Sleepy and bleary. I can’t quite focus my eyes on the screen, and despite killer coffee, I feel as if I could enjoy another few hours of sleep.
Nothing in particular to do today, and Amy and I talked about watching a movie later.
Today I’m grateful for:
Seafood buffet grill with Amy and Aun. I wasn’t going to go originally, but in the end I decided to. The food was average but cheap.
The best thing about today was:
A late morning nap after a little book and comic reading. I finally felt a little more awake after that.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
At the seafood buffet, hygiene did not seem to be a high priority, highlighted by the maggot I found crawling across the ‘clean’ dishes. Hopefully, the spicy seafood sauce was able to kill anything that is likely to kill us.
9th May 2025 – That shop has now gone.
Something I learned today?
This evening we watched Furiosa, the latest Mad Max movie. It is big, dumb fu,n but not really that good.
Review your acts, Good and bad.
I messaged Lin to see how she was doing because after having some issues at home mid-last week, she then looked and felt sick on Thursday and Friday. Happily, she said that she was getting a little better.
Tonaor took this picture yesterday and I think it’s funny. I don’t usually see myself in profile and it shows me a little of what I look like to the kids. The expression on Namking’s face is hilarious too.
A fish for today A problem gone away Tomorrow, will you be so kind? A gift quite odd Here’s a fishing rod And you may eat all the fish you find
Today I’m feeling:
Ready for the day. I had a bit of a bad dream when my alarm went off. A weird story of Nong May and I walking across a street and she bumped into a guy and they both fell over. I was concerned for both of them and we ended up catching a scary bus to get to a doctor and insurance place. Everything around was getting darker and more ominous. I could’ve slept a lot longer but I was quite glad to get out of this dream.
Today I’m grateful for:
Not having caught everyone’s colds and flu so far. Many students are sick, coughing and sneezing in class. Sooner or later I will get sick for sure but so far so good. I can feel my throat is dry and itchy just when I’m writing this!
The best thing about today was:
Feeling like my Thai language learning is improving just by using it in class more often and trying to understand the kids when they speak Thai to me. Google Translate is much better than it was a couple of years ago and I can imagine we get to a point where we don’t even bother to learn languages anymore and use super fast translation instead.
In my grade 10 class today I asked the students how often they used messaging instead of calling and it seemed to be 80/20 favouring messaging.
Will we stop talking altogether? Once we figure out converting thoughts into text maybe our mouths will only be used for eating.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
Yesterday I was thinking about doing a particular exercise (running dictation) with a couple of my one-hour classes but then remembered that in previous years it had taken much longer, so I quickly switched them around to be in our two-hour classes, one of which was today.
I was then shocked to find them finished within the hour and us having time to spare. I stretched things out before letting them do other work or free time.
Everyone enjoyed the class, though they got hot with the running and as I had anticipated the lazier students soon got distracted but in the end, things turned out ok. I do the same exercise with another class tomorrow.
Something I learned today?
There are rumours that the terrible fires in Hawaii, which locals are saying may have killed a couple of thousand people, may have been deliberately started or at least had a deliberately delayed response as investors were looking to get the area cleared out to build a new ‘city’. Save time and money by letting everything burn!
The locals are still struggling to receive help or even information. It sure looks like a horrible situation and is close to a modern genocide if these people are to be believed.
What random memory comes to mind right now?
This is a difficult question to answer when sitting and trying to think of it. It then becomes not random. Random memories will pop up during the day but not at the time I have this question in my mind. All the things that happened today are already memories and they are already swirling around in the quagmire of my brain.
Next time an older memory does randomly appear I’ll try to remember it and come back and add it. Or more likely I will read this sometime in the future and all the text here will be the actual random memory.
What am I taking for granted?
I think I am probably taking a lot of things for granted right now, though because of that, they are difficult for me to identify. Everyday things such as water, electricity, internet, phone, computer data, and music are almost ubiquitous and easily taken for granted and would be stressful if taken away.
In some ways, I take Amy for granted but that is part of a relationship and we often remind each other in mostly humorous ways that we don’t do that.
Part of writing a gratitude entry every day is to be reminded not to take things for granted.
Miyor took this picture amongst a whole bunch of others because she was messing around with apps and filters etc. I wish the kids would put as much effort into studying English!
A cracked cup Chipped and faded Sits dusty behind antique glass A spectator to many stories Left untold
Holding congratulations aloft Cheers to that day Or sombre with lukewarm water The passing of time
The spiders came With their own tales Making a new home Hiding in wait But nothing comes All the times have died
The heat, the air The insects and the weeds A cup returns to earth Still cracked, still broken Yet still a cup
Today I’m feeling:
Strong and healthy. But also getting a little positive anxiety to start planning for next semester. It’s positive because I will use that as motivation. At the start of my exercise routine this morning I felt like I would want to fall back into bed by the end of it but I was suitably energised to get myself going. I can feel some of the exercises getting a little easier but push-ups kill me.
Today I’m grateful for:
The DuoCards app that is helping me improve my Thai learning quicker than other apps I use. I’m considering buying the subscription so that I can practice for longer. I currently use 4 free apps which are all time limited. DuoCards is a spaced repetition flashcard system similar to Anki.
The best thing about today was:
Getting a nice message from Earn after I sent her some positive reinforcement in an effort to help her combat her shyness when talking to a boy she likes. She wrote ‘i luv u t.shaun’ which comes as a big surprise as she was very rebellious and grumpy with me for a lot of the time last year.
Also today, Fah tried to sneak away from my class this afternoon and I just happened to see her and call her back and she was a little upset and impatient at the time. I messaged her later and she is smart enough to understand that she shouldn’t have done that.
When some of my students call me ‘father’ in a loving way I sometimes think that perhaps now I am suitable and knowledgeable enough to actually be a father. But that time has come and gone. It also helps that I don’t need to see ‘my children’ for more than a couple of hours at a time!
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
For the second time, someone stole my cooling powder from the small teacher’s room where I keep my things at work. I have to remember to see if I can find keys for the lockers in one of the classrooms tomorrow.
Something I learned today?
In a speech directed at the USA Xi Jinping commented on their behaviour with a Chinese idiom along the lines of ‘blowing out everyone else’s light won’t give more light to you’. I liked that as it seems appropriate.
What is one good thing I can do for myself?
Keep going.
I took this screenshot because I thought I could use it from time to time to send to students when they are feeling a little down. I’ve been collecting other similar inspirational quotes for them since too. No new pictures today.
1994ever 