Lets Go Kiddo

I rolled the sleeves on a collared shirt last night, put on a pair of shorts that wasn’t ratty or obviously cargo shorts, and made sure I matched… Hat included.  J did the same, putting on a light and casually nice wrap dress.  Off we went, a night of cocktails and nibbles and fun. Well, the best laid plans and all…. We found out, the hard way, that today is a “holiday” of sorts.  It’s an election day.  So, the night before, alcohol sales are cut off so people can be sober in the morning to vote.  Alcohol sales are suspended until 6pm, when the polls close.  24 hours of sobriety.  I’m pissed, we had a date night and a sitter.  I’m impressed, what a good idea! But we hired a sitter.  Damned it!!!!  HAHAHA Well, at least we found one place and had a drink there before cut off. The bar we were headed too was closed and so not much to do about that.  We couldn’t, exactly, break in, make some drinks and hang out, clean up and go...

We journeyed over to the mall last night for Friday Big Girl Night.  Food court and then playing.  We struck out at the food court.  It was sub-par and not that great.  We all, basically, ate some of the food, but mostly just ate rice.  It was disappointing.  But, lesson learned and we won’t go back to that stall, but usually we have had middle luck with the food court.  Passable and ok, not great.  But, for 140 baht for a family of three to have meals and drinks, it’s worth the risk and trying new places. After that, we earned our bedtime.  Kiddo had a blast and made a Thai friend.  We watched as they ran buck wild.  J and I got a chance to just sit and hold hands and chat and watch the Kiddo go wild.  Slides, bouncing, friends, ball fights, ball fights with the friend vs Dada, and trips to the hospital and doctor that was at the play place, we had some other group of kids run over or bike over and hand us food (two burgers,...

Last week I ran some errands.  It was a Nanny Beer day, so I was running solo.  So, I tasked about and I was leaving a store and I saw a Thai woman who I’d guess was probably in her 40s.  She looked at me curiously, so I Sawadee’d her and she lit up.  Waved and Sawadee back and then said a whole bunch in Thai.  I apologized and told her I only know a little - Lĕkn̂xy (Lnit-noy) Thai.  She had some English. We seemed to be headed in the same direction (I was walking, it was all just local errands and tasks) and as we walked, I slowed.  Firstly, to let her know if she wanted to cruise on, I was just putzing.  She matched my pace and asked if I was Holiday?   No, I live here. Working man? No.  Wife teacher.  Basis. OH!  Good learn. After some thumbs ups and excitement she looks at me and my full backpack and the bag I had slung over my shoulder for the walk home, she held out a key.  Toyota if I had to guess, but obvio...

I was back at the Immigration offices today to get my Certification of Residency processed and I remembered to take pictures this time.  This building is HUGE.  I got all my papers stamped and answered all the questions needed and off I went.  All in all, pretty painless. Kiddo got her Covid shot on Monday in the afternoon and we spent the rest of the day chilling.  Watched Monsters Inc. and took it easy.  As you can see, the nursing staff was ALL OVER Kiddo during this time.   They tried to distract her and have her look away, but she wants to watch.  She’s like Dada in that.  I’m the same way.  Let me see what’s going on.  If it’s too much I’ll look away.  She curious.  And brave.  So, she wants to look.  And I just gave her my hand to squeeze if she got nervous.  She was a trooper and didn’t flinch.  One shot down… who knows how many to go.  <Sigh>. Can we all please just Vax and Mask so the...

I hope the ghost of Sinatra will forgive me the title.  I had a Thai moment today.  I was coming home from the market today and I bumped into someone from the building that we know.  I was carrying some fruit, produce, and a juice.  I was asked what kind of juice I got.  Carrot, Apple, and Sap pa rot.   Oh.  Sap pa rot!  What’s that? Ummmm…. Sap pa rot.  Yellow.  Sweet.  Then I pointed to the bag I was carrying with fruit.   Pineapple? THAT’S THE WORD!!!!! About 30 minutes later, I was talking with J and Kiddo and they were planning on heading up to the pool while I write this and have a coffee.  J asked if I got fruit.  Yup, watermelon and sap pa rot.  Again, the word escaped me. It’s weird.  I know the word.  I can see the item in my mind, but I’m in the habit of using my Thai, especially around Kiddo.  She can hear a lot and nanny Beer uses Thai around her about half the day, but Kidd...

And finally…. Returning to tonights starting lineup for the first time in 30 years.  A Wisconsinite hailing from Racine.  World Traveler.  Dada.  Blogger.  Overall awesome guy.  Number 19 in your programs, but number 1 in our hearts!   Please welcome…. A!!!!!!! There is a group of teachers and staff, plus a few parents of kids, that play rec league futbol (soccer to my Stateside peeps)  and they started a basketball group as well.  Since I’ve not played futbol/soccer since I was about 9, I thought it best to avoid that.  Plus, running back and forth on the field might just kill me.  Especially in the heat. It was fun.  I couldn’t buy a bucket, but I dropped two shots during the run.  And a few of the guys who are more regular ballers commented that I had a good looking shot, but 30 years of rust is a lot to knock off and I just gotta keep playing and they’ll start to fall.  So, that was nice to hear.  Es...

So, commenting seems to be anonymous only.  People have asked and messaged me that they can't log into Google accounts to comments. I've googled the problem. Seems to be the new Cookie regulations in CA and Europe have Google blocking damned near everything unless you allow ALL cookies on ALL Sites.   DO NOT DO THAT! Do NOT allow Cookies. Only necessary cookies.  Block all others. But that means you can't comment with Google Accounts... OK!  Fine. I won't rant on the world needing to figure out the internet ASAP, but it's gonna be what it is as long as Zuck (that F**K) and Bezos and the evil at Google and Apple just want to make YOU and ME to product they sell.  See, the sell YOU to advertisers, who make them significantly more money that you do.  So, YOU are the product, not the audience.  Seems like that's a little backwards and Gov't should step in to regulate.... But they have Important stuff to do; Like stalling legislation, pissing and moaning ov...

Cooking in the tiny kitchen we have is a unique challenge.  Also, lack of a grill is tough.  It’s a struggle some days to figure out what or how to make what I’m thinking of or what I can invent based on what produce was in the market that day or what we have in house.  Plus, we have a two burner stove top that is so small I can’t fit two pans at the same time… Not if I’m cooking for a family.  So, I need to create, invent, and figure out how to make it work.   As you can see, I’ve figured it out… At least to an extent.   All in all, I’m happy with the results and the flavors were spot on.  The pork chops were overcooked by about 2 minutes.  I’m still trying to get a feel for the grill.  Since it varies by day depending on the weather and the AC and the fan and all that.  In an indoor space trying to vent it enough to not smoke out the house can create weird airflow that affects temp and hot spots.  The potatoes, which J said lo...