The Denuded and the Dark

Remarkably crisp, blue sky.  I’m stuck with a view that’s reminded me of the Badlands of North Dakota.  It’s bright and chilly.  The first day my heavy, long sleeved shirt is not going to cut it.  But it’s only 8:45AM.  It will continue to warm.  Winter is not far off now though.  Every day brings us closer to the denuded and the dark.

I had it all arranged this morning.  The moment I finished my call, I could hit send on my request for a DiDi.  The address was already entered, a hotel I once stayed at here in Beijing, and I’d have ordered it earlier but these guys who I was on a call with always use the video functionality with their zoom calls and I couldn’t just up and leave the way I could if I weren’t broadcasting myself.  Ride it through to the end.   And now: “Good bye.  Bye bye”  . . . and hit the send button on the Di Di, finally.  You can’t.  I’ve got an error message, suggesting I find a different payment method. 

The old bill remained unpaid, which meant you couldn’t start a new call.  Try again.  Try again.  Restart the app.  Try again.  Try Wechat, but despite having money in that account it doesn’t work, so we can’t use that.    Reenter the credit card, reauthorize every thing. No dice.  “Honey?”  And . . . my wife’s app doesn’t seem to want to take a foreign card either.  Now you gotta wonder, is this Di Di-systemic?  Now I’m late.  Revert to calling for a good old fashioned cab.  And, that number, for the front desk, isn’t working.  Try in three more times.  Have they changed it?  Now I feel trapped in my little corner of Beijing.

Hop the ride out to the club house with my wife, who is taking the kids to school.  They confirm that their reception number is under repair.  OK.  They then call a cab, which comes.  And I let the guy know that we need to stop so I can get some money.  He’s cute, this seemingly quiet older man who has a running monologue of curses he tosses out at literally every car that moves before him.  “Your mother, you dumb cunt. Your mother, you dumb cunt.”  Di Di drivers don’t usually swear so much.  This gent is repeating the imprecations like a Buddhist counting beads.

Driving along, I start a real time typing exchange with some person at Di Di.  They tell me to try again in 24 hours.  I remind the gent that I want to ride, now.  They advise me to ask a friend to use their app.  They advise me use Wechat pay and Ali pay to make it happen.  Oh yes, and we have been experiencing some challenges with our international card payment.  That, at least makes some sense.  Now how long is that going to last?      

Tuesday 10/09/18