Monday, January 30, 2006

Interesting Tidbit

I found the following information on this website:

Children born in Oklahoma are three times as likely to get a financially secure job, and five times as likely to get a four-year college education.

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Interesting Day

Yesterday was an interesting day, football fan-wise. Here is my story; it's sad but true:

First, I see someone whom I haven't seen in a while. She starts going on and on about the National Championship game, between Texas and USC. She continues incessantly about what a great game it was and how USC did so well. I reminded her that USC lost. She went on and on about how it wasn't whether you win, but how good of a team it was. I reminded her that USC lost. She continued, obsessed with trying to make me realize that my beloved Sooners did not have the opportunity to play in the national championship game and how good a team USC was. I reminded her that USC lost. She sucker punched me in the gut!

Second, I see a group of young people sitting around a table. One of them has a UT Longhorn hat; another is decked out in burnt orange from head to toe. I congratulate them on beating the Trojans and winning the national championship. I tell them that I rooted for Texas, albeit reluctantly. Once I let my Sooner colors show, it was like I had stepped into the gates of hell! They began to belittle my beloved Sooners. They made all kinds of disparaging comments. They insulted past, present, and future Sooner teams. They were like a pack of hyenas attacking a mighty lion. They tried, but they just couldn't do it.

Boomer Sooner!

Let me know

If you have taken the little "Car Test" below, then make a comment on this blog and tell me what kind of car you "are".

To make a comment on my blog, you have to mannualy enter some letters into a box. This is to keep auto generated advertising spam from my comments!

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Sports Car Quiz

I found this little quiz on Randy's Blog.

I'm a Lamborghini Murcielago!



You're not subtle, but you don't want to be. Fast, loud, and dramatic, you want people to notice you, and then get out of the way. In a world full of sheep, you're a raging bull.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Those who know me would probably agree. But it is better than some whimpy Mazda. Although, I would prefer red.

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Monday, January 23, 2006

UPDATE

CPAP: what a wonderful/horrible invention!

Wonderful: I am sleeping and dreaming! I wake up refreshed! I feel "good". I am resting.

Horrible: It's like wrestling with the devil. My wife calls me "Darth Vader".

It has already made me realize how bad my situation was, that is, I am getting rested up to the point to see how tired I really am. I am now out of the "numb" stage of fatique; I am now in the painful rest recovery stage.

All in all, a good thing.

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Made it!

I have arrived at Pattaya. We had a long but safe journey.

Now, we gotta get busy and get set up.

It's nice to see the ocean again.

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Getting Ready

We are in the midst of getting ready for our big annual meeting. We had the moving company come this morning to pack up our supplies, and they are coming back tomorrow to pack up the office. I'll be driving to Pattaya on Saturday, but I won't return back home until Feb 8. Between now and then, I am going to be extrememly busy, so probably not a whole lot of blogging. But, you never know. I'll try to post some pics.

Sunday, January 15, 2006

News from Washington

My wife sent this to me today. Some may have heard it before, but it is still good for a laugh.

The Pentagon announced today the formation of a new 500-man elite fighting unit called the United States Redneck Special Forces. These Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas boys will be dropped off into Iraq and have been given only the following facts about terrorists:

1. The season opened today.
2. There is no limit.
3. They taste just like chicken.
4. They don't like beer, pickups, country music or Jesus.
5. They are DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE for the death of Dale Earnhardt.

We expect the problem in Iraq to be over by Friday.

Saturday, January 14, 2006

Chiang Mai in the News

This past week, Thailand and the USA have been in talks negotiating a Free Trade Agreement at the Sheraton Hotel, here in Chiang Mai. Protesters have been trying to interrupt the talks and, of course, it has been all over the local news. Some of the idiots even swam across the Ping River to the get to the hotel grounds, trying to by pass the police security line.

The
Sheraton Hotel is a beautiful place that my family likes to frequent for their Chinese restaurant. They also have a very fancy buffet at lunch time. I have been there enough that the general manager, the head chef, the F&B manager and most of the staff all know me by name. In fact, sometimes we email the F&B guy that we are coming to the buffet and request what we would like to have. In fact, I even get a birthday card from the hotel. It is kind of fun.

Anyway, I'm not going to comment on the FTA, because this isn't a political forum. All I can say, however, is that if they approve the FTA, Pop Tarts will probably come down in price.

Look at some of the stories below:

Protests force change of venue
Clashes interrupt talks
10,000 people expected to protest

Friday, January 13, 2006

For Jacob

My friend, Jacob, is here sitting in my office complaining that I haven't blogged much this week. I tried to explain that I have simply been too busy to blog. He said, "well put SOMETHING on it". So, without further ado, here it is.

SOMETHING

Monday, January 09, 2006

Overseas Parenting

Living overseas, you havemany humorous conversations with your kids. Last night at supper, my older, Audrey, asked us if we had ever had the lid fall off the salt shaker at lunch when we were in school. We replied thinking that it had also happened to her. When we asked her about it, she replied, "no, we don't have salt shakers on the table; only soy sauce!"

Talk about being a "third culture kid!"

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Bangkok

I just returned from Bangkok where I underwent some tests at Bumrungrad Hospital for some problems I have been having with sleeping. It turns out I have sleep hypopnea which is related to sleep apnea. Hypopnea is abnormally shallow breathing. For me, it causes respiratory arousal which, basically means that my breathing wakes me up. A normal person has UP TO 5 hypopnea events each hour during a night's sleep. When tested, the minimum hypopnea events I had was 52 in one hour. The doctor also said, that according to the tests, I wake up every minute of every hour throughout the night. No wonder I have been tired! Anyway, I brought home a constant positive air pressure (CPAP) machine to use every night. To make a long story short, I should be able to get some rest now.

Some other funny things happened while I was there. I was in a taxi at a stop light and a group of young people where going along washing windows (like they do in big cities). Well, this one young woman came along and washed the back passenger window where I was sitting. Before she started to wash it, I told her "no", but she washed it anyway and asked me for money. I said "no" again and she left. Well, I got tickled and started to laugh. it made the taxi driver start laughing too, and we talked a little bit in Thai. He said I spoke good Thai (which was a culturally polite thing to say, because I don't). While we were talking, his phone rang. It was his wife. He handed the phone to me and asked me to speak Thai to his wife! I told her that it was hot in Bangkok but nice and cool in Chiang Mai. It was a real hoot!

While I was waiting to see the doctor and the hospital staff was passing out New Year's gifts to the doctors. They were baskets filled with food stuffs. One of the baskets that went by had Corn Flakes and whiskey, among other things. I thought how strange it was to give a doctor corn flakes! Try giving that as a Christmas bonus to a doctor in the States!

Anyway, this was my experience while in Bangkok. I am glad, very glad, to be home, even though there is no "Tony Roma's" in Chiang Mai. But I have my three girls.

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Out of touch

I am leaving tomorrow (Thursday) morning to go to Bangkok. I will be without my computer or probably any internet access at all. I will resume blogging on Saturday.

In the meantime, Boomer Sooner!

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Busy

I hate to use the word "busy", but I am busier than a one-armed paper hanger! Yikes!

Come on February 10!

Monday, January 02, 2006

It's over. It's all over.

That's right. Christmas is done. Finished. Put away in the boxes. The worst part of it was taking down the Christmas lights this afternoon. The yard just looks so sad. Naked. Pathetic.

Next year, it won't quite be the same. We'll be in an apartment on the twelth floor in Hong Kong. I guess I can put lights in the windows. Whoop-ti-do.

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Happy New Year!

I celebrated the new year with a new cell phone. I got a Motorola V555. Now, if I could just figure out how to use it....

Happy New Year, y'all.