Quality of Life

 Today's song is: Clean Bandit and Ellie

I don't think I would be remiss in saying that Covid-19 has degraded the quantity of life for most of us. I would also argue the impact has been greater in some age groups than others. Obviously young people graduating form high school and going off to University have been robbed of some of life's best rituals.

However, they have many years left to regain some of life's experiences. Older folks (older 70) lose out in more ways than one as they only have a few years of life remaining. A year of Covid to an older person could represent 10-20% of their remaining years. Ouch!  

Realizing you may have only 10 winters remaining means that you look forward to winter and embracing all that it has to offer.

Perhaps more important than the years an older person has remaining is the quality of life in those remaining years. I have argued before, the most important aspect in your life is your health! If you don't have good health all else is moot.

So, I would argue, eat well, exercise well, and play well. They are all important and remember, 'We are here for a good time, not a long time!' Embrace whatever life you have and run with it. If you are not happy, change it! And, if you can, take a walk on the wild side now and again :-)

I have been known to say that, 'I don't regret anything I have done, just the things that I have not done.'

As winter has started to approach, it has been chilly going for my run. I am now doing interval training, running 500 metres, walking 500 metres, times 4 which translates into running 2 kms and walking 2 kms, whereas in the past I ran 3 kms straight at 10kph.  My new training regime is easier on the joints and I believe better for cardio.

However it is time to extend it my intervals to six sets regaining my 3kms of running and adding 3 kms of walking. I have been debating whether or not to buy a treadmill and a Costco promotion i coming up tomorrow so I think I will jump on it.

I am anticipating a price of $2000 but as I mentioned, health is important.

I do enjoying running and listening to music and watching the news at the same time.

Thavorn is uing her covid time to get in great shape. She sometimes exercises twice a day.

Meanwhile, Halloween is fast approaching

TTYL

Meanwhile, Back in the Pandemic

 Today's song is: Imagine .. John ... RIP

Life is boring these days. The highlight of the past few weeks is that Jaidan is adapting very well to school life despite missing out on JK4 and JK5. Today his teacher informed me he was awarded 2 owl awards, each from a different teacher. Apparently he will be mentioned on the school morning announcements!

The Owl is the school's mascot and school teams are the Owls.

Our days starts at 6:30 am when Alexa announces it is time to get up. I am usually awake 30 minutes earlier as I like to enjoy my coffee and peanut butter toast and contemplate the day's activities.  I have already made the coffee and a piece of peanut butter toast for Thavorn. I then cook some bacon and rice for Jaidan which he usually starts to eat at 7 am.  I then head off to the shower and Thavorn makes sure Jaidan eats well and gets him ready for school. We usually bot drive Jaidan to school and then head off to Timmy's in Kemptville for a medium dark roast double double.

I follow us the morning by checking my eMail and start programming any issued that have arisen with my software. Thavorn prefers a hearty lunch and we have a lighter supper. After supper it is a bath for Jaidan and asleep by 8pm on school nights.

Wednesday is the mid week treat for Jaidan and we take him for KFC chicken tenders. We celebrate Friday after school with chicken nuggets at McD's.

Next week we repeat. We don't have visitors and we don't visit and we only go to food stores and occasional the Beer Store. Thavorn loves Cracked Canoe light beer from Moosehead Breweries in the Atlantic provinces.

Some pics:

TTYL

Poppa

 Today's song is: Only the Good Die Young ... Joel

I have written about my friend Jimmy, a Singaporean who has made Bangkok his home for 40 years.  He is affectionately known as 'Poppa' to the Girls of Cowboy. When you walk into a Cowboy bar with Jimmy, you will quickly hear the girls shout 'Poppa' to greet him. He is an icon on Cowboy.

I just got news from Cowboy that Jimmy is very sick. He had a stroke or aneurism and is unable to walk or talk. Jimmy speaks 7 languages and was a font of knowledge, having lived through the best times of Bangkok, before the advent of social media and too much tourism.

I know I will miss Jimmy but so will the girls of Cowboy. He was not a customer but a friend to all who knew him.

I will share some pics. Some of Jimmy and a bunch from the past couple of years chosen at random to illustrate why I miss my expat life in Thailand.

Poppa on the left

Margaret and the boys

Brigit and the gals

Quiet before the storm

Harvey

Ronald

Jaidan going for a ride

Harvey and Jim out for a beer with Jaidan

Jimmy and Mimo

Marriage

Best friends

Phai and Harvey

The boys and Phai

Thavorn and Tacky

Thavorn and friends

Thavorn in a wrap

3 Kings in Cambodia

Ting Tong

Bad boy Tum on the right

One day I will post the best pics over the past 10 years

TTYL

Misandry

 Today's song is: Times, They are a Changing ... Brandi Carlile

The word of the day is: Misandry. If you don't know what it means I am not surprised.

'A misogynist is a person who hates women. A person who hates men can be described as a misandrist, and the corresponding noun is misandry. But however prevalent the attitudes described by these words may be, the words themselves aren't common. There are currently only 29 examples of misandrist in the Oxford English Corpus, while misogynist appears more than 1,500 times; 68 uses of  misandry are overshadowed by over 2,000 examples of misogyny.'

A misogynist is someone who hates women. A misandrist is someone who hates men.

Today as I walked my 3.5 kilometres I was run off the road by a middle aged women. That is all I caught of her as I jumped off the shoulder of the road. There was no oncoming traffic for her. This is the first time in 6 months of my walk that this has happened.  I thought to myself, perhaps she is a femanazi.

'The average femanazi is a hypocritical dictator and a sexist. They tend to believe the male gender is conspiring against women and show no restraint in heaving up utter nonsense, which they refer to as 'an argument'. '

I have used the word femanazi before but I began to wonder if there is a more appropriate word to describe women who hate men and I discovered 'misandrist'.

Why did I not know this word. The magazine 'Psychology Today' appears to be 'woke' on this subject.

'I have been noticing more and more microaggressions toward men, but I’ve found surprisingly little discussion of this trend. There is a word most people have never heard of: Misandry, meaning hatred of men. It corresponds to misogyny, hatred of women. By noticing microaggressions directed against men, we can uncover a lot of hidden misandry. Here are some examples I've come across:

“Men only think with their dicks.”

“A man wouldn’t understand.”

“Men just want a hole to put it in.”

“Men can’t hear the word no.” (When rejected sexually)

“Men are obsessed with lesbian porn.”

“Really? You don’t like sports?”

“He’s, you know, ‘artistic.’”

“Be a man.”

Men are womanizers, man-whores, man-sluts.”'

https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/understanding-the-erotic-code/201608/misandry-the-invisible-hatred-men

My question of the day is, 'Why the double standard?' Why do women get a pass on hatred? 

I believe it is because men, still 'suck it up', whereas the 'poor me syndrome' is in play with females.

I am sure some people will immediately label me a a misogynist but I prefer the company of females to men, but I am picky in my choice of female company. I do not like females who put me down and consider themselves to be the superior sex. I like females who are willing to have a discussion, rather than 'my way or the highway'. I do not like females who live in the past and play the generation entitlement card when it is no longer valid. I like females who, like myself, can laugh at themselves.

I could go on, but choosing females I prefer to associate with does not make me a misogynist. Just like being choosy about my male friends does not make me a misandrist.

The times, they are a changing ...

TTYL

Autumn

 Today's song is: Born to be Wild .. Steppenwolf

One of the things I missed in Thailand was the 4 seasons. Thailand has 2 seasons, summer (wet) and winter (dry).  Of the four seasons in Canada, Autumn or Fall has always been my favourite. I play 10 years of High school and University football and I suppose that is why I relate more to the Fall then any other season.

Fall is also the time of year when the apple orchards open up for picking and their is nothing quite so good as an apple right off the tree.  You can pick various apple from September thru to the end of October.

Besides being healthy, they taste awesome.

Speaking about being healthy, my doctor suggested that I should adopt a Mediterranean diet to lower my cholesterol.  Thavorn has quickly adopted my meals and here is a picture of my lunch today:

featuring fish pan fried in Olive Oil, avocado, sweet peas, and broccoli, with a slice of lime. Actually tastes pretty good :-) I am lucky that Thavorn likes to cook and spoils me (nit noi).

Our birthdays are coming up soon as I celebrate on September 23rd and Thavorn on September 24th. We used to celebrate at midnight in Hillary 2 in Bangkok, at least before Jaidan arrived. We are both year of the tiger :-)

This year I promised Thavorn a purse at the Coach outlet store in Ottawa. Thai women love their purses.

This year I start a new decade so I am low key as I don't really see the need to celebrate getting older.

However, Autumn is when we celebrate Thanksgiving and the scenery is more than reason to be thankful.

Autumn also means the end of motorcycling season in Canada which reminds me that I need to get one more motorcycle before before get too old. I am closely watching the debut of Triumph's newest addition to their lineup. I started with a Triumph 650 Bonneville in 1969 so it would be full circle to end up with a Triumph.  https://youtu.be/gRoLpMtRHiA

TTYL

Missing Thailand

 Today's song is: One Night in Bangkok .. various versions

I find myself missing Thailand more and more. It is not the beaches or the food. It is the walk on the wild side that I miss and the people I share that walk with. Those people are my expat friends and the nightlife people I associate with. The nightlife people are mostly women, bar girls, gogo dancers, pool hall girls, massage ladies, etc.

When I first arrived in Thailand I found these individuals scary and intimidating. I imagine they got a kick out of my awkwardness. Nowadays, I find them interesting. They are so different that than western women and it is a difference that is refreshing.

It is true that many view farangs as walking ATM's but I have had a lot of fun in bars on a slow night after declaring myself a farang keynoke (poor farang) but fun.  Like Madonna, Thai women just want to have fun. Who doesn't, western women excluded. Another expression is farang keenieyoke, which is translated as cheap Charlie. If you declare yourself as one, the ladies usually leave you alone.

I have a good friend Jimmy, who is Singaporean and speaks 7 languages. Jimmy is about my age and the ladies of the night call him Poppa, a name I could do without, but Poppa enjoys it. Jimmy does not throw money around but is extremely well liked by the ladies because he is fun and takes the time to know them. When I am out with Poppa, it is always a challenge to see who knows the most girls in the bar we are currently in. Sometimes I do an sometimes Poppa does, but we both win!

There is nothing more fun than playing pool with a fun loving Thai girl. I seldom play with men because they are too serious. Not that the girls are poor players, some are very, very good. At times I suspect they let me win but they do like to beat farangs.

I miss my kindred spirits, Mimmo, Harvey, Arthur, and John. I night or bar hopping with them is just so much fun. Truth be told, we enjoy the chase more than anything as alcohol usually restrains our libidos. Drink we do, but usually not to excess because if you do, you will not last long in Thailand.

You have to understand you are a player among players and use that knowledge to stay out of trouble.

Back in Farangland where does a person of advanced years go to party? The answer is nowhere.  The party ends at about the age of 35, perhaps 40 for those who hang on to long. In Bangkok, there is no age limit to the party, the prime requisite is the ability to have fun!

Of course fun has its price but expats know where all the happy hours are and you can have a fun night, being pleasantly pissed and entertained for 1,000 baht which is about $45. However, if you want to spend 10,000 in a night it is more than quite possible. I have seen farangs blow 20,000 baht in a night.

There is the 2 week millionaire that populates the bars of Bangkok. They arrive for  two week vacation, having saved all year for the vacation and throw money around. Of course you can also do that in farangland as well, the difference being more of the same, versa a walk on the wild side.

I don't see myself getting back to Thailand before the summer of 2021 so I guess I will be hangout at Tim Hortons or Starbucks. Thavorn and Jaidan keep me entertained so my words of wisdom to you is, 'Don't leave Thailand without her!'

TTYL

What's Up?

 Today's song is: Break my Heart ... Dua Lipa

It has been quite a while since my last post because I have been busy coding, eating, and not much else. However, if I was in Thailand I doubt if I would be doing much more. It appears that Thailand, at least the regular Thais that I hang around and know, are struggling.

Bars are closed, or closing. Restaurants are not doing much better, and the tourism industry has collapsed. It saddens me that many of the Thais that I know (mostly bar girls and street vendors) will not be around when I eventually get back to Thailand.

When the bar girls suffer, many others suffer, from street vendors, to hotel rooms, to taxis, etc. Back in the village, the parents and children suffer as well as money is no longer going home.

The new bar girls of the past 5 years have had a wake up call as they now understand the economic law of supply and demand. They have a short shelf life of about 10 years, perhaps 15 is they look after themselves. Losing a year or 2 of those earnings is going to hurt.

My expat friends are mostly stranded in their home countries, unable to get back to Thailand. It appears it will be at least a year before things open up.

As for us, we are still waiting to get Jaidan into a classroom as that is the reason why we came back to Canada full-time.  The start date has been pushed back to September 14th but school may not last long if covid-19 makes any inroads in the student or teacher population. Approximately 22% of families have opted to continue remote learning.

Thavorn and I are quite looking forward to some alone time as we have had Jaidan with us 24-7 over the past 6 years.  We think just going out for a coffee alone will be fun!

Ann has us up to the lake to celebrate our September birthdays as once Jaidan starts school our bubble will be too large. Ann, Thavorn and I all celebrate within 4 days in September, apparently the progenity of New Years Eve parties.

I was hoping the Maritime provinces would open up so we could hit the road and explore the east coast but that does not appear to be happening anytime soon. Does not seem fair when you look at the provincial equalisation payments that Ontario has been sending them for years.

Meanwhile thousands of people are flying into Canada daily with little follow up. No one seems to care about that. I would think that Air Canada donates quite a bit f money to the Liberal party.

I hope the November election in the states will provide some entertainment in the coming months. Perhaps Trudope will get caught out in the WE controversy but it will also be entertaining to see how far a pretty face can make up for the empty suit.

TTYL