B Flat

Adventures in speaking Thai!  Today I got to navigate the fun world of fixing a busted motorbike, which is an interesting challenge when the longest sentence you're able to say in the local language is, "I'll have the pad sii yew with pork, a little bit spicy, no MSG."

I think Arcee ran over something on the way home last night, because her front tire was starting to go flat when I started out this morning (although, moron that I am, I couldn't figure out why she was twitching and jerking until a friendly dude at a stoplight pointed the now pancake-flat tire out to me).  I wobbled my way to the nearest gas station and tried the air pump; I was pretty sure, from the speed with which the tire had deflated, that it was punctured, but it was worth a shot.  Sure enough, I'd ridden a few metres before it was completely flattened out again.  So I paddled my way back to the station.

The attendant took one look at my tire and pointed me to the air pumps.  I tried to explain in English that I thought the tire had a hole, and got a blank look (it doesn't help that when I'm flustered that someone can't understand me, I start using a whole lot of different phrases, very soft and fast, to try and explain, which is probably the worst thing to do to someone who's trying to follow a foreign language).  He asked one of his colleagues to come over; she listened, looked at the tire, nodded sympathetically, and then pointed at the air pumps.  Eventually, the first attendant took my bike and wheeled her over to the pump, filled the front tire, and looked at me expectantly.

I had no idea what the Thai was for "fill" (or "puncture", or "tire"...), but I remembered "chan" ("I"), and "leaw" ("already"), enough for me to gesture at the pump and insist, "I already!  I already!", followed by an enthusiastic mime of a tire deflating.  From my hunched-over, deflated position, I could see a lightbulb switching on over the attendant's head.  He pointed me in the direction of the nearest repair shop, where I again tried to babble out a long account of what was wrong (in English), while the mechanic stared at me.  Eventually, he pointed to the tire and asked pointedly, "Change?"  Oh.  Right.  Yeah, that'd be nice, thank you.

Things Arcee has now:

- A new tube in her front tire
- A freshly inflated back tire (y'know, while I was there)
- A stunning wash-and-wax job, courtesy of Smile Cars, a carwash run by a sassy middle-aged Thai woman, where they give you a free bottle of branded water with each wash.  (Yeah, I don't know, either.)  Seriously, though, I wish I'd taken before-and-after photos.  Arcee got filthy while I was away (... okay, that didn't really come out right :)), covered in dirt and cobwebs from sitting in the parking lot.  The first time I rode after coming back, my hands ended up caked in mud from the dust that had collected in the grooves of the handlebars.  Now, she positively gleams.
- A very exhausted human