Lacessit

Crazy like a fox. A cashed-up stud like you with a big todger is their dream. After the introduction to mum, next step would be having your baby.

A rather cynical view, but I suppose you are entitled to it. Mother-daughter hostilities have been around since Adam was a pup, and you're assuming the mother is the one at fault. Permit me to doubt the assets she has are the result of 2 or 3 broken hearts, perhaps I should have said she is no oil painting. I'm inclined to the view she is simply a hard worker. Many Thai women are. It's a long time since I have been in a bar, maybe 8 years. IIRC, the standard questions I got then centered around lady drinks, and if I would pay a barfine. The questions I posted get asked even now by massage women, restaurant waitresses and hospital nurses, and it's not because I am hansum man.

I'd suggest if - and it's a big IF - the s##t does hit the fan, many pensioners will be minimizing what the government can get its hands on. I know I will be. As Kerry Packer once famously said, anyone who doesn't minimize their tax needs their head read, because you guys don't spend it so well we should just give it to you.

Your tolerance of the Ku Klux Klan is noted.

If I was a Thai woman, I'd be looking for a farang to take care of me too. Because once they get to their forties, fifties and sixties, the future is pretty bleak. Some Thai women are abandoned by their husbands or partners because they are no longer beautiful, or they have a child/children the Thai male does not want to support. Presumably there are Thai men who remain in a marriage, even if they play around, which I understand is quite common. Mia nois and giks. Having said that, I am astounded by the number of quite attractive Thai women I meet that are single, and not by their choice. It's a contract of mutual support. I can expect to be looked after when I am messing my diapers, in return for the money I provide. A case in point is my regular Thai massage lady. 60 yo, hard worker. When she was 30 yo, her husband told her she was no longer beautiful, and split. Her daughter hasn't spoken to her for years. She's actually better off than many rural Thais, owns her own house, car, and scooter. However, if she stops working, she will only be getting the government handout of 500 or 600 baht/month, which is a sick joke. Standard questions I get from just about every middle-aged Thai woman are "Where are you from?" Second question invariably is " Do you have a Thai GF?" Quite sad, really.

You're not mistaken. However, you were saying they are just letters. It's when they are used by dictators and groups with an agenda that they are no longer just letters. They become symbols as well.

I am heavily into gold and silver, too many governments printing money.

Quite correct, but how is the ATO going to know what you have invested in? Only if you tell them in a tax return lodged with them. The ATO is connected with Centrelink, and if they start taxing the OAP, I simply won't put in a tax return the next time around. Plenty of people doing that already.

I'm not sure, but the ATO may have the power to issue garnishee orders. The Family Court and Centrelink certainly do.

LOL, who cares anyway? Anyone with two brain cells would not be deriving most of their income from bank deposits. Last FY, I earned $70 in bank interest. The ATO is welcome to 32.5% of that.

Maybe you can't. However, the ATO can call it an offense if they choose to, and I guess they are the ones with the power of definition.

In my case, they asked for proof afterwards. They have not done so in previous years. I don't know if they are taking on the authority of the ATO to ask for proof because they wish to, or if it is with the ATO's blessing. The form states there are penalties for making false statements, so I guess every person who has not lived in Australia for years is subject to those penalties if the ATO chooses to go down that path.

There's no debate about it, either it will happen or it won't.

Not when it is painted on the side or front of every tank and truck invading Ukraine. BLM is just letters too, but they certainly get the white supremacists stirred up. KKK are only letters? Tell that the blacks that got lynched.

You may be asked by ANZ to establish your residency with evidence. My credit union has. This is what confuses most, tax residency is not necessarily the same as physical residency.

With dignity, in my sleep, or quickly with a heart attack. Tyrion Lannister. "In my own bed, at the age of 80, with a bellyful of wine, and a girl's mouth around my cock." I should imagine dying from lung cancer would be one of the slower and more painful ways to exit.

Not really. Chiang Rai is preferable to me as it is not as hot as Chiang Mai on average. I actually have to wear a sweater when I play golf in the winter months.

IMO smokers are idiots. It's not just lung cancer, add emphysema, stroke and heart attack to the increased risk mix. I'm just going by the statistics and facts. Isn't that what logical people do?

It's a condo, not a home. There are rules about what is permissible in a condo. I'd suggest you need to talk with the juristic manager about allowed noise levels. Is the person complaining a foreigner, or Thai? Thais don't usually care, but if it is, you are behind the 8-ball already.

If we were logical, we would not smoke, knowing a smoker is 20 times more likely to die of lung cancer than a non-smoker. We would not drink alcohol, as it is a Class 1 carcinogen, and causes more violence than any illegal drug, with the possible exception of meth. We would not buy anything new, preferring to spend our hard-earned on items that are good value, with a reputation for reliability. We would not elect leaders who are nothing but con-men. True logic says we would have no more than a one night stand with any woman, as anything longer puts us on the slippery slope to financial suicide. No, we are not logical.

I've been to Scotland once, for a month, playing golf. While I enjoyed the experience, no desire to see it again. I coined the acronym ABC when there, i.e. Another Bloody Castle. Edinburgh, Perth,Glasgow. Speech in the last was incomprehensible. I think the Scots invented whisky to take away the taste of haggis. Bagpipes were invented to be played at funerals, because the dead did not have to listen to them, and 18 holes of golf was invented for serious whisky drinkers, as it took 18 nips - one on each tee - to finish a bottle. The Scots have always been well known for engineering skills, copper wire was invented when two Scotsmen had a tug of war over a penny. Photo is the Meiklaur Hedge, longest in Scotland. Planted by a Scotsman who was killed in the Battle of Culloden

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind as to the ability of government bureaucrats and politicians to screw things up repeatedly. Bushfires, floods, contact tracing, hotel quarantine, RAT kit availability - how many examples do you need? Nearly forgot - $40 billion in Jobkeeper going to businesses who did not need it, and won't give it back.

You have some authoritative statistics that support your claim a bicycle is safer? A cyclist cannot accelerate out of the way of impending danger the way a scooter can. Granted, get hit by a pickup, it's probably academic whether you are on a scooter or a bicycle, the outcome will be similar. OTOH, when a 150 kg scooter hits a bicycle, it doesn't take Einstein to work out who comes off second best. Sensible scooter drivers have adequate helmet protection. What cyclists wear for the same purpose almost looks like a Monty Python skit.

Don't feel bad, rest assured you are not alone.

So do I.