Winter 2013-2014 USA

On December 1st we arrived back in California safely.  The trip back always messes with our minds as we leave Bangkok around 5:30 PM and arrive two hours later in Los Angeles.  Yep, two hours later after being in the air for over 15 hours.

The next day, after uncovering the rest of the furniture and our car, I had to go to Garden Grove to pick up some parts for the winter heating season.  

I was hungry so I stopped at Tommy's Restaurant on Chapman Avenue across from See's Candy and had a wonderful breakfast for $3.23, tax included.  

Folks, this was one of the best breakfasts I have had in the USA at any price.  Try it, you might like it. 

Daeng and I will be fixing heating systems here in Southern California until the end of February and then back to "The Land of Smiles" until the summer. 

Please do yourself a favor and check your furnace air filter.  Dirty air filters cause the most problems with furnaces so change or wash your air filter.  It is usually in the bottom of your furnace or in a filter grill where the air returns to your system to he heated. 

We do our filter when we change the clocks; the spring ahead and fall back time change.  Also, check the batteries in your smoke alarms.  

It is also better for your health to have a clean air filter.  Please remember you breath that air, also.

We also celebrated life with a lot of folks this winter. That means we ate lots of cake!  Congratulations to everyone. 

Daeng likes Christmas and all the decorating and package wrapping.  She does a beautiful job wrapping gifts, also.  

Here is a picture of my daughter Tina, Uncle Jimmy, our friend Bill and Daeng decorating my sister Diane's tree.  

Here is a gift that Daeng brought back from Thailand to give me for a Christmas gift.  

It is a paper clip holder for my desk.  

She said it looks like me sitting on the toilet.  We both laughed. 

The New Year celebrations were fun as well.

On New Years Eve, Daeng, sister Diane and I spent time with my Mother.  She is still hanging on at age 92 and is pretty sharp most of the time.

On television we watched the ball drop in New York City with Mom, had some sparkling apple and pomegranate juice.  We were in bed by 10:00 PM.  

Give us a break, we're old!

On Sunday, the family and a few friend got together to celebrate the New Year with Daeng's and my birthday.  

Daeng was born on Christmas Day in a pig barn in Thailand on the Myanmar (Burma) border.  There is no written record of her birth so all her identification shows here birthday as January 1st.  

I always kid here as she has two birthdays in a week. 

Last year, when she turned 40, I told her I was going to trade her in for two 20 year old girls.  She just put her hands on her hips, looked me straight in the eyes and said: "You're not wired for 220!"  I love her!


It is great to see friends that we miss when we are in Thailand.  Here is a picture of our friends Devin and Peg.

We also love visiting Michael and Charlotte in Wasco, California.  Wasco is a little above Bakersfield.  


You can read a few more stories regarding Bakersfield by clicking HERE.

Daeng handmade an apron for Charlotte.  I love this picture of her modeling it. 

Michael's son, Vincent, made the trip with us.  He was is a great traveler and was fun to be with. 

We also had dinner at a fund raiser put on by the "Friends of Jimmy K".  We had a great time.


I love the expression on Charlotte's face in this picture.  I was wondering where Michael's other hand is. 

I might also add we always have fun with our extended family.  

I had to laugh at Daeng as to soften her hair she puts on this mud like stuff that she brought from Thailand.  She mixed it up and put it into her hair.  Than she wraps it in a towel like rag and leaves it for at least 8 hours.  

I must admit, it does make her hair very soft. 

We worked a lot in December fixing heating systems but January and February were very warm months.  I think that Los Angeles broke their record for having the warmest January in written history.


It was okay for me as I'm getting to old to work very hard.  

We did get to go to a few conventions and hook up with some old friends. 

We had dinner at Todai's with our old friends, Paul and Cheryl Scaglione.  Cheryl gave me a DVD of the "Legend of Masty Huba".  If you you like to read more about him just click HERE.

Around 1980 a California artist, Andrew Taylor, painted a picture of me and titled it "Masti F. Huba".  

I don't know were the "F" comes from but you can guess.  

We also had some time to visit with my daughter, Amy, who lives and works with the Peacemaker group. To read more about their store just click HERE. 

The store is wonderful, the people are great and the food is always delicious.  

If you get to Costa Mesa, California just stop in and see them. 

It was a wonderful winter but it is time to return to our home in Thailand on the Myanmar (Burma) border.

I hope to get some of the medical work done done in Thailand, like joint lubricant injected into my knees, that was denied by my Medicare Advantage Plan through Anthem Blue Cross. 

Although the injections have been helping me for years, the insurance company says that they don't feel the health benefit is enough to justify the cost.  

The positive side is I can probably have the injection done cheaper cheaper in Thailand than my co-pay in the USA. 

We'll write more from Thailand.