I'm back friends! Long time, no blog. I am sorry to report that I had to disable the comment section, my friends can feel free to email me directly.

It's been a long and sometimes lonely holiday season but Joe and Jolene will be here in 2 days and then it's back to work which keeps the aging brain cells active . (Excuse me while I decimate this mosquito, they're back with a vengeance lately.)

I spent a few days reading and finishing up my on line course at Wilkes - I was only 6 lessons behind and had one day before they took the course offline, but I made it. So of course that old malady boredom set in and I took a road trip to Nong Khai on the Mekong River. It was truly a 'flip a coin' destination but thankfully turned out well.

Well, there were a few tangles, but that's what makes life interesting, huh? For instance, I took the first bus to Udon Thani and then had a heck of a time finding the little TV table guy who sells the next ticket to Nong Khai. When I found him he kept asking me questions that I couldn't answer after which he proceeded to make loud announcements to his bus station audience, pointing to me while they all laughed. Who knows what he said? And do I really give a rat's ass? It could have been joking around, it could have been on the order of 'these stupid farangs' but I've decided that someone else's opinion of me is really none of my business (thank you Robin Yost .) So I just smile and pretend like I'm in on the joke with him and let him have his tiny little moment of glory.

As usually happens, one person takes me under their wing - in this case a crisply dressed Thai lady who grabs my arm with a death grip and escorts me on and off buses the rest of the journey. In Thailand, I always feel like Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire when she says, "I have always depended upon the kindness of strangers."  How true. Here's to all the Thai strangers who have lent a hand - God Bless you all.

On the way home, I asked for a return bus to Udon Thani which was apparently just leaving so they bus boy herded me right from the tuk tuk onto the bus - no time to buy a water or anything. But I had neglected to mention that I was going to Udon Thani, then onward to Mahasarakham, so I wound up in the local bus station and had to take a tuk tuk 5 kilometers across town to the OTHER bus station to get a connection . But I have nowhere to be anyway so ....

But the icing on the cake was Nong Khai. How beautiful with a brick promenade stretching miles (or kilometers) along the Mekong River. Quaint guest houses and restaurants, a lively Indo-China Market, what more could you ask for? I stayed in a lovely hotel on Hoisok street, the Pantawee, which has a maze of rooms nestled among plants and tea gardens. A bit of a French influence, I think. TV, DVD player and loads of DVDs, American magazines and newspapers, computer in the room, breakfast included,small pool, all for $18/night. It doesn't get any better than this.

I visited the weirdest sculpture garden - amidst the requisite Buddha statues were nightmarish fanged snakes, people on animal's backs ( was it 'Ride your Pet to Work day?'), circle of life sculptures culminating in two skeletons holding hands (reminded me and Joe and I), an elephant surrounded by humanoid dogs, one with an enormous member. I'll try to upload some pictures although with this Internet connection, it takes all night.

Tomorrow I will help out at an International Conference on Asian Culture, that should be enlightening, although many of the topics don't make much sense to me. We'll see, maybe something got lost in translation.

Till then...'