OneMoreFarang

As far as I know IKEA has different quality grades for sofas, kitchen, and probably more. Some have 10 years warranty, some less.

I listen to my body. And as a consequence of that I have a little less of this or nothing or that. I still drink alcohol. But there was a time when I could drink all night and work the next day, and all was fine. Not anymore. If now I drink "a lot", then I am tired most of the next day, I don't feel bad, but also not particularly good. For that reason, I drink now less often and fewer drinks. It seems my body disagrees with some food, i.e. mayonnaise. So, I try to avoid it, most of the time. I am sure there are many other food and drink items which I found out over the years don't make me feel good when I consume them or maybe hours or a day later. So, I avoid them. I don't do any of the "this is good for you or that is bad for you" things. We are all different. Some of us like a lot of fruits, others lots of meat, whatever. Eat what you like and listen to your body. Your body will tell you what you want/need and what is not so good. And, at least IMHO, relax and don't make your life miserable. I prefer dying with a tub of ice-cream with 70 compared to eating only healthy tofu with 80.

There was a time, decades ago, when the USA did some good things for this world. Now they are not all bad, but bad in many ways. And it gets worse. Will it ever get better again? Maybe, but I wouldn't bet on that.

There is always something which will supposedly happen in the near or not so near future. And we have to act, now! No, we don't have to act because some people did some research and then some others exaggerate anything they can find to support their misleading agendas. Take it easy, and don't do anything extreme based on some models which are likely incorrect.

You should have pointed that out without any connection to any robbery. Because hard times and robbery are not directly connected. And about hard times: Many of us get used to better and better living standards. Over the years we have bigger homes, faster cars, we eat better and more expensive food, maybe go on more expensive holidays, etc. And then, when we can't afford the maximum version of our lives anymore, we call it hard times. I think we should get back to the idea that some form of shelter and enough food to survive is all we really need to survive. It's nice to have luxury, but we don't need it. And from time to time, it is good that we learn to live with less. And having more does not make us automatically happier.

I am sure my parents had sex about nine months before that event. So, no, I don't wonder about that.

Did you miss the news who financed that lab? Here is one such article, it's not difficult to find more. Coronavirus: Was US money used to fund risky research in China? (bbc.com) So, maybe think again who should pay.

This is not like there is A and obviously it is followed by B. There must be millions of people who lost their work who didn't rob any shop. Stop making such stupid connections!

Did they bring the fire under control? Or was there just nothing to burn anymore? There is no easy way to bring such fire under control.

There was this thing called land-lines, at that time we just called them phones. My mother could have picked up the phone and dialed a number from a hotel in Thailand and she could have asked for me. She didn't. And about boomer and all that. Any person, and any generation, can use social media and phones and all that if they want to. There is no reason that they have to use it all the time. Maybe one of those younger generation people from time to time discovers that the earth does not stop to rotate if they don't use any social media, etc. Holiday, freedom, great times...

It's not my job to tell the sister. I understand that she is worried and if she wants to report him missing that is fine - IMHO. Then it's up to the police to do something or nothing. I would guess and hope that the police don't do much if they don't have good reason to suspect a crime happened.

Obviously at least 90% of village headmen or kamnans in Thailand would report any crime right away. Yeah, sure.

He doesn't have to text or call anybody! And he doesn't have to explain to anybody why he didn't do that. He was on holiday and obviously he didn't want to have contact with people back home. Is that really so difficult to understand?

IMHO the police should not have gotten involved in this. I am not sure if they were involved or maybe they just recorded a "missing person" and didn't do anything. If anybody though he/she should search for the guy that was their personal decision. If a young child goes missing for a day or more, that is a reason for concern. If an adult doesn't call anybody or doesn't update his facebook page, that is no concern at all. When I remember my Thailand holidays 30 years ago, I certainly would not have desired to get phone calls from my mother every day: Son, what are you doing? Where are you? My answer would have been I am on holiday!

He is grown up. He didn't initiate any search. It seems he wanted to be left alone. Is that a crime?

Or maybe he wanted some holiday away from home - like we did before the invention of the internet and mobile phones.

He didn't want to contact them. Isn't that obvious?

And remember, dogs are for life, not just for Christmas. The puppies will grow, and you should commit to supporting them all their life. If you are not willing to do that, then don't!

I got a new passport years ago, no problem with the bank. But then I needed a new credit card or something like that and that "didn't" work, and the reason was the outdated passport number. The problem is that many bank employees are not used to this problem because Thais always have the same number. For them it is not obvious that the passport number could be the problem. So, whatever you do, just keep in mind that this can cause problems years later. Then make sure you remember that you have a "new" passport.

I wonder how the US would react if many countries all over the world would constantly criticize their misfunctioning democracy, outdated voting system, etc.

Don't marry. Problem solved.

Have you tried image search in of the shopping apps? You can search, i.e. with the Lazada app, but pointing your camera on a picture with what you want. Sometimes that works well. Because I would not be surprised if there are many different names for the thing you are looking for.

Latest development. Finally, it arrived in Thailand. Thanks for all your comments.

I don't know how easy that is, but maybe you can add somewhere temporary (for a few minutes) a pump. And then check if when you switch on that pump if that will result in a good water flow. If yes, then you know that a pump will help you. But if a pump does not solve the problem, then it's time to look for other reasons. Maybe something like a pressure cleaner is good enough for such a test - just an idea.

Learning "the language" is important, I agree. But be careful that you don't learn in school one version of Thai, and then everybody near you speaks another version of Thai. I suggest if possible, try to communicate with the locals around you. And make sure you have someone, maybe a Thai language teacher, to tell you which words you should not use. With my first Thai girlfriend I learned a couple of Thai swear words. The only problem was that I was not aware that those words were not the kind of words one should use in a polite conversation. It's easy to pick up the "wrong" words. On the other hand, it is also not the best to speak super polite Thai all the time, because "normal" Thais might get the impression that you think you are better than them when you use those "hiso" words. It can go wrong in both directions.