Wednesday, 31 August 2011

I Called In The Other Bank Today,

for a change it was blue skies,

the bank is just opposite the Pattaya Beer Garden on Beach Road,

the Walking Street television sign still giving good service,

 next stop we parked up at Friendship,

 one change taking place, what was a furniture store in the Friendship car park, then became a motorcycle park was now being torn down,

 so back to parking in the sun,

then over the road to the Soi Bukoaw market,

 not too many people about as it is a bit early,

watch the boiling oil! a bit difficult to see but look at the oil spots on the ground, those are the spots that missed passers by, I wonder how many have returned home to find they have oil splattered clothes?

the local cut flower stall,
 lots of fresh vegetables,

and peppers,

 we were so early this live fish stall had not yet set up,

 some Siamese fighting fish being made ready for display,

 but this fish shop was up and running,

as usual a good selection of garden plants,

a new stall with products made from wood,

we had arranged that we would meet in the local coffee shop,

Diana with her mornings shopping,

 and a ice coffee for us both then off home,

now here is a bit of fun, designed for kids in mind and simple to use, which is naturally why I liked it, but first what has 3 eyes and 72 pairs of swimming legs? answer Triops, or to give them their correct name Triops longicaudatus, go back 300 million years or so and you would still recognize them, just add water then they hatch, or so we are led to believe reading the box,

the kit unpacked, the reason the eggs remain viable is because when it rains the shrimps hatch out, grow fast, mature quickly, lay eggs which then dry out as the heat from summer evaporates the water in the pool, the dried eggs then hatch out the following spring when it rains and the cycle starts again, some fish also employ this strategy to populate temporary pools, for instance known as annual fishes the Nothobranchius or Cynolebias groups,

 put water in the supplied plastic container, take the tub marked A,

 Diana then sinks the otherwise floating eggs,

 place in natural or artificial light and wait, we should see if any hatch in 3 - 4 days or so,

 the front of the box,

and the back, if anyone in the UK wants to hatch some have a look here and click on to the Sea-Monkeys & Triops page, or in the US here, but remember they need a temperature of about 78F, if you are wondering what all of this is about, this was written by a Triops keeper,

'is it possible to become emotionally attached to a kill-crazy cannibalistic worm that looks like a facehugger from the Alien movies and spends most of its time attempting to eat its siblings? having recently shed a tear while burying my last one - Chompy - in the back garden, I'd say yes, these little beasties inspired fear and disgust in my girlfriend, but to me they were true friends',

well I guess that sort of sums it up, moving on,

we watched Ironclad, which had many of the most bone cruchingly gory life like fight scenes I have seen, Diana loved it! it is the year 1215 and the rebel barons of England have forced their despised King John to put his royal seal to the Magna Carta, a noble, seminal document that upheld the rights of free-men, yet within months of pledging himself to the great charter, the King reneged on his word, the set peace is in Rochester Castle which Diana and myself visited on our trip to the UK last year,

 next the last three episodes of Lost,

 the back cover says it all,

the first part of Richard Hammond's Invisible Worlds that we watched was a total joy, so much that we do not see, it was startling to see how blind we really are, it is a fact that we miss 99.99999999999% percent of the spectrum,

well we had to see a bit more of Sharpe, in the evening, or I should say early morning, we watched firstly Sharpe's Enemy, Portugal 1813, a band of deserters, including Sharpe's old enemy, Obadiah Hakeswill, have captured two women, Diana really does not like Obadiah, next Sharpe's Honour, 1813, Major Sharpe's old enemy, Major Ducos manipulates a beautiful young marquesa into falsely accusing Sharpe of rape, Sharpe is arrested and brought before a court martial, and it seems not even Patrick Harper and the Chosen Men can save Sharpe from a hanging, by now for us it was time for bed.

Tuesday, 30 August 2011

End Of The Month,

and I was off to the bank again,

 first thing in the morning, hardly a soul about,

 next stop the 3BB office to pay for our monthly Internet charges, it is in what is the Friday night market on Thepprisit Road,

 Diana also called in for her beauty treatment,

followed by shopping at Friendship, later in the afternoon Mark called round for a cup of tea and a chat,

then feet up for the BluRay edition of The Chronicles of Riddick, 5 years after Pitch Black, the wanted criminal Riddick arrives on a planet called Helion Prime, and finds himself up against an invading empire called the Necromongers, we both enjoyed this DVD so much, we just hope a sequel is in the pipeline,

another DVD from the Lost series, all very informative,

 the back of the DVD case says it all, we watched all three episodes,

to round the evening off one more from Sharpe, Sharpe's Company, Spain 1812. After Ciudad Rodrigo, Teresa tells Sharpe that they have a baby daughter. In Badajoz, the next siege target. Meanwhile, a new commander has taken over the South Essex, along with the murderous Sgt. Obadiah Hakeswill, a thoroughly unpleasant character, then for us off to bed.

100 Years Old,

and still going strong,

not only in the engine department, but in the cash department too as this Silver Phantom comes under the hammer, Krishna Raja Wodeyar IV, Maharaja of Mysore ordered the Rolls Royce in 1911 and called it 'Victoria', he was one of the world's wealthiest men, being worth the equivalent of £35billion at his death in 1940, in case you are wondering the sunshade is to keep his servants out of the sun, his Silver Ghost 40/50hp Six Cylinder car is being sold by a private collector, and will be auctioned by Bonhams at the Goodwood Revival meeting on September 16, can you afford it? well a bit out of my price range, but a figure of £400,000 is put on it.

Another 100 Year Old+ Car, But This One Is 107,

and still going strong,

that is Brian Caseley's two-seater Wolseley 6 built in 1904, it is not known how many miles the car has clocked up because it was made before mileometers were installed in British cars, Wife Pat, 63, added: 'the car has never broken down and is still as good as the day it was first made', the one-cylinder motor, which has a top speed of 29mph, still sports the original registration plate CJ 164 and is still in mint condition

the Wolseley 6 was one of the first cars produced by the Frederick Wolseley company in Birmingham, it was designed by Herbert Austin who went on to found the Austin Motor Company, I wonder how many cars made today will still be around and running in say 100 years time? (if petrol does not run out).

Monday, 29 August 2011

Another Week Has Flown Past,

so for this weeks Sunday lunch we are off to News Cafe,

it is on the hill between Pattaya and Jomtiem,

 this is the sign to look out for,

 seafood salad, cold chicken and potato salad for starters, 'Cheers!',

 Diana had similar but with a chicken wing,

 the salad bar,

and the buffet selection, for our next course we had bar-b-q spare ribs, chicken satay and meatballs, followed by fresh melon and pineapple dessert, 199 baht a head for all you can eat,

then home feet up for my Sunday afternoon snooze! we watched a couple of DVDs washed down first with a San Miguel light,

 followed by an Archer,

we watched ﻿The Day of the Triffids in the afternoon, the 1981 BBC television series, the storyline is that a terrible catastrophe has struck the population of Earth, almost everyone on the planet has been rendered blind by the arrival of a bright comet, but worse there is a plant that kills people then waits for the bodies to decompose and eats them, the main part of the story is the breakdown of law and order and how the remaining population copes, out dated in the special effects department, but is still worth watching,

having seen an episode of Sharpe that Mark lent to us we bought the complete set so popular is the series it has its own appreciation society, we watched Sharpe's Rifles, in this the first episode set during the Peninsular War in Spain against the French, Sergeant Richard Sharpe saves the life of Arthur Wellesley,the future Duke of Wellington and is promoted to Lieutenant, following that the next was Sharpe's Eagle, Sharpe and his men pursue the French and succeed in capturing their standard,an eagle belonging to Napoleon, we both enjoyed these two so some more to come over the next few weeks, then for us off to bed.