A day in the life...

[Topper]

I don't think it looks that bad either, well done Lek!!!!!

[Edmond]

Yup, looks better that I thought it would.


You just know that in 6 months the big softie will be showering Lola and Coco in there.

[Topper]

Though you just know that in 6 months the big softie will be showering with Lola and Coco in there.

Helped with clarification....

[Mendip]

A fickle crowd.

Where I shower and with whom, is my business.

[cyrille]

That absolutely 100% works for me.

[helge]

If the girl likes it, so do I

What does the wife say ?

(not that it matters)
H.C. Andersen : What the Old Man Does is Always Right (sdu.dk)

[Mendip]

Fukk me... I travelled half way around the world for this...



The wife is watching the usual fare of Sunday afternoon 'comedy' shows on the telly, the daughter is up in her room 'revising', so trying not to go immediately into job mode I decided to go fishing. I've only been back for 24 hours and have already started to drink gin and tonic by the pint (I'm trying to stay off the beer).

Even Yogi soon tired of my company and decided he had somewhere better to be... I swear he does this deliberately.



So I started planning my next project... operation Buddha Room. The daughter has a perfectly good bedroom, but to be fair there is the completely wasted space of the Buddha room next door. She's a Teenager now and needs her privacy, I guess. I don't really want her having a computer in her room but she does need somewhere quiet to study, away from the constantly blaring telly downstairs so an enlarged bedroom will enable an office/study area. We're very close and have a lot of good chats while I'm away, and I like to do what I can for her. I've been encouraging her to work for the upcoming end of year exams and she seems to be taking this on independently, so I want to reward her.



So anyway, this is the 'Buddha' room, next to the daughter's bedroom which over the years has turned into little more than a storage room.



I cleared it out this afternoon, meaning that my bedroom has now turned into a storage room but that's OK, I'm only here for a few weeks.

And yes, pre-empting any comments about the state of the floor, it was pretty disgusting but we are plagued by dust around here, being surrounded by vacant ground. I decided against wasting time and mopping it up, seeing as that wall on the right will be coming down over the next few days.



And there's the much neglected Buddha shelves (?). My feet get more attention than those things and it seems ridiculous that they get their own room.



They will be moved out into the hallway above this wooden chest of draws on a similarly west-facing wall (I've thought about this). They can then be completely neglected in their new location, but my conscience will be clear.



I'm not sure where this picture will go. I liked it the first time I saw it and the idyllic scene was supposed to be how our garden and pond would be... I was pretty naive in my optimism nearly two decades ago. The baking heat, poisoned dogs, endless idiots and repeatedly infected toenails have since brought me back down to earth.



Anyway, the daughter's room...

I disturbed her revision to take this pic... yeah, with laptop and tablet both active. She must think I was born yesterday. The Buddha room is on the other side of the far wall.



So yeah, this project will start this week. After the success of the shower room conversion I can't see any issues here. I have spare floor tiles left over from the build to fill the narrow strip that the wall occupies, I'll re-use the skirting board and my only issue is making the ceiling good. I may leave the ceiling and floor tiles to a 'professional' if indeed we can find anyone. I'm happy to do the tiling but by the time I've brought a tile cutter I may as well have paid someone for a couple of days to do the finishing. I still have the same blue emulsion that covers the daughter's bedroom walls left over to make good at the end.

This picture to give some context of the layout. I once chatted to an architect and he told me that after building a house, apartment complex etc, he always left it a few months before putting in outside pathways. He said that people would naturally decide where to walk, and then he would put in the concrete pathways where people had naturally worn away paths. I'm going to copy this advice and leave both doorways open for the time being, let the daughter decide how to arrange stuff, see which door she uses and then brick up the doorway not needed. A pound to a penny, if I brick up a doorway now it will end up being the wrong one.

[malmomike77]

Is Yogi dehydrated, he looks more wrinkly than usual

[malmomike77]

Fukk me...


This picture o give some context of the layout. I once chatted to an architect and he told me that after building a house, apartment complex etc, he always left it a few months before putting in outside pathways. He said that people would naturally decide where to walk, and then he would put in the concrete pathways where people had naturally worn away paths. I'm going to copy this advice and leave both doorways open for the time being, let the daughter decide how to arrange stuff, see which door she uses and then brick up the doorway not needed. A pound to a penny, if I brick up a doorway now it will end up being the wrong one.

did he design prisons? lots of bars....

[DrWilly]

At least let your daughter use the AC for studying. The fan blowing on her neck will give her a cold.

[Mendip]

^^ Those internal security doors were installed due to a complete breakdown in communications many years ago, while I was working away. They've annoyed me ever since, but some things are best left.

^ I've relaxed the 40 degree rule during exams, but she prefers fresh air and fans in the daytime. It's her choice!

[Mendip]

Is Yogi dehydrated, he looks more wrinkly than usual

Age catches up with us all, I guess. Yogi is much like me and just looks better the older he gets!

[DrWilly]

Age catches up with us all, I guess. Yogi is much like me and just looks better the older he gets!

I think you’ve been spending too much time down lower sukhmivit…

[Stumpy]

did he design prisons? lots of bars....

I was going to say the same. guards on windows, metal inside doors. That must be loud all the time closing them. I am still with ootai. a full on remodel is in order.

As for Yogi. I think he likes showing you his nutsack as the dominant male around the place..

Look forward to the buddha room project. Do you have to have a monk come to bless it before you blow out the wall?

[Bonecollector]

^I agree, crack a window open with a fan anyday. Too much aircon during the day is really bad for you.

Yeah, the prison doors 5555 better safe than sorry I guess!

Your daughter has a nice little set up there, nice to have your desk over looking some green! Good luck in her exams!

I am sure you are very happy to be back and a big cold gin and tonic definitely makes a nice change. Having beer all the time in Thailand can make me feel very sluggish and bloated. Ive never seemed to substitute it but merely just take a break, usually with my mother in law when she has some sort of lent going on. I am definitely drinking a lot more beer here in London than I did in LOS but I guess I am working more now. Trying to stick to 330 bottles instead of those massive pint cans

[Bonecollector]

I was going to say the same. guards on windows, metal inside doors. That must be loud all the time closing them. I am still with ootai. a full on remodel is in order.

As for Yogi. I think he likes showing you his nutsack as the dominant male around the place..

Look forward to the buddha room project. Do you have to have a monk come to bless it before you blow out the wall?

But boy do I love/ miss that sound of a metal barred door closing in the heat of the late afternoon! dunno why, very nostalgic.

[Mendip]

I was going to say the same. guards on windows, metal inside doors. That must be loud all the time closing them. I am still with ootai. a full on remodel is in order.

As for Yogi. I think he likes showing you his nutsack as the dominant male around the place..

Look forward to the buddha room project. Do you have to have a monk come to bless it before you blow out the wall?

I can absolutely assure you that Yogi is not the dominant male around these parts. There are many other 'nutsack' pictures that I don't post, not on a family forum. But put it this way, not boasting but I can rival Yogi in every way.

We're not in a gated community and to be honest, security grills are the norm around this are, for similar houses. It took some getting used to but I went with the flow when the house was being built, not a big deal for me. We have had one burglary, when entry was made by simply sawing through a bar with a hacksaw (he must have been pretty skinny). The timing of the break-in was very circumstantial and I suspect a member of the extended family... it happened at exactly the time we had cash in the house to pay a builder the following day.

Apparently, the usual way is to just pop off the security grills using a car jack. I can see that working very easily.

The internal security doors are a disaster that annoy me every time I look at them. I have no idea what the wife was thinking, but to be honest, if that was the worst annoyance in my life I would be a very happy camper. They can stay purely for the peace of existing in perfect harmony with my dearest.

[BLD]

definitely drinking a lot more beer here in London than I did in LOS but I guess I am working more now. Trying to stick to 330 bottles instead of those massive pint
cans[/QUOTE] That doesn't sound very economical?.

[Bonecollector]

definitely drinking a lot more beer here in London than I did in LOS but I guess I am working more now. Trying to stick to 330 bottles instead of those massive pint
cans

That doesn't sound very economical?.[/QUOTE]

I reckon what I lose in pennies now will save me in pounds later with Thai private hospital medical bills

[Edmond]

Interesting as always.

Since I've gotten into renovating places I seem to almost auto-scan any time I see a photo of some building.



The crack from the top of the door is a quite a big one, I presume from settlement 2-3 years after it was built?

While studying such things I learned that round portholes in ships are specifically designed as such because of less pressure points to crack from

Seems to be all the rage now for new homes here to have big round windows at the front.

Possibly so they can skimp on foundation and it won't crack until after it's sold.

[armstrong]

At least let your daughter use the AC for studying. The fan blowing on her neck will give her a cold.

Guys are we not over looking this ground breaking science?

[taxexile]

i would keep both doors.

you can secure one of them from the inside with a good lock in order to give your daughter control over it and have the privacy she wants.

[Mendip]

The crack from the top of the door is a quite a big one, I presume from settlement 2-3 years after it was built?

While studying such things I learned that round portholes in ships are specifically designed as such because of less pressure points to crack from

Correct, the crack above the doorway is old and from settlement. The house has been built on 9m deep piles as we are on clay and the friction piles are designed prevent both settlement and upheaval. The piles are built into the concrete foundations for each reinforced pole and after the initial settlement, there has been no more. The house may suffer from poor finishing, but it is strong!

The circle is the strongest shape because stresses are evenly distributed around the perimeter. Stress cracks in metal can be arrested by drilling a round hole at their ends, for the same reason.

If you've ever wondered why hexagons are so poplar in nature, it's because they are the strongest and most efficient shape, closest to a circle, that tessellates. Think of the pupae cubicles in a bee nest

i would keep both doors.

you can secure one of them from the inside with a good lock in order to give your daughter control over it and have the privacy she wants.

Yes, I think this good advice. All of our internal doors have locks (for some unfathomable reason) which has caused nothing but problems in the past with a young child on the house, but will now actually be useful.

[malmomike77]

The circle is the strongest shape because stresses are evenly distributed around the perimeter

de havilland comet

[Mendip]

^ I wondered what on earth you meant until I checked Google... the de Havilland Comet's kept on crashing due to metal fatigue... due to the plane having square windows, with severe stress concentrations at the corners.

Interesting stuff. The designers should have listened to seamen!


I properly started the Buddha Room/Daughter's Bedroom Extension today and had some sever stress concentrations myself, around my temples. Unlike the de Havilland Comet, my cure has been Ya Dong.

I took down the much neglected Buddha shelves in the Buddha room having had clearance for such an auspicious operation from 'er in front of the telly, cleaned up 15 years worth of dried leaves, incense stick ash and general dust and grime, and was about to re-install them at the new, all agreed location when she came up a last minute objection.

Here is the previous Buddha Room, sans shelves and sans holes after I filled them all in.



The objection... the wall for the new location is also a bathroom wall.

I mean, FFS.

I reminded her that the new wall was also west-facing, same as before, and that Buddha would be happy. I also reminded her that as the crow flies, the previous location was just a couple of yards away from our en-suite, where I have done some pretty disgusting stuff. But apparently, despite it being close, it was a different wall, so OK with the powers that be...

If my wife was a devout Buddhist I would maybe take this stuff seriously, but she's not. I probably know more about Buddhism than she does and I'm not a fan, not up here in Isaan. Do what you want, beat your wife, beat dogs to death or poison them, offer alms, do a Wai and all OK. To be perfectly honest, the wife only goes to the Temple early on Sunday mornings as an excuse to go drinking Saturday night with her 'Buddhist' mates and stay the night, 'to make things easier'.

Suits me, I can watch the football with the dogs and daughter..

Anyway, I think the wife could sense my frustration at this last minute objection, and realising that the new location for the Buddha shelves (already taken down) was fast looking like the chicken run for nesting boxes, she relented.

And not a bad job either, even if I say so meself.



I don't want to disturb the daughter too much during her upcoming exams, so this week will be laying some wood and stuff to protect the floor tiles, and doing a lot of cuts into the wall with a grinder, from the Buddha side. My hope is that once the exams are over, the pre-prepared wall will be quickly and easily removable.

Job pretty much done.