Not so encouraging news

With all the problems we have in the world today we do not need news like this. Close encounters of the meteor or asteroid type are certainly not needed.

Lies, lies, and more lies

Why do I get the feeling that Bush & Co. are trying to build a case against Iran just like they built a false case of lies against Saddam Hussein and his WMD? I don't believe a word of it and even if some of these devices came through Iran it does not mean that the government is culpable. There could be rogue elements within Iran who are doing this. To attack Iran could be far more dangerous than attacking Iraq and will only create more enemies within the Muslim world. What fools we have in Washington!

Aw shut up!

Australian Prime Minister John Howard needs to butt out of American politics. His negative comments about Barack Obama are not appreciated.

The sky is falling...maybe

Perhaps the sky is not falling but there could be some big collisions there sometime if we don't clear out all that junk now in orbit. The future of telecommunications and other services are in jeopardy if a chain reaction of collisions start.

U.S. Coins

Americans are such wimps. I for one would like to get rid of the dollar bill and it disturbs me that American can't get with it and join the rest of world with regard to new coinage. Now it seems that while the U.S. Mint will produce some new dollar coins that most people would prefer those old damn smelly and dirty one dollar bills. As for those who can't tell the difference between a dollar coin and a quarter, EDUCATE THYSELF BROTHERS AND SISTERS. Have you seen how many different denominations in coins some other countries have? Looks like the newest coin will become another collectors item instead of usable coinage as people will hoard them and/or not use them. #&*$%#*@#

This is interesting...for me anyway. I just found another way to post to this blog through zohowriter.com. It is not necessarily any easier...just an alternative to the logging into my blogger.com account.

What a world we live in...

Sometimes I think the whole world is going bonkers. It is, to quote an old movie title, A Mad, Mad, Mad World.

So what is this "man code" thing I have been hearing about since Mayor Newsom screwed up (pun intended)? Is there a woman code? How about a human code such as "love thy neighbor"?

Last weekend as the Queen Mary 2 prepared to sail from San Francisco I found myself humming the theme song from the movie Titanic. Hopefully there are no icebergs in the Pacific Ocean, at least not yet. Ha!

What is it with people who do not like the stories that the San Francisco Chronicle prints especially on the front page? One letter to the editor indicated he did not buy a particular edition because of the "front cover" as it were. What about all the other pages? Can't people like this simply move on to articles they do like? Do they smash their radios or television sets everytime there is a news story or program they don't like? What idiocy!

Then we have the flat earth society...no excuse me...those who deny the Holocaust, one member of which attacked Elie Wiesel in a San Francisco hotel recently. What was on that idiots mind? Did he want to reprogram Mr. Wiesel? Whatever happened to live and let live in our society?

There are some days I just want to scream "Stop the world, I want to get off." Oh well, maybe I will just hop on the QM2 and sail right off the edge of the world someday and find all the people who did not die at Auschwitz, etc.

Brrr...

It is always a bit of a shock to the system to return to the chilly marine air of San Francisco after spending three weeks in the tropical climate of Southeast Asia. One morning, however, made me feel at home. Ben and I were on a three day two night road trip from Chiang Mai to Pai to Mae Hong Son. The early morning in Pai was downright chilly and Ben who is familiar with the mountainous terrain and climate even found it cold. He told me that there was frost on his car when he got up that morning. I had a jacket at the hotel but did not take it with me as I did not expect it to be that chilly. It was beautiful country however and warmed up quickly once the sun was up. We visited two hot springs, one which had a warning sign that the water temperature was 80C/176F. Boiled eggs anyone? The limestone cavern at Tham Lod was one of the most interesting things to me. I have always been a caver I guess and this one was still in its primitive state. That is, no electric lights inside and the only method of entering or leaving was by raft from the nearby Lang River. All people entering the cave had to be with a guide who carried a Coleman Lantern for illumination. Footing in some places was a bit tricky so she was also very helpful in steadying me as I stepped over various obstructions in the rocky surface.

Now I am busy sorting through hundreds of photos looking for things to place on my photo website. I hope I can complete this task within the next two weeks.

There was one near disaster along the way due to a serious case of diarrhea that gave me virtually no warning. We did find a rest stop along the road fortunately. A week an a half later here at home I had repeat episode with more potential for a disaster in public. Not sure what caused that at such a late date however. The first episode was due to something in some food while on the road or bad water (from ice cubes in a gin & tonic). One does not drink the tap water in Thailand and I never did, always drinking bottled water, but even there, one can never been positive.

Anyway, the whole vacation was enjoyable despite that episode but the whole experience left me exhausted and it has taken me a few days to feel like my old self again. The biggest downside of traveling to Southeast Asia for me is the thirteen hours from SFO to Taipei plus the three and a half hours between Taipei and Bangkok. It is slightly better coming home with only about eleven hours from Taipei to SFO.

Vacation Paradise

Mountainous territory in Northern Thailand where I spent part of my recent vacation. Also spent one week in Pattaya and one week in Bangkok but the real beauty of this country is in the northern provinces.