xylophone

Seems like a nice boy!!

You raise a very good point, because I was thinking exactly the same as you when I saw the list of nominees, however I have to admit to not seeing many of them at all as nothing that I've read about them encouraged me to do so. I did see the "Banshees" movie and could not see the point of a movie based around pure Irish stupidity, which was meant to mirror the 1921 Irish Civil War. Also I did start to watch "The Whale" but couldn't get past the first 10 minutes mainly because it assaulted my sensibilities. I haven't seen "Top Gun Maverick" as I'm not really a fan of Tom Cruise (perhaps in small doses), so in summary there is nothing that I'm really keen on seeing, so trawling back through some of my old movies keeps me busy most evenings, apart from the things I find on BBC iPlayer – – and on that note I do enjoy some of their history and nature programmes as well as the occasional doco.

I finally got round to watching, "The Fabelmans" and thought it was a very average movie, so was quite surprised when it was nominated as a potential Oscar winner! The next night I watched, "Luther – The fallen Sun", and it was okay and a bit far-fetched for something that was portrayed as being in the current era, but then again as I got closer towards the end of the movie and realised what was going on, I began to think about all of the nut jobs, perverts, killers and masochists that have made the news over the past decade or two, including a few recent posts on AN, especially in regard to the Capitol Hill insurrection! Lastly, something which actually hit home because I was in Auckland, New Zealand, when this actually happened, and the documentary is called, "Murder in the Pacific" and although it does stretch out a little, it really does show the good work done by the Auckland police in catching the perpetrators (actual footage is shown throughout). When it was first rumoured that the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior could have been carried out by a foreign government, the NZ newspapers and indeed government bigwigs dismissed it out of hand, saying that in this (that) day and age such a thing would be unthinkable........ but how wrong they were. The most disappointing aspect of it all was how the foreign government and the actual perpetrators really got off lightly, mainly because little old NZ was held to ransom by the French government with regards to trade threats, so us New Zealanders realised that we were powerless to do anything about it.

Oh, sorry to hear that, esp as I have not experienced any of what you describe.........maybe what we used to call "a Friday Afternoon" car?? I would certainly buy another or as Transam has said, take a look at the Celerio.

Forgot to mention that I had to do that as well!!

Actually I had my first ride in one of those the other day when I took the Swift in for a service and one of the service guys gave me a lift to the hospital to fulfil an appointment I had, and I was most impressed with it. And funny that you should mention the aircon, because it was probably better than my Swift, so when the time comes for a change I will have a look at that little car and see how it fits.

Don't know if it was available in 2012, but did try the Mazda 2 and wasn't impressed.

That's basically what I did in the house we rented when I first moved here and to be honest it was just about all kitchen appliances, so it wasn't too hard to run earth wire between the socket outlets and then run it through the wall to the earthing rod outside. Despite the fact that many of the large metal clad appliances in a kitchen only have a two pin plug on them, you will often notice on the back of these appliances there is a small nut/screw assembly which is meant for an earth wire, so I use that, and that also ends up being connected to the earthing assembly I have put together. I had to do similar for a Thai friends small restaurant where kitchen staff were getting a tingle from the larger appliances.

I tried all of the smaller cars/hatchbacks before I settled on the Suzuki Swift, which I have had now for over 10 years, and I've been delighted with it – – good roadholding and good feel to it, comfortable to sit in even for long drives/journeys and I really couldn't complain about anything on it, and not only that I found that the service folk were superb when it came to the checkups and suchlike. I was quite taken with the little Nissan March, but then again the OP says that his wife is not keen on a Nissan. What clinched it for me was the fact that I took every one of the smaller cars for a test drive, and whereas none of them actually "jumped out at me" with regards to the purchase of it, I only went a couple of hundred yards in the Suzuki Swift and realised it was the car I wanted.

I haven't been out in Bangla for around five weeks, due to health issues and big dental work, so I can't really comment on it, but I have been out and about a little bit in Patong, and what really did surprise me was the traffic (again/still)! I tried to get across what was once called "Middle Road" but is actually called "Phang Muan Sai Kor" (or so I believe) at around 6:30 PM, and the road was absolutely jampacked, nose to tail with traffic at a standstill or barely crawling along, and this went from the roundabout at the south end, past Jungceylon, and up to the far end traffic lights at Phra Baramee and I've never seen it like this before. Just as an aside, the minivans have made a huge comeback and at one time last week I counted 14 of them in a row on Phra Baramee road, heading out of Patong. Meanwhile, elsewhere, in Nanai Road, what was once a café called "555" which closed down some time ago has shown all the signs of opening back up.......well at least it has over the past couple of months, but it still seems to be stalled? I also noticed that the "Green Mango" guesthouse/restaurant was now fully closed whereas it had been closed for a while and then opened up a few months ago, only to close down again? And further south, the Italian restaurant, "The Loft" is now completely empty and looks to have been gutted, although I'm not sure what has happened to the rooms which were available as part of that building. I did visit Patong Central a few days ago and was pleased that it was doing business, but was very surprised at the customer mix, because the seats/tables in the dining area were completely full of Chinese, with the exception of four folk on two tables – – and the poor serving/wait people were not happy with the customers demands and complaints, not to mention the mess. I did pity them. Maybe there are bar mongers frequenting Bangla, but they certainly aren't evident in the small bars in Nanai, or in OTOP come to that, at least not in daylight/dusk hours, so it would seem that the small window of opportunity with the return of the tourists, will be short lived for these bars. And of course to add to the "interest and excitement of the place" along with the influx of the Russians and now the Chinese, the air quality has taken a dive which means sore eyes and a certain amount of hoarseness in the voice – – oh the joys of Thailand. As a rider to the above, I've had quite a few people exclaim that they believe the tourist numbers have declined somewhat, and a couple of women I know who own massage shops are not exactly inundated with customers, so maybe there is a lull and I haven't really noticed it?

"Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad they’re doing this now, but it’s going to be a very long and uphill battle to go after the bigger fish, higher up in the food chain". So it won't happen......as too many people in powerful places will be affected. Loss of income and wealth, as well as loss of face. A couple of months and things will be back to "normal".

Connections in high places.

No probs, only kidding SAB????

No, but they will probably accept a bribe to let them go on with their business and stay on this visa, because that's what they've always done, and this latest brouhaha is mostly about "show" and of course squeezing a bit more from the Chinese. This whole episode is the very tip of the iceberg, and is very easy to go after, so that's what they're doing, but if anyone thinks that corruption will change in Thailand, then they don't understand how deep or high it flows.

Portsmouth isn't a dirty place!!

You could always ask an Australian, because their idea of foreplay is, "brace yourself Sheila"...... so they would know!

I tried to help a friend of mine with his pigeon problem and we bought a fake Falcon, which didn't work, a fake owl which hooted and flapped its wings and that didn't work, and another flying bird of prey of some description, and that didn't work either! I suggested the spikes to him and he's done nothing about it yet, or of course there is always some netting which a neighbour has used with great success, however this friend of mine has also done nothing about this, so I'm sure the pigeons are saying, "bombs away" as they continue to foul his house.

"Seems like a nice boy".

I do occasionally like an Aussie or New Zealand tenderloin steak and I get them from either Makro or Big C..... Makro occasionally has the Australian tenderloin at a knockdown price, whereas Big C has the New Zealand equivalent in a "buy one, get one free" (by Jotta) promotion, which is what I've just recently purchased. Together with asparagus and a stilton and cream sauce, just my ideal dinner, of course, accompanied by a nice bottle of red (Aussie, Italian or Californian).

Ah, and within that sentence lies the rub, as the saying goes, because it states that, "no reasonable viewer takes Tucker Carlson seriously", and there would be almost zilch "reasonable viewers" amongst the "Maga/trump nut jobs, and these are mainly his audience. Doublespeak solved!

"Almost a rite of passage with the young backpacker crowd". And gang members..............

Especially on the men!!

I can't remember the last time I had one from the UK, but I do get them from the New Zealand pension service almost annually, and the last two times that I have received the form in the post, it seems to have taken almost 4 weeks to arrive here, and they want it returned smartly! So I contacted them and asked if it would be all right for me to email a completed copy to them and they said it was fine, so that's what I did – – printed out the original, filled it in, got it signed and witnessed and sent it back via email. Painless. Just to be on the safe side I asked if they would require the original hard copy (completed) and they said it wasn't necessary.

I can highly recommend a move called. "Moon" starring Sam Rockwell.........different and makes you think. Came out a few years ago without much fanfare so you may have missed it. IMO a very good film.

And the Chinese will eat anything they can get their hands on.