well, first, i quit my job at the vet, i couldnt take the two plus hours of busses and hitching in our area-- too dangerous and no fun in winter either...

back working on kibbutz: sous chef in dairy kitchen of hotel: i work three days evenings, and three days day... and kibbutz is payiing for my medical secratary studies twice weekly in mornings (figured i should get a real, solid profession w/certificate so i will be employable. life experience and wisdom counts for nothing is this country...

anon left his tel aviv restaraunt but they wont give his last month's salary, and became they turn out to be brutey israeli male slimey types so we are out his salary (which we obvously were counting on...)... and anon doesnt understand the culture here, and that there are ways of quitting that mean that essentially u wont get your last month's salary unless u do the quitting appropriately (like giving notice and working and not being sulky) .. so hes all grumpy about thinking that people here are using him (in this case i think they are more or less in the right, unfortunately... but thailand worker: jai ron ron!!!!...)

he got new job, close to home (yay!), so now have to start paying kibbutz his side of 'rental' fee: and he's making less money...

decided to go for camping three day vacation over jewish new years: low expense, just car mileage, food from home, and some camping fees: he left his fishing rods at home and only remembered after we were two hours into the desert road heading north...

however, the night before our trip, our little foofoo (the nasty lhasa) get ripped to pieces by two dogs running loose on the kibbutz, one dog not having an owner, the other, no one could id as to which white dog it was,therefore, no one to give vet bill to... and poor foofoo really got beat up, fortunately, it was still during vet hours, so was treated, we left him home with two of my kids who didnt want or couldnt come on the camping trip... he was a sick little doggy but he got good intensive care by my two teenagers , hand fed and watered, and we did hourly phone calls... as the vets felt it was ok to leave him if someone was keeping an eye and giving his antibiotics and pain killers... lots of holes, but missed, barely, his intestines and lungs... lots of muscle damage and psychological damage...

alls well that ends well, then we get a phone call from mom in thailand: money lenders showed up at their shack, they lent a chanote of land and house to a distant relative two years ago,they had forgotten about ti.. for money to go to work in america..yeah, really trust those manpower companies...

the company was a fraud but then so was the guy... he told them he was paying off the debt month by month to the money lender. but NO. this being a bunch of bannork elderly, they believed the guy, but he never paid. so now they called us: yes we are bailing them out: the wife of the asshol_e is working pattaya (leave it to imagination but she is doing the next closest thing to the ancient profession ) to earn the dough, while idiot husband is sitting at home drinking the white wonder... so no help there. AND he apparently used a chanote from other people (relatives too) so owes everyone everything...anon's folks now do not speak to this guy but are very non aggressive about things.

anon has made it clear that the chanote are going to be ems'd to us to keep physically here so they will never ever be sent off to any money lending deals again... if mom and pop et al need money for medical, physical or mineral, they will have to send docuamentation, and we will send funds... because this sum they needed is basically what we had free in our account for our own planned budget spending ... now anon decided to work second shift if he can, to restore funding. its really annoying cause we have been saving and waiting for a female pup for foofoo (we dont spend money on furntiure travel restaraunts etc, and my kids come first, but we had decided to give ourselves a birthday present of a new puppy, the same price as two nights in a decent hotel here that most people would go to for anniversery or something, but for us a real dent in the funding. but a planned dent. so there goes our plan.) not the end of the world but super annoying. and to the adopt an animal people, yes i know i should adopt but my one foible is pure bred dogs and not many lhasas , actaully none, for adotption, and thats what i want... one person buys gabani or prada an other buys lhasa... )

what a way to start off the new year...... grrrrrrrrr....... and foofoo's vet bill fortunaely i guess was frm the money t hat i had put aside in case it rained and we were out camping and needed a bungalow for the nite... fortunately, it didnt rain since we didnt have the shekels...

jsut general griping, cause other then that, it will be nice going to study even if its mostly with nitwit girls that get free studies after being released from the army, there are some adult 'back to the workforce' women there also... and anon's visa thingy comes up after the whole holiday ordeal here, (two more weeks) we have to go and start the whole procedure again, but his hebrew is still terrible, so cant see them giving him a residence visa, probably a foreign worker visa again, which means his employer still pays for insurance which doesn insure for too many things... oh well... still wondering if i will have to pull out plan B --korat here i come--

there, now u all have something to read other then your horoscopes with your coffee, or high tea, depending on where your are...

and im off to whip up an other mushroom quiche..yechh.. much prefer thai food...

bina and anon

israel

What a series of unfortunate events! (no pun intended) I do hope things ease up for you, like Anon getting his residence visa. I will of course be thrilled if you come back to Korat, but realize that's not your first choice.

Is it usual for people to have misconceptions about how welcoming Israel is to immigrants? My silly daughter thinks that she would have no problem should she and her husband and children ever decide to go there. (not bloody likely!) I know better; she's a convert but not an Orthodox convert, so she wouldn't even be considered Jewish.

Well the only thing good about your message was the part about the mushroom quiche.

I think I'd be tearing my hair out!

May sound silly, but it seems to me that bad luck, unfortunate events, whatever you want to call them, comes in cycles. I think you have just had your big dose bina, and hopefully has now passed.

Sounds like you really needed that camping trip!

Good luck with everything and remind yourself that difficult times dont last forever.

I wish that were true, eek, but I've been having a series of unfortunate (and just plain awful) events for several years now.

I've come to the conclusion that life happens whether you are ready for it or not, so best to do as bina did, and try to view it with some humor. Otherwise, I'd be bald

Sorry too for the bad luck you've been getting Bina, I've had a pretty shitty year too & think you have to just take it all in your stride & hope for sunnier days ahead otherwise, like sbk says, you'd go bald, or mad, or psycho

u guys just made me snort and laugh outloud, causing foofoo to growl like a brave little dog from under my computer chair...

i think also that basically things just happen, regardless although it does appear that some people really have just bad bad times forever, and each bad thing tends to make the next bad thing: maybe its like making wrong decisions, or maybe lack of thought, or planning (i never really plan, just sort of flow thru and bump along), but when i read about some really horrible things like some woman here, one son died in car accident, next one got blown up by terrorists (both equally high in odds that it will actually happen), and one commit suicide, you have to wonder... what did she or they ever do, and what does she do from here on...

some bad luck is self made: the going in to debt, becomeing homeless, getting ill, no med care, bla bla bla... but IT COULD BE ME OR YOU!!! scary huh....

hopefully it wont be me or you .)

cathhy yes it is getting more difficult nowadays even for converted jews or those that claim jewish ancestry, to immigrate the fast way let alone get married.... racist country i've got here, but never mind that...

it reminds me that on kibbutz, when all the women gossip and envy so and so how she has a wonderful husband and new furniture and they just went to kenya for vacation etc etc... and then when u speak to her, she complains and u find out that she has a horrible mother in law and one of her kids is always sick, and a million other problems and u realize that we all have more or less the same (or worse) problems... its just fun to complain...

its just small little thingys to grumble about... nothing major, its like sitting on the eggs u just took from the chickens and put on the chair, then u sit down to enjoy your coffee and watch the chickens. and SPLAT!!!!!!!! u've sat on all the eggs........

i've heard that egg is good to shampoo in to hair...........

)

bina

israel

i've heard that egg is good to shampoo in to hair...........

Yep, egg white supposed to be good conditioner but only rinse out with cold water, egg white omlette is apparently quite hard to get out of hair

Bina - all the best, hope things look up for you at some point

in the meantime - wish you continued strength to tackle them

(seems like a series of not the most positive of luck has plagued the ladies forum in typical thai style...maybe we need to bring in the monks to bless the ladies sub-forum? you know like when they inaugurate a new car, new house or new office? maybe we hadnt inaugurated the new(ish) ladies forum )

i think this is when the guys would say something like ....Ill get my coat (how come the ladies never get our coats/hats? )

PS. Ive had some myself....and now need to start worrying about finding new work again as my contract will end soon. sighhhhh

has everyone been having a bad year? add me to the list of people who have had a not-so-good one after a string of brilliant years... and the news of the world economy means it might only get worse

the good thing is, what goes down must come back up, i hope!

Not been the greatest year for me either, but more along the lines of strange circumstances and not so great health, but could always be worse. I guess i prefer to try be optimistic.

Definitely agree that we need to have a sense of humor about these things.

Loved the egg story!

at least most of OUR stories dont involve too many sick buffalo et al.....

the good thing is, what goes down must come back up, i hope!

thats what most men say, no?????

bina )

israel

maybe someone should get us some of those bracelet things that u get at 'tamboon' ceremonies. definately need to do some tamboon ritual for us, virtually maybe... maybe its cause we arent wearing our colours on the correct days...

somebody could virtually inscribe some of those scribbles that they do on the doors and cars and stuff... good idea.

.. i can send u all those red threads against the evil eye, blessed by various and sundry scraggly rabbies or little old ladies that promise fertility, wealth, health and husbands...there are dozens hanging around the wailing wall in jerusalem, and as situations here get worse, more little old ladies are selling these red threads... we can all exchange threads........

Edited October 8, 200817 yr by bina

Well, let's hope next year will be better for all of us. Roll on 2009!!!

PS lovely picture Bina

at least most of OUR stories dont involve too many sick buffalo et al.....

the good thing is, what goes down must come back up, i hope!

thats what most men say, no?????

bina )

israel

maybe someone should get us some of those bracelet things that u get at 'tamboon' ceremonies. definately need to do some tamboon ritual for us, virtually maybe... maybe its cause we arent wearing our colours on the correct days...

somebody could virtually inscribe some of those scribbles that they do on the doors and cars and stuff... good idea.

.. i can send u all those red threads against the evil eye, blessed by various and sundry scraggly rabbies or little old ladies that promise fertility, wealth, health and husbands...there are dozens hanging around the wailing wall in jerusalem, and as situations here get worse, more little old ladies are selling these red threads... we can all exchange threads........

hahaha

Send me some Bina, but I think I might need to hand them out as I am the one giving out the evil eye lately (construction next door is sending me round the bend)

Hi bina,

Sorry to hear about your plight.

This too shall pass.

Consider yourself you are more fortunate than some. Some poor soul have to face life obstacle alone, no one stands by them. You have the love of your life 'anon' and the childrean for you to have a shoulder to lean on.

Be strong and focus .

Tink

ps, lovely picture with the Mediteranean sea in the background.

Hey bina,

sorry to hear about all that. Must be awful. I hope all turns out well for you and that the nasty passes soon.

It seems like 2008 has been a ridiculous year for just about everyone I know.

Last year, I shot a photo of the Bull in the Hong Kong exchange square with a banner saying "Expect the Unexpected" over it. Now I think was a warning.

I don't know about everyone else, but I'm quite ready for 2009 to come and bring better things with it.

hey all,

thanx for all words of support ; i must have been hormonal when i wrote all that.. life always improves after the hormones settle down (taking my own advice of course)...

BTW, its the sea of galilee in the background (no mountains in background of med sea in this country); the kinneret as we call it... its the northern most point of the lake (which, sadly, is receeding by meters each year, extended drought, overuse of water)and the mountains are actually the border (the golan /lebanon/syria) ... on the map,u can look for hof dugit (the name of the beach area there), to see exactly where we are standing... over our left shoulder a bit is tiberias (tiberia) and or several villages north along the western side of the lake... we are on the east side...

this lake also has palm trees and banana plantations all along both sides wth balmy semi tropical type weather, but twenty minutes away is the highest mountain we have, which gets enough snow to sort of skin on in the winter...

anon finally got to fish 'like in thailand' i.e. fresh water fishing...

am presently gathering all our paperwork and photos and salary slips (for all those crybaby farang males that complain that thailand has all sorts of strange requirements that seem 'unreasonable', like salaries, and proof of house address etc) and proof of living (on kibbutz, letter from our equivalent of a puu yai baan), and proof of paying landline telephone (to prove we actually live where we say we do? never understood that one), and letters (handwritten this time round they said!!) from friends claiming to know us as a couple, cant be emailed this year:( ... the usual hoops and rings for a visa...apropos some thread about 'separating families' in the visa forum....

and foofoo has gotten over his bites, his hair is growing back (well, fur actually);

expect the unexpected.. yeah well, in what language? maybe we should make that a poster....

bina

israel

expect the unexpected.. yeah well, in what language? maybe we should make that a poster....

Its in English. I actually have the shot in digital format only I don't know how to post an image on the forum. If someone could tell me how, I'd post it.

Glad to hear everything is more or less managed. Visa requirements always trigger off conspiracy theories of separating families or couples in my head. Haven't the least idea why.