April in Thailand 2016

Please forgive my spelling and punctuation; I'm a plumber and not a English major. Just read and have fun.

You can click on any of the pictures and they become larger.  

April 1st - We started out with a little light work this morning (PUN).

Changing light tubs and starters made us hungry.

Also my desk chair gave me a message this morning: "Hey fat boy, go on a diet."

So, it’s a small Thai breakfast.

After breakfast, I got a little lesson on basil. I never knew there were so many different types.  

Here are just a few: Christmas Basil, Cinnamon Basil, Dark Opal Basil, Holy Basil, Lemon Basil, Lime Basil, Spicy Bush Basil, Purple Ruffles Basil, Sweet Basil and most important Sweet Thai Basil.

While it grows wild here, Daeng says she can't find this type of Basil in the USA. 

April 2^nd - For the last couple of years, sometimes Daeng has been getting shooting pain in the left side of her face.

Over the years we have seen three dentists and two doctors about this but no one can find anything that would cause the shooting pains SO today we are seeing a neurologist.

Easy trip south, stopped once for snacks and restroom.

Well, we saw the neurologist. He did a pretty thorough exam and told us he felt the problem was with the Trigeminal nerve (CN5). 

He wanted her to take some medicine and have an MRI of the Brain and Cranial Nerves to be sure there were no growths or tumors.

I asked him how much money and he replied 10,500 THB ($367 USD) for the MRI as it needed to be done with contrast. We said that was acceptable and let's to it. We set up the return appointment for next Saturday morning.

We paid for and got the medicine and went to Immigrating to arrange the MRI for Wednesday morning. The lady at imaging told us it would be around 20,000 THB ($571 USD). Well, the day went south here.

I explained the doctor told us 10,500 THB. She looked and said the least they could do it for was 18,000 THB ($514USD) because it was "with contrast'.

I again spoke up and told her that was not right, we agreed to have it done with the hospital doctor for 10,500 THB and now she was telling us 18,000 THB. It is about here that Daeng got really quiet and told the lady to just forget it. She got really sad from here on.

Daeng just kept telling me to forget it. I think the lady, in Thai, said something like: "Maybe he doesn't think you are worth it." I wish, at times like this, I understood more Thai.

Anyway, we went to the car and talked. I told her I loved her and wanted her to be without pain. We were going to make sure it is done and let’s go to another MRI Center and check with them.

We drove to Overbrook Hospital and talked with a very nice lady. She looked at the MRI request that I made sure they gave me from the doctor. She told Daeng and I that the cheapest they could do it for was 15,000 THB. She also told Daeng of a Neurological Clinic that may be more helpful for her as that is what they specialize in.

On the way home I tried to explain to Daeng that she was worth whatever it costs and we would work through this. It made me sad to think I made her sad.

Thai folks don't generally question what medical people say, they just accept it. In the future, I will handle things like this differently.

We did stop to have BBQ chicken about 2:30 PM as we had not eaten today. That seemed to cheer her up.

Then, pulling into our parking area I tapped the glass door and had to call the glass guys to fix it. Here I am backing up again looking for an accident.

The nice part is they charges about $6.00 US to fix it. Big tipper me, I gave then 300 THB, about $9.00 USD.

Here is more on the Trigeminal Nerve CLICK HERE.

April 3^rd - Fun morning shopping at Makro.

We bought some steaks, Washington State apples, fruit cocktail with cute little spoons in the top and a whole bunch of stuff.

I am putting everything away and Daeng is going to church.

April 4^th - Here is an American alternative breakfast.

Daeng found a lot of paper so she has been busy making thing.

Later this morning, we are going to go look at plumber's brown house again and make the deal, maybe.

We made the deal on the plumber brown house on the hill, 700,000 THB ($20,000 USD) and she pays all taxes and closing costs. The fat lady sings tomorrow morning.

Her son and a crew are removing everything tomorrow except AC, water heater and two wardrobe cabinets.

Removal of stuff is important as all trash and garbage has to be packed down the hill on the path.

We had a busy afternoon; we went to Bangkok Back and got the money.

Property transfers fast here. We meet the owner at the land office at 8:30 AM tomorrow. The deed should be recorded in Daeng's name before noon.  

We will wait a few weeks and then record a 20 year lease in my name. That keeps the relatives out of it if anything happens to Daeng.

It is pretty smoky on the border.

Oh, we found 2 replacement bases for Aomsin's and my chair. I know Daeng's son's chair will fit. I am not sure of the metal one for my chair. 

The metal one was free and Aomsin's was about 85 cents US.

All that house buying and looking for chair bases made us hungry for Som-tom salad.

I can eat anything but I had to pick out the fermented crab.

April 5^th - Well, after some wait, as 8:30 Thai Time is like plumber's standard time, that is usually when we get there, the seller showed up. 

Because the owner was not Thai the land was in someone else’s name.

The seller kept asking for half the money now and half on completion. We, of course, said no and showed them the cash.

When we got sat down in the land office, the land office agent told us the deal can't be made without the owner, by name, having a house book.

Now, we know why they wanted money before deal was complete.

I am sitting and hanging out with the coffee lady, Sunee. She lived in Alaska for 3 1/2 year and speaks very good English.

It may not happen today.  In any case, all this waited made us hungry. We went to eat.

They called us, we returned to Land Office and everything is being typed and recorded.

The fat lady is almost ready to sing.

Well, it happened and the fat lady sang! 

Daeng has recorded deed in her name and money is counted.

Next stop is Bangkok Bank to put deed in safe deposit box.

For some reason, I got strange emotions when I put deed in safety deposit box. 

April 6th - This morning, Daeng cut up pineapple on the cutting board your friends gave us at Christmas, thank you Michael Rodriquez and Charlotte Ruiz.

Yesterday, I spent about two hours trying to get the center out of this chair base.

I cut the center with hacksaw, beat on it with hammer and chisel without any results. 

I gave up, for the day, and took a shower.

Daeng came home and removed it. She is a great and talented lady.

Our friend, 左宏文 the Pa Thong Ko maker, is on a holiday to celebrate his birthday so we went to the other side of the market. 

We don't get to this side of the market much.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, also.

It looks more like Songkran every day.

We are cleaning up the new house.

It is 104° F and raining. The rain will help to clear the smoke.

April 7th - Today is a road trip, only 60 km, south to Kasemrad Sriburin Hospital. First on the list, at 11:00 AM, is an MRI of Daeng's brain and cranial nerves. 

We know something is wrong with her brain as she married me.

Then in the afternoon, Dr. Rathphol Nithinunkulphat is going to inject 50 mg of Sodium Hyaluronate into both knees.

We left our home at 8:30 AM and, on the way, have a BBQ chicken breakfast with Son-tom Papaya salad and sticky rice.

Here is a picture from me cutting up while having the shots in the past.

Because of the storm last night, no Som-tom salad this morning, it's just chicken and sticky rice.

We arrived on time to hospital but x-ray center did not know anything. Daeng made a phone call to the MRI Center and they said they were ready for her.

We took the transportation cart over to the MRI Center and one of the nurses remembered me from my MRI.

Anyway, they took very good care of Daeng and she got into the machine.

I hung out, for the next 40 minutes, watching Thai comedy show on TV.

Oh, I forgot to say, this is a new, beautiful center BUT they have a common hand towel in restroom.

Come on folks, this is a medical center and not a home bathroom.

The MRI is done, results Saturday morning pick up for doctor.

We hitched a ride back to hospital, checked in for this doctor at 1:3O PM.

On way to noodle shop for some lunch, I kiddingly said, in Thai, to a girl: "I haven't eaten in three days. " She just reached into her purse and gave me 20 Thai Baht.

I laughed, gave it back and in Thai said: "I am joking." She got this big smile on her face.

Anyway, it's chicken soup and fried rice for lunch, in the hospital lunch area.

The bill for MRI, with contrast, was 14,500 THB ($414 USD)

For fun we did my blood pressure. Blood pressure was looking good, 134/81 with 50 bps pulse.

Doctor shot the joint lubricant in my knees with no pain. He is getting good at this. 

The bill was 700 THB, about $20 US, as they used the 50% deposit to pay for all of this treatment.

We love Thailand!

April 8th - Well, I am working on the new house, old but new to us and just don't know where to start. The list of things to correct, repair or change is huge. As I set having a cup of coffee, (Yes, we can make instant coffee here now, that was 1st on list.) I decided to just get busy, do some simple things 1st and see how it goes.

Windows would not close all the way as security panels would not let the window slides go by them. Easy fix, remove one screw, use chisel to bend metal and they are fixed.

While working on windows I was admiring the view. On a clear day it will be spectacular.

Daeng came for a little coffee, sweet sticky rice and mango break.

We worked on the plumbing most of the day. It is a great hobby and sometimes you have to be a little crooked.

We did good and got one side of the kitchen water piping done.

I laughed at myself as I forgot to glue one side of a swing joint. I will have to redo that part on Monday. After doing this for 52 years, 

I still screw up every once in a while. I think the last time was 1986. No, that's when Leilani left me. Let's see maybe it was......

April 9^th - I had mixed emotions over the visit with the neurologist and the review of the MRI.

First, I was extremely happy there is no cancer, tumors or unusual growth in Daneg's head/brain. I have always known something is wrong with her brain as she married me.

Second emotion, I was sad we do not know what is causing her to get a shooting pain in the left side of her face, sometimes. This has been going on for about 2 years and every medical person, 3 dentist and now 3 doctors we have gone to regarding this, says the same thing: "We don't see anything wrong.

Daeng is going to continue the medicine the doctor ordered and see the neurologist again in two weeks.

I love Daeng and just want her to be happy and pain free. She is wonderful!

As we were on the way to Ban AYO, Chom-nom called and said just come tomorrow.

We went home, changed and when to fix my screw up in the water piping. We had to remove the 4 pipe clamps on the inside and disconnect the sink. 

Then we could "swing" the piping to take this fitting apart, reglue and restrap. Maybe that is why they call this type of point a "swing joint"? (Real reason called "swing joint" is piping layout can turn or swing in any direction.)

That is about all we did at it was very hot, 106 degrees (41 Celsius) and about 70% humidity.

We showered and took Daeng''s motorbike to Mi's Open House Party.

He built a nice house and we ate too much. Mi has helped us with many parts of our home.

On the way home, we saw some kids swimming in the rice patty irrigation channel. After all it was 106 degrees, 41 Celius.

Here are a few stories with Mi in them: CLICK HERE!

I slept good.  

April 10th - Here are a few pictures from the GRAND OPENING that happened yesterday. 

I must admit I have the emotion of hurt.  

After helping with this project for ten years and then be told not to come to the Grand Opening yesterday really put a cut into our hearts. 

I have no idea what Chom-nom was thinking when he called us and told us not to come.

I guess that will be chapter in my book, “The Broken Cross”.

In any case, great day, we are beat and stuffed. 

We arrived early and gave Meechu, Chom-nom's Mother and sister a set of Thai Pearls to wear with their outfits. 

They were very happy.

The Akha wedding started about 10:30 AM. 

When they say "Tie the Knot" that is literal translation to Tie a String around the wrists of the marrying couple, say a blessing and give them an offering for a new life.

It took about 55 minutes for all the folks in the village to do that.

In the meantime, the men sat in one room. (I think there was a bottle going around.) 

The ladies stayed in another room together. (I think they had a bottle, also.)

Then it was time to eat. 

Akha food is very good and spicy.

I ate everything except the raw pork and barbecued chili peppers.

They put the chili peppers right in the charcoal and then, after a couple of minutes, they take the chilies, one by one, out of the charcoal, mix it with the cooked and raw pork.

This is the closest you will see folks around here kiss. 

We told them that in America we seal the deal with a kiss.

It was a wonderful party and a great wedding.

The kids all sat around and watched. 

Of course there was ice cream and "Love Bears" that Ingrid Allen sent from California.

Yesterday, they installed another set of restrooms and while that was going on the elders of the village decided to have the GRAND-OPENING on Saturday instead of Sunday.

IT IS NOW OFFICIALLY OPEN!

April 11th - We have been having way too much fun. 

I have gained a couple kilos with all the celebrations.

I feel really lazy this morning but can't go back to bed as Daeng took off the sheets to wash them. 

I guess I'll go shopping and then go to the brown house and do a little work on the drain piping for the hand washing sink in the kitchen.

By the way, here is a view of the north side of the house. If it's brown, it's ours.

Daeng was not feeling well so she said she would stay home and do the laundry if I could work on brown house alone.

I went to replace a light switch and this is a 3 way switch. 

This is the first I have seen in Thailand. 

I am impressed.

I also changed the 3 bedroom door sets (Got a deal at $3.00 US each.) and plumbed the drain for the hand sink in the kitchen.

I would have liked to use a sanitary tee but they are hard to find in this part of the world.

I also forget to bring a 1 1/2" × 1 1/4" slip joint nut and washer.

I will have to do it Thai way until next trip. (Thai way is just put some tape around it or some putty.)

This house is built at an angle so have to use swing joints for all the piping.

I love the challenge.

April 12th - Got up early, 3:30 AM did some emails and then went to Makro to buy milk and cereal. They open at 6:00 AM.

That way I don't have to go out and get wet during the next 3 days. It is the biggest water fight in the world, call Songkran.

I stopped and had breakfast at the morning market and looked at Quail Eggs, 50 for $1.40 US.

The Thais sell them around the hot Springs, we have many in northern Thailand, so you can just put them in a little bamboo basket and cook them in the springs.

Three minutes and it's lunch.

My body is telling me I did too much yesterday so today all I am going to do is break out the raised squat toilet on the 2nd floor of the brown house.

The goal today was to remove the squat toilet that they tried to make a rear discharge. That meant you would have to step up about 16 inches and then squat.

We will break it all out and pipe it to put a western toilet at floor level.

On the way up the hill on my motorbike this morning, a lady stepped out in front of me. It was hit her or the wall.

I chose the wall but have skid marks on my right forearm.

I rubbed a little dirt on it and broke out the raised squat toilet.

I just showered and Daeng dressed my arm.

It's time for a nap.

April 13th - It's Songkran! 

It is the biggest water fight in the world?

I think the Bangkok Post gets credit for this picture. 

We have written many stories about Songkran as it is a big holiday in this part of the world.

Here is a link to our blog: CLICK HERE!

April 14th -  A little excitement with a magnitude 6.9 earthquake has occurred 46 miles southeast of Mawlaik, Myanmar (Burma) at a depth of approximately 84 miles. 

Media sources report that tremors were felt in the eastern Indian states of Assam and West Bengal as well as in Nepal and Bangladesh.

As far as the earthquake, in this picture, our house is about where the second "a" is in "Myanmar".

But on with the party!

Here is a nice story about five great places to be during Songkran: CLICK HERE!

I love to see the kids during this big water fight; they love it until they get cold. It is 104 F, today so they are doing well.

We are also using clean water and not water out of the ditch.

April 15th - I stayed in. My feelings about Songkran, the big water fight holiday here in Southeast Asia, is: "Sprinkle a little water on me to bless me and to wish me the best is wonderful. Throw a 5 gallon bucket of water on me, while I am going 40 kph on a motorbike, is terrorism."

Also, I learned a lot about my new "BeyondTV" system that Ray Angulo turned us onto. I got the USA News channels, a lot of movies, TV shows to work plus lots more. I have a lot more to learn but it is great to have English TV here, without any monthly expense. Thanks Ray.

Daeng had some fun with water and the family.

This is a temporary pool set up for this holiday. Want to swim, it's 30 THB (about $.85 USD).

April 16^th - When we got up this morning, Daeng told me we should go to the Magistrate for Moo 8's home for a Songkran blessing party. He is the head man for the area of Mae Sai that we live in.

We stopped at Makro and bought a couple cases of soda to take and headed over to his house. 

One of Daeng's friends was already there and had a spot saved at a front table.

The blessing ceremony lasted about an hour and a half during which time they feed everyone that was hungry.

Money does come on trees. Actually it is money for the Temple. 

Then the dancing started and a couple more cases of whiskey were opened.

The party will last into the night. We thanked the host and hostess and came home. They are the ones with pink shirt/blouses on.

We did get a lot of water poured on us to bless and cleanse us but no pails of water were thrown.

It was fun. Daeng is going to visit a few very old friends.

April 17th - Had a great morning, drove the 60 km to Chiang Rai for a meeting with 17 folks.

It was wonderful to see our friend Danny Moses.

It was a great meeting. Life is good!

Did not see any water throwing on the way back but did see lots of traffic, crazy drivers and folks filling the temples.

Also saw breathalyzers being used by police at checkpoints. That's a good thing.

April 18^th - With Songkran holiday officially over, we think this picture is great.

It goes to show everyone gets involved.

We're sorry; we don't know who to give credit for this picture but thanks.

We left our house with a pickup truck loaded with step ladders and stuff for brown house.

We stopped and took a picture of folks waiting along the road for the temple donation gang.

We borrowed a small cart and took everything up the hill.

My dilemma is where to start. I guess it is drill holes and run new piping.

The fun and challenging part is this house was built at an angle so it's a challenge to pipe, lay tile, etc.

By the end of the day I am happy to say the water piping for the first floor bath is done. The holes for the water piping and sink drain are drilled for second floor bath.

Plastic pipe and a heat gun sure make the angles easier.

Tomorrow we start the second floor water and drain piping. That is a lot harder.

The new piping for the western toilet will be a challenge.

April 19th - Here are the final traffic accidents numbers from the Songkran Holiday 2016.  Total 442 killed over the holiday.  CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS.

Yes, it's sad but it's over so let’s get back to normal.  

April 20th - I have been waiting for my body to stop hurting from the work we did Monday. 

It didn't stop so we went back to doing the piping, anyway.

Today we laid out the piping for the western style toilet.

We quit around 3:00 PM as I am speaking tonight to see if I can make a difference in at least one person's life.

Here is where I am speaking: CLICK HERE. 

April 21st - Today, we are returning to Chiang Rai to have more joint lube shot into my knees.

Then we are going south about 45 minutes and have lunch with some new friends, Larry and Aramsri Davis. Larry is from the West Coast in the USA.

As far as this knee thing, we have the tiger by the tail. 

This picture was with our friend Sonia.

Here are lots of stories about my knees and other things: CLICK HERE

This visit they told us: "NO PICTURES" so these pictures are from a past visit. 

How's my blood pressure for a 74 year old guy that just drove 60 km?

Remember, if you click on the picture you can see it in a larger format. 

After the knee injections, we drove 40 km south and met Larry and his wife for lunch.

We toured the grounds, checked out the exercise equipment and pool.

We then visited their beautiful home.

On the way back, we stopped at a medical clinic that specializes in head problems.

The doctor's office filled up, standing room only, and everyone we spoke to said they had tried other doctors and then came here.

A fellow that looked like a punk rocker came in and kidded with everyone. He had spiked hair, which looked like he had been taking Rogaine and Viagra. 

We were third in to see the doctor.

It was the same punk rocking looking guy but he now had on a tie and looked very professional. He spent about a half hour doing all kinds of things with a flash light, pins, rubber hammer plus looked at all this the pictures of the MRI.

He told her he could not see anything wrong but wanted her to take some pills and come back in a week.

I ask if I could take his picture. He smiled and said: "No!"

He also wanted some blood tests so we drove to a blood testing center that could draw blood.

Also, the doctor said: "One of the pills would, for a few days, make her a little crazy. (Like she is not crazy already, for marrying me.)

We then left for home.

The blood center called Daeng on the phone, about an hour later, and told her everything that they tested for was normal.

April 22^nd - We had a good day; we finished all the water piping and piped the new drain for the western toilet.

Tomorrow we will finish drain for 2nd floor lavatory sink and we can start patching.

To celebrate Daeng got us some fried chicken feet.

April 23rd - I stopped at the old market hardware store this morning and bought metal pipe straps. 

No one uses them here as they are expensive, about 75 cent USD. Plastic straps are about 15 cents US.

I love this place and they have just about everything!

This morning we finished all the rough piping for the water, drain system and sewer.

Now we can have fun patching and painting.

Daeng was happy also as we have been working about 15 meters, 50+ feet, in the air.

Here is view looking straight down from work area. We are then working on a ladder, another story in the air.

Daeng is worried I will fall.

I think she loves me.

We did great this afternoon; we rough patched all the holes for the piping and filled the cement floor where the new western toilet will go.

We will need to use a smooth plaster to finish the patches and then paint.

We don’t think we are not going to tile the upstairs bathroom, at this time. We are going to waterproof it was a special coating cement so it can be used and then can be tiled after that, in the future. 

That cement coating costs about $3.50 a kilogram but it is a small area so the total cost will be only about $27 USD.

Then a little electrical, we'll hire that done as I do not have the knack of putting the fasteners into the cement.

We are also going to add two windows and our own water meter. Currently, the water is shared with the neighbor as the previous owner and neighbors were relatives.

I did talk with Doctor Timothy Gibson's Office yesterday (Friday in California) and he is going to replace my right hip on July 5th in Hoag Hospital, Irvine, California.

I have been putting up with the constant pain for way too long.

Dr. Gibson has treated me and my mother for arthritis and knee problems in the past. He is a great and caring doctor.

He specializes in hip replacements.

April 24^th - I drove to Chiang Rai early, for a new 10 AM meeting, so I could stop and see our friend Jan at her Coffee and Pa Thong Ko Shop.

She is doing well. It was great to see and talk with her.

I then went to the meeting and guess what; they gave me the 12 Traditions to read.

I am going to see if we can get folks to clap when someone reads or shares.

On the way home I stopped and bought the special cement, for the bathroom floor, from our paint friends in Chiang Rai. Ling also showed me 2 part epoxy paint for the walls.

Also, I stopped and picked up chicken for lunch at home.

I am really tired so I'm going to shower and take a long nap.

April 26^th - Yesterday, I slept most of the day. My body keeps telling me I'm old and should not do all the things I still do. The trouble is I love to do them.

I see Chom-nom posted some pictures of the kids on his facebook page.  

The mission is to make sure the kids have food, shelter and a happy, friendly environment to learn. 

Today, I got up at 2:00 AM and made the business calls I needed to make to the USA. California is 14 hours behind Thailand time.

At 5:30 AM I am going to load our pick-up with the items we need to smooth out the floor in 2nd floor bath of brown house. 

I'll stop at Makro, which opens at 6:00 AM, and buy the cereal I forgot yesterday.

Daeng will contact the water company to request a water meter as well as get the glass guy to come by for the window replacement.

At the brown house, I will do the grinding on the floor to make the patch and old floor smooth, clean it up, mix the sealant and pour the sealant to make the floor waterproof.

Then we can finish patching the holes where we ran the pipes and hopefully come home for a little nap.

This evening we are headed to Chiang Rai to have dinner with Danny and Lisa Moses at the WANDERER. That will be fun. 

Did almost everything on my list this morning but my body said: "That's enough!" around 11:00 AM.

Came home and washed all the grim off as I was grinding on the cement floor to get it nice and smooth before putting on the water proof cement. 

It was a wonderful evening with Lisa and Danny Moses at The Wanderer.

The food was delicious and the company wonderful. We celebrated life and sang off key, really loud.

April 27th - Worked my butt off today. (It's just a matter of speaking; I am still a big ass.)

We talked to the neighbor's below us as we are going to have to do some demo to put in 2 new windows. 

We will try to protect their roof, about 50 feet below us, and assured them we will repair any damage to their roof.

They are really nice folks.

Daeng worked on getting our roof ready to coat with new roof sealant.

There is less smoke today.

April 28^th - We worked until 7:00 last night and our bodies today are letting us know we did too much.

So today is going to be a "Material Buying Day". First stop is Home Show for the new western toilet. 

Then we will take it up the hill to the brown house and with a cart we are borrowing and then bring down a load of trash.

Then it is shower, lunch and a trip south 60 km to Chiang Rai to try and match the brown house paint, buy roof sealer and two part epoxy paint for master bath.

At 5:00 PM Daeng has a follow up visit with the neurologist. She says she feels about the same even with the pills the doctor gave her.

More will be revealed.

By the way, the toilet cost, with seat and water supply line is 2,590 THB,  about $74 USD.

First stop south was the paint store we like. They always try to help us.

We bought a small can, just a little less than a gallon, of brown paint to touch up the area we put holes through the walls and to paint the new piping on the outside.

Ling matched the color well. We will have to see how it looks when it dries on the exterior walls.

We also bought the two part Epoxy enamel for the lower walls of the master bathroom.

I then dropped off Daeng at the neurologist's office and went to buy 40 kg of roof sealer in green.

Now the bad news, they only had it in small containers of 4 kg each. I bought just 12 kg so we can do the second floor balcony.

I got back to the doctor's office just in time for Daeng's interview.

The doctor kind of shook his head as Daeng is the same. He changed the medication a little and told her to come back in two weeks. No charge for the doctor, just for the medicine.

We stopped on the way home for dinner and had sticky rice, fresh mango and ice cream.

It was a good trip except for the terminal motorcycle accident we saw on the way home. 

Death is always sad even though we did not know the person.

April 29th - It has been really hot. 

Thailand is used to hot Aprils, but not this hot!  The average peak temperature each day this month has been above 40 degrees Celsius, with the mercury spiking one day to 44.3 degrees Celsius — just short of the all-time record.

By the way, 44.3 degrees Celsius is 112 degrees Fahrenheit (111.74). Hey, what's a quarter of a degree?

To read about the heat at the Bangkok Post just CLICK HERE. 

And then, a few hundred km from us, there are big thunderstorms with hail.  To read about the storms, with video, CLICK HERE.

April 30th - We had a busy day. We started out by stopping at the Toyota Dealer to show us how to put the chirp in our electric locking system. 

Now our pickup has chirpies, it a canarial thing.

We stopped to look at floor tile for the brown house master bath and then strapped the drain line to the walls below our house.

Yes, we talked it over and now would be the time to tile the floor, before we set the new toilet. 

We then primed, with two coats of primer, all the leading to the inside and wall patches.

Tomorrow, after a meeting and dentist appointment we have help talking out the masonry wall vents so windows can be installed in the restrooms.

Yes, here dentists work on Sunday.

You can see the vent system over my head in the first picture.

Yes, it will be tricky to do without breaking the roof below it.

It was a busy April and an even busier May. We will put May in another posting.  We hope you enjoyed our ledger entries for this hot month in Thailand.