Jim's quiet musings . . .

Well, for those of you who are reading this stuff, in case you don't know it, my girl and I are back together. First we were, then we weren't and now we are again. Ain't love grand? You see, it was the kid thing. The two girls were freakin' out that I was stealin' some of their time with mom. When I disappeared, the little darlings wanted to know where I had gone.

"How come Jim doesn't come around anymore?" they asked.
"Cause I broke up with him," the mother says.
"Why? He was nice!" the little darlings said.
"Cause you girls didn't treat him nice," the mother says.
"What? We liked him!" the little darlings say.

Go figure. Now I finally understand why I didn't have children. They don't come with manuals and I wouldn't have read the damn manuals anyway. So, here we are... dating again but giving the little darlings space. The youngest only loves me for my laptop anyway. Meanwhile, mom and I are doing quite well, thank you.

We have found a place of refuge. It is a small cafe that has couches in it, serves expresso and imported coffee and has a small menu in case you're hungry. We've been spending hours in that place. The people are nice and the atmosphere is relaxing. Time to ourselves. I love this spot cause lately my life has gotten hectic again.

The hecticness (is that a word?) stems from this trip planning of mine. Looks like everything is going to be switching gears in mid-stream now. Got home Friday night to an e-mail from my friend in Bangkok who says her mum is very, very sick. Cancer has invaded her abdomen and the doctors don't think she will last but only a few months. Pimpavee wants me to come still, but I think that is out of her guilt for having to change our plans. I assured her that was not a worry and that all would work out.

I have learned some things from my correspondence and travel to Asia. Not that I am an experienced traveller yet, but at least I understand the culture better than I used to. Asian people place their elders in very, very high regard. You don't see nursing homes or retirement communities on every street corner like you do here in the U.S. We place more emphasis on our children here I think. Not that it is bad or good, just different. I wonder how other cultures are. Pim's parents are at home and she works her fingers to the bone to take care of them and nurse them while they are ill. Both her parents are very elderly.

If the trip to Bangkok doesn't work out, I will still travel and now have asked my girl to get her passport. We will probably end up going to Europe, possibly to Paris or Venice or London...depending on prices. I know I'll end up somewhere, come heck or high water. Angie is busy with work lately but I'm sure she would welcome to weary travelers from the U.S., as might Peter in Leith or Chris in Belfast. I've often fantasized about traveling to Ireland and Scotland simply due to my old radio days when I spoke with so many people there and learned of my spot of Scottish ancestry. My girl is Finnish. Perhaps Finland is nice in April. Who knows.

Sent my passport off to the Vietnamese Embassy on Friday so if I cancel my plans I'll have to give them a ring and ask them to hold off on it. The poor guys practically know me on a first name basis as I have called them about five or six times asking stupid questions. Wonder if they make fun of the way we Westerners talk? Westerners are always mocking the Asian accent after a trip to the Chinese restaurant. I can just hear them.... "Well, golly gosh darn ya'all!" I wonder if any of them have watched Christmas Story and seen the last scene where the guys line up to sing Christmas carols.... "Dek da haws wit bows awf horry! Ta rahrah, rahrah, rah, rah, rah, rah." I always laugh my ass off when the guy cuts the head off that goose with that cleaver.

Well, I did it again. I got into the cookbooks again. I just wanted to come up with a simple, yet fancy recipe for chicken breast. Saw the Tandoori Chicken Breast recipe and took a glance at the ingredients. Garam Masala? What the hell? Ya gotta make the stuff too. Gotta make the ingredients to add to the ingredients. Hey, no big deal right? Yeah . . . . 3 tablespoons cardamom pods... damn, I'm fresh out of em! Two teaspoons fenugreek seeds.... wonder if that's a typo? Holy crap. Then, the peanut oil's gotta be either Asian or cold pressed domestic.

"Excuse me maa'm, do you have the domestic cold pressed peanut oil? I only see the warm pressed on the shelf."

I've given up. I will never make enough money to have a well-stocked kitchen. I'll just stick with my old, "Tried and True" recipes. The employees at the local supermarket are beginning to call me by my first name. Besides, it just doesn't matter anyway. I do have to go get some shampoo today though. Hummmmm, I wonder if I will get the Flex or something fancy like the Sensations blueberry mist or perhaps the Clariol free spirit herbal? Decisions, decisions. -Jeeem-