“got to be good looking ’cause he’s so hard to see…come together, right now, over me…”

Heh, I’ve not done a Beatles riff on my blog until now. Perhaps I should have continued to refrain from doing so, but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to pun.

Of course, I am talking about the Korean monetary unit, the Won (pronouced like “Juan”). Which is in the toilet these days. Folks like Jenn of I’ve Got Two Shoes fame who get paid in Korean money have seen what amounts to a significant pay cut. Me, I get paid in U.S. greenbacks, so I’m feeling almost wealthy these days.

When I first arrived in January 2005 the exchange rate was like W1030 to the dollar. Last year it dropped as low as W960 or so. Now it is over W1300 to the dollar. I exchanged $300. Friday and got almost 400,000 Won back. That’s 25% better than just a few months ago.

Not that I spend all that much money on the economy, I do most of my shopping on post. Still, it makes my beer tab cheaper and that’s a good thing.

“Money don’t buy everything it’s true
But what it don’t buy, I can’t use
Now give me money, that’s what I want…”

Comments (0) | Permalink

I am doing better with each passing day. It is good to report that I am almost feeling normal again (normal being a relative term when applied to me I suppose).

Still not sure what is going on inside, went to the on-base hospital and saw a military doctor. He doesn’t know either, but at least we could talk about it in English. They took some blood and other bodily fluids for testing, so we’ll see in a few days if they find anything significant.

It is good to have my appetite and sense of taste back. Not sure what caused it, but things like beer and diet Coke suddenly were very bitter tasting. Had me concerned, but I have quaffed a few brews this weekend and all appears normal (eh, there’s that word again).

I have not smoked for two weeks now. And it is killing me. Sometimes I ache for a cigarette, but so far I have managed to exercise more self control than I’m usually capable of maintaining. The real test was playing in a dart tourney yesterday, an event that would normally have me chain smoking a pack or more. Chomped on some gum and craved tobacco like a madman and somehow made it through another day. Wish me luck with this. I have already lost the disgusting smoker’s cough and I keep reminding myself that not ingesting poison smoke may add a few years to retired life, but addiction is not always rationale. So we shall see what happens.

Speaking of the dart tourney, I won the doubles portion. My darts have been shit all season, and the nearly month long hiatis during travel and illness didn’t help my game either. Anyway, I threw much better yesterday which is encouraging. Still not back to where I was, but hopefully I’ve turned the corner on my downward spiral.

Thanks to all who have expressed concern and get well-wishes for me. It means a lot.

Comments (0) | Permalink