If we lift the front wheel, and he backs in, he can get both himself and the bike into the condo lift comfortably.
If he is alone, he has to try to back in while yanking the front of the bike upwards at the same time.
It is difficult, but can be done. So, no more lugging the thing down seven flights of stairs.
By day, he keeps the bike outside our condo building. At night, he brings it back upstairs, and the bike sleeps in the living room.
-
The takoyaki (Japanese dumpling) maker is a success, at least as far as I am concerned.
Maiyuuu cooked up a batch of a couple of dozen dumplings yesterday. They are usually made with octopus, but Maiyuu put in prawns instead.
He drizzles a cheese and mayonnaise mix on top, along with those hairy dried fish things which move about in the air and look as if they have taken on a life of their own. Delicious!
-
A reader asked if Maiyuu can make Thai traditional dessert (spelt with a double S). For the most part, no, although he can make Thai custard (sung khaya).
As it happens, the other day he made Thai custard, poured into hollowed-out pumpkin (fak thong sung khaya). That, too, was tasty, though Maiyuu reckons he has some way to go yet before he will be happy with it.
-
The Shrink says his comments at this blog are not helping matters and he is likely to take a month off. Please enjoy your break.
That was good timing, as I was wondering what to do about him. The Shrink's negative commentary is in danger of dragging down the tone, and we can't have that.
While catfights are fun to watch, I don't think it looks good for the owner of a blog to argue with his readers.
I have said my piece. Yesterday the Shrink replied in his customary unpleasant manner.
Based on his reading of this blog, he reckons that I lack self-love, and probably come from a dysfunctional family. Now, as if those problems weren't enough, I suffer from possible alco*hol, dru*g dependency and eating disorder problems as well.
I joked in a recent post that I may have chosen to give myself a little luvin' by treating myself to a chocolate cake. If I failed to mention it on the blog, readers would have no way of knowing. They could go on thinking that I do indeed lack self-love.
This was part of a wider point that if the Shrink accuses me of various failings often enough, they can take on a life of their own, in the absence of evidence one way or the other. Surely, I do not have to respond every time I get another 'You lack self-love' post?
The Shrink's response was so pedantic and gloomy that it made me laugh. I know that wasn't the intended reaction, but really, what else can you do with the following?
'I know you are older because you have mentioned things which point to your age. I know you are in ill-health because you have mentioned issues with drug and alcohol dependency, and with your weight (perhaps you have deleted them, so I am not going to try to dredge them up in detail- but I am sure you know what I mean).
'Anyway, good luck. You'll need it.
'PS - if you ARE having issues with your weight, treating yourself to chocolate cake is self-abuse, not self-love. Self-love would result in something that helps you and makes you better- and THAT will make you feel better more than any chocolate cake ever good.'
The Shrink has been a contributor here for some time, offering for free his opinions on the state of my mind.
I have not asked the Shrink, but I suspect he would be willing to offer his insights to help this blog's readers as well. An agony aunt column would be fun. Questions, anyone?
A gay Miss Manners column would be even more fun, but first we would need to find someone with 'pedigree' to offer advice.
The other day I thanked the Shrink - who remains a mysterious anonymous entity, about whom we know little - for adding colour to this blog.
However, I was just beginning to think that he may have outstayed his welcome this time, when he declared he was likely to take a month off. I'm sure some of us will end up missing him before the four weeks are up. True?
14 comments:
ReplyDeleteKevo339 April 2009 at 20:13
Good riddance i say!
Can the front wheel be removed from the bike? Mine does that and its much easier to fit in my car that way.
I'm jealous about the dumpling maker!!
Also i have absolutely adored the pics on this post and the last. Keep it up! ;)
ReplyDelete
Lino in shrink infested NYC9 April 2009 at 23:09
The best advice I can give is: avoid shrinks (an their impostors) at ALL costs.
My late Aunt was a highly successful beautician in the 60s -1990. She worked at Kazan here in Manhattan and her clients were the people you read about in the papers.
Some of those clients were Jewish. For reasons of huge ego, Jews love paying someone (w/doctorate of course)to listen to and analyze their utterances.
By the early 70s she too was seeing a "therapist" over the fact that she had a preference for older (10-12 older) men. By the mid 1980s they had succeeded in turning a happy, outgoing and fun person into a guilt ridden morose older woman. Even us, her family were on the "outside" now. All this for a mere $20-30.000 (by her own admission).
I could tell of childhood schoolmates whose parents were psychiatrists and psychoanalysts and what neurotic messes they were.
Then there is the son of a famous vaccine inventor who become a psychiatrist. His home life was so bad that he sometimes slept on the couch in our living room rather than go back to the townhouse he owned a few block away.
Etc.
I have read the remarks of the one you call "the shrink" frankly he is a judgmental asshole.
If you feel the need to "talk it out" with someone, try a Priest, Monk, Rabbi or anyone with a large dose of common sense and experience with people.
Avoid "shrinks".
Lino
ReplyDelete
Anonymous9 April 2009 at 23:26
Spelling note- TAKOyaki is the Japanese snack (tako means octopus).
ReplyDelete
TAO10 April 2009 at 01:33
Hey, my sister had some issues so she went for therapy....
Seven years later they (my sister and her therapist) have determined that I am the one with the issues (I have never met nor talked to the therapist)...
So, a possessive complusive control freak has been told that there is nothing wrong with her but that her two siblings, who will not submit to her domination are the ones with issues!
Brillant!
After seven years the therapist still does not understand that she has been conned and controlled.
Its been 14 years since I have had any communications with my sister and yet I am still the cause of all her problems....
ReplyDelete
Anonymous10 April 2009 at 03:38
Don't let some poisonous comments from readers ruin your lovely blog.
Just delete the most evil comments & carry on.
J
ReplyDelete
Bkkdreamer10 April 2009 at 06:53
ReplyDeleteKevo33: The wheel can be removed easily, yes, but I am not sure he wants to go to all that bother every time he gets in the lift. I shall suggest it and see what he says.
Lino in shrink-infested NY:
I wasn't aware that so many people had been victimised by shrinks.
And yes, I agree the Shrink who appears on this blog sounds like he has a few problems of his own.
Can you imagine going out on a date with a man as joyless as he sounds? 'Stop, you can't eat that! It's self-hate!'
Anon: Spelling mistake corrected, thank you. I thought I copied the spelling from the instruction manual, which was mainly in Thai. I shall have another look.
Tao: Shrinks have to be careful when the advice they give ends up driving family members apart,or when they end up agreeing with clients who may have a hidden agenda.
Anon: Thank you for the compliment. If the Shrink returns, I will ask him to keep his remarks pleasant. If he can't, we have the option of ignoring him, or I could delete them as a last resort.
ReplyDelete
Kevo3310 April 2009 at 12:14
Perhaps purchase a lever-action quick release for the front wheel? That way you dont need a tool to take it off.
ReplyDelete
Bkkdreamer10 April 2009 at 18:42
Kevo33: It does have a lever-action quick release which he could pull if he really wanted to take off the wheel.
However, he says that is too much trouble, and that he can struggle along with the thing as it is.
ReplyDelete
Kevo3310 April 2009 at 19:03
hmm...seems pretty simple to me :P
Thais are so stubborn haha
ReplyDelete
BODYholic11 April 2009 at 03:50
"hairy dried fish things which move about in the air"
am really curious what this is ...
ReplyDelete
Anonymous11 April 2009 at 09:27
ReplyDeleteThe 'hairy dried fish things' are shavings of katsuobushi, which is dried, pickled/smoked bonito (skipjack tuna) pressed into bricks. Very thin, crepe-paper-like shavings can be scraped from the bricks, and when they are sprinkled on something hot and cooked they move around because they absorb water and heat and parts of them expand unequally. They are also used to flavour 'dashi,' which is the primary seasoning broth in Japanese cuisine.
They are more usually found on top of 'okonomiyaki,' a kind of savory mealcake mixed with vegetables and different types of meat and fish.
ReplyDelete
Anonymous15 April 2009 at 03:35
Stand on the opposite side of the bike from the kickstand. Put one hand on the vertical tube that the seat fits into, to keep the rear wheel from moving (a toe blocking the rear tire also helps) as you turn the front of the bike upward with your other hand -- the top of the U shaped metal fork around the front tire is a good place to grab it. Once over a vertical center of gravity, the bike is stable to roll around on its rear tire. This is what I do. He has to think intensely the whole time about the old Burger King advert, "it takes two hands to handle a whopper."
ReplyDelete
Anonymous15 April 2009 at 03:44
If you're really curious about the type of bike, its information should be deeply stamped into the main frame as a theft deterrent. On the very bottom near the pedals, or up near where the shaft of the handlebars fits in, are common places. Note that the actual price paid can vary a lot, especially in BKK with the overhead and neighborhood of the store.
ReplyDelete
Bkkdreamer15 April 2009 at 17:30
Anon: Thank you for the advice on lifting the bike, and where to find details of its make and so on.
I watched Maiyuu getting the bike into the lift yesterday...he is now much better at it. I shall pass on the advice and see what happens.
ReplyDelete