Bridged today from 10:00 a.m. till 3:00 p.m. at the Central Union Church (of Christ, I think), my partners being Eugene (who passes when his partner bids 4 No Trump if he has no aces, rather than bid 5 Clubs--nearly gave Jan a heart atack), Wilfred, and, as I have intimated, Jan (who's smart and nice and has ataxia--I thought she said she had "a taxi," and I said, "That's nice. Yellow Cab?"). Overnight, no new Nero Wolfes having come in, I read Zheng He, China and the Ocean in the early Ming Dynasty, 1405 to 1433. Now ask me what I learned from it: How normal was a predatory attitude on the part of Chinese emperors towards their hapless subjects--especially the merchant class--and how much they enjoyed punishing them, inflicting beatings, tortures and death on them and their whole families (yep, kids, wives, brothers and uncles). Very much like South American dictators and the United States military and (shudder) Paramilitary forces. Illustrating one of my favorite Turkish Principles: You're not really powerful unless you abuse your authority. Of course, Princess Der Ling's memoir of her two years as Old Budddha's lady-in-waiting gave me some deep insight into that imperial/thug mentality. Maybe, knowing what I know, seeing what I see, I should write a book.