Kinda gross conversation, but on my mind. I have been putting my toilet paper in the toilet and flushing it down for over 50 YEARS! (not sure when I was potty trained, but I'm 56 now...). Now we have to put it in the wastebasket. I have done that in hotels, stores, restaurants, etc., Tand not just in Mexico, in fact the three weeks I stayed in a host family's guest quarters in San Miguel Allende I used the wastebasket. But in both houses before this one, we flushed it down. In fact, once the toilets are changed, there's a good chance we'll go back to flushing the paper. It's not that I mind. We bought these cute little wastebaskets that have tops that swing, so it's always covered. It's just that after more than 50 years, in the middle of the nite it's hard to remember.
In our house in Petaluma I walked to the bathroom, did my business, and walked back to bed without ever opening my eyes during the nite. Total autopilot. I've only been here 2 weeks so I don't know the way intuitively yet, so I do look- when I walk; sitting on the comode though, I'm probably asleep...so it's hard to remember. Back in the early '90's I was on a business trip in Hong Kong and I used the bathroom in the vendor's building, It had a chain hanging down to flush the toilet. I pulled the chain and it came down in my hands- it just dropped down. I didn't know what to do. I came out of the bathroom and this guy was standing there and he said to me.." I know what just happened". I was mortified and he started laughing. When I first started going to Asia for work it was very formal, and most of the time I was the only woman in the meetings. I had a very cool boss at the time; he had me lead meetings and take the front passenger seat when we went out to a factory or for a meal. Otherwise they would have deferred to my boss or the other engineer with us. I had to establish a relationship that would work once I was back in the states and asking them statistics on our production, accepting the schedule changes I was constantly sending, etc. They had to see me as senior management. (I was not senior mgmt, but for that portion of our business, manufacturing offshore, I was in charge.) Another time, we were in Bangkok; we had moved the production from Hong Kong to Thailand with the same company, I went into a restaurant bathroom. I looked at where I was supposed to pee, and it took a few moments to understand! Ha ha!! I was to squat over basically a hole in the floor, more of a basin, and there were little shoe outlines so you were at a tiny slant. Ha ha ha ha I stood in the wrong direction, which became apparent pretty quick. I splashed my high heels. I was a little bit drunk (if I had been more than that I probly wouldn't remember or would have fallen in), and it became hysterically funny to me, so I had to stand in the hallway and laugh before I went back to the table. Unfortunately for me, the '90's was alot of drinking, and it was so acceptable. If you flew international, you got to fly n business class, so the drinks were free. I always took the noon United flight on Sunday, and was drunk by takeoff. I'd drink, watch the movie, pass out, and wake up before Narita (the airport in Japan). Eat and then get the next flight to Thailand. Or if I was going to Hong Kong it was a direct flight. Then the vendors always took us out for dinners and...more drinking.
I ended up getting a similar job in 2005, 4 years after I quit drinking, The cool thing was I was going back to Thailand and I got to see so much more of it. It's a beautiful country and the people are beautiful as well. So kind and generous, thoughtful, gentle. I was there during the coo, and I was stuck in my hotel, watching the news and saw people bringing food to the soldiers in the tanks. It was a very peaceful coo. My contact with the company, the project manager for our product was this very cool young man, Sarote. We are still friends. I see him on facebook and we chat once in a while. He came to the states a few times and we always hung out. I was there at the company in Bangkok on another occasion and a monk came to bless the building and the people who were there. I was blessed by the monk, too. You know if you are on the train, if a monk boards and there are no seats, you must get up and offer yours. If a monk is sitting already, a woman must sit at least one seat away, never next to him. (not sure about men, but I know for a woman I must sit away from him). The trains there are so nice; user friendly. I don't speak Thai, but you look at a map for the area you want to go, and the routes have buttons on them, so I know I want to go to see this particular temple or go shopping, so I pick the route, push the button, and it says how much it costs- how many baht (currncy is baht). Of course I don't understand but I just put in coins and when I have hit the right amount it spits out my ticket. I know now the train has been extended out to the airport which is huge. Very very convienent, well maybe not great for the taxi's. I always just gave them a card from the hotel I always stayed at and they'd bring me. If I wanted to go somewhere else, or the driver didn't know where something was, I'd call Sarote and he'd tell me to give the phone to the driver. It worked good.
Once I was in this big shopping center with our quality guy, Mike; he was a smoker and he dropped his cigarette on the ground and stepped on it. Out of think air this policeman appeared and wanted to take us to the police station for breaking the law. He asked if we'd ever been to Thailand before and we said "oh yes, many times"...he still wanted us to go with him. But Sarote had told me to NEVER go with the police anywhere. So I called him and he told me to give the policeman my phone. Then it was handed back to me. Sarote told me that the cop was going to ask us if we had ever been to Thailand before and we needed to answer "no". Then the cop could just give us a friendly warning and we could be on our way. So he asked us and we said "no". He let us go, but saved face for himself by giving us newcomers a break. Interesting eh?
Oh and most of the bathrooms were western style...the place with the basin and foot holders was way out in the country and not a place frequented often by westerners....but I love going to those out of the way places.
Ok the only other interesting thing I have for today is: I actually applied for a part time job and I may get it. Ha ha right? Everardo is the one who wants to find a job, not me. But this was in the email I get everyday called the Punta Banda newsletter, and it has upcoming events, menus for the local eaterys, plugs for businesses. Actually I saw a post from the dog rescue where we got Hazel and they're asking for dog walker volunteers...and I responded with a "count me in". NO that's not the job. This morning some woman posted she needs an assistant, 20 hours a week; she's a real estate agent up in the states but works from here. Needs someone with a good phone presence to talk to potential clients- I'm GREAT on the phone, and strong computer skills including excel & powerpoint. Real estate experience good but not required. So....I gave her a call. I was very honest about the fact that my excel & powerpoint is rusty, but retrievable...that I'm great on the phone, etc. She liked me and asked for my resume so I sent her an email. She said she liked my "phone presence" and had a couple other phone interviews to do, and that she's get back to me. Not much money, but we don't need much money. And 20 hours is perfect....so vamos a ver, eh? Funny turn of events, but really, if anyone has any real estate experience, she'll probly go with them. Oh and she works from her house, which is about 8 minutes from here, a little closer to the Bufadora. She is "big picture" and wants someone else to take care of details,,,ok I can do that. Unfortunately I have no internet marketing or web design, but like I said- she told me I sounded very interesting.....ok again vamos a ver....
Mexico fun fact:
In 1910, under the guidance of Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa, Mexican peasants revolted against the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz to gain equality and land. The civil war lasted 10 years and took the lives over 1 million people.
In our house in Petaluma I walked to the bathroom, did my business, and walked back to bed without ever opening my eyes during the nite. Total autopilot. I've only been here 2 weeks so I don't know the way intuitively yet, so I do look- when I walk; sitting on the comode though, I'm probably asleep...so it's hard to remember. Back in the early '90's I was on a business trip in Hong Kong and I used the bathroom in the vendor's building, It had a chain hanging down to flush the toilet. I pulled the chain and it came down in my hands- it just dropped down. I didn't know what to do. I came out of the bathroom and this guy was standing there and he said to me.." I know what just happened". I was mortified and he started laughing. When I first started going to Asia for work it was very formal, and most of the time I was the only woman in the meetings. I had a very cool boss at the time; he had me lead meetings and take the front passenger seat when we went out to a factory or for a meal. Otherwise they would have deferred to my boss or the other engineer with us. I had to establish a relationship that would work once I was back in the states and asking them statistics on our production, accepting the schedule changes I was constantly sending, etc. They had to see me as senior management. (I was not senior mgmt, but for that portion of our business, manufacturing offshore, I was in charge.) Another time, we were in Bangkok; we had moved the production from Hong Kong to Thailand with the same company, I went into a restaurant bathroom. I looked at where I was supposed to pee, and it took a few moments to understand! Ha ha!! I was to squat over basically a hole in the floor, more of a basin, and there were little shoe outlines so you were at a tiny slant. Ha ha ha ha I stood in the wrong direction, which became apparent pretty quick. I splashed my high heels. I was a little bit drunk (if I had been more than that I probly wouldn't remember or would have fallen in), and it became hysterically funny to me, so I had to stand in the hallway and laugh before I went back to the table. Unfortunately for me, the '90's was alot of drinking, and it was so acceptable. If you flew international, you got to fly n business class, so the drinks were free. I always took the noon United flight on Sunday, and was drunk by takeoff. I'd drink, watch the movie, pass out, and wake up before Narita (the airport in Japan). Eat and then get the next flight to Thailand. Or if I was going to Hong Kong it was a direct flight. Then the vendors always took us out for dinners and...more drinking.
I ended up getting a similar job in 2005, 4 years after I quit drinking, The cool thing was I was going back to Thailand and I got to see so much more of it. It's a beautiful country and the people are beautiful as well. So kind and generous, thoughtful, gentle. I was there during the coo, and I was stuck in my hotel, watching the news and saw people bringing food to the soldiers in the tanks. It was a very peaceful coo. My contact with the company, the project manager for our product was this very cool young man, Sarote. We are still friends. I see him on facebook and we chat once in a while. He came to the states a few times and we always hung out. I was there at the company in Bangkok on another occasion and a monk came to bless the building and the people who were there. I was blessed by the monk, too. You know if you are on the train, if a monk boards and there are no seats, you must get up and offer yours. If a monk is sitting already, a woman must sit at least one seat away, never next to him. (not sure about men, but I know for a woman I must sit away from him). The trains there are so nice; user friendly. I don't speak Thai, but you look at a map for the area you want to go, and the routes have buttons on them, so I know I want to go to see this particular temple or go shopping, so I pick the route, push the button, and it says how much it costs- how many baht (currncy is baht). Of course I don't understand but I just put in coins and when I have hit the right amount it spits out my ticket. I know now the train has been extended out to the airport which is huge. Very very convienent, well maybe not great for the taxi's. I always just gave them a card from the hotel I always stayed at and they'd bring me. If I wanted to go somewhere else, or the driver didn't know where something was, I'd call Sarote and he'd tell me to give the phone to the driver. It worked good.
Once I was in this big shopping center with our quality guy, Mike; he was a smoker and he dropped his cigarette on the ground and stepped on it. Out of think air this policeman appeared and wanted to take us to the police station for breaking the law. He asked if we'd ever been to Thailand before and we said "oh yes, many times"...he still wanted us to go with him. But Sarote had told me to NEVER go with the police anywhere. So I called him and he told me to give the policeman my phone. Then it was handed back to me. Sarote told me that the cop was going to ask us if we had ever been to Thailand before and we needed to answer "no". Then the cop could just give us a friendly warning and we could be on our way. So he asked us and we said "no". He let us go, but saved face for himself by giving us newcomers a break. Interesting eh?
Oh and most of the bathrooms were western style...the place with the basin and foot holders was way out in the country and not a place frequented often by westerners....but I love going to those out of the way places.
Ok the only other interesting thing I have for today is: I actually applied for a part time job and I may get it. Ha ha right? Everardo is the one who wants to find a job, not me. But this was in the email I get everyday called the Punta Banda newsletter, and it has upcoming events, menus for the local eaterys, plugs for businesses. Actually I saw a post from the dog rescue where we got Hazel and they're asking for dog walker volunteers...and I responded with a "count me in". NO that's not the job. This morning some woman posted she needs an assistant, 20 hours a week; she's a real estate agent up in the states but works from here. Needs someone with a good phone presence to talk to potential clients- I'm GREAT on the phone, and strong computer skills including excel & powerpoint. Real estate experience good but not required. So....I gave her a call. I was very honest about the fact that my excel & powerpoint is rusty, but retrievable...that I'm great on the phone, etc. She liked me and asked for my resume so I sent her an email. She said she liked my "phone presence" and had a couple other phone interviews to do, and that she's get back to me. Not much money, but we don't need much money. And 20 hours is perfect....so vamos a ver, eh? Funny turn of events, but really, if anyone has any real estate experience, she'll probly go with them. Oh and she works from her house, which is about 8 minutes from here, a little closer to the Bufadora. She is "big picture" and wants someone else to take care of details,,,ok I can do that. Unfortunately I have no internet marketing or web design, but like I said- she told me I sounded very interesting.....ok again vamos a ver....
Mexico fun fact:
In 1910, under the guidance of Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa, Mexican peasants revolted against the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz to gain equality and land. The civil war lasted 10 years and took the lives over 1 million people.
No comments:
Post a Comment