At one point, the water was up to the rim of the lower part of the fountain.

And more rain came while we were working!

More of the library.

In my "water-proof" pants (ha) in the 1st floor office.

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!