Take the long way home

Morning has broken, albeit  3:00 AM.  I spent several hours packing and shifting clothe to my carry on and golf bag.  The limit is 50 lbs. or there is a 75 dollar surcharge from 50-70 lbs. and then over  70 pounds requires the passenger to pay 200 dollars.  I bought my boys many soccer jerseys and I even picked up a few things for myself. I bought two 30 inch shoe horns, glass relaxation balls, incent bottles, sixteen World Cup soccer jerseys, and a dozen ties from Thailand.  I added a few things to my golf bag and checked the weight until there was not any place to put anything else. I weighed myself and then stood on the scale holding my golf bag.  My scale registered 23KG(1 KG = 2.2 pounds).  With simple multiplication, I calculated 50.6 pounds.  To be safe, I took out 30 golf balls and gave them to Ponsak.  That should have been close to one Kilo.  I was able to sleep three hours before the maids woke me with a loud KNOCK!  “a run soowat”. (Good morning from the maid).  That is not what I was thinking in my mind.  I wanted to check in and go to sleep on the plane.  I gave the head maid 1500 baht and the other two maids 1000 baht for their kindness and tolerance while I was there.  They earn 2000 Baht per month or 65 dollars.  As in my previous posts, I talked about how Ponsak relies on the maids to do everything.  Last night there was an ant on the table.  He called, “Saa, Saa” and she came in a hurry to remove the ant from the table and scrub it clean.  Any drink that he desires is brought to him once he calls their name.  

Ponsak’s driver, Sumit arrived to pick me up at 3:50 A.M.  He was twenty minutes late but little did I know the consequence of that.  I loaded all my bags into the pickup truck, gave hugs to Ponsak and the maids(you could tell they were very uncomfortable to be hugged by someone who is elite socially compared to themselves.  It made me feel really good to show them that in America, you can be kind and respectful to all people regardless of their social status.  There is a distinctive separateness and dominance that is constantly maintained in my friend's house.  

We are off to the airport, running late.  Here is the consequence that I was not ready for.  Summit pulled away from Krung Kavee onto the highway.  Sumit wasted no time in accelerating the truck to 120 MPH, not  KM per hour, Miles Per Hour.  It usually takes 35 minutes to get to or from the airport but this morning we made the trip in 17 minutes.  I thought I was back on Audobon Highway in Germany. Check-in at the airport went smoothly.  We began to board the 747-400 at 5:05 am.  It is absolutely amazing that this airplane can get off the ground with its enormous size and weight.  We were given the OK for take-off and with a roar of the engines we picked up speed for take-off.  It seemed like eternity when the plane finally lifted off the runway .  There was no more than 100 yards of runway left when the plane began its flight.  We are into the 9^th hour of the flight with another 8 hours to LAX.  We have had significant turbulence on both flights, Bangkok to Tokyo and Tokyo to LAX.  I can only hope that LAX to New Hampshire will be a smoother flight.tained.  You are NOT supposed to share thoughts, ask opinions or physically touch your servants unless it is for discipline.  That’s how you keep the moral high around the house.  

The second leg of the trip, Tokyo to LAX, was very smooth and comfortable.  I met Emily and Lauren from California.  They were sitting directly in back of my seat.  They were returning from Thailand after a two week stay.  As with most people who visit Thailand, they would like to return in the near future.   We were served two meals and coffee, soda or juice throughout the trip.  The lights were shut out for 5 hours of bed time.  Each seat had its own video screen in the seat headrest in front of you.  Games, movies and current flight information was available. 

 We had a 152 mile per hour tailwind to help us be 50 minutes ahead of schedule.  The outside temperature is 95 degrees below zero and a ground speed of 700 mph.  LAX is 44 minutes away.  I will have a five hour layover in Delta Sky Club.  I plan to shower, eat and then onto Southwest Airlines to visit my family in New Hampshire.  It is another 6 hours flight with a stop in Chicago.

The couple hours between flights in LAX was welcomed after 22 hours of flying.  I was able to shower, eat some snacks and work a little on my blog.  Update will be posted tomorrow since I arrive in New Hampshire at 1:00 AM Tuesday.