Story

Hi,

I survived my weekend in Pattaya, had an airport foot massage, got my new glasses, and Daku ate BamBam's bowl.

So, our 'Old School Friday' song was "My Prayer" by The Platters. It's a classic that you should know. Now it's time for 'Easy Monday' and we've played with this one before. It's a song that still sounds good today. Sing it.
"You grew up riding the subways, running with people, up in Harlem, down on Broadway. You're no tramp, but you're no lady, talkin' that street talk, you're the heart and soul of New York city..." Hint: There's a major clue in the first verse. What do you call someone who's born and raised somewhere? Hmm.

My friends Martin and Blue both corrected me on the location of Pattaya. It's on The Gulf of Thailand, not the Andaman Sea, as I mentioned. So, get out your maps and check it out. The weather was hot and humid. Sunday morning there was actually a little rain, for a few minutes. I had a great time at the convention, seeing old friends (if you can call friends of two years 'old'), and making new ones. There were 31 countries represented. Many people came before the convention began and vacationed in different parts of Thailand. One thing that I found interesting was that there were no Tuk-Tuks in Pattaya. The most common way to get around is in a Songthaew (pronounced: Song-Tau). It's a pick-up truck with a bench on either side of the bed. Songthaew means 'two rows'. They're very inexpensive to ride in (10 Baht/$ .29), but you have to allow for lots of stops for people getting on and off.

Pattaya has earned a rather negative reputation as a city of wild parties and loose morals. I'm sure it's not true for the whole town, but there are areas where it seems like anything goes, and it does. I stayed at the hotel except for a ride to the beach on Sunday. The beach was covered with umbrellas and lounge chairs. The sand was not very inviting as it was coarse. The water in the bay is not very clean, but that doesn't stop people from playing in it. Sunday there was a big jet-ski racing event and I watched a bit of that. Across from the beach there are lots of restaurants and shops with all the same tourist stuff we saw in Krabi. The expat population is very large so there's a curious mix of people on the streets. A lot different from Chiang Rai. I'm looking forward to next year, when the convention may be in Phuket.

Since I had some time before my flight from Bangkok to Chiang Rai, I got a foot massage. It's always a treat, especially since I'd been on my feet a lot over the weekend. I finally got home around 9:30 Sunday night and Daku went wild. He'd been going to my side of the bed over the weekend, looking for me. It took a few minutes for him to calm down, and then he had to inspect everything that I unpacked. At one point he took a pair of socks and carried them to his cushion. He followed me around for most of the evening.

My new glasses are taking some getting used to, but for the most part, I can see clearly. (Ha) I have to go back for some minor (I hope) adjustments. They came with clip-on sunglasses that don't clip on at all, they use tiny magnets. Very cool.

This evening, after the dogs had their dinner, Boot went out to water and didn't pick up their bowls. This is a rule in the kitchen because Daku used to chew on BamBam's bowl. Well, he very quietly got her bowl and worked on it for quite a while until I heard a noise from the kitchen and found that he'd chewed away most of the bottom. Dogs do the craziest things sometimes.

Have a Great Week,

Peace,
Danny

"Once we know people's stories, we feel compassion instead of judgment.
Today, practice remembering that everyone has a story."
~Mary Manin Morrissey

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