Fat is a type of crazy

Cellar door may be expensive as they are offering an 'experience' from their point of view but lots of good deals through the main retailers in Australia for a decent bottle for many years. Especially due to a fairly long term oversupply exacerbated by China dropping out of the market.

You can throw all the statistics out you like saying Biden is doing a good job, and you'll likely be correct, but I think people will see an elderly man who is past his prime in some ways, and look for alternatives. If it's Trump Biden may still win despite the polls. If any one else it looks bad.

But in your hospital example the fact is they simply don't have staff at the moment to do those jobs and so immigration is a good thing in that regard. But a reason they need more staff is in part the huge increase in population partly due to immigration itself. You'll notice they are decreasing immigration numbers. I have no problem with immigration as such and I think it brings many benefits. The financial benefits are likely skewed to the business owners though who get lots of relatively cheap staff and not to the average worker who finds so much more competition for work resulting in lower wage increases, difficulty buying a property, etc.

There are some things that concern me on the political correctness thing but this is not one of them. I think there's a reasonable argument to say that the date of Australia day did bring terrible things, and some good things to, to the indigenous population. It's not drawing a long bow to see why people might say a different day is better and may feel a flag has too strong a link with the UK. In terms of blaming baby boomers how many posts do you see here about the so called lazy indulgent young so it's the normal thing to talk badly about different generations. I don't blame young people wanting to blame someone for the high cost of everything especially property when wages keep going up below inflation. You get a say too because it is one of the most democratic countries in the world. There's a lot of reasons to be proud of and care about Australia so keep the good things in mind too. You posted recently about getting the age pension in the future- I don't get a cracker - but look at it in Thailand. Many examples that give us a good life so retiring in Thailand is an option.

Like Chickens Legs it is hoped you are half joking. How arrogant could a person be after causing her family so many issues to dare taking the moral high ground on anything. Hopefully she is at least being financially responsible from now, or steps can be taken to make her be financially responsible if that is possible, so you can relax with the nice things you have.

I got an email recently, apparently from a hotel I stayed at, saying I urgently needed to pay an invoice from a previous stay. I had prepaid in full and it was over 6 months since I stayed there. Not from the hotel. Did not click links or open attachments. Delete.

It had a bad name in Australia back in the 80's and 90's for reasons noted above i.e. people would join and would sell stuff and look to get others to sell for them. The products were OK. Many would try to sell to family and friends, or get family and friends, to join and sell on their behalf. They sold it as a way of having your own business so your dreams could come true. So you might get a call saying 'Hi. Long time no see. You want to come over for a drink' .. you would go and get the hard sell. There was a song by a band called TISM called 'Death Death Death Amway Amway Amway; that indicated how some felt. Not sure if Amway in Thailand in 2023 has a similar concept.

Not sure that is that important. Same as other countries it is the individuals responsibility to lodge if appropriate. Most countries would not have etax site in multiple languages I should think. If you were picked for an audit the staff would likely have access to interpreters and translators. Wouldn't stop them as noted above matching income to lifestyle.

Tacky but worse things happen at sea

This one will cheer you up Bela Lugosi's Dead (Official Version) - YouTube

Been disappointed many times by dishes such as a bland sweet tomatoey no chili Tom Yum. Need to tell them - some dishes I can say 1 chili or 2 chili and while you are at it no MSG no sugar no added salt no other mystery powders thanks.

Last time we went for it was 2019 or so and it was initially a bit of a pain because they asked my girlfriend to get a health check which cost a bit - a few hundred I think - after she had had one a couple of years before. The upside was they gave us the three year tourist visa for three monthly visits. Then covid happened and after one trip to Australia that was that.

Bit of a troll as you get on one thread saying that people should be careful about talking about money, at the risk of making others feel bad, then you get on this thread and look for every way to make those who picked or apparently 'bought' a Thai girl, slim, brown, to feel bad. Like they only took them because that's all they could get. At the same time trying to put yourself above the pack with all your claims of success with the women of the world. Sometimes you make the odd good point about unpleasant sexism on this site but I think you undo it 5 fold with all your generalisations about people who might have a preference for thai ladies. This from someone who chooses Thailand and Pattaya as a place to live.

I'm with you. Couldn't be bothered. Kudos for doing the boxing. Keeps you fit and mentally alert.

Remember Olinda golf course Lacessit - all the ups and downs. Think you hail from that part of the world too. Fun though. Golf not my thing though.

Thanks. One of the secrets of a long relationship, as they say, is that we've spent at least half of it apart. She does have a good friend when in Australia - my thai ex wife. Wasn't always that way though. To add to your comment above - with the interweb and gyms at resorts and lots of restaurants etc it somewhat gives you a place to be other than the beach.

I was referring to my lovely girlfriend of 10 years so we wouldn't be noisy or unpleasant to be next to. Though every now and again she can go off the beam with her temper so there is that.

Think of it the other way round i.e. you have many of the nice things of Bangkok but less hectic, hopefully a fair bit less pollution, and by the seaside. I lived near a beach in Melbourne - in St Kilda - for many years and rarely swam. But nice to have the open space.

I am not a sunbather as such. But I like swimming and the beach nearby and since my possible retirement starts in May the few months would be at the start of the wet season which is my favourite time to go - big empty beaches, some intermittent rain but lots of time to swim with cloudy weather and some sunshine - could stay at a nice hotel too for a good price. Could be that when I have no limits on time as I did in the past it seems less fun. See what happens.

Could be. But with a nice girlfriend I can get into the routine fairly easily.

That's interesting. Maybe I have it back to front. Feel like powders and stuff make you feel a bit heavy and not healthy but at 58 maybe it's worth it.

Once I retire not too long in the future I have thought of living in Pattaya, Phuket etc. But in September when staying in Koh Chang I thought I could afford to simply stay at the resorts I like for at least a few months. Hopefully get a good deal. Appealing to me. I don't mind the simple life. I was watching this guy 'Retired Working for you' today who talks about Thailand and he said about the moving costs to Thailand. I think I might take my normal 7kg bag for the first few months - don't need anything from here. Shorts and tshirts fine by me.

I was skinny as hell as a teenager and took a thing called Body Bulk. Made me bigger and fatter. Then moved to protein powder. It did seem to make a difference. Someone at the time said it was a waste because I was getting sufficient protein from my meat eating diet. I do a lot of gym now but no powder. I think as you get older such things are not good for you even if it means a bit less bulky muscle. This is subjective though - haven't looked into it. As your metabolism isn't the same as a teenager don't think supplements are good for your organs..

Fair point. But science is not the concern but the difficulty of finding the answer in scientific terms. So I suppose we might say - this works really well for me and fits what I have experienced, and this life time is short, so I'll believe these ancient ideas rather than wait for a stronger verification in scientific terms. At the same time I totally respect the tenets of science and understand that I would prefer there was a scientific answer but it is what it is.

Said it before but why is something not measurable? Even if it is ether, or spirit stuff, or something that hasn't been discovered yet. Your dispute isn't with science but with dogmatic scientists or with the worth some put to answering your questions. Those questions you ask are all scientific questions: Why do we act the way we act? What triggers that negative emotion? Which memory feels painful and why? What is that dream trying to tell me? There are many scientists who don't wish to look to answer these, as they probably see it is too difficult to find productive answers, and there may not be productive answers. Or they can't make a living from it. But such questions are definitely not issues excluded by science.