newnative

I can't speak to European pension fund performance but my USA stock portfolio, with mostly American stocks, has been doing great under Biden/Harris. This year it is up $25,000, 12.82%, and recently has been hitting all-time highs. For the past two years, it's up $51,000, 29.94%. I started my stock portfolio in 2021, with money inherited from a family trust. I don't know how it would have fared under Trump but I'm happy with what Biden/Harris has delivered.

We have at least 6 or 8 stray dogs in our housing project. Nobody owns them. A Thai lady who does not even live in the project sometimes comes and feeds them--which we have repeatedly asked her not to do. Unfortunately, it is a new project with no gate security so she can just walk right in. Spouse called the local municipality and asked that the dogs be removed. Instead, they sent somebody to round up the dogs and I think they were neutered and then brought back to the project. Spouse argued to them that nobody owns the dogs and the project does not want the dogs back--to no avail. Back they came. Back they still are. Madness.

Bravo! You hit it! Thanks.

I'm seeing lots of new recruits for the Just Can't Quit Pattaya Fan Club, including the usual number who haven't been to Pattaya anytime recently, yet are still compelled to spend their time reading about and commenting on a city they neither visit or live in. Welcome to the club, you!

Good, short, accurate description of Trump--loser with no redeeming values. Especially loser--twice with the actual voters in two presidential elections. Loser by 2.8 MILLION votes in 2016. Loser by 7 MILLION votes in 2020. LOSER TWICE OVER. And, likely a loser for the THIRD time with the actual voters in 2024.

Vows to eradicate poverty as she enters a grand mansion. Any disconnect there?

Not my take, but I respect your viewpoint. I think she mostly did 'give a toss'--but not every waking minute of every day of the 19 years of her show. So, cancel her. Also not buying Markle being a horrible tyrant, either. I think both are victims of some 'underlings', frankly, not really knowing their place in the workplace hierarchy--and seizing on, and likely blowing up, a few instances of perhaps poor behavior to 'get at' the boss. I do wonder if reprimanding an employee is now considered poor behavior by a boss, who is not being 'kind' and 'loving'. Maybe only if they are female and named Markle. Or, a certain magazine editor wearing Prada. We're seeing the same thing with Harris--some stories of staff turnover. She must be the dreaded 'difficult to work with'. Can't have that, at least not in a woman. Note: If an 'underling is reduced to tears', likely they are the wrong person for a demanding, high-pressure job and should look for something more suitable to their delicate temperament. Perhaps teaching flower arranging. These days, with social media so pervasive, a few negative stories, true or not, can easily leave a false, unfair impression. I think that is mostly the case with both women, with some envy and jealousy thrown in for good measure. I re-read some of the Ellen workplace stories and found myself thinking, what's the big deal. Pretty thin, watery gruel to feast on considering 19 years of workplace behavior involving hundreds of workers to dissect and find fault with. The sole possibly serious charge I noticed involved alleged sexual harassment or other questionable behavior by three male producers, who were fired. People are human, they aren't perfect. If a celebrity chooses to use their public position to try to both promote and to try to be kind, compassionate, etc., I don't think it's hypocrisy if they aren't always successful in practicing what they preach. And, it is certainly not hypocrisy, in my book, to believe and promote love, joy, etc., as important things to strive for in general, but also be focused, in the workplace as a boss running a business, on other important things--like keeping the business afloat. Ellen did that for 19 years, keeping her show at or near the top of the ratings, not an easy thing by any means. And, at the same time, keeping her workers employed, including, it seems, some rather resentful, ungrateful ones.

Dems need to ignore the polls and run flat out until election day. Dems need to remember that there are Trump supporters who are deeply embarrassed to admit to a pollster that they support such an awful candidate--so they'll lie to the pollsters. Sad they support a candidate so terrible they can't mention the name.

What a load of BS. Likely, I am in the minority but I find the whole 'mean boss' bruhaha to be much ado about absolutely nothing. She's the boss. She's paying your salary and she's responsible for you having a job in the first place, and continuing to have an income and a job to go to. That means she is not required to be nice. That means she can be demanding of her staff. That means she can be tough. That means she's not required to befriend every person working for her. That means she doesn't have to pretend to like or care about everyone working for her. Don't like it? Quit. There's the door. It's the Ellen Show , not the Coffee Runner Show. Not the Deputy Assistant Flunky Show. I have no doubt that some incidents happened and I also have no doubt that they were publicized greatly out of proportion to what actually happened by a few disgruntled staff members. It bears remembering that her show was on for 19 years. That's a long time--of course there were bound to be some incidents, disagreements, differences of opinion, arguments, stressful times, etc., in that many years of putting on a very high-pressure, daily show. I doubt her management style was much different from what a man's would be in that same environment--but as a woman that still doesn't fly. And, a gay woman . . . ? Strong, tough man--admired. Strong, tough woman--bitch. What I find utterly laughable is the scorn for her, which does not seem to have abated much. I imagine there's some resentful envy in there, too. Apparently, she is 'shameless' for not showing quite enough remorse for being a tough boss, for not being friendly enough or caring enough to her employees. Apparently, what remorse she has shown has been judged as being not sincere enough to satisfy the great unwashed of social media. I imagine she's thinking, I really don't know why I need to do anything. I totally agree.

Actually, more than 60% of Chinese visitors to Thailand are traveling independently, and not in groups.

My Dad died in his sleep about a week shy of his 95th birthday. He had some heart ailments later in life but was sharp as a tack right to the end. Mom lived to 101 and died of old age. She had dementia beginning in her 80s and it gradually got worse. But, the last time I saw her I think she recognized me. Dad and Mom lived remarkable and interesting lives. Born in 1914 and 1918, they went from riding in horse-drawn wagons as young children to flying on the Concorde on one of their trips to Europe. My Dad worked for the US Dept. of Defense and the family was stationed a lot of different places around the world--including Germany right after World War II, probably Dad's most interesting assignment. I miss them both but I know I am indeed lucky to have had them as a part of my life for as long as I did.

I like your idea to eliminate the 2 EC votes each state gets for their Senators. What troubles me the most about the EC is one candidate winning the popular vote but still losing the election. I'd like to see extra EC votes awarded to the candidate that wins the nationwide popular vote--maybe 51 votes, one for each state and DC.

Including me. This Virginian is getting his mail-in ballot ready.

Thanks!

Several posters, including myself, have mentioned that a shallow pitch can cause leaking with tiled roofs. In an earlier post I mentioned my neighbor's house. Her main tile roof has a steep pitch and no leak problems. Her porch tile roof has a shallow pitch, something like yours. It leaks, even though the house is only about a year old. Your roof also appears to be on the shallow side so that might be the problem.

Lock both of them up. They can be cell mates.

I haven't seen any photos of your leaky roof on this thread. My point remains. I think it would be more helpful to see your leaky roof photos rather than photos of a roof with no problems that is not leaking.

I think few believe this. The 2016 race was very close. The 2020 race was very close. I think it would be more accurate to say that most 'here' believe the 2024 election will also be a close one. When I say 'close' I am referring to the Electoral College vote. I think what most democrats believe will be a 'landslide' will be the popular vote. Clinton won the popular vote by over 2.8 million votes. A landslide. Biden did even better, winning by 7 million votes. An even bigger landslide. Unfortunately, one of the biggest drawbacks of having the EC is that it can give a very damaging, false impression of a presidential election. The 2016 and 2020 elections are both good examples. The democratic candidates won the popular vote by landslides. The elections were really not close elections at all with regard to which candidate the actual voters wanted as their president. However, both elections are incorrectly viewed as close elections solely because the EC vote was close. An actual, truly close election would be Kennedy-Nixon, as one example. Kennedy won by around 117,000 votes. That's close. 2.8 million? Not close at all. Landslide. In two elections, Trump has never even reached 50% of the vote. The actual voters have soundly rejected him twice, with landslide tallies for the democrat candidate. The only legitimacy he has is solely due to the Electoral College. Yet another reason to get rid of it.

Gold digger. Tramp. Illegal immigrant. Stripper. Grifter.

Why? He posted his roof has no leaks--as does mine. The 'no leaks part' would be the whole roof. It might be more helpful if you posted photos of your roof, and the areas where it leaks.

Likely they are undercounting Trump's support due to some Trump supporters being deeply and extremely embarrassed to admit that they support chump Trump. Says something about the awfulness of the candidate when that's the case. Democrats need to run non-stop flat out from here to election day and call in the big guns to keep the momentum going and encourage registration and voting, especially in the crucial swing states. All hands on deck, no let up.

Spouse and I use the gym at one of Pattaya's resorts. We're also in the process of setting up a home gym.

It will be interesting to see how condo projects handle this. My spouse and I have a Bangkok condo and, so far, there are no charging stations at the condo. I think, though, as more people buy EVs, there will be pressure put on condo committees by these owners to have charging stations installed. I'm not sure how projects will deal with the fire safety issue if they only have underground or garage-type parking. The BKK condo does have some open-air surface parking and some of this could be used for charging stations; it is far enough away from the condo building to keep the building safe, should a fire occur. I noticed at our last visit that some of this parking has now been blocked off so, perhaps, residents are being prepared to lose this parking to charging stations down the road. I'm curious if any readers live at a condo project that has installed charging stations and, if so, where they were installed.

As others have said, a properly installed tile roof should not leak. My spouse and I have, in the past two years, built two new houses with tile roofs. No leaks so far. The builder used curved tiles, rather than flat. I think most modern houses will have metal frames rather than wood, as our houses have. Also, as others have said, the pitch of the roof is important. Both our houses have steep roof pitches. We have a neighbor who has a new house similar to ours. She has no problems with the roof on the main house, which is like ours, but her porch tile roof is at a much more shallow pitch and it leaks.

Yaa! About time.