Farang Pee Bah

 Today's song is ... I would do anything for love ... Meatloaf (RIP)

Forest Gump's mom said, 'Stupid is as stupid does'. Thavorn's village is abuzz with the gossip that one of the Thai women in the village has landed a Swedish Farang and he is staying in the village at her family's house.

The last Swede to hook up with a Thai girl in the village built her a house to live in and was quite amazed to visit, unannounced, to find her living with her Thai boyfriend and hosting parties frequently on his dime. Needless to say, he bailed and was out well over a million baht in less than a year.

Farang pee bah means 'stupid farang'. Apparently the latest Swede met with his Thai Lady online and arrived in the village to meet her face to face or perhaps genitalia to genitalia :-) This is not going to end well! The Thai lady is in her mid forties and her husband recently left her due to the debts she accrued due to het gambling problem. No problem for a farang to cover but significant for future happiness. The only good news is she only has one child although she lives with her mother.

The Thai lady had previously contacted Thavorn's mom to ask Thavorn if she could find a farang for her. That kind of thinking reflects on how Thais view farangs. They are hanging on trees, waiting to be picked.  Now sometimes, they are low hanging fruit, but more often they are lonely men looking for love.

Little does the Swede know that the whole village is watching to see how this plays out.

On another note, we have booked our air tickets for our first visit back to Thailand in about 4 years. We will be there for a month this coming January. Thavorn has saved enough money to build her house and will visit her village to start discussion with builders on costs, timelines, etc. She will also visit her sister and kids in Phang Nga who she has not seen for far too long. Myself, I plan a deep dive into Bangkok and Pattaya night life :-)

I am thinking there should be enough material to write about that I can start filling this blog with some interesting posts in the coming months.

I managed to secure 3 air tickets (Air Canada) for about $3,600 by booking on this past Good Friday. Perhaps it was divine intervention. The next couple of days the price was over $6,000!

TTYL

Thunder

Today's song is Thunder ... Imagine Dragons

A great song:

Just a young gun with a quick fuse

I was uptight, wanna let loose

I was dreaming of bigger things and

Wanna leave my own life behind

Not a "Yes, sir", not a follower

Fit the box, fit the mold, have a seat

In the foyer, take a number

I was lightning before the thunder

Problem was it took me 60 years to figure it out. My Mom saw it in me early as she called me her 'Walter Mitty'. Should more people take a leap and embrace something different, perhaps, but be warned that your mileage may differ. 'Here be Dragons'.

"Here be dragons" means dangerous or unexplored territories, 

in imitation of a medieval practice of putting illustrations 

of dragons, sea monsters and other mythological creatures on 

uncharted areas of maps where potential dangers were thought to exist.

Thailand has dragon mythology especially the river dragon Naga:

Here is a pic of a Naga float on the Mekong river. Interesting is the family on a motorbike passing by. The most people on a motorbike, that I have seen, is 7!

To me, Thailand was the edge of the map. It was so different from the life I had led for 60 years. In particular, Thai women were so different from farang women. I could write a book on the differences. It lends much meaning to the nature/nurture argument in human development. I would argument the economics play a much different role in Thai development.

My buddy John and I took a day long trip up the Mekong river and we did not see any dragons but we did see the ongoing deforestation due to Agent Orange used in the Vietnam war. Of particular note, was the young girl sitting in the river fishing. We saw her about 9 am and she was still there on the return journey about 5 pm. I hope she had a break at some point during her day.  I would think her world outlook is quite different from a farang woman.

For you Walter Mitty's out there, take a walk on the wild side at some moment in your life.

TTYL

Candle in the Wind

 Today's song is Jumping Jack Flash ... Stones

Given the choice would you rather be, 'A Candle in the Wind' or 'A Flash of Lightning in a Storm'.

For some reason my son Jaidan is always asking 'Would you rather be ... ?' questions. Some of the time it can be annoying, but sometimes they get me thinking. For me, the answer is easy ... a flash of lightning.

We are here for a short time, not a long time, and for some of us, the time is getting shorter. My Thai accomplice, John and I noticed that our age group is starting to drop. Always a good time to reflect on your life, what you accomplished, how you will be remembered, and most of all, did you make a difference in peoples lives.

We boomers where labeled the 'Me Generation'. I am not sure we warrant that label but what is done is done. To counteract that label I suggest we strive to make a difference as we sail off into the horizon. Take a risk, climb a mountain, visit the other side of the planet, or perhaps volunteer for something outside of your comfort zone.

At 72 I am coaching U19 Boys basketball. I hope I am making a difference. After coaching for 40 years, coaching over 1600 games and winning over 1,400 of them, I certainly don't do it for aggrandizement. It is to pass on knowledge that I have accumulated through experience and other coaches who shared. It is a way to acknowledge the role my own coaches, I had as a youth, played in my development. As opposed to the concept of 'pay it forward', I am 'paying it back'.

At the same time strike out against ageism and show that we older folks have something worthwhile sharing. Most of all, keep it light and make it fun and perhaps leave some memories behind.

TTYL

Life is too Short to be Grumpy

 Today's song is:

It is much better to be joyful than joyless (grumpy) It is akin to the glass being half full as to being half empty. It is not to be confused with being content which is really maintaining the status quo.

Do you know any joyful people? I find they are not very plentiful. I am lucky enough to be married to one. Thavorn is almost always joyful. When we leave our place for the 30 minute drive to her work she runs to the car with a big smile on her face despite facing a 10 day on her feet. When she exits her work at 5 pm she always has a friendly smile and welcome to Jaidan and I when getting into the car.

So how does one become joyful? I believe it begins with getting rid of the, 'I want, I want, want ...' as you will never have enough stuff to make you joyful. Think about that brand new car that brings a smile to your face when you drive it off the lot. Now think about the first scratch or dent it gets. Are you joyful or pissed off. 

Things are not important. Health is important, friends and family are important, and that sense of wonderment is important when you see or do something new is important.

Minimalism, I believe, is important. Surround yourself with only the things you need, not the things you feel you need. Hugs are important, seek them out. Surround yourself with people who are happy.

Don't ride a dead horse. Get on a new horse and go exploring, go where no grump has ever gone before ... Become Thai-like ... live in the present, forget about the past, and the future will look after itself.

Some pics of Thavorn being joyful despite being half the way around the world from her family and 3 children

embrace the cold ...

try something new

I made this ...

Children are God's gift to mankind

sometimes

good friends

Joyful in the village ... preparing a meal on the floor

The boys being joyful ... and a little bit drunk

TTYL

The Journey Begins

 Today's song is:

All I want for Christmas ... Mariah

My journey into computers began in 1969 at Carleton University where I took computers 101. The course was on a mainframe and the computer code was entered using Fortran as a language and punch cards for input.

10 years later I was teacher in my first year in 1979. I was making $10,500 a year and I decided to spend 20% of my salary to purchase a Commodore 2001 Series Pet ($2,100). It featured an 8 bit CPU (6502) and 8K of memory. Storage was on a cassette tape and drive and the conputer language was Basic. I soometimes stayed up 24 hours straight learning on this computer. I sold it after a year for $2,000 and today it is worth sold much more as it is a classic.

The computer appeared in the Star Trek TV series as well as the Star Trek 2 movie, the Wrath of Kahn.

Over the years I have gone through countless computers and I currently use a Lenovo ThinkStation which is very powerful. I have 3 monitors hooked up to it and it does everything I need to do. BTW, it is cheaper than my original Pet :-)

However, what I use for my hobby are single board computers and micro controllers which are way more powerful than my Commodore pet.

The Raspberry Pi was about $80 with the LCD screen and the micro controllers are about $25. All 3 have wifi and bluetooth and can connect up to the internet. The small microcontrollers are battery powered and can run webservers that can be accessed from anywhere in the world.

I program them in C++, Python, and Javascript. The jouney has come such a long way and there is no end in sight for me, other than my longevity. What once was an expensive hobby is now quite inexpensive, and the uses are endless, only limited by my imagination.

It is going to be a white Christmas here in Ottawa. Merry Christmas to one and all.

TTYL

Getting Excited

 Today's song is: Enemy ... Imagine Dragons

We are all getting excited about finally getting back to Thailand, although we probably all have different reasons.

Thavorn misses her native country. traditions, food, culture, etc. She misses her friends and going out with them to Thai music venues to dance and have fun. She misses going to Hillary 2 to listen to western music and having farangs buy her drinks all night. She misses her family, her 2 daughters and son. She has yet to see her sisters 2 children that were born after we left in March of 2019. Oh yes, above all, she misses the food.

Jaidan wants to revisit things that we talk about that he can't remember as he was less than 4 when we left. He also looks forward to using his Thai language to speak to someone else than his mother.

I miss the night life! the ability to go out every night if I choose to do so and enjoy myself, meeting with friends or meeting new friends. The new male friends I tend to meet will be expats whereas the new female friends tend to be Thai females who range from street vendors, pool girls, to bar girls. I expect many of my friends, be they Thai or farang have disappeared. 

I hope to reconnect with Mimmo, Harvey, Arthur, and Shauny. John is now in Canada so my number 1 wing man will be MIA. I know many of Thavorn's friends and always enjoy their company. 

I imagine we will fly into Phuket and stay in Phang Nga where her children and her sister reside. We will spend some time there and then we will visit Bangkok and I will visit Pattaya for a walk on the wild side. At some time we will head north to Kok Som Lan to visit Thavorn's mom and check out the property we purchased.

And, last but not least, we will holiday on an island or two to enjoy the ocean breezes as we will be there in the wet season.

To get a reasonable price for our 3 air tickets we will need to fly the 2nd last week in June and return the 2nd week in September. The preferred itinerary is Ottawa to Vancouver via air miles with an overnight stay and and then Vancouver to Singapore and Singapore to Phuket.

Thavorn and I have been laughing about taking some dandelion seeds to Thailand. It would not really be a curse for Thais and I suspect it would enrich the Thai diet of greens.

In Canada, both Thavorn and Jaidan are looking forward to Christmas. Me, not so much. We are also looking forward to spending 4 days at Mount Tremblant from Dec. 2nd to Dec. 4th. My two sisters will be joining us and it is Elaine's birthday on Dec. 2nd. We already have snow cover in Ottawa so there will be lots of snow in Tremblant. Maybe Thavorn or Jaidan will try skiing or snowboarding.

We see John and his wife Fon about once a week. Fon is still waiting on her PR because the government seems unable to process the applications in a decent time frame despite having been submitted by a law firm specializing in immigration. They keep blaming covid for the backlog which just proves that the government workers did dick all while working from home. 

Hallowe'en

TTYL

Settled In and Thailand in Summer of 2023

Settled In sounds a little like Boredom but that is not always the case. 

Today's song is: I Like You ... Malone and Cat

Jaidan is settled in with his new school and is doing very well scholastically. The social part of his life is not ideal but that is the case in many post covid children of his age. 

Thavorn is happy with her work and bank accounts as she has now saved enough money  to build the house of her dreams in her village. She continues to work because she has become accustomed to Canadian standards and wants to equip the house with the latest appliances and kitchen layouts.

Thavorn now works 9 days every 2 weeks and that is something I can live with because I have to drive her to work and then return home which means I drive for 2 hours a day. It is an easy drive but she may need to cut back once the snow starts to fly.

My buddy John and his wife have arrived back in Canada and are settling in. John has a trip to Thailand for a month in February and his wife will need to stay in Canada as her PR has not yet been approved. Canada is way behind on approving visas and Immigration.

We are tentatively planning a 3 month trip to Thailand in next summer (2023). Thavorn misses her family and I miss my walks on the wild side. I am also curious to see what has changed as well as seeing how Thavorn's world view has changed how she views Thailand. Thais are taught that Thailand is the best country in the world and farangs are a necessary evil (my opinion). Thavorn now understands what a welcoming and multicultural country looks like. 

We have now been in Canada for just over 3 years and Thavorn will be able to apply for citizenship, but then again, Canada is way behind in citizenship applications as well.

I will start exploring airfares and will report on what I find. In the meantime, here are some (boring) pics.

Jaidan and the Beanstalk - Science experiment

Thavorn continues to look good :-)

The cook needs the tools to work with.

Are Jig Saw puzzles boring?

Fall has arrived

TTYL