Etaoin Shrdlu

Given the description of the incident, I would suspect rabies. Rats don't normally go around biting trees, or humans unless provoked. Even absent such behavior, this is one of those situations where even if the possibility of rabies is low, the severity of its consequences is so high that the cost and inconvenience of treatment is nothing.

AK-47 is an automatic rifle. For almost all Americans, not legal to possess. I suspect that if it were legal to own automatic rifles, those with mere AR-15s would upgrade to M-16s or perhaps AK-47s. I remember the days when the Saturday night special was the weapon that was vilified. Oh, for simpler times!

Yes, that's it!

Yes, close to where Wave Place is now or perhaps it was where Noble Ploenchit or Rosewood Hotel is. It's been a long time.

Our 18-year-old son went for a physical exam here in Bangkok as required by the US university he is now attending. The exam revealed he had PVCs of about 11%. We were told by local doctors that no limitation on physical activity was needed and no treatment necessary. In other words, "it's nothing". Nine months later son ends up in ER for two days in the US after feeling dizzy and faint following rugby. After extensive tests, the PVCs were identified as the likely cause. He's had the ablation procedure earlier this year and the PVCs are now less than half a percent. He's been given the green light to participate in sports and will follow up in a few months with his cardiologist to see how his cardiomyopathy has resolved. Given Thai hospitals' propensity to over-treat and recommend everything they can think of, I can't imagine why ablation was not recommended here. Perhaps they don't have anyone that can perform it.

When I do similar, I just blame it on Old Timer's Disease.

Do you mean Petchburi? Ploenchit isn't anywhere near Ekkamai.

There used to be a free-standing Foodland on Ploenchit that served the lower Sukhumvit area back in the last millennium. It had a carpark and I recall getting weekend groceries there. Long gone now.

Under Republicans, life begins at conception and ends in a mass shooting.

If one is driving a car and is stopped for a red light, it is common to say "sitting in the car waiting for the light to turn green". It seems that when the car is motionless, it turns the driver into a sitter.

Then there's the term "joyriding" which means driving fast or dangerously for enjoyment in a stolen car. I've never heard of it called "joydriving".

Interesting that when one is a passenger in a car, one is "riding in the car" even though not sitting astride.

Mrs. Shrdlu was convinced that hanging CDs would deter the pigeons that used to hang around our house. I wasn't so sure since we did not know what music genre they despised and had not seen any pigeons carrying CD players anyway. We ended up blocking off any eaves where they could nest and putting out spikes on most horizontal surfaces where they could perch. No pigeons now.

Had a small one on my face that would bleed if I nicked it while shaving. Had it removed at Bumrungrad Hospital. The dermatologist used a laser. Cost was minimal, but that was a number of years ago. No scar now or any sign that it was ever there.

I have experience as a representative payee for my children. Here's the link: https://www.ssa.gov/payee/

Up until about five years ago, representative payees who managed SSA payments for minor children had to file an annual worksheet showing a breakdown of how the funds were used to support the child. While this form is no longer required, there is still the stipulation that the funds be used for the support of the child during the period that they are being paid. This means used for food, shelter, clothing and certain other items of support. The funds aren't supposed to be saved for use for college or other items later. Some years back, I read about a person who mentioned in a newspaper article that she had saved SSA payments for her dependent's college education. Someone at SSA read the article and contacted her with a demand to repay the funds, if I remember correctly. There is info about this requirement somewhere on the SSA website and also in the info you'll get if you're the representative payee.

The labels seem to state that the contents are made from recycled Pepsi.

I had the firm that handled my employer's legal, auditing and tax work handle the paperwork for my application. They did not charge that much since they already had the firm's audit and tax business. I convinced the directors that this would save money in the long run because annual visa admin and expenses would go away, so my employer paid the preparation fees. The auditing firm was, at the time, the local associate of one of the major US accounting firms, but I don't think that's the case any longer. But you might want to look into leveraging your employer's relationships with their legal or audit firms.

I had a couple of BMW 3 series back in the day. Fun cars to drive. Pricey service and spare parts. If you enjoy driving and can afford it, go for it!

Yes, of course. In the other post I was responding to someone who had his Thai medical policy cancelled due to non-disclosure of a condition that wasn't the subject of the claim he was submitting. It was probably something that would have triggered an exclusion for a pre-existing condition and likely not declination of cover.

In another post I cited the Thai Civil and Commercial Code's section 865 that defines an insurer's ability to void coverage for non-disclosure. Under this clause, it appears that non-disclosure needs to be intentional and there is also an apparent five-year time bar. I wonder how many ab initio cancellations could have been overturned if the policyholder had appealed to the OIC.

A policy of insurance is a legal contract between two parties. To deny one party the ability to review the contract before entering into it is in my opinion a sign of bad faith. If the insurer is denying a chance to review the policy, that's reason to exclude it from your search. If your broker is too lazy to get you a copy of the policy, you need a new broker.

May have been a Forest Crested Lizard. The spots look similar to this one: https://www.thailex.info/THAILEX/THAILEXENG/LEXICON/Indochinese Forest or Blue Crested Lizard (Calotes mystaceus) กิ้งก่าหัวสีฟ้า.htm

Good article. Unfortunately, it is a tenet of our capitalist system to put shareholders' interests above policyholders'. A better balance is needed, but I think that will be difficult under the present circumstances. As far as fraud is concerned, CEOs and other corporate officers will probably have to be put in jail in order for this to stop, and that does not seem to happen very frequently unless shareholders are harmed. Better regulation, oversight and enforcement is needed. There is one US political party that stands opposed to almost any form of corporate regulation and many of the people most at risk of being hurt by corporate avarice and fraud seem to be keen to vote for that party. Perhaps preventing women and their physicians from making reproductive healthcare decisions is more important than reining in rogue companies and sending CEOs to jail for fraud.

Section 865 of the Thai Civil and Commercial Code imposes strict disclosure requirements on insurance applicants. It also appears to only allow an insurer to void a policy if non-disclosure was material and intentional. There also appears to be a five-year time bar, however it is not clear how this would work with a recurring disclosure requirement at renewals. https://library.siam-legal.com/thai-law/civil-and-commercial-code-insurance-section-861-868/#:~:text=Section 865.&text=If such right of avoidance,contract%2C such right is extinguished. This is something that may have been worth appealing to the OIC.