Jimmy Carter Man from Plains

Jimmy Carter Man from Plains,  A documentary, A Chronicle of the former president's tour recent for his book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid " I happen to side with president Carter on the issue of Palestine. We stand together (not literally) in an informed minority against an uninformed majority ignorant of the truth.

 

I watched this documentary a few times for it is that inspirational. It's impossible not to like this documentary. It's impossible to not have tremendous respect for the our former president and all he's accomplished. I think President Jimmy Carter is as close to a true follower of Jesus Christ as there is today. I don't know of another. I'm not saying there are not others, I'm saying I don't know of another. I've never met another.  I believe the true followers of Jesus will have resumes very much like that of president Carter for people of exceptional faith lead exceptional lives, of this there can be no doubt.  

 

President Carter leads by example, his actions speak so loudly they are deafening. I don't know who modern day Christians point to as a leader, a true leader following in the path of Jesus Christ? The Republican party is allegedly the "Christan party" but who do they point to for their example? From all I can tell and from all I can see it is the blind leading the blind within the Republican party and they seem to be lead by blind hatred.

 

I wrote once that I've never met a true christian. I think President Jimmy Carter is a real christian. I also think our paths will never cross. Why should they, I don't think ex presidents associate with ex-felons. 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0913958/

My review of the Nasa Vegas Hotel Bangkok

I chose the Nasa Vegas Hotel because of the price and the amenities. The pictures on the website made the hotel look modern and well kept. The amenities I was interested in were, AC in the rooms, Fitness Center, Cable TV with American Movies and Internet.

The pictures of the hotel on their website are completely deceiving and misleading. The hotel and the rooms were old and shabby, rundown and filthy.

There were a number of movie channels but my TV did not work well and I only was able to receive one movie channel on my tv at times. Sometimes all the channels worked. The TV was fucked up. I informed one of the employees at the front desk about my TV issue but nothing was ever done. They just ignore you or claim they don’t understand you and make no effort to find a staff member that speaks English. They just want you to go away and not bother them.

The hotel offered Internet service but charge 150 baht per day extra. I opted to use the Internet Café across the street for my Internet related needs. The Internet cafe charged 100 baht for 5 hours over a 10 day period.

The fitness center was the worst experience of all. First off I was made to wait in line at the front desk for a pass to the fitness center. I had to do this every day, it’s not enough to be a hotel guest and have a hotel key to grant you access. They want you to have a pass. I waited up to thirty minutes for my pass and on a couple occasions I walked off tired and frustrated from standing in line and waiting for my pass to the fitness center. This was beyond rediculous. Guest of the hotel were only allowed to visit the fitness center once a day. When you got to the fitness center the AC was not turned on (Fitness Center was on the fourth floor) and the windows were opened. It was incredibly hot and humid in the fitness center, it was literally in the ninety degree range.

The first day I visited the fitness center I was assaulted, physically pushed, by the manager of the facility and yelled at because of the sweat under the stationary bicycle I was riding. The man pushed me while I was seated on the stationary bike and riding. What kind of place is that? I’m fifty three years old and I have a bad leg, had this not been the case I would have gotten off the bike and punched that mother fucker right in the mouth. I’m not new to fitness centers. When I was done with my workout I wiped the machine down and wiped up the sweat off the floor but this did not stop the man yelling at me every day I worked out.

On another occasion the manager grabbed the towel I brought down to the fitness center and tried to walk off with it. I had to grab it out of his hand in order to take it back. Who does something like that? The towel was sitting atop my backpack directly in front of me while I was on the stationary bike. On another occasion I watched the manager harass a couple other guests while they lifted weights, they were so offended they ended up leaving. What kind of a person does something like that? What kind of a business operates like that? I would not believe these things possible had I not seen it or experienced it.

Why would the manager of the fitness center chase off hotel guest? The reason why these things happened is particularly disturbing. The fitness center is a brothel, a whorehouse for homosexuals. If you were not partaking in the homosexual whores offered up for sale they wanted you out of there. Guests interested in the male prostitutes would go back to one of the five massage rooms and do their “business”. There were always four or five young Caucasian men between the ages of twenty and thirty on display for any gay customer looking to make a purchase. I cannot say for sure if there were any female prostitutes at the hotel. I did see some suspicious activity involving many young women, Caucasian and Asian, but cannot say with any certainty that they were hookers.

There was a sign over the Jacuzzi, “no swimming trunks allowed” along with another sign , “No Cream or Compost allowed in the Jacuzzi”. I could only interpret this to mean “no sex and no shitting in the Jacuzzi”. What else was I to think

Even though I found the fitness center to be aggravating I went every day my leg would allow it. I did it just to piss off the manager. The day before I left the hotel I told one of the male prostitutes I was a writer and planned on writing in great detail about my experiences at the Nasa Vegas Hotel. This information get through the hotel quickly because my last trip to the fitness center the manager was nice to me. ---- What a dick. My checkout time took less than ten minutes. It was common knowledge the checkout time took on average ninety minutes. They were really being nice to me on that last day.

 

.

 

 

 

Day 5 in Bangkok - Thursday March 14, 2013

I slept til 12:15pm

I’m told the check out process takes 1.5 hours. That hardly seems possible but doubt the words of so many making the same claim.

I’m sure of it now, the fitness center is a whorehouse for male prostitutes. There are always young men there in the locker room just hanging around. The locker room has lockers, toilets, urinals and showers. No comfortable chairs to sit in so why are there young men just hanging out in the locker room? When I notice them in the gym they are always smiling at me, a little to gleefully I might ad. They don’t just look at you, they look deep into your eyes. They look with wanting eyes, they turn and put their backs to me and stick out their asses. That’s just not normal.

One of the kids I spoke with in the locker room a couple of days ago told me he was a carpenter from Scotland. He was out of work. Ok. So you are out of work and you go on vacation. That’s not what people do. People don’t go on vacation when they’re out of work. This is the incongruity, an out of work twenty two year old Scottish carpenter is in Bangkok Thailand hanging out in the men’s locker room of a cheap resort. How many unemployed laborers find the capital to travel internationally when out of work?

I struck up a conversation with a guest of the hotel today, a guy in his sixties and he’s fucking his way through Asia. This is the cliché I don’t want to be and I’m not. He told me this story about this whore he picked up while in the Philippians. I did not want to hear about it. She was a five dollar hooker. This guy talked about marrying her so she could get an American passport and they could travel the world together.

It seems If it’s broken down, worn out, beat up, lived out its life of usefulness, you can sell it in Thailand. There is a market for everything here.

 

Day 4 in Bangkok - Wednesday March 13, 2013

Another good nights sleep. I have been going to be much earlier than normal or since my arriving to Thailand and I welcome this but as a consequence of going to bed earlier I have been getting up earlier. I prefer this schedule.

This hotel sucks and I feel trapped having searched for a bargin hotel. This place looked great online but it was false advertising.

I’m getting my first exposure to Aljazerra news. It doesn’t seem like a radical new organization. From what I can tell it’s like CNN but better, much much better. Aljazerra seems to give a fair and balanced reporting on a variety of topics. This is more than American news does.

It is the end of a pretty good day. One of the good things about this hotel is the movie channel and the movies they play. Tonight I am watching Sparta, The Last Stand of the 300. It is a great lesson about how the few or the one, can stand against the many. I find this inspirational.

This place (Bangkok) has the feel of a giant ghetto. I spoke with someone about it, the poverty. It was Mike, the gentleman in the train car next to mine when I traveled down from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. Mike said the average Thai person is probably happier than the average American. I didn’t want to believe that but I can’t get those words out of my head. After thinking about it for days I agree. I think he was right.

One of the many things the people here have in common with Americans is their worship over their cell phones. I can’t help from noticing they stare at them just like Americans do. Cell phones here in Thailand have the highest priority in peoples life (just like in America). I see people riding down the street on motorcycles and talking on their cell phones. That's not safe.  That’s the kind of reverence the phones have, in America and in Thailand. Even people that look poor have cell phones.

It seems an incongruity to see a Mercedes driving down the street here in Bangkok. Firstly because of the poverty and second, the danger in damaging the car becuase of how crazy people drive. There’s all this poverty and you see a car like that. It just doesn’t make sense.

I think there’s a fair amount of gay action going on in the mens locker room or I am misreading the reason guys are hanging out in the locker room. On two different occasions there have been guys in the locker room just hanging out. Not showering. Not doing anything. When I walked into the gym today I noticed a kid, Caucasian kid between the age of twenty to twenty five. He was wearing an oxford button down shirt with a pair a gym shorts. He was a fat little turd of a kid. He was obviously not working out. He offered me a cup of water while I was working out. When I was done working out he followed me into the mens room. If he wasn’t a cock sucker what was he doing?

Tuesday march 12 2013 - Day 3 Bangkok

Good morning Bangkok,

I slept well but had a dream about spiders. In the dream I came upon a bucket of spiders, three big spiders in the bucket. Then there was another spider, a 4th spider outside the bucket. The 4th spider was bigger than three spiders in the bucket combined. The big spider went into the bucket and the three smaller spiders killed it. What the fuck is that supposed to mean? It was an odd dream and I search for significance of all my dreams but I wonder, should I look for significance in dreams. When is a dream just a dream?

Two nights in a row someone was pounding on my neighbors door in the middle of the night. The pounding was loud enough I woke but thankfully, after the pounding subsided, I soon fell back asleep.

I have no idea what am going to do today. ----- back later.

Later: Today was a nothing day. I did nothing. My leg hurt so I stayed in bed. The hightlight of my day today was buying a bottle of premium vodka for 700 baht. I'm gonna get drunk tonight. I bought some fresh squeezed OJ to mix with the vodka. They make a fantastic drink, freshly squeezed Thai oranges and good vodka. 

Every day I need something sweet. I don’t know why? It seems I have a need for a desert. At some point every day I need desert. It makes my day complete. I should have gotten something when I was fetching dinner but I was more interested in the roasted chicken and vodka. Now I need to go back out into the heat and buy some desert..

And I did. Go back out into the heat. I got my sugar fix then went to the fitness center and got my time in the Jacuzzi, sauna and steam room. That steam room is the hottest I’ve ever been in. it will burn the hair right out of your nostrils. While at the fitness center this evening I met two brothers. I think they were gay which plays into the gay gene theory.

I’m hoping tomorrow is a more satisfying day than today was.

First day in Bangkok - Sunday March 10th, 2013

Checking into the hotel was relatively painless.

I decided to walk up to the street market for dinner. It’s only two blocks away and the variety of food is fantastic. I picked up some Thailand oranges, noodles, rice and prawns. Big, fat, giant, juicy delicious prawns cooked over a grill. This was the best meal I’ve eaten since coming to Thailand.

One of the great things about this hotel is the TV. There are three or four movie channels in this hotel and American news. I love it. The first movie I was able to sit and watched was Bourne Identity. What a treat.

I decided to not pay for Internet. I’m going without my connection to the world wide web for a few days. It will do me good. I will write my journal on word documents and post when I get access to the web. Earnest Hemingway did all his writing with a pencil and legal pad.

I’m pooped. It’s been a long day on very little sleep. My belly is full and I’ve had a couple of beers. It was Heineken Sunday and a good Heineken Sunday it was.

The fitness center closes at 9pm so I popped in to have a quick sauna, Jacuzzi and steam. It was a nice end to the day.. Tomorrow I will sit upon the bike and get a good workout.

The traffic lights here give a countdown as to when they will be changing from green to red and back again. There is also a countdown

I bought a kilo of oranges today at the outdoor market and got burned. They are old. Old dried out oranges. The lesson from this is to taste one before I buy from now on. I think this is why the  orange salesman at the organic market in Chiang Mai will cut on orange open and allow people to sample and taste. If you are not confident in your product you will not give out free samples.

I noticed a sign today while in the sauna, it referred to the Jacuzzi use:

No swimsuits, no cream or compost in Jacuzzi. I can only interpret the "cream" reference to mean, no jerking off. It's disturbing to read something like that, not to mention no shitting in the jacuzzi. Only in Thailand

The Great Train Adventure

Saturday March 9^th 2013

My departure from the condo did not go unnoticed and it couldn’t have been timelier. I was handed an electric bill on my way out the door. The bill was for sixteen thousand five hundred baht. Though I don’t speak Thai I got the impression they were going to turn off my power on Wednesday. I heard a heated discussion in the manager’s office on Wednesday and thought it was about me. As it turns out it was about me and my bill. Someone wanted it turned off (the power company) and someone wanted it kept on. Who could it have been arguing in defense of keeping the power on? Who had the power to override the power company? The manager filled me in on my way out the door. He went from speaking no English to being able to convey the situation with the

Some of my neighbors looked to be in a panic over my departure. Panic. Over little old me. It’s flattering but why? Why is that?. I bought my train ticket to Bangkok on March 3^rd. I bought it at the train station and I bought a new suitcase a few days prior to my departure. I wheeled the giant suitcase in to the building in front of all. How could my departure have come as a surprise to anyone? This is the mystery.

The security deposit I left of twenty two thousand baht will see to the outstanding electric bill. It all comes out more or less even Steven, I may have a lost a thousand baht or so but I don’t care.

I hopped in a songthaew and headed to the train station. I got there an hour earl but that didn‘t matter. The train broke down. We were told we needed to board a bus bound for Lompach which is a ninety minute drive.

We wait and wait and wait. First we are told the bus would be arriving at 4:30pm. Then we were told 4:45pm. Then we were told 5:30pm. It would be 5:35pm when the buses arrived, four buses in all.

During the wait I enjoyed a nice conversation with someone named Ben. He is an art dealer or art appraiser. Interesting guy. He was from Germany and he’d s lived and worked in the art world in new York, japan, and Europe. He’s traveled the world. Worldly. The opposite of me. I’m going to become worldly. I am going to see the world and I’m going to write about it.

Four buses showed up. People were overly rude when it came to getting on board. I did not think it mattered if I got on bus one, two three or four. One of my bags made it onto bus one. Another bag made it on to bus two and I made it on to bus three.

The ride to lampach was nothing short of terrifying. I could not sleep. Our driver drove as if we were in the Indy 500. I’d read about bus travel in Thailand. It’s not the safest way to go. I understood why as I road from Chiang Mai to Lampach.

I assumed when we got to Lampach the train would be waiting. That was not the case. We waited for about an hour before the train eased into the station, it was about 7:30pm.

I could not have been more pleased with the accommodations on board the train. I did not have just a seat and a bed, I had a room to myself. I had a nice bed to sleep in with comfortable mattress. I got room service, for a price and the food was not too bad.

The train is definitely a nice way to get from chiang Mai to Bangkok if you are in no rush. First class accommodations cost 1,950 baht (about $65 US dollars). The train ride has it has its own feel, a subtle rocking motion and the sounds. There’s the steady sound of the train on the track and that’s combined with the occasional stopping to unload and load passengers and supplies. It’s a twelve hour train ride and most of the time it was dark so it’s not too scenic and that’s just fine by me. I’m giddy with delight as I lay back on my bunk alone, quiet and secure.

Matthew 19:24 - and Jesus said:

..............."Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Why is it 99.9% of the Christians I know want to be rich? They openly choose not to think about this quote and this message from Jesus. Why? The Christians I know have no interest in following the path of Jesus for they worship at the alter of the almighty dollar so why do thay call themselves "christian"? 

 

If you are not going to follow in the path of Jesus, why refer to yourself as a christian? It literally makes no sense!

.  

Who knew it was going to be recumbent bike Friday?

I had another great workout today. I really like Harris Fitness Center at the Kad Suan Kaew shopping mall in Chiang Mai. The equipment is all new as the place recently opened. They do not turn the AC up very high as I was soaked half way though my workout. The manager of the club even commented on it. I told him I wanted to get my  moneies worth.

If you go to a fitness club and you don't break a sweat, you are doing something wrong and you need to ask yourself what are you doing there but wasting money? If you don't sweat you are not trying hard enough though there are exceptions to that rule. My second wife could ride with me, race me, on a 50 mile bike race in the middle of summer and barely break a sweat but that's her genetics and that was unusual.

I love to sweat when working out. I hate to sweat when at work.

This club is new and not doing much business yet. Time will tell if they will survive. I don't think they will. ---

 

One of the employees lied to me today. He was being an asshole. When it was pointed out by his co-workers he was lying he couldn't even face me and had to turn around and stare at the wall, like a coward. It was all over a towel. It was entertaining.

 

I'm curious what it will be like when I go there tomorrow?

 

 

 

 

 

If you rejoice in revenge, torture and war...

You are an American Christian but you are not following the path of Jesus. It's been my experience "American Christians" have no interest in following the path of Jesus but they call themselves "christian". What a crock of bullshit. American Christians have prostituted the bible in every way possible. They've prostituted the bible to the point they all think it's okay to rejoice in revenge, torture, killing and war. American Christians have nothing, no thing, in common with Jesus or the path Jesus established. 

Period.

End of story.

American Christians gather in numbers and support each others delusions about "Christanity" and in each other. Their brand of evil is OK but they want to strike down other brands of evil. ---- It would be comical if it was not so sick.  

Jesus said, "do good to those who hate you"

"But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you".

I've never heard a Christian say these words (paragraph above). In all my life I've never heard a christian speak about this. I've heard christians speak about the opposite, hatred, revenge, inflict pain and torture. President George Bush (43) said it was "OK to torture". The "Christian" that sat in the highest office in our country did not have the courage of his convictions. President George Bush (43) did not have the courage to follw the teachings of Jesus. President Bush had the opportunity to lead by example from the highest office in the land and what did he do? He got down in the gutter and murdered and tortured.

President George Bush (43) was of the opinion:

"Do as I say and not as I do"

I heard the quote above from Bill Maher who is, like me, a non-christian.
 

  

I'm a non-Christian ...

...just like most Christians.


.

Matthew 5:44 -- Jesus said:

"But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you"

Will give proof for the existence of God

 

The Law of the Conservation of Energy. This law states, Energy can neither be created or destroyed; it can only be changed from one form to another. Don’t you just love it? How can you not love this Law/theory. It may sound odd but it brings me peace and comfort for I understand the truth in the words and their far reaching ramifications. Maybe that’s the reason I was thinking about it as I mounted my VTX1800 the morning of the accident.

 

Eventually this theory accepted as a law of physics, (first law of thermodynamics), in conjunction with another theory, a theory that has yet to be postulated, will give proof for the existence of God. Now that’s my kind of science. Imagine all those backwards ass religious fucks trying stop science and it’s progression at any and all costs, and it is science that will prove the existence of God. Not their god but The God, The Creator of the Universe. I love it. The morning of the accident my thinking migrated from The Law of the Conservation of Energy to Newton’s Three Laws of Motion:

1) First Law of Motion states that in order for the motion of an object to change, a force must act upon it, a concept generally called inertia.

2) Second Law of Motion defines the relationship between acceleration, force, and mass.

3) Third Law of Motion states that any time a force acts from one object to another, there is an equal force acting back on the original object. If you pull on a rope, therefore, the rope is pulling back on you as well.

 

When the car crossed over into my lane and hit me head-on Newton's laws became extremely relevant as I became a body in motion...

Recumbent bike Thursday

I decided to make things interesting and give a little change to my routine. Instead of the pool I went to the gym and got back on the recumbent bike. Wow. What a nice ride I had. ---- The ride was followed by lunch at Tops Grocery Store. The grocery store serves some of the best food I've eaten in Chiang Mai and it's cost effective, two dollars for a great meal.

After lunch I headed back up stairs and got a much needed foot massage. I've found the mall to be full of massage parlors and they're every bit as good as those outside the mall. While at the mall I picked up the  fixings for dinner. Between the workout, massage, lunch and dinner I spent 701 baht, less than $24 US. Not too shabby.

It was a very good day :-)

.

.

It's Heineken Wednesday :-)

whooa...

Documentary: The Money Fix: The Almighty Dollar | Monetary Reform Documentary

Observation number one: All the people introduced in the beginning of the documentary talking about worshiping money and having money problems are very unattractive.

The people I know making over 100k per year back in the good old US of A have not been made happy by money. I only know one person with money that is happy at that person was happy prior to having money. I think it's true coming into money made him happier. It's been my experience if you are miserable then money will not make you happy.

In this documentary they explain they give definitions for "work" and "job" and explain the difference. Apparently the word job is something that came out of the industrial revolution but work has been around as long as man has.

According to the documentary:

• A job is something you do strictly for money
• Work is something you do because you feel passionate about or or because you are good at it

I've come to believe when people constantly complain they do nothing more than supply you with the reason they are unhappy. They are are the reason. They are complainers. By nature they are unhappy. --- Please don't get me wrong. I think we all have complained from time to time. The more boisterous we get with our complaints, the more it is a sign of frustration and most of the time this is situational and or temporary. I think the habitual complainers are pathologically negative people and you would be wise to give them a wide berth. Negative people spread negativity. Positive people spread positivity.  

More to come...

Rejection and misery

 

Even though I'm thousands of miles from home (here in Chiang Mai Thailand) people do not react well to my rejection. Why is that? Who am I that my opinion should matter so fucking much.

 

Get a life! 

 

I know what rejection is like. I've been rejected. My feelings have been hurt, -------------------- and then I got on with my life.

 

I can only deduce that most people are leading lives filled with pain and misery. When in pain and miserable people tend to over react, I've done that on many occasion so I speak/write from experience. A little hurt become a big hurt, and because misery loves company, miserable people want to reach out and share their misery.

There is another option, the miserable people could expend their energies on making themselves happy?  Why do they not do this? This is a valid question. Why do miserable people do nothing to fix the misery? It's difficult to understand. I find it difficult to understand. If you have the means at your disposal to change your mental state, why not work on change?

Some people just want to be miserable. I think many people are told they must live their lives in a particular manner even if it makes them miserable. They get programmed one way and cannot find the strength or courage to chart another course.

.

  

I've never met a true follower of Jesus Christ

I'm fifty three years old and I've been around. I've met many people during my travels but I've never met a true follower of Jesus Christ. I've met people that refer to themselves as "Christian" but all those people pick and choose what ideals established by Jesus they will follow and say "fuck the rest". They knowingly and willingly act in non-christian manners then offer up some cheap excuse and penance for their evil actions. This is Christianity in America today.   

 

I doubt this is what Jesus had in mind for the actions of his followers.

 

Most all the "Christians" I've met gather in numbers and support the evil and wrong-doing of each other. Is this was Jesus had in mind? Who's out there actually setting an example of how to live today as a follower of Jesus Christ? Where is that person or where are those people? I would really like to meet him/her or them.

 

If there are any real Christians out there in the world today I believe the last thing they want is a bunch of hypocritical sycophants following them around so they keep quiet and walk the path of Jesus with anonymity. I believe this person or these people show the world what they believe with their actions, they do not say anything for actions speak louder than words.

The Christians I've met try to show who they are with their words. They talk the talk but they don't walk the walk.

I think former President Jimmy Carter is the best example of a true follower of Jesus Christ as there is today. Because of the quality of his faith he leads a life of abundance. I don't think President Carter seeks abundance but abundance is a result of his faith.

 

 

 

The News, Politics and Soap operas

Years ago I watched a soap opera (AMC). I watched until the realization that very little gets done and when something does happen is typically bad news. The futility of it all is what got to me. The futility is what prompted me to stop watching.
 

After not watching the Soap for a few years I began dating someone new, this was back in 1985. The new lady in my life watched the same soap I did years earlier. I decided to watch an episode with her one day as she prepared for work. Though years had passed nothing had changed on the soap. Whatever differences there were they could only be described as tragic. In my  humble opinion this is analogous to politics in America today.

Prior to moving to Thailand I was a bit of a news junkie. I like to say informed so I watched the National news daily, I watched the PBS news, some CNN and a few other programs and I did some reading, some of the news on-line, MSN.com, yahoo news. I did this as to get a "well rounded view" of what was going on in the world. I found it too depressing to watch the local news. Every lead story every day on the local news (chicago) was tragic and depressing. Blood and guts sells in Chicago. Because of this I found it easy to navigate around it.

After being gone from the USA for a couple of months I decided to go to MSN.com and read up on what I've been missing in politics and news since coming to Chiang Mai Thailand. I'm shocked to read the exact same bullshit I was reading/watching months ago. Not a damn thing changed. Still no budget deal. Still looming crisis in the future. Everyone living in a state of panic from day to day.

The National news is like a fucking soap opera. Almost nothing changes and when it does it's almost always bad. The only good news America seems to have generated in the last five years was electing it's first black American to the Presidency and that president passing health care to cover many people that did not have health care.

The best political prognosticators said if America did not get its financial house in order it was doom and gloom and our politicians had a deadline, January 1st, 2013. The deadline has come and gone. The only thing that changed was the deadline.

Well done Assholes!

"Off with their heads" I say. All of them. Pundits, politicians and the news makers. It's as if the three of them are conspiring to defraud the American public. They use and abuse the public for one reason, money-money-money-money. They worship at the alter of the almighty dollar.

The news is supposed to serve the readers and watchers. It does no such thing. The news serves itself. The government is supposed to serve the people. It does no such thing. First and foremost the government, our government, serves itself. Next in line it serves big business. Serving the citizens is an afterthought.


When big business bought the new channels and newspapers things changed. Delivering news stopped being the priority. Corporate America has only one concern and that is their bottom line. News programs became a vehicle for which and with which to increase their bottom line.  

Government is supposed to serve the people. In America it seems serving the American citizens is no longer the priority of government. America's government seems more concerned with serving big business more than it does the citizens of the nation. It does not. Government serves itself.

I'm not sure who originally said it

"Congress will do the right thing only after exhausting all other measures"

That statement certainly fits in with the budget crisis

It's the blind leading the blind in America..

Moving to Chiang Mai

 

 

Some of the things written about in the blogs relating to what to do and how to do it when you get here to Chiang Mai, things like buying a cell phone or adding minutes to your cell phone, paying your water bill or finding an apartment or house to live in. These things are made to sound so easy in the blogs but the reality is this.

 

Yes, you can pay your water bill and buy minutes for your cell phone at the local 7/11 but if you do not speak Thai (how many tourist speak Thai?) then walking into a 7/11 and buying minutes is not so easy and once you buy the minutes trying to add them to a phone you are unfamiliar with, a phone where the instructions are in Thai, is a nightmare.

 

As to  finding a place to live I read advice about keeping your eyes open for signs hanging in windows "Apartment for rent". I found this was advised on a number of blogs. Contact the owner but don't let him/her know you are an American. How do you accomplish that? And what happens when you call the number listed for the apartment and the person answering the phone only speaks Thai? Again, the advice given on the blogs requires you to have a person in your pocket that you can pull out for any given situation and have them assist you. How many tourist have such a person in their pocket? 

 

So much advice out there is predicated upon you speaking Thai. If you don't speak Thai, the advice is worthless ----------- and agrivating.

 

The simplest things become overly complicated when you cannot communicate.

 

Walk up to a street vendor and try to order lunch without understanding how to say, Chicken, beef or pork. or is this spicy?

 

Often times when doing business with street vendors I just open my wallet and hope for the best. I don't recommend this and I only do it with small bills or pocket change. Most of the street vendors want you to come back so they try hard to make a good deal for you and not rip you off. The crime rate here is very low and that is one of the appealing aspects to life in Chiang Mai.

 

Try hopping in a Songthaew or a tuk-tuk and ask to be taken to a location the driver is not familiar with. Many of the drivers know many of the standard locations. The first time I hopped in a tuk-tuk and needed to go to the local phone company to call stateside (TOT) and the driver had no idea where the place was. The address I handed the man was written in English and he did not read English.

 

It is all an adventure and keeping that in mind will help.

 

 

 

 

Olympic size swimming pool

Today was a new experience. I did laps in an Olympic size pool and what a difference this was in comparison to the other pools. I swam 1,100 meters. I got out of the water completely drained of energy and it felt wondrous. The pool was at the 700 Year Stadium which is located at the base of the mountains to the West of Chiang Mai. The view of the mountains was nothing sort of magnificent. I think the best part of the day was the fact there were NO ASSHOLES at the pool looking to start trouble. The pool was ASSHOLE FREE :-) There were just a handful of men doing laps and minding their own business. Paradise :-)

 

Guess who was a day late and a dollar short?

The assholes :-)

 

The icing on the "cake of today" was the temperature. Some weather rolled in last night and cooled the city off. It must have been ten degrees cooler today than it was yesterday. 

 

After the pool I went for a foot massage and found another great massage therapist.

 

Granny ride a motorcycle

I was out running errands today and did lots of people watching. The things that stuck out in my mind today while people watching is this:

1. Granny rides a motorcycle. I must have seen fifteen to twenty  granny's out there today on their motorcycles. It struck me as funny after seeing so many.
2. They have phone Boothe's here. The only fashion kind, the kind superman would dart into and change
3. Men with no chins. In America men with no chins or small chins don't do well with the ladies. Here in Chiang Mai I noticed lots of men today with no chins and they had hot Thai girls with them
4. Bald men. Lots and lots of bald men here in Chiang Mai they too, like the chinless wonders all have hot Thai girlfriends.

After taking a break from the foot massage scene for a few days I decided I needed one today. Once again I got stuck with a dude. I think this was the third time it's happened. Not just a dude, an old man. Not just an old man, a gay old man at that. Good grief Charlie Brown. Surprisingly it was probably the best foot massage I've gotten since arriving here. Very therapeutic and that's what I needed.

Today I  bought two pair of shorts. Now I am complete and can dress like a tacky tourist.

Lost my debit card today

 

 

I was in dire need of t-shirts. It's hot here and I have only a few tshirts. I found a store that carries clothes in my size (fat) so I went there today to shop. I found a handful of tshirts, each costing 120 baht ($4) but they would not take my debit card, four tshirts and a new pair of shorts cost 600 baht ($20). I Need to spend 1,000 baht to use the debit card so I went down stairs to the bank machine and withdrew 500 baht.

 

After the withdrawl I went back up stairs to pay for my goods. Then I hopped into a songthaew and headed over to the Airport Plaze Mall to see a movie. I wanted to see Flight again. After it being nominated for a Oscar I thought I should see it for a fourth time for I am a huge Denzel Washington fan! He is one of the great actors of today. Airport Plaze Mall has the only theaters in town with English speaking movies. While I was in line for a ticket I realized I'd left my debit card in the machine at the other mall. Shit. god damn it and fuck.

 

Back in a songthaew and back across town. Now I'm pissed at myself. It's so fucking hot out and the smog is disgusting.

 

I get back to my bank and hope they have my card. Please. please. please. 

 

Great news. Some kind and honest person turned it in.

 

I'm the lucky one. I am soooo lucky :-)

 

Thank you God.

 

The stress of the situation has given me a major fucking head-ache.

 

I got home and decided it's Heineken Friday :-)

 

 

 

 

 

She wasn't there today

I went back to Central Mall today sort of hoping, not sort of hoping I was really hoping I would see the homeless lady and her child. I would make right the wrong I allowed to happen yesterday. I would reach into my pocket give her a few hundred baht. I hoped that would help. I hoped that would make a difference.

She was not there.

What do I do now?

Please God, tell me what to do. How do I fix this?

I had a chance and turned my back on a person I could have helped.

What do I do now?

Luke 6:31
Do to others as you would like them to do to you
I could have helped. I feel shame for not helping yesterday.