Post Hoc, ergo...

I finished my CELTA on the 25th of November, spent a couple nights on Koh Yao Noi (a smallish island between Phuket, Pha Nga, and Krabi provinces, and then flew to Bangkok to take care of my visa. Having finished all that junk, I got on the plane to Taipei at 6 in the evening. I got stopped before passport control by the thermal camera and was determined to have a high grade fever. The airport folks were worried about bird flu so I stuck around about an hour and a half to wait to see the doctor. When I was eventually let out, I found that my bank card didn't work in Taiwan any better than it had worked in Thailand and opted for a taxi home. Taxi driver kept it at 130km/h most of the way back and we did the airport to Taichung trip in about 90 minutes. I think it usually takes two and a half hours in the bus.

When I got home, Franklin had been asleep for about ten minutes so I didn't see him until the next morning. When he wakes up, Franklin rolls over a couple of times and then pulls himself up in his crib to say hello. His personality is becoming more and more defined and it's mostly good.

This past Sunday was Frank's lunar birthday which meant it was a time to visit the grandparents in Changhua. My mother-in-law's mother died a few months ago and because of traditional constraints, she couldn't hold her grandson. Not so now. Grandma gave Frankie a pot and a spoon and told him to go to town. Little Ringo filled the house with a joyful noise for hours.

Before we came home, a tea drying tray was prepared with a pen, a red envelope, a packet of oreos, an abacus, and a copy of the I-Ching. Franklin was placed on the tray in the midst of all this stuff so that he could choose his fortune. He took the abacus, thus paving the way for a bundle of golden business opportunities.

Everyone's happy.