My Blog

[jamescollister]

Just encase anyone is really really bored, as I am at the moment. I started a blog. http://jamescollister.blogspot.com/

[thaimite]

I was bored enough to click the link, but when my substandard eyesight was unable to easily read the white writing on that background, so I was not bored enough to strain myself to try to read anything.

Just a comment.FYI

[afarang]

I can read it and have book marked it . Could be very useful for "Newbies " wondering about the ups and downs of life, living in the "Scrub"Not quite the " Back of Bourke",but you can't get much further from Bkk..

[jamescollister]

I was bored enough to click the link, but when my substandard eyesight was unable to easily read the white writing on that background, so I was not bored enough to strain myself to try to read anything.

Just a comment.FYI

Don't know it comes out black writing on a white background on my laptop, maybe I have done something wrong. FA how about you black on white or white on black. Jim

[afarang]

White print on sort of darkish backgrounds

[jamescollister]

White print on sort of darkish backgrounds

Not a real computer man myself, will see what I can do to change it to easy reading. My eyes are shot too can't see small print. Jim

[jamescollister]

changed a few settings, but don/t know if it changed anything. Think my computer is set to just do B&W as the internet is so slow too much color and I would never down load a page. Jim

[brimacthai]

Hi James,

Interesting story, I'm not bored and I enjoyed the read, thanks for sharing.

[thaimite]

changed a few settings, but don/t know if it changed anything. Think my computer is set to just do B&W as the internet is so slow too much color and I would never down load a page. Jim

It now looks much better to my eyes, thanks

AND an interesting read as well.

I hope you let us know when the sequel is ready.

[jamescollister]

changed a few settings, but don/t know if it changed anything. Think my computer is set to just do B&W as the internet is so slow too much color and I would never down load a page. Jim

It now looks much better to my eyes, thanks

AND an interesting read as well.

I hope you let us know when the sequel is ready.

Thaimite I am sure it will be a continuing saga, every time I am house bound due to rain another page will go on and I have 8 or so years to get through before we get up to date. Jim

[thaimite]

changed a few settings, but don/t know if it changed anything. Think my computer is set to just do B&W as the internet is so slow too much color and I would never down load a page. Jim

It now looks much better to my eyes, thanks

AND an interesting read as well.

I hope you let us know when the sequel is ready.

Thaimite I am sure it will be a continuing saga, every time I am house bound due to rain another page will go on and I have 8 or so years to get through before we get up to date. Jim

Great.

8 years of sick buffaloes and village intrigue is just what I need while in Exile here in Jordan.

I will just have to make sure my wife tells me every time it rains in Ubon so as I know to check back

Edited June 22, 2011 by thaimite

[mike123ca]

I enjoyed reading your story.

After reading the part of the two convicts wanting to kill each other,

I think I would have looked the other way. If one prisoner killed the other,

No big loss, one less scumbag walking around.

mike

[barrybankruad]

Enjoyed your blog. Couple of queries though. What sort of a visa will you be getting, you are not old enough for a retirement visa so I suppose it will have to be a non immigrant 'O' necessitating the border run every 3 months and then a renewal out of the country. Do you live far from a border post?

You state that you will be farming 15 rai of rubber. I presume that you know it takes at least 7 years before you can start tapping? I think that you may struggle with only 15 rai. Remember you are at the mercy of the elements, the world rubber price, and don't forget that for several moths of the year in the dry season you cannot tap.

Nevertheless I wish you the beast of luck. Thailand, especially rural Issan is a great place to live.

[afarang]

Enjoyed your blog. Couple of queries though. What sort of a visa will you be getting, you are not old enough for a retirement visa so I suppose it will have to be a non immigrant 'O' necessitating the border run every 3 months and then a renewal out of the country. Do you live far from a border post?

You state that you will be farming 15 rai of rubber. I presume that you know it takes at least 7 years before you can start tapping? I think that you may struggle with only 15 rai. Remember you are at the mercy of the elements, the world rubber price, and don't forget that for several moths of the year in the dry season you cannot tap.

Nevertheless I wish you the beast of luck. Thailand, especially rural Issan is a great place to live.

Hey mate, James is the most qualified to give (as he has done and continues to do) advice about ALL aspects of rubber. He is Thai Visas Resident Expert. And is consulted by the madding hordes, regularly. On a daily basis.Check him out on any topic to do with rubber in The Farming Forum

Edited June 23, 2011 by afarang

[jamescollister]

Enjoyed your blog. Couple of queries though. What sort of a visa will you be getting, you are not old enough for a retirement visa so I suppose it will have to be a non immigrant 'O' necessitating the border run every 3 months and then a renewal out of the country. Do you live far from a border post?

You state that you will be farming 15 rai of rubber. I presume that you know it takes at least 7 years before you can start tapping? I think that you may struggle with only 15 rai. Remember you are at the mercy of the elements, the world rubber price, and don't forget that for several moths of the year in the dry season you cannot tap.

Nevertheless I wish you the beast of luck. Thailand, especially rural Issan is a great place to live.

HI Barry, may be not that clear in the blog, literary license, but the story starts a long ways back. Today I still live in the village with the wife and 2 kids. We live on the money earned from rubber. Jim

[onionluke]

Hi Jim ,

I found your first pages an interesting read and I look forward to your next post .

Luke

[villagefarang]

This might not be the best place to drum up readership for your blog. Forum readers typically have a very short attention span.

As you develop more content, not many readers will be going back to the beginning to see how it all started. With the way blogs are setup, that means you will need to draw then in with each post and have an ‘about this blog page’ that gives more of the background story.

I like the original content, as I’m not a big fan of repackaging other people’s news. You do need to do a little more proofreading and much could be done to personalize your page.

Getting a “.com” is cheap and a blog title that better reflects your interest and expertise in rubber farming might not be a bad idea. A content driven blog in an area where you have expertise could draw a following and produce more comments and a sense of community with your readers.

There are numerous websites and blogs that discuss how to gain readership so I’m not going to try and do that here. In short, though, get on some lists and get a stat counter so you know who is visiting and what they are reading.

Most bloggers give up too early, unable to maintain motivation, find a voice or a focus to their writing and differentiate themselves from the pack. Good luck with your blog, it can be a good friend when you live far from the crowded city.

I realize you did not directly solicit a blog critique but as a fellow blogger I thought I might offer a few ideas anyway. Again, Good Luck.

[jamescollister]

This might not be the best place to drum up readership for your blog. Forum readers typically have a very short attention span.

As you develop more content, not many readers will be going back to the beginning to see how it all started. With the way blogs are setup, that means you will need to draw then in with each post and have an ‘about this blog page’ that gives more of the background story.

I like the original content, as I’m not a big fan of repackaging other people’s news. You do need to do a little more proofreading and much could be done to personalize your page.

Getting a “.com” is cheap and a blog title that better reflects your interest and expertise in rubber farming might not be a bad idea. A content driven blog in an area where you have expertise could draw a following and produce more comments and a sense of community with your readers.

There are numerous websites and blogs that discuss how to gain readership so I’m not going to try and do that here. In short, though, get on some lists and get a stat counter so you know who is visiting and what they are reading.

Most bloggers give up too early, unable to maintain motivation, find a voice or a focus to their writing and differentiate themselves from the pack. Good luck with your blog, it can be a good friend when you live far from the crowded city.

I realize you did not directly solicit a blog critique but as a fellow blogger I thought I might offer a few ideas anyway. Again, Good Luck.

Think you may miss understand the reason I put the blog on. Don't really care if anyone ever reads it, it's just something to do when I'm bored, which can be often when you live in the middle of no where. Don't think I will ever be a serious blogger just a bit of fun. Jim

[jamescollister]

Hi Jim ,

I found your first pages an interesting read and I look forward to your next post .

Luke

Thanks Luke and sorry I missed you last week. Went to Det for the shopping and a dentist appointment, but the Dentist was runnibg 2 hours late. Catch you next time. Jim

[villagefarang]

Think you may miss understand the reason I put the blog on. Don't really care if anyone ever reads it, it's just something to do when I'm bored, which can be often when you live in the middle of no where. Don't think I will ever be a serious blogger just a bit of fun. Jim

Perhaps you can understand my apparent misunderstanding. If you “don’t really care if anyone ever reads it”, then why advertise it here or anywhere? Up to you, I was just trying to be supportive of a fellow blogger.

[jamescollister]

Think you may miss understand the reason I put the blog on. Don't really care if anyone ever reads it, it's just something to do when I'm bored, which can be often when you live in the middle of no where. Don't think I will ever be a serious blogger just a bit of fun. Jim

Perhaps you can understand my apparent misunderstanding. If you “don’t really care if anyone ever reads it”, then why advertise it here or anywhere? Up to you, I was just trying to be supportive of a fellow blogger.

Thanks for the advise, would have taken you awhile to write, as for why I put it on here, been posting on this and the farming forum for may years just thought that some of the members would like a read. Jim

[klikster]

Would help readers if you increased the font size & had a bit more white space, i.e., shorter paragraphs and double spaces (line breaks) between them.

Edited June 24, 2011 by klikster

[jamescollister]

Would help readers if you increased the font size & had a bit more white space, i.e., shorter paragraphs and double spaces (line breaks) between them.

Klikster, when I get on another good computer and can see what everyone else sees I will have a play around on how the page is set up. As I said earlier this lap top is set up in a way that all I see in the net is black writing on a white back ground. Have no idea how it really looks and I have to say I am about as computer literate as my dog. Jim

[onionluke]

Hi Jim ,

I found your first pages an interesting read and I look forward to your next post .

Luke

Thanks Luke and sorry I missed you last week. Went to Det for the shopping and a dentist appointment, but the Dentist was runnibg 2 hours late. Catch you next time. Jim

Nae bother Jim ,

If your up again next week give me a holler or I might take a spin in my new banger down your way . I have a book that will interest you , following the steps of the late 18th century French explorers trying to navigate a route to the source of the Mekong . At one point they get a bit lost and end up in your bit of the woods .

Happy writing .

Luke

[villagefarang]

Don't know if you can see pictures but here is a screenshot. Hope it helps.

[jamescollister]

VF thanks for that, looks different than the screen I get. Inter net here is a bit hit and miss, use a dongle on a lead which sits atop of a big water bottle and still lucky if I can get a signal for more than a few minutes at a time. One day when I go to town will try to fix it up a bit. Don't suppose you live in Ubon. Jim

Luke come any time bring the Misses and the dog if you want, but don't forget the beer. PM me if you are coming and I will meet you on the 2248, then guide you into the hinterlands. Don't come at night, your misses will have a fit if you bring her into bandit country in the dark. Jim PS stay the night, sure we can find you a bed to pass out in.

[villagefarang]

VF thanks for that, looks different than the screen I get. Don't suppose you live in Ubon. Jim

About four years ago we moved up to Chiang Rai, after I had lived for 30+ years in Bangkok. Started my blog when we started building the house. We are roughly 50k from town and live in what we call, a house in a field in a valley with a view.

[onionluke]

VF thanks for that, looks different than the screen I get. Inter net here is a bit hit and miss, use a dongle on a lead which sits atop of a big water bottle and still lucky if I can get a signal for more than a few minutes at a time. One day when I go to town will try to fix it up a bit. Don't suppose you live in Ubon. Jim

Luke come any time bring the Misses and the dog if you want, but don't forget the beer. PM me if you are coming and I will meet you on the 2248, then guide you into the hinterlands. Don't come at night, your misses will have a fit if you bring her into bandit country in the dark. Jim PS stay the night, sure we can find you a bed to pass out in.

Jim and all ,

sorry it was mid 19th century .

Jim al gie ye a bell for a swift visit and bring some books for your perusal , maybe tuesday if ok ... cos am away friday , work like .

Luke

[toffo9]

Love reading the blog James... Im in buriram myself and building a house and buying rice fields is coming for me in 1 years time.. Best wishes David

[jamescollister]

Love reading the blog James... Im in buriram myself and building a house and buying rice fields is coming for me in 1 years time.. Best wishes David

Thanks for that dave, all the best with the rice. Jim