impulse

I'd bet that was done by the locals when the cast iron covers were stolen. Probably well meaning, but it didn't work out. I'd absolutely prosecute anyone who steals the covers, or any scrap dealers who buy them.

If you're going to select and promote your employees based on demographics, and not based on merit, isn't that treating them as a fungible commodity? One engineer is as good as the next, so let's pick the black guy, because we're short on blacks according to our DEI goals... My mechanical engineering class had about 250 graduates with half a dozen blacks and the same number of women. There is no mathematical way for a company to get to "equity" without hiring the bottom 50% of women and blacks in preference to the top of the whites and Asians. That's just numbers, and not a judgment of the quality of the graduates.

Strange as it may sound, some of us love them even when they pack on the years and the pounds. (though too many pounds is a boner killer).

Good catch. McKinsey also published this gem on Boeing... https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/data-as-jet-fuel-an-interview-with-boeings-cio In the oilfield, we used to suffer through a McKinsey audit every 5 years or so. Their recommendations always proposed treating talent as a fungible commodity, where a $70K cub engineer was as good as a $200K 30 year guy. I've seen 30 year guys save the company 100x their salary in a day when they pointed out what happened 10 years ago when we last tried what that noob is proposing. That's why Boeings seem to be falling apart and crashing. Fungible talent. Another DEI feature.

It's been over 50 years since skin color made the difference in educational quality. White kids, Hispanic kids and Asian kids have the same challenges in crappy inner city school systems. (The families that value education move to better districts). So why should black kids get DEI preferential treatment when their educational options were the same as inner city white kids, or Hispanic kids? My grandparents came to the USA from Belarus and Russia with no money and speaking no English. 2 generations later, we're 60% millionaires at retirement. The next generation is already 50% millionaires and nowhere near retirement yet. 3 of the 10 will be gazillionaires by retirement. Because they valued education and chose to move to good districts. With the advent of the interweb, the good districts are easy to find, and generally have better jobs to move to...

Shouldn't talk about chicks, either... 'Cept maybe that one who used to show up at the track with the bumper sticker "You beat me, you eat me". I don't think she ever lost. But 99.9% of the mechanics and grease monkeys (where I categorize myself) were guys.

All my female friends who drove "hot cars" drove Camaros, Firebirds and Mustangs. Most of them had straight 6's. Except Jill. Her Firebird had a 350. It was as fine as she was, after she lost that weight. They didn't go for the mid size cars like Chargers, Torinos and Chevelles.

That's like sticking baseball cards in your spokes with a clothespin.

I had a '79 and I would have been better off financially giving it away the day after I bought it. Worst car I ever owned, and a cheap Toyota of recent vintage would handle better and probably beat it on the track, for sure in the curves. My dream car as a kid was a 70-71 Torino GT with a 429. Today, I look back and cringe that I even wanted one. The only cars that handled worse were the Mopars. Any Mopar.

2/3 of a real big number is still a big number.

Reading the title, I thought they were offering Viagra tourism. You can get a real good stiffy in just 90 days. Not sure how competitive a Muay Thai boxer can get in 90 days.

I am cautiously optimistic that scientists over the next 70 years will come up with plant strains that will tolerate any changes in conditions and use all that extra plant food in the atmosphere to increase yields. Even in Thailand.

Amassing 800K baht, a few GBP at a time. Then, it's GO TIME.

Was that before or after his story about flying around planet Mongo with Flash Gordon, fighting Ming the Merciless?

As long as there are scrap dealers who will buy cast iron manhole covers, they'll disappear. Here in China, they mostly make them out of fiberglass nowadays. One of my buddies' relatives owns the biggest fishing rod factory in the world (used to be anyway...). They use mostly leftover fiberglass scraps to make cheap manhole covers. No resale scrap value, and they last as long or longer than cast iron. I can't believe the MEA would even consider wood.

Having given it a little more thought walking to get the groceries, I think Dumb Entitled Ingrates is better. Some of them are pretty crafty, so not idiots. But I agree. When society starts giving out money and position for just being there and ticking demographic boxes, it can't advance. That's why the collective West is soon to be overtaken.

DEI. I thought that was Dumb Entitled Idiots. You can get an education, work hard, and get ahead. Or you can squander every opportunity, sit on your butt, and demand your "fair share" of OPM. That's what they should call them. The OPM movement.

Pirate Buy a copy of the Drifters' Under the Boardwalk. It'll all be okay.

Folks suggesting EVA may not be considering the price. I've been getting amazing prices on Chinese airlines post Covid. My buttcheeks pucker for any int'l transfer less than 2 hours. Great if everything goes right, but there's a lot of places to get tripped up and end up sleeping in the airport.

We hired a visa agent to help my female friend to get a US visa. They suggested she not even mention knowing me. She got a 10 year visa. She did have a good job, and had graduated college in Australia. But no assets in her name and not a big bank account. To the OP, run it up the flagpole. $185 isn't prohibitive, and you're not on the hook if things don't work the way you envision. But (especially if she's a new GF), be ready for the possibility she's been denied before... There are serial visa seekers in many countries, including Thailand.

Most people take "friendly and happy" with them wherever they go. Same with "grumpy and miserable".

If the OP finds a way to get tested in Thailand, please post back. After 20+ years in the US healthcare system, 6 sleep tests, 2 surgeries, hundreds of appointments, half a dozen "diagnoses", trying out about a dozen "latest and greatest" meds (including participation in a clinical trial of an even newer one), I gave up on putting a name on it (ADD without the H was the best match, but who knows?) and just went for the symptom relief. Had to go 2 states over because my home state (Texas) makes it so difficult for doctors to prescribe Ritalin. If the Ritalin's working, I'm happy for you. I was pleased that it's possible to get it in Thailand, if only through a hospital pharmacy. It wasn't difficult, especially with a note from the doc back home (in Colorado, actually) Sadly, this is a discussion that's better had with a bunch of close friends over dinner, and not in a public forum that's not known for sober, compassionate and serious posters. So don't let anyone convince you to abandon something that's working for you, assuming it is.

When Lazada first hit Thailand, I did my first few orders COD using my office address. That turned into a PITA when the receptionist had to find me. After the first few seamless orders, I had the confidence to use my K-Bank debit card and have the deliveries go to my apartment where the security guy and manager were always there to receive the goodies. Never had an issue... I also visited their HQ near Emporium and met a lot of their staff at the time. Several of my Thai workmates took their seminar on becoming a vendor.

I don't think it's usually that insidious. They'll have the same items listed on Lazada, EBay, AliExpress, TaoBao and others. Hard to keep all the venues' inventory updated. Also, a lot of them sell from an empty wagon and when they go to buy what you've ordered, their supplier is out of stock. Lots of them also use stock photos.

Most times when the Lazada delivery guys did call me, they didn't speak English. I lived alone and don't speak Thai... Obviously, YMMV.