15.06.2008 First Month

So many things have happened during your first month, without a doubt you are our precious (very Lord of the Rings, hee hee), first thing first, just in case you were wondering why we have named you 'Panop'. Well, my name is Panu (it means the 'Sun') and your mother's name is Suriyaporn (Blessing from the Sun), and Panop also means 'Sun' (you don't have to be a Mastermind to work out the connection :)

I have never thought that I could be so much into 'Shit', really... I mean you being our first and everything, so it was natural to be just a little paranoid (especially the first week). Even now more than a month later, I have to take a look at your poo every time! Just in case you were thinking your parents are totally insane, your 'poo' can tell us so much on your well being (just surf the net).

Your mum have decided to call it (your number 2) 'treasure' because of the colour (definitely not the texture :). The treasures that we keep finding is getting bigger and bigger every day, we had to get a larger diaper not because of your waist size, but the size of your morning load... haa haa haa haa (I wonder if there is a entry in Guinness Book of World Record). 

Cheers

Dad

Welcome...

We've been so busy of late, and didn't have the time to write to you. Sorry for this belated welcome, by the way your name is Panop (here in Thailand it is customary to also have a nick name, and yours is Matt).

The story of your arrival would make a great Hollywood (well, perhaps more like Bollywood) story, the doctor mentioned that you should be arriving on the 13th of May, but on the 4th at around 11pm your mother started having contractions, not strong but we decided to call the hospital, they said we should come in for a check up (as there were some bleeding), so off we went (luckily we had only packed an hour before).

Anyhow, to cut the story short, the nurse at the hospital called your doctor (his name is Adinun), that must have been around midnight. To our surprise the doc. said that he was coming in to take you out! You should have seen our faces, I mean we were physically ready (we have already bought all the things that you would need) but mentally we (well probably only me) weren't mentally ready... and he was coming in!

You screamed at around 2.14 am on the 5th of May, the birth queue was pretty bad, as it was a good day (it's a Chinese thing), you were the second to be born at the hospital on that day.

I know the pic. isn't really flattering, but to us you were fantastic, you should have seen your mother's smile (and mine too, although I was in shock, we have a VDO to show you as well, but don't tell the doc. it is forbidden to take VDO in the operating theatre).

So you are now just one month old, and I have so many stories to tell you, I'll leave that for next time, just to say it hadn't been easy (but a  superb experience and a total joy).

You are now as sleep... so is your mother... then only time I get to write is when you are both as sleep... and that isn't very often silly boy :)

Cheers

Dad

01.05.2008: Holiday

Today (Thursday) is labour day, so your mother and I have the day off, we are also taking leave tomorrow, and on the Monday is our great King's coronation anniversary... meaning... another public holiday :) all in all 5 days off... but we are not going any where, we can't really, at times your mother now finds it hard to even breath.

Actually, it was supposed to be a day off for your mother, but she had to go to the office, her company is thinking of making some important changes and today of all days was the kick off meeting. I am not sure how much she will be useful, as in just a few weeks she will be taking 3 months off, she gets to spend all day with you for the next few months, you are so lucky... :)

Iron man have just came out in the cinemas, and if we have time we are going see it tomorrow, I do hope it won't turn out to be another disappointment, well, it can not be as terrible as Batman Forever (directed by Joel Schumacher), a blo&%y waste of time..

Cheers

P

29.04.2008: More tests

Last weekend was all about you; on the Saturday, the doctor wanted to make sure that you are still strong and healthy, so he had decided to put your mother on this 'bleeping' machine... here is how it works.

There were 2 sensors, one to monitor your heart rate and the other measures the contraction/movement of the womb, there is also this little button that your mother had to press each time you moved.

She was there for over 30 minutes, the doctor wasn't happy with the first set of results so he decided to add another 10 minutes. We were glad to know that you are fine, because each time you move your heart rate also went up, this is a sign that your brain was working properly. By the way, wait until you get a job then your brain will really be messed up...

On the Sunday we had our next set of lessons, this time is how to hold you, how to wash your hair and give you a bath and so on. Because you weren't there, we had a substitute...

She scared the hell of me, but after a few minutes, we got to know each other, and she actually was very good, very quiet and didn't move much (actually didn't move at all).

This was my handy work, folding your nappy... I gave myself an A+ because she didn't make a sound (it could also be because she didn't have a voice box).
 

Putting on the shirt thingy was even easier, by the way this shirt was on the wrong way round (my bad... hee hee). With this close up you can appreciate how your stand in had given me the creepers, those fixated blue eyes, expressionless face... ooooohhhhhh.

3 more weeks... your mother is finding it harder and harder to move, but she is enjoying every second of it :)

25.04.2008: Itchy Fingers...

Don't worry I haven't caught anything exotic, but my fingers are itching for another personal project (which will of course drive your mother up the wall).

Here is the result of the last project,  most of the peripherals came from the old PC, but the motherboard, CPU, RAM, HDs and case were new.

It must have been some time in 2005, I'd met up with your uncle Chat at Pantip, bought all of the parts in the morning, when out for a few beers in the evening didn't get home until around midnight.

At around quarter past midnight, I said to myself, "I am not going to assemble it now (being a sensible person that I am), I'll go to bed and do it in the morning, as I should have a clear head by then"... "But... may be I could just unpack all the parts"... "now that is a great idea, so I shan't have to waste any time unpacking in the morning"...

To cut the long story short, 7 hours later I had finished putting my first PC together, and amazingly it booted up the first time with no problem (apart from a lot of swear words and praying along the 7 hours) (installing the CPU fan was a nightmare, especially after a few pints) (by the way, normal people would only perhaps need 2 - 3 hours, but your dad is different... strangely different :)

So it is time once again, I am thinking about a 'Caseless' PC (haven't told your mother yet, I don't think I am going to tell her until I have all the parts... hee hee). The only thing about going Caseless is the dust problem, have been looking at HSPC, their 'Techstation' looks interesting, but I don't think I can get it here (besides there is only room for 2 HDs, so I don't think I can make use of it anyway).

Now I am looking into 'Rack' system, most of them are huge (server) things... I'll keep you posted, unless your mother gets to me first :)

See you this Saturday :)

P

19.04.2008: See you soon...

It was yet another scheduled meeting with the Doctor today, everything seemed to be in order so he wasn't going to do the ultrasound this time but your mother insisted on seeing you, so to the ultrasound room we all went... you'll get use this when you grow up... your mother is always right...

Apparently at this late stage of your development it is virtually impossible to have a good look at your face, the Doctor makes some measurement on this huge machine only to discovered the embryonic fluid that is surrounding you is a little low, it should be around 10 cms but you only have 8.5 cms at the moment.

It could be because of the hot weather of late and your mother insisting on living in the kitchen through out the Songkran's holiday (I still have over 10 Salapaos as my prove).

The Doctor have told your mother to drink a lot of water and to come back again in a week, so we shall see you again next Saturday, and lets hope you are swimming in more than 10 cms... Your mother is doping water like mad at the moment, even more than her coconut phase.

Cheers

P

18.04.2008: 3GP Cranky Geeks

I have been a weekly watcher of Cranky Geeks for quite a while now, usually download the MPEG format every Thursday, but for episode 112 there was a welcome change (at least for me).

The MPEG download link had gone, to be replaced by 3GP, meaning a drop from 126 MB to 35 MB.

If you enjoy tech news in a kind of a debate format (can be extremely funny at times), with great insights (sometimes) then you should give www.crankygeeks.com a try :)

Cheers

P

17.04.2008: Your First Car...

You’ll be glad to know, yesterday we have bought you, your very first car :) I love it, not sure if you’ll appreciate it or not. It has 4 independent suspension with clip lock breaks (unfortunately there were no MacPherson Strut, sorry), double tyres set up for the front wheels, and a tough single tyre wheels at the back... wait for this... the tyres are punctured proof with a quick release, simply genius.

It is an Italian design and build (judging by the various lines on the body it could well be an associated company of Pina Ferina), a cabriolet with a sunroof, the top takes about a second to raise, the handling is amazing, you can turn it on a penny. The interior is totally fantastic, with sporty upholstery (including at least 3 cup holders).

The seat actually comes in 2 separate sections, the first section is for when you are very small, then once you get bigger you can move to the second section, but the first section actually fits onto the second section... just like a transformers...

The heart of any car is its engine, this one is really special!  The engine is totally interchangeable!!!

Depending on how you feel, it could be ‘Mummy V-Tech’ (two legpowers, top speed is slightly faster than a snail high on salt) or if you wanted something stronger you can go for the ‘Daddy Twin Turbo Supercharger & Nitrox’, unfortunately it is still two legpowers but it has been tuned differently (it will also run on high alcohol based fuel such as ‘Snake Bite & Black’).

Of course there are other different engines you could choose from, such as ‘Uncle Chat’ or ‘Uncle Oop’ model but I wouldn’t recommend it as these two were made to run on PURE alcohol based fuel, quite dangerous in deed.

Cheers

P

14.04.2008: Comparison... :)

Your mother received a phone call today, one of her colleague had also just given birth, all in all her friend had gained... are you ready for this :) ... ... ... 4 Kgs... and 'so far' your mother have gained 23 Kgs (that is over +51%). I have purposely said 'so far' :) Your mother said she is going on a diet, please keep in mind that you'll be arriving in just 5 weeks, so I said 'forget it' and bought her some ice-cream... :) haa haa haa, we really can not wait go see you.

In terms of a career, you may think about becoming a Chef, the hidden agenda is really to keep your mother out of the kitchen (as you can do all the cooking :) The salapaos that I was telling you about were not too bad but there are just so much of it! The couple that I had was rather good, but I think that could really be just the best 2... haa haa.

Cheers

P

13.04.2008: Songkran (Thai New Year)

Today is the beginning of Songkran (Thai New Year), you'll love it. One of the main thing for this 3 days festival is the total Nationwide 'water fights', this is the only time of the year when you get to see grown ups with wonderful colourful water pistols. We can not wait to take you along, may be in your fifth Songkran you'll really appreciate it. Special thanks to the people who took these photos (got them off the web) 

 

Just opened up another coconut for your mother, I must say I am getting to be a real expert at choosing the right coconut now, it isn't in the size but the weight... the heavier it is the more juice it will have (this theory will need at least another three or four rounds of experiment :)

Because of the extra long weekend (this time we got 5 days off),  your mother is on the cooking mode again :) and it all started this morning with 'Ma Moung Gouan' (Mango Puree). This morning she had spent well over two hours, slowly simmering Mangoes into a sludge. By the time she had finished, both of us thought it was a total disaster (me more than your mother :)

But when we got home this evening the few that she had separated in to small sheet was PERFECTLY SCRUPMTIOUS, 1-0 to your mother :)

Right now she is working on 'Pa-lo' I have no idea how to describe it in English, it is a Chinese dish and really fattening... That had just given me a thought, there is no way you are going to be thin :) not in a million years

Tomorrow she is going to make me some 'Salapao', the picture is what it should look like,  your mother's version is slightly different, this will be her second attempt. The last time, I must admit that it tasted alright (most of them :) but the funny thing was, it came is different sizes (which is not how it supposed to be), the smallest one was the size of a small fist, and the largest one was as large as Niagara Falls. This time she is more prepared, I shall tell you how it goes :) (fingers cross for the both of us).

As mentioned earlier in the previous blog, I have now jumped from 'Dial up' to 'Mobile Broadband' a bit late in coming and I couldn't be more happy with the move (so far, 1 day)

Took about 5 mins to set up everything, it was easier than eating a banana. Got the 'Yearly' unlimited package, somehow I think I have chosen the wrong package, never going to use it that much :)

Cheers

P

P.S. While I was uploading the above, I had a quick run downstairs just to see how your mother was doing... and to my surprise this is what I saw....

Ma Moung Gouan had learnt how to mate and gave births all in about 2 hours...

It will be an interesting breakfast tomorrow morning :)