Plans are made

Tuesday 16th

Last night I went for a run again. This time I ran to the other side of the bridge to add the extra distance to make it 5 km. It took me about 38 minutes.

My laptop connected to the network in the canteen but the internet was down so I couldn’t do as much as I had planned. However, the internet had reconnected by this morning so I downloaded my emails and was busy writing replies when my pkone rang. My driver had arrived early and I hadn’t even had a shower. I had a quick one then a quick breakfast and we were off.

We are still discovering new problems with the software, most of them are related to the data collection rather than the code but I added a number of new features and fixed some bugs as well as working on the rest of the help screens. The latter are now up to date.

One of the operators kept coming to me to load his data from a spreadsheet on a memory stick that he said didn’t work on the office PC. When I tested it there I realised the spreadsheet was covering the program so he couldn’t see a confirmation dialog. I spent a few hours replacing the system dialog with a customised one that sits in front of the spreadsheet.

I also added a step by step summary of what they need to do each day to the manual. This turned out to be a 2 page, 13 point list.

I tried to call Thai airways to change my flight to Friday night. This will give me a day to shop and relax before I go home. I couldn’t get through on the phone so I sent an email. After several hours I had no response so I tried to send a fax. I was n’t sure if that was getting through so I asked one of the office girls to ring the number so she could work out what the recorded message was saying and eventually I got through. Apparently they had received my request but according to them the flight was booked. Interesting, since I’d already checked the flight and there were business class seats available. Later they called and confirmed my flight change.

Next I booked a hotel. I would have gone back to the Windsor Suites but the price for the same room as last time had gone up from $91 to $127. A lot of that would have been due to the fall in the exchange rate. Instead I booked another hotel One block away for about $90. This one doesn’t have a pool but has free WiFi.

I have also been in contact with a former Mensa member from Australia who is living here. He actually contacted Mensa Australia about something else and when I responded he told me he was in Bangkok. I’ll try and catch up with him for lunch or dinner before I go.

I finally took a photo of the desk of one of the office girls. My friend Lynda from hockey will no doubt be jealous of her pink PC.

Dinner tonight was Pork Gordon Blue (sic) plus the noodle soup they cook up for you. Lunch was a hamburger or rissole with gravy vegies and mashed taties.

I saw another westerner today on the way to work, a guyon the back of a scooter. Apart from the people at work, I have only seen one other, at the market on Sunday. It's definitely not a tourist hub here.