Daily Day Diary For Issan

[macb]

Well I just been in the Bamboo Bar and had fish and chips and it was buy two get one free large San-Miguel so I had to drink two then someone rang the bell so I had to drink another waaaaaaaaaa

What a lovely afternoon

[macb]

Tomorrow we start harvest of our 13 Rai, this morning I was going to go and cut an entrance for the Combine but have been told the Brother in law will do it in the morning, I was looking forward to some excercise swinging me dutch how about, but they worry about me I suppose. Bless um

[Gary A]

It was a sad somber day out here in the boonies. Two or three times a week I go up to a Thai friend's small coffee shop on the mountain for a few beers. I always got a happy greeting from an old Thai ridgeback dog named Betsy. Old Betsy was kind of crotchety and it took a while for to decide whether on not she liked you. Betsy and I made friends and she always greeted me when I went up. I don't think she could see very well any more and I think she recognised me from the sound of my Nissan pickup truck.

Today when I went up old Betsy didn't greet me. She died this morning. She was just an old beat up dog but it's strange how bad I felt that she was gone. The old girl was fiesty right until the end and didn't take any shit from any other dogs. She did have a long life and was 13 years old. At least she didn't suffer.

[macb]

I know where your coming from Gary:

I had dogs all my life and 19yrs in a professional capacity working them, my working dogs were like part of me . My Shepherds saved me many times from being attacked etc etc, and when you lose a working partner like this it is heart wrenching, In my 19yrs I never knew a Police Dog Handler not shed a tear when he lost his partner, and all the other handlers supported him in his loss.

[macb]

Well what a day proper farmer boy today: First did the ole weather report thne read all the verbal from that guy called Martin bless him.

THen down the farm made two new rice rakes well in the UK we would use them for moving snow,then loaded 15 sacks rice onto a pick then knackered time for shower. Relax then this evening back down the farm move another 15+ sacks ready for drying tomorrow phew another shower then bottle of nice cold chang followed by a steak and Mushroom pie guess where I bought that ??

Heres some pics from the other day on the farm:

THis my the tractor I bought brother-in-law

[oceanrover]

Well what a day proper farmer boy today: First did the ole weather report thne read all the verbal from that guy called Martin bless him.

THen down the farm made two new rice rakes well in the UK we would use them for moving snow,then loaded 15 sacks rice onto a pick then knackered time for shower. Relax then this evening back down the farm move another 15+ sacks ready for drying tomorrow phew another shower then bottle of nice cold chang followed by a steak and Mushroom pie guess where I bought that ??

Heres some pics from the other day on the farm:

THis my the tractor I bought brother-in-law

Hey Macb,

I forgot to ask you previously. How much do those bags of rice weigh in at? They look a little heavy for a retired guy to be lifting. My wife said that 500 +/- Bht per bag did not seem like much $$.

Mike in Seattle

[macb]

Well woke this morning about 0420 hrs and thought bit on the warm side in the bedroom: Are theres is another power cut, well out of bed 0545 hrs still no power, the wife cooked rice on the gas oven and boiled water for morning coffee.

Stroll round the garden play with my dog, still no power. power came back after FIVE HOURS. THen it was shower and get the ironing done I did half and the wife did the rest.

Then it was shower then on here emails weather report etc.

We still have not got our rice cut yet as the Machine keeps breaking down. The Taxi guy in the village bought three really old Harvesters and they spend more time broken down than making money, might have been better to buy one nearly new one that would work all the time, as they are charging 500 bht this year for cutting one Rai.

Will it happen today or as the wife said to the guy with the machines will you get to me this year.

1 sack of rice (100 kilo ??) is fetching 500 bht at the moment

[macb]

Well what a day proper farmer boy today: First did the ole weather report thne read all the verbal from that guy called Martin bless him.

THen down the farm made two new rice rakes well in the UK we would use them for moving snow,then loaded 15 sacks rice onto a pick then knackered time for shower. Relax then this evening back down the farm move another 15+ sacks ready for drying tomorrow phew another shower then bottle of nice cold chang followed by a steak and Mushroom pie guess where I bought that ??

Heres some pics from the other day on the farm:

THis my the tractor I bought brother-in-law

Hey Macb,

I forgot to ask you previously. How much do those bags of rice weigh in at? They look a little heavy for a retired guy to be lifting. My wife said that 500 +/- Bht per bag did not seem like much $$.

Mike in Seattle

Hi mike age is all in the mind and I try to keep fit hard to do here cos they wont let me do anything.

I thought the sacks were weighing in at 80 kilo but the wife said 100 K.

There are four Tangs to the sack, but at the moment we are drying rice so yesterday some of the rice was what I call wet weight, but I enjoyed it and I dont ache today.

[Thaddeus]

Dear diary.

Well, I did it again last night. Slept on top of the covers with the pad lom set in the fixed position instead of swinging back and forth.

Result, back pain, I can hardly move.

So today I guess I am just going to stay with my friend the computer. I hope people in the forum will understand if I get a bit tetchy.

Note to self ...... ask wifey to get some ralgex and read diary before going to bed tonight.

[oceanrover]

Dear diary.

Well, I did it again last night. Slept on top of the covers with the pad lom set in the fixed position instead of swinging back and forth.

Result, back pain, I can hardly move.

So today I guess I am just going to stay with my friend the computer. I hope people in the forum will understand if I get a bit tetchy.

Note to self ...... ask wifey to get some ralgex and read diary before going to bed tonight.

Thad,

Please excuse my ignorance here. "Left the Pad Lom set in the Fixed Position?"

Thanks

Mike in Seattle

[Thaddeus]

Sorry Mike

Pad lom = electric fan.

They have a button on the top so that they can be set to slowly rotate or stay fixed.

[oceanrover]

Sorry Mike

Pad lom = electric fan.

They have a button on the top so that they can be set to slowly rotate or stay fixed.

Thad,

My wife laughed and told me what it was. An "Oscillating" Fan. She will be looking that word up for a week

Thanks

Mike in Seattle

[Thaicoon]

We weigh our rice in at 100 kilo bags, had 300 bags last year, nice one, not sure this year yet, as they just have to finish 30 rai in Prackon Chai,

When i get there in Feb, i will check the price and sell, but every year i take 4 bags to the temple, gives you good merit, family work on 60- 40%, but i buy the fertaliser.

Mac,

My old shepherd is in a bad way, his Back legs are staring to go, mind you he is 12, i have a pure white shepherd, we will all miss him

here he is with my youngest. Saffron.

[macb]

We weigh our rice in at 100 kilo bags, had 300 bags last year, nice one, not sure this year yet, as they just have to finish 30 rai in Prackon Chai,

When i get there in Feb, i will check the price and sell, but every year i take 4 bags to the temple, gives you good merit, family work on 60- 40%, but i buy the fertaliser.

Mac,

My old shepherd is in a bad way, his Back legs are staring to go, mind you he is 12, i have a pure white shepherd, we will all miss him

here he is with my youngest. Saffron.

The times I have been there over the years with the loss of my dogs, its as bad as losing human members of the Family.

12yrs is a very good age for the ole boy, you can get steroid injections to help him but I think only three courses is recommended cos it can damage the liver, very common Hipdisplacia(Pardon the spelling) in Shepherds. Please dont let him suffer better he go knowing how good life has been with you all, stuff likes this brings a tear to my eye. Althoug hthey ever want to do in life is please you.

[macb]

We weigh our rice in at 100 kilo bags, had 300 bags last year, nice one, not sure this year yet, as they just have to finish 30 rai in Prackon Chai,

When i get there in Feb, i will check the price and sell, but every year i take 4 bags to the temple, gives you good merit, family work on 60- 40%, but i buy the fertaliser.

Mac,

My old shepherd is in a bad way, his Back legs are staring to go, mind you he is 12, i have a pure white shepherd, we will all miss him

here he is with my youngest. Saffron.

The times I have been there over the years with the loss of my dogs, its as bad as losing human members of the Family.

12yrs is a very good age for the ole boy, you can get steroid injections to help him but I think only three courses is recommended cos it can damage the liver, very common Hipdisplacia(Pardon the spelling) in Shepherds. Please dont let him suffer better he go knowing how good life has been with you all, stuff likes this brings a tear to my eye. Althoug hthey ever want to do in life is please you.

[macb]

WEll our rice is ready to cut and we ben waiting a week for the ricae machine that keeps breaking down, well I did tell the wife to use someone else, with a reliable machine, the problem is we got 10 Rai white which is ready to cut and 3 Rai brown which will be another 8/9 days or so, and the local guy probably wont cut it if we use someone else. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Went into Burriram last night to go night Bazzaar then for BBQ, there was a big parade of the schools with al the kids and bands, it was the start of the sports events. I did not have my camera with me

[blue eyes]

Well woke this morning about 0420 hrs and thought bit on the warm side in the bedroom: Are theres is another power cut, well out of bed 0545 hrs still no power, the wife cooked rice on the gas oven and boiled water for morning coffee.

Stroll round the garden play with my dog, still no power. power came back after FIVE HOURS. THen it was shower and get the ironing done I did half and the wife did the rest.

Then it was shower then on here emails weather report etc.

We still have not got our rice cut yet as the Machine keeps breaking down. The Taxi guy in the village bought three really old Harvesters and they spend more time broken down than making money, might have been better to buy one nearly new one that would work all the time, as they are charging 500 bht this year for cutting one Rai.

Will it happen today or as the wife said to the guy with the machines will you get to me this year.

1 sack of rice (100 kilo ??) is fetching 500 bht at the moment

Cheers macb,

The same sacks of ours are 80kg After we send it through the mill we have 60kg of cleaned rice.The mill keeps the husk and 2kg per bag for their work.You also said something about them chargeing 500thb per rai to cut by machine.We are north of Phi Mai 20km up highway 2 and that was the price last year.But this year the price has gone up to 600thb.But they do a great job with new machine.The "straw" that is left we feed to the 60 head of cows.Oh I have to say the photo of the sacks of rice is not our rice but the size of the sacks are the same.

[macb]

Today the wife and I took sistrt-in -law and the kids to Surin, to have a look at the elephants and wander round the stalls, In the mkt area where there were food stall games to play clothes to buy etc etc, and it was got so plenty of icecream and coke and water consumed. Below are some pics I took.

THe kids enyoyed it we all did nice day out

[stament]

MACB,

Just wanted to let you know how I like reading your diary. It is so much more interesting than my day, which goes something like this.

05:20 Woken up by alarm and touch snooze button

05:28 Snooze goes off get out of bed and go for a wee, shower and shave (usually in that order)

05:40 Get dressed and brush teeth

05:50 Leave house and walk to train station

06:02 Get on train to London, read book which last week was John Daly's and Laos/Cambodia

travel books.

07:05 Arrive London and get on Tube

07:35 Arrive at work

12:30 Have lunch (usually at desk) and read internet pages - usually BBC Sport, Thai Visa and do

any other things I need to do on internet

13:15 Back to work

17:40 Leave work and walk to tube station

17:55 Get tube and then walk to train station

18:15 Board train

19:15 Get off train and walk home

19:25 Arrive Home, open post, have a cup of tea and make something to eat, combined with

either watching TV or going to the pub for a couple of pints

23:00 Go to bed

05:20 Alarm goes off again - GROUNDHOG DAY!!!

Interesting huh???!!!

My day is so boring compared to yours and one of the reasons why I want to get the hel_l out of England asap!!!

[macb]

Fingers crossed think we will be cutting 10 Rai today, I really hope it does not rain as it is overcast.

Plus it means party later drink some beer, not that an excuse is needed to drink and have party. More up-dates soon

[oceanrover]

Fingers crossed think we will be cutting 10 Rai today, I really hope it does not rain as it is overcast.

Plus it means party later drink some beer, not that an excuse is needed to drink and have party. More up-dates soon

Hey Macb,

I asked my wife how many bags of rice you get from a Rai and she has no idea. How many bags are you averaging? I am just wanting to know the ROI from land purchased for the family to grow rice. I of course can't calculate the labor involved with planting nad harvesting beyond the harvester rental, but I can at least sound like I know what I am talking about when the time comes.

Thanks

Mike in Seattle

[macb]

Fingers crossed think we will be cutting 10 Rai today, I really hope it does not rain as it is overcast.

Plus it means party later drink some beer, not that an excuse is needed to drink and have party. More up-dates soon

Hey Macb,

I asked my wife how many bags of rice you get from a Rai and she has no idea. How many bags are you averaging? I am just wanting to know the ROI from land purchased for the family to grow rice. I of course can't calculate the labor involved with planting nad harvesting beyond the harvester rental, but I can at least sound like I know what I am talking about when the time comes.

Thanks

Mike in Seattle

Some where on TV I did a resume in another topic about costings etc: As fpr average per Rai give me a couple of days as we got rained off and cut not complete.

As for prices locally its been 500 bht per sack but in Surin my sister-in-law got 650 bht per sack thats not bad price

[macb]

WEll we so afar collected 31 sacks rice ,but still waiting for the cutter to return having had a thunder storm the other day,once the 10 Rai is complete I can then tell you how many bags we averaiged per Rai.

Her are some pics I took of our land etc and tools we use in the drying process. Its a bust time of the year, for the last three days I have been busy loading and drying etc I enjoy it better than sitting and doing nothing.

rice scoops I made this rake

This cost 95bht rice rake

Views of our land and our house in the distance

[macb]

WEll yesterday was spent raking and drying the rice. 18 bag were delivered with another 4 to come this is interest on a loan. in all we have 41 sacks so far.

THe machine should be back today to finish off the 10 Rai

THis morning I was in the garden strimming at about 6 am till 8 am then stopped cos hot.

Later will go into to Burriram on my m/c for some bread etc maybe lunch at Bamboo bar, leave the wife at the house overseeing the rice cutting

[oceanrover]

WEll we so afar collected 31 sacks rice ,but still waiting for the cutter to return having had a thunder storm the other day,once the 10 Rai is complete I can then tell you how many bags we averaiged per Rai.

Her are some pics I took of our land etc and tools we use in the drying process. Its a bust time of the year, for the last three days I have been busy loading and drying etc I enjoy it better than sitting and doing nothing.

rice scoops I made this rake

This cost 95bht rice rake

Views of our land and our house in the distance

Macb,

Leaving a 8 month Pregnant women in charge. You have no mercy on the people in the fields

My wife is doing great even though the kid is kicking her "till she is going to die" (wife's words) and not getting much straight sleep. Glad I am a man.

I would think that a little manual labor would break up the routine a little and would be welcome, especially when you can take it or leave in whatever amount you wish.

Keep up the posts.

Mike in Seattle

[macb]

WEll at last the cutter came this morning and the final bags are drying so very soon I can tell you how many bags we got from 10 Rai.

This morning was in the garden early finished the strimming as I got a bit of a party this weekend, my mate Mervyn from Petchabun and his wife are coming over together with Brin and Mott from the UK.

Then there is Andy and Par from the next village and my Cousin who married into the family with his wife also Billy and partner from Sisaket way so pleasant gathering this weekend. (Hope the weather is favourable that was a joke by the way ahem).

Having done the strimming I went and helped rake out the last bags to start them drying,then it was shower and relax

[TBWG]

MACB,

Just wanted to let you know how I like reading your diary. It is so much more interesting than my day, which goes something like this.

05:20 Woken up by alarm and touch snooze button

05:28 Snooze goes off get out of bed and go for a wee, shower and shave (usually in that order)

05:40 Get dressed and brush teeth

05:50 Leave house and walk to train station

06:02 Get on train to London, read book which last week was John Daly's and Laos/Cambodia

travel books.

07:05 Arrive London and get on Tube

07:35 Arrive at work

12:30 Have lunch (usually at desk) and read internet pages - usually BBC Sport, Thai Visa and do

any other things I need to do on internet

13:15 Back to work

17:40 Leave work and walk to tube station

17:55 Get tube and then walk to train station

18:15 Board train

19:15 Get off train and walk home

19:25 Arrive Home, open post, have a cup of tea and make something to eat, combined with

either watching TV or going to the pub for a couple of pints

23:00 Go to bed

05:20 Alarm goes off again - GROUNDHOG DAY!!!

Interesting huh???!!!

My day is so boring compared to yours and one of the reasons why I want to get the hel_l out of England asap!!!

Hi Stament

Been there, done that admittedly a few years ago now, can't imagine the trains have got any better!!

You can keep the bustle of the city give me the quiet country Issan life, If you have any sense you'll be planning your escape ASAP.

TBWG

[macb]

Fingers crossed think we will be cutting 10 Rai today, I really hope it does not rain as it is overcast.

Plus it means party later drink some beer, not that an excuse is needed to drink and have party. More up-dates soon

Hey Macb,

I asked my wife how many bags of rice you get from a Rai and she has no idea. How many bags are you averaging? I am just wanting to know the ROI from land purchased for the family to grow rice. I of course can't calculate the labor involved with planting nad harvesting beyond the harvester rental, but I can at least sound like I know what I am talking about when the time comes.

Thanks

Mike in Seattle

WEll the 10 Rai got completed today we got 43 bags (80 kilo bags) that equates to 3440 kilo or 172 Tang I think. 6 bags were black because wet from the rain storm so going to sell them tomorrow, and keep all accumlated rice till the price improves then sell

[macb]

Took 6 sacks of rice that was nearly black on the husks due to rain damage but still got 546 bht per sack: The good rice we are storing till the price increases

[oceanrover]

Took 6 sacks of rice that was nearly black on the husks due to rain damage but still got 546 bht per sack: The good rice we are storing till the price increases

\

Macb,

Man that sure does seem like a lot of work and labor coordination for roughly $70 USD per Rai. It sounds like a Rai could feed a few people for a year though rice wise. I would not mind having a few Rai around our house for rice to keep the family stocked throughout the year.

We have been attempting to acquire 25 Rai that my wife's aunt owns. She is too old to work the land so she allows others to work it and pay her 20% of the harvest a year. So based on your harvest she could hope that the 25 Rai would produce around 110 80 kilo bags @ roughly 600 BHT per bag or 66,000 Bht Total. Her share would then be either 22 bags or 13,200 BHT a year ($347 USD). We have thus far increased our offer to roughly 40,000 Bht per Rai and she is not even taking time to consider it before refusing. My wife said that she needs this land for income so she does not want to sell it since it produces a profit. In my "WESTERN" thinking as my wife calls it I see things too black white when it comes to business and investments. I told her that we should then increase her income from the property by paying her a monthly payment directly. We told her to figure out how long she expected to need the income, set that as the term and we would pay her 8% interest yearly along with a principal payment monthly. That came out to a little over 7,000 BHT per month for the rest of her life figured at 25 years. My wife even offered to setup the contract so that if she passed before the 25 years we would make the remaining payments to the local Wat or to whomever she wished. This did not work either. She has no children and she is not married so the property is not being set aside for anything like that. My wife says that it might give her a sense of worth in the village or make her feel like she is increasing her Karma since she allows others to farm her land. I am really not prepared to go higher on the offer as I am suspecting that this is negotiation ploy. My wife thinks that her Uncle may be advising her to hold onto it until we raise the offer since we are RICH. I am pretty sure that my wife could have picked it up on her own before I was in the picture for a reasonable amount, but I am sure that they see a higher offer in the future. We do not really need that much property, it was just a nice place that we could fill a little and build on and it is close to the village. (Not to close though) At this point we are going to squash the offers and let her stew over them and make sure she knows we are looking at other parcels in the area. She may then seek us out after she has blown through her harvest money from this year.

Do you have any recommendations for dealing with purchasing land from relatives or locals that think you have deeper pockets than you do?

We had Thanksgiving Dinner today at my parents. My wife was in heaven with all the food choices and she got to chat with a couple other relatives that are pregnant. Of course as soon as we got home she was planning what she was going to cook next. She has only gained 11 kilos overall so I am pretty happy about that. My cousins have all ballooned up like the Goodyear Blimp. I think we have decided on Malisal Margaret for the little girl's name as well. I have to get the spelling for Malisal correct so that it is pronounced correctly by Farangs.

Say hello to your wife.

Thanks.

Mike in Seattle