Like most people I get older.
Am I "old" ? Who decides? Me or others?
I am recently retired after 50 years of diabetes, but do not feel senile just yet - only somewhat slower. Brains still running and I am not supposed to be worse than normal in the cognitive, thinking, brain.
Should not complain - one of my standing "wise words" is that "hey you - who do you want to exchange your life with?" And honestly, that turns me cool. I want to be just myself!
I am basically a scientist, not a politician. I mainly blog about politics, Middle East Politics. Why? Because too many lies, especially in the Swedish media, irritate my scientific mind.
Some of my colleagues are now pretty rich and retired - with real good pensions because they had not taken any time for experiencing reality.Now they seem to be too old to dare to travel the more adventurous way that I have done for a couple of decades.
Last winter I sat thru the horror of Swedish winter weather, my body hates it. I love to walk out when it is nice and warm and something to experience - which the last decade has mainly meant Thailand, as far as I could in the winters, took out just about every holiday day then.
Actually I was in a lousy state when I, back in 1999, after not having been in SEAsia for 12 years, told myself: "either I go now or I do not go" - after having had a depression for 3 years including some medicine for that. So I went. Remember - at the time I had most of my penfriends in Indonesia for some reason, so I went there for a month in summer. Result, see the link. In short: I managed, well enough and besides, during autumn I was teaching a course that gave some extra money, enabling me to be back in Thailand already that winter. Link. Got the first serious - and not too good - experience of Thai girls...... And learned from my mistakes.
And then it continued. Go to the web site, http://ralphtheogre.dyndns.info/ and up in the menu you can find more pics from my winters in Thailand, without too much of an intellectual strain.
I got my Pig Pest vaccination two weeks ago, I got my hernia operation a week ago, on Monday I will go check ordinary vaccinations, should have at least hepatitis I think. Then on the 4th of Dec. Yui will help me down with the travel bag the three floors, to the bus, to the railway station, to the train, and then I am on my own. Unless she wants to accompany me to the airport - one hour on the train, let's see. Depends on her.
I have booked my usual hotel in Bangkok, for 5 nights. Feel safe - not so mobile nowadays to run around to places. I actually mailed two guesthouses in the area, one did not answer, the other answered something like "just a moment, we will answer"......
Depends how I feel, I have too often had a heavy cold at just that moment, like 2 years ago, when I even had to go to the hospital in BKK for two nights with a bronchitis, and sort of felt tired for a long time - in some way I feel a little bit stronger now - but when I feel for it, after those 5 nights, I book a minibus from the hotel to Pattaya and then it depends on Michael, hopefully he has found me a nice cheap room or apartment for 2½ months there, with Wi-Fi, and nice view over the South Chinese Sea and nice micro-environment, supermarkets, nice cheap Thai restaurants with good view, to sit and gaze and eat slowly in the warm night with a cold beer! A pleasure.
Coming to visit me?
