Well here we are in Krabi getting Steve set up to build his big resort pool. Spent a day searching in Krabi town for the few hardware stores and watch Steve and the various salesmen communicate through sign language and pictionary to procure the needed equipment on his shopping list. It is quite funny and entertaining to watch this process. It's part of his daily going on's , being patient and inventive while adapting. There's quite a few laughs in this world of creative translation. Now don't get me wrong he has learned a lot more Thai than I have. Steve knows few words and some construction lingo. Each day a new challenge! For most the biggest of battles is monsoon weather. Even then someone will come along and unplug an invaluable sump pump to help fill the pool prematurely. I get to enjoy driving around with him in his brand spankin new diesel powered silver Ford Ranger. When I first met Steve he had the same model of truck. Talk about full circle. Again he is working with very eager crews that want to learn new things and put in as much overtime as possible. Now my brother Bart works out of town and I totally understand where they're all coming from, if your away from home and loved ones to do a job you might as well be putting in the long days with no time off cause what else is there to do but make some money. This crew is also two couples. They are about 30-ish. Woot is a funny man and has a contagious laugh, his wife has one of the nicest smiles I have ever seen, with bright eyes to match her personality. Chang is a more serious type and the mechanic Mr fixit kinda guy in the crew. His wife is the quiet one in the group and they are all great workers. One day after work we took them to Big C. It is our back home version of Walmart Superstore. When we picked them up they all said hello Saw wa dee kaw and after that I was lost in their conversation. They just kept repeating phrases louder and faster hoping I would get what they were saying. I kept shrugging my shoulders and saying I don't know???? This is hard to explain but it was so funny. And to think this is what Steve goes through every day! Laughter goes a long way and it beats the band over yelling! We have noticed that there are very few dogs in our area but lots of cats. Stephan the owner of the resort that Steve is working for told us the other day that the Buddhist Thai's like their dogs while the Muslim Thais don't, as they pack and can become mean and a nuisance. While out riding my bike I have encountered on two separate occasions "the big monitor lizards". These guys are huge! The first one I saw was only a couple feet between me and trying to cross the road. I stopped and waited for him but he stopped too. Yikes! It was only a few seconds but it freaked me out. Then a Thai man on his motorcycle came up the road and smiled as he new what I was freaked out about. I say smiling but I know he was holding in his laughter, (scaredy cat farrang) Oh ya I am! They're about three feet long and wide as my calf, for those that know me I have big calfs!
With all the rain at night the frogs are happily croaking or whatever you would call that sound and then we had a few sunny days and then we just hear crickets doing their thing. Unfortunately we have heard more frogs than crickets. We've made a few trips to Krabi for some much needed supplies (wine) and the rule here in Thailand while buying alcohol is you are not allowed to buy between 2-5 p.m. unless you buy over 10 liters! We have been told this rule so that people are not drunk and on the streets when the kids are getting out from school. So how much sense does that make? We had a National holiday and were told the crew must have a day off. Steve and I went to find the hot springs. After about an hour drive we ended up at the local watering hole (not the drinking kind). This was not the one on the map and was where the local Thais go. The one we were trying to find was somewhere else but as when things like this happen it is usually for the best. We enjoyed our time being the only foreigners there and like most in the world the kids are so funny. A few boys kept coming around us and saying hello, hello and then they would run away. This hot spring had 7 different pools with varying degrees in temperatures. It was a good soak while being blasted periodically with rain. On the way home we stopped at Tesco Lotus Superstore. And that it was as I finally found a basket for my bike! The things that excite me now, go figure? So now I am hooked up and will be able to carry the many treats from my trips to the market. Yeah! Had dinner with Max, a salesman from Steve's job and his wife Goon. In Thailand the people here have a formal name but are also given a slang name and goon means prawn and she is a cute little thing. We went to their hotel, Beach Terrace and had a yummy dinner with good conversation. Shared 4 appies, 2 soups, 2 stirfries along with 4 mojitos and 4 beers all with fantastic service ocean side and the bill came to under 60 dollars including tip. Gotta love it. A few days later Moose, the owner of Mod-Com Pools came and took us out for dinner after just returning from the South East Asian swimming pool convention in Bangkok and was pumped to tell us all the great reviews they received on his revolutionary new fiberglass pool construction system. There was a lot of interest from many countries including India, The Philippines, Malaysia, Laos, Burma (Miramar) and Vietnam to name a few! So who knows what the future might have in store for us, we are definitely readily willing and Steve is very capable. And I'm able, tee hee. The other day at our place I noticed a group of ants trying to get a piece of breadcrumb the size of my baby fingernail into the wall to their home, so rather them watch them continue their struggle I sliced it into smaller sections and poof it was gone. Becoming more Buddhist like all the time? Or as our friend Anne said, a little weird. I think perhaps a bit of both!
