kandahar

Grits aren't for everyone. Typically, they are known as a food for sage, hard-working southern people, the kind that think long and hard before speaking and when they do speak, wisdom is exhaled. Grits are brainfood.

Corn. That is grits. It has the hard shell removed from each kernel, leaving only the nutritious white core to be consumed. The hard shell is without nutritional value and is normally passed through the body without being broken down or digested. Big work for the system and hard on your body parts.

Lots of people eat grits without knowing it. The white corn-meal that batters many fried foods in the world is grits that have been moistened and then applied to otherwise healthy foods, deep-fried in grease and served to the masses. Yum, yum, and six or twelve pants sizes later, a rethinking of eating habits. Maybe those corn-dogs and hush-puppies were good but they stayed with you. Not looking so good now, hanging over your belt buckle.

Grits. A small pat of butter, a dash of salt . Nature's perfect food. Put a fried egg in the center of them and you no longer need that piece of toast to sop up the yolk.

Old -fashioned grits, vs instant grits: The instant are fine and cook more quickly. The instant grits are also irresistible to ants and deadly to them as well. Add a few spoons of dried instant grits to an anthill. So soon, the ants are gone. The ants eat the grits, feed them to the other ants in the den and then explode when the super-dehydrated instant grits absorb moisture and expand. Effective, natural ant killer. Of course, if you ate your weight in dried, instant grits, the same thing would happen to you.

Try serving some grits at your house. Make new friends. Get rid of old enemies.

Vegemite. Never tried it. Probably won't. In my experience, everyone who eats it ends up speaking with a really strange accent. Not sure what the correlation is but I'm not curious enough to experiment. While it doesn't seem to adversely affect the intelligence of the subjects, it does seem to cause them to invent words and phrases that are otherwise unknown to the rest of the English speaking world.

Carsten is due to be transferred to the home in CM at 10:00 this morning. I just saw him at the hospital and wished him luck. They were packing his things, getting ready for the move.

He is very near the end. I have hopes that the home in CM will provide the IV and nutrition that is needed to get him back from the brink. I believe it is fully possible that he can be walking and enjoying life again if he gets the right care. I hope it isn't too late for such care.

So many things have happened, and have not happened, that I have not written about. Nothing to be gained by writing about it. I can only hope that all of those bad decisions and fighting will not be a part of Carsten's future. Suffice to say, that the hel_l of his predicament was enough in itself and yet others chose to add to that hel_l, mostly through lack of common sense. So much of what he has been through was unnecessary.

Brian has tried to shield Carsten from the worst of it, succeeding sometimes and sometimes not. It has been a difficult time for Brian, as well as for Carsten. Many times, Brian was the only thing standing between Carsten and the street. Brian never gave up that fight.

I have promised Carsten that I will visit him within a month. I wish the best for him.

For those in CM, please know that visits and caring do a lot of good for his well-being. Two friends will meet him at the home today upon his arrival. Hopefully, others will make an occasional visit to him throughout his time there. My thanks to all who do.

Brian can now get his life sorted and discover married life. It has been a long time coming. I wish him the best future and hope to stay in contact with him.

I had mentioned in the past that perhaps we TV folks could put together a getaway weekend for Brian and Su when the time came. Since then, one man has offered a 100 percent payed vacation for the two of them. I'll leave it at that and thanks to that contributor and those who initially offered to kick in some baht for that vacation.

kandahar

Carsten is due to be transferred to the home in CM at 10:00 this morning. I just saw him at the hospital and wished him luck. They were packing his things, getting ready for the move.

He is very near the end. I have hopes that the home in CM will provide the IV and nutrition that is needed to get him back from the brink. I believe it is fully possible that he can be walking and enjoying life again if he gets the right care. I hope it isn't too late for such care.

So many things have happened, and have not happened, that I have not written about. Nothing to be gained by writing about it. I can only hope that all of those bad decisions and fighting will not be a part of Carsten's future. Suffice to say, that the hel_l of his predicament was enough in itself and yet others chose to add to that hel_l, mostly through lack of common sense. So much of what he has been through was unnecessary.

Brian has tried to shield Carsten from the worst of it, succeeding sometimes and sometimes not. It has been a difficult time for Brian, as well as for Carsten. Many times, Brian was the only thing standing between Carsten and the street. Brian never gave up that fight.

I have promised Carsten that I will visit him within a month. I wish the best for him.

For those in CM, please know that visits and caring do a lot of good for his well-being. Two friends will meet him at the home today upon his arrival. Hopefully, others will make an occasional visit to him throughout his time there. My thanks to all who do.

Brian can now get his life sorted and discover married life. It has been a long time coming. I wish him the best future and hope to stay in contact with him.

I had mentioned in the past that perhaps we TV folks could put together a getaway weekend for Brian and Su when the time came. Since then, one man has offered a 100 percent payed vacation for the two of them. I'll leave it at that and thanks to that contributor.

kandahar

I can't get an answer from the nurses and the doc is never available. But they want Carsten out of the hospital.

I never have trouble with Mae Sai immigration. Everything pretty much goes as planned and is quickly finished. Probably doesn't hurt that I am so handsome.

But of course you are, kandahar- we never doubted it....

Hey. I've had a good haircut since this one was taken.

The latest news is that he will be transferred on Thursday to CM. I'm hesitant to report on anything until it happens. There have been too many sure things that have fallen through lately.

I saw Carsten today. Thin, thin, thin. Barely enough strength to speak and difficult to hear when he does speak. No IV, little nourishment.

I saw ImageDude yesterday. He looked great and sounded great. I enjoyed the visit with him immensely. He's doing fine.

I never have trouble with Mae Sai immigration. Everything pretty much goes as planned and is quickly finished. Probably doesn't hurt that I am so handsome.

DAAAAAAA

The OP DID say the place is a sponsor.

The sponsor's ad IS flashing on this page.

The ad DOES take to you to the menu, the prices, the map.

I, for one, am usually too busy following the updated entries in the "Stinky Water in Fish Tank" thread in the Farming forum.

That is interesting!

Are you going to grow Russian catfish or Big oei in your Ornamental Ponds?

So when are you planning to go out on the market with your products and where?

We eat a lot of fish so we might be good customers if the quality and the price is right!

Looking forward to that!

It is much more interesting than it seems. It turns out that the guy was trying to raise fish in his septic tank.

Now that that problem has been solved, I guess I'll have to find a new thread to follow for a while.

Don't bother purchasing the recent movie from the Coen brother's; "A Serious Man". Waste of time, waste of money.

The recent George Clooney movie, "Up in the Air", is okay.

chiangraicoffee

I have just started this blog. Im going to give little reviews:)

Hi TTL. Welcome to the forum.

Feel free to post your reviews here, as well as in your blog. Not much going on here and your contributions will be appreciated by some of us.

Don't get discouraged if your blog doesn't get too many hits. A lot of us just don't have the time to exit the forum to look at outside sites. I, for one, am usually too busy following the updated entries in the "Stinky Water in Fish Tank" thread in the Farming forum.

I think you will find that jubby turns out to be one of your blog's most passionate followers. He's a sucker for a good coffee blog. Please be a responsible blogger and keep the thing current. Too many people start blogs and then let them go idle, disappointing the passionate followers. jubby deserves better.

I suspect that VF will steal a peek at your blog fairly often as well. He is always looking for pointers on improving his blog. He is too proud to accept advice from jubby but he searches in earnest for improvements from other sources. His blog has some dedicated followers and I met both of them a few days ago.

Good luck. And don't ignore the small hole-in-the-wall places. Some of those places have no ambience whatsoever but they turn out some magical product.

Getting there.

Spent a late afternoon/early evening trudging trails with Soap. That in itself will cure some things.

You must fancy yourself some sort of rabbit or hare or something.

More like a chance to get to visit with a good dude and see some country.

But the next one is coming up in another week or so.

Be there. Or be square.

Getting there.

Spent a late afternoon/early evening trudging trails with Soap. That in itself will cure some things.

I knew a guy once. (This should be the name of a thread, too.)

He was married and had been for a long time.

He trusted his wife.

She trusted him.

One night, while both were asleep, she was dreaming and cried out loud, "Oh MY GOD!! It's my husband!"

Before the guy could think, he had grabbed his pants and dived out the window.

The trust was gone.

Sh*t No. Theres plenty of currencies crashing and burning against the Baht talk already elsewhere.

Keep hammering that Budget down Scea, its all we can do at the moment. The Baht seems immune . people keep telling me how strong the Thai Economy is. Working for a bank for 20 years, I know Sweet about Economics as it would seem so do they. Did you listen to the Music Kd ?

No, not a currency thread. A thread about bad news that you already knew.

No, I didn't listen to the music. I kind of got all John Denvered out about thirty years ago.

If I was going to spend any time on YouTube, it would be on stuff like this.

A great laugh beats old music any time.

My idiot mate just emailed me to tell me the Aussie dollar is crashing and burning against the baht.

Nothing worse than bad news you already know.

Uh, oh. Sounds like this has the potential for a new thread. No idea what to call it, though.

I could add some bad DWM copy to this thread but I'm going to refrain. Maybe things will get better and I can add to your good day thread soon.

Carsten has slipped back some. He's been down, depressed some. The hospital staff has said that he has to leave the hospital and that has taken a toll. The staff there have removed the IV,so he is getting no glucose. He isn't eating much either. He's weak. I delivered some food that will give him some energy tonight and he has requested the dark bread from the bakery tomorrow. He will get that.

I had thought that I was going to be able to report that he had moved to a new home with better care. Lots of conversations were taking place and things looked good for getting him moved. In the end, the offer that had been extended had to be retracted. No fault of anyone. Everyone involved wanted the best for Carsten. It just didn't work out.

Carsten told me tonight that he wants to go to the home in CM. That option has previously surfaced several times and has been dismissed several times. I think Carsten will pursue that option now.

ImageDude phoned today. He told me that he had ended up in the hospital again because of a virus but now he is home and going forward again. His original injuries are doing well. He sounded good on the phone. I will try to get out to see him soon. It did me good to hear his voice today.

Brian finally has just moved into his new home and is pretty busy with that at the moment. Things should slow down for him in a few days once he gets settled.

I don't have the answers but you can send him a pm.

Kandahar,

Thought I would drop a few pictures of the pig sty steel work in the post. Probably 6 months ago, newer stuff still in my old fashioned camera.

Preparing to lay the floor, trenchs for the footings and the whole slab was laid.

3 views of the near completed frame, front view with klong in the foreground, back end which shows the second floor a little better and a side view showing the proportions better.

The building as seen here is 12 metres wide and 27 metres long.

K, heaps of prefabricated truss elements.

IA

That's a lot of chopping, measuring and welding. Did you set up a jig for the trusses or do it the long way?

Impressive structure. I wish I could have been available to help you.

It seems to me that you are focused enough. Success comes your way, I'm sure.

That's another thing that keeps me from becoming a wood guy. I haven't the patience for the finish. It just isn't in me. But I'm glad that you do have it. I always tend to think of woodworkers as artists, more than craftsmen.

Wow. Beautiful furniture. Seems that you have a good living available to you if you pursue it and if you can find some help.

I'm no good with wood. Steel is forgiving of mistakes and offers a guy many second chances. I always admire someone who is good with wood. Keep up the nice work, fella.

Okay. The pics aren't displaying in the order that I am loading them. But you can follow along.

The fence is next. The plants are still growing, climbing, maturing. It looks better every month. The small fenced in border area next to the fence is used by the MIL for her some of her herbs, veggies and such.

The next is the bed. Pics taken before the final trim was installed, the headboard was decorated and the bedspreads were bought. Maybe quality beds will sell for you as well.

Last is another sofa type chair.

The first is the gardening chairs. The one with the umbrella was being re-worked at the time of the pic. It was the first I built and I didn't like it so I cut it apart some and re-did it.

The next is one of the wishing wells that flank her orchid display. She wanted me to hang some woven wire from a low tree so she could make an orchid display. I don't think much of hanging woven wire from a tree so I went a little further than what she asked for. The wishing wells are easy and may sell well for you. Small concrete fish tank, wrapped top and bottom with the flexible black water pipe that farmers use. The pipe has a thick piece of wire inside so you can pull it tight, twist the wire and the pipe doesn't move. Then shoot some screws through the Smartwood and into the plastic pipe. The roof thing can be done many ways. I actually made these two so you can turn the handle and wind the little buckets up and down. Kids love to fool with them.