Smack dab in the middle of Manhattan is a small Koreatown.  I came upon it quite by accident while wondering the streets one day.  Suddenly there were familiar banks, signs in Hangul, and a fair selection of Korean restaurants.

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As seen from my parent’s farm in LeFlore County, Oklahoma.

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Well, almost.  Still, it requires a great deal of foresight when you are preparing for an extended visit overseas.  Especially when one no longer has commissary privileges.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy Korean delicacies as much as the next guy.  And truth be told, you can find just about everything you need in the larger grocery stores or if push comes to shove, Costco.  They even have “black market” markets where you can purchase purloined duty free imports at exorbitant prices.  One example:  A box of Jiffy corn bread mix sells for about 50 cents on the military base and it’s 4 bucks in the foreign market.

Last trip I could find cereal, but not my favorite brands.  Candy and snacks are available too, but there are just not as pleasing to my palate as I’d like.

So, I’ve got a fifty pound limit on each of my bags.  I’ve not weighed my purchases, but I’d reckon I’m pushing around 20 lbs.  Heck, who needs clothes anyway?

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I’d say I’ve been as busy as a beaver, but I avoid trite phrases like a plague.  Ahem.

That said, I have been hustling to complete my work as executor of mom and dad’s estate before I depart for Korea next week.  They didn’t leave a large estate but it has been a pain the ass to deal with regardless.  I closed the savings account out yesterday and mailed checks to my brothers.  I’ve been getting forms notarized and “medallion stamped” in a complicated process to get ownership of several small stock funds transferred.  We had an auction house handle all the household goods but things sold for a tiny fraction of their value.  Ah well.

Still to come is an auction for my mother’s doll collection.  She had several hundred and by the book they should bring a pretty penny.  Unfortunately, no one pays book value and in this economy people just aren’t spending money for vintage dolls.  I feel bad about that, because mom always thought she had made a wise investment with her collecting hobby.  I take some solace in the fact that folks are getting bargains and mom always loved a bargain.

Monday I will visit my probate attorney and sign the “final accounting” papers for the estate.  I guess it turns out to be true that there is a final accounting at the end of our time on earth.

I also met with a CPA today to get my personal tax situation squared away before I fly.  Uncle Sam has traditionally  given me a good rogering at tax time.  This year South Carolina is poised to bite me in the ass real hard as well.

Anyway, things are what they are I suppose.  Once I’m in Korea I’ll  be able to think about something else for awhile.

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…I’m going to feast fast!

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Amongst the things I’ll be enjoying in Korea are a cold mug of OB Lager, the traditional blow job shots, and nice neighborhood pubs like Bless U in Itaweon.

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For some reason I seem to prefer the East Sea to the West Sea.  Well, I’ve been to the East Sea several times, and the West Sea only once, if that’s an accurate measure of preference.  But truthfully speaking, they are both equally nice.  I guess I just enjoy the mountain drive to the east coast better than the somewhat shorter drive to the west.

I don’t know why, but no matter which Korean coast I’m on, it’s cloudy/raining.

The view from the room…

Jee Yeun soaks her feet in the West Sea.

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I lived in Prescott in the late 70s/early 80s.  It was a happy time.  At least looking back on it.  But then again, there was a divorce and a broken heart to deal with.  Still, I was big into softball, x-country skiing, and I was the local union president for the National Association of Letter Carriers.  And I really loved the beauty of living in Arizona’s Mile High City.

What’s the point of getting old if you can’t look back on fond memories?

My modified A-Frame at 1980 Shadow Valley Road.

Our first little house at 785 Western Avenue.

Me on skis.  Imagine that…

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…buried in the ground…

…Mother Earth will swallow you

lay your body down.

National Cemetery, Honolulu USA.

(with apologies to Stephen Stills)

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Recognize this beach?  Of course you do:

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on the beach in Bali…

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…but I don’t want to put the cart before the horse.  If you ear what I’m saying.

Sweet eats on the beach in Bali.

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I don’t think they have baseball in Bali, but they have the equipment…

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Poolside in Ubud, Bali

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…and even though winter won’t be over when I arrive next month, I’m looking forward to that sweet Korean springtime!

Cherry blossom on Yongsan.

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Yes, this is not the traditional way Korean families celebrate the new year.  I like the picture though.

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On display at the Thomas Edison museum in Gangneung.

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In Korea you don’t so much drive over the mountains, you drive through them.  Methinks Koreans may be distant relations of Tolkien’s Dwarves…

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So, I was playing around on Google and came across this arbitration decision posted by the National Association of Letter Carries (NALC).  It was a sweet reminder of those long ago days when I represented the Postal Service in grievance hearings.  I never took joy in seeing someone lose their job (ok, I took much satisfaction in winning the case, but I maintained empathy for the plight of the individual involved) but it was a responsibility I took seriously.
I miss my working life.  But looking back on 34 years of government service, I can see it was mostly meaningless.  It sure did seem important at the time though.

Here’s hoping things turned out OK in your life Mr. Brooks.

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