jas007

I have a Thai bank account, but I never set it up to work for online banking and I don’t use an app. If I did, that would simplify things.

Does anyone know if it’s possible to pay a Pattaya electric bill in Bangkok using just the QR code on the bill? I may be out of town when the bill arrives in my condo mailbox, but my condo also e-mails a copy of the bill to me every month. So I’ll have the QR code, but that’s all. It seems simple, but I’ve never tried to pay the bill without the paper bil in hand.

Cataract surgery with only local anesthesia? I never knew that was possible. In the USA, I was under general anesthesia. Whatever they did during the operations was a mystery to me. I went in and the next thing I knew the operation was over. I think I’d rather have it that way than to try to lie still during an operation. That would probably drive me nuts. Anyway, I now have another problem. One of my IOLs is dislocated, so I’m going to have to schedule surgery to have that fixed. Supposedly, it’s a more difficult, longer operation, so I guess I’ll be finding out how they do it in Thailand. General anesthesia will probably make it more expensive, if that’s how they do it.

I’ve got BC/BS through OPM and last fall I emailed them for a guarantee of benefits letter prior to an outpatient appointment at Bumrungrad. The insurance company emailed the hospital a guarantee letter and sent me a copy of the correspondence within a day or two. I had to pay nothing at the hospital. Fast forward to 2024 and I went through the same process for a different appointment. After my 2024 email I received an automated response indicating that the case was being assigned to a claims specialist and that I should hear back with a few days. Then, nothing…. They never responded. I went to the appointment a few days later. After my appointment, I ended up just paying the bill. It was no big amount, though, so I really didn’t want to sit there waiting for the cashier to figure things out. I’ve got another appointment coming up, and we’ll see if there’s a different result this time. I’m not holding my breath. Fortunately, the cost is usually no big deal and I can always just submit the claims later, assuming I want to go through all the trouble. For what it’s worth, BC/BS also has a phone number listed for the overseas claims office, supposedly for people who need an immediate response. I haven’t tried that yet. Maybe that actually works.

It depends on how you’re going to use them and where. Clearly, the HomePods or the HomePod Minis will be better than the speakers in your laptop or the speakers in your TV. On the other hand, you can probably get better sound with some real audio equipment at a somewhat higher price point so long as you have the space. For my TV and music listening, I have some KEF LSX II speakers. They sound way better than a pair of HomePods would sound. But they also cost a lot more.

Somewhere online, I saw a post about a steak bowl at a Chipotle restaurant in California. It was around $39, if I remember correctly. Granted, that’s less than I would usually spend at a Mexican restaurant for lunch and a beer or two. I guess the restaurant meal still seems like a better deal. The last time I was in a Chipotle, back in 2023, a steak burrito was around $10.

I shouldn’t have made such a sweeping generalization. Yes, you can find cheap houses almost anywhere outside of California. Real pieces of junk. and they don’t cost much until you factor in the cost of making them livable. And that’s the problem. If you can do the work yourself, you can save some money, but the costs will still add up.

Update: The speaker arrived and it sounds ok. It took me a while to get it set up, and I still have some adjustments to make, but I guess I’ll figure it out.

I had a similar problem, once upon a time. Two or three times, actually. Once I had to pay for the cleanup, the other two times the city picked up the tab because trees were blocking the road after they fell down. I’m not sure if the damage was caused by a tornado, but whatever it was must have been pretty strong. Some pics.

America would be starving, but for the California farms and its agricultural sector. And those farms depend largely on transient, mostly illegal labor. It has been that way for years. And today, it’s not just farm labor. Construction, restaurants, manufacturing…. all profit from low cost imported labor. Anyway, I think most people don’t have a problem with people who want to work. Most citizens don’t want that kind of work, in any event. On the other hand, the country can’t really afford millions of new people on welfare. As Milton Friedman put it, “you can have open borders, or you can have a welfare state, but you can’t have both.”

I’ve never heard them side by side, but I used to have the original version of the HomePod that I bought on sale at Best Buy. I think it was $199. It was ok. Anyway, I ordered one of the new HomePods, so I’ll be able to try it out in a few days. If it’s any good, I might get another one for stereo to use on my desktop.

Update: I looked it up. They warn of various dangers of rapid weigh loss, such as nutritional deficiencies, dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, lack of adequate fiber, muscle loss, and so on. Some of this is just common sense. In any event, a person can take precautions. The doctors who advocate for a carnivore diet explain that you need to have adequate water intake, add electrolytes, and perhaps vitamins. Red meat itself is an excellent food source. Over a period of a few weeks, the body adjusts.

I wasn’t even trying to lose weight. It just happened when I altered my diet. Anyway, according to the doctors, everything was fine. As for quick weight loss being “dangerous “? I wonder why? I’ll have to do some research. The only problem I saw was that continuing with a carnivore diet might be difficult for most people. You almost have to cook all your own food and forget about eating in restaurants. And if you look at the junk they sell in the typical grocery store, there isn’t much to eat from there, either.

Many people simply don’t realize how easy it is to lose weight with a proper diet. I found this out my accident, so to speak. Last fall I decided to try a carnivore diet. About the same time, I read about the benefits of intermittent fasting, so I experimented with a three day water fast now and then. Anyway, once you cut out alcohol, fructose, sugar, carbohydrates, bread and other grains, processed and ultra processed food, your body burns up all available sugars and then goes through a process where you start to burn stored fat. By that point, the sugar cravings subside. You never feel all that hungry. You’re using mostly protein for energy. After about six weeks of that routine, I went to the doctor for some blood work. My weight was down to 74 kilos (from about 85) and my blood pressure was 118/68 with no meds. My cholesterol readings were optimal with no meds. For reference, I’m 5’10”. More recently, the scale said 70 kilos. That’s about what I weighed in my 20s, so I can’t complain. I’m now 72.

The Apple Thailand website is now listing as available the Apple HomePod 2. It’s a streaming speaker and also acts as a Siri assistant. In combination with an Apple TV box, it can integrate with Apple HomeKit and become one of your music speakers. They can also be paired for stereo. There are no wired inputs available. It uses your Wi-Fi or Apple play to play music from an Apple device.

Retirees? I don’t know about anyone else, but I don’t really think of myself as “retired,” even though I retired almost 18 years ago when I was 55. So I’m just myself, doing whatever I feel like doing. That’s pretty much the story of my life. I can’t say that I’ve changed much, other than the fact that I usually don’t stay out till 3AM on a regular basis. I could manage that in my 20s. Anyway, I figure the quickest way to become “old” is to start acting that way.

Thanks. That makes it simple.

Does anyone know what happens when you rent two condos at the same time? A condo in Pattaya and a condo in Bangkok, for example? Do you have two addresses on file with immigration? Or just one with the other being superfluous?

Let’s say that most of the available men have already been eliminated. Apparently, Ukraine would like to get their hands on those that aren’t in the country any more, but how that’s going, I’m not sure.

Just the other day I watched a few YouTube videos about Albania. It looked interesting. I wonder, though, about the future of Europe. Even if things are OK now, that can change. Actually, there are probably other places in Eastern Europe that would work for retirement. Or South America. Here in SE Asia, we’re somewhat insulated from Europe, the West, and all their problems. For example, I haven’t noticed a lot of crazy inflation over the two years I’ve been back, and there certainly aren’t gangs of hooligan immigrants roaming the streets.

Cheaper than Bangkok???? I can’t imagine. Sure, a person can pay a lot for a place in Bangkok, but to say that it’s cheaper in California is silly. To be sure, real estate in Bangkok will never be “equivalent” to real estate in Thailand. For example, the typical condo in Bangkok is smaller than the typical condo in Bangkok. Or the places in California will likely have bigger kitchens. Also, I’m pretty sure the real estate taxes and insurance are much more costly in California. I used to live in the San Diego area. Today, I’m sure I’m better off without having to worry about all the traffic and the insane cost of living there.

They’ll wait until the last moment, but they’ll come up with a fix. Of course, the country may have other problems long before then. Millions of arrivals across the southern border and the costs associated with that problem. A financial system on the verge of implosion. Inflation. Wars around the world. We’ll be lucky if the only problem is less Social Security money. Maybe they’ll do something soon? Lots of people live only on their Social Security, and at this point can’t even afford to retire, given the high cost of everything, especially food.

The original story is pure BS. Fake News. Then again, I suppose some delusional people might actually believe it. Ukraine is out of men. Most have already been killed. A victory for Ukraine is no longer possible. They’ll be lucky to achieve anything but an unconditional surrender. As for Russia, they’re taking their time. A war of attrition, as they say. They’re now in war mode and have an Army of almost a million men. Neither Ukraine nor NATO could succeed in a ground war. The US certainly doesn’t have that type of military at this point, and NATO members could field only a small number of troops. And you don’t do that overnight.

That pretty much sums up the civilized world at this point. We’re all connected. Without international trade and the flow of money, what then? Imagine someone pulls the plug on all the ATM machines. Imagine there are no more fuel deliveries. Imagine if the electricity doesn’t work. I imagine if people can’t get the medication they need. The typical big city has a three day supply of food. Then what? All because some defense contractors want to sell some more jet airplanes that don’t work most of the time?

I’ll admit, I don’t know much about New Zealand. I once worked with a woman who grew up there. She didn’t like it. But that was years ago. Anyway, the general idea is to find a place where the prevailing winds won’t carry radiation.