simon43

I just read the story in his post. IMHO, it is exactly that - a fictional story. So enjoy it as such.

I think if you have high blood pressure, then that could be an opt-out for almost any reason to deny an insurance claim. My claim for prostate cancer investigation was denied because I had failed to disclose my mildly-enlarged prostate BPH), even though an enlarged prostate doesn't cause prostate cancer. When I insured again with a different company, I disclosed absolutely every single medical incident/treatment etc from birth, including a bunion on my right foot and a small scar on my leg when a motorbike hit me when I was11 years old. The insurer probably laughed at my page-long list of minor ailments from 40 years ago, but as a result of disclosing all these things I'm fairly sure that no opt-out reason can be used to deny a future claim. They insured me for everything except my BPH. However, apart from BPH, I'm pretty healthy, no high BP, no high cholesterol, not a lard-bucket etc.

Generally I think Aseannow is not the 'right' forum for long stories like this split into episodes. I think you would get a more favourable response if you posted it on Stickman.

A new coat of paint and it will be as new....

Here in north Laos I have plenty of hens, chickens and ducks that wander around my garden day and night. They belong to my neighbours but can easily access my garden and it doesn't bother me - if you live in the countryside then you must expect animal noise. There are a few dogs here but I find Lao dogs to be very laid back and of the non-barking variety.

This is certainly my aim, and I've been perfecting this idea for many years :)

Your idea would go down like a lead balloon with the local authorities! Do they really want a foreigner to publicise how bad the air quality is?

What 'moron' posted a happy smilie on this post?

Here in Laos the locals decided that 'gly' and 'gly' were indeed too similar. They use 'gy' (far) and 'mor' (near). I speak/read/write Thai to a good level, and my Lao is fast catching up. One 'annoying' factor is that while many Lao words are the same as Thai, the tone is different! So 'song' (number 2) in Thai with a rising tone is 'song' in Lao with a high tone!

They probably squirted some veggie oil at him and rolled him down the road to the jail.....

But he has lots of competition for that position......

Not Thailand, but nowadays I teach science and English 'online' to many young Russian and Ukrainian students who left Russia with their families when the war started. Most of my students have settled in Spain. All of my students are studious and are interested in technical topics, a trait that I often find with Russian/Ukrainian students.

"Gaza could have been like Monaco or Dubai had it not spent its entire existence fighting Israel " Well, perhaps a little exaggeration there :) Gaza is a sh*t hole and the only people to blame are the Hamas leadership and every Gazan citizen that supports Hamas or allows them to stay in power. As for the large number of civilian deaths in Gaza, that's hardly surprising when the civilians allowed Hamas to build tunnels under their homes, hospitals, schools and mosques....

He already has one >>> arguing with and annoying people!

Probably not the best choice of words!!

Having considered all my symptoms and having consulted with the second-best doctor available (Dr Google, Sheryl being the best doctor of course!), I consider this to be a rotator cuff injury. All the symptoms point to that. I'm not keen to go down the surgery route. I've had this injury for 20 years, (and regularly "refreshed" this injury every few years!). I studied a website about physiotherapy exercises that I can do and I'll start these on a daily basis to strengthen my shoulder/injury region. I don't expect to completely resolve the issue just with exercises, but so long as the pain is minor and I have reasonable movement of my arm, then I'm happy. Reminder to self: Stop lifting heavy radio antennas......

Here in north Laos the racial profiling by the police is 'in your face'. When I ride my uninsured, old Vietnamese motorbike (with Vietnam plates etc) down the main road in Luang Prabang, the local police at the daily checkpoint make a big effort to wave me though as quickly as possible, lest they be called upon to attempt to speak English with me :) (I can speak reasonable Lao language now, but as in Thailand, I play the dumb tourist if stopped!).

Go further north from Nai Yang beach to the very long Mai Khao beach. Golden sand and very quiet, but it's better to only paddle in the sea because there are some strong currents offshore.

You are obviously speaking to uneducated Brits. I say "A bowl of water". It's not difficult.....

I speak RP (received pronunciation) English, which couldn't be clearer. But as a child I also learn to speak with a strong local accent. My parents insisted that I 'switch off' my local accent when required to allow mutual understanding. When travelling in southern Thailand, I have to ask locals to 'switch off' their southern Thai accent and speak Bangkok Thai so that I can understand them. They seem able to do this at will. But ask a Brummie or Scouse or Geordie from the UK to switch off their local accent and they are totally confused! Were they not taught the ability to switch off their unintelligible accent as a child?

Your last will and testament?

I don't think it's a nerve pinched in my neck (or similar). If I 'jarr' my arm or move it suddenly, the pain in the middle of my upper arm is so sharp that I cry out involuntarily! If I move my arm slowly, then no pain (except putting my arm behind my back or stretching out. It could be a rotator cuff because if I turn over in my sleep I can get a sharp pain in my shoulder (no such pain in the daytime). Yes I should really get a CT scan of my arm/shoulder. That's not so easy to do here in north Laos...

In the state that I was, I would have been happy if they pooped on me if it could medically help!!

Just another day. 1 - Teach online 2 - rest for an hour 3 - Repeat from 1)

I did this last year. Rented a bungalow near Ban Chaloklam, went swimming every day until the day that a box jellyfish stung me in the bay. The last 2 people stung by a box jellyfish on KPN died within 10 minutes. I lay on the floor of a beach restaurant with my limbs jerking like a punk rocker dancer while the restaurant owner rubbed vinegar into my skin while we waited for the ambulance. The Thai people watching said to each other 'Look, he will be dead in 5 minutes...' I truly thought that I would die. Happily for me, I did not die. But it put me off being a beachbum on KPN