Remarkably red sunset

It was a remarkably red sunset on Sunday 20221030. As usual, my poor photos do not do it justice.

20221030

Phut Sa Lake

It took me three tries, but I finally found my way to บึงพุดซา  / Phut Sa Lake. This may have been a reservoir built way back in the Khmer Empire days. I came across at least one such reference online. It's certainly within the realm of possibility as there are plenty of Khmer civilization remnants in the area.

Phut Sa Lake looks like it would be difficult to fish in due to the way the bank is covered with massive vegetation as it slopes down to the water. I translated the Thai word บึง as "lake," but it might be more properly rendered as swamp/marsh/bog, which is what it appears to be more than a lake. 

บ้านพุดซา / Baan Phut Sa, the community surrounding the lake, is nice. I'm sure I'll be visiting often as it's becoming a favorite motorcycle route.

20221031

Temporarily seven-legged Halloween spider

Came across this (temporarily) seven-legged spider on the street in front of the house on Halloween. As I understand it, leg number eight will be regenerated soon.

20221031

Nice sunset, despite a few obstructions...

20221026

Season of the toads

It seems that this time of the year, after the rainy season has ended, is the time of the toads. We are seeing quite a few of them, and they are very big.

20221024

I accepted it as another item lost when moving, but now it is found.

I was pretty sure I lost my made-in-Germany, Solingen hunting knife that I've had since my teenage years or earlier. I thought it was lost like things inevitably get lost when you move. I had accepted the loss. But today, unexpectedly while looking for something else, I found it. It feels pretty damn good.

I'm not sure why it feels good, though. The likelihood of me ever using this knife is very slim. I may sharpen it. I may rejuvenate the leather sheath again. But that's all. It will sit in a drawer until I die. Then somebody will get an old knife, and they will know nothing of the memories associated with it.

The value of the knife is only my memories of using it when I was young. Those memories will come to a screeching halt one day. F'ing hell. Time marches on...

20221018

The retiree has time for proper maintenance.

One good thing about being retired is having the time to properly maintain all your vehicles. I challenge you to audit the tire pressure on any of our vehicles. Check the chains on the bicycles and motorcycle. All within spec--always. I guess I'm in the golden part of retirement where I've got time and still enough health to get things done. Count me as very grateful.

Regret my Covid retirement? No. Just glad I got out when I did with some health left.

Today's challenge was the Loctite on the two nuts for the mirror stalk. I struggled quite a while with my one adjustable wrench, channel locks, and WD-40. I finally went online for ideas: heat. Dipped that bad boy in some boiling hot water for two or three minutes, and that finally did something to the Loctite. I felt pretty damn good when I felt the nuts finally separate from each other.

20221017

Sunset on our yet-to-be-numbered street.

We don't have a street number yet. We live in a housing estate that's still being built. There are only three or four houses with people living in them. We are enjoying the emptiness. When this place is built out, there will probably be three or four hundred houses.

20221017

No Halloween here. It's straight into Christmas for us.

Here's the Christmas stuff for sale at MR D.I.Y. in Central Plaza on 20221016. No Halloween here. Good. That Halloween candy is hazardous to one's health.

20221016

Sunset after the rainy season

Now that the rainy season has ended, we actually have sunsets once again. I quite like it.

20221014

Working in the garden

The rainy season has officially ended. They even had a holiday to mark the occasion: วันออกพรรษา / Wan Ok Phansa. (See the Wikipedia entry for Vassa to learn much more.)

So it's time to plant crops. As of this evening, we now have two raised bed gardens. Not too much damage to my hand. Just one big blister that should heal within a week or two.

20221014

All I had to do was turn around, but nooooooo...

So I'm out on a pleasure ride, the first of the season now that it's possible to be outside. I come up on a huge pool of water, and like a moron I blindly follow the cars in front of me, fording the water at a depth of at least 15 cm, up to the bottom and sides of my boots. I won't claim that the exhaust got submerged, but I'm pretty sure the bottom of it got plenty wet, as did the chain and the bottom of the engine.

I had no appointment to get to. I had no destination. All I would have had to do is simply turn around. But nope. Still a dumbass...

To Yamaha's credit, the bike still starts without issue and appears to be running normally. I had to spend a day cleaning the bike, including a total chain cleaning and lubrication. We are not in California anymore. A bike's life is hard here.

20221012

This little guy scared me a bit...

I reached into the tool cabinet to grab something, and I almost got a handful of frog. He was not at all eager to let go of that paper towel roll.

20221012

Green

202210??

The White Elephant of Saraburi

ช้างเผือกที่สระบุรี

20221013

Chronicler of sunsets? A lazy one if so...

20221013

Cattle Drive

Returning from my first motorcycle ride of the season, I happened across a cattle drive just outside the gate of our housing complex. I saw at least 30 head of cattle, and there could have been many more as they were stretched out in a very long column, enthusiastically grazing their way up a flooded canal road.

Cattle drive is a misnomer. There were no cowboys. No horses. Just one cattle farmer guy walking at the head of the column and relying on some kind of honor system for the stragglers to keep moving forward--which they eventually did.

20221008

Better than a drought...

By pure dumb luck, the downpour didn't start until just after I finished my short bicycle ride around the housing complex.

20221001

There will be more downpours before this 2022 rainy season comes to an end.

20221002