Wednesday 25 October 2011

I am really getting tired of these protesters. First we have the smelly scroungy homeless people occupying the streets of San Francisco and now we have the occupy Wall Street protesters taking up the remaining good space of the area around Justin Hermann Plaza. This city city has become a garbage dump and I have no idea why tourists want to come here any longer. Sure, there are nice places but they are getting fewer and farther between.  Even Oakland has its problem with protesters who are now marching back to City Hall so for this senior citizen life in the Bay Area gets very discouraging. I have also given up trying to vote as it doesn't do any good.

One thought that's been very pleasant to me recently has been the thought of moving back to my hometown of Boston but leaving this rent-controlled apartment would be very difficult relocating to another space. Oh, what to do, what to do, what to do?

I have thought during the past year that my next visit to Thailand, currently scheduled for January 2012, would be my last.  Now the more I read about the government's inability to coordinate efforts to handle the flood conditions leaves me very discouraged that Ms. Shinawatra will be able to anything useful.  Now I read that some residents are climbing onto flood barriers to disassemble them for their own personal reasons, political or otherwise, which leaves me with a feeling of hopelessness in this matter.  The King is too old and frail now to do much and the government is in disarray so I see very little hope for that country now.  I have been there ten times since January 2003 and I guess that is enough.  Now I must return to my roots in the Boston area for awhile.  I will miss my Thai friends but as they say in France, c'est la vie.

Well, Ain't this a Fine Kettle of Fish.  After trying for years to get a friend here in San Francisco to meet me in Thailand when I am there on vacation, and his inability or refusal to do so, I am now in the position that I might have to cancel my trip there even though he has finally agreed to meet me there.  The amount of water there from the flooding seems to be an insurmountable barrier to an enjoyable vacation most anywhere.  And now I am angered at officials for not knowing what to do or when to do it..  Even the new Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra did not want to declare a State of Emergency which it clearly is and why is the country being left to defend itself.  I certainly have not heard of any other country offering aid of any type.  Looking of the positive side, that trip is not scheduled until the second week of January and things could change for the better by the.  I hope so!