simon43

Ah, good British eccentricity!

As a Brit with absolutely no interest in USA politics, I'd say that it looks/sounds like President Biden is simply displaying the gradual loss of brain function that many (most?) elderly people experience. It's time he was replaced with his vice-president - he's simply too old and can no longer do his job effectively. Now whether Harris is up to the job or any other US politician, all I can say is that ALL (100%) of US politicians seem to be total nutjobs anyway, similar to the majority of the US population in fact ???? I guess there are some mentally-stable and intelligent yanks out there somewhere, but IMHO few and far between!

Speak Klingon to him?

Although I recently took out a new medical insurance policy with WR Life, I am considering whether it is worthwhile to have such a policy in my own circumstances viz: - I live in north Laos in a small village some 20km away from the nearest town (Luang Prabang). The hospital facilities in that town are very basic. If I were to have a serious medical event, such as a motorbike accident, heart attack or stroke, then I would probably be dead long before I get to the hospital, and even at the hospital only the most basic care can be provided. If I have some minor medical issue then I can pay cash for outpatient treatment. If I have some chronic illness, cancer etc, then I can return to the UK for free treatment on the NHS (long waits for treatment for most things if it's not cancer). Yes, I can pay for medical insurance, but I'm not sure such insurance would be of any help to me if I collapse at home (no-one would even know - I live alone).

Well, here is a post that I made on another forum that I'm not allowed to link to. So I will paste the story below (long story, er.... happy ending!). I thought I was going to die today - no, seriously! (possible box jellyfish) It was just a normal Tuesday for me. Up fairly early to jog the 2km down to 7/1, then walk briskly back. At 8.20, I drove my car to the Burmese community school where I teach as a volunteer. After an hour of teaching, I drove on to the post office in Thong Sala to pick up a parcel from Bangkok. After that, back home and with a couple of hours free before my online lessons, I eat breakfast and I'm ready for the beach! I drive down to the nearby beach, park my car and walk the 300 metres to the sandy beach. Into the water for a swim. I'm swimming on my back and feel a sharp prick at the back of my neck. Then I start to feel lightheaded. Not wanting to drown in the sea, I get out, dress and start to walk back to my car. As I am walking along, I start to feel worse and worse. My hands start kicking out on their own and I'm thinking "I don't need this, what with my (possible) cancer problems". I stagger to a nearby restaurant and ask for some water which they sold me. I'm sitting down and drinking the water and my feet and hands are kicking out and jerking on their own. Am I having a cardiac arrest? No, my heart feels fine. Maybe a stroke? But my head is generally clear and there's no pain. I really don't know what's going on, but I am feeling worse and worse. I call the staff over and tell them to get me an ambulance. All I can think is that a box jellyfish as stung me. I tell them that I have no pain but maybe something stung me in the water. The staff help me to lie down and by now my limbs are jerking uncontrolleably. I'm reasonably lucid and tell the staff as best as can that I don't know what has happened. "Do you have medical insurance?" they ask. Of course I don't because those ****** at April International Insurance just cancelled it a few days ago!! By now I am having trouble breathing and start to repeat the mantra "I do not want to die today, I do not want to die today" over and over again, whilst flapping and jerking around on the floor as the restaurant staff hold my limbs down. The restaurant owner runs over and starts pouring white vineger all over me and rubbing it into my body, presumably to counter the jellyfish sting. Another bottle and another bottle. At one point I looked up and saw her brandishing a large knife, with an unopened vineger bottle in her hand. She sliced the lid closure with the knife, then pulled off the lid with her teeth. I thought for one moment that she was going to take a mouthful of vineger and then spray it all over me, as one might do to exorcise demons! All this time, others had been phoning for an ambulance, which was apparently very slow in arriving. "Where is your passport?" the staff ask. It's in my house. Where is your house? It's in the trees, I try to explain the location, but I'm living in a chalet in the coconut plantations..... What's more, the key to my house is in my car and the car is not at the house and the key to the car is with me and... and... oh f***! Why is everything in the wrong place? Finally the small ambulance arrives and I am placed on a backboard, still jumping around like a shrimp on a hot plate. Placed in the ambulance there are 2 nurses, a pretty woman and the campest ladyboy that I have ever met. "Stop moving around" he scolds me. "As I am having trouble breathing I blurt out "oxygen". The 2 nurses jump up and start opening cupboards, searching for the oxygen tank and mask. I hear them say in Thai "Here it is but it's run out!". All this time, I am absolutely convinced that I am going to die. I'm repeating my mantra and images flash across my brain. You know they say that your whole life flashes across your brain, family, childhood events etc? Well, all I can see are images of hospital bills!! Finally, after a very bumpy ride up and down the hills of Koh Phangan, we arrive at the government hospital. I'm wheeled in and the staff ask me what's going on. "Passport, pasport" they say. I tell them again with great difficulty that it is in my house. But then I remember that I have a scan on my mobile phone. They pass me my phone and then I'm trying to click on the files icon with a finger that is jumping +/- 30cms! Finally I open the files app, but because my finger is jumping around so much, somehow I end up at the oldest picture being displayed. I am trying to swipe the photos to find my passport photo, but all I see are old photos of me with an inane grin, pictures of coconut trees, pictures of coconuts... where is that f***ing passport photo? Finally I find the passport photo. It transpires that the hospital staff called the Thai police, who then used my details to track down my Thai landlord who had thankfully registered my rental details. My landlord arrived later to tell me that the restaurant owner who had helped me was the biggest yaba dealer in the village, a no-good person and so he had double-locked by house in case she had stolen my house key! The nurses carefully examine all over my body and I tell them about the sharp prick that I experienced while in the sea. Under my hair at the back of my head is a very small puncture mark. What made that mark? I have no idea, but whatever it was, the effects are now beginning to slowly wear off. Over the course of 2 hours, the symptoms gradually get less and less. Finally, I am presented with a bill for 690 baht (which my landlord pays), and then he drives me back to where I parked my car in the village. Still feeling somewhat weak, I was able to drive home, cancel my classes for that day and collapse into bed, where I slept for 12 hours. I have no idea what kind of animal stung or bit me. I guess that the proximity of the bite to my brain created some neurological effects so that my limbs became uncontrolleable. Whatever it was, I can honestly say that I thought that my life was about to end in the rickety old ambulance with the ladyboy scolding me. Did I do anything wrong? YES! - I didn't have my passport or copy with me - I didn't have any medical insurance (thanks April). The local government hospital didn't even have a doctor, only nurses. - I didn't have any cash on me - I didn't have a friend's contact number - The mobile phone with me was only subscribed to data, not voice services I'm resting at home today. I will go and take a gift to the yayba dealing restaurant owner who maybe saved my life. Events such as this make you reassess what you are doing and where you are going....

It is a slur if a person identifies that word as a slur.

The reason for denial for the 'catch-all' excuse that I (by mistake) failed to declare a pre-existing condition that had nothing to do with the medical condition of my claim... When I recently applied for a new medical insurance policy with a different company, I provided them with a lengthy list of literally every single ailment that I could remember from birth, on the basis that they would then not be in a position to deny a claim based on an undeclared condition. So in that list was being hit by a motorbike at age 11, a birthmark (from birth), a benign mole removal 15 years ago, a bunion that I've had for the past 30+ years and so on. Maybe the insurance company thinks I'm crazy, but I do not want to be in the position again of a 'shyster' insurance company falling back on the catch-all excuse to deny a IMHO valid claim.

It is usually a condition of acceptance of the new insurance policy that you agree to give permission for records disclosure. You don't give permission >>> your insurance cover is refused.

Is this April Insurance International (France) or April Insurance Thailand? (Different policy conditions).

This is a computer problem that has bugged me for years!! When I teach online (using a Windows 10 computer), I often share my screen in Zoom and go to Google Search to search for an image example of the topic that we are discussing. For example, I entered the question "how to preserve different foods?" and the image search results returned these images. Next I selected the image on the right (Himalayan salt) and so this image is now shown larger than the other images: I want to display that image in a new tab (I don't want to go to the website using the image link because I want to display the image in isolation. So I right click on the image and click on "open image in new tab" The new tab opens, but usually the displayed image is small and the filename starts with '2q' or '9k' I try again to open in a new tab and the same thing happens. I try again and the same thing happens. I try again and this time (following exactly the same mouse/option clicks as before) the selected image finally opens as a large size! My question is: WHY?!!! Why does the selected image open as a small size in the new tab, but after repeating the 'open image in new tab', it finally opens as a large size. Why?? Why?? Is my computer just sulking and doesn't want to open the large image the first time? Does it depend on the time of day, weather etc? I really want to understand this weird behaviour, because ideally I'd like the large image to be displayed the first time that I select it in a new tab, not the 3rd, 4th, 5th or even 6th time!! Advice is appreciated.

That was me, but the guesthouse room was of identical dimensions to a UK prison cell, had no heating (this was February 2023, so after Covid) and I had to buy a standalone heater to keep warm), no hot shower water, loads of black mould climbing up the wall, all guesthouse facilities closed and the teenage manager stole my post on several occasions. As the saying goes, it was no place for old men, and that room rate of 400 quid (which is hardly a bargain when you're strapped for cash), will double in the warm holiday season. If you live in the UK with only a state pension to survive on, then you will be eligible for state help with your accommodation expenses etc. For me, I would not have a happy retirement in the knowledge that I'm only surviving thanks to state help. I prefer to find a location where I can live a modest lifestyle without state help.

Yep, having been out of the UK for 20 years I was somewhat shocked at the number of homeless, charity shops, hugely obese people, people riding mobility scooters and the miserable weather (well, it was February in Blackpool...). Honestly, I couldn't imagine spending my retirement in the UK trying to live on a state pension. Hence why I'm relaxing in north Laos. This morning I bought a huge fresh pineapple, half a kilo of hairy bollok fruit and a large french stick fresh salad/meat roll and it cost the equivalent of 2 quid...

Luckily I had the good sense to get a forecast some years ago and was able to voluntarily top up many years at the cheapest rate (because I was working outside the UK). So my 800 pounds or so is the latest forecast if I just pay the small amounts that will be due this and next year. Also, the insurance company who refused my claim was April International (France) - the expat insurer, not April Thailand. The reasons for their refusal were covered in a separate thread, but basically they refused my claim because I forgot to disclose a medical condition that was unrelated to the suspected prostate cancer. I could argue that this was my innocent error, but I certainly would not want to take out insurance with a company who uses their 'small print' to refuse a claim for medical treatment that's unrelated to the medical condition that I forgot to mention (minor BPH that was verbally mentioned to me years earlier). I do have new insurance now with WR Life (with the exclusion of BPH but including cover for prostate cancer).

Yes, it will be frozen when I start to receive it in 2 years from now. The Philippines is the only country in Asia where it is not frozen. Another destination where it would not be frozen is Mauritius, but you need to bring in $1,500 USD per month to qualify for an annual visa. Most other locations where the UK state pension is not frozen would probably work out rather expensive (EU countries etc), although somewhere like Bulgaria is meant to be cheap and pleasant.

To add my own comments, I went back to the UK for prostate cancer investigations after an MRI scan in Bangkok and raised PSA numbers suggested that early stage cancer was highly likely. My insurance company refused to pay, so I returned to the UK for hospital investigations and possible treatment. (Happily, cancer treatment was not necessary - the growths in my prostate were benign stones and I was able to return to Thailand and now have semi-retired to Laos. I had no family ties in the UK, so chose Blackpool as the cheapest place to stay in a guesthouse. However, it's only cheap in the Winter! Hotel and guesthouse prices shoot up when it gets into Spring/Summer. I was able to register for NHS etc within a few days and received free colon cancer check-up, free eye tests etc. Before my cancer results were known, I seriously considered returning to the UK permanently. But I rejected this because my UK pension (due in 2025) would see me living in poverty and reliant on social services handouts. Also, my lungs are (now what's the medical term?)... ah yes "<deleted>" in cold weather!! So I returned to live in Laos where I am currently enjoying a very relaxing time and spending less than $500 per month (to cover ALL costs >>annual visa, private medical insurance, detached house rental by the Mekong river, food etc etc). So my UK pension of about 800 quid should see me fine,, UNLESS I am forced to return to the UK due to some serious ailment or dementia etc. Wherever you reside, your small income won't go far if you spend it on booze, fags, women etc etc. Whatever you decide to do, please try to sort out your dependencies. Good luck!

That would definitely put me off my lunch....

Just eat plenty of fibre, muesli etc and you'll be fine!

Since the theft was caught on CCTV, I wonder what excuse (if any) the thief is giving to the police. It seems to be an ... er .... open and shut case!

As a child growing up in Leicester in the 1960s, it was common knowledge that immigrants came from the West Indies because there were few work opportunities at that time in the WI, and so many men came to the UK to look for work and they brought their families with them. I don't recall there being any anomosity towards these immigrants at the time. I DO recall being moved primary schools after large numbers of Asian immigrants arrived in the city and I was being taught some Asian language at school - my parents moved me to a prep school where I would be taught in English....

That is NOT a large crocodile. Heavens, at my school in the UK we kept a larger and very much alive croc in the biology lab.....

I recently stayed for 3 months in Blackpool. I can vouch for the fact that Blackpool cannot be considered as the Pattaya of the UK...!

Sorry if I misunderstand here...... but surely it is illegal for a non-Thai citizen to engage in this type of work. Why doesn't he try selling his squid in Vietnam?

Now if he had used a parrot then he could have engaged in sex-chat at the same time, perhaps teach it some lewd phrases... "go on, go on, go on, oh you're such a big boy, who's a sexy polly?"

An update on the state of my lungs and the copious amounts of thick phlegm that I was coughing up (or attempting to cough up). Quick recap - I have suffered from what seems to be some sort of lung allergy for about 22 years, in that no lung disease has ever been identified and my lung health remains fairly constant unless exposed to colder climates, which is what happened earlier this year when I had to return to the UK for prostate cancer investigations for 3 months. The bronchitus and thick mucus in my lungs almost made me cancel the cancer investigations and return to Thailand, but I managed to stay for 3 months and I was given the all-clear for prostate cancer. On returning to Thailand, I continued to suffer from coughing, bronchitus and excess phlegm/mucus. In earlier posts in the thread, several medications were advised by forum members (thanks). Anyway, I started off with the following: - cough lozenges - Tiger brown mixture - Mucus thinner tablets - Anti-histamine tablets - Honey drinks - Gargling with salt water - Daily 4km fast walks. As my health slowly improved, I eliminated some of these medications until I'm at the current condition where I no longer have bronchitus, cough very little, and have phlegm that is thin enough to cough up. I feel much better although the underlying lung allergy is still present. I've found that in order to maintain my lung health I do need the following: - Mucus thinner tablets - Anti-histamine tablets - Gargling with salt - Daily 4km fast walks. Without anti-histamine tablets my nose gets stuffed up. Without the mucus thinner tablets I can't cough up the thick phlegm. Gargling with salt water several times a day really does make a positive difference to my lung health. Without daily long fast walks my lungs quickly fill up with mucus... So I'm happy with the outcome (no lung allergy would be even nicer, but my current lung health is not a negative and doesn't affect my daily activities). Hope this helps others who suffer from excess phlegm etc.

The name of the insurance company is clearly stated in the video