If you’re a bad guy and your dastardly plot against the Singapore public transportation system involves disguising your improvised weapon as a soccer ball and hiding said weapon in a group of real soccer balls, the Singapore authorities are on to you.

Got back from the States over the weekend.  At some point I’ll add something about this trip, since it was my first journey back home since we moved to Singapore, but first things first.

Congratulations to all the finishers of Ironman Arizona on November 21, 2010.  However, special interest should be paid to these three jokers.

Brian – 10 hours, 50 minutes, 59 seconds
Sean – 12 hours, 8 minutes, and 31 seconds
Dale Stockdale – 15 hours, 21 minutes, 2 seconds

As you can see, Brian and Sean were showered, changed, and fresh by the time I slogged myself across the finish line.

Today, Flat Stanley joined the Stockdale family.  He came to us all the way from Collin at McCormick Elementary School in Loveland, Ohio.

I’m sure he’ll have fun with us while he is here.

DSD:     Hey Mrs. Stockdale, pick me up some beer on your way home from the office!

MSD:    How much you want?

DSD:     Get one of them new ‘Tiger Value Packs’.

MSD:    There’s only 30 beers in that, what are you going to drink tomorrow?

DSD:     I love  you!

MSD:    Do you have a couple extra $50s?

DSD:    Oh yeah, the ‘value pack’ costs $59.95.  I guess the water diet will be fine again tonight.  Mmm, water.  So refreshing and tasty.  Like a mountain stream or a freezing cold train driving out of a tunnel and into a party. 

MSD:    Maybe for Christmas.  Maybe!

A few days ago was the Stockdale’s six month anniversary in Singapore.  (That’s metric for half a year.)

I’d like to post something nostalgic or reflective about this time, but really our lives haven’t been that different from how they were in Kansas.  Mrs. Stockdale works, the kids drive each other nuts, and I’m responsible for getting various little Stockdales from point A to point B. 

Seriously, other than the logistical challenges of not having a minivan and living in a shoebox, life is the same wherever you call home.

As boring as it sounds, Halloween in Singapore was pretty similar to back in the States.

And, just like the States, once Halloween is over, the Christmas products hit the stores.