Boiling PVC- Dad

As I told you, last Saturday I went to Home depot to buy some pvc pipe to make a telephone receiver. I also needed two elbows of pvc to put on each end of the pvc so you can hear and speak., I was looking for pipe and fittings that would fit. There was nothing there. The 1/2 inch pipe didn't fit the 1/2 inch elbows. I asked the worker for help. The best he could, he told me that in China they don't use any glue to put the parts together with. He said to bring a pan full of water to a boil, then drop the pvc pipe into the boiling water. He said to cook it for a while, then the pipe would become soft and you can slide the parts together. There was quite a difference in size, well I figured he knows what he is talking about. I buy the pipe and the fittings. My friend with me needed some sheetrock spackle. (Joint compound) We looked for it there, but can't find it. Finally, one worker took us to another area in the store. He said we could buy a 100 pound bag of cement and fix the hole. I told him, no, just a small container. He said no. I said We don't want to build the entire house, just want to patch a hole. He couldn't understand, and we continued to look. Finially, I went to check out. (without the spackle) I say is a loud voice, "does anyone here speak english." A pretty young Chinese girl came and up and said, "I speak English, can I help you?" I say yes, thank you. I tell her that I want to buy some joint compound to patch a hole in the sheet rockl. She tells the worker what I want. He talks to her. She says, "follow me." I follow her and her mother to the back of the store. She picks up a small container of joint compound and says, "is this what you would like?" I say, "yes thank you for your help." I ask her, "do you work here, you seem to be the only one that knows what is going on here!" She giggled and walked off with her mother. In her mind, she is saying, "I just help dumb Americans." Well, I went home to put my pvc telephone together. I boiled up the water. I put the pvc in. I boil it up for a few minutes. I get it out. It is hotter than the place of eternal punishment. I follow the instructions from the guy at Home Depot. I figure he knows what he is talking about. I push with all my might to put the pvc pipe and the elbow together. To no avail, it's not going together. I heat it up again, this time for 15 minutes. I try again. No luck. I sure don't know how they connect pvc, but it sure isn't by boiling it!
In the evening, we went to a place for dinner that we have been before. The food is great. Their portions are small. Last time we ordered three items, but it didn't quite fill us up. The cost last time was $3.00. Mom and I consider our financial portfolio and agree that we can spend 30 yuen, which is four dollars and eighty cents. For that amount we can order 6 items. We order french fries, vegetable soup, some crab stuff, fried rice and fried chicken. We also order a large coke. Our friends who are with us consider their financial condition and agree they can spend $4.00. Poor guys! Any way, we both order. Pretty soon the food starts coming. This time the orders are huge. There is not enough room on the table for our food. We have to stack up the servings. We eat some of the food, but can't eat near all of it. We take several containers of food home with us. I wish they would make up their mind about their serving sizes. Oh, about our large coke. They brought us each a 2 liter bottle of diet coke. Well, that is certainly a large coke. When I go to walk out of the restaurant, I see a cat sitting on the check out counter. I scratch the cats back. That's the most ungrateful cat I ever scratched. When I scratched him (or her) is all he did was lick he paw. He didn't meow how good it was. Stupid cat just layed there like a bump on a log. It will be a cold day before he gets scratched by me again.
I went to class today. My students all have an English name. If they don't have one, we suggest names for them. Several of my students have chosed family names. Two of my students have chosen very unusual American names. I have never heard them before, and certainly hope none of you use them for my grand children. One is named HORSE and the other is named SALOON. These boys are great kids also. We get along great. They love their American names. Our branch president just arrived from the states today. He came to visit us tonight. What a great guy. He was Academic Vice President at BYU Idaho under Elder Bednar. He told us some great experiences he had with Elder Bednar. We are really going to enjoy him. Tomorrow is my busy day. I start at 8:00 A.M. and go through until 5:00 P. M. I don't think that I will go to the gym tomorrow. I think that we will go back to the cat place for dinner. It is great food. I hope all of you are doing well. Mother and I are not spending much of your inheritance here. We couldn't if we tried. On Monday, we also went to a famous Chinese Market. It was a lot of fun. This place was not the typical market. These were nice stores with lots of fun Chinese things. Many jade items and wooden carvings, like that big Chinese guy with the fat stomach that you see in American Chinese restaurants. Well it is getting time for each of you to arise for the morning. I hope each of you have a safe great day. Please fax the grand kids over for a few days.