Happy Birthday to Jonathan, my nephew. Jonathan lives somewhere back east. Jonathan is brother Bob's son.

The monthly beach clean up was on Thursday and I missed it. For some reason my calendar program did not send me a reminder. Must look into that. Hope they did a good job this time.

I have been looking for a used motorbike in the Phuket Gazette (weekly English newspaper) for the last couple of weeks, but there are not many available. I did find one and went to look at it. It was about 3 years old and only had 3K km on it. Sim said too many used bikes for sale have been rentals and beat up bad, so I passed on the used one. We drove into Phuket town to a Honda dealership that I have driven by dozens of times. They had a few used bikes in a place across the street, but not the model I wanted. They had new, so we looked at those. You can pay cash, or finance. No credit cards. A few days later we went down to the Honda place in our little town and plopped down 42,000 baht ($1233.) for a brand new Honda Dream 125 cc Electric Start in Red. There is no negotiation on the price, but Sim did get them to throw in 2 helmets, a blanket, a Honda windbreaker, dust cloth and a rice cooker. Cool. Now I have to go get a motorcycle license at the DMV. That should be fun. Oh well it will make interesting fodder for the journal.

Friday night Skype with Webmaster Dennis did not happen. He must be really busy playing with his “new” car. I don't blame him. She is a beauty.

A monsoon hit us this week. High winds, heavy rain for 4 days straight. It has not stopped Sim from going on her morning walks however. Sim is getting up at 5:00am and walking or riding her bike down to her sister in laws place and they walk to the beach in the mornings. Me? I sleep in.

September 6 – 12, 2009 Phuket, Thailand
I went to the last day of the last of 3 surf contests held annually on Phuket. This one was down the island at Kata beach. I was going to ride the bike but it started to rain and Sim said NO, so I took the truck. Turned out to be a beautiful day with no rain. I had some trouble finding the beach because it was my first time there, but after some backtracking I found the contest. Conditions were windy, so the surf was a bit chopped up. There was a pretty good swell running so there were some 6-7 foot waves coming in. Lots of guys were having trouble even getting out for their heats. There was a pretty good turnout and lots of people came to watch the event. Did I enter? No. Maybe next year. I need to get more water time before I enter the contests. A couple of cuties as they call them here, pushing Jim Beam products at the event. Quicksilver is the main sponsor, with a dozen or so local businesses chipping in as well.

The water went off today. It went off last month too. Our Moo Baan (community) water is supplied via a well. The water is pumped from the well up into a large tank about 50 feet in the air. That is how we get water pressure. Well, last month, the pump went out and it took the guy 2 days to fix it. We had to take showers at Sim's sister in law's house. We filled up 5 gallon water bottles and used those to dump in the toilet tanks. You know how hard it is to fill up a toilet tank with a 5 gallon jug in the middle of the night when you are half asleep and need to pee? And I get up 2 or 3 times a night because of my meds. Now the water is off again today and “the guy” says there is something wrong with the well. They brought in two or three water tankers and dumped water in the well. I guess they are trying to “prime” it or something. Been without water again for 1 day. Showers last night at Sew's house. Hope it gets fixed today as they promised yesterday.

The water is back on but Sim says it has a funny smell. Kind of smells like diesel fuel. I think the tankers full of water may have had something to do with the smell. I am sure it will go away in a day or two. At least we have water.

I was the guy with the pickup truck this morning. Sim's sister in law Mai located a barber chair that she wanted to use in her shop. She has found a hair stylist to come and work in her shop. So now, she not only sells beauty products, but provides hair cutting and styling as well. Well I was volunteered with truck to go pick up the chair. One chair turned out to be 3 chairs, a couple hair wash recliners, 3 accessory stands and a lighted barber pole. I managed to get it all in the back of the truck and safely to Mai's shop. Mai's shop is really just the front part of the house. Many Thais just use the front of their house for a small business. Then, it was home to take a nap.

Mac, Sim's nephew, the one that lives with us, is participating in ROTC in school. He brought home a letter telling us about a big ceremony at the school this week. The letter is for his parents, but since his Dad has to work and his Mom is living up north somewhere, (parents divorced), Jim and Sim are going to the big ceremony instead. We arrived at the school and found the building where we were supposed to go and were escorted inside and shown our seats. The original plan was to have this ceremony outside, but it was raining hard so they moved it inside. There must have been 800 Thai kids, ranging in age from 16-18, all in uniform sitting in the hall. We looked and looked for Mac but could not find him. The ceremony lasted for an hour or so. We left after it was over and never did see Mac. Later in the evening when Mac came home, we found out he was not even in the ceremony. Apparently there was not enough room inside for everyone, and Mac was one of the ones left out.

Sim and I got our teeth cleaned this week. It was my first time to a Thai dentist. He was pretty much all business and I was in and out in 20 minutes. Not too bad considering it has been over 9 months for us. I think the last time we had a cleaning was somewhere on the East Coast of the US. Our Thai dentist had 4 assistants. I think 2 of them just stood there the whole time. We were charged 850 baht ($25.) each but did not get a free toothbrush with toothpaste. We tried to make another appointment for four months from now but could not because four months from now would be in January and their appointment book ended in December and they did not have next years book yet. They looked at us like we were crazy trying to make an appointment 4 months ahead of time. LOL.

Sim's brother wants to take us out to dinner. So all 7 of us piled in the truck and headed for Central Shopping Center. Central is an indoor mall with Central department store as the anchor. Central Mall is 4 stories of shopping and eating so you can find anything you want. We wandered around for a while and ended up at Sizzler. Sim's brother had never eaten there, but Sim and I tried it once and liked it so Sizzler it is. We don't eat out often as most of the restaurant food is not on my diet but once in a while I go off the wagon and splurge. Tonight it was Pork Ribs, baked potato, salad bar (twice) with chocolate AND vanilla mousse for dessert. Yum. I woke up in the middle of the night sweating as my body tried to processes all of that weird stuff it rarely gets a chance to see.

September 13 – 19, 2009, Phuket, Thailand
I washed the truck today and sure enough, it started to rain. The rain is no big deal really. I was in my bathing suit and the rain is not cold, so I just kept washing the truck and the rain did a good job of rinsing after my wash. No water spots either with the soft rain water. I washed the motorcycle too. The rain stopped, I dried the truck and the bike and we are good to go.

Remember I told you about Thum, Sim's nephew who is in the Navy and was bugging me to take him surfing? Well he is home on leave and he wants to go tomorrow. I told him 9:00 am and he was ready to go. I took both boards and Sim went along to translate. We went to Bang Tao Beach where the waves are a little smaller and the cove there is somewhat protected from the wind. It is a great place to learn. This is where an American named Luke Remmers has set up a surf school. Luke is from the Bay Area in California and has been in Phuket 6 years or so. He has this surf school, and a surfboard shop over at Surin Beach too. Anyway, I got Thum out in the water and by the end of 1/2 hour he was sort of standing, for a few seconds anyway. He got a cramp in his foot and had to stop so I got Sim out there and got her up and standing after a few tries too. Maybe I will start my own school and compete with Luke. LOL.

It has been raining most of the day for the past 2 days. No surfing when it rains like this. There is too much debris floating around in the ocean. The rivers get filled and all the trash comes down the rivers and into the ocean. It takes a day or two for it all to wash up on the beach and get hauled away by the beach vendors. They know that tourists will not come to a dirty beach, so they do a reasonable job of keeping most of the beaches clean. This is one thing about Thailand that both Sim and I hate. The attitude a lot of Thais have about littering. They just don't seem to care. I was at Toey's elementary school to pick up him, and while I was waiting, I saw several kids throw their trash on the ground like it was no big deal. Obviously there is no education in school on the effect litter and trash have on the environment. We saw the same attitude at places we visited in Mexico also. We need to get the kids on board somehow.

This morning Sim told me we were going out for lunch today. I had to be ready at 10:00. Kind of early for lunch but we are going up to Phang Nga, the province just north of Phuket, to a seafood restaurant on the water with really good food. OK, no problem, I was ready at 10:00 and our ride arrived. There were 7 people going so, 2 cars were required. Sew, Jai, his wife Fang and their daughter Annfield in one car. Me, Sim and Sim's cousin and husband in another car. We drove for an hour, then turned off the main road and drove another 30 minutes to Phang Nga Bay to the restaurant. Well the restaurant was closed. Closed in fact for the entire month. The owners are Muslim and they took the month off for the Muslim holiday Ramadan. OK, no problem, there must be restaurants close by that have good food. The girls bought some fresh crab and fish, packed it on ice and we headed off to another restaurant. Back up the same road for 30 minutes, back on the main road north for another 30 minutes.


I am starving by now. We got to the second restaurant finally and had a really good lunch right on the water. In fact the restaurant in on a floating platform on the water. Lunch for the 7 of us including a bottle of beer was $30. Ok, I thought, now back home. Nope, we are off to see another cousin. We ended up driving another 30 or 40 minutes to get to the cousin's farm. Sim and the girls collected pomelos, chiles, and other edible produce, and I took a nap. Sim's cousin prepared a bed for me when she found out I was coming. Last time we stopped in to see her I took a nap, while she and Sim got caught up on news of the family. I like going to see her now.


September 20 – 26, 2009, Phuket, Thailand
I had to go back to the Immigration Office toady, but it was a good thing. Sim's 6th brother, I still cannot get his name right, but no one calls him by his name anyway as he is always referred to the 6th brother, and his wife Mai, who is Lao, are still trying to get her here legally. So we are off to the Immigration Office to talk to them in person. I am going for not just as the chauffeur but to get a re-entry permit. If you are here on a Non-O visa like me and you want to leave the country and come back in, you need a re-entry permit. It is simple enough to get. A photo, copy of the picture page on your passport, a copy of your visa page in your passport, a completed 1 page form, 1000 baht ($30.); submitted to the Immigration Officer and after about 15 rubber stamps you are good for 1 re-entry into the Kingdom. For 3800 baht ($113.) you can get multiple re-entries. Why do you need a re-entry permit Jim? Sim and I are going on a cruise of sorts. Sim's friend Pon, knows a guy that has a 53 foot sailboat that is participating in the round the island cruise and he is also going to Singapore. We are invited to go, so next month we are going to be sailing for a week. Really looking forward to it. Oh. It turns out Mai has to go back to Laos and get a proper Visa in Laos to come to Thailand. Once she is back, she can apply for a 1 year extension to that visa based on being married to a Thai (Sim's brother). So she is off to Laos, by bus, in the morning. Probably take her 2 days to get there.

Sim and I have been going to the beach at sunset the last couple of days. It is so nice at the beach in the evenings now. Summer is coming to a close and it is raining less now. The sunsets are starting to get really spectacular now that the clouds are breaking up and the skies are clearer. We plan to make the sunset beach visit three or four times a week minimum.

The gardner finally came to the house today. Gardening is supposed to be included in the rent. But we have had to call the owner every month. Somehow it is too difficult to just ask the guy to come the same time every month. Anyway, the weeds and grass were over a foot high and I finally could not stand it anymore and insisted Sim call the owner. It only took an hour for the guy to show up only to say he had to come back tomorrow at 10:00 or 3:00. Great, now we have to be here at those times. We always lock the gate when we leave so he could not get in if we are not here. Well, he showed at 2:00 and went to work. They don't use lawnmowers here, except for the golf courses. Instead they 'cut' the lawn with a weed whacker. If you have a big lawn, just add more guys with weed whackers. He got it all whacked and then went to work on the bushes. His idea of trimming the bushes is to make them all 4 feet high. Doesn't matter whether it is a bougainvillea or a hibiscus. It ends up 4 feet high and symmetrical, usually round. Oh well, I am not paying and they are not my plants.

I did cut some more plumeria cuttings from the house across the street when they totally redid the landscaping. I have the cuttings in pots along with 3 chile plants that we picked up at Sim's cousins last week. So I have the first plants for our house. I just hope the plumeria don't get so big I cannot move them when the time comes. I re-planted one of the inside house plants and it is now in a nice pot with water tray. We picked up 1 clay pot with tray, 6 plastic pots, 4 bags of potting soil and a bag of fertilizer for 450 baht. ($13.) The nursery is owned by one of Sim's friends. Guess where we are getting our landscaping design and materials when we build our house?

September 27 – 30, 2009, Phuket, Thailand
Sim wants to go visit her niece Nut at her home in Surat Thani. Nut works in Bangkok but is home for visiting her mother. Nut's mom was married to Sim's 4th brother. So Sim, Sew, Sim's cousin and husband and Morg are going. Sew's sister lives up near Surat Thani too, so after we visit Nut and her Mom, we are going to visit Sew's sister and family. Should be an interesting day. Sim said we had to leave at 7:30 in the morning and we finally got on the road around 8:00 after I picked up everyone. We were going to stop at Sim's other cousins house to get some Phuket pineapple as gifts, but none were ready to pick so we will buy some along the way. It is a 4 hour drive to Surat Thani but we stopped several times for potty breaks, to buy pineapple and stretch our legs. We finally got to Nut's house and it only took 4 phone calls for directions. It is lunch time and of course there is lots of food. We eat and all the Thais got caught up on each others doings. Me? I took a nap. I did walk down the street and check out the family businesses. They have a nursery on the corner.

After my nap it was time to go see Sew's sister. It was another 45 minutes north of where we were. She is on about 5 rai and grows various fruits and edible plants. More eating of course and catching up. No nap for me here, but I was pretty refreshed. We only stayed about an hour, and collected some plants and fruit. The house is pretty interesting. The upstairs is original Thai style and is where Sew's parents lived for 60 years. It is not lived in now but kept the same way as when her parents lived there. The sister lives downstairs in an addition that was added 10 years ago. We headed home and stopped for dinner around 6:00. Did not get home until after dark. It was a long day.

It has been raining hard and the wind has been howling for 2 days now. Heard that we were on a Tsunami Watch today too. There was a 7.9 magnitude earthquake in Sumatra. I am resisting the urge to go to the beach to see if there will be a tsunami. Later in the evening they took the Watch off so I guess we are okay.

Well, that is it for September. Fall is right around the corner. I have to get out my colored T-shirts for the cooler temps coming and put the summer whites away. Ha ha! The surf season is coming to a close, so more time for sailing, both big and small boats.

Each month I will post a picture of a unique or humorous sign I find. There are lots of them around. Most of them areThai to English translations that just don't come out exactly right.

This is also a new feature in the Journal of Jim and Sim. Queer News will feature one story per month taken from the weekly Phuket Gazette, the only English language newspaper published in Phuket. Hope you get as big a laugh as we do reading these things.