This blog post, which I am writing on boyfriend Maiyuu’s machine, may look terse. I am having trouble getting used to his keyboard, the mad angle at which his VDU is tilted in relation to the desk…
I have taken some terrific pictures of dishes he has made over the past couple of days – including a Thai delicacy based on an old recipe which is virtually unique to the province where he was raised – but they will have to wait until my own computer is repaired.
Brief description? The VDU will not display. Occasionally it flashes small, alternating messages on the top left: ‘Analogue…Digital’…
It also tells me to check my signal cable, which of course I have done.
Last night I Googled the problem: ‘HP computer, VDU won’t display’…
I found instances of other HP computer owners reporting the same VDU woe, but the circumstances were different, and the cure too techy-sounding for me.
Maiyuu will look for a computer repairman who fixes computers at the customer's home. I am tired of lugging the hard-drive into town; let him come here.
The last repair guy who came to our home to repair my computer charged a flat B1,000, which is reasonable. However, his swag-bag of fixes to computer ills was light. ‘Reboot…reboot!’
Most problems do not require such a drastic solution, but for many Thai technicians, it is the first one which presents itself. I wonder why?
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'I am in love with a Thai guy….we have just met, but I want to buy him a house.’ I read that somewhere.
The sheltering instinct among farang must be strong. We want to protect, provide for the ones we love.
Yet a house?
We don’t yet know what the Thai expects of us. He has his own friends and family, his own life.
We assume he expects the same things, but it may not be true. Never mind, the farang thinks: Few sensible boys would say no to their own home, especially when the person buying it visits only occasionally.
Status! Freedom!
Yet is it really necessary to invest so heavily in the relationship?
The farang should ask himself why he wants to buy a house for someone he barely knows. It could be any of the following:
1. For his own convenience (somewhere to stay)
2. To provide
2. To ensure the BF's loyalty
Most farang know what they can expect of relationships in the West. We don’t buy a house for a guy as soon as we have met him.
Perhaps because we do not understand Thais as well as we do fellow farang, love in the Land of Smiles holds out more hope. Surely the same rules do not apply?
And even if they do – if I just throw a house at the problem, maybe everything will sort itself out?
9 comments:
ReplyDeleteWilliam15 August 2009 at 00:51
Money + Relationships more often than not spells trouble. Unless money is no object.
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Anonymous15 August 2009 at 06:50
My sons computer updated and has not worked since!
When he has time he's got to re-format. Computers are so fickle.
Wilko.
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Glenn15 August 2009 at 13:43
checking the cable was definitely the right first step. Sounds like it might be video card or driver issue. Or it could also be a problem with the display's connector or internal circuitry. So there are plenty of possibilities. When my old monitor died it had similar sorts of issues. You might try hooking up the boyfriend's monitor or your farang neighbor's to see if that works. If it does work then you know the problem is your monitor and not your computer. If the alternate monitor also doesn't work then you know the computer is the issue and not the monitor.
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Anonymous15 August 2009 at 19:51
Leave Maiyuu, he cannot be trusted. He only sees you as his "cssh vending machine". Return to England and get an English boy. He'll be more reliable than your Maiyuu
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Bkkdreamer15 August 2009 at 19:53
William: Unfortunately, the two often go together.
Wilko: They are indeed fickle, though they are getting better at self-repair. Mine started working again yesterday, told me I was having problems starting (which I knew), then proceeded to fix itself. Clever!
Glenn: Thank you. The problem is solved now.
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Bkkdreamer15 August 2009 at 20:01
Anon 2:
An English boy? If he was kind and sensitive. Do they still make them like that?
In any event, he shall have to wait. I'm busy with Maiyuu at the moment.
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Anonymous16 August 2009 at 01:02
Mmmm....kind and sensitive English man....looked....all married!! ;)
You and Maiyuu are Cheese and Pickle. A good combo!!!
Wilks
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Jungle Girl16 August 2009 at 07:59
Hi BKK Dreamer, just to say thanks, enjoying checking out your site and hearing all about your life, and many many thanks for all the traffic you have been sending my way - because I'm crap at marketing you're actually my number one traffic source!
Thanks and keep posting, ignore the malicious.
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Bkkdreamer16 August 2009 at 09:10
Jungle Girl: You're a great writer, and a real battler - an inspiration to any foreigner living here, I would iamgine.
Thank you for the positive comments. You and your loved ones are encountering more than your fair share of drama, yet it does not appear to have dampened your enthusiam for this place.
As I say, you're a terrific battler. The rest of us can but draw courage from reading your story.
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