.
12 November: I will probably not be posting here every day now that being surrounded by floodwaters is becoming the norm. We are still surrounded by water on all sides, and we don’t know when it will drain. It's a long haul. Many everyday items are still not available, but we are getting used to it and it’s not a big deal.
.
Our biggest street going southwards into Bangkok still has unpredictable flood levels, and traveling anywhere is uncertain. The biggest hardship for me about all this is that I cannot venture into Bangkok for movie theaters and bookstores, and, especially, to attend the newly re-opened Tokyo Joe’s Blues Bar, the premier Blues venue in-country that had closed well over a year ago but is now back for four nights a week. But since many others here in Thailand have suffered much more than me I will quit whining.
.
But you can bet that I will be there at Tokyo Joe's listening to the Blues the very first chance I get. Until then, I’m an outsider trying to find a dry spot above the floodwaters. And being an outsider has definitely never been an unfamiliar vantage point for me.
.
-Zenwind.
.
12 November 2011
10 November 2011
Marine Corps Birthday
.
To all Marines: "Here's health to you and to our Corps..." (see Marines' Hymn)
.
Happy Birthday. Semper Fi.
.
-Zenwind.
.
To all Marines: "Here's health to you and to our Corps..." (see Marines' Hymn)
.
Happy Birthday. Semper Fi.
.
-Zenwind.
.
09 November 2011
Headline: Thai Floods Reduce Beer Supplies to a Drip
.
9 November: Yes, it’s that bad. Beer rationing signals the decline of a civilization, and we might be headed there.
.
However, before we even placed the first sandbag here at home, I had hoarded a substantial amount of Chang Classic, my first choice of beer here. This hoard was increased by the generous gift of a case of the same beer from Tuk’s girlfriend on the very day the flood hit us. Bags of ice are now more easily found in the neighborhood, so we are doing okay in that respect.
.
This morning I walked to the hospital for a prescription and then checked out the flooding on the way home. The river is still high but not brimming over, and in some places the water appears to have receded a bit. Because there is still dirty water at calf height all around our compound, we still exit and enter via an elevated footbridge and a ladder over the wall.
.
Our ground floor – which was always our main living quarters – is now cleared of all but an inch of water, and most of the wet junk is thrown out. Best of all, our regular ground floor shower room (Thai-style, water tub under faucet with a dipper) is operational again, although we must still use 2nd floor toilets. I am beginning to like this dry and airy 2nd floor living, and I appreciate more than ever why classic Thai houses are built up on stilts.
.
-Zenwind.
.
9 November: Yes, it’s that bad. Beer rationing signals the decline of a civilization, and we might be headed there.
.
However, before we even placed the first sandbag here at home, I had hoarded a substantial amount of Chang Classic, my first choice of beer here. This hoard was increased by the generous gift of a case of the same beer from Tuk’s girlfriend on the very day the flood hit us. Bags of ice are now more easily found in the neighborhood, so we are doing okay in that respect.
.
This morning I walked to the hospital for a prescription and then checked out the flooding on the way home. The river is still high but not brimming over, and in some places the water appears to have receded a bit. Because there is still dirty water at calf height all around our compound, we still exit and enter via an elevated footbridge and a ladder over the wall.
.
Our ground floor – which was always our main living quarters – is now cleared of all but an inch of water, and most of the wet junk is thrown out. Best of all, our regular ground floor shower room (Thai-style, water tub under faucet with a dipper) is operational again, although we must still use 2nd floor toilets. I am beginning to like this dry and airy 2nd floor living, and I appreciate more than ever why classic Thai houses are built up on stilts.
.
-Zenwind.
.
08 November 2011
Exhausted
.
8 November: Apparently we will not see much more flooding in our neighborhood, although other parts of the Central Plains south of us are still expecting the floodwaters to reach them soon. We still wade in water on the ground floor and outside the house. We could still have water levels rise again in our house and street, but after what has already hit us it would not be that dramatic.
.
We are flood veterans now – although many Thais have experienced much, much more traumatic flooding for a longer time. For us it went through several phases: watching news predictions; moving stuff upstairs and building sandbag levees around the house; the flooding itself when the levees were not enough for the huge volume of water; now the gradual receding of floodwaters. Next will be clean up, but now is time for exhaustion.
.
I had lifted heavy sandbags and moved heavy stuff upstairs – efforts that I never thought I could do at my age. My knees and back still scream with pain. Now I’m just tired out.
.
-Zenwind.
.
8 November: Apparently we will not see much more flooding in our neighborhood, although other parts of the Central Plains south of us are still expecting the floodwaters to reach them soon. We still wade in water on the ground floor and outside the house. We could still have water levels rise again in our house and street, but after what has already hit us it would not be that dramatic.
.
We are flood veterans now – although many Thais have experienced much, much more traumatic flooding for a longer time. For us it went through several phases: watching news predictions; moving stuff upstairs and building sandbag levees around the house; the flooding itself when the levees were not enough for the huge volume of water; now the gradual receding of floodwaters. Next will be clean up, but now is time for exhaustion.
.
I had lifted heavy sandbags and moved heavy stuff upstairs – efforts that I never thought I could do at my age. My knees and back still scream with pain. Now I’m just tired out.
.
-Zenwind.
.
06 November 2011
Electricity with Water Everywhere
.
6 November: Among the 500 plus deaths caused by the recent flooding here in Thailand, there are many who died of electrocution when wading in water. I have always been scared to death of electricity, I respect it, and I take no chances. I thank my cousin for his concern and his reminder of the dangers involved.
.
We are lucky that our electric service was never cut off during this crisis – without electric fans I would wilt, and the mosquitoes would eat us alive at night. Our two main circuit breaker switches, both the one for our half and the one for the parent-in-law half of the house, are located high on the ground floors (about eight feet up), and all electrical outlets on the ground floor are at least chest-high. This house was designed with floods in mind. We only threw the main switches a couple of times, and only temporarily. This was when the water was at its highest, knee-high.
.
My procedure when handling main switches or outlets went like this: Dry hands; place a sturdy plastic stool with a dry top under switch; fold a dry foam camping pad over four times and put on stool; lift one bare foot up and have Tuk dry it with a towel; place dry foot on pad; lift other foot out of water and have Tuk dry it; gain sure balance on stool and pad; make sure hands are dry and not touching any metal; touch switch/circuit breaker only with dry plastic over hand. I take no chances with electricity, and I think Ben Franklin (bless his genius mind) was insane and very lucky.
.
We power our new 2nd floor abode (which has no outlets) by extension cords from below. The wiring in this building is unbelievably ancient and scares me. We are careful to use only some electrical devices in combination so as not to overload the archaic system. Someday we will replace it with a properly grounded system.
.
Water levels continue to go down, but very slowly. The smells of the beached debris below us and outside in the neighborhood are strong. In my daily walk I saw huge piles of garbage, because no pickup has been possible. If we don’t get flooded anew this week by high tides, the tasks ahead are being watchful for waterborne diseases and cleaning up the aftermath. I feel like I’m working in a hospital again, given the strict hygienic regimen we follow.
.
-Zenwind.
.
6 November: Among the 500 plus deaths caused by the recent flooding here in Thailand, there are many who died of electrocution when wading in water. I have always been scared to death of electricity, I respect it, and I take no chances. I thank my cousin for his concern and his reminder of the dangers involved.
.
We are lucky that our electric service was never cut off during this crisis – without electric fans I would wilt, and the mosquitoes would eat us alive at night. Our two main circuit breaker switches, both the one for our half and the one for the parent-in-law half of the house, are located high on the ground floors (about eight feet up), and all electrical outlets on the ground floor are at least chest-high. This house was designed with floods in mind. We only threw the main switches a couple of times, and only temporarily. This was when the water was at its highest, knee-high.
.
My procedure when handling main switches or outlets went like this: Dry hands; place a sturdy plastic stool with a dry top under switch; fold a dry foam camping pad over four times and put on stool; lift one bare foot up and have Tuk dry it with a towel; place dry foot on pad; lift other foot out of water and have Tuk dry it; gain sure balance on stool and pad; make sure hands are dry and not touching any metal; touch switch/circuit breaker only with dry plastic over hand. I take no chances with electricity, and I think Ben Franklin (bless his genius mind) was insane and very lucky.
.
We power our new 2nd floor abode (which has no outlets) by extension cords from below. The wiring in this building is unbelievably ancient and scares me. We are careful to use only some electrical devices in combination so as not to overload the archaic system. Someday we will replace it with a properly grounded system.
.
Water levels continue to go down, but very slowly. The smells of the beached debris below us and outside in the neighborhood are strong. In my daily walk I saw huge piles of garbage, because no pickup has been possible. If we don’t get flooded anew this week by high tides, the tasks ahead are being watchful for waterborne diseases and cleaning up the aftermath. I feel like I’m working in a hospital again, given the strict hygienic regimen we follow.
.
-Zenwind.
.
Water Level Is Down a Bit
.
6 November: The water level in the 1st (ground) floor at our house has gone down from knee-deep a few days ago to below ankle-deep now. That still doesn’t mean that we are safe from new flooding in the near future. After all, TIT (This Is Thailand). Anything can happen here.
.
-Zenwind.
.
6 November: The water level in the 1st (ground) floor at our house has gone down from knee-deep a few days ago to below ankle-deep now. That still doesn’t mean that we are safe from new flooding in the near future. After all, TIT (This Is Thailand). Anything can happen here.
.
-Zenwind.
.
05 November 2011
04 November 2011
Markets and Spontaneous Order
.
4 November: Today I went out scavenging for food and useful items, walking my normal route and visiting friends along the way. The river level was down a bit, but high tides in the future may bring it up again, so we cannot relax our guard for threats of more flooding.
.
I am amazed at the thriving little markets that have sprung up on any small bits of the streets or sidewalks that are higher and dryer than most. Everything is on offer, whatever is demanded is supplied. Mainly food is sold, but also rubber boots, bottled water and many other things. No one person organized or coordinated these markets, and certainly no government did or even could.
.
There is too much information contained in such coordinated activity for any central planners to process. It is a “spontaneous order” that comes about when numerous individuals see opportunities to buy or sell. Each individual uses their own unique knowledge of their needs and strengths to make economic decisions. Given a Rule of Law culture that recognizes and allows free trade amongst equals, such markets are the model of true cooperation.
.
Historically, ideas that might be called spontaneous order can be traced to Chuang Tzu, the ancient Chinese Taoist philosopher, but they became embedded in Western culture in the Scottish Enlightenment of the late 18th century. Adam Ferguson, David Hume, Adam Smith and others applied such ideas of freely organizing forms of social activity to the original emergence of language, law, economies, science, etc. Ferguson described it as “the result of human action, but not the execution of any human design.”
.
More recently, spontaneous order as an explanation for human coordination has been developed further by the Austrian School of economics – L. von Mises, and, especially, F.A. Hayek. Hayek’s last book, The Fatal Conceit, spells it out concisely.
.
People thrive when left freely alone to cooperate. I’m seeing that every time I walk down the street.
.
-Zenwind.
.
4 November: Today I went out scavenging for food and useful items, walking my normal route and visiting friends along the way. The river level was down a bit, but high tides in the future may bring it up again, so we cannot relax our guard for threats of more flooding.
.
I am amazed at the thriving little markets that have sprung up on any small bits of the streets or sidewalks that are higher and dryer than most. Everything is on offer, whatever is demanded is supplied. Mainly food is sold, but also rubber boots, bottled water and many other things. No one person organized or coordinated these markets, and certainly no government did or even could.
.
There is too much information contained in such coordinated activity for any central planners to process. It is a “spontaneous order” that comes about when numerous individuals see opportunities to buy or sell. Each individual uses their own unique knowledge of their needs and strengths to make economic decisions. Given a Rule of Law culture that recognizes and allows free trade amongst equals, such markets are the model of true cooperation.
.
Historically, ideas that might be called spontaneous order can be traced to Chuang Tzu, the ancient Chinese Taoist philosopher, but they became embedded in Western culture in the Scottish Enlightenment of the late 18th century. Adam Ferguson, David Hume, Adam Smith and others applied such ideas of freely organizing forms of social activity to the original emergence of language, law, economies, science, etc. Ferguson described it as “the result of human action, but not the execution of any human design.”
.
More recently, spontaneous order as an explanation for human coordination has been developed further by the Austrian School of economics – L. von Mises, and, especially, F.A. Hayek. Hayek’s last book, The Fatal Conceit, spells it out concisely.
.
People thrive when left freely alone to cooperate. I’m seeing that every time I walk down the street.
.
-Zenwind.
.
03 November 2011
Missions Accomplished
.
3 November: Two major accomplishments today: Immigration Office visit and paperwork done, and a bridge built over our polluted knee-deep water surrounding our house.
.
I did virtually nothing to contribute to these successes. Tuk went with me as a guide into the heart of Bangkok, and her cousin did the last miracle.
.
Considering how messed up transportation is due to many roads closed by floodwaters, it is a creative nightmare linking up the means to get around. There are no express boats for the time being and few taxis on flood zones. From our flooded intersection at the police station, Tuk contacted two motorcycle taxi drivers to take us over the bridge on the great Chao Phraya River. I haven’t been on a fast open-road cycle ride in a long time, and it was fantastic. From there we lucked out to find a regular taxi to take us straight across the city to Immigration. People will do anything for Tuk.
.
Immigration at the old office was more than the usual chaos, but the job was eventually finished. Traditionally, when completing frustrating Immigration visits, I would take Tuk to The Hard Rock Cafe, but today I took her to an expensive restaurant called Café Chili, Northeastern Thai food, the really good spicy hot stuff. It brought tears to my eyes. We got home via taxi, then bus, then walked the rest of the way through water.
.
A really pleasant surprise awaited us when we returned home. The husband of Tuk’s cousin fixed a walkway bridge above the horribly polluted water that surrounds our house and our neighborhood block like an evil, smelly, stagnant bog. It is actual sewage plus.
.
Our problem had been leaving and entering the house while wading through the filth. Once you get to the main sidewalk, it is a series of temporary elevated walkways that take you to the main intersection. The water in the intersection is sometimes deep, but it is moving and is thus not as fetid. This new walkway leads from our 2nd floor steps over our flooded 1st floor's water, over the flooded courtyard, and to the main walkway (by using our big stepladder to surmount the wall), we don’t have to wade through the filth again. I honestly did not think it could be done with materials at hand, but Thai ingenuity proved me wrong, to my delight.
.
No one has ever mistaken me for a handyman who can fix things. Rather, I usually break anything I touch. (To be fair, I can set a tight fence for cattle or horses, I can set up a bombproof climbing belay, and I can often cobble together quick fixes with rope and knots.)
.
While getting around in a big city as a foreigner looked easy when I knew a couple of trustworthy transportation connections, when chaos hits and nothing is operating as normal, then I need more than my map and compass. I really appreciate the kindness and helpfulness of Thais when stuff hits the fan. They are wonderful people.
.
In an unrelated news item, it seems that 15 Green Mamba snakes escaped when their owner’s property was flooded. This was not in our district, but they are up-river in our province. Green Mambas are native to Africa, and this guy had them evidently as pets. They are deadly and they are on the loose. Great.
.
-Zenwind.
.
3 November: Two major accomplishments today: Immigration Office visit and paperwork done, and a bridge built over our polluted knee-deep water surrounding our house.
.
I did virtually nothing to contribute to these successes. Tuk went with me as a guide into the heart of Bangkok, and her cousin did the last miracle.
.
Considering how messed up transportation is due to many roads closed by floodwaters, it is a creative nightmare linking up the means to get around. There are no express boats for the time being and few taxis on flood zones. From our flooded intersection at the police station, Tuk contacted two motorcycle taxi drivers to take us over the bridge on the great Chao Phraya River. I haven’t been on a fast open-road cycle ride in a long time, and it was fantastic. From there we lucked out to find a regular taxi to take us straight across the city to Immigration. People will do anything for Tuk.
.
Immigration at the old office was more than the usual chaos, but the job was eventually finished. Traditionally, when completing frustrating Immigration visits, I would take Tuk to The Hard Rock Cafe, but today I took her to an expensive restaurant called Café Chili, Northeastern Thai food, the really good spicy hot stuff. It brought tears to my eyes. We got home via taxi, then bus, then walked the rest of the way through water.
.
A really pleasant surprise awaited us when we returned home. The husband of Tuk’s cousin fixed a walkway bridge above the horribly polluted water that surrounds our house and our neighborhood block like an evil, smelly, stagnant bog. It is actual sewage plus.
.
Our problem had been leaving and entering the house while wading through the filth. Once you get to the main sidewalk, it is a series of temporary elevated walkways that take you to the main intersection. The water in the intersection is sometimes deep, but it is moving and is thus not as fetid. This new walkway leads from our 2nd floor steps over our flooded 1st floor's water, over the flooded courtyard, and to the main walkway (by using our big stepladder to surmount the wall), we don’t have to wade through the filth again. I honestly did not think it could be done with materials at hand, but Thai ingenuity proved me wrong, to my delight.
.
No one has ever mistaken me for a handyman who can fix things. Rather, I usually break anything I touch. (To be fair, I can set a tight fence for cattle or horses, I can set up a bombproof climbing belay, and I can often cobble together quick fixes with rope and knots.)
.
While getting around in a big city as a foreigner looked easy when I knew a couple of trustworthy transportation connections, when chaos hits and nothing is operating as normal, then I need more than my map and compass. I really appreciate the kindness and helpfulness of Thais when stuff hits the fan. They are wonderful people.
.
In an unrelated news item, it seems that 15 Green Mamba snakes escaped when their owner’s property was flooded. This was not in our district, but they are up-river in our province. Green Mambas are native to Africa, and this guy had them evidently as pets. They are deadly and they are on the loose. Great.
.
-Zenwind.
.
02 November 2011
New Digs
.
02 November: We are settling in to our new digs, one floor higher and much dryer than our flooded 1st floor below. But coming and going from the house still means that we must wade through knee-deep dirty water get to the soi (street). There is an elevated temporary board walk from the nearby utility office complex to the main street. Many sois are closed nearby.
.
For our extended family of four, we now have two toilet stalls and two bath stalls operating, thanks to Tuk and her cousin getting water to the second floor via a longer hose from below. Running water! I’ve been rigging clotheslines, and everyone has finally washed adequate clothing.
.
Yesterday I did my climb to the roof by going out of our 3rd floor window and up a rusty ladder with a solidly placed static rope next to it. I took my laundry up and it dried quickly. My procedure: I put on a climbing harness, clip the rope into my Petzl ascender on my harness, and that provides my safety net. The ascender ratchets, and I can move up but not down, so if the ladder fails the rope will catch me (theoretically). Coming down, I release the lock momentarily to go down a step at a time, and if I fall I will be caught.
.
I love the feeling of height again. Small balance shifts, precise footwork, meticulous attention to clips and technical details, and well-thought-out moves are all so exhilarating. There is no room for error, and it makes you feel so proud and glad to be a free rational being.
.
Yesterday I also went out to do my routine walking circuit, but it was hard going because of the water. The highest water was on our soi, and some of the other parts of the sois were either flooded lightly or not at all. I checked on some my friends along the route but not everyone was outside. The vendors I knew had no customers because the road ahead was closed to traffic. There is a Chinese woman along that stretch who has a small table out with snacks and a refrigerator with cold drinks. I stopped to buy something cold; her house was lightly flooded.
.
But new vendors I’ve never seen before are out in droves on one intersection. It is a small, narrow, two-lane soi, but now it is one-lane because the new vendors have set up on both sides. They are supplying all kinds of food, water, rubber boots, etc., and it is very crowded on the corner by the police station.
.
On one stretch of sidewalk near the river, the sidewalks and streets were quite empty, so I sat on a bench and listened to the newly arrived birds from the north. I’ve never witnessed such quiet there before.
.
Tomorrow I might venture into Bangkok if I can find a way. I need to file some immigration paperwork, and my own province’s immigration office is flooded and so is the main one for Bangkok. I heard that the old office in the inner city is operating, so I will go for it before it too is flooded. I haven’t been in a bookstore for an eternity, and this might be my chance.
.
Tuk somehow bought some bags of ice!
.
-Zenwind.
.
02 November: We are settling in to our new digs, one floor higher and much dryer than our flooded 1st floor below. But coming and going from the house still means that we must wade through knee-deep dirty water get to the soi (street). There is an elevated temporary board walk from the nearby utility office complex to the main street. Many sois are closed nearby.
.
For our extended family of four, we now have two toilet stalls and two bath stalls operating, thanks to Tuk and her cousin getting water to the second floor via a longer hose from below. Running water! I’ve been rigging clotheslines, and everyone has finally washed adequate clothing.
.
Yesterday I did my climb to the roof by going out of our 3rd floor window and up a rusty ladder with a solidly placed static rope next to it. I took my laundry up and it dried quickly. My procedure: I put on a climbing harness, clip the rope into my Petzl ascender on my harness, and that provides my safety net. The ascender ratchets, and I can move up but not down, so if the ladder fails the rope will catch me (theoretically). Coming down, I release the lock momentarily to go down a step at a time, and if I fall I will be caught.
.
I love the feeling of height again. Small balance shifts, precise footwork, meticulous attention to clips and technical details, and well-thought-out moves are all so exhilarating. There is no room for error, and it makes you feel so proud and glad to be a free rational being.
.
Yesterday I also went out to do my routine walking circuit, but it was hard going because of the water. The highest water was on our soi, and some of the other parts of the sois were either flooded lightly or not at all. I checked on some my friends along the route but not everyone was outside. The vendors I knew had no customers because the road ahead was closed to traffic. There is a Chinese woman along that stretch who has a small table out with snacks and a refrigerator with cold drinks. I stopped to buy something cold; her house was lightly flooded.
.
But new vendors I’ve never seen before are out in droves on one intersection. It is a small, narrow, two-lane soi, but now it is one-lane because the new vendors have set up on both sides. They are supplying all kinds of food, water, rubber boots, etc., and it is very crowded on the corner by the police station.
.
On one stretch of sidewalk near the river, the sidewalks and streets were quite empty, so I sat on a bench and listened to the newly arrived birds from the north. I’ve never witnessed such quiet there before.
.
Tomorrow I might venture into Bangkok if I can find a way. I need to file some immigration paperwork, and my own province’s immigration office is flooded and so is the main one for Bangkok. I heard that the old office in the inner city is operating, so I will go for it before it too is flooded. I haven’t been in a bookstore for an eternity, and this might be my chance.
.
Tuk somehow bought some bags of ice!
.
-Zenwind.
.
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