tutsiwarrior

we had a flash rainstorm tonight and I went to see how the drainage for my magnificent new terrace was holding up...the first opportunity. There are 3 shophouses in a row and 2 drained well as I supervised the design for them. The third was built independently and accumulated water at an alarming rate...the angle of the concrete floor was not sufficient. The back end of these houses is not designed to carry the steel and concrete load for the terrace and lots of non draining water after a storm worries me.

you be the engineer...is it better to layer the offending concrete so that the drainage is better or to put up a roof gutter across the 3 houses? The gutter will require a discharge pipe that would be unsightly and would have to be supported in 'sky hook' fashion but would take less work and effort than to raise the required angle on the concrete floor to get proper drainage.

Does roof guttering require expertise or could I get the crew to buy the materials and simply put the mother up?

anyone?

Not sure but I think that lemons are more disease prone....at least that's what I think I remember reading once.

Chownah

Edit: WEnt out and found this link:

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/lemon.html

It says that lemons need to be cured after they are picked at around 60 degrees F or even cooler for up to 3 weeks....this would require a refrigerated storage facility in Thailand.

Chownah

get outta here...in Pasadena California when I was a kid we had a prolific lemon tree and the fruit could be used for juice right off the branch. Also two orange and two grapefruit all mature and fruit bearing...all in the back yard (garden)...an we were just barely middle class...

What did you guys in the UK have in the back in yer little terraced arrangements, an outdoor toilet? (sneer)...

I can't help you, but I can say, it was the same in Cambodia, Same in Guatemala and most of central America... Same in every sub tropical region I've lived in. No lemon, Only Lime!!!

yeah, you're right...'limon' means a lime, not a lemon...never seen a lemon in any bar south of the border in the western hemisphere...

lemons are a conspiracy foisted upon unsuspecting falangs everywhere...(lemon scented soap, dishwashing liquid, air fresheners, furniture polishing liquid, etc?...whatta moneymaker)...and the real goods are not available anywhere...

then there was the scene in Louis Malle's 'Atlantic City' featuring Susan Sarandon as the oyster bar girl bathing with lemons to remove the oyster smell and Bert Lancaster as the voyeur thru the window...a whole new meaning to 'lemon freshness'...

and, what about lemon grass, lemon peel, lemon ornamentation?...(babble, babble...)

Don't be silly, you don't need real lemons. If you ask for lemons, they give limes. So why have lemons if you can call a lime a lemon (or a lime)--what country do you think you are living in?

(Yes, I am joking--no, I don't know where to get lemon trees, and I am interested in knowing why they don't grow them here)

as I said, limes are OK for most cooking purposes...as for falang salad dressings, thais don't eat falang salads...limes are OK for larb type thai salads...

as for anti-oxidation purposes for fresh fruit and veg (like for avocadoes and guacamole) limes perform the same function as lemons...

...respect...sucks...

...interesting inclusion of both these words in the same sentence...

the grammatical description is 'ironical hyperbole' I believe...but I was just tryin' to be polite...

Scottish oatmeal, brothmix for soups, oatcakes, haggis, blackpuddings, redpuddings. scottish turnip (neeps) .

haggis?...easy enough to make at home...take oatmeal of whatever type and the smelliest old sock that you can find...stuff the sock with the oatmeal and bile...might be hard to find proper 'neeps and tatties in thailand though...

but seriously, I always did like a scottish fryup with square sausage, blackpudding and a nice fresh loaf...coat yer stomach and hit the Gallowgate lookin' for them quarter gill bars...

(tutsi, ye sentimental old bastid...go bile yer heid...)

A decent kebab and a fat girl from Dagenham.

Plenty of chubby chavs in the 'nam. I'd skip the kebab for a Jakes burger though.

hey...look out...I was down by the ford plant once talkin' to sum one about a job...had a look around an' I knows what youse talkin' about, bein' from Pasadena California an' all...

(is Essex part of Dagenham?)

thanks lanny...helps to clarify things a bit...

German gummi bears, like Haribo

You are in luck, they sell them in a coffee shop near the Burger King in the New Airport

"""(@

They sell them at the Villa off Sukhumvit soi 11, too, but I don't live in Bangkok and I hate going there. I can't get them here in Korat, and would be happy to order some online. Us poor relations out in the sticks lack a lot of things y'all in the big city have.

Somebody earlier mentioned Old El Paso salsa. I have seen it here, can't remember if it was Lotus or Freshmart, but I think it was Lotus.

Add Heinz cocktail sauce to my list. You can get that at Villa, too, I know.

But NOBODY has Fritos.

why does sum tiny dump like Bahrain got all the fritos (including the dished dip type) and Rolled Gold pretzels one could want and Thailand ain't got shit?...and, let's talk about cottage cheese, Old El Paso salsa, Vlasic pickles...all available at the small Al Jazeera super near our flat in Manama...if you live in Thailand (outside of the upper Suk expat ghetto) it's an expedition...

it is a bit strange to have tax problems in the US when one hasn't lived there in 20 years and has no dependants, property or otherwise any connection with the place, hence my confusion...

anyone?

edit// the subject line should read US IRS, ie United States Internal Revenue Service...

The 2006 foreign earned income exclusion was increased to $82400

For salaries derived from a foreign source (Thailand for example) the first $82400 is tax exempt.

If you have a USG (military, gov. service etc) or an IRA you are subject to tax at current rates.

Nope, I'm not a tax guy....just someone who is doing the two0step with the IRS right now.

this might explain why some congresspeople want to restructure taxation for permanent expats...the poor guys in Iraq gettin' their asses shot off have to pay full tax on their measly GI salaries...any relief for them? no way...just tax the shit out of the expats to equalise...to make it a fairer, kinder world...

filthy hypocrites...

To the OP, did u by chance file for Social security. I was fine with the IRS, until I filed for SS Disability. Suddenly I got a letter from them saying I owed them $70,000 and what did I think about that. I replied that I disagreed completely and couldn't fathom where they got their figures. They sent a second letter saying I needed to file a return and send it within 20 days from the date they mailed it to me. I was in the Philippines and I didn't get their letter for 30 days. Without further discussion they brought me to US tax Court. where I am now. I got a letter from the U.S. tax Court sent Oct 24 setting a trial date of March. Also saying they expect us to stipulate as much as we can, so the Court needs to decide only items in dispute, and to try to reach a settlement. So they gave us 4 months to hash things out, but I still do not even know who the opposing counsel is.

nope...it's a dispute about what I owe from a 2001 tax return (they say about 6 x the amount I paid) and the interest and penalties resulting therefrom accumulating over the last 4 years...didn't have any advice about the matter until today...

I'm oiling up the heavy ordnance...they ain't takin' me alive...

thanks for all your replies. If the IRS indeed has a legitimate claim I intend to attend to my responsibility. However the problem is with a tax return filed for 2001 and I am now hearing about it for the first time and penalties and interest have been accruing for the past 4 years???!!!

yikes...

it is a bit strange to have tax problems in the US when one hasn't lived there in 20 years and has no dependants, property or otherwise any connection with the place, hence my confusion...

anyone?

edit// the subject line should read US IRS, ie United States Internal Revenue Service...

1)What is the problem?

2) Are you a US passport holder?

3) have you ever filed US tax returns?

just the requested info, please...these items to be discussed with the advisor...

it is a bit strange to have tax problems in the US when one hasn't lived there in 20 years and has no dependants, property or otherwise any connection with the place, hence my confusion...

anyone?

edit// the subject line should read US IRS, ie United States Internal Revenue Service...

P.S. I took an Isaan friend to a McDonald's for his first ever "all-American meal" (I know, that moniker could be disputed). He politely ate about 1/4 of his BigMac, Strawberry Shake, and fries, when I then asked him: "OK, on a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being "arroy mak"), how would you rate it?"

His answer: "Off the scale!"

I beamed.

He continued, "...on the negative end."

His first and last McDonald's meal.

A man of true taste and class. Why people in Thailand, the country with probably the best range of tastfull food, have to resort to eating McDonalds is totally beyond my comprehension.

I am told, so don't quote me on this (can't be ar5ed Googling it just to satisfy the TV nitpickers), that France has the world's largest number of McDonalds per head of population. So much for French cuisine.

you can get beer and wine at McD's in France...might be a cheaper place to hang than the cafe down the street...

with respect, thai food sucks...

Interested in how you experienced and dealt with death of a thai person who was, de facto, part of your thai family? Dukkha

My 25 year old daughter/step daughter died in the Tsunami, She was washed out of a dive shop on Phi Phi island where she worked. I cried my heart out for weeks. We are now 'parents' to her 9year old so I still get to see her everyday in the ways of her son, I wish she did.

oh, man...please receive my condolences...and to your poor wife...what a horror...

with my contributions and my wife's guidance we have helped to significantly improve her family's quality of life...they are a close knit extended family...they had to be in order to survive. All the adults work as hard as before but now in better paid jobs rather than as dirt poor rice farmers. But mostly, you can see it in the kids...before playing in the mud underneath the tin shack that was the family home, dirty with ragged clothing, to their presently greatly improved circumstances with some hope for the future...no problems with medical or school expenses that are a great worry to parents of limited means.

I have been advised by my wife that the family has collectively decided to look after me whenever I decide to retire (I won't have any income if not working)...good intentions are their best reward?

Oh, one more thing:

Household ammonia!

thai beer is a perfectly acceptable substitute...just as with bleach and ammonia beware of mixing with thai whiskey for an exothermic and highly toxic reaction...

I ask my Thai students the same question. ("What's the strangest or worst thing you've ever eaten?")

They come up with gawd-awful things like...

"pizza with lots of cheese"

"hamburger with cheese"

"lasagne"

The most infamous dishes usually include some kind of cheese.

Sigh.

P.S. I took an Isaan friend to a McDonald's for his first ever "all-American meal" (I know, that moniker could be disputed). He politely ate about 1/4 of his BigMac, Strawberry Shake, and fries, when I then asked him: "OK, on a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being "arroy mak"), how would you rate it?"

His answer: "Off the scale!"

I beamed.

He continued, "...on the negative end."

His first and last McDonald's meal.

I think asians got sum sorta lactose intolerance...when in Vietnam I went and got a pizza across the road from the apartment (they advertised spaghetti and fried chicken as well) and it had tomato sauce but no cheese (???) That being said the local fast food chain Lotteria appeared to do a brisk business in cheeseburgers, they were always sold out (or maybe they had to make a couple special for the clazy roundeye)...cheeseburgers were on the menu, but there did not appear to be a lot of foreigners around to eat them...

what's all the enthusiasm for Dell laptops? Last I heard there was no service facility available in Thailand for Dell laptops and they had to be sent to Malaysia for this purpose.

oh, boo hoo...say it isn't so...I shelled out big time for an HP Pavillion as they got a service center in BKK and it ain't worth a shit...always wanted a Dell...

when I was working in garages many years ago, new disk brake pads came with a a little appendage that would rub the rotor causing a squeal (but not damaging the rotor) when braking to let the driver know that the pad lining was worn and needed to be replaced...it's the rivets on the pads that cause damage when in contact with the rotor when the lining is spent...

however this was 30 years ago when disk brakes were rocket science...

Interested in how you experienced and dealt with death of a thai person who was, de facto, part of your thai family? Dukkha

my wife's grandma died about 3 years ago...I went along to the wat to light incense and pay my respects. In the background a noisy wake was going on with cards, booze and etc. If I was expected to do anything it wasn't noticed...except by my wife who wasn't too bothered...

Low-fat cottage cheese (perishable, but one can dream)

I dream of quart tubs of Knudsen's FULL FAT cottage cheese, fresh corn tortillas (3 dozen pack, still warm) and La Victoria Salsa Ranchera for cottage cheese tacos...ingredients only available in southern California. If I knew someone that had the real goods in Thailand I'd be over there in a flash with the sawed off 12 gauge to say 'load up the hold all and no one gets hurt...'

German gummi bears, like Haribo

Fritos corn chips

Dill pickles, NOT Vlasic, but Milwaukee brand midget pickles. Claussen are the best, but require constant refrigeration so that's a no-go.

Canned tart cherries to make pie. Not pie filling, but just the cherries.

Canned pumpkin, Libbey's brand, for pie and cookies and muffins.

seconded (I like Vlasic kosher dills)...

would also like a full range of whole indian spices (cumin, coriander, cardamon, fennel, etc plus garam masala and tumeric) and canned pulses (kidneys, pintos, garbanzos, etc, if available I'd buy 'em by the crate)... the local dried ones remain inedible after 2+ hours of cooking and soaking overnight...

canned hoummos and baba ganoush...I brought a industrial sized jar of sesame tahina from Bahrain for which to make both and I can't find any garbanzos or eggplant...wahhhh...

Rolled Gold pretzels...which if you are an american, with Fritos corn chips, if that ain't on yer wish list you should be investigated by Homeland Security...

you guys that are missin' salsa and guacamole ever try makin' it yerself? All ingredients available locally (decent avocadoes sometimes are hard to find) and with some experimentation you will find that the home made variety is suitable and quite easy to make...google for basic recipies...

Ry Krisp (or Rye Vita for our friends 'across the pond'...sesame variety)

Absolute Friends by J. Le Carre.

Written in 2004, the man has become more than he already was. His fictional plots are so real. His opinions on the state of the world seep through.

Very powerful book.

yeah...I agree, a good read. I'm presently rereading The Looking Glass War first published in 1965...not as refined but a good gripping read anyway.

I recently finished The Little Friend by Donna Tartt...for those of you who enjoyed The Secret History don't bother...a disappointment...(IMHO)