Waste

Got to get out of Vientiane for a bit. My productivity and motivation have sunk like a stone since I got back from Xepone, haven't really gotten much done. And I've come to accept that the government is by and large useless in setting stuff up for me. I've been sitting here for weeks, waiting for a few intervies that they said were in the immediate offing. But no dice. Fine. Whatever. Going to Bangkok tomorrow night to buy a laptop and to attend a three-day reunion of old Second Indochina War vets from all venues, Americans, Vietnamee, Lao, Thais, CIA, you name it. Who knows who'll be there. Certainly worth my time and my 1000 Baht. And after that I'm going to go for a little breather to Ko Pha Ngan to see my friends again, bring my laptop, do a some work in the day whnI'm not snorkelling or hiking or swimming or going out to the Village of the Damned at night. Sorry, Haad Rin is half village of the Damned, half Confederacy of Dunces. It'll be a laugh. I miss my friends. I need a change of scene. My motivation was unstoppable for quite a while, but... I don't know. Something happened. I figure it'll return after a break.

Funny thing happens out here wandering, something kind of based on the solitary traveling experience. You're looking for company much of the time, and then sometimes you find some and you get sucked into it, your own agenda getting subsumed into that of whatever little group you;ve joined. Then periodically your own needs reassert themselves forcefully and you bounce out suddenly. Howard and I are both leaving Lao. He's my roommate here. It's time to go for both of us. He's been here 2 1/2 months, I've been here 2. Time to go, at least for a little bit.

Cheers.