Leaderboard

It's my birthday today, I usually spend it in Thailand so it's a bit strange being here under house arrest. I decided to celebrate with all of the treats that I normally don't allow myself. So I have :- two large bars of Toblerone, one white chocolate, one milk, large bag of Mc Coys ridge cut salt and vinegar chrisps, Large bag of Kettle chrisps, 6 packs of Walkers cheese and onion chrisps Large pack of jumbo size salted peanuts 5 large bags of Twiglets. For refreshment I have 10 cans of Abbot ale and a bottle of Jamasans. In the pan I have a very large rump steak for dinner later! I guess I need to stay off the scales for a few days to recover after.

Turkey Krapow

Haddock, new potatoes, green beans with cheese sauce.

Not a rice fan so I have had turkey escalopes in a penang sauce with roast potatoes and carrots

Dec 2011..

Lentils stewing on the hop now. Lentils, Large hamhock, onion, large amount of fresh chopped gralic, some mixed spices, can of peeled tomatoes, salt low temp simmer for several hours..... multiple meals - cheap and delicious

Back on the steak and eggs, gave it up for 2 weeks during the holidays and my weight increased. Has taken me 4 days to get back where I was before 15 days of eating what I wanted. So I’m where I was 3 weeks ago, will try not to do that again. Still, I’m around my lowest in over 6 years, and will be under 300 by Monday.Going to be tough to watch 6 NFL playoff games with no carbs, but I’ll manage

Wot no beanz ? 😉

Homemade lasagne & garlic bread,with a lovely Kiwi Merlot. Don't think Dracula will come near me tonight....

Rump steak with the usual onions and veg.

My son sent me this video from Steve Hackett....scroll to 6:14 of this video to see a "master" of work at his finest. Saw him do this exact same tune back in 1977 in San Francisco at Winterland with Genesis over 2 nights. Blew the roof off the place. I asked him if he could learn this solo, he told me " Sure, buy me this Fernandes Guitar with that kind of "sustain" and I will try" LOL! Steve Hackett....one of the all time greats.

There is strong speculation that the Trump coup riot in Washington DC a few days ago will become a superspreader event. It was populated by mainly one ethnicity: older & middle age white males with red baseball caps. Crowded, indoors (part of the time for many), screaming loudly, no masks, duration of time...

Boris's dad had his 2nd shot yesterday. Bet the c**t never even had to leave the house.

In a podcast I listened to a few days ago, a prominent Covid research doctor said "no" when asked if they have found any indications of genetic predisposition for infection. She did say that one of the main cause for higher infection rates in certain groups is bigger families living closer together in one home. Very difficult for people to isolate the sick in this circumstance and the viral load in the air is often higher.

Yes crazy but I suppose it pales into insignificance compared to the way people can be treated by the police in Thailand. I don't really need to Google information about human rights abuse and police state tactics in Thailand before I would find a lot of interesting articles. Luckily in the UK I don't need to keep a couple of hundred baht in plain view in my car to keep the police happy when driving over the mountain around Korat. Think things are better in the last few years but you don't see a lot of poor BIB....

From Sky News today - 100% reflects what I've seen in the past 10 months in the UK- nothing has changed. "Best source of information on the complex psychology of coronavirus compliance: the COVID-19 Social Study - a research study by University College London. It asks 70,000 adults every week about the effects of the virus and social distancing and the responses on compliance are fascinating. Women follow the rules more closely than men. White people follow them more than people from ethnic minorities. Richer people tend to be less compliant. So do key workers and 18-to-29-year-olds." https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-lockdown-mobility-data-shows-people-have-become-accustomed-to-bending-the-rules-12182919

Total BS, at least here in Hawaii. My friends Thai GF, who had no job or assets, suddenly could not remember where her car was parked. They called 911, rushed her to a hospitable and after tests, airlifted her to Honolulu at a cost of $90,000 or so. After a few days, they found a brain tumor and scheduled a operation in 10 days with a specialist. Cost, maybe $400,000 but she paid nothing with no obligation to repay anything.

Be careful, there's a new variant out there. This one spreads by email. Another new coronavirus variant found in Nigeria, says Africa CDC https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-africa/another-new-coronavirus-variant-found-in-nigeria-says-africa-cdc-idUSKBN28Y1B7

How long I wonder will it be before customers will be allowed to drink alcohol in a Bar/GoGo once again in Pattaya? One month? Two months? Three months? How long is a piece of string? How many such businesses have the funds/ability to go into hibernation in the interim? Rents still have to be paid and so do other fixed/regular annual/monthly expenses. How many will reopen? It was almost certainly a minority breaking even prior to these latest restrictions. We all know of GoGo's losing money every day they opened. Nowhere near enough expats to go round. Sadly, nothing is ever going to be the same again.

Mmmm. Social distancing, masks where appropriate (crowded indoor areas, supermarkets, public transport) frequent hand washing etc is also just basic good manners these days. Its not onerous and where I am the majority of people do the right thing. But there are always a few morons.

You’re unlikely to find it in the normal supermarket, you’ll need to try the oriental ones. In all honestly the key is to get the balance of the sauces you put in right, not having holy basil doesn’t make a massive difference.

I don't have B beans with steak mate.

I’ve absolutely nailed cooking krakow down to a tee, don’t even really need holy basil, normal basil is close enough.

Happy Birthday to you - I've just been through a week of my own and others', too much beer but nice to get out and touch bases with a few friends and acquaintances again...

Plus 15% tax.👎

Apart from the alcohol that's a normal days diet.... The scales beg me to remain off them! Happy Birthday Mr B

Are you on a diet ? 😇 Happy birthday matey 🎂🎈👋

As are men vs women

Superb photo reporting. As others have said, how the heck will this town survive or what % will? Looks throughogly depressing

stayed in the city last night. the drive in was erie, no traffic on a friday, at all. and most places have shutters down. I think seeing it as opposed to reading about it was a worthwhile event. hotel was super clean, Adelphi, best rooms for a real song. on the balcony listening at 11. not a sound.ty kinda sunk in. Many tell me the thais, bar girls to cleaners, have this time gone home already as they know what is coing this time after last years events. I can beleive that as footfall, and pretty faces were at an absolute minimum

Tommy Lasorda, longtime LA Dodgers manager, has passed at 93

Yes i remember reading on one of the forums about him, i think you are correct he did a runner either owing money or with the money.

I wonder in hot countries like Thailand what the heat impact would be on ev batteries, their life and range capacity. I say this as our wee Toyota in Thailand eats a normal petrol car battery every 3 ish years. I know nothing about EV cars but it’s just a hunch on the battery life. I don’t think we’d have an issue here in the UK

We have both diesel and petrol cars at the moment, both coming up to 3 years old. The petrol car (a seven seat Peuogeot 5008) eats fuel at around £75 per week and has done 44K miles and is due for a change, so we have decided to replace it with an electric vehicle and charge it at home. I test drove a Kia Soul last week before lockdown struck and was really impressed on how it drove. The acceleration was very good at around 8 seconds to 60 mph, the torque was so good at low and high speeds and it stuck to the road well as I chucked it about. No noise from an ICE engine and it's spooklily quiet to drive in. It comes with a 68 KWH battery. Just get in, press start and away you go. It comes with an Iphone app, so I can pre set it to warm the car, demist the windscreen and heat the seats and steering wheel, all while I'm still in bed. They say it will do 285 miles on a charge on mixed driving and up to 400 Miles in city driving. In reality, driving it in winter with lights, hot air heating, heated seats and steering wheel etc, the range will be more like 250 miles on a charge, although that can be increased with the regeneration systems fitted to the brakes. We will have a charger fitted at home and charge it overnight on a cheap electric tarrif, at a cost of around £6 which will take around 9 hours on a 7.3 KW charger. There are virtually no options to choose from as the car comes fully loaded with all the safety systems included and a 7 year warranty, which covers most evrything except wear parts. There is also a very good Hardon Karmen music system, which the wife will love.😊 Ok, they are not cheap at around £34K after the Government grant of £3,500, but I feel it's they way to go now and I'm placing the order next week, with delivery expected in March. The other car, a deisel, has only done around 8K miles and we'll keep that, along with my V8 beast of a Jaguar, which only comes out in the summer now. 😎 I was wondering if EV cars are available in Thailand, or does cheap fuel there mean it's cheaper to stick with ICE vehicals?

angry bird

Where you find a ring, you usally find girls and this one was no exception!

I would never get any shopping done if I came across these girls that are busking in Belfast

You will be treated regardless of your ability to pay, per the law.

All 2nd Rd would need are a few tumbleweeds to make for an even more depressing pic. Thanks for the photo update.