The combination of a group fitness class and meeting up with a teacher colleague I hadn't seen in over 3 years was the antitote to all the bureauratic headaches yesterday.  As my friend explained, there were indeed lockdowns during the pandemic in Bangkok, but more like nightly curfews.  He also mentioned that some bars kept operating and he took me to one that had been a secret bar then.

During our chats, he told me about how competitive the teacher market is for top schools.  We're talking hundreds of applicants for one math position, thus dispelling the myth that math/science teachers have their pick of jobs.  Generally speaking, we do have the ability to easily find work anywhere in the world, but some specific markets like Bangkok are ultra competitive.  This only multiplied with all the teachers leaving China and trying to relocate.  

Before all that I headed out to grab breakfast, and a guy walked by and asked out of curiosity what it's like to cycle in Bangkok.  I told him, "It's not easy, the traffic here is not friendly to bikes and they always cut you off."  He said, "I would imagine the air is terrible also."  I said, "Yes for sure, however biking is one of the faster ways to get around the city."

While eating, I caught an article that said Thailand could face a lost year if they can't form a government.  

After that nice coffee start to the day, I set out on the Black Mistress and took it back to the Sananwan.  It was just over an hour, and traffic was very unpleasant the entire way.  Surprisingly, the worst of it was not in Bangkok but very close to the destination.  At that point, a car just cut me off deliberately and slammed on the brakes in front of me to park.  It definitely wasn't the first time I've seen this.

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Once there it was time to do the bike transfer.  They had kept the Tern Node D8 for years and said no problem, anytime.  I had a chat with the big boss of the guesthouse and she was very helpful in many matters.  There were two main takeaways from the conversation.

1.  It's not a good idea to replace furniture or spend money investing in the condo to make it look good for selling.  She suggested just clean it up and do the minimum.  It could even sell unfurnished and whoever takes over can do what he/she wants with furniture.  

2. Better not leave keys with any agents or juristic.  After I get the locks changed and a new set of keys, the boss herself offered to look after the keys and help facilitate any condo sales.  I was very grateful for this offer and she came up with a brilliant idea to manage the keys.

As always, the more people that know about this and are able to help coordinate a sale, the better.  She also vetoed the idea of selling my Tern bike to them because nobody in the family really rides bikes, but offered to keep storing it.  That does make sense as it could be used for future mini bike trips while the Black Mistress goes on more global adventures.  Or, she simply suggested advertise the bike online and they could help sell it this way.

These people rock the world, really they do, and I'll do everything to promote their guesthouse in return.  Unfortunately their business is sluggish and the new investments in the property were done at a loss because tourism in Thailand is way down.  We assessed there are multiple reasons for this:  low season, post-covid recovery, Ukraine war, inflation, and domestic political troubles.  It creates a dead cycle because Thailand doesn't want foreigners despite needing them for tourism and investment.  Consequently, tourists don't come and investors want their money out.  The ones who do come and invest feel they aren't welcome, and so they don't want to come again and they tell others.   

Rhe black bike was safely stored and locked away until the next and final visit to the guesthouse before flying out.  Everything was going to plan.  The yellow Node D8 was in near perfect condition, and I was astonished that the tires were not flat after more than 3 years.

The Node D8 easily fit into the folding bike bag and I put it into a taxi to downtown for Probike.  The taxi ride was astonishingly fast, only 20 minutes.  The staff at Probike were again marvelous and they did some good maintenance.  It turns however that the chain cassette are worn out and may need replacing.  Amazingly they had an extra large bag for folding bikes that could fit the Montague.  I put an order in and will buy it tomorrow, despite already ordering online for Pattaya.  I guess that means I'll have two, but given how hard they were to find in Texas it makes sense.  I ended up giving the old bag to them, and they said they could fix it up and use it for something.

 The assistant also recommended an area near Khaosan that is full of bike shops that sell parts.  This was ideal because I needed a new fender and other parts for the black bike and they were impossible to find earlier, even in Hong Kong and Shanghai.  It is very rare to be able to find parts.  The fact they were able to source some out and explain exactly where to find them was a goldmine.

They also gave excellent tips for how to prevent damage to the bike on the airplane.  It involves taking both wheels off along with the derailleur hanger, as the airlines very frequently toss the bike around and damage that part.  Not knowing how to do this, I'll learn with a Youtube video.

In the end I left the bike with them and took the BTS to my fitness class.  It was all resistance this time, and a nice change of pace to simply lift heavy weights.  Then it was time to meet my friend and party again.

It turned out to be a house party because all the bars were not allowed to sell alcohol today, and the convenience stores couldn't sell either.  A dry day due to this holiday.  Because of that, I learned it was key to keep a stash on hand, and mine had already run out.