The Babysitters

Multiply Site

This place seems to be taking off a bit now and there are some great music downloads and pics to find on there from a range of different people. My site can be found here:

http://andy69.multiply.com/

It's got a load of old band demo's on there that can be listened to or downloaded. So go and enjoy!

27th October 2005 It's my 43rd Birthday!

Wow!
Day off work today. Birthdays and work just don't mix in my calender. Got up at 8.50 today after Siam jumped on me in bed. Ten a bit of a family meeting in the bedroom when Panee bought me tea in bed and Tyla joined us also.
Off to leamington this afternoon. The weather looks as though it could be nice as the sun is shining and a high of about 21c. We went to the Thai shop and then for a wander around the shops in Leamington. We went for a Mcdonald's and then off to the park and let the kids play on the swings and slides.
During the evening we went for a curry with Iain and Mary before going to to see some bands at the Jailhouse pub. Met up with some friends (Stevo, Black Paul and Paul. Missed the 1st band, Killin Zoe (Sorry) My mates said they were very good. We were late getting there as we went for a curry and took a while to get the meal. Didn't get to see Scarlet Roulette as we were drinkin in the bar. Could hear 'em but they seemed to play all Guns 'n'Roses stuff, but not that well. Any Given Day managed to drag me away from the bar, to watch 'em play their Punky Ramonesy stuff. They get better everytime I see em. Far better now they have lost their girly singer and I believe they have slimmed down to a 3 piece also. Adam Bomb was pretty good, although I went in there a little blind not knowing what to expect. The thing that stood out was that they were all excellent Muscians. Went home before he finished though, I'm afraid to say I was a little worse for wear( I am getting old ya know LOL) Panee nursed me back to health upon arrival home. But a great night was had by all.
One crazy thing I noticed while at the gig is, we speak to each other on the Glitzinet board all the time and when your at a gig, your lookin around for people that say they'll be there and you don't recognise them from Adam!

Siam Posing... October 2005.

Siam October 2005. Siam loves to pose for the camera. This set of pics shows off the black eye that she got on her birthday, when she walked into the corner of a table at McDonalds.

The night Me and Panee met! 26th December 2001

My 1st trip to LOS (The Land Of Smiles) was back in December 2001. I went there with some friends for a wedding. I had no idea what to expect and was quite overcome by Thailand. I had never imagined in my life I would ever go to a country on the other side of the world. To go on holiday with my friends in itself was something new to me. The furthest I had been abroad before, had been to Spain with my family. And what followed charged the course of my life forever!
So I went to Thailand with the expectations of late nights, good food and partying and sunbathing, and all in the good company of my friends. Of course we also had a wedding to attend and our itinerary meant we would be travelling around Thailand a fair bit.The trip took me to Bangkok, Koh Samui and Hui Hin.
Bangkok is obviously the 1st place you will hit upon your arrival in Thailand. After probably taking an age to get through Thai customs. I am told probably the longest wait to get through customs, you can expect any where in the world , although apart from my 1st visit I've managed to clear it fairly quickly. I learnt how to jump the que a little.

The 1st thing that hits you upon leaving the airport is the heat and secondly the smell in the air from all the food that is cooked on the 100's of food stalls that inhabit more or less every street corner in Bangkok. Another thing that you cannot miss as you exit the customs area, just beyond a barrier on your left as you come out, are all the taxi drivers and their representatives looking to get some fares and take you into downtown Bangkok to one of the many hotels.

We arrived in Bangkok about mid day. We were met at the airport by Rico's cousin who had, what I can only describe as a minibus. We loaded up and got onto the freeway heading for downtown Bangkok towards our hotel, The Tong Tara. We checked into our rooms and got freshened up. I was sharing with Iain, while Paul shared with Kants, in the room next door. We all headed down to the hotel reception and sat down for a chat and a beer. Taking in the beautiful view of the waitress that served us. One of Paul's friends that joined us, had already been there a day before us, and had a few ideas as where to go out for a meal and some beers. He knew of a bar that was hassle free (meaning that no-one hassled you to buy drinks for them), in the Patpong area of Bangkok. We all went out for a walk and ended up jumping in a cab. We found ourselves in an area with a KFC and McDonald's. l found myself having a KFC, before we returned to the hotel to freshen up a bit and grab 40 winks.
We all then met up in the foyer of the hotel. A couple of beers and an ogle of the waitress and we were ready to venture out into the unknown again, and took a stroll down the street. It was early evening and the sun had gone down. It was still very warm and there was a heavy smelt of cooking in the air. The five of us walked for a while, before hoping into a taxi and going off to a restaurant, Kants knew of. Upon finding it, only to discover it was closed!
We took a walk down a further street which took in the sights of the stalls selling all sorts of merchandise Unbeknown at the time but the street we were on led to the infamous red light district of Patpong. I recall that we went off the street a little to this rather posh dining area, where we stopped for a meal and a few beers. The meal was great although I was unsure what Thai food to try. I decided on a curry dish in the end. Not sure though if it was Iain's curry or mine, that came inside a coconut.
After the meal we headed back down to the street again and continued walking into Patpong.
We were greeted by hundreds of neon bar sign lights as we entered Patpong. We were immediately pounced on by girls outside the clubs and bars. They were wanting us to go in for drinks an to see the girls performing shows an dancing. It was very busy with people and market stall traders, selling their merchandise. We eventually reached this bar that we had heard about, situated on a corner. The bar was called the Musik Café. It was packed with people and there was a live band playing cover songs. One song from that night that stuck out for me and summed up the night by the end was Bon Jovi's 'One Wild Night'. I seem to be humming it for weeks after. There were waitress's getting the drinks for us. We all stood outside drinking ,although there were tables and chairs to sit at. Inside the bar there was a small dance floor with people dancing.
To Be Continued...........

Escapades of purchasing an American Fridge Freezer!!!

Well 14th September it all started, with the fridge escapades.

We ordered our new fridge from Powerhouse in Coventry and paid via a no deposit, 12 month interest free period deal. Filled out all the paperwork with a salesman called Ajay, who was very helpful and seemed to know about the product he was selling. We were offered a survey and delivery for a fee of £70. The survey involved someone coming out to our house prior to the delivery to check to make sure that the American style fridge we had bought would get through all the gates and doors when delivering. A delivery day of Thursday 22nd September was agreed. I was told that someone would be in touch the following day (15th September) to arrange a time to come to our house and do some measurements. This was classed as the survey. I was told that they would be in and out in a matter of minutes and they would also be able to decide from this, whether the doors would need to come come off the fridge in order to get it through the entrance to our house.
No one rang on the Thursday during the day so I rang the shop in the evening and spoke with Ajay. He told me that the information had been past on to the necessary dept and assured me they would be in touch. So Friday 16th came, and again I rang in themid afternoon and spoke with Ajay, as no one had rang me during the day again. Again I was assured that they would be in touch well before the following weeks delivery day of Thursday 22nd September.
So onto Saturday afternoon, and still no survey date had been finalized. So a trip to the shop was the next thing. I went in and spoke with Ajay again. He then contacted the depot while I was there and was told that all the customers information (i.e. telephone number etc) had been received and the surveyor would be in contact by Monday at the latest. Tuesday morning then arrived and still no phone call from the surveyor. I phoned the shop yet again and spoke with another assistant (as Ajay was busy) and explained the situation. She in turn gave me a number to ring in order to chase up the survey myself. This number turned out to be the number to enquire about deliveries and could not help me with the survey. So then it was back on the phone to Ajay who then rang the surveyor's himself. He then finally rang me back and said they would ringing me within half an hour. Now they did ring me and told me that they would be at my house by dinner time on Wednesday 21st September, after seeing 2 other customers.
Now Wednesday was not the most convenient day for us as I was at work and could not get time off at that short a notice and my wife goes to English classes. So I got my Mother to come round to the house so she could be there when the man came to do the survey. She arrived at about 10am and was there until nearly 2.00pm. When the man had not arrived by 1.00pm, I decided to ring the shop again. It took nearly half an hour to get through to the shop. But when I did get through to the shop, after 2 phone calls, they said they would check when the surveyor would be arriving and ring me back. They rang back and said he would be there within the hour. He arrived about 1.45pm and took one look at the gate and said he could tell without measuring that the fridge would not go through. He then did some quick measurements of the gate, the back door and the conservatory door. He said that the fridge was 27" and would not pass through the gate, without dismantling the gate and part of the fence, or the conservatory door. He then went on his way in what must of been a fleeting few minutes.
So with much disappointment during the evening of the 21st September I headed back to the Powerhouse store, to cancel the fridge- freezer I had ordered. I left my Mum at home babysitting my daughter while I went up. Now when I arrived I spoke to Ajay about what had happened with the survey and then he passed me on to Christina who then in turn rang up the man who had come out to do the survey. The man assured Christina that there was no way that the fridge was going to go through the gateways and doorways of my property as they needed a clearance of 27" ( aprox 69cm) and enough room for hands to hold on to the fridge to get it through. So after the phone call I was asked what I wanted to do? Did I want to purchase a smaller fridge or have a refund then or in a couple of days time. I was on my own and knew that my wife would need to be there to choose another fridge and also said that we may go elsewhere to purchase one. I decided to get the refund. Christina then proceeded to do the refund. While she did this I went over to take a look at the fridges which were laid out in the middle of the floor as the shop was getting a refit. There was a Scottish lady, Janice, who was locating the fridges into new positions, that I began to speak with. I enquired with her as to the aprox depth of a normal fridge freezer and explained that I had just cancelled an order for an American Fridge/Freezer. She looked at me in disbelief that I could not get it into my house. She was helping out with the refit and she was from a Scottish store. She explained that she sold loads of these American Fridges up in Scotland and never had any difficulty getting them into houses. She said that the widest part of the fridge is 60cm, but the doors would need to come off, along with all the packaging. Anyway she then went off to find out why a customer had been lost and tried to arrange a courier to deliver the fridge. In the mean time I rang my Mum back at the house and got her to check out the measurements of the gate and doors. She confirmed that there was definitely space for 60cms to go through without touching the sides. In Janice's words,' if a washing machine can get through the openings, then a fridge/freezer most definitely would'. We hadhadd a washing machine delivered only a few days earlier by a different company, so I was certain that the gaps were wide enough. As the paperwork had been processed now I decided to go away and think about things as they stood, and get the wife's opinion also.
On the morning of the 22nd September I decided to ring Ajay at the shop and see what could be done about getting this fridge/freezer reordered and delivered as soon as possible considering the circumstances of the cancellation the night before. So after a couple of phone calls the order was reinstated, and was told I would need to return to the shop, to sign the paperwork, ready for a delivery to us by Saturday 24th September. I was told this time that the survey fee would not be required this time and I would only be charged £20 delivery charge. The £50 survey fee was deducted from the bill as a discount after all the hassle with the original order. I was told the drivers would know that the fridge was to be delivered directly into our kitchen upon delivery.
Ajay also rang me to offer me the chance of an earlier delivery on Friday 23rd September. This offer I declined as I wanted to be at home when the delivery came as I still felt there could be a problem. I went up to the shop during the evening of Friday 23rd September, to sign the paperwork. I was assured by Ajay that the drivers knew that all the packaging would be taken off and taken away for disposal. I was also told that the drivers understood that the doors would need to come off the fridge in order to get it onto the property. The instructions to them were clear, that they were to get it into the house, no questions.
Saturday 24th September I rang the number on receipt to find out a delivery time. They then took my number and rang the van driver before ringing me back. I was informed delivery would be during the afternoon after 1.00 pm. This was fine, so we went out early morning and returned home for 12.30pm. No sign of the delivery by 2.30pm, so I decided to ring again and was informed that they would be with us within the next 2 hours. About 4.20 the lorry turned up. As I walked down our drive to greet the driver, immediatelytly stated that there was no way the fridge was going to go through the side gate and then checked the conservatory door and said the same again. I then tried to get the store on the phone to resolve the situation before they left. I waited for about 10 mins on the phone when I got through but Ajay seemed to be busy and no-one else could help, so I was left on hold. All the time trying to tell the driver that the fridge would go through if he took the packaging off and the doors off the fridge. The driver told me that we had not paid to have it delivered into the house. I tried to tell him about all the trouble we had had with the survey and the fact the delivery had been discounted. He was not interested in hearing what I had to say though, it seemed. He then rang his boss who told him to leave it on the driveway or take it back. Meanwhile I spoke on the phone to the store with no joy and the driver decided to speak with my wife about the fridge. There were a few sharp words which caused, to enrage my wife as the driver was not willing to listen to anything that we told him. My wife then just wanted to go down to the shop and sort things out. We declined to except delivery and sent the driver on his way. We then headed to the store to see if we could resolve things and get the lorry turned around while it was still in the area.
We got to the store and explained things but they were unable to do any thing about the delivery on the lorry. To resolve things the shop offered to send out the shop model on their private courier. They offered a discount of £50 which I rejected as I thought it had too many scratches on it. They then knocked off another £30 discount, which I accepted and they said it would be delivered at around 7.30pm that evening. We then went off to do some shopping as we had originally planned.
The courier's turned up at our house at about 8.20pm. It was dark by then so the van was backed up onto our driveway so they could take the packaging and the doors off the fridge in the spotlight from the house. We made them a cuppa which they gratefulatful of. They took the fridge apart and took all the bits into the house before wheeling the main body on a sack truck into the house. Proof that the fridge would go through the gateway, is shown in the photo I took pictured below.
Once there they assembled it again and got on their way. The drivers also took our old fridge away, although we had to pay them £10, for doing it. They were on there way by 9.10pm. I then discovered that the fridge was missing the hose, to plumb it into the water mains, in order to get the water andispenserpencer working. So another trip up to Powerhouse was due again on the Sunday. So the hose was ordered and took just over a week to arrive and about 3 phone calls to make sure it was coming in. Any way I collected it from the store and then realized that there was possibly a connector missing which linked together the new hose and the hose attached to the back of the fridge. I then contacted the shop again the following day. I spoke with Ajay again who said he would get one ordered. Again a long wait followed for this to come in. I phoned on Thursday 13th October to find that the connector and another hose was at the shop awaiting my collection. I wasn't sure at that point though, when a convenient time would be for me, to go and collect it. The hose was collected and the fridge is now up and running as it should be.
The only thing that is waiting to be sorted out and I await to see the outcome is the dicount that we were offered for taking the shop soiled fridge has not been refunded. I have chased this on several occasions now and the answer has been each time that head office has to raise a cheque for the refund/ dicount of £80 and they will do it in dew coarse?!??!!?

Siam's 2nd Birthday!

Not a bad day today as it was fairly warm but not as nice as the day she was born.We went to McDonald's for Siam's 2nd birthday. Panee had a night off work and we took my Mum along with me and Tyla also. We were a little dissappointed as the Play area was shut for repairs. We had a meal and then we returned to the house where we opened a few presents and cards with Siam. We then did the Birthday cake and Siam blew the candles out and we sang Happy Birthday. Tyla and Siam also played on the slide that Tyla had bought her for her birthday. They had great fun on it.
Siam's 2nd Birthday

Our Wedding day: 21st March 2003

No Big grand Wedding ceremony here. No Dowry to pay. We just had the Amphur registration, which consists of us signing some paperwork. We then hopped into a taxi and went to Pantip Plaza to do some shopping. We then sat outside at some tables and had a beer and sat chatting and watching all the traffic passing by. We took some photo's and then had a walk back to Panee's room. On the way we bought some beers, a KFC, some Thai food. Then we sat in Panee's room chatting, eating and drinking with a few friends dropping by also. I phoned my best mate and me Mum back in UK and told them we'd got married. My Mum was a little shocked, although this was then the 1st time she and Panee spoke together. Ian was more than a little disappointed as he was due to fly out the following month to be at the wedding, as a witness. But due to the long process's that things seem to take in Thailand, we decided to bring the day foward by a bout a month. Marriage on a cheap budget. We are as happy as anything though. Mind you we did tell the Embassy when we went for the visa interview that we would have a ceremony when we arrive in England. But we never did have it. But maybe one day in Los we will have a Thai ceremony.