After the clinic, I changed into swim trunks and walked to the beach & rented a lounge chair under an umbrella, and read for a while, then watched people, and finally went for an almost swim. The wind was a steady 30 mph coming off the ocean, and while the waves were not high they were powerful and the undertow was probably fierce. I went in only up to my waist, and still got knocked down a couple of times.
Mostly I thought the sea water would be good for my hand.
Back to the hotel, changed, grabbed the camera and went back out at about 5:30 to take sunset pictures. It was a long wait. The sun did not set until almost 7 pm, 

but in the meantime there were a lot of petite butts in thongs and tiny bikinis to record for posterior. There were also enough cetacean butts to go round, but I mostly left the recording of those to others. I have been surprised at the number of petite Caucasian adult women there are here. 

After sunset, since I had the camera and was hungry and the best restaurants are in Patong, I took a song-taew there and found a place called Mr. Good's a block from the road with all the bars. The food was superb. I had fried crab rolls and lobster stir-fried with ginger and scallions. Yummy, and the lobster was brought to my table with its weight and price before they cooked it outside in the kitchen, which is in front of the place, outside the air conditioned eating area. Very clever design. 
From there I went down the bar road, and took a lot of blurry photos, flirted with a few women, peeked into two topless go-go joints but the dancers were not particularly attractive. 

Back to the hotel, there was email from the woman I met on the boat. It was late, but maybe she will see it in time and have time to meet me tomorrow today for lunch or dinner.
Oh, about those plans to see the Big Buddha - from the beach I zoomed in on it, and they have it surrounded by scaffolding. Not worth making the trip, except maybe to see the view, which might be spectacular, but in Thailand you never know when there will be trees or a temple in the way.
Once again we dodged the rain. Lots of clouds and wind, though. Very very hot away from the beach.
The only plan I have for later today is pick up the laundry after 11 am, make an airport taxi reservation and pack. In between maybe I'll meet my new friend and maybe we will go somewhere.
Jul. 24th, 2012
Nothing to see here, move along
Jul. 24th, 2012 04:40 pmLast full day in Thailand, and I started out just the way I wanted to, on the beach in a lounge chair reading from my Kindle and taking occasional photos of sand sea sky and thongs. But the sun was so strong I started getting burned through the umbrella, and the 40mph wind off the ocean meant wiping down my reading glasses a lot, and the camera lens too.
Did some shopping - it took three markets to find one with band-aid-like objects wide enough to hide my unsightly staph infection. About the size of a quarter. Went looking for a "Teamwork" T-shirt in my size, did not find one but did find three others. I will use them to wrap my camera & lenses.
My phone went offline this morning, and I missed a call. Did not hear from the woman I met on the boat. Sigh.
Bought a taxi ticket for 9 am tomorrow. Also paid for another day at the hotel - I'd forgotten that I never changed the hotel reservation when I changed the flight. They gave me a discount. And the gorgeous receptionist tells me she is a ladyboy. There are definitely two on the housekeeping staff, but I'm having a tough time believing her/him. I thought she told me a few days ago she was married to one of the night receptionists and that boy she was plying with was hers.
One never knows, do one?
No plans for tonight except to pack, and set my alarm.
Did some shopping - it took three markets to find one with band-aid-like objects wide enough to hide my unsightly staph infection. About the size of a quarter. Went looking for a "Teamwork" T-shirt in my size, did not find one but did find three others. I will use them to wrap my camera & lenses.
My phone went offline this morning, and I missed a call. Did not hear from the woman I met on the boat. Sigh.
Bought a taxi ticket for 9 am tomorrow. Also paid for another day at the hotel - I'd forgotten that I never changed the hotel reservation when I changed the flight. They gave me a discount. And the gorgeous receptionist tells me she is a ladyboy. There are definitely two on the housekeeping staff, but I'm having a tough time believing her/him. I thought she told me a few days ago she was married to one of the night receptionists and that boy she was plying with was hers.
One never knows, do one?
No plans for tonight except to pack, and set my alarm.
While I'm Just sitting here
Jul. 24th, 2012 04:56 pmIn the news. Sally Ride died today, she was half a year younger than me. So happy she succeeded so well against the Old Boy School, and just plain rocked all around. So sad she did not get the full life she so richly deserved.
So many squawks about gun control and who is to blame for the maniac in Colorado. Briefly: one would think that even a rent-a-cop would notice someone as heavily armed as that in a movie theater in the summer. Especially after Columbine et al. Laws don't keep obsessed people from the things they wan. The war on drugs is one example, prohibition is another. People sometimes go crazy. May as well try to stop a tsunami.
IMHO Obama is an abject failure. Romney is a wildly successful force for evil. I have no one to vote for. Maybe it is time to leave the country again. I was hoping to retire here, in Thailand, but the humidity is really kicking my ass and it isn't even summer. And I still can't afford to as long as I have a good job back home.
Lots of Russians here. They all seem to smoke. TGhey have no problem lighting up in a restaurant while people are eating. :-(
So many squawks about gun control and who is to blame for the maniac in Colorado. Briefly: one would think that even a rent-a-cop would notice someone as heavily armed as that in a movie theater in the summer. Especially after Columbine et al. Laws don't keep obsessed people from the things they wan. The war on drugs is one example, prohibition is another. People sometimes go crazy. May as well try to stop a tsunami.
IMHO Obama is an abject failure. Romney is a wildly successful force for evil. I have no one to vote for. Maybe it is time to leave the country again. I was hoping to retire here, in Thailand, but the humidity is really kicking my ass and it isn't even summer. And I still can't afford to as long as I have a good job back home.
Lots of Russians here. They all seem to smoke. TGhey have no problem lighting up in a restaurant while people are eating. :-(