Coffee Reserves

I ran out of coffee yesterday. Jar empty. I have had to raid my coffee reserves: my stash of coffee sachets plundered from various hotel bedrooms across the piece!

DW

It is the cat. It is the cat

Not Last Night ...

For some reason I remembered this ditty from my childhood. It comes from a book that John Sutcliffe* and I found in Todmorden public library one Saturday morning. Why this snippet has stuck with me should come shining through the verse! Not last night but the night before Two tom cats came knocking at the door I went downstairs to let them in They knocked me down with a rolling pin The rolling pin was made of brass They knocked me down and kicked my arse I just did an online search for this and have found many variants but not this exact one. The Opie name springs to mind as the possible authors or collators of the book we might have used. My mother howled at this one, by the way: thought it was very funny. *John was my all time childhood best friend and sadly he died several years ago following a simple motor bike accident near Skipton: A true accident, no one's fault, just bad luck. DW

A Petit Peregrination, nay, Perambulation!

Here I am with Reddy the dog wandering around with camera in hand this morning. The insect was at home, however: DW

Jealousy

A situation arose this week that I have been thinking about and it concerns the destructive force of jealousy.

I am planning to write something here about it.

Later

DW

Flash, Flash ... You're in my way!

Around 27,000 people a year are killed on the roads of Thailand. That's a lot by any standards. The following is a true account of some of what you might see on Thai roads. On average, Thai driving is not too bad. People say that driving in Bangkok is dangerous: it isn't. Not so dangerous that they should ban all traffic. No, the truth is that in central parts of Bangkok, there is so much traffic that it moves at very low speeds where dangerous driving is very difficult to accomplish. In the quitter parts of Bangkok, maybe it's a different story. Let's go out of town, now. Drive along the major single carriageways of Thailand and you may suddenly face the situation of a bus or lorry or car coming at you, in your lane, flashing its headlights at you. The message is simple: I am overtaking one or more vehicles but I cannot or will not get back into my lane before I smash into you. So, get out of my way. The first time that happened to me was when I was rounding a bend and a large single decker bus was having at me. Fortunately there was a hard should of sorts and with that split second warning I was able to get out of the way. This has happened to me a few times over the last 12 months or so and whilst it is a shock, so far I have got away with it. I tend to give way because these incidents have happened on fast roads and/or when the opposition driver was clearly driving quickly. Be warned, be ready. However, last weekend I went to Chong Chom market and on the way there there is an army check post. It is unusual for the soldiers to stop anyone but there are half barriers in the road to ensure that all drivers have to slow down. As I approached my barrier, a pickup truck was coming at me and he started flashing his headlights. Since we were going at relatively low speeds I decided to call his bluff and I did not move out of his way. We did not crash or even have a near miss because I achieved my objective of getting him to stop and then I moved out of his way in time. I could see by the driver's face as I slid past that he couldn't believe what I had just done. Then again, I cannot believe that drivers here feel able to put the lives of many people, including themselves, at risk with their flash, flash mentality. DW

One's Accouchement!

I clicked on a link to an article from the year 1853 yesterday: it was about Queen Victoria's "late accouchement". I confess, I had never seen the word accouchement before so it was good to learn that! However, the purpose behind pasting the article here is to contrast the style of writing from 1853 with the style of today's newspapers. I have not attempted to translate the words into more modern speak because some people say that my writing is 19th century style anyway! Here it is, make of it what you will!! THE QUEENS'S LATE ACCOUCHEMENT We did not announce fact of Her Majesty having inhaled chloroform during her late accouchement, because we did not think the profession justified in prying into the domestic arrangements of the Palace. As, however, another journal has thought fit to comment on the subject, we may now mention the particulars. Dr Snow administered chloroform to the Queen, in the presence of Sir James Clark, for the last hour of parturition. A handkerchief, on which a small quantity of chloroform had been dropped, was held to the face. Her Majesty was never completely insensible, but she expressed herself satisfied with the anodyne effects produced. Should farther information be required, we are confident Dr Snow will, with his usual courtesy, afford it to all such as consider themselves entitled to ask it. Uneasy, indeed, would be the head which wears a crown if Royalty might not avail itself of all those means for the alleviation of suffering which Providence has placed within the reach alike of rich and poor. Who would desire Her Majesty to suffer one avoidable pang, that she might satisfy the morbid sensibility of the timid, or the domineering coarseness of the bigot? If the employment of chloroform be hurtful in parturition, then should the profession unite in forbidding its administration to the humblest mother in the realm; but, if its use be advantageous, surely no one has a greater right to its benefits than that gracious lady under whose benificent rule we have the happiness to live. If it be desired to retain popular feeling in favour of that freedom which the British press now enjoys, the sacred pale of the family circle must be exempt from our criticisms. To this exemption there must be no exception - not even in favour of the Palace. We mention especially the home of our beloved Sovereign, because certain persons have been accustomed to allow themselves an unwonted license, when commenting on what is reported to them from its precincts, taking advantage of the fact that the Queen is the only lady in England who can be insulted with impunity. Medical Times and Gazette, May 21 1853 Source: www.thetimes.co.uk DW

Fabulous Photography

Trust me, if you like macro photography you will love this site. Anna Laurent is a scientist and photographer and she wanders around taking fantastic photos of seeds! Start here with seed pod gallery one then two, three ... then look at her landscape work. Well done Anna! DW

WIFI Upgrade

If you are going to install a CAT wifi system, it pays to have an expert from Denmark staying with you as it's installed.

The system is complex as it involves the erection of a 15 metre mast,  pointing to various stations, routers and so on.

Morten installs these dystems in Denmark on a big scale so he is able to work with the engineer here to sort it all out.

The benefit of having Morten here is that it's the weekend, the main station us causing a problem but with his skills he is able to get the system up and running in a stable way until tomorrow, Monday.

Let's hear it for plucky Denmark!

DW

Dog Star? Star Dogs!

Last night I went out side to make a video of the night sky. I saw some software that can take photos and videos of stars and enhance them. The results can be stunning.

Let's forget the first two attempts in which I forgot to open the shutter and recorded two minutes of nothing.

As I set up and started to record properly, meme the dog arrived and nudged the tripod! Then doggie arrived and, being much bigger, muscled in and I had to protect the camera and restrain both dogs as they jostled for position and then meme brought a tennis ball and wanted me to play with her!

Lattie the dog arrived next and she started a mock fight with doggie, as usual: they fought really near to the tripod ... again, I was filming and concentrating on that ...

On the soundtrack you will hear the struggle I had and my exclamation that Bernard Lovell never had such problems!

Nightmare!!

Saw

Sausage Skins and Reddy Parts 1, 2 and 3

Sausage Skins

I bought some vegetarian sausages last week and I said today they were
a bit tough. Anyway, I decided to cook some more and started frying
them. Someone asked me, why are you cooking them in their plastic
wrappers? Gulp! I ate those wrappers last week!!

Reddy the dog 1

Yesterday morning Reddy was out in the garden and as I came out of the
kitchen door I was just in time to see him taking a flying run at the
kitchen garden, not having seen the netting that keeps animals out and
he came flying backwards in shock as he bounced off it!! Where's the
video camera when you need it?

Reddy the dog 2

When Reddy came into the house after having bounced off the netting, I
said, you look fat today Reddy. About two hours later we learned that
he'd shared a huge bowl of cooked rice with another four month old pup
and was so full that he wanted nothing more to do with his bone, did
not want to leave his bed and when we encouraged him to go for a pee
pee outside, he couldn't bring himself to leave the living room.

Reddy the dog 3

So, he's learned to escape again. We have had several weeks of
contentment because Reddy got too big to squeeze through the holes in
our defences. Now, though, he is big enough to leap over the gate.
Grr!

This morning, 6:30 am, he was outside and whilst it is easy to get him
to come close to me, providing the other family dogs come too, getting
him that final two metres into my clutches is another matter. That
training incomplete so far. So, I slowly went after him saying, stay,
stay ... he's unsure so he stopped for a second, ambled away slowly
but surely, stopped, ambled ...

Then I did something I have not done since I was twelve: I Rugby
tackled the beast! I hit the floor fairly softly but kept hold of
Reddy's midriff. Then I went flat and all four other dogs, thinking
this was a huge game, came over and started licking, trampling ... all
over me! I brushed the other dogs away and still managed to hold on to
Reddy, I am happy to say and got him inside within a minute of my
heroic feat of athleticism!

A good job there was no video camera there to record this unsightly
event, however, as I was never a good Rugby player!!

DW

It Happened Again

In England I had a rubbish broadband connection but paid top price for it.

Here in Thailand I have done it again. At the moment, though, I am using a connectoon that gives me hope. Relatively very fast and seemingly stable.

I am investigating it!!

DW

The Moon

As followers here know I love taking photos of the moon. I did it
again last night ... here it is.

DW

Source of Data: Aswath Damodaran

If you work in accounting and finance and you need up to date and
relevant information that would otherwise take you hours and hours to
track down, take a look at this site:

http://people.stern.nyu.edu/adamodar/New_Home_Page/data.html

Damodaran not only provides this free service every year but he puts
online his notes, his lectures, his spreadsheets ... the lot.

DW

Here's Reddy

The dog!!

DW

Windows on the Mac

I got Windows 8.1 working on my MacBook Pro. I couldn't partition the hdd for some reason so it's on a virtual machine!

I hope it's stable and does what I want.

DW

New Angle

The house taken from a new angle by Namwan

DW

Reddy the Labrador Retriever

Here's my dog with Nye: the boy lives in the next village.

I have known Reddy for just a few hours so I am looking forward to getting to know him.

Intellectual Joke in German

I love listening to Bach's Christmas Oratorio at, erm, Christmas. I listen to a German version and it starts with what sounds like Joseph O Lopez. So I sing along to Joseph O Lopez. Eventually curiosity got the better of me and I checked the real text and Joseph O Lopez is really Jauchzet, frohlocket! Jauchzet, frohlocket! means shout for joy, rejoice! Jauchzet, frohlocket! auf, preiset die Tage, Rühmet, was heute der Höchste getan! Lasset das Zagen, verbannet die Klage, Stimmet voll Jauchzen und Fröhlichkeit an! Dienet dem Höchsten mit herrlichen Chören, Laßt uns den Namen des Herrschers verehren! Shout for joy, exult, rise up, glorify the day, praise what today the highest has done! Abandon hesitation, banish lamentation, begin to sing with rejoicing and exaltation! Serve the highest with glorious choirs, let us honour the name of our ruler! Thank you http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Texts/BWV248-1-Eng3.htm and I wonder what happened to Joseph O Lopez, then? DW

Magical Clouds, Santa and Photo Emulation

Nice photos I think ... DW