Thailand is Calling

 John and Fon moved back to Thailand full time at the end of summer and are really enjoying being back. Part of the enjoyment is that living in Thailand is like being on vacation full time. You can eat out all the time and fly around the South East Asia as it is much less expensive than Canada.

However, it is more expensive than it used to be because the Canadian dollar is not doing well, mostly thanks to the Liberal government that has been in power since 2015 and has no idea how to govern.

Thailand has had a good year mostly due to tourism but the manufacturing sector is not doing well.

When I first started going to Thailand in 2010, a CDN dollar got you 30 baht. Nowadays, it gets you 24 baht. The American dollar has fared much better and is still getting around 32 baht.

I am getting bored with the routine in Canada and Thavorn knows I am so she seems OK with me visiting friends in Thailand sometime in the new year for about 3 weeks. That would be fun! It is much more expensive for Jaidan and Thavorn to accompany me and Thavorn does not enjoying flying much at all.

Once in Thailand, it is also much cheaper when I am by myself as I tend to stay in cheaper hotels and eat inexpensively on the street. Monet save goes into my entertainment :-)

I can also fly through the states as it is much less expensive. Thavorn would need a visa to fly through the States.

THe new book by Malcolm Gladwell is worth reading.

I upgrade my work area with 2 new monitors and an Asus Duo laptop that has 2 OLED displays. I now have 4 screen for productivity.

Thavorn and I recently celebrated our birthdays but it is not much fun getting older.

My hernia repair was awesome and I am getting ready to hit the gym again once I get the all care from the surgeon which happens around the second week in November.

That is all the news, but I warned you, life is a bit boring these days.

What's Wrong with You?

 I have some observations about relationships and a question to ask.

On my walk this morning, on a beautiful sunny Fall day, and I smiled at oncoming walkers and said good morning. The majority of them did not acknowledge my hello. Some were alone, some with a partner, and some with a dog. What's Wrong with You?

On my walk I cross over a roundabout crosswalk. Most people stop, some roll right through, and some speed up so they don't need to stop. What does 3 seconds add to your drive? What's Wrong with You?

On my walk I pass my son's school and in the primary school yard their is a young couple with school age children letting their dogs run unleased. Every entrance to the school property is signed no dogs allowed. What are they teaching their children? What's Wrong with You?

The above got me thinking. Throughout my life I believe I was basically a rule follower. I am not talking legal rules, but perhaps societal norms. I have usually tried to do what best for those I come in contact with. I have coached for 40 years, worked in a supervisory capacity for 30 years and hired, and mentored many employees. I have even been accused of hiring my friends.

Coaching has always been something I enjoyed. My goal was to make players better and over 30 of those players have gone on to play at university. I just received two happy birthdays on my Facebook. Thank you and for the remaining hundreds of players ... What's Wrong with You?

In my career I mentored quite a few people who went on to very successful careers. I just received an eMail from one of them saying happy birthday and let's get together for a chat. The others (you know who you are) are probably patting themselves on the back and thinking how smart I was to have such a great career. Perhaps it is time for some self reflection and a birthday wish. What's Wrong with You?

I only taught for about 10 years but in those 10 years I think I may have made a difference in young lives. My goal was usually to make students smile and succeed in my course. Every now again one reaches out to me to say thanks. If sometime, you think back and realize 'That was the best of times ...' you should reach out, not necessarily to me but to some teacher or coach that made a difference. What's Wrong with You?

Since retiring, I have reached out to colleague and students when there was a need and tried to make a difference in their lives. You also know who you are. One particular student does not even reply to me if I ask how she is doing. What's Wrong with You?

What I take away from all of the above is that people move on and when they do they leave behind what was. Interesting enough, that is the theme of a book I taught to my grade 8s for 3 years.

That was Then, This is Now

Novel by S. E. Hinton

Perhaps I am just becoming maudlin in my old age ... or in search of truth like Don Quixote in 'Tilting at Windmills'

TTYL

Fall is Here

 Canada is getting ready for winter as Fall arrived on September the 21st. Our pet squirrels (we have three, a brown, a grey, and a black) have started to horde and stash the nuts we give them each morning. They are pretty tame and eat out of Jaidan's hand. As the weather is turning cooler they are asking for more because they have to stash enough nuts to get through the winter. They eat well as we feed them cashews and almonds.

Jaidan is back and school and he still likes that I walk to school with him and walk back with him after school. I don't mind as it helps me to get my 10,000 steps in.

The basketball team I coach, which is U19 boys has been selected and our first practice is September 30th and I am looking forward to it. Most of the boys are new to the team and seem pretty keen on being a part of it. It should be a good year.

I had my preoperative briefing at the hospital yesterday and it went well. My hernia operation is next Thursday, the 3rd of October and seems pretty routine as my hernia is fairly small. The operation last about an hour with a recovery of 2-3 hours and then I get to go home.  Apparently and can get back to my routines the next day.

Thavorn is still enjoying not working. She is not bored as long as she gets to go shopping once a week. Shopping is fun with her as she is easy to shop for being XS/Small and looks good in most everything much like Aly. I am assuming Aly has managed to stay slim and in good shape.

I still amuse myself by programming microcontrollers and building RC cars. I would rather be bar hopping in Bangkok or Pattaya but that is not an option at this moment although Thavorn said I could visit Thailand by myself for a couple of weeks if I get really bored. That makes it much more cost effective as it is only one ticket and I can fly through the states.

My friend John is back in Thailand full time now and is enjoying it. Much more to do and much less expensive than Canada for eating/drinking out. The night life in Canada really sucks for older folks who want to have fun.

Both of my sisters are waiting on operations as well and have wait time longer than a year. Canada has let way too many students/immigrants/refugees in during the past 5 years and it has overloaded our health care system. You have to wonder why politicians can look farther than their nose and do simple math. Of course as boomers age they need more health care as well.

I miss being in Malaysia where I could simply pay for whatever health care I needed and it was timely and way less expensive. Thailand is similar but harder to figure out.

Thavorn turned 38 on the 24th of September and of course, I gained (lost) another year.

TTYL

Summer Time

 It has been a great summer with beautiful blue skies and warm temperatures with just enough rain. I get a real kick out of our weather warnings stating that the high today will be 30 degrees. I guess they have never lived in Malaysia or Thailand.

On a health note, I feel great and hope to start running again after my hernia surgery on October 3rd. I have maintained my weight loss and get lots of compliments on how I do not look my age. I will be 74 in September but really feel nor look different than when I was 63 when I met Thavorn. Thavorn agrees but still enjoys calling me farang toew (spelling is probably wrong).

Jaidan just turned 10 and is growing like a weed and will probably be as tall as Thavorn (5'7") by Christmas. We would love to visit Thailand soon but I doubt anything will happen before the summer of 2025. I can't really complain as we were in Thailand twice during the last 12 months.

John and Fon have been living with us for the summer months but they are both looking forward to being back in Thailand. In Thailand, everyday can be an adventure and does not have to cost much money. Whereas in Canada, leaving the house will easily cost you $50 and lots more if you want to do something like have some chicken wings and some beer or perhaps listen to music.

I continue with my pursuit to learn something new everyday and that usually involves experimenting with microcontrollers. BTW, some of the best microcontroller boards come from Malaysia in Penang. Differently world class stuff. The company is Cytron Manufacturing.

My 2 sisters are starting to run into health problems but unfortunately that comes with age. I feel blessed to have all my original parts.

The next time I am in S.E. Asia I plan to visit some of the countries I have not been to for 10 years. That would include Malaysia and Vietnam as well as the Philippines which I have never visited.

Let me see if I have any pics:

Jaidan's friends are all asians. There are many Asians where we live, but unfortunately no Thais that we are aware of. Mostly Filipinos and Chinese and his best buddy is Vietnamese.

We bought an eScooter and it is a blast. We all ride it, but defer to Jaidan who really enjoys being mobile. I miss motorcycles but c'est la vie, maybe when I move to Thailand fulltime.

Jaidan will be starting in grade 5 this year and is a very good student. We will have to make a decision at the end of grade 6 whether to stay in Canada of move to Thailand and enrol Jaidan in an international school. The next decision point will be the end of grade for the same reason. Tough decisions but it is nice to have options.

That's it for now,

TTYL

The End of June and Graduation

June has come and gone. In Ottawa it was a cold and rainy month and Ottawa is very green due to the rain. Jaidan finished grade 4 today as it is the end of the school year. He did quite well due to his being a very good student who takes school seriously.

He will now be a grade 5 student this September and also reaches double digits as he turns 10 on July 31st. All in all, he is a great kid. I have ordered an electric scooter for him which should arrive next week around Wednesday, Here's hoping he learns to ride it as he has still to learn how to ride a bicycle. He definitely is not a risk taker and does not like pain.

I am still waiting for a date for my hernia operation. The incisional hernia is a result of a bad cough I picked up while visiting my kidney surgeon in the hospital last February. My family doctor had referred me to a general surgeon and I had not heard anything. I called my family doctor and asked for the phone number of the surgeon to find out how long a wait I had. His administrative assistant told me I was in the middle of the pack. Did not tell me much as I do not know how big the pack is and how many people get treated per week.

I spoke to my family doctor again today and he mentioned he had a buddy who is a surgeon in Hawkesbury which is about an hour out of Ottawa and asked if I would be amenable to travel. I told him to refer me as the wait will probably be only two months at that hospital. It appears the province should have a better system to distribute patients across hospitals and surgeons. I have already been waiting about 4 months.

Thavorn and I decided it would be best for her to quit work. She makes minimum wage which amounts to about $30K a year. My income is $110K a year and I worked out it cost us $14K a year for her to make $30K so she was really only making $16K a year. It is rather complicated explaining why but it has to do with clawbacks, carbon tax, loss of pension sharing, the price of gas and the toll on me, driving 2 hours a day. It has been about a month now and we are both happier!

It appears we are in Canada for the next 2 years as Jaidan has expressed a desire to stay at his current school which goes until grade 6. He has made some good friends and does not want to lose them. Thavorn has also expressed a desire to not visit Thailand in 2025 but maybe sometime in 2026. She does not like the long assed flight and finds visiting her family costs her way too much money :-)

Some pics:

TTYL

May in Canada

 For my friend Sveta ...

As South East Asia experiences temperatures of mid 40's and high humidity, Canada is experiencing cooler May temperatures of 5 degrees in the morning and high teens in the afternoon. Hopefully it will warm up soon.

My U19 boys basketball team is improving but we still have trouble scoring 50 points. In order to win we have to keep the other team under 40 points. The good news is that we play excellent defence at times. The OBA's are in Ottawa this June so we are done with travel. We finished as Finalists in the IEM tournament 2 weekends ago. We went 4 wins and 1 loss in the Championship game. All in all, well done.

Thavorn, Jaidan and I went to the tournament early on the Friday and visited Niagara Falls which is something that Thavorn has wanted to do for a while. Afterall, it is one of the 7 wonders of the world. We had a beautiful sunny day. I had not been to Niagara Falls for about 20 years and it has changed and there is lots more to do than just view the Falls.

Jaidan is enjoying a good year academically in grade 4 but is looking forward to summer break. He has asked for no camps so I plan to teach him some programming with respect to a Raspberry Pi and microcontrollers.

I also want to spend time with Jaidan, playing frisbee, tossing nerf footballs, learning some more basketball skills, and playing with our fast RC cars.

Thavorn continues to work at the farm and enjoys her fan club consisting of young Mexican and Filipino men.  By the end of 2024 Thavorn should have 2 million baht in investments.

We will not visit Thailand in 2024 but we hope to spend 2 months there in the summer of 2025. 

TTYL

Sveta

 My good friend Sveta just texted me on Whatsapp and asked for a post because my last post was over a month away. So here goes.

My latest basketball team is not doing so well because we have too many guppies on the team. It is hard to turn a guppy into a shark but I am trying :-)

I met with my kidney surgeon on February 26 and he said everything looked good and he would see me in a year. Unfortunately I met him in the hospital and came down with a very bad cough the next day. I refused to let it hamper my routines so it lasted about 2 weeks and I ended up blowing a hole (hernia) in my adombinal wall. Apparently it takes a year for the muscles to heal after an operation and my surgeon neglected to mention that. It is what is called an incisional hernia.

I called the surgeon's office for a consult and it would be a year wait before he could operated so I was told it would be better to see my gp and get a referral to a general surgeon as the wait would be shorter. My gp seemed to think that the wait would still be close to a year. Wait times in Ontario suck!!!!

I have discovered there is a hospital in Toronto that specializes in hernias. Apparently they have a walkin clinic that takes the easier hernias in the same day. The one catch is that you can't be fat and I am still carrying about 5 extra kilograms from covid and my recovery from the kidney surgery.

So it is time to get serious and hide the chocolate bars, cheese and cashews and start a diet. I hope to succeed in a month and off to the clinic I go. Apparently they use the latest technique that does not require a mesh that needs to be inserted which appeals to me.

I found out about the clinic as one of my ex student from the early 80's just had his hernia fixed in that clinic and is very happy with the results.

Thavorn and Jaidan caught a bad cold with a fever, very sore throat, and no taste. Sounds like one of the new variants of covid that is making the rounds. Maybe if I catch it I will lose weight faster :-)

Jaidan is still doing well in school and Thavorn is still working although this may be her last year as her income means some of my credits are getting clawed back and my pension sharing disappears. Did I mention taxation in Canada is out of control! The current prime minister is a moron.

John and Fon are enjoying their 5 months in Thailand and should be back around June 1st for Fon to join Thavorn at work and John to join his buddy Kevin for copious rounds of golf.

I am starting to play around with microcontollers and Raspberry Pi's again to keep my brain active and learning.

TTYL

Back to the Routine

 We arrived back in Canada on February 1st. As usual, the flight was long (24 hours) and we flew Bangkok to Narita (Tokyo), Toronto, then Ottawa. My sister Elaine picked us up and we were in bed about 11pm. Jetlag shut us down for the next 2 days which meant Jaidan missed 2 days of school which was fine by him :-)

The next week I made a list of things that needed doing which included applying for a new PR (Permanent Resident) card for Thavorn and buying out our car from the end of its lease. Jaidan's CDN passport also needs to be renewed. I also renewed our apartment lease for another 2 years which will see Jaidan finish grade 6 which brings new decisions.

This will probably be Thavorn's last year of work as it is affecting my pension sharing and causes clawbacks on my OAS and Child benefits. It will also be nice to stop driving 2 hours a day and it will be nice to have someone home with me during the day as I get quite bored home alone.

We were expecting to see my Russian friends in Bangkok while we were there in January but they did not show. Maybe they went to Phuket or Pattaya where most Russians tend to visit. There are so many Russian in Pattaya and Phuket that they are starting to wear out their welcome. They are starting up businesses that cater to Russians and that is not permitted for non Thais. I tend to believe they are there fleeing the war with Ukraine back home.

We have been talking about what we will do when Jaidan finishes grade 6. At that time he switches schools so it would be a good time to move back to Thailand full time. We have enough savings to buy or build a house and Jaidan would go to an international school which are expensive at $24K CDN a year, but I can afford it. Living in Thailand costs half of what it does living in Canada. We would probably live in Phuket which is close to Phang Nga which is where her sister lives.

Thavorn is tired of the flight so we will probably not visit Thailand this coming January but will wait until the summer months and go for 2 months. We would probably stay in Pattaya, at least Jaidan and I, but Thavorn will visit her kids in Phuket and Phang Nga.

I met with  my surgeon on February the 26th to discuss my surgery. He said it went very well and he did not expect the cancer to reoccur. He will follow me for the next 2 years to make sure. Other than that, I remain healthy though I did gain about 3 kilos eating fast food with Jaidan in Bangkok in January.

Spring arrives on March 21st and the weather will be quite nice for the next week, sunny and highs in the teens. This week is March Break for Jaidan so I will have to find something to occupy his time, besides his Meta Quest 3 VR and his Roboblox addiction on his mini PC.

My business is doing well and seems to expand a little each year. It keeps me busy at times but I miss my walks on the wild side in Thailand, as does Thavorn :-)

TTYL

Same Same but Different

What a let down. We noticed a Tim Hortons close by so we stopped off this morning for a double double. First off no double double as there was no cream or sugar to be seen. There were no pots on brew, regular or dark roast. They did have menu choices of americano, latte, capuccino, etc. just like Starbucks.

I thought the americano would be close but it was much stronger and was placed into a familiar Timmy's cup, black. I asked where the cream and sugar were and she picked up a syrup bottle and went into a fridge for a milk carton that was unopened.  I said 2 of each and the coffee was still too strong, but I was able to drink it.

They did have timbits and donuts which seemed to be what people were ordering.

They also had some food items, but nothing I recognized from the Great White North.

This is what out abode looks like.

Moving on ...

 Our stay at the Marriott Empire Place was fantastic as always. Definetly 5 star with all the comforts of home. Thavorn loved it because of the street food and the food at the Pat Pong night market. We also enjoyed the Pat Pong gogo bars :-)

Here are some pics from the Marriott room and the pool area.

We went shopping today and Thavorn bought a couple of new outfits. A dark green hoodie on sale plus a great blazer and shorts to wear with it.

Our new hotel is the Adelphi 49 and it is awesome and in a great area for exploring sois. I managed to book it on sale through Expedia for about 60% off. We are there for 3 nights and then we head home at 8 am on January 31st which would be 8 pm on January 30th in Canada. 

TTYL