PattayaClub

Frankly, I cannot understand how anybody on this forum could make a positive ID on the OP's snake, given the quality of the photo. it would be like claiming a positive ID of a 7-Eleven robber based only upon a security camera photo of the back of his head (well maybe on Ko Tao . . . ).

According to Snakes and Other Reptiles in Thailand and South-East Asia, by Mere J. Cox, et al:

White Lipped Viper, Trimeresurus albolabris albolabris to 100cm

The body of this attractive viper is fairly stout, the scales keeled. The head and body are green, the chin, throat and belly greenish or yellowish white. Males have a white stripe on the first body scale row which is indistinct or absent on females. The tail is reddish brown. It prefers open country below 400m, sometimes inhabits urban areas. It hunts mice, birds, lizards, and frogs at night on the ground and spends resting in vegetation. Litters comprise 7-16 miniature replicas of the adult, 12-18cm long. Venomous and dangerous [emphasis in original], the species is responsible for many snake-bite cases. Widely distributed in tropical asia, it occurs throughout Thailand.

Instead of resting in vegetation, the one that came to our kitchen was spending a leisurely afternoon in the dish rack. It all started in the Garden of Eden. Everybody like a good snake thread.

Did anybody mention that there is also another bright green snake that is extremely deadly and is known to cause a large number of the deadly snakebites in

Thailand (according to my snake book). I almost stepped on one, as they just lie there and don't try to get away. If you step on it, you have a big problem. Lucky for me, my wife saw it and warned me. I dispatched it to the spirit world.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

So here we go AGAIN!! The Pattaya-romour-spreader.... This green snake-fairytale has been going on all since the drunken expat arrived the very first time in Pattaya.

It is the very first thing you hear here when you enter Thailand,,,, "The green one", you are dead before you hit the ground.... kill all green snakes....

Thanks for spreading that shit.. Suggest you burn that snakebook my friend...

Glegolo

In your utter and unmitigated ignorance, I hope you are not unlucky enough to cross paths with a deadly white lipped viper. They are endemic to all of SE Asia and look like this:

White Lipped Viper.jpg

Read about them here: http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/snakes/white-lipped_pit_viper.htm

At the in-law's house we have a second floor outdoor Thai kitchen. There is a dish rack upon which freshly washed dishes are put. One will grab a bowl or cup from the rack when needed. One afternoon about six months ago, I was standing near the rack with a Thai friend and he asked me if I was trying to pull a joke (I am known for a tendency toward practical jokes). I said, 'No, why would you ask?" He pointed at the white lipped viper placidly wrapped around a part of the dish rack. I guess he thought i had put a rubber snake in there for a joke. It was not joke. I dispatched it to the spirit world, and can guarantee a positive identification.

Had some poor bastard reached in there for a cup or bowl and disturbed that critter, it would have been a sad affair. And with my powers of observation (poor), it would probably have been me. Though not often fatal, this snake's venom does tremendous amount of tissue damage. It is a VERY unpleasant bite.

Unlike the situation at my house, the in-law's house is well populated by rats and other vermin, which may have drawn the snake in.

I cannot, frankly, understand the admonition to "burn that snake book." My snake book is a well thought of field guide: http://www.amazon.com/Photographic-Reptiles-Thailand-Singapore-Peninsular/dp/0883590433/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1440987849&sr=1-9&keywords=snakes+thailand

Are you a book burner by nature?

Oh and by the way, I have never been to Pattaya. My handle and avatar are pure mockery.

Why did you kill it? You could have had it removed from the house. Snakes do a lot of good despit most people being terrified of them, they benefit the environment

"Had it removed?" By whom? I live in small village. I have never heard of the "snake handlers" you so often read about on this forum. The strong consensus of all the poeple present (I was the only farang) was to kill it. Actually, consensus puts it mildly; it was unanimous. Had I tried to catch it to remove it, I'd have probably been bitten. On top of everything else, the Thais present would have been fully convinced of my insanity. As it is, they only suspect it.

Please stay on topic, we are talking about a Golden Tree snake in the roof

We hope it was a golden tree snake. The picture was NOT definitive. Often snake bites occur when a victim mistakes a species. Many look very similar. It is important, perhaps a matter of life and death, to let the OP know that there are other possibilities. Other possibilities are on topic.

Did anybody mention that there is also another bright green snake that is extremely deadly and is known to cause a large number of the deadly snakebites in

Thailand (according to my snake book). I almost stepped on one, as they just lie there and don't try to get away. If you step on it, you have a big problem. Lucky for me, my wife saw it and warned me. I dispatched it to the spirit world.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

So here we go AGAIN!! The Pattaya-romour-spreader.... This green snake-fairytale has been going on all since the drunken expat arrived the very first time in Pattaya.

It is the very first thing you hear here when you enter Thailand,,,, "The green one", you are dead before you hit the ground.... kill all green snakes....

Thanks for spreading that shit.. Suggest you burn that snakebook my friend...

Glegolo

In your utter and unmitigated ignorance, I hope you are not unlucky enough to cross paths with a deadly white lipped viper. They are endemic to all of SE Asia and look like this:

Read about them here: http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/snakes/white-lipped_pit_viper.htm

At the in-law's house we have a second floor outdoor Thai kitchen. There is a dish rack upon which freshly washed dishes are put. One will grab a bowl or cup from the rack when needed. One afternoon about six months ago, I was standing near the rack with a Thai friend and he asked me if I was trying to pull a joke (I am known for a tendency toward practical jokes). I said, 'No, why would you ask?" He pointed at the white lipped viper placidly wrapped around a part of the dish rack. I guess he thought i had put a rubber snake in there for a joke. It was not joke. I dispatched it to the spirit world, and can guarantee a positive identification.

Had some poor bastard reached in there for a cup or bowl and disturbed that critter, it would have been a sad affair. And with my powers of observation (poor), it would probably have been me. Though not often fatal, this snake's venom does tremendous amount of tissue damage. It is a VERY unpleasant bite.

Unlike the situation at my house, the in-law's house is well populated by rats and other vermin, which may have drawn the snake in.

I cannot, frankly, understand the admonition to "burn that snake book." My snake book is a well thought of field guide: http://www.amazon.com/Photographic-Reptiles-Thailand-Singapore-Peninsular/dp/0883590433/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1440987849&sr=1-9&keywords=snakes+thailand

Are you a book burner by nature?

Oh and by the way, I have never been to Pattaya. My handle and avatar are pure mockery.

"a large discount to contractors 555

There is nothing wrong with a "hiso" dinner table, despite what some of the barbarians on this forum may say. Coming to a savage and uncivilized land does not mean you have to leave your manners and civility behind.

I, too, prefer quality goods, and, normally. the ONLY way to get them is to import from your home country. Shipping is expensive, but a high quality item that will last for years and give pleasure, too, is well worth the extra cost.

You did not mention the type of extension. I am assuming you refer to a one year marriage or retirement visa extension. You can go in 30 days in advance of your current expiration date. If you go in before then, they may tell you to come back, but it depends on the office. It certainy won't hurt to try unless it is a long trip for you.

Many folks in Thailand won't have anything to do with a check. Nothing wrong with that. I have always met the seller at the land office. I have a big bag of cash and seller has chanote. No cash or no chanote, no deal. But there has never been a problem.

You should get copy of the chanote and check everything out before doing the deal. Does the chanote cover the land you think you are buying? Do the neighbors agree with the stated boundary (VERY important)? Has there been a survey?

Finally, do not make the mistake of putting an "interim title" in another family member's name. If your wife is not here to put the land in her name, DON'T do the deal!!! I personally know a (Thai) guy who is a police officer, who temporarily put land in his own brother's name. The brother just stole it --refused to give it back. You can hear many such stories on this forum. Thinking that YOUR situation is different is one of the worst mistakes you can make here.

But even if your trust is well placed, there is a big land transfer tax on any land that changes hands in less than five years. So if the land goes into you father-in-law's name, there will be a tax. Then if you want to transfer to your wife in less than five years, expect to pay a big tax. If you leave it in his name until he dies and the land devolves to her the tax is waived. But if he dies with it in his name with no will and she has two brothers, then they will own two-thirds of it.

Food for thought.

Green tree snake for sure. Very common. Harmless to humans. Good news for you if you leave it alone, less mice / bats and poop all over your place.

Nearly every Thai I meet think all snakes will kill you. Only around 10 - 15% are actually deadly to humans, and guess what? death only occurs when people dick about with them. Recent morons have tried to take selfies with rattle snakes and ended up in a bad way. Good I say. Just helps to confirm that nature eliminates the weak, stupid and feeble minded.

A recent surevy in the sates showed that 90% of snake bites were when "humans" tried to pick them up and in over 50% of cases the person was intoxicated at the time.

Well I wish great luck to everybody. Considering that only 10% of the people bitten by poisonous snakes are bitten through no fault of their own, the actual number of "no fault" bites is probably very small. That puts the odds in favor of the snake lovers.

On the other hand, if you kill every one of them, the odds of not being bitten are even better. That's why no snakes are welcome at my house. I can't tell the difference between common rat snake (good snake) and a cobra (bad snake) unless the cobra stands up and shows its hood. It's a little late by then, isn't it? That's why I dispatch them all. For those that can tell the difference and will attack me for being a stupid killer, etc., I am happy for you. It's just me.

Did anybody mention that there is also another bright green snake that is extremely deadly and is known to cause a large number of the deadly snakebites in

Thailand (according to my snake book). I almost stepped on one, as they just lie there and don't try to get away. If you step on it, you have a big problem. Lucky for me, my wife saw it and warned me. I dispatched it to the spirit world.

I have no interest in the good snake/bad snake guessing game. For those that do, I wish you luck. In any event, the odds are with you. There is that.

And just for the record, even though I have few snakes, and almost none that survive a sighting by me, I DO NOT have a rat/bat/other vermin problem. I built my house with an eye toward keeping them out; and it is rare for one to get in. I have never had a rat the living area of my house (kept very clean) and the couple that managed to get into the attic area were soon dispatched to become food for their snake friends in the spirit world. I have ventilation like the OP picture, but I put aluminum screen over it all, topside.

Just because you live in Thailand doesn't mean you have to choose between snakes or vermin. Despite what some people would have you believe it IS NOT an either/or situation.

Unfortunately, I can only instruct on borehole water quality in Phitsanulok. But if I may stray from that topic, I'll offer something that may be of interest to your beloved.

If she wants a run of the mill guest house, yes, she may want to be in the "thick of things." But my (Thai) brother-in-law built a beautiful little complex consisting of little one room teak cottages, with attached bathroom in back. He now has about 20 of these little cottages. He built them in succession as he saved money. He beautifully landscaped the property.

The deal is, he built them in Uthai Thani way in there at the foot of the mountain and the gateway to the big national park there. He's definitely off the beaten path. But he is chock full from Thursday through Sunday every week with people from Bangkok. There are a lot of people in BKK that like a weekend getaway, and his resort is perfect and quite popular. Almost all of his constant business is repeat.

Now, if you had a place on the lake in Kanchanaburi and did it up nice like my brother-in-law did, I think you'd get the same kind of business as my brother-in-law gets. Kanchanaburi is a very popular weekend getaway for Bangcockians. You CAN have your cake and eat it too!

Just a thought. And when you get here, if you would like to go see his operation and talk to him, you can PM me and I'll give you gps coordinates and contact information.

Why now?? The USMC birthday is November 10 . . . .

I will soon be opening a Schwab account. Their literature says that although they reimburse ATM charges, they charge 1% on foreign transactions. Has that been your experience? If they do charge the 1% then I will use my Navy Fed credit card for cash advances rather than the Schwab ATM card and pay the dollar amount to Navy Fed on the same day to avoid interest charges. I've sometimes gotten stuck overnight and had to pay one day's interest on about $455 of around $0.55. Not a devastating cost!

i have never heard f such a charge by Schwab, nor have I been charged it. there is a lot of "literature." Do you have a link?

I read with interest a news article about US soldiers again stepping forward to save France. Some terrorist was getting ready to open fire on a trainload of French when two US servicemen tackled and disarmed the would be shooter. History seems to repeat itself over and over and over. Please say thank you, Frenchy.

20 years ago there are only very slim women, no "smart-phone" so the girls had plenty of time to take care of foreigners. It was really the paradise.

Wow, no smart phones. Must've been nice!

Even when i first came over here some 14 years ago everybody wasn't fat like now. Overfed pigs everywhere.

There is a very informative discussion of check valves in well systems here:

http://terrylove.com/forums/index.php?threads/submersible-pumps-and-multiple-check-valves.26301/

I wonder if the non-return valve has a weak/no spring, it's been reported that some installers remove the spring completely to make it work "properly".

The added pressure in the pipe ensures the valve closes completely (which the spring should do).

When I had my well drilled and submersible pump installed, I saw the installers pounding and beating a small disk out of the top of the pump. I wondered what the hell they were doing and asked. They said they had to take it out. I thought at the time that maybe it was a protective cover of some sort, but wondered why such a thing would have to be violently beaten out. I did not realized until later that they had removed the check valve -- VERY BAD!

With the check valve gone, if the pump goes off, the water is draining back into the well spinning the impellers in reverse, then the pump comes back on, it could damage or destroy the pump as the impellers rapidly reverse direction.

I suspect they remove the check valve because with it, a very heavy column of water remains in the PVC pipe going down the well. They had no hist and lowered the pipe by hand, and would have to pull it back up by hand to remove it. Their solution: Take out the check valve. Another stupid Thai plumber trick.

I know now that there should actually be a check valve in the pump, another put in the column above the pump and still another no more than 25 feet above the static water line, and another every 200 feet. My well, however, is only 28 meters.

I put a check valve in at the well head, but there are only two kinds of check valves: Those that leak and those that will leak. Which I guess is better than nothing. BUT, I could be very wrong, because when there is a single check valve at the top, above ground, when the pump goes off, there is going to be negative pressure in the pipe going down the well. As the check valve leaks and the water column drops, the negative pressure is in an air column. If the pump comes on at this time, the pump is going to start spinning way to the right of the pump curve, and WHAM! I am going to get a giant water hammer. What I would like to do is wring the neck of the guy that took out my check valve, then slap him around a little. There is no question that the life of my pump was shortened.

As for the need for back pressure to avoid losing your prime, I can understand that. I had to take apart and clean the internal check valve on my Hitachi constant pressure house pump. It is NOT spring loaded and operates by water pressure alone holding it closed. So, with a well, I can see that if you simply cut power to the pump, the check valve would relax and the water would bleed out of the system. But one would think the foot valve would stop the back flow -- unless it is leaking (but they all probably leak a little). You could also try putting some more spring loaded check valves in the line.

Every province has a provincial health office that tests water. I do not know where it is in Petchabun, but you can find it if you ask around. Some universities will do it. Also, water filter specialty shops often offer water testing.

Be aware though that the test may be nearly worthless for many things in the water. A water sample is NOT static; it's dynamic, constantly changing. Things like calcium are fairly static. but iron, manganese and bacteria are not. I the West, you can get a water sample tested within fr hours of submission to the lab. Here, in my experience, it's two to four weeks. A lot can happen to a sample that sits on a shelf in a warm room.

Take my well. It is loaded with iron. If I pull a sample at the well head it is crystal clear. But as it comes from the pipe the water is oxidized. I can put the sample on a table in from of me and watch it turn orange right before my eyes. It is iron oxide (rust) precipitating out. Eventually it begins to settle to the bottom. Bottom line is that the iron content test done at the moment the sample was pulled will be substantially different from one done a week after the sample was taken. Ditto for manganese, except manganese is a much slower reaction.

I do not know as much about bacteria, but it seems intuitive that bacteria can multiply in warm water over time, giving a false reading, or it could die, also giving a false reading.

Despite the foregoing problems, I had to rely on a lab for the bacteria testing. They also tested for iron. I have a iron/manganse colorimeter. My tests showed much higher iron count than theirs, which took three weeks. I also did a series of tests on the same samples ovr time that show a decline in iron/manganese content as it precipitates out.

Thailand has a lot of water "experts" but trying to find one that understands anything at all about water chemistry would be like trying to find a blue elephant.

This problem has caused me not end of frustration over many months. I finally bought and imported tester which cost an arm and a leg. I hope you have better luck.

Thanks for all the replies, I have learned a lot more about wells and pumps.

Cured my problem very simply in the end: changed the electric float valve to a standard ball float valve and now it fills automatically.

Not happy with the ball valve type as it means the tank refills a little every time we draw water, the electric float would only top up the tank when it got three quarters empty, say one per day, less electricity and less wear and tear of the pump.

Dont understand why the pump only works with the ball valve, does anyone know if I need a different type of pump to be able to use the electric float, maybe a submersible pump, but the well is 30m deep.

I use an electric float switch to avoid the on/off problem you describe. It works fine, starting the pump when the water level in the tank falls to a predetermined level, then turning off when it fills to the predetermined "off" level (just before the ball float valve, which remains for safety).

I know this is probably a silly question, but are you sure you had the float switch wired correctly and that it was working? Might the float switch be defective? I mean a switch is a switch. A float switch will turn a pump on and off the same as any other switch. The type of pump should not make any difference at all. With every one of them you are turning and electric motor on and off.

Interesting they have been doing wells for 25 years and it's the first time they have ever used 6mm² cable and "never had a problem" so I think they think I am a bit foolish. To them 1.5mm² is light duty and 2.5mm²is heavy duty. But I hear you on the electrical side and will stick to the spec. I am especially glad they chose Franklin as it gave me the opportunity to learn in time from this thread about it thanks to all your help.

For placement costs, both sides of the control box will be 6mm² 3-wire cables: 3 out of the motor on one side and 3 from the panel on the other since the manual recommends a 10ms GFCI. The disadvantages of putting the box over the bore I see are:

1. An electrical box sticking up in the yard is not appealing to the landscaping

2. The reset button is far away (60M) which is more difficult for troubleshooting if it were to trip.

3. Prone to theft / kids tinkering.

4. Seems good quality, but assume it will still rust out in the long term.

So any reason to put it over the bore?

"Interesting they have been doing wells for 25 years and it's the first time they have ever used 6mm² cable and "never had a problem" so I think they think I am a bit foolish. To them 1.5mm² is light duty and 2.5mm²is heavy duty. "

It just strains the imagination, doesn't it? Yet I had the exact same experience here in Phitsanulok with very experienced driller/installer. It's a reason why I NEVER trust anything a Thai "expert" tells me without verification from a Western source. It's will sneak up on you and hit you over the head in the most unexpected situations.

The Franklin folks down in BKK are great. There is a very knowledgeable guy down there with whom I had a technical and detailed email conversation in English (Tanarat Rattanajanta (Tony)). If you want his email address, PM me, as we are not allowed to put email addresses on the forum.

I have a Franklin control and a "Cyclone" pump. Funny, the Cyclone pump had a "Made in USA" sticker on it, so I immediately figured it was a Chinese knockoff. I could not find the pump curve for his pump anywhere, and there was zero literature in the box. When I contacted Tanarat at Franklin, he informed me that the "Cyclone," also known as the "Tornado" was indeed a Chinese knockoff sold as a "local brand." Even so, he had the pump curve for the Cyclone/Tornado and provided it. I needed the pump curve to do all my irrigation calculations.

As I had already run the 90 meters of 3 x 2.5mm2 wire in buried conduit and did not want to dig it up and change it, I poured a small slab and built a lockable sheet metal shack to house the AVR and pump control. In making that decision, I considered the: (1) all the labor involved; and (2) the cost of 100 meters of three wire copper 10mm2 NYY and a conduit large enough to accommodate it (every expensive). Since adding the AVR at the well head, The pump control has never tripped. Nor has the 2.5mm2 wire been stressed enough by the total load of pump and voltage loss to trip the 20 amp breaker.

My well is way out back and out of sight. So the unsightly sheet metal shack is okay for me. Thais have told me that the pump control is a high theft item, so maybe best not to leave it in the open.

You say you have 190M from pump to panel (130+60). But there can be additional voltage drop you MUST consider from panel to pole. If you have a short run from panel to pole with a big cable, it may not be an issue. But I have seen many houses with a 200 meter run from pole to panel and a measly 4mm2 cable.

You need to consider it.

If the voltage to the motor drops below about 200V, the pump control will shut it off. There is voltage fluctuation throughout the day in many rural places. In the morning I have a good solid 220-230V at the panel, but in the evening when the whole village is sucking juice, it often drops to 216V or so. Another thing to consider when calculating what you have at the pump motor.

I ALWAYS do my own calculations. But I let down my guard ONE TIME when I had a well bored and 2hp submersible pump put in. I was also told 2.5mm for my 90M run from my (house water) pump and tank house to my 28M well. I also had another 30M of 2.5 wire from the pump house to the panel. I don't know what I was thinking or why I listened to the guy. But I did and I was screwed. Way too much voltage drop and I already had the 2.5 in conduit. I either had to dig it all up, tear it out and replace with with 10mm (I would have needed 10mm when the 30m additional underground run of 2.5 m wire to the panel is calculated in) or build another little pump house by the bore to house the pump control and AVR, which, is what I ended up doing.

So now I still have the voltage drop, which means that every time I run the pump, I pay for electricity that simply disappears, but everything works. Voltage drop = money loss. Since I only use it for irrigation, not a big deal. But if I used it for house water, it would be a big deal.

Good thing you heard the alarm bells My brain was out to lunch. Over 8 years and building a house here, I have learned to NEVER, NEVER, NEVER believe ANYTHING a Thai tells me without independent verification. That's not a criticism of Thais; it's just the way it is.

Thanks for the replies. I just found from the Stanley website about door hinges:

"Use two hinges on doors up to 5' (1.52m) and an additional hinge for each additional 2.5' (0.76m)."

What bugs me is that they add the 4th hinge after I already installed only 3, where the third hinge is centered between the top and bottom. The forth hinge is like 2" below the top one and looks obvious that it is a later addition. In my opinion it looks ugly. My wife said she is more concern about safety and is afraid that the heavy door will fall and hurt us. Should have looked better if the 4 hinges are equally spaced like in the picture of stoneyboy. But anyway I just stop thinking about it and move on.

A standard US door is 7 feet (2.1 meters). A standard Thai door is 2 meters. According to Stanley, then, three hinges is enough. I am not sure of the reason why, but Thais seem to think you need a ridiculous number of hinges. I have seen as many as seven or eight hinges on a single door. What the ----?

When I built my house, I went with the Western standard (as I did with everything), and used three (3) hinges per door, properly placed, as you describe. Oh sure, I caught a lot of grief from everybody (Thai), wife included, but I stood my ground. No problems at all. I can tell you this, the worst case scenario would be door sag of some kind (bad doors). No door is going to fall off and hurt anybody. With all due respect to your wife, that fear is nothing but typical Thai hysterical insanity that is unaccompanied by critical thinking. The irony of it is all the total acceptance of so many insanely dangerous practices all over (e.g., working on a 4 story scabbed together scaffold with no safety harness), and then worrying that a door will fall off. Go figure.

There is this. My doors are all glued (and quite heavy). Many (most?) Thai doors are assembled without glue and will sag over the years. Perhaps this is the reason for so many hinges. Or maybe a lot of hinges stops ghosts from coming through the door. Could be almost anything.

When building my house to Western code, every time my method clashed with the Thai method, I caught a lot of grief. I just told them it''s my house and I want you to to do it my way. I did all the wiring and plumbing personally. I've never found a Thai that could do it properly.

Edit: I just looked at the in-laws double front door. They are 80 cm doors with five hinges on each door, evenly spaced, 10 in all. Overkill.

Anthony5: Those bathroom floor tiles are inexpensive floor tiles my wife bought from the Dynasty Top Tile shop near her village. The tactile properties of that floor tile might not be the same as Cotto, RCI or Duragres Floor tiles. I'll soon have a VRH brushed stainless 304 grab bar installed in the shower for safety. Certainly not my choice of Weber tile grout colors. Thanks for your safety concern. Slips in the bathroom must rate high on expat injuries and fatal accidents.

Well, K-bob2, it seems to me that you and your wife got a lot of bang for your buck! Looks like a lot for 300K. Good job!

i'm not in charge of changing fused bulbs but to the best of my knowledge it does not take more than four people. let me know if you need details (age, gender, height, body weight, kind of ladders and tools used) and i will get them from the Mrs.

Aw c'mon - I'm guessing 1 to hold the bulb, 3 to turn the ladder, and you sit on it saying "whee" "whee".

Well, not to go too far off topic, but the answer to this important question depends on who's doing the job. For example, if lawyers were changing the light bulb, it would take all of them: One to hold the light bulb and all the rest to screw the world. In the case of chiropractors, it only takes one, but it will take 42 visits to get the job done. As for how many rats it takes to screw in a light bulb, the bigger question is, how did they get in there in the first place?

I am always amused by the folks on here that wish others ill fate. What a load of heart-heavy baggage to have to carry around, all the envy, hatred and bitterness. Man, I wouldn't want to be you; life is too short.

If you lighten up with the gloating about your obviously high-tech, high-dollar speeding fine eliminating, plate flipper, they probably won't post as much.

I hd never heard of a plate flipper until somebody wrote about it on the TV bike forum. I ended up buying two. The first one was inexpensive, from the US and operated by solenoid. No indicator of whether the plate was up or down. It worked, but was not very satisfying. So I bit the bullet and bought the nice onefrom the UK. Indicator lights, servo motors, very smooth. I really like this unit

The thing is, I learned about it because somebody took the time to share. Maybe you do not approve of a plate flipper, but somebody else might want one, and many things get shared. I got all the ants out of my house thanks to a post several years ago by a member named TongueThaied. I have both received and posted great tips. I share the plate flipper when I get a chance. If you want to know how to get rid of ALL of the ants in your house, I can share that, too. Perhaps you want some fresh kefir grains?

Frankly, I can't even imagine where your idea of "gloating" comes from. But from purely psychological point of view, I suppose people that envy imagine that the people they envy are gloating. Whatever.

Might as well throw this in, though it doesn't seem to be the problem here. Many people have recessed ceiling lighting (can lights). LED bulbs won't work in them, they will burn out early. First of all, most of them are not even supposed to be base up, and second they are never supposed to be base up in an enclosure. Too much heat for the electronics. CFL's will do better in this application, and incandescents will do best, but are expensive to operate.

There are some LED bulb made specially for use in base-up recessed ceiling lighting, but they are expensive and I have never seen them in this country.

As for cheap light bulbs. When I first came here, I was buying the cheap "promo" no-nmae CFL bulbs, thinking, "What's the difference?" The would burn out in a couple of months! When replaced with name brands like Panasonic, I never had one burn out again. I NEVER buy the cheap ones anymore. Sometime cheap can be very expensive.

Naam, I think if you put a "whole house" automatic voltage regulator (AVR) between the service and your CB panel(s), you will protect against over and under voltage as well as spikes. They launder dirty power, so you kill a lot of birds with one stone. At least this is my unprofessional understanding. Crossy? Is this 100% correct? Or are there exceptions? Do these things consume a lot of power themselves?

Finally, you need either need to turn off your air conditioners and open the windows, or buy some of those light bulbs rated for use in walk-in freezers. As mentioned above, on top of everything else, you have radical temperature extremes. Thai light bulb manufacturers never anticipated that their products would be used in an arctic environment.