http://tjootjim.com/ Yet another Travel Blog en-us Nucleus CMS v3.32 © Weblog http://backend.userland.com/rss http://tjootjim.com//nucleus/nucleus2.gif http://tjootjim.com/ http://tjootjim.com/index.php?itemid=49 Infrastructure Factor Consulting, and it has kept me pretty busy. My partners, Jun and Brittany (and a third, secret partner for the moment) and I specialize in design of data centers and other critical facilities.

Jun just finished talking at Data Center Journal in San Diego; his presentation should be here pretty soon: Virtualization and managing thermal loads in the data center.

Headed back to the US soon to get things moving... wish us luck!]]> General http://tjootjim.com/index.php?itemid=49 Tue, 15 Aug 2006 15:24:09 +0800 http://tjootjim.com/index.php?itemid=48 Never the less, sometimes you have to play their game. My fantastic cousin Patty gave me help with a contract last month, and just recently, we sought out a Lawyer in Bangkok to help us understand where we "live."

First off, how do you tell a good lawyer from a bad one? When you don't have a good recommendation to start from, sometimes the best you can do is google. Should you respond to a google ad? Well... I did.

I sent off an e-mail explaining my situation and the advice required and asking if they might have time available "today or tomorrow." I get an e-mail back shortly basically telling me that he can fit me in for a half hour in twenty minutes. Luckily, he was close by...

Does his immediate availability raise some concern?

We got to the office (on time... pesky American thing), and were asked to wait a few minutes while he finishes up with the previous client. No problem. We sit down. They offer water. We drink. Patrick takes up blackberry and heads to nearest Nerd website. Marie fingers through the reading selection on the table.

First problem: He has a United Airlines in-flight magazine on top. No shame? Can't even buy a frigging magazine for the table? So much for first impressions!

Related next problem: We've read every page of every United in-flight magazine several times with all our flying. But, we've been trained... Marie proceeds to flip through the ads.

For a little bit of irony, I am reading about a lawyer suing his client for breach of contract. The lawyer didn't actually have a contract with his "client." In fact, the client made a phone call to inquire about a class-action suit only, and the law firm then initiated the class action suit "on his behalf" (before the phone was hung up?). Since the suit was against my favorite company, I call ambulance-chasers! (This awful firm also makes a habit out of doing class-action suits against my favorite company... all the worse!)

Anyway, the scummy lawyer claimed that their "client" would be liable for any legal fees resulting from their actions on his behalf...

Enough of that. I just wanted to be able to do the "scummy lawyer" googlebomb.

Our lawyer is ready to talk to us. And, after a half-hour, things actually went really well. He told us everything we wanted to hear. Apparently we are tourists in Thailand, and live out of rental cars and hotels for America. And, we can give Immigration a big old rasberry when they are mean to us! (Maybe not that last part.)

Anyway, the lawyer was nice, gave good information, spoke perfect English, and actually has relatives living or citizens of the US. Got what we needed.

Can we leave Bangkok now?

(Not before doing some ACTUAL shopping...)]]> General http://tjootjim.com/index.php?itemid=48 Thu, 6 Jul 2006 19:00:00 +0800 http://tjootjim.com/index.php?itemid=46 Los Angeles doesn't have any style either. It's been so long, I forget if New York even has a real sense of style (not just "fashion) either... it could just be a California thing.

Bangkok has style. The beautiful people have class, style, and some fashion. The not-so-beautiful people don't apply to this story. (Although they are the reason we love Thailand.)

We went to one of the fancy shopping malls in Bangkok, Siam Paragon. We were there the last time in Bangkok as well, shortly after it opened. It is a mall for the beautiful people.

Since my wife is Beautiful, they let me in with a visitor's pass.

Our first time, we were simply overwhelmed by the food court. This time, we could take the Patrick Principal, and just go back to the restaurant we went to before... it was good. (Patrick rarely orders different dishes from a given restaurant. That's why it is nice that there are a lot of restaurants in the world.)

This trip, We Would See a Movie. We were in a splurging mood, so we decided to go to the VIP Theater. 32 Seats with a 60' screen in a 3,000 square foot auditorium. The seats recline almost flat, and are arranged in pairs, "loveseat style." It cost about as much as going to the movies in the US, but they threw in free soda and popcorn. They also gave free massages in the lounge before the movie. Aaah. We saw Da Vinci Code. It didn't offer me anything that the book had already done, but was entertaining to some degree. In that theater, no loss-- quite comfortable for sleeping as well.

This place really is amazing, though. They have a Patrick Floor (stuff for nerds) and at least a floor for Marie. They had the fancy (not really) new phone Patrick wanted... but forgot to buy, and plenty of other toys.

The mall also has a very fancy gym, yoga place, Ocean-arium, indoor car dealerships (thank god they don't allow for test drives through the mall!) and plenty of other toys.

For all our efforts to engage in Retail Therapy all we bought in the mall was some Granola Bars for Koh Tao. Gotta have them Granola Bars!

(And a special thanks to Stacy and the jellybean for reading!)]]> General http://tjootjim.com/index.php?itemid=46 Tue, 6 Jun 2006 20:22:54 +0800 http://tjootjim.com/index.php?itemid=47
I wanted a Burger. Marie wanted Nachos. It was too hot to stand anywhere outside. We went to Hard Rock Cafe in Bangkok.
Henceforth, it shall be referred to as Sucker Cafe.Sadly, we had been before.

They have the slogan "no drugs or thermonuclear weapons inside." This was the first time they actually checked bags to make sure you were adhering to that policy. I don't like places that insist on checking my bags, and was considering just leaving then... but I went forward.

Service quality can be tricky in Thailand, but most restaurants can at least train their staff to seat customers when they arrive. Sucker Cafe couldn't even manage that-- having two different groups enter at the same time was just too much for them. The other party just left. We missed another cue.

I ordered my burger, and Marie her nachos. We had some beer too. The quality had actually gotten worse! The food was bad, and the decor was in shambles. We were willing to accept those things... partly to stay out of the heat, and maybe a sense of obligation for finishing our grossly overpriced beer.

We needed to wait out the heat for at least an hour. Marie's phone was dying, and we needed to charge it. We happened to have the charger with us, and there was an outlet next to the table, so we plugged in. Not that big of a deal, an hour or so and we would have enough of a charge for Marie to be able to call her sister.

As awful as the food was, and as dingy as the restaurant was, we could have hung out there until the sun went down. Instead we decided to pack up and brave the heat. The manager had come by, and actually told us that if we want to charge our phone, we had to pay $1.25. I thought he was joking.

He wasn't.

So, we took our bill and were ready to leave. The bill was x,xxx.19 Baht. That 0.19 Baht (about half a penny) should be rounded off, so we just paid x,xxx. They asked for an extra baht (the smallest coin is 0.5 Baht). They didn't give change.

As an American, we use Tips to account for this type of thing. I would have actually left NO TIP. I don't think I have ever done that before. I remember once only leaving 5% and not being able to sleep for weeks. Unfortunately, in Thailand self-claiming premium establishments such as Sucker Cafe add a 10% service charge to the bill (and then add government tax to that!).

No thank you, I didn't get any Service-- can you please remove that charge from my bill?

Anyway, please never eat at Sucker Cafe. The only good reason for us going was to see our friend Teague and Shantytown playing in San Francisco. Aside from that, it's crap...

OK... I got that off my chest. The next post might be more fun.]]> General http://tjootjim.com/index.php?itemid=47 Sat, 3 Jun 2006 19:47:18 +0800 http://tjootjim.com/index.php?itemid=45
I promise this won't turn into another Apple ad, but I am so proud of my little company that I have to express my satisfaction. (And it is still a great time to buy Apple stock, since the analysts haven't figured out just how important one key element is just yet.)

Sadly, one of the coolest things about my new Mac is that it can run Windows at the same time it runs OS X. The dual-booting thing that Apple gives away is interesting and all, but Parallels Workstation is where the real news is. Now a company can have a migration path towards Macs, without any risk. There is now absolutely no technical reason why a consumer is forced to buy a Dull rather than a Mac! Sure, the Macs might cost a little more, but they are a much better value.

Oh, and with this Parallels Workstation thingamajig, it is really easy to protect yourself from viruses and trivial to back up and restore for quick recoveries! Things that can't be done with Windows alone! (You can also "virtualize" Linux if that is more your cup of tea.)

Whoops, didn't tell you where it started.

Actually buying this computer was no small effort. It took at least 9 trips to different Apple Stores, carefully timed to meet their delivery schedule. Thanks, Marie.

OK, with that out of the way, I just needed some software, two new telephones (to replace two that were stolen before we left), a new bag, laptop sleeve, Gatorade powder, and some kind of pillowtop thingy for our awful Thai mattress. Maybe a few more things as well... I can always buy knives or lights or maybe even some Chinese Throwing Stars! (Thank god my wife protects me from myself sometimes!)

We failed on the Pillowtop. Actually, the Pillowtop failed us. A little too bulky to travel with. We looked at REI for camping mattresses-- way too expensive and way too big. Back in Thailand, apparently nobody complains about the mattresses. (Back in the US, it took my mom quite a few years to complain enough to actually replace hers, so maybe it isn't just Thailand...) We couldn't find any add-on pillowtops, and the Thai mattresses that are supposed to go directly on the floor look like they have nails in them.

I did get a fantastic new backpack though. I can fit my 15" Dull laptop along with the 17" Mac (Name's Bruce!) along with a few bottles of water and those 15 kg Bar Bells I keep trying to buy. It's comfortable and stylish too-- a Mountainsmith Approach II had at Sports Basement for under $50. It's like a big backpack, only smaller. Much more comfortable fully loaded than the yellow messenger bag, although maybe not quite as "cool."

Anyway, thank you for viewing this commercial. For your efforts, I promise a new story every day at least through the rest of the week. Sorry I have been remiss-- sometimes it is hard to write. I might even get some pictures up soon!
]]> General http://tjootjim.com/index.php?itemid=45 Wed, 31 May 2006 17:49:34 +0800 http://tjootjim.com/index.php?itemid=44 Our Bungalow and (occasional) guard, Charlie We bought some comfort stuff (TV, DVD player, fan), and are pretty content. My little office for work is the balcony-- not a bad view.

We've gotten into our routines pretty well, trying to do as much diving as we can at Scuba Junction-- we're averageing four days of diving at a time every couple weeks. We can do better though... Marie also signed up for her Dive Master Training today and will be studying up while we are in Los Angeles starting next week.

Marie's sister (Johanna) was here with her boyfriend (Fredrick) and daughter (Josefine) for two weeks. Josefine the Destroyer. She didn't like her uncle Patrick that much. Well, actually, she really just didn't like her uncle Patrick holding her. Guess she was afraid of me 'cause I speak funny (not Swedish). Can only imagine what she would have thought when I had Dreadlocks!

We stayed at a really fancy hotel in Koh Samui, the Imperial Boathouse. We splurged in celebration of Marie's second twentyith birthday (20+20). Our room was a converted teak rice barge, two stories in a suite configuration. Really cute place, although you could feel the motion of the waves when people walked around... despite the fact that it was moored safely a few meters above the water line.

When we made it back to Koh Tao with them, the room we had reserved for our guests at our resort (Bow Thong) had been rented out to someone else who was willing to pay more for it. This is Thailand. We won't make the mistake of putting people up here again!

Josefine's stroller got quite a workout in the sands of Koh Tao and Samui. Its life had pretty well been sucked out after two weeks.

We saw them off in Samui last week, and they are now safely back in Sweden. Next up, Marie's Parents in June!

I'm working pretty much now, as a contractor to my former company. Should help us cover the added costs due to the dollar's plunge (12% since December!). I like it, despite the fact that I have to deal with two classes of people I generally try to avoid: Insurance Agents and Lawyers. Maybe I am just jealous. Or something else. (The real lawyer in question, my cousin Patty, is of course an exception. It's other people's lawyers that I have a problem with!)

That's about all I can think to say now. I never finished cleaning up the HTML on MoonshineFantasy... and I feel guilty of putting more stuff up there until it is clean. Sad but true. Maybe on the flight back...

Hope all is well with everyone.]]> General http://tjootjim.com/index.php?itemid=44 Mon, 1 May 2006 19:35:05 +0800 http://tjootjim.com/index.php?itemid=43
You see, the problem is that we both embrace diversity in music (although sometimes differently).

Radio poses a special challenge for us: not knowing the song title or artist...In Thailand, we like the "razor blades" song. No, it has nothing to do with razorblades. That's what I hear, anyway: Razor blades, ...razorblades, Razor-Blay-A-hay-aades!

Language isn't really the problem, either.

There was a Rap song we heard in DC while visiting James, Laura, Colby, Cowboy, (and celebrating the life of Gaiya). All I remember is eeesh isssh eeesh isssh issssh- it was said a lot and "pumping" as the white boy in me thinks they call it.

So... Bonus points to anybody that can give us iTunes links for Razor Blades or Eeesh Isssh Eeesh Isssh Issssh. Partial credit is available for song titles or artists!
UPDATE---Marie thinks that my isssh/eeesh transcription is not sufficiently gutteral, so you might hear it more as Uuuush Uuuuesssh. Hope that helps.---

Love y'all and promise to update the sites more often!]]> General http://tjootjim.com/index.php?itemid=43 Thu, 16 Feb 2006 21:02:55 +0700 http://tjootjim.com/index.php?itemid=42
I forgot the password for the blog.

I'll use that as my excuse for not writing anything lately.

Figured out a way around it, back in, and stuff to write about!Unfortunately, we are in Washington DC, snowed in with the electricity out, so maybe this afternoon...

]]> General http://tjootjim.com/index.php?itemid=42 Sun, 12 Feb 2006 20:31:49 +0700 http://tjootjim.com/index.php?itemid=40
In the morning, you hit snooze once, but intend to stick with the plan.

Breakfast starts a little late, and finishes a half hour later than intended.

While optimism still rules, it is going to be one of those days.

For Thailand in these times, Cha-Cha is the word for the day!Cha-Cha: Slowly, Slowly.
We didn't plan an intense day- breakfast, swim in the ocean, rent a motorbike, head to town to Asia's walmart-Tesco/Lotus, catch a movie, and get back in time for the sunset.
The swim went very well, although it startend an hour and a half late, and we swam 20 minutes longer than planned.
Thinngs went downhill from there.
Lunch was the first challenge. Our favorite el'cheapo restaurant was closed after a momentary opening when we passed by on our way back from the beach. Seems like they are having tax problems...
Tax problems seem to be pretty common here. Not sure which side of the game is taking liberties. Guess it is the same with the US Intrenal Revenue Service- only not nearly as many pages of tax code.
Tesco is 25km from our guesthouse- a little far on our $100 bicycles. We would rent a motorcycle for the day, and make quick work of the mundane and focus on the fun stuff.
Guesthouse out of motorcycles... No problem, happens all the time. Backup guesthouse- no motorcycles. Last-chance guesthouse, the people we don't like to give our money to- no motorcycles. The pattern continues at four more places.
Maybe someone is trying to tell us something.
Next place- big sign attached to a motorcycle:for rent. It was going to be ok. Eventually, we found who owned the bike. "we want to rent a bike." He wanted twice the "going" rate. (Yes, I understand the laws of supply and demand...)
We would not be going to Tesco or the movies today.

(Ice Cream Instead!)

Have a swell day yourself!]]> General http://tjootjim.com/index.php?itemid=40 Fri, 20 Jan 2006 17:53:18 +0700 http://tjootjim.com/index.php?itemid=39


---Slightly abridged for mom-safing---


First the basics: 315km each way from our guesthouse to Ranong, the Thai side of the border. That's 200 miles (or 31.5 Swedish Miles). Rental Car- Avis Toyota thingy (compact). Departure Time from Phuket - 4am. Driver + Passengers = 3.

Our extra passenger was Ardeshyr, our Iranian/german (little G) Man of Mystery. He drove half the way... But we'll get into that later.

Driving 400 miles in a day is a long way for me. Peing a passenger (doesn't really matter who's driving) makes it exponentially more difficult. This is partly because I grew up with parents that always tensed up when someone else was driving. I guess everybody has trouble in the passenger seat.

The drive up was pretty painless- I slept 2/3rds of the way and drove the first half. Eventually need dictated that we call in the backup driver. Marie wanted to sit in the back seat. I would take the Navigator role.

In the spirit of casting the first stone, I will admit that it is hard to drive on the left side of the road when you have driven on the right your whole life. I will also admit thay it is difficult to center the car (especially a rental) in the lane given this condition. Using the windshield wipers as turn signals is also a given.

But the "Left Side, Left Side" chant should be audible on every turn! (Only a problem once.) Likewise, special consideration is required on narrow roads, especially when passing.

It's always hard to get somewhere when your single navigational aide is a map with an arrow indicating rough direction and distance from the edge of its world. It's especially hard if there are lots of turns and no signs between the arrow and your destination. Such was the case with the Andaman Club Pier. I believe it took four queries to the locals to get us there.

Fortunately, Andershyr was driving at this point and he wasn't afraid to ask for directions. That arrow with the "Andaman Club, 7km" took almost an hour to bridge.

Trip up: 5 hours.

Burma Crossing
I hate the name Myanmar, and not just because I can't spell or pronounce it. It lacks a sense of history, and, well it's hard to pronounce.

Thai immigration was a breeze here- no lines, no scowls, and the officers don't even have to wear their uniforms! We would be off on the next boat! In an hour. Unfortunately, no place for breakfast.

The boat over to the island was even easier- it actually had air conditioning!

The Andaman Club is an island resort and casino in Burma a few kilometers from the mainland. Thais go there frequently on the weekends because gambling is illegal in Thailand. It was pretty much empty when we got there, but I am sure that would change after we left with a Friday Rush.

We ate lunch there while waiting the 40 minutes for the next boat back. Nobody had been bitten by the gambling bug. Of course our food arrived as the boat was leaving, so we had an extra hour to kill before the next departure. That's got to be planned... Food was good, view spectacular, and inexpensive. We took a look at a guestroom, which was slightly less magestic than expected due to the musty carpet. (It takes carpet a month to take on that smell in this climate! Silly material selection, architect!)

Back to Thailand we went, passing the "two-men, one net, and a Long-Tail boat" fishermen hunting Jellyfish in the bay. Stole a picture of Andeshyr, should be up on Moonshine Fantasy soon.

Thai immigration: Smooth as Silk- in and out in 5 minutes, save the trip to the bathroom.

Immigration - 4 Hours and 30 minutes

Now for the trip back. I had four and a half hours to plot this phase from when we parked the car to when we drove off.

I knew three things: I wasn't going to drive through rush-hour traffic again- I had paid those dues already; Ardeshyr's driving had to be kept to a minimum; and I was going to sit in the back seat so as to avoid the stress of thinking we were going to loose a rear-view mirror (or a quarter-panel)!

I had the keys- the first part of my plan would be easy, and I would have a good head start on the second. And we could stop in Khao Lak, 100km from Phuket, grab a bite, and switch drivers. A Hatrick! All three for the mere price of getting the keys.

Drove for two hours, didn't loose any mirrors, nobody complained. Making pretty good time. Andershyr pipes up... We need to stop soon. Knowing we would have to change places, I kept driving. Men can hold it for hours, almost days!

After a half hour, Marie pipes up: oh, let's stop at the resort around the corner.

Doomed, I think. Doomed.

(The resort was actually pretty cool, jungle setting with pool and lake, good family cabins with lofts, grossly overpriced...)

Having taken care of business (and sitting down for Watermellon Shakes out of guilt over peeing-and-running), I nervously handed over the keys. I grabbed the back seat so Marie partially shielded my view forward. (No, she doesn't have a big head!). I would just look out my window...

...And see just how close a rear-view mirror can get to a motorcycle without the driver panicking and crashing. Also, get a chance to inspect the drivetrain of trucks we are trying to pass.

Ardeshyr was an honorary 3/4 Thai for his driving technique. (Not "bad" driving, just that zen-like sense for being just far enough away from disaster to get the blood flowing, but not cause any lasting harm.

I gasped, I shrieked. I tried to hold it in, really, I did. I didn't verbalize my concern until we were close to the end, 10km from the guesthouse. "The lane you are driving in is for motorcycles; the car lane is to the right."

'Oh, no wonder they were all in the way,' he didn't say.

7:10PM we arrive back at the guesthouse, rental return agent waiting. No new scratches or dents visible. One mirror, two. Front-left quarter panel, check! Safe and sound, car, us, the cars and motorcycles we passed, and the oncoming traffic as well.

15 Hours total, still an hour faster than the bus...

Good for another 30 days!]]> General http://tjootjim.com/index.php?itemid=39 Thu, 19 Jan 2006 18:30:05 +0700