Daren

Desperate for a chips and salsa fix, I decided to try my chances with the locally made Butcher's Choice Spicy Salsa Sauce, and apart from the silly and repetitive name, it was great!

I was extremely skeptical at first because TiT after all, so when I got home I poured only a small amount into and a bowl. I dug a Danita's corn chip in, shoved it into my mouth, half-expecting a violent urge to spit out again to follow, but much to my taste bud's pleasure, it was good! Really good!!! I wouldn't go so far as to grace this stuff with adjectives such as 'authentic' or 'awesome', but it was far, far beyond what I expected and I managed to devour half the bottle before slowing my ravenous pace.

The price was what sold me - 74B for 450grams at Foodland - a steal compared to the imported stuff(!!!), but I'm so pleased with this "find"! Butcher's Choice seem to offer two other varieties - Garlic and Standard - as well as other canned goods (why do we call still them 'canned' when they're in a jar?) for decent prices. Their dill pickles almost won my attention today, but I'm very glad I chose the salsa. I will give the pickles a go another day, but they are made with completely mature cuces, big seeds and all, so my hopes are quite low indeed for those as well.

Any one else care to comment on Butcher's Choice brand products?

A drunken idiot from Nakhon Si Thammarat? Isn't that a bit repetitive? Isn't that a bit repetitive?

Hey Lazy, I read your blog and joined your Facebook group - looks very interesting! I love the idea of "anti-restaurant"! Very cool!

I look forward to my first invitation!

Thanks for replying!

Do you have a link, zygosis? I have searched facebook and google for Le Meridien Bangkok but nada. Also, what are the others on FB?

Cheers!

Me too! I've checked the Wine Loft and Bangkok Wine Society but they haven't updated their sites for some time now. Let's hope something comes soon!

Does any one know of any upcoming wine tasting events? I went to one a few years ago in BKK and it was much better than I expected with wineries from S. Africa, Australia, Europe Thailand and the US supplying some very nice wines.

Any good news for me?

Well, I've gotten to the bottom of the issue - the VAT was written on the bottom before the total, but it was included in the rent after all. I didn't subtotal the rent and util's and just assumed it was being tacked on, as that's how it appears on the invoice. However, it is included in the cost of rent, so it's not a huge, I guess. Seems weird that I would be charged VAT at all though as I don't see renting an apartment as service!

Any way, thanks for all your input, folks!

Can anyone save me a search and tell me what fuel economy the Jazz gets realistically?

I saw the post about the Nissan March and I just simply don't like the way it looks.

Haha... that might actually look cool, katabeachbum.

And I really think I agree with ausiiebebe, the ultra-compacts are just too small. A Jazz still looks like the best option out there to me!

If you could have your choice, which compact car would you opt for in the city? Would it be the "City" or are you a Toyota person? I like the look of the Jazz a lot, but it's not as small as some of the the other urban options out there. Also, the Cooper Minis look fantastic, but 2+mil for a 20k USD car? You'd have to be mad! Also, I've heard they have reliability issues. Stock Vios and Yaris look so bloody boring, but they can look quite sharp if pour enough money into them, and Toyota's always (used to be?) a safe bet. I personally never really trusted Mazdas to last, but the M3 sure does look good!

I've got a 4-door Vigo which I loved when I lived down South, and I still like the thing a ton but parking and traffic would be so much more pleasant if it were about 5 feet shorter.

What about you - what would you choose, balancing looks, cost and city drivability?

That's not prohibitively expensive?

On the street or in a pub, I can just disregard that person as an idiot and go on my merry way. But in the classroom? You have got me to be kidding me! People who use pidgin English in an educational setting need to stop! It's so detrimental and it makes me angry when I hear "teachers" using it!

Thanks for the post, Cobra. The fan seems to have just up and died a silent death - so it maybe be an electrical malfunction if some sort, but I guess I won't know until I pop the sucker open, eh?

I checked eBay but the three auctions with the correct fan only shipped to USA, UK, Aus and CA... I guess I could send them an email though.

Thanks again!

Hah! I hear ya, iwad2010! I really do.

Drain Bamage?

I have experienced it - I use my LCD to watch videos form my computer all the time! It's pretty good, too. When I built my machine, I made sure to get a video card with outputs - quite common these days - so I didn't have to use a switch or anything messy like that.

Veazer makes a very good point, even with the very capable ATi catalyst software, I never got my pixel timings perfect. There was always some wasted space or missing pixels on the display. Not a big deal when you're watching a video, but very annoying if you're doing other stuff.

Lastly, I would never ever use my 37" LCD TV to read anything... ewww.

Good luck!

Hehe... of course there is tons of info about this on the internet already, but I'll share a few ideas with you. Note that I am speaking generally about the comparison between TV's and computer monitors. Today there is an amazing range of products in both markets, but I have found these things to generally hold true.

First, TV's are meant to display moving pictures and be viewed from across the room, they aren't intended to function as you main display for text - thus they are not generally as sharp as a monitor. A monitor is a much more versatile piece of equipment, they're designed to display a very wide range of types of video to a viewer who sits much closer to the screen. This obviously necessitates clarity and sharpness.

Second, a TV has other hardware built-in that allows it perform functions other than simply displaying a video feed. Obviously one of those things is to be able to function as a tuner, receiving multiple signals and sorting them into channels. They also usually have a lot of input options in many different shapes and sizes, whereas a monitor will have 1 or 2, or rarely 3. Any half-decent TV will have stereo speakers built in, and might even have a video-out function. Monitors only rarely have these things.

If I were you, I would consider the primary function of the thing I was buying: do you need a pc monitor most of the time and a TV sometimes? Or are you mostly interested in watching TV and will do very little reading? If you want to read or write, do you eyes a service and get a monitor - PC TV cards are cheap and readily available in Thailand.

Trust the goog! The goog is your friend!

I find that I'm losing my English! And, sadly, it's the primary language I use to communicate every day. As the days tick by, I feel like I lose (or loose) interesting and eloquent vocabulary at a surprising rate. It's a real challenge to save mental real estate and I have to make a concerted effort to use big words lest I lo(o)se them. Why am I suffering a dumbening (like the quickening, but bad!)? Well, I chalk it up to not being able to use a vast number of words for the sake of being understood.

Arrrr.... the dumbening! There can be only one million.... really stupid farang in Thailand.

Who ever designed the flash ad for the Thailand Classifieds which can be seen on the Nation site (and here?) needs to be dragged out behind the shed and shot in their sadistic head. That has got to be one of the most distracting and annoying animated ads I have ever seen. It's soo much worse than scrolling, blinking marque text!! The constant pulsating motion makes me want to shove daggers into my eyes and pour salt in the open wounds followed by vinegar and baking soda... followed by more daggers.

Please, please, please change it... stop the pulsing, or at least make it pulse once every minute or so... or anything else as long as it's not designed to make me vomit on my keyboard!

/rant

Thank you for reading this.

I've never been to Fortune, always go to Pantip, are they pretty much the same?

Good to know! I will be sure to pay my taxes before applying for a work permit.

This is a big weight off my shoulders, thanks!

Hmm... I could do that myself! Will give that a look... good tip, REDRAM!

Negreanu, thanks for that. Dunno why I didn't think to do it myself. I've checked for the part online, and it seems that the going rate is around $35USD plus international shipping @ $30USD.

That's 2,000B total for the part, seems a bit steep. Is there no where to buy parts in Thailand?

That was a very helpful post, Steve. Thanks!

My MacBook circa 2006 (or was it 2007?) has lost it's fan and now over heats in a matter of minutes. I got a laptop fan stand and that certainly helps, but if I run more than 2 apps at the same time, it suffers those horrible heat-related shutdowns. So where is the best (or cheapest) place to get it fixed? I live on New Petchburi Rd near Thonglor so Pantip is one option but the big Mac Repair place in there wants 1,000B just to look at the thing, plus parts and labor... Seems like a rip off.

Are there any Apple repair shops that offer fair prices for decent service?

Thanks folks!

Sorry, I can't be too much help here but I thought I would share the little I know:

I know a guy who cures his own bacon in the south and he gets his nitrites shipped over from the US. He said he wasn't able to source it in Thailand, so good luck! Also, I've heard that the molasses readily available in Thailand is typically not suitable for human consumption due to it's sulfur content. It is typically used as a fertilizer.

This is just what I've heard, and not first-hand experience but I thought it might be helpful non-the-less.