Chinese Investment

The container port in Piraeus is being expanded with the support of some Chinese investment.  We saw some new container cranes arriving the other morning.  There must be a lot of something below the part we can see - you would expect a ship loaded like that to tip over.

Today's early morning view over the Saronic Gulf revealed 15 ships and 2 small fishing boats, but the day the cranes arrived they were out there all by themselves.

What do you reckon this is?

The box is printed up in about 16 European languages, but a tiny barcode label on the bottom says "Made in PRC".  In another sense of the term, a Chinese investment.  Despite the display of linguistic variation nothing even remotely resembling Chinese text appears anywhere on the box.  Maybe only Westerners buy water fountains for their pets.

Yes, that is apparently what this is, a drinking fountains for cats.  I simply couldn't have cared less when F showed me.  A chip in the floor veneer was more interesting.  Maybe it will contribute a little to air cooling in the apartment.

I guess in the scheme of things it is daft blighters like F, buying largely pointless consumer items like this one that both motivate and enable the Chinese economy to support investment in things like container port expansion in Piraeus.

Comments

  1. Don't get me started .....

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    1. F says she can see you two would have a grand time discussing this over a wine or two (local of course)

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  2. Hari OM
    Yeah, I too shall bite my tongue... stuff, Mr T... stuff... (though a water fountain, it might be said, is not necessarily a poor investment, per se though teaching an old cat new tricks might be...) Hugs and whiskeries, YAM-aunty xxx

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    1. It is counter to F's entire life philosophy to buy 'stuff'. I guess I should recognize it as a measure of her concern for me, but can't imagine what possessed her to hope or believe that I might find the desire to drink water based on a novelty way of serving it up. Furrings and purrings Mr T

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  3. I cannot get Oscar to drink water from a bowl - or very seldom at least. Give him a puddle or a stream and he laps it up, but in the house, nope, not having that...

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    1. Hmmm - maybe a puddle is needed. We'll give that some thought.

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  4. Has F tried putting ice in your water? Beau loves a couple of cubes of ice in his. i try very hard to not buy stuff but somehow my mouse moves and clicks and the next thing I know something is dropped on the front porch...

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    1. Mr B is like that. It makes F go crazy. YAM-aunty suggested tuna frozen in stock ice cubes. I've only had one so far and once it had melted I eventually picked the bits of tuna out of it.

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  5. The Chinese and australian governments are not playing nice right now
    Unfortunately the Chinese own the Darwin ports. Not sure who made that decision
    So right now Australians are feeling rather worried

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    1. Yes, in the business I work in that 'not playing very nice' has caused a lot of problems. Still, Aus has got what China needs - natural resources - so they will all come to their senses eventually.

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  6. omg my daughter bought 2 water purifiers for the cats, do you think they use them? nope, one of them prefers the toilet bowl. sigh

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    1. If only Tigger would drink from the toilet bowl, or the bottom of the shower, or the plant saucers or something.

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