Reality Check

2010-11-04T14:24:00.000-07:00

White House Photostream

I didn't even know there was one, but there is and there are some pretty cool "behind the scenes" pictures here.

2010-10-28T14:09:00.000-07:00

Giant Pumpkin VS. Pontiac

The year's state (Utah) record pumpkin of 1,169 pounds is dropped on Saturday onto a car from a 175-foot crane at Hee Haw Farms in Pleasant Grove, completely destroying a Pontiac 6000.

{lionk}

2010-10-27T14:33:00.000-07:00

I Work Here and My Wife Goes to School Here

[via Criggo]

2010-10-26T14:23:00.000-07:00

Really Cool People Doing Really Cool Things

The birth of Wonder Woman

2010-10-21T15:40:00.000-07:00

The birth of Wonder Woman

2010-10-20T14:08:00.000-07:00

Motorcycle Accident + Gymnast = Safe Landing?

I'm a motorcyclist and my wife is a gymnast so I thought this was very interesting indeed.

2010-10-14T11:41:00.000-07:00

Why Bacon?

The most versatile meat on the planet deserves some respect.
Breakfast is not the only meal for bacon.
Fashion, Art, Music…all industries seriously devoid of bacon.
Bacon is a treat for all the senses.
Frozen bacon should not be used as a weapon (although it happens).
As some folks have said — it’s the candy of meats!

From: Bacon Today

2010-10-13T15:02:00.000-07:00

The Psychopathology of Evil Children

2010-10-13T13:54:00.000-07:00

Cell Phones Make Perfect Baby Shower Gifts

[link]

2010-10-12T14:38:00.000-07:00

Reviews of Mt. Everest

Funniest thing I've read all week. Read the reviews link

2010-10-11T14:15:00.000-07:00

A Life in Pictures at a Fair Shooting Gallery

Look into the life of a Dutch woman who has a picture of herself taken at the fair shooting gallery from 1936 to 2009 (excluding the war years). [link]

2010-10-08T14:35:00.000-07:00

Two Awesome Videos to Share

First some killer street dancing. Looks like kids having fun to me. Definitely check out @ 2:47 into the video.

A night in the Trauma Ward at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. I could see the thrill of this job.

2010-10-07T14:44:00.000-07:00

Cows Like Accordians

2010-10-04T14:30:00.000-07:00

Synchronized Gymnastics

This team won the gold at the 2009 All Japan Championships. Weird sport, but great skill.

2010-09-30T14:57:00.000-07:00

Bohemian Rhapsody With Slid Whistles

2010-06-08T14:55:00.000-07:00

Another Day in Paradiso

I woke up this morning with some sun shine coming through the curtains and the sound of tweety birds twittering on their accounts. The morning was full of coffee, egg-bacon-bell pepper breakfast burrito, and the newspaper. What more could a guy ask for? Riding my motorcycle to work of course.

2009-04-04T09:59:00.000-07:00

My Wrist Aches

Periodically my wrist, elbow, shoulder, will ache. Mostly due to using a computer mouse for most of my work day. You'd think that working on the radio would not involve so much damn mousing, but it does. So I was lucky to run across this awesome video about stretching the tendons etc. from your wrist through your shoulder. After the fist stretch I was hooked. I've been using these stretches each day for the last few (I think I found this video on March 31) and I can say that I my aches are much improved. Check it.

2009-04-01T09:49:00.000-07:00

Amazing

Did you know that women can't stand on one foot and have an object in the opposite hand and not get dizzy?

2009-02-22T11:02:00.000-08:00

Sean Penn in Rolling Stone

A day or so ago I read the Rolling Stone interview with Sean Penn. FYI, I have a life time subscription to the magazine, it was only $99 at the time. I think that he is a very interesting man. Regardless of politics or even if you don't like his acting I think he is an interesting and intelligent man. However I think that the way that the interview was edited wasn't the best. It seemed disjointed.

Sean Penn is among the best actors of our time. Did you see him in "I am Sam"? Very convincing. Plus his job in Mystic River. He has a pretty damn good life's work so far, and he just keeps getting better at his craft. Plus he's a humanitarian, and that's nice. Too bad he had some rough patches with hitting people and being a dickhead, but hey, fame ain't easy.

2008-10-13T12:37:00.000-07:00

The Stress-Relief-Make-Your-Monday-Better-Video

2008-08-25T11:32:00.000-07:00

On Getting Married

People often ask me if I feel any different since I got married. My answer is always, yes. Very different.

Before marriage I felt a tremendous love for Elise, but now it's a new kind of love. A much deeper caring, almost a longing-for-more kind of love that I have not experienced before. It's really great. We have now committed ourselves, in front of God and everybody, to each other for the rest of our days. That is something that just can't be done lightly. We can feel that commitment every day.

We've (Elise and I) discussed how there is now a huge weight lifted off of our shoulders regarding the whole thought of and dread, at least on our parts, of not finding "the one", and thankfully we don't have to date again, because dating sucks. You are either looking for someone to be with, or you are in that "in between relationships" gray area. But now that we don't have that worry we now have a whole new set of worries or stresses regarding the other person in our lives. How are they feeling today? How is their life, job, school, relations with others going? When you get married there is a lot of change, most of it good.

Things change right away. Directly after the ceremony it was all "Wow. We got married!" Which soon became, "I can't believe we got married." To now, a little over a month, "Yep, we're married alright." My friend Gil once said about newlyweds (really I think he meant anyone married for less time than he and his wife) "They haven't been married long enough to hate each other." Hm, okay... I'll take your word for it Gil. I, uh, can't wait? Maybe he is just tired of working at his marriage.

What I have been hearing a lot is how difficult a marriage is. Another friend, Victor, says that "You've got to treat it like a part time job. You have to work at it." That I can understand. Just think of all the big things in life that people in your life do for you and how that can effect your life. Then just think how all those small things that you do effect another person every single day of their lives. So you have to be cognizant of these things and try to minimize them. Communication (I hear it all the time) is the key. So, thank goodness Elise and I are very open and discuss all kinds of things in our lives and we try to let the other person know our feelings as best we can. It's better to say it and discuss it than to let it fester and become anger. The good thing about Elise and I is that we like to talk to each other. We have become very best friends.

I know that my wife (heh, it's still fun to say) are not the only ones who are having or have had, new feelings and emotions regarding marriage and the new bond between us. Please feel free to share your thoughts.

2008-06-09T09:49:00.000-07:00

1 Year Anniversary @ NWPR

To be specific it was June 8th, 2007. It was a Friday and it was a rather long day full of trying to remember each name and how the network of stations at NWPR function. Plus learning to do the job, which I think I'm still learning. It has completely been worth it. I enjoy my cow orkers and my job and working at a non-profit and, the best part, being on the radio.

Here's to many more years!

P.S. I snagged the picture of the child above , from Google Images, which originated here.
Thank you.

2008-04-06T14:02:00.000-07:00

It Was 2 Years Ago Today

April 6, 2006 I got on a plane to Maui, Hawaii to begin a traveling journey. I want to do it again, I just don't want to lose my job and home to do it.

Thom

2007-11-06T15:40:00.000-08:00

It's About Nothing

Science Tattoo

Today we bring you links to things that you may never really know or think about.

Convertible Furniture

Back streets of Tokyo

Ten of the Strangest Things Caught While Fishing

Earth 2 Found!

2007-09-04T05:41:00.000-07:00

So Here It Is

Life for me is great. I have a great job, I live in a great town, and I have a great girlfriend. Plus Dazey is doing great too.

I'm not sure when or if I will post more to this blog again. We'll see. The reason is that I just could not, until now, get myself to post anything here. Because I felt that once I posted the next blog entry then this adventure will have come full circle; from no house, to long lasting adventure, to house again (renting it, but still...), and that once I put my thoughts to blog this adventure, and the not knowing where I will be next week free spiritedness, will end.

My groovy rental house, and groovy car in Moscow, Idaho.

I know that it does not have to end, but now I'm renting a place and I have a job. Those are both stable and semi-permanent things. I know too that this blog is not just a means to keep in contact with you and me you, but to me this posting signifies an end and I just didn't want it to end.

Speaking of blogs, I've been talking with my supervisor at work and just had a GREAT performance review, by the way. We also talked about me doing a blog for the station like the other full time on-air staff are doing. Here, here, and here. So I may start another blog, but without it being about me and what's happening in my life, in the same vein as this one. Mostly because now my life is back to being semi mundane again. The new blog may have some elements of my life but I'd like to try something different.

At times I have these memory... flashbacks I guess, but flashbacks sounds so drug induced, but I'll be doing something and think of a time and place during my travels. It seems unusual and daydreamy, and I have to shake my head to realize that I'm back in the U.S. and living a regular life again. I mean, just look at where I was a year ago. I have a great life, I tell you.

Well, what the hell have I been up to these past, oh holy cow, almost three months? It's not like I can remember... um, uh... what was I talking about? Oh, it's not like I can recall all the stuff that has gone on, but here are some things for you.

I turned 40! Damn I'm old. I was telling Elise that I am "officially" old. Once you hit the big four-oh you can't claim "young" any longer. Yes I look and feel young, but I'm 40 now. People look up to me as an elder (HA!). But just to make you all jealous, I still get carded for alcohol!

Shakin' our booties to the band at my b-day partay.
Todd -playing bass, me, one of niece's friends, Elise.

As I think back from the time I started this job to when I got into my rental house my whole lifestyle has changed so much. After you have been on the road for an extended period, or not having your own place to hang your hat for more than a couple of months, settling down into a place and signing a paper that says you will stay in this one place for one year is really strange.

There are just some things in this life that you don't really miss until they are gone. Not everything was like that, because I knew I'd miss them but here are some things that (about) brought me to tears:

*Taking a hot shower in my own bathroom that lasts for more than 5 minutes.
*Drying with my own fluffy soft towels.
*Seeing all of my things again. From the couch to my favorite cooking pot.
*Using my 4 slice toaster.
*Hearing my fabulous stereo system once again. I literally balled during the first song I played.
*Having a refrigerator that holds more than just a few days worth of food.
*Getting INTERNET! - Try living without it, and trying to do all of your living off-line, or by just going to internet places. It's not easy and it's just so out of the way.
*Putting up and seeing the great art work that I own on the walls. Wow.
*Realizing that I am getting up to go to a job that I not only love doing, but love going to.
*Seeing all those great movies in my library and getting Netflix again.

I don't have much else to say, except that doing this blog has been a great experience. I think that in part it got me the job I have now and has kept me in touch with friends from all over the world. I can't wait to find out what happens next. I'll be sure to blog about it. Until next time...

Be well my friends and thanks for sharing the ride.
Love, Thom

2007-06-16T20:09:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day Dad

My father turned 80 (80!) back in May and I wanted to post something about it, but life kind of gets in the way and I didn't have a solid internet connection in the trailer, but Angie and Noah have wi-fi, so I'm making up for it now.

We threw a reception for Dad at his hang-out, the Yakima VFW. The picture to the left on the table is a picture of just direct relations; Mom & Dad, us kids, spouses, their kids, and their kids' kids. There are about 30 of us.

Bill Kokenge, AKA The Kansas Cat, AKA Buckboard, AKA Sweet Willie, AKA Cob

John Gertsmar and Red Gress, and Wild Bill

It was a really nice time, there was lots of food and a bar. Good drinks and a lot of Dad's friends plus 6 of us 7 kids were there too.

Sorry I got to it a bit late, but at least I got a post up for Father's day. Happy Father's day!

2007-06-14T15:04:00.000-07:00

First Week At The New Job

*First thing is that you may notice small changes on this blog. I changed the number of "Previous Posts" from the last 7 weeks to the last 7 posts. Also I changed how the comment screen pops up. It won't. Coho was telling me, some time ago, that he had to switch off the "pop up blocker" when he was going to comment on this blog. So you will now go to a comment web page instead of the pop-up. There will be more changes to this blog as I settle into this other phase of my life.

On with the show: I had a GREAT first week! If you are a constant reader you know that I really really wanted the NWPR radio gig, and that I GOT IT! Anyway, I work with some great people who seem very professional and smart. Damn smart people everywhere.

NWPR is on the 3rd floor of the Edward R. Murrow Building on the WSU campus.

I started on a Friday (my "regular" work days are begin Friday and have Wednesday and Thursday off) and worked my "regular" work days. The first day was very mentally taxing.

My office, with a door and everything, is on the 3rd floor, 2nd window from the left.

There is soooo much new stuff to learn and I want to learn it all as quickly as possible. But all I can do is make good notes, and try to suck up as much information and hold it in my pea sized brain the best that I can. It's not easy, but I can handle a steep learning curve. It seems most jobs I take are tech oriented and are difficult to learn. There is a lot of technical stuff to learn with NWPR.

Check out how many stations and translators there are for Northwest Public Radio: (It's nutty)

Stations

Translators

KFAE 89.1 FM	Richland, Pasco, Kennewick, WA
KRFA 91.7 FM	Moscow ID/Pullman, WA
KNWR 90.7 FM	Ellensburg/Wenatchee/Moses Lake, WA
KNWY 90.3 FM	Yakima, WA
KNWO 90.1 FM	Cottonwood/Grangeville, ID
KNWV 90.5 FM	Clarkston, WA/Lewiston, ID
KZAZ 91.7 FM	Bellingham/Anacortes, WA
KNWP 90.1 FM	Port Angeles, WA / Victoria, BC
KNWY 90.3 HD-1	Yakima, WA

Goldendale/The Dalles	90.5 FM
Cashmere/Dryden	91.3 FM
Chelan/Waterville	91.7 FM
Ephrata	93.1 FM
Wallowa Valley	100.9 FM
Kamiah/Kooskia, ID	102.7 FM
Orofino, ID	102.3 FM
Forks	91.7 FM

Stations

Translators

KWSU 1250 AM	Pullman, WA/Moscow, ID
KLWS 91.5 FM	Moses Lake/Ephrata, WA
KWWS 89.7 FM	Walla Walla/Tri-Cities, WA
KQWS 90.1 FM	Omak, WA
KMWS 90.1 FM	Mount Vernon, WA
KNWY 90.3 HD-2	Yakima, WA

Pullman	89.9 FM
Ellensburg	89.9 FM
Wenatchee	90.3 FM

Not only are there this many stations & translators but it is run on a very tight budget. There are only 4 full time announcers. 3 announcers have shows on Monday through Friday and 1 (me) is on on the weekends and is the fill-in person when one of the other hosts won't be in for their regular shift. Plus we "Simul-cast", that is, we broadcast some programing to every station (like Morning Edition), but we split our services so that the Music stations get one type of programing and the News stations get a different type. That's the easy part.

I work here. Heh, heh.

You also, when simul-casting, have to check each "zone" of stations to make sure that the recorded announcements are playing the right underwriter, or promotion, or ID, at the right time and you have to make sure that the correct one is playing. In order to do that you have to hit a button labeled for each zone and listen to what is being broadcast in each zone and look on the log to make sure that what is playing is supposed to be playing. It is, as Gillian said "crazy making".

That all makes it sound like it's a bad gig, but it's not. It's an interesting jumble of tech work and artistry at the same time. It's great.

Downtown Pullman, WA.

By the time my work week was up.. oh did I mention that except for my first day I had to work at 05:30? So by the time my work week was up I was freaking exhausted. Sooo tired. After work on my Friday I decided to celebrate with a few drinks at Rico's public house, in Pullman. Mmmm beer. When I got home I went into my room and starting reading a comic book at about six P.M. The next thing I know is I'm awake, laying in bed with my clothes on, and it's one A.M. Man alive I really was tired. I couldn't quite go back to sleep but I finally succumbed to slumber land around 2, and then didn't get out of bed until 6:30 A.M. I was still feeling a bit drained that next so too.

To sum up, (so I can stop typing) it was a tough but great beginning to a new career in Public Radio. I should be on the air this Friday on the News side.

2007-05-17T21:04:00.000-07:00

I GOT THE JOB!

I almost can't believe it. I start June 8th! Wow. I, I, I... wow. After all that hard work and effort I beat out all other applicants and got the NWPR job. Here's the blow-by-blow:

I had to call them first and then wait for a return call but they did call back a few hours later. I was asked if I had a second, I said I had several seconds. Then I was told that they wanted to offer ME the position. Being of skeptical mind and, to be honest, my patience was coming to an end, I asked if she was kidding me. No she wasn't. I wanted to scream YES! YES! But all that came out was a calm and cool, yeah that sounds great. I asked if there was relocation compensation and there was a yes to that. Then I asked about help finding a place, yes they would help. So she asked again, do you accept? Then I said yes, yes, I accept. Great now we need to figure out when you will start, because they would like me to start ASAP. Next step then is to see how much notice I need to give Macy's (I found out later, they want 2 weeks). I'll call you back after I talk to them. Okay. Bye.

Then I tossed the phone and shouted YES! YES! YES! yesyesyesyesyesyes! I did it! I did it! Then I kissed and hugged Dazey.

Since I currently live in a trailer next to my sister's house I thought I'd better tell Sue. So I went to put on shoes and decided "fuck the shoes" and ran barefoot into the house and shouted for Sue. When I saw her I shouted, again with the shouting, I got it, I got the job! Then she hugged me and I started crying. I tell you what, I have been holding back on so many emotions lately and this was just such a huge relief for me. Next I called my Mom (Hi Mom), of course, and told her. Then I got a call from my sister Mary (Hi Mary) who sang "Congratulations to you." To the tune of "The Happy Birthday Song." Next I called Elise, who has been a true treasure and so supportive, and I cried a little more. I talked with Sue for a while after than, still totally stunned and excited, and overwhelmed. I decided to go back to the trailer and call some more people, but I ended up just balling my eyes out and releasing so much pent up emotion.

What really got to me was just really how much I have gone through in the last year to get to this point. I lost my job, sold my house, put my junk into a storage unit, left with one bag for a long 7 month journey. Came back to the States, hopped around from place to place, got a job working for Macy's, been living in a 5th wheel trailer since January, lost my Auntie Anna, and have been looking for a radio job intently for months and now it all comes to this job. Wow. As I type this my eyes are welling up. It has just taken so much time, effort, patients, and work to get to this point in my life that it's hard to put into words.

But now my life takes another twist or as David put it, this is my second Capernican revolution... whatever that means. All I know is that this is something that I have wanted for a very long time and I am positive that this will be very good for me, for NWPR, and I am positive about the future.

Thank you all for you support. Really. It means a great deal to me.

Now to find a place in Pullman, WA. that is less than $800 a month rent, has few neighbors, and will accept a dog. I am so excited. YEEEHAW!

2007-05-11T14:17:00.000-07:00

It's Finally Friday

Still no word, at least as I type this blog report on whether or not I got the NWPR gig. I was told "You will know by Friday (May 11th) at the very latest. Probably, almost definitely before Friday." Well, here it is. Friday. 2:30 P.M. and no call...yet. At the risk of saying bad things and regret it later, I will shut up for now and criticize or vent at a later date.

Somewhere on Hwy 14, Mt. Hood in the distance

My Mom says (Hi Mom!) that the reason it is taking so long is because "they" are not sure if they want to hire me because I lack public radio experience, even though they know that I could learn their style, or go with someone who would need less training or has more experience in that field. We'll see.

If this gig falls through, and I hope it does not, then I'm taking off and heading to Portland to find my fortune there. I like Portland. Come to think of it everyone I have talked to about moving to Portland all say "I like Portland" but none of them live there, except for my friend Doug (Hi Doug!) who is really loving living there and is more than willing to help me out in any way needed. So life is interesting, which is better than the opposite, and I am happy despite this strange position I find myself in. But whatever happens, Dazey stays with me.

I'm willing to make many sacrifices to keep my dog. I was without her for, what, nine months? I do not want that to happen again. Unless I have to. But I don't want to have to.

2007-05-05T15:01:00.000-07:00

The Interview

My day began around 5:15 A.M. when I awoke to the morning sun. The great thing is that the Bob Marley song “3 little birds” began in my head and I fell back asleep singing it in my noggin. It goes something like this “Woke up this mornin'/smiled at the risen sun/ three little birds/ sittin' by my doorstep/singing sweet songs/ of melody pure and true/ sayin' this is my message to you-who-who. Don't worry/ about a thing/ because every little thing/ gonna be alright (repeat last phrase as often as you want. Why not? It's in your head). So when I woke up at the right time of 7:30 I still had that song in my head and sung it throughout the long day. I think it helped.

After waking up and drinking some coffee, having a little breakfast and taking a shower then getting dressed up in a suit and shiny shoes. I had about 30 minutes to cram study for the interview the best I could. At 9:30 I set off for the interview knowing it would take me about 20 minutes to get to the Northwest Public Radio (NWPR) offices.

10 A.M. I meet with the NWPR Weekend Edition Host/Producer Search Committee and was grilled with interview type questions for around an hour. This was the most intense part of the day.

11 A.M. Met with the person in charge of benefits and accounting for NWPR etc. for a half hour. For a description of what types of benefits I can expect from Washington State University, of which there are many.

11:30 (or so) a brief break, then at 11:45 went and got a lunch to be brought back to the station for a Noon to 1:00 “brown bag lunch” with the staff of NWPR. I was the only one eating. Some brought in coffee. But it was take a bite, get asked a question, *chew-chew-chew* then hold up a finger to show hold on a second. Take a swig of juice, swallow, answer said question. I only got to eat about ¼ of my lunch. After their questions then I got to ask a few. This was the most fun part of the day. I had them laughing and we had a good time and I actually enjoyed myself. I think we all did.

A break and now time took a strange leap. There was a break, and then I was shown how to basically go about doing a “Production Exercise” that had 5 sections that had a couple of parts in each section. I got the 1st one done and ½ of the second one. Not great speed but I was happy with the quality. Of the parts of this interview day this is the one where I wish I could have done more.

I got another break and then I met with the Program Director for a chat about what it would be like to work with her and etc. By this time (around 3 something) my brain was toast and I was mentally done in. But it was good to talk with her. She told me that I should be proud of myself because I was the only candidate they interviewed who did not have Public Radio experience and I got this far (1 of 3 finalist for the position) because of my enthusiasm for the job. While there where others who applied that were actually doing the job as posted, they lacked any kind of enthusiasm. That was a really nice thing to say. She also said that I did a “fabulous job” today.

After it was over, and it was all I could think of the 2 days, my overall feeling was that I did the very best I could. I have no regrets about anything that I said or did. I put my best foot forward and gave it my best shot. Once again, if I don't get the job it is not because of the interview. It will be because I just don't have what they are looking for. Even though I know that I do. I was told that I will definitely know by next Friday, May 11th, but should know before that.

COME ON JOB OFFER!

2007-04-29T15:21:00.000-07:00

Got the Interview!

I got the face-to-face interview! Wow. 2 more steps left as I see it. Do the interview, which, by the way, is 5 hours long. Then the negociations for pay after they decide to hire me. I'll do my best to let you all know how the interview went and all that stuff when I can. How the hell do you prepare for a 5 hour long interview anyway? The "Knock 'em Dead" book that Victor had suggested to me helped me out a great deal for the telephone interview but there is nothing in it about extended interviews.

All in all things are good and have been motorcycling a much as I can. Elise is a great passenger too. Yeehaw!

Brother in-law Terry @ Christmas

2007-04-19T15:37:00.000-07:00

Life and How to Live It

When someone close to you dies, it really puts "life" in a new perspective. Kind of like having a near death experience. You know like crossing the street and only seeing that car barreling down at you just before you take that first step? Or being in a car accident? The difference is that now I see how death is a natural progression and to get the heck out there and live. For example I have been eating the things I enjoy like pizza, bacon, eggs, toast with butter, peanut butter, corn chips, coffee, beer (mmm beer), etc. It gives me a different perspective in what I'm doing while I'm alive.

I know that I am on the right track with my career. I just need to get that big break in broadcasting. Maybe I need to start my own station or maybe I need to do that Podcast I've been thinking about. What I do know is that I have been jonesin' for a microphone and some radio frequencies.

Lately too I've been viewing T.V. broadcasts, listening to radio broadcasts, and a lot of the time it all seems so damned contrite. These people, especially "news" people all give me this feeling that they know what's going on and you don't so listen to me because my hair looks good, and I ask stupid questions and I say things that are completely inaccurate, and you don't know either way so I'm just going to say it like it is the truth. Like yesterday I was watching MSNBC and Tucker Carlson is on, who I only know from when John Stewart tore him a new one on Carlson's own show! Anyway, this Tucker Carlson guy was talking to some "expert" or the Meat Cutter at Albertsons, it's just some dude in a suit called and "expert", and Carlson is in an uproar about the recent shootings at Virginia Tech. and he says, am I'm paraphrasing, "Why isn't security tighter on college campuses? I mean, someone could be high on L.S.D. and go Schizophrenic." Really. There is absolutely no correlation between Schizophrenia, a mental condition, and the use of L.S.D. It is the "I said it therefore it must be true" syndrome within the talking heads out there that I despise.

Where I choose to be a broadcaster is very important to me. Integrity is not something that is just handed to you, it must be earned. That is one of the major reasons I want to work for a public broadcaster. These people can't say the most stupid thing and get away with it. Have you ever listened to Morning Edition or Weekend Edition when they read letters from listeners? NPR gets grilled all the time on what they say and how they represent stories. I like that.

Though I do not always like the presenters on NPR, some of them sound like they should be working somewhere else. I'm sure that they are fine journalists but when they speak they sound almost demeaning. I hear it a lot on commercial radio. I do not want to be one of those types of people. I am a great communicator. I know this. It is my best skill. Communicating is not just speaking but also listening and I am, honestly, a great listener. Ask anyone who knows me. When I get to doing what I am meant to be doing in broadcasting, whatever that might be, as opposed to how I wish things to be, in the back of my mind will be that "this" is not about me. It's about the listener, the viewer, the reader. Make the best attempt to take my (ever vast and growing) ego out of it. It won't be easy, but when it happens that, to me, is when broadcasting i.e. communication is the most compelling and engaging. That is what I want to be.

When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers.
- Oscar Wilde

2007-04-17T09:55:00.000-07:00

Rest In Peace

Anna Siekawitch

August 18, 1917 - April 16, 2007

My Auntie Anna died at about 11:15 A.M.
She was the daughter of Roy and Emma Andreas in Park Grove County Kansas.

Once again I will quote my friend Steve.
"You see headstones and it has the one day we all know, and that is the day we were born and then there is the dash, and then the day they died. What did those people do during their time? That dash means a lot Thom.
Live for the dash."

2007-04-14T10:57:00.000-07:00

Bigger Than NPR

I am a huge fan of public radio. To me this is how radio should be; open, informative and entertaining. There is one program that continually draws me in. Fresh Air with Terry Gross.
Her last show was one of the best that I have ever heard. She interviewed 2 guys who did a documentary call Baghdad ER and also replayed an old interview she had with Kurt Vonnegut. Go and listen to it now. It made me think, it made me sad, it made me realize that once again I want to be in radio. I am using Terry Gross as my inspiration because she is so good that I can only hope to have a portion of the talent she does.

An ancient Japanese castle wall

I know I have the talent and the desire to be in radio, if I can only get that big break. I am thinking of what Steve told me when I saw him a couple weeks ago: "Thom you are bigger than NPR." Talk about a mind bender. If I am in fact bigger than NPR then how the hell do I get to that level of respectability and vastness?

I just talked with David Stephen Ball Romney and he said, "Well this is the second time you have tried to grasp the brass ring, so to speak." Selling my house and then traveling the
world and now trying to get that dream job. Although these are just the couple things that he has seen go on in my life in the last couple of years it may be a personality trait to just go for what I desire regardless of a safety net.

Feeling a bit lost today and pondering where and what to do next if I do not get the Weekend Host/Producer job at NWPR. I know I will land of my feet wherever I am, but I still need to make some type of contingency plans.

2007-04-11T13:55:00.000-07:00

The NWPR Telephone Interview

The telephone interview with NWPR went really well. I think that if I do not get a face-to-face interview it was not due to this interview. I answered all of their questions with confidence and was straight forward. I know that I can do that job, now just getting the hiring committee to see that too and get that face to face interview where I will really shine. Then to oust the guy who is currently in the position, whose contract is up or will be up, and put me in that spot. But it went well and I should be hearing if I get another interview by Monday the 16th. Don't stop prayin' or whatever for me just yet. There are still a couple more walls to climb. Thanks for all your support.

2007-04-06T16:20:00.000-07:00

One Year Ago Today

Holy shit. I can't believe that it was a full year ago that I left the main land for Hawaii to begin a grand journey. I'm all full of memories and nostalgia and a little bit teary eyed. I sacrificed so much to do what I did and here I am sacrificing some more to do what I think is the right thing for me. It sounds selfish, and I guess it really is but if you ever have the chance to toss everything to the wind and go on, as the Aboriginals of Australia call it, a walkabout. GO FOR IT! Just grab life by the horns and hold on. Life and the world are both good things. Carpe Diem. Seize The Day.

2007-04-04T15:20:00.000-07:00

YES!

Today I got very good news. I called up the program director of NWPR (Hi Mary Hawkins) to ask about the status of my resume. We chatted for a bit about the recent NWPR pledge drive, which went well in many ways but they did not get to their monetary goal. Dang. But she says I guess you've called regarding the Weekend Edition Host job? Yes. Yes I am. Well they want to interview me! You read that correctly. I will be interviewed by telephone for Northwest Public Radio! I am so excited that, I, I, I... *sigh* I really want that job. You have no idea, or maybe you do, but it would be huge for me. But not just for me but also for my family and friends. I like to think that all of you who read this blog are rooting for me to get a radio job and that when I do get a full time job in radio that you are there with me. Or, in this case, you are with me to not only do the best interview that I possibly can and hopefully they like me well enough to HIRE ME.

If you are reading this I could really use your positive energy, prayers, or whatever it takes to help me get this job. Not only will you be helping me to get a full time job, you will be helping me start on a lifelong career serving the public and to have a job that I literally dream of having. Crap. Now I'm getting nervous.

On to other things, I saw my very good and lifelong friend i10d2bs, aka Steve, aka Cathy Lakey.

Jake (Steve's son), i10d2bs (Steve) & Thom at a hotel in Richland WA.

I hadn't seen Steve in about 10 or more years. Much has changed in those years, but we call each other periodically to keep in touch. Some times the call lasts a few minutes, but mostly they last an hour or more. That night when I arrived we had some fun.

We started out drinking a few beers, then we went to dinner and had a few drinks, then we went back to the hotel suite and had a whole-oh-my-god-how-much-did-I-drink bunch of drinks. I don't remember (ha) the last time I drank that much. Steve was still drunk until about noon the next day.

That next morning Jake was telling us how he couldn't sleep because we were acting like a couple of Junior High kids. Steve had called his girlfriend (?) at about 3 in the morning, and he kept putting the phone in front of my mouth wanting to say something to her. So I came up with "a finger there, and a little pinch here, and then a little oooh yeah. " We must of done that 10 times. It was funny. Steve couldn't hold his laugh in, he was snickering or outloud laughing the whole time. Good times Lakey. Always good to see you my friend. We need to keep our meetings shorter than every decade. Okay?

2007-03-27T19:55:00.000-07:00

Like Sand Through An Hourglass

I can't believe that a year has already gone by since I sold my house and went on a wonderful journey. I still think a lot about that trip and how I have changed because of it. When I first returned to "the States" I met with my friend David (Hi David), and we got on the topic of how I may have changed due to my journey and he commented "Your silences."

I catch myself more often delaying my own words to let others speak theirs. I think this change came from conversing with people who do not speak English very well and allowing them time to search for a word or to communicate in a different way as needed. It has proven to work very well in interviews. I let the interviewer speak as much as they like while I ask questions and only offer bits of information about my professional self as it may relate to the job or the topic of discussion. It's a good thing.

Since Elise has been back from her trip to Greece we have talked a lot about where in the world we would like to go together.

Isn't she beautiful?

She, of course, would love to go back to Greece. I would love to go there too, but there are so many countries and I would rather see some place new. However, my first goal is to get back to working in radio, and not just any radio gig either.

I have done quite a bit of soul searching, and have been listening to Anthony Robbins (thanks Noah) (who is a great motivational speaker but some of his philosophies are, well, just that, but I like his style anyway) and have decided on a career of being "The Voice Guy." Radio is a passion, yes, and I would so verrry much love to work for an NPR affiliate and I really want the job that I applied for at NWPR, but overall I would really dig being the voice in video games, or commercials, or documentaries, or wherever a "voice guy" is needed. I have also thought about being a reporter and it still has some appeal to me because I question everything, just ask my Mom or my co-workers at my last job. But I can seriously envision myself making a living by using my voice. It won't be easy, because there's a big crowd out there but I will make it happen.

On another note, I again want to publicly thank -profusely- my Sister Sue and her Husband Randy for letting my stay at their place for, what now, 3 months? Jeeze. Thank you so very, very, much. Just know that you are helping me to achieve what many people only wish they could do. I only hope that I can get a full time NPR job (hint, hint you folks at NWPR. I dream of that job you know!) before I am obliged to move on.

Since I haven't even gotten an interview for a full time radio position *sigh* I have applied for and have gotten interviews for a full time computer gig back up in Ellensburg, and for a different FT job within Macy's. The way I'm thinking, thanks to my financial consultant (Hi Ben), if my next job is not the "dream job" or one that might get me closer to it, then have the next job be for money and continue the search.

But to close up, I am well, Dazey is well, my folks are as fine as could be expected, my brothers and sisters are doing good, Elise is great - it is so nice to have her back - and my Auntie Anna,

Isn't she beautiful too?

who, at the age of 89, has had several strokes and is not eating well (she has a hard time swallowing solid food so must eat mushy stuff and she hates it), and is staying in a nursing home, needs some positive thoughts, prayers, and a big bowl of ice cream. I feel she is not long for this world. She has treated all of us kids so very well and with much love and care. I love her and hope that she gets back to living instead of getting ready to pass on. If you are reading this and you haven't visited Auntie Anna you better do it now, before you reget not.

2007-03-05T19:39:00.000-08:00

Been Blogging For Over A Year

I stopped by one of my favorite blogs Annie Rhiannon and she has now been blogging for a year which got me to thinking about how long I have been blogging. Damn if I didn't start this whole thing over a year ago February 27, 2006 to be exact. I went back and started reading some of those older blogs and reliving the situations I was going through in my life at that time. I've changed so much and have done so much since then. Good for me.

Thanks for reading and supporting and being, at least a little, vicarious.

Then

Now

2007-03-03T12:00:00.000-08:00

Getting A Life Ain't Easy

In the last 3 weeks or so I've been working at Macy's, and have only worked three times at the KUTI gig. Yes, I know it is a foot in the door in radio, but, shit, when reality is that I need the dough, I go with the job that fills that need.

Soon I will have to leave my sister's place, not that I am complaining. Sue and Randy have been soooo very good to me that it makes me cry. I've been staying here in their 5th wheel for next to nothing for a couple of months and they have not complained. Well maybe Randy has, but it's all just ribbing me, as any good brother in-law does. I have said time and again that if they need any money for rent or what ever, please tell me. I'm not a pauper, I do have money in the bank, although I prefer to use it as sparingly as possible, I will use it if I must. It is all there for this purpose, so no worries.

Living out here in the sticks of Selah is really nice. Very peaceful and quite. It is always pretty here, even when the weather isn't. That is where I'm sure I want to live. Somewhere nice and quite. Although I still have a desire to at least live in a city for while. I think it would be fun, for a bit at least. I may like it, how would I know I've never really lived in a city. Then again, I did live in Japan for a month, staying in center of cities, for the most part.

There is a job that I applied for that I want. I want it badly. Check it out at NWPR.org
I am so qualified for this job it makes me sick. But will they interview me? Who knows. But I have worked with many of these people and for the most part I like them. It will be interesting working for the public instead of the bottom line of some company.

Elise is in Greece and having a great time.

I am so jealous. I know, I know. I've just come back from the trip of a lifetime. But I never went to Greece. I can't wait to go there. So many places to visit. I again want that feeling of landing in a new foreign country, one where you do not speak the native language, and that first moment of panic where you don't know what's going on, exactly. The airport announcements sound so odd. So that's what Thai sounds like. Who can understand that?! Or, whoa, everything is in Japanese. How the fuck am I going to find my hotel. There's next to nothing in English. *anxiousness*

I'm doing fine, health wise. I don't have many friends to hang out with. I live so far out in the country that it's a journey to go "out". Okay that's not really a good excuse, but life has changed again and I don't feel so much like a traveler anymore. I don't feel the need to go out by myself and meet new people. Some days I'm a little blue. Not having a fulfilling job or a more permanent home get me down sometimes. But nothing to worry about, just regular life stuff. All-in-all I'm positive about my future. I'm smart and have outstanding communication skills, inter-personal AND mass. What more could an employer in the communication business want?

The hardest part about what I did (you know, sell the house, go travel) is that I did not have a home per-say to come back to. I've been staying with my family and my friends since I came back home in late September of 2006. Let's see, that's October, November, December, January, February... Damn! It's been 5 months. Seems like I've been home a lot longer. And you know what to be honest I've only been looking seriously for a radio job since about January 3rd. So maybe things are better on the job front than I realize.

2007-02-08T12:14:00.000-08:00

Long Delay Short Reply

Here is what is going on in my life:

I am staying with my sister and her husband in Selah (Hi Sue, Hi Randy) and I've got 3 jobs going on right now and only one of them is radio related. I'm still working at Macy's, I'm selling ads for my brother Scott's publication of Coffee News, and also doing in-studio trainable monkey work for basketball, football, and baseball games at the Clear Channel group of stations here in Yakima - it's a good thing that I'm a trainable monkey. I'm still seeing Elise and we are getting along very well. I wish many times that I was out there in the big world traveling uninhibited and free from the worry and stress of daily living. Travel is so much more fun and exciting. But I'm enjoying myself as much as possible and playing with Dazey and being the dude that I am. Yeah, right.

2007-01-17T14:53:00.000-08:00

It Is Going Like This

My sister Sue and her husband Randy are being so very, very nice to me. They are giving me a place to stay in Selah way out on the Wenas Road. It is very pretty out here even when the days are not so pretty out. It has also been butt-ass-monkey-popsicle-cold here. With highs not even reaching zero degrees Celcius or 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

The front yard at Sue and Randy's home (hi Sue, hi Randy)

My lifelong friend Victor celebrated his 40th birthday on January 16th and they had a nice little get together the weekend before. I had a really great time and there was much laughter and good times and even a few drinky-poos. I was really very happy and proud to be there to celebrate his birthday with him.

Victor with his wife Bibi on the night of his celebration. I hope to be so fortunate on my upcoming 40th.

Elise invited me to come with her to go skiing this past weekend and we had so much fun. We get along really very well. It's a good thing that I like younger women and she likes older men. Woo hoo!

Me and Elise taking a break from the slopes. She's the cute one on the right.

The last thing to tell you is that I GOT DAZEY BACK!

I cannot thank my very good friends Kathy, and Jerry, and Karlie, for taking care of Dazey while I have been unable to. Dazey looks great and is good spirits despite my taking her away from such a loving home. But I missed her so much I cannot say. She still knows all her tricks and is just as much fun to be with as I remember.

Dazey down by the Yakima River

2007-01-06T15:23:00.000-08:00

"Interviewed" at Clear Channel

I had met Jack Balzer about 10 years ago while he was working over nights at KATS FM, in Yakima, after a friend of mine who was working at KIT/KATS asked me to come down and dink around doing some radio production work. So I see jack come in to Macy's and I make a point to stop him and reintroduce myself. He is now the Program Director for KUTI in Yakima. To make a long story short, because I only have a few minutes left on my lunch, I sent him my resume and my audio demo recording and he sent it to other PDs around the Clear Channel cluster of stations and other Clear Channel PDs. So then I saw Dave Ettl at Macy's, who is the PD for KIT, which is in the same group as Jacks, and he said stop by the station sometime. The next day I made an appointment to go hang out with Jack. That lead to me getting a very impromptu interview! They recently had their "board op" or broadcast board operator for games, like baseball, football, etc. I am waaaaaay over qualified and it is only a part-time gig, but a foot in the door. Also, there really isn't a job opening, but they feel they must replace this position ASAP or maybe not be able to fill it for quite a while if ever. We shall see.

Just going into the studios I felt very elated and was checking out all the fun I could be having and all of the microphones waiting for my voice. It will happen. It is just a matter of time and effort.

2007-01-02T14:13:00.000-08:00

Nuts and Bolts

I want to tell you all about my recent exploits and fun I've been having, but lack of internet access and crazy working schedules just don't find me heading off to the nearest internet shop. I just don't know of many places that offer free internet. I could go to Starbucks (eww) but they charge money. Those bastards.

In other news, I was the M.C. for the Yakima Downtown New Years Celebration. A great family event celebrated outside with 4 local bands, vendors and crazy hats and stuff. There were, I'd guess, a couple thousand people there. It went off well and I even got a small qoute in the Yakima Herald Republic newspaper. I'd love to put there web site on this blog, but they want to charge me $2.95 for the article. Ha! Like that's going to happen.

So the new year is going fine. I've been dating a really cute woman, Elise, who is funny, and smart too. Trifecta! We are having a grand time together.

I am still looking for a job in radio. I prefer to stay in the Northwest, but I am wanting a carreer in radio so badly that I dream about being behind the mic. It's only a matter of time.

2006-12-23T21:05:00.000-08:00

Merry X-mas

Peace and love to you all. Thanks for your support this year. Be sure to be in Yakima for the dowtown New Years Eve celebration. I will be the M.C. for it.

They found out I can count backwards from ten.

2006-12-23T20:52:00.000-08:00

Friday night after work I went out to see the new James Bond movie, "Casino Royale". The movie starts at 6:05 and I get off work and head straight to the theatre, get my ticket, get some nachos (I don't usually eat the dreaded "Theatre Nachos", but I was hungry), a drink and a box of Jr. Mints - I love those things- and I get my stuff and start into screen #4 and I think I'm, like 30 minutes or so, early for the movie. I go straight in, no one took my ticket or told me which screen to go to, and the movie is still playing! Gah! So I did a quick turnaround and went back to the lobby and eat my nachos and wait for people to leave the theatre. 10 minutes go by, hmm only 15 minutes before the next showing they should be getting soon. Watch says 6:00 and no one is out of the theatre and I'm about to ask someone if there was a problem when I finally took a good look at my watch did I notice that it was only 5:00. I got off work and 3:45 and for some reason I thought it was later in the day than it actually was. Tell me I'm not the only one who does stupid shit like this. Or maybe I went through a worm hole...

2006-12-11T16:07:00.000-08:00

The Days Go By
*can't upload photos for some reason*
Since my last install I've been to thanksgiving dinner with my family and like any family there is some amount of strife between members, but we all, well most of us, seem to get along well enough for one evening of fellowship. While I do not understand why there is any amount of contempt for any other member of our family I am completely amazed by any act of negativity toward any member of our family. I will not say that I am the perfect relative, far from it, but I realize that we are all hard working, kind, and thoughtful people in our own way. I do my best to put all that negative junk aside and just have a great time with my family.

Our thanksgiving is done at a different time than what is known as American Tradition. Instead of having dinner on "the day" we have dinner on the Saturday after Thanksgiving day. That way we, all of about 35 of us, My mom and dad, long since become Grandma and Grandpa as well as all of their seven children, their spouses, and their kids, and their kids' kids, there are a lot of us, are able to gather as a family and still have Thanksgiving with our spouses family or with friends. That was my Mom's idea. But there is a lot of love there and I like it. You are all invited to join us next time. All of you.

In other news my reality has been checked again. I have been making the most of my job at Macy's and have been enjoying comradery of my fellow "associates" and I even got a few of us together, 5 to be exact, to go out and have a beer after work. We all work hard and I think most of us get along pretty well. I have fun there and try to make the most of each day at work. But damn if working everyday 5 days a week doesn't suck ass.

Here I've been without work for almost eleven months and now that I am back to work I see how difficult it was to get to where I was before I sold my house and took a journey. I had a good life, a good job, and many friends. I was very rich in those ways, and I still am. But looking back I can see the riches that I had and I miss that life but I chose a different path and I would do it again. But I miss having my friends near me. Sure I can travel to visit them. Yes I can make new friends, and I have never had a problem making friends, but many of my friends, speaking specifically of Ellensburg, I have had for years and I miss having them around.

Also, working for $8.50 an hour is not exactly an easy way to make a living. I filled up my gas tank and it cost me $32.17. That's half a days labor just for gas. I now see more clearly the difficulty of what is known as "the working poor" in America, where you have a job, maybe 2, and it is still not enough to get by, or barely make the monthly bills. Never being able to take a day off for illness, or just for just mental health, because the bills do not take a day off so neither can you.

I have moved from brother Doug and his wife Diane's home. They were so very good to me and I cannot thank them enough. Now I am at my sister Mary and her husband Kevin's home. Mary has a couple of great kids and there is a lot of love here. They have made me welcome and I feel right at home. Mary and I are very close in age and companionship, she is only 3 years older than me and she was always looking out for me while we were growing up and we have done many things together. I'm sure that she will claim that she can still kick my ass... but only if she catches me off guard. Love ya Mary!

I have been missing many things about the traveling lifestyle. Today, I did some laundry and had this very vivid recollection of walking a few miles in Yokohama Japan, to find a public coin-op laundry. Well one that didn't charge $15 a kilo. When I did get to the laundry there was this creepy looking guy in there smoking, sitting on a chair, with his arms held out so that his hands rested on the tops of two washing machines as if someone were about to leap in and take his clothes out and put theirs in. I just said "Konichiwa" to him and went about my business. Which reminds me, about Japanese coin-op laundries, I went to a few, all of them had small sized washers that did not require, as the Aussies call it, washing powder. You just put your money in and the machine put the soap in automatically at no extra charge. I love that idea.

Life for me is very different. I have a job to go to, at least for now, and that has changed my whole way of going about my life. I'm finding it difficult to put time into this blog for example. I am still inching my way toward a job in radio. It seems like I'm crawling after it, but I will get there. I have to for my mental health and happier life. But damn it if radio isn't a dying medium in the U.S. There are fewer radio stations every day. But I know that radio is my first love in broadcasting and many people in the broadcast field get their start in radio and that is where I will get mine. What will become of it? Who knows. But first I have to get a job in that arena and then I can be concerned about that. But I know where I must start that journey. It is only a matter of time. It's only a matter of time.

2006-11-21T20:37:00.000-08:00

The First Day Was Good

I made some sales and I think I work with some nice people. Nanette the store manager is cute, and has no ring on that left hand. I'll know more later. But if she is single...

Everything and everyone has been professional. The computerized training course was actually pretty good. Oh yeah, I'm working in *say it in a Darth Vader voice* Men's Shoes.

I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. There is a great relief in knowing that the job you are doing is only for a short time there is a lot less pressure. I expect to learn as much as possible and have fun doing it. Make a little bit of cash, meet some nice people, get a few e-mail addresses, and snort lines of coke in the employee bathroom stalls. I'm kidding... kind of. No. Really. I'm funnin 'ya. *shakes head*

So, things are going okay, except that my car was not running right and found out today it was a bad spark plug wire. Cost? Eighty bucks *cha ching*

I've also had a bad tooth. Man, that thing was killing me. I woke up in the middle of the night it pained me so. Found out that that tooth has been through a lot. Several old fillings (I never really took very good care of my teeth when I was younger), and it now it has a gold crown covering it and now no more roots. Root Canal. Which sucks. But get the root canal or lose the tooth. I chose keep the tooth. But it cost me $1601.56. Hip hip fucking hooray. Want to see my Christmas Present to myself? *GRIN*

2006-11-16T21:37:00.000-08:00

Welcome To Macy's

I got the Macy's gig. Man, they must really need people because they didn't even ask for a face-to-face interview. I got a call from Teresa, who led the group interview, and she said thart I was being offered a short term holiday job, which will only last until the end of the year if I wanted it. Of course I said yes. Then she asked if I could come in this Friday evening for orientation and of course I said yes.

Then the next day, after the job offer, I got another call from, I don't remember his name exactly it was Tyler, Trevor, or Travis, something like that, who asked if I could get to the store to do "the paper work". Sure, how long will it take? About an hour, he said. Okay, how about if I come in at 3:30 before orientation at 5? That will work I may need to go and find him in gift wrapping.

2006-11-14T18:47:00.000-08:00

Been Chillin' in Moxee(co)

There is a lot to be said for the small town life. Not a lot of traffic, you know your neighbors, and it's easy to get into the community. Scott and Brenda have a really nice home in a lovely area. Cats come in and out and they are really easy going people. I have felt VERY much at home here. They feed me, give me a room and treat me, well, like family. I can not thank them enough.

Scott and Brenda's home.

In other news I decided to apply for a job at Macy's. Yes that Macy's. I went to a "cattle call" type of an interview today with about 10 or so other people. Most of the peoople in there were really young, in their early twenties. One woman there was saying how she was still working at her first job at Taco Time and wanted to move into something better than fast food. Good for her. But I'm looking for a job too honey and I got you trumped on experience, education, and nick names.

Somewhere on the highway to Port Macquary Australia

In the mass interview I did fine, only the generic "why do you want to work here?" "Can you tell a story how you helped a cusotmer?" I even got a nickname "Mr. Tom". The woman in charge of it, Teresa, would ask a question to the group and she would get to me and say "Okay and how about you Mr. Tom?" Heh, heh. By the end of the meeting everyone knew my name. So I am expecting to get a call back and then a job. Honestly I think that the only way that I would not get a job there is if I puke on the interviewer. I could be wrong, but if my competition was in that room then my chances are very good.

The Western side of the South Island, New Zealand

I had called my very good friend Comet while I was somewhere on my journey and he said, I've been keeping up with your blog and it sounds like you are having the time of your life. I said to him, you know I am having a lot of fun, but I am living this every day and so it is hard to see how much fun I am having while I am having it. Suddenly I am no longer living it and now I see how much fun I was having. I can see this now as I am about to start a job and honestly I don't really want it because this will mean that I will have change my whole way of living. From going where I want to go when I want to go there, to having to get a place to live and have to be at a certain place at a certain time on there schedule. Plus I haven't had a job in almost a year and been having fun since April of this year. My life has been just chuck full of Reality Checks lately.

The lovely "Susie" at the market in Chiang Mai, she is a teacher from the Thai Cookery School

2006-11-08T09:51:00.000-08:00

Dale

Dale and Fred the dog

My good friend, and former morning show partner, Dale Hubbard, ran for Kittitas County Commissioner Pos. #3 (D) but didn't get enough votes to win. I want to say that I am proud of Dale. He ran a good, solid campaign, and gave the citizens of the county a choice. There are too many seats open where one person is running un-opposed. Maybe politics isn't something you see for yourself, but Dale did, or does, and it's not an easy thing to do. It takes having the guts, the willpower, and the ENERGY to run for office. Dale has a full time job, volunteers on a couple different non-profit boards, and ran a campaign. Tiring work.

The other great thing about Dale running is that he got about 47% of the votes cast and Kittitas County is about only 37% democrat registered voters. So he got a lot of "crossover" votes. Which means that his message and ideas resonated with the people.Waiting for results and the Starlight Cafe

Dale, you may not have won this one, but damn if I am not proud of you for giving it your all and maintaining your positive outlook and laidback attitude. As they say in Australia, "Good on ya mate!"

2006-11-06T11:09:00.000-08:00

Target Aquired

I've been hanging out in Ellensburg with my good friends the Stone's and they have been most gracious to me. Allowing me to stay with them for a week. I don't know how I will repay them. Truly good friends and great people. Plus it's fun to get Robert started on a political discussion.

I have spent a lot of time re-writing my resume and it is almost done. I sent it out to many friends and I got a lot of great feedback from them. I hope to start sending it out this week. I will be pushing for a job at an NPR station. Doing whatever they need done. As soon as I am given an opportunity at a station they won't know what hit 'em. I will be all over it!

If you don't know, NPR (National Public Radio) is fantastic radio and is an organization that is at the top of its game right now and I would be ecstatic to be associated with them.

On another note, I have been noticing that there are several people who check my blog daily and many new readers too. This is great and it gives me a great feeling of pride to know that people are interested enough in what I have to say through this medium that they choose to check it daily. Therein lies the rub.

I would like to post more stuff more often, but I want to post things that are topical and relevant and not just talking about what I put on my toast this morning. But I also know that keeping at least some type of consistent posting will keep more readers (whoever they might be, Hi Mom) coming back more often and I like that.

Fall color in Ellensburg

I will be packing up yet again and be heading to my brother Scott's house in Moxee for a few days. I haven't seen him or his family since I returned from my journey, which seems like yesterday, and I look forward to telling some stories and sharing my experiences.

A sculpture in Yokohama made out of transport containers

Plus making up a few tall tales about how I saved the entire country of Japan from a giant lizard that breathed fire. It's true. I did!

2006-10-30T09:59:00.000-08:00

Homeless, Jobless, Insuranceless, Dogless

I guess I'm just missing having a "normal" life, but here is something interesting about my life right now and that is that I am not living anywhere but everywhere.

At a hip-hop bar in Kyoto.

Where do I call home? Wherever "the one bag" is. It has all my stuff in it. Therefore, "Home is where my stuff is." I suppose that if this were true then my home is the storage unit in Ellensburg (Vote Hubbard) because that is where 99% of my stuff is stored. *sigh*

I have had a lot of time to think, and you just don't get a lot of time to think about stuff, life, etc., when you are in the midst of a career and having a life and all that. But when I think about getting a job, or doing the process of actually seeking a job, the only job that I want to look for is one in radio. The more I think about it the more I am convinced that I need to get back into radio and I want a radio job in a city. Seattle or Portland would be great and if I had my druthers I would choose Portland, but wherever the job is, that looks appealing, I will go. I am trying to be careful of what I wish for.

Here's a reality check for you. When was the last time you went to the doctor or to the dentist and paid for it all out of your own pocket without the help of insurance? Let me tell you it is really freakin' expensive.

I've been having a little pain in one of my teeth
so I went in today to get it checked out. Seems that the root of a crowned tooth is ready to give up and is swelling causing pain. Joy. So I need to have a... root canal! And what is the estimated cost of said root canal? Oh, around 1,400 bucks. Shit. So, needless to say, either I pony up the bucks or slowly, or possibly quickly, end up in a lot of pain... with a swollen face and eye. Christians have been screaming about the end being nearer than ever, maybe it will happen before I have to shell out the money.

I miss my dog.

2006-10-25T22:02:00.000-07:00

Thoughts, thawts, thots

Here I am. Waiting for something and someone special to show up in my life.

The whole job thing; what is my goal there? I just can't go into radio and expect things to happen. I have to make them happen. So that requires a goal. Floating aimlessly is just that. What do you want your objective to be Thom? Make it a big one. Think big, act big, and you will be big. Or is being small okay with you? Is a year so long to spend in a foreign country? I dunno. I have only found countries where I would like to only spend a few months... including the U.S.

Is my next job a means to an end? Like gathering enough money in order to travel again? Is travel my main objective? No. Career is next... and radio is that career. So what to do with the radio career? That is the next step. Be in management, or programming, how about a music director, or is it to be the person behind the microphone? I like that Idea. The communicator. Yeah, behind the microphone.

In what capacity? Howard Stern-esque? Whom I think is a fine example. Small town, small time? Big city, big time? Can you be small town, big time? Or big city, small time? The big ideas are; what is my goal, and then how will I achieve it? Whichever both of these are, you can bet that I will go after them with great gusto.

2006-10-23T15:01:00.000-07:00

Next?

I've been hanging out in Ellensburg with Dale, Steph, and Fred-the-dog. I also got to see more of my very good friends back there. I even found myself wanting to get back to putting roots in Ellensburg, but also caught myself getting back into being the same Thom I was before I left (I'm not really sure what that means) and I didn't like it. I love Ellensburg, and I love all of my friends there, but I know that I must move on.

Not Fred

As I sit and meditate on where to go, I like the idea of NOT working for as long as possible. Comet had a great idea; to visit as many cigarbid.com folks as I can. I've met several, including Brian and James in Japan, and I could do a motorcycle tour of the southern U.S. for the winter. That sounds just crazy enough to do it.

I type this in Seaside, OR. and I am contemplating what to do next. Do I settle somewhere? Should I just start heading South for the winter? Maybe I should go back to school? Dr. Kokenge sounds good, even though I would have a doctorate in media or communications. Go back to one of the countries that I visited and work there? It is spring time in New Zealand and Australia.

Harold

Many people have told me to go back to Japan. The big negative about Japan is that EVERYTHING is so small. But it also has a lot of pluses; a job teaching English, cute single girls e v e r y w h e r e and great food. But there I go trying to talk myself into something that my gut says no to.

2006-10-17T12:01:00.000-07:00

Me and My Gut Feeling

I'm here visiting Comet in Montesano and am not sure what to do next.

This is me somewhere in Thailand.

You see Comet has offered me a job and a place to stay, but after contemplation my gut tells me to not take it. Why? Oh boy, therein lies many things that I do not wish to share with the world, but suffice it to say, that I think I would end up hating life and the job, and possibly even Comet after a short while.

I feel like there is something wrong with me. Here have a job, and a pad to crash in. But I can't do it. I couldn't even get on my motorcycle to go to the business that does the screening for Comet's company, Safeharbor.com. I had my gear on, the bike started, but my gut feeling was screaming at me to not do it. So I didn't. But I did say to my gut. Great. Now what, gut? Now, what...

2006-10-14T11:03:00.000-07:00

Still Vagabonding

I went on a nice 4 day motorcycle trip with Coho and then ended up going to Portland, Oregon where I am staying with Doug. He lives in a nice neighborhood, cool pad (about 1950's era ground level 4 plex) and is very close, about 3 blocks, from a shopping area, there's a grocery store, coffee shops, eateries, and a sex shop!

I took a couple to do nothing that involved spending money. In other words I veged at Doug's place. Did some e-mail, took a shower, listened to the radio, uploaded some music, talked to my buddy Bob from Thailand on Skype! (Hey Bob) That was cool. He sounds really good and is doing fine. We talked a lot about a lot of stuff. Bob likes to talk. I like to listen, so we get along well.

Thinking seriously about going to Hungary for Christmas and New Years. This idea is still in the planning stages, we'll see. But wouldn't that be cool? Maybe even spend a day or two in Vienna.

2006-10-11T17:46:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy 77th birthday to my Mom, Dolly.

She's a damn good mother and a lovely person to boot. Mom, I hope you are not mad that I posted your age, but it's such a great number! Double sevens!

Love Thom

Dad, Mom, Thom

2006-10-09T19:39:00.000-07:00

Saw Dazey

Dazey and I just before I went on my journey... I'm on the right.

I had to leave Dazey with someone while I was on my 6 month Journey. Kathy and Jerry and their Daughter Karli were kind enough to take Dazey into their home. They had already been dog-sitting her whenever I went on a short trip, but this was a much longer commitment.

They have a very nice home with property big enough for a couple horses, a couple dogs, about 4 cats, and they used to have sheep too. A great place for my dog. Any dog, really.

Since I do not have a home, or a job, getting my dog back, no matter how much I miss her was not in the plan for a while. I figured that if I went to see Dazey then I would miss her even more because I would only be able to see her for a short time and then go away again, and that just isn't fair. But Kathy and Jerry are also storing my motorcycle for me (damn I've got some great friends!) and so I had to go to their house to get the bike for a trip with Coho, and well, I also really wanted to see Kathy and Jerry, but that also means that I would have to see Dazey.

On the roof of a temple in Kyoto, Japan

The time comes and I go to K&J's home. I go inside "Hellooo?" I hear Dazey bark. Than a, "Hey..." Jerry is home. I get down on one knee and start calling Dazey. She comes to me and does her usual glad to see you wimper. I pet her and pet her and grab her in my arms, she's a small dog, and tell her how much I missed her. I really missed her.

After a while I put her down, and we all go outside to get my bike out from it's slumber. Dazey slinks off and goes and lays down on her bed. Jerry calls her, but she ain't budgen. Just laying there, looking sad. So I call her, nothing. Jerry calls her again and this time she gets up to come with us outside.

We get the bike out from the covers. The battery has been on a charger the whole time I was gone and the bike fires right up. Sweet. I take the bike out to get it cleaned up a bit and get it ready for a trip.

Jerry has things to do, so he takes off for a while and I do my best to get back into good graces with my dog. Dazey is acting like she is glad to see me, but is reluctant to really stay next to me. So I sit down on the ground and call her over and I just pet her, and talk to her, and just be with her. She eventually lays next to me and I continue to pet her and tell her what a good dog she is, and all those things you tell your dog.

Hotty cigar sales gal at "The Cuban Corner" in Pattaya, Thailand

A little while later I find some dog treats and get Dazey to do a few of her tricks (she knows a lot of 'em), like "twirl around", "shake", "catch the bisquit off her nose". Then I ask her if she wants to get brushed? Dazey gets a little excited because she looooves getting brushed out. So I get the brush and sit in a chair and Dazey jumps up into the chair with me, which is not how we used to brush, and lays down on my lap *cue the aaaaahhhhh* aaaaahhhhh. I brush her and talk to her and then Jerry comes home.

I get the bike and stuff ready and then I need to move my car out of the way, so I have the car door and the trunk open and I'm putting stuff in the truck, and Dazey jumps into the car, and then into the passenger seat with this look like "We going home now Thom?" Talk about a heart wrencher. So I let her sit in the car and I only move it about 25 feet or so, and then we get out of the car and I have to put my gear on to leave.

Jerry grabs Dazey and I say my goodbyes to them both and head out for another adventure, while my dog must stay with my good friends and I could see that Dazey was not taking her eyes off of me.

I miss my dog.

2006-10-08T22:06:00.000-07:00

What The Hell?!

Okay, so I'm back from a long journey. So, does that mean that you can't post a comment or two? I see, just because I was on some journey, as if life is not a long journey that I want to share with all of you, but nooo. Sure I'm drunk, sure I've been smoking, sure I've had some sugar, but does that mean I don't have feelings too?

2006-10-02T14:38:00.000-07:00

The Big Deal

**I am currently in Yakima, WA, USA***

First I want to thank Coho, Comet, Toast, and Mary for putting me up for a couple nights or a few nights as the case may be. I have the best friends and a great family!

Fall colors in Montesano, WA.

The question that I am asked the most is, "Which country did you like the most?" At first it took my a while but I had such a great time in Japan and I met some really good friends there too, that it had to be my favorite. But New Zealand is a close second with so much to do and see and I think you get very good value for your travel dollar in that country.

People also ask me which country I would recommend for them to travel to. My answer is, of course, go to Japan. But if this is your first time traveling abroad go to New Zealand. The people are nice, the food is good, and they speak English, plus it's a really great country. Go, go, go.

Toast and his daughter Julia near the Tacoma Narrows Bridge

After almost 3 weeks of being back "home" things are getting a bit strange for me. I need to find a job, fairly soon because the money won't last for too much longer, although I did plan for this and do have a bit of money in what I call "the re-establishment fund" out of the money I got from selling my house. I also need to find a place to live.

So the big question is, do I find a nice place to live and then try to get back in to radio, or do I find a job in radio and live wherever that job may be? Right now I am leaning toward finding a nice place to live, get a job or jobs to get by on, and then pursue the radio career. Because when I get right down to it, I really only want a radio gig, at least right now, in Northwest America.

Comet at the Fiber Festival in Montesano! -no he does not knit or loom or sew.

I could also get a job in one of the countries that I visited. It is becoming Spring and soon summer in Australia and New Zealand and there will be plenty of job opportunities in the tourist industries in those countries. Or I could teach English in Japan for a while. They need English teachers and they do not care if you speak Japanese. Actually they probably prefer that you don't.

I plan to go on a nice long motorcycle ride with Coho (Hi Coho) and a bike ride is always a good way to go about a big think. It's just you, your bike, the road, and your thoughts.

2006-09-28T10:32:00.000-07:00

More Reality Checks

So far what I miss most about travel is the constant adventure. Every day there was something new to discover and just walking out the door meant a new challenge. But back in the U.S. I can read all the signs and I am now driving my own car and seeing and staying with friends. Sure I am seeing new things and meeting with old friends, which is great. But the call of the open road is strong.

Sure I could continue to travel some more, if I want to completely delete my savings and my "get re-established" fund, but at some point I will have to find a place to live, get a job, and begin the process of trying to save up for another journey. Hopefully to Budapest, or maybe back to Japan, or how about Greece, or visit my friends in Germany, Amsterdam, Ireland, England, France, or even Canada or New York.

Seattle sure seems like it would be a nice place to stay for a while but, to be honest, I don't think the people of Seattle are very friendly. Sure I met some nice people there, especially at The Zig Zag. But overall I never got a feeling of friendliness or willing acceptance like I have in so many other cities. I plan to visit Portland, Oregon soon and see if I like it better down there. Everyone I've spoken with about it says that they really like Portland, so I'm looking forward to going there.

Not long after I came back from Japan I needed to get to Yakima to see my family. So, still being in a "traveling in Japan mind set", I was thinking that I could get a train from Seattle to Yakima. But there isn't one. So I had to hitch a ride with my sister (Hi Sue, Hi Randy) and her husband. Not that I'm complaining about getting a ride, just the lack of public transport. I suppose I could have taken the bus...

While I was in Seattle I went up into the Space Needle and it was cool! It was such a clear day that you could see the curve of the Earth.

I also ate my first real American (read not McDonald's) hamburger in about 6 months. Coho suggested the Red Mill, which is not too far from his home, and he was right on. A great burger and very tasty. They also gave me a free rootbeer. *heh heh*

I miss having cute little Japanese women all around me and many of them single. When you go from having many female friends to having to rebuild that circle of friends and trying to find friends who are not huge is not easy in America.

People ask me what I plan to do for a job? My hope is to get back into radio. I love radio. It's the only job I've ever had that never seemed like work. Plus I have a real gift of being able to talk to just about anyone and communicate with them. I hope to use this gift in radio broadcasting because communicating through a mass medium is also a gift and skill that I am really good at doing. I will work in radio again, and I hope it is on my terms and with a company I like. That's not too much to ask, is it?

2006-09-23T17:01:00.000-07:00

The Suntory Hermes Orange Bitters Story

Murray is the head bartender at The Zig Zag. Coho also works there as the head chef. Murray knew that I was in Japan and so he asked Coho to ask me to look for something called Suntory Hermes Orange Bitters which is used to create cocktails, and is not available in the United States.

I started my search for this "un-obtainium" while I was in Kyoto. I asked my buddy James for help. We found a liquor store but the owner guy had no idea what we were talking about. Over the next couple of days we found few more stores but no bitters. Damn. This stuff is not going to be easy to find!

I even check when I go up to Sapporo. I went to 2 different stores that had lots of liquor and stuff, but no bitters. Now it is a challenge. I WILL find this stuff.

So then it was back to Yokohama. The night I met Melinda was a night that James, his date Mami (mah-me), and I were on the hunt for Suntory Hermes Orange Bitters. We were going to a supposed liquer store, that was not open that night nor when I tried to go back 3 different times to get "the stuff", which, by the way, was near out favorite place to eat, Stoves.

It was at Stoves where James asked one of the bartenders if they know about Suntory Hermes Orange Bitters. Not only had he heard of it, they had a bottle! So I took a picture of the stuff so that we could show others instead of trying to work with the language barrier. That bartender tried to tell us where we could find the stuff. It should be at this store or in the basement. The next day we go to try to find this store.

So I set off to go and try to find this store. I can find all kinds of stores but I do not see any store that might sell Bitters, and I went into a lot of stores that just might have Suntory Heremes Orange Bitters, but didn't find it.

A couple of days go by and I go back to Stoves to see if I can get a clarification on where exactly I can find these bitters. This is Monday of my last week in Japan. I go back to Stoves (like it was hard for me to go back there or something, it's a very cool place) and have dinner and drinks. I find a different bartender and ask them about the bitters. He not only draws me a map but knows the name of the store in English and in Japanese! Awesome!! (Wish I could remember it now). The next day I set out to find this stuff.

In order to get to this store you have to go through the Diamond Underground Shopping Center, then through the JR Train Station, then through the lower floor of the Sogo Department Store, then go into the Lumine Department Store and take the stairs down and there will be the holy temple where the bitters are kept.

So I go there and I find them on the shelf. 2 bottles. Small bottles. So I take them and go to find a clerk. With great difficulty I communicate to him, with the help fo a co-worker who speaks o.k. English, that I need to buy all of the Suntory Hermes Orange Bitters that they have. All of them. He heads back to the back room and I wait.

He comes back and says that they have no more, but they will have a case coming in on Wednesday. Okay I'll come back Wednesday and buy them. So I buy the 2 from the shelf.

Wednesday comes around and I go back to the store to buy the bitters, but they did not arrive. They will be in on Thursday. *big sigh* Okay, I'll come back tomorrow. I'm thinking; I leave on Sunday so this stuff had better be here. But I have faith because the Japanese Customer Service does not like dissapointed customers.

Thursday is the big day and I go back to the store. They have the case of Suntory Hermes Orange Bitters waiting for me, all packaged up with wrapping and a small ribbon as for a gift. **An aside here; in Japan if you buy something and you say "Gifto" meaning this is a gift for someone, they will wrap it up nice with a small bow, and put it in a nice a paper gift bag too, all free of charge.**

Now I put all 8 small bottles in my lugage and pack it out of the country. Where I bring them to Seattle, and take them to Murray at the Zig Zag.

I tell him that I have something for him and I produce the 2 bottles of bitters and say "Do you know how tough it is to find this stuff?" Which he does, and says you got 2 bottles huh? Yeah I say, I got all they had on the shelf... then I produce the case and put it on the bar and say "I hope it will be enough." Murray about fell over. "Good timing on that one." He says. Thanks. He wanted to pay and I said no. I just did a favor for a friend, so just think well of me. He and the Zig Zag were very greatful.

Another life long friend found. And the good folks at The Zig Zag were very generous and hospitable to me. Thanks Coho, Ben, Kacy, and Murray. The Zig Zag is one classy place run by classy people. Enjoy those Suntory Hermes Orange Bitters.

2006-09-19T18:55:00.000-07:00

America!

I made it to America just fine. I hate to say it, but I have flown a lot in the last 6 months and by far the worst service that I have had on an airplane was my flight from Narita Airport in Japan to SeaTac, Seattle Washington, USA. It was an N.W.A. flight NW6.

First there was a beverage service, and then they handed out pretzels, and then a hot moist towelette. A paper towelette. Not a real towel, like every other airline does. Plus it came after the food. Not before. So you have dirty hands before you touch your food. Plus the fat ugly cow of a stewardess was not very good at all. She would hold out the cup waiting for you to grab it instead of placing it down on the tray table.

We only got 3 beverage services. This is an 9 hour flight and you need lots of water and you need to get up and about many times to keep the blood pumping and your ass from falling asleep. On the other flights they serve water and juice many times during the flight. They serve it so ofter you don't want any more, but it makes you have to pee so it also gets you moving around to go to the toilet. Not on this flight. It sucked. If I am paying a thousand dollars for a flight the least they can do is give me more water since I can't bring my own on to the goddamn plane!!!

Seattle is a lovely city. Also in America, based on Seattle, is that there are many different colored people. You see someone who looks African, or Asian, or South American, but they speak to you with a Seattle accent. Also I was walking down the street and heard conversations in Yiddish, French, and I think Iraqy. So very different from other cities in the world. Also, when you go to another country, the person driving the bus is an Australian, or Thai, or Japanese, but in America the people look like they are from different parts of the world but they speak perfect American English.

The people in America are really big. Even bigger than the people of Australia. Not just fat (the fattest person I have seen on my travels so far was in Seattle, she had to go sideways through the door) but just plain bigger, taller, broader. Just big.

The next time I post I hope to have some pictures for you. I hope to have some taken from the Space Needle.

2006-09-16T20:28:00.000-07:00

Last Post From Japan

I am in the Narita Airport waiting for my flight. I was lucky enough to be able to travel to the airport with Melinda. We had some great times together while we were in Yokohama. Yes that is an understatement. A big understatement.

My thoughts on the last day in Japan as I make my way to yet another new country, the USA:

Japan is a great country, but has some issues that I do not agree with, like any other country. For instance this is the first country I have been too where some bars, restrants, and other establishments where white men are not allowed to enter. Japanese only. Racism in all of it's forms is bad and it really hit home when the short man in a tuxedo would not let me push the elevator button to go upstairs to the club. There is more to this story, and it sticks with me, maybe I'll tell you later.

Also the little trucks. I love the little trucks here. They look like the kind of car you hold down on the floor and then pull it back. They are very kakooi (kah-koo-ee) or cool.

I love how they have big mopeds and drive them like they are big motorcycles. Which they are, really, but they still look like mopeds... with 500cc engines. They even sound like big bikes.

I also love the food here and I have lost weight here. Not because I am not eating, it is because I am eating good, healthy, Japanese style food.

I love the shear, incredible, variety of everything here. What color of shoe do you want? What kind of TV? What size? How about eyeglasses? What color? What style? Hats? Baseball style? Fedora? Floppy summer hat? What color? What size? With or without a flower on it? Shopping is a dream here.

Customer service is impeccable. I went to go buy a CD, but they didn't have it in stock, the counter guy said, after doing an exhaustive search for the music, that if I wait 30 minutes they would have one sent via currier to this store from another store... "HMV" the competition!!! at no extra charge, and I would only pay their price. Impressive to say the least. I waited for the music.

Other things are that I sometimes feel invisible in this country even though I am the most obvious thing in 3 blocks. Because few people look directly at you. The glance is very powerful here, and I stare down all of these people who do stare. If you glance away it means that you are of lower stature than they person staring. And we all know that just aint happening with me.

I really, really like it here. I have never felt so safe in a country and I like the people here. They are a bit shy, especially the men, but the women are more open and always willing to learn more English. ah, hum.

I will arrive in Seattle today and stay with Coho for a few days, I think. I will keep you updated on the strange new country known as America. I am nervous to go to a country currently at war. I look forward to eating a hamburger.

2006-09-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

Pictures and Stories

Goofing around in a department store. There are so many different department stores and so much stuff to buy here. Like pillows that you can make to look like penises. People walking by were doing double takes and then laughing. It was fun to do because Japanese people would never do something like this. So it made it even more fun to do.

This is my new life long friend James. I met him on the a cigar web forum and when he found out that I was on a trip around the world he offered to show me around Yokohama, where he lives, and parts of Tokyo. I had met him initially when I was in the airport going from Bangkok to Koh Samui Island in Thailand. He has been a great friend, a guide, and an all around good guy. I do not think that my experience of Japan would be as great were it not for his companionship. We had much fun and good times together. He showed me his favorite hangout Stoves Bar.

This is the georgeous Melinda, at Stove's. Here is a story that novels and movies are based on. James, his friend Mioko (me-oh-ko) and I were out going to have dinner at Stove's Bar, and try to find Suntory Hermes Bitters for Maury the bartender at The Zig Zag, where Coho works (that is another story) when we walked past this woman, Melinda, who was looking around as if lost. I stopped to ask if she needed some help. She said yes, that she needed to find an electricity converter plug. (Japan works on 100 V, with the same style outlets as the US system). We just passed a huge electronics store, Bic Camera, so all 4 of us go into the store looking for this converter. We found it. Then asked if she had eaten? She said no, and we invited her to come with us. She is from Budapest Hungary and is in Yokohama on a business trip and leaves the same day as I do, and we are staying in the same hotel. Hmm. She is from Budapest, I am from Ellensburg, and we meet in Yokohama Japan. Coincidence? I can only hope so.

Where is Thom? I am somewhere in this photo, try to find me. This is the busiest street corner in the world in Shabuya and it wasn't even very busy this time. This is also the same street corner where some of the filming of Lost In Translation was made. There are some very freaky people in this area. People dressed in all one color. One woman was all day-glow green. Her hair, her eyes (yes her eyes), her clothes, her shoes, her fingernails, all day glow green. I couldn't stop staring at her. Freaky-deaky.

On another note, I feel completely safe in this country. Not once have I been scared or afraid to go places. I have been down some alley ways where I would never have ventured in the U.S. for fear of being mugged or beaten. But not here. Not only that but I do not have the overwhelming fear placed on me by media sources and the government that I will be attacked by some crazed wacko with a bomb at any second. This is a country of peace and I like it.

Speaking of bombs, I have found NO ONE in my travels who likes George Bush. No one. When I talk to them they also want to know why he was elected twice. I do not know, because I didn't vote for that idiot. Then they say, almost everyone and I'm not exagerating, "Clinton was a good President. I like Bill Clinton. He was a peaceful man." Indeed.

My journey abroad is almost at an end. I have only 4 days left in this wonderful country and on my wonderful trip. It truly has been fantastic and I am well aware of how fortunate I am to have been able to go on such a long and fulfilling adventure. My hope is that each one of you will too be able to experience the global village as I have. I feel humble but proud.

2006-09-08T21:07:00.000-07:00

Where The Hell Have I Been?

I have been making very good use of my JR Rail Pass. I am currently back in Yokohama, but I recently took a sleeper train up to Sopporo on the North Island of Hokaido. To paraphrase David Sedaris (sp?) "That was a supposedly fun thing that I will never do again." I thought it would kind of cool and fun hanging out with people in the bar car, and having dinner in the diner car, and... I must have been high or something, because it was a long, boring, and sleep deprived ride. Getting to sleep was not a problem, but staying asleep and getting a nice deep sleep was not happening.

The clickitty-clack of the train will put you to sleep, it is very rythmic and I rather liked that. But when you do get to sleep, the train makes a few, something like 4 or 5, stops during the night. When it stops I did not notice it. But when it goes again... eyes open, huh, wha? Oh, train... yaaaaawwwwn stopped. Moving, now... drift... drift... fucking train. Minutes go by... decide to bust out the i-Pod. Drifting... sleeping... eyes open, huh, wha? Oh, train... yaaaaawwwwn stopped. Moving, now... drift... drift... fucking train. Minutes go by... decide to bust out the i-Pod. Drifting... sleeping... Repeat

But I did get to meet the push cart girl. Her name is Fuko. She lives in Sopporo and is a physical education teacher. We had a good time looking for a place to eat, when we found the outdoor eating and drinking spot in the streets of Sopporo. It goes on every night of the week during the summer time. They close 2 blocks of downtown from 3 to 10. Live music, beer, whiskey, and tastey food.

Fuko and I infront of the Sopporo Tower. This is also the site where the annual snow festival is held where they do some amazing things with snow sculpture.

BBQ Squid. This was so delicious I ate way too much of it. I think squid is the beef of Japan. It is everywhere.

Speaking of eatting. There have been a few instances in Japan where I do not know exactly what I am eatting or how to eat it. The other day I ate fried cow's stomach. It looked like a bunch of chunks of meat, it kinda looked like pork. It was very chewy and I asked Fuko what we were eatting and she said "Um, how do I say... stomach from cow." Reaaaally? This is good stuff. "Do you like it?!" Oh, yeah, let's get some more of this.

Thom and Fuko drinking beer on the street of Sopporo.

It tasted like chewy beef seasoned with a little salt and pepper, and shaved bits of fresh onion. I want some right now. It was that good.

Then the other night I went out searching for dinner in Sopporo and I came upon a tiny spot that specializes in Gozo, I think that's right. It is like a dumpling only fried on a skillet, with minced pork and vegetables in the mixture, they were wonderful. I want some right now. It was that good. The thing is the Gozo came with a soup, rice, and a small plastic container full of chopped cabbage, shared with the table. What would you do with the cabbage? I put some in my soup bowl. I saw some patrons give me strange looks but I went on. A little later another patron came in, orded, and put the cabage on his plate and some soy sauce on top of it and ate it like a salad. Oops. So I put more in my bowl. It was good that way.

On a different note. I plan on keeping Reality Check going even after I come back home. I enjoy posting things going on in my life and as long as you enjoy reading it, I will keep posting. I think that coming back home will be very interesting for me as I see my home country again through eyes newly opened.

Be well my friends,

Thom

2006-09-03T20:17:00.000-07:00

Kyoto etc.

A quick post today, I only have an hour as other people are waiting to use this station.

Today, and the last 3 days I have been in Kyoto which is one of the most metropolitan cities that I have visited in Japan. There are many tourists here. Not only white people from all over the world, there are many people here from Isreal and Germany, but also many Chinese, Korean, Tiawanese, and other Japanese who are here for a visit.

Yesterday I met up with 3 really nice women in Kyoto on the bus. We went shopping, eatting and having an all around good time. But they all had to leave before 11 PM. Damn that last train!

Thom, Ishi (ee-shee), Shizu (Sheet-zoo), Kahzuha (Kah-zoo-ha) 9-3-2006

My philosophy on travel:

Traveling is about solving everyday problems every day. Each new culture has it's own way of doing everyday things. From how do you hand over change? In Australia you put the money on the counter but in Japan you put the money on a change plate, and in America you put it in their hand directly. How do you say hello, thank you, excuse me, beer, and how do you order when the menu is in a different language? How do you greet people? Do you bow? Shake hands? Wai, with your hands held in prayer fashion up to your nose as they do in Thailand? This is travel. Learning that the culture you live in is not the only culture in the world and getting completely overwhelmed by a new language and lifestyle but still making your way to around while making new friends.

People all over the world want the same things; A warm dry place to sleep. A safe environment. Peace with their neighbors and the world. Food enough to eat. Friends to share their life with. A good drunk every now and then... maybe that last one is mine, but every place I've been to on this trip likes beer.

This guy will write your name in Kanji in an artistic style and then look into your eyes to then write something about you. It was worth 1000 yen.

2006-08-30T23:02:00.000-07:00

Japan Is Very Cool

I am enjoying my stay in Japan very much. Plus it is proving to not be as expensive as I had originally thought it would be. Thanks to Brian and letting me stay at his place for free and helping me to find a cheap place to stay in Hiroshima, from where I type this message.

If you ever decide to visit Japan I suggest that you get a Japan Rail Pass. You can only get them outside of Japan. It is fairly expensive to get mine cost $512 U.S. But you can ride any JR line train at no additional cost. This includes the Shinkansen/Bullet trains that can be expensive and I believe that a rather long trip will cost you around $250 U.S. and I have taken 4 Shinkansen train rides and multiple city train trips and all you have to do is show your pass and through the gate you go. But I suggest that you get a reserved seat, but all you have to do is show your pass at the ticket agent and tell them where you want to go and that is is. Too easy.

I have been pretty busy getting out and seeing as much of Japan as I can. Since I fing this place to be cool and interesting, it does not take much for me to go, Wow.

I went to the Himeji (him-ay-gee) Castle and that was very interesting as well as REALLY FREAKIN HOT. The castle was built I think in the 1400s and has been kept very well. There is a moat that surround the castle and with some very cool practices like arrow slits and secret places for troops to hide if the castle were ever taken, it never was, but it is 6 stories high and made complete of wood with metal nails and such like. Very interesting, but the big let down was after you climb 6 flights of stairs, that were fairly steep, you get to the top (there is no air conditioning in this place) where the emporor used to stay and all there was to see was this small monument to him and the view of the city. That bothered me, but it was still interesting to see regardless.

Outside the castle grounds there was the castle gardens and this was a very nice spot. Huge carp swimming in the ponds and streams and, as you might know, the garden was meticulously maintained and glorious. There were many different types of plantlife and it was a good time. Very very nice spot in the world.

The castle gardens.

The next day Brian took me to a free concert on the beach with live local bands and they were all just great. There were at least 3 different blues bands. Hear that Dale? All of the musicians played very well and could play the blues. No slouches. If you closed your eyes you would not think you were in Japan. It was kind of odd to hear blues music surrounded by Japanese people... and a few white dudes to.

At the beach concert.

The next day Brian wanted to show me around Kobe and I had met the lovely Konaco at a restraunt a couple of nights before and we met up to go shopping. She is a very nice woman and is studying to become a nurse. We had a very good time wandering around the shopping areas of Kobe, eating lunch and dancing to Jazz in the toy store. That night we had dinner and drinks too. I hope to see her again before I leave Japan.

Thom and Konaco

Yesterday I went to the Hiroshimma Peace Memorial Museum. Wow. If ever you think that Atomic weapons are the way to make peace in the world, come to this place it will make you think twice about war and the hideous weapons used on mankind.

Make no doubt that the Japanese are well aware of their buildup for war and that they were a warring country set on taking over parts of the world. They realize that the lead up to the dropping of the atomic bomb was one started by them and making war on the U.S. and other countries.

I think too as an American, I can see how more lives were probably saved, at least American lives, due to the A-bombs, as every Japanese person 13 years and older was being trained in how to fight. With a gun, a spear, a sword, whatever it took as the government was aware that their country could very well be invaded.

But the travesty of seeing in horrific detail the damage caused to innocent people; women, children, everyone and everything within the hypoblast zone, will remain with me for a long time. Seeing a woman whose burns from the radiation where in the same shape as the pattern of the fabric on her gown. Or the man whose hair, that was left, was in the shape of his hat and his skin burned as if with a blowtorch. People with skin hanging off of their body. Not unlike a bad sun burn and the skin peals, but here the multiple layers were dangling off the body. The pictures drawn of seeing people clamoring to get to water, any water, to drink and having to crawl over corpses and other wounded to shove their head into a trough.

Hiroshima has done a tremendous job of gathering itself together to become The City of Peace and ask for the abolishment of all atomic weapons. They know too well the horror that comes from being the target of such a tremendously powerful weapon.

The A-Bomb dome. Kept in, as much as possible, the condition it was in after the blast.

The Peach Memorial. Many people prayed and left flowers of burned incense here. It will put a lump in your throat for sure.

The good thing about the museum was that I met two lovely young women who were in Hiroshima on their days off. Junko and Mahwami were just waiting for a handsome American to wander through the museum with them. But they got me, and we had a good time exploring the museum and the city.

Mahwami and Junko in downtown Hiroshima.

Later that night we went to eat at this cool restraunt where they grill up your food right in front of you. Such gooood food. And then the kareoke! You can go to a Kareoke bar and get a private room that has a sound system, a couple of microphones, and a huge catalog of kareoke songs, there were a lot in English too. At this place, you rent the room for 500 yen and hour, but if you rent for 2 hours you get 2000 yen (about 20 bucks) worth of drinks free. So we had a great time drinking, singing, dancing and being goofy and letting our inhibitions go as we made fools of ourselves to each other. What a great time I had with them. But, like all good things the stupid last train was coming and they had to go. ---The trains in Japan end around midnight and if you miss your train, you either find some place to stay, take a taxi home (which aint cheap), or sleep on a bench somewhere, or stay with Thom. I like that option. But they went back to their hotel but not without a good parting peck on the cheek for each of them. Did I say I had a good time with them? Good. Because I did.

2006-08-25T20:22:00.000-07:00

Pictures From Japan

My new friend Brain. He is letting me stay at his home and I only know him from the cigarbid.com forum. He is one helluva guy. Plus he gave me cigars to smoke. Wow.

I love the toilets here. Although there are still squat type toilets in public areas these type clean you up without wiping. Just a nice warm shot of water until clean. Awesome.

I do not know the name of this building but it sure is cool looking.

Pepsi Nex is all the rage around here. It tastes like diet but a little different. Plus in vending machines soda comes in these cool oil can kinda things.

This is the very pretty Yuka. She is an elementary teacher and was a lot of fun to talk to on the Shinkansen (bullet) Train from Shin-Yokohama to Tarumi, where I am now. I asked her out for coffee the next time I come to Tokyo, where she lives. Starbucks are e v e r y w h e r e.

At an Imported Groceries shop. It is funny to think that what we find in stores every day is actually an import in Japan. That was a reallity check.

Thank you blogger for allowing me to upload picutres today. Good job!

2006-08-23T20:36:00.000-07:00

After A Few Days In Japan

On the Sea Bass ferry

I am really liking it here. It is not as difficult to get around as was my original impression. There are plenty of people, at least in Yokohama who speak excellent English. Many of them pay 6,000 yen, $60, for English leasons a day, in a classroom no less. But there are still many people who just do not want to try to speak in English. When I go places they will sometimes even say Hello in English.

The department stores here are absolutely amazing. There are several in the area near my hotel. Sogo is one of the bigger ones. It has 14 floors of shopping craziness. If they do not have it. Then you probably do not need it. It even has a kind of small but very nice art museum with artworks from as far back as 1882, that I could see. They have one whole floor of dishware, glassware, 3 or 4 rows of chopsticks, 1 floor of books, and cds, and DVDs. Which reminds me of Yodabashi Camera.

Yodabashi Camera has just about e v e r y t h i n g electronic. 8 floors of the stuff. Almost an entire floor just of TVs. What brand do you want? They got it. What size? What color? How about a camera? Or a thousand? I spent several hours just wandering through all the stuff for sale here. I wanted to just give them my credit card. `Here. Take this and max it out for me. OK?`

Oh, did I mention that there is also a floor of just food? Western style food, Japanese (of course) Chinese, you name it. Crazy.

The city of Yokohama, and Yokohama Bay.

The other day I took the Sea Bass ferry, which departs from the 2nd floor, there are 2 sub floors, of the Sogo shopping center. From the ferry I was able to get a view of the whole city and it took me to the other side of the city to Yamashita Park, which was put into place in memory of the victims of the Kobe earthquake. An absolutely very nice park, with fountains, and sculpture. I would have spent more time here if it were not so freakin hot. 90+ and 90+ humidity. It is even worse here than on Koh Samui, and I thought that was humid.

Some of the architecture in Yokohama is amazing. I tried to upload some more photos, but alas, stupid blogger is not letting me. Anyway, I will leave here soon and head to Kobe. I have an internet friend who is letting me stay with him and his wife over the weekend. Fun! Another local guide.

2006-08-21T00:51:00.000-07:00

Yokohama, Japan

Night time in Yokohama.

I made it to Yokohama, Japan after a very long and tiring 12 hours of constant travel, and less than 4 hours of sleep. It took 1 6.5 hour plane ride, then a 1 hour train, then a 40 minute train, then trying to figure out where the heck is the Exit to the train station. Yeah, you would think it would be easy to find, but it was all in Japanese. Luckily I found a couple of, who I think were, Japanese High School kids and asked them if they spoke English, and they used their finger and thumb to show a little. But they were great and even showed me right to my hotel. I was so tired I plopped down on the bed and took a nap almost instantly, then decided to go out and take in the evening.

Even though I was so exhausted, I had to at least walk around the block. I had not eaten in hours, so I found a soup place but could not even finish it, as my stomach was just not in for food, I guess, but I feel better now, but still physically worn out. I did not leave my hotel until 3:30 PM.

The Yokohama Bay Sheraton is by far the nicest place I have stayed on my entire trip. Marble bathrooms, room service, a consistantly hot shower, TV, and a stocked mini-fridge, plus conceirge service. I love it. It is costing me $122 a night, which is about $40 more than I have paid for any place to stay on this trip, but I am loving the comfort and I can afford it at this stage, so I will stay another 2 nights. Heh heh.

Outside my window at the Sheraton

I have been getting really homesick lately, as traveling in countries where English is not the first language makes it tough to get around. But I know that I only have less than 3 weeks left on this, almost, 6 month journey and I am in one of the countries that I have always wanted to visit and now is my chance. So I will do some site seeing around Yokohama, then move on. I have an internet friend who is willing to put me up for a couple of nights in Kobe. I look forward to that.

2006-08-18T03:51:00.000-07:00

Douglas B.

I need your e-mail address. Send me a quick e-mail. thomkokenge@gmail.com

Do you need a gmail account invite?

2006-08-18T03:16:00.000-07:00

Expensive Country Shortens Journey

I've been doing my research on Japan and holy cow is it an expensive country to visit. Almost every traveler I've talk to about heading to Japan all say that they can't afford to go there because it costs too much, and now I see why.

An average hotel in Japan, nothing fancy, just the basics, with a smaller than, what Westerners are probably used to, room goes for about $120 or 13800 Yen. FYI, the exchange is about 115 yen for 1 dollar. $120 is my average daily cost for traveling in all of Thailand, which includes all the in country flights, motorcycle and motorbike rental, laundry, gifts, and souvenirs, eating, drinking, and the broken bike parts. Everything. And I am living VERY well here, you can travel in Thailand much, much cheaper.

Looking at how much money I have left to spend, and seeing as Japan is a pretty expensive place to visit, I will need to shorten my journey by about 1 week, than originally planned. You know, that is pretty fucking good if you ask me. Travel for about 6 months and then come up a week short on money. Well, heck, I'm pretty proud of myself for that. Even if I spend too much in Japan and have to come home 2 weeks early (which I doubt), well I still think it is pretty damn good budgeting.

Although at this time I have not actually gotten my ticket out of Japan, my new tentative arrival date will be September 9. As always, I will do my best to keep all 4 of my readers up to date.

Just thought y'all should know.

2006-08-16T02:19:00.000-07:00

I'm On Koh Samui

Lamai Beach on Koh Samui

I made it to the island of Koh Samui, which is just jam packed full of tourists from Europe. Mostly from Russia and Italy, and one American, me.

Since my last post I went to the Pahd Thai Cookery School and got my certicifcate of completion. We cooked up some Pahd Thai, Green Curry soup, Spring Rolls, Chicken with Cashew Nut, Prawn in coconut milk, and Mango with sticky rice. It cost me 800Baht or $20 for a 9 hour cooking course, and we got to eat everything we made. I was stuffed by the end of it all.

Me at Pahd Thai Cookery School. I dun grad jeeyated.

The instrutors were very fun and laid back and always cracking jokes. Like when they were showing us the different types of vegetables that go into Thai cooking we came across Galangal, which is sort of like ginger but not, and she called it "Get rid of honey." Why? "Because you eat just a little bit of this and you will burt and fart so much your will get rid of your honey."

Prawn in coconut milk. I made it.

2006-08-10T02:58:00.000-07:00

Positive stuff

**Holy shit I can upload a couple images. Now that's a positive.**

Last night I went to a Buddist temple with Kris, the owner of the Krisada Guest House where I am staying, to participate in the full moon ceremony. It was a new and interesting experience.

Kris gave me a couple Lotus Flowers, 3 sticks of incense, and 1 candle. We got into a Tuk Tuk and went to what is called "The Mountain Temple". We arrive and there are lots of people kind of milling about. Kris is explaining to me the different buildings and that there are other fahlong here too who you can ask questions to.

Anyone can come here and stay for free if you want to stay for 10 to 26 days and learn and do meditation from the head Monk. The other monks too will teach you the basics and try to guide you along.

3 of these fahlong are from Germany. There were a few women here too.

We get to the temple, take off our shoes, then sit on mats on the floor and we must sit crosslegged or with your feet out to the side. Since the foot is the lowest part of the body, it is considered very rude to point the bottoms of your feet at anyone, especially a Budda image or a monk. As soon as everyone is seated there is a some bowing and then the head monk starts to speak into a microphone and asks specific people to speak about their experiences from meditation, mostly spoken in Thai, but some in English. After people speak and the monk makes comments or offers guidance to them and those seated there was some chanting/praying and some more bowing. Suddenly after the last bow everybody gets up and we go outside.

The head monk leads everyone around the main temple (to the left) and a large spire like object (it's just outside the image to the left), I don't know what it is called, 3 times. But first we light our candles and incense.

The first walk around you are supposed to think about Buddha, second round his teachings, and third... I forget but it has something to do with Buddism, I'm sure. After your last round you stop, then ask for a wish. Whatever it might be. Then you place the candle, incense and lotus fower, someplace around the spire like object or around the area. Then we went back inside the temple for about 15 minutes of mediation and saying some prayers or chanting (basically the same I think). It was all very peaceful and a couple of the locals looked very happy to see me and one guy (you can see his forehead in the lower left corner) grabbed my arm and smiled and said something to me, but he looked and acted very happy that I was there. A very nice ceremony in all.

Then we got our shoes and back on the Tuk Tuk and came home.

2006-08-08T21:57:00.000-07:00

Chiang Mai

I am AGAIN unable to upload photos. Sorry.

I am currently in the city of Chiang Mai, which is the oldest city in Thailand with history dating back to 1236. City Center is litterally surrounded by a moat that was put in by a king to protect the city centuries ago. You can see and visit and walk on the very large brick wall that is on the inside of the moat, but there is plenty of city outside the moat as well. It is a sprawling city with not many skyrises but, as I've noticed with all cities in Thailand, there is a great deal of smog. It was so bad the other day that my throat hurt. Tuk Tuks are big polluters.

Tuk Tuks are 3 wheeled vehicles, open with roof, that are basic taxis that zip around the city and know where just about everything is located from the nearest 7-11 to where to go for a good steak. They know everything, just ask them. Speaking of tuk tuks. I had to get one to take me to the Police Station.

I am renting a 125cc motorbike and I am on an outting to go visit a mall, not too far from the city center, so I park outside a 7-11 where I need to get a telephone card and some cash at the ATM. I park on the street with 2 other bikes. I go inside and complete my transactions (BTW a pay-as-you-go cellular phone card costs 300Baht and costs me 7B a minute to call the U.S. which is cheaper than a land line phone card at 10B a minute) and I come back out to see a Motorcycle Cop putting a chain going throught he back tire and around the top of the seat, and padlocking it in place.

As I approach him he tells me "No park, no park." What? I can't park here? There were 2 other bikes parked here when I got here (of course mine is the only one left) and he continues to write the ticket. So I ask okay, how much is the ticket? He says "200 baht" 200??!! Okay, well can I just pay you so I can get my bike back and be on my way? "No no. You go staion, pay ticket." Fuck. Right, okay, where is the station? "Take tuk tuk." and he waves to a tuk tuk driver, who just happens to be waiting about 50 yards away. I'm saying I don't understand, you want me to go with the tuk tuk man, go to the police station, pay the fine and then how do I get the lock off the bike? "You pay fine, I wait for you." You will wait for me? "Yes, yes I wait." Wow. Okay. So I ask the tuk tuk man, how much to the Police Station and he says 60 Baht. I have come to find out that if you are a white guy you pay 60 Baht for any trip in the city center, but if you are a white woman you pay 50 and if you are a local you pay 30.I get into the Tuk Tuk and I see that the Cop has ridden off. Fuckin' great, thanks man. Now, how do I get that bike back?

We get to the station and Tuk Tuk Man sort of shows me how I have to give this guy, who is sitting at a desk with 2 other guys, my ticket and they will call me when it is my turn. So the waiting begins.

Tuk Tuk Man sits and waits with me and the whole time he is telling me that I should hire him for the day for only 400B. He will show me the sights, he knows of a great place to eat. He also knows of a place where you "get massage, and then the boom boom *wink wink*". No dude, thanks for the tip, but I just want to pay my freakin' ticket and get out of here. Plus I already have a motorbike I do not need a tuk tuk. "Motorbike no good. Tuk tuk take you." For 45 minutes I have to listen to this guy try to get me to hire him. But thankfully they call me in.

The first guy looks at my ticket and starts writing stuff down on paper with a carbon sheet between duplicates (there was no computer in this process), and he says "Sign." and points to a spot on this paper, that I cannot read because it is, of course, written in Thai. So I begin to sign as, you do, in cursive style. But he says "No, no write." And I'm like, I AM writing my name, and he says "No, no, write..." and starts writing down A,B,C in block letters. So I "write" my name in block letters. He passes that sheet on to the guy sitting next to him, and so I move one chair down and the first guy calls out another name, and this second guy writes some more stuff down on a longer form and he asks me to sign, so I do, and he says "o.k. 200 Baht." So I fork over 200 Baht. He takes the money and fills out another form and has me sign that one too and he gives it over to the third guy who looks at me, says "OK we call officer and he take off lock." Awww, so that's how I'll get the bike back. He hands me what appears to be some kind of receipt, and I leave with Tuk Tuk Man. Who is still trying to get me to hire him.

We get back to the bike and Tuk Tuk Man says, "Okay I wait 5 minute." So we wait for the cop and we chat some more about boom boom places and how motorbikes are no good, and I pay him his 60 Baht plus 10 for his time. 5 minutes go by he says "Okay, bye bye, bye bye." Am I'm all, you want me out. He just nods vigorously. A couple more mintues go by and here comes the cop.

The cop is all smiles. But as one other traveler put it. "The Thais will smile to your face while they stab you in the back." Copper man asks for my paper, the receipt I'm guessing. He takes it, writes something in his ticket book, and unlocks the bike. Hands me back my paper and I say "Thank you for the 260 Baht lesson sir." He just smiles and nods. Then I ask him where it is okay to park? Not here on the street, but how about here on the sidewalk where these other bikes are parked and he says, pointing to the street, "No here." Points to the sidewalk. "Okay here." Wow, it's okay to park on the sidewalk but not on the street, at least right here on this street. Okay, whatever buddy. It's your city. He puts the lock and chain away and heads off into the smog of the city.

One thing is that for me this is a 270B for this leason in parking, which is only about $7. But I'm positive that I got a ticket only because I'm a Fahlong (their word for a white person) and not a Thai. So they know that I can afford it. The other thing is that no one ever asked to see my passport or my license. Thailand is truly a land of contradictions.

2006-08-02T22:32:00.000-07:00

What Can I Say

Thailand continues to blow me away. Each day a new experience is ready to check my reality. I want to thank Bob for all of his help and friendship on my travels. Bob lives in Pattaya and has shown me around, been there for helping me find whatever I need to find or do whatever I need to do. He has been a true friend to me and I look forward to more encounters with him in the future.

Bob and I on the ferry to Ko Chang

Bob his girlfriend Bia (by) and I rented motorcycles and went to the island of Ko Chang. From the beggining the trip was besieged by difficulties. Firstly the bike that Bob had wanted, and put a deposit on, was not available (this seems to be common here) and he had to try 3 different bikes to find one that ran well enough for the trip. He settled on the V-Max. My bike was there it was an Yamaha FJ1100. The price for the bike rental was 500B a day or about $13 a day. After getting started about 2 hours later than we wanted we got on the road. Not too far in the trip, we pull off to the side of the road where Bia burns her leg on the exhaust pipe. OUCH!. She is a trooper though and after a brief rest we were back on the road.

The weather to the island was overall pretty good. Overcast but hot. I got sun burned on my arms and face, even with SPF 50. We take a ferry to the island and we get to our first place to stay; Lek Bar and rooms for rent. The music here was thumping ALL NIGHT LONG and I got veeery little sleep, Bob slept fine. There was finally silence after 5 A.M. and just as I was dozing off it started up again. I had had enough. I got out of bed and went to the bar where the owner and some other drunken S.O.B. were there and I let them know that I wasn't happy and to please turn the music down. Oh, sorry, they say and turn the music way down. I go back to bed. The song finishes and then the next song BOOM back up to keep Thom awake volumes. I packed my stuff and was ready to leave that shit hole at 6 A.M. when after my shower the music stopped. Finally. But too late. Bob and Bia get up and after breakfast I am very anxious to leave.

We then leave here for another place. A nice place. A new resort that has only been open for a couple of months. The Garden Resort. We get here fine but it is raining off and on very hard. So much of the day was spent hanging out inside or under cover. Bob gets back to his room and finds Bia in such pain from the burn on her leg that she is crying. They go to a doctor and she gets some pain meds and bandaged.

I got a great nights sleep, but the breakfast that was supposed to come with the room and be ready from 7:30 A.M. to 10:30 A.M. was not ready. So at 8 Bob and I got for coffee at 7-11. Instant coffee in a tea type bag. Uhg. But it was coffee. We go back to the resort and while we are there we finally are able to order breakfast and get some better instant coffee, but at least the food was okay.

After breakfast Bob sends Bia home on a mini-bus taxi service (450B or $12 for about a 125 KM trip) back home and we will ride the bikes. The day stared off kind of rainy but as we began to ride it was a decent enough day and the ride around the island to the ferry was nice. FYI - when bike riding you must be very careful when going around corners as there could be anything in the road from a dog lying down, to a water buffalo, or a 125cc moped type bike with a metal frame side car going 1/3 of your speed. The ride was good and fine after the ferry until we stop for a bite to eat.

We stop to eat at a small place and as I'm turning around I hit a patch of sand and drop the bike. Not fast and I was not hurt, well badly, just a couple of very small scrapes and one small burn. But this happens when you drop a bike. I notice that I scrape up the handle bars, a mirror, and broke a piece of the weld on the tail pipe. Joy. We eat and are on our way.

After a few more kilometers Bob notices that there are some nasty dark clouds ahead and that it is starting to rain lightly. So we pull off the road and head for cover to wait for the rain to pass. We have a cup of coffee and wait, and wait. When we think it's okay it starts to downpour again. We wait, and wait. Then back on the road. Not too much further and it really starts coming down and we pull into a Shell station to wait longer. Eventually, after about 30 or so minutes we are again on the road.

I'm no sure how much further we get but as we are getting closer to home (Pattaya) my bike starts making some bad sounds. So we pull of to the side of the road and check out the bike. It may have run out of gas so we put the bike on reserve, eventhough the gas gauge says 1/8 of a tank left. The bike goes again but is sounding terrible.

We go just a bit further and pull into a gas station and BTW there are about 5 gas attendants, way overkill on the help, but this is Thailand. So after putting in a few litres of gas and we get a chance to look over the bike we find out that the exhaust pipe has blown a huge hole on the underside and the bike is running like shit. Well, after a breif rest we get back on the road and aside from sounding like a Harley the bike is going okay.

As we get closer to the city the bike loses power and eventually stalls out. It must be the way I was riding it, because Bob was able to ride it back to his house without it dying on him. But while I was riding his bike right at the intersection to his house, his bike runs out of gas. GAH! We make it fine to his house, but wait there's more.

We put his bike on to the reserve and park my bike and leave it for the rental company to pick up. At this time, Bia was already home waiting for us and we have had an interesting day of riding, to say the least. Now is a good time for food and drink.

Bia's leg burn needs some more attention so we need to go the clinic. After the clinic we are on our way to eat, but Bob's bike runs completely out of gas and we had only gone maybe 5 KM from his house that is not even enough in the tank for a reserve. Bia gets on their scooter and buys 3 ltr of gas and we use a makeshift funnel out of a drinking water bottle. Enough to get us to the gas station up the street.

Now, you'd think we'd be done, but noooo. After dinner, Bob's bike will not start and it sounds like the starter is really screwed up. It makes a nasty sound everytime you crank it, but it won't start. A motorbike taxi guy is watching us and tells us cho, cho. Choke? Yes, cho. So Bob plays with the choke and the bike starts, but not until we had the rental company on the phone and telling them that the bike won't start. We are now homeward bound.

After all this the next day we need to return the bikes. Bob calls the company and tells them to come and pick up the bike because it won't go. We return Bob's bike, go and get me a rental scooter, which is optimal for getting around the city, and go out and do some looking around at different shops for souveniers and things. Eventually the renatal company calls and we need to come and take care of the bike that won't go. The bike I rented.

We get to the shop and they are pointing out all the issues with the bike and they want us to sit and talk it out as to what they need done to the bike etc. What it comes down to is they want money to repair the bike's handlebars, mirror, dent to the gas tank and the exhaust. I am very gaurded but Bob is there as a good mediator for me so that I know I'm not getting ripped off. The company wants 9000B ($235) for the repairs but we settle on 8000B ($210) and I am thinking I'm getting off very very easy and finally this cursed bike trip is done with and we are out of there.

Dude selling food on the beach in Pattaya.

This is a message to Blooger.com

For the umteenth time I've uploaded pictures to this blog for them to NOT SHOW. What is the freaking deal? It takes time and money for me to create this blog and the least that Blogger could do is show my freaking pictures. I'm starting to get pissed off now.

Thank you,

Thom

2006-07-28T05:54:00.000-07:00

This Blog Is Called Reality Check For a Reason

I have never experienced such a different culture such as this in my entire life. Everything is so different that it is taking me a while to adjust. Thailand I think is a fine place. Safe, cheap, with friendly people. But man-o-man am I having a time adjusting to this place.

I've been here, what, 5 days? And Thailand is very accomadating and all, but it sure as hell ain't no Western society.

I went to eat at a breakfast buffet this morning and it had everything that you could want for breakfast, and if they didn't have what you wanted just ask and they will make it or get it for you. It cost me 110B. I went to a cigar shop called Cuban Corner and I was flirting with the girl working there if she could afford to eat there and she said "No, no. Too much money. Me save for week then eat." To me that's just under $3. I lose $3 in my sleep and she would have to save for a week. Wow. Reality Check!

Thai words and phrases that I know so far:

You say "kahp" at the end of a sentence if you are male or "ka" if you are female.

Sawadee kahp/ka (saw-wah-dee) - Hi. Hello.

Kahp cum kahp/ka - Thank you or You are welcome.

Kahp ma kahp/ka - thank you very much.

Baht = money

Soi - street

Where you go? - Take my bike taxi or tuk tuk instead of walking.

Farang (Fah-rong) - White dude. Which means "Walking ATM"

Hellooo sexy maaaan - You are a sexy man.

Th Kaosan Road in the daylight. That is it's name. I didn't miss an 'e' after th

Th Kaosan Road at night

This dude will whip up a mean dish of Pahd Thai for 20B. With rice 25B.

Coho. This is the lobby of The Buddy Hotel. They also had a dune buggy that was painted like a Ferrari. I knew I had found a good place right away.

At the Cuban Corner across the street from my guest house in Pattayan. Eat your hearts out you sucker lovers in the U.S.A. Cuban cigars everywhere. Heh heh heh. I spent 1745B on 5 cigars that is about one-third of the clerks monthly wage.

Ever wondered how much people get paid in Thailand? Click HERE to find out more.

2006-07-25T22:30:00.000-07:00

On Th Koasan Road

I'm staying in arguably the best hotel in the area and it costs me 1800 Baht or $47 a night. 2 beds, TV with english speaking channels, a marble bathroom, minibar and fridge, plus room service and free breakfast. Deal, deal, deal. And this place is full of deals.

Internet is currently costing me 1 Baht (B) a minute. So for 60 B or about $1.50 an hour. BW The dollar is trading at around $1=40B. Or 38.95 today. A 1 litre beer costs 80B. 1 litre Pepsi at the 7-11 is 17B. A nice thin cotton long sleeve shirt 200b. T-shirt with printing on the front 80B. Dinner from a street vender 25B. Obviously ripped CDs of just about every poplular song artist 6 CD for 500B or 100B each. Taxi from the airport 700B.

Everything is different here. To the way you take a shit to eating. I'm still in a bit of a shock. But so far, at least where I'm staying, most everyone knows rudimentary English. Mostly I think in order to get your tourist dollar. But it is proving easier to talk to people than I had originally thought.

This was taken in China Town in Brisbane. I had to post this for Mom. Hi Dolly. Notice the black sign. You could make some good money here Mom.

Caught the reflection of the sunset outside my window in Brisbane. By comparison that single room with TV and en-suite cost me $85 a night.

At the "Thia Bar Thai Bar" on Th Koasan. Drinking a Phuket beer. A lager that was pretty tasty. A little sweeter and not as harsh an aftertaste as other Thai beer, like Singha.

This is the very flirtatious Singmai. The bartender at the Thai Bar Thai Bar.

I told you everything was different.

I tried to post more pictures but after 2 tries and getting "Server could not be found" I'll stop here for today. I will be leaving Bangkok soon for the city of Pattaya. My friend James told me to call Bob and Bob is a motorcyclist who told me that I can rent a bike for 10B a day. Or I could by a new 150cc scooter type bike for around 60,000B. That's what he rides and he said he goes everywhere in it. Yet another new adventure awaits.

2006-07-24T21:12:00.000-07:00

Made it to Bangkok!

I'm really jetlagged and tired and in total culture shock, but doing well overall. It's 11 AM at this posting and it's around 9 P.M. on the U.S. West Coast. I just wanted to let you all know I'm alive and made it okay after a 9.5 hour flight and it was a pretty good flight overall on Thai Airlines; good meals, lots of free drinks including alocohol (water and juice for me, I don't like to drink too much on airplanes). Gotta run and check out of my room. More to come. Hopefully with some pictures.

2006-07-23T02:29:00.000-07:00

The "C" Word

***WARNING***
If you do not want to expand your knowledge about what North Americans consider bad words while other parts of the World do not. Then stop reading any further.

Cunts:

Cunts is used all the time downunda and does not always mean a bad thing. But even when it is, it's not considered nearly as bad as North Americans do.

The first time I heard it used in it's most common way I was standing in line at the grocery store and I overheard the guy in front of me say on his cell phone. "I'm going to have a few of the cunts over to down some Four X and watch some footy."

I then went back to the hostel and asked the guy at reception if what I heard, is what I thought I heard. But he explained that cunts is used to mean friends or buddies. So the guy was saying that he was having his friends over to drink some beer and watch Aussie Rules Football.

Cunt is used mostly about men. I've never heard it used about women, but it does also mean she is not being nice. "Shut up Shirley. You're being a cunt."

But it also means you are an okay person. "I like you I think you're a good cunt." Or "This is Thom. He's a cunt."

Also to mean an idiot. "Look at that cunt crossing the motorway." Or "What a stupid cunt."

Piss:

This is used to mean getting drunk. "I went out on the piss last night." Or "We're all getting pissed." Or "I am really pissed."

It also means that you are just joking around. "Stop it Thom. You are just pissing around." Or "He's always on the piss."

To urinate. "I'm going to go piss."

You are really upset. "Thom really pissed me off." Or "I'm pissed about that."

These words are also used all the time on the Radio and T.V. as well as shit, fuck, asshole, and all the other words that Americans are not allowed to say. It is very liberating to know that by frequent use of these words the bad meaning of them has gone away so that these words are just other words to use and not know as "bad" words. But don't say bloody. Bloody is a bad word and some people get upset by that one. Go figure.

I can't wait to learn new ways of using language in Asian cultures. Off to Thailand tomorrow.

2006-07-20T17:19:00.000-07:00

Pictures Day *Oh boy! Pictures!*

Me in the presence of The World's Largest Glass of Beer. At Sullivan's Irish Pub in downtown Christchurch. I'll never be the same again. Mmmmm beeeer.

The incredible Pancake Rocks of Punakaiki (Poo-nuh-ki-key)

Sun set at the Pancake Rocks of Punakaiki

Ha ha, I love this sign. A clear warning sign for bicycles just before a one lane bridge (lots of one lane bridges in N.Z.) used by cars and trains.

Sunrise in Queenstown N.Z. looking out my hotel window.

Same morning sunrise in Queenstown N.Z.

This was somewhere along the West Coast Highway of New Zealand. I had picked up a hitchhiker a few Kilometers back and as we turned the corner he, Deiter of Germany, said "Whaaaaat??!!" He was completely amazed. New Zealand is full of views like this.

Stopped at this crazy place in Wanaka N.Z. called "Puzzling World" some really crazy stuff here. I am actually standing level (check out the yellow levels on the wall)

2006-07-18T23:51:00.000-07:00

Last Post From New Zealand

It's currently 6:48 P.M. (that would be 12:48 A.M. for you on the U.S.A. West Coast) and I'm in Christchurch and staying at Stonehurst. A great place that has most every type of accommodation you could want, from backpackers to 3 bedroom apartments. I am sad to let go of this fantastic country. The people are great, the sights are fantastic, and the beer aint so bad either.

If any of you ever get the chance to come down to NZ I highly suggest that you do. Make it a plan to come here. I want to get a motorcycle next time and zip my way across this wonderful land.

BTW I put all of my new pictures on to a CD today. In just a few days I had already taken 237 pictures. So, just think of how many that I may have lost from the fucking virus. Those dirty rat bastard virus writers are the scourge of the Earth. Not even allowed to eat out of Dazey dog's bowl. She could bite them if she wanted to. I miss Dazey... :(

Tomorrow I leave for Brisbane and stay there for a few days before I fly off to Thailand. It will be like landing on the moon with a bunch of tiny aliens and me, The White Giant. I'll see if I can find a place to upload some photos before I leave Brisbane.

I'm being safe Mom!

2006-07-16T14:46:00.000-07:00

Virus Ate My Photos

One of the problems with doing your internet on the road is that you must rely on internet cafe's and kiosks and not all of them allow you to upload information. I found a place that allowed me to upload some of my photos to this blog and while doing that a nasty virus got into the digital card for the camera and all of my photos have been deleted by this virus. Plus, get this, it's called "James'_Shin". At least that is what the .exe file says on it. But I think there is still a remote chance that some pictures may be saved, but it will have to wait until I get back home. So that was a major bummer to me. It also cost me another $300 for a new card for the camera and for the work they did at the camera place to try to salvage any pictures possible, but really only a few of the pictures that I had put onto my keychain drive servived. At least I still have the photos that I have uploaded to this site. Right blogger.com?!

Gotta go, I have to take some photos of Frans Josef glacier.

2006-07-14T17:01:00.000-07:00

Heavy Snow Strands Tourists

From my last report there were threats of closing the only road to Milford Sound. Well, they did and me and about 35 other travelers were stranded in Milford Sound for 5 days. I knew going into the situation that we might get stuck there, but I never thought it would be for that long. There is only one place to stay there, The Milford Sound Lodge, and we did the best we could with the situation. The employees and management were very nice to us. After the first 2 nights they gave us free dinner. The next day there was free espresso, tea, or hot chocolate. The real problem was trying to avoid cabin fever because it was raining, sometimes so hard it looked like hail, every day except the last day which was wonderfully and thankfully cloudless blue skies.

Each day they would post a sign about the road conditions and it was usually updates at 7:30 AM and then again at 2:30 PM. Each time for 5 days we got the same thing, "Sorry the road is still closed." Some people were getting obviously nervous, but honestly I was rather enjoying the solitude. I made some great, what I feel will be, long term friends and drank a lot of beer. Because, well, there wasn't much else to do after I did my Pilates, meditated, read, wrote in my journal, and played clue for the one-millionth time. We all got really good at that game.

On the last day we again got the news in the morning that the road might be open later, but we won't know more until 3:30. So they took us to the start of the Milford Track, which is only accessable to start by boat and is supposedly one of the top 3 walks in the world, for free. There is normaly a twenty dollar fee per person just for the boat ride. It truly was a wonderful walk.

When we got back to the boat we found out that the road would be open at 4 PM for those who have tire chains, I have chains, who want to leave or go in, and then it would be closed again. I left. I helped out my fellow travelers Tom and Claire, who became very good friends over the duration and they were VERY thankful to be leaving Milford Sould too.

At the gate they made us put on chains even though the road ahead was obviously clear, but wet. I was a bit mystified by this, but I'm just a guy in a rental car, and we really didn't need the chains until about 1 mile before this long tunnel and about a mile after. They had plowed just enough of the avalanche on either side of the tunnel just enough for the width of a camper to get through. But you could obviously see the remnants of avalanches all around the area. The local paper even did a story about us all being stranded at Milford Sound http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/southlandtimes/0,2106,3732301a6011,00.html

A story to tell for the rest of my life and over all a good experience.

Taken from the Bluff Lookout.

At Bluff, a place really, really, really far south.

2006-07-10T18:22:00.000-07:00

Points Inbetween

Well, I've decided that I will go forth with the plans as they are for Thailand and Japan. The flights are scheduled to fly on July 24th to Thailand from Brisbane and then to Japan on August 20 and then to Portland on September 19 and then to Seattle. I may end up staying in Portland for a while to visit Douglas B. ( Hi Doug!) . I've said it before, this whole trip has been scary and exciting all at the same time.

From Dunedin I've been to Invercargall, Buff (the furthest Southern Point in the South Island and probably about as far South as I will ever be), Te Anu, and now I'm in Milford Sound.

Milford Sound is an absolutely stunning place. High mountain peaks and gorgeous waterways and it has been raining almost non-stop since I got here so there are waterfalls flowing everywhere you look *but again I'm not able to upload pictures, alas*. If you check out a map of New Zealand you will see that there is only one road in and out of Milford Sound and so far they have threatened to close the road for avalanche control twice in only about 24 hours. There is only one place to stay here and only one place to eat and get groceries and all of them are owned by the same company. They even own a tour/cruise company that will take you out for a 3 hour tour a 3 hour touuurrr (crash crash) the weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed... you know the rest.

tomorrow I plan to get to Manatoa as long as the mountain pass remains open.

2006-07-04T21:03:00.000-07:00

Picture Pictures Pictures

Happy 4th!

Since I haven't been able to upload for a while here is a bunch of photos for you. (BTW I'm currently in Dunedin and just went on the Cadbury Factory tour. Actually it was kind of boring. If it weren't for the free chocolate I wouldn't have gone.)

Downtown Christchurch. I like Christchurch.

The road out of Christchurch on my way to Gerladine and Mt. Hutt.

Mt. Hutt Ski Area

I forgot to mention that I did try to go skiing on the Saturday of my arrival but it was 1:30 P.M. when I got to the top of the hill and when I found out it would cost me about $200 (NZ) for rental equipment and then I found out that the hill closes at 4:00 so I figured that I would only get about an hour and a half worth of skiing in if I hurried and got my equipment on. So I decided that I would come back in the morning. But as things go while traveling, the road called to me and I went on to Mt. Cook.

Mt. Cook and the road leading to it. Ahh inspiring...

Outside the window of my room at the Mt. Cook YHA. I don't know if you will be able to see how blue the ice is, but check out the glacier just up of the first vertical post on the fence/rail.

The Amazing Jumping Corolla and another standard amazing New Zealand view, taken somewhere along the highway to Dunedin.

Taken at a view point on the opposite side of the river of the town/city/place of Cromwell (I didn't stay or go into the town).

Metal sculpture along the highway. I miss my motorcycle!

Lake Otiago and surrounding mountains.

The city of Dunedin as seen from the inside of The Amazing Jumping Corolla.

I don't know how long I will stay in NZ but I am looking into the whole work visa thing right after I finished doing this blog stuff.

2006-07-02T15:34:00.000-07:00

New Zealand and Other Thoughts

*Not allowed to upload from this computer, but am able to download (go figure) so the pictures were found on the internet*

New Zealand is a wonderful place. I cannot say how cool the people are and how beautiful the scenery. Today I am writing to you all from the base of Mt. Cook at the Youth Hostel. Such a fantastic spot in the world as you would ever want to see or be.

Mt. Cook and Lake Pukaki

I stayed 2 nights in Christchurch and then went to a spot in the road called Geraldine. They are known for making great chocolate and cheese. The vintage 5 year old cheddar about made me faint, it is so good. But the raspberry chocolate nut bar... oh man... I could eat that stuff until I'm sick.

From there I went to Lake Tekapo and had my lunch on the shore. The water was supposed to be as blue as in the picture below, but it was a cloudy day so it looked grey. But it sure was pretty anyway.

Lake Tekapo

I will say this for New Zealand, they have better roads and better road signage than almost anywhere in Australia. I really like it here.

Here are some of my thoughts:

To try and get a work visa and stay in NZ for a long time (I only thought of this as a passing fancy in Australia) and only keep the rest of my flights scheduled for this trip as a means of getting home to take care of business.

What does New Zealand offer that I can't get back in The States? A job? A wife? A new way of life?

The beer is around here is okay. Not as good as in Australia, so there's a minus. I've tried Tui -reminds me of lucky Lager. SD Draught Beer - A Lager. Lagery lager lagerness. Speights (the big national brand)- almost like a good ale. Moa- a decent champagne style beer. However I do plan to go to the Speights Brewery in Dunedin.

**I miss Iron Horse Beer!!!!!** That was for you Q.

Stay in New Zealand for as long as possible and only briefly visit, for like a week or so, Thailand and Japan.

I am just now realizing what I will be undertaking in Thailand and Japan. Not only do I not speak the language, but I am also finding that Japanese, for the most part, do not speak English very well or not at all and from what I've heard from other travelers who have gone to Japan English is spoken about as much as Japanese is spoken in America eventhough it is taught to them at a young age. A fellow from Taiwan, Chia Hoa, said that he got around better by speaking Chinese than with English. Anyway, I think that I will have a difficult time getting around in these countries and that makes me nervous. I don't really want to not go to these countries, but I hope you get how I feel and maybe you would too in my position.

Thanks again for reading the blog and I enjoy reading your comments. Be well my friends.

2006-06-28T23:19:00.000-07:00

So Long Australia, Hello New Zealand!

I made it into Chistchurch just fine and am staying at a very homey and comfy hostel. This place just makes you want to eat cookies and milk.

For the first time I had to check "The One Bag" and was a little worried about it. I was only allowed 1 carryon and it could only weigh 7 Kg and "The One Bag" weighed in at a wopping 17 Kg. But my day pack weighed in at 5.5 Kg. That was just books and a sweater. Anyway, I had to check the bag but it made it to NZ just fine wher I rented a car from Hertz for $728 for 14 days so for $52 NZ (about $35 US) I gets me a really nice Toyota Corrola.

I have to go now and put on my shoes (you can't wear shoes inside in this hostel) and I'm going to go have dinner at a place called Dux de Lux in the City Center. Should be interesting.

2006-06-25T20:42:00.000-07:00

Brisbane stuff & Heading for New Zealand

Writing in my journal.

Overall I like Brisbane. It's pretty laid back for a major city (the second largest in Australia) the cars wait for pedestrians, the bus drivers make change, the people are friendly and helpful, but the roads suck.

You'll be driving along looking for a street and they won't tell you until you've past it because the road signs on on the opposite side of the intersection, always. There are street signs, but as I've said before if you don't catch what street you are currently on they won't put up another sign any time soon. Plus you'll be trying to find some place and get on a one way street, so, naturally, you think the next street will be a one way going the other direction. WRONG. It will be another one way going the same way as the one you past. So frustrating. But they do have some nice architecture.

This is the Queensland House of Finance. City hall is also located in this cool building.

This city also has some interesting art work. Like on the transit Center:

There are also some cool parks and gardens free and open to the public. Like the Roma Street Parklands. I went with my friends Tomi from Japan and Doris of Germany (she stayed up until 3 AM watching the German soccer team play in the World Cup. The nut.)

Tomi and Doris (Doris had never seen a snap dragon flower before).

I don't know what kind of a plant this is, but I found it strange (something else strange about Australia) is that even in winter there are flowering plants. Crazy.

I bought my plane ticket to New Zealand today. It wasn't cheap but this is the real big tourist time there (from what I've been told) school is now out and the skiing is supposed to be world class. Even though I have no equipment or really warm clothes, I'm heading for those slopes! Hopefully this trip won't dig too deep into my money for Japan.

When I was first deciding about where to go on this trip there were only 2 countries that I really wanted visit ; Australia and Japan. Why? I don't know, they've just always had some kind of an appeal to me. So even if I have to cut back on my time in Thailand in order to stay in Japan longer is fine with me. But what is really cool about going to New Zealand is how often do you hear anyone from The States say they went snow skiing in New Zealand? Huh, huh? Be jealous my skiing friends, be very jealous. Dale? Biekers? Candace? I'm talking to you!

2006-06-21T19:38:00.000-07:00

Sold the Bike, and Other Stories
~plus bigger pictures!!~

From the top of Mt. Tamborine

Yep, I sold the bike. I got a whopping $2800 for it, plus Mark, the owner of Leading Edge Motorcycles , who was very nice, also bought my use equipment for another $100. I'm fine with the deal, but fell like I just sold my best travel buddy. Today I'm actually a little depressed about it, but that has happened with every bike I've had to let go. *heavy sigh* I want to say that the folks at Leading Edge were fantastic and accommodated me very well. First I needed to have cash so Mark took me to the bank to cash a check made out to Cash so that there wouldn't be any issues and then took me to the train station to catch the next one back to the city (the shop was way the hell up North).

About a week ago I went the Natural Bridge State Park. (The State Parks in Australia are just fantastic and every one that I have been to was free). I was making my way from Byron Bay and decided to stop here and go for a nice walk. It took only about 1 hour to walk the whole circuit. It was a really nice and sunny day, but it had rained that morning so the little river was flowing pretty well. The park is located in a rain forest, so that in itself was cool.

Under the Natural Bridge.

Also at this park was a great example of a Strangler Fig.

But, I'm still in Brisbane and I found out that I am staying very close to the Castlemaine Brewery and decided right then to book into the brewery tour! It cost $16 but you got a punch card for 4 beers at the end of the tour! Unfortunately you can't take pictures inside the brewery so I got pictures at the Ale House.

This is Christa from Toronto. Two yummy things in one photo (the Canadians are all over Australia) and she is drinking the XXXX (Fourex) Bitter. I really like this beer. It has a great malty smell and I'm not sure why they call it bitter, because it's not really that bitter to me. I found it smooth and very quafable and it goes well with Oysters.

I also tried the Stout, which tasted like they left the lid off the keg. It tasted flat, not that it wasn't bubbly, just very flat flavors; some anise, a little coffee, but bleh.

This is the XXX (Triplex) 125 Anniversary Ale only sold at the Ale House at the brewery. This was a great beer. Nice amber color, a nice creamy head, and it had nice malt and caramel overtones. I would buy a lot of this stuff. A lot. I'm still in Brisbane so I think I'll go and have one right now. Later.

2006-06-19T00:11:00.000-07:00

Nice Scenery, Great Rides, Can't Upload Pics

Last time I posted I was in Murwillumbah and it was a very okay place. But I've left there and I've been toBeaudesert (Boe-desert) and the locals asked me "How did you end up in Beaudesert?" Well that's because it's on the way to Ipswich (Ips-witch), of couse and I had just been to Mt. Tamborine. Damn I wish I could post a picture or two of that lookout. Wow. Plus the ride up and down that mountain was pretty incredible. 12% to 15%!! downgrades and many signs warning trucks and buses to use lowest gear and slow vehicles ahead. Plus it was really twisty, heh heh heh.

Beaudesert is in the middle of nowhere and when I told them that I was on my way to Ipswich they would ask, "Why are you going there? There's nothing there." As if there was something, anything, in Beaudesert besides hot days, considering it's winter in Australia, of about 80 but chilly nights, the low was around 40... brrr. I hate missing out on summer at home.

From Beaudesert I skipped Ipswich, because there is nothing there *snicker*, and made my way to Cabulture (Kah-bull'-chur) via Brisbane (Briz-bin) and spent the night at the Cabulture Motel. Which reminds me of another difference between our two countries.

In Australia a Hotel is almost always the center of what's happening in a small town. It has food, rooms, and a bar or pub. The rooms are also really cheap but there is usually only a bed, and a chair, and maybe a sink and can be rather dive-ish. Whereas Motels are nice and have lots of amenities; dishes, microwave, tea, coffee, fridge, cable or sat. TV, and all the ones I've stayed in have been family owned and provide a very reasonably priced breakfast delivered to your room at your chosen time. I think that hotels and motels are different in America in that motels can be rather dive-ish and hotels are nicer (for the most part).

At my stay in Cabulture I met another biker, Dave Bassett who said when I got to Toowoomba (two-woom'-buh) that I could stay with him. He not only offered once, but a few times. So I made my way to Toowoombah via the Glass House Mountains and stayed with him. He owns his own business, and he is his sole employee, sanding houses prior to painting. He has an interesting lifestyle but we got along really well and he even wants to buy my motorcycle but he has no money. Speaking of my motorcycle...

I'm now in Brisbane trying to sell that sucker and the best offer so far is $2,500 and I bought it for $7,000. (Did I ever mention that someone back into and knocked over the motorcycle and broke the mirror casing? I didn't think so.) Anyway, that bums me out. But I know that I can still sell it back to the guys in Sydney (Sid-knee) for $3,500 but it's not in the same condition that I bought it (with the broken mirror thingy), so I'm a little down about what to do and the money being offered. Fuck... I mean, ohm... ohm... ohm... it will all work out in the end... ohm...

Thom's year without a summer continues.

2006-06-15T17:23:00.000-07:00

I'm In Murwillumbah

Just to let you know where I've been the last couple of days. Stayed at the Imperial Hotel on Main Street. $25 for a room with shared toilets and showers. By shared I mean they all the facilities have their own stall and changing area, but multiple people can use the room at a time. The bed was comfy and meals in the bistro are around $10 so I stayed 2 nights. But now I'm headed north up to Brisbane, but probably won't make it for a day or two.

2006-06-13T14:34:00.000-07:00

Been Doin' Stuff
Aaah Nimbin...

I called my Mom (Hi Mom!) and she said right away that she was getting a little worried because I hadn't contacted anyone in a while, and I see that my last post was on June 4th. Wow. Time flies when you have a hard time remembering what day it is. HA HA! That is what I truly loved about the Nimbin Rox hostel. I went there and felt at peace and relaxed. For 3 weeks I just did my own thing and gawked at the wonderful scenery. *sigh* If/when I ever come back to Australia, I will visit Nimbin once again. I loved it there even thoug the town was kinda freaky with freaky people. But I liked it anyway.

Suffice it to say that I have moved on from Nimbin and back to traveling.

Australia's furthest Eastern Point.

So I went to Australia's furthest Eastern point at Byron Bay and went on a wonderful state park walk up to the lighthouse that you can barely see from the top of Mt. Warning. It was a wonderful day full of nature and you could even see some whales breaching the water way out there in the ocean. All you could see was the spout of water as they caught a breath and then went back under, then you'd wait, and wait, and then, what seemed like miles from the first spout, there would be another. Pretty cool.

The lighthouse.

One of the many beaches at Byron Bay.

I also went to Bangalow for the North Coast Jazz Fest. They have got some great Jazz artists down here. Like George Washingmachine who is a great Jazz Violin player and pretty funny too. Mr. Percival who uses his own just his voice to create music, songs, rhythms and record them into a digital sound recorder, combines them and then plays them when he needs to during a song or it is the song. He created a whole choir with just his own voice. Fun!

George Washingmachine and group.

The little town of Bangalow reminded me of Ellensburg. I think because of the main street and the size of the town (I found out it has about 10,000 and Ellensburg has about 13, 000) and how both towns put on a Jazz Fest. So I contacted a couple of the organizers and thought it would be cool if we could have some sort of a cultural exchange of Jazz. Maybe send Northwest Jazz artists downunda and their artist to the U.S. Or at least some kind of exchange of information, or maybe sister Jazz towns, whatever, but at least exchange ideas and information I think would be very cool. I told my buddy Dale (Hi Dale! Hi Steph!) who is on the Jazz In The Valley board and he likes the idea.

Lin

During my travels I meet some really cool and interesting people. This is my friend Lin she is from Germany. She is 20 years old and is in Australia for a year to learn English. When I met her and we were trying to have a conversation she would only catch a little bit of what I was saying and would smile, like she is here, and then say "Sorry?" because she didn't understand what I had said. She was/is working at the Nimbin Rox Hostel to pay for her lodging. She likes to stay in the Teepee (which is damn cold by the way). I told her that I have a niece (Bailey) who wants to do some travel and I asked her if she wouldn't mind helping her out with any information or answer some questions for Bailey. She said she wouldn't and that everyone should travel outside their home country. So Bailey, send me an e-mail thomkokenge@gmail.com and I'll give you Lin's address.

I love the names of some of these places. So odd yet so endearing.

2006-06-04T18:40:00.000-07:00

Greetings From the Top Of Mt. Warning Nat'l Park!

It took two and a half hours to get to the top of this mountain but you were rewarded with the highest Easterly point in Australia. I was told that many people come up to the top of this mountain and spend the night in order to watch the sun rise. This picture was taken facing West (me facing East). Just beyond my left shoulder you can see Byron Bay, which is the furthest Eastern point of Australia.

This is a crappy picture, but I want you to see the climb near the top. It's about 300 feet almost straight up. All there is to help you is that chain. No warning signs or steps, just start climbing. Not being a climber myself, I found this difficult but it didn't stop me. I hiked for 2 freaking hours to get here I wasn't about to turn around now!

Your reward. Facing West.Facing East.

I was completely warn out after this day. It took me four and a half hours up and back. But a wonderful park indeed. Oh, did I mention that it was free? Did I also mention that the only toilets are at the bottom? A great day out.

BTW I'm still in Nimbin and the Nimbin Rox YHA. I plan to be here until about June 10th (Friday). I love it here. It's so peaceful and quite. I'm also teaching myself Yoga and Tia Chi'. Both are helping me a great deal with my back and are great exercise.

Thanks for reading.

2006-05-30T19:02:00.000-07:00

I Quit!

After only a couple days on job training I realized that I really didn't want a job. I've had a job since I was 12 years old and I'm 38 now. I've got some money and I don't really need to work. At this point in my life all I really want to do is to do as a please when I please. I sold my house to go and wander about the world and until such comes that I might need to work to extend my, as they say here and Europe, holiday then I will work.

I felt like an absolute shit-head for saying that I would work for Chris and Loey and then saying "No sorry, but I really can't." They were very understanding, and even invited me over for dinner to their cabin. Such wonderful people. Their philosophy was that when you work with travelers we understand that their plans change as they need to and we have to work around them. At least I told them with plenty of time to make other arrangements for plan B or C.

My plan is to now go drink some beer and smoke a little cannabis. It's just past noon. Not a bad way to get the day going.

2006-05-27T18:11:00.000-07:00

Photo Day

In front of the Hemp Embassy in Nimbin. Also, notice the Give Way sign. There are no stop signs, at least I haven't seen any, there are Give Way signs instead. No need to stop, but give way to the other vehicle. I like it. How many times do you really need to stop at a stop sign anway?

I love the Australian money with one exception. The "paper" money feels slightly like plastic and is almost impossible to tear with your hands. Plus it's very colorful and there is a little "window" or clear spot on each bill. There are no single cent coins. Everything in Australia is rounded to the nearest .05¢ which makes buying things so much easier. The only problem i have is that the larger gold coin is $1 but the smaller gold coing is $2. That took me about a week to get used to.

Sun rise in Nimbin. Such beauty here.

They have Monarch Butterflies here. Lots of them flit around this hostel.

Birds, bees, flies, and lizzards all eat from this flower. I don't know it's name, but it is very pretty and smells sweet like, hmm, how do i describe it... a combination of honey and lilly.

2006-05-24T00:58:00.000-07:00

I'm Going To Take A Job

That's right. I'm going to take a job here at the Nimbin Rox Hostel. The owners Chris and Loey are expecting a baby about June 24. They need someone to basically run the whole hostel for a couple of weeks during and after the baby is born. So, I, with great thought and contemplation, have decided to do this job. Why not? When am I ever going to have the opportunity to stay in an absolutely beautiful place for free and with a little bit extra, but the money is not why I'm doing it.

Here I am, a foriegner, have said in a few hostels, but have never worked in one, and now I'm being asked to manage an award winning hostel for a few weeks. I'm in.

So my plans are changing. I was suppose to leave for Thailand on June 24, but I can stay in Australia up to July 24, so I will have to do some flight changes. But I'm excited about doing this job. It looks like I'll be in Nimbin for a couple of months.

2006-05-21T22:30:00.000-07:00

How ya goin'?

First of all, again I love reading your comments and I will try to answer your questions and respond to your post. So check out the past blog postings comment section for replies. Anybody out there know how to answer directly after a comment within the blogger.com format?

Wow, things move fast. I've taken off my watch and feeling total unencumbered by time. It's great.

A few pictures then a couple stories.

Going with smaller pictures for quicker uploading (it took 12 minutes for these):

My "cabin" in Nimbin

Looking directly out the front flap.

The Roche Family Hotel. I stayed on the second floor corner. Yeah, right above the sign to the place! For 28 bucks! The food was great too.

This is Les (he pronounced it lez). He is a "native" Australian and lives just outside of Murwillumba. As you might be able to see on the ground to the left are his wares. Some very nice leather and kangaroo hide work. I bought a cool wallet.

Stories:

About an hour after getting to the Nimbin Rox Hostel I was talking to this 20 y.o. woman, Lynn, from Germany, in the Teepee, who's roommate is Japanese, and she said "Who vould haf thot dat only 20 dase ago I woult be in ze mountens uf Australia, smoking weet all the day vit a japanese man?" A brilliant observation.

I was learning German from this about 5 or 6 y.o. little girl, Anna Ziegler of Germany. She is here with her family (Father, Mother, and 2 y.o. brother) on holiday.

She would say something and I had to mimic her. I don't remember exactly what I said, but according to her parents she was making me say things like, "Miene haren ist brown", I wear glasses, things like this. Then I said okay it's my turn. You say what I say. So I told her to say "The dog is purple." And she says "The dog is people." Perfect! Oh that is beautiful. Much better than what I said. Say it again. She said it again, and again, and again.

I was crying I was laughing so hard. I've got a grin on my face and my gut hurts just thinking about how funny it was. A great family.