It is July and I am later than I have ever been. I know that you have been waiting patiently for me to get going - Kidding.

I finished up 2013 in Lumut Malaysia. The part of the project that I was working on was about done. In mid-January the work was wrapped up and I headed back to Thailand. This job was pretty easy and better than most assignments I have had and Tay could come stay with me. Back to Thailand and a happy Tay.

When I was in Malaysia, Tay and I discussed buying a house in Pattaya as the condo/apartment was starting to be a bit crowded - we keep collecting ‘Stuff’’ as the late George Carlin would call it. So when I got back from Malaysia we went on the hunt. We looked at some new housing developments and and she found one she really liked. She asked me if I wanted to look at more - I asked her - If we don’t buy that one, will you be happy? You can guess the answer - NO - so I told her there was no point at looking at any more houses!! The house comes with no kitchen so that will be an additional cost. There are some changes we need to make inside as well as the typical external expansion which is mandatory for houses built in Thailand. These changes will happen later.

I had a job offer to go to Saudi Arabia over in the Yanbu area. I had also been talking with my current employer about another assignment. They too had a job in Saudi Arabia over in the Al-Jubail area. I weighed the differences between the 2 jobs and opted to go with the one in Al-Jubail. Both would pay about the same but with one job it was a 10 weeks on and 2 weeks off schedule and the other was 10 weeks on and 3 weeks off. Not the best of schedules but at least I had a job.

To get the visa to come to Saudi Arabia I flew back to the USA and submitted the documents to the company to get my visa. I figured that this would take about 2 weeks - NOT - 4 weeks later I finally got the visa. I am very glad that I have great friends in the

LA area who let me stay for an extended period. I also got to visit with some of my other friends in the LA area and I also went to Las Vegas to check on my rental property.

So I got back from the USA and had about 9 days to do make some decisions about what we wanted to change on the house. We went to the local version of Home Depot/Lowe’s and picked out the kitchen hardware/appliances. Paid for it and left it in storage for the time being.

Well off to Saudi Arabia - by now it is mid-April and not to hot. I arrived and settled into the new job. It is a huge complex. I am staying in a compound and all I have to do it get up eat, drive, work, drive, eat and then sleep. I spent several weeks doing the

obligatory paper work and various trips to Al-Khobar to get my Iqama sorted out. The most difficult thing about the job so far is the DRIVE. It really is the wild west over here driving. It is an adventure and you can NEVER predict what the other driver is going to do. They will pass you on the express way on the shoulder. I am driving 120 kph and they will pass on the shoulder at 160 kph or faster. At the stop light - you are in the left turn lane trying to make a left and the guy on the right is trying to make a ‘U’ turn over the top of you. Rules of the road?? What rules??? It was now the last week of June and time to head back to Thailand for my 3 week break and a very happy Tay,

We had to make some decisions about the design of the kitchen so off to the CAD 3D kitchen designer. Over in Thailand a lot of the houses have 2 kitchens. One inside for normal cooking and then one outside for some of the food that that emits some very arid stinging smoke when cooked. The out doors kitchen is in a covered

area and is well ventilated. Right now we are getting the inside kitchen installed. It is a full western style with all the appliances you would expect in an American house. The space is small so we took out one wall to open the area up a little bit. The challenge in Thailand is that they build with cement and block where as in the USA we generally use 2x4 wood to frame things out then cover with wall-board. It makes it harder to get rid of a wall. It also means that to add more electric outlets you have to chip out the mortar on the walls to make a channel for the conduit then cover it back up.

By now it was mid-July and my leave was over so I headed back to Saudi Arabia for the next 10 weeks. Tay is in the process of getting some builders in to get some prices on the work we want get done.

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

The next 10 weeks at work were uneventful. My normal routine is to go to work, return to the compound, go to the gym, eat, relax with a bit of Hulu TV, get some sleep and then do it all again. This is for 6 days a week. I work 10 hours a day with about 40 minutes of commute time each way to and from work. On Friday I sleep in a little and head off for breakfast and a quick trip to the store for some in room snack food.

It is late September and off I go for my 3 week break. I got back to Pattaya and checked on the progress with the kitchen in the new house. They had come to install the kitchen but things were not right so I asked Tay to call back the kitchen guys to fix the screw ups. The oven was sticking out about an inch and I showed them how to complete the installation. The instruction book is in Thai but - you guessed it - guys don’t read instruction books in Thailand either. The cabinets were wrong so they fixed that too. Things are still not right but will do for now. This installer, to save time installed the cabinets then set the tile to fit around the cabinet. Normally you would install the tile - let it set - then install the cabinets. To save a day these guys did it the other way and in the end it cost them time. They they asked me to pay them to fix their screwup - it was easier to pay them the $60 then to argue about the situation.

At this point Tay and I were still living in the condo. Tay has now moved all the furniture into the new house and is living there. There is still more work to do but that can be done while we live there. We still have to build the Thai kitchen which will be an extension of the house on one side and then add a bonus room and extra bed room on the other side. The house will essentially cover the whole lot. There will be no garden to tend to and what is not indoors will be covered porch for outdoor living.

My leave was over so off to work again - this Fly-in Fly-out (FiFo) life style can be a bit wearing but until I can find a job in Thailand that pays the same it is what I do.

Back at work and off to the store. On this particular Friday it was raining - yes it does rain here occasionally - I was driving in the middle lane of 3 with a big rig flatbed in the right lane, he moves over into the middle lane, so I move left one lane to maintain a safe space, Just I am passing him at the intersection he makes LEFT turn from the middle lane and tags me. Had I been going a bit faster he would have missed, a little slower and I could have driven under his flatbed - not sure how that would have turned out. Anyhow I clear the intersection and stop in the lane I am driving, He makes his turn and stops. The law in Saudi Arabia is that if there is an accident you cannot move the cars until the authorities come to the scene to document everything. Fortunately in this case no one was injured - shaken but not hurt. So I call the number to get the authorities on the way - no answer - remember it is Friday the local sabbath and a day off. Finally the other driver gets through on the phone and about an hour and a half later the authorities arrive to check it out. I have 0% liability so nothing against me - this is good. Everything is covered by the rental car company insurance so all I have to do is file the accident report with my employer and they will take care of the rest. As you would expect I got the worst end of the deal for body damage to the Tahoe. The big rig got off with a broken marker light. The bigger you are the more protection you get. You can see the photos on the right side bar.

It is now the week before I fly back to Thailand for my next leave. I will be home for Christmas and New Years - Yipeeee - this make me and Tay very happy.

Until next years blog - Tay and I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Please stay safe , enjoy the holidays, have a great Christmas dinner and as always, eat lots of pie.

Stay tuned for more Adventures next year with Mike’s 2015 Blog.