December 2004: We attended a Christmas party at the home of my wife Joanna's former boss Ron. He had recently accepted a new position at a firm in San Antonio, and all night long he kept making remarks about how he was going to recruit Joanna to be his second in command. As a lifelong resident of Metro Detroit, I had no desire for such a move. "I'm sure San Antonio is nice Ron, but why would I want to leave my home, my family, my friends, my job and cart three kids across the country? I don't want to live where it's hot all the time. I like the winter. I like living in a place with the possibility of a white Christmas."
"Then you better hope your wife doesn't get that promotion to Bangkok," he replied.
"Bangkok?" What was he talking about?
On the ride home I asked Joanna about Ron's remark.
"There's going to be a position opening up in Bangkok next year. The word around the office is that I'm a strong candidate for it," she explained.
"Well that's great, but we don't want to move there," I said in a presumptuous tone.
"Actually, I wouldn't mind."
"Are you kidding? Bangkok? That's too weird! Do you have any idea how far away that is?" I protested without a clear idea of how far away Bangkok really was.
"I probably won't get it anyway, so don't worry about it," Joanna said in an effort to put my mind at ease.
Bangkok? I don't even like Thai food. I am never going to Bangkok...
