Saturday, May 26, 2012
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Sckool
Back at school for a few days now and it's been okay so far. Every year I weild the iron fist ever harder, with my zero tolerance on sleepy infants. It's for their own good. If I don't save them from being a thick zombie, no one else here will. That's for sure.
Oi and Grace are heading up to Chum Pon tonight for a few days. Hopefully....we are buying a house and some farmland! Oi's going up to investigate and maybe put down a deposit if it looks good. It's quite small land (3 rai) but enough and it already has fruit trees which Oi's family will start to farm. Then next year we will aim to move there and settle down in Chum Pon. I want to grow vegetables. I'll have to teach as well of course to keep real money coming in, but atr least we will have a place of our own, and it will be in the country. Should be fun.
Still going strong on the diet and everything is fine. I am definitely better not to buy or eat anything that is not good for me. My box of nuts provides the snacks I need.
Eyes on Europe for what is happening.
Oi and Grace are heading up to Chum Pon tonight for a few days. Hopefully....we are buying a house and some farmland! Oi's going up to investigate and maybe put down a deposit if it looks good. It's quite small land (3 rai) but enough and it already has fruit trees which Oi's family will start to farm. Then next year we will aim to move there and settle down in Chum Pon. I want to grow vegetables. I'll have to teach as well of course to keep real money coming in, but atr least we will have a place of our own, and it will be in the country. Should be fun.
Still going strong on the diet and everything is fine. I am definitely better not to buy or eat anything that is not good for me. My box of nuts provides the snacks I need.
Eyes on Europe for what is happening.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Being A Vegan
Back on track now, and I must say, that in addition to juicing the step towards being vegan is something to behold.
Days of only eating vegetables and not touching meat or dairy brings a wonderful sense of lightness. Knowing that no animal fat is entering your body and that what there is inside you, is slowly being expelled is marvelous.
Right now my juicing refinement process is getting the cost down; finding the key ingredients and buying them as cheaply as possible. Kale is very cheap here, though Oi warns me that it is the vegetable that is most treated with pesticides. We must be careful. Apples and celery are both quite costly. Carrots and cumcumbers are both very cheap.
The vegan thing, being rather smug, is does set you apart from the crowd. I often complain at my private class of the scores of kids wandering past the window with cokes and fatty snacks piling onto buses to take them home. Living without the heaviness is what I enjoy the most, especially when I have to get up all the time to go and play with Grace. Yes, getting up, this is the real benefit and worth more than any bank balance could provide.
And as one has stated, one becomes distinctly aware of anything bad passing ones lips.
It's a huge quest, but if you fall at any time, you can always get back on it, like I did with my little relapse last weekend.
Yes, being vegan puts you at a distinct advantage over the rest of the ailing human race. Everyone should do it, then none of these animals would have to be slaughtered, and who knows, it might be a part of the whole general way forward that Man is so desperately trying to find right now, as he continues his extraction and burning of Nature's resources.
Days of only eating vegetables and not touching meat or dairy brings a wonderful sense of lightness. Knowing that no animal fat is entering your body and that what there is inside you, is slowly being expelled is marvelous.
Right now my juicing refinement process is getting the cost down; finding the key ingredients and buying them as cheaply as possible. Kale is very cheap here, though Oi warns me that it is the vegetable that is most treated with pesticides. We must be careful. Apples and celery are both quite costly. Carrots and cumcumbers are both very cheap.
The vegan thing, being rather smug, is does set you apart from the crowd. I often complain at my private class of the scores of kids wandering past the window with cokes and fatty snacks piling onto buses to take them home. Living without the heaviness is what I enjoy the most, especially when I have to get up all the time to go and play with Grace. Yes, getting up, this is the real benefit and worth more than any bank balance could provide.
And as one has stated, one becomes distinctly aware of anything bad passing ones lips.
It's a huge quest, but if you fall at any time, you can always get back on it, like I did with my little relapse last weekend.
Yes, being vegan puts you at a distinct advantage over the rest of the ailing human race. Everyone should do it, then none of these animals would have to be slaughtered, and who knows, it might be a part of the whole general way forward that Man is so desperately trying to find right now, as he continues his extraction and burning of Nature's resources.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
87.9kg
I'm back on it, feeling lighter and a bit better, though I had four small cans of Guinness yesterday afternoon and felt a bit seedy at night, but I am glad I am down from 89kg.
We bought a motorbike for Oi yesterday. A secondhand one at 42,000baht. She starts her new job next week, so she needs it.
She's only working 2 days a week and it pays 6,000 baht a month. It's partly for her sanity too. She can meet folks, have something to do and not be sitting at home. She's really looking forward to it.
I start next Thursday at the main school and privates kick off again. I could actually not work at all. It would suit me fine, but I guess I have to keep the beans rolling in.
After Patrick exclaimed about Kate Bush's Cloudbusting video, "Oh, the one with Donald Sutherland!" my ears pricked up and watch it. Yes, by golly, it's him. My hero! I started researching the song which lead me to Wilhem Reich, inventor of the cloudbuster, incarcerated by the US government and died in prison. His son, Peter wrote a book about his memories as a child, "A Book of Dreams". I found it on the net and have started reading it. How Kate Bush came across this as a girl, then wrote an awesome song with Donald Sutherland in the video (which he did for free) is beyond me. It just goes to show the depth of this fine woman.
I did further reading on cloudbusting, and of course any Tom, Dick or Harry can do it and it appears it is actually a pretty dumb thing to be messing about with.
more later....
We bought a motorbike for Oi yesterday. A secondhand one at 42,000baht. She starts her new job next week, so she needs it.
She's only working 2 days a week and it pays 6,000 baht a month. It's partly for her sanity too. She can meet folks, have something to do and not be sitting at home. She's really looking forward to it.
I start next Thursday at the main school and privates kick off again. I could actually not work at all. It would suit me fine, but I guess I have to keep the beans rolling in.
After Patrick exclaimed about Kate Bush's Cloudbusting video, "Oh, the one with Donald Sutherland!" my ears pricked up and watch it. Yes, by golly, it's him. My hero! I started researching the song which lead me to Wilhem Reich, inventor of the cloudbuster, incarcerated by the US government and died in prison. His son, Peter wrote a book about his memories as a child, "A Book of Dreams". I found it on the net and have started reading it. How Kate Bush came across this as a girl, then wrote an awesome song with Donald Sutherland in the video (which he did for free) is beyond me. It just goes to show the depth of this fine woman.
I did further reading on cloudbusting, and of course any Tom, Dick or Harry can do it and it appears it is actually a pretty dumb thing to be messing about with.
more later....
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
RELAPSE!
God, the shock!
After my morning swim and an extended weekend, which meant chasing Grace around the house for an extra day, I thought, quite humbly, "Maybe I'll be in the 86's, in terms of kilograms.
89KG
Jeepers! What a terrible number to flash up on the LCD fancy set of scales at The Gym.
I was ashamed. Then came the horrible reflection of the truth. How I had accepted some fried chicken from Oi, greedily scoffed handfuls of Pringles from Grace, drank beer on at least 3 nights in the past week, devoured tender pork from Oi's soup, licked to death not less than 1 ice cream, began putting creamer in my increasing amounts of daily coffee, and perhaps some other trifling indulgences.
Crime. The horror. Guilty of failure.
And bounced back nearly 2 kilograms in less than a week.
That's it. Back to nuts, vegetable chili and juice.
I know relapses occur, and yes, we learn from them, but I was as shocked by my sudden increase as I was by my staggering decrease.
It's back on, this time with no weakness. As I stated earlier, folks and ladies, its a life change. There is no going back, unless, of course, I want to die of stroke or heart disease aged 55. This is the reality.
Creamer, I began when Don brought some to the house. Surfing the Net last night, I came across an article on how dreadfully toxic it is. This morning I threw the bag into the bin.
Enough about me. Europe.
Wonderful scenes of the populas finally giving two fingers to the pressures caused by the banks yet pushed onto the people by the governments. Hooray! Maybe this will be the start of great wheels turning. A shame it didn't come from England, but the French in glorious form, and poor, broken Greece.
Exciting times, and a far cry from the East, where things are very different and strange.
Times here are tightening up actually. Wages are dropping and hordes of fresh faced Westerners turning up, presumably because of zero prospects at home bring nasty Thai schools handing out 8 month working contracts and low wages. Yes....maybe some of the duff teachers will have to move on. Of course, Thailand too, must be careful as other Asian countries offer a better deal.
Oi said that if ever I find myself unable to find work as a teacher, I can always go and work on the farm. A prospect that does not displease me. In fact, viewing the tiny vegetable cropping farms in Stronghold Kingdoms, it does look rather pleasant.
After my morning swim and an extended weekend, which meant chasing Grace around the house for an extra day, I thought, quite humbly, "Maybe I'll be in the 86's, in terms of kilograms.
89KG
Jeepers! What a terrible number to flash up on the LCD fancy set of scales at The Gym.
I was ashamed. Then came the horrible reflection of the truth. How I had accepted some fried chicken from Oi, greedily scoffed handfuls of Pringles from Grace, drank beer on at least 3 nights in the past week, devoured tender pork from Oi's soup, licked to death not less than 1 ice cream, began putting creamer in my increasing amounts of daily coffee, and perhaps some other trifling indulgences.
Crime. The horror. Guilty of failure.
And bounced back nearly 2 kilograms in less than a week.
That's it. Back to nuts, vegetable chili and juice.
I know relapses occur, and yes, we learn from them, but I was as shocked by my sudden increase as I was by my staggering decrease.
It's back on, this time with no weakness. As I stated earlier, folks and ladies, its a life change. There is no going back, unless, of course, I want to die of stroke or heart disease aged 55. This is the reality.
Creamer, I began when Don brought some to the house. Surfing the Net last night, I came across an article on how dreadfully toxic it is. This morning I threw the bag into the bin.
Enough about me. Europe.
Wonderful scenes of the populas finally giving two fingers to the pressures caused by the banks yet pushed onto the people by the governments. Hooray! Maybe this will be the start of great wheels turning. A shame it didn't come from England, but the French in glorious form, and poor, broken Greece.
Exciting times, and a far cry from the East, where things are very different and strange.
Times here are tightening up actually. Wages are dropping and hordes of fresh faced Westerners turning up, presumably because of zero prospects at home bring nasty Thai schools handing out 8 month working contracts and low wages. Yes....maybe some of the duff teachers will have to move on. Of course, Thailand too, must be careful as other Asian countries offer a better deal.
Oi said that if ever I find myself unable to find work as a teacher, I can always go and work on the farm. A prospect that does not displease me. In fact, viewing the tiny vegetable cropping farms in Stronghold Kingdoms, it does look rather pleasant.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Dreaming....
The whole health project is going well and I am fairly astonished at the weight loss. I ain't ever this before and twice I have underestimated the amount it has dropped.
It should be noted that this is a life style change. It is not a temporary thing. It has been good fun and very interesting, but it is not without temptation. Fried chicken (let's face it, a killer) and even Pringles disturbed my balance, when Grace made a grab for them in the supermarket. Later, I scoffed some, but I did stop before I got that fucking alum mouth of dry starch that those horrid yellow discs give you.
Actually I looked up on Google "Are Pringles good for you?". Sure enough, some bozo had asked the question and got a barrage of abuse in response. It makes one imagine all the shit that people eat, and how much of it is "dead food", as Patrick calls it. It's a good health check. It this dead food, you can ask yourself. If the answer is yes, then don't eat it. It's just the right thing to do.
Remastered Blondie track flood from my speakers.
School looms. I'm not very enthusiastic. I am pining my hopes on moving to Chum Pon. I'm done here. It will be good to have an adventure and new things going on. In multiple aspects of life here in Hat Yai have started to go dry and sour, and I keep telling Oi, it's time to move on. She tends to agree.
I can cling on to the idea that very time I do something this year, will be for the last time. It ain't that bad, but it ain't getting better.
It should be noted that this is a life style change. It is not a temporary thing. It has been good fun and very interesting, but it is not without temptation. Fried chicken (let's face it, a killer) and even Pringles disturbed my balance, when Grace made a grab for them in the supermarket. Later, I scoffed some, but I did stop before I got that fucking alum mouth of dry starch that those horrid yellow discs give you.
Actually I looked up on Google "Are Pringles good for you?". Sure enough, some bozo had asked the question and got a barrage of abuse in response. It makes one imagine all the shit that people eat, and how much of it is "dead food", as Patrick calls it. It's a good health check. It this dead food, you can ask yourself. If the answer is yes, then don't eat it. It's just the right thing to do.
Remastered Blondie track flood from my speakers.
School looms. I'm not very enthusiastic. I am pining my hopes on moving to Chum Pon. I'm done here. It will be good to have an adventure and new things going on. In multiple aspects of life here in Hat Yai have started to go dry and sour, and I keep telling Oi, it's time to move on. She tends to agree.
I can cling on to the idea that very time I do something this year, will be for the last time. It ain't that bad, but it ain't getting better.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Trail Mix
Here's a handy tip for all health nuts.
Nuts are a key ingredient to the budding dieter.
Don, the health guru, knows the best way to do this, as I am sure Colletts of the world are too.
Buy a tuperware pot, I have bought about 5 lately, by a bag of raisins and at least 3 bags of different, untreated nuts. Chuck them all in in the tub together, mis it up a bit, and there you are.
This is your source of snacking and of eating those vital nuts.
Nuts are a key ingredient to the budding dieter.
Don, the health guru, knows the best way to do this, as I am sure Colletts of the world are too.
Buy a tuperware pot, I have bought about 5 lately, by a bag of raisins and at least 3 bags of different, untreated nuts. Chuck them all in in the tub together, mis it up a bit, and there you are.
This is your source of snacking and of eating those vital nuts.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
87,1
Crikey....I went sw2imming again today (Wednesday). Check the scales.
87.1 kg
I was stunned.
Yesterday, things went slightly aschew as we went into town and as we were both hungry and I had just got paid, we went to KFC.
I had the zinger burger meal.
I felt really strange in there. The fries were hard and tasteless. There was a huge dollop of mayo in the burger, I was scared of, and I just felt dizzy and faint.
Then there were some noisy Singaporean guys there shouting, "sell, sell, sell!"
I thought, "Jeepers, when are you gonna stop?"
We got back home and I felt much better. Also, it was blindingly hot in town. Coming back onthe bike, I could feel a blast of colder air and we came into the countryside.
On top of that, swimming today, I became distinctly aware of the stench of petrol every time I came up for breath.
Still, just made a new juice; carrots, apples, celery and parsley. And it's lovely.
I wonder what my weight will be next time I go swimming.
87.1 kg
I was stunned.
Yesterday, things went slightly aschew as we went into town and as we were both hungry and I had just got paid, we went to KFC.
I had the zinger burger meal.
I felt really strange in there. The fries were hard and tasteless. There was a huge dollop of mayo in the burger, I was scared of, and I just felt dizzy and faint.
Then there were some noisy Singaporean guys there shouting, "sell, sell, sell!"
I thought, "Jeepers, when are you gonna stop?"
We got back home and I felt much better. Also, it was blindingly hot in town. Coming back onthe bike, I could feel a blast of colder air and we came into the countryside.
On top of that, swimming today, I became distinctly aware of the stench of petrol every time I came up for breath.
Still, just made a new juice; carrots, apples, celery and parsley. And it's lovely.
I wonder what my weight will be next time I go swimming.
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