Shenzhen Zen

All bets are off. Posting the evening of the same day. I may be the shortest lived employee in the Shenzhen Daily's history. I was given the news obliquely by Mr. Tan who informed me that my blood pressure and a heart condition (for which I take medication) may disqualify me for the sendentary position of copy editor. The concept of the Americans with Disabilities Act is, of course, foreign here. No one has to pass a physical to work at a publication in the U.S. but it's a different world here. My meeting to sign the contract for the apt. has been postponed. Mr. Tan and two senior editors are conferring this evening and all I've been told is that I should await a call in the a.m. It's all very discouraging. I was counting a lot on this change and to see it crash and burn before it begins is more discouraging than anything I've felt in quite awhile. The prospect of returning to the states to the same old state of mind and marginal employment is not a pleasant one.