Lacessit

I beg to differ. When I was a member of a very prestigious golf club in Australia, an assortment of cheeses was mandatory to go with coffee and liqueurs at the end of any function. There were some seriously wealthy people in the club, and they tucked in along with everyone else. As far as distinguishing whiskies goes, I am a lost cause, because I drown it with Coke anyway. I probably could not tell the difference between the most expensive single malt, and kitchen whisky. Forget this piddling million dollars. Next Saturday in Australia, the Lotto jackpot is $100 million. Yes, I have a ticket.

IMO the Americano you cite is made by Starbucks.

Johnny Walker is a blended whisky, streets away from a single malt prestige whisky. A Scots millionaire who owned a distillery attempted to educate me in the finest whiskies he had. Regrettably, I have plebeian tastes in that area, he visibly shuddered when I said i usually drank whisky with coke. Laphroiag and Glenfiddich, according to him, were middle range commercial whiskies. For those who would like to know how to drink whisky as it should be done. pour one dram, add one drop of water to release the bouquet. Ice is a no-no. Sip slowly.

Milk is protein, fat, and sugar. Skim or low fat milk is actually worse, because it concentrates the sugar ( lactose ) more. Believe it or not, he is better off with cream. I have a small amount of milk in tea or coffee. I eat as much cheese and yoghurt ( no added sugar ) as I want to. If the body is starved of sugar, it will burn fat for energy instead.

IME when I used "Privileged Member" as it appears on the card for an airline ticket, the payment was accepted and the ticket issued.

IMO I will not be able to discriminate between the two, except perhaps on patterns of discursiveness and brevity. I can't see humans entrusting themselves to AI tools, such as driverless cars. Any more than I trust much of the information vouchsafed to me by politicians.

My GF is a happy soul, very few grizzles from her. Like many northern Thais, she thinks Prayut, the junta, and the police are all criminals.

Good question. IMO being across a number of fields helps. Most of my work was in the steel industry. However, I did find my previous experience in fields as diverse as detergents, polymers and glass gave me a considerable edge over fellow scientists who had worked solely in the steel industry, in narrow specialties. IIRC it was Edison who said genius is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration.

One of these days, you may realize the most important things in life are time, and good health. Money is secondary.

Yes. I don't need pats on the back.

Not in the way you are.

If you can make the airline mileage etc work for you, fine. I simply can't be bothered, and prefer the mindset of knowing I don't owe anybody else on this planet anything. There's no such thing as a free lunch, someone pays for your rewards.

So do I. My GF gives me what I want, I give her what she wants. The love part is a bonus. It's in her interest to keep me alive for as long as possible. If I am an ATM, please explain why I still have 70% of my assets in Australia, and untouchable by anyone but me. Maybe you'll get to more than one-night stands with sex workers, but I doubt it.

I suggest you watch the film "The Flim-Flam Man" starring George C Scott. From your posts, IMO you will die alone. I won't.

Rationalize your actions any way you please. There's a saying among grifters, you can't cheat an honest man. I can't say I have never been cheated, I can say I have learned enough not to let it happen again. You are quite right, it is a hustler's world. I choose to stay away from infantile payback, life's too short. I'm to blame for you being hassled by hustlers? How does that logic work?

I dispute this proposition, on the basis of personal experience. IMO scientific breakthroughs are made by individuals, not committees. The seminal thought or idea that forms the basis of a big project, if one looks closely enough, almost always comes from a single creative person. Said person may be part of a scientific group, drawing on their assembled information. The group gets the credit, sometimes the person with the flash of insight does not. During my working life, I had about a dozen insights. Some were published, others were kept inside the organization either because they gave a competitive advantage, or were embarrassing. I called them my eureka moments. I certainly was not in an armchair, more often at a laboratory bench.

I have no idea if I have a credit score, and don't care. The last time I had a credit card was back in the seventies of the previous century. An Amex card, which I soon realized I did not need, and cost money to maintain. I pay with cash or a debit card. My father taught me to avoid debt like the plague.

I am not aware of the individual name. I am aware there were leading scientists who were Muslims a thousand years ago, and more. What surprises me is the fact that, in modern times, there seems to be no scientists of note among Muslims. Given there are about 1.4 billion followers of Islam, I have to wonder why.

Just as well so many of you leave the UK, then. Otherwise, you'd have nobody to talk to.

Some of us prefer to stay out of the narcissist haven. With responses like that, I'm surprised all nationalities are not ignoring you, let alone just Brits.

Guilt and sin are the coercive instruments religions use to cement their claims to a higher morality. If you can explain to me how a new-born babe has a "fallen nature", I'm all ears.

There's some law that says I have to be the same age as my GF? A pathetic attempt at trolling.

Let's be clear, I am not defending the hustlers who are trying to scam you. I am questioning your copying of them. To the detriment of other expats who are not dishonest. When you scam someone, do you have a divining rod or crystal ball that tells you whether they are a hustler, or an honest person? Or do you opine every Thai here is a scammer, so it's open season on all of them? Maybe your actions will have consequences, maybe not. You obviously did not understand what I meant by turf encroachment. I have no interest in wasting my time explaining any further. Have a nice life cheating other people - while it lasts.

You obviously don't read the Murdoch press in Australia when elections roll around, please point me to when they have ever failed to support the Liberal-National coalition in the editorials.

One can argue there are both religious people and atheists who do evil, as well as good. Socialism does have values of fairness and equality, although those are perverted by some leaders. Australia has had a number of socialist governments, which historically have been much more progressive and kind than the conservative ones. It always amuses me when Americans start frothing at the mouth at the mere mention of socialism, as if it is evil incarnate. They are blissfully unaware one of the pillars of their society possesses many socialist features. It's called the US military.