I'm wondering how much longer I'll be able to do my diary. This morning I heard that Ellon Musk (is it 'l' or 'll'?) and his artificial intelligence friends had created a programme that can predict what I want to say, and write it for me. Unfortunately, they've got a bit nervous so they are filing the idea away for a while. Apparently, I would type a paragraph or phrase and then the programme would decide what I wanted to say next; it's all quite spooky and I hope it stays filed away.
It's sad about the situation in Northern Queensland. I was listening to the plight of the farmers this morning and the tens of thousands of animals that drowned in the recent floods. I was astonished to hear that the soil, removed by the floods has entered the ocean and has now spread to 60 kilometres from the shoreline. It's now reached the edge of the Great Barrier Reef. What's worrying me is that this 'soil' is full of nitrates and other chemicals from farming operations and it could easily kill the coral. I wonder if Monsanto, Bayer and all the other chemical producers are concerned about this?
It's interesting how the stories on the radio can trigger memories from the past. A few years ago I took a sister to Marks and Spencers to buy something for her birthday and she decided she wanted sports bras. I'd never heard of such a thing; I thought a bra was a bra. Well this morning I discovered it wasn't. I bet there are very few women who give much thought to the male jock strap, but they really should because, without it, there would be no sports bra. It was a hilarious story, full of laughter.
Apparently, an American lady decided she wanted to join the sports rage in the 70s and so she started to jog. For various reasons related to the common bra, she found it very uncomfortable. One day she was sitting with her sister, and having a laugh about the sister's problems now she'd also started jogging. The sister mentioned that men had the jock strap, to stop parts jiggling, so why couldn't women. At one point they even cut two pouches from jock straps and made a bra. While they were visiting and talking about the problem, one of their husbands decided to have fun with the ladies and he came downstairs wearing his jock strap like a bra. Eureka! I'll leave the rest to the imagination.
The lads came over for their English lesson and, seeing as it was Friday, we played cards. I don't know why but Srun, who plays the game the same way that Phearak and I play the game has hardly ever won; meanwhile Phearak wins most of them. I've been trying to get them to use short forms of things such as 'isn't, doesn't' etc but I think I'm going to give up; they just can't get their mouths around putting an 'n' after an 's'. It's amazing how much we move our heads when we are trying to make a sound.
I'm really enjoying reading 'Me before You'. I've found myself getting involved with the characters and I've noticed my opinion changes over time. I feel sorry for the mother, who appeared to be a bit of a cold fish, but now I'm sympathetic because she just doesn't know what to do about Will and I think she knows her husband's messing around with other women.
I went over to the travel office in time to enjoy helping to eat two of Cina's birthday cakes. The first one was a traditional chocolate and cream concoction but I've never seen anything like the second cake that arrived. It was easily 40cms wide at its widest point and was shaped like two hearts; a smaller one inside a larger one. Instead of being a solid cake it was made up of tiny, traditional Khmer cakes, each in its own little packet made from palm leaves. They were put together in such a way to create the hearts. There were more than half a dozen different cakes and each one was a different colour with a different flavour. Cina encouraged the staff and her family to eat as much as they wanted but there were still a lot of cakes left. She then gave bags to the staff to take some home. I also brought some home but I gave them to my neighbour as I'd eaten enough in the office.
Samnang may get the drawing gadget he wants; I spoke to his dad who seems to like the idea but I worry that a 14 year old might not have the commitment he needs to ask for a large amount of money to be spent on him. He is a good artist so that should be encouraged but he doesn't see the point in using good old fashioned paper.
I was happy to hear that Noch, who lived with me for a number of years, has passed some important exams. He's so shy he decided not to go home at Chinese new year because he found out that someone had told his parents that he'd passed and he didn't want any fuss. Today I told him I was going to spread the news on a group site that he belongs to as I believe his friends need to know he succeeded.
I may be able to find a wife! I heard that somebody has come up with a method that doesn't involve really falling in love. It's something to do with the head rather than the heart. It reminded me of Lil who was a good friend of Frank and his wife. The wife died and a bit later Frank asked Lil to marry him as she was single. "I don't love you, Frank," Lil said. "What's that got to do with it", he said, "That comes later!" It did too!
