Thakkar

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A suitable fridge must comfortably accommodate 2 days supply of almost-icy cold beer, a days supply of nibblies, and have a separate freezer big enough for Sausage King and British Night curries and Nestle icecream.

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Hey! You live like you're in my twenties!

Our experience has been that large fridges are:

less robust than smaller fridges;

more problematic in case of repairs;

provide less useful storage than you would expect from the advertised size;

consume more energy per useable unite of storage space.

We've found that Asian-made fridges are better at coping with electricity fluctuations and Thailand's climate, more robust and easier and quicker to repair if the need arises.

Two smaller fridges offer more capacity at about the same price, give you a backup fridge for perishables if one goes down, and, if organized properly with frequently-accessed items in one fridge and less frequently-used items in the other, save energy. When you have teenagers who often loiter in front of an open fridge before deciding what they opened it for, this arrangement saves quite a lot of energy.

T

Has anyone tried these guys: http://ereaderthailand.lnwshop.com/

or

would it be better to order one fromAmazon, have it sent to someone in the United States, who then sends it to me by USPS

The model I want (paperwhite) is not available for international shipment direct from Amazon.

Thanks for any advice.

T

Thanks for the warning, realthaideal.

Minor incidents like these often go unreported, leading to a sense of complacency.

And, of course, it's not so minor when you're the one it happens to.

T

It's true! On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog, unless you tell them.

Have your owner call my owner. We'll work something out. I get the big basket.

Bubbles.

Sigh...

With me, Mrs T falls asleep during amorous encounters even when I DON'T rub anything on my nipples.

T

The beauty of life is we all like different things.

One (wo)mans treasure can be another (wo)mans trash.

I have heard men praise women in Chiang Mai, and at the same turn i have heard the opposite. (Same could be said for Thai women in general, or Asian, or European, or American, or Latin, or...)

Some men actually like women to be articulate and have an opinion. Finding it stimulating rather than something intimidating or a negative quality. I have heard some men complain when a woman has too much of an "up to you" attitude, and state they can feed themselves, and find pandering to be irritating rather than pleasant. For example too, maybe your view of a womans point of view seems combative, when its merely having a voice. Just that you likely have a preference for a more placid partner.

But im happy for you! May you forever be in your idea of paradise.

Just might be worth considering that your cup of tea may not be anothers cup of tea, and putting down what you personally dont like is not a pretty trait.

I also hope you wont be writing in a few months slamming all Thai women because your concept of what you project upon on them has been burst!

I love this response.

From their earliest years, We've encouraged our daughters to argue for what they want, to make their case instead of whine. I made it clear that I'm imperviousness to whining, but open to argument.

They've grown to be confident, self-assured teens who do not feel the need to please others out of any kind of inferiority. My mom worries a little that they will not find husbands. I say the kind of husbands they will not find are the kind that are just looking for another mother. That's a good thing.

I agree with the original poster!

If you're expected to pay you want to see why! for example, clean toilets, toilet paper, soap and somewhere to dry your bloody hands!!

soapy hands makes a happy man not! rubbish!

Surely you mean soapy hands make for happy endings.

T

Sticky Rice Balls said:

"My trick i did in laos was i snuck by here and waited inside for a local to leave and i followed him out..."

Careful. Lurking in toilets, you could get mistaken for George Michaels.

T

I haven't ordered from Invade IT because they didn't have the particular item I was looking for. However I found them to be responsive and helpful.

BTW, I keep an eye out for these things and have found that prices are pretty much the same everywhere for new models. Sometimes, though, an out-going model is sold at full price in one place but discounted elsewhere.

T

I love the guys complaining about his beard. At each of the last couple of world cups I take bets on how long it will be before the first announcer mentions Carlo Puyos hair when Spain play.

You are a bit like the boys who find fault with a non-english speakers written english, have you nothing better to do than to complain

The beard is a proxy, a racist dog whistle if you will. I suspect what they're really complaining about is the color of his skin and expressing their dismay that a "brownie" is representing 'their' Britain.

I don't know for a fact that pork is banned at embassy functions. If so, I don't agree with it, but am not particularly bothered. It's not really a case of imposing his beliefs on others. That would only be if he forced others to eat something that only Muslims ate.

Consider this: the Vietnamese routinely eat dog. The British ambassador in Hanoi at a winter function will not serve dog to his visiting Vietnamese guests. Is he imposing his British sensibilities on his guests?

I didn't even know the owner's name till now, but I'd been to the place often. I only stopped going after finding it closed on several visits. Nice, clean, air-conditioned place. Decent selection with most books generally in good condition. Glad to know it's open again, hope to swing over there soon.

Just wanted to recount the nice thing that happened when once my daughters visited. They'd been given a budget to stick to and after making their selections found they were over the budget. As they haggled over which of the few extra books to return to the shelves, he came over and let them have everything for the money they had. When I come to pick them up and offered to pay the balance, he refused. I stayed and selected some books for myself as well. Nice guy.

I assume this is the same shop that used to be called "99 baht" where all books were 99 baht. I used to wonder what would happen when inflation made it impossible to price the books at 99 baht.

T

No need to go anywhere simply call 1175 and press the number for English. They speak very good English and are very helpful. Takes no time at all

Thanks. I was just about to take my phone to a AIS shop but decided to check if there was a response here at TV. It was quick and easy to call 1175 and the lady at the other end was very helpful.

Thanks again to both respondents.

Cheers/T

I've just noticed that I'm being billed monthly for a "Calling Melidy Service"

I don't even know how I ended up opting into this. I'd like to cancel it. I'd be grateful if anyone can tell me how.

Thanks

T

I'm a short, dark-skinned English-speaking Asian guy and I was wondering why normally friendly Caucasians have recently been crossing the street to avoid me. I thought it was my body odor, but now think I understand.

Now, I don't have a 6' Caucasian backing me up, but Mrs. T, who often accompanies me, can be an intimidating presence. Could the OP perhaps have meant 6 inches, describing the Caucasian's appendage? Mrs. T doesn't poses one of those, though she has been described by both detractors and admirers alike as a woman with some balls.

In short, I'm confused.

T

Try the online apple store: http://store.apple.com/th

Or the Apple agent: http://www.maccafethai.com/index.html

Prices are usually the same at both.

YOK on the superhighway. 2nd floor.

T

Ian's right that the strawberries aren't much tasty. But Mrs T, an inveterate bargain hunter, can't resist the price when they're in season. So she's devised a way to use them that works for us: smoothies.

Here's her redcipe:

strawberries and yellow mangos (which are also in season at this time) + a bit of sugar (if needed in case the mango is not sweet enough) + yoghyurt + Milk + a pinch of salt + ice. Blend.

I like to spike mine with vodka, strictly for non medicinal reasons.

T

At Meechok plaza behind Rimping, across from Kelly's restaurant is Graphic 99. I did some oversized printing there, they have printers of many types covering most needs. I saw a fax machine there, prominently placed, so assume they provide fax service as well.

Tel 053 230462 & 0876572974

[email protected]

T

There is a public library on Huay Kaew on the corner where if you turn left you are heading towards Santitam and if you look to the right there is C.M. Ram. Was just there the other day. Small place...

I was there some years ago and it saddened me. It's a pathetic little place and I felt sorry for the kids there. A lot of the books there looked like they were donated or picked from trash cans. There was a tattered old book on MS-DOS. There weren't many books, but that just reminded me of Woody Allen's lament on a restaurant: the food was awful, and the portions were too small.

It's only redeeming value is its prime location. They could sell the property and build a better equipped facility elsewhere.

In the land of meibenrais

Through rosy tints one spies

Castles in the air

Maidens true and fair

The end of all despair

And rainbows everywhere

If only I were there

If only I were there

In the land of meibenrais

For those with open eyes

With will to do and dare

And funds enough to spare

Life is, I declare

A plate of warm eclair

Served with savoir-faire

Neophytes be aware.

"One of my biggest gripes about Chiangmai is the lack of a large, well-stocked public library. On the scale of typical government expenditures, it would cost a minuscule amount and the positive returns to society are incalculable. Granted, if there were one, it would be stocked mostly with Thai language books."

Do you live in the same city that I do?

I know of several public libraries that you can get a card for. As you said most are Thai books. CMU has a good selection of English books and magazines though.

I know of the CMU library and I quite like it, but its hardly world class. There's one at Payap, and its even less impressive, but I haven't been there for years, so it could be better now. I'd really be interested to know where else? Thanks.

While I do read a lot on my iPad now, I do like the atmosphere of a library.

T

"Ladies treat the man like a leader"

I find this amusing. But if true, it should be in the 'con' column, and here's why: men are prone to flights of whimsy and impracticality. For example, when building a house, a man might want his very own batcave (perfectly reasonable, I think). The woman would pretend to agree, but plan to do nothing of the sort. In the end, he would be presented with an office. Now, how the &lt;deleted&gt; is he supposed to fight crime with an office??

(And while on the subject, if there were a guy who dressed and walked like a penguin, I would want him as a friend, not enemy, because a friend like that would be quite amusing to have).

One of my biggest gripes about Chiangmai is the lack of a large, well-stocked public library. On the scale of typical government expenditures, it would cost a minuscule amount and the positive returns to society are incalculable. Granted, if there were one, it would be stocked mostly with Thai language books. Still, it would be a nice place to hang out, and yes, I realize saying this makes me sound creepy.

On the whole though, the pros outweighs the cons, and one of my favorite pros:

Plenty of second hand book stores with with reasonable prices and good selections.

T

In case anyone's interested, the following website on train travel has lots of info on train travel in Thailand:

http://www.seat61.com/Thailand.htm