Big Adventure 21

Hello again. Well, it’s been just shy of three weeks since I’ve written anything. And I am about to have the audacity to say that I’ve been too busy to write .

I’ve been too busy. Bridgewater, Nova Scotia is a long, long way off – in many, many ways. Like for instance my definition of the word “busy”. Here the word isn’t just a synonym for “work”.

Anyway, it is Saturday morning. So nothing – not work, basketball, supper, evening swim, Sami walking – is getting in the way of writing a few words. We did plan a mountain top hike with Mike and Yen to see what we can see – and what we are told is a spectacular waterfall, but this morning at around 8 am we had one of those awesome intense squalls that lasts 10 minutes, when the rain is so loud you can’t hear each other speak, so we decided to postpone the trip. Of course it is now sunny and hot, but the jungle trek would have likely been a bit steamy. So now we are all going to see a crocodile farm and show near here this afternoon.

Here we go again – morning swim after coffee and newspaper, then I barely write one paragraph and now lunch is served, so there is only time left for a quick swim before the crocodiles – busy again.

It’s really hard to remember all of the things I wanted to write about that we experienced over the past three weeks. That is made even tougher by the fact that I just today saw a man put his arm down a crocodiles throat and put his head in it’s mouth. And another guy kissed a king cobra (I also have a picture of a cobra around my neck. Everything else that has happened recently pales by comparison.

I am in a quandary. I want to express my deep sympathy to everyone back home about what I understand is a bit of cooler weather, but I also want to mention the spectacular shade of orange the water is right now while I write this at the beach as the sun sets.

I want to be very clear. Just because I’m glad to be missing it doesn’t mean I don’t sympathize with minus 18 and minus 27. Sorry you guys. You know, in a twisted sort of way I almost miss it.

No, I don’t, not even a little bit. That was a lie. But I do sympathize. Today it was plus 27 here. In the water.

The minor story is about the family - another daughter of our landlords and her husband and two daughters – who came to stay for one night and then made it two, at her parents house. I guess it was to visit the parents for New Years, but they didn’t even arrive until the 2nd. Anyway, by the next morning they had moved their truck down to our beach house and were drinking beer and enjoying our waterfront, kitchen and cook – yes, Ja was cooking for them! The parents yard with the new sala on the beach wasn’t good enough I guess. And it didn’t come with a cook.

I should mention that by that night Ja was eating with them all and really enjoying the company.

At about 9:30 pm on the night of the 11th Ju (she arrived back on the morning of the 4th, only a day and a half late) stopped me in the parking lot to say she wanted to talk to me. She needed to go home she said – her mother and father need her. She is leaving tomorrow lunchtime. She won’t be back.

Thai “Notice”.

I am quite certain that she had made this decision before her return on the 4th, and I’m sure – things like the parting gifts she delivered the next morning that were already bought, and she advised that Kris and Oh in human resources already knew – that she knew before 9:30 pm on the 11th. Nonetheless, that was my notice.

So now there are a few new realities:
-people who call the office phone number get no answer;
-people who come to the office find it locked;
-Dong won’t be coming here for social visits anymore;
-Ja has become hugely more friendly and she and Jacquie work on their English / Thai together daily;
-a week later no one had even tried to contact me, from human resources or anywhere else, to say if they are pursuing a replacement or not. They call me the General Manager of this office, but I’m less than sure that I’m treated as such/

I am hoping for someone with stronger English, but it seems clear that I will not have much say. They will probably find another marginal person from up north who will work for almost nothing.

Children’s Day.

A national day of celebration of children, filled all over the country with games, activities, and of course free food, for children. We went to Nathon to help the Rotary Club give out free ice cream, water and lunches. A very fun day.

Well, here I sit two weeks later. In the meantime, Dong the Dick has been here to go to court. The firm did not provide any advance notice, as they had agreed to do. Here we go again.

By mid morning he has popped his second beer to enjoy while laying in the hammock. At noon he hopped into the firm truck with two more beer (travelers) and headed TO COURT !!!! At four pm Jacquie saw him sitting in a bar near here drinking.

Kris arrived on the late flight that night so I of course advised him of the drinking DURING WORK. As I sit here writing this, I am still shaking my head – Kris laughed and said ’Dong loves it here”. That’s it – no negative repercussions for openly drinking at work.

I can accept a lot, but that attitude is a problem. I’m starting to feel that this firm might not be part of our long term plans.

A quick aside. Tight fitting white short – shorts that you can see the thong through. Things men should not wear while out walking.

We have until now been humming and hawing about our trip home – worrying about Sami while we are gone. Well, we have now got some pretty firm indication from Mike and Yen that they will be here, and we have met a very nice young couple who are missing their black lab terribly (it is back in the UK) and would love to dog sit, and we have been out to visit the local boarding kennel (“the Dogfather”) and all bases I think are covered so we are going to now go ahead and book to come visit. Looking like you will (most) see us in late Aprilish. When the weather is a bit nicer.

We’ll keep you posted.

Okay, it’s 2:20 on a Friday afternoon. Time to close the office up early and go for a swim with my wife and dog (you could, sort of, call me the Dogfather)