maipenrai

30 minutes ago, Glasseye said:

 

Duane was considered by many as one of the greatest guitarists ever. I think Dickey was up there as well. 

 

The two together... nothing comes close.

I like the song "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" on the "Live at the Filmore" album - it showcases both of the guitarist's styles perfectly; also the shorter instrumental "Hot 'Lanta" on the same album. I think Dickey should be remembered mostly for keeping the band going after Duane's death,  tremendous will and tenacity to take on this task after such a devastating loss...

3 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

Had a good day out with friends yesterday. We met early at Nikom to warm up with a few beers. We then wandered out and down to Beach Rd about 1 pm. Seemed to be less people about this year compared to years past. Also was surprised to see vehicle traffic on Beach Rd, thought they were going to block it off from Klang to Tai.

Eventually we turned up Soi 7 and stopped at Fore Play bar. I was first to order and when I asked how much for the Leo was told 90B. Next one in our group who hadn't heard me ask, asked the same question and was told 95B. The rest of your group of six were charged 100B.

We stayed long enough to finish our overpriced beer and then moved on. On the way out I mentioned to the lady who did the multi-tiered pricing that we all lived here and we didn't appreciate the overcharging on beer prices. Her reply was it was Songkran so prices were higher.

Foolish business decision on her part. Not sure what regular pricing is, but let's say it's 80B which would be about 45B/beer profit. So instead of us staying and having a couple of beers at her bar, we left after one beer. So in the end she earned an extra 20B/person and gave up the 45B/person she would have earned if we had stayed and had at least one more round. She also lost our future custom as we'll be sure to avoid her bar going forward.

I noticed this too in a  couple of bars during my Songkran rounds - yesterday I paid 95b in a 2nd Rd bar for my Heineken and I know it's usually cheaper - the place was packed, too so I'm sure they did well. 

I started out by Central and walked down Soi 7 from the 2nd Rd end - seemed pretty busy all the way down but not quite as packed as it had been on Monday when I was last there; then I turned on to Beach Rd and walked down to Soi 13 - I didn't find the crowds quite as thick as I thought they'd be but the various music sources were loud enough to be physically nauseating so I went up Soi 13 and hung out on 2nd Rd for a while, blasting full pickups and baht busses - moving targets are always more fun and nobody seemed to mind, most returning fire if they could. I then took a beer break in the Chicken Coop and watched the action around there for a bit, thence to Cherry Bar for a while and eventually up to Soi Buakhow where things get a little foggy...

51 minutes ago, forcebwithu said:

Interesting video came up in my YT recommended list. While searching for a better copy I found the backstory to the video.

Pet Parents Use Drone To Search For Missing Husky, Discover Him Playing With Bears

 

That's a good video - I'm glad there is a printed story along with it because I thought  those bears looked a little different than the ones I have seen at home in Canada. One very lucky dog - I think I've mentioned before somewhere that huskies make great pets but are not known for their intelligence...

7 hours ago, Butch said:

This time, a week ago I was sitting in Crystal A GoGo on LK Metro buying lady drinks and generally making an idiot of myself, with one hand on the arse of one girl and one hand on the tit of another.

At this moment in time at home, I'm drying off after showering twice and scrubbing my hands clean for the twentieth time because I had to fish a fucking dead rat out of a run off water channel on one of the cranes at work earlier on, and it fell apart as I was doing it (the dead rat, not the crane).

I had gloves on, but they weren't decomposing rat proof.

The smell was awful. what was even more awful was when bits of it burst all over my arms and leaked into my gloves.

If anyone has a time machine they want to hire out...

This reminds me of my old communications days when we often had to pull cables through underground ducts - we'd get the occasional dead arctic ground squirrel (generally referred to as "gophers") stuck in the ducts and sometimes had to use compressed air to blow the remains out - you'd want to stand well clear of the opening....

Oh, there's still plenty of weirdos around - my favourite, whom I have never had a chance to capture with camera, is the wild-looking character with the ponytail sticking straight out of the back of his otherwise-shaven head who is always charging around on the four-wheeled ATV - apparently he is a disabled German who can't walk, hence the 4-wheeler.

And of course there are the tattoo-over doers, the guys who seem to have every inch of their bodies covered with some sort of symbol or other; it's like looking at a page torn from a child's comic book. 

2 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

Best guess is you picked up a couple of the very small ants which then tried feeding on you. They're so small you often times don't feel the bite, but the result is the characteristic swelling like you see on your arm. Most times the itchy feeling goes away in less than 30 minutes, but your body could be hypersensitive to the bite.

Since I don't see any open wounds I wouldn't bother with an antibiotic cream, unless your itching breaks the skin. Instead I'd suggest a topical antihistamine.

The swelling has gone down enough today to reveal that it is indeed four separate bites; they still itch a little but not enough to run to the pharmacy - I suspect ants too as I see them just about everywhere I go and I've had similar bites on several previous occasions. 

1 hour ago, Glasseye said:

 

I'm guessing poison ivy. Centipedes are here also and they can be very nasty. Also possible spider bite.

I am super allergic to Poison Ivy and other related plants. It is easy to brush up on it without realizing, or even getting the oils on your clothing and it contacting on other parts of your body. It usually takes a day to set in. The shit is nasty nasty.

The contact with the water may have just caused the sensitivity of the skin to arise. Which then made you aware of it. Think back if you were around any plants. Many allergies can arise later on in life that we may not have had when younger.

Nothing itches worse than poison ivy.

I don't generally brush up to many plants over here so would tend to discount that theory, especially on the inside of the elbow; and if a centipede were to alight on me somehow I am sure I would know; my own guess would be a small spider or ant of some species - perhaps it landed inside my elbow from somewhere,  and then got caught in the elbow as I closed it while drawing back the plunger on the water gun - I wish I had looked at the elbow instead of just casually brushing it with my other hand when I first felt the itch. 

Just finished this one the other day and really enjoyed it - took a while as it is a big book, but very well written and filled with many personal accounts of those who experienced the conflict:

So I am out playing Songkran yesterday, just drawing some water from the tub and I feel an itch on my right elbow - I brush it and  carry on and a  few seconds later I feel another sudden itch with same response and then forget about it. Today I wake up and some creature has left big, itchy welts on the inside of my elbow:

This is not the first time I have been attacked in this manner - same thing happened in Jomtien in February and has done so in previous visits, but I'd sure like to know what kind of creature is inflicting it - sure as hell ain't mosquitoes....

2 hours ago, boydeste said:

Well, what a surprise. 

I was told by my Thai friends that Songkran finished yesterday in Bkk and no play today.

Of course I didn't believe it, but so far today, not one water gun in sight.

My company came down from soi 81 and she said, no play too.

Pure bliss has been restored.

How come it's so easy there and yet such a pain here? I guess part of that must be that the busy areas are just so much smaller and easier to police than all of Pattaya - even though I have participated here and will do so again this week, I will be happy when it's all done with. 

12 minutes ago, Glasseye said:

 

Songkran gives cnuts an free card to be their inner cnut selves. They are like dogs, out in packs. This makes it difficult to challenge them because they will gang up on you. They take advantage of this as an excuse. Individually they would be weak cowards (which is what they actually are).

That is primarily why I adhere to strict avoidance. The event offers zero meaning to me or positive experiences. The negatives are huge. I want absolutely nothing to do with any of it.

Tomorrow should be back to "normal" for me. Back to the gym and the end of this nonsense.

Yeah, it's an event that really appeals to those that like to bully others, and of  course it's easier to be a bully when you are running in a pack.  Really, I've noticed over the last couple of days  that everything is cool in the daytimes, it's in the evenings when the loutish behaviour starts to show - people get drunker and rowdier and as the preceding video shows, it's not just farangs who indulge in this kind of behaviour! I'm not going to hide away from it, I'll go out and partake in the afternoons for a couple of hours but I am finished when the sun goes down - I won't necessarily go home then but I'll just park myself in safe bars until I decide to do so, and avoid the revellers wherever I can. 

11 hours ago, ChiFlyer said:

What I find lost in historical accounts is the brave role the Canadian Merchant Marine provided in combating the Nazi Wolf Pack campaigns in the North Atlantic. They made a considerable amount of effort in bringing down the 3rd Reich at considerable cost to themselves.

https://legionmagazine.com/the-wolf-pack-attacks-the-battle-for-one-world-war-two-convoy/

Thank you for your courage Canada.

 

Many years ago I toured a corvette that is permanently moored in Halifax harbour, and I can't even imagine crossing a stormy North Atlantic in something as small and basic as this - I think this was one of the older ones that had an open bridge, just to add to the misery - brave men indeed. 

2 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

Another difference I've noticed with Songkran this year is how many more trucks loaded with people and water barrels are cruising the sois now. In years past I wouldn't see the numbers I'm now seeing until the 19th.

I spent a couple of hours playing at the bottom end of Soi 7 yesterday and was surprised to see that the crowd going past appeared to be at least 85% Thai - the last full Songkran I attended in Pattaya was in 2009 and to my recollection there were far more farang out on the regular days - most of the big Thai crowds would wait until the big final days. 

On another note, I'm heading home with company just after 10:00PM last night and as we walk up the entrance ramp to the building, I get squirted by a group of guys coming down the ramp - I tell them enough is enough, it's after 10:00, shut it down FFS and they look at me like I'm a creature from outer space; in other words, these are not carry-overs from a fun day that don't want to stop, they are purposely heading out at that time to throw water.

I went out today for a few hours, walked over to Soi 7 and bought a PVC gun easily for 300b; from there walked to Soi 6 and hung out for the rest of the afternoon before making my way back down 2nd Rd to New Plaza, then Soi Buakhow to Chayapoon and Soi Lengkee to Soi Diana before getting home @10:15 or so. Everyone having fun and well-behaved during the afternoon, but still too many people throwing water around at 10:00PM and later and they'll probably still be doing it here and there after midnight - they get drunk and just don't want to stop. Traffic was horrendous, walking pace on Beach Rd and not much better on 2nd Rd, and total gridlock by Treetown on Soi Buakhow...

1 hour ago, Glasseye said:

 

Stay safe mate. I am hunkered down, as usual.

 

 

I'm sitting out today but will have a wander around tonight after 8:00PM or so; I think I'll dress up and brave the horrors tomorrow for a while...

31 minutes ago, Nightcrawler said:

Furthermore, I think that those caught with such weapons should be rounded up and executed by firing squad. Call.me an old Nazi, if you will, but its the only way, and you know it makes sense.  😊😁😊😁

It's not the machinery, it is the operator - I had one of those for years and loved it, easy to carry and store and you can soak from afar but I had to toss it when the seals finally gave out; I do agree they end up in the hands of too many dickheads who use them irresponsibly. I remember years ago when the cops were going around confiscating them, and then selling them back to the vendors again, good little racket...

14 hours ago, ChiFlyer said:

The duplicitous self-absorbed bastard deserves all of the "Rot in Hell" comments that he will get.

 

No great loss to the planet Earth, IMHO...

I used to do all the phone service for a northern mining town that had a very cosmopolitan population - there were people there from all over Europe, many who had become displaced due to WWII and got jobs in this mine after immigrating to Canada after the war and were still there 30-35 years after at that time; my contact at the mine who arranged all the work orders for phones was a woman I got to know quite well and I recall her telling me once that she didn't like Italians very much - apparently when she was younger she worked in a bar and dining lounge back east where her Italian boss would have her go around all the tables at closing time and pick out the maraschino cherries and olives from the empty glasses, and put them back in the containers for the next night's customers...

16 minutes ago, forcebwithu said:

I wish the numbnuts with the high pressure PVC water guns would realize how dangerous they are. Even though the sale and use of them are supposedly banned you still see vendors walking around selling them.

Photo Credit: TPN https://www.facebook.com/Thepattayanews/posts/1360892171346027

Yes, they have to be used with care - I had one for a few years but finally had to toss it when the seals failed; I do plan to buy another if/when I can find one. I remember some years ago the cops were running around confiscating them, and then selling them back to the vendors, lol...again, it's not the weapon, it's the asshole using it - some people think it's more fun somehow to aim  at people's heads and eyes, which is something I would never do. 

1 hour ago, Glasseye said:

 

During the time I stayed there they had breakdown in their "power" room. They had to order a massive part that took three days for them to get. Power was out throughout the building for all of that time.

It was Dog awful.

In March of 2020 I was staying in View Talay 2A in Jomtien and something happened that blew out the underground power lines into the building and caused a lot of damage to aerial facilities out on the road too - we were without power for over two days there as well - they finally had to cut a bunch of trees down to make way for a new aerial feed into the premises instead. It was a pain in the butt but could have been worse - we had a generator running  to provide one elevator and the water was still on; my room was on the windward side so with the doors propped open it was cool enough to sleep at night and I could still shower and wash dishes and I had a headlamp so could still move around and read okay. 

A great start to my day today - no water in my wing of the condo building; I'd seen notices of this but the diagram they had seemed to me to indicate a different floor - no such luck, it's been off since 0900 and may be until 1700. I have to say that I'd much prefer a power failure to water failure - I can still shower, use the toilet and wash dishes in poor light; we  take these services so much for granted but it's sure an adjustment when we lose them...

21 hours ago, Stillearly said:

I'm not a fan of tats , but can appreciate the artwork and skill with some of these pieces , especially the two girls .. 👍

a mate of mine , has most of his body covered in tats , but now in his 60's he only wears long trousers and a long sleeve top ( even in Thailand) as he doesn't enjoy the attention his tats bring ...

There you  go - probably seemed like a great idea at the time but years, or decades later, and he is embarrassed by what he has done to himself - I guess if you want to walk around looking like a page torn from a child's comic book, it is up to you but I think it's nuts. 

2 hours ago, Toy Boy said:

Maybe I am missing something here, but Alaska is many times the size of Tasmania....