tko

Pfeffer steak down by the sea.

The rainy season has finally ended. 28C when I got here, 31C two hours later. Cool breeze out of the north.

Maybe you ordered a small one? We had this on 1 November and it was 3 scoops and a whole banana. 199Baht as I remember.

Pinned to the top of the VIP section. just added my recommendation.

Cauliflower stir fry.

I had an employee who told me he was going to fail a random drug test because of marijuana. I told him to get out of the building and go buy me a box of disks at the computer warehouse across town. He was a damn good software engineer. The testing staff, which included the center director's boss said they knew what I did and they'd be back to retest him in 30 days. The day came, he told me he'd fail again, I told him to write me his resignation letter and leave. He'd have been fired if he went through the test.

I first came to Thailand over 41 years ago. Before I left I bought the book "Fundamentals of the Thai language" by, I believe, the Australian War College. It was recommended to me be a member of the Australian detachment on our mission in Thailand. I then separated and went to work in KSA, so I had a lot of time to study. I wore that book out. One of my colleagues there had done some Peace Corps work in Thailand and could help out when I got stuck. When that assignment ended and I got back home, I found out there are Thai temples in almost every large city, and folks there are happy to help. They also have lessons for the children of Thai families you can listen in on. Almost 20 years later I met the "one," and fortunately spoke enough Thai to communicate because she didn't speak much English at all. The next couple decades with her and all the Thai/Farang or Thai/Thai families from our local temple that we became friends with, ramped my fluency way up. It seems to me that the books, etc, get you started, but total immersion is what gets you fluent. These days I'm conversationally quite fluent, to the point that on the phone Thais are surprised that I'm not Thai. I read fairly slow and I'm sure my handwriting is atrocious. To be fair, my handwriting is not much better when I write in English.

Mini meatloaf, scalloped potatoes, sautéed mushrooms.

I go the deposit route, because I self insure due to pre-existing conditions. So I never get anywhere near as low as 800K in the bank. So just 100Baht and maybe 15 minutes to get a letter from the bank.

I ran across a bottle of this at my recent visit to our local expat foods store. I couldn't tell the difference between it and Jim Beam. I still prefer Jack Daniels.

The Thai tourist area immigration rules. The three different immigration offices I've used since moving here take less than 30 minutes from parking to driving away, and charge 1,900 Baht. Plus 100 Baht the day before at the bank for a letter. It takes me maybe a half hour to scan new pages and print everything I need before I go. I don't think they even have agents away from Chon Buri/Bangkok/Phuket/Chiang Mai and maybe Hua Hin.

TW, after showing her actual examples has caught on to this concept. Daughter still says "it's on sale!"

I just pay with my debit card. The few times I needed a refund it was restored to my account within a week. The main reason I don't use COD is we're out and about a lot in the daytime. When your purchase is already paid for they'll just leave the package with the gate guards and we'll pick it up when we get home.

Outback, out near Siam Country Club. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Outback+Sports+Bar+%26+Restaurant/@12.9261321,100.9502796,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x310295694f273cb1:0x5f4d673081ca5a8d!8m2!3d12.9261321!4d100.9528545!16s%2Fg%2F11xdmrl04?entry=ttu That's the small mixed plate plus added lamb. 350Baht. They have an all you can eat option for 495Baht, but the "small" is all I can eat.

Sunday roast.

USMC birthday, so I sent emails out. Got emails back asking when my phone is on? It's a magicjack VOIP app on my cell. I almost never get a ring. Call history tells me I missed many. After seeing that, it was me who made the calls. So good to speak to those I served with. Semper Fi, do or die.

I kind of skipped past the Star Trek enterprise series, but it's actually pretty good.

^^^ wish I could have given two thumbs up.