Ah, Go To Hell

Diaper Rash:  A generic term applies to various skin rashes in the diaper area.

This morning, in response to some riff or other that I had over-extended  - probably not that great a riff in the first place, no refrain from "Cocaine," that's for sure  - SuperK commented: "Ahh, go to hell."  While it doesn't look that great in print it was spot on for the moment and well-played.

We have been so wet for so long that SuperK is convinced she has developed diaper rash.  I'm pretty sure I have trench foot of the neck - I've applied almost an entire tube of anti-itch cream over the last 10 days to no effect.  The watch I'm wearing has a leather band and I'm afraid it's going to rot through before I get home.

Let me repeat this fact: I like hot weather.

We wondered around the hotel area for a bit this morning.  We got lost, of course, in the maze and warrens of old buildings and narrow alleys which block out any landmarks that one might use.  Even if you can spot a high building it's not easy to tell how to get there.  We think that they may open and close roads.  We think that there are ne'er-do-wells who have been trapped in various neighborhoods for years and years.  At one point we followed a sign which read: "Shortcut to Khaosan Road."  The shortcut - and I am not making this up - included climbing a narrow wooden staircase, opening a door onto the second floor of a building which housed a travel agency, walking around a balcony, and dropping down a flight of stairs into a restaurant. From there we made our way out onto the street.

The alleys and Khaosan Road were an endlessly repeating sequence of bars and cheap souvenir shops.  I'd like to go to some government economic agency and suggest that someone try to sell something else, although I did buy a wallet - probably made in China - for $10, so maybe they know what they're doing.

The experience strengthened my view that Bangkok is for the young - cheap food and booze, no need to wear anything but thongs, flop-houses everywhere - and for the degenerate.  There were a LOT of people drinking and smoking at 10AM in the morning, scarfing noodles and rice, not looking like they had big plans for the day.  Anyone over 30 looks to be running from an indictment in Arkansas for hosting cock fights (that's a joke - cock-fighting is perfectly legal in Arkansas) or a German engineer grimly checking off must-see sites.  I'm the best dressed person I've seen since Chiang Mai and that's because I have a shirt with a collar and socks on.