#188 - Operation

This is a blog entry written over several weeks. As I start I am in the Living Room at the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, Bangkok. I had an operation for a minor affliction this week. The operation, at Bumrungrad, was of course, effortless. The aftermath ... wow! 😒 I needed to do it, the doctor confirmed they were severe, but very painful and uncomfortable.

Pain, is really distracting. For the last 3 days I haven't been able to do anything except lay and suffer. I could barely read or watch TV. I went back this morning (since I'm only 10 minutes from the hospital) and he took a look and confirmed all looked fine and gave something a little stronger for the pain. Wow! ... What a difference. Still uncomfortable but at least I am thinking of stuff outside the bubble of throbbing pain. But I'm glad I did it. I was stupid to let it go for so long.

Staying at the Sheraton was a great idea. They have treated me so well. Like family. I know that is a phrase oft abused, but that is the way I feel. I've said this before but I'll say it again. If money was no object, I would just get one of the suites and live here permanently.

I'm still waiting for my Certificate of Loss of Nationality.. Damn government. Can't even give me a status. Seriously. It is a 2 page form. What on earth prevents them from giving me a more informative status than "It is still in process." What on earth takes them (as of this writing) more than 5 months to ‘adjudicate’ it? But I don't dare give them a hard time about it. They are bureaucrats. I'm sure they would retaliate. Which is a sad commentary in and of itself about their integrity.

I'm feeling good being back in Thailand. It can be a messed up place no doubt. Look at the news about them from an unbiased source … But as a foreigner just living here and staying under the radar ... hard to beat.

I got that light weight laptop to travel with [ASUS ZenBiik 14 OLED]. What a difference. My single carry on Aer backpack is about 8kg now. 2Kg lighter than before. Now carrying it is a non-issue. And I have realized I do not do as much any more when I travel. So I got some remote desktop access software so I dial back in to my heavier duty laptop in the Philippines if necessary to access an app I don’t want to install on my ZenBook.

I have migrated my phone backup (especially photos) to Proton Drive. Part of my migration away from Google. I have deleted (or changed to an email alias) more than 100 accounts I had online. What a pain that has been. But I'm glad I'm getting it done. I should be finished by the end of the month. Amazing how few companies allow account deletion.

I'm traveling to Pattaya tomorrow. I will ride out the rest of my recuperation at the Marriott Courtyard there. Man! Just a little freedom from pain is a wonderful thing. 😊

I've said this before but I'll say it again. I think I'm either broken or crazy. I just don't get the way most people behave or think.

Is it education, or lack thereof? Lack of motivation to learn? How to explain the inability to see what is going on around you? Am I arrogant in some way for not realizing that I had an out of the ordinary upbringing? I just don’t know.

I wonder if I can go to Dignitas in Switzerland and say “I am ready for the other door. I can’t live in a world filled with so many stupid people.” Unfortunately I don’t think they would accept that as a reason. 😂

I took a shallow look the other day at some numbers.

World Population = 8 Billion

Number of politicians globally – 8 Million

**Based on checking a few different websites and a bit of a SWAG – Primarily elected officials. This does not include bureaucrats.

Global companies > $USD100 Billion Capitalization = 100 – 120

Upping to 250 to account for private companies => 250

[I freely admit this is a SWAG] – This is to account for the pressure of the arms, auto, and oil companies that are contributing so much to the world’s problems.

Assume 20 C-Suite positions per company = 5000 people who control these companies

5000 is barely a rounding error to 8,000,000 elected officials so let’s just lump them in with that number.

Why all these calculations?

8,000,000/8,000,000,000 = 0.001% of the world’s population

This is the % of the world’s population that is responsible for the mess the world is in.

I am not disputing that most of the rest of the world is responsible for putting these idiots in power (and allowing them to stay there) but still … Doesn’t that seem just insane that such a small percentage of the world’s population is responsible for so much evil and sheer bumbling incompetence? My strategy of trying to do no harm and good wherever I can just seems futile. 😒

Update – It is day 13 since my operation. The recovery has been much slower than the 4 – 7 days predicted but I am coming out of it. I’m still glad I did it. I think. We’ll see what happens as the recovery is complete.

I’m going to post today with a gallery of pictures.