WTF

 Today's song is: Dreamer ... SuperTramp

Have you ever woken up and thought, 'WFT, WMI and how did I get here?'. If not, perhaps you are not really living your life. Just a thought :-). I uderstand a comfort zone has its merits, but at the same time, a comfort zone has its boundaries that may be locking you into the mundane.

I was forced out of my comfor zone by a variety of life altering decisions that were made, some by me, and some by my wife at the time. It was also at a time when my children were out of the house, on their own at university. It was not a mid life crises because I was too old for that but a time in my life when life altering decisions were easier to make.

Thoughts of 'Don't foo around, buy a round', and 'Life is not a dress rehearsal' leapt to the forefront of my mind and decisions flowed.  I recently read a quote that stated, 'No one is interested in listening to what you have not done.' and that resonated with my own saying, 'I don't regret the things I have done, just the things I did not do.' and my life has flowed from that.

So, the question you should be asking yourself is, 'Am I part of the mundane, or am I challenging myself to be somewhat different than the pack?' Or, perhaps you are happy in the mundane and wish to pursue it for the rest of your life. BTW, embarking upon cruises once you retire is part of the mundane, whereas partaking of the full moon party in Thailand is perhaps stretching your horizons.

My third child arrived at my age of 63 and although unplanned, a conscientious decision to keep the child was. Definitely not mundane and it was a great decision on our part. Young people keep you young as they have yet to discover the boundaries that lock many within. It is my job as a parent to make sure that will not happen. 

My mother always called me Walter Mitty. I am not sure whether she meant that as a compliment but I think she did.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines a Walter Mitty as "an ordinary often ineffectual person who indulges in fantastic daydreams of personal triumphs". The most famous of Thurber's inept male protagonists, the character is considered "the archetype for dreamy, hapless, Thurber Man".

However, perhaps, unlike Walter, I made some dreams come true :-) I would not want to die thinking, 'What if?'.

My sone recently gifted me with a coffee mug that I am most proud of:

TTYL

Overload

 Today's song is: Dua and Da Baby ... Dua is hot!

My Lego RC cars have kept me sane and occupied during our lockdown. Apparently I will get a vacine sometime in April. My motorcycle is also delayed to port outbreaks of covid and a work to rule. Arrival also in April, 3 months late!

I have come to realize the Lego cars I like the most are my smallest, and cheapest, easiest to running and control, and designed by me.

Here is a pick of my 8 Lego RC (remote controlled) cars:

Here are my 2 pride and joy racers. I plan to shoot some racing video later today.

I also felt the need to get organized and now I am.

After my vaccination I am looking forward to sitting in Timmys and enjoying a coffee, sitting in Starbucks and watching the millineals, and perusing the motorcycle dealerships for accessories, and visiting Chapters for a good read.

I would be remiss to miss saying that Thavorn and Jaidan have also been instrumental in my sanity remaining strong during Covid. However, the wild side is calling ....

TTYL

Woke?

 Today's song is: Another Brick in the Wall ... Pink Floyd

I am becoming annoyed at 'woke' individuals. I have come to believe that 'woke' only applies to certain beliefs perpetuated by group ideologies. I learned long ago that there is no white and black, only shades of grey, no right or wrong, as it depends on where you are on a spectrum. Woke individuals seem to think they have the definitive answer.

However:

One Urban Dictionary contributor defines woke as “being aware of the truth behind things 'the man' doesn't want you to know”. Meanwhile, a concurrent definition signals a shift in meaning to “the act of being very pretentious about how much you care about a social issue”.

Pretentious indeed, to pretend to be all knowing. The problem is that the marketeers listen so carefully to woke opinions because they do not want to lose sales. This is exacerbated by social media that give woke individuals a stage to preent on.

What it amounts to is a threat to freedom of speech, or perhaps even having a different opinion to the woke crowd. Our news media is at play here as evidenced by Piers Morgan daring to criticize Meghan Markle for her Oprah's interview. It used to be if you put yourself out there in the public you had to take the good with the bad. Not so with the woke crowd.

I have discussed before how universities have restricted free speech due to unversity groups protesting certain speaker's rights to have an open debate on campus. Thought police at work! 

And don't get me started on cancel culture. If we pretend it did not happen ...

TTYL

Beautiful Music

 Today's songs are: New Orleans is Sinking ... Left The House ... Tragically Hip

...

Music can help you survive the lock downs. I especially like listening to the Hip, probably the greatest Canadian band that is mostly unknown outside of Canada. This article, brilliantly written somes it all up.

CBC.ca: As an immigrant, I wanted to understand Canada's fascination with the Tragically Hip. This is what I found.

https://www.cbc.ca/music/as-an-immigrant-i-wanted-to-understand-canada-s-fascination-with-the-tragically-hip-this-is-what-i-found-1.5932223

Thavorn remains a joy and keeps me uplifted and smiling. We both miss 'Hillary 2 Bar' in Bangkok and hope it survives the pandemic. It will be one of my first stops in Bangkok when I return. It is my Cheers, 'Where Everyone Knows Your Name', however I suspect I will have been somewhat forgotten.

I was in Thailand for the Hip's last Canadian tour and I just 'Watched Long Time Running', the documentary on the that tour. What struck me was the country wide love for the group and their music. What else struck me is what covid19 has taken away from us. The ability to get together to celebrate something in common whether it be a 'Woodstock' or a love of music.

However, if you have not watched the documentary do so now:

https://youtu.be/sWqlD8prGH4

TTYL

 Today's song is: Lifestyle ... Derulo and Levine

Covid19 has altered many lifestyles around the world. If I was in Bangkok at this moment I would be sitting out covid in my apartment except for runs for food. The entertainment places are still closed and I suppose the BTS would be somewhat risky so getting around would be a problem.

Here in Canada many of my plans fell apart. I was planning on driving out east with Thavorn and Jaidan and visiting the Atlantic provinces this past summer. Of course that never happened. I was also planning to do some camping and canoe camping in Algonquin Park. Then again I was going to book some time at Mount Tremblant and introduce Jaidan and Thavorn to skiiing and the mountain village. Not happening.

We were also planned on visiting my 2 sisters fairly regularly and that is not happening. Ditto for my friends, or just getting out to a sit down in Timmy's, Starbucks, or browsing the books at Chapters.

So, my lifestyle has been altered dramatically, but not as much as the past 10 years when I embraced minimalism and embraced being a bad boy on the wildside in Thailand. I don't miss owning a house, 2-3 cars in the driveway, keeping up with the Jones, etc.

I do miss a motorcycle, my friends, coaching basketball, and travellingwhich I can solve once covid19 gets diminished. My motorcycle arrives this month.

Meanwhile age is catching up. I strained my achilles tendon running on the treadmill and altering my walk has strained my lower back as well. Apparently the achilles takes at least 2 months to heal. Bummer. 

Some motorcycle pics. I always like a touch of red on my bikes:

What's in store for my lifestyle down the road. For the next 4 years we will live with my sone Jordan, with perhaps a trip or two of 3 months in Thailand, probably June-August. At the end of the 4 years, Jaidan will be in going into grade 6 and we will probably spend at least 6 months in Thailand as we build a house for Thavorn in her village. I will home school Jaidan during that time.

After the house is built, we will spend 9 months in Canada a year and 3 months in Thailand. Or 6 and 6 with 4 months of home schooling. Time will tell. You don't want to plan too far ahead at my age :-)

TTYL

Proud of my Mule

 Today's song is: Proud Mary ... Tina Turner

I am proud of my RC controlled mule. Mainly because I built it from scratch with my own drive train and steering mechanism. Also because it is very fast. It is driven by 2 lego L motors geared up running on a NiMH 9.6 volt battery back. However, it can be improved.

I am using a Raspberry PI to control it which is okay, but I use an AdaFruit Crickit board to drive the motors and it is overkill for what I need and has one inherent problem that is, it can only drive motors up to 5 volts dc. That means I then add on another Cytron motor board to drive the 9 volt Lego motors. I also have an issue with the 9.6 volt battery pack as I can't tell how much battery is left. I could add a small volt/capacity meter but that means another small addition. I like to adhere to the KISS principle.

My plan is to keep the Raspberry computer, but perhaps downgrade it to a Raspberry PI Zero W from the Model 3B+. Why, because it is cheaper, and does the job, as well as being half the size.  I am then going to add a WaveShare Motorboard that sits ontop of the PI zero and is the same size, and can drive the Lego motors at 9 volts and potentially up to 12 volts (more on that later). The more volts, the faster you go.

The final new addtion will be a 12/5 volt USB Battery Pack. Most of the USB battery packs only pump out 5 volts to charge phones. The one I found by TalentCell has two outs, one at 5 volts and one at 12 volts. I could (undecided), run the PI Zero off the 5 volts and the motor board off the 12 volts. Best of all, it has 5 leds that show the status of the battery so I know when to recharge it.

All of the above makes everything much smaller and simpler. I should be able to get it all hooked up in a week as the parts come in, unless I fry something.

Meanwhile in Covid land we are surviving and today is a snow day and Jaidan is at home and working hard om Math and Reading. Thavorn is drying pork to use with this week's meals. Thai, her daughter has managed to get herself kicked out of school in Phang Na for truancy. Not sure, what will become of her, but probably nothing good.

Some more picks of the existing mule.

TTYL

Covid Update

 Today's song is: Mood .. Bieber et al

Jaidan is back in a regular classroom and my days are free again, so, maybe, I will post a bit more.

A bit of a setback with my latest mule as I fried the microcontroller that was powering it. $60 up in smoke.  I decided to go all in and order a Raspberry Pi as a controller and a motor hat. Way more expensive so I will try not to fry them.

Meanwhile I have decided to optimize my programming desk and here is a pic of it.  The motorized desk is important for anyone coding for more than 8 hours. The dual monitor setup is required for productivity. The left monitor can be recorded (both video and voice over) for documentation/training. The device with the green light is the Hauppuage Rocket which records to my 500 gig ssd drive on a push of the big red button. 

I have a Amazon Echo 5 (gift from my daughter Jaime) with a display for quick info on anything from weather, amazon deliveries, and trivia. On the right are my headphones for listening to YouTube tutorials. My mouse is a Logitect MX Master which is ergonomic to prevent RSIs.

The laptop is a Lenovo Think Pad with 16  gigs of memory and a 500 gig ssd internal drive. The coffee mug is large size and a present from my son Jordan.

Meanwhile, back in Bangkok, the bars are shutting down and many will never reopen. The coup born governmnet is still under reporting covid and does very little testing. The government still believes the tourist will come flocking back but that will probably never happen post covid, and if so, defintely not befoe 2022. A whole generation of bar girls has seen their lifestyle yanked out from under them and are back in the hinterland bored out their tree. The Thai economy is probably back to circa 1995 but the government has yet to realize it. Thailand has priced themselves out of the main tourist market and prices will have to come down and government bureaucracy needs to make it easy for tourists to visit.

 

Do I miss Thailand? You bet. The normal loso Thai are great people (okay, not all) and deserve a better life. The student protests looked promsing but the government are locking up the leaders now. A 60 year old lady was sentenced to 40 years in jail for posting a video on Facebook. Governments around the world have to do something aout this by applying pressure to Thais in power but little seems to be happening on that front. I suppose our government officials enjoy their cheap seafood too much.

TTYL