⛺ Indoor Camping, Raging Rivers, The Feared Black Screen Of Death, & Other News 🏞️
The last few days have been hectic, filled with indoor camping, green moths, a raging river, and the death of my Intel NUC mini PC.
A Green Surprise In The Outhouse 🚽
Here in the mountains we see a lot of insects that aren't found elsewhere in Cambodia, mostly because the country lost its forests centuries ago in favor of rice fields. The rice fields aren't places of great biodiversity, but our outhouse is full of mysterious things at night, this strange green moth being the most recent little creature.
I Win Again 🤳
Many of you know that Srey-Yuu hates photos, and it often takes a coordinate effort to snap some pics of her. It feels really comparable to shooting a rhinoceros with a tranquilizer dart and only having a few brief moments to do my work. If I can't catch her off-guard like in the above photo, I'll ask my wife or Monkey-B to help me for a moment.
Monkey-B snapped this pic while I braced Srey-Yuu for a very relaxed photo. In a couple of months this girl will be a teenager, and I am not ready for it. I know eventually she'll enjoy photos with me again, but for now she's in the rebellious stage, so these are the kind of photos I will have to accept.
Black Screen Of Death 🖥️
My formerly trusty Intel NUC mini PC has died without warning, and I ran all the tests to see if I could save it, but it looks hopeless. Intel offered a full refund, but I have to spend $100 of my own money to ship it to Malaysia where there is a returns processing facility. Because of the global situation, Intel also let me know they can't offer a replacement because of stock issues. Even better is I have to travel to the capital in person to be able to ship a PC, the FedEx agent in Phnom Penh told me so. I am not excited about a 600km roundtrip, but it's necessary, and has to happen soon whether I like it or not.
Torrential Rains 🪣
The rains have not stopped since our first night here over a month ago. There are a few days of peaceful here and there, and those are the times the water becomes clear and also not a dangerous torrent.
While pondering how I'm gonna continue Hivin' while perhaps without a PC for many weeks, I decided to walk down to the hammock huts and see what the river looks like during these heavy rains.
It's definitely not swimming conditions, but if I had a kayak I'd certainly want to play a little. There is definitely some paddling potential here, and there's also a trailhead nearby, so perhaps my old friends in Colorado from the wilderness guiding school will want to come visit some day.
Well, a lot of technical difficulties are sure complicating this construction project of ours. We aimed to fund it with passive crypto income, but my defi investments are in the gutter, but as long as were posting daily we could keep up with costs. With my computer dead, things have changed and I need to do a lot of problem solving before the big road trip to the capital.
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the water is so cloudy it looks very scary, you have to be careful my friend, because your house is too close to the river, it is definitely prone to landslides....
Always safety first, but the ground is very rocky here, so not too much worry for landslides. Our little hammock huts at the river's edge are at risk though, so I have been adding river rocks to prevent erosion.
Life keeps surprising us ( not always in a positive way ), doesn't it?
Is that green moth glow in the dark? ;<)
Hope you manage to find a workaround with your laptop and I wish for you all that the weather improves soonish.
Big, big hug my friend!
When it rains it pours as we say back in the USA, and that expression can also be taken literally here at our new place. It does look like I will get a full refund for the computer, but would still be happier to not be in this situation of having to find a replacement.
Good thing you guys were able to get that nice slab of wood out of there, it might have been swept away after the rains! It really sucks that the pc died and the return options are several hoops that have been set on fire and placed above broken glass.
I did mention the hassle it will take for me to ship my pc, not to mention the travel and shipping costs. It looks like they might be sending me a pre-paid shipping label, so that could be a nice bonus, perhaps because of my complaining. These new rains have already brought new pieces of mystery wood closer to our place.
Ahh, so some of the metaphorical glass may have gotten swept up, that's good to hear!
Can't wait to have a pc again, probably three or more weeks.
The water is so big, it is dangerous to swim around. I have never see such a big flow in a river. When I was a kid, when we swim in the river, we always put a dried wood in the sand to see the water movement. When there is a move from the lowest mark, we would get out of the river. in a few minutes we would see the river flow got bigger.
There are many days when it's too dangerous for swimming, but I'd love to have a kayak for the big flow days. The river changes very fast, and even if it's not raining here, it might be raining several hundred meters above us in the mountains.
You certainly get a torrent happening in that lovely little creek. Sorry to hear about your pc though. That's a real bummer. Roadtrip!
Well, we are a bit overdue for a trip to the capital anyways. I'll likely be going solo so the kids can stay in school because the journey will take several days.
That's a long trip solo but gives you lots of time with your own thoughts. Travel safely.
I try to make the most of long roadtrips when I can. If I go solo I may take all the seats out of the Ape and just camp in it at night, save some hotel money. 🙏
Mobile home right there!
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I'm scared of that raging flow of the water, so glad that the kids enjoyed their indoor camping.
When it's high water, the river is indeed a bit scary. We find that many people here choose to sleep in a tent because of how cold it is here at night. In the rest of the country though, a mosquito net is more common.
Is your PC still under warranty? So you are able to get a replacement? The river looks ferocious and for me I won't want to go near it.
It is under warranty, so I guess I'm lucky for that. Intel has been pretty good with customer service, but I still think I will have to pay shipping costs. The river is only fun for swimming if there's been no rain for a few days. When it's brown and ferocious like this, I go nowhere near the river.
First, that green moth looks absolutely beast mode. I suddenly had the incredible moth idea in my mind, may be can draw a series of cartoon about 1 little moth suddenly struck by a barrel of nuclear waste and turned into a giant green moth that save all moth kind 🤣
My dotter is now 15, there's been several years I haven't got a proper photograph of her. I'm sure one day she will come back and see some of the old photos, provided if I'm still around that day. I think I will regret for not taking any of those mischief shots.
That NUC looks more like using a tablet PC setup, but ofcourse they can't possibly redesign a ram and WiFi module as laptop computer. So those I can recognize on the right hand side.
The river looks violant and scary. Imagining the sound of rushing river in my mind now 🥺
We've seen some very strange colors of moths here, even red and yellow. I guess they hide in colorful flowers during the daytime. The NUC is marketed as a mini PC, basically using laptop parts, but putting them in a box without a battery. I like that I can change the RAM and drives myself quite easily, just like a desktop computer. Laptops are a pain in the butt, I would never dare open one to attempt a repair.
I think if you put your daughter in a headlock you can also get a very uncomfortable just like me, but revenge is sweet.