Monday Off

I got a 1,400 baht phone bill. For somebody who doesn't have a phone connected to the wall, I sure to get expensive phone bills. I somehow managed a repeat of the pinhead maneuver of connecting a dial-up internet connection via Bangkok. Sheesh.

So after going to the phone company and finding out that bit of wonderful news, it was off to CarreFour where I bought a home theater system. Not the TV... just the DVD player and speakers. Curing Pot of his cartoon addiction by giving him reasonable entertainment alternatives is my reason for this purchase, and that's that. Now, I think he desparately needs a 48-inch flat panel television. I'll have to get that for him sometime soon. Poor little guy. Well... Anything I can do to help.

Pui found they were selling 9-baht (25-cent) underwear at CarreFour, and bought 15 pair. Now she is downstairs with all the neighborhood ladies showing off her purchase.

I don't know why... but I always forget to pay the rent at this new house. I suppose it is mostly because my landlord, Martin, never stops by to say "where's the rent?" Instead, he waits until I am ridiculously late in paying, and then stops by and drops off a receipt (for the rent I have not yet paid) as what probably qualifies as the most polite reminder of unpaid debt in the history of the world.

Thailand has stopped selling Schweppe's Soda Manao (a lemon-lime, Fresca-type soda), which was a favorite of mine. So now I'm working my way through the 100-or-so beverages in the cooler at 7-11 trying to find something else to drink.

So today is Labor Day in America... paid holiday. Might as well take it since there is no work for me to do at my company. All the regular accounts are empty. Well, maybe I'll work in the not-so-familiar accounts today and save the 8-hours of vacation time I would have otherwise used, and save them up for future trips. As it is, I have a weekend in Viet Nam coming up in October, a weekend in Chiang Mai in November, a weekend in Ko Chang in December, and a full week in Cambodia just after New Year. There also is probably going to be a weekend up with Pui's family sometime in the next 2 months as well.