Friday 30 November 2012

On Our Way Out,

we dropped off a dress of Diana's to be altered,


 so we must remember to pick it up tomorrow,

 next stop the bank,


followed by a stop at TukCom, to pick up our printer, basically the shop said they had repaired it for free, but it is worn out and should be replaced, we returned home only to find that they were correct, it died again, so back we went to buy a new one, of course the one we wanted, (the cheapest) was not in stock, so some time next week we should receive a telephone call to pick it up when it has arrived,

 as Diana was hungry as she had not eaten breakfast, so a quick visit to the food stalls next, then home,

in the aftrernoon we watched some television, but as soon as night fell we were out lighting the bar-b-q,

 or I should say Diana was,

 for a time it looked more like we were going to smoke the food rather than bar-b-q it!

 but the smoke soon died down so on with the food,

 naturally all of the advice I was giving Diana was thirsty work,

 we had decided on just three items this evening,
 for each of us a cutlet of salmon, a potato and a onion bon-bon,



 'Cheers!',

 a happy Diana,

 the moon was out, so I took a picture of it, but it was a bit bright,

 playing with the camera this one seemed a little better, the camera was on maximum zoom, I must use a tripod next time,

after our meal and some fresh melon we went inside to watch Lawrence of Arabia, hugely enjoyable, but half way through in the early hours of the morning we called it a day, for us we were off to bed.

For Many Years I Keep Seeing The Batmobile Up For Sale,

there must be hundreds of them out there,


but this is the one and only original one now being sold, on Jan. 19 at Barrett-Jackson, the Scottsdale, Ariz., rare and classic auto auction house, this from the article,


'the one-of-a-kind 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car was originally created by a design team at Ford Motor Co.'s Lincoln styling department, the 19-foot-long, two-seat, bubble-topped grand touring car prototype was entirely hand-built in 1954 by Ghia Body Works in Turin, Italy, and unveiled in its original pearlescent “frost-blue” white paint finish in 1955 at the Chicago Auto Show, in late 1965, 20th Century Fox Television and William Dozier's Greenway Productions tapped Barris to come up with a car to foil Batman's enemies, Barris said he transformed the Lincoln in just 15 days for $15,000, the heavily modified car, known around the world, was built at Barris' auto shop in North Hollywood',


there is a reserve price for the car, but neither the auction house nor the car owner, famed car customizer George Barris, would confirm the lowest dollar amount they would accept, plans for the sale were revealed at the L.A. Auto Show, 'let's just say it's in the multimillions,' said Craig Jackson, chief executive of Barrett-Jackson, 'the car is true Americana, it's hard to put a dollar figure on something like that',


would I like it? I have to say it is not quiet me, but I guess there will be plenty of bidders out there.

Keeping To A Car Theme Today,

have you ever driven along thinking 'I could use a bigger engine?' 


when trying to overtake the car in front of you, well this could be the answer to your prayers, engineer Bob Petersen spent three-years creating the incredible Bentley Meteor, basically he took a chassis from a 1930 Rolls-Royce Phantom II to use as the running gear, then dropped a Rolls-Royce Meteor tank engine (which was derived from the legendary Merlin), all 27 litres of it in to the chassis, yes you read that correctly 27,000 cc or 1,650 cu in if you prefer, 


the Merlin engine is the same as the ones used in Spitfire and Lancaster bombers, a water cooled V12, the Meteor was a tank engine designed to run on lower octane petrol rather than high octane aviation fuel,



He then meticulously designed and built the coachwork to give it the unmistakable feel and look of a vintage Bentley, the car is fitted with power steering and modern powerful disc brakes which provide awesome stopping power along with modern petrol injection and electronic ignition technology giving the cat a top speed of around 160 mph, I should also mention that the car has a a 400-litre fuel tank, and of course is fully road-legal, with current MoT and original 1930 registration number GJ 400,


Dan Zuckerman, a salesman at Coys where it is to be auctioned, commented, 'it is absolutely unique, a spectacular example of British engineering, I’ve not had a chance to really drive it but, to steal a phrase from Rolls-Royce, the performance is 'adequate','


apart from the fact that to fill it up will cost at todays prices £550 to fill it up, well it only does 2 or 3 miles to the gallon I would love it, did I mention it is expected to go for in excess of £500,000? but here is another thought, make one yourself, you can buy a Rolls Royce Meteor engine here, for just £7,500.00 (Excluding VAT at 20%) then all you need is a chassis and three years of hard work!

Thursday 29 November 2012

We Were Going To Print A Few Things,

but our printer decided to stop working again,


so back to TukCom, we waited for it to be repaired and off we went, luckily missing a shower,

the good news was that whilst waiting Diana bought a pair of shoes, but then the bad news, the red ink jet decided with the others not to work so it was worse than it was before the repair! 

then it rained, after the storm we went back to TukCom, this time leaving the printer there to be repaired and for us to pick it up tomorrow,

 but as you might have guessed we got caught in another shower on the way home, so a change of clothes and a cup of tea put things right,

in the evening we had planned to go to town for the Loy Kratong festival, but it just kept raining, so we gave that idea up which was a pity as it is so nice to watch, but we then found we had another house guest, one of the frogs had found its way back inside,

 it is amazing how they find their way in again,

 so back to Diana's miniature garden with him, we then settled down for the rest of the evening,

U.S. Marshals was the first DVD we watched, a undercover operative is framed by a corrupt agent, the race is on for him to clear his name and the US Marshals to capture him,

we finished the evening with a few more from Colditz, much to my surprise Diana really likes this series, we are both holding our breath when escapes demand silence, dated of course but still very enjoyable for both of us, then at 2.00 in the morning, time just flies when watching this series, we were off to bed.

Over The Years As A Kid,

I made many sandcastles, I guess we all did,


but I never thought of making ones like these, sandcastle artist Calvin Seibert has managed to make sand look like blocks of concrete, commenting on his Flickr page, Mr Seibert, also known as 'box-builder' said, 'I always have these ideas that I want to try but somehow in the attempt to get something done by the end of the day I turn towards my old standby solutions, I need to spend 6 weeks on the beach all at once', and there was me trying to make a castle in just a couple of hours! but still how does he make them? I would have thought that they would have crumbled as they dried, but there must be a way of stopping that happen, so next time you go to the beach if you want a challenge try making a sandcastle that looks like one of these.

Wednesday 28 November 2012

Phil Was Back From The UK,

so we meet up for a late breakfast/early lunch,


 and where else but the Punch & Judy,

 as it is handy for both of us, it is on the road that starts opposite Soi Diamond on Second Road, then goes over Third Road and meets Theprisitt Road, the pub is almost opposite the Eden Hotel,

 as I walked in there was a special offer which I was tempted to try,

 I was greeted by a new member of staff and Rob who is growing a moustache for charity,

 then Phil arrived so bangers and mash for Phil and a sandwich for myself as we were going out later,

 the afternoon just flew past as we caught up with happenings around the world, then it was glad rags on as we were out to,

 Le Bordeaux we are out today, Tuesday, as it is closed on Wednesdays,

the restaurant is located near to the TukCom Centre,

easy to find with a map,

 it is on Soi Day Night 2 in South Pattaya,

 we were joined by Mr. Tony for the evening,

 as we arrived a table had been laid out for a party, what a great place to have a celebration meal in,

 we started with an amuse bouche,


 for starters Mr. Tony had the onion soup which he pronounced delicious,

 whilst both Diana,

 and myself went with the mussels, 

 the soup was exactly as it should have been,

 then on to our main courses,

 a tenderloin beef for Mr. Tony,

 the same for Diana,

and a chateaubriand for myself,

 for information the steak that Diana and Mr. Tony ordered weighed in at 250 grams,

 the chateaubriand 350 grams,

after a good break it was time for desserts, 'Cheers!',

 Mr. Tony went for his favourite, the delight profiteroles, orange sorbet, hot chocolate au Grand Marnier,

Diana chose a Floating Island dessert,


the island was literally floating,

I just did not know what to chose, so eyes closed I pointed with a finger, 'I want that one!', I sounded like one of Andy's catch phrases,

 I am not sure which one it was, I think the puff pastry, but I could not have chosen better,

 we finished with complementary chocolates,

and a couple of coffees, then home for a few episodes of Pickers and Kings of Restoration, by now it was late so we said our goodbyes to Mr. Tony, then for us we were off to bed.