MIA

Today's song is: Where Have all the Flowers Gone  .. Joan Baez

I was, am, an educator and I discovered an emerging trend around the turn of the century. My concern was summarily dismissed at the time but my canary warnings have proven true.

Today's young males are hurting big time for a variety of reasons and rather than go on an on about 'Whole Language Instruction' and the gentrification of the school yard you should read at least one of the following articles.

'Have you taken a stroll on a college campus recently? Where have the men gone? In the latest census, males comprise 51% of the total US population between the ages of 18-24. Yet, just over 40% of today’s college students are men. In fact, in each year since 1982, more American women than men have received bachelor’s degrees Over the last decade two million more women graduated from college than men. And the gap continues to grow. Michael Thompson, author of Raising Cain, a great book on the plight of young males, illustrates the path we are going down with a startling extrapolation. He notes that if today’s trends continue unaltered, the last young man in the US to get a college degree will do so in 2068. Scary stuff.'

Plight of Young Males (Harvard Business Review - https://hbr.org/2011/03/the-plight-of-young-males

'Peterson sees young men as victims of a society that hasn’t prepared them to be men, where postmodern, identity group politics has leaked out of the campuses and into the elementary schools, where being an energetic boy is considered a mental health defect, as social media rumors say.'

'The author, Jordan Peterson, is a clinical psychologist and college professor from Canada. He derives answers from theology, psychiatry and philosophy for questions about life, gender roles, and other hot button topics. His book, 12 Rules of Life: An Antidote to Chaos, is currently No. 6 on Amazon.com and is No.1 in self-help categories.'

Jordan Peterson (Canadian Psychologist, U of T) - https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/young-men-search-for-answers-rising-star-jordan-peterson-gives-them-20180223-p4z1cw.html

'Men’s education and employment problems fuel a mismatch in the marriage department, between women’s desires and reality. In a separate Pew survey from 2014, 78 percent of single women said finding a partner with a steady job was “very important,” putting more weight on this factor than any other, including sharing ideas about children (70 percent) or religion (38 percent). Unfortunately a shrinking pool of men meet that criteria.'

Huffington Post - https://www.huffingtonpost.com/hadley-heath/dont-let-political-correc_b_10281196.html?gucc

Peterson has many excellent videos on YouTube. If you are a young male of a mother with a male child you should spend some time with them.  He is not without controversy from the college politically correct snowflakes and embraces that controversy which just pisses them off more! eh!

TTYL

Thai Logic

Today's song is: Price Tag  .. Jesse J

One quirk of living in Thailand is getting used to Thai Logic. Thai logic that in low season you charge more to maintain your cash flow.  They have not grasped the notion of supply and demand.

Thavorn's brother asked Thavorn for a loan of 25,000 baht to buy a used car (12 years old) in 'great' condition and he would pay it back at 2.500 baht a month, starting in 6 months when he finished paying for his motorcycle loan.

Knowing the Thai concept of 'present' living, i.e the past is gone, and who knows what the future would bring, I told Thavorn that it will break down before he makes the first payment and there is no way his Thai logic would tell him to pay for something he has no use of.

We made an agreement to loan the money but Thavorn agreed never to give or loan a baht to her brother if he failed to pay back the 25,000. I figured that it was a good investment to divest ourselves of ever needing to shell out to her brother again.

Needless to say, my prediction came true and he has never made a payment and does not feel chagrined over failing to do so.

So, fast forward and we need to move some possessions from Bangkok to the village and Thavorn's good for nothing brother has access to his father-in-law's pickup truck. Now you or I would do it for free or the price of gas as a payment of the loan he defaulted on, but he wanted 4,000 baht to do the run.  As it turns out, the father-in-law found out that Thavorn has a farang husband and jacked the price to 5,000 baht (going rate for a Thai is 3,000), we were being generous at 4,000, so I basically said WTF, we will find someone else.

Now, I know Thavorn has slipped her brother 1,000 baht from time to time to buy formula for his 2 boys and I can live with that, but I will be damned to help the brother again. We also pass Jaidan's toys down to his 3 boys. Go figure.  The problem is, he is Thai, and they just don't think the same way farangs do. For example, they see nothing wrong in lying to save face, or get ahead in life, or telling you want you want to hear, rather than the truth.

I do know a few good Thai men, 2 of them.

Catching a taxi in Bangkok

Trump crossing the swamp

TTYL

Canada Eh?

Today's song is: Leaving on a Jet Plane  .. John Denver and Cass Elliot

We will be arriving in Canada about February 15th and today I booked a place to live for 6 months. Now, finding a rental for less than a year and that is furnished is very easy in Bangkok but very difficult in Canada.

AirBnB to the rescue.  AirBnB are furnished and invariably short term. However they tend to be expensive but some hosts do it right and buy an apartment and charge enough to cover their costs and watch the apartment appreciate in value.

I found such a unit for $1750 in Ottawa. It is a one bedroom (albeit small) and everything is included, such as heat, hydro, parking, internet, cable, phone, gym, and an outdoor and indoor pool. It is in walking distance to Tim Hortons. Sure, it is more expensive than my Bangkok accommodation but then again, it is Canada.

This, being our first foray into Canada will be exploratory for Thavorn to get a look see and determine how we wish to proceed. We will return to Thailand in late August for a little under 6 months and then return to Canada for at least another 6 months but perhaps longer.

Thavorn has to accumulate 2 years in Canada out of the next five years to keep her Permanent Resident Status. She has to accumulate 3 years to apply for Canadian citizenship. Of course, Jaidan already has dual citizenship.

We are all excited about trying something different!

TTYL

Happy Birthday

Today's song is: Happy Birth Day

and the Thai version  ...

Yesterday was Jaidan's birthday and it was a low key affair with Harvey and Phai dropping by. Everyone else lives out at the airport or was in their village.

We  celebrated with a Dairy Queen Ice Cream cake and some presents for Jaidan.

Jaidana's number one present was a tent that he will use in the village to sleep outside with Tai and Dun. He is always building a fort out of cushions at home and really likes his tent.

Next up was a Nerf gun and Lego Bad Guy set.

Harvey and Phai gave Jaidan a remote control vehicle which he always enjoys.

Some pictures:

TTYL

Bars closed for 2 days

Today's song is: Believer  .. Imagine Dragons

A Buddhist Holiday combined with the King's birthday means that all the bars are closed for 2 days which means that Bangkok is like a ghost town. Even if the bars were open they would be near empty as most of the ladies have headed home to be with family over the long weekend.

My buddy Harvey told me it was taking 5 hours to drive to Pattaya on Thursday night. It is usually a 90 minute drive!

Today, Saturday we decided to head off to a recreation/renovation of an old Chinese village in Thailand.  It was okay, but it too was mostly empty.  We walked to a Buddhist temple nearby and took some pics.  The best part of the trip was the ride across the river on one of the boats plying the route for 20 or 50 baht.  Thavorn an Jaidan had never been on a boat so they enjoyed it.

We also took a long Tuk Tuk ride to Siam Paragon so Harvery (a vegan) could chow back on a veggie burger. We ended up walking over 6 km and burning 350 calories.  It was very hot so when we arrived back home in air-conned comfort it was time for a nap.

Harvey and I decided a few beers would be in order on Sunday night after the bars reopened.  It is nearing the end of the month, so the girls will be hungry as the rent will be due  :-)

Some pics:

TTYL

Jettisoning

Today's song is: 500 miles  .. Proclaimers

The theme song of my children's summer sports camp in Huntsville Ontario  and

the Imagine Dragons version  ..

We are moving form Soi 22 where we have been living for over 5 years, outwards to near the airport. It is amazing how much stuff we have accumulated over those 5 years.

We move once again about the 4th week in February to Canada for 6 months. We are, therefore sending some of our stuff to the village about mid August and are moving only what we will need for the 6 months out near the airport.

Ideally we only want to take just the stuff that will travel to Canada with us in our first move. That means, what stuff fits in 6 large suitcases weighing under 25 kilos each. That is the allotment for use when we fly internationally.

I certainly will fit in 2 large suitcases as I will be taking 2 laptops, some backup drives, some clothes (not much) and some papers that will be required when we land in Canada to apply for a SIN card and child allowance for Jaidan. That means another trip to the translator for translations of Jaidan's birth certificate, our marriage licence, etc.

Jaidan is a suitcase of clothes, and a suitcase of his favorite toys.

Thavorn will be the problem as she has accumulated many purses and clothes over the last 5 years.  Purses can be bought for 300 baht here in Thailand. Ditto for jeans, skirts and tops. However, she should fit in 2 large suitcases.

I am finding it difficult to jettison the paperwork I have accumulated over the years to apply for visas for Thailand and Canada. I have multiple copies of everything and receipts for airline flights and condo rentals going back 5 years. I no longer need them as Thavorn has her Permanent Resident Visa, but it is still difficult to get rid of so many documents which were necessary to securing our new lives.

It will also be difficult to leave the community, here on Soi 22 that we have become part of. 7/11 employees lend us umbrellas when we get caught out in the rain and motorcycle taxi drivers give us free rides now and again.  The food vendors know how we like our noodle soup and the massage girls no better than to solicit my business, but instead ask, 'Where is Jaidan?'

However, I usually view change as good and rejuvenating .. so off we go  :-)

Thavorn preparing dinner .. 

We figure these 2 sweaters will be good for our trip to Canada  .. bought both for 800 baht

Jaidan playing in the Queen's Park

TTYL

Steven Tyler

Today's song is: Angel and Crying  .. Aerosmith

For Thavorn

for reflection

Just sit back and chill  .. turn up the volume  ..

I just watched a refreshing interview on Fox News (Objectivefied) with Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. What a refreshing non PC view of Rock n Roll and life in general, including a frank discussion on Steven's use of drugs and how and why he decided to stop.

Thavorn went out on Saturday night and as usual she is sleeping Sunday away so Jaidan and I decided to head off to Country Road on Soi Cowboy for the late afternoon.  The rain locked us in for 2 hours so we chilled out.

The dinosaurs travel in Jaidan's backpack  .. courtesy of Shaun  :-)

Jaidan can name just about every Dinosaur

Triceratops eyeing the chips

Standard fare is a jug of Singha  .. 200 baht

After the rain (it is rainy season) we headed off to Carl's Hamburgers, at the top of Soi 22 to buy some chicken tenders and Chili fries to take home for supper.  Thavorn was beginning to stir and had the munchies.

I know I am going to miss Bangkok when we head off to Canada for 6 months in late February. For me, Bangkok and Thailand is an adventure that never ends .. Mother would be happy to know her Walter Mitty had found a home  :-)

TTYL