Smiler

Yesterday in Udon.

Its raining today and boy is it needed.

Heavy sarcasm mode ON:

can’t wait to get back to 13 degrees at Heathrow tomorrow evening….

3 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

I don't drink when when flying so didn't pay attention. As for the food, didn't think it was a very good selection.

I might have a pint or a glass of wine before a flight maybe a couple of glasses of red on the plane.

Seen too many incidents over the years on long haul flights where alcohol has played a part, from melt downs to serious health issues. 
 

Ok I understand if going without a drink for 14 hours is painful for some but there is nothing worse than a pissed up passenger, plain selfish IMHO. 

The flight from Udon lands at Swampy 09:50 (hopefully 😳) that’s 3 hours before TG whatever departs for London at 12:50.

I can do the online check-in and will only have carry on bags so in theory there should be enough time but……..

I am returning to the UK next week, should be ok but its going to be a bit tight for time so I am thinking about buying a fast track through departures (no checked bags). Anyone done this recently??

80 + people busted at one time - that’s almost a diplomatic incident 👀

1 hour ago, forcebwithu said:

Just noticed the power plug to the drive I use for backups had unseated itself and as a result the last automatic backup was on 8 March. Glad I caught the problem before I needed the backup.

The only reason I checked is while I was on the phone trying to help a friend work through a problem with their laptop, and chastising her for not having a backup, I decided to check my backup history.

Now configuring Aomei Backupper to send me an email when my weekly backup fails due to the external hard drive going off line. Also gave myself a facepalm for not figuring out how to do this sooner.

Thanks for that, soon as I have finished cleaning the a/c filters (and after I have finished faffing around on this phone 😎). I am going to back the lappy up and sort my iCloud out. 
👍

No links because I’ve had a drink but it’s all the gossip here in the jungle this evening.

Could be a Netflix series in the future 👀.

18 hours ago, Smiler said:

….. I guess the real test will be this month’s bill which will be around the 25th. Can’t wait….

And I didn’t have to wait very long.

Got the leccy bill today and it was around 3 times as much as  last month. 3k baht.

Not so bad considering young smiler is home from school, my girl was back from uni for 2 weeks, I’ve been here for 3 weeks, guests at Songkran and of course as has been mentioned, it’s fucking hot 🫠

21 minutes ago, boydeste said:

Blood and body core temperature sit around 37 so anything over that is going to be dangerous over a long period of time.

A fan will. keep you cool to a certain extent, but you can also run aircon quite hot and still feel cool. Not sure what the max they go up to, maybe high 20's perhaps.

Be careful out there!

Yeah we keep the air on 26 all year round apart from when it’s not needed in December/January. We have 4 units in total (2 in the cabin and 2 in the main house) are all less than a couple of years old. It’s rare they are all on at the same time but over Songkran when we had guests they certainly were. I’ve been quite pleasantly surprised how economical the new(ish) units are to run but I guess the real test will be this month’s bill which will be around the 25th. Can’t wait….

Today I learned that the jack I thought was in the car is missing.

Yes I am angry but at least the discovery was made at home and not at the side of the road.

Simmering gently on the porch under a fan. Thermomothingy is reading 40.5  Phew what a scorcher🥵

1 hour ago, fygjam said:

FR24 is your friend. From memory the landing time is when the wheels hit the ground, doesn't include the time to taxi to the gate.

 

 

Thats useful - thank you very much!

2 hours ago, Krapow said:

Wow! Just when I thought my last arrival in Thailand couldn't be topped!

Arrived an hour late, for the whole flight to be told the luggage hadn't flown with the flight, due to a 'curfew', and the flight wouldn't have went if had to wait for it all to be put on. 

Fucking Hell, so in the taxi to King Power. Quick shower and off to buy a pair of shorts and t-shirt. 

No guarantee we'll get it tomorrow either, they said they'll try, but 300 people,  and our luggage will arrive on same flight tomorrow. I haven't even looked to see how late the EVA flight on arrival to Heathrow is late today. 

To be honest, could be worse, if you were getting a connecting flight to Phuket or wherever later tonight or tomorrow morning, you'll have to make a decision. Go and hope you get it sent soonish, or stay and hope you get it soonish, then go. 

And I haven't even tried to get my Kasikorn card and money sorted yet 🙃 

 

I am on the same time Eva flight from LHR next week and for the first time in years instead of staying a night in Bangkok before flying to Udon, I have booked the 18:00 flight up country on the same day.

Might just change the domestic flight to the following day.

So what time did you actually land at Swampy D? How long did it take to get through Immigration?

Mrs smiler has been saying it’s hit 40 for the last 5 days in the village. I am back next week…..

On 2/4/2023 at 3:18 PM, SteveBC said:

I envy you being able to enjoy real ale.

That and castles are two things i miss from the UK.

Yep I am the same in Thailand - really miss the real ale. Ironically I’ve been back in UK for 8 days and haven’t had a pint yet. Couple of bottles of red and  that’s all however I’ve got some downtime this week and a evening in my local planned….

12 hours ago, Binlid said:

Paid £780 each return with Thai Air for me and the wife LHR-BKK departing 11th April

How long ago did you book if you don't mind me asking? My nephew has a similar price and departure date but they booked back in August. 

I was due to come back from UK 15th of November but changed to the 29th, flying Thai. This was the return leg of the ticket I bought in July. 

Closer it gets to Christmas the more expensive flights are to Thailand so I had to pay an extra £100 (ish). 

Another expensive time of year is of course the 2-3 weeks before Songkran. I am looking at around 20k baht to fly over to the UK end of January, then 35k return end of March, again with Thai. The prices in 2nd week of April LHR - BKK are just stupid. 

Sat in the bus station at Vientiane waiting for the bus to Friendship Bridge on the way back to Thailand. 

Just got in after watching young Smiler play footy in a inter school tournament. They won but only after a tense penalty shoot out. FAF watching the 2 nuns who work at his dual faith school leaping about and screaming in celebration 🤣😇🙏😂

Buy in bulk at the weekly market in Ban Dung near Udon. 

And it's over - just received a full refund 😎. 

Guess my experience with agoda goes something like its all good until its not good. Really haven't been happy with the way they treated me which is such a shame after the years I have used them. 

Every day is a school day 👀😬