Mai Pen Rai, Whatever Shall Be Shall Be

Our plan is to pack our boxes for shipping to Thailand, sell our remaining furniture, and then fly to Bangkok next Wednesday.  Nee's home was flooded some last year which left her refridgerator unusable, so her family has kindly been searching for a new one for us to have it waiting for our first days in Thailand.  All that is the plan.  Unfortunately, a few realities have reared their ugly heads.

The snow here has turned to ice with freezing rain leaving the roads impassable.  We have a number of errands we need to run before we go and this will hold us up.  Also, the ice has stopped all flights out of Seattle today.  Presumably these problems will disappear by next week however this is the northwest and such weather is always possible to continue. 

Yesterday, I was looking out my front window when I saw my neighbor's son attempt to drive up the slope to his driveway when his car stopped in the ice.  With the assistance of a neighbor and myself, we managed to push him sideways to a strip of clear street to get him back on the move.  Still, he wasn't able to get up to his own driveway so I volunteered mine until the road clears.  His car is still there this morning.  We had a brief power failure this morning which would also hinder our progress if it returns.

Next we have Thailand.  During the last quarter of last year, much of the central part of the country was flooded, leaving people's homes in two to six feet of water for weeks and even months.  As most people keep their refrigerators on the first floor, there is now a shortage on new refrigerators there.  I don't even want to think about any other challenges that might hinder our progress.

Past trips to Thailand have had challenges, such as the tsunami, a coup and protests.  The Thais have a phrase, Mai Pen Rai, which loosely translates to, "It's all right, never mind, everything will be ok."

We will continue to pack, rid ourselves of furniture and proceed with our plans.