In A Repeat Of Yesterday It Was Back to Naklua In The Morning,

the letter I signed for at the post office, was a form that I had to complete regarding Corporation Tax on my company in the UK, so it was back to Nakula, but as the form was more than a bit important (in my book any form that is late and you get a fine is important!) I decided to send it FedEx, in all of the times I have used FedEx, several times a year, only once has the fountain been working, it must have cost a fortune, shame that for a little bit of maintenance it could not be kept in working order, just out of interest I tracked the passage of my letter at 10.25 today, so less that 24 hours later this is it, Jan 31, 2009 6:42 AM Departed FedEx location GUANGZHOU CN Jan 31, 2009 6:12 AM Arrived at FedEx location GUANGZHOU CN Jan 31, 2009 1:29 AM Departed FedEx location SUBIC BAY FREEPORT PH Jan 31, 2009 12:41 AM Arrived at FedEx location SUBIC BAY FREEPORT PH Jan 30, 2009 10:49 PM Picked up SAMUTPRAKARN TH Jan 30, 2009 9:18 PM In transit SAMUTPRAKARN TH Jan 30, 2009 7:10 PM Left FedEx origin facility SAMUTPRAKARN TH Jan 30, 2009 12:10 PM Picked up SAMUTPRAKARN TH we dropped it off at 11.45, so it was picked up just 30 minuets or so later,

then it was off to water Jeff's plants,

it does not seem so long ago that the hill opposite was covered in lush green vegetation, but now it is dry and brown and I guess going to get worse as the rains are more than a few months away,

then it was over to see Juu and his wife Dang, but we stopped for a coffee at this place nearby, I wanted to get a couple of shots of the fighting chickens, not that they were fighting but I just want to take a few pictures,

they were all kept under these bamboo baskets, the females are lose to walk around only the cockerels are caged,

then it was in to see Juu and his fish, the Arapaima gigas have grown even bigger since the last time I saw them, the white fish in the picture are about 2 feet long and the Arapaima are not even 3 years old yet!

on the way back we called in to buy a few things at the market, considering this is not a every day market this guy goes to a lot of trouble to make the chimney every time he goes there,

as better view of the temporary market,

Diana decided she wanted some fish for tonight,

and for both of us some of the small sweet oranges, which by the way I have found out do not grow in Thailand, they are imported from China,

mission accomplished, then home for the evening meal feet up and watch a few DVD's.

Lesson: How Not To Commit An Act Of Arson,

first, do not get caught on CCTV, second, do not catch yourself alight with petrol you have used to start the fire,

thirdly, do not get into the get away car and set it alight so badly that you have to abandon it! easy really, but not so for Lee Sood, 20, who was scarred for life following the blaze at the Walkabout Bar in the Warwickshire town of Rugby, he was sentenced to 4 years.

Warning! Warning! Warning! There Is Milk In This Bottle!

Asda have just won the award for stating the blindingly obvious! yes you have guessed it! there is milk in this milk bottle, but just in case the mentally impaired thought there was not, a warning has been helpfully printed on the bottle, well if that is the level of intelligence that Asda credits it's customers with, I for one will not be shopping there! Asda admitted it had got things wrong and said it will remove the warning later this year, allegedly!

We Had A Bit Of A Busy Day Yesterday,

first it was off to Naklua, the post man had dropped a red card type thing off to say we were out when he called and a letter needed signing for, if you get one of these remember to take your passport, so we went to the post office, we are standing opposite the covered Naklua market looking towards the post office,

the roof was only put on this market a few years ago,

looking past the shrine into the market, from memory it operates every Tuesday and Thursday,

and looking towards the Sumkivit highway,

we then called in to see Geoff and Honey Mae, Geoff was unfortunately in Bangkok, but Honey Mae was happy to see us and the girls had a good chat whilst I had a cup of tea, then it was off to Soi Siam Country Club road to see Nick and Maureen and of course Ta-Taa,

unfortunately for Nick he was using an angle grinder when the disc shattered, the grinder flew from his hand and landed still spinning on his ankle, a trip to the hospital and seven stitches later he was home, "get well soon Nick!"

then it was back to 388,

soon after Jay and Precil and Mick and Mass arrived,

Mick and Jay,

the girls had kept some Indian food in the freezer so a quick microwave and hey presto!

myself and Diana,

Mas and Mick,

Jay and Precil, we all had a great time, but Jay and Mick were both a little out of salts, I must admit my coughing, head cold and dry throat still show no sign of abating, so I guess it must be some thing doing the rounds, after everyone had left it was feet up and watch "Unforgiven", with Clint Eastwood and "The Mission" with Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons, then a good nights sleep ready for the morrow!

The PC Brigade Can Not Even Leave Kids Nursery Rhymes Alone!

the old ditty 'What shall we do with the drunken sailor?" has fallen under the PC brigades knife, the old favorite with most boy and sea scouts has been brought screaming into the 21 st. century, the PC government-funded Bookstart changed the 1891 sea shanty’s main character from “drunken sailor” to “grumpy pirate” Nick Seaton of the Campaign for Real Education said: “It is trying to rewrite the history and tradition of this country, “Organisations like Bookstart should know better.” also changed were lines such as “Keelhaul him and pass the bottle” and “Round with the rum and scotch and whisky” are replaced by “Do a little jig and make him smile” and “Tickle him till he starts to giggle” as for Katherine Soloman of Bookstart who commented, “Some might think this is political correctness but the words were changed to fit in with a pirate theme we had.” what a load of rubbish! what gives you the power to change our National Heritage? you are all that I hate to see in new labour PC Great Britain.

Last Night Out On The Town!

so Diana got all dressed up,

looking as beautiful as ever, Diana as we leave 388,

we got motorcycle taxi's to the Marine Plaza,

then a walk to Walking Street,

it looks busy, but not many people spending money in the bars,

we had a great evening in Sisterz, with Tom and Grieg, we were joined by Jay and Preicil, also Don arrived a bit later on, great shows as usual, especially the shower show! then it was over to see Juu in Champions and bumped into Peter, the drinks were flowing fast and furious then Brian and Sa arrived, they announced in a couple of months time they were going to Kampang Phet to get married and invited us to the ceremony, well that was it! drinks all round, then it was time to go, so on the way home we stopped at the pizza place, two slices and drink for 99 baht,

the restaurant however was empty, service with a smile,

and a wave bye!

Diana could not wait to eat it so she sat outside and ate it before I had a chance to open the door, one tonight and I guess one for breakfast tomorrow!

I Enjoy Looking At Photographs,

and I have just found some stunning ones,

these were taken by Jason Hawkes in 2008,

Jason shot these images with a camera attached to gyro-stabilized mounts from a Eurocopter AS355, hired out at around £1150 (GBP) per hour, using Nikon gear and either a 14-24mm or a 70-200mm lens, for me absolutely stunning, if you want to see more go here.

At Last Some One With A Bit Of Common Sense About Recycling,

Mr Jones, a former director of the waste firm Biffa,

now an adviser to environment ministers and the London Mayor, Boris Johnson has stated "Recycling could be adding to global warming rather than reducing it" and also he suggested that much of the country's waste should simply be burnt to generate electricity, "It might be that the global warming impact of putting material through an incinerator five miles down the road is actually less than recycling it 3,000 miles away," he said, and as I have always said, only in third world counties does recycling make sense, where transport and labour costs are low, if it worked in the UK councils would be flush with cash, sure the council is paid so much per ton, but what is not reveled is how much more the same council had to pay to move the material to the recycling plant.

Shades Of The Italian Job,

well it looked like it to me! the driver Daniel Lyons had to wait in the van till a tow truck arrived, the 34-year-old was discovered by rescuers sitting in his swaying Dodge camper van, 170ft from the ground, the van had plunged down the rock face at the Colorado National Monument in the U.S. he was rescued with no apparent injuries, lucky fellow!

This Is Another Case Of "Why Does Something Like This Never Happen To Me?"

there it was in an umbrella stand for years, the umbrella along with others and a few walking sticks were going to be given to the local charity shop, after being inherited by the new owner, but something about this one made her take it to a jewellers shop, guess what? the handle was made by Michail Perchin, a craftsman at the House of Fabergé who worked closely with the famous Russian jeweller in the 19th century to revive the technique of guilloche enamelling, the umbrella went under the hammer at Bearnes Hampton and Littlewood in Exeter and sold for £17,500, now why is it things like this never happen to me?

We Went Over To See Jay And Precil Later On Tuesday,

we called in to meet them at the Fisherman's Rest,

this is the sign to look for if you want to have a meal or drink there,

I watched these 3 fishermen but they did not seem to have much success,

a view of the bar/restaurant from the road,

notice my nice clean truck beside Jays dirty one, well you know what it is like when you have a car or truck cleaned? you guessed it! the heavens opened up, the rain really came down hard, but just a few hundred meters away it was as dry as a bone, so following Jay all of the dust stuck to the water on my truck and it is now as dirty as ever,

some of the fruit we bought in the market,

I have eaten these before, I am not sure what the Thai name is but have been told that some people refer to them as Japanese plums, the season for them is just starting so they were a little expensive at 200 baht a kilo,

and of course we had a fine selection of drinks,

the girls had already bought some food from Pattaya,

Den-Den was as usual in a playful mood,

Jay with the food, again we decided to have an Indian from the Fisherman's Rest,

the girls getting the plates and cutlery ready,

Den-Den waiting for the food under the table,

food at last! Jay and Mick,

there was so much food,

Diana took this picture, "Cheers!"

the sun goes down,

Mas with oranges,

Mick dipping a plum in rum and blackcurrant,

and Diana trying to see what I looked like when I had hair,

and it is "Good night" from the girls.