No Owl but a Gun Will Do

The pigeon problem has intensified outside our office window. Luckily, we have a new pellet gun we use to snipe the unsuspecting rats of the sky. Until we erect a fake owl on the top our building, advanced weaponry is our only arsenal against the beasts. The training from the Cu-Chi Tunnels outside Saigon is now coming in handy.

~ J-Dub

Buzzword of the Day

The newest buzzword in the non-profit sector these days is 'philanthropy travel'. The good news is that the Journeys Within / Journeys Within Our Community partnership is on the forefront of this new phenomenon.

Check out the infant JWOC Volunteer Blog:

http://jwoc.blogspot.com

~ J-Dub

My Incredible Niece, Part I

First, I'd like to say that Callie is very appreciative of all the lovely gifts she received for her first birthday... and that those of you who didn't get around to it should probably make up for it next year, or Christmas... or both.

Yes, it's true. Little Callie Sita Ross is in fact 1 year old and we've all grown quite attached to the little one. Here are a couple pics from the big birthday bash about a month ago...

Here J-Dub and C enjoy a little birthday breakfast.


Later in the day, the good stuff comes out - cake and presents. Lots and lots of presents for a very little person. In fact, if I were the jeolous type of person, I think there were about 47 reasons to be jeolous, all wrapped up in clowns, balloons, flowers, puppies, and ribbons. But, lucky for Callie, I got over my love for Fisher Price toys a couple months ago.


As the cake got passed around, people let the sugar get to their heads. Here's a moment when Callie heard one of the grown-ups say a naughty word... guess we'll have to start being a little more careful.

With one year under her belt, we all can't wait to see what surprises she'll have for us!

~Bear

Three Tomatoes were walking down the street.... Catch Up!

Bear mowed the lawn today. This of importance because he chooses to mow the lawn himself instead of paying the 100 baht to hire a gardener once a week. J-dub gives a nod to Bear, but still thinks it's worth hiring a gardener.

J-Dub can kick a bag full of packed saw dust really hard now. Watch out for his jab high, low, low, upper, hook combo. Kick boxing is awesome.

Our five bananna trees still aren't producing fruit.

The movie Layer Cake is awesome.

J-Dub hate pigeons, or the rats of the sky as some refer to them, and we have loads who perch outside our office windows. Yesderday Bear bought a pellet gun (they go for 250 baht on the streets of BKK) to shoot said pigeons. Now Bear carries the pellet gun around with him everywhere he goes around the house.

Getting a ride back to our house late on Friday night from a club downtown, we told the taxi driver in Thai to drive us to our house on Chareon Krung Road, perhaps a 20 minute ride. After 40 minutes on the highway, we asked him again, and with a stunned look he said, "Ohhhh." We were headed to the new BKK airport in the opposite direction. So he turned around and headed back in the right direction. The total trip took an hour and a half. This has never happened before.

The fifth season of The Sopranos kicks ass.

The Economist also kicks ass.

Our tropical fish now have a new home inside our house. They were previously enjoying the heat on the sun-baked porch for two months.

Bear now has a power converter for his body hair trimmer. Now he no longer has to deal with braiding his mangroves of coconuts.

Bubba Brandon kicked the shit of a Thai guy in his second professional Cambodian kick boxing fight. We wish to learn the secrets of Bubba.

Our neighbor walked into our house unannounced, holding two plates of fried rice. This has happened about 6 times since we moved in.

Our neighbor forces us to let her do our laundry. She demands we give her our laundry, and she has her maid wash it and iron it. She refuses when we ask to pay for her services.

Tomorrow J-dub goes to Laos. Pray that all on Laos Airlines make a safe voyage.

~ J-Dub and Bear

It's good to be back

So for the past year, Bear and I have lived in Asia, where certain food items are difficult to find. So venturing to find proper Indian, European, American, and Mexican food takes a bit of effort. But when you need cheese, guacamole, sour cream, a greasy hamburger, whatever.... you will go great lengths to find it and pay just about anything for it.

Tonight was one of those nights. The fare was Mexican and the price was spendy. Damn good burrito, but talk about gauging - $9 with steak. And the tasty margaritas - $ don't ask.

I love Thai food, but thank goodness for metropolitan cities and the choices they offer.


~ J-Dub

Another Bonifide Ad

Believe it or not, these are all over Bangkok.