Rainy Season

Location: Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Local Time: Thursday, July 27, 2006 - 11:20am

It's rainy season here in Chiang Mai. The reason I know this for sure is everyone keeps telling me that it's the rainy season here in Chiang Mai.

It looks like the occasionally lightly drizzling season to me.

Hardest rain I've ever seen was in Calgary, when the sky opened up, all the traffic on the highway stopped because you couldn't see past the end of the hood on your truck.

Anyway, rain coat not required here in Thailand. Just wear sandels. They dry out faster than shoes.

Well, it was time ...

Location: Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Local Time: Monday, July 24, 2006 - 11:03pm

I found a lovely little Internet cafe that is open until 2am. Perfect for my kind of computer work.

Well, amazingly enough, a month has gone by, and it was time for another visa run. In the interests of time, I decided to pay the 700 bhat (~$20CND) for a bus ride right to the border and back. I left at 7:30am, and I was back by 5pm. What a miserable experience. I'm still trying to recover from the headache and general feeling of car sickness.

However, it's done. I'm good for another month in Thailand.

Massage?

Location: Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Local Time: Sunday, July 23, 2006 - 5:50pm

Well, we finished the second day of the reflexology course. That's it, it's over. I've got a lovely little certificate to prove that I have 12 hours of training on how to massage someone's feet.

I feel all educated and stuff.

Just Hanging Out

Location: Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Local Time: Saturday, July 22, 2006 - 6:33pm

Well, I realize I've been absent from the blog for a while. Not so much has been going on here. I've read a couple of books. One called Kafka on the Shore. If asked to describe it, I really couldn't say exactly what it is. I remember the story and all that, but it really kind of defies description.

I finally got around to reading one of Julia McKenna's books. It was good. Not quite Terry Goodkind or Margaret Weis, but entertaining.

I also read the first two books of a series by Robert Newcomb, The Fifth Sourceress and The Gates of Dawn. Unfortunately the third book does not seem to be available in town. Also in the entertaining but not ground breaking category.

Val and I were at a reflexology course today, so I learned how to massage feet. Which should be good for something, sometime.

Slow Days

Location: Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Local Time: Monday, July 17, 2006 - 10:09am

You know, it has been 3 weeks since my last visa run. Soon I'll be going up to the Myanmar border again. Amazing.

But I digress. I haven't written for a few days because I don't have much I want to say. I read a couple books. One about the forest monk tradition in Thailand. That died out with the forests. Which is strange to me because there still seems to be some forests around.

I've got lots of bug bites. They heal, and then I get more. It kind of sucks. The World's Fastest Indian is okay, definately better than Superman Returns. Why is he returning anyway? Did I miss the first movie, because there seems to be a whole lot of story left out of this movie.

Randomness

Location: Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Local Time: Monday, July 10, 2006 - 2:51pm

I finally finished off The Dark Tower, by Stephen King. The end of the Gunslinger series. I personally have been working on that series for about 15 years, however I believe Stephen King has been writing the series (on and off) for over 20 years. I understand from the foreword to the final book that over the years he has had pleas from people to just tell them the end as they are 90+ and won't be around to see the end written, or on death row and won't be around to see the end written.

I guess I shouldn't start any new series in the 20 years before I die. So, no new series after my mid-seventies.

Now I'm waiting for the next book from Terry Goodkind. July 18 I understand it will be released. If I was in Canada, I would be at the bookstore early that morning. Since I'm not, I figure the odds of satisfying my curiousity about the ongoing saga for Richard and company on July 18 is pretty small.

Has anyone seen The World's Fastest Indian, with Anthony Hopkins? Worth it? And please, no anonymous comments about the movie. Anonymous comments have little value to me.

Back From a Short Interlude

Location: Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Local Time: Saturday, July 8, 2006 - 10:01am

After a short interlude in Mai Rim, a small community about 12km north of Chiang Mai, we are back in the city.

We were working at an animal sanctuary called the Love Animal House.

Not a place I recommend volunteering.