xylophone

On 5/26/2025 at 1:15 PM, WhiteHatPhil said:

My question really is “has anyone else experienced this”?. Or maybe this is just a coincidence? But even taking into account public holidays, they have never missed a payment. 

Yes I had a bad experience with UK pension folk, inasmuch as I received a new blank "proof proof of life" form accompanied by a letter stating that my pension had been stopped because I had not sent them the previous form (competed) and that I needed to complete this new form and send it back to them ASAP.

Of course that worried me immensely, so I telephoned them and managed to get through with my reference number, and the guy on the end of the line said that I wasn't to worry because there had been a mixup with the forms and also with the payments, and after checking my details he suggested that everything was okay and that I should throw this form away and not worry – – for which I was very thankful.

As regards signatories, I get the juristic person here at my condo block to witness my passport and sign the form where it's needed and all has been okay in the past.
 

57 minutes ago, K2938 said:

UrloLift does not really last very long. 

 I recall looking at this when doing my research and it looked promising.........

How long does UroLift last for BPH relief?

Like almost any treatment or procedure, the results (and their longevity) of UroLift for BPH can vary somewhat from patient to patient. Generally speaking, however, most men who are otherwise in good urologic health can expect their UroLift results to last for many years and, in some cases, indefinitely. The UroLift implants themselves are typically considered safe and appropriate as lifelong devices. Should a patient's BPH symptoms worsen or change over time, a revision procedure may help restore their initial results, or Dr. Kasraeian may recommend another treatment mechanism to provide the most adequate level of relief possible.

source: https://kasraeianurology.com/blog/how-long-can-the-results-of-a-urolift-procedure-last

17 minutes ago, simon43 said:

"If you aren't social, you can be lonely in any city"

 

True, but it doesn't apply to everyone who is not 'social'. I don't looking for social interaction, but I'm a very friendly person if someone approaches me.  But I much prefer my own company and I'm definitely not lonely.

Same here @simon43 and to quote a line from an old Kiwi band song, "Truth is I like my own company best" and I find now that I've gotten older, that certainly applies to me.

On 2/6/2025 at 4:30 AM, digger70 said:

Are high end smartphones worth the money (to you)? 

 

No not to Me.

I  only use a Phone for Phone calls and Sometimes send  a Message  and /or take a Picture.  

Sounds as though I'm a lot like you with my smartphone use, although my "smart phone" is an Apple iPhone SE from 2015 and it doesn't get any system updates because it's way past that now.

I probably take a picture once a month if that and the rest of the time it is used for phone calls. I occasionally look at updating it with something other than an Apple, however I can't find anything which is the same size, because I don't want a phone which is about the same size as a small book, just something that fits into my little clip-on "holster" (on my shorts) and I don't have to worry about it falling out of my pocket.

I could well go onto eBay and pick up another second hand one (which this one was a few years ago) and I may well do that in the near future. For me it is "size that matters"!!

On 5/27/2025 at 2:17 PM, connda said:

TURP is brutal and I've seen too many bad outcomes.  However, the options for surgery and competent surgeons are few and far between here in Thailand.  If I ever decide to go the surgery route I'd go with laser surgery, but only with a surgeon who has a lot of these surgeries under his belt and can provide patients who would provide testimonials.  Imho, surgery is the last option.  Not the first for mild BPH.

I agree that surgery is the last option and TURP would be the last of the last options in my experience. I had tried everything from the medicines available as well as the "natural remedies" and none worked, hence settling for a TURP at Epworth Hospital in Melbourne by a top urological surgeon, but it hasn't been smooth sailing ever since and now it's come to the point that my bladder has stopped working and I put that down to a bladder neck incision operation I had here in Phuket.

That's why I said in my previous post that if I had my time again I would look at Urolift or iTind, which are considered minimally invasive.

As regards "competent surgeons" in Thailand, well that's the reason I chose Melbourne, however I do know of a guy here who had a TURP done locally and he is "peeing like a racehorse", in his words, and as I said, my Melbourne operation wasn't a great success.

On 5/25/2025 at 7:23 PM, RayC said:

 

Immediate stronger economic sanctions on Russia.

 

An ultimatum issued to Putin that unless he agrees to an immediate ceasefire and negotiations, NATO will increase its' support for Ukraine to whatever extent necessary. 

 

Obviously this will US support. Unfortunately, doubtful this will be forthcoming.

And trump is weak and all mouth and trousers, as the saying goes.

Then trump posts this on his "Lies Social" esp for the cult follwers.....

“What Vladimir Putin doesn’t realise is that if it weren’t for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD. He’s playing with fire!” Trump said on his Truth Social network.

What a load of "bollards"; just trump spouting off as he likes to do.

Trump did not specify what the “really bad” things were, or make any specific threats. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment by AFP.

He told reporters on Monday he was “absolutely” considering increasing sanctions on Moscow.

His predecessor, Joe Biden, imposed sweeping sanctions after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but Trump has so far avoided what he says could be “devastating” sanctions on Russian banks........why is that one wonders?? Not thought it through; has a financial incentive in not doing so; Putin has something over him; or just a plain coward and an idiot to boot. Take your pick.......

I'm not sure if this has been covered already, and as I don't want to trawl through loads of other posts about a replacement for Skype, I thought I would post this here – – –

I have signed up for "mytello" and paid for a minimum subscription just to test it out, and so far it's been excellent and I have called both mobile and landlines in the UK, NZ and Australia and there have been no glitches and the clarity is great, so I believe I can recommend it. In addition it doesn't seem to be that expensive, just a few baht or less than one baht per minute.

6 hours ago, Social Media said:

Keith Kellogg, Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, also weighed in on the developments, calling the Russian strikes “shameful” and demanding an immediate ceasefire.

One could say that Putin had trump and Kellogg for breakfast!

25 minutes ago, Mavideol said:

is anybody surprised??? I am not

Me neither because I have first-hand experience of this whole corrupt business.

There was a large house on a double section, opposite where I lived in a secluded Soi in Patong which was owned by a Thai Chinese guy and he had a few guys working for him who would import and store cheap Chinese made knockoffs in his outbuilding, which would then be distributed to the small shops which sold these fakes

He imported them and was the major provider of such goods in Patong and I wondered how we got away with it until I saw him sitting on his porch/veranda with a couple of high-ranking police officials, sharing a drink with them.

The visit lasted about an hour and nothing changed, especially as a short while later a truck pulled up and started offloading these fake goods into the outbuilding. 

Here, it's not what you know, it's who you know and how big the brown envelope is.

3 hours ago, xylophone said:

A few posts back someone mentioned the documentary, "They shall not grow old" and I have seen it and IMO it is very good, and that also leads me onto some other Peter Jackson movies which you may or may not have seen, and I post this mainly because I think he is an excellent director and not only because of his "Lord of the Rings" movies.

 

The two movies I particularly like of his are one made in the late 90s, called "What Dreams may Come", starring Robin Williams and I have to admit that one of my favourites is, "The Lovely Bones" which stars Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci and Saoirse Ronan.

 

If you haven't seen them, I urge you to give them a try!! And I'm going to do the same again!!

OOPS my bad.....the movie, "What Dreams May Come" was directed by Vincent Ward, another NZ Director who also produced a film that I liked, called, "The Navigator", and not by Peter Jackson!

16 minutes ago, faraday said:

Haven't seen the movie, but the book was so very good.

I thought the movie was very good also........give it a go!!

A few posts back someone mentioned the documentary, "They shall not grow old" and I have seen it and IMO it is very good, and that also leads me onto some other Peter Jackson movies which you may or may not have seen, and I post this mainly because I think he is an excellent director and not only because of his "Lord of the Rings" movies.

The two movies I particularly like of his are one made in the late 90s, called "What Dreams may Come", starring Robin Williams and I have to admit that one of my favourites is, "The Lovely Bones" which stars Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci and Saoirse Ronan.

If you haven't seen them, I urge you to give them a try!! And I'm going to do the same again!!

I suffered from either prostatitis or BPH for decades and was never quite clear what it was, although large and long doses of one or two antibiotics seemed to do the trick, until it/they didn't!

It wasn't until I got in touch with a couple of professors who were working on this very subject that I found relief with a regimen of the antibiotics they prescribed, so it was prostatitis one way or another.

However over this time, I was prescribed tamsulosin and others to help alleviate my symptoms and along with that I tried just about every other remedy (herbal and otherwise including Beta Sitosterol) and nothing worked, so I had a TURP done at the Epworth Hospital in Melbourne, and it has certainly not been plain sailing since that time.

Latterly I researched other options for BPH and came to the conclusion that if I was to have my time over again I would choose the Urolift procedure or possibly the iTind procedure, both of which are fairly non-invasive and don't actually require surgery.

Good luck with whatever you decide and once you go for something like a TURP, there is no turning back, so choose carefully.

https://youtu.be/e20Ak49YD6E?feature=shared

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e20Ak49YD6E&ab_channel=UroLift

https://www.prostatelasercenter.com/blog/difference-prostatitis-vs-bph/

On 5/22/2025 at 12:28 PM, xylophone said:

So amongst all of the movie buffs here, has anyone got the inside running on a good pair of Bluetooth headphones which are not too expensive?

Many, many thanks to the folks who replied to my request regarding Bluetooth headphones, and I've now got all of the information I need to be able to make a decision, which I will do very shortly.

Thank you for taking the time to reply, those who did.👍

6 minutes ago, ChaiyaTH said:

She plays the long game, obvious from your post. You can pay or not pay, up to you.

My sentiments too....."Up to you"!!

10 hours ago, LosLobo said:

It just dropped!

Just watched it and it was an amalgam/mish mash of the likes of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Romancing the Stone and others and nowhere near as good. In fact I struggled to stay with it for the duration....a score of 5 out of 10 for me.

On 5/9/2025 at 11:37 PM, AgMech Cowboy said:

I stumbled upon a video published by a young doctor and he was praising the results of magnesium citrate.  I tried it and am an avid user ever sense (3 years now I think).  There are many options available, but I purchase a 1kg bag from Spoon Lab on Shopee. Many companies have ridiculous prices.

Thanks to your post, I ordered some magnesium citrate from Spoon Lab and it arrived a couple of days ago, so I tried one desert spoonful before bed the first night, but to no avail, so last night I tried a tablespoon size helping in a large glass of water, followed by some more water........and the results were a complete emptying, some of it under pressure, but at least I was cleared out (I think).

I certainly feel a lot better after that and now I've got to decide when to use it, i.e. taken on a regular basis to help with motility, or wait until I think I need it?

Anyway @AgMech Cowboy I've got to thank you very much for your help. Much appreciated.

1 hour ago, Rimmer said:

They Shall Not Grow Old

It's on tPB

 

 

'Must-watch' war film with almost perfect rating shows real horrors

This tragic war films uses real-life never before seen footage of the first world war to re-tell the stories in colour for the first time

 

They Shall Not Grow Old is a documentary film by the renowned Peter Jackson, the man behind the highly acclaimed Lord of The Rings trilogy. Jackson decided to dedicate this piece of work to his late grandfather, who himself fought during the war, and it was this that motivated him to focus on creating an immersive experience of life at war.

 

https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/2057073/must-watch-war-film

 

I did see that a while back and thought it was brilliant, but now you've mentioned it again, I will download it and watch it, as with my concussion and memory loss I will  probably think I've never seen it before! 

5 minutes ago, Mutt Daeng said:

I use Hoco W35 Air BT headset. Good enough for me.

https://s.lazada.co.th/s.x2ik2

Many thanks  Mutt, especially as I'd never heard of these and was contemplating a pair of Sony CH 720 Bluetooth headphones, so I will investigate these. 👍

Whilst on the subject of movies and TV shows, a friend gave me a pair of Bluetooth headphones to try, mainly because my JBL sound bar is probably too good for my apartment and I worry about the noise being heard in other apartments.

So amongst all of the movie buffs here, has anyone got the inside running on a good pair of Bluetooth headphones which are not too expensive?

Message to the mods – – – if you feel it necessary to move this elsewhere, then please do so. Thank you.

I am still trawling through older movies to find any gems that I'd missed or indeed any gems that I can't remember anything about after my accident!

I came across two which I watched over the previous two evenings and thoroughly enjoyed them: – the first being, "The Untouchables" with a stellar cast which included Sean Connery, Kevin Costner and Robert De Niro, amongst others.

The second one was, "Darkest Hour" and the standout actor in this was Gary Oldman and it's not surprising that he won an Oscar for his fantastic performance as Winston Churchill, absolutely mind blowing, and I have to confess that I was very moved when I heard his speech (the famous one) and it stirred patriotic feelings for my birthplace.