xylophone

That also happened to a friend of mine here in Phuket, and despite trying all legal avenues to remedy the fraud, whereby the lawyer had forged documents and sold the house, he got nowhere. In fact the ruling from the judge was that because he had used the "Thai nominee" route to be able to buy the Villa, he had circumvented Thai law and therefore he had no comeback.

After a visit to Japan some years ago, I came across these toilets with the spray built into the lid unit and I thought they were great. So when I got back to New Zealand I hunted around and found an importer of them and installed one in my house, and when I sold the house and left NZ some 17 years ago I uninstalled it and installed it into my ex-girlfriend's house, and as far as I know she still uses it – – a wonderful invention. It even had a seat warmer, which I never used, and a little extractor fan unit built in, so if there was an obnoxious odour accompanying the "job" it neutralised it!

Wasn't that why Weghorst was signed??

Quite right schlog, I did forget to mention these dangerous idiots, most probably because it has become the norm to see them breaking just about every rule on the road and putting people's lives in danger, so please forgive me for that error. Now a quick précis of my last escapade out: – Blue Beach Café and Restaurant – – almost full, great atmosphere and vista, nice easy-to-listen-to duo churning out the music, and of course excellent food. Bangla Road: – very crowded; New York bar full, but still bar churning out cr@p music! Seems like somewhat of an anomaly, this. A long queue stretched from Illuzion nightclub out into the road and then some. Soi Freedom – – busier than it has been for quite some while which is pleasing for the bar owners. Soi Sea Dragon – – busy and getting busier by the week. Red Hot – – simply the best band in town attracting all sorts of folk, with many dancing, and many Russians in attendance. My favourite music/band venue. A good night was had by all, but with a tinge of sadness because a very good friend (and bar owner) of mine here for some 15 years departs in just a few days for the UK, after Covid and falling patronage meant he had to close his bar, so he is now going back to try his luck and build up his bank balance. All the very best of luck to you old friend.

Watch out the Russians are coming........ well that's been happening for a while now and they seem to be a generally well-behaved bunch many with families, and the limited interaction I've had with them has been good. Watch out the Indians are coming........and in greater numbers, however again they seem to keep out of trouble and don't bother anybody. Now the worst possible scenario has happened – – the Chinese have arrived and I experienced this this morning in a small Italian café where a couple of Chinese families decided to take over one quarter of it, with four adults and four children, and as per usual they were noisy, so much so that I and a couple of friends decided to drink up and leave. As I went to pay the bill one of the Chinese males was trying to order something extra and was actually shouting at the little Thai lady behind the counter, then he had a problem with his money as he didn't want to use any 20 baht notes for some reason?? As the guy was shouting at her I rolled my eyes and she did likewise at me with a sigh, as if to say – – "I know, I know". They would have to be the rudest, most obnoxious people I have ever encountered apart from Nigerians (where I lived on and off for about a year) and have no sense of manners. I noticed this especially when I found one Chinese guy with his feet on the table in Starbucks, clipping his toenails!!!!! I just couldn't believe it. Then another day, looking outside of the window at Starbucks a Chinese woman proceeded to allow her child to take a dump on the edge of the pavement, when the toilets were mere metres away. I have absolutely no time for them and if you find me one day posting from inside the "monkey house" you will know that I have done something nasty to one of these ignorant people.

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!!!