impulse

I ended up buying a DJI Mini 3, because it has a better camera, and the other choice (Mini 4k) was out of stock. Plus, if I like it and decide later to buy a Mini NEO, the controller will work. 2388 RMB, which is about 12000 baht. Not cheap, but, oh well. In for a penny, in for a pound. I bought it in China instead of waiting a few days until I hit Thailand, because I was concerned about activating it in Thailand, then not being able to fly in China. They activated it (and in English) before I left the store. The other reason for the DJI is that's what 90+% of the locals fly at the park I frequent. I'll fit in better, and the locals in China know the best deals. They're notorious deal shoppers. I'll post back once I sit through the numerous DJI training videos and actually fly the thing.

I want them to base their accusation on something the beside dock rash in that photo, and get the right guy. I've hit submerged and floating objects on a jet ski and never had damage like the photo, especially so far above the water line. BTW, what do you call that 3mm thick white layer below the peeling black paint? We call it Bondo.

Most of the rest rooms I frequent nowadays have vending machines selling toilet paper. 'Cause, we're not in Kansas any more, Toto.

Is that why the uber-expensive airlines advertise the piano bar on their premium flights? Jeez. It's a holiday flight and they're acting like they're on holiday. We from the nanny states have been incrementally castrated over the years in the name of safety and the illusion of security.

When you look at your account statements, are there any service charges added for pulling out your American plastic for a $0.76 charge in Thailand? I'd be afraid the bank would tack on some horrendous fee.

I'd be fine with that, but I just go in to pee and wash my hands. I don't surreptitiously adjust my makeup, brush my hair and all those other things that happen in Ladies' rooms. I'm glad they have that space to be chicks, because I like how they look.

Break down and buy a new computer. They're cheap as chips nowadays. Sooner or later, entropy gets the better of them. Do it while you're still able to copy your important files and settings over to the new one.

Somewhere, there's an Indian guy complaining about how constrained he was on a flight because nobody was allowed to get up and chat and have fun. It is a holiday, after all.

If there was more than one jet ski on CCTV (there were at least 2 according to the OP), and the only criteria they used to determine which one hit the swimmer was "damage", I think they have, at best, a 50:50 chance of having the right guy. Even lower if there were several jet skis out at the time. If witnesses and/or CCTV could differentiate between the riders, so be it. Good on the police for getting the guy. But it needs to be based on something other than damage shown in that photo.

That's Bondo.

Maybe, but that's a long running jet ski scam. Covering up damage with water soluble or poorly bonded paint that gets washed off while the renter is bopping around. Then claiming damages when the innocent renter returns it. Obviously, I have no clue whether that's the case here. But I'd hate to see an innocent rider getting banged up. If that's the actual photo, I doubt that was cause by a collision with a swimmer. And I see quite a bit of Bondo, indicating previous damage.

Given how many people show up with incomplete or just plain wrong documents, I can see where the Embassies/Consulates would farm out the work of going over the submittals to make sure nobody's wasting their time. That includes the applicants. Especially the ones who get downright belligerent when they have to come back tomorrow with the right stuff. First time I ever saw it was trying to get a China visa in Korea during the 2008 Olympic Visa Debacle. That's not to say that was the first time it's ever been implemented, just the first time I experienced it. In that case there was a slew of agencies approved by the Embassy, not an exclusive arrangement with just one. They all tried to make the applicants think they were the only one, but there was a whole street full of offices in Seoul. I'd prefer to see using the agencies as an option, rather than mandatory. And some healthy competition to get the best value in terms of service/cost. But you can't always get what you want.

I ascribe that to the stigma attached to renters (project dwellers) when we were growing up. It's tough to get past years of indoctrination, even when the conditions change. Like living where the risks of "ownership" outweigh the benefits. I'd agree with your characterization of "nothing new". Since I first arrived in 2011, they trot out crackdowns on illegal shell companies a few times a year. Probably before I arrived, too. Usually in response to some kind of political imperative. Or casting greedy eyes on properties controlled by foreign entangled companies.

Do you need the calls to come from a US phone number, or receive calls and texts?

“As a reporter, I have a confession to make: I should have pushed harder earlier for more information about Joe Biden’s mental and physical well-being and any signs of decline. So let me explain. Joe Biden was president from 2020 to 2024. I worked at CNN through 2022,” ‘I Should Have Pushed Harder’: Ex-CNN Analyst Apologizes For Not Probing Into Biden’s ‘Decline’ Sooner | The Daily Caller According to one poster above, that's how they pander to their high intellect viewership. I almost spat in my cornflakes reading that post. Fox's low intellect viewers got the truth, and years earlier... Begging the question, if you know the truth years before the other guy, who's smarter?

I think there's a bunch of people looking for something to complain about. As a former grease monkey, gas pumper, and (literal) 40 year engineer, the thought of some exposed screw ends up under the dash where nobody can see them (and you'd have to be double jointed midget to get impaled), doesn't seem worth spending any money to fix. There have always been products available for the picky people to dress up stuff they don't like about the way their cars left the factory. It's a huge market. Look up JC Whitney for a little taste. (if they still exist...) Those customers aficionadas can spend the time and money if it makes them happy. I used to be one of them. No longer. The rest of us are just happy they took a few bucks off the cost by leaving off the acorn nuts. And the labor to install the acorn nuts. My last car was a Toyota Sienna van. It had all kinds of protrusions that grabbed me when I crawled up under the dash. None that bothered me operating the vehicle as intended.

Better yet. Tell the Cajuns that TdA's taste great in a roux, and that they're out of season. Yet another lefty lie, to put the disgraced Border Czar in the White House. TdA isn't a problem. They only took over a few complexes...

So you're still watching a 13" electron tube BxW TV with vacuum tubes instead of an 85" OLED and integrated circuits? They worked fine, too. Back in the '50s. (Cost as much as today's 85 incher back then, too) And next, they'll have 3D hologram TV's. Because this year's cutting edge science will become next year's collectible. Edit: On an aside, I paid $459 for a 20" color TV when I graduated in 1982. And that was in 1982 dollars. For that same number ($459), I can buy a 75" color flat screen today. Adjusted for inflation, I could buy a 105" big screen for the same as I paid for a 20 incher back then. So I'm glad the science moves on.

With no specific knowledge, and not seeing under the carpet, I suspect they use longer screws to facilitate assembly, and there's nothing (generally) to worry about. If someone's bothered by a few mm protruding, that's why God invented acorn nuts. Not the squirrel food kind. This kind... They'll also keep from snagging your sock in the rare case that's a problem.

I'm not suggesting anything dodgy, but I'd be seeking advice from the huge communities of Malaysians in Thailand for the best suggestions. I suspect it'll be different from the best advice for Brits or Euros or Yanks, which is what you'll mostly get here. Edit: Along those lines, my first move would be a phone call to a Malaysian consulate or embassy. They've dealt with it, guaranteed. And you'll need their help to get a passport anyway.

If Facebook is deciding what is "hate speech" and what is acceptable, they need to be stripped of the section 230 immunity because they are no longer an unbiased conduit for what other people say. They've taken a side. Even if I agree with them in one case, it may be my side getting censored next week. Or next election. Or next war.

Just so I'm clear. Are they saying that "fragrant pork marinated in a burlap sack" is not some kind of exotic local dish?

I've got my fingers crossed that Musk and Ramaswamy can turn AI loose to figure out where all the money's being spent. It's virtually impossible to correlate across agencies, with a lot of that spending redundant or just plain corrupt. But they need political support, lest they be prosecuted (or worse) for whistleblowing. I'd like to see simple bullet points... Here's what's being spent on illegals. Here's what's being spent on DEI. Here's what's being spent on elective medical procedures. Here's what's being spent on adults that have never worked a day in their lives...

In an unapproved source, I read from Dershowitz that one of the judge's motives is the New York law that doesn't allow appeals until after the sentencing. So Trump has to wait until 2029 to even appeal the case. He described it as "clever but wrong" if anyone wants to Google it...

I agree, but even during their "heyday", I'd keep CNN on in my hotel room because it was often the only English language programming. They had it on a loop where I'd hear the same stories every hour or two. I honestly think they designed the programming to cater to airport passengers who watch while they're waiting on their flight, and never see how shallow their coverage was. I think their "rescue" in Syria is going to drive another nail in the coffin.