simon43

No windows?

Choose the best fit explanation for the initial accident: - Meth-head - drunk out of his mind - trying to run away from the ladyboy who had just er... shafted him (for money I mean) - trying to find a ladyboy to shaft - mentally mad as a box of chocolates - fatter than a fat elephant and smashing everything in his path - wholly innocent of any of the above and was on his way to the local temple

Completely off-topic, but what phrase are you asking ChatGPT to elicit the information about Gottfrid? Every time that I ask ChatGPT about forum member 'simon43', it refuses to tell me anything about myself 🙂

Lol, that map is out of date! Attacks have occurred 13 km from the city and it's predicted that the pdf will attempt to cut the airport road and the Pwin Oo Lwin road. Situations can change fast...

I'm returning to Myanmar later this month 🙂 Bearing in mind the worsening situation as regards electricity, I have also bought a few things from Lazada to augment my existing 'off-grid' go-bag. So far I have (in no particular order): - 12 volt solar charger for car battery - in case there is no 220 volts to charge my car battery during the day (I buy the car battery locally - too heavy/not allowed on the plane, also buy the 100 watt solar panel locally) - 60A solar charge controller, used between the solar panel and car battery. Right now in Myanmar, the price of solar equipment is very high and in short supply. I might not be able to buy the charge controller easily. - solar/handcrank torch (for those dark streets when I walk to the local restaurant) - collapsible metal walking stick. I use this in case of angry dogs (but which I have never had to use 'cos all the Burmese dogs are friendly or shy, but not dangerous!). Really, this stick is for protection from muggers, since unfortunately (and not surprisingly), petty crime and street robberies have increased). - 140 LED light for teaching (my previous lamp was 220 volts, but this 140 LED light has built-in batteries and a USB power port. It's not as bright as the old lamp, but it's much less bulky) - microphone+loudspeaker for in-class lessons (when I trying to teach English to 50 noisy young kids in the orphanages, a little extra boost to my voice is good to have) - compact headphones and boom mike (my old set works fine but is rather bulky) - small 12/220v inverter and larger 1000w 12/220v inverter. These are for use with the car battery to change the 12 volts DC up to 220 volts AC. The smaller unit is just a back-up if the bigger one dies. - compact 220v power cable extension - Last time when going through Myanmar customs, they tried to confiscate my 220 volt power extension cable on the grounds that I might use it to strangle the pilot on the plane.... - phone stand and clamp - This is a compact selfie stand, in case I have to use Zoom from my mobile phone for lessons (that would be a last resort). - laptop spare battery - power bank - USB foldable bluetooth keyboard - to use with Zoom from a mobile phone - 4 mobile phones (one for each mobile network, since the junta switches the mobile networks off/on like crazy!) Hmm, what else would I need to ensure reliable internet connections? The fixed line internet is generally OK, it's the mobile networks that people use to communicate with each other, so that's what the military target. Oh yes, got VPNs installed on my laptop and mobile devices, and my own 'secret' VPN server installed on my web-server.

My polyglot father resorted to using Latin on a train in Romania yonks ago when he and a Romanian professor could find no common language. They chatted fine in Latin. I started learning Latin at 5 years old at my grammar school, and hated it. Nowadays, I use that language knowledge every single day! I teach science and my knowledge of Latin helps me to understand the meaning and origin of many technical and scientific words. As to impressing bar-girls, I do that with my Thai fluency, and when they switch to speaking Issan/Lao (so that I don't understand them), I impress them again by speaking Lao to them 🙂 I then get them completely 'orgasmic' by speaking Burmese to them... I don't chat up Khmer bar-girls......

Britain hasn't agreed to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius - some 'morons' in the government, bereft of an iota of intelligence or knowledge of history have decided to 'return' the islands to Mauritius, even though Mauritius has never actually owned them. Let's hope Trump can suitably embarrass (nay threaten!) the UK and that idiot Lammy to cancel the deal. Mauritius should play no part in any deal - it's nothing to do with them. The only people who have reason to feel wronged are the Chagosians, which the UK treated very badly when Diego Garcia was established as a military base. We should retain ownership of the islands, and create a more secure and long-term lease for the military base, (ie get the yanks to pay a decent amount for leasing the base). We should then use that money (and additional) to allow the Chagosians to return and live on the other islands in the archipeligo, and we (UK and USA) should fund the building of decent hospitals, schools and supporting infrastructure.

Of course! But to save wear and tear, they only use 1 engine at a time... 🙂

Russian mafia.....

You wanna live in a city and have no lights at night? Come and live in Myanmar! I just returned a few weeks ago from a Christmas trip to the town of Nyaung Shwe (Inle Lake). They have only 3 hours of electricity per day. Mandalay (where I was teaching) has about 4 hours a day. Don't assume that there's a generator! When I exercised outside my Mandalay hotel at 6am (just before sunrise), the sky was absolutely clear and planets and stars easily visible.

Whilst waiting for my updated app to be completed. (It is actually available for download and testing - comments appreciated!) from my website by scanning this QR code), I decided on a novel idea for spreading the word about this useful app. I got a local print shop to print my 'owl' logo and URL on the left breast of the white t-shirt, and the download QR code on the back. There's no identifying text on the back, and for a good reason. I hope that as I walk around the streets/shops in Myanmar, curious locals will scan this code to see what it's all about. Since the code is on the back of the shirt, they don't have to approach or speak with me. When the code is scanned, it jumps to an explanatory page on my website, and then the person can choose to click or not click on the 'download' button.

Patron saint of Scottish students?? 🙂

For the UK, there is always St. Kilda island, but I doubt that the climate is similar to that of Cuba....

Pathetic! (Like so many other politicians). They would lie and sell their own grandmother if it benefited them. Mandelson must have made those comments through gritted teeth.....

Not really important. Even with no extradition treaty, a country will just kick him out. Why would they want a druggie?

Thanks very much to an extremely generous forum member, I as able to send the Bitcoin 🙂

Nope - that is not it. My computer is clean and I've used it for several years for banking without ever any problems. The problem is FreeWallet, and googling about them supports my view. Can you answer my OP question about how/where to send $30 in Bitcoin? Thanks

I very rarely use crypto, but I did have $94 in a FreeWallet account that I hadn't used in maybe 3 years. I needed to send $30 as Bitcoin. So I logged into the Freewallet website as usual. (I checked the URL etc) and all was good. The webpage prompted me for my 4-digit PIN, all as usual. Then the website logged me in and there was about $94 in my account. But then the website froze for about 30 seconds and then..... there was no money in my account! The thieving bastards at FreeWallet had stolen my money.... I still need to send my $30 to a Bitcoin address. Are there any walk-in crypto offices in Pattaya where I can do this? I'm loath to open another online account since I have (tending to zero) trust in these online exchanges. Or if it's not possible to send from an office, then which online company is considered 'safe' I did go into the 'Pulse' shop on Pattaya 2nd road 'cos it was all written in Russian on the windows, and I thought it was a Crypto exchange, but the gay man inside just wanted to give me an HIV test (which I don't think is needed prior to dealing in crypto!!) 🙂 Thanks!

Very long post! But my text will explain why I'm usually found in Myanmar nowadays. The lowest point in my life was about 20 years OK, when I married wife #2 (I didn't learn my lesson from English wife #1). My Thai wife was 50% bad and 50% mad (certified by doctors). I'm not quite sure how I missed those points when I married her. We opened a small hotel business in Phuket. She destroyed a very successful business (the first airport hotel on the island, now making millions with its new Belgian owner). She took drugs and was mad as a mad coot. I spent a fortune on mental health treatment at hospitals and clinics. I had a great working relationship with the local pharmacist in Nai Yang and together we would 'Google' suitable drugs to calm her down. On a daily basis, she break out from the hotel where I and her family members kept an eye on her. She would run down the street and boy could she run fast! On 2 occasions, she stole our hotel car (she can't drive), and somehow drove to Patong where she crashed into multiple parked motorbikes, then fleeing on foot. More money to pay out in compensation. One one occasion, a good American friend joked with her that I had another girl-friend. When she spotted me at the beach (with no girl-friend of course), she drove the car off the road and tried to run me down. She had control of the business bank account and would regularly write blank checks for her friends. I pleaded with the bank manager not to allow her access to the money, but he sadly told me that he could not stop her from accessing her own money. She spent all the hotel staff wages on drugs and booze... I joined the Tourist Police Volunteers, in an effort to have time away from her (wrestling with drunken Russians in Soi Bangla was a holiday compared to her!). But she also then secretly joined the police and 'ambushed' me when on patrol. The police threw her out because her crazy actions scared tourists... Then I started to study 2 days a week on the MA Thai Culture course at Chula in Bangkok. Again, she destroyed that idea by gate-crashing the actual lesson and causing a scene. Her Thai family and I decided to take her faraway from the Phuket hotel, so she couldn't cause more damage. I took her to stay in Nong Khai. But every day she would literally run away, running down the Rim Kong road. One day, she managed to board a bus going to Bangkok. We had to call the bus company and then the actual bus driver who stopped the bus near Khon Khaen, so that we could 'catch' her again. All my friends knew what a terrible situation I was in. One US friend owned a small and remote holiday bungalow, located on a beach at Ban Nam Kem, (where the tsunami museum/memorial is). When things got too much for me, I would go up to this house to rest. In the morning, I'd walk along the beach and think what a terrible state of affairs this was. Due to the sea currents in that area, the beach was literally covered with millions of tiny, colourful shells. The sight of such beauty will stick in my mind forever. She gave birth to a son, yes, my son 🙂 But it was too dangerous for that boy to stay with us, because she would grab himby the leg and pull him rapidly across the room. He was brought up by a good Thai aunt and her husband in Bangkok who were medically unable to have kids. He never returned to live with us, but grew up happily with his aunt and uncle, and I would visit him regularly in Bangkok. My mad wife took to throwing plates and cutlery at me when my back was turned. She would also physically attack hotel guests when they had a complaint (she is only 145cm, 33Kg, but fights like a devil). Some of my replies on TripAdvisor from guests who had been physically attacked by her make good reading!! So she had destroyed our successful business and our family. So only the marriage was left. She got pregnant by a gay hill-tribe hairdresser (you can't make this up), and I finally divorced her. When she gave birth in Phuket, she told the doctors that I was the father, (which I clearly was not). Therefore my name went on the legal birth certificate. To get that changed required her, me and the gay guy to visit the local police and obtain a report that she was totally nuts. We were thrown out of 2 police stations until she managed to bribe a police officer to write the report and my name was removed 🙂 At this point, due to the business failure, family failure and marriage failure, I was not in a 'good place'. Kind friends let me stay for free at their hotels and gave me food each day, (since she had spent all the money and I didn't yet have another job). One evening when they took me to a local restaurant and gave me some whisky (whisky makes me depressed), I could take it no more and collapsed on the restaurant floor in tears. All my friends and the restaurant owner knew what I had been going through with this 'mad and bad bat', and carried me out of the restaurant. I was at my lowest point, but I'm not one to give up! I'm not religious but I asked 'my god' to help me and that if there was a way out of this situation, then I would do whatever I could to help others. I considered my options as to how I could get away from her. I had an idea! I knew that she would not pursue me if I went to the country of Myanmar (Burma). So I searched for hotel manager jobs in Myanmar. I found none, but I did find a job for an English teacher at a private school in Yangon. The pay was good (because no-one really wanted to endure the 'hardships' of Myanmar at that time). I was no English teacher (I was a qualified and experienced space/satellite engineer). But I applied and got the job. On my arrival at the school, I expected to be teaching a class of teenagers, but found myself (at the age of 53) singing English nursery rhyme songs with a class of 5-year olds 🙂 The new job was a shock, but it paid good money and was easy and fun. So I stayed.... I self-funded various CPD (Continuing Professional Development) courses to improve my pedagogical knowledge, such as Phonics and Montessori. But I also never forgot the promise that I made to 'my god'. One Saturday (my day off), I took a ferry boat across the river to Dala Township, a slum area that I was warned not to visit. Monsoon rain had left many of the bamboo houses flooded, and it was a sad sight to see families standing up to their knees in dirty flood water. My pedalo driver took me to visit the local monastery school, where 2 Burmese volunteer teachers were teaching Burmese language. No-one spoke a word of English, and I remembered my promise. So I started teaching English to these kids (see photo from 2012). I had to rapidly learn some Burmese 'what is this?', 'what colour is this?' and so on. I never gave up on the promise to 'my god'. Now, almost 13 years later, you will usually find me in Myanmar, (I'm in Thailand right now for a few weeks). I teach at the international schools to earn a living salary, and then I use some of that money to donate school books and teaching/learning resources to orphanages and 'poor' schools throughout the country. I have funded the development of a free Android English learning app that is used by thousands of students and local teachers. I still keep in touch with my mad ex. Prior to her giving birth to the gay guy's baby, the doctors at the hospital told me that if she had a hysterectomy, then that would 'calm her down'. So on my authority (I was already divorced from her, so actually had no legal authority), the doctors removed her womb after the birth. Indeed, this did calm her down, and aging also had a calming effect. She still offers to look after me in my old age, but I think a jump off the highest building is preferable!! As for myself, I don't really have plans to stop working, so long as my health holds up. I've seen the benefits of my educational charity efforts in Myanmar, helping those who through no fault of their own were born into an unlucky environment and situation. I had the good luck to be born British and in a decent middle-class family. I went all the way to the bottom and came up again - so it's time to pay back 🙂

Personally, I think he should lay off Greenland. I doubt that there are any illegal immigrants or drug cartels in the USA from Greenland, and Denmark has refused many times over the centuries to sell Greenland to the USA. Furthermore, under a 1917 legal agreement with the UK, the latter has first right of refusal to buy Greenland from Denmark, if Denmark does decide to sell. The USA would have to join the queue 🙂 I think Trump should tread carefully, since Denmark is quite entitled to kick out the important US Space/Satellite base in Greenland.

Is there any chance that Trump will claim the UK as the next US state? 'Cos we really need his kind of action plan to sort out the mess that the current (and previous) UK governments have made.....

Just an update: My updated learning/teaching Android app is almost ready for relaunch on Google Playstore. This is good news, because downloading the old version from my website causes various pop-up warning messages "Do you really want to download this app?" etc by the Android software, which is rather worrying for end-users! I've been testing the updated app on my phone and I'm very pleased so far. The app now supports the Burmese character set for my file names, which makes it easier for beginner learners to understand. Once that app is completed, and I've moved into my Jomtien Beach condo 'base', I should be back to Myanmar. It's likely that I will be in Yangon, because there are warnings that the pdf/civilian fighters may try to cut off the road between Mandalay city and its airport, so not a great idea to return to Mandalay. 2 international schools in Yangon have asked me to join them, so everything is looking 'rosy' 🙂

Yes, most expats are non-immigrants, but they maybe stay here for 5, 10, 20 years or more, renewing their non-immigrant visa each year 🙂 I think once you're on your 5th annual renewal, you should be required to take a spoken Thai language test. That shouldn't be too difficult now, should it?

Hmm, we need to cut imports of an export from France that they currently sell a huge amount to the UK. Let me think... what does the UK import from France in huge quantities? I know!! Electricity!! Er.... wait a moment.... 🙂

I don't think Columbia wanted to coordinate these actions a little. They just didn't want to accept their citizens back. According to media reports, it was only after Trump threatened tariffs etc on Columbian imports that they relented. Perhaps The UK should threaten France with tariffs if they don't take the illegals who left their safe shores back. 500% on imports of frogs' legs or something perhaps?