Taking care of the Isuzu (now 10 years old )

With the very hot weather , the long rainy season and the high humidity during this time , it's very important that you pay close attention to the maintainace of your vehicles, so that they don't let you down or break down on a road trip, or the carport (another story for another time ).


After spending two days  long at the Isuzu shop I've got the maintaince and prevention work I wanted do to the truck . the following list is the things I had them do and replace , should do it for a while . Dad always told me to take car of my vehicle and they would not let me down when I needed them , I've tried to follow his advice .

Oil change and filter , fuel filter , auto trans filter and oil, rear end oil or grease , packed wheel bearings , new brake pads , new steering rod end , water pump , thermostat and housing , radiator hose bracket on engine , fan belts,power steering belt, a/c belts , gas for a/c , every rubber hose on the whole engine , flush radiator and refilled with new coolant. rebalanced tires and front end alignment replace dented hub cap , I think that's about it , maybe a few other small things I can't remember , oh ya aim the headlights for the road at night .checked timing chain and it was good to go.

 I think I got all the stuff I could think of , sure I forgot something but as I remember it's easy to make an appointment . Parts are about the same as America, but the labor is a lot less so it makes it affordable to take good care of your vehicles

 It is 10 years old and I think it still looks at least a 9  inside and out

A look at some of the stuff I replaced, lots of other stuff  cleaned and maintained.

Making Bacon and cooking dinner

Today was the day to smoke the pork belly that was curing for 9 days to make my very own bacon ( home cured with my secret spices , smoked in my home made smoker, and sliced to my liken thickness, It don't get no better ) soooo I did it and it turned out great will cool and slice later , the coals were still hot so I threw in some pork ribs for a quick smoke and them bar-b-qued them for dinner tionight , hows that for using the old noggin for something other that a hat rack LOL, and it's sooo hot we want have to heat the kitchen up tonight .I'll make my famous cole slaw, and with a bowl of my chili, I'll be eating in HOG heaven tonight , Ciejay likes it too.
I try to cook dinner or lunch at least once a week , and when I smoke the pork bellies and any other meat I have ready , it's a good day for me to cook , as I already have the kitchen messed up, so I might as well cook lunch and dinner while I'm at it , made chili and cole slaw while the meat was smoking , and I'll only have to clean up one time .

Taking care of business

This is a repeat . We just today had the maintenance man come and clean and service our A/C unit we have in the bedroom , the fan was running slow and the cool air would come and go, and the air smelt a little musty, so , I guess with all the hot weather we have had this year, plus the farmers have been burning more than usual this year , lots of dust and stuff got in the unit . I can report that it is working great and does the air ever smell fresh in the bedroom. I'll sleep well tonight .

I have said a few times before on my blog how important maintenance is , especially here in Thailand where we have lots of rain and then hot and humid, it takes it toll on things , and a/c units are no exceptions and need a lot of attention, if you want to have clean fresh , cool air when you need it , nothing worse than to turn on a/c and smell a musty odour coming out of the air vent , because of dust and mildew and who knows what. We have our A/C unit cleaned and checked twice a year.I have stayed in a few motel and hotels in Thailand and elsewhere , when the smell was worse than the heat, lol. We try to put a maintenance schedule on everything and Ciejay checks it once a month to see what we need to have fixed or maintained during the month. Sorry to say that most folks here in Thailand forget that stuff needs checked for cleaning , oiling , or general maintenance and you can see lots of things broke and laying around the side or back of the house that would have lasted for years if only a little TLC had be included in the owning of it . We have lived in our home with all of our stuff we bought 9 years ago and have only had to replace a few light fixtures that were in the house when we bought it.The stuff we bought new , takes a licking and keeps on ticking , with a little attention and maintenance. I hope you are like us and value the stuff you have spent your hard earned cash on and have learned that you can enjoy it for a long time with a little care , and you know what ?? it's never to late to start.

MAN DAY

Well , here in my smaller home in Thailand there is no room for a Man Cave or Man's receration room , with a pool table , bigscreen TV and a mini bar for friends to come over and relax. Besides, the lady folks and kids would want a little of your space after a while and there would  go the Man Cave -----soooo my friends  and I came up with the next best thing  a "MAN DAY".A day set aside for just the men to get together and do what-ever , as for now our man day consist of a fishing day every Wednesday , we've been doing it for a month now and the wives don't seem to mind and we're having a great time . We have even thought of heading up to the hot springs for a days of relaxing , and maybe a fishing trip on a commerical  fishing boat with guides and the whole works , out in the Ocean for the bigger game fish , the ideas just keep piling up , but for now the Wednesday fishing day hits the spot.
  Do you have a Man Cave or a Man Day ? and if so how is it working out for you and your friends ?

One thing you need to know , is there is no Football , Baskeball or Baseball played here in Thailand and us old retired folks are way to old to be running up and down a field playing scoccer, and it cost a arm and a leg to get thoses programs on cable. Sooooo  fishing works out just fine with a trip to the Hot Springs once in a while .Take care and enjoy your very own MAN DAY with you buddies, Oh ya  theres no hunting over here either , and with the size of the snakes in Thailand  we don't go camping either, and yes there are still Tigers (wild) in some of the forest too. Oh I forgot  no NASCAR either.  LOL