I wish people who have trouble communicating would just shut up

Things from previous blogs first. To our left we will find the dash readout that confirms an entry from an earlier post. The tach is reading 1.75. The speedo is reading straight up and down 60 mph. And the trip calculator is showing 33.o mpg for the trip. While I am many things, an embellisher of my gas economy is not one of them.

I am not exactly some kind of save the planet fanatic. But I try not to be head in the sand about things either. I do not have, but would consider an electric car and home solar panels. As long as things perform similiar to what I have now, I am willing to go green. I think about water consumption and try not to be wasteful. I bring my newspapers and drink bottles home from work and toss them in the recycle bin. I don't drive fast or make unnecessary trips to save gas. That, however, is based on a principle of money green as opposed to enviornment green. I do not believe I was put on God's green earth to see how many gallons of gas I could buy. I hate paying for gas, so I use as little as possible. Call it a quirk.

I do not have a canvas bag to carry with me to the store. I am not against them, per se, but I prefer plastic bags. I know. About as un-enviornmentally friendly as you can get. And it means I am, indirectly, buying even more petroleum, which I already said was anethma to me.(Probably too late to try and use the enigma defense, right?) But I have two cats, two well fed cats, and a large litter box. You need a large litter box for large poops. So I find that having plenty of plastic bags on hand at all times is a good thing. Heh heh heh.... he said "large poops".

Wife is still in Bangkok. While the news coverage faded as the troops went back to their barracks, the wife says things are harder for them now than when the protesters filled the streets and squared off with the army. The curfew keeps getting extended. Everything closes around 5 PM. She says finding an open bank is hit and miss. The black market can't get money for the underground money exchanges either. The supermarkets are running low on everything. She says that the only good thing is the trouble was inching closer and closer to her family's home in the Din Daeng area of the city. She is happy that she can see what is going on and talk to her family in real time rather than follow the news on the TV and internet and worry if everybody was alright.

The elusive reindog in mellow repose. What a magestic creature. Few are held in captivity.

Out in the country, about an hour fifteen minutes northwest of Bangkok. I always liked these chicken baskets. Seems I would probably like them less were I a chicken.

Jimmy Buffett sang a song that I often thought about as I wandered off the beaten paths in SE Asia. I'd get way off in the provinces, boots and jeans. And I would have Buffett's "Cowboy in the Jungle" playing as the soundtrack in my head. This shot, however, invokes a different track. Makes me hear "Life is Just a Tire Swing". Word.

The path well traveled.

This little dude was my bud. While he doesn't speak a lick of English, nor I of Thai, he laughed at ALL of my jokes. And you know, that's what I really look for in a friend.

This old farmer come walking across a winding path through the rice paddies, nodded and smiled as he passed by me, and moseyed on down the path towards wherever it was that he was going. As if he passed unfamiliar white guys sitting under the tree smoking a cigar all the time. Cool.

Hey guys, thanks for bringing me here.

This is where my flip flops brung me. Massom's sister was afraid that the farm house was too hot for me, which it wasn't, so she brought me here. She carried a cold beer and told me to hang out here where it was cool and relax while they were fixing something to eat. Couldn't find it in me to protest. KnowwhutImeen?

I had plenty of quiet time to just enjoy my surroundings and to really see them. So here you go. Art shot #1.

Chicken shot #2

Art shot #2

Road shot #1. And, by the way. This is the main road in. Man, I love just meandering the planet, smiling at people and finding places with an everyday sort of cool to hang out in. I honestly feel like a citizen of the world. In a wrinkled, unassuming kind of way.

Teach your children how to think, not what to think, out

Ramblin' Ed

(Only one on YouTube. Sorry. But the song is the point anyway.)