As I sat down on the stool at the jewelry counter in the Singapore Marriott, visions of making the wife a very happy camper were dancing in my head. The cute little Asian chickie on the other side of the counter placed the string around her neck and calmly stated: "It's only $14,000 Singapore. Now my math skills are pretty good... I know the exchange rate is fluctuating around 1.4:1. I can calculate that out pretty quickly to be about $10000 American. As I placed the pearls back on the counter, She was asking if she could request a better price since I was staying at the hotel. I gave her my room number (NOT FOR THAT) and bid her a good day. We'll see how much better it gets. Yes dear, I love you but I think we just found out where the limitations lie. I have two weeks to search Little India for a better deal.
Well... I'm back from little India in one piece but my bank account is not... Happy 25th anniversary sweetie. You'll get this one on 20-Feb.
Thank God I am through with this assignment. I fly out at 9:50 a.m Saturday which is about 13 hours from now, Singapore time. The customer here thinks that I should work 24 hours each day: 8+ hours teaching the class and the rest of the day researching requests for information not bargained for in the original contract. I will literally bend down and kiss the asphalt at Austin International Airport. Although I treasure seeing new places and doing new things, it is so great to get back to familiar sights and familiar faces.