Daily Report: Standard Sunday, Sibling Spat

I was up early, because today is the last day of the pay period at work... and therefore the highest paying. I get paid on a graded production scale, so it generally works out that the last bit of work you do is worth twice as much as the first bit. Add to that the 5% weekend bonus, my 20% "stat monitor" bonus, plus overtime, and I'm making more per hour than many Thai people do in a month.

For lunch today, Pui went out and bought nam nu-ung, which is a Vietnamese dish consisting of do-it-yourself wraps with bits of sausage, rice noodle, lettuce, peanut sauce, cucumbers, pepper sauce, all wrapped in a membranous noodle. It's a wonderful dish.

I was supposed to get together with all the parents and take the kids to Pattaya Park today, but everybody cancelled. Willie wound up not actually having any kids to take; Da wound up going with Rick to the crocodile farm; and Bob's in-laws showed up. Therefore, instead of going out to Pattaya Park, I just took Pot down to the pool.

I did a little bit of work in the afternoon, but my DSL internet was acting dodgy and although I could have just switched over to dial-up, I took that as an excuse to take the day's second half off. (Pay period ends at noontime in Thailand... which is midnight Central Standard Time in the U.S.) Instead, I read my book for a while, watched "Guts and Bolts: Sewer Technology" on the Discovery Channel, the crash of the Hindenburg on The History Channel, and "Bible Science" on EXP3 (another educational channel).

It looks like UBC cable is set to add about 50 more channels to the lineup, including Discovery Science, about 4 or 5 HBO channels, and a bunch of others. Haven't noticed whether or not Comedy Channel is in the lineup as well.

Pui and her brother are fighting. Apparently brother Lawt didn't like his job as a security guard, and wants to go home. That's about par for the course: I would guess that about 25% of Thai people who come to work in Pattaya don't last a week, another 25% leave after the first month, and another 25% don't make it much further than 6 months. It is a little odd for her brother to be leaving though, considering that we gave him everything he needed to live, and as compared to 99% of the other Thai people who come to Pattaya, he didn't have to struggle or suffer one bit to get settled here. Oh well... it's not my problem one way or the other.


Stop by Shooters on Soi Diamond
to visit with Ray, the manager.In the evening, I stopped by Willie's bungalow and picked up him and his neighbor Frank (saving them from an evening at home with wife Kak), and we went to Shooters where we hung out with Franky, Ray, another fellow named Steve, and Bob... who showed up later on. I ate four of Bob's "poker chip" burgers, and an order of jalapeno poppers for dinner.

After that, it was off to TQ2 for a drink. Willie and I sat watching the girls dance, and we've concluded that there is a distinct trade-off going on: The girls are getting prettier, but it seems to be at the expense of bra size. I have a feeling that manager Russ has been listening a little too much to Stan, who apparently has an allergy to breasts. Oh well.

Anyway, after a drink, it was home to bed at 10:30.