5th September
Awake at 10:00 and A is not feeling too great which is an indicator that I have been here for 4 weeks. She's off to the shop this morning and is unsure of what she'll be doing tonight, but if there is work available then she says she will do it as tonight it is already known that I will be out late at Cherry Bar.
We leave together on the scooter and I jump off at the junction with Pattaya Klang. I make my way down to the hardware store where I bought the components for the washing machine 'extension' lead as I've been asked if I could do the same for 'lady #2'
First stop though is the computer store, where I need to buy a wireless router for installation at Kevin's place as he only has an Ethernet router installed at present. I get a D-Link DSL-2640T for 2490 baht which is a good price and as I have some experience with installing D-Link hardware, I do not envisage any problems. (My main concern is whether the Username / Password for connection to the ADSL service are provided anywhere.)
Next purchase is the hose and connector for #2 which costs 150 baht and then it's onward to Carrefour to meet Kevin at 11:30.
At 11:25, I send him a text asking where he is and he calls me back to say that he's still at home and the taxi bus still hasn't arrived (running on Thai time). I say that I'll sit out the front of the store and simply wait for him.
When he arrives, I accompany him on his shopping expedition and it has to be said that Joy hasn't got to grips with the mundane shopping for a farang, so her trolley contains a few sweets, some cosmetic products, shampoo and little else whilst Kevin is laden down with steaks, chips, ice, salad, a few vegetables, washing powder, fabric conditioner, cheese, butter, yoghurt, milk a deep fat fryer, an electric kettle and three boxes of Frosties.
He pays for his purchases and we load up the taxi bus to get everything back to his new place. Joy heads off back to the condo to supervise the transfer of more stuff to the new place including her shoe collection (I hear that Imelda has a rival). We unpack and then sit down with a cup of rosie, (Rosie Lee - Tea) before getting the wireless connection hooked up.
I power up the existing router and connect it to my laptop via an Ethernet cable. There is a good connection, but the connection password is 'hidden' in the config and there is no paperwork anywhere to indicate what the logon name is. I determine that the connection is Maxnet supplied by TT&T and look to find a contact number in order to reset the password. Kev then asks if it's possible to just have both devices connected instead.
Yes it is. I can configure the Wireless router to have no WAN connectivity and disable the DHCP server. In addition, I'll need to reassign its static IP address as it has a default setting the same as the Zyxel Ethernet only device.
Within 20 minutes we have a network comprising a Zyxel router providing the Internet connection and DHCP / DNS services with the D-Link device connected via Ethernet and providing Wireless connectivity.
Kevin tests initially with his telephone that he can make a connection and everything works as it should. Next we check his and Joy’s laptops and apart from a problem with actually turning on the Wireless antenna on Joy's Acer laptop, we have success.
I wander around the house with my laptop running as a wireless client and there is a good signal throughout the property and all around the pool area, so my job is done. I then make the most of the available bandwidth and proceed to update virus definitions and download all the latest Microsoft updates as well as checking for updates on a couple of applications that I use.
When Joy returns, the bus is unloaded and Kevin tells me that the driver has been paid for the day and will drop me off back at my place, so I return and as I arrive, Robin from #2 is just opening his door. I say that I'll be with him in 15 minutes to sort out his washing machine as I have the parts in my bag.
I start a load of washing in my own room and then go downstairs and sort out their machine. They are currently doing the laundry and the hosepipe is connected to the tap, so I disconnect it and ten minutes later, their washing machine is now working as an 'automatic' for the first time. (No more shouting at the children to turn the tap on and turn the tap off at each water refill cycle.) This earns me a big hug from the lady of the house and Robin repays me the 150 baht that it has cost me in parts.
Back upstairs and I have a cup of tea before unloading my own washing, but as it has just been raining I decide that it is best if I don't hang the washing outside, so I just hang everything on the clothes rail. I then call A and she says that she will be working tonight so I should prepare food for myself tonight.
A bite to eat and then it's time to get ready to depart for Cherry Bar, but as I leave, Pun calls out from the landing "George; where you going?". I say that I am going to Cherry Bar and she says that she will be going on the scooter in 10 minutes and will give me a lift, so I wait a little longer and have been saved a walk and 10 baht.
At the bar, there are no customers yet, but at this early hour, the same can be said for many of the bars in the area.
After 15 minutes though a guy arrives at the bar and says "Hi George". He then introduces himself as BM Big Pete and I get the opportunity to thank him for the bottle of Tequila that he donated to the party in January by sending money to MM via Paypal. We sit and chat for some time and he tells me a couple of anecdotes from a recent trip to Burma. The funniest was when he was filling out his visa application and when it came to the question "Residence in Burma", he was advised to simply write "Hotel" and this was deemed to be a satisfactory answer.
We are then joined by BM Bazzap who stays for a few drinks and ends up paying BF for one of the ladies but doesn't leave with her. He says he'll return later to see her.
BM Kuranda Bagman is the next to introduce himself to me and we get on very well. We are chatting away and he tells me how even an 'innocent' comment to the girls can cause potential problems. It seems that he's made some comment to Pun about her neighbour and she didn't know how he would have such information, (so guys, be careful what you say when talking to a girl that you have knowledge of through the boards!)
Casper UK then arrives and things start getting a little messy. Both the guys are buying me drinks and in the good company they are going down rather easily. Kuranda Bagman then has a look around the girls to decide which of the ladies he intends to barfine for the evening and he decides it will probably be "K". She's just gone to get a fresh round of drinks so she hasn't heard this and when she returns, Kuranda Bagman has gone off to the toilet. I tell her that I think that he will pay barfine for her tonight, but she simply laughs and shakes her head in disagreement. I say "I bet you 20 baht he will barfine you tonight." This is clearly understood and we shake on the bet (Talk about insider dealing.)
My new neighbour Ryan and his lady then appear at the bar and I get them a drink and they settle down to play the dice game with a couple of the girls and end up staying for a few hours.
Then another BM that I recognisefrom a Bar Crawl arrives. He sits at the bar and proceeds to swear at the girls and makes his demands for a "full cup of fucking coffee" and that he wasn't going to "pay a dollar for a fucking third of a cup of fucking coffee". (This is the BM that had asked me on the GoGo crawl last week why he was having such poor luck with the girls. Well my friend, I can say from having seen you 'in action', that the girls will most definitely avoid you if what I saw is your 'standard' approach.).
Noy returns with a mug of coffee that is full to within a centimetre of the top of the mug and he sends it back saying that he wants "a fucking full cup of coffee". Noy takes it back and returns with the mug now filled to within a few millimetres of the brim and he accepts this. He then proceeds to pour the milk in and the coffee spills over the edge of the brim into the saucer. He then moves round the bar where he plays Connect 4 with one of the girls and I make a note to buy her a drink later.
Kuranda Bagman duly pays barfine for "K" and she comes over to me smiling so I hold my hand out. She laughs and Kuranda Bagman gives her 20 baht which she gives to me. (He makes a comment that it'll be interesting to see her reaction when he leaves a 'tip' of 980 baht in the morning.) (I do offer her the money back later and say that I already knew that he would be paying barfine, but she wouldn't take it).
At 00:30, I get a call from a mate (Glen) in Stansted. He says that he's in the pub; the place is empty and he's bored. Of course all he can hear from my end are the competing sounds of the various bar sound systems and he says that it sounds wild where I am. I tell him that it's just a quiet night tonight and I don't think he believes me. He does say that he is hoping to make it out in December for his 'virgin' visit to LoS which would be good as he deserves a bit of fun.
By now I have lost all track of time and the next face I recognise at the bar is "N". This is the third time that I've seen her during this trip, but it’s the first time she's been alone. She tells me that she still texts BM Manracer and keeps in touch which I knew as he had PM'd me about having seen her last week even though I hadn't mentioned it in the TR.
It seems that she has no credit in her phone though tonight, so she ends up using my phone to send him a text tonight which says "I dang to much". Manracer sends a reply within 5 minutes saying "don't get George too drunk" (A little late for that advice I suspect.)
Pun then tells me that she will not be going back tonight as she is staying at the Bar until morning, so I start getting my stuff together to go home 'alone', when there is another familiar face at the bar. BM Torrenova has arrived, so I sit and talk with him for a while, but do not hang around too long as he has been a 'bad influence' in the past.
I feel that it's been a good night; there have been a number of customers for myself and the girls to talk with; the girls have been bought a few drinks by the customers; a couple of the girls have been barfined and there's been a lot of laughter in the bar. Next Wednesday Hammer will be back in residence as it's a party night in Cherry Bar.
Expenditure :
Toilet : 5 baht
Scooter Taxi home : 100 baht
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