impulse

Though I'm posting this from China, I have no specific advice for the OP because there's so much variation between the different cities in China. For a short trip, I'd either change money before hopping on the plane (Super Rich, etc) or just swap it at the arrival airport. Just like anywhere, they may reject soiled, dated or torn bills, so I'd do it before hand. If you need cash while you're here, I use my US debit cards at most of the ATMs with no problem. Any issues I've had have come from my banks in the US which like me to pre-authorize debit card use overseas, even Thailand. A call to the number on the debit card cleared that up. Past the airport, swapping cash at the banks is hit and miss. I've been treated very well at China immigration, though I'm abusing my 10 year tourist visa to help care for my terminally ill Chinese girlfriend of over 20 years. I leave once a month to adhere to the 30 days per entry and they let me in and out, and all questions end when I show them my purpose. (US passport with work and business history in China from over 10 years ago). Be aware that they have a list of questions they ask everyone, every time. It's not onerous once you realize that it's just their procedure. I swap out my AIS SIM when I'm on the plane for a China Unicom SIM so I've never tried AIS from here. My Google Fi SIM works here (though Google shuts off data after about a month overseas). Google Fi text and voice calls continue to work here, but are spotty, depending on cell coverage. That's for incoming and outgoing calls and text. But if I don't get connected right away, I just move a few hundred yards and the next cell tower seems to work. Dress warm if you're going up north like me. It's cold up here. But I'd recommend a visit to most of China. Fascinating place. And any horror stories haven't been my experience. Here's one of my "colorful" neighbors:

Of the thousands of prescription drugs we see on the pharmacy shelves, Biden was planning to negotiate 10 of them down, starting in 2026. With another 10 or so added each year, long after he would have termed out had he even run and won. Hardly a stellar success against Big Pharma.

Win, lose or draw, I hope the OP posts back with his experience. It'll help the next guys. In fact, it would be nice for everyone in an unusual visa situation to post with their experience at the border. Details are also nice to have.

Some of the conspiracy theories with the longest legs are that Epstein was running honeypots for Mossad and/or the US alphabet agencies. Perhaps Trump can't release the goods without exposing ongoing activities? And opening himself up to a JFK scenario...

The more interesting question is who replaced him in that role? I don't for a minute think that it's slowed down at all.

I don't know. You'll have to ask someone who used the word. I don't see it in my post, nor the quote.

I'd call out her choice of the word "predator" given its toxic common usage since the Me Too movement. Sensationalizing a complicated issue of programs that may not be delivering more benefits than costs and harm. I'm looking forward to seeing the actual data that I'm sure has been collected, but not shown to the public. But that's going to take someone with a new paradigm. Like RFK Jr. Even if I question a lot of his statements.

The White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt took to X (formerly Twitter) to deny the news, explaining only an OMB memo on the matter was rescinded in the wake of legal challenges the order has faced. “This is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze. It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo,” Leavitt wrote. “The President’s EO’s on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented.” I'll let you Google that one. It's a quote from an "unapproved source".

Last weekend, walking in Lumphini Park where there are no cars, no scooters and not even any bicycles at that hour, I found myself stopping every time I crossed the road and looking both ways before setting foot on the asphalt. It's a conditioned response from years of living in Asia. I can see where a tourist just visiting wouldn't have that kind of rational fear.

You're conveniently forgetting that there were vast tracts of cheap but farmable land available to be settled in Canada, the US and Australia. The same policies don't work so well where land is expensive.

I'm guilty of the shorthand (laziness) where I leave off the word "unvetted" or "illegal" when discussing the immigration problem. Immigration isn't the problem. It's the way it's being done.

There's another one of those cherries. Perhaps it's the dire conditions brough on by unvetted immigration that's causing the low birthrate? Happy people who are confident of the future are more likely to have more kids. Immigrants that just came from a 3rd world craphole are very confident of their future in the UK. It's much better than where they just were. Native Brits that see depressed wages, housing shortages and more crime aren't all that confident. So fewer kids.

Just relating my real world, been there, done that experience. How many years did you run state of the art, complex computer models for a living?

Yet every condition then mentioned is either directly caused or greatly exacerbated by immigration. Of course people taking a survey aren't going to call out immigration specifically. They'd be risking accusations of racism.

So you don't figure that conditions worsening in the UK is why they chose to emigrate, not just to Thailand? And more will leave in the future? And probably not the ones that the UK can afford to lose... Like California. Losing the ones that can afford to leave. I think they call that swirling down the bowl.

..nd you think you are the only one who knows that? - You need to listen to John Cleese. A) If it was one of the first things I learned, isn't that an indication that a lot of people know that? The more important part of my statement is that running accurate models isn't the way to keep your job, get promoted and get your next "study" funded. Publishing results that the funders like, is. You get those results by tweaking minute variables. B) How many computer models do you figure Cleese has run? c) I'm staying right now where YouTube is blocked. Though I do like John Cleese, alas it will be awhile before I can click the link.

Looks like Google's falling in line: Google to change map names for Gulf of Mexico and Denali when US updates them based on Trump order Google to change map names for Gulf of Mexico and Denali when US updates them based on Trump order | AP News Who do you think is going to win... An obscure international authority or Google?

Nah. I live for nibbles. And I just got one.

That may all be true. But your suggestion was to do the math on $400K a year. That's what I did.

While I agree with the first part of your post, one way to root out corruption in military spending is to forbid the MIC from having anything to do with retired generals (and their immediate families) for at least 10 years after they retire. Then the MIC can't influence the spending by promising cushy jobs and goodies when the generals leave the gub'ment.

I did the math. It doesn't come out to $20 mil, which is the Hawaii plus the Martha's Vineyard. Both of them waterfront, so he doesn't seem to believe that sea level rise poses a risk. But that's another thread...

Why don't you go back and look at what he really said about that. Not what the MSM spoon feeds us. Get a direct quote. Never mind that they need to revoke the Man Card from whoever divulged what was said in joking with a bunch of guys around, what was it? A campfire I think...

I know the bashers will be along soon, but I don't care. I like Swampy. I don't mind showing up 4 or 5 hours early (just in case) for my international flights. Plenty to do, lots of good eats, and the eye candy is spectacular. And they have really upped their game on both ends of immigration. In my past 21 monthly visits, I don't recall waiting over 20 minutes, and usually it's less than 5 minutes. Even when the arrivals queue looks slammed, it moves fast. And the security and departure immigration queues have really improved. My only suggestion is to increase seating at the departure gates or require the airlines to open up their ramps to downstairs seating earlier. Too many people sitting along the walls and against the glass.

What name did I call you? I asked for some information that would help people steer you in the right direction. And where did I say I used any of the workarounds? I said they exist. I also said my old laptop (this one) is still running Win10. That's because I didn't risk trying to fool Microsoft. I know just enough about Windows to stay out of trouble. Most of the time. When you post up questions, you're not the only one that's benefitting from the answers. The more information you provide, the more value the responses are to the community. Along those lines, thanks to Mutt Daeng for some really useful info!

That's a good catch, but there's still conflicting information from the OP. First, he's claiming Microsoft wants him to BUY a new version. They're actually asking him to GET a new version. For me, there was no charge updating from 22H2 to 24H2. He also shows a message superimposed on his PC Health Check screenshot that his PC doesn't meet the requirements for Win11. Rather than guess and speculate, it would be handy to know his actual configuration.