JUST CHECKING IN

It's been fairly quiet around here the past few days with nothing too major happening.  We took Gaow to Chaleomparkait Park in Phuket Town on Tuesday where we played badminton and skipped rocks across a pond.  We also drove over to Saphan Hin and collected shells along one of the rocky beaches.  He's stayed at Lek's and Jum's home yesterday and tonight which has given some peace and quiet to our house.  Since Nadia had a day off from work today (finally), she stayed here last night; Tim and her went to a party tonight so I'm home alone.  Doug stopped by for a brief visit but mostly I've been watching episodes of American Chopper, Conviction, and Battlestar Galactica.  I've also been catching up on quite a bit of reading over the past several days — finishing two books and making a serious dent on a third.

Other than trying to think of a new name for Tim's son, I've also spent a bit of time on the computer updating various inventory databases and checking out job listings at Ajarn.com.  We've also spent some time searching for a school to enroll Gaow in but that's proving to be a difficult process (more on this in a later entry).

Tomorrow, I need to book reservations for our impending trip to Bangkok — we've been given four VIP passes to the Eric Clapton concert on the 15th.  Tim and I had planned to take Nadia and Doug but neither can get away from work now.  I'll call my friend Mark E. in Thonburi and see if he'd like to attend, leaving us with one ticket to sell or give away (face value is 5000 baht each).  I'd like to fly up and take the bus back to Phuket (not only for the convenience but I've been dying to check out the new Suvarnabhumi Airport).  Tim is a bit apprehensive about going to the capital right now because of the recent bombings there but I'm trying to assure her that she can't live in fear that something might happen.

Which brings me to the current state-of-affairs.  Obviously, the rumors of a new coup occurring last night have proved to have been false but the government is taking extra security precautions (including putting troops in the airports and bus terminals) and warning of the likelihood of further attacks.  It's been reported that those behind the New Year's Eve bombings were "in uniform" although it remains unclear whether that means they were police or military.