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Lewthetraveler

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Posts posted by Lewthetraveler

  1. There were 32 people playing. Each would hold a maximum of 13 cards per deal. So NO individual possessed more than 120 playing cards. Is that clear? As there were 8 tables in play the total number of cards in the room would exceed 120 cards (probably 8*52=416 cards in total. I suspect you've never played bridge or have any idea about it, so your highlight defines your ignorance.

    Party bridge is played with two decks per table, a deck being shuffled and mixed by the 'dummy'while the previous hand is being plated. Thus eight tables require 16 decks, plus an backup deck or two.

    Duplicatebridge is a bit different in that there are usually metal carriers, called 'boards', for dealt hands that are kept intact throught the evening as the boards and people are moved around.

    There are usually 36 boards, thus 36 decks of cards required plus an backup deck or two.

  2. Thanks again, not so much for the actual advice but for the revealing personalities behind the comments.

    For my sake, I think I am quick to avoid the kinds of people that annoy me, life is too short to waste time in that kind of company.

  3. I hope to eventually live in Chiang Mai for at least a few months and am wondering how to get some sort of social like.

    By that I don't mean specifically dating, but just meeting people with approximately the same interests. I come from an academinc background, while not a confirmed non-drinker, I don't enjoy the bar scene and don't plan on 25 year old bar girls for my soul mates.

    (Money is not an issue, I have plenty enough so I don't need to earn any.)

    I am an avid photographer and traveler, like the outdoors and read a lot.

    While not a gym rat, I go 3x a week to keep myself from aging any faster than necessary.

    During my years as a research scientist, I taught basic statistics and would be happy tutoring as an entree to the academic life in some way.

    Any suggestions on how to craft a life when I'm finally there?

    TIA,

    L

  4. If you want to avoid too many 30 day visa on arrival stamps. Do 2 back to back countries. Such as Myanmar/Laos, Cambodia/Vietnam and China/South Korea.

    Thanks for info.

    Is it possible to get from Myanmar to Laos overland or must I fly from Vientianne or LP to Yangon?

  5. Thank you all for these comments.

    I have some indefinite amount of time to plan so I can proceed with some caution.

    When I come to a point that isn't covered in this thread, I will come back with more questions.

    I didn't work for 60 years to have to count my pennies. I find that 300,000 baht a month satisfies my needs barely

    I don't know what this response is about in this thread.

  6. Based on the bills issue alone (which I hadn't really considered), I will probably get a Thai bank account as per Rob13.

    I haven't decided where I will end up on a semi-permanent basis; perhaps somewhere I haven't been yet.

    I do want time to see the more out-of-the-way places that I haven't visited like the further north places in Laos and Myanmar and the North-east parts of India.

    Chiang Mai seems attractive, good restaurants, good medical care, lots of activity.

    Cost of living is not exorbitant and weather seems more tolerable than BKK.

    Is Merril Lynch Intl used by anyone here?

  7. thanks john,

    I am hoping not to need an in-country bank account as it seems more trouble than its worth.

    The exception is that I may need local bank account for rent payments and, in that case, I'll do what I have to do and fund it with wire transfer from US.

    My intent is to use a low fee credit card for all travel expenses but that can be figured out when the time arises.

  8. My future plans are to travel most of the time with a changing fixed base in different areas of the world.

    I plan on Thailand (probably Chiang Mai) as my fixed base for travel in Asia because I am reasonably familiar with Thailand and I can get anything I need there.

    Then I would travel for the length of a visitor's visa in each of the adjacent countries (China, India, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia), returning to Thailand to rest up and restock.

    I plan on visa exempt entries for each return to Thailand but keeping a room/apartment for as long as this all will take.

    Is there anything about apartment rental in Thailand, repeated visa-exempt entry, etc. that I have misunderstood and will keep this plan from working?

    Thanks in advance.

  9. ^ thanks for the comment - appreciated.

    That vignette issue is actually an old blue and heavily discoloured fishing net strung across. I saw in PP and considered dodging it out but the effect looked even more artificial. Maybe I'll give it another look and see what comes about.

    Kind of you to comment.

    Just another interesting example of how reality can look unreal.

    IMO, comment/critique is really important to allow the photographer to see through another's eyes.

    I am happy you responded so graciously and didn't take offense.

    Lew

  10. Shaggy,

    I will certainly ask in advance next time.

    In regards editing.

    Our brain does a lot of editing when we see a situation but the camera catches what is there.

    While actually taking pictures is difficult enough, it is even more difficult to look at the image that results and understand how to make it so it is perceived by others in the same way you see it in your own mind's eye.

    If you would care to send me - or post a link to - a high resolution version of your first picture, I might be able to point out some ways to get to a different result.

    My email is [email protected].

    I have started a thread for un-themed pictures of Thailand - usually of people at http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/862502-un-themed-street-photographs/

    • Like 1
  11. I have always shied away from themes because that meant to me that I was forcing the image into something it wasn't, forcing me to look for shots with a certain 'meaning' or tucking a shot into a specific category because of some minor elements.

    I do think shots should convey something, whether it can be translated adequtely into language isn't necessarily true.

    This shot is a favorite of mine because it indicates, to me at least, something typically Thai about the beauty and homogeneity of Thai children. Each of them has a different pose and the viewer can intuit what they may be thinking. It was important to me to catch the entire child, top to toes, at a time when almost all the faces were visible.

    p102651803-5.jpg