Fat Boy - 20 feet in the Air

Well, it's been pretty quiet around home, here in Mae Sai.  We, well I should say "I", wanted to straighten the down spout from the rain gutters on the four floor roof.  Daeng said it was okay but as a professional plumber, I wanted it straight.

As I wrote in the stories last week, my aluminium ladder broke while I was working about half way up the ladder.  I did bruise my left elbow in the fall.  That is feeling a lot better.

Working on the new, 6 meter (about 20 foot) bamboo ladder took some getting used to.  First, the rungs are round as compared to flat on a ladder made in America.  Next, the rungs are not spaced exactly the same distance apart so I had to learn to be very careful in climbing and coming back down.

I think the biggest part I had to get used to was the ladder really bends when you get close to the top.  Once I got some confidence it was okay.

Daeng and I did get the piping rehung straight with the correct size pipe clamps.  I think it looks pretty good.  We only had to move the three clamps over about 2-3 inches.  That sounds easy but 20-40 foot in the air, supporting the pipe while we used a rotor hammer to drill holes in concrete walls, inserting anchors, pipe clamps and screws was a challenge for this 70 year old, fat boy.

While we were working we also had to watch our for the little kid that I call "Bum".  His real name is "Bun".  He is a cute little kid and I tought him to say: "Oh-Oh".  His first English word.

We also took a little side trip to say "Good-Bye" to Daeng's friend, Peg, who is returning to Japan.  She and her husband own a chain of massage parlor in Tokyo.  She says Japanese folks love massages.  Her husband stayed in Japan while she visited her family here.

Nay, Daeng's neice, has been making neck scarfs and hanging out a little with us, as well.  We have been getting the front ready to put the final color of paint to match the other two parts of the shop houses.  We have patched, primed with contact primer, primed with white primer and tomorrow we will put on the first coat of color.

I took this picture at the Ban Pa Mueat morning market while we were having our usual breakfast.  What came to mind was: "Kids praying for kids."

A day or two more of painting and we are going to take an over night trip to see Chom-nom at Doi Chaang Coffee Company, way up in the mountains.