December 1st, 2008

Looking for New Apartment

The Village, LK Pavilion

December 4th, 2008

Mai returns to Village to oversea aftermath of harvest.

Nooy argument

December 5th, 2008

The history of the female friend

Head scratching

December 6th, 2008

Mai returns early

December 10th, 2008

The bagel shop :(

Now you have to understand that I am not someone that is almost never offended. If fact I scoff at people that are offended by opposing viewpoints or ideas different than your own. My feeling is if you have a clear understanding of why you believe what you believe than any potential offense is just a chance to try to correct someone else <arrogance intended.>

It also bears reminding that I have a  brain disease that is not so slowing taking my memory and ability to reason clearly.

Okay, so preamble done, this is the story of the day Mai and I go to a restaurant near where we will be moving. This is our third attempt to go here. Both the banner and menu claim the shop opens at 10am. The first time we show up around noon and it was closed but an American man came out and said they would be open around 2pm. Another day around 1pm there was no sign of life. This time we arrived slightly after 2, the same man said his girl was running late but he hoped to be open soon.

The reason I wanted to come here is that their sign (left) has a picture of a perfect Bagel and Lox, a food that has eluded me thus far here in the city of Pattaya. While true that Au Bon Pain offers one, but they haven't quite mastered toasting, and the cream cheese and lox are spread so thin it might as well not be included, so that doesn't count.

This time we decided to wait it out. We wandered around the neighborhood while they opened the store, and then came back.

Offended

December 11th, 2008

Test night at LK Pavilion

Checking out the area

Par's Place: Eating in Thailand

Work on Donations page begins

December 13th, 2008

Mai moves us from Diana Estates to LK Pavilion

This many colored flowering shrub is in the nook of one of the side staircases directly across from Par's Place. I think this is just the most beautiful sight when the hard days sun lights it up.

December 14th, 2008

I check that all has been moved. Final electric bill very high. (tip)

Odd feeling at check out

Very happy in new place. Lungs clear within a day.

Treat Mai to long massage as she has worked very hard moving everything while I avoid the chaos completely.

Sunday ritual: I go out. Black out almost immediately and find myself halfway across town with 90 minutes missing. No more going out alone.

Note

My last post was on October 15th. In moving to room E003 I not only felt ill and more fuzzy brained but there was no comfortable place to type. The combination proved to be fatal to posting and very limiting to email. Today I have put in place the structure for some back filling but what is written from after October 15th is from memory. Skeletons will be fleshed out as this month progresses.

December 15th, 2008

In E003 I did not feel well and spent a lot of time in bed and we did do a lot. I decided that starting fresh in new healthy feeling room, I would start a new routine to help rebuild my body and also to get back in the habit of recording my life in these postings.

The new routine: Get up when I wake up, usually between 7am and 8. Slip into yesterday's clothes, run (as much as balance and lungs allow) up the stairs, and return to room. Shower, answer emails and type on the blog until 10:30 when I wake up Mai.

It was my mother's birthday still back home. I had tried calling last night (her morning) but she had already left for the mainland to have brunch with Brad and Jia.

4pm, the sun is low enough in the sky to go out and explore.

Tony is a big name here. The advertisements for his gym are between every movie on TV and plastered all over everything. "Tony's Fitness Gym only 18,999 baht lifetime membership! Never pay another cent!"

Then there was Tony's Bar and Restaurant, about a block his gym. That must have done well on it's own because I didn't see much advertising on that. Likewise Tony's Japanese Massage and Spa. Then came Tony's Abandoned Animal Crusade (still serious here) - with tons of commercials of adorable looking puppies pleading for salvation.

Now comes Tony's Beer Festival and Tony's Festival of Food. What brings this up is these two directly across South Pattaya Road from here. I could hit them from the roof with a good squirt gun.

So we decide to check out Tony's Festival of Food for lunch. Crossing Third Road (this time) was not as dangerous or scary as I had built it to seem. It was much like crossing Central Pattaya Road: wait for an opening on your side, run for the center yellow line, stand there trying to look visible while waiting for reasonable break in the other side to make a dash for the far curb. Motorbikes are what make this tricky. They can appear from anywhere you forget to check. It would a really good first person video game.

We walk the perimeter of the food court. Outside it is clothing booths, and knick knack shops. The complex is new, less than a month old and already it looks like 90% of the booths are sold and open. A couple of the more complex enclosed shops are still being assembled.

Inside it is a food court. And one of those coupon based ones as well. This one at least you can get refunding on any coupons you don't use. I still think it is a stupid annoying system, but the Thai are use to it and This is Thailand.

Like most of Third Road it is primarily for Thais, the farang influence is much less in action here as they (we) stay much closer to the beach and Walking Street, Soi Boahkoaw becoming the outer edge. But we are a block further out than that now. This food in the court has some Indian, one Sushi but mostly Thai and a lot of Essarn food. Mai is happy happy happy, this is her food.

I could have stuck to what I knew, but I have been eating largely the same four meals for weeks now and felt the need to be brave. I ordered what looked like almost raw liver squares with unrecognizable vegetable shards, which was then plopped on rice. Mai ordered Papaya Salad and was unhappy when it was not on the noodle she was expecting, but made mental note of which stall did have what she wanted.

Never assume in Thailand. For instance, just because the food is in warming pans, don't assume the food is hot. My meal, which actually turned out to be almost raw liver squares with unrecognizable vegetable shards, would have been better piping hot or even reasonably warm but on cold rice and on the cool side of warm itself - well it wasn't an unpleasant experience but I won't be ordering it again.

The lime and strawberry ice shake was very good and washed away all sins though. And the price was extremely low. Having thrown up at some point the day before (second time in my memory of Thailand, Mai says third) we passed on the Beer Festival for today.

Two errands to do while we are on the other side of South Pattaya Road: Friendship Supermarket and Tukcom. Tukcom is farthest away, 3 blocks, and we think it best to tackle that first and work our way back to the perishables.

Other than some bootleg DVDs,  a couple shirts and shelving rack for the shower of E003 (which we ended up leaving them) I haven't bought anything permanent (as in not perishable) since the credit cards went away. But this new apartment has no DVD player and I have lots of DVDs and am thinking towards the day when I can no longer leave the apartment. So we are going to price new and used DVD players.

We also need a couple of two to three plug power converters - like the last room, this room has a strange layout for power plugs and no three plug sockets at all. I'm not sure how many I will need but I know I need at least two.

Mai wants lottery tickets - vendors walk the streets hawking them - and I have stopped making fun of her for it. Personally I hate the lottery concept, but it is her only hope of us being together for a long time. Even with millions of bought it wouldn't prolong the inevitable much, but it is her dream and people need hope. It is pretty much the way I feel about religion.

For those curious, a spreadsheet tells us how much we can spend each week. The calculations assume I will be able to beg 75% of the amount needed. This amount I then split between Mai and me. She can do whatever she wants with her half, but pretty much gets spent buying us food and laundry and things like that. A lot of mine buys us massage and me medicine. But this way she doesn't have to keep asking for change for everything and she can get what she wants within the limits set. Each Sunday I update the values in the spreadsheet. Any money leftover is stuck in the rainy day fund.

So I leave her to buy some tickets and I go into the air conditioning of Tukcom and sit on one free spot on the benches between the twin entrances. Surrounded by pretty young women, I wondered if some kind of event was going on. But over the next few minutes most of the women were replaced by more ordinary persons.

When Mai arrived we went up the escalator to the massive floor of just cell phones, thousands and thousands of models of cell phones, up the next escalator to devices. On the wall I quickly located power converters, and of the kind I had they had two on the shelf. Also these were the only thing on the wall with a price marker. But they were cheap, 59 baht each.

The DVD player presented a problem. I am a believer that you get what you pay for, but I also wanted to spend as little as possible. Mai solved this for me by spotting a player that wasn't the cheapest but was on sale for near the lowest price of the players. So in my mind I got a 3000 baht player for 1700 baht and all was well with that.

Back down, I avoided both the bootleg floor above and the real DVDs on ground level but ran straight into a mini Dunkin Donuts displaying an ad for Munchkins, Whole donuts I could avoid, Munchkins I was no match for and soon had 24 in a very unwieldy box. I hope this isn't a repeat of the ice cream episode.

This is my second visit to The Friendship Market. It reminds me of the old A&P market in Vineyard Haven in that it has very tight aisles, lots of logjams and stock people stocking shelves blocking what little flow there is with complete disregard to the havoc around them.

It is not a comfortable place for an overly large farang for a cane and balance problem. Also like most places in Pattaya there is construction going on inside and out. The noise pollution - a foreign concept to the Thais who truly don't seem to notice it - in this town is really amazing. It is like they have stuck speakers in any previously quiet nook and then put construction workers on top of that.

Anyway, I was starting to feel over whelmed from this outing and shopped as hurriedly as the throng also trying to shop hurriedly would allow. Mai followed behind me with a small shopping cart. I was run over twice by other shopping carts while trying to reach some frozen hash browns in a freezer compartment over stock boy with no intention of looking up for anyone.

The big thing for me was the ingredients for a real grilled cheese sandwich. I needed white bread and American cheese as I already had mayo and butter. American cheese was more difficult than I thought because none was labeled as such but I went by sight and labeling. I bought a small bottle of olive oil just in case.

Paper towels, smoked bacon and lots of collagen drink rounded out the trip.

At check out it was only slightly less than Tukcom had been. An unusually expensive day, I try to have only two or less of those a week.

The only question left was how to get it home. While rather close to home, it was six packages and a lot of liquid. It was decided that Mia would take a motorbike taxi, 20 baht. I will only get on one of those when I have no other choice. I carried the DVD player, donuts and one sack in one hand; cane in the other.

Walking the 2 blocks to the hotel, I crossed two major streets with ease but did not beat Mai back home.

Thanks to Mai's reminding me (blind leading the blind) I tried calling Mom again in the morning as it was still the night of her birthday for her.  I expected she would probably be asleep tuckered out from the trip across the Sound. But she picked up on the second ring.

We spent about an hour catching up on things, most of which being verbal, I do not remember. But he tone was pleasant.

This was the first test of the Skype connection here at LK Pavilion. At Diana Estates the Internet Server was not quite up to the challenge of the number people trying to access it and so the Skype connection would experience lags or slowdowns in speech followed by missing words. It was very frustrating for both parties, especially when talking with my mother who has trouble hearing (as do I).

However the connection here was clear as a bell. Not once in the hour long conversion did we experience any technical trouble of any kind. I expect I will be doing a bit more phone calls due to this. So if you want to hear my voice email me your phone number and good times to call (remember I am EST + 12 hours.)

December 16th, 2008

I woke up at 7:15. Made it into the living room without waking Mai. I flipped on the computer to let it warm up. I slipped into yesterday's clothes and did a few quick calf stretches before moving quietly out the door to begin the second day of rebuilding my musculature.

Ran the stairs, adding a floor by descending to the basement before running to the 7th floor, lungs trying like mad to burst out of my chest when I paused at the top landing. After looking out the window at the neighborhood from on high and waiting for my breathing to slow to manageable I walked briskly down the stairs to the basement again. Going down stairs is harder for my balance than up - which has given me no problem the last two days - so my pace is slower when descending.

At the basement I ran to the second floor. This is all in bare feet for less possible balance problems. I wonder what I look like to the front desk staff that are use to seeing me walk around with a cane?

Back at the room I had 13 non-spam emails. Several from my mother and Mary K, one from Dawn, Jia had bought a brick, Fred had returned my email and Pamela had responded to my wondering who she was.

So very little posting got done. And as I posted, emails to my responses started coming in - I'm not used to people being up when I work on the computer, might have to rethink my email policy if I am to get anything typed up here.

As Mary K had been emailing a lot today, I decided to checkout if Skype had been a fluke yesterday and wrote to tell her I was going to call (she screens and my Skype looks like a telemarketer.) I tried Jia first, but got the answering machine.

I talked to Mary K for quite some time. The Skype is just like a regular phone here, better even than when I was in Florida. A true pleasure to talk on. Sadly, my audio memory has nearly 100% failure rate. I never remember anything told to me any more.

After the call, we finally had breakfast around noon. Deciding not to go out today, I would be limited to the food we bought at Friendship market yesterday. Muesli cereal, milk and banana (banana supplied by Mai who went to the market to get herself the Papaya salad that is a staple of her diet.) 

I took a break to watch Boston Legal (last season of course) and Mai fell asleep.

Mary K emailed on stuff related to websites and found my mind and memory working unusually well so I got side tracked with bits of things I had learned over the years and most likely forgotten to tell her. But she and Joe Bob have been so amazingly helpful to me since I got sick, I owe them any help I can muster. They have really been above and beyond.

I had wanted to buy a toaster and my mother had suggested a toaster over. But after the expense of the DVD player I felt I should wait until next week to purchase it. I'm not sure when exactly $54 became a major expenditure but it hit home for me not only my situation but what it truly meant when my mother or friends couldn't afford to do something that was only a few dollars. Then I began to think about the Thai village people living on less than a 100 baht a week. My thoughts began to spiral down from there, an odd mixture of self-pity and sorrow for others. Thankfully Mai's hunger, which is almost always sudden and strong, grabbed my attention and distracted be out of my revelry.

Now it was time to finally have a real grilled cheese sandwich. I have found it on one menu in Pattaya, but barely toasted and unmelted cheese doesn't translate to grilled in anybodies book that I know.

Mai had gotten excited about bacon and we had bought some yesterday, so I decided a grilled cheese and bacon might ease her into the whole oily bland sandwich concept.

The very first problem I ran into was the pan did not have a lid. But the stove had a hood with a fan, and a maid cleans this room every other day, so I decided not to care. This turn out to be a problem as the bacon was extremely thin (in texture very much like prosciutto) and the best behaved bacon I have ever cooked.

Each sandwich had to be made separately. I made Mai's first as I like my food piping hot and Mai prepares hers cooler. While the bacon cooked I put mayo on inside of the two slices of white bread.

For some reason a grilled cheese and a BLT have to be on white bread (or as Mary K pointed out, Sourdough) but it is the only use I have for white bread which I otherwise despise.

Cheese, one slice for Mai, two for me, stuck to the mayo.

Change pan to the cold burner. Remove the bacon and pat down lightly with paper towels. This turned out to be a stumbling block as we don't have tongs. I made do with our metal chops, but hands weren't steady enough and after the bacon had been about every where but where I wanted them I used the fat end of the chopsticks to grab them with and control was much easier after that.

Bacon is placed on the cheese and the two halves combined. Butter is spread on the top bread and a bit of mayo on top of that (Shaun's family secret revealed) and the whole thing is plunked into the bacon grease in the pan which has been returned to the hot burner.

This led to the next stumbling block: no spatula. I used a bowl to push down on the sandwich. Clumsily buttered and mayoed the remaining side and flipped it with knife guided with chopsticks. It wasn't a pretty maneuver the first so round. More pushing with the plate, accidentally touching the pan and getting a light burn after which I improved my technique and carefulness.

My timing on both sides of each was just right; a perfect golden brown.

Mai and I ate together, she augmenting her meal with some spicy noodle on the side. She was very happy and I finally had my grilled cheese. Delicious.

December 17th, 2008

Last night around 10pm I began yawning something awful. I couldn't keep my eyes open and fell asleep uncharacteristically easily, fast and deep. I awoke at 5:15am with a full bladder and wide awake.

 I thought I made it out of the bedroom without waking Mai but I soon heard the iPod go silent. Luckily she falls asleep again easily.

My calves were screaming this morning, I almost let that be an excuse to not run the stairs, but instead - worried about backsliding - decided I would research calf stretching and run the stairs today. Later I would get a calf massage and tomorrow I will let the muscles heal and grow by giving them a day off.

A few minutes research refreshed my memory and sure enough I was stretching my calves incorrectly. I proceeded to take an extra long time warming them up. A little after 6, I was running the stairs. At the front desk was the young man that had opened the room safe after I had locked it in such a way that I could not open it when I first moved in.

He asked if I was checking on my motorbike. This was a logical assumption as I was heading toward the basement where the cars and motorbikes are parked. Mai having recently gotten her motorbike back (there is a whole long story there I'm not sure is mine to tell.) parks it there.

I said 'No, I am exercising. I hope to be free of the cane eventually," I added though there is no relationship between the two. Though I am relying on the cane for support more when the idea was to use it for balance.

Lungs didn't burn quite as bad when I reached the top floor and I took a minute to really study the view. I'll have to get two pictures, half the city is visible from those windows. I think the amount of stairs is just right as it is the last set of landings that I really begin to feel it. When I get to the top no problem, I'll add a second halfway sprint, and eventually do two sets of stairs.

Back in the room it was still early and the perfect time for phone calls.

First I tried Lorne's cell phone and got the voice mail. Tried his home number, Sage picked up and handed me off to Lisa who I could here in the background was having trouble with the baby. She said Lorne was working late, and she would have him email me so I could call when he got home. As it is after 10pm when I write this I'm guessing that is not happening. But she also said Thursday is a good time to call.

Next I tried Shaun and actually got him but just as he was heading out the door so our talk was brief. He said Thursday is a good day to call.

Then I thought, maybe my sister was home and she was. We had a lovely hour long call with no problems with Skype but there is an irritating reverb from her phone. She also mentioned Thursday is a good time to call. I guess Thursday will be phone call day :)

After that I finished the fleshing out of October which was easy as it was only one additional entry.

And now as Mai is up we will head out breakfast and a calf massage.

Being high noon it is hot out. We cross the alley from hotel to coffee shop. They have added a new feature in addition to their regular menu: a form to be filled out for a farang breakfast - select any seven items only 100 baht. Hash browns is one of the items. Pitini's had recently added hash browns, but prior to that I had been unable to find them. So the hankering factor on hash browns was still quite high. Three of my seven choices was bacon for which I expected three strips of bacon, I got six. Of course, I still ate them. The two egg omelet (one choice) was exactly that, an egg omelet with nothing else. The mushrooms were perfect. And not ordering bread made the whole meal much easier to finish.

From there we now had the slightly long walk for this time of day to Lek's place of massage.

I'm not sure I have every given them a plug and they are certainly worry of one, so for my growing number of Pattayan readers: Srinul Massage directly across the side (not Third Road) entrance to X-Zyte. Like most of the shops on this Soi massage is only 100 baht per hour, 200 for oil. This is a straight up massage place, no banana massage as they say in Chaing Mai, but if you are having pains or problems ask for Lek. Not only is she superhumanly strong, but she has an excellent knowledge of anatomy and technique. Mobile: 087-9736433.

To avoid returning to the hotel room we settled on Mai wearing my hat, and I using the umbrella to block the sun. Calves still stinging some we started our slow march toward X-Zyte, making note of several shops for examination on the way back.

Srinul was busy today. I seem to attract customers at whatever shop we stop at, but I'm use to hem arriving after I am getting a massage, not delaying mine. But the foot massage chairs where unoccupied and after turning on the fan on the wall across from it, I was comfortable and content to wait for Lek to finish with her customer. Mai was able to start right away. My wait was short.

The massage itself seemed to be at half power (Lek seems to only switch into pain mode if she is working a specific problem, at which point her price doubles making it the same price as a regular massage anywhere else in town.) but as I was already internally debating whether it was best to let the calves heal naturally or have them worked on today, half power seemed a mighty good idea.

There was still a substantial amount of pain involved, but the walk here have thankfully loosened some of it already.

They used a new lotion on Mai and me, that had some form of Tiger balm in it. It made my legs itch something fierce and burn to so degree. As the skin on my legs is incredibly dry, I was hoping that this would have some curative properties in that regard. Mai was finding my scratching reaction to the lotion humorous until it finally kicked in on her. He that laughs last laughs best :)

Walking home, the sun greatly intensified the burning power of the remains of the lotion on my legs. It made us want to hurry home, but we still stopped at some of the places we had noticed on the way out.

I skipped places where I would have to concentrate, like the visa place (located somewhere inside 'Up to You' restaurant) and concentrated mostly on the open air tent market place where over several stalls we found, plug converter and tiny power strip in one for 29 baht. We bought three. A small pair of tongs - more like metal salad tongs than bacon tongs, but they will do the trick. Hinge oil - I have given up trying to figure out how to find something as tough to explain as WD-40. While I couldn't find a straight up spatula I did find something halfway between one and a small metal dustbin that will do the trick. Add in a cable for the TV and a hat for Mai and we were still under 200 baht ($8). I love these tent markets.

Almost home free, I spotted a little note on an otherwise uninteresting but crowded sign "Clearance sale: hundreds of DVDs, only 59 baht each." Even more tempted by the fact that the place looked air conditioned in we went. While there may at once have been hundreds of DVDs the sale must have been effective as there were now less than fifty. I have to admit though it was a good collection and we easily found six titles I thought Mai would enjoy. Haggling the shop keeper down to 50 baht each if we bought the six, we reemerged into the searing sun.

A quick stop at the 7-11 on the corner for tomorrow's morning coffee in a can and bottles of water; we retreated to the room.

My body temperature was through the roof, and I decided a dip in the pool was the best way to bring it down. Mai wasn't budging from the room, the pool too cold for her even if she enjoyed it more than me last time we went in.

The temperature of the pool reminds me of Blue Springs. It is shockingly cold when you first get in and then warms up comfortably as you start moving around and get use to it. While smaller than the Oasis pool the area around it has more useable space. Like most Jacuzzis in Thailand (perhaps all Jacuzzis here) they are not heated. Just pool water with jets. At least these jets are stronger than the other two I sampled. But still it is pretty useless to me. The courtyard and pool have the wall of another large building on the far side and looks into the dining area of the lobby on the near side. Towels are provided at the front desk which is a refreshing change.

I tried to exercise my arms as much as possible without flexing my calves. While I enjoyed myself I grew bored swimming alone after a short time, exited the pool and took up residence on one of the pool chairs.

The Pavilion is strange in that 90% of it is sparkling clean and then there are blatant exceptions. The foam or plastic cushions of the ample beach chairs look they have not been changed for twenty years. They are yellowed with age giving the impression of being dirty. They also seem like they could turn to dust at any moment when sat upon. I'll speak more on this topic when I put together the page for this place.

Open completely on one side and to some degree behind me, a wonderful warm breeze blows through the pool area and one of the nice moments of peace descends on me as I dry - warm, in shade with nice breeze.

Too lazy to go out, we have dinner in the lobby. The food is better than most places, and reasonably priced, but we have been spoiled by Oasis and to some degree Pitinis.

We walk two of the new DVDs in the bedroom, both animated humor films I have seen before but don't remember well.

We are taking constant breaks from viewing as Mai, usually the three bites and I'm full girl, has turned into an eating machine this evening and is prowling the kitchen and her mind trying to figure out what is edible in the apartment. Did you know you could eat packaged ramen dry? Neither did I.

Though enjoying them, Mai falls asleep during the second one. I'm asleep by 10.

December 18th, 2008

As planned I skip the morning running of the stairs and either because of that, or it was going to be this way anyway, my eyes are having trouble focusing today and my brain does not have the crispness it had the last few days.

I catch up on the second half of yesterday, maintaining a high level of detail despite having to correct every other word - sometimes multiple times.

My plan is to be lazy today. Stay in or near the hotel. We go across the street to Par's Place and I have Fried Egg Noodle with Pork and vegetable, spicy. As it was cheap, I chose Tonic water for a liquid which turned out to be both a good thirst quencher and spice killer. Mai had a Curry Coconut soup with village chicken, which she ate about a third of before declaring it was great and she was full. I suggested she take the rest to go in case she turned ravenous like last night.

Back at the hotel I stole a map of the area from Par's Place website and spent too much time modifying it for my needs. This map now sits at the top of this month's entry and may be referred when trying to visualize any of our adventures in exploring this area of town. Mai ran errands on the motorbike while I did this.

We finished watching the movie last night, and then I worked on this website. The swimming pool beckons after we go and restock coffee from 7-11.

December 19th, 2008

Emails from Lloyd and Dawn on the same day! Lloyd is alive and well. I am attempting to talk him into visiting. I am not sure if his current duties allow for time off, but I sure he would get some much more out of this culture than I do, and would probably discover several things useful, entertaining or delicious that I have not found on my own or with Mai's help.

My calves feel much better this morning, but my mind is on the low ebb of its drug induced four day cycle.

I don't know if it is because maybe I was moving faster, or perhaps the day off, but I was struggling with two floors left to go (usually it hits me on that last half a flight) and by the end I was barely walking fast and my balancing hand on the railing was starting to do some of the work by pulling me up. Wow I was winded at the top. Still I completed the course running the basement to second floor segment with no problem after the rest of walking down eight floors.

Okay, this is odd. Mai says and touch confirms it: hair is growing on my previously bald spot. Is that a side effect of the NL (I don't see how, but the bodies interconnections are almost infinite,) a protein or enzyme being created by my short circuiting brain (most plausible to me,) changes in diet (designed to reduce or youthen my 'old man' skin,) or something I can think of? No idea, only guesses. Depending on the answer, it is good news or bad news. Either way it brings my external picture of myself more inline with the one in my head. As, of course, as a good Discordian I might conclude that that internal perception is the true root of the change.

It doesn't look like much in the picture, but the feel which was so odd previously has definitely changed.

I feel very good and strong physically today. I was able to cajole Mai into joining me in the swimming pool. As I have probably said before, it just like Blue Springs in temperature, you just have to get in quickly and withstand the chill for a minute or two while it becomes comfortable. Feeling well and with Mai at my side we got a good workout swimming back and forth in variety of styles.

Afterward we lounged out on the pool chairs, Mai cowering beneath towel and my robe, drying and reading in the perfect (to me) breeze.

It doesn't feel that long after breakfast but I am oddly hungry. I mention this to Mai and she is also. She takes the motorbike to Soi Boahkoaw. Her favorite spicy Papaya Salad for her, Chicken Liver with Fried Rice and Cashew Nuts for me. As they forgot to include lime, I decide to eat it with spice or additions. This turns out to be a nice change of pace.

Today is Friday?! Damn, that is weird as I know yesterday was Wednesday. It also sucks because I promised to call a bunch of people on their Thursday night, which has now passed. The fun of bad brain continues...

December 21st, 2008

As we were going to sleep last night Mai says she wants to run the stairs with me in the morning. True to her word, after I answer the morning email she is dressed in comfortable clothes and ready to go. I show her how to stretch her calves but much like me when Emer was teaching me she shows little interest. As I have blown out a calf in the past I go through the complete stretching routine.

We walk briskly down to the lobby where she stops to talk to the staff, perhaps explaining why her crazy farang runs by twice each morning. I don't really know.

Now at the basement we begin the run. I think I am running faster than usual, probably subconsciously trying to show certain she could pass me with ease - I am lugging almost four times her weight - but her culture keeps her from passing me. I am almost surely moving faster than before because I start to run out of juice on the way to the fifth floor instead of just after passing the sixth. Those last two floors and especially the last half flight are a real struggle. I am gulping for air at the top. Mai is barely winded but at least she is breathing a little.

For what seems in my head to be a good month now, Mai and I have been trying to figure out something she could do part time. It is not good for people to be together 24 hours a day, it doesn't give them a chance to miss the other person. It leads to taking each other for granted. But Thailand, with cheap abundant labor doesn't really have the concept of part-time. And certainly not in the massage field which is Mai's main training. Twelve hours a day, one day off every ten days is the norm there. I am not willing to give up that much time with her.

But, while doing virtually nothing was a dream come true for her at first, it has been chaffing a bit after six months. She is signed up as a call in masseuse at three shops, but with high season off so much this year that only led to a couple of calls, one of which left no tip and so she made nothing.

And she has the idea that if she makes enough for us to live on, I could stay longer. I tell her that is unlikely, but given the ride I have had so far I can't rule anything out. We discussed more English classes for her. There are several places right around here which seem more structured than her previous teacher which had from my perspective seemed rather amateurish. And the price is well within our weekly budget.

Well straight across from our favorite balcony on the 2nd floor landing, sandwiched between the pizza place and Par's Parlor with only a couple of storage shops and a private residence between them is a three story unit for sale or rent.

Shop for rent. Literally straight across from the front steps of the LK Pavilion.

Mai has been talking last week about a friend of hers selling a massage shop fairly cheap out a little before the Big C on Second Road. It was slightly off the road in the parking lot of a large hotel. I was surprised that if she wanted, between an investor friend (a girl in Bangkok,) money she had socked away and sell the family truck she could come up with a surprising amount of money.

But with a little research it seemed like traffic would not be great enough there, and Mai dropped the idea.

Then this concept of opening a massage shop reemerged as a fascination with the building in the picture above. It is at once a great idea and terrifying one.

If it works out:

• It makes the transition from life with me back to life on her own effortless

• It gives her something meaningful to do that after the first month won't take her away from me full time.

• The third floor can be slowly turned into an apartment which can be both a place for her to live later or a place for me if the cash comes up a bit short in the end.

• I get feel useful as advertising, marketing and promotion are not Mai's strong suit.

• We will save lots of money with free massage.

• If things go very well it could be a source of income for us.

If things go horribly wrong:

• Mai's savings are wiped out.

• The family no longer has a truck.

• She may be forced by family and face to return to Randy.

To me you do not wager what you can not afford to lose. I keep questioning her on what happens if the business doesn't work out. She is worried, but it doesn't seem to her to be the end of the world. Some family member or friend will help her out while she gets a job and starts anew. It is the social safety net in action. I never got to experience this as it ceased to exist in my country when it was replaced by the less secure nation safety net (Social Security, Medicare, whatever new euphemism it is they use for Welfare nowadays, etc.

It initially looked like negotiations on the building were not going to go too well. The manager wanted too much of a deposit to leave Mai and her associate with enough operating capital to get the shop functioning. Luckily, with all the fear of tourist uncertainty in the air he was willing to compromise substantially. And a deal has been potentially struck. across the way.

I had a ritual on Sunday of going off into town and exploring on my own on Sundays. This usually began with a two or three hour massage. Mai had worked so hard moving us to the Pavilion last week that had modified my ritual and had her come with me for a three hour massage at Srinul. That had gone over so well last week that I repeated it this week. A few stores past the massage shop is Lek's Place. This is a little but nice four table open air Thai food restaurant. I like because it has chicken liver, which I have been craving for months. By the way, Lek's Place is no relation to Lek the masseuse. Lek is a very common Thai nickname. It means small. Yie, meaning nig, is also popular, this is Mai's other sisters nickname.

Anyway, we had our noon breakfast there. It was unusually busy as the rest of the tables filled up quickly (once again, where I go customers follow <g>) Our meals were tasty and inexpensive. The portions small enough to not make me uncomfortable when I need to lie on my stomach.

At the massage parlor I like this progression. First hour is a foot massage. This let's me cool down with a fan blowing on my front and gets me in the relaxed state of mind. The second hour Mai and I take the two floor mattresses in the back room which affords us some quiet. This is in theory only as Lek always chats up a pretty much nonstop stream of Thai with whatever masseuse is working on Mai. So of this Mai translates for me, if I stare at her quizzically enough. I always use Lek for this stage as she works on destroying whatever knots have developed over the week. This is a painful process, but as Lek knows the body well enough not to need verbal cues, I only cry out when I can not do otherwise.

The last hour goes to whoever has the longest fingernails (a difference of microns as they all have almost none) but in practice works out to whoever is available because the customers always follow me. This usually means that Mai's masseuse and Lek switch places. This last massage is a neck massage and head scratch. They find great humor in the head scratch as this is not something they are use to. If I haven't had the girl before I have to instruct her in what to do. As it is completely different from what they usually do, I am more successful than when I try to modify something they already know. In those cases they do what I instruct fir a few moments before returning to their routine. Here they will scratch until the time is up. Some begin to experiment, some stick to exactly what I show them. While I prefer the first, either is fine. This calms my mind amazingly and prepares my mind for exploration (I'm also NL'd to the gills).

All this pampering is only just under $9 USD each. Add another $9 for generous tip. Less than $30 for three hours of massage for two people. This is why I love Soi 100 Baht.

The other end, where Soi 100 Baht hits Soi Boahkoaw is my Pharmacy. There are hundreds (no exaggeration I think) of pharmacies, drug stores and clinics dispensing medicine in Pattaya. This became my favorite originally because it was the first one I found that took credit cards. After the cards were gone, I realized that it was also much more knowledgeable and easier to work with than the closer options. So they earned my loyalty.

Outside the sign says "24" which I took to mean it was open 24 hours, but later learned meant it closed at midnight. Today, I picked up the new vial of Lantus, I was supposed to pick up on Wednesday. The price has slid over time from 3800 baht to 3400 baht. This is presented as a tribute for my patronage, but I am wondering if I should have been haggling all this time?

Back in the States, at Target, I had asked how long the Lantus could stay unrefrigerated. I had been worried about the 30 hour flight. After consulting the computer they said up to 6 days, which relieved my mind. Here the pharmacist was insistent on wrapping the package in dry ice.

I didn't like the idea of dry ice, even in cased in plastic, sitting in Mai's purse so I had her get a motorbike taxi (so cheap at 20 baht) to take it back to room, throw it in the fridge and met me at the Villa. In the interim I would walk down there. She was to meet me there.

I strolled down Soi Diana Inn, umbrella in hand, the sun more harsh than usual today. At the Villa I pulled up a stool and ordered a tomato juice and focused on the menu and the shoppers entering the grocery store while I waited. My sense of time is messed up and today it seemed like it took forever for her to arrive. She says that it didn't seem like that to her.

I don't remember what I had, but Mai had farang food; a Hawaiian (i.e.: a pineapple slice on top) pork chop with mashed potatoes and gravy (the latter I know she really likes.) She greatly enjoyed it. I tried a piece and will have to have it here some time; quiet good.

She also ordered coffee. Now a little coffee effects Mai like a lot of liquor effects other women, except without the inebriation. She becomes frisky and experimental. The idea of us going to a Go-Go bar, we had talked about a week or more ago, and then had forgotten all about when I became too tired to go out that night. This though was a good day for it, as I was medicated just right to withstand the noise. A parking lot traffic cop had blown a whistle almost straight in my ear just few minutes earlier and I had barely flinched. Hopefully nothing would change in the next few hours.

Mai said she thought they opened around 6pm, I had thought 8. It was now a little after 4, and we settled on meeting up at 7pm. I thought she would know the Drink Bug as it was practically right across from Diana Estates and we had passed it a hundred times or more, but it became clear using this as a meeting place would not end well. So I suggested the bar at the corner of Soi LK Metro where we had had a very nice mildly drunken evening many months before.

This gave me just under three hours to go off by myself and explore Pattaya unaided. Time to soak up the flattery this town has to offer when you don't have a women in tow.

I didn't have enough time to find a new and comfortable place, either massage shop or beer bar. So I amused myself in an adventure of not getting a massage. Once again adopting a made up language amd looking bewildered I wandered into six massage parlors poked around a bit while cashiers and girls a like tried to figure what I wanted and then left. The idea was getting a good look at how the places were decorated, and trying to latch onto any good ideas for the new shop and just as importantly looking for what to avoid doing. I might have been able to do as much by simply explaining, but nobody but Mai (sometimes) a word that I say, and this was more fun anyway. The chink [just spent four minutes trying to figure out if the word I wanted was 'chink', which sounded racist, or 'kink'. The dictionary cleared that up for me.] in the plan was that I have no short term memory and took no notes.

I work my way back toward Soi LK Metro knowing I will be even earlier than is my normal way.

MeanWhile meets the guy to look at the building. Masseuses pop out of the wood work for Mai.

Mai at Oasis A-Go-Go

Our time at Champaign a Go Go (not as I had remembered it), "I had nothing to do with this, I swear". Golf. Table dancing.

Walking home, long talk, new rules. Even longer talk at home, many misunderstandings corrected and new understandings formed.

December 22nd, 2008

When I get out of bed my ankle screams in pain. I don't remember doing anything to it, and it doesn't feel like a spasm related knot type pain, but it hurts bad. I hobble in circle and back to the bed. Mai isn't in it. I hobble to the door to the living room and she is on the couch watching Thai TV. She has not slept. Business ideas running through her mind.

Back on the bed Mai gives my ankle a quick massage and rubs some tiger balm into it. The foot is good as ever when I put weigh on it and doesn't trouble again today. There was no pain at all when she was pushing on the ankle, although it did pop a couple of times. Still, strange.

Both of us are feeling tired. I put on the last disk of The 4400 series and watch while Mai alternately naps, watches and makes phone calls as she thinks of things about the business.

Never got dressed today, Just watched TV and DVDs. Mai slept off and on and only left to get laundry and over to 7-11 for restock on water and coffee. We lived on room service, out of the fridge and delivery. I know Mai isn't going to be around as much next month, which made today's quiet peacefulness together all that more special.

After a couple of aborted tries Lee Stringer is definitely visiting this time having booked his flight and three nights at the Pavilion. He will arrive on January 23th, which ought to be just about the grand opening of Mai's shop if her timetable comes close to reality.

My only plan today was to get a toaster over at Big-C, and I am happy to put that chore off until tomorrow. 

December 23nd, 2008

I awake this morning having slept very deep. I feel wonderfully awake and upon getting up realize that I have the best balance I have had in years, as far back as I can remember. if you have normal balance, trust me you take it for granted. When the world can go all wonky on you and appear slanted, or look normal but things aren't where they seem to be, or it feels like you've just finished spinning around too much, or the world twists a little, well when you are used to that a day of perfect balance is a wonderful thing. No cane, dancing and twirling around the apartment. Teasing Mai with slanted dips and bops. A pure and simple gift.

Mai comes with me to run the stairs again, and with my balance I enjoy letting go of the handrail when taking the corners at the landings allowing a wider arc and feeling much more natural. As before I am sure Mai could pass me easily but she does not. This time probably because of the balance I am moving even faster and start to run out of power even sooner. I don't slow down as much but at the top I can hardly catch my breath. It feels like I never will, but slowly I regain that ability and start down the stairs as my breathing slows.

We head to Par's Place for breakfast. I dance Mai down the hall. I skip down the stairs (by the way, we have only used the elevator here when the clerk was showing us the rooms. Good days and bad, empty handed or full, we always use the stairs. Tracy would be so proud and so am I,) prance across the lobby and scamper down the front steps. I do my gopher dance, which always makes Mai laugh. I feel really good.

I don't usually remember my dreams. I remember vaguely the dream I was having when I wake up and often it fades fast leaving only the memory of a memory. This morning it had had something to do with massage and Mai being jealous. So I'm reading the paper - Bernie has a very nice collection of papers and magazines to read - while I wait for breakfast and there is this big ad for Dragon Royal Jelly. And BAM! a dream I had last night comes back to me in vivid detail.

I'm sitting in a field with the monk I met in May. And he tells me "Now is the time to begin."

Very short dream, but I can remember the peaceful feeling of the wind, the coolness of the grass, the calming sound of water running nearby. I remember the charisma of the monk, just like I felt before when we met in person. I remember what his orange robe looked like, what I was wearing, even the smell of the field.

This freaks me out, and I'll try to explain why. Long story short, I had a surreal encounter with a monk back in May. Not surprising given my illness, but surprising to me nonetheless. I remembered the event long enough to write it down and then forgot all about it. Until I had last night's very vivid dream.

Now that's all fine and good. What is bugging me is that I am considering it - actually planning to start at the New Year. I have always considered that acting on logic or impulse is a sanity, acting on superstition is not. Smart logical people that build their lives on religion are a contradiction I have never resolved.

Now I'm not being instructed to kill people or anything, but I'm getting ready to make major dietary changes based solely on the premonitions of another person and a dream. Now, I can head down the path into denial and say that these are healthy rational changes (a few supplements, and no meat) but the truth is, I've known that for years, and am only changing as desperate ploy to add some more time to my life.

To my thinking I am no longer living within my definition of sanity. I am one of those people. I'm almost to the point that I can joke now, but internally I am seriously freaked. Talking to my mother did not help, she didn't see the problem. In the shower it occurred to me to call Carol Huff.

She is one of those smart logical yet very religious people. I respect her opinions, she baffles me. And as she won't be vested in this as HER religion her perspective could be very helpful. But she isn't home and doesn't get back to me until the next day, when I had already made the decision to stall until after the New Year (I do love my meat - and part me says "let's hope the Monk wasn't too literal about 'now.'" See, no longer sane.)

This is the back and often the forefront of my brain all day.

In the past we have gone to the Big C shopping Mecca on Second Road out in North Pattaya, but there is also one near us on South Pattaya Road near the Highway. It doesn't seem like that far a walk, certainly less than a mile, but we also want to check out the Baht Bus situation. I figure once it has passed Third Road it pretty much has to continue on to at least the highway. The question was how long would the wait be?

As we took our place protected under umbrella from the harsh sun of day, we saw a Baht bus waiting on the side of the intersection waiting for the light to change. Well that was easy. Seemed like it took forever for the light to turn green and then when the Bus arrived it was too full. Even with my balance today, I'm not tempting fate by hanging off the back platform of a baht bus with eight Thai people and Mai. Having waved him to the curb I now wave him away, reaffirming in the driver that farang are crazy, I'm sure.

Another bus arrives in less than 30 seconds, about room for three people left on one side; perfect. We look at the passing stores, this is mostly new territory for Mai and me. We note, with an eye toward the new shop, several furniture stores. When we come to the hug sign saying 'Big C' Mai says it is better to get off further down the road. Everyone else has already left the bus by now and at the next road the driver stops and asks Mai where she is going. We did want to get off back at the sign, but we could get there from here by walking along the highway. I was told this Big C was smaller but if anything it seemed quite a but bigger, at least in terms vendors surrounding the mall-like structure and in the parking lots.

But beyond getting used to coming here, we are here to buy a toaster oven. After finding the correct department - imagine looking for something in a foreign Wal-Mart - our quest is made simple by the fact that there are only 4 choices. One is hideous and unpractical, one is way over priced, one they have a hugs stock of on display and are pushing too hard and the last one looks perfect and is less than 700 baht. Add in liquid soap, shampoo and other like liquids, a hand full of cheap meals in plastic bags and our 'big' expenditure for this week is spent.

Each of us has two pages, one the toaster oven, the rest toiletries and food. The tuk tuk outside wants 150 baht to go the half mile to the Pavilion. Oddly he isn't budging. The other Big C would also start at 150 but haggle down to 100 and had to go three times the distance. I say we will walk to South and grab a regular tuk tuk. I expect him to give in at that point but when he doesn't that is exactly what we do. The walk to South is about the same as we have walked along the highway, a bit tiring only because of the packages and umbrella. There is a huge tent at the road entrance selling new furniture. Mai is trying to get the idea of the cost of a couch and if they have any massage chairs. A baht bus arrives before she gets any answers. 20 baht drops us in front of Tony's Beer festival and we wait for traffic to jam up so we can safely cross the street with our bundles. On the wide and clean back street to our room are several vendor carts. They weren't here we went out. This was one of a few things I missed from living on Soi Boahkoaw. One was selling roasted corn, and I waited for two large fresh ones.

Mai needed to get her passport and license photocopied to get the ball rolling on getting the paperwork for the lease of the new shop. She mentioned going out to a copy shop on her motorbike. I mentioned that the front desk almost certainly did photocopies. She went to do this while I took the packages up to the room, put the food in the fridge and setup the toaster oven.In use it would turn out later that night that the cheap power strip that is otherwise perfect can not handle the load of a microwave and toaster oven running simultaneously and thankfully chose to self terminate rather than burst into flames, which it felt like it had been on the edge of doing. As both devices have only two prongs on the plug we have decided it simplest and safest just to switch plugs when needed.

Mai comes back with eight photocopies from the front desk. I eat my corn, thick with butter and salt. Change the butter to margarine and already following the monk. <g>

A friend of Mai's will be sending 100,000 baht on the 2nd. Mai has 50,000 in the bank. I have 1250 Euros that I considered hers for her transition back to working life when I pass on. That only seemed fair as she gave up her job to stay with me. The Euros have been moved from room safe to room safe over the last six months. The value dropped significantly since purchase then rose to close to what they were originally. I've been hoping they will hold better when the Global Inflation hits. Anyway, I gave Mai 500 Euros of it -Mary K had said she was going to forward my address to Don Fradette and couple of other people. I woke up to a lovely letter from Don. Don was the first person I told I was sick and he kept my secret for a couple of years, until I outed myself. His wife had MS and at the time I had had no idea of closeness of the two illnesses. Of all my old convention folk I think Don would love it here the most (my first thought was Lou but he has some odd pheromone phenomena going on, so it is already Adult Disneyland wherever he goes.) and I would love having him here.

As much as it annoyed me to do so - and with each I am getting scarily more comfortable with doing this - I put in a plug for the donations page. When I was done with my email I switched over to my other Gmail account and found he had already First month and she gets a lease that can be taken to the police for a license.

7-11 is out of my coffee. The old 7-11 lowered the price solely I believe because of my consumption, now this one has not yet adjusted. Luckily there is another just two blocks away - not to mention one across the street nearby. It turns out to be slightly farther than I thought but not much. When I get there I buy all they have; seven cans. I figure the original store will be restocked by the time I finish these.

My crisis of unfaith led to calling my mother. She doesn't see a problem. While taking a shower it occurs to me that 'Carol Huff' is the logical person to help me with this inner conflict of worldview. I send her an email, but no response so I am guessing she is home for Christmas. I really didn't want to start until the New Year anyway. I take this as a sign the universe wishes the same.

December 24nd, 2008

Mary K had said she was going to forward my address to Don Fradette and couple of other people. I woke up to a lovely letter from Don. Don was the first person I told I was sick and he kept my secret for a couple of years, until I outed myself. His wife had MS and at the time I had had no idea of closeness of the two illnesses. Of all my old convention folk I think Don would love it here the most (my first thought was Lou but he has some odd pheromone phenomena going on, so it is already Adult Disneyland wherever he goes.) and I would love having him here.

As much as it annoyed me to do so - and with each I am getting scarily more comfortable with doing this - I put in a plug for the donations page. When I was done with my email I switched over to my other Gmail account and found he had already bought a brick - God bless him (said the Discordian.)

I researched getting a 'co.th' (Thailand Commercial) domain yesterday. The advantages are that we could actually get www.serenity.co.th, and that if someone limited their search engine to just Thailand our site would come up. However the more I looked the worse it got. The minimum charge is $98 USD per year and that is with no hosting support. Compare this with as low as $6.99 a year with web hosting and email included for a 'com' domain. Also to get a Thailand Commercial domain you have to submit all your business paperwork and wait two weeks (which I say with no knowledge and absolute certainty will not be two weeks as any of us recognize it.

So, this morning really not wanting to run the stairs - I've promised myself a minimum over every other day; today I can slack - I searched for '.com' domain names. The problem with this is that everything you can think of is taken by somebody by now. I really liked the name 'Serenity Massage' and had already created a sign and logo for it earlier today based on knowing that www.serenity.co.th was available. But changing it would be a simple task. For an hour I tried ever more complex terms for domain names; all taken. Then I thought, Thai words were less likely to be used. Mai's real name (every Thai has a simple nickname as well as a name.) is Samai.

Of course www.samai.com was already taken. It was owned by Dotname Korea Corp, which sounds like a Korean company setup to buy up domain names. This happens a lot in the US. I'd wager than one out of two domain names is just hold hoping someone will want it enough to pay extra to use it. Suddenly the Thailand system made a little more sense to me, other than the already ludicrous price.

But, on only my second try 'www.samaimassage.com' I struck gold; it was available. After Mai got up. I talked it over with her, we agreed on the domain and on keeping the Serenity name for the shop anyway. I locked the domain down for a year, and set up the email accounts. The work on the website will have to wait 24 hours for the DNS registration to clear, and since that day is Christmas the earliest work on the website will begin is the 26th. I think I will keep it very Spartan. Professional looking is not forte or my style but by keeping it simple I hope to achieve both. Luckily the bar is not set very high, most massage websites, the few that exist, are horrible in terms of providing useful information and being up to date. While I'm still kicking, I can manage those two features at the very least.

Breakfast has pretty much been established at noon lately. I have a small snack with my shot and morning pills, exercise and type. Shower when Mai wakes up, type while she gets ready and I dry off and then breakfast between eleven and noon. Usually, like today, it is at Par's Place. Sometimes it is the noodle place around the corner.

I ordered a shrimp dish with vegetables; edging closer to the monk's advice. Turns out Mai ordered Shrimp with Asparagus. The sauces were slightly different and for once we ate Thai style, eating from each plate.

After breakfast Mai showed me the new shop. There is an awful lot that needs doing (to the western mind) but there is also a ton of space and lots of potential. As far as massage goes, Mai has worked for or knows half this town. She has seen most of the mistakes possible. While she is light on the knowledge of the administrative end of this job, I believe that she will learn this quickly. I'm sure there will be some missteps but she will learn quickly from those as well. I am impressed by both her planning and resourcefulness as well as the simplicity with which a good team came together.

The timing in which they will come together is just eerie. A new barely promoted shop needs idly two employees: a cashier who can also massage, and a masseuse that really knows her stuff. So what do we have? Mai and Lek. Then four other masseuses become available almost as one would want them too. Two are unknowns to me, the rest feel like good choices. And as I say the timing, strangely perfect.

Hating using the phone when I can't hear and the Thai can never understand what I am saying, I had Mai order the Royal Jelly from newspaper ad. "Free Delivery," the ad had said. The business is near here but it sounded like she had a lot of trouble getting them to understand where to go. Glad I didn't try the call myself. The jelly is 750 baht in its pure form, but if you are going to listen to monks and dreams it is going to cost, right?

The paper also had an ad for Christmas Dinner Buffet at Bob's BBQ. Now, I have had a couple of Burgers that Mai picked up for me, back when we lived at Diana-Estates. They were quite good. Bob's is on Soi LK Metro and while in plain sight, is lost amongst the whoredom of that el shaped lane. I have never actually been in the shop, but it seemed an odd venue for a Christmas Dinner but hey, it seemed better than nothing. The ad said they required a paid reservation, so I had Mai make the call and then she went down there on her motorbike to pay as she had to go to Soi Boahkoaw anyway for the food market getting odds and ends like garlic and onions so we could cook more at home.

I have worked a lot on this website today and only finished the last three days and part of the 21st. And yet I feel very tired.

On Thu, Dec 25, 2008 at 12:56 AM, Leisa Von Volz wrote:

Hi Garth,
How are you?
How are you feeling? Are you still in Thailand, is it? I'm still here. I hope you are too! I have yet to email Bob Dutton, but I'll wait 'til next year...:) Thinking of you often! I just got an email from Laura Sequeira. :) I hope you are having a great day, where ever you are and I hope you are feeling well too. Wishing you positive thoughts!!!
Take care - Leisa

Merry Christmas Leisa,

It had been much easier to put together a makeshift Thanksgiving than Christmas. Americans are a small percentage here, and Christmas has dragged most of them back home.
Mai and I will spend Christmas together, a single year tradition :)

As to how I am doing? I have fought this illness nearly to a standstill on the physical deterioration side. On the electrical side. memory loss is accelerating, concentration is often not possible, I can feel my mind slowing. But Love is awfully powerful force, and lately very persistent events have been occurring to try to keep me fro, giving up and just running out the clock. I was ready to stop fighting (4 times now) but that doesn't seem to be the universes plan. Getting through this next part is mostly a financial problem.
If you are currently working, anything you can spare makes a huge difference, and any bricks I can put in the wall before I start actively pushing for help will make it that much easier of a sell.
For explanation and if you can help the link is: Donation.
I have lost touch with past friends. Forwarding the link to anyone that remembers me, would also be a huge help. $8000 seems like such a small amount until you don't have it. But also such a large amount to ask anyone for, so this whittling method seems the best (if tacky) way at achieving that.
 
Thailand has been very good for me. I don't think Bob will be home until after the Holidays. I see him read my site but he isn't answering his email so I assume he is with his family on the Island.

I have a simple day planned for today (it is Christmas morning here already) as neither Mai nor I have any interest in more material objects, nor the funds to justify them or the creativity to make them. Today will be about kind gestures, lots of hugs and kisses. Also a Christmas Dinner (Turkey doesn't exist here so you have to take advantage on the rare occasion that makes them import them) at an unlikely venue. But she has been busy starting a massage parlor and I've been lost in my computer, so mostly it will be a time to spend a lot of time focused on each other.

I alternate bipolar like full range from self-pity (actually bemoaning that I've managed to survive this long as I was not prepared for it financially. I rarely feel sorry of the great odds (1 in 13 million) I beat in getting this decease, as I see it as blessing. It woke me up, made me start living.) to complacency to full on optimism. This week I would describe it as confused optimism as I once again watch the universe take my decisions, laugh, and do with me as it will.

Gee, I blathered a lot, I'll probably but this is the site somewhere.

I hope you too are happy this Christmas.
What is your life like now?

Hugs
Garth

Christmas, 2008

Last night just as I was falling asleep Mai's cell phone rings and it is Randy.

I awaken to the most wonderful Christmas gift. Randy has finally given up any lingering claim to Mai! Now, Randy is not the most stable of people (remember all my info of him is filtered through Mai) so I am thinking, "yeah, wait a few days." But then she gets a call from her sister Yie, Randy has the called her family and said the same thing. That pretty much locks it down. We will have an unofficial wedding ceremony on Buddha Hill on New Years day, not binding in the eyes of gods or governments but in the only eyes that count: ours. I've said it be and I'll probably say it again. It is a strange life.

In the lane behind the Pavilion halfway up the block to reaching South Pattaya Road is a noodle shop that only has three tables. We often look with interest but it is always full. Today we plan to walk to the shop on South just before the gas station. We have seen it, but never been in it. Well while passing the Noodle Shop we notice that all three tables are free and yet the place is open. Mai agrees enthusiastically with my suggestion we eat here instead. Noodle Soup is Noodle Shop, the real difference is in the mix of spices and liquids you add. I have that part pretty much down to a science for me. Yet somehow some noodle places can be far superior to the bulk. I am not sure the difference, but we know it when we encounter it. We had one on Soi Boahkoaw directly across from Pitinis. Unfortunately the cook/owner was ill a lot and so whether the place was open was unreliable.

Now we have one within spitting distance of our place, and it doesn't matter if it is full, we can eat on the 2nd floor landing table, the breeze there being perfect at our usual noon breakfast hour. Another pleasant Christmas discovery.

At breakfast, I ate slow and encouraged Mai to finish hers as we would not be eating again until our 6pm Christmas Dinner at Bob's BBQ. (She is eating an ear of corn in the kitchen at 4pm as I type this.) Afterward we walked, each of us with umbrellas today, down South to the beginning of Soi Boahkoaw and grabbed a baht bus to one of my banks; the room safe was running a bit low. The first of the transfers from the donation wall, via PayPal, had come in, so I had set that up correctly and all is working well. Takes a little under two weeks from donation to bank account in Thailand.

Since I was there I checked the Post office box. It was unlikely that Mary Ks package of disks had arrived, I doubt they have even been mailed yet, but hope springs eternal and you never know who might send what. Just an envelope from one of the credit card companies. I still haven't reached the 'dear scumbag' stage yet. I guess they are being extra kind with the credit crisis and all.

Mai surprises me by answering yes to, 'do you have your camera with you?' I want to take a picture of the pictures that had offended me (I could not think of this word for the last two weeks, 'insulted' was as close as I could get.) but the store (posted hours: open 10am) didn't open until 2pm and not reliably at that. So we needed to kill a couple hours. With food not an option, massage was what of course popped next into both our minds. But as we walked past Diana-Estates, I tried to feel Mai out about her feeling weird about visiting there. We had both felt a weird vibe from Meow when we moved out early even though we gave them good notice and heard the place was already booked soon after. Still Mai was reluctant to go there to eat. But we wanted to hook up Pha (of Par's Place) who needed am English speaking waitress with Mew who spoke English, learned quickly, had already been a waitress and last I knew was going a bit stir crazy back at Diana-Estates. Pha has already been extremely helpful with info regarding her shop, which in the same strip building as Mai's new shop. This seemed like a win win all around if Mew was actually interested. But we didn't have her phone number.

So we sneak like thieves up the back entrance to our old room. I see a couple Oasis staff spot us anyway. Up the stairs, Mew's room is right at the top of the first flight. I have Mai knock, she knocks very softly, but on the third time David answers the door. Never occurred to me that he would be in town. This is a stroke of luck as I can get his opinion on this idea at the same time, some people don't want their girl friends working.

He invites us in and we talk for what feels like a couple hours. Mew had been in the shower, but joins us eventually giving Mai someone to talk to, and two different conversations in two different languages proceeds for a long time. Sadly as noted often my brain rarely records what I hear any more and I have only vague remembrances of what was said. He was very kind. We talked a lot about politics, both Thai, Global, Irish and the US. He had many good ideas for Mai's renovations based on what he went through with his places. He was working taking Mew back to Dubai to get married, so working for Pha is probably not in the cards, although Mew did seem interested.

I remember I walked about our fondness for Sushi and that both David and I found common ground in finding the attitude of the staff at Fuji's off-putting. I told him about Samaria Sushi. Perhaps we will all go sometime.

We have their phone numbers, and David's email address now, so potentially my friend base has expanded a little now.

On the way walking home down Soi Boahkoaw, I spotted an option on a sign in front of one of the massage shops: Salt Body Scrub.

"What is a Salt Body Scrub?" I asked Mai as we continued to walk.

"Uh-huh," she replied. One of the irritating aspects of Thai culture is if they do not understand or hear something they would rather be sliced with knives rather than admit it ("That's a pit of lava you are about to walk into!" "Uh huh") which often leads to you thinking they have understood what you are saying when in fact they stopped listening several stories back. But at times of direct questioning like this one, if they aren't paying enough attention to say 'yes' instead of 'uh-huh' it becomes easy to tell. It would not surprise me to learn that there was no Thai words for 'I do not know.'

I stopped walking, which after about 10 steps got her attention. When she came back I asked again, "What is a Salt Body Scrub?" By the way, for those that seem that this should be self evident, one of the first things you learn in Pattaya - right after, check all possible directions including up before crossing the street or stepping on to the sidewalk - is never assume anything by what it is called in English (Salt Body Scrub could involve live baby squids for all you know.) Later you shorten that to - never assume anything here, period.

She didn't know what I was talking about (subtly different from her not knowing) so we walked the half block back to the sign, which I then tapped on. This engaged the attention of the three massage ladies outside on chairs who, seemingly having given up on attracting customers today had previously been involved amongst themselves in so unlively a conversation that my mind had not registered them. And they were upon us. Mai handled the conversation which I imagine involved finding out what a Salt Body Scrub was without admitting you don't know. Something like this:

And with much sing song language back and forth, we finally arrive at "Ba" and a gesture inside. 'Ba' means "let's go". By the way, 'Bah' means 'crazy or weird (as in "you're crazy")' I thought the 'Ba Bah Bar' would be a good name for a Beer Bar but only I would get it.

But I digress. Led by two ladies who I never really did notice because I was busy looking at the interior of the shop with a thought toward Mai's new place. I am slowly noticing that most of the buildings in this area are owed by LK and are essentially identical in structure. This place serves only as examples of what not to do.

We are led up to the third floor to a room with two actual massage tables (a thin mattress on the floor is the standard) which we watched them slowly cover with haphazardly cut plastic tarps. Were I by myself I would be undressing by now, but I'm waiting for Mai to begin as a sign to start. She is waiting for a towel which they are awkwardly slow at producing; working on getting the room just so instead as we stand around.

Eventually we are face down on a table while grit is applied and massaged into our bodies. A very strange feeling, something like being slowly and softly sanded by a machine that is rapidly leaking oil. Neither entirely pleasant nor unpleasant. It couldn't been too bad as the hour passed very quickly.

I was very happy Mai was with me to assist in getting this stuff off of us. It was pretty much a two step process: wash away all the grit (salt) and then apply lots of soap to remove some of the oil. Mai was having a bit of trouble my approach at first, but eventually she got the idea.

Now dried, dressed and admiring our silky smooth oil nourished skin (all this for 150 baht each) we then proceeded on back down the road as dusk approached. It was now late enough that the bagel shop would be open no matter incompetent they were feeling that day.

As we approached, Mai spotted the owner on a motorbike heading away from the shop. Mai is very good with details like this. I couldn't have picked him out of a crowd, let alone noticed him on a moving bike with a helmet on. But good, I didn't want to deal with his questions about why I was taking pictures. I felt immediately uncomfortable upon reentering the place and noticed many things I had not previously. I took pictures quickly, my main objective being the cartoons and not wishes to get side tracked. The Thai girl that did everything but cook, seemed happy that someone had taken an interest, apparently they mostly got complaints. Still I did not speak up. I left her with her impressions.

Upon putting the pictures together as a page, I found them less offensive taken one by one. It was harder to get the idea across. I alternated between, maybe it's me and I guess you had to be there. I did notice that the three that bothered me most were the ones most in my view.

Less than thrilling Christmas Dinner, and it doesn't matter at all.

And I don't know if it was the spirit of the holiday, my good mood, or simply reality but it seemed like the cream of the crop was out working Soi LK Metro this evening. And almost all of them were wearing Santa Hats.

Those blinking Santa Hats on those cute little Thai girls really brightened up an already spectacular Christmas. I always did have a thing for girls in Santa Hats, so this was just complete overkill.

I then dubbed them Ho-Ho-Ho's which took about twenty minutes, practically the complete story of Saint Nick and a brief language lesson to try to get this joke across to Mai. Which when you work that hard for it, of course falls flat. I am just happy knowing that somewhere, some time, when Dan reads this, he will laugh. For Mai I am much better off sticking to the physical comedy.

Less than one drink at a quiet bar and we are ready to stumble home.

December 26th, 2008

The end of the year festivals costs me five days as my Visa expires during the holiday week when the Jomtien Immigration Office is closed. Thinking this might be the case, I decide to go to the travel agent tomorrow. Mai saves the day by calling him. It turns out he will be gone the next two days but is in today.

This combined with having to be there on December 30th instead of January 3rd, means if she hadn't called today, I would have been a day late. My understanding is that being late is more problematic at Immigration than at the border where it is a fine but no hassle other than waiting to pay it.

On the way home, paperwork filled out and in folder. we are going to walk but it looks like it is going to rain so we take the baht bus down Soi Boahkoaw and then walk. It turns out to be one of the two fair days that turns this parking lot at the corner where we start working into a huge maze of vendors.

We work our way ducking cables, stepping over animals and refuse and eventually emerge from the other side (oh look the bagel shop) and on into the alleys beyond the end.

It is later in the day than we are usually here and there is a bustle of people, and more of the tiny shops catch our eye. We stop for dinner at a shop we had noticed previously and marked for future exploration. Dirt cheap and really good. Prawns in spicy basil on rice.

This brings up a question about planning to give up meat which I am willing to try for a month and see from there. But the question arises what did the monk actually say? And if he said meat or vegetarian well that can mean a lot of things. Eggs? Milk? Honey? Cheese? Seafood? Where is the line drawn. This is the problem with acting on mysticism rather than logic, there is no way to answer the gray area questions. Well I've got six days to make a decision.

A friend of Mai's is having a birthday party. As I do not know this friend I do not have to go. That is her to the left in the picture, Mai of course in the middle and on the right is Ple. Ple, which is magically pronounced 'Berm' (I can't help but think of the old Monty Python sketch line: 'It is spelled “Yacht” but it is pronounced “Throat Warbler Mangrove”',) will be masseuse at Serenity from opening day.

While Mai is out I use the time to overhaul the Sitemap and Pictures sections of this site. I like using my brain when it works. Today it is more like trying to prod a dead mule. But I have the time, and often I find when I'm slower I get different results than I would have otherwise and that often isn't a bad thing.

December 29th, 2008

Damn, lost a day again. Not sure what happened to Saturday, but on Sunday I had the first fairly bad day since coming to this apartment. Luckily the bulk of the pain happened while I was asleep, but the spasms were bad enough to wake me up. I had always assumed I was in some other form on consciousness during my night seizures as it seemed from the effects that it must be rather hard on the body and you would expect it to wake a person up. well at least this one time I was not, and I can tell you it is very painful and a bit frightening. You have no control over your body as it contorts, stretches and twists. Why I can't get out the door to the living without waking Mai but she can sleep through this is beyond me.

I was ruined for the day, barely able to hobble. Definitely not up to going outside. Worse, or perhaps better, it was Sunday, my pampering day. My day of massage and for exploration. While I certainly couldn't explore, I could still manage to get us our massages. Lek has come once to our room back Diana-Estates under similar circumstances, and Mai now arranged for her to come here. It turned out that Lek was the only one available at the moment as they had a lot of customers, so Mai had to wait an hour for a girl to arrive for her. I partook of three hours, two painful, one mostly head scratching and squeezing for me. Lek seemed a little off her game but it could have been that I was just too much of a mess to be a objective observer of the experience. Rather than have the other girl stay longer Mai opted for just two hours.

The massage eased the pain some but did little to quiet the noise and thumping in my head. The rest of the day was spent eating and watching TV.

Toward evening Mai got a call from the massage parlor she left her name with to come and give a two hour massage. She was tipped 200 baht and got great pleasure from working and contributing.

I awaken today feeling much better. A very long very hot shower with lots of stretching works out most of the kinks. My eyes are sharp today, my feels on the edge of overwhelm. Too many details to deal with lately. The wedding is in three days, while we are keeping it is minimalist as, I think, humanly possible short of sitting on the living room couch and saying 'I do' there is still much to get there. Plus I have to have three signs designed today. As the main sign is already designed this is not a big deal, I just need to know the dimensions of the other signs and I can shuffle things around. As type style, color scheme, logo, name and domain are already set, that isn't a big deal. But it is a detail and it is a fine line from a manageable number of details to spinning out of control. The shop's website also looms in the back of my mind as does my own site. My eyes are good, I shouldn't waste that opportunity, but I want nothing more than to lie down in the air conditioning and watch TV. Today is the only good day for TV.

The confronts me with a lot of email. Bob Dutton and Lisa Mueller are real treats as I have not heard from them in quite awhile. Bobby's has his family Christmas Card attached. Bob is very creative and I have always loved his creations. I had a box of them for awhile, they most have gone to Jia, Lorne or Mom. I should get them scanned in and make a little page (see now I'm trying to add work!)

It takes quite awhile to answer the email and by then Mai is awake, albeit rather early for her. Since I had found her asleep on the couch at 2am, I expect her to be sleepy but betwixt all that she must have gotten enough sleep, she seems and says she is rested.

Her friend and business partner is arriving tomorrow. We also have to go to Jomtien at 8:30am tomorrow. There is no way to adjust the meds, so that I have two good days two days apart, it just can't be done. I can jigger things so I feel crappy for Jomtien but am feeling pretty good for the wedding. It means screwing up the cycle which takes about 10 days to get back on track again fully, but one should be and look alive for one's wedding. I don't have to look alive for Jomtien, I just have to smile and hope all goes well. In fact, being out of it is probably a plus.

As you can tell I worked on this blog a little while while Mai is out running errands and seeing if the sign shop is open today. Her she is already to run, her head filling up with ideas, and the New Years Holiday - much bigger here than at home - is getting in her way. Many businesses have closed on Monday for the weekend! I guess I should be thankful that Immigration is waiting until Tuesday night to close for the weekend.

I usually change my Khakis on Sunday (whether they need it or not, as the old joke goes) unless specific exertion makes Mai mention that I should do so sooner. I never put them on yesterday, so it is today that I am changing over to the white ones. Each short pant is essentially the same, varying only in color. Switching them involves going through all two hundred (only a slight exaggeration) pockets and removing everything. Throwing out the week accumulation of useless papers, wrappers and debris, and putting the 'important' objects back in their proper places in the new shorts.

Well, I'm staring at the pile of what is left to be refiled and other than my wallet, passport and the silver card case that has all my 'in case of emergency' info, everything else is superstitious. I've got the blessed Buddha square protected by plastic that Mai gave me, the trice blessed purple string the Chaing Mai monks gave me (I have a white one my wrist given me by chef at Oasis but the purple one was itchy so it has been assigned to a pocket). And I have my lucky - very shiny - 10 baht coin.

The thing is somewhere along the way, these things went from trying to please someone by carrying them, to something I am uncomfortable without. Add this to taking the advice of Monks in dreams and I am well into the realm of being superstitious. Exactly what I was so on guard against with my mind going. If the Mormon, Jehovah Witnesses or other traveling missionaries, I could indeed become another sheep for the powers that be.

I joke, and possibly probably irritate, but this is also truly worrisome to me. Once again I feel like HAL with his circuits being pulled slowly, one by one.

Still, I put the Buddha, the string and the coin into my nice clean shorts.

"Did you ever hate someone so much that when you run into them a few years later you're actually shocked that your ongoing searing hatred of them hasn't killed them?"

I stumble into this quote during one of the 10 minute breaks between TV shows. The next show is Jerry Springer so I have 70 minutes to think and type. I wonder if I have ever hated anyone that much?

I know I don't now. The only anger I harbor currently is for my Florida landlords. I had little at first, but as I learned more from Shaun and Dan that little spark became an irritation and on into full blown anger. But hatred? I wouldn't wish them dead, I wouldn't wish ill on their children. I do sort of hope they lose the house but that is about as far as it goes.

Have I ever hated any one that much? Searching my memory is an exercise in frustration, I can't find half of what I'm looking for, and what I do find could just as well be wrong.

As best I can recall, hatred for me, in its rare occasions has largely been a game. Like Mario, Mario pissed me off and seemed genuinely to dislike me, so I had fun with being an enemy. But I could have made up with him under the smallest of gestures. No real emotion there.

I did truly hate Mrs. Chet (never did learn her real name, or even if Chet was the one of the two brothers (the Chets) she was married to,) but even there I mostly felt sorry for Chet for being married to such a vile woman. Can't think of wishing harm on her though, just mostly wished never to have to deal with her again.

I try to think back passed the conventions. Chicago? Yarmouth? The cab driver that killed Crystal? Even him I felt more sorry for than angry toward. Like me, he seemed like he was going to be haunted his whole life by this. College? High School? Surely in High School. I can remember making fun of some people, and fearing some people and disliking others, but out and out wish you were dead hatred?

I can't think of anyone. Is that normal?

I think about negativity and letting my anger at the landlords go. A clean slate for a new year. This hour is not long enough to accomplish that task. Some bitterness lingers.

Mai has a Teddy Bear. It is very cute and we play with it a lot. While she was in the shower this evening, I wrapped it in my towel trying to make it look like a posh bathrobe, sort ala Hugh Hefner.

When she came back she did not notice it at first, telling me some story. Then she stopped in midsentence and starting laughing long, loud and deep. Then she ran out and to grab the camera. This what I mean about sticking to the physical comedy.

I love making her laugh.

December 30th, 2008

I have to Jomtien in an hour. I awoke at 2am and had a lot of trouble falling back to sleep, Squeeze playing gently on the iPod. I awoke fully at ten minutes to six. The wake up call was for 6:30 and that was more giving us enough time for a slow easy morning. The taxi will be here at 8:10.

Mai's friend and business partner is named the same as Mai's middle sister: Yie. So, I will refer to her by her formal name Lumyai. She will not be arriving today, her brother is a monk and he is blessing a Buddha statue to make the business successful. This will delay her until tomorrow.

I should have put a NL patch on last night but that would put my wedding on the 'bad day,' instead I will wait until this afternoon to do so, and give myself a quick booster from the old stronger patch. Experimentation has led me to believe this might push the 1st to my perfect day and hopefully not screw up my 4 day cycle too badly. I'm wondering the effects of putting a bulk tape eraser near my head. If I could extract the NL completely, like the MRI does, and start over I could have a two day cycle of good and perfect.

I doubt there have been any studies of this on anything approximating this condition. I will email Dr. Kim on this idea, while locating and pricing bulk tape erasers if they still exist. Seems simple enough to wire a quick burst electro magnet, if they don't. Might make a nice hobby project. Sort of like learning how to code a new feature on the website. Hopefully with less trial and especially error.

I will not break the computer, I will not break the computer, I will not smash the computer into little tiny bits and then pound on the bits. This will not bring me any long term satisfaction. And more importantly this is not my computer. I knew better, I knew this program, being a Microsoft program, crashes if you ignore it too long, use it too long or look at it inappropriately. Knowing this I still typed for a good hour and forgot to save what I was doing after each paragraph. As frustrating as this is, I will endeavor to re-recount my trip to immigration in as much detail as before. Saving as I go this time.

The baht bus driver was already waiting for us as we walked down the front steps slightly before 8:10. Like had happened at Big C the price is now 150 baht each way. However, this is the same driver and same route that was a 100 baht three months ago. This can't be blamed on the cost of gas, as gasoline was nearly twice as much three months ago. This is clearly high season gouging. So instead of 200 baht and a 100 baht tip, he gets 300 baht. Same same, but different.

On the way it occurs to me that thanks to the five day holiday, six days worth of people will be waiting at the doors of Immigration. Sure enough, even 10 minutes early there about 30 people standing in front of the doors in particular arrangement. I try to maneuver us into what will be neat the front when a queue eventually shapes up.

To their credit there is someone out front already checking that each person has the correct forms and photocopies and everything arranged so that things will flow smoothly once inside.

Inside, I am in line for the number ticket as Mai grabs us two seats. There are six different types of forms being processed. Ours, Tourist Visa Stamp Renewal, was queue A. There was an employee at the ticket machine again checking paperwork and giving you the appropriate ticket. This greatly speeded up the usual slow reading and deciding on which ticket you were supposed to select. The two trips before I have been number 1 for queue A. Today I was A005. We sat waited and I did my best to smile. Shortly a tall girl, possibly American probably Russian, with perfect breasts - reminded me a quite a bit of Jenna Elfman from her Dharma and Greg days. Renewing a visa at high season, I assume (never assume in Thailand) she is for sale rent at bar somewhere in town. I know, I'm getting married in two days, but food for fantasy nonetheless. And now my smile is no longer fake.

There are two men that work queue A, one I like, one made us go through the line twice last time, using a rule that either didn't exist or was enforced previously. I am hoping for the first guy and of course when my number comes up it is the other. He looks at my paperwork and photocopies, already checked by two other employees and identical to what he wanted last time and he asks for a photocopy of another page of my passport. I yell for Mai to come over and she hurries off to the photocopy building next door. Despite this seemingly random exercise he did take his time applying the stamps and checking everything so that I would still be sitting there when Mai returned swiftly with the copy and so we didn't have to wait through the now incredibly long queue to come around again.

Back sitting I look for the young tall blonde while I wait for my passport to be returned. I can figure out where she went, decided on coming back another day, outside smoking, in the restroom, doesn't really matter she isn't in sight. The person in queue ahead of me was called to get his passport. Then there was a too long pause. There is always worry at this point, they can reject your visa for any or no reason, and I have heard horror stories. This, with the recent changes in the instant visas being explained as wishing to force more long term residents to get proper visas. Now I realize that what I have is a proper visa, but still I worry. I have no plan for what to do if my visa is ever rejected. And the universe loves to hit me with set backs just as I get too happy or comfortable. So how can it resist whacking me like this just before my marriage?

And yet, after what feels like forever not only do they call my name but the impossible happens: the exit stamp is for 30 days from the date of the previous exit stamp, not today's date. I don't lose 5 days to the holiday. At the time this seems incredibly and from what I have heard unprecedentedly nice of them. It takes nearly a half an hour for my feeling of good will to turn to cynicism as I realize that with tourism so far down from the airport seizure that orders have probably come down on high to lose as few tourists as possible.

Back at the hotel I want to return my folder to the room, Par's Place is not open yet, and Mai goes to check out if the hotel restaurant next down has anything edible. Into the room and back Pha is just opening her shop, Mai is not insight so I assume she is in Banyo. She has ordered the American breakfast for herself. All meat and two eggs. I decide to pass and watch her eat. She returns the favor at Par's Place as I have fried noodles and vegetables. It turns out to be the Pad Thai noodles, which are the white bread of noodles. I was picturing the thin yellow noodles. Very tasty just the same.

Microsoft program just crashed again. I think this month is just a little too long and is destabilizing it or maybe this page is just to badly coded. It only got a short paragraph from me this time.

I've been thinking a lot about health and diet this week. I wonder what exactly the Monk said. All I really remember is what I have written and that itself is from my memory then, so it itself is a second hand account. What jumps out at me is "Increase Blood Circulation." This hits me because it is what I am already thinking might be the answer to the four day cycle of meds.

The problem is that when I have enough nano-lith in my system to short circuit the neural arcing, there is enough that a percentage gets caught in the weaker electrical fields of the synapses. At that point it becomes harder to think and I have to stop applying the patch. I assume that it is the blood that then carries the NL slowly out of my mind. At which point I can reapply a patch. Thus the 4 day cycle. But if I could speed up my circulation, especially in my head, I could possibly achieve a stable level of application.

So, how to speed up the circulation? Well, exercise, spicy foods, Ginkgo Biloba. The first one I could increase quite a bit, then there is long term: cleaning the walls of my veins. And guess how that is accomplished? Less bad cholesterol, more fiber. Sound familiar? It's pretty much what I get from my reading of my writing of the monk encounter.

Luckily - and I am really starting to question more the role of luck in my life - I am in the land of fiber. Fruit is cheap, easy and abundant. While most meals have meat in them it is easy to ask for modifications. Essarn food, while definitely an eating challenge but hopefully an acquirable taste, is a complete fiber feast. Two days, just adding these foods and cutting down the meats and I can no longer be called full of shit :)

Starting Thursday I will remove meat and most oils from my diet. I'm not quite sure about my source of protein as beans are hard to find here. Tofu and other soy products aren't as hard, and I'll do some research on the cholesterol values of shrimp and other seafood.

I've noticed that my balance has improved significantly during the same period I have been running the stairs.

Mai has been running around all day talking with the sign people. I keep trying to get dimensions of the four signs so I can design something. And she is returning with prices, hand drawing, quotes, everything but dimensions. I have to keep reminding myself that this is not my shop. She takes exception to my saying this at one point and starts crying. I can't handle that today and I retreat to this blog while she cries on the couch.

After she calls Ooy2 to go look at massage chairs with, I review what she has said and come to realize that she isn't upset by my not wishing to get too involved, she is probably feeling overwhelmed and alone in this massive undertaking. I am not sure how much I can help. While I am very proud and supportive of what she has done, very little spins me faster than lots of little details running through my head. Hopefully she will feel better when her friend gets here tomorrow.

She returned a few hours later in a fine mood, having bought four mattresses and four massage chairs and stools. Ooy2, who could be her own soap opera, no longer wishes to work in massage.

Having mentioned offhandedly earlier that I could build an electromagnet and also sent off an email to the doctor even though I can't imagine how this would differ from an MRI, I started to work on how I would assemble such a thing. I was startled to discover all my knowledge of electronics has vanished. I haven't more than the slightest clue how to build a circuit I know I could, and probably did, design and build in my sleep back in high school. Sigh.

Mai is off again with Nuan, cashier for Srinul Massage. When she returns she has cancelled her order for mattresses and has six at less than a third the price.

Mai's business partner and friend has the same name as Mai's sister in Village: Yie, so I will refer to her as Lumyai. She called from the bus station and Mai went to get her. Oddly she took a motorbike taxi and returned with each of them on one, rather than take her own bike. She must find the traffic in that area as baffling and scary as I do.

Lumyai is nice, but either doesn't speak English or as many Thai women are, she is shy to speak it around farang. I work on the computer while they discuss business. Mai will later tell me that Lumyai has very little interest in the details of the shop, just wants to be a blind and silent partner.

New Year's Eve, 2008

Digression into Ecstasy story and what my brain is doing today.

Lumyai and Mai clean new shop.

Foot Massage and 1000s of cute farang woman.

Lumyai has gone back to Mai's old room. Too much travel and odd hours to be up on New Year's Eve.

Jeff-Free!

The bouquet, the ring.

Oyy2 on bus back to village.

Drinking on Balcony - Not much here. Walk to X-Zyte. Walk to Soi LK Metro

LOUD noise and actually danger manages to damage my calm.

Dodging landmines to get home.

Asleep before 1 after loading up a sick looking Mai with water, vitamins and gingko.

I'm not sure exactly when we found out but it happened on this day. But first some history. If Tracy and I had ever had a baby and it turned out to be a girl it would have been named - over Tracy's dead body - Iea. It is pronounced like Ikea or Idea without the consonant.

This had come about because Tracy had been talking about us having children, three to be exact, she might have even been specific about the genders, and she was asking for ideas on names. As children at that point were right up there with rabid vomiting weasels on my list of things I wanted in the house, I started making up the most ridiculous names. 'onomatopoeia' is one I remember got her especially riled up.

But while doing this I came up with Iea and I really liked it. Of course after Tracy and I were no more I assumed the idea died with that romance.

Okay end of history lesson. Cut to the almost now: Mai's sister Yie is pregnant and they are asking for nicknames. Thai nicknames tend to be 3 or 4 letters long. I suggest 'Iea' and to to my surprise Mai and Yie love it.

Now the now: baby is born today. A girl, 3.2 kilograms (a little under 7 pounds.) The father likes the name so much he is pushing for it as the real first name.

I'll let you know the outcome when I do, but either way there will be an Iea wandering around out there, And you never know, it could spread.