27 April 2016

“Where the Fair Wind Blows”


Searching for coolness and for a fair wind that is not scorching.  Wish it would rain, but we’re in the middle of the worst drought in over 40 years here.  Dust and heat.  Every day this month of April has been 100*F or higher, with wicked humidity.  Even the Thais are complaining. 

We completed our annual Immigration Office ordeal and extended my stay here through to next April.  I am proud of myself for remaining calm while enduring massive bureaucratic idiocy – some of these “civil servants” were spending their time playing with their phones or standing around chatting and joking while we negligible petitioners sat waiting for hours.  (And people the world over think that governments have the competence and the will to help solve our problems and improve our lives?) 

With our paperwork at Immigration all finished except for one signature, the clock struck noon and then the entire Immigration crew closed shop for lunch hour, so we had to come back later.  (Sounds familiar, like the US Post Offices that close window service at noon – right at the one time when the “customers” might get a chance to visit the window.  Private businesses, if they are smart, have to cater to their customers’ needs, but monopolies like the USPS don’t have to bother.) 

Am I sounding cynical?  One of my favorite Jack Nicholson lines puts it in perspective: 
“Now I’m a fair guy, but this fucking heat is driving me absolutely crazy.” 

The only reason I didn’t lose it completely and go postal at Immigration was that their office was air conditioned. 

A song in the movie Jeremiah Johnson (1972) mentions the quest for “where the fair wind blows.”  Still looking for that place. 

-Zenwind.
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