the constant spewing of small business ideas...or...commune!

Dear fellow free-baller,

We must unite! ..for the time may be short for those (myself) who find it difficult to reside in this place. Anyway, here's yet another spew...bleah! blargh!

Heard of Etsy ? It is the handmade zone for eBay/amazon-like activity. It could be the next place to sell your work, and create a steady stream of income to finance your more artistic endeavors. We both understand the need for such a stream. It is more focused than eBay, with seemingly high selling prices, as it may tap into that 'love artistic different stuff that mass manufacturers don't make in the USA, and I'm a little indie too, and have money to spend' crowd. Despite the omen's of $200/barrel oil and recession, people buy style.

Seriously though, there are some dopey folk selling crap-o-la on here... you could bust that out in approximately 15 minutes, including a wizz break. Just don't use your real name... then they'll never know. You could even make it seem like it's your gf who is creating everything. Could be fun, and more importantly in these dire times.... PROFITABLE!

Gimme some truth! (and some money, please).

This message feuled by M-150 Devotion Sacrifice Courage Thai energy drink. all this inspiration for $0.30 ?!?! oink. Check out the Secret Machines and Blonde Redhead.
Oh yeah, MAMA kicks Ramen's dehydrated ass!

Best Regards,
BKK____NTF

Go Home!

Dear all single foreign men over the age of 45 currently in Thailand.... Go Home! Yes, you were rejected by your own society for being extremely deficient in social awareness of any sort, but that does not equate to a ticket here.... well, unfortunately, it does. Money is king for some, but it gets stupid when they try to approach the normal Thai folk with this demeanor.

My day thus far: Happy Mother's Day to my mum in the USA! I walked to meet K for lunch at a little kitchen restaurant, conversed with a Burmese friend, as well as a taxi driver. M, the Burmese man, is living in Thailand illegally, working without visa or work permit, as well as paying the police off $32usd each month to stay around. He works about 75 hours a week, and pulls in (after police tea money) $159usd a month, equaling around $2.11usd/hr. Kind of small, but it's more than he could pull in Yangoon, Myanmar where he holds a university degree in Chemistry. The taxi driver also pays the police $32usd a month to solicit tourist business in this touristy area. The cops make around $220-320usd a month, so I can understand why they do this (despite it's corrupt nature).

I thought I would record the events of my life in Krung Thep instead of letting them pass through my own memory, as they often seem to do.

-Prof

Hmmm.... I spent all day in airports, yet somehow I'm still in NC!

I will skip out the news of yesterday, as it makes me cringe. Summary: US Air sucks ass, I yelled and chased a gate worker down the terminal as 200 people watched in silence, I attempted to break FAA regs, and finally got driven back to GSO..... then I slept, and it got better today, even though I missed my international flight last night, and 2 days in Ayuthaya.... not the worst that could happen, as I managed to snag the last seat on 2 new flights on Saturday.

Wonderful news! I talked to many many people again today... probably 10... at 2 different airline companies, and many people at each company. It was very easy to find a new ticket from Greensboro - Charlotte - New York (Newark); I just went to the ticket office in Greensboro, and they were very nice to me. However, my flight leaves very very early! I did this so I can be sure I will arrive in New York in time, and fly to Stockholm and Bangkok, arriving 31 December at 10:15. That was good news #1.

Good news #2 is that Malaysia Air is the nicest airline I've ever dealt with (besides the manager at NWA this summer, who graciously let me change a totally non-changeable ticket by 5 days and a very different departure city!) They waved the $100 transfer fee for my ticket, due to my situation, even though I canceled my flight only 2 hours before slated departure. Thanks Malaysia!

So, to be sure, and to account for the rainy conditions in the Northeast, I have a beautious red-eye departing at 6am for CLT - EWR. Yeeeeehaww!

My Return

Hello-goodbye, everyone. I began my return to SE Asia today, flying the distance to Charlotte, and encountering my first delays... beautiful. 5:45 to Newark, then across the ocean to Europe - my first time there. In total, 5 flights... it's been a while since I've been in this part of the world, and it'll be another while before I arrive! I'm keeping a low profile on this trip.... not traveling this time... it'll be a different experience for sure. Please keep in touch during this time, I will send out all my local contact info in about a week. If you haven't received it by then, please email me at feeneymusic@gmail.com and I'll shoot it your way. Best of luck, and a happy new year! -Nat

General Geographic Itinerary

July 5: in the air
July 6-10: Taipei, Taiwan
July 10-12: Taichung, Taiwan
July 12: Taipei, Taiwan & Singapore
July 13: Singapore & Bangkok, Thailand & Phuket, Thailand
July 13-18: Phuket, Thailand
July 18-23: Bangkok, Thailand
July 23-25: overland to Siem Reap, Campuchia (Cambodia)
July 25-Aug1: Viet Nam! (Mekong Delta region, My Tho City (em!), Saigon (HCMC)
Aug 1 - 8: Hoi An, Da Nang (deliverence!), & Hue, Viet Nam
Aug 8 -16: Unknown locales in China mainland.
Aug 16: Fly out of Beijing, China back to GSO
Aug 20: UNCG Fall semester commences

Huge List!

Much still to do for this trip.... my passport is in Houston!