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12 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Expanded Medicaid blocked by right wing governments in so called red states. So basically for ideological reasons they're killing their own state citizens. 

 

Private insurance if you're older and/or preexisting conditions is massively expensive.

 

Over a certain income level, the Obamacare subsidizes the insurance quite well in the lower ends of the scale.

 

Employers are not obligated to provide insurance. They often play games to avoid that.

 

Americans will often not call an ambulance (and thus die) because they want to avoid the massive bill just for the ride.

Yes, medical bankruptcies are a real thing....

1 hour ago, JensenZ said:

I'm quite familiar with the Pasay area too and have walked around there myself. I specifically mentioned Tondo as a place not to walk. I didn't mean to say you'd get mugged everywhere you walked, any time you walked, but if you did, you might not be writing about it here. It could happen on your next walk.

 

Most people are like you when they go there - happy go lucky - everyone is friendly blah blah, not realizing the dangers lurking around them. I've lived in Valenzuela (Metro Manila) - that's a very rough area. Also I lived in Cavite for nearly a year. A foreign businessman with plenty of money was kidnapped there, nearly didn't make it out alive. I know the story well as my gf at the time used to work for him. My gf from there was kidnapped when I was in Australia. They demanded cash. It was probably a staged kidnapping by my gf and her familiy. She even had injuries to show me.

 

I prefer to be around Thai people. I don't like people in public being too friendly and familiar - it's normally just a ploy to get something from you. You want to hear something strange. My wife is Filipino and she doesn't like Filipinos very much (lived in Thailand now for 18 years) - had too much trouble with them. My lawyer in Pattaya is married to a Filipino for over 30 years. She speaks and reads fluent Thai. When she's out and about and comes across Filipinos (quite a few here in Pattaya) she pretends she is Thai. I asked her, who gossips more? Thais or Filipinos? The answer - Filipinos.

 

When you've been married to Filipinos, and you've lived in the provinces, experiencing the real deal, you learn a lot you'd never know about as a casual visitor. Trust me on this -  they are not as nice as you think they are. 

If someone doesn't know of the levels and interworking of hierarchy there....The roles and position that the NPA fills - just for starters, they don't know enough to be there....JZ is right on.... It's a desperate country filled with desperate people.....The people are not as happy go lucky as many here seem to think.....

I've have had long term experience there & nothing could make me want to go back....

Somewhere, long ago on TVisa I broke every facet of it down on a thread like this... It's just not worth the effort to rinse & repeat every time this subject pops up.....

2 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Stayed with a family years ago so experienced none of above only read about it and they took care of me anyway didn't like me going anywhere alone.

Yes, if they care about you they make sure to guard you.....No matter where you go....

Also notice females do not go out solo - especially after dark....The ones that have cars hire drivers for safety.....

1 hour ago, Ralf001 said:

Running Raro Cast Iron pans here.

I bought both pans & the covered pot.....

Talked them up to the wife = used about 3 times.....

They're somewhere around here ...

Been there, done that while watching the rear deck almost swamp blowing open the under bench life jacket stowage & sweeping life jackets out into the sea.....

Having have owned a decent sized boat I THINK I would have read & ridden the swells differently....But not being on the upper deck, I didn't view what the pilot was seeing.....Plus the effects of of a shallow bottomed sea....

2 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

Wat dis mean ?

Big engine & total vehicle weight at 2200 pounds of which 754 pounds were the hemi engine.....

Very quick & very fast.....

56 Chevy -

61 TR3 I barrelled , jetted, & cammed -

53 Studebaker pick up I put a Chrysler hemi in (a fast beast at 2218#) -

64 Malibu SS convertible 300/327 4spd.....

On the mc side a Honda 160 before they stepped up to larger bikes & Ducati 250 hill/flat track bike at the same time.....The brakes & shifters were  opposite on each bike, making for some interesting mini-moments.....

2 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

I'm thinking...

Even LATEX couldn't improve these girls.

They're just perfect...

The way they are.

 

Never try to fix what ain't broken,

Is the moral, here.

 

Too conservatively dressed.....

OP Congratulations if you have gone 3 weeks without alcohol...

That's a great jump start on a positive life change decision......

Keep up the good progress.....

2 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

You know, I have been thinking...

What this forum really is missing is a thorough discussion of the many uses of LATEX.

Will you do it?

Or, shall I?

 

 

I'm guessing it's only limited as far as you can stretch your imagination....

7 hours ago, gargamon said:

Having lived there for about 10 years, I can honestly say the only thing I miss are the balikbayan boxes. And the local toska vodka. 

A very real assessment by somebody that has real time in there....

I have spent years there & I cannot find one good reason for going back.....

It's a desperate place filled with desperate people.....

Right down to the  groups of urchins that walk in circles hitting your vehicle with their fists at traffic lights. (the traffic lights that haven't had the wiring stripped out of them yet).....

My dog is a Bangkaew.....

When he's no longer sniffing and investigating & just walking straight ahead I know he's had enough.....I say Rusty home and he leads me straight home.....

I walk him about 25 miles a week.....2 or 3 days a week I'll run him about 1/2 mile astride the bicycle at a brisk pace, not a dead run ....At 75 my running days are over, although I loved it ....I have too much knee & hip damage from sports.....

48 minutes ago, Celsius said:

How about temples and caves onlyfans

Ah yes....The Pattaya cavers club?

I did receive a 90 reminder email in July for an upcoming Aug 6 check in.....

My new check in date is now Oct 22, which corresponds with the day they accepted the electronic submission .....

We went to the Indiana Jones movie....

I thought about seeing it in 4D....Then decided I really didn't want to spend 2.5 hours sitting in something akin to a long Disney ride....

IMAX, when done right, can be a nice, wow experience....

At best, the new IJ flik is a parody of better days better left in the past.....

I recently submitted mine....

Then I freaked out.....

I had made a mistake on the last entry date by about 14 days = the handwritten date was faint at the 1st numeral....<Passport switch where they'd stamped & then hand written the prior entry dates>....

However, after 3 days it did come back as accepted....

49 minutes ago, bbko said:

Sign the car's blue book now, she can add her info later.

You might not want to carry the signed book in the vehicle if you do that....

Being raised in CA, the CHP has always been looked upon as a bunch of walking dildos that really want to be real swinging dicks..... Basically traffic monitors with bad attitudes.... They have a little man complex within the spectrum of the law enforcement culture.....

2 hours ago, HuskerDo2 said:

Thanks. I'm expecting a speedy recovery. I have an excellent surgeon. A friend's husband used this surgeon, and he was back to work in under 2 weeks and he's a pharmacist and on his feet all day.

 

Was your surgery from the front, side or back? Mine is anterior (front) and that's supposed to be the quickest healing. 

Judging by the scar - more of a side incision....

This Dr also practices in Japan & Dubai a couple of weeks per month as well as CM....That was before Covid....But, he's definitely established himself internationally.... 

1 hour ago, HuskerDo2 said:

Inside the femur is where they will place the piece of titanium and then they will attach a ceramic ball to the top of it to be inserted into the hip joint that will have some sort of strong plastic liner placed into it. I asked "why plastic?" and I was told that this type of plastic won't wear out in my lifetime so I'm happy. It's interesting that yours has never set off an alarm. Hopefully I'll be that lucky but doubt I will be.

 

Did you experience much swelling or pain from the surgery?

I swell more than bruise.....I had almost no pain, but the swelling kept me in for an extra day....

They brought me a walker & I refused it & got crutches (more mobility & leverage choices)....The Dr commented my 3 week check up was what he normally saw during the 3 month follow up check up....

Airports have been no issue....