Opinion

Hi,

We had a wonderful weekend here in Chiang Rai. There was a cool rain that cleared the air and cooled things off a bit. BamBam got a diagnosis and Daku got bigger.

The weekend song was supposed to be an easy one but by the looks of my mail, I was wrong. A few of you got it though. It was "With A Little Help From My Friends", originally recorded by The Beatles and covered masterfully by Joe Cocker and Friends. Now you know. I'm hoping to make this an easy week for music lovers everywhere.

"I left my home in Georgia, headed for the 'Frisco bay'. 'Cause I had nothing to live for, and look like nothin's gonna come my way..." Clue: This seaside lament is from '68 and it introduce an amazing performer to the world.

Sunday we had lunch at Black Canyon over at Big C. After that there was the usual shopping for supplies and then home to the dogs. We altered our usual schedule for dinner so we could be back in time for the Bahrain Grand Prix. We had a 'chili' afternoon swim, due in part to the rain. When we get a rain like that it adds cool water to the pool. It was still very pleasant once we got used to it.

We usually don't go to the Night Bazaar until early evening but this week we went early. It's still fascinating to watch the vendors setting up their tables and booths for the evening. The amount of work that goes into each presentation on a daily basis takes a lot of determination and dedication. We ate at the newly remodeled 'Stage One' restaurant where it all began many years ago. We were the first customers of the evening and Johnny, as he's called, was happy to see us. He's like the manager and he has this 'cool' persona that makes it seem like he's from somewhere else.

Today we were supposed to meet a friend of Ty's who is a salesman for Toyota. We just assumed we'd go to the dealership and discuss the car we were interested in. Well, Khun Wimon came to the house. We wanted to test drive the Toyota Vios and he happened to drive one. He arrived and we talked about the car and the discount he was going to give us, being friends of Ty's. Then it was time to hit the road. I drove this little four-door around the driveway and was surprised at the response. After circling and heading out of the property I was happy to note that it's not as wide as the truck. This is a nice thing since our road is rather narrow. We didn't go far, but I got a chance to get a feel for it. I liked it a lot. Plenty of 'zip' and it handles well.

When we got back to the house we just figured we'd go to the dealership later in the week and do the details. Wrong. Wimon pulled out the paperwork and wrote up the order right there in our dining room. That's what I call service. Boot was there to translate for us since he spoke no English. We were told that it comes with a year of car insurance among other perks. He had a great sense of humor and offered to be our gardner. We put a deposit on the car and now the Toyota factory will build it to our order. He told us that due to the economy they don't keep a large inventory of cars in stock. What's interesting is, they do stock pick-up trucks. Hmm.

This evening Daku got in trouble for jumping over the fence I put around one of the flower beds, because he wanted to eat the flowers. He got a time out in the kitchen. When he returned to the yard he just played with BamBam. Oh yes, it turns out that BamBam has a Thyroid imbalance and will have to take some medication for awhile. Her energy is returning and hopefully so will her hair (she developed a bald patch on her back). Now we have two energetic dogs. Oh my.

Have a Fantastic Week.

Peace,
Danny

"A person is not hurt so much by what happens,
as by their opinion of what happens."
~Michel de Montaigne

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