Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Daily Report: The Cozy Humdrum

Epril had me out of bed at 6:30 this morning... and I enjoyed the sunrise with Maid Go's freshly-brewed coffee (with a splash of Bailey's, as always) and reading the news. The weather here in Pattaya is cooling off to the low-80's at night, and that temperature stays steady through a good part of the morning. Opening the window lets in a nice breeze, and the lovebirds I have caged out front put up a pleasant, if shrill, squawking. Early mornings are great: I need to see more of them.

Work this morning went well, and it really seems like I've jumped to yet another level in my output. Epril's encouragement is the new fire in my boiler, and it is really helping. She comes in and keeps me company for little bits at a time, watching me work, and then massages my shoulders, and then leaves me alone to work some more. She just lets me know she's thinking about me.

On my lunch break, Epril and I went out to Key Visa on Soi LK Metro to arrange a visa run to Penang. It's really the only expensive aspect of having a Filipina here in Thailand, instead of dating a local: The once-every-90-day visa run costs. Well, considering the amount of money I shelled out for the ex-girlfriend's skin care products, I'm still coming out ahead.

After Key Visa, it was next door to Bob's BBQ for a lunch of baked beans, jalapeƱo poppers, and chips and chili con carne. I spent a while chatting with Bob, who really seems to be happy with his new location... although an in-house bathroom for his customers is definitely something he needs to get cracking on.

Then, Epril and I went to Tukcom computer center (stopping at the Soi Buakow market to buy her a dress), where I bought network cable, a mouse and mousepad, a webcam, and power cord for Epril's computer (which I had yet to hook up). Then, I bought a nice desk at a furniture store on Pattaya South Road for 2,000 baht, which was delivered to my house.

After working through to the evening, I set up Epril's computer. I ran the network cable from my office on the second floor down to the living room to connect Epril's computer to the internet. The cable was 1 meter too short. Then, I plugged in the spare monitor that I have had lying around for the last 2 years, only to find that that piece of equipment had died in its sleep. So Epril's computer has to wait yet another day.

For the evening, I cracked open a bottle of Japanese sake that I had forgotten I had lying around, and heated some up. Riza came over and took a walk with Epril to the market, while I sat home and watched Law & Order. Geoff and Honey Mae called to invite Epril and I out to Beach Road to see a Filipina band, but I took a rain check. Moving all the computer equipment tired out my body, and my work had tired out my mind. I was ready for bed.

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