10:34 AM. Taraweasel. They're happy and excited about Bangkok, which they call their "second home" because they go there frequently on business for their furniture store (Twin Beds Separated By At Least Three Feet 'R' Us). Tara and the Weasel think they will therefore have the home court advantage, which is apparently because they've learned nothing from previous episodes, in which we were introduced to the cruelties of the lesser-known but equally potent home court kiss of death.

At this point, we learn that Gary and Dave and Chris and Alex have been hit with matching forty-two-minute time penalties for driving the speed limit in the desert last week, rather than twenty kilometers per hour under the speed limit "for added safety," as they were told. The speed limit sign shown along here says "120," and Phil says that the speeding was for "a one-hour period," so I'm not sure how they got to a forty-two-minute time penalty rather than a twelve-minute one, which is what it would seem like it should be. Maybe it's twelve for the time difference and thirty for being naughty. (Yes, I did the math. It's not for nothing that I attended a national math competition in eighth grade, at the congratulatory banquet for which I accidentally dumped my entire dinner in my lap. That's a different story, though. And I don't warranty the accuracy of my math.) Anyway, putting aside the whole "heh -- sorry, Wil, I guess they were cheaters and speeders" issue, here's my other question: Xerox missed the detour, and that's why they got booted. They then implied in an interview after the race that Boston made the detour by a fairly slim margin. If Boston made the detour by less than forty-two minutes...see where I'm going with this? Sigh. Nothing to be done about it now.

10:45 AM. Gary and Dave. On the topic of Bangkok, they say "woo hoo." Literally. In their car, Gary says, "My parents always took me to Thai restaurants, Chinese restaurants, sushi...I know the culture." (THUNK.) Wow, it's hard to understand how he went wrong after starting with that truly brilliant nugget of humor about how all Asian countries and cultures are alike. Because that is hilarious.