forcebwithu

We're now into the unhealthy level. Looks like I'll need to spend more time on a bar stool than on my bike to keep my lungs healthy. https://www.airvisual.com/thailand/chon-buri/pattaya

When I was riding the trails through the woods on the north side of the reservoir I came across a couple of still smoking, fresh burn areas. Since they were close to where Thais were camped out I assume they were purposely set.

Nice day for a bike ride, so took my mtn bike out to Mabprachan reservoir to see if it was now low enough to ride across. Entered the bike path around the reservoir on the SW end. Compared to the pic from last month, the water level at the overflow outlet looks to be down another meter. Pic from today. And from 10 Nov Imagine the volume of water lost from the reservoir. The high water mark is the dark patch of concrete about 6m up from the water. The new and quite a bit larger beach on the NW end. Unfortunately my hope of being able to ride across the lake bottom was dashed when I encountered numerous channels that blocked me from my goal. And no, I wasn't about to cheat by using this "bridge". Still an island, but not for much longer. Same view from 10 Nov With another 5+ months to go before the next rainy season, there's a good chance this island will look like it did on 7 Sept 2015. The birds don't see to be bothered by the low water level. But this guy can no longer cast a line from his front porch. Same view from 10 Nov I'm now on the north end looking south when I noticed more and more of the birds taking flight. I use to fly sailplanes for fun and I'm pretty sure what happened is my riding the mtn bike across the dry ground on the north end kicked loose a thermal. Use to see that quite a bit when I flew in Wisconsin. When I was getting low I'd look for a farmer plowing his field and it was almost a sure bet if I loitered around the area for a few minutes I would be rewarded with a thermal to gain back altitude in. Anyhoo, the birds probably saw a few of their friends having fun in the thermal and soon the whole extended family joined them. They might have to soon rename the reservoir to Mabprachan Desert. These guys standing around in the middle of the reservoir demonstrate it isn't that deep in parts. This is another marker of how low the water level is. Soon the outlet channel will be higher than the water and this part will turn into a stagnant pond.

Anyone up for a bit of trail running...

This topic has a few pics of the water level from one month ago.

I hope that's not flammable cladding on the side of the building.

For those living or partying on the darkside...

That time of year again when the AQI creeps up into unhealthy levels.

Several years back a thief got into my house. Fortunately all that went missing was a crappy, old laptop and a very nice backpack that was worth more than the laptop. The material loss was small, but what was worse was the sense of violation of my house. I can joke about the circumstances that allowed the thief to gain entry, but the theft itself was, and is no joking matter.

Thing about those taking their luggage from the hotel is they probably took time to repack that luggage before evacuating.

The other pic he posted at least had the cars driving on the correct side.

That explains all the sirens I heard in the wee hours of the morning. And this is about 1.5km from the Holiday Inn. Also looks like the cladding on the side of the building is what went up in flames. If true, when will builders and building inspectors learn the dangers of non-fire resistant building materials.

My guess is we're into the burn off season. FIRMS - Fire Map shows the current fire sites. With strong winds from the NE blowing the smoke our way. source: https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-263.20,11.75,2091

Downfall (original title: Der Untergang) Released in 2004 and I finally got around to watching it a couple of months ago. A very good movie.

Pretty chilly in Pattaya too. Strong wind this morning too. Saw a lot of ladies last night and this morning with sweaters and coats on.

Saw this mentioned in cnn.com and agree, great video. This Christmas commercial is warming hearts across the internet -- and it only cost $130 to make

Gave up on Konrath's latest in the Jack Daniels series. When he writes from the bad guy's perspective he uses a lot of SMS/Twitter shorthand and #hashtag references in place of English words. Found that writing style very distracting and too annoying to continue.

I'm a couple of years away from when I plan to start collect US Soc Sec, but once I do I'm going the 65k route. Main reason is I don't want to be forced to tie up 800k in a Thai bank for five months that I can't touch.

Didn't realize they had reopened. Thought they may have moved as a similar business has opened across from Nirun, behind the beer bars where there used to a bunch of pool tables. I'll have to see if I can sneak a pic of the place, although there isn't much to see. Just tall walls, no windows, and two guarded entrances.

You are correct. Forgot the seasoning of money in the bank changes came into effect on 1 March, IIRC.

The prove you still have 800k in your bank at 90 days came into effect on 1 Nov.

Thanks for the writeup @JDM. Thought the 90 report only applied when using 800k on deposit method.

"It is believed he grabbed the Narwhal tusk had been grabbed from the Fishmongers’ Hall – where Khan started his killing spree – and ran out onto the bridge when he heard the man had begun attacking people." https://metro.co.uk/2019/11/30/bystander-chases-london-bridge-terrorist-5-foot-narwhal-tusk-11244521/

Here's the video. Glad they put subtitles in for when Guy Martin is speaking.