nkped

CHURCHILL & ORWELL: THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM by Thomas E. Ricks Ricks is an American reporter and commentator on military history and current military affairs. He's an excellent writer. While he can be quite critical, he is pro-military overall. This is described as a dual biography of Churchill and Orwell, focusing on the two men in the 1930s onward. His premise is that the two men, in very different ways, formed our anti-totalitarian world view. I had previously avoided reading Orwell other than excerpts I was forced to read in literature courses, probably as being both too

Looks like the cycling is finished and traffic in Jomtien del Norte returned to normal.

Cycling portion in progress on lower Tappraya on the inside lanes. Outer lanes open to vehicles. Pretty sure the U-turns are blocked.

Okay, had to think about that one for a bit.

Route signage on the lower reaches of Tappraya.

A lot less evidence of work above ground. Also, some additional signage about dangerous cargo being prohibited in the tunnel. They may be getting close.

Be aware that if you want to get a copy of your medical records at Bangkok Hospital Pattaya, it will take seven days to fulfill your request. I think that is a change. I'm headed back to the U.S. in a couple of weeks. As I had had an overnight stay at BHP in Decemberhttp://www.pattayatalk.com/forums/topic/66961-bangkok-hospital-pattaya-blue-cross-and-the-thai-dl/, I thought it prudent to get a copy of the records to show to my internist. I went today to avoid waiting to the last minute. That was prudent. I took my passport which is a requirement. You go to the customer service of

Now that we're perfectly clear on that.

First I'd ever heard that one.

Not as of January.

The arrhythmia inducing loud music towards the south end of Tappraya shut down within the last 30 minutes.

The unleavened/flat bread itself is a tortilla.

The condo building seems downright abandoned the last few days. It will be interesting to see if things pick up next week. Just a theory, but I'm thinking the short term visitors cleared out pre-Songkran, as I did until last year, or are waiting for it to be over. The longer term residents, both Thai and farang, would be getting out of town for or because of the holiday.

Yesterday, I saw an older gentleman walking along Beach Road who had a bit of a limp. As I got closer, I saw why. He had a prosthetic leg. Correction, he had two prosthetic legs. He was wearing a t-shirt with something about "FOUR FEET." I suspect that referred to his height without the prostheses.

During the day, there actually seems to be less traffic. That may change later today. On one of the Jomtien 2nd Road-Sukhumvit connectors, I saw kids with super soakers and smallers ladles for water tossing. Moto taxi drivers got a bit with the water gun, but they refrained from throwing larger amounts at them.

First Songkran for me was at Nakhon Phanom in 1975. Young guys at bus stops were tossing buckets of water at the busses when they stopped. We discovered that the windows on those old rattle traps would actually go up. The driver had to open the door to board passengers. The poor guy was soaked.

That sounds obscene.

Went to Mae Hong Son at the beginning of the beginning of the month. Just a few things to add which may benefit some. We stayed at the Imperial Mae Hong Son. It is a pleasant hotel in a picturesque setting. It is 2 or 3 km from the center of town. I had anticipated that tuk tuks or taxi would be readily available. Not so. There are a few elderly tuk tuks, vehicles and drivers, in town, but you don't see them very often. We did take one from the airport to the hotel. The GFE provider arranged for the hotel van to take us downtown in the evening to see the lake and nearby sights and to

I never could figure that one out. 45 years of taking commercial flights and I have yet to lose a bag. Very few times the bags got there later than I did.

If he had been bumped at the gate, that would have been one thing. If I had been issued a boarding pass, and boarded, I would be a lot more upset whether or the legal regime was changed or not. Wonder if he had checked any luggage as my understanding is that if you don't make the flight your bags must come off for security reasons.

Got there about 2pm. They no longer have students checking your documents at the front counter. Rather, it was a uniformed officer handing out numbers. Wonder if he was being rewarded or punished. I had number 842. When I got to counter 8, they were servicing 841. I was called within 5 minutes. The students (interns?) are know at the counter where they check for required documents and signatures. Apparently, I had not copied one needed page of the passport. I think it was the one for when I was stamped out for my excursion to Siem Reap in January, my last departure. He made a copy

I was at Jomtien Immigration to file my retirement extension this afternoon. They have a sign up that they will be closed for Songkran 13-17 April. If your status is going to go pear shaped after tomorrow and before the 18th, you've got one day.

UA has developed cheap tendencies in recent years. You have to pay extra if you want to keep your kneecaps.

And the crew were likely in uniform to make it a complete PR SNAFU.