jas007

Well, if you chose to equate being a man to taking lots of risk, I guess that's your choice. Some people evaluate risk and act accordingly.

Cowardice? More like smart. Different activities have different levels of risk, and at some point, you enter the stupid zone. Sometime look up the danger of riding a motorcycle in Thailand.

You realize that you're missing the point, right? There are no do overs if you have an accident. Yes, there is risk, but it's a risk I don't have to take.

Are you kidding? You can ride safely and still be killed. Just yesterday, I took a walk to go to the grocery store. On the way, I was almost run over by some idiot on a motorcycle driving down the wrong side of the road because he didn't like the traffic jam. He. must have been going 3X the speed limit. One the way back home, I saw an accident between a motorcycle and a car at a busy intersection. The guy on the motorcycle was just being careful and delivering water for 7-11. The guy in the car? Some kid in a SUV. It's a good thing the accident was at the intersection. Otherwise, the guy on the motorcycle would be dead. All that occurred in a timespan of 20 minutes. Do you know anyone who has ever had a head injury? One second you're cool, the next second you're not. One of my friends has a girlfriend who fell in the driveway of her own house and hit her head. She wasn't driving anything. Anyway, she spent the next month in the intensive care unit. The bill for that was almost one million USD. After that, she was moved into the regular hospital unit for a few weeks and then finally released to go home. Two years later, she's still in bed. I've thought about buying a scooter. I've thought about buying a car. I've ruled out the scooter, but someday I might buy a car if I move somewhere that I need one. They don't cost much and they're safer. Some of the electric cars look interesting.

Please. There's a difference between being "unable" to ride a scooter or bicycle and being unwilling to risk one's life.

You have to be careful. When I was working (almost 20 years ago), dictation software was in its infancy. You could try to use it, but you might end up with gibberish. Anyway, I never had to type anything unless I wanted to. I had a dictation machine and so I used that. Pop a tape in the machine, pick up the microphone, and start talking. The microphone itself had a pause button. Someone else did the typing. Fast forward a few years and more people were trying to use the dictation function built into the world processor. And some people weren't very careful at all about proofreading the product that was produced. Halfway through their letter or document, there might be entire sentences of nonsense. They dictated one thing, the computer typed something else.

I like your optimism about the dollar. You never know. They say that for various reasons we're about to witness a worldwide dollar shortage that could launch the dollar into the stratosphere. Before it crashes. I think we're a few years out from a major crash, though. As for people leaving America because of Trump? Not many of the nutcases will do that just for political reasons. You'd be surprised. Even so-called smart people don't really know anything about Thailand. Their idea of escape is Mexico. Maybe Panama. And they'd be doing that for economic reasons, although even Mexico is now wising up and they've raised the requirements for a permanent residence visa.

Looks like a convenient location, in terms of its proximity to stores and restaurants. There are some reviews on Google Maps. It might be a decent place to rent a condo. I'm not really familiar with the neighborhood, though.

Don't forget autocorrect. You think you typed one thing, and something else again ended up in the post. Unless you go back and check the post before posting, it might have all sorts of nonsense.

I tried that place last time I shopped there. Not bad at all, and I didn't think it was too expensive. They've totally rearranged that store, in case anyone doesn't know. Be prepared to spend some time getting used to the new layout.

Thais or no Thais, there is a certain amount of money that is no doubt required to properly maintain a property. And I'm sure there are honest and dependable management companies.

Can someone explain how it makes any sense for someone to spend money on a condo and then vote for condo fees so low that the building falls into disrepair? It doesn't take long to get to that state.

Political life and death? One thing is for sure. The country is about to see some massive disruptions. Government workers losing their jobs. Mass deportations. It probably needs to happen, though. The status quo was not sustainable. It's better to make some changes sooner, rather than later.

Do away with hate speech? That's just an underhanded way to say they want to do away with free speech. There are already laws on the books to control certain kinds of speech.

What bothers me somewhat is that we still don't know where Bitcoin came from. Who really created it? Why?

The reality is this: for all practical purposes, the voters had two choices. Harris or Trump. And the voters had four years to see exactly what the Dems and the Deep State were capable of. Four years the Dems can't run away from. Trying to do away with free speech. Limiting the 2nd Amendment. Weaponizing law enforcement and the judicial system. Destroying the middle class with inflation. I could go on all day. Fortunately, the voters still have a choice and they said enough of that nonsense. So, for many, Trump didn't have to convince anyone of anything. All he had to do was be anyone except Harris.

My point was that everyone who actually accomplished moving out of the country is lucky. Most people have too many complications.

Moving abroad is not so simple, really. Easy to sit around and think about it, and yet it's something else again to actually do it. Selling real estate, selling cars, selling all your "junk." Maintaining a storage POD if there are things you want to keep. Bank account issues. Taxation issues. Medical considerations for some people.

A few years back I was looking into moving to Europe somewhere. Then I started looking into the various tax laws and I sort of stopped thinking about it. And at this time, much of Europe looks like a mess, at least in some of the big cities. Maybe they'll clean up the mess sooner, rather than later?

My implication was that I'd buy more after an extreme pullback, but at the same time, my gut feeling would remain. Sometimes, you just have to say WTF. And yes, I do understand blockchain and Bitcoin. We'll see about the Fed. Can Trump do that?

If you want to see a nice chart., take a look at PLTR. Commercial customers are piling in and the military will be adopting AI throughout. It's just the beginning. Well spent money for the government and a leg up businesses using the software in a challenging economic climate.

My gut feeling tells me it's worthless. I have some, though, but I bought it along with some other cryptos years ago. Would I buy some now? No. Maybe on an extreme pullback.

Can you do wi-fi calling? Or some sort of messaging?

If there are no banking apps or other financial apps on the phone, then you need to shut down your Apple ID as a next step. If they can somehow access that, you might have trouble. Otherwise, you can only lose your phone. In the grand scheme of things, no big deal. Make sure the phone isn't with you. One time, I thought I lost my Apple Watch. So I marked it s lost. I was going all over Pattaya and it was with me all the time. I finally figured that out the next day when I found it in my pocket. Long story.

Assuming, arguendo, that Trump's tariffs will cost the consumer. Have you considered the alternative?