Part of the library

The front of the office.

The compound wall broken down.

Chiang Mai flood. looking west on Airport Highway.

Chiang Mai Floods

In the past 36 hours, the Ping River in Chiang Mai has flooded. Yesterday morning, I heard that our office was in danger of flooding. By noon, I heard that there was 3-5 inches of water in the building and our maintenance man requested our help in getting stuff from the first floor to the second floor.

Late in the afternoon, the decision was made for me and two other men to go to the office to rescue the first floor. By the time we got there, we had to wade in water thigh deep for nearly a mile, against the current. We when got to our office, we were surprised to see that the front wall had collapsed under the weight of the current and the yard was completely filled with rancid, dirty water.

When we arrived in the building, there was about 12 inches of water in the first floor. The electricity had already been turned off. We continued to "save" the research library, video library, and research files, among other things. The Thai staff worker had recruited 3-4 other guys and they had gotten all of the computers and other electronics safely to the second floor.

By the time we felt we were finished, we were simply too tired to face the strong current back to the highway and we decided to stay there and sleep on the floor. There was no electricity, phones, or food. We did have quite a lot of bottled water. We also had our cell phones. Once the office staff realized that we were there for the night, they began to call us and tell us where their private food stashes were!

We had a very long night on the floor and an early morning today. We called around for a big truck to come and get us, but it never happened. One of the Thai guys found a boat for us, but didn't know when it was going to come by. There is a private resort next to our compound where some colleagues were staying with their families. We decided to give the boat to them and go ahead an walk out.

It was amazing to see people, with nearly 3 feet of water in their houses, still smile and wave to us as we walked by their homes. People were trying to float out their motorcycles in small, little fiberglass boats. People had placed their chickens and dogs on the roofs of their houses. And, of course, the little kids were enjoying playing in that horribly dirty water.

Tragically, there have already been 4 deaths reported. The government said that they are being forced to release even more water from the dams and it should crest at 6 am tomorrow (Tuesday).

Chiang Mai: the "Overseas Mayberry"

The other day, I was chatting my friend, Scott. He mentioned something about my living in the "overseas Mayberry". I kind of like that! CM does have a small town charm, all its own. In this little scenario, I have decided that I am either "Goober" or "Floyd". I think I would rather be Floyd.

In looking at the above Mayberry link, I found that Earnest T. Bass (Howard Morris) died earlier this year.

Happy Mother's Day

Well, yes, it is normally in May, but, hey, this is Thailand. Today is the queen's birthday, and since the queen is the "Mother of the Nation", Happy Mother's Day!

The only bad thing about vacation is...

...that you are overwhelmed by the work waiting for you when you get back. By the time I deleted all the SPAM and unnecessary emails, I had 165 emails in my inbox to work with. I have whittled it down to about 120, but, of course, I still keep getting them throughout the day.

We had such a delightful trip to the US. The things that impressed me:

· Prices – ouch! Things are high there. I can’t believe that you have to pay over a dollar just to get a Coke at a fast food place.

· Variety - So many choices. Do you really need 53 different flavors of oatmeal?

· Superficiality – So many people concerned with so many things that really don’t matter.

· Attorneys – I still think it should be against the law for them to advertise on TV.

· Indians – The Indians are trying to take back over America. Since when does it become “tribal land” just because an Indian owns it? Indians are buying property and opening smoke shops and casinos, even though it is against the law in Oklahoma to do it for anyone else. This one really irks me.

· Wal-Mart – It just keeps getting bigger and better.

· Bell’s Amusement Park – Still fun after all these years.

Made it back to Chiang Mai

Well, after nearly 40 hours of traveling, we are back at home in Chiang Mai!

More later.

Test post

This is a test post to see if I can actually post here by sending an email.

Tempus Fugit

Time flies when you are having fun!

Here I am with my daughter's "Barbie" fishing pole, trying to catch anything. If you look closely, you can see my other daughter pulling in a fish.

This was taken at my parents' house down on Ft. Gibson Lake. I think Audrey pulled in 5 perch; I only got 4. At least I smelled like fish at the end of the day!

O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A !!!

My goodness I am having a good time here in beautiful NEOK! Yesterday was my sister's birthday. Pam is now in the last hurrah of her "30's" tour! Happy Birthday, Pammy-Pooh!

We had a BIG cookout today. Dad smoked a brisket, chicken, bologna, and sausage. Here is a pic to show how good it was.

We only have a few days left here. We will leave EARLY Saturday morning for our LONG journey back home. No doubt about it, though, we are having a blast!

Having fun

Tonight, I had to run down to the local IGA store to buy some milk. It is hanging on as the local grocery store in direct competition with a Super Wal-Mart, built about 2 miles away. It has had to discontinue selling many items, but I would still rather shop at Carter's, than to battle Super WM.

Anyway, it was so fun to walk down the aisles of a real grocery store, seeing people I know and drooling over familiar items. It was a good thing that I had just finished dinner, or I would have bought the store out.

I am having so much fun being in Oklahoma. It is just so beautiful here. They are haying now and the fields are covered with the huge 1 ton round bales. There has been enough rain that everything is still green. There is still water in the ponds and creeks. If you have never been to Oklahoma, and you decide to visit, you might be able to appreciate the beauty here. I hope so. Come and see "God's Country!"

Buy Wal-Mart Stock! Quick!

If you hurry and buy Wal-Mart stock before the next quarterly earning statement, I'll bet you will make some money! I know this because in the past few days, their earnings have gone up substantially, mostly due to my family's buying out the stores in Muskogee, Claremore, Owasso, and Vinita.

We are having such a good time seeing family and touring around. I haven't been fishing but twice and only caught a teeny-tiny perch. It has just been too hot for them to be biting good.

Hot Stuff!

It's supposed to be 105 degrees today. There is a "heat alert" out for Oklahoma. Here is the forcast for Tulsa from Yahoo:

Today: Abundant sunshine. Very hot. Heat index near 115F. High near 105F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.

Abundant sunshine. I don't think I've ever seen that in a forcast before! Thank the Lord for A/C!