kandahar

The two fellows have seen some progress in the last few days.

ImageDude just keeps moving forward. He has some bad moments and hours but he doesn't let that get him down. Physically and medically, he is improving. Mentally, he is sharp, strong and optimistic. It is always a joy for me to see him.

Carsten has improved. He's not well but he is better than before. Lots of drama caused by hospital staff bickering about what to do with him has caused him some grief, as well as causing lots of grief for Brian. In the course of just a few hours yesterday, Carsten went from being told that he was being thrown out without further treatment, to being directed to go ahead with further treatment and then to being thrown out immediately again. He was then told that he wouldn't be thrown out no matter what happened. Shortly after being told that, he was told, again, that he had to leave. The back and forth decisions only caused more stress for him. He had NOWHERE to go and he hasn't the strength to walk or stand. The devastation he suffered upon learning, the first, second and third time, that he would be evicted that day was preventable and uncalled for. He has been a very cooperative patient and has done nothing to bring any of this on himself.

The staff has, of course, put Brian in the middle of everything and left it to Brian to inform Carsten of the changes as they occurred. Brian is a strong man but by noon, he had had it and was on the phone with his embassy people once again, sans patience and kind language. This time, he talked to someone that offered help and, as of today, it looks like some help may be forthcoming but that isn't for certain yet. At this point, there is one embassy personnel having conversations with hospital administrators and Brian intends to disappear from the hot-seat for a while. Hopefully, the embassy staff can nail down a firm commitment from the hospital and the back and forth crap will stop.

Brian's wife has had her hands full with the fight to keep Carsten in a facility that can provide the care he needs. Each time the decision was made to evict him, Brian's wife went in search of any person of authority who could reverse that decision. She succeeded each time, until the last time, which is the point where Brian made the not-so-nice phone call to the embassy. At this moment, an uneasy truce holds as the embassy staff talks with the hospital staff and the foreign minister in Denmark.

Under threat of the eviction, Brian has pursued other options for a care facility for Carsten. By all accounts, there is no such place in CR. However, several TV members, including "Harry", has suggested a facility in CM. Brain has contacted that facility and, if all efforts fail at the CR hospital, efforts will be made to move Carsten to CM.

We will see what tomorrow brings.

This style looks very nice to me. I will be showing to my wife as we are looking for an alternative way to enclose our covered car parking area. This may be a good solution.

Can you provide a list of materials and prices?

I can and I will but it will have to wait for a bit. Got some other things going on at the moment.

I needed a fence/screen between my house and the neighbor's house. The usual concrete and block construction is over-used in my area and I wanted something a little different. At the same time, the wife was looking for a set-up to display some of her flowers and plants. We settled on a Smartwood and steel fence that did the job of screening the neighbor's house and accommodated quite a few of her flower pots. She rotates the plants and flowers as the seasons bring different flowers into bloom.

It took me about a ten days to build the fence, another three days to build the terraced step side-walk and two more days to build the handrails. The mother-in-law was short on garden space so we incorporated some of her garden plants into the border area along the side-walk.

Now the wife has some additional display area and we have a nice screen that really doesn't seem to be so much just another fence.

The fence is 12 meters long and approximately 1.5 meters high. The flower-pot holders were made separate from the fence and are attached to the posts with self-tapping screws. In the center of each pot-holder is a small spike, about 10 cm tall. The spike extends through the bottom drain hole of the flower-pots, preventing the flower-pots from being pushed off of the holder. We also added some hooks at the top of the fence to accommodate hanging pots.

Odd request considering the cost of Thai labor. There must be more to the story. Surely not asking for free farang labor.

Yeah. I've read this thing again and again. It doesn't make sense to me. "Odd request" fits. I know enough guys who work for 200 to 300 baht per day but I don't know anyone that would work all day for food and a bed. And if they are out there, they aren't reading this forum.

The wife and I had time to make two visits to the fellows today, one in the morning and one in the evening.

Carsten's quarters are improved and it is a good thing, as the bad news he is confronted with got a little worse yesterday afternoon. He is facing the future bravely enough. He has some bad times, but overall, he is ready for the fight.

Brian and his wife have had some success in finding a few others to help with the care that Carsten needs. Carsten needs a little more hands-on care than some of the other patients and the staff can't do it all. Brian and his wife, as tired as they are from their efforts and their travel, have continued their efforts to do what they can to provide comfort and care to their friend and they have some great successes. Carsten's situation would be so much more dire if he did not have their unflagging support. For a newly-wed couple, trying to start their life together, the toll has been great but neither of them is willing to walk away from a friend in need. I am amazed at the depth of their commitment and the depth of their generosity. Two truly magnificent people.

ImageDude has weathered his surgery well and is moving forward at a good pace, doing a little more every day. He went through his first physical therapy session and did fine. He will only get stronger as the days pass. He is a particularly strong man, inside, where it counts. I have known a few that have gone through what he is going through and some of them have taken a long time to come to terms with the facts and begin to face their future. Not ImageDude. He has faced it, accepted it, and is intent on putting this chapter behind him and getting on with life. He doesn't wait for the physical therapist. He does what he can in his bed and in his room. He is as active as he can be under the circumstances. That bodes well for a quick, full recovery. He isn't content to just "heal". He is intent on becoming as active as life will allow him to be. He will succeed.

Missed my visit yesterday. Was just too tired after working in the sun all day. Went to bed early.

Saw both guys early this morning. ImageDude got through his surgery okay. He's looking good but a little tired. He will bounce back pretty quick, I think. His mind is right for this thing and that is half of the battle.

Carsten looked good this morning. He is a little sad because he has been moved back into the big "bay" type room and he gets to watch several of his room-mates die each day. But he is scheduled to go into a small private or semi private room as soon as one becomes available. That will help his outlook, a lot.

Carsten also received the results of the biopsy for the left lung yesterday. Bad news. The docs are studying the treatment options for that. We'll see which way they go. Any way they choose is challenging for the patient.

I'll try to get in for a visit again this evening.

Hi!

Thanks again,Kandahar,you are so right-evry one who need help should get help,even they have another opinion then you.

I must edmit that when I read his reply,I was a litle angry-becourse...I know what you and your wife are doing,for those two guys,,,and I know,what Suphaphon(my woman) and I, are doing/but as you say,eny one has there right, to have a opinion of there own.

I just can stop thinking...what a great man you are...realy,Kandahar..you are,for sure,and I am greatfull,to meet you.

I know that you are not in need/but anyway,you step up,for those who are in need/you dont laid back and think/that is non of my consirn-you dont think-I am ok-fuc_k the rest-you are so helpfull,kind and full of respect, for other people and their lifes.

Thanks,for being,my freind.!

About,cmjantje-dont thing to much about it-I dont-thats the real wold...different opinions,and thats ok. for me-I am just greatfull,that I dont are in need, and must relay on his help.

Have a nice day,every one-and take care.

Brian

A different opinion surfaces yet again.

I am NOT a great man, Brian. Great men/women devote themselves to their fellow man. I don't. I'm selfish enough to pursue the things I want in life, for myself. I do incorporate a little bit of helping into my daily routine but that is not the whole of who I am. My character is full of flaws, as are the characters of most people. You can't judge me by these few acts evident in this thread. I'm just another dude, my friend. And often, when I try to help, I find that my actions, while well-intentioned, caused an outcome that made things worse, not better.

Brian, all of us contribute, in different ways throughout the year, to making the world a better place. That is what we are expected to do if we don't want to see the world become a cesspool. We aren't great when we do that. We are just meeting the minimum positive requirements needed to qualify for the definition of "Humanity". The more that people do this, the less any one person will appear "great" for meeting those minimum standards. Lots of people do what you and I do.

We are in good company.

Hello NADTATIDA1

I hope all is well with you.

No apology from that man is needed by me. He believes what he believes, so even if one was offered, it wouldn't be sincere. So, no need to bother on my account. But yeah, after being proven wrong about his hateful "BS" comment concerning Brian, a better man would certainly own up to his mistake.

Here's a thing. What people post is often pretty telling about their character. On the forum, you can be anybody, but sooner or later, your personality will come through. So, now we know.

There is good news in his post. There really is. It would seem that he has never been in the position of needing help or friendship. He's a lucky man, apparently surrounded by friends and never in need. Wouldn't the world be better if many more had never needed, nor ever would, the help or friendship of others? To be in need isn't a good place to be.

There is also bad news in his post. He is critical of the thread of a fellow that initially asked for help and he is critical of how that thread has turned out thus far. Well, to discover the bad news, check out the threads that cmjantje has started himself. He has asked for help from forum members again and again. And he got helpful replies. He didn't get off his duff and go get his answers. He sat at the keyboard and expected others to take the time to type out the answers for him. So, while maybe he has never needed "real" help that involved another human actually leaving the house to provide that help, he is familiar with the "I need help" concept. It looks like he just can't apply that concept to anyone other than himself. I would think, the next time he posts a request for info, the proper answer might be that LOTS of people in the world need info and it just won't do to spend any time helping cmjantje. I suspect his threads with his requests for info are not REAL life and we should all be focusing on threads that are real life. I mean seriously, do any of us think that TWO threads (seriously, he started TWO!!!!) asking where to find shoes are REAL life? It sounds suspiciously artificial to me. Not anything like a life and death thread, which this one happens to be.

Edit:

Okay. Here's the edit. You'll notice that there is an edit in almost every post I make. Maybe I fancy myself an editor, huh? I don't. I also don't fancy myself a typist. I'm not. Therefore, lots of edits. But this one isn't that.

This one is: If cmjantje posts and needs help, he should get help. Everyone should. Different views and different opinions should be allowed in discourse. They are healthy, usually. And even when those opinions seem so far out there to me, they are still the truth to those that hold them. And those people are part of my world. I can't turn my back on them. I hope the rest of you can't, either.

I saw Carsten tonight. He's making slight improvements. Progress is progress.

Sorry I cannot resist to reply.

Ok, two guys are helped and taken care of. God knows How Many Westerns are in hospitals. Nobody looks at and after them simply because no one is talking about them and... nobody Knows!!

Within a few weeks this thread will die and all will be the same like before. Threads like this make me nervous simply because they are not real.

It is not the real world. In the real world people take care of themselves because it is never sure if somebody else will in time of real need.

In the real world you still will have people who missed the boat, are very poor and have absolutely no possibility to come out of that situation, most of the time because they are neglected by us.

Countless people in hospitals and jails. Countless in a poor environment because they somehow made a mistake.

If you want to make this forum in a forum of the circumstances of the few people YOU know who are in that situation... be my guest. If not... just help the ones you know... also your neighbor!

Well, this certainly is another view on the matter. There are lots of views, I'm sure.

I think this thread is one of many in the CR Forum and the CR forum is one of many forums and sub-forums in the HUGE ThaiVisa forum. So, to say that this forum is being made into a forum about the circumstances of a few is pretty much a miscalculation on your part. I am pretty sure that it is a BIG miscalculation on your part. I cannot imagine what kind of math would lead to this conclusion. But as I have said before, I left school way before the normal exit time so maybe I missed out on some of the "new math". As I see it, this is just one of a bazillion threads in a very large forum. ( I DO know that "bazillion" isn't a real number, even in the "new math".) So, maybe there are some other threads that people can read, instead of this one that seems to irritate them.

I think there are probably a lot of Farang in the local hospitals. Most of them are not in the CR government hospital, so, right off the bat, they are in better places. Have you been to CR government hospital? Have you seen the beds that line the hallways both indoors and outdoors because they don't have room for all of those people? I think anyone in that hospital needs a little more consideration than those other people enjoying air-conditioning and private care and private rooms in some of the other hospitals.

I KNOW there are lots of Thais in all of those hospitals. I also know that MOST of them have family taking care of them, showing concern, helping out and boosting morale. So, while I will not try to minimize their importance, I will say that they enjoy some support every day that at least one of the Farangs do not benefit from. And, when and if those Thais get released from the hospital, their homes are most likely pretty close by. It shouldn't be too much of a struggle for them to get home. One Farang in the hospital is just trying to live long enough, and to recover enough, to make the return trip to his homeland. So, from one Farang to another, that is worth noting and it is worth keeping tabs on.

Yes, in the real world, there are lots of people who need help. And I sure don't know about all of them. And for some of them, nobody knows about them. You are right on that. But I have met many people in need of help all of my life and I'm sure I will again. And, I help in the ways that I can. Sometimes, a small thing can correct a bad thing. Sometimes, a huge thing can't even begin to correct a bad thing. I'm not the kind of guy that sees some bad and decides to just sit on his hands because he knows there is lots of bad out there and all of it can't be addressed by me. I'm kind of glad that the world is populated with some people who think like me. I'm also glad that the world isn't entirely populated by people who think like you think.

In my world, you are entitled to your opinion and I don't begrudge your opinion. In my world, I am entitled to opinions, too. And I have quite a few. But, I'm entitled to action, as well. For most of my life, I have done the right thing. I'll continue with my actions, regardless of the opinions of others. Come visit my neighbors, fellow. Come see if I help. Come walk in my life, with me, for one week. Come to the hospital with me and see how many people we stop and say "hi" to, hold their hand, give them some fresh fruit, share a smile with them. You'll find that just because I write about two, you can't say that those are the only two that I help. I'm pretty sure that this is the case with many of the forum people.

You are right about another thing. This thread will die. The events will pass that make it not an interesting story. I'll be glad when it does. ImageDude will be on his way to learning to live with a new disability and hopefully, Carsten will be home. And I'll meet more people that need a hand. I probably won't write about them because they weren't brought to our attention on this forum. But I will do what I can do.

I just received a PM asking about visiting hours for these two guys.

As near as I can tell, there aren't any set hours. Carsten was in the main ICU for a few days and had set hours. Now he is in a less intensive section and that place is full of visitors no matter what time of day I go. No one asks you questions. Just walk in and visit. I don't know the room number. But ask a few good questions and you'll find him.

Again, I doubt ImageDude will be up to having company tomorrow (Wednesday). He is going through a pretty big procedure tomorrow. I don't know of any restrictions on his visiting hours. He gets company throughout the day.

I had a visit with each of the fellows tonight.

Carsten was doing a little better than before. Small improvements are welcome. He smiled a lot and talked a little more than usual and his voice was a bit stronger than before. He is still hitting the snacks that folks bring in, so maybe he will start gaining strength and weight soon. He will be moved from the ICU ward before much longer and he isn't too excited about going back into the 20 or 30 man bays. I feel bad for him on that subject.

He is from Denmark but he has a very good command of the English language, without too strong of an accent. He is very easy to understand and he is easy to communicate with. He appreciates all visitors. Visitors seem to do more for improving his health than the usual doctor/nurse stuff. Stop in and give him a smile and a shot of caring.

Brain's wife is taking care of the bathing and the haircuts and such for Carsten. A lot of work for her. So, if you happen to see her when you visit, give her a smile and a kind word as well. She's a kind, caring lady.

ImageDude was looking strong tonight. He was fairly talkative and he found occasion to smile too. He gets a lot of visitors and that is helping to pull him along, I think.

The docs will do the closing up of his amputation tomorrow (Wednesday). He probably won't be up for any visitors on that day. I'll give him a break tomorrow.

He will need blood for the surgery and they are seeking donors for that. So, for any of you that have ever shared a pint with him, tomorrow morning is a good time to do it again but for real this time. For any that have NEVER shared a pint with him, now is a time to share one that counts a little more than the usual.

Even if you get there too late for the surgery, they will gladly use your donation to replace what they took out of their dwindling supply to get him through it. You're still donating to him, in effect. The types needed, as explained to me, are the "A groups and the "O groups". However, whatever type you are, they can use it for someone and it sounds like he gets credit for that. My understanding is that they can do a little "horse trading" to make sure he gets what he needs.

So, ask at the info desk for the Farang that has recently lost a leg. His name is Glen. Someone there can help you find his room. Near his room is the main nursing station for that area. Tell the ladies at that nursing station that you are there to donate blood on behalf of Glen. They will give you a piece of paper that references that you are donating for Glen and they will steer you to the room where they draw blood. It is a very quick thing and you'll be out of there before you know it.

Folks, ImageDude appreciates all of the visits and all of the support. He hasn't asked for any of it but lots of you have risen to the occasion anyway. He has been touched by your efforts. This time, he IS asking, for any of you that can make it. See you there.

sticklee, tell us about your house. Single level, or multiple? Crawl space underneath or a pad poured on soil? Large attic or small? Lots of windows or few and if few, are they huge or normal? Ten foot ceilings or less than that? What is the composition of your roof?

Thanks everyone for input. My house is a small one storey 2 bedroom. Poured concrete slab, 10' celings. Well treed with large trees on south and west side so I have lots of shade. Standard windows, 2 per side of house with sliding entry at front. Roof is terra cotta tile type. Large porch (overhang) at front entry and single car carport at front. Front of house faces south. Currently have 1-9,000 BTU AC in room at ne corner. The interior heats up fairly quickly and cools down slowly. All fairly typical given the current temperatures. I was hoping to slow down the heating up with insulation and with better air circulation through the attic, clear out the hot air more efficiently after sundown....Does that seem sound thinking?

I'll throw my two baht out there. You don't have any dead air under the house so that idea is out. Too bad on that.

The next thing I see, based on your description, is the ceilings. I had the same problems that you speak of. However, the attic WAS vented, passive, on both ends of the house. The kitchen was the hottest room, even though we didn't cook. The refrigerator was causing that room to get warmer than the rest of the house. That motor, compressor and the cycle do produce a lot of heat outside of the refrigerator. So, I cut a large rectangular hole in the ceiling, built an nice frame with screen and made some decorative louvers to hide the screen. Instant success when I cut the hole. I was standing on a ladder, sweating bad and the instant I removed the large piece that I had cut out, the breeze began to cool me down. The hot air rising caused a great draft and that continued until the hot season was over. So, you can use convection to overcome a lot of your problem.

The ends of the attic do need to be vented. The hot air needs to be able to get out and rise. That is a cheap project.

Once the kitchen problem was solved, I noticed that the rest of the house really wasn't much cooler. I also noticed that with the 10 foot ceilings, the hot air at the tops of the rooms could not get out of the rooms because the tops of the walls were solid all of the way down to the tops of the room doors. So, any heat trapped up there, stayed trapped. So, same thing. I vented each room into the attic and went through the same discovery each time. That hot air just needs a place to go. Up and out. I didn't want to vent each room. It would have been better to cut a vent at the tops of the walls so they could vent from room to room and then into the kitchen. But the interior walls were six inch concrete. It was just easier to vent them all into the attic.

So, try removing one ceiling panel in a hot room in your house and see how much draft you get. That alone may get the temps down enough to make you happy.

This all very nice, but will NOT work in combination with air conditioning; those nice vents would be like leaving all doors and windows open. So if you can go without aircon in 40 degree heat: great. If not, then insulation is better than venting.

And you are very right about that. I had AC in the bedroom only, in the situation that I described and I did not vent that room. If the OP is providing AC to the entire house, then it won't work for him.

Now that I see that he is renting or leasing, I'm not sure if any of the advice given is going to help him. I didn't catch that before. He needs to buy more window unit air-conditioners. When he moves, he can take those with him. If he pays to insulate the place, the insulation will stay behind.

I don't know if you have seen the next item below yours, interesting comments re 'ETHIAD' , IT MIGHT help your cause, good luck.

I also like 'Ethiad', but having read what I have, it will definitely make me think twice before booking again with them.

May I suggest that you inform them that a general discussion is now taking place on many 'forums' regarding their statement to you of 'deliberate overbooking'. Blxxdy scandalous in my opinion and should be outlawed, or severely censured by VERY hefty fines.

You don't fly much, do you? Every airline really does do that and it is perfectly legal. That's why every country has rules about what the compensation must be when someone is "denied boarding" because of overbooking.

What's interesting to see is that the rules in Thailand about minimum compensation are so lenient.

Flying much doesn't have much to do with it. I spent a lot of time flying and that has never happened to me. But, I have seen the aggravation that others have gone through. I think it depends on what airlines you use, where you are headed, how the economy is doing and the time of year that you fly. Lots of people never run in to that problem. Lots do. Some airlines don't overbook and if they do, they go for 30 percent. As the letter says in the OP, THAT particular route has lots of cancellations so they do what they do to compensate.

I missed ImageDude tonight. I arrived at his room at 8:12 and the lights were out. I'll go earlier tomorrow. I committed to a project this afternoon and it took longer than I wanted it to take. That put me behind schedule for my evening plan.

Carsten was doing well. They removed the tube from his ribcage and have taken him off the pain reliever injections, substituting pain pills now. The fellow was pretty darned perky tonight. He's on his way out of there, I believe.

The guy has lost 30 kilos in the last three or four months. He's a tall man but he didn't have 30 kilos to give up. He sure needs to gain some of it back. He is ravenous most times when I see him. He just can't get enough to eat. We loaded him up with some snacks. We'll do it again tomorrow.

Ask, and ye shall receive.

Where you bin? You wander off and my posts get deleted by other mods!

I noticed Kandahar got deleted, too. Must be a conspiracy.

Oh yes! Yes, indeed I did get deleted. As I inferred before, the whole thing went off pretty violently, as far as deletions go. That was my first. It won't be my last, I'm sure.

But, in contributing to the pollution in CR thread, my intent here this morning has obviously been to "clear the air".

Ask, and ye shall receive.

Where you bin? You wander off and my posts get deleted by other mods!

McG, don't sweat his deleted posts, don't feel sorry for him and don't feel guilty. He had it coming. I've been watching and waiting for him to try to make his case here.

Here's what happened.

He was getting off topic and I gently pointed that out to him. I think what I actually said was something along the lines of "You're incompetent".

He came back with a diatribe about how he hits the toilet just as regularly as the next guy, no more, no less, blah, blah, blah. Then he claimed that I was "persona non grata" here, which is not true. While I'm not sure of the EXACT definition of what he called me, I know that it is a reference to a person being a Mr. Potato Head but in the potato au gratin form instead of the usual. He was implying that, because of the au gratin thing, I had a particularly well-cooked head. Naturally, he messed up the spelling of au gratin when he posted. Non grata....HA! EVERYONE knows it is au gratin! Now you're starting to see where my original "incompetent" remark came from.

Anyway, from there it degenerated into name calling. I called him Joe. He called me Alex. I called him Fred. He called me Bill. And then, two other posters jumped in and call him Wayne. At that point, the mods were all over us and deleted the whole mess.

So, now you know. He doesn't need your help or your sympathy. He needs to be watched.

sticklee, tell us about your house. Single level, or multiple? Crawl space underneath or a pad poured on soil? Large attic or small? Lots of windows or few and if few, are they huge or normal? Ten foot ceilings or less than that? What is the composition of your roof?

Thanks everyone for input. My house is a small one storey 2 bedroom. Poured concrete slab, 10' celings. Well treed with large trees on south and west side so I have lots of shade. Standard windows, 2 per side of house with sliding entry at front. Roof is terra cotta tile type. Large porch (overhang) at front entry and single car carport at front. Front of house faces south. Currently have 1-9,000 BTU AC in room at ne corner. The interior heats up fairly quickly and cools down slowly. All fairly typical given the current temperatures. I was hoping to slow down the heating up with insulation and with better air circulation through the attic, clear out the hot air more efficiently after sundown....Does that seem sound thinking?

I'll throw my two baht out there. You don't have any dead air under the house so that idea is out. Too bad on that.

The next thing I see, based on your description, is the ceilings. I had the same problems that you speak of. However, the attic WAS vented, passive, on both ends of the house. The kitchen was the hottest room, even though we didn't cook. The refrigerator was causing that room to get warmer than the rest of the house. That motor, compressor and the cycle do produce a lot of heat outside of the refrigerator. So, I cut a large rectangular hole in the ceiling, built an nice frame with screen and made some decorative louvers to hide the screen. Instant success when I cut the hole. I was standing on a ladder, sweating bad and the instant I removed the large piece that I had cut out, the breeze began to cool me down. The hot air rising caused a great draft and that continued until the hot season was over. So, you can use convection to overcome a lot of your problem.

The ends of the attic do need to be vented. The hot air needs to be able to get out and rise. That is a cheap project.

Once the kitchen problem was solved, I noticed that the rest of the house really wasn't much cooler. I also noticed that with the 10 foot ceilings, the hot air at the tops of the rooms could not get out of the rooms because the tops of the walls were solid all of the way down to the tops of the room doors. So, any heat trapped up there, stayed trapped. So, same thing. I vented each room into the attic and went through the same discovery each time. That hot air just needs a place to go. Up and out. I didn't want to vent each room. It would have been better to cut a vent at the tops of the walls so they could vent from room to room and then into the kitchen. But the interior walls were six inch concrete. It was just easier to vent them all into the attic.

So, try removing one ceiling panel in a hot room in your house and see how much draft you get. That alone may get the temps down enough to make you happy.

I know who could have the work done for free if the backhoe owner could keep the dirt but we need it for our own use.

What I actually need is a guesstimate of the number of hours to dig a 50 x 20 x 6 m pond, as a base for negotiation, to decide if we're going to pay by hour of by job. Anybody has any idea ?

That I don't know. But good luck with the project.

I stopped and aggravated both of the fellows this evening.

Good news on both fronts.

UK dude, from here on out known as ImageDude, was looking great. He said he is feeling better today and he looked it. There was some extra twinkle in his eyes tonight.

Demark dude was especially improved from the last two days. He received the improved mattress at 7:00 p.m. last night and that alone has proved to be of great help to him. I was shocked to hear that he waited until four in the morning to eat his cheeseburger but he said it was GREAT and he was grinning so big when he said he it, that I know he enjoyed it. So, Nice Kitchen not only puts together a good burger but one that is still great after 16 hours.

He requested painkiller and the nurse that I spoke with obliged immediately. He had waited six hours to ask for it, so he's trying to keep the possible addiction at bay. Good man.

ImageDude is aware of that same problem and he is meeting it head on. He gets through most of his bad times without it and doesn't whimper. I can't imagine what they must go through and always, I hope I can be the kind of men that they are if I ever endure a plight such as either of those two have faced.

I see that Brian isn't posting too much on this but he and his wife are spending plenty of time looking after Denmark dude. What friends Denmark dude has in those two and what a better world it is when it has people like them in it.

I think neither of the men in hospital could know this but I get so much out of seeing them. I feel pretty selfish when I am filled with joy at the sight of their smiles and when I witness the vigor they display in their endeavor. I really do get a lot out of visiting them but that isn't why I go.

Sorry Mr K, VF was thanking me for a comment I made elsewhere, it could have annoyed some people if they had seen it here and taken it out of context.

That's my story anyway, red hot pliers will not extract another word out of me.

Tough as nails, you are. And your single malt days are behind you, so that's out. I guess this thread, no matter the original promise that I saw in it, is hopeless.

I'm off to the hospital. I can always count on a story there.

I don't have any newbie stories. My memory doesn't extend that far. I can say that Jubby was right on with the weather forecast, however.

There was just enough wind and rain to bring two of my three pollution markers back into clear view and eliminate the dust on the trail. So Cookie and I eluded the rest of the pack and did our 7k to the dam this morning. We hadn't been up there since the last time the rain gave us a break from our oppressive heat and unrelenting pollution.

Definitely a good day for a hike.

(and thanks for the comment scea )

No problem, I lacked the intestinal fortitude to post it here.

No rain in this neck of the woods, not a drop... must have been pretty localised. I think jubby said they got some as well.

Well, somehow, we got back on the topic of the weather in this one. But I ain't gonna fink on any of you for committing this foul. I'm not a fink.

Now, I'm not sure I understand this post of sceadugenga. But if he is saying what I think he saying, then I have a solution. You can always tell your story as if it happened to ANOTHER guy that is way less smart than you. We'll never know if you don't tell us it is you.

Edit: And VF, you can always tell a newbie story from another newbie. Just because you don't remember( selectively) yours, doesn't mean you don't know some good ones.

If you make it to town tomorrow and consider having coffee with me, I can tell you now that I am covered up all day. Too many appointments in the little book. But enjoy the trip and the day, guy.

sticklee, tell us about your house. Single level, or multiple? Crawl space underneath or a pad poured on soil? Large attic or small? Lots of windows or few and if few, are they huge or normal? Ten foot ceilings or less than that? What is the composition of your roof?

does anyone know if the CAT CDMA system is a truly mobile solution that can be used while traveling throughout the country, kinda like a cell phone?

and, im way behind the times when it comes to new technologies....am I limited to the USB modem thingy provided by CAT or are there better, more powerful options out there that can be used?

Dude, I can't make it any clearer than this. If your cell phone works, the Internet will work. Stationary, driving, by bus, by boat, by train, by airplane, by water buffalo. Except in BKK. If you can talk on your cell phone, you can use the Internet. If the cell phone doesn't have a signal, then neither will your Internet dongle. Short of buying your own satellite receiver and dish, this is it.

It is certainly faster to use the dump truck. I can't imagine dumping the dirt 200 meters from the pond without the truck. That would take a LONG time.

I don't know where you are but you can probably sell the dirt. If you need it, then you need it. But if you don't NEED it, someone will probably provide the trucks to haul it off with. There is so much building going on in my area that fill-dirt is very popular. Better to have a line of trucks hauling the dirt out than waiting for one truck to keep making the rounds to the dump site on your property. So, check around with the dirt haulers and see if they will buy it. They may well provide the machine and the operator to dig the pond too, in exchange for the dirt. Worth asking about. The top-soil has a separate market. Folks are looking for that as well so, in your talks, make sure that you mention both, fill-dirt and top-soil.