Veterans Day

Veterans Day
Bangkok Thailand Southeast Asia
Saturday, November 11, 2006

It is stressful, uncomfortable, and with a sense of guilt, I think about Veterans. I was too young for the Vietnam War, and did not serve my country. I think this is my guilt, not that I did not serve, however, to know that another person, a human body went and served.

I do not know what to do, but my stance as of today, when I meet a soldier, whether from the United States or from any country, old, young British, French, Australians, Canadians and the list goes on.

I will shake their hand, as an American will, and say,
“Thank you.”

They normally say,
“Why?”

I say,
“People wanted to kill you.”

“I thank you for protecting me.”

What more can a person say, a Veteran, a Soldier, a person that represents me, my family, my friends, my country, allies, or anyone on my side, representing me, and could have been killed.

This is not a small sacrifice, I feel a little on the weak inside saying only,
“Thank You.”

I do owe more…

Veterans Day

Thailand Eye Glasses Teeth Cleaning

Thailand Eye Glasses Teeth Cleaning
Bangkok Thailand Southeast Asia
Friday, November 10, 2006

There are small traps being set for naïve tourist and travelers in Thailand, it is annoying, mainly because the mass stereotypes of tourist.

There is this idea, everything in Thailand is cheap, and you cannot go wrong. Well, the Thai people are clever, they see tourist come to Thailand for medical needs, and this market is exploiting the tourist

I am on Khao San Road; cheaper than the Sukumvit are by a long shot, about half the price for most purchases. However, there has sprung up in the last year many dentist offices, botox, face peeling and other funky ideas of how to do something to your body.

I laugh; marketing does not mean a good value.

I have been getting my teeth cleaned for years outside the USA; the cost is normally around 10-12 US dollars. Here in Thailand it is expensive, the lowest I have seen is 600 Baht or about 16 dollars, but the normal gouge price is about 1800 or about 45 dollars and the price or close to the price of the USA according to how smart you are in the USA.

DENTIST TRAPS

There are these dentist offices located in great locations for the naïve purchaser. Then you have all these idiots recommending them. This is true with hospital and such. A person must say the price in dollars and compare to the USA or Europe.

Socialist Medicine of Europe or Canada causes a different problem then the USA. They cannot get into the office for years, sometimes to get simple services like teeth cleaning done free, so there is an I-NEED-IT-DONE situation that is not the same as the USA.

Free Medical is not as efficient as pay through the nose.

However, Thailand is not cheap, and to go to Koh Samui and go to a Private Hospital is bridging in stupid or just plane stupid.

If you are coming to Thailand to buy price, then buy price and value. My bet is on University Hospitals and careful with the private, advertising hospitals and do not do important stuff in Thailand, you only have one body.

The cost of eyeglass is too much on Khao San Road the cheapest I an get is 1500 Baht or 40 US dollars, plastic lenses and not the best styles, I am not sure I think Vietnam does them cheap.

Cheap is outside the tourist zone… There is a tourist bubble whereby anyone inside it, mainly the Thai people know, they can get the Farang to pay double the normal.

Fun to watch, I do not think the average Joe Blow knows what a good value is and is not capable of monitoring something like value.

A good Value for teeth cleaning in Thailand would be between 400 and 800 Baht, but inspect the equipment and look at the person cleaning your teeth.

I think a person should be able to get eyeglasses outside the USA for about 15 to 30 USA.

However, the eyeglass thing is probably better to buy in the USA. I am not in the USA and I have the time here…

Thailand Eye Glasses Teeth Cleaning

I am from the USA

I am from the USA
Bangkok Thailand Southeast Asia
Thursday, November 9, 2006

I am from the USA, the United States of America. I have moments when this mean more to me, than a person can imagine. When you leave someone, you learn why you love them, when you do not live under the protection of your mother; you know why you love your mother. If I think of my father or mother dying, I see I would be less safe. I need my father and my mother; however, I know one day this will end.

The USA is my motherland, it is what made me what I am, and I feel sad when there are arguments.

The USA election almost is not an issue in my world, I have to work to know what is going on, and I am really living outside the USA.

However, I feel it, I also know from listening to the world, listening to the voice around me, how much the rest of the world depends on the USA. They are angry, frustrated, wanting something, asking the USA to do this, and asking them to stop this. Everyone in the world wants something of the USA, and every other country can complain, like he or she are not involved and the final responsibility lies in the hands of the USA.

I am a United States of America citizen; I do see that I am responsible for what my country does.

I have never said, “I am not responsible for what my country does."
I know, “I am responsible."

Easy to say stupid and childish comments, blame someone else, but in the end, someone has to be responsible. The election is petty, not much will change, their will be no big disasters, no big changes. It will be the USA, and life will go on, the USA will survive, nobody in the USA questions this.

I am in countries who say, “Will we continue to be a country?"

The USA and the world, knows, the USA will continue, like a child, we must have our mother and father until we are capable of being responsible for ourselves, then we become an adult and help take care of our mother and father.

I feel responsible for care of the USA, this seems small, but John F. Kennedy said it, It is not what my country can do for you, it is what you can do for your country.

I suppose simple, I need to be responsible for my country.

Kennedy was a democrat, a Catholic, a something, but he did put in a bridge in Niger in an essential place in Niamey.

A person, Democrat or Republican can make a difference; the rest is just petty noises.

I am from the USA.

Leave, you will eventually remember...

I am from the USA

Taking Care of Business

Taking Care of Business
Bangkok Thailand Southeast Asia
Wednesday, November 8, 2006
Business or busy, I am takin care of business as said Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

- Takin' Care of Business -

Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Takin' Care of Business

You get up every morning
From your alarm clock's warning
Take the 8:15 into the city
There's a whistle up above
And people pushin', people shovin'
And the girls who try to look pretty

And if your train's on time
You can get to work by nine
And start your slaving job to get your pay
If you ever get annoyed
Look at me I'm self-employed
I love to work at nothing all day

And I'll be...

Taking care of business every day
Taking care of business every way
I've been taking care of business, it's all mine
Taking care of business and working overtime
Work out!

….

People see you having fun
Just a-lying in the sun
Tell them that you like it this way
It's the work that we avoid
And we're all self-employed
We love to work at nothing all day

END

Some good memories, and a sign of my age…

I am taking care of business, a trying to work at nothing all day. It is a busy task to do nothing and accept,
- Nobody will remember I existed 500 years from now. -

Humility to accept, I have some things to do today, just go do them, one day at a time and just one thing at a time. I keep busy, but try to work at nothing all day.

Working at doing nothing is an ART…

Taking Care of Business

Indonesia Plans

Indonesia Plans
Bangkok Thailand Southeast Asia
Tuesday, November 7, 2006

It is possible; I go to Jakarta, Indonesia and then take a train or bus to Bandang



Bandung, Indonesia is a possible location for me to make my dream backpacks, in mass. I want to make a run of 50 to 100, hard to say, the cost is the factor, plus quality control.

I need hard to find zipper pulls and some specific materials, and then there is the language problem, trying to explain or make a perfect bag. I am want to do this in Nepal, however, I am not sure, the availability of some parts is missing, I need to find a pull, somewhere they make it… but where?



I want this pull; I saw it on a Canadian man at the border of Egypt and Israel as we rode on the bus. I think he purchase his bag in Vancouver, at that Coop store that is famous, in Canada for gear. However, I have never seen it again; I want to know where on the planet they are manufacturing this zipper. I get on Alibaba.com and show the thing, China just wants to make the thing; I just want to buy off the shelf.

My friend Gary says, I am chasing Windmills, with this backpack project, however, I have a home in my hand, it is a backpack, and it traveling the planet with me. I will find the perfect bag.

I would probably fly with
LCC Low Cost Carrier AirAsia.com

You can only buy online, not sold by travel agents.

Indonesia Plans

Research

Research
Bangkok Thailand Southeast Asia
Tuesday, November 7, 2006

Your friend at work says,
- Go search on the internet, you will find it. -

Aaagh, not as easy as it sounds, like a maze of confusion, and temptations to do anything but find what you want to find.

I have 150 topics on HoboTraveler.com index or home page, I want to collect the best links on the topics whereby a person has some preview links, the best of the best and does not have to search in google.com. Yahoo.com directory in a way was great, but too expensive and not feasible to maintain, thus out of vogue.
In addition, the bottom line, yahoo.com exclude every good page, and only let in the perfect, but not so good pages.

DIRECTORY
A directory of links is still the best, if the links are good, however to pay a person to go and collect 100 great links is bridging on impossible. For one thing, the person has to be an expert, if they for instance are collecting the 100 best architecture links, they have to know, this page is good, it is about Architecture, the only person qualified is an Architect… so who can get them to work for free.

I am excited; we have created an automated, computer-generated directory of links on malnutrition.

I THINK, I believe, I can utilize these people in countries like India and Bangladesh, Ghana, or ex English colonies that work for 10 dollars per day and extremely happy. NOTE: Poverty is considered by the United Nations to be less than one dollar. Strange as it seems, 10 dollars a day is the going wage for about 80 percent of the planet.

Well, to use these bright people, excited to work, and ready, however not experts is possible.

I can leverage their cheap labor to collect essential information about pages, and zero in on the best links in the world on issues, almost any issue, however not as simple as that, but it works.

So the worker next to you says,
- Go collect some good links on Golf. -

He does this, and comes up with five in an hour, with the automated system of research we have developed, I believe we could collect a sample of 100 in less than a week, come back in a week and maybe we have 100 great links to peruse, come back in a month, and one of the labors maybe or hopefully will have referenced, perused the links, qualified them on a scale of one to ten, and the system has now prioritized the links. It is not perfect, but contrary to the yahoo.com system, it does incorporate all links and it also is cheap.

I am excited; we collected 500 links on various topics of malnutrition in two days. I can click on my own link and read quickly what I want to know. I do not need to spend time collecting the links. Note, when you search, you need to collect the links; I suppose you can make a favorite or bookmark, this system creates a page full of bookmark links. A directory, I believe it is a tool that can help me to create wonderful page full of great links and information for pennies. Not hundreds of dollars, in the past, I have put all my energy into this, and it still is not up to what I want.

I am excited to say the least, there is hope of collecting all the best links on any subject, takes some skills to put in the searches, however once it is loaded, it just goes crazy and collects links.

Malnutrition Links

Note this has to be one of the most boring subjects on the planet; however, malnutrition is a ridiculous reason to die.

- Malnutrition remains the world’s most serious health problem and the
single biggest contributor to child mortality. -

QUOTE FROM:
World Bank - Repositioning Nutrition as Central to Development
A Strategy for Large-Scale Action.

I have been now to 76 countries on the planet, and most are poor, 80 percent of the planet earns less than 10 dollars per day, or less. It is annoying to watch people eating and dying from a bad diet. The do not die from bad diet, they die because their immune and body is too weak to fight off easy diseases.

The USA is full of malnutrition people, the person who always has a cold, always sick; they are fat, obese, and eating crap.

I personally know I have eaten bad all my life, I now supplement my diet with a huge amount of vitamins and try to eat vegetables and fruits I do not like. I feel stronger, and my body is in up to speed.
Life is good; I was strong enough to fight off the Malaria or possibly food poisoning I had in Niger. My body was full of nutrients and vitamins and capable of surviving an attack.

This is not funny, it is real, and children are walking around outside the hotel whereby a good case of some disease could kill them before they received help. Some silly disease, which a good strong child, full of the right foods, right vitamins would not even flinch, the body would fight back and win.

This is what malnutrition does, it remove the ability to put up a good fight.

Does everyone need to live, no, however everyone needs a choice, and if nothing else, it seems simple to me, to tell people they have a cold because all they eat is cookies and chips.

An apple a day could really save a life, I find this amazing, but true, now I am not going to run off and be a veggie, I think this is just a complicated way to be have malnutrition when food, protein is everywhere around you.

Research

Hotel Maintenance Person

Hotel Maintenance Person
Bangkok Thailand Southeast Asia
Tuesday, November 7, 2006

I live in hotels; my home is a hotel room. Therefore, I sometimes pay more attention to the hotel than a normal tourist who is preoccupied with looking at tourist attractions.

Presently I am in the Sawasdee Smile in the Khao San Road area; I like the hotel because it is cheap, quiet, and has a way for me to put my own padlock on the door. Moreover, because of the difficult to find location they usually have a room. I have been using their 10 Baht per day storage for long-term storage.

Well, there is this set of two shared toilets. The drains are plugged, and when you plunge one side up come the water in the adjoining shower or toilet. Well, today I found two plungers, and was pushing the water or plunging both at the same time; this causes pressure on the actual plug and opens the drain.

This is my “Travelers Nest,” it is my home; I want the showers drains to work. However, I am positive, positive that hotels focus too much on cleaning people and reception people, and should have a constant search for good maintenance people.

This is not easy, I know, I can fix anything but a broken heart, and I know that good maintenance people are incredibly difficult to find. I fixed the drains; however, I have a natural ability to see the solutions to mechanical problems. How do you find a natural? You really do have to turn over many stones.

We have this online application system for workers, a way to give a job to someone in Bangladesh. We get maybe 5 to 10 applications per day and it is complicated and confusing to separate the good applications from the bad, the somehow give a test, then to have a trial period. I then suspect only one in ten will be able to fit into my system. We presently have two employees, and they are great.

To find a person that cares, someone who wants to do a good job is becoming rare; it appears that putting in their time is the new method of work, not trying to do your best.

Nevertheless, still it is probabilities; try a lot of people, eventually you will find a great maintenance man and Andy the HoboTraveler.com will not have to plunge the drains properly in the Sawasdee Smile behind the Wat on Khao San Road.

I suspect I will spend my life doing maintenance; I have never been in a hotel where there was a great maintenance crew. Something is always broken in the room.

Hotel Maintenance Person

Malaria or Food Poisoning

Malaria or Food Poisoning
Khon Kaen Thailand Southeast Asia
Monday, November 6, 2006

I am going through a mental process, trying to discover what was drastically wrong with me in Niger. I was extremely sick and am not sure what was wrong.

French

It is French or Hausa speaking, the strange part in life, is you walk into a doctor or pharmacy in a poorer country and they ask,
- What is wrong with you? -

How do I know, I am sick, these are my symptoms….

Now, how does a person who does not understand English and I cannot say in French, understand or intuitively care about my symptoms. I know, and for sure, 100 feel that what is under-developed in countries is care. To be in the worst developed country on the planet, NIGER, and expect a doctor to care, really care is ludicrous. They only care about how much money they can get from a white man.

The solutions though are often easier than the diagnose and I believe a person should concentrate on what will fix them, and not on what is wrong.
90 percent of problems can be serviced with some type of anti-biotic, and if I walk into a pharmacy, describe my symptoms, I have about a 90 percent chance the pharmacist will give me something that works.

This is fuzzy logic, and the need to know is the problem, a person needs to know, I am not sure why, but life demands of them, to know why…

90 percent will not stop the 10 percent.

Life threatening diseases, what are they, hard to find a good one that will take down a healthy person. However, for the paranoid, a private pay through the nose doctor in another country is your best choice, and with an introduction from someone.

The go to a second doctor, just to be sure.

Calling your doctor at home would be wonderful, if you can muster a doctor that will take you calls. Nobody wants to be responsible, so the put-you-off words can be annoying.

Solutions medicine is more important than to know why, better to make a mistake and take the wrong set of medicines, which probably will not hurt you, than to wait, and wait, until you are really sick.

If it does not work, well, so what.

I am ok, did I have malaria or food poisoning or something else, the regiment of how I dealt with it worked, I am fixed. Nevertheless, egg in my face, humility, introspection, what was wrong with me, I need to be careful; I need to have solutions in my brain, anticipate how to deal with problems, before I am in a problem. Anticipation and a game plan on managing problems is good explorer type need. To be able to see into the future and anticipate what problem could possibly arise, then think through the problem, and know a path to a solution.

Not the way a normal person thinks, so stay home.

Malaria or Food Poisoning