owl sees all

Can't know what solar panels, or pump, until the status of the well-water is established. 60k is simply far too much dosh. Get the well drilled first. You can do the rest yourself. The equipment don't come to more than about 18k. And that is top quality items.

He gets let out supervised for an hour every day; usually after Mildred goes to school, and I spend time picking up soi trash.. Robert goes out when he wants.

11. Only here to take pics of temples.

I'm on this thread learning about them from posters in the know.

Having had to find out about solar systems has given me an insight into, not on what to do, but not what to do. The whole thing is a bit of a balancing act. I take it Garry, that you wish to draw water from a deep well, with a DC current supplied by solar panels. And be independent of any regular water and leccy supply. Right then, certain things are musts. 1/ The well must actually go into a water table. It's obvious I know. But no water means no independent system. 2/ You will not use that much water for a home. So no need to go over the top on the equipment. But there are essentials. Can't by-pass them. 3/ You need a tank or something to hold the water. Then you will be able tap into it 24/7. So! Assuming that you find water - usually 6 to 10 metre down - you will need a DC pump, and a solar unit to drive it. I'll suggest that you don't get the most powerful pump. A 500/600 watt unit would be OK. To drive the pump you will need a solar set-up of between 800 and 1000 watts in total. That will be two panels. You will need a controller. Some of them are programmable. And some programmable remotely. Keep it simple. Keep the cables consistent. If the cable attached to the pump is 4mm square then the whole cable to the control box should be the same throughout. Thought should be given to the mounting of the panels and the distances, to both the pump, and the controller. Ask about Garry about the water. Find out if it is consistent once you get into the table. If it is, then 30 metre deep should be OK for the pump. If you hear that pumps are cutting out, due to lack of water, then you might have to go deeper; perhaps to 40 metres. BUT!! In that case a more powerful pump will be needed, and that means more panels, or at least two higher rated ones. As I say; it's all a balancing act. Get the basic about the water in ya mind first. The rest is pretty straightforward. One final thing. If the water is good, then it will go through your system into the house taps. If - on the other hand - the quality is not as good as hoped for, then a filtering i=unit should be considered also. Good luck. Keep in touch with it all.

What about the farang that buys a load of land and sets about trying to create a fortune from it? Whether that be special rice, hard-wood trees, tobacco, agar wood, rubber trees, or durians. Not forgetting the fish, the fishing, shrimps or the resort. What better way to spend ya hard-earned dosh! Better than giving it to bar girls any day.

A UK guy, bought a Porsche, and after two years is was worth; or rather the best off he was offered, was less than 30% of purchase price. He was posting because he still owed 68k on it. Now considering that the actual batteries are such a big % of the car cost. when the car is a few years old, and the owner wishes to sell, who would buy it? Have to be give-a-way price to get shot. Is there a leccy MG?

Post a pic Garry.

The second-hand leccy car market has fallen through the floor in the UK. Is the used market still strong here?

Should read: ''What? You wasted a whole week on FakeBook? Why bother?'' But fret not @Stevey. We have our own Isaan musing on AN: We can do with some wit, and even dreariness. New blood; so to speak. Not that there is anything wrong with the old blood. But you should be a cat, dog, fish and most importantly; a cheese lover to fit snugly in. As the bar-girl said to the monk. Pics of trees welcome. Also clouds; especially if a peelor is lurking. And, if you have a favourite footy team??!! You are dancing on a pin head. But don't join our crew if you are easily offended as the often riveting posts are sometimes;; well like trying to eat a souffle with a sharp dagger. All our regulars can cut the mustard; so to speak. So come join us before it is too late.

You could be right there Rex. Mrs Owl reckons that gold, handbags, ear-phones and clothing are a much better way to waste money than solar cell systems.

@degrub @Andrew Dwyer Works for me too using Firefox. Switched to Opera to stop the intrusive pop ups while posting. Thanks.

Thanks for that bud. I'm using Opera on Linux. I'll try Firefox right now and report back.

Can't rely on play-offs to go up. One in 4 chance. Any team can do it. Luton or Coventry last year.

This is the weekly Owl Log. 17th March 2024. Sunday afternoon. And another one. Two up, two to go. Brought out the sheet to get everything squared up. Marked the metal bearers and screwed in a couple of brackets ready for the big day. That turned out to be Thursday. Put off from Tuesday because of two empty days, when the village was paying respect to the young lady killed on her m/c. Both coils of cable were sorted out. One for the sensor and the main one for the pump. Thursday morning at 9am we got to work. /four of us. Me, Mildred, Kun and Boom. A little unexpected problem. The two panels were slightly different. I had to make spacers to bring the 30mm thick one up to the 40mm one. Would not have bothered to do that, but the top of the concrete posts were too close to the underside of the slimmer panel for comfort. Trimmed a few branches, so as to keep the panels in full sun. Lowered the pump 32 metres down and fired it up. Got a decent reading; 79.9 volts. The pump needs more than it's rating of 750 watts, to get it going. About 20% more, so 80 volts gives 1040 watts. Only two panels on this system. Have another panel in reserve. Hope I don't need it, as the structure is designed for just two. Put in the temporary barriers. Don't want anyone driving round and ruining the water pipe. As soon as I'm sure we can leave things alone, I'll get the pipe below the road surface. Went along this morning early, to check on everything. Pump started up at 9-40am. Voltage read 77v. It was slightly overcast then, but the sun came out at 9-55am and the reading was 79.9v. Yesterday at 2ish, the reading was 82.4v. Will not get much better that that. But that's enough. Flow yesterday at 2pm was about 1.5 liters per second. This morning at 10am about one litre per second. Have a button on the controller that gives a higher voltage to the pump, if pressed. Don't ask me how that works?! Leave well alone; unless the instructions are in English instead of Thai. Have translated all the 'error' codes to English. Mildred wants to put overflow pipes in from pond to pond. That way we only have to fill one. Let natural leveling do the rest. There is a party at the village tomorrow. We gave a generous donation. I'm sure all the village dwellings did. Last year they raised nearly 100k. That went on finishing the building over the pond. Not sure what the dosh will go towards this time. Lighting being put up all round the village wat. Everything nicely secured. The village was treated to some exquisite dancing yesterday. Refreshment for the dancers. Not for me dear; thanks. My dancing days are long gone. I'm just the recorder. Monk held in high esteem. The mystery of the special pick-up has been solved. Tobacco plants are blossoming. Must be a decent business. Found another drying area, closer to the village. Don't know where their farm is though. Mrs Owl tells me that a wholesale business arrives and pays 32k a tonne. Sounds a lot. It works out at 32 baht a kilo. It takes a lot of leaves to make a kilo though. Don't sound so good now I've worked it out. There are different varieties. Don't have any more info than that. Interesting though. It's all a learning curve here in Isaan. Evidently some districts of Nong Khai (just north-west of us) are some of the most productive areas in Thailand. That's along Ta Bo/Si Chang Mai way. Along the river to the west of Nong Khai. The farm next to us has added a small water-holder to their system. Will I be doing similar soon? At the village, the children are well catered for. Am I spoilt? Or am I spoilt? Mrs Owl has even taken to squeezing Vegemite onto to my breakfast cheese feast. Me Rosie is hot too; and don't taste salty. Talk about being pampered. She knows I have some readies hidden away. Don't think she would be that crafty. But then again! Wonder what she will think of next to get me excited!? Had to get the Mazza through the MoT in the week. No problem. Flew through. 235k kilometres on the clock. Good for 500k I reckon. But Mrs Owl keeps on about those cheap MGs. She likes the leccy ones. Can't say I've noticed an electric MG. Mildred says the leccy car made her car-sick. I can see a future dilemma there. Anyway me and daughter took the Mazza in. Have to pick up the disk on the 19th. The iguanas were hiding. Try to get some pics in the week. Out of the 90+ paintings, sketches and CGIs that Mildred has on her www, the one everyone seems to like is 'Stickman' holding the dove. But that was computer generated. In the last few days she has done a stonking good painting. 'Dove of peace needs helping hand.'' +++++ Owl was right. 6-0 to Tractors. Orient won at Stevenage. Puts them in with a chance of the play-offs. Cove won away. Aveley lost😣 🥴. All the Ozzie matches finished either 1-2, or 2-1. 32k in the ground to see Rams beat the Wanderers. Best third tier gate of the season. +++++ Been having trouble with our front door lock. Took off the lock. Put the lock back on. Took it off. Fiddled with it. Simply worn out inside. I'll try to get a new one when I go to town on the 20th for the MoT disc. Don't hold out a lot of hope though. Another Heath Robinson job coming up. Mrs Owl wants to go to Bangkok to see Bam Bam; of GOT7 fame. He is doing a second show in May. First one sold out. 77k tickets gone in 12 hours. Bam Bam for PM!!?? Good to see the ex-rate climbing; albeit slowly. 45.77 Baht to the pound at the mo. Some Euro leaders are talking up a war. That can only mean one thing. The banking system is close to collapse. Had a problem with Oacar harassing m/cs as they pass the house. The Mrs wants to put a muzzle on him; otherwise he can't go out. Noticably hotter last week. The start of the 6 week heat-wave. No rain. Mildred has dyed her hair light brown. She was gonna do it green, but I pointed out that she would have to then redye it for next school term. Came out a gold colour. That's it folks. Stay cool and take care out there. PS Can't get them to play. Someone might have more luck. Both mp4s end of dance.mp4 ladies dance.mp4

Anlin has a few. Latest is a bit political. ''Peace dove needs a helping hand.'' www.mildredart.com

Bang on the money there Marty. Since that post another very similar has driven down the next soi to us. Pics later.

Toon have not 'yet' got the squad to get a regular top 4 place. It;s not all about money; look at Black Cats. Takes time to get everyone at a club singing from the same hymn-sheet.

Brum are in deep poo poo.

On closer inspection, Plymouth are in the drop mix also.

On form of the last 5 games, any two from Hudds, Brum and Blackburn would go down with Rotherham. Bristol city got out of the reckoning yesterday. Yes! That bus. Strange one that. Hope I see it again to get a better look. That lady was touching up her buddha and giving all the crew on the thread a ''hi there'.

He is fine. Oscar is the 'enforcer'. Anyone even thinks about coming thru the gate he is up, barking and ready for action. Robert is far more laid back in that respect. He just wants to play with any children in the soi.

It's the afternoon of Sunday 10th of March. This is the weekly Owl Log. Mildred finished her last day of the school year on Friday. Off for seven weeks. Let's hope she can do other things other than watch the telephone for 12 hours a day. Her art has certainly taken a back-seat in the last few months. Had a bit of a surprise when in Ban Dung last week. Went along to see the new build progress and, see if they had started fixing up the old neglected house. It had gone!! The build is coming along just grand though. Wonder what it's gonna be? Mrs Owl says a fruit and veg market. Did myself a reishi tonic brew yesterday. Not gonna lace it with Lao khow this time. Just swig it back neat. Finished up with 4.8 litres. That will keep me active for a couple of weeks. Other stuff in there also. I like to add the three 'g's; ginseng, garlic and ginger. Sometime put a chili in too. Bring to the boil and let simmer for 3 or more hours. Thought about making some lollies with the brew. Saw a funny looking vehicle on the road leading to the village from the 2022. Thought it was a bus from a distance. Unusual to see one in our parts. Only usually see school buses. Very fancy. The pineapple will soon be ready to eat. Well, hopefully this year. Both me and Mildred were a bit concerned about the level of water in pond 5. We decided to go full throttle on the second solar system. Had originally planned to have a Saturday (yesterday) fix-up. But there was a problem with the solar panel delivery, so it's now Tuesday. But! The delay didn't help the fishes. So on Thursday, we set up the petrol pump and transferred water from 2 to 5. Water very low. Around 60 metres of pipe. Started the pump at oneish, and I returned to the farm at five-thirty. About 2 litres a second. Got a few inches in there. That will do until later this week. I've so much old PVC laying about at the farm. Must be a hundred metres of both one and a half, and two inch. I'll try to use most of it in farm 2 for the irrigation. Other pipes as well. Will have to have a clear our. See what can be used. Not yet worked out how to utilise any of it. Just had a call from the deliver man. Last panel due at 0ne today. Will slip it alongside the others in the bedroom.' This last solar panel delivery was a bit of a mare. Ordered 3 as one order. Two arrived. Where is the other one? Returned to sender! Came the reply. What? Couldn't really get to the bottom of it. So reordered. 350 baht more; this one. Be here shortly. One of the interesting things about village plumbing is that it's so simple. Confusing for me though. Obviously the Thais know what pipe goes where. Stopped to have a butchers at the place where Mildred's cat was made. To see what they were making. A lady climbed up and gave the her item a touch-up. There ya go! Much better. Wave for the camera dear. . Lovely! Still some messy pups in the village. But as long as the farm, and our soi, is trash-free; I'm happy enough. As soon as I get anywhere near the farm the chickens come running. They certainly love their grub. +++++ It's so, so tight at the bottom of the Championship. The best contest for years. Rotherham are gone. But from the Owls up to the Swans it's close. Gonna be any two from nine to go down. Who can string a couple of results together? EPL is a good contest also. Leyton Orient lose again. Will be difficult to get into the play offs. Aveley the same. Even Cove Rangers lost at home. Not a good w/e for me on the footy scene. All my fave's came unstuck. Well not all. Saints won. Foxes drew. +++++ Have to un-set the alarm for the 5-45 wake up call. Just imagine; get up when I want for the next few weeks. Mildred had a shock on Friday. She said she was cruising through the maths' exam. Finished with 20 minutes to spare. Went over the questions again; just to make sure. Handed the paper in to teacher., who turned it over. There were questions on t'other side. Never mind dear. Happened to me years ago; the same. +++++ There is a forecast of rain for later on today. Believe it when I see it. +++++ Red Bull win again! I'm more interested to hear that the rascal who killed the cop, is coming back to face the music. Been a bit about the case in the news. +++++ Another death. Lady of 30, with two children. M/c accident in Bangkok, the Mrs informed me. Especially sad that. Body brought back this morning. +++++ Have to give AN the thumbs-up. A lot quicker today. The up-loader worked without any prob's. No pop-ups during the 60 minutes I was posting. +++++ Have to do some work this afternoon. Will drill the holes for the main bearers to be bolted onto the posts. And hot-weld a couple of cables ready for Tuesday. Solar panel just arrived. Didn't need it in the end. Have decided to mount two at the farm. That will give 1,100 Watts. The pump is 750 Watts. What I 'think' this means, is that instead of getting water at 11, there will be a delay of about 30 minutes, until about 11-30, when there should be enough voltage coming through, from the panels, to kick-start everything into action. Then it should be water until about 4. We will see. It's all a learning curve. +++++ Just glanced out the door and saw Mildred is working on a painting. Happy! Only one thing left to say; thanks for visiting. PS. Nearly forgot. Crossroads gang have a new member. VID_20240308_070732(1).mp4

Paul Pogba. What a wally! All be it a rich one. Wasted talent. At United, expended more energy doing his hair before games than on the pitch.

Indeed! How many could they catch if there was more dosh about?