JW Consciousness Stream - 13 November 2025

JW Consciousness Stream - 13 November 2025

This entry represents something like my stream of consciousness for Thursday, 13 November, 2025. This is basically like a journal entry that I work on throughout the day and then don't go back to correct errors.

Originally published as: https://deliverystack.net/2025/11/12/jw-consciousness-stream-november-2025/

Some tracks for today:

I might not write much today. I'm so disturbed by the news coming out of the USA on a daily basis that I either need to curb my compulsion to check or just stay away from screens completely. Then again, I don't have anything else to do - one can only read books for so much time in a day. And some part of me thinks that there are powers behind events in the USA that basically want people like me to turn off the news and take no action.

I don't really care on which side of anything you are, especially as I think most people are somewhere in the center. The conflict needs to stop so that we can all work together. Both extremes are unhealthy, increasing hatred and division. None of the perspectives seem real or based on anything real. It's just hype, a bunch of people being misdirected and misinformed and triggered. It's just creating a more stressful situation and a lot of people are not prepared for it. I am not prepared for it. I obviously am very careful about trusting my news sources and I avoid things like confirmation bias if I can. I try to see both sides of every story. I just don't see anything good happening in the USA, so I need to focus on my own mental health. I simply don't have the strength to pay attention to it every day, and I have too many other things that I want to deal with that I want to do. So I might even take a day off from writing today and just listen to music.

Speaking of reading, what follows is my current printed book, though I actually listen to multiple audio books and read multiple physical books simultaneously without necessarily finishing everything, especially in order. My friend Adam recommended this series during some discussion about Laos. I think I've started four and finished two, and those not in series order:

Well, I took care of some responsibilities and did some writing, mostly about the period after Sitecore, living in Singapore, and my divorce. I at a huge breakfast that Kham prepared. She's driving to the bus station and taking a bus to Nong Khai in Thailand. During one of our earliest arguments, one day I rode a mountain bike from Vientiane across the Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge to Nong Khai and back. She could drive all the way, but it's easier to take the bus.

For one thing, while in some sense traffic is chaos with all kinds of vehicles everywhere going in every direction, roads in Laos are generally left-hand drive, with the steering wheel on the left of the vehicle. In Thailand, roads are right-hand drive, with the steering wheel on the right side of the vehicle. In both countries, the driver sits nearest the center of the road, which might be good for seeing oncoming traffic but seems more dangerous if cars do hit.

Switching from left-hand drive to right-hand drive is somewhat awkward. There's something like a figure-eight road pattern at a traffic light near the border to support vehicles crossing from one side of the road to the other. Driving on one side of the road creates habits that can be dangerous when driving on the other side of the road, as I learned when I lived in Ireland at the end of last century. Left-hand drive results in left turns across traffic while right-hand drive makes right turns across traffic, which is important considering the number of motorbikes and other types of vehicles on the roads here.

Some experience makes it easier, but I never really get used to it and always have to think, especially when I first get into the vehicle. Roundabouts are a particular challenge because it's relatively easy to accidentally turn towards oncoming traffic when one doesn’t see anything approaching. Driving habits are even harder to overcome when the steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car relative to the road, as occurs when one drives a Lao car to Thailand or a Thai car to Laos. Apparently as a result, it's generally no longer possible to register cars that have the steering wheel on the wrong side of the car, but it's still possible to drive from each country to the other.

Then there's the issue that after one crosses into Thailand, there is often a police checkpoint for license, insurance, and so forth. While I think that Kham has insurance, I'm relatively certain that she doesn't have a Lao driving license, and I'm certain that she doesn't have an international driving license. When we get pulled over in Laos, she generally just yells at the cops or gives them something like 50,000 kip (~2.50USD) and they let her go. While this might seem very reasonable to some readers, Kham is very cautious with money and would not want to pay any fee to the Thai cops. Thailand is generally more expensive and may also be a little more strict.

In Chiang Mai at least, if one gets pulled over without an international motorcycle license, one can pay a small fee to keep riding for a few days before the fee could apply again. Except once when I cut through a roundabout in Laos the short way (as almost everyone here does when traffic is light - I was following a local vehicle), I have not had to pay any fees since I got an international license with motorcycle endorsement, but I've also been pulled over twice in a single day. Even that day I just had to give the Lao cops enough money that they could each get a beer after work.

It's far from complete, but I once wrote some guidance for riding a motorbike or driving a car in Southeast Asia:

And why is Kham going to Thailand? I'm not certain that I'm getting the full story - I suspect she wants to buy something for herself, as yesterday she had asked me to use my Thai account to buy some nail health supplements for her, but I refused. Supposedly she's going to get higher-quality chicken and fruit for Wendy's sixth birthday party, but that is still a couple of weeks away.

It's 10:30 now and I will take a break.

OK 12:00 and I think I'm done for today.