Lacessit

True enough, I did think it was a somewhat unhygienic procedure. TBH, I have yet to find a frozen food that tastes as good as the corresponding fresh. Unless you buy frozen eye fillet, and fresh oysterblade.

Another option is to hire a retired nurse as a full-time live-in carer, I understand 10K - 15K baht/month is the going rate.

I take it the spelling mistake was not actually that.

IME the freezer I bought many years ago was not all that useful. When one buys in bulk, the purchase also has to usually be thawed in bulk as well, then the rush is on to get it eaten before it spoils. Boring to be eating the same food three times in a row. Shopping daily for fresh food gets me out of the condo, I would rather do that than worry about saving a few baht. I suspect by the time the capital cost and running costs are combined, it takes quite a while to break even.

It's about 25 years since I was there, so presumably Tokyo has grown since then. I traveled on the Shinkazen from Osaka to Tokyo. What amazed me was the Japanese men openly reading extremely graphic manga on the train, with women sitting nearby.

Renting in Bangkok would be infinitely preferable to owning, not that I would ever want to live there. The earth is warming, icecaps are melting, seas are rising. Bangkok is one metre above sea level, there's not much wiggle room.

I pay 520 baht for 30X5 mg Firide tablets at a Fascino pharmacy in Chiang Rai. it always puzzles me why prices of a standard pharmaceutical vary so wildly in Thailand. I buy Codiphen in Chiang Mai, 50 baht. In Chiang Rai, it's 130 baht.

I'm sure there are some wonderful sights there. However, when there is a maniac in charge who would probably relish the opportunity to take Western hostages, I'd suggest best to put your plans on hold until he is gone.

So you're paying 1,656 baht/year, my son on the current exchange rate is paying 84,342 baht/year. <deleted> me.

Quite obvious your GF is extremely controlling, stick with BMT's advice.

Insurance companies are notoriously hard-headed about risk, they have to be. Or go broke. When I asked another poster to explain the terms albedo and clathrates without resorting to Google, dead silence. Probably went straight through to the wicketkeeper. Contrary to social media conspiracy theory, scientists are usually quite conservative when it comes to modelling. That's who the insurance companies are listening to. What most scientists are concerned about is the occurrence of a black swan event. Such as could happen with an unexpected permafrost melt. In that event, it's very possible the effect of climate change could be way underestimated. Pro tip: Rent in Bangkok, don't buy. It's only 1 metre above sea level.

True enough, Russia is not on my bucket list. Come to think of it, is it on anyone's?

There are oodles of exercise videos for seniors on YouTube. I bought a couple of 1.5 kg dumbbells for use with two videos I exercise with morning and afternoon. I am 79 yo. My BP is 110/65, my resting pulse rate is 55 bpm. Close to athlete level for my age. IMO personal trainers, gyms etc. are unnecessary props. Only you can supply the motivation.

Thankfully, I don't have any serious allergies. I knew a health inspector in Western Australia who became extremely sensitized to all forms of crustaceans. He only had to be downwind of a processing shed for his face to swell up like a balloon.

IIRC, you've said your house is being paid off on a bank loan. Does the Thai bank require you to have house insurance?

It sounds very similar to my son's area, $1300 is very cheap. His latest premium is $3500. How big is your block of land, and who are you insured with?

I've never really been able to get my head around reality TV shows such as Married at First Sight, The Bachelor, Big Brother, MasterChef etc. Why people would consciously choose to publicly humiliate themselves is beyond my comprehension. A former GF of mine doted on them, I would read a book.

Point taken, I was thinking more about new builds. However, that would require people with sufficient cash to avoid the necessity of borrowing. What about house owners who have paid off their properties? They are not going to just walk away from where they live, they would either accept the risk of being wiped out, or shore up their defences. Come to think of it, do Thais insure their houses?

Agree, I am attempting to remove sucrose from my diet and the damned stuff is in almost everything that has a package,

n You mean the women get to compare the contestants' todgers? I live a sheltered life.

It takes 30 minutes to get across greater Tokyo by train. In a car, which has a lifespan of two years due to strict environmental regulations, it takes 4-6 hours. The Japanese culture of extreme politeness arises from being forced to live cheek by jowl. Without it, there would be mass slaughter. I've been on one of those trains, I probably got more room because I was a foreigner. Definitely not recommended for anyone who is claustrophobic. I wonder what a Japanese would make of the London Tube, not as crowded with people, but a new olfactory sensation for anyone not a Brit.

Not really, the torque converter type gearbox has been around for decades, and has been developed to nearly bullet-proof. More expensive to replace, bu that's a different question.

I can see the genesis of a new talent show in your post, I even have the name. "Crown jewels".

Blond heifers with thighs like tree trunks and body odor emanating from their preference for raw herring and chopped onion. No thanks. Most guys would take co-operation over opinions any day of the week. I suppose they would not be loud if one kept their mouths full.

My guess is flood and bushfire-prone areas will be declared build at your own risk. While my son is still paying house insurance, he also has pumps, sprays and enough water supply to fight a bush fire by blanketing the whole house in water mist. There will always be people who accept the risk, just as there are many retirees here who self-fund their medical and hospital bills. Life in Oz is not interesting for me, it's why I am here. It may be for some who get a masochistic pleasure out of listing all their bowel motions for the Centrelink feminazis. I doubt the Oz dollar will become worthless, we've always been pretty good at digging stuff up out of the ground. For example, Australia produces twice as much lithium for omnipresent batteries than the next biggest exporter. If we could just get rid of the corrupt coal-humpers in Canberra, we could also become the world's largest exporter of renewable energy. We certainly get enough sunshine. I'm wondering what will happen to the GBP, because the UK's principal export appears to be people with snotty attitudes.