niteowl

Being transfered to an inactive post generally has two consequences: No more tea money and no more promotions. Both of these losses are pretty significant.

I was going to point that out. You beat me to it!

"My new job is to do nothing. But, for a small fee, I could be persuaded to do it, in half the time."

It's 10,000 Baht to extend a tourist visa.

It's 20,000 Baht to obtain a stamp for your Non-Imm visa.

Although, I'd found that as long as you're nicely dressed, they wouldn't actually ask to see it.

Thanks for all the input. The general opinion seems to be, that this is not the optimum time to invest in a camcorder. I'd either be buying old, soon to be antiquated technology, or new, expensive, and probably flawed technology. Maybe I'll stick with my old Sony digital still camera. It's a dinosaur, but at least I know how to use it.

Thanks again.

A 747 was starting its descent and the pilot had forgotten to turn off the P.A. system.

''As soon as we land,'' he said, ''I'm going to have a nice cold beer and then screw the arse off that blonde flight attendant.'' The horrified flight attendant made a dash toward the cockpit, but tripped over in the aisle.

A little old lady sitting there whispered, ''There's no need to hurry love, he said he was going to have a beer first.''

Liked it!

This is a true story.

In newspaper printing, a negative the size of the page is first made, using high-contrast film. But, photographs can't be part of this negative; photos have to "screened", to reduce them to a series of dots. Once a screened negative of the photo is created, it's then pasted into a clear window of the larger page negative. This part is done by hand, so sometimes, the person doing the pasting gets the wrong photo negative in the wrong window. Usually, the result makes no sense.

But one day, in Fort Smith, Arkansas, there were two "big" stories in this small town: the mayor's wife passed away, and the old icehouse, long abandoned, burned to the ground.

On the inside pages, there ran a photo of the icehouse, over a caption that read:

Mayor's Wife Passes Away

While the front page had a photo of the mayor's wife, two columns wide, over a caption that read:

Old Eyesore Gone At Last

I am not against teachers protecting themselves. It's the students I am concerned about--I know a few teachers that would like to thin out their classes and get rid of the dead weight!!

Every teacher I knew (including me), has fantasized about that on occasion.

But, on a serious note - the insurgents have fairly consistently sought "soft" targets. If the teachers become "hard" targets, then that leaves the students themselves... and then what?

When I was a student (SUNY Brockport; any Eagles out there?), there was a woman in her forties who applied for admission to our college.

She had originally entered college right out of high school. She had dropped out in her senior year, to get married, and subsequently, raise a family.

Now, years later, her children were grown, and she wanted to complete her schooling, to become certified as a teacher. An admirable ambition, but a problem came to light.

Although her college (I forget which one it was) was fully accredited at the time she attended, it had lost its accreditation years later. Had she completed her coursework before the school lost its accreditation, her diploma would, of course, be valid. Even after the school lost its accreditation, you have a window when you would be able to complete your degree requirements, or transfer your credits to another school, in order to complete your degree. But, she didn't realize her school had lost its accreditation; and the window for completing her degree expired.

So, although her school was fully accredited at the time she completed her roughly 90 hours of coursework, those hours were no longer valid. She was told, if she were accepted at Brockport, she would have to begin as a Freshman. I don't think we heard from her again.

Sad case, really.

Jeez, Whitey, pop a Prozac, m'kay?

So, from your tirade, I take it that you don't have an issue with any of the (easily verifiable) statements I made about John Karr's other "qualifications" as a teacher?

Well, you're right, I confess I didn't check Excelsior College's pedigree thoroughly before I wrote that post. I did attempt to access their website, to find out what degrees they offered, and how much they charged per credit hour. I was unable to, without giving them personal information that I was not willing to divulge. So, I assumed the worst.

It seems that Excelsior College is, indeed, accredited. My sincere apologies.

None of which changes the gist of my post, which was: John Mark Karr was not qualified to teach (in New York state, where he earned his degree, or any other state that I'm aware of). You can't do student teaching by email. Period. You can't obtain a Bachelor of Education degree without having been evaluated by a teacher, as a teacher. Period. And John Mark Karr never successfully completed his student teaching assignment.

On the gist of my comments, I remain uncorrected, and unrepentant.

Or will farang and rich Thai families suddenly find their child's expensive English classes being taught by Africans, Indians, and Burmese?

If that became the case, and I were a Thai parent, I would stop paying.

Why should I pay extra, to have a Burmese (or African, or Phillipino, for that matter), teaching my child, as opposed to a Thai teacher? I can't think of a good reason.

And, Thai people aren't known for parting with their money for no good reason.

And this one is for Higgy:

What was your opinion of Wooden House?

Yeah, I also thought Lumphun was an OK place to live.

When I first arrived, I didn't have a car, or even a motorcycle (now, I have both), and walked everywhere I went. Sometimes, people I knew would call out to me, as I was passing. Odd, how those small things linger in your memory. Particularly, since it so seldom happened (read: never) in the city (over a million people) that I came from.

I've never taken the bus to Big "C" either (I have taken the Song Taews, and big clunky blue and white busses; they're all right); it's my understanding that the bus is free, because Big "C" is so far from the center of town. So, you're not really getting a "free ride" to Chiangmai - because the tuk tuk fare from Big C to Chiangmai, will be more than the fare for the SongTaew to Chiangmai.

Nice post. What is a "bittorrents", again?

How long the lifestyle string is?...?

Anyway, the short answer is, as Thai people say, "Up to you..."

Meaning, the more Thai you are, and live, the less it costs you to live. If your idea of "fun" is sitting (actually, squatting) on a dirt floor eating noodles with your mates, over a couple of tepid beer Changs, you can live cheaply here.

But, if your notion of "civilization" requires Colgate Toothpaste, fine wine, air conditioning, and nightly dining at Western Sizzler, followed by a fine cigar - be prepared to spend a fortune.

You really do need to spend some time here, to see what we're talking about.

Hope this helps.

Why don't you learn to make them yourself from basic ingredients? If you've got a restaurant you presumably would have big pots and other things you need to make big batches... then freeze in smaller portions until you need them. Sauces like that tend to freeze well, and you'll have a much tastier result.

I think Pete has hit on something. I'm appalled by the prices they charge at Tesco and Rim Ping for Prego spaghetti sauce (Prego - n., Italy. Dog food.)

You could start making sauces in your home, without the expense of opening a restaurant, and see if there's a market for what you're creating. Then, other restaurants and supermarkets would be your clientele. If you're successful with your sauces, you could always open a restaurant with the profits, and if you're not successful - maybe that should tell you not to open a restaurant.

Particularly for a vegan diet, you will probably want to prepare your own food. The good news is, Thailand has much more variety than whichever western country you came from. The reason for this, is that farming is labor intensive. In order to make a profit, America (for instance), resorts to mechanized labor. But, that implies that the crop has to be all one size, shape, height, weight, etc. So, by neccessity, you have to plant a huge expanse with the same crop. In Thailand, where all the labor is performed by hand, it's no problem to have an acre of this, an acre of that, and an acre of something else.

The bad news is, it may take you a while to find a place with a kitchen, to prepare your own food. This seems to be a common refrain amongst vegetarians on this site. But anyway, Good Luck, and let us know what your experience is.

The good news is, that in general, Thailand will have a greater variety of vegetables to choose from, than the western country you come from (whichever country that is). The bad news, as others have pointed out, is trying to find a place to prepare them.

When I first arrived in Chiangmai, I paid an extra 1000 Baht per month for a room (in a guest house) with a "kitchen". The kitchen turned out to be an area with a tile floor, a sink, and some cabinet type shelving. Oh, and a two-foot high refrigerator. No cooker, no microwave, no utensils, pots, pans, dishes, etc.

I can't speak for Bangkok, but a kitchen isn't really part of the Thai concept of a house, at least in the North. I looked at several houses to rent, before settling on the one I live in now. None had a kitchen.

I think you will have to be very determined (and have some liquid cash) to find an affordable apartment with a kitchen in Thailand. Let us know what your experience is, and Good Luck.

Went to Rim Ping market in Chiangmai today, and bought some "Asian Baby Clams in Garlic Butter". Hopefully, these will do (I'll keep everyone posted). I noticed on the side panel, though, that these have "Soy Bean Oil" added. Hopefully, they're not talking about Soy Sauce.

Thanks again for the posts (and links), Bambina!

I confess, I actually had to google Heather Mills.

Brilliant.

By all means marry. If you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you

get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.

~ Socrates

Who was Socrates married to, again? I think I met her.

"Yeah, my ex was a philosopher. Lazy sod."

Ok, thanks, Bambina.

Actually, I'm not certain if I can use those or not. In America, you can buy clams in small cans (like tuna fish), or in slightly larger cans, like mackeral.

But, if I can find the fresh variety, I'm willing to experiment.

Thanks again.

Does anyone know if you can buy canned baby clams in Chiangmai? I haven't seen them at Tesco or Rim Ping (the one near Tha Pae Road).

Do any of these places have sheet music? Particularly, sheet music arranged for guitar, preferably in collections (i.e., 1000 Greatest Guitar Pieces), and preferably, for western music.

Most Thai books have only the lyrics, with guitar chords over them, and those aren't good enough. Likewise, I don't care for tabulature books, the ones that describe where to put your fingers.

Funny stuff!

A man with a briefcase walks into a talent agent's office unannounced. "I have an act you have to see," he says to the agent.

"Well," the agent cautiously replies, "I do have a 15 minute window. Sure, show me what you can do."

Without a word, the man opens his briefcase. He carefully removes what appears to be a tiny grand piano from it. Placing it carefully on the agent's desk, he procedes to remove a tiny piano bench, and place it, equally carefully, in front of the piano. Suddenly, a tiny man, only one foot tall, stands up in the briefcase. He moves with a deliberate grace towards the piano, and seats himself. He begins to play Cole Porters, Begin the Beguine, displaying not only a technical mastery of the piano, but an artist's ability to communicate mirth through his fingertips. When he's through, he plays a medly of songs by Bach, Mozart, and Vivaldi. His performance is flawless, exquisite, ars gratia artis. The agent's jaw drops.

"This is Amazing!! Where did you find this talent?!", he asks.

"Well, that's a long story," the man begins. "I was in Ireland last year on vacation. Walking through a field, I stumbled across a leprechaun, and thinking quickly, I captured him. 'Let me go,' he said, 'and I'll grant you any wish.'"

"And so, you wished for this tiny musician," the agent said, "and now, you'll be rich, and famous! You'll travel the world, and stay in the best hotels for free! You'll meet Presidents, Prime Ministers, and Kings, and be treated like royalty everywhere you go! By God, that was quick thinking!"

"Well, no," the man confessed. "Actually, this particular leprechaun was hard of hearing. And, that's how I wound up with a 12 inch pianist."