Ahhhhhhh Phuket and BIG news

Rented ride # 19, met up with friends! Hang time at Kata beach with Aussi Dave, his very expecting girlfriend New, her daughter, Mom, and Austrian Herwig. Sunny skies and a little surf for the boys. Now I have been spending my days hooking up with them or finding a quiet spot to sit and read and watch the sights. Because Steve is now working, ya you read it right he has landed a great job with Island Pools Construction. An Australian owned company, that has put Steve in a management position and as you know he used to wear the hats of many positions when he had his own company so this is very different from his past experiences in the industry! So he goes to work and I go visit friends at the beach, nice! Lucky me! We have the evenings open so off we go to visit the Russians we met last year, that are back her on holidays. They had us for dinner and shared delicious food and vodka shots "Russian tradition". Got to meet their other son and Vicka's Mom Olga. They are so friendly and nice and even brought us a special bottle of vodka and a very nice gift for our Grandson Henry, a baby sized Russian hat with a military pin, so thoughtful! Can't wait to see it on him! Steve went to the Bangkok hospital here in Phuket to have a physical for his work visa and it was all good no STD's etc! It was also great that he knows his way around as a few days later we got news that our friends Pam and Gord's niece has been in a terrible accident, cliff jumping. Karrisa broke her back and is in the Bangkok hospital here in Phuket. We met up with the folks that arrived just a few minutes before we got there. Now these Martin's are old family friends of my folks from over 30 years ago and live just a stones throw from my Step-Dad Stan's home. What a tough ordeal for them to have to go through! Their daughter had a very level headed friend Stephanie traveling with her and made sure she was well taken care of. They had been cliff diving off Monkey island (it is close to the popular island named Phi Phi). She has had her surgery and they put a couple rods in her back and a big cast on one of her broken wrists. She is very lucky and will fully recover. It makes us grateful that our own kids are fine. It truly brings "things" into prospective, and we know all will be fine! Our kids are not happy with the decision of us living here, and we hope in time that they will understand! Life is short and like the old saying goes.... for the living! Or should we say if it doesn't kill you it will just make you stronger! More time in with the Russians, more vodka and Steve even got a little jammin in at Rick and Rolls . Hang time watching Theo jam at the Art Bar. Always lots to see here! :) More details to follow! Coming soon to our blog near you!

Koh Phangna to Phuket

Early start to catch the ferry back to Phuket Island. The taxi we reserved from the previous day neglected to pick us up so we hoofed it to the main road and waved down a new ride. Steve forshadowed "it's going to be one of those days". We made it in time to catch the fast ferry, these catamaran units are not only huge but swift as we whipped along at speeds of 35 knots or more. Dropped off and picked up passengers at Koh Samui and whisked along the waters to our next destination on the mainland. Here we caught a minivan that drove us for about an hour and then boarded a big bus heading for Phuket. Again aircon problems (where is Glen Gulevich when you need him?) but between the two drivers and directions from their cell phones the aircon was repaired. Dejavu, this has happened before and we're sure it'll happen again. We waited outside in the cooler 33 degree temperature while the men worked on fixing it. Finally after an hour or so we reboarded the bus and this obstinate woman is sitting in our seats, she was not too happy when Steve ejected her. We find so many Euro's so eurotating. A very bad bold Borsch (Russian) lady. After many hours with our aircon struggling and many stops picking up and dropping off locals, and many passengers standing in the aisle we finally crossed the bridge onto Phuket Island. Now still another transfer into a minivan. Well Borcsh lady is now refusing to get into the minivan saying there is not enough room for her precious little son. He was like 50 pounds soaking wet and yes there was a seat for him, it just happened to be the jumper seat beside the driver but oh no she won't have any of it, so the rest of us sit cooking and waiting. We do not like organized tours for this reason, you're only as fast as the slowest or as happy as the bitchiest, talk about vibe kill, now we are all tired as the trip took way longer than it should, still she is not getting in and saying that it's not a seat and she's going to call the police because they are ripping her off, good luck lady welcome to a foreign country, get over it, you are not in Kansas or in her case Slovania any more! So skinny me (hahaha), moves over and we're four up on a bench that is made for 3. Whatever, at least we can get moving and get rid of this lady soon! This 7 hour trip ended up taking 12 hours. Aaargghh! We were happy to arrive at our hotel, the Jinta Andaman, an old familiar family place we've previously stayed. We quickly checked in and enjoyed a refreshing cool shower. A frosty Chang beer and off to one of our fave spots for a sushi dinner at the Red Snapper. Met up with our friend Theo and he delivered our new bankcards. One of the reasons we're back in Phuket again is to pick up the new and wonderful super secure chipped bank card even though ours was not to expire until 2017. The bank has decided to do this now and fortunately we have our friendly bank manager Fran at the Credit Union overseeing things such as this and our buddy Pam looking after our personal business, together they made sure our new cards were shipped to our friend Theo's here in Thailand. Great to have friends in all the right places! Cards in hand.....ahhhh life is good again!