I refrained because I was sure it would be something so inane I would have no choice but to laugh in their face, and that’s not very polite. My guess is that they’re desperate for seating, as things can get pretty crowded during rush hours.

When I got into town and changed trains at Taipei Main Station, I noticed that one of the ads that line the walls there was backwards. So was the one next to it. I soon discovered that every single advertisement was backwards, and some were upside-down as well. To confirm I wasn’t just seeing things, I asked one of the staff what was going on. I was told that the business that rents the ad space hadn’t paid the bill for that month, so they turned everything around. Apparently different companies handle different stations, though, as I didn’t see any backwards ads at other stations.

In other news, Microsoft is trying to get into the car business. Because, you know, directing several tons of steel through traffic at speed is something Windows can only make safer and smoother. Until you get a “Your car has encountered a problem and needs to shut down” message on your dashboard. But hey, at least you can report the error as you wait for the ambulance.

Wow. I’m amazed: The Taipei Times actually had a reasonably sensible editorial today. You know it’s pretty bad when Chen Shui-bian does stuff that even the Times thinks is reckless. Basically, though, we’re going to see more of this stupidity in the next few months running up to the elections, as Chen’s hand is being forced by lack of time. He’s spent the past trying not to step on anyone’s toes, but now he only has a matter of months to do something “memorable” and secure some kind of reputation for actually doing something. In this case, something stupid that will probably hurt any chances he has at getting re-elected. Not that I care overmuch if he doesn’t; I just hope his actions don’t have other, more serious consequences. I’ve grown quite fond of my ass and would like to keep it.

A cold front hit this weekend. Harry came over and, as he can be a religious nut at times, we took a tour of local temples in Xindian. We started at the Dimu Temple/Longfeng Temple complex across the river, and then we walked up the road overlooking the water purification plant on the other side of the hills, and then took a right onto Yongye Road, which winds back down to the Ankeng side of the Bitan Suspension Bridge. There we stopped for lunch at the vegetarian place Sandman showed me the other day, and then we went up to the Kaitian Temple, overlooking the river near where we started out. Swan-shaped paddle boats were making their way upstream seven stories below. The main god at the Kaitian Temple looks suspiciously like an alien, but he probably wasn’t utilizing alien technology, as one of the eyes of the dragon behind him had burnt out. One of the temple guys told us we had just missed a major festival.

After spending the afternoon transferring wedding footage to Victor’s hard-drive, Harry and I went to another temple, this one backed up along the cliffs that line Zhongxing Road. It was getting pretty cold, and I was loath to take off my shoes, but Harry had gotten himself into an involved discussion of Daoism and Buddhism with the temple guy, a discussion we continued over another vegetarian meal. It was interesting, actually. The temple guy told us stories about the Buddha, Daoist monks, and other tales that sparked some answers to questions I’ve had, not only concerning life in general, but also problems with the stories I’ve been working on in my head for my next film project.

My employment situation looks to be much like it was last year, i.e. I’ll have to take another month (January) off without pay or bonus. Hopefully my book royalties will see me through, but it’s pretty much certain that I won’t be able to afford the Mac I was hoping to buy. I’ll just keep sludging along with Windows and sighing dramatically when Explorer decides I have too many files in one directory, crashes, and then tells me there was a problem and do I want to report it? I’ve been wondering if I’m desperate enough to put a Paypal link up here for beggin- I mean, donation purposes, but I don’t even know what kind of account to sign up for. Anyone know the drill?