In the jungle

3 hours ago, Gsxrnz said:

WordPerfect wasn't a bad little word processing program actually.  I learned my first spread sheeting using Suercalc on a 14" green screen with no mouse, a 386 with 640k and 20M of memory. That was when you had to actually know math to write the equations - I was counting open/close brackets in my sleep.

 

I asked the predecessor of the IT specialist (known as The Computer Guy) if he could upgrade it to 1M of RAM - he asked me what the hell I was gonna do with a Super Computer.  When I told him it was because Larry the Lounge Lizard was playing a bit slow, he saw my reasoning.

I worked in programming in the late 1970s in Burroughs Algol.  The programs were entered using punch cards and debugging of programs was done in multiple 24 hour cycles.  A hard disk drive (multiple disks) was about the size of a washing machine.  1MB of RAM was cutting edge stuff.

The headline figures are not real.

Because the system does not work you have:

Multiple applications by the same person

Multiple acknowledgements and approvals to the same person.

It works the same way with call centres.  If they are understaffed they will say they have 100,000 callers a day.  But actually they have 10,000 callers a day calling, on average, ten times to get a response.

My guess is nobody knows the actual number of people approved under this process.

2 hours ago, Rookiescot said:

Nice that you guys will be able to watch the England Scotland game.

I however will mostly be watching it from behind the sofa. 

I admire your gallows humour.

Why is the yoke of a CP egg the same colour as a high-vis jacket?

19 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

They weren't exactly banned in 2002 in fact the 500 cc two-stroke or 990 cc four-stroke bikes were specified to race in MotoGP.

 

 

Your memory of the detail is better than mine.  What I should have said was that two strokes were rendered uncompetitive by a rules change.

I think a two stroke 500 won one race in the season where they competed against the 990cc four strokes.  But on most circuits that season the four strokes just romped away in a straight line.

1 hour ago, Kwasaki said:

If you want power why mess with silly little 2 strokes engines with wam bam stupid little surge of speed power when you can have a full on continuous power from a 4 stroke.

Don't you think motogp would be racing 2 stokes if they were better than 4 stoke.

2 strokes don't race in MotoGP because they are banned.  Manufacturers switched to 4 strokes because they were compelled to.

That said I accept that a 4 stroke is a better choice than a high performance 2 stroke for road use.

13 hours ago, bluesofa said:

Was the successful bid by a Vietnamese restaurant owner?

I don't think they pay 17,000 Baht per cat.

8 minutes ago, Frycook said:

Well I was there when we bought it, and I think it was 3 year payment plan.  it was 90000 or 100000 baht cash price before interests.

It wasn't a crash it was something in the engine.

 

It's just a month's payment she'll miss, I just can't see the reason why they wouldn't let her pay extra the next two months, since it'll be more expensive for them to reprocess it.

 

It's a relatively expensive bike, since the smaller normal scooters with the 125 cc engines was for sale at about 20000 baht

Last time I looked Honda warranty was three years or 100K whichever comes sooner.  Given the bike is on 3 year finance why aren't Honda picking up the repair bill?

125cc Hondas start at about 55K new.

7 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

Simple solution....you will not do extension based on marriage. Also will not use money in bank retirement. That leaves you with extension retirement based on monthly income. If that's also a no no then I guess pack the bags for Europe.

Yes.  Income is not an issue.  My wife and I have enough of that but then you are into a whole new world of Thai BS paperwork.

I explained way back in this thread what I am going to do and the reasoning so no point in you offering your 'solutions'.

1 minute ago, DrJack54 said:

Not obvious to me. Funds held in banks in my country Oz obtain 0.25% currently. Not a lot loss of opportunity cost in that.

Anyway enjoy your application for extension based on marriage. 

I specifically said I would not do an application for extension based on marriage above.

And security of the banks, transferability and exchange rates are significant issues to me.  More so than interest rates.

Interest on bikes in Thailand is insanely expensive but even so 3450 a month is nuts for a PCX150.  That's a one on every street corner cheap bike.  Ask her for more detail on the exact terms of the deal.

And 6000 for a repair bill.  What the hell accounted for that.  A major engine blow up might explain it but highly unlikely on what must be a fairly new bike given that it is financed.  A fairly big crash could explain it.  Maybe a shop that ripped her off?

I think you need to ask your GF some very specific questions.  And certainly don't throw money at this situation.  You would get more satisfaction burning it. 

9 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

You sort of have a point but not really. With the 800k in your Thai bank there is no need to show immigration those funds are in bank after issue of your annual extension. (apart from rogue imm offices such as Jomtien).

If you decide to leave permanently then just run the funds out. 

Also there are ways to transfer funds out of Thailand.

I would rather those funds remain in Europe.  For obvious reasons.

As I said earlier, I am content to accept whatever decision Thai immigration make based on my circumstances.  But for me enough of their BS paperwork and every shifting policies (if they even merit the description policy).

5 minutes ago, DrJack54 said:

You can make life difficult or easy. 

Stick 800k in a dedicated bank a/c and do retirement extensions. Problems gone.

 

I know that is easy but I will not do that because it is much harder to take the money out than it is to bring it in.

I don't see my long term future in Thailand.  Within the next few years I plan on leaving for Europe.  

45 minutes ago, alyx said:

My dog is a French native and I am French: 2 votes ?

Well if it's a French dog then maybe I should Big C croissants a try ????

Anyone know which Thai supermarket was born out of the wreckage of Carrefour's venture here? 

3 hours ago, ChrisKC said:

I have been buying non-butter croissants from Big C for a few years now. I am very happy with them. (In fact, I don't like the butter ones much anyway.

 

it makes little difference to me as I have French raspberry jam or English marmalade on them either plain or toasted.

 

Just a tip: I buy them fresh, put them in the freezer and take two or three out as required and they seem to lose nothing in taste or texture.

 

My wife and my little dog love them, too!

The dog likes Big C croissants doesn't rate as a great recommendation.

If you want to identify a good croissant it's really simple.  Ask the French!

I live near Chumphon and honestly things are not much different to pre Covid times.

Facemasks are worn but not universally, temp checks and sanitiser.  Other than that things are fairly normal.

I use an Arai full face helmet which I bought abroad.  Cost about 25K.