simon43

Yet having taken the 1 gram recommended dose of Harmala for about 5 weeks: - I no longer need to take any Alfusolin or Tamasulin at all (I had previously needed this daily drug for the past 5+ years or more). - My urine stream is stronger and no dribbling - I no longer have to get up 4-5 times/night to pee - Although the bacteria is still present (according to the tests), I no longer have any fishy smell or stinging when peeing Hmm, placebo effect? 🙂

Regardless of how hot the weather is, and unless I'm jogging, I always wear long trousers and a buttoned shirt with collar. I don't even possess a pair of shorts, flip-flops etc. I have several ties, but I reserve those for when I'm teaching in the classroom. It's interesting to see how Thais treat a Westerner who dresses reasonably well, as opposed to a slob. In my regular 7/11s, I'm always addressed as 'Ajarn', (or 'Saya' in Myanmar shops). There's definitely a note of respect 🙂 BTW, wearing long trousers and a collared shirt is hardly hi-so fashion 🙂

I'm almost doing that now! 🙂

Apparently it is the most boring country in Europe to visit.

Wow, some biased options in your poll... I'm old enough to remember when the 'west' promised (on several public occasions) Russia that NATO would never extend eastwards - and then they did just that! Don't anger the Russian bear...

Many years ago I posted that the business model of this website was wrong! It would be a much better forum if it charged a monthly subscription fee, say $10. I'd pay if that fee kept out the idiots...

You're lucky that you didn't get a smack in the mouth, (or more if the motodop guys get involved...)

I also want to understand why, if I ask ChatGPT to create an image of a man in his 50's or 60's (eg a teacher in the classroom), it insists on creating an image of someone who looks to be in his 70's with a white beard.....

Yes indeed! My NataChata AI chat engine was programmed by me to mimic a 'slut', and was rather successful at that 🙂 It typically generated an income of about $40,000 per month,which was good income 20 years ago for a sole-trader business. Now where did all that $$$ go? 🙂

Perhaps ChatGPT was written by a Brit and it can't understand what you mean by 'mustache' 🙂

Yes, but again to reassure the mods, I'm not specifically criticising that news report or any of the news reports on AN 🙂 But if I ask Chat GPT to comment about something, it does seem to respond with more human-like sentences. I guess there are different AI chat engines...

Firstly, this is not a criticism of AN or the use of AI in their news reports! This is a general comment about AI. However, I was reading the recent news report about a British man who has been hospitalised in Thailand, with no medical insurance etc. (You've heard this story time and time again!). But what struck me was how AI news reports bear little similarity to actual human journalists who might report a similar story. The vocabulary used is.. well ... basically not human! 🙂 No real person would use the vocabulary and phrases that are used in AI news reports. ... and that makes me think "Why?". I thought that AI engines try to mimic humans, not robots. Why do AI news applications use vocabulary and phrases that immediately identify them as AI? (Perhaps that's what they are trying to do...) As reported in another thread from about 2 years ago: https://aseannow.com/topic/1290809-so-called-artificial-intelligence-ai/page/3/ 19 years ago, I wrote the 'AI' SMS text-chat program called Natachata which the BBC stated was (at the time) the best candidate for passing the Turing test. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3503465.stm (in other words, fooling a real human that they were actually chatting with another human). I'm sorely disappointed with the vocabulary and style of writing of the AI 'news bots'. Definitely room for improvement 🙂

Off-topic, but many years ago I entered communist Roumania on the border train by showing a 'British Gas' bill that I claimed was my entry visa. The border guard had no idea of English, studied the gas bill for a few minutes, stamped it and let me into the country... 🙂

[quote] Your use of the word moaning is misleading. [/quote] Well, the Oxford dictionary seems to agree with my use of this word in an informal context: `1 - make a long, low sound expressing physical or mental suffering or sexual pleasure. 2. informal complain or grumble, typically about something trivial. Maybe I used this particular verb since I posted in the Pattaya sub-forum, and readers would expect something of a 'titilating' nature... 🙂

electric cattle prods.. easy solution!

Ah, my mistake. The only moaning I've heard from women in the past 10 years (or more, has been of the non-sexual kind...

In Thailand, I always ask for a #4 cut all over. #4 is about 1cm long, neat all round. However..... I forgot that in Myanmar, they work on the imperial measurement system, you know - inches, yards, furlongs, ounces and so on. Fact - only 3 countries still use the imperial measurement system: USA, Myanmar and - for some reason - Liberia in west Africa. So a few weeks ago, I stride into a barber shop in Mandalay, bade the young chap a cheery 'Mingalaba' and said in English "Haircut? Number 4 yes?". "Yes hokay, number 4" he replies, and prepares his tools. I sit in the chair, he gets out his electric clippers and cuts a wide stripe off my already-thin hair, leaving perhaps 1mm of hair stubble, similar to a monk!! Of course, there was no point in stopping him now, because my 3cm wide strip of no hair would look rather silly, (like the kid above in Crossy's post)! So I ended up running from the barber shop to my hotel, scared that the 'monk' police might conscript me into the local temple... I then remembered from yonks ago while living in Myanmar that a #4 cut in the country is much, much shorter than a #4 haircut in Thailand. Bloody imperial measurements!!

Well, I would have a washing machine if I stayed in one location for more than a few months 🙂 I'm off back to Yangon in a few days, where washing clothes is a night-time novelty, since the mains electricity is typically only available in the middle of the night. (Water pumps etc don't work without electricity, so as soon as the power is switched on, everyone runs to cook food, wash clothes etc).

[quote] ... She revealed that her daughter had been diagnosed with obesity during a previous hospital visit but had kept her worsening condition a secret from family members. ... [/quote] Jeez, she is as big as a very big whale!! How on earth can you keep that a secret? Anyway, good luck in her treatment and lay off the Krispy Kremes....

Yep - I've still got heart palpitations from all the excitement... 🙂

Peganum what?? For the sake of clarity, I ask Sheryl to review the linked academic paper in my post. I don't want to be accused of being a 'quack' promoting some crazy snake oil. https://clinphytoscience.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40816-021-00255-7 Peganum Harmula, also known by its common name of 'Rue', is a plant that grows in Iran. Historically, it has been used for centuries as a herbal medicine to treat various different ailments. I got an interest in this plant because of search engine references to its treatment to alleviate BPH symptoms and UTIs, especially bacteria-resistant bacteria. The academic paper indicated that the seeds can be taken orally, about 5 grams per dosage (a quarter of a teaspoon). Farmers in Iran know that this plant can be toxic, (as are many medicines if taken in excess), and that cattle can be poisoned by eating the plant. (Well, presumably that's because the cows have not checked the correct dosage to treat their BPH lol!!) Anyway, I've posted previously about my long-term UTIs. Urine analysis did indicate that my E.Coli bacteria were susceptible to expensive medicines, but I decided to try taking some Harmala to see if it helped in any way. The seeds of this plant are sold cheaply on Lazada. So for the past 4 weeks, I've been taking a daily dose of Harmala, chewing up the slightly bitter seeds. I'm going back to Myanmar in a few days, so I did a PSA and Urine culture test a few days ago, just to make sure that my PSA was steady. The PSA test - as reported in another thread - came back with a steady (but high) value of just under 11, but with no increase in value since my last test about 7 months ago. I attribute the high value to my BPH, prostate calcium stones and long-term UTIs, and a biopsy previously found no cancer cells. I just got the urine culture results, and ESBL E.Coli is still present. But here is the very surprising news: - Although the E.Coli is still present, I have no UTI symptoms, in that there is no awful fishy smell and no stinging when peeing. My urine is a healthy pale yellow colour. - I no longer dribble when peeing, but I have a continual stream of urine, not like a fire-hose, but much, much better than previously - I no longer have to get up to pee in the night. Previously, I would get up perhaps 4 or 5 times. Even if I drink a small can of beer before going to bed, I'm comfortable all night and naturally wake up at about 5am. - In the day time, I no longer have to pee multiple times, (which is a great help when teaching at school). Finally, and this is the 'biggy', I no longer take Alfuzolin or Tamsulosin! That's correct. I stopped with this daily medication. All I take now is the Harmala. I post this for others to consider and research. Sheryl, I'd appreciate your professional comments on my situation.

I must be turning into GG (the moaning one, not the long-winded one). I'm a very patient and amicable person. But one thing - in modern parlance - triggers me. That is moaning women! This is not a dig at moaning Thai women, I'm having a dig at ALL women who moan without reason. I guess the same would apply to moaning men, but I generally haven't encountered the male of the species doing this. (Or maybe I'm moaning right now!) I took my clothes to the laundry. There was an empty washer and no-one else there. So I started loading up the machine with my clothes. 1 minute later the owner of the shop appears and starts moaning at me for stealing her washer, which she was just about to use. Huh? Why wasn't she by the machine then, instead of disappearing off? If she needed to go somewhere, (to get change etc), why didn't she at least place her clothes in the washer? No reasonable reply, just more verbal moaning. So rather then shove her head at full speed into a hot tumble dryer, (which she deserved), I politely collected my clothes and placed them in another washer. By now, the woman had disappeared again. I inserted a 100-baht note for 10 baht coins and it dispensed precisely 80 baht! Keep calm Simon, I told myself. I started the washer and wandered around for 30 minutes during the washing cycle. Finally, all was finished. I collected my clothes to hang them out to dry on my sunny balcony. As I walked off home, I glanced at the original washing machine that the woman had moaned at me about. It was still empty!!, and no sign of that moaning woman! I now understand why I was the partner in my 3 marriages who instigated divorce proceedings.....

Yonks ago I got into a legal problem with another foreigner, which meant that I was not allowed to leave Thailand until the matter was resolved. (I was on the blacklist for leaving the country). I was on a visa-exempt entry - 30 days. Every 30 days I had to obtain a letter of authorisation from a certain police station, and take this to the immigration office in Pattaya, so that they would extend my stay in Thailand, (otherwise I'd be on overstay). The police officer charged me 5,000 baht on each occasion for that letter...... Another occasion, in a different part of Thailand, I had a major issue with a druggie who invaded my little bed and breakfast business, and claimed it was now his business. I called the local cops who sided with the druggie because he was their drug supplier.... I'm sure there are many honest policemen and women, but I prefer to keep all of them at arm's length.

Covid didn't change me one iota. I wore a mask before (lung problems), and still wear a mask every day now. No-one (I mean 'westerners') says anything to me about this and certainly no Thais make any comment. I can't understand why wearing a face mask gets some Westerners hot under the collar.

Did you ask the price for the journey before you got on the bike? No? You're still wet behind the ears... 🙂