Monday Afternoon – Have lunch at Bayoke Tower to take in the view of Bangkok, return to the hotel and prepare for the evening’s cruise. Alternatively, head to Chinatown for lunch at the Shangarila Restaurant (my favorite) and a couple of hours of stumbling through back alleys. 

Monday Evening - two-hour Chaopraya dinner cruise (1700) - several companies - dinner (Thai) and go from Oriental and Peninsula Hotel past the Wat Pho, Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn),  the Grand Palace, Wat Phra Kaew (Emerald Buddha) , the Royal Barges Museum, and Wat Phra Atit. The boat then makes a u-turn and goes back in the direction of the Oriental and Peninsula Hotel.

Tuesday Morning - head to Samut Prakarn to the Ancient City (700).
Known as the gateway to Thailand’s cultural heritage, the 600 rai piece of land is
full of copies and artifacts from prehistoric times to 25th Buddhist era.

Friday Evening - return to Bangkok. Relax or time and desire permitting, check out the Hard Rock Cafe in Siam Square and /or Spasso’s at the Hyatt Erawan

Saturday - spend the day and afternoon at Chatuchak Market. Out to dinner at Siam Square (Ban Khun Mae) then off to Patpong and Nana Plaza.

Sunday morning / early afternoon - go for a massage at the Wat Pho ($8 / $13). 

Lunch at the Oriental Hotel.

Prepare to depart Bangkok

Choke dee, lae jer gan mai (โชคดีและเจอกันใหม่) - Good luck. See you later.

Three Strikes and You're Out!

In my 52+ years, I have somehow managed to rack up the hospital visits. Rarely do I visit for a cold or the flu or an illness. The majority of the time I visit my least favorite place because of traumatic or chronic injuries. It was while in the hospital for my recent hip replacement surgery I remembered one of the reasons I am not fond of hospitals; contrary to what some nurses seem to think, I am not a human pin cushion.

Every nurse should be required to write the following 100 times on a blackboard. 

"My patients are not human pin cushions."

Obviously, my nurse thought otherwise. It took her three times to get her to pull the pin. First the hand (see video), then the top of the forearm, and finally, the inside of the forearm. I should note the truth; the most misses ever recorded on my body is one so this was a record breaker. Fortunately, after three swings and misses, the nurse gave up, listened to me telling her to bring in a pinch hitter, and within seconds, an old pro of a nurse had found the vein and wrapped it up. However, I was given a purple-green memory of my interaction. Not that I need it but this video will assure I never forget this nurses strikeout. 

I should also note - while this nurse was unable to find the vein, aside from some mediocre food, my experience at Rajavej Hospital was excellent and I would highly recommend it to those in the need of a tune-up or overhaul.  

Any shop named the Pink Pvssy is bound to be a success. Actually, the name of the shop in the photo is the Pink Pvssy but my guess is the v that replaces the u prevents problems from those who might be offended. If a man or woman is offended by the Pink Pvssy, I'm offended. That makes us even and a draw is the same in my book as too bad you didn't win.

Anyhow, while I would love to claim this is photo of the week because of it's artistic and technical qualities, the truth is I like the color and the name makes it a lock. Photo of the week is a lock, not the Pink Pvssy. Every weekend, I'll post a photo of the week from the previous week's shots. Unfortunately, I can't promise weekly names as good as Pink Pvssy.

A year ago, one of my YouTube subscribers living in Thailand part-time asked to meet with me. He seemed a likable chap and I did want to meet with him but demands on our time made scheduling a get together difficult. I put off meeting with him and then one day, I came across one of our conversations and decided to make an attempt to him. We did coffee, starting talking on the phone more often and as fate would have it, it turns out he is friends and a business associate with a radio personality known as The Poorman.

Years ago, The Poorman was a morning talk show host with huge ratings on KROQ in Los Angeles. When I lived in Southern California, I listened to two radio stations; KLOS and KROQ. So I was familiar with this guy known as The Poorman. My subscriber showered me with praise and informed me he had been in radio for over 20 years and in his opinion, I would be great on radio. Long story-short - he got me on The Poorman's show on KCAA radio. I was supposed to be on for 30 minutes but as happens in TV and radio, my time got cut and I ended up on the air for about five minutes. Below is our conversation.

The bad news is I was on for five minutes. The good news is there is a very good chance I'll be on his show again in the near future. Without putting the cart too far in front of the horse, there is also a very good chance I'll be on a few other shows. That's all I'm going to say for now but...like I said in my last video...I've got some big things planned. Until next time...

One last thing before I sign off...

When I was a kid, I had a teacher named Richard "Dick" Harry. Honest. Dick is often used in the U.S. as a nickname for Richard. On most applications...last name first, first name last = Harry Dick. I wonder how many times those doing the hiring ended up rolling on the floor laughing their asses off. 

I can see it now...

"Mister Dick Harry? 

"Yes."

"Nice to meet you Dick."

"Nice to meet you too. Actually, my name is Richard Harry but everyone just calls me Dick."

The name is Dick...Harry Dick. As in Bond...James Bond.

It just doesn't compare to the Pink Pvssy.

This post was written before, during and after my hip replacement surgery over the course of two weeks. 

Thinking about my never-ending hip pain and upcoming hip surgery has forced me to think about my past, the future and the now. What I realized is that really, all that matters is the now, the today. Living in the present is what’s important. What you did in the past or say you’ll do in the future is unimportant.

This is an easy concept to wrap one’s head around but putting it into practice isn’t always so simple. What I used to do and what I used to be capable of might as well be a million miles away. Accomplishments are great, however once they’re achieved, they do very little aside from providing the confidence in knowing that you have done it before and you can do it again. 

There was a time when I could run 6.6 miles in 41 minutes.  Now it would take me over an hour to run this distance. There was a time when I could run a mile in 4:30. Again, this is irrelevant. Chances are I’ll never run like I did in the past. Thinking about it does nothing more than detract from the now.

I used to be able to do the splits, elevated off the ground on two chairs, just like Van Damme. Ever see a Chinese kung-fu movie where the hero stands up with his back against a wall, and then lifts his leg straight back until his toes touch the wall? Yep, did that too. 

All these things mean absolutely nothing now. If I were still capable of doing these things, this would be admirable. Longevity is admirable. The bad news is you can’t rest on your laurels forever, the good news is the future can be what you want it to be if you put in the time and effort.