No presents, no cake with candles, not even a sodding card; what’s wrong with you bastards?

Check this. I know; a rather inconsequential post about a broken switch on my coffee machine. But it’s the first post on Pattaya days and it happened four years ago today; and as blog years are five times normal; Pattaya Days is now twenty. So, I ask, where’s the bloody cake?

All together now: “Happy Birthday to this”.

Three days of photo processing finished this evening. The very last shot had been taken when it was almost dark. Slow shutter speed and high ISO resulted in a blurry, noisy photo which would normally be deleted without thought.

But this one, of my friends Churo, Cami and their baby is somehow full of love and life; with the extra benefit of a child who is wondering if this crazy woman can really be his mother. Nice find at the end of a long haul.

After a sweaty weekend of shooting I took a day off yesterday and, amongst other things, watched the Australian Grand Prix courtesy of a download of the Star Sports UK coverage.

The Star Sports Grand Prix offering shown locally is abysmal, with a drooling idiot called Steve Slater as the commentator. You’d get a better idea of what is happening in the race by turning off the sound. I am not a violent man, but I get the urge to smash his teeth in with a hammer every time he starts his inane giggling. As you may gather, I don’t watch the local Star coverage any more.

Third and last day of the polo tournament and I prepared for my shoot with a large lunch of Bimbimbab, a Koren concoction with pork, rice, veggies, egg and some spicy paste; all mixed together. Damn fine meal and I usually struggle to finish; but with my current accelerated metabolism, it slipped down a treat; even though I had had the equivalent of three breakfasts during the morning.

Decided to pick up some emergency snacks to take home, including a three pack of those rather nice Ferrer Rocher chocolates. Unfortunately, they didn’t survive the journey; but I was left with a couple of boxes of energy snacks to take to the polo.

Long afternoon, delayed by rain, and it was around 1830 before the prizes were given out. After that, there was a noodle stall which had been imported from Pattaya Klang; so I laid waste to that before heading home.

In need of a real meal, I stopped at a Mexican, and alcohol temptation reared its head.

With my current diet including beta-blockers and steroids, it has seemed wise to lay off the booze. But it was Sunday evening, I was sticky and tired and hungry, and you can’t eat a Mexican meal without a margarita on your table. And anyway, I wanted to photograph it.

Common sense dictates I should shoot sports with the sun behind me, to ensure the best lighting on my subjects. But sometimes I have the sun off to the side, so the body of the subject is in the shade; and the result can be really pleasing (at least to my eyes):

It is with some relief that I checked out of my isolation ward this morning and returned home. During my detention I have been allowed day release to have the occasional meal with my wife; provided we sat a suitable distance apart and I did not attempt to exchange any bodily fluids. But that hardly constitutes a marriage.

As of lunchtime today I will be declared a low-risk radiation area and only have to avoid extended cuddling with pregnant woman or babies for another couple of days; and those are not on the list of things I need to do this week. So, hurrah!