Time to fire it up

Monday February 14th, 2005 11:13AM (Happy VD)

Alright 2 days to go. Today has already been hell. Just sat through a 1 1/2 hour meeting this morning. I once again contemplated jumping out the window (my office is on the 30th floor). I've got no focus today.

I worked all afternoon yesterday for our new business venture and have secured a meeting with a vendor, so the vacation will be a lot of relaxing, a little bit of work. I'll report on that during the trip. It will be an interesting perspective and a valuable lesson on doing business in Thailand. I'm actually looking forward to it.

Took care of the V.D. (Valentine's Day, not venereal disease get your head out of the gutter), thing a couple days ago. It is celebrated in Thailand, but I'm not going to fall into the running into a card store for some useless piece of crap that will be forgotten years from now. I'm not so sure why we fall into it here. I'm not advocating doing nothing (although its not a bad idea), but just not sending my money to the greeting card companies.

I did a lot of laundry, but still didn't pack. Unless putting the clothes on top of the suitcase counts. I still need to pick up my prescriptions for Malarone (malaria prophylactic) and Ativan (sleepy time on the airplane), but will take care of it tonight before going home to pack and hang out.

I'm trying a new technique to help me sleep on the plane. My flight leaves at 1:00 PM Wednesday afternoon. I plan on staying up all day Tuesday and not go to bed until I get on the plane at 1:00 and then lights out. My flights are from Chicago to Tokyo's Narita airport which is a 12 1/2 hour journey to hell. This is why I want to go sleep deprived so that I can sleep the entire way. I've only ever been able to sleep fitfully on that flight. The next leg is the one I dread. Last time out, I was jammed in next to two similar sized Western guys for 6 hours. I still feel bad for the guy riding in the middle.

I'm not too sure what my schedule is going to be this week. I think I'll log my flight again, but I hope there aren't many entries except fell asleep, woke up, landed. We'll see how that works out.

What have I learned that I'll apply this time out?

1. Buy bottled water before going to the airport. No more $7 for two bottles of water this time around.

2. I'm going to start using a lot more Thai. This might be potential for a lot of comedy as my mastery of the tones is pathetic at best.

3. I will not have any fear of anything food wise. I'm going all out this time and looking forward to it. Although, I may still not be eating too many bugs.

4. Photos, photos, photos. Capturing life in Thailand for all to see. The good, the bad, and the ridiculous.

5. Patience and understanding. Not getting electrocuted by culture shock.

I'll admit that I'm a little nervous this time out. Not sure why and I'm sure everything will be fine and if not, I'll figure it out.

Time to tuck tail and hit Hallmark.

Coming up...sleep deprivation and airport fun.