Garth Bigelow - Thoughts

Items in this color are just notes to myself and hopefully I will catch up on these sections as soon as the mood and ability is with me.

I have not posted in quite some time. That makes some people nervous so I am making an effort today.

When I came to Thailand I thought I had most of my bases covered. I did a lot of worse case scenario planning and felt I really didn't have anything left to lose so the worst worse cases weren't anything to worry about.

Most of my financial worst cases (other than being robbed) have actually come to pass. The credit fear in the US is causing them to reevaluate who they give credit to. So American Express lowered my credit limits saying my income was out of balance with my credit. Certainly true enough. No more so than it has been most of my life, but true none the less.

That was a few months ago. Now the trickle down begins. Now Bank of America lowers my credit limit, saying that too many of my credit cards are close to their limits. Now why is this? Because American Express lowered the limits on five of my cards. Nothing has changed but the perception of my credit. But now that has created a situation that is exactly what they were saying it was.

The upside, besides anxiety on my part, is that fear of the upcoming credit crisis is actually speeding up its arrival - assuming that what is happening to me is happening elsewhere.

Beyond the financial front the universe upset my calm (and I'm not really complaining here) by giving me something to lose. When I came to Thailand I never expected to fall in love and certainly never expected if I did it would be mutual. So when I expected that I would be relaxing at all turns, I suddenly have to think about the future and plan a bit more.

On the other hand, I am happier than I ever thought I could be at this point. A double edged sword.

Anyway, when things that are not fully in my control loom I tend to procrastinate. In this case it was in the form of a lot of computer game playing, lounging around in bed and watching TV.

Beyond that we didn't do a lot. We have done a few bouts of shopping. Since American Express is lowering my credit line each time I pay them, I am now only paying the minimal amount and keeping the amount used right up to the limit.

So for the next few weeks while things play out, don't expect a lot of postings, but know that I am fine and happy.

Well my laptop finally has broken enough to make posting on the website nearly impossible. The keyboard is only working sporadically. So, as I already had moved almost everything over to Mai's laptop anyway, I began the task of getting Microsoft FrontPage onto her laptop.

I had Mary K send me a copy but with was FrontPage 2002 which as it turns out was vastly inferior to FrontPage 2003 which is what I had been using.

Microsoft had discontinued the program so even if I had been inclined to give money to Microsoft it was not an option. Every stolen free version I could find online was posted as a bit torrent, and I have not found away around our hotel's ban on torrents.

So I started looking into what FrontPage had evolved into that Microsoft had abandoned the line for. As I knew, it had split into two products. The one I needed appeared to be Microsoft Expressions Web 2.0. Cracks, Key Generators and Serial Numbers for it were everywhere. Microsoft itself provided the "trial" version.

As seems to be required of all Microsoft products it was a massive download, and the install was lengthy and fouled three times before finally installing properly. But now it was up and running. Connecting to the website was a piece of cake (I had expected trouble here) and while I had to reloaded most of the site from the local to sync the files, that was not unexpected as 2003 had worked the same way whenever I changed where the local data was stored. But that too was a lengthy process. So it was after 8pm by the time I got to see whether I could figure the program out or not.

The layout looked very similar to FP2003, with some interesting bells and whistles. But I could not for the life of me figure out how to edit a page. After a frustrating hour I decided I was too tired and put the computer away.

The next morning I downloaded a video tutorial and in the first 2 minutes of it, had the obvious answer. So once again I can post to the Internet.

Lots of things happened this week but I don't know how much I remember, so this is likely to chaotic, out of sequence and with lots omitted. I am definitely having more trouble with my short term memory.

Changing Sleep Schedule

Aloha - Steak! Waterfall

Ooy2 and Mai in Hammock Swing Chair inside Major Complex

We don't get a lot of American Movies here in Pattaya and when we do they are usually a few months after their release in the States. Since I have been here they seem to be on Comic Book movie kick in terms of movies I would see. We have seen Iron Man, The Hulk, Hellboy 2, and soon would see the newest Batman. Today we are seeing Hancock, which is not based on a comic but has a superhero so it just as might have been. Can't seem to break the pattern.

Ooy2 joins us this outing. She joined us at the pool back the hotel (this had been arranged a few times in the past resulting in her not showing up so we were surprised at her actual arrival.) She sat by the pool, and Mai chatted with her as we floated and toyed about nearby.

Later back at the room I helped Ooy2 move the photos that had been on Tilo's camera into her iPod.

After that was when we went down to Major Complex and into the theatre. Hellboy 2 was good mindless fun.

When we exited the movies it was pouring down outside quite heavily.

The mall is an odd combination of indoor and outdoor so even walking around the complex you can be dogging rain to get from one section to another regardless of what floor you are on. We jumped only a few inches of rain - still getting rather wet - to get into the Juice Bar. Watermelon and Cantaloupe Smoothies all around.

The rain did not let up and Ooy2 was annoyed by the air conditioning (especially after being frozen in the theatre) so back through the sheet of rain to the closed restaurant next door. Outside it was the hanging chair pictured above. I'd really like to have one. Wonder where I would put it.

Eventually the rain slowed some and we made a break for it. Even as we stared across the parking lot it was picking up again and we ducked into some overhang. The street was now a river. To cross to the relative dryness of the arcade covered mall way we would have to cross the stream of a side soi. Halfway up the lower leg the swift moving water climbed.

In the arcade is the massage parlor than Mai had worked at, and that Ooy2 had just recently quit from. So she did not walk through the walkway but rather it. She did not come out the other side and we did not see her again that day.

Flood walking home. Lose Ooy2. Duck into a bar, no pretty girls. Drink. Happy time.

3 hour massage with painkillers in system.

Like everything else here the three month Visa has a twist. It is a two month Visa with a month extension. At the end of the second month you have to go to the Thai Embassy in Jomtien (the next town over, think of it as North Pattaya) and get it extended.

My travel agent, who has helped me setup all but my first two border runs, speaks excellent English. I always assumed he was Thai. Mai says he is Chinese and that his Thai sounds very strange.

Regardless, not wanting any surprises, I have come to him so that he can arrange for someone to walk me through getting the extension. He assures me that this is not necessary and fills out the single sheet paperwork for me. Tells me where to be - Jomtien Soi 5, Immigration Office. He advises that it will be much quicker if I am there when they open at 8am. I also need a passport photo, 4 by 6 cm.

He charges me nothing and refuses to take any payment.

I have a packet of passport photos that I got in the US before I left, but they have all been the 2x2in which everyone thus far has required.

Mai asks someone and is instructed where to go for passport photos. Her directions to me have the same effect they always do, I assume we are going somewhere completely away from where we are going. She can not translate directions into English to save her life. Thankfully she is leading the way, and it is much closer than I am expecting. A shop on Soi Boakoaw I have passed many times.

A woman spends a great deal of time poses me just so and retries several times and finally is satisfied with her work. I must admit it is the best looking legal purposed photograph of me ever taken. I wish I had though to have them download the picture file onto my RAM drive.

I also have them print out a PDF file that Jia needs signed and returned. There is a bit of a wait as, for some odd reason, they can only print from one of their computers and they have a lady on it having pictures printed and she is in no hurry picking out which ones she wants printed.

The next morning we are up bright and early and at 7:40 Mai snags an empty Baht Bus and negotiates a ride to the Immigration Office. A ride anywhere is 200 baht if I try to arrange it, 100 to 120 if she does. This morning it is 100.

We arrive with two minutes to spare. Unfortunately it turns out the office doesn't actually open until 8:30. We kill time with breakfast at a place at the mouth of the parking lot. All I remember is the ice coffee, and all I remember about that is that I desperately needed it.

The Immigration Office looks just like a DMV. A little machine asks why we are here and lists several choices: in Thai down the left side, American down the right, buttons for each answer and language. And there it is, 3 month passport renewal. I push, and little piece of paper with a seating section, number and gate number pops out.

We are number 1. Our gate says serving number 0. The civil servant is working on a stack of papers and disappears for several minutes at a time quite often. But about fifteen minutes later he is ready for his first customer of the day.

He takes my passport, form and photo, asks for 1900 baht and tells me to go sit back in my seating section. This is the total of our contact (ten seconds maybe) and the total of his instructions to me. He returns to his stack of folders.

So we sit in our sitting section, hoping that someone is going to tell us what to do at some point. The Thai always seem to do this and it always works out so you'd think I'd learn to relax, but I need to know what the next step, so I know if I've missed it.

But in another 15 minutes, someone motions over to the other side of the room and returns my passport to me with its new ink stamp on it. Good for another month.

Outside I wonder how long it will be before a Baht bus or taxi wanders by this way, this is not the normal route. We do have a card for the Baht bus driver that took us to Sanctuary but that would be time consuming too.

Amazingly our original driver (and family) is waiting for us at the end of the parking lot (I'm pretty sure they weren't there when we were having breakfast) and soon we are back at the Oasis. I give him 200 baht for this round out of gratitude for going above and beyond.

Paying for Laos - Taking Mai

There is a T-Shirt that is ubiquitous around Pattaya: "Good Guys to Heaven, Bad Guys Go To Pattaya."

To me this proves that this city is in dire need of some of new slogans.

In Thai Beer Bar parlance you can take buy a girl for either "long time" (for as long as morning or after breakfast) or "short time" (an hour or so.)

And I got to thinking about the "Me Love You Long Time" Asian stereotypical line. Which lead me to the idea for the shirt on the left: "Me Love You Short Time."

It is a good joke and a reality. I think a model could be designed for both men and women and I suspect would sell like hotcakes (okay, sell like hotcakes in the States, as hotcakes do not sell that well here.)

I can see by my stat-log that I have a small Pattaya readership, so I give this idea freely to anyone that wishes to run with it.

Noodle shops continued

Handsome (starting to feel it)

Tooth picks/picking Nose

When I wake up each morning there is a period of time where I think things are worse than they are physically. My eyes don't focus, a knee won't work right, a bunch of things ache, my mind is foggy. But gradually, most days, the bulk of the mornings problems clear up. This process use to take less than ten minutes. I am noticing lately it seems to be slowly increasing so that now it often takes more than a half an hour.

It is the second day of Buddha day. The restaurant downstairs is closed. I would learn later in the evening that bars do not play music on Buddha holidays. This closes Go-Go bars (the image of girls dancing to no music makes a silly scene even sillier) but would for me make the bars and the city surrounding them palatable. I wish I known this earlier, but I will be prepared for the next one.

Dave, the owner of much of Diana-Oasis, is here this week with his three kids - two boys and a girl, who are all within a year or two one way or the other of his eighteen year old Thai girlfriend (the before mentioned Mew.) This must lead to some interesting family dynamics, but everyone seems to be happy.

Anyway, with the Oasis closed the pool area is nearly empty and I am taking advantage of that by floating around it. Mai is off running some errors and should be back around 5:30.

Dave comes over to the pool's edge and asks if I'd like something to drink on the house. An Iced Coffee later we are talking about life in Pattaya. Sadly most of the conversation is lost to my increasingly worsening short term memory. But he mentions that the family is going to a Chinese place for dinner.

I have been looking for an Egg Foo Young here, but Thai Chinese food is not American Chinese food. Back at the room I try to look up "Egg Foo Young +Pattaya" in Goggle on the thought that maybe I can get the recipe and have it translated into Thai and talk the chef into making it. Depending on the ingredients of a dish, I think I can pull something like that off here. A Reuben would require too many ingredients that they do not have, but egg foo young strikes me as make from fairly basic materials.

As often happens though my search takes me off course and I discover that there is a highly praised Mexican Restaurant on Soi 7 near Beach Street. Within walking distance if I wanted to show up sweaty.

Mai says has never tried Mexican food.

"Just think, you'll never be able to say that again." It is a line I use a lot, and I just recently relearned where I stole it from and already have forgotten.

But anyway, we are showered (most days it is three showers for me, minimum of two, usually three.) and out the door in record time. The sun has just gone down but the night is not yet cooled off the air.

It is oddly quiet. Now don't get me wrong there is still plenty of noise as throngs of people mill around and Baht Bus's beep at anyone potentially walking in any direction, and the irritating squeals caused by the fact that no one in Pattaya has ever once changed any brake pad on any vehicle, ever. But the omnipresent music blasting out of long blown speakers is blissfully silent. The city is open to me.

We stand out on Soi Boakoaw and all the Baht busses are going away from Central Pattaya Road, the wrong way. We wait, I don't mind, the night is quiet it changes the whole texture of the environment. Now, you can usually get a Baht bus in seconds when you want one, less if you don't. It has never taken more than two minutes. I don't know what was going on, I suspect it had to do with it being Buddha Day and one of the main Temples being up that way, so traffic was probably really blocked up up there, but it took about 20 minutes for the first Baht bus to arrive. I expected it to be backed and we'd grab the inevitable one right behind it, but it wasn't.

So we ride in the wonderful eerie "silence" down Soi Boakoaw, down Central for one block to Second Road. Somewhere in the period a middle aged heavy set farang man and several Thai women get on separately. He pulls a bullhorn to "talk" to the greeters of the various bars and massage parlors we pass. This is painful but bearable. Before I (or more likely Mai) can say anything, he pulls out a whistle, my kryptonite.

I blank out, as next thing I know we have walked down Second Road a block and are walking down Soi 7 toward beach. It is busy, bright but not overflowing with music. Normally I would not go near this part of town at night. I take a good look around. Mostly it is beer bars, closed go-go bars, of course a few 7-11s and Family Marts, but more than a few restaurants.

I try to remember the name of the restaurant we are looking for but draw a blank. But I know it is halfway down this Soi. Turns out to be almost all the way to Beach. But we find it: Tequila Reef. It has a an outdoor section and a wonderfully air-conditioned indoor section. And bonus of bonuses, they take American Express. What an unexpected pleasure.

Food, Jeff with tattoos, Margaritas, happy.

Country music on Soi Diana Inn

Back to Tequila Reef

Chinese Restaurant - the Money wall.

Does this remind anyone else of the phone wiring back in the State Road house? The picture truly doesn't capture the chaos.

Finally had the first "spasm day" since I had the idea that maybe it wouldn't heal during the night. Well, they did dissipate while I slept. It is no guarantee that they will next time, but still it eases that worry some. Also made me realize my last spasm day was back at LK Mansion and that was many months ago. I really think there is something to this head scratching. Which adds weight to the idea that acupuncture just might be the correct road to be pursuing.

Anyway, it is very hard to type with the spasms so that interfered with my plans to catch up on the last few weeks of this blog. I've outlined reminder notes above and will try to fill some of them in in the next few days.

I have been introducing Mai to American Science Fiction television. She really liked Firefly. Has really liked Angel but we haven't been able to get our hands on much of that. Buffy just makes her fall asleep and Stargate has neither English nor Thai subtitles so she can't follow along.

Currently we are enjoying the 4400 to the degree we are starting to stay up later each night as we watch until we can no longer stay away. Thankfully I have been sleeping later as well.

Today we did not get out the door until just shy of noon. I didn't know what I wanted for breakfast, I just knew I was sick of everything Thai and English alike. We grabbed a Baht Bus away from Central Pattaya (I can never remember road is South Pattaya and which is North Pattaya so toward and away from Central is a safer reference.) which turns toward Beach at the end. My plan is to stop somewhere along Second Road, but Cucumbers Restaurant (Western and Thai Food it proudly proclaims) grabs my eye - this I later figure out is both because it looks top notch and because they advertize like crazy on TV.

Most places have a menu book on display out front and this place is no exception. Grilled Ham & Cheese. I've been looking for an actual grilled sandwich here ever since I ordered the cheese sandwich, assuming it would be more than a sad piece of cheese on sadder and unadorned white bread which it wasn't.

The place is on the pricey side, but they take American Express and that is what this month is about.

I am happy to report that the Ham and Cheese was grilled, lighter on the butter than I would have wished but still very tasty. Also a cup of cream of mushroom soup straight out of my childhood. Mai had a Thai fish, about twice as big as she was expecting but she finished the whole thing - which is very unusual with her and any meal - so I am guessing she really liked it.

But what I remember most clearly is the eyes of one if the serving girls. Their is little variety in Thai eyes. A Thai eye is pretty much a Thai eye, same shape, same jet black color, the only variance I notice is in how white the white is. But this girl had dark blue eyes of varying color. I couldn't stop looking, like staring at the flaw in a diamond. I would have asked for a picture but that probably would have upset Mai and already had been staring enough not to bother the serving girl.

In my assault on available credit, most of my spending has been for Mai, after all what the hell do I need aside from good meals and massages? And massages rarely can be charged anyway. So we have gone to Big C and bought dresses and oils and vitamins and things like this. And food, lots of food.

Well the Cucumber happens to be almost directly across from a mall building called "It Com." It is where Jib took me to buy the fan. That trip I only made it to the basement. One other trip with Mai we made it to the 3rd floor to buy another cooling fan for the laptop. The second floor by the way, the size of a big malls anchor store like Kohls or JC Penney, is nothing but wall to wall cell phones. Thousands of models of cell phones. I don't care where you are in the US, you have not seen anything like this.

Just as if to be funny the first counter off the escalator on the 3rd floor (computers and accessories) is also cell phones.

At one shop is two monks discussing and staring intently at the electronics. I don't know exactly why but this seemed very funny to me. I had Mai ask the manager if it was okay if I took a picture (some Thai are very touchy about cameras. A stark contrast to the Japanese who do their best to jump into any shot being taken. The manager indicates that they would not notice if we walked up and hit them (translation mine) and so we get the shot.

I look around the 3rd floor desperate for something to charge. Do I need another RAM key? Not really. I do need another laptop, but that is a bit more effort than I can muster enthusiasm for. While not practical, I could use a scanner to perky these pages up a bit (of course I can get things scanned down the street cheaper but hey) but I can't seem to find a simple scanner that isn't a part of a some huge scanner/printer/fax/phone/juicer combo.

So eventually we move on to the 4th floor...

... and it is a heaven just for me. No 76 virgins (by the way, anyone have any original translation to see if it mentions specifically if these are female virgins?) for me. Same size as the cell phone floor (naturally, this a building after all) wall to wall bootleg DVD stores.

Oh my heart fluttered. I had been looking for this since I have been here and to think it was only one floor away from where I had already been previously.

Mai, showing all the patience I don't possess when we are shoe shopping, consigned herself to a chair after a few suggestions failed to get through the overwhelm I was now experiencing.

I bought the other two seasons of the 4400. This gave me special pleasure as the place we had purchased the first two seasons had failed to deliver these others on time. Hating to reward bad service, I was very happy to have found another source.

Trying my best to limit this first trip here to just several thousand hours of TV (planning for when the spasms limit my ability to go outside.) I eventually settled on the complete seven seasons of Buffy (maybe if we don't leap in on season six Mai might get into it. Regardless it is one of the shows that calms my mind down.) on 39 DVDs. Got them to throw in Pulp Fiction and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. And yup, they take credit cards.

Mentally marked (got to get a better marker) Angel, Simpsons (96 disks, claims to be all, but as it is still running last I knew, not show how many seasons this set is) Primevil and several other series for future consideration.

Very happy day, the rest of which was spent watching some of season three of the 4400. I had planned on going out to get my medicine, but I had overdone it at It Com and now could not tolerate going out.

It's 10:30 in the morning and I still at the computer figuring out exactly what medicines I take, what the Thailand variation is called and what dosage and regularity I take them in. Then I check out what I have on hand, which is not that much except for Lantus.

Then I calculate how much I need to have four months worth of everything on hand.

List in hand we are off to the Pharmacy that takes credit cards. I have thought of something else I can charge. I don't expect that they can fill the list immediately, but plan for them to order I will pick up in a few days. Surprisingly they come damn close to having everything. Ran half a month shy on Metformin and they need to order the Lantus but they will have them this night! Extra bonus, Lantus is about a quarter of what it costs back home - wish I knew that before I bought 7 months worth Stateside.

I love not being on a doctor's short leash. Of course it helps that I don't give a damn about my Diabetes other than keeping it from being a problem in the near term.

We give them Mai's phone number (I never have my cell phone on me) and big bag of drugs in tow we go out the down, pivot onto what Mai and I jokingly call Soi 100 Baht, and head toward Lek's massage shop (real name of shop is Srinul - I will do a good plug for this place soon.) I have been trying to get here for about 3 days but one thing or another, usually the easy with which I wear out, has gotten in the way.

We had mostly skipped eating (3 crackers for me to take my pills, spicy bologna on croissant for Mai) because that is the best for strong massage. Mai mentions as we pass each fried rice and noodle house on Soi 100 Baht how hungry she is. I ignore this.

Like most of Lek's 2 hour massages, she starts off like she is barely paying attention, more chatting with the other lady and Mai, but soon is causing almost more pain than I can handle. She even managed to crack my back. I think she did this to show off to the other masseuse how was working on Mai, but I heard three distinct pops and a lot of pain went away.

By the end of the massage I was spent and relatively pain free. It took me a long time to get dressed.

As I am getting dresses I look at my feet under the florescent lighting. I've been wearing sandals exclusively for what, four months? The sandals have a strap across the midsection and nothing over the foot or heal. The middle of my foot is bright white, the front half of my foot looks like an old tree.

Out the door we pick from three of our favorite little Thai restaurants choosing the one furthest from the shop (closest to the resort?). Chicken Liver Noodle Soup, with garlic and pork crispies and lots of fun things. Mai ordered the same thing and even put Lime in hers (all Thai think I am crazy for doing this) as well. I made mine extra spicy (lots of chili pepper) as I had not had much spice the last few days. Excellent.

Back at the Oasis, I am typing this while Mai is out running a few errands and giving me a little space. She will return at 5pm (about 20 minutes from now) and we will go down to the pool.

So I'll fill you in on health things.

My mind is sharper than it should be which makes me think the implant is wearing off a couple weeks ahead of schedule. Seeing as I have changed my entire lifestyle, activity and eating habits since the last measurement, this would not be a surprise.

I am also taking Aloe and Noni juice (two separate items) as well as Gingko Biloba any one of which could be speeding up metabolism or blood flow.

I guess as long as I get through the border and back before the bad times hit that will be fine by me. Glad they had to move things a week after all. Something sure seems to me looking out for me (something with a wicked sense of humor that likes to keep me on my toes - all hail Eris.)

A doctor in South Korea works with Nano-particularized Lithium, says no one is going to take a chance helping me by remote control, but he might be interested if I come there. But I think I am done fighting this. I couldn't survive another reprieve financially and frankly after three it is starting to get a bit old. Maybe Eris will be kind enough to strike me down before the money runs out but she doesn't usually have the brand of mercy. So I go when the money runs out, I don't want to be trapped in this body.

I'll still check on acupuncture as symptom management and continue the Aloe, etc., but I'm not looking for a Hail Mary play at this point (giving me one now would be Eris's sense of humor.)

I did the finances this morning as I do every weekend. Almost all my credit cards are full. More from the credit cards lowering my limits than efforts by me to fill them. There is very little left in the bank back stateside. This made me want to go out to a good restaurant and have a nice breakfast. I had three criteria: that it take credit cards, be air conditioned and have a menu featuring something I hadn't had over here.

In my mind's eye I remember a lot of restaurants on Beach Road. We took a Baht Bus to Second Road and South Pattaya, then walked down the block to Beach. Mai did not look like she was feeling too well. It was slightly passed noon and while I wasn't too hungry she doesn't have the reserves I have.

But as often occurs more and more things were not as I remembered. We passed damn few restaurants and none of the few we did had more than one of my criteria. After a bit I noticed how off Mai looked and suggested taking a Baht bus back down Beach to Walking Street where there must be a high class restaurant.

Walking Street which had been loaded with eateries back when I wasn't looking for one, now have noting but seafood shops, mostly closed this time of day. Finally I couldn't ignore Mai's stoic silence any more and just grabbed the next place that served food. It contained none of the criteria I wanted: we paid cash, it was open air (and poorly fanned) and I had an omelet. At least it was a good omelet and I paid extra to have mushroom and onion added which I had not had done here before.

Afterward I was hot and a long walk in the hot sun didn't sound like a good time to me. Across the street was a massage parlor (probably six of them, but one caught me eye) that said 'neck and head' on the sign. I have found there to be no practical difference between 'neck and shoulder' 'shoulder and head' and 'neck and head' but the latter always catches my attention as my neck is the area that seems to receive the least productive attention during massages here.

We were escorted to the back room which was separated from the ocean only by a railing. We need to come back during a sunset and get a photo (it will make an excellent jigsaw puzzle) to share with you.

Rested we walked to Second Road and then grabbed a Baht Bus (just a few weeks ago I would have easily walked this) to Major Complex to catch the movie 'The Strangers.'

We had fifty minutes to kill and after wandering aimless for a few, we went downstairs to the Supermarket and near the end of not finding much that caught our attention I spotted sauerkraut. As this is one of the two ingredients of a Reuben Sandwich, I grabbed it and on a whim went to check the deli section and there it was: Corned Beef. It is was four very thin slices in Saran Wrap and Styrofoam, but it was there. So over to the bread section for rye bread. Asked where the dressing was, and then found Thousand Island dressing.

Yes, we would have to carry it to the theatre and then back to the room, but tonight we would have an American Reuben Sandwich (in trying to find one premade in Pattaya I have learned that other countries have markedly difference takes on what constitutes a Reuben.

It would not be for several hours that I would realize that I had forgotten about the Swiss cheese.

'The Strangers' is a horrible movie. In fact I have placed it as number two on my worst movies of all time list. For a movie with real actors and something or a budget, it just had no plot and no ending. The only good thing I can say about it is that it is mercifully short.

No member of the audience made a single noise, shriek, laugh or otherwise during the film.

Between Major Complex and home is the massage shop Mai used to work at and she always seemed to tense up when we were passing it. She does not like the cashier, or more accurately doesn't like that the cashier does not like her. I wanted to show her that as the customer she is higher on the food chain and pushed us in that direction for a foot massage.

Thankfully for once I was right. There were more people there that were friends of hers than she realized and everyone was chatting happily. The cashier left silently about twenty minutes into the massage. A moral victory in my book.

It was during the massage that I realize I had forgotten Swiss cheese. On the walk home I mentioned it to Mai who of course had never heard of it but never the less headed off to Friendship Market while I carried our items home.

She returned with Swiss made American cheese. The Reuben would have to wait.

A few days back I discovered a wonderful program making and playing with jigsaw puzzles on the computer.

You can turn any picture online or in your computer into a jigsaw puzzle which you can then try to solve.

You can specify how many pieces you want, and what style of shape you would like (trust me, stick to classic or cubist.)

The trial version of the game is just enough to show you that the controls are fairly intuitive but it will cost you $19.95 to really play.

After playing my way through the trial I was happy to pay. My thinking was that this would be a nice alternative to flash games and watching TV reruns for calming my brain down. However as I have been having markedly more mental and physical problems since installing the program, I think it is having the opposite effect: igniting the wrong parts of the brain.

I seem to be hooked though. Hopefully my headaches and spasms are a coincidence or I will be able to break away from it if it causes me too much upset.

If you like jigsaw puzzles and have too much time on your hands - I'm warning you now, it is more addictive than solitaire - you can download Brainsbreaker here.

I call Juniper, a really rinky-dink credit card company, which I finally got around to using wouldn't work in Thailand. And to top it off the number on the back of the card was not a 24/7 number. Ever seen a credit card with a 24 hour number on it.

Anyway, used the website to send an email asking for either what the problem was or a 24 hour number. Yesterday they sent me the number and I called. Even though I had told then that before I left that I was going to Thailand apparently they forgot. Everything was fine now they said.

So we went down to Major Complex to the iPod store. B upgrading the iPod I can send the original to Tracy who asked for the music that we used to listen to, but I had no way to transfer it previously because it was 16.4 Gigabytes of music. And the new iPod plays TV shows as well so there is that bonus.

Of course the Juniper credit card did not work, but Bank of America did. We had to kill an hour while they transferred the music from one iPod to the other.

After wandering around Major for a bit we went into the supermarket, which is the one that has a really good selection of farang food including the corned beef. I got the Swiss cheese I had forgotten previously. Then I noticed the bagels. Other than Au Bon Pain the only bagels I have found in all of Pattaya. This sent us on a hunt for Lox, Cream Cheese and capers. [Digression: Capers - animal, vegetable or mineral? I've always wondered.] Amazingly we found it all.

We bought a surprising amount of food, and still have twenty minutes to kill so we ducked into the juice bar and had watermelon smoothies and looked at Thai magazines.

At the one hour mark, knowing Thai do not gauge time like Westerners, I sent Mai around the corner to ask how much longer it would be, while I sat in the air conditioning and watched over the food and purchases.

About 10 minutes, she said upon her return. Not bad.

When we were done, we had too much to carry in the heat of day so we hired a baht bus to take us home.

My Uncle Charlie died this week. I knew he was dying, cancer, and I heard the news yesterday through an email from my mother, but it didn't really sink in until just now.

Uncle Charlie was the only upstream family member beyond immediate family that I really knew. Aunt Jeanne I know by sight, Aunt Liv I can vaguely remember (mostly I remember her cookies from my youth), Dad's brothers I met at reunions but I couldn't tell you one from the others and my Mother's brother I've heard of but I don't think I've ever met.

But Uncle Charlie I knew and also happened to be the last family member I saw before leaving for Thailand. I am glad he is out of pain and I am glad I got to spend some time with him last year but the world just seems a little duller without him in it.

I have a tradition with death, and tomorrow I will find out if Thailand has cemeteries and if so will find a tombstone and small bottle of whisky (maybe that should be a Manhattan if I can find out how to get one here) and have one last drink with Charlie by proxy.

I get an email forwarded by mother which happens to contain Dawn's phone number. I use Skype to call her about dad passing away. She sounds stressed but in surprisingly good shape. We talk for a while, then she asks to talk with Mai. They talk for a bit before we get disconnected. I try to call back but we get voice mail. I assume the number I had was a cell phone and a call from Thailand drained it. Do you know that in Thailand only the caller pays on a cell phone call?

I assembled a Rueben sandwich for Mai and I. I was up against a could of limitations chief among them being that I only had a microwave to heat things with. Thus the meat was too chewy and the bread too soggy, but otherwise I would have been happy to get this close in a restaurant here.

Preparations for Uncle Charlie's 'wake' begin in the late afternoon. Mai says that Thailand does have cemeteries but she does not personally know where any are. Pattaya may have more than one cemetery, but only one has any reference on the Internet: Saint Nickolas Church Cemetery. I can not find an exact address, but it is 'off Sukhumvit Road'. That is the main highway I road in on from Bangkok so long ago. It runs parallel to Third Road but further out away from the water.

I'll have to find a baht bus that knows where it is.

I'm going to need a flask and a place that knows how to make Manhattans. The Internet will not help me here, I'll just have to put in the foot work. I'm tired just thinking about it so I decide on a massage at the beginning.

I figure starting at 6:30pm puts me at the cemetery at 10pm.

I kill time playing video games trying to relax. Mai scratches my head for what feels like an hour and my mind calms down. I am not and more convinced that this is working treatment for some of the tricks my mind plays.

I occurs to me that being drunk, in the dark, far from town is the beginning of the kind of story you read about in the papers and think 'what a moron.' So I take some precautions. I strip my wallet down to 6000 baht, half in my pocket. I put my credit cards in the safe. My 'Too whom it may concern' packet is in my zippered pocket.

For once I have my cell phone on me, so Mai can call if she gets worried.

I get a few feet before I realize I have forgotten the magic headphones.

It is quieter than I expect. In fact quiet enough that I wonder if another Buddha day hasn't snuck up on us. So I decide that finding the flask and the drink might be smarter to supersede the massage. I walk down to Beach Street and look in the open market displays for many blocks. It seems there is not much call for a flask in a place that allows open alcohol bottles in the street.

When I hit Walking Street it too is far less noisy than I am expecting. The catcalls are more of a pain than the music. Several bars later, no one understands what a Manhattan is and it occurs to me for the first time that I have no idea what a Manhattan actually is.

A street vendor tries to sell me a lottery ticket. Now one of the few things I think of with Uncle Charlie was he loved his Manhattans and his lottery tickets. Still I have railed against the lottery my hold life and just can't make myself buy one.

I reach the end of Walking Street and off the edge of my mental map. Buddha Hill is out here somewhere and Thappersat Road should be to my left somewhere.

I'm almost under the Pattaya sign (sort of like the Hollywood sign) and it is dark and there is nothing. Straight ahead very uphill, to the left is rather uphill, the right is the beachfront - the access to which is blocked off and I refuse to double back. I go left.

I am on a dark highway like road nearly devoid of traffic. There is a near endless line of busses parked along both sides. Surprisingly there are sidewalks but the trees are so overgrown I am not comfortable using them. Up I go, heart thumping in the heat of the night. Thankfully, as it looked like it would it cresses soon. There is a large go cart track on my left, open and active. A full baht bus, probably privately hired, is pulling out of the parking lot. I briefly think of trying to catch a ride or get the go cart place to call me one, but you can expand your mental maps without exploring new territory so I walk on.

After that it is dark again. Then the road splits. Half goes up onto what I imagine leads to the highway. The closer half goes slightly down and stays dark. Up looks very unpeople friendly. I head down. The road stops offering me a choice of left and right. Right goes under the overpass. To the left there are lights and as I continue businesses.

I don't recognize anything, but I'm on the other side of South Pattaya Road so I shouldn't. But I can't figure out where I am. Second Road, Thappersat, even Third Road is not impossible. It is the Indian section of town judging by the restaurants. I'll have to explore more here later.

Then across the street I see it: Manhattans Cafe bar. The name does not really improve the odds that they will know what a Manhattan is, but it seems a clear sign. And it is air conditioned, sold.

They claim to know what a Manhattan is. Never having had one, I'll have to take there word for it. If it is supposed to taste like the bastard child of a Whiskey Sour and Martini than they make a good one. Sorry, Uncle Charlie, I found it vile. But after not buying the lottery ticket I buy one.

I sit and try to be extroverted. I fail. Worse I am being hounded by a bar girl that will not take various versions of 'go away' and 'leave me alone' seriously. I move to chair in the corner and for the most part sulk. Then in inspiration buy the bar (about 20 people, half crew half customer) a Manhattan.

2200 baht lighter, a couple Aussies come over to say thanks and inquire on the occasion and I talk for awhile paying tribute to Uncle Charlie. Buy now I have 2 Guinness (back on Walking Street) and most of Manhattan bubbling through my brain. I do not drink often and when I do one beer is enough to make me drunk.

The night is moving on toward 8:30pm so I order a Manhattan in a to go cup (love Thailand) pay my bill and leave. I still don't know where I am. The road splits with a split off the split. I choose left and left. I have not gone far when the alcohol has raised my body heat to a painfully uncomfortable level. The massage is starting to sound very but what catches my eye first is an air conditioned Internet cafe. I check my email while I wait for the flush to pass. There is only one email and is from my mother. I describe my adventures briefly so far.

Back into the night, I pass up massage place after massage place. Not sure why. Suddenly I see Secrets, which I have seen earlier in the evening from the other side. Somehow I have circled back to the center of Walking Street. I duck into a 7-11 and buy a bottle of Diet Pepsi which I drink far to swiftly, pouring out the last third of it. I transfer the unwieldy Manhattan into it, spilling surprisingly little. I think being drunk has actually improved my coordination and shakes.

I decide to walk off a bit of the alcohol. I walk all the way to Central Pattaya, possible in a fugue state as it only seemed to take a few minutes to cover the distance. I turn onto Central Pattaya and spot an air conditioned massage place across the street (invariably what you want is across the street) and soon I am back in air conditioning. I select neck and shoulder thinking I will get to lie down, but end up in a chair anyway.

As I sit waiting for the massage to begin I am surprised how hard my heart is pounding. Is it the alcohol or the six miles of walking? Either way, it probably isn't too good for system. I'm sure I will pay for this tomorrow.

My masseuse has an odd burn on hr shoulder, possibly a removed tattoo. I don't enquire. I pretty much attempt to sleep, which is difficult when you are being poked and prodded.

An hour later and much cooler I step out into the night again. I complete the block to Second Road walk to Beer Bar across from Big C. I am thirsty and starting to sober up. And I am procrastinating on the sure to be frustrating finding the cemetery (I have just typed cemetery with an 'ary' for the 30 time) stage of the evening.

This bar as no customers. It is partnered with another bar with several customers. All the noise is coming from the second bar. The quiet empty bar calls out to me. I order rum and coke, my brain and mouth seemly unconnected at this time. They have no idea what rum is. I find this hard to believe and look at the bottles (always on display) and there it is. They know it as Bacardi.

Uncle Charlie gets one more round of drunks, which causes then to ring a loud and painful bell. This makes me realize I have not needed the magic head phones this whole trip. This beer bar is more aggressive than Manhattans which is more of a regular bar and restaurant.

I counter this by not driving off the woman that taken my side but completely ignoring her while leering at a girl that clearly has zero interest in me as a customer. Thus I am able to drink in peace.

Time seems to have compressed. It is only quarter of 11. Much earlier than it seems it could be but almost an hour later I had planned being at the cemetery (ha, spelled it right). I pay me tab and flag a baht bus. Slowly and painfully - inebriation not helping - I get the concept of cemetery Sukhumvit Road across to him. As well as the idea that I need him to wait and bring me back. I don't trust his English and don't want to be stranded in the middle of nowhere so I try another driver. Much better English. I feel more secure. He is unaware of the cemetery but seems certain he can find it. 100 baht each way and more depending on how long he has to way. Sounds very reasonable.

I lie down in the back on the floor.

Almost to the highway he stops and runs into a building, presumably to ask directions. It is not until this moment that it occurs to me that the cemetery might be locked in the dead of night. If I have too the wall of cemetery (damn) is as good as a tombstone.

The driver is back and we are off. And we driver or a while on the highway. Then he stops and talks to a guy on a porch in rapid fire Thai. Back we go the other way. Quite a bit further this time.

And there it is. I needn't have worried. Not only isn't it locked, much of it has no fence or wall. I guess active belief in spirits as well as respect for one's elders really cuts down on gravestone desecration and the like.

I reaffirm with the driver, that I wish him to stay right here out of site and I will return eventually. I might be a couple of hours and do not wish to be disturbed. No problem.

The graveyard is unlit. And as I walk onto the grounds my mind starts ticking off the horror movies that have a guy (or more often girl) walking into a secluded unlit cemetery late at night. The thought amuses rather than spooks me.

The ground is soggy and I do not relish sitting on it but standing is not really an option. Tired will win over dirt every time. Luckily I find a statuesque tombstone with a largish stone base. Wet cold rock is much preferred over wet ground. Uncle Charlie's proxy is determined by comfort, which I think is rather fitting for him.

I pour some of the Manhattan on the grave and slowly sip the rest while thinking of the childhood picnics with Uncle Charlie, and his couple recent trips to Florida as well as my trip to the Island.

And my cell phone is ringing and I am disoriented. It is Mai checking on me. I have fallen asleep. I think if I hadn't brought the cell phone I would have been there until sun up my baht bus driver patiently waiting.

I dig out my phone and tell Mai I'm okay and on my way home. It is nearing one o'clock.

My bad arm has been pinched against the stone and is now throbbing. Maybe one of the massage shops on Second Road will still be open and I can get a quick 30 minutes.

I have the driver go down Second Street. I am sitting up front this time. Many bars and a few massage shops are open. The driver gets 400 baht, and am back in the air conditioning getting a 30 minute shoulder massage. This time lying down when I expected to be in a chair.

During the massage there is a lot of activity going on beyond the curtain which turns out to be the place closing down. When my thirty minutes is up and my arm feels something better and more importantly I feel more stable on my feet, it is just me and the masseuse in a locked shop.

Outside, the night finally loud and the walk back to the hotel is the only time I needed the headphones this evening.

Thankfully home, Mai has waited up playing a jigsaw puzzle, unable to sleep. I take a multivitamin (I have no B vitamins by themselves), force as much water into my system as it will take, which isn't much. I shower, recant the night's adventure to Mai and fall asleep with unsurprisingly little difficulty.

I expected to awake with a hangover. And while I did feel like my head for full of cotton, that felt better than the buzzing that is usually in there.

After showering I made Lox and Bagels for Mai and me. Fully done with capers, onion shavings, high quality Nova Scotia Lox and toasted just right. Mai seemed to enjoy it and thought it heavenly. That brings me down to Eggs Benedict and Egg Foo Young, and know where to get the former.

For the first time in weeks I was in the proper frame of mind to type. Poor Mai has been ignored most of the week and I must make attention for her tomorrow.

Luckily today, Ooy2 called and asked her out shopping so that made that easier. We have the trip to Laos coming up on the 3rd which is now only 3 days away, so I don't feel too worried.

As occurs with me sometimes, alcohol had the exact opposite effect it usually had. My memories of last night are very sharp, and combined with a typing mood I set about writing down last night in as much detail as possible.