herfiehandbag

9 days from a government shutdown!

"Undervalued" and "overvalued" are quite long words, with connotations of fraudulent intent. You are surely not suggesting that the Blessed Donald is lieing? After all, you must recall that inspirational interview in which he told us his favourite book was the Bible?

And for good reason. They have stripped out their armed forces ( particularly air force and navy), so much that they are basically defenceless.

A Command Centre! That means : Status, for the bloke in charge. A new tight uniform, a vinyl backdrop, a flower bouquet bedecked table and hopefully a pretty young intern for the press launch. A budget to manage ( probably not enough to run to a new Mercedes Benz but with luck it may cover a new Fortuner). They will need communications, and mobile computing access, so I phones and I pads all round!

Some questions; Does the truck have enough mirrors or lights? Is the window tint "light" enough to be able to actually see the mirrors, of has the driver used a CD as the template to cut out a patch so he can actually use one of them. Where is the obligatory "Manchester United" transfer across the windscreen at eye level? The same for the curtain, strung across the front at chin level? Which of the Michelin Men is actually the driver?

The last to be shown three times in quick succession! Catchy title though isn't it!

Israel has a programme for "foreign soldiers" to serve in the IDF. These "lone soldiers" are foreigners who feel close ties to Israel (usually because they are Jews). The programme teaches them Hebrew, and provides sponsor families for them for leave. Otherwise they are paid and serve under the same terms as Israelis. Not really mercenaries, and I would be very surprised if they include any Thais.

Probably the one thing that there will never be a shortage of on the internet! Personally, I have been struck by the many videos of the young ladies of the IDF who keep popping up on my Facebook feed. It must take a great deal of effort to look so casually gorgeous in combat kit!

Might not be there for long, I hear Buriram wants it's village idiot back!

We could be in for a long wait with this present bunch...

I see the blessed Gary Linnaker has weighed in to the debate. Personally if I wanted the opinion of someone who had made his mark in life chasing a ball I would have asked my dog!

I wonder if he has taken to wearing flip flops to his press conferences?

Nothing like concentrating on the really important business! I wonder how long he will last in post, before the looneys pull the rug out from under him! New Year?

Cliff Richard did something similar with an old London bus years ago! I also vaguely remember a French "artistic" version featuring some young ladies who kept forgetting to put their clothes on! Gave a whole new and disturbing meaning to the phrase "running for the bus"!

I believe that there is a process for that. It involves a series of visits by officials from the "agricultural authorities"; we looked into it for growing on some land we owned, years ago. There were, invariably, some " lubrication requirements" to aid the process. It was to do with growing cucumbers for the Japanese market. The buying agent was introduced/accompanied by officials, who 'oversaw' the organic certification, which took about 6 months. Then they disappeared from the scene, the buyer offered 50% of the agreed price. Take it or leave it. A lot of small farmers in our village were scammed.

Put bluntly, the problems over the selection and supply of foods to school kitchens are caused by the corruption (kickbacks to suppliers and good old fashioned budget skimming) inherent in the system. Exactly as with the supply of teaching materials and text books. A classic example, albeit on a small scale. My daughter is In M6, graduates this semester. She is required to have two passport photos for her graduation book. Had to be arranged by the teacher, who collected B160 to pay for them. There is a collection of cash levied almost weekly for one thing or another. Cynical old bastard as I am I reckon the "skin" is wort what - B3k a month? Go into the "teacher's room" any Monday morning break - they are all counting cash!

That should knacker the soil after a couple of years! I wonder how much fertilizer he gets through. I have heard about crop rotation but that is spinning!

Perhaps an opportunity for some serious debate on the most pressing topics?

Since it has now been announced that alcohol sales will not be allowed after 2am that seems unlikely!

All of whom, coincidentally, wore tight green uniforms liberally covered in military bling! Look at the line up in the photo - talk about a goon squad!

So what is the point? Apart from redefining stupid. Imbeciles!

The biggest expense is, inevitably, supplies of the testing strips. They are of course available on Lazada, and no doubt Shopee, but as ever the "provenance" may be suspect. I use an accu-chek meter, and buy the strips from Boots. Pricey but probably the best bet that they have been properly stored! I believe that you can get bottles of a solution to use to calibrate your meter - but I have never tried to do so. In retrospect a spectacularly unhelpful post!

Yes, they are the down side of the otherwise good care available in Government Hospitals. I take a good book - which led to the recent tannoy announcement in the busy main hall : " John Anthony, (they always use my two Christian names, but not my surname), put the book away and come here!"

I like cricket, indeed used to play casually. England have certainly failed to live up to expectations, in what is a very specific form of the game. I shall not lose any sleep - I don't live near any Australians so am unlikely to be disturbed by their ululations as they re-establish their national identity! Incidentally, is it true that you have the side brim of your hats turned up to accommodate the chip on your shoulder?😄

Rich: synonymous with Farang, isn't it?