43 Days until Departure

I was definitely going to give some time in between posts so that I could build up material. However, I was cleaning my kitchen (moreover, my parents’ kitchen as I am living at their place until I leave for Thailand. The thought of paying rent this summer was something that was incredibly unattractive and unnecessary. However, so is staying at my parents place, but it’s the lesser of two evils. Them being the two evils). I have sort of been their kitchen maid as a way of “earnin’ my keep” while they let me stay here. I am not so willing to touch any other room in fear of what I might misplace, mostly one of the thousand pieces of mail that is piled in every corner. It may be a bill from 2008 but YOU NEVER KNOW IF THE COMPANY MAY CALL AND DISPUTE THE CHARGES OR SAY THAT I NEVER PAID IT! (this is the voice of one of my parents. I won’t say who as to provide safety of their identity in fear of you, dear reader, storming our house with a clean-up team or TLC’s Hoarders filming crew and making wild accusations based on the blog of a fat, gay guy). Removing one of these pieces of mail (or worse still, the tumbleweeds made out of receipts from Wal-Mart, Giant Tiger, or ANY grocery store that just needs to stay in the house in case you want to take back an item 10 years ago) would result in one’s own death. So in short, I just stick to the kitchen.

Cleaning a kitchen is simple: cutlery and dishes get washed and put back in their respective spots. Food and snacks go into their respective cupboards. Garbage and recycling go in their usual places and, once filled, out to the garage to their bigger bins as they await their Holy Day (Mondays) where they join their brethren and sistren in the Great Beyond of Garbage Heaven. There is no possible way of fucking that up. Great. Perfect. Now, I should let you know why I have an obsession with keeping a kitchen clean other than that it is easy: my family is from Newfoundland. If you are from Canada, you get it. If you are not, well…it’s hard to explain. It is truly its own special culture out there (we literally have our own sub-type of the English language). One thing to know about a Newfoundlander is that their kitchen is a place for parties, social gatherings, gossip, tea time, coffee time, havin’ a yarn, fire up a scoff, and b’y da lawd tunderin’ jeesus you’s could has a fokin’ weddin’ in der b’y! Why naht! So keeping it clean and ready for just about anything is very important. It’s is not necessary that it should be clean (no one will really judge), but it’s easier to cram 20 family members who will never use the rest of the house to sit or talk (except for the one or two uncles you have that hate that they are there) when it is clean.

In our kitchen, there is a TV in one of the corners. I never watch cable TV. I love telling people about it too. I feel so much better than you when I say it too. However, it’s becoming more and more common that my generation do not have cable as everything is online now, so I get less and less thrills telling people. One of my friends (to protect his identity I will use an alias), Marlioni Benglioni, LOVES cable TV. He LOVES telling people too. So maybe that will become the new thing. Telling people you have cable. Marlioni could be a trendsetter in this era and I don’t even know it yet. So I have the TV on because why the hell not and I see there is a show on the Discovery Channel: Mayday. I LOVE Discovery Channel. It’s got so much good shit unlike it’s rabid, hillbilly cousin TLC. Mayday is a Canadian documentary show that specializes in documenting air plane crashes, hijackings, bombings, etc. I loved this show as a kid. It was interesting. Now I had the good fortune of watching it again and this edition was the reason that I decided to write a post today. The episode is about a plane crash where everyone on board died. 250+ people dead in one single moment. 20 minutes after taking off. Where did this horrible event taken place? The plane crashed in Thailand. THAILAND! Sounds familiar, right? Yeah. You’ve heard of it. It is a country that exists on planet Earth and made famous here in this blog because that is the country I am travelling to in September.

Now, I don’t know what you believe. I am not a religious person. I do however don’t think coincidences are just that, coincidences. I think that what you put out there in the world will eventually come back to you. Good energy and bad energy. The power of minerals and rocks (I have a few that I mediate with). All of that New Age-y stuff. So to me, tuning in to this show today about a plane crash in Thailand is spooky. And that’s just it. Spooky. I don’t necessarily believe something is trying to tell me that if I go to Thailand I will die in a plane crash, but I don’t not…ya know? It’s confusing and that’s me in a nutshell. I have difficulty believing that everything has been pre-planned and that we are merely going along the road that has been set out before us well before we were a sperm and an egg just sitting around doing fuck all, but I think that things happen for a reason. Cause and effect, I suppose. Thailand wasn’t pre-planned, but now that it is planned there will be signs that will present themselves about my time there. This show was filmed and created long ago before I decided to go to Thailand. I have had a lot happen in my life that could easily have directed me away from ever going to Thailand. So to think that this show created this episode just so that I, Chad Quigley, could be told he is going to die travelling to Thailand on a plane while cleaning his parents’ kitchen in his underwear, tits out, enjoying a cup of java…I don’t think so.** But, it is sort of interesting and spooky, ain’t it? Now because I had to type my thoughts out on “paper” I missed the entire episode and I have no idea what they discovered about the crash and if I should actually worry. Oh well. I guess I’m not that nervous. Or worried. But travelling is scary, dear reader! It really can be! Anything can happen. You could die. That is enough to keep people home and never to leave. I know the stats are that you are more likely to die on the way to the airport yadda yadda yadda, but you could also die in a plane crash. Holy fuck! It could happen. You could be that 1 in 11 million (or whatever it is). I guess what I will do with this information the universe has put forth is to decide that it is just a way of reminding myself to stay cautious, alert and don’t get cocky.

You may be realizing, including myself, that this is less of a travel blog and more a blog about me. Well…sorry. As time comes closer to my departure, it will be more travel bloggy. I just feel that you should get to know the main character (me) a bit better and to set up the story. Are you enjoying yourself, dear reader? I hope so.

More to come.

**If I die on a plane to Thailand, publish this shit. Let the world know that there is something going on…