simon43

I just got back to my hotel in Mandalay, after 3 days visiting/donating at orhanages and a 6-hour car journey back over the bumpy mountain road. As usual, there were many checkpoints, including a major checkpoint where all vehicles are x-rayed for hidden weapons or drugs. The x-ray machine is a customised mobile unit, with an extendible gantry that goes right over the road and zaps the vehicle moving slowly underneath. (God knows how many bechtels of radiation the car driver gets...). Interestingly, that mobile x-ray vehicle was a modern-looking Ford... Here we came unstuck. Seeing a foreigner in the car, the police officers sent me and my Burmese translator over to speak to the chief police officer. That man had us stand in front of him while he harangued my translator non-stop for at least 20 minutes! My translator kept saying 'sorry' in Burmese and 'ok' to everything that the officer was saying. We were finally saved by 2 rotund Burmese women, who waddled over to pay their bribe money to this officer. These 2 were dripping in gold jewelry and they winked at me :). After they waited for some minutes while the officer shouted at my translator, one of the women physically dug her fingers into the man's ribs and said effectively "Oh, give it a bleedin rest!" in Burmese, at which point the officer let us proceed. My translator later told me that the officer was annoyed at him for bringing a foreigner into this dangerous place. 'What would happen if he gets injured?'. (Well, the chances of ME getting injured are next to nothing, whilst the chances of that officer being on the receiving end of an RPG are somewhat higher!!). I asked my translator later what will happen when the pdf fighters take over this region, (as they no doubt will at some stage). He said that the soldiers will either die in the fighting, or they will run away or surrender, since most of them are conscripts. As for the local police who are aiding the soldiers, they will just change sides...

How about AIOTY = AI of the year? I have no idea who is biotic and who is abiotic on this forum nowadays.....

Thanks BurmaBill, Norfolkandchance. To be honest, I was more annoyed than anything else, because I like custard cremes. And yes - I brought along medicine just in case, so are feeling weak but better now. Now I am in the small town of Nyaung Shwe, which nestles at the north end of Inle Lake, and is where tourists set off for boat trips on the lake. I was last here visiting orphanages 6 years ago, and how it has changed, thanks to Covid and then the military coup. Absolutely no foreign tourists of course. There are local tourists, but my driver tells me that they all stay in nearby Taunggyi, and then make day trips to Nyaung Shwe. So the town economy has collapsed 😞 No large hotels are open, no 'western' food restaurants, no tourist shops etc. The mobile internet is stopped by the military and there are only a few hours of electricity each day... My trip from Mandalay was not so good! As I mentioned, I got food poisoning the day before, so wasn't feeling on top of the world. My driver told me that the main route to Inle Lake had huge delays (4 hours), since every vehicle was x-rayed for weapons. So we took a smaller road over the mountains. This was a 6-hour 'switchback' journey on a small and very bumpy road. Every few km we had to stop for police or military checkpoints. As we approached Kalaw, the military presence was much tougher, and the soldiers were surprised to see a foreigner. At 2 checkpoints, they did not want to let me proceed. But my driver told them that I was an important foreigner, and the soldier didn't want the responsibility of stopping me! So we proceeded. Right now, I'm at a zero-star hotel in Nyaung Shwe. (I won't show you photos of the bathroom because maybe you've just eaten your lunch!). Since there are no minimarts open or western food restaurants, I bought some banana, fried chicken and fresh bread, which will keep me in the land of the living tonight. Tomorrow I'll start my orphanage and monastery school visits/donations 🙂 I chatted with the banana seller, who spoke good English. My Burmese language ability is what language experts call 'pretty crxp'. It's at conversational level for both spoken and reading the language, which no doubt is still much better than most westerners! She told me that I was the first foreigner that she had seen in weeks...

For perhaps the first time in 20 years, I got food poisoning yesterday. Spent the evening emptying my stomach into the toilet, and then a very unpeaceful night... I'm travelling today to the orphanages. My stomach is ok now, but I feel rather weak. Hopefully I'll improve as the day passes. PS - It was a custard creme that did it!

I have no wealth, so I don't have to worry about flaunting it. But (for whatever reason), my status amongst the locals here in Myanmar is rather high, (probably down to the fact that I'm a foreigner, old, a teacher and a charity worker. The locals can't duck enough as they pass me! 🙂

They have many jets that they use to bomb and kill innocent civilians. All jets and spare parts purchased from Russia and China....

About 6 months ago I lived down in the Khao Lak area, a few km back from the beach. If I take off my house rental cost, then I was spending less than 5,000 a month on food, internet and utilities, (not because I could only afford 5k, but because I was interested to see what my monthly budget was). I cooked my own food, (bought fresh from the local market), I did a lot of walking (maybe 5km+ each day (because I prefer to walk for health reasons, nut use a car or motorbike). Life was simple, cheap and healthy! [quote]...and had nightmares the trees were talking to me [/quote] However, I think your monthly medical costs (psychiatrist etc), will send you over budget...

[quote] ... Once the code is scanned, all the information from that phone will be sent to scammers. They receive all access to the phone. All personal and financial information is accessible to the scammers and often the victim's bank accounts are drained. ... [/quote] Lol, urban legion.... totally impossible. The QR code is typically used to forward the user to a phishing website. But a QR code in itself cannot do what you state above 🙂

Yes, I know about the 2 rates - I've lived/worked in Myanmar many times since 2012. My comment was that my $1=4,400 kyat is not a black-market rate. It is the rate offered by the government-registered currency exchange offices on the high street, (hardly an 'under-the-counter' rate!).

I had a half-day today (Wednesday) because some of my students have to practice for our school's winter sports festival on New Year's Eve. Apparently, my promotional video last week has attracted the highest ever number of hits on the school Facebook page, (so that means 10 hits LoL!), and I have therefore been ordered to be the official announcer on that day 🙂 I visited a school book shop today and stocked up on more books that I need to take next week on my visit to the orphanages. I also invested in some pipe-cleaners and cotton wool.... Now I wonder what they are for? 🙂 Mandalay is very quiet now after dark. There is no evening curfew, but numerous teens and young men are being 'conscripted' off the streets to fight in the army against the civilians. Naturally, this is keeping most young men at home after dark 😞 The kyat to USD exchange rate is all over the place! If I exchange USD to kyat in a bank or withdraw kyat from my Bangkok bank account via the ATM machines here, the exchange rate is about 1 USD = 2,100 kyat MMK If I change USD notes in the local (registered) currency exchange office (which I did today), the rate is $1 USD = 4,400 kyat MMK!! Naturally, I avoid withdrawing from an ATM machine....

I learnt yonks ago that slowly and carefully with deep intent, is the best way to do anything 🙂

I usually give ChatGPT a few concise instructions and it produces good images, BUT it seems to be dyslexic and unable to put form correctly-spelt words! Viz: please create an image with the letters of the alphabet from A to Z in order, and please also write the sentence "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog"

Another Monday and my day off. I dropped some vocabulary posters off at the Girls' orphanage, and also ordered 8 more laminated poster sets (8 different posters/set), from the print shop. The reason for needing these extra sets is because I have planned a journey next week 🙂 . Since it's Christmas, I have a few days of holiday. Ideally, I would love to jump on a motorbike and ride across to Kalaw, Inle Lake and Taunggyi, just as I used to do when I worked in Naypyitaw. But it's not practical to do that, because I haven't yet bought a motorbike! Additionally, although the regions that I plan to travel through are considered reasonably safe, (by some close friends working in Myanmar, NOT by the red maps on the UK/US etc government advice web sites), I'm not happy to ride in a region bristling with trigger-happy soldiers when wearing a motorcycle helmet - it can make it difficult for them to recognise that I am a foreigner and they could shoot first.... So I've planned a private car tour guide trip from my base in Mandalay, and visiting/donating at all the orphanages that I previously supported. I want to check on their needs, meet some old friends and (hopefully), make my first attempt at 'vlogging' for YouTube with a video from a foreigner who is not just visiting Myanmar on a 'trip to the most dangerous country in the world' as how these vloggers seem to promote their videos. My tour guide and driver is fully aware of the reason behind my trip, and he also knows some more homes which never receive any donations or help. Using a car also makes it easier to transport donation items, such as rice, clothes that we might buy in the region after assessing the homes' needs. Anyway, my plan is to record a sort of 'introducing myself' video in the next few days, get that up on my new YT channel, and then follow up with my Christmas trip through war-torn Myanmar to some of these orphanages 🙂 There are some regions that I previously visited, such as Pin Laung and Loikaw etc, but these are too dangerous for me to visit now (so sad). ChatGPT has a vivid imagination....

Edit: I should add that these schools are all in Myanmar, not Thailand

This is a massive trailer where there are usually workers seated at the rear to facilitate turning of the rear wheels. " when the trailer’s rear end lost control and overturned." Well, either there was some mechanical failure, or the driver or rear wheel workers did something wrong....

Although somewhat off-topic, all the schools that I've taught in have CCTV in the classroom, for the protection of both students and teachers.

Nope, still the wrong forum - move to Jokes and Trolls Forum....

Thanks! I occasionally get $5 donations from radio hams in Japan 🙂 That sounds a pitiful amount, but that buys 2 school books or bilingual story books. Yonks ago (2010), I coined the phrase 'A little extra helps' for a philanthropic mobile phone venture that I started. https://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release/143465/if-only-1-of-twitterers-used-xtrer-it-would-generate-more-than-1-million-for-charities-every-month It was based on my view that even small amounts of money could make an important difference to people's lives, if that money was spent wisely and not squandered or 'mud thrown at a wall' syndrome. So even though I am somewhat poop-poor, I have still managed to help more than 3,000 Burmese kids with their school books over the years... I know several, small charities which adopt the same policy as myself. I also know some who provide help in Myanmar in exchange for converting to Christianity... Many foreign teachers that I have met in Myanmar over the years have been from the USA and have a hidden, religious agenda to their charity work or teaching employment. Therefore, if donating to a charity, dig deep, ask difficult questions!

As an example of the need to be wary of some charities. Oxfam's website states that only 65% of donations are actually used on their charitable programs. Of that 65%, 74% is used for their development work, 15% for project management and 11% for 'influencing'. So if my maths is correct, out of every 100 cents, just over 48 cents (less than half) is actually used directly to help those for whom you think you're donating to help. Save the Children (USA) invests almost 10% of their donations in hedge funds.... They say that about 85% is spent directly on their programs, but remember that this includes all the high salaries, 5-star hotels for their staff and shiny 4x4 vehicles. How much is actually spent on building material for new schools, medical centres, you know - the stuff that really matters? Still want to donate to them?

Next she'll be wanting 'her' meat and two veg removed. Put your foot down!

Just a few photos to curry interest. I usually teach online all day Saturday, but I'm trying reduce the number of lessons because - to be frank - I'm getting too old to teach all day and then teach in the evenings and all day at the weekends! Also, I don't need all this extra income and this heavy workload reduces my free time for hobbies and charity work. Therefore, I have been culling some of my students whose parents treat my lessons as a baby-sitting exercise, or where the young student has learnt a lot over the years from me, and would probably benefit from a different teacher. It's also a good time to wind down my relationship with iTalki, (where many of my students book my science lessons), because I have almost reached the impressive level of having earned $100,000 USD from my lessons with iTalki. None of my students/their parents are happy with this decision, but I need to be a little selfish here. In any case, it still leaves other students, and their online income over the month is about $1,500, (plus my daytime income, plus my UK pension next June). So, I took a walk to a hardware store where I was able to finally track down the PVC board that I'll use to make sturdy wall poster backgrounds for my day students to draw/create project posters about different aspects of science that they have been learning. I walked past the Red Cross office, who clearly don't want to take sides in the current conflict. Most of the houses have impressive security around their perimetre walls, with barbed wire, electrified wires, CCTV and lights. I do know from my time in Yangon than even 60 watt outside light bulbs would disappear in the night, if they were not locked within a barbed wire mesh. The workers who install the barbed wire are clearly rather skilled at creating something akin to a modern work of art... This (not so great) photo is of a pedalo, something not seen so often nowadays in Mandalay. Many years ago, when living in Yangon, I would take the ferry every Sunday across the river to Dala Township, and then a pedelo would take me the 2km or so to the local monastery where I would teach English. The room was bare, with no electricity, but the students were keen!

Thanks to all! I'll check out yt-dlp 🙂

Definitely not stupid. But do check that ALL of your donation is being used to help the deserving kids and homeless people. Too many rich charity workers driving around in top-of-the-range 4x4s nowadays..... For me, I never give money to charities. I go directly to those who deserve charity and make sure that my small amount of $ is used only and directly for their benefit.

EMF can indeed have harmful effects, BUT absolutely NOT at the miniscule levels that a wi-fi router emits. Look, I have been a radio amateur for 45 years, and a professional RF engineer for almost as long. I build and operate equipment with much higher RF levels without any issues. The wi-fi equipment is but a knat's arse of power. Go stand in front of a British Telecom backbone microwave relay dish and then you'll experience dangerous levels of EMF 🙂

I have a plan for Christmas 🙂 But I need to sound it out to see if I can implement it without getting arrested by the military...