The Wanderings of busman7

Although I have only had a small taste of Hawaii, mainly in tourist central Waikiki Beach area, I did make extensive use of TheBus, Honolulu’s public transportation system. Which is the best I have encountered in any other US/Canadian city. http://www.thebus.org

Then of course the moneyed tourists assure there is lots of shopping. Needed a new pair of Keene sandals, around the world + 3 years steady use had taken the toll on my old ones. Now a major transfer point for TheBus just happens to be at The Ala Moana Center,  http://www.alamoanacenter.com   the world’s largest open-air shopping center, or so the propaganda says.Found the Keene’s for less than I paid for them in Toronto 3 yrs ago.

As one would expect, the Hawaiian Islands, being more or less, the mid-point of the Pacific between Asia & North America, have a different feel than the US. Kind of a combination of both but without the visible extreme poverty.

Definitely worth exploring, especially if you get a deal, like I did, that saves a couple hundred bucks transiting through HNL direct from Asia to the Americas.

Must be getting a bit jaded living in the tropics near the sea, because Hawaii is warm has beaches & palm trees like the rest of SE Asia, southern North/Central America & parts of OZ, nothing special really. A tad more upscale than most places but that means more expensive.

So have been on the road now for 3 months, 3 weeks & 3 days & what have I learned?

First of all, from the quick drive through, then talking with the couple we picked up at the Royal DeCameron resort near Sonsante, El Salvador is a pretty good place & being geared more towards the Latino population than Gringos makes it a different experience.

Next a couple days in Antigua Guatemala showed how too much tourism has, not only driven prices to the point of being ridiculous, it has also eroded the charm of a couple years ago but also the friendliness of the tourism workers.

Also while in Antigua, as the bus was arriving after dark, I tried to book a hotel room in Tapechula on the Mexican side of the border with Guatemala. Now this is an international border where for most bus connections an overnight stay is required one would think the hostel booking sites such as Hostel World, Lonely Planet, BootsnAll etc would have a few choices to pick from. Not so, only a couple hotels pushing $100, actually the same thing happened a couple weeks ago at the Thai/Cambodia border at Koh Kong. As a result of this indifference to independent travelers, I will no longer be using these sites. Shall just stick with touts, tuk-tuk & taxi drivers.

The Mexican executive buses  are still up to their same high standards but busier requiring, in some cases, 24 hrs advance booking.

What a contrast between the Mexican service & than the sad excuse for service offered north of the Rio Grande by Britain’s First Group, who got suckered into buying bankrupt Greyhound from Canada’s Laidlaw, who used some creative financing to show a profit during a year they were under Chapter 11 protection. On “The Dog” the law of the jungle prevails, No such silly things such as seat reservations, baggage check-in or meaningful schedules. First in line with their baggage/screaming kids in tow get on, when bus is full any remaining passengers are SOL, however should bus not be full, it sits at terminal until it is. Such is the way things are done in the US/Canada these days!

Oh yeah Homeland Stupidity holding people up for an hour at the border while the X-ray the buses would be laughable except there is no place to sit, so it’s just damned irritating.

San Antonio & the Alamo are cool while Memphis with Graceland & Beale street are interesting but the elevated police observation boxes on Beale St are a bit too much new age Police State for my liking!

Motel 6 doubling their prices upon crossing the border into Canada sucks as does the 13% HST rip-off tax in Ontario but then food, fuel etc are all ridiculously priced as well. After being shafted on the internet scam sales site eBay, trying to sell my Checker, I  was forced to spend 29 days in total in Ontario an average of $60/day to exist. Add that cost to the $2500 I lost on my investment in the Checker + the accountant cost of wrapping up mothers estate, it was a damned expensive farewell visit to Crapanada!

The next lesson was that if you want a reasonably priced flight to Bangkok, it has to be before June 1st. However Bangkok is still the amazing city it was, although not cheap in the tourist areas.

On to Cambodia which was my least favorite SE Asian country  on my RTW & remains so after 2 1/2 months there. Although as disgusting & screwed up as Phnom Penh is, the place kind of grows on you after a bit + it’s only a 4 hr bus ride to the beaches of Sinanoukville.

Also apparent is the fact that at 65 one is a dinosaur to be relegated to the scrap heap & pretty much unwanted as far as working is concerned! They don’t mind taking your money though.

Heard from my, former Canton de L’est principal contact, at the Chinese school, things moving slower than planned, so I have decided to cut bait & pull the pin on Cambodia. Door is still ajar at that school though so if all goes according to plan for them, there’s still a slight possibility of returning at some point.

Cancelled the plan to visit Bali, Indonesia requires more income than the pathetic stipends Crapanada doles out to native born Canadians, to retire there, so no point. Wi-Fi sucks here this aft, so can’t book a flight. Will head into town in the morning to a travel agent, getting to late to book a flight on line for Monday.

Plan is to catch the bus to PP Monday morning then evening flight to Seoul then Honolulu, be back in El Salvador by the weekend.`

Same, Same, but different! Not sure what that means but it’s on thousands of T-shirts in Cambodia & it pretty much sums up my waiting game. Same old waiting game, but different as, guess I miscalculated the extent of age discrimination in Asia, just as bad as in Canada & I’m not going to be happy with the outcome.

Over 20 CV’s personally delivered + a few more, to schools outside PP emailed, resulted in only 4 interviews.

One person on a forum posted that much of the problem with jobs in Cambodia was the US economy was so bad that a lot of university grads were coming over as there was no work for them at home. Of course he was jumped on, as is typical on forums, when a truth is posted that most don’t want to accept! However my observations over the past couple months have proven him right.

Went around to a couple of schools in Sihanuokville today, that use foreign teachers but of course no openings in Cambodia’s only port city.

Oh well just enjoy the rest of the week on Ochheuteal Beach & see what Friday brings, in the meantime pricing the trip home via Bali, want to touch base with someone, & Hawaii. 🙂

Reading posts on Trip Advisor has gotten me thinking about the meaning of friendship & the difference between friends, frens & acquaintances.

Some claim to go to a resort for a week or 2 & make good friends with staff in that period of time.

Then there’s people with 200, 400 or even 1000 Facebook friends.

To me a friend is someone you can open up to, tell anything, ask for help (& get it) at any time. You also need shared experiences, not necessarily together but the same situation. Most importantly, you feel relaxed when together, even if it’s been a few years since you last met. Also in this internet age it is still necessary to meet face to face to form a friendship.

If the above feelings don’t apply then they are just acquaintances.

Of course there are also people who come in & out of your life for short periods, usually around that mid-life time, that can be “special” to you. These fall into an entirely different category.

There are also hypocrites who profess to be friends, display all the right signs but are merely doing it in hopes of personal gain. These are your employees who profess undying loyalty & friendship, right up until the point you close the doors,sell out & lay them off. Then they forget you ever existed, never to be contacted again. Not just me either, same happened to an acquaintance who sold his buses shortly after I did. *there is one exception you will read about later

Using the above guidelines, I can count the true friends of the past 65 years on my fingers. I tend to be discriminating in making friends. *note relatives, although they can be friends, are excluded, as you don’t have  choice who your relatives are.

I define my life in chapters, the growing up years (some will say I have yet to complete that chapter), the pipeline years, business years of course the final chapter “the trash-heap years” is an ongoing saga. Of course the timeline blurs & overlaps in instances.

Using the above outline I can only define 3 friends from my growing up years. One was a neighbor who lived a couple miles away, we grew up, went to school, partied together, shared some experiences that are best not posted on a public forum, our friendship continued through the pipeline years, lapsed during the business years, renewed on my nostalgic trip to the home place & continues on facebook.

The 2nd friend while living in the city spent all his holidays at his uncles farm, we met through the 4-H club, hung out with the above friend, a next door neighbor, our friendships were intertwined, only difference is he’s not on fb & the email address  I have doesn’t work so we have kind of lost touch again.

Third friend rode the same school bus as I though most of elementary school, moved with his family back to the city for a few years but always summered at the farm. Although he was acquainted with my other friends the friendships didn’t overlap. We lost contact during the pipeline years, reacquainted during my nostalgic trip, found him still living on his fathers farm but again no fb, no email, no more contact.

The pipeline years brings 2 more friends, normally pipelined in the summer, returning to La Belle Province in the winter. The first I met while driving for a local transport company, he later became dispatcher in the city & my boss who taught me to drive tractor trailer. Still remember the day I equaled his record of 30 city drop-off/pickups with a tractor trailer in one day, on the way back to the terminal I was stopped for driving on the shoulder of the DeCarie Expressway (traffic was slow & I was in a hurry). Went in the office (without checking who else was there) & boasted that I had beaten his record, 31st stop was a ticket. When I had finished he says “Dave I would like you to meet our insurance man” Oops!! Once again renewed contact on nostalgic trip but no fb, no email.

The other from the PL years I met on a spread in London ON, little did I know at the time but he was to become my brother-in-law & also teach me the intricacies of bush road driving + the reason for the set of single chains amongst your jewelry, 1 for the steering axle, 1 for the trailer or in the case of just a tad of ice put them on the first drive axle. Haven’t seen or hard of him in 30 years, not even sure if he’s still alive.

Next in the 30+ business years are many acquaintances’ but due to being in business very few that became friends. Overlapping the pipeline & business years were a couple neighbors with whom  a lot of Royal Reserve Rye Whiskey was consumed in the garage next door, a lot of skidoo trips in the Ganny became adventures & many evenings spent at the local Orono auction barn or even trips to Lindsay, Woodville & Hoards Station, in search of deals on pigs, goats etc. Eventually both moved north to cottage country, one still there whom I saw a year ago, the other back near family whom I meant to visit last spring but never made it. Both of course no fb or internet.

A couple of the first people I had dealings with in the business years were the brothers that operated the tire shop on Main Street, over the years they became friends, also imparting a lot of pointers in the fine art of tractor pulling. Still have the trophy I won, beating them at the local fair one year with dad’s Super C. Attended their going out of business sale this past June, closing out an era & cutting my ties with Ontario. Again not big on the internet so will loose touch,

Also at the sale, among the multitude of acquaintances whom I will likely ever see again were a couple more friends. One that I first met shortly after moving to Kendal, the mechanic who could fix anything, provided you didn’t take offense at his ranting about the piece of junk that never should have been made. One of the best guys one could meet, shared many good times together. The other another old pipeliner  who was on one of my first spreads but we never met until years later, he progressed from a pipeline skid truck driver to a spark eater & now just works out of the local “onion” hall, shared many good times & a lot of whiskey together. once again neither on the internet.

That leaves one last person, the exception to the rule, whom was not a friend during my business period, actually worked  for me but, if I remember correctly quit before he was fired over a policy disagreement. However in the last couple years between selling the school runs & dissolution of the company, he was rehired as my only driver, we became friends & remain so until this day. Although, for personal reasons, he isn’t on fb we stay in touch by email.

During the transition from my business period on a trip to mothers I made a side trip to an internet “friend” who lived in the area. Found we had a lot in common & have since become friends who keep in touch on fb & email.

An ironic development of my blogging is that a person from the teenage years whom I never really separated as a friend, she was going with a friend & they were a couple for a while back in the day. Has resurfaced via email & I now consider her a friend in her own right.

As you can see during the writing of this a few more friends surfaced from my memory & I am now using one foot to complete the friend count.

Also during my travels, there are people I have met, have clicked with so well that given different timing & circumstances, I feel I could have easily become friends with. One owns a Route 66 motel in California, another is a football fan from Brum. Then there’s the lady I just can’t get out of my mind that I met at the Lovina Beaches in Bali, mustn’t forget the grandmother in BC, on the bay overlooking the US. Fortunately all 4 are friends on facebook so we still stay in touch. There are more but the above spring to mind first.

I also just spent 2 months at a guest house in Phnom Penh where the family running it used the common area as their living room. After a while I was given a discount on meals, free bananas at supper, when the granddaughter had her 4th birthday party, those of us in the restaurant at the time were given a piece of cake & a free beer. However that was just good business, not a sign of friendship.

I use facebook as a way of staying in touch with interesting people I have met, relatives, as well as the few true friends that also use it.

So what’s the point in this rather lengthy (for me) rambling post?

Just to point out that anyone believing that they can go on holiday, even multiple times & make true friends in a different culture is either extremely naive, a person craving friendship at any cost or a very shallow person with no idea what true friendship is. Sure it’s possible as it happened to me in Bali but most of the time they are solely acquaintances or at worst frens.

As to facebook friends, sure for anyone in  hospitality or entertainment business it makes sense to be friends with patrons. However just a quick check of my fb friends shows that only a couple have more than 60, guess that’s one reason that they ARE my fb friends.

For what it’s worth that’s my take on friendship! 🙂

Yep it’s a great society we, in the west, have let the government simple serpents fashion for us.

When times were good, before capitalism ran amok, we in the middleclass were too busy living the dream to pay attention to the increase in the simple serpent sector, where more & more, of these nonproductive citizens, waddled up to the trough to slurp the life blood from the economy. The top tier also formed little fiefdoms where trod over the rights of the taxpayers who paid their bloated salaries. The rich were making too much money (and still are) to care, those too lazy to work were well looked after on welfare to worry & of course the politicians were busy lining their pockets to care what was happening.

So now we have 50%+/- of the population who during their careers created nothing of benefit to society but by creating self serving unions with bloated pension plans, are able to live fairly well.

Of course the top 10% control the economy, so have no worries, except how to avoid paying taxes!

The bottom 10% have always managed to get by on government handouts are now feeling the pinch as the trough is running dry, due to the greed of those in power, are forced to exist on a pittance.

That leaves the 30% who paid the majority of taxes & actually contributed to the economy & are now reaching retirement age with a major problem! How to survive after 65? 

Some/most lived their lives as wage slaves doing the bidding of others but receive some form of pension to augment the pittance the simple serpents deem adequate for productive members of society. They may even also have savings that bring next to nil interest in a bank account or they can gamble on the, elite controlled, stock/bond markets.

Leaving a few free thinkers, square pegs that didn’t fit in societies round holes, otherwise known as independent small business owners. This segment always has gotten by thinking outside the box!

Many, many snows ago a retired, successful small businessman gave me some of the best advise I have ever received, “The most important thing is to realize a business is no longer profitable, then get out!”

So as the century turned & it became evident that the public was buying into the bigger is better syndrome the simple serpents in charge of the school boards took advantage of the situation & began the process of forcing the small operator out of business. When towards the end of the first decade of the 21st century, the Brits managed to take control of the majority of the Canada/US school bus fleet + the 2 major line haul companies, Greyhound & Coach USA, it became clearly apparent that it was time to get to hell outa Dodge!

Now with the public transportation system, that I spent 1/2 my life working to improve, being derogated to the worlds worst, civil rights (post 911) lost to the level of a benevolent dictatorship (walking shoeless through airport security), banks paying a laughable 1/2% interest on savings accounts, stock markets controlled by the Bilderberg elite. I made the decision to travel the world in search of a place where my pittance of an income would allow me to live a decent life as opposed to existing below the poverty level while working as a Walmart greeter!

Have always managed to live at an acceptable level of comfort, whether it was picking apples for spare cash when I was a student or driving cab on weekends when I first went into business. Now, having spent nearly 2 months in Cambodia, looking for a position as a TEFL teacher, I have realized that the western values towards age discrimination, combined with the local culture where children look after their parents, makes it extremely difficult to land a job.

However there is one glimmer of hope, as a fellow Eastern Townshipper, is principal of a Chinese school that is opening a new campus, will hire me if by the  end of the month he hasn’t found a full compliment of the highly desired (for kindergarten) 20 something, white females. Of course there is still the odd chance of an international school being short the token white face.

It’s holding pattern until the 26th when I will find out about the job at the Chinese school, if it’s a no go, shall return home to Rancho las Brisas & concentrate on my Bed & Breakfast business.

Society may try their best, but they can’t keep a GOOD man down!

Rant over.

Happy trash head day to me, happy trash heap—-!!!

now if only my Wi Fi access would return I could post this

In June 2008 Daryl & Davy Vogel set off from Prudhoe Bay in Alaska bound for Ushuaia Argentina, accompanied by their parents, in an attempt to break the record as the youngest to cycle the Pan-American Highway.

Prior to leaving, their mother Nancy had contacted GWR for the regulations of the attempt. These were followed to the letter + she was in contact with GWR during the nearly 3 years it took to complete the 17,300 mile journey.

On returning home in July 2011 Nancy submitted the request for the record to GWR, only to be informed that the category had been eliminated in 2009 so the boys efforts would NOT be recognized.

I am posting this as I, along with many others, feel the decision, made while the attempt was ongoing & especially GWB not bothering to notify them, is completely unfair, Daryl & Davy should be grandfathered in or at the very least given a certificate stating they met all the guidelines for the “rested” category.

You can follow their amazing journey  http://familyonbikes.org thanks for taking the time to read this.

A petition has been started, to get GWB to give Daryl & Davy the recognition they earned  http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/familyonbikes  please sign to give GWB something to think about.

When I decided to come to Cambodia in search of a new career I allowed 2 months for it to happen. With July drawing to a close that time is & the prospects of successfully completing my  mission are pretty bleak.

Have made the rounds handing out my CV, only found a couple places where I was granted an interview, the rest was just give it to the receptionist.

Found 4 online job boards for Cambodia but most of the same jobs appear on all, jobs that weren’t in town I applied on line. Even checking the NGO & volunteer listings.

The lack of a degree combined with the economic slow down in the US/Canada isn’t helping either as there is an influx of back packer type, recent grads that can’t find work at home, coming to SE Asia to teach English.

Even broke down & emailed my CV to an agency in China, who advertised they could find placements (at 1/2 pay) for people with no degree or experience, 2 weeks has now passed with no response.

Main problem though is age discrimination top that off with a touch of sex discrimination & you’re pretty much flogging a dead horse.

On the khmer forum, a 20 something Brit female who dropped out of college, posted that she had 3 job offers within 3 days of arriving. Granted non were the optimum job but beats the hell out of none in 6 weeks even with a TEFL certificate.

Oh well have a bunch of applications in for jobs that close on the 31st, where “only short listed applicants will be notified” + 1 that “if you’re still around at the end of the month I might have something” which means that possibly, maybe, if no 20 something female with no qualifications shows up, I may be desperate enough to call but don’t hold your breath!

One week today’s my 65th birthday so tune in then as if no job there will be a good  rant posted as I get to hell outa Dodge & catch the bigassed silver bird for Hawaii, my last of the 50 states to visit, on the way to home sweet home at Rancho las Brisas, Playa San Diego, El Salvador.

It’s been nearly a month since I last posted, for the simple reason there has been nothing to report, just living a mundane life of austerity while searching for a job. This has resulted in my being in WTF mode, as in WTF am I doing in this crazy flucking town?

Phnom Penh has to be about the skuzziest capital city in SE Asia, certainly no where in the same league as Bangkok, Singapore or even Yangon. With no public transportation one has to rely on tuk-tuks, motos, rickshaws or the odd taxi.

While the vast majority of locals get by with bicycles or scooters, there seem to be more Lexus SUVs per population than any other country I have been in & Land Rover SUVs seem to be the choice of NGOs. Strangely these vehicles show show hardly any sign of accidents as traffic rules are only somewhat followed at the few intersections with lights. Stop signs are merely street decorations & meaningless.

Chinese investment is evident in new construction + NGO money is evident (not sure how much filters down to it’s intended recipients though).

However living here is relatively cheap, I’m staying at the King Guest House in a fan room for $8/night, another $10 for food & a couple beer. Of course there’s a good assortment of nightlife in the restaurants & bars http://www.canbypublications.com/phnompenh/ppnight.htm

On coming I was prepared to spend 2 months in the job search, arrived at a bad time for hiring so looks like it’s going to take the full 2 months, which sucks, as waiting is boring.

Oh well, have to renew visa Tuesday for another 30 days & see what happens with all the job openings that close applications between now & the end of July.

With the Checker sold, mother’s affairs wrapped up (hopefully) & income tax filed  (some rebates due), a friend drove me to Pearson 01:40 flight on Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong, with a connection that arrived in Bangkok at 10:35 a day later.

Same price would have gotten me a flight on AeroSvit with a mid afternoon departure, transiting through Kiev but arriving BKK at 03:00.

Think I made the right choice as I not only saved an extra night in a motel but Cathy Pacific’s service was excellent with 2 free meals + 2 snacks of better than normal airline food. Also there was no issue with a one way ticket, either with CX or Thai immigration.

Flew with carryon only which made for hassle free check in, security clearance & leaving the airport. Immigration line  was long, especially as it is low season but only took about 1/2 an hour.

Rail link to the BTS is an amazing, cheap & quick way into town with very few travelers using it. Guess most prefer paying a fortune to taxis & limos to sit in traffic & sniff exhaust fumes! Personally I liked the idea of a few minutes into the city center then a change to the BTS, 5 stops later arriving at the Nana station right on Sukhumvit in the heart of things, Nana Recreation Complex 10 minutes one way & Soi Cowboy 10 minutes the other.

Of course the area is touristy & expensive but for 3 or 4 days a great reintroduction to the delights of Bangkok, the most amazing city in the world! IMHO

Spent the remainder of Wednesday resting from the flight. Thursday went to the tailors, ordered 5 shirts + 1 pants for 6000 Baht (a tad less than $200), fitting today & will be ready Saturday at 5pm. How’s that for price & service!

Out for a few beer with a TEFL classmate last night at Nana & tonight with another to Soi Cowboy, recuperate tomorrow then catch a bus to Phnom Penh Sunday.

Bangkok just gets better & better with each visit, this one makes 6 along with 2 months living here, almost a second home LOL 🙂

Fate works in mysterious ways, especially since I set out on my quest for paradise, 3 years ago. The way I ended up with my TEFL certificate on mothers 90th birthday, then the screwing by Qantas that resulted in my buying the casa in El Salvador.

Now the scam on eBay resulting in my putting the Checker in Roger’s terminating business sale, that resulted in my spending an extra couple weeks in Ontario.

During those 3 weeks in purgatory there were about 3 days of decent weather, however I ran into most of the people that I associated with during my time here. Experienced how much things have changed, for the worse, since I sold out & started traveling.

A few have passed on, like the owners of 2 local wrecking yards I used to patronize. There are no more small school bus operators in the area. Actually Roger’s tire shop was the last of the small business’s, I dealt with over the years left.

Anyone that I cared about seeing was at the sale, the auctioneer I have known since I arrived in the area & of course I found Roger’s tire shop soon after arriving in Bowmanville

St Stephens High School, which started me off in the school charter business was located across the road until their new school was built & Great Lakes College, whom I did charters & summer camps for 11 years, bought the property.

With sale of the Checker in these circumstances has brought closure to my time in Ontario, there is nothing left for me here any longer, kids are grown & can come to SV. One more quick trip to pickup the Scout & that’s all she wrote about that chapter of my life!