I Called In The Other Bank Today,

for a change it was blue skies,

the bank is just opposite the Pattaya Beer Garden on Beach Road,

the Walking Street television sign still giving good service,

 next stop we parked up at Friendship,

 one change taking place, what was a furniture store in the Friendship car park, then became a motorcycle park was now being torn down,

 so back to parking in the sun,

then over the road to the Soi Bukoaw market,

 not too many people about as it is a bit early,

watch the boiling oil! a bit difficult to see but look at the oil spots on the ground, those are the spots that missed passers by, I wonder how many have returned home to find they have oil splattered clothes?

the local cut flower stall,

 lots of fresh vegetables,

and peppers,

 we were so early this live fish stall had not yet set up,

 some Siamese fighting fish being made ready for display,

 but this fish shop was up and running,

as usual a good selection of garden plants,

 

a new stall with products made from wood,

we had arranged that we would meet in the local coffee shop,

Diana with her mornings shopping,

 and a ice coffee for us both then off home,

now here is a bit of fun, designed for kids in mind and simple to use, which is naturally why I liked it, but first what has 3 eyes and 72 pairs of swimming legs? answer Triops, or to give them their correct name Triops longicaudatus, go back 300 million years or so and you would still recognize them, just add water then they hatch, or so we are led to believe reading the box,

the kit unpacked, the reason the eggs remain viable is because when it rains the shrimps hatch out, grow fast, mature quickly, lay eggs which then dry out as the heat from summer evaporates the water in the pool, the dried eggs then hatch out the following spring when it rains and the cycle starts again, some fish also employ this strategy to populate temporary pools, for instance known as annual fishes the Nothobranchius or Cynolebias groups,

 put water in the supplied plastic container, take the tub marked A,

 Diana then sinks the otherwise floating eggs,

 place in natural or artificial light and wait, we should see if any hatch in 3 - 4 days or so,

 the front of the box,

and the back, if anyone in the UK wants to hatch some have a look here and click on to the Sea-Monkeys & Triops page, or in the US here, but remember they need a temperature of about 78F, if you are wondering what all of this is about, this was written by a Triops keeper,

'is it possible to become emotionally attached to a kill-crazy cannibalistic worm that looks like a facehugger from the Alien movies and spends most of its time attempting to eat its siblings? having recently shed a tear while burying my last one - Chompy - in the back garden, I'd say yes, these little beasties inspired fear and disgust in my girlfriend, but to me they were true friends',

well I guess that sort of sums it up, moving on,

we watched Ironclad, which had many of the most bone cruchingly gory life like fight scenes I have seen, Diana loved it! it is the year 1215 and the rebel barons of England have forced their despised King John to put his royal seal to the Magna Carta, a noble, seminal document that upheld the rights of free-men, yet within months of pledging himself to the great charter, the King reneged on his word, the set peace is in Rochester Castle which Diana and myself visited on our trip to the UK last year,

 next the last three episodes of Lost,

 the back cover says it all,

the first part of Richard Hammond's Invisible Worlds that we watched was a total joy, so much that we do not see, it was startling to see how blind we really are, it is a fact that we miss 99.99999999999% percent of the spectrum,

 

well we had to see a bit more of Sharpe, in the evening, or I should say early morning, we watched firstly Sharpe's Enemy, Portugal 1813, a band of deserters, including Sharpe's old enemy, Obadiah Hakeswill, have captured two women, Diana really does not like Obadiah, next Sharpe's Honour, 1813, Major Sharpe's old enemy, Major Ducos manipulates a beautiful young marquesa into falsely accusing Sharpe of rape, Sharpe is arrested and brought before a court martial, and it seems not even Patrick Harper and the Chosen Men can save Sharpe from a hanging, by now for us it was time for bed.