The Air Force cousin was watching television today, the Prince of Khon Kaen was doing laundry which Chalerm was supposed to have done, and Chalerm was in Farang D.’s office to make money.
I went to an Apple store to look at iMacs. They said they were out of 24 inch models, but would get them in two days. The second store said the same, but they would get them in two months. The third store had 24 inch models in stock.
Chalerm asked me how much a new Mac would be, and I reminded him that the old one was 86 000 baht when we bought it five years ago. The new one should be less.
- Hope you find a good one, said Chalerm.
An iMac with 2gb of RAM and a 24 inch display should now cost 75 990 baht. To translate this to a language everyone understands, this sum represents 152 tricks a 500 baht in the bushes in Lumpini Park. What would you rather have, the tricks or the computer?
I would rather have the computer.
I told Chalerm I may have to sell him to pay for the new Mac. But first I will make him sell some surplus photo equipment I have. Chalerm likes the salesgirl role. This should raise part of the money I need for the new Mac.
How about the old Mac? I no longer call the Mac repair shop every day to hear them promise they will have checked it by the next day. They had it for a week already and “tomorrow” never comes.
—
It rained heavily when I was on the Skytrain. I wore my dark sunglasses. If I don’t wear them I get funny stares. Haven’t people seen a post-surgery eye before?
An American couple around 60 came and sat down across from me. The man looked at me and said:
- Sunny today?
I was not supposed to hear that.
The wife giggled and rolled her eyes.
I was not supposed to see that.
Then they continued to the usual judgemental staring which newly arrived middle aged farangs subject me to in Thailand. They look me up and down and try to imagine why I am here and what sins and depravities I engage in.
I studied her nose. It looked like she had plastic surgery to it. The nose was small and pointy in an artificial way, out of step with the rest of her features. She probably had an eye lift too.
I was glad she was not my wife.
Tags: Apple Macintosh, Bangkok, gay Thailand
October 16th, 2007 at 11:52 am
Maybe you should carry a cane, if they say anything dumb you can accidently smash their toe!
October 16th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
Even if your old Mac is dead, if you need some of the data from it, maybe you should grab the old Hard Drive, put it in an external HD case and try to recover any important data.
October 16th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
75 990 baht ? You could build a blazing hot PC for half that. Pity you can’t build a Mac.
October 16th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
Haha. Did the retailer actually say that?
October 16th, 2007 at 9:45 pm
Those middle class-middle age-judgemental farang, only
WISH they could ditch the bitch and make the switch….
ha! You know the first time she has a headache, they
are out to Patpong to “look around”!
These ppl give Thai tourism the wrong idea. . . .I
don’t think such riff raff should be allowed in the country….
Good luck w/the Mac.
October 16th, 2007 at 11:14 pm
Can’t blame you. Those kind of people are best ignored.
October 17th, 2007 at 12:32 am
Bravo, Astro, I was thinking the same thing…except I would make it a sharp whack across the shins. Isn’t it amazing that people can travel 7,500 miles from home and still be the same assholes?
October 17th, 2007 at 3:42 am
WOW!…
“…ditch the bitch and make the switch….”
That is truly insightful….and I must admit…
Everytime I see Senator Larry Craig on TV that is exactly the look he has in his eyes when his wife is standing besides him….
October 17th, 2007 at 6:02 am
why not a new pc based laptop…could be had for $500 to $700…im not sure mac is worth the premium anymore (from an early mac fan)
October 17th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
Shoulda told ‘em you had eye surgery (and showed the scars) after getting stabbed in the eye for being Christian…then warned them not to travel without a trained bodyguard as there is trouble with the Muslims…all with a great air of concern for their middle-American welfare…Their reaction, I’m betting, would have been priceless…:)))
October 19th, 2007 at 1:19 am
Right on, KOboy - would love to have seen their reaction to that one…
October 27th, 2007 at 3:51 am
One thing overlooked in this post is that it does seem that Chalerm has farmed out the laundry to someone else. He doesn’t miss a trick!