MontanaRon

An English teacher's blog about his travels and his digital art.

Day One Journal App

January 2, 2025 / / 2 Comments

I’m pretty much into journaling, whether it’s keeping a physical daily journal in my paper notebook or writing morning pages in another notebook.  I started my daily journal as a modified bullet journal and I still keep it that way. In it I keep ideas for digital art projects, resources, things to do that relate to art or things to do around the house, movies to watch, books to read and other items. Unfortunately, I don’t keep up with it daily and, in fact, I only add an entry maybe once a week. My morning pages journal I just began a few weeks ago, and I write in it every morning, quite happily. Click on the links above if you’re not sure what kind of journals these are.

Although I enjoy writing with pen on paper, which has many advantages, I recently found out about a digital journal app that I’ve completely fallen in love with. It’s called DayOne. . It’s digital journal app that can be used with an Android or iphone, with a Mac or Mac tablet and with a web browser, which I mostly use because trying to type on my phone just drives me crazy. If you’ve always wanted to journal but just hate the idea of writing with pen and paper, give DayOne a try. You can do almost any kind of journaling with it. It’s free, but paying $34.99 a year for the premium version gives you so many more options on how to use. Disclaimer: I’m not affiliated with DayOne in any way whatsoever, so I get no compensation for touting this product.

Day One App logo

Merry Christmas to All

December 25, 2024 / / 0 Comments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Merry Christmas to everyone. I hope you have a wonderful, happy day, and also, in advance, have a Happy New Year.

Today in Laos it’s a nice 76 fahrenheit (24 celsius) at around 11 a.m. No snow, but plenty of sunshine. LOL Christmas isn’t a huge celebration here, but plenty of people celebrate the season and there are plenty of decorations in various businesses, but no religious connotations. Still, it’s nice. Again, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

 

Recent Health Checks

December 24, 2024 / / 0 Comments

I’ve recently had a few health check-ups and here are the results:

High Blood Pressure Check

I’ve been diagnosed with high blood pressure for more than three years now, and it’s under control with blood pressure medications and eating a fairly healthy diet. This check up on November 29th was a routine visit to my doctor’s clinic to renew my three-months supply of the meds. While there I also had a semi-annual blood test and an annual EKG check. I also, for the first time ever, had an ultra sound check of my liver, kidneys and bladder. The blood test showed everything was within the normal range, no high cholesterol, no high sodium intake, and all the other items on the blood test were great. The EKG showed no problems, and the ultra sound also showed no negative results. I got my meds and paid the bill for the check up. It was 2,719,000 Lao kip, which, at current exchange rates is around $125. Great

Colonoscopy

On December 19th I went in for colonoscopy. It had been more than 20 years since I’d had one, so I thought that at my age, 76, it was time to make sure that there were no problems inside. Luckily, my GP doc, he from whom I got the meds and the check up earlier, has a colleague who does colonoscopies at one of the local hospitals, so I set up an appointment with her. Got the laxatives and cleansing solution, which saw me on the toilet for a while, and then off to Mahosot Hospital here in Vientiane for the procedure. It didn’t take long, perhaps 20-30 minutes, and I was able to make my way back home on my motorbike with no anaesthetic wooziness. The results came back showing no problems at all, no polyps to remove and, of course, no signs of cancer. Yahoo! I was certainly relieved.

Total Costs

The total cost of the procedure was around $250, so, all-in-all, the cost for every thing over the past few weeks was around $375. Great price and the service was also excellent. I’m not insured, since I have a pre-existing condition–I’m over 70. LOL The school gives me and a few other teachers who have other pre-existing conditions $1000 a year. Almost all the other staff and teachers at the school get regular health insurance from the school. At any rate, compare that $375 cost with what you might pay in the United States. I’ll wait. Yeah, no comparison, it’s a fraction of what U.S. costs would be.

Intestine Photos

Have you ever seen what the inside of a healthy intestine looks like? If you’re a bit squeamish, I wouldn’t click on the next link, which shows a few photos of my intestines. You have been warned!

Colonoscopy Photos

Digital Art–Purgatory

October 15, 2024 /

Here’s a new piece of digital art, just a whimsical piece, a small one more like a finger exercise. I haven’t really decided on a title, yet. I’m pondering whether to call it “Purgatory” or “Life Goes On.” I didn’t use any AI, like Midjourney or such, just some content from one of my digital art courses.

Term Break

August 12, 2024 /

I’m sitting at home on a Monday morning, listening to the rain patter down, but there are no Monday blues here. We’re at the start of a month-long break between the second and third terms at Vientiane College, a break which started last Wednesday and continues through September 11th. I don’t have any specific plans for the time off, but I’ll probably pop over to Nong Khai in Thailand for at least a few days of shopping and relaxing. I also want to make a few videos of some places just down the road from my house, namely Buddha Park (Wat Xieng Khouane Luang) and the Lao National Ethnic Cultural Park. I was going to visit those areas today, but with the current rainfall, I’ll save those visits for another day. I also need to see (no pun intended) an ophthalmologist to get my eyes checked and to get a new pair of glasses. The temple pieces have broken on the pair I have now and are being held on with short bent pieces of a paper clip running through the screw holes. Looks weird, but works and I only wear them when I’m on my motorbike.

The rain is fairly gentle right now, but it was coming down more heavily a while ago. When it’s really pouring, I have to keep an eye on the ceiling in the bedroom because it drips occasionally, though not too often, maybe once or twice during the rainy season. I have to remember to get the landlord to do some repairs, though he’s often out of town.

That’s it for now, so enjoy your Monday wherever you are. More later.

Island Life in Vientiane?

July 3, 2024 /

Actually, no, I’m not living on an island in the middle of the Mekong River near Vientiane. But, right now my house is surrounded by water on all sides so it feels like I’m on an island. Due to lengthy and moderately heavy rainfall lately, the small ponds on either side of the house, the back area, and the front yard are flooded this morning. Even if it stops raining for a few days, it will make trying to walk or to go jogging in the morning impossible without getting my shoes completely soaked. One solution I have is to wrap plastic bags around my feet, holding the bags on with rubber bands, and walking the short distance to ground that’s a bit higher up, then taking the bags off, going jogging or speed walking, and putting the bags back on when I return to the house. I’ll probably need to give this a try tomorrow morning, if it’s not raining.

The yard usually floods most years in late July and August, but this is about the earliest that it’s been underwater since I’ve lived here. Is that a foreshadowing of a heavier-than-usual rainy season later on? I’ll see, I suppose. I’ll keep posting as the rains increase (or decrease). More later from the island.

Dancing Bowling Pins

March 26, 2024 /

I just added a short to my Youtube channel. You can check it out at https://youtube.com/embed/G8dZeZdFzZ4?si=L3INUQ2DPY_6Po9I

It’s a video about dancing bowling pins, kind of. I recorded this way back in 2007 at Ocean Bowl at Patong Beach in Phuket, Thailand. These are weird-looking pinsetters that are STILL made by the Brunswick Corporation. They’re called Boost machines. You can check them out here.

Enjoy.

Thai Trip Report Part 3

March 14, 2024 /

Delay after delay after delay, but, finally, here is the final part of my Thai Trip Report, where I spent some time in Bangkok and Nongkhai. There isn’t much to report about Bangkok, so the video doesn’t contain that much about the City of Angels. [EDIT: I removed it as a matter of fact.] However, the Nongkhai section is a bit longer. I always try to spend some time there on a Saturday since there is a street fair every Saturday, weather permitting. So, here’s the vid. Enjoy!

[Edit: I removed the original video I had posted and replaced it with this shorter version. I took out the Bangkok section because it didn’t add much to the video and I reduced parts of the street fair at night and the kids’ dance practice.]

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