Mikes Thoughts

early morning quiet time

There’s something that’s so nice in our normally busy and rather loud Khmer neighborhood. That’s the mornings when I strain to hear any noise and I’m greeted with nothing. My wife in bed sleeping.

Sometimes a rooster speaks up. But not much else. It does not last long. I’ve wondered since we lived here why people that don’t work get up so damned early. My wife says it’s a good time to talk. Before the heat sets in. I think in a Khmer neighborhood any time is a good time to talk. There is no “weather permitting” switch in the forever talking after about 6am. I give up then and do the coffee thing.

After about 6am, in our neighborhood the day gets going. Motos sputter to life, kids will be out playing. I like writing then too but its a separation point from the journaling when I hear nothing and make it all happen writing early. There’s something about the journaling act when there is no counterpart of people needing things, wanting to say, finding something to laugh over. It’s before my morning coffee being made and often putting the fan on just because.

When I lost the weight, I guess I started this new thing for me. I was so obese and unhappy and likely unhealthy before. I dropped about 80 pounds then just with walking and not drinking. These days I keep with the food thing. I love food here. My wife makes a mix of things for me. I like her western food cooked, her khmer food is very good too. She knows the mix I need. But it’s one meal a day for me. Other times fruit here that she keeps in stock for me. Just about any fruit but my current favorites are dragonfruit and Cambodian mangos. I also love rambutan. Most of the things are locally grown but I also love apples which are not. She does apples for me because I desire them. Other stuff too. Fruits she gets like watermelon and oranges. Pineapple is good but do not have it too often.

Anyways, I have no desire to manage my weight but I also do not ever want to be like I was. So I just settled on a way of things that works for me. I like dinner at 3pm and then some cookies for dessert. I like the mornings not eating unless I have toast.

Just some of the ways I think I feel better each day. The practices I just love each day like writing here and there, walking, yoga, meditation. I stopped timing or counting any of the things. There is no point in counting or timing when my body knows what I’ve done. I just let myself feel good about what it is I’ve done on a day. Or sometimes not good when I miss a thing I love doing.

moving or not

Not. We went through this Khmer family thing about this house. My wife then shared a video of it yesterday. There are some things just not meant to be and that house is one of them. It’s an extreme fixer upper. I am not a fixer upper kind of person any more. I just want to pay my money and have something that provides some kind of comfort and ease in life. Painting and cleaning and doing basic house maintenance stuff is not in the cards for me. I also will never own a house again. Or a car. Watches, fancy doodads. Whatever. There’s no upside to owning a house to me. My wife probably feels differently but this is the way we live and it works for us and for lots of other barang people that come here.

I don’t particularly like the current place. I would prefer not just a khmer neighborhood like this one. It has its issues with how life goes here. My wife is social and a talker. I am not. I prefer to not be bothered with people well meaning and friendly. Sorry khmer family people. Its me.

Moving would mean a new intersection of life and good and bad things. We don’t want that now. I don’t want instantly more barang people around me. I see enough of them most days. Some days none. I’m good with that too.

It’s past the early morning time and we are not moving on. I’ll be moving along in a few hours though. So I’ll just carry this along and write a few things from some nice little khmer coffee shop I manage to visit. From early morning silence to the neighborhood revving up to its usual cacophony of words, sounds.

down to a coffee place just because

I fought this morning on where to spend my coffee time. It’s my getaway to a place to just sit with some social interaction at a level I can take. I go out every day and usually try to go in a different direction. Today it’s Summer Coffee. A newer place closer to where we live. I enjoy it here because it’s all comfort. The inside and outside are done tastefully and both minimally yet with some nice pieces. WiFi works exceptionally well. Like I think most places here. Never have had a complaint about WiFi except at home. Friends don’t let friends buy smart home WiFi. It’s not so good. If I were by myself I would hotspot the phone.

So here we are. Found a nice guesthouse in Kampot with a swimming pool and a decent location. Booked 4 nights. At a total of $65 and with good reviews, this place looks nice. Now it’s coffee.

summer coffee

And writing. And a spell of overthinking. It’s the usual Mike force in action. I veered away from wanting to pay for this kind of thing since I get all I want and more with just how I write now on the iPhone and MacBook. So why change. Well... unless I wanna change. It always percolates around but this way of doing this crap just works.

I’ll walk next and end up at this little mart that sells a particular type of cookie I simply love. Must buy more cookies. Now it’s coffee.

See ya.