Jump to content

watthong

Advanced Member
  • Posts

    1,019
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by watthong

  1. I don't have a My SSA account unfortunately. I tried to open one when on US soil and ran into trouble with having too many addresses in the past and SSA system wouldn't accept the one I gave it. Even went in person to my local SSA office and they couldn't help either! Was told to contact the 3 big names that give out your credit score and have them told me which one to use. So I gave up (out of disgust) and wouldn't attempt again to open one (My SSA account) now from foreign (aka Thai) soil.
  2. I have to change my bank account that was linked to Wise (my US bank account where Wise extracted funds from). I logged on to my Wise account to delete the old bank account and all that, but then I couldn't find anywhere where I can add my new bank account as the new "paying" account (as for adding "recipients" accounts the option to do so is right there.) I'm just wondering if the one way to add the new paying account is to make a new transfer and Wise would ask for the new account when it comes to where to get the funds from? I'm not ready to make a transfer, basically just want to update my paying bank account info for now. So my question, is there a way to add the new bank account without making a transfer? Thank you in advance for any input/advice.
  3. Over the new year holiday I had to change my US credit union bank account due to the previous one being "compromised" (read hacked, a strange-looking transfer being made on my funds raised big red flag with the credit union and they shut down my now-former account.) This was the account where my SSA was direct deposited. So obviously I would need to update the bank account info with SSA. One simple way to do it is to contact SSA in the USA via 800-772-1213. I'm just wondering if contacting SSA Manila would be a better, ie quicker option? If anyone has gone through this process and could give me a heads up, I would appreciate that very much. Thank you all in advance.
  4. Yeah, this saga has longer legs than Cyd Charisse. I must confess, whenever I run out of the latest crypto intrigue from youtube, I'd check back into this one - never once have I been disappointed... Btw recall seeing a promo clip - linked somewhere earlier on this thread - featuring a street musician (donning the requisite guitar, pony tail and holes at the knee jeans) dutifully performing on his lonesome as the ship "on-board entertainment." As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.
  5. You hit the nail on the head. Business brain is what seems to be missing in their management. Failing that, it looks like an experiment (or "project") in the (long long long) making. In the meantime are prospective passengers expected to be time and again subject themselves to inconvenience and disappointment just to be understanding of Seahorse myriad of problems (one such being "main reason for delay is the payment links with the banks..") ? I myself have been hoping to get on board for a reasonably priced, well catering and smooth sailing trip (to Songkla originally) since their very first announcement way back before covid. Have had to search/wait long and hard for any report and update since but it's like hunting for truffles in the wrong season. Finding whatever answers on this thread is not AT ALL assuring. Now that it has transformed itself to a party boat to Samui...Already 2 trips (out of 3 scheduled for October) have had trouble leaving shore, one cancelled, one delayed. On top of that, on board F&B services are still in a lurch (to put it lightly.) Who in their right mind would want to go through such experience, and at those 5-star prices (1000 baht just to store your motorbike?) To top if off, those of us wanted to have a frank discussion - it's not difficult to see that most posters on this thread really rooting for this to be a success - are pushed aside as "bashers," or challenged with "why don't you do see for yourself" and ("to be impressed"- with what? great decor in an empty lounge?) or "why don't you go fly" instead? If nothing else, Seahorse "spokeman" needs to learn something: To begin with a lesson in humility would go a long way to earn any sympathy. Right now I would not go near with a 10 foot pole, let alone considering the prospect of being stranded on the high sea on a deserted ship...
  6. Biden might be thought of as infirmed, confused and whatnot, let those who Palovianly caw at the mention of the old man's name fill in the blank. That said, he played his part beautifully, that of a knight in shining armor in November 2020. And to the majority of the American people, who voted for him with all their heart and mind, that's how he will be remembered. At present, we couldn't be more proud seeing our guy dignified and respected, not as a pathetic joke, by and on the world stage. Friendly reminder - in a democracy, it's the majority that count. The riff raff, domestic or otherwise, of course would not consent to that notion. For them it's the LOUDEST that count (that's why those appearing on their podium always have to foam at the mouth before any word is spoken.)
  7. Your diagnosis turned out to be correct. I finally made it to the Fedex office in downtown and got a deferential treatment from the "specialists." 2 agents sat down and went over the invoices - I brought 2 invoices one recent with zero duty along with the present one with 10 percent duty. They agreed that both had similar "used computer parts" content and told me that they would check with (their in-house Fedex) custom and get back to me. Later in the same afternoon one agent called back and informed me of the culprit: item no 4 on the list => a set of various "monitor cables." Which strays into the territory of code 85444929 ("electric wiring, cables, parts for tv and radio.") The lady agent pointed out the word "cable" as the trigger. She also said something to the effect that do not send things that were of small value or questionable category-wise. I was not happy, but "satisfied" with the reply. Lesson learned: Usually it's the smallest detail that is the weakest link in most undertakings (and likely cause the whole thing to derail.) I could have not declared item no4 at all; at the risk of open-box inspection I could always claim that those cables belong to other "computer parts", for example, motherboards (which the cables will directly get attached to.) But I did not think it through. In summary, the agent is correct: it's more hassle than its worth.
  8. Summary of my own 7162 (2022) experience: Did not receive the form in July so I went ahead and downloaded it, filled it then mailed air registered to Wilkes-Barre PO box. This happened in mid August. It took 2 weeks for the letter to go from Swampy to New York, then another 4 weeks from NY to PA. And finally got delivered "to an individual at the address..." early this morning local time in Samut Prakan. Attached is the tracking history from USPS website. (Interestingly, on the Track and Trace EMS of Thai Post website, they disclosed the name of the recipient aka the "individual.") Compared to shipping packages from Oregon to Samut Prakan using Fed Ex, going through Oakland, Anchorage, Guangzhou and finally Swampy, door to door usually takes 4 to 6 DAYS depending whether it travels over the weekend. (It also costs 2 to 300 bucks for shipping alone so you get what you pay for.)
  9. The difference between "used" and not stated as such in regard to custom could be 10percent on your CIF. I always declared "USED" (in all caps no less) following the advice of one poster on another custom duty thread a while ago. His was the tale of 2 laptops: The 1st one was shipped spanking new to Thailand directly from the on-line seller (probably amazon) and got duty taxed. Soon after he needed a second laptop. This time he had it sent to a friend in the US, the friend's task was unbox the laptop, "rough" it up a bit to make it look used then ship as gift. This one got through custom declared as "used" and got out scot free. So far all my "used" items - books, ipads, computers (parts or whole) - went through unscathed until this one. I used to ship via US postal but since covid had to go with FedEx.
  10. Excerpt from the above quote: "Another update: it seems that "a whole computer" is subject to 7% VAT but "computer parts" may be subject to EXTRA 10%, total 17%. I've just had to pay 10% tax for a power supply unit plus 7% VAT. " - Actually maybe I shouldn't have asked that question: Going through my stack of FedEx invoices I found out that two packages ago, I had shipped another mixed bag of "computer parts" but that one got zero custom duty.
  11. I was going to ask you if the second phone was declared/considered "used" and thus escaped the 10% duty whereas the first one was "new" and therefore got taxed? In other words, any difference in the custom declaration of the 1st and 2nd phone? - then further down to the part where you had to paid duty for the 1st power supply, and none for same item the second time around, even though the box was opened for custom inspection....
  12. What you did/are doing is probably the same thing with athletes doing 300 yard dash. All who do this whether professional or not end up the same way. I've seen this with various friends whom got corralled into "going to the pool" with me. This has nothing to do with "technique." Remember, just like in any sport, you need to warm up, work out then cool down. For beginners, simply do warm ups, slow and practice breathing while you are afloat, the most important technique for being in water. My favorite method is simply "standing" up in the water, kicking/pedaling my feet to stay afloat and concentrating on doing regular breathing. (If you can hold a conversation with your fellow swimmer while doing that then you're good.) 30 min in the water with no "splashing" then you're done. After a month or so, gradually proceed from warming up to the next step, working out. "Gradually" is the key word. Swim at your own comfortable speed from one end of the pool to the other, turn around, repeat. If you get to panting at any point then you're going faster than your body is able to at that stage, so slow down. Once you get some work out then cool down. Set your goal to this: 20min for 1st stage, 10min for 2nd, then take as long as you like for 3rd stage, cooling down (do not skip this step and rush out of the pooi.)
  13. I would give anything to be able to get back to (lap) swimming. I used to swim laps but had to stop after getting eczema and nowadays how chlorine affects my skin is akin to holy water to vampires. I remember switching from 25 m length pool to olympic size pool had the effect of "expanding" my lungs measurably. The only drawback - not to me personally - also the most often heard complaint that it is boring as hell (that's why some folks wear earbuds while swimming, which gives credence to when there is a will there's a way.) What is lap swimming? Swimming from one end of the pool to the other, turn around, repeat. Speed is up to you, soon enough you would like to increase your speed (out of boredom I would guess) and voila, cardio. No stress whatsoever to your joints, and your spine will thank you profusely. Wear earbuds/ipod if you need to, probably the most expensive piece of "swimming" accessories of the bunch. And remember, just like any sport, you need to warm up, work out then cool down. Your heart will owe you eternal gratitude.
  14. I just got slapped a 10% custom duty on CIF of a package consists of second-hand/recycled, declared as "used" computer parts: cpu, ssd, ram, motherboard etc, shipped from the US via FedEx. In the past I have shipped 3 dell (used) workstations individually and each time got zero custom duty. I called FedEx office and they gave the tariff code 85444929 (also printed on the invoice I received upon payment) as reason for the 10% duty, citing "computer parts." I googled up the code and it seems to apply to electric wiring, cables, parts for tv and radio. I wonder why a whole used computer was not taxed, but used computer part is? Any one has an inkling whether this was an error by custom office, or they are just "making it up" as they go?
  15. Crudely speaking, imagine your immunity as a circular room with a series of entry doors. The virus is outside of that room trying to get in (into your system). Each (different) vaccine will close a number of (different) doors, but not all.
  16. Thank you, you have the patience of a saint. I've long stopped "reasoning" with rabid anti-vaxxers because often as a result I became a rabid vaxxer. As variants keep popping up and become another worrisome phenomenon in our lives, all the more people should get vaccinated and keep boosting to protect themselves. Not only against the virus itself, but also the non-vaccinated all around us who are determined to either bury their head in the sands or maintain at all cost their place in covid's on-going petri dish. The rule of thumb is keep boosting every 6 months, different vaccine each time if possible, wearing masks and frequent washing of hands. In the meantime let's count our blessings that the malls have re-opened, public eateries are back in business and you can take your mask off while dining there.
  17. I got it out of pure happenstance. It came with the second hand pc I just bought, unbeknownst to me. The machine arrived without any disk, so I had to put in mine, and voila, the rather pleasant surprise!
  18. I recently got a LSI 12gb megaraid controller card using Avago megaraid utility software. Installed it in my pc and was pleasantly surprised by the result (the hdds in a raid 0 run as fast a stand alone ssd.) I then cloned my Windows OS sdd onto the array then let the pc boot from the it. It tried to: the windows logo appeared and the dotted circle twirled for a while - but always ended up with the blue screen of death (device not connected/corrupted/etc.) Arrrghhh... I have designated the array to be the boot drive before booting up and the system remains on legacy boot. Did I miss any step after cloning in order to make the array bootable?Thank you much in advance for any input.
  19. Well I've been waiting patiently for a month ans still no 7162 arrival. (Though at the beginning of 2022 I did get the SSA benefits 1099 form therefore I know they have my current address.) So I'm going to "jump the gun" and DIY: download the form and mail it to Wilkes Barre. A couple of questions: 1)The most update 7162 I could find on line is the (7-2011) Destroy Prior Editions version. Can anyone steer me to the 2022 version? 2) I only have the PO box address: Social Security Administration P. O. Box 7162 Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania 18767-7162 U*S*A. Can anyone provide their street address? All my previous "dead or alive" records have miraculously vanished, after two covid-plagued years....Thank you much in advance,
  20. Grasping at straws when one defies both logic and facts. Enjoy yourself.
  21. Or rather what kind of co-morbidity (covid's best ally) you had/have....
  22. Go figure? Easy to do if you know a thing or two about how covid affects individuals. It depends on what kind of co-morbiditiy your friends have, or in layman terms, what underlying health issues their system had been dealing with chronically. One thing covid vaccines - or most vaccines in general do not do - is to turn ill health to good health. Vaccines will fortify your wall of defense, providing you have one to begin with, but they don't miraculously build a wall of defense for you where there was none. So your vaxxed friends could vax themselves to the hilt, vaccines still might not save them. On the other hand every one of my vaxxed friends have gone on and enjoyed life under covid, inspite of some getting covid regardless, which by the way did not even keep any of them in bed. They said it wasn't no where bad as a "half-bad" cold. Some even managed to keep up with their golf schedule. Sorry to burst your bubble...but it all depends what kind of company one keeps, or the kind of info/mis-info one decides to stuff one's own head with.
  23. That is exactly what this ruling is trying to accomplish. Let the people decide what they believe is acceptable. Let the majority of voters in a state decide what a woman is allowed to do, in the state they live. Decide to end the life inside of her, or birth it. Deleted, as the quoted passages did not show up fully without clicking the expand button
  24. On the Fed Ex invoice the insurance charges are listed as 1per cent (of what it didn't say), the other two items are the cost/value of the package which is correct, and the freight/shipping charge which has the 700 x 10 kg surcharge added on. The original invoice (the one that was included at departure point) that usually is put in an clear plastic cover and plastered onto the package, this time has gone missing.
×
×
  • Create New...