xylophone

Doxazosin is not an antibiotic @JimmyJ.

Phuket certainly is expensive and I'm just waiting for confirmation of the quote I had from THE major hospital here (part of a chain) to remove a very small basal cell carcinoma, and who wanted to charge the procedure to my health insurance company, but I only have inpatient cover. The cost quoted, if paid by the insurance, was 49,000 baht and the whole procedure would have taken less than an hour and if the insurance company won't pay it, then the hospital said that we can "renegotiate the price" – – take from that what you will.

When I was a kid, we had a gas meter in the house, into which we had to put a shilling or two (maybe half a crown) in order to get the gas to flow – – is this any different??

Are you back in NZ??

Using the da Vinci robotic machine I hope Simon?

No, but the $5.00 banknote could feature a tampon.........after all that was the ambition of the silly old fart.

Do you have any goals in life? To quote a certain well-known pointy eared space person: – "To live long and prosper".

I seem to recall seeing a map which showed Palestine as that which can be seen in the 1946 map, so I find it incredulous that Palestine has basically "ceased to exist" and is seen as "scattered remains" of what it once was! I haven't followed the history, although I do remember reading about the 1947 partition plan, and I followed it (later on) and I also read an article to do with the "Orange Grove massacre" as it was called. As a rider, I'm not in favour of Palestinian attacks on Israel, although I do believe they are out of desperation to let the world know that they are still being suppressed, and as for the continued building on occupied land, IMO that's a disgrace.

Agree......I have a laptop which is connected to a 24 inch monitor on my computer desk, as well as to my tv, and if I travel I just unplug the peripherals and use the laptop screen.

All the very best of luck to you Simon........I have been following your posts and I hope all goes well for you over in Blighty. Xylo

If you don't manage to get that one, try the Camasella Appassimento from Puglia at Wine Pro, better than Rosso Grande Alberone by a long way IMO!! Best Appassimento I have tasted.

I'm sure I have seen a few other posts which have discussed the costs at private hospitals here in Phuket, and although I know they are expensive, I also want the best treatment I can get, although I have to pay for any outpatient procedure from my own pocket. But the costs have gone up quite markedly in the past few years, and I've often wondered about the "have you got health insurance" question, and mostly I say I have, but I want to pay out of my own pocket and the health insurance company doesn't get bothered, and anyway I doubt they would pay. Having said that I remember once a while back (and I did post on it) that I was booked in for a colonoscopy and was verbally given a price which was extremely reasonable, and when I went to pay the bill, it was about 70% more than the amount quoted, and when I questioned it, the nurse at the reception said that I had insurance so all would be well, however I stated that I wanted to self pay. So she had a long discussion with a couple of other nurses and came back with a much reduced bill, which aroused my suspicions with regards to padding the bill for insurance companies. Fast forward to today and having just been checked over for a minor operation/procedure to cut out a basal cell carcinoma on my chest, I was given a piece of paper to sign on which the costs amounted to over 49,000 baht, which I thought was quite a lot for this procedure, and told the nurse the same. She advised that she would ask the insurance company to pay and that they had folks in their department who would handle it for me, so my question to her was, "what if they refuse to pay?" and to my surprise she replied, then we will have to sit down and renegotiate the cost!!! And this was basically the same thing that happened a while ago with the colonoscopy, so padding the bills for insurance companies appears to be a common practice. Last but not least, I stopped off at a friends place on the way back home and was discussing this with him and he said he had exactly the same experience when presented with a bill for a small procedure just a short while ago when he said that he was willing to pay the cost out of his own pocket, but then changed his mind, so the bill was redone and the cost was increased quite markedly because the insurance company were being billed for his procedure. I think it's scandalous and means the hospital makes even more money, yet the poor old patient gets hit with an increase in premiums overall.

A little update on that Gnarly Head Authentic Black wine, PP, as I went back and bought a couple more bottles and was somewhat disappointed!!!!!!! The second bottle I tried was a nice enough wine but had no outstanding characteristics to it, either on the palate or the nose, which I found quite strange. Now I've heard of bottle variation and have actually experienced it with French wines, when I have tasted two bottles of the same wine out of the same case, and they've been different, and this was exactly the same, so I had to go and buy another bottle to check it out. I had that a couple of days ago and although it was better than the second bottle, it was nowhere near the stunner that the first bottle was – – go figure. As far as I know my palate hasn't changed markedly or been damaged, so it's a bit of a mystery, however it won't stop me trying yet another bottle because despite all of that, and it not being up to its initial promise, it isn't a bad wine at all, and I need to explore this experience even further............. If you do manage to find some and try it, your feedback would be interesting and welcome.

I came across a movie I had never seen before, called "Denial" about the legal challenge that David Irving brought against the publisher of a book, which branded him a "Holocaust denier" amongst other things, and it was a brilliant movie. The acting was superb and Timothy Spall as David Irving was just brilliant, as were the other cast members, and the good thing about the movie was that it kept you in suspense with a few twists and turns along the way, and you didn't know the verdict until the very end of the movie. I can highly recommend this, not only for the subject matter, but because the acting was superb.

That there is still support for this loser (trump) is quite beyond me, but it seems that there are some folk who will support a compulsive liar, crook and someone with the intelligence of a pickled squid... but then again, perhaps with him and DeSantis running, +1 or two others, the election will be handed to the Dems, which is great. However the only thing that they have got to do is to find a decent replacement for Biden, as a second term doesn't look that likely for poor old Joe in his condition.

That would be a bonus!!!

Teaching is NOT "trying to change every student", and the more they know the better they can deal with it, and life.

Aha, just found this............ The only cost-effective option was to build overseas using existing mechanical components (engine, transmission, rear end, suspension, brakes, electrical), leaving only the tooling cost for body panels and other unique components. With this in mind, Nash Motors negotiated with several European companies. On 5 October 1952, they announced that they had selected the Austin Motor Company (by then part of BMC) and Fisher & Ludlow (which also became part of BMC in September 1953, later operating under the name Pressed Steel Fisher), both English companies based in Birmingham, England and vicinity. Fisher & Ludlow would produce the bodywork, while the mechanicals would be provided as well as the final assembly were to be performed by the Austin Motor Company.

Ah, I thought they were Nash Metropolitan!!

An acquaintance across the road from my house had exactly the same problem, where his lovely house, swimming pool and garden were being built out/overshadowed by a hotel being built on the next plot. It wasn't obvious when the hotel was started, exactly how large it would be, but as it went up became obvious that it was going to cast a huge shadow on his property. Luckily he was a fairly wealthy Italian man, and he made contact with a good lawyer in Bangkok, who came down to see it and started a legal action against the hotel builder/owner. Although it did drag on for about a year, in the end the owner of the hotel was made to buy the house which he had "built out", and for a good price I was told. The Italian guy and his wife then moved out of the town and built a nice house not too far into the countryside, and near a small waterfall – – idyllic. PS. There is a postscript to this because the owner of a house just a few doors down, which was also being overshadowed by the hotel, and parts of it were almost right up to the perimeter wall on his property, so he decided to take action against the hotel owner. UNFORTUNATELY he was given the name of a high-ranking official here who said he would sort it out for him, and despite paying many hundreds of thousands of baht over quite a few years, nothing has happened – – so the first instance ended well, the second one is still ongoing, after almost 10 years. TIT. Buyer Beware!!!

Ah, memories.....and I remember seeing the Nash Metropolitan in the UK when I was just a kid, and I thought they were lovely looking cars and I may be wrong on this, however I thought they had a small Austin engine in them??

Whoosh>>>>>>>>>

I believe a "local state of emergency" was in place for the Auckland region, and I have never seen rain/floods like this in all my years in NZ. Not far from where I lived on the North Shore of Auckland, several houses and properties have been hit by landslips and in some cases the houses are perched precariously on the edge of what's left of a cliff. The cleanup operation is going to be costly and lengthy and I'm not sure that those people who have "house insurance" are adequately covered for events like this – – I only hope the insurance companies come to the party, but then again...........

I had the good fortune of being able to share a taxi ride from Bangkok Phuket hospital to Lotus's in Phuket town, with an attractive, and judging by her dress and jewellery, reasonably wealthy Russian woman, and we got talking about the invasion of Ukraine and what she said was enlightening for me! She said that this invasion/war was crazy because many families, like hers, had mixed Russian and Ukrainian relatives, whereby some of her lineage were Russian, whereas others were Ukrainian, so taking sides was damn near impossible, and she said it was dividing the country and families, ALTHOUGH she did say that any dissent was pounced upon immediately, so being able to come to Thailand for her was a good way out. She didn't say she was for or against Putin, but she did say she was against the invasion – – take from that what you will.

Had to chuckle at your response L L, and the description given was (I think) the one posted by the producer in California. Having said that, I tasted a second bottle a couple of days later and it was completely different to the first one, and I've heard of "bottle variation", but this took it to new levels!!! So I will have to try another one! Now back on to the thread.......having managed to stay alive on the back of a motorbike taxi heading down to the Blue Beach Café and Restaurant, I was pleased to reach the place in one piece, what with being "cut up" by morons driving PCX bikes and weaving in and out of traffic at speed, almost colliding with the motorbike taxi I was on, as well as nearly being wiped out by a farang who decided to do a U-turn on a very busy road without any indication whatsoever – – I don't think I have ever witnessed such atrocious and dangerous driving in my 16 years here. Bloody idiots all of them. Luckily enough I was able to meet some friends at Blue Beach and enjoy a nice meal in a tranquil setting, with guitar player "Moody" entertaining the diners, and there were many of them as the place was just about full. This place is what Patong has been waiting for, and there are some rooms available overlooking the beach. What more could one ask for..... The friends and I wandered up Bangla and it was very crowded, probably the most I've seen it for years, and there were more friends at the Black Horse bar, so we stopped for a chat and a drink, after which we visited a couple of other establishments at which we knew the owners, before one of the overseas guests wanted to go to a go-go bar (not a new event by any means). So the leader of the pack decided to lead us into Suzie Wong's 2, and I duly followed, only to leave about two minutes later because the place was nothing short of a disaster, populated by fugly women, all vying for a drink and wanting to hold your hand and converse in their own limited command of the English language. Not for me so I popped out to see another friend who owned a bar nearby. The group decided to go on to another go-go bar, but I was not up for that as, "once you've seen one, you've seen them all", although I will add a proviso to that, inasmuch as the original Suzie Wong bar does have some very good looking girls in there and I don't think there's anything to match it here? Anyway, as per the norm with me I decided to walk up Bangla towards Red Hot and in doing so passed the New York pub bar, which was absolutely packed, with people standing outside, but I've got to say the singing was very, very average, so perhaps people were enjoying the noise, because surely they couldn't have been enjoying the songs because some of them were being murdered! Whereas the band/group in Red Hot are several notches above any of the others I've heard here, so I was pleased to be able to get up and sing a couple of numbers with them. It was then that the very likeable captain from Jetstar, whom I'd met before, came over and as I was on my own, invited me to join his table of other Jetstar crew, all of whom were very amiable Aussie folk, and I have to say that I felt in good company because I have flown Jetstar dozens of times and have always had a great flight and great service, so I felt very comfortable in their presence. I eventually found my young and very good motorbike taxi driver who safely delivered me home, and I will always look out for this young guy because he is a good driver and very courteous. So, Patong continues its "resurrection" and Bangla certainly helps, as do the new/newish restaurants that are opening, and the only complaint from me is that the place is seemingly full of absolutely crazy/stupid/ignorant/first time motorists, many of whom haven't a clue about a road code or indeed road safety.