rene123

I have both a Nikon D7000 and a Nikon AW100. After using both extensively I use the little Nikon AW100 far more often. The video on it is amazing and I can take it under water when I go diving. The close up mode is fantastic and I can virtually place the lens within a cm of the subject. For about $500 including a couple of batteries and a 16 gig card, I can't ask anything more of a camera. The D7000 shines when I need some variation and an instant response. But, the size of an SLR makes it a bit awkard for every day use unless you are on a photo shoot. And, in video mode the AW100 is more accurate in focusing. Video mode in the D7000 takes a bit of getting used to and more care is needed in getting the focusing correct.

I just had a shower; does that count?

Weird Sex Laws

A law in Fairbanks, Alaska, does not allow moose to have sex on city streets.

They don't allow moose to have sex in Thailand, either.

It can be done, but just don't expect to buy very much other than necessities. If you are willing to live in a simple Thai hotel and eat mostly Thai food you can easily live on 45,000 baht a month. You could also afford to buy a Honda scooter on that much money by saving a little bit and NOT buy anything on time. Bank or financing Interest is what kills you.

I feel for what the OP is saying, but I have to agree with PapaNasty. Those are things that happen in poor cultures. I could repeat almost the same things happening in Canada where I grew up. But, it is on the native Indian reserves, now called "First Nations". Young children are left alone without supervision and many of them die. There seemed to be funeral every week at the local native reserve, and it was almost always some very young child playing where it shouldn't have been. And, with no adult around to supervise. It is sad and it is frustrating, but there isn't much the common citizen can do about it. If we try to interfere we are told we are not wanted. Just look at the horrible practise of female circumcision that is still being done in many parts of Africa and some Islamic cultures.

I enjoy Loi Krathong. I enjoyed watching the children having fun. It is all a state of mind. Some people enjoy all aspects of life and others prefer to be miserable. It's all about choices. Yes, it is dangerous, but danger is a way of life for the Thais. Have you noticed how they drive or ride motorbikes?

Well there was this girl......

Looked like a girl, kissed like a girl, danced like a girl.

It was when she drove me home to her apartment and did a perfect reverse parking manouvre, I thought to myself, Hold on a minute........................

X2 or 3

Although this topic may not have answered the OP's question, it has shed a good deal of light on the subject of freshness of food products (namely fish) and the taste. I can also assure everyone that taste of sea products is lost during the process unless VERY closely monitored. I have also tasted crab meat and prawns that had no flavour. I know the difference because I get them fresh from the ocean in Canada. And, the various salmon species (Chinook, coho, Chum, Pinks and sockeye) also taste different. And, some species keep much longer than others. Pink salmon are great if freshly caught, cooked and eaten, but they do not freeze or keep well refrigerated. Chum salmon are good if caught in the ocean and eaten quickly, but their pale flesh is not as appealing visually as the other species.

I'm much too active to have that kind of man for a partner. Why even be together?

In my best country and western voice...

Once a day, all day long

And once a night, from dusk till dawn

Lucky me, can't you see

I'm only eating noodles once a day.

Lanterns falling out of the sky right and left here on the west end.

Steady medium rain.

You could say that puts a "damper" on the festivities. It poured down rain this morning by the Tesco store at the south end of town. The sun sort of came out for a while in the afternoon.Thankfully, the rains held off yesterday evening around town for the main event.

At least Ao Nang beach and Krabi are small enough that it's easy to walk anywhere, providing you are not physically crippled. Nowhere in Thailand is suitable for people who are physically handicapped. i won't say mentally handicapped because it's quite obvious there are many who fit that category. Thailand really wasn't laid out for vehicles and they are struggling just trying to play catch up..

Man can not keep on ignoring his part in the weather conditions,

True perhaps that volcanoes put more carbon dioxide in the air. But that does not mean that man's contribution is doing nothing. Look at the changing weather patterns all over the world.

We would have to be completely uneducated or idiots to believe we had nothing to do with it. Where I come from In British Columbia you can see it in nature. The ecosystem is changing turtles and dragon flies who are sensitive to the environment are disappearing.

Comparably speaking man may not add that much to the problem but he does add to it and it does not take much to change it when you continually polluting it for hundreds of years,

That is true, and for the most part people are aware of it. And, it has changed for the better since I was a child. Vancouver's False Creek harbour used to be a cesspool of industrial waste. There are salmon returning to a few urban streams that haven't seen salmon for as long as I've been around. My only concern is the sell out to big business who have no concerns other than profit. Timber companies on Vancouver Island are cutting down forests at least 40 years before the timber matures. And, through back room dealings their mandate of turning over control to local communities was "somehow" changed so they now have complete ownership of what was originally public land. I see the same things happening to many of the forests in Thailand where Akka tribe people are displaced from land they've been on for centuries.

Most boring place in Thailand you ask? My room in Chiang Mai right now. I'm sitting watching the rain fall outside when I had a nice motorbike ride planned.

Marine Harvest Canada has been certified according to ISO 14001 environmental management standards.

http://www.marineharvestcanada.com/

And the standards are set by the companies doing the farming, and approved by our big business pro Prime Minister, Harper. If you can believe what the fish farmers say you then would also believe everything told to you by "big Oil" ... ie, "Pollute? Heavens no, we would never pollute."

If there was ever a bigger hypocrite than Canada's present Prime Minister, then I can't think of one.

The major advantage of refrigerated pasteurized food vs. frozen food? Mainly, it is convenience. Frozen food will have a shelf life of 6 months or more. However, frozen food must be thawed. The thawing process requires time and energy. Expensive, energy-intensive equipment is also required to freeze and hold the food products frozen. Normally, foodservice operations do not need the long shelf life of frozen food. Chilled foods, some of which can have a shelf life of 60 days, are much more efficient to handle. For example foods quick chilled to close to freezing but not frozen 1.7 C have a shelf life of 19.3 days as opposed to 4.4 C shelf life of 7.5 days and frozen 123 days.

http://www.hi-tm.com...ts/Chillfd.html

Thankyou for researching that. It is good to know and explains a lot of things. Most home refrigerators just dry things out. So do deep freezers unless items have been shrink wrapped in air tight plastic containers.

The point being is that if you want to enjoy your retirement years, you have to have a plan. Being retired in Thailand is great as long as you have money. This is no place to be poor.

I think that is true anywhere, but certainly more so in countries with no welfare system. In Thailand, the "family" is the welfare system, and if they don't have anything then you are screwed.

When I was a young man, I was a wheeler dealer and thought that making a lot of money was very important. I had many new cars, nice homes and all the latest toys.

I had made plans with my younger brother to go somewhere, I don't remember where. I do remember what he said when I picked him up with my new Z-28 Chevy Camero. We were cruising along and he told me that he dreamed about having a car like this and that it didn't mean anything to me, that I didn't appreciate it at all. He was right, it was just another toy to me.

I never really considered retirement and what I would do for income until I was in my early forties. It finally dawned on me that I had better start making plans. At that point, I gave up my expensive party ways, boats, new cars and fancy homes. I was still earning quite a lot of money and began a serious retirement saving plan. I stuck to it and am now enjoying the results of that planning. I have a nest egg in the US that I have been fortunate to never have needed. It's not a huge amount of money but It is kind of a security blanket that gives me peace of mind. It's there if I ever need it. My best guess at this point is that my kids will inherit it.

Maybe the best part of my life is that no one ever gave me anything so no one could accuse or blame me for foolishly squandering a lot of money. I earned it and spent it as I wanted. Since my frugal saving years, I really have not changed my lifestyle. I actually dislike fancy hotels and restaurants. I refuse to dress up and no longer own a suit or tie. I swore to myself that after I retired, I would never again wear a suit and tie and I haven't. I hate my duty visits to the US to visit family and really dislike travelling.

You sound like my father, and he's still enjoying the "good life". More power to him. He said I was cut from the same mould. I've discovered that you don't need a lot of "things" to enjoy life.

Salmon farms in the open ocean destroy the natural environment. It takes 5 kilos of ground up fish and crustacean parts to provide one kilo of farmed salmon. The salmon farmers get their fish food from Chili where there are no environmental laws. The waters off the Chiean coast have been devastated by foreign boats killing everything, and the local fishermen can no longer find fish for their own use. The fish pellets are filled with antibiotics to prevent disease in the farmed salmon. The excess food falls to the ocean floor beneath the pens and turns the area into a dead zone. This the same zone that the native wild species of salmon are trying to survive in. It has had a terrible result in every place these fish farms have been situated. Wild salmon and sea trout no longer return to inlets where these salmon farms have been placed.

I don't like anything that is done just for "show", but owning some nice piece of art work that is functional is a different story. To me a watch is just something to tell me the time. If it is accurate within a few minutes each day then that is good enough. Most ladies watches are useless to me. They are too small to see the time and are just decorations like jewelry that has no functional use. I wear a small, man's watch that is inexpensive and keeps reasonable time. If it went missing then it would be no great loss, and I would just replace it. It is the same with my jewelry. I have no interest in real diamonds or precious stones.Maybe I'm just not a "real" woman.

On a similar topic, there is no need for an automobile that can go 300 kph if the roads and traffic are designed for under 100 kph. There is no need for a home with multiple bedrooms if only one person lives there. I've always owned expensive cameras, but they are just tools to me. It is like a carpenter and his tools. The good quality ones perform better and last longer.

The warmer than usual weather explains why I have to take showers about 3 or 4 times a day. But, weather patterns seem to be changing throughout the world, and what ever weather you are currently having seems to last longer. All we can do is live with it and try to adjust. Last winter in British Columbia, Canada it seemed to be far wetter than normal and it lasted right through the spring and into the summer. Then, when summer finally arrived, the dry season lasted well into the fall. I think it's the same here in Thailand. This is supposed to be the dry season, but we've had more evening showers than normal and if it doesn't rain there are enough clouds around to make it unstable and threatening. I don't like riding my scooter in the rain and I've put off taking longer trips because I'm uncertain if I will be caught in a storm or not.

From someone who seldom spends more than 50 baht for a good Thai meal I think I'll take your advice and give it a miss.

It was a little better organized tonight and the authorities didn't block both ends of roads forcing people to ride around in circles trying to find a way out. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. I hope there were too many injuries due to the irresponsible handling of fireworks.

I have a plan.

You always seem to have a plan, Winnie, but do you ever follow through with it?

Just joking with you.

Roads were blocked off, but nothing seemed to be happening. Lots of people milling around the Narawat bridge and what looked like a big monks party. Not as many lanterns as I expected, but the untimely rain might have had something to do with that. Then, about midnight they had the corner of Chang Klan road and the night market blocked so everyone was forced back into the very congested area near the Narawat bridge. I saw songthews going the wrong way down one way roads. Thankfully I was able to wiggle my scooter through and around all the stopped trucks and cars, and past the throngs of tourists to take the LOOOONG way around and back to my hotel. It should be even more crazy tomorrow night and I think I'll park my scooter just outside the town center and walk into the festivities.