Lacessit

Not the only one, unfortunately. It's the same as anti-vaxxers and climate deniers, beliefs vs. facts and data.

As a series of posts that miss the point entirely, yours take some beating. If I go into a school armed with a baseball bat, I might knock over a couple of people. The rest either flee, or disarm me with numbers. Same with a knife, I might get a couple more before someone hits me with a chair. It's all work at close quarters. If I go into a school armed with an AR-15 and a couple of MagPul 60 bullet magazines, no-one can get near me, and the only person that can take me out is another person with a firearm, probably responding after I have slaughtered a dozen or two. Way too late for the kids or the parents, as Uvalde just demonstrated. Take away the firearms that can kill so rapidly, as Australia has proved over the last quarter century, and you don't have mass murders of people. Is that too complex for you to understand?

I'm not inclined to test it myself for the sake of confirming whether the banks still charge fees if using a different ATM. I don't particularly like cards anyway, handy for online shopping, but difficult to keep secure. IMO no better security than having to front up to a bank teller with a savings passbook and a passport, I defy any thief to breach that.

Have you tested to find out? I haven't because I would only use an ATM for emergencies anyway. I know one can use any bank card in any ATM in Australia without fees, but Thai banks IMO would be very reluctant to let go of any revenue.

Er - I think you will find if you put a Bangkok Bank debit card into a Kasikorn ATM, or vice versa, there will be a fee attached to any withdrawal.

Just buy a few packs of fine steel wool, and put them where there is a flow of the pool water. Any copper present will plate out on the steel. Probably take a few days to clear. Copper content is easy to measure with atomic absorption spectrometry, most universities, technical colleges and commercial laboratories have the equipment. The first step in controlling anything is measuring it. Note: Steel wool, not stainless steel scourers.

Agree completely, my guns were in a gun safe, the rifle bolts and ammunition were stored separately in the house. Without all three, useless for a burglar to steal them. They were not assembled until I was out on a station 100 km from the nearest town. I never owned a handgun, like assault rifles their sole purpose is killing people. Some posters on this thread claiming to be hunters, they'd have professional shooters in Australia rolling on the floor laughing.

You go hunting with a pistol? Now I have heard everything. Please explain to me how a gun for "protection" is called an assault rifle, something of a contradiction. The statistics say people who keep guns in their homes are far more likely to commit suicide, get shot, or be sued by an unarmed burglar or their families.

It’s been a year like no other. The oil price went negative, airlines were grounded, some forever. A single meat market in Wuhan, specializing in exotic meats for conspicuous consumption by wealthy Chinese, generated a virus which spread like wildfire. Countries went into lockdown, some stringently, some half-heartedly. The results are there for everyone to see. Millions became employed overnight. Some countries responded with support, others opted for benign neglect. Vaccines were developed at unprecedented speed. A would-be tyrant was rejected at the polls. Most if not all of us will say goodbye and good riddance to 2020. I’m in Thailand by choice and some good luck. Two weeks later in February, and I would still be locked down in Australia, contemplating slashing my wrists. A much more enjoyable life for me here. Having said that, there are some things I miss about my home country. I miss the wind. In Thailand, it seems the wind can’t get much above a gentle zephyr. I would rug up with about four layers of clothing in winter, go down to Gunnamatta beach with an offshore wind of 50-60 km/hr, and watch 10 metre waves pound the coast. Nature at its most primeval. I miss the wineries that dot the Mornington Peninsula, where one could have a light lunch and a couple of glasses of the local product, which most of the time was very good. Apart from Thai wine quality, I don’t believe Thais know what a cellar door is, or what it’s for. I miss my 2004 Mitsubishi Magna AWD sedan, IMO one of the most underrated vehicles ever produced. Balanced like a cat on dirt roads and wet bitumen. About a third the new car price of a comparable Mercedes. My son has it now, still plugging along with 300,000 km on the odometer. I miss the golf competitions I used to play. Par, foursomes, match play, Canadian foursomes. Here, it’s just stroke and Stableford. Boring. I miss the camaraderie of the Wednesday Boys. 15 – 20 of us, some real characters and nicknames. The Poet, The Farmer, The Whippet, Pistol Pete, Triple Treat. Best net score got a two-dollar coin from every other player, with an appropriate obeisance. Some really acid sledging during play, one of the best at my expense. A day when I was spraying my tee shots all over the course, but making pars because I’m holing putts from everywhere on the greens. Our group gets to the seventeenth tee, par 3, and I’m fretting about club selection, is it a 6 or 7 iron? One of my mates says “ Why don’t you tee off with your putter? It’s the only club you’ve hit straight all day”. I miss a Gippsland eye fillet steak, medium, with a Warby Ranges Shiraz. Followed by a King Island blue brie on water crackers. I miss grilled flake and chips,with a pickled onion on the side. Flake is also known as shark to non-Australians, very sweet fish, and filling. All the best to everyone on TV over Christmas, and may 2021 be better. What do you miss?