Toy Boy

TT, 14:30 Tuesday afternoon

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.

Thanks, that gives me a positive feeling, lol!

Yet another new one for me, and another piece of German mastery of the art of brewing. Kucklbauer 'Alte Liebe' Dunkle Weisse. This one also hails from Abensburg in Bavaria, like the Dunkelbier I mentioned two posts above, but I think I preferred the straight Dunkelbier to the Dunkleweisse. They're both well worth a taste, anyway, if you can find them.

Great personalised service... lol

Yep, I'm buying a new car so need to bring some money over. The delivery's not due until mid-October and the big uncertainty is always when and at what rate do I transfer the funds? Leave it too close to the purchase date and you may get stuck with a lousy rate, but jump the gun and you may be getting what you think is a good rate today, but which may seem fairly poor a few weeks from now. Anyway, I decided that 44.65 net of the TW fees was good enough for me, so I moved £10K over here. I already have the equivalent of £15K sitting in the bank doing nothing, so I only need another £5K or so. Of course, if the pound hits 47 Baht in September I'll end up kicking myself, lol.

Abensburger Dunkelbier, and very nice too!

It seems that the Baht's weakness is the result of concerns about China's economic prospects... happy days! https://thethaiger.com/news/business/thailands-baht-leads-asian-currency-downturn-amid-chinas-economic-worry

I'm not sure why, but for once the pound is having a pretty good day - so far, at least. Almost touching 45 Baht at the moment.

Thanks, but no, I never have any reason to go to Bangkok these days. The supermarkets in Pattaya have a great selection, though it varies with stock-keeping issues - I'm still hoping Friendship gets some more of the Belhaven Black. Foodmart in Jomtien has got a great range of Trappist beers, and Villa has a good selection of imported beers from around the world.

Another new (for me) German beer, this time a black lager from Oettinger (no idea how you say that). That was pretty damn good, anyway, one of the best dark lagers I've had, though I seem to recall that it wasn't cheap. Well worth trying if you can, anyway.

You only need to use primer on bare plaster or cement to stop it absorbing too much paint and provide a good grip between the paint and the surface. So any repairs that are needed should be primed, but for the rest you can just paint a new coat straight onto the old paint once it's been cleaned. What I don't like about the way they do it here is that they insist on thinning down the paint by at least 50% before using it. Yes, this makes it much easier to apply with a roller, but it doesn't last as long as undiluted or only slightly-diluted paint. Thinning it down for use indoors is OK in my view as there's not usually a lot of weathering going on inside your house, but for outdoors use I'd prefer to keep it as undiluted as possible, or tell them to give it two or three coats. I'm not a pro, just my own views based on what people have done for me in my house over the last 12 years and a lot of experience over decades decorating my own properties back in Wales and Scotland.

A few days ago I tried the Weidmann Weissbier, what appeared to be a mass-market Weissbier brewed in Germany and then exported to Holland for distribution. I wasn't very impressed with it, anyway. I also bought a can of the Weidmann Dunkelweizen, their dark white beer, and although I'm no expert in this genre I wasn't expecting much. I was pleasantly surprised, though, the first sip and I immediately thought, 'Yummy! That's just like a Trappistenbier.' I enjoyed that one and will buy it again, much better than the plain Weissbier.

They obviously didn't get the memo... 🙂