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Diary of a farang in Isaan


owl sees all

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36 minutes ago, GarryP said:

In the first line of the sign/poster. 

ขายบ้านหลังใหญ่ Sell large house (Large House for Sale)

Nearly 2 Ngan

Starting price 1.5 million

OK thanks.

Your eyesight is better than mine for sure. I couldn't read the first line due to the way the top of the plastic sign appears to be folded slightly forwards. I could only make out ขาย and ใหญ่

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On 1/22/2020 at 7:38 PM, Assurancetourix said:

 

In Europe, North, Central and South America, Australia and New Zealand, China (yes in China) and other countries .. a sidewalk is part of the road used for traffic pedestrian, separate from the roadway and from all parking spaces.

Obviously some rare countries (Thailand, Vietnam ...) think that a sidewalk is made to install tables and chairs or stuff for traveling food.
So the pedestrian does not exist, is that how I understand it?

If all the pedestrians in Thailand start walking in the street, I know quite a few who, behind the wheel of their very expensive or not automobile, will not be happy.

A sidewalk is a place where you trot, or walk and where we don't  ride neither with your bike nor with your motorcycle and or do not park your stinking automobile.

Thailand is run by people that would never use an actual pavement. Make of that what you will.

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On 3/3/2020 at 4:47 PM, owl sees all said:

The pond in our local Buddha has gone. However, the last few inches of water were pumped into a pond just outside the perimeter wall. That's dried up too. And to think I was going to donate a couple of mekons to them!!

Not surprised as it's too shallow. Needs depth to retain water in a drought. Perhaps they can deepen it while empty.

I hope you are in possession of a well, bore or large tank, or you may be posting tales of woe.

 

Isn't the Mekong low because of the Chinese dams, but I've heard the headwaters are declining as well?

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2 hours ago, Sterling said:

@owl sees all Thanks for the updates! Did you end up with a new laptop or was the old one able to be fixed?

The old one was kaput. Not even able to recover the hard drive data. It was a bit grubby, but I cleaned it up like new for the repair shop, with the hose pipe and scrub brush. It had Windows 7 ultimate, which I had mastered over the years.

 

133989795_oldPC01.jpg.b1a425844fe926a17fb03bb569213539.jpg

 

This new one is an Acer Aspire 3, with Windows 10, cost 8900 Baht but got a nice bag, which Mildred has already claimed for her school books. I was so used to my old laptop that I'm finding the new one a challenge. To start with I had Adobe Photoshop before and now I'm using paint. Just no comparison!! Mildred thinks 'Paint' is OK though. 

 

But, I'm getting there. Probably just the same as most farang on TVForum, I used the same web-sites all the time (my research days are long gone). And Windows 10; a backward step. Windows XP was the nuts.

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1 hour ago, chickenslegs said:

On a sunny day when the shadows are lengthening ...

Measure the length of your shadow (a)

Measure your own height (b)

Measure the length of the shadow of the tree (c)

(b) multiplied by (c) then divide by (a) equals the height of the tree.

 

(hope I got this right or I'll look foolish)

Or just download an app to your phone and let that do the Pythagoras thing for you.

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Mr Owl, this is all great reading, but I am a little confused. You mention all the farms etc but also seem to be short of cash to buy anything. What's going on there? Farms not making money? Genuine question, not being a smartarse.

Don't get me wrong it sounds like a great lifestyle.

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11 hours ago, Odysseus123 said:

I tried a similar shot once...yours is much better. On the banks of the Mun river.

 

 

Absolutely beautiful. The sun looks OK too. And the river. And the sky.

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34 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Great read Owl, glad to see you are back on track with the new laptop, also glad to see you have abandoned your experimentation with the new font !!, while obviously a pleasant change from the common font used daily I found it very difficult to read on my phone ( even with my 69 baht readers ????).

 

Always a pleasant change to read a daily log of a down to earth lifestyle, including the trials and tribulations , of someone who comes across as a “ nice fella “ getting by in Isaan.

 

I wish you well and hope your farming ventures take a turn for the better.

Thanks Andy.

 

Yes the font. Comic Sans; my favourite font. But, at 11 (my favourite number) pixels it was too small; 12 would have been OK. Sorry about that.

 

Talking of numbers; strange how 69 keeps cropping up. I like 69 for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it can be turned through 180 degrees horizontally and still read the same. Also it can be divided exactly by 23. And, perhaps most importantly, it's easy to enter, without looking, at an ATM machine.

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Three meals and an ice coke for Milly; 148 baht. It's not as cheap as on the street but it's OK every now and again, as a special treat.

 

What is so special (special treat) about a 148 baht meal for three people?

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9 hours ago, bwpage3 said:

Three meals and an ice coke for Milly; 148 baht. It's not as cheap as on the street but it's OK every now and again, as a special treat.

 

What is so special (special treat) about a 148 baht meal for three people?

Well we went to the bank yesterday, and again it was busy. Decided to eat at the restaurant opposite.

 

Three meals, two bottles of coke; 140 Baht. Food was not as clean, and fresh, as it should have been. No tissues on the table; or any table. Water in the jug warm. No tooth pics. Toilet hadn't been cleaned for about 11 years. Mrs Owl didn't even eat her pork balls soaked in dead fish sauce. Certainly not a 'treat' of any sort. But par for the course in these parts.

 

We don't eat out so much. I know it's cheap and cheerful(ish) in Isaan, but I prefer to go hungry at times.

 

Back to Big Care at the week end for another special treat.

 

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=

 

A really interesting development at the service station in Bandung. Outside Amazon coffee (never set foot in there), in the pool where the water fall discharges, they have put 10 lovely koi carp.

 

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=

 

Went to the oil palm distribution centre near Fao Rai on our travels. Price now 4.80 baht a kilo. Cassava was 2.05 a kilo.

 

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=

 

Called Into a eucalyptus wholesaler on the way back. Couldn't believe the prices! Ranged from 3 to 6 Bhat per tree. Didn't look that good either. Most were root-blown (too much root for the pot) and were probably last years stock; or the year before. 

Edited by owl sees all
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