Immigration, turtle heads, watching bread, and a dog.

They were working on the road all night, we can hear the truck come and go. I think the road is getting near the old house. I hope the road does not change things too much. I think they haul fill at night because of the traffic, but I am not sure.

We went to Immigration to get my Visa extended until we leave. I guess, even though the Visa was a six month Visa, that you need to report every 90 days. It was confusing. There were layers of signatures, getting numbers to wait, many different choices, I could not hear the numbers and did not really have a clue as to what was happening. I just could not de-code the layers of processes going on. Jit handled it and it all worked out, but I am not sure what I would have done without Jit. I do not like the feeling of powerlessness that I have when I face bureaucracy. Anyway it worked, my VISA, even though it was already a 6 month Visa, needed to be reviewed in 90 days. It cost 1,900 Baht, about $50 for the extension. Even though my Visa is now good until I leave I still need to report to immigration again in 90 days. Oh well......

We went to Pantip Plaza, it was much more active and interesting then the IT shopping center at Zeer. There were many notebooks and digital camera places. On the first floor I kept getting persistently approached to buy DVD's and Software. Sort of irritating. I did not look at the software in detail, but with the need to upgrade and patch software I am not sure if it is worth it anymore. It was pretty interesting though, and there was still a lot of IT energy.

After getting home Jit went to sleep, I think she exhausted herself during the last week. I read the Bangkok Post and then looked around outside. I threw a small piece of bread into the canal by the house. I watched it until it disappeared, it took about 25 minutes, small six inch fish would periodically nibble on the bread. I also saw a large turtle head twice, it was sort of lumpy looking. I had not seen that before. A few years ago, in the fall, I sat by a beaver pond and just watched, there were ripples and a beaver showed up, I heard a splash, and through the growth, I could see a moose. Just watching nature is a joy, but it takes a little to calm down and watch.

Yesterday I saw a really beat up dog, it had some sort of skin disease, similar to the black dog that I posted pictures of. The dogs skin was loose and wrinkled, it looked like elephant skin. The dog did not scratch or anything and its nose was wet, so it might actually be healthy internally. By the skin was loose, almost baggy, and wrinkled looking. There was only a little hair left. Sort of odd. I was not in a good place to take a picture.

I posted some pictures from downtown Bangkok the last two days, there are many more. I am anxious to return to the area to do more photography. I backed up all my photographs onto DVD disks because I am running out of hard disk space. It feels good to have backups.

This sabbatical has been very good for Jit. Working as a partnership and being included in all the meetings and activities has re-awakened Jit's interest in going to college. She is thinking deeply about what she want to do with her talent and ability. It is great to see her sense of potential re-awakening.