bamboozled

Thanks Bill. They might close the place in a hurry if they see me coming!

That sounds promising.....a kiosk in Home Pro? Or do you mean right outside of Home Pro?

Thank u!

Thank you for your reply. Yes I have read that. I think any oil based product works. The problem is there is so much of the tar and it doesn't just wipe off clean in one wipe. Rather, it starts to break down and then leaves a film of brown on the paint. You then have to keep changing rags and wiping again and again and more product until it is clean. Some of this stuff is so caked on and thick....I could chisel it off. If I didn't care about the paint underneath.

Last night I had the great luck to suddenly find myself driving on a road that had just been doused in tar/oil/god knows what in prep for a new surface, I guess. Incredibly, the road had not been closed and in fact there was not even an indication of road work. I only realized what was going on when I came around a bend and ran up upon the workers and the tar truck. Ugh. The car now is a filthy mess, black streaks all over as well as a black "mist" of tar. The wheel wells are full of the stuff. Can anyone recommend a shop to have the car cleaned? It comes off with turpentine and the like but the amount of work involved is great and will take hours and hours. I'm a DIY guy but thinking about this job is depressing me. Perhaps there is a shop that specializes in this type of cleaning and has a better system than myself, a bottle of turps, and a kitchen roll. Anyone?

Thank you.

Khun Chaiyo can also give the eye exam?

Thank you.

One problem driving at night is the tinted windows in cars. I have a very light tint on mine, put on by the previous owner, but it def makes my vision worse at night. I have rented cars that have darker tints and it is REALLY very hard to see well. No, scratch that, you CAN'T see well, you can't even see ok. It's a <deleted> shoot driving at night with the tinted windows. You can mostly make out the edges of the road and that's about it. I would rather not have any tint but....man, the daytime sun is a killer without it. So, I guess, one really shouldn't drive at night, neither car nor bike. And so very many of the motorbikes I see have no rear lights.

Unless he's stuck at a work station of sorts, cordless is the only way to go, in my opinion. I just bought a Dewalt from Home Pro. It wasn't cheap though. I think it was close to 6k and came with two batteries, carrying case, and an accessory case of bits and screw heads, etc... Certainly there are cheaper units. But a drill is the kind of tool with so many applications around the house and yard and car that not having to plug it in makes it so easy and pleasurable to use. You or your brother-in-law will just be looking for excuses to pull it out.

probably my ex-wife

We searched online for the filter. I have not been able to find it for the Sharp model. Well, maybe it will last the life of the vacuum. It seemed to be getting a bit gnarly to me and some of the pieces between the cells are starting to fail/fall out/fall apart. Nobody likes my DIY idea? I suppose I could even buy one for a different model, or two of them, and fit it somehow for my model. Well, I'll post back if I have any forward progress.

My wife called Sharp and they gave her a number to call in Bkk, nothing in Chiang Mai. The Bkk number said we have to buy the whole plastic receptacle that holds the debris and includes the filter and snaps onto the machine. The cost is 1100 baht. They do not sell the filter separately. Well, I will not be buying another Sharp, you can be sure. What a load of <deleted>. It's really quite hard to understand how they think this is a good marketing scheme. Maybe I should read between the lines: is this because the hepa filters don't really where out and I can just keep washing it for years?

I'm wondering if I can buy some generic Hepa filter material and make my own. Does 3M not sell such hepa filter material? I'm going to check out the 3M shop in Chiang Mai. And maybe Amorn, too.

Truth: the bagless vacuum gets filled up mighty quick. So quickly that I often let it get fuller than I want but I am always under the impression it couldn't possibly be full yet. But alas, you look at it the wrong way and it's full. Doesn't take much.

The vacuum worked quite well for a bit but then seemed to bog down yet again. Granted, I was cleaning a crazy dirty, filthy area under the stairs so was asking a lot of it. I'm washing the filter again but sooner or later it's going to break down. I find it surprising that filters are hard to come by. Why don't all these places that sell the vacuums stock a supply of them? Seems a no-brainer.

Oldie, 3 months???? Yikes

NanLeaw....online sourced? So Amorn doesn't have them, I take it?

Hmm thanks for taking the time, Lopburi. I'll look into that. ...Maybe the razor, too!

I thought the wife was cleaning the filter. I guess she was cleaning the foam that abuts it but I didn't realize you could water-clean the Hepa. ...Not sure where my head was at. I would buy a new air filter for my old car why I didn't think about it for the vacuum is plain stupid. Have to pick up the unit for cleaning the beams and ceiling corners, yes, and stairs, shelving, counters, so many occasions. Do you know this Sharp unit of which I speak? The other major thing that bothers me is the tube sticks onto the hose end only through friction. That is, you have to push and twist them together and they simply "stick" together. They of course loosen up often but it is also quite tedious to put the two parts together and take them apart when you need to do different types of cleaning. I know, sounds a petty complaint but on the contrary, it impedes the work flow and is of poor, cheap design in my opinion. But I can't even change an air filter so maybe I best shut it. I had a Dustbuster type thing years ago. I was unimpressed. And it died fairly quickly. Might just have been a bad unit. But it's true that batteries in this climate are not all that happy.

Alcohol aggravates the situation exponentially. Or perhaps alcohol is the main problem. I'm sure we all have experience in this arena, either first-hand when drinking it ourselves as a "cure" or via a friend/family member. I've found drinking soda water, ice, and lime can be a decent replacement when you get the urge.

I find The Power of Now is a wonderful book to help with negativity and to get you out of yourself; to get a larger perspective on everything. Your mileage may vary but I have used it over the years to great success. I find I can open it to any page and just start reading and it resonates...and makes me feel better immediately if I have been feeling down or anxious. It's quite popular and well known and Thailand stocks it in the bookstores. It's quite Buddhist in its approach but is not about Buddhism. I also have it on my computer as a .pdf file if you want to pm me for it. I think having the book in hand is far nicer as computers/internet is ultimately a depressant as well, in my experience. Author is Eckhart Tolle.

And yes, I find exercise is very important.

CHeers!

Well, with the cleaned filter it seems a new machine. Man, what a dummy I am to not clean the filter. Call that asleep at the wheel. I'd still like to buy a new one if they sell them at Amorn. I guess can probably go online, too, but I'd rather just go out and grab one. The one I have is pretty clean now but probably a little compromised. The Sharp still has the design flaws but I'm used to them now. I wouldn't buy it again, however.

Ha!  I had read your post, I think it was in the link that Lopburi posted? That's great to know that Amorn has replacement parts. Do they stock the Hepa filters, too? I'm about to try my old one with the cleaned filter. I have my fingers crossed but if it doesn't suck (in the good way) I will check out that HItachi, sure. Thanks for the reply.

Thanks for the info. I certainly don't want to pay that much for a Dyson vacuum. Yes they look good. Yesterday, I gave a thorough washing to the Hepa filter which was quite gunked up. Perhaps the vacuum is still fine and it is just my negligence in not maintaining it. It is still drying so have not given it the test run. If it's still sub-par, off to HOme Pro I go.

One caveat, I live in an old style Thai house. It's basically all windows with just screens in them, no glass. So, with the horrible air quality here in Chiang Mai, it gets very dusty and dirty quickly and easily. Not a surprise the filter was so caked up. I should know better....

Many thanks, guys! Yes, the Sharp is a bag-less model, 2000w VC LS20 or something. And while I recall I was happy with the suction of it in the beginning, there are some serious design faults that I realized soon after I bought it. For example, there is no easy way to pick it up while vacuuming, for cleaning up-high areas. There are other issues, too, but I won't get into it. I don't recall the price exactly but sure, maybe better to shut up, chuck it, and pay up!

I'll have a look at that thread and try your google method, too.

Thank you again.

The search function is pulling up Thai airways bankruptcy news so I'm asking anew. My current Sharp vacuum is not really sucking so well any longer. It's not all that old but I don't think they enjoy vacuuming in 40 degrees, for starters. Anyhow, has anyone had good luck recently with a vacuum purchase? I'm not going to go the Dyson route, that's way over my head price-wise. I saw a Phillips Cyclone which "looks" cool and I would hope/would imagine it is a good machine because the price tag is 13k. Not really keen on spending that much either. Is it a necessity, spending so much, for a decent vacuum? I guess I would be comfortable up to 6k but more than that seems, I don't know, a lot of bottles of beer or fish sauce. Any advice? Thanks all!

Oh, I live in a mid-size house that is all open windows so very dirty, up here in Chiang Mai with all the soot in the air. I don't have carpets but a lot of things that collect dust on all sorts of surfaces, not just floors.

Thank you!

Oh man it was pure heaven, pure pure heaven. The rain at the beginning on Saturday smelled like smoke. It's another world out there finally finally finally. I could go on but we all know how dearly the rain was missed. Not only for the smoke and the drought, and for the dust and the dirt that has accumulated on everything both inside and outside the house but also for the heat which has been relentless. I could get religious here but, nah. Thanks clouds!

Who gets tested? How is it determined who gets the test? People that have some sort of symptom and go to a hospital or doctor about it?

My entry expires April 15 so....I will gladly wait until Monday. I just don't want to be missing something and then have to scramble. Or too many people when I go and I get bumped to the next day. I read on here that Chiang Mai Immi is quite packed so I would be happy to not be a part of that.

I've been continuing to ride up here in Chiang Mai. Mornings would be good but I'm not a morning guy and also the air pollution is at its worst. So I go in the afternoon and wear a mask. FYI: the N95 type mask is tough to breathe through when your really get going. If you leave your mouth wide open, almost like your yawning, you can get a lot more air. Nobody sees how weird you look because you're hidden behind the mask. Even better, I bought one of the rubber/canister masks for working with chemicals from Home Pro. It has two canister filters and might look weird but the air flow is awesome, way better than the N95 type mask. I'm about to go out right now for a ride and you can believe I'll wear the canister type mask! Only cost about 150 baht. Worth it.