cooked

Only once needed assistance on the old truck, bloody wheel fell off. I walked (I guess I could have stood looking as helpless as possible by the truck until somebody took me along) to a nearby restaurant, they called somebody they knew and two hours later we were on the road again. Bodge job as it turned out, but we did get home.

On 3/16/2024 at 2:27 PM, PJ71 said:

Who told you that Dicky?

 

Not in my experience it's not.

It can be. We were told that once our (new) car was 7 years old, we would no longer be able to get First Class. So we changed insurance, and the car is now 11 years old, despite having been to the garage for dents four times (dogs and one somnolent motorcyclist). 

On 4/8/2024 at 10:02 AM, OneMoreFarang said:

How about all the videos of Israeli soldiers bombing and killing Palestinians? I don't know if they send those videos to their mothers or to other soldiers and I don't care. Fact is that those videos and actions exist as well. 

Quite right. This always happens in conflicts and especially in guerilla warfare. Hamas made a point of building military strong points in or under hospitals and schools. The fact that " don't know if they send those videos to their mothers or to other soldiers and I don't care." does suggest that you haven't quite grasped what is going on. Israel has constantly since about 1935 proposed a two state solution, retreated from occupied territory only, ageneartion later, to receive the same response: "Kill all the Jews". Maybe you didn't know about that either.

Using BMI results can be misleading. It was originally developed by army and navy recruitment agencies, so not really meant for individuals. Try: waist measurement should be less than half your height. 

No point in discussing diet here as that usually devolves into a fruitless, usually misinformed, discussion.

Last time I went to a small local festival (they were banned in Buriram after this) I really enjoyed seeing monks with cigarettes in their mouths manually preparing gunpowder. I also enjoyed the news of a couple (both married, but not to each other) that got incinerated in a car by a crashing missile. 

I would go again but now it would be a long drive.

Most of the people responding here seem to be talking about soi dogs, that is to say, they live in cities. Running around just about every possible and impossible trail around our village in Isaan, I only once got bitten, by a dog I thought I knew well enough to trust but had just had some whelps and so got very aggressive. Most dogs will bark and snarl before actually attacking, this one quietly ran up behind me and gave me a nip. I'm afraid that dog had disappeared the next day as I did complain.

I tend to plan my running routes in terms of 1: dogs? and 2: possibility of finding sticks lying around near them? 

I found a new route near me. First time: aggression from two farm dogs. I shouted, they removed themselves.(Never see Farang running) Second time, with stick, less aggro. Third time: one dog came up and ended up letting me stroke him. Most rewarding. Don't get me wrong, I do get to shout on most runs, and it usually works. 

I'm going to take the same trail tomorrow, but will have a discrete whacking stick about my person, plus some dog biscuits.

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

LOL. your Transit van ain't anywhere near as "huge" as a Scammel truck. Nobody messes with one of those. Double declutch, but would go just about anywhere.

LOL, good for you. I was driving a Scamel (illegally) at age 17. 

12 minutes ago, Negita43 said:

Those were the days!!

 

I passed my test in a ford consul - 3 gear column change and in order to pass you had to go round sharp corners in 1st which had no synchromesh (double declutch) - those were the days THEN now give me an auto anyday - but it is true years ago you were taught roadcraft - not how to pass a theory test.

I wonder if people these days know what a double declutch action means?  I learnt to drive on a horrible, huge Ford Transit van with a clapped out diesel engine belching clouds of fumes and non-functioning gearbox. I actually managed to change gear without declutching at all, when my dad wasn't around. We had a different approach towards cars in those days... we looked after and controlled the car, seems to me that it's the car that controls the driver nowadays.. big car, must drive fast, MUST overtke, etc....

Every year in our village, after a week or two of heat we get a series of those lovely triple bangs. Same thing when it starts to rain, which will be soon, I hope. 

I'm not rich but I never bothered with repairing fans. I have taken them apart, cleaned and lubricated the b****y things, broke down again after a week or two.

18 hours ago, zhounan said:

You're in an elevator, you say hi and they don't respond. They are sitting next to you, you greet them and they don't respond. 

 

Some people always seem stressed, what's their problem? Is their jaw to heavy?

I run most mornings and have been over every country lane, farmyard, riverside path up to 10 K distance. Depending on how I'm feeling ( I always give them a SWK) I might shout it out if they don't answer, or ask if they speak Thai. I think that everyone around here, mostly farmers, knows about this bizarre behaviour, I now get kids that I didn't see shouting 'Hellooo' at me.

More annoying is when I see a Farang also exercising and he won't say good morning. I get to talk English with an Anglophone about once a month. 

In the remote mountain, Swiss village I used to live in, people (not all) would get worried and stop their car, bicycle, walk to ask what was wrong if I didn't answer their greetings. 

Anyway, the above remarks refer to country people; city people don't count.

Prize money? I get lumps of engraved lumps of wood occasionally, called 'prizes'. (Half marathons and marathons).

International runners: there are different classes of marathons, from bronze to platinum, and I believe that one of the qualifiers for race organisers is that they have a certain number of elite runners from a certain number of countries.

IAAF Road Race Labels - Regulations 8 October 2012 4.2 Races may offer specific incentive place prizes to nationals of the host country to encourage national participation and development.

So they want that "Gold Label" appellation in order to have more competitors, at the same time they realise that (probably) no Thai will be winning. Seems fair enough to me.

What's not fair?

Farangs often have to pay more than the Thais for race entry.

Age groups: Many races have age groups ending at "50+" which is discouraging if you're my age, 76. If there's a "60+" age group I might just get a prize. The whole idea of these athletic endeavours is supposed to be to encourage health, and stuff like this just discourages older runners. I think anybody over 75 that completes a foot race should get a prize!

On 2/5/2024 at 6:10 PM, ABCDBKK said:

Meanwhile, Thailand is a heavily agricultural country and has been for centuries. And they have probably been growing and using marijuana for nearly as long. So to say they don't understand how to grow a tropical weed like cannabis properly seems completely baseless and unjustified. 🙄

Oh yeah, those stupid Thais. Nearly all the farmers in this village have tried to grow it, in one form or another, and none succeeded. Looks like it won't grow where rice is happy. I did read about two sisters that found out what was needed to make a living from it, not too far away from here. They aren't telling their secret. Meanwhile, I get a few volunteer plants popping up each year, THC probably in the minus region. That last bit was a JOKE FFS.

20 hours ago, AndyAndyAndy said:

Been here 10 years, never happened to me. Difference it's maybe walking down the Soi 6 every night and living in Isaan village.

I was still getting proposals when I was 70, in the village, including the boss lady. I think the word got out that I wasn't available, wasn't rich, was no longer 70. Maybe no longer 'hansum man' either. 

Open Google Maps of your area and copy it by hand.

Back in the day I actually surveyed streets and villages (utilities). I had an Immigration officer reject my carefully drawn map, internationally recognised symbols were "wrong" and all roads had to be represented by double lines, which on that scale meant they were about 200 metres wide. Never mind, he meant well.

It is. or was in pre-Google days, a way to see that you actually lived where you say you do and know the area.

Hi.

Angkor Wat is a 5 hour drive away, yet I still haven't seen it.

So, question 1: Can I get a visa on arrival at the border?

Question 2: can I get car insurance at the border, or is it better to get one here in Thailand?

Thanks guys.

18 hours ago, jaywalker2 said:

There are currently smart watches on the market that purport to monitor blood glucose (such as K watch), though their accuracy has been questioned. Apple is working on its own CMB but it will probably be a while before it comes to market.  Dexcom makes a glucose monitor that attaches to the arm with micropines, so it doesn't require constant pricing of the finger. It can also transmit the results to some smartphones.

Thanks. I'll wait a year or two on that, I watched :  which indicates that these aren't suitable for following short term trends

49 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

 

 

If you were pre-diabetic then by defintition your Hb1Ac would not have been "well within normal range".

It is now.

On 12/23/2023 at 10:36 PM, Celsius said:

You can get an implant on Lazada.... around 3000b

Yes I know. So I put it in place myself, probably reading a badly translated instruction manual? First time, I want a professional to do it.

4 hours ago, Sheryl said:

Some people have way, way too much time on their hands and , as the Thais say, "think too much".

 

If your HB1Ac is well within normal range and you are not overweight or have an excessive waist circumference,  then your body is coping just fine with your diet and it really does not matter that your glucose goes up more rapidly after certain foods than others. That is a normal temporary occurrence (and useful at certain times).

My wife is diabetic and I don't find it normal that she is being told to not bother about what food she eats. She doesn't understand what carbohydrates are and this is why I want to enable her to check up on her blood sugar without the finger prick which she hates. I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic, threw the meds away and through lowering my carb intake drastically got my levels down to 'normal'. I don't think that this is 'thinking too much'.

It's not a hobby 

Just now, youreavinalaff said:

There's surely a fundamental difference between a, seems to be, homeless man washing in a stream in a field and a naked drugged up man walking naked down the high street.

You again? Really on my case aren't you? Of course there's a difference, I never said there wasn't. The post just reminded me of this fact. I truly hope that you are still in Leeds, which I know well, you deserve it.

I know this has been asked before, but I intend to get a CGM for my wife, she really hates pricking her finger (I have to do it)  and I can't adequately explain to her that eating carbs raises your blood sugar. Apart from Bangkok Hospital in Bangkok I have been unable to find anywhere in Thailand that will get her fixed up. We live 6 hours drive from BKK, Buriram. 

Thanks.

Driving into Buriram every day I saw a guy every month or so, stood out in the rice fields (where Robinsons now stands) a guy completely naked sort of rinsing himself down near a stream. This didn't seem to bother anybody. I occasionally still see him, fully clothed, near a 7-11 and give him some money, he just buys water and some food. 

I mean, so what?... concerning the headline here, .... this is Thailand.