herfiehandbag

Take a (new - you don't want your wine to taste of Kiwi!) shoe laces, tie a big knot in one end. With a skewer or screwdriver gently push the cork down past the neck of the bottle until it is floating in the wine. Ease the knotted end of the shoelace down past the cork. Firmly but gently withdraw the shoelace, it will bring the broken cork up through the neck of the bottle.

Tried that, but for all the good it did I might as well have shoved it up my arse!

Naive pedantry.

To suggest that the removal of Yingluck from the electoral process, and the formation of a government by the military was not a coup, but was a properly constituted move by an independent judicial system, and that her subsequent "disappearance" , held "under wraps" by the Junta before being "helped" to clandestinely cross the border was "going on the run" shows a remarkable degree of naivety, and perhaps an elastic interpretation of events to justify your personal political satisfaction with the whole process of defeating and removing democracy, and the establishment of Junta government; either way, it is "nonsense". The very simple truth is that both of them were standing as the leader of a party which the establishment perceived as a threat to their hegemony. They had won before and were very likely to win again. Both elections were destroyed by the establishment's guardians, the military and a manipulated judicial system. Both individuals, Thaksin and Yingluck were very popular, to jail them would have led to significant unrest and international opprobrium. So they were driven into exile.

Same day or into the freezer. Even the dogs chicken carcasses only get two days in the fridge (mind you that guarantees 4 dogs in a pile in front of the fridge door!)

Floated on Monday wasn't it? Plan to save it on Friday!

The traditional (old fashioned) metre gauge railway system in Thailand, may not be very fast, or "swish" but it is effective at moving large numbers of people cheaply and safely over long distances at times like this. In my opinion a fraction of the money planned to be spent on "high speed rail" from China would result in a much improved conventional rail system. Containers have largely simplified the transhipment of goods at "break of gauge".

Get delivering letters right first!

The corruption was exemplified by the removal of both Thaksin and Yingluck from power by the military in coups whilst the electoral process (elections) were happening, and it looked very much like they were on course to win; and of course the subsequent post coup " prosecutions". Thaksin took himself off, well aware that if he went into Junta incarceration he would never emerge alive. Yingluck was more tricky - popular nationally and well known internationally she "disappeared", her teenage son was effectively taken into care - remember "he must complete his Army Cadet training", and then she was basically driven to the Cambodian border and turfed out. In both cases the events leading to their exiles were engineered by the military (representing the establishment powerbase) and went against the norms of both the democratic and judicial processes, supposedly guaranteed by the constitution. Moreover they were, and remain, deeply unpopular. All of which, to my mind, makes the pearl clutching swooning outrage of the "Thaksin has never served his time" and "Yingluck was sentenced in absentia" brigade rather entertaining! Now, in order to maintain the unstable and fragile construct which maintains the unpopular and electorally shaky coalition in power, the military and establishment it serves have to swallow their pride and allow his (and likely her) return, to buy enough popularity to stave off the threat of the progressive movement. They know that they can ban Pita and dissolve his party but that movement will not go away. They have lost the young, Yingluck and Thaksin are a desperate and (must be) oh so bitter tasting attempt to keep the older generation. It has all rather come back to bite the bemedalled ones on the bum! Still looks good doesn't she!😍

Looks a bit rough - almost like he has been sleeping in his car for the last few days! It is of course difficult to discern exactly what is happening - and the truth as to corruption and degrees of corruption is almost irrelevant. The long running power struggle between these two candidates for control of the Police appears to have come to a head, and Pol Gen Kitrat does seem to have played his hand.

If confronting and shooting shooting a bloke who was engaged in a stabbing spree with a large knife is mundane I would hate to be in your neck of the woods when something "exciting" was happening. I do agree with you on their talent for de-escalating things, which is exactly what these police women did.

Like you I have a daughter, about to start University. She works as a part time waitress in a local "farangs orientated" restaurant. A couple of times customers have tried to hit on her. She is quite robust in her response; one of them I knew. I spoke to him. Some people simply cannot see an attractive Thai woman below 30 without believing that she is available for a casual (paid for) sexual encounter. They must spend their lives wandering the streets, clutching fistfuls of notes, in constant priapic, soliphistic anticipation!

Of course one might take this matter at it's face value, (albeit after stripping away the "Thaiger" loquacious hype) : a slightly built rather soggy female police officer, unarmed except for a small pink water pistol, stepped up rapidly to help a Thai woman who had a distressing encounter with a persistent drunken foreigner during Khao San Road Songkran party. She defused the situation, rescued the women and the party continued without drama. Persistent drunken foreigner probably woke up next morning and spent the morning looking for the badger which had emptied his wallet, trashed his room and slept with his back legs in his mouth! Well done to the policewoman, whilst not perhaps medal winning courage she appears to have done her job well, and shown some bottle in stepping up to confront the drunk. Or of course, we can develop any number of alternative imaginary scenarios, in all of which the aforementioned badger features in the following morning...

No need for a couple - they have got "their people" in power. Now, in three years time when MFP or whatever it is called by then wins the next general election...

POTY was a somewhat dubious distinction. "Yinn" is widely rumoured to have been the result of a group (Australians maybe) staging an elaborate and long running practical joke. That may have had something to do with why the moderators cancelled the competition!

I would imagine that the average number of staff per shop, allowing for variations in size, 3 shifts, days off etc is probably nearer 20 to 25. That probably ups your number to 15% -maybe higher in urban areas?

I wonder what proportion of youngsters ( predominantly girls) start their working careers in 7/11?

How does the old joke go? How do you know which of the people at the cocktail party is a pilot? Don't worry, he will tell you within 5 minutes of you arriving!

So one bloke who dresses as a woman, and has extended that to competing in swimming as a woman because it gives him an advantage, ended up competing against another bloke who dresses as a woman, and has extended that to competing in swimming as a woman because it gives him an advantage; and lost! Ironic, and deeply unfair!

Unfortunately, if Trump loses, then he will move to put judges all over it like a rash!

Bit over the top that (if something underground can be over the top!) I manage quite well with a couple of big dustbins in the bathroom!😃 We've had thunderstorms for the last few nights, the electricity supply out here in rural Chiang Rai does seem a bit fragile!

I'm not into genealogy. I know the family history back to the 1900s. My parents both came from Oldham in Lancashire, so my paternal grandparents and most other relatives are buried in the Mostyn RC cemetery in Manchester. Notable amongst those is my mother's uncle, who had the rare distinction of being denounced from the pulpit during Mass! He used to play the piano in the picture houses to accompany the silent films, a practice which was apparently regarded as sinful. I am extremely proud of him! My mother's family moved down to Dagenham to find work at Fords during the depression. Accordingly they are buried in the RC Cemetery near South Ockenden. My parents are buried in Bath where they settled when they married. I really don't go any further back than that - My paternal Grandmother came from Cork in Ireland at the turn of the last century as a child. In theory that should enable me to claim an Irish passport, although searching birth records in County Cork for a Francess Murphy may be a long-winded process! My father was a "historian" ( he had a degree in it and taught it to A level). His main speciality was American history from the Revolution up to the Civil War, but he also was a member of the "Recusant Society" (Recusants were those who refused to follow the formation of the Church of England during the times of Henry VIII, Edward and Elizabeth I.) His branch of the family had been fined off their lands in Herefordshire and Shropshire for Recusancy (only the real upper classes were imprisoned or executed) and reduced to landless labourers. Dad spent a lot of time researching it, and produced a paper for the Recusant Society in the early 1970s. Apparently the family were reasonably prosperous yeoman farmers. They lost the lot. I keep meaning to have words with the Archbishop of Canterbury about it! I should imagine genealogy could be a fascinating hobby!

Parvo virus? Heart worm? If there is a lot of it about it will thin out the doggie population quite quickly.

Been around a long time! Still, an interesting species. As it ages, and it's physical condition umh deteriorates, it migrates to South East Asia from predominantly Northern European colder climes. Sheds it's plumage to the bare minimum, consumes industrial quantities of alcohol and ventures forth, into a second childhood, convinced that it's semi clad distressed body playing in water makes it absolutely irresistible to the local women! This often leads to aggression, frustration and fights, often ending in tears. Most return to their home environments after a couple of weeks, to brag (somewhat unbelievably) about their amorous conquests and physical superiority. The bare bones of a dissertation?

Personally, and it is of course very personal, an unmarked grave or a simple cremation are fine for me. I am a Catholic, so a Requiem Mass for the repose of my Soul is all I ask. I have made some provision for the cost, so that my daughter, my only real relative here, isn't caught. Of course, with God's grace, I hope it will not be for many years!