xylophone

I have been out a couple of times since my last post, so this post is an amalgamation of two trips. Despite a friend saying that when he had been out, Bangla was very quiet, I found just the opposite, as it was quite busy, but nothing like the Bangla of old, and although the bars were not full, they were populated. Two friends and I ventured into Soi Sea Dragon, really just have a look around and perhaps a drink, and there were folks drinking at some of the bars, so we decided to stop and have a drink at one bar, and immediately we sat down, a very petite, attractive and young woman sat down beside me, and the more I looked at her, the more I realised how beautiful she was. However trying to strike up a conversation was pretty pointless as she only knew a few words of English and the lady manager of the bar explained that she had only been there three days (heard that before somewhere) and came from down south and really didn't speak any English (great for business!). My friend did manage to speak a little Thai to her and ascertained that she was 21 or 22 years old and had a seven-month-old daughter back home. Probably the reason she was working in a bar, to be able to support her daughter, and it saddened me somewhat, as things (in general) don't seem to have changed since my first visit here in 2004. A couple more drinks elsewhere and then on to Red Hot, which was about 50% full, by which time I was ready to go home, this especially as I started the evening off at Blue Beach Bar and Restaurant with at least half a bottle of red wine, followed by a rare and wonderful mixture of drinks, which I shouldn't have done, but did – – having the willpower of a tame rabbit doesn't help. Other news around the place: – a friend who thought she had a buyer for her massage shop was terribly disappointed because the owner of the shop building has told her that the property is being repossessed by the bank, so she cannot sell her business at this moment in time! It must be a sad time for massage shops, because another owner I know has gone into hiding because she borrowed money from the local "money mafia" in order to keep her business going, now she can't pay it back, so she is hiding out somewhere in Patong. There are a couple of other places I've heard of which are having problems with their bank, and I suspect there are more out there because the slight blip/upturn in tourism which occurred a few months ago, and gave some businesses hope for the future, has now tailed off and although places like Bangla can seem quite busy, the spend isn't there, and the nationalities of the tourists are not those which lend themselves to extravagance of any description. Not surprising really, because the other night when I was out I noticed that I was charged 200 baht for a tiny lady drink, and the surprise was that the last time I bought one a few months ago, it was a 160 baht!!!! Seems like the old Thai mindset, that when times are tough and customers are few, put the price of the drinks up! Just to round this up, I will use the word "patchy" to describe the situation in Patong at the moment, because although Bangla Road itself was busy, the bars weren't that busy, and as I've said, some of the massage shops are struggling, but just to balance this, a couple of restaurants along the beach road did have a good number of customers in them...........

I believe you are being unduly concerned about your position with regards to antibiotics. Firstly clindamycin is a powerful broad-spectrum antibiotic and it would seem as if you were prescribed it when it wasn't necessary. As regards taking antibiotics long-term, well I was one person who had to do that over many years, taking doxycycline for three months at a time, before stopping and then having to start again because my prostatitis would clear up and then flareup again, and altogether I probably took that antibiotic for nigh on 10 years?? Amoxicillin or its extended spectrum version with clavulanic acid, Augmentin, is a useful antibiotic, and is sometimes given by dentists (yes I know as I have a couple of friends who are dentists back in NZ) on a prophylactic basis, i.e. given on the day of major dental work, sometimes a day before, and lasting for no more than three days, and that's it. What you have already taken, and what you could be about to take with regards to your dental procedure, should do you no harm whatsoever, and your gut microbiome will soon recover, even if it is undamaged with such a short dose. I will say now that the "science" behind probiotics and being used to help the gut microbiome is sketchy to say the least and any number of papers written on it will have a different viewpoint. Take the antibiotics and don't worry about what you had previously, and what may be given to you for your dental treatment.

Only to pleased to help if I can, however not sure that my post completely answers your question, but if it helps.......... One thing I forgot to mention, and it may not be of any interest to you, is that with the Nord VPN I am able to login to the BBC iPlayer without any problem whatsoever, whereas the others I used were a bit problematic. On the BBC iPlayer site, there are some fantastic documentaries, and I'm into watching hour long docos on history and "some of history's greatest fibs", not to mention some brilliant crime/detective docos, OH, and before I forget, I love to watch the English football on Match of the Day!!

Because if his heart is not in it, as in playing for United, then regardless of how good a player he can be, his performances will be lacking. Would love to be proven wrong, but in my experience, players lacking the will, desire and enthusiasm will not be an asset to the team, and they will damage team spirit.

I have been able to watch the Rugby championship games by using Nord VPN and signing up to "STAN" (Australian site), and the quality is superb. I have used a couple of other VPNs in the past and Nord is far away the best. Good luck.

I've had an adventurous life up until this point and wouldn't change anything about it at all.........BUT I would tell myself to investigate the share market and put a little money away on a regular basis, in a diversified fund for my future, and most importantly – DON'T GET MARRIED.

Many thanks for the link "heybruce" and good to know that some of these dumb low lifes have been sentenced, with a few of them getting fairly stiff sentences! Would like to see a lot more of them go to jail and with longer sentences too, but then again it's not a perfect world is it, but one can only hope!

Lots of interesting comments here, which I have only just got back onto because of some computer problems, and I'm wondering how many of the "mob" that stormed the capital building have been charged/sentenced to a fine or prison term?? I ask this because on a BBC newsflash the other day I noticed that one of the rioters had been sentenced to 86 months (or thereabouts) in jail! Surely others must have had sentence passed, but I haven't seen anything related to that – – anyone have any news?

IMO that is a worry because some governments in the past when they haven't been doing too well at home, need a diversion to take the peoples gaze/attention away from those problems, and to "unite" the people against a common enemy. In addition, ofttimes, the act of going to war and gearing up for it, can stimulate the economy – – more jobs, more money. Frightening thought.

Totally agree with your post, and anybody that can't see that China poses perhaps the greatest threat here, is living in an alternative universe. They will seize anything they can, even if it's in the territorial waters of another country, and if they don't do that they will extend very large loans (as they have done in the Pacific Islands, which is very worrying for me) to countries in which they wish to establish a base, knowing full well that the loans can never be repaid, thereby seizing assets to compensate – – conquering by money and stealth. So no problem for me that Pelosi decides to go to Taiwan, however the only problems I have are with the whole of the US government, inasmuch as previously there was a dumb, lying, cheat as a president, whose supporters included "the proud boys" and "the oath keepers" and who tried to overturn democracy in the US, only to be replaced by Joe "bumbling" Biden, who looks as if he should be followed by an ambulance wherever he goes, and Nancy Pelosi likewise. Surely, this once great nation (many decades ago I will admit) can do better than this?

There seems to be no end to these nut jobs, and I wonder if it's because they are just stupid, or because they are in it for the fame and money? Perhaps he believes it, but the proof is there for all to see, so why broadcast lies and rubbish in much the same manner as the Anti-vaxxers have done? Someone should do the world a favour and have him put down, one way or another. just as a reminder:- for years the bombastic, far-right Infowars founder ranted to his millions of followers that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax, that children weren't killed and that parents were crisis actors in an elaborate ruse to force gun control.

I like the French Elle & Vire unsalted butter, which I buy from Big C here.

I do believe that in many cases the guy does not like being alone or is totally incapable of looking after himself. I had a friend like that in England and he was so useless after his divorce that he couldn't even open a can, so you can imagine what his meals looked like. of course he had to get married again, and he did. Worse than that, a guy I know here has been married six times, five in the UK and once here, and he's now living with another Thai woman whom he wants to marry, but she is still married to a guy living in Italy and he can't be traced, and she doesn't seem that keen to follow-up on it anyway. So if he had his way, he would be married seven times – – totally unbelievable IMO, and although he is relatively well off, he would be difficult to live with because he has a snappy temper and is tight as the proverbial ducks ar- -, so perhaps the girl is wise not to. I was married once the UK and it was the biggest mistake of my life, so I would never do it again.

In the case of the poor victims, it was a bullet each. Seems like a well-planned operation, and not just a local marital-type tiff.

Even though my health insurance is expensive these days, and I know that because I've just renewed it for the coming year at 146,000 baht, I'm not sure that I want to do without it at the moment. I was lucky enough to take it out with BUPA here just before the age of 60, and they guaranteed that the policy would cover me up to the age of 100 and I have got that in writing (if that makes any difference) and of course they have now been taken over by Aetna and they are still renewing my policy at the age of 75 this year, so hopefully it will last until I reach the ton, if indeed I want to! I did try to switch when I noticed that the premiums were increasing quite markedly, but at the time I investigated the market here, including Pacific Cross, I'd had a few medical conditions which fell into the "pre-existing" category, so would have been excluded in my ongoing coverage, and I didn't want this, especially as one of them was for an enlarged aorta, so I needed future coverage, hence staying with Aetna. Although my cover is for just over 1 million baht, I am fortunate enough to have some investments in NZ which I can draw on if necessary, or of course there is always the option to travel back to NZ and get medical care, given the fact that I am an NZ citizen, so I think I have got my options covered. I suppose I was lucky enough back before my 60th birthday to research my options and duration of policy/coverage, so that has stood me in good stead so far.

Found another movie that I'd never heard of before, called, "High Life", starring Robert Pattinson and Juliet Binoche, so thought I'd give it a try, and the best that I can say about it is, that it is different, odd, strange and disturbing in places, however I thought I would watch it through to the end to see the conclusion! Feedback welcome.

I came across a movie I'd never heard of before, starring Johnny Depp and Forest Whitaker, called "City of Lies" so I decided to download it. Based on a true story and IMO it was good, although I don't think that the IMDb rating was particularly high.

So the Pope goes to Canada to apologise! To apologise for the fact that the Catholic Church has been a haven for paedophiles/sex offenders and whatever else fits that category for centuries, and nothing has been done about it. But to apologise for what has been found out as regards the treatment of children in schools in Canada, so I find it hypocritical that someone who by his very position, defends the fact that the Catholic Church is riddled with corruption of all sorts, when it goes to great lengths to hide and cover up the evil practices which have gone on in that place for centuries – – evil in itself. Even as far back as the 16th century, the Catholic Church was known for its paedophilia and similar practices, and yet now many centuries later it still prevails. Fast forward to the turn of this century when the Boston Globe investigated the very same thing in its local catholic churches and found a history of cover-up and denial, whereby offenders were moved to other areas so that they could be hidden and start their evil ways again. Rotten to the core, and an apology from an overfed/corpulent Pope will do nothing to change the ways of this evil institution.

I should have looked again at my post, because thinking that the government might do something which would not only help the farmers, but would help the air quality, reduce allergies amongst the people and also improve their health, as well as helping the climate – – silly me.

There has to be a better way of getting rid of the rice stubble, or whatever it is and I'm surprised that the government hasn't come to the aid of the farmers with some sort of rotary ploughing machine which rips the stuff up and buries it in the ground. There is no place in the world for this massive burning which takes place, and really no excuse for it given that we are in 2022 and we are well aware of the problems with climate change and similar, not to mention the health problems that come with the smoke.

Pic of me (front right facing) on the NZ grade 5 around the early nineties!!

Yes it can be, and I have done a few white water rafting trips in NZ, mostly on the lower ranked runs, however I did try a level 5 and nearly died!!! Although I was fully kitted up, the rafter leader said that we were going over a couple of high rocks and would drop down with the water, and there was a 50% chance the raft would overturn (or thereabouts), and it did, and in the struggle to get out from under the raft and find some air, I was pushed over to the far side of this particular stretch, which had a sort of cliff face, under which the water was gushing, and it was gushing. They'd had some problems there in the past so hanging from this rockface were a couple of ropes with knots in, on which to hang, so I grabbed hold of one and hung on for dear life, all the while with the current pushing me against the rock and underneath it, which terrified me. A couple of guys managed to throw a rope to me which was supported by miniature buoys, and it drifted my way and I gladly grabbed hold of it, and was pulled to the other side of the river. I was exhausted and needed some time to get my breath back before we set off again. I learned later on in the day that this was the most dangerous part of the river and just a couple of months previous to that a young man had died when the raft went over in exactly the same place, however he didn't surface, and he was later found (obviously dead) under the water with his foot wedged between a couple of rocks, so even the small lifejacket didn't help. Moral of the story: – great to experience this on some of the lower ranked rivers, however if you get up to the number five river, then be prepared for some danger.

Well we're going to have to disagree aren't we, because although the cast may have been good, the acting wasn't, nor was the plot, nor IMO the movie, hence my comment. As regards your next comment, well I like to know what I'm supposed to be watching and knowing what type of movie it is, makes it more enjoyable for me......give me an action movie so that I can enjoy and appreciate the action, give me a comedy so that I can enjoy the comedy, but don't present a childlike mishmash of a movie with comic-like scenes when it is supposed to be an action thriller and expect me to like it.

Not at all, and it seems you've missed my point, because if I was watching a comedy and knew it was supposed to be a comedy then I'm sure I would enjoy it, however if I was watching what is supposed to be a CIA/spy movie, but it is nothing more than a CGI/Marvel rubbish nonsense juvenile flick, with very little going for it, then that's the difference. The skill of the moviemaker, the actors, and the subject makes it for me, and this one just didn't cut the mustard, whatever it was supposed to be!

I don't know Giddyup as have never watched movies like that as I don't like them. For me, I either watch something which is pure fantasy, and know it to be that, like "Lord of the rings" for example, or straightforward movies with plots etc and those with a believable storyline and action. For that reason I don't watch the likes of Spider-Man/Marvel movies/similar, however give me a good movie like "Bridge of Spies" or "The Shawshank Redemption and "Castaway" and I'll be happy!!