RocketDog

Maybe it will ease your mind to relate my brother's(76yo) recent USA transvalvular catheter replacement of his stenotic aortic valve, followed two weeks later by a catheter placement of clips on the prolapsing AV valve. Tye surgeon thought a porcine tissue valve wouod be needed but found clips added to native leaflets stiffened them enough to avoid gross prolapse. So far, so good, 2 months post-op. Both done under sedation, fully conscious procedure. Both fully successful with immediate relief of symptoms. For reference he is obese, diabetic, on pressure meds. These transvalvilar catheter procedures are relatively recent procedures but wildly successful and gaining popularity. Good luck to you. Think positive.

As an electrical design engineer playing with carbon-zinc batteries since the days of vacuum tube radios, I have followed battery technology avidly for 5 decades. Over that time I have read about so many 'breakthroughs' in battery technology that simply never reached store shelves. The ones that did, such as nickel-cadmium and metal hydride have been disappointing. Note that lead-acid still dominates for cost effective batteries. Lithium is a great improvement and I was an early adopter, especially lithium iron phosphate cells LiFePO4 in application designs. But these still have a cycle life if 300-500 charge-discharge cycles. Indeed, the solar yard lights that use Li cells only last about one year. So....... forgive me if I take such announcements with a pound of salt. As you say, "let's see".

Agree all. When I mentioned coulomb counting I added that the energy capacity of the battery declines over time, and is thus another variable. Also the coulombs that the battery holds when 'fully charged', is not a constant. Standard methods such as measuring the voltage if a 'fully charged' battery are actually very poor at predicting energy stored., A gas tank always holds the same amount, when full, throughout the life of the vehicle. And of course you don't have to replace the gas tank every few years for thousands of $. ????

Of course you are correct. I think Yellowtail was being facetious.

You put your finger on it. That fact, together with 'range anxiety' are the principal concerns. It's well known that weather extremes of heat or cold significantly affect vehicle range. Unlike ICE gas tank gauges, the best way to monitor battery capacity is 'coulomb counting'. It cannot be as accurate as a tank gauge at range estimation because of variables like ambient temperature and declining full charge energy. EV sales are flat in America and many are dubious of them and put off by high prices. Personally, at my age I hope I never have to buy one. They have zero appeal for me.

OK. You win. Are we done now?

I read the forums at times because facts, not opinions, are posted. Specifically about practical matters like home repairs, cars, building, electrical, etc. You are welcome to ignore such, but they exist. BTW, I don't want or expect anything from you.

Thanks for your opinion. That's all there is on these forums. And like noses, everybody has one.

I missed it. Did anybody mention ovaltine for health benefits? It's just another warm comfort drink as far as I know.

Ah. You mean a politician.????

Ah, but the construction was not sub-standard because of lack of money spent. It was sub-standard because...... well, nevermind. We all know why.

Blasphemer!

Words are cheap. It's actions that count. ????

I gave up caffeine in graduate school when I realized I was so jazzed up I went in circles all day. Never had the feeling it was OK to hype my nervous system synapses that way. Admittedly there is a debate that is not conclusive but it seems that moderate caffeine can be helpful it seems. Now I'm do sensitive to caffeine I avoid it in all forms, including energy drinks. It isn't really energy anyway except for the sugar. Caffeine simply enhances the transition of nerve impulses across nerve synapses, but decreases the natural production of epinephrine so that one becomes dependent on it for several days. That passes quickly, if uncomfortably, in a few days. Still, I drank decaf for several decades until I came here 6 years ago. Being unable to easily find decaf and the ridiculous prices charged for it when I could, I started drinking ovaltine. That has worked fine for me. However, lately there are reports that researchers are implicating the chemicals (such as MEK) used to decaffeinate coffee in neurological issues. Easy to search so I won't give a link. I'm suggesting that you just make a clean break and habituate to something more readily available and less controversial. There is no hard evidence that caffeine is truly harmful. Of course there is mounting evidence that claims ANY amount of alcohol is harmful, but I'm hardly going to give up my small Leo every night. Just a thought. To each his own, and nobody lives forever. Plenty of compelling evidence for that claim ! ????

The title is click bait. Surely everybody knows that it is impossible to be shocked by a 12v battery. I always laugh at the movies where the bad guys torture the hero with a car battery and jumper cables. ????

Agreed. OR: the poster is so far from being correct that I want to believe he's simply confused.

If he is that short-sighted he has a rough road ahead of him in the Kingdom. Makes me wonder if he is making a similarly blind move with his pending marriage. I'm not sure about truth setting one free but know for sure ignorance can make life rough.

Did you contact SCB and gain any new info? I'm finding it hard to believe they allow no other access than their stinkin phone app. I resent that kind of aggressive coercion from such service providers. I have been happy with BBL for the last six years and have three accounts there, including one just for visa purposes. They push their phone app too, but I declined. Thanks

Good for you. I agree. I have a mobilephone but refuse to put banking apps on it. Just an invitation to fraud if I lose my phone. I do most of my banking on a laptop at home,with Bangkok Bank. I have an SCB account too but may well just move the money and close the account. This was a mistake on their part IMO.

Thanks. I too am a fan of the Thai space program. I look forward to the planned landing on the Sun.

Thanks, but no thanks. I got out of the martyr business after being hung on a cross a few times in my younger days. I don't care as much about helping strangers now as I do keeping myself out of conflict in a foreign country. Leaving negative reviews on hotels here is as foolish as getting involved on brawls between Thai nationals. There is no clear benefit to myself or the strangers in such idealistic pursuits. When was the last time anybody heeded the advice given them by friends or parents, much less some idiot on social media? I quit trying to save the world a few years ago when I realized that we can never save us from ourselves, and really don't deserve to be saved anyway.

Very true. And several machinists who work Teflon claim that the resultant vapors make them nauseous if they smoke cigarettes immediately after working with it.

I use Bangkok Bank for the fixed account. Of course I don't know about others.

OK. So wiki agrees with one of the sources I quoted. And......

You meant that Thais sell defective junk made by non-Thai companies, mostly in China. The warranty issue is a failure of Thai companies to enforce the manufacturers' warranty. It behooves them to wear you down until you give up and just buy a new product. Win-win for the producer and the seller, loss for the buyer. It's ironic that consumer spending is the major driving force in economies now, yet consumers are at the bottom of the ladder in respect. S**t flows downhill. Many international brand products like Dewalt, Bosch, etc are assembled in Thailand, so obviously workmanship issues arise there. And, as others have said, the quality of design and robustness of the design have declined seriously in the past few decades. My experience these days is that if something lasts for two years you're doing good. These things are made to fail early but cost less. Consumers affirmed these decisions by purchasing these products. We've made the tradeoff of quality for lower prices. The manufacturers simply accommodated our desires. We are complicit in this race to the bottom. In the new world of inflationary economies based entirely on fiat currency, product prices can remain low only by decreasing quality commensurately. Be careful what you wish for...... You may get it.