Leaderboard

for anyone who remembers, and f course for newbies who didnt know him, Lanza built this board. He was also the father to Young Thomas. three years ago today I think this was written at the time GOOD NIGHT LANZA LAD Deeply saddened to inform all of the passing of Phil Gaines, aka Lanza/Lanzalad. As some will know, Phil had been battling cancer with all his might for the past few years. the ups and downs have been enormous. sometimes when we spoke I was convinced it would be our last chat ever, he could hardly breathe to finish a sentence. a week later he was up and atom, as they say. but the past few months really took their toll on him as cancer did its evil deed. Several others here were in regular contact too, and we all saw him come back, and post, and do the admin and enjoy the board even quite recently. all will confirm that the last few weeks were fAR from a comfortable period and that, sadly, his passing will in many ways have been a relief to him Phil was fortunate to have a wonderful wife who has been his real strength these past years. She is a strong woman by nature but the series of shocks regarding his health hurt her deeply, this as together they introduced Little Thomas into the world, a little man who quickly became the apple of Phil's eye. In the last few weeks, two pals in the UK have been in regular contact and visits which I know cheered him up no end. I wont name as thats their business but they are welcome, please, to do so, and from all of us who couldnt, a big thank you for the effort. WE ALL HAVE MEMORIES OF PHIL, Where ever he is, the bald northern git with a heart of gold, I hope he has a laptop , and is reading this. I will probably get a Pm later that will begin.. "yeah but Tommy, the thing is...." cos that was his start to most discussions. Love to his family, and miss ya mate Tommy

I remember Lanza rang me about a week or so before he passed. I think that's what he was doing, ringing his mates, saying goodbye. What a fucking thing to have to do, horrendous. I especially remember it because after our conversation, there was a pause, then he said okay mate, i'm gonna go here. Then there was a bigger pause, a horrible pause as we both knew we wouldn't ever talk to eachother again. I didn't know what to say, i didn't want the conversation to end, as i knew it was the last time i'd speak to him, yet i knew i had to, i couldn't keep him on the phone. I came off the phone just numb, think i went and gave my wife and daughter a great big hug, then immediately felt guilty for doing that. I also remember @Thinkingallowed coming back to 24/7 and what he did for Puang, how he organised the collection etc where we contributed to help when she needed it. It also didn't surprise me in the least he did that, such is the kinda person he is. It's more reason why i just live and enjoy my life as much as possible whilst i still can, as you just don't know what's round the corner. Cancer is a bastard!

Yes, it is 3 years since Phil passed on, that in itself seems difficult to realise. It feels like only a short time ago that I was having regular conversations with him and popping up to see him and Puang with Thomas, just a baby at that time. I am still driving around in his car that he asked me to buy for £600 to help out with money for Puang. I was happy to help but he is probably having a chuckle up above, that it has cost me mega bucks to fix all that was wrong with it. He certainly was a character and I miss him, I regularly look back at photos on Facebook, which are still there for anybody to view. Even my daughter, when looking at the moon, says that Uncle Phil is up there looking down on us. Always remember the great times we had in the Rockhouse which is where I met him. A guy who would do anything for you, always happy to help and always with a smile. Miss you mate.

Something to take my mind off this morning's news...

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs on Netflix. Well worth the watch.

We owe a lot to him. Gone too soon RiP Philx

Many thanks - without Haarland in my team too . . thought I'd take a different strategy this season. Let's see how it pans out . .

Glad you enjoyed the series. Cheers.

Burrito, pre folded. For the best (actually the only) Tex-Mex in Muang Rayong you'd have to come to my house.

I passed a big landmark today. Tuesday is my weigh/in day and my total weight loss is now 20.6 Kilo ( 3st 3lb). That leaves me 5.4 kilo's to still lose by 13th October to hit my 6 months target weight. I am regularly losing a kilo a week so I am on track. I might even be really close when I go in for my hip replacement operation on the 15th September. If only my hip would not stop me doing my old daily sit/up regime I would have been able to rid myself of the last stubborn strip of belly fat which refuses to disappear. I cannot wait until I can turn that belly fat into stomach muscle. There is a six pack underneath for sure. 😄

It's mental how quickly that time has passed ... I hope his wife and son are doing well

TT, 14:30 Tuesday afternoon

I'd guess the same. Watched his YT series on running and setting up bar in during the darkest part of lockdown. It was clear that in terms of running the bar he did everything by the official rule book, all licences in place and all rules followed. He was aware that not everyone did this, but his choice.

8

5 days until Macau...

I'm getting too close to Galenkia

Ribeye steak with onions and veg. This one was from Lidl and cooked up nice.

New shirt needed

Friend just sent this from Siem Reap, wow it is cheap there.

Just had my third shower of the day ... this morning gym , swim and sauna , then this afternoon met up with a ex work mate and we went for a 24 mile bike ride ... 😅 went through lots of little lanes that i've never been down ... excellent day 😎

End of October has been my guess for a while. It will make it a nice clean 2 years to complete something that should have taken 2 months. That's a good measure of incompetence. The part Google shows as closed off is way too long which is making it hard to plan trips from City Garden or Urban condos as the first step requires a magic leap to an open road (even though in reality the road is finished in front of those condos). Today people had blazed a trail in the dirt road so it was actually possible to drive a car down soi 15 to Second Road. There's no telling if that will work tomorrow. It's good that Google be pessimistic if and when they decide to do some serious work on that section again we don't want folks confused and driving into ditches.

LOL. I used to have a Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Love of my life. She used to bring home sticks so big she couldn't get them through the door. I used to laugh my ass of watching her try to figure out how to get it through. She was a friggen devil though. Would sometimes eat her own shit and then belch in my face. After a few times of that I always had to watch her shit and then clean it up before she gobbled it down. Dogs are odd creatures. And like I said in another thread, "no picnic to raise them". But, I wouldn't trade the years I had with her for nothing in the world.

Got to live a bit too mate, I only drink at the weekends.

This is sad. What a great man and documentary series.

I try 😵‍💫😵‍💫

That's over 3 Stone in old money, a massive achievement, especially when your condition is currently such that you can't exercise as much as you'd like. Well done!

Thinking have i gone colourblind, or is @Derek Dangleberries really back in the green? Admin will learn the hard way here

Nice one Tom. Lanza helped me on several occasions and refused to take any monetary consideration for his time and expertise. The best I could do was to leave a bottle which I hope he enjoyed. A real nice guy.

Checking skyscanner,booked flight on Friday for next wed for 740£ abz - bkk with klm,1 stopover at ams for 4 hours ,but 10 hours on way back,not a bad price considering left it late,now the price is around 50£ higher but 2 stops ams-cdg-bkk ,so glad I booked when I did,if booked the week before would have been 680. Big difference with last months prices overall.

Waiting to see what happens in BKK today.....

They don't polish here in Korat, well mine does'nt. IME its a bit of a joke here in the boondocks of Isaan, i remember Mike saying he has his nashers laser cleaned so i asked my dentist if she could carry out the process, her look was one of total bewilderment I remember having my teeth cleaned in the UK by a 'hygienist', it was a 45 min session with cleaning, flossing and a damn good polish and they looked new. Here in Korat they are still living in the dark ages.

A new team at the top , well done @Britboy

Even with consent of the lady, if the authorities became aware of those type of images Mr Egg could be in big trouble. My guess is that he tries to keep on the right side of the powers that be.

New season showing in the UK on the 24 th August

Copied from the internet: Lao Khao comes in dark brown bottles that look a little like beer bottles, and there are 2 different sizes with a volume of 0.33 litres and the larger 0.625 litres. The labels are all in Thai, with different colors to signify the grade and alcohol content, which is somewhere between 28% and 40%. The blue-labeled one is the strongest, and hence best-selling option, and you’ll see the discarded empty bottles on pretty much every road and street corner in Thailand

Best feedback to google is a steel rod up their ass.

That wooden one reminds me of my Bearded Collie who could not go out for a walk without coming home with sticks like that........ ONLY bigger! 🤣

I've always known it as a "scale and polish" and I'm not Thai.

I only knew him from his posts on Secrets, but he was clearly one of the more rational people on that board. Sad news, but it's a part of life's lottery. I've known so many better people than me who have succumbed to cancer and other diseases over the decades that it's impossible to see any sense to it. Just like with the RAF bomber crews in WW2, your money or class or intelligence or charm don't matter, surviving the ride is all down to good luck. Enjoy every day while you can, and all the best to Striderman.

somehow maybe give him somethign to do, ask him to choose 50 pf his favorutie snaps so that we can create a striderman library here. apart from anything else it might take his mond off. just an idea

Saturday 19th August 2023....19.00 hrs... Soi Buakhao. Should be for the weekend........